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Singaporeans cancel CNY shopping trips to Malaysia as disputes drag onSingaporean-organised “shopping tours” into Johor ahead of the Chinese New Year are seeing last-minute cancellations as relations between the two countries tense up over a maritime and airspace dispute, reported Sin Chew daily. Community groups in the city state often run annual Chinese New Year shopping trips for Singaporeans to enjoy the cheaper prices across the border and stock up on festive goodies. However, many such shopping trips have recently been cancelled, according to the Chinese-language newspaper. Ms Liao Liyun, chairman of the Sengkang Rivervale Residents’ Committee, said that the annual one-day trips to Johor Baru and Batu Pahat would usually be snapped up by eager shoppers. However, with the relationship between Singapore and Malaysia growing increasingly tense, the committee decided to call off the trip this year, citing security concerns by participants. Ms Liao said residents have been given a full refund, and locals have settled on buying Chinese New Year goods at local warehouses in Singapore. Others have decided to cancel their shopping trips in a move to boycott Malaysian retailers. Ms Li Meihua, a member of the Yishun Constituency, told Sin Chew that residents have decided not to cross the border as Malaysia’s behaviour was “not friendly and they do not want to go shopping there". Malaysia and Singapore are embroiled in a dispute over territorial waters and airspace. Earlier on Tuesday, Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said security forces have been ordered to exercise restraint after Johor chief minister Osman Sapian visited a Malaysian vessel in the Republic’s territorial waters. Foreign ministers from both countries met last week in the republic for talks, which will be followed by a meeting between the respective countries’ transport ministers at the end of the month. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT

Feb 23, 2011 Boycott pass-the-buck businesses I REFER to last Saturday's report ("Changes for firms"), which quoted Mr Ivan Lee, founder of restaurant chain Thai Express, as saying that the rise in foreign worker levy would be passed on to consumers most of the time, which is why prices of food and services continue to go up. His remark seems to imply that the Government can introduce any manner of levies and all businessmen need to do is pass on the cost to customers. Any rise in the prices of food and services can, therefore, be attributed to the Government. His comment reveals an unacceptable attitude by businesses towards customers and suggests an indifference to the spirit and objective of the foreign worker levy. From a customer's viewpoint, such a remark, especially coming from the boss himself, is wrong. I, for one, shall not be patronising his restaurants. Gan Teck Lee Another unhappy fella in our land. Business can't survive on charity leh. Ivan oso shud have thought out his statement. Cud have said they wl look for ways to cut costs. Anyways, can always hire PRs wat, why must specifically hire FW?

As mentioned, who will not be giving in to starhub n singtel riddiculous fees?? :angry: :angry: 1. Ronleo 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Think the Nissan GT-R is heavy enough as is? It still manages to run circles around most everything on the road, but there are limits. Especially when it's placed on a race track. And those limits are becoming a source of controversy in the nascent FIA GT1 World Championship. The series' inaugural race took place at Abu Dhabi's Yas Island Marina circuit this past weekend, but the FIA held a test session beforehand in an apparent effort to equalize performance between the varied machinery being campaigned. Former F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen took each of the six types of cars in the series for a few hot laps. While he was supposed to take 10 to15 laps in each car, he took fewer, and those were unevenly distributed, according to reports. Based on his feedback, series organizers then imposed weight penalties on the different vehicles. The Corvette C6.R and Lamborghini Murcielago R-SV were each saddled with 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of ballast, and the Maserati MC12 was burdened with an extra 25 kilos (55 lbs). The Matech Ford GT was left as is, while the Aston Martin DBR9 was awarded a larger air restrictor to help it catch up. The Nissans, however, were given 30 kilograms (66 lbs) of extra weight, and as a result were unable to keep pace with the competition. Subsequently, the two squads campaigning the race-spec GT-R

Boycott these unprofessional scumbags - stupid and unethical business practise of abusing forums.

