Downtown Line 3 (Jalan Besar and Rochor Stations)

The Downtown Line stage 3 was opened on 21 October 2017. It is the second last stage of the Downtown line. The last stage is DTL3e, which was announced on 15 August 2014, in conjunction with the announcement of the Thomson-East Coast MRT Line.

Two stations, Xilin MRT Station and Sungei Bedok MRT Station will be added to the Downtown Line, with Sungei Bedok as an interchange station with the Thomson-East Coast Line. It will add an additional 2.2 km to the line with the extension.[26] Due in 2024, Stage 3e will join the current East West and future Thomson-East Coast lines that runs through Marine Parade.

However, it seems that there was a planning oversight. Jalan Besar and Rochor stations are around 300m apart - what's really puzzling is that users will have to sit through a loop of 9 additional stops to get to the other station.

This adds to the load of the DTL during peak hours and makes it difficult for commuters to walk to the other station directly. Users would have to exit 1 station, cross a junction before walking another 100m to get to the other station - without shelter from the weather.

The LTA should have designed an underpass to connect the 2 stations for transfer to be made easier, since there is an underpass along Sungei road.

There is even a thread on Hardwarezone dedicated to it - http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/eat-drink-man-woman-16/downtown-line-3-intersection-town-why-no-interchange-transfer-5710900.html

However, it makes perfect sense for the authorities, as this means DTL3 users would have to pay more and waste more time for their commute.

What to expect of smart speakers in the near future

There are mainly two such products in the smart speaker market currently - Amazon Echo and Google Home. However, Microsoft is set to unveil its own version (powered by Cortana and Harman Kardon as the third party device maker) in the coming months.

Not much has been detailed in the specs for now but what remains similar with both Amazon and Google's competing products is that it will probably look and work like a speaker. As more companies jump on board to launch their iterations of voice activated home assistants, we wonder what would be next for such devices and what role would they play in the IoT (Internet of Things) grand scheme. Below are some possibilities which I foresee:

1. The next generation of voice-activated assistant (smart speaker) will most likely spot a screen. Sure, voice activation is cool, be it asking Alexa for news and to top up your fridge, commanding Google (home?) to turn on the TV for or asking Cortana for advice, However, the user experience still seems crippled without a user interface (in case the speaker/microphone dies)

2. Recognizing different voices.

3. String commands together. For now, each command needs to be separate. In the future, this limitation will probably be overcome.

4. Remote controlling over different locations. For now, while IoT still has limited applications, but in the future it would certainly work, security wise however, would pose a problem

5. Locating items within your house/areas of control. Ok this might be creepy. But to do so will mean that artificial intelligence has progressed to becoming "sentient" and knowing your house's blueprint entirely. This can work well when you are so used to misplacing items or work against you by an intruder/hacker. Of course, I dont think at this current moment there is any simple technology that allows for such an implementation, much less a home-based system.

Any other opinions? Feel free to add on

During the 2016 Budget, the Silver Support scheme was unveiled

While I do applaud the efforts by the government to help the older generation cope with rising living expenses, I cannot help but feel that it is an assistance scheme not without loopholes and flawed assessment criteria.

The 3 criteria 

1. Seniors who have not more than $70,000 in their total CPF contributions by the age of 55 will meet the first criterion of lifetime wages.

For those who are self-employed, they should not have an average annual net trade income of more than $22,800 when they were between age 45 and 54.

2. Those who own, and live in, a four-room or smaller Housing Board flat will meet the housing type criterion. Those who live in - but do not own - five-room HDB flats will also qualify, albeit for a smaller payout, should they meet other criteria.

3. The household support condition requires seniors to come from the bottom third of households where, on average, each member earns not more than $1,100 per month.

(taken from: http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-budget-2016-more-than-140000-seniors-to-get-silver-support-payouts-in)

The first criterion is a fair indicator as CPF balance would provide an initial gauge if a Senior is likely to require financial support.

Flaws of the Assessment Criteria

The second criteria of looking at housing type while good as a means of benchmark can be flawed if it does not take into consideration assets other than properties.

Criteria 3, is however, the most flawed as a yardstick for assessment. First of all, I believe that there is no law explicitly stating the conditions for household support nor parental support – in other words, the monthly monetary contributions a child must provide to the household.

