saw throat (no more)

 

tink the starfruit which i ate on wed nite helped heaps and the 2 bottles of 3 legs cooling water on tue too

hoo’s making profits?

Exxon Mobil posts biggest US quarterly profit ever

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported income Thursday that shattered its own record for the biggest profit from operations by a U.S. corporation, earning $14.83 billion in the third quarter.

 

 

BP posts 83 pct rise in 3Q profit

British oil company BP PLC reported an 83 percent profit rise on Tuesday for the third quarter on the back of high energy prices that peaked in July.

BP, the second-largest oil company in Europe after Dutch Shell, said that profit rose 83 percent to $8.05 billion, or 42.56 cents a share, from $4.41 billion, or 23.07 cents a share in the third quarter of last year.

BP will cut more jobs despite soaring profits

Wed Oct 29 2008

 

Energy giant BP, fresh from unveiling an 83-percent jump in third-quarter net profits, is planning to cut more jobs than previously announced, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The business daily quoted BP chief executive Tony Hayward as saying that he expected the total number of job cuts would be “materially higher” than the 5,000 already announced.

Hayward told the FT that he would maintain a “continuous focus to drive productivity and efficiency into BP,” as the oil industry faces a sharp slowdown in both global economic growth and energy demand.

In late 2007, the BP chief launched a major restructuring to streamline the group. BP has previously stated that it was seeking to axe 5,000 jobs, around 3,500 of which have already been cut.

On Tuesday, BP said that third-quarter net profit soared 83 percent to 5.16 billion pounds on record high oil prices which have since slumped.

Net profit, excluding gains from the value of its crude oil inventories, rocketed 148 percent to 6.43 billion pounds in the three months to September, compared with the same period of 2007.

World oil prices had struck record pinnacles above 147 dollars per barrel in July on global supply concerns.

However, they have since plunged by almost 60 percent, diving underneath 60 dollars per barrel this week as traders fretted about the impact of a worldwide economic slowdown.

American Express to cut 7,000 jobs

 

though i m in the know, the news still hit mi right in the face and i feel very very sad.  my fingers and toes r crossed for axp, they haf lasted more den 150 yrs, thru world wars and great depression, pls pull thru yet another crisis

 

In a stark acknowledgment of the tough times ahead in the credit card industry, American Express Co. said Thursday that it plans to cut 7,000 jobs, or about 10 percent of its worldwide work force, in an effort to slash costs by $1.8 billion in 2009.

The New York-based credit card issuer said it is also suspending management level salary increases next year and instituting a hiring freeze.

The job cuts will be across various business units, but will primarily focus on management positions, the company said.

Additionally, American Express said it plans to scale back investments in technology and marketing and business development, and streamline costs associated with some rewards programs. The company also expects to cut expenses for consulting and other professional services, travel and entertainment and general overhead.

As a result, American Express plans to take a restructuring charge of between $240 million and $290 million in the fourth quarter.

The company has been gearing up for a big restructuring for some time, first announcing in July that it planned to reduce overall costs and staffing levels, and take a related charge during the second half of the year.

“We’ve been engaged for the past few months in an intensive, companywide review of priorities and staffing levels,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and chief executive, in a statement. “The re-engineering program we announced today will help us to manage through one of the most challenging economic environments we’ve seen in many decades. It will also put us in position to ramp up investment spending as economic conditions improve so that we can take advantage of the substantial opportunities that will be available to us over the medium to long term.”

Last week, American Express reported a better-than-expected 24 percent decline in third-quarter profit. But the report echoed recent results from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Capital One Financial Corp. showing that the credit card environment is worsening as cardholders have trouble paying off debt and pull back their spending.

Even a company like American Express, which prides itself on catering to a more well-heeled clientele, is not immune.

The company’s customers tend to be more affluent than those of other card companies, but they are more heavily concentrated in California and Florida, where the slumping housing market is taking a toll. American Express also has a higher percentage of small-business customers, and small businesses tend to miss payments more than individuals, executives have said.

“Cardmember spending is likely to remain soft,” Chenault said in a statement last week. “Loan growth will be restrained, in part because of the steps we are taking to reduce credit risks, and credit indicators are likely to reflect the continued downturn in the economy and throughout the housing sector.”

American Express has been able to finance its operations amid the tight credit markets, but the efforts have been tougher and more costly.

Shares rose $1.23, or 4.9 percent, to $26.44 in morning trading. Shares have traded between $20.50 and $61.55 in the past 12 months.

mix and match

 

i haf tis fav black top tat ties at the waist and has some ruffles around the neckline

i muz haf wore tis like a million times but always wif black pants

last nite, i put it up against my black pleated skirt and surprisingly, it looks like a better match den the pants

karen echo-ed my thots tat tis is a good match

urine flow (test)

 

most gers i noe haf been perplexed or felt embarrassed in the bathroom over the sounds of their emptying their bladders

but since my kidney infection i feel very differently abt such matters

in order to confirm tat there has been no structural damage to my kidney after the infection, i went for a urine flow test.  it was to determine if i m able to empty my bladder fully and i m always happy abt the velocity of my urine flow if tat translates to healthy functional kidneys

angel found!

