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It's the end folks. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/lta-cuts-vehicle-growth-rate-to-zero-9335560

StarHub job cuts result of strategic transformation plan Sources: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/starhub-job-cuts-result-of-strategic-transformation-plan We thank Mr Tan Kar Quan for his comments (Laying off staff not always the best strategy, May 25). Telecommunications companies globally and in Singapore are being disrupted by issues ranging from digitalisation and cloud-based services to changing consumer preferences and the ongoing convergence in information and communications technologies (ICT). As mobile, broadband and content penetration rates are already very high in Singapore, StarHub has to continually transform its operating model and seek growth in adjacent segments, such as cyber security and enterprise ICT solutions. As part of our strategic transformation plan aimed at consistently delivering a better customer experience, we embarked on simplifying and redesigning our company structure, product offerings and internal processes last year. This regrettably led to a reduction of roles and colleagues from our team - reducing our workforce is not our strategic intent. Increasing our capabilities, accelerating growth, offering a better brand experience, and adapting to the realities of the rapidly changing market we operate in are among targets at the core of our strategy. To this end, our transformation plans will always include the reskilling, retraining and redeployment of our employees to be able to handle future functions. We will also continue to explore opportunities to accelerate our growth through the launch of innovative services and the acquisition of companies. The acquisition of companies offers us access to services, technologies, customers and new talent that otherwise will require many years of development with no certainty of success. A successful business strategy is inclusive of many growth initiatives, home-grown and acquired, and leverages the collective wisdom and capabilities of everyone at StarHub. Peter Kaliaropoulos Chief Executive Officer StarHub

Scientists have discovered a simple way to cook rice that dramatically cuts the calories Rice, the lifeblood of so many nations' cuisines, is perhaps the most ubiquitous food in the world. In Asia, where an estimated 90 percent of all rice is consumed, the pillowy grains are part of almost every meal. In the Caribbean, where the starch is often mixed with beans, it's a staple too. Even here in the United States, where people eat a comparatively modest amount of rice, plenty is still consumed. Rice is popular because it's malleable—it pairs well with a lot of different kinds of food—and it's relatively cheap. But like other starch-heavy foods, it has one central flaw: it isn't that good for you. White rice consumption, in particular, has been linked to a higher risk of diabetes. A cup of the cooked grain carries with it roughly 200 calories, most of which comes in the form of starch, which turns into sugar, and often thereafter body fat. But what if there were a simple way to tweak rice ever so slightly to make it much healthier? An undergraduate student at the College of Chemical Sciences in Sri Lanka and his mentor have been tinkering with a new way to cook rice that can reduce its calories by as much as 50 percent and even offer a few other added health benefits. The ingenious method, which at its core is just a simple manipulation of chemistry, involves only a couple easy steps in practice. "What we did is cook the rice as you normally do, but when the water is boiling, before adding the raw rice, we added coconut oil—about 3 percent of the weight of the rice you're going to cook," said Sudhair James, who presented his preliminary research at National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on Monday. "After it was ready, we let it cool in the refrigerator for about 12 hours. That's it." How does it work? To understand what's going on, you need to understand a bit of food chemistry. Not all starches, as it happens, are created equal. Some, known as digestible starches, take only a little time to digest, are quickly turned into glucose, and then later glycogen. Excess glycogen ends up adding to the size of our guts if we don't expend enough energy to burn it off. Other starches, meanwhile, called resistant starches, take a long time for the body to process, aren't converted into glucose or glycogen because we lack the ability to digest them, and add up to less calories. A growing body of research, however, has shown that it might be possible to change the types of starches found in foods by modifying how they are prepared. At the very least, we know that there are observable changes when certain foods are cooked different ways. Potatoes, for instance, go from having the right kind of starch to the less healthful kind when they are cooked or mashed (sigh, I know). The process of heating and cooling certain vegetables, like peas and sweet potatoes, can also alter the amount of resistant (see: good) starches, according to a 2009 study. And rice, depending on the method of preparation, undergoes observable chemical changes. Most notably, fried rice and pilaf style rice have a greater proportion of resistant starch than the most commonly eaten type, steamed rice, as strange as that might seem. "If you can reduce the digestible starch in something like steamed rice, you can reduce the calories," said Dr. Pushparajah Thavarajah, a professor who is supervising the research. "The impact could be huge." Understanding this, James and Thavarajva tested eight different recipes on 38 different kinds of rice found in Sri Lanka. What they found is that by adding a lipid (coconut oil in this case, because it's widely used in Sri Lanka) ahead of cooking the rice, and then cooling the rice immediately after it was done, they were able to drastically change its composition—and for the better. "The oil interacts with the starch in rice and changes its architecture," said James. "Chilling the rice then helps foster the conversion of starches. The result is a healthier serving, even when you heat it back up." So far they have only measured the chemical outcome of the most effective cooking method for the least healthful of the 38 varieties. But that variety still produced a 10 to 12 percent reduction in calories. "With the better kind, we expect to reduce the calories by as much as 50 to 60 percent," said James.

