I am a hopeless handyman

I will be the first to say this ; I am hopeless with my hands at fixing things. All my life, though I have managed to play the piano (through rigorous piano lessons for 6 to 7 years), swim decently, practice karate, driving, skiing amongst other things, my big regret is not having the fine dexterity to (nowadays) fit a thread through the eye of the needle, or do basic wiring jobs. I am not a 'hands on' person. 

I can fix most lightbulbs, and connect the 3 wires in the single phase 13A plug. That is about the limit of my handskills. I could possibly blame my family genes, as I remember my late father Geoffrey was a "never lift a finger" figure in the household in the old days when I was growing up.   

So for most house repair works, my phone is on speed dial to my contractor even for the most basic plumbing and window repair jobs. I lack the interest coupled with the non-dexterity and patience to replace (for example) the sliding door latch or even change the toilet seat. 

The height of my manual handiwork was assembling an IKEA (brain dead follow instructions) display cabinet and changing the wheels on my car tyres - though I have not changed tyres for some time (thanks to my being a fully paid up member of Automobile Association of Singapore which provides battery replacement and care tyre replacements for free).    

 Point and shoot photography is the limit of my photographic ability (DUH) 

My typing skills are shameful, most times I still require to look at the QWERTY keyboard typing emails, memos and quotations. In addition, I am a single tasker (as compared to multitasker) so tend to focus on doing one thing with my hands at one time.

Even typing on the WhatsApp keyboard I am still a one hand typist compared to the millenials nowadays who are very adept at 2 finger super speed syntax incorrect god knows what type of English with emoticons. 

Maybe that is my saving grace in this age of disruption ; people still long for the written word to express themselves (people in this context I am referring to me in particular). So I write with my slow typing skills and laborious prose complete with punctuation marks, and thankfully no emoticons or emojis, I am reflective of my generation of baby boomers who still write in complete sentences, and grammatically correct. 

We baby boomers are probably a dying breed. 

Perhaps there is some redemption for being a hopeless handyman, I think I can write /type reasonably well about almost any topic. Whether it is meaningless drivel or provides some entertainment, this blog is my electronic diary about my experiences good and bad, past and present.    

Karate Shito Ryu Kata Kururunfa

This kata has the hallmarks of Sensei Kenwa Mabuni himself ; a short but technically brilliant in application. 

All told I have learnt 25 katas and whilst learning new ones every few months, forget the ones I have learnt years ago ; this is my feeble attempt to remember every one which I have learnt.   

Cars are luxury items here ; extending the right to drive the car past 10 years.

My Reliable Mercedes E 230 2.4 litre 7 Gear Transmission 

I've had my Mercedes E class E 230 for 6 years now, it is coming to the 10 year end of the Certificate of Entitlement (COE for short) duration by Dec 2017, whereby the owner (me) would have to decide whether to scrap (send the car for scrapping) and get back 50% of my Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) and use the money to buy a brand new car. 

Singapore's car taxes is the highest worldwide and we locals pay a huge sum for the 4 wheeler ; as we have a very good (most times anyway) transport system, many people opt for public transport which is seamless (you can use 1 Easylink card to take the feeder bus, the underground MRT and landed bus). Our Government has plans to make Singapore 'car light'  by 2025 and plans as well as infrstructure projects are ongoing to add more cycle paths, jogging and walking paths, park connectors, underground walkways as well as improve the current rail and bus network substantially. 

However many people still require a car. Families with small children, business owners, employees which require regular out of office commute, car enthusiasts, elderly people with disadvantaged family members and the wealthy would still stick to their cars.  

So in 5 months time, I will have to decide if I will forgo my PARF 50% (roughly S$25,000) and then opt to bid for either a 5 years (S$ 24,500) or 10 years (S$ 49,000). The total outlay for my car would then be S$ 24,500 for 5 years plus opportunity cost (loss of S$ 25,000 PARF), increased road tax (10% per year) and increased comprehensive insurance (30% more). All this before factoring the car servicing costs, petrol and ERP charges. 

I am favouring a 5 years extension of COE so the sums would be 

    Option 1 : Retain my Merc and extend the COE for another 5 years

a) S$24,500 outlay (for COE for 5 years)

b) S$ 1,800 road tax per year (now is $1,600 per year)

c) S$ 1,000 insurance (now is $750) for an 'old' car. 

    

    Total Cash Outlay : S$27,300

            

    Outlay per year is S$ 6,800 (car servicing, petrol and ERP are extra) but I lose out on the S$ 25,000 rebate I would get in return if I scrap the car.

    Factor that into the equation and I lose $11,800 per year in depreciation for my Merc for the next 5 years.