 

the angel refers to a top i got from KL wif the word ‘angel’ in silver lettering across the front which i luv

but it went missing after i wore it a couple of times

i even listed it dwn on my to-do list to find tis missing piece of clothing

thank goodness mum found it and i wore it on sun : )   damn happy sia !

starfruit juice

 

i need a healthy dose or two of starfruit juice to cure my sore throat

townhall

 

i attended a divisional level townhall last wk

i was surprised at the sheer no. of risk ppl we had

it was the 2nd time tis yr i was assured my job is safe

it feels kinda strange to b attending a townhall for a different coy yet it makes mi feel like i belong here more & more nw

and i m touched to hear tat training budget isn’t cut at all.  tis is a far cry from wat i m used to

it is an extraordinary time and there can’t b a more apt (and exciting) time for mi to retn to risk

yes the mkt conditions r going to b worse for asia next yr but wif my expertise, i will b able to contribute

though i feel a little sad tat i dun get to make the same contribution to my old coy.  retaining talent is hard enuff in good times and even tougher in bad times.  companies need talent to tide thru the bad times and vice versa employees need the company to support them thru the bad times.  if it’s not a win-win situation, one party will not b satisfied.  in most cases, it’s the individual who call it quits first

i m reminded of the svc quality training i went thru.  complaints are gifts.  y?  coz customers dun usually bother to complain and make their pain points known.  they juz leave the franchise wifout gifing the organisation a 2nd chance.  same thing wif employees

tis was exactly the reason i didn’t see the need to say anything more.   此时，无声胜有声．

我开始交好运了！

 

from the moment i penned my signature

mi is happy : )  there’s no hiding it

and the more i view the development of things in the bigger environment, the more grateful i m wif the passing of each day

心宽体胖

 

tat’s mi alrite.   mi has good life nw according to ZC

and it’s true, since my mood and days became beautiful again, my appetite has been restored

i dun ever wana lose weight due to stress again

better b fat and happy den slim and sad

mum’s quiz

 

i luv the way they phrased their questions!  so well written and full of humour!

 

This quiz is for moms, and moms are traditionally female, but just to be sure, what’s your gender?

How many children are you lucky enough to have?

Moms do so much these days, no matter what their marital status. What’s yours?

Besides your little angels, are there any other creatures in your home that require your care?

What’s your other job besides being a mom?

Being a mom is an important occupation… but often not your only one. Do you have any others?

Full Time…Full time mom, full time job
Part time…Full time mom, part time job
Full time mom…and that’s the only job I need right now!

How much schooling do you have to go along with your “mom smarts?”

Moms definitely come in all ages… what’s yours?

What are the little cherubs’ ages?

Are You a Slacker Mom?

 

Your quiz score makes you: Smarty Pants Mom

Smart parents like you have smart kids. They need plenty of intellectual stimulation and you provide them with all they need, plus lots of love. You know how to help them with algebra homework, and you are superior at kissing boo-boos.

 

 

 

 

 

trying our best

 

sigh!   YY tried his best and didn’t managed to clear his written CL2

hopefully his overall will b slightly better

if he has tried his best, tat means i haben tried hard enuff to bring out his best

we haf our work cut out for the hols.  it’s ‘mission nurture a chinese scholar’

sore throat

 

got worse in the day

i suspect it’s the ‘gao’ milo i drank tis morn

oh no!  my three legs cooling water doesn’t seem to work tonite!  i hate feeling unwell

‘Barack-o’-lanterns’

 

tis is interesting !

A big reason for that is the success of a website called yeswecarve.com launched on a whim by three young Obama supporters.

The site — its name is a pun on Obama’s “yes we can” slogan — began with a few pictures of “Barack-o’-lanterns,” or “Jack-o’-Bamas,”

obama & diversity

 

mi spent some time reading stories abt obama’s mum on sat nite.  very interesting and diverse background.

i suppose for a country wif so many migrants, a president wif a diverse background will b able to lead better especially thru the financial mess of the century the world is facing nw.

i juz read an article abt how diverse a ‘country’ india is wif the vast number of dialects and princely states tat form india collectively nw.   tis is similar to china wif its huge number of tribes and races.   not so long ago, russia was juz USSR.  even msia is made up of many states wif their own ‘kings’ or sultans.

there was a ST article abt race recently.  yes, i agree tat singaporeans should b given the option to state more den one race in instances of inter-racial marriages.  it is a marriage of cultures and the child should b allowed to recognise tis unique heritage in his/her race

my exercise quota for the yr

 

has been met by the women 10k run

phonebook

i haf been doing very regular phonebook housekeeping and i juz deleted mata’s no.  haha…i feel good so i’m sure it’s the rite move

————————————————————————————

on another note, i deleted all HIS no. on impulse when i was too full of pride.  tat includes his overseas no.  but i haf already committed his mobile to memory and like mi, we haben changed our nos. ever so 13 yrs dwn the road, i can still call him wifout the SIM record

————————————————————————————

my phonebook do not haf records of my closest frens as i haf commited all their numbers to memory

错觉?

