CPF Life scheme to be simplified from 4 to 2 options

The Straits Times; Published on Mar 5, 2012
THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, CPF
CPF Life scheme to be simplified from 4 to 2 options
By Tessa Wong
The CPF Life annuity scheme, which provides retirees with a lifelong monthly payout, will be simplified to make it easier for Central Provident Fund (CPF) members to choose what scheme they want.

July 13, 2005: Mrs Goh: I've full trust in NKF and its CEO

Source: [link]

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July 13, 2005: 
Mrs Goh: I've full trust in NKF and its CEO THE NKF's patron, Mrs Goh Chok Tong, told reporters at the close of the case that she had complete trust in the organisation and its chief executive, Mr T.T. Durai.
She had come to court on both days of the hearing and sat on the NKF side. Yesterday, she was there for part of the morning and again in the afternoon.

MediShield premiums could rise, Health Minister says

MediShield premiums could rise, Health Minister says
Updated 02:29 PM Mar 07, 2012
SINGAPORE - Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said MediShield premiums are due for an increase soon.
Mr Gan, speaking in Parliament at the Committee of Supply debates today, said the premiums "need to be adequate to sustain MediShield members' claims and to fund future liabilities under the scheme".

New ways to raise revenue needed, says DPM Tharman

New ways to raise revenue needed, says DPM Tharman
04:46 AM Mar 02, 2012
by Neo Chai Chin
SINGAPORE - As the Government ramps up healthcare spending, keeps up social mobility and gives a leg-up to society's lowest wage earners, it will also need to find new ways of raising revenue after 2016, said Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday as he wrapped up the three-day Budget debate.
Even as he affirmed a judicious spending approach to avoid a heavy tax burden on middle-income earners, he rolled out examples to illustrate how the Government has addressed inequality, while promising to look into suggestions raised by Members of Parliament.

Rogue lawyer's victims recover 60% of losses

Rogue lawyer's victims recover 60% of losses
Source: Straits Times; Date: 06 Mar 2012; Author: K C Vijayan

Ex-CNB, SCDF chiefs' cases addressed in Parliament

Ex-CNB, SCDF chiefs' cases addressed in Parliament
14 February 2012 1541 hrs (SST)
SINGAPORE: Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean has stressed that any wrongdoing by public service officers will be dealt with, even if it "causes embarrassment to the government".

Foo Mee Ha, Picts

Some picts:

Moving is a family decision

Business @ AsiaOne
Moving is a family decision
Grace Ng on moving around the world her family while working overseas.
Grace Ng; Wed, Sep 10, 2008; The Straits Times; By Grace Ng
While many of the Singaporeans posted overseas are male, a growing number of female executives are jetting off too.
Ms Foo Mee Har, 42, who is currently the global head of priority clients at Standard Chartered Bank, is one prime example.

[YouTube]: Workers' Party Expels Yaw Shin Leong

[source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHal1akRbqo]

Excluding housing cost distorts capturing actual inflation rate

The Straits Times, Published on Feb 15, 2012
Excluding housing cost distorts capturing actual inflation rate
I COULD not agree more with Mr Adam Le Mesurier that as a country, we should include the cost of housing in arriving at our cost of inflation ('CPI, inflation and the elephant in the room'; Monday).
Singapore appears to be the rare country that excludes housing in the 'basket of goods' used to determine inflationary cost.

CPI, inflation and the elephant in the room

The Straits Times, Published on Feb 13, 2012
HOUSING COSTS
CPI, inflation and the elephant in the room
THE Ministry of Trade and Industry's reply ('Consumer price index: MTI rebuts ST commentary'; last Thursday) to Mr Aaron Low's commentary ('The dollars and sense of inflation'; Feb 1) prompts an important broader debate about how to measure 'real' inflation in Singapore.

Consumer price index: MTI rebuts ST commentary

The Straits Times, Published on Feb 9, 2012
Consumer price index: MTI rebuts ST commentary
MR AARON Low ('The dollars and sense of inflation'; Feb 1) implied that the recent consumer price index (CPI) report, with its new indicator, did not provide a full picture of the impact of price increases on the low-income group. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) would like to clarify four points.
First, he had assumed that housing rents paid by the low-income group for subsidised housing were excluded from the recently released indicator - 'CPI less imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation'. On the contrary, housing rents are in fact captured in the new indicator under the component 'rented accommodation'.

The dollars and sense of inflation

The dollars and sense of inflation
Source: The Straits Times© Singapore Press Holdings Limited.
Author: Aaron Low; 01Feb2012
IF THE latest report card on inflation in Singapore could be summed up in one word, it would simply be this: confusing.

