Tightening Grip on Casinos

Similar to Macau & other world renounced destinations with casinos, the local governments have attracted many foreign investments which in turn have created many jobs openings for their local residents & also higher growth in their tourism industries; Singapore is also following suit aiming to share a slice of that big pie.

Without doubt, countries revenues surely will rocket. Everyone welcomes the benefits generated in term of economic growth but definitely I am sure, many will foresee the vices it will also bring about. Gambling addictions, prostitutions, cheatings, thefts & bulgaries, kidnappings & embezzlement cases, just to name a few here.

I applaud the news that Macau, the former Portuguese enclave is considering rules, to be drafted in two to three months, that might impose limits on table numbers and raise age limits for casinos.

According to Macau state-run Chinese media and grass-roots organizations,breakneck expansion has fostered social ills from corruption to prostitution. Beijing, worried about addiction, periodically tries to limit the flow of its tourists. It had imposed rules last year limiting citizens travelling from Guangdong province to Macau to two trips a year.

While China has opened doors to the world, I am glad they are still mindful of the values they have so endeared & preserved.

So I hope while Singapore is pursuing her dream of becoming a world-class nation, must at the same time not forget how to balance her social & economic scale.

Cell Gathering on Anglican Diocese of Singapore Centenary

Praise the Lord! On 21 Sept 2009 we celebrated 100th years of God's goodness & glory at St Andrew's Cathedral.

It was a day of fun in the name of our loving God. Members came together to set up food & game stores. St James' Church set up a Dunking game store & also a food store selling fried tom yam beehoon, lots of cakes & cookies.

Annie Court's youngest sister & her husband have graciously invited our cell group members to their house for dinner on that day to celebrate Hari Raya Puasa. The spread of home cooked nasi bryani & spicy dishes accompanied with pickled vegetables were yummy. Hmmm... simply appetizing. The various homemade desserts were also heavenly... The durian cake, kaya kueh, kueh lapis, apple pies & open-faced pineapple tarts were 1st class. How I wish I can have such gift of culinary skill.

Online Trading

Lately, I have not been writing. Not that I have nothing to say. In fact, I have many things on my mind but just that I am quite reluctant to pen them before I am able to sort them out properly.

The recent volatility in the stock market has been something for me. It has kept me rather busy away from my blogging. Of course, the good thing is I am making money. The time I have spent to study the market, reading up more widely, keeping in touch with trading friends & monitoring my portfolio has been fruitful.

These days, online trading is becoming an in-thing. I guess it is due to the increase convenience of IT & that more people are either out of their jobs because of company restructurings or because they are able to make more income from trading than keeping a full-time day job & thus decide to give up their salaried job.

Anyway, the point I want to make here is if you choose to trade it will be advisable to adopt a trading strategy. You can pick it up either by attending a course or learn it online by yourself or read up from books. Never trade by merely following instinct or just because some people tell you to buy or sell a certain stock.

Remember, at the end of the day, you are investing your hard earned money or savings so you are the one solely responsible for your own decision. Whether be it a right or wrong decision.

Dried Shrimp & Olive Fried Rice

Want to be a little creative but do not want to spend too much time doing up a plate of yummy fried rice? Well, give this one a try. It's very simple!

Ingredients:

1. two eggs (beaten, add a tablespoon of water, a dash of white ground pepper & sprinkle of table salt )
   
2. three tablespoons of dried shrimps (waste & grind)
   
3. three tablespoons of preserved olive with oil
   
4. two gloves of garlic (chopped)
   
5. light soya sauce (one tablespoon or according to taste)
   
6. two tablespoon of cooking oil
   
7. four rice bowls of boiled white rice (preferably cooked & cooled a few hours before use)

Method:

1. Heat up frying pan before putting in cooking oil
2. When oil is heated, add chopped garlic for light browning
   
3. Lower heat, add in grinded dried shrimps & continue to stir fry till fragrant
   
4. Push ingredients to a side of the frying pan leaving just the oil in the centre
5. Increase heat & pour the beaten eggs into the oil & stir fry
6. Push back the ingredients from the side of the pan to mix with the eggs when cooked
7. Add boiled rice together with ingredients, increase heat & continue to stir fry for five minutes
8. Add light soya sauce while stir frying
   
9. Add preserved olive & oil and continue to stir fry for another five minutes
10. Scoop the fried rice into a plate & serve it hot

Highlights:

• Do not soak the dried shrimps because it will remove the sweetness of the shrimps.
• Adding a tablespoon of water to the beaten eggs will smoothen the texture of the eggs when cooked.
  
• If you like the grain of your fried rice to look shining & not broken looking, it is advisable to use OLD CROP grain instead of NEW CROP grain. The texture of the rice is harder when cooked if you choose to use old crop grain.
  
• Leaving the boiled rice to cool for a few hours before using it to fry will not give your fried rice the sticky or pasty look.
• For garnishing ideas, you can top it with some fresh chinese parsley & red stripes chilli, or with some stripe cucumber (without the seeds), I'll leave it to your preference.