More fantastic idea from the brilliant Elite

Night parking fee up
Price to double to $4; first increase in 21 years
Today Online Aug 03, 2010

SINGAPORE - The car population has outpaced the supply of parking spaces to the point that night parking charges are now going up, 21 years after the last increase.

From Nov 1, non-resident motorists and visitors at public housing and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) car parks will pay double for overnight parking: From $2 to $4.

In 1989, the increase was from $1.50 to $2.

While the 34-year-old scheme was implemented in car parks where there were sufficient lots to meet season parking needs, "most" of these car parks are so "heavily utilised" that residents with season parking tickets face "difficulties" finding a spot at night, the Housing and Development Board and URA said yesterday.

The higher charge will "better manage the parking demand" and "safeguard the interests" of season parking ticket holders, the two statutory boards added.

The half-hourly night parking charge of 50 cents will remain, though.

The new $4 night parking coupons will be on sale from Oct 15.

Motorists can continue to use the $2 night parking coupons by displaying two such coupons.

Some Members of Parliament wondered if the latest measure is enough.

Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Lee Bee Wah, who receives one complaint a week from residents facing parking difficulties, pointed out that the non-resident group is not sizeable. And while the spike in overnight parking charges "may deter some non-residents from parking", the overall number of cars - and the supply of parking lots - remain unchanged, Ms Lee noted.

Jurong GRC MP Halimah Yacob reiterated that the problem requires "proper planning, a strategy of how to ensure there's enough parking places in Singapore. And that kind of planning is not only confined to just HDB, it has to be planning on the part of the Ministry of Transport as well".

On its part, HDB is planning to add 5,000 more parking spaces in the next three years….



This is actually a really dumb “solution”. It did not solve any problem at all.

The problem of shortage of car park will not simply disappear if you increase the cost. If it does, the fare increase in 1989 would have solve this problem.

The only winner out of this fare hike is URA. They has the opportunity to generate more income.

The fact is there is a shortage of car park. The question is why?

How many percent of a car park lots are being issued to season parking holder? Did HDB/URA issued more season parking (to earn more) and therefore causing these season parking holder unable to find a parking lots?

For example out of 100 lots avail. Does HDB keep 50 lots for season holder or 90 lots?

A simple solution is to increase the percentage of lots reserved for season parking holder. This is fair as they are resident of the area and is paying a monthly fee. They should be guaranteed a parking space.

And of cause a long time solution is to build more parking lots.

What they are trying to do now is what I call the ostrich mentality. “There is no problem if you don’t see any problem” By burying you head in the ground.

The Maids and the dogs.

I see many maids walking the family dogs around my estate and only occasionally I see the some owners walk their own dogs. Roughly 20% of the time.

I can’t help wondering why people who can’t spend time walk their dogs want to keep one (or two) in the first place?

Are the dogs just some expired toys? A status symbol? Or maybe a pre-children child?

To me a pet is a part of the family. It should be treated with the utmost care and loves like the rest of the family members. If you can’t afford the time or money and make so scarify for your pet, then you jolly well don’t get one in the first place.

Letting your maid do what should be your responsibility really show what kind of person you are.

Bad year for MIW

3 floods in less then a month. Which they say will only happen once in every 50 years.

Police man hand cuffed reporters.

Man was killed by falling tree.

Ferry wheels struck by lightning.

Gosh I bet this year no election until some one in while go for his “feng Shui” consultation.

They think we are stupid again.

Punters have fair chance at gaming machines at integrated resorts
29 June 2010

SINGAPORE : Punters at Singapore's two integrated resorts have a fair chance at winning at the slot machines and other electronic games.

That is because the gaming machines have been certified to have met international standards, according to SPRING Singapore.

The national standards body said all electronic gaming machines such as slots and electronic table games have been tested and verified by laboratories which are accredited by the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) or its Mutual Recognition Arrangement partners.

They have also met the technical standards required by the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore (CRA).

Both the machines' hardware and software have been tested.

Tests on software included the communication protocol among the table machines that are linked to a server and the random number generator.



Have you ever wonder that it is not the interest of the Casino to let you win?

Same go for the “Casino Regulatory Authority” as they received taxes from the Casino earning.

Therefore the more the Casino earn from the general public, the more the authority earn.

So it is a joke that they are assuring punters they will have a “fair” chance of winning at the slot machines as they had been tested by the SAC. (With interest is for you to lose)

Hmm… does not make sense right?

Also note they did not say what is “fair”?

Fair to them may not be fair to you.

They may set the machine to give winning when it has reached a certain taking per day.

So let just say that this article is just bullshit.

Shooting in Woodland Mall???

Was reading Google news just now and realised there had been some shooting incident at Woodland! See last article in the picture below.


Will actuall it is a screw up by Google filtering system.

Apparently there is a Woodland Mall in Montgomery and google somehow classified it to be a Singapore news. Haha....

No Sick Phase

I call this period the No Sick Phase.

It meant you die die cannot on sick leave. Why? It is because of the World Cup.

Whoever fall sick during this period is automatically classified as “Keng”.

It doesn’t matter whether you are genuinely having a fever of 44 C or has a cast around you feet, if you call in and tell your boss that you are sick your will be classified as a “Chao keng”.

Another No Sick Phase that I identified is during the BMT.

All recruit who fall sick during this period are again, automatically classified at “Bloody kengster” that is true unless you are a “white horse” where all thing you say is classified as the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

I feel that you body need rest to recover from “minor” sickness etc flu, headache.

If you do not get sufficient rest when you develop this warning signals your body give you, you will be dead if you still push your body any further.

So I guess that’s explained why there are people dying in BMT as recruits are afraid to be labelled as a “Chao Keng”.

A couple of year ago I went back to my army unit for my FFI. I saw my docket and realised I only felt sick twice in my 2years 4 month in the army.

