F word again: Funny water smell

it has been since a while we have noticed something amiss.
Funny smell in our water.
after we have boiled the water, the smell was even stronger: like something has been added to the water.
very smell chemical smell.

therfore, we have been drinking less and less drinking or boiling water and buy bottles of mineral water.

it is just like drinking chorinated water from the swimming pools.

just imagine we have been drinking chorinated water everyday and we know that chorine is toxic.
just imagine

playing god : marina barrage

The Marina Barrage was meant to help alleviate floods.

Yet it may have been the cause of floods.

In theory, the barrage's crest gate can be opened to lower the level of water in the canal system when the water level rises.

there will take time for the 70-tonne's crest gates to open between opening the barrage at Marina Bay and for the water to flow out from Bukit Timah or Stamford Canals.

Given our climate where we get extremely heavy downpours in

60 – 120 minutes,

The flooding at Orchard/Paterson junction is unusual.
Prior to construction of ION, the piece of empty land was a big sponge allowing rainwater to flow into the ground.

However, heavy rain falling on the entire complex now cannot flow into the ground directly would naturally pond at the lowest point ie. the Orchard/Paterson junction.

our canals may not be able to cope with the sudden rush of rain water while the marina barrage's crest gates are still opening to lower the level of water.

If water is to be retained in marina reservoir, then water will flow back into the canal system feeding into the Singapore River ie. Bukit Timah etc. rendering these canals to be much less effective as they are already half full before any heavy downpour.

Furthermore the water table will rise which means that our soil will be less porous to soak in the rainwater during a heavy downpour.

If our precious water reserves were to be released at the barrage before any downpour, it would probably take 10 hours before water level at Bukit Timah canal to be lowered. And what if the downpour was not that heavy?

Why release precious water reserves so that there will not be floods?


so smile as tomorrow will get worse.

Flood: they said it was stamford canal, but we say it was The Marina Barrage

When you have massive floods on Singapore’s main shopping street, it cannot be blamed on unusually heavy downpour.

There is something not right in our drainage system. Since embarking on many infrastructure projects to transform Singapore, we have become more flood prone especially in areas which were never flood prone before.

This is worrying!

It cannot be that the more we develop our city, the more flood prone we become.

While being no experts compared to the PUB, one cannot help but make certain casual observations:

The Marina Barrage is a dam in Singapore built across the mouth of the bay, between Marina East and Marina South. It was officially opened on 1 November 2008.

1. The Marina Barrage was meant to help alleviate floods. Yet it may have been the cause of floods. In theory, the barrage can be opened to lower the level of water in the canal system. However there will be several hours between opening the barrage at Marina Bay and for the water to flow out from Bukit Timah or Stamford Canals.

Given our climate where we get heavy downpours in 1 – 2 hours, our canals may not be able to cope with the sudden rush of rain water and therefore overflow which resulted in the floods.

2. The flooding at Orchard/Paterson junction is unusual. Prior to construction of ION, the piece of empty land was a big sponge allowing rainwater to flow into the ground.

However, heavy rain falling on the entire complex now cannot flow into the ground directly would naturally pond at the lowest point ie. the Orchard/Paterson junction.

3. Flooding at Balmoral Road which was thought to be eliminated has now re- emerged. Could it be due to the construction of the tunnels of the Downtown line where again rainwater cannot flow directly into the ground and thus flooding the area?

The recurring floods has tarnished our image of having 1st class infrastructure. There needs to some answers to these all too frequent 50-year freak events.

Many parts of Singapore eg. Balmoral, Newton have been largely flood free for the last 15 years until .... 2009 when the Marina Barrage started operating.

If water is to be retained in marina reservoir, then water will flow back into the canal system feeding into the Singapore River ie. Bukit Timah etc. rendering these canals to be much less effective as they are already half full before any heavy downpour.

Furthermore the water table will rise which means that our soil will be less porous to soak in the rainwater during a heavy downpour.

If our precious water reserves were to be released at the barrage before any downpour, it would probably take 10 hours before water level at Bukit Timah canal to be lowered. And what if the downpour was not that heavy?

Why release precious water reserves so that there will not be floods?

Why not put up with floods after all it would be only 1 - 2 hours of incovenience.

Therefore the government cannot tell us the truth and PUB, the scape goat, will continue to give us hundreds of excuses from leaves to sensors to flaw in computer software to new flood alleviation programmes etc etc.

The truth is that IF THE MARINA BARRAGE CONTINUES TO BE OPERATIONAL SINGAPORE WILL ENTER INTO A NEW ERA OF BEING FLOOD PRONE IN MANY AREAS.

