武林大会 had ended. it was a like-have, like-never-have meeting where most of the opp clans chiefies met to discuss about how to overthrow the leegime. in another simple words: TALKING ROTS and ranting about it. sigh! what they thought they knew that the peasants didn't know better? rots and rats to them all!!
one leeporter summarised his view about this 武林大会. say to sad, i can't agree more with him :(
Dec 27, 2010
Opposition has no excuse not to do better at GE
In its favour: Electoral and societal changes, more qualified recruits
By Kor Kian Beng
THERE I was, seated in one corner of a hotel ballroom two weeks ago, watching six opposition leaders doing their best to prove that their parties have what it takes to do well in the next general election.
They fielded questions and presented their parties' positions on a wide range of issues, from housing prices, income inequality and national service, to civil liberties, the Internal Security Act, the role of the mainstream media and defamation laws.
They took jibes at the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) over some government policies and for not responding to an invitation to send a representative to the dialogue itself, which was organised by sociopolitical website The Online Citizen.
Most of the 350-strong audience lapped it all up. The atmosphere was much like that at an opposition rally during a general election.
At the end of the 21/2-hour event, there were smiles, handshakes, high fives, pats on the back, and words of praise for the six panellists.
When I asked opposition veteran Chiam See Tong after the event for his view on how it went, he declared: 'The winds of change are here. People are fed up with the PAP.'
Looking and sounding confident too, when approached, were his fellow opposition leaders: Dr Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party; Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform Party; Mr Chia Ti Lik of the Socialist Front; Mr Goh Meng Seng of the National Solidarity Party; and Mr Gerald Giam of the Workers' Party.
There are a number of possible reasons for the sense of optimism among the opposition about its chances at the next polls - due by February 2012 but widely predicted to be held by June next year.
First, high property prices and a surge in foreigner numbers have caused dissatisfaction among Singaporeans, and are issues ripe for opposition exploitation.
Second, electoral changes in the form of more single-member constituencies and smaller group representation constituencies will lower entry barriers for the opposition in terms of campaign costs and resources.
Third, the opposition has a number of new recruits who are well-qualified professionals. They include the Reform Party's Mr Jeyaretnam, Mr Tony Tan and Ms Hazel Poa, the Singapore Democratic Party's Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, and Workers' Party's Mr Giam and postgraduate law student Pritam Singh.
Fourth, the lure of HDB upgrading as an electoral carrot has faded. When the PAP dangled this in the two opposition wards of Hougang and Potong Pasir in 2006, the tactic backfired.
Fifth, the electorate that the opposition has to woo is arguably better-disposed towards them. Half of the 2.31 million voters next year would have been born after 1965, as opposed to one-third in 2006. Although the PAP believed that post-65ers supported it during the last general election, there are also perceptions that this generation might be more open to voting for the opposition. This is because this generation would not have experienced first-hand how the PAP Government led the country through the struggles of the 1950s and 1960s and are viewed as having less attachment and loyalty to the ruling party.
Sixth, with an increasingly more tech-savvy population, the reach of the Internet would have become more pervasive than it was during the 2006 polls. The Internet not only gives the opposition parties their own channels to reach out to voters, but also provides an avenue for Singaporeans to seek more alternative viewpoints.
Lastly, the key opposition parties appear to be more at ease in working with one another and presenting a more united front to the voters and to fight the PAP.
One telling sign was the dialogue two Thursdays ago, which saw five opposition parties, except the Workers' Party, rolling out their top leaders to attend the event, with Mr Chiam's presence making the strongest statement.
The opposition patriarch, who rarely skips his Meet-the-People sessions on Thursday evenings, not even when he was recovering from a mild stroke in early 2008, made an exception two weeks go to join his fellow opposition leaders at the dialogue, where they interacted like war comrades, posed together for photographs, and hardly disagreed with one another in their replies to the audience.
Sources say negotiations are under way to strike new alliances among the opposition parties before the next general election.
If the proposed alliance pans out and coupled with the factors above, it can mean only one thing: The opposition has no excuse not to do better at the next polls.
To some, the test would be whether the opposition snags at least one GRC, or at the very least adds more single-seat wards to the existing two in Hougang and Potong Pasir.
To be sure, the opposition may yet fail to deliver, judging from its past record. It is one thing to look promising but another to garner more than 50 per cent of the votes necessary to send a candidate into Parliament.
The opposition's chances in the coming general election are probably as good as it will get. The parties must step up candidate recruitment and produce well-researched alternative policy proposals to offer in their election manifestos.
The opposition will have only itself to blame if it fails again to deliver the goods, especially if its failure stems from infighting. There is a limit to voters' patience.
kianbeng@sph.com.sg
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
like got said; like got never said....
gathering of the wu-lin chiefies
hiding a deadly secret weapon behind each back?
TOC Face to Face Forum LIVE UPDATE
Posted: 16 Dec 2010 03:43 AM PST
7:45pm Nearly full house. Forum starting soon!
7:48pm Panelists arrive!
8:00pm Stephen from Pasir Ris Punggol GRC. On HDB – SDP would like to privatize the building of public housing. Do you consider your way of providing for funding for it?
Goh Meng Seng :Govt has become the number landlord. Not feasible to privatize the use of land. If it had started in 1965, then yes, it is feasible, but not now.
Chee Soon Juan: Not correct to say SDP wants to privatize public housing. But to ensure HDB remains a zero profit venture. Need to get HDB to be transparent in all its transactions. First step is to get Govt to reveal the true cost of building HDB flat.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam: Conflict of interest between HDB and SLA. Ridiculous to speak of a ‘market’ as HDB prices is set by Govt. HDB should go back to being supplier of cheap affordable housing to the lower 30% of income strata. Also provide better choice for rest of population. Increase the supply of land to allow for greater amount of housing to be built.
Question to Chiam See Tong– Raymond Athony Fernardo husband of woman with schizophrenia. Difficult to get support. Caregiver also fall into depression. Why is it so difficult to get Parliament to talk about support of people with mental illness.
Chiam See Tong: PAP don’t like problems of people with mental disabilities.
Raymond: But I thought PM Lee says he wants to make Singapore a home for all Singaporeans?
Chiam: He says a lot of things. (audience applause) PAP credibility is down the drain.
SMU Grad Alvin to Gerald Giam. Income inequality lots of driving forces behind. What is WP’s policies to mitigate?
Gerald Giam: Focus on helping those in the lower income groups. Workfare supplement currently too little. Average $80 per month. Hardly enough. WP to propose to raise Workfare quantum. Most important though is to reduce the inflow of foreign workers especially for lower income jobs.
Patrick Lee political observer to Dr Chee. What is opposition’s plan for the next five years in economics?
Chee Soon Juan: Top 10 percent of income earners grown. But bottom 10 percent hardly moved. But very high GDP. So where is this money coming from? If continue on this trend the social friction will worsen.
SMU Grad Alvin to Gerald Giam. Income inequality lots of driving forces behind. What is WP’s policies to mitigate?
Gerald Giam: Focus on helping those in the lower income groups. Workfare supplement currently too little.
New Asia Republic’s Donaldson to Kenneth Jeyaratnam: PAP policies on entrepreneurship, raising retirement age etc… what policy direction is the PAP pointing to? What is Reform Party’s policy?
KJ: Focus on productivity. Singapore has one of the lowest productivity in the world. All our GDP growth has been fueled by growing workforce. PAP paying only lip service to productivity growth which is the source of high income and higher value industries.
GENERAL QUESTION
a) Problem is not system. But the people in the system. People in the civil service are not in tune with the people on the ground. What are your solutions to this problem when majority of policy makers do not know what the people are thinking?
Everybody says HDB price is too high. But what is opposition going to do about HDB prices? They’re stuck. If lower prices, home owners are going to scream. If keep it the same new buyers are going to be unhappy.
Chia Ti Lik (Socialist Front)
a) Problem of disconnected policy makers - Give the ruling party a black eye in this coming GE. PAP has stayed in power for too long. They’ve created an elite admin service with super high pay. These elites no longer see themselves as having to push for something for the benefit of the people. What we see is a reflection of group think and accumulation of 40 years of uninterrupted rule.
b) HDB Prices – Land is 100% controlled by the Govt. They’ve created asset appreciation policies. This money from the people went into Govt coffers and is used to spearhead their investment overseas. We do not have an accountable system where there’s transparency and fruits shared from investment with the people. The high prices sadly may have to remain because Singaporeans have already committed to those properties. And it would be irresponsible to change that. But we’re committed to socialist policies. The old HDB prcies can remain. But the new ones can go on a lower price scales.
Goh Meng Seng
a) Problem of disconnected policy makers – Send strong signal to the Government. By voting for opposition.
b) With regards to HDB – The high prices is not a problem created by us, it’s by the PAP. There are actually two segments of flats in HDB. New flat and resale. New flat PAP has full control. Discard the idea that HDB is investment. It is not. It is a home.
Chee Soon Juan
On HDB – The biggest thing an elected opposition MP can do is make Minister of National Development open the book and reveal cost of HDB flat. Also make them account for where our reserves come from. How much came from HDB sales? Get them to open the books, and then let’s talk. With this information, I’m sure we can find smart people who can come up with the solutions. But we need the information first. Our biggest battle is not PAP but what PAP has done to our minds.
On policy markers being out of touch – they live in world of their own. They don’t live in HDB flats. The solution is to vote the opposition for a voice in the system.
Chiam See Tong
On HDB – PAP is making lots of profits. Not true there’s subsidies in housing. The government is making lots of money from housing.
On policy makers being out of touch – They started of as socialists now they are capitalists. Only advice I can give is vote for the opposition.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Disagrees that policies are on the right track. There’s enough money to fund a better social support system.
On HDB – If property prices crash, there will be serious consequences. Govt has vested interest in property prices rising. When RP is in power, has to be careful not to cause property prices to crash, while creating more affordable housing for lower income group.
Gerald Giam
On issue of HDB – Govt has not planned for influx of migrants. Solution is to increase supply. Housing loan should be reduced to twenty years or less, not 30 years. New flats are now pegged to resale flats. Solution – to peg price of new HDB flats to median income.
On complacency of Govt – PAP with its vast network knows what’s going on. It’s ignoring the feedback from the ground and persisting in the same policies.
New topic: Civil Liberties
Member of audience ‘Mr Chua’ worries that PAP does not has the same sense of patriotism as ordinary Singaporeans. Patriotism is most important issue in Singapore. Hopes that stay united, do not fight among yourselves.
Chia Ti Lik - Civil liberties have been curtailed. Even opposition have to contend in legalistic rulings. Civil liberties are a must for us to grow as a nation. A must to change this system and change the lives of the people in our country in the days to come. Should not be divorced from bread and butter issues. The only time when you see people rally together is during GE every five years. You don’t see that everyday, cos the ruling party doesn’t want you to know that so many of you are against them.
Human rights activist and lawyer M Ravi to Goh Meng Seng
Racial quota on HDB flats an example of discrimination against minorities. What is NSP’s stance on removing this kind of policies?
Goh Meng Seng
Race is a political construct. Tampines has 24% Malays. The result is highest number of Malay coffeeshops. Ethnic economics is good for minorities. As long as the concentration of minorities in an area is not more than 50% he can accept that.
Political detainee Michael Fernandez says in other countries, Government has offered compensation for people previously detained without trial. What does the opposition have to say?
the wu-lin meeting of the opp martials arts chiefies in local politics world was changed to QUALITY HOTEL. contradicting to the name of the hotel, the "quality" of the forum wasn't really there.
it was a night of LIKE GOT SAID, LIKE GOT NEVER SAID. clueless. that was what the whole affair was about. simply clueless!!
it was like a broken radio playing the same old weary tune. DOWN WITH HDB PRICES! OUT THE FT workers!! pay raise!! WHERE'S OUR MONEY?!! blah...blah...blah...
all those loud tiring rantings...everyone knew how to do it but who's there with the alternative or solution or even a whimsy solution or suggestion? NONE!
so if the opp clans were to rule peasantland, it would be from the frying pan into the fire. every peasants would get burnt to a crisp. then how?? :((
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
wu-lin meet at mt sophia
sigh! another crappy wu-lin orgy meeting. those kungfu jokers were really horny! this time their tryst would be at the holey hill of mt sophia. this was a nice rustic retro place which housed a small cinema called SINEMA (or die your mother si ni ma if pronouced in mandarin).
again, the same old martial arts jokers would be there. again, the same quibbling on the same tired issues till their cows come home with all the cowdungs. would there be a solution? don't think so :(
the kungfu masters such as chee ah juan - the usual man-whore attention seeker would just be there for more limelight robbery. wasn't his clan SDP being marked for demolition? now why didn't he highlight on this? since he was at that, maybe he could let the cat or his pussy out for the establishment of his subsidiary USD where pussy-in-pantyless la mui was residing. and waiting....if u know what i mean ;)
the joker wild card of the wu-lin orgy meet definitely had to go to SF represented by the other half of the ex-CONDOM HEROES chia sai. he would be speaking about his failed deadly kungfu of the crazy dragon deadly 18 blows and maybe also his KAMASUTRA deadly feat of kungfu combination with the other half of the condom hero, la mui.
if one would notice carefully, lamui appeared to be missing in this martial arts meet. awkardness for the risk of encountering ex-kungfu sparring partner chia sai? or avoiding the deadly darts shooting to her about her USD-cum-SDP strategic formation?
KJ, chiefy of RP had all along displayed displeasure to the clowning ninja activities from the SDP CLAN. he should be especially pissed off by chee ah juan who had messed up the good reputation of most of the other opp clans. for that matter, SPP where master chiam ruled would be absenting themselves from this meet in order to avoid clashes by auntie lina against chee. her silk hanky had left a undelectable mark on ah juan's blushed thick-skinned face.
another meeting, another orgasmic orgy....another kana sai time wasting, self-bragging limelight robbery. peasants attending this kungfu meet would have to climb the steep step to reach mt sophia's SINEMA. this place was very eerie at night with monstrous aged trees. peasants might risk life and limb especially SDP CLAN would be installing their ninja turtles that might waylay them and steal their wits, ie, hare-blains off their skulls. so beware of the SDP ninja turtles. keep your heads intact and make sure the hare-blains are still there after the night of another lame wu-lin orgy meet.
The Online Citizen will be holding a public forum as a lead-up to the next General Elections. Titled, “Face To Face”, the forum will see five opposition political parties taking questions from members of the public on various issues in a 21/2 hour Q&A session. (There will be no speeches from the panelists.)
We would like to invite you, as fellow bloggers, to the forum which is as follows:
Date: 16 December 2010
Time: 7pm to 10.30pm
Venue: Sinema Old School theatre, Mount Sophia
Panelists:
Dr Chee Soon Juan – Singapore Democratic Party
Mr Goh Meng Seng – National Solidarity Party
Mr Chia Ti Lik – Socialist Front
Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam – Reform Party
Mr Gerald Giam – Workers’ Party
If you would like to attend the event, please RSVP by Saturday, 11 December 2010 so that we can make the necessary arrangements.
If it’s not too much trouble, we would also like to request your help in publicising the event on your blog, website, Facrbook or Twitter accounts.
Thank you.
Regards,
Andrew Loh
For: Chief Editor, TOC
again, the same old martial arts jokers would be there. again, the same quibbling on the same tired issues till their cows come home with all the cowdungs. would there be a solution? don't think so :(
the kungfu masters such as chee ah juan - the usual man-whore attention seeker would just be there for more limelight robbery. wasn't his clan SDP being marked for demolition? now why didn't he highlight on this? since he was at that, maybe he could let the cat or his pussy out for the establishment of his subsidiary USD where pussy-in-pantyless la mui was residing. and waiting....if u know what i mean ;)
the joker wild card of the wu-lin orgy meet definitely had to go to SF represented by the other half of the ex-CONDOM HEROES chia sai. he would be speaking about his failed deadly kungfu of the crazy dragon deadly 18 blows and maybe also his KAMASUTRA deadly feat of kungfu combination with the other half of the condom hero, la mui.
if one would notice carefully, lamui appeared to be missing in this martial arts meet. awkardness for the risk of encountering ex-kungfu sparring partner chia sai? or avoiding the deadly darts shooting to her about her USD-cum-SDP strategic formation?
KJ, chiefy of RP had all along displayed displeasure to the clowning ninja activities from the SDP CLAN. he should be especially pissed off by chee ah juan who had messed up the good reputation of most of the other opp clans. for that matter, SPP where master chiam ruled would be absenting themselves from this meet in order to avoid clashes by auntie lina against chee. her silk hanky had left a undelectable mark on ah juan's blushed thick-skinned face.
another meeting, another orgasmic orgy....another kana sai time wasting, self-bragging limelight robbery. peasants attending this kungfu meet would have to climb the steep step to reach mt sophia's SINEMA. this place was very eerie at night with monstrous aged trees. peasants might risk life and limb especially SDP CLAN would be installing their ninja turtles that might waylay them and steal their wits, ie, hare-blains off their skulls. so beware of the SDP ninja turtles. keep your heads intact and make sure the hare-blains are still there after the night of another lame wu-lin orgy meet.
