Another interesting debate I follow...

ST Forum March 28, 2007
NZ govt took heed of public views in setting pay

I AM rather disappointed with the Government's insensitivity in raising the issue of ministerial pay at a time when many ordinary Singaporeans are still trying to cope with rising living costs.
In 1994 when the then Prime Minister urged Parliament to approve the formula for setting ministers' pay, he suggested that paying $22 million a year for his team was a small price, compared to the cost of having an incompetent and corrupt government.
However, according to the TI 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index, there are four other countries which are less corrupt than Singapore. New Zealand is placed No. 1 (together with Finland and Iceland) whereas Singapore is ranked No. 5. Does this mean that the salaries of NZ ministers should be many times higher than those of Singapore ministers?
This doesn't seem to be the case. In a 2003 article by the NZ Herald, it was pointed out that even though the Prime Minister had the 'toughest job in the country' and an equivalent private-sector position would command a seven-figure salary, this would not be acceptable to taxpayers. Her increased salary of NZ$305,000 was deemed reasonable as US President George W. Bush earned only about NZ$330,470 a year.
In setting the remuneration packages of its ministers, the New Zealand government was sensitive to the perceptions of the public (whom it described as 'paying customers') and benchmarked figures against those of its Western counterparts.
As Singapore is an Asian country, should we not be benchmarking our figures against our Asian counterparts'? Even if we consider ourselves as a Western country, our ministers are already being paid many times more than President Bush himself.
So far, the impression we have been given is that serving our country is like any other financial transaction or commercial project; money is the primary focus and motivation. There is no altruism or patriotism linked to the discussion.
I hope that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Government can take a different approach to this issue.
Vanessa Teo Toon Lin (Ms)

Withdrawal symptoms

One of the features of being a SAHM is that your sense of self-worth is constantly being assaulted.

Some of the remarks Airport & Cosmo have been guilty of passing:

"Since you have nothing to do, why don't you run these errands?"
"Since you are so free, why don't you help me call up XXX?"
"Why are you so tired? You are so free what?"

However, nothing beats what Longkang Fish, a nasty ex-colleague said.
"Canton Pixie, how's life? So, are you having withdrawal symptoms, now that you are doing nothing at home?"

What the !#$#@!#$??

Singaporean / Asian Oven Recipes!!!!

Hurray!!!! Finally a cookbook which is full of local flavour (uses Chye Po and Tang Chye!!!), uses the oven (read: NO oily kitchen, NO slaving over the stove, NO fumes), and does not use milk or cheese!!!

Use Hydrogen Peroxide wisely...

Hydrogen Peroxide Casualty

My bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) accidentally spilt and soaked this napkin. After putting this into the washing machine, the Pooh Bear came out literally FRAZZLED!

Aw man! What did I forget!

Chicken Gumbo

This is a great recipe from Annabel Karmel!
For Basic Chicken Stock

• 1 Tarzan chicken (ask the butcher to chop into pieces for you)
• 3 carrots (or to taste)
• 2 large onions (or to taste)
• 2 leeks (I used Chinese leek because the wet market didn't have anything else)
• A few stalks of celery
• Ginger (my modification)

Directions:

• Clean chicken.
  
• Place in cold water.
  
• Bring to boil
• Skim off froth
• Put in other ingredients (chopped if you like)
• Simmer for at least 1 hour.

I took out the chicken and froze the meat after 1.5hrs. Then I continued simmering the soup for another 1-2 hrs.

For Gumbo, use the desired amount of broth, add carrots, sweet corn, potatoes, and serve with toast. Yummy!!!

Great Indian Cuisine!

Cosmo's back again! Cosmo and the two Pixies went to take a swim here.

We were all ravenous after that, and found a very cosy new restaurant that had just opened! It had all these fanciful sofas and homely tables and Bhangra music.

I'm not an Indian food connoisseur, but this is really a place I'd recommend, and which I'd return many times!

This is what Cosmo and I had:
$4.50 Chicken Curry
$4.00 Fish masala
$2.00 Garlic naan
$1.50 Plain naan

YUMMY!!!!!!

