With the growing inflation, increases in costs of living resulting in decrease in costs of living almost back to our kampong days where we have to think twice before buying something and have to resort to “house brands” or “local cheapskate brands” instead of more quality products, someone decided its time to run an article to at least make the majority of Singaporeans feel richer.June 26, 2008
S’pore now has 77,000 millionaires
Figure represents a rise of 15 per cent; each individual has over US$1m in net assets
By Nicholas FangSINGAPORE’S millionaires club last year swelled by about 10,000 people, or 15.3 per cent, to 77,000, or 1.7 per cent of the population here.
The Republic lags far behind more populous countries, such as the United States, which has over three million millionaires, but Singapore still boasts one of the world’s top 10 fastest-growing millionaires clubs.
The latest surge in the number of millionaires here - defined as those with more than US$1 million (S$1.3 million) in net assets - puts Singapore joint seventh globally in terms of growth in numbers of such wealthy individuals, said a new report.
Assets counted exclude a person’s main residence.
The annual World Wealth Report, released by Merrill Lynch and research firm Capgemini, found last year’s growth was lower than the 21.2 per cent boom in 2006.
However, Singapore’s growth was still higher than the global growth of 6 per cent to 10.1 million last year, the report said. The total wealth of these well-heeled Singapore residents grew by 17 per cent to US$379 billion.
BOOMING MILLIONAIRES CLUB
‘The average wealth of a Singapore high net-worth individual was US$4.9 million at the end of last year,’ said Mr Kong Eng Huat, South Asia market managing director with Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management.Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Mr Kong said: ‘This is a strong performance compared to the global average of US$4.04 million per individual last year, the first time the average has exceeded US$4 million.’
The Asia-Pacific region as a whole also beat the global performance, turning in millionaire population growth of 8.7 per cent to 2.8 million and a 12.5 per cent rise in combined wealth of the region’s wealthy to US$9.5 trillion.
Asian countries also dominated the list of markets with the fastest- growing millionaire populations. India topped the list, with China in second spot and South Korea and Indonesia in fourth and fifth.
In absolute numbers, the US is top of the league with an estimated 3.03 million millionaires. But growth was a mere 3.7 per cent over 2006.
Mr Kong said: ‘In the Asia-Pacific region, wealth is being created at an unprecedented rate. We are in the midst of a multi-year growth trajectory in terms of the number of high net-worth individuals in this part of the world, and also their combined wealth.’
Mr Raj Sriram, head of private banking at RBS Coutts Singapore, said it had seen continued growth among its clients’ funds. ‘At the macro level, wealth creation in Asia shows no signs of slowing.’
He added that the growing number of wealthy individuals in Asia, and Singapore in particular, was one of the reasons why the private bank had moved its international headquarters from Switzerland to Singapore two years ago. ‘Last year, we grew our business by more than 50 per cent and, going forward, we expect a healthy growth in the medium term.’
Dr Jannie Tay, executive vice-chairman of The Hour Glass watch chain, said her clientele largely comprised wealthy individuals. The chain’s business has grown in tandem with the growth in number of such individuals. Dr Tay said annual growth had been 15 to 20 per cent in the last five years.
nicholas@sph.com.sg
I mean, if S’pore’s amount of millionaires “swelled”, it also implies that we are all richer right?
Time to rely abit on foreign medias that has no such agendas..
Reuters
SINGAPOREBy Amy Tan
AH LOH almost makes ends meet by carrying coffins and hauling fish.
On a good month, the Singaporean widower takes home S$400 to his four young children — a pittance in a country where the average household income is nearly S$5000.
“Lately, there’s been less work,” said 35-year-old Ah Loh, known only by his nickname. “Before it was $500-$700. Now, the economy’s bad.”
His plight is a far cry from the images of glittering shopping malls, scrumptious restaurants and scrupulously clean streets that most visitors see of wealthy Singapore.
He has a rented roof over his head. His elderly mother cares for the children in her own cramped, squalid apartment. Public donations pay for the children’s education.
Like others in similar straits, there are no unemployment cheques for Ah Loh in the city state of four million where the jobless rate has hit its highest in 15 years. Ah Loh has to survive on his own.
“If there were people helping, it would be better. Without help, the pressures are high,” Ah Loh said in Hokkien, the most common Chinese dialect spoken in Singapore.
Singapore’s government has long rejected the notion of a welfare state, preferring short-term incentives to those in need to avoid building a reliance on government handouts.
Families shoulder part of the responsibility and more than 260 private welfare organisations take up the slack, some with the aid of public money.
But Singapore’s do-it-yourself mentality is facing its toughest test to date as the economy experiences its worst recession in 40 years, raising questions about the extent to which the government should go to help those in need.
A rapidly ageing population raises longer-term issues about pressures building on the welfare state.
“The Asian economic boom helped to postpone the need to have government giving more direct welfare paycheques,” said Associate Professor Ngiam Tee Liang, head of the National University of Singapore’s social work and psychology department.
“This is a new phase we’re entering. How can the government provide for the safety net of people when the economic pillar is not strong and the family and community pillar is also getting weakened?”
LENDING A HAND, NOT A CHEQUE
Aware of a rising call for help as thousands lose their jobs, the state decentralised and delegated social service functions last April to several Community Development Councils to try to identify those in need sooner.
