The unnecessary changes to the boundaries of electoral constituencies is confirmation of PAP’s loss of confidence.

Contrary to propaganda, PAP NEVER resolved any issues because it has not addressed the root cause of our problems, ie mindless population increase to generate ‘growth’.

PAP’s ‘solution’ – increase the frequency of trains and number of buses, ramp up housing, increase CPF Minimum Sum amount and Medishield premiums, hike petrol duty after oil prices have collapsed, promise more hospital beds with a disproportionate increase of foreigners, etc. If that’s considered solving our issues, then ordinary Singaporeans can replace our ministers at a fraction of their salaries.

Instead of belatedly biting the bullet, PAP assumes it has the luxury of time to engage in propaganda, shamelessly exploit LKY’s death for sympathy votes and return tax dollars in the form of GST vouchers to buy our votes. What a joke.

PAP runs Singapore as a large corporation and is able to attract like-minded greedy candidates who are paid almost $200,000 annually for a part-time job. Loyalists are destined to become CEOs/directors of government-linked companies despite sleeping on the job or spouting half truths for years/decades. Eg, ex DPM Wong Kan Seng – chairman of Temasek-owned Ascendas-Singbridge, ex minister Lim Boon Heng – chairman of Temasek Holdings, etc.

If ex ministers (excluding Aljuneid GRC losers) did not belong to the jiak liao bee category, why can’t they stand on their own two feet and join the private sector? Why are they still dependent on tax dollars after leaving politics?

Most PAP loyalists have also been parachuted into million-dollar top management positions without any relevant experience, such as SMRT paper general CEO and (sinking) NOL paper general Ng Yat Chung. For decades, PAP has been ‘promoting’ thousands of its loyalists based more on guan xi than merit and members of the public have been taken for a ride on Singapore’s ‘meritocratic’ system.

In the real world, political affiliation has its rewards, such as PAP supporters being appointed town council agents with contracts that are worth millions. Likewise for an opposition party but on a much smaller scale. (residents are shortchanged when winning contracts is dependent on political affiliation)

When PAP wields absolute power and is unaccountable to the people, its supporters enjoy the privileges of political affiliation. But what are the consequences when the reverse happens and it no longer controls parliament? Such a thought must be giving PAP sleepless nights.

A huge loss will mean PAP will no longer be able to ‘feed’ thousands of its fair-weather supporters, many who are multi millionaires. This will eventually lead to a further decline in support followed by its eventual fall due to an unstoppable loss of confidence.

PAP did not abandon the use of propaganda and bullying tactics after the last election; it did not tackle the population issue head on. Its incompetence is now obvious to an increasing number of voters but it is still using propaganda to prevent the inevitable loss of power. The old PAP dog doesn’t seem to be able to learn any new tricks till today and isn’t even aware the clock had started ticking in 2011.

PAP fears it will be in deep trouble should opposition party members become MPs. Parliamentary questions on transparency will fly thick and fast for the first time in our 50-year history and whatever the revelations, PAP will also likely be history. The last time we saw a real debate – PM Lee and Goh Chok Tong kena grilled by JBJ and Chiam See Tong in 1988. Video link We need more real debates as they will benefit Singapore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI1g4naB02E

That PAP is in panic mode has been confirmed by the arbitrary redrawing of electoral boundaries. But its loss of power is inevitable because it has never addressed the root cause of our problems since 2011.

According to reader Kaixin, she was dining at Casurina Curry restaurant on Saturday with her friend when the back of her calves started to feel extremely irritated and itchy.

She was seated in the interior part of the restaurant where there were cushion seats - the parts of her legs that were in contact with the seat were had already begun forming visibly angry red spots.

"Within 10 minutes of sitting down, the back of my calves, which were the only parts of my skin in direct contact with the cushioned seat, started to itch and swollen red wheals begin to form on my skin.

"My friend didn't 'kena' because he was wearing long pants. It's very likely the chair because of the affected area.

"We left the restaurant within half an hour.

"I thought it was just regular mosquito bites [at first], I didn't realise it was so bad."

In fact, it got so bad that the red patches burned and swelled and itched some more for days.

She visited the doctor and was diagnosed with a case of moderate to severe rash.

She has since been plagued by a terrible itch at the back of my calves which worsens with any form of contact or perspiring. She again visited the doctor last night but the diagnosis was either a material allergy or insect bites which led to a severe rash. She also received an MC and exemption from exercise for one week.

