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I have a genuine problem and I hope brothers here who are familiar with BCA, Strata rulings etc will be able to help. I just bought an old Condo Apartment recently. As it is more than 10 years, I can see that the outlook or aesthetic of the building has been marred by owners doing their own stuff. For example, residents using the fire exit stairwell to house their pet dogs; aircon trunking were ran out of a few apartments; windows were differently colours; Window drills for many apts were placed inside and some placed outside. In short, the entire block is riddled with differences. Std Procedure, I applied for reno permit and was approved. No rules and regulations were given. Except what time we can do our reno. To cut the long story short, we changed all the windows in the apt to plain silver ones. The next thing that happened was the Managing Agent came over to my Flat and fugged my contractor (which hap to be my fren). He demanded that my contractor removed them immediately as it does not conform with the aesthetic of the bldg. We then contacted him via phone and asked him to take a look at the building itself. His reply was: Why dont you write in to complain the individual owners who has not conformed? What u see is BEFORE my time! So not my business. I have not time to talk to you, you know, I manage many other condos! U better remove it or I will sue u. My reply was simple: Go ahead then. I am quite tu lan with this a**hole. I read thru the rules stated on MCA wensite and many are broad based. Any one who is an expert on this matter, care to comment objectively?

Anyone wants to start the ball rolling. 1. Company 2. Staff 3. What happened? 4. When did this bad experience start?

