Breaking News: MOM’s 2nd quarter report on employment
July 31, 2007
The Ministry Of Manpower (MOM) has issued a press release on the employment situation for the second quarter. The release is titled: “EMPLOYMENT SITUATION IN SECOND QUARTER 2007: Continued record employment growth with sharp fall in unemployment”.
(View the press release here, in PDF file.)
Leong Sze Hian has some questions.
The MOM’s report says:
“Among the resident labour force, the non-adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2%, also higher than 3.4% in March 2007 but lower than 4.5% in the same period a year ago. An estimated 79,600 residents were unemployed in June 2007. The seasonally adjusted figure was 63,000″.
The estimated 79,600 unemployed residents is higher than the estimated 66,000 last quarter.
Technology can be a paper and a pen
July 30, 2007
By Ney Reed
It never fails to amuse me how Singaporeans commonly tend to narrowly and naively understand technology as only constituting computers, computer systems, information systems and so on.
Because technology is supposed to bring about greater output, productivity and income, there is an endless endeavor to constantly implement a new computer system to the workplace, school, organization or home.
Often the outcomes of such implementation are exaggerated in order to justify the investment.
If one is to sincerely analyze and evaluate the outcomes, he/she will discover that many a times that the cost out-reaps the benefits.
TOC welcomes Ephraim Loy on board
July 29, 2007
With effect from 1st August 2007, our Editorial team will be expanding to include Ephraim Loy.
Ephraim is currently a second year student at the Singapore Management University and is a member of the Young PAP, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol Branch. He also serves as a grassroots leader and is the chairman of his constituency’s Youth Executive Committee.
Ephraim is a contributor to The Straits Times YouthINK column and has written for several magazines such as Playworks, Eat! and Teenage. He was one of the contributors for the book People at the Peak (3rd Edition).
We extend a very warm welcome to Ephraim and look forward to working with him.
The Gay Issue - YoungPAP vs Bloggers
July 28, 2007
A blog post by Young PAP member, Nicholas Lazarus, has generated reactions from bloggers. Below is a listing of some of the bloggers who have written responses to his blog article.
The article – titled “The Alternative Vision For Singapore (and I mean Alternative!)” – can be found here (Young PAP blog).
Below is a screenshot of the article and Lazarus’ subsequent comment, (click to enlarge):
Displaying the national flag
July 28, 2007
By Andrew Loh
National Day is just around the corner but walking around some HDB estates, you will notice the scarcity or absence of the national flag being displayed.
So, why are Singaporeans not displaying the flag – proudly and openly?
Is it because it is still some days away from National Day? Or are there other reasons?
In my opinion, displaying the flag as a sign of our allegiance to or love for our country is indeed a significant thing. A solemn act, even.
The flag symbolizes our country.
Handover of ownership of theonlinecitizen
July 27, 2007
By Andrew Loh
After a long period of discussion with and feedback from friends, supporters and members of theonlinecitizen (TOC), I have decided to hand over the ownership of this blogsite to my co-editor, Choo Zheng Xi.
This is to address the concerns which some have feedbacked to us - namely, that my being a member of The Workers’ Party gives the impression that TOC is a Workers’ Party blog or that it is a WP vehicle.
It was never so and never intended to be so. The Workers’ Party has never been involved in this blog and TOC has never been used by the WP to propagate its agenda.
Fare hike for public transport in October?
July 26, 2007
By Andrew Loh
The Public Transport Council (PTC) has given public transport operators until August 2007 to apply for any fare revisions they wish to make. (Straits Times, Mar 23, 2007).
Any fare hike will take effect from October, according to a PTC spokesman quoted by the Straits Times.
Undoubtedly, any increase in fares will have commuters up in arms, as was the case in previous years. Any rise in transport fares will come on the back of an increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Now, I have to opt out of a charity event
July 26, 2007
This is Leong Sze Hian’s letter published in TODAY, July 26, 2007.
A country club in Singapore has sent a letter by ordinary mail to all its members informing them that $25 will be charged to their accounts as a donation to a charity in conjunction with a charity golf tournament.
Unless members choose to opt out by completing an attached form, the letter says that they do not need to do anything.
What if a member do not bother to open the club’s mail, or did not read it as it was bundled with the usual assortment of flyers – which is what normally happens with the piles of junk mail which we receive almost daily?
CPF - F1 or F9 : Credit extension, mortgages and ordinary/special accounts
July 25, 2007
This is the last in the series of articles on the CPF by Leong Sze Hian.
Owe money - no need to pay?
Singaporeans may like to know that in a media statement on Dec 3, 2006, the CPF Board said that ‘under the CPF Act, all CPF monies withdrawn by a member are protected from any debt or claim.
‘Thus, the monies withdrawn are protected from creditors even if the debts are incurred after the CPF withdrawal date.’
What this may mean is that retirees - after withdrawing their CPF at age 55 - may buy whatever they want on credit, borrow any amount of money and become entrepreneurs to do business, because CPF monies withdrawn are ‘protected from creditors even if the debts are incurred after the CPF withdrawal date’.
Wee Shu Min, Li Hongyi…nothing is sacred anymore with the net
July 24, 2007
By Yeo Toon Joo
Does the internet and its speed and openness change the way we communicate?
Of course, the internet has drastically altered the norms and practices of open communication, and even private conversation. It opens a pandora’s box! Anything you wish to disseminate or promulgate, idiotic or edifying, can be done instantly by just hitting a button.
It has changed forever the channels through which we communicate, and the way we communicate, and say things.
Anyone can have his soap box to cast his pearls or spew garbage. No blog, and even email between friends and associates, is considered private. Nothing is sacred anymore.