Once in BMT where I had a fever and once back in my unit when I had chicken pox.

I also remembered “remote diagnose” is invented in the army.

That is where the Medical Office can tell whether you are sick or not from 10 meters away without even touching or looking at you.

Anyway you will be diagnose with “Chow Kengster” with attend C bunk no matter what. Unless you have to be stretcher in, then that will be a different story.

So if you are catching the world cup, do remember to eat right, drink lots of water, exercise and have enough rest because it is still 2 weeks till we are officially out of the No Sick Phase. (Which will be back in 4 years time)

Youth Olympic Games

Suddenly I notice Giant Billboards promoting the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) about 10m wide x 6 m tall start to spring up at various locations in Singapore.

I personally saw a couple in Tampines and Pasir Ris.

It has a big picture of the 2 clowns....er… no mascot with message like “Resident of Pasir Ris support the Youth Olympic Games”

I got a couple of questions

Firstly nobody asked me whether I support the YOG or not. So how can the town council say for everyone in the constituency that we support the YOG.

To be more accurate the billboard should read “ Pasir Ris Town Council Support the YOG” or “ Singapore Government support the YOG”.

Second question I got in mind is how much does this colorful billboards cost and who is paying for them? The various Town Concils, (Since they got a good record for collecting conservancy fee or the Ministry of Youth and community development?

Anyway I think it is a pathetic way of them trying to generate some interest in the YOG.

Hitting below the belt

Town councils fare generally well in first management report

10 June 2010 1157 hrs (SST)

Town councils have received their first-ever report card from the Ministry of National Development.

They were assessed in four areas in the inaugural Town Council Management Report (TCMR): estate cleanliness, estate maintenance, lift performance and management of service and conservancy charges arrears.

Most of them fared well in the assessment which took place from last October to this March.

All 16 town councils scored at least a level 2 for cleanliness on a scale of 1 to 5 with one being the best and 5 being the worst.

Four town councils - Tanjong Pagar, Marine Parade, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang - secured the highest level of 1.

The best performer was Tanjong Pagar Town Council. It achieved top ratings for all except estate maintenance.

Indranee Rajah, vice-chairman of Tanjong Pagar Town Council, said: "(First), the staff worked really, really hard and two, input from residents. Our Residents' Committees as well as the residents have been quite diligent in bringing things to the attention of the town council which allows for fairly quick response. "

What the Tanjong Pagar Town Council did was, their officers, especially the property officers, general manager and the staff, they put in a lot of effort on the ground, in terms of identifying the things that needed to be improved, and taking concrete measures to try and implement them.

In the other areas of assessment, most town councils also achieved at least a level 3.

However, town councils in opposition-held estates didn't fare as well.

Potong Pasir for instance scored a level 5 in several areas of assessment including maintenance and arrears management.

Hougang estate also scored 5 for arrears management.

No other estate scored a five in any area of assessment. But residents in Potong Pasir appear to take the poor assessment in their stride.

"It's okay because at least they clean it every day. And I see the person cleaning the lift and sweeping the corridors," said one resident.

"I see a big improvement from previous years, such as the roadside, the gardens, the walkways," said another.

Putting things in context, however, the National Development Ministry says the TCMR should not be used as a basis for comparison between towns. That's because each town differs in terms of its residents' profile and property profile. Hence, it says a more appropriate use of the result is for monitoring the performance of town councils over time.

Ms Indranee Rajah said: "What the assessment process does is that it makes the town councils think about their KPIs (key performance indicators) - these are the things we have to achieve. It also helps the residents to focus on what they want and it helps the town councils to know that these are the things the residents want.

So I guess it's helpful, because it gives you something to shoot for, and you can works towards improving it. Besides the town councils, the job of looking after an estate must be shared.

"Residents must also play their part in keeping the estate clean, because it's good for us," said a resident.

When letter start to appear in the Straights Times Forum this week regarding Potong Pasir cleaniness I knew something fishy is about to happen.

And true enough, yesterday PAP...... opps no the Ministry of National Development reported the performance of all the town councils.

And as expected if you read this article there is the mention of Tanjong Pagar, Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Ang Mo Kio (Hmmm .... seem to remind me of some inportant people) did exceptionally well and Potong Pasir and Hougang are lousy.

This is a hit below the belt in boxing term.

Come on, we know the election is coming and I can believe the ruling party resort to such childish tactic.

Note: I thing one of the criteria of scoring will is “Least outstanding conservancy fee , Most conservancy fee being collected” Er… wait a minute doesn’t that meant it is bad for us if the town council collect hell lots of money from us?

Now thats what I call efficiency

Singapore chickens out on protest
2010-06-10 10:04

Singapore - A US animal rights activist said he was prevented by police on Thursday from staging a one-man protest in a chicken suit at a KFC outlet in Singapore.

Basse, a Manila-based campaigner for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), said he was whisked away in a police car after he arrived by taxi outside the restaurant in a working-class district.

"I am now in my hotel room. I am under functional house arrest. I will stay in my hotel room under police surveillance until I leave tomorrow (Friday)," 24-year-old Edward Basse told AFP.

Police in Singapore, which has some of the world's toughest restrictions on protests, had no immediate comment.

"It took a long time, the questioning, perhaps a couple of hours. I was scared, but that is what I have to do for the chickens," Basse said.

"They confiscated my bags and the chicken costume, as well as the poster," he added, saying he did not expect to be charged and would leave Singapore voluntarily.

‘KFC’s cruel practices’

In Singapore, protests are only allowed at a designated public park located on the fringe of the business district. Otherwise, any public demonstration or march needs a police permit.

"I was scared but they treated me fairly okay," Basse said of his stay with the police.

"I am here now (safe) in my room, but what I went through is nothing compared to (the treatment of) the chickens."

