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Dear bro and sis, Need your opinion and advice, hope you all can help. Recently I bought a new car and put down my deposit. At the same time, i will trade in my old car to the dealer. I took the full loan so I will get back tsome money from the dealer. I will collect my car soon. i need to hand over the old car to the dealer on the day when i colkect my new car. However I was told by the dealer that I only can get the trade in amount plus the deposit back from dealer after one month only. The dealer will pay me back with cheque, that's need time to process. This is the reason I got from the dealer. Is this the normal practice? Do you guy think this is normal when buy new car and trade in the old car with them? I thought I should collect the trade in amount plus the deposit from dealer after hand over my old car since the owner name of my old car will be transferred to dealer? Hope to hear from you guys soon . Thanks.

My friend was involved in a car accident recently, it was on an expressway when a heavy vehicle swerve all the way to the right lane and stopped for road maintainance. He E braked and stopped in time but the taxi behind could not and crash into him, the impact flung him forward and he hit the truck slightly. Now the insurance company representing the cab refuse to take full liability and only willing to pay 50%, now my fren is stuck becos his car is in the workshop and the courtesy car given to him is not covered under his own insurance. He was advised to pay the excess and claim 1st party and pay for the rental of the courtesy car himself as if he wants to fight the car and claim 3rd party it will be a prolong process and he may have to come out with alot of money. He NCB will also be affected if he claim 1st party. He ask me for advice and I told him I am no expert and will seek the kind advice of the bros here. Thanks.

1 in 5 workers in S'pore feign illness to be on MC: survey Posted: 17 December 2012 1334 hrs Click to enlarge Photos 1 of 1 File photo of Singapore workers at Raffles Place. inShare 8 SINGAPORE: Nearly one in five workers in Singapore admit that they have feigned an illness in order to go on medical leave, according to findings from an online survey by JobsCentral. And about half of these respondents revealed they would do so three or more times a year. A total of 3,299 employees and 256 hiring managers took part in the survey conducted from August to October this year. 77.7 per cent of employers said they would perform checks when their staff is absent due to illness. But most of these employers said they would rely on medical certificates to verify sickness claims. Only 12.3 per cent said they would call the employee to check, while 5 per cent would go to the extent of asking a co-worker to check on the employee. As to the reasons why workers faked illnesses, most said they did so because they did not feel like working. Another 30 per cent cited plans outside work. When asked to describe their current job satisfaction, only a marginally larger proportion of workers who took bogus sick leave voiced discontentment with their jobs. JobsCentral said this suggests that employees who feign illness to skip work may not necessarily be unhappy with their jobs. Chief Operating Officer of JobsCentral Group, Michelle Lim said: "The survey results show that there is mutual responsibility and trust between employers and employees. A large majority of employees are honest when it comes to taking sick leave and few employers are so mistrusting of their employees to resort to invasion checks." Ms Lim added: "As for the healthy 20 per cent who used illnesses to dodge work, they risk jeopardising their jobs and careers. On the other hand, an overly suspicious employer or manager that constantly checks on employees is also detrimental to work relationships; few employees would tolerate working for managers that do not trust them." The survey also revealed that senior staff were less likely to take bogus medical leave. Workers with gross salaries of over S$5,000 were least likely to fake an illness to go on medical leave

