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

Bendable (bendy) phones

Samsung has mentioned that a product is in the pipeline (2012 to be exact) and this product appears to be very much different from conventional touchscreen mobile phones. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2056232/Samsung-release-bendy-screen-mobiles-early-2012.html

Enter the bendy phone.

Nokia is also said to be pouring funds into the research of similar prototypes.

If all is true, this makes the mobile technology fraternity more exciting. We might even witness a upheaval when similar products are produced en-masse. Maybe in the next 5 years, this technology could take the world by storm.

So, what’s so great you say, about a bendy phone?

Plenty. The crux is not really about it being bendy or cylindrical or whichever odd-ball of a phone (think Nokia 3650) and how awkward it would fit in your pocket.

The fact that a screen could be so thin that it could be bent without breaking means we’ve reached another era in technology altogether. It could change our perspectives of this world, reshape how future gadgets would look like and how information reaches people.

Screen technology has been changing all the while, from black and white TV to color TV, from CRT to LCD and Plasma, then we have LED, from standard definition to high definition and now 3D – humans have been pushing the limits to which they can stretch the sizes of screen panels, adding more pixels, functionalities and making it thinner lighter.

If this news is true, chances are, the technology will definitely be replicated into e-readers, tablets, laptops, TV and even large display panels on shopping malls.

Currently, e-book readers or tablets are unable to provide the tangible “flipping experience”. What we are seeing, is a simulation of the program to turn over to the next page, which still does not beat the hand-motion that is genetically coded into everyone of us (or at least those who have read paperbacks)

A more flexible screen would definitely be welcoming news to everyone. E-book readers can now sense it when users mimic the flipping motion (I believe the new E-book tablets can now really look like a book with probably 3-5 pages, much like how a calendar looks and functions).

Windows Live Messenger tried to reinvent the wheel

When Microsoft decided to revamp their entire GUI for their popular and world-renowned Live Messenger, it was a total mistake. We loved the old Windows Live Messenger, which was easy to navigate, fuss-free to use and glitch-free (well, nearly).

Microsoft decided instead to add more redundant features such as allowing users to “appear offline” to a certain bunch of people, “optimized” linking to other MSN Live services via administrative controls which were at best poorly implemented. The reasoning was that, people wanted more control over their privacy and will love micro-managing their profile options just like what Facebook did.

It was probably a good assumption on Microsoft’s part. However, in reality, the plan was badly executed. The new interface is clunky, messy and awfully awkward to use – by default, the new MSN Live Messenger 2011 is set up as a “full-view” when installed although users can switch to “compact view” which is more reminiscent of the good-ol Windows Live Messenger 8.5/2009. Whenever you change a status message, it is “updated” or rather, spammed immediately across your network which is totally uncalled for.

When you click on “Edit Profile”, an Internet Explorer pops up and loads a page whereby you are “allowed” to change both your first name and last name. This feature restricts a user by forcing them to type in their real names. On the Internet, I dare say most, if not all of us, love anonymity and therefore have no wishes for everyone on our contact list to know our names (full name, no less).

And who wants to hotmail sync-ed to Live Messenger? Everytime we check email, we will “appear online” on Live Messenger, which is incredibly stupid. When we click on the “inbox” button on our Live Messenger, the outlook express pops up and this is 1 “feature” I would rather be removed.

Also, when we appear offline and want to switch back to online, people whom we “blocked” (now called “appear offline”), are instantly granted the “unblocked” status. I cannot believe the Microsoft engineers are so daft, or maybe their GUI designers arent talking to the programming team? Beats me.

Needless to say, most of the people who have jumped onto Facebook never looked back to MSN Live Messenger. Not because Facebook chat is better but if we had wanted something similar (a website interface inspired chat), why would we have installed MSN Live Messenger in the first place?

MSN Live Messenger 2011 sucks to say the very least and the experience was unbearable – I could almost feel it tearing me inside out as I barely managed to struggle with the cloyingly-helpful interface. There were times whereby I wished I had a sledgehammer by my side.

To Microsoft – you killed your own product and if by any chance that any Microsoft Engineer reads about this post, please bring back the beloved old Messenger.

