All you accountants-to-be...

Some info I got off a forum...

PwC - Hardest to get in.
Major advantage:
1. Not a lot of OT to do.
2. Gentle learning curve. Way too gentle sometimes. Good for slow and steady people who are not in a hurry to learn.
3. Will pay for CPA Australia exam fees

Major disadvantage -
1. laptops are not the most up-to-date models and
2. not much OT to clock.
3. the hardest of the big 4 to get in. There are mini-EY, DT, KPMG clubs there. i.e. most of other Big 3 people wants to get into PWC.
4. cold culture where its difficult to know many friends. In other Big 3, the cultures are "warmer" and you can have many friends.
5. seniors have no portfolio and still need to do field work.
6. if its raining, most prob will be wet cos you are expose to the weather for quite a bit when you walk from the MRT station to office.

Other issues:
Dental benefit $200 per year.
Heard pay adjustment is coming in Jan 2007

KPMG
Major advantage -
1. has the most number of bank clients.
2. the only big 4 to have a community day where you spend one whole day doing meaningful community work.
3. the only big 4 to give the assistants a trolley bag to carry the audit files
4. the only big 4 to be awarded the Worklife Balance Award given by MOM
5. the only big 4 to give free country club memberships to senior and above

Major disadvantage -
1. The only big 4 with cap on maximum amount of OT hours clockable per year. Cap at 260 hrs
2. Can only take taxi home after 11.30pm All other Big 3 timing is 8.30pm

Other issues:
$100 per year dental
Their office is in Hong Leong Building, the oldest building used by the Big 4.

EY
Major advantage:
1. highest salary for assistant to senior level. $100 more per level
2. biggest audit firm in Singapore
3. 15 days of annual leave for fresh grad
4. shifting to new office at brandnew 1st Raffles Quay soon.

Major disadvantage:
1. Lots of SMEs

Other issues:
1. Dental is $200 per year

DT
Major advantage:
1. Lots of Japanese clients
2. Has the biggest Singapore-listed job - Singtel
3. Cheapest access to gym. Pay $2 per month only.

Major disadvantage:
1. limited subsidiary on medical visits

Other issues:
$100 per year dental
Recently recruited 20 seniors from PwC. Interesting development.
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Disclaimer: The above information may not be fully updated. It is for discussion purpose only. Use the above information at your own risk.

Channel 8 News

146th media. Can't fault 'em.

Dam cute Maplestory spoof

Courtesy of ahwei

The Republic of Potong Pasir

Wait longer for upgrading funds

'Naive' Opposition MPs 'misheard' PAP's message

Loh Chee Kong
cheekong@mediacorp.com.sg

IT'S been more than six months since the General Election but Opposition MP Chiam See Tong has not forgotten the multi-million-dollar carrot offered by the People's Action Party (PAP).

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Yesterday, the Potong Pasir MP tabled a question in Parliament asking if the Government was willing to release 45 per cent of the $80 million it had promised for the upgrading of Housing Board estates in his constituency, since PAP candidate Sitoh Yih Pin had won 45 per cent of the vote.

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However, even with the help of fellow Opposition MP Low Thia Khiang, Mr Chiam got nowhere with his request.

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Saying that she was "puzzled" by his request, Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu asked: "Does it mean that he should share his chair with Mr Sitoh, 55 per cent to 45 per cent, in this Parliament? And if we take the logic further, does it mean that he should also share his MP allowance with Mr Sitoh?"

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Since residents in Potong Pasir did not elect Mr Sitoh, "they should not stand to benefit from any surpluses that are generated", she said.

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But who approved such requests from PAP candidates, Mr Chiam asked.

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Mr Low, Hougang MP and Workers' Party chief, then leapt to Mr Chiam's support.

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"The surpluses are generated by the PAP and the people have no part in it?" he asked. "And don't forget, the people in Potong Pasir and Hougang also pay taxes and the Goods and Services Tax. Your justification's logic is selfish and partisan."

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Mr Low said his Town Council had submitted a $140-million upgrading proposal to the Ministry of National Development (MND) and he was still waiting for a reply.

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Hearing this, Mr Mah criticised Mr Chiam and Mr Low for their "selective hearing". He said it was made clear during the elections that the upgrading packages would be implemented only if the PAP candidates in the two Opposition wards were elected.

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The two Opposition MPs were "very naive" for "only going for the good parts", he added.

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"If you go on the Workers' Party's platform, you are not going to have enough money for upgrading, education, healthcare, and so on. When you vote for the PAP, you are not just voting for the goodies, for the package. You are also voting for all the parts of the package that comes together," he said.

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/154695.asp



























We, the citizens of Singapore
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society,
based on justice and equality,
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation.
__________________________________________

Selective democracy, I say.

Econs 101

I remember a time in JC when Miss Leong taught us that the Value-Added Tax, or GST as it is known here, was a regressive tax.