Like that also can huh ? Initial letter by a member of the public: Inconsistent parking enforcement From Yolanda Chin Tsu-Li 04:45 AM Oct 31, 2012 I am concerned about the inconsistencies in enforcing traffic laws in Braddell Heights, where a string of restaurants were granted permits a few years ago to operate, along Jalan Riang, despite the absence of public car parks in the neighbourhood. Diners and residents have since been competing for scarce parking, leading to congestions and scuffles. As a result, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been regularly monitoring the neighbourhood to enforce traffic rules in the interest of safety. I had brought the worsening traffic and parking situation to the attention of Member of Parliament Seah Kian Peng in the past. He said that it was not within his jurisdiction to solve the problem, as it was legal for the restaurants to operate and for the LTA to enforce traffic rules. I was advised to park at less congested roads and walk, should no parking be available near my home. I agree that it is not within his jurisdiction to instruct LTA officers how to do their job. Then, on Oct 20, the grassroots organisation threw a party, attended by Mr Seah, at the park along Jalan Riang. As usual, many cars were parked illegally, and an LTA officer arrived that afternoon to enforce the law. But he left without booking any drivers. I wish to clarify if the officer knew the implications of his dereliction of duties on public safety, and if so, why he still chose to leave. I reported the incident to the LTA and was assured that I would hear from an officer who would be assigned to investigate. I have yet to hear from the LTA since. Follow-up letter by MP: Give and take, not 'principled' approach From Seah Kian Peng Member of Parliament, Marine Parade GRC 04:45 AM Nov 02, 2012 Parking issues in private estates are common. I have helped mediate these and have conducted various dialogues with my residents in private estates for various streets. They are time consuming and require effort and cooperation by all parties. Ms Yolanda Chin, who lives near the eateries and wrote "Inconsistent parking enforcement" (Oct 31), had approached me previously about noise and traffic issues. I asked the eateries to cooperate and ensure their patrons observe the rules. I also asked for enforcement to be stepped up during busy periods, when there was indiscriminate parking in the area. Residents have told me that things have since improved. The garden party on the day in question, from 4pm to 6pm on a Saturday, was to celebrate the completion of an estate upgrading project in Ms Chin's estate. All its residents were invited. As I was driving there, I saw an enforcement officer about to book some cars; I stopped and told him that many residents would be at the party and, unless their cars were obstructing traffic, to apply a light touch and not issue any summons. This was not the peak period, the cars were parked in an orderly manner and I do not think there were any public safety issues as Ms Chin stated. I am an advocate that everyone, resident or not, should be reasonable and considerate, with a give and take approach. All are neighbours there, and when one starts to adopt an uncompromising or unneighbourly approach, such behaviour normally spreads. It then becomes a lose-lose situation. Most importantly, it destroys the neighbourly spirit in any community. There will always be some residents who insist that there be constant enforcement, regardless of circumstances. I am against such a "principled" approach for such matters. I take heart that in two streets in my estate where such disputes used to occur, things have improved following a series of mediation and consensus building among residents. They have adopted their own ground rules and determination to solve matters internally and to call the enforcement agency only as a last resort. It has worked well, and the neighbourhood is more peaceful and cordial now. Back to the garden party: As it was raining heavily from 5.30pm, most residents and cars had already left by then. I hope this letter puts things in the right perspective.

Anyone taken this survey before? They way they phrase it is quite a surprise to me.

Hi All, My friend asked me whether interested to take over his under ultilise car..... Question : Means I carry on with the installments ?? Can I re-finace & shorten the installments ?? Do I need to pay any amount to my friend beside usual LTA transfer fees. If I take over, I will sell or scrap my current ride. Can I detain the numbers ($1300)?? Pls advise.......

More Singaporeans are warming up to a legal instrument that allows their next of kin to make key decisions on their behalf should they lose the ability to do so. But not enough young people are doing so. Latest figures show that more than 2,000 people have signed up for the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), which was introduced under the Mental Capacity Act in 2010. It was reported in February that 1,400 people had signed up. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/...eguard-20120909

Help posting for someone... I have successfully collected my new car. Am giving away my 3.5 years (Reg Dec'08) Chery A5 for FREE. I am not taking a single cent from it. Still have 6.5 years to scrap. You just need to settle outstanding bank loan (abt $27k) and pay for LTA transfer related expenses. Mileage about 73,000 km and blue in colour, manual drive and accident free. However you might need some slight touch up and polishing to make it shine again. Market value about $35k. Can take it immediately once legally transferred and bank loan settle. If you are keen, just email me your name and contact. Make sure you are eligible to drive a MANUAL car and google about the information before asking for the free car. Cheers.