This lacks clear definition and is loosely based on the household income per capita.

Hence, the children of seniors are not liable to contribute to the household despite living under the same roof. In such cases, seniors may not have adequate financial support from other members of the family even if the children are well-to-do.

Then there is the other side of the coin – where children are living away from the parents but are still contributing to the living expenses of the elderly.

This brings up my argument - unless the Maintenance of Parents Act is reviewed to include conditions of household support, this would be a very flawed criterion for the system to use as a benchmark to assess whether an elder should be included under the Silver Support scheme financial aid.

Analysis of Situations in Perspective

Case 1: An only child living with retired parents that meet 2 out of 3 criteria.

While they meet the first 2 criteria for the Silver Support Scheme (minimum CPF and housing type), the family fails to qualify due to the third condition as the child makes $3,500 (which averages out to slightly less than $1,200 per person within the household). However, SSS does not assess other circumstances, e.g. whether the parents are of good health and whether the family has any outstanding loans (housing, education).

Case 2: Elders that meet 3 criteria but also receive monthly financial support from children who live elsewhere. Since the elderly parents are the sole-owners of the 3 room flat and there is theoretically 0 household income support, it is likely they would be eligible for the Silver Support Scheme.

As we can see, for the first case, the bulk burden of the household falls upon the only child and monthly income of $3500 can hardly be called as well-to-do nor average (median income is $3,949, average income is about $4,600). Therefore, if we could weigh the two families’ financial situation, most would be inclined to lean towards the first case as the case requiring more attention.

Unfortunately yet not surprisingly, this is a very typical and common phenomena.

Cases that fall through

Under this severely flawed Silver Support Scheme, families with the only child as the sole breadwinner are penalised while those well-to-do elderly folks get additional financial support from the Singapore Government. Which is a bad way to channel funds to helping people that dont need further help.

A Badly Thought Policy

The Silver Support Scheme is a bad policy which only addresses financial help for extreme cases while the funds are being "misused" to support many elderly who choose to live away yet are supported financially by their children.

If we could postulate and make further assumptions down the road, this scheme is only kicking the can down the road, by leaving the only child with little means of planning ahead financially for the setting up a family or for his/her own retirement. At the same time, it appears that the Singapore Government is contradicting itself with a policy that does not promote nor encourage children to live with their parents.


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Actual Criteria to qualify under Silver Support Scheme.

To be eligible for Silver Support, one must be a Singapore citizen aged 65 and above, and must meet all of the following criteria:

Total CPF contributions of not more than $70,000 by age 55. Self-employed persons should also have an average annual net trade income of not more than $22,800 when they were between the ages of 45 and 54.
Live in an HDB flat that is 5-room or smaller.
Not own, and not have a spouse who owns, a 5-room or larger HDB flat or private property or multiple properties.
Live in a household with a monthly income per person of not more than $1,100.

http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/silver-support-scheme

China's ambitions in the South China Sea is no different from Japan in WWII

China's ambitions in the South China Sea is no different from WWII Japan

China has been aggressively building up its military might and staking claims over islands in the South China Sea.

The South China Sea disputes involve both island and maritime claims among several sovereign states within the region, namely the Nation of Brunei, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia, Indonesia, the Republic of the Philippines, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The territorial disputes involve the following:

The nine-dash line area claimed by the Republic of China, later People's Republic of China which covers most of the South China sea and overlaps the exclusive economic zone claims of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Maritime boundary along the Vietnamese coast between PRC, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Maritime boundary north of Borneo between China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan.
Islands, reefs, banks and shoals in the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands, the Pratas Islands, Macclesfield Bank, Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands between China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and parts of the area also contested by Malaysia and the Philippines.
Maritime boundary in the waters north of the Natuna Islands between China, Indonesia and Taiwan[6]
Maritime boundary off the coast of Palawan and Luzon between China, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
Maritime boundary, land territory, and the islands of Sabah, including Ambalat, between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Maritime boundary and islands in the Luzon Strait between the China, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_disputes_in_the_South_China_Sea

The contested region is widely speculated to be rich in oil, natural gas deposits and also sea produce. Also, establishing the maritime boundaries would mean controlling the sea trading routes.

