Thursday, September 2, 2010
Land Transport Authority, Singapore Government
To further improve train frequencies, the signalling system for the NSEWL will undergo a major upgrading programme from 2011. This upgrade will allow trains to run at intervals of 100 seconds at peak periods, compared to the existing intervals of 120 seconds.
Given the complexity of upgrading the signalling system on a line that is in operation, the improved signalling system will be completed in stages, with works on the North-South Line expected to be completed first in about six years, followed by the East-West Line about two years later.
Yahoo!
Several Singapore Airlines (SIA) cabin crew members have landed in hot soup after posting ”inappropriate” work-related messages on their personal Facebook accounts.
Saeed Azhar and Wendy Mock, Reuters
The first round bidding for Carrefour assets has drawn more than 10 bidders, including European and Asian retailers, private equity firms and local players, sources familiar with the auction said. The asset auction has also attracted regional players like Dairy Farm (DAIR.SI) which owns Giant and Cold Storage chains in Southeast Asia, which have submitted bids, the sources said.
华尔街日报中文网
据知情人士周四透露，新加坡NTUC FairPrice和牛奶国际控股公司(Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd., D01.SG, 简称：牛奶国际)已出价竞购法国零售商家乐福(Carrefour S.A.)在新加坡和马来西亚的资产。
Kevin Lim, Reuters
Although both casinos have yet to complete all their attractions, which include what will be the world's largest oceanarium, they have already created new business for hoteliers and taxi drivers.
Singapore Notes
Well, it looks like the cowardly option was chosen and Singaporeans were seduced by "asset enchancement" and other political ploys along the way. The day of reckoning has come, and that nest egg is as good as Humpty Dumpty after the fall. And judging by the reactions to latest measures to "stabilise the booming property market", both speculators and genuine upgraders are being burned (metaphorically! metaphorically!) by half baked policy making.
联合早报
公教中学、圣尼各拉女校和新加坡女子中学将合办直通车课程，受访的三校校友都对母校办直通车表示欢迎，不过一些圣尼各拉女校和新加坡女中校友对消息感到惊讶，他们认为学校存在文化差异，对三校的合作感到不解。
陈锦柏, 联合早报
Laura Bly, USA Today
The JetBlue flight attendant turned reality star wannabe may have generated buzz for his slide to freedom a few weeks ago, but the twisting, 40-foot-high version at Singapore's Changi Airport looks a heck of a lot more fun.
Gillian Koh, Institute of Policy Studies, Today
As governance challenges grow more complex, processes of government-citizen engagement will have to be strengthened so that political consensus can be negotiated and re-negotiated day-to-day around what Singaporeans feel are important to them.
Jeremy Au Yong, Straits Times
The man behind the 'burn the minister' comments on Facebook wants to contest the next general election and is joining the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).
Denis Edward, Today
Poly graduates who have completed the O-level exam could be in a more competitive position when they apply to enter these universities.
Tan Tien Li, Straits Times
The new policies do not help home owners like me who have an existing HDB housing loan to service. We are not speculators but we are being penalised in the Government's bid to stabilise the booming property market.
Bhas Kunju, Straits Times
StarHub and M1, both of which faced shortages a few weeks ago and also employed a waiting list, have rectified their problems. They have begun selling the phones on the spot.
Chua Suntong, The Online Citizen
Goh Meng Seng, Singapore Alternatives
Like many Singaporeans, NSP is shocked to learn that the PAP is only giving due recognition to present NSmen while ignoring those past NSmen who have contributed to the safety and stability of this country.
It is easy for the ruling party to say that it is not just about the money. However, the exclusion of those NSmen in Mindef Reserve from such rewarding system has hurt their feelings more than the mere $9000 in question.
Singaporean Skeptic
My only concern is that too little is being done and that it could be too late. Other things that should be done to reduce the burden on citizens is to quickly build more flats, create more restrictions for PRs for purchasing public housing, slowly restricting the amount of CPF money you can use to buy housing, raise bank rates and do a serious rethink on our foreign talent policy.
Food fuels me to talk...
Ngo Menghak, ABS CBN
Among the countries classified as Repressive are China, Egypt, Iran, Singapore, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Don't Sue Me
Working for nothing is slavery, and working for peanuts is exploitation.