The Online Citizen will be holding a public forum as a lead-up to the next General Elections. Titled, “Face To Face”, the forum will see five opposition political parties taking questions from members of the public on various issues in a 21/2 hour Q&A session. (There will be no speeches from the panelists.)
We would like to invite you, as fellow bloggers, to the forum which is as follows:
Date: 16 December 2010
Time: 7pm to 10.30pm
Venue: Sinema Old School theatre, Mount Sophia
Panelists:
Dr Chee Soon Juan – Singapore Democratic Party
Mr Goh Meng Seng – National Solidarity Party
Mr Chia Ti Lik – Socialist Front
Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam – Reform Party
Mr Gerald Giam – Workers’ Party
If you would like to attend the event, please RSVP by Saturday, 11 December 2010 so that we can make the necessary arrangements.
If it’s not too much trouble, we would also like to request your help in publicising the event on your blog, website, Facrbook or Twitter accounts.
Thank you.
Regards,
Andrew Loh
For: Chief Editor, TOC
Friday, December 3, 2010
saikong throwing ALL his last bet
saikong seng and all his fa - bao, red undies included, were all hurled into the next GE. if he loses, it's asala vista baby to him. but what if he wins? ah, then it shall be a different story. it could signal to be the rise of the GOH DYNASTY. wow!
this GE is gonna be very sexciting!
for now the oods are against ah seng due to his "over exposure" in the SHIT TIMES and other medias. day in, day out, peasants read about him. it would be good if there were constructive and chilvarious deeds displayed so that peasants could witness his kungfu prowess. what the blurred peasants saw was only chit-chatting this and that.
by doing so, saikongseng had unwittingly exposed his weakness to the paps' undercover agents who now mingled in plainsclothes among the peasants testing the water of their sentiments.
Pinky lee, the PM or PINK MINITOOT of the leegime had described the ground as sweet and ripe for some peasants butt-ramming sexsion. in order to ram them blur and into conning their votes and supports, a series of goodies were being planned to bribe them.
with the aid of the SHITS TIMES and MSM, (main stream media not his minitoot-sex-minitoot orgies with the peasants), the economic situation in peesailand was played about to cheery sweet success in their foreign investments and their ingenius financial planning acquiring great return$.
how true were such claims? well, tissues papers selling old uncles and aunties were proliferating. mundan low paying jobs were aplenty and were "compassionately" bestowed to the old folks. there were even highly paid peasant-like folks to come forth to praise the leegime's kind and generous effort offered to tide them over the bad patches.
how true were those stories....it left many baffled and asking themselves: HOW CUM I DIDN'T GET ANYTHING THAT $HIOK FROM THE LEEGIME??
so it leaves more to be seen and revealed as the GE drew nearer.
Going all out in the name of politics
By Faris – December 3rd, 2010
Goh Meng Seng, Secretary-general of NSP (Photo: Yahoo!).
Secretary-general of the National Solidarity Party, Goh Meng Seng, is going for broke in the next General Elections.
Literally putting his money where his mouth is, the 40-year-old sold his 4-room HDB flat in Serangoon North in September to fund his party’s election campaign plans for the next GE, due to be held by Feb 2012.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo! Singapore, Mr Goh – who currently manages a retail business — said the decision to sell his only home in Singapore is nothing to shout about.
“Most of the time, leaders of the opposition parties will put up with some funds to support the whole party’s campaign. There is nothing new to it,” said Goh, who currently lives with his 81-year-old mother in Ang Mo Kio. Mr Goh, who currently manages a retail business also has a wife, 39, and daughter, 7, residing in Hong Kong.
While Mr Goh declined to reveal how much he sold his flat for, checks on several property websites show that the average price of a 4-room flat in Serangoon is around $400,000 to $450,000.
Proceeds from the sale, he said, would not be used to fund his own election campaigns and candidacy but will be directed to the coffers of the NSP “to sponsor a team” for election as well as support the party’s overall strategy.
The cost of running for elections is not cheap. For example, on Nomination Day for the last 2006 General Election (GE), each candidate had to fork out an election deposit of $13,500. This doesn’t include campaign costs incurred by the respective campaigns which could easily cost thousands of dollars.
Election rules also state that the deposit is to be forfeited if the candidate fails to obtain at least one-eighth or 12.5 per cent of the votes.
Goh’s involvement in local politics has spanned over 10 years. In 2006, while still with the Workers’ Party (WP), he was part of the team led by Ms Sylvia Lim which contested the Aljunied GRC.
While results saw the WP securing 43.91 per cent of the vote and the PAP claiming 56.09 per cent, that constituency’s election was marred by the controversy involving James Gomez, who claimed to have submitted the minority-race candidate application form required to stand as a candidate in a GRC.
CCTV footage later showed he had kept the form in his bag and Gomez was labelled a “liar” by MM Lee Kuan Yew.
Mr Goh left the party shortly after elections, joined the NSP and was elected the party’s secretary-general in February this year.
Touching on the GE, Mr Goh singled out three “hot-button” issues that would dominate campaigning after Nomination Day: health care, population and foreign talent policy.
In particular, he also highlighted public housing which “will no doubt be a key issue because it affects 80 per cent of the people”.
On the issue of healthcare, Mr Goh is calling for a more comprehensive health insurance because he feels the present coverage is insufficient.
“In ensuring effective insurance coverage for its citizens, the government should provide part of the premiums of health insurance which should also include non-working adults and children.”
And what if Mr Goh loses in his bid to contest the Tampines GRC?
After all, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan has been the anchor MP in Tampines since 1988. In the last GE, the 5-man PAP team led by the Minister won a clear 68.51% majority of votes while the opposition team of Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) secured only 31.49% of votes.
“If I lose, then it will depend on whether my party needs me to stay on for the transitional period. There will inevitably be a transition for leadership change,” said Goh.
Goh also said he would decline to take up the Non-Constituency Members of Parliament scheme offered to losing opposition candidates with the highest votes.
In April this year, Parliament amended the scheme to increase the number of NCMP seats from six to nine. While NCMPs are allowed to participate in parliamentary debates and even raise motions in the House, they are unable to vote on constitutional changes. Based on the constitution, such powers will remain as privileges of an elected MP.
Mr Goh echoed the views of Hougang’s opposition Member of Parliament, Low Thia Khiang, who said he will not take up the NCMP seat if he loses in an election.
“I want the full power as an MP, fair and square. If I don’t win, I will not take the NCMP seat,” he said.
Signalling his intention that he’s ready to quit politics altogether if he loses, Goh said the time will come when he has to tough decisions.
“Personally, I have set my target right from 2001 where I am willing and prepared to spend 15 years of my life to try to contribute to the Singapore political cause as much as possible. After which, I will have to move on,” he said.
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Singapore News Alternative Blog
Singapore News Alternative's General Election Report
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
botakman at SDP CLAN proclaimed as the next "gay mp" (magistrate of peasants)?
M. Ravi speaks about his upcoming challenge to the constitutionality of Section 377A (Part 3 of 3)
Botakman, a scion of a reputable school headmaster, had joined SDP CLAN. he was an eloquent speaker. he was gay - according to the RAVI, the crazy lawfighter for local and FT criminals in peesailand.
SDP CLAN was well-tuned to a special breed in peesailand: the gays, the lesbos, the bisexuals and the whatever kinky species. the unique number was growing and growing fast.
in order to tap into this group for voting supports, BOTAKMAN was engaged. he was one helluva speaker. his charm, charisma and delivery of fiery motivating speech was captivating. PINK POWER TO HIM!!
unfortunately liaising with SDP CLAN would do more damage than good to a wonderful cause to stamp public prejudices against a breed of special people called PLUs (people-like-us wasn't really people like us).
SDP CLAN had always hidden a very evil motive under the veil of their faked up righteousness and chivalry. their dubious link with foreign forces had never been denied or explained clearly. why? god knows!
master chee was one cunning fraudster that had re-packaged SDP CLAN. when an ad firm used a rogue bear for their gimmick, chee copied and used another bear mascot to ketok or cheat children and teenagers who were their next target to breed a new clan of youngster ninjas for their shadowy hideous movement.
to a fresh young and naive mind, master chee would execute his deadly mind-control kungfu feat easily. a new breed of SDP zombies in the making? well, peasants were now waiting. watching. praying.....and finally hoping. would the SDP CLAN be finally eradicated from the political martial arts scene looking at the huge problems they were amassing and the huge lawsuit taels claim against them?
that's where USD and SF were established as a refuge for SDP's final migration when their liar was fully annihilated. when would that be? stay tuned and counting.....
Sunday, November 21, 2010
CONIFRMED: USD & SF are SDP's branches
Nov 20, 2010
Rebranding the SDP
SINGAPORE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
YEAR FORMED: 1980
LEADER: Secretary-general Chee Soon Juan, 48
MANIFESTO: Economic proposals launched last Saturday
KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: Creating a fairer society, curbing the influx of foreign workers and increasing health-care spending
MR NEW Junwei, 27, used to have an unsavoury impression of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).
'They seemed fierce, and were always getting into trouble,' says the sales executive, referring to the convictions imposed on SDP leaders for staging illegal protests, and the libel suits that SDP chief Chee Soon Juan lost to government leaders.
Then he attended a political rally staged by the party last Saturday - and he had a change of perception.
He says he was surprised by the carnival-like atmosphere, replete with a rock band and a teddy bear mascot, and the unveiling of the party's economic proposals from its manifesto.
'Now the SDP seems a bit more respectable, even constructive,' admits Mr New.
This is the new image that the SDP wants to foster among voters ahead of the next polls, through a recent raft of measures.
By launching the economic segment of its election manifesto, SDP is seeking to show that it is not all sound and no substance. Titled It's About You, the proposals include calling for a minimum wage to help low-wage workers cope with costs of living.
Dr Chee tells Insight that the party is recruiting 'people of substance' as members and potential candidates for the next polls. They include former Workers' Party candidate James Gomez, 45, a public relations academic based in Melbourne, and Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, 40, executive director of migrant workers' rights group TWC2.
Another image-changing tactic is the use of mascot Danny the Democracy Bear for its walkabouts.
But even as it tries to soften its image, the party is still grappling with the consequences of its strident activism. The party, Dr Chee and his sister Chee Siok Chin, a central executive committee member, still owe $610,000 in damages to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew for defaming them in an SDP newsletter article during the 2006 polls.
As bankrupts, the Chees and party chairman Gandhi Ambalam are barred from contesting in the next election. If the party is unable to pay up, it could be wound up.
The party's uncertain fate is believed to be the key reason SDP supporters set up a new party called United Singapore Democrats earlier this year. It is seen as an alternative vehicle for the SDP to contest the polls should it be shut down.
Meanwhile, SDP is continuing with its online efforts to engage young, tech-savvy voters through the party website and social media platforms.
It is stepping up its walkabouts in Bukit Panjang - the only ward that the SDP has openly declared its intention to contest. Sources say it is also eyeing the five-member Tampines GRC.
Independent political analyst Derek da Cunha says the SDP's style of personalising political issues would appeal to only a small section of the electorate. 'Most voters feel national issues are too important to be personalised,' he notes.
Rookie in the field
SOCIALIST FRONT
YEAR FORMED: September 2010
LEADERS: Chairman Ng Teck Siong, 69, businessman, and secretary-general Chia Ti Lik, 36, lawyer
MANIFESTO: Being drafted
KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: To set economic and political policies for the good of the common people
AT ITS coming-out party two months ago, the Socialist Front (SF) announced its aim of forming a future socialist government. Today, Singapore's newest political party still does not know where it will contest in the coming polls.
SF chairman Ng Teck Siong, 69, says it wants to fight in at least two single-member constituencies, with the candidates likely to be himself and secretary-general Chia Ti Lik. But he admits the party will have to wait for 'leftovers' from the bigger opposition parties after they have divided up the electoral wards among themselves.
He acknowledges that his party, with about 15 members now, will have difficulty mounting a sizeable campaign and making any impact. The lack of experienced candidates is another factor.
Eight of the 11 central executive committee members are political rookies. Only Mr Ng, Mr Chia and treasurer Mansor Rahman, 59, have electoral experience.
Mr Chia represented the Workers' Party (WP) in the 2006 polls while Mr Mansor stood for the Singapore United Front in Geylang Serai in 1984. Mr Ng, a former member of the Reform Party, WP and Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), was part of the WP team fielded in West Coast GRC in the 1997 polls.
The party is not conducting walkabouts or home visits, but it plans to hold monthly forums and launch its website soon. Since its inception, SF has been in talks with SDP and the National Solidarity Party on how to fight in the coming elections.
Rebranding the SDP
SINGAPORE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
YEAR FORMED: 1980
LEADER: Secretary-general Chee Soon Juan, 48
MANIFESTO: Economic proposals launched last Saturday
KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: Creating a fairer society, curbing the influx of foreign workers and increasing health-care spending
MR NEW Junwei, 27, used to have an unsavoury impression of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).
'They seemed fierce, and were always getting into trouble,' says the sales executive, referring to the convictions imposed on SDP leaders for staging illegal protests, and the libel suits that SDP chief Chee Soon Juan lost to government leaders.
Then he attended a political rally staged by the party last Saturday - and he had a change of perception.
He says he was surprised by the carnival-like atmosphere, replete with a rock band and a teddy bear mascot, and the unveiling of the party's economic proposals from its manifesto.
'Now the SDP seems a bit more respectable, even constructive,' admits Mr New.
This is the new image that the SDP wants to foster among voters ahead of the next polls, through a recent raft of measures.
By launching the economic segment of its election manifesto, SDP is seeking to show that it is not all sound and no substance. Titled It's About You, the proposals include calling for a minimum wage to help low-wage workers cope with costs of living.
Dr Chee tells Insight that the party is recruiting 'people of substance' as members and potential candidates for the next polls. They include former Workers' Party candidate James Gomez, 45, a public relations academic based in Melbourne, and Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, 40, executive director of migrant workers' rights group TWC2.
Another image-changing tactic is the use of mascot Danny the Democracy Bear for its walkabouts.
But even as it tries to soften its image, the party is still grappling with the consequences of its strident activism. The party, Dr Chee and his sister Chee Siok Chin, a central executive committee member, still owe $610,000 in damages to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew for defaming them in an SDP newsletter article during the 2006 polls.
As bankrupts, the Chees and party chairman Gandhi Ambalam are barred from contesting in the next election. If the party is unable to pay up, it could be wound up.
The party's uncertain fate is believed to be the key reason SDP supporters set up a new party called United Singapore Democrats earlier this year. It is seen as an alternative vehicle for the SDP to contest the polls should it be shut down.
Meanwhile, SDP is continuing with its online efforts to engage young, tech-savvy voters through the party website and social media platforms.
It is stepping up its walkabouts in Bukit Panjang - the only ward that the SDP has openly declared its intention to contest. Sources say it is also eyeing the five-member Tampines GRC.
Independent political analyst Derek da Cunha says the SDP's style of personalising political issues would appeal to only a small section of the electorate. 'Most voters feel national issues are too important to be personalised,' he notes.
Rookie in the field
SOCIALIST FRONT
YEAR FORMED: September 2010
LEADERS: Chairman Ng Teck Siong, 69, businessman, and secretary-general Chia Ti Lik, 36, lawyer
MANIFESTO: Being drafted
KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES: To set economic and political policies for the good of the common people
AT ITS coming-out party two months ago, the Socialist Front (SF) announced its aim of forming a future socialist government. Today, Singapore's newest political party still does not know where it will contest in the coming polls.
SF chairman Ng Teck Siong, 69, says it wants to fight in at least two single-member constituencies, with the candidates likely to be himself and secretary-general Chia Ti Lik. But he admits the party will have to wait for 'leftovers' from the bigger opposition parties after they have divided up the electoral wards among themselves.
He acknowledges that his party, with about 15 members now, will have difficulty mounting a sizeable campaign and making any impact. The lack of experienced candidates is another factor.
Eight of the 11 central executive committee members are political rookies. Only Mr Ng, Mr Chia and treasurer Mansor Rahman, 59, have electoral experience.
Mr Chia represented the Workers' Party (WP) in the 2006 polls while Mr Mansor stood for the Singapore United Front in Geylang Serai in 1984. Mr Ng, a former member of the Reform Party, WP and Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), was part of the WP team fielded in West Coast GRC in the 1997 polls.
