$5000 lesson - turning point in life

All year long many things happened,
but I will never forget how this one unfolds.
the one that many may find it familiar,

'I loan $5k to someone I barely knew!'

It is quite a sensitive topic to discuss openly;
So in order to keep it as neutral / objective as possible,
I decided to leave out some of the details.............
So after excluding juicy bits, the story roughly goes like this:

*Orange: flow of story*
*Dark Green: my 2cents worth*


'Dear Readers,

my name is Kang Xue Ming & this is a true story.
I have dragged this matter for a year before posting
as I chose to believe in giving people second chances
& I also dont want my family to worry about me.
However, for the benefit of all readers,
I have chosen to step up & share with everyone
coz I don't want another person to experience
the same situation or ever suffer in silence, like me.

On 26 July 2011,
Mr. X, my superior, wanted to borrow SGD $5k
& promised to return me in 2 days' time.
No matter how reluctant I was to lend him,
I was also being pressured by the fact
that Mr. X holds a key that could make my life difficult.

If it was just a matter of me getting fired, it wouldnt be that bad.
It concerns whether I can proceed with my further studies
& the scale of penalty that I could possibly incur along the way.

Mr. X  went on & used his authority by saying,
'Dont worry, I'm your superior & you'll be able to find me'
Therefore, I lent Mr. X the sum of money
as though I was following an order that my superior gave.

yes, you might think I'm a passive naive guy & I admit.
However, it doesnt change the fact Mr. X 'turned' to me.

Repayment in 2 days turned into 2 months;
all sorts of excuses & nothing was yet returned.
New agreement: $2k in Nov & $3k in Dec after selling his flat
I agreed as that was the only thing I could do at that time.

seriously, every week I tried to meet him
& it seems he is busier than when I was in the company.
Most of the time I didnt even see him around
& have no idea what he does for a living?
Oh right, just being my superior!!

Nov, Mr. X couldn't raise $2k & paid $900 instead.
Days before Dec deadline, Mr. X asked for another $1k
& will pay me back in full by Dec deadline.
I rejected him regardless if I had the money.
By the deadline, Mr. X failed to pay me back yet again.
Mr. X confessed that he owes alot of people money,
wont be able to pay me back & pleaded for a last chance
where he starts paying me by installment starting Jan 2012.

he used to own Peugeot & branded watches;
he chose to pay off my junior of the company,
an exact amount of $5k, but not me.
so did he use my money to return him?
or did he choose just not to pay me back?

Jan 2012 deadline came, Mr. X was uncontactable.
Few weeks later, Mr. X called saying that he was possessed
for the whole of 2011 & thus accumulated huge debts.
Apparently, Mr. X needed to clear his credit debts (with interest)
before he can return me my money, but no exact date.
Since Mr. X didn't get back to me anymore, I couldn't wait any longer.

There's a saying in our company,
'dont make ur problem become my problem!'
However, he did say the money partly goes to his newborn daughter.
so I tolerated all those nonsense that he can come up with.


Feb 2012, I filed a Police Report, called up company's Hotline
& went to LianHeWanBao to seek any form of help.
Mr. X paid me $500 immediately after being interviewed by the reporter
& said he will continue installments of $500 by May.
It gave me a glimpse of hope that everything will be back on track
so long as Mr. X pays me back.....

He has the cheek to ask me why did I approach media.
so here's why, I have nothing to lose anymore.
I treated that I already lost that $5k
& might as well let everyone know the truth.
All these went on while I was busy studying
& seriously who can concentrate with such a burden?

May & June 2012,
Mr. X disappoints me by dragging & not paying up, again.

By then, I was having holiday, but needed to work part time
to keep myself afloat before next sem uni fees dropped on me.
*Why do I have to suffer while he gets to drive a car?*

July, I was shocked to hear that Mr. X was even promoted
For this reason, I continued to pester Mr. X to get back
what is rightfully mine & he only returned me $500
out of the supposedly $1.5k that had accumulated.

How did someone like Mr. X get promoted after such an incident?
Why is Mr. X still in company?? Why is Mr. X not in jail?
What if another person falls prey to his lies??
I started to question what exactly did the Company do
as they didn't get back to me regarding Mr. X's punishments
or follow up on whether Mr. X paid me back or not.

PS: I am not from a rich family.
The moment I entered the company, I set out to climb the ranks
as I knew it was the only way to save up for my University tuition fees.
However, it was definitely a lesson learnt for me,
to be scammed at the end of the 2 years by none other than Mr. X.
I have run out of ideas of how to deal with this situation
& will thank anybody who can give me legal advice regarding this case.'

