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I always want our SG govt would consider giving pension to our elderly. In the olden days, our grandparents earned low wages and now facing high cost of living. Some told me that if we want to give pension to the elderly, we need to pay higher taxes. However, after reading this late news, I seriously got nothing much to say. Take a deep breath and read on. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you didn't already know, our office holders receive pensions. Yes, a sum of money after they quit for the rest of their lives. It's in the government statutes here - http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi...le&doctitle Who is an office holder? - The term office holder includes the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Speaker, Senior Minister, Minister, Senior Minister of State, Minister of State, Mayor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Parliamentary Secretary or Political Secretary. How much? - Depending of length of service, office holders can get a maximum of 2/3 of their annual last drawn salary as an annual pension. For example, PM Lee earns S$3.87m a year now, will get at least S$2.58m a year when he retires. Mah Bow Tan will get at least S$1.8m a year. Vivian Balakrishnan will get S$800k for his 9 years in ministerial office if he retires this year. Pension lumpsum - Pensions can be paid out in lumpsum if the office holder retiree so chooses. For this purpose the annual pension sum payable is multiplied by a 'prescribed commutation factor' to be decided by the President. Someone who sent an email out about this reckons this number to be 14.6. So if a minister's annual salary is S$2m when he retires, he can ask for S$29.2m in one go. Taxes on pension - None. See government statutes http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=2001-REVED-134&doctitle=INCOME+TAX+ACT&date=latest&method=part&segid=1009775494-001719 section (h)://http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_vers...719 section (h) What about the rest of the civil service? - The rest of the civil service was converted away from the pension scheme to CPF some time ago. So ministerial office is only civil service position in SG that allows for pensions now. So what's the problem? - After the facts, this is an opinion - These guys already are the highest paid politicians in the world. Seriously, it's a lot of money. Aren't they also saving up for their retirement like the rest of us? We private sector folks will get nothing when we retire (hopefully). MM has encouraged us to keep on working into our 60s and 70s - is it so that our continuing tax payments would fund their pensions? Talk about skewing the rich-poor gap. I'm not cool with it. - Gurmit Singh Source: Link

Was stopped last night and requested to give my name and nric and speak into a hand held device by a policeman. I passed but I did drink one pint but stopped a few hours before heading back. The device measure alcohol via what is detected from my mouth. I guess if they detect alcohol then I will be requested to blow into their device. I was lucky I stopped drinking hours back but if I had taken a last mouth or two before heading off I would probably fail? DRINK DRIVING: a) if the driver is found with more than the legal limit of 35 microgrammes (ug) of alcohol per 100 ml of breath, or b) more than 80millimigrammes (mg) of alcohol per 100ml of blood Even when the alcohol level is under the legal limit, the driver can still be charged with drink driving if he gets into an accident, as he is deemed to be unable to proper control of the vehicle I guess a person can drink lots and get away as long as he ensures his breathe is in the low alocohol range. I will not do any one for the road thingy anymore. Me bad. Will not drink even a sip next time if I drive.

Changed the Hepa filter of my air purifier just now..Eck... imagine if there are no air purifier in place Age of Hepa Filter 4 months Front Back

It's the rumor that just refuses to die. We're not sure if that means there's a lot of truth behind it or it's just wishful thinking, but once again we're hearing that Mazda is hard at work on a new RX-7 sportscar. And while you might think such a vehicle would be as easy as adding a turbocharger to the existing Renesis-powered RX-8 and jettisoning the back seat (or pulling a Kabura with the MX-5's platform), Mazda apparently has much more grandiose intentions for its next range-topping sportscar. According to Motor Trend, Mazda's oft-talked-about 16X rotary engine is now capable of running on either gasoline or diesel with nary a difference in performance. We have to wonder about the accuracy of such claims, but if true, perhaps running on diesel or biofuels would give Mazda the eco-cred it's aiming for

The air quality is getting worse even my eyes are teary when i am indoor but not e PSI (tracked by NEA)....

Some say mouth in, nose out. Some say nose in, mouth out. Some say nose in, nose out. Some say mouth in, mouth out. Which one is the correct way? I know many will say whatever works for you, but I'm looking for scientific answers, thanks. Edit: spelling mistake in title...should be breathe.

A handsome Singaporean was sitting in a posh restaurant in the States. He asked a waiter to take the most expensive bottle of wine to an unusually attractive woman sitting alone at a table in a cosy corner. The waiter brought in the elitist wine bottle and took it to the woman and said,' Excuse me lady, this precious bottle is from that gentleman seated over there.' And indicated the sender with a nod. She stared at the bottle coolly for a few seconds, not looking at the man, then decided to send a reply to him by a note. The waiter, who was staying nearby for a response, took the note from her and conveyed it to the gentleman. The note read: ' For me to accept this bottle, you need to have a BMW in your garage, a million dollars in the bank and 7 inches in your pants.' After reading the note, the Singaporean decided to compose one of his own in return. He folded the note, handed it to the waiter and instructed him to deliver it to the lady. It read: 'Just to let you know, things aren't always what they appear to be. I have a Ferrari Maranello, a BMW, Z8, a Mercedes CL600 and a Porsche Turbo in my several garages; I have beautiful homes in Spain, Aspen & Miami, and a 10,000 acre ranch in Louisiana. There are over twenty million dollars in my bank account and Portfolio. But, even for a woman as beautiful as you are, I am not going to cut off three inches. Just send the bottle back pls.'

anywhere can i get this tester?

Renault Wind: a breath of fresh air in the world of roadsters Renault has issued the following press release: Renault will unveil its new concept car Wind at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show. This 2+1 roadster with a streamlined design and lively performance combines both flowing and structured lines. The interior is elegant in accordance with the