Archive for October, 2008

Hey all,

been some time since I update the blog. been busy with NS stuff currently. Will revamp my site too. stay tuned ok?

SINGAPORE: More than 1,000 people, who lost hard-earned savings investing in structured products like Lehman Minibonds and DBS High Notes, turned up at the Speakers’ Corner on Saturday evening.

They were there to listen to former CEO of NTUC Income, Mr Tan Kin Lian, who has submitted a petition to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to request for an investigation into the sale of credit-linked securities.

Many in attendance were upset investors who claimed they had lost their retirement savings through failed investments.

Mr Tan is asking the authorities to investigate if these products were sold according to the law, and to help investors claim compensation for losses caused by misconduct.

He said: “It’s an opportunity for the investors of the Minibonds and the High Notes to get together and meet other investors. I hope they would be able to get together to see their Member of Parliament or even to appoint a lawyer, and see how to complain about the bank or investor who had sold them this product.”

Source: CNA

FUJI SPEEDWAY, Japan – World championship leader Lewis Hamilton secured pole position Saturday for the Japanese Grand Prix with a dazzling last-gasp lap in qualifying, leaving rival Felipe Massa in fifth.

The 23-year-old Englishman in his McLaren Mercedes car was lightning quick in the final seconds with a best lap that gives him a perfect opportunity to build on his seven-point lead over Massa with three races remaining.

He will share the front row of the grid with Finland’s defending champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari with his McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, another Finn, behind him in third.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain was fourth for Renault ahead of Brazilian Massa, in the second Ferrari.

Poland’s Robert Kubica was sixth for BMW Sauber ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in a Toyota, his team-mate German Timo Glock, German Sebastian Vettel and his Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastien Bourdais of France.

The final part of session, Q3, saw the Ferraris take command with Raikkonen producing a fast lap in 1:18.890 after appearing to be languishing among the chasing pack.

Massa was second behind him and Hamilton a fraction adrift in third in a closely-fought battle with Kovalainen fourth before Hamilton pitted in readiness for his bid for pole.

Raikkonen clocked an improved 1:18.644 but Hamilton blitzed through in 1:18.404 to take the prime starting spot.

The opening part of qualifying was run on a drying circuit and the times improved steadily as Hamilton set the pace.

In the end, however, it was the talented Glock who raised a smile for hosts Toyota with the fastest lap.

The session saw the elimination of the bottom five runners – German Nick Heidfeld in his BMW Sauber, the two Hondas of Briton Jenson Button and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, and both Force India men, Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and German Adrian Sutil.

In Q2, it was much the same story with Hamilton out quickly and then this time outpaced by a determined Massa while the drop zone was the scene of a final scramble for top 10 survival.

In the end, the dropouts were German Nico Rosberg, who finished second for Williams in Singapore, his team-mate Kazuki Nakajima of Japan, Australian Mark Webber and his Red Bull team-mate Briton David Coulthard, along with Brazilian Nelson Piquet of Renault.

Source: CNA

Another three items imported from China have been found to contain the chemical melamine.

They are Cadbury Choclairs – Blueberry flavour; Cadbury Choclairs – Chocolate flavour; and Panda Dairy Whole Milk Powder (industrial pack).

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said in a consumer advisory that the milk powder, which is meant for manufcturing use, has not been used in any food production as it has been sealed in the manufacturer’s warehouse since September 19.

The AVA has, since September 19, suspended the sale and import of all milk and milk products from China.

It added that the import and sale of all milk and milk products from China will remain suspended until it is very sure that such items are safe for consumption.

The AVA also gave the assurance that the levels of melamine detected in the affected products are low and should not cause any ill-health unless the person has consumed it in large quantaties over a prolonged period of time.

It estimated that even if an adult weighing 60 kilogrammes were to have eaten 108 pieces of Cadbury Choclairs (Chocolate) every day for a good part of his life, the amount of melamine in that person would still be at “tolerable levels”.

Singapore has so far found 13 products containing melamine on the local market.

All importers have been told to destroy products that contain the chemical melamine which is not approved in food manufacture.

The AVA said it should be alerted if any of the products are found still on sale. The affected items imported from China and with milk solids as an ingredient are:

Cadbury Choclairs – Blueberry flavour
Cadbury Choclairs – Chocolate flavour
Panda Dairy Whole Milk Powder (industrial pack)
Silang House of Steamed Potato – Potato & Tomato Cracker
Silang House of Steamed Potato – Potato Cracker
New Sshmallows Mallow-Dippers – Strawberry flavour
Dutch Lady Banana Flavoured Milk
Dutch Lady Honeydew Flavoured Milk
Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured Milk
Puff Rice Rolls – Butter Corn flavour
Puff Rice Rolls – Cheese flavour
YiLi Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yoghurt Flavour Ice Confection
White Rabbit Creamy Candy

Source: CNA

I’m not sure if I’m slow or if this is a new virus or bot. MSN Address: shannakagof@hotmail.com

PLEASE DO NOT ADD IT. THIS IS A WARNING.

The MSN conversation starts like this..

Shanna: hey, Age/Sex/Location?

Me: Hi, you are?

Shanna: hey whats up babe, U got a webcam? finally someone adds me, I am soo fuckin horny today for some reason lol

Me: I don’t have a webcam.

