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ANDROGYNOUS MAN MOCKED BY BIGOTED TAXI DRIVER FOR LOOKING GIRLY

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Dear All Singapore Stuff,

This is a complaint feedback on cab number sh7..(car plate number has been deleted as action has been taken on the driver). At 2.20pm i was hailing an available cab, sh7..c. The indian driver showed a deragotary sign/gesture (a joke usually made on transvestite)

I am a man who happens to look androgynous and have my long wet hair out and I am not a transgender nor a transvestite. The indian man drove away but to my surprise, he made a u-turn further down at owen road and passed me and yet did the 'limp-hands gesture of going back and forth to me.'' I felt really disturbed.

No one should go through this on how someone looks or even if someone is whoever they are as a person. This is a mental disease and outright bullying.

I hope this man will be warned for judging potential customers in the future or I will bring this to the social media and make it viral to good journalist sources that I have.

Thank you for reading this.''

Comfort Cab Customer Service Reply:

''
Dear Mr. Medina,

Re: Derogatory Actions By Driver of SH7..C and Failure to Pickup Passenger When Available

Thank you for writing in with your valued feedback. First and foremost, I would like to deeply apologise for your appalling and ultimately distasteful experience with the driver of SH....C

In their line of work, our drivers are expected to to convey passengers without any element of stigmatism. At no time should the driver of SH....C have ever flashed any derogatory gesture at you. His personal beliefs should not interfere or worse still, affect his ability to carry out his job effectively.

Please be assured that we have spoken to this driver, and rebuked him for his disgraceful actions towards you on that afternoon of July 17th. We have also issued him an official warning for failing to pick up a passenger despite his taxi being available for hire, which will now be filed in his performance record. Going forward, we will now monitor him closely and any similar transgressions committed by him can result in the termination of his hiring contract with us.

Once again, please accept our deepest apologies for your most unpleasant experience with us, and we greatly appreciate your feedback that has allowed us to take the appropriate corrective action against this driver.

=========

Even for my day job as a perfumer, i do take a jab here and there by judgmental customers but it is usually easy to brush off. People would tell me the Female toilet is at the other side, but that's ok.

Basically, I have had enough and felt I should speak up not only for me, for those who have been hurting inside in this conservative country i call home. Companies like Comfort Delgro gives me hope of a more positive and open-minded Singapore.

Hanz Moniefiero Medina
A.S.S. Contributor

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AGO REPORTS EXPOSES PAP GOVT'S BLIND APPROACH TO FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE

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Where I rain on your parade

Singaporeans have been excited by the recent publication of the AGO report which seems to have uncovered some significant lapses. I am sorry to rain on your parade but it is just another exercise in selective tweaking and propaganda. Yes, it uncovers a few lapses but fails to follow through or tackle the more dangerous and worrying fundamental conflicts of interests in our accounts

One of the major lapses uncovered by the AGO was in the administration of grants by one of the huge number of unaccountable funds that the Finance Minister is so fond of setting up. I have been suggesting for years now that the reason for setting up all these funds is that it removes tens of billions of dollars of assets from proper Parliamentary scrutiny and places them directly under the PM’s control. The moment billions of dollars goes into one of these funds we the people can no longer find out what is happening to our money. Many of the funds seem to disappear from the annual Government Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Only the PM knows where the money is and how it is performing and he is not sharing that information with Parliament. What kind of AGO report doesn’t tackle disappearing assets?

The report also raises worrying question marks over the adequate monitoring of capital expenditure and controls against theft or fraud in the Gardens By the Bay project where the National Parks Board did not even have a system to track the assets it owns. As the project cost more than $1 billion that is fairly significant.

This takes us right back to when President Ong Teng Cheong asked for an accounting of all the nation’s assets and the Government came back with the claim that the exercise would take at least 56 man years. Apparently not much has changed over twenty years!

The PAP government’s lack of financial discipline

It should come as no surprise that the PAP Government adopts a lax approach to financial discipline when it comes to capital expenditures and to even keeping track of our assets. After all this is the Government to whom Singaporeans have given the power to give away our money for so long. As I demonstrated by my fight over the IMF loan commitment (see my open letter to the Finance Minister from 2014 following earlier open letters in 2012) the PAP disperses our money anyhow, without even having to go through the charade of Parliamentary approval. I can’t make them be accountable to the people in my role as an ordinary citizen. I tried to take them to Court to show they broke the Constitution but the Courts ruled that I had no standing for bringing the case. As we stand at this moment in time no one can hold the PAP government to account, certainly not the AGO nor the current Opposition benches.

The lack of financial discipline in capital expenditures is not mirrored in the Government’s approach to social expenditures. When it comes to spending our money on social benefits the government’s reluctance to spend any money on its citizens is legendary. I refer to the miserly government as subjecting us non-natural aristocrats to conditions of austerity that citizens of the poorest underdeveloped Nations would never put up with. The PAP would much rather give away our money to foreigners than see it benefit Singaporeans. Readers of my blog will be familiar with how difficult it is to get even the amounts under the MSF’s own rules paid to deserving welfare claimants like the homeless Madam L. It takes considerable and persistent effort and a fairly high level of education numeracy and literacy to unlock the amount due. The majority of people who are entitled to help just give up or are not even aware of where they can get help – which is presumably one of the goals of the gatekeepers.

