SINGAPORE: Singapore's second guide dog for the blind has arrived.
21 December 2011

Bred and trained in Australia, she has found her new home in Bukit Panjang in central Singapore.

Esme looks just like any two-year-old Labrador, but she's not a pet when she has her working harness on.

For vision-impaired Cassandra Chiu, Esme acts as her pair of eyes, and an indispensable guide.

So too much friendly attention is not always a good thing.

"This is a working dog, it would be best if she's not distracted with pats and treats because she has to stay focused on what she's doing in getting me safely from one place to another," said Ms Chiu.

Singapore law allows for guide dogs on trains and buses, and also in restaurants.

But not everyone welcomes Esme.

Dr Francis Seow-Choen, chairman of the Guide Dogs Association of the Blind, said: "Cassandra, in the last few days has been going on the MRT, buses, but in the more individualised forms of transport like taxis, there are queries, there're rejections. When you go into malls there're still rejections.

"(The guide dogs) are very well trained, they don't make a noise, they don't bark, they don't chase little animals or children. Therefore people can put their fears to rest that these dogs will cause a disturbance, because they will not."

After undergoing training almost her entire life in Melbourne, Esme is now in the final stage of her settling-in programme in Singapore.

For this, her Australian trainer Aaron Horsington was here for a week.

"Working with people like Cassandra, and being able to see the dog moving on and providing that person with a service... that's very meaningful. Seeing that end product really is what keeps me going back again, and starting with the next group of dogs," he said.

The cost of training guide dogs is high - about S$40,000 per dog for a two-year programme.

But for Ms Chiu, The Singapore Guide Dogs Association of the Blind paid for Esme and her training.

Ms Chiu will be responsible for Esme's daily maintenance, but this, Dr Seow said, is inexpensive.

"The costs, once you get the dog, are minimal. We encourage our clients to feed their dogs dry food, which actually comes up to about S$1 a day," said Dr Seow.

Dr Seow said they are also looking at insurance for their guide dogs in the future.

"Unfortunately, the symbol of being vision-impaired in Singapore has been the white cane for a very long time. Hopefully, in time to come, Singaporeans will recognise that there is a different form of mobility for vision-impaired individuals as well," said Ms Chiu.

With both Ms Chiu and Esme leading the way, the association said it is expecting four more guide dogs from Victoria next year.



I didn’t know how rare guide dogs are in Singapore. Esme is only the second one in Singapore.

I had the fortune of meeting the first, Kendra and her owner Mr Alvin Ng not once but twice!

Kendra was really lovely and obedient and she sat quietly under the seat on the bus which I didn’t even notice until she got up.

I first know about guide dog almost 30 years ago when I watched a documentary on TV. I am a little surprise that Singaporeans are still ignorant of them and the rights they have.

What greed had done to this county.

SMRT suspends bus driver as coma victim's condition worsens
20 December 2011

SINGAPORE: Bus operator SMRT has suspended the driver who was said to have braked abruptly and caused a passenger to fall on Sunday. The victim, 54-year-old Madam Ding Weibo, has since slipped into a coma and her condition has apparently worsened.

Mdm Ding's husband, Mr You Bujia, said: "There are now complications with her lungs, and she has started to develop a fever. Her urinary tract is also infected. Her brain has also started to swell, so that's not good news. When my daughter heard the news, she almost fainted."

Mr You said the doctor has told him to be prepared for the worst.

An SMRT spokesperson said the company has an intensive training programme, of up to one-and-a-half months, to ensure its bus captains or what it calls "Service Leaders" (SLs), are equipped with customer service and safe driving skills.

The spokesperson added: "Trainees will go through a Service Proficiency course which comprises operating technical and safety features on the bus, dealing with demanding passengers and emergencies, and understanding the public transport system such as the fare structure and bus schedules, to name a few.

"In addition, SLs are required to undergo a ten-day on-the-job training to familiarise themselves with their bus routes."

After the first year on the job, they also have to attend a two-day refresher course to learn about advanced safe driving techniques.

SMRT also revealed that the driver involved in this incident has worked in the company for two years.

