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Hi guys, are there any budding writers here? Any would-be authors? If you are interested in writing or becoming an author, would you also be interested in joining a Meetup group for writers and participating in regular meetings (on a monthly basis)? Ever since I discovered Meetup.com, I have been visiting the various writers' groups out there and joining in on their activities. However, many of those groups on Meetup have already disbanded or remained inactive. There are only a few that still organize regular gatherings, but attendance at the meetings are usually low. That's why I am thinking of starting afresh somewhere else and start organizing writers' meetups using a new format. That is, instead of just telling participants to chat freely among themselves, which is what most of writers' groups are doing, I think it would be more productive to set a discussion topic for each meeting and have a moderator allocate equal air time to each meeting attendee. That way, no one needs to feel left out. If anyone is interested, drop a comment here.

Do you guys encounter queuing behind cars waiting to join the main road, the 1st lane is clear for the cars in front to turn left and enter the main road - but they will wait and wait and wait until they can cut straight across 3 lanes to do a right turn/U turn perpendicularly opposite. I find it very inconsiderate, when they can join the main road at the first opportunity and do a U turn further down the road How patient are you guys in this situation, do you ever horn them?

Lets wait and see. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the son of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, said Thursday that he does not think that his children will enter politics. "They will have to decide but if you ask me now I think the odds are not on it," he told the Davos meeting of business and political elite. "It's a different generation, it's a new world, there are so many opportunities in Singapore," said Lee. Lee, who has four children, took office as the island state's third prime minister in 2004. His father led Singapore to political independence and economic prosperity during a 31-year run until 1990 as prime minister, and remained in cabinet under his son until last year. Asked what it was like living under his father's shadow, Lee said: "Well, I don't know. I've never not had it. It's tough enough, but you have to live with it." Lee said his illustrious father "had expectations, but he left me to do my own thing. He did not push me into this, and neither would it have worked had he done so." The elder Lee announced his departure from cabinet shortly after the ruling People's Action Party polled its worst results in the 2011 elections. The party lost an unprecedented six seats out of the 87 at stake and its share of the vote fell to an all-time low of 60 percent from nearly 67 percent in the previous election in 2006. http://news.xin.msn.com/en/regional/articl...umentid=5810988

AS AN older citizen, I am uncomfortable about the presence of former government scholarship holders in the opposition. To me, it seems as if they are abandoning their parents who paid for their excellent education. Yes, one could argue that these candidates were in fact supported by taxpayers and will now serve all Singaporeans, and not only the People's Action Party. But, are they really sincere about helping Singapore achieve a better society by joining the opposition? Can they effectively check the Government or will they create more fighting or quarrelling like the parliamentary sessions in Taiwan? Aren't there enough ways of giving feedback to the Government? I can contact my Members of Parliament any time; I don't even have to make an appointment and can e-mail them when I need help. It takes time to know these scholar opposition candidates and I wonder if I should risk the four to five years it will take to know such a candidate's ability, and compromise national progress. A better answer for me is not to vote them in for this General Election and see if they continue contributing. I would even apply my answer to the Workers' Party's star candidate, Mr Chen Show Mao. I would like to see if he really relocates his family to Singapore, as he has told the press he would, if he fails to win the election. A candidate like Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim is too academic for an average voter like me. She makes good speeches but rarely champions a voter's bread-and-butter needs. A good MP to me must not only act as a check on the Government, but also serve the ground and offer effective solutions to the Government. I would prefer a few good opposition MPs than many who are merely interested in the glamour of being in the opposition in Parliament. Ho Lei Gi (Madam)

New non-NS Men PR who join RC for 12 superficial meetings can get priority for new HDB purchase. Is it that as long as their MP sign the recommendation letter; these new non-NS Men PR can jump the HDB queue ? Now these new non-NS Men PR can already register their eldest child with priority at pri sch of their choice; even before child of our NS Men. ________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________ I read this from the internet, just want to know true or not? So all those measures that govt implement not long ago to differentiate PR benefits with citizens, got a big lobang loophole? No wonder I see PRs join RCs

Just got my second hand Camry, Jap made, 2.4. I would have gone for a smaller, more affordable car, but I've got a....'special' deal on this one. Heh. Well, actually, I've been driving my dad's Scirocco 1.4 over the weekend. He used my Camry instead. Discovered the pain of having a car. Went bug eyed when I parked in Esplanade and didn't know that the parking fee is $5.50. Heart skipped a bit when applying for 6 months HDB parking (nearly $600). Felt my blood slowly drain out of my body as I put in $50 worth of patrol. Well....I told myself, I'll be using this car (Camry) for 6 months. After that, then I'll decide if I really need a car.....if not, I'll just sell it off. I hope I really can make a logical decision after 6 months....

