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In my opinion, housing prices, inflation will not go up too much. because dun forget a good 80% of singaporeans are working class. if prices go beyond their reach, they will become upset and resentful. and more importantly, if 4 years down the road, they vote for the opposition, the stakes are too great. So the current garmen got to and will tackle this problem. to those working class...dun worry too much. that's just my view.

This article is not simple Non-grad parents, but they made it to top schools By Rachel Chang THE first glimpse 12-year-olds get of their secondary schools, their homes for the next four years, is on Reporting Day every December. What Isdiyanah Dulkifli, now 15, saw then were big, shiny cars parked on every spare inch in the Raffles Girls

Can't seem to find the online website address or link but today's (Saturday, 25 April 2009) Straits Times carried a story with a headline (from my memory) Four Out Of Ten Laid Off Are Foreigners; Foreigners bearing the brunt for the downturn Not trying to bash foreigners here or start a FT v locals thingy here. My issue is with the headline..there should be a better way to spin it. If four out of ten are foreigners, it means that six out of ten laid off are locals. Who then is bearing the brunt (main force/impact) for the downturn?

... so, who is at fault first? tail gaters or road hoggers? I hate both actually. But just to send message to those bros and sis out there who like to drive on the right lane with speed limit 90km/h. For Road Hoggers, get your mentality right! Right lane only is for overtaking, if your front is clear and there is a car rushing behind you, you suppose to give way. Now for Tailgatters, you think you can brake your car on time that won't cause collision?? If the idiots in front of you blocking you, just overtaking from the left and move on, don't need to challenge the idiot who is roadhogging.

I guess there are many silliporeans fuelled the car replacement trend in SGP the last few years. Looking at the trend, is it possible to see $1K or $5K COE in the near future? I know it's wishful thinking, but I believe there will be a time when the trend will slow down and if there is not enough bidders for CAT A or B. Aren't we getting $1 COE? Maybe by then, the gahmen may just decide to reduce the COE quota, basically come back to square 1 and COE goes up. ================================================================================ ========== Trend worries green groups, car workshops and even economists-Straits Times 3rd July 06 CARS on the road here are less than three years old, fuelled by an early-scrapping trend that has not lost steam despite counter measures introduced in 2002. Besides motor workshops and inspection centres which have been seeing a slowdown in business, the trend worries environmentalists. Singapore Environment Council executive director Howard Shaw said: 'It's yet another manifestation of our use-and-throw society. It's not something we'd encourage.' According to estimates based on Land Transport Authority figures, 66 per cent of the 450,000 passenger cars here were less than three years old at end-June. About 85 per cent of them are less than five years old. This makes Singapore possibly the country with the newest cars. Even in Japan, one of the top exporters of used vehicles, the average age of a car is six years. In America, the average age of a car is 10 years. In New Zealand, it is 12 years. The dubious honour of having the youngest fleet comes at a price. Since 2000, Singapore has scrapped or exported more than half a million vehicles. This is because reduced taxes, lower COE prices and cheaper financing have brought down new car prices substantially, and diluted the resale value of existing ones. Hence, owners scrap or export their cars to recover the residual taxes. Often they are able to buy new, cheaper cars without having to pay higher monthly instalments. Mr Shaw said: 'A huge amount of energy goes into making a car and shipping it here. We encourage people to keep their cars right up to the 10th year.' Scrapping cars early has also been highlighted by economists as a drain on the country's foreign exchange earnings. While new car salesmen and car owners have good reason to be cheerful, business continues to be slow for motor workshops and inspection centres. Workshop operator Bernard Low, 60, said: 'If I had not branched out to Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur, I would have had to close shop.' A spokesman for ComfortDelGro Corp, parent company of vehicle inspection firm Vicom, said: 'Demand for vehicle inspections has fallen. But we remain confident that there will be fewer deregistrations going forward.' She said this was because a change to the scrap rebate formula has resulted in much less residual tax values for cars registered from 2002. But Mr Neo Nam Heng, a leading exporter of used vehicles, pointed out that an average of 9,500 vehicles were deregistered in the first five months - little changed from last year. 'We are seeing 2003 and 2004 cars in our yard now. But we would have to monitor over the next two months to see if the figures change.'