In this case, the Singapore gov't is NOT showing fear of being criticized by its own citizens. They're just trying to keep people in line because Singapore's prosperity depends on it. Singapore is a tiny country whose economy depends (partly) on the goodwill of its Muslim neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia (the largest Muslim country in the world -- 200 million people). Where do you think the city-state's water comes from?
Background on Chinese in SE Asia:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1514 916.stm
In 1965, HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of ethnic Chinese were killed in Indonesia during "anti-communist rioting"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/indonesia/specia l_report/51981.stm
In 1998 there were more riots and ethnic Chinese were scapegoats as usual.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/indonesia/your_c omments_so_far/93837.stm
When you have touchy neighbors, keeping a low profile is a smart thing to do.
Miss Hwang is an experienced professional
on
A $251 Million Typo
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· Score: 1
This incident has ignited a tremendous controversy in Taiwan. Some people are speculating as to whether another Nick Leeson could exploit the structural weaknesses which led to this incident.
The woman involved, a Miss Hwang, was an experienced professional who regularly handled large sums of money. Her base salary was quite low; most of her income was based on commissions for large transactions. For every NT$100,000,000 (divide by 31 for US dollars), she would receive a 3 to 5 thousand dollar commission, so she probably made up to $1,000,000,000 per month.
Maybe ten dollars is too cheap. Raise the price and provide a phone number where experienced geeks can provide friendly service.
Psychology is important. If you sell great software for $10, many customers will perceive its value to be far less than inferior well-advertised software sold in a beautifully-designed box by guys in suits who sound like they know something about computer technology. That's what all their friends have.
My brother had a similar problem when he went to school with whole wheat sandwiches packed with organic goodies. He came home complaining that he didn't want to seem weird, that all of his friends were eating white bread sandwiches with "normal" fillings.
Dealing with my brother's misconceptions was easy. Dealing with Joe Sixpack calls for good people skills. By all means, let's promote Open Source, but be sure to advertise well, give customers value for their money (sorry: "free" is inferior) and give computer stores something to make a good profit on. How can you raise a family by giving stuff away for free? Sell your expertise -- it's called "working as a consultant."
I have several old Kodak gold CDs recorded on an HP 4x burner about five years ago (about US$400 -- top of the line at the time) which have died. They were stored in an airtight plastic camera box with dessicant and rarely removed. Now the dead ones seem to have some sort of dull, milky film on the shiny surface. Cause of death is unknown. Their neighbors (the exact same gold discs in the same box) are still OK, but I am making backups while I can. You can't necessarily trust gold either:-(
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In this case, the Singapore gov't is NOT showing fear of being criticized by its own citizens. They're just trying to keep people in line because Singapore's prosperity depends on it. Singapore is a tiny country whose economy depends (partly) on the goodwill of its Muslim neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia (the largest Muslim country in the world -- 200 million people). Where do you think the city-state's water comes from? Background on Chinese in SE Asia: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1514 916.stm
In 1965, HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of ethnic Chinese were killed in Indonesia during "anti-communist rioting"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/indonesia/specia l_report/51981.stm
In 1998 there were more riots and ethnic Chinese were scapegoats as usual.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/indonesia/your_c omments_so_far/93837.stm
When you have touchy neighbors, keeping a low profile is a smart thing to do.
This incident has ignited a tremendous controversy in Taiwan. Some people are speculating as to whether another Nick Leeson could exploit the structural weaknesses which led to this incident. The woman involved, a Miss Hwang, was an experienced professional who regularly handled large sums of money. Her base salary was quite low; most of her income was based on commissions for large transactions. For every NT$100,000,000 (divide by 31 for US dollars), she would receive a 3 to 5 thousand dollar commission, so she probably made up to $1,000,000,000 per month.
Maybe ten dollars is too cheap. Raise the price and provide a phone number where experienced geeks can provide friendly service.
Psychology is important. If you sell great software for $10, many customers will perceive its value to be far less than inferior well-advertised software sold in a beautifully-designed box by guys in suits who sound like they know something about computer technology. That's what all their friends have.
My brother had a similar problem when he went to school with whole wheat sandwiches packed with organic goodies. He came home complaining that he didn't want to seem weird, that all of his friends were eating white bread sandwiches with "normal" fillings. Dealing with my brother's misconceptions was easy. Dealing with Joe Sixpack calls for good people skills. By all means, let's promote Open Source, but be sure to advertise well, give customers value for their money (sorry: "free" is inferior) and give computer stores something to make a good profit on. How can you raise a family by giving stuff away for free? Sell your expertise -- it's called "working as a consultant."
I have several old Kodak gold CDs recorded on an HP 4x burner about five years ago (about US$400 -- top of the line at the time) which have died. They were stored in an airtight plastic camera box with dessicant and rarely removed. Now the dead ones seem to have some sort of dull, milky film on the shiny surface. Cause of death is unknown. Their neighbors (the exact same gold discs in the same box) are still OK, but I am making backups while I can. You can't necessarily trust gold either :-(