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Cabbies and commuters adjusting to revised taxi rule in CBD

Tuesday is the first day of operations after the taxi rule in the Central Business District (CBD) was tweaked.

Cabbies are now allowed to pick up and drop off passengers at side roads, instead of only at designated stands and driveways of buildings.

Some taxi drivers and commuters are still adjusting to the change.

But getting taxis in the CBD should be easier now.

Although most welcomed the move, fine-tuning the rule barely three weeks after it was introduced has also caused some confusion amongst cabbies and commuters.

The Land Transport Authority had acknowledged it will take some time for cabbies and commuters to adjust to the new rule.

For cab drivers, they have until 1st May to do so after which they face fines of S$100 and three demerit points.

Commuters can expect more taxi stands in the CBD, and prominent signs directing them to the nearest one.

source from channelnewsasia

YOG 2010’singapore

The organising committee for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will be going to the of Lausanne on Sunday to meet the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members.
said Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Mr Teo Ser Luck.
The Singapore team will be discussing operational issues and business platforms.

The key issues that will be discussed will be, firstly, the logistics, operational and organisational aspects, followed by the business aspect in terms of sponsorship and how we can use the YOG platform to help our companies locally. Thirdly, the international relations between the different countries – their national Olympic committees and the International Olympic Committee.

This is the first time Singapore holds such a large scale international event. this is also the first time the YOG is held. Singpapore will need to maintain a high standard in organisation and also the performance of the young sportsman.

This is also the best chance for Singapore to make her name known to the rest of the world, and other than all the attention that we get, it is really going to be a boost to the economy in terms of tourism, in terms of the advertising.

Man who gave false information about Mas Selamat seeks legal aid

SINGAPORE : The man accused of giving false information to police about sightings of Jemaah Islamiyah fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari has had his case adjourned while he appoints a lawyer.

49-year-old Ng Hang Hai is applying for a lawyer under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme – which is for those who lack the means to pay for a lawyer.

Ng appeared briefly at the Subordinate Courts on Friday morning to hear the District Judge ask if he had appointed a lawyer.

Ng faces three charges relating to giving false tip-offs to the authorities on the sightings of Mas Selamat.

His bail of S$10,000 has been extended, and he is to return to court on March 24 with his legal counsel.

A bus driver with the SMRT for six years, Ng was sacked after he was charged in court on Monday

Channelnewsasia

2008- record-breaking year for employment creation

The robust economic performance led to another record-breaking year for employment creation, with employment rising by a record 234,900 or 9.4 per cent in 2007, said the Ministry of Manpower.

Local employment grew by 90,400 in 2007, comparable to the record 90,900 gains in 2006, according to data released by the ministry on Friday. Foreigners increased by a new high of 144,500, up from the gains of 85,100 in 2006, enabling the economy to grow beyond the limits of Singapore’s indigenous workforce.

Due to robust job creation, the seasonally adjusted overall and resident unemployment rates declined to 1.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent in December 2007, the lowest in a decade. There were 37,400 job vacancies in December 2007, higher than 32,000 in the year before

Nominal earnings also rose over the year by 6.2 per cent in 2007, up from 3.2 per cent in 2006, but lower than 8.9 per cent during the last economic boom in 2000.

After accounting for inflation, the growth in real terms was 4.0 per cent in 2007, 2.2 per cent in 2006 and 7.5 per cent in 2000.

The number of workers retrenched last year is at a 14-year low of 7,675, and two-thirds of residents retrenched in private sector secured re-employment within six months after being retrenched in 2007.

One in three of the 2.73 million people employed in Singapore is a foreigner. As of December last year, there were 900,800 foreigners working in the city-state.

Despite the robust economic performance, productivity shrank 0.9 per cent last year as the growth in output has not kept pace with the record increase in manpower.

The last time productivity had contracted was during the economic downturn in 2001.

I feel that Singapore has always been doing a good job in ensuring that Singpore’s unenployment rate is constantly kept low. however, Singapore’s inflation rate is again seeing an increasing trend, once again threatening the pirces of goods.

information from Channelnewsasia, Department of Statistics

source: channelnewsasia

bizarre rains eh?

Singapore has experiecnced unusual heavy thunderstorms over the past few days, which is not a common sight in March. But the good thing is, its not the workings of Global Warming. phenomenon known as Equinox occurs when the centre of the Sun is directly above the Earth’s equator. This happens twice a year during March and October, and Singapore always experiences hot weather during these two months.

