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So everyone is back on the road again and I’ve also joined the crowd I managed to wrangle a conference in Rome and will do a quick trip there. Singapore airlines has become too expensive to afford a business class seat so I’ve had to choose an alternative and swiss air is part of Star Alliance so at a considerable saving and only one hour difference in arrival time, I have picked them. now that is also the issue as the transit time is only 70 mins so it’s cutting its close. However when I called the airlines they almost felt offended when I asked if it was sufficient and so the journey begins .. So they use the silverkris lounge at changi and it’s pretty impressive with a wide selection of food and drinks plus free toiletries now for the airline When you travel you see and feel a lot and this is one of the major benefits of travel. You also get to compare and see what’s really good Swiss air is well very swiss in efficiency but they don’t have the smiles and warmth. That’s not so bad but dinner was a real low. The cod was possibly the worst I’ve ever had … stiff and over cooked Luckily the eggs for breakfast and the machine prepared cappuccino was fine. Usually there is a basket of snacks and here the basket does not have any fruits, just crisps and some mineral water. The bed is a lie flat with no bedding and just a blanket. Length is ok and the pocket for your legs is larger than the SQ equivalent So the most glaring thing is their seat arrangement Not all seats get aisle access easily and when you are trying to cross another passenger it’s a real bother. They charge extra for the so called ‘throne’ seats but you are rewarded with an abundance of storage. Great for people like me who didn’t check in any luggage. On the hand if you only got the regular business class seat, there’s only a small shelf and another side cabinet. The headphone are nasty though.. acoustics aren’t great and I don’t think their noise cancellation works at all. The inflight entertainment system works fine with a large 16” screen that is touchscreen. The selection are up to date but far more limited than SQ. Whilst you may say it’s unfair to compare since SQ costs 30% more but travelers will do so since they cater to the same market. But it’s the same little stuff that makes SQ stand out like free wifi. Here it’s a chargeable cost. So you do get the trappings of a business class seat but little things are missing and so it’s not in your face but where that 30% extra cost goes to shows itself. I have a one hour transit in Zurich and they assure me it’s adequate for my next onward journey to Rome. And that’s their plus - Efficiency So the transit fears proved to be unfounded and I make it to my next flight without fuss and even time to spare for a coffee at the lounge. You need to clear passports prior to going from one area gate to the next, but it’s a 15-20 min walk depending on how brisk you walk. Bringing a trolley bag was a smart move. There’s no more baggage checks so I regret not bringing my unopened sparkling mineral water along. There’s wifi for free in the airport but when you’re rushing, it’s good to have data because you need to jump through a fair number of hurdles to get on. The second leg is short flight so you get the same seats as economy but there’s no one next to you. They serve warm meals in the lounge and for a machine, the coffee is good. Grabbed a banana for the road and I have some apples too. Somehow coffee tastes better when you’re not at work? Onward to Rome 👋

Think there have been many cases of people faced with million dollar medical bills. Think it is time to review the need for free healthcare. Would you rather we have high taxes and have free healthcare or have it status quo where healthcare is only for rich in society? http://theindependent.sg/1m-for-hospital-bill-healthcare-or-nightmare/

The swiss go to the polls this weekend (30 Nov 2014) to vote on whether their central bank (the Swiss National Bank) should increase its gold holdings to 20 percent from the existing 7 percent. A "yes" result will send gold prices soaring and also signals the start of the restoration of the gold standard in the global monetary system. What are your thoughts on this? http://www.cnbc.com/id/102223258#.

