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Good thing for CAR forums, it's not so lonely hahaha https://www.ricemedia.co/culture-life-singaporean-men-50s-non-existent-social-circles/ Why Do Singaporean Men in Their 50s Have Non-Existent Social Circles? Culture Life 5 Jul 2019 Photos: RICE/Zachary Tang David Attenborough would have a field day with the male homo sapiens. They may be a strange species, but—I will give them this—they are consistently fascinating across the board. From broader subspecies (Alpha Males, Ah Bengs, Christian Boys) to more niche ones, such as Men Who Blue-Tick Or Selectively Reply Your Texts But Continue To Watch All Your IG Stories, each one leaves me with more unanswered questions than watching a certain minister talk about POFMA with Michelle Chong. But there is one subspecies I had never given much thought until now: Men In Their 50s Who Appear To Have Zero Friends. This subspecies is typically middle-class with their own family. Their lives follow a familiar routine: after work, they go home, have dinner, and spend the rest of the night watching TV or videos on their phones. Rinse and repeat—every day. In their spare time or on weekends, they do grocery shopping at their neighbourhood NTUC FairPrice, sit at mall food courts scrolling their phones, or just … I don’t know … exist? If you are in your early to mid-20s, chances are you live with one such specimen in your own home: your dad. A man in his 50s... Probably. “Aside from work and family, my dad doesn’t seem to have friends. I think this is a thing, you know,” a colleague enthuses one day. Let’s call her X. When I ask X to elaborate on her observation, she sends me a WhatsApp message that’s essentially an 800-word essay (!!). “I feel bad for him because my mom has quite a few friends, and so do my sister and I. When we’re not around, he’s kinda alone. Surely this will get worse when my sis and I eventually get married and move out,” she begins. “At his job, he’s the boss so he doesn’t really socialise with his colleagues. He eats a lot of his meals alone. And if something bad happens at work or at home who can he talk to right? He complains a lot to my mom about work and life already, but I don’t think it’s healthy to heap all of this onto one person. I don’t quite comprehend how someone can go through life with family being their only support system.” While X’s dad doesn’t hate socialising, he doesn’t actively build or maintain strong friendships either, probably because “he’s not looking for anything long term, just some social interaction every now and then”. Other friends reveal a similar pattern: their dads return home after work, then spend the evening with family and/or alone. Sometimes, they while away time by drifting in and out of their children’s rooms after dinner to make conversation, or park themselves on the corner of a couch watching Youtube. If they have regular ‘hobbies’, they’re mostly solitary ones, such as reading, exercising, taking walks, going to the museum, tending to potted plants, commenting on car forums, scrolling through Facebook, playing golf, and so on. Outside work, their social interactions are usually limited to their children or wife’s friends (although the latter is extremely rare). A few mention their dads “keeping in touch with friends” via WhatsApp, but rarely see their dads actually spend time with said friends. One friend says his dad attends the occasional school reunion, but otherwise doesn’t have friends whom he meets often. Their dads’ reasons for a relatively solitary lifestyle include “no time”, “no reason to [hang out with friends]”, “prefer spending time at home”, or simply that they just prefer life this way. A man in his 50s? Could be. Almost everyone intuitively understands how the exact demographic in question operates, but it’s trickier to pinpoint the root of the phenomena. And as a Single Female Millennial, I am the furthest possible subspecies from Men In Their 50s. But I get it. For starters, it’s common knowledge that friendships tend to dwindle significantly once you become a parent, and this is no one’s fault. Parenting is simply the most life-changing and all-consuming job in the world. When you’re not changing diapers, you’re thinking of the next time you have to change diapers. Or find a Good School for your child to attend. Or deal with conflicting in-law parenting techniques. Or basically just ensure your kid doesn’t die on your watch. Thus most parents would be familiar with the inevitable gravitation towards their child becoming the fulcrum upon which their universe hinges. This unconscious decision usually entails solely focusing on work outside of family, so they can provide for said family, and often results in the culling of many ‘frivolous pursuits’. Drinking with your buddies till 1 AM: No go. Sleeping in till 11 AM on weekends and spending the rest of the day in bed poring