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I heard from the news that the Malaysia Government increased the petrol price of RON97 to RM2.40, up by RM0.10 from this morning. Anyone went to pump petrol today?

Now that condoms have to be authenticated by the HSA, the price has shot up. So family-planning couplings are doing away with condoms to cut cost, thus resulting in higher pregnancy rate. What a clever move to get more babies in Singapore. Now, they also make money from the sex trade in Geylang, because only condoms authenticated by the HSA at exorbitant cost can be used. See report below: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Woman arrested with 100 packets of condoms A 30 year old woman was arrested for trying to bring in 100 packs of condoms from JB. She pleaded guilty to importing a medical device not registered with the HSA, and was fined $2000 and jailed for 2 weeks. (recent some editor killing someone while using handphone - fine and 1 day jail) Since condoms have been reclassified as a medical device class C (together with knee and hip implants and other orthopaedic implants used by the orthopaedic surgeon), there is a big shortage of condoms, and the prices have shot through the roof. You must first register a medical device before you can import it, and you need a licence to import a medical device. The ministers are rubbing their hands in glee, because there is an explosion of pregnancies. Why, we should have thought about this long ago, and our population woes would have been no more. To apply for registration of any brand of condoms takes at least 11 months, and it costs $6200, according to the Sunday Times. So for the next 12 months no condoms. Since Ccondoms are now classified as a medical device, sexual intercourse is reclassified as a medical procedure, and soon we have to take a professional exam to prove our proficiency to perform sexual intercourse. The exam will consist of a written test, followed by an (ahem) oral test, and then we must pass the practical test under the watchful eyes of 3 examiners. A certificate of proficiency will then be issued if you pass all these tests, else we have to sit for a re-exam. This must be prominenty displayed in the room, sitting room, car, public park, hotel room, or whatever, when we are having intercourse, because if we are caught by the HSA officials doing this delicate medical procedure without the certificate of proficiency , we can be charged in court and punished severely. After all, we cannot trust any Tom, Dick and Hairy Dick o do a total knee replacement using a Class C medical device without being fully qualified as an orthopaedic surgeon to do knee replacement, can we? No argument about this, is there? We must be properly qualified as a ........ The prostitutes in town are crying foul, and the ministers again patted themselves in the back: There, we have gotten rid of this vice by classifying condoms as a Class C medical device! Why did we not think of this before? Fast forward 6 months. The gynaecologists and town are making tons of money. Teenage pregnancies, any age pregnancies, any pregnancy unwanted -- there is a bonanza of abortions being done. Fast forward 1 year. No increase in take home babies. Big increase of HIV infections, syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia -- you name it. Why, why did they not think of it before? Million dollar brains.

From Malaysia Today: The price of RON97 petrol will increase by 10 sen to RM2.90 per litre effective midnight Tuesday night. Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia president Datuk Hashim Othman confirmed this when contacted tonight. He said the price for diesel remain unchanged at RM1.80 per litre. Last week, the government had announced that the price of RON95 petrol would remain at RM1.90 per litre despite the hike in global oil prices recently. Regards,

Fellow car enthusiast, please dont be surprised if you see the price of Rays rim gone up by over 50%. I got a couple of quotes from my importer last year for TE37, LMGT4 and Gramlight 57d. The TE37 and LMGT4 were around 51,000YEN and 57d is around 19,000YEN back then. I went and check price of a Gramlight rim for my mate last night and shun bian check those 3 models I was quoted last year. The price of TE37 and LMGT4 is now 83,000YEN and the 57d is around 30,000YEN. Thats over 50% price increase! I didnt know rims appreciate in value. ps: prices quoted are for 18"x9.5"

SINGAPORE: From January next year, the Medisave Required Amount (MRA) will be raised to S$32,000, higher than the current S$27,500. The MRA refers to the amount that must be set aside in the Medisave Account, after the CPF Minimum Sum requirement has been met. Those who have met the CPF Minimum Sum and have a MRA shortfall at the point of withdrawal have to make a top-up to the Medisave Account with part of the balances from the Ordinary Account and/or Special Account to meet the prevailing MRA. The Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board, which announced the change on Monday, also said members will continue to enjoy a risk-free interest rate of 4 per cent on their Special and Medisave Accounts (SMA) between January 1 and March 31, 2012. The interest rate is also set at 4 per cent for the Retirement Account (RA) - from January 1 to December 31, 2012. This is in line with the government's announcement made in September 2011 to maintain the 4 per cent per annum floor rate for interest earned on all SMA monies and RA monies until December 31, 2012. The CPF Board said savings in the SMA currently earn either 4 per cent or the 12-month average yield of 10-year Singapore Government Securities (10YSGS) plus 1 per cent, whichever is the higher. The interest rate on SMA savings is adjusted quarterly, based on interest rates on 10YSGS over a preceding 12-month period. The average yield of the 10YSGS plus 1 per cent from December 1, 2010 to November 30, 2011, works out to be 3.19 per cent. The SMA interest rate payable to CPF members from January 1 to March 31, 2012 will be maintained at the current floor of 4 per cent. source:http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1172162/1/.html. 5k less to take out from CPF when u retire