An excuse to cause heads to roll in The Workers Party

The highlight of the AGO’s report for many was undoubtedly the scrutiny of the People’s Association’s (PA) “gasak buta” approach to approving expenditures and in particular the glaring conflicts of interest in the case of Admiralty Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC) where the Chairman had been involved in approving payment of his own claims amounting to some $115,000 as well as failing to disclose his major financial interest in a company that the CCC paid $32,000 to.

The AGO had highlighted similar conflicts of interest in the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council so for many it seemed a delicious irony that the AGO had now singled out the Chairman of a CCC, part of the PA which is an institution in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), for doing the same thing.

Of course that is what the PAP would like you to believe. Their spin will be: Look at the fearless and independent AGO. Opposition in Parliament is a waste of time and leads to gridlock and lack of cohesion. The AGO alone can be your watchdog sniffing out corruption and waste. Look how they have not been scared to go after the politically well connected, even when it involves such mighty figures as the Chairman of a CCC. As PM Lee has repeatedly said, the PAP Government will maintain its “zero tolerance for corruption, regardless of the rank and seniority of the officers involved“.

Khaw Boon Wan and the other members of Sembawang GRC have been quick to say that the AGO found no evidence of dishonesty. However the PA have forced the Chairman of the CCC to step down. While this is undoubtedly the correct action, it follows that the PAP Government will use it to put pressure on the WP to follow suit and sacrifice at least a few heads, maybe even an MP or two.

The AGO cannot replace the role of the Opposition as a check on government.

So should we rejoice? No. Singaporeans would be wrong to draw the conclusion that this report heralds a new era of transparency and accountability in which the AGO is going to become the new knight in shining armour leaving no stone unturned in its fight to root out government mismanagement and corruption. In particular do not be fooled by this exercise in making you think that an active Opposition calling the government to account and demanding transparency is not necessary.

I for one have a fundamental problem with the AGO replacing the Parliamentary Opposition as a check on the PAP Government. And I am not saying that just because I want to be an MP.

The fundamental problem is that the AGO is not independent. The Auditor-General is appointed by the Prime Minister, like the Attorney General, the Supreme Court judges, the top civil servants, the chiefs of the armed forces, the police, the CPIB, the heads of the statutory boards and the Government companies including Temasek, GIC, and Changi AIrport Group.

Technically the President has limited rights of veto since he can withhold his approval to any of these appointments. However, he can only do so if he consults the Council of Presidential Advisors (CPA) where he only controls the appointment of two of the members out of six. Two other members are appointed by the PM, one by the CJ and one by the Chairman of the Public Service Commission. If the CPA rejects any appointment it must publish who voted against it. If the President fails to concur with the CPA his decision can be overridden by a vote of two-thirds of MPs. At present the PAP hold over 90% of the seats in Parliament. Therefore you can see that it would be pointless for the President to veto a PAP decision. He would be over-ridden in parliament.

The Presidential candidates are also carefully selected to try and ensure that they are all former civil servants or come from the ruling Party. And if the President should step out of line the PM can have him removed if a panel of five judges concurs with him that the President has broken the Constitution or is guilty of any offence involving corruption, dishonesty or moral turpitude. That last one is an ambiguous catch-all phrase that could include something such as having an affair.

We already have a civil service who do not seem to understand the distinction between state property and that of the Lee family, as has been seen in the PM’s defamation suit against unemployed blogger Roy Ngerng where both the PM’s Press Secretary and the Singapore High Commissioner to London have overstepped the mark in defending the PM using state resources in a private matter. I wrote a letter to the President asking him to investigate whether the PM had broken the Ministerial Code of Conduct but have not received a reply just as I never received a response from the President in the IMF loan commitment case.

I could go on but I think you get the picture. The AGO is unlikely to uncover anything too controversial or if it does we, who are not part of the natural aristocracy, are unlikely to hear of it. It is silent on the really big conflicts of interest such as the fact that the PM is Chairman of GIC and his wife is CEO of Temasek. So don’t start getting too triumphant, too soon.

Temasek and GIC

Vitally, the AGO’s report doesn’t tell us whether the PM is paid as Chairman of GIC and how much nor how much Mrs Lee is paid. It does not check whether her remuneration targets are too easy to reach and whether they are aligned with the interests of Singapore or represent good value. The AGO is only there to see that there are checks on whether money is taken out of the system through lax financial controls. It is not able to comment on sophisticated financial fraud such as the injection of Government assets into Temasek or GIC below their market value to goose up their performance figures and allow the management to pay themselves bigger bonuses. Nor does it comment on the valuation of assets in their portfolios. This year the AGO audited the financial statements of several GIC companies. They issued an unqualified opinion. Yet they do not have the expertise nor is it within their remit to comment on the valuations of assets and liabilities. Only a truly independent entity, experienced in pricing of illiquid assets in those markets could do so.