Jason Baker, Peta's regional director based in Hong Kong, said Basse was a vegetarian outraged by KFC's allegedly cruel practices against chickens.

"He made a decision that a voice needs to be given to the animals that KFC abuses," said Baker.



Its amazing how efficient the SPF can be especially for protester and people from the opposition parties.

Note Edward Basse was “whisked away in a police car after he arrived by taxi”.

Either someone tip off the police about Edward checking in the hotel with a chicken suit so he was being trailed by the police or KFC called the police when the spotted a human size chicken. No matter I got to say the police appeared faster the superman in this case.

I called the police regarding some illegal teen gathering in the middle of the night making hell lots of noise and it took them 40min and 3 calls later for a police car to appear.

Wonder if I told them there is some opposition parties member in the group will they appear within 10 secs?

Funny MV (CCB)

Post here for my future reference! Haha damned funny!

Media Cock

MediaCorp to telecast Singapore's table tennis win over China
03 June 2010 1609 hrs (SST)

SINGAPORE: MediaCorp will telecast on Sunday the historic win by Singapore women's team over China in the recent World Team Table Tennis Championships in Moscow.

Singapore's trio of Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Sun Beibei rocked the sports world when they beat reigning champions and world number one China 3-1 to become world champions.

The media group says it has just secured the telecast rights of the event.

It explains that "live" telecast rights were not made available to free-to-air broadcasters.

Channel 5 will air the event in its entirety at 3pm on June 6, with an encore telecast at 9am on June 12.

MediaCorp says its extensive TV coverage of recent SEA Games, FINA Arena Swimming and the recent AFC Asian Cup Qualifier featuring the Young Lions underlines its firm support of the sporting achievements of Team Singapore athletes.

The group says it will continue to bring key competitive events and matches to viewers, subject to broadcast rights considerations. - CNA/ir

This is really pathetic!

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t even know the Singapore Team are in the final of the Table Tennis World Cup until news broke that they has won.

Ok fine so they have won. Congratulation. That’s all.

Now our dear media cock went to secure “the rights” to broadcast the game.

Shouldn’t they do it in the first place to show the “live” programme.

Shouldn’t they promote the event before the final game so Singaporean are aware that our China B team had made it to the final?

Media cock gave me a feeling that they don’t want to bet of Team Singapore and therefore is unwilling for folk out money for the “live” broadcast.

Now everyone know the Singapore Team has won and now they want to telecast its. WTF?!

Its like go buy the TOTO after they had announce the draw result.

And in the end the still has the cheek to say they have “its firm support of the sporting achievements of Team Singapore athletes.”

Wonder will they go ahead and secure the rights of telecast is Team Singapore has lost to China in the final.

Onitsuka Part II

My No 2 Tiger from Taipei. Mexico 99 Deluxe

Think I somehow became a shoes collector.

"The Great Singapore Sales"

Went to Orchard to do some errant on Saturday and man I regretted it almost immediately.

Having 4.3millions population really sucks but couple in the first weekends of School Holidays, the long weekends and the Great Singapore Sales, Orchard road felt like an oversized sardine can.

Was actually eyeing the Nespressor Machine for quite sometime now and I thought it will be a good time to get it at the GSS especially when Takashimaya card holder normally get 10% off on top of the what discount there is.

Turn out to be a real disappointment.

If I remember correctly, last year they offer 10% off the machine and with the Takashimaya cards you get total of 20% off.

The Citiz Aeroccinno is listed at $678 and this year offer is only $50 off plus 10% off which come up to $565.20. Far short of the 20% price of $542 I was looking at.

A check on the website and I found out the same machine cost only about S$400 in UK.

Singapore really sucks.

Look at the mark up $678 - $400 = $278.

Who say Singapore is a cheap place?

Wonder where all the shoppers come from? Better take you spending power elsewhere if you have the chance.

So anyone heading to UK please let me know.

Back from Taipei (Again)

Had not been blogging for some time as I was in Taiper (again).

As usual had a fantastic time shopping and eating and eating.

Will review more of stuff I got from Taipei soon.

Also spent my birthday there and its nice for the hotel to throw in a birthday cake for me. Nice touch.

Onitsuka Tiger

Took my new Tiger for a spin over the weekend.

Bought it in Taipei last month. Cheapest place to get a Tiger.

Will be looking out for another pair next month.

Hee....

Fresh from the factory.

Looking good.

Side view.

The sole.

Made in Japan.

Greed in Singapore

ST Forum
Try RTM1 for World Cup

Apr 24, 2010

Blocks' central antenna can pick up Malaysian channel's signal.
By Leonard Lim, Chan U-Gene & Jeff Ang

FOOTBALL fans, good news if you are among the 80 per cent of the population living in public housing.

Chances are, you will be able to catch 20 World Cup games live and another 11 delayed on a free-to-air Malaysian channel - if the unthinkable happens and Singapore fails to secure the broadcast rights to the football extravaganza.

And some HDB dwellers who can receive Indonesian channels such as RCTI and Global TV may even be able to watch all 64 matches live.

Almost all the live telecasts will be for matches that kick off at 10pm Malaysia and Singapore time - and they involve top teams like Brazil, Portugal and England. These are matches that will be broadcast on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) 1.

Four other live matches are being screened on RTM2, which is not available in Singapore.

RTM, which was granted exclusive terrestrial broadcast rights for Malaysia in January, will also broadcast daily highlights of all 64 matches at the June 11 to July 11 showpiece in South Africa. But it is not yet known if these will be shown over RTM 1 or 2.


In the age where people are trying to improve,we in Singapore are doing a backstroke because of greed.

No more free-to-air world events for you folks Singapore. All must pay pay pay.

At least our neighbour in Malaysia and Indonesia are better then us in this aspect.

First world country my foot!

Earth Day

Today is world’s Earth Day.

