Singapore National Education Part 108 -- by mr brown
Weeks of 17 May 2005 to 25 July 2005
[post continues in Extended Body...]
I have also learned lately:
1. That now I know why I say "Gahmen also I not scared". Because Gahmen say I not scared.
Reuters:
Singapore says no climate of fear in city-state
Singapore defended its media laws on Friday and balked at the suggestion that its citizens live in a climate of fear... [Singapore's home affairs minister Wong Kan Seng] was quoted as saying in Singapore's Straits Times.
"Get real. Come on, we live in the real world in Singapore."
Wong, who will assume the post of deputy prime minister later this year, also defended a law which bans political videos, saying that the law is applied in an even-handed manner...
"Political videos, by their very nature, will be political, will be biased and, therefore, will not be able to allow the listener or the viewer to see a whole range of arguments."
2. That Stallone will be doing Rambo 4. He will kill the bad guys with his commando-made dentures.
3. That Mount Faber will be redeveloped and there will be a mall built on the hilltop.
That's just what Singapore and Mount Faber needs. A mall.
4. That the MRT will not stop at Buangkok station, but will stop at the Casinos.
5. That Singapore has two kinds of medical insurance: Medishield and Sons-in law.
"A 92-year-old man walked into a Tanjong Pagar doctor's clinic on Wednesday night to seek treatment for a common cold and fever. The visit cost him $64.
Citing this example, his son-in-law, a well-heeled doctorate holder, complained to the Health Minister last night that medical costs were getting "too unaffordable", especially for people well beyond the insurable age like his father-in-law.
The minister's response: "His insurance is that he has a good son-in-law".
Khaw Boon Wan adds: If you feel health care is important, then you must be prepared to spend a certain percentage of your income, say 10 percent, on it.. You can't say healthcare is important but please could the Government pay for it."
-Making sense of health-care dollars, Straits Times, 17 June 2005
6. That despite living in the country with fastest increasing number of millionaires in the world per capita, I still feel like my standard of living has dropped and my cost of living gone up.
But the papers say our standard of living has gone up. So it must be up, then.
7. That when nobody uses your white elephant Second Link, you raise your toll charges. Yeah, that'll really bring in the crowds.
"LTA raises toll rates for vehicles at Second Link
SINGAPORE : Motorists using the Second Link to enter or leave Malaysia will have to pay more from July 1.
The Land Transport Authority says it is increasing the toll rates at the Singapore end to match Malaysia's.
They will be up by between 12 and 20 percent." - Friday June 24, CNA
8. That NKF stands for National Kidney Foundation, National Kids Foundation, and National Kancer Foundation.
(props to KynTheMan for the last one)
9. That when the 117th International Olympic Committee (IOC) is in town, even the body of a policeman found shot in the head will be filed under Page 6 of the Sunday Times instead of the front page.
"Police corporal found dead with gunshot wound to head
SINGAPORE: A Police National Service Special Constabulary corporal was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head.
Corporal Arvin, in his early 20s, was found in a gymnasium at the Yishun North Neighbourhood Police Centre on Saturday morning." -02 July 2005 CNA
10. That despite not being able to start screening the series "Lost" before Mediacorp, AXN goes one up with their series screening:
LOST MARATHON
12pm - 5pm (SIN/THA) 1pm - 6pm (HK)
from 9 July onwards!
9 Jul: Episodes 1-5
16 Jul: Episodes 6-10
23 Jul: Episodes 11-15
30 Jul: Episodes 16-20
6 Aug: Episodes 20-25 (For Singapore only)
11. That the 117th IOC session held in Singapore is estimated to bring $40 million dollars in tourism dollars. It had better, because no locals wanted to shop near the Raffles City area with all the security crawling all over the place.
12. That it may not be wise to appeal your sentence, like for dunking commandos, or the judge may up yours.
"Rejecting their appeals for fines, he says officers in dunking incident 'a disgrace to army'
by Ansley Ng
THE careers of commandos Pandiaraj Mayandi and S Balakrishnan came to an end yesterday when the Chief Justice dismissed their appeals and increased their jail terms for their part in a dunking incident that killed an NS man and left another seriously injured.
Chief Justice Yong Pung How increased the jail term of Pandiaraj, 34, from three months to 12 months, while Balakrishnan, 45, will serve six months instead of two.
It is believed that both men had appealed in the hopes of getting a fine instead of a custodial sentence — so that they could remain in the army." -Friday, July 8, 2005, TODAY
13. That, not to be left out of the public transport fare hike fun, taxis are also charging more. The midnight surcharge will now start at 11.30pm, in a staggered increase of 10% to 50%. Booking charges will go up from $3 to $4 during peak hours. And the waiting time fare will be raised to 10 cents per 25 seconds.
