Sports Day !

Mommy bought the kids a mini table-tennis set. But as the play table was made of plastic, it absorbed all the energy from the ball and the ball wasn't able to bounce. In the end, tried bouncing the ball off the floor but Justin had a hard time trying to co-ordinate his eyes and hands.

In the end, took out the mini badminton set which I bought them a few weeks ago.

Again, Justin's having a hard time trying to follow the trajectory of the ball, and the Jie Jie (sister) was also getting a bit frustrated.

In the end, Jaslynn decided to use her racket as a guitar and started 'playing' and singing to her own tune.

Justin, seeing that his sister has changed her tune, decided he would be more suitable playing hockey with his racket.


Now, where's that #$%^& ball this time !!

NETS fee hike does not infringe Competition Act: competition panel

Just read from channelnewsasia that the Competition Commission of Singapore "has concluded that the impending fee increase by NETS is not an infringement of the Competition Act."

It said the Act is only relevant when a party acts in a manner that abuses its dominant position.

Sure. Who does NETS compete against? If it doesn't have to compete against anyone, then how can it infringe the anti-competion act? But......

The Commission added that in this case, there are alternative payment methods such as credit, debit and EZ-Link cards that consumers can use.

Sure. Every merchant offers alternative payment methods such as credit, debit AND EZ-Link cards.

Section 47 of the Competition Act prohibits firms with dominant market power from abusing it in ways that are anti-competitive and work against long-term economic efficiency.

Sure. I wonder how they define dominant market power.

CASE has expressed its disappointment over the Commission's decision not to take action on the the NETS fee increase. It is concerned retailers may pass the increased NETS transaction fees onto consumers, despite NETS saying that retailers are not supposed to do so.

May? Isn't Singapore Pools already doing that? So what is CASE doing about that?

It also stressed that banks have the responsibility to support NETS but they could keep interchange fees low.

Sure. And how is CASE going to ensure that BANKS do that?

Let's just keep things simple.

Use cash.

Or bring your business elsewhere.

No need to talk so much.

Yippie too!!

Jaslynn really enjoyed her holiday programme with Yippie. The 2 instructors really showed alot of patience and passion. They said Jaslynn really had a lot of wonderful ideas. Just that she didn't really know how to go about realising her ideas.

I'm thinking of sending her there for regular art lessons. But the timing a bit inconvenient. Let's see how.

Jaslynn, with her instructor, using pebbles to make mermaids.

Putting the finishing touches for her mermaids.

This was another programme where they were create their own little bag. Can you guess what Jaslynn drew on her bag?

I guess you know who this represents? No, not Jaslynn. She says it's her pretty Mommy.

Yippie !!

Since she likes art and craft so much, I enrolled Jaslynn for some holiday programme with Yippie (艺笔) Arts Studio. The arts studio was just inside Berries, where she has her chinese language lessons.

Yippie Arts Studio is run by 2 art teachers who have a degree in Fine Arts from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). As practising artists, they have exhibited their works actively.

For their usual programmes, they cater from nursery level, up to primary school level.

They have about 10 different programmes with different themes. For example, Space Adventures, where they make a hanging mobile of either UFO, space craft or planets from the Solar System.

They also have themes like Organic Art, "Frame" Me, The Colourful City, Paint on Bag, etc.

For Space Adventures theme, Jaslynn made a mobile with some planets from the solar system, 2 stars and a space craft.

Can you name the planets she used in her hanging mobile?

For the "Frame" Me theme, she made a photo frame with a cow, butterfly, dolphin and teddy bear. It was a birthday gift from Jaslynn which I liked very much.

For those who may be interested, their studio is located at Woodlands Community Centre. Their holiday programme is until 22 June. Each lesson costs $20 and if you get 4 lessons, you pay $75. Each lesson last about 1hr 30mins. Their contact number is 9738 9702.

@#$%^& Cyclists !

Update:

Just brought Justin to KK Hospital as he developed a fever this morning. Wasn't sure if it was from the bumb on his head so just brought him down for the doctor to check.

Anyway, doctor felt his bumb and said there wasn't any depression on his forehead, so there wasn't any need for an x-ray. Gave some medicine for his fever and that's it.

Justin's getting cranky by now as it was near his nap time and he hasn't had lunch yet.

Don't ever let me see these bloody @#$%^& cyclists again !

Don't understand why cyclist are still allowed to cycle on the pedestrain walkways. Those people in Tampines better start wearing protective gears. Not the cyclist, the pedestrains.

My son just got knocked down by a cyclist last Friday, 1 June. Fortunately, it was a young cyclist, probably around 8-10 years old. He saw there were children around (we were at a bus-stop) and yet, not only did he not bother to slow down, he continued to cycle at a fast speed.

He brushed against the side of Justin and Justin lost his balance and tumbled onto the ground, hitting his head on the pavement. Immediately, a bumb formed on his forehead. Scolded the cyclist and his mom for allowing him to cycle 100m in front of her.

The mom still can say it was an accident. Told her off that such 'accidents' could have been prevented if she had not allowed her son to cycle so far in front. Moreover, she had 3 children herself. Called up her husband and scolded him also. Sometimes, I don't know what these parents are thinking.

Anyway, going to bring Justin for an x-ray. And this family better start praying that the injury is only superficial.

Bloody @#$%^& Cyclists !

F.I.R. Non-Event

Was supposed to have helped my friend, Jit Leong, take some photos of one of the band members of F.I.R. (Ah Qin) who visited his gallery at China Square Food Centre today (2 June).

Initially, I was taking some shots of Ah Qin approaching the shop and being greeted by Jit Leong. Ah Qin seemed a friendly guy, with all smiles. As they went into the gallery, I only managed to take 1 shot when someone from the magazine (Teenage) asked me "Where are you from?" like I was some illegal immigrant.

I didn't like her tone of voice but also didn't want to make thing difficult for Jit Leong. Told her I was with the shop. She then told me that they only allow their own photographer to take phots and they would send Jit Leong the photos once it's ready. Sure.

Anyway, no loss for me. So I just waited outside. Pity his fans who also had to wait outside in the partially lit and stuffy foodcourt. As it was a saturday, no stalls were opened on the 2nd level. So the management of the food court decided to go environmentally friendly.

If you're interested in what actually went on during the non-event, you can visit Jit Leong's blog, where he had posted the few photos which I had managed to take 'illegally'.

After that, we went off to the PC Show at Suntec City. This time, the show was only held on 1 level, compared to previously which was 3. Was actually looking for the Nikon booth as Jit Leong wanted to test out the Nikon Speedlight SB800. The only Nikon booth there was by Courts, but it didn't have the Speedlight.

In the end, Jit Leong bought some Canon ink for his PIXMA Pro9000 printer. And I bought myself a 1GB Sandisk Extreme III compact flash card for only $45. Still remember I bought the Lexar 80x 1GB for more than $100.

Anyway, didn't really have much to see except for the usual laptops and computers and printers ,etc. Came out in less than half an hour.

After the PC Show, went to People's Park Complex to get Jit Leong's Speedlight. You can read all about the adventure at his blog.

Didn't wanted to write about the non-event until I read Jit Leong's take on it. For me, taking photos of my 2 little rascals is anytime better.

Good night.