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In one week there was several tragic deaths on the road 1) NUS student take Taxi at Commonwealth - Killed taking Taxi http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/teen-who-died-in-clementi-crash-was-an-only-child-said-to-be-very-close-to-her-parents 2) Lady at Bukit Timah - Killed in a Mercedes http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/23-year-old-woman-killed-2-others-injured-in-collision-between-car-and-smrt-bus-at-bukit 3) Pedestrians at YCK - Killed walking http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/lorry-driver-arrested-after-3-pedestrians-killed-in-accident-near-yio-chu-kang-mrt-station Take Taxi die, Drive Car Die, Walk also Die... It has been disturbing me all weekend, what do you think is the root cause Is it a road design issue in general, or are drivers here in Singapore become more callous and careless? Or is everyone so tired, stressed/over worked that rushing around with no concentration while driving?

This was brought up a few days ago, in the "President" 's policy suggestions... Instead of stopping people using their CPF to pay for their mortgages, why not reduce the prices if HDB flats and not peg them to market prices with land prices? Then Singaporeans will have more money to save with lower HDB flats prices. What Would Happen if You Couldn't Use Your CPF Savings to Buy a Home? https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/happen-couldn-apos-t-cpf-213202807.html In response to President Halimah's call for policy suggestions, economist Walter Theseira suggested disallowing the use of CPF savings for home purchases. The measure was proposed in order to address inadequate retirement saving. This could be a logical concern, as putting a significant amount of one's retirement into home may leave them with too few remaining assets to retire comfortably, especially given the uncertainties around the 99-year HDB lease. This proposal would likely have a massive impact on the housing market—over the past decade, around S$82 billion was withdrawn from CPF accounts in order to purchase HDB flats. Given the scale of this proposal, it is worth asking: how would homeowners and prospective homebuyers be affected? How Does The Current System Work? Currently, the Public Housing Scheme (PHS) allows individuals to use their CPF Ordinary Account to pay for a part of their HDB flat purchase. However, homebuyers are limited in the amount that they can withdraw from their CPF savings for the purchase of a HDB lease. Limits are based on the number of years remaining in the lease at the time it is purchased. How Would This Proposal Affect the Real Estate Market? In the short-term, we expect that housing prices would drop as result of proposed rule. The rule will likely prevent many prospective homeowners from being able to afford to purchase homes, as they would have significantly less money to contribute to the purchase. The decreased ability to buy a property should lead to a decline in market demand, which should in turn cause a decrease home prices. For example, we can approximate the scale of change with some basic calculations. In 2017, $7.4 billion was withdrawn for the purpose of purchasing new and resale HDB flats. There were 22,077 resale applications and approximately 17,500 new units in 2017. Assuming average resale values of S$450,000 and average BTO prices of S$310,000, the S$7.4 billion withdrawn in 2017 represents about half (48%) of the total HDB market transactions (S$15.4 billion). Although these are rough estimates, roughly 20% of this might be supporting the actual home value, while the other 30% is being used to pay interest on home loans. In the long run, it seems reasonable to expect that HDB prices could drop by 10-20% as developers acquiesce to consumers' reduced purchasing power while prospective buyers take longer to build enough savings to buy a flat. Good News for Prospective Home Buyers? Overall, this proposal appears that it would be a net-neutral event for prospective home buyers. On one hand, these individuals may have to save longer in order to purchase a home since they will not be able to access their CPF savings. On the other hand, a drop in housing prices could offset their reduced ability to purchase homes. Additionally, these individuals will benefit from having additional retirement savings since their CPF will be able to compound untouched over a long period of time. Bad News for Existing Homeowners However, this proposal definitely could have a negative impact for current property owners. If all buyers in the market are less able to afford current real estate prices, the market forces tend to adjust the prices lower until people can afford flats without the help of their CPF accounts. This would ultimately mean a reduction of wealth for those who already own HDB flats. Additionally, current homeowners may face another negative consequence. Currently, individuals re-selling their HDB flats must refund their CPF account based the principal amount withdrawn for their HDB flat purchase, as well as the amount of accrued interest that the savings would have earned if they had not withdrawn from the CPF account initially. If property values drop significantly, these homeowners will have much more difficult time meeting this refund requirement. How to Make a Smooth Transition The proposal would certainly incentivize increased personal savings and promote wealthier retirement, which could be a financially responsible goal. In order to make this transition easier, however, there are a few concepts to consider. First, because existing homeowners must refund their CPF account based on the amount withdrawn for purchasing a home, declining home prices could put them at significant financial risk. One way to make the proposed rule more palatable would be to decrease the refund requirements for current homeowners. Additionally, if HDB leases were extended, policy makers might be able to both buoy short-term home prices as well as mend a long-term structural issue related to HDBs. It could also help the owners of older flats, whose retirement savings could benefit from increased resale value if leases were easily extended beyond 99 years. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The truth behind proposal to prevent CPF for housing https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/truth-behind-proposal-prevent-cpf-065043359.html An academic’s suggestion which seemed to propose that the Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies no longer be allowed to be used to buy residential properties, has in recent days stirred the hornet’s nest. Walter Theseira, professor of Economics at UniSIM, made that suggestion in responding to President Halimah’s call for policy suggestions. Prof Dr Theseira said that the use of CPF savings for housing should be curbed in a bid to prevent the people from over-investing their savings on housing. He noted that people typically over-invest on housing as a way of “unlocking their CPF funds” and that installing measures to limit the use of CPF monies for housing could help the people conserve their savings for retirement and health. He said: “My view is that the CPF system tries to do a little too much, and we should consider focusing CPF on retirement and health…I do believe there is some over-investment in housing, which creates retirement risks if housing values do not grow, and this over-investment is because Singaporeans see housing as a way of unlocking their CPF funds.” One such measure the authorities could instate is slashing CPF contribution rates, Theseira suggested. This would mean that workers would receive more take-home pay that they could allocate to housing. “A CPF system focused on retirement and health would require lower contribution rates, and allow people more choices in using their higher take-home income on housing, investments, business, and family.” While Theseira advocated for a redesign of the CPF system “so that people no longer need to pay for housing out of CPF, by cutting contribution rates to focus on retirement and health,” he added that he is unsure what the right contribution rate should be. His views on the redesign of the CPF system drew sharp criticisms from the members of the public. Some were initially even confused that it was President Halimah who had made that suggestion in her call that there were ‘no sacred cows’. After the public uproar, the professor took to his Facebook to clarify that he did not argue for CPF to be removed completely or even for the housing component of CPF to be removed completely – since it may help people save for their first home. Theseira said: “What the right contribution rate should be, I cannot say. Perhaps some housing component remains important to help people save for their first home. Nor would I argue to remove CPF, because mandating retirement savings remains important, even for (especially for?) people who believe they can do a better job on their own. But this is a topic for another day.” Elaborating, the economist asked: “What choices would we make if a different policy was in place? What trade-offs would we accept if we designed policy? It’s easy to make fun of policymakers, and it’s also easy to critique policy. Finding workable solutions that promote the public interest is a lot harder, but more than ever, we need to work together to help improve policy in Singapore.” Prominent commentator on economic policies, Chris Kuan, said that Theseira’s views on CPF usage are generally sound. Kuan explained: “This bring Singapore back to normality in terms of what social security is used for and will go a long way to minimise the large trade-off between paying for housing and saving for retirement and healthcare. It will also reduce the known tendency of Singaporeans of over-extending housing affordability and hence driving up prices because of the instant gratification they received over CPF being released to pay for property when that gratification can only otherwise be realised decades into the future.” Kuan added that the trade-off between CPF being used for housing and retirement is a complex one, to which there are no easy answers. “There is always that easy argument that the whole problem of the trade-off between housing and retirement is due to HDB affordability and that tiresome mantra that all it takes is just make HDB affordable. Well, making HDB affordable from this point forward is the easy part. The difficult part is how to make HDB affordable without destroying the housing equity and hence retirement proposition of current HDB owners. That is the intractable part of the problem.” “I always held that the huge increase in CPF assets due to the high contribution rates are too much of a temptation for the government,” Kuan, a former international banker, said. Adding: “What better way to use it up than let public housing prices rise – it increases the government reserves which is essentially a very large transfer of wealth from households to the state and slow down the accumulation of government indebtedness.” Although highly unlikely, if Theseira’s proposal was accepted by the Government, it would mean that housing prices will drop drastically. This is because without CPF, many home buyers will be deterred by the large out-of-pocket down-payment that they would have to pay for their prospective homes. This would in turn lead to a decline in demand in the residential property market, driving down prices significantly. A scenario which would be prevented from happening at all costs by policymakers who have vested interests in a healthy real estate market. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What the forefathers has given Singaporeans the flexibility to buy homes with their CPF money in the past, and now these people are thinking of removing this scheme? https://www.cpf.gov.sg/Members/AboutUs/about-us-info/history-of-cpf The evolution of CPF a) CPF and housing – the twin pillars of retirement adequacy To help workers save for retirement, the CPF was established on 1 July 1955. Workers contributed part of their monthly income to their CPF to build up their retirement savings. In 1968, the government introduced the Public Housing Scheme, allowing Singaporeans to pay for the mortgages of their HDB flats using their CPF savings instead of having to use their take-home pay. This increased the affordability of housing and provided many Singaporeans with a home. Home ownership became a key pillar of retirement security as it relieves Singaporeans from having to pay rental fees out of their retirement funds during their senior years.