Greed: The Seven Deadly Sins

Do you wish to acquire more and more?
Do you covet what others have but you do not?
Are you ambitious to have more money or material goods?
In short, are you greedy?

it is not a tiny you but the companies that have the monopoly of the services jacked up the charges before the world cup 2010, just to earn as much as possible as she knew that there will be great demand.

she also blocked access to other countries's channel.
just to ensure at least 100% profit not for the shareholder but the top managments themselves.

Greed: The Seven Deadly Sins

China’s labour market at a turning-point

the tide has turned.
the turning point of cheap labour in china.
as the chinese govt did not suppress the large pay increment, she has given the workers to right to get pay rises.
as china is world's manufacturer, it will affect not only just herself, but the rest of the world.

we will see the great tide has finally turn, finally at last.

suffering

when i went through tough times, i treated them as an opportunities.
rather than difficultied as i knew a true person will emerge not under comfortable environment but intense pressures and stresses from all angles.

it is tough, it is hard.
for me, i just smiled at it, and even laughed.

years later when i recalled them, i treated it as a joke.
as something make a change in me for larger capacities to stomach those tough times, and longer fuse not to eaily imploded when things went awry, as they always.

sure, talking is easy, but i know, once i placed in writing, i will carry it no matter how tough it is.

maximise growth at any cost, at the expense of singaporeans

Singapore has the third-largest share of foreign-born persons in its population of any country, after the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

It is inevitable that foreigner numbers will continue to swell, but the key is how many the country can accommodate and how fast it wants to grow.

PAP govt had went overboard in trying to maximise growth, at the expense of singaporeans.

For the investments that were brought in, the criteria were more to generate growth.

This has led to more low- skilled and cheaper foreign workers on work permits.

Their presence, in turn, has depressed the salaries of low-skilled Singaporeans.
It is not a new trend, and PAP govt policymakers are aware of it,




government labour reports show that wages of workers such as cleaners and labourers have stayed stagnant or even declined in the past decade, while the wages of higher- skilled workers rose.

Singapore had the biggest gap in both years. It also had one of the fastest widening gaps: In 1996, the top 10 per cent earned 4.9 times the income earned by the bottom 10 per cent; in 2006, that proportion had increased to 5.7.

The PAP govt has not done their job well, people has eyes to see.



cheers to our great leader who made thw wrong policies while they are aware of it.

PR

a comment by one bloggers

I am glad to read you applied for citizenship. Sorry that you got rejected.

Regardless, it should be an official policy that citizens should always come first, at the expense of PRs and foreigners. Every country is morally obliged to care for its citizens FIRST. That is what a citizen should expect.

You might not be a citizen, but your sons are entitled to, since they are doing NS.

Most of us resent PRs because of the following reasons;

1) Many of them are just cheap labour. We locals can't fight cheap, because our families live in expensive housing, and not in Third-World Housing

2) Many PRs, once they become managers, have a tendency to fire Singaporeans and replace them with their own countrymen. If you were one of us, wouldn't you be angry with the foreigners too?

3) Many PRs are arrogant. They actually dare demand for the same rights and privileges as citizens.

4) Many PRs and foreigners think they are some big-shot just because they pay taxes. So what? They pay enough tax to cover all our salaries and the public services? If not, they should shut up. We pax taxes too.

5) Many PRs import into our countries the same bad values that keep their own countries poor and downtrodden; corruption, nepotism, dishonesty, laziness.

Not all Singaporeans are good. There are corrupt Singaporeans too. But enough of us are hardworking and not corrupt. That is enough to get our country going, and enough to make you come to our land, instead of us going to live in your land.

5) Many of us think that PRs and foreigners are only fighting with locals for limited jobs, jobs that can and should be performed by a citizen.
Many of us feel that Singaporeans won't get a job if the manager if Filipino or Indian or PRC, because the Filipino/Indian/PRC manager would rather give the job to his own countryman.

That makes us hate the PR very much!!

Philippines Elections 2010

Elections are more entertainment than enlightenment in the Philippines.
Every night, candidates travel from town to town in whistle-stop motorcades packed with comedians, pop singers, movie stars and basketball heroes.
They sing and chant political slogans, dance and hand out partisan, colour-coded T-shirts, baseball caps and wristbands to crowds of equally enthusiastic potential voters.

Party labels, ideology and issues have virtually nothing to do with the campaigns. Politicians instead rely on the strength of their personalities and two traditional

Philippine formulas for success-- "family and favours" and "guns, gold and girls."

