Search the Community

MediShield premiums could rise, Health Minister says Updated 02:29 PM Mar 07, 2012 SINGAPORE - Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said MediShield premiums are due for an increase soon. Mr Gan, speaking in Parliament at the Committee of Supply debates today, said the premiums "need to be adequate to sustain MediShield members' claims and to fund future liabilities under the scheme". "As MediShield premiums are set to be sustainable for a five-year period and the last increase was in 2008, we are due for the next update soons," said Mr Gan, noting that MediShield has paid out 21 per cent more in claims each year between 2008 and last year, during which time the premiums collected grew by only 10 per cent a year. "Ultimately, MediShield operates on a not-for-profit basis, with premiums actuarially calculated to cover expected payouts and meet risk and reserve requirements. The reserves ensure that MediShield will be able to honour policyholders' future claims." He said a 45-year-old may see a premium increase of S$7 per month, with younger age groups seeing a smaller increase, while a 75-year-old could see an increase of S$25 per month. To offset these increases, a one-time Medisave top-up of up to S$33 per month was announced in the recent Budget for all Singaporean policyholders to help cushion the impact of the increase. In addition, older policy holders who are beyond the re-employment age of 65 will receive direct and long-term assistance via Medisave top-ups under the GST voucher scheme, up to S$37.50 per month which can offset the premium increase in full. CHANNEL NEWSASIA URL http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews/EDC1203...h-Minister-says Copyright 2012 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

Today's Straits Times got one article mentioning the above statement. They even did a test on Impreza and WRX with different grades and brands of petrol for best power output. With different engine speed (rmp) on both cars, it shows that 95-octane has the best result! Of cos there are many other factors not put into consideration. However, I think this is a good indicator for some of us.