Crappy Theme Song for Youth Olympics Singapore 2010

With less than 100 days from YOG, which is touted as one of the biggest events of the year (second maybe only to the World Cup?), you would think that Singaporeans would be excited about it.

You cant be further away from the truth

And I agree.

Just look at what they've come up with for the theme song.



Unbearable tune, crappy singing and cheesy actions. Looks like JJ Lin or the composer was undecided on whether to write a song that talks about simple values, morals, youth, vigour and such, OR something that cracks people up. So, they decided to write and perform something totally out of this world! (or rather, just something really incomprehensible)



What does doing "hadouken" or "hamehameha" has got to do with Youth Olympic games? Inspiring? I'd rather they substitute the entire video with a Dragonball Z episode if they loved manga that much that they couldnt do without mimicking the actions.

Everything you need for a recipe of disaster

Utterly, horrijiber.

But it's always so politically right to come up with something like that...... every attempt to outdo themselves



Here we have one of the most epic singing by our Trade Union leader to "encourage" Singaporeans with his deaf-toned frog singing........ and getting everyone to work cheaper, better, faster.

Your boyfriend needs a laptop, Pawn your jewellery

A totally distasteful ad. I wonder who was the "creative" brains behind it. Pawnshops in the past were used when people were in dire need of immediate cash. Like hospitalization or paying of creditors, now, maxi-cash attempts to convince Singaporeans that pawning away your un-used jewellery and items is the way to go.

We dont think the Asian mindset has changed, indeed Maxi-cash is daring enough to suggest that.

Money-max on the other hand, has hired Huang Wenyong to endorse their pawnshop chain, we think the ad was short and apt. Nothing too fanciful but convincing enough. However, we cant find the advertisement clip on youtube.

Anyway, the following is a dated news from Channelnewsasia.




Is it true? The Integrated Resorts in Singapore has generated more business for pawnshops?

Talk about it here on WhySG Forums - http://www.whysg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36311

Some pictures of Marina Bay Sands taken from E72 too. A little grainy though

Google's image search is crappy

While Google's old image search was probably the next best thing to fresh baked bread. It has now gone the way of the dodo. Google has decided to change the interface of its image searching function.

The new (well, not really) Google image search is not just user-unfriendly, but also retrieves irrelevant results.

I went into the default Google search page, typed in a specific term, in my case: "breakfast in office" and pressed "Enter".

Wooh! Almost immediately, a list of results is immediately generated and I was given organized, comprehensive rows of thumbnails related to what I searched for.

Or so I thought.

Let's take a look:


Yes, I need a fancy slideshow to side-scroll through a list of images that has got nothing to do with my search term.

I had more luck with Yahoo.

Is Google's image search not as good as Yahoo's? Or maybe it's because they already had agreements with third party image providers/websites to show up irrelevant images?

Maybe Im just the Internet conspiracy theorist who has too much time to spare.

Singapore's GDP expands strongly by 13.1% on-year in first quarter of 2010

SINGAPORE - Singapore roared back from recession in the first quarter, the government said Wednesday, as it sharply raised its economic growth forecast and tightened monetary policy to check inflation.

Preliminary estimates showed first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 13.1 per cent from a year ago and 32.1 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said.

The strong results prompted the ministry to upgrade its growth forecast to 7.0-9.0 percent this year from the previous 4.5-6.5 per cent.

Trade-reliant Singapore's revised growth target comes amid signs that the global economy is continuing to recover from the financial and economic crisis that struck in late 2008 and extended well over into last year.

Singapore's economy, the first in Asia to slip into recession, contracted 2.0 per cent last year as the crisis hammered demand for its exports.

Banking giant DBS said the 32.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter expansion "will go down in the history book as the strongest quarterly growth ever recorded" for the affluent city-state.

The surge also marked a strong turnaround from the same period last year, when GDP shrank 9.4 per cent annually and 7.1 per cent from the previous three months.

Singapore's Straits Times Index closed 1.62 per cent higher at 3,019.74 on Wednesday as the stock market cheered the news.


