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A lot of illegal home breeders, just be careful https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/couple-spent-over-60k-on-vet-bills-but-dog-died-anyway-and-they-had-to-sell-flat-to-settle-debt SINGAPORE – French bulldog Wangcai started life with a slew of chronic health issues. First-time dog owners Jackie See and Judyvein Cheng bought the male dog as a four-month-old puppy in 2018 for $4,800 from a local backyard breeder. Soon the married couple discovered Wangcai had mites, stomach issues, a yeast infection and rashes. “As first-time pet owners, we felt anxious and helpless. We kept going to the vet to find out what was wrong and constantly switched from premium kibbles to a hypoallergenic diet from the clinic. We spent between $2,000 and $3,000 (on the vet visits and food), but his condition did not improve,” Ms Cheng, an event organiser, told The Straits Times. Wangcai was also given cytopoint, an antibody used to treat atopic dermatitis, a chronic condition he was diagnosed with which causes dry, itchy and inflamed skin, but his condition worsened. “He was scratching more and that led to some open sores and bleeding every day. He also developed hives, redness in his groin, ‘armpit’ area and between his toes, rashes on his belly, fur loss and scabs and dandruff-like flakes,” Ms Cheng said. “We realised we were treating the symptoms, not going to the root of the skin issue. The medication was affecting his immune system, and realising what we had put our baby through, I cried,” she added. After the vet said that Wangcai had to go back once every two weeks for the cytopoint injection, which cost around $400 each, and would be on antihistamine for the next six months, she and her event emcee husband felt that Wangcai had had enough medication. They looked into changing his diet instead. After six months of trial and error, the couple settled on a diet that seemed to suit him. When Wangcai was around two years old, his health turned around – he stopped scratching incessantly and “became a normal dog”. And the couple was $10,000 poorer. “We went through 1½ years of craziness. It was a steep learning curve providing care to Wangcai. That was when we started researching and learning as much as we could about pet health, lifestyles, supplementation, nutrition and many other factors that would impact our pets’ quality of life,” Ms Cheng said, adding that it was also why the couple went on to open a holistic pet store. When Wangcai grew older, other health issues surfaced – he was found to have an enlarged prostate and joint issues. Animals like Wangcai that are sold by backyard breeders may cost less, but they often have birth or genetic defects and infectious diseases, according to experts. Animal welfare groups and the authorities have warned against buying pets from these breeders, as pet ownership here hit an all-time high and more illegal breeders are selling animals through online platforms such as Facebook groups and Telegram. According to a Euromonitor International report, the pet dog population in Singapore was around 114,000 in 2023, up by almost 3 per cent from 2019. The pet cat population hovers around 94,000 in 2024, a jump of almost 10 per cent from 2019. To deal with Wangcai’s enlarged prostate, Mr See and Ms Cheng tried herbal remedies instead of neutering him. Four to six months later, the prostate did not shrink, but it was not giving Wangcai any urinary problems, either. “To understand his joint issues, we sent him for an X-ray but the issues did not show up on the film. That was when we turned to chiropractic and swimming sessions for his joint problems. They provided relief but did not fix the problem,” Ms Cheng said. By then, Singapore was in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown affected the entertainment industry. The couple were struggling financially but Wangcai’s health issues did not dissipate. “We had just started our holistic pet store... and were trying to make ends meet. (So) we held back on dealing with Wangcai’s health head-on. Till this day, I regret the decision,” Ms Cheng said, her voice breaking. “We could not keep doing MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to monitor his joints. Each MRI cost $5,000 and we were strapped for cash,” she said. A young, active dog, Wangcai loved to jump, dash and lunge. One day, the behaviour led to a tear in his cranial cruciate ligament (CCL), a common cause of hind limb lameness and pain. The CCL tear spiralled into intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) – a common source of back pain in dogs. The condition is more common in French bulldogs and can cause excruciating pain, incontinence and paralysis in serious cases. “It happened overnight. He was walking funnily when we woke up in the morning. Jackie suspected it was IVDD and the only thing that could correct it was surgery,” Ms Cheng said. At the veterinary hospital they were referred to, Ms Cheng was told that the CT scan would cost $9,000 and the surgery alone $25,000. “My mind went blank. I took Wangcai home and started calling other animal hospitals to see if their charges were lower, much lower,” Ms Cheng said. That same night in December 2022, Wangcai’s pain became unbearable and he was thrashing about and went into seizures, making the situation worse. Ms Cheng took him to another hospital. Unfortunately, the surgeon’s schedule was full. “I practically begged him before he agreed to free up his appointments to help. Then came the financial crisis. There was not enough credit on my cards to pay for the surgery and the surgeon would not start unless a deposit had been made. Fortunately, a friend had accompanied me there and she forked out the difference,” she said. Wangcai was discharged from the animal hospital after the surgery, relieved of pain but paralysed. Four days later, things went south and Wangcai was rushed back to the hospital. “The team managed to stabilise him, but I noticed he was having difficulty breathing. In front of me, he suffered a seizure, and I was immediately pushed out of the room before the nurses called ‘code blue’ (which means a patient has gone into cardiac or respiratory arrest). The vet and nurses tried to resuscitate him for two to three minutes but Wangcai died,” Ms Cheng recalled. “Did we kill him by wanting the best for him? He went through so much pain in his short four years of life,” Ms Cheng said, sobbing from the memory. For all the treatments, the couple emptied their savings. Not only that, they also sold their Housing Board flat in August 2023 to clear the credit card loans they took for Wangcai’s medical bills. Not wanting to give up on Wangcai’s memory, they used some of the proceeds from the sale of the flat to continue their holistic pet food business “as part of Wangcai’s legacy and hopefully to help the pet community using alternative solutions”. The tragic experience did not stop the couple from loving another dog. After a year of grieving, they adopted another French bulldog on Christmas 2023 – Bean Bean, a former breeding dog from animal welfare group Voices for Animals. “Having been through the experience with Wangcai, we believe we will be able to care for Bean Bean better,” Ms Cheng said.

