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  1. The government shutdown in the United States is into its second week with no end in sight. Whether a civil servant forced into no-pay leave, a war veteran missing his monthly disability cheque, or a patient with cancer on a state-funded clinical trial, the refusal of Congress to open the federal purse has had far-reaching effect in the lives of ordinary Americans. From across the Pacific, what is unfolding in the US may seem like the sort of hellish political dysfunction that would never touch our sunny shores. But a Singapore Government shutdown is - though extremely unlikely - not impossible. In fact, imagining it illuminates the quirks of this little red dot’s system of government: most schoolchildren would have to stay home, for example, but not researchers. The Housing Board hotline would be closed, but not the Town Council’s. Construction of the new MRT lines would screech to a halt, but the trains would keep running as they are operated by publicly-listed companies. The scenario in which the Singapore Government could shut down would begin with Parliament refusing to pass the Supply Bill, which is the Government’s planned expenditure for the year. This is exceedingly rare in Westminster systems as the majority party in Parliament forms the Cabinet, unlike in the US. It is even more unlikely in a unicameral system like Singapore’s - as there is no Upper House or Second Chamber to block legislation. But a backbench revolt or a split in the ruling party could occur, or, one partner in a coalition government could refuse to support the Spending Bill. These might give opponents enough votes to defeat the Government’s Budget. The People’s Action Party’s is currently so dominant that the prospect of a coalition government is almost fantasy, and the last time there was a split in the ruling party was back in 1961. But the Constitution has laid out rules for every eventuality. It states that if Parliament does not pass a Supply Bill, the Finance Minister may take money from the Government’s Consolidated Fund, where all its revenue accrues. It is currently at $206 billion. But he can take only up to a quarter of the previous year’s Budget. Essentially, the government can keep going for only three more months. This is designed to tide the country through a General Election. The failure to pass a Supply Bill is by convention equated to a vote of no-confidence in the Government. That is, the Prime Minister should get the hint and advise the President to dissolve Parliament for elections to be held. If he remains intransigent and refuses to do so, the President can actually unilaterally declare the seat of the Prime Minister vacant, and appoint someone else in his place who would call for elections. This would be a way out of the impasse. It would only be in an uncanny string of events - Parliament defeats the Budget, the Prime Minister refuses to resign, the President does not act, and this stand-off goes on for more than three months - that a Singapore government shutdown occurs. Implausible and incredible, perhaps, but not impossible. So what of ordinary Singaporeans faced with a shutdown? The good news is that the national life may actually be disrupted less severely than expected. Yes, tens of thousands of civil servants would be furloughed, which is to be essentially forced into no-pay leave. But due to two entrenched quirks of the Singapore system - decentralisation and endowment funds - much will keep running. Take the Town Councils, which were established in 1989 for HDB towns to be managed locally. They are largely funded from service and conservancy charges paid by residents, and maintain their own finances and operations. The Government gives the Town Councils a yearly grant of 15 per cent of their total incomes each year. Chua Chu Kang town council chairman Zaqy Mohamad says that this is not a big enough sum to affect daily operations in the event of a state shutdown that would hold back the money. So, the trash will still be collected, the void decks still washed and the blown lightbulbs still replaced. What may be put on hold would be longer-term projects like lift upgrading and re-roofing. Even then, each Town Council can vote to tap into their reserves, known as sinking funds. Given that these are in the tens of millions, crises should be averted. Such decentralisation is also entrenched in institutions that the Government supports like public hospitals. It gives them a lump sum every year - an estimated $2.8 billion this financial year - to subsidise the treatment of lower-income patients. But otherwise, the hospitals are run like private institutions, collecting fees from unsubsidised patients and paying doctors and nurses themselves. They also have private patrons and endowments funds which would likely be tapped on in the event of a cutback in government transfers. This is also the case for Independent schools, which means that not all children would be stuck at home in the case of a shutdown. Still, their operations would have to be rolled back, and staff may have to work for no or less pay. But there are several areas of Government spending that would literally not be impacted by a shutdown at all, thanks to the creation of endowment funds. Much has been made in the US of state-funded clinical trials having to turn away kids with cancer due to the lack of funding. This would not happen in Singapore: The Cancer Science Institute of Singapore is one of five research centres funded by the $3.4 billion National Research Fund, which would be unaffected by Parliament’s failure to pass a Spending Bill. Other people to escape unscathed: low-income families getting cash assistance from the $1.3 billion Comcare fund, senior citizens re-skilling through the $3.8 billion Lifelong Learning Fund, and every holder of a Singapore Government bond, known as Singapore Government Securities (SGS). A debt ceiling crisis of the sort looming over the US would literally never happen here, because Singapore doesn’t rely on