ncy

familyof4 precisely...it only goes to show there is no certainty... somehow in bad times, valu$ survived? Hahaha, I know you be heading towards this direction.Nothing is engraved in stone. But in a risk assesment, it always wise to be able to mitigate that risk. For one, like investing in share mkt, investors will go for blue chips simply because they are stable. But that does not mean they r not risk adversed. Like Warren Buffett said, in short term, the stk mkt is like a voting machine and in long term, its a weighing machine. If you replicate the scenario above to our post discussion here, its up to the forummers to decide what kind of risk they are willing to take. blackcar Yes times is hard, all my shares valued drops to 80% Being a cosumer we got to be extremly careful, but at times we got to take risk. Anyway, I took alot of risk during the course of my renovation too, will share the story with you guys when i completed the renovation. I bet you will faint if you hear my side of story. lolz Sorry to hear that. I was burned in the share mkt in 1997 as well. When Thailand decided to devalue the baht back then in Jul-99, the hedge funds like Julian Robertson, Tiger Fund ( now defunct) and Quantum Fund by Soros decided to short alot of shares. And it doesnt help as well that currency speculators also came in and raid and dump. Certainly back then, I was foolhardy in not knowing what risk I should have avoided. I just had "cheong" mentality...hahahahha. Anyway Looking forward to hear you story on the risk you're taking with your reno. Hope its a smooth completion and then story time

Yes its pretty amazing how a financially astute institution that braved 2 World Wars and The Great Depression faltered in the end and filled for Chapter 11. That shows even reputable organisations are not left unscathed let alone the smaller players in the market.....

Hi XiaoBinBin, I noticed that you also uses a Rinnai hob and hood. I am also a Rinnai user and currently using RB38VSV. The thing about the double burner is that I need to turn the knob and wait for 5 seconds before all the fire lights up. If I release the knob without waiting for 5 seconds, the whole burner wont light up and I need to do it again. According to the Rinnai folks, this is normal expecially for the double burner with the safey valve feature. Do you encounter what I am encountering as well?

aubrey well ncy, your points have been made and have resonated very well throughout this thread. we are only humans and we do get emotional. it seem like if i were an ah soon customer and i get emotional in my posts, i am branded an ah soon supporter who gets emotional, what is up with that? and if u said it is well known, why then, is there the start of round 2 of his same weakness and strengths? yes it invites comments due to his (over)exposure but i think what has been said should be made to pass. i cant help but feel like u are force-feeding your views on this issue when your views have been addressed. point taken! so if u go on and on and refuse to move on, can one not feeling like u are turning this thread into "your" platform? Whats up with that aubrey is your statement on this is my thread statement. I think its equitable justice that you pull a fast one on me and I reciprocate the same. That makes us level at 1-1. So if you still cant let it slide, I dont mind continue this discussion with you. You can choose to see it as force feeding, I choose to see it as reiterating. What does this bring us? A difference in opinions. And thats normal in a healthy discussion. Dont you think so? But never ever, accuse me of something I am not. I can choose to say what I like and when I like it as long as I am not degrading someone, got it? blackcar 1) I will manage my contractor on the agreed deadline and not the other way round. Then again, how many home owners will go to the extend to sue the contractors in the event of missing the Handover deadlines? Till date i havent heard of any, most of the home owners will endure. Maybe i m wrong, anyone can comment on this area? Have u met ah soon in person? If not, i guess it is difficult to explain in words how to deal with him. He is kinda of person whom believe in man of words, so going black and white with him will turn him off. He would prefer not to take yr business. I m not encouraging the home owners here to take all these risk, but this is how i felt about him. 2) Ah soon is not a licensed contractor could e a risk? What kinda of risk you may think it will occured? As i have mentioned previously, as long as the contractor obtain legal ways to get yr renovation approval from the authority is most matter rite? If not how can ah soon been doing renovation for so many HDB houses? No? Blackcar, in my line of job, to safeguard co interest is my utmost priority. And thats the reason why we have remedial clauses that protects the interest of both parties when we hit a wall. I believe its not so much of suing but contractors must agree to a certain remedial actions if its up to his or her own negligence, not force majuere. If its a force majuere event, no one can be blamed for that. Personally I have not met Ah Soon, but I only hear good things about him thus far...well mostly. So I go with the majority that he's an easy going guy. But then again being nice and doing biz is 2 different things. If someone feels that Ah Soon be turned off with signing a good piece of contract to address all the prevailing issues that might cropped up, then its up to the individual's preference and appetite for risk. I believe there is no right or wrong to that. As for Ah Soon not being a licensed contractor, what risks will incur, I believe one forummer did spell out the risk somewhere here. But I could be wrong nor will I want to pretend to be an expert in deducing what kind of difficulties that we might get into. Maybe HDB knows best. From a layman perspective and deduction, I am sure to piggy back on another's person's license is not really approriate. Again this is my layman point of view only. And how come he had been doing this for many yrs and nothing ever happened? I mean "touch wood", I guess if all happens smoothly, I reckoned there wont be any issues. Again its up to individuals appetite for risk and preference. Just to comment further that it doesnt mean if one is doing something wrong and he is scot free, it doesnt absolve him/her of the wrongs he/she had done. We are now living in a downturn. China is expected to register only a single digit growth for the first time in decades, Spore economy is expected to contract even further. This are bad times. And banks had been quite stringent on loan approvals and cash flows might be a problem to some doing business out there. As a consumer, its always wise to know that handling a situation during the good times could be different when one is in turbulent times like now. Just my 2 cents worth.

