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中共万岁万万岁！

Anyone ever thought of getting a foreign wife? Or what you will say as a villager wife? What are you the thoughts and what hold you back from going for it? Anyone with the experience? Any thoughts or experience to share? BTW I am not focussing on those who marry foreign friends or colleagues but those who go for matchmaking agencies. Heard they are popular.... Haha. Don't think there is a thread on this yet.

Salute to these men! Sediya! http://theunseensingapore.blogspot.sg/2013/10/the-unseen-singapore-10-sg-movers.html

https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/former-ntu-researcher-took-upskirt-photos-400-women?utm_source=editorialteam&utm_medium=notification Manpower minister wants more Super FT in SG In fact he is a super upskirter Maybe he is researching different materials for tropical climate panties

From this video, one of the conclusions we can draw from it is when you have just been given a ticket by the parking officer, threatening him on whether he knows who you are or not isn't going to help you get out of trouble. As seen on SG Road Vigilante's recent post on 23rd of September 2020, the offender has just gotten a parking ticket along Sturdee Road North and can be seen trying to video down the whole confrontation with the officer who just gave him a ticket. Obviously not that good at redeeming himself, the owner of the video tries to 'put pressure' on the officer by asking him whether 'he knows who he is?' and claiming that the officer is less clear about the laws than him. If you are curious as to what happens next, catch the video below and let us know how you would react if you happen to be in such a situation.

Here's a break from all the negativity surrounding the circuit breaker measures and our roads. A bunch of Singaporeans have joined hands to help donate 121 drums of surface sanitisers to 44 different foreign dormitories. According to Christopher Kwek's facebook post, many of these people who have donated are from our local car clubs, with a few private companies joining in the fun. With each drum holding 209 litres worth of sanitisers, the total cost of the donation amounted to an impressive $20,000. Curious which car clubs donated? Find you answers in the list below!

KUALA LUMPUR: RON95 petrol and NGV fuel will be banned from being sold to foreign registered vehicles from tomorrow, the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism announced today. RON95 petrol would however be allowed to be sold to foreign registered motorcycles as an exception. Following the move, the requirement to produce Mykad by Malaysians using foreign registered vehicles for purchasing RON95 petrol at all petrol stations throughout the country had been withdrawn, the ministry said in a statement here today. On August 1 last year, a directive to ban sales of RON95 petrol to foreign registered vehicles nationwide was imposed with the exception given to Malaysians who could produce the Mykad for verification. The ministry in the statement clarified that the government had received feedback of leakages due to abuse of of the Mykad for purchasing RON95 petrol. According to the ministry, petrol station operators at border areas had also complained of difficulties in controlling and ensuring the directive on the petrol ban was fully complied with. "On this issue, the government is of the view that the ban on all foreign registered vehicles from buying RON95 petrol and the withdrawal of the condition that allowed purchase of RON95 petrol on producing the Mykad throughout the country with the exception of motorcycles, is reasonable," the ministry said. The ministry clarified that the ban also covered NGV fuel following the discovery that 311,000 litres of NGV fuel were sold to foreign registered vehicles each year. " At the rate of the current subsidy, the NGV fuel subsidy enjoyed by foreigners amounted to RM360,000 each year," the statement added. -- BERNAMA

Need a bit of advice, please. Had a bit of AUD$ in a bank (which shall remain nameless for now) and am absolutely fed up with their (lack of) service. Would like to transfer that out into a new foreign currency fixed deposit with another bank while I wait for the AUD to (hopefully) pick up in strength vs the SGD. I'm looking for a tenure of 6 months (min) to 12 months (max). Which bank(s) would you recommend based on: 1) best interest rate for AUD FCFD? 2) least hassle in starting up an acct? 3) least overheads (fees) in starting up an acct? I intend to put the $$ in via a demand draft, but I can also do a wire transfer (some fees involved with the latter). The amount is not a lot but it should be more than enough to meet the "minimum" criteria for most FCFD (over $10k AUD). I'm just looking for a good place to park this small amount for a short time. I've only explored DBS in detail right now - they're giving just over 4% for a 6 month tenure, with 0.125% fees (min $10, max $120) to start the A/C. Maybank seems to be giving better rates on their website (4.75% for AUD with 12 month tenure), but I haven't called them up. Could those with experience with other banks please advise? Thanks in advance.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/condo-residents-in-jurong-west-shocked-to-find-foreign-workers-listed-as-tenants-under Does it matter, you may ask. If they do use your address and you aren't renting the place out, you may end up paying tax which is much higher instead of the lower tax rate for home stay. So how do you check? Go to this website: https://www.mom.gov.sg/eservices/services/tes If you do find illegal tenants using your address: You can log in to this MOM website with your Singpass: https://www.mom.gov.sg/eservices/services/tes After logging in, you'll be able to check if you have any foreign workers registered under your address, and deregister them.