It introduced short-term cash schemes, in the hundreds of dollars, but emphasised that Singaporeans would have to stand on their own feet.
“It’s lending a hand to help Singaporeans in need…not to weaken their spirit to help themselves,” Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said.
For 72-year-old Poh Ah Poh and her sister Ah Keok, S$3 worth of vegetables will feed them for two days.
The fresh greens are a luxury for the unmarried and illiterate sisters who have a monthly income of S$300 from Ah Poh’s part-time work as a cleaner.
They began working menial jobs from a young age and live in a tiny rented studio.
“We live day by day,” Ah Keok, 70, said in Hokkien.
The elderly pair did not come to the attention of a charity group or get temporary government aid until late last year.
They had exhausted their life savings five years ago when Ah Keok needed major surgery.
Singaporeans have to put away 36 percent of their salary in the Central Provident Fund (CPF), a mandatory savings scheme to finance medical bills and retirement.
State supports comes into play once a person’s CPF has been exhausted. But handouts do not come easily.
“We are careful, however, to keep the eligibility for government assistance stringent so as not to encourage an entitlement mentality,” the Ministry of Community Development said in a written reply to a Reuters question.
The government gave 2400 people just S$5.8 million in 2000 under a lone scheme which provides long-term assistance.
The long-ruling People’s Action Party’s anti-handout stance is also clear from government spending patterns.
Singapore spent almost S$10 billion, or 36 percent of its fiscal 2002 expenditure, on defence and internal security. Community development and sports, which covers welfare support, was just 2.3 percent of overall public expenditure at $648 million.
DO YOUR PART
The government prods its citizens to volunteer as community helpers to lighten society’s load.
But with most of the fast-paced population chasing ambitions to own cars, condominiums, good careers and other trappings of a good life, the volunteer rate is just 9.3 percent.
The emphasis of any handout is to get Singaporeans back into the workforce as quickly as possible.
“We try and get the family member who is able to work to find a job…to become financially independent after the period of assistance,” said Lian Tiong Thye, social services manager of the Central Singapore community council.
But short-term assistance may not do the trick for the bulk of Singapore’s needy, who are elderly, handicapped or families whose breadwinners are unable to work.
“The assistance is all mainly short-term. There is nothing to guarantee that they could go onto stable conditions,” social worker Patricia Kong said. “They need to have some additional family planning, budgeting skills. Most are very lowly educated.”
The community councils, tasked as one-stop solution centres, also have plenty to do apart from helping those who have fallen on hard times.
Emphasis has been placed on programmes to promote racial harmony after the arrest of 13 suspected Muslim militants with alleged links to the al Qaeda network. The centres also assist with job placements.
“They have to take care of the whole community under them…and they have to perform these direct welfare services. They are very torn in terms of manpower,” said one senior social worker who did not want to be named.
Some, struggling to make ends meet, have resigned themselves to their lot.
“I don’t hope for very much,” Ah Loh said. “I just want the kids to be able to take care of themselves.”
Or an alternatively view by the opposition…
(The following extract and photos are taken from SDP website)
The Tuth About Poverty
THERE IS THIS MYTH THAT Singapore is a rich country and its citizens are well-taken care of. Nothing could be further from the truth. The 1998 United Nations Human Development Index showed that Singapore ranked 28 on the list behind countries like Barbados and Malta.
In fact many households earn so little that they cannot afford to give their children pocket-money for school, resulting in the students going hungry for the day. The following is a snapshot of some of the more recent cases uncovered:
In 1999, nearly 2,000 children did not attend school because their parents could not afford it. Mohammad Hirwan is one such child. His parents earn about US $600 a month, hardly sufficient for a family in Singapore. As a result the boy\’s parents had to take him out of school when he was nine. His siblings did not fare any better. All of them dropped out of school because of poverty.
*A technician lost his job and had no income for about half a year had to watch his two young children live on biscuits for days. A social worker said that the man had no money even to take the bus to find a job. The family was literally penniless.
*A man with a wife who suffered from manic depression, asthma and diabetes had to stay home to look after her. Whenever he found some contract work, his children took turns to skip school to watch over her. The family had to survive on US$200 a month they received from welfare organizations.
*A young divorcee cannot find enough money to but schoolbooks and food for her children. Most days, by 10pm, her sons ask if there is any more food. They cannot afford to eat and live mainly on fried rice.
The elderly poor in Singapore lead just as tragic lives. Many have to, literally, work until they die:
*
An elderly woman in her seventies was fatally run over by a hit-and-run driver as she was returning home at 6:40 am, working as a night-shift toilet cleaner. Not only did the elderly lady have to toil in the night shift, her pay was so meagre that she could not even afford to eat lunch. To top it off she had to save to help take care of her 50-year old mentally retarded daughter.
*Another septuagenarian woman worked as cleaner for a measly US$200 a month which she had to share with her 70-year-old sister. The sisters are so hard-up that even vegetables during meal-times are a luxury.
*A 77-year-old toilet cleaner was on his way home around midnight after work. He couldn’t afford the fare for a bus ride and had to walk home. He was hit and killed by a car.
