True property rights require agreement by all

ST Forum: HOME > ST FORUM > ONLINE STORY
Aug 5, 2011
True property rights require agreement by all
I AGREE with Mr Tan Keng Ann('En bloc'; Wednesday) about the plight of minority dissenters in a collective property sale.

En bloc

ST Forum: Home > ST Forum > Story
Aug 3, 2011
En bloc
'We fling an 'old' apartment to the scrap heap and replace it with one twice the price or half the space.'
MR TAN KENG ANN: 'The collective sale rule is an undeserved right given to the majority ('One owner should not hold collective sale to ransom' by Mr David Lim; July 23).

Good Presidents past (the second key is but a mystical dragon that may never require)

Good Presidents past
Published on Aug 10, 2011
NEVER have I seen Singaporeans so confused regarding the elected presidency.
The purpose of converting the presidential selection from a nominated to an elected process was to have a non-partisan, highly qualified elected official who would prevent a renegade political party from winning power and using a populist agenda to plunder the reserves. Hence the elected president had to be unconnected with a political party.

MPS AT PARADE (One people, one dress code, please)

MPS AT PARADE (One people, one dress code, please)
Published on Aug 11, 2011
TUESDAY'S National Day Parade marked another evening of joyous celebration of Singapore's birthday.
Next year, I hope to see a tweak in the dress code of our Members of Parliament (MPs). MPs from the People's Action Party and the Workers' Party were dressed in their respective party colours of white and blue.

Downside to multi-cornered presidential race

Downside to multi-cornered presidential race
Letter from Edwin Yeo Tee Yeok 04:45 AM Aug 10, 2011
While the prospect of a multi-candidate contest for the Presidency looks to be an exciting spectacle, I am concerned that the splitting of votes among the candidates could result in a situation where the winner garners fewer than half of the total votes cast.

[Mar2011]: Why the President's salary is pegged higher

ST Forum; Mar 18, 2011
Why the President's salary is pegged higher
MR TAN Chak Lim queried the provision of $4,267,500 in the Civil List for the President's salary this year ('About the President's pay...; Wednesday).

Singapore ahead in the losing game?

Singapore ahead in the losing game?
Letter from Leong Sze Hian 04:45 AM Aug 03, 2011
I refer to the article "IRs here have not created more gambling addicts: CRA" (July 30). On the call for greater transparency regarding the number of Singaporeans entering the casinos, it states that Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) chief executive Lau Peet Meng had agreed that the legality of the information - and how it is shared - could be looked into more carefully.

IRs here have not created more gambling addicts: CRA

IRs here have not created more gambling addicts: CRA
by Ng Jing Yng 04:46 AM Jul 30, 2011
SINGAPORE - The presence of the Integrated Resorts (IRs) here has not caused a spike in the number of gambling addicts, said Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) chairman Richard Magnus yesterday, citing a study done by the Institute of Mental Health.

2011Feb: Target white-collar foreigners instead

HOME > ST FORUM > STORY
February 23, 2011 Wednesday,
Target white-collar foreigners instead 
WHILE the Government's decision to lessen reliance on foreign labour to raise productivity is laudable, the wrong sector is being targeted ('Worker levy increase shocks businesses'; last Saturday).
The Government should not focus on tightening blue-collar foreign labour as such migrant workers are needed in transient work.

2011 Mar: 'MOM, about that $575 chair...' & another

HOME > ST FORUM > ONLINE STORY
Mar 29, 2011
MOM, about that $575 chair...
I AM puzzled and perturbed by Friday's report ("MOM staff to get ergonomic chairs") in which a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokeman rationalised the $271,400 allocation for 472 Herman Miller chairs (at $575 each) for its staff.

Check the work, not the title

ST Forum
HOME > ST FORUM > ONLINE STORY
Jul 22, 2011
Check the work, not the title
ON THE issue of misuse of the employment pass facility ("Foreigners offer to 'pay' for employment passes"; Tuesday), we focus only on whether the declared salary is paid or not, but there is another form of cheating.
This happens mostly in restaurants.

Foreigners offer to ‘pay’ for employment passes

Foreigners offer to ‘pay’ for employment passes
July 19th, 2011 | Author: Your Correspondent (By Melissa Kok & Amanda Tan)Straits Times, 19 July 2011
EMPLOY us and we will ‘pay’ you.
That offer was made to Mr Henn Tan, owner of a local technology firm, when he interviewed two men – a Myanmarese and a Filipino in their 20s. They had applied to work as a webmaster and a software engineer respectively.

