Interesting Newsfeeds about Asia (Updated)

LESSONS FROM THE CES DRILON KIDNAPPING

Now that Ces Drilon has been freed, it is time for the entire mass media to reflect on their past actions and determine changes that will be for the good of the people.

While THESE ARROGANT BASTARDS BULLIED THEIR WAY FOR STORIES to fill their papers and time slots, they exercised special care and sensitivity when it was Ces turn to become the story.

They imposed news blackouts for Ces while they feasted on the other kidnapping incidents.

They hid the family from public view for security’s sake while they all tried to create scoops by being the first and getting exclusive footages of the other victims family’s. These holds true for victims of all other crimes.

I remember a witness to a heinous crime who appeared on TV. A lowly street vendor, he told me that he did not agree to the interview but they GAY assistant badgered and threatened him. he was so afraid that he agreed to be seen on TV. Had the prime suspects gotten back at him, he would have been defenseless. THAT’S HOW ROTTEN THIS MEDIA PEOPLE ARE!

Ces is alive. I want to know if she will continue to bully her way to stories. Remember how arrogant she and the other media people were during the Peninsula caper? Refused to be handcuffed and investigated, even if she spent the most time with Trillanes from the start til the end of the incident. It's the same arrogance that got her kidnapped and had the country again mentioned negatively in the international press.

The mass media in this country is terrible. Public service? NO WAY!

They are out for scoops to be able to get high ratings and high paying advertisements.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY and That is the whole truth to it.

Cheap But Usefull Eyeglasses for Poor Kids

I have not so recently realized that eyeglasses are not expensive but many needy people do not have it. The reason for such a situation is that a lot of the deprived ones are not actually aware of such need. What I found just recently are kids in public schools who are thought to be slow in absorbing class lessons. A close examination however, showed that the kids actually have weak eyesight and that made them unable to properly read what teachers are writing in the board. The kids then develop short attention spans and tend to daydream or simply play at the back of the overstuffed classrooms. It only took a small amount of money and hundreds of kids now have new eyeglasses. They can now study and hopefully, they will grow up better armed to face this cruel world.

Spend Thrifts!

Back to todays hi tech gadgets, compact flash memory devices and similar attachments reach obsolescence quite fast that a stores failure to unload inventories on time may be disastrous to business. That is where bargain hunters like me thrive. A memory card that is not top of the line may be next to worthless commercially but for the end users, it is as useful as it was when it first came out of the market. We buy these things in bulk at dirt-cheap prices and give it away to our clients as souvenirs. Cool, eh?

How a Business Creates More Income

The object of today’s angst is SM Hypermart’s foodcourt (Pasig). The first few times that we had lunch there, we found the place refreshing and roomier compared to its counterparts in Megamall and everywhere else. Because of that, we resolved to visit the place from time to time.
During my last visit however, things have gone bad and another visit a month after showed that things have not improved. The first fiasco could have been due to the birth pains associated with the use of new technology. However, with things still being done in exactly the same way a month thereafter, I would call it stupidity and insensitivity to the pains being suffered by customers and worse-- FINANCIAL OPPORTUNISM!

What am I talking about? Here it is.

Before people can go around ordering food in SM Hypermart’s food court,

1. They have to go to the cashier, deposit money and be given some kind of a prepaid card.
2. After that, they may start going to the stalls and order their food where their card will be swiped and debited each time they make a purchase.
3. If they make the mistake of going to the steak booth first, they will be delayed for a long time for the booth will hold on to their cards and swipe it after the steak has been grilled.
4. When buying softdrinks, their card will not be honored and they will have to paycash.
5. If by any chance, their initial load runs short of their order, they will have to GO BACK TO THE CASHIER and buy more credits.
6. After they have gone around the booths, they will have to go back to the cashier, have their cards swiped and get their change.

Here are my observations

1. Other than the extra three steps (1,5 & 6), there is the annoying step 4.
2. What the $%^&* is with step 3?
3. Of course, there is the possibility that the customers’ prepaid card will be lost at any time. There is also the real possibility that out of annoyance, the customers will forget to redeem their change after their meals. In both cases, the customer losses money which will either go to the unscrupulous thief, the lucky finder keeper or voila--- SM itself!!!!
4. There is also this possibility that customers will find it more convenient to forget about a few pesos in unclaimed change than to line up and redeem it. Again, may we ask where the money will go?--- SM!!!!!

Now, more than a month after I have observed this annoying and inconvenient process, SM is yet to implement improvements.

I wonder, have they collected so much income that they have decided to continue with this process? In accounting, I believe that these extra money is called "extraordinary income". Has this been reported by SM to the BIR? Have they actually paid taxes for this?

This method of making money from unused/unredeemed/lost credits has been perfected by PLDT through its landline cards and followed by SMART and GLOBE. With SM's adaption of this wonderfully nice method, I wonder if they now have brilliant ex Telco employees who introduced them to this. Hmmnn.

PWE!

A hope

I hope that the current lasik surgery will continue to improve and become more affordable to most people. Since Lasik treatment kind of “heal” the individual’s vision, the need for eyeglasses is eliminated. However, lasik surgery is still very expensive and is not economical to the average individual. Therefore, many people waits for the day when it will finally become affordable to the masses.

Amplifying Cell Signals

Surfing the web, I have realized that cell phone amplifiers are now commercially available and this is one piece of information worthy of dissemination. Despite technological advances, there are numerous areas that are not fully covered by cell sites for various reasons. An area may be covered by tall structures that weakens the reach of cell signals and home or mobile amplifiers help a lot in making communication possible.

Sunday Blogging

I find it so nice to have breakfast in a nice patio furniture and blog about events in the past week that made an impression to me. Blogging is such a beautiful way for ordinary people to express and broadcast their thoughts, which most often differs from what is being broadcasted by the traditional media. One of the main reasons for that difference is that most bloggers are not dependent upon corporate advertisers for their survival. Unlike the traditional press, which has salespeople going all over town to solicit paid ads, bloggers up to this point, do not have such.

RCBC problem

The recent massacre of bank employees underscored the need to strengthen the country’s drug rehab system. Bank robbers normally have no reason to kill bank employees en masse. In addition, murdering people who are not resisting is something that ordinary Filipinos do not have the gall of committing. At this point, conventional wisdom points to the country’s severe drug problem as the main cause of such murders. I agree.