The issue of wet markets

The recent news on Sheng Siong's acquisition of a few wet markets and its attempt to privatize it stirred my interest. I am not an economics student but I do see how all this whole matter runs against the good intent of free market and the public interest. Do pardon me if my propositions make no economical sense.

My propositions are as follows,

Market failure as a result from the privatization of wet markets
The purpose of a free market is to facilitate the self-correcting mechanism that involves the market actors, the great scheme of thing is for prices to decrease and quality to increase. One characteristic of a free market is the lack of government intervention and this can be seen from the privatization of the wet markets, commercial entities being the wet markets' landlords instead of HDB.

In a perfect competition, this looks all rosy. Tenants have the freedom of choice to operate in a private wet market that offers a rate that is acceptable to them and wet markets' operators with this understanding, will base their rates that are most acceptable to prospective tenants, thus, achieving an economic equilibrium.

However, problem arises when the wet market operator operates a number of wet markets, in this case, Sheng Siong, thus, granting them the inequitable advantage in determining rates that are not in the interest of the tenants. It presents a "take it or leave it" scenario which regrettably, leads to the tenants having to set a higher profit margin to offset the higher rent they have to pay. This gives rise to another issue which I will explain in the next point.

Diminishing value of wet markets being an alternative to supermarkets
Wet markets are often seen as a no-frill alternative to supermarkets and the rise in prices brought forth from the increased rental rates makes it less attractive an alternative to supermarkets.

With prices being more or less equal, there is no incentive for consumers to patronize wet markets. With price not being the main factor, other factors like, convenience, cleanliness and wider range of products start to take precedence. In fact, a housewife who was interviewed had commented that it may deter her from patronizing wet market should price increases.

Wet markets as public facility
The purpose of wet markets are to serve the general public and serve as a correcting mechanism in the FMCG sector. It can then be said to be a form of public facility.

In a perfect market, consumers have the freedom to choose from whom they acquire their goods. Supermarkets aside, if goods from a privately operated wet market is more expensive than a government operated one (i.e. HDB), consumers have the freedom to procure their goods from the latter.

The above may seem correct, justifying Sheng Siong's decision to raise rental rates. But, let's take a closer look at this hypothesis, if a privately operated wet market located near where I stay, i.e. Hougang, retails goods at a 30% premium, am I to travel to the nearest government operated wet market that is located at Pasir Ris? The freedom to choose exists but has become less realistically feasible.


The bottom line is, free market is desirable only when it is non-detrimental to public interest and in this case, it seems to be.

There's something about you.

I like the way you dozed off while on the ride home. (:

When your choice isn't your choice.

Choice - an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities.

The irony of realizing the choice you made is not what you intended to be. Having secured an internship in a think tank, I realized should I fail to perform satisfactorily, my career in a particular sector is pretty much done for. I do enjoy the occasional research work I did for some of my projects and report writing, but in a formal setting where your bread and butter hinges on it, it seems like a no-no.

Till this end, I wonder what sort of trouble I am getting myself into.

Seeing the change in oneself.

Sometimes, it takes someone else to let you see the change in yourself.

Academic achievement had never been my interest when I was in primary and secondary schools. It took some nagging for me to start on my revision and I often ended up sleeping. I am what most people would say, a late bloomer, when I went on to polytechnic after completing my GCE O's level. But, I digress.

Dad stood at my door one evening and said to me, "Don't over-stress yourself, alright?" On one hand it was heartwarming from my dad's concern, on the other, I am bemused. Bemused over the disinterest in studies I had shown in my younger days and the change I underwent so subtly.

The wait.

It was a tormenting 4 days.

It was a poor show of performance at the interview. Questions that I could have answer brilliantly I did not, instead a jumble of mumbo jumbo was uttered. That night, I sought comfort in carbo, devouring bread from breadtalk and sushi, something that I have never done before.

And so the wait. The 4 days, it was a perpetual slip into depression. Regardless of the outcome, I only hoped that it is released so I can move on and focus on my studies. The comfort came on Tuesday morning in the form of an email. I was given the scholarship.

A little happy and pressurized now.

Embracing failure

The strength to embrace failure is an admirable quality that is absent in me. Right in front of me is an opportunity that will serve as a catalyst for many good things to come. But the lack of this strength brought fear upon me - the fear of failing.

For now, I pray for success in next week's interview.

It has been 3 years since your passing. Always fondly remembered - Rory.

Knock, knock.

Does anyone still patronize this blog?

You are part of my decision-making process

She said she is leaving for UK to further her studies. I pondered. How hard did she did come to that decision. Then, images of a younger me start coming back. Young and worry-free, a fiery desire to further my education overseas. But pragmatism prevailed eventually. As realism trusted me back to where I am, I asked myself, can I forgo the emotional bond I have with you and pursue what I long yearned? This emotional bond we have, is it my instinctive needs or the desire to connect with you? I pondered again.

Ever since your appearance, you are already part of the decision-making process. Change we feared but come what may.