Hi Aubrey, I hope you hold that thought for a second and dont be personal. If you're implying I am being personal by zooming in, onto this topic, then sorry to dissappoint you. Like I said, the fact of the matter is Ah Soon strengths and weaknesses are well known. Thats why this enables more forummers to comment about him. The facts about him like he being unlicensed, tight deadlines and cheap are well known. So this obviously invites forummers to comment. Remember, I use the word "invite" and not "incite". Yes he is not the only unlicensed contractor in SGP. But I think he is the only unlicensed contractor I know in this forum. Forgive me, if I dont go hunting other posts and do a hunt on unlicensed contractors in this forum. Because I have no business or time for doing so. So its okay for you to make statement like I own this thread statement? Isnt it hitting below the waistline?

no one ever disputed the above 2 points mah. no mah get flame for mentioning the above 2 points either. and didn't his customers also keeps reiterating that he can't stick to deadlines? didn't we also mention abt the license thing? *scratch head*.. Morning Ivy. Okay let me read your sentence properly so I dun misread what you say. I dont want to be guilty of jumping on an innocent individual...hahaha. Okay I think I get your drift above. So here is my take. I might sound like an old broken jukebox to you since I am repeating myself over and over again. But there is nothing wrong with that as well to repeat or to reiterate a point. So if I repeat a point and some of you might find it a waste of time, I suggest you skip my posts and carry on to the next.

good morning merryman These pointers, are posted here because the facts were made known on this particular contractor, so you see me zooming on this Ah Soon. You can see me posting my views on other topics as well. A specific pointer can be imbued irregardless of the subject matter at hand. However you might disagree with me on this, but we can agree to disagree and still have a good healthy debate

Hi Blackcar, I made 2 points before which I should reiterate again. First of all, to those who have tight deadlines, Ah Soon may not be your cup of tea. And it could be advisable to embedd a Handover Clause in the contract so that if the handover date is not met, certain remedial actions can be envoked. Second, Ah Soon is not a licensed contractor (as someone pointed out before). This could be a risk. On a hindsight, its better to call HDB to gather info on the risks of engaging an unlicensed contractor.

Zio I just dont understand why nyc, if you really don't prefer Ah Soon or you cant stand people making positive comments, why bother coming in to start this 2nd world war again, yes its the 2nd time. Wow looks who is keeping score. I also dont understand you, Zio? You such have a good memory Well if it makes you feel any better, I dont really understand you as well, so let us keep it the way it is, can we? aubrey the way i see it, ncy, this thread is all yours. cheers! i think i shall go clean my house now. Another wow. Actually Aubrey the way I see it, this thread belongs to some of which I dont wanna mention names because they should know who they are. Wow cleaning house ah, well you're not the only one. I also cleaned the house aft a hard day's work. And I agree with marvin, aft house finish reno liao, still got some ppl still stay on this forum...wow (3rd time) but who's counting. I really applaud those people's commitment and dedication to this forum. As for me, just like marvin, I think I average about maybe 3-4 posts per day maybe lesser. And merryman saw through my sacrcasm.....thank God. Someone that finally understands....hahahaha.... And to pinkpetter, yes we should be all on the same side. To all forummers, just continue feedback on positive or negative on engaging Ah Soon. It doesnt neccesarily mean if you never engage Ah Soon before, you cant give some pointers.It doesnt mean only those who engaged Ah Soon before had the right to talk here like a particular someone who is advocating this point. No one is flaming anyone.Just by having a dissenting view, means flaming someone? Is this a warp sick joke? If today being a devil's advocate means flaming people or like some say, start a Second World War, I suggest you wake up and smell the air of DEMOCRACY, having a different view doesnt mean starting a World War.

