Woman flung off bus seat: Son upset with SBS staff

Sep 13, 2007
Woman flung off bus seat: Son upset with SBS staff

LAST SATURDAY, my elderly mother and aunt boarded SBS service 133 (vehicle No. SBS 312B) in Rochor Road. Both took a seat in the second row behind the driver. During the journey, the bus was travelling at a high speed.

At about 4.25pm, the driver made a fast and sharp turn at the junction of Lavender Street and Serangoon Road, flinging my mother from her seat. She landed flat on her back and couldn't get up.

A short distance away, the driver halted the bus - only to glance in the rear-view mirror. Two kind passengers, however, helped my dazed mother to her seat. The driver did not inquire or give assistance to my mother, and continued to speed off on his journey.

On reaching Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange at about 4.45pm, my mother and aunt approached SBS Transit Passenger Office and reported the incident to two officers at the service counter.

The male officer took down my mother's feedback and particulars. My mother and aunt then identified the driver at the office. The driver denied any incident had occurred during his journey. The female officer even warned my mother of false allegations and demanded that she bring in other witnesses - apart from my aunt. She even claimed my aunt was not a 'reliable' witness.

My mother later complained of back ache and I took her to a GP, who referred her to Changi General Hospital. There she was diagnosed with a fractured lower back and tenderness over her left shoulder and upper limb.

I am aghast at the actions of the bus driver. Nor do I condone the behaviour of the SBS counter staff. Till now, no one from SBS has called to inquire or follow up on my mother's feedback.

Stanley Lim Chee Hoe

Whose interests is Avpas really serving?

Sep 12, 2007

Whose interests is Avpas really serving?

THE Anti-Video Piracy Association of Singapore (Avpas) is a non-government group which claims that it was formed to protect the interests of the Singaporean video industry and to educate the public on the benefits of buying original video products.

However, is this truly the case?

According to the Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC), a government body, the Avpas website was created on April 21, shortly before Odex started issuing letters threatening legal action and demanding money from downloaders.

Consequently, during the Odex saga, Odex claimed to have received authorisation from Avpas in carrying out its demands for compensation. Is this merely a coincidence or is there more than meets the eye?

I believe that most Singaporeans, like me, have never known of the existence of Avpas prior to the Odex fiasco. It seemed to have been dormant since its creation and only appeared when Odex needed it to help justify their actions in demanding money.

Second, Avpas claims to represent the whole Singaporean video industry. If Avpas was really so, it should comprise mainly the major video industry players, such as MediaCorp, Poh Kim and Golden Village.

However, the facts show the exact opposite. The main Avpas committee is dominated by directors Peter Go and Steven Sing and staff from Odex, a small anime distributor. Even the Avpas office resides in Odex's office.

Moreover, the 'licensors' and 'associate members' in Avpas are all Japanese firms. The list of 'authorised titles' on the Avpas website also only consists of Japanese anime titles; and many, if not most, of those titles are not even sold in Singapore. Even links found on the Avpas page only lead to the websites of Odex and Japanese anime firms.

Why is Avpas only targeting anime and not other types of video, such as movies and TV dramas? Is anime the only type of video in Singapore?

Chen Liang

"NTUC Income...famous for being..."

NTUC income for car insurance is famous for being...u decide

Originally posted by marlerocks

guys, i had a car accident and this was my experience for my claims with NTUC income.

Situation:

I have arranged for my motor workshop to have my vehicle surveyed and repaired. NTUC said after surveying the vehicle that my vehicle only requires $7,500. My assigned workshop has already stated that my vehicle’s gear box and other parts are faulty and the charges incurred will definitely be more than $7,500.

However, NTUC did not heed my advice and told me not to listen to what my assigned motor workshop has to say. NTUC stated that they have the required professionals to do the correct assessment on my vehicle and NTUC’s job was to get the quality workshop to repair the vehicle and deliver it to me. NTUC did told me the car will be delivered to us within 10 working days. Afterwhich, i called the assigned workshop by NTUC and they told me it will be ready in a week.

