Ice in Singapore is Too Expensive

Ice provides relief and refreshment in hot, humid climates such as Thailand’s and is one of the most important aspects to a successful home party. Like what Newman said when he was planning the Millenium Party (or the Kramanium if you prefer) with Kramer in Seinfeld, “You can never have too much ice.”

However, stocking up on ice in Singapore can burn a big hole in your pocket. The picture above was taken outside a 7-Eleven store at a petrol station in Singapore. As you can see, a 5 kg bag of tube ice (round shaped ice with a hole in the middle) costs SGD 5.50. Compare this to Thailand, where the same amount of ice is sold at about SGD 0.40, or SGD 0.80 tops. You can even choose between tube ice, ice chips, or shaved/crushed ice at some places.

Even though manufacturers in Singapore make use of filters and technology such as reverse osmosis to improve the quality of the water they use to make ice, it seems hardly likely that these methods would increase the cost of production by so much. Some might even ask if these methods are necessary, considering the fact that water in Singapore is clean enough for drinking straight from the tap so manufacturers here could theoretically use tap water to make ice.

But no matter how you look at it, ice in Singapore is way too expensive.

RIP Nick Menza

Just got to know a bit of shocking news: Nick Menza, former drummer of Megadeth, has died of heart failure while performing with his band in Los Angeles. Apparently, this happened about a week ago. Megadeth is one of my favourite bands and among all the lineup changes in the band over the years, I have always liked the Dave Mustaine, Dave Ellefson, Marty Friedman, and Nick Menza lineup the most.

Being able to play for one of the most well-known and influential metal bands of the world is no mean feat and the fact that he had played on three Megadeth albums that were well regarded (Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction, and Youthanasia), with one of them being one of the greatest thrash/speed metal albums ever released (Rust in Peace), is a testament to his skill.

The world has lost yet another musical talent. RIP, Mr Nick Menza. Thank you for the music. 

Thai Ingenuity: Tyre Rubbish Bin

I happened to come across something interesting during a trip to a temple in a rural area. A rubbish bin made of recycled tyres of different sizes. 

I have never seen this on sale before anywhere. Pity I did not see anyone around, otherwise I would have made him an offer for it. 

Rain & Showers in Chiangmai

Generally, Chiangmai is a place that seldom rains. I have gone through periods of time for as long as three weeks without seeing a single drizzle, let alone a shower. Of late, it has started raining more often. I guess this signals the start of the rainy season which typically lasts from June to November.

I am not a fan of rain in Chiangmai. Don’t get me wrong, the rain is a welcome respite from the heat but rains and showers here are usually not of the nice, constant type that is conducive to sleep. More often than not, they are passing showers or just sudden bursts that last only a short while – from fifteen minutes to about an hour.

Also, regardless of whether the rain is a light drizzle or a heavy downpour, they are often preceded or accompanied by strong winds. These winds kick up sand and dust and are sometimes strong enough to knock over trees, power line poles, billboards, roofs, and even entire houses that are not properly constructed. I have ever been knocked off my feet, trying to hold down a tarp, in a storm with strong winds.

I like rain but I can do without the strong winds. Sweeping up leaves, clearing broken plant pots, or sitting through a power failure brought by the winds are things I can do without. 

Women Labourers & Construction Workers

I remember I was really surprised the first time I saw women working as labourers and construction workers in Chiangmai. This was because these jobs are only done by men in Singapore and women are usually employed in less physically demanding work. I later learnt that these women labourers are mostly either indigenous tribal people (known as khon doi in Thai) from the mountains in Chiangmai or from Myanmar. Both had come to Thailand in search of better economic opportunities. Many Myanmar workers are currently working illegally in Thailand.

These women labourers basically do the same work as men; pouring cement, plastering walls, laying bricks, installing electrical wiring etc. The work can be dangerous for them as they often receive little training and have little or no safety equipment.

Toiling under the blistering sun from about eight in the morning until six in the evening, seven days a week, their daily wage is about 300 baht (about SGD 7.50). To beat the heat, they will usually cover themselves up fully by wearing long sleeved shirts and pants. Some even go to the extent of covering their faces with a piece of cloth with just holes cut for the eyes.