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/road-rage-singaporean-drivers-anger-management--11126586 On Channel NewsAsia's talking point show a couple of days ago on the topic of road rage. Interesting article... Food for thought Inside road rage: What turns Singaporean drivers into monsters? All it takes is an “idiot driver” hogging the lane to set him off. “It gets my blood boiling,” said the radio show caller who identified himself as Sin. “And the next thing I’d do is, I’d overtake him. I’d look at him, point the finger at him, call him to the side road, and then we settle it like men.” Asked by 938NOW host Keith de Souza about facing the consequences, legal or otherwise, of his actions, he said: “I don’t care.” “If a man is angry, he’s angry,” he said simply. Sin, who has been driving for more than 40 years, is not alone. Videos of road rage incidents on Singapore’s roads have been viral fodder on social media, while related court cases have made the headlines. According to a survey by insurer AXA, one in two Singaporean drivers feel that the roads have become less safe compared to three years ago – citing more aggressive drivers as the top reason. So what is it that is setting off seemingly normal people once they get behind the wheel? In a recent episode, the programme Talking Point delved into the question by getting into a car with a a driver who is candidate for road rage. Mac, as he wanted to be known, does not look like an angry person. In fact the 42-year-old project manager’s friend, Siva, described him as “a really awesome dude” – except for his “horrible temper” that “translates into his driving”. Mac admits that getting angry while driving is normal for him. He said: "I believe that's how it is on Singapore roads; a lot of people are stressed" “Sometimes, you start the day with certain emotions after leaving your home or workplace. The first few guys who cut in without signalling, you try to be ‘okay, never mind’. “But then it happens again – and it hits you to the maximum. You want to show some sign language to tell him that this is not okay.” Once, he even got out of his car to snap at the other driver. Talking Point host Steven Chia soon got a taste of Mac’s impatience. A bus on his left moved too slowly for Mac, and he sped ahead to cut it off – earning a honk from the bus driver. Asked if he felt that was “slightly aggressive” driving, Mac sheepishly agreed. “I was also thinking there was a car following behind me … I could be wrong." ENTITLED DRIVERS Asked why he thought there was so much road rage in Singapore, ROADS.SG founder Aloysius Fong noted that cars were very expensive here. “And so, the car will always be a treasured item. If you come close and you threaten my car or me, I will react straightaway,” he said. His director, Jason Lim, also attributed it to a sense of entitlement. “Everyone feels like they're right in these instances. Which is very amusing – it’s why they all send us their videos,” he said. ROADS.SG, which has about 200,000 followers, gets nearly 30 video submissions a day capturing all sorts of incidents on the roads. One type of driver, in particular, is often generalised as acting entitled: Those who own flashy and expensive cars. Mr Lester Tang, marcoms director of Sports Car Club (Singapore) – which educates its 120 members to be gracious on the road – agreed that there’s the impression that if one has a high-powered sports car, one must be an aggressive driver. “(But) sports car or not, road rage is a personality thing,” he said. Club president Rosalind Choo said she is not an angry driver, but has been the brunt of other drivers’ aggression. Once, she accidentally knocked another car while opening the door of her Lamborghini and apologised for it. “The next thing (the other driver) said was: ‘Don’t think that driving a supercar is a big deal.' I don’t know where she got that from.” TAKE A DEEP BREATH Can road rage be reined in? There is no specific law here that deals with road rage, but it is treated as a criminal offence once it becomes a case of voluntarily causing hurt. The number of such cases that involve road rage has actually dropped by nearly 30 per cent – from 90 in 2013 to 66 in 2017. On a personal level, though, grappling with one’s anger demons can seem daunting. One 938NOW caller described it as something that “takes over” a person. “You're out of control. When it happens, you are not yourself,” said the man, Mr Chan. But Mac was open to giving it a go at the Singapore Counselling Centre, which sees more than 70 clients a month who need help managing their anger. Mr Warton Ong, a professional counsellor, suggested an easy deep breathing technique – inhaling through one’s nose, holding for about four seconds, and exhaling slowly through pursed lips. “When we’re triggered, our breathing becomes very chaotic,” he explained. “It inhibits the way you think, feel and act. "Once we're able to stabilise out breathing, then we get the thinking brain back in action." "And we’ll realise, ‘I need not retaliate, because that will endanger my life’.” Mr Ong also showed Mac what he calls “thinking traps”, such as “should statements” – telling yourself that things should be the way you hope or expect them to be. Mac agreed that sometimes he is too quick to judge and blame others. He reckoned that he should focus more on his driving and less on others’. DID HE IMPROVE? Mac said he would try to apply Mr Ong’s suggestions in his daily driving routine – and after three weeks, Talking Point put his patience to the test. With senior instructor Mr Low Kar Yoong from the Singapore Safety Driving Centre secretly taking on the role of a bad driver, Mac was put through a few scenarios. In one, Mr Low drove slowly and uncertainly in front of Mac, who decided to overtake the road hog. Mr Low sounded his horn and Mac waved him off. Mr Low then cut into Mac’s lane and jammed on his brakes. Mac high-beamed him and sounded his horn. Finally, Mr Low cut into Mac’s lane again and made an abrupt left turn, and Mac did not react – he stayed calm. “I put myself in that position ... Sometimes we miss a spot and you want to turn. It could be me,” he reasoned. Giving his assessment afterwards, Mr Low said he thought Mac responded pretty well, pointing out that he “didn’t do any dangerous manoeuvres like overtaking me abruptly”. He added: “Some horning or high beams is fine to prevent accidents from happening." Mac shared that he felt calmer than the first time Mr Chia had sat in a car with him. The counsellor’s advice had proven useful. “Normally I would have used colourful words and pointed my middle finger. But today, I was taking a deep breath and trying to focus on my driving and my safety,” he said.

Some Sharing.How do one track and manage your daily emotional experience? Some of the ways I have tried to vent my emotions, say anger, is by going to the beach and shout our my lungs. It helps me quite a fair bit. How about you? Other ways I did is to engage in "self-love" technique where I will take bus to nowhere and let the bus decide where it stops at the interchange. I purposely don't check the bus number so that I will not know which interchange I am going to. Some other ways I used are drink a big glass of icy cold water one shot gulp down to cool myself down. Watching movie of my choice on my own is another good way to relax. Soak in a warm bath tub with an icy cold Tiger beer is good too. At the end of the day, i always ask self how did I feel when I am home to do "self-check" to have my own awareness. How about you; how do u best manage your emotions and what emotions are they? Cheers and thank you.

