GST

Penny for your thoughts
Wow ! It seems that the GST is not a regressive tax structure.
Damn it ... we need to get rich so as to pay less taxes !!
Here are some simple maths to prove it.

Example 1
In 2006,
if after rebates, etc, and your net taxable income is S$60,000,
then the income tax you need to pay is S$2,700 ( 8.75 % ).
If you spend S$800 a month on needed goods and services,
then the GST paid at 5% will be S$480
Total = S$3,180 in tax paid

In 2007,
if after rebates, etc, and your net taxable income is S$60,000,
then the income tax you need to pay is S$2,600 ( 8.50 % ).
If you spend S$800 a month on needed goods and services,
then the GST paid at 7% will be S$672
Total = S$3,272 in tax paid

From $3,180 to $3,272, the effective increase is 2.89 %.

Example 2
In 2006,
if after rebates, etc, and your net taxable income is S$400,000,
then the income tax you need to pay is S$61,650 ( 21% ).
If you spend S$4,000 a month on needed goods and services,
then the GST paid @ 5% will be S$2,400
Total = S$64,050 in tax paid

In 2007,
if after rebates, etc, and your net taxable income is S$400,000,
then the income tax you need to pay is S$58,700 ( 20% ).
If you spend S$4,000 a month on needed goods and services,
then the GST paid @ 7% will be S$3,360
Total = S$62,060 in tax paid

From S$64,050 to S$62,060, the effective decrease is -3.11 %.

Example 3
In 2006,
if after rebates, etc, and your net taxable income is S$25,000,
then the income tax you need to pay is S$187.50 ( 3.75% ).
If you spend S$800 a month on needed goods and services,
then the GST paid @ 5% will be S$480
Total = S$667.50 in tax paid

In 2007,

if after rebates, etc, and your net taxable income is S$25,000,
then the income tax you need to pay is S$175 ( 3.50 % ).
If you spend S$800 a month on needed goods and services,
then the GST paid @ 7% will be S$672
Total = S$847 in tax paid

From S$667.50 to S$847, the effective increase is 26.89 % ( !!! )

Therefore, the conclusion is:
The poorer you are, the higher GST will make you even poorer !

______________________________________________________________

Huh? Is this true? They are reducing income tax, but increasing GST?
Doesn't take much cow sense to figure out that the ones who are suffering are the poor.

[itunes]: Breaking Benjamin - You

KL no more

somehow, the trip to KL is more or less messed up.
yar, i understand the importance of going together as a family.
but i also just want to spend some time with my father alone man.

maybe all we need is just a daughter in the house to understand the way things come from her. maybe.
i don't know.

i took too long a nap. i slept from 1 - 4. and i haven't started my stats yet.
on second thoughts, nah no clubbing. i rather run in the night, or go hiking in singapore in the night. any takers? i miss the sunrise at kent ridge park haha.

gim, standard chartered ok la. i run in year 4 ok? year 3 cannot, in canada lo..

and shit man. cannot do ISM for ma2222. stupid st2131, pre req for all the financial maths. i really should have done it last semester man. damn it. looks like I might have to do pure maths afterall. there goes my financial maths route. Ah whathehell. !@#!@#!@#$!@#!@

4000 modules
Game Theory
Graph Theory 1
Advanced ODE
Partial DE
Analytic No. Theory
Field/Group Theory
Complex Analysis II

Apparently, you can see the word theory 4 times out of the 7 4000 modules that I'm taking. ARGH.

[itunes]: NIL

Shi Bei Gong Ban

Still awake after 30 hours. Record's 40. So bahz... big deal.
I just messed up my Geog
@#$%@#%#$!@#$!@#$!@$@#%#$^$%@#$!#!@

"Climatology was once a rather peaceful science, insulated by the long-term nature of its inquiries. Now that it is being asked to predict the future of the world, it has understandably become politicized and argumentative" (The Economist, September 2006). To what extent do you agree with this statement. Give examples to support your answer.

Is this Geography? Or this English? Or is this Punjabi in Geography?????

Ooi. All you clowns. Phuture next week. On boh???????

And is it si bei gong ban or shi bei gong ban????

