The Puppet Master

I think I make a good baddie in real-life.

Baddies are the master of deceptions. They are smart people, looks good on the outside but are actually rotten to the core.

With my Mr Nice Guy image, I'm the guy that people suspect the least. If I was locked in a home with a few other contestants, and kill someone with a candlestick the bedroom, no one will ever suspect me.


When I purr my innocence, your conscience will haunt you just for suspecting me. And when you have that back turned, I'll be there to stab you with a pair of chopsticks. Ouch!

Face it. I'm just too nice. And that provides a great front for me in my conquest to take over the world.

Ok, or at least hold the world ransom... for one million dollars.
*puts little pinkie by the mouth, aka Dr Evil*



I believe that all babies are born pure and innocent. Jealousy and greed slowly manifest us. For those who are able to resist and put a cap on it, they manage to remain good guys. But for how long?

Just because you WERE good, doesn't mean you WILL be good.

It is said that the evil cannot beat the righteousness. That's a whole load of bullsh*t, actually. Read about the rogue trader who caused the downfall of banks? After he was convicted, he wrote a book and made money for himself. On a similar example, ex-hackers are often employed by computer security companies to combat other unknown hackers.

You don't fight evil with good. You fight evil with evil.

Being evil is something that most single guys out there should consider. After all, those yummy yum yum babes don't like nerds and geeks, they like "guys who are bad". Man who are bad-ass, and punches anyone that dare look at their gal.

Now why does wrong feel so so right?

If I get the chance to be a super villain, I wanna be known as The Puppet Master. When I pull the strings, you my puppets, will have your movements controlled by me.

And I, as the Puppet Master, the most diabolical manipulator on planet Earth will use this world as my playground.

When I pull the strings, all my minions will dance.


Never forget the name of Shingo T - The Puppet Master!
*inserts evil laugh*

As with many organisations, I am on the constant lookout of like-minded competent individuals who seek to make a difference to the world. People with leadership (aka manipulative) skills who are able to perform under tight deadlines. Fear not if you have no powers, because I can instil ANY (evil) power to you, once I become The Puppet Master someday.

Additional prerequisites are as follows.
(1) Minimum 'O' levels
(2) Not afraid to sit down on the train, while some pregnant woman stands in front of you.
(3) Must look presentable in black attire. Gals must look great in mini skirts.
(4) Dogs must bark at you when they see you, and babies must cry.
(5) Be open to mindset changes.

Just leave in the comment box the power you desire, a cool name for yourself, and your earliest date of availability. When I become The Puppet Master someday, I might just let you go under my wing with your bestowed powers.

Application closes on 7 July.
Potential applicants will be notified by this blog.

Splinter in the finger

A few months back, some wooden splinter got into one of my finger (can't remember why). The pain still lingers now and then when I apply pressure to that finger.

Went to google around to see if it is ok to leave the splinter inside, only to be met with mixed answers ranging from "The body has a natural defensive mechanism to push the splinter out", to "OMG, you may get infected, go see a doctor or you will die" (ok, I exaggerated the latter a little).

I'm a little tempted to ignore the splinter, but at the end of my head, I wonder if my finger might get amputated years down the road. Haha.


Dr Stiletto: Save me, I'm dying! =p

So have you guys ever get splinters in your hand? What's the longest time that such splinters stayed within your finger?

Edit: The picture of the bloody finger is not my fingers. Just some random picture from the Internet.

A gamer's future

I am very close to a friend, someone in his 50s, who is constantly worried about his children, even though they have all finished schooling and stepping into the workforce.

One of his son was an avid gamer since young, and my friend used to disapprove how much time the son was wasted on gaming. It didn't helped that this kid subsequently picked up a course in gaming progamming in polytechnic, and also dabble with learning magic tricks, and street basking in his free time.

From my friend's point of view, this kid was not picking up USEFUL life skills.

Well, I just received a call from my friend, who told me that this son was just headhunted by an iPhone game applications company, who offered him a pretty good starting pay (S$2500), and he's not even a university graduate.

Nice!

Once again, 80% of worries in life is unfounded. Just because someone appeared to have a so-so past doesn't mean he won't have a bright future!

Shops in shops

For all budding entrepenuers, here's a small trend I have noticed, shops in shops.

Read this article about Singapore manicure owners renting a small space within saloons to set up their manicure service. It's an interesting idea because with a cheap monthly rental of $200-$500, it is
(1) cheaper than renting a whole shop which sets you back by a few thousand dollars rental.
(2) gives more exposure than online businesses.

People walking into the saloon to "beautify" their hair may be enticed to take the chance to beautify their nails too. This synergy works the other way too, making it a win-win situation for both parties, from both cost and sales perspective.