 

too much to lose

mayb i should b braver and haf more confidence in my judgement

mayb i can try harder

i say let nature take its course, que sera sera

always better a friend for life den a lost lover forever

discomfort

 

i haben experienced such discomfort in a long while

so bad tat i had to rub oil

Pharma companies cutting jobs

Merck & Co. will cut 7,200 jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce, as the third-largest U.S. drugmaker faces generic competition to big-selling pills and falling sales of cholesterol medicine and cervical cancer vaccine.

Schering-Plough, of Kenilworth, New Jersey, announced earlier this year it would cut 10 percent of its workforce, or about 5,000 jobs, to reduce spending by $1.5 billion in 2012.

Other big drugmakers also have recently announced worker firings. Novartis AG of Basel, Switzerland, will fire 550; GlaxoSmithKline Plc of London announced 850; Sanofi-Aventis SA of Paris announced 927; UCB SA of Brussels will eliminate 2,000; and Abbott Laboratories of Abbott Park, Illinois, will chop 1,000.

Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, has fired more than 14,000 employees since 2007 and may have to further reduce its workforce

Gardasil Slips

Sales of Merck’s Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine fell 4 percent to $401 million in the quarter after concerns about safety, effectiveness and price cut into demand. U.S. sales dropped 16 percent to $276 million.

The vaccine was introduced in 2006 and is designed to prevent infection from the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, which causes 70 percent of cervical cancers and 90 percent of genital warts. The vaccine was Merck’s second- fastest growing product in 2007. The sales slump prompted the drugmaker to shift marketing from young girls to women who may not benefit.

word challenge

omg! despite playing everyday…my score is not improving from 11th place and juz deproved tdy to 12th place~！

broken fb

for mi, it seems the page is not loaded fully and properly coz i can’t accept any requests nor update my msg!

rainy days

SP asked mi one day how i came to work wifout umbrellas coz it was a wet morn

i told him honestly tat i run…haha

one morn, i was again caught at mrt wif no umbrellas

the ppl working in the area r so sweet and nice! as i stood at the mrt station peeping at the sky, one lady asked if i wanted to go across to the next building and sheltered mi

den i got to a traffic light and again the same thing happened! another lady offered to shelter mi across the road. mi feels so blessed to b working in an area wif so many nice ppl on a rainy day !

clearing mails

wat is the fastest way? to mass delete all the mails i dun intend to read of course!

eg. all the fb notifications and job search agent results…hehe

i muz clear at least 50 a day so i can bring dwn my unread mails # drastically !

word challenge

mi is trying very hard but not making any progress in my overall ranking of #11 leh !

channel 8 shows

mum and kiddos r faithful supporters of channel 8’s 9pm sitecoms

sometimes, the title of the show gets abit chim and the old and young will guess the words

i usually find out when i m back early and hear them calling out a weird show’s name when it nears 9….haha

bye bye pandan eyes

sp recommended skIII which is hazeline snow for curing dark circles

according to him, works wonders!

and is excellent sunblock too

muz try!

though i tink the elianto eye masks work great too! and a steal for the price!

unread mails

nearly 200 unread mails…wah! the number itself is putting mi off

brown nails

i luv the brown shade, it’s xtremely easy to apply, one coat gifs superb coverage and…the colour reminds mi of chocolate

if chocolate is a happy food, tis chocolate shade is a happy nail colour!

so glad dark shades r in coz i luv such shades

pink always makes mi feel old

ladybug bag

my new feel-good bag! i feel so happy seeing it when i opened my drawer on fri

retail therapy works!

no wonder there’s a fair for millionaires in germany who seeks retail therapy midst the recession and gloomy credit outlook

ok, mi is no millionaire but my 14.90 bag did wonders for my mood too

i haf been using the teaholic mug from ann since i started work in new office. i luv the capacity of the mug and nearly always use it for tea except when i drink milo occassionally. on the cover, it says mood maker…how true!

beauty sleep

is crucial to cure my dark circles and eye bags!

products can onli do so much, nuthing beats beauty sleep!