AGO report fails to explain black holes in the Government’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities.

AGO also audits the Government’s financial statements and is supposed to check on whether ministries have in place precautions against negligence and extravagance. The Government’s financial statements sailed through the audit as usual with an unqualified audit opinion yet we heard nothing about the substance of those statements. In particular the AGO did not comment on the Government’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Since 2012 I have pointed out that this statement cannot be an accurate measure. In fact I wrote an open letter to the Finance Minister a few months ago asking him why the figure for assets was so low and why certain funds like the National Productivity Fund (NPF) did not appear in the statement while others did. I am not holding my breath waiting for a reply.

While a few ministries, funds, statutory boards and government companies were audited for financial negligence and waste, the report was noteworthy for what it did not cover. Even the limited number of audits it conducts are only test checks. This means that major frauds and irregularities may go uncovered if AGO does not look in the right places or selects too small a sample to be representative of the whole.

Unless prescribed by law the AGO does not audit funds unless they are asked to do so by the Finance Minister. Since the Finance Minister controls the money in the funds he has a conflict of interest. Even for funds where the law setting them up prescribes an audit the AGO only audits them on a rotational basis. For instance this year AGO chose to audit the National Research Fund (NRF). But the number of funds are increasingly so rapidly that there seems to be less and less oversight by the AGO, even if this were a truly independent oversight agency.

I have highlighted the NPF which does not appear in the Government’s statement of assets and liabilities and also does not appear to have ever published any accounts that have been seen by Parliament or released publicly. I asked Tharman for answers on this subject (see above) but he has not replied.

Yet it has received $3.5 billion of taxpayers’ money while productivity growth has been negative since it was set up and began handing out money. We urgently need an audit of the NPF to find out where the money has gone.

Similarly despite the NRF audit no public accounts of NRF have been published. In spite of highlighting serious issues in monitoring the disbursement of grants and how they were spent, the AGO report contains no details about follow through or how it intends to continue oversight to see whether the NRF complies. At the very least the NRF should be placed in administration until stricter financial controls are in place. The same should be applied to the NPF if we do not get satisfactory answers about where the money has gone.

Both the NRF and the NPF are part of the PMO so if there has been gross negligence or wastage of money the PM should be surcharged for the full amount. The same goes for other ministers in charge of ministries where government money has been wasted.

Conclusion

We can conclude that while this year’s AGO report has uncovered some worrying lapses they mostly concern relatively small amounts, in the context of a close to $400 billion economy and upwards of $800 billion of Government assets, and also relatively small fry. Even in the case of the NRF there is evidence of waste and negligence in the administration of grants and we can assume that the same or worse is likely or very likely with regard to the other funds that the Government has set up which have puzzlingly not been audited by AGO or their accounts presented to Parliament. Also AGO is not empowered or able to catch sophisticated financial fraud such as might occur at our sovereign wealth funds.

While the PAP are no doubt hoping that this will convince Singaporeans that they are whiter than white and leave no stone unturned to root out corruption, this report provides no satisfactory answers. The only way to get the answers is to elect people to Parliament who are not scared to ask the right questions.

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HELP! SPF CONDUCTING RANDOM CHECKS WITHOUT VALID REASON?

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Hi.

I was standing outside JCUBE at Jurong East yesterday afternoon and was approached by two police officers, claiming to be doing a "Routine Check".

I asked them the reason(s) for checking my NRIC. They did not state any specific reason despite my inquiry.

I am aware the Police only has a right to ask for identification if one is suspected of criminal activity.

Are my Civil Rights being violated here?

Chee Zhi Lin
A.S.S. Reader

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FOREIGN MAIDS CAUGHT GAMBLING ILLEGALLY AT ISTANA PARK

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Think you know what your maids are up to during their off days? Think again.

According to an anonymous male eye witness, a large group of foreign domestic workers - sometimes numbering up to 20 maids - have been seen gathering near the park at Istana over the weekends, where they engage openly in illegal gambling.

In a photo provided by the witness, the maids can be spotted sitting on a picnic mat with poker cards openly displayed in the center of the mat. $10 bills could be seen tucked under the cards of one of the maids.

Our witness says that he has tried for "years" to get the maids to stop gambling, but they paid him no heed and even laughed at him. After becoming frustrated with the lack of action taken against these errant foreigners, he decided to shame them and took their pictures

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NTUC FAIRPRICE ALCOHOL-FREE BABY WIPES CONTAIN ALCOHOL, DANGEROUS TO INFANTS

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Dear NTUC FairPrice, I would like to bring your attention to this product that I just purchased from your FairPrice supermarket today.