Please do a little for the environment today. (Switch off more lights!)

Was watching The Inconvenient Truth again and it’s a reminder how devastating what we are doing to our planet.

Good luck for the next generation if we don’t do anything this generation.

So folks if you want your sons and daughters to experience the Earth as you know it. Start to do something no matter how small it may be.

More Reason Taipei is Better

Was back in Taipei last month. As usual money well spent.

Famous peanuts ice at Ximending. Cost only about S$2.50. The peanuts is really soft and had been cooked for more then 8 hours.

One of my favourite store. Pork Chop Rice at Dong Qu. One set is about S$4.

Where to get this kind of quality at this price in Singapore?

Will be going back Taipei next month. Will remember to take more photo of the food there.

Yum...

Taiper better then Sin?

Mr Brown wrote this article recently and it has angered many Singapopean and started an online debates whereder did Mr Bron put Singapore down.

Well I totally agreed with Mr Brown! Check out my post back in 2009! Yeah I notice it long ago that Singapore is not the best place on earth.

I find that Singaporean can really take critisim. Also I find that Singaporean are quite proud. Looking down on others and we think we can speak English better then any countries in Asia.

But mark my words, we are losing out fast to people in term of services and aggresivness. We are not hungry and sooner or later we will be left behind with our broken English.

Post Goal 2010 plan.

ST Forum
Apr 13, 2010

Ambitious soccer plan overdue

I AM excited by the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) ambitious plan to take Singapore's soccer to greater heights to match powerhouses Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea ("FAS targets top-10 soccer spot in Asia"; last Thursday).

This project is long overdue.

World Cup 2010 was just a pipe dream for the Singapore soccer team and aiming for the best in Asia is a more realistic target.

The emphasis on youth development is a move in the right direction and taking in boys from as young as eight augurs well for the scene. Stimulating interest at an early age will certainly give a boost and inculcate passion for the game.

The target for a gold medal in the South-east Asia Games has long been my wish.

It has been eluding us for a very long time and it is every Singaporean's desire to win it eventually.

The country has done well in swimming, table tennis, bowling and shooting in the SEA Games, and I hope more funds can be allocated to soccer, which is dear to the hearts of many.

Singaporeans share and believe in the vision that we will one day emerge as a powerhouse in soccer.

Bennie Cheok

This is yet another joke and I must applaud Bennie’s optimism.

Remember what our goal was back in 1999? Yes to be in the final of world cup in 2010. (Hey its this year!)

http://javertworld.blogspot.com/2006/08/goal-2010.html

After pouring in millions of tax-payer’s money, even formed a S-League, look at the state of our national team. Pathetic.

So now we are lowing our standard to be the TOP 10 in Asia. Goash! More money down the drain!

Yes I agreed that our National Team has improved compared to 10 years ago, but don’t forget so are all the National Teams in the world!

We will never keep up with those countries that has developed comprehensive programme to develop their soccer players.

We should just concentrate to win Gold in some, debates or Physics Olympics.

Most soccer fan here rather support a team in Europe rather then the national team I guess.

Sad country.

ST Forum
Apr 8, 2010
Why the delay in upgrading opposition ward?

IT HAS been almost a year since Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu announced that the Government's Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) would be launched in the two opposition wards of Potong Pasir and Hougang.

The news thrilled residents like me, who live in the selected LUP precinct of Potong Pasir constituency. It gave us much cause for excitement.

However, this euphoria seems to be evaporating as no work has been done.

There is not even an announcement of a date when work is to begin. I am starting to wonder if the project is on track or if some unexpected problems have cropped up.

I hope the Potong Pasir Town Council or the Citizens Consultative Committee can enlighten residents.

Let our constituency be a model of how an ugly duckling can be transformed into a beautiful swan.

Chan Mia Lee



The behaviour of our MIW is just plain childish.

Lift upgrade should not be use as a carrot to buy vote.

People staying in opposition ward deserve every right for facilities upgrade as they pay taxes too!

If our MIW have to resolve into this dirty method to force people out of opposition wards then all I can say is what a sorry state our county is in.

Updates

Not been blogging for quite a while now as I was away for a week during Chinese New Year and then was sick for 2 weeks after that.

Went to Fukouka again during CNY.

As usual weather was great and ate lots of nice food too. Weather was fantastic, nice and cold between 4 – 10 C. It s a good place to rest and relax as it is not too crowded like in Tokyo.

Bought quire a few things as well. Bought 4 pairs of sneakers this time but the red converse was an emergency as the shoes I wore there broke in the middle of the road! Haha….

Happy with all my shoes purchase as they are mostly limited to Japan only.

Came home and dug out my shoes collection.

3 more pairs bought last year in Tokyo in the front here.

And here are the rest of my shoes. Mmm… running out of space soon.

May have caught a cold in Fukouka, was having a terrible cough and was sneezing after a fews days back in Singapore. So after 14 days, 2 visits to the doctor, 3 bottles of cough mixture, 20 flu tablets, 20 anti-inflammation tablets and 10 paracetamols, I am feeling much better now. The hot weather is not helping with my Flu as well.

So am drinking lots of water these days and resting well. And time to pack for Taipei!

National Service

Next week I will be going for my annual ICT.

This will be my 9th year and hopefully will be my second last in-camp training before I join the rank of the enlightened at the MINDEF Reserve.

So again there will be an IPPT test, camping in some remote part of Singapore, wearing Green clothes and some sleepless nights again.

I don’t really mind going back for my ICT. Really.

Its an opportunity to catch up with old friends and to exercises other part of your body that you seldom use in the office.

But it’s the dreadful time wasting waiting that I hates.

I just can’t help to wonder how inefficient the Army can be sometime. I never understand why. Not to forget highly paid individual runs the organisation.

