Elderly Poor In Hong Kong

         Very insightful programme about the almost 1 million poor people living and working in Hong Kong. They are 'invisible' as they are everywhere going about their business  picking up cardboard boxes for a pittance. Income inequality is very high in one of the highest per capita GDP countries in the world. But that is meaningless number to all of these people. Living in cramped, squalid apartments with no proper ventilation each apartment can be as small as 60 square feet, the 'heros' eke out an existence which is heartbreaking to watch. Still they persevere with the will that tomorrow is going to be a better day.  

       The young councillor in the video is very clear in what he stands for ; he is able to separate or subjugate his personal feelings of compassion and pity for the many old folk living in his district (Sham Tsui Poh) and move on and highlight the greater needs which have to be fulfilled for the entire district. In essence, some needs are greater than others. 

        The ticking 'silver tsumani' is just around the corner, and countries all over the world are grappling with this inevitable tide of retiring or out of work senior citizens with little or no pensions available with the ominous threat of sickness, lack of mobility and purpose in life. They rightfully expect the government to help them, but the issue of pride before practicality of asking for a lifeline is making things very difficult for the social workers to determine whether their needs (not even thinking about wants, or fanciful wishes) are adequately met.

        Saving for a rainy day and old age is a must. But soured investments, business failures and family squabbles and breakups threaten the best laid plans. 

        

Terrorist Attack in Barcelona ; the world is on high alert

      The senseless attack at the world famous La Rambla in Barcelona last Thursday 17th left me and many people worldwide just numb. No words can describe the pain and suffering endured by the wounded and those families who have lost their loved ones.

      I can only pray that while the perpetrators will ultimately be brought to justice, that somehow somewhere, some sense and sensibilty will remain. Our humanity is at stake ; our values of  good and evil are being taunted and that common sense must and will prevail.

       " Justice must be served, and it must be seen to be served."

Street artist in La Rambla - taken last Dec 2016 

      We are living in dangerous times, no one is immune or should put their heads in the sand. Grieve we must but we all have to pull together to include everyone to move forward. The dirsuptions and uncertainity will always be there, but we must have the courage to overcome, and standup and defeat the 'bad guys' ! 


  

A fourth straight win for Wolves this season 2017-18

A fourth straight win for the Wanderers this season, 3 games victorious in the Championship and 1 in the league cup. I must fancy the team's chances. Its a long long way till the end of the season, but hope (and stupid boyhood fanciful thinking) I will. 

An away win at Hull, Hull 2 ; Wolves 3.  

All praise to Nunes the team coach. Brilliant work. 

A brilliant start to the Wolves team in 20 odd years ; interview with the Wolves Manager

Interview with Nuno Esperito Santos the Wolves Coach for 2017-18 season. 

Game On ! 

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.