Effects of being placed onto a US Department of Commerce's Entity List are just beginning to filter through for Huawei and to consumers.
And looks like it has caused some level of panic for owners of Huawei mobile phones? The P30 30x zoom for the camera is great. But without all the apps that make the mobile phone great, who wants the phone? And in this scary digital world where bad guys abound, the apps need to be constantly patched to maintain cybersecurity. Software and hardware need to go together.
It also means that companies supplying to Huawei in whatever business nature cannot do so with any US-origin technology, be it hardware or software. Companies that are not careful will soon find themselves in trouble if they inadvertently supply US technologies that ultimately end up in a Huawei product or services.
The long arm of US export control regime extends beyond their national boundary. You either live with it or suffer the consequences like Huawei.
Looking ahead, I doubt if the local telcos are going to continue selling Huawei mobile phones. And like the rolling effect of [bad] S-Chips, will it affect consumer preparedness to consider other China brand mobiles too?
Who benefits, and who loses in this situation?
Investment through the ages, from cradle to grave.
20 May 2019
Amazon Prime - The Scam (a.k.a. Electronic Bills are Evil 2)
I have to say it again: Electronic Bills are Evil.
My daughter is a Gen Y. Gen Ys can't be bothered to check their bank accounts regularly. They snapchat, and everything is just a passing memory. Am I generalising or am I right?
Anyways, happened to check on a random day and realised that she has been charged since January 2019 for Amazon Prime membership fees. Yet apparently, she had terminated her membership since mid-2018. Seems for the past three months, she has been billed GBP3.99 by Amazon. That's randomly ~$7 a month. Sneaky. Scam?
The good thing is that she was able to the Amazon website and chat online with a service representative. She was redirected to do so with Amazon UK via their UK website online chat as her account was from UK.
To Amazon's credit, they recognised there was an error and she has since been refunded.
Do you use Amazon Prime service? Or have you been paying them even though you do not? Check your kids' accounts!!
We are living in a scary digital world.
[Wanted to say "virtual" but that's so passe; "digital" is all the rage these days.]
p/s: I gather Amazon Prime service itself is a pretty good service if you are seriously using it.
My daughter is a Gen Y. Gen Ys can't be bothered to check their bank accounts regularly. They snapchat, and everything is just a passing memory. Am I generalising or am I right?
Anyways, happened to check on a random day and realised that she has been charged since January 2019 for Amazon Prime membership fees. Yet apparently, she had terminated her membership since mid-2018. Seems for the past three months, she has been billed GBP3.99 by Amazon. That's randomly ~$7 a month. Sneaky. Scam?
The good thing is that she was able to the Amazon website and chat online with a service representative. She was redirected to do so with Amazon UK via their UK website online chat as her account was from UK.
To Amazon's credit, they recognised there was an error and she has since been refunded.
Do you use Amazon Prime service? Or have you been paying them even though you do not? Check your kids' accounts!!
We are living in a scary digital world.
[Wanted to say "virtual" but that's so passe; "digital" is all the rage these days.]
p/s: I gather Amazon Prime service itself is a pretty good service if you are seriously using it.
16 May 2019
How Much Do We Need in Retirement?
When you start getting old (older), you start thinking about this kind of question. But really, should start thinking early. The trick is to start early. Very early. I've been thinking about this a lot more. And it's a pity I started late.
Anecdotally, it seems like a comfortable retirement lifestyle will require $3,000 per month. That's a number I came across a couple of times.
Of course, if I'm going to live a retirement drinking only tap water, living on a remote isolated kampung on a distant island, and eating fish fished from the sea everyday cooked any number of ways, maybe I need a lot less. But that's not the kind of lifestyle I'm thinking of.
For a couple, that works out to $6,000. And for each additional dependent, a.k.a. kid, that's $1,000 each. I've been tracking our expenses down to the last cent, and it is surprisingly accurate.
BTW, it is quite easy to keep track of expenses when all your spending either appear in your bank accounts or credit card bills. I use very little cash. That's the trick. Go SMART NATION!
So, for a family of four, that works out to $8,000 monthly, or $96,000 annually. Circa 2019.
DOES NOT INCLUDE EXPENSIVE HOLIDAYS OVERSEAS and other loan commitments (e.g. housing, car, etc).
Anecdotally, it seems like a comfortable retirement lifestyle will require $3,000 per month. That's a number I came across a couple of times.
Of course, if I'm going to live a retirement drinking only tap water, living on a remote isolated kampung on a distant island, and eating fish fished from the sea everyday cooked any number of ways, maybe I need a lot less. But that's not the kind of lifestyle I'm thinking of.
For a couple, that works out to $6,000. And for each additional dependent, a.k.a. kid, that's $1,000 each. I've been tracking our expenses down to the last cent, and it is surprisingly accurate.