Personally I took Scootbiz once was a terrible experience. The food worst than the worst food i ever had in Tekong, they had used spoons on the floor from the previous passenger and they didnt even check for previous passenger belongings! I found a headphone case under my footrest when I couldn't close it Sambal stains and smudges on the walls... all this on a new 787 "Dreamliner" I dont think ill ever take again. With the recent Scoot delay debacle do you all still dare to sit?

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/lta-probes-unintended-acceleration-in-hyundai-cars are the recent sonata taxi accidents really due to SUA?

about 1-2 years back, i encountered something similar with a LTA enforcement officer. I stopped at a roadside with engine and hazard light on to pass an envelope to my client who was waiting at the pedestrian walkway. My back was facing my car less than 2 metres away, this LTA enforcement officer(outsourced type) suddenly came by and immediately stopped his bike in front of my car and started keying into his handheld system. My client told me about it and i quickly approached him. This is all less than maybe 1 min? I spoke to the officer very nicely, saying my engine and hazard light was on, i was just beside the car. I ask if he saw me beside the car, he replied yes. Then why am i summoned for parking? TRAFFIC ACT CHAPTER 276: “PARK” means to bring a motor vehicle or a trailer to a stationary position and cause it to wait for any purpose other than that of immediately taking up or setting down persons, goods or luggage. He just smile back at me sarcastically and asked me to go and try to appeal. Then i took a video with him admitting that i was beside the car and HE SAW ME THERE. (since he asked me to appeal, i want to have some evidence to back up my story) I wrote in to appeal but rejected with the following reason "We have consulted the involved officer and that an offence have been committed." This is with me stating that i have all the photo and video evidences of the said incident. I was really busy that period, i did not follow up and just paid the fine. It is not about the money, but you should have seen the look on that guy face...