This video of a Caucasian Foreign Talent cyclist dangerously cutting across four lanes of traffic was captured by an in-car dash cam on Wednesday morning during the peak hour traffic. The cyclist is seen cutting across all four lanes in front of several cars and causing a car to have to break before overtaking him. When the driver who took the video honked at the cyclist for his dangerous behaviour, instead of acknowledging it and being more careful, he stared at the driver and slowed down even further, blocking the driver's way. He even swerved in front of the car and forced the driver to have to slam breaks. In an interview with WanBao, the driver explained that the man also raised his voice and was provoking her. This incident happened along Ophir Road. See the video here:

interest rate NEAR zero ... i know interest rate BELOW zero ... 1st time i heard you put money in the bank .... you kena penalty .... lol .... huat ah! spend $$$ spend $$$ spend $$$ stock market cheong ... will more $$$ come to singapore

Funding cuts for top independent schools in Singapore MOE also tells schools to moderate fund-raising for campus upgrading Six top independent schools in Singapore, including Hwa Chong Institution, have had their funding cut and, along with other mission schools, have been told to moderate fund-raising activities for campus upgrading. -- ST FILE PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN By Sandra Davie Senior Education Correspondent Six top independent schools in Singapore have had their funding cut and, along with other mission schools, have been told to moderate fund-raising activities for campus upgrading. In addition, they will have to comply with a new directive urging all schools with air-conditioned classrooms to install fans and use air-conditioning only when necessary. The six schools rank among the top in the Singapore education scene, comprising the Raffles secondary schools and its junior college, Hwa Chong Institution, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and NUS High School of Mathematics and Science. They all run both the Integrated Programme (IP) and Gifted Education Programme (GEP). The IP provides a seamless secondary and junior college education with students bypassing the O levels. The GEP caters to students in the top 1 to 2 per cent of their cohort.

https://www.reach.gov.sg/YourSay/DiscussionForum/tabid/101/mode/3/Default.aspx?ssFormAction=[[ssBlogThread_VIEW]]&tid=[[14714]]#top excerpt: " Together with other mission schools, they were told by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to moderate fund-raising activities for campus upgrading. MOE’s approval would need to be sought if schools want to raise money for “non-standard” features such as swimming pools. Additionally, all schools with air-conditioned classrooms must also install fans and use air-conditioning only when necessary. " Why restrict private fund raising??? And what is with the aircon usage statement? They want students to study under sweltering heat???

The driver of a white lorry, Mr Ramli Akbar, was arrested after his vehicle swerved across four lanes on Sembawang Road before hitting a tree, tipping over and crashing into an Audi sedan on Monday night. A pill found on the driver has been sent to the Central Narcotics Bureau for testing. A lorry driver who had been taking shipyard workers home was arrested after losing control of his vehicle and swerving across four lanes into a tree. The lorry, with three Indian workers in the back and three locals in the front, ran into the kerb at a junction before careering across Sembawang Road into the tree and tipping over onto its side. It skidded for about 3m before crashing into a white Audi sedan parked in front of a seafood restaurant. One Indian worker, Mr Chala Kannan, in his 30s, was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. He later regained consciousness and was being treated for a broken finger yesterday. The other workers escaped with superficial injuries. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/...s-tree-20130814

Posted on 26 Dec 2012 Near miss: Malaysian driver cuts into lane suddenly at TPE exit A Malaysian driver was caught on STOMPer Raymond's car camera cutting his lane suddenly at the Loyang Avenue exit of the TPE. The STOMPer wrote: "This video was taken using my vehicle's recorder showing one Malaysian vehicle overtaking dangerously and almost causing a serious accident." http://dswww.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/thi...expressway.html

the reasoning.. ---

Why can't we be more responsible for our mistakes, like Japan? TOKYO: The president and five other top executives of Japan's biggest mobile phone operator will take pay cuts to apologise for a series of network troubles, NTT DoCoMo said on Friday. The firm admitted that it has struggled to deal with growing data traffic as smartphones boom in popularity, and pledged fresh investment to tackle the issue. President Ryuji Yamada will have his remuneration reduced by 20 percent for three months while the other executives will take a 10 percent cut over the same period. "I deeply apologise to our customers for the huge trouble," Yamada told a news conference. The cuts were "a clear means of taking responsibility for causing the series of network malfunctions, and leakage of personal information," NTT DoCoMo said in a statement. The company's most recent network problem came on Wednesday after the company renewed equipment to boost data processing capability, leaving 2.52 million subscribers offline for several hours. In December, it suffered disruptions to its smartphone e-mail service, leading to a system glitch in which e-mail senders' addresses were replaced by those of other users. The firm plans to invest 164 billion yen ($2.1 billion) by March 2015 to beef up its network and try to stabilise operations "in line with the rapid increase in the number of smartphone users," it said. NTT DoCoMo is trying to grab a bigger slice of Japan's expanding smartphone market, but faces stiff competition from rivals Softbank and KDDI, both of which offer Apple's hugely popular iPhone, which it does not. The firm, which is part of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone group, separately said its net profit for the nine months to December fell 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 394.6 billion yen. Operating profit dropped 1.9 percent to 743.8 billion yen for the period on revenue of 3.17 trillion yen, down 1.1 percent. NTT DoCoMo slightly downgraded its full-year net profit forecast from 514 billion yen to 474 billion yen due to corporate taxation changes.