P/S They said I could call ahead and order my Mango Lassi next time and they'd make it fresh for me.

This was much better than my last experience at the Chinese restaurant here.

Spice Restaurant
Authentic North & South Indian Cuisine
91 Bukit Batok West Ave 2
Club C.S.C@ Bukit Batok
Blk B #03-03
Singapore 659206

Tel: 65151397

This is nasty behaviour!!!

OK, after that sour-grapesy post (why am I even feeling sour-grapesy when I don't care for those fawning serfs???), another nasty incident happened.

Little Pixie and I were supposed to meet the Old Fogey for lunch at 12pm. 1 hour passed and I called up.

CantonPixie: "Are you going to make it for lunch at all?"
Fogey: "No, not at all, maybe tomorrow"
CantonPixie: "OK"

Later at night, the Fogey tried to apologise.

Fogey: "Sorry CantonPixie, I just couldn't call you."
CantonPixie : "What do you mean you couldn't call me? You could've just called and let me know you couldn't make it!"
Fogey: "Nah, I couldn't, you know. Uncle Serf was so enthusiastic about me you know? He spent the whole day with me at the nature reserve! I couldn't tell him I had to leave because of you!"
CantonPixie: "What do you mean? You could've just called me to say you couldn't make it!"
Fogey: "Nah, I couldn't, you know. I couldn't call you in front of him!"

[Fogey shrugs, embarrassed, tries to wave his hand and tries to concentrate on the TV]

Fogey: "By the way, Nephew ABC called for lunch, I said I had to spend time with you."

[Canton Pixie rolls eyes]

Uncle Serf is one of the freaking rich Serfs. And Nephew ABC (a really nice cousin of mine) is not so well-to-do, he's a taxi driver. But he's decent. I doubt the Fogey would have obliged if it were Nephew ABC who offered to take him to the nature reserve!!

Urgh.

Pinkerton Syndrome

Finally I found the label for them!

Be warned: This is a nasty post.

Everytime THEY visit, everyone fawns on them.

Here's a sampling:
- Trips up north
- Nature Walks at Sungei Buloh on a weekday (gasp!!!)
- Golf trips to the 'exclusive' clubs
- Endless refrains of "We want to take you out to XYZ restaurant" everyday.

The local siblings don't get invited to such things. The problem is, I don't think they would have gotten such attention or welcome if they were from Cambodia, or Vietnam or the likes!

Tarzan Chicken!

I just HAVE to post this.

This is a brand of hormone-free chicken available from NTUC. And guess what their URL is? It's so funny!!

http://www.OEO.com.sg

P/S The company name is Thye San or something like that - Chinese for Tarzan.

Don't buy cheap socks!!!!

I was very happy today because my Prison Group, the WWF, decided to hold our fortnightly gatherings at Pixieville.

And I learnt something. Mr Wrestlemania was the earliest, as usual. I thought he'd walked into the house with his shoes, because everywhere he walked, there were black footprints on my white floor!

Turns out, he had apparently bought a pair of black socks that cost $1 - and I suspect the socks were coloured black using non-permanent marker!! When he took off his socks, his feet were marker-ink black!!!

I felt so mean, I wanted to laugh out loud at him!!

Old English Evening at Sloane Court

Mixed Grill

House of Jehovah (Seafood Pie)

English-style peas, baked beans & prawn cocktail

I loved the mixed grill at this place. It tasted so homemade. Maybe it was done by that old lady who just walked out from the kitchen! However, I think that old lady decided to use Campbell's mushroom and oxtail soup!

Airport liked the Tudor-style facade and the old English tavern interior. Said it reminded him of his London days.

The old fogey had a good time making fun of the harried waiters and mature Hainanese Ah Beng captain who was missing some orders here and there.The Veteran weighed herself using this relic!

I'd come back here - just for the ambience.

I should have gotten this sooner!!

This fancy Japanese thingy can cook rice, steam fish and veges all at the same time - and it keeps warm for ages! I'm selling off my rice cooker now - my kitchen counter has got too many gizmos lying around!

