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A 'Shitty' Multi-Storey Carpark

2008-09-22T22:07:00.006+08:00

I'm sure many drivers would agree with me that it is more challenging to secure a parking lot for your car at many places these days. This is due to the fact that the cost of acquiring one is relatively lower as compared to buying one 15 years ago. Part of the results of this effect brings more red-coloured parking lots in most HDB carparks, visitors would need to shift up a couple of storeys higher, and hardly any visitor lots can be found on ground levels now.

Apart from the hassle for the need to drive your vehicle round and upwards (as seen in newer HDB flat areas) instead of the old open-spaced vertical and horizontal lots in-between blocks, it is amusing that residents would need to fork out a higher price for season parking lots when we thought that the supposedly 'cost-savings' in conserving land space previously used for open-air HDB carparks would result in lower season parking prices instead. After all, we need more time, effort, and petrol to park the car and head back home in this case.

Nevertheless, let's compare the benefits vs. costs at Consumer level:-

Advantages -
1) Sheltered to protect from excessive sunshine and pouring rain;
2) Unhealthy gases emitted by vehicles are 'enclosed' in the low-ceiling, poorly ventilated carparks, so that residents in their flats no longer suffer such air pollution;
3) Creates opportunity for car wash businesses (not sure legal or not, one of them spotted at Clementi Central's multi-storey carpark beside sports complex);
4) Designated car lots to use for car washing (so you do not accidently soak your neighbours' cars)
5) More 'family-oriented' by encouraging you to get home fast everyday, so that you don't need to park so high up (common situation when you stay in HDB flats with multi-storey parkings and return home late)

Disadvantages -
1) More expensive ($65 for open air carpark compared to $90 for multi-storey ones);
2) Vehicles may get vandalized and much less chances of getting caught;
3) Parking wardens may arrive 'more stealthy' and summon your visitors when parking time's up;
4) Use more petrol and time to park the car;
5) You no longer get to see your car as much and as clearly at the comfort of your home.

Well, whatever the good and bad from owning a car and using it, i think it comes down to individual preference, lifestyle, and choice. For instance, if you are a pro-car user, no matter what the disadvantages are (e.g. higher road usage costs in ERP and parking charges), chances are you'll still stick to keeping your beloved vehicle. And likewise if you're a non-car supporter, no matter what the advantages are (e.g. government reported car prices actually dropped), you'll never seek to own one.

Finally, before this topic comes to an end, i have an urgent need to report on this matter. At a multi-storey carpark just opposite Bukit Panjang Plaza today, a disgusting load of human faeces was found right in the middle of a parking lot (and around the middle area near the staircase) at the first level of white-coloured parking lots. It is unbelievable to stumble across this, and i was quite lucky to have just parked next to it instead of parking over it (or worse still roll my tyres over it). And when i thought this is a one-off thing, another load of faeces (they look similar to the first one mentioned) was found at the nearest staircase (done at a corner this time).

After witnessing this, it leads me to imagine how this poor, illiterate, uneducated person was being brought up, and lacks of the basic knowledge of taking human wastes to proper destinations. I'm curious how would our government educate the public on such a stupid, inconsiderate, and disgusting act. Perhaps it is necessary to place a couple of those portable toilet capsules around every multi-storey carpark in Singapore? Maybe not, especially if that's gonna cause an increase in parking charges.

Foreign Talents (Issue 1)

2008-09-21T22:08:00.004+08:00

We all know that it is impossible for the local population to not depend on foreign labour strength to aid our economy and growth, so there you have it, big doors opened widely for them. As we go about our daily lives, among the different nationalities we mingle about in the heart of the city everytime, we sure have some sort of classification in our heads of each nationality. Similar to the evaluative criteria we use sub-consciously everyday to judge the different brands (especially when watching tv ads) in the market, people may also be categorized into evoked, inert, and inept sets.

Strangely but yet not suprisingly, we find it more comfortable and less intimidating to communicate with groups 'E', 'A-M'; irritating but barely acceptable communicating with group 'C'; and most of the time totally avoid communicating with groups 'B', 'I' people. Race issues aside, i'm more interested in the typical behaviour of Singaporeans handling these different groups of people. And after some thinking through, i think the likely appropriate solution to this problem - 'Integrated Microsegmentation and Re-Positioning strategy'.

Instead of judging people simply by their race and/or nationality, let's look deeper into the issue:-

1) Does the person whom i just seen and/or spoke to indeed represent the entire country where he/she is from?

2) From which part of the process of the entire communication session triggered the 'classification process' in your head?

3) What are the aspects from the conversation that 'feeds' the critical data into your brain that tells you what kind of person you were actually talking to?

4) Finally, shall i believe what i've experienced right away? Or can i do something about it that really makes sense and does not hold discriminate in my mental picture?

