No ridiculous queue at McDonald's for Hello Kitty

Thanks to the fact that hardcore fans can order the collector's set online at a premium, the queues at the restaurants are very well managed this time round.

Still remember last year when people queue as early as 6 hours before the launch of Hello Kitty at the various restaurants island wide, this year comparably is much more organised. My wife actually manage to bought 1 Hello Kitty Bubbly Kerokerokeroppi without any issue this afternoon (still remember last year when we actually went down at 10pm and the queue was like...)

Good job McDonald's at managing the expectation of your Hello Kitty fans.

You think you own your HDB flat?

Many Singaporeans think that by buying a flat from HDB they actually own it but it is really so?

When you purchase your new flat from HDB, HDB does not issue you a title deed but instead a lease agreement of 99 years. So what does that mean? It mean that once 99 years is up, HDB will take back the flats on the land it was built on and return the land to the state for other development and the occupants of the flats would be... homeless...

Yup homeless and that is the hard fact. However the authorities did thought of something which somehow balance out this 99 years lease issue and that is the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS). In fact SERS is so successful that most Singaporean do not even know that they are sitting on a 99 years time bomb since as of today there is no 99 years lease property that was claimed back by HDB (even Singapore as a nation is not even 99 years yet).

But remember there is no guarantee that your flat will be part of the SERS program. Just because of the fact that we have not seen such a case of HDB taking back a flat when its 99 years lease is up, it does not mean it will not happen. So it is always better to have some spare cash than to invest fully into properties.

So what are your views on this?

Lorem ipsum makes it to Straits Times

Straits Times (Singapore) started a Latin edition of the newspaper with Lorem ipsum.

The quality of Straits Times really drop big time... I used to subscribed to Straits Times so as to allow me to keep up with the news but now it seem that my decision to stop the subscribation 10 years ago was the right move.

This time there is no proof reading done at all and such mistake actually allowed to be surface on the newspapers without even being noticed by the editors and writers... Well at least their sales for this particular day will go up to the roof with everyone buying a copy to see this stupid mistake made by Singapore Press Holdings.

Photo by @contrabandkarma

Michael Schumacher not out of coma yet!

Latest news is Schumacher not out of coma yet and rumors of him out of coma and speaking to his wife are not true!

Schumacher suffered a severe brain haemorrhage after a skiing accident in the French Alps of Meribel and was in a medically induced coma since December last year. News back then was that he was in critial but stable condition. There are short moments of consciousness and he is showing small signs of progress.

More info here.

Tipper truck fall in a large hole along Upper Changi Road East

A section of Upper Changi Road East caved in on Thursday morning causing a tipper truck to fall into the large hole.

The accident happened about 50m away from a construction site for the upcoming Downtown Line 3 leaving some to wonder if the accident was related to the construction...

Recently there have been many cases of cave in on Singapore roads, maybe LTA should start to look into road maintenance on a more regular basis especially since Singapore always boast about having world class roads.

More info here.

StarHub not charging existing customers with contracts for 4G services

Starhub have decided not to charge for 4G services for existing customers with minimum term contracts.

This is after Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) conducted an investigation into StarHub's recent announcement that it will start charging for 4G value-added services from 1 June for SmartSurf plans at $2.14 a month. It is mention that all three telcos have offered 4G services as part of their mobile data bundle promotion and positioned them as value-added services (VAS) in their promotional materials and service terms and conditions. However to customers this might not have been made know at the point of sale hence this is one area which needs to be tighten to ensure that customers are fully aware of the 4G VAS and when it will be chargeable.

StarHub decided to extend the free promotion to existing customers of its SmartSurf Lite/Value/Premium/Elite price plans till the end of their contract. SingTel mention that any price change would only affect new or renewing customers and even so they ensure that customers are informed early. M1 responsed that charges for its 4G value-added services (VAS) are clearly highlighted in its original 4G media release in 2012, on its website and in its marketing collateral. Same as SingTel, only new and renewing customers M1 will be impacted.

More info here.

Tissue sellers in hawker centers to pay $120 annual licence fee

National Environment Agency (NEA) required all street hawkers including tissue sellers to pay an annual fee of $120 or $10 a month to legally sell their wares in public.

I knew that most tissue sellers are unemployed aunties or uncles in their 70s or 80s but seriously having them to pay an annual fee of $120 just to sell tissue? Based on current market rate of $1 for 3 packs if $10 a month that would mean they need to sell 30 packs in a month to cover the licence fee. The precious $120 would be more useful if it was used to pay housing rent or simply buying food than to get a piece of paper which no one actually bother about.