She said: "As I have no history of being allergic to natural or artificial fibers, it is highly likely that the latter scenario is true and their chairs are infested with bugs."

"These past few days have been grueling mentally and physically due to the debilitating itch and stinging sensation," She added. "This is a situation where I would not wish upon my worst enemy. I truly hope that NEA could help carry out a thorough investigation to prevent any more people from falling victim to being bitten so badly while dining in their restaurant."

GE is coming!

Ever since the next general election for Singapore have been speculated to be in the year 2015 the social media space in Singapore have been experiencing an explosive quantities of updates regarding the general election.

However recently 2 very unique status updates on Facebook caught my eye when I was browsing for information regarding the oppositions. The updates were from Roy Ngerng aka the Hero of Singapore (self proclaimed) and a page named The New Era, both of them were sharing this same image titled “How to Vote GE2015″. The image serve as an instruction on how to vote during the next election, specifically it instruct the voter to simply vote opposition, in case of a multi-cornered contest it even provided an “order of preference” for voters to follow.

While it is every supporter’s rights to drum up support for their party and candidate of choice it is quite absurd to unabashedly ask voters to blindly vote for the opposition regardless of whoever is contesting in the ward. This is the General Election we are talking about here, we should be comparing the qualities and character of the candidates carefully from different party before making the very important decision of voting for them.

I accept the fact that certain hardcore opposition supporters will have the mindset that any candidate from the opposition is better than any candidate from the PAP, even if we were to accept such an argument then shouldn’t we be looking at comparing the individual candidates from the different opposition parties before making a choice? Nope, Roy Ngerng and The New Era somehow have decided that when oppositions pit against each other any candidate from Worker Party is better than any candidate from SDP, any SDP candidate is better than any candidate from SPP and the list goes on……

And they say the PAP is authoritarian?

It comes as a surprise when the opposition supporters whine all day along about the PAP’s suppose authoritarian behaviour but then went on to directly instruct the electorate to vote in a precise and rigid manner. Roy Ngerng and The New Era is encouraging group think by asking the electorate to vote blindly, anyone who is even remotely interested in political studies know that group think is one of the most dangerous element in politic as it can lead to ruling parties being apprehensive towards advice that did not originate from the group itself.

Order of preference base on………simply preference?

There was also no rational given as to how the “preference” order of the parties were being decided. Why is the Worker Party at the top? Do The New Era and Roy Ngerng have first hand knowledge of who will be the candidates from the opposition camp who will be competing for votes against each other hence they were able to decide which party’s candidate to vote for even before the GE begin? I can only hope they are base on some complex algorithm we mortal cannot understand and not just The New Era and Roy Ngerng’s personal preference.

Conclusion: I believe that the general election is a very important event that allow us to vote for our preferred party and candidate to lead us in the next 5 years. For us to vote blindly for during the general election is an insult to our forefathers whom we inherit this country from.

One last loose end to tighten: being the curious person that I am, I reach out to the PPP to try and understand how they feel to be rank at the bottom of the order of preference by The New Era.

The Social Commentator

Dear A.S.S.,

My bad experience in a clinic I first time visit at North area..

I went to the clinic somewhere in the north side today and was shock to hear the response of the nurse (counter lady) Fyi, my first time visiting that particular clinic..

Conversation with the nurse (counter lady)
Nurse: Yes, how can I help you.
Me: I would like to consult doctor.
Nurse: For what purpose.
Me: Coughing.. *Coughs coughs..
She took my IC and Chas card..
Moments later
Nurse: You come like the others right?
Me: What you mean?
Nurse: You come here only to take cough syrup like the others right?
By this time in the back of my mind was WTF!!
Nurse continue blabbering: sorry ah I can't give you the cough syrup.. You cannot get the cough syrup..
Me: Excuse me! I have been coughing for the past 3weeks non stop!!!
Nurse: if lozenges only can. Cough syrup cannot.
Me: again excuse me.. I come here to consult doctor to check what's wrong as the cough is not getting any better. And to check if my throat is swollen or any sign of throat ulser or anything at all and not to get cough syrup and get high or steam with the cough syrup! (I guess that's what the ppl have misuse the cough syrup for) I don't mind if the doctor just give me lozenges for goodness sake as long as my sore throat is cured coz its bothering my daily rest and work!
Nurse: oh sorry.. I was just asking...
Me: are you for real?

