Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan reiterated yesterday that all opposition wards would get lift upgrading, just not as soon as People's Action Party (PAP) wards.
Blocks are chosen not just on the level of support for the PAP, but also on factors such as their age and whether the surrounding areas have been upgraded, he told reporters during a walkabout in Tampines St 81 with his team mates.
But he would choose a PAP ward over an opposition one because otherwise, "the PAP voters in that ward, they will look at me and say: 'What are you doing? I supported you... and now you're giving it to the opposition. They never supported it' ".
He was responding to comments by the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) in its Friday rally that the Government had a "one-country, two systems" policy which denied voters in opposition wards the same benefits as those in PAP wards.
(...)
The Sunday Times Apr 30 2006
THIS IS DISGUSTING. IF the PAP(read: the party itself!) were the ones paying or subsidising the upgrading this would be perfectly legitimate...
but the PAP ministers in their capacity in government when they handle the budget and funds of the people of Singapore shouldn't divert or bias the use of these budget allocations according to who supported them politically...
That's like taking everybody's money and redistributing it according to whom YOU fancy (ie those who voted for you)
I can't BELIEVE that they're so open about this and stating it publicly as a matter of fact.
It's a plan to cow people into voting for the incumbents so as not to lose out on such benefits that ought rightfully belong to them anyway.
The lines have been blurred between PAP, government, PAP government, PAP/government and government/PAP... the PAP acts like they own government, and all the resources that come with it... to do as they please...
Hmmmphh
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Friday, April 14, 2006
Eeww
I am so worried about my ability to write. It looks like 4 months in a rotten internship company has managed to accomplish what even 2.5 years in the SAF failed to do - turn me into a rotting heap of no-brain.
(Lame voice from the audience - "how do you know you weren't a no-brain back then in the army?")
Shutup.
I had so much problem putting together a coherent article for church youth publication that it dragged and dragged and dragged on and on. Maybe I didn't have the discipline to actually sit down properly to do it? And my first attempt at it was termed "disjointed"... a comment which I admit was rather fair. It seems to happen for anything I write in more than one sitting. Or perhaps it was because I had a lot of problem trying to focus the article clearly as it was a very open ended and broad sweep title - not a title even, but just a very broad idea.
What's the matter? Isn't an open topic much better to write on than a closed one? Shouldn't it be easier? But the problem with Christian writing is that its really easy to lose focus - given the all-encompassing and interlinked nature of Christianity itself. And I wanted to avoid end up repeating about salvation in the article which was, as far as I can gather, not its intended area although somehow I felt a little artificial about it.
Anyway, I've since been able to whip up a rewrite which my editor says is much better (I just plunged in and wrote single-mindedly) although now he's in Taiwan for his SAF sponsored pre-ORD honeymoon.
THERE - some whining done with.
-----------------------------------------
I've been busy using all my free Caltex points to pay for my petrol since I got news of the impending car forced-sale order, but, strangely enough, it hasn't happened yet. So we're still driving the car for free as far as we're concerned. At this rate we'd probably finish using all the points in the card (that's about over $200 worth of free petrol)
-----------------------------------------
Recently, M&M visited Saudi Arabia and the reigning monarch was very keen on getting some pointers on how to better run his kingdom ("his" here refering to the Saudi Crown Prince's). M&M tried tossing some rubbish out of his car while driving along a desert road, just to see what punitive action would result. It was a $1 fine (maybe US$1). Later on camera M&M remarked that "you don't keep a clean city by imposing a $1 fine - you do it by - ..."
At that point in time I was so certain he would say "a $500 fine" or "a $500 fine or CWO, or both"... but guess what he said -
"educating the people."
Maybe that's a a nice phrase for CWO. Who knows.
---------------------------------------------
Look at the time I gotta go! Friday Vesper service and I'm meeting Fabian before that for dinner. Pray for us! Seeya!
(Lame voice from the audience - "how do you know you weren't a no-brain back then in the army?")
Shutup.
I had so much problem putting together a coherent article for church youth publication that it dragged and dragged and dragged on and on. Maybe I didn't have the discipline to actually sit down properly to do it? And my first attempt at it was termed "disjointed"... a comment which I admit was rather fair. It seems to happen for anything I write in more than one sitting. Or perhaps it was because I had a lot of problem trying to focus the article clearly as it was a very open ended and broad sweep title - not a title even, but just a very broad idea.
