All things can be compromised in the name of growth. So, to house 6.9 million population to sustain S'pore growth in the near future, the govt under PAP is playing a catching up game. They are building every thing like craze since they have under provided for many years all the critical infrastructure (housing, transport, hospital.....) even to cater for the current population of 5.3 million.
In the past, construction sites are cordon off so that there is a safe radius of operation for the cranes. Now as they are desperately squeezing in to build more infrastructure amongst existing buildings, pedestrians are walking directly under the boom of the construction crane. This is because the pedestrian pathway cut across the MRT construction site!
Yes, they still cordon off the walkway to prevent one from seeing what is going on at the construction site and to provide shelter from the rain. If one is not observant, perhaps he/she may not be aware of the potential danger of walking directly below the operating crane. The barricade construction and material used will not be strong enough to withstand the force of load carried by the crane nor the weight of its boom should there be a mishap. A bus stop and a HDB block are also within the radius of the crane operating boom.
If there is a crane mishap, pedestrians using the walkway or commuters at the bus stop would be crashed by the boom. The adjacent HDB block could also be demolished should the crane toppled over. The consequence could be fatal for the unlucky residents.
There have been serious past incidents involving crane toppling over. But with so much construction going on, the authority probably decided to take the risk in order to minimize inconvenience to the residents, So they build a walkway cutting across the construction site and directly below the crane! May be folks themselves are getting 'acclimatized' to the unsafe conditions around them too. After all, the city of S'pore has become one big construction site - every where you go, your are hit with MRT and residential housing construction.
Better be safe than sorry. Suffer the inconvenience and take the longer route than use the unsafe walkway created by the authority.
Our quality of living has already suffered with years of unsustainable growth to increase the population. Now they are willing even to compromise our safety and life in the name of growth !
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Core Business in the 'Rot'
Seems like many big companies like SPH, SMRT and SBS are struggling with their core business profit margin, while their divestment business is becoming more profitable.
SPH property investment is reaping handsome profit so much so they are thinking of spinning it off as a REIT.
SMRT retail business is booming. SBS outdoor advertising/rental is very profitable too.
SBS outdoor advertising/rental employed only 70 staff but contributed $36.5 M (EBITDA) to their coffer in 2012. Their bus service employing 6,821 staff generated only $40.2M (EBITDA). This is despite a average daily ridership of over 2 million and revenue of $600.9 M.
We have seen SMRT getting into hot soup due to their greed and focus on inflating the company profitability at commuters expense. Their ex-CEO had been so focus on expanding the retail sector arm that she forgotten that SMRT core business is about running the train.
Will the same fate happen to SPH and SBS ?
Note : a coincident that all these companies start with the letter 'S'
SPH property investment is reaping handsome profit so much so they are thinking of spinning it off as a REIT.
SMRT retail business is booming. SBS outdoor advertising/rental is very profitable too.
SBS outdoor advertising/rental employed only 70 staff but contributed $36.5 M (EBITDA) to their coffer in 2012. Their bus service employing 6,821 staff generated only $40.2M (EBITDA). This is despite a average daily ridership of over 2 million and revenue of $600.9 M.
We have seen SMRT getting into hot soup due to their greed and focus on inflating the company profitability at commuters expense. Their ex-CEO had been so focus on expanding the retail sector arm that she forgotten that SMRT core business is about running the train.
Will the same fate happen to SPH and SBS ?
Note : a coincident that all these companies start with the letter 'S'
'Lifestyle'
Things under 'Lifestyle' category cost much more. Once upon a time, bakery shops in heartland sold - bread. I recalled a red bean bun costing about 30 cents. Then came BreadTalk which sells 'Lifestyle' bread, -costing double. Sadly, 'lifestyle' bread has penetrated to all HDB heartland bakeries. We have no choice but to consume lifestyle products and pay more if we still want to eat bread.