*A 96-year-old woman has to go to the garbage dump to pick out odds and ends to sell to support herself.
*A 76-year-old man ran a little business selling household provisions. His paltry income had to support middle-aged daughters who are wheelchair bound and suffering from polio since birth, and a wife who is senile and incapable of looking after herself. His problems took a dramatic turn for the worse when the Government upped the rental of his shop from US$150 to US$450 a month.
Below are some statistical indicators of the poor in Singapore:
*
In 1999 monthly wages for low-skilled workers decreased by as much as 34 percent.
*Nearly 30 percent of households were not earning enough to afford the minimum standard of living. The Government estimates that the subsistence level in Singapore is US$600 for a household of four people—a conservative figure for a country that is consistently ranked among the most expensive cities in the world to live in.
*Between 1998 and 1999, the average household monthly income of the poorest 10 percent of the population decreased by nearly 50 percent. The following year, the figure nose-dived by another 54 percent.
*In 1990, the richest 10 percent of households earned 15.6 times more than the poorest 10 percent. (Households with no income-earners are excluded from this category.) By 2000, the gap widened: the richest 10 percent earned 36 times more than the poorest 10 percent.
*The number of households with monthly incomes of less than $3,000 was 40 percent in 1998 but increased to 42 percent in 1999.
*According to the 2000 Census, 12.6 per cent of households earned less than $1,000 per month. A monthly gross total household income of $1,500 and below is considered “poor” in Singapore.
*A more recent survey found that 16 per cent of the respondents had family members who often went hungry.
*In 2004 37,823 households could not afford to buy their own flats or rent homes in the open market.
Because of the system, an increasing number of Singaporeans are driven to seek the help of mental professionals:
In 1990 there were 88,000 such cases. This figure escalated to 147,000 in 1998.
*In 1990 only 8.4 percent of Singaporeans suffered from neurotic disorders such as anxiety and depression. In 1998 16.6 percent succumbed to these disorders. (This problem continues into the present with a newspaper report highlighting that more people are being diagnosed with mental disorders due to financial woes.)
*In 1997, psychiatrists noted a sharp increase in the number of teenagers attempting suicide and attributed the phenomenon to the youths being alienated from their parents. The main reason cited is the stressful lifestyle and high cost of living.
*In 1999, a consumer health survey found that among the various Asian societies, Singaporeans are most likely to have suffered depression, stress, and fatigue. In addition, job-related stresses continue to be the biggest problems for working Singaporeans.
*In 2003, a study found that Singaporeans aged between 20 and 49 years made up 70 percent of suicide cases from 1997 to 2001. They also constitute the main bulk of cases of attempted suicides.
*Between 1994 and 1998 the number of divorces shot up from 3,772 to 5,651 cases.
*Social workers attribute this occurrence to intense stress experienced by workers who have households, children and aging parents to take care. National figures compiled by the Registry of Births and Deaths show that on average, 1 person takes his/her own life in Singapore every day.
Visitors often remark about the tidiness and orderliness of Singapore. It is because of such an impression that makes the cases of poverty described in the earlier paragraphs so hard to believe.
The reason why the poor in Singapore are not more visible is that the Ministry of Community Development and Sports conduct frequent raids through its Destitute Persons Service, looking for and picking up vagrants. If Singapore seems to have less destitute, it is not because the numbers are not present. The real reason is that the PAP Government is just much more efficient in clearing the streets of homeless people.
For all the hype claiming that Singapore is a near-paradise, 20 percent of its citizens indicated that they want to leave the country, predominantly because of the stressful lifestyle and high cost of living. These would-be émigrés are mainly from the strata of younger, higher-income professionals.
With the costs of living rising, or at least not decreasing, and wages continuing to be depressed, Singaporeans are going to facing increasingly dire economic times. Without any rights, their problems will persist.
Note that I am not an SDP supporter, as IMO they can describe problems but cannot solve them. However, they are still useful in providing alternative, if not more accurate overview of what is really happening in Singapore.
The thing about kids is that they often want to imitate what adults do. So when a lucky kid get child’s tricycle as a present, he happily chain it up like what adults do…
But hey, the bicycle lot at my void deck is no stranger to funny things being chained there. Remember this photo?
Bashing my Tamiya DT02 SandViper at under KJE Site
Published by June 23rd, 2008 in Random. 0 Comments Popularity: 2%Bashing bashing bashing with my offroad buggy. I love it:) Now I’m looking for a cheap bike so that I can play my buggy everywhere without worrying about transport.
Yay… lol!
My blog appeared here: http://blog.omy.sg/sgblogawards/archives/58
My blog is “better known”… lol..
Where in the world can you find a country where people use out of production coins for donations, drive cars on walkways and has an organisation that reviews its own processes (and of course with a positive result)? Singapore!
StraitsTimes.com 160608
The one-cent puzzle
There are 600 million one-cent coins, amounting to $6 million, left in circulation, says the Singapore Mint. Jason Hau and Stephanie Song find out what’s happened to these little bronze coins
MOST shopkeepers reject them and the Singapore Mint no longer produces them, but Singaporeans, it seems, are still holding on to their one-cent coins.The floral-series penny, which went into circulation in September 1987, was retired in April 2002 when it became clear that inflation had made it redundant.