I ask back for my IC and my Chas card and stomp out of the clinic.

Is this how ppl are treated in a clinic? I'm Genuinely sick and this is what I get? Are you counter lady at all trained to speak to patient is that manner and judging them that instantly? I haven even seen the doctor and the counter lady already told me the result.. Is she the doctor.. ?

Now I have no mood to even consult doctor.. Have to bear with this sore throat God knows for how long more.. Thanx to the counter lady..!!

Nic
A.S.S. Contributor

34 year-old permanent resident May Thu San Kyaw Nyein was slapped with a $12,500 fine on Monday after she was convicted of abusing her maid, who is a fellow Myanmar national, and forcing her to perform humiliating acts on camera.

Barely a week into the 25 year-old maid's employment, May began abusing the poor woman after accusing her of not performing her job satisfactorily. May first accused the maid of not washing a prayer vase and milk bottle properly, and punished her by ordering her to do 80 squats.

The abuse escalated and May slapped the maid's head and pulled her hair at her home in Tanglin Road. She would film her maid on CCTV and later show her footage of things she had apparently done wrong.

On one occasion she told the victim to pull down her shorts and scratch her groin - then threatened to upload the footage online if she went to police.

The distressed maid eventually complied. The cip, which showed Nyein laughing and clapping her hands, was never uploaded.

Nyein was fined a total of $12,500 after admitting three out of five charges.

Her lawyer S. S. Dhillon said she had been suffering from major depression and that a psychiatrist had said that there was a causal link between her mental condition and the offences she committed.

Nyein could have been jailed for up to three years and/or fined up to $7,500 for causing hurt. For using criminal force, she could have been jailed for up to three months and/or fined up to $1,500; and for criminal intimidation, up to two years and/or fined.

The cabby at the center of the viral complaint posted on A.S.S. this morning about a female GrabCar customer who was scolded by her driver and left by the side of the road in Geylang has finally come out to explain his side of the story.

The cabby who wanted to be known as Mr Tong clarified that while he knows of the ongoing promotion, he was advised to only give the $5 discount to passengers who had received a notification saying that the promotional code keyed in is valid. The cabby said if the code was valid, he would also have been notified of it via SMS.

Mr Tong said that even though the female passenger claimed that she had keyed in a code, she could not show proof that she was entitled to the $5 discount. He did not receive any SMS notification to confirm her claim either.

He explained he had four cases in the last week where he could not claim the $5 discount back. Hence, he had to bear the $20 discount he had given out and was more careful about the promotion this week.

In a phone conversation with news website Stomp, he said:

"The passenger kept demanding she get the discount and said she will only pay me $7, instead of the usual fee of about $12.

"I then gave her an alternative. I told her I will drop her off at the next exit if she still refuses to pay me the full fare and I will not take a single cent from her.

"She then shouted vulgarities at me. I was naturally provoked and I scolded her out of anger.

"I know I shouldn't have done that on hindsight, but she was being very rude.

"The next exit, as I was travelling on the Ubi KPE, was Sims Avenue and that is where I stopped her so that she could get another vehicle.

"It is not at the red light district area but it is the stretch where there is a row of durian stalls and coffee shops. Now, these shops were not closed and the place was brightly lit up.

"I told her to get off my cab and said I will not charge her, but she instead kept saying that she will call the police.

"She also said she will sit in my cab until the police arrived.

"At this juncture, I also called the police and they arrive within 15 minutes.

"When I explained the situation to them, the passenger realised she could not do anything because she did not have proof that she was entitled to the discount in the first place.

"Now, she is trying to "shame" me on the Internet. I did not even realise that she had taken my picture.

"I feel the situation is unfair as I was merely being cautious about the discount as I did not want to bear the cost of it again. I also told her I will not charge her for the journey and dropped her off at a place where she could have easily gotten on another cab."

The GE is coming and as in any general election, a new man or woman could be thrown up as the new Prime Minister. This is normal and common in any democracy except in Singapore. Here the PM is like a life time tenure and would go to the PAP’s candidate. In this GE the PM in the aftermath would be Hsien Loong. There is hardly any doubt about this. Many things would change but the PM of Singapore after the GE would not change.