where are our resident arm chair critics and political science graduates? Can comment? Luckily Singapore no oil. Egypt: Elections do not make a democracy http://www.dnaindia.com/world/1858777/colu...ake-a-democracy Mursi's overthrow last week put the United States on the spot. Could Washington support the removal of a democratically elected government, even one we did not like? An election is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for democracy. That's the takeaway from the continuing upheaval in Egypt. Last year, Mohamed Mursi became Egypt's first freely elected president. Mursi won with 51.7% of the vote, slightly more than the 51.1% that Barack Obama won in 2012. Mursi was the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organisation that had been banned and persecuted in Egypt for 60 years. Mursi's overthrow last week put the United States on the spot. Could Washington support the removal of a democratically elected government, even one we did not like? The Mursi government may have been elected, but there are other requirements for a democracy. A democratic government has to guarantee minority rights. It has to accept the opposition as legitimate. It has to be willing to abide by the rules. And the truest test of a democracy is that the government has to give up power if it is defeated at the polls. The Mursi government failed all those tests except the last one. That's because it was only in power for a year and got removed by the military before it could stand for re-election. In that one year, however, Mursi asserted near-unlimited power over the country. He appointed Islamic radicals to key positions. He rammed through a new constitution that enshrined the principles of Islamic law. He arrested opponents and allowed attacks on religious minorities. He neglected the failing economy. He angered the military by calling for Egyptian intervention in Ethiopia and Syria. Friday, the Republican chairman and ranking Democratic member of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee issued a joint statement saying, "Real democracy requires inclusiveness, compromise, respect for human and minority rights and a commitment to the rule of law. Mursi and his inner circle did not embrace any of those principles and instead chose to consolidate power and rule by fiat." Egypt has always been a secular country. But a majority of its voters are religious and, given a chance to compete in free elections, they will elect an Islamist government. That has happened in other Arab and Muslim countries as well, for example, Tunisia, Turkey, Iran. In 2006, Palestinians in Gaza elected a Hamas government allied with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Islamist governments usually infuriate the secular population and antagonise the military which is what happened in Egypt. Tensions are also high in Turkey, where a relatively moderate Islamic government faces large-scale protests by the secular population. The point is, elections sometimes produce unsavoury results. The classic example was the German parliamentary elections of July and November 1932, which made the Nazis Germany's largest party. As a result, Adolf Hitler became chancellor in 1933. Mursi is no Hitler, but the Muslim Brotherhood is a paranoid and fanatical movement whose long-term commitment to democracy is much in doubt. To radical Islamists, elections are a way to gain power. They are enraged because the results of Egypt's 2012 election have been nullified. "Didn't we do what they asked?" an Islamist voter told The New York Times, "We don't believe in democracy to begin with. It's not part of our ideology. But we accepted it. We followed them, and then this is what they do?" An Islamist in Libya had this complaint: "Do you think I can sell to the people any more? I have been saying all along, 'If you want to build Shariah law, come to elections.' Now they will just say, 'Look at Egypt,' and you don't need to say anything else." To many Islamists, the United States has been exposed as hypocritical. We promote democracy, but we will not stand by a democratically elected government when it is threatened. Many believe that Washington was complicit in Mursi's overthrow. The Obama administration reportedly tried to broker a compromise that Mursi was unwilling to accept. At the same time, secular Egyptians complain that Washington did not criticise Mursi's undemocratic regime. To them, it proves that Washington is interested only in stability, not democracy. Didn't the United States support the corrupt regime of deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak all those years? More than any other recent event, the overthrow of the Mursi government in Egypt highlights a conflict between the form and the substance of democracy. "Why is it just ballot boxes?" a human-rights activist asked. "Are ballot boxes the only forms of democratic expression when the rulers fail the people?" We Americans nurture the pothole theory of democracy. We like to believe that, if a radical government is elected, it will quickly learn that it has to moderate and serve the needs of the people in order to stay in power. It has to fill the potholes and keep the lights on. But to many Islamic radicals, the ballot is just an alternative to the bullet as a way to gain power. They are ready to abandon democracy if the military and the West won't allow them to stay in power. There was a frightening sight in Egypt last week. Thousands of Mursi supporters rallied under the black flag of jihad and chanted, "No more elections after today!" But democracy means a lot more than holding elections. That's something they have to learn. We just learned it in Egypt. (Bill Schneider is professor of public and international affairs at George Mason University and a resident scholar at Third Way.) (Bill Schneider)

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/5-propert...-160000323.html Thought this is quite interesting,

Could eye lids just help to minimize the glare coming from aftermarket hid conversion headlamps? By covering a fraction of the top portion of the headlamp, light from hid only shines through the bottom portion of the headlamp casing....hmmmm..what do u think? Peaceful discussion please

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151436523204665 Basket.. What was he thinking? Red already.. so many pax crossing..

Second Minister for Home Affairs S Iswaran said there are some possible areas that the authorities are looking into -- errant drivers could face harsher penalties, while more speed cameras will be installed and more Traffic Police officers will be deployed to make the roads safer. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a visit to the Police Security Command on Thursday, Mr Iswaran highlighted concerns such as speeding and beating the red light. He said the authorities will step up road safety in areas that are more prone to accidents and better protect road users, such as young and elderly pedestrians. Mr Iswaran said besides enforcement and penalties, road users have to be educated. His comments came on the heels of an accident in Tampines on Monday, when two boys died after they were hit by a cement mixer. Asked about a suggestion by Tampines GRC MP Baey Yam Keng to re-route heavy vehicles in residential estates, Mr Iswaran said it is not possible to completely avoid having heavy vehicles going through residential areas. He said heavy vehicle drivers have to understand their responsibilities because the accidents they could be involved in have severe consequences. Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1251376/1/.html