Shanna: listen hun, I am just about to start my webcam show with jen, come chat me there in my chat room? We can cyber, I will get naked if u do..lol!

Shanna: I can show u how to watch if u promise not to tell anyone else how to do it???PLEASE

Me: You are obviously a bot.

Shanna: well since its the law that u gotta be 18 (nudity involved), u have to sign up with a credit card for age verification! BUT.. Once you are inside, just clikc on “Webcams” let me know what name you use to sign in with so I know it is you babe! http://xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx/xxxxxxxxxxx fill out the bottom of the page then fill out the next page as well and u can see me live!

Me: You are obviously a bot!

Shanna: Please dont mention anything about that in the chatroom once u get in ok?

Me: Fking bot. Shut up.

Shanna: OH SHIT.. k I am late to start my show, I gotta get off msn…I will see ya inside my chatroom babe.. remember not to mention that I am upgrading u… You can use your msn name to sign in so i know it is you..

Me: Geez, you are famous now! <proceeds to blog>

Shanna: AUTO-RESPONSE: hey just in the middle of my webcam show if you want to watch click the link http://xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx/xxxxxxxxxxx

…………….. OWNED.

SINGAPORE: SingTel is increasing its local fixed line subscription by S$10 a year from January 1, 2009.

Residential customers will therefore pay S$110 per year in subscription and business customers will pay S$160 per year.

Local fixed line call charges will also go up from 0.7 to 0.8 Singapore cents per 30—second block during peak hours or per 60—second block during off—peak hours.

Peak hours will also be revised from 8am—6pm to 9am—7pm from Mondays to Fridays.

SingTel — Singapore’s largest telco — said this is the first rate revision in 18 years and most customers will pay up to an additional S$1.50 a month with these new rates. It said the increase is due to rising costs.

Allen Lew, CEO, SingTel Singapore, said: “Manpower costs in the last ten years alone have gone up by 52 per cent. Copper — the basic commodity that we need to provide the service — has tripled in the last 15 years.”

There are concerns that raising the costs of fixed line telephone services may further decrease an already shrinking market.

But with 90 per cent of local households and 100 per cent of businesses currently using the product, SingTel is confident that there will continue to be a market for it and the company plans to focus its energies to sustain it.

However, some customers felt that the rate hike is coming at a bad time.

“S$10 is not a lot per se. But I think it adds up because everything is going up!” one lady said.

“We used to have a home line, but now there are many types of communication… Internet is an alternative, so it doesn’t affect me,” another young man added.

SingTel said it would provide S$1 million worth of S$10 credit vouchers to help households that need financial assistance. These vouchers will be provided through Citizens’ Consultative Committees or People’s Association grassroots leaders.

This year is the first and probably as well as the last time I am going for the Singapore Motor Show held at Suntec Convention Centre. Yes, sounds big, but in the end there’s only like 1 floor of cars. More known brands are only Subaru, Honda and Nissan. Showgirls are soso to fugly.

A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. no wonder ticket price only $8. Heng my friend got me a free ticket, else I sure kpkb. Anyway, there’s this show going on inside but I didn’t really bother to go watch it.

Unless they buck up, I will never ever step into the motor show again. Some pictures will be coming up later.

The only thing that interest me was the display of a Black Lambo and a Nissan GTR.

Stay tuned~~~

SINGAPORE: The government has assured Singaporeans that all food products here are safe for consumption, but it plans to set up a forensic unit to study possible sources of food contamination in the future.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan told reporters this after visiting a public health lab on Wednesday.

Channel NewsAsia understands that the forensic unit, under the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), will likely be operational in one month. This comes on the back of the melamine scare, originating from China.

No one in Singapore has fallen ill from eating melamine-tainted products. But in China, four children have died and over 50,000 infants are sick from drinking melamine-laced infant formula.

Laboratory staff in Singapore have been working tirelessly since mid-September, testing about 100 samples every day. Mr Mah said Singapore has a very tight food security and safety system, but there is no guarantee that such a contamination will not happen again.

He said: “What we need to do is to strengthen our vigilance system. Meaning, not just depend on what we read but also perhaps our intelligence on the ground, with our overseas partners, and to strengthen our information gathering so that the chances of such things happening can be reduced. In other words, we keep our eyes and ears on the ground more.”

Mr Mah added that it is impossible to test every single food product that comes into Singapore as this would require many more laboratories and manpower, which could eventually drive up food prices.

Presently, Singapore already conducts tests on more food samples compared to other countries.

Mr Mah said AVA has also spoken to 160 importers and manufacturers to withdraw their advertisements in the newspapers stating that their products do not contain milk ingredients from China and are safe for consumption as that has not been fully verified, and such advertisements confuse Singaporeans.

To date, Singapore has identified ten products which contain melamine that is used to make plastics. But the minister called on Singaporeans not to over-react.

“Being vigilant does not mean we go into a panic, so let’s just stay calm. In a few months’ time, hopefully we’ll be able to complete the testing and sampling of all the various products and with discussion with our overseas partners, and also with the Chinese food authorities, we should be able to manage the situation,” said Mr Mah.

So far, the authorities have tested 600 out of 1,000 products. Aside from milk and dairy items from China, they are also testing products from other countries like the US and even Singapore-made ones to give the public greater assurance that the food products sold here are safe for consumption.

Source: CNA