** AMAZING**

after all these years..i cant believe that i can still read chinese characters haha just happened to peak into my friend's blog and i was like actually reading character for character and understanding it HAHAHHAHA .. i ROCK!...next stop.. ZHAO BAO! hahaha

OMG...i haven't blogged in ages..

It just hit me today that i haven't been blogging for a LONG LONG TIME..wow! hahahha not that anyone misses my nonsensical shit etc hahaha

AIG chief slashes salary to U$1

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- AIG Chief Executive Edward Liddy agreed to slash his annual salary to $1 as part of a series of voluntary pay restrictions by top executives tied to a massive $150 billion government bailout.

AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) will also forgo bonuses this year and eliminate pay increases through 2009 for the firm's top executives.

Liddy will get paid $1 per year for 2008 and 2009, with his compensation consisting entirely of equity payments. While he will not receive bonuses during those years, he will be eligible in 2010 for "extraordinary performance." He will also be ineligible for severance payments.

"This action by the senior management team demonstrates not only that we understand our obligation to taxpayers and shareholders, but also that we are committed to the future success of this organization," said Liddy in a statement.

In addition to Liddy, Paula Reynolds, whom AIG hired as chief restructuring officer in October, will receive no salary or bonuses in 2008. From 2009 onward, any compensation above her base pay will be tied to the progress of AIG's restructuring.

"It is only fair that top executives, who benefit the most when firms do well, should also bear the burden of the difficult economic consequences their firms now face," said New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in response to a letter from Liddy informing him of the pay cuts.

Cuomo had voiced concern about AIG's expenditures in October after it was reported that the company had spent $440,000 on a weekend meeting at a resort. Subsequently, AIG immediately cancelled 160 events, worth an estimated $8 million.

Government help: AIG has been in full-blown cost-cutting mode since October, as it has been receiving billions in government loans.

AIG's total government bailout grew to $152.5 billion this month.

"If anything, [the pay cuts are] largely symbolic," said Bill Bergman, senior equities analyst with investment research firm Morningstar.

He said AIG's problems have been mostly internal, partially stemming from a series of failed investments, according to Bergman.

Earlier this month, the government reworked AIG's original tough bailout terms, which were meant to deter those that could bail themselves out.

As AIG started having trouble repaying the bridge loan, the government agreed to new terms, including reducing the original $85 billion bridge loan to $60 billion and cutting the interest rate. (Full story)

First Published: November 25, 2008: 11:58 AM ET

I WANT AN A5 Audi .. *droolllllll*

OMG!!!!! i just saw the newest addition to the already amazing line up of Audi's and like a Macdonald's Ad... " Im LOVING IT!!" its freaking sexyyyyy!!!...
But like all the dream cars that i want to have, the price of this one is reachable but not within the next 4 years hahahha..gawd! it cost like over 200 grand? Daayyyyam..think im really gonna have to start my " Save my audi fund" campaign...donations anyone? *grinz* ...

Pls donate generously..hahahhhah

Lim Swee Say mum on expected pay hike for ministers

By Eugene Yeo, Senior writer

If one just take a glance at the misleading Straits Times headlines today “Pay cut for civil service ?” without reading the entire article, one may have the impression that the entire civil service including our rich ministers are taking the moral lead of cutting their pay packages during this difficult time.

It was reported in the article that “A significant part of the annual pay for a senior civil servant or minister takes the form of a GDP Bonus, which is linked to growth in the gross domestic product”.

From my limited understanding, there is a difference between one’s monthly pay and end year bonus.

The civil service may receive less bonus, but their monthly pay is still unaffected. Both Mr Tharman and Mr Lim Swee Say have kept mum when asked directly if the ministers and senior civil servants will take a pay cut.

This is what they say:

Mr Tharman: “We’re not here to grandstand”

Mr Lim Swee Say: “From the labour movement, I think we will not be surprised (if) the public sector sees a wage cut because with the GDP declining, that must factor into the flexible component of wages.”