over Netflix: Not anymore. Spontaneously arranging to meet a friend in town for brunch just a few hours before: Are you shitting me? Absolutely not. Life becomes a succession of precise and predictable plans. With ‘adventure’ nuked from a parent’s vocabulary, every routine is meant to minimise any chance of mess ups, which might be a mere headache for regular folk but could actually cause a ruptured blood vessel for parents. Apparently though, this ‘affliction’ doesn’t quite befall their female counterparts (i.e. Women/Moms In Their 50s). Perhaps women, in general, appear to more readily engage in idle gossip and chit-chat, therefore giving themselves more opportunities to socialise with new friends or acquaintances in their later years. The same friends whose dads have little/no friends report their moms being more likely to turn colleagues into friends, develop interests and hobbies that grant them access to a whole new community, or become friends with other moms. So they don’t worry as much about what their moms would do or how they’d occupy their time after retirement. A man in his 50s. Or 60s? Sorry uncle, I can't tell. Dads In Their 50s, however, grew up in a time when men were usually the sole breadwinner in the family. They were taught to prioritise putting in hard work and doing everything to provide for their families. As a result, friendships were seen as secondary to their mental and emotional wellbeing. If there was time to cultivate thriving friendships, that was simply a bonus. Friendships were never a necessity for a ‘good life’. And so, in their early/mid-30s to 50s, Dads In Their 50s gave up friendships to raise us. Unfortunately, these years are crucial for building sustainable lifelong adult friendships, which are already tedious to maintain even if one were single. Once their children are grown adults, Dads In Their 50s realise they no longer have the social circles they used to have in their 20s. At this stage, their friends are either married and/or with their own families, or they’ve stayed single and led a starkly different life that it would be near impossible to reunite based on common interests. Unless they were intentional enough to rekindle friendships or court new friends, Dads In Their 50s can hardly make “friends” who aren’t other Dads In Their 50s. That said, fading friendships have been a thing since time immemorial, and seem to plague Men Of All Ages. As it is, a male friend once mentioned feeling like he’d lost all his friends after becoming a parent. He now struggles to bridge the chasm between his old life and his present reality as a parent. Though no man is an island, many eventually learn to be self-reliant, although not reclusive. A man on his 50s. I mean, who knows anymore, really? Many of us are eons away from retirement, so the prospect of how or with whom we’re going to spend our old age might be a mere abstraction. But, if our Dads In Their 50s are anything to go by, those of us who plan to get married and start families should pay heed to the seemingly inevitable death of our social circles. Even though pop culture rarely accords as much weight to friendships as romantic relationships, the significance of having close friends throughout life cannot be understated. After all, it is only healthy to have our own priorities that aren’t tied to familial obligations. If we don’t want to turn out like Men In Their 50s Who Appear To Have Zero Friends, then cultivating friendships should be an intentional and lifelong endeavour. But therein lies another issue: while our concerns that our Dads In Their 50s don’t get lonely in old age stem from a good place, we might also unwittingly be perpetuating the idea that solitude or being alone is a ‘bad thing’, and that extroversion or socialisation is the ‘norm’. There seem to be few people who are as comfortable taking walks alone, eating alone, going shopping alone, travelling alone, spending time alone, as Men In Their 50s Who Appear To Have Zero Friends. It might often be an inadvertent consequence of marriage and starting a family, but let’s not presume they aren’t perfectly content. It is often said that all you need is one person. Men In Their 50s Who Appear To Have Zero Friends remind us this person should, first and foremost, be ourselves. I LOL at this one hahaha...sounds like @davidtch If they have regular ‘hobbies’, they’re mostly solitary ones, such as reading, exercising, taking walks, going to the museum, tending to potted plants, commenting on car forums, scrolling through Facebook, playing golf, and so on. Outside work, their social interactions are usually limited to their children or wife’s friends (although the latter is extremely rare). A few mention their dads “keeping in touch with friends” via WhatsApp, but rarely see their dads actually spend time with said friends. One friend says his dad attends the occasional school reunion, but o

