Search the Community

anyone trained in either or both? wanna hear ur feedback. nowadays alot of siao lang, better to learn some skills to fight in case i kena some idiots in malaysia or above. or any AMDK in Singapore. lol

SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has had his defence minister executed with anti-aircraft fire for insubordination and dozing off during formal military rallies, South Korean intelligence said Wednesday, hinting at possible instability in the Pyongyang leadership. If confirmed, it marks another demonstration of Kim's ruthlessness in dealing with even the most senior officials suspected of disloyalty, following the execution of his uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song-Thaek in 2013. It also points to possible power struggles within the top leadership, following Kim Jong-Un's decision to cancel a scheduled visit to Moscow last week in order to deal with "internal issues". Late last month, the NIS reported that Kim had ordered the execution of 15 senior officials so far this year, including two vice ministers, for questioning his authority. In a briefing Wednesday to a parliamentary committee, Han Ki-Beom, the deputy director of the South's National Intelligence Agency (NIS) said hundreds of people witnessed the execution of minister Hyon Yong-Chol, which was believed to have been carried out with an anti-aircraft gun around April 30 at a military academy in northern Pyongyang. - See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/s-korea-says-north-executed-defence-minister-anti-aircraft-gun#sthash.9S6XTa3e.dpuf

Was reading CNA on-line when came upon this ............. Indonesia jails man who fought off mob attackers SERANG, Indonesia: An Indonesian court on Monday jailed a minority sect member for six months for defending himself and others from a lynch mob which killed three of his friends earlier this year. The sentence was the same or stiffer than those handed out last month to 12 Islamic extremists who led the mob in the February rampage, including a teenager who was filmed crushing one victim's head with a stone. Human rights activists expressed outrage that one of those wounded by the mob should be jailed for longer than the leaders of the violence. A panel of judges found Ahmadiyah sect member Deden Sudjana guilty of ill-treatment and ignoring an order to evacuate the sect's property in Cikeusik, western Java, as the armed mob arrived. "The defendant failed to act following the police order to evacuate," one of the judges told Serang district court. "Video footage shows the defendant started punching a man with a black jacket," the judge added. Wearing a traditional batik shirt, the 48-year old defendant heard the sentence in stunned silence. Later he told AFP he was "disappointed" with the ruling. "It's embarrassing. I'm purely a victim who has been criminalised in my own country," he told AFP. Ahmadiyah, unlike mainstream Muslims, do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet and are regarded as heretics and blasphemers by conservatives in countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan. Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson said: "The inconsistency between the trials of those who killed the Ahmadiyah and the trial of Deden Sudjana is appalling and smacks of injustice. "Those responsible for the deaths of three Ahmadis got three to six months, and Sudjana also got six months - seems like the Ahmadiyah face blatant discrimination not just from Islamic militant mobs, but also from an Indonesian court." One of the mob, members of Indonesia's majority Sunni sect, almost severed Sudjana's left hand with a machete during the February 6 onslaught, which pitted about 20 Ahmadiyah followers against around 1,500 enraged fanatics. A secretly filmed video of the Cikeusik rampage sparked international concern when it appeared online within days of the attack. The footage shows police fleeing the scene as the mob - armed with machetes and knives and shouting abuse at the "infidels" - launched their attack. A handful of Ahmadiyah men tried to defend the property with stones and slingshots but were quickly overwhelmed. Pearson said the Indonesian government "should clean up its justice system", which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono admits is at the mercy of a "court mafia" of corrupt police, prosecutors and judges.