Let’s put aside this reality and go on a trip to wonderland and let’s say a miracle happens and a new party or coalition is swept to power. And Singaporeans would have to live with a new face as the new Prime Minister. Who would that face be, Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Chee Soon Juan or Tan Jee Say? Try to imagine that one of them would be the new Prime Minister. The feeling is quite strange.

Strange it might be, but would anyone picture Jokowi, a businessman, not an elite or a general, an unassuming man being the President of Indonesia? Jokowi has been the President of Indonesia for more than a year and is looking more and more like a President. And who says you need to have experience in politics and an apprenticeship to become a President or a head of govt?

In a democracy every citizen is good enough to be the President or Prime Minister. Singaporeans must get use to a new face as the Prime Minister sooner or later. Maybe not in this election, but it will come. Look at Low Thia Khiang and get use to his face as the PM. Or look at Jee Say or Chee Soon Juan, get accustom to their faces and get use to it that their faces could be the face of a PM. Imagine them in formal business suits and ties and looking dignified as the Prime Minister. I am not talking about the money type of dignity, but the dignity of the Office of the Prime Minister, the Head of the govt of a country.

It is just a matter of getting use to it. Get the idea? In a democracy you don’t need to be from the nobility or aristocracy to be the Prime Minister. There is no need to look noble and rich, just look like a Prime Minister will do. And the strange thing is that it will grow on the person in the Office.

That day when I gave birth I was almost in depression. I realised that those who are married and have a father they are entitled to the baby bonus gift. I was at KKH crying because I was the only one there without a husband.

I don't understand what is call baby bonus? Baby bonus not for all baby de mehs? If say must marry than can get. Please make it clear to people put as marry bonus for baby. Not baby bonus.

Don't say half way only baby bonus -.- lols. Don't even know you all say baby bonus even know what the meaning. Say clearly to people. Unfair to single mum. We single mum no need the money? They see single mum no up is it?

Christina Wong

Pilots of JAL flight 38 mistakenly tried to take off from a taxiway at Singapore's Changi Airport on 12th July, but were stopped just in time before a crash occurred. The pilots had apparently thought that they were on a runway.

The aircraft bound for Tokyo’s Haneda airport accelerated at takeoff speed for a few seconds in the early hours of the day, but stopped soon after receiving distressed calls to stop from Air Control.

The incident did not cause any injuries to the 208 passengers and crew members on board. There were no other aircraft on the taxiway at the time.

The 58-year-old captain and a 50-year-old copilot of the aircraft tried to cover up the mistake by not reporting the incident to JAL upon their return. The airline learned of it after a report was issued by Singapore authorities, JAL said.

JAL has suspended the two pilots from working aboard aircraft and is considering punishing them, the company said, adding that the pilots did not think the incident was something worth reporting.

Infamous Mobile Air owner Jover Chew Chiew Loon has been slapped with 2 additional charges - one for insulting behavior towards a female customer, Ms Zou Jing Tong, with intent to cause her distress and conspiracy with his ex-employee, Kam Kok Keong, 31, to cheat walk-in customers between December 2013 and September last year.

On 28th October last year, Chew had forced Ms Zou to pick up coins amounting to $547 from the floor, all while throwing vulgarities and insults at the woman as she picked up the money in front of a crowd. The money was refunded to Ms Zou as part of an order made by the Small Claims Tribunal.

Chew now faces a total of 28 charges.

Kam was also slapped with a similar charge involving Ms Zou. He now faces nine charges in all.

Besides cheating, Chew has also been accused of criminal intimidation by threatening to have a victim's work permit revoked.

Three other staff members of Mobile Air have also been hauled to court for abetment by conspiracy to cheat and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.

Koh Guan Seng, 38, faces 15 charges involving $9,789. Lim Hong Ching, 33, has two charges involving $1,600, and Kelvin Lim Zhi Wei, 32, one involving $330.

According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) today, Singapore’s unemployment rate went up in the second quarter of 2015, after declining for the past four quarters.

The unemployment rate rose to 2 per cent in June, up from 1.8 per cent in March, due to "softer economic conditions".

Among residents, unemployment rose from 2.5 per cent to 2.8 per cent, and for citizens, it rose from 2.6 per cent to 2.9 per cent. The figures are similar to the unemployment situation a year ago.

