All I want for Christmas is my PS3

Was reading an article in the Home Section from the elite newspaper, The Straits Times.

Avid gamers willingly pay more for these PS3s
by Leung Wai-Leng & Lim Yee Hung, 12 Dec 2006

Spring Singapore is going to fine (jail and/or S$10k) the retailers for selling parallel-imported PS3s because (quoted):

"And they may pose an electrical hazard to users, warns Spring Singapore, the agency that manages the Consumer Protection (Safety Requirements) Registration Scheme."

The gist is the scheme requires suppliers of high-risk electronic products to register their products with Spring.

It also reported that this did not damper the roaring trade in the consoles.

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This is another case of NUTS (No U-Turn Syndrome) - you need to see the U-Turn in order to U-Turn.
The questions that will never be answered:

• Knowing that PS3 has been released (but not in Singapore yet) and it will be a hot Christmas gift, why is Spring Singapore so slow in approving the sale and usage in Singapore?
• Isn't this a setback in trying to push the local gaming industry as cited during the recent games convention held in Singapore?

I totally understand and agree on the 'safe standards' for electronic products. I repeat, I am not against it.

But to put the stop just because Spring Singapore has not gotten round to approve it in time is just moot.

So Spring Singapore take heed - this is globalization for you. If I can't get it locally, I'll go e-Bay, Amazon, etc. It's akin to the Foreign Talent policy.

I will get my PS3 for Christmas.

PS. I am an avid non-console gamer. I understand how a gamer feels. Long live World of Warcraft!