A few months back, I went to the cafe of one of my friend, which also boast a little "provision shop", selling unique stuffs like biodegradable menstrual pads, toothpaste made from herbs etc... While customers wait for their food to be cooked, they have nothing else to do and tend to see what the shops have to offer. And on top of that, the shop also has a seminar room for rental, which also doubles up as a tuition centre. You heard me, a tuition centre within a café. It’s 3 distinctive businesses, café + provision shop + tuition centre. But the synergy is there, parents waiting for their kids to finish tuition can sip tea or do some shopping at the same premises.

Just like how saloons are helping external shampoo companies to display the products on their shelves, I believe there are many other ways which we can leverage on each other’s business, to defray cost and energise our business.

The world is your playground.
Have fun.

Analysts are overrated

Meteorologists have the best job in the world - they can predict heavy rains tomorrow, but when tomorrow passes by with nothing but great sunshine, the meteorologist keeps his job and try again.

For those of you who are into the theory of forecasting, Rule #1 of forecasting states this.

Forecast are never accurate.

Nothing is 100%. Predicting weather is based on what is likely to happen. Similarly, choosing a boyfriend that seems nice enough doesn't guarantee that he doesn't stray, he's just less likely to do so.

Analyst predicts the future outcome based on past events (Markov Rule). Methods like moving averages, stochastic processes, regression, extrapolation, neural networks, weird simulation models and all the fancy forecasting methods are used to create a black box model, which the layman doesn't understand.

And presto, an analyst report is produced.

In almost every analyst report released to the market, they are normally accompanied by lots of footnotes stating assumptions. Like for example, an insurance brochure saying how fast you can grow your money in the best likely situation of 15% annual growth (and a year later after you buy the policy, the recession sets in).

Facts do not lie. Biased opinions and the way that selected data is used however do try to skew the reader's judgement towards signing up for a financial plan.

Though analysts are supposedly objective, there is normally a motive for the report. Even a reporter who wants to report objectively may tone down his criticism because of his editor, or intervention from government-related agencies.

My first job upon graduation was an analyst at some government-linked company. I had complex mathematical models to do some forecast, but the numbers that I came up with were often deal with sceptism by the experienced people. Eventually I realised this.

The correct answers are what the client wants to listen.

And also to all aspiring analysts, here's a tip from Uncle Shingo.

It's better to have a simple forecasting model that the client understands, than a more accurate model that acts like an unknown black box.

Moving on, investment reports have always been accompanied with words like caveat emptor, which means buyers beware. Always take an analyst report with a pinch of salt, digest the facts, but don't take their recommendation blindly. No one is responsible for your own losses (and wins) but yourself.

A stock market newbie often make this mistake by following friend's advices or overweight calls from reports. I know, because I have been through that phase, and lost money because of it. And I have got no one to blame but my own laziness to spend time reading up.

Some time back, a research team pit a bunch of experienced traders against a bunch of kids in picking stocks. And as you might have guessed correctly, the noobs won the experienced traders. Sometimes you are better off making a wild guess than to take the advice of an "expert".

On an interesting note, JP Morgan, a leading financial service firm, recently published a paper on the World Cup. It predicted the winners of each round, and interetingly, if you followed them, you would have lost money.

What JP Morgan predicted
Netherland beat Denmark
Cameroon beat Japan
Italy beat Paraguay

And the result were as follows
Netherland beat Denmark (2-0)
Japan beat Cameroon (1-0)
Italy drew Paraguay (1-1)

Any football savvy guy could have easily make bets that will give JP Morgan a run for its money.

To the guys at JP Morgan, just stick to what you do "best".

My kid and me (Part 2)

The "kid" in question in the post entitled My kid and me (Part 1) refers to my Wifey actually, I have no real children of my own yet. =p

My Wifey has a double personality. Though 5 years my junior, she is pretty matured for someone her age. We have many similar thinkings, but at the time we also complement in whatever each other lack. She is sharp and takes care of matters pertaining to spending, while I am more objective and take care of matters pertaining to earning.

On the other hand, she can turn into this little girl, afraid of dogs and insects, ignorant about why the world is full of conflicts, or asking childish questions, which actually makes her quite cute. Haha.

Her vulnerability reinforces my duty to ensure that she comes to no harm, it also gives me a way to be more MAN (hey I'm ego driven). But sometimes I also wonder who will take care of her if I'm not around any more.

Not that I will be gone anytime soon, just that The Man Above has a way of creating situations when we least expect them.

So does going to bed with a "kid" make me a paedphile?

My kid and me (Part 1)

We all have our secrets. And today, I shall share mine with all my faithful readers.

But before I move on to it, let me give a little background about myself.

I grew up in a poor family where my parents were busy working to earn a living for the family. I grew up deprived of time with my parents - my mum spends her whole life working in a factory, coming home late and was busy doing all the laundries and wiping the floor and cooking for us. She sleeps for less than 6 hours a day.

