punchfire said:

"I just noticed this update: MediaCorp has added 4 new radio stations to their iPhone application. You remember that initially they started with only 2. Loving this setup."

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "radio FTW!"

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Sassyjan said:

My dad passed away on 31 Oct 2009 [...] (On 13 January 2010) night, my dad’s handphone rung umpteen times. Eventually, I picked it up. The guy claims that my dad owed them $6K and we have to pay up. They say they’ll give us 2 days to decide or they will continue with this. [...] For 2 days I called the Inspecting Officer in-charge - No Answer.

Recommended by yuhui: "Highlights the ineffectiveness of our politicians and police in solving the loan shark problem."

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Singapore Fountain Pen said:

The man seen in posters and in the run's official site took part in the race too. His name is Hanniel Choong, a heroin user in a previous life, whose self-imposed mission was to break his personal best of 48 minutes as he celebrates his 48th birthday. I was among those who cheered while he got on stage during the awarding ceremony as the announcers exclaimed "mission accomplished!"

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "It talks about the inaugural Yellow Ribbon Prison Run"

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Vr-Zone said:

Comex 2009 is now officially open until this Sunday. With booths and mega bargains extending from first floor to the sixth in the convention halls (yes, every floor has something going on).

Do you have what it takes to join the rest of the crowd in finding your best bargain for the gadgets and hardware?

Recommended by oOgA: "with every IT fair, it just gets bigger. lots of bargains to check out. this post will be updated to reflect any recent changes, if any"

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Lucky Tan said:

I'm grateful to the thousands of Singaporeans who work as cleaners to keep Singapore clean, the drivers, the clerks, etc, who are the backbone of our economy. That is why I strongly believe they deserve a decent wage for doing a full time job - they cannot be left struggling as the cost of living goes up and their wages go down. We cannot keep importing foreign labor to depress their pay so that businesses can redirect their costs towards paying for higher rent, higher utilities, higher fees for govt services etc. It is because young bloggers are appreciative of this segment of our population (now living in poverty and struggling to make ends meet) that is why we write negatively about govt policies such as the FT policy that will hurt this group of Singaporeans further.

So who is it that is ungrateful and unappreciative of Singaporeans? These men have also put their bets on progress being possible only if they open the floodgates to foreigners - creating an unlevel playing field for their fellow Singaporeans and forgetting the sacrifices Singaporeans have made to serve the country. These men have created an inequitable system with a huge income gap that puts the many Singaporean families at risk. At the same time, they have paid themselves the highest salaries in the world for their profession. Why should we show them gratitude when they have shown none for ordinary Singaporeans?

Recommended by at82: "Who is grateful and who is not?"

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Mr Wang said:

I had expected to be blogging about PM Lee's rally speech today. However, I find that I have almost nothing to say about it.

It was .... substanceless.

The PM's rally speech is traditionally the time for him to announce important new developments, ideas and policies for the nation. But this year, none of that happened.

Instead all PM Lee really talked about was racial and religious harmony, and in a way that contained nothing new. It sounded the same as the nation-building chapters of my Primary 3 Chinese language textbook, many, many years ago.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Totally agree with him. It's practically non-news for the entire speech."

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Lucky Tan said:

This week the govt passed amendments to the CPF Act that allows the govt to vary the payout on CPF Life at the Government's discretion. The reason given was that they may have to cut down the payout to ensure the solvency of the CPF Life scheme (due to incompetent management?). What is happening is this : in a life annuity risk is transferred from individual to the insurance company. However, with CPF Life, the govt passed the risk right back to the individuals. So ordinary Singaporeans are forced buy an annuity that we can't count on for a guaranteed income stream. Even with a guaranteed income stream, we are already forced to bear the risk of inflation ...like I said in earlier post, the basic scheme may not even provide enough for McDonald's Happy Meals due to inflation. However, with the guarantee on the income stream removed, the basic scheme may not even be enough for maggie mee! ...all to protect the govt's own scheme from insolvency....(hmm....protecting itself from its own lack of competence?)

Recommended by at82: "What good is an annuity if income stream from it is not guaranteed?! "

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Chew Soowei said:

The Monday after the July 12th episode of “Pillowfight With Soo”, first day of my annual leave, I received a phone call stating that I’d been taken off air and when I do come back from my leave I was coming back to a work situation where I was basically just “Helping Out/Subbing Others” around the office. The main reason as it was given to me for being taken off was that my English Language isn’t proficient enough and my hosting is and I quote “Just like I learnt it from the Outdoor emcees in Orchard Road”.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Seems like radio DJs in Singapore have very little job security. This 987FM DJ obviously has a lot to be unhappy about..."

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fireopal said:

Obviously SMRT has not thought about the consequences about such enforcement. Sad to say, it is almost discriminatory to diabetic patients under such scenarios!

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "SMRT is being too money-minded and discriminatory? "

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Laokokok said:

Whenever I read about the history of our Botanic Gardens, it was always mentioned that Sir Stamford Raffles established the first Botanic Gardens in Singapore in 1822 along the slopes of Fort Canning Hill. If this is the case, why are why celebrating 150 years now in 2009 and not 187 years?

So let us go thru the years and see why;

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Insightful and detailed research and explanation on Botanic Gardens' heritage. Very interesting read for all Singaporeans to learn about our heritage."

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Totobobo blog said:

The recent H1N1 flu triggered a sudden sales increase for face masks and Totobobo, the first customizable face mask is now hitting 25 countries across the world. The reusable mask is more reliable than N95 masks in determining face seal and this feature is greatly appreciated by parents traveling with young children during this holiday season.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "A smart Singapore invention is making a global impact."

