Underrated Animated Films That You Can Watch With Family

My preferred form of entertainment is watching movies and series. I consider it a way to put my spare time to good use. 

One of my favorite movie media (I prefer to call it a medium, because that’s what it is.) is animation. People are quick to brush it off due to it being largely made for children. 

But a mark of media maturity is accepting and appreciating the workmanship and skill that goes into these movies. These stories resonate not just with children, but with everyone! 

Another good thing is that they work around narrative limitations. That’s something only skilled and talented people can do with the right amount of grit and luck.

Anyway, if you’re convinced, I’ll help you give animation a try. Here’s a list of good picks that you can watch with your family.

 

 

A 1998 animated film of Dreamworks, this movie is an adaptation of the story of Exodus from the Bible. This movie pulls no punches with its harsh, mature themes, and definitely does not talk down to its audience.

Even after 20 years, the 2D animation still holds up well. Every single aspect of this film is simply phenomenal: from the voice acting, to the art direction and the sound design, it hits all the right notes for an animated film.

And since it’s a musical, the music is amazing. From the heavy-hitting “Deliver Us” that throws you into the setting of the movie, to the gentle and powerful theme of the Burning Bush.

 This is a movie that’s worth the watch, and deserves to gain more recognition due to the artistry, effort, and respect for textual accuracy. It also brings human themes front and center to make it resonate with many people, regardless of their faiths.

 

 

Song of the Sea was created by Cartoon Saloon, the same studio that brought you The Secret of Kells and The Breadwinner. All I can say is that studio is the Irish equivalent of Studio Ghibli, which is high praise indeed.

Song of the Sea is made with hand-drawn animation, a feat that’s impressive considering that animated films now often come in 3D animation. What makes Song of the Sea unique is that it has a story and aesthetics borrowed heavily from Irish folklore and culture.

The story tells of a young child named Ben who lost his mother while she was giving birth to his little sister, Saoirse (Sur-sha). Little did he know that his mother was a selkie, and so is little Saoirse, who needs to sing the Song of the Sea to help faeries go back to their world.

The themes of this movie focus heavily on loss and the grieving that follows said loss. It also deals with the harmful concept of bottling up your emotions to avoid managing them.

 So if you ever need to gently explain the very human, yet difficult-to-deal-with emotion of grief to your kids, this is the movie that you should put on for them.

 

 

One of the best adaptations of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, this movie can be good for people who have their parents micromanage their lives to the point where there’s little air to breathe. 

The main character has that problem as well, but she seems to do swimmingly with it, until she meets her next-door neighbor who tells her the story of the Little Prince, whom he met years ago in a desert while working as an aviator.

This movie covers the themes of growing up too fast, and teaching people what is essential. 

 

 

Who knew that you’d bawl your eyes out from watching a robot voiced by Vin Diesel? The Iron Giant is one of those cult classics that are wonderful to watch over and over again.

The story is set in the late 50’s where the paranoia of the Cold War has begun to set into suburban America. A child discovers a giant robot that has lost its memories, and befriends it, but this comes with its own set of problems when a government agent appears and questions where it came from, believing it to be some kind of weapon.

This movie poignantly explains death and loss to children, and does so through Hogarth’s understanding: “Things die… It’s a part of life. It’s bad to kill. But it’s not bad to die.” 

It also explores the theme of autonomy, and choosing who you want to be, regardless of where you came from.

 

 

Megamind is the only entry on this list that’s a 3D animated film, and there’s a good reason I saved this for last (but it’s not necessarily the least). I’ve always said that Megamind is simply a victim of being released at the wrong time.

That’s why it’s so criminally underrated: if it had been released around the advent of Marvel films, then it would have gotten the attention it deserved. This subversion of the superhero genre is jam-packed with fast-paced humor and a strong narrative.

This movie is filled with themes of nature vs. nurture. But what makes it so interesting nowadays is that the arc of the actual villain focuses on his unwanted advances and feelings of entitlement towards a woman. 