Construction grew 11.3 per cent annually and services-producing industries surged 8.4 percent, the trade ministry said.


The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Wednesday announced it was adopting a tighter monetary policy stance to tame inflation as the economic recovery gains traction.

Singapore's monetary policy is conducted via the local currency, which is traded against a basket of currencies of its major trading partners within an undisclosed band known as the nominal effective exchange rate.

MAS, the country's central bank, revalued upward its targeted trading band for the Singapore dollar and said it would now allow a "modest and gradual appreciation" of its currency, shifting from "zero appreciation".

Analysts described the MAS' policy move as "aggressive" but the central bank said it was necessary to curb inflationary pressures.

With the strong first-quarter growth, Singapore "has now fully recovered the output lost during the recession, and economic activity in a broad range of industries has exceeded its pre-crisis peak," MAS said.

Along with economic growth, however, "inflationary pressures are likely to pick up, driven by rising global commodity prices as well as some domestic cost factors," it added.

Singapore uses the local currency, rather than interest rates, to conduct monetary policy because of the economy's huge reliance on external trade. - AFP/vm



---------------------------------

The expansion of GDP does not necessary translate into higher earnings for Singaporeans as the outflow of funds may be more than what is being retained in Singapore itself.

I guess we can expect inflation to rise at a faster pace - despite Govt's efforts to strengthen the Singapore dollar. Afterall, during economic downturn, prices of goods and services remained high.

Salary of Singapore Graduates for 2009

The latest graduate employment survey reports are out.

The 2009 batch of graduates from NUS, NTU and SMU were asked about their starting pay and whether they were employed on a permanent basis.

The highest starting salaries come from the 4-year Information Systems Management programme at Singapore Management University. Those who graduated from this course with at least a Cum Laude (“with honour”) got a median starting pay of $4,000. One quarter of them earn $4,600 and above. However, only 72.2% of them are employed on a full-time permanent basis.

The worst performing course is the NTU Art, Design & Media. A mere 61.7% of the graduates are permanently employed. Half of them earned $2,300 and less.


Source: http://www.salary.sg/

---------------------------------

Figures real? You decide.

Singapore needs to find it's "edge"

As I browse through many of the job websites and forums such as jobsdb, jobstreet, jobscentral, I realized a trend - many of the jobs demand for experience and a wide range of skills. However, the pay listed is lower than what most job-seekers would have expected. Of course, the Singapore government feels that market forces would be able to determine the correct salary package for each individual. However, the situation is further complicated by the influx of foreigners who compete solely on lower salaries.

Singapore does not have the means to compete with our neighbours such as Malaysia and Indonesia on natural resources, therefore we must look towards specializing in industries that are not already being established in nearby countries.

Support my site @ WhySG.com

Well, this is some shameless plugging I have to admit... However I've been too busy to update this blog of mine because I was busy (and still busy) setting up WhySG.com with the help of some friends. Things are going fine but not as fast as I would like. These are the things that I've been busy with.

-Search Engine Optimization (Been testing and trying to optimize results, still playing around with the Vbulletin forum software)
-Search Engine Marketing (well, I cant waste too much money on this though I've set it up on Google and Bing).

Well I've seen many websites and forums in Singapore but few are focused on providing information (tips, events, guides, news, reviews and other stuff on Singapore), which was why I started WhySG.com as a platform for Singaporeans (business owners and individuals) to share their opinions and also as an affordable online channel to advertise online.

So, let us take a look at other Singapore based websites/forums
-SgForums:
Pros - Traffic, diversified audience
Cons - Lack of features, "fragmented" forums. Fierce admin... RAWR!

Hardwarezone:
Pros - Traffic, arguably the most famous forum in Singapore (especially EDMW)
Cons - Generally focused on Technology, less on Businesses, few benefits and features for members (even paying business members)

SgClub:
Pros - Forums for both guys and girls, generally nice administrators and diverse topics
Cons - Few features, forums has some kinks (hard to navigate)

Flowerpod:
Pros - Uncluttered and clean interface, focused on relevant topics to women
Cons - Caters to female netizens, no difference from other forums except the fact that it is targeted at female online users. Some might remember and question the integrity of erm, the people behind it....... (remember MissKat forums)

Cozycot:
Pros - Better impression of this than Flowerpod
Cons - Lack of features, generally targeted at female users

Keeptouch.net:
Pros - Appeals to both sexes
Cons - Lack of features. Domain name isnt very apt and might not appeal to Singaporeans

Vr-zone:
Pros - Simple and uncluttered interface. Close-knitted community (I think)
Cons - Appeals more to male gamers and computer geeks than girls. Not much features, too.