http://www.todayonline.com/voices/noisy-luxury-sports-cars-bad-illegally-modified-vehicles "I live in the River Valley neighbourhood. On several occasions, my family has been awoken by the sound of motor-revving as a sports car speeds along in the wee hours. I understand that stock models of luxury sports cars sold here can reach ear-splitting levels even without illegal modifications. It is said on some websites that a Ferrari or Lamborghini can reach up to 90 or 100 decibels. Why are the authorities cracking down only on illegal modifications when luxury sports cars sold here can generate the same or even higher noise levels? Are these car owners given a free pass, essentially?"

An average of about 40 motorists were caught each day for illegally modifying their vehicles in the first six months of this year. Their infringements include modifications to exhausts, lights and adding tinted windows, which are against the law. Latest figures from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) show that there were an average of 1,240 cases a month from January to June - almost 10 times the 146 monthly average in 2008. An LTA spokesman attributed the increase in the number of vehicle owners nabbed for such offences to stepped-up enforcement and more tip-offs received from the public. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/...es-lta-20130811

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is reviewing the enforcement regime against workshops which illegally modify vehicles. 2,645 summonses were issued for illegal modification offences for all vehicle types in 2010. The figure went up to 7,322 in 2011. For motorcycles, 341 summonses were issued for illegal modifications in 2010, and 1,175 summonses in 2011. In 2012, the figure shot up to 7,239 summonses for illegal vehicle modifications in the first eight months alone. 1,405 summonses were for illegal motorcycle modifications. In a written reply to Parliament, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said no one has been jailed for illegal modification offences. Enforcement actions are currently focused on owners of illegally modified vehicles. No summonses have been issued against motor vehicle workshop owners so far. Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1236786/1/.html

Like that also can? Driver totally bochup, simply blur or driving BF's car? Just hope the next "contact" target will not be my ride From STOMP: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sg...rier__then.html Posted on 19 Oct 2012 Woman driver knocks down barrier at IMM carpark -- then parks illegally STOMPer Johnson said the female driver of this car backed into a stanchion at the IMM Building carpark and then left her car parked illegally. Said the STOMPer: "Goondu driver. "This woman driver backed into the stanchion and left the car parked illegally."