I know it is you

Getting back home from a long day, I headed to my room, placed my bag on my side table and laid on my comfortable bed. It was one of those days where you felt so drained of energy from meetings that never seem to stop. It was never what varsity life is suppose to be. As the clock ticked by, my eyelids felt heavy. Drowsiness soon took over me. Then, the smell from the perfume you left on my bag wafted exciting my sensory. I was reminded of our moments. The moment when the name of the perfume stopped going by its name but by yours. The moment when our hands first met. The moment when I observed you sleeping like an innocent child deserving nothing but tender love. The moment I held you tightly in my arms, so afraid you might be nothing but a memory.

I knew deep in me it is you truly.

Shouts came from below. I woke up from my thoughts, my pillow was moist. i looked beside my table and reached out for my bag. I inhaled deeply, every part of you permeated me.

Managing Expectations

Relationships are maintained and driven by expectations, even in the simplest relationship, for example, that of an acquaintance. A case in point would be that of a friend, we expect him/her to be your listening ear when you need one and it is through this expectation that the friendship is maintained.

As the closeness of the relationship moves up, the more we expect from the relationship. There is no wrong in this as this befits the closeness of the relationship. However, even as expectations increase, one remains unchanged - the need to communicate.

The need to communicate, in my opinion, forms the most basic expectation in a relationship, as for a relationship to form, one has to communicate to be acquainted.

We expect our loved ones to communicate to us, be it of happiness or woes, it provides comfort to know your loved ones are in contentment or to provide empathic concerns to your loved ones knowing he/she is in misery.

When expectations are not met in a relationship, disagreements and arguments may eventually consume the relationship itself, or when one grows accustomed to the other party's expectations, complacency may seep in and thus, failure to comprehend the dynamic nature of expectations.

That said, one cannot help but feel disappointed and frustrated knowing even the most basic of expectations is unfulfilled.

It is said that no expectations always lead to fewer disappointments.

Perhaps it's time for me to lower my expectations of others.

San Francisco and my mundane life

I'm starting to notice a trend. Every start of my post would start off with an apology for the late update. As most fo my readers know, I have a twitter account and I have decided to use the twitter account for impromptu updates and my blog as an avenue for self-reflection and read-worthy updates.

My trip to San Francisco had been an enriching one. Being alone in a foreign country (well, most of the time), you tend to see and appreciate more of the country. I flew alone on my flights, to and forth and the different time zones don't affect me much as I was asleep most of the time. The conference was a eye-widening experience, the crowd, the atmosphere and the seminars. There was also time for fun too, visited Golden Gate Bridge twice, Palace of Fine Arts with its magnificent structures and Apple HQ at Cupertino.

Although my experience with Northwest Airlines wasn't a good one, the trip also earned me enough mileage to redeem a ticket to most part of Asia. Time to save up for another trip.

Moving to my sophomore year in SMU this August. The module bidding round has already and I wasn't really keen in Software Engineering module I will be taking the new term. My encounter with programming has seen better days, the enjoyment I used to seek in programming seem so distant. For one of the module, I had to write an essay and attend an interview if I am shortlisted. All the trouble for a half-credit module. Passed the first round of selection, attending the interview this Wednesday.

One month more to the new term. Enjoying the remnant of my vacation.

My Adidas Sundown 10K Marathon experience and random thoughts

Run, just run, do not give up. Let's what drove me to the finishing point of the 10km marathon. Based on my Nike+ kit, I took 58min to complete the race, will be waiting for my official timing to be released.

It would be suicidal to go for a race, how short it is, without any training. 1.5 months prior to the race, I been running 4km twice a week, but it slowly tapered down to 3km once a week after I started my summer job.

As the organizer didn't have my record in the system on the day of the race pack collection, my race mates and I had to arrive 2 hours early to collect our race tags. As a consolation, I manage to get a carpark slot for being the early bird.

Here's how I fare from my Nike+ kit,



I took a while to warm up and another reason for this was the Sennheiser earphones I was hearing. My advice is, never get their sports series. I been using it for less than a year, the earphones don't grip to the ears tightly and half the time I was adjusting it to make sure it doesn't slip out. Also, the insulation has split, exposing the copper wire.

The energy gels I purchased earlier came in useful too. At the 5km point, my stomach started to hurt, probably due to running on an empty stomach and it feels better after drinking one.

Hoping to try for Army Half Marathon 21km. Anyone keen? :)

Flying off to San Francisco in 5 days. With the H1N1 situation, many have asked me why have I not cancelled my trip. I could probably play punk and forfeit the scholarship citing the H1N1 epidemic as the reason (which is probably a strong one), but it's really a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend the WWDC conference and I have other plans for next Summer.

Besides, who could resist a partially sponsored trip to San Francisco? *grin*

Being the responsible citizen, I took some precaution on my own, flu jab, vitamin C and Tamiflu prescribed by a colleague.

Going to plan my trip. Ciao~!