During 2013, COE was around 70-80k. Few times went over 90k. Have you decided to scrap current car and buy new one??

Why all those who quit are normally good employees? Here’s 8 reasons why! It is not all difficult to retain a good, hard-working employee in Singapore. The Lion City has an excellent working environment, salary packages are attractive and rank high up in Asia. But just why big companies will often force employees out of the door? Just why good employees leave? Well, because they simply know their talent can be realized somewhere else. If companies can’t provide a harmonious workplace, it won’t be hard to see why they can’t hold on to the talented employees. A consultancy report from CEB said that usually 33% of top-ranked employees normally have this conflict with their employers and would have started seeking for greener pastures just few weeks into their job! Once a company loses the heart of their top-ranked employees, the group will not just choose to say I QUIT! They will also lose interest in their job. Mr Michael E. Kibler from Corporate Balance Concepts INC, an employee coaching firm, has been researching why employees quit their companies. He attributes this to “executive brownout”. To put it simply, no battery already! Staff affected by this phenomenon become disengaged, demotivated and lose interest in their jobs. The more usual symptoms will be disengagement, discontent and lethargy. On the surface, their job performance is not bad, but they are secretly going downhill, and the exit door is where they are headed. Companies who want to avoid this from happening can try to avoid these 8 workplace practices, which normally get under the skin of top-rated employees. #1. Don’t put up too much rules Yes. Simple as that. Don’t make it like a school, where there are even restrictions on meal times and toilet breaks. Employees feel restrained simply by that and the doubts will start to creep in. All are working professionals, not little children! #2. All are equal In the eyes of the law, all are equal. But it shouldn’t be the same at a workplace. The elite will feel left out should the boss treat all equally. They will think that all the rewards and benefits they deserve aren’t any different from those who have poor work performance. #3. Enduring poor work performance If a company doesn’t act in helping an employee snap out from poor performance, such as sending him for courses, he will soon drag down the whole organization. The company got to solve this problem fast and not act blur. #4. Non acknowledgment of the talented ones Who doesn’t like to be recognized for the hard work put in? It is just like the Employee of the Month plaque you see in fast food restaurants. Seriously, this is the best thing a company can do if they are already not handing out 13th month bonus! #5. Show some love, lah! A relationship between company and employee is like watering a plant. If you don’t give it TLC (Tender, Love, Care), how do you expect it to grow. You must show care and concern for your employee! Remember, they are not robots! They are made of flesh and blood! #6. Future When distributing work, give them a perspective on how this will help in their career advancement. Don’t just simply shove them work and give them deadline! #7. Let them pursue other interests! Google normally gives out 20% of an employee’s worktime to let them pursue their own interest, and this should be of beneficial value to the company. It is vital as employees will enter a FLOW mentality. It is one that allows employees to enjoy their work, and expand their capability. #8. Make the workplace interesting If employees can’t enjoy sticking around a workplace, the company really got to start thinking. Ever heard of the saying, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy? Go Google HQ find out, look into their HQ, see how fun it is to work there! To sum it up, a good company shouldn’t be sending out terse notices all the time. They should learn to mix heavy work with great fun. That is the ultimate recipe to a conducive work environment.

Hi all, i would like to use this thread to share information when you are looking to trade in your cars to dealers. By making use of this information here, we can provide the trade in price that the dealers are offering for your current car, then the people who browse this thread can also offer you a price that is above what the dealer quotes you. WIN WIN for both sellers and buyers. Sellers can to sell their cars at prices higher than what dealers offer, buyers can buy used car at a much more reasonable price. Hope that i can start this thread to make buying/selling prices more reasonable, more transparent. format as shows. Make: Model Colour COE Mileage OMV Handover date Dealer $$$

Every now and than we get ppl posting all over the shop asking for help to locate lost car.......lost driver ................lost dog.............lost cat...............lost virgin.........lost whatever............... Start this "LOST N FOUND".........so please please please..................those want to post asking for help to locate whatever.................please dont go hijack other threads and spam all over the place................come and post here................gives those want to help a easier life also lah............. MODS...............is it possible to pin this thread so that it does not get lost also..............otherwise "LOST N FOUND" also lost............laugh the hell out of everyone.................

I have been thinking for awhile now but still don't understand how this works. I always see pple saying that when COE crash (I don't know how low is consider crash) those pple with high COE (how high is high? 90k 80k 70k?) can change car as it's more "worth" it. But then we can only get back the unused COE half of the OMV (less CEVS if applicable). am I missing something else? So if I change car after 3 yrs my depreciation will be very high like 15-20k per year? so how is it worth changing? Pls enlighten me lol...