i got 70 marks for 鲍鱼鸡汤面

from YY while bro got 98 marks for his version of their fav noodles

i luv soggy noodles so i m always tempted to let the noodles cook abit longer

tiger biscuits

are an all time fav of bro and moi…no, we r not ang moh kias so i haf no positive feelings towards oreo at all…i’d rather dip my ping pong cream crackers into milo den dunk an oreo into milk

i luv to get a pack of them whenever i go to sheng siong

after lunch on sat, i witnessed YY, QQ and kerri devoured a whole pack of tiger biscuits. looks like food preference runs in the family

wiki

i’m a wiki addict, it’s my first source of info and i like wiki travel too

tis is the information age and information is available so readily and freely tat it’s an information explosion

feet misery

i can’t wait for the wkend and i get to wear my flip flops again

frugality

i juz got the latest email from BB center and most of the articles were focused on how to spend less in the difficult economic conditions

looks like the americans r finally going to learn the virtue of frugality

Life and How to Survive It

The author of The Teenage Textbook (1988) – Adrian Tan, was the guest-of-honour at a recent NTU convocation ceremony. This was his speech to the graduating class of 2008.

Life and How to Survive It

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that ‘Learning is a lifelong process’ and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan , and tied with San Marino . It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term ‘Karoshi’, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock ha s been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are ‘making a living’. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan ‘Arbeit macht frei’ was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it , for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say ‘be loved’. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-lov e. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It is far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.

training/enrichment

i like the focus on training here

the mandated hrs of training r strictly enforced. i m the most impt commodity so yes, i appreciate the focus and active part the comp plays

and i like the easy enrolment and elearning platform…the learning system is so primitive and user UNfriendly compared to wat i haf nw

stockmkts and fx

up & dwn everyday

luckily i dun haf much investment or FCY deps if not i’ll haf heart attacks from the fluctuations

means more rpts tat i haf to do…mi got a lot to learn, great !

everyday is interesting for mi coz i always gain abit more knowledge

of hot towels and massage

i miss my hot towel after massage

i thot the therapist forgot so i opened the towel warmer myself, intending to grab a towel. to my dismay, it wasn’t on and was empty

massage is ok, their standards quite consistent in terms of therapists and their massage techniques which is a huge relief for mi. i nbr haf to worry abt wasted sessions when massage is not up to par.

and i like the hydrobath coz i tink the bath milk smells wonderful !

it’s in the stars

From his base in India’s financial capital Mumbai, Raj Kumar Sharma has been tracking the turbulence in the world stock markets and has come to one firm conclusion — it was written in the stars.

As an astro-finance specialist, he has made a career on predicting whether the Bombay Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, Dow Jones or FTSE-100 will go up or down by studying favourable or unfavourable planetary alignments.

Where many blame banks overstretching themselves or inadequate financial controls and policy, Sharma sees a clash between fiery Saturn and its arch enemy Leo as a key factor in the recent financial turmoil.

“Leo is the sign of the sun and the sun is the father in Indian astrology,” he told AFP.

“But the son (Saturn) and his father (the sun) don’t get along, so whenever they are sitting in the same house together, they always fight and create ill-will and danger in the market,” he said.

In late April, Saturn was joined in Leo by Ketu — a so-called “shadow planet” in Hindu mythology that can indicate failure and loss of wealth.

As Saturn and Ketu fought like “dragons,” Sharma predicted a global financial collapse. Mars’s arrival in Leo at the end of June stoked the flames further.

And Saturn was again in Leo at the end of August and into September when the financial storm claimed its most high-profile victim.

“That’s why Lehman Brothers fell,” he said of the US investment bank.

Sharma, 48, is one of a number of practitioners predicting market trends here using ancient Indian or vedic astrology. For traders, it can be another tool to use alongside more orthodox analysis.

In other walks of life, vedic astrology is used to determine everything from a new baby’s name to decisions on moving house or opening a new business.

“We Indian astrologers believe that everybody is influenced by the cosmic energy of these stars,” said Sharma, who has been drawing up stock market horoscopes for the past 16 years.

“You cannot avoid the coolness of the moon or the heat of the sun. And if you cannot avoid heat and cold, you cannot avoid the influence of Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury or Venus.”

Christopher Kevill, who writes a financial astrology column for India’s Daily News and Analysis newspaper, agrees there are broad links between planetary positions and stock price movements.

“Just like people have horoscopes, so, too, do corporate entities such as stock exchanges,” he told AFP by email from his base in Toronto, Canada.

Jupiter and Venus plus 120 degree angles between planets have tended to indicate positive results while Saturn and Mars and 90 degree angles are traditionally thought of as more troublesome, he explained.

“I don’t think the planets ’cause’ anything to happen on Earth — they are mere correlations based on some larger principle of interconnectedness,” he explained.

“In the case of the meltdown of the markets in September and October, there were clear signs.

“For example, when Saturn is 150 degrees away from another planet, in this case Rahu, the North Lunar Node, it tends to reflect a state of uncertainty, of fear. It’s a lot more complicated than that but that’s one layer of explanation.”

Sharma is bullish about the months ahead, seeing Venus entering Libra as heralding stability and recovery.

