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A NUS graduate finding difficulty in getting a job here finally accepted the offer to work with Mandai Zoo. "What to do? It's better to work like this than earn nothing...," he mumbled to himself. So the IT grad started work acting as a monkey. He had to wear monkey suit and mask, chew nuts and eat bananas. He also had to climb trees and jump from one to another to attract visitors. The zoo has since enjoyed tremendous business and an increase in visitor arrrival. Even world leaders wanted to see the super 'smart' monkey of the world. Unfortunately, one day when he was jumping from the trees he slipped and fell into a crocodile pool! "Oh my God....I'm dying... now," he thought, as a hungry-looking crocodile swam steadily towards his direction. In the middle of his struggle, suddenly he heard a soft voice, "Don't be afraid my friend... I'm from NTU."

Saw some ordinary folks who become fighters at night. Wonder how would they fare in street fights.

Given 1,000 times radioactive dose at SGH Share on linkedin Share on facebook Share on twitter Source Straits Times Date 15 Mar 2013 AuthorSalma Khalik AN ELDERLY woman was given 1,000 times the correct amount of radioactive iodine after a doctor got confused over the dose. Madam Jeet Kaur developed a thyroid gland disorder following the error in March 2007 and was later diagnosed with cancer. Two weeks ago, her family reached an out-of-court settlement with Singapore General Hospital (SGH). But they are now attempting to have the case reopened, accusing the hospital of trying to sweep it under the carpet. Her son, aviation company boss Prithpal Singh, has written an open letter to Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, saying that the mistake has led to "a major nightmare for all of us". Madam Kaur, who was then 75, went to SGH for a routine check of her swollen lymph nodes. It involved her being given radioactive iodine as part of the screening. An hour after she got home, Mr Singh received a call from the hospital. He was told something very serious had happened. Doctors were rushing to see his mother and asked him to be present. When they arrived, they immediately gave her medicine and took her back to SGH for further treatment. It turned out that the doctor had made a mistake over the dose. Instead of giving it in microcuries, he used millicuries, which are 1,000 times stronger. Mr Singh said his immediate concern was whether the error would lead to cancer. He was told it would not but that his mother would suffer from hypothyroidism as her glands would not produce enough thyroid hormones. She would need medication for life, which the hospital said it would take care of. Mr Singh said his mother had been active and healthy before the incident. But a month after it happened, she started to lose weight and became increasingly sickly. In 2010, she was diagnosed with low-grade lymphoma, a cancer of the blood. This meant she required several sessions of chemotherapy and hospitalisation. The family then decided to take action against SGH. "We realised the medical condition of my mother was a lot worse and more serious than what the doctors had made it out to be," said Mr Singh. He added that the hospital had insisted it was an "honest mistake" and not negligence. The doctor, who no longer works there, said in his affidavit that he was new to preparing radio-iodine and got confused. SGH agreed to pay compensation for the overdose but not for the cancer, since there was no proof that it was caused by the excess of radioactive iodine. The family said they approached a couple of nuclear medicine specialists to act as witnesses, but these experts refused because they did not want to burn their bridges with the hospital. "We just gave up," said Mr Singh. They settled for the $20,000 offered by SGH. But some days later, his mother received a bill for more than $4,000 for treatment in 2007 and 2008. Mr Singh has now written to the minister, saying: "Until today, we do not know if there were any lessons learnt from this incident and what actions were taken... The impression I got was that it was all conveniently dusted away under the carpet." Dr Andrew Tan, a nuclear physician with Raffles Hospital, said 100 microcuries is the standard amount of radio-iodine used for diagnostic purposes. But higher doses of up to 30 millicuries are used for treating cancer patients. "Anything above 30 millicuries is considered a high dose," said Dr Tan. He added that giving more than 10 millicuries would almost certainly shrink the glands and cause hypothyroidism. It is unlikely to lead to cancer, he said, although a dose of 1,000 millicuries is linked to a higher risk of blood cancers in younger patients. The Health Ministry said it had been alerted to the incident and was looking into the case. Professor Fong Kok Yong, who chairs SGH's medical board, said: "We acknowledge our responsibility for the lapse and had apologised unreservedly to the patient and her family upon uncovering the error." He added: "She remains in our continued care and we are committed to her well-being." [email protected] www.facebook.com/ST.Salma

hi anybody know where i can get hold of the daily straits times in johor bahru?

of late my auto transmission car is having difficulties shifting from P to D mode, I have fully depressed the brake pedal before changing the mode but still the shifting is hard. it couldn't be caused by the ATF as it was changed on Sept this year. (or is it the car is not fully warmed up? I usually drive off after 2-3 mins of starting up) While on the road, the changing of gear is not a problem as it does have unusual symptoms I know i should bring to a ws for advice.. but still I would like to seek views from some gurus here. thnks in advance..