SAF Volunteer Corps to open applications tomorrow Only Permanent Residents (PR) and Singaporeans who are not liable for National Service are eligible to join the SAFVC as volunteers. This includes women, first generation PRs and new citizens. They are also required to between 18 to 45 years of age. http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/saf-volunteer-corps-open-applications-tomorrow SINGAPORE – Applications for the new SAF Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) will open tomorrow, announced the Singapore Armed Forces today (Oct 12). Prospective volunteers can apply via the SAFVC website or through hard copy forms at the Central Manpower Base. The first batch of trainees will then undergo three to four weeks of training session starting next March. New volunteers are given options to take the training continuously on weekdays or in modular form over a series of weekends. Upon completing the training, volunteers will be deployed to active units to serve alongside national servicemen. They will also be liable to call-ups and deployments of around seven days of service annually. Speaking to reporters at Maju Camp, where the unit is headquartered, SAFVC commander Colonel (COL) Mike Tan stressed that volunteering is an important commitment, even as efforts has been made allow the broader community to contribute to defence. “The moment you put on your uniform, and you proclaim that you are ready to be deployed, and you are deployed indeed, we will expect you to uphold our ethos and our military professionalism,” said COL Tan. The SAF plans to recruit 100 to 150 volunteers over a year through three recruitment drives. Volunteer trainees for the first intake in March will be trained on weekdays and be required to stay-in inside camps. The second intake, which will commerce after the first intake, will train volunteers on weekends. For the third intake, its nature will depend on demand. The training consists at least two phases. The first, a two-week training programme, enables volunteers to develop a basic understanding of defence. Trainees then progress to a one-week qualification training where volunteers will be prepared for their specific future roles. Lastly, for volunteers slated for more demanding roles, such as the auxiliary security trooper, they will undergo one more week of advanced training, making it a total of four weeks. A variety of roles in the land, sea and air forces, ranging from combat to non-combat, are available for volunteers. The auxiliary security trooper, for example, will be armed with rifles and accompany SAF soldiers protecting key installations such as Changi Airport. Also available are specialist roles such as engineers, legal specialist staff, medical trainers, infomedia staff and defence psychologists. Volunteers could be deployed to sea as naval operations officers on Landing Ship Tanks. Only Permanent Residents (PR) and Singaporeans who are not liable for National Service are eligible to join the SAFVC as volunteers. This includes women, first generation PRs and new citizens. They are also required to between 18 to 45 years of age. Applicants will have to fulfil pre-requisites for the role applied, as well as go through an interview and medical screening. Successful applicants will receive a letter of enlistment, a SAF card and will be required to take an Oath of Allegiance.

