The National Parks Board (Nparks) will now charge for parking at 12 popular parks throughout the island (list below), which has outraged Singaporeans who feel they are slowly being squeezed out of cheap, recreational spots in Singapore.

Nparks will be rolling out an automated fee system at 18 carparks in 12 parks starting from this month.

AFFECTED PARKS
• East Coast Park
• Pasir Ris Park
• West Coast Park
• Changi Beach Park
• Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park
• Woodlands Waterfront Park
• Admiralty Park
• Bedok Reservoir Park
• Choa Chu Kang Park
• Dairy Farm Nature Park
• Labrador Nature Reserve
• Springleaf Park

According to Nparks, the charges are meant to prevent abuse of the car parks.

"In recent years, NParks has been receiving complaints on the constant misuse of parking spaces in the above parks, where parking spaces were taken up for extended periods of time by non-park users," NParks director of parks Chia Seng Jiang said.

The new system is already in place at East Coast Park, where users said they are now charged $1 an hour, at all times of the day.

Some Singaporeans have expressed concern that the new charges could discourage people, especially the elderly and handicapped, from visiting the parks regularly.

Madam Jessy Leow, 70, who visits East Coast Park with her 70-year-old husband at 6am every day, suggested that the authorities could look into giving a grace period during the early morning hours.

"At night, I agree that the carparks are very packed, but in the morning, there's hardly anyone there as most of the shops don't open until around 11am," she said.

Madam Leow, who has arthritis and gout, also added that taking public transport to the park is very inconvenient for elderly folk such as herself.

Others suggested that NParks could have looked into more effective ways to prevent abuse of the parking spaces.

For instance, it could have tried to find out which timings were more prone to misuse.

SMRT has attributed the Jul 7 disruption of the North-South and East-West MRT lines (NSEWL) to "weak electrical resistance" of the train network's third rail insulator which supplies electrical power to trains.

SMRT said during their media briefing that a combination of factors triggered the incident. This includes water dripping onto the third rail cover in an MRT tunnel between Tanjong Pagar and Raffles Place.

After checks by independent experts from Sweden and Japan, they came to the above conclusions after checking 200km of tracks and inspections of all 141 trains.

To address the issue, SMRT has started replacing all third rail insulators, a process which should be completed by the first quarter of 2017. The insulators which have shown signs of electrical resistance weakness will be replaced first.

Data loggers will be installed at all 47 traction power substations on the NSEWL within the next two months.

Dear all,

This is the round about along Simon road. Driver almost knocked me down when turning into the curb about a year ago. Today at the same spot, I took pictures of the car. Driver told me its his grandfather's road.

This is not about how much fine the fella deserved. I'm not interested about the LTA getting extra pocket money.

This is not a matter of bad parking skills and causing inconvenience any more.

It endangers all pedestrians.. especially old folks going to the market and students going to school in the morning. even an ambulance in the most urgent issue cannot go up the curb.

Andrew Yeo

Dear All Singapore Stuff,

I spotted this at Marina Bay Sands food court 29/7/15.

Me and my friend will have lunch together, and this PRC women sitting on the next table, just let her son pee in the pastic bag in front of us without giving a f*** of the surrounding people.

Best part is, after she is done, she simple throw the bag of pee on the floor!!

Alvin

A.S.S. Contributor

Many people are asking what is the root cause of SMRT's frequent train breakdowns and who is to blame.

My answer: the Public Transport Council (PTC) that regulates fare hikes.

The fare hikes are miserly compared with the rate of inflation.

SMRT's 2014 financial report shows that although revenue increased, many financial indicators - such as profits, return on assets, return on equity, free cash flow, earnings per share and dividends per share - had been falling for five straight years. In fact, free cash flow was negative last year.

Borrowings were up significantly from 2013. Fare margins were down for five straight years, too, and negative in 2014. Non-fare margin, for businesses such as retail, on the other hand, was improving.

Unlike other companies, SMRT cannot shed its money-losing train business. Yet, it is yet expected to improve reliability even as the PTC moderates fare hikes to meet the demands of commuters, some of whom even want a freeze to fare hikes until reliability improves.

How is that possible?

Train fares in Singapore are low relative to gross domestic product per capita.

Raise the fares if we must, but continue to offer discounts to students and targeted assistance to the needy. The rest who happily use our latest flashy iPhones and Samsungs to kill time on the trains can surely afford a fare hike.

Jonathan Toh Joo Khai

The Eunos PAP branch chairman Chua Eng Leong announced that the People's Action Party team will stay on Aljunied. He said: "We are here to stay. We haven't deserted you. We will continue to put in extra effort to win your vote, so please support us and let's have a change."

Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob who was Guest-of-Honour at an Aljunied grassroots Hari Raya event shared: "Our motto, our principle, our values are very simple. We work really, really hard. We do our best for the residents...Our motive, objective, goal is always to see how we can uplift the welfare of the people. Having that as a motive and objective, we will not go wrong."

When asked if the coming election in Aljunied GRC will be a tough fight, Halimah Yacob had this to say. "We must always be prepared...We cannot be complacent and I'm sure the team in Aljunied has been working very hard to do their best for the residents."

Dear Editors,

I saw this funny picture circulating online and it definitely needs to be shared! Now is fashion to be #SG50, everything also #SG50 but nobody can win this crazy guy lah!

He intends to celebrate and commemorate SG50 by f**king 50 girls this year. With a face like his, I wonder how he get all his lobang or is he very rich to spend money on FL?

Funny things people do just to suck up to the government's SG50 celebrations.. end up overdo it and make it feel fake and gross. Wish him all the best no STD. 

Jia Wens

A.S.S. Contributor

Many people are asking what is the root cause of SMRT's frequent train breakdowns and who is to blame.

My answer: the Public Transport Council (PTC) that regulates fare hikes.

The fare hikes are miserly compared with the rate of inflation.

SMRT's 2014 financial report shows that although revenue increased, many financial indicators - such as profits, return on assets, return on equity, free cash flow, earnings per share and dividends per share - had been falling for five straight years. In fact, free cash flow was negative last year.

Borrowings were up significantly from 2013. Fare margins were down for five straight years, too, and negative in 2014. Non-fare margin, for businesses such as retail, on the other hand, was improving.

Unlike other companies, SMRT cannot shed its money-losing train business. Yet, it is yet expected to improve reliability even as the PTC moderates fare hikes to meet the demands of commuters, some of whom even want a freeze to fare hikes until reliability improves.

How is that possible?

Train fares in Singapore are low relative to gross domestic product per capita.

Raise the fares if we must, but continue to offer discounts to students and targeted assistance to the needy. The rest who happily use our latest flashy iPhones and Samsungs to kill time on the trains can surely afford a fare hike.

Jonathan Toh Joo Khai
This letter first appeared on the Straits Times forum.

A double murder committed by former policeman, 36 year-old Iskandar Rahmat, had shocked Singaporeans in 2013 - the former policeman was arrested on suspicion of killing car workshop owner Tan Boon Sin, 67, and his son Tan Chee Heong, 42, at their terrace house on Hillside Drive on 10th July 2013.

The body of the younger Mr Tan was found on the road outside Kovan MRT station in Upper Serangoon Road, after it was dragged for a kilometre under a car.

The blood trail led back to his father's home where the body of the older man was found.

Iskandar, who has been with the police force since 1999, was arrested in Johor Baru after a 54-hour manhunt.

At a much anticipated hearing today to determine if the prosecution has enough evidence to proceed, the trial was adjourned today after prosecution produced 101 written statements from witnesses. The court only had time to admit 76 statements.

The court was adjourned to a later date where the rest of the statements would be read.

Wearing black-rimmed spectacles and looking visibly thinner than when he was arrested two years ago, Iskandar appeared to be in good spirits, waving to his family and friends who attended the hearing. Family members of the victims were also at the hearing.

A French aviation expert believes he may have found the wreckage of MH370 – the Malaysia Airlines flight which disappeared off the coast of Malaysia in March 2014.

Xavier Tytelman, a former military pilot who now specialises in aviation security, was contacted on Wednesday morning by a man living on the island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean. The man sent Mr Tytelman a series of photos showing wreckage of a plane, which the Frenchman said could possibly be the missing jet.

"I've been studying hundreds of photos and speaking to colleagues," Mr Tytelman told The Telegraph. "And we all think it is likely that the wing is that of a Boeing 777 – the same plane as MH370.

"Police in Reunion examining the wreckage say that it looks like it's been in the water for around a year, which again would fit with MH370. We can't say for certainty, but we do think there is a chance that this is it."

Diplomacy is not hypocrisy.

No matter how big or small a party is, it must learn how to exercise Diplomacy but not hypocrisy or Wayang.

From little things like negotiations, the party should not pretend to attend but just refuse any negotiation process. Worse still, while ignoring all attempts to talk or negotiate but put up a pretence in public media that there is such negotiation going on.

That will make the party lose credibility among its peers.

Goh Meng Seng

According to the Ministry of Defence (Mindef), it now wields a software that can remotely disable cameras, Wi-Fi connection, and microphones in mobile devices, as well as wipe out their data and track their locations.