Senang Diri
If you receive a gift with the price tag still stuck on it, there’s a high chance that knowing the gift’s dollar value will cloud your attitude towards your well-wisher.
My Very Lo Soh Long Winded Page
It is a fallacy to state that Singapore's unique circumstances require us to have a "strong government". Every country exists in a unique situation, and each requires not only "strong", but also responsible and good governments to lead them to progress and prosperity.
Alison Tudor, Wall Street Journal
French retailer Carrefour SA will collect first-round bids for its assets in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia on Wednesday in a deal valued at roughly $1 billion, a person familiar with the situation said.
Geek Is The New Black
I could go on picking his speech apart but let me sum it up. It held N-O-T-H-I-N-G of interest to me as an ordinary citizen. No mention or acknowledgement was given towards the very real fears and dreams of Singaporeans. Nothing substantial about managing the cost of living or base wages. Not a peep about how the government realizes how certain policies may have not worked and are looking to address them. Not even a blush on the Orchard Road floods debacle nor an apology the very-real on the ground anti sentiment towards the recently concluded YOG.
Singapore Short Stories
Leesjuanpat World
My Queenstown
Leong Sze Hian, The Online Citizen
Leow Si Wan, Straits Times
From 2013, some 2,000 Normal (Academic) students can skip their fifth year - during which they have to take the O-levels - and enter the polytechnics here directly through two options.
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia
The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) has decided to push back the implementation date for the cross-carrying of Pay-TV content to the first quarter of next year following feedback from industry players.
Yawning Bread
We’ve been adding a lot of humans to produce that 15 percent GDP growth. Our productivity growth (i.e. increase in output per person) might be close to zero or even negative.
If productivity has not grown, then one could argue that we have not become richer per capita. We’ve just treaded water while becoming more crowded.
Military Life: Memoirs of a Conscript in the Lion City
This $9,000 award basically doesn't go enough to address the inequalities between male citizens and foreigners/female citizens. To add insult to injury, old NSmen are all left out totally in the cold. I for one don't need the $9,000 as it's not enough to even pay for the interest costs I incurred on funding my own home. The bigger issue is how does the country recognise the role we play in protecting Singapore for all residents regardless of whether they are citizens, permanent residents or transient foreign workers?
Shamim Adam, Bloomberg
Singapore’s economy will probably grow at a faster pace than previously forecast this year as manufacturers boost output and consumers increase spending, a central bank survey showed.
Singapore Democrat Party
Filmmaker and human rights campaigner Mr Seelan Palay has submitted a video to the Media Development Authority (MDA) for rating as required under the law. The video is an interview of Singapore's former solicitor-general (SG) Mr Francis Seow.
Mr Seelan had submitted the film last year. The agency now wants to know the purpose of Mr Seelan producing the film and whether the video is accurate.
The Mind Game
Singapore Notes
All the new measures to "reduce speculation and short-term investment" simply confirm that the humble HDB flat is no longer the accommodation of necessity for the masses, but another poker chip in the casino of Singapore Inc. Entry fee is substantially higher than $100, it's two full years of national service, currently valued at $9K. In case you have any doubt about National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan's sincerity to solve the long term housing problems, read his lips: "If you ask me whether it has got anything to do with the elections, the answer is yes. Everything has to do with the elections."
Sam Ho, Sam's Thoughts
With this selective (re)allocation of money, we might as well tell the government, "If you don't want to give, just say so la!"
This is conditional love from a state that tries to appear to be compassionate and understanding. If you are truly compassionate, abolish mandatory death penalty for starters.
刘丽仪, 联合早报
新加坡和马来西亚跨境巴士服务的本地四条新路线经营者确定，其中星运旅游（TranStar）经营的两条往返新山和樟宜机场，以及圣淘沙名胜世界的路线，后天起投入服务。
联合早报
团结党秘书长吴明盛发表文告说，国家发展部长马宝山去年底说屋价还是人们负担得起的，新移民的涌入不是导致转售价上涨的主要因素，但短短几个月后，政府却推出强有力的降温措施来抑制房市的投机炒作。
Tan Kin Lian
"It is not just overcrowded trains/buses S'poreans have to endure. The entire infrastructure is bursting at the seam."