But with Saturn still hanging around Leo there could be more volatility, particularly in oil and the metals markets, he added.

Kevill on the other hand was bearish: “I think rallies will fizzle quickly and then the market will sell off again.”

But both agreed on one thing: the troubles are not over.

“The turmoil will continue for two to three years,” predicted Sharma.

Kevill was equally pessimistic: “By 2010, I think the markets may be 50 percent lower than current levels.”

newborn found at teck whye

at entrance of rubbish centre

i feel so sorry for the BB and mother

every birth should b celebrated wif the family basking in bliss and happiness

how it muz break the mum’s heart to carry BB to full term and abandon own BB!
while some may tink it cruel or irresponsible of her to abandon BB, i tink it takes a lot of luv & courage for her to carry BB to full term when she noes she is unable to continue to care for BB or even see BB after birth.
childbirth is not wifout risk and is one of most major physical event in a woman’s life so mummy has demostrated her luv for BB oredi

and how sad for BB not to haf mummy’s love in the first few days of their life!

YY’s SA1 spelling list

1 amazing
2 comfortable
3 creatures
4 crumpled
5 delicious
6 enormous
7 feather
8 frightened
9 fabulous
10 tunnel
11 mischievous
12 mumbled
13 narrator
14 prosperous
15 screeched
16 slither
17 squeeze
18 squirm
19 stammered
20 thermometer

bonbon78 is losing her sanity and vomiting blood…呕心沥血

my msn status

my sanity

is something i m in danger of losing as i study chinese wif YY

my level of sanity is inversely proportionate to the duration of time we study chinese

gosh!

i actualli held my breath while awaiting the response！

exams

how did we study in the past?

we didn’t haf parents breathing dwn our necks yet we did well in sch

perhaps kiddos nowadays haf too much and want too little tat there is no push to study

i nbr believe in parents taking exams leave for kiddos and i still dun believe in it but YY is reli pushing the limits of my patience

i feel very helpless

sometimes when it comes to YY’s chinese

mayb i m not fierce enuff, mayb he’s juz hopeless

i m very irritated and find it very hard to remain patient when he is so slow…argh!

when u gif a gift

it should b something u love.

so wise!

too little too late

no, mi is not referring to the billion dollar bailout plans

mi is referring to YY’s chinese exams

all the last min cramming seems so futile…i can onli pray for him and hope for the best !

October’s Here, You Know What’s Coming

tat was the header of a MyPoints email.

first thot tat came to mind was oktober fest of course but no lah, it’s actually….abt xmas and thanksgiving coming…duh

fb

is it juz my acct? i hate it when i can’t update the status, i clicked on Post a thousand times and nuthing happens and i can’t even comment on walls

on clutter

had to stay back abit tdy for some system update and was flipping her world in chillout room

there was an article on Feng Shui tat caught my eye. nuthing to do wif $$, juz abt increasing love luck

one of the advice is to declutter wardrobe! another good reason for mi to do spring cleaning so tat the ‘qi’ will improve

indecisiveness, indifference, inaction

 

i tink indecisiveness is not as bad as indifference

inaction is criminal lor !

twin lovers

 

is the name of the twin drinks the kiddos had.  the blue one is champagne flavoured and the yellow is corn flavoured.  very unique and both taste so good lor !

 

Peace…….!

 

i took tis pict when i was at the spa while clearing leave.

tis pict reminds mi of serenity, peace and a sense of zen.  i luv tis pict i took of the table layout when i was served tea before the wonderful treatment.  wat can b better den having massage on a wkday ?!

 

uncompatibility

 

we were watching the 7pm show which shows the wife going back to work against dr’s instructions and having a miscarriage.  YY complained the wife is in the wrong for not wanting to haf BB when the hubby desires BB.  i corrected him tat nobody’s wrong, juz tat there’r differences in their expectations and intentions.

YY recommends tat they get a divorce if they can’t work out their differences.

complaints

 

most customers dun complain, they juz walk away

when ppl complain, it means tat they would like some behaviourial change and r willing to gif the recipient a chance

thus, i chose to remain silent on certain matters after i realised wat a ‘catch-up’ would constitute

no, i dun care enuff to complain

same wif r/ship.   there’s no need for complain nor explanations once the mind’s made up

i dun believe and will nbr gif lame excuses

oktoberfest

 

haben had any german beer tis yr!

satisfied

 

by my late nite suppers this wk !

i ‘pinched’ a piece of meat before bed a couple of days back.   so content to haf a morsel of food in my seemingly empty and growling stomach

and mum has started to boil soup again these few days.   of course we can’t finish all the soup so i can haf a big bowl to myself before turning in.   i feel so blessed and contented though i had to find a strong temptation to attrack the pot of braised chicken wings…y mummy cook such yummy food?  how to resist?

Ben and Jerry’s new flavor: Breast milk cheesecake swirl?