Of the estimated seven billion of these coins minted in those 15 years, 600 million are still out there.
The Straits Times spoke to 50 people and found that 34 of them still had such coins lying about in their homes.
One of them, Madam Kay Thwetun, 36, saves them for her daughter.
The senior clinical project coordinator said: ‘My daughter likes to keep the coins in her bag whenever we go out. I have taught her to be charitable, so she will put some in charity boxes whenever we come across any.’SET ASIDE AS SPARE CHANGE
‘They just sit in a box. We keep some money at home to pay the newspaper man or for when we order food. The change, which sometimes includes one-cent coins, goes in the box.’
Others keep them as collector’s items, storing them in jars, piggy banks and even plastic bags.Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Foo Xiuqi, 21, said: ‘I collect currency, especially those that are rare and no longer in production. Who knows? They might become treasure in the future. I can then show them off to my future grandchildren.’
And then there are those who still hang on to these coins because they have not figured out what to do with them.
Postwoman Liew Peck Choo, 45, said she has around 50 of these coins ’somewhere in a corner’ of her home.
‘I don’t know what I can do with the coins. I can’t use them for shopping, because the shops don’t even accept them these days,’ she said.
A check with 30 retail shops downtown and in the suburbs found that only nine still accept them.
Shopkeepers are required by the Currency Act to accept them, but many do not do so because of the hassle of having to count them.
The Singapore Mint’s Teban Gardens Crescent office offers a coin-deposit service which puts the dollar amount into one’s bank account.
The service is free for the first 1,000 coins, but costs $3.70 for subsequent batches of 1,000.
The Singapore Mint also places coin-deposit machines at various community centres and town councils for several weeks at a time.
Local banks POSB and DBS also have coin-deposit machines at 27 of their outlets. They charge an even higher administration fee than the Singapore Mint - 0.75 cents per coin, although the fee is waived for children’s accounts.
The fees charged for depositing coins have turned some customers off; they say they would rather keep the coins than pay for the service.
‘Technically, we are paying them money for them to accept our money,’ quipped Madam Liew.
Undergraduate Asha Neelakandan, 22, agreed, saying that since cash-deposit machines do not charge a fee, she did not see why coin-deposit ones have to.
The Singapore Mint’s programme manager Priscilla Soh said the fee was to cover the labour costs of sorting out the coins and rolling them up in paper to be sent to the banks.
Charities are, however, exempted from the fee.
The Community Chest said 95 per cent of the $22,000 it collects in an average month are coins, with only around 2,600 one-cent coins among them.
National Council of Social Service chief executive Ang Bee Lian, referring to the $52 million the Community Chest aims to raise this year, said: ‘I hope Singaporeans will continue to give whatever they can to help the less fortunate in our society - even their one-cent and five-cent coins, as every cent counts towards that $52 million.’
Lol.. Look at the part in bold! Teaching a child to be charitable by keeping out of production and practically worthless one cent coins and use them for donations! That is a damn smart move eh, who knows one day the value of the out of production coins will raise expodentially, and charity organisations, with its vast vault of one cent coins, become superbly rich overnight.
StraitsTimes.com 160608
Should police cars be allowed on footpaths?
By Esther Tan
CROSSING PATHS: Police vehicles patrol footpaths for crime prevention purposes and to respond to emergencies faster. But some park users expressed concern about the safety of pedestrians and children at play. — ST PHOTO: ESTHER TAN
PARK-GOERS are territorial when it comes to footpaths. To them, it is their turf and in-line skaters and cyclists should keep off them.But what about police cars?
Such vehicles have been patrolling along the East Coast Park footpaths and members of the public are questioning the need for it.
Private school tutor Y. Chong, who was having a picnic with his family when he saw a police car travelling along the footpath, said: ‘I was surprised…Cars shouldn’t be allowed there.’
The National Parks Board (NParks) said it allows police vehicles to patrol along the footpaths of certain parks for ‘public security’ purposes.
The police said its patrol cars travel along footpaths for crime prevention purposes as well as to respond to calls for police assistance.
However, there are guidelines by which police cars must abide in such cases.
Both the police and NParks said police vehicles on the footpath are required to switch on the blinker lights on top.
An NParks spokesman said they should keep to a speed limit of 15kmh - the same limit in many carparks or private residential areas.
Former police officers said they should travel at a ‘crawl’ if it was a normal patrol, but could speed up in an emergency.
Members of the public, though, were not convinced that police cars need to travel on footpaths to perform their duties.
Bank officer Jan Chiok, 26, who visits the park once a month for in-line skating, said: ‘It’s better not for any vehicles to be on the path as it’s meant for people only.’
Bank analyst Bryan Goh, 28, who frequents the park twice a month, pointed out that pedestrians on the footpath may be listening to music on their earphones and may not even be aware of an approaching vehicle.
A mother of three, Madam Tracy Lee, 46, said: ‘Children tend to be engaged in play at the park and they won’t notice things around them like a bicycle or a car.’
Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Law and Home Affairs Teo Ho Pin feels it is not advisable for vehicles to travel along footpaths, adding that such paths are not designed to take the weight of vehicles.
Most of the time, the police can gain access to the various parts of the park via the nearest carpark or secondary roads, said Dr Teo.