But she is also health conscious for us. She will condition us to cut down on food with artificial coloring and flavoring. And she cuts a variety of fruits for us to eat every day, knowing how lazy we children are.

My dad on the other hand, was a quiet guy. He likes to read newspapers, and also those news and history films on TV. He loved us, just chose not to show it. When I was younger, he will tell me to brush my teeth daily, failing which he say “I will regret in future”. And I did.

It’s amazing how history tends to repeat itself.

For those who do not know, I have a kid.

And today, I’m teaching my little kid not to take in junk food. I’m also cutting fruits for her and putting them nicely on a plate before giving it to her. And I also make a fuss my my kid doesn’t brush her teeth, saying that it's something she will regret in future.

Ironic, isn’t it? How we can grow up detesting some stuffs that our parents do, and yet duplicate the same behaviour on our kid?

Cherry on Top Award and Stylish Blogger Award

Despite being pretty inactive on the blogosphere these days, I have shamelessly continued to accept awards.

And here's a Cherry on Top Award and the Stylish Blogger Award from Lily Chen from Lily murmurs in English.




Thanks Lily. And you should really change your blog name, because I don't think you are murmuring. I know, because we met. ^_^

The Stylish Blogger Award requires me to write 5 random facts about myself and award the tag to 5 others (which I won't tag).

Have done it on a few occassions, and I'm hoping not to repeat the same few facts about myself.

(1) I love myself. And I think that's important, because you can't really take care of others until you have taken care of yourself.

(2) I seldom lose my temper, but there are 2 events when I am more likely to get impatient - when I'm sleepy, and when I'm hungry.

(3) I am very close to my grandma. Being in control of my emotions most of the time, I sometimes wonder if I will sink into depression when the inevitable comes. She's coming to 90 years old soon.

(4) I believe alot that most talent are learned and not inborn. Everyone has a great potential to achieve greatness - me and you included.

(5) Being aware of my own abilities, I frequently find myself feeling arrogant and have to curb my ego and act humble. It's not that I'm better than the rest, it's just that when you have as much confidence as me, even crossing the road successfully without getting knocked down makes me a CHAMPION.

As for the Cherry On Top Award, I'm supposed to thank the person who gave me the reward, then list three things I love about myself and post a picture I love. Then tag 5 people.

Won't tag, but I will do the rest.

Starting with the 3 things I love about myself.

(A) Confidence. It is what makes me so awesome. It makes my colleagues think that I know what I'm doing. And it also gives me an aura so irresistable that I gotta tell those ladies to take their hands off me. hey, I'm married and I love my Wifey.

(B) Objective. Everyone is inncocent unless proven guilty, and not vice vversa. I always try to justify people's action for them, even if it's something I don't agree. Putting yourself in other's people shoes help to make you bond closer to them. It also makes work easier for both myself and the people around me.

(C) Different. I do alot of "What ifs" and "Why not". I'm a change agent, and it makes me dynamic. It is not about how I do things, what matters is that I get the end result. Unorthodox within the limits of the law is good, not bad.

K, will end the post here before I sound more and more egoistic. Thanks again, Lily (Chen)!

Edit: Oops, I'm supposed to also a picture that I like. I was thinking about adding some scantily clad yummy yum yum babe, but maybe I should just add a pic that will bring you a smile.

Right and wrong.

I have always been a peace-loving guy at work. It doesn't mean I'm conflict-avoidance, just that I seldom lose my cool at conflicts. Colleagues have thus stereotyped me to be a good hubby. The truth is that Wifey and I do quarrel now and then. But we just resolve them more maturely and faster than others by making her kneel on those durian shells. The point is not to win a quarrel at the risk of weakening a relationship - conflicts are meant to strengthen bonds.

It takes 2 hands to clap, and 1 hand to slap.

There can never be a party who is wholly correct - both parties have their faults (though they may not acknowledge it for egoistic purpose). When you believe you are right and say the other party is wrong, that's like using your one hand to slap him, and that makes you wrong.

Whenever there are disputes, both parties are both correct in their viewpoint, but also wrong in their accusation.

Life is a balance of black and white. The refusal to undergo abortion may be a right for humanity, but may be a wrong when the kid grows up unhappy under the care of a unprepared mum.

Even for the thriving economy of Singapore, it makes the typical Singaporean richer. But at what price? Rising inflation, a change in social behaviour (people rushing for seats on trains). Is this right or wrong?

Who are we to judge what's right and what's wrong? As that chapter of the bible goes, who are we to throw stones at others when we are sinners ourselves?

At work, perfomance indicators can be pretty contradicting. Today, the boss wants a high output, and the manager does it easily by employing more people. The next day, the boss stresses on cost cutting, people get lay off, and the output drops.

So we concluded that what's right at work is taking care of the bosses's "Flavour of the Day". And at what expense?

Everything is right and wrong.

Learn to be less judgemental, and you will find that your days, and those around you, better!