2011 Mar: Ergonomic chairs offer best value for money: MOM

HOME > ST FORUM > ONLINE STORY
Mar 31, 2011
Ergonomic chairs offer best value for money: MOM
WE REFER to Mr Lee Seck Kay's letter on Tuesday ('MOM, about that $575 chair...').
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) conducted an open tender in accordance with government procurement guidelines for the purchase of office chairs for our employees at the Kim Seng premises. The brand of the chairs was not specified in the tender invitation.

Is $575 chair too expensive for civil servants?

Health @ AsiaOne
Is $575 chair too expensive for civil servants?
MOM paying $575 for Herman Miller chair that retails for $1,200. -TNP
Mon, Mar 28, 2011
The New Paper, By Ng Wan Ching
A CHAIR is not as simple as it looks. Take the Herman Miller chairs, renowned for their ergonomic design.
Photos: A $1,200 ergonomic chair for $575

2011Mar: 'MOM staff to get ergonomic chairs'

HOME > BREAKING NEWS > SINGAPORE > STORY
Mar 25, 2011
MOM staff to get ergonomic chairs
STAFF at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) headquarters in Kim Seng Road can expect designer chairs at their workplace soon.

Do we need the IRs?

Do we need the IRs?
04:45 AM Aug 01, 2011
Letter from Jedidiah Tan
I READ with great interest the apparent divide between Ms Grace Fu's and Mr Tan Kin Lian's thoughts on the issue of gambling.

Playing God is good for the planet

Playing God is good for the planet
We have the tech to save the world, but we must put aside doubts about nuclear energy, geo-engineering
by Mark Lynas 04:45 AM Jul 14, 2011
In May 2010, for only the second time in 3.7 billion years, a life form was created with no biological parent, out of a collection of inanimate chemicals. This transformation took place not in some primordial soup, still less the Garden of Eden, but in a Californian laboratory. And the Divine Creator was J Craig Venter, a world-renowned biologist, highly successful entrepreneur and one of the first sequencers of the human genome.

Jetstar Magazine and the compensation payable on intellectual property violations.

Quote:

He posted picture on Flickr and it turned up in a magazine ... 01:05 AM Jun 30, 2011 by Ng Jing Yng

Re: 30 cops, dogs in 6-hour hunt for... parking offender

Moral of story:

1. 'AETOS' is a premier security company because if anything goes wrong, its subsidiaries, SPF and perhaps SAF are always at their immediate disposal.
2. AETOS is so powerful, that it can order its subsidiary companies (SPF, whatever) will do everything possible to recover even a pair of missing handcuffs misplaced by 2 bungling AETOS auxiliaries on a slippery parking offender.
3. The Minister of Home Affairs (SG) is possibly a puppet of the CEO of AETOS security too.

Beef up credit card security

HOME > ST FORUM > ONLINE STORY
Jun 13, 2011
Beef up credit card security
TRANSACTIONS involving the physical use of credit cards with merchants continue to be prone to fraud.
Banks must implement a personal identification number (PIN) system for all credit cards, where the customer inserts the card into the terminal, either at the sales counter or at his table in a dining establishment, and validates it with his PIN.

Pedestrian fined for causing hurt to cyclist

HOME > BREAKING NEWS > SINGAPORE > STORY
Jun 13, 2011
Pedestrian fined for causing hurt to cyclist
By Elena Chong
A teenager, who stepped onto the road without looking and caused a cyclist to crash into her and die, was fined $1,500 yesterday.

Urine and effluent will feed the world

TODAY: Behind the Headlines
Urine and effluent will feed the world
by Esther Ng
Published on April 6, 2011
Urine is liquid gold, said Dr James Barnard, this year’s recipient of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize.
Half the world’s population cannot afford fertilizer, so it makes sense to use urine, said the 75-year-old, drawing laughter from a room of journalists who had gathered for the press conference.

Delink political affiliations of grassroots bodies

HOME > ST FORUM > STORY
Jun 4, 2011
Delink political affiliations of grassroots bodies
I REFER to Monday's report ('PM: Unfair to criticise grassroots activists'). Being a grassroots volunteer myself, I could not help but feel that debating whether the grassroots activists are telling MPs the truth is just barking up the wrong tree.

Rules of prudence: Serving in a new era

Rules of prudence: Serving in a new era
04:47 AM May 28, 2011
THIS letter by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was circulated to all People's Action Party MPs and released to the media yesterday.

Our Party has won 81 out of 87 seats in the just concluded General Election. The opposition contested 82 seats, of which the PAP won 76, with 60.1 per cent of the votes.