[itunes]: Linkin Park - In The End
(yar seriously, in the end, it doesn't even matter whether i studied or not -_-")

Crazy

I must be mad. I'm still awake.
Finally, when sleep is elusive for my own good. Hahahaha.

[itunes]: Lin Jun Jie - Shu Neng Sheng Qiao

Muggertoad

You know you are in trouble when...
1) You convert your mahjong table into an additional study table
2) You haven't started studying for your Geography AT ALL
3) You are relying on coffee to stay awake
4) You don't plan to sleep
5) You start your freaking exam at 9am tomorrow.
6) You decide to blog instead of studying.
7) You look left, you see notes.
8) You look straight, you see notes.
9) You look right, you see powerpoint slides.
10) You seemed to have returned all your prior Geog knowledge from A Levels to Eric Lee and eh, shit what's her name??? Low? Lau? Lam? Leong?

[itunes]: Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me

Hiatus

Last entry for the week, before I slip back into the frame of darkness to get myself through this week of exams.
I'm sorry. I can't. I don't have a choice.
You'll be surprised, how effective it is to draw fuel from this source.
It's potency, efficiency, productivity. It's catalytic property in boosting my concentration and confidence tenfold.
I shut myself in the study, switch on only my table lamp, off the ceiling lights, on my playlist of darkness on my itunes and transform.

The material, formulas, examples and the notes go in like clockwork precision. My processing speed doubles, triples, quadruples. In in in in. Not a single thing left out. The element of drowsiness disappears in that very instant.

I can't even operate in the day. It's as though my real self is existential in the night, the day being the playground for my other half of myself to play.

Try it if you want. Don't say I didn't warn you if you go mad. =)

[itunes]: Sixteen Senses - Do More Wrong

Bleach Videos

Yui's freaking good! Or is she? Hmm.. in any case, can't wait to resurrect my guitar after the exams end.

u got to be kidding me

yes seriously
you got to be kidding me. no you got to be SHITTING me.
after some conversations,
i realized it's another classic case of wrongly perceived actions, being viewed as that same old ridiculous intention.
every action has a motive, doesn't it?

it's your loss man. not mine. good riddance.
what a waste of time.

i'm getting real sick of knowing new people.
it's like there's always this hidden agenda whenever you try to get to know people.
always better off being an introvert.
i'm tired of toggling personalities.

[itunes]: All American Rejects - It Ends Tonight

Materialism

There are 6 ways to be rich:
1) Do your own business
2) Be one of the few specialists in a field that has many barriers to entry
3) Be a financial guru in a bank
4) Marry the rich
5) Born rich
6) Win the lottery

Maybe I've missed out a couple of ways, oops, comments are open.

"Live to work, or work to live?"
Seems that we're all living to work these days, with the hope that working can grant us all the never-ending wants and satisfactions that we desire.

But to be frank. Is money everything?
You can work 14 hours day at the bank, only to realize that you're too tired to go home, you decide to go to the nearest club and booze and womanize the night away, only to return back to office to sleep, and start the crazy day all over. Without realizing, you neglect the one you love, the ones who have brought you up, your friends, your health. You're rich by 35. But you're dead by 40.

Aiyah. I think I'm blogging nonsense. I like cannot type English properly today. Type halfway, suddenly ratio test come out. Then suddenly, liquidity trap. Then suddenly, sense of place. Pui la. Exactly one more week before it's over. Then it's 3 sems down, 5 more to go. -_-

[itunes] : Howie Day - Collide

i'm still awake

love is the mother of all mirror illusions, the epitomy of paradoxes, the cause of ambivalence, the catalyst for sanity and insanity

don't u think so?
it can give a person such drive and determination to do the things that he taught was impossible
and it can shatter one's confidence and send someone spiralling down to one's knees
it can make someone become the caring person that he never realize he was
and it can turn someone back into the vengeful vindicative person that he always was
it can make life seem like a bed of roses
and it can make life seem like a burning cauldron of molten hell
it can make you run in a straight line
and it can make you run in circles
it can make you happy
and it can make you depressed and confused
it can make you an optimist
and it can make you a pessimist
it can make you into someone that everyone knows
and it can make you into someone that everyone never knew

does it really matter really?
love is inconsequential. if you want to love someone, love yourself then.
don't come give me crap that i don't know anything about love.
i know more about it, then you think i know about it.











i just act ignorant, because it's always easier being ignorant in the first place.