National Safety Council president Tan Jin Thong suggested that a motorcycle could be used for police patrols instead of a car.
Soon after terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari broke out of detention in February, police officers were seen patrolling several parks on bicycles.
Mr Tan said: ‘Motorcycles are smaller, easier to manoeuvre and can respond faster to emergencies or crime than a car.’
A case of lazy police. And look at how Tampines have to have a trial period for bicycles and pedestrians to share the same path. In contrast, police car can just drive all over the place all they want.
And finally, an organisation that reviews its own process..
StraitsTimes.com 160608
SAF review clears its safety procedures
They are being followed, but ideas from public will be evaluated
By Teh Joo LinDEFENCE Minister Teo Chee Hean said yesterday that procedures in physical and endurance training in the military were in place and being followed.
These procedures, which cover aspects such as safety, medical and training protocols, were the subject of a review that took place during a three-day halt to physically-demanding activities throughout the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
Mr Teo said: ‘The Singapore Armed Forces is satisfied the procedures are in place and are being followed.’
The Defence Ministry said in a statement, however, that the SAF would also assess the suggestions received from the public as part of its regular checks on the safety of its activities.
The unprecedented ‘time-out’ on physical and endurance training, called following the deaths of two servicemen during training last week, froze all obstacle courses, route marches or fitness tests for the entire force of 300,000 active personnel and national servicemen.
These activities resumed on Saturday at 7pm.
Military send-off for pilot
Second-Lieutenant Clifton Lam Jia Hao, 20, who died during jungle training in Brunei last Wednesday, receiving a full military send-off.He was cremated yesterday at the Mandai Crematorium. Promoted and given his wings posthumously, he had dreamed of being a pilot since he was 13.
Read: Tearful farewell to friend, mate and kin
Speaking on the sidelines of an education bursary presentation in Pasir Ris, Mr Teo said the ‘time-out’ had been ‘very useful’.Aside from giving time for the review, the cessation of activities raised awareness through the ranks of issues involved in physical and endurance activities and the precautions that were needed, he said.
These precautions include pre-exercise safety briefings, having medical personnel on standby and ‘water parades’, which are sessions in which servicemen chug down water to forestall dehydration.
The safety of servicemen has come under focus following the deaths of pilot trainee Officer Cadet Clifton Lam during a navigation exercise in Brunei’s jungles, and Recruit Andrew Cheah, who was on a 2km training walk on Pulau Tekong.
Calls have been made in the wake of the deaths for the SAF to conduct more rigorous medical screenings.
On this matter, Mr Teo said the protocols for medical screenings were developed in consultation with a panel of the best specialists here.
At the most recent review last September, the panel, which included senior cardiologists, evaluated the military’s cardiac screening process and found it stringent and in line with good clinical practice.
Mr Teo said: ‘We go by what they recommend to us as the best and most appropriate protocols for screening and we review them regularly.’
He said that preliminary inquiries into the two deaths have shown that procedures were in place and complied with, and that medical procedures and evacuation were prompt.
Coroner’s inquiries on the two deaths will be held in open court; two high-level inquiry panels have also been set up.
Asked whether today’s incoming servicemen were less fit than their predecessors, Mr Teo said: ‘My own sense, not based on any statistical evidence, is that our soldiers are fitter, but maybe less rugged.’
He urged pre-enlistees to ‘get themselves as fit as possible’ ahead of national service.
Asked about parents who send their children for medical screenings before enlistment, he said that it ‘certainly is a precaution they can take’, not just for national service, but also if their children play sports or if they thought them to be unwell.
He added: ‘Regardless of whether parents do that, when they are enlisted into the SAF, we’ll do a thorough medical screening using protocols recommended by the best specialists in Singapore.’
Please la, if you are really interested in doing a proper review, bring in external specialists that has no connection to yourself, and then ask them to do a proper review. Imagine I own a restaurant. People eat my food and fall sick come and complain. So I stop business 3 days and do my own review. Then after 3 days tell everyone, “After our intensive review by our own best specialist, our food is concluded to be safe to it.”
So there you have it. Singapore is a truly unique and fun place to be in.
iPhone is Next-Gen? You got to be kidding me!
Published by June 11th, 2008 in Random and Geeky Stuff. 4 Comments Popularity: 4%SingTel to sell faster next-gen iPhone this year
Consumers can expect to pay about $270, much less than the first version sold elsewhere
By Chua Hian HouTHE new version of the iPhone unveiled by Apple boss Steve Jobs on Monday will be on sale here this year and probably at around half the price of the original.
This will please Singapore buyers who have not been able to buy the original iPhone from an official dealer here since its launch a year ago.
As fancy mobile phones go, the Apple device proved an instant hit despite its US$600 (S$820) price tag last year because of its sleek design, revolutionary touch screen and nifty Internet and e-mail access.
Aside from being considerably cheaper, the new 3G model will enable users to download data twice as fast as the original.
SingTel announced yesterday that it will be the first to launch the new version here.
But when? The telco would only say: ‘Later this year.’
StarHub spokesman Michael Sim said the telco expects to sell the phone eventually while MobileOne is in talks with Apple.