Apparently, this type of loan is considered personal loan.
It is not under business & nothing is legal / illegal about it.
so if ever there is people willing to sign IOU for money,
dont bother coz it is only based on trust....
but if things turn ugly, Trust turns to Trash.
which brings down to something I learnt from forums,
'Golden rule of lending $ : must be prepared and willing not to take it back'

The fact doesnt change that he owes alot people money;
1) Police cant do anything coz it is personal loan
2) We cant sue Mr. X for being a conman
coz he tells everybody a different story
3) Bring him to court / Debt Collector is useless
$5k or less = not worth  the time & effort
more than $5k = he still cant pay up
4) Nothing *major* was done, Investigation ongoing
- I've asked & still waiting for them to get back to me
Since when? 14 July 2012 & we're stepping into 2013


It just changed my mindset along the way,
When he wasnt paying anybody or at least me,
I will prefer him to be jailed & it would mean justice.
I would make everyone lose that chance of him ever repaying,
but I believe that we got to wake up from these daydreams.
If he is gona pay up, he would already try at some point.
Now that he is paying up, better pay everyone in full~

#Fun fact
BTW, he never remember my account number.
So I have to sms him every month the same message,
'Mr. X, remember to transfer when you get your pay, ***-*****-*'

From this one off incident,
I'm very thankful for the support from my family,
friends from almost everywhere connected back to me,
brothers in arms regardless if I know them in person,
people who share the same plight of being scammed
& helpful individuals that pointed me in the right direction
as to where I can get free legal aid & what should be left out.

*Sorry that I missed out on replying some people 
& unable to add people as friends due to personal reasons.

Long before I posted it up, it was already an emotional struggle
I didn't tell my family as I know nothing good will come out of it,
but at the same time we should always include our families in decisions.
I was planning to tell them once Mr. X starts to pay up monthly.
It just didnt went according to plan & I told them after posting.


On a side note, It is so funny that I'm so focused with laws,
but yet I ended up failing my law module so badly
as if it is teasing me that people do get away with ill-doings.
It showed me things are not just Black & White,
but it comes with the shades of grey.

I know there are pretty much of loopholes to the story
& that is supposed to leave it up to your imagination.
Be it for the better or for the worse,
there is still nothing much done to him at the end of the day.
I'm not perusing any further coz it doesn't really matter;
The good news to share with everyone~~~
I got back everything!!

Getting back everything doesnt mean I'm rich at all.
It doesnt mean I will lend anyone money either.
However, it has changed my views on money.
'better to enjoy now than never~'
I will spend it sparingly to enjoy coz I treat it as lottery
even though it is my own money in the first place.
Thus, in this holiday season, I focused on the spirit of giving
by actively participating in Christmas parties' gift exchange!
Attended more gatherings organised by my poly-mates
& enjoyed lots of good food along the way~
Nonetheless, I get to buy alot of things for myself!!
The funding of my online shopping spree & electronics~

This $5000 lesson - turning point in life is priceless;
I'm able to officially close this chapter by 2012
and look forward to this upcoming year;
My wish to link up with my close friends!
- South View Primary School
- Chua Chu Kang Secondary School
- Singapore Polytechnic (School of Design)
- National Service
- RMIT University (SIM)?

off to countdown & welcome 2013!!!

Facial Tips

MERRY X'MAS TO ALL READERS,
whether you're home alone coz of whatever reasons,
or you're out with someone on this day to celebrate,
I'm happy to share with you on what I think about facial.

To be honest, my skin is naturally oily & prone to pimples.
& to make it worse, most of my meals has chilli in them,
I like the occasional fried food, I dont really drink water much
+ daily late-night routine I picked up since preparation of exam
by waking up at 11pm & sleeping at 3am.
My skin complexion was at rock bottom!!!






I believe in a saying, '这世界上没有丑的人，只有懒惰的人'
& it applies to both guys and girls in the  twenty-first century.
I actually belong to the lazy group who only wanted cleanser,
but just that isn't enough to keep my skin pimple-free or close to radiant.
So through the years of puberty, I've added toners then moisturizers
and the secret weapon of the century!!!
Yes, BB CREAM!!



Recently, I've been using BB creams to cover up my scars
& there are people complementing me for my good complexion~
It is nice to get compliments from people,
but that is a love-hate feeling when it is not my natural skin.
so I'm still waiting for the day to return to bare minimum.

How did I become so vain, you may ask.



It all began with a pimple that was smack right in the middle of my eyes.
there were other blackheads and pimples, so I decided to go for a facial.
So I shortlisted a few places that offered skin care services
& decided to go for the promo at that point of time,
New York Skin Solutions



It is a known fact that beauty parlors usually promotes 'Up-sell'
as you get to enjoy the affordable rate for any promo.
However, I was impressed by their die-hard up-sell skills
rather than making use that time to do a better facial.
All I got was a sub-par facial & the pimple between my eyes grew.