Under The Willow Tree
Singaporean Skeptic
What happened to Lee Kuan Yew's old slogan of a 'Malaysian Malaysia'? I thought the PAP was above the racial politics of UMNO and left the Malaysian Federation on this principle.
How is maintaining a Chinese dominated majority in Singapore no different from having a buminputra policy in Malaysia? The PAP should realise that the biggest divider of Singapore is not ethnicity but nationality.
Big Talk Singapore (大话新加坡)
My general impression about this move, “大选到，要送礼，要送大，想一想，不舍得，有条件，变小小。”
Kenny Chee and Rachel Chan, My Paper
Musings From the Lion City
At the rate we are going, it will soon be 3 to 1 as the rise in the number of foreigners continued to outpace that of Singaporeans.
In short, these are numbers most Singaporeans will not be happy about.
The Anti Neo-Democracy Theorist
Is the government then in a conundrum – on one hand the government cannot admit that the market is out of reach for most young couples due to excessive speculative behavior (often from abroad) because it would mean telling young Singaporeans the honeymoon has ended after 40 years of independence. On the other hand, the government cannot overcool the market, because the housing market generates much needed revenue for the state and its ancillary operations.
Diary of A Singaporean Mind
Singapore's immigration policy has never been about benefits for the citizens. It is a policy driven by business demand for labor from China & India and the PAP's fixation with high GDP growth. Now at this late hour with the elections coming and voters who have woken up to what the PAP govt has done, the PM tries to reframe the entire thing as something done for the benefit of citizens. This is ridiculous.
Chi Han-Hsuan, Today
The government shouldn't be discouraging HDB owners with excess cash from buying private property as a safe, long-term investment in their nest egg. Rather, it should be imposing restrictions on foreigners buying private residential properties.
Yin Poh Leng, Today
SpotlightOnSingapore
As though public feedback will make any difference when policies have already been set.
Feed Me To The Fish
As a prime minister, he made a mockery of nation building by paying himself millions, almost five (or is it four) times Obama's salary. Now he is demeaning NSmen by moneytising their contribution to national service.
mrbrown: L'infantile Terrible Of Singapore
If everyone followed the DPP's thinking, then every driver can just buzz a cyclist (drive very close) or graze his tires, as long as the fella doesn't fall down and die.
The Temasek Review
Again, without any apology another U-Turn is made surreptiously under the guise of wisdom to take “early corrective actions” now – when it is already too late.
AFP
Singapore's population crossed five million this year and more than a third of the total are foreigners, the statistics department said Tuesday.
Singapore, which polls well in global surveys for quality of life, is also showing symptoms of urban stress, with rush-hour traffic gridlock, packed subway trains and recent cases of flash floods in some areas.
Goh Meng Seng, National Solidarity Party
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sam Ho, Sam's Thoughts
It is very odd that as Singapore strives to be a serious sporting nation with promising and successful athletes, we have a counter-intuitive counter-balance entity that is National Service which throws many spanners in the works of the development of most male athletes.
Getty Goh, Yahoo!
The Online Citizen
Vui Kong’s lawyer was today informed that the appeal hearing has been set “for the week commencing 17 January 2011”. “This early notice is to give sufficient time for parties to be ready for the hearing, though we are aware that the record of appeals and cases have still not been filed,” the Registrar’s letter said.
Asia Sentinel
An associate who recently was required to spend a day in Singapore on a business trip became so irritated by the smug attitude of the island republic's officials, taxi drivers and others that it gave rise to this rumination.
Lai Han-Wei, Straits Times
Singapore's population now stands at 5.08 million as at end-June, according to official data released by the Singapore Department of Statistics on Tuesday.
There were 3.77 million residents, of whom 3.23 million were Singapore citizens and 540,000 permanent residents.
Jakarta Post
Jonathan Burgos, Bloomberg
CapitaLand Ltd. and City Developments Ltd. led declines among Singapore’s homebuilders amid concern the government’s latest effort to curb speculation in the housing market will hurt genuine demand.