Yahoo report : Dealing with the dead in S'pore: a gravedigger's story By Kai Fong | Yahoo! Newsroom

Most likely the title clash for the two teams....whos side you are on? I AM ON MAN C!!! Let the red nose gets nothing this season!!!

Oil giant Shell will stop displaying pump prices at petrol station entrances, ending its seven-year solo campaign to raise price transparency in the industry. It has started removing price boards across its network of about 60 stations. This means motorists will find out about fuel-price changes only when they drive up to a pump island, or if they trawl the various oil companies' websites. The oil majors used to make it a practice to inform the public of price changes via the media. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNew...ory_815531.html

even if no pay cut?

Not sure if it is already the case and not trying to be racist. Just stating the obvious that road conditions and driving culture here are different from road conditions and culture elsewhere. Maybe in other countries weaving around a dozen pedestrains at 50km is considered skillful but here it is dangerous driving.

Drove from Genting Highland to Singapore for last Monday. Was quite slow and careful when driving down the slope as it was first time. At highway, drove around 110 to 120 kmh, max 130kmh as bearing in mind my whole family in car. Take a short break at ayer keroh. From Genting carpark to 2nd link custom took me about 5 hours. How about you guys?

Hi Guys, Just want to check, if you have the cash, would it be more advisable to pay in full or still take loan when we buy a car? There are usually quite a number of rebates and freebies if you take loan...

Integration: A foreigner's take 04:45 AM Jun 04, 2012 FROM Acmad Toquero Macarimbang As a foreigner working here, I appreciate the efforts and simple gestures my Singaporean colleagues, new friends and the Malay family I live with have shown me. Even introducing me to nasi lemak helped to make me feel welcomed. I see Singapore as a non-confrontational society, where people tend to keep their angst within their communities. This is also the case in other large cities and countries with many immigrants. But there seems to be a missing link: Social relationships that need to be forged by each community. Everyone should interact with one another's communities at a personal level. I leave the discussion about Singapore's immigration policy to experts. As an individual and a non-Singaporean, I look to myself to build my relationship with locals in a manner that would maintain or bring more understanding between us. People from various parts of the world came here, many settling down, because we were attracted to what Singapore could offer. We should take care of these economic opportunities afforded to us. In my case, to express gratitude for being welcomed, I feel that I should show respect for my job, Singapore, its citizens and those who choose to make a new home here. I have Ten Commandments as my guide to becoming a good foreign worker here. I shall appreciate the work I do, for it is an opportunity to explore my professional and personal capacities in a foreign land. I shall ask and answer questions politely, not just to locals but to everyone in the street, the office, the hawker centres, at school and at home. I shall not talk too loudly on the train when speaking in my language over the telephone or with people of my race. I shall show respect to each culture and tradition and stay away from comments that hurt the feelings of any community. I shall respect Singaporean social norms. I shall study the local culture, food and gestures, so that I am neither alienated nor feel strange about the unique ways of doing things here. I shall not wait for my local colleagues and neighbours to greet and smile at me. I shall not conclude that a certain race or nationality is unacceptably different if I encounter a situation with one or few persons from a particular community. I shall try to learn simple greetings in Chinese, Malay, Tamil and other local languages. I shall join activities of national interest to interact with local culture, as a way of integrating and letting locals know that I care. Integration is the most visible way of showing how I value myself as a part of the Singapore community. I can attain this with the help of self-help groups, which understand the need for communities to cooperate in building healthy relationships. Singapore is a fine city, indeed. And I shall be deeply grateful for the opportunity to experience the diversity of cultures and peoples here. URL http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC12060...foreigners-take Copyright 2012 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