This is something that has come into cultural focus, and Megamind was beyond its time (this was made back in 2010) for discussing such a delicate subject and being one of the first movies of that time period calling out such behavior. 

This may be made for kids, but it never talks down to its audience, and it’s more appreciated by adults for its mature themes without resorting to vulgarity.

You can watch any of these picks on different streaming services. Or you can watch them on different devices. I, for one, recommend watching them on a flatscreen TV to immerse yourself in the experience.

To enhance the experience, an expert at TV Repair Singapore who is also an animation junkie, gave me advice on adjusting the color grade of my TV to make animation colors pop out. 

I’ll share it with you so you can use it when watching the above films: since animation has a tendency to lean towards bright colors, he advises to lessen saturation and adjust brightness accordingly. Enjoy!

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Jobs: Samsung, Sephora, and CapitaLand (Tampines Mall) are hiring

job search website

If you’ve landed yourself an online interview, be sure to dress right to leave a good impression. Dress as you would for a face-to-face meeting. Yes, by that we mean to put on the full outfit rather than paying attention only to your upper body.

Today, we’re looking at some job openings with Samsung, Sephora, and CapitaLand. Read on for more details!

#1: Samsung – Business Development Assistant Manager
Samsung store

Image Credits: Time Out

Samsung SDS was founded in 1985 as the ICT arm of the Samsung Group. Their solutions have been leading the digital transformation and innovation of clients for over 30 years across a wide range of industries.

With operations in 30 countries, Samsung SDS’s solutions utilize advanced analytics platforms, AI, and blockchain technologies to serve a diverse range of industries including financial services, smart manufacturing, global logistics, and retail.

Their vision for the new era is to become a data-driven digital transformation leader by leveraging the most advanced ICT technologies and solutions to discover actionable insights.

Remuneration: S$3,300 to S$5,000 monthly

Job Qualifications
  • Bachelor’s degree/ Diploma/ Certificate in Business Administration, Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain Management or a related field preferred (or an equivalent combination of work and education).
  • Minimum 5 years’ experience in the supply chain industry as well as business development area
  • Understand 4PL concepts and strategies
  • Business professional
  • Diplomatic skills to be used in front of the customers
  • Analytic skills to review both financial and operational data
  • Proven negotiation skills complied with the ability to close business wins
  • Customer-oriented & team player
  • Able to use MS office, PowerPoint, Excel, and some other PC applications
  • Excellent reporting abilities
  • Able to work under pressure where needed
Key Responsibilities
  • To be accountable for new and potential customers/business
  • Make accurate decisions, recommendations, and successful establishment of new businesses
  • Proactively identify and develop win-win sales relationship with new and potential customers
  • Feedback customers’ specific advice/information to management to facilitate business performance review, evaluation, and budgeting
  • Provide support to devise, fine-tune, and implement overall sales and marketing strategy and directives
  • Develop new business for the company through approaching new business customers
  • Develop a new business prospect listing to ensure that future new business development is planned in advance
  • Responsible for the management and handling of the RFQ response documents coming to the company
  • Represent the company and its policies to the clients
  • Undertake sales presentations to present the company and its products and services to customers and business communities
  • Undertake cross-selling and up-selling within existing customer base to further develop account potential through airfreight, sea freight, road freight, value-added products, and contract logistics
How to apply?

Apply and view the job post in full here.

#2: Sephora – Human Resources Executive
Sephora store

Image Credits: Discover SG

Sephora is a division of LVMH – Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, an international luxury leader. Founded in 1969, the brand is a global leader in beauty retailing and operates successfully in more than two thousand points of sale across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. 

With a vision of making Sephora the most loved beauty community in the world, it aims to transform the beauty shopping experience through strong relationships with customers, brands and products, unexpected concepts, and a non-conformist attitude.

Sephora South East Asia’s (SEA) retail activity spans over 6 countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, and Australia) with more than 40 stores. Its digital activities span over eight countries including the Philippines, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. With over 1000 employees, Sephora SEA continues to experience rapid growth in the region with many more expansion plans to come.

This position reports to the Senior Human Resources Manager.