Imagine having a face-to-face chat with 2 persons from let's say, China. Guy1 dresses like a village man, untidy hair, out of fashion clothes, digs his nose and spits often, talks loudly. Guy2 dresses like a typical local businessman, behaves and talks like a local. Given this situation, your brain is likely to be 'confused' and would not be able to clearly tell you its conclusion of the typical China person. Now, imagine there are 10 different persons from China this time, all different dressings and behave differently. What would your reactions be this time?

It is very likely that you would not have a standard classification and identity of a typical Chinese national anymore, and tend to use associations for each of the different individual. Your mind would link each individual to similar attributes and aspects that it has ever experienced before. E.g. for Guy2, you would associate positively to a local businessman you've encountered before, works in some nice office, good salary, right attitude, etc. At this point, you woud've realized that you've already solved part of the problem using Microsegmentation.

To make it complete, it is necessary to Position the positive image and impression of Chinese national. The Marketing school of thought tells us that Positioning is in the mind of the consumers. This step might not be easy to accomplish, but it is reasonably achievable. Huge efforts are needed from both micro and macro inputs to stimulate and reinforce any visible good actions coming from any Chinese that we come across. E.g. using Guy2 as example again, imagine watching the 2008 Olyumpics after a pleasant encounter with Guy2. This process would surely boost up our Positioning of the Chinese people.

Of course, there are many others factors possibly necessary to feed into the above to make the process realistic. But being put in a short and brief format, the concept lies there. To conclude my point: In this globalizing society, one may be foolish to assume definite reflections of others through the representation of one. The significant relevance of customization in today's world should remind people the importance of respecting differing individuals. Instead of condemning a whole nation, think small, think micro. Some helpful cues would be to differentiate by unique names, behaviours, and respecting who and what they are.

Handsoaps - Lifebuoy launch !

2008-09-20T00:00:00.003+08:00

These couple of weeks we witness the birth of a fresh new brand... Lifebuoy. I first caught a glimpse of it when its advertisement flashed through some television programmes that i happened to watch. The impression i got was like it's a family-oriented brand of body/hand wash product, straight to the point getting consumer attention to use their products to protect ourselves from germs, though the sound of the brand 'Lifebuoy' seems strange to me immediately as i associate it with something to do with saving someone's life. And a quick check on my portable dictionary by Concise Oxford defined the word Lifebuoy as, "a buoyant support such as a lifebelt for keeping a person afloat in water".

On the other hand, it sounds cute to me as well, as the phonics of Lifebuoy sounds like 'Life Boy'. And there my imaginative head goes associating that with a mental picture of a young boy's life. Looking at a more serious aspect, Unilever (company which owns Lifebuoy brand) seems to be attempting a flanking strategy on the leader of the well-known anti-bacterial liquid soap brand, Dethol, judging from its pricing strategy (priced slightly lower than Dethol) and product's unique value proposition (relying on 'germ protection and prevention').

The introductory launch looked great. They brought in a decent range of line extensions and focusing on the increasingly popular body wash and hand wash products. An outdoor publicity campaign that was conducted at a local shopping mall to promote its brand and products with strong staff support, has greatly increased its brand awareness and surely boosted consumer confidence in the products as there were live demonstrations on to use them as well.

I've been trying out some different types of hand wash lately, mainly due to unsatisfactory use of some unknown brand products (those cheap S$0.50 ~ $1++ types). During one of my grocery shopping trips, i took a deep look at the shelf containing all the various types of liquid soap brands on display, and finally i took a bottle of Dethol hand soap, and grabbed a bottle of Lifebuoy's as well.

The results are quite instant:-

1) The unknown brand liquid soaps are not totally able to get rid of oil/dirt residue that caught on my hands when doing car washing;

2) Even if they do get rid of them eventually (after a few washes), the fragrance simply masks the smell on your hands (which means the residue probably stayed), and you feel like they're not cleaning effectively;

3) When i used Lifebuoy or Dethol, just a 20-cent coin squirt of liquid soap on your hands with a little water creates a pleasant and 'medicated' foam as you rub your hands. After washing off, your hands feel really clean, and they smell very 'anti-bacterial' indeed, which makes you feel like the products works well and good.

After some trials on Lifebuoy especially, i feel more attached with the brand personally. And looking at the picture (a 'motherly' hand holding a baby's one) in the background of the brand logo reinforced my positive association of this brand to - feeling clean, gentle and moisturized hands, soft and supple touch; all feelings arrive upon using the product.

Lastly, the recent bad news about China-made products are rather scary. And i'm glad Lifebuoy is actually made in India. God knows what kind of illegal and/or harmful substances might have been injected to hand and body wash liquid soap products if they were to have been made in China! Well, that's all folks, yet another soapbox. Till next time...

Economic Uncertainty

2008-09-19T03:09:00.002+08:00

Yes... It's here again, the periodical economic life cycle of the world is heading south bound, going deeper and steeper every hour ever since the start of this week. It's been some shocking turn of events, especially when giant corporate firms simply collapse on their stakeholders.