This is the same for pets. Back during my Pre-U days (which is termed JC now) a rabbit cost $6. During my working days, it cost about $35 and a white mice $3. Now, a pedigree rabbit in HDB pet shop costs about $200. They no longer sell mice but pedigree hamsters. May be there is no pedigree mice, so it is not profitable to sell them. Only pedigree animals are sold nowadays in pet shops all over the island....be it a hamster, guinea pig, rabbit......cat and dog.
In the past, those who wanted 'lifestyle' pet will go for Chinchilla, pedigree dog and cat. But society has changed, every thing is about 'brand'. This extend even to pets - they must carry a 'name' behind them to inflate profit margin for the seller and boost the ego of the buyer.
There are parents who do not blink an eye to get a $4000 pure breed pup for their kids. Then when the doggie is naughty, they 'give it away'. SPCA is loaded with abandon pedigree pets due to change in social value for the worst. To some, a pet is just a form of entertaining toy to be discarded when they are tired of it.
This is the same for pets. Back during my Pre-U days (which is termed JC now) a rabbit cost $6. During my working days, it cost about $35 and a white mice $3. Now, a pedigree rabbit in HDB pet shop costs about $200. They no longer sell mice but pedigree hamsters. May be there is no pedigree mice, so it is not profitable to sell them. Only pedigree animals are sold nowadays in pet shops all over the island....be it a hamster, guinea pig, rabbit......cat and dog.
In the past, those who wanted 'lifestyle' pet will go for Chinchilla, pedigree dog and cat. But society has changed, every thing is about 'brand'. This extend even to pets - they must carry a 'name' behind them to inflate profit margin for the seller and boost the ego of the buyer.
There are parents who do not blink an eye to get a $4000 pure breed pup for their kids. Then when the doggie is naughty, they 'give it away'. SPCA is loaded with abandon pedigree pets due to change in social value for the worst. To some, a pet is just a form of entertaining toy to be discarded when they are tired of it.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Complicated Polyclinic Billing
In 2005, the billing in Polyclinic used to be clear and simple with just 2 columns and 2 rows for a straight forward consultation :
Service Description Total Amount Payable
Consultation - Adult (C) 8.00
_____
Total amount payable (include 5% of GST) $8.00
_____
Fast forward to 2012, somewhere along the way billing process has become very complicated, just like all other things in S'pore from taxi fare, CPF & HDB policies, COE........etc, etc
Now Polyclinic billing reflects 5 columns :
1) Service Code
2) Description
3) Quatity
4) Full Amount (S$)
5) Payable Amount (S$)
For the same consultation , the number of rows in the bill has increased to more than 10. Basically, they are screaming to tell you that government is subsidizing the bill. So we have rows stating :
- Less : Government Grant
- Amount Payable Before Tax
- Add : 7% GST
- Amount Payable After Tax
- Less :GST Absorbed By The Government
-and so on...etc
Now the full amount for consultation is $36.82, the payable amount is $10.50 for a straight forward consultation. Even private GPs in HDB do not charge over $36 for medical consultation. How the govt arrives at this figure is strange. But it is not surprising as it is their usual tactics distort the subsidy amount to make it looks good.
They can be so blind to their illogical policy that they fail to see how ridiculous and unjust it is. They recently just abolished the $3 administration fee they charged patients in Polyclinic who chose to use their own CPF money in Medisave to pay Polyclinic bills instead of paying cash.
This policy has been in force for decades and citizens have been crying foul. $3 out of $8 is 37.5% in 2005 Polyclinic charges and 28.5% in 2012 bill. The govt is worst than Ah Long (illegal loan sharks). At least if one is desperate enough to borrow from illegal money lender, one is paying interest on loan from the lender. Here we have lower income patients who used their own money in CPF and being ripped off by the govt! What sort of govt would enforce such policy to penalize the poor, instead of helping them ?