The party is not conducting walkabouts or home visits, but it plans to hold monthly forums and launch its website soon. Since its inception, SF has been in talks with SDP and the National Solidarity Party on how to fight in the coming elections.
Friday, November 19, 2010
SDP CLAN copying SILLY HARVEST CHURH
wow! this was absolutely unbelievable!! SDP CLAN had fully copied the deadly mind boggling kungfu from SILLY HARVEST CHURCH. this was the biggest church in peesailand and probably the richest in the whole south east asia. SILLY HARVEST CHURCH was using a divine deadly skill that tickled hooleey but dumbo peasants to gladly party with their gold taels. of late, they had gotten themselves into taels constipation after globbering too excessively from the peasants. silly harvest church was now under probe.
back to SDP CLAN, if master chee wasn't a kungfu master, he would sure make an alternative KONG HEE FATT CHOY, leeder of the SILLY HARVEST CHURCH and be loaded and bloated with gold taels!
as it turned out, the SDP WU-LIN meet in honglim hill was a pirate copy kungfu stance from SILLY HARVEST. peasants were blurred again. many hooleey ones would have swear that it was a church hooleey gathering of the desecrated hooleey spirits.
in the video, lamui appeared. wait a minute! wasn't she the master of the newly formed USD or U SEE DITDIT CLAN?
it was confirmed by the tabloid. USD was appropriately SDP which the latter was destined to be doomed pretty soon for owing the leegime hundreds of taels due to defamation and other charges.
catch question: WHY WASN'T HWANG RONG, the taiwanese wifey of master chee not making the mandarin speech instead of lamui? ain't her more powderful taiwanese deadlier than lamui's abc standard?
the minor details tell much.....and many should be made aware of their hidden deadly toxic fine darts. once hit, it would be HALLELUJAH!! victim shall be blain washed, blain drained.....and it would to longkong he would be heading next.
back to SDP CLAN, if master chee wasn't a kungfu master, he would sure make an alternative KONG HEE FATT CHOY, leeder of the SILLY HARVEST CHURCH and be loaded and bloated with gold taels!
as it turned out, the SDP WU-LIN meet in honglim hill was a pirate copy kungfu stance from SILLY HARVEST. peasants were blurred again. many hooleey ones would have swear that it was a church hooleey gathering of the desecrated hooleey spirits.
in the video, lamui appeared. wait a minute! wasn't she the master of the newly formed USD or U SEE DITDIT CLAN?
it was confirmed by the tabloid. USD was appropriately SDP which the latter was destined to be doomed pretty soon for owing the leegime hundreds of taels due to defamation and other charges.
catch question: WHY WASN'T HWANG RONG, the taiwanese wifey of master chee not making the mandarin speech instead of lamui? ain't her more powderful taiwanese deadlier than lamui's abc standard?
the minor details tell much.....and many should be made aware of their hidden deadly toxic fine darts. once hit, it would be HALLELUJAH!! victim shall be blain washed, blain drained.....and it would to longkong he would be heading next.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
zombied SDP GEN X teen
SDP CLAN master chee had really done it again. he had in a way sucessfully brainwashed some naive teens in peesailand. such teens probably were made to feel high when they joined SDP CLAN where they were given artificial TLC or tender loving care and lots of faked attention. the SDP GEN X teens were thus created. this SDP CLAN's newest ploy was targeted at unnoticed teens in peesailand. they were made to feel with great importance when SDP CLAN hoodwinked them into their hideous propaganda.
watch and realise what's going on. do pay attention to your own teenage kids lest they fall prey into the SDP CLAN of hookwinks, ninja turtles and mind-benders.
Kenneth Lin: I was lied to
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Singapore Democrats
Sixteen-year-old Kenneth Lin spoke at the SDP's It's About You rally on 13 November 2010.
yep! poor boy was seriously lied to again by SDP CLAN. the 2nd lie from SDP was even more serious than the lst one.
watch and realise what's going on. do pay attention to your own teenage kids lest they fall prey into the SDP CLAN of hookwinks, ninja turtles and mind-benders.
Kenneth Lin: I was lied to
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Singapore Democrats
Sixteen-year-old Kenneth Lin spoke at the SDP's It's About You rally on 13 November 2010.
yep! poor boy was seriously lied to again by SDP CLAN. the 2nd lie from SDP was even more serious than the lst one.
Monday, November 15, 2010
SANCTIONING OF PEASANTS OF PEESAILAND - revisited
Chee Soon Juan call on America to stop business with Singapore
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If the US agrees with Chee, what will happen to us?
Quote:
Chee Soon Juan to go on U.S. talk shows asking Obama to address human rights abuse in Singapore - when sending videoclip about chee's yakking failed, sent chee in personal gift wrapped to USA.
A week after MM Lee Kuan Yew was interviewed on the U.S. Talk Show – the Charlie Rose Show and was given a rare meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, Singapore opposition leader Dr Chee Soon Juan will go on a series of radio shows in America.
The interviews come on the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to Singapore for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting from 12-14 Nov 09.
Among the interviews will be one with Mr Ron Reagan on Air America and veteran talk show host Lionel Lipshitz on The Lionel Show.
In an earlier interview with Talk Radio News Service Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner, Dr Chee spoke about the repressive laws put in place by the Singapore government to curtail the political rights of citizens such as the recent public order law passed which ban even peaceful solo protest. - master chee could be suggesting that peesailand legalised the using of MAGNUM to blow other's head off!!
He also urged Mr Obama to take note of the human rights abuses in Singapore and call on America’s political and business leaders to stop collaboration with the Singapore government unless it improves on its human rights record.
Last week, Singapore Law Minister Shanmugan spent 3 days trying to convince a skeptical American audience from the New York State Bar Association that Singapore is a country of law and that its situation is “unique”.
Dr Chee’s personal testimony of the human rights abuses and political persecution he had suffered at the hands of the ruling party is likely to win him much sympathy from the American public and further damage the reputation of the Singapore government. - the law says NO to chee, but he persists and insists. then how? master chee higher than the law?
Though the ruling party is able to maintain a tight grip over the local media, it has little or no influence over the American press.
While President Obama is unlikely to heed Dr Chee’s call to exert pressure on the Singapore government to liberalize the political landscape, the negative publicity generated worldwide will nevertheless make the regime feel uncomfortable. - obama has better things to do then to listen to to the incessant whinnings from chee ah juan about his personal vendetta against the leegime.
Being a globalized city heavily dependent on trade, Singapore cannot afford to allow its international branding to be tarnished by charges of political repression.
In stark contrast, Hong Kong, despite having only limited self-rule under Communist China, seldom encounter such negative publicity about its political system.
Even China is becoming more conscious of its international image. Chinese President Hu Jintao recently gave a pledge to the western media that they would be allowed to report freely on events in China.
In an increasingly inter-connected world where barriers between states are breaking down fast by the internet, the Singapore government is finding it harder to keep the facade of itself being a “democracy” for long.
U.S. NGO Freedom House wrote in its 2009 report that Singapore is not an “electoral democracy which would have a detrimental impact on the impression the Americans have on Singapore.
While Dr Chee was never a MP, his influence on Singapore politics will extend far beyond Singapore’s shores. - obviously a boastful empty claim by the SDP CLAN
The Singapore government should realize that its tried and tested methods of stifling political dissent through repressive measures will eventually backfire on them and damage their own credibility which no amount of PR exercise will reverse.
From now onwards, it has to be especially vigilant to its actions which may give others free ammunitions to shoot at it.
Singapore “exceptionalism” is no excuse for its oppression. The Singapore government may be able to deceive its own people, but not freedom-loving souls from the rest of the free world.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/11...-in-singapore/
SDP CLAN never ceases to exploit any website that is prejudiced and non-constructive. sites which are full of mischiefs and bias are just what SDP CLAN needs the most and also what describe the LOKI nature of master chee the chief public jester.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If the US agrees with Chee, what will happen to us?
Quote:
Chee Soon Juan to go on U.S. talk shows asking Obama to address human rights abuse in Singapore - when sending videoclip about chee's yakking failed, sent chee in personal gift wrapped to USA.
A week after MM Lee Kuan Yew was interviewed on the U.S. Talk Show – the Charlie Rose Show and was given a rare meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, Singapore opposition leader Dr Chee Soon Juan will go on a series of radio shows in America.
The interviews come on the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to Singapore for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting from 12-14 Nov 09.
Among the interviews will be one with Mr Ron Reagan on Air America and veteran talk show host Lionel Lipshitz on The Lionel Show.
In an earlier interview with Talk Radio News Service Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner, Dr Chee spoke about the repressive laws put in place by the Singapore government to curtail the political rights of citizens such as the recent public order law passed which ban even peaceful solo protest. - master chee could be suggesting that peesailand legalised the using of MAGNUM to blow other's head off!!
He also urged Mr Obama to take note of the human rights abuses in Singapore and call on America’s political and business leaders to stop collaboration with the Singapore government unless it improves on its human rights record.
Last week, Singapore Law Minister Shanmugan spent 3 days trying to convince a skeptical American audience from the New York State Bar Association that Singapore is a country of law and that its situation is “unique”.
Dr Chee’s personal testimony of the human rights abuses and political persecution he had suffered at the hands of the ruling party is likely to win him much sympathy from the American public and further damage the reputation of the Singapore government. - the law says NO to chee, but he persists and insists. then how? master chee higher than the law?
Though the ruling party is able to maintain a tight grip over the local media, it has little or no influence over the American press.
While President Obama is unlikely to heed Dr Chee’s call to exert pressure on the Singapore government to liberalize the political landscape, the negative publicity generated worldwide will nevertheless make the regime feel uncomfortable. - obama has better things to do then to listen to to the incessant whinnings from chee ah juan about his personal vendetta against the leegime.
Being a globalized city heavily dependent on trade, Singapore cannot afford to allow its international branding to be tarnished by charges of political repression.
In stark contrast, Hong Kong, despite having only limited self-rule under Communist China, seldom encounter such negative publicity about its political system.
Even China is becoming more conscious of its international image. Chinese President Hu Jintao recently gave a pledge to the western media that they would be allowed to report freely on events in China.
In an increasingly inter-connected world where barriers between states are breaking down fast by the internet, the Singapore government is finding it harder to keep the facade of itself being a “democracy” for long.
U.S. NGO Freedom House wrote in its 2009 report that Singapore is not an “electoral democracy which would have a detrimental impact on the impression the Americans have on Singapore.
While Dr Chee was never a MP, his influence on Singapore politics will extend far beyond Singapore’s shores. - obviously a boastful empty claim by the SDP CLAN
The Singapore government should realize that its tried and tested methods of stifling political dissent through repressive measures will eventually backfire on them and damage their own credibility which no amount of PR exercise will reverse.
From now onwards, it has to be especially vigilant to its actions which may give others free ammunitions to shoot at it.
Singapore “exceptionalism” is no excuse for its oppression. The Singapore government may be able to deceive its own people, but not freedom-loving souls from the rest of the free world.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/11...-in-singapore/
SDP CLAN never ceases to exploit any website that is prejudiced and non-constructive. sites which are full of mischiefs and bias are just what SDP CLAN needs the most and also what describe the LOKI nature of master chee the chief public jester.
chroming of teens and teletubbies
SDP's desperate attempt to brainwash teenagers and teletubbies was getting fanatic. during their duel with the imperial guards executing their failed CRAZY DRAGON 18 DEADLY BLOWS. when they staged this deadly kungfu stance, teletubbies kids were actually deployed as the defence shield just in case matter got out of control and violence set in. the innocent and naive teletubbies kids were supposed to act as "compassionate lovable adoring" shields. such cowardice could only be documented from SDP's persistent public clowning antics disregarding the safety of those teletubbies.
last saturday at honglim hill, SDP now deployed pubicless hairless teens as their defence shield. again, the purpose were to fake out that even youngsters who were in puberty and quite hairless adored SDP. this was rick sick mentality from the desperado SDP CLAN.
master chee ah juan could be running out of clowning tricks and hence resorting to exploiting even teletubbies and the teleteens now.
one enraged and disappointed peasant voiced out his displeasure - an exemplary adversed reaction from the majority if looking at the deteroriating turnout.
SDP's Second Rally had lesser Crowd Turnout!
by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 5:51am
Huge flags flew high and mighty...but where was the crowd?? Compared to the first Rally last month, it was so dismal!
The crowd was so dissipated. Isolated groups form here and there. The atmosphere was nothing like the last rally. I attended both rallies.
I took it as an experience to attend rallies...even election rallies of the past with charged sentiments and emotions.
But today on (13.11.2010), I was really taken aback when a young kid of maybe 16 or 17 years old went up to the stage and spoke. He seemed precocious for his age though small in size. He was non other than Kenneth Lin. I did not pay attention to his speech but my personal opinion is: he should not even standing up there! Why groom a kid at this age to be involved in politics. He is still in JC. The contents of his speech you all can listen when SDP posts on their website or Facebook. What platform or political direction is SDP trying to bring forth to the discerning public? Politics is not child-play or flim-flam. PAP may be feeling amused.
The last rally before Vincent Cheng (VC) went up to speak, I had a word with him and with 'unreserved frankness' I told him does it serve any purpose even if he let the whole of S'pore know he was jailed under ISA. Can he turn back the clock ? Or can he bring the government or PAP to court that jailed him for those donkey years? VC was adamant and went up to deliver his 'sermon'. It became the 'counter-force' that may have back-fired. Hence today's rally many shy away not to be seen as supporting a political 'dissident'. The fear factor!! So the crowd was in much lesser numbers.
I lay a bet if SDP is to organise a third rally some other time....the thinning of the crowd may be even worse. Many may think what is on SDP's sleeves the next time?...going to let a 5 year old toddler to rattle his piece about how bad the PAP is? What can a five year old know apart from sing 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' !! and there goes masak-masak politics !! This is just a hypothetical scenario...not for real right?? But why a kid of 17 years talking on stage about politics???
Is that what SDP is projecting into the minds of Singaporeans the politics of "uncertainty?" No more confrontational politics !! but a new beginning of political change into tender innocent age politics !!??
last saturday at honglim hill, SDP now deployed pubicless hairless teens as their defence shield. again, the purpose were to fake out that even youngsters who were in puberty and quite hairless adored SDP. this was rick sick mentality from the desperado SDP CLAN.
master chee ah juan could be running out of clowning tricks and hence resorting to exploiting even teletubbies and the teleteens now.
one enraged and disappointed peasant voiced out his displeasure - an exemplary adversed reaction from the majority if looking at the deteroriating turnout.
SDP's Second Rally had lesser Crowd Turnout!
by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 5:51am
Huge flags flew high and mighty...but where was the crowd?? Compared to the first Rally last month, it was so dismal!
The crowd was so dissipated. Isolated groups form here and there. The atmosphere was nothing like the last rally. I attended both rallies.
I took it as an experience to attend rallies...even election rallies of the past with charged sentiments and emotions.
But today on (13.11.2010), I was really taken aback when a young kid of maybe 16 or 17 years old went up to the stage and spoke. He seemed precocious for his age though small in size. He was non other than Kenneth Lin. I did not pay attention to his speech but my personal opinion is: he should not even standing up there! Why groom a kid at this age to be involved in politics. He is still in JC. The contents of his speech you all can listen when SDP posts on their website or Facebook. What platform or political direction is SDP trying to bring forth to the discerning public? Politics is not child-play or flim-flam. PAP may be feeling amused.
The last rally before Vincent Cheng (VC) went up to speak, I had a word with him and with 'unreserved frankness' I told him does it serve any purpose even if he let the whole of S'pore know he was jailed under ISA. Can he turn back the clock ? Or can he bring the government or PAP to court that jailed him for those donkey years? VC was adamant and went up to deliver his 'sermon'. It became the 'counter-force' that may have back-fired. Hence today's rally many shy away not to be seen as supporting a political 'dissident'. The fear factor!! So the crowd was in much lesser numbers.
I lay a bet if SDP is to organise a third rally some other time....the thinning of the crowd may be even worse. Many may think what is on SDP's sleeves the next time?...going to let a 5 year old toddler to rattle his piece about how bad the PAP is? What can a five year old know apart from sing 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' !! and there goes masak-masak politics !! This is just a hypothetical scenario...not for real right?? But why a kid of 17 years talking on stage about politics???
Is that what SDP is projecting into the minds of Singaporeans the politics of "uncertainty?" No more confrontational politics !! but a new beginning of political change into tender innocent age politics !!??
Friday, November 12, 2010
to longkang, to the big longkang
hadn't ranted enough in the magistrate court, master chee ah juan now exploited their TIT FOR TAT website and tried to smoke his zombies for his "freedom of speech".
this was quite contradicting as master chee had deployed a gang of cyberbullies into other forum sites to stamp, target and harrass those who posted bad remarks against SDP CLAN.
it was so heartening that master chee was now licking his own medicine and getting his imbecile SDP disciples into the big longkang full of shits. they just loved the shits they were consistently churning. and now the buzzing little flies were hovering in too.
