Archive for August, 2006
August 13, 2006 at 11:17 pm · Filed under General
I had a bad feeling about this right from registration. The organisers had no idea what they were doing. The registration for a sprint distance was $60. Then after paying for the registration, an email was sent that an extra deposit of $20 was required as a security for the championship chip. This will be redeemed at the end of the race. On top of that, an extra $5 was payable as an admin fee.
Why wasn’t the deposit and the admin fee brought to the participants’ notice in the beginning?
The race route was only confirmed at the last minute. Instructions to participants were not clear either. Many participants did not know that there will be a body marking station at the transition area.
Swim leg:
Poor planning. Tide was very low. It was more like running on muck than swimming. Did anyone actually checked the tide tables before deciding on the date of the race?
Biking leg:
It was a city route that brought participants from East Coast Park to the Esplanade and back. Cisco guards were engaged to divert traffic and marshal the participants, however, participants were not informed that the route is not exclusive. It was only at the first stop that everyone realised that stops had to be made for traffic. These stops created a few spectacular crashes.
Of course, timing gets screwed up since all efforts to pull away from the back will be negated by a traffic light. This is a race. Interruptions like this is just ridiculous.
The lanes were not marked. So there were several near misses on head-on collission.
Running leg:
This was just crap. Signages were bad. Marshals arrived late that the turning points resulting in many participants missing the u-turn point and running a couple of kilometers extra.
Even the race finish was not properly demarcated. The ‘finish’ banner was facing away from the participants, for the photographers so it was anybody’s guess where the finishing line was.
Control:
The whole triathlon was a joke. There were so many loop holes in the entire route. Timing was logged only at the transition area. This mean, I could have rode my bike to Old Airport Road for a cup of coffee and then return to the transition area and no one would really know about it. I could also have ran to the nearest drinks stall, have a drink and then return to the transition area without having to run the course. Of course, the lack of marshals meant that I ran extra.
Security:
I really wonder what the wrist tag is for. The entire transition area was opened and nobody really checked the participants entering or leaving the area. I could have brought in a steel Polygon bike and gone home with a Cervelo P3 and nobody would have probably questioned me.
Worst race I’ve taken part in. The only good thing I can say about this race is, I got away injury free without losing anything.
August 12, 2006 at 9:20 am · Filed under General
Afghanistgan was invaded… reason – they train terrorists.
Iraq was invaded… reason – they train terrorists too.
Iran was threatened with an invasion… reason – they train terrorists.
Syrian President was victimised by their neighbour’s warplanes… reason – he supports terrorists.
So why isn’t anybody threatening to invade the UK when the recent 20 suspects arrested there were British born? I mean, the London train bombings… all the past IRA activities… doesn’t that make the UK a country that train terrorists?
2 terror suspects arrested in Pakistan were British too… wow! They’ve gone to exporting terrorists as well…
So, why isn’t anyone invading the UK as a pre-emptive strike against the terrorists? That is the most popular remedy for terrorism now isn’t it? Send in ‘freedom’ fighters to terrorise the terrorists.
August 8, 2006 at 5:31 pm · Filed under General
So, our gahmen have finally realised that there’s a huge chunk of pie that they’ve yet to sink their teeth into… so they decided that it is not fair that only rich people are allowed to owe the bank money. They are now studying ways to allow poor people to owe the bank money through unsecured loans. Hmm… how does gahmen and bank link up leh? Well they own one of the largest bank here mah… now you connect the dots.
In the meantime, our state controlled media decides to find out how people feel about it… with an online poll…
There’s one problem though… it only have 3 choices to choose from on the likely outcome of this shit. I think it lacks one more choice. “More competitve rates from the banks and improved customer service of loansharks.”
Banks are already offering unsecured loans at exorbitant interest rates. When this market segment opens up, they will have to compete with the local loansharks, who offer unsecured loans at a slightly lower interest rates. Hence, the interest rates for unsecured loans will likely come down.
By opening this market segment to competition, loansharks too will be opened to competition from the banks. This means that they will have to repackage themselves. They will have to copy the banks and send threatening letter instead of hanging pig’s head and spray painting on lift walls.
So, there you have it. By allowing unsecured loans to low income earners, we will truly be on our way to becoming a true financial hub, with fantastic loans rates and good customer service.
There are fringe benefits too! Reduced vandalism in public places.
August 7, 2006 at 4:22 pm · Filed under General
Reporters have a very noble job. Risking exploding manholes and all…
I’ve got one question though… why is she standing on a manhole if she’s in a city full of exploding manholes?
August 3, 2006 at 9:04 am · Filed under General
Why, George Bush popularised Pre-Emptive and now, everyone is using it. The Russians, the Israelis… in fact, anybody who wants to whack anybody is using it…
Obviously the PTC have not heard about it. Cos in an uncanny reaction to my previous post, their secretary claims that it is impossible for the transport companies to pass down the cost of their fines to commuters. It was mentioned that they will need to seek approval for any fare hikes.
Er… hello PTC?! Pre-emtive fare hikes? Like the one you just received? The one that (if approved, and I bet it will) will give the transport companies an estimated $10 million increase in revenue?
Hmm… $10 million increase in revenue can pay maximum fine of $100,000 ur… for like what? 100 times? All I can say is, this is a massive pre-emtive fare hike… bad public transport standards… here we come…
In the mean time, I shall go for a pre-emptive cigarette break.
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