[itunes] : Westlife - Fool Again

IR1101E : Introduction To Ironing Studies

Module Code: IR1101E
Module Title: Introduction To Ironing Studies
Modular Credit: 0.5
Workload: 0-0-0-10-0
Prerequistes: {'A' Level Home Economics} or {Army}
Preclusions: Students with maids in their households
Description: This module is a first course on the fundamentals on the complex analysis of ironing. In this module, students will learn the basic theory and techniques of ironing as well as some of its applications to various clothing materials (i.e. silk, polyester, cotton, suede, denim, e.t.c). Target students are Home Economics students in the Faculty of Housekeeping.
Major topics: Fundamental Theory Of Ironing, ironing devices (charcoal, steam, electric, roller, presser), Tefal Series, Braun Series, Cauchy-Tefal Expansion, Wireless Iron Lemma, applications to the computation of latent heat and pressure of The Housewife Ironing Integral Formula.

Sorry. Apparently, I spend 6 hours studying Econs today, and 2 hours ironing clothes. Oh I forgot to mention. The missus is away in Taiwan till next week, so I'm effectively the houseman, houseboy, housewhateveryoucallit, for the week.

Wait. Shouldn't I be studying? Er. Does it matter? Haha. All study and no iron makes Hansel a dull boy.

[itunes]: Wang Li Hong & Kenny G - Wei Yi

The Modern Burial Ground

By Tan Gim Yong

Down the corridor of Death,
I see Life.
Life in the bodies,
but bodies without souls.

The air of silence
that floods the cemetery floor
stares at me hard
because I don't belong.

In this modern burial ground,
tombstones stand replaced with:
books, laptops, music players and what nots.
Bodies buried not in soil
but in the lifeless parchment of education.

How interesting it is to see
the modern cemetery institution
in the compounds of the school
at the wake of the honour and glory of examinations divine.
__________________________________________________________________

I can't agree more. Really. Is there any use studying all this junk, only to forget it like 3 years later?
Chao. Dinner with Dad. I can't run tonight. I'm exhausted.

[itunes] : Yellowcard - Only One

Run Part 5

LipSHIT condition. I'm lost in space for ODE.

I don't understand why people choose to wear so little to go Central Library to study, only to conceal whatever little that they are wearing with a jacket. There's this girl who wore shorts so short, that they were barely noticeable with the jacket on.

Neither do I understand why do people bring their chunky laptops to school, only to spend 1/2 of the time watching youtube and blogsurf.

But I do understand that if I'm bored, at least I can look up and look around at the nice scenery.

I'm in trouble. I haven't started on my econs yet. I skipped 6/7 of my macro lectures. I also haven't started on my geog yet. I'm relying on past geog knowledge which is providing terribly insufficient, as it appears that A Level Geog and Uni Geog is waywaywaywaywaywaywayway different.
_____________________________________________________________

I need to fix my concentration after the exams. Neuro-linguistics is useless without concentration. I need to inject amnesia into my bloody head. I'm chasing ghosts. My head is returning me overdue compound interest from the shit that has accumulated since August 2005.

Dear God, if you're listening, show me the way will you?

[itunes] : Collective Soul - How Do You Love?

No Run

I'm so shagged, that's why never run today.
Tried understanding the spastic proofs in ODE. Hahaha. I gave up after like 1 hour.
Eh the Western at Engine Canteen is solid man! The hotplate Teriyaki Chicken and Baked Rice.
Mou Da Deng.

________________________________________________________________

What's new?
Nothing's new. I actually plan to fix a date, to sit down at some quiet place, maybe at Fort Canning? maybe at Marina Promenade? maybe at Kent Ridge Park? Alone. To sort out my thoughts once and for all. My thoughts are pushing me forward, yet they are holding me back at the same time. It's destroying my daily concentration.
Damn it.

When all else fails, turn on to Linkin Park and blast them all over your house. It works. Haha.