Mobile device management (MDM) technology is now being tested on tablets used by civilian contractors who maintain the more than 6,000 buildings and facilities owned by the Singapore Armed Forces and Mindef. This is to manage the increasing prevalence of such devices which are being used by personnel and for non-core functions in the SAF.

Mindef cited a scenario where someone was found to be taking an unauthorized photo of a classified document or area with the tablet. In the scenario, the MDM software would be able to lock the device remotely, detect its location and delete its contents and disable the camera, microphone and Wi-Fi connection.

According to inside sources from the Straits Times, Mindef may be planning to wire 520 mobile devices with the MDM software.

Currently, MDM applications have been installed in tablets and laptops used by soldiers to access online lessons in military institutes such as the Basic Military Training Centre and Safti Military Institute.

Hi All,

The General Election will take place soon. I would like to share my thoughts with fellow Singaporeans.

The EBRC report has been released to signify that the next General Election (GE) will take place sooner than expected. Thus it is heartening to note that since GE 2011, the Opposition Camps, particularly the Workers Party (WP), Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Reform Party (RP), as well as the Singapore People's Party (SPP), have all been working the ground so diligently to get acquainted with Voters.

The Workers Party (WP) may be the Leaders of the Opposition now with seven elected MPs. However, on Nomination Day when Parliament is dissolved, it will be just another opposition party, left very much on its own to fend for its political fortune in the GE. On paper, it may be perceived to be the strongest among the Opposition with the potential to recapture those wards they won in GE 2011. And if WP is happy with this, they will be letting down Singapore Voters miserably.

I am also sending the same message to all the other Opposition parties ~ It is not enough to just win seats in Parliament. Truth be told, PAP members are better seat warmers. Opposition members must be more useful and effective. We want opposition members to win seats and enter parliament as ONE UNITED VOICE. A FORCE to effectively change bad polices; to hinder and prevent the ruling party from having its way and passing bills and policies at will for their own interest.

Thus besides the bartering and negotiating to avoid 3-corner fights, I fervently hope that despite their diverse ideologies, and different manifestos, our Opposition Leaders can mutually agree to adopt a common Rally Call to enlighten Voters :

a. The 6.9Million PWP - This is a real threat and it is the biggest threat to Singaporeans. In fact it has already been passed for implementation. If Voters continue to vote for the PAP candidates, they will be voting in the same people who supported the bill which was passed it in parliament.

b. The PAP’s policies on Immigration, Manpower and Employment - Singaporeans are losing their jobs, as well as job opportunities and career advancement to cheap foreign talent and foreign labour. PAP's policies are responsible for this grotesque state of affairs.

c. CPF Retirement Fund - The with-holding of our CPF money is causing great hardship to retirees. Having no alternative savings to fall back on, many retirees are forced to take up odd jobs or part-time work, with long hours and at very low pay. Many are also deterred from setting up a small time business because their CPF money is locked in and held by the CPF Board.

d. Number of Opposition Seats in Parliament - Many Singaporeans may not realise this ~ that what matters is not the percentage of popular votes (ie the percentage of total votes) that the Opposition is able to capture. Rather, what matters is the total number of seats that the Opposition MUST capture to effectively STOP the PAP. To immobilize them in Parliament, the Opposition must deny PAP 2/3 of the 89 seats in Parliament..... That means the PAP must not win 59 seats or more. This will effectively stop the PAP from passing new policies and laws; from changing and tweaking parts of our Constitution for their own interests. As ONE UNITED VOICE with the same Goal n Mission, we can do it.

We are at the threshold of a new political era for Singapore. Vote for a more balanced Representation in Parliament.

Roger SS Lim
A.S.S. Contributor

City Gas announced on Wednesday that household gas tariffs will be increased by 3.6% or 0.63 cent per kilowatt hour (kWh).

For the third quarter of 2015, gas tariffs will increase from 17.62 cents per kWh to 18.25 cents per kWh. After factoring in 7% GST, the revised tariffs would be 19.53 cents for every kWh.

This increase is due to a 12.7% rise in fuel costs from the previous quarter. City Gas reviews the tariffs based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority, which is the regulator for the gas industry.

This is my dad's medical bill from the polyclinic. I was quite happy when i saw that the bill is heavily subsidised. But after a second look, I realised that the charges for consultation is ridiculous.

The consultation fee for a neighbourhood private doctor is usually between $20-$30. Public polyclinic is supposed to be cheaper than private clinics. How in the world can a public medical service be much expensive?