Not perfect but sure sextisfy you

Some companies only give 500 to1k for transport allowance, can you afford to buy a car just for the sales job? Or u may switch line? Currently got offered a sales job with 1k transport allowance. After calculation I think it need at least 1.5k in order to own a car now. Now really don't know what t do

. . . please feedback to MDA at http://www.mda.gov.sg/AboutMDA/NewsReleasesSpeechesAndAnnouncements/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?news=640.

Maybe this should go into Feedback & Suggestions, but I believe posting in Lite & Easy gets more attention. Ever since all those drama 2.5 years back, I decided to take a back seat and be a silent reader, but cannot hold back anymore to write something. The system has migrated from a Moderators govern to a more members govern by the means of the "Praise" and "Dislike" function. How many members understand and are actually doing this? People seem to be going after the praises, and getting mad at dislikes ( maybe most dislikes are personal). What I see is really hypocritical. After the admin came forward and made an announcement, people started to come in and agree this agree that, why did they not do anything about it earlier? There was a thread earlier before the admin spoke, how many actually went it to support? Surprising those who supported the all black avatar did not comment much or if any at all, they did it by "action". My respect to these members. Why is there a need for such a drama in the first place? yellow cards fly freely and "banned" was common 2.5 years ago, "banned" is still common now as I see it. Gearoil, 5052 posts, banned Darryn, 12817 posts, banned picanto, 12441 posts, banned comegetme, 258 posts, banned beside Gearoil, the rest were banned within the last month, how serious were their offends compare to those sex discussions? In my opinion, it seem like a case of, 'you are banned because I don't like you, and you are safe to do whatever you want as long as you are with me." Oh well, this may be my last post before I cannot log in anymore, so be it. lol Still, I want to do my part, and therefore I am going to continue with the "ALL BLACK AVATAR" here, leave the other thread out because the title did not spell as clearly. so it goes. Those who are for a cleaner MCF, change your avatar to an empty black image."

Hi Anyone? 3M or any brand also can

Hi all. I just went my regular ws (Autobac) in JB for a service n 4 wheel computerised alignment. Seems now they only do the Side-Slip(Toe-in/Toe-out) adjustment for the usual RM30-45. If u wan to adjust the camber they charge extra. Looks like those JB WS r thinking of ways to increase the charges to us. If they wan to charge extra for the camber adjustment just walk away. :angry: There r still many places that do the side-slip n camber adjustments for RM30-45 as b4. Anyway I wil not b going to Autobac anymore cos their charges n prices seem to have increased since they shifted to their new place further down the road.

Pls remember to wear covered shoes else you can't take the joy rides.

Hey bros! if u are driving to see rally, especially WP rally, pls do put park at properly and put coupon... my hse is a few blocks from the rally venue and alot ppl park at my carpark... first time see traffic warren so on the ball.. alot ppl anyhow park, park at handicap parking or park double yellow all kenna... a few LTA traffic warrens driving motor in my estate's carpark.. i see alot ppl kenna.... so if u are driving to WP rally... pls do put coupon and park in proper lots.... Anyway, i happen to drive pass monfort secondary school( near WP rally site).. saw like at least 10 new kind of police van inside.. like machiam waiting for riot to happen... wow... is tat really necessary??? and i do wonder if its PAP's rally, do they do all these? with all the traffic warrens and "plain clothes" holding video cam recording everything and everyone...