This means Singapore buyers are nowhere near the front of the queue as the new phone will be available in 22 markets, including the United States, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico, from July 11.
Analyst Nathan Burley of consulting firm Ovum expects it here not long after, and said the delay is probably because of Singapore’s small size.
SingTel did not say anything about the price, but Mr Burley believes it will go for near its US price of US$199 - $270 - after operator discounts.
Mobile phones are usually sold at a discount, but subscribers must sign two-year contracts to get the subsidy.
The original iPhone never had an official seller here, but an estimated 60,000 iPhones still arrived. Some people imported them, others bought them on the grey market for up to S$800 apiece.
They were not brought in by mobile operators reportedly because Apple demanded a cut of revenues in exchange for the right to sell.
But it has scrapped this demand for the new version, opening the way for more than one seller here.
The new phone’s price, half that of the original, reflects Apple’s desire to increase its mass market appeal, said Mr Burley.
It may be harder to sell, not least because there are many more similar-looking devices with similar features today than when the original iPhone burst on the scene last year.
‘Since the new one doesn’t look very different, those who want it to make a fashion statement might not be interested in upgrading,’ said Mr Burley.
Even the iPhone 3G’s sharply discounted price could work against it, especially as a large part of its appeal was that it was an expensive, hard-to-get premium product.
A wait-and-see approach might be best. As StarHub’s Mr Sim put it: ‘Smart consumers will know that the best deals will arrive when all three operators are marketing the iPhone.’
Iphone is next gen? It has been around and remain pretty much unchanged for very long! And 3G? I ask you, how many of you are using non-3G phone? Even my M600i that is no longer in production (a very very very old phone) is 3G enabled. Apple is slow in putting out a 3G Iphone. The newspaper should have the headline, “Apple releases 3G Iphone… finally!”
Almost every iPod Touch and iPhone out in the street is Jailedbreaked. Jailbreak is a nicer name for “hacked” or modified, which allows the user to install tonnes of 3rd party applications and games on the phone, making it more useful and not just a pretty face. Jailbreaking is considered illegal. Why do you have to break the law in order to enjoy such an expensive product. iPhone has legal applications that can be installed on them, but most cost money.
Ok ok, it is no longer expensive, with its astonishing price drop that would make early buyers cringe. Why the sudden price drop and the strong push?
Because a truly Next Generation phone is on the way, that strongly rivals iPhone (or should I say pwn the iPhone), and most Singaporeans don’t even know about its existence. Technically speaking, it is not a phone. It is a phone operating system that can be installed on the phone. It can be used by any phone manufacturers, meaning, Sony, Nokia, Samsung can all produce phones with the same operating system to drive up competition and drive prices down. This operating system is also by the very company whose website every internet savvy Singaporeans visit on a daily basis. This company also cooperated with Apple to enable the best features of iPhone: Youtube, Maps, Search etc.
Welcome Google. Welcome to Goole Android. It is an open source 3G enabled operating system that can be installed on phones of any brands with the relevant hardware. It has more features than iPhone, similar gesture powered interface that we all love, and because it is open source, anyone can modify it to their liking, and people need not break the law in order to install 3rd party (free!!!). Because it is based on Linux, you will have no worries that the open source community will churn out tonnes of exciting software for it. Words alone cannot describe everything. It’s time for a little demo.
Singapore, being a government proclaimed “IT hub” has a mainstream media that fails terribly to bring to Singaporeans the latest breakthrough and innovations in IT.
3G iPhone as next-gen? Pui!!
For more information regarding the Android OS, an Open Handset Alliance Project, click here .
A case of an overprotective girlfriend living in her dream world
Published by June 8th, 2008 in Random, Singapore, Interesting Read and National Service. 2 Comments Popularity: 4%Saw this on tomorrow.sg, thought would like to share it:
We were chatting on the phone last night when I asked him about trainings in camps. I asked if there’s any events like, normal people like us can enter the camps and view the trainings. He said yes. But all the trainings we see are all fake. Means the men inside rehearse for that day luh.
Fuck you Mindef.
I asked why are all the camps located in ulu places like Lim Chu Kang or deserted areas in Yishun? Answer is, because the government doesn’t want us to observe the trainings cause’ they are HELL. Not as simple as we all watch from TV or movies.
Fuck you Mindef twice.
Imagine all the boys enter NS and are ordered around, getting scolded even though they are at their best, eat shit food even though there’s a canteen and there are chefs who cook for them, wearing long sleeves and thick uniforms in the jungle with stupid green crayon makeups all smeared on their poor faces.
Imagine they are going to get hungry when they are on a mission in the jungle and what is left for them are worms on the ground for them to ease their hunger. Imagine they are going to get heatstroke from those thick clothes they are wearing. Imagine them being mistaken for being in pain due to carrying those heavy stuffs which are made of bullets and bombs.
Imagine my baby doing all these!! I’m so heartpain can? These are torture. And not making boys turn into men.
Fuck you Mindef thrice.
The higher ranks will be looking down on the younger ones and scream at them while spitting their smelly saliva on them. Yuck! I don’t want my baby to suffer this kinda bullshit again.
But he can’t be exempted. Why? CAUSE’ BLOODY HELL HE’S LIVING IN A ARMIED COUNTRY CALLED SINGAPORE, AND THEY CLAIMED THEIR SAFETY IS NO. 1.