Don't take so much chilli sauce and napkins next time...... http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1200496/1/.html

when you split up, dont ...... Bitter dentist pulls out all of her ex-boyfriend's teeth Monday, Apr 30, 2012 The Korea Herald/Asia News Network When 45-year-old Marek Olszewski booked an appointment with his dentist ex-girlfriend Anna Mackowiak, he thought she would put aside the fact that he dumped her and treat him like any other patient. He was gravely mistaken. Mackowiak now faces up to 3 years in jail for pulling out every single one of Olszewski's teeth, the Daily Mail reported Sunday. The vengeful 34-year-old dentist put Olszewski to sleep with a heavy dose of anesthetics and thoroughly emptied his mouth. She then strapped Olszewski's jaw with bandages, and told him he needed to see a specialist. "I didn't have any reason to doubt her, I mean I thought she was a professional," said Olszewski. But when he got home, he found out he was completely tooth-free. Olszewski said he was going to have to "pay a fortune" to get implants. Adding insult to injury, his new girlfriend left him because she "can't be with a man without teeth." Mackowiak said she tried to treat her Olszewski without letting her emotions get the better of her. "But when I saw him lying there I just thought, 'What a b******'," said Mackowiak. Mackowiak is being investigated for medical malpractice and abusing the trust of a patient.

Please particpate in the poll.

A place he can call home By Gerald Goh The New Paper Wednesday, Mar 28, 2012 Being a financially prudent person led to him finally being able to afford his first bachelor pad more three years ago. Local comedian-host and Gold 90.5 DJ Hossan Leong told The New Paper: "Getting my own place for the first time was a major step forward in my life. "I'd always been renting a place to stay and it was quite unsettling to me over time, as I didn't have a place I could call my own. "I'm a natural saver. I find it quite gratifying to see my savings grow, so when I found the perfect place to stay, I said to myself, why not put those savings to good use?" Leong used his Central Provident Fund savings (in his Ordinary Account) and was able to make the 20 per cent downpayment. The 42-year-old's two-bedroom apartment near City Square Mall cost around $800,000, a sum that will be paid for with the aid of a 30-year housing loan. Leong added that even though the apartment was completed in July last year, he could only move in November as he had to see out the remainder of his rental contract with his landlord. "Housing in Singapore is really hard for the less affluent segments of society to afford. "It's been reported recently that a person who earns less than $1,000 a month is able to own a two-room Housing Board flat. "That may be technically possible, but I imagine he or she will have to spend almost every cent of their remaining income just to meet daily expenses. "Will the person have anything left over to save? " Leong also counts his endowment insurance plan, which his mum got for him as a child, as part of his saving strategy. "It's a good way to 'force' me to save about $100 each month," he said, adding that he took over the premiums from his mother when he was in his early 20s and started work as an actor. "The policy will mature in my 50s. It will include not only the accumulated interest, but also a yearly bonus." He added: "Saving some of what you earn each month isn't just for old age. "If something catastrophic happens to you and you're unable to work for a period of time, can you survive on what you've saved in the bank? "I feel you should save enough to prepare for a possible down period of at least half a year, should anything happen to you - touch wood! - and you are unable to earn an income." Working hard for the money Which could explain why Leong has packed his schedule to the brim. He was recently a guest judge during the auditions of the youth talent search competition okto Star and will be hosting a short segment of the local game show We Are Singaporeans at Singapore Day 2012 in New York in April. But his main job is still helping to run communication agency Paul Carr Consultancy, which he co-founded with friend and business partner Paul Carr. After the company's expenses have been accounted for, Leong pays himself a monthly salary of about $4,000. "Having a company to run helps me control my spending, as I'm responsible not only for my own personal finances but for my company's finances as well." And though he used to spend heavily on clothes before, that's a thing of the past, he says. "As I grew older, I thought to myself that I don't really care how many branded shirts I have any more. "Does anyone else honestly care if I wear branded clothes or not? The answer is no." This article was first published in The New Paper.

Today on the way home around 8plus pm at SLE. Meet a stupid P Plate Driver. Drive slowly in the middle lane. Is fine for me. I will not disturb u and up to u wanna drive how fast. I keep left and wanna over take this vehicle SJC 7700C. He accelerate. And slow down to continue driving very slow and causin me to jam brake. Is alright for me if u wanna have a leisure driving. But you have to think that you are not road hogging other vehicle that are rushing for time. Please keep extreme left and have ur own sweat time. Is a very childish act u have done.