So I was looking back the day when I was a CHOW Recruits and compare to now, many things has changed. Here are some where I can think of:

1. Use to wear the WWII Tin Helmet. Now it the stylo Kevlar one.
2. Use to wear the super old SBO. You need to fix the two pouch and water bottle and the “bra strap” your self. Now they get the Load Bearing Vest.
3. Running shoes are black canvas type. Now you get either Brooks or New Balance.
4. Uniform is different as well. Green camouflage replace by Pixel Camouflage.
5. Beds are sponge on spring support. Now got super Dunlop.
6. I got the camouflage green shorts and Plain green T-shirt as PT KITS. Now its olive green and black shorts.
7. M16 then and SAR 21 now.
8. Cookhouse are run by Ah-Beng. Now its aunties from Singapore Food Industries.
9. You used to keep a Tin plate when you go to the cookhouse and you need to wash them. Now there are plates in the cookhouse and you don’t do the washing anymore!
10. Boots you wear are hard and stiff. Now it’s the gotex.
    
    

So our soldiers are different now. Compare to even just 10 years ago. People are more educated and also there is less ill treatment now.

Then I just can’t help to think what remains the same in the army… mmm…

1)The towel is the same!
2) So is the Beret!
3) Still got the same #@$@# regular.
4) Water bottle and mess tin is still the same. But I wonder does anyone uses the mess tin these days.
5) Still uses the tleat over map.

Feel free to add on…. I running out here…haha…

Danger lurking in Singapore.

Singapore is getting more and more crowded. This is being made more so by the influx of migrants.

I was just at Orchard road the week before Christmas and as usual, the malls are packed with shoppers and the link between Wisma and Takashimaya was so packed that human traffic came to stand still.

This got me thinking. Does malls in our country has to pass any Fire Regulation test? Is there a maximum number of people allow to be in a particular building?

Please note that many countries have fire safety regulation to their malls.

In Taiwan and Japan, there is always a sign at the entrace showing what is the maximum number of people this building is licensed to have and there is a counter showing you how many people are in the building now. This is to prevent the building from being overcrowded and make safe evacuation possible in case of fire or emergency.

This is definite lacking in Singapore.

The matter is made even worst with temporary push-carts and store blocking walk ways and exits of malls.

I really doubt a safe evacuation is possible for our malls during emergencies especially during weekends or festive seasons.

So why is Singapore, being a First world country, chose not to look into this matter?

Well, firstly, I think your life and my life is cheap. You won’t see Minister shopping in a crowded shopping center right?

Secondly, land is expensive in Singapore, so as a mall owners, I will packed as much stores I can into my building and even create temporary stores during festive period so I could get my return in investment ASAP.

So folks, be careful when you go to crowded malls the next time. Always keep a look out for the nearest exit because it is just a disaster waiting to happen in Singapore.

Merry Christmas 2009!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Transformer Toys

Time to reveal another purchase from Tokyo.

This is from Takara's Device Label, a 2GB USB Memory, TIGATRON.

It has a twin Black colour Decepticon brother but it was still not on sales then.

Careful with your GST when you travel.

Dec 2, 2009
Holiday trip spoilt by GST shock at airport

MY FAMILY recently returned from a holiday in Europe.

As usual, we bought some gifts from the countries we had visited.

But we were stunned when the Customs officers stopped us and slapped us with 7 per cent goods and services tax (GST) for the gifts we purchased abroad.

Even the watch I was wearing on my wrist was not spared.

We were told that the maximum limit for gifts purchased overseas is $300 - anything exceeding that is taxable.

I checked with many friends and relatives and none of them knew that this rule exists, not even the tour agency.

Needless to say, the incident dampened our spirit after a great holiday.

Patrick Lim


Ignorance does not meant you are not guilty.

This letter serve no purpose except to remind the rest that such rules exist.

I knew this requirement long ago and has been telling my friends about it.

Dear all, Please note you are required to pay GST for you over-sea purchase if they exceed $300. Note it is total worth and not individual items.

So do not waved your new LV bags, which are still in their paper bags in front of the custom officer, any jokers will know you should declare and pay your GST.

Peter and his many friends and relative need to know the rule book man.

The custom has been closing one eye for many years but I guess now Singapore’s economy is not very good and gahment is noticing people of spending their cash over-sea to avoid the GST here. Therefore to dig more money from us, the are really strict at the custom now. Also I got a tip that GST will go up to 10% after the next election as MIW had spent too much on the Stimulus package and I guess they will not increase the corporate tax in order to attract foreign investments.

Sad… the rich the richer, less taxes, the poor get the stimulus package, and the middle income get SQUEEZED again and again. Time to migrate…

Stuff from Tokyo

New find this year. Death Note, cute got 8 designs in mysterious boxes so this is the 2 I got this year.

Domo Kun! Tokyo Station Limited! One of my favourite character this year. Haa... and of cause Naruto Key Chain, missing Nin, Konoha. Made In Japan too.

Naruto Tokyo Tower handphone strap. Cute!

And finally Hello Kitty in the famour Black Egg clothing from Hakone.

More Nano Block

Earlier this year, I blogged about buying a Nano Block Set of the WWII Japanese flag ship Yamato.

Sad to say I still have not find the time to buid it. Maybe lucky for me, Haha.... I admit I took a look at the instruction for a couple of time and I knew it will not be easy.

For this trip to Tokyo, I found that Kawada came out with more Nano Block product. There is another super high level 1000 plus set of a Japanses castle (Like the Yamato). And they also came out with many more easier smaller sets.

I grab the Tokyo Tower and the Hokkaido Inu.


I told myself better start with the easier one and boy was I correct.

The Hokkaido Inu set took me 1.5 hours to complete! The blocks are quite small and you spent more time looking for time.

Anyway here is the finished Hokkaido Inu.

Tokyo Tower Here I come!

