Universal Studios, Singapore.

A couple of days ago, I took Fintan, seven and Ainan, ten, to Universal Studios, in Singapore. It was not quite what I expected.

There are two ways to review Universal Studios: I could look at it, from my point of view, or from that of my boys. I think I should do both.

There were a number of things which both sons liked. For instance, the "4D" cinema show about Shrek, in "Far far away". That, was one of the things the boys liked best. I won't give too much away, only to say that it is a much more "alive" cinema show than any I have seen. Basically, what you see on the screen, also happens to you. So, if a character spits, on screen - you get "spat" on by a water jet from the seat in front. This kind of thing, happened throughout and the boys really enjoyed it.

Also of interest was the Donkey Live, show, in which an onscreen cartoon character appears to interact with an audience: very well done. Ainan appreciated the cleverness of that.

In all, however, I would say that the Far far away set was the most carefully thought out. The same cannot be said for all Universal Studios, however.

Many of the rides were not working. This was disappointing considering that the boys had travelled so far. The main ride in the Jurassic Park section - the Rapid Adventures - was shut owing to "technical difficulties". The Sci Fi Town was a joke. The big roller coaster there has been out of action for most of the year. Both the Human and Cylon sections of Battle Star Galactica are out of commission. Other than that, there appeared to be not one idea in the whole of the Sci Fi town. Whoever implemented it, had no creativity at all. The boys were not impressed and neither was I.

The Madagascar section held most promise for the boys, since they are great Madagascar fans - but the main attraction there, The Crate Adventure, was not yet ready for opening. This was beginning to become a tiresome tale, of the Universal Studios experience. Much that the boys wanted to try simply wasn't available.

Interestingly, when we bought the tickets, at FULL price, it was not made clear to us, that so many rides were out of commission. This seems to be a deceptive practice and certainly didn't inspire confidence in the decency of Universal Studios.

Ainan was very impressed, however, with Lights Camera Action - a Spielberg effort. It was basically a sound stage set up to show special effects. The scene - a Category 5 storm - was well done enough to light up the kids' eyes.

Also enjoyable was the Waterworld performance. This involved actors shooting and blowing each other up all over the place, on a large floating set, using boats and jet skis and even a crashing plane. Great stuff for the kids.

The Monster Rock musical in the evening, got a very interesting reaction from all of us. It was just too loud. Both of my sons stuck their fingers in their ears throughout and Ainan was so unimpressed by the antics on stage, that he tried to go to sleep in that position! However, I did enjoy the performance of one particular actor. I don't know his name, since there was no programme for the show - but he looked rather like Orlando Bloom and was constantly reacting in an interesting fashion to all that was happening around him. In some ways, he was being a bit naughty as an actor, though, since he tended to upstage other performers, by his reactions. He was good, however, as a performer.

What was not good, was just how loud the explosives used on stage were, at the end. We were sat in the front row and could feel the sheer HEAT of the fireworks used. The final bang was truly percussive and enough to shock one. I felt rather sorry for the performers who have to hear that explosion three times a day, throughout each and every week. I am sure that they will have one thing to remember Universal Studios by: tinnitus and lifelong hardness of hearing.

It was even worse in Waterworld. Some of the actors had explosions go off a few feet from where they stood. I really wouldn't like to be them.

This brings me to my own point of view. As an adult, watching Universal Studios' offering, I can say this: I was very surprised at the limited range of ideas, on display. Everywhere, there was recourse to two key ideas: make the audience wet (by inundating them, splashing them, spraying them...etc.) and using explosives to make loud bangs, at every opportunity. It was both silly and juvenile to use these two ploys so extensively throughout the park. It was also rather boring and predictable. Only someone very inexperienced in the world - or a child (same thing, I suppose), could be impressed by this. Anyone else, could only see it as rather cliche.

Personally, I had rather expected more creativity to be on display - but that is not what was offered, in general (expect for the Shrek shows). It seems that whoever is responsible for designing Universal Studios exhibits is mired, too much, in Hollywood cliche and unable to break through and offer a truly new experience. Only the Shrek show hinted at what was possible.

At the end, I asked Ainan if he had thought it was worth it to come to Universal Studios.

"Yes.", he said, softly. Then he asked, "How much did it cost?"

I told him. His eyes looked a little surprised.

"Almost worth it," he qualified.