I was about to use it when my wife read the label, and commented - "What Alcohol Free? There's alcohol in the ingredients!" True enough, Benzyl Alcohol was in the list of ingredients, and on the opposite panel it says Alcohol Free.

What shocked us further is when we searched Benzyl Alcohol and found that it is DANGEROUS TO VERY YOUNG CHILDREN!

Attached are photos of your "Made In China for FairPrice" product for reference.

I would like a refund for this product, although I opened the shrink wrap, I did not use the product.

I would also like to call for a total product recall unless you are able to prove that the product is "Alcohol Free" as claimed, and Benzyl Alcohol in the ingredients is proven not to cause any harm to babies.

Melvin Chia
A.S.S. Reader

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MOM DECLINED TO REVEAL NUMBER OF FOREIGN DEPENDENTS?

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349,000 E & S-Pass holders

According to the Straits Times news report “MOM’s rule change ‘won’t affect hiring’” (Jul 23) – “There are about 179,000 people on Employment Passes (EPs) and 170,000 on S Passes.

Declined to reveal DPs & LTVPs?

The MOM declined to say how many of them are currently sponsoring their families here on DPs and LTVPs.”

Now, why did “the MOM declined to say how many of them are currently sponsoring their families here on DPs and LTVPs”?

Shouldn’t this be public information?

DPs& LTVPs to PRs& citizens?

Let us not forget that DPs and LTVPs are not just issued to families of foreigners. They are also issued to PRs, new citizens and citizens.

348,654 new PRs, 153,923 new citizens

In this connection, a total of 348,654 new PRs and 153,923 new citizens were granted from 2007 to 2014.

Very old statistics – from 2005 to 2010?

As to “The last time such data was disclosed was in 2012. Then Manpower Minister TharmanShanmugaratnam said in a reply to a Parliamentary question that the Government issued an average of 35,000 DPs and LTVPs each year to foreigners on EP between 2005 and 2010″– aren’t these statistics very old – its now 2015 and we are talking about 2010 data – 5 years ago!

210,000 DPs& LTVPs to foreigners on EP from 2005 to 2010? 

If it was a whopping about 210,000 (35,000 x 6 years) DPs and LTVPs to foreigners on EP alone – can’t imagine what the grand total may be if we add the number from 2010 to now!

?? DPs& LTVPs to PRs& citizens?

Also, these “very old” statistics seem to be on “DPs and LTVPs each year to foreigners on EP” only. What about DPs and LTVPs to the families of PRs, new citizens and citizens?

What is the trend like in recent years?

Increasing numbers?

“Declined to reveal” may be “more revealing”?

Perhaps sometimes when we decline to reveal statistics – they may actually be more revealing?

 

Win battles lose war

A.S.S. Contributor

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NORTH KOREAN MEDIA: OUR GLORIOUS COUNTRY FIRST TO LAND A MAN ON THE SUN

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THE STATE News Agency of North Korea has confirmed today that the country has become the first in the world to ever land a man on the sun.

It reported that astronaut Hung Il Gong left for the sun on a specially designed rocket ship at approximately 3am this morning.

Hung, who traveled alone, reached his destination some four hours later, landing his craft on the far side of the lonely star.

“We are very delighted to announce a successful mission to put a man on the sun.” a North Korean central news anchor man said on a live broadcast earlier. “North Korea has beaten every other country in the world to the sun. Hung Il Gong is a hero and deserves a hero’s welcome when he returns home later this evening.”

Click on the link below to read more.

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PAP MP LEE BEE WAH: ALTERNATIVE MEDIA TRYING TO SMEAR ME WITH FALSEHOODS

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There is an article, full of falsehoods, which has been circulating about LBW Consultants LLP (LBW). It is an old article, which Mr Alex Tan (who stood as a candidate in 2011 GE) has been trying to recirculate. The article suggests, falsely, some impropriety in the awarding of the HDB contract to LBW for Khatib Court.

LBW tendered openly for 11 HDB projects in 2013. It was successful in two of the projects, including Khatib Court. The tender was carried out fairly and transparently. To suggest otherwise is malicious.

LBW Consultants LLP was acquired by Meinhardt Group International in January 2014, given its track record.

That has freed me to focus most of my time on residents of Nee Soon.

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BEWARE! OUR POOR CLAIMS EXPERIENCE WITH NTUC INCOME COST US $20,000

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An unfortunate event happened to our family of recent where my wife was diagnosed of Secondary Postpartum Hemorrhage which is excessive bleeding after childbirth. This happened about 10 days after we have discharged from hospital after giving birth.

We are blessed that both mother and child are fine after the incident. However our total hospital bill came up close to S$ 24,000.

During our hospital stay, we were still thankful we had been insuring with NTUC Income for the last 5 years or more.

We texted our insurance agent on our plight and his exact reply was ” Can submit as normal to access. Should be able to cover. Rgds

We went on to download the product brochure and found nothing amiss and we are only required to pay 10% of the total bill as stated in the brochure.