Coin added for scale.

One more join the family.

My New Sinn U1 White has arrived last Saturday. Pop by to collect it today.

Think I will be having a lovely white Christmas!

Taking a much awaited break: In the Land of the rising sun.

Its been 6 months since I went for a holiday.

So ofcause I am happy to get our of the country.

See you all in 9 days time!

風雲II Trailer

Oh right! Think one of the better HK movies for the year!

Bring back some memories man. Gotta dig up my comics and re-read again....

Old SIA advert.

Love the classic music... cool man.

Don Music

This is really a classic and one of my fav sesame street character.

Haa... Sesame street can be quire violent.

Air Traffic Control

Its amazing what you can find on the web these days.

Try this webite. You can listen to live conversation between the pilots and Air Traffic Controller.

Use together with this website, where you track the live location of all flight, you have your very own Flight Control on you PC.

Interesting, I was listening in to Hong Kong ATC. Mm... too bad Sinagapore is not covered by this website.

Win Win for them and Lose Lose for You

Drop in public transport share in Singapore: survey
26 October 2009 1458 hrs (SST)


SINGAPORE: A transport survey in Singapore has shown that the public transport share has shrunk.

The survey of some 10,500 households revealed that despite efforts by the authorities to get more people on buses and trains, challenges still remain.

Singapore aims to boost the usage of public transport among its population to 70 per cent by 2020. But the Household Interview Travel Survey showed that the target is now harder to achieve.

The survey found that 59 per cent of respondents used public transport last year, down from 63 per cent in 2004.

During the same period, the number of daily public transport journeys went up by 16 per cent as Singapore's population grew. The number of car journeys increased by 31 per cent as the car population also grew.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) explained that this behaviour could be due to a lack of major infrastructural improvements in public transport during that period.

Speaking at the Second World Roads Conference on Monday, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said that there are some positive signs.

He said: "Between 2004 and 2008, the number of train trips made each day rose 30 per cent, from 1.3 million to 1.7 million. Even though the public transport mode share island-wide has fallen, the mode share in the North-East corridor, served by the Northeast Line (NEL) which opened in 2003, has bucked the trend and shown significant improvement."

LTA said it will continue to make bus services more efficient and will be expanding the Mandatory Give-Way to Buses scheme in the next two years.

LTA said the expansion of normal bus lanes and full-day bus lanes have already improved bus speeds for services using the routes by between eight per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

From next year, LTA will also take over as the Bus Network Planner to further improve the overall connectivity of the bus network here.

An expert said reliability is key when convincing people to use public transport.

Professor Brian Collins, chief scientific advisor from UK's Department of Transport, said: "Making buses punctual, making trains punctual, and making them more frequent - refining that predictability of travel time is one of the issues that people really like. They will like to know when they are going to arrive, arrive safely and in comfort."

LTA said it will push through two key strategies under its Masterplan to make public transport more convenient. The strategies are to reduce the growth of vehicles on the road and double the existing rail network by 2020.

For now, the introduction of Electronic Road Pricing to more roads last year has improved the traffic conditions of affected roads.

LTA said there has been marked improvement in traffic speeds within the CBD, especially during evening peak hours. Traffic speeds there have been restored to the optimal range of 20-30 kilometres per hour, from 18 kilometres per hour previously.



Our Gahment is just ignoring the root cause and just want to make money. Period!

To ease traffic and to boost public transport rider-ship, they go for the simplest and best solution for themselves – RAISE THE ERP COST. Mind you, next they will raise the parking fee then the COE and then the road tax…. Win – win for them and too bad for you.

It’s easy to encourage public transport usage, just like Professor Brian Said, you just have to HAVE A EFFICIENT PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM.

More frequent buses and train, more punctual trains and I bet if you slash the fare by 50% your rider-ship will shoot up immediately.

I will suggest doing away with those bloody surcharges on taxi as well. Taxi driver here in Singapore are just too spoilt. I think we are the only countries in the world with such a complex taxi fares structure and ironically I feel our taxi services are one of the worst.

I also question the survey accuracy. Out of the 10000 households interviewed, how many are Foreigner? I doubt so as they most probably are renting room or stay in hostel. You may say less Singaporean are taking pubic transports but I can assure you that trains and buses are packed these days due to new immigrants and FT. Rider-ship is no where low my friend.

And did they question WHY less people are taking public transport now?

I can tell you, the only reason why will I consider getting my own ride is: THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM SUCKS.

1) Overcrowded
2) Expensive (Not value for money to be more correct)
3) Erratic timing
4) Long waiting time.
5) Stupid people eats and blast their f**K phone in there.

Grumpy me

I need a break!

I got to admit that I am addicted to traveling and if I don’t get my regular dose I will slip into a withdrawal symptom being grouchy and grumpy the whole day.

Why I like to travel? Well maybe because I hate this place?

Food sucks here. For good quality food you have to pay a premium.

Weather sucks. No need to explain.

Public transport sucks. No need to explain.

People? Kiasu and now ¼ of us are “foreign talents”.

Things here are overpriced and not much of a design.

I usually travel on the average of 4 times a year and normally I get into the travel drought between May and Oct. (YES this is exactly why I am grumpy now!) No a good period to travel due to the monsoon.

Just counting down to my Tokyo trip next month. Arghhh…..

Bad day at work.

Somali pirates attack French military flagship
Yahoo News Wed Oct 7, 11:10 am ET

NAIROBI (AFP) – Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy's 18,000 tonne flagship in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the French military said on Wednesday.

The crew of La Somme, a 160-metre (525-foot) command vessel and fuel tanker, easily saw off the brazen night-time assault by lightly armed fighters on two lightweight skiffs and captured five pirates, a spokesman said.

"The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," Admiral Christophe Prazuck said in Paris.