Abled body men are out in the streets begging and they got the cheek to drag their frail looking mom along for "special effects". Bumped into one tonight with his sickly looking mother in her 70's, he claimed he was homeless and that they had not eaten the whole day. Took out my wallet and passed him a $2 note, I had 2 x $50 and a $2. He wasn't pleased at all and asked for my $50 !! I said "Unker, I'm not a rich man you know. If I got $10, I would give it to you, so that your mom can have a decent meal" "Go break into smaller notes lah" he said. "I'm in a hurry to fetch my son, take it or leave it and for goodness sake, let your mom sit down somewhere and go to a more crowded area to ask for 'donation', here so ulu" Now the more I think about it, why did he chose to beg at a deserted area (human traffic was like 10-15 per hour at most) Was he a conman? Haiz! Hope he'll wise up and look for a job instead of dragging his mummy around begging for money.

Heard this frum my gf whom heard it from her friend. she was chatting to her fren and mentioned to them what i told her about the 3x salary (actually 2 x) wedding ring standard actually started off as a marketing ploy by debeers to up the value of diamonds. Source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environme...gy/diamond5.htm http://blacktable.com/bruno031030.htm Her friends eyes open big big and told her.. now the standard is 6x monthly salary... i hear liao wanto vomit... told her no wonder SG girls not getting married anymore... seriously... 6x monthly salary, these girls kee siao ar?

http://wanbao.omy.sg/local/story20131105-15619 运尸车　中三万 为办丧事把棺材车和载尸车停路边，岂料15分钟中4罚单，棺材佬申诉：“尸体和棺材还在车上，给罚单太没人情味！” 这起事故昨午1点左右发生在中峇鲁惹兰孟比那（Jalan Membina）第22座组屋旁的小路。 　 total disrespect to the deceased and the family..no compassion and humanity at all... but wonder how come no one stayed on the truck? 　 p/s: Radx is that your company car?

