Episode II - The 1st Battle
The journey to the battlefield was a long and torturous one. The bunnies faced harsh weather, rough terrain & flash floods. But the brave bunnies soldiered on. They encouraged & constantly reminded one other that they must always hold up their morale.
Using the 88 secret kungfu steps taught to them, the bunnies conquered all obstacles in their way. They climbed over mountains, leapt across lakes, and used flying fox techniques to get to the battleground.
When they finally reached the battlefield, the bunnies gathered all their strength to attack. What a fierce battle they fought! The bunnies had no fear for their enemies. Big and small, they attacked them all. They only had 1 thought in mind - "kill, kill, kill!"
Using various war stratagems, the bunnies trapped their enemies & it wasn't before long that the bunnies won their first battle. But even with this victory in hand, the bunnies knew they could not afford to let up their pursuit.
United, the bunnies continued to chase their now fallen enemies because they knew that although the first battle was won, the war was far from over...
And so we continue...
My latest email salvo to Singtel...
Date: Apr 24, 2006 11:39 PM
Subject: Conversion from Consumer to Corporate Plan
To: bernardho@singtel.com
Cc: pohsoon@singtel.com
Dear Bernard,
Just in case you do not remember my case, I have attached one of my earlier email correspondence with Singtel below. I am glad to say that Ms. Halimah and I finally managed to resolve the misrepresentation issue and I was given Data3 Lite subscription free for 12 months.
Back in Feb this year and prior to the above brouhaha, your colleague Mr. Tan Poh Soon from Corporate Business Group mentioned in an email to me that I could either recontract at any Hello! shop, or recontract based on this promotion list he gave to me. He also stated that once I had decided on the phone I wanted, Singtel would complete the forms on my company's behalf.
Hence, after sorting out all the outstanding issues with Ms. Halimah, I decided it was time for me to convert to corporate plan. I emailed Mr. Tan today and he promptly sent the conversion form to me. As I was not clear on how to fill in certain fields of the form, I gave a call to Mr. Tan this afternoon. (Oh by the way, I have included Mr. Tan in this email because he says he does not know you so I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to introduce the two of you.)
Anyway, Mr. Tan informed me that in order for Singtel to proceed with the conversion, I must fill up the form, or get a letter of authorisation from my company stating that they allow me to transfer my current plan to corporate rates, and the bring the letter down to Singtel. Mr. Tan then added that "if I wanted to do it the easy way, I must fill up the form myself". Although I clearly recalled Mr. Tan mentioning earlier that Singtel could fill up the form for me, I did not want to make things difficult for him and hence I agreed to fill up the form myself.
I told Mr. Tan that I had some misrepresentation issues with Singtel, but we managed to sort it out, with Singtel offering me the Data3 Lite plan free for 12 months. Mr. Tan then said that any free VAS offered by the consumer side would not be carried over to the corporate side because the "cost was absorbed by consumer side and corporate side will not absorb the cost".
I then tried to explain that the only reason why I recontracted at the Wywy shop first was because even the guy at the Wywy shop agreed that it was easier to recontract first, then convert to corporate plan.
Mr. Tan then told me that the guy at the shop said that because "Wywy shop is Singtel's preferred partner. But they work for the consumer side and wouldn't get anything from the corporate side. That's why Wywy shop asked you to recontract with them before converting to corporate plan."
I reiterated that the 12 months free Data3 Lite I got was not some freebie offered by Singtel, but it was a form of service recovery / compensation from Singtel. I also asked Mr. Tan if he could check with your goodself on this issue. That was when Mr. Tan told me that, "There are thousands of people in Singtel" and hence he does not know you, and thus he was not able to check with you.
Mr. Tan then asked me how much I was paying for my current plan. I said I was not sure but it was the highest value of the incoming calls free plan. Mr. Tan then enlightened me that my plan was called the iTwo Plus. He also asked me how much I was currently paying for my plan. I said I didn't know and asked if he could help me check. Mr. Tan said that he did not have the info and he only knows that for corporate rates, the iTwo Plus would be $70.40.
Although I found it extremely strange that Mr. Tan could not check his own company's website for the info, I did not question him on this but checked the Singtel website myself. I then informed him that my plan cost $81.38.