Some 7,000 pedestrians with disabilities will soon have more time to cross the road, as the Land Transport Authority (LTA) yesterday announced an extension of the Green Man Plus scheme to 235 pedestrian crossings in 13 housing estates. The scheme works with the aid of a concession card that pedestrians can use to tap on a specially designed card reader, which will trigger the addition of more time - between three and 12 seconds - for the pedestrian to cross. New features of the system include a larger sensor area. A new card will also be rolled out for pedestrians with disabilities and these cards are expected to be ready later this month. It will feature the text, Green Man Plus, in Braille so that users with visual disabilities will be able to identify the correct card to use. Currently, only the elderly can activate the system with their purple senior citizen card. The LTA's move was welcomed by voluntary welfare organisations yesterday. "It's a good idea and it shows that the authorities are considering ways to improve the lives of the elderly and disabled," said Disabled People's Association president Nicholas Aw. Ms Joyce Wong, senior assistant director for rehabilitation services at the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD), hopes the scheme would eventually be made available at all traffic lights. She also urged the LTA to consider opening up the scheme to families with young children, or children with behavioural issues due to their disabilities. Sites at Bukit Merah, Outram, Chinatown and Queenstown will be among the first to be fitted with the system. Other estates that the scheme will be extended to include Geylang, Hougang, Kallang, Marine Parade, Rochor and Tampines. Estates, such as Ang Mo Kio, Bedok and Toa Payoh, were chosen due to their high elderly population. The entire project is slated for completion in 2014 with a cost of S$11,000 per crossing. Beyond the extension of the scheme, Mr Aw felt that the LTA could do better in the design of pedestrian crossings to aid pedestrians with disabilities. He cited the junction near Telok Ayer Market, where pedestrians could walk diagonally across the junction, as an example. Ms Wong, meanwhile, felt that authorities could look at providing alternative routes for people with disabilities if it rains. Both added that road safety campaigns and public education on graciousness would also be helpful. Source: http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC12...-to-cross-roads

Not exactly a loophole. But just wanted to run this idea through your guys to see if it actually works.... Let's say you confirm + double confirm that you'll buy a property within this year. And assuming that you have more than enough cash to cover whatever cash component (stamp, min-sum or whatever they're called) for your property... Do a CPF Cash topup with the extra cash. This should be tax deductable, isn't it? Then just use the same amount of CPF to pay for the rest of the non-cash component of the property. Won't this work? In short. You have 100K cash. Your property requires 50K cash. Put 50K cash into CPF via CPF cash topup. Assuming you made so much that 200K are taxable that year, with the CPF topup, you have only 150K taxable instead. Then you just use the bigger CPF to pay for the rest of the property. You end up with the property and less tax payable. Is this workable?