About the safety part, I can’t deny cause’ if there’s no security, Fucker Mas Selamat might be putting bombs around the place and maybe my house. But only when he reads this.
Anyway, it’s true what! He’s a damn ol’ fucker. If I were him, and I were to run away from the detention centre, I would have kill myself and not to die in other people’s hands.
Baby’s stupid call back is about this damn fucker. If it’s not about this fucker, then it will be other missions for him like sending him to IRAQ. I heard from him lar. He might be crapping around with me. But some things are better to believe 55% of them. I’m scared. Really scared.
Boo boo boo boo Mindef.
Why ask those boys who ORDed? Why not recruit those who are going in, or still in there? Why wanna harm those who are already done with this NS shit?
What if baby gets hungry in the middle of the night? He always gets hungry. What if he gets cold in the jungle? He’s afraid of cold. What if baby wanna poo poo? There’s no toilet bowl with nice toilet papers for him. What if baby couldn’t get enough sleep? He will be snapping people’s heads off. What if baby can’t wake up in the morning?
Oh yes he’s gonna get screwed for be unable to wake up.
OH YES! I doubt there will be any beds for him to sleep on either!!
Fuck you 4 times Mindef.
I thought you’re so rich? Get beds for our NS men lar! Why waste so much money on bombs, fighting war trucks and stupid army lorries? Health is the most important for a healthy and fit man! I thought you want healthy and fit men? Then get good beds for their poor backbones and let them sleep well, eat well and shit well.
Allow them to masturbate in the toilets. Why does maturbation become a crime? I ask, the head of Mindef, don’t you masturbate too?
Fuck you Mindef 5 times.
What strikes me most is masturbation. This girlfriend actually felt unjust for his boyfriend and fuck Mindef for not letting his boyfriend masturbate in camp???
The coolness…
… and the damages…
On Education
Published by June 4th, 2008 in Random, Singapore, ST Forum and Education. 0 Comments Popularity: 5%Local teachers seemed to be growing lazy
From Straitstimes.com, 4th June 2008
Schools should not rely on it and ministry should act
WHEN I attended a teacher-parent meeting because I was told that my Secondary 4 son had fared poorly in his school examinations, I was shocked. I expected to see a handful of parents and their children. Instead, it seemed as if the school had summoned all the parents.When I questioned several teachers why so many of his classmates had also fared poorly, the standard responses were along the lines that my son’s class was ‘a very challenging class to teach’.
My son needed more help, I was told. Their suggestion was that ‘he sign up for tuition lessons and attend all the remedial classes we have planned for the holidays’.
What is wrong with our education system today, where we are so reliant and dependant on private tuition and enrichment classes? This is great news for tuition centres and the enrichment centres like Mindchamps, Adam Khoo, SuperCamp for kids, Lorna Whiston, Julia Gabriel, Shichida and the lot, who charge very high fees and make big bucks due to the very real fear and desperation of parents who want their children to do well.
But what if you are not in the ‘privileged group’ who can afford the thousands of dollars needed for tuition? What if you are a heartlander struggling to make ends meet?
Will your child be able to keep up with children from more privileged backgrounds, whose parents shell out $2,000 to $3,000 every few months for various extra private tuition classes?
The present education system is counter-productive to producing well-educated and well-balanced students. Instead of enjoying studying, students are stressed out and failing in too many subjects.
The Ministry of Education must be more proactive in ensuring that students are less reliant on external tuition or enrichment classes, and ensure a well-balanced education for all.
Tan Eng Hong
MRS JOHN YAP: ‘My son entered Primary 1 this year, and I chose a school that I thought would be more holistic. But one teacher recently suggested that my son get tuition and learn the lessons ahead of the class so that by the time she gets to the lesson, my son can follow it. A check with some of my son’s classmates also revealed that many parents would do their children’s homework so that they can finish it on time. The children get tons of homework, frequent tests, and, yes, a list of homework for the June holidays which includes maths and English exercises, reading 10 story books, making a model of the school, producing a health booklet and writing a journal thrice a week. On top of all that, there is a friendly reminder that there will be Term 3 tests after the holidays! I hope my son’s school is in the minority. Something is definitely amiss when there’s so much homework that parents feel they have to do it for their kids just so their kids can cope, and where the solution given to improving a child’s academic results is to get tuition. Now I understand why everyone I know shoves her child from tuition centre to tuition centre. My son is not attending any enrichment classes or tuition centres because I don’t think they will make him a smarter or better person.’
‘Tuition has become an almost non-negotiable necessity.’
MADAM CHOO SWEE LIN: ‘My child is in Secondary 1. For the past six meet-the-parents sessions, I took in the teacher’s feedback and did all that I could to help my child. But the seventh meeting turned out no different; it was another ?what’s the problem with your child’ session. The school should be a child’s primary source of education. Now that tuition has become an almost non-negotiable necessity, does it mean the primary source has failed in its role?’
‘Are these parents going to complain to their children’s future bosses for giving them too difficult tasks?’