It's either the authorities are inflating the consultation fee and then makes it look like the gov is heavily subsidizing our medical cost or our doctors working at polyclinics are being paid super scale salary that rival the private sectors. I know the latter isn't true.

But if the subsidies are a true reflection of the amount incurred, then what is stopping our gov to also subsidize private clinics so as to assuage the waiting time at the polyclinics? Tsk.

Osman Sulaiman

28 year-old Azlin Amran was on her way to meet her friend at Paya Lebar. She was at Tanah Merah MRT Station when she stepped into a gap on the escalator steps and fell in.

Stuck waist-deep in the escalator for almost half an hour, Miss Azlin Amran waited, bleeding and in excruciating pain, as the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) worked to free her.

As soon as she was freed, she was rushed to Changi General Hospital (CGH), and sent to the intensive care unit.

Among other injuries, the 28-year-old woman suffered a punctured lung, a fractured pelvis and spinal injuries, said her 52 year-old mother, Madam Azizah Mohd Lajis, a Sats officer.

Nearly a month after her treatment, Azlin Amran still could not feel her legs.

Her mother told The New Paper: "The doctor said that Azlin could end up paralysed. Fortunately, her nerves did not 'snap'. We are hoping for a miracle that she can walk again.

"She cannot feel her legs. Her nerves are intact, but they are now stretched like a rubber band... There are now six screws in her vertebrae."

According to Azlin, there was no barrier blocking access to the escalator which, unknown to her, was being serviced at the time of the accident.

Dear All Singapore Stuff,

I came across this job advertisement for a job in Singapore that says only Filipinos or Indonesians may apply. Are these jobs that Singaporeans cannot do? The company is IOTA group, a Swiss International Technical assistance company.

Here's the link to the job advertisement: http://www.rigzone.com/jobs/postings/857163/Commissioning_profiles.asp

The advertisement reproduced in full:

IOTA GROUP RECRUITMENT PROGRAM - SINGAPORE

IOTA GROUP , a Swiss International Technical assistance company, has been selected by a world class leading oil and gas company for the commissioning of a yard in SINGAPORE. We are searching for Supervisors and Technicians : piping, instrumentation, electrical, Mechanical, Rotating Machines engineers, Process and DCS (no inspector profiles). The first mobilizations are planned in September 2015. The duration of the commissioning has been estimated for 12 months renewable.

Place of work :
Singapore : resident status and rotation 4x4 (the applicant must already hold the necessary authorization to stay and work in Singapore).

Job purpose :
The job holder is responsible to assist his discipline supervisor in his technical duties and accountability to superintendent. He ensures that the implementation of the Yard work carried out by Contractor is performed in compliance with the project specifications and safety requirements.

Minimum qualification / Experience for Supervisors :
Engineering D3 or equivalent Graduate from recognized University in related engineering discipline.

Mini experience required :
Above 15 years of experience as supervisor in oil and Gas industry or Petrochemical industry, and 10 years in similar position Good knowledge of commissioning sequence of an onshore and offshore project, ability to control and challenge progress schedule.

Fluent in English is mandatory

Only Filipino and Indonesian candidates Thank you to send us your full application by completing and returning the Personal data sheet in attachment with your curriculum vitae ONLY in word form

Jacob
A.S.S. Contributor

A 48 year-old HIV-positive homosexual businessman was denied joint custody of his triplets with his wife today - but the Singapore courts took pains to emphasize that the decision was not made because he was homosexual or because of his HIV+ status.

Denying joint custody is a rare legal move which is justified only in special circumstances when it is proven that joint custody is not in a child's best interests.

In 2011, the businessman and his 49 year-old businesswoman wife obtained an interim divorce citing unreasonable conduct, which ended their 15 year marriage. The case came before the court over who was responsible for care, control and custody of the children, and the division of marriage assets.

The couple's triplets were conceived through in-vitro fertilisation, which took a high toll on the mother emotionally, physically and psychologically.

The wife found out about her husband's double life only in 2009, after she hired a private detective when she suspected something was amiss with her husband's behavior. To her shock, she discovered that her husband had posted a picture of himself on a website called Manjam where he sought other men for short term sexual relations.

On the website, he described himself as a childless 35 year-old when he was in fact 10 years older at the time and the father of triplets. He also claimed that he was HIV negative when he was in fact HIV positive.

Also in the same year, he had a tryst with a gay partner who engaged in what the court judge called a "particularly reckless and dissolute lifestyle". The partner was found unconscious and naked under the bed of another homosexual lover who lay naked and dead in bed due to brain damage from drug intoxification. The husband was found guilty of drug possession and jailed for 6 months one year later in 2013.