Money-changing goes high-tech with an ATM SINGAPORE: Tasked to go on a last-minute overseas trip, former bank executive Andy Tang tried to find a money changer that was open and near his home late at night, but was unable to do so. Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/money-changing-high-tech-atm-heartlands-kovan-fx-buddy-11477902 Any one here tried exchanging $$$ at this ATM?

Totally agree with this guy. Time to clean up and get rid of foreign trash. ST Forum Mar 1, 2011 HIRING SINGAPOREANS FIRST 'Foreign' doesn't always mean 'talent' WHILE I agree that Singapore needs foreigners to stay competitive, there are levels of foreign talent ('Levy hike 'not a push for locals''; last Thursday). At a basic level, there is a need for work permit and S Pass holders in the service, construction and manufacturing industries, given the shrinking population and comparative lack of appeal for these sectors among most Singaporeans. There should be some control to mitigate the negative effects of attracting foreigners at this level, like falling productivity; and this year's Budget has started to address this issue with the revised levy. However, when it comes to foreign talent on employment passes, are we certain that Singaporeans who graduate from one of the best education systems anywhere are unable to fill such vacancies? As much as we need multinational companies (MNCs) to invest and create jobs here, there must be a delicate balance to reap the optimum benefits of combining local and foreign talent. To achieve optimum balance, the Government should have a process of checks to manage the quantity and quality of white-collar foreign talent. I have been working in MNCs for more than 26 years and my experience informs me that it is not always the case that the foreign help is cleverer or more productive than his Singaporean equivalent. In fact, there are many Singaporeans who are better and cheaper. In fairness, I have also worked with talented and experienced foreign managers from whom I have learnt much. However, it is troubling when the term 'foreign' becomes synonymous with 'talent', though that is not always so. James Ang

hi all, just thought that i should share my sister's experience with her helper that borrow from 2 loan sharks and 3 or 4 ( not sure )credit company, total amount about 9k initially, didnt want to bring it up but found out that the former helper is trying again to come back singapore and presumably, repeat the same trick of applying lots of illegal and legal loans then escaping back to Philippines below are her details, her name Maribel Cabigas Turalba attachment=272632:Screenshot_20181127-001422_Samsung Internet.jpg] hopefully, might save future employers from further troubles and this thread might be a good reference point for prospective employers

To each his own? Local women expect too much? Local men socially inept? Society consumerized to the extent even spouses can be purchased?

hmm... Trying to diverse my profile in this versatile mkt. I have some equities, some bond , some pty, some gold.. I was thinking of putting some $$ into FX FD, was intenting to put into AUD.. but was wondering if HKD is good also. Rate given by SC quite attractive now. Any advise from the financial experts in the forum :)

amidst the claim of FW that their issue can't be helped by MOM. now, ...the art of dodging bullets..