Looks like SG kids can make great artists in the future. :) Taken from http://www.domainofexperts.com/2015/07/singapore-youth-festival-art-exhibition_13.html http://www.domainofexperts.com/2015/07/singapore-youth-festival-art-exhibition_29.html

hmmmm. i dunno what to say. Any bros in financial industry can confirm? i use vpost all the way since it started. http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/whistle-blow-mas-and-banks-cover-recent-credit-card-fraudulent-transactions WHISTLE BLOW: MAS AND BANKS COVER UP THE RECENT CREDIT CARD FRAUDULENT TRANSACTIONS I am sure almost all of you know of the recent fraudulent credit card transactions that appeared in the news last week. Many Singaporeans who shop online received a rude shock when a Taiwan company Neweb Technologies billed unsuspecting consumers NT$1150 which they never spend. I work in a bank dealing with compliance, risk management, operations and this is the low down of how the banks and the Ministry of Finance, MAS, is hiding certain information from consumers who have the right to know what happen. It has been a very demoralizing week at work for me and made worse after reading the statement made by The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) published on news yesterday. It said, "Preliminary investigations indicate that there was no breach of any systems within the banks. All affected customers in Singapore will not be liable for these unauthorized transactions. Banks are working with the credit card associations to investigate these incidences." "The ABS clarified that while banks in Singapore have enhanced their security measures and safeguards, cardholders can also play their part when shopping on-line." Some may think it was a kind gesture on the part of the banks to waive liability for all those affected. But the fact is that there was a criminal act involved and consumers need not take on liability in the first place. The real reason why the frauds took place was because ComGateway was hacked and hundreds of thousands of consumers' credit cards and cvc numbers were compromised. Yes, they were stolen because ComGateway, one of the major online concierge/forwarding provider, did not secure the information stored with them. In other words, consumers were open to fraudulent charges not only from Neweb but also any company which the crooks had connection to or sold the information to. So when the banks say that cardholders need to "play their part" when performing online transaction, it is rather unfair. How can cardholders be aware of such possibilities, when it is expected of the banks and MAS to ensure that credit card transactions, at the operational level, are safe?! Is MAS, as a regulator, trying to conceal vital information from consumers? Absolutely appalled with MAS, as they should have be upfront with consumers and informed them that it was ComGateway that was compromised. Consumers have the right to know and take precautionary measures. Working in a bank, I can understand why banks would want to minimize the impact of this issue because it affects the confidence that consumers have in e-commerce, a fast growing business by the way. But why would MAS hide behind the shadows? What vested interests do they have? Modern online transactions have become increasingly complex as organizations try to deal with the problems arising from global online marketplaces, local merchants, online forwarders, and international finance. As usual, the government has allowed big business to grow bigger and earn bigger profits, while doing the bare minimum for security and fiduciary duty. Simply said, the interest of consumers is the last of their concerns as long as the economy is growing. MAS seems to have lost its lead role regulating the many parties involved in online shopping and the multifaceted challenges that it brings. It cannot be the case where only banks are regulated while others can operate at the lowest costs possible without giving a damn about personal security. If MAS continues to twiddle its thumbs and take a "hands off" approach, only consumers will suffer as more of such cases are bound to surface.

JobsCentral Survey: Recent Graduates Expect Higher Salary and Fast Promotions 'By Juliet Soh 64% of recent graduates expect at least $3000 monthly salary in their first job, according to an annual survey by JobsCentral, Singapore's most popular job portal for university students and graduates. In 2011, the same survey reports only 55% of respondents demanding more than $3000 per month for their first job. Fresh graduates expect first promotion within first two years of work Three out of four (75.5%) of those who were surveyed expressed that they expect their first promotion to occur within the first two years of their career. 22.6% believe that they may be promoted by the first year of work, while 52.9% indicated that they expect to be promoted in their second year.' http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/jobscentr...4--finance.html From the above which sg company can retain staff? We would need an army of FTs to be junior staff to this batch of graduates.

Been looking around but seems like a few have not update, or no longer guarantee.

FROM: http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/

Ignoring their performance as leaders, but purely for skill / charisma as a public speaker, who do you think are good and inspiring speakers? Obama? ex-UK PM (before Brown)? or LHL / LKY from the land of world-class-everything? Seriously, who else?