And you thought only buses and trains were increasing their fares. You optimist you.
14. That petrol kiosks here have started the 25% discount war again. Enjoy it until someone blinks, then go back to topping up in JB.
15. That in the light of the London tube bombings, the Gahmen is setting up a new MRT police unit to enhance the security of Singapore's public transport network.
So does that mean we will be see another fare hike, er, sorry, fare adjustment soon?
16. That it took so many people falling into tracks to get the CCTVs installed at train stations (and they are still not fully operational) but one London train blast to get CCTVs installed into MRT trains itself, pronto. And also installed everywhere else too.
17. That the National Kidney Foundation is a first-class organisation.
18. That last time, kachang puteh cost only 50 cents for a whole cone, but today, it costs $600,000 (props to my fave fruit juice auntie at Adam Road).
19. That in 10 years' time, there may be no opposition wards. Gahmen say one.
"More powers for Town Councils, but Chiam senses political trap
Derrick A Paulo
When the Town Council Act was amended in Parliament yesterday, the underlying message to the 12 Town Councils was that with more power comes more responsibility.
Some of the new "powers" were reported in this paper yesterday, including how Town Councils could use their sinking funds for lift upgrading work and seize and sell flats to recover any subsequent arrears...
When asked by Mr Low (LTK) if the 10-year target included opposition wards, Mr Mah (MBT) said: 'It's really hard for me to say what will happen in 10 years' time. There may be no opposition ward.'" -TODAY
20. That the most expensive durian is not the D24 or the XO, but the TT.
21. That now that the $200 million charity has fessed up their ex-CEO's pay package (The Half Million Dollar Man), it is time to ask the $100 million charities the same questions.
22. That Racial Harmony Day was celebrated in schools recently, and teachers were encouraged to wear an ethnic costume. So cute.
Next you'll be telling me they created some multi-racial lion dance Lion that looks like his mother lion slept with four races, to promote racial harmony.
23. That Singapore may not be able to win any Olympic medals worth a damn, but by golly we are great at getting ourselves in to the Guinness World of Records, like for bursting 3,137 balloons in 10 seconds on 24 July 2005, beating the previous record set in Hong Kong, of 2,477 balloons in 10 seconds.
Balloon bursting hub also good what.
24. That NTU, that university of wild social party-animals, organized a mass blind date which paired 536 singles into 268 couples.
However, it is not known whether the participants were allowed to adjourn to the hostels to, ahem, get to know each other better. This is because NTU Hall rules state that students must leave the door and window blinds open if a member of the opposite sex is in the room. Also, no member of the opposite sex is allowed to stay beyond 11.00 p.m.
According to their Social Affairs Office, these draconian rules are there "to help prevent situations of students being taken advantage of."
All that mass dating and no one allowed to get laid.
25. That Singapore should try to be the Peanut Hub. Based on the Singapore peanut exchange rate, 1 peanut = S$600,000.
So the $400,000 rebranding exercise for Marina Bay (part of this project resulted in Marina Bay to be renamed... Marina Bay), it only cost 2/3 of a peanut.
From now on, ministers' salaries will also be stated in peanuts.
1. Singapore Prime Minister's Basic Salary US$1,100,000 (SGD1,958,000) a year (3.26 peanuts)
Minister's Basic: US$655,530 to US$819,124 (SGD1,166,844 to SGD1,458,040) a year (1.94 to 2.43 peanuts)
2. United States of America President: US$200,000 (0.59 peanuts)
Vice President: US$181,400 (0.54 peanuts) Cabinet Secretaries: US$157,000 (0.47 peanuts)
3. United Kingdom Prime Minister: US$170,556 (0.5 peanuts)
Ministers: US$146,299 (0.43 peanuts) Senior Civil Servants: US$262,438 (0.78 peanuts)
4. Australia Prime Minister: US$137,060 (0.4 peanuts)
Deputy Prime Minister: US$111,439 (0.33 peanuts) Treasurer: US$102,682 (0.3 peanuts)
5. Hong Kong Chief Executive : US$416,615 (1.24 peanuts)
Top Civil Servant: US$278,538 (0.83 peanuts) Financial Sec: US$315,077 (0.93 peanuts)
Source: Asian Wall Street Journal July 10 2000 (exchange rate is USD1 = SGD1.78)
By Lee Kin Mun (Copyright 2005)