More motorists are getting caught for illegally modifying their vehicles, from an average of 146 cases per month in 2008 to 611 per month last year. From January to July this year, the average number of cases dealt with by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) each month increased further, to 920. An LTA spokesman said the main illegal changes were on exhausts, adding tinted windows and various lighting infringements. She said the authority has received a large number of complaints from the public and stepped up its enforcement - hence the spike in cases. There will be a first reading in Parliament on Monday of an amendment to the Road Traffic Act. The proposed changes will include stiffer penalties to clamp down on illegal modifications. source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/...facing-20121015

read this news in Xin Ming last night (sorry can't find any online version) the story goes like this... this black Malaysian car parked in front of 2 cars in an open carpark at 7am+.. The owner was a supplier who made his delivery in the morning, and went for breakfast nearby after couldn't find any lots one of the trapped cars waited an hour, honked non-stop and in the end called the police after an hour, the Malaysian owner turned up and quarreled with the owner of the trapped car... he claimed he left his contact number on his windscreen and nobody called him he also challenged the owner of the trapped car to crash his car if he wanted to get out of his lot, saying he needed a new car anyway in the end he was fined $50 i understand putting contact number on the windscreen is a common practise in Malaysia, but hey this is Singapore... and to think the Malaysian driver can be so yaya when he was in the wrong it's just like we go Malaysia and starting using tissue papers to book tables and insist we are right

This is something I heard b4 few years back. Many cars park illegally along the side of a road. A driver drive along the road and brushed into a few of those parked cars. Owners of those illegally parked cars confront the driver who knocked into their cars. The driver happens to be some big shot and refused to exchange particulars with those car owners. The driver instead calls in his lawyer, because he feels that he do not need to compensate those damaged parked cars, because they are parked illegally. After that I don't know what happen. So my question is, that driver got a case or not huh? Can he win in court and no need to pay the other car owners? Just because they all are illegally parked?

how did it go? share experience can?

My carpark is rather small and is packed to the limit. double yellow lines, no parking area etc are all filled up also. Middle of the carpark also got cars. Even police reserved lots also parked. Only handicapped lots no cars nia. But, I realised that over the year, summons are never issued to season holders (I am one of them). However, I did see that those w/o valid season tickets and park illegally were summoned instead. At least the HDB or summon people in my area show flexibilty and understands the lack of parking space and hence "allowed" us to park illegally and no summons. Hopefully, this will carry on.... Else must look for MP to resolve it.

