Public Holiday tomorrow for most countries...

In view of the public holiday (Labour Day / May Day) tomorrow, how many are extending their weekend and not working today?

In today's digital age...

(Credits of the photos to the respective owner)

Murphy's Law

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong 
- Murphy Law. 

Anything that you think can go wrong is likely not to go wrong. 
- Des response's to Murphy's Law

Finally switching to Chicken

After so many years of operations in Singapore, McDonalds seems to be finally admitting that Singaporean don't like beef as much as chicken. Hence, it seems that instead of their globalization strategy of making everyone eats their American food, they are switching to localization strategy.

Love you...you love (this)...

HTH can this happen?

How the hell can this happen? Thankfully the girl is alright.

Good cabby. Imagine if this cabby was not alert or did not spot the girl, who know how long the girl would be trapped inside the hole, unconscious.

Toothpaste

Maybe it is slightly exaggerated, but more or less true

Mc-Morning-chicken

For those who haven't tried or haven't notice, McDonalds has something new for its breakfast. I suspect that it is just a promotion (read: it doesn't last long) and it is more for its market intelligence purpose.

Anyway, after days of eating Sausage Muffin, Sausage Muffin with egg, Egg Muffin, I needed something new and decide to try this new burger.

To me, it taste very much like the McChicken except that it is Muffin instead of the typical McChicken bread. Also, it has no lettuce unlike the McChicken. While McChicken is a nice burger with all the combination, this McMorning-chicken is just a poor combination. Firstly the chicken doesn't go well with the Muffin as it is deep-fried.Secondly, the lack of lettuce also conclude the fact something essential cannot be omited.

The lettuce are included to hold the mayonnaise, otherwise halfway though eating, it will look like this.

I believe that I will just stick to the normal Sausage Muffins for breakfast. At least until they improve the Chicken Muffin.

Unknown Text Message

Owned!!!

Steep COE prices: Balloting fairer and cheaper

IN THE light of the unhappiness over soaring certificate of entitlement (COE) prices of late, I question the wisdom behind the system of car ownership in Singapore.

The stated purpose of COEs is to limit car ownership and, hence, ease traffic congestion. The outcome has struggled to match the goal.

The high COE prices indicate that the system influences who buys a car - those who can afford it - more than it limits car numbers.

This is obvious from the fact that the Government has to intervene by reducing the annual vehicle growth rate to 0.5 per cent come August, from 1.5 per cent currently and 3 per cent before 2009. ('COE prices up because economy is doing well, says Lui'; Monday)

The number of cars sold can at most match the number of COEs available, regardless of the COE price. This means it is unnecessary to have a price beyond an administrative fee required to run the system, which is meant to control car ownership and not generate revenue.

If important aspects like housing and education can be subject to balloting, surely a system can be designed to ballot for cars.

In hindsight, the unintended knock-on effect of high COE prices outweighs its limited success so far.

For the convenience of owning a car, the average family is saddled with a debt of tens of thousands of dollars - money that can improve its quality of life in many other ways.

Most people pay for their cars in instalments, reducing personal savings and spending power over several years.

If they were to divert a part of that money towards retail, education, health care and such, that would surely do Singapore a lot more good.

Chan Tau Chou

(Taken on straitstimes.com, published 19 Apr 2012)

My comments: 

I agree. I think it makes sense rather than people spending unnecessary money just to buy a piece of paper which depreciates. There are many ways to control vehicle population rather than just making people Pay and Pay (sounds familiar...).Deterrence should also be implemented to people who have access to more than one car (although I believe identifying them will not be easy)

Also found and extracted this below passage from www.tremeritus.com which the writer has, I believe, very accurately described the current situation: 

"The main problem with the COE system it allocates a scarce resource based on a person’s ability to pay rather than his needs. A middle income parent who has to ferry his children to school and take his parents to hospital can be out-bidded by a multi-millionaires’s son who uses the car for dates and clubbing. The disadvantage of such a system is it causes an ever widening gap of unfulfilled demand among those with the greatest need for a car. In Singapore, where the income gap is so wide, over time more and more COEs will just go the rich rather than people who need it."

SMRTS News

2 pieces of 'news' actually related to SMRT.

1st Seen:

 (I don't know who this picture below to but I am not the owner of this photo - Found on FB)

SMRT is now issuing MC like chits to commuter who are affected by train delays. My guess is that too many people are using breakdown as an excuse for being late for work. And when the bosses found out that it is not true, they demand something more concrete. Hence the creation of this SMRT excuse chit.

So now first thing is to report to your company which line you will normal take on SMRT. 

Maybe in CV next time, they will ask: Mode of Transport to work : "Public / Car / Motorbike / Others. If public, please state train line...."