Dr Chee Soon Juan said in court on Tuesday that all the legal contortions made by the Government cannot hide the fact that the PAP controls the political system with complete disregard for the rule of law and the Constitution. But it seems that the Courts cannot see this.
The SDP secretary-general said this in his submissions during his appeal on his four convictions for speaking in public without a permit in the weeks before the 2006 general elections. The appeal hearing took place before High Court Judge Steven Chong (pictured) ealier this week.
Below are excerpts of Dr Chee's submissions.
‘This case is about the freedom of speech in Singapore. The charge that I have made a speech in public without a permit is but a red herring. I have repeatedly explained that the Government has openly stated that it will not authorise public political activities.
Is freedom of speech important? Of course, it is. It is what civilises us human beings. It is what protects us from the rich and powerful. Most important, it is guaranteed to us Singaporeans in our constitution.
Without freedom of speech we remain at the mercy of those who rule over us. Without freedom of speech the poor will continue to live off the crumbs thrown from the table of the few who wallow in wanton abundance. Without freedom of speech society's ills cannot be treated.
This hearing can throw up the finest legalese and the most intricate of points of law to convict me. But all these cannot hide one simple but stark fact: Singapore is run by a political system designed by the PAP, of the PAP and for the PAP. The reality is that the PAP controls the political system and comes up with laws and policies that allow it to conduct its political activities freely while preventing its opponents from doing the same.
The public sees this. The unfairness assaults the common sense of every common person. But it seems that the courts cannot see this.
The anger at the injustice is being discussed by the public, especially on the Internet, and with it the clamour for fairness and justice is growing.
The PAP has taken away the people's right to free speech. I am asking this court to restore it for us. I am asking this court to intervene on the side of justice, on behalf of the people. But it seems that every time I ask for bread, I am given stone.
Your Honour, you have the opportunity to right many wrongs. The Chief Justice of Canada, Madam Beverly McLachlin, wrote in December 2005 that
Judges must resist...making 'law' out of what cannot be just, and hence, in a profound sense, cannot be legal. To do otherwise is to allow injustice to hide itself under the cloak of false legality.
On the other hand, you may convict me. But I am comforted that I stand before the judgment of a higher court, the court of History.
I do not live for the here and now. My words will speak louder in the future than presently. I rest assured I will be vindicated. It is with this knowledge that I remain an unrepentant defender of the people's rights and an advocate of their freedom.
’
The four charges carry a total of $20,000 in fine or 20 weeks' imprisonment in default. The Judge reserved judgment.
this was quite contradicting as master chee had deployed a gang of cyberbullies into other forum sites to stamp, target and harrass those who posted bad remarks against SDP CLAN.
it was so heartening that master chee was now licking his own medicine and getting his imbecile SDP disciples into the big longkang full of shits. they just loved the shits they were consistently churning. and now the buzzing little flies were hovering in too.
Dr Chee Soon Juan said in court on Tuesday that all the legal contortions made by the Government cannot hide the fact that the PAP controls the political system with complete disregard for the rule of law and the Constitution. But it seems that the Courts cannot see this.
The SDP secretary-general said this in his submissions during his appeal on his four convictions for speaking in public without a permit in the weeks before the 2006 general elections. The appeal hearing took place before High Court Judge Steven Chong (pictured) ealier this week.
Below are excerpts of Dr Chee's submissions.
‘This case is about the freedom of speech in Singapore. The charge that I have made a speech in public without a permit is but a red herring. I have repeatedly explained that the Government has openly stated that it will not authorise public political activities.
Is freedom of speech important? Of course, it is. It is what civilises us human beings. It is what protects us from the rich and powerful. Most important, it is guaranteed to us Singaporeans in our constitution.
Without freedom of speech we remain at the mercy of those who rule over us. Without freedom of speech the poor will continue to live off the crumbs thrown from the table of the few who wallow in wanton abundance. Without freedom of speech society's ills cannot be treated.
This hearing can throw up the finest legalese and the most intricate of points of law to convict me. But all these cannot hide one simple but stark fact: Singapore is run by a political system designed by the PAP, of the PAP and for the PAP. The reality is that the PAP controls the political system and comes up with laws and policies that allow it to conduct its political activities freely while preventing its opponents from doing the same.
The public sees this. The unfairness assaults the common sense of every common person. But it seems that the courts cannot see this.
The anger at the injustice is being discussed by the public, especially on the Internet, and with it the clamour for fairness and justice is growing.
The PAP has taken away the people's right to free speech. I am asking this court to restore it for us. I am asking this court to intervene on the side of justice, on behalf of the people. But it seems that every time I ask for bread, I am given stone.
Your Honour, you have the opportunity to right many wrongs. The Chief Justice of Canada, Madam Beverly McLachlin, wrote in December 2005 that
Judges must resist...making 'law' out of what cannot be just, and hence, in a profound sense, cannot be legal. To do otherwise is to allow injustice to hide itself under the cloak of false legality.
On the other hand, you may convict me. But I am comforted that I stand before the judgment of a higher court, the court of History.
I do not live for the here and now. My words will speak louder in the future than presently. I rest assured I will be vindicated. It is with this knowledge that I remain an unrepentant defender of the people's rights and an advocate of their freedom.
’
The four charges carry a total of $20,000 in fine or 20 weeks' imprisonment in default. The Judge reserved judgment.
SDP. yes, again....
master chee is mobilising his lackeys to brainwash peasants again on this weekend at honglim hill.
did master chee have another backup artillery from his demised father-in-law clan in taiwan?
where did SDP get their fundings? they had so many fines from the imperial gov and yet they seemed to be unaffected. funding from peasants' donations? nah! it couldn't be. that left only one possiblity: FOREIGN FORCES' FUNDING.
peasants are doomed if taken in and brain washed by chee's deadly mindcontrol freaky kungfu.
An opposition that does itself no favours
By Liang Tung-ping
Straits Times
Nov 10, 2010
EVEN though the Republic of Singapore was founded only 45 years ago, it stands proud in the region and even in the world at large, due to its political stability and economic prosperity.
Strange as it may seem, such a nation, once described by the late Harvard University political scientist Samuel Huntington as a 'near-perfect society', is also often the target of criticism of some political commentators. Their criticisms usually centre around the issues of authoritarian rule and suppression of the opposition parties, and so on.
The truth is that most of these criticisms are superficial, blind, self-opinionated and come with ulterior motives.
The fact remains that in the foreseeable future, there is hardly any opportunity for the opposition parties in Singapore to grow in strength - due to the great work the ruling People's Action Party has done in governing the country, plus the fact that most opposition politicians in Singapore lack the necessary qualities and are often fighting among themselves.
In Singapore, there is a Speakers' Corner within Hong Lim Park, modelled after the Speakers' Corner in Britain's Hyde Park, which the Government established in 2000 in response to criticism that Singapore lacks free speech. This park is a real-life example of what politics is like in Singapore.
When it was first launched, it managed to attract crowds for quite a while, but enthusiasm for it soon died down. The main reason for this is because most of the speakers just could not manage to piece together any serious or meaningful criticism of the Singapore Government. Eventually, most of the issues raised tended to be trivial, and this turned off many in the audience.
All that remains of the Speakers' Corner today is a signboard indicating its location.
In September 2008, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a ground-breaking measure allowing individuals and organisations to gather at Speakers' Corner to stage demonstrations and protests, by simply registering online. For a few days after the measure was announced, the Chinese-language Lianhe Zaobao did a series of stories, hoping to report large-scale public gatherings and demonstrations at the park, events that were previously unheard of in the island state.
In the end, the reporters saw only 'a few tiny birds flying around the park'. It seemed that nobody had bothered to register with the authorities to protest.
The Singapore Parliament comprises 84 elected Members of Parliament (MPs), one Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) and nine Nominated MPs.
Among the elected MPs, there are two opposition members: one of them, the 75-year-old Mr Chiam See Tong, is a six-term MP from the Singapore People's Party who has served for 26 years; the other is Mr Low Thia Khiang from the Workers' Party (WP), who has also been around for quite a few terms. The NCMP is the WP's Ms Sylvia Lim.
The NCMP seats are automatically given to the 'best losers' among the opposition candidates. Indeed, to make the number of opposition MPs in Parliament look better, the Singapore Government has also amended the law to allow more opposition NCMPs in Parliament in the next elections.
Why is this so? Precisely because the opposition has hardly any chance of winning.
A small nation such as Singapore, with all its worthy talents roped in by the ruling party, leaving the opposition with the likes of politicians such as Dr Chee Soon Juan - how can the opposition ever grow in strength and earn the people's trust?
Dr Chee of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is actually the worst example that one can cite among the island's opposition camp. Introduced into politics by Mr Chiam when the latter was the party's secretary-general, he got Mr Chiam kicked out of the SDP and took control of the party. In the end, not only did the SDP fail to grow stronger, but it also went into decline. Dr Chee's capabilities are evident for all to see.
The biggest problem with him is that he likes to resort to rumour-mongering in order to achieve his political agenda. Abandoned by his own comrades and the people of Singapore, Dr Chee is now politically bankrupt.
What is funny is that some Western media and ignorant political commentators still like to treat Dr Chee as some kind of a model figure for the opposition in Singapore.
This commentary appeared in Taiwan's Chinese-language China Times on Nov 6. Translated by Terence Tan.
did master chee have another backup artillery from his demised father-in-law clan in taiwan?
where did SDP get their fundings? they had so many fines from the imperial gov and yet they seemed to be unaffected. funding from peasants' donations? nah! it couldn't be. that left only one possiblity: FOREIGN FORCES' FUNDING.
peasants are doomed if taken in and brain washed by chee's deadly mindcontrol freaky kungfu.
An opposition that does itself no favours
By Liang Tung-ping
Straits Times
Nov 10, 2010
EVEN though the Republic of Singapore was founded only 45 years ago, it stands proud in the region and even in the world at large, due to its political stability and economic prosperity.
Strange as it may seem, such a nation, once described by the late Harvard University political scientist Samuel Huntington as a 'near-perfect society', is also often the target of criticism of some political commentators. Their criticisms usually centre around the issues of authoritarian rule and suppression of the opposition parties, and so on.
The truth is that most of these criticisms are superficial, blind, self-opinionated and come with ulterior motives.
The fact remains that in the foreseeable future, there is hardly any opportunity for the opposition parties in Singapore to grow in strength - due to the great work the ruling People's Action Party has done in governing the country, plus the fact that most opposition politicians in Singapore lack the necessary qualities and are often fighting among themselves.
In Singapore, there is a Speakers' Corner within Hong Lim Park, modelled after the Speakers' Corner in Britain's Hyde Park, which the Government established in 2000 in response to criticism that Singapore lacks free speech. This park is a real-life example of what politics is like in Singapore.
When it was first launched, it managed to attract crowds for quite a while, but enthusiasm for it soon died down. The main reason for this is because most of the speakers just could not manage to piece together any serious or meaningful criticism of the Singapore Government. Eventually, most of the issues raised tended to be trivial, and this turned off many in the audience.
All that remains of the Speakers' Corner today is a signboard indicating its location.
In September 2008, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a ground-breaking measure allowing individuals and organisations to gather at Speakers' Corner to stage demonstrations and protests, by simply registering online. For a few days after the measure was announced, the Chinese-language Lianhe Zaobao did a series of stories, hoping to report large-scale public gatherings and demonstrations at the park, events that were previously unheard of in the island state.
In the end, the reporters saw only 'a few tiny birds flying around the park'. It seemed that nobody had bothered to register with the authorities to protest.
The Singapore Parliament comprises 84 elected Members of Parliament (MPs), one Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) and nine Nominated MPs.
Among the elected MPs, there are two opposition members: one of them, the 75-year-old Mr Chiam See Tong, is a six-term MP from the Singapore People's Party who has served for 26 years; the other is Mr Low Thia Khiang from the Workers' Party (WP), who has also been around for quite a few terms. The NCMP is the WP's Ms Sylvia Lim.
The NCMP seats are automatically given to the 'best losers' among the opposition candidates. Indeed, to make the number of opposition MPs in Parliament look better, the Singapore Government has also amended the law to allow more opposition NCMPs in Parliament in the next elections.
Why is this so? Precisely because the opposition has hardly any chance of winning.
A small nation such as Singapore, with all its worthy talents roped in by the ruling party, leaving the opposition with the likes of politicians such as Dr Chee Soon Juan - how can the opposition ever grow in strength and earn the people's trust?
Dr Chee of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is actually the worst example that one can cite among the island's opposition camp. Introduced into politics by Mr Chiam when the latter was the party's secretary-general, he got Mr Chiam kicked out of the SDP and took control of the party. In the end, not only did the SDP fail to grow stronger, but it also went into decline. Dr Chee's capabilities are evident for all to see.
The biggest problem with him is that he likes to resort to rumour-mongering in order to achieve his political agenda. Abandoned by his own comrades and the people of Singapore, Dr Chee is now politically bankrupt.
What is funny is that some Western media and ignorant political commentators still like to treat Dr Chee as some kind of a model figure for the opposition in Singapore.
This commentary appeared in Taiwan's Chinese-language China Times on Nov 6. Translated by Terence Tan.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
another wu-lin meet at honglim hill
it was suppose to be a decent wu-lin da hui or martial arts gathering at honglim hill this coming weekend. but wait. why was SDP CLAN calling the shots? could there be another hidden motive? lamui was going to be there. this was getting confusing. wasn't she the chiefy of U SEE DITDIT CLAN but how come it was again linked with SDP CLAN?
gomez fr MONASH MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOL was back. but which clan did he belong to? the last heard he was WP CLAN disciple. and now what? confusion churning. who from where or doing what representing which clan??
so as the delusive wheel of intrigue in the martials art in local politics continues to spin....voters could be getting dizzy and blur in the end.
Drs Wong Wee Nam and James Gomez will be among several new speakers who will take to the podium at the It's About You rally at Hong Lim Park this Saturday.
They will address the problem of the growing divide in wealth in this country and the need to build a more egalitarian economy, issues that are central to the Singapore Democrats' message in the coming general elections.
Most people know that Dr Wong is a general practitioner, running his own clinic. What is lesser known is that he also has a law degree from the University of London. He ran as an opposition candidate in 1997 and writes regularly for websites like Sgpolitics.net. Effectively bilingual, Dr Wong will deliver his speech in English and Chinese.
Dr Gomez is no newcomer to politics in Singapore. He contested in the 2006 GE under the Workers' Party. He is currently Deputy Associate Dean at Monash University in Australia and has been a staff member at various think-tanks and universities across the world. He founded the Think Centre in 1999 and is the Executive Director of Singaporeans for Democracy (2009). Dr Gomez will be speaking on the plight of the working poor in Singapore.
The SDP will feature two other new speakers at the Rally. Mr Sylvester Lim, a member of the Central Executive Committee of the party, will highlight the Democrats' proposals to lower the cost of living in this country.
lamui and sylvester - husby & wifey??
Ms Jaslyn Go, who will speak in Chinese, will also emphasize on economic issues but address the subject from a mother's viewpoint. Ms Go, a mother of two who also runs a successful business, will relate the difficulty of making ends meet with rising costs and stagnant wages.
Other speakers are Mr John Tan, Mr Jufrie Mahmood, Dr Vincent Wijeysingha and Dr Chee Soon Juan.
Dr Wijeysingha caught the attention of many when he spoke at the first pre-election rally held a few weeks back in September. He had spoken eloquently on the need for a minimum wage law in Singapore. He holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Sheffield, UK.
All the speeches will have a common thread running through them which is the SDP's alternative economic programme. The party will launch the programme bearing the same title as the rally: It's About You during the rally. It delineates the various economic policy areas and, more importantly, makes clear the alternative measures needed to bring our economy forward.
Another reason to come to the rally is Kenneth Lin. Young Kenneth is a 16-year-old student who made headlines when he launched a petition on Facebook calling on Mr Lee Kuan Yew to apologise for saying that spurs need to be stuck into the hides of Singaporeans to make them work harder.
Mr Lin was also featured in the SDP's National Day Message this year. He will speak on his entry into politics and what motivates him to continue to speak up. He has gained the admiration of party members, many several times his age, when he spoke during a rehearsal. He demonstrates a level of political maturity and awareness well beyond his age. He will speak at the Young Democrats' segment at about 5 pm. You won't want to miss it.
Mr Muhd Shamin (pictured above), who delivered an impassioned speech calling on young Singaporeans to get inovolved in opposition politics, will be the other speaker during the youth segment.