Illegally modified vehicles were also often caught speeding By: Mavis Toh Published: August 12 2010, The Straits Times ................................................................................ .. THE number of car owners caught for illegally modifying their vehicles is shooting up. Most modifications were to the cars' exhaust systems, windows and lights - changes typically preferred by illegal racers who want to appear flashy. In the first six months of this year, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has already taken 1,381 motorists to task for this offence. In the whole of last year, there were 2,510 people caught - a 44 per cent jump over the 1,746 nabbed the year before. On a recent night operation by the Traffic Police, The Straits Times saw officers checking several modified vehicles, but no racers were caught. Two cars - a blue Honda Civic and a red Subaru Impreza - cruising along Orchard Road were stopped near Plaza Singapura because officers suspected that both cars' exhausts and engines had been illegally modified. The cars were taken to the Traffic Police vehicle pound to await inspection by LTA officers. Six motorcycles, parked near the Singapore Flyer, also got the once-over. Officers checked the bikers' licences, inspected their two-wheelers and even made a few owners rev their engines. Twenty minutes later, two of the youngsters were told their bikes would have to be impounded. One of the officers later explained: 'From experience, you can hear that the engine sound is different and not right.' Senior Staff Sergeant Mohd Haminuddin Mujtahid, who has 10 years of experience, said that the Traffic Police's special operations team would usually do night patrols every weekend at hot spots like Orchard Gudang - a spot which stretches from Orchard Road to Stamford Road, which is popular with racers. 'Many of them are from car clubs and we do patrols as a preventive measure,' he said. Spotted parked at an open-air carpark, near McDonald's in Stadium Boulevard near Kallang, were six souped-up Mitsubishis of different models. Though the officers made their rounds without stopping, their presence still caught the car owners' attention. 'We just want to make our presence felt as a preventive measure to stop them before they even start racing,' said Senior Staff Sgt Haminuddin. He added that illegally modified vehicles were also often caught speeding. A police spokesman said speeding, a common cause of accidents, was one of the main traffic offences that they focused on during night patrols. In the first six months of this year, 26,976 speeding summonses were issued. The figure was 64,983 for the whole of last year, up from 61,661 in 2008. Motoring enthusiasts, though, told The Straits Times that the police presence and the development of the Changi Motorsports Hub, which is expected to be ready by 2012, will curb illegal racing activities here. Many racers now go across the Causeway to race. Mr Peter Tan, vice-president for motorcycles at the Singapore Motor Sports Association, said the Republic's strict laws have driven some illegal racers to Malaysia's highways. 'If caught for racing in Singapore, your licence can be (suspended) and your car confiscated. You also get booked for illegal modifications, so the risks are too high.' Those caught for illegal racing can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $2,000. Those who modify vehicles illegally can be fined $1,000 or jailed for three months. Mr Tan felt that the Changi Motorsports Hub would help bring down the number of illegal street racers by up to 80 per cent. 'When we have a track, professionals and amateurs alike can do some serious racing there.' However, apart from the usual racing hot spots in Lim Chu Kang and Tuas South, Singaporeans have heard and seen races in heartland areas like Sengkang, Tampines, Sin Ming and Loyang. In June, Tampines resident Poh Soon Leong wrote to The Sunday Times' forum page, to complain that drivers of illegally modified sports cars often race along a stretch of road in Loyang Avenue, without regard for the safety of other road users. A police spokesman later said they do regular enforcement in the area, including speed checks and special operations to check illegal racing and careless, inconsiderate and dangerous driving. A 22-year-old student, who wanted to be known only as Wilson, is a regular racer who drives along Orchard Road almost every Friday and Saturday night, looking for a street race. When enough cars show up, these speed demons dash from Orchard Road to Marina Square, make a right turn towards the Esplanade, make another right turn and race up Stamford Road, through the Fort Canning Tunnel to Orchard Boulevard, and back to where they started. 'But now there are traffic policemen every week so we have to start our races even later, around 3am or 4am,' he said, adding that, increasingly, they were also racing on expressways as Orchard was being closely watched.

Thought it might be interesting to start a thread on this morning's headlines in the Straits Time. Must be the main talking point in car workshops today and gathering points of motorists. Anyone has any thoughts on the action by the police?