Eventually, I couldn't resist anymore and....... POP-ed
I was unsure if it was totally clean & gave a few more jabs at it.
What's next? It started to bleed & there goes a thought.....
'please, no scars~~ i dont want any scars~~~!!'

By that time, it is usually too late to do anything
& let's just hope for the better to come in MONTHS~!!
so I went on to find other ways to accelerate the healing process,




You can read up the benefits of konjac sponge
by clicking on the photos to see enlarged image.
When I used it for the very first time,
it totally refreshed me with the squishy squashy feel
as though I haven been treating my face well in the past.

My main reason for using konjac sponge in the first place
is becoz normally after washing hair, I wont know
if there is any wax or conditioner residue left on my fingers
& I dont really know how much pressure should I exert
while washing my face as it may be causing even more damage.
No harm trying when it is on offer at only less than $3?!
It gets even better when you dont need cleanser while using it,
but you can also add cleanser if you feel it is not clean enough.




Snail cream products have been popping up in Singapore;
I personally dont know which brand is better,
but at least this is one of the top selling snail creams around.
DONT WORRY, you are not killing snails in this case..
I was quite skeptical bout using it coz.....
'will have the snail smell or not?'
it smells great just like any facial products!
*no idea why so many diff products if all has roughly same effect~




BB cream = Blemish Balm cream
Basically, it is all-in-one facial cosmetic product
to replace serum, moisturizer, primer, foundation & sunblock.

I actually started out from oxy cover coz it has the medication,
but the flesh tone was too far off my fairer skin tone
& applying on spots aint gona cut it coz it looks funny.
so I tried Ginvera BB cream which has a nice green tea scent.
Ginvera finishing; moved on to loreal UV perfect BB max
BB max made me look like a ghost coz of discoloration.
so came Missha Perfect Cover BB cream
which Kim passed me to try & it has best matching skin tone =D

*Tips: remember to apply bb cream on ur neck
to even out significant neck-face skin tone difference
coz it may look okay to you in the mirror, but others not to others






BTW, I've also asked Kim to get me simple hairband from Aries
coz I felt that it was too girly for me to buy it myself hahahah..
I needed it coz I didnt wana get cleanser on my dyed hair
as the color was still fading at that point of time.




It has been 2 months since I started this daily routine
whenever I need to go out on an important gathering
& there is a clear result that my skin condition is getting better.
I have no idea which is the exact product that produced results,
but I still think cleanser + toner + moisturizer = minimum





These 2 photos are taken right after I washed up...
It is not perfect so I cant take shots any closer hahaha =P
'YAY!! UGLY RED DOT SCAR NO MORE~~!!!'

Quote of the Day:
nothing beats going natural.

RED Fever!!

If you've been following me on instagram or twitter,

Room Makeover

When we were all children without much power to decide,

D.I.Y pc

D.I.Y  pc = Do.It.Yourself personal computer
This post is sorta dedicated to geeks / nerds like me
& has educational value for others who are not.

Why make ur own when can buy readily off-the-shelf?
Benefits (average user):
- close to none that I know of
- only may be slightly cheaper?

Benefits (intense user):
- longer warranty periods
- stable; last longer than laptops (Supposedly)
- more powerful than off-the-shelf of same price
- overclocking & more customisation (water-cooling, etc)

Drawbacks (average user & gamers):
- need spend loads of time to research
- PC is an investment coz its not portable
- requires some troubleshooting knowledge

Average User is referring to people who surf the web
(facebook, twitter, youtube, etc.), watch tv series on any quality,
be it is blurry low quality videos or Full High Definition (FHD - 1080p).
People who value portability more than anything else
should go for laptops that suits your needs.

To make things simple, Intense User = (Laptop < D.I.Y pc)
Intense User is referring to people who play lots of games on FHD - 1080p, photographers who edits insane quality images or
designers / 3D artist who uses lots of special effects on their projects.


Over the weekend after SM Town,
I was alone on a trip to Sim Lim Square,
the place where all local PC / Electronics hardware retailers gather.
It is known to have scary scheming shop owners reaping people off.
E.g: Tourists that come over to buy cameras, laptops, etc~~

Basically, this place is like a stock market
& need comparison of price / warranty / reputation.
First up, it is to check out the various price list
that people will hand you as you walk up the building
or they will be placed in their shops.
If you already know what you wana do, it will be as simple as purchasing things you want & get out of the place. If you've any uncertainty, you're bound to be shaken off ur feet coz there'll be ridiculously lower offers & you'll get into dilemma.

However.........
I'm not stopping at DIY pc.
I wana bring it to the next level~~,
Hackintosh - macintosh with D.I.Y parts,
& I need to choose my parts cautiously!

Now that we have all the hardware,
we need to decide the Operating System
that will run on the D.I.Y pc.
Recently, Microsoft and Apple just renewed their OS.
So let's have a look at both advertisement
before we make any hasty decision, shall we?