A regressive tax places proportionately more of a burden on those with lower incomes. Regressive taxes, as opposed to progressive taxes, are more burdensome on lower-income individuals than on higher-income individuals and corporations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regressive_tax

And that a Government is of the people, by the people, FOR THE PEOPLE.

Dear Sirs, please do reconsider this act. Stop telling us that the GST here is one of the lowest in the world. Ditto transport fees.

Les Chansons De Notre Dame

As introduced by Celest.

Notre Dame - The Musical

"Quasimodo (Garou)"

Belle
C'est un mot qu'on dirait inventé pour elle
Quand elle danse et qu'elle met son corps à jour, tel
Un oiseau qui étend ses ailes pour s'envoler
Alors je sens l'enfer s'ouvrir sous mes pieds

J'ai posé mes yeux sous sa robe de gitane
À quoi me sert encore de prier Notre-Dame
Quel
Est celui qui lui jettera la première pierre
Celui-là ne mérite pas d'être sur terre

Ô Lucifer !
Oh ! Laisse-moi rien qu'une fois
Glisser mes doigts dans les cheveux d'Esmeralda

"Frollo (Daniel Lavoie)"

Belle
Est-ce le diable qui s'est incarné en elle
Pour détourner mes yeux du Dieu éternel
Qui a mis dans mon être ce désir charnel
Pour m'empêcher de regarder vers le Ciel

Elle porte en elle le péché originel
La désirer fait-il de moi un criminel
Celle
Qu'on prenait pour une fille de joie une fille de rien
Semble soudain porter la croix du genre humain

Ô Notre-Dame!
Oh ! Laisse-moi rien qu'une fois
Pousser la porte du jardin d'Esmeralda

"Phoebus (Patrick Fiori)"

Belle
Malgré ses grands yeux noirs qui vous ensorcellent
La demoiselle serait-elle encore pucelle ?
Quand ses mouvements me font voir monts et merveilles
Sous son jupon aux couleurs de l'arc-en-ciel

Ma dulcinée laissez-moi vous êtes infidèle
Avant de vous avoir menée jusqu'à l'hotel
Quel
Est l'homme qui détournerait son regard d'elle
Sous peine d'être changé en statue de sel

Ô Fleur-de-Lys,
Je ne suis pas homme de foi
J'irai cueillir la fleur d'amour d'Esmeralda

"Quasimodo, Frollo, Phoebus"

J'ai posé mes yeux sous sa robe de gitane
À quoi me sert encore de prier Notre-Dame
Quel
Est celui qui lui jettera la première pierre
Celui-là ne mérite pas d'être sur terre

Ô Lucifer !
Oh ! Laisse-moi rien qu'une fois
Glisser mes doigts dans les cheveux d'Esmeralda

Esmeralda.
_________________________________

Oh how much I love French.
Although I'm unable to speak it comprehensibly.
Shaowei can, though.

More on WSM

Read this blog... Where I've gotten these extracts from.

Rafflesians' response to WSM:

i was a top student from RJC. just graduated a few years ago. most pple that i know in RJC were just too full of themselves. they thought that since they are from RJC, they are the smartest in Singapore. unfortunately, many of my RJC frens have low EQ and common sense. most only know how to memorise and practise questions, and possess very weak critical thinking skills.

To follow up on what fellow Rafflesian, Gene, said above, I would like to emphasise that the majority of us from RJC are not like Shu Min. In fact, few of us sympathise with her current “plight” (not that she is taking it badly, she was in fact laughing and mocking at the responses on various websites). What had happened also did not surprise us because she is well known in school to have an inflated sense of superiority and low tolerance of the pedestrian and the uncultured. But please remember that one WSM does not make RJC. The rest of us from RJC should not be impeached because of her.

I'm a classmate of SM in RGS and RJC. Many of us don't know her well because she does move around in her own exclusive circle of the smart and well-connected. And yes, she is conceited, overbearing and thinks that she and her clique own the world. But, I do think some of the comments here are excessive, even unreasonable. You can fault her character and her worldview, but is there a need to descend to vulgarity?

As a Rafflesian, I am saddened that our good name has been smeared by the poison pen of one elistist female. The saddest part of this episode is that she reminds me of the remark made by newbie Michael Palmer, "Before I joined the grassroots organisation, I never knew there were poor people in developed countries". Where does the PAP find such freaks? They are no better than the Hitler Youth, and our country can only be the worse because of them.

___________________________

And her dad's (MP Wee's) response?

To summarize: I should not have said what I did about people's inability to take the brutal truth and strong language.

His full 'apology' can be found here.

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Life in black and white.

From opposite sides of this divide.

Guess who's the new face of SMU?

Meng looking every bit the studious SMU undergrad.
And he's the new face of SMU Vista! Haha...