Can't believe that this is alrdy the second last night of my stay in London!!

N I m beginning to miss .. miss the freedom; the space I have and to some extent, the weather!!

 

N to be able to catch up with good buddies here whom I hardly have the chance to meet and ain't from Sg is certainly cool..

 

On the other hand, I also can't wait to get home!! haha.. contradicting..

 

I must say my weekend trip to Paris is just amazing. To my surprise and perhaps to the disbelief of some, I kinda like Paris, quite alot!

Impressed with the cleanliness (compared to Ldn); city planning; the parisian architecture and the way the French live- relaxing by the fountain reading a book.. Seems like my ideal Sunday which never materialise in humid sunny little dot (Cant imagine reading a book at Suntec FOuntain of Wealth). 

 

A repeat trip to France is a definite on my next destination list!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another weekend.. almost gone.. I must say time really flies.. 

And something I found out about London is.. they have nice architectures!!

 

N they have greater plans to build more stunning buildings.

 

Some of my personal likings incl.. the redevelopment of the British Museum's Great Court ; The Gherkin and The London City Hall - all bearing Norman Foster's name. 

 

and not forgetting the latest cbd in london - Canary Wharf. Then again, the commonality between these buildings is they are built using glass and steel. One said its a guy's thing to like such buildings.. it could well be true.. :D

 

 

 yeap.. dinner dinner.. can be a chore.. i don't mean eating

BUT thinking of what to eat.. where to buy the rawies.. cooking instructions.. n worse of all, cleaning up!!

 

Kudos to my mum whom without fail cook for me since the day I started terrorising her (n maybe others, I hope not)..

 

N today.. after loitering tesco (local supermarket), I decided to not COOK anything fanciful (btw, I dont)

NOthing fanciful but taste superbly.. I dare you to challenge!

 

Indomee.. with sausages and egg!

Finished off with HOT milo and apple..

 

Yummx..

Here comes a new week.. weekend was never long..

But had a great day out on Saturday.. Thanx to Ewei for playing host despite her busy schedule.

 

Sightseeing along the not-so-good-looking River Thames, to the magnificent Tower Bridge, to the impressive London City Council building, to the overhyped Tower of London and to the movie-made famous Nottinghill and Portobello Market. Shopping at Oxford circus and Piccadilly is always a challenge for me - a challenge to not get lost in the jungle of shops. Dining at the famous Four Seasons was a repeat, as I hvnt tasted such yummy roast duck (not even in Singapore) for a long time.. Worth a try if you hvnt try it yet (but never ask me to get a roast duck back to sg!) London is said to be the mecca for clubbing and I've tried it. NOthing great, but again its too soon to concur as I believe the club I went to was probably the lousiest in London. haha..

 

Some shots to share..

ahh ha.. delivering the second piece since my blog's resurrection..

 

11 days here in Ldn.. n just 2 days ago, I PROUDLY celebrated my 1year anniversary in my present company!! (to the surprise of many.. ) haha..

 

Alas I am getting used to life here.. slping past midnight (about 7+ am in sg like now!), struggling to wake up in the morning and can't wait to get off work each day.. haha..

 

SO what have I been up to over the last weekend.. to the usual places - Convent Gardens; Chinatown; Picadilly Circus; Oxford St.; Knightsbridge.. done heaps of walking especially when I got lost!! Lost in London! Well, not exactly lost, just took the wrong buses, ended up at areas where there are no direct buses to get home and I have to walk a distance to the right bus stop.. lol..

 

n yeah! I visited the museum too.. The British Museum! Fantastic architecture with the Great Court designed by Lord Norman Foster.. definitely worth a visit.. I've attached some pixs..

 

Enjoy..

 

 

Its been a long long while since I last wrote.. a site almst forgotten..

Let me try to get this back to life.. and see how long it will go on for.. ahaha

 

Wanna make a bet? I think.. at least 5posts.. hMm..  or more?

 

This is my 1,2,3,4.. 5th day in London..

A place where everywhere else in europe is experiencing heatwave except here - flood flood and more flood.

A place where its Radio and TV stations desperately need a revamp..

 

Well, not everything here is bad. At least my apartment is decent.

 

5days.. n it seems like I hvnt done much here! Of cz I wasnt referring to work, I believe I have worked hard! :p

I believe..

 

Gonna get on the streets tmr and prob do a little of those touristy stuff..

 

meantime, pixs of my dainty apartment.. mine for 30 over days only..