Two interesting defence news I would like to share: News no.1: China soldiers too big for outdated tanks: Report Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army march during their drill ahead of their year-end review in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province on November 2013. A survey found that Chinese soldiers have become much taller and fatter in the recent years. AFP Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 BEIJING - Chinese soldiers have become so much taller and fatter in recent years that they often find themselves cramped in tanks designed three decades ago, state media reported. A survey found that People's Liberation Army troopers were on average two centimetres (0.8 inches) taller and five centimetres (two inches) fatter around the waist than 20 years ago, the military's official PLA Daily reported Tuesday. As a result, it is harder for soldiers to squeeze into a tank designed for smaller personnel 30 years ago, it said. Rifle stocks are also too short for some, limiting their accuracy, it added. The findings of the survey, which began in 2009 and included more than 20,000 soldiers, suggested an upgrade to the military's equipment was necessary, the newspaper said, citing Ding Songtao, head of the poll project. "Equipment must be in the right size for the battlefield, as clothes have to be in everyday life," Ding was quoted as saying. Obesity rates have almost doubled in China since 1980, according to a recent report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a London-based think tank. The rise was attributed to diets changing with incomes rising, it said, and lifestyles become increasingly sedentary. (source: http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/china-soldiers-too-big-outdated-tanks-report ) Comments: Heng ours is now German Leopard 2A4s (dun pray pray still U-lopian wan hor) and no longer the outdated, outgunned French AMX13s if not our modern (and errr...well-fed) tankees like their Chinese counterparts may not be able to cramp into the French ones News no. 2 (this one I read liao cannot stop ) Malaysia Malaysia to lease fighter jets amid money issues, says report February 16, 2014 Singapore Air Force aerobatics team 'Black Knights' flies in formation at the Singapore Airshow on February 14, 2014, where multibillion-dollar deals were made showing the Asia Pacific region's importance as the growth driver of global aviation. – AFP pic, February 16, 2014. Defence industry executives have revealed that Malaysia was looking to lease fighter jets instead of purchasing them as the country faces shortage of funds, according to US-based military journal Defensenews. It said Putrajaya had put off plans to purchase multi-role combat aircraft on ice last year due to fiscal and political reasons. Aircraft manufacturers Boeing, BAE Systems and Saab are reportedly preparing to submit leasing proposals in the hopes of reviving the deal and making it palatable, the report added. The journal quoted industry executives who attended the Singapore Airshow last week that Dassault Aviation and Sukhoi could offer leasing deals to Malaysia. "Competitors are offering leasing proposals as Putrajaya appears to be mindful of the need for an affordable solution," said BAE's group business development director Alan Garwood. "The entire programme is now centred around affordability," he added. Defensenews said the Royal Malaysian Air Force was looking for a straight purchase of a new jet to replace its aging MIG-29 fighters, which are due to leave the service next year. Putrajaya has come under pressure over escalating living costs following its subsidy rationalisation programme, which saw prices of essential items such as fuel and sugar going up. "This makes it politically difficult to approve a multi-billion ringgit deal for the purchase of aircraft fighter jets," Defensenews reported. The journal also quoted another industry executive who wondered whether Malaysia had the political will to make any kind of selection at this time, leasing or otherwise. "The current political debate is about the rising cost of living, so is this the best time to go looking for investment in defence equipment? "Timing is difficult. Moreover, do they care about this problem higher up in Putrajaya?" he asked. – February 16, 2014. (source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-to-lease-fighter-jets-amid-money-issues-says-report ) Comments: If the above is true then we should not be looking to upgrade our existing F16 fleet, not buy the F15SGs in the first place and do not even consider let alone touch F35s at all. Ok ok still need to maybe upgrade the Vipers to watch over our friends down south.

Link Pretty serious crash by the looks of it. Think it's a BMW 7 series, more damage probably because the tree hits right at the doors not the b pillar( well speed does play a factor here). Totally different compared to the official "pole crash test" where the roof didn't bend that much.

Woman Defence Ministress ..... from Yahoo: Thai PM shuffles pack and takes key defence post AFP News

What a interesting idea. HAHA Bishan GRC MP proposes National Defence Duty for foreigners Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC member of parliament Hri Kumar Nair has proposed that all permanent residents (PRs) and foreigners pay a new National Defence Duty tax and have the money placed in a trust fund for men in National Service (NS). In a Facebook note on Wednesday morning, Nair said this would help impose similar nation-building duties on such members of the public and address

One thing I don't like about our budget is the defence spending. 25% of our budget. For what??? And the stupid retired general still say EVERY CENT we spend in SAF is WORTH IT. What is he smoking??? I was recalled for my first reservist last year at age 36. I was a clerk during NS. My reservist unit is wargame center. They called around 50 of us, and most of us are 36 years old, first time reservist. Call us back for one week to do what? teach us how to use a stupid wargame simulation program and press button for the SAF trainees. So our reservist is first 3 days training how to use program which can be done in 1day. most of the time is spent idling.... Then the last 2 days, the trainess come in, then it is like a big wayang exercise. Play computer game like that. For that they recalled fifty 36 year olds and paid our companies one week of our wages. I don't understand why they don't call those young reservist who has just started their careers and probably cost much less. OR a better solution is ask those SAF trainees to spend one more day learning how to press the mouse themselves. I bet their pay is much less than a normal 36 year old. It is totally not cost efficient. It is like spending money because if I don't, next year my budget get cut. It is crazy. Just to save the SAF trainees one day of their time, they are willing to pay the same number of 36 year old reservists ONE WEEK of pay just to train us, so we can run the programs for them. How wasteful can you be? I am curious about the experience of other bros here who are in perhaps operation ready units. How "wasteful" or "frugal" is your SAF unit?