Please remove if already posted. If not please help to rename the title. Looks like a brighter future for bus commuters ..... if they succeed, http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/article.php?AID=12931 The Straits Times reported that Tower Transit which had submitted the third lowest bid, will operate the new Bulim Bus Depot - off Jurong West Avenue 2 - and 26 bus services from the Jurong East, Bukit Batok and Clementi bus interchanges progressively from the second quarter of 2016. These services are currently run by SMRT and SBS Transit. The company will get an estimated total fee of $556 million over the five-year contract period to run the services. Feeder services will run at shorter intervals of six to eight minutes. The current fleet of 290 buses serving the zone will grow to about 380. The Land Transport Authority said that commuters can expect higher service levels as all bus services will have scheduled headways of no more than 15 minutes in both directions during the morning and evening peaks. "The restructuring of the public bus industry and the injection of more competition will bring about even higher bus service levels for commuters. With bus contracting, the Government will plan bus services and can thus be more responsive to changes in ridership and commuter needs," said LTA's chief executive officer Chew Men Leong. Under the new regime, the Government owns the buses and other infrastructure, collects all the revenue from fares and pays transport firms to operate the routes.

hi Does this new rule affect Singapore registered Cars with LTA approved window tints ? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- https://www.todayonline.com/world/foreign-vehicles-dark-window-tints-cannot-enter-malaysia KUALA LUMPUR — Foreign vehicles with dark window tints will not be allowed to enter Malaysia. Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the Road Transport Department (RTD) will be instructed to carry out the directive as dark window tints were a clear danger. This is in response to concerns that the foreign vehicles entering the country might bring in drug traffickers and Islamic State militant group. “RTD will take immediate action in barring foreign vehicles with dark window tints from entering Malaysia.“Those entering Malaysia will have to remove the dark window tint of their vehicles,” he told the Dewan Negara today in reply to Senator Abdullah Mat Yassin. The issue of car-window tinting, mainly to reduce glare and help control the temperature inside the vehicle - has been divisive for many years. Malaysian motorists who tint their car windows and screen must adhere to Rule 5(1) and Rule 5(3) Motor Vehicles (Prohibition of Certain Glasses) Amendment 2000 - a law that has been widely ignored. The permissible tint levels are a minimum of 70 per cent visible light transmission levels for the front windscreen and 50 per cent for other windows.

I was trying to find the number of foreign vehicles on our Roads but I can't seem to find any. I mean all these talk about car-lite Singapore, why is the government not even looking at foreign registered vehicles? surely they have to do something on that front. Does anyone know the amount of VEP we issue? not to mention all the black smoke coming out of their vehicles.