Just to share my experience and alert all drivers. Pardon me for the lengthy post. And to those who like to comment only blame me cause of my mistake, or being stupid to waste $ on mods, save your breadth. It's not meant to debate on allowing illegal mods but simply to share with other drivers whose car are not stock to take note on. Hope it can be viewed constructively as LTA seem to be having less leeway and flexibility in the system. And with the high COE pricing, car owners are even being clapmed down more tightly. I wonder whats the revenue of LTA annually. A non-profit driven authority can be earning so much, I wonder wonder wonder... Just a brief of my incidents, In November, I was stopped in Lavender St and booked for my aftermarket number plate. Officer in-charge claim the material is not acceptable (laser cut) thus he booked me. I explained that onemotoring website guidelines only specify regarding font size and not material of number plate used and since its is clearly visible comapred to those faded off lorry number plates. He told me to write in to appeal instead as it is his job. I did not want to argue. I wrote in to appeal to LTA after receiving the summon on the guidelines for an aftermarket number plate as the details in website is vague and only measurement of fonts is mentioned. LTA only replied with a standard template informing me details available in website though I clearly asked for clearer specifications guidelines so I can re-order a "complaint" number plate. Not surprisingly, they did not bother to entertain my appeal for waiver. Neither did they provide more information to answer my queries. In December, I was stopped in CTE and guided to road chevrons with heavy traffic during that time. Officer in-charge told me my number plate did not comply to their standards. He took out a ruler and measured the fonts and its a little smaller than required. He took effort to explain to me that the smaller font size is the reason my number plate did not meet the standards. He also inform me that my DRL is not allowed even though its not switched on. I notify him that I was just book earlier the previous month and only made payment for the offence last week via AXS and will be changing soon as I wrote in to LTA for advise on the type of number plates they allow to be fitted, pleading for leniency. He replied that he will be giving me a verbal warning but also input into the system so the next officer who spotted me with this will issue me a summon. I thanked him for his graciousness. Moving on, I happily forgotten or rather did not bother to change my number plate as I was awaiting LTA reply on the guidelines (yes, I did not want to spend $ doing up another number plate that is non-complaint) which never came back... On 1 Feb, I received a registered mail from LTA. I picked up the letter and realised that I have been issued a summon for the offence committed in early December in CTE. Then I realised that I was "played out" by the LTA officer. But what I was curious is what took so long for the letter to come as the issue date is 30 Jan, not the usual 1-2weeks. Is it because of quota or target that the LTA officer decided to only submit my case in Jan? Today, I was stopped by another LTA for the same thing, my number plate. I showed him my summon received few days back and told him I already receive it and will duly change 1 as I was initially waiting for LTA email reply. He told me that now that he see it again, he will need to summon me again too. He referred to the summon (for number plate and DRL) and proceeded to tell me he will summon likewise. He carried on to ask if my sunshade is too big and wanted to summon me for it. I was surprised as it came as a default from the dealer, KAH motor. Hearing that he then claim that he will give me a chance but the shades on my windows are also not allowed while driving and to be only to be used during parking. I explained that the design of the shades only covers the rear half of front windows, thus 1st half is not blocked. This is designed for use when driving so it does not cause obstruction or danger to driver's view. He also passed me on that. He then elaborated that I can appeal to LTA if I want. I was rushing for time and took my license and IC back from him and left. Though some may be telling me to shut up and just pay for fines, I am more interested to find out if the LTA officers has a standard procedure or passed proper training to know about LTA guidelines. They always reply with an open-ended answer refusing to provide clear boundary as to what is legal and what is not. Many areas seem greyed; intentionally or unitentionally. A summon can reach my place only 2 months later though officer previously informed that its only a verbal warning. I mean that they can simply summon instead of playing dirty tricks like this.. Zzz Can anyone also firmly knows if laser cut number plates are allowed by LTA if the font type and size are within their specifications? Many thanks for reading. Your views and comments is appreciated.

HI anyone can advice any insurance coy as i got hard time getting insurance for my car as i had claim 3 times in the past 3 years cheers.

now car dealers have to offer special??

Saw the ad for BMW today. Some as high as 72 K. Anyone here things the 1 series is a good time to buy now that the recession is coming. COE should drop.

Got a pleasant surprise today. Normally pick up free TODAY n Business Times fr security counter, as the give free every morning.... However, today realised another pile there, and it was the ST TIMES they giving FREE! Hmmmmm, cannot be excess, nor could it be goodwill.....so what gives? I believe readership is on to a all time low, and thus, these could be salvaging their repute. what say u? for the record, i pick it up to see the orbituary oni, to see if they spell correctly [laugh]

Anybody reading this book? It is a fascinating read. Although must read when you are calm as the stories told will really make your blood boil. LKY and his "knuckle dusters" and the way that ST was bullied by garbermint.... If you are reading, share your favourite quotes here.

received a warning letter for doing 85km/h along lornie road, 2nd warning in less than a year my first warning was for doing 103km/h along KPE i thought that i'm only allowed 1 warning per year? or is it subjected to TP's mood? i feel guilty of speeding, and am willing to accept the summon, should i appeal to TP?

Mr Han, I salute you for having the guts to speak out for citizens!!! Steady!!! Respect!!! http://forums.condosingapore.com/showthread.php?t=15547

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/world/as...tml?_r=3&hp SINGAPORE