So make your way down to Hong Lim Park this Saturday, 13 Nov 2010 starting at 4 pm. There's much to do and hear at the rally. Don't miss this important curtain-raiser to the coming general elections.
gomez fr MONASH MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOL was back. but which clan did he belong to? the last heard he was WP CLAN disciple. and now what? confusion churning. who from where or doing what representing which clan??
so as the delusive wheel of intrigue in the martials art in local politics continues to spin....voters could be getting dizzy and blur in the end.
Drs Wong Wee Nam and James Gomez will be among several new speakers who will take to the podium at the It's About You rally at Hong Lim Park this Saturday.
They will address the problem of the growing divide in wealth in this country and the need to build a more egalitarian economy, issues that are central to the Singapore Democrats' message in the coming general elections.
Most people know that Dr Wong is a general practitioner, running his own clinic. What is lesser known is that he also has a law degree from the University of London. He ran as an opposition candidate in 1997 and writes regularly for websites like Sgpolitics.net. Effectively bilingual, Dr Wong will deliver his speech in English and Chinese.
Dr Gomez is no newcomer to politics in Singapore. He contested in the 2006 GE under the Workers' Party. He is currently Deputy Associate Dean at Monash University in Australia and has been a staff member at various think-tanks and universities across the world. He founded the Think Centre in 1999 and is the Executive Director of Singaporeans for Democracy (2009). Dr Gomez will be speaking on the plight of the working poor in Singapore.
The SDP will feature two other new speakers at the Rally. Mr Sylvester Lim, a member of the Central Executive Committee of the party, will highlight the Democrats' proposals to lower the cost of living in this country.
lamui and sylvester - husby & wifey??
Ms Jaslyn Go, who will speak in Chinese, will also emphasize on economic issues but address the subject from a mother's viewpoint. Ms Go, a mother of two who also runs a successful business, will relate the difficulty of making ends meet with rising costs and stagnant wages.
Other speakers are Mr John Tan, Mr Jufrie Mahmood, Dr Vincent Wijeysingha and Dr Chee Soon Juan.
Dr Wijeysingha caught the attention of many when he spoke at the first pre-election rally held a few weeks back in September. He had spoken eloquently on the need for a minimum wage law in Singapore. He holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Sheffield, UK.
All the speeches will have a common thread running through them which is the SDP's alternative economic programme. The party will launch the programme bearing the same title as the rally: It's About You during the rally. It delineates the various economic policy areas and, more importantly, makes clear the alternative measures needed to bring our economy forward.
Another reason to come to the rally is Kenneth Lin. Young Kenneth is a 16-year-old student who made headlines when he launched a petition on Facebook calling on Mr Lee Kuan Yew to apologise for saying that spurs need to be stuck into the hides of Singaporeans to make them work harder.
Mr Lin was also featured in the SDP's National Day Message this year. He will speak on his entry into politics and what motivates him to continue to speak up. He has gained the admiration of party members, many several times his age, when he spoke during a rehearsal. He demonstrates a level of political maturity and awareness well beyond his age. He will speak at the Young Democrats' segment at about 5 pm. You won't want to miss it.
Mr Muhd Shamin (pictured above), who delivered an impassioned speech calling on young Singaporeans to get inovolved in opposition politics, will be the other speaker during the youth segment.
So make your way down to Hong Lim Park this Saturday, 13 Nov 2010 starting at 4 pm. There's much to do and hear at the rally. Don't miss this important curtain-raiser to the coming general elections.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
master chiam was screwed ....
sadly, it was by master chee again! the alliance or joining forces of RP CLAN to the bigger unified clan of SDA was foiled. the prime suspect was none other master chee who could be the invisible manipulator and instigator of master chiam's betrayer protege, desmondo limbodoh.
master chiam now being in not the pink of his health could be facing some more recurring internal injuries which was last sustained when duelling with ingrate ex-protege master chee. would master chiam last until D-DAY .....GE DAY??
the official declaration of chiefy KJ of RP CLAN was out: he was quitting his high hope of joining SDA. instead he was contemplating forming his own alliance stronghold and called it TEAMRiP. happening!! this was truly happening and set the trademark for the rest to copycat. u can't join them; u form another clan and hope they join you!
as the infighting continued, paps of the LEEGIME were cocking champagn and celebrating an anticipated early victory. they might not need to fight off opp adversaries. they were just waiting for them idiots to kill themselves out. if they were not dead, then they could just be thoroughly maimed or inflicted with serious internal injuries and rendered themselves a harmless threat to the LEEGIME.
long live the LEEGIME!! long live emperor lee!! 10,000 yrs, 10,000 yr!!
Withdrawal of Application to Join the SDA
The Reform Party notes today’s press reports and wishes to announce that we have withdrawn our application to join the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA).
We continue to admire Mr. Chiam for reaching out beyond his safe seat and feel we have much common ground still. The people are ready for an alliance and we will continue to explore ways of allowing Mr. Chiam and the SPP to join with TeamRP in forming a dream team to contest the next election.
Even if this is not possible, the Reform Party continues to gain in strength and support and we are confident of the appeal and credibility of our policies and candidates.
Released by Kenneth Jeyaretnam on behalf of the Reform Party, November
4th 2010
master chiam now being in not the pink of his health could be facing some more recurring internal injuries which was last sustained when duelling with ingrate ex-protege master chee. would master chiam last until D-DAY .....GE DAY??
the official declaration of chiefy KJ of RP CLAN was out: he was quitting his high hope of joining SDA. instead he was contemplating forming his own alliance stronghold and called it TEAMRiP. happening!! this was truly happening and set the trademark for the rest to copycat. u can't join them; u form another clan and hope they join you!
as the infighting continued, paps of the LEEGIME were cocking champagn and celebrating an anticipated early victory. they might not need to fight off opp adversaries. they were just waiting for them idiots to kill themselves out. if they were not dead, then they could just be thoroughly maimed or inflicted with serious internal injuries and rendered themselves a harmless threat to the LEEGIME.
long live the LEEGIME!! long live emperor lee!! 10,000 yrs, 10,000 yr!!
Withdrawal of Application to Join the SDA
The Reform Party notes today’s press reports and wishes to announce that we have withdrawn our application to join the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA).
We continue to admire Mr. Chiam for reaching out beyond his safe seat and feel we have much common ground still. The people are ready for an alliance and we will continue to explore ways of allowing Mr. Chiam and the SPP to join with TeamRP in forming a dream team to contest the next election.
Even if this is not possible, the Reform Party continues to gain in strength and support and we are confident of the appeal and credibility of our policies and candidates.
Released by Kenneth Jeyaretnam on behalf of the Reform Party, November
4th 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
SDA in control by desmondo limbodoh?
poor master chiam! could it be a history repeat? a deva ju? who and what is the problem here for the unification of opp clans? chiam, KJ of RP CLAN, desmondo.....or could it be the more insiduous and invisible sinister work of master chee manipulating behind the screen?
intrigueing!! without gaining much power and more deadly skills to tackle the main formidable foe of the LEEGIME, the opp clans were backstabbing and killing each other out slowly. what a wu-lin laughing stock they had turned themselves into! how long was the craps going to continue?
Last night, the Supreme Executive Council (SEC) of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) convened for a meeting in the absence of Mr Chiam See Tong and his supporters. Mr Chiam is the Chairman of the SDA.
During the Press Conference, Mr Lim showed journalists a SMS from Mdm Luo Wenli (or Mrs Chiam) that was sent to him at 1pm earlier. The SMS read “Not attending, Chiam See Tong, SDA Chairman.”
As a result, the SEC not only rejected Mr Chiam’s motion to replace Mr Desmond Lim with aide Mr Mohd Hamim as the SDA Secretary General, the SEC also removed Mr Chiam’s privilege as Chairman to speak and negotiate on the behalf of the SDA.
The SEC also decreed that Mr Desmond Lim would be allowed to serve the full 2-year term as the Secretary General of the SDA. Mr Lim’s term expires in the first quarter of 2010. The Secretary-General is now the sole person who can speak and negotiate on the behalf of the SDA.
The SEC outcome suggests that Mr Chiam’s influence within the alliance is waning. While Mr Chiam was able to contain the leadership challenge within the Singapore People’s Party (SPP), he was unable to do so within the SDA despite leading the SDA since December 1996.
Consequently, Mr Chiam is no longer able to complete the negotiation with Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam (Secretary General of the Reform Party) on the Reform Party’s entry into the SDA, which started discreetly a year ago.
The SEC outcome also signals a victory for the SDA faction that opposes Reform Party’s terms for joining the SDA. During the Press Conference, Mr Lim emphasised that the SDA does not oppose any opposition political party joining the SDA. “But every interested political party has to abide by our constitution,” he said.
For Mr Lim who lost his party office as the SPP Assistant Secretary General, the score between him and the Chiams has certainly even out. However, Mr Chiam would not give up so easily. According to sources, Mr Chiam’s SDA faction has started consolidating opinion pertaining to the similarity between the SDA and SPP logo. This move may be part of SDA’s exit strategy which also serves to reduce the credibility of the SDA.
11 out of 15 SEC members turned up for the meeting last night. According to the Constitution of the SDA, a SEC meeting can be convened in the absence of its Chairman as long as the quorum equivalent to half the SEC membership is fulfilled and there is a Vice-Chairman chairing in place of the Chairman. The SDA has 3 component parties and each component party is represented by 5 SEC members.
Among the 11 SEC members were Mr Desmond Lim and Mr Yen Kim Khooi from the SPP, all 5 representatives from the PKMS which includes Mr Ali Asjadi (Vice Chairman of the SDA) and 4 representatives from the Singapore Justice Party (SJP). The 5th SJP representative was unable to attend the SEC meeting as he was overseas.
Zaobao managed to contact Mr Sin Kek Tong (Chairman of the SPP). He said he was unable to attend the SEC meeting because he was busy. Mr Sin also added, “I don’t intend to get into further involvement with the SDA. I prefer to concentrate on SPP’s preparatory work for the next General Election (GE). The way the SDA continues to handle matters is surely not the way to secure electoral victory. If we continue to lose at the next GE, how are we going to be accountable to the electorate?”
On whether Mr Chiam may leave the SDA and continue negotiation for cooperation during GE with the Reform Party as the Secretary General of the SPP, Mr Sin said, “I will support whatever decision Mr Chiam makes.”
a shrewd and devious deadly technique learned and mastered during the AWARE fiasco? desmondo limbodoh was definitely no bodoh to have adapted that sinister and deadly kungfu feat.
intrigueing!! without gaining much power and more deadly skills to tackle the main formidable foe of the LEEGIME, the opp clans were backstabbing and killing each other out slowly. what a wu-lin laughing stock they had turned themselves into! how long was the craps going to continue?
Last night, the Supreme Executive Council (SEC) of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) convened for a meeting in the absence of Mr Chiam See Tong and his supporters. Mr Chiam is the Chairman of the SDA.
During the Press Conference, Mr Lim showed journalists a SMS from Mdm Luo Wenli (or Mrs Chiam) that was sent to him at 1pm earlier. The SMS read “Not attending, Chiam See Tong, SDA Chairman.”
As a result, the SEC not only rejected Mr Chiam’s motion to replace Mr Desmond Lim with aide Mr Mohd Hamim as the SDA Secretary General, the SEC also removed Mr Chiam’s privilege as Chairman to speak and negotiate on the behalf of the SDA.
The SEC also decreed that Mr Desmond Lim would be allowed to serve the full 2-year term as the Secretary General of the SDA. Mr Lim’s term expires in the first quarter of 2010. The Secretary-General is now the sole person who can speak and negotiate on the behalf of the SDA.
The SEC outcome suggests that Mr Chiam’s influence within the alliance is waning. While Mr Chiam was able to contain the leadership challenge within the Singapore People’s Party (SPP), he was unable to do so within the SDA despite leading the SDA since December 1996.
Consequently, Mr Chiam is no longer able to complete the negotiation with Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam (Secretary General of the Reform Party) on the Reform Party’s entry into the SDA, which started discreetly a year ago.
The SEC outcome also signals a victory for the SDA faction that opposes Reform Party’s terms for joining the SDA. During the Press Conference, Mr Lim emphasised that the SDA does not oppose any opposition political party joining the SDA. “But every interested political party has to abide by our constitution,” he said.
For Mr Lim who lost his party office as the SPP Assistant Secretary General, the score between him and the Chiams has certainly even out. However, Mr Chiam would not give up so easily. According to sources, Mr Chiam’s SDA faction has started consolidating opinion pertaining to the similarity between the SDA and SPP logo. This move may be part of SDA’s exit strategy which also serves to reduce the credibility of the SDA.
11 out of 15 SEC members turned up for the meeting last night. According to the Constitution of the SDA, a SEC meeting can be convened in the absence of its Chairman as long as the quorum equivalent to half the SEC membership is fulfilled and there is a Vice-Chairman chairing in place of the Chairman. The SDA has 3 component parties and each component party is represented by 5 SEC members.
Among the 11 SEC members were Mr Desmond Lim and Mr Yen Kim Khooi from the SPP, all 5 representatives from the PKMS which includes Mr Ali Asjadi (Vice Chairman of the SDA) and 4 representatives from the Singapore Justice Party (SJP). The 5th SJP representative was unable to attend the SEC meeting as he was overseas.
Zaobao managed to contact Mr Sin Kek Tong (Chairman of the SPP). He said he was unable to attend the SEC meeting because he was busy. Mr Sin also added, “I don’t intend to get into further involvement with the SDA. I prefer to concentrate on SPP’s preparatory work for the next General Election (GE). The way the SDA continues to handle matters is surely not the way to secure electoral victory. If we continue to lose at the next GE, how are we going to be accountable to the electorate?”
On whether Mr Chiam may leave the SDA and continue negotiation for cooperation during GE with the Reform Party as the Secretary General of the SPP, Mr Sin said, “I will support whatever decision Mr Chiam makes.”
a shrewd and devious deadly technique learned and mastered during the AWARE fiasco? desmondo limbodoh was definitely no bodoh to have adapted that sinister and deadly kungfu feat.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
for the records....
many years back, a sinister internal feud was building up after master chiam took in chee ah juan as his most prominent disciple.
master chiam sadly wrote his blood letter and left his SDP CLAN which had now been thoroughly mind-controlled by chee ah juan. most of master chiam's beloved elder disciples turned against the poor desponded and disappointed master chiam. in his deepest sorrow, he pricked his finger and wrote about his quitting SDP CLAN.
fast forward 2010. auntie lina couldn't tolerate any longer. she challenged master chee who usurped SDP CLAN to a showdown. auntie won with a few waves of her deadly silk handkerchief. master chee suffered serious internal injury and vowed to take revenge for his embarrassing defeat.
henceforth, SDP CLAN motivated its minions to do what unrelated feat just to con peasants to think they were "concerned" for them. the TAK BOLEH TAHAN's deadly sequence of CRAZY DRAGON DEADLY 18 BLOWS was executed. again to much public shame, all the members in this lame deadly stance were miamed and caught by the leegime. many more ludicrous ordeals repeated. the impression now peasants had for SDP CLAN was just one word: LAME!latest update: revenge of master chee. by hook or by crook, chee was all out to stop master chiam from becoming the supreme ruler of all the opp. clans. chee wanted to the the new leeder of SDA. the quest was now on to see who would get to be the new chiefy.....anger flared, precious time, effort and constructive strategem planning were wasted by the intrusion of master chee and chiam's betrayer - his own beloved disciple DEMONDO LIMBODOH - the latest kang ren or
baddie to a new twist in martial arts in local politics.
more juicy and exciting sequences to come soon.....stay tuned.
not SDP CLAN & master chee again!
Rift widens between SDA leaders and Chiam
By Kor Kian Beng & Zakir Hussain
LEADERS of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) yesterday rejected their chairman Chiam See Tong's decision to appoint a new secretary-general and backed incumbent Desmond Lim instead.
They also rebuffed Mr Chiam's efforts over the past year to bring Reform Party (RP) into the SDA fold, saying the negotiations were conducted without the official nod of the alliance leaders.
These moves will further deepen the rift in the three-party grouping, which has been weakened recently when Mr Chiam and Mr Lim fell out over plans to let RP into the alliance.
Mr Chiam, veteran MP for Potong Pasir, was not present at the two-hour meeting involving leaders of the two component parties: Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) and Singapore Justice Party (SJP).
He was informed of the meeting last Saturday by SDA leaders but his wife Lina Chiam told them yesterday afternoon he would not be attending.
Two leaders from Mr Chiam's Singapore People's Party (SPP), however, were at the meeting which was chaired by SDA's vice-chairman and PKMS chief Ali Asjadi. It was attended by 11 of the 15 council members.
Mr Lim came out of the meeting looking victorious and chaired the subsequent media conference. He told reporters that in future, any discussion to bring in new political parties has to be approved first by SDA's supreme executive council.