Training and consultancy provider Human Capital Singapore said the increase is not a surprise, as the second quarter typically sees an influx of graduates into the workforce.

"It might be due to a situation where people are taking a bit of time to look for jobs," said Mr David Ang, director of training and consultancy at Human Capital. "People, maybe even for new graduates who come into the group of unemployed, may say, 'I'll go for a holiday and I will pursue my options later on'."

Total employment grew by 15,700, following a contraction of 6,100 in the last quarter, boosted by hiring in the construction and services industries. However, overall employment growth for the first half of 2015 has slowed compared to a year ago, MOM said.

Layoffs fell for the second straight quarter, with 3,100 workers laid off compared with 3,500 in the previous quarter, the ministry said.

Some readers of my website have emailed me to ask what I think about the coming General Election ( strongly speculated to be on September 12). Presumably, they are most interested in my prediction of the outcome. Will the PAP do better, or worse, than in 2011? Is it possible that with the ‘feel good’ factor reaching its peak after the Silver Jubilee celebration in August, plus all the goodies that the government has been handing out so generously, the PAP will win a landslide victory? How will the opposition, with new parties coming on the scene, fare? Will they spring surprises? Will they win more seats in Parliament?etc etc.

Now I have to say right from the start that it is notoriously difficult to predict the outcome of any general election in any society anywhere in the world ( except North Korea!), given the extreme volatility of election politics. No forecaster can claim prescience. Time and again, this force called ‘the ground’ has proved its mercurial nature. Time and again, pollsters have been proved wrong. Hence, any crystal-ball gazing for GE 2015 will be just that - a diversionary fun exercise that need not be taken seriously.

But since a number of readers have taken the trouble to write in to ask, I suppose I owe them an answer. But it comes with a strong caveat. My answer , far from being a prediction, is simply an extrapolation based on what we already know from our observations of the pre-election groundwork done by the incumbent leadership. This extrapolation is necessarily incomplete, because we don’t know and can’t foretell the behaviour of the voters until election day itself.

Obviously the election outcome will be influenced by both the Knowns and the Unknowns. I will deal separately with both these factors as they come to mind, all the time aware that I’m using a broad-brush approach that cannot answer the specific questions mentioned at the start.

The Knowns

1)The PAP has learnt hard lessons from GE 2011, and has worked assiduously to avoid making the same mistakes. For instance, since 2011, they have ensured that bitterly contentious issues such as the infamous foreign talent and ministerial salaries controversies, will never, ever surface again.Indeed, they have gone much further, to provide all kinds of material benefits to the people, to sweeten the ground for 2015. Hence we can say with some certainty that this GE will not be anything like its highly charged, explosive predecessor that had resulted in the shock resignations of Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong, and the PM’s public, tearful apologies to the people.

2)This is the first GE without the participation of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. In the light of certain controversial incidents involving Mr Lee in previous general elections when the PM had actually to intervene with quick decisions to contain the damage,the campaigning in this GE will be relatively incident-free. For instance, there will be nothing remotely resembling the astounding ‘Aljunied incident’ in 2011, when Mr Lee, in his characteristic blunt and forthright manner, roundly scolded, indeed, cursed the Aljunied voters, and the PM had to quickly call an urgent press conference midway through the campaigning, to dissociate his government ( in the gentlest manner possible) from Mr Lee.

Again, years back, in another GE, the PM had to handle the ‘James Gomez Incident’ very carefully, despite Mr Lee’s rage and insistence on punishing Mr Gomez. What had happened was that this opposition member had accused the PAP of ignoring his application form for participation in the coming election, when, unknown to him, a surveillance camera had caught him calmly putting the filled form into his sling bag, instead of submitting it. The PM, aware of the surge of sympathy for Mr Gomez despite the apparent dishonesty, had to act quickly early in the campaign, to stem this alarming tide of support for an opposition member.

3)The PAP will project an image of a benign, confident and well-mannered leadership ( a far cry from the old portrayal of aggressiveness , arrogance and elitism) even in the face of outright belligerence by the opposition, because they know it will work better with an electorate that has become more alert, discerning and critical. Whatever lethal criticisms, barbs, slings and accusations they already have in readiness to launch against the opposition will be packaged in this gentlemanly guise. It is a shrewd psychological strategy, because should the opposition indulge in acrimonious mud-slinging, the PAP will be seen, by contrast, to be on high moral ground, with the true leadership qualities of self-control, dignity and magnanimity.