 

 

Christopher Wong

One (SINGAPORE)

SO whats Whiteband day?!

Whiteband Day falls on 17th October which has been declared by the UN as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty since 1993. Whiteband signifies the campaign's symbol and expression of solidarity against poverty. The simple gesture of wearing it puts forth your support in the call for action to eradicate poverty.

 

C'mon! Join the ONE voice and stand in support of the world's poverty to MAKE POVERTY HISTORY!

 

 

 

 

Its been a week after slumping into london working hours.. my weekend don't seem to end till Monday 4pm and a typical working day don't seem to end anytime before 2am.. Bedtimes at 4am are now considered early, sometimes I just wonder if this is an utter depletion of my youth or a blessing in disguise.  

Honestly, I do feel the bond btw myself and a few colleagues as we made fun of one another at odd hours and encouraged each others to spur on. I also appreciate the times when colleagues get together on late nights after work till the early mornings.. Perhaps, this is the positive side of the coin to working ldn hours??

Then again, I really do not know how much I can cajole myself to adjust to these horrendous graveyard hours especially come 30th Oct, I will start wrk at 5pm and end no earlier than 3am.. Having said all these, I still miss my evenings out..

 

"Mr Olaru Ottunu, former United Nations under Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict received the Sydney Peace Prize in November, 2005 and delivered an impressive lecture which led to a standing ovation. In his lecture entitled Saving the Children from the Scourge of War, he explained why the children are the primary victims of armed conflict as both the targets as well as instruments. Children, as targets because in the midst of armed conflicts, they are killed, maimed, deprived of education and healthcare as well as scarred with emotional trauma. Children as instruments because they are uprooted from homes, recruited and used as child soldiers – combaters; spies and even sex slaves. There is a need to protect children because they represent the hopes and futures of every society and apparently, these hopes and futures seemed to be heading towards maximum destruction.

 

Mr Olaru has led an UN-based campaign to mobilize international action on behalf of children exposed to war, promoting measures to protect children. His hard-fought efforts finally led to the UN Security Council adopting the Resolution 1612 which endorses a series of measures to institute a serious, formal and structured compliance regime for the protection of children exposed to war. This Resolution 1612 served as a fundamental for the need of international public campaign for compliance. On his own initiative, Mr Olaru is establishing a new independent organisation – LBL Foundation for Children devoted to the providing hope, healing and education for children in communities devastated by war. It is certainly admirable to hear that he has used the prize money he received from the Sydney Peace Prize and from another Prize (German Africa Prize) as seed money for this new foundation.

 

Midway through his lecture, he drew our attention to what he described as the worst place on earth to be a child today – Northern Uganda which coincidentally is Mr Olaru’s birthplace. In his words, the human rights catastrophe unfolding in northern Uganda is a methodical and comprehensive genocide. An entire society is being systematically destroyed – physically, culturally, socially and economically – in full view of the international community. Further statistics left me deeply astonished and anguished with the magnitude of prolonged destruction. 2 million people displaced into concentration camps which are massively congested with poor sanitation and rampant with diseases; leading to 50,000 deaths every year; 2 generations of children have been denied education and 41% of children who are under 5 have been seriously stunted in their growth. HIV/AIDS has also became a deliberate weapon of mass destruction as soldiers tested positive for HIV are deployed to the north with the mission to commit havoc on girls and women. No one can imagine how fast the rate of HIV infection has accelerated exponentially. This tragedy in Northern Uganda has gone on for 20 years under the regime that is sinfully practicing genocide, practically seeing the destruction of a society and a civilization.

 

Urging world leaders to uphold their declaration of the “Responsibility to Protect” and not succumb to dirty politics as he felt the betrayal was painful especially when it comes from those who are in a position to raise their voices and to act but have instead joined in a conspiracy of silence, adopting a policy of “We see no evil, we hear no evil”. In concluding his lecture, Mr Olaru used this address to make an urgent appeal to the leaders of the western democracies to review their continued sponsorship and support for a regime that is presiding over the genocide of its own people; to take action and stop the genocide in Uganda."