What's the matter? Isn't an open topic much better to write on than a closed one? Shouldn't it be easier? But the problem with Christian writing is that its really easy to lose focus - given the all-encompassing and interlinked nature of Christianity itself. And I wanted to avoid end up repeating about salvation in the article which was, as far as I can gather, not its intended area although somehow I felt a little artificial about it.
Anyway, I've since been able to whip up a rewrite which my editor says is much better (I just plunged in and wrote single-mindedly) although now he's in Taiwan for his SAF sponsored pre-ORD honeymoon.
THERE - some whining done with.
-----------------------------------------
I've been busy using all my free Caltex points to pay for my petrol since I got news of the impending car forced-sale order, but, strangely enough, it hasn't happened yet. So we're still driving the car for free as far as we're concerned. At this rate we'd probably finish using all the points in the card (that's about over $200 worth of free petrol)
-----------------------------------------
Recently, M&M visited Saudi Arabia and the reigning monarch was very keen on getting some pointers on how to better run his kingdom ("his" here refering to the Saudi Crown Prince's). M&M tried tossing some rubbish out of his car while driving along a desert road, just to see what punitive action would result. It was a $1 fine (maybe US$1). Later on camera M&M remarked that "you don't keep a clean city by imposing a $1 fine - you do it by - ..."
At that point in time I was so certain he would say "a $500 fine" or "a $500 fine or CWO, or both"... but guess what he said -
"educating the people."
Maybe that's a a nice phrase for CWO. Who knows.
---------------------------------------------
Look at the time I gotta go! Friday Vesper service and I'm meeting Fabian before that for dinner. Pray for us! Seeya!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Goodbye my car...
For some really ridiculous technicality of law the family household car now has to be sold. It's not a worth buy considering current car prices and COEs are so dirt cheap. Unless of course you want the security of being able to scrap the car in case of accident with no monetary loss to you (i.e. COE car).
It doesn't really matter what price I sell it at as long as its a little above scrap value. Here are the details if anyone is interested.
Scrap value
Open Market Value(OMV):
$14,507.00
PARF Eligibility Expiry Date:
26 May 2009
PARF Rebate Amount:
$15,957.00
COE rebate (Cat E)
QP Paid:
$35,890.00
COE Rebate Amount:
$11,258.00
So its scrap value as of April 06 is about 16k+11k=27k
If you do drive the car till its COE expiry in May 2009 you'll get back about 80% of OMV ($11.6k cash) after that.
Thus, the net cost of ownership is about $422 / month after factoring in this cash rebate, before considering interest charges from the finance company (usually about 2k on top of loan amount)
If nobody wants it (and that's probably the case - who wants to pay $600/mnth in installments for a 7-year-old car?) then it will be returned to the financier, auctioned off (probably at scrap value) and that would be the end of the matter
-----------
So there you have it. Goodbye. I will miss it. I thought it would have at least lasted till it 2009. But apparently God thinks otherwise.
It's not a problem. I've lived without a car before....... I don't even use it on a daily basis now anymore!
Anybody wanna stay hall with me next sem?
~God bless~
Jerry
It doesn't really matter what price I sell it at as long as its a little above scrap value. Here are the details if anyone is interested.
Scrap value
Open Market Value(OMV):
$14,507.00
PARF Eligibility Expiry Date:
26 May 2009
PARF Rebate Amount:
$15,957.00
COE rebate (Cat E)
QP Paid:
$35,890.00
COE Rebate Amount:
$11,258.00
So its scrap value as of April 06 is about 16k+11k=27k
If you do drive the car till its COE expiry in May 2009 you'll get back about 80% of OMV ($11.6k cash) after that.
Thus, the net cost of ownership is about $422 / month after factoring in this cash rebate, before considering interest charges from the finance company (usually about 2k on top of loan amount)
If nobody wants it (and that's probably the case - who wants to pay $600/mnth in installments for a 7-year-old car?) then it will be returned to the financier, auctioned off (probably at scrap value) and that would be the end of the matter
-----------
So there you have it. Goodbye. I will miss it. I thought it would have at least lasted till it 2009. But apparently God thinks otherwise.
It's not a problem. I've lived without a car before....... I don't even use it on a daily basis now anymore!