Fintan, however, was not so sure. From about four pm (about three and a half hours after we had arrived), he began asking, repeatedly: "Can we go home?". So, land of enchantment though it might purport to be, Fintan was not entirely enchanted - at least not for long.

From my point of view, I would say that Universal Studios could do so much better. Many of the shows/rides/offerings, showed little creativity, and too many of them were simply closed - leaving it impossible for me to judge or comment on them.

Universal Studios should not charge full prices on its tickets, when rides are out of action. That makes anyone who goes there, feel ripped off. Personally, I think it shortsighted of them, to do this: they profit in the short term, but in the long term, they create bad word of mouth.

My review of Universal Studios cannot be definitive because we were unable to see everything in action - but what we did see, was mixed. Some of it had thought and creativity in its implementation, but much of it did not. So, there is much room for improvement.

Universal Studios Singapore was surprisingly small, for a theme park - but then, that is to be expected given its location. So, if you go, don't expect the expanse of a Disney World...because you simply are not going to get it.

Children who have no experience of theme parks (like my children) will enjoy it, at least for a time. Adults, who have been to theme parks before, might be struck by the lack of originality on show. So, whether you enjoy it or not, will depend on your prior experience. Happy holidaying all.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

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Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Short term greed, long term loss.

The past couple of days have been instructive. I have seen the same type of thinking on two separate occasions, from taxi drivers. It is a curious type of thinking because though both spoke in terms of planning for the future, they exhibited short term thinking as an over-riding priority.

Yesterday, I took a cab home. The driver was a smartly presented Indian man. He was also very talkative. I didn't mind this, so much, since I had been waiting a long time for a taxi. This is a common experience in parts of KL where cabs are more noted by their absence, than their presence. Like much of the transport infrastructure here, in this capital city, there just isn't enough of it to go around.

Anyway, this driver started complaining to me about how, in the last month, 37 of his "regulars" had been lost. He said it was because they were expats whose contracts were up, so they had to go home. He then went on to tell me a tale of how one regular client had gone overseas for a holiday and never returned. He had had a heart attack. In his tale, which seemed to place himself at the centre, somewhat, the wife went to all the trouble of calling him from America, to tell him that they wouldn't be back and so wouldn't be needing his services anymore.

He then went on to say how he wasn't like other drivers. He didn't normally do "pick ups"...but that he was usually booked, morning to night, by regular clients. They would ask him to do airport runs, or take them sight seeing - or even just drive them around, everywhere, for the day. He was quite the hero, the way he told it, quite the indispensable driver.

I just listened quietly.

Once we arrived home, he tore off the receipt and handed me the bill.

It was rather higher than I had expected.

"I didn't call you out, you know."

There was a two ringgit "on call" charge on the bill.

"Yes. That is for the luggage. We usually charge 2 ringgits for the luggage."

Indeed. Well, I didn't have any luggage - I had some shopping. Furthermore, taxis don't charge two ringgits for that anyway. However, this is a common ruse of taxi drivers, here. I have even had one driver who tried to charge 10 ringgits extra for opening the boot.

I said nothing. I just paid his phantom charge - but inwardly I thought the whole thing rather amusing. He had given me a huge spiel designed to impress me about what a desirable driver he was to have - about how many expats chose him, especially to drive them around - and there he was showing his true character, by adding on a fictitious charge. What an idiot. No wonder he is losing so many regulars. I have no doubt that many of those "37 regulars" have not gone home at all. They have just had the chance to compare his charging practices with that of other drivers and realized that he was overcharging them.

I thought his behaviour a perfect illustration of the tendency to sacrifice long term aims, to short term greed. It is rather common here, I think, having noted it, already, quite a few times. Rather than ensuring a regular customer, by behaving impeccably and offering a genuinely good service, such people would rather profit, in the moment, by a few extra ringgits. When you think about it, it is remarkably short-sighted behaviour. It could even be described as self-defeating and self-destructive.

He gave me his card and urged me to book him in future, should I need to travel around. He clearly thought he had fooled me: funny isn't it?

Today, I had another uncannily similar experience. This was also an Indian driver. This one older, and thinner, but equally well presented. He talked even faster than the first one. He too, made a pitch for long term business driving us sight-seeing, to the airport - or even "anywhere in the peninsula of Malaysia".