Remuneration: S$2,500 monthly

Job Qualifications
  • Project management and planning skills, with the ability to conceive and drive execution in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment.
  • Excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively with different stakeholders
  • Innovative and creative – continually looking to demonstrate and drive improvement to improve processes
  • Open-minded and experimental
  • Hands-on & enthusiastic
  • Hungry to learn, with a passion for self-development
  • Adept at problem-solving
  • Team player who enjoys working with others
  • Good sense of humour
Key Responsibilities
  • Conduct talent mapping exercises for various roles across departments
  • Assist in the end to end recruitment process; including candidate screening, interview, and selection.
  • Conducting compensation & benefit analysis and market research
  • Optimizing digital HR process and systems; with the focus on driving digital HR transformation
  • Support in driving employee engagement activities
  • Prepare HR-related letters for employees
How to apply?

Apply and view the job post in full here.

#3: CapitaLand – Senior / Administrative Assistant, Tampines Mall (1-year contract)
Tampines Mall

Image Credits: CapitaLand

CapitaLand Limited (CapitaLand) is one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, it owns and manages a global portfolio worth S$131.9 billion as at 31 December 2019. CapitaLand’s portfolio spans across diversified real estate classes which includes commercial, retail; business park, industrial and logistics; integrated development, urban development; as well as lodging and residential.

With a presence across more than 200 cities in over 30 countries, the group focuses on Singapore and China as its core markets, while it continues to expand in markets such as India, Vietnam, Australia, Europe, and the USA.

Remuneration: –

Job Qualifications
  • Diploma or Certificate in Business Studies, Management, or equivalent
  • Minimum 2 years of relevant working experience in general office responsibilities and procedures
  • Good communications and interpersonal skills
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office applications
Key Responsibilities
  • Update and maintain SAP
  • Update and maintain tenants’ contacts, tenancy schedules, and other documents
  • Liaise with tenants and solicitors to facilitate and prepare the tenancy agreements and documents
  • Reconcile audited sales report and prepare GTO billing
  • Compile ACG reports
  • Other general administrative and clerical duties
How to apply?

Apply and view the job post in full here.

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Get $20 Cashback and Guaranteed Returns on your Investments

What are Guaranteed Returns on Investments

Have some idle money sitting around and hoping to invest and secure a rate of return that is higher than your usual bank interest rates? Well don’t we all? Every investment comes with different levels of risk. A guaranteed return on your investments simply means that you are promised, with some levels of certainty, that you will receive a return on your investment in any circumstances.

To learn more about guaranteed returns investments, let’s take a look at 2 effectively guaranteed returns products offered by Funding Societies, Southeast Asia’s largest Peer to Peer lending platform. Peer to Peer Lending or P2P lending is an investment concept where individuals & institutions invest in loans to SMEs and earn returns in the form of interests. Investments on the Funding Societies platform starts from S$20 with a maximum tenor of 12 months and monthly/periodic repayments to investors.

For more information on investing with Funding Societies, join their upcoming webinar on 29th Sept 2020 at 7PM. Register for free here.

How does it work

An effectively guaranteed returns product offered by Funding Societies means that you as an investor are effectively guaranteed to receive both your principal & interests on the investments regardless of the SME’s repayment status. There are currently 2 products available under this line, namely Guaranteed Returns Investments (GRI) and Guaranteed Property-backed Investments (GPI).

Guaranteed Property-backed Investments

Guaranteed Property-backed Investment (GPI) is an investment into a collateral-backed note with an additional guarantee of repayments to investors. Should the SME fail to fulfil their obligations, Funding Societies has the right to liquidate the property to recover the funds.

Key Investment Information

  • Minimum Investment Amount – $20 per investment
  • Interest rates: usually 3% – 8% per annum
  • Tenor: 6 to 12 months
  • Repayments: Monthly repayment of interest and principal at the end of tenor
  • Guarantee: Principal & interest repayments are both effectively guaranteed regardless of the SME’s status
  • Collateralised property information: Only local Singapore properties owned by the SME or it’s directors are accepted

Sign up and start investing with Funding Societies here

Guaranteed Returns Investments

Guaranteed Returns Investment is an investment into a loan given to a small business in the form of a note with a layer of security whereby the repayments are effectively guaranteed even if the SME does not pay.