[itunes] : Bryan Adams - Have You Really Loved A Woman

Doesn't Make Sense

I shouldn't have known you.
I shouldn't have known you also.
I shouldn't have allowed you to know me more.

But if I didn't know you, I don't think I would be me today.

Strange how we always want to know the people we long and dream to know, but we end up meeting people we wish we didn't know.

Someday we'll know, I guess.

Run Part 4

I seem to be running more than studying. -_-

New Radicals - Someday We'll Know



"Someday we'll know
If love can move a mountain
Someday we'll know
Why the sky is blue
Someday we'll know
Why I wasn't meant for you

Someday we'll know
Why Samson loved Delilah
One day I'll go
Dancing on the moon
Someday you'll know
That I was the one for you"

There are occasions where it pays to listen to 987 instead of your ipod. Heard it on the "5 songs segment" on Dan & Young's show. Strange though. Took me so long to realize that both New Radicals and Mandy Moore sang this song. Oh well.

Run Part 3

Didn't go school today. So it turned out pretty unproductive.
Played too much punk rock from the likes of Green Day, Yellowcard, Good Charlotte and Simple Plan today. Punk rock affects your understanding of Statistics, hence I'm suffering from Stage 1 of Statisticular Cancer again. zZzzzZz... hahaha.

Run. Run. Run.
Just run. So that you won't have to think anymore. Go try it. You stop thinking when you run. Haha.
Sadly, I think I've disturbed some PRCs from making out in the park while I ran past them. Hahahhaa. Yeahhhh!

I'm going to stay until very late to study tomorrow. I need to finish ST2131 tomorrow. Like quite a lot of stuff still blur. Problem... is... no more Arts Canteen. How ah?

[itunes] : Robbie Williams - Come Undone

PSLE Oral

This would make quite a good English Oral Picture Conversation Subject.
If you would observe the contents properly, you would be able to know that...
1) I had super short hair previously.
2) I'm quite poor.
3) I like shopping.
4) I frequent arcades.
5) I had more melanin in my pigment last time.

What goes around comes around?
Haha. You know, I don't think it really matters. Sometimes, things will always come around, even though you don't go around.
There will always be some things that remain elusive to us, that we remember, that we will never forget.
There will always be a event in our lives that will threaten our sanity and emotions.
There will always be light in darkness, care and concern within ignorance and indifference, extrovertedness amidst introvertedness, laughter between sadness.
There will always be an answer. It's just a matter of whether we want to belief and whether we are patient enough to wait.

Strange, I don't know why I'm blogging so much. Maybe whatever that goes into the brain from mugging, has gotta be released somewhere. Hahaha.

"Hey baby, when we are together, doing things that we love.
Every time you're near I feel like I'm in heaven, feeling high
I don't want to let go, girl.
I just need you to know girl.

I don't wanna run away, baby you're the one I need tonight,
No promises.
Baby, now I need to hold you tight, I just wanna die in your arms

Here tonight"

[itunes] : Shayne Ward - No Promises (I really love this song, because it's simple. Makes a good wedding song... Hmm.. Ok. Next post will be on nice wedding songs.)

45678 of Spades

Spastic plot.
But if there's one thing I empathize with,
it's always easier being a player









in the game of Texas Holdem.

[itunes] : Jay Chou - Qing Tian

Darkness Takes Over

To my dismay,
Studying in the day,
The mind strays.

Away from home,
The comfort of the library tome,
Cen.Lib Level five takes on a monotone

sequence of brain activity
reducing my longevity
increasing my fatality

I sit facing the pillar,
ipod to the ear,
thinking about the whole year

The notes fade,
Time wades,
Memories pervade

Though bitter
They linger
like a taste of a zinger

Darkness looms
Indifference blooms
The past glooms

Only to dissipate once again,
With your eyes re-focused to the peak table grains,
Only to realize you're at Page 466 reading Markov chains.
With no relevance to your test domains.




My mind still strays. Sigh.

Retail Therapy Part ... Er.. I lost count

B+ for Geog Project.
Slightly irritated.
Because the comments were as follows "unfortunate, because this project definitely deserves a higher grade"

Why?
My conclusion was too short. So much for trying to keep to the word count. Sian. But considering the haphazardness, I should be contented with that B+.