As my assigned motor workshop was not able to come to terms with NTUC, NTUC has hired another workshop to work on my vehicle.

NTUC’s represenatative XXXX Choo has informed me of the my vehicle SFS****Y to be towed to NTUC’s assigned workshop to be repaired. The workshop called and told me that the car will be ready within a week, which is 13/09/07.

This morning, NTUC’s representative XXXX Choo called me and told me to be prepared for the loss of my vehicle, NTUC might sell it off at a market value.

__________________________________________________ ___________________________________


Argh how can they do this to me right?

I mean i paid for the insurance and i will be paying my excess, its own damage. Whats the blo*dy point of buying car insurance if they so niao in repairing my car? then this morning come out so much pattern so be prepared for my car to be considered car loss.

In the first place i already tell them say my car $7,500 not enough cause gearbox spoil and ths n that, they say they have the professionals to access. Fair enough, i let their professionals access and let NTUC assign to their quality workshop to repair my car. Now after the repair start, their car workshop say gearbox plus dunno what EU unit spoil then NTUC feed back to me. I mean, initially i already told NTUC spoil liao what... Den they are proving to me that their so called professional accessors aceessing my car not profressional at all, make so many darn mistakes! Make mistakes then try to make their problem MY problem. Now they want to sell my car at market value then i ask them what is their so called market value? they say they will have to discuss with the higher management to come up with a decision and they will need around 2 working days. 2 working days to discuss! omg, my car will be delayed by another 2 working days. by then im damn pissed liao..

Then after i told them if i didnt get a good terms by NTUC i shall report to CASE to settle it, lodge a complain and stuff. You know what? In about 1hour plus NTUC representative called back and say they will proceed with the repairs instead.

THEN WHY CALL ME IN TH MORNING 9am AND GIVE ME SO MUCH TROUBLE?


NTUC has brought about great inconveniences for my family and myself. I have not heard a piece of good news ever since my car was passed over to NTUC’s management. I now am a very unhappy customer due to the ineffectiveness due NTUC’s depth in handling motoring accidents. It makes me feel NTUC is trying all ways and means to save money when repairing my vehicle, when the cost is high in repairing, they asked to be transferred to another workshop, when the workshop say need more funds to repair, they want to sell my car! argh.

_________________________
i sent them an email too.

Dear Mr Low *** Mee(manager of claims),

1) In the first place why did the representatives of NTUC say that my vehicle only require $7500 to repair my car? My assigned workshop have already highlighted this very fact and i asked you guys to go check it out too. But you guys told me not to trust my assigned workshop and to trust NTUC instead. Fair enough, i trusted you guys. But my trust was misplaced. Are the professional surveyors representing NTUC inept in their job in surveying damaged cars and poor in giving a quote for repairs?

If this is so, i will have to inform all my friends and tell people of Singapore about this to be fair to them as i do not want them to undergo such a torturing journey like what i did.

2) NTUC's motto is to become a partner for a better life for their clients i assume. I hope you guys live up to your motto because currently none of the calls i have received from NTUC sounds like a giving me a better life.

3) Why must we undergo all these then NTUC go ahead to get my car fixed? I buy car insurance to repair my car, not to waste time on such nonsense.

I want a valid explanation from NTUC.

Thank you.
_____________________________

Guys, this was my experience with NTUC income car insurance. Damn sad and pissed.


guys please give your comments or advice.. thanks.

Gamers cry foul over choice of cybergaming national team

Sep 11, 2007
Gamers cry foul over choice of cybergaming national team

Winners at qualifiers not picked for the team, losing out on US$30,000 a year and chance to turn pro

By Oo Gin Lee

IT WAS meant to be a dream chance for cybergamers here: the opportunity to turn professional and be paid US$30,000 (S$45,700) a year to play in an international league - plus any prize money they win.

But the local qualifying round of the Championship Gaming Series (CGS) ended on a sour note on Sunday with top local gamers crying foul over the final selection for the Singapore team.