Anybody wanna stay hall with me next sem?
~God bless~
Jerry
Sunday, March 26, 2006
One expensive boating trip
Saturday was my first Dragon Boat outing! It was church YF and 21 of us split into 2 boats for a quick crash course including drills on holding and synchronizing as well as how to use momentum to move the boat without touching the paddles!
Needless to say it was a super-xiong thing and I got crappy abrasions on my rowing arm at the part of the hand which grips the paddle. There were plenty of beautiful bodies including one whole gang of like, army or navy people with ripped washboard abs that sort of like emerged out of a cage under the nicoll highway! eeeewww! They were just taking the their paddles from the store but the fashion in which they moved (single file whereever they went) showed clearly they were on some form of training. Typical babes in tank tops stuff too.
But anyway, there was plenty to learn about team work and moving as part of the team as you can feel it when 1 person starts to slack (including the steersman who once sent the boat moving rapidly in circles)
The actual rowing action seems to be like some sort of ploughing or digging into the water and I think it might be a good way to train up the non-master arm (which in my case was pathetic as I found out) although I'm sure there's some gym exercise that sort of replicates it too (hence the reason competitive rowers goto the gym to train too)
But yeah, when you're at full swing the urge to give up and slack is always there - just like how I'm sure many a Christian brother or sister has at times felt - to either let little white sins creep in, to dwell a little longer on thoughts that you know ought not to be in your system.
Trust in Christ and push on!
Needless to say it was a super-xiong thing and I got crappy abrasions on my rowing arm at the part of the hand which grips the paddle. There were plenty of beautiful bodies including one whole gang of like, army or navy people with ripped washboard abs that sort of like emerged out of a cage under the nicoll highway! eeeewww! They were just taking the their paddles from the store but the fashion in which they moved (single file whereever they went) showed clearly they were on some form of training. Typical babes in tank tops stuff too.
But anyway, there was plenty to learn about team work and moving as part of the team as you can feel it when 1 person starts to slack (including the steersman who once sent the boat moving rapidly in circles)
The actual rowing action seems to be like some sort of ploughing or digging into the water and I think it might be a good way to train up the non-master arm (which in my case was pathetic as I found out) although I'm sure there's some gym exercise that sort of replicates it too (hence the reason competitive rowers goto the gym to train too)
But yeah, when you're at full swing the urge to give up and slack is always there - just like how I'm sure many a Christian brother or sister has at times felt - to either let little white sins creep in, to dwell a little longer on thoughts that you know ought not to be in your system.
Trust in Christ and push on!
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Fitting in.
Yesterday was my church's "Family games day" which included an afternoon of games and then a BBQ.
I had taken my class 4 heavy vehicle driving test earlier in the morning and failed it by hitting the curb on the way back into the test centre carpark.
Needless to say that made things very miserable and I had to spend most of my afternoon queuing up at BBTC to get another test date. But I guess if my driving is very unsafe then I deserve to have to practise more. Unlearning some of the bad habits is difficult and for long vehicles there are absolutely essential additional safety checks and 'best practices' that need to be adhered to.
I feel asleep after finally reaching home from some driving my mom here and there errands and ended up waking at 7 instead of 6 so by the time I got there the entire event was more or less over. Ruth had actually messaged me at 6 telling me that the food was running out but I guess I was too engrossed in sleeping.
Being late and not having participated in the games it felt sadly awkward to be there but I guess that's the punishment you get. I still feel too old for such like, fun motivational games and all that but hey that's probably just my character you're talking to someone to hates things like school camps and those kinds of things.
Perhaps I'm stuck-up or jaded or whatever. Or maybe its the social environment I don't feel comfortable with. Whatever.
But I want to not just leave it at whatever. Because I somehow feel compelled to at least make an effort to mix around more in church, going for mid-week and all that, and I know it's only natural people stick to their own clique and feel more comfortable to interact amongst themselves. We feel the same way too.
It's hard but sometimes I try my very best to talk to people but sometimes its difficult when you hit a blank wall on the other side or either that it's just polite conversation but then suddenly it's all over and that's it.