A report of why actor Tay Ping Hui joined Young PAP was in The New Paper today. The actor said he wants to give back to society and inspire more young people to have a stake in our country's affairs. He also said:

More mid-career professionals consider joining teaching force http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../395181/1/.html Looks like MOE embarking on a recruitment spree, taking advantage of the downturn to coax more people to take up teaching. But reading the article, I wonder if again, they are getting the wrong type of people?? Or just trying to use the current situation to quickly make up the numbers? Even before securing the teaching post, the interviewees are already "complaining" about pay cut, loss of managerial priveleges, etc. Seems that they will get a minimum of 4-week real teaching experience in real school before committing to NIE... should send these jokers to neighbourhood normal acad or normal tech to gauge their "under-utilised talent and experience" (to quote one interviewee...)

THIS man was a country club member for a day. And he says it cost him about $31,000 Retired police officer Chua Chee Choon, 56, was also made a bankrupt for seven years. The 10-year saga finally came to an end recently when he settled with various creditors. In November 1997, he accepted an offer to join the Admiralty Resort and Country Club during a club membership drive at Capitol Cinema. The club is no longer in existence. Mr Chua was told he needed to put down a $2,000 deposit and pay the balance of a promotional membership fee of $24,000 in instalments. The deal came with an overdraft facility provided by the Bank of Singapore, a subsidiary of the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC). And he was supposed to pay the bank $300 a month for seven years. He said he was told he could cancel his membership within two weeks, but would have to forfeit the deposit. 'I told the promoter I needed to visit the club before confirming my purchase, but after she assured me of the window period, I decided to sign up and pay the deposit,' said Mr Chua. After checking out the club a day later, he decided against joining. He claimed he told the club he wanted to cancel his membership and forgo the deposit as agreed. INFORMED BANK According to him, he also informed the bank the same day that he was pulling out. He could not show us any documents to verify this. Mr Chua said he thought that was the end of the matter, but he later got letters from the bank asking him to pay the balance of the membership fee. On 19 Jan 1998, Mr Chua paid the bank $1,000 as 'goodwill' money as it said he was still liable for the contract and had signed the letter of offer. He later paid another $500 as 'goodwill' to the bank, on 5 Aug 1998, but did not get any documentary proof that the issue had been settled. The bank said it never told Mr Chua it would waive the balance after he paid the 'goodwill money'. The bank later filed a writ of summons against him for $28,100. Mr Chua claimed that the bank's law firm got a judgment against him and proceeded with a bankruptcy order without his knowledge. In an affidavit filed later to get the bankruptcy annulled, he said: 'I only knew I had been made a bankrupt in 2001, when SingTel and the Public Utilities Board wrote to me to tell me they were closing their accounts with me as I had been declared a bankrupt. I was told to transfer my accounts to my wife's name, which I did.' Mr Chua was declared a bankrupt on 23 Mar 2001. He said he used to earn about $7,000 a month, including bonuses, as a police inspector, till he took early retirement in 2000. His 47-year-old wife earns about $3,000 monthly, working for a statutory board. TWO DISABLED CHILDREN They have four children aged 15 to 25. The younger two are disabled and study in special schools. After retiring, Mr Chua said he planned to start a security firm but his bankruptcy prevented him from starting a company under his name. In May 2002, Mr Chua started work as a service technician but he was retrenched about 16 months later. He said: 'After I was retrenched, I was unable to find a job. I had to rely on part-time jobs and my savings and retirement gratuity, which was between $300,000 and $400,000. We had to re-budget our living expenses, let our maid go and sell our car.' Mr Chua was even prepared to sell his Jurong West executive maisonette and downgrade to a smaller home. However, he added: 'I had no problems paying my bills, just that they were done in my wife's name. But I felt bad at not being able to provide things for my children, and being unable to go on holidays every year like we used to.' In 2001, Mr Chua had complained to the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office (IPTO) that he was wrongly adjudged a bankrupt. IGNORED ADVICE A spokesman for the Official Assignee (OA) said the IPTO advised Mr Chua to hire a lawyer to set aside or annul the bankruptcy order as well as to approach his creditors to clarify the matter, but he ignored their advice until 2006. On 22 Jun 2006, Mr Chua learned that the OA had summoned him to court on 6 Jan 2003 for not filing his statement of affairs - his financial details and history - on time. He claimed he never received the summons. He handed in the statement on 17 Jul 2006. On 26 Oct last year, Mr Chua's lawyer, Mr A P Thirumurthy, applied to High Court Assistant Registrar Jason Chan to set aside the bankruptcy order. The application was dismissed. On 10 Jan this year, Mr Thirumurthy appealed against this decision to Justice Andrew Ang, who dismissed the appeal because of the 'inordinate delay' and advised Mr Chua to settle out of court with his creditors. He also advised the bank's lawyers to take a sympathetic view as Mr Chua had lost his rights for more than six years. After negotiations, Mr Chua paid $10,000 to OCBC. He also settled unpaid credit card and utility bills totalling about $3,000 with Citibank, DBS and SP Services. Along with the initial deposit, the 'goodwill' money and his legal fees, he paid about $31,000 in all. The OA finally annulled his bankruptcy order on 18 Apr. Is Joining Country Club So GOOD ?

