It's only midweek, but it's already a mad whirl of numbers...

It'll be Wednesday (midweek) when Singaporeans read this. Here's some crazy numbers already:

Who says there are now 7 billion people in the world?

Hey, don't you know just 12 Asia-Pacific countries have at least 800 billion people, and counting. The  "proof" is in this ST page 1 report today (15 Nov, "Spectre of US-China rivalry haunts new trade pact"):

Honolulu: Asia-Pacific leaders wrapped up their annual economic summit on a conflicted note on Sunday, with the spectre of intensifying rivalry between the United States and China threatening to overshadow the momentum behind a bold, new regional trade pact.

Support for the fledgling trade agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), rose sharply this past week after Japan, Canada and Mexico all declared that they wanted to be included.

That brings the number of interested parties to 12 [countries], representing a market of 800 billion consumers...   

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Or would you rather believe the plethora of recent reports on the 7th billionth birth on 31 Oct 2011, such as this one in the UK's Guardian newspaper:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/31/seven-billionth-baby-born-philippines?newsfeed=true

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Meanwhile, every time I went into a Cold Storage supermarket, the checkout girl would ask me, "Do you have the Passion card?" I used to wonder why, and several thoughts flashed by me. I once overheard someone else at the next counter reply, "Got passion lah but got no card." Anyway, I eventually found out what was meant without getting a slap on the cheek, so I signed up for "it". But the application form had this strange age stipulation:

So, don't worry if you're still in mummy's womb and is technically "zero years old". You are eligible for the PAssion Card.

Oh, if you are 120 years old, still can. But at midnight, just before you turn 121, please return your card, hor. Your PAssion quotient has run out.

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On the same theme, here's a strange ad by the Peranakan Museum:

It classifies "women" as being aged 1 to 100. And "Man accompanying a woman" gets a 50 per cent discount. What about other combinations, like one man and two women, two men and one woman, etc.

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Lastly, this one is serious. Go to the World Orchid Conference, now on. It's awesome. You get to see the spectacular Flower Dome too. Here's a weblink to some 40 pics, courtesy of xinmsn:

http://news.xin.msn.com/en/silverlight-gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=5527497