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i was appalled when i saw this. This is just morally wrong. And they just wanted the money to pay for funeral expenses. This is like stealing from the dead. CPF, have you no moral sense of decency? Trusts, estates, probate & wills Sisters give up bid for grandma's CPF money Source Straits Times Date 09 Dec 2015 Author Olivia Ho They can't find documents proving their ties; authorities say CPF sum not covered by will They were hoping to use their late grandmother's Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings to pay her funeral expenses. But after waiting for more than a year, property agent Chan Jee May and her two sisters have decided to give up the fight. The sisters lack the documents to prove they are related to Madam Lau Pei Ling, who died last October aged 93. In a forum letter to The Straits Times published on Nov 30, Ms Chan lamented the "many hurdles" they faced in trying to prove their relationship to a woman who had left everything to them in her will. Ms Chan, 36, said: "It's not like anyone is disputing our claim. The rest of our family thinks the money should go to us. I think the claims procedure could be more flexible." A spokesman for the Public Trustee's Office (PTO), which disburses the CPF money of those who did not nominate beneficiaries before their death, said: "Under the CPF Act, CPF monies do not form part of the deceased member's estate and are not covered by a will." The spokesman added that the PTO "will hold onto the monies indefinitely until the beneficiaries come forward to claim (them)". Madam Lau had not nominated anyone to receive her CPF money, which Ms Chan estimated to be between $6,000 and $7,000, before she succumbed to colon cancer. Ms Chan and her sisters, who are civil servants aged 36 and 38, are not the biological grandchildren of Madam Lau, who married their grandfather after the death of his first wife. The couple wed in a last-minute arranged ceremony during World War II and did not have a marriage certificate. The sisters were orphaned as teenagers and were close to Madam Lau growing up. After she had a bad fall five or six years ago, they paid her hospital bill as well as for a helper to take care of her. And, until her death, the sisters would visit her almost every weekend, Ms Chan said. To prove their relationship, the sisters tried to submit to the PTO a 1978 grant of probate in which their grandfather left his Toa Payoh flat to Madam Lau after his death, but this was not accepted as valid. They then considered asking their grandmother's brother, who is in his 90s, to help them claim the CPF money. However, the PTO required his birth certificate, which was also lost in the war. Lawyers The Straits Times spoke to said the Chans could get their grand-uncle to make a statutory declaration about their kinship. WongPartnership lawyer Sim Bock Eng said: "Where there is no clear documentary evidence, in law, it is possible to persuade the CPF Board to accept other forms of evidence, such as a statutory declaration stating the relationship from one or more persons who would have the requisite knowledge of the relationship. "The person will then need to sign the statutory declaration in front of a Commissioner for Oaths as a witness." The PTO spokesman also said the office had advised Ms Chan to get Madam Lau's brother to make a statutory declaration on their relationship, either with a lawyer or at the PTO's premises. The sisters, however, have since decided it is not worth the effort. "If we are going to have to trouble an old man who is not really mobile to help us get the money, we would rather just let it go," said Ms Chan. "The money would probably end up going to the lawyer anyway." Man died before marriage could be annulled When Ms Caroline Edmund read about the Chan sisters' plight in Ms Chan Jee May's forum letter on Nov 30, she could sympathise. The accountant, in her 50s, told The Straits Times that her family has been waiting for four years now to collect nearly $50,000 from her late brother's CPF account. Her brother Ignatius Edmund, a 42-year-old boarding officer, had been trying to get his marriage to a Filipino woman annulled, after not hearing from her for seven years. But before the annulment could be finalised, he was killed in a traffic collision in India. Under Singapore's inheritance laws, Mr Edmund's parents can get only half his CPF money unless his wife comes forward to state that she does not want the money. Ms Edmund said they hired a lawyer to track down the woman, who was found to be living in the United States with another man. All their attempts to contact her have been ignored. Ms Edmund's mother last went to the Public Trustee's Office (PTO) in May to plead their case. She died last month. Ms Edmund's 83-year-old father is now living in India. Ms Edmund said: "If we had the rest of the money, my dad could afford to buy an apartment in Singapore and live here... We've tried to come at it from all angles, but they (the PTO) are so rigid. I'm so tired of this whole thing." Olivia Ho - See more at: http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/slw/headlinesnews/74348-sisters-give-up-bid-for-grandmas-cpf-money.html#sthash.vHNEml0i.ZHtRwR2W.dpuf

Hi guys just a warning on buying Apple Care. I bought my Macbook almost 3 years ago(Apple care warranty till March 2013). I just sent my Mac in for repair and they say that there are signs of Water Damage. The proof they say is that some parts are corroded. As such the warranty is void and the repair bill is 1200. Do the think I'm stupid? BTW I never spilled any water on the Mac. This will be the last time I will EVER buy ANY APPLE product. Also note that there has been a lot of this claim of water damage by Apple so that they will VOID the warranty.

Congrats to the 1CDO for winning once again the Best Combat Unit this year Source: http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/about_us/...10_history.html From CNA: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...2106o18/1/.html The tough cookies with red berets By Leong Wai Kit | Posted: 29 June 2012 1142 hrs

I am all for this system but also a realist to know that some folks will abuse it if implemented... From ST Forum: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/...ory_793022.html EMPLOYMENT ACT REVIEW Replace MCs with honour system Published on Apr 27, 2012 I AM a doctor in a public primary health-care institution, and am currently on a six-week attachment at a hospital in San Francisco to learn some of their best practices. My hosts here have heard many good things about Singapore and its health-care system and are as keen to learn from me as I am from them. One thing which I have found difficult to explain to them is the fact that many of our patients are those seeking medical certification for sick leave, adding to our already overloaded system ('Beefing up the Employment Act'; Wednesday). It is ridiculous that people who are entrusted with carrying firearms, administering medication, making financial decisions on behalf of others or educating our young are not trusted to call in sick on their own without having to visit a doctor first. Often, patients just need a day of rest with some medication which they can easily obtain from a pharmacy before going back to work reinvigorated. In San Francisco, people are entitled to some 10 to 14 days of sick leave a year. If they take sick leave beyond a certain period, they are then required to produce a sick note. Otherwise, it is based on an honour system which seems to work well. I wonder if the Ministry of Manpower will consider removing the need for sick leave to be certified by a doctor as is stated in the Employment Act. It could limit the need for a doctor's certification only for sick leave of three days or more. This will greatly reduce the strain on public resources, freeing up time in the doctors' consulting rooms for those patients who truly need the time, as well as empower employees to take better charge of their own health. I am sure the different organisations can come up with their own incentive programmes to ensure that employees stay healthy. Dr David Tan Hsien Yung

Anyone into playing the above title? Want to find some pple to form a SG clan.