Earlier in 2012, he had also been declared a bankrupt. In 2010, his wife had to apply for a Police Protection Order (PPO) against her husband after he turned abusive towards her.

Justice Vinodh Coomaraswamy said in judgment grounds released yesterday: "The husband is in the same position as any parent, whatever the gender or sexual orientation, who has displayed... appallingly poor decision-making ability."

The judge said all these factors showed "an ability to make decisions which are positively detrimental to his own welfare", as well as his kids' long-term interests.

He ruled that the husband was to have no more than two hours a week of supervised access, plus telephone access - limits which were already in place.

Overall, the judge awarded a 60:40 division of the matrimonial assets in favour of the wife out of a joint pool of $2.65 million. This was based on the direct and indirect contributions of both parties to the family and factored in the father's $327,529 lump sum maintenance for the children.

As the husband was a bankrupt, the court had no powers to touch his assets vested under the Official Assignee's control.

Justice Vinodh ordered that he settle the $123,391 debt to discharge the bankruptcy with the 40 per cent sum he is entitled to from the sale of the couple's Sembawang property in 2011. This was a condition precedent to effect a "just and equitable" division of the matrimonial assets, he said.

Two sociopolitical sites, earlier notified by the the Media Development Authority (MDA) that they are required to register under the Broadcasting Act, will comply.

They are The Middle Ground (TMG), co-founded by ex-journalist Bertha Henson, and Mothership.sg, which is backed by a social enterprise known as Project Fisher-Men.

On The Middle Ground, which has been asked to register under the Class License in Section 9, a spokesperson for MDA reportedly said, "As part of the registration, MDA requires that TMG Pte Ltd undertake not to receive foreign funding for the provision, management and/or operation of the TMG website.

"This ensures that foreign entities do not engage in Singapore’s domestic politics, or control or manipulate our local media platforms."

Click on the link below to read more.

A 48-year-old Permanent Resident (PR) from the United Kingdom is suspected of assaulting a 37-year-old financial consultant and drove a car towards the other, charged on Tuesday morning.

The accused, John Duncan Tasker faces two charges, namely for the use of criminal force and for driving rashly towards another driver, Yi Yongjie.

The accused was charged on Tuesday morning and will have the hearing next month on 25 August.

Provoked assault? 

The incident is said to have happened at the car park of Parkland Green, East Coast Park, on 30 May (Saturday) around 6:10pm.

Mr Yi was waiting for a parking lot after dropping off his wife and kids at the car park when a silver colored car, driven by Mr Tasker, came driving in against the flow of traffic.

The car then parked in front of the space that Mr Yi was waiting for with his hazard light turned on. As a result, Mr Yi drove his car forward, in front of Mr Tasker’s car and wound down his car window to confront the latter.

According to Mr Yi, Mr Tasker alighted from his car and starting scolding him, calling him “an idiot for being slow”. An argument then ensued between the two men.

All of a sudden, Mr Tasker punched Mr Yi through the car’s window and walked back to his car.

The force of the punch was so great that it broke Mr Yi’s glasses and resulted in bleeding on his face.

Despite being stunned from the punch, Mr Yi hurried down from his car and tried to take down the Mr Tasker’s car license plate number.

“I stood in front of his car and he just stepped on the accelerator, trying to run me over while escaping.” said Mr Yi, who was subsequently treated at Changi Hospital for his injuries.

If convicted, the accused faces up to two-years’ imprisonment or a fine of $5,000 dollars, or both.

Grassroots leader and former military man

In an article about the visit of the British royalty to Singapore three years ago, Mr Tasker was reported to be formerly from the British military and he was once a personal protection officer for the late Princess Diana.

“Among those present were former members of the British military, including 45-year-old John Tasker. His 15-year military career included a stint as a personal protection officer for the late Princess Diana.” (see link)

In his LinkedIn account , apart from listing his current occupation of the Chief Operating Officer at The JLC Group of Companies (a privately held entity with offices in both Singapore and the United Kingdom). Mr Tasker identifies himself as a grassroots leader in his local community in the position of vice-chairman of a Neighbourhood Committee, a grassroots organisation under the aegis of the People’s Association.

He says his role as a grassroots leader include organising and managing community events and “ad hoc meet the people session with our local MP, Dr Maliki Osman.”

Here is a photo of a get-well card and flower bouquet which Dr Maliki’s had apparently sent to Mr Tasker.

Update: John Duncan Tasker’sLinkedin account has since been deleted. For people who are interested, we have saved his profile in a pdf file.

Article first appeared on The Online Citizen.