He will be the chief negotiator for such talks, he said, as he spelt out the conditions for newcomers to the alliance.
They will be put on a four-year probation period during which they cannot sit on the council or have voting rights.
'Any party that wants to join us must not impose any conditions but they should respect and comply with our Constitution,' he said.
He also said that RP, led by Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam, has not officially applied to join the SDA.
'Whatever discussions Mr Jeyaretnam has had with Mr Chiam were in their own personal capacity,' he added, saying that Mr Chiam did not seek the SDA council's approval for the talks.
Mr Lim said the SDA is now in talks with two opposition parties who have agreed to the conditions.
Sources say the two are Singapore Democratic Party led by Dr Chee Soon Juan and the newly formed Socialist Front headed by Mr Ng Teck Siong.
When asked what was next in store for Mr Chiam, Mr Lim said he would have to abide by the council's decision.
'Any decision made by the majority is final and conclusive,' he added.
Mr Chiam could not be contacted last night on his plan of action.
The latest development comes at a time of heightened election fever following Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's announcement last Saturday that the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee has been formed.
But Mr Lim said the latest episode will not slow SDA's plans to ramp up preparations for the election, including monthly discussions with other political parties on national policy issues.
Additional reporting by Tessa Wong
it seem that master chee was on all the way out to stymie any unification of all the opp clans by his ex-sifu master chiam. master chiam's very own eldest disciple DESMONDO LIMBODOH could have been brought over and brainwashed by master chee's evil mind-boggling control deadly skill.
more upheavals would be rife within master chiam's SPP CLAN and the hopefully unified SDA GANGBANG CLAN. what would the outcome? would there be massive massacre, assassination and back stabbing flying toxic daggers? with master chee now sneakily exposed, the martial arts fraternity would be getting sinisterly sexciting!
.....more to come. stay tuned.
By Kor Kian Beng & Zakir Hussain
LEADERS of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) yesterday rejected their chairman Chiam See Tong's decision to appoint a new secretary-general and backed incumbent Desmond Lim instead.
They also rebuffed Mr Chiam's efforts over the past year to bring Reform Party (RP) into the SDA fold, saying the negotiations were conducted without the official nod of the alliance leaders.
These moves will further deepen the rift in the three-party grouping, which has been weakened recently when Mr Chiam and Mr Lim fell out over plans to let RP into the alliance.
Mr Chiam, veteran MP for Potong Pasir, was not present at the two-hour meeting involving leaders of the two component parties: Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) and Singapore Justice Party (SJP).
He was informed of the meeting last Saturday by SDA leaders but his wife Lina Chiam told them yesterday afternoon he would not be attending.
Two leaders from Mr Chiam's Singapore People's Party (SPP), however, were at the meeting which was chaired by SDA's vice-chairman and PKMS chief Ali Asjadi. It was attended by 11 of the 15 council members.
Mr Lim came out of the meeting looking victorious and chaired the subsequent media conference. He told reporters that in future, any discussion to bring in new political parties has to be approved first by SDA's supreme executive council.
He will be the chief negotiator for such talks, he said, as he spelt out the conditions for newcomers to the alliance.
They will be put on a four-year probation period during which they cannot sit on the council or have voting rights.
'Any party that wants to join us must not impose any conditions but they should respect and comply with our Constitution,' he said.
He also said that RP, led by Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam, has not officially applied to join the SDA.
'Whatever discussions Mr Jeyaretnam has had with Mr Chiam were in their own personal capacity,' he added, saying that Mr Chiam did not seek the SDA council's approval for the talks.
Mr Lim said the SDA is now in talks with two opposition parties who have agreed to the conditions.
Sources say the two are Singapore Democratic Party led by Dr Chee Soon Juan and the newly formed Socialist Front headed by Mr Ng Teck Siong.
When asked what was next in store for Mr Chiam, Mr Lim said he would have to abide by the council's decision.
'Any decision made by the majority is final and conclusive,' he added.
Mr Chiam could not be contacted last night on his plan of action.
The latest development comes at a time of heightened election fever following Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's announcement last Saturday that the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee has been formed.
But Mr Lim said the latest episode will not slow SDA's plans to ramp up preparations for the election, including monthly discussions with other political parties on national policy issues.
Additional reporting by Tessa Wong
it seem that master chee was on all the way out to stymie any unification of all the opp clans by his ex-sifu master chiam. master chiam's very own eldest disciple DESMONDO LIMBODOH could have been brought over and brainwashed by master chee's evil mind-boggling control deadly skill.
more upheavals would be rife within master chiam's SPP CLAN and the hopefully unified SDA GANGBANG CLAN. what would the outcome? would there be massive massacre, assassination and back stabbing flying toxic daggers? with master chee now sneakily exposed, the martial arts fraternity would be getting sinisterly sexciting!
.....more to come. stay tuned.
Monday, November 1, 2010
more shits fr SHIT FRONT
when an aged attention seeking whore joined forces with a younger one, what would you get? the birth of SF CLAN or SHIT FRONT - a clan that would be full of shits.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1090231/1/.htmlLatest political party Socialist Front reveals vision to media
By Ong Dai Lin | Posted: 29 October 2010 2224 hrs
Photos 1 of 1
Chia Ti Lik
SINGAPORE: Singapore's latest political party, the Socialist Front, revealed its vision to the media for the first time, on Friday.
Registered in May, the party's secretary-general, lawyer Chia Ti Lik, said he planned to further the rights of Singaporeans and establish a socialist government.
The other objectives of the party include encouraging ownership and active participation of Singaporeans in the country's affairs.
Explaining the socialism concept endorsed by the party, Mr Chia said that socialism believes in providing equal opportunities to all citizens and placing the basic welfare of citizens first before anything else.
He said: "As a nation, we cannot be obsessed with economic growth and expansion, and neglect political and social progress. Otherwise problems will arise."
The party's chairman, Mr Ng Teck Siong, said they would raise issues about the casinos, the CPF withdrawal age and influx of foreign workers in the coming General Election.
The party declined to say which constituencies it would contest in as the electoral boundaries were not known yet but Mr Ng revealed he would likely aim for the single seat wards.
Both Mr Chia and Mr Ng were former Workers' Party (WP) election candidates who contested East Coast GRC in the 2006 General Election and West Coast GRC in the 1997 General Election respectively.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1090231/1/.htmlLatest political party Socialist Front reveals vision to media
By Ong Dai Lin | Posted: 29 October 2010 2224 hrs
Photos 1 of 1
Chia Ti Lik
SINGAPORE: Singapore's latest political party, the Socialist Front, revealed its vision to the media for the first time, on Friday.
Registered in May, the party's secretary-general, lawyer Chia Ti Lik, said he planned to further the rights of Singaporeans and establish a socialist government.
The other objectives of the party include encouraging ownership and active participation of Singaporeans in the country's affairs.
Explaining the socialism concept endorsed by the party, Mr Chia said that socialism believes in providing equal opportunities to all citizens and placing the basic welfare of citizens first before anything else.
He said: "As a nation, we cannot be obsessed with economic growth and expansion, and neglect political and social progress. Otherwise problems will arise."
The party's chairman, Mr Ng Teck Siong, said they would raise issues about the casinos, the CPF withdrawal age and influx of foreign workers in the coming General Election.
The party declined to say which constituencies it would contest in as the electoral boundaries were not known yet but Mr Ng revealed he would likely aim for the single seat wards.
Both Mr Chia and Mr Ng were former Workers' Party (WP) election candidates who contested East Coast GRC in the 2006 General Election and West Coast GRC in the 1997 General Election respectively.
the slaying of ninja turtles
all the turtles shall be wiped out! OMG!!
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/costa-rica-turtle-eggs.shtml
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/costa-rica-turtle-eggs.shtml
Sunday, October 31, 2010
SF - revival of ex WP CLAN posterboy?
a wiser, rational and more accomodating man or another tyrant in the making?
Oct 29, 2010
Opposition unite for GE
By Andrea Ong
Chairman Ng Teck Siong speaks at the first press conference of the new opposition party, Socialist Front (SF). -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
TWO leaders of the newly formed Socialist Front (SF) who left their former parties after personal differences say they are willing to cooperate for the sake of opposition unity at the next General Election.
'We will try our very best to be as coherent with any other party, based on fair terms of negotiation, so we can work in agreement,' said Mr Ng Teck Siong, 69, chairman of the party, which was registered on Sept 1.
'We will not try to create any disruption or cause trouble. Our intention is to avoid three-cornered fights'.
Mr Ng, who co-founded the Reform Party with the late Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam in 2008, quit as chairman in April last year after a dispute with Mr Jeyaretnam's son Kenneth, now its secretary-general.
Both Mr Ng and SF secretary-general Chia Ti Lik, 36, spoke at the party's maiden press conference yesterday, where they outlined the SF's ideology and preparations for the next GE, due by February 2012.
Mr Chia left the Workers' Party in 2006 in protest against party rules that bar central executive committee members from posting comments or statements online in their own names.
Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.
our story had it that chia sai and saikongseng were once comrades and disciples from WP CLAN. with the intrusion of lamui, their relationship soured. chia sai had always harboured envy against saikongseng who was once looked upon as the more prominent to win a province. in the end, sks was roped into saliva's A-team to compete in aljunied province while chia sai was left alone with his horde of gayboys to fend for themselves in another. needless to say, the gaylord's team lost miserably while the A-team only lost by a slim margin.
after that GE, fissures began to appear in WP CLAN. both saikongseng and chia sai decided to quit the clan each going separate way.
now after many years, the 2 "buddies" met again. saikongseng now became chiefy of a new martial arts clan, NSP or NO SEE PAYCHECK CLAN. it was a clan that looked rich but not enough to see enough "paychecks" to fund their minions for a strong attack against the leegime. that was why saikongseng had to grit his teeth and sold his love nest pigeonhole for about 400k taels to fund his ambition, i.e, hoping to winning a couple of provinces.
chia sai on the other hand after mingling in SDP CLAN, holding master chee's mike, interviewing other wu-lin and wu-liao heelos with an unique wish and doing much wishywashy with lamui, suddenly quit SDP to set up his own shop. it was called SF CLAN or SHIT FRONTAL
it was limelight for chia sai who was put on national paper SHIT TIMES. since shit times coincided with shit frontal clan, peasants could expect lots of shits later in the GE contest. fortunately or luckily unfortunately, chia sai was reputated for his TIGER HEAD RAT TAIL stance. that means something like "loud thunders with little rain" - looked deadly but caused minimal damage or any internal injuries whatsoever.
saikongseng was using his strategem #69. he sent a very expensive flower arrangement to congratulate SF CLAN. his strategy was of course to tickle his nemesis so that in return, the tickler would be tickled pink too.
would the old "buddies" from WP CLAN really combine forces and lay down their past indifferences? would they have come to term and realise the absurdity of being instigated by lamui?
where was lamui? where was JJ? weren't they the 2 stooges from the famed 3-stooges team of which chia sai was among one of them? breakups? quarrels? indifferences among them? or what?
it was a big surprised to the wu-lin observers. lamui and chia sai were the notorious CONDOM HEROES. by right they should have paired up to must their KAMASUTRA deadly skill to dominate the martial arts world. instead each had gone separately to set up 2 different clans - USD or U SEE DITDIT and SF. why??
stranger still, during the karang guni self-praising ceremony, none of the audience put up that question to chiasai? questions like why didn't he stay on in SDP CLAN? why didn't he combine force to master the deadly skill with lamui? where was JJ, his diehard cock standing buddy? both lamui and JJ weren't there to give support to their threesome buddy chia sai. WHY??
so many questions, very little answer. as usual, such were mundane kaypoh infos. but such little kaypoh news could mean a bigger propaganda and the true nature of such challenger during GE. it would prove their perservance, sincerity and their true sense of deliverance and save the peasants. but instead of all those glorious glimmering hope, peasants could be clouded with more suspicions and confusion which in the end only compel them to stick on the the LEEgime's tyranny for another season until the next GE2016.
would things change for the better, for worst or another "who cares, it's none of my biz" ?
we await to see then......
Thursday, October 28, 2010
which country in the world defies gravity?
ANSWER: PEESAILAND!
everything goes up and never comes down. uniquely peesailand! the one little speck dot in the world that truly defies gravity. here's the record of the gravity defying skills:
The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
Posted: 27 Oct 2010 03:00 PM PDT
In 2009, Mercer ranked Singapore as the 10th costliest countries in the world (see here).
The following is a collated list of price increases which TOC could find – from various news reports, blogs, websites, forums, etc – since Jan 2006 to the present.
If we have left out any, please do let us know. If you have observed any price hikes around your neighbourhood (or anywhere else) please let us know also.
We can be reached at theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
The list may not be comprehensive and any clarification is welcome.