Their accommodation is usually at the worksite or at small rented rooms. These rooms are cheap (can be as cheap as SGD 60 per month) and typically come in a size of about 4 metres by 3 metres.

This is real hard work for so little pay. At this rate, when are they ever going to be able to fulfil their hopes and dreams?

Builders & Renovation Contractors

So you need to get some work done on your house. Regardless of what kind of work you want to do, - building, renovation, remodelling, interior design etc, finding the right people to do your job, be it big or small, is important not only for your wallet but also for minimising the risk of heartache and damage to your sanity.

About Thai Contractors

Thai builders and contractors are capable of good quality work (just look at the buildings and skyscrapers in Bangkok). However, like car mechanics, a honest, dependable, and competent building contractor is hard to find. This is especially so if you are living in the provinces and rural areas. This is because the good ones would probably have gone to work in Bangkok or at other places where the money is.

But no matter where you are, here are some things to look out for when engaging a contractor.

Finding a Contractor

Online

These days, the easiest way of doing so is going online, especially in forums such as Thaivisa and Teakdoor. You have the benefit of tapping on the experience of others, so you already know what to expect before you proceed (I have engaged the services of a lawyer as well as visited car workshops through online recommendations and they were pretty accurate and good, like what the reviews said). 

Look Around Your Neighbourhood

If online information is not available for your area, another method you can try is to look around your neighbourhood or apartment block. See if there are any contractors that are currently doing some work. Better still, if they are working on a few places in the same neighbourhood at the same time (besides being a rough testament to their workmanship or prices, this also makes it easier to get them to do rectification works later on). If you like what you see, simply go up to the contractor and ask him to drop by your place and offer a quote.

At the same time, beware if the contractor is working on too many jobs in your area at the same time. Some contractors work on many jobs concurrently as, rather than having potential customers wait and run the risk of losing a job, they will take on all jobs that come along. However, this means that his work is likely to be slow if he has a small setup and has only a limited number of workers helping him.

Look at the Houses Around Your Neighbourhood

If online information is not available for your area and there are no contractors working in your neighbourhood currently, you can try looking for houses here that have had work done on them. If you like what you see, talk to the owner. Most Thais will be happy to give you the contact while sharing with you about their experience with the contractor and the cost involved.

Random Searches

This includes listings online, in newspapers, and through word of mouth. Getting a good contractor can be hit and miss, even if they have a registered company and office.

So if you are going with these sources, ask for references if possible.

Beware of Empty Promises

To get the job, many contractors will promise you anything initially and then give you shoddy work later on, hoping that it is acceptable to you. If it is not, they may rectify the mistakes until:

• A minimum standard acceptable to you is reached. 
• You get so worn out and worn down by the entire process that at a certain point, you give up and accept whatever has been achieved.
• You make them rectify the mistakes until the contractor gets pissed and an argument ensues. This sours the working relationship such that they may either down tools and walk off the job or if not, you run the risk of encountering even shoddier work for the rest of the job.

To avoid all of these issues, think carefully whether the contractor is capable of keeping his promises (look to his past work for an idea). If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Comprehensive Paperwork

Does the contractor provide proper paperwork? E.g. list of works to be done, drawings, timetable for each task, list of materials to be used etc?

Note that not every contractor will have these (especially in the rural areas) but even if these are not available, it will be good to ask them to verbally specify all of these in detail so that everyone has a common understanding of what is involved and is in agreement.

I have also prevented mistakes before, right at the beginning, by simply asking the contractor to do a simply handwritten drawing of what he was going to do. It turned out that his understanding of the job was different from that of mine.

Cost

Always ask for the cost before allowing the contractor to commence a job. This is to prevent misunderstandings and inflated costs later on.

Be reasonable and pay for what you want. If you want luxury, pay for it. If you pay peanuts, do not expect too much.

Do not make a decision solely on cost. Reliability and workmanship is equally important for good work to be done. Bargaining too hard may get you a good price and the contractor might accept the job if he is desperate but you can be sure he will cut corners to save time/effort/materials used in order to justify the amount of money he gets. At the same time, beware of quotes that are too low or too good to be true. If the price is too low, the contractor will find themselves running at a loss later on and they will not be able to complete the job as promised. At this point, it is very likely that they are going to ask you for more money before they will continue.  