For the millions of people involved, yes tough luck. However, this reminds us all not to take the word 'risk' too lightly. Well, it happens, don't it? In the countless amount of bullet points and headings specifying all the Terms & Conditions of every investment purchase... what are the chances of any typical customer reading and understanding every single one of them? Nevertheless, for those who do bother and know their decisions, my respect for the courage to take the risks beneath, but it's gonna be hard to fight your points with the companies involved.

In the '?I?' company case, those couple of thousand customers who have terminated their contracts with the firm should consider themselves very lucky that there was a reported offer from the firm to reinstate their contracts... I think it'd be rather foolish not to, not to mention that it was definitely too impulsive to rush down to their offices to terminate contracts so hastily.

Ah, enough about the sad news already. Now let's look on the brighter side of the situation. If people can be honest enough, think about this: How many of you and how long have you waited for this time to come?

Sneering? No doubt, because of the simple fact that "one person's demise is the fortune of another". Put it simply, it's like the feng shui, or karma sort of thing, or even Newton's law of gravity "what goes up will eventually fall down". There has to be someone else losing money for others to make money, and that makes perfect sense! So, let's look at some benefits that might have spawned out of the recent events:

1. Buy super-discounted shares! Some tycoon studied the market so well with great foresight, and grabbed some cheap shares from a crashing insurance firm. And guess what? Instant money when the share prices actually doubled the next day, and it's still climbing...;

2. Grab some 'minced-meat' parts of a bank! What happens when the market has no demand for a bleeding snobbish bank? Well apparently, a 'mince-meat machine' process was activated by their government, and now being sold in bits and pieces. My guess is it's more 'tasty' this way, so more firms would then finally buy them;

3. Poor sales at gambling operators. Why so? Probably because punters begin to realize it might be better storing up money and waiting for more firms to go bust and see their share prices fall outrageously, following the above tycoon's footsteps in making quick windfalls;

4. Chance to start your own company. With people being sceptical of better known firms these days, introduce the public a fresh new capable business! With a good marketing plan, you might just get it right in the quickest time. Make believe, because most importantly, Perception is Reality;

5. Opportunity to switch jobs (especially for staffs under failing firms). Hey, isn't it the best time to take a holiday now? Look, you've been slogging a no-life life for the past x-amount of years, the momentum's been good and you didn't realize how much a human you actually are. Get back your life! Use all your salaries and buy shares! Then enjoy the free buffet meals and take a chance to fire at the top management for once. After some soul-searching, who knows, the ideal job wasn't what you did... *hint: Teach. education sector is sure booming, and there are lots of hot chicks in schools these days;

6. More funds returning home. I bet many people would have lost confidence in planting their hard-earned monies in shaky foreign holdings, so stay tune to catch them! Spend more money here and park everything home instead! At least this would help your own economy to prosper than to watch it sink with others.

Well... yea, so much facts so much crap. Sounds so true, yet too true to be good. There again, perception is reality. As to whether or not the economy is better off bad or good, only we know ourselves. For all we know, we tend to become cynical especially in situations where we are being pushed back down facing the floor. It does and does not matter whether what the economy is, eventually. Because whatever happens, we would rather care about how we gonna live on and survive. Food for thought. Till next session...

KPE leaflet from LTA on Straits Times

2008-09-18T23:27:00.007+08:00

Today's papers arrived with a special leaflet slotted in, a message by LTA. The first thoughts that came into my mind as i browse through the contents both front and back... oh my gosh.

1. I see 24 new traffic signage;

2. Each of these 24 means something (too much to write, pls read the leaflet);

3. 70Km/hr <--- geez. are you serious? most lorries, vans, heavy vehicles are already driving this speed and/or above... and they are not even on expressways.

4. The entrance/exits. with reference from the map given, almost half (right side) are Tampines area... the ones on the left basically helps link PIE and AYE (probably form or causes another bottleneck). With some benefit of doubt, let's all hope and see what KPE can really benefit us Singaporeans.

5. 'VSL Signs' ??? isn't it already set to 70km/hr? Duhz.

6. Procedure for 'vehicle on fire' - move to road shoulder <--- seriously, if that really happens, i doubt anyone with a sound mind would do that. the most logical thing to do here is to get out of your vehicle ASAP and run as far away from it as possible!

7. 12km total distance, constant at 70km/hr... this means we need about 11mins to clear the entire KPE from start to end.

8. If caught in an accident, drive out of tunnel if uninjured. <--- sounds easy, but not very convincing as people would rather settle it in their own manner.

9. What about other emergencies? Like urgent rush to hospital for someone? I can imagine photos being splashed all over LTA's office when emergency arises for someone to speed through the entire tunnel and being snapped by the x amount of laser speed cameras around the tunnel...

Well, i guess these could be just some thoughts our fellow people might think. I know i left out alot more, like ERP and others. But i'm more concerned about the practicality of using resources built for fellow citizens... so yup, till next topic!