Ben and Jerry’s new flavor: Breast milk cheesecake swirl?

yes i tink the idea is crazy but i had a field time reading the comments

way back into love

 

was one of 2 songs we intended for dept karaoke nite

well, good thing we sang seasons in the sun first coz dun haf way back into luv…sigh ~!   i wana sing tis leh

bling initial pendant

 

i got a rodium bling initial pendant tdy

i should haf got ‘L’ but ‘I’ looks so much better tat i got tat instead

den i realise tat ‘I’ doesn’t look very good when i wear it.  i went back for an xchange which they dun entertain

can i pass the ‘I’ pendant to someone?

ironing and boots

 

having made up my mind to don my fav pair of boots tml, i haf to iron the skirt i luv to match wif it

it’s a vicious cycle.  as i tink up outfits, i haf to do so much adhoc ironing !

besides my jeans & camis, i haben been repeating my outfits in the past 4 wks of work

repeated my dresses tis wk, actualli i dun reli haf to coz i haf so many bottoms and dresses i dug up which i haben wore for the longest time

it’s exciting to haf something different to wear to office everyday.  tink for girls, the amt of effort spent on dressing up is proportionate to the level of anticipation so yes, i m beli excited abt going to work EVERYDAY~!

hunger pangs

i went to bed on thurs nite feeling very very hungry

i had a slice of bread wif orange marmalade for bfast and i was famished at 10.30am !

so bad tat i could feel gastric coming on so i ran dwn to BK to grab croissantwich. the bfast set which includes coffee/tea is onli 2 bucks. wat a steal ! i was so tempted to eat it at the counter but i resisted and gobbled up the croissantwich in under 5 mins when i got back to my desk. so satisfying !

tis place is even cooler den concourse lor even when the shopping block was still there wif BK!

now, starbucks and BK are juz dwnstairs, stone’s throw from lift lobby and opp the office are 2 coffeeshops so no lack of teh-c, kopi too

bright red dress

anyone rem mi wearing a ‘bright red dress’ in shanghai?

the onli bright red dress i haf is the one i wore to roz’s wedding

so i was perplexed by tis comment

turns out my brown & red floral dress was labelled as ‘bright red dress’

i luv tis dress a lot

 

ironing

i ironed a few pieces before work but haben go ard to clearing my mountain

so many clothes tat need ironing…tsk tsk

tkd grading

time flies! YY’s 4th grading tdy meaning he has been learning for a yr nw!

he went for his first lesson on the day of the Oct grading last yr and class wasn’t on coz ZC ‘uncle’ forgot abt the grading

i m always surprised at the sheer number of TKD students at each grading…i dun find the teaching system very formal coz there’r so many classes held at schs, RCs, community centres so it’s a good thing the grading is centralised

looks like TKD remains a popular sport

Citi: Wells Fargo blocked from buying Wachovia

The fight over control of Wachovia intensified Saturday, as a judge temporarily agreed to block the sale of the bank to Wells Fargo, Citigroup announced in a news release.

State Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos issued the order blocking the sale of Wachovia Corp., which Wells Fargo & Co. had agreed to purchase in a $14.8 billion deal.

Citigroup Inc. accused Wells Fargo of trying to cut off its earlier takeover offer of Wachovia’s banking operations for $2.1 billion in a deal struck with the assistance of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. On Friday, four days after that deal was struck, Wells Fargo said it was buying Wachovia.

The litigation pits two of the largest remaining financial institutions against one another as the ongoing credit crisis leads the federal government to arrange marriages and sales among banking entities.

Wells Fargo and Citigroup did not respond to messages left late Saturday seeking comment about the temporary order blocking the sale.

Wachovia spokeswoman said in a statement the company believes its agreement with Wells Fargo is “proper, valid and … in the best interest of shareholders, employees and the American taxpayers.”

She said Citigroup is free to make a better offer to Wachovia under that agreement.

The FDIC said Friday that it “stands behind its previously announced agreement with Citigroup.” It also said it would review all proposals and work with regulators of all three institutions to resolve the tug-of-war.

Citigroup says it has an exclusivity agreement that bars Wachovia from talking with other potential buyers. Its shares fell sharply after the surprise announcement of the Wells Fargo-Wachovia agreement.

on work and kiddos

we were chatting in the car and i said tat i tink nov will b a busy mth wif 2 colleagues away

YY’s first reaction was ‘I dun mind if u come home late’

i haben even thot abt tat bit lor but it’s still very sweet of him to gif mi clearance to come back late

duets

was songs searching for a number for the dept karaoke nite coz there’s a section for newbies : )

i luv duets a lot. i realise tat i haf many many duets in my collection

my initial thot was to sing something from abba coz us newbies collaborated to do a group item. but i tink duets actualli sound better. we can juz split the guys and girls bit and do chorus tog

swimming

is tiring~! though i was juz walking in the water for the most part of it

it’s the 2nd last lesson and i decided to get into the pool tis time coz the kiddos dun seem to make much progress

and the results were amazing. after wks of hanging on to the board cum instructor, both kiddos r able to kick their way across the pool wif juz the board and wifout mi holding onto the board.

