Job description: Make virtual goods in online games to sell to players

Earnings: more than RM400 per month (average)

Size of industry: 500,000 persons, 80% in China. Already comparable in size to India’s outsourcing industry!

Global market size: estimated USD500 million, but true size could easily be twice as big!

Outlook: very bright, growing rapidly. Has become a significant economic sector in many developing nations so much so that gold-farming has been cited as an early exmple of the “virtual offshoring” likely to become more prevalent as people spend more time working and playing in cyberspace.

Mitigating factor: considered illegal by gaming companies

Source
The BBC, 22nd Aug 2008

Reuters reported on 9th Nov 2007 that The Mark Hotel on East 77th Street, New York is converting several top floors into apartments designed by French decorator Jacques Grange.

It overlooks Manhattan’s posh Upper East Side.

Price: USD150 million, according to New York real estate brokers.

Even for the Big Apple, that price is amazing. While the city can easily attract buyers for multimillion dollar pads, a 3-figure sum is unusual.

Probably because of its uniqueness.

The most expensive apartment currently listed in New York is a USD70 million unit at the The Pierre Hotel.

Specs:
- 3-stories
- 30,000 square-feet
- 26-feet-high ceilings
- a library with fireplace
- a gym
- a spacious terrace with a rooftop pavilion.

So far, Leonard Blavatnik, 50, a Russian oil and real estate magnate, has signed a letter of intent to buy the place. He’s worth USD7 billion according to Forbes (read: he can afford it).

Source
The Star, 9th Nov 2007
nycondoblog

Read in a newspaper article last month:

(i) As a parent to grown children, you can say that you will change your will every year. It’s a way to ensure the children “toe the line.”

(ii) You can create trust within the will.

(iii) A will is not just about money, it can also spell out guardianship of children.

Where else do government leaders / top civil servants get paid so much?

Already high, yet still 55% increase in ministers’ salaries. PM Lee said it’s to attract the brightest talents and to curb corruption - but will humans be ever satisfied?

PM Lee’s, 55 salary would have jumped from RM5.58 million a year (RM465,000 per month) to RM7.03 million a year (more than RM585,000 per month), 5 times more than that of George Bush, president of the world’s most powerful economy. And much more than PM Abe of Japan, Asia’s biggest economy. And he’s not the one earning the most - the President earns more.
With immediate effect, the salary structure:

President – $3,187,100 (24.9% increase),

Prime Minister – $3,091,200 (25.5% increase),
Senior Minister – $3,043,300 (13.5% increase),

Minister Mentor (Lee Kuan Yew) – $3,043,300 (13.5% increase),

Deputy Prime Minister – $2,452,500 (18.8% increase),

Minister and Senior Perm Sec – $1,593,500 (32.5% increase) (MR4 Grade),

Entry Superscale Grade – $384,000 (3.3% increase) [SR9 Grade],

MP – $216,300 (23.2% increase)

The government, led by Lee Kuan Yew launched a major campaign to convince the nation but has so far failed.

Middle class Singaporeans earn an average of S$1,500 (RM3,400) a month. The poorest 10% earn S$300 (RM680.70) a month.

In a survey at AsiaOne’s website, only 11.4% supported the idea, 83.7% said no & 4.9% abstained.

Who wants to run for office in Singapore?

source

According to The Star on 6th April, this year more F1 tickets are being sold than ever before. So it seems that finally, F1 racing has caught the imagination of Malaysians. However, Sepang International Circuit (SIC) general manager Azmi Murad didn’t say that tickets have sold out. In fact, at the time of the news report, they are still available in all sections of the circuit.

To me, the true mark of an event’s popularity is how fast the tickets sell out. If I can still come in at the last minute and still can get tickets (not from the touts of course), that would be considered a “roaring success”. An example would be the World Cup final tickets. No way would I be able to get in at the last minute. In fact, it would’ve sold out months, if not years before the event actually takes place.

To me, the big issue is more basic - no other sporting event in Malaysia costs so much to watch first-hand.

Azmi said that more Malaysians should show their support and quickly buy their tickets for the event. He added that the grandstand and covered seats are the most popular among fans and they are selling like hot cakes.

Of course tickets start from only RM50, but who wants to sit so far away in the blistering heat at the hillstands? Or perhaps even worse, rain? You can go for the covered hillstand, which costs 3 times more. If you bring members of your family, habis lah 1 bulan gaji. I don’t want to even mention to prices for the Grandstand and the other covered seats.

source

No surprises - anything associated with Formula 1 will be among the most expensive, if not the most expensive event of the year.

For social events open to the general public, surely it’s the Grand Prix dinner, this year called the outlandishly long name of Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix Fantasy Gala 2007, held at the KLCC on Friday 6th April.

Every time the organisers will select a different theme, this year it’s “Fantasy”: in previous years “Ice” and “Spring”.

As for glamour, it’s second to none. For starters, check out the guest list: Read the rest of this entry »