no choice

The Schizophrenic duality of my star crossed love affair with singapore continues.

On one hand we have rising costs, and on the same palm (dissected by that little teeny weeny line) we have our locals, accepting, whatever that is dished out to them.

On the other side ( i would assume ,the left hand....for the benefit of the absolutely "Granal"...meanig gramatically anal) We have the powers that be, saying that they have "no choice" thus the reason for the title of this post.

follow the link

Just to surmise their (our local cable Provider, the one and ONLY)"desperation" and "selfless Sacrifices" in the spirit of Patriotism, ( It seems that implied "patriotism" is always the reason why All these Companies in singapore have so far refrained from increasing charges...then, they suddenly Do with such heart rendering, gut wrenching reluctance...*tsk* *tsk*...oh you poor thing) They have decided to increase their Subscription charges, across the board ( don't know which board exactly will let you know later).

The problem here and the main consternation is not just, the Increase itself, but how they actually go about justifying it.

As usual in true Singapore style, they slowly kill you with their long suffering speeches (refer to sarcasm above in red) and then they will go on giving you schematics and statistics. Really ! WHICH SIDE OF MY BLACK INDIAN BUM tells you that i give a rats ass( no pun intented on the ass).

What matters here?
Me paying more or your justifications.
I really do not give a flying fu*#! ( never really figured out just how they do this)

just in case the link above dies, just some of the article

'We have no choice,' says SCV
The signs were plain that sports fans might soon have to dig deeper into their wallets, when StarHub Cable Vision (SCV) last year purportedly shelled out US$160 million ($247 million) for coverage of the English Premier League.
But there has been little or no warning for the general TV buff of what is to come next month.
From July 11, SCV homeviewers will have to fork out $4 more in subscription fees across the board — the first such hike in its basic pay-TV prices since the service was rolled out in 1995.
Sports fans subscribed to the basic groups will, in addition, have to foot a $10-increase in fees for the sports channels, come October.
Not surprisingly, subscribers are unhappy with the planned fee hikes and are looking forward to alternatives in pay TV by year's end.
Mr Thomas Ee, StarHub's senior vice-president of cable, fixed and IP services, said the price increases are a "natural result" of the rising prices of pay-TV content, which makes up 42 per cent of StarHub's cable TV revenue.
Said Mr Ee: "Most pay-TV operators around the world increase prices periodically, and StarHub has not done so despite a steady rise in costs over the years ... It is impossible to continue absorbing the costs indefinitely, so we have no choice but to implement this rate adjustment at this time."
Just last month, StarHub announced a strong first-quarter showing, with its net profit rising 13.9-per-cent year-on-year, from $61.4 million to $70 million.
Asked about possible perceptions of profiteering, Mr Ee told Today: "After taking in other operating expenses and the large capital required to build a cable network island-wide, the margin in cable TV is the leanest of any of the services that we provide.
"In fact, it has taken a decade for our pay-TV business to break even."
Subscription numbers have been rising steadily. According to StarHub, as of end-March, 490,000 households were subscribed to its cable TV services — that is, 43.6 per cent of households with television sets.
SCV — the offspring of a 2002 merger between Singapore Cable Vision and StarHub — last raised prices of its sports package from $8 to $15 in late 2004.
It reportedly paid US$160 million last November to broadcast English Premiership matches for three years. But while many had anticipated the fee hike for its sports pay-TV package, the move to raise fees across all channels has left subscribers seeing red.
Mr Leong Hoon Kee, who lives in a private estate, will have to pay........

and it goes on......get my point ?

Dear Govt people please please, give us our satellite dishes.....just one small one perhaps?
How about a "wok"? I promise i will not stain your precious monopoly with curry stains.

No? how about a "mangkuk"? (bowl in malay)

I promise not to watch Porn.....so how about it?

* sigh*


bloody monkeys...........