While it is often unavoidable that you suddenly think of new things that need to be done in the course of the job, do not expect that the contractor will do all of these for free. If it is minor or a small job (e.g. installing a mirror, changing a light), yes they may do it FOC but if they think that the extra work incurs additional charges and you think that it is reasonable, pay it.

Payment

The contractor will probably need to get an advance from you for buying materials and for paying his workers before starting on each stage of the job. So work out the payment stages with them before work commences. See if the sums to be paid out at each stage is reasonable – some dishonest contractors have been known to disappear after receiving advances. Typically, you will only pay in full when the job is finished and has been inspected to your satisfaction.

Pay on time. The contractor needs to pay his workers and expenses and if you delay payment, he can pack up and leave. However, do not pay if the contractor is unprofessional, slow, or does shoddy work. Do so only when the job has been completed to your satisfaction.

Communication

As what most people know when dealing with contractors, the end result they produce is often different from what you had mind, even if the contractor is a local in your home country and they speak the same language as you. This is going to get worse in Thailand with communication and cultural issues coming into play.

For best results, it is vital that your contractor and his workers can understand you throughout the job. So if you are a foreigner who cannot speak Thai and your contractor has a limited grasp of English, it is important that you have someone close by, who can translate for you, as and when needed.

Supervise Closely

For best results, find time to be around and supervise the work closely. This will help to minimise problems arising from incorrect understanding and miscommunication.

This is also helpful in times when the contractor is unsure of something and he needs to check with you. Otherwise, he may just proceed based on what he thinks you want and the end result might be wrong.

Quality

This concerns two areas, workmanship and the quality of materials used.

Generally, Thais and foreigners have different standards of workmanship. What is deemed acceptable to Thais is often viewed as shoddy by foreign standards. And poor workmanship in Thailand is often due to the lack of attention to detail. Many of the newly built houses I have seen in Chiangmai (even those costing several millions of baht) have poor finishing.

So if you want work to be done to Western standards in the provinces or in rural areas, be prepared to do a longer search for a suitable contractor or even bring in workmen from places such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket etc, where they are used to foreign standards of work.

Regarding the quality of materials used, Thais know that if a contractor does a job for you with parts included in the quote, you are almost guaranteed of getting poor or sub-standard quality materials and items. This is because the cheaper the materials used, the more profits they will get. This is why Thais usually buy the materials themselves (the actual buying can be done on your own or you can ask the contractor to accompany you to the store so that you can get his advice on the spot) and ask the contractor to quote for labour only.

Lastly, it is always helpful to have some basic knowledge of what the job entails so that the contractor cannot hoodwink you. This is not difficult as there is a wealth of information available online.

Rectification Works

In any job, it is unavoidable that a certain amount of rectification work needs to be done. Depending on how professional they are, it can be difficult to get a contractor to come back to do rectification works after the job has been completed. This can be troublesome, especially for jobs with defects that show up only after a period of time.

Therefore, try to find contractors whose homes or offices are nearby or they are working on other jobs in the area. Generally, they will be more willing to come by if they are nearby. 

The Last Nail in the Coffin for True Blue Singaporeans

And here it is, the final nail in the coffin for true blue Singaporeans. Over the weekend, the ruling party, the People’s Action Party (PAP), defeated the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) in the Bukit Batok by-election with 61.21% of the votes. Although not wholly unexpected, the result was nevertheless very disappointing.

Making the defeat harder to stomach was the fact that the SDP actually stood a very good chance of winning – the people had the assurance that the ruling party will remain in power regardless of the result, many of them are unhappy with many of the Government’s policies and the PAP candidate was inarticulate and ineffectual – he could not speak without putting a foot in his mouth. Here was a golden chance to make their displeasure seen and heard and 61% of the people blew it. Brainwashed beyond redemption, they showed their ignorance, myopia, cowardice, selfishness, and greed at the ballot box.

• ignorance - of current affairs and who was really working in their best interests.

• myopia - they are not just voting for themselves but for the future of their children and grandchildren as well. 

• cowardice - fear of being found out that they had voted for the opposition, fear of the unknown, fear of changing the status quo. 

• selfishness - not in my backyard syndrome. They want a better life but want someone else to undertake the risks involved and to do the hard work. A vote is needed for the opposition to do this? Let someone else vote for them. 