4)To woo young voters, the PAP will cast off the old fuddy-duddy image that has become unpalatable to this hip, social media generation. In an unprecedented ‘if-you-can’t-beat-’em- join-’em’ strategy, some of the younger PAP candidates on the campaign trail will make a real effort to show their empathy and solidarity with the younger generation, even going so far as to adopt their gung-ho language, bold mannerisms and uninhibited style. After GE 2015, it is likely that the PAP will have forever abandoned its longstanding but now millennially irrelevant, staid, formal, prim and proper demeanour.

5) The PAP will go all out to capitalise on the ‘feel good’ factor. They will do so subtly and delicately,never directly or blatantly. For instance, in their urge to remind the people of recent government largesse, such as the generous Pioneer package , the PAP will go about it in an indirect, nuanced way,keenly mindful that a newly sophisticated electorate does not like to be told to be grateful, or to feel that they have been bribed in any way.Throughout the campaigning, the PAP will treat the voters with kid gloves. And of course, they will try to maintain, as long as they can, the sweet afterglow of the Jubilee celebration euphoria.

6)After GE 2015, there will be a clear line-up of the new generation of leaders, led by those already recruited, trained and given senior positions in the years following GE 2011. These new leaders will not be overshadowed by the older leaders, in the same way that Mr Lee Kuan Yew had towered over Goh Chok Tong and Lee Hsien Loong, but be given more leeway to develop their own styles. This is because the present PAP leadership realises that the Lee Kuan Yew era is effectively over, with massive changes taking place not only in Singapore but the world. If the younger leaders decide to move towards a political loosening up, the Lee Hsien Loong administration will not interfere, knowing full well that they can never be as effective as the late, powerful, inimitable Mr Lee.Moreover, if they are seen as resisting change, they will get bad press in the international community, for instance, being seen as the only political pariah in ASEAN now that even the long recalcitrant Myanmar regime has accepted sweeping change. Through all these, whatever behind-the-scenes differences they may have, the PAP will project the image of smooth transitioning, continuity and unity.

In short, the whole approach of the PAP in GE 2015 will be motivated by the need to be seen as moving with the times, as possessing calm strength, unruffled goodwill and cheerful friendliness. If to a skeptical electorate, this is no more than an artificially induced election ploy, it will still serve the PAP well should the opposition come across as disunited, unfocused and fractious.

Catherine Lim

Hi ,

Being a single mother is not by choice .

A friend of mine got pregnant , both parties are happy n ready for marriage , preparation of wedding rings , Registration of marriage date have been fixed on 29.6.2015.

It was during a visit to KK hospital for pregnancy check up the man starting doubting if the baby was his .Then he started to be abusive towards her , calling her names . And when she resisted him sexually as she was tired n needed rest , he will nag n nag the whole night till she submits to him . On one such occasion he pinned her down w his fingers around her neck n his knee towards her tummy . She was terrified n begged him to stop as she can't breathe n going to die then he stopped . Just before dawn break , she packed her things n left for good . And it's late for an abortion, passes 3 months . It didn't stop here . He bombarded her with awful, threatening texts day night. Everything has happened is her fault n nor of his n not once did he apologized... Only condemnations from him .

As any parents , relatives or friends , will we allow her to continue with the marriage just to get government grant even if it's a unhappy abusive marriage.

There's always a story behind being a single mother n it hurts me to know tt our Singapore do not recognize it .

These young ladies are Singaporeans giving birth to Singapore babies n as Singaporeans Government no benefits or handout to them ... I am saddened tt the truth was not investigated for their stories . Just don't brand them ... Listen to their voices too.

Ps : as a taxpayer I would rather my money go into helping them then towards ingrate overseas scholars.

Thank you,

God Blessed
Joanne

Just share.

My wife agreed to housesit/catsit her friends' place while they were off to Europe for a week. Months earlier, my wife said that the house was haunted because the cat was always hiding and/or meowing and staring at something invisible. My wife also claims to have felt a bad presence while in the house.

Her friends have said the same thing about the cat. Not that their place was haunted or anything like that.

I was pretty skeptical until I had to stay over at their place for a total of three nights during their latest trip. First night, nothing happened except that the cat was running around meowing a lot at night. Odd but he is a freaky little animal.