MR TAN GUANGFAN: ‘I refer to Mrs Lisa Ng’s letter, ?Why tuition centres for elite students flourish’ (May 24). I am a former student of one of the elite schools she listed. Tuition can be useful but I do not think that students should be overly dependent on private tutors. I am disappointed that parents are blaming difficult examinations. Are these parents going to complain to their children’s future bosses for giving them too difficult tasks? At 18, it is time for teenagers to learn to accept challenges and take failures in their stride.’
‘This is the new education system: Children request tuition.’
MADAM LEE SIM LIAN: ‘My daughter was very upset because she didn’t do well in her exams and has asked for tuition. This is the new education system: Children have to request tuition because they think they have done badly.’
I still distinctly remember when I first started education in Zhenghua Primary School way back in 1995. Among the first things that my form teacher told us, was something along the line of “Some of your parents may want to put you ito private tution classes. Personally, I feel that tution classes are unnecessary and the school will provide you all the education you will ever need.”
How things have changed now. Teachers are now recommending to parents of weaker students to enroll them in tution classes. Does this really means that the students are beyond help and really need additional lessons, or does this means that teachers nowadays are throwing off their long held responsiblities of providing education to all students?
Using a cliched excuse like “challenging class to teach” does not give a teacher reason to strike off his or her responsiblity of educating the weaker students and leaving that responsibility to private tutors. Aren’t real educators supposed to raise up to the challenge and give their undivided attention to students in need of them to better help them academically.
Imagine you are a toilet cleaner. A few of your designated toilets are super dirty and disgusting, one that, if I may so put it, is a “very challenging toilet to clean”. Can you then tell your employer to seek other toilet cleaners? In short, is it correct of the teachers to throw their responsibilities to private tutors?
My parents were once called for a Parents-Teacher meeting by my form teacher in The Chinese High School, due to my complete disinterest in academic matters. My form teacher asked my parents how I normally spend time at home, and seek my parents’ help in controlling my access to computer and the internet (I was crazy about programming). One of my friend who was a hard core gamer even had his keyboard locked away under the suggestion of the form teacher. Needless to say, our results improved soon after. That is what I thought Parents-Teacher meeting is all about — allowing teachers to reach out to the students’ parents and figure what factors at home that is causing obstacle to academic performance. What is the point of having a Parents-Teacher meeting if all the teachers do nowadays is to suggest for tution classes?
Teachers should be more responsible. Being an educator is a role that I believe only a handful of teachers in Singapore truly qualify for. NIE should do better in educating teachers of tomorrow, so as to provide better education for Singaporeans of tomorrow.
–
A Philosophy Major with thinking disablties
From Straitstimes.com, 3rd June 2008
Does NUS still prefer muggers?
WHEN are two Bs and a C not good enough for entry to the National University of Singapore (NUS) arts faculty? When, it appears, one of your Bs is in that ‘new’ subject, Knowledge and Inquiry (KI).While people are keen to have a fourth university offering a liberal arts degree, NUS seems to eschew the liberal arts.
Of course, I may be wrong, and biased, since it was my son who received the NUS rejection letter. However, it rankles when he has a bunkmate who has secured a place in NUS with one B and two Cs (and the requisite pass in General Paper).
I watched my son enjoy KI. The subject offered him the chance to hone his critical faculties, debating and research skills.
As a philosophy major myself, I revelled in the discussions we had on moral philosophy, the scientific method, his research paper. I rejoiced in his rekindled interest in physics.
We looked forward to him pursuing his love of military history, politics and philosophy at NUS, confident his Bs in History and KI and C in English Literature were enough. It was not to be.
It appears NUS still prefers students who pass in the traditional ‘mugging’ subjects, and relegating KI to the status of General Paper.
This is ironic, as KI could be considered the most basic of university subjects - it was the only course of study in the past, and requires the skills any thinking, creative person must possess - ability to reason and express oneself clearly and critically, and passion to defend one’s stand.
Angelina Phillips (Ms)
Why is it that it seemed to me as if you are very proud of your son’s “B”? My girlfriend has got 2 As and a C, and she couldn’t even get into a course of her choice. She is now suffering from being in the wrong faculty, one she could not perform in, and one which would make her less academically well-off. Does your son’s supposed obession, interest, passion, whatever you call it, in KI (which in the end only got him a B) makes him different and thus exempt him from other students who have to experience the same inadequecy in our education system?
When I mentioned my A level results, AABC on my blog, a reader commented that I fucked up my Alevels. Now according to that reader’s definition, your son had super duperly fucked up upside down. And you wrote in to complain, “Hey, B is good! I think it is good! I am a philosophy major and my son can discuss with me intellectually on stuff! Why can’t he get into NUS arts?”
Your ridicious tone aside, I understand your point in that subjects like GP and KI shows critical thinking capabilities of a student, while other subjects only reflect how mug a student can me. In Anderson Junior College, 3 or 4As with a just pass or fail in GP is a common. I don’t care what kind of course they can get into, but their lack in comprehensive and thinking skills can only warrant them the status of what I call a background degree holder, someone with the academic qualification but cannot provide anything innovative or value to his place of work or society.
Although I dislike the tone of the letter above, I fully agree with what was being said, that universities should focus less on muggers and more on thinkers. I know Universities all have that in their advertisements, but it is time to do something real about it isn’t it?