borrowing to fund its spending. But it doubly could never happen here because of the $389 billion Government Securities Fund that has been squirrelled away. That is, if every SGS holder wanted to encash his bond today, the cash to pay them all is in this fund. Singapore is a country that always pays her debt. All of these safeguards may add up to surprising upside to a government shutdown. The glaringly-obvious bad news? Such a scenario would put Singapore in a tiny group of countries which have failed to govern themselves. Among developed countries, this group numbers two: the US, and Australia in 1975. Investor confidence would disappear overnight and the whole economy could well enter a downward spiral. Even if some of daily life were to go on as this thought experiment has shown, the signal would be that Singapore “cannot get its act together” - as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said of the US on Tuesday. And that would be a devastating, near-fatal, blow. Source: http://www.singapolitics.sg/views/what-if-singapore-government-shut-down
  2. is this posted before? Times are bad......many dealers chut pattern........... is this the same company that 1 of the forumer dad had encounter? =================================== http://ride.asiaone.com/news/general/story...eaving-some-fix Christopher Tan | The Straits Times | Monday, Apr 8, 2013 SINGAPORE - At least four motorists have been left in the lurch after used-car trader Galaxy Carz closed down recently. The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) received four complaints last month against the trader in Turf City. Case executive director Seah Seng Choon said the complaints pertained mainly to consumers not getting their cars despite having made payments. Mr Tan Meng Wee, 46, is one of those affected. He got his car after paying for it in cash in mid- January. But the fund manager got a rude shock when his Volkswagen Passat was repossessed last week. "I thought it was an early April Fool's joke." Apparently, Galaxy Carz had not transferred ownership of the car to Mr Tan. It was still under the ownership of another dealer, which repossessed the car. In another case, 3-D designer Doreen Wong, 31, sold her Honda Civic to Galaxy Carz last October. The car carried an outstanding loan with Maybank. Galaxy Carz resold it to logistics executive Peter Tan, 49, without settling the bank loan. The bank is expected to repossess the car from Mr Tan soon. All three parties have been trying to reach Galaxy Carz, but to no avail. Its unit at Turf City is closed. Calls made by The Straits Times to its director Cheong Wai Keong went unanswered. The Land Transport Authority said it is investigating the cases with the police, who confirmed reports have been made against Galaxy Carz. Both Mr Tan Meng Wee and Ms Wong have also engaged legal counsel. Singapore Vehicle Traders Association secretary Raymond Tang said it was aware that Galaxy Carz had closed, along with a couple of other used-car dealers since the Government's curbs on car loans kicked in on Feb 26. But Mr Tang said: "We are not sure if they are affected by the loan curbs, or are using that as an excuse to quit." The curbs limit car loans to no more than 60 per cent of the purchase price, and the tenure to no more than five years. The restrictions sent demand diving for cars, as fewer buyers could afford the heftier down payments. This, in turn, brought certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums down. Used-car dealers bore the brunt of the curbs as stocks acquired before the cooling measures were devalued overnight in tandem with lower new car rates. The Monetary Authority of Singapore on Friday granted used- car traders a 60-day reprieve on the financing curbs to help them sell their stock. But industry players said most will still have to bear substantial losses because car prices will remain depressed.
  3. http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1730...ory=Environment video http://videos.wittysparks.com/id/68935381 wtf... the end is near....
  4. Virtual Map shuts down street directory site after losing suit By Chua Hian Hou POPULAR online map StreetDirectory.com has shut down, after the company behind it, Virtual Map, lost its appeal against the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) over copyright infringement last week. The SLA, which originally issued Virtual Map a licence for its maps of Singapore, sued the company in January 2007 for continuing to use the SLA maps even after the licence had expired. Virtual Map lost it case in the District Court, and was ordered to stop using the infringing materials. It appealed to the High Court, but lost again. The site was taken down two days ago, said Virtual Map's managing director Firdhaus Akbar, but the company is currently working with a set of replacement, non-infringing maps, and hopes to bring the site back online in 'about two days'. The are based on its own surveys, he said. The company also intends to appeal to the highest court, the Court of Appeal, to reverse the decision, he said. An audibly bitter Mr Ackbar, who was interviewed over the phone, said the privately-held company is calling a shareholders meeting either on Friday or Saturday to assess its position. The meeting will decide whether to continue to provide what he claimed were 'the best maps in Singapore', or quit the business here and 'focus our efforts elsewhere'. Virtual Map also offers online maps in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. Mr Ackbar said his company has spent 'millions' putting in value-added data like points-of-interest, on top of the maps SLA had provided. Alternative online maps are available at sites like the SLA's StreetMap and Show Nearby. http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/...13.html?vgnmr=1 Personally I think Virutal maps deserves it, they were suing quite a number of small companies and people for using their maps and charging licenses from USD2700 per map
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