Opinions

It had to happen. Singapore and Malaysia are at it again. Makes you wonder who to believe right?

The media in both countries reported on how Singapore's move to clamp down on foreign traffic fine-evaders has contributed to traffic congestion at both land checkpoints.

On one hand, it is laudable to go after those who evade paying their fines. It is not fair that those who blatantly break traffic rules can easily disappear into another country without any fear of repercussions. 

The traffic fines may amount to a lot, which, theoretically, can be better utilised for road-improvement works in Singapore. 

However, there surely must be a better solution to this. The clampdown should not be effected at the expense of people and businesses.

Now you have Malaysia considering banning entry of all Singapore vehicles with outstanding traffic fines in the country. 

Who wins in the end?

The relevant authorities in both countries should come together to iron out mutually beneficial arrangements that does not compromise on each country's ability to collect the fines that are due to them.

The age old tale that has been told to us by our ah gong is that the CPF is OUR money. But is it really? One Facebook user Valerie Chin took to Facebook after being bugged by the CPF board to pay back her "loan" with interest. She paid her polytechnic school fees through her own CPF account. 

This is what she said:

I'd like to share my experience with cpf board:
Some years back I took out education scheme to fund my full time poly studies.
It's my own cpf account paying for my own studies.
Things didn't go so well and after that I was in some trouble and had financial problems so did not pay back this education "loan".
So they have been sending letters demanding for payment + interest.
Recently I received a letter demanding for payment and threatened with legal action for, I reiterate, a "loan" I taken out of MY cpf for MY education.
So make no mistake about it, cpf is never our money. If it is and it's supposed to be our retirement fund, why can't I have free use of my money for self enrichment?

If CPF IS our money, why do we have to pay it back with INTEREST? Furthermore, she was just using it for her own studies. Weren't they also encouraging people to further their education as well? If they aren't allowed to use their OWN money for their OWN education, how are they supposed to find more money for themselves?

 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=859396611081709&set=a.859396637748373&type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARC4vkADPt4oLi7phTUlQZ0y8LpIUIxQuhuh5Towr9jmZ2eoYmLhP26vOmoQ4waXNKZ73gPLOdBvedbytJB91QgkuQeebNjxMIxkXEi_CPg8WldARFUAPuvO4iQRv86CkuX4lqqw5Z8bLo0mgTuVqWDiicuhWsEmhzMfL69RlEdufZ1zh-sQ8L1bxFZQwzsyCcxOzCVDoFN5XIJc9zqii3rtTC75m-2zgGstQWWG6Rq9GvZ-jnNP2rpl4o6DXP8-goR3G2JMqMS-xKHeCyU8ol3RhQ6ozp6FokYZ5aZuln2zFlT7Fo2sOvzwq74rQYJu8QvgHmOZ-9Hvi1tcMRdNeDWarey7&__tn__=H-R

In the most recent draft Master Plan 2019 revealed by URA on how they envisaged living in Singapore would be like in the near future, for the first time ever, three dimensional underground maps were also released.

These underground maps were for locations in Marina Bay, Jurong Innovation District and the Punggol Digital District. This is with the view that Singapore will eventually make use of space underground, as we are running out of space above ground, and thus creating a seamless subterranean map for Singapore. URA all but confirmed that the underground plans are part of their strategies to create spaces for the future and create capacity for growth.

Now if this is not an indication that all these ties in with the Population White Paper, in which the government envisaged having 10m people living in this small space of ours. It does seem like going underground is the only way we can accommodate the numbers. Very soon, we will have a new category of Singaporeans, named from here on as the Mole. 

Plans to exhume a grave located at Moonstone Lane, near the Kallang River, was stopped at the very last minute as new details emerged to indicate that the grave was of a significant historical value to Singapore. The exhumation was slated to have taken place on March 26, as part of the government's motherhood plan of of handover the land on which the small nondescript building was located, back to the State.

However, members of the heritage committee managed to persuade the authorities to halt the exhumation, after their extensive investigations showed that the woman buried in the residential street was the great-granddaughter of renowned healer Habib Noh, whose shrine is housed at the Haji Muhammad Salleh mosque in Palmer Road. It was also understood that the grave of the Muslim woman named Syarifah Zainah Alhabshi, was also related to the Aljunied family, who hails from a line of established traders in Palembang who set up base in Singapore after the British set up a trading post here in 1819.

This just proves that the current Singapore authorities does not really pay special care to the historical significance of Singapore's old buildings and landmarks. What is clear though, is that any piece of old buildings in Singapore that can be demolished to build shiny new residential apartments or roads will gain precedence over history. Remember Bukit Brown and the Stamford National Library. 

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has announced that they will implement speed regulating strips on the roundabout located at Marine Parade. This after a fatal accident that happened on March 18, which claimed the life of an 82 year old woman.

According to witnesses to the accident, a car went out of control when in the roundabout and mounted the kerb. The elderly woman, who was walking on the pavement at the time, was mowed down. According to reports, the woman was flung into the air and landed on the windshield of the car head first. Although it was not stated, the the great impact only points towards the car speeding in the roundabout.

While LTA's implementation of the speed strips on the roundabout is a way to combat speeding in the area, more can be done to educate drivers on driving on roundabouts. As Singapore gets more and more new drivers on the road, and seeing that roundabouts are not a common sight on roads in Singapore, not many drivers are well versed in driving in roundabouts, and thus, accidents is only one wrong step of the accelerator away.  

Khaw Boon Wan recently had a bad fall which fractured his arm. He was speaking to his residents at the Women's Festival at Kampung Admiralty. He claimed "I have never experienced so much pain! The doctors told me this type of fracture, the pain is more painful than delivering babies, but I said I don't know because I never had that experience. But I can tell you it is very painful."

Is the doctor trying to wayang to him by telling him his fractured arm is more painful than delivering babies so he doesn't have to feel bad for wasting taxpayers money for being on MC? Or is he just trying to wayang to the citizens by saying that? Does he think that we will pity him for fracturing his arm? Does this mean that none of us will blame him for our train systems breaking down every few days?

How can Khaw Boon Wan use this story in front of so many females telling them that it was "worse than childbirth". I'm very sure many women, me included, will be angry at this statement. He needs to stop wasting our taxpayers money and stop saying stupid shit like this. He should just shut his mouth and get back to work and fix our train systems. Oh wait. Does he even think about fixing our train systems while not being on MC? Even when he was not on MC, there seems to be nothing done while our train systems keep getting delays and such. 

Seeing how you waste my money is giving me a headache that's more painful than his broken arm. How incompetent.

Credit: Facebook