Yep thanks to this fare "revision", our doc here is now determined to get a car ASAP because of "unreliable" cab service... If more folks are using this excuse than we just have to be contented with our little red dot being a giant car park during peak hours... From ST Forum: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/...ory_742416.html REVISION IN TAXI FARES Service should improve before charges are increased Published on Dec 8, 2011 LET me cite my experience last week to illustrate the unjustified cab fare revisions initiated by ComfortDelGro without a preceding improvement in service standards ('Other taxi firms set to revise fares too'; yesterday). Last Saturday, I tried to book a MaxiCab for five (four adults and a baby with a car seat) from ComfortDelGro. It took 10 dropped calls and an hour to finally get an answer. Having secured the first MaxiCab, we tried to book a return one, for which we were assured by ComfortDelGro that we would get an SMS confirmation. We were very willing to pay the required advance booking fee of $16. We received the SMS for the first cab immediately, but it took three hours to receive a rejection for the second. By then, we were in a rush to get to the airport as two people in our group had to catch their flight to Canada. So we decided to book two normal cabs instead. However, we managed to secure only one after about half an hour of trying (via the iPhone app and calling) and received no reply on the second. We even tried flagging ComfortDelGro cabs - to no avail. The experience left us anxious and irritated. We were highly inconvenienced by the shoddy and unprofessional service. Our Canadian guests could not understand why it was so difficult to book a taxi, whereas everything else seemed to work well in Singapore. The fare revision makes no sense in the light of such poor service. Cab operators should improve service or keep the fares low. We understand that Singapore has more taxis than many other major cities, but the service is much poorer. Now, we are even more determined to buy a car as soon as possible because we cannot continue being plagued by unreliable service. Dr Karthik Kumar

Median income of S'poreans increased over past 10 years By Saifulbahri Ismail | Posted: 11 October 2011 1935 hrs Photos 1 of 1 Singapore workers SINGAPORE: Singapore has one of the highest employment rates internationally and the median income of workers also increased 11 per cent in real terms, over the past 10 years. These were some key findings in a paper released by the Manpower Ministry on Tuesday. Singapore faced three recessions in the past 10 years, yet Singaporean workers are earning more. But almost all of the income growth occurred in the later half of the decade. From 2001 to 2010, the median monthly income grew 11 per cent in real terms, or 29 per cent in nominal terms. However, income for households at the bottom 20th percentile grew only 8.1 per cent in real terms, or 34 per cent in nominal terms. The government has pledged to raise average Singaporeans' median incomes by 30 per cent in real terms over the next 10 years. To achieve this, the median income must grow by threefold from the current level. Analysts said this is not something that is impossible. "What we need to do is to try and aim for growth of between 5 to 10 per cent over the coming decade before we can actually achieve the aspiration that has been set. Singapore's economic condition is actually determined to a large extent by circumstances beyond our control. So, this really has to depend on the global economic climate that would allow such an ambitious growth performance," said Associate Professor Randolph Tan, head of the Business Programme at SIM University. There were also more Singaporeans working over the decade. The number grew by 1.8 per cent per annum. There were 1,712,600 Singapore citizens in the labour force in June 2010, making up the majority or 58.3 per cent of the labour force. This is faster than the growth in citizen population aged 15 & over of 1.6 per cent per annum over the same period. Government transfers had a redistributive effect on household income. In addition, Singapore has one of the highest employment rates internationally - with nearly eight in ten Singaporeans (aged 25 to 64) employed in 2010. This employment rate surpassed economies such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, the US, Canada and the UK. The ministry explained that although Singapore's labour force participation rate is not higher than in many advanced economies, the unemployment rate amongst those in the labour force is low. With the strong economic recovery, the unemployment rate declined to 3.1 per cent in June 2011, down from a high of 4.5 per cent in 2009 during the recession. The unemployment rate was lower among better educated citizens, as well as older citizens. However, once out of work, older Singaporeans were more likely to stay unemployed longer. The long-term unemployment rate of older citizens aged 50 & over was 0.8 per cent, compared with 0.7 per cent for all citizens in 2010. With continued emphasis and investment in education and training, more Singaporeans are also holding higher skilled jobs. In 2010, 23 per cent were degree holders, up from 14 per cent in 2001. Including those with diploma & professional qualifications, the share was 41 per cent compared with 28 per cent in 2001. Forty-nine per cent of citizens employed in 2010 were in professional, managerial, executive & technical (PMET) jobs, up from 42 per cent in 2001. - CNA/cc ----------------- The above good news prove, once and for all, that citizens are champion grumblers.