Now are we any wiser after listening to what our brilliant ministers have to say ?

What is so difficult of clarifying clearly if they are going to reduce their monthly pay packages which is expected to be raised from the current 77 per cent of a salary benchmark to 88 per cent. The benchmark is set at two-thirds of the median pay of the top eight earners in each of six sectors.

The pay hike was implemented in the year 2006 when our economy is booming. Since Singapore is now in recession, shouldn’t the ministers’ salary be re-adjusted to the pre-2006 level ?

For example, if a minister is receiving S$150,000 monthly now, it should be reduced to S$100,000 or less to save costs for the government. I am sure our ministers can still survive with a monthly salary of S$100,000.

Since the civil service salaries are now pegged to the private sector as a benchmark, then they should follow the latter’s example to reduce the pay and even retrench under-performing civil servants and ministers.

In short, the PAP ministers cannot have their cake and eat it. If they expect us to pay them salaries which commensurate with the private sector, then they should adopt standard practices of the private sector during times of economic downturn.

Why do we need 4 ministers in the Prime Minister’s office ? Can’t our highest paid Prime Minister in the world govern the country on his own ?

DISILLUSIONED - Letter from DBS employee

November 08, 2008 Saturday, 07:08 AM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am a staff of DBS and i am really disappointed with DBS for resorting to such a measure. This company reeks of hypocrisy. Just look at the marketing slogan they have spent so much money on to portray happy staff showing the "can-do" spirit helping communities around. Just look at the advertisements they spent so much money on, placing on ads on buses showing smiling employees. They sure know how to spent so much money on marketing that their employees are happy and how much DBS bank values them by recognising them.

Firstly, before such a drastic measure is taken, i feel that DBS should at least use some other measure first, such as reducing pay from the top brass, before cutting off employees who might earn only S$2000-4000 a month. A typical managing director or SVP should be earning about S$400,000- 700,000 a year, excluding bonuses. Reducing by half of such a high salary to S$200,000-350,000 is ok, don’t you think so and this would have saved 8-29 normal employees jobs just from a cut of 1 managing director pay. Frankly, a big part of the responsibility of steering a ship safely should lie in the hands of the so called captains. Let's see if DBS bank will do the right thing.

Secondly, a 13% drop in net earnings is bad but if placed in perspective by comparing with foreign banks or companies it is still ok. Just a 13% drop and they are retrenching 6% of their staff. Look at for example Citigroup. They are facing much more than 90% drop in net earnings and they have axed only like 10-30% of their global workforce. This just reeks of total job instability for working with DBS bank, a local bank that is supposed to be relatively conservative in their activities and supposed to be a bank close to the hearts of Singaporeans.

Thirdly, its common knowledge that foreign banks pay more than DBS bank or local banks. Something like up to 2 times a salary for someone doing the similar job. By paying an employee less during boom times, shouldn't there be more job stability during recessionary time during bad times?

I am truly disappointed with DBS bank. They have made gaffes after gaffes. First with Fixed Deposit boxes, cheques being cleared wrongly, mini bonds and now axing staff without thinking of the possible alternative measures first.

Please do the right thing DBS. Or at least, stop being hypocritical by portraying happy smiling staff and save the marketing expenses.

DISILLUSIONED

DBS Chief Executive Richard Stanley speaks during a news conference in Singapore, Friday, November 7, 2008.

DBS Group, Southeast Asia's biggest bank, will cut 900 staff from Singapore and Hong Kong or six percent of its workforce by the end of this month to reduce costs, its CEO Richard Stanley said on Friday.

DBS earlier on Friday posted a below-expectation 38 percent drop in quarterly profit.

Citigroup and JPMorgan Still at Risk, Says Analyst

Now that Citigroup has announced massive costs cuts and been bailed out by taxpayers, the worst is over, right?

Nope!!!

