Via AudioTech.12v.com.my:

On Tuesday, the BBC News website posted an article enumerating the numerous flaws that the PNP has committed with regard to the handling of the hostage incident. The article was based primarily on the observations of a renowned security analyst in the person of Charles Shoebridge, who has worked for counter-terrorism operations of the British Army and the Scotland Yard.

Here are Shoebridge’s primary talking points on the said story:

1. Determination — “They (police officers) showed great courage to go on board. It’s very
crowded, just one aisle down the middle of the bus. But once you get on board, it’s not unexpected you are going to be fired at. Squads like this have to be made up of very special people, specially trained and selected for their characteristics of courage, determination and aggression. In this case they acted as 99% of the population would have, which was to turn round and get out. They didn’t seem to have the necessary determination and aggression to follow the attack through.”

2. Lack of equipment — “They had no ladders to get through the windows. They smashed the windows but didn’t know what to do next… They almost looked like a group of vandals. Their firearms were also inappropriate — some had pistols, some had assault rifles. Ideally they would have carried a short submachine gun, suitable for use in confined spaces.”

3. Lost opportunity to disarm the gunman — “The negotiators were so close to him (hostage-taker Sr. Insp. Rolando Mendoza), and he had his weapon hanging down by his side. He could have been disabled without having to kill him.”

4. Lost opportunity to shoot the gunman —”You are dealing with an unpredictable and irrational individual. The rule should be that if in the course of negotiations an opportunity arises to end the situation decisively, it should be taken.”

5. Satisfying the gunman’s demands — “A promise extracted under force is not a promise that you are required to honor. Nobody wants to give in to the demands of terrorists, but in a situation like this, which did not involve a terrorist group, or release of prisoners, they could have just accepted his demands. He could be reinstated in the police – and then be immediately put in prison for life for hostage taking.”

6. Televised proceedings — “The gunman was able to follow events on television, revealing to him everything that was going on around him. This was a ‘crucial defect in the police handling’ …the police should always consider putting a barrier or screen around the area, to shield the scene from the cameras and keep the hostage taker in the dark.”

7. No element of surprise — “It was clear to the gunman what the police were doing at all times, not only because the whole incident was televised, but also because they moved ‘laboriously slow’ …the police did not distract him”

8. Safeguarding the public — “When you saw the camera view from above, it was clear there was little command and control of the public on the ground.”

9. Using the gunman’s brother to negotiate — “Relatives and close friends can be a double-edged sword (in a hostage-taking incident)… While they may have leverage over the hostage taker, what they are saying cannot be easily controlled.”

10. Insufficient training — “In some parts of the Philippines, such as Mindanao, hostage taking is not an uncommon occurrence, so the country has some forces that are well trained in the necessary tactics. The detachment involved in Monday’s incident clearly was not.”

Read the full story on Manila Bulletin.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Malaysia Price for RON97, RON95, RON92 and Diesel since 1984. Source: OSK188.com

Moving from A to B is only going to get more expensive if we are to continue our reliance on oil.

We need national policies that can reduce the cost of owning electric vehicles and also to encourage private sector to venture in sustainable logistics. There is so much upside for everyone if we can just stop our addiction to oil and take the leap.

In countries like China, Denmark and Japan, where the transformation is already underway, the government has made electrification a national priority. China has set a goal of becoming the global leader in the manufacture and deployment of electric vehicles, providing rebates of almost $9,000 for the purchase of each vehicle. Denmark has adopted a tax structure that strongly favors electric vehicles over gasoline models. And today in Japan, fully electric taxi cabs already take passengers to and from their destinations in Tokyo, as part of a project by Tokyo’s largest taxi operator, Better Place LLC – a leading provider of electric vehicle networks and services, and the Japanese government. 



Read the full story “The Beginning of the End of Our Oil Addiction”.

A few months back, I gave a personal finance workshop to a group of students who will be joining the work force in a few months time. I brought up the issue on controlling their expenditures and how they can limit it by a very simple trick. In my example, I told them how most of us would go to the ATM and withdraw a certain amount of cash that will be spent for the next couple of weeks. Some of us even withdraw as much as we can so that we don’t have to visit the ATM again until the next paycheck. Next, we will naturally insert all the cash which we’ve just withdrawn into the wallet. And it stays there until all of it is depleted. You might think there’s nothing wrong with that, but my observation tells me otherwise.

Let’s rewind to the scene where you were at the ATM machine, right before you press the figures on how much to withdraw. Now, just for a second, you force yourself only to withdraw only RM150 (this figure could vary according to your income size). RM150 would be a typical example for a fresh graduate, who has just got a new job with a monthly salary of RM2,000. Before this, you could have been withdrawing RM600 every time at the ATM, telling yourself it’s more convenient to withdraw RM600 once than to withdraw RM150 in four different sessions.

I have to agree that it does become an administrative burden if you had to visit the ATM machines more than 5 times a month. The trick here is to balance out the withdrawal figure (I would suggest not more than 8% of your monthly income, how many days it will last you (preferably 10 days), and how many ATM trips you have to make in a given month (preferable less than 3 times). From here onwards, I will refer to this specific figure you withdraw each time at the ATM as the ‘ATM-Limit‘.

By restricting the withdrawal amount to RM150, you will now have a maximum of RM150 in your wallet at any point of time. Now, here’s the interesting part: each time you decide to make a purchase with your cash, you will notice that you only have that much of cash in your wallet, which is going to make you think twice before splurging. By making a mental note of your ATM-limit, you will not be tempted to overspent. Since making trips to the ATM is going to be time-consuming, you can reduce the percentage of impulsive purchases too. Just look at how many ATM machines there are in the shopping malls catering to impulsive shoppers. In essence, you are giving more time for the logical part of your brain to process the buying decision, rather than allowing the emotional part of you to subconsciously open up your wallet and part with the cash inside.

Effectively, you will only be having RM450 cash in your wallet for the entire month. And if you manage to survive with that, you will would have a remaining RM1,550 left in the account to pay for the ‘fixed expenses’, such as your car loans, home loans and bills. There are times and emergency situations when you really need the extra cash to help out, but you must keep these extra cashing-out to the minimum. If you do this too often, it only means that you are not withdrawing a realistic figure each time at the ATM. So, practice a little logical budgeting when you set the ATM-Limit’s amount.

However, there can be a serious drawback to this strict cash management technique: the sudden increase in your credit card usage. This will happen if you don’t already have a strict rules for credit card usage. If you find yourself starting to use your credit card more often, then you should reevaluate if this technique is of any help to you at all. Hence, it is best to experiment with this technique only when you are not behind your credit card payments. Also, setting a realistic ATM-Limit will also help.

If you’ve been wondering why you just cannot see any money in the bank account at the end of the month, I really suggest that you try this method out and see if it works for you. If it doesn’t help at all, then there must be other loopholes that you must identify. Always refer to your cash flow spreadsheet. If you don’t already have one, I suggest you start one right now! You can’t be serious about managing your own finance without knowing your personal cash flow condition. You have to constantly monitor your expenditure and figure out ways to increase the income. Things can really get out of hand very quickly on the expenditure section, while growth in income might take a little longer.

Spending within your means takes a lot of will-power and discipline. It’s one of the toughest training for the mind. Imagine not being able to splurge like your friends and not being able to enjoy the lifestyles that you are constantly bombarded with by media. Online shopping is definitely not helping things either. If you are not careful, your money will slip away to places you don’t even know existed. Amassing money might not be your purpose in life, but mismanaging it will definitely leaves you without one.