WhySG:
Pros - Simple Interface (Give me more suggestions!), Features, cater to both male and female Singaporeans. Caters to individuals and businesses. Relatively affordable advertising (22USD per annum)

Cons - Lack of content as of now. Need more articles, memberships, sponsors... Lack of members (due to SEO in the works and people not willing to give WhySG.com a chance, heh) We're still resistant to change I guess.

Will need you guys to support me in getting WhySG.com up!

MLM is infectious

I was a little excited (just a little, nothing quite fazes me these days) when a friend told me she had a golden business opportunity for me. After I thought for about one minute, I replied.

"MLM ah?"

"ha
network marketing
i personally hate MLM too"

Damn.

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2258280

Michael Jackson spoof by Weird Al - Eat It

The late Michael Jackson would have turned 51 on Saturday (29 August). Famed director Spike Lee organized the massive dance party in Prospect Park to remember the King of Pop. Thousands of one-gloved moonwalkers turned up for the event.

Read more here: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/08/29/2009-08-29_spike_lee_throws_michael_jackson_birthday_bash_in_brooklyn_.html#ixzz0PgUdo7Rj

Here is a comedic spoof video of Michael Jackson's Beat It, which I think MJ would have approved too.

SG government and their campaigns

Many of us can still remember Courtesy, Keep Singapore Clean, Speak Mandarin, Speak Good English campaigns (amongst many others). It seemed that Singaporeans lack motivation to practice basic social etiquette and had to be reminded. While they were effective years ago, the new marketing-campaign/propaganda team seems to have lost their magic.

It all seemed like a simple commercial aimed at asking Singaporeans to be contented and have less misgivings. However, the people at the helm are not practicing what they preach. These million-dollar ministers probably have the faintest idea as to how the average Singaporean is coping in this bad economy.

Many new polytechnic and university graduates are finding it hard to land a job that meet their expectations. Instead of trying to improve the situation for these fresh graduates, the government's stance is to tell them to suck it all up. More foreigners are entering our job market and the government says this is to keep Singaporeans at their feet (improve productivity and increase competition so as to lure in more investors). It seems that Singaporeans are becoming more lazy, complacent and negative-thinking.

I will not sugar-coat my words - I blame our current leaders for our situation and cannot help but wonder why their salaries are pegged to the private sector if all they can think of is more stupid campaigns to further incense the average Singaporean. While I cannot say that I speak for every other Singaporean, Im quite sure that I am not alone. Look at this thread from hwz which spans nearly 10 pages (http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2481339)

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou criticized for slow rescue efforts

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has been criticized for his handling of government efforts to save storm victims and help the island's hard-hit south recover.

The criticism of Ma is reminiscent of the hostile reaction to former President George W. Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — criticism that played a major role in turning public opinion against the U.S. leader.

The worst storm to strike the island in over 50 years has claimed more than 500 lives. About 380 of about 600 people living in the mountainous village of Shiao Lin in southern Taiwan are believed to have perished when flash flooding unleashed calamitous mudslides that buried the community on August 9th 2009.

Apparently part of the reason was because he had displayed a lack of tact during the initial rescue efforts.

"They were not fully prepared. If they were, they should have been evacuated much earlier," Ma told an ITN reporter. "They didn't realize how serious the disaster was."

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As usual, the Taiwanese are quick to point fingers. While I sympathise with their loss, I feel that it is not right to blame Ma Ying-jeou for choosing to make some of these decisions. Would any leader have deployed the troops when the typhoon was still raging and there was a severe lack of necessary information?

It is afterall impossible to please everyone. However, Ma has since apologised for his actions.