.....from Yahoo With so many elite brains yet we end up with one simple phrase... pls read http://sg.news.yahoo.com/govt-admits-infra...ation-growth.html

hi all, me bought Hyundai Verna 1.6A in May last year, then past 1 yr plus no prob except not much power and high fc. then abt 20 days ago, aircon got hot air, and could hear 'water gushing around' type of sound in bonnet. after car cooled down at night, opened radiator to see and had to top up ~3.5 litre of water before it was full!! next day drove to workshop but after checking half day told me can't find any leak and told me monitor first... for a week, i everyday checked radiator water level twice and always full. my mech laughed, so i didn't bother anymore. Then yest on way home, heard funny sound and later going into basement carpark could feel car vibrating and hear like got water boiling and streaming through narrow pipe... slowly parked and 2 hr later, went check again and had to top up abt 2.7 litre of water. this morning before went work, initially checked ok, but after car moved off, could hear water gushing sound again, then when stopped and opened radiator again, could pour in another about 600 ml... Then this afternoon, and at night after work, both times still full... anyone knows what could be the problem and what could be the solution? tks....

ESPN report : Man Utd share value 'could plunge' August 13, 2012 Manchester United shares are worth less than a quarter of the amount the Glazers had hoped to raise, according a leading business company. PrivCo, an independent financial analyst, said United's stock price could plummet further - and gave the shares a value that would mean the club is worth less now than when the Glazers bought it in 2005. The Glazers floated 10% of shares in the club on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, looking for a maximum price of $20 a share. United's current share price is $14, but millions of shares have been bought by the seven banks underwriting the IPO, and PrivCo calculated their true value is just $4.97 each - giving United a value of around $800 million rather than the $3.3 billion the American family had wanted. The Glazers paid just under

[sweatdrop] From STOMP: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sg..._moves_off.html Posted on 20 Jun 2012 How could this happen? Doors remain open even as train moves off STOMPer wasabi was on her way home when one of the train doors remained stuck open even as the train moved off from Lakeside station. Said the STOMPer: "I was on my way home from Boon Lay MRT to Cityhall MRT at about 10pm last night. "At Lakeside station, one of the doors started making noises during 'Doors Closing' and remained stuck open even while the train started moving. "Thank goodness the train was relatively empty, if not it would have been dangerous for people standing near that door in a crowded train! "The doors eventually closed at the next station."

A 35-metre (115-foot) tsunami could hit the Japanese coast in the wake of a massive earthquake, an expert panel has said after revising its worst case scenario projections following last year's disaster. If a 9.0-magnitude quake struck in the Nankai Trough off central to western Japan huge swathes of the Pacific coastline could be inundated, with 20-metre-plus waves hitting areas from Tokyo down to the southwestern island of Kyushu. At the town of Kuroshio in southwestern Kochi prefecture the tsunami could reach 34.4 metres -- the highest level projected under the scenario, the Cabinet Office panel said late Saturday. And at the now offline Hamaoka nuclear plant in central Shizuoka prefecture, the tsunami could be as high as 21 metres, breaching the 18-metre breakwater that operators are currently constructing, the panel said. In its previous projection in 2003 the panel gave a worst case scenario in which no areas would be hit by a tsunami of more than 20 metres. But the panel has upgraded its predictions in the wake of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake on March 11 last year that sent a tsunami barrelling into the northeast, killing some 19,000 people and devastating the coastline. Waves of more than 15 metres hit cities including Ishinomaki, Soma, and Ofunato. The monster tsunami crippled cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, sparking a crisis which is still ongoing. The panel noted that the projection was for "the worst possible tsunami" and the "chance of its occurrence is extremely low". It said it will continue studying the extent of areas that could be hit and submerged by a tsunami, while the government will examine its emergency disaster measures based on the latest estimation. Source from Yahoo!

:huh: Looks really interesting place to go for an visit. Can see James Bond gadgets there? But how can public go there for a visit? Can call 999 to book a not? http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/S...ory_779628.html

If Malaysia increases toll charges for motorists using the Causeway, Singapore is likely to follow suit. This is due to a longstanding policy of matching whatever rates Malaysia sets, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA). Motorists using the Causeway could soon pay up to five times more in charges, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported recently. Under the proposed revision, they will have to pay tolls both ways, which are likely to be at higher rates. source: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/S...ory_765465.html

For me the word is diarrhea I had to use google to confirm the spelling.