All the while, as he talked, I studied the meter. It was doing something very strange. It was going up in jumps of twenty cents, not ten. Not only that, but it was jumping up, EVERY FEW METRES. It wasn't behaving with the customary sedate pace of other taxi meters.

So, not only was the price per unit distance double normal, but the distance itself was clearly shorter than normal...several times shorter, by all appearances.

I treated the whole journey as a lesson in human nature. He babbled on, trying to impress me with the service he could offer - much as the other driver had. Meanwhile, I had the message of the meter to tell me the true nature of this talkative salesman. Again, it was almost funny...though a bit of an expensive joke, for such a short ride.

In the end, the journey, which was a short one, cost more than three times the usual price. Then, he too, added on a "toll".

"We didn't pass a toll.", I noted.

He changed tack.

"The luggage. That is for the luggage."

We didn't have any luggage...just shopping, again.

I said nothing, but paid him without the "toll" added.

He said: "That is OK."

Then he wrote his number on the back of the receipt, since I would clearly be in need of booking a driver who costs three times as much as anyone else.

What a funny world.

So, both drivers gave sales pitches, for long term, repeat business - and both blew it, by short-term greed shown by overcharging.

One detail I should add: at the beginning of the journey, the driver tapped the meter and said: "See this is on the meter...see?"

What he didn't say, is that he had a very special meter, unlike anyone else's. I wonder if he had tampered with it, himself?

Anyway, I have been watching drivers in KL, for a couple of months now. In that time, we have taken many cabs. I have, however, selected only three drivers, who showed spontaneous acts of honesty and good service. It is interesting how much such behaviour stands out from the likes of those above. The funny thing is, none of the drivers we selected made any sales pitch at all...they just exuded integrity and that was enough for me. The best sales pitch of all is a good character. KL's taxi drivers would do well to remember that.

Oh, and the first driver's number: HWC 4381. If you encounter him, expect rapid patter and imaginative charging practices. Good luck. (I don't have the second one's details: his hand written receipt had no identifying information).

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

The curious case of CASE.

No. I was not about to write "The curious case of Benjamin Button" - which I have seen and enjoyed, by the way. This case is an altogether different CASE. CASE stands for the Consumers Association of Singapore. However, does CASE really stand for the consumer?

Now, I ask this question for one reason. CASE is not free. This really, really surprised me, since CASE represents consumers' rights in Singapore. It is the only body that I know of to which a consumer can turn, to pursue their rights. It is the conduit through which rights are protected. Yet, in Singapore, a consumer's rights are not naturally protected, for free: they have to be paid for. This must be another "Uniquely Singapore" characteristic. In all other countries that I know of, the governments have provided public bodies, for free, through which consumers can pursue their rights. No money changes hands. There is no fee to secure your rights. However, in Singapore, things are different: no fee, no rights.

If you wish to pursue a case through the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE), you first have to join as a member of the association. They won't represent non-members. Thus, in Singapore, only members seem to have rights. The fees for joining depend on your situation. The first fee they advertise is the 400 dollar fee for "Life membership". I suppose you would join that if you intend to uphold your consumer rights in many different cases, lifelong. Otherwise there are 30 dollar per annum charges for families and 25 dollar per annum charges for individuals.

So, before CASE will even hear your case, you must first join the association. (I give it a small letter because, in my opinion, any Association, which charges for consumer rights doesn't deserve a capital letter). Now, this is where it gets interesting. After you have joined CASE they will listen to your case. Only then will they decide whether or not to take your case up for you. In other words, it is quite possible to waste money joining, perhaps on a 400 dollar life membership - and have CASE refuse to take up your case. They are under no obligation to pursue your case when they hear it and they won't hear it until you have paid them.

The membership fee is not the only fee you have to pay. There is an "admin fee" for every complaint you make, depending on the amount of money involved, up to 50 dollars per complaint.

Thus, it could cost you 450 dollars just to join and initiate one complaint.

I think that CASE ought to reconsider how it funds itself. A public service such as upholding consumers' rights, should NOT come at a fee, only. CASE should be free to all. It is time that those who control Singapore's institutions thought of more than the dollars they can make out of the situation. Some things should be provided as a free public service - and the protection of consumer rights is one of them.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

The right thing to do.

Sometimes the right thing to do, is the last thing that is likely to be done - especially in some parts of the world.