La Somme is the French command vessel in the Indian Ocean, overseeing French air, sea and land forces fighting Somali pirates and hunting terrorists under the banner of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

Officers on the ship have directed commando operations to free French hostages in the hands of Somali pirates.

The pirates tried to flee when they realised their mistake but were pursued by French forces who, after an hour-long chase, caught one of the skiffs, Prazuck said.

On it they found five men but no weapons, water or food as the pirates had apparently thrown all of the boat's contents overboard, the spokesman said……………



This is hilarious!

Talk about total screwed up….haha…

Wish list

I am bored.... thinking of what to get next. Shit no $$$ for all.

Overcrowding

S'pore population to hit 5 million soon
The growth has been fuelled mainly by the increase in PRs and new immigrants.

Tue, Sep 29, 2009 my paper

SINGAPORE'S population hit almost 4.99 million in June this year, up 3.1 per cent from last year.

The growth has been fuelled mainly by the increase in immigrants, as the number of babies delivered by Singapore residents rose only marginally.

The figures released yesterday by the Department of Statistics show that the number of citizens grew from 3.16 million last year to 3.2 million this year, while that of permanent residents inched up from 0.48 million last year to 0.53 million this year.

The number of non-residents rose by 4.8 per cent to reach 1.25 million this year - a lower rise from the over-10 per cent rate in the last two years.

Just slightly more babies were born last year than in the previous year: 39,826, up 0.9 per cent. However, the total fertility rate dropped from 1.29 to 1.28 last year.

Associate Professor Paulin Straughan, a sociologist from the National University of Singapore, said that it is positive that Singapore has been able to sustain population growth, despite the recession and competition from other developed countries.

Like Singapore, they seek immigrants to make up for falling fertility rates.

Prof Straughan, who is also a Nominated Member of Parliament, said: "It shows that Singapore is a draw for migrants, that there are still jobs and quality of life here."

Administrative planner Yvonne Tay, 35, became a citizen in April this year, 16 years after coming here from Perak, as she wanted her children "to enjoy better education opportunities and subsidies as a citizen".
She said: "We're used to the lifestyle here, it's safe and peaceful. Half of my family is also here, and my sister's family also took up citizenship three years ago."

From WIKIPEDIA:

In 2000-2005, net migration in 28 countries either prevented population decline or doubled at least the contribution of natural increase (births minus deaths) to population growth. These countries include Austria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom

All nice and positive comment by new immigrant Yvonne, wonder why they did not interview and Singaporean.

I have no qualm about “good quality” immigrant. But if our gahment just bring in any Tom, Dick and Harry so they can earn from the taxes they collect then this is really sad.

Not to forget only Singaporean are F**King serving NS for 13 years so everyone living on this Island can enjoy it.

Time to get out of here.

Singapore F1 2009

Taufik Batisah apologises for Singapore national anthem error
27 September 2009 2323 hrs

SINGAPORE: Local celebrity, Taufik Batisah who was given the opportunity to sing the national anthem during the Formula One Grand Prix tonight, made a mistake while doing so.

His televised performance was viewed by millions all over the world.

But instead of singing "marilah kita bersatu", which means "let us unite", he sang “marilah kita berseru" which means "let us proclaim".

Speaking to MediaCorp, Taufik said, he's very sorry for making the error.

He said he was very nervous while singing.

But the winner of the first season of Singapore Idol added that he's aware that there's no excuse for him to make such an error.

Taufik says he hopes that the public will forgive him for what he refers to as an "honest mistake."


I wonder how many of us knew he made this mistake. Even for those of us who know Malay,, I doubt there are many people who notice it.

Honestly I don't know what the exact lyrics of our national anthem except for "Majula Singapura. " This is the reality when you have a National Anthem in a language that not everyone in Singapore understand.

But I did notice Taufik was trying too hard to put his "Style" while singing the National Anthem. It was quite irritating that he tried to add some R&B element into the Anthem and in the end it changes the melody quite a lot. And it was rather irritating. Can he just #@%@# sing it properly?

My Toys

Saw a piece of Optimus Prime in a Toy shop 2 weeks ago and I though I got it. So went home and dig around and found it! Haha...

Think it is good to go through what you got once in a while. Its new discovery.

Here are some of my Toys collection. Er... though it is a good idea to take some photos of them to remind myself what I got.

Will try to do solo picture for them someday.

My "Cheong" Lego Chinhook and some nic-nac. Love the cute match boxes at bottom right from Japan.

The Lego (Made-In-Japan) Optimus is cool man!

Notice the classice original Sound Wave on the right. He.. My first Transformer.

I also love the LEGO Millenium Falcon Bag Charm on the Top Left.

New Bag

Bought the Davis about 2 weeks ago. Its a newly launch model.

Been looking for a bag with this kinda shape for sometime. Only I think the handle is too short for shoulder sling but I guess only the Japanese do this.

Overall. 5/5 for this new bag.

: )

New Phone

Got my new phone last weekend.

Its my first Samsung and first touch screen phone.

Not bad actually consider it selling at $248.

Still trying to get used to it.

Promoting gambling

I went to White Sand Mall at Pasir Ris on Monday’s evening for my dinner.

There was a booth set up by Singapore Pools to promote their online “gaming” Poolzconnect.

I have heard of this before but I am not too sure the exact detail but basically it is just like setting up a account with Singapore pools then you can easily place your TOTO/4D bet online. No more queue.

What surprised me was this booth is actually allowed to be set up at a heart land malls. Also do note the people manning the booth are quite aggressive handling out pamphlets to people walking near them.

Notice that cinema in heart-lands are not allow to show R(A) films but malls in heart-lands are allow to promote gambling.

Maybe this is a warm up to our IR.

Sex is bad. Gambling is good.

Lousy source of news.