you guys DIY'ing, how have you been joining large cables? e.g. 4 gauge power. if dont use distribution box, let's say u have one coming from battery, split to 2 for amps. how u guys connect at the split? same method for ground i suppose. think some amps can daisy-chain one power to the next, so that saves some headache, but can't daisy-chain ground leh (i think).

ST 10/10/06 ====================== TAXI commuters will soon be flagging down the Toyota Camry - arguably Singapore's most popular Japanese executive saloon. Taxi companies here are stepping up their search for alternative vehicles so they do not run afoul of the stricter Euro IV emission standard for diesel vehicles, which kicked in last week. The Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric, which now make up 90 per cent of cabs here, fail to meet requirements. Smart Automobiles has decided on the Camry and has put the first one on the road. It plans to roll out at least 19 more. Their petrol engines will converted to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). It costs about $40,000, one of the least costly cabs here. Smart general manager William Chua said the first vehicle was registered under the Economic Development Board's scheme for innovative transport technologies, which means it gets a waiver of the Additional Registration Fee and Certificate of Entitlement. The other 19 may get a similar waiver. The other taxi firms are also looking to use new and untested models to replace the ubiquitous Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric. The Straits Times understands that Japanese alternatives to these two workhorses will not be available until the second half of next year. Meanwhile, Jardine Cycle & Carriage has brought in two units of the turbodiesel Kia Magentis for taxi operators. Its chief executive (motor operations) Cheah Kim Teck noted that there seemed to be 'quite a bit of interest in the car', and that operators wanted to test it alongside the other Korean contender, the Hyundai Sonata. Taxi giant ComfortDelGro has been testing a pair of Sonatas since late last year, as well as a couple of Volkswagen Touran MPVs, but it has not made up its mind.

regarding DIY joining of wires: most installers, when joining, say, 2 speaker wires together, would use "clips" of some sort. i notice the clip contact points are some grey-coloured metal material, not sure what they are. what do you think of this method, as compared to, say: twisting both ends of the wires together, and taping it up i suppose these cheap clips aren't of wonderful material, and twisting copper wires together give the best contact, right? are there inexpensive clips available of higher quality that provides the ease of clipping together with the reliability of material? does anyone DIY power cable connection to battery + terminal? i've got a clip but it's of the wrong size/shape. not sure what would be suitable - apparently my clip, which looks like a loop that can be clamped into the + terminal, is too thick in material, and the hole of the loop is too large. so gotta look for something thinner and smaller .. i suppose sim lim would have such a thing, but not sure if any1 knows the technical name of this piece, or the sizing, so that i could ask specifically for it at simp limp ...