I will explain. In October, across the breadth of Singapore, residential customers of Singapore Power were levied with a 21% increase in electricity charges, on the justification that "the forward price of oil has an upward trend". This, of course, was despite the fact that the price of oil had already started to fall rapidly and promised to fall a great deal more - which it subsequently has. Slothfully, and finally recognizing the situation, the-powers-that-be, have stated that electricity rates are to return "probably the level they were before October". In other words they will drop by the margin by which they rose.

That might seem fine...but hang on a minute. What price SHOULD electricity be? We have been told, most clearly, that the price of electricity, in Singapore, is linked closely to the price of crude oil (after all that was the justification for raising the price in the first place), thus, should not the price of electricity reflect the new price of oil? The last time I checked, today, oil was at 58 dollars a barrel - a price in the range of the early part of 2005. Thus electricity tariffs in Singapore should be reduced to what they were in early 2005: that would be a true reflection of the situation. Reducing the tariff to the rate of just before October 2008 doesn't truly reflect the situation with oil, now.

There is another matter. Since it is clear that there was no REAL justification for the electricity price rise (it was a phantom based on incorrect data), shouldn't there be a refund for all domestic customers of the amount they were over-charged? That, in these recessionary times, would be the right thing to do. Like I said, above, I expect that it is the last thing that is likely to happen.

However, I will check my power bill, in January, on the offchance that someone up above, has decided to do the right thing, after all.

Try this link for information on previous oil prices: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_price_increases_of_2004-2006

Thanks.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

The shame of a nation.

How much should a book cost? What is a fair price? In particular how much should a book used in school cost? Think of a reasonable price, a price you would feel comfortable with.

I have learnt of a private language school, in Singapore, that disagrees with you, over the proper price for a book. A foreign student of that school was complaining that they had been charged SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS for their course books, for their language course (about a three month course).

Now, I would like you to guess how many books she received for her 600 dollars. How many books would have to have been priced fairly to come to a total of 600 dollars?

Two. That's right - she received two, quite slender, English language teaching books for her 600 dollars. One was a Student Book and one was a Workbook.

Now, this girl was upset enough over what she had been charged, but I bet she would have been even more upset to learn just how much those books actually cost. I would like you to have a guess at the standard retail price of those two books.

They cost just twenty-five dollars each, in any well-stocked bookstore. Thus, her 600 dollars of books could have been had for just 50 dollars, had she known to go to a bookstore rather than suffer the predations of the school salesman.

Singapore is aiming to be an "education hub" for the world. It aims to attract - and is already attracting - students from all over the world to come to study here and better themselves. There is nothing wrong with that aim. However, it must be implemented with integrity. Such abuses as the one I have just described must not be allowed to sully the reputation of Singapore, as an educational centre.

That girl has a tongue. That tongue will tell the tale of the 600 dollar course books to many people in the years to come. Rumours will spread about the extortionate cost of things in Singapore. There is no telling how many people will get to hear that tale. Most of the damage, of course, will be done to the reputation of the school in question. However, some of that poor reputation will attach itself to Singapore as the location of the school.

I am unaware as to whether charging 600 dollars for a couple of books is school policy or whether it is opportunism on the part of the salesman, who may, indeed, be pocketing 550 dollars for himself. Whoever is ultimately responsible, it should be stopped. Such practices are criminal in a moral light, whether or not they would be regarded as criminal in law.

Singapore speaks often of how "clean" it is of corruption of all kinds. Yet, it seems, there are dubious practices happening everyday in Singapore that appear to be overlooked. They usually centre on overcharging or exploitation of the customer in some way. To me, such dubious practices are as unwelcome as any corruption in high places might be. Society should do what it can to stamp out such abuses before Singapore becomes known not for its "clean" society, but for being a rip-off.

Truly, that private school is the shame of the Singaporean nation. It is also, of course, doing irreparable harm to the reputation of its nation. Just think of this: what if all the students at that school are being massively overcharged for books? What if thousands of students a year are being ripped-off? Just how many hundreds of thousands or even millions of people would ulimately get to hear of how they had been cheated? That hardly benefits the reputation of Singapore.

There is one way to handle this. It should be an offence to charge higher than the cover-price/standard retail price, for any goods, within the borders of Singapore. That would put an end to it.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)