Days later, NTUC Income wrote to us that our claim was rejected based on exclusion terms which are not stated in the product brochure but in another document under terms and conditions.

Naturally we felt cheated and at the same time we have ourselves to blame by not going into details of the contract and being too trusting on NTUC Income.

We also found that our claim would have been processed without a doubt with their competitor Great Eastern Life with a similar annual premium amount.(S$ 10 to be exact)

By comparing the two products, we also found NTUC Income to be guilty of irresponsible marketing with their Television advertisements and brochures. Their salespeople also do not have the necessary product knowledge and oversells their product and make misleading or false statements.

In general we felt we have been misled to buy the product, not knowing it has limited coverage compared to another insurer.If we have known the product to have limited coverage, we would not have signed with NTUC INCOME given the fact their competitor has a similar premium despite having a deductible.

We were misled from their product brochure, TV advertisements and their salesperson with the points below.

1) Hiding of necessary information in the product brochure.

NTUC INCOME BROCHURE EXCERPT A

NTUC brochure A
Excerpt from NTUC INCOME brochure

From above brochure excerpt, it is stated under Pregnancy Complications under as charged with no further annotations to explain further it only cover few specific complications.

NTUC INCOME BROCHURE EXCERPT B

Excerpt from NTUC Brochure
Excerpt from NTUC INCOME Brochure

They also claim to be a social enterprise which I think is a misleading term to mislead consumers they do not prioritize profits as a whole as an organisation

Under important notes (fine print) , they added the policy is subjected to certain exclusions which cannot be found in the product brochure at all and is under another document terms and conditions which needs to be downloaded separately.

Instead of providing simple and essential information which could be in the product brochure, they chose to hide under fine print and then in a separate document terms and conditions.

Compare it to Great Eastern Life Brochure as below

GREAT EASTERN LIFE BROCHURE EXCERPT A

Excerpt from GE Brochure
Excerpt from GE Brochure
Excerpt from GE brochure
Excerpt from GE brochure

For Great Eastern Life Brochure, under Pregnancy Complications, they specific a annotation for the user to refer to the footnotes where it is spelled out specifically what are the types of complications covered. Coverage is also more comprehensive than NTUC INCOME.

However as consumers, based on NTUC INCOME deliberate omission of information, we would have found both products similar or even find Great Eastern Life coverage lesser due to the more precise information.

Full NTUC INCOME Brochure can be downloaded as below.

https://www.income.com.sg/content/downloads/insurance/health/enhanced-income-shield/enhanced-incomeshield-printed-brochure.aspx?ext=.pdf

Full Great Eastern Brochure can be downloaded as below.

https://www.greateasternlife.com/sg/en/pdf/brochures/SupremeShield.pdf

Click on the link below to read more. 

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NTU WARNS STUDENTS TO STOP MASTURBATING IN SHOWERS AS IT CLOGS UP PIPES

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Contributed by Jeffri

A.S.S. Contributor Jeffri sent in a screenshot of an alleged notification put up by NTU's Hall of Residence 8 warning students to stop masturbating in the showers. The letter stated that due to this pervasive activity in the showers, numerous pipe blockages were discovered and after investigations, it was due to the accumulated pubic hair and semen.

In response, the "school authorities" have deemed the situation intolerable and will be conducting DNA testing to identify the culprits if the problem persists.

They advised students to masturbate in the comforts of their own rooms and refrain from clogging up the toilet pipes for the convenience of all users.

Editor's Note: It is uncertain if this notification is real, please exercise your own discretion.

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MAINSTREAM MEDIA'S DEAFENING SILENCE OVER LAPSES REPORTED BY AGO

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Dear Editors,

When the AGO released reports of lapses by AHPETC, the result was immense. Newspapers and television news report this over and over 24/7. Inquiries were
held. WP members were questioned repeatedly. Court sessions were heard. And grants were held back too.

Yet with the most recent AGO findings regarding government-related facilities, I couldn’t help but notice some difference with the treatment given, for lapses that were pretty similar.

On the Straits Times, I counted exactly 2 reports of this incident. On the TV news, I literally heard zero news about this. Difference much?

Also, I didn’t realize that involved parties can investigate their own selves and self-declare innocence.

I guess that means that if I am a chairman, I can approve my own claims first, and then I provide the documents later. I can also award contracts to myself. There is no evidence of dishonesty here.

Last year, when AGO reported payouts being given to deceased people, the people in charge immediately pushed the blame onto the vendors (who were not
named), and claim the problem has been rectified since. No further inquiry was made.

I am amazed by how short people’s memories are. That carpet must be really big for so much crap to be swept under it.

Oh! That reminds me! Didn’t someone say that when lapses like these occur, the person-in-charge should commit harakiri? I am glad to know that we have such honest and responsible people taking care of us. I bet their first priority is always us, the people. What would we ever do without them.

SG Keyboardwarrior
A.S.S. Contributor

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#SIMISAIALSOSG50: ARE SINGAPOREANS OVERDOING IT?