No figures on those who kena DB? This should be quite high considering there are AWOL cases, repeated failures to report for ICT/IPPT/Mob exercises & other breaches/infringements of SAF regulations. From CNA: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1175716/1/.html Defence Minister Ng on NS defaulters Posted: 09 January 2012 2313 hrs

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Tiny Singapore, with a population of 5.2 million and a land area half the size of Greater London, is likely to spend $23 billion on purchases of patrol aircraft, helicopters and other military equipment by 2015, according to a new report by IHS Jane's. The Southeast Asian city-state, flanked by Indonesia and Malaysia, sits on one of the busiest sea lanes in the world and lists piracy as one of the main security threats in the region. IHS Jane's said while ties with China were cordial and underpinned by strong economic and cultural ties, relations with Malaysia and Indonesia, both Muslim majority states, were more complex "due to protracted security dilemmas that stem in the main from concerns about...Islamic extremism". Nicholas de Larrinaga, emerging markets analyst at IHS Jane's, said many countries elsewhere in the region were accelerating arms spending because of worries over China. "There is a huge regional race to defend national interests, partly as a result of China's growing influence, but also all heightened by territorial disputes and a push for influence that is fuelling Asia's spending spree," he said. Singapore's defence budget was seen rising by more than 50 percent between 2010 and 2015 to more than $14 billion, he said. "During the same time frame, we see defence procurement spending growing by nearly 59 percent to nearly $4 billion and totaling more than $23 billion," he added. Singapore allocated S$12.08 billion for defence in its budget for the fiscal year beginning April 2011, a rise of 5.4 percent from 2010/11. IHS Jane's said Singapore was an attractive choice for Western defence firms because of its relative transparency and its commitment to open-market acquisitions. "It is notable that Singapore remains the only country in Southeast Asia that has not purchased military equipment from Russia or China," the research firm added. POSSIBLE DEALS Near-term purchases by the Singapore military include finding replacements for its four Boeing KC-135 aerial tankers and the Eurocopter Super Puma utility helicopters. IHS Jane's said that while Boeing's KC-46A might appear to be a logical choice to replace the KC-135, international sales will probably not be allowed till 2018, paving the way for Airbus's A330 MRTT in a deal likely to be worth over $1 billion. The Eurocopter EC725 Cougar and Sikorsky UH-60M helicopters were among the possible replacements for the Super Pumas, in a deal that has an estimated value of at least $650 million. Sikorsky is a part of United Technologies Corp . IHS Jane's said Singapore's existing French-made AMX-13 light tanks were becoming obsolete, although it seems likely that they will be replaced by an indigenous vehicle that will be made by local defence contractor Singapore Technologies Engineering . Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/tiny-singapore-sp...-084946422.html