Second night, I had the worst nightmares ever! People I know were hanging themselves.

Third night, I woke up at around 4 am because the cat was still running around and meowing. So, I am lying there half asleep and I distinctly heard in my right ear a man saying "Egg"!

We all have our internal monologues but this was an actual voice coming from my right side. On that side of the bed are just windows that are six storeys up looking onto the main road.

Am not staying there another night!

Mac
A.S.S. Reader

Unemployment rises

According to the Straits Times news report “Employment growth rebounds in second quarter but unemployment rises” (Jul 30) – “Unemployment rose after trending down over the past 12 months. The seasonally-adjusted rate was 2 per cent overall, from 1.8 per cent in the first quarter of the year. The rate for citizens 2.9 per cent, or 56,100 people.”

Why always never disclose unemployment rate of PRs and foreigners?

Although the unemployment rate for PRs and foreigners, and the breakdown of the local employment into Singaporeans and PRs, are not disclosed in the MOM report – I have derived estimates for the following, using the data in the report:-

… unemployment rate of PRs– 2.2 per cent (Singaporeans– 2.9 per cent)

… unemployment rate of foreigners – 0.7 per cent

… proportion of PRs in the local workforce – 13.5 per cent

… proportion of unemployed PRs to unemployed locals – 10.8 per cent

So, on a relative basis – there were more unemployed Singaporeans to unemployed PRs.

The unemployment rate of Singaporeans is also much higher than PRs and foreigners.

84,700 unemployed + long-term unemployed + under-employed, etc?

As to “”Our employment rate is one of the highest globally while our unemployment rate is one of the lowest. We must strive to keep it this way for as long as we can” and ”An estimated 84,700 residents, including 75,200 Singapore citizens were unemployed in June 2015″– if we factor in the long-term unemployed (who are not mentioned in the subject MOM report), the under-employed, part-time for economic reasons and economically inactive Singaporeans– there may be much more Singaporeans who can’t get a job or a decent paying job.

Win battles lose war

GIC had 6.1% return last 20 years in USD 

According to the Channel News Asia news report “GIC reports average annual real return of 4.9% over past 2 decades” (Jul 30) – “Sovereign wealth fund GIC manages well over US$100 billion worth of assets in more than 40 countries globally. According to its latest annual report released on Thursday (Jul 30), it has generated an average annual real return of 4.9 per cent for the 20-year period ending March 31, 2015. This marks an increase from the 4.1 per cent it reported a year ago for the 20-year period ended in March 2014.

The real rate of return reflects what is made over and above global inflation. In USD nominal terms, the GIC portfolio generated an annualised return of 6.1 per cent over the same period.”

Returns in S$?

What is the annualised return in S$ in real and nominal terms for the last 20 years, and since the inception of GIC?

CPF returns?

And how do these compare with the weighted average rate of return on all the CPF accounts?

Portfolio value?

What is the current value of the portfolio?

Win battles lose war

OMG these Pinoys are becoming well-established in Singapore. They are even renting HDBs and condos all over Singapore to fellow Pinoys from Pinoyland.

At this rate, Pinoys will spread to every part of Singapore fast!

Some Pinoys had conditions for renting rooms, e.g. looking for 2 females.

Quoted from group:

CherryLouPollandAzuela-Reyes

July 27 at 10:09amPTP

We are looking for a 1 pinay who can share a common room with 1 of our female housemate.

-Air conditioned room

-2 Single Beds

-7 minutes walking distance from Yew Tee MRT (with covered pathway)

-1 month deposit, 1 month advance (No agents fee)

-350sgd per month -Pub/ Wi-Fi to be divided

-Can cook and do laundry

-All Filipino professional housemates

-Room available from Sept 1, 2015 onward

-for info please sms / whatsapp9181xxxxmaramingsalamat

The group has a grand total of 2793 pinoys in it!

Would you like having a Pinoyneighbour?

Gary

A.S.S. Reader

A court in Hong Kong convicted 30-year-old Ng Lai-ying Thursday of assaulting a police officer by hitting him with her breast during a protest on March 1.

Ng testified that during the protest the officer had reached out his arm to grasp the strap of her bag and that his hand had come in contact with her upper left breast, the South China Morning Post reports.

She told the court that she immediately yelled, “Indecent assault!”

