Tea with AK71: Dishonest merchant.

More than three years ago, I was given a present, a Canon IXUS 860 IS digital camera, in Hong Kong. It was, at the time, a somewhat expensive item.

Recently, the rechargeable battery was not holding its charge and even someone who is not savvy with high tech stuff like me knew that the battery probably had to be replaced. This is what the battery looks like:

When I showed the battery to a very good friend of mine, he told me that the battery is not a Canon original. I told him it came with the camera and it must be original. Well, my friend who is more tech savvy than I am told me firmly that he has quite a few Canon digital cameras and what I showed him was definitely not the real deal. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that this friend is also very rich.

Anyway, I was somewhat upset that my present, although given to me three years ago, probably suffered some monkey business at the hands of some dishonest merchant in Hong Kong!

As you can see from the photo above, the original from Canon, which I bought from Canon's showroom at Vivo City recently looks quite different from the battery that came with my camera. Price: S$89.00.

Dishonest merchants are everywhere. I ought to warn my friend in Hong Kong who bought this camera for me not to buy anything from that shop again, wherever they are.

Saizen REIT: A new loan.

More good news. Saizen REIT secured a new loan for the amount of JPY 500 million (S$7.5 million) from a Japanese financial institution, the Kumamoto Dai-ichi Shinkin Bank on 20 April 2011. This is for a term of almost 20 years up to 10 March 2031 and has an interest rate of 3.5% per annum.

The money was used towards the repayment of YK Shintoku's CMBS and taking into account YK Shintoku’s cash reserves, the net outstanding loan of YK Shintoku amounts to approximately JPY 0.7 billion (S$10.5 million).

The day when YK Shintoku would be unencumbered by any loan is drawing nearer by the day.