To chew or not to chew...

Singapore has banned the sale and import of chewing gum since 1992, but a new research may force the government to reconsider its policy...

clipped from www.reuters.com

CHICAGO (Reuters) - In a study likely to make school janitors cringe, U.S. researchers said Wednesday that chewing gum may boost academic performance in teenagers.

Many U.S. schools ban chewing gum because children often dispose of the sticky chaw under chairs or tables.

But a team led by Craig Johnston at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston found that students who chewed gum during math class had higher scores on a standardized math test after 14 weeks and better grades at the end of the term than students in the class who did not chew gum. The study was funded by chewing gum maker Wrigley.

Imagine how the Singaporean parents will react!

Singapore Math is respected world-wide. It is considered "the most powerful approach to primary math instruction in a generation" by a U.S. institution for educators. It is about the curriculum, says the institution.

I'd say, it is the kiasu-ness of the parents and the ridiculous number of tuition centers around. Check how the support was recently created to ensure parents can still afford paying for tuitions in during this crisis period.

In this republic, tuition is among the most important in Maslow's hierarchy!

So if all the 'hard works' are undone by a bunch of gum-chewing American kids, we can have a serious riot here demanding supply of chewing gum...


PS. I don't wanna get into trouble here - so just wanted to make sure everyone is aware that there is no indication that the ban of sale and import of chewing gum will be lifted.

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Speedtrapping

Last week I got pulled over on a police roadblock for speeding on a 80 km/h highway.

I think I drove at a little over 90 km/h. The second time in about six months at exactly the same place - just in front of the National Science Center in Mont Kiara / Damansara Heights area. I don't learn, I guess. But I have my reasons to rant about it.

First, it's a pretty straight three-lane highway with medium or low average traffic density. The limit should be at least 90 km/h. Nah. I'll never win with such argument.

Second, the traffic police should focus on other more important or critical violations (well, from my perspective). Like the Mat Rempit (illegal street racers) on the Penchala Link. It's extremely dangerous to other drivers, and is very noisy! Or double parking at Desa Sri Hartamas - just around the corner. (the double parking is horrendous - I'll try to take a picture of it)

Third, it was at 12:30 AM. I was on my way home from work. They didn't even check for DUI. They should focus on other more important or critical violations... oh, I've said it up there.

Most important of all, the only evidence the cop had was a piece of paper with handwritten notes of license plate number and the "speed". Mine was written 93. I didn't challenge, because I knew I was at fault, it was late, and I didn't know how Malaysian cops would react if challenged. I told him to write the ticket and not to bother to ask anything.

Handwritten note... it's a bit fishy, isn't it?

The previous pulling over was similar, though I asked the police how they knew how fast I was driving. He said they had camera.

I know there's no permanent traffic camera; I drive on the highway twice a day.

A non-permanent camera? Like what a friend said, that she saw someone squatting with camera on the road side. If so, how would the cameraman (radar-man), or the assistant, communicate the "catch" to the police? Handphone or walkie-talkie, I guess.

This also means that the distance has to be quite far between the radar and the roadblock. And also means the police don't really have any hard evidence (except the handwriting) at the time of pulling over.

So, I'd like to know two things.

One, what would happen if I insist that I don't drive over the speed limit.

Two, if there is, indeed a camera or radar that captures the speed and license plate, why would the police need a roadblock? Can't they just send the speeding ticket directly? (they did to me sometime ago, on the same highway but opposite direction.)

Or perhaps that way they can ask for bribes - like what they did on my first pulling over?

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Expensive communication

I find it amazing that it is so expensive to make a call to Indonesia from Malaysia. It's even more expensive than a call to the U.S. -- which takes about 10 more times to travel to (20-hour vs. 2-hour flying). It's MYR 1.80 (~USD 0.50) for a minute to Indonesia, while it costs only half of that to call the U.S. (Telekom Malaysia's (TM) rate)

Of course, there are other countries with more expensive calling rate. Like India at MYR 3.50 a minute. Or Cuba at MYR 5.00 a minute.

The calling rate from the U.S. is no different (except it's cheaper). A call to Indonesia from the U.S. costs USD 0.35 (AT&T) or USD 0.12 (Vonage). A minute to Malaysia is USD 0.22 (AT&T) or USD 0.06 (Vonage). India is USD 0.34 and 0.17 with AT&T and Vonage respectively.

Why is it so expensive to call Indonesia - more expensive than to call Malaysia?

One explanation is monopoly (or duopoly or triopoly, for that matter). But if this is the case, I don't think Malaysia is much different. In fact, TM is probably the only international call carrier in Malaysia.

Or higher initial investment required. The main telecommunication infrastructure difference between the two countries is Indonesia requires more across-islands connection, while Malaysia is pretty much two big areas (West, or peninsular, Malaysia, and East Malaysia). This will also require higher maintenance costs.

Another explanation is high operations costs due to older networks. Though this seems to be a good explanation, I don't have any intelligent information.

It could also be higher operations costs due to other reasons. Like poor efficiency. Or inflated costs. Or pungli. And so on (corruption too).

Or is it merely one of the government's cash cows?

Not to say that these things don't happen in Malaysia. It's just probably not as bad (so the rate can still be lower).

But, with Malaysian telecom companies entering Indonesia (Telekom Malaysia acquired Excelcomindo and Maxis took over PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler), will this change? It's not directly linked to international call rate or settlement rate, but there might be hope.

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Eligible MBA institutions in HSMP

Thanks to Joseph for leaving a link to the list of 50 MBA institutions eligible for U.K.'s HSMP (Highly Skilled Migrant Programme) last week. The schools are:

* Harvard Business School (USA)
* Columbia Business School (USA)
* University of Pennsylvania: Wharton (USA)
* IMD (SWI)
* University of Chicago (USA)
* Dartmouth College: Tuck (USA)
* Stanford University (USA)
* Insead (FR/Sing)
* University of Oxford: Said (UK)
* MIT: Sloan (USA)
* Ashridge (UK)
* Northwestern: Kellogg (USA)
* London Business School (UK)
* New York University: Stern (US)
* University of Strathclyde (UK)
* IESE Business School (SP)
* Yale School of Management (USA)
* Warwick Business School (UK)
* City University: Cass (UK)
* Rotterdam School of Management (Neth)
* UC Berkeley: Haas (USA)
* University of Cambridge: Judge (UK)
* Georgetown University: McDonough (USA)
* Instituto de Empresa (SP)
* Cornell University: Johnson (USA)
* University of Michigan (USA)
* Duke University: Fuqua (USA)
* University of Virginia: Darden (USA)
* Carnegie Mellon University (USA)
* SDA Bocconi (IT)
* Emory University: Goizueta (USA)
* UCLA: Anderson (USA)
* Manchester Business School (UK)
* Cranfield School of Management (UK)
* University of Toronto: Rotman (CAN)
* University College Dublin: Smurfit (IRE)
* University of Southern California: Marshall (USA)
* University of Rochester: Simon (USA)
* Vanderbilt University: Owen (USA)
* Rice University: Jones (USA)
* University of North Carolina: Kenan-Flagler (USA)
* Babson College: Olin (USA)
* Melbourne Business School (AUS)
* Ceibs (CHN)
* Australian Graduate School of Management (AUS)
* Universiteit Nyenrode (NTH)
* University of Western Ontario: Ivey (CAN)
* Boston University School of Management (USA)
* University of Maryland: Smith (USA)
* Bradford School of Management/Nimbas (UK/NTH/GER)

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Foreign workers revisited

In my previous post, I was curious whether countries that supply (low-skilled) foreign workers would benefit from these individuals. One thing for sure, the receiving countries would, by allowing the local workforce to pursue higher value activities.

Seems like a good thing.

On the contrary, however, the Malaysian government is proposing a bill that would restrict foreign workers to their work sites unless they receive special permission to leave.

Home Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said: "We are not trying to confine the foreign workers ... but it will be better to supervise them for law enforcement."

In the same article, Police Chief Musa Hassan said that foreign laborers may be restricted to their living quarters and their "activities monitored" as part of efforts to curb crime. Under the proposed legislation, foreign laborers will not be allowed to leave their homes unless they register beforehand, and their employers will be responsible their movements.

Not allowed to leave their homes?

Musa further added that about 5,000 crimes were committed by foreigners last year from a total of about 230,000 (232,620 cases, to be exact).

That's not even 3% of the total crimes committed...

Typically, people use the 80-20 rule, a general assumption that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small number of causes. Although it's highly dependent on how one stratifies the causes, but if foreigners-related crime is one of the causes, 3% is definitely too low to even spend resources for.

Unless, of course, there are other reasons.

But still, this doesn't feel right. Like a foreign construction worker said in the article: "To keep us in our beds when we have a day off is criminal."

There's gotta be a better, more effective way.

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Skin color discrimination

A recent study says that skin tone affects earnings in the U.S. The darker the skin is, the higher the chance to get paid less than the counterparts with lighter skin do. The study looks at legal immigrants to the U.S. from around the world.

Several other findings from the study:

-/ Being one shade lighter has about the same effect as having an additional year of education.

-/ Taller immigrants earn more than shorter ones, with an extra inch of height associated with a 1 percent increase in income.

-/ Skin tone still seemed to make a difference in earnings, although other factors that could affect wages (e.g. English-language proficiency, education, occupation, race or country of origin) are taken into consideration.

"... that means that if two similar immigrants from Bangladesh, for example, came to the United States at the same time, with the same occupation and ability to speak English, the lighter-skinned immigrant would make more money on average."

So life's better in the U.S. if your skin color is relatively lighter, or if you're tall. This is sad.

The study also confirms that many cultures show a bias toward lighter skin.

I think Asian cultures strongly show that bias. Bule in Indonesia and Mat Saleh in Malaysia clearly often get preferred treatments over the locals.

They - the foreigners, the white men - probably deserve it, though. Usually, these people are financially better than most locals (except, of course, bules in Jalan Jaksa). And the attitudes too - they typically are more confident and demanding when it comes to service, compare to most locals. They speak English, or a foreign language, for the sake of it. And... perhaps their skins are lighter too...?

Is it the Asian politeness (or dumbness)? Is it that we were colonalized for quite a long time, that we now feel inferior?

What about the Japanese, who, despite of their well-known politeness, are one of the economic and technology 'powerhouses' in the world? But they are already light-colored...

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About cheating and punishment

Though it could be just a coincidence, I think I might have been a bit recall-biased. After I finished writing the monogamous gibbons, I went to Yahoo!. On the main page where the news rotate, it showed "Cheat on your spouse in Michigan and spend life in prison?". There you go.

To add further bias, here are some quotes from the article:

"The state's appeals court recently ruled that extramarital flings can be prosecuted as first-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony punishable by up to life in jail."

A judge said: "Technically, any time a person engages in sexual penetration in an adulterous relationship, he or she is guilty of CSC I."

CSC is, I guess, criminal sexual conduct. And CSC I is the most serious sexual assault charge in Michigan's criminal code.

I'm sure it's not as simple as putting men and women to jail once they're found guilty of cheating. But for sure, this will further put the case that lawyer is the most shining profession in, at least, Michigan.

What if someone wakes up in the morning and decides that Indonesia needs to adopt this law? Perhaps no one will want to be the member of DPR anymore...

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