These small businesses come from all walks of life and Kaca Coffee House is one of them. See their story here:

Start investing with Funding Societies now and join them on their journey to help thousands of local businesses like KACA achieve their business goals.

Key Investment Information

  • Minimum Investment Amount – $20 per investment
  • Interest rates: usually 4% – 8% per annum
  • Tenor: 1 to 12 months
  • Repayments: Usually Monthly repayment of Principal & interest
  • Guarantee – Principal and Interest are both effectively guaranteed regardless of SME status

Please invest with the knowledge that while returns are effectively guaranteed by FS Capital Pte. Ltd., there may be a chance where they might not be able to fulfil the obligations under this arrangement. To mitigate this risk, a cash reserve buffer is maintained to allow for repayments to be made on time.

Importance of investment diversification

As the saying goes, do not put all your eggs into one basket. Just as how it is important to diversify across asset classes and business types, the same goes for varying risk return investments. Diversifying your investments with guaranteed returns products can be an option to consider to balance out your portfolio.

If you have done your own due diligence and decided to invest with Funding Societies, they currently have a promotion for new investors. Sign up with promo code MONEY20 and make a total investment of S$200 by 31st Oct 2020 to get a S$20 cashback.

Terms and Conditions apply

Investors must sign up with the aforementioned promo code and make a total investment of at least S$200 by 31st Oct 2020 to be eligible for the $20 cashback. Cashback will be credited into the eligible investors’ accounts by the end of November 2020. Funding Societies’ investor T&Cs apply.

Funding Societies is the largest SME digital financing platform in Southeast Asia. It is licensed in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, and backed by Sequoia India and Softbank Ventures Asia Corp amongst many others. It provides business financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is crowdfunded by individual and institutional investors. Investors can invest from as low as S$20 with a tenor of no more than 12 months. Depending on the investment product, interest rates can range between 2% to 18% per annum.

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Visiting Sentosa’s beaches during peak periods from Oct 17? You will have to book a slot online

siloso beach

COVID-19 has had an impact on the lives of many people around the world. From making adjustments to working from home to adapting business models to survive, Singapore is now seeing a by-reservation-only visit to Sentosa’s beaches during the peak periods.

Visitors required to book their slots online

The new rule will kick in from Oct 17. It is applicable to visits on peak periods such as the weekends and public holidays. Beachgoers to Sentosa’s Tanjong, Palawan, and Siloso beaches can get a spot by heading to sentosa.com.sg/beachreservations to place a booking.

Booking officially starts from Oct 10 and you may place a reservation up to 7 days before your intended day of the visit.

Choose from these timeslots:

  • Morning: 8am – 1pm
  • Afternoon: 2pm – 7pm
Beaches divided into seven zones

Tanjong, Palawan, and Siloso beaches have been divided into seven zones. Each zone will have a capacity ranging between 100 to 350 people. Here’s a look at the different beach zones at a glance.

Tanjong Beach Zones

sentosa-tanjong-beach-zones

Palawan Beach Zones

sentosa-palawan-beach-zones

Siloso Beach Zones

sentosa-siloso-beach-zones

Those who are keen on playing at one of the 15 beach courts across Tanjong, Palawan, and Siloso beaches must place a reservation. If you’ve booked a beach court, you do not need to make another reservation for entry to the beach.

Follow these steps to make your booking
  • Choose your preferred Beach Zone or Beach Court.
  • Select your date and time slot.
  • Fill in your details and submit. You will need a valid email address, mobile number, and name (as per your NRIC or FIN).
  • Check your email for a confirmation mail.
  • Go to the designated Beach Entry Kiosk listed below and present your email to the staff:
    1. Palawan Beach: Outside Beach Station Carpark (facing Palawan Green) | Rest stop along Palawan Beach service road
    2. Siloso Beach: Emerald Pavilion
    3. Tanjong Beach: Family Pavilion along service road (after Tanjong Beach Club)
  • Collect your wristband and head to the Beach Zone entry point.
Part of COVID-19 safety and crowd management measures

Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) shared that the new move came after crowds and queues were observed during peak periods.