The five-man Titans team, who won the overall Counter-strike game competition; Mr Marcus Choy, 22, who won his Fifa 2007 game category and Miss Goh Sze Lin, 27, who emerged victorious in the Dead Or Alive 4 game were all passed over.

In fact, it was the runners-up - and in the case of Fifa 2007, a semi-finalist - who were selected instead.

Mr Choy said: 'I worked my guts out and played my best virtual football. It's hard for me to take this - it feels like my win amounted to nothing at all.'

It was a particularly bitter pill for the Titans. Despite beating the relatively unknown team XTC, including by margins of 10-4 and 10-5, it was the losers who were eventually chosen for the CGS team. The Titans are currently the national champions.

Disappointment aside, the detail that has got the local gaming community talking is that the XTC team has been officially sponsored by the Singapore Gamers' Association (SGA) since July.

Mr Chris Soh, the founder and president of this association, is also the newly appointed manager of the Singapore CGS team.

This means that he was the one making the final choice on who would make it to the Singapore team over the weekend.

The Straits Times understands that Mr Soh has pumped some $30,000 of his own money into the association.

Also, under the terms of the SGA sponsorship, the gamer or gaming team must pay to SGA '50 per cent of all prize money as received from all approved events and tournaments'.

Said one gamer: 'We just don't know if the person who chooses the final team should also be so involved with one of the contenders.'

Some gamers also alleged that they felt pressurised to join Mr Soh's association.

Mr Prasad Paramajothi, 22, captain of the Titans, said: 'We and other gamers felt that there were hints that we had to join - otherwise we would not get drafted into the dream team to compete in the world league.'

Mr Soh yesterday dismissed the talk of a conflict of interest.

While he did try to get players to join the association, he said there was simply no link between joining up and getting chosen for the major league.

He told The Straits Times: 'The best players are not necessarily chosen for CGS. We look for a combination of skills, sportsmanship and how well the players can carry themselves on TV.'

Three winners in the qualifying round, however, did make it into the CGS team. They are Wilson Chia, 25, (Dead Or Alive 4, men's slot); and Aaron Aw, 27, and Jonathan Lee, 26, (the winner and runner-up for Project Gotham Racing 3, for which two slots were available).

The Singapore team will now take part in the Pan-Asian CGS competition in Kuala Lumpur next month.

Only the top four teams will get drafted and win the US$300,000 contract - which will mean an annual US$30,000 for each team member.

As for Mr Soh, as manager of the Singapore team, he stands to gain a US$50,000 contract if the team qualifies. He also plans to devote more time to the SGA and CGS.

He is currently serving out his notice period as a manager with the Infocomm Development Authority.

ginlee@sph.com.sg

---

'I worked my guts out and played my best virtual football. It's hard for me to take this - it feels like my win amounted to nothing at all.'
MR MARCUS CHOY, who won his Fifa 2007 game category

Adult EZ-link fares for buses up from October

Adult EZ-link fares for buses up from October
Posted: 11 September 2007 1221 hrs

SINGAPORE: Adult EZ-link fares for buses will increase by between one and two cents from 1 October.

Senior citizen concessionary EZ-link bus fares, which are flat fares pegged to the lowest adult fare band, will go up by two cents.

But the Public Transport Council (PTC) has decided there will be no increase in train fares.

It said the public transport operators had applied for an increase in bus and rail fares.

After deliberating on their proposals, it approved an overall fare increase of 1.8 per cent for bus fares but no increase for rail fares this year.

The PTC added that the majority of commuters will see no increase or a small rise in fares.

Taking into account all public transport trips, five in ten trips will see no increase while one in ten trips will see a rise of one cent.

The remaining four in ten trips will see an increase of two cents per trip.

The last time the PTC approved an increase in bus and MRT train fares was in October last year when they went up by between one and three cents. - CNA/ir

Chee Soon Juan on the annuities move

24 Aug 07

The latest move by the PAP Government to force Singaporeans to buy annuities is yet another despicable attempt to withhold the people's hard-earned CPF savings.

