Are you thinking of refinancing your auto insurance? The bank interest rates are currently low, so it would be a good idea to refinance and pay lesser every month (at a much lower interest rate too).

I’ve had my car for about 3 years now, meaning I bought it at around 2008. The interest rates were high then, I think about 8%. Well, now it’s 1.88% !

I was thinking if I should either refinance, or get a repossessed 2nd-hand car in good condition (lol). After some thought, I’m currently leaning towards refinancing because my car is still in good condition and Japanese cars go a long way.

I guess I’ll have to do my calculations again!

On a sidenote,  if you need low car insurance rates and quotes, be sure to do your research well and choose the correct package that gives you the most advantage. Some insurers give you discounts if you don’t make claims against them, while some provide you with a sign-up bonus. It’s all up to you, depends on what you prefer i.e. cash or gifts or benefits.

Job market still looks bleak, despite the propaganda news to forcefully influence the market. Let’s not kid ourselves. We are hardly recovering as a world.

I am afraid of the impending double dip recession.

But Singapore? I don’t even need to get started, it’s extremely depressing! Honestly, when I saw the NDP on TV, and I saw all the faces of those people…I went “Damn, those hypocrites!” Everyone there were hypocrites.

The resentment among Singapore Citizens is truly unbelievable man, I am awed. Reading the papers and discussion boards, as well as getting inputs/views from friends, I realise that most Singapore Citizens are sick and tired of all the empty promises and trash talk.

One might say that the ones complaining are those with worse off situations e.g. bad debts, low income blah blah. But it’s interesting to know that the resentment exists with well educated, reasonable income earning Singapore Citizens too.

It would be a blatant lie if I was to say I don’t harbour any resentment. In fact, I hate it how Singapore Citizens are mistreated. I’m pretty competitive by nature, so I don’t really care whatever fug foreign talents, I know I can kick their asses. But what happens if you are denied the stepping stone such as job hunting?

Say for example, our universities are prestigious and world-class. Naturally, our graduates are of high calibre and quality. One would expect our graduate to earn a starting pay of minimum $3000. But wait. India’s best university is placed somewhere along the 200th, and a similar graduate from there is probably earning more than our graduates (working in Singapore).

Some companies provide a yearly increment of about 2%. Come on, that amounts to $50-100 per year. The national inflation rate is more than 2%. Even the HDB loan interest rates are pegged at 2.6%. Wait. CPF Ordinary Account earns 2.5% (I think) per year. Do some simple calculation and we Singaporeans are getting poorer every single day.

How cheap is cheap? Why do employers favour quantity & cheapness over quality & productivity?

If I had money, I would want to migrate my family and I to someplace better. Forget Singapore. Get citizenship somewhere, leave my CPF to earn interests, when the time is ripe I’ll renounce, and then enjoy with my money and family!

I’m a fantasy buff, all these spells and flying and element-bending shit can keep me awake throughout the night. The show certainly kept up with the fantasy element, coupled with great action sequences. It was enjoyable, though the ending left me cliffhanged totally!

Some comments though:

1. Whitewashing of original characters. Now this was brought up and debated before in newpaper articles. I agree to a certain extent but cmon, it’s a White production. Do you really expect them to pick up a Chinese kid to take up the role of Avatar? Now why would they do that?

2. How come the Fire Nation are Indians?! What is wrong. And the Chinese are Earth benders! This has got to be one of the weirdest castings I’ve seen.

3. Yada x3

4. I want to be a human bender, so that I can bend humans to my will. Hey, this is a good skill. I can help the elderly get their backbones straightened again. Community service number one.

5. Or bend light. So I can burst light bulbs/lamps with the flick of my fingers. If my neighbour is fighting again, I can short-circuit their whole damn house.

6. Or bend shit. I can help constipated people, or possibly set up a waste recycling company.

7. Damn I want to watch part 2 already! Fuck you Shaymalan, don’t make me wait so long. Next time, just make a 4 hour movie. I’ll gladly pay to watch it.

Letter from Farah Abdul Rahim Director, Corporate
Communications, Ministry Of Manpower

We thank Mr Melvin Toh and Ms Devi Maradan for their letters, “Are Interns being taken advantage of?” (May 26) and “Employers shouldn’t exploit ‘cheap’ labour”, (May 27).

The Employment Act covers every employee who is engaged under a contract of service. This includes interns. An employer should accord statutory benefits prescribed under the law to an intern if he is performing work and has work arrangements similar to that of a regular employee in the organisation.

Under the Employment Act, an employee should not be required to work for more than eight hours in one day or more than 44 hours in a week. However, he may be required to work overtime if he consents to do so, subject to the limit of 12 hours per day and totalling 72 hours per month.

Under the Act, the employer must pay the employee for the extra hours of work or for working on his rest days or public holidays. The rate for overtime work should be no less than one-and-a-half times his hourly basic rate of pay.

An employer must grant the employee one rest day (which is not paid) in a week, which may be on a Sunday, or any other day.

Prospective employers through education institutions should inform students clearly of their working arrangements such as their job scope, working hours, remuneration and benefits.

Interns who encounter employment issues should approach their employers or their education institutions for clarification to avoid misunderstanding.

Alternatively, they may approach the Ministry of Manpower for advice and assistance. More information on employment provisions in the law can be found at www.mom.gov.sg.

Source: TODAYonline

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This post goes out to all my working buddies out there (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE). If you OT too much, know your rights. Well, if you want a life and you’re not afraid of breaking your rice bowl, you can stand up for yourself :D

Just from personal experience, the carpark at my block goes out of lots fast. Only a couple of lots are marked for season ticket holders like me, so if I happen to get back late at night, I’d usually have no more lots left. I will then be hunting around for a white lot (or just about any lot!). I end up parking a distance away from my house, so I simply have to walk abit. Good thing my carpark is huge. OPEN AIR FTW.

Last time, the situation was worse! There would be no lots at all, even when I went so far away (like 5-6 blocks away). Now why would HDB/URA sell me the season ticket when I couldn’t even get one lot that I PAID for? Okay that aside, I noticed that many lorries took up the lots. AND THEY HAD NO SEASON PARKING TAGS. Some don’t even put coupons!

Shouldn’t lorries be parked in some heavy vehicle carpark? To me, anything bigger than a Class 3 license is a heavy vehicle. I hate those lorries.

Now the nightly charge is $4, but cmon what difference does it make even if it’s $10? The solution is not to charge higher, although it helps to somewhat deter. But if people need the lot, they’ll still pay any amount, or simply: buy a season parking tag. For me, the solution is to require heavy vehicles to be parked at their rightful places. And then, demand of season parking ticket goes up. With limited supply, HDB/URA can increase the prices of the season tickets :D And then Singaporeans will complain for a brief time, but lan-lan pay up because they need to park their cars. Btw what happened to Jack Neo? Singaporeans no talk?

One more thing. Maybe the reason we run out of lots is because Singaporeans are getting too fuckin rich. Some families own 2-3 cars, how like that? But end up only 1 driver for each car. Waste of space. What to do, so rich right. Then price increase abit, kaobei so much. Singaporeans! Hahahaha.

I am pretty disgusted with her big long nose. She looks like Nanny McPhee’s grandaunt!

I think someone should start manufacturing scarecrows in the form of Lady Gaga. Or wait…she could use this idea in her next music video! Credit me please!

*image courtesy of gutteruncensored.com