Do we really have to adopt the interests, lifestyles and behaviour of others just to fit in? I've never believed in that because I'm very sure Christ accepts every single individual the way he or she is. But to qualify that statement we need to try to talk, and sometimes I feel caught in between the 2 'groups' of people of my age in church. Why is my usher team leader always so skeptical about church things? He always seems to have a rebuttal to the pulpit after every sermon ... not that all preachers preach appropriately or contextualize correctly but such an attitude without paying attention to the essence of what was (or intended) is not healthy.
I'm not trying to play a you-fault-my-fault kind of thing, but with our conviction we need to always want to strive better and not let anyone, especially in our own church, be left behind, like some unwanted child. I feel like that sometimes. It can't be a case of our church being too big I'm sure.
To be honest I've always talked more and felt better accepted by the 'alternative group' in church and I'm thankful for that, but I want to try and interact more. So far with my brother Dom and the guys its been not bad and I also am thankful for that.
Ha - I sound like some really immature adolescent sorely lacking in the PR department... but I don't know - I rarely bother to say anything unless I feel it really matters. I've met too many people in life who are friendly, polite and talk much but then it ends there.
Could I really overcome this issue? I pray for the strength to do so. No the Bible isn't some self-help book on how to improve your social life. In fact, I don't even think its fair to say that we expect all members of a church to behave the same and like the same and do the same things. "To be of one mind in Christ" is not the same as being homogenous robots.
But I believe what the Bible, together with the grace of God and the Holy Spirit's conviction can do, is to see us through and sustain us till the end and in spite of such things. Such is the power of God that the impossible is possible (see how daunted I feel?)
I was about to sign off with a list of people I'd want to say hi to but I'd really hate to have inadvertedly left someone out.
Take care all you! Keep your eyes on the prize!
Here we have no continuing city; but we seek the one to come. - Hebrews 13:14
I had taken my class 4 heavy vehicle driving test earlier in the morning and failed it by hitting the curb on the way back into the test centre carpark.
Needless to say that made things very miserable and I had to spend most of my afternoon queuing up at BBTC to get another test date. But I guess if my driving is very unsafe then I deserve to have to practise more. Unlearning some of the bad habits is difficult and for long vehicles there are absolutely essential additional safety checks and 'best practices' that need to be adhered to.
I feel asleep after finally reaching home from some driving my mom here and there errands and ended up waking at 7 instead of 6 so by the time I got there the entire event was more or less over. Ruth had actually messaged me at 6 telling me that the food was running out but I guess I was too engrossed in sleeping.
Being late and not having participated in the games it felt sadly awkward to be there but I guess that's the punishment you get. I still feel too old for such like, fun motivational games and all that but hey that's probably just my character you're talking to someone to hates things like school camps and those kinds of things.
Perhaps I'm stuck-up or jaded or whatever. Or maybe its the social environment I don't feel comfortable with. Whatever.
But I want to not just leave it at whatever. Because I somehow feel compelled to at least make an effort to mix around more in church, going for mid-week and all that, and I know it's only natural people stick to their own clique and feel more comfortable to interact amongst themselves. We feel the same way too.
It's hard but sometimes I try my very best to talk to people but sometimes its difficult when you hit a blank wall on the other side or either that it's just polite conversation but then suddenly it's all over and that's it.
Do we really have to adopt the interests, lifestyles and behaviour of others just to fit in? I've never believed in that because I'm very sure Christ accepts every single individual the way he or she is. But to qualify that statement we need to try to talk, and sometimes I feel caught in between the 2 'groups' of people of my age in church. Why is my usher team leader always so skeptical about church things? He always seems to have a rebuttal to the pulpit after every sermon ... not that all preachers preach appropriately or contextualize correctly but such an attitude without paying attention to the essence of what was (or intended) is not healthy.
I'm not trying to play a you-fault-my-fault kind of thing, but with our conviction we need to always want to strive better and not let anyone, especially in our own church, be left behind, like some unwanted child. I feel like that sometimes. It can't be a case of our church being too big I'm sure.
To be honest I've always talked more and felt better accepted by the 'alternative group' in church and I'm thankful for that, but I want to try and interact more. So far with my brother Dom and the guys its been not bad and I also am thankful for that.
Ha - I sound like some really immature adolescent sorely lacking in the PR department... but I don't know - I rarely bother to say anything unless I feel it really matters. I've met too many people in life who are friendly, polite and talk much but then it ends there.