In many ways, the Philippines' elections can be compared to the country's popular soap operas. Behind the conflicting web of personal relationships, business interests and shared histories lies a wavering uncertain mass of shifting alliances, angry accusations and desperate political showmanship.

And, just as on television, a fear of violence and bloodshed lingers in the background. So far, more than 90 people have been killed in the run-up to the May 10 polls.

the price of happiness

"Cheaper, better, and faster "....its the same old story. The last time they promised Swiss cheese if we worked harder and faster but this time they don't even bother to promise anything.
All they can say is we will get to keep our jobs to service our HDB debts if we can keep up with their system.

first things we asked ourselves: despite our 3rd quarter of 15% growth, did we get the share? are we happier now or then?

they said we are choosy of the jobs, they told us foreigners would not take away your jobs. they said that the foreigners would create jobs in return.

they gave PR like free candies and when they became so big, and create problems, they asked us to solve their shit for what they created in the first place.

can you believe them?

not anymore.

the buck stops here.





all lies and more lies.

UBS survey shows Singapore slipping in standard of living

In a nutshell, it showed that Singapore is ranked as one of the world's more expensive cities to live in, but people here earn only middling wages.
The result is that our purchasing power is far from sterling.
Compared to the last time the survey was carried out, in 2006, it also shows a worsening trend.



Our economy is to be one where we have an extraordinary gap between the powerful and the powerless, even by Asian standards -- countries not known for soft-hearted socialism.

Average wages for Singapore as a whole are pulled down the city rankings because our low-paid are so lowly paid.
why? influx of foreigners.

Meanwhile, one suspects that our prices seem to be kept up not so much by labour costs but by profit-taking and the government's share.

With the resulting degradation of purchasing power, one can then ask:

Is the average Singaporean really having it so good?

they care for the people

read they care for themselves

singapore in 2010 world cup soccer

someone has said that singapore will in 2010 world cup soccer, competing with the countries like Brazil..

change

change is everything.
last time we heard:
foreigners create jobs for us, singaporean and we owed them our livings to them.
instead, it was one singaporean supervisor and 40-50 foreign workers. a few years later, the singaporean supervisor got retrenched due to restructuring.

now, integration with new foreign-born singaporean. they sure changed the things fast. black become white and white turn black.

why the need of integration? because they are huge: roughly 1 million of them. you can imagine the social impact by their sheer numbers.

already 60-70% of the singaporean to be retrenched first.. they are not spared.
now they do regret taking up citizenship and should stay at permanent resident.

American Charles "Chip" Goodyear

The wife of Singapore's prime minister will step down after five years as chief executive of Temasek Holdings, one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, the firm said Friday.


Ho Ching, the wife of Lee Hsien Loong, will be replaced by American Charles "Chip" Goodyear, 51, former chief of Anglo-Australian giant BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, a Temasek press release said.

She also will no longer serve on the company's board.

Now, Mr. Charles Goodyear has a tremendous task of cleaning up a lot of "shit" what his former CEO has done.
and also a lot of "time bomb" along the way too, not to mention.

it was a tough job to handle.

luckily for him, she will be on until october 2009, during which she has to hand over her duties to him and a lot of explanations of her decision on major issues.

tough act, and brave soul for Mr Goodyear.

ERA: Price fixing?

Judge slams unethical agents who 'flip' properties for profit

'When a property agent is engaged to sell or buy property, he has a responsibility to act in the interests of the person who appointed him - not his own, or his friends', or his relatives' or his boss', said the judge. 'This responsibility that the agent bears is the foundation of the ethical rules and contractual principles that prohibit an agent from acting in conflict of interests and reaping secret profits for himself or his friends.'

Two ERA agents were slammed by High Court Judge Choo Han Teck for their unethical behaviour in the transaction of a two-bedroom downtown flat.


Mr Yuen Chow Hin, an IT company vice-president, and his wife, Madam Wong Wai Fan, a housewife, had let go of their two-bedroom downtown flat at $688,000. They took their ERA agent's word that this was the best price they could get.

What they did not know was that the buyer of their Riverside Piazza unit was the wife of their agent's boss, and that she re-sold it almost immediately for $945,000, making a hefty profit.

On Thursday, Justice Choo ruled in favour of the Yuens, who had sued ERA for the 'secret profit' made in the second deal.

The judge found that the conduct of agent Jeremy Ang and his boss, Mr Mike Parikh, senior group division director at ERA, amounted to breach of duty and fraud. He also had a stern reminder for the industry of its ethical responsibilities, as it had emerged in court that such practices were common.