As such, this new system will give the public peace of mind by reducing queues at the beaches. At the same time, allowing everyone to keep up with safe distancing.

“The launch of a reservation-only beach entry during peak periods will help us ensure that Sentosa remains safe for all guests and staff,” said SDC CEO Thien Kwee Eng.

“We also seek the cooperation of our guests to continue being socially responsible so that Sentosa continues to be a place where all visitors will have an enjoyable experience.”

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How to Cut Back on Your Online Shopping Habits

4 Sites for Great Online Shopping Deals

With the current pandemic making stay-at-home orders commonplace, everyone has turned to online shopping for purchases. This has also led to more people shopping on sites like Lazada, Shopee, and Amazon to give themselves a sense of comfort in these difficult times.

However, what happens when a coping mechanism goes too far and you go way out of budget when shopping online? You end up in more discomfort than comfort, of course!

I’m no stranger to exorbitant spending habits online. I only learned my lesson after an actual emergency popped up where I found myself penniless due to online purchases. Like my ceiling fan finally kicking the bucket.

But that really scared me. What if something else happened, like a health emergency? So that started my journey on how to resist temptation or at the very least, curb my spending habits online.

That’s why I put this list together on how to curb online shopping habits little by little. I’ll share it with you so that you can do the same if you’re also shopping a little more than you should be online!

 

  • Learn your triggers

 

Shopping is often a coping mechanism, as noted earlier. So, you need to identify the specific trigger that makes you open the app in the first place.

Emotional control is often the first step to curbing issues like these. Little by little, you can overcome your bad habits. 

There are small steps to identifying it, and one of the steps, according to the National Jewish Health is to observe patterns then track them down. This can help you find the triggers of your shopping binges.

 

  • Leave it in your cart for a week

 

This is a good way of knowing whether you’re suffering from impulse buying or you genuinely need or want the product you’re buying. Essentially, this is a litmus test on whether you really want the product.

If you see a product that you want to purchase, add it to your cart, and let it sit there for a week. After it sits there for a week, look at it again, and see if you still want it.

If you feel less excited about it after a week, then it means it was just a passing mood. Some people are more lenient, giving items a 24-hour holding time.

However, I say, give it 3 days to a week to be safe! 

 

  • Put your purchase in perspective

 

Try putting in perspective whatever you’re going to buy. Calculate the cost based on how many times you’re going to use the product. This way, you alter your purchasing mindset by reframing it in a way that’s rational.

What’s more effective is to calculate how much you earn per hour, and compare it to the price of a product. Think how much time you spent working, and if that product is worth the time you spent earning the money it takes to buy it.

 

  • Unsubscribe from emails and updates

 

Advertising can have a big pull on people, so it’s best to remove temptation. Unsuscribe to their email updates and turn off notifications, just to mention a few ways to do it.

If a big sale comes, go offline immediately or temporarily uninstall the app. Sales can tempt you into spending a lot, especially with the temptation of massive markdowns.

 

  • Sleuth around for stuff that you haven’t used

 

This may sound quite odd, but I advise digging through stuff you haven’t used before. It usually helps, seeing how many of your purchases collect dust around your home.

Being aware of unused things helps you realize that you shouldn’t be wasteful.

Anyway, those are the steps to cutting back your online habits. Have they worked for me? Of course, but I did these step by step, so I didn’t overwhelm myself. 

I’ve also begun to be mindful of finances. In turn, it drove me to learning some skills such as appliance tinkering so I can save cash further in the long run. It came in handy with ceiling fan maintenance (and yes, my busted fan was eventually fixed, courtesy of Ceiling Fan Repair).

Anyhow, if I were you, I’d get started on curbing bad spending habits now. The sooner you get started, the better!

 

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