Let's boycott all his movie in Singapore since this f--kER claimed that we Singapore have no self respect (today's new paper)

LOWLY-EDUCATED retiree investors who put their savings in structured products linked to the collapsed Lehman Brothers have been singled out by the Government for special attention. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) wants banks and financial institutions to give this group top priority when investigating complaints of mis-selling. Singapore decides not to follow HK's buy-back approach THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has decided against following Hong Kong's lead in requiring banks to buy back Lehman Brothers-linked Minibonds at market price from investors. ... more WHAT IS EXPECTED OF BANKS 'Where a customer has been mis-sold the product or where the product was clearly inappropriate to his circumstances, the financial institution should reach a fair settlement in full or in part. This has to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.' ... more It also added that banks should not take an 'overly legalistic' approach in dealing with such cases. And in situations where the product was mis-sold or was clearly inappropriate given the investor's profile and circumstances, MAS wants the financial institutions to take full responsibility. 'We expect them to do the right thing,' declared MAS managing director Heng Swee Keat at a press conference yesterday. Asked what he means by this, Mr Heng later told The Straits Times in an e-mail reply that 'the financial institution should reach a fair settlement in full or in part'. 'This has to be assessed on a case-by-case basis,' he added. Calling them 'vulnerable customers', Mr Heng said at the press conference that this group of retirees would be typically be above 55 years of age and have minimal education. They may also be blue-collar workers or unemployed. Some may not be proficient in English and may be unable to read the structured product's prospectus, where the risks and mechanics of the investment are spelt out. But he also added that not all investors fitting this profile would necessarily be inexperienced. 'We are focusing on cases of mis-selling to vulnerable customers and on cases where the products were clearly inappropriate for them given the circumstances,' said Mr Heng. According to MAS, about 10,000 retail investors had pumped over $500 million into structured products linked to the US investment bank Lehman Brothers. Lehman's bankruptcy last month has meant that investors holding products such as Lehman Minibonds, DBS High Notes 5 and Merrill Lynch Jubilee Series 3 Linkearner Notes could lose most of their money. On Wednesday, The Straits Times highlighted the plight of retiree investors who have stopped work and therefore have little hope of recouping their nest-eggs in their lifetime. Yesterday, MAS reiterated that it will come down hard on anyone who has been found to have mis-sold these products to them. Many retirees say they did not fully understand the products and claim to have been wrongly assured that they would not lose their principal sums. 'MAS confirms that we have been conducting formal inquiries into allegation of breaches of the law, inadequate internal controls by the financial institutions, or poor sales practices by their representatives,' said Mr Heng. 'We will make an announcement on any actions we are taking when our inquiries are completed.' MAS also said that a 'number of possible cases' have already been found by independent parties overseeing the complaints process at each of the financial institutions that had sold the Lehman-linked products. It added that it is following up on these cases, but gave no further details. In the meantime, it is urging those affected who have a genuine claim that they were mis-sold their investments, to lodge their complaints with the financial institution they dealt with. MAS said that it has asked the chief executive officers of these institutions to personally chair internal review panels to look into these complaints. In each case, MAS wants the panel to decide what to do within four weeks and communicate its decision to the customer. If investors are still not satisfied with the decision, they can take their case to the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec). Mr Heng emphasised that the Fidrec mediation process is free of charge and if the case goes to arbitration, the cost to the customer is just $50. Fidrec normally deals with claims not exceeding $50,000. But in the case of structured products, the centre has agreed to hear all 'deserving cases'. Responding to the MAS' statements yesterday, DBS Bank said it is 'now reviewing all concerns raised on High Notes 5 in a prompt and comprehensive manner, and will not hesitate to take responsibility in instances where evidence of mis-selling is established'. The Straits Times understands that the bank has already given special attention to retirees. Hong Leong Finance, which distributed Lehman Minibonds, said it 'will focus special attention on those above 55 years old, less educated and first time investors in structured products'. Maybank said that it has to date, contacted 50 per cent of customers with complaints to schedule interviews. It told The Straits Times that it is also dealing with 'vulnerable customers' first. Investors and investor advocates applauded the MAS move, with Mr Leong Sze Hian, president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, saying that it is 'obvious that this group needs more help'. But Aljunied GRC MP Cynthia Phua also added that while it is a 'good step forward', MAS still needs to address deficiencies at the bank level in selling these products.

I know this has been posted and polled before but using a different method. I was wondering how many of us here will be willing to STOP driving for 1 month and only take public transport. The impact will be, 1) Petrol company taking will get hit badly 2) ERP takings will drop significantly 3) Parking takings will drop significantly We have no way to stop petrol company from raising price, we have no way to stop LTA erecting more ERP gantries. But we can voice our unhappiness by our actions. So who will do it?

Great idea from another thread... to boycott whichever company raises petrol prices first for at least a month. We should send messages to drivers we know and spread the word around. I read that this hike was started by Caltex... so should we start with Caltex first? Comments?

Watching the news just now. It really ridiculous that the Jap Government are seeking damages from China for the aftermath of recent Anti-Japanese demonstration at various parts in China. What an ironic!