2006
Jan 9: Pump prices at all 29 Caltex stations will go up from 11pm on Monday night. Prices will go up by four cents per litre for all three grades. (link)
Feb 13: Polytechnics and ITE increase fees by $50 and $10 respectively (link) (link)
Feb 14: NTU, NUS to raise tuition fees by 3% from next academic year. Tuition fees at both the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University will go up by S$180 for the next academic year. This 3 percent increase comes on the heels of a 5 percent hike just last year. (link)
Mar 6: Expect annual tuition fee increases. Hostel fees will also go up by 10% to 11% from next academic year. (NTU) (link)
Mar 9: Retail pump prices for Synergy petrol and diesel at all Esso and Mobil service stations in Singapore were increased by 6 cents a litre. (link) (link)
June 1: NTUC Car Co-Op raises fuel surcharge: We cannot continue subsidizing the fuel price increase in the long run without compromising the quality of service. Thus, the management has decided to implement a fuel surcharge of $0.30 for every 10km free with effect from 1 June 2006. (link)
June 27: Electricity tariff to go up next quarter. Domestic users, for example, will have to pay 21.15 cents for every kWH of electricity, up from 20.49 cents currently. (link)
July 10: Comfort Delgro raises taxi fares. Besides raising the flag down fare and the peak hour surcharge from $1 to $2, ComfortDelgro is also making distance-related adjustment. (link) (link)
July: Taxi companies raise fares. (link) (link)
July 17: SMRT hikes taxi fares. (link)
Aug: SMRT, SBS apply for fare hike. (link)
Aug: NUS hikes tuition fees by between $180, $220, and $510, depending on faculty. (link)
Aug: ERP rates to go up at six gantries, mainly at CTE. (link)
Oct: Public Transport Council approves 1.7% fare increase for bus and trains. Adult EZ-link fares for buses and trains will increase by 1 to 3 cents, which amounts to an overall fare hike of 1.7 percent. (link)
Nov: SingPost revises postage rate. (link)
Nov 12: Rates for HDB rental flats pegged to income. (link)
Dec: Govt spells out fees to be frozen. (link)
2006: Loan sharks cases rise by 19%, to 10, 221 cases. (link)
2006: A total of 419 people committed suicide in 2006, up from 346 in 2003. The suicide rate per 100,000 residents – a sobering indicator in population statistics – is also on the upswing, growing from 9.3 in 2003 to 10.3 in 2006, figures from the Registry of Births and Deaths reveal. It is the fourth straight rise in as many years. (ST, Aug 13, 2007) (link)
2006: Islandwide, home rentals climbed 10 per cent in 2006. (ST, Aug 6, 2007) (link)
2006: At Alexandra Hospital, A&E charges went up from $55 to $60, as did C-class ward charges — from $21 to $23 — and subsidised specialist outpatient clinic consultation rates, from $18 to $20. (link)
2007
Jan: All diesel-driven vehicles to undergo smoke test. (link)
Jan: NUH’s A&E fee raised from $70 to $80. (link)
Jan: Skilled Foreign workers levy raised by $50, from $100 to $150, for all sectors. (link) (link)
Jan 26: SMU Law Course to cost more, NUS says it may increase fees too. (link)
Feb: KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital hikes ward treatment fees. (link)
Feb 14: Tax penalties from GST audits could increase. With the hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) by two percentage points, tax analysts said tax penalties arising from businesses making mistakes in GST audits may also increase. (link)
Feb 25: Sunny Cove: Fees to Pulau Hantu Raised – As of 24th February 2007 (Saturday), the operator had increased the price for the chartering of boat to local water. With the price hike, all courses conducted at local water will be subjected to the increase from 25th February 2007 (Sunday) onwards. (link)
Feb 25: Eldershield premiums to go up by year’s end. (link)
April 1: Singapore Medical Association withdraws guidelines on fees. Doctors now have more flexibility to adjust their fees, following a decision by the Singapore Medical Association (SMA) to withdraw its guidelines on fees, as of 1 April. (link)
April 1: URA increase fees for Housing Developers’s Licence – from between $500 to $8,000. (link)
April 2: NUS revise car park charges. (link)
April 8: Means testing for hospital admission to start within a year. Subsidised patients that stay more than five days in a public hospital can expect some questions about their income. (link) (link)
April 11: Ikea to start charging customers for plastic bags. (ST, 11 April, 2007)
April 25: The Singapore American School increased tuition fees by between $425 and $1,000. (link)
April: Within hours of each other, the four petrol companies in Singapore – First Shell, then Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC), ExxonMobil and lastly Chevron – each revised its prices. The retail price of petrol and diesel rose by 10 cents. (Electric New Paper) (link) (link)
May 12: Inflation heads for a higher plane. For now, the major public concern is a rise in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 5% to 7% in July, which is likely to exacerbate the series of worrying price increases over the past year. (Littlespeck)
May 14: NUH increase ward charges for B2 and C-class wards by $2, increases of 4 and 8 per cent. (link)
May 23: DBS raises its e-transaction fee for initial public offering (IPO) applications. Retail investors who applied for IPO shares launched on or after that date, through the local bank’s ATMs and Internet banking, were surprised that they now have to pay $2. (link)
May 29: New fee hikes at public hospitals and polyclinics. A NEW round of fee hikes is underway at most public hospitals and some polyclinics. Subsidised patients at four public hospitals will now pay $24 or $25 for every visit to a specialist clinic, up from about $21. All 18 polyclinics, which used to charge a standard consultation fee of $8 for adults, now charge anything from $8-$8.80. (link) (link) (link)
May: From milk to Milo, cooking oil to coffee, canned foods, processed foods, wheat products and more, prices have been rising recently at supermarkets and hypermarts here. (link) (link) (link)
June 1: Prices of milk go up. The price increase for condensed milk ranged from $0.10 to $0.50, which means the prices for some brands of condensed milk have gone up by nearly 45 per cent. The price increase for evaporated milk ranged from $0.15 to $0.47, marking a percentage increase of between 18 per cent to 48 per cent. (link) (link)
June 4: Online hosiery shop increases price. There will be a overall price increase on 4th June 2007 for all brands due to increased cost of yarns and cost of shipping. (link)
June 6: Even before the Nets fee hike kicks in, a shoe shop in Parkway Parade has already started charging customers extra to cover the increase. (link)
June 7: Wholesale price of ducks goes up. The wholesale price of ducks has increased by 20 cents a kilogram. (link)
June 7: Eggs price increase. Eggs now cost between 17 cents and 18 cents each. (link)
June 29: Rental space rents rise. Islandwide, rents at Grade A malls have moved up by between 5-7 per cent in the first half of this year and could increase by another 5-6 per cent by end-2007, analysts said. (Business Times, June 29, 2007) (link)
June 29: Fees up by 14% on average at NUS. Two days before the higher 7-per-cent GST kicked in on July 1, prospective students of the continuing education arm of the National University of Singapore (NUS) received news that fees for many courses had gone up — by an average 14 per cent. (link)
July 1st: GST increased from 5% to 7%. (link) (link)
July 1st: THE Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) and market leader ExxonMobil became the first companies to raise pump prices at their petrol stations following the GST hike. The two companies increased prices across the board for their three grades of petrol and diesel by 0.23 cents to 0.33 cents per litre from 7am. Caltex will be increasing its pump prices on Monday. (ST, July 1, 2007) (link) (link)
July 1st: NETS announced a price hike for its Electronic Funds Transfer Point-of-Sale (EFTPOS) and CashCard Services to between 1.5% and 1.8%. (link) (link)
July 1st: Pasir Ris – Punggol Town Council revise penalties for late payment of S&C charges to 2% and absorb 7% GST. (2004 rates) (2007 rates)
July 1st: Cigarette prices up as bar ban kicks in. Tobacco companies raised the prices of popular brands by an average of 40 cents. This brought the price of a 20-stick pack of Marlboro or Dunhill cigarettes, for example, to $11.60. (AsiaOne)
July 3: Resale price index for HDB flats rise 2.9% from 3 months before. (link)
July 4: The Committee Against GST Profiteering (CAP) has found price changes to be generally moderate since the announcement of the GST increase in November 2006. (link)
July 10: Changi General Hospital increases A&E charges. Following in the wake of earlier hikes by the National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital, CGH this month increased its A&E attendance fee by $10 — or 15 per cent — to $75. For the B2 and C-class wards, the daily treatment fee went up by $1, representing a 6-to-10-per-cent increment. The daily ward charge for B2 wards also rose by $1, or 2 per cent. (link)
July 11: Starhub raise prices for cable tv packages. SCV subscribers pay $4 more across the board. (link) (link) (link)
July 11: The Committee Against GST Profiteering has received 33 complaints in the past six months about price increases, all dealing with food items. About 10 cases involve chain businesses. (ST, July 11, 2007) (link)
July 15: Electricity tariffs to be raised by almost 9% for July to September. (link)
July 18: Govt raises development charge from 50% to 70% for new building projects from 50 per cent to 70 per cent of the increase in value of the land. (link) (link)
July 21: HDB rents at 10-year high. For the first time in recent memory, monthly rents for some HDB flats have pushed northwards of $2,000 in leases signed in the last couple of months. (ST, 21 July 2007) (link)
July 25: Hospital bills up 10% to 30% across all ward classes. (link)
July: July inflation hits 2.6%, highest in over 12 years. (link)
July (CPI): Housing costs increased 4.9 per cent because of higher housing maintenance charges, electricity tariffs and rented accommodation costs. (ST, Aug 23, 2007) (link)
July (CPI): Food prices went up by 1.4 per cent, mainly due to dearer cooked food, fresh fish, fruits, vegetables and milk powder. (link)
July (CPI): Transport and communication prices moved up by 1 per cent, reflecting mainly dearer petrol and higher car prices. (link)
July (CPI): The index for education and stationery rose by 2.1 per cent as a result of higher fees at commercial institutions and universities. (link)
July (CPI): Prices of clothing and footwear increased by 3.9 per cent. (link)
July (CPI): Health care cost rose by 2.2 per cent on account of dearer chinese herbs and higher charges for general medical consultation and dental treatment. (link)
Aug 2: SBS, SMRT seeking bus, train fare increases. If approved, transport fares could rise by up to three cents from October. (link)
Aug 2: Singapore Airlines raises fuel surcharge – from between US$2, US$5 and US$9. (link)
Aug 6: ERP rates at Orchard, YMCA and Fort Canning Tunnel to go up. From August 6, cars passing the Orchard, YMCA and Fort Canning Tunnel gantries will be charged an additional $0.50. That makes it $1 per entry. Rates for motorcycles will also double to $0.50. Goods vehicles and small buses will now be charged $1.50. Heavy goods vehicles and big buses will be charged $2. (link)
Aug 7: Student made to pay adult fare. (link)
Aug 7: Cost of living in S’pore getting higher compared to neighbours. Singapore retains its 9th position out of 41 Asian locations as the most costly city. (CNA)
Aug 7: Car insurance premiums likely to increase. Higher premium rates for car insurance look almost certain, after the motor sector suffered a second consecutive quarter of losses. Rises could be between 5 and 10 per cent, according to one insurer, as the industry battles higher claims. (AsiaOne, ST, Aug 7, 2007)
Aug 8: 17% hike in Delifrance’s tuna croissant sandwich, from $5.05 to $5.90. (link)
Aug 10: Change of supplier sees spike in price of medicine. A 80ml bottle of Minoxi 5 from Trima Pharmaceutical used to cost $38.50. This time round, the price was $45.50 for a 60ml bottle. Going by volume, the price increase was a hefty 57.6 per cent. (ST Forum, Aug 10, 2007) (link)
Aug 13: Up to 30% levy imposed on hotel room revenues during F1 race. The Trade and Industry Ministry (MTI) has decided a levy of 30 per cent for hotels on the trackside, and 20 per cent for others. (link)
Aug 23: More ERP gantries, extended hours. (link) (link)
Aug 24: By Aug 24, the Committee Against GST Profiteering had received 115 complaints on alleged GST profiteering. In the first two weeks of July, after the GST increase came into effect, 49 complaints were received, surpassing the 30 complaints received in May. (ST, Aug 29, 2007)
Aug 27: Singapore raises 2007 inflation forecast to 1-2 per cent. Singapore’s central bank confirmed an apparent off-the-cuff remark by Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang in parliament that inflation would come in at 1-2 percent this year, above the government’s previous forecast of 0.5-1.5 percent. (Reuters)
Aug 29: Middle-aged suicide rate up. In 2003, there were 14 suicides (of men in their 40s and 50s) per 100,000. In 2006, it went up to 19 per 100,000. For women, there were 8 per 100,000. In 2006, it went up to 13 per 100,000. (TODAY, Aug 29, 2007) (link)
Aug 29: Storage boom as rents rise. Companies which provide self-storage facilities are reporting a rise in rentals by foreigners as rising rental prices force more of them to downsize. (The Electric New Paper, Aug 29, 2007) (link)
Aug 31: Government raises property development charges. For non-landed residential use, the charge was raised by an average of 58 percent with prime areas like Cantonment Road seeing the biggest jump of 112 percent. Areas seeing the highest increase (of over 100 percent) include Telok Ayer, Maxwell, Shenton, Anson and South Bridge Road. (CNA)
Sept 1st: New dog licensing rules. To discourage dog owners from keeping unlicensed dogs, allowing their dogs to stray or not muzzling dogs of breeds2 that are required to be muzzled in a public place (eg, the Rottweiller or Mastiff); the maximum fine for such offences has been raised from $500 to $5,000. (link)
Sept 5: Esso won’t go public on fuel price changes. IF YOU are an Esso customer, you will not know if the price of your fuel has changed until you drive right up to a pump. ExxonMobil – the biggest player here with 74 out of the total of about 200 stations – has adopted a new policy against revealing changes in pump prices to the media. Neither does it display prices at station entrances. (Straits Times, Sept 5, 2007)
Sept 11: Adult EZ-link fares for buses upped from October. From 1 October, adult EZ-link fares for buses will increase by between one and two cents. But there will be no increase for train fares. (CNA)
Sept 12: Special needs school raise fees by 100%. I was shocked to receive a letter in July stating that school fees would increase by 100 per cent from this month. No other institution – even private schools – operates in this manner by increasing its fees by 100 per cent. (Letter to ST forum)
Sept 13: Employers to buy medical insurance for foreign workers. From January next year (2008), employers will have to buy and maintain insurance for the medical expenses of all foreign workers on Work Permit or S Pass. (CNA)
Sept 25: Electricity tariffs to go up because of higher oil prices. Barely 2 months after the increase of 9% in July, electricity tariffs will again go up later this year because of higher oil prices. SP Services said electricity tariffs will be raised by an average of 0.86 cent, or 4.29 percent, per kilowatt-hour, for the three months from October to December. (CNA)
Sept 25: Cosmetics costing more? Taking a hit from the Goods and Services Tax hike, prices of consumer products in Singapore grew at a pace not seen since 1994. (TODAY)
Sept 27: Gardenia loaf of bread cost 5% more in three months. “Yesterday we found out that its price has soared to $2. If you work that out against the original $1.90, it means that the total price increased is 5.3 per cent in three months.” (Letter to ST forum page.)
Sept 29: Why higher fees for vacant flat? “MY LATE grandfather, who was the sole owner and occupier of a three-room HDB flat, had been paying $38 a month in conservancy fees to the town council. His estate now has to pay $55 a month (a 45 per cent increase) for the vacant flat, the reason being that the $38 concessionary charge no longer applies as it is now unoccupied.” (Letter to ST Forum Page)(link)
Sept: Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society to increase fees from between $5 to $10 due to the society becoming a GST-registered entity. (link)
Oct: Starhub Cable TV sports channels subscribers pay $10 more. (link)
Oct 1: Public transport fare increase takes effect.
Oct 1: Private home prices in Q3 up by 8%: URA flash estimate. The prices of private residential property in Singapore increased by eight per cent in the third quarter of this year.. (CNA)
Oct 1: HDB resale prices up by 6.5% in Q3: HDB’s flash estimate. Public housing resale prices went up by 6.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, compared to the previous three months. (CNA)
Oct 1: Petrol, diesel price up 3-5 cents. At 10am, Caltex increased its petrol and diesel prices by 3 cents a litre, while Shell upped its rates by 5 cents a litre. By 3pm, Singapore Petroleum Co followed suit by raising its pump rates by 5 cents a litre. The increase is the fifth upward revision since July, as crude oil prices hover at record levels above US$80 a barrel. (AsiaOne)
Oct 1: Hotel room rates expected to go up by 25% in Q4. Hotel room rates in Singapore in the fourth quarter are expected to be 25 per cent higher than that of last year, according to industry players. (CNA)
Oct 3: The price of chickens has risen by 20 to 50 per cent here since last week, caused by the wholesale price hike from Malaysia, among the factors, according to media reports. (Bernama)
Oct 4: Queensway Shopping Centre, Sim Lim Square and sky-high rentals in Singapore. As the leases are expiring about now, get ready for a radical change in Sim Lim Square, the highest�rentals for the shops selling the lowest margin products ever. (C Net Asia)
Oct 19: SIA ups fuel surcharge by between $3 and $9. The new charges, which are between $3 and nearly $9 more than the current surcharges, will apply to tickets issued from Oct 24 and to both SIA and SilkAir flights. (TODAY)
Oct 20: Price of flour up 30%. The price of flour has increased again, but this time it has gone up by thirty percent. This is the biggest ever hike, according to industry watchers. From January, it will cost 20 cents more to buy a loaf of bread. (CNA)
Oct 22: Caltex petrol, diesel prices up. AMERICAN oil company Chevron raised pump prices of its Caltex petrol and diesel by five cents a litre on Monday – the sixth increase since July and the second in about a fortnight. The others – Shell, ExxonMobil and Singapore Petroleum – are likely to do likewise in the coming days. Chevron’s move brings its pump prices to record levels. (Straits Times)
Oct 26: Private home prices up 8.3% in Q3. Singapore private home prices rose 8.3 percent between July and September to their highest level in a decade. (Asia One)
Oct 27: Prices of HDB resale flats keep accelerating. ‘As at end-September, the HDB resale price index has increased by about 11 per cent since the start of the year,’ the HDB said. For five-room flats, the median resale price in Queenstown is the highest at $603,000, followed by Marine Parade at $560,000 and Bukit Merah at $530,000. (Straits Times)
Oct 28: Singapore raises noodle prices. Starting Nov. 1, the price of noodles in Singapore will increase 20 percent to 30 per cent, the Singapore Noodles Manufacturers’ Association announced on Sunday. (AHN News)
Oct 30: ERP rates going up again for third time this year. Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates are going up again for the third time this year. There will also be new gantries erected. From November 5, motorists will pay $3.50 from 7:30am to 8:00am. The amount charged goes up to $5.00 between 8:30am and 9:00am. This is a $1.50 increase in the 8:30am to 9:00am period since February this year. (CNA)
Oct 30: 100 bakeries to raise bread prices by up to 20%. OVER 100 bakeries have indicated that they will be raising bread prices by up to 20 per cent, following a jump in flour prices. (Straits Times)
Nov 2: Expect steep hikes in tyre, wheel and battery prices. BESIDES record fuel prices and higher Electronic Road Pricing rates, motorists must prepare to pay more for batteries, tyres and wheels. The Singapore Motor Tyre Dealers Association is preparing to announce sizeable price hikes, with battery prices going up by as much as 50 to 70 per cent. Tyre prices will go up by 20 to 30 per cent, and wheels by 10 to 20 per cent, the association’s assistant secretary, Mr Robert Tng, told The Straits Times. (Straits Times)
Nov 5: A TRIP to the supermarket will cost more now than it did at the beginning of the year. A Straits Times check on a random basket of basic goods sold at supermarkets here revealed price increases in almost every category, from fresh chicken to coffee and milk formula. (Straits Times)
Nov 5: Prices for Singapore Petroleum Company Limited (SPC) motor gasoline across all three grades and diesel will be increased by seven cents per litre. (SPC)
Nov 8: Raffles Place retailers face space crunch, soaring rents. A recent study by property consultant Cushman & Wakefield found rent rises of up to 24 per cent over the past two years in the area. (Straits Times)
Nov 23: Singapore’s October CPI up 3.6% on-year, 1.3% on-month. Singapore’s October consumer prices rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier after an increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), government data showed on Friday. (CNA)
Nov 29: Pump prices increase by 5 cents. All four oil companies — Shell, Caltex, ExxonMobil and Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) — have increased pump prices for petrol and diesel by five cents. In the past 11 months, the price of petrol has shot up nine times and twice just in this month alone. (CNA)
Nov 29: Second Link toll charges to go up next year. VEHICLES from Singapore crossing into Johor via the Second Link Expressway will have to pay higher tolls from Jan 1, the Malaysian government announced yesterday. Passenger cars using the Second Link route will have to pay RM10.80 (S$4.60) next year, compared with RM8.40 now. (Asia One)
Dec 9: Price of luncheon meat soar, from $1 to as high as $3. Prices of luncheon meat have been on the rise since August when the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) rejected and destroyed a consignment of canned pork products from two food processing plants in China. (New Paper)
Dec 10: ComfortDelgro raises taxi fares. Commuters will pay between 18 per cent and 49 per cent more for a taxi ride home from the city from 5pm to midnight. (Straits Times) (CNA)
Dec 11: SCHOOL bus fares will go up by at least $5 to $10 in January, sparked by the increase in diesel prices in recent months. (Straits Times)
Dec 14: Singapore’s second-largest taxi operator SMRT will be raising its fares from next Friday, December 21. The changes are in line with the adjustments made by market leader ComfortDelGro which will be increasing fares from December 17. (CNA)
Dec 14: Hike in POSB coins charge excessive. “IN THE past, whenever I made a deposit or withdrawal in coins, I paid $5 in service charge for every $500. Now, I have to pay $15 for every $500. So if I changed $1,000 into coins, I would lose $30.” (ST Forum Page)
Dec 14: Adjustment rate for housing loan changed unilaterally. “This unilateral change in adjustment rate is an increase in effective interest on the loan, and it is done without changing the loan interest rates. Is it fair for banks to offer adjustment rates as a ‘feature’ to woo customers but, six months into the loan, unilaterally reduce the benefits of the feature?” (ST Forum Page)
Dec 14: Hike in luggage surcharge wasn’t publicized. “When they were at the check-in counter, they were informed that the overweight charge was $20, not $8, and if they did not pay up they would not get their boarding passes. They had no choice but to pay.” (ST Forum Page)
Dec 20: Potong Pasir to raise S&C charges. THE opposition-held Potong Pasir ward is raising its service and conservancy (S&C) charges for the first time in a decade. Residents there will pay between $2.50 and $8 more a month, depending on the size of their HDB flat. (Straits Times)
Dec 20: Expect to pay more for food from next month. SINGAPOREANS should brace themselves for a sharp hike in food prices starting from New Year’s Day, which could affect anything from curry puffs to ice cream. (Asia One)
Dec 24: Singapore’s Nov consumer prices up 4.2% year-on-year. Singapore’s consumer prices rose faster-than-expected in November. The consumer price index – a non-core measure of costs for goods and services – rose 4.2 percent from a year earlier, after rising 3.6 percent in October. (CNA)
Dec 28: Electricity tariffs to go up. Highest since 2001. From next month (Jan 2008), electricity tariffs will go up nearly 6 per cent, to 22.62 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh). (Straits Times)
2007: HDB ups valuation and administrative fees for valuation report of flats. This is to include the new 7% GST. (link)
Quote:
Aug 24:
‘With rents rising, and some retailers not passing on the GST hike until later, we expect CPI inflation to continue to climb, probably close to 3 per cent towards year-end,’ said Citigroup economist Chua Hak Bin.
