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Are we going the right direction ?? Will it be become another SMRT ??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Cars Volvo Car Corporation, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish automobile manufacturer founded in 1927, in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.[2] Volvo was originally formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. When Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish stock exchange in 1935, SKF sold most of the shares in the company. Volvo Cars was owned by AB Volvo until 1999, when it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company as part of its Premier Automotive Group. Geely Holding Group then acquired Volvo from Ford in 2010.[3] Volvo produces models ranging from SUVs, station wagons (estates), and sedans (saloons), to compact executive sedans and coupes. With approximately 2,300 local dealers from around 100 national sales companies worldwide, the US is Volvo Cars' largest market, followed by Sweden, the United Kingdom, China and Germany.[citation needed] In 2010, Volvo recorded global sales of 373,525 cars, an increase of 11.2% compared to 2009.[4] Volvo is often compared to and nicknamed tractors,[5][6] partially because Volvo AB was and still is a manufacturer of heavy equipment, earlier Bolinder-Munktell, now Volvo Construction Equipment. Some consumers considered older models to be slow and heavy,[7] thus earning the distinction, "brick",[8] as a term of endearment for the classic, block-shaped Volvo, with the more powerful turbocharged variants known as "turbobricks".[8] The company moved away from the boxy styles of the 1970s and 1980s, to models which gained a reputation for sporting performance, including the factory-supported Volvo 240 turbos, which won the 1985 European Touring Car Championship (ETC) and 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC).[9] Volvo is known for its high safety standards.[clarification needed] Owners are often proud of achieving high mileage;[10] one well-documented 1966 Volvo P1800 has been driven over 2.8 million miles, a Guinness World Record for most miles driven by a single owner in a non-commercial vehicle.[11] According to some figures, the average age of a Volvo being discarded is 19.8 years, second only to Mercedes.[12]

In photos: Plainclothes policemen nab errant drivers The Traffic Police say covert operations are part of their enforcement strategy to improve road safety. Pearly Tan Sat, Mar 24, 2012 The New Paper If you are driving and notice two young men standing by the roadside with a camcorder on a tripod, you might mistake them for tertiary students working on a film project. They're actually Traffic Police officers and you are their "project". Because if you are filmed using your mobile phone while driving, or beating a red light, that footage will be used as evidence to penalise you. On Wednesday morning, from 6am to 8am, The New Paper went on a covert two-hour operation with the Traffic Police to catch errant drivers along Teck Whye Crescent in the Choa Chu Kang area. The area is the site of five educational institutes, including De La Salle School and Pioneer Junior College, and is known as a school zone. A Traffic Police spokesman told TNP that residents had told them there had been traffic congestion problems in the mornings when students were dropped off at school. Drivers are not allowed to make right turns from Teck Whye Crescent to Teck Whye Avenue between 6.30am and 7.30am when traffic is heaviest as students make their way to school. To warn drivers, four signboards were put up. But some drivers continue to ignore them. TNP observed at least five vehicles making illegal right turns before 7.30am. Two male plainclothes police officers, who stood by the roadside with a camcorder on a tripod, caught the offenders on tape. Other vehicles, including taxis and a private bus, were also seen stopping at the red light. But after waiting for some time, they reversed and turned left instead. Traffic Police officers said these drivers would be given the benefit of the doubt and would not be issued a summons. ANOTHER OPERATION In another covert operation on Wednesday, a man was issued a summons for talking on his mobile phone while driving along Sims Avenue near Geylang Lorong 1. According to statistics from the Traffic Police, 915 summons were issued to road traffic offenders between mid-October last year and February this year. Of these, about half were for careless driving, use of mobile phone while driving, beating the red light, failure to wear seat belts and making unlawful U-turns. The other offences included driving or riding on the road shoulder, driving without a licence and failure to obey directional signs. A Traffic Police spokesman said since last October, covert operations were part of their enforcement strategy. The main purpose is to improve road safety for everyone by targeting irresponsible motorists.

Brothers and Sisters of MCF, Do you keep track of the above? Care to share?

STOMP Road rage: He punched another driver for holding up traffic

A light hearted remark with very serious undertones: The recent 9 quarters of property prices run have made a lot of paper millionaires. Similarly there are many who committed buying those properties at peak prices. Those prices can only move down from now on. With recent govt announced measures to cool the market, it seems that it may just work. But inside this govt toolbox there are plenty of other measures they are waiting to use to engineer a slow drop in property prices. It is in thier best interest that properties do not appreciate thogh they may say otherwise. Singapore's polpulatio increase is mainly at the base of the pyramid, mostly low salaried workers. Even though the rich do come and snap up pricier ones, their numbers pale to the widening base. Therefore the means would still hover around the same prices....no change. In the past I have posted that many WILL get their burnt. Many are. They are now stuck with properties they cannot dispose of. And like the share market, there will be some stubborn ones who die-die will hold on in the hope of a rebound. They just lack the balls to cut loss and move on. Otherwise they are in the rut for a long long time. Cannot move ...cannot do anything...life stops. But in the end they will selll at a huge loss because they have not discipline in making the right decisions early. I have advised those that I know of to make those quick decisions. It is better to have a smaller place that is fully paid up than a bigger one which continnues to incur mortgage which becoming depreciating assets. It is also better to cut and run and be able to take further participation when the market moves again as compared to being held ransom to the knowing threat of dropping prices. In a years time, lets see who is left holding the baby. Will it be you?