The judge concluded that it was Mr Parikh who wanted to buy the flat in order to make a quick profit during the property boom. To distance himself from the deal, he used his wife, Madam Natassha Sadiq, as the buyer and Mr Ang as the seller's agent, the judge found.

Mr Ang was the link but Mr Parikh was the person behind the scheme, and his position made his subordinate's breach of contract even more reprehensible. The misconduct was of such magnitude that the judge said he felt bound to make the reasons clear in his judgment so that no property agent could now claim ignorance.

commments:

Mr Ang, an ERA agent used the brand name, ERA to secure trust from his clients, Mr. and Mrs Yuen, who believed in him in selling their house.

but he abused their trust by telling them the lies that their house was not thta good and let his boss and him earned a tidy profit and commission.

that showed how truth the man's is, under every circumstances.

in the end, he has all to lose and nothing to win.

Trust no more.

Love story III

Some Town Councils collected our S&C fee and invested in structured products like DBS high Notes, Lehman’s brother minibond, Jubilees notes and Morgan Stanley Pinnacles notes.

It was S$16 millions in total. (Another S$3 million in Pinnacles notes in danger of losing all)

And they were all worthless.

Zero.

It was this sum of money that we could not earn in our lifetime

And they just told us it was gone.

They went in with their eyes opened.

They have excellent learning, unlike the 62-year-old retirees with no primary education. They just like to have safe fixed deposit but were told to buy complex products that they were told it was principle-guarantee.

They did not know, but these people knew.

They knew what they were doing.

They also knew that high returns high risk too.

They read the fine print too.

And it was not just one person but many people involved.

But still they went in.

When things happened as it always, they blamed on others like our 158-year-old Lehman’s brother and low fixed deposits interest rate could not offset high inflation. But not themselves.

They told us that they did not expect it to collapse as it has AAA+ rating.

Like our trusted banks, they told you beautiful stories and sidetracked you the main point that they have made wrong decision and pushed all the blame.


When you owed them money, you will get fine for not paying.

When they lose your money, they needed not pay anything at all.

Not even a single cent.


Trust no more.

Love story II

Benchmark crude oil futures rose to almost US$155 per barrel in July but have since fallen to below US$60 four months later.


Back before July 2008, companies which expected oil prices to continue rising locked in three-month futures contract so that they can protect themselves.


They hedged their fuel cost by buying contracts for fuel at a predetermined price for future delivery and it helps them save millions when oil prices climb.


But when price drop, they have to book the unrealised losses on their account.


But not SP Services Ltd.

They have made the mistakes in locking the three-month future contracts in July for a price of US$155. They have bet the oil would continue on its upward climb.
However, oil began to plunge to US$100, and then US$60.

It was 100-120% drastic drop.

And they have made the wrong bet.

Instead of the helping consumer paying less for the electricity bills, we have to pay even higher bills for the wrong bet made by SP Powergrid.

They should book the unrealised losses and reported in their books.

But unfortunately it was not the case; they passed on the losses.

On the other hand, they book record profits.
And the top management got their fat bonuses, with our money.

Just like the Lehman brother’s minibonds.

They told you beautiful stories, showed the wonderful charts after charts, and explain points by points but did not mentioned that they have made a grave mistakes and this mistake will be undone by us, the consumers.

Trust no more.

a lover's story

An investment bank had betrayed customer’s trust and cause financial tsunami.

And other banks and reminiscing films followed their unscrupulous ways and sold their products to vulnerable ordinary people like 62 years, primary school education retirees.

Like any other lovers, they swept your feet away with sweet words promising fantastic interest returns.

They spoke honey-words, brought you candle-light dinners, best French wines, good food, shopped for exquisite and expensive jewelries, stayed in luxurious hotels.

You signed the applications form blindly without perceives the tiniest fine print that anything happened; you will lose despite the capital guarantees.

Likes other profit-greedy companies, our most-trusted banks followed their footsteps.

Like any exotic things it comes fast and goes fast as well.
Like exotic names as minibonds, High five notes series.

When they collapsed, they placed their blame on other but themselves.
Like any lovers whom they made the girls pregnant, they told them the child was not theirs.

Like any lovers, they have betrayed their trust and caused you miserable, sorrow and heartbreaking.

Like any lovers, they ditched you with unborn child.

In this case, the child was a worthless paper.

Like any other pregnant mother, you have to fight on, bring justice to light and let the world see through his filthy, unclean and foul soul.


Trust no more.

gloomy days ahead

already retrenchment has happened fast and furious.
watch out:

Gloomy days just started.