But in his decision, the magistrate rejected those allegations, accusing Ng of lying in her testimony and instead finding her guilty of using her breast to bump the officer’s arm. “You used your female identity to trump up the allegation that the officer had molested you. This is a malicious act,” he said.

The extent of the officer's physical injuries was not revealed

There was no word on what physical injuries, if any, the officer suffered.

'How many servicemen are required to change a light bulb?'

15

1 Camp Commandant, Commanding officer, Officer Commanding to approve training
1 supervising officer
1 conducting officer
1 safety officer
1 sergeant to conduct warmup and cool down
1 medic
1 vehicle operator
1 storeman for drawing of bulb and water point
2 medics in medical center
1 medical officer on standby at the nearest 24hr medical center
1 NSF man to participate in training
1 clerk to loan out lesson plan

A light bulb serviceability checklist, a copy of the Light Bulb Standard Operating Procedure with all of its up-to-date chapters and contents and a lesson plan should be on site.

All activity must cease in the event of CAT 1 (thunderstorm).

Conducting officer must do a check of wet glove bulb thermometer before start of activity

Serviceman must be hydrated at least 1 hour before the activity and must have at least 7 hours of uninterrupted rest.

Evacuation route to nearest medical center, 24 hour medical center and base hospital must be planned and understood by vehicle operator (to be checked by safety officer)
conducting and safety officer will have to conduct a recce of the training area 1 hour before commencement of training

The safety officer is to ensure that the medic has the proper equipment necessary for cover of the training.

Serviceman must conduct risk assessment card before commencement of activity

Safety officer must ensure participants have no medical conditions or status to prohibit participation

conducting officer is to conduct a conducting brief, safety brief and warmup (dedicate to sergeant) before activity

Participants must be checked for First aid dressing and ID tag

All servicemen must also be trained to handle the light bulb accordingly and test results must be updated and present for inspection. This includes a technical handling test for the participants

At the end of activity, a cool down must be conducted

Servicemen must surrender all light bulbs and commanders must check that servicemen do not have any light bulb, used light bulb, blown light bulb, broken light bulb or any other form of light emitting devices in their possession.

The conducting officer must conduct an end of mission debriefing to check the well-being of participants and listen to any inquires and concerns from the participants. The conducting officer should also use this opportunity to ensure that participants understand the rational behind the training.

During the training, the conducting and safety officer must continuously ensure that participants are fit to continue the activity.

Participants who are not fit to continue should be evaluated by the medic to determine if the participant can continue, should fall out and observe the activity or be send to medical facility.

The quality of debate in parliament is poor, WP raised a lot of good questions but they are ordinary in arguments and do not follow up as they might worry about the potential face off. I had seen PM teething in anger and LTK looked stunned and meek.

If you look at the PAP ministers, they are mediocre material. People like FT-The-COW-$8-bypass could not even answer questions and chose to tell butterfly lovers’ stories of no sense. Most of these ministers count on their government agencies to provide reports and statistics. Even the so called top class lawyer Shamugam could not use the right stats to showdown with Sylvia Lim. He used the wrong chart and barked down the wrong tree, can you tell his top class? So please, the myth of top political talents in PAP is nothing more than a myth. Most of them are there because they are YES-MEN and they read the scripts provided by office of the Supreme Leader. Do you agree Amos Yee can speak better than LSS? Or even CCS? These people can’t even express themselves and yet they are going to be our next gen leaders. Did it ever cross your mind?

We need very strong debaters and intellects in parliament. To study and look into the reports and statistics provided by government. At this moment, WP is pretty weak in this area and often could not decipher through the mist created by ministers in their response. Do you believe our population stats or the manpower stats or the unemployment stats? Few of us believe the tweaked reports and stats but no one dare to clarify in parliaments. So what does this mean? We just accept whatever they tell us?

The parliament debates have to improve the quality of its debate and fine tune all the lousy policies affecting Singaporeans. So there is a critical need to send in vocal, intelligent and intellects into parliament. We do need people like Dr Chee, Tan Jee Say, KJ, AYG and some of these doctorates who will be contesting. These people will decipher the usual mist with those policies and reports on our behalf.

Would you agree that in addition to the 28 WP candidates, we need to help Dr Chee, Tan Jee Say, KJ and some of these intellects win this coming election so that local interests are protected against those “butterfly lovers” with their butterfly theories in parliament?

龙的传人