 

 

09 August, 2006..

Happy Birthday Singapore as the nation celebrates 41 glorious years since independence.

on hols.. yea.. b4 i commence on my new path in another firm. n I guess the late nights/ early mornings stay ups because of world cup has inadvertently caused insomnia to hit on me or maybe not. Wide awake at 4am and the neighbourhood appears to be in a state of traquil repose, but my mind is opposed to this externality. Well, I guess this is one of those nights where I dont have to think and thoughts will just keep on flowing in. Among some of them, I thought it might be interesting to make known some of the silliest things I've committed recently and I recalled about 5, not in any order of merit or preferences, 1. Supporting Italy to win the World Cup when I snubbed at them for dumping Australia out in the knock out stage; 2. On a 1-month hols which is somehow highly envied upon by my peers and yet I dont think I am doing anything much that deserve to be envied upon; 3. Talking about Equities, FX and MM when the interview was for a fixed income trader position; 4. Procrastinate on taking up driving lessons when I should have gotten myself one and finally, for ridiculously drawing up this silly list.

 

The last time I stayed up so late in the company of my laptop and the beautiful night was many many months ago at down under. And the feeling is different of course, tonight I dont see the city only the NTU hill whereas many many months ago, I see the bustling city. Tonight also feel warmer than many many months ago. haha.. that goes without saying. Also, I used to hear police sirens every other hour in the night but its all peaceful now.

 

yes, its gonna be abrupt as I intend to just end this entry here otherwise I have no other ways to stop it. oOh, just as I am about to stop this, the quiescent melancholy of my neighbourhood has been broken by the vroom vroom of the the sbstransit bus. Yes. It is almst dawn. Gd Morning

30th June 2006 certainly goes down into my list of unforgettable dates in my journey. Today is my last day working at MSCI, well.. its not only my last day but all of my fellow colleagues' last day as the Singapore office relocates to Hong Kong. Although my stay in MSCI is a mere 3months and I didn't expect myself to feel attached to the company and colleagues in SG n HK till yesterday when they said the computers will be shut down at 4pm. That certainly set me missing the times I had there, from taking the elevator up to 16th storey rushing to be not as late the day before; the occasional security beeps each time I flashed my security ID, the spacious bathroom; buying takeaways from Golden shoe food center back to the office meeting room; the fruits at tea time; the bloomberg and reuters platforms; the laggy sybase programs; the springy office chair; the voices and laughters of my dearest colleagues to the clock I always look at before knocking off.

 

This is my first foray into the working world (discounting the previous internships) and I met a really nice team of colleagues especially the experienced seniors who have shown alot of patience in guiding me, not forgetting the jokes and gossips that they shared as well. And of course my fellas whom cracked jokes like every other minute. And all had to come to an end today.

 

Once again, goodbye is one of the hardest thing to do.

Almst 2 weeks ever since I returned from Sydney.. n time really flies!

Thank you guys for turning up for my graduation, and all the times spent!

It has been an awesome time with you guys..

 

Some pixs are posted in the album.. n a few in collage here..

yea.. I am back in Sydney.. But just for a short while..

Would be awesome if I can just stay longer.. haha..

 

nothing much to talk about actually, gonna turn in early as its my graduation tmr..

Hope to seeya guys tmr..

 

Details:

 

Where?

The Great Hall, Quadrangle

Sydney University

 

When?

Friday, 2 June 2006 at 250pm

 

If u cnt find me, call 0412361626.. N im gonna stay in town till this Sunday evening and I'll be heading home.

 

 

smetink lame to unwind n crack about..

 

 

N a little post-indulgence report.. choc fondue.

 

Lets see.. the set includes a pot of choc dips and supposedly strawberry or respberry dips which tasted like jam to me. Thr's green apples; strawberries; bananas; cookies; small chunks of vanilla cakes; love letters; and small balls of ice-creams which look like meatballs to me.. haha.. n yea.. peanut shavings..

 

I feel the cookies and 'jam' dippings are redundant. Can be easily replaced with marshmallows and dark choc dippings.Choc dip servings could have been more generous :p balls of icecreams is a differentiated idea from the other fondue players but something could have been done to keep them from melting. Especially when the tealight is burning close to the ice-creams. Choc dipping has a thick intensity but I couldnt taste the richness. THe cafe closes at midnight which is certainly a plus factor especially when we were the last customers to leave. haha..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the General Elections 2001,

Total seats in Parliament: 84

Total seats taken by PAP: 82

Total seats by opposition: 2

 

From the latest General Elections 2006 (update 1020pm, 06 May 2006),

Total seats in parliament: 84

Total seats uncontested (walkover): 37

Total seats contested: 47

 

Election news telvised live on national TV from 10pm to 1am (GMT+0800hrs)