In any case, as a customer, I really am not concerned about the internal politics within Singtel. To me, Singtel is a service provider on the whole and since Singtel has already agreed to offer me the Data3 Lite free for 12 months, why should I be penalised because of "cost absorption" politics between departments?
I hope you can assist on the above matter, or at least help me understand why different arms of Singtel seem to be at wars with each other, and the customer is always at the losing end.
Thank you.
Regards,
Singtel does it again!
Sometimes i wonder what the heck is wrong with a corporation as big as Singtel. About a month ago, i spoke to the Biz Solutions Director of my company and we agreed that i should migrate my personal mobile plan to a corporate plan so that my subscription fee will be lower. As my co. pays for my phone bill, i wanted to do this so that there can be some savings for the company.
This was just before i bought the 6280 phone and i wasn't sure which step i should take first - convert to corporate plan first, or recontract + buy the new phone first.
In the end, i chose to recontract + get a new phone first because the procedures to recontract under corporate plan is very troublesome & even the guy at the WyWy shop that i bought the phone from said i should recontract first.
Then the big brouhaha happened, and Singtel succeeded in totally pissing me off by their misrepresentation and just when i resolved everything with them, a Mr. Tan Poh Soon from their Corporate Business Group tells me that all benefits i enjoy now will be cancelled because "whatever Consumer side promised is on their cost, not Business' dept". What the FCUK is wrong with these people man?? This Mr. Tan Poh Soon couldn't even tell me how much my current plan is when all it takes is for him to click on HIS company's website to check and I HAD TO DO IT MYSELF while on the phone with him.
And when i tried to explain that i already went through a very long process of sorting out the misrep. that Singtel made and that Mr. Bernard Ho from Corporate Comm. is also aware of this, Mr. PS Tan's exact words to me were, "There are so many thousands of people in Singtel. I won't be able to find out...". What sort of freaking bad attitude is that? I haven't even raised my voice or use a harsher tone on him yet because i'm in office!
Argh! Now i'm really really pissed again... i'm so NOT going to let this stupid PS Tan get away with this man. Argh. Idiots!! (Just look at his name & u know he's a piece of crap. PS Tan...)
Car Bumper Stickers
Cirrus was talking about funny bumper stickers to put on his new car... so i googled and found a few funny ones:
- On the journey of life, I chose the psycho path.
- On your mark, get set, go away!
- If you believe in telepathy, think about honking.
- If You're Not A Hemorrhoid, Get Off My Ass. (This is tailor made for life insurance underwriters lor!!)
- Horn broken. Look out for finger.
- Watch out for the idiot behind me.
- I drive the speed limit. If you don't like it, call a cop!
- Are you following Jesus this close?
Cirrus thought of a few funny ones too...
- If you can read this, you're 1 inch closer to my new bumper.
- Try to believe, bumper is old.
- Learn to spell A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T by coming closer.
And i came up with these...
- If you can read this, my new bumper thanks you.
- I'll see you at the next traffic light.
- Got money to buy car, no money to buy signal?
- Try to believe, bumper needs changing. (Er, edited from Cirrus' version. Hehe).
- My insurance won't pay for my new bumper. Yours will.
Stupid drivers
Got really pissed off by this stupid driver on the road just now. I was on my way home from Toa Payoh when this idiotic driver decided to tail-gate me. Sheesh, the stupid driver didn't even switch on his headlights, choosing to drive with only his fog lights on. As the fog lights were near the bottom of the car, and given how close he was following my car, it was probably some time before i noticed the dark blue car behind me.
Checking my speedometer, i saw that i was going at 100km/h. As the speed limit on the PIE was 90km/h, there was no way i was going to speed up and break the law just because this moron was smelling my ass. If he likes to breathe in the farts of my exhaust, he was welcomed to do so.
I mean, someone explain the logic to me - how does tail-gating the car in front of you make your vehicle travel faster? What? Trying to bully me into breaking the law for you? So smart, fly over my car lah!