Keen appetite for roast meat joint 22 March 2012 Straits Times THE asking price for the famed recipe and premises of Kay Lee Roast Meat Joint is a cool $3.5 million, but one day after this was reported, inquiries came streaming in. More than 40 parties - 39 from Singapore - have expressed interest, with the two highest bids at $2.5 million and $2.8 million. Senior property consultant Raymond Lo of Knight Frank, the real estate broker for Kay Lee's owners, said: 'Most of the callers are businessmen or restaurant operators, and most are interested in hiring people to work for them. It's an investment of sorts.' Mr Lo, who is confident he will close a deal by the year end, obviously thinks the eventual buyer will have a clear winner on his hands. He said: 'It's profitable. As long as you take over, you make money.' But the owners of the 30-year-old eatery, Madam Betty Kong, 66, and her husband Ha Wai Kay, 62, are anxious as they want the Guangzhou-style recipe for Kay Lee's signature pork ribs, char siew and duck, for example, to stay true to tradition after the change in ownership. Madam Kong, the spokesman for the business, told The Straits Times that the 50-year-old recipe, which she and her husband have priced at $2 million, was 'not just a piece of paper'. The buyer will be taught how to roast the signature Kay Lee duck 'until they perfected the recipe', said the chatty woman. 'The price includes the brand name. We will teach them till they pass,' she quipped. The hothousing in Kay Lee's art of roasting meats is expected to take two to three months. With the recipe at $2 million, the remaining sum is for the freehold shop space in Upper Paya Lebar Road, a 1,313 sq ft space valued at $1.25 million, said Mr Lo. In testimony to Kay Lee's popularity - or because of the news of its impending sale - a line of customers was waiting to be served yesterday when The Straits Times dropped by. Some people ate there, but others were buying takeaways. So is the asking price too high? Madam Kong, who lives with her husband in a four-room bungalow in Hougang and drives a grey Mercedes-Benz, said she was aware that many parties think the asking price is a tad stiff. 'We are considering the offers,' she said, volunteering the information that the shop makes a net profit of at least $2,000 a day. The president of the Restaurant Association of Singapore, Mr Ang Kiam Meng, said that, going by gut feel, the price seems high, and urged buyers to crunch the numbers. 'Without proper analysis, it's difficult to tell whether the price is really too high. It depends on how the investor looks at it,' he said. Mr Ang, who runs the Jumbo chain of restaurants, suggested that Madam Kong and her husband act as consultants post-sale. 'A business is usually way more than just a recipe and a brand name. It's about management; there are many things that can go wrong when there is a takeover,' he said. Madam Kong and her husband have put up the business for sale because neither of their two children want to run it. Potential buyers who were contacted said they are doing the maths. A 35-year-old IT manager who asked to be known only as Ben said he hopes to clinch the sale and run the place with three friends. 'We think we can make the business work, as long as we have a good team behind us. It's not rocket science,' he said. Another prospective buyer identified himself as the one behind the $2.5 million bid, but declined to elaborate. And then there is Mr Jackie Goh, 48, who runs a roast duck business in Phillip Street in Chinatown. He said he spoke to Kay Lee's owners three weeks ago, but decided against making an offer. 'We think we'll not be able to break even so quickly. The price is quite high,' he said, adding that he could offer no more than $1.8 million. He said he bought his current roast duck stall and recipe for $200,000 just five months ago. He added, chuckling: 'I didn't dare make an offer. They may chase me out.' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What other hawkers say PRICELESS RECIPE 'Our recipe is priceless, we cannot put a value to it and we will never sell it. It is a family heirloom and we will pass it on to our children.' Mr Lim Swee Seng, 42, who runs Toa Payoh Rojak at Old Airport Road Food Centre. The stall has been around since 1971 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REASONABLE PRICE 'The $2 million price seems like a reasonable price to pay for a secret recipe. The brand has been built up over the years. If I sell my recipe, I will also price it at around $2 million.' Mr Chia Kar Wing, 49, owner of Union Farm Eating House which closed last month. It is famous for its paper-wrapped chicken dish and its owner plans to start business again soon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOO EXPENSIVE 'Buy a roast duck recipe for $2 million? That's too expensive. Even if we sell our recipe for $30,000, we doubt people will want to buy it. It's very tough to make these traditional dishes, we spend a lot of effort getting everything right. If we ever sell our recipes, we would want to train the person for at least one year and teach him exactly how to cook the food and maintain the same quality we had.' Mr Richard Ng, 58, who is co-owner of China Street Fritters at Maxwell Food Centre. The stall is famous for its traditional ngoh hiang (pork rolled in bean curd skin) dish going back 70 years -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISH ISN'T RARE ENOUGH 'To pay $2 million is too much, especially for roasted meats. You can find that anywhere in Singapore. The price should depend on how rare the food is in Singapore. For example, oyster cakes are hard to find now. It's a traditional Fuzhou dish and our own oyster cake recipe was passed down from mother to daughter for generations.' Madam P. Hoon, 54, who helps her mother run the famous Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster Cake stall at Maxwell Food Centre. She said she would be happy to sell her oyster cake recipe for $50,000

[/size]To All those Born in the 40's, 50's , 60's & early '70s.. The article below was written by Patrick Teoh in his blog "Niamah!!". To All those Born in the 40's, 50's , 60's & early '70s... First, we survived with mothers who had no maids. They cooked /cleaned while taking care of us at the same time They took aspirin, candies floss,fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrups and diabetes were rare. Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/ motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a private taxi was a special treat. We drank water from the tap and NOT from a bottle. We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seem to affect us. We go to jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes. With mere 5 pebbles (stones) would be an endless game. With a ball (tennis ball best) we boys would ran like crazy for hours. We catch guppy in drains / canals and when it rain we swim there. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worry about being unhygenic. We ate salty, very sweet & oily food, candies,bread and real butter and drank very sweet soft sweet coffee/ tea, ice kacang, but we weren't overweight because..... .. WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. AND WE DON