HONG KONG—Chinese financial regulators this year slashed red tape and laid out the welcome mat for global bond investors, hoping to lure fresh cash into the country’s $9 trillion market. But new players have been slow to accept the invitation, wary about lingering ambiguity over the rules and how they will be enforced. “There are still too many layers of regulation,” said Jean-Charles Sambor, deputy head of emerging-market fixed income at BNP Paribas Investment Partners in London, which manages $1.2 billion in assets. Mr. Sambor said he is interested in China’s domestic bond market, but isn’t buying yet. Cautious investors cite a wide range of ongoing concerns, from uncertainty over tax treatment to the depth of the government’s commitment to liberalization. Foreign bond buying has picked up since the liberalization took effect earlier this year. Between February and June, the most recent month data is available, foreign investor holdings jumped 15% to 764 billion yuan ($115 billion), according to the People’s Bank of China. That is still just 1.3% of the market, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Among the new Chinese bond investors is Robert Simpson, a fund manager at London-based Insight Investment, which manages £499 billion ($662.73 billion) and bought a small batch of government debt this summer. “It’s a market that we wanted to be at the forefront of,” Mr. Simpson said. Yet Mr. Simpson said his firm is “taking our time to build up our expertise.” The PBOC didn’t respond to requests for comment. The National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors, an industry body that helps oversee the bond market, declined to comment. The changes in China, the world’s third-largest bond market, are part of Beijing’s push to open up the country’s financial system and expand international use of the yuan, while steering domestic borrowers to seek funding from markets rather than bank loans. The bond-market liberalization follows a similar opening of the country’s stock market, where foreign ownership reached $90 billion in June, about 1.5% of the domestic market. Until this year, global fund managers had to apply for permission to buy bonds, and their purchases were limited by quotas governing how much they could buy. They could use only U.S. dollars or yuan parked outside of China’s mainland. In some cases, investors could only repatriate a capped amount each year, or had to keep their money inside the country for up to one year. The few foreign investors who were granted easy access included central banks, sovereign-wealth funds and multilateral lenders such as the World Bank. Advertisement ‘There are still too many layers of regulation.’ —Jean-Charles Sambor Now, a wider range of investors has access to Chinese bonds, including commercial banks, insurers, securities firms, mutual funds, pensions and charities. Instead of seeking regulators’ approval to invest, they can just register before buying. Regulators also lifted investment quotas and eased restrictions on repatriation, as well as limitations on the types of currencies that could be used. China’s bond market remains undeveloped compared with the U.S. and other advanced economies. It is a relatively small source of domestic credit in the bank-dependent economy, and the pool of investors is concentrated largely among the country’s banks. Some investors consider Chinese yields attractive, with the benchmark 10-year government bond returning 2.8%, compared with 1.6% for U.S. Treasurys, and negative yields in Japan and parts of Europe. But gauging risk is tricky, due to grade inflation by local raters, who classify more than 90% of corporate debt as investment grade. There are still boundaries for foreigners seeking to enter the market. Investors can’t buy and sell by themselves, but rather have to work through an approved settlement agency in China to register, trade and repatriate money. By contrast, foreigners can buy bonds in emerging markets such as Thailand and Malaysia simply by placing orders with a broker. China’s bond market also appears to be off limits to the likes of hedge funds. The PBOC said in its liberalization announcement that only “medium-to-long-term institutional investors” were qualified to register. Many foreigners remain fearful that when things get tough, regulators will find ways to clamp down on trading. During last summer’s stock-market crash, Chinese authorities allowed thousands of listed firms to freeze stock trading, forcing locals and foreigners into holding positions while the market fell. “There is a risk of policy reversing with some kind of capital controls being imposed,” said Luke Spajic, head of portfolio management in emerging Asia at Pacific Investment Management Co., which manages $1.5 trillion in global assets. “It could happen. Policy has been in flux.” Some investors also worry about taxes. China’s Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation say foreigners need to pay a 10% levy on interest earned from bonds. But Chinese bond issuers don’t withhold this tax, and the regulator hasn’t spelled out who should be collecting it. The tax authority hasn’t clarified whether foreigners must pay any capital gains tax at all. “One regulator (the PBOC) has opened up its market, but investors are still waiting for another regulator (the tax authority) to come up with rules pertinent to that development,” said TieCheng Yang, a Beijing-based lawyer with the London law firm of Clifford Chance LLP.

Talking about security lapses at our border, I am sure most of us have seen many foreign-registered cars with dark-tinted glass driving around on our roads. But the question is why are they are allowed in the first place since this is supposed to be illegal? Though they are foreign cars, they must adhere to our traffic rules & regulations.....