Patient reminded to use call bell if he needed help

The Straits Times; Published on Feb 8, 2012
Patient reminded to use call bell if he needed help
WE EMPATHISE with the condition of Ms Ivy Teo's father and the stress it creates for the family.
Her father has a history of multiple strokes. He was admitted to a ward with a designated 'high fall-risk' cubicle following an acute stroke.
There, our nurses keep vigil and provide frequent assistance to patients when they wish to move around, and render aid promptly whenever alarm devices such as the call bell are activated.
During his stay, Mr Teo had consistently demonstrated the ability to call for nurses' assistance via the call bell at his bedside.

Patient falls after wife's request goes unheeded

[pict source]

The Straits Times; Published on Feb 8, 2012
Patient falls after wife's request goes unheeded
MY 74-YEAR-OLD father was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital after suffering an acute stroke last October. While he needed help to walk to the toilet, he could sit and eat by himself. However, he was placed in a 'high fall-risk' cubicle.

Cheaper, Better, Faster - MrBrown Show Production

[link]

Cheaper, Better, Faster - MrBrown Show Production
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYJX-v4FdCs

Greece, creditors struggle to avoid costly default

Greece, creditors struggle to avoid costly default
01:45 PM Jan 18, 2012
ATHENS - Greece goes head to head with its creditors today in a renewed attempt to break a deadlock in negotiations to slash the country's debt and stave off default.
International private sector creditors represented by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) are set to meet the government in the afternoon. Talks broke down on Friday over the interest rate Greece will offer on new bonds and a plan to enforce investor losses.

Bus hubs currently the priority and good progress made: Josephine Teo

Bus hubs currently the priority and good progress made: Josephine Teo
04:45 AM Jan 18, 2012
by Sumita Sreedharan
SINGAPORE - Bus speeds have decreased slightly because of an increase in ridership, Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo revealed in Parliament yesterday.

Subject: HYPERINFLATION IN ZIMBABWE..

Subject: HYPERINFLATION IN ZIMBABWE.. [pls click for source URL]
In this world, everybody is rushing and chasing for the money.... Some people fighting and killing each others just because of money... In Zimbabwe , all the peoples having a lot of money but they're poor.... WHY ??

500 million note, just printed in May 2008.....everybody can have it....maybe just nice for 1 breakfast/lunch (equal to about USD 2)

[TDY]: KY Gan: Ministerial Salaries NOT a matter of conscience.

KY Gan: Ministerial Salaries NOT a matter of conscience.
==========
 Whip to be in place for ministerial salaries debate
04:47 AM Jan 12, 2012
by Neo Chai Chin
SINGAPORE - The whip will be in place when Parliament debates a new formula for ministerial salaries on Monday, said Government Whip Gan Kim Yong in response to a query from Today.
"There is no intention to lift the whip. We would only do so if the subject is a matter of conscience," he wrote in an emailed reply yesterday.

Multi-property owner speaks up

The Straits Times, Published on Jan 5, 2012
Multi-property owner speaks up
I AM put off by the latest round of cooling measures ('Property curbs could hurt economy: Redas'; Dec 28).
I am a Singaporean and own three private properties. I studied hard. I work hard. I employ Singaporeans and contribute to the economy. I pay annual taxes that amount to what some earn in a year.

Property curbs could hurt economy: Redas

The Straits Times, Published on Dec 28, 2011
Property curbs could hurt economy: Redas
Volumes, prices will be hit, but economists say dose of medicine needed
By Esther Teo, PROPERTY REPORTER & Cheryl Lim

Greece: Clinch bailout or face euro exit

Greece: Clinch bailout or face euro exit
12:18 AM Jan 04, 2012
ATHENS - Greece will have to leave the euro zone if it fails to clinch a deal on a second, €130 billion (S$217.8 billion) bailout with its international lenders, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.
It was an unusually public stark warning from the embattled country, aimed at shoring up domestic support for tough measures and possibly also at the lenders themselves.

Pariahs and prophets

Pariahs and prophets
Republican Ron Paul has emerged as a teller of important truths - and US needs a fearless crank to do so
04:46 AM Jan 03, 2012
by Ross Douthat
In 1984, after serving three terms in the House of Representatives, Ron Paul (picture) was defeated by Phil Gramm in the Texas Republican Senate primary. Paul left Congress, and a few years later he left the Republican Party entirely to run for President on the Libertarian line. In the 1988 election, after a campaign that Texas Monthly compared to something "out of Robert Altman's movie Nashville", he took home just 0.47 per cent of the popular vote.