2nd Seen: 

(Source: stomp.com.sg)

They say that for the Chinese, anything can be taken to gamble.So here goes for SMRT breakdown. Only problem is that not opened to SMRT staffs, otherwise they may be accused of odds fixing...LOL. 

Amazing...

1) Open up full size

2) Stare at the red dot on the nose for 30 sec

3) Turn and look at a blank wall / ceiling and blink your eyes. 

What do you see?

Most basic Chinese Words using Eng letters

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H I 

阿不 才 的 饿 发 个 和 i 

J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R 

就可了 没 年 哦 批 去 人 

S  T U  V  W  X  Y  Z

是他 u  v  我  小 有 在

*There are no chinese word starting with i, u and v. 

[Stomp] These days even the birds take the trains

Someone actually took this photo and post on STOMP

Nowadays, even the birds take the train. Maybe it is attracted by the grab railing.
Well, if I were the bird, I would.

Salary vs Friends

Lab Coats

Funny Coffeeshop Auntie comments

(Taken from mrbrown.com)

Signs your Coffeeshop Auntie is Fail:

1. @mrbrown: Forgets your face 10 seconds after you ordered & wanders around asking everyone who ordered the drink.

2. @mrbrown: Hears Coke when you order Oolong.

3. @mrbrown: Doesn't respond to "Kopi Ah!".

4. @Matthro: Mine hears cock when I say Coke… "ONE COCKKKKK!!"

5. @HeelHooked: Comes to my 12-year-old bro and asks whether want Tiger.

6. @JadeArlindita: Mine heard kaya toast when I ordered Coke Light.

7. @Gingerbreadpapa: Mine takes my order of teh-peng, comes back 10 seconds later to confirm order of teh-peng, and then brought me a barley in the end.

8. @Atomilk: Order cold can of Pepsi but hot cup of Teh-Si comes.

9. @natalagolamoon: Treating Coke as Pepsi and 7-up as Sprite.

10. @mrbrown: You ask for Qoo, she says don't have, and offers 100 Plus as a replacement.

11. @kelvink: Order iced milo and get asked '烧的冷的？' (Hot or cold one?)

12. @Eiusine: Order 2 cups of Kopi Siew Tai, comes with 2 Kopi and Siew Mai.

13. @Vizzay_: I order a kopi & she forces me to buy an already made teh that she made by mistake earlier on. (Actually, that is a powerful sales skill -mb)

14. @longadin: You ask for Whatever, she gives you Anything.

15. @kelvink: You give her $1 coin for your 80 cents kopi & she glares at you "没有散钱 meh??" ("No small change??")

16. @roykwok22: You order "teh yi ge, dabao" (one tea, take away), she give you 1 packet tea and 1 big pau.

(Those in yellow are my favourites- des)

Comment seen

Comment seen:
Taking the MRT nowadays is like getting drunk with Jolly Shandy. You know that you will get there eventually，it is just that you don't know when.

(Very True)

If you are old enough...

(Image taken from mrbrown.com)

Wonder how many can remember the days where this things (it is called a numeric pager and yes, that's the old Singapore Telecom (not Singtel) logo).

To contact the person carrying the pager you need to:

At home

Dial Pager number >At the Beep Tone press * twice > Hang up the phone > Wait for the person to call back

Outside (but want the pager carrier to call home)

Dial Pager number >At the Beep Tone press * once and press home tel number then press * twice > Hang up the phone > The home number will appear on the pager.

Sending message on the pager

Dial Pager number >At the Beep Tone press * once and press message code then press * twice > Hang up the phone > The message code will appear on the pager.

Message code include: 

143 - I love you

577 - (STT) Sleep tight tight

541 - (Wo Xiang Ni) I miss you

And to think that time we always have 10 cents coins ready and will die-die look for a pay phone whenever somebody page.

Fresh Milk

Photo's credit to their respective owner. 

For sharing / entertainment purpose only.

Very Fresh Milk 

Student Funny Answer

Photo's credit to their respective owner. 

For sharing / entertainment purpose only.

SMRT announcement

Overheard more than once on the Passenger Announcement System on the MRT train:

"Dear Customer, due to the peak hours..."

Do SMRT treat their passengers as customers now or was it a stupid mistake once again by SMRT? I think it is the latter.

Surprise Balloon

Cartoon's credit to their respective owner. 

For sharing / entertainment purpose only.

Car Breakdown

(Cartoon's credit to their respective owner.) 

For sharing / entertainment purpose only.

LOL

You mean you won't take the US$1m??