Just how long u think she will need? There is no mention of how long she is intend to look into it. Not that i am questioning her abilities , there is a big difference between problem solving and wayang kulit , no offense but i seriously doubt she fits the job given to her. If she say the problem need 3 years we give her 3 years when others can probably get it solve in 1? Seriously problems like that , she should give us the confident look to show us that she can HANDLE the problem , not show us the SHACK look showing that she can't. If you can't even sort out your image , how do you think of my impression of you in handling this potential crisis? Seriously , she never even serve NS , show us the shack cannot think face how to be confident in her? If your officer give you this kind of face , would you shake your head? http://www.channelnewsasia.com/components/...p?id=475489?123 Given last time , if the train stopped , the CEO would be the first one to inspect what is wrong , as with the 1st gen politicians. Now the 3rd gen ? Sit in office? Hide at home? Seriously , the minister even without sleep should allocate all the resources they can find and sort this out immediately , even if it means employing the civil defense dept to help since if nothing happen they are just siting there. What happen to the fluid co-operation between garmen and private sector? One have s--t the others stand at side look? You guys telling me that those "practice" crisis management on terrorist attacks cannot be used here? HARLO ???? Stop dreaming!!! Same what got problem , use the resources lah , 3 days in the row on a NATIONAL transport where everyone needs it , you should treat this as important as a terrorist attack , it affect national interest as the economic damage is greater than what you think, to MS Saw if you need help , open your mouth and ASK for help! To those minister that aren't taking public transport which i assume 100% of them , time to wake up , your "prompt" actions are required. I as a voter is looking at how you are intending to drag this issue? While you cut COE quotas to open up traffic , yet u allow the most important public transport to break down so many times in the matter of a few days and SORRY is what we get?

Anyone went to Bangkok in recent 1 month? I have been to BKK quite a number of time. Will be going again with my friends this weekend. Jus wanna ask anyone jus went? Any major diff after the riot?

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Walter Woon, who will step down from his post next month, has said he can do more by teaching than by remaining in his current A-G position. In his first comments since Wednesday's announcement, he said the Attorney-General's post was, in any case, one he had planned to hold for only two years, with an eye on returning to teaching law. 'At this point of my life, I think I can make a more significant contribution through teaching and writing,' he said. His response to media queries on the announcement came yesterday in a brief statement which covered his plans and looked back on his stint as Public Prosecutor and the Government's chief legal adviser. Professor Woon, 54, will be replaced by Senior Counsel Sundaresh Menon in October. In the interim, current Solicitor-General Koh Juat Jong will be the A-G. Prof Woon will return to the National University of Singapore (NUS) Law Faculty. He will also become the first dean of the new Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE), a body to oversee and provide professional legal training and practice standards. Wearing these two hats will enable him to pass on the 'wide range of experiences' he has accumulated, he said. He noted that as more foreign-trained lawyers come to Singapore to practise, 'we must make sure that our own people receive the best training we can give so that they can compete'. Leaving the Attorney-General's job will also give him more time to visit international law institutions in Europe and the United States. This will keep him abreast of international law, a key area to which Singapore is devoting resources to become 'a centre of intellectual activity', he said. On a personal front, he will also get to spend time with his sons, who are in Cambridge University. Prof Woon described his turn as A-G as having been 'extremely interesting and educational' - but also 'taxing'. 'I leave secure in the knowledge that we have a good team in Chambers and that the system works,' he said. His room back at the Faculty of Law is waiting for him. Contacted, NUS law dean Tan Cheng Han said faculty members are 'very happy and excited' about Prof Woon's return. It has been a long detour. Prof Woon left in 1997 and, in the next nine years, served as Singapore's envoy to several European states. Then, he joined the Attorney-General's Chambers, serving two years first as Solicitor-General and then as A-G. Prof Tan said although Singapore profited from Prof Woon's time in public service, his departure was a loss to the law school, felt particularly in the area of company law. He added that it made sense for Prof Woon to rejoin the law school next month, which will give him four months until the new academic year in August to prepare for his classes and write papers.