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Our reader related to us how he spent his day off shopping and looking around the neighborhood, where he discovered that Singaporeans really do love their SG50 celebrations. Warning - SG50 LOLs ahead.
 
I went into my local Giant supermarket today, expecting to pick up a carton of drinks for the family and some snacks. As my eyes scanned through the chocolate section, I saw this:
 
 
At first I thought, "Okay, it's SG50..." So I got my favorite brand of chocolates and went to the drink section, where I saw this:
 
 
And this:
 
 
I was like, "Wow. Isn't that a bit much?" So I thought maybe I'd get some hot beverages instead and then I saw this:
 
 
I was getting irritated, but I just brushed it all off as part of the SG50 celebrations. I came out of the supermarket and headed to Popular to get some stationary... and saw this:
 
It didn't stop there. There were even pencil cases like this:
 
 
And then there were Tamiya cars like this:
 
 
I thought I was going insane after seeing all those SG50 logos around me. So I decided to sit down for a while at McDonalds and then I saw this at the counter:
 
 
I had had enough of all this SG50 nonsense, so I took the MRT home where I saw this:
 
 
Wow guys, seriously, isn't this too much?

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27 YEAR-OLD ARRESTED FOR SLASHING FRIEND AT BEDOK HAWKER CENTER

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27-year-old Sari Gujang, who slashed another youth near a Bedok North hawker center, was charged in court today with voluntarily causing grievous hurt.

Sari is accused of using a knife to slash Mr Muhammad Rizuwan Zakariah, 25, who blocked the blows with his left hand, leaving him with a gaping 10cm gash on his left palm.

The act allegedly took place at about 5am on July 21 at Block 538, Bedok North Street 3, near the Bedok Hawker Center. Rizuwan had run 200 meters to the nearby hawker center to call for help while his assailant had run away to avoid arrest.

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MALAYSIAN CHINESE STUDENT ATTACKED IN RACIALLY CHARGED BUS ROBBERY

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17 year-old Teh Kian Wei, a Malaysian Chinese student boarded a bus in Batu Pahat, Johor, with his friend and was heading home when he was approached by a group of about 10 Malay youth in their early 20s, who appeared to be high on drugs.

According to Malaysia's China Press, Teh said they were on their way home at about 7.15PM after watching a movie at a mall in Batu Pahat.

“We were seated in the last row when the youths boarded the bus.

“They told us that this place was their ‘territory’ and asked us to go back to China,” he said.

Despite ignoring them, Teh said the group started raining punches and kicks on him.

Teh suffered bruises on his back, shoulder and ears. The bus conductor, who tried to intervene, was threatened.

“They told the conductor they would beat him up too if he didn’t mind his own business,” he said.

He added that his watch and a smartphone worth a total of about RM2,000 was snatched from him.

The driver later sent Teh to a police station to lodge a report and to a government clinic for treatment.

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KIND SOUL SPARES NO EFFORT TO RETURN $100 BILL TO ROAD ACCIDENT VICTIM

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Dear Editors,

My friend Elfie De Souza witnessed a fatal accident in front of Khatib MRT station and the motorcycle victim's blood stained $100 dollar note flew to his feet. But he did not pocket the money but spend many effort looking for the victim to return it personally. Total salute for his big effort and integrity.

Elfie said on FB: "Anybody whom are related to the motorcyclist that was involved in a serious accident infront of Khatib Mrt station at about 3pm kindly do inform me because his blood-stained $100 note flew on my feet & I would like to personally return to him."

He also make way down to Khoo teck puat hospital to see help from the nurse to identify the victim but the hospital staff were unhelpful in helping track down the patient. He update that "hospital staff not helpful doesn't have any iniative to assist me tracking down the injured female pillion for me to return her $100 note"

Sadly, after much effort, the family of the victim contacted him and he managed to return the money! i respect him for all his effort just to return a $100 note that is not his. this is a good example i think singaporeans should know about.

This was his last update on the matter: "Thank you so much to every kind souls on FB because I managed to get in touch with the deceased family members & personally returned the $100 note at the funeral wake held at Ang Mo Kio Ave 5 because my MOST beloved late granny (mak) taught me never to keep anything that doesn't belong to me."

Saiful
A.S.S. Contributor

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ARE S'PORE YOUTH TOO SOFT? WE ASK THEM AND FIND OUT WHAT THEY THINK

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Many people, especially the government, have accused Singaporean students of being soft and overly demanding when it comes to their future. So much so that when we think of the young, words such as "pampered", "strawberry generation" and the general inability to take hardships come to mind.

Yet is this a fair assessment of the future leaders of Singapore? If the young are our only hope moving forward, will Singapore youth doom our country? Or is this constant berating of our youth some kind of misguided campaign to "whip them into shape" and hopefully push them to do even better than they already are?

In an interview conducted with dozens of Singaporean students studying in local Junior Colleges, students reveal all about their hopes and worries about being Singaporeans, and we hope readers will learn for themselves what our youth really stand for.