Tue, Mar 13, 2012 The New Paper When her employers leave their condominium for work in the morning, Tara's heart beats faster. Because it is time to meet her boyfriend. Despite her employers not giving her a day off for fear that she will mix with bad company or find a boyfriend, the maid has found an admirer. The 23-year-old Filipina, who declines to give her full name, says she is dating one of the condominium's security guards. "He works the night shift and we meet in the morning after my employers go to work," reveals Tara, who came to Singapore two years ago. Every morning, her employers send their two children to pre-school before going to work. She is then left alone at home with the kids' elderly grandmother. Tara, who has to walk the dog and go to the market in the mornings, takes the opportunity to meet her boyfriend during that time. She believes her employers do not know about her boyfriend. On two occasions when the grandmother was not home, Tara even invited her boyfriend to her employers' three-bedroom condominium unit. "I was very scared that someone would come home suddenly. So I stopped inviting him. We just meet outside now. We go to the park nearby. Few people go there because it's very hot," says Tara. "I cannot let my employers know I have a boyfriend or they will send me back to the Philippines, and I need my job here." Tara says her employers have read about the recent news of a Bangladeshi man and a Filipino maid found dead in a Geylang hotel. They warned her about having a boyfriend here. "They said that things often go bad for people like us who fall in love here," says Tara, who started dating only six months ago. "I don't think this will happen to me. My boyfriend is very nice to me." Tara does not see the need to tell her employers about her boyfriend, and feels that even though she works here as a maid, she deserves to have some degree of privacy. "Maids are human beings and we have feelings too. It is natural to fall in love," says Tara, who is married in the Philippines and has a four-year-old son with her Filipino husband. "I still love my husband and my son. But I am all alone in Singapore and I need someone here too, because I need to stay and work here for many years to support my family back home." Tara smiles shyly when she tells this reporter how caring her boyfriend has been. "He takes me to the supermarket on his motorbike. Before, I had to walk under the hot sun and carry the heavy groceries home by myself. He also helps to top up my phone card and recently, he bought me an iPhone so that I can surf the Internet, watch videos and log on to Facebook," reveals Tara. She keeps her rendezvous with her boyfriend to two hours as she needs to get lunch ready before the kids come home at 12pm. Like most maids, Tara is hired to take care of the children and the elderly in the family. She does all the household chores and ensures that the home is spick-and-span when her employers return home from work at 7pm. On her employers' advice on staying in so she can avoid "bad company", she says: "I don't know what they mean by bad company. They don't realise that I need friends too. I like to go to the supermarket, where I meet other maids. We all understand each other," says Tara. "Many maids have boyfriends. We will introduce friends to each other and take care of each other, whether or not we have a day off. "New maids who come here will be given a day off. I am not so lucky. My employers will only give me $20 more for each Sunday I work." Tara says she used to think highly of Singaporean employers before she came here. But after working here for two years and hearing the stories of other maids, she does not think that Singaporeans make good employers. She explains: "My employers read all my letters I write to my family and those that they send to me. They don't give me any privacy at all. I feel that I have no rights working here. How can anyone be working without a rest day? "They scold me all the time and call me 'stupid' behind their children's back. But in front of their children and friends, they seem very nice to me." Tara recalls how she would often cry herself to sleep in her first year here. But she soon learnt how to handle her employers' complaints and scolding. Even though she does not have a rest day, she manages to take afternoon naps inside the bathroom. Occasionally, Tara amuses herself by trying on her female employer's dresses and taking photos of herself with her iPhone. "Sometimes I hide in the bathroom to watch videos on my iPhone. I love my iPhone so much and I cannot let my employers know I have one. They will take it away from me. I keep too many secrets inside my iPhone."

Just a caution for brothers trying to enter with less than 3/4 tank. Noticed recently they've been checking cars entering. Went in twice for supper (after 11pm~2am timing).....once on weekday and once on weekend. Once i was asked to stop for a quick peek probably at my fuel meter (weekend) and another time the car in front of me was asked to stop for a sec probably to check. Not too sure if they checked randomly but just a word of caution for those whom tries.

i just saw another trailer.... power siah

Nibiru, the planet is coming closer to earth ....... Believe it or not .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy1xlRcoY6E...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2tldkvxVC0...feature=related

Just sharing a post from vrz which I found to be very true as my dad also has this same model. For those who looking to buy china cars (Hopefully used as now its not worth it to buy new). and for those who still have impression of Chinese cars from 2000. Its already 2012

DO you think the ex-students are RIGHT or WRONG? A Bunch Of Young Lawyers Are Suing Their Law Schools Because They Don't Have Jobs By Array | Business Insider

sometime i see ppl sitting at the traffic lights taking down notes, seems like a survey or something. what exactly are they doing?