Although it is possible that some of these tissue sellers might be manipulated by syndicates as a way to use compassion to make money but in Singapore I seriously dun think it is common. Even so if that is the case then NEA should come out with a scheme which issue free licence to these genuine tissue sellers and also a simple note to have them display their licence at all time. This I believe not only will curb any illegal syndicates from benefiting it also help to generate more trust with customers like us when buying tissue from them. Furthermore many of these tissue sellers have been doing this for years and it is part of the hawker culture to have them coming over to tables to sell tissue.

For more info read here.

Bye bye Longhouse

Longhouse in Upper Thomson Road had closed on 20 Apr 2014. Another popular food haunt shut down to make way for resident and commercial development.

After 14 years it is time for Longhouse in Upper Thomson Road to finally give way to redevelopment. This was a hot news especially since we early knew about Lavender Food Square which will be shut down before end of 2014 to be developed into office building.

Question which many will ask is whether are there any popular food places in Singapore left?

More info here.

MH192 landed safely in KL after landing gear scare

First it was MH370 and now MH192, luckily it landed safely else one would wonder if Malaysia Airlines is really safe to travel with...

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH192, a Bangalore-bound flight, landed safely in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Monday morning after what seem to be a malfunctioned landing gear. The Boeing 777 hovered above the Straits of Malacca for more than 3 hours before landing thus sparking concerns over the safety of the 166 people on board...

All passengers had been sent to nearby hotels to rest while the flight is being rescheduled at 3:30pm on Monday.

More info here.

SQ322 Made An Emergency Landing At Changi Airport

SQ322 (A380) made an emergency landing at Changi International Airport at around 3am 19 Apr, Saturday.

A sensitive topic to talk about especially with the recent MH370 case but glad this everyone on board was fine and manage to get on their route to London although with a delay till 11am.

The incident started with the AC not working when the passengers boarded the plan. After about 2 hours of repair it took off at 2.25am Sat. However about 35 minutes in flight, the plane turned back and did an emergency landing at Changi Airport which resulted in several tyres deflated. The passengers disembarked the plane on tarmac instead of the aerobridge at the terminal...

More info here.

Hello Kitty Bubbly World Collector's Set at MacDonalds Singapore

Hello Kitty Fans here you go the Hello Kitty Bubbly World Collector's Set will be available at from 23 Apr 11am onwards!

In celebration of Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary (wow Hello Kitty is so old already!), Hello Kitty will be dressing up and appearing for the first time shaped like a balloon. The full set includes a protective Shipment Box, certificates and folio as well as 6 beautifully boxed toys.

You can either choose to have the whole set delivered to your Singapore address of your choice or self collect at SingPost POPStation. There is no need to rush this time round and hopefully the event/promotion will end with everyone getting what they want happily.

For more info refer to here.

Starhub 3-Day Online Exclusive: Lowest Fibre Broadband Price

Starhub launches a 3-Day Online exclusive deal where you can signup 100Mbps Fibre at $29.90 a month on a 24 months contract.

Sound good right at first glance but it is really the lowest price in town? Lets do a quick comparison.

SingTel 200Mbps    24 Months        SGD 49.90
M1 200Mbps    24 Months        SGD 39.00
StarHub 100Mbps    24 Months        SGD 39.90

From the table only Starhub offer 100Mbps plan so lets do some simple maths although it may not be accurate but at least it will form a base for comparison. For M1 and SingTel from 200Mpbs to 300Mbps the price increases by $10 hence lets use this as a guideline.

For SingTel a 100Mbps should be about $39.90 while M1 will be at around $29.00. SingTel is still more expensive but M1 is actually cheaper... In fact Starhub original price for its 100Mbps is already at $39.90 which is more expensive than M1.

So is Starhub 3-Days Online Exclusive deal really the lowest price in town? Well for you to decide.

More info here.

Philippines Independence Day celebration at Ngee Ann City

The Pilipino Independence Day Council Singapore (PIDCS), a group of Filipino volunteers, put up a post on Facebook about the event to held  the Philippines Independence Day celebration at Ngee Ann City last weekend and drew fire almost immediately from Singaporeans especially.

Personally dun think there is anything wrong with celebrating Independence Day or National Day as even Singaporeans do so when they are overseas. I have friends in Aust who celebrated Singapore's National Day in hotel function halls while some simply do so with a simple gathering at friend's home.