i dun allow them to touch mi in the water. i hang on to the board and they hold the board. after their confidence increased, i juz let go of the board and they dun realise the difference

but i’m so tired, i had a 2 hrs nap wif QQ afterwards

两个女孩

i luv tis song, especially this part

你答的毫无意外两个都爱
你滔滔不绝我却听不明白
只知道你迟早两颗心都要伤害

莹的爱依偎著你的身体
无私地将你包围等待著你在心理给一个角落
却猜不出你每天想念著谁
你心理惦记著谁我想是吧
就是那你叫她玲的女孩
玲多温驯美丽莹好可爱
隐约觉得不安却说不出来
你知道却绝口不提分开
你答的毫无意外两个都爱
你滔滔不绝我却听不明白
只知道你迟早两颗心都要伤害
两个女孩易感专情独立
聪明冷静纤细
竟然会那么爱你我无话可说
结局不出到最后谁安慰谁
说不定谁怨恨谁快不要吧
两个任谁都心疼的女孩
玲多温驯美丽莹好可爱
隐约觉得不安却说不出来
你知道却绝口不提分开
你答的像个无赖两个都爱
你滔滔不绝只想置身事外
到何时你才想说明白
玲多温驯美丽莹好可爱
隐约觉得不安却说不出来
你知道却绝口不提分开
你答的像个无赖两个都爱
你滔滔不绝只想置身事外
难道你不知道
两颗心你都伤害

太阳饼

　太阳饼是台中有名的点心，它是用面粉作皮，麦芽糖作馅，经烤制后外皮多层酥脆，内馅柔软不黏牙，入口香甜。现在台中市街头到处都有卖太阳饼的，可哪一家才是正宗的创始店呢？

　　同期：元明太阳饼业者：「我们是是正宗的。」

　　太阳堂饼店业者：「我们是早的太阳堂饼店。」

　　阿明师太阳饼业者：「我们是正宗的阿明师传人。」

　　元明、太阳堂、阿明师这3家知名太阳饼店，其实都和太阳饼的发明人魏清海有关，魏清海先后在元明店和太阳堂糕饼店制作过太阳饼，阿明师饼店则是他的后人成立的。这3家太阳饼 店各有各的卖点。

　　同期：阿明师太阳饼业者：「入口即化，酥皮有1百多层。」元明太阳饼业者：「我们强调麦芽馅比较软，比较Q。」

　　老台中人都知道，太阳饼之所以叫做太阳饼，是和太阳堂饼店有关系。

　　同期：太阳堂饼店业者：「太阳堂只有这间店，太阳花图腾只有我们才有。」

　　不管谁是正宗的，如今太阳饼已经成为台中市家喻户晓的美食，每年为当地带来不小的经济收入。

阿明师太阳饼

 

is reli the best tat i haf tasted lor

阿明师 is the inventor of 太阳饼 and used to work at 太陽堂.

now i realised y teresa bought us 阿明師老店太陽堂 instead of 太陽堂太陽饼 coz it’s better lor!   reli the best i haf tasted so far.

keow passed mi another ‘brand of 太陽饼 to try, not nice one

 

sweet YY

YY is actuali a beli sweet boy

he will prepare my ‘bed’ for mi and even put toothpaste for mi

and our bedtime routine is

Moi : Goodnite dear
YY : Goodnite mum, i luv u

top coat

i luv top coats and how shiny they make my nails look

a must haf !

matchmake

karen and i did a good job tdy

somemore so impromptu

maybe tat’s fate, if 2 persons r predestined to meet, den they will

女人扛起半边天

and we r carrying the men as well in some cases

it’s hard to b a small woman when there isn’t a big man

nw i appreciate MCP

sg’s biggest bank

kim mentioned tat in hk, both UOB and DBS claimed to b THE biggest bank in sg

i haf a dream

i believe in angels….

i can’t get the songs outta my mind. mayb i should sing them next wk at dept karaoke session

hold my hand and grow old together

so sweet…i juz luv my translation

unread mails

i’m not sure since when i started dvlping a laziness to clear my inbox. i haf 130 unread mails and i m juz so lazi to get thru them.

mostly from mypoints. i read all the rest diligently

$1.75 for a house…wow!

With a winning bid of just $1.75, a Chicago woman has won an auction for an abandoned home in Saginaw. Joanne Smith, 30, recently was the top bidder for the home during an auction on eBay.  Her bid was one of eight for the home.

“I am going to try and sell it,” she told the newspaper. “I don’t have any plans to move to Saginaw.”

Smith said she hasn’t seen the property or visited Saginaw, which has been hard-hit by economic troubles in recent years.