Could I really overcome this issue? I pray for the strength to do so. No the Bible isn't some self-help book on how to improve your social life. In fact, I don't even think its fair to say that we expect all members of a church to behave the same and like the same and do the same things. "To be of one mind in Christ" is not the same as being homogenous robots.
But I believe what the Bible, together with the grace of God and the Holy Spirit's conviction can do, is to see us through and sustain us till the end and in spite of such things. Such is the power of God that the impossible is possible (see how daunted I feel?)
I was about to sign off with a list of people I'd want to say hi to but I'd really hate to have inadvertedly left someone out.
Take care all you! Keep your eyes on the prize!
Here we have no continuing city; but we seek the one to come. - Hebrews 13:14
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
LAg
hey its been almost a month since I blogged! I am still alive you know!...
Work has been quite busy though we've been learning to take things in our stride and try to get the most out of it for ourselves... we know that's its quite a lost cause to do any real full time writing
But at least God has sent our godmother Doris to watch over us. She's meticulous and picky with work, but she stands up for us when the boss scolds us unreasonably. Part-time operations manager. What kind of a cost-cutting measure is this?
Also, staff turnover has been really high, 2 accounts people and 3 admin people have left... and this is an office of less than 7 people including 2 of us interns. Sad.
I don't want to go on about my boss and supervisor.
Also, Prof Brenda came to interview us just yesterday. Seems like nothing can be done given that the scope of operations of the company has little to do with us.
Just get the best out of it
Going for dinner
God bless!
Work has been quite busy though we've been learning to take things in our stride and try to get the most out of it for ourselves... we know that's its quite a lost cause to do any real full time writing
But at least God has sent our godmother Doris to watch over us. She's meticulous and picky with work, but she stands up for us when the boss scolds us unreasonably. Part-time operations manager. What kind of a cost-cutting measure is this?
Also, staff turnover has been really high, 2 accounts people and 3 admin people have left... and this is an office of less than 7 people including 2 of us interns. Sad.
I don't want to go on about my boss and supervisor.
Also, Prof Brenda came to interview us just yesterday. Seems like nothing can be done given that the scope of operations of the company has little to do with us.
Just get the best out of it
Going for dinner
God bless!
Thursday, February 09, 2006
disaster after disaster at the speed of a commercial printer
my goodness...
admin stuff, list updating, then hardcore shifting of cabinets, furniture, years worth of magazine stores, and been learning all about publication the hard way. Wrong file formats, problems with crop marks, publications manager giving me all the lowdown on not leaving enough gaps and spaces, file resolution, and all that...
talk about being plunged headlong into all that printing stuff... and to top that off... doing it with Microsoft Publisher and not having any Adobe Acrobat Distiller or PDF maker...
what a nightmare.
Rearranged the furniture and partitions upteen times and the usual computer repair work...
I can't even write in proper sentences anymore.
Computer's Maxtor harddisks gone haywire again... refused to spin up (yes, even the new 160GB one). I just don't get what the problem is, loose cable? bus overclock?
recently the Seagate ones at the offices experienced the same problems too... wonder if its just a coincidence...
but things should be settling down by now... sales manager is gg to push for more articles... he's a great help...
hope the office gets the publication facilities soon
ROPE - Rely On Prayer Everyday
Kudos to all the ppl flying off to China!
Godspeed and safe trip. Enjoy yourselves!
admin stuff, list updating, then hardcore shifting of cabinets, furniture, years worth of magazine stores, and been learning all about publication the hard way. Wrong file formats, problems with crop marks, publications manager giving me all the lowdown on not leaving enough gaps and spaces, file resolution, and all that...
talk about being plunged headlong into all that printing stuff... and to top that off... doing it with Microsoft Publisher and not having any Adobe Acrobat Distiller or PDF maker...
what a nightmare.
Rearranged the furniture and partitions upteen times and the usual computer repair work...
I can't even write in proper sentences anymore.
Computer's Maxtor harddisks gone haywire again... refused to spin up (yes, even the new 160GB one). I just don't get what the problem is, loose cable? bus overclock?
recently the Seagate ones at the offices experienced the same problems too... wonder if its just a coincidence...
but things should be settling down by now... sales manager is gg to push for more articles... he's a great help...
hope the office gets the publication facilities soon
ROPE - Rely On Prayer Everyday
Kudos to all the ppl flying off to China!
Godspeed and safe trip. Enjoy yourselves!
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