“Consumers Association of Singapore president Yeo Guat Kwang, who is also MP for Aljunied GRC, said if prices go up because of supply and demand conditions, that cannot be helped: ‘What we need to ensure is that price adjustments are fair.
‘So far, we haven’t seen a phenomenon of businesses profiteering from the GST rise,’ said Mr Yeo, who is the deputy chairman of the Committee Against GST Profiteering.
‘Most importantly, prices of basic necessities have remained stable.’
(Straits Times, Aug 24, 2007)
Other reports:
A relentless spiral by Littlespeck. (link)
CASE survey. (link)
Govt spells out fees to be frozen. (link) (link)
2008
Jan 3: Second Link tolls to go up from Feb 1. The tolls for all motorists at Tuas Second Link will be raised by between 10 cents and S$4.40 from 1 February. Motorcyclists will need to pay 10 cents more than the current toll of 60 cents. Cars will be tolled S$4.60, while vans and small lorries will be charged S$10.50. The largest jump is for big lorries, which will have to pay S$21 – S$4.40 more than the current S$16.60. (Channel NewsAsia)
Jan 08: Motorists to face five new ERP gantries. MOTORISTS can expect to pay more over the next few months to use the roads when five new ERP gantries are up, many in the heart of residential areas. (Straits Times) (Straits Times)
Jan 14: Prices of CNY goodies to go up. BE PREPARED to spend 10 per cent to 20 per cent more on foodstuffs this Chinese New Year. (Straits Times)
Jan 15: Inflation in S’pore may hit 6.5% this month. CONSUMER prices in Singapore may surge a staggering 6.5 per cent this month, bringing full- year average inflation to an equally eye-popping 5 per cent, according to Citigroup. (Straits Times)
Jan 18: Lunar New Year dinner prices set to rise by at least 10 per cent. Prices for restaurant dinners are set to rise by at least 10 per cent. (CNA)
Jan 23: Prices of suckling pigs double due to supply shortage in China. The prices of suckling pigs have doubled recently due to a drop in supply from China, and a 5kg pig is going for as much as S$180. (CNA)
Jan 24: Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) … rose 4.4 per cent last month from a year earlier, with transport contributing the most. (TODAY)
Jan 25: Resale HDB flat prices up 30% above valuation in Q4. BUYERS of resale Housing Board flats found themselves paying $22,000 above the valuation from October to December – a whopping 30 per cent increase more than the previous quarter. (Straits Times)
Jan 29: ERP rates to go up by S$0.50 at certain gantries from Feb 4. Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates are set to go up by S$0.50 starting 4 February, according to the Land Transport Authority. (CNA)
Jan 30: ERP rates, more gantries to go up – but road tax cut by 15%. Minister Lim said 16 new gantries will go on between April and November, bringing the total number in operation to 71. This is just the start. The base ERP rate will be upped from $1 to $2, with the increments in $1 instead of the current 50 cents. To make ERP more effective in a rising affluent community, these changes will be made gradually. (Straits Times)
Jan 30: MediShield premiums to go up for better cover. YEARLY premiums for basic MediShield insurance are set to increase – by about $120 for most people – to ensure that subsidised patients saddled with big hospital bills will get better payouts. (Straits Times)
Jan 30: Prime Taxis to raise fares from March. AFTER holding out for over a month, Singapore’s smallest cab operator, Prime Taxis, will raise its fares to come in line with other companies here. (Straits Times)
Jan 30: Prices for tickets for all Cathay cineplexes to go up on Jan 31. Expect to pay up to $10.50 on a weekend. (TODAY)
Feb 02: Prices of vegetables are up between 5 and 10 per cent because higher oil prices. YOUR shopping basket will be a little more expensive this year, no thanks to a rise in vegetable prices. (The New Paper)
Feb 4: Singapore inflation may exceed 5 percent this year – PM Lee. Inflation in the city-state could accelerate to 5 percent this year after rising 2.1 percent in 2007 given rising commodity prices worldwide, the Business Times newspaper quoted Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as saying. (Forbes)
Feb 04: Businesses say new ERP gantries may increase operating costs. The rise in Electronic Road Pricing and increase in the number of ERP gantries is worrying at least one business – the couriers. (CNA)
Feb 14: Varsities up tuition fees by 4% to 20%. TUITION fees at the three local universities will go up by between 4 per cent and 20 per cent for the new batch of undergraduates entering in August. (Straits Times)
Feb 26: INFLATION accelerated last month to a 26-year high of 6.6 per cent with housing, food and transport costs registering steep increases over the past year. (Straits Times)
Mar 3: Caltex increases petrol and diesel pump prices. The company increased all grades of petrol by 4 cents per litre at 11am on Monday. Its Regular 95 petrol is now priced at S$2.046 a litre, Regular 98 at S$2.12 and Premium 98 petrol is S$2.286 per litre before discount. (CNA)
March 10: Park in Orchard area? It’ll cost you even more. Parking fees have gone up at 18 out of 20 malls, in one case by 36 per cent. (Straits Times, AsiaOne)
March 12: Fishball prices increase 20% due to rising cost of raw ingredients. Retailers said the prices of fishballs have risen by 20 per cent since last July due to rising cost of raw ingredients. (CNA)
March 17: Price of Chinese herbs to increase by 10%-20%. The price of Chinese herbs is set to increase by 10-20 percent. (CNA)
March 18: Barely two weeks after an increase in pump prices … all four petrol companies raised prices yesterday. Petrol and diesel prices went up by four cents and five cents per litre respectively, with the exception of Shell’s V-Power, which went up by three cents, and Caltex Platinum Techron, which remained unchanged. Regular 98-octane petrol at all four petrol chains now costs $2.160 a litre, while diesel is $1.613 a litre, before discounts. (TODAY)
March 19: Cost of electricity to go up from April as oil prices rise. Electricity tariffs will go up by an average of 1.26 cents (S$0.0126) per kilowatt starting 1 April. (CNA)
March 25: Singapore’s CPI up 6.5 pct year-on-year in February. Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) jumped 6.5 percent in February from a year earlier, after gaining a 25-year high of 6.6 percent in January. (Trading Markets)
March 25: Singapore inflation stays at 26-year high. Prices of meat and poultry, cooking oils and dairy products clocked double-digit gains, while rice, cereal and fruit cost almost 10 per cent more than they did last year. High oil prices also made themselves felt in electricity bills and at petrol pumps. Indeed, transport costs jumped 9.6 per cent, boosted also by higher taxi fares and car prices. (Straits Times)
March 25: Prices of coffee, milk, sugar rise. In the past six months, the price of a 40-sachet bag of Nescafe 3-in-1 Regular Coffeemix has risen by 14 to 19 per cent across most major supermarkets. It costs $5.20 at Cold Storage and NTUC FairPrice. Super 3-in-1 Coffeemix is up 5 to 9 per cent, and now costs $4.95 at Cold Storage and $4.80 at NTUC FairPrice. (Straits Times)
March 26: Price of paper up by as much as 40%. The price of paper around the world has gone up by as much as 40 percent over the past year. This has caused the price of recycled paper to increase by 100 percent. (CNA)
March 28: NETS revises pricing for NETS CashCard. Consumers are going to have pay more for their NETS CashCard come May, as it will include the cost of the CashCard as well. (CNA)
March 29: Prices of rice rise. FairPrice raises price of its house brand varieties after Thai rice jumps 30% overnight. A 5kg bag of FairPrice Thai White Fragrant Rice now costs $5.30, up from $4.70, and a 10kg bag of Double FairPrice Thai Hom Mali Rice now goes for $17.90, up from $16.25. (Straits Times)
April 5: FairPrice ups price for one premium rice brand. SINGAPORE‘S biggest supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice, on Friday hiked the price of one of its in-house brands of premium rice. The rise is NTUC’s second in as many weeks: It hiked prices of three other in-house brands of rice by between 60 cents and $1.65 last week. (Straits Times)
April 23: Singapore’s March inflation rate up 6.7% on-year. The CPI for the first quarter of this year was 6.6 percent higher compared with the same quarter of previous year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI in March was 0.3% higher compared with February. Singapore’s inflation rate has been hovering at its highest level in 26 years. (CNA)
April 23: Pump prices up across all brands. THE OTHER oil companies have all followed Caltex’s move to raise pump prices here. ExxonMobil, Singapore Petroleum Co and Shell on Wednesday upped petrol prices by three cents a litre and diesel by five cents. The latest pump price adjustment is the 10th consecutive increase since July last year – 11th if the GST-triggered increase on July 1, 2007 were to be included. (Straits Times)
April 25: Sharp hike in kindergarten fees. SOME 1,500 students attending the seven PAP Community Foundation (PCF) kindergartens in Woodlands will see their fees shoot up by 30 to 100 per cent. (TODAY, April 25.)
May 3: Rice and cooking oil lead price rise. Yes, the price of rice is going up. But so too are the prices of cooking oil and other items such as instant noodles. (Straits Times)
May 3: SIZZLING HOT: Cooking oil prices on the boil. In the last two months, retail prices have jumped between 9per cent and 56 per cent, depending on the brand.. (Straits Times)
May 9: Expect to pay higher electricity bills. Soaring crude oil prices drove the benchmark market price of electricity to a record last month, and there is not much relief in sight. (Straits Times)
May 16: Caltex pump prices up. Prices at Caltex were increased as of 10.00am today. Prices of Silver, Gold and Platinum petrol grades went by $0.02 to $2.136, $2.210 and $2.336 respectively. (AsiaOne) (TODAY)
May 19: Food operators to charge more for home deliveries. A Straits Times check with 25 food-delivery services found that more than half have increased their menu prices by at least a dollar in the last few months. Five have also upped their delivery fees, while three have increased their minimum order amount. (AsiaOne)
May 23: Singapore inflation rate hits new 26-year high of 7.5% in April. Singapore’s annual inflation rate rose to a new 26-year high of 7.5 percent in April as food, housing and transportation costs soared and is now a risk to the economy, the government said on Friday. (CNA)
May 24: Pump prices up for second time in a week. The latest jump – the 12th consecutive increase since last July – was sparked when oil giant Shell upped petrol prices by five cents a litre and diesel by seven cents at 5pm on Thursday. (Straits Times)
June 5: Poultry prices to rise due to higher transportation costs. The cost of every kilogramme of duck to go up by five cents. The price of chicken products is also expected to increase. (CNA)
June 7: Singapore consumers to feel knock-on effects. THE fuel price hike in Malaysia is going to bite Singaporeans soon, and hard. Prices of a range of goods are set to go up as the cost of trucking them in rises, and fresh food tops the list. (Straits Times)
June 7: Singapore’s poor turn to temples to fill bellies. Many Singaporeans increasingly turning to free meals at temples to fill their stomachs, as surging global commodity prices hurt, even in a country that is one of the richest in Asia. (Reuters)
June 7: Coach fares to Malaysia up. The Express Bus Agencies Association (EBAA), which accounts for six in 10 buses heading across the Singapore border, has raised its fuel and insurance surcharges from a previous flat fee of $3, to between $5 and $16 — that’s up to five times more — depending on your destination. (TODAY)
June 11: Up prices of eggs and some vegetables. The prices of eggs and some vegetables have jumped at wet markets across the island, according to a Straits Times check. This comes barely a week after Malaysia – Singapore’s biggest food supplier – trimmed domestic fuel subsidies. (Straits Times)
June 18: ERP rates in CBD to go up, 5 new gantries added. About half of existing ERP gantries islandwide will see their rates increase from July 7. (CNA) (Straits Times)
June 19: Housebrand rice prices up. The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) has found that prices for housebrands rose between 14 and58 per cent last month. The most dramatic jump was for Cold Storage’s First Choice Thai Fragrant Rice: :From between $8.75 and $9.10 for a 5kg-pack, to $13.80. (TODAY)
June 25: Pump prices up for 13th time since last July. PUMP prices have risen again, with petrol going up by five cents a litre and diesel, 10 cents.This latest increase, the 13th consecutive rise since last July, started when oil giant Shell raised rates at 4pm yesterday. By evening, Caltex and ExxonMobil had followed suit.(Straits Times) (TODAY)
June 25: Electricity tariffs to rise 4.98% from next quarter. Electricity tariffs will go up by 4.98 per cent or by 1.19 cents per kilo watt per hour (kWh) for all households from the next quarter, beginning July 1. (CNA)
June 28: Premium bus fares to go up. PREMIUM bus fares will soon go up, as operators here feel the pinch from higher fuel prices. SBS Transit, which runs more than half of such services, will raise fares by 30 to 60 cents, up to a maximum of $3.60 per trip. The fare hike will affect all of its 40 premium services. (Straits Times)
July 2: Private bus operators up prices over diesel price hikes. FACED with skyrocketing diesel prices, private bus operators are charging more to transport workers and rent out coaches. Ten bus companies contacted by The Straits Times said they have raised prices by at least 10 per cent in the last few months due to rising rising diesel prices, which have almost doubled in the last year. (Straits Times)
July 6: 5 S’pore River ERP gantries kick in on Monday. The new gantries, which will bring the total number of gantries in Singapore to 65, will charge $2 from 6pm to 7.30pm and $1 from 7.30pm to 8pm. (Straits Times)
July 7: Expect to see more of these gantries in coming months. New KPE will have 16, taking grand total from 60 to more than 80. When it opens fully on Sept 20, it will have the most ERP gantries among all roads here. New KPE will have 16, taking grand total from 60 to more than 80 (Straits Times)
July 12: 30-cent fuel levy for cab rides from Thursday. MOST cab rides will cost 30 cents more from next Thursday, after Singapore’s largest taxi operator ComfortDelGro yesterday announced its decision to levy a fuel surcharge on all trips. (Straits Times)
July 14: School bus fares going up on Aug 1. SCHOOL bus operