Don't Be Stupid

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Lately people have been going around slamming DBS for its choice of Christmas charity: Focus on the Family, said to be an extremist right-wing evangelical anti-women anti-gay anti-choice anti-premarital-sex establishment. How it manages to be anti so many things at the same time is anyone's guess, but I suspect it took lessons from my family.

These same people who are unhappy with DBS are suddenly bringing up all the bad press the bank has had in the last few months, including the High Notes saga and the massive retrenchments. I suspect they don't really know what they're talking about; they probably just read newspaper headlines and are now throwing everything together into a chapalang argument.

First I must say that I'm not a DBS fan. I have a couple of accounts with the bank, for convenience more than anything else. The company has bad customer service and dislikeable corp comms.

Still, I don't think they came off very badly in the whole High Notes fiasco. Yes, they were the only local bank to have issued Lehman-linked structured products, but when they did they were praised for being creative and keeping up with the times, unlike other "conservative" banks. It's only now, when the unthinkable has happened, that suddenly everyone needs a direction in which to point a finger. While other banks and brokerages may not have created their own products, they definitely distributed them just as happily. Mis-selling is the main issue here, and I don't think DBS engaged in more of it than anyone else. In fact, after the news broke about the structured products, DBS was the most upfront and transparent about the value of the products, and one of the quickest to move to compensate investors. It is untenable to single out DBS for more blame in this particular area than any other bank.

As for the retrenchments, I really don't know why anyone blames companies for retrenching people in bad times. Recessions are all about the survival of the fittest: weak firms are rightly weeded out, as are those who aren't pulling their weight within a company. Of course there are those who are unjustly retrenched because they're unpopular or unlucky and their bosses jump at the excuse to fire them. But I still see no reason why a company should take any flak for trimming the fat in order to survive. And DBS does look like it's gorged during the good times, so it only makes sense to go on a diet now. I do feel for the 900 people who were laid off, but chances are most were middling middle management who were getting paid more than they deserved.

Finally, the charity. Surely any company has the right to choose which charity it wants to support. I mean, if I hated animals and SingTel decided to donate money to SPCA, I wouldn't switch phone providers just because of that - as long as they continued to give me good service and not cut off my connection randomly to punish me for my anti-pet ways.

I am very skeptical that all these people who are against DBS' charity decision and have joined the facebook group/signed petition etc etc will really give up their DBS accounts. If they do, all respect to them. But if not, are they making empty noise and confusing issues just to draw attention to the fact that they're gay rights supporters? If so, why are they doing that? Surely there are better avenues to show support?

(Btw J, this is not about you at all - I've been hearing so much about this topic from a myriad of people that I need to vent for a while. I have every faith that you of all people would cut up your DBS cards. (: )

 posted by zyn :: 5:45 PM :: 14 Comments :: permalink


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you know you love me

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I'm supposed to be writing an analysis but I can't start cos my brain is stuck. Maybe if I write about Gossip Girl I will unstuck it!

First I must say that Gossip Girl is one of the few highlights of my life these days. Work work work study study study GOSSIP GIRL EVERY TUESDAY! When it doesn't show for some reason, like this week, I become uncommonly anguished. Fortunately I have gotten hold of the first season DVD boxset just in time for my one and a half weeks of leave starting tomorrow! Screw the CFA.

Why I like Gossip Girl:

1. Everyone is so ridiculously good-looking. I feel a bit bad now about judging people who watched The OC last time. Obviously Blake Lively and Leighton Meester are goddesses, and Chace Crawford is like sex on legs, but I can even sort of see the appeal of Penn Badgeley, and Ed Westwick is my new obsession. I love how he's started saying everything in sotto voce and never worries about whether people can hear him.

2. Everyone wears ridiculously nice clothes. Blake Lively could probably look good in a sack but we never get the chance to find out.

3. Everyone can act. Except maybe Chace Crawford, but if you look like that you don't have to worry about having any other talents. But I think that's a major reason Lipstick Jungle and Cashmere Mafia failed - there was no chemistry between the characters and they all felt like they were pretending to be friends. Here everyone really is pretending to be friends because you don't know who's an enemy, and it's totally believable.

4. Even the parents are hot. Except maybe Bart. I think I'll model my wedding dress after Lily's.

5. Blake Lively. It just keeps coming back to her. The way she can balance being blonde and perfect and 36DD with being super nice and having realistic teenage problems. She's my second girl crush this year (the first being Olivia Wilde, but that's in a completely different angsty hot girl sort of way) and that's already two more than I had last year.

What I don't like about Gossip Girl:

1. Aaron Rose. It's not a coincidence that his name rhymes with "gross". Surely Serena has better taste than that.

2. Jenny Humphrey. Too angsty. Not pretty enough. And she talks too fast, I have to keep rewinding to hear what she's mumbling.

3. Vanessa Abrams. Pretty, but too holier-than-thou. Not a fan.


If I haven't made you the slightest bit curious about Gossip Girl at this point, I am a failed writer and should throw in the towel on my analysis right now. I am, however, comforted by the fact that I have already made two converts to Twilight (that deserves a whole other blog entry).

Four more hours and I can go home to watch Gossip Girl!

xoxo

 posted by zyn :: 3:25 PM :: 6 Comments :: permalink


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losing my ego

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Sometimes I wonder if anything in life is worth the effort you put in. You can earnestly try until you die, but there will always be someone who gets recognition simply by being more insistent, or a better suck-up, or just better-looking.

I guess the key, as always, is to keep lowering your expectations. Every time you get disappointed, it's a clue that you still believe you deserve something - when the truth is that nobody owes you anything, no matter how much you do.

I realise that now. Eckhart Tolle would be proud.

 posted by zyn :: 10:10 AM :: 5 Comments :: permalink


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heffy burpday baby

So the weekend was a smashing success, thanks especially to Shiyao's friends (who all turned up on time for dinner, even if they didn't quite yell "surprise!"), his family and the many lychee koolers. I'm glad to report that Marina Mandarin rooms are immaculate (bodes well for our bridal suite next year) and the spa (St Gregory's, no less) is equally good. Now to see if we can cry recession and get the catering people to throw in a couple of free massages for our wedding.

I must say that Shiyao's family is really, really nice to me. Not just his parents and brother, but his aunts, cousins and even his awesomely imperious grandmother. Already I've had more real conversations with her than I've ever had with any of my grandparents. She makes me want to wear knee-length floral skirts all the time and sit demurely without crossing my ankles. It's nice to feel happy about marrying into someone else's family.

I think part of why I enjoyed the weekend so much was because it was the first leave I've taken since June. Even though I was studying half the time, it felt so light and free not to have to worry about work. I think I really need a longer break from the office. I still like what I'm doing - even more so now that I'm covering two beats - but the people mix has completely changed and I'm tired of spending my days in a place where I don't really have any buddies left, and there are even people I want to avoid. But there's no point feeling sorry for myself: two and a half years will pass quickly enough and then I can do something that, even if I don't like more, will probably at least pay enough to make life outside of work better.

 posted by zyn :: 12:54 AM :: 2 Comments :: permalink


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不想再怀疑自己对不对

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Every year I am allowed three mistakes at work. I've just made my third (fourth, if you count anal idiots who make their own mistakes then blame you for them) in the first three months of the new year. This means I have to go nine more months without a single error (unlikely) or get my bonus docked next year (very likely). It's a depressing thought.

Probably because of this I'm very unenthusiastic about work this week. I feel like taking off to a beach somewhere away from everything that is unhappy and just lying in the sun with a cocktail. Or holing up in a hotel room with gossip girl season 1 and a bedful of fluffy pillows. Or spending a day shopping in Daikanyama. Or furniture shopping. Or just random shopping. You get the idea - anywhere is better than here.

 posted by zyn :: 11:13 AM :: 6 Comments :: permalink


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