Few days ago, PUB was in denial mode and still pin the blame on Liat Towers for the flooding at the basement. From CNA: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1173917/1/.html Liat Towers to build anti-flood curb By Joanne Chan | Posted: 29 December 2011 2051 hrs

A young girl was knocked down by a lorry yesterday afternoon. But when a witness reported the accident at a Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP), the police officer on duty said he could not leave his post to assist him. Shin Min Daily News reported today that the policeman on duty told the 41-year-old witness, who gave his name as Paul, that he had already informed the Traffic Police about the accident. The officer said he was unable to leave the NPP because he was on duty alone. But he had ensured that a police car arrived on-scene to render assistance until an ambulance arrived. In response, a police spokesperson said the police officer had immediately checked whether an ambulance had been dispatched to the scene of the accident. The accident happened after a five-year-old girl dashed across a road and was knocked down by a lorry at 1.50pm. It happened near the Ghim Moh bus terminal. Paul said an elderly woman wanted to cross the road with two children, but turned back after seeing a bus approaching. He then heard a loud bang and saw a little girl lying down on the ground with her shoes flung to the lorry's side. When interviewed, the lorry driver, 25-year-old Mr Lim Ke Yong said he started driving off only after he saw the elderly woman walking away with a boy. However, a little girl suddenly dashed out from behind a bus to reach the elderly woman, and he could not stop in time. Mr Lim said he immediately rushed the girl to nearby clinics for treatment, but most of them were closed for lunch. The only clinic which was open said the girl should be sent to hospital immediately. "I asked her whether she was in pain. She only cried and said yes," said Mr Lim. He plans to visit the girl in hospital after helping the police with investigations. The girl sustained scratches but is in stable condition. Link

sharing this info... especially for drivers who change their own oil... Last oil change... N today's oil change... I poured in my usual measured amount (measured with measuring cylinders)... But oil was a lot above H mark... Even after starting engine n measuring with dip stick immediately. So today I seriously thought I didn't do a good job in draining my old oil... Maybe car was not on proper level ground... So when I checked my oil again a few hours after my oil change, I was prepared to drain some oil out... But when I pull out my my dip stick... Knn the yellow handle came off and the metal dip stick fell into the hole... WTF... maybe too many times measure oil level until handle came loose... hahaha... thank god i had a screw driver with a magnetic extendable tip (i bought many years back from a cute mei mei walking ard selling it at Maxwell market)... got my metal part of the dip stick out and fixed it back to the handle and measured my oil level and it was normal... wahhh.. heng sia... lucky i didnt drain any oil out... if not confirm oil pressure light sure come out and god knows what damage i might cause... hahaha... just sharing....

Check out the mileage its a 1968 VW beetle. mileage should be sky high. 800,000km possible? might be... 1,900,000km possible? i think so. but...... check it out.

Ever since I was taking bus / MRT, I have fantasized about the Ferrari. I like the beautiful head turning looks, the powerful performance and the sexy red colour. I could imagine myself looking so good riding one. Unfortunately I had only loose change so I can't even make it past the showroom doors. I tried my best and worked very hard hoping to make enough moolah but still failed by a long shot. In fact I probably cheesed off the Ferrari saleslady with my unwanted stooging around the showroom. So I downgraded my expectations to a Porsche. Still a very nice car and won't lose face in front of my friends. Although I could just about afford it if I ate only bread and water, the showroom staff don't even bother to serve me. Feeling very tulan, I flirted with the idea of just importing my car directly from overseas. Although some have gotten nice rides cheaper this way, there are many horror stories about about lack of aftersales support and the car not adapted for local conditions so I gave it a miss. So now I am just driving a bread and butter car, no different than those annonymous thousands packing the roads. Thinking logically, I should be very grateful to be driving a relatively fuss free and affordable car. A reliable machine that don't give much trouble even though it will never win any car awards. In fact, there are people older than me who still haven't gotten their first car yet. But in my heart I still yearn for Ferrari, especially when one zips by with a fat, balding creep inside. What makes him so special? It should have been me.