well saw so many ppl unhappy with our garment. and saw an article which i will just like to share When did this happen? It used to be that if you spoke up against the PAP, you feared for your life. But now online sentiment for the PAP has turned so overwhelmingly negative that I'm afraid to post this! But what's of note in this election is that my friends have the courage to stand up and say what they believe in, so I must do the same. I am pro-PAP, but not a member. I am an entrepreneur, an employer. I am 42 years old, a father of 2. I live in a HDB flat. I previously worked in the finance industry for 11 years and was at one time a licensed investment adviser in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. I have written on economics, business and politics in various publications. This is my defence of what the PAP has done. At the end though, I present my main criticism of the PAP. Foreign Workers Forget the "Swiss standard of living", we are fighting for our survival. We are surrounded by third world countries with cheap, hungry and hard-working labour. In the 1990s, businesses were leaving Singapore in drove to set up in Malaysia, Vietnam and China. The business owners complained that Singapore was too expensive to do business in. Singaporeans wanted "lifestyle", and eschew late hours, low pay and hard work. We want to be paid a high salary, and yet leave at 6pm to have work-life balance. We want to sit in air-con offices and not sweat in the sun. We want benefits for mothers, fathers and older workers. We want companies to provide child care, medical care and long (paid) compassionate, maternity and paternity leave. We want a lot of things. It is not wrong to want these things. But from the point of view of employers and investors, their response was basically this: "No thanks, Singapore. I'will rather set up in some other country and maybe hire a few high value Singaporeans to move and work there. Maybe." So the PAP government said "Please still come to Singapore. We'll let you hire the low cost, hard-working foreign workers that you need, and give you land subsidy, tax incentives etc ." And the businesses came back. Some of those that are more labour-intensive ended up with a higher percentage of foreign workers. But a good number of higher value jobs, those in the air-con offices, like marketing, accounting and finance, legal, design, operations etc., went to Singaporeans. This is at the low end. At the high end, the foreign businesses said "Look, Singapore has got some good people, but not those at the very high end. Not the mold-breaking engineers, not the Nobel Prize winners, not the think-outside-the-box industrial designers. We need these people." So the PAP said "OK, let's bring in these foreign talents (FT) as PRs. They will impart skills to our people. We will also change our education system, add more universities and research facilities, to try and achieve this. In time, we hope to produce our own Nobel scientists." And so the high end MNCs came also. Many Singaporean SMEs benefitted from the presence of these MNCs by providing products and services to them, creating more jobs for Singaporeans and opportunities for Singaporean entrepreneurs. It is not the PAP who has suppressed wages for Singaporeans. It is global competition. The third world, hungry low cost worker, is suppressing wages and causing jobs to be lost in the U.S., Europe and Japan, not just here. If we do not offer some low cost workers, and do all we can to woo these multinationals or even simply to persuade our OWN local companies NOT to set up their operations overseas, we will lose a lot of Singaporean jobs. Who are these foreign workers? They are construction workers, ship-builders, domestic workers, nurses, cleaners, garbage collectors, chambermaids etc. How many Singaporeans can we find for these jobs? Singaporeans are getting more and more educated and all of us want to be supervisors and managers, and this is good. But who would we manage and supervise? Yes, the FTs have taken away some jobs that otherwise could have been done by Singaporeans, it's hard to finely calibrate these things; but on balance, their presence ensures that businesses, and cushy, well-paying jobs, remain here and create plenty of opportunities for local SMEs. Housing policy and overcrowding in MRTs The cause of the increase in prices for HDB flats is shortage of supply. The demand has gone up with more people on the island, but the HDB has only just started building flats. The solution is to create a lot more supply, and this is already in the works. With higher supply, prices should mitigate. Many economists will tell you that in the short term, there are often imbalances between demand and supply which will lead to distortions in prices. I believe that the price distortions will swing in the other direction in 3 years time, when there would be too many houses to meet demand (particularly if demand is being curbed, following the elections, if foreigner inflows are curtailed). Over the long term however, the government's policy should be geared towards managing these swings, match supply and demand, and ensure a slow, and affordable increase over t Could the increase in foreigner inflows and the number of flats be better coordinated? Perhaps. But it is very fast to approve foreign worker permits, particularly when key MNCs are pressurizing the government for them, and especially when the financial crisis was upon us, whereas it takes a few years to build flats. This mismatch has caused prices to skyrocket. It is the same with the MRTs. More lines are being built, but they take a long time. Investment losses by the GIC and Temasek It is not right to pinpoint a specific year when it comes to investment performance. The long term performance needs to be considered. Even Warren Buffet, the world's greatest investor, lost billions in 2008, like GIC and Temasek did. But