Citigroup is still hugely exposed to weakening consumer debt, and its loans are going bad at the highest rate in the industry. Thanks to an accounting-rule change, Citi will also be forced to put another U$150 billion of "off-balance sheet" debt back on its balance sheet which will put it in an even more precarious position. Citi will end up needing another cash infusion from the government, Whalen says, and this will dilute existing shareholders.

Nor is Citigroup the only huge bank for which the future is bleak,JPMorgan is next in line. And before the financial crisis is through, taxpayers will have to bail out JPM again, too. ( Note: Whalen has no position in Citi or JPMorgan. )

DBS retrenchment: The unkindest cut of all

DBS Bank’s retrenchment bombshell has its after-effects beyond its timing, suddenness and audacity. It goes to the core of Singapore’s jealously-guarded and famously-touted gold standard of labour relations. That gold standard, pieced together by sheer force, determination and economic carrots, is now under a grim spotlight.

The trade union movement and its leader, Mr Lim Swee Say, need to look itself in the mirror and ask a number of difficult questions:

How is it that the DBS staff union knew of the decision to lay off about 500 workers only three days before the employees and the public knew about it?

Why did the management not discuss with the staff union other cost-cutting measures before wielding the axe?


More fundamentally, what happened to the friendship and partnership that unions like the DBS staff union were supposed to build up with the management?

Instead of doing some introspection, Mr Lim went on the offensive on Friday. He accused the DBS bosses of not consulting the staff union, questioned why they did not think of flexible wages and work arrangements before going for the unkindest cut of all and warned of losing the trust of Singaporeans.

Brave words, spoken like a militant trade leader would.

If any, the one salutary effect it will have is on those companies that are planning similar moves. With the country in recession and with the outlook looking worse before it can get better, Mr Lim is facing his biggest challenge as secretary general of the National Trades Union Congress. His top priority must be to keep layoffs to a minimum.

DBS’ pre-emptive strike, without consulting its trade union partners, has thrown that ambition out of whack. The timing was also horrible. It came just a day after he made page one headlines when he announced a fund that employers can draw from to send workers not fully occupied for training, primarily for the aim of saving jobs. DBS’ retrenchment also cuts close to the bone because Mr Lim is the advisor to the DBS staff union branch.

To make matters worse, DBS Bank is not an ordinary bank. Neither is it an ordinary employer. Its roots are in Singapore, it is seen as government-linked and its actions are taken as a bell-weather of things to come.

If DBS can do it, why can’t we? You might understand if there are bosses out there thinking like this.

And for NTUC and Mr Lim, this episode throws open a rare trait of Singapore’s labour union movement to scrutiny: Its ability to maintain industrial harmony because of its closeness to management and government. The DBS action will make many wonder: What went wrong?

It could be that DBS had to see itself not just as a Singapore-only bank. It operates in 16 countries and is responsible for 15,000 workers. With a vast international network and its advertising tagline saying “Living, Breathing Asia”, it can’t be seen to axe only workers in overseas branches. So equal misery must have become the mantra.

Still the suddenness and haste with which the cuts were administered and Mr Lim’s sharp reactions have given the labour movement and the political leadership much to think about

Navel gazing is not such a bad thing, especially in a crisis.

HE REALLY DIGS HIS HAND-BUILT CAR

Tuesday, 4-November-2008

Man digs under house to remove home-made Lamborghini
Ken Imhoff began building the sports car after falling in love with it during the movie Cannonball Run.

He built his own version in the basement of his home in Wisconsin, USA, over a period of 10 years.

However, when he finished assembling it, he was confronted with the problem of how to get the car out.

Since there was no garage door through which to drive the vehicle,

he was forced to hire an excavator to gouge out a slope in his garden

and then dig down into the foundations of his house.

The car was then hooked up to the excavator and pulled out.

Despite the amount of effort involved, Mr Imhoff said that it was all worth it.