Within 3months... Kana fine $150 n 6 demerit points for speeding @ 91km/h in a van on PIE. Then had an accident 100% fault. Then $200 fine + 6 demerit points for the accident. Haiz... Things couldn't get any better... $ flying away freely... Pui. Blame who but myself... Well u know some days r good... Some days r bad.... Some days pass without u knowing.... Somedays are full of regret.... Somedays are just... Well.... Makes u feel really terrible n sian... Today... After a terrible morning... And also afternoon.... I was making a u-turn n couldn't make it so had to reverse... I did the turn slowly but still failed. Guess my 'slowness' pissed the car behind... So when I stopped to reverse the car behind honk many times... Like that agressive type of honking telling me what an idiot I am... So I reversed a little n made my turn n went on my way slowly... I was already so pai say... So just forget it lah... But when the proton satria neo passed me, STARE at me... So I honk 3times back... I in my lane he in his lane... WAH... He buay song... Cut into my lane n stopped... Got out of his car n walked to me... While I wind down my window... Then he shout at me "why? Horn what?"... Then I ask back "u stare what?... Just now u honk wat?" he say he honk to warn me I reverse into him. I said u honk so aggressively before I reverse. Juz tap I will know I not blind. He say he honk is to warn me and I honk him why? Not happy is it?.... So I said u stare at me that's why I honk u... U stare f--k? Then he ask me why cannot stare ah f--k... So I said I cannot honk ah? I honk u ah? Then he repeat u not happy is it?So I damn fed up liao I wore both my shoes and got out of my car n walk towards him and ask him "now what u want? U want to fight here like an idiot is it?".... By then already got on lookers n I so malu sia.... Then he point to the police station n ask me want to go there anot? Knn??? I said u the one stop me like u some gangster n now u ask me go police station... U damn malu sia.... (btw he's a malay in his forties I guess... I'm a chinese... Hence I guess tats why I said the malu n sia here n there...) So I walked back to my car... Cause got abit of jam we caused... And we parted ways like so no problem... Bloody embarrassing encounter.... Was hopping won't kanna stomp or you tube.... Then while driving to my next destination... Felt really terrible. The kind of terrible like i've disappointed my mum type. Like don't what she did to have such a son. I can imagine how she would react if she was at the scene. I don't wanna picture it to much.... Haiz haiz haiz.... What a shitty day....

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20101116/tsp-...ez-47c0590.html Mayb Liverpool can consider hiring him back. Same team same formation........ mayb it is the manager's prob. (this statement sound familiar )

make myself buy a car in sg.my brand new bmw 3 series bought in england is only 24k pounds( about 50k sing). i do not want to contribute to garmen pocket and get riped off.garmen basically earn 2 cars for every car we buy here

I hope this amendment go through. will mio tv poor performance classify under " breaches of standards of performance"? http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNew...827-234332.html TELCOS in Singapore could face harsher penalties as the government seeks to make amendments to the telecommunications act. The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) said in a statement today, that it will be conducting a public consultation on proposed amendments. Among the amendments is to fine telcos more for breaches of licence conditions, codes of practice and standards of performance. The revisions are to ensure that the legislative framework is up-to-date in the rapidly changing telecom industry. Proposed amendments include the control of critical telecom infrastructure and licensees, as well as the inclusion of new concepts and business models to provide greater clarity. MICA aims to table the Telecommunications (Amendment) Bill in Parliament by early 2011 and invites views and comments to be submitted in writing by 5pm, September 24.