Developers' bids signal likely dip in home prices 13 March 2012 Straits Times DEVELOPERS here are becoming more cautious with how much money they are willing to pay for private home sites. They seem to be getting more worried that private home prices could fall, perhaps by up to 8 per cent this year, according to a new research report. So they have to factor the potentially lower prices of the homes into their sums when deciding how much to offer for a plot on sale. The BNP Paribas research report analysed about 100 government land sale bids since 2007 up until last month. When developers look at how much to bid for a site, they consider the likely 'break-even' figure. That is, how much they would have to pay for the project, taking into account the cost of building the condo and various other finance, marketing and administration costs. Then, of course, they add a bit on top to make it worth their while, in terms of profits - which means they would offer less for the land than break-even. The report said developers were lowering the figure they are willing to pay for land, as they can no longer feel sure that prevailing home prices will hold up by the time they are likely to sell the project. Starting in mid-2011, the difference between the expected break-even price and current selling prices started to widen to 19.8 per cent, well above the mean of 12.1 per cent, the report said. The mean of 12.1 per cent would tend to represent the profit margin developers have been achieving, on average. This difference of about 8 percentage points is likely to represent developers' efforts to guard against the possibility of future average selling prices heading south. A similar pattern was also observed in the second quarter of 2008, right before home prices tanked, when margin buffers widened in similar fashion, BNP Paribas property analyst Chong Kang Ho noted. The wider spread of bids for each site, which indicates differing views among developers, and the shorter turnaround of launches also reflect concerns of an uncertain outlook in the market, he added. Developers' nervousness is reflected not just in their bid prices, but also in their haste in pushing out new launches. The average turnaround time between securing a site and launching a project has been cut to just eight months for sites awarded in the past two years - down from more than 10 months, generally, for sites awarded in 2009. 'This is despite the trend of bigger land sites being offered, typically associated with longer preparation and approval times for launch,' BNP's Mr Chong said. 'Shorter turnaround launches reflect developers' expectations of a narrower window of opportunity to sell their new launches at higher prices. This is especially true in the light of upcoming supply.' Another likely trend is even more enthusiasm for sites right near MRT stations and retail malls, the report said. Developers feel buyers will go for homes built on these plum sites even if times get a little rough. The Government has ramped up its twice-yearly land sales programme since the second half of 2010 as it sought to stem rising home prices. This led to a record number of 77,089 uncompleted private homes in the pipeline as at the fourth quarter of last year - the highest figure since data was first available in 1999 - according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority. But while recent new sales data has been encouraging, longer-term fundamental concerns remain. The rising number of unsold homes, tighter immigration rules set to dampen demand and more sites on the way have all taken the rosy hue out of the market. BNP's Mr Chong expects it to correct by 5 to 7 per cent. He says the ample loans on offer at low mortgage rates help. But other experts note that lower land prices do not necessarily mean lower home prices as selling prices often depend on market conditions at the time of launch rather than just developers' costs. HSR Property Group special adviser Donald Han said developers, not surprisingly, price projects based on market values at the time they go on sale. 'While developers might price a new project lower than a nearby project to ensure good take-up at its initial launch, prices will not sway far from general market prices even if the land cost was lower,' he added.

Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, who once said that the Orchard Road flood was due to rubbish stuck in the drain, is now calling on the online community to develop an Internet code of conduct. He made this call when he was responding to MPs

Naked maids, accountants take (it) off in South Africa AFP Relax

I understand this is a very 'noob' question.. but still have to ask :P keen to learn anyway.. i wanted to change my headlight blub (hyundai matrix) but it seems like the battery and some other parts in the hood is blocking the opening.. my hands are not so small to change it.. do i need to take out the entire headlight to change the bulb?? thanks in advance :)