Honeyed Pears & Almonds

Tin Hang Zai has a sweet tooth - hence most of my recipes are restricted to 'cooling' stuff which I can't eat.

This is a great recipe:

Per person portion:

• 25g of Chinese bitter & sweet almond mixture (I just used the sweet type - they call it 'South Almond')
• One pear, peeled and soaked in salt water for 3 minutes
• 1 tablespoon of honey

Instructions:

• Cook almond for 10 minutes in boiling water
• Add honey, stir one minute and turn off fire
• Pour above plus pear into a bowl
• Place in a steamer
• Steam for 1 hour

Tastes good! (The recipe calls for a 4-person portion)

Lazy Baking Afternoon

Nougat & Funny Chocolate Cookies with healthy berries & apricots

Koala invited me to her friend Christmas's home for a baking session. Not surprisingly, I was of limited help - I helped myself to the almonds and seaweed crackers lying around!

My only conclusion is - I will not venture into making nougat and other exotica. Their heated-to-275 deg F mixture of glucose water (available from the very Chee-Nah Phoon Huat, can you believe it?), honey and sugar got welded onto the mixing bowl and couldn't be removed!!

Nostalgia and old fogeys...

The old fogeys are Hainanese. They would have loved this Shashlik but I think they are booked well ahead. Not to mention the prices.

Sloane Court Hotel

So tonight we are trying out another fogey hangout complete with WWII aluminium teapots and gruff Hainanese waitresses. I was quite fed up when the ST featured them - our nice anonymous haunt is no more anonymous.

IKEA still rocks.. sometimes...

This is any cook's indispensable tool. And one instance where the 'One Cent Money One Cent Quality' principle does NOT work.

I outgrew this $4 one from Shop n Save within 3-4 months. Tin Hang Zai upgraded me to this $6 tomato but it lasted 2 freaking months. I was so pissed.
Finally, I found one at IKEA for just $1.80. It looks snazzy, and it's so cheap it's almost 'disposable'! Needless to say, I bought four. Even if they don't last - I have the spares ready.

Giordano - Is this business sense?

One of the old fogeys posed this question to me recently:

Giordano doesn't make sense. When it's raining, they should jack up the price of their umbrellas. Instead, they half it!

It set me thinking. Then I looked at the collection of Giordano umbrellas in my store. (At least 5 of them). Then I understood..and this is what I told the old fogey.

You see, they are buying goodwill with that half-price. Had they charged me double the usual price, I would probably have grudgingly bought the umbrella that first time in my hour of need, vowed never to be caught again, and zealously carry an umbrella everywhere I go.
Net revenue for Giordano - $24

But with this goodwill, I let my guard down. At the back of my mind, whenever I'm out, I'm like "Giordano's umbrellas go for half-price. And they are everywhere. If I'm caught, I can always get one since it's only half-price." I've even begun to hunt out Giordano's whenever it rains, because "their umbrellas go for half-price".
Net revenue for Giordano - 5 X $6 = $30 and still counting

That's why I have 5 Giordano umbrellas now. I'm sure I won't stop at 5. And that's why I think Giordano's makes sense.

Moral of the story : Goodwill makes good sustainable economic sense.

I grew a Tow Gay in my sink!

Little Pixie's Garage

These really repel ants!!!

This is one of those old wives' tales that work. You could try Peppermint Oil (or anything remotely mint) or Ground Cinnamon too. It beats placing ant-poison on your kitchen surface and risk poisoning everyone else.

Yummy Ricciotti

Linguini Gamberi (Tiger Prawns in Olive oil, Chilli & Garlic)

I am such a picky eater - and Tin Hang Zai and I are such tightwad Pixies. But this place is really cool. It's in a different league altogether from those humdrum places like Spagheddies. And with prices that are comparable or even cheaper than Spagheddies - I'm definitely coming here again and again!

P/S The boss and waiter and chef are all completely Italian. The waiter does not look localised yet and looks single.