 

IS SINGAPORE A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE IN?

1) Singapore is safe place to stay and work, but comparing to 10 years back (while in their childhood); their impression is that it is not as safe as before. (incidences were shared but no point writing about it here)

 

DO YOU THINK SINGAPORE IS MORE CROWDED THAN BEFORE?

2) Singapore is crowded and they feel that residents here are getting more edgy. We are no longer more forgiving as before, as we detest the intrusion of personal space. This is especially so if the intruders are foreigners...we tend to snap hard at foreigners...they feel that there is racial tension that were not present when they were younger.

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF FOREIGN COMPETITION?

3) Admission to good schools which will guarantee better employment opportunity is now getting harder, due to foreign competition. If Band 1 school id not important why LHL sent his son to MIT and Band 1 schools in Singapore.

Young people fear they are unable to find job after graduate a employers can employ experienced foreigners for lesser They also fear they are unable to repay their parent for the effort in bringing them up and education as they hear wages are stagnated by the foreigners

 

WOULD YOU MIGRATE OVERSEAS IF GIVEN THE CHANCE?

4) They rather work overseas and if possible settle there..as they feel that Singapore is too crowded when we have 60 foreign residents. Even 10% is too much. They expect to be paid as much as the locals in those countries or even more when they work overseas (unlike the cheap foreigners that PAP likes to bring in).

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FUGITIVE PAP MP PHEY YEW KOK FACES 28 MORE CHARGES FOR CRIMINAL BREACH OF TRUST

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After appearing before the State Courts on Thursday 23 July 2015, former NTUC Chairman and Member of Parliament Phey Yew Kok faces 28 more charges. This brings the total number of charges to 34.

The charges were read to Phey via videolink and most of which were related to criminal breach of trust. Phey has been on the run for 36 years before turning himself in to the authorities. The accused was represented by Senior Counsel Sant Singh from Tan Rajah & Cheah and will appear in court again on 3 September 2015 9.30am. No bail was offered to Phey.

On 22 June this year, Phey turned himself in at Singapore's Bangkok Embassy and was brought back by CPIB officers the same day. For criminal breach of trust by a public servant, he faces up to seven years' jail and is liable to a fine.

For the other Trades Union Act charges, Phey faces up to a S$1,000 fine unless the offences warrant another form of punishment under the Act.

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S'PORE ELECTED POLITICIANS ARE JUST LIKE MY USELESS UNCARING BOYFRIEND

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hi allsingaporestuff,

everytime i quarrel with my boyfriend, i cant help but feel sometimes our r/s is same as the one singaporeans have wit our elected politicians.

during courtship time, the man will do so many sweet things to make you attracted to him, but you flowers, plan nice dates, plan interesting activities to do. same for our politicians, come election time, they will announce the freebies and goodies and say the nice sweet things we citizens wish to hear.

once you stead with the guy, this is the hard truth liao. the boyfriend will no longer plan dates, will always say tired. only when he want intimate s*x he will do some nice things to entice us girls. after he do his deed and exhaust all his energy, he fall asleep on the bed, heck care the girl.

same the politicians, once we voters vote them into parliament, they all heck care already and just go to sleep. you see PAP introduce all those CB policies, make singaporeans life very tough, want to make 10 million population somemore. only now near election, they start to give pioneer generation card, help this help that wayang wayang.

you see WP, vote them in since they promise to be voice but end up they silence as lambs. when need to speak up help fellow citizens like amos yee and roy ngerng, wp dare not say a single word of support. so no balls to speak up for marginal singaporean, vote them just like voting pap.

now we have Singfirst, SDP and RP say all the benefits pls pls vote them in parliament, dono can trust or not, or they are just like the typical lazy guy, once get us in bed, they will use and fall asleep?

and still have those other parties like NSP, PPP, SPP, SDA, DPP and PKMS, are they like those guys you meet when go clubbing, with the dark dark disco light all look quite yandao but later next morning wake up you see a ghost beside you.

aiya... everytime think of relationship stuff, i v sad for singaporeans... we citizens like get make use of by these politicians, once get our vote they chuck us 1 side and do what they like... very pek cek dono who to trust besides our ownself lor... emo..

juleezzz xiaobunnyz
A.S.S. Contributor

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AUTHORITIES INSIST NARROW 1.17M DBSS CORRIDOR MEETS ALL SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

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Earlier, it was reported that the Chinese media sent 2 reporters to 5 different HDB flat types to compare their corridor width. They took measurements and walked past each other to find out the ease of doing so.

The reporters found that the corridors at 2 privately built DBSS developments are the narrowest. The width of the common corridors at Pasir Ris One and The Peak @ Toa Payoh are 1.2 m and 1.25 m respectively.

In the case of Pasir Ris One, corridors were found to be less than 1.2 m i.e. 1.17 m at some places, flouting the construction rules laid down for corridor designs. Both reporters had to slant sideways when they walked past each other at such corridors in order to avoid body contact.