SMRT has suspended the Singaporean driver from his duties, as investigations continue.


This is sad that it causes someone life to surface the problem of lousy training programme and the poor quality of drivers of public transport.

Personally I felt the quality of bus driver had dropped over the years.

I remember when I was young the ride was much smoother and the drivers more helpful.

Nowadays you get unmotivated drivers who drive like shit.

Taxi drivers are not much better, these days I keep getting taxi driver declaring they don’t know the way to where I am going and ask if I know.

Note it is not asking me which why I would like to go and I am not going to some super remote island but these idiots actually are totally clueless!

F you lah! Have some pride and study the street directory if you want to be a taxi driver.

So what happened to our “world class transport system?”

The main reason is they had all became like our Men In White, Money Money Money.

They all want maximum profit so the CEO can get big fat pay cheques.

So they cut down on maintenance, trainings and staff cost.

Therefore trains and tracks break down, drivers get lost, more accidents due to in-experience drivers, etc.

On top of these poor standards, they still increase fares!

Amazing!

You screwed up big time and you still want more profits.

These greedy people have a first class ticket to hell now.

Overpaid idiot.

SMRT CEO apologises for train disruption
16 December 2011 CNA

SINGAPORE: SMRT CEO Saw Phaik Hwa on Friday offered her sincere apologies to all commuters affected in Thursday night's five-hour MRT network breakdown on the north-south line.

Speaking at a news conference Friday afternoon at the SMRT Headquarters, Ms Saw promised a full investigation into what caused the breakdown.

She said SMRT will learn from the incident and improve on giving better information.

"We do apologise especially those who experienced considerable inconvenience... What we can promise is that we will spare no effort in preventing such an occurrence," said Ms Saw.

"I will personally look into improving our incident management plan, especially in the areas of giving timely and better information, as well as crowd management, in both our stations and in the trains," she added.

SMRT cited a possible alignment problem in the rail system as the cause of the disruption, and deployed some 60 staff to test for alignment on Thursday night after the incident.

However, the exact point at which the alignment was off has not been established yet.

The disruption affected 127,000 passengers, and some 1,000 commuters were also trapped in each of the four trains that stalled.

More than 300 staff who were not working at that time were activated to help commuters.

SMRT acknowledged that the rail network has grown, and hence is more complex. It said this made it difficult for the operator to execute its emergency plans.

SMRT said it will review its standard operating procedures.

SMRT also said it will be working to improve its communication strategies. This includes possibly broadcasting recorded announcements in four languages.

SMRT has also apologised for the "income opportunity" template that was used by SMRT Taxi on Thursday following the train disruption.

It said this was a "very bad mistake", and the right template should have said "service disruption".

With her million dollar salary she still can screwed up.

This is what we call pay lots of money but still get monkey.

She should be sacked!

Sad Singapore

Youths arrested for stealing money from newspaper vendor
CNA 14 DEC 2011

SINGAPORE: Police have arrested two youths, aged 11 and 12, for stealing from an elderly newspaper vendor.

Madam Son Ah Hon, 71, sells newspapers at Block 174 Yishun Avenue 7.

The two primary school student suspects stole from her twice on December 2 and 7.

On both occasions, Mdm Son was manning her news stand alone.

Mdm Son said: "I told them I didn't have the newspaper they wanted and told them to leave. After a while, they came back again and kept asking for newspapers. They kept walking around and banging on the back door of the stall. All of a sudden, they grabbed the money and ran. They snatched my purse. One took the cash container, the other took my purse. I screamed for help, but no one came."

The suspects fled with cash totalling nearly $100.

Police arrested the youths on Tuesday.

The two youths are now released on bail pending further investigation.



When I first saw this report during yesterday evening news I was totally disgusted and disappointed with what our youth and society had became.

These 2 bastards not only prey on the weak but they bloody did it twice.

To me they should be shot as I doubt they will be of any use to the society.

I absolutely hate people who prey on the weak, if you have balls, you go and rob the banks or Lee Kuan Yew. Bloody weak ass targeted this old poor woman who still has to work at 71 to feed herself.