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Veron said:

for a long while i have noticed an annoying trend in many sit-down dining establishments. an increasing number of restaurants have a no-water policy: they do not serve free cold water or even tap water to diners. instead, they make us buy their bottled water. i find this highly unacceptable.

serving water is the most basic service that a restaurant can provide. most of the time we are already paying a 10% service charge. even fast-food restaurants with no service charge do not have such a policy!

Recommended by razlan: "A growing list of restaurants which does NOT provide water. If you are one of us who get irritated with such a policy, this is the post to bookmark."

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fireopal said:

Sometime in the middle of the night the family noticed that she would sit alone in the kitchen or living room and seem to be talking to somebody. At time the rest of the family members heard a voice sounds like a man spoken from her mouth, but they were not certain with what they heard and suspected that she might have come in contact with some “dirty things”.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Real life exorcism video!!! It does not happen it the movies only! Wonder if the infamous Novena exorcism was the same"

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Hri Kumar said:

My suggestion in Parliament last week to allow the PM to appoint Ministers from outside the pool of MPs has attracted support, criticism and speculation.

Some people speculated I was putting forward the suggestion on someone else's instructions. That is not how things work. No one tells me what to say or vets my speeches. The first time the leaders knew of my speech was when they heard me in Parliament.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "PAP MP puts forward case for unelected cabinet ministers."

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Democracy Video Challenge said:

A video made by Singaporean is being selected as the finalist representing the East Asia Pacific Region in a competition being organized by the American Government. The job is simple, "Create a short video to complete the phrase "Democracy is..." Over 900 videos from 95 countries are submitted and after going through 2 rounds of judging, the video is now one of the Top 18 finalists.

Recommended by padderay: "Let's lend our support to our fellow singaporeans and vote for their video!"

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The Christian Post said:

It is not a conflict between homosexuals and Christian fundamentalists

Rather, it is a conflict between a liberal and conservative worldview and those who hold the mutually opposing views. One group believes that there are no absolute morals and that every view is and has been socially-constructed and socially-determined. The other side maintains that moral absolutes exist; that there is such a thing as right and wrong, virtue and vice, decency and decadence. ...

The timeless clash between the liberal or anti-moral and conservative camps cannot be resolved unless one viewpoint is utterly conquered.

Recommended by at82: "Apparently one of the side believe that the conflict will NEVER end until the other side is "UTTERLY CONQUERED"..."

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Mr Wang said:

Any job should do? Gosh, that's such shockingly bad advice. It could only have come from a politician with a vested interest in being able to report lower unemployment figures.

The government may like to treat you as a digit, but you don't have to treat yourself like that. Please give your own future a little more tender loving care. ...

Fresh graduates may not realise it yet, but an impressive c.v, (and that means one which has been carefully built over the years) is one of the most important assets you can ever have for your career. And among other things, an impressive c.v. should reflect a clear sense of direction and purpose, with a consistent positive theme running through it. ...

In contrast, a poor, "patchwork" c.v. would show a candidate moving from job to job, without any obvious strategy or plan. After all, he's there just for the sake of having a job, not because he's genuinely interested in it. And his jobs don't build on each other in a helpful way. One year he's a MacDonalds waiter; next year he's a primary school relief teacher; after that he joins the SAF; two years later, he's selling insurance.

Gan calls this "flexibility". But sorry, such a c.v. is not impressive to me at all. It is merely what happens when you take the"any job should do" attitude to your own career.

Recommended by at82: "Now, if you're not that desperate for money, I suggest you consider being more patient with your job search. While you're still searching, use your personal time constructively."

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S-CHIP CEO said:

Let me tell you the story. By the time you read this article, it would reached have hundreds of investors, bankers, regulators and journalists. My purpose was to shed some light on the “dark sides” of the business of S-Chips (Chinese companies listed on Singapore Stock Exchange), so as to help prevent more financial losses in the future hurting the ordinary people on the street. From this angle, I wish to redeem myself somewhat.........

Recommended by at82: "I would advise to treat the story as fictitious but the writer included so many 'juicy details' about KTVs and clubs that makes it so fascinating. On a more serious note, a number of S-chips were so blatantly fishy even for those who are 'amateur' accountants ...why were they allowed to list??"

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Rambling Librarian said:

I plan to travel 200km over 3 days (21-23 Apr09) within Singapore on a battery powered wheelchair, covering places like East Coast Park, MacRitchie Nature Reserves, Orchard, Shenton Way, HortParks, South Bouna Vista Rd etc.

I will be on the road continuously for at least 10 hours a day to achieve this aim of covering 200km.

To make this quest even more meaningful, I hope to be able to raise S$1 for every meter I travelled ~ Dennis Kweh

Recommended by ramblinglibrarian: "I know this fund-raiser has been reported in mainstream press. Still, I'm helping my colleague and fellow librarian, Mr. Dennis Kweh, publicise his efforts to raise $200K by traveling 200KM over 3 days in an electric wheelchair. I've posted a YouTube video of Day-1."

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The Banzai! Effect said:

Shiro went to the first ever Kuro Bara event last Saturday over at Liang Court, Singapore. Didn’t have high expectations for it, but surprisingly it was decent and the turnout for it was quite good.

extract from shiro: Indoor lighting was good enough for casual photo taking, and yes the air-con ftw, so nothing to complain about. The few reasons I went is because quite a number of my friends are going, and the gig I’m going to cover later that night is relatively near, at Substation to be exact.

Recommended by oOgA: "photos are good, take with Nikon D300"

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