• greed - they fell for the upgrading carrot/threat, they want more amenities in their estate for more convenience and also for boosting the value of their properties. 

What’s more, the SDP candidate was going to be going to be working at his MP job full-time if he got elected (the PAP candidate was going to be working at it part-time) and he could be counted on to speak up in Parliament for Singaporeans (the PAP candidate had been silent as a mouse all of these years he had been elected, if he had really wanted to speak up for the people, he would have done so a long time ago).

Despite all of these, 61% of the voters in Bukit Batok voted for the PAP. They must be very pleased; they got themselves a part-time MP and a yes-man who works only for his boss. Little do they know that they are in trouble; this man is not going to speak up for them when they lose their jobs to foreigners, when their children cannot get into local universities (while the places are given to foreigners), or when they run into financial difficulties and their money is locked up in the Government pension fund. Neither is he going to speak up against the unsustainable increase in the population, ever increasing taxes, or the high cost of living. They are like frogs in a pot with water that is coming to a boil and they do not even know it. Those who see the boiling water might even think that this is ultimately for their own good.

For those who sneer at North Korea, laughing at how its citizens exalt their leaders while being oppressed, the joke’s on them as they do not realise that they are actually living in another version of it. They are actually trapped in a modern form of slavery as the Government has artificially raised the cost of living on one hand while depressed the wages of Singaporean workers through the import of cheap foreign labour on the other. Many Singaporeans will ultimately die without any assets to their name or to leave to their children.

Unfortunately for the 30% of Singaporeans that have wised up to what is really happening in Singapore Inc, the support of these daft Singaporeans and newly minted citizens is going to ensure that the ruling party is going to stay in power for a long, long time.

DIY & Renovation Supplies

In Singapore, if you had a problem with your house or apartment, you would call in a contractor and the problem would be solved (though it was often expensive). In Thailand, the DIY culture is alive and well and many Thais (especially in the more rural areas) are able to do small renovation and repair jobs around the house. For example, my neighbour runs a small minimart and he painted the entire place and fitted the shelves, vinyl flooring, water heaters, and water pipes all by himself.

For DIY tools and supplies, the most famous store in Thailand is perhaps HomePro. HomePro is a massive store that stocks lots of DIY tools and supplies such as hand tools, garden tools, construction tools, ladders, paint, tiles, electrical appliances etc (think of it as a Toys-R-Us for adult men). If you need a contractor for various types of repairs, renovation, or construction works in your house, you can also ask them to make the arrangements for you as they have sub-contractors available, though the prices they charge are often much more expensive than other contractors outside.

Other stores in Thailand that operate with a similar concept to HomePro include Home Sukkapan, Home Expert, Home Improvement, Global House, Thai Watsadu, SCG Home Solutions, True Value.

I have not visited all of the stores above and, as my DIY needs are simple, I mostly go to HomePro. Here is my shopping experience at some of these stores so far:

Product range

All of the stores above work on a one-stop solution concept. However, the range available for certain items will be lesser than what you can find at independent specialist stores outside. Also, what you can find in one store may not be available in another. For example, I find that Thai Watsadu’s products are targeted at renovation contractors more while those at HomePro are targeted more at individual consumers.

But like me, if your needs are simple, you should be able to find all of your stuff at any of these stores.

Service

These stores typically have lots of attentive staff, ever ready to help. In all of my trips to these stores, I have had no problems getting myself understood and having the staff get me the correct item. However, other shoppers have commented that the staff lack product knowledge.

I find that the staff at these stores are generally fine with general product knowledge but in-depth knowledge is often lacking.

Quality

The quality of the products here vary, with international brands sold alongside Thai ones. In my experience, the Thai brands are often cheaper but of lower quality. And they sometimes do not work as promised by the salesman.

So it is always good to do your own research before going to the store and not just take the salesman’s word for it.

Pricing

I am not sure about the pricing across different stores and outlets under the same store as I have never paid close attention to this. But generally, the pieces here will generally be more expensive than those in the neighbourhood stores and those small independent ones outside.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, if your needs are simple, you should be able to find the stuff you need at HomePro or any of these other stores. But even if you do not manage to get what you want, besides being a great way to beat the heat, a window shopping trip will often reveal many interesting items.