I hope the Admin of this forum would take a more serious and concrete measure against the above member for starting a thread ridiculing against the Head of a religion group and in so the religion as a group.

I refer to the replies by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to the various letters in the Straits Times forum page over the past few weeks. (See below) I also refer to media reports (

Dear follow members, I have been following through recent events regarding some FanClub threads. Some of the threads are still around and some, obviously, are not. I believe it might have created some unhappiness among some members of the group with regards to those threads remove. Do you think there are many threads that were too similar, together with the avatar thingy and the "recuitment drive" that could have put ppl off?

Recent O level results : 1) Top Student : 10 A1 2) 2nd top student : 9A1, 1A2. Both Malaysians. What happened to the Singaporeans? So don't blame the FT policy ok......locals are just not good enough...

1. 30/10/08 05:18 Accident on PIE towards Jurong before Bedok Reservoir Flyover. Avoid lane 1. 2. 30/10/08 04:50 Accident on ECP towards Changi Airport at Marine Parade Exit. Avoid lane 1. 3. 30/10/08 04:08 Accident on AYE towards Tuas 4. 30/10/08 08:40 Accident on CTE towards AYE near Whampoa Flyover with congestion till AMK South Flyover. 5. 30/10/08 09:24 Accident on AYE towards ECP after Clementi Rd Entrance. Got this from SgForums. The weather is simply tak boleh tahan. Rain stop rain stop. Hai. Pls dont tailgate and speed or engage in reckless driving in this weather, Its more braking distance needed to slow.Unless your car is equipped with good brakes, dont even try. Looks like the weather is perfect for those who jam break purposely to earn a living 1) Switch on headlights in bad weather 2) Don't switch on hazard lights when you're driving in the pouring rain 3) Don't speed 4) Signal your intentions early

call me a frog but only today, while surfing other forum, i got to know about this... http://www.surbana.com/profile.htm so, i dont think we should term HDB as "public housing" any more right with such profile??... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` [/url]1960 Housing and Development Board (HDB) was established as a government agency to solve Singapore

Results for AUGUST 2007 2nd Open Bidding Exercise Category Quota QP($) PQP($) A Car (1600cc & below) &Taxi 2,189 8,118 14,616 B Car (Above 1600 cc) 1,124 16,010 17,951 C Goods Vehicle & Bus 452 6,890 5,641 D Motorcycle 481 1,189 1,147 E Open 1,093 17,302 Anyone signed the dotted line or abt to sign ?

Hi guys, I am just curious to know whether the recent stock market plunge will have any effect on COE premium. Next COE bidding closed on next Wednesday (22/08/07) Please vote and give reason why you think so. Thanks

I had recieve a call from a company call Hong Fa base in hong kong. Asking me to join in a survey regrading HOng Fa comany venture into singapore. Opening a chain of travel agency in singapore. They had a lucky draw in jusco 2 days ago and i was infom that i had won the 4th price. Which is 90000 HKD and 20k in SGD. I mean it's too good to be true right, this afternoon they told me the money will be transfer to my account in 20 min. all i need to do is to call the account dept and give them my bank account, which i did. I'm not being silly but i am waiting for them to tell me that i need to tranfer a certian amount before they transfer the 20k to me. Well i guess they give me a nice dream for a day, before i blast tomorrow when they ask for the tracation fee before i get my 20k. Well dreaM ON LOL

I find recent models to look alike....seems like it's a trend.....maybe I am getting too old to see the difference...........

This two to three years, i notice that car ownership are increasing rapidly. Believe that in near future, more vehicles will be travelling on the road. Traffic condition getting worse, travelling time lengthen compare to few years ago, parking time also lengthen due to large amt of car and CP full, even for my HDB area, when i reach home late, i need to park at another CP as the one below my block all filled up with new cars. If condition get worst, i believe govt will intervene and solve problems with monetary means eg. more ERP gentry, increase ERP price, CP price etc. I wonder if this goes on, are we "killing" each other with such car buying fenzy??