There’s a notice on the door of the home saying a foreclosure hearing is pending, the newspaper said. She must pay about $850 in back taxes and yard cleanup costs.

The seller was Southern Investments LLC.

救市方案

 

 

“美参议院通过修改后的救市方案”

duno y but when i heard tis news, i kept tinking 救世方案

柳暗花明又一村

 

new day, new mth, new hope : )

watever will b will b

 

the future’s not ours to see, wat will b will b

as long as i followed my heart, i will haf no regrets

notes denomination

 

i was reading tis very educational book tat teaches kiddos abt money

one of the questions asked was abt the denomination of notes so i asked QQ if there r notes wif denomination GE 1000 dollars.  she answered rite away “have!  hell notes!”   $%#$%%&

kungfu panda

 

is QQ’s new nickname

coz she was sore tat she didn’t get a kungfu panda t-shirt while kerri and YY had one each

in the end, YY’s t-shirt is abit small so she got it instead.  YY didn’t even care for new clothes

and QQ is so thrilled tat she is wearing it whenever we go out

错爱

 

i noe there’s no such thing as bad luv but sometimes luv alone is not enuff

some things should b kept in our hearts and nbr expressed for fear of hurting oneself and others

brown

 

is my new nail colour

tis is one of my fav shades

and yes, dark shades r in as karen has advised mi : )

coincidence

 

all things happen for a reason

there’s no such thing as a coincidence as we r constantly reminded by master wugui in kungfu panda

mamma mia

 

is so nice, even the 2nd time round!

i luv all the jokes and so many fav scenes!  when the ladies sing and gather in strength as they danced their way to the pier and the finale when they jumped into the water

also the 3 dads all wanting to walk sophie dwn the aisle was hilarious!

let nature take its course

 

凡事最好不要强求。 顺其自然， no i m not referring to my payslip

payslip

 

looking at my last payslip from AM and cannot reconcile the numbers.  stressed!

i definitely need to tok to someone from payroll abt tis (ya, i noe, it’s outsourced, so?  muz still explain the sums)

all final payment should haf working attached, save them from questions.

i juz learnt every mth has 22 working days so my days of service till 7th sep is 5 working days, but i cannot understand the AWS bit

if COMCS means Comm Chest, y in the world is there a sudden deduction in my last mth of svc?

nah beh!   i hate to b pulling my hair out for tis on a public hol lor #%$$^%(*&

merrill lynch

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] has increased its stake in Merrill Lynch & Co Inc <MER.N> to 13.7 percent from 9.4 percent, according to a U.S. regulatory filing.

The sovereign wealth fund is Merrill’s largest shareholder. Bloomberg News reported earlier this month that Temasek had been granted regulatory approval to increase its stake.

Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> announced on Sept. 15 that it would buy Merrill Lynch in an all-stock deal expected to close in the 2009 first quarter.

On Monday, Bank of America shares closed at $30.25, valuing Merrill Lynch shares at just under $26, above the $23 to $24 a share Temasek paid for the bulk of its investment in Merrill at the end of last year.

Merrill shares closed down 19 percent on Monday at $22

Temasek raises stake in Merrill Lynch to 13.7 pct

 

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] has increased its stake in Merrill Lynch & Co Inc <MER.N> to 13.7 percent from 9.4 percent, according to a U.S. regulatory filing.

The sovereign wealth fund is Merrill’s largest shareholder. Bloomberg News reported earlier this month that Temasek had been granted regulatory approval to increase its stake.

Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> announced on Sept. 15 that it would buy Merrill Lynch in an all-stock deal expected to close in the 2009 first quarter.

On Monday, Bank of America shares closed at $30.25, valuing Merrill Lynch shares at just under $26, above the $23 to $24 a share Temasek paid for the bulk of its investment in Merrill at the end of last year.

Merrill shares closed down 19 percent on Monday at $22

well done singapore!

 

F1 fans could not have asked for a more exciting race, filled with crashes, upsets and a surprise winner.

Don Saroff, a tourist, said: “I’ll definitely be coming back for the next four years. The people were very pleasant and everything was very good.”

While thousands partied hard at glamorous parties, some said it might take a while for all Singaporeans to develop an affinity for F1, especially in the heartlands.

Trackside hotels betting on selling out their rooms might also wish to rethink their pricing policy.

Some had jacked up room rates by as much as five times, leading to a slow take—up.

“Certain hotels in the Marina area only slashed rates from S$1,500 to S$800—S$900 a night just one to two weeks before the race. I would have expected that it would have been done a long time ago.”

Early road closures were also a huge turn—off for shoppers, affecting malls like Suntec City and Marina Square. Authorities will be looking at how to minimise inconveniences to the public in future races, such as cutting down the road closures to just one or two days.

With fans still basking in the afterglow of Singapore’s F1 debut, all hopes are for the city’s Grand Prix to go beyond its five—year contract.