Service Description Total Amount Payable
Consultation - Adult (C) 8.00
_____
Total amount payable (include 5% of GST) $8.00
_____
Fast forward to 2012, somewhere along the way billing process has become very complicated, just like all other things in S'pore from taxi fare, CPF & HDB policies, COE........etc, etc
Now Polyclinic billing reflects 5 columns :
1) Service Code
2) Description
3) Quatity
4) Full Amount (S$)
5) Payable Amount (S$)
For the same consultation , the number of rows in the bill has increased to more than 10. Basically, they are screaming to tell you that government is subsidizing the bill. So we have rows stating :
- Less : Government Grant
- Amount Payable Before Tax
- Add : 7% GST
- Amount Payable After Tax
- Less :GST Absorbed By The Government
-and so on...etc
Now the full amount for consultation is $36.82, the payable amount is $10.50 for a straight forward consultation. Even private GPs in HDB do not charge over $36 for medical consultation. How the govt arrives at this figure is strange. But it is not surprising as it is their usual tactics distort the subsidy amount to make it looks good.
They can be so blind to their illogical policy that they fail to see how ridiculous and unjust it is. They recently just abolished the $3 administration fee they charged patients in Polyclinic who chose to use their own CPF money in Medisave to pay Polyclinic bills instead of paying cash.
This policy has been in force for decades and citizens have been crying foul. $3 out of $8 is 37.5% in 2005 Polyclinic charges and 28.5% in 2012 bill. The govt is worst than Ah Long (illegal loan sharks). At least if one is desperate enough to borrow from illegal money lender, one is paying interest on loan from the lender. Here we have lower income patients who used their own money in CPF and being ripped off by the govt! What sort of govt would enforce such policy to penalize the poor, instead of helping them ?
Pigeons are PEST in S'pore
In other countries, pigeons are just birds. But over here, it has been officially classified as pest for decades. In S'pore, besides pigeons, there are about 4 other species of birds which are under pest category because of their 'large' population.
Crows and mynas are under pest category too. Crows being large and aggressive are culled so frequently that their number has reduced drastically in recent years, that they are hardly noticeable. They are normally shot down.
Pigeons are poisoned to reduce their number. Another method is trapping. Not sure how they aremurdered killed after being removed from the traps. What we do know is that even before they are removed, they may suffer thirst and hunger for days if the pest control firm task to undertake the job 'forgets' to retrieve the traps. So many may die in the traps intentionally 'unintentionally.'
Perhaps being shot down is a less painful death. Dying by poison and being trapped are horrific death for these poor birds.
Mynas which are small chippy birds are relatively harmless, just like pigeons. But too bad, just because they are fit and can survive well in S'pore harsh urban environment, they become pest.
Pigeons have the worst adverse publicity. Town Councils often used scare tactics that pigeons spread diseases to the old and young. As more than 80% of the human population lives in high rise flats, pigeons are also blamed for dirtying washing hang out to dry. It is the environment that make them into pest.
Our tiny state human population has increased drastically in recently. Despite years of 'Keep S'pore Clean' campaign, we still depend on the large numbers of cleaners and sweepers to keep the city state clean. Thus, would we not qualify as 'pest' too ?
Crows and mynas are under pest category too. Crows being large and aggressive are culled so frequently that their number has reduced drastically in recent years, that they are hardly noticeable. They are normally shot down.
Pigeons are poisoned to reduce their number. Another method is trapping. Not sure how they are
Perhaps being shot down is a less painful death. Dying by poison and being trapped are horrific death for these poor birds.
Mynas which are small chippy birds are relatively harmless, just like pigeons. But too bad, just because they are fit and can survive well in S'pore harsh urban environment, they become pest.
Pigeons have the worst adverse publicity. Town Councils often used scare tactics that pigeons spread diseases to the old and young. As more than 80% of the human population lives in high rise flats, pigeons are also blamed for dirtying washing hang out to dry. It is the environment that make them into pest.
Our tiny state human population has increased drastically in recently. Despite years of 'Keep S'pore Clean' campaign, we still depend on the large numbers of cleaners and sweepers to keep the city state clean. Thus, would we not qualify as 'pest' too ?
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