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has sent out a warning to flat owners: Do not sublet your flats illegally. In a statement today, it said: 'HDB would like to emphasise the severity of unauthorised subletting. HDB flats are meant for owner occupation.' A housing agent who had three cases of illegally subletting flats without prior approval from the HDB is learning this the hard way. HDB has taken legal action to repossess his flat, and will be doing the same for the other flats he sublet without authorisation. In 2007, Mr Poh Boon Kay, a registered real estate agent with five other properties, bought his 4-room Bukit Batok flat at $150,000 without any loans, listing his wife, Mdm Khoo Kim Cheng as occupier. However, in November 2009, HDB discovered that Mr Poh was actually subletting the flat - without HDB's prior approval - to 3 Burmese couples (six adults and one child) at a monthly rent of $1,900. Mr Poh and his family were not residing in the flat. Two weeks later, HDB informed him that unless the unauthorised sub-tenants are evicted, HDB would take compulsory acquisition action. As the subtenants continued to stay in the flat, a Notice of Board's Intention to compulsorily acquire the flat was served on December 23. On the same day, he said the sub-tenants had signed an undertaking that they would vacate the flat by the end of December. Mr Poh appealed the next day, claiming that he rented out the flat to the sub-tenants while they worked out their finances in order to buy the flat from him. When interviewed, he and his wife claimed they did not know that they needed to seek prior approval from HDB before subletting the flat, or that they needed to fulfill the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) of three years before they are eligible to do so. Two other cases of illegal sub-letting HDB subsequently discovered that Mr Poh is related to two more cases of unauthorised sub-letting. In the second case, he acted as the housing agent for his 91-year-old aunt, whose flat was sublet without HDB's approval to Burmese monks at a monthly rent of $1,400 since July last year. They had used it as a meditation centre, with monthly rents paid out to Mr Poh. The third case involved his daughter's Telok Blangah flat which was again sublet without HDB's consent to subtenants for $900 a month. According to a statement released by the HDB, "With these further instances of unauthorised subletting related to Mr. Poh, his claims that he is "unaware" of HDB rules cannot be substantiated. Furthermore, these regulations are publicly available from many sources such as HDB's InfoWeb or service hotline. There is clear evidence that Mr Poh, a housing agent by profession, has been intentionally abusing HDB flats for monetary gains." HDB has now taken legal action to compulsorily acquire Mr Poh's flat. It plans to take the same action towards his aunt's and daughter's flats as well. HDB ramps up enforcement against unauthorised subletting The Housing Board said it would take action in those who commit this infringement, from penalties that ranged from fines of $1,000 to $21,000, to repossession of flat. 56 owners have received these penalties from January 2008 to December 2009. Flat owners who wish to sublet their whole flat must obtain approval from HDB and fulfil the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP). The current MOP for the subletting of flats is as follows: Flats bought directly from HDB: 5 years Resale flats purchased with CPF Housing Grant: 5 years Resale flats purchased without CPF Housing Grant: 3 years They must also comply with HDB's terms and conditions. For instance, the maximum number of subtenants allowed. 1-Room and 2-Room flats are allowed a maximum of four persons, 3-room flats can have 6 persons, while 4-Room and bigger flat types can have 9 persons in total. Residents are encouraged to call HDB's dedicated hotline at 1800-5556370 [Monday to Friday - 8am to 5pm] to report any suspected cases.

I have pointed my middle fingers at 2 cars b4, one in the early morning, 8 to 9am once..... Those who have parked behind Sim Lim Square, Rochor Road, will know that there us a 1 way road, and it is leading out to the main Rochor Road... Sometimes, Motor-Bikes do also try to come in from that road, the un-lucky ones gets booked by TP if the TP does ambush. Anyway, in this instance, a car, a freaking car, yeah, 4 wheels, does a illegal turn into this small 1 way lane, against the flow of traffic, blasting at high speed, completely ignoring the fact there could be someone crossing this small road and might be knocked down by this idiot car... I trust my middle finger at this car, shouted some vulgar at him, cursing him n his family. His windows was actually winded down when I shouted.. Basket, got monies to drive car, no money to pay ERP.... At this instance, my cousin thought I was greeting a friend.... 2nd time, at nite, around 730PM. ERP still on.. $2.00 to enter, but a lady driver with a passenger somemore, also a lady does the same trick, but KNN, this time at night time liao leh, somemore, me and my girlfriend crossing the road, almost hit us.. I curse and swear and trust my middle finger as I tried to siam and push my girlfriend also away from the car.... Again the driver has her window opened, and I'm sure he heard what I shouted. This black lancer almost also hit a car too, with the incoming car also sounding a loud horn to this a------e

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tec_music_downloading MINNEAPOLIS

if warden suddenly appears, those illegally using bus lane vehicles will cut Queue to filter in normal lane, will you...?

I heard tat 2 of the penalties for illegally transplanting bigger-cc engines illegally is a fine and also compulsory payment of revised roadtaxes based on the new engine capacity since registration. how true is it?