BCA says no problem with 1.17 m wide corridors

According to the Fire Safety Code administered by SCDF, the width of common corridors has to be at least 1.2 m. The 1.17 m corridors in some places of Pasir Ris One is a clear violation of the Fire Safety Code.

Under the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Code on Accessibility, common corridors must have a minimum width of 1.2 m to allow unimpeded access for persons on a wheelchair.

BCA said that before issuing the Temporary Occupancy Permit (TOP) for Pasir Ris One, inspections had been conducted and the corridors were found to be generally 1.2 m wide.

With regard to the 1.17 m width at some places of Pasir Ris One’s corridors, BCA felt that the 3 cm difference may be due to “error during construction phase”. BCA said that this difference does not impact the accessibility of persons on wheelchairs.

BCA had previously stipulated the 1.2 m minimum width requirement for corridors in its 2013 Code on Accessibility. But from April 2014, it updated its code for some reasons, stipulating that corridors now need to have a minimum width of 1.5 m.

Still, it seems that Pasir Ris One’s violation of the Code on Accessibility does not draw any punitive action from BCA. It seems to view the violation as a very minor thing, allowing the developer to just “move on”.

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan who oversees BCA continues to remain silent over the issue on why BCA is condoning the developer to violate BCA’s Code on Accessibility (‘Khaw remains silent on 1.17 m corridor issue‘). If even Mr Khaw also condones this, what is the point of having a code in the first place?

SCDF also says corridor width meets requirements of Fire Code

Notwithstanding the BCA’s stance, fire safety is definitely a major concern for residential developments. Based on the Fire Incident Statistics provided by the SCDF, in 2014 there were 2,888 cases of fire in residential premises. On average, there are 7.9 cases of residential fires occurring in Singapore everyday.

Many netizens are asking if fires break out at Pasir Ris One and lives are lost due to congestion at the sub-standard corridors, who is going to bear the responsibility?

Today (23 Jul), a Colonel Razak Raheem, Director of Public Affairs Department in SCDF finally replied in ST Forum saying that they have already inspected Pasir Ris One and found the corridors to be have met the “requirements of the Fire Code”.

“The SCDF has conducted checks at Pasir Ris One and confirmed that the width of the common corridors at Pasir Ris One meets the requirements of the Fire Code,” Colonel Razak said.

He revealed that BCA together with other authorities, including the SCDF, approved the building plans for Pasir Ris One in 2012.

“These plans fulfilled the then prevailing design requirements, such as BCA’s Code on accessibility for the Built Environment, which facilitates access for wheelchair users, and the SCDF Fire Code, which provides for the safe conduct of emergency evacuation,” he added.

He further stated that the fire-rated doors installed at Pasir Ris One “do not impede emergency evacuation along the corridors as they open inward”.

“In addition, most metal gates, which open outwards, do not pose any obstruction to evacuation,” he said.

However, Colonel Razak also said that SCDF has found some metal gates that could potentially cause obstruction if the gates of opposite-facing units are opened at the same time.

“The SCDF has therefore instructed the architect of Pasir Ris One to take immediate action to rectify these metal gates,” he explained.

“The SCDF also advises residents to keep the corridors free of clutter, in order not to hinder firefighting efforts, evacuation and conveyance of patients during a medical emergency. The SCDF is committed to ensuring that all developments comply with the requirements of the Fire Code.”

1.17m or not 1.17m?

It’s strange that SCDF said the width of the corridors at Pasir Ris One meets the requirements of the Fire Code (i.e, minimum width of 1.2m for all corridors) when reporters from Chinese media had found some places to be short of 3cm at 1.17m.

Perhaps the reporters were using measuring tapes not approved by SCDF?

What do you think?

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EXPLODING PELLETS FROM SG50 GIFTPACK BALLOON POSE INJURY RISK TO YOUNG KIDS

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A whatsapp message warning Singaporean parents about the dangers of a LED balloon from the SG50 goodie bag has gone viral on cyberspace. The message allegedly from an RC member warns that when the LED balloon is overblown, dangerous pellets will fly out of the exploding balloon and these projectiles may cause serious injuries to the face and eyes.

The message advised parents to take special care especially when young children are playing with the toy.

After All Singapore Stuff shared the viral whatsapp message, others parents have stepped forward and reflected the same experience with the balloon. This was what some of them said:

Tan Andrew EngChuan: "Yap. True. Last night, blew it and boom. Things fly out. Not safe."

Albert Chan: "Yes its true. My boy came to me with a few jglass beads"

JajaRiyanNazz: "Yes its true. I blow and the palets blew off."

Other worried parents suggested that the authorities stop distributing this dangerous toy and advised other parents to stop their children from playing with this potentially hazardous toy.

It is unclear if the authorities will address the concerns reflected by Singaporean parents. To be safe, parents should pay careful attention and take precaution to prevent unnecessary injury to their child.

 

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