Howard Lee, The Online Citizen
If you were to examine most of the initiatives he mentioned, you will notice a similar vein. They were geared towards placating citizens to make them feel more valued than migrants. However, they do not solve the fundamental problems of our lax migration policies. Pumping up on transport, education and housing systems does not give any real advantage to citizens. It only enhances a system that both citizens and new migrants are free to exploit, all the way up to saturation point.
Lim Mun Fah, Sin Chew Jit Poh
Singapore will not import those with "no brain" and export those with "smart brains". Only those who are skillful, contributive and talented will be brought in as new immigrants. You may say that it is snobbish or pragmatic, but undoubtedly, it is one of the keys of its success!
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia
MINDEF said the first milestone will be the serviceman's operationally ready date, that is when he completes the 20th month of full-time national service. The second tranche will be paid after the completion of three high-key in-camp training or five in-camp trainings, whichever is earlier. The last tranche will be paid when the full ORNS training cycle is completed.
Tony Tan Lay Thiam
联合早报
革新党秘书长肯尼思批评李显龙总理在国庆群众大会的演讲中，没有借这个机会针对新加坡所面对的一些真正问题发表谈话，而只是在这个场合赞扬政府政策的成效，并对此表示失望。
林佩碧, 联合早报
李显龙总理在国庆群众大会上花费许多唇舌，向人们解释新加坡需要借助外来人才和引进客工的重要性，可是显然地，不是每个人被完全说服，一些在情绪上还是不太能接受总理的说法。
国家发展部长马宝山和民情联系组（REACH）主席许连碹博士昨晚在基层领袖俱乐部主持首场针对总理前晚演说的对话会上，约100名出席者当中，六成举手表示不满意总理的解释。
Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen
The Singapore government has not provided any statistical proof or studies to back up its claims that the mandatory death penalty deters crimes. It thus seems that the application of the mandatory death penalty is based on nothing more than a “feeling” that it reduces crime, particularly for drug trafficking.
Chua Yang Liang, Property Report
Roger Mitten, Phnom Penh Post
Goh told me there was no formal prejudice, but said that when Muslims heard the cry “Allahu Akbar” (God is great), they might feel divided loyalties. It was a brave reply that cut to the core of the issue.
Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily Times
While the constitution provides for absolute religious freedom, including the right to convert to another religion, the government maintains an important distinction between belief and action. The position taken is that whereas beliefs pertaining to spiritual values and principles are to be enjoyed by all without interference by the state, the citizens and foreigners are to be held accountable for actions they may claim were inspired by their beliefs.
Christa Yeo and Charlene Fang, CNNGo
Eye contact? Check. Genuine smile? Check. Made the first move? Check.
No, I wasn't getting picked up at a bar. I was going undercover as a mystery shopper to test the Singapore Service Star (SSS) initiative, a scheme developed by the Singapore Tourism Board, aimed at improving the quality of service in Singapore.
Lam Pin Woon, Health Promotion Board, Straits Times
Ignorance about protection against disease is not a strategy for controlling the growing HIV epidemic. Education is critical to improving awareness to enable youngsters to protect themselves.
We are mindful that parents may have different perspectives on sexuality education. However, we would strongly encourage parents to continue to opt into the BDB programme and for all schools and parents to continue to devote more time and resources towards developing in each child a strong moral compass that will guide his actions.
P N Balji, Today
Singapore's problems are becoming more complex by the day and a single ministry cannot handle them in a silo approach any more. A one-ministry solution to an issue in a complex place like Singapore can only cause more problems down the line.
Alicia Wong, Today
Reduce National Service to one year, tax permanent residents who leave Singapore after gaining wealth and tighten labour laws. These were some suggestions made yesterday by Opposition parties in response to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech on Sunday.
SpotlightOnSingapore
Yawning Bread
Singapore Democrat Party
Mr Lee diligently ignores the white elephant sitting in his Istana living room. He refuses to acknowledge the root cause of the problem which is that Singaporeans - skilled Singaporeans - are leaving Singapore. This country is hemorhagging talent and a major reason is the stifling PAP system here.
Diary of A Singaporean Mind
The entire speech misses one key issue - income inequality.
