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hmmm.... are you thinking what i'm thinking?

There was talk of licensing mechanics similar to Electricians and Plumbers way back donkeys years, so far nothing has happen. Do you think licensing will over all improve the service and repair stadnards in the auto industry. Let us hear yr views as a car owners and for those praticising mechanics will you think this action will weed out the " shade tree" mechanics and improve your earning power and status ? PS this is not a survey, I am merely interested to have the views of all who who use the industry services and those who are providers.

Something that was mentioned in 2002 which might take effect in 2006..... http://it.asia1.com.sg/newsdaily/news001_20020427.html LTA to set up Web-based car registration platform Move away from paper trail should help curb fraud By Christopher Tan , Business Times 27 Apr 2002 (SINGAPORE) The days of used-car brokers, scrap rebate traders and vehicular scams may be coming to an end. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be putting in place a sophisticated Web-enabled system that will eventually do away with all paper documentation. The vehicle registration & licensing (VRL) system will also allow motorists to sell their cars themselves - using a secured e-commerce platform that is accessible to anyone with an Internet account and a CPF-PAL PIN. For decades, motorists often had to go through an intermediary - usually a used-car dealer - because of complex paperwork and tiresome legwork. The VRL will facilitate financial transactions via Giro, Internet direct debit, or, perhaps, even credit cards. It will also incorporate interactive voice response, provide electronic authentication, and will be connected to a network of motor agents. The LTA has shortlisted about half a dozen firms - all foreign except one - to tender for the project. The tender should be awarded by the end of the year and the system, which replaces a two-decade-old format, should be up by 2006. The authority said it was too early to ascertain how much the system would cost, but sources reckoned it should be around $35 million. One reason why the project will take up to four years to complete is the tedious task of 'migrating' what is in the existing system over, according to LTA acting senior manager (vehicle services) Yeo Teck Guan. Mr Yeo said the decision to change was not based on capacity issues of the current system. Rather, he said, it was to improve service level, as the new format will be faster, more convenient, accessible, and more secure. It would also be ready for Singapore's islandwide on-line plans. 'We want an open architecture so that future technologies can simply be plugged in,' he said. The move is an extension to a scheme to go paperless which started last year, when the LTA stopped issuing physical COEs (certificates of entitlement to buy vehicles) and scrap certificates. In time, the new system will do away with a host of documents, including the ubiquitous road tax disc and ownership log card. The powerful system will be able to keep track of every vehicle from the time a buyer bids for a COE to the time the vehicle is finally scrapped. Besides being motorist-friendly, the VRL is likely to contribute to efficiency in the motor trade. For instance, it currently takes a trader about a day to complete a vehicle transfer - which entails travelling to and from LTA's office in Sin Ming Drive. With VRL, the process would be just a few mouse clicks away. The VRL will link up various relevant agencies, including insurance companies and the Customs & Excise Department. And because there will be no more paper documents, fraud and forgery - which has plagued the industry over the years - should be stamped out. Motorists who complain about the commissions made by industry brokers will welcome the VRL. With it, the transfer of scrap rebates or vehicle ownership should not have to go through any middleman. But there are still no plans to do away with transfer fees the LTA charges today. The LTA said traders need not link up if they did not wish to. http://www.ncs.com.sg/media/clipping.asp?C...lipping=showall NCS to help LTA roll out vehicle registration and licensing system by 2006. The Land Transport Authority has signed a $36 million deal with National Computer Systems to develop a new vehicle registration and licensing system. The system, to be ready in 2006, will replace the existing system which has been in place for 20 years. LTA said the new system would be one-stop, seamless and scripless. It will provide electronic payment modes and interface with the systems of other agencies, such as finance companies. The public can carry out their transactions through an interactive voice response system and the Internet. The contract requires NCS to operate and maintain the system for three years. The new system will result in 95 percent of transactions going online, and LTA expects shorter queues and less paperwork. Currently when a new car is registered, the motor trader personally submits documents to LTA. These are verified and the trader collects the log card and road tax disc in the afternoon. With the new system, he does not need to visit LTA at all. Information is submitted online. The system will run checks with other government bodies and confirmation is immediate. LTA said motorists could then print out the information from the system when they need to. The Automobile Association welcomed the new system. Mr Gerard Ee, President of the Automobile Association of Singapore, said: "Currently when you buy a new car, you sign a whole stack of documents. "In addition, you hand over your IC to a total stranger for quite a few days. There is some risk element involved. With this electronic system, you can sit beside a terminal with the sales person, complete all your transactions." However, because the new system will be linked to industry players, there is some concern. Mr Michael Wong, President of the Motor Traders Association of Singapore, said: "There are certain infomation which is sensitive to the individual dealers, so of course we would not like that to be floating around - technical information, pricing information so that's something traders would like to be kept confidential." Mr Lim Bok Ngam, Director of Vehicle and Transit Licensing Division, LTA, said: "We got to admit not every information can be made available to everybody, but where the appropriate people, where there is a need, we will make sure that it is available to them." While many of the transactions are expected to go online, LTA said there will still be several transactions that would require people to go to the counter personally. For example, making an appeal against a fine and providing proof for that appeal. Clearly there are limits for technology as well.

>>>Ferrari has signed a three-year licensing agreement with Lego, the world famous Danish producer of toy building blocks. The deal includes development of the Lego Racers line and includes Ferrari single-seater models and a full Formula 1 set up that includes the pit area and podium. The 'Lego Racers' line will be distributed to toyshops during 2004 and was announced yesterday at the Toy Fair in Numberg. The presentation of the new line included a life-size Ferrari single-seater constructed from 146,000 Lego bricks and fitted with original Bridgestone tires. "A market niche with the highest growth potential for the development of the Ferrari brand is that of children's toys", declared Alberto Crippa, Director of Ferrari Licensing and Merchandising. "This new and significant collaboration with Lego is an important move in this direction, as, like Ferrari, Lego has been able to expand and yet maintain its identity as market leader, thanks to its competence and creative capacity." The BMW-Williams Team has had a licensing agreement with Lego for the past two years that offers the 'Williams F1 Team Racer' which has been a successful product line for Lego.>>> With that, here's a top secret, sneak peek at Ferrari's 2005 F1 machine... [inline "lego 680.jpg"]