   Option 2 : Buy a new Car like the Toyota Harrier 2.0 SUV

a) S$ 130,000 cash outlay (brand new Toyota Harrier with COE for 10 years included)
b) S$ 1,500 road tax (no change year on year)
c) S$ 800 insurace (my no claim discount is 50%)

    Total Cash Outlay (less S$25,000 rebate) : S$ 107,300

 If I consider getting a new car like the Toyota Harrier 2.0 which is retailing at $130,000.

(including COE) I will be able to get my rebate of S$ 25,000 and thus, the outlay for the new car is S$ 105,000. Add road tax and insurance (roughly 15% less than the above b and c) and I would need to fork out S$ 107,300  for 10 years. 

Since the car is brand new, there will be practically 0 service costs for the next 2 years (under warranty). 

 Hence, the depreciation is a very competitive S$ 10,738 per year for a newer (but not a Merc) marque which I like very much. I have driven the last 2 versions of the Harrier 2.4 for 6 years prior to this and love the space and above ground feel of the SUV.

So high initial cash outlay for the brand new Harrier, but year on year lower depreciation versus the much lower cash outlay but higher servicing costs (surely) and barely coverable insurance for the 10 year old Mercedes. 

Most insurance companies only opt for third party insurance for cars with more than 10 years on the road.

Decision time for me soon.  

Putting the Cart before the Horse - Lessons in Real Life

Vibration Test System with Slip Table 

I have been in the Reliability Test and Simulation Equipment business for almost 3 decades. Experience is the best school in life. The equipment which my company distributes and which we also provide test services for deals with 2 aspects of reliability test for quality control of electronic parts, semiconductor, modules, and finished products such as handphones, sports accessories like Garmin watches and just about anything which has electronic components. We have also branched into the sports and medical industries providing sleep and research chambers for rehabilitation, performance enhancement and various climate tests for elite and national athletes.

Vibration simulation equipment are used critically for prime movers such as cars, trains, Mass Rapid Transit carriages, aircraft and aerospace parts as well as full assembly items.

The reason for testing is focussed on 2 key areas. 1. For the simulation of the environment in which the product about to be launched is to be operating in. For a small example, the car dashboard electronics  system needs to be tested in the extremities of the cold and hot temperature ranges, the humidity conditions ranging from 10% to as high as 98%. The rates of change in temperature can be as high as 30 deg C per minute.

For the car electronic ignition system, say for a car being built in humid Malaysia and sold to the cold climate of Korea (hee hee). If the car is left in the street overnight and the owner needs to start the engine, in winter. The engine and hence the electronic ingnition chain will experiece a before starting temprature of (say) -20 deg C. After the engine is started, the ignition will fire up the cylinder heads of the engine and reach temperatures of (inside the 6 cylinder engine) easily 150 deg C all within a few seconds.

Hence, the electronic ignition needs to start the enginer within 1 or max 2 tries. This is the Nissan (or Bosch or etc) requirement standards and hence there will be a temperature shock of 20 +150 or 170 deg C in a minute.

My company sells the 2 zone equipment to simulate that rapid temperature change rate- called a thermal shock chamber. 

2. Stress Screening - this type of test is VERY CRUCIAL for all manufacturers to test their new products before they ship out to the field of use. A classic case is the top brand handphone  maker's smartphone release in 2016 debacle which was caused by exploding battery system once used after a certain number of hours. In our field of supply, if  the manufacturer had taken the precaution of stress screening the final products (the smartphone) using the chambers or vibration system IN THE FACTORY and found out latent defects (hidden defects) it would have SAVED THE COMPANY hundreds of millions of dollars in recall fees, phone swaps and worldwide reputation.

Of course, I am speculating that there was insufficient emphasis spent on the final stress screening tests done in the factory, over the urgency to be the 'first in the market' to shipout and capture maximum number of sales over their arch rivals, worldwide.

The best case scenario could be that the product have been tested and screened (accelerated aging using the reliability equipment) and the exploding lithium battery system found early, vendor asked to replace to a much safer alternative (there always is one or more) and the whole sorry episode would have saved the company untold millions of dollars in recalls and lost reputation. 

Another example is much closer to home, a local transport operator is having alot of breakdowns and the inconvenience is affecting people's productivtiy and moods at work (imagine delays and hence you arrive to work late, flustered and sweaty) 

This COULD have been avoided by insisting that the supplier / vendor do the required complete testing / screening and quality checks on the rail system IN the factory (yes, the testing is normally 4 - 6 months long) ; any infant mortalities would be replaced IN THE FACTORY and the shipped out parts would have been VERY ROBUST as a result.