As the nationalist movements in China become increasingly widespread,, the young and web-savvy Chinese netizens have become increasingly vocal in their support for the Chinese government's antagonistic approach in the disputes through the use of social media. Even celebrities have taken to posting on weibo (China's equivalent of facebook) to state their stands. In July, public figures in the entertainment circle, including Fan Bingbing, Tiffany Chen (Charles Heung's wife) and Hu Jun posted a picture with the caption: China, not even a bit less (sic). Loosely translated, it means that China is adamant and will not give up sovereignty over the disputed maritime boundaries and islands.

Earlier in May, a Pentagon report says China has reclaimed more than 3,200 acres of land in the south-eastern South China Sea. But the country’s focus has shifted to developing and weaponizing those man-made islands so it will have greater control over the maritime region without resorting to armed conflict. On these man-made islands, China has excavated deep channels, created and dredged harbors (for warships), and constructed communications, logistics and intelligence gathering facilities.

More recently (In December), Fox News first reported China is getting ready to deploy another missile defense system from a port in southeast China. China also flew a long-range bomber around the South China Sea for the first time since March 2015 and days after Mr. Trump’s phone call with his Taiwan counterpart. The US intelligence believes that the hundreds of surface-to-air missiles that the Chinese military has recently shipped to Hainan Island will eventually be deployed on the man-made islands.

This has led to protests by the collection of countries involved in the claims. During the ASEAN summit held in Laos, the South China Sea row dominated the discussion. While countries involved in the SCS spate has been voicing frustration over China's blatant disregard for its neighbours nor the international community, ASEAN has yet to issue any joint statement nor collective protest over China's military developments in the SCS.

China's brazen defiance of the Hague ruling shows that the up and coming superpower is not afraid of flexing its military and economic might and will readily resort to provocative actions to defend its purported territorial rights - and this is eerily similar to Japan's aims at dominating Asia and the Pacific.

ASEAN and US will need to take a firm stand against the region's up and rising powerhouse and curb its influence and antagonistic approaches. At the same time, the awakened Dragon has not shown the willingness to back down, nor hesitate provocations in order to "defend" its sovereignty.

With the new US president elect Donald Trump calling for a renewed arms race, a regional war could be the fuse that eventually erupts into a new World War.

A look at the upcoming GE2015

As Singapore's political scene heats up in preparation for the upcoming general elections, newly introduced candidates from various parties come under public scrutiny.

First up was Ms Kevryn Lim, a member of the National Solidarity Party (NSP). A Masters holder in Professional Communication from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, she was compared to and touted as Nicole Seah v2.0.

However, she invited much criticism over her seemingly inappropriate choice of attire during the opposition horse-trading talks.

Since then, Kevryn Lim seems to have disappeared from the public eye. Whether she has been let go by the NSP or been placed in interim cold storage has yet to be affirmed.

Aside from the small episode above, it does seem that the opposition has been taking a concerted effort in vetting their candidature namelist.

Next up is PAP's team to contest Aljunied in a bid to recover lost grounds from GE2011. For now, it seems that the party in white has randomly and haphazardly (did they even try?) cobbled together a miserable team to rival Workers' Party's A-team. 

It is no doubt that this decision has aroused rife speculations on online forums (Hardwarezone, Sammyboy) that PAP has given up hope of getting Aljunied back although it remains to be seen if the current slate of candidate (Mr Victor Lye, Mr Chua Eng Leong, Ms Chan Hui Yeh, Mr K Muralidharan Pillai and Mr Shamsul Kamar). With the exception of Victor Lye who has been getting his share of the limelight (for the wrong reasons, actually), the other 4 are practically unheard of. 

The PAP lineup to contest Workers' Party's A-team has yet to be revealed although the likelihood of any PAP heavyweights joining the "suicide squad" is as close as Singapore winning the world cup. There have been rumours though, that the resignation of the transport minister Lui Tuck Yew has got to do with infighting within the PAP upper echelons (that he was actually being fielded to Aljunied to be the anchor minister) - which pretty much sums up his hasty decision to leave.

There have been many high profile resignations in the civil service over the past few weeks as well, apparently timed to coincide with the upcoming General Elections. The most watched of them being current Chief of Defence - Lieutenant General Ng Chee Meng's announcement of retirement just before National Day (31 July 2015) which prompted much buzz on the Internet that he was joining politics. No other details have been furnished and he is expected to step down officially as Chief of Defence Force on Aug 18 and we will have to wait and see if he is indeed joining the white team.