as the holiday season approaching, our customs are really on the ball. stupid me, yesterday bought a box of chewing gum, i usually eat them to keep myself awake while driving or at work. during the inspection, i was caught for 'smuggling' a box of chewing gum... i don't even hide in, just chunk at the rear seat... brought into the room, give them my passport.. written my detail on their 'destroy' log book. wish to check.. will it leave any bad mark? i check with the officer, he told me nothing much.. just a formality to write down with the consent of destroying the gum... is that true...

for a malaysian who holds MY car driving license, i heard that once you become SG PR and convert to SG license, you will lose your MY driving license. Is this correct? any way to have both MY and SG license? TIA.

Subject: Temasek sold its entire stake in Bank of America * Shares offloaded by end-March * BofA shares sold at between $2.53 and $14.81 * May have lost over $1 billion - Reuters calculations * Had converted 13.7 pct stake in Merrill Lynch into BofA (Adds price, estimated loss) By Saeed Azhar and Kevin Lim SINGAPORE, May 15 (Reuters) - Singapore state investor Temasek [TEM.UL] sold its entire stake in Bank of America <BAC.N> during the first quarter of this year, taking a hit on its investment as it refocuses on emerging markets. Temasek has been aggressively investing in Asia in recent months after being burned by Western banks, like most sovereign wealth funds which bought bank stakes during the early phase of the global credit crisis. "We have divested our shares in Bank of America," a Temasek spokeswoman said. Temasek held 188.8 million Bank of America shares after it said in early January it had converted its 13.7 percent stake in Merrill Lynch & Co into BofA stock. At that time, its stake in Bank of America was worth around $2.6 billion, or $13.7 a share. A source briefed on the deal told Reuters the shares were sold for between $2.53 and $14.81 during the first quarter of this year. Assuming an average price of $8.67, Temasek may have suffered a loss of over $1 billion, according to Reuters calculations. Temasek declined to provide the average selling price of its BofA shares.

FAST TO RAISE PRICES ... SLOW TO LOWER ... ALTHOUGH WE DRIVERS KNOW THE SCHEMING AND CUNNING OF THE CARTEL, WE ALSO KNOW THAT THERE'S REALLY NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT ... SIMPLY BECAUSE COMPETITION IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS EVERY KIOSK SELLING AT SAME PRICE ... HOW TO COMPETE??? REWARDS POINTS ETC ... ALL ALMMOST THE SAME ... HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE AT LEAST WHEN I'M DRIVING AROUND IN AUSTRALIA, I CAN REALLY SEE KIOSKS SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH DIFFERENT PRICINGS ... FAKE COMPETITION ... SIGH

Abstract from CNA, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../357567/1/.html PARIS - France's army chief of staff resigned Tuesday two days after a soldier wounded 17 people by mistakenly firing live ammunition into the crowd during a display at an army base, the presidency said. President Nicolas Sarkozy promised severe punishment following the shooting, which happened as hundreds of parents and children watched a mock hostage rescue operation Sunday near the southwestern city of Carcassonne. "The president of the republic, head of the armed forces, has accepted the offer of resignation by General Bruno Cuche, chief of staff of the army," Sarkozy's office said in a statement, calling it a "powerful gesture". Fifteen bystanders including five children were wounded in the shooting as were two soldiers. A three-year-old boy was in serious but stable condition after taking bullets in the heart and in the arm. General Cuche had ordered an army command investigation into the incident, with a four-star general due to report back within a week. But Defence Minister Herve Morin contacted Cuche to say the shooting had revealed "serious shortfalls" in army safety procedures and asking him to adopt immediate sanctions against those responsible, the defence ministry said. Morin told RTL radio the general considered himself "first and foremost responsible, as the army chief of staff in charge of preparing and training forces." He said Cuche had "acknowledged his role of leader and his responsibility as leader," paying tribute to "a truly great soldier, a man who is aware of his responsibilities, and of the image of the army." Trained at France's elite Saint-Cyr military academy, the 60-year-old Cuche, who served as a commander of NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo in 1999, stands down after two years in the top post. The 28-year-old sergeant who fired the shots from his assault rifle was being held in custody and was expected to be charged Tuesday with causing unintentional injury. The sergeant, who was officially suspended from duty on Tuesday, has been described as an experienced soldier with no history of psychological problems. Prosecutors said he had been carrying a live magazine in his pocket, wrongly left there after a recent military operation, and had used it to reload his rifle instead of using blanks. After visiting the wounded children in hospital Monday, Sarkozy said the shooting was the result of "unacceptable negligence", promising a "rapid and severe response". Sarkozy's office said he was "closely following the various investigations" and that "he intends for the armed forces to draw full consequences in terms of organisation and operations." A witness, who asked not to be named, told AFP he saw seven or eight soldiers with guns taking part in the simulation, one of whom was posing as a terrorist in the middle of the spectators. "Suddenly, people were falling, we thought it was part of the exercise, and then we saw blood." - this is leading by example....