Hur..... they reject minimum wage increase .... Yahoo news: Swiss voters reject world's highest minimum wage, block fighter jets ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss voters on Sunday rejected proposals to introduce the world's highest minimum wage and spend $3.5 billion buying new Gripen fighter jets from Saab. About 76 percent of voters in the wealthy nation dismissed the proposal made by Swiss union SGB and backed by the Socialist and Green parties for a minimum wage of 22 Swiss francs ($25) per hour, final results showed. Meanwhile, some 53 percent blocked a government plan to free up funds to replace Switzerland's aging fleet of fighter jets with 22 Gripen jets from Saab. Just over 55 percent of those eligible voted, the government said. The clear rejection of the proposed minimum wage - which corresponds to a monthly paycheck of 4,000 francs (about $4,500) - brings relief to business leaders worried the measure would have hurt competitiveness and damaged the Swiss workplace. "If the initiative had been accepted, without doubt that would have led to job cuts, particularly in remote and structurally weaker regions," Swiss Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann said at a news conference. Sunday's vote is the latest in a slew of initiatives being put to voters to try to address the widening income gap in the generally egalitarian country. Voters overwhelmingly backed a referendum last year to give shareholders a binding say over executive pay, but turned down a proposal to cap the salaries of top executives at 12 times that of a company's lowest wage. Supporters of the minimum wage had argued the proposed measure would have helped smooth out salary inequality and ensure a person working full-time can live decently. Despite the resounding "no", Daniel Lampart, chief economist at SGB, said the debate around the measure in the run-up to the vote had prompted many firms to introduce a minimum wage of more than 4,000 francs. Discounter Lidl raised minimum Swiss salaries to 4,000 francs last year and retailer H&M has vowed to follow suit next year, although employers do not acknowledge a direct link to the proposal. Swiss voters have a history of voting against proposals they feel could hurt the country's economic success story or threaten competitiveness. Yet the public unexpectedly voted by a razor thin majority in February to curb immigration from the European Union and last year backed a proposal to give shareholders a binding say over executive pay - both times ignoring warnings from business groups. more of the stories: link: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/swiss-voters-reject-worlds-highest-minimum-wage-projection-115625943--finance.html

swiss standard of living is the best swiss is going to poll on may 18 to vote for 2,500 francs per month to everyone ... no job also got money is spore still aiming for swiss standard of living? Swiss To Pay Basic Income 2,500 Francs Per Month To Every Adult http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McQgQ_NYrGM

New York's top financial regulator has sought numerous documents from Credit Suisse Group AG as it ramps up a continuing tax-evasion probe of the Swiss bank, according to a person familiar with the matter. The New York Department of Financial Services sent a subpoena last week to Credit Suisse demanding the bank turn over emails, personnel files, travel records, expenses, hard drives and other materials from its New York office, which the agency regulates, this person said. A spokesman for Credit Suisse said the bank is cooperating fully with the agency's investigation. Credit Suisse has faced a federal probe into whether it aided American clients in helping them hide assets from tax authorities. In February, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a report that looked at how Swiss banks, including Credit Suisse, helped customers evade U.S. taxes. Following the release of the report, Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, initiated an investigation of whether the bank helped clients avoid paying state taxes, the person familiar with the matter previously has said. Mr. Lawsky's investigation also is looking at whether Credit Suisse employees made any misrepresentations to his agency, the person said. The bank earlier this month said it was taking a charge of $528 million mainly related to a criminal tax-evasion investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Anyone has extra euro and swiss franc to sell? Do PM me amount and rate. Thks!

How true is it? If it is true...damn..we are really in a pile of s--t if we can't afford to pay the HDB loan. And I'm sure it will happen to many people once the retrenchment starts ________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________ About 6 years ago, my wife and I were out of jobs and we could not afford to pay our monthly instalments to HDB (it was about $500 per month). As a result, we had an outstanding debt of $11K to HDB. One day we received a letter that said HDB wants to force us to sell our 3 room flat to pay back our money owing. We went to the local MP to seek help and they wrote a letter to HDB on our behalf. We then received a letter from HDB to go down to AMK branch office in order to meet their officer, Mr Chua. At the end of the session he still insisted we pay another $200 on top of the previous $500 per month!! We went in to ask for help to work out a solution to our financial situation and instead they suggested that we should now pay $700 a month! Is this help?!?!? We gave up realising HDB would not help us. We decided to borrow from wherever we can to pay every month until we can both manage to get a job! Since then, we have been paying $700/mth as agreed with the officer earlier, but they still called us every month trying to force us to pay additional CASH payments on top of the $700 we already paid using CPF! Luckily for us, everything went quite smoothly and we are able to pay off most of the outstanding amount. Today, the outstanding balance is only about $1700+. Recently however, during January 2013, we received a letter from HDB saying that they wanted to force us to sell off our flat again!!! Back then, the outstanding amount was only about $5500. So we went down to HDB again and asked what happened? What happened to the agreement that was made earlier? They just said that as long as we have an outstanding debt totalling more than 3 months of the monthly instalment amount, they had the right to force us to sell our flat! Offcourse we need our flat, or where else will we live? So we paid another $2500 from our CPF, then in Feb 2013 they called again saying we hadn

