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I believe that you need to let go of things in life to make room for new experiences. It sounds hypocritical coming from a former hoarder like me, but it is quite possibly the most important lesson I've learnt these past two years. Decluttering or tidying up is cathartic. That's why I feel clearing out your house can improve your life. Like many, I discovered this before moving into my BTO, as my better half and I attempted to clear out our guest room. Horrifyingly, it had become 'The Room of Requirement', also known as the place-where-you-dump-things-you-think you-need-but-really-don't. But the problem went beyond that. After living in our resale flat for 12 years, we had accumulated a lot of stuff. The plague of junk had spread to the study and living room as well. This is a just a portion of the junk the disposal company had to clear. We recycled and donated as much as we could and tossed out everything else. But over a decade's worth of barang is not easy to get rid of. After spending two or three hours sorting through junk while pausing to reminisce, you become sian and refuse to deal with it till next week. So, the problem persisted. Professionals were called in and even they took nearly four hours to clear our flat. The first lesson of decluttering is not to bring stuff home in the first place. Now, after over a year in our BTO, we remain clutter-free. Besides, there's no space for junk in a smaller flat. Moving office back in 2018: I ended up throwing away most of the items on my old desk. The mess is real. Attachments While there are many reasons for people to hoard, mine is simple: I tend to attach memories to items. Case in point: Parting with my second motorcycle was nearly as hard as parting with my first one. This, despite preparing for this eventuality from the first day of ownership. I purchased a Yamaha FZ16 in January 2024 and nicknamed her 'Zoey' the day I rode her home. The COE expires in November, so you can say I've been readying myself for nine months. Every day I repeated this mantra: Only by moving on can I own a newer machine with better performance and comfort. In September, I agreed to transfer ownership of the bike to a good friend 'when the time comes'. I thought I'd have Zoey till the first week of November. But the time to say farewell arrived sooner than expected. Letting go with a grateful heart helps you move on quicker. A sudden goodbye As I write this, my friend just told me he wants to take over as soon as possible. At this point, what else was I waiting for? So, I said yes. My heart immediately sank. It's like in the movie Inside Out when Sadness takes over the controls. The realisation that I would be saying farewell sooner than planned was harder to take than anticipated. Moving on doesn't mean I'm unfeeling or uncaring. In fact, our time together has become cherished memories - the best way to remember my ownership experience. Zoey, thank you for forgiving my noob-ness and at times, ineptness. Thank you for the funny moments and learning opportunities. Thank you for keeping me safe. You are a good bike, and I appreciate our time together. If you go to 'bike heaven', I hope it will be painless. Before we part ways, I shall also pat you like your previous owner and say, "Good luck!" And to whoever gets you next: "Ride safe, always." The pent-up emotions have been released. Catharsis is on the way. – Jeremy