Ok. I see A LOT of light in ST2131 now. I realized, Gan FF really sucks. All the amount of time I've spent in the stupid lectures, I understood roughly about 60% of it in like 6 hours? Or so i think i understand. Haha. We'll see.

And when I should be studying, I found myself with Rec shopping through Suntec City during the evening.
The food at Azabu Sabo rocks. The bento is WOOHOO.
We were looking at clothes, phones, food, e.t.c. Well, Rec finally bought his vest from G2000. I saw this nice winter jacket too, $199. Planning ahead for the Canada trip next year, when I realized, shit may still happen. So bahz... Buy next year la. Fail to plan, plan to fail. Plan too much, much to fail.

Ah shit la. I go arcade today. My KOF too long never play already. Lose to computer in the first round. I'm like -_-".

Ah shit la x2. I need a tan. I'm becoming Snow White, without his 7 dwarfs. Are there melanin supplements around?

Never mind. Go school study again. Then go slack more in town again tomorrow. No, later in the day I mean.

[itunes] : Sum 41 - Pieces

Run Part 2

Three items rot in the corner of my room.
My pool cue.
My guitar.
My Mahjong Table.

My interest in pool has dwindled to practically zero. And I don't foresee any spark to reignite the desire for it. Why? Haha. Don't we all know why. I want to play more. But it doesn't help when your close friends are all sian of the game. Ah doesn't matter.
My guitar. I will work on it after the exams. Eh I like cannot remember how to play Qing Tian on the guitar already zzzz...
My MJ Table. If only I had more MJ kakis who stay in the north.
Aiyah. I'm not bothered.

I came home and just uttered one sentence today. "I'm going to run again".
I got 10x the amount of volume in words for the response.

Sometimes, hai. Never mind. Time to keep my mouth shut.



He's my friend. Hmm... Maybe I should start learning some magic of my own.

[itunes] : Rivermaya - You'll Be Safe Here

Run

I like to run, especially in the night.
Because you become one with the night.
Traffic trickles.
There are lesser elements for you to observe, so you can concentrate your thoughts on running.
The cool night air flutters against the cheeks of your face, bringing relief, comfort and liberation.
And it's a great opportunity to forget the troubles and activities of day and just busk in the tranquil night.

Haha. I brought both my ipod and FM tuner to school today. After my ipod battery died on me, I switched to 987. IMHO, there's just too much R&B on that channel.
Daniel Ong said something. I couldn't agree more.
As much as some girls say they don't like flowers, just spring a surprise and buy it for them man. Even better if it's their favourite flower. Haha.

Sometimes, I think I'm watching Project Runway just for Heidi.. Zzzzz... -_-

Gee. This is an old song. "Did I grow up accordingly to plan?"
I did. Haha.

[itunes] : Simple Plan - Perfect

Rebirth

It's time for change. About time this blog came out again.
Don't worry, I'm altering the other blog still. Shifting the undesirable entries to another secluded spot of blogspot. Matter of time before I bookmark the old entries... Wow it rhymes!

I'm trying to seek the faith and belief all over again. Gim Yong showed me a verse in the Bible today, that God will reach out to those who reach for him. I'm pray every night, in hopes of reaching out to him and seeking the light and strength from him. Time to restore the faith.

I stared at so much MA2108 today that I reckon my brain's the helpsheet by itself already. Lim, arrows, infinity, Cauchy Cauchy Cauchy Cauchy Cauchy Bolzano Weierstrass Comparision Root Absol Convergence, e.t.c

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Gim Yong said something quite stupid today also.
"I have 2 As in the bag. But I have 2 Cs in the sack."

He also did something quite retarded today. I was finding my ODE Book at Central Library today. While walking back to the Quiet Area at Level 3, I walked past the shelves, and found the champion playing DOTA at the cabinet, using the library books as his mousepad. No Comments. -_-

Ok. I got Canada for SEP. What's best is that my companion is a PRC. Sibei sian. Can you imagine I sit the plane with him. Jian Zhi Si Dui Niu Tan Qing . Errr... I not sure whether the translation correct. As you know, my Chinese is like Jing Di Zi Wa.