Was there the insistence on quality control checks and reliability screening checks on every item supplied by the vendor ?  The onus should have been on mid to long term reliability and not cheapest and fastest wins the order.  

The current tender system has 2 - 4 parts ; firstly the  adherence to specifications ; all suppliers must comply with the first requirement. Secondly the criterion is the lowest price or next to the lowest price as the most competitive bid. Thirdly is the supplier's experience in similar projects and past safety records. Fourthly is the delivery schedule which can be quite challenging as the operator has deadlines and KPIs to meet (more people giving up their cars and using public transport).    

All suppliers must meet the requirements, but what is missing is the quality and reliability component  of the supplied product ; this will show up not in the first few years of use. It will invariably show up after 3, 4, 5 or longer years after operation. 

In their desire to be the best in price and delivery (meeting specs is 100% must), perhaps some have done only minimal reliability testing at the factory ; some may have forgone the testing totally in a bid for shortest lead times and lowered prices. 

Again, this is speculation ; but experience on my part tells me some of it is true.

The tendering system whilst good to eliminate obvious illegal practices, is not by any means perfect. 

      

The verdict of the 'table sharing' incident in Toa Payoh Central Hawker Centre

The couple who bullied and shoved the old man off the table have been dealt with in the courts. Last week, they were fined a total of S$ 2,700.

In April this year, they were videotaped by handphone of verbally abusing an elderly man at a hawker centre in Toa Payoh. The lady on the right of the photo was upset that an elderly man wanted to share a table, after verbally abusing him, she called her partner who 'bumped' or shoved him from behind and caused him to lose his balance and nearly fall. 

In our fast paced and stressful society, lets try our very best to make it a gracious one ; when we point fingers at other people for ungracious behavior, look at ourselves first in the mirror. 


"Let  he who is sinless cast the first stone"  - Jesus said to the high priests who were about to stone a woman caught for adultery, this was a passage in the bible from Roman times. 

The Physiological Effects after a Long Run

        Seeing the World from a Different Perspective - similar to what I feel after my                                                                      Long Run
This is a piece I wrote sometime in 2006 on a piece of paper, and I think it is still relevant even today. Again it is about my favourite sport, running long distances. Have a look below :

The will to succeed overcomes all obstacles. In short if you want to finish the 42.195 km, you can do it, despite the constraints in time, preparation, work committments and all the other distractions in our fast paced, ever disruptive world.

The key to running swiftly, as the legendary African coach Adolphe Rukenkanya is unity.
Unity of the mind, body and spirit. Only when we have the unity of these disparate elements all in one place , coupled with a clear focus on our goal, can we achieve it and in a good time too. 

For me, running frees the mind to float, to transcend the present, and after sufficient mileage and oxygen intake to achieve the "runners high".

Natural body based chemicals called endorphins, our body's own pleasure generating chemicals are released to that when you look around you, the sky seems so blud, the daylight so bright, the trees so green, the colours so vibrant, the sounds of the birds chirping and the smell of the dew on the grass so fresh, the flowers so fragrant. In short, all my senses are heightened.

I recall some years back, after a long and tiring morning run at Nassim Road, Dalvey Estate Road circuit with my friend Suresh Thennarangam, we stopped to rest and wandered to the nearby Mr. Prata (Indian restaurant serving breakfast) for a hearty breakfast. All sweaty after a 14 km run, the first thing I took was a glass of water.

It felt like champagne trickling down my throat !

The simple thosai food (flour based savoury cake) also felt like 'manna' (food from heaven).

When one's body is parched for food and water, even the simplest things will taste splendid.

The mind is relaxed and calm, I can view all day- to - day problems in a new light, rationally and all issues are not in an 'urgent must reply at all costs' sense of urgency.

Take a long run in the morning, have a cool dip under the shower or jump into the pool. 

That is the essence to a great day. 

A Blast from the Past ; a video from June 1991 in Germany

This is a 26 year old video, and it was taken at a factory where my Singapore based employer represented a well known German brand of reliability test equipment. The gentlemen in the video are from Egypt (I forgot his name), Taiwan (Mr. Root Lin), Hong Kong (K.K.Chan), Heraeus Votsch UK (Paul, Barry and Hamid), and the guy who did the car drving antics, Frank Rigley. He was 49 years then. I am of course also in the video.

Time does fly, so it is good to bring out these videos to recollect the good old times in Europe.

All told, I have travelled just to Germany easily 15 times. It holds plenty of fond memories for me. 

At the top of tower in central Giessen, 50 km north east of Frankfurt ; 2007

Giessen Park 2007