While many auto manufacturers are gearing up for the next wave of automotive revolution, to produce more electric cars (including PHV - Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle) in-lieu of gasoline / diesel powered vehicles, are buyers and local government agencies (e.g. LTA, NEA, SCDF, BCA, etc.) ready for this big wave, and I am not merely referring to the basic infrastructure concerns, such as charging and servicing facilities. As the title suggested, this thread is more for taking an in-depth view on Safety and Environmental concerns, with regards to sales, usage, servicing and disposal of electric cars (mainly with the batteries). For a start, I will just be touching on the following, while more topics will be added in due course. I would welcome all to share their thoughts, and relevant stakeholders to take a leaf out of this topic. 1. Batteries At the moment, there are 2 main type of batteries commonly used in electric / hybrid vehicles: i) Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) ii) Lithium Ion (Li-ion), which uses different cathode materials such as Cobalt Dioxide, Nickel-cobalt-manganese, Nickel-cobalt-aluminum, Manganese oxide spinel & Iron phosphate. NiMH is most widely used in automotive industries as it is relatively safe in term of raw materials use, during charging / discharging, and emit less harmful substances during a fire, BUT have a lower power density (typically about half of what Li-ion can do), meaning it will either have a shorter traveling distance, or take up much more usable space (and weigh more) if to maintain a certain mileage. Li-ion, on the other hand, while enable electric cars to cover hundreds of miles per charge (without taking too much boot or cabin space), are much more hazardous, in the way that it can have a run-away reaction (resulting in fire / explosion) when exceeded a certain operating / storage temperature (~60 °C), emit toxic gases and substance during a fire, so more awareness and precaution is needed. Due to the characteristics of these batteries, special considerations have to be taken during storage, handling and usage, such as proper ventilation (to prevent gas built up - Oxygen, Hydrogen, etc.), minimized risk of dropping / knocking (Li-ion batteries maybe be rendered unsafe if dropped or subjected to sever impact), means of safety cut-off (to prevent over heating, triggering run away reaction) and such. 2. Building Infrastructure With reference to the above, special facilities (with precise temperature monitoring and control, enhanced ventilation system, specific fire-fighting system and equipment) maybe required for storing large amount of batteries. Mixed occupancy, i.e. storage and workshop facilities under the same roof, have to be carefully evaluated, to identify incompatible activities, e.g. workshop may produce excessive heat / spark (ignition source) thereby increasing the risk of fire / explosion. Also, is the existing fire compartmentation for building (fire code, regulations) sufficient to contain battery fire? Li-ion batteries for example will continue to burn once it hit the auto-ignition temperature, and the only control is to cool the surrounding to prevent fire from spreading to neighboring premises / units. In the case of an electric vehicle fire within say a basement car park, building structure must be able to withstand the period of time when the batteries continue to burn, ventilation system to be able to effectively remove toxic gases produced, such as CO, Ni & Li vapor, and means of cooling provided to contain the fire. 3. Fire Fighting and Emergency Response Interestingly, the most commonly used dry power extinguisher is NOT going to work on Li-ion batteries. Beside using cat D extinguisher - for metal fire (which is not commonly available anywhere), the next best option is water, mainly to cool down the surrounding and lower the battery temperature (to prevent explosion). And for fireman, the protocol is to attempt fighting the fire ONLY WITH proper respiratory protection - full breathing apparatus (prevent inhalation of toxic gases / vapors). If you thing this is no big difference from other fire fighting attempts, you are wrong. Fireman will also have to adopt the proper procedure. One important step is to cut off the power supply to the vehicle. Tesla has done pretty well in detailing the steps to fight fire on it vehicles (through publishing Emergency Response Guides for vehicles in their lineup). And hopefully our fireman from SCDF, when deployed to handle such electric car fire, will be fully aware of these steps... And here is a video taken recently, when a team of firefighters in Austria was responding to a Tesla Model S on fire. Firefighters with full BA set (breathing apparatus) Firefighters accessing to power disconnection switch And the responsible shall be shared by the owner of electric car too. They have to be fully aware of what to do when their vehicle catch fire, and keeping the fireman informed of the key information, e.g. location of power cut off switch, battery packs, etc. 4. Servicing and Disposal of Batteries The onus shall be mainly on the workshop and dealer performing the job (provided the owner send their electric cars to the right place for the job). Beside safety concerns with the high voltage of the electrical system, proper charging and discharging process must be observed during replacement. For example, if the positive and negative terminals of the battery come into contact, short circuit will arise, followed by fire. On environmental front, proper supply chain has to be established, to ensure that the used batteries will be disposed in accordance to local and international standards and guidelines. And during the treatment process, again, the toxic material and gases have to be properly taken care of. T.B.C.

For those who DIY oil change, where do you dispose of your used engine oil? Is there an 'oil bank' where the used oil can be deposited for recycling, or would any garage accept the oil with a fee?

Not sure if you guys have seen this clip on the news or people posted oready. Anyway, here it is: Damn dangerous. Bear in mind this is real and not a scene from The Hurt Locker.

Taken from Motorcycle forum, for those who DIY oil change this may interest you. ============================================================================== Don't change oil yourself unless you know of a right way to dispose off the wate oil. My address is at No. 6 Tuas South St 2. You can bring back the waste oil to us and we will handle it appropriately free. Nowadays motor tiam got to pay about $20.00 for proper disposal of 200 Liters of waste oil by authorised collectors. You can ask them to dispose off for you for probably a dollar or two. With the recycling of waste water to NEWater, it is definitely not right to dispose the waste oil down the drains. ==============================================================================