Ok listen everyone, according to mrspiglet this thread is meant for pple to ask abt renovations with Ah soon. So dont bring up anything else other than what mrspiglet said, okay? Cannot say anything else.....just can ask questions about renovations with Ah Soon and nothing else. Wow...hahahahha

Hi merryman thats why I said the sentence opens to alot of intepretation. Too bad that I see it in negative light because I am biased. I need to admit that.

Hi merryman, I stand by my choice of words. Idolized is the word I used and I stand by it. If others see it as an attack, they have every right to rebutt me and also criticize the wrong choice of words I used in their mind. But I agree that we should move on

Hi familyof4, thats why I said to those who doesnt know the risk of engaging a non licence HDB contractor to call HDB hotline to learn about the risks. This is a constructive feedback. No one knows better than HDB, rite? when it comes to risks. If a person decided to go for Ah Soon with knowing all the knowledge about him, then I believe he or she would have make a calculated decision and he or she should be comfortable with knowing the facts and can live with it.

Why am I agitated over an innocent suggestion made?Its because of this sentence There's no need to post everyday since u already completed reno Pls be more precise before writting. If you read it, it opens avenues for different kind of intepretations. U can write all u want. Likewise pple can post all they want too. And I never say that its wrong to update postings daily. Its only that I am low profile and different than others. So I hope you observe online etiquete as well by not trying to read between the lines and twist and turn my statement by making it as if I am blasting people that post and share daily their updates.

Yes hahahaha as well Ivy since I thought you had given this a rest.....

Yes precisely, when someone comments on Ah Soon negatively, those people are attacked. When Ah Soon postive comments are given, did anyone disputed the fact? I dont believe so. Those forumers incl myself just say, okay, Ah Soon may not be suitable for those who have tight deadline and he is not a licensed HDB contractor (not per my quote, someone else found out on that)

hmmmm... it is pretty obvious who among Ah Soon supporters is sensitive about this, ain't it? I say I am different than the rest who updates daily also cannot, people respond also cannot, people say bad thing also cannot. people say take Ah Soon with a pinch of salt also cannot. Ah Soon supporter sell his contact can.. but ah soon non believers choose to PM personally the forumers is criticized, people ask we tell but then also cannot, kanna say until like dunno what.... So when bad reviews are given, a barrage of same old songs comes out from Ah Soon few selected supporter's jukebox. Yes I suggest you who is reading this, Ivy to let it go Btw, this is not your thread Ivy, this thread is for all, dont treat it as if its yours.Just like you share your true views,others can do the same, its up to readers to decide and make their choice. And I believe others incl me also got better things to do. Btw, I just copy and amend your feedback to write mine because if you point 1 finger to others, 4 fingers point back at you

Hi reddevil, I sincerely hope I am wrong in intepreting, if I had misunderstood what she said, then I would like to take the opportunity here to apologize to mrspiglet for this outburst of mine which is totally unwarranted from my end. I am sorry. But if she said what I think she said, then...yeah, I meant every single word I said from my last posting hahahaha.....

Hi mrspiglet, I will choose to air my views whenever I like it or wherever allows me to. So dont really get your point. This is not North Korea under Kim Jong Il or Iran under Ahmadenijad where I cant express my views. Who are you to tell me not to post everyday since I already completed reno?

Hi Mrspiglet, I had PM several of the forumers that asked for my contractor contacts. As for experience wise, forummers also did ask me and I had shared with them my point of view and shared with them all the details. I am a low profile guy, unlike some who likes to give daily updates on Uncle Soon progress, thats not my style. Hope you understand. Hi matchgirl, I will PM you the contact.

Some Ah Soon supporters (not all) are emotional, what more can I say.

Btw, my hats of to rock, who said "some forumers who speak good of him -- sounded as if is ah soon relative or what.... ". Its indeed true that some of the Ah Soon supporters are really emotional. I really do not have a clue why they acting this way as it baffles me seeing their reaction on this forum.

I applaud those who came out saying that Ah Soon is not a registered contractor (if its true). I believe this will help people to make an informed choice. Taking up a job from someone who is unlicensed is definately a risk. I believe best ppl to ask is HDB, maybe can call them up and ask them the cons on going for an unlicensed contractor. I am sure they be well informed to give an explanation.

I agree with shuseido. As long as its not electrical items, its ok to buy now and ask them to deliver it later. Electrical items like tv, fridge and etc will have the tendency to price fluctuating downwards....

Hi simpleguy80, pics taken. PM me your email address if you want to take a look of the pics