The max speed limit in Singapore is only 90km/h, with a "grace" of perhaps 10km/h over the limit. So as long as the person in the extreme right lane is going between 90-100km/h, that's not road hogging ok! If you choose to exceed the speed limit, then you should jolly well do so at your own risk, and you can also jolly well overtake my car. Don't expect me to give way to you because I AM DRIVING IN ACCORDANCE WITH SINGAPORE'S SPEED LIMIT!
So what if there were no other cars in front of me? Does it mean that the "first" car in the lane is always expected to break the law? And if there was another car in front of me, then the onus to break the law is on the car in front? No logic right? If that's the case, then what's the point of having speed limits on the road?
And what's with all these stupid idiots who can afford to buy cars, but cannot afford to buy headlights & signal lights? Or did headlights & signal lights suddenly become optional accessories that you need to top up money to get when you buy a car? I always feel like shouting to these stupid drivers, "Got money to buy car, not enough money to buy signal uh?"
I simply hate this sort of "bullying" mentality some drivers have. If your wife is in labour and you're rushing to the hospital, then polite ask for the car in front to give way to you lah! As long as a car DOESN'T tail-gate me, and he/she signals right, i will always move off to the centre lane and let him/her pass. My point is, bullying does NOT work.
I was so annoyed by the car just now that i braked hard, let the car almost kiss my car's ass, and then i sped up again. That scared the moron behind me for a while... but not for long. 10min later, the ass was tail-gating me again. Lucky for him, i reached my exit and changed lanes. But what REALLY pissed me off was when i saw that the car wound down its front passenger window, and this bloody stupid young gal had the audacity to stare at me. Stare simi stare? That car had the honour of being the 2nd person i've showed the middle finger to in my 5+ years of driving. Too bad it was dark and i don't think the stupid ah lian saw it.
Grr... i reiterate, hell hath no fury like UptownGal tail-gated / misrepresented to.... etc.
(And that's also why i don't drive with any bumper stickers that say, Jesus loves u. :P)
Loose Ends
Oh dear, have been really really busy all of a sudden. Started with the launch of the new condo in the west, training on how to be a pitbull, and then the turf war at the condo in the east.
Got a couple of loose ends that i better tie up on my blog. Tana from Singtel called to say that as a 3G user, i indeed get more mileage on the Data3 lite plan than a usual 2G user. Total retraction of what she said the previous night, though she didn't admit it. Lucky for her, i was too busy in office when she called, to pursue her mistake. Maybe she was sleepy when i called the first time 'cos i think my call was like 2am+ in the morning.
Likewise, Halimah from Singtel confirmed the above and so i'm satisfied. Haven't seen my GPRS usage details yet... but i hope everything turns out all right. It's tiring being a helpdesk assassin u know! :P (Tho' i just received an "assignment" to deal with another helpdesk... hehe)
Pinky went through another growth spurt recently! He's a strapping young lad now. Has the fur of his mother, and the features of his dad. He still wants attention sometimes... and will insist that his mom licks him. But he's a really sweet natured bunny who doesn't mind being carried & cuddled (and i mean really cuddle... like my cheek on his head cuddle).
A stranger who read my blog told me that i complain & whine a lot on my blog. A lot meh? I think a lot of my posts are quite funny leh... and i have all these cheery pics of Pinky! Chey! Dunno the person got read properly or not.... :P
Like mother like son
Ever the manja king
What's on the other side?
That's MY food!
U jump i jump!
Stealing a midnight snack from mommy
Turf Wars
Once upon a time, in a land far far
away, there lived a happy colony of rabbits. As there was peace for many suns and moons, the bunnies were lulled into the mistakened belief that their green flourishing lawn was safe from all enemy attack and they soon became complacement.
One day, they received a scroll from the bears of the Order of Evil Fruit Trees, challenging the peaceable bunnies to battle. Shocked and realizing their mistake, the bunnies sought help from the most revered ET-zi (co-author of Sunzi's Art of War).
At first, ET-zi was reluctant to impart his secret kungfu skills to the bunnies. But after many attempts, ET-zi was touched by the sincerity of the bunnies and agreed to help them. He made them promise him that they would have the mentality of a "pit-rabbit" (read: pitbull). They must be siao and never ever give up in their fight.
