Theme SMRT cabins for what better experience?

Reference: Buskers, themed cabins for a better MRT experience: LTA

Talk about visual noise. I still remember the horrendous Dim Sum Dollies jingle. Why not just keep it simple, LTA, and focus on the service of actually bringing people from one place to another?

So unless your themed cabin is some incredible idea, please, don't.

You know every time I want to look at how minutes there are to the next train coming, and I see an ad of some movie trailer? Do you think that makes my journeys more or less harried?

Thai regulator pays $13m to air World Cup Matches

Reference: Thai regulator to pay $13 million to air World Cup matches on free TV

Let's say Thailand's population is 69 million.

Let's say theoretically 10% watches, so we have 6.9 million viewers.

On average, each person is paying around $1.88 to watch 64 matches.

In Singapore, each person needs to pay over $100. So I guess it's priced at whatever the market can bear.

35 years of slogging as an executive and can't save anything

I am a 61 year old retiree. After 35 years of slogging as an executive in many MNCs I have $130k in RA account and some 32K in medisave. Currently I need an eye operation for cataract on one of my eyes.
The cost would be around 5k. I can use around half the amount from my medisave and the other half in cash.
The question is I don't have half of that amount to pay so I cannot go for the ops.
I have always questioned why we cannot use our medisave to pay for full cost as this is our money and not the state.
It's time for CPF to look into such needs as retiree we don't have the cash to foot the bill.
The simple reason is that no one would like to be operated as all operation carries risk if it is not necessary
Right now I am living with one eye while the other eye cannot be fixed because of the stupid policies created by these
idiot politicians always saying they care and are passionate.
What do you think?

Source: WE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO USE CPF FOR EMERGENCIES AND HIGH MEDICAL BILLS

I saw an amazing comment in the story above.

Let me get this right.

The guy after working 35 years as an executive has no savings other than CPF to pay for a $5000 operation? Seriously?

I do agree that maybe some concessions need to be allowed for medical uses.

That is one far fetched example of a person who can't save.

Is Roy Ngerng’s sacking politically motivated?

Reference: Roy Ngerng’s sacking – “politically motivated”?

Well, let's just say that companies don't like their reputation to go down with losers. Take a cue from Anton Casey and Amy Cheong. Those two cases are politically motivated as well?

Paying GST for overseas purchases when coming back to Singapore

Reference: Travellers returning to Singapore to pay GST for purchases

The sad state of situation nowadays is that even after paying GST, overseas purchases can still be cheaper, whether hand-carry or shipped back.

E-commerce is only going to grow. More people are going to buy their stuff from overseas.

Should you support local sellers? If you don't support them, they will be gone. But if you support them, you're either getting ripped off or not getting a good deal

And also expect SingPost to deliver your items less quickly than before. I wonder how SingPost is going to provide the manpower for the expected increase in number of deliveries to make. Where and what services are they going to increase prices for?

Remember to pay GST for overseas holiday shopping (customs.gov.sg)

However, you may wish to know that all goods brought into Singapore – including new
items, souvenirs, gifts or food products – are subject to 7 per cent Goods and Services
Tax (GST).

I'm not sure if the above quote is actionable, or is it actually a statute of law. Keywords being "all goods brought into Singapore". All goods? Including the suitcase, iPad, chargers, underwear that I brought overseas and have to bring back?

Roy Ngerng vs Lee Hsien Long: Defamation or David vs Goliath

Reference: LOCAL ARTIST: I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU, LEE HSIEN LOONG

It's another article about Roy Ngerng vs Lee Hsien Long.

If you've followed the saga through comments on blogs and forums, you might have already noticed that a lot of people have no concept of the law. Many seem to see that this is a case of David and Goliath.

One thing I've noticed about the government from their dealings with online squabbles is, they don't want to sue you. They usually just issue a takedown notice, just like in the case of Alex Au from Yawning Bread, same for Leslie Chew for his Demon-cratic Singapore cartoons.

The government get nothing out of it from suing you. And they certainly don't need the extra money.

So how things turn out is usually quite simple. If a takedown notice is issued, you take down the post unless you feel that what you've written is justifiable.

Personally, I feel Lee Hsien Long is giving Roy Ngerng a chance by issuing the takedown notice.

What did Roy Ngerng do?

He took down the posts and emailed people telling them where they can still read the posts. How is that different from not taking down the post?

Oh, and then there's another Youtube video that he set to private instead of taking down, and only after being found out it had to be taken down.

PM Lee demanded an apology and an offer of damages. Roy Ngerng offered $5,000. Did his lawyer M Ravi advise him on that? Did they look at past cases to come up with that amount? If I have no idea how much to offer, I would look at past cases as a guide.

To cut the long story short, Roy Ngerng still thinks he's right, which is why I suppose he's going to court.

I'm also quite impressed that he managed to raise $70,000 from the public for his court case. I wonder if the public is donating for support, or just buying tickets to a David vs Goliath match.

When you're in court, the judge is just going to see this as a simple defamation case. If Roy Ngerng could not substantiate what he claimed on his blog, I doubt he will be able to do that in court, because he would have already done so on his blog if he could.

I've a feeling that the damages that's going to be paid will be quite huge. This is quite a big news and the more people know about it, more distress is created, and possibility of more damages. Those people supporting Roy Ngerng aren't helping at all, I'm not helping at all too by writing this, as are many of the print and online media writing about it.