SELECTION OF ASSASSIN

A few months ago, there was an opening with the CIA for an assassin. These highly classified positions are hard to fill, and there's a lot of testing and background checks involved before you can even be considered for the position. After sending some applicants through the background checks, training and testing, they narrowed the possible choices down to two men and a woman, but only one position was available.

The day came for the final test to see which peson would get the extremely secretive job. The CIA men administering the test took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun. "We must know that you will follow our instructions whatever the circumstances," they explained. "Inside this room, you will find your wife sitting in a chair. Take this gun and kill her." The man looked horrified and said, "You can't be serious! I could never shoot my wife!" "Well," said the CIA man, "you're definitely not the right man for this job then."

So they brought the second man to the same door and handed him a gun. "We must know that you will follow instructions no matter what the circumstances," they explained to the second man. "Inside you will find your wife sitting in a chair. Take this gun and kill her." The second man looked a bit shocked, but nevertheless took the gun and went in the room. All was quiet for about 5 minutes; then the door opened. The man came out of the room with tears in his eyes. "I tried to shoot her; I just couldn't pull the trigger and shoot my wife. I guess I'm not the right man for the job."

"No," the CIA man replied, "You don't have what it takes. Take your wife and go home."

Now they only had the woman left to test. They led her to the same door to the same room and handed her the same gun. "We must be sure that you will follow instructions no matter what the circumstances; this is your final test. Inside you will find your husband sitting in a chair. Take this gun and kill him." The woman took the gun and opened the door. Before the door even closed all the way, the CIA men heard the gun start firing, one shot after another for 13 shots. Then all hell broke loose in the room. They heard screaming, rashing, and banging on the walls. This went on for several minutes; then all went quiet.

The door opened slowly, and there stood the woman. She wiped the sweat from her brow and said, "You guys didn't tell me the gun was loaded with blanks. I had to beat the son of a bitch to death with the chair!"

Business Times: Developers test waters with condo launches.

May 9, 2008
Developers test waters with condo launches.
Sale of Floridian, Quartet on Vanda and Parc Seabreeze have begun.
By KALPANA RASHIWALA

DEVELOPERS are gingerly testing the water for residential launches this week. Far East Organization' s listed unit Orchard Parade Holdings and Wing Tai have begun the official launch of their Floridian condo in Bukit Timah, marked by the start of an advertising campaign.

Prices start at $1,615 psf. BT understands the average net price is in the range of $1,600 to $1,700 psf after discounts.

The freehold project has 336 units in 11 towers on a site of 230,000 sq ft. The preview for the development began a few months ago, with six units sold at $1,640 to $1,770 psf.

This week's official launch sees the release of 75 units in Towers 2 and 9. Units range from two-bedders of 840 sq ft to apartments with four bedrooms (plus study) of 2,373 sq ft. Floridian, designed by DP Architects, is inspired by the Miami coast and will be surrounded by water features. Ground-floor units will have the water's edge outside their living and dining spaces. The project is near Hwa Chong Institution, Methodist Girls' School, Nanyang Girls' High School, Raffles Girls' Primary School and the Canadian International School.

Another freehold project being previewed this week is Quartet on Vanda, a cluster development of four bungalows in Vanda Crescent off Dunearn Road (near Eng Neo Avenue). Each two-storey unit has an attic, a basement and a swimming pool.

Built-up areas range from 4,844 sq ft to 4,919 sq ft. The units are understood to be priced around $6 million each. Quartet on Vanda is being developed by Stanley Quek's Region Development.

Over in the eastern part of Singapore, Tiong Aik is understood to have begun the preview of Parc Seabreeze in the Marine Parade/Joo Chiat area last week. The average price for the freehold project is understood to be in the $1,600-1,700 psf range.