Hi MCF members! SGX has an upcoming free admission event on Saturday 26 November, 10 AM - 1 PM SGX Market Outlook 2017: Finding Income and Managing Risk Forum More info: http://notice.shareinvestor.com/email/20161126_sgx/index.html This is an interesting event as the current financial market is highly volatile. Many of your may want to hear and learn the various ways to manage risk and earn a decent income from investment in 2017. Click here to register. First 100 to arrive early for registration with receive a mystery gift!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Tata-Motors-managing-director-Karl-Slym-falls-off-Bangkok-hotel-dies/articleshow/29426972.cms Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym falls off Bangkok hotel, dies TNN & Agencies | Jan 27, 2014, 12.25AM IST NEW DELHI/BANGKOK: Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym died on Sunday after apparently falling from a high floor of a five-star hotel in Bangkok. Slym, who was scripting a revival strategy for the company, had gone to Thailand to attend a board meeting of the firm's unit there. A company spokesperson said a postmortem would be carried out on Monday. Details about the accident were sketchy. Bloomberg quoted a company spokeswoman as saying that he fell from the city's Shangri-La hotel, where he was staying, Slym, 51, a British national, was known to be an affable and highly-focused manager. He was the head of GM's India operations before joining Tata Motors in October 2012. He was the first expatriate and the fourth managing director of the $100 billion Tata Group's flagship company, Tata Motors. "Karl (Slym) joined us in October 2012, and was a valued colleague who was providing strong leadership at a challenging time for the Indian auto industry. In this hour of grief, our thoughts are with Karl's wife and family," Tata Motors chairman Cyrus P Mistry said in a statement. Tata Motors has been going through a rough patch particularly as buyers shunned the low-cost Nano after its spectacular debut in March 2009. It's other cars such as the Indica and Indigo too have struggled in a market hit by the economic slowdown. As part of a restructuring exercise Slym last week had announced a voluntary retirement scheme to trim costs. Slym, who had a Master of Science in Business Administration from Stanford University, was not new to challenges. Between 2007 and 2011, he had steered GM India through very tough times. Hit hard by the global economic slump after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, GM had gone bankrupt in the US, denting consumer confidence even in India. He soon came out with an answer to instil confidence among buyers, unleashing the 'Chevy promise' campaign, where he appeared in ads with his hand over the heart, promising to offer free maintenance and service for all GM cars for three years after payment of a nominal amount. The scheme worked for GM India. Although, Slym left for China, his stint at GM India had come under scrutiny a few months ago after the government ordered an enquiry over the recall of Tavera. Slym returned to India within a year, but joined Tata Motors. In an interview with TOI last Wednesday he exuded confidence and said the company may be down, but not out. In what was perhaps his last media interview, Slym also told TOI that he was confident that the Nano would bounce back in a modern and young avatar, and had detailed plans for new launches. "We are confident of regaining our second-biggest Indian carmaker position as we move ahead with new plans," he had said. Besides work, Slym loved cricket. He was upset of not getting a Mumbai Indians T-shirt of his size ahead of the 2013 IPL final match. "His death comes at a time when the company seems to be close to turning the corner, with new designs and a new petrol engine family, which hasn't been Tata's strong point," Anil Sharma, an analyst with IHS Automotive was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. Tata Motors recently introduced a new petrol engine for its passenger vehicles and has been planning to launch a new hatchback and compact sedan this year, its first new branded passenger vehicles since 2010. "It (his death) comes before his efforts bear fruit. We should be able to see the results of his work in a year or two," Sharma said.

Many people are forced to buy used cars for the following reasons with the COE being so expensive, and high downpayment The first problem that used car owners need to solve is therefore the issue of maintenance. Car owners need to identify good workshops and also learn the ropes of keeping their cars in good condition. A used car tends to have more wear and tear than a brand new car. Beside the normal maintenance requirements, used car owners also have to get to know their cars well. This involves listening out for any abnormal sounds, learning to describe these sounds (a whole new vocabulary comes into use eg clicking, screeching, whirring when stationary, high pitched, groaning when turning, etc) to their mechanics. They must also trust their mechanics' advice - is an overhaul required or just a minor replacement of parts. This is often a source of great stress. When they don't trust their mechanics, they often turn to friends who may or may not give good advice (and always end up confusing the car owner. Since new car prices do not appear to be coming down in the near future, it can be expected that more and more people will look at buying used cars; especially first-time car buyers. What considerations may be helpful to ease their car ownership experience and reduce their fear of being sold a lemon?