La Nina, is the main reason why singapore experienced such unusual rains. It is stronger this year due to a 2-degree Celsius drop in sea surface temperature, causing the wind to bring rain clouds to Southeast Asia.

While the La Nina effect could last several months, the Meteorological Services does not expect it to bring rain throughout the period. Still, the next few days are expected to be rainy.

seems like 2008 is going to be wet in sinagpore.

sources from channelnewsasia

Singapore ranked as 22nd largest spam relaying country

IT security and control firm Sophos has ranked Singapore as the 22nd largest spam relaying country, but local authorities have been getting tough on spam since last year.

A new law introduced in 2007 requires Singapore businesses to label advertisements in all emails and SMS messages circulated within the island.

The United States, Russia and China were the top three spam relaying countries last year. They accounted for one-third of all global spam in the final quarter of last year.

But this year, these countries have improved and are no longer featured in the top ten list of spam-emitting countries.

Instead, the top three spots go to islands in the South Pacific – the Pitcairn Islands, Niue and Tokelau.

“Between October (and) December 2007, the US relayed far more spam than any other country due to the sheer number of computers in the country that had been taken over by remote hackers,” said Carole Theriault, a senior security consultant at Sophos.

She added: “But when measuring spam emitted per capita, the results are very different. Most of the countries in this chart have very small populations compared to the usual offenders, but their totals are sky high when it comes to spam emitted on a per-person basis.

“Just because your PC is located on a remote island in the South Pacific doesn’t mean it’s not contributing to the global spam problem. All computer users, wherever they are in the world, need to wake up to the threats and ensure their PCs are properly protected,” she added

I feel that the Singapore government can do more then just introducing the new law in 2007 that requires Singapore businesses to label advertisements in all emails and SMS messages circulated within the island.

In November 2003 the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) carried out a study and found that email spam caused Singapore users about $23 million in productivity loss. The study further revealed that each of the three major local internet service providers (or ISPs) received close to 5,000 spam-related complaints a month. The users interviewed perceived email spam as the second most important concern after computer viruses.

sources from Channelnewsasia
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Christmas gift and our economy

More Singaporeans are choosing high-end limited edition presents this holiday season, thanks to a good economy and better bonuses.

At a Noel Gifts’ warehouse, workers are busy preparing hampers and other gifts to meet rising demand.

Noel said it’s getting 40% more orders than the previous year.

But instead of the regular hampers of sweets and cookies, well-travelled Singaporeans these days want something more.

Items on their shopping lists include things like whiskey jam, champagne mustard and limited edition wines.

“Knick-knacks like mugs and photo frames, useless stationeries as well as retro items, those are out. Retro is passé,” said Winnie Tan, General Manager of Noel.

And it looks like this holiday season, a simple e-mail greeting card may just not make the cut.

Unlike decades ago where singaporeans could only send christmas cards and small gifts to each other during christmas, Singaporean can now afford luxury goods such as expensive hampers champaigns and wines.

This can be due to our strong growing economy and people are already enjoying the effects of this during this joyous seasion. I believe for many, this year’s bonus will be something that is worth looking forward to.

N-Level results 2007

This year’s N-Level results are out – 99.3 percent of Normal Academic students and 97.7 percent of those in the Normal Technical course have passed their exams. The N-Level certificate is awarded to those who have obtained a Grade 5 or better in at least one subject.

Over 18,000 students sat for the exams in September and October. Toh Li Ping from Mayflower Secondary School is the top N-Level Normal Academic student this year, with six aggregate points. Li Ping also brought recognition to her school as the first top N-Level student from Mayflower Secondary.

There were also cheers and tears of joy over at Compassvale Secondary, which produced the top Malay student. Nur Rafiqa Razib, who scored eight aggregate points, said: “I hope the rest of the other students out there who are still studying will achieve the same success that I did. It means a lot to me.”

The top Indian student is Rahmah Solihah bte Ahmad Zabur from Fajar Secondary School. She scored seven aggregate points. A total of 72.5 percent or 8,447 students will be promoted to Secondary 5 next year.

Starting this year, the Education Ministry also allowed selected Normal Academic students to bypass the N-Level exams and go directly to Secondary 5 to sit for their O-Level exams. About 1,200 students have been selected for this initiative, based on their performance in school.
For the Normal Technical course, the top student is Sim Wei Xin from Pasir Ris Secondary School. He achieved an aggregate of three points – the best result since 1997.

Information from ChannelNewsAsia