The trigger I believe which cause such negative feedback is actually the venue rather than the fact of celebrating. Some nationals celebrated their Independence day in Singapore by holding events similar to this but none actually organised in the city area before or at least not that I know of.

The feedback came as a shock to PIDCS, though they still intend to proceed with the celebration on June 8 at Ngee Ann City's Civic Plaza, pending approval of permits from the authorities.

More info here.

Comfort Cab crashes into East Coast bar, injured 5

Recently there have been quite a number of accidents involving cabs in Singapore and the latest being one which crash into Georges Mad Bar & Grill located along East Coast Road which resulted in 5 injured.

The five casualties, three women and two men, were send to Changi General Hospital by two SCDF ambulances. Eyewitness reported two loud bangs were heard before the cab crashed into the bar. Police mention that taxi had been involved in an accident with a car earlier. It is believed to have subsequently smashed through another cafe, which was closed at the time, before crashing into the bar.

More info here.

Starhub To Charge 4G Service Starting 1st June 2014

Wow a board move from Starhub to be the first to actually charge its users for 4G services starting 1st June 2014!

Starhub will be charging charging its 4G users $2.14 a month for the service which is a promotional rate instead of the usual full monthly charge of $10.70 a month. M1 currently state that 4G VAS will be free till 31st Dec while SingTel state that it has no plans as yet to charge its users for  4G but will charge $10.70 per month at "a date SingTel determines."

For those who are wondering why Telco can charge for its 4G but not 3G well that is because 4G is actually a value-added service  (VAS) that had been offered free by all 3 Telcos when it was first introduced a few years back.

More info here.

Hotel always is pleased to accept adultery

Caught by the title? Dun be surprize if I tell you that there are hotels in this world that reall pleased to accept adultery or at least on their brouchers they say so.

A typical case of hotels using local translators or computer programs like BabelFish or Google translator to transalate their local language brouchers into English to have a better outreach to foreign customers. However most of the time a word by word transaltion simply can't work. You get the text transalated but the meaning are all lost...

Here is a case of hotel in Beijing that engage such translation service and printed their hotel brochure in English after it was word for word translated from Mandarin to English.

Our representative will make you wait at the airport. The bus to the hotel runs along the lake shore. Soon you will feel pleasure in passing water. You will know that you are getting near the hotel, because you will go round the bend. The manager will await you in the entrance hall. He always tries to have intercourse with all new guests.

This is a family hotel, so children are very welcome. We of course are always pleased to accept adultery. Highly skilled nurses are available in the evenings to put down your children. Guests are invited to conjugate in the bar and expose themselves to others. But please note that ladies are not allowed to have babies in the bar. We organize social games, so no guest is ever left alone to play with them self.

Our restaurant menus have been carefully chosen to be ordinary and unexciting. At dinner, our quartet will circulate from table to table, and fiddle with you.

Every room has excellent facilities for your private parts. In winter, every room is on heat. Each room has a balcony offering views of outstanding obscenity! .. You will not be disturbed by traffic noise, since the road between the hotel and the lake is used only by pederasts.

Your bed has been made in accordance with local tradition. If you have any other ideas please ring for the chambermaid. Please take advantage of her. She will be very pleased to squash your shirts, blouses and underwear. If asked, she will also squeeze your trousers.

When you leave us at the end of your holiday, you will have no hope. You will struggle to forget it.

Read up more here.

Unidentified insect found in an Old Chang Kee sardine puff!

Unidentified insect in one of the snack chain's signature sardine puffs and the rude staff actually debate on the number of legs on the insect rather than apologise to the customer...

What really made me post is the fact that the staff were rude and even raise their voice at the customer. What more they even try to make it such that it was the customer who deliberately place the insect inside the filling! Come on lar who will do that... The effort to go down to the stall to complain already not worth it...

Glad the customer complain to National Environment Agency (NEA) but hopefully NEA will investigate the case and fine or close down the stall in question. Imagine the shock cause to the customer and the fact that she now has to pick through her food to check it carefully before putting it into her mouth.

Source

Singaporean suffers burns after he set himself on fire om JB

A 42-year-old Singaporean man is now in critical condition after suffering burns to his body after he set himself on fire near a petrol pump station at Century Gardens (JB) on Sunday.

The victim, suffered 100 per cent burns to his body and is currently being warded at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital.