Inspired by his teachings, the bunnies geared themselves up for battle. Some were sent as spies to gather information from the ground. Others sourced for food supplies to ensure that they were well-fed and had enough energy to engage in what would be the fiercest battle of the century!
The bunnies did countless push-ups, sparred with each other in deadly ear-to-ear combat, and "practised, drilled, & rehearsed" the secret kungfu skills taught by ET-zi.
After intensive training, the bunnies set off for battle. Will they win? Will good triumph over evil? Stay tuned for the next episode of... Turf Wars...
Singtel Saga
A few people have asked me what's the outcome of my battle with Singtel. Well, we have reached a ceasefire.
Halimah from Singtel wrote back to say that they are agreeable to offering me 24 months free caller-id but they are unable to offer me free caller-id + free Data3 lite surf.
So i did some quick calculations and concluded that i'll rather take 12 months free Data3 Lite, than 24 months free caller-id. The Data3 lite plan is worth $10.50 a month. Singtel agreed to give me that for free for 12 months, as well as waive the subscription fee.
And that's the end to my battle with Singtel... now i gotta call 1626 again to sort out the difference between a normal GPRS user & a 3G GPRS user...
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Nope, it's not the end.
Sheesh! I called 1626 and the person I spoke to, Tana, made me really confused as to the rational behind the pricing for GPRS usage. If you refer to the website, http://www.ideas.singtel.com/products/gprs/dataservices.htm, you will notice that the pay-per-use charges for a 3G user is 0.37 cts/KB, whereas the pay-per-use for a normal GPRS user (aka 2G user) is 0.53 cts/KB.
So i asked Tana, does it mean that being a 3G user, when i subscribe to the Data3 Lite plan, i actually get to surf more for the same price of $10.50, as a normal 2G user? Makes sense right?
Her reply was that no, even as a 3G user, i would be billed the same 0.53 cts/KB rate. Only difference is that any excess charges incurred on my bill, would be cheaper.
Huh?? Ok... let's do some simple calculations.
Based on what Tana said, with the Data3 Lite plan, i'm given $15.75 worth of free data, for $10.50/month. So that works out to $15 / $0.0053 = 2830KB worth of "free" data.
However, if i DON'T subscribe to the Data3 Lite plan, and i surf as a "per-per-use" customer, if i were to surf 2830KB worth of data, at a rate of 0.37 cts/KB, I would then be billed 2830KB x $0.0037 = $10.50 a month as well!!
Then subscribe to the Data3 Lite plan for @(%& ? Needless to say, i just sent Singtel another email on this...
Family Therapy
What better way to cheer oneself up than to see pictures of Pinky? :)
Muah Chee chiding Pinky as counsellor Peanut looks on.
Horlicks to MC, "now don't be so harsh on your son."
Pinky, "please daddy! play with me!"
Muah Chee, "no, you naughty boy. spare the rod, spoil the kid!"
Horlicks, "Your father can be so stubborn. Don't worry son, mommy loves u."
Pinky sulking. "They say it's never the kid's fault."
Sayonara
Was up really early this morning to send off a friend at the airport. Got to know this friend through salsa, back in 2002. It wasn't a big boohoo kind of goodbye at the airport but i was quite close to tears. In the end, we all kept up our smiles & waved enthusiastically through the glass panel of the departure hall.
Haven't been very close to this friend since 2004... that's when i started losing touch with the salsa scene. But she has been a good friend & was excellent support and company when we performed in the West Coast Salsa Congress 2004. We even did a bit of touring by ourselves after the congress. Anyway, this was the only "airport song" i could think of so here it is.
Sayonara, Kool-Aid.
Grown ups are boring!
My computer died last night. Ok, not my computer but my IBM harddisk. Cirrus came over and managed to set up Windows on my Maxtor hdd. Unfortunately, when the IBM hdd went down, it also took down my entire collection of mp3s with it.