Released:

 

Yio Chu Kang - PAP (1)

Hougang - WP [Opp] (1)

Macpherson - PAP (1)

Bukit Panjang - PAP (1)

Joo Chiat - PAP (1)

Chua Chu Kang - PAP (1)

Jalan Besar GRC - PAP (5)

Nee Soon East - PAP (1)

Potong Pasir - SDA [Opp] (1)

Tampines GRC - PAP (5)

Nee Soon Central - PAP (1)

Ang Mo Kio - PAP (6)

East Coast - PAP (5)

Pasir Ris-Ponggol GRC - PAP (6)

Aljunied GRC - PAP (5)

Sembawang GRC - PAP (6)

 

Contested seats:

PAP - 45

Opposition - 2

 

Overall results for General Elections 2006 (updated 1240am):

The ratios of Opposition to PAP in parliament remain unchanged:

PAP = 82

Opposition = 2

 

 

This has been a month which passed by faster than any month I've spent in Singapore since december. Also a month where I see a great deal of news passing by - Thai snap elections; Iranian's nuclear program; scrapping of the 'scenic bridge' between the 2 all-time great neighbours; oil prices hitting USD75.35 all-time high; US announcing plans to build the Freedom Tower; Merrill Lynch's plan to hire another 900 employees by year 2008 to its expanding support base in Singapore; E-Land (Korean based company which Temasek Hldgs has a stake in) acquistion of Carrefour operations in Korea; crowning of Chelsea as the English Premiership Champ and of course, our Progress Package which arrived 3days earlier and the Elections in Singapore.

 

As I glanced thru the news headlines, it appear that our oppositions are getting more ambitious at this election. Are they stronger? Are their manifestoes addressing our key concerns? Some emphasized on quantity (52pgs) vs quality(12pgs). Most purely attacked one another's policies. But all parties have aligned interest and that is to make this place a better one. Certainly I m not advocating any party's policies, neither am I a voter at this GE. That doesnt mean I do not have any views to take on but I intend to not discuss them in a public domain from a political perspective.

 

In particular I noticed something interesting happening in our economics. Specifically in monetary economics, we use the term inflation bias when the authorities are more inclined towards inflation so as to achieve a lower unemployment rate(concept of short run philips curve). The latest released official data indicated that our unemployment rate hit a low note (meaning robust employment rate) and at the same time, perhaps coincidentally our inflation rate went up. Is this a case of a pure coincidence especially when oil prices are at an all time high or is this a referendum of dynamic inconsistency caused by the short term myopic political policymakers to achieve what the masses like to see (job growth)? One may wonder what is the implication of trading higher inflation for lower unemployment? As far as the NAIRU (natural rate of unemployment) is concerned, this lower umeployment rate (set at a higher inflation) is said to be unstable as it will eventually revert to the NAIRU over time and as it reverts, inflation will set to rise even further inferring a higher cost of living ultimately unless productivity and technological advancement set in, we will see the cost of living sustained at current levels.

 

Our monetary policy unlike Aust n Americans, uses exchange rate as a tool to sustain non-inflationary economic growth. Theorectically, it is saying to depress inflation, we need a stronger domestic currency. Unlike Aust n States, whereby depressing inflation comes about by hiking the interest rates. Sadly, our inflation rates have been rising (1.4%yoy) despite the strengthening of our domestic currency. At the same time, we see the central bank seeling treasury bills, probably a hint of contracting the money supply in hope of curtailing inflation. Of course, there can be no immediate results since the lagged effect is at play. But is this going to work? What if it is not? Is the creditability of the central bank in doubt?

 

Put them all together, the lower unemployment rate will probably combine with the monetary policy to create a higher cost of living ultimately in a few months after May. Can the relevant authorities maintain a low inflationary growth as claimed?

 

Well.. these are not meant to be perceived as any form of political attack on any mandates and policies of policymakers, neither are they doubts of the integrity of the independent central bank but merely conjectures aimed at truly addressing the concerns of the people.

Yesh.. this is my first weekend since working! haha.. It certainly feels different, as weekends are no longer long to me.. in some sense, they are precious!

 

Looking back, I guess it has been a great working week and I attended my bank's dinner n dance yesterday.

N coming this evening, I am looking forward to meeting afew really old friends whom we have not met for almst 5years!! Expect it to be an evening of memories.. haha..

 

Alright, gotta run.. have a great weekend guys!