Please guess which shopping mall. Guard shot five times in robbery Share 0 inShareNew Straits Times Thursday, Jun 07, 2012 JOHOR BARU - A security guard at a moneychanger's outlet in a shopping mall is in stable condition after being shot five times during a robbery on Tuesday. The guard, in his 40s, who was armed with a pump-action shotgun, was no match for the robbers, who were armed with semi-automatic pistols. The robbers fired nine shots, with five hitting the guard. They then grabbed a sling bag containing RM100,000 in Singapore dollars (S$40,217) before escaping in a waiting car. Johor deputy police chief Datuk Ismail Yatim said the incident happened at 8pm when the guard and his employer, a moneychanger who operated from a shopping mall, were walking towards their car after closing the outlet. "They were intercepted by two armed robbers wearing masks, who got down from a car while another waited behind the wheel. "One of the robbers grabbed the sling bag from the moneychanger. "The guard went for his pump-action shotgun, but before he could fire, the two gunmen shot him." Ismail said the shots were fired at point-blank range. The guard collapsed while the moneychanger was unhurt. The robbers escaped in their car. The guard was rushed to Sultanah Aminah Hospital here and his condition is reported to be stable. Police believed the robbers had watched the moneychanger for several days before making their move. Ismail said nine slugs were found at the scene. "We are working on several leads and hope to identify the robbers soon," he said after a crime-prevention programme at the Johor Religious Department here yesterday.

http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC12...nd-Bugis-Marina SINGAPORE - Following a review of the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme on Saturdays for the Orchard and Bugis-Marina Centre ERP cordons, the Land Transport Authority has decided to implement shorter ERP operating hours for Orchard cordon, and lower rates for Bugis-Marina Centre cordon. From June 2, the ERP operating hours for the Orchard Cordon will start at 12.30pm instead of 11am. The LTA will also reduce the ERP rates for Bugis-Marina Cordon from S$2 to S$1 between 12.30pm and 2pm, and between 5.30pm and 6.30pm. The LTA said that based on its assessment of the existing traffic conditions in the two ERP cordons, ERP is still required on Saturdays to manage traffic congestion in the two cordons. However, its noted that trips bound for the two cordons on weekends are largely for shopping or leisure, and there was scope to fine-tune the ERP operating hours and charges "to give greater choice to motorists". "For instance, some motorists may be prepared to accept slightly greater congestion without having to pay ERP charges, while others are prepared to pay for a better travelling experience," the LTA said in a statement issued today.

For me its 1 + 1 (respectively) some of my friends is 2 + 2....so many many some worse... 2 + 0.5

If Malaysia increases toll charges for motorists using the Causeway, Singapore is likely to follow suit. This is due to a longstanding policy of matching whatever rates Malaysia sets, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA). Motorists using the Causeway could soon pay up to five times more in charges, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported recently. Under the proposed revision, they will have to pay tolls both ways, which are likely to be at higher rates. source: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/S...ory_765465.html

even undertaker take bribe Ex-undertaker charged with corruption Posted: 01 December 2011 1623 hrs SINGAPORE: A former undertaker was charged in court on Thursday with two counts of corruption for allegedly accepting bribes to reveal addresses of deceased persons. Victor Louis De Foe, 65, allegedly accepted S$50 from another funeral services company on two occasions in May this year for the information. He is accused of taking the bribes in Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National University Hospital. His case will be mentioned again on December 15. If convicted, he could be jailed up to five years and/or fined a maximum of S$100,000 or both.

With the price of $700K and yet it is three times oversubscribed....These couples combined income not exceeding $10K per month, are they living beyond their means? With all the recent D&B projects hitting ridiculous price range but still rec'd oversubscribed response...Now market has interpreted this price range is acceptable....Sighed....What's wrong with these people....

STRAITS TIMES Quote: Hundreds stranded at Tanjong Pagar after MRT breaks down Broken-down train leads to crowds at platform, station The crowd at Tanjong Pagar MRT station last night, after a train breakdown saw SMRT staff close the fare gates to prevent overcrowding on the platform. -- PHOTO: PHILIP LIM Hundreds of people were left stranded at Tanjong Pagar MRT station on Friday evening, after staff there closed the fare gates to prevent overcrowding on the platforms. The cause was an SMRT train which had broken down on the East-West Line, resulting in a 20-minute delay that affected some 6,500 commuters in total. An SMRT spokesman said a westbound train at Kallang MRT developed a fault at around 5.50pm, and had to be taken out of service. This led to the disruption on the westbound service between Kallang and Bugis. Trains were turned around at Eunos and Bugis to maintain the westbound service on unaffected stretches of the line. Full services resumed at around 6.10pm. Sauce: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_723610.html HWZ: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=3441312