TOKYO—Faced with sluggish domestic growth, Japan’s megabanks are expanding their role in financing global mergers and acquisitions, which hit a record level this year. Japanese banks have long ranked among the world’s top cross-border lenders, and have lent many billions of dollars to Japanese companies also seeking growth abroad through acquisitions. Now the banks are increasingly financing deals that don't involve their compatriot companies. Banks in Japan have had a hand in 59% of global M&A loan packages this year, up from 46% last year and a longtime high, according to data provider Dealogic. That means they have contributed at least a piece of $473 billion worth of global M&A financing such as syndicated loans, the data show. Japanese lenders have helped finance some of the year’s biggest deals. They included Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $104 billion acquisition of SABMiller, announced in October. The country’s top three banks— Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group—said they provided about $4 billion each to a $75 billion loan package for that deal. That represents only a fraction of the big three’s total overseas lending. The balance of Mitsubishi UFJ’s overseas lending totaled ¥42.4 trillion ($352 billion) as of Sept. 30, while Mizuho’s was ¥22.6 trillion and SMFG’s was ¥20.5 trillion. The banks don’t disclose the exact amounts of their contributions to M&A loan packages. Still, efforts to ramp up overseas M&A lending are a positive for Japanese banks, said Akira Takai, an analyst at Daiwa Securities,who noted that the money is mostly going to blue-chip companies with higher investment grades. “As dollar funding costs rise, financing for deals is more profitable than normal lending,” he said. With its financial strength, Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan’s largest bank by assets, sees an opportunity to move well beyond financing acquisitions by Japanese companies, said Makoto Kobayashi, head of the banking unit’s financial solutions group. “We’ve seen increasing number of financing deals for non-Japanese M&A activities this year and I feel our presence has been more recognized,” Mr. Kobayashi said. The bank’s alliance with Morgan Stanley has helped it expand its role in global deal financing, Mr. Kobayashi said. The Japanese bank took a 20% stake in Morgan Stanley in 2008, and the two have joint ventures in Japan. “In global deals that Morgan Stanley advises, we get financing even if they [the companies] are not Japan-related,” he said. M&A financing on a global scale presents some challenges for banks more accustomed to working with well-known partners. Takahiko Yasuhara, general manager of the international coordination division at Mizuho Financial Group, said Mizuho works to get to know the biggest companies in regions around the world so it won’t be caught by flat-footed if a deal is struck. “We are often asked by an acquiring company to provide financing for an upcoming deal Friday and to get back to them with a yes or no over the weekend. So to make a quick decision, we have to build close relationships with such companies,” he said. Mizuho contributed to $34 billion in financing toward Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ $40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan’s generic drugs businesses announced in July. SMFG President Koichi Miyata said he tries to meet a top executive at a major company whenever he goes on a business trip abroad. “Financing deals is about whether you can maintain relationships with a business client…so I’m trying to reach out to contacts during my business trips in Asia, the U.S. and Europe,” Mr. Miyata said. Despite having ample cash on hand, Japanese bankers acknowledge that they could also face a challenge raising U.S. dollars for overseas lending as interest rates rise following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate increase this month. Mr. Miyata said SMFG would use dollar deposits and the commercial-paper market, while trying to build dollar holdings by issuing dollar corporate bonds and converting yen.

Why!? Why!? Why?! are we still seeing such cases??? Still ask for discount??? CCB! http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/employer-used-household-items-hit-and-burn-domestic-worker-2015052 Employer used household items to hit and burn domestic worker By Elena Chong SINGAPORE - A woman heated a metal ladle until it was red hot and placed it on the calf and bare back of her domestic worker because she did not like the taste of the curry she cooked, a court heard on Friday. About a week before that, Suganthi Jayaraman, 33, used a metal pestle to hit Ms Naw Mu De Paw, 24, on her head for not frying vadais - a deep-fried snack - fast enough. The Myanmar helper bled heavily from the two spots she was hit, but was forced to continue frying, and to take the vadais to a provision shop which Suganthi and her husband were then running. Suganthi pleaded guilty to three of seven charges. The offences took place at her flat in Woodlands Drive 16. The court heard that during the time the helper was abused - from July 9 to Oct 2, 2013 - she lived in constant fear of being beaten again. She was often afraid to tell anyone about an incident and did not even dare to inspect her wounds as Suganthi would scold her for it, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Chua. Suganthi would also threaten the victim that she would get into trouble if she ran away or called the police. The victim eventually left the flat on Oct 3 and called the police. On the morning of Sept 30, Ms Naw woke up late because she had been working till 4am the night before. She was supposed to be up by 6.30am to send her employer's daughter to school. Suganthi confronted her and scolded her harshly after finding the girl still at home. Then she punched her in the face. Lawyer Louis Joseph said his client, who had been crying in the dock, deserved some discount for her guilty plea. "Even though her behaviour was unforgivable, she stands before you remorseful and regretful for what she had done," he told District Judge Christopher Goh, who will sentence her on June 5. Suganthi could be jailed for up to 10-and-a-half years and fined for causing hurt with a heated substance. The punishment for the other two offences is a jail term of up to three years and/or fine of up to $7,500 each. [email protected] Copyright © 2015 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Dear Bros & Sis, Came across this infographics by ROADS.SG regarding how to claim against foreign motorist if there is an accident with them and several threads asking what to do when involved with an accident with foreign motorists. Hope this helps!!

Shot by fashion photog Geoff Ang

Just in on CNA. Those driving in or taking 170 bus to JB for day trip how? Got exception?