Happy?

Posted By harsha On November 7, 2011 @ 12:02 am In Financial Services http://www.ft.lk/2011/11/07/global-banks-a...10000-job-cuts/ Banks are shedding jobs worldwide as stricter regulations and a tough six months for trading income take their toll on investment banking units. Switzerland

http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/...326-270230.html Pathum Thani, THAILAND - A TEENAGED girl was cut into half by a speeding Porsche car when she crossed a road on Friday afternoon. Police quoted a witness as saying that the 17-year-old girl, who worked in a shop, had just bought her lunch from a noodle stall and was crossing the road when the accident happened. It took place at 2.30pm on the Pathum Thani-Bang Bua Thong Road in front of Parichart Housing Estate in Muang district. Initially, only the lower half of her body was found in the middle of the road. Later, the upper half of the body was found in the Porsche's passenger's seat, which was left about 10km from the scene. The upper half of the body had crashed through the windshield and landed there. Police said the car had been stolen and the driver was fleeing.

STOMPer birdsama saw a schoolboy cutting his finger with a penknife and writing the words 'I FAILED TODAY' on a concrete bench at a badminton court near Fajar MRT Station in Bukit Panjang. He said: "I took this picture at a badminton court near Fajar LRT Station. "I saw a teenage boy who seemed to be in upper secondary cutting his finger with a penknife and using his blood to write something on the concrete bench beside the badminton court. "I think this is quite stupid. Why would anyone waste their blood on this kind of stuff? "I took this picture when he went to some convenience store to buy some water to wash his blood away. "Are students today under that much emotional torture? "What's happening to our kids these days?"

Latest : Singapore, 10 October 2009

This is good excuse for our bosses huh? SINGAPORE: Economic watchers are expecting the National Wages Council (NWC) to address the issue of salary cuts to brace for the current difficult economic times. ADVERTISEMENT Channel NewsAsia understands from employer and union representatives that the council, which was reconvened recently, met again on Wednesday. Its revised guidelines are expected next week. The last time the NWC recommended a wage cut to save jobs was in 2003 during the SARS period. In 2003, the NWC proposed that in view of the severe impact of SARS on the economy, companies directly affected by the outbreak implement appropriate wage cuts to survive the downturn and to save jobs. Economic watchers said the time has come for the NWC to revisit this need for companies to survive and save jobs. Dr Tim Phillippi, executive director, Singaporean

http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNew...202-105034.html Malaysia cuts fuel price by 5% Tue, Dec 02, 2008 AFP KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA on Tuesday cut petrol prices by 5.0 per cent, bringing pump prices down to 1.90 ringgit (S$0.80) per litre amid easing global crude prices. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawisaid said the 10 sen cut would be effective on Wednesday with diesel also reduced by 10 sen to 1.80 ringgit per litre. 'As the price of oil has visibly dropped, the government has again made a decision to reduce retail prices so that the public can benefit,' he said in a statement. It is the sixth fuel price cut the government has announced since June's 41 per cent hike on the back of soaring crude costs, which sparked angry street protests and calls for the premier to resign. The last cut, by 15 sen, was just over two weeks ago. June's hike saw inflation soar, with the August price index reaching a 26-year high of 8.5 per cent, also driven by the escalating cost of food and transportation. Inflation has since eased at 7.6 per cent in October as fuel prices dropped.

Found the following post written by someone in a forum.... quite thought provoking... comments? This is how the cookie crumbles. Please read it carefully. Let

will prices of these cars from japan shoot up??? ST 19/7 TOKYO - HONDA Motor Co joined other Japanese automakers in cutting production after an earthquake caused a shortage of parts and forced car assembly lines around the country to grind to a halt. Honda will suspend part of its production on Friday and Saturday because of difficulties buying piston rings from Riken Corp, which was badly affected by Monday's quake northwest of Tokyo. Some 2,000 vehicles would have been produced by the affected assembly lines on Friday alone, said a spokesman. Toyota, Japan's top-selling automaker, said on late Wednesday it would suspend production at all of its domestic plants from Thursday evening until Saturday because of problems buying parts from Riken Corp. The suspension was unavoidable given the lack of parts, said Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe. 'I hope rather strongly that they will recover as soon as possible,' he said in an interview with national broadcaster NHK. Nissan Motor Co has said it will suspend part of its production from Friday at two of its three plants in Japan until next Monday, while Suzuki Motors and Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru vehicles, are also reducing output. The problems have highlighted the industry's heavy dependence on one supplier and the fragility of the 'just-in-time' inventory system, where parts arrive at a plant just when they are needed so as to keep costs down. -- AFP