Breaking news from CNA: Public transport fares will increase by 2 cents per journey from 8 October - concurrent with the full opening of the Circle Line.

Wah.. solid increment sia!

On normal roads - 70 kmh Highways - 100~110 kmh KPE - 90 kmh Some roads like the one outside Temasek Poly is straight and wide but speed limit is only 60 kmh.

Better quickly go pump at the other stations!

Since OPC seldom drive on the road, its fair enough they pay lower COE & road tax. However, they spend most of their life occupying the carpark lots, I suggest HDB should increase season-parking charges for OPC to be at least double. Its irritating OPCs always "chope" all the best lots for long periods of time, normal cars always no place to park

4 c this time round by Shell and Caltex.

http://www.petrolwatch.com.sg/news/archive...by-5cents-.html at caltex

i think this time round incease by 5 cents..... Shell price board

damn...as expected, local cartel will adjust it's pump price by this week....and this time Caltex is the one who start the ball rolling !!! http://www.caltex.com/pumpprices/default.aspx?country=6 other cartel still remain old pump price...do pump ASAP before they adjusted....

Read the article also tulan. http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,...,181207,00.html? SINGAPORE Power (SP) made more than $1 billion in profit in the last financial year. Yet, it increased electricity tariffs by about 20 per cent earlier this month. Asking for more, when the cash box is already full, puzzles ordinary people. And why a hike now, when Singapore is in a technical recession and inflation is high? Singapore Power's profit after taxation was $1.09b for the last financial year, according to its March 2008 financial report. This included an exceptional gain from the sale of the Singapore Power Building. SP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, has explained that the tariff hike was due to fuel oil price increases and the profits are to fund future infrastructure projects. (See report, right.) But this, clearly, has not appeased consumers despite detailed replies from the Government to queries from Members of Parliament (MP) in the House earlier this week. MP Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC) and Nominated MP Gautam Banerjee were among those who queried the excessive returns. Ms Lee asked: 'Our SP Services made millions of dollars and yet the price of the electricity tariff goes up. 'So maybe we really have to look into a separate formula of pricing the electricity tariffs. Perhaps one of the yardsticks is the profitability that they make.' Singapore Power is the parent company of SP Services, which supplies electricity to all households here. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) regulates the transmission charges of SP Services as it is a monopoly. Given the billion-dollar profit, it is little wonder that consumers remain unhappy over the hike, despite painstaking explanations from the company. Why can't our billion-dollar Singapore Power absorb the hike? Or cushion the blow with a smaller hike? Technician Alvin Cheong finds the raised tariffs difficult to stomach. The 39-year-old, who is married with a son, 2, pays electricity bills of about $120 a month. 'I understand that the company needs to make money. But I find it hard to accept when they make a huge profit and still increase prices,' he said. Some asked if SP, which is essentially a monopoly service provider, should make such huge profits. Dr Huang Fali, an assistant professor of economics from SMU, explained that public utility firms providing essential services such as electricity, water and transport should focus on maximising the welfare of society. She said: 'This includes making consumers better off. That's the aim of a public utility firm. 'But when these providers make money, it's tough to justify price increases.' Assistant professor Gopi Rethinaraj of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy noted that the Government is usually cautious and plans for the future, especially in terms of infrastructure. 'Obviously, anyone would be upset when prices go up. But ultimately, this revenue would be going back into the economy in other ways such as the creation of more jobs and infrastructure for future generations. 'Sometimes, profits are made for capital investments. If it's going to find its way back to infrastructure, then it's fine,' said Prof Rethinaraj, who specialises in climate policy and energy technology. MP Lee Bee Wah told The New Paper that many of her residents still find it difficult to accept the company's explanation. She said: 'The sentiment among them is that you (Singapore Power) made a billion dollars profit and upi still increase tariff by 21 per cent. That's a lot of money. 'If the company has already made so much, does it still need to raise the tariff?' She hopes the company will revise its pricing formula and consider pegging profitability to the formula. Infrastructure: Who should pay? Mr Leong Sze Hian, president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, questioned the logic behind consumers paying for future infrastructure. 'In most countries, such infrastructure funding is rarely borne by the operators. (It) is part of national development and, rightly, should come from the state's coffers.' Mr Leong said that few companies dip into their past profits for future growth and expansion. Usually, these funds are raised through bank loans or the issuance of bonds. He said: 'No company will rely solely on their past profit for growth; it'll come from a mix of sources. 'If their growth is based purely on profits, they'll never grow because you never know if your profits will be sustainable into the future.' In its annual report, SP said its electricity grid is rated 'as one of the world's best performing networks'. SP recorded revenue of $5.4b and assets of $29b in the last financial year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fair rate of return helps investment ABOUT $5 billion will be used to invest in the Singapore electricity grid infrastructure over the next five years, said Singapore Power. The company said its bottomline does not benefit from the tariff increase to consumers. This is because all the extra earnings go into paying for the higher cost of fuel, according to a Straits Times report last week. Singapore Power said that the $1.09b profit included the results of their international operations and the sale of investments. Singapore Power has three arms of business. First is the electricity grid, the second is the gas grid and the third is SP Services. Minister of State for Trade and Industry SIswaran told Parliament on Tuesday that all three are regulated by the the Energy Market Authority (EMA) to make sure that they do not earn a super normal rate of return. Said Mr Iswaran: 'So the EMA uses international industry benchmarks to ensure that whatever rate of return they earn is a reasonable rate of return compared to international standards. For investment Mr Iswaran continued: 'Why should there be a reasonable rate of return?' He said it is because if there wasn't such a rate, 'how do you continue to improve and upgrade your infrastructure?' If Singapore Power does not earn what is considered a fair rate of return by industry standards, then the company will be tempted to cut back on that investment. This is because it is not in their shareholders' interest and therefore not in the company's interest. Mr Iswaran added that with reasonable returns, the company will continue to upgrade itself in terms of technology and efficiency and those benefits will then filter down to consumers.