Already the Minimum Sum Scheme allows the Government to retain the citizens' retirement funds. Now the PAP wants to compel Singaporeans to buy annuity, making it even harder for them to survive their retirement years.

The annuity proposal is not a solution. It is a ploy. A ploy thought up by the PAP Government to strengthen its hold on CPF funds – funds that it then uses for its business ventures which are not transparent or accountable.

Worse, the ministers then use these businesses to tout their commercial prowess and demand that they be paid million-dollar salaries.

Let us be absolutely clear: The fact that Singaporeans do not and will not have enough funds to retire on is not because they are bad managers of their money and therefore need yet more Government intervention and supervision.

The fact that study after study shows Singaporeans having the highest savings rate in the world and yet retire as paupers point to one and only one conclusion: That their plight is a result of willful mismanagement of this Government.

The problem of insufficient retirement funds stems from the glaring fact that HDB flats are vacuuming up CPF savings.

For the overwhelming majority of the people who cannot afford private property, the HDB is the only means of housing. With the prices of the flats at current levels Singaporeans have had no choice but to use their retirement savings to pay for the monthly leases.

Worse, like most other public matters in this country, the cost of building the flats are kept secret. Then when the PAP wants to upgrade the flats and use them as threats during elections, they make the people dip more into their CPF to pay for the refurbishment.

Is it a surprise then that Singaporeans have little to live on when they retire?

This is a recurring nightmare for Singaporeans. The people are forced to bear the brunt of "solutions" to problems created by the PAP Government, problems that are wholly avoidable if not for the greed and short-sightedness of this Government.

The Stop-At-Two policy is another example where for years the Government introduced draconian measures to curtail the reproductive rate of the population only to discover that Singaporeans were not replacing themselves adequately. The "solution"? The Foreign Talent Policy.

The measure has flooded society with foreign workers and forced locals to compete with them for unconscionably low wages.

Such Government-say-people-do-with-no-questions-asked nonsense must stop. And the only way to stop it is for Singaporeans to exercise their freedoms of speech and assembly to send an unmistakable message to the PAP that they refuse to be fleeced and milked any longer.

Singaporeans must remember that democracy makes good economic sense, that is, without our political rights, there can be no economic rights.


Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party

Assault and battery, police do nothing.

Originally posted by playtime

Very angry..

Was at a convenience stall and saw a customer quarreling with the cashier (lady), the customer looked like hes high or something and ready to attack her, but after shouted lotsa vulgarities he turned to leave.

I went to pay for my purchase, to cut things short..... then he got violent, rushed back in and attacked me while trying to attack the cashier, left me bleeding/bruised. Police called.

With the whole attack captured on CCTV and the casher as witness, the police say they wont do anything, up to me to take legal action on my own. WTF... no wonder low crime ... not follwed up what?! Somemore say the person is a karang guni, no point take action against him. What the point of having law "enforcers" when they dont enforce the law? Might as well just call them law "observers".

i'll be going to polyclinic later for medical report.
Then I will call up the police case officer to ask what will be done, most importantly, when I can get a hold of the CCTV footage of the assault.

I just can't understand it, even with CCTV coverage and the lady (intended victim) testifying that he was about to be attack her when he changed to assault me, he still walks free. She even thanked me because I indirectly saved her, if they were alone, she may be dead for all I know. The biggest ****... during the police questioning, he was drinking beer openly, macham he know nothing will happen. Very experienced like that.

Must I be a civil servant or a bus driver in order to be given justice? No wonder people these days go around beating people up. Think about it, if you pick on some old fella, kid, poor worker etc.. chances are, they dont know, cannot afford, scared to take civil action against you. Since police do nothing... hey.. free to do it again lor..

Was a crime committed?? Hell yeah... but no arrest.
Is that how police maintain a statistically "crime free" Singapore?? For everyone's sake, I hope not, my faith in our justice system is now severely dented. It can happen to your wife, hubby, kids, parents etc etc too.




Interestingly, todays ST forum also has a letter on such a situation. Well, mine will come soon if I dont get a good result from our men in blue.