The SHOCKING Truth About the U.S. Dollar: What The Media Never Told You

The SHOCKING Truth About the U.S. Dollar: What The Media Never Told You

Victim, rescuer and travesty of justice

The Straits Times, Published on Oct 25, 2011
Victim, rescuer and travesty of justice
MR PEH Shing Huei's retelling of the story of Peng Yu and Xu Shoulan shows that justice in China may sometimes be miscarried ('Help me up... so I can sue you'; last Friday).

Help me up... so I can sue you

Help me up... so I can sue you
Peh Shing Huei
The Straits Times
Publication Date : 21-10-2011
The story of Peng Yu and Xu Shoulan is not part of China's rich collection of ancient folk tales, but most Chinese are familiar with it nonetheless.

Offer cheaper flats with a condition - sell them back to HDB

The Straits Times; Published on Oct 24, 2011
Offer cheaper flats with a condition - sell them back to HDB
IN HER letter, Ms Chen Xinyi argued that restricting resale of three-room flats to only low-income earners, and pegging resale prices to the original sales price plus the annual inflation rate will disadvantage current as well as future three-room home owners, as they will be unable to leverage on capital gains from the asset to upgrade to a larger flat ('Restricting sale and price of resale 3-room flats won't work'; last Thursday).

Restricting sale and price of resale 3-room flats won't work

The Straits Times; Published on Oct 20, 2011
Restricting sale and price of resale 3-room flats won't work
I AM dismayed by MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Zainudin Nordin's suggestion to restrict the resale of three-room flats to only low-income earners and peg resale prices to the original sales price plus the annual inflation rate ('Call to re-look pricing of new flats'; Tuesday).

Time to say a firm 'no' to plastic bags

The Straits Times;Published on Oct 25, 2011
Time to say a firm 'no' to plastic bags
WHILE living in Shanghai four years ago, I was amazed at how resolutely the authorities ended the use of plastic bags. The city's populace quickly adapted and most people began carrying their own bags whenever they went shopping.

The instability of inequality

The instability of inequality
Unless relative economic roles of the market and state are rebalanced, protests will get more severe
by Nouriel Roubini 04:46 AM Oct 17, 2011
This year has witnessed a global wave of social and political turmoil and instability, with masses of people pouring into the real and virtual streets: The Arab Spring; riots in London; Israel's middle-class protests against high housing prices and an inflationary squeeze on living standards; protesting Chilean students; the destruction in Germany of the expensive cars of "fat cats"; India's movement against corruption; mounting unhappiness with corruption and inequality in China; and now the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in New York and across the United States.

Up to 6m plastic bags saved per year: FairPrice

The Straits Times; Published on Oct 13, 2011
Up to 6m plastic bags saved per year: FairPrice
WE THANK Ms Cheong Shu Min for her letter (''Bring Your Own Bag' scheme isn't working as it should'; last Saturday), and will consider her feedback with other inputs to improve our programmes.
FairPrice introduced the Green Rewards Scheme in 2007 to help reduce plastic bag wastage.

'Bring Your Own Bag' scheme isn't working as it should

The Straits Times; Published on Oct 8, 2011
'Bring Your Own Bag' scheme isn't working as it should
I WAS appalled by the sheer amount of plastic bags used for bagging groceries when I visited my neighbourhood FairPrice recently.

GDP and GNP

GDP and GNP: distinguishes between gdp and gnp figures, explains why they are calculated and considers the level of accuracy of the figures.

Median income of S'poreans up 11%

Median income of S'poreans up 11%
By Saifulbahri Ismail | Posted: 11 October 2011 1935 hrs
Median income of S'poreans increased over past 10 years
SINGAPORE: Singapore has one of the highest employment rates internationally and the median income of workers also increased 11 per cent in real terms, over the past 10 years.

More people living in rental flats

More people living in rental flats
Trend due to widening income gap and growing number of lonely seniors
The Straits Times - August 21, 2011; By: Daryl Chin
More people living in rental flats
For the past 18 years, Mr Adam Teo's home has been a two-room rental flat in Toa Payoh, littered with books, toys and clothes.
Moreover, the 24-year-old is now his family's sole breadwinner, supporting his mother and two younger siblings.

Should opposition MPs be grassroots advisers?

Should opposition MPs be grassroots advisers?

Janice Heng

23 September 2011; The Straits Times (c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

The practice of appointing PAP candidates as grassroots advisers in opposition wards has been in the news of late due to disputes in Workers’ Party-held Aljunied GRC and Hougang. Insight digs up the history of this controversial practice.

ON OCT 31, 1981, Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam won a by-election in Anson and became the first opposition Member of Parliament to be elected since 1963.

Lawyer fined $50,000 for overcharging client

Law society of Singapore thinks that lawyer should charge $149 /hr, Paralegal: 116/hr.
Calc. is based upon the assumption that:
Both lawyer and his paralegal worked equal hours and overcharged proportionally.
"His hourly charge was $450. He charged another $350 an hour for his assistant, a paralegal"

Cost of treating cancer too prohibitive

Cost of treating cancer too prohibitive
We need to move beyond fighting over expensive drugs that add only a few months to life
by Karol Sikora 04:46 AM Sep 30, 2011
One in three of the population will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. Nearly all families have been affected. It is a disease that causes much emotion and fear.

A lesson from HK maid ruling

A lesson from HK maid ruling
Letter from Liew Kai Khiun 04:46 AM Oct 06, 2011
The recent ruling by a Hong Kong court on the right of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) to apply for permanent residency is a legal landmark for a city that already has policies on minimum wages, rest days and the right to unionisation for its estimated 250,000 maids.

Shortage of question papers forces NUS to cancel economics exam

Shortage of question papers forces NUS to cancel economics exam
by Wendy Wong 04:46 AM Oct 04, 2011
SINGAPORE - Some 700 first-year undergraduates at the National University of Singapore (NUS), who were supposed to sit for a paper on managerial economics last Saturday, were told on the spot that the exam was cancelled - because not enough question papers were printed.

Credit card rule flexible, says MAS

The Straits Times; Published on Sep 28, 2011
SENIOR'S COMPLAINT
Credit card rule flexible, says MAS
MR RAYMOND Koh Bock Swi asked why the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) does not customise our minimum income requirements for retirees who want to have a credit card ('MAS rule unfair to seniors'; last Saturday).

MAS rule unfair to seniors

The Straits Times; Published on Sep 24, 2011
CREDIT CARDS
MAS rule unfair to seniors
RECENTLY I complained to Maybank after it declined my credit card application, which requires a minimum qualifying income of $30,000, and copied my complaint to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
While I had substantial unencumbered fixed deposits in that bank, they wanted me to collateralise my credit card limit, which I declined.