(Mypaper, 05 Apr 2012, Thursday, A2)

(Mypaper, 05 Apr 2012, Thursday, A4)

Sorry, but I will still take the US$1m anytime, for one good reason. It is online data, not personal data. Online data is something that you need to put in yourself and I won't put my home address or mobile number or credit card information. Other than that, after I got my US$1m, feel free to use any data you can find.

I will probably change my home address and mobile number and enjoy my life with the US$1m.

To all car park lots hog....

(Mypaper 4 April 2012, PPA15)

For whatever reasons it may be, wherever you are, as long as the carpark is full / crowded, people waiting for lots, please drive out of the lot before you indulge in the things you want to do. This is basic courtesy.

Does it make sense?

Then TIBS Bendy Bus

(Taken from sgforums.com)

SMRT started operating their articulated bus 'Bendy Bus' in some of their services some 10 years ago and personally I think it is a very good move as being 1 and 1/2 times longer than normal bus, it can carry, yes, 1and 1/2 times more passengers.

Officially, a Bendy Bus (BB) can carry as many or even more passengers than a Double Decker (DD) than SBST uses, depending on the model. (DD - 132, BB - 143, Normal SD -85, 90 newer WAB models).

Depending on the service routes, where the passengers mostly travel long distance (some that I can think of including) 198, 30, 51, 857, 858, 969, etc, DD will be ideal as it provides more seating capacity.

On the other end of the spectrum, on those service routes where passengers travel no more than 5 bus stops or bus journey no more than 10 minutes, BB will be more ideal. The reasons are obvious. For routes with most of the passenger travels less than 5 bus stops, the lower deck of the DD may be packed but there is almost certain that there are empty seats on the upper deck, especially towards the rear. For the BB, almost anywhere in the bus in the same with easy access to exit doors and such, so it is more likely to reach the full capacity in such situation than a DD.

LTA will argue that despite that, it takes up more road space and road space is very limited in Singapore. So, I do believe that LTA has done is to limit the number of BB on the road.

Maybe I can suggest to LTA and the bus operators certain measures.

First, identify those routes that are people are traveling long distance and also the routes that has high number of passenger as well as a high turnover (likely most of them will be feeder routes)

Deploy all DD on those long distance routes,

For those routes that are out of town (e.g. feeder services) there should be no issue deploying BB. (Current situation now is that SMRT Buses are replacing the BB with WAB smaller capacity models)

For those routes that passes by town, moderate the BB (maybe every alternate trip), etc. BB bus services can stop at different bus stops so that it doesn't severely block the other buses. Another alternative can be to disallow BB to go into town.


The current situation now is that in the neighborhood that I lived in, the interchange operated by SMRT, I see many occurrence of a service route that require BB (bus is so full till the driver have a problem closing the front doors) is deprived of the BB whereas another service route which does not require BB(enough capacity to have just a few people standing) using the much needed BB.

And also, I hope LTA can allow more BB on the roads, especially in the neighborhood areas where it is really needed.

How very true...

Lack of bus drivers

Bus drivers seems to be in demand by our bus operators whom first resorted to Malaysians and then China Nationals. (Maybe India Indian next). While the average pay for the bus drivers moves up north, still many people are not joining the profession which becomes logical when you attribute to associating factors such as starting very early in the morning (5am I believe) for the morning shift and ending close to 2am for the afternoon shift. Also, I suppose there is traffic risk, risk of sticking to timings, risk of bad passengers, risk of passenger abuse and such...

So with LTA injection of 1.1 billion into the industry, could it evolves into a situation whereby there are buses parked at the bus park and the operators couldn't find anyone to drive the bus?

Assuming if part of the 1.1 billion goes to increasing the salary of the bus drivers, could it also evolves into a situation whereby the starting pay of the bus driver is higher than the starting pay of the poly grad or Uni grad?

Also, with the high demand and low supply, can we still expect a high level of SERVICE from the bus captains? By the big word SERVICE not only referring to courtesy of the bus drivers but should also include the following:

- Service with a smile
- Smooth driving of buses (no hard braking, acceleration or cornering)
- Waiting for passengers who is trying their best to catch the bus
- Stop till elderly sits down before moving the bus
- Stop as close to kerb and bus stop as possible
- Going his way out to help passengers, especially those with special needs
- etc
- etc

There is a reason why SBST calls their bus driver bus captain. It is because like a captain of a ship or aircraft, this person is in charge of everything from the smooth operation of the vehicle to attending the needs of the passengers. To take responsibilities (and pride) in the job itself. Although it is OMO in the situation of the bus, the basic objective is still the same, to take responsibility (and pride) in the job and give one's best to ensure a exception level of service.

Are our so called bus captains able to achieve that?

How to save the world