The Wannabe Economist

NETS says there is no shortage of CashCards
By Heather Tan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 15 April 2008 2137 hrs

SINGAPORE: Electronic payments provider NETS said that there is no shortage of CashCards.

This assurance comes after some outlets reportedly ran out of cards on Tuesday.

But NETS said it has ample supply of the current Blue Butterfly CashCards, which cost S$7. This will continue to be sold while stocks last. Currently, a refundable S$2 deposit is payable for each NETS CashCard.

And from 1 May, NETS will introduce the S$10 CashCard which will feature an orange laser design.

With the new card, there is no need to pay a deposit. That’s because, of the S$10 you pay, S$5 is the cost of the card and the other S$5 is the stored value.

There are 4.5 million NETS CashCards in circulation today.

NETS CashCards are available at all Cheers, 7-Eleven and FairPrice Xpress outlets. You can call 6274 1212 for more information. - CNA/vm

via http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/341632/1/.html

I must comment on the language skill of this journalist. It was phrased so well that i was elated for that split second when i read that you do not have to pay a deposit with the new cashcard from 1 May on even though it’s going to cost you $10 at the point of purchase.

That was before my eyes went to the next line and noted that that is because the $5 is the cost of the card.

See, the wonders of language. Even a bad news can be phrased into something good.

I reckon if you’re the careless type like Mrs Chongky, go to the nearest 7-eleven right now and stock up on extra cashcards, just so that even if you lost / misplaced / displaced / dropped / forgot where you put it / lost you still won’t need to fork out $5 to pay for your own cashcard yet.

But i guess making you pay for your own cashcard is the right thing to do. It’s YOUR OWN cashcard after all, right?

I have just declined going for an interview this week.

It wasn’t an easy decision to make. On one hand, this job was part of my childhood dream (another part was to work in Shenton Way… naive thoughts back then). On the other, it doesn’t pay that well relative to the industry that i am looking at. Furthermore, the job just serves as a reminder of my failure to secure even the lousiest funding they provide for undergrad studies years ago. Even the dangled carrot upon joining can’t make the deal any sweeter. How can this sum compare to the amount my mum invested in my education, or the 2 years i have to work and save to make my own ends meet?

So screw it. If they can’t help me to change the interview date then i’m simply too dispensible. Might as well hole up in front of the Ikea table and do some real work. Work that might actually help to pull up the GPA and get me some REAL tangible reward rather than travelling the extra miles for the 10-15 minutes interview (as stated in the email without considering the travelling and waiting and dressing that take up time too).

I just recalled that a couple of days back, Mrs Chongky told me about Pine Garden getting onto the top 50 best cake list on The Straits Times while she was flipping through the papers.

I asked her about her opinion on the lychee martini cake and she claimed that she didn’t eat it so i should be asking myself that question.

Unfortunately, despite paying from my own pocket (which i seldom do nowadays =P) for the cake, i don’t remember much. Other than it tasted like the canned lychee. With a disappointing taint of alcohol taste. Nothing like the lychee martini that i had at Gina’s party. Yup i’m not a martini person and i hardly order martini, but i do remember the occassion when i had so much martini that i was rather happy the entire evening.

Then Mrs Chongky wondered how come Canele didn’t make the list. Hmmm…

Damnit…. i’m so busy i totally forgot about the finale of the ABDC.

In any case, i’m going to stay awake through the night till i finish up the paper. And so that i won’t be late for the match in the morning since i won’t be sleeping (same rationale for the decision made at Singapore Biathlon). It’s justified that i go watch the show now.

Laters.

I’m frigging tired now. We decided that we wanted a change in lifestyle, and thus went to bed at 9.30am and woke up at 4.30am…

(photo credit: TynaC on flickr)

to go to Mac’s and have breakfast. And TRIED without success to study a bit, before we gave up and went back to watch tv.

On another note, episode 7 of the America’s Best Dance Crew was out online yesterday.

!)(#*$)!*%)#*)8

(Disclaimer: Chongky would not be responsible for the premature release of information if you have not watched the show and intend to catch it soon.)

DAMNIT!

Kaba Modern is out of the competition.

How could this be? Kaba is definitely not the worse out of the three. And like many others, i’m anticipating a final showdown between Kaba and Jabba.

I think that’s a bloody good example of the spoiler effect. Kaba and Jabba are similar in the dance styles, with excellent isolation and neat group work. Even the race composition and (i suspect) other demographic of the members are almost identical. Despite both of them being extremely popular with the audiences right from the beginning of the season, the two group has probably split that majority support and this allowed Status Quo to win the both of them in vote count after last week.

Status Quo, on the other hand, is probably one of the best example of streets dance crew, if you know what i mean. I do not think there’s much formal training, and thus the seemingly lack of tidying up at each performance.

But now, i’m very sure that Jabba is going to be announced the winner next week. Considering the swing votes that Jabba is very likely to receive now that Kaba is out of the race, you do not have to know any voting theory to figure out where the odds are on.

I wish i stumbled across this site while we were still back in Sydney.

There’s a good section of video dedicated to bodyboarding.

How cool is that? We could be more proficient (this is how proficient should be used, not doing work fast that it’s efproficient) bodyboarders.

Oh how did i stumbled across this site in the first place? I was surfing photography websites and one of them directed me to the instructional videos. Do check out the videos… they practically covered every single subject that i could possibly think of.

Mrs Chongky, are you keen on photography? We could share one SLR after we start work!

I’m watching the show now. Still catching up with what had happened in the past 2 months as the show progresses.

I guess the saddest moment for me is when Live in Colour got knocked out of the competition. I can see their hard work. I can feel their passion when they dance. They are so well spoken that i’m impressed. So what if they go to Thrift Store for their costumes. They are still cool.

I thought they’re among the best in the competition. I mean, there are at least 2 other groups dancing at that very high standard in my opinion. I just didn’t expect Live in Colour to go out so early.

I hope they are doing well now. More dance contracts, more bread to put on the table, especially to the guy who has a daughter at home. I wish you guys all the best.

Game theory tells me that i should go sleep now.

And i will.

Good night.

How come London has this kind of ad, our developed nation does not?

(Ad discovered by http://onelesscar.wordpress.com/)

I suppose one of the best ones i have encountered so far is where the caller tells you it’s a test, then tell you about the format of the test, without mentioning anything about an interview. And this was after you asked pretty much about the session he was inviting you for.

Upon finishing the test, the person who called you would ask if you were free for a short “talk”. At this point he would invite a senior consultant in (and the director too if he’s available). This “talk” slowly became an interview, and then became a test of technical know-hows.

It’s not a surprise that i crashed. I knew i screwed up when the interviewer only dropped a couple of question on competency based interview questions and then focus all his remaining energy on popping names of models and asking you to explain the details to him.

I wonder why that was the only time i encountered such a situation. Whether it would be nationality of the company, or having an “analytical consultant” (by the way he does this he definitely can’t be a consultant in this particular field) to conduct an interview.

I say, leave the interviewing job to the real HR interviewers. They do a better job in seeking out the competencies which in my honest opinion should be the focus of the search of candidate. Of course i am entitled to personal biasness in my opinion because i cannot remember much of what i had learnt. Save for game theory which is probably the only subject i can claim to be knowledgeable in.

Well it’s not like i want to work in this particular field in the first place.

So cheers to 6 more weeks to end of semester and a real prospect of graduating without any job offer.