Initial investigations revealed that the victim had used a four-litre oil bottle to buy petrol on the pretext that his car had broken down at the station at 9.20am. Following that, he walked off from the petrol station while dousing himself with petrol and lighting himself with a cigarette lighter. The victim then ran and shortly fell into a drain which was about 50 metres from the petrol station.

The victim is now in critical condition following the burns he suffered. The police are in the process of identifying the victim's family with assistance from the Singapore consulate's office.

Deutsche Bank Found Inappropriate Communication Between Staffer And MAS

A top Deutsche Bank AG saleswoman was placed on leave after the Deutsche Bank found what it regarded as inappropriate communication between her and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Kai Lew, a director of sales at Deutsche Bank is tasked with handling central-bank clients, was put on leave because the bank concluded that she had communicated improperly with the MAS.

When WSJ approached MAS for comments initially, MAS said it "does not comment on its dealings with individual financial institutions".

MAS said that it has been in touch with financial institutions which including Deutsche Bank and are investigating on the forex markets, and that it is looking into all allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

My Beautiful Woman

3 very touching stories to show just how wonderful and strong some women are. 3 inspirational unconditional loves that will touch you heart...

Based on true stories.

One dead after 5-vehicles collision at Ang Mo Kio

A fatal accident involving five vehicles in Ang Mo Kio on Wednesday (09 Apr 2014) morning has claimed the life of an Indian man in his 20s, who was the motorcyclist. The accident happened at the junction between Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and 6 where the tipper truck hit two cars, a motorcycle and a minibus that had stopped in front of it. The impact was so strong that one of the cars and the motorcycle was crushed between the tipper truck and the minibus...

The driver of the tipper truck, Mr Soh Choon Seng, 59 was arrested for the accident. Four people were sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where three were later discharged and one was warded for further assessment.

Source

Mazda is recalling Mazda 6 cars because of spiders

Yellow sac spider is attracted to the smell of petrol, and will weave its web in engines, causing a blockage and build-up of pressure. Once the pressure become excessively negative when the emission control system works to purge the vapours from the canister. the stress on the fuel tank may eventually result in a crack, potentially leading to fuel leakage and an increased risk of fire.

The affect cars are those made at a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, at which Mazda once produced cars jointly with Ford Motor Co. until mid-2012. It involves around 42,000 cars in the US. A software update will be applied to recalled cars to monitor the pressure level and warn drivers of any danger.

Fight at Compass Point Shopping Mall

A fight occured on 06 Apr (Sunday) at Compasspoint Mall!

Do not really know who is right or wrong nor who started it first simply based on this video but the women in black (seem like the spouse of the man in green) did caused quite a stir in this video as she ask the man in orange to mind his language, dun use vilguraties, but seconds later she was heard saying "shut the FXXX up"!

Flowers blooming all over Singapore

Call it the Sakura blossoms of Singapore! Thanks to the recent rain after the long dry period, Singapore was experiencing flower blossoms and colourful blooms can be seen across Singapore!

Very happy that rain had finally decided to return to Singapore and that everything is back to normal or in fact better. Below are some photos captured by my friends and shared on their Facebook page.

Line hits two new highs

Have been using Line for quite a while, firstly being introduce to it by my wife as a messaging app to replace WhatsApp but soon it became our main stream messaging and social gaming platform. Together we played quite a number of Line games like PokoPang, I Love Coffee and many others...

Really happy that Line hit the two new highs - 400 million registered users & 10 billion messages sent per day. Hopefully one day Line will replace FaceBook as the main social networking and social gaming platform.

Lorry slammed into a car outside Founder Bak Kut Teh along Balestier Road

Barely a week after the kopitiam burned down in Balestier Road now an accident which involve a lorry and car... Balestier Road seemed to be cursed...

A lorry slammed into a car outside Founder Bak Kut Teh along Balestier Road earlier this evening. At least two people are known to be injured.

Source

NUS research lab on fire

A fire broke out at a National University of Singapore (NUS) laboratory in the engineering faculty on Friday night.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force was alerted at about 10.15pm and took about an hour to bring it under control. 2 men, a research student and a security guard were send to National University Hospital (NUH) for smoke inhalation.

Personal views - Was just wondering why during the Qing Ming period...

CNA News Report

Source

NSmen in uniform should stand in trains when crowded?

Was reading this article on The Real Singapore which prompt me to write this post as I felt it was ridiculous for someone to actually write something like that... NSmen in uniform should give up seat when train is crowded??? Is there such a rule???