BTW, it is quite easy to keep track of expenses when all your spending either appear in your bank accounts or credit card bills. I use very little cash. That's the trick. Go SMART NATION!
So, for a family of four, that works out to $8,000 monthly, or $96,000 annually. Circa 2019.
DOES NOT INCLUDE EXPENSIVE HOLIDAYS OVERSEAS and other loan commitments (e.g. housing, car, etc).
Stacking on $24,000 for holiday expenses, that's $120,000 per year. Those are numbers for my family at least.
What works for you?
What works for you?
13 May 2019
End of the Road for Travel Smart Rewards
So sad. I've been clocking points that get converted as cash rebate to top up my transportation card (see Insinc with the Times; subsequently changed to Travel Smart Rewards). Effectively discounted travel.
But I have just received this e-mail:
--
Long story short, no more. Boo hoo.
But I have just received this e-mail:
--
Dear Travel Smart Rewards user,
Thank you for your support of the Travel Smart Rewards (TSR)
thus far.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has reviewed the Travel
Smart Programme to take into account rail network enhancements in recent years
and changes to commuter travel patterns. Following the review, we will be
concluding the TSR programme. Please see http://bit.ly/2VWe2rt for more
information.
Current TSR users can continue earning points for trips made
on the rail network until 31 May 2019. They can convert their points into cash
rewards, or use the points to win more points or cash rewards through the game
on the TSR portal (The Ride One) until 25 June 2019. Points which are not used
by 25 June 2019 will no longer be valid. For further information, please see https://www.travelsmartrewards.lta.gov.sg/faq
Once again, thank you for your support all these years, and
we look forward to your active participation in other LTA schemes
Happy commuting!
Travel Smart Rewards Team
--Long story short, no more. Boo hoo.
07 May 2019
MOM Foreign Worker Tenant Enquiry - The Resident Who Isn't
Foreign worker with address tagged to your home? Scary. Worth checking out if there has been something fishy done.
Check it out:
Ministry of Manpower - Foreign Worker Tenant Enquiry
I'd absolutely HATE to have something like that happen to me.
I'm sure MOM will close whatever loophole that allowed such things to happen, presuming it did indeed happen and it wasn't some Fake News.
Check it out:
Ministry of Manpower - Foreign Worker Tenant Enquiry
I'd absolutely HATE to have something like that happen to me.
I'm sure MOM will close whatever loophole that allowed such things to happen, presuming it did indeed happen and it wasn't some Fake News.
02 May 2019
TPG, the upside
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. There are plenty of bandwidth hungry apps that consume massive mobile data. It's pretty addictive. I guess it's a form of lifestyle inflation? Or is it a practical reality of digital norms, a sign of "progress"?
And so TPG (https://www.tpgmobile.sg/) appeared on the local scene, coming in as the 4th Telco. The net effect was that my Singtel shares went south, somewhat. Starhub is already struggling from their self-induced escalating impact of high dividend payout in the past. And M1 was taken private.
The saving grace is that TPG is offering a one year $0 plan as they aim to seize market share, even as they are gradually rolling out their network. Really, ZERO. Coverage is not great for now. But can't complain right? It is ZERO.
I signed up and got my hands on the TPG SIM. And voila, Samsung phones can take in two SIM cards! So I downgraded my current Telco plan (not ready to risk switching), and configured my mobile phone mobile data to feed off TPG's. Infinite data, infinite. To infinity and beyond! No need to hunt for a free Wifi and conserve usage. Yeah.
The trade offs? No coverage in underground buildings and MRT lines. Live with it.
Let's see what happens in a year's time. And hopefully I haven't become a bandwidth addict by then. Meantime, it's saving me cold hard cash every month.
And so TPG (https://www.tpgmobile.sg/) appeared on the local scene, coming in as the 4th Telco. The net effect was that my Singtel shares went south, somewhat. Starhub is already struggling from their self-induced escalating impact of high dividend payout in the past. And M1 was taken private.
The saving grace is that TPG is offering a one year $0 plan as they aim to seize market share, even as they are gradually rolling out their network. Really, ZERO. Coverage is not great for now. But can't complain right? It is ZERO.
I signed up and got my hands on the TPG SIM. And voila, Samsung phones can take in two SIM cards! So I downgraded my current Telco plan (not ready to risk switching), and configured my mobile phone mobile data to feed off TPG's. Infinite data, infinite. To infinity and beyond! No need to hunt for a free Wifi and conserve usage. Yeah.
The trade offs? No coverage in underground buildings and MRT lines. Live with it.
Let's see what happens in a year's time. And hopefully I haven't become a bandwidth addict by then. Meantime, it's saving me cold hard cash every month.
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