Central Library has just become Central Prison to me. It's time to PRISON BREAK! Wahahahahhhaha.

-_-"

Ok. Shopping on Saturday with the jokers at Vivocity. I need retail therapy.

[itunes] : Sarah McLachlan - Adia

Statisticular Cancer

Is there anything to update today? I don't there's anything much.
Same old mundane mugging.
Updated my Friendster profile though. Guess I'm too bored. Haha.

Oh I forgot to add. I attended my first and last econs macro lecture today. Haha. In the LT, there were 28 people, of which half were sleeping. Mind you, the lecture itself has an enrolment of 900 plus people? On hindsight, I felt pretty irritated. I lost my mid term score to someone who had no A level econs background at all. Argh.

In any case, I need to get rid of MA2108 by tomorrow. Helpsheet constructed, past year paper attempted. This also includes rectifying the dangling piece of metal in my mouth, plus putting more metal on the bottom set of my teeth. Urgh.

Ok. I'm still pretty surprised at how everyone's related to each other, via like 2 or 3 levels. More friendster surfing today made me realize that actually my friend knows another friend of mine. Lol.

Ok la. Time to piah. Don't know whether can Dean's List again. Don't plan to set my aspirations too high this sem. I'm suffering from statisticular cancer.

Lost Cause

I was a little bored from attempting work in the afternoon and evening. So I took a look at the other blog and laid it in comparison to this, taking also into consideration the older posts from the earlier part of the year.

There's change alright.

The presence and absence of love can change a person so much. It is a double-edged sword, an item that effects pleasure and euphoria in the short run, while promoting unhappiness and regrets in the long run, all in a bid of attaining some form of balancing equilibrium for both parties involved in love. Sick, isn't it.

What's my point then? My point is nothing actually.

Which leads me to my next point.

I have to admit.

I'm fighting a lost cause, a war that never ends, with the memories in my head. I'm one with my memory and my memory, one with myself. I try so hard, fight so hard to purge them, only to lose myself in the battle. My memory enroaches into everything I do. From just walking and shopping along the streets, to a simple chore as heeding the call of nature in the toilet, to the mundane activity of doing my homework, to nightfall, where sleep becomes elusive again.

I pray at night, to you. Asking you for help in seeking a solution, perhaps also asking you to assist me in getting the solution that I've always wanted. But I don't think I'm getting anywhere. I motivate myself to find the solution, but blocks never fail to materialize along the way.

It also doesn't help, when I observe some people around me and I realize that I'm partially responsible for messing up their heads. So perhaps what goes around, really comes around.

So what's the problem really.. I realize I like being alone, but I also hate being alone at times. Those days, this was never a problem, because you were still around. These days, it's different. The people I meet are not like you, except for one though. The people who are not like you, are a dime in a dozen.

Damn it, really.
It's a lost cause, formatting memories and finding another you.

Harder to Breathe, Harder To Mug

This is possibly the most screwed up sem by far. I have tremendous inertia in getting work done, in getting chapters revised, in reading my geog readings, in doing post-mortems for my maths tutorials, in burning the stats book and drinking it.

Oh whatever. I'm gonna pitch a tent at Central Library for the next few weeks.

Confidence

My nature of confidence was very different previously. I drew it from the strength and support of the person I relied on. I drew it from my esteem. I drew it from the pride I wanted in my work. I drew it with a clear objective and goal that I wanted to attain in my mind.

Now?

I feel that I'm drawing confidence these days from a different source. A dark source.
Simply stemming from the fact that I'm completely indifferent, hence I feel confident doing whatever I feel like doing. I don't care about repercussions. I don't care about consequences. I don't care about how you people think. I don't care about what people say. I have the confidence of darkness oozing all out of me.

And the difference between the previous form of confidence and the current one?

I am concerned and gregarious and friendly and caring with the former. I knew people depended on me.

Now?

I don't care. You stand in my way, I'm confident you will die. You run me down, I'm confident I will destroy you first, or I will bring you down with me. I will kill you with silent confidence. I will not put up a farcicial image of tact, because I will run you down by being frank.

Two forms of confidence. Both equally potent, but with different intent.

Haha. I like.

Tell All

-Shifted-