These news reported all the sad facts on what our society has become, youth with no moral, seniors still have to struggle to make ends meet and lack of social courage as no one came to help Madam Soh.

Substandard

Husband used wife's IC to enter casino 9 times
ST online 14 Dec 2011

A man who used his wife's identity card to enter a casino was on Tuesday fined a total of $6,000.

His wife was fined a total of $3,000 after pleading guilty to two charges of abetting him to use her IC to enter Resorts World Sentosa casino last December.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Elena Yip told the court that on the evening of Dec 20 last year, Philip Oh Choon Aik suggested to his wife that he could use her identity card to enter the casino.

The 45-year-old, who is self-employed in the piping industry, could not enter as he had applied for a National Council for Problem Gambling exclusion order.


I think the Casino should be fined as well and the security sacked for letting a man entering the casino with a women's IC.

Either she look like a man or he look like a woman, the joker on duty is sleeping on the job.

Lost and Found. Really?

The most common misplaced item at Changi Airport
12 December 2011 CNA

SINGAPORE: Are travellers getting more careless? Well, between January and November this year, some 15,600 items were lost and found at Singapore's Changi Airport - more than the 14,000-odd belongings recovered in 2010.

So what's the most common misplaced item? The answer: mobile phones.

In 2010, 1,800 mobile phones were found. Between January and November this year, some 1,700 mobile phones were recovered.

At the airport's "lost and found" storeroom, there's a treasure trove of various odds and ends, much like an antique junk store. Here, the items are catalogued according to the months in which they were found.

For example, in November 2011, someone left behind a giant mirror. In December, a walking aid was found. There is also a stuffed dog. And, get this - someone left behind a giant television set.

Changi Airport Group's senior assistant for ground operations, Aslihan Tanay, said: "When we receive a lost item, we'll generate a report. Items will be kept for about 60 days, after which we'll incinerate it. This is because we want to protect the privacy of the owner. Perishable items such as bread, cakes, flowers, will be disposed within 24 hours."

Changi Airport Group's customer service officer, Germaine Victoria, said: "We had this Indian couple transiting through Singapore going back to India. And they actually lost their bag which contained their travel documents as well as valuables and 10,000 Australian dollars. We actually managed to find the bag for them within a few hours and they were able to make it back home with their bag and they were very happy."

So, if you misplace something at the airport, there's hope you can get it back.

In 2010, 57 per cent of lost items were returned to their rightful owners.


I wonder how many percent of people who lost their belonging actually managed to get them back in Singapore on the whole. CAG claims 57% in the airport.

I knew a few people who lost mobile phone in taxi and public places in Singapore and none of them actually manage to get their phones back even after extensive search and report to the authorities.

I guess there are lots of greedy people out there.

I also doubt whether CAG is telling the truth that they will incinerate unclaimed lost item after 60 days.

What if you find a wallet with USD$600 in it? Is it illegal to incinerate notes?

I hope the donate money found.

What if you find a 500 years old classic violin that may be one of it kind? Don’t tell me GAG actually burnt it to ash.

I knew some organisation do auction off these unclaimed property after a period of time and the money are donated to charities. I think this is a much logical way of dealing with lost properties.

Maybe you can incinerate phones and hard disks which may contain sensitive information and may cause you a lawsuit but who care about your privacy if you lost a stuff dog, walking sticks or a book at the airport in a foreign land.

Cyclist problem

Fewer people caught for illegally modifying electric bikes
11 December 2011, CNA

SINGAPORE: Fewer people were caught for illegally modifying their electric bicycles in the first four months of this year.

The number dropped by more than 10 percent to 264 compared to the same period last year.

But some like Mr William Ong were caught repeatedly.

Mr Ong has been caught three times in five months for riding an illegally modified bicycle.

He had paid some S$1,000 for an electric bicycle which had been approved by authorities.

But he was slapped with a S$500 fine for adding a button that powers up the bike automatically.

Mr Ong said he knew it was illegal to do so, but added the modification allows him to ride uphill with ease, because he has leg problems.

He was fined S$300 the first two times when he borrowed his friend's illegally modified bike to ride.