NSmen or even regulars/NSF are just like any other commuters who travel on trains to report to camps for duty or back home after they have served their duties. They are just like any other working professionals who travel on the train to and from work, making a living. We are all humans and there is nothing wrong in them taking a seat if it is available. Of cos if the seat is a reserved seat and there happen to be someone who deserved this seat more then it should be given up else I dun see why there is even a need make such a fuss for someone who is travelling on the train in uniform siting...

Just because people in uniform are more easily associated with the organisations they were from does not mean that they are not human... Being a NSmen myself we sacrifice our time and put in our sweat to protect a nation we and our family are in. There should be more important things than to have to deal with comments like these...

The writer also mentioned that when he was in the NCC he would never sit unless there were no other standing passengers... Being a fellow NCC cadet many years ago I too prefer to stand but not becos there were standing passengers but rather standing on the train/bus allow the group of us to communicate better and not disturb other passengers, even when there were empty seats around usually we would prefer to stand. I too was conscious of the image I project of the NCC and the school I was from but taking a seat does not mean that I disrespect them!

Source

Singapore Pioneer Generation Package

A $9 billion healthcare fund for Singaporeans aged 65 and above, meant to help older Singaporeans cope with health-care costs, subsidies for outpatient treatment and annual MediSave top-ups, as well as help with premiums for new national insurance scheme, MediShield Life.

About 450,000 Singaporeans will benefit from this Pioneer Generation Package which mean it is about $20,000 per person. So how is this $20,000 going to be used?

• Annual Mediasave top-ups of between $200 to $800.
• Provision of subsidy for Medishield premium.
• Further Discount at Polyclinics & Outpatient Clinics.
• Disabilities assistance of $1200 a year
• Other ancillary items such as Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS)

For Singaporeans who somehow missed out on thie package, a special panel will be setup to assess appeals to ensure that all is being covered.

More info here.

Gift Pack for Babies Born in Jubilee Year

To celebrate Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence, Singaporean babies born in 2015 will receive a special gift pack from the Government. It is said that the gift will be an uniquely-Singaporean gift pack filled with practical yet symbolic items the babies. However the actual contents will be up to Singaporeans to suggest and send the suggestions to the National Population and Talent Division over the next seven weeks, until May 15. But just in case you are wondering cash handouts will not be accepted as one of the items as it is noted that parents of newborns already receive monetary incentives under the existing Marriage and Parenthood Package.

Here are some ways you can share your views:

• Submit your ideas through the Jubilee Gift Pack microsite
• Visit the feedback booths at Jurong Point on April 5 and 6, and at VivoCity on April 12 and 13
• Join in the Focus Group discussions by emailing to outreach@reach.gov.sg

OCBC Cycle rider dies after sustaining serious head injuries

FULL-TIME National Serviceman Chia Wee Kiat, 24, has died from head injuries which he suffered on Sunday, during an accident at the OCBC Cycle Singapore. The accident occur at Benjamin Sheares Bridge and that spot seem to be a killer spot for the race as it is recorded to have many falls there. That stretch of road usually does not seem much cyclists except during major events like this and together with the darkness of early morning, it become a dangerous stretch for the event.

Currently investigation is still on going to determine how the accident happen as there were contrasting accounts of the accident. Some witness claimed he fell on his own at high speed, while another said he was involved in a crash with others.

OCBC Cycle rider dies after sustaining serious head injuries during Sunday's event

Source

M1 Gives Free Calls And SMS/ MMS On Sundays This April

Singapore's third mobile operator, M1 launched its service here in Singapore on April 1997 and to celebrate it's 17th Anniversary and as part of its Sunshine Sundays customer appreciation campaign, M1 mobile customers are entitled to free calls and SMS/MMS every Sunday in the month of April. This applies to M1 mobile customers calling and/or messaging non-M1 customers too!

Wonder if M1 will consider extending this to free data too???

Free calls, SMS, MMS for M1 customers on Sundays in April

Source

The Expert (Short Comedy Sketch)

This clip show just how tough is it for enginners to communicate with other teams in the corporate world... In the end just follow the flow...

Having experienced quite a few similar meetings like this myself where most of the time I am just wondering why am I even in the meeting at all. But what I learn is to keep any comments to myself especially when everyone is already align so that I do not get "arrowed" to any new tasks... In fact "Old Birds" will always advise this "If you can't change it then just do it".

Source