When was the last time Singapore has its on referendum? http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/0...m-executive-pay

hi wactches guru, just to check if any 1 here that are good with hublot wacthes. this particular asf swiss soccer limited edition, got no crystal back, hence i cannot see the movement, and hard to identify if it is real or fake. any other ways? forget about those easy way of identifing like h shape screw these all, as good fake make it all the same, and even with cert.

[extract] One man

Do you still remember that? Old farts should know la. Now I end up with Swiss Cost of Living...................... How ah?

Anyone been to these two places? Can share your experience? http://www.eagleranch.com.my/ http://www.swissgarden.com/hotels/sgrdl/ What is there to do nearby? Thanks

Hi All, I planning my 1st visit to Kuantan this June school holiday. I will like expert and frequent visitor to Kuantan for the above 2 hotel choice, which is better in term of: 1) Access to seafood restuarant or some famous local food? Any good seafood restuarant to recommend (with address) 2) Visit to Kuantan town 3) Hotel facilities for children (8 & 10yrs old) 4) Hotel pools and beach quality 5) Quality of hotel All suggestion and advice are weclome as this is my 1st visit to the east coast.

A very interesting read..... http://www.tractionink.com/watch_wiki/inde...itle=Swiss_Made

looks good........ http://www.suzukisport.com/SWIFT-SC/outline/index.html

Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080506/tts-...gs-c1b2fc3.html AFP - 1 hour 15 minutes ago ZURICH (AFP) - - Swiss banking giant UBS, reporting huge losses in its subprime loan debacle, said on Tuesday it would cut up to 5,500 jobs within the next year which it forecast would be tough. The bank posted a net loss of 11.535 billion Swiss francs (7.075 billion euros, 10.972 billion dollars) for the first quarter owing to its US subprime-related positions, as well as writedowns of 19 billion Swiss francs. The results were in line with a warning the bank issued in April saying it expected a net loss of about 12 billion Swiss francs for the first three months of this year. UBS, the biggest Swiss bank, is the bank hardest hit in the world by the subprime crisis, having made asset writedowns of 37 billion dollars. And it said on Tuesday that this year had begun with "tough business conditions" which it expected to continue. "The impact will affect all of UBS's businesses and it requires the firm to manage costs, resources and capacity very actively," the bank said. It said it would cut 2,600 jobs from its investment bank unit by the year-end, most through redundancies. Staff would also be trimmed in other departments, mainly through normal departures and internal redeployment, the bank said. Assuming no change in market conditions, it expected to have 5,500 fewer employees by the middle of 2009. The bank also said it had "substantially reduced its risk inventory". Positions related to US subprime mortgages had been cut by about 60 percent compared to the figures for the third quarter of last year. Chief executive Marcel Rohner said the group's exposure was still subject to market conditions, but "we see market demand for these securities returning in certain areas and at the current level of valuations." UBS "will get over these difficulties in the coming quarters," Rohner assured journalists on a telephone conference, although he declined to specify when exactly he expected the bank to return to profitability. UBS has had to seek fresh capital twice, once from a Singapore sovereign wealth fund and an anonymous Middle Eastern investor and a second time from its shareholders. UBS shares fell by 3.85 percent to 35.46 Swiss francs in early trading on the Zurich stock exchange. The overall SMI index was down 36.27 points to 7,621.99.