Mr Ong said the modifications were done by someone at a bicycle shop, who had warned him that it is illegal to do so.

But when Channel NewsAsia news team visited the store, the shopkeeper denied having done so.

In a reply to Channel NewsAsia, the Land Transport Authority said merchants who illegally modify electric bicycles may be fined up to S$500.

Repeat offenders may be charged in court.


Fewer people caught do not imply there are fewer offenders. It also can imply that less enforcement is being carried out by LTA or Traffic Police.

There is a increase in motorised bicycle in Pasir Ris and also I have encountered many near missed personally by cyclist riding on pedestrian walk ways.

Many of these cyclists have no proper lightings and travelled in a high speed.

Not once did I see any enforcement.

The police are busy protecting the VIP and I don’t know what LTA suppose to do.

The case above involved Mr Ong is a mockery to the law as well.

He was caught 3 times in 5 months but still no one is stopping him. Shouldn’t he be charged in courts the 3rd time?

LTA please explain why he was not charged as per your reply to Channel News Asia.

Over the years many pedestrian are injured, some fatal, by cyclists travelling on pedestrian walkway and so far the authority are not doing enough to prevent the problem from getting worst.

I am just waiting for the day when a cyclist kills a VVIP doing his walkabout. Till then nothing will be done for peasants (lesser mortals) like us.

So keep a lookout for the killer on wheels next time when you talk a stroll home.

Comfort Fucked up way of increasing profit.

Post here for my reference. Bloody blood sucker.

Half hearted effort

Lim Boon Heng 'to work on retaking Aljunied GRC'
ST Online 02 NOV 2011

The ruling party's fight to take back Aljunied GRC is on. To helm the task, it has roped in its former party chairman Lim Boon Heng.

Party sources told The Straits Times that Mr Lim, a former Cabinet minister and MP for Jurong GRC who left politics before the May General Election, has started recruiting People's Action Party (PAP) activists to join a task force to win the group representation constituency back from the Workers' Party.

He met a number of branch activists individually in October, said a source who was invited…….


If you ask me this is a half hearted attempt to “retake” Aljiunied GRC.

First they sending in cry baby Lim Boon Heng who to PAP is a expired Minister which has nothing to lose, lots of money and still a big ego that still need to be fanned.

If they are serious about taking back Aljunied why not let Lee Hsein Loong, Chan Chun Sing or Heng Seng Keat to lead the charge?

I don’t think PAP will want to risk losing another Minister which they are grooming.
In fact I don’t think anyone in the current cabinet is better then George and PAP will still fall no matter who they send to Aljunied during the 2011 GE.

In fact I am just curious which Minister will they send to re-take Aljunied? PAP has not lost a Minister in a GE before and whoever they sending there in 2016 will be risking his million dollar pay check.

So now Lim Boon Heng is working the ground, note PAP did not say he will be the one leading the team in Aljunied, but my guess it will most likely be him if he is still around.

If PAP still continue with their arrogant attitude and still choose to ignore the voices of ordinary Singaporean they will not only risk to lose Aljunied but other GRC in 2016.

Paying lots for shits

Civil Service 'will adapt as needs change', says top civil servant
Top civil servant calls for more heart in policy making, implementation
ST Online 1 Dec 2011

Singapore's public servants are known for formulating policies with their heads, but they will have to craft policies with more 'heart', and move away from a 'one size fits all' approach.

This is a key way in which the Singapore public service will adapt in response to a changing relationship between the state and its people, said Head of Civil Service Peter Ong on Wednesday.

He was delivering a lecture at Malaysia's Razak School of Government, in the inaugural Chief Secretary Forum meant for heads of civil service from other countries to share their experiences in leading and serving their respective countries.

In his first overseas speech since becoming Singapore's top civil servant last year, Mr Ong emphasised the need for the public service to be nimble in the face of global uncertainties and changes in the citizenry.



Strangely the efficiency and remuneration of Civil Servant are not proportional.

In fact judging from the attitude and pay they should rename Civil Servant to Civil Boss or Civil King.

Sadly we are attracting the wrong kind of people for the top to “Serve” the people.

A good read is this SDP paper on Minister Salaries.