I do believe that he would join either DPM Teo Chee Hean, or DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam in their constituencies since these wards are considered to be "safe wards".

Melvin Yong, a Senior Police Officer was also introduced today at Pek Kio market. He is poised to take over the outgoing Minister Lui Tuck Yew as the incumbent candidate for Moulmein. It is only elections that we see ministers cracking wry common man jokes which are not in the least funny - "Mr Lui played on his surname and Mr Yong's Chinese name, Yi Cai, when making the introduction. He said: "Last time, it was 'Lui lai liao, (Hokkien for 'Money is coming'), now it's 'Cai lai liao'." Cai is Mandarin for fortune."

Some have noted though, that he had joined PAP's walkabout in Moulmein despite it being his official last day as the Assistant Commissioner of Police's in the force - which begs the question, did he breach the code of conduct for civil servants to not have any political affiliations.

Then there is Chee Hong Tat, formerly principal private secretary (PPS) to then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Picture from - The Online Citizen

His letter to the Straits Times 6 years ago, writing in his official capacity was to defend the government’s bilingual policy. In the letter, he wrote "It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin," His brash remarks have drawn widespread condemnation online. It is even more ironic that Chee Hong Tat chose to speak in Hokkien when first introduced as a PAP candidate contesting in the Bishan-Toa Payoh ward.

In short, PAP's antics for these high-flying (newly) former civil servants to appear friendlier, less out-of-touch with the general public comes across to me as superficial and feeble attempts at trying desperately to connect and score some last minute brownie points with the electorate.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 - a gravely mistake for Samsung

The Samsung S6 was already going in the wrong direction and many have predicted that the Note 5 would follow in the foot steps.

 My thoughts - why would anyone buy an iPhone lookalike when it has:

1. No removable battery
2. No MicroSD slot
3. No radio (most likely no)
4. Waterproof (probably not, water-resistant is as far as it would go)

If I'd want an Android I'll get a Xiaomi or LG or HTC, or some other phones that are more bang for the buck and probably comes with additional bell-whistles (special features). Samsung has somehow gotten lost with regards to their Android fan-base.

Looks like Samsung's Note 5 is the final nail in coffin for the Korean company.

Citigroup and Bank of America to cut more jobs

It doesnt come as a surprise for more financial institutions to freeze hiring and cut more jobs during such times of economic uncertainty. However, with the Euro debt crisis still pretty much hung in limbo, no one knows how many other financial institutions are highly exposed to the toxic euro bonds and investments and how the situation will pan out eventually.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/AP0a2a3308f3ba4e14ac93fa391df43758.html

Needless to say, the Euro has been dealt a massive blow and even though the biggest European economies pledged loyalty to the currency, it remains to be seen if efforts to salvage the situation will yield success. Fears of economic uncertainty, unfavourable job outlook has already shaken consumer confidence in many parts of the world as we plod with trepidation into the upcoming holiday season.

Already, economic gloom has been cast over Singapore’s most recent forecast. Non-oil domestic exports in October fell 16 per cent, more than double the market forecast of around seven per cent.

The electronics segment also fell 31 per cent year-on-year while non-electronics fell 6.7 per cent.

This would be confirmation, rather than simply indication that performances from various industries share the same sentiment that global economic performance would not be promising in early 2012.

As such, you might want to rethink if you were intending on splurging on a big purchase with your year-end bonus.

The Plunge is Coming

In fact, the likelihood of a stock market crash seems imminent, which would almost certainly trigger off a chain reaction that would affect all industries and retail investors who have a low risk appetite are advised to refrain from playing in the highly volatile stock markets. The number of financial institutions heavily exposed to such toxic investments remains by and large unknown. Most directions point to a total reset (think of the entire banking system being reviewed and loopholes plugged again circa Great Depression) rather than a “recession” due to the lack of banking regulations (subprime mortgage crisis, fractional reserve)in place and fundamentally unsound, unethical business practices that have led the world economy of today nearing total collapse.

In such tumultuous market conditions, many would park their money in treasury bonds, greenback and gold. So if you agree the economy is geared towards a re-set then perhaps you need to invest your spare cash in traditional safe havens and stay away from speculative investing

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1166097/1/.html