http://petrolwatch.com.sg/ Yeah... phew.... just refilled 2 days ago. Caltex 2.116 now 2.210 well done, petrol ftw...

I had a rude shock today when I had my cup of kopi guni at Teck Whye Hawker Center this morning. Yes, the one beside the NTUC supermarket. The kopi-Soh told me the price has increased from 80cents to 90 cents. This is the second time the kopi-price has been revised in recent months. kopi business is really 一本万利.

Went to JB n pump today,they have up their toll from $2.60 to $2.90. I was thinking----------------y not make it $3.00 Kept getting back 10cents or have to get ready 90cents. These malaysian are funny pple

SHELL Type Old price New price Formula 92 (92UL) S$ 1.683 S$ 1.733 Formula 95 (95UL) S$ 1.716 S$ 1.766 Formula 98 (98UL) S$ 1.790 S$ 1.840 V-Power S$ 2.027 S$ 2.077 Shell Diesel (AGO) S$ 1.233 S$ 1.283 CALTEX Type Old price New price Silver with Techron 95 S$ 1.716 S$ 1.766 Gold with Techron 98 S$ 1.790 S$ 1.840 Platinum with Techron S$ 1.956 S$ 2.006 Power Diesel S$ 1.233 S$ 1.283 EXXONMOBIL Type Old price New price Synergy 2000 S$ 1.683 S$ 1.733 Synergy 5000 S$ 1.716 S$ 1.766 Synergy 8000 S$ 1.790 S$ 1.840 Synergy Diesel S$ 1.233 S$ 1.283 SPC Type Old price New price ULG 92 S$ 1.683 S$ 1.733 ULG 95 S$ 1.716 S$ 1.766 ULG 98 S$ 1.790 S$ 1.840 Diesel S$ 1.233 S$ 1.283 http://www.petrolwatch.com.sg/news/view/158

Drove past Shell station in the evening, saw the nett price for 95 is $1.514. My instinct tell me there was either increase in unit price or reduction in station discount. True ? Went to Shell website and they mentioned price had been updated as of 16th April aka today.

Why? any idea? sigh....

Recently, there had been many news of car accidents which was basically caused by reckless driving. Personally, I have seen drivers who drive dangerously like driving through traffic lights which just turned red, stopping suddenly with giving advanced warnings, or just changed lanes abruptly. Is it because our current penalties for flouting traffic rules are too light and is not effective as a deterrent?