Sob sob... the last time i backed up my mp3s were in 2003? So all the new stuff accmulated / ripped in the last 3 years have all died with the bloody IBM hdd. Pinky passed me this letter to publish for him a couple of days ago but was too busy (especially after the hdd crash last night), hence the delay.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^dear ardent fans of Prince Pinky,
i think grown-ups are so boring. last Saturday, my chauffeur ferried me across the enclosure to meet my daddy. this is the first time i'm seeing my daddy and he isn't behind bars. we started the meeting by sniffing at each other. daddy doesn't smell as good as mommy... no appetizing milk scent (although i've stopped drinking milk 'cos i'm a big boy now.)
my daddy is really huge. but i think he is a big softie. after we sniffed each other for a while, my chauffeur told my daddy, "Muah Chee sit down. Pinky pat pat Muah Chee!". my daddy immediately put his head down with his chin on the ground. aiyoh, so obedient. no spunk at all! i thought that was just too boring for a Sat outing with my daddy. so i.... ran around my daddy and tried to mount him! hahahahaha!"HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!" i mouthed to my daddy. but ooh... he wasn't too pleased when i tried to climb on his back. my daddy immediately sprang up and wanted to spank my backside. we ended up running about in circles... hehe... i wanted my piggyback ride, and daddy wanted to beat my backside.after seeing this, my chauffeur was afraid that my daddy would get really angry and i don't know... maybe get high blood pressure or something... so my chauffeur separated us, scooped me up and ferried me back to my personal back garden.i told my mommy what i did and she said i was very naughty. my nanny also gave me a earful when she found out about it. she said something about being "spoilt". me? spoilt? oh come on! where's everyone's sense of humour? indignant about her incessant nagging, i bochup-ed her and cleaned my fur. mommy said she gave up, shook her head, and went to lie down at her favourite spot at the garden hose jacuzzi.
oh well, i'm growing really big now... probably going to have more photoshoots coming up. will show you fans more pictures next time ya? will get my nanny to post them for me. ciao for now! and... Happy April Fool's day!
handsomely yours,
Prince Pinky
你没好下场
I am in a foul mood tonight.
It started when i deleted by mistake, a video of Horlicks forcing Pinky to drink milk by shoving Pinky under her. I had forgotten to upload the video to my pc and in order to free up the measly 64Mb memory card that came with my hp, i deleted this video. :( And Pinky has officially stopped drinking milk 3 days ago. So there's no 2nd chance for me to take another video of that really really cute scene.
I am very upset.
Then on my way home from a farewell party just now, i saw a flash go off just before the Siglap exit on the ECP. I immediately glanced at my speedometer, which read approx. 102kmh. At first i wasn't sure if it was the flash from a camera, or a flash from some construction site or something. It was a darn bright flash. But when i drove under the overhead bridge, i saw someone in dark clothes holding a camera. Damn it. What's with those bloody cops? There're so many ah bengs who race over 150kmh, tons of stupid drivers who buy cars that don't come with signal lights, and inconsiderate drivers who park at the bends of the roads near my place, and the stupid cops don't catch them but they took a picture of me 'cos my speed tipped over the 100kmh mark? Simi sai! Just to fill their stupid quota is it?
I am very pissed.
And as i continued driving home, i thought about the brief and superficial conversation i had with a 'friend' i hadn't seen in a long time. Gosh. How the heck did u ever think that you could ever be a better dancer than me? Check out the funny jerks your shoulers make when you dance. Note the"chicken-scratch-kick" steps you take when you move. You DARE to doubt my ability to dance when i can spin barefooted on the floor with ease? Pur-leeze! Take a look at your basics before you even attempt to put me down.
Oh yes, i bought a car. Ain't that cool? Well, that's because i know how to earn my own keep. I don't owe a mountain of debt to credit card companies, banks, telcos (and that's why i get to whack Singtel), etc. I don't talk big about lofty aspirations & dreams, and then stay in bed half the time & get my deals burst due to my negligence. Most importantly, i know my limitations. I know what i'm good at, and what i suck at. I can see myself from a 3rd party point of view. Can u? If you could, you wouldn't think that you're such a noble soul when you're one of the most narrow-minded person i've ever met.
I am extremely angry.
There you have it. I am in an extremely foul mood. Do not even attempt conversation with me when i'm feeling thus. I sting. Dug up this song from my extensive music collection, to dedicate to all the people who piss me off (especially those darn cops). Ok, context not quite right... but the idea is there. It's by Andy Hui - 你没好下场 (translated as, "you'll come to no good end.")