Jailed for oral sex with maid
The auxiliary police officer was sentenced to 18 months' jail.
-ST Mon, Sep 07, 2009The Straits Times

AN AUXILIARY police officer was sentenced to 18 months' jail after he was convicted of having oral sex with his domestic help.

Ahmad Dapon, 53, a lance corporal with Certis Cisco, was found guilty of engaging in fellatio with the 31-year-old Indonesian maid at his home in Bedok in April 2007.
He is out on $10,000 bail, pending his appeal.


I am still quite amazed at the quality of the news Straits Time published.

This piece of news serve no purpose except to warn people that oral sex is illegal and maybe a good laugh over meals with friends.

I just can’t help wondering how was Ahmad Dapon caught? : )

The Truth about College

Got this a few years ago. A good read! Haha....


The Truth About College:

College is a bunch of rooms where you sit for two thousand hours or so and try to memorize things. The two thousand hours are spread out over four years. You spend the rest of the time sleeping, partying, and trying to get dates.

Basically, you learn two kinds of things in college:
1. Things you will need to know in later life (two hours).
2. Things you will not need to know in later life (1,998 hours).

The latter are the things you learn in classes whose names end in -ology, -sophy, -istry, -ics, and so on. The idea is, you memorize these things, then write them down in little exam books, then forget them. If you fail to forget them, you become a professor and have to stay in college for the rest of your life.

After you've been in college for a year or so, you're supposed to choose a major, which is the subject you intend to memorize and forget the most thing about. Here is a very important piece of advice: be sure to choose a major that does not involve Known Facts and Right Answers. This means you must not major in mathematics, physics, biology, or chemistry, or geology because these subjects involve actual facts.

If, for example, you major in mathematics, you're going to wander into class one day and the professor will say: "Define the cosine integer of the quadrant of a rhomboid binary axis, and extrapolate your result to five significant vertices." If you don't come up with exactly the answer the professor has in mind, you fail.

The same is true of chemistry: if you write in your exam book that carbon and hydrogen combine to form oak, your professor will flunk you. He wants you to come up with the same answer he and all the other chemists have agreed on. Scientists are extremely snotty about this.

So you should major in subjects like English, philosophy, psychology, and sociology -- subjects in which nobody really understands what anybody else is talking about, and which involve virtually no actual facts. I attended classes in all these subjects, so I'll give you a quick overview of each:

ENGLISH: This involves writing papers about long books you have read little snippets of just before class. Here is a tip on how to get good grades on your English papers: Never say anything about a book that anybody with any common sense would say. For example, suppose you are studying Moby Dick. Anybody with any common sense would say that Moby Dick is a big white whale, since the characters in the book refer to it as a big white whale roughly eleven thousand times. So in your paper, you say Moby Dick is actually the Republic of Ireland. Your professor, who is sick to death of reading papers and never liked Moby Dick anyway, will think you are enormously creative. If you can regularly come up with
Lunatic interpretations of simple stories, you should major in English.

PHILOSOPHY: Basically, this involves sitting in a room and deciding there is no such thing as reality and then going to lunch. You should major in philosophy if you plan to take a lot of drugs.

PSYCHOLOGY: This involves talking about rats and dreams. Psychologists are obsessed with rats and dreams. I once spent an entire semester training a rat to punch little buttons in a certain sequence, then training my roommate to do the same thing. The rat learned much faster. My roommate is now a doctor. If you like rats or dreams, and above all if you dream about rats, you should major in psychology.

SOCIOLOGY: For sheer lack of intelligibility, sociology is far and away the number one subject. I sat through hundreds of hours of sociology courses, and read gobs of sociology writing, and I never once heard or read a coherent statement. This is because sociologists want to be considered scientists, so they spend most of their time translating simple, obvious observations into scientific-sounding code. If you plan to major in sociology, you'll have to learn to do the same thing. For example, suppose you have observed that children cry when they fall down. You should write:

"Methodological observation of the sociometrical behavior tendencies of prematurated isolates indicates that a causal relationship exists between groundward tropism and lachrimatory behavior forms."

If you can keep this up for fifty or sixty pages, you will get a large government grant.

More Stupid Elites.

TEMASEK AND TRANSPARENCY: LIM HWEE HUA
05:55 AM Aug 12, 2009

Some Singaporeans are sore that they do not know enough about how "their money" is being invested by Temasek Holdings, acknowledged Singapore's first female Cabinet minister, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua.

"We have to ask ourselves if transparency is an end in itself, or if it is the means to an end," said the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office to Petir.

"If all our cards are revealed in pursuit of complete transparency, does that serve the purpose of having Temasek and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation manage the reserves well? The goal is really to value-add for all stakeholders.

"It is reasonable for people to ask questions, but ultimately the government holds the responsibility for deciding how much to reveal in our best interests."


I don’t know how she became a Minister. Gosh but anyway you just have to be a yes-man or yes-woman in this case to be one anyway.

Hwee Hua is sprouting nonsense!

I almost fell off my chair when I read this article. Can’t believe one of our Ministers actually said this kinda thing in public.

Firstly every Singaporean has the right to know what is happening to their hard earn money.

"If all our cards are revealed in pursuit of complete transparency, does that serve the purpose of having Temasek and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation manage the reserves well? The goal is really to value-add for all stakeholders.”

Er…what does transparency got to do with managing the reserve well? Hwee Hua actually is telling you that once we let you know what they are doing with our money, GIC and Temasek will have problem managing our reserve. Huh????????????????

"It is reasonable for people to ask questions, but ultimately the government holds the responsibility for deciding how much to reveal in our best interests."

Bull Shit! It is the right our the people to ask questions and decide ON THEIR OWN GOD GIVEN FREE WILL what is best for our interest.

If I read between the lines, I afraid the goverment interest is indeed not the people but for themselve, and they are afraid people will just pack up and leave for good.