he continued to invest, just as GIC and Temasek did, and they recovered their losses when the recovery came in 2009 and 2010. The long term performance of GIC and Temasek has been commendable (based on the data that they released). An NSP candidate did a simple calculation on Citigroup's share price and concluded that the government lost billions on that share alone. This is incorrect. Citigroup went through a complex share dilution in 2009 which caused its share price to plunge. But the Singapore government got a sweet deal and made billions in profits from it. Maybe the issue here is more transparency on what GIC and Temasek does, but let the issue be transparency, not making losses. Flooding and escape of Mas Selamat I believe these to be civil service lapses, not political ones. As it is with the Nicoll Highway collapse, electrical outages, and t likes. Heads have rolled at the civil service, as we've read, but I'm not clear what some opposition parties want. Is it that we must have ministerial resignations for these mistakes? The international community and most Singaporeans would feel very unnerved if a minister resigned every time some mistakes like these occur. Cost-of-living increases A lot of the increase comes from the increase in prices of food, oil and other commodities in the global marketplace, which we import. A part of the reason is the tremendous liquidity that has been created by world governments to combat the financial crisis. Some of this liquidity found its way into the prices of some commodities. Climate change and fuel substitution also contributed. The MAS is trying to mitigate this by letting the Sing Dollar strengthen. Perhaps the issue is how we help the lower income cope, rather than say that the PAP has caused the increase. YOg The ministry overspent on this; that is fact. The question that has been asked is "where is the accountability?" I'm wondering, "what kind of accountability should there be?" The ministry has already offered all the facts. In my view, it was the first time this thing called a YOG was organized anywhere in the world, our most important priority was to pull it off properly. In this case, it resulted in overspending. But compare this to the F1. It was also the first time a night race was held anywhere in the world, and there, the results were better than we projected. I appreciate the risk-taking nature of our government in these events. We want our government and our children to be adventurous and entrepreneurial, we must accept that mistakes will be made. Under-budgeting, as any entrepreneur will tell you, is very real in any new, untested venture. Are we telling our government to only do things when they have 100% confidence, and not risk making any mistake? That's what kiasu is, and we don't want that. Main criticism of PAP for a lot of my friends, it's the arrogance. They may believe that the PAP is the best party to run the country, but they are voting opposition anyway because they have had enough of the arrogant PAP style. That's heart over head, but that's what we are like as human beings. Our minds will be closed to the best logic if our hearts are not there. We will accept the most perverse logic, even to our deaths, if our hearts are won. And politics is about winning hearts, not minds. So for my friends whose hearts are lost to the PAP, even if Pullitzer prize winning arguments are presented here (or estate upgrading), it is of no use. That arrogant style was actually appreciated by an earlier generation of Singaporeans, who were less educated. It wasn't called arrogance then. It was called strength of conviction, it was called leadership. It was called decisiveness and resolve. In the 60s to the 80s, we needed those qualities in a leader, in our leaders. But the electorate is a lot more educated now, and there are a lot of well qualified people who can run the country very well. Their response is "look, if you cram another hard truth down my throat, I am going to stand up and take away the ruling mandate away from you." And that is precisely what a few very qualified candidates are trying to do now, representing all the other Singaporeans who have had it up to here with the "I-know-it-all, you-just-listen-to-me" style. For the previous generation, the PAP may have been the only answer. It is not so with this generation Can the PAP be less arrogant? I think PM Lee is trying, as we can see from his apology yesterday. Is it too little too late? Will the PAP really change in the future? I believe in PM Lee's resolve, but that's just me. What are my views about the opposition? On an overall basis, I don't think that a multi-party parliament is necessarily a better one. In fact, when we look at parliaments around the world, the multi-party ones are more often than not mired in disagreement, unable to move forward. The evidence just isn't there. Having said that, however, I am a fan of Sylvia Lim (WP), Pritam Singh (WP), Michelle Lee (SDP) and Nicole Seah (NSP) and hope to hear them speak more often. So what am I saying? What is my conclusion? I am not persuading anyone to vote PAP. That would be arrogant of me. I want to defend some of PAP's past policies, especially if they were, in my mind, done right and with the interests of Singapore at heart but which have been misperceived. A few of my friends, who know me to be pro-PAP, have actually asked me to defend the PAP. Perhaps they are sitting on the fence andstruggling with the decision and want to hear a different side from what is mainly circulating online now. I hope this helps. Overall, I hope Singaporeans will vote who they honestly believed to be the best candidates for them. If this is done, I think that we, as a country, should be ok. I fear the Singaporean who says "I think the opposition candidate in my constituency is crap, but I will vote him anyway because I think the PAP is arrogant." I cannot agree with that.

Thanks to the flood, we now have this wildly optimistic and unsightly dike along Orchard Rd. Me thinks they should also lay some concertina and put in a GPMG.

Hi guys, just providing a good lobang for self defence seminar if you travel overseas, to malaysia or just in general against road bullies or situations where you need to make a stand A self defence seminar by a grandmaster http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?g...amp;ref=mf#wall http://samuelkwokwingchun.friendhood.net/m...ingapore-t1.htm

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/m...fend/21376.html watch it till 00:20...

First, let me begin with a disclaimer, I neither sell nor am affiliated to anyone who sells "snake oils". I have never sold or received any commission for such products. The most I am "guilty" of are using and letting people try them out. I notice a number of forumers have lambasted certain products which are popularly regarded as "snake oil" even though they have not tried it. How do you know for sure it doesn't work, until you have tried it? Even so, is it installation or other factors peculiar to your particular vehicle? Take for e.g, X-reV. Perhaps in this case it is more of doubting the manufacturer's claims rather than slamming the product itself. I have to agree that the UOA was somewhat questionable. However, with so many good reviews, I wouldn't mind trying to see what the hype is about. The only deterrent is the price. Or if truly negative USER REVIEWS are heard. Only then can I know for myself this product is BS or good stuff. Another e.g, which I used but didn't work out too well, BUT IT WORKED FOR ME (for awhile ). The SURBO. This one is rather more controversial as it is a pretty simple device. Hard to see how it can improve power and pickup, and Heng's explaination isn't exactly compatible with mainstream physics that u learn at O or A levels. MONSTER air charger, another product which is sometimes classified as snake oils. I have not tried it, and will not. But can I say that it's snake oil? NO! Did an credible testing body verify it's efficiacy? Not that I know, but I would suspend judgement until such a time that it has been tested, or when I have tried it for myself. The most I can say is that "IMHO, this product doesn't seem too credible. I won't bother spending on this as an upgrade." But that's just my (pretty worthless opinion). Motor UP, which I use and which my dad used to supply to certain retail outlets (no longer, so pple condemn or buy like crazy i frankly dun give a sh|t.) http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/04/motorup5.htm Claims were "unsubstantiated", so maybe it doesn't "reduce wear by up to 50%". However, unbiased individuals (my gf and a colleague) on two separate occasions and with two separate vehicles have reported that the engine became quieter and smoother. My subjective opinion is that power has improved a tad, may not be worth asking price (but hey i got it for free ). Long term damage? my dad's previous camry used it for 3+ yrs clocking close to 170000km. no issues. So it had a positive impact in these few cases Beginning to think i'm promoting snake oils or even trying to justify my use of them? I feel sad for u then. My hope is that some of you out there can be a little more open minded. Not say to go and TRY each and every snake oil out there. But if there is a new product, or if people report positive results from a "snake oil", step back and think, is it REALLY snake oil? Perhaps not! And for pple who condemn sth without having tried it...

Ok, judging from my created title, I guess many will presume that I am a taxi lover, which is not. But I was travelling along CTE 2 nights ago in the direction of AMK. In the tunnel, I saw one taxi on Lane 1. He was going like probably 100km/h when this Jag X-Type came behind him, keep flashing his high beam on and off like ma chim playing 'Point Blank' at the arcade. I kinda feel bad for the taxi driver because he had no chance to give way as the traffic in lane 2 was quite heavy. Not very, but probably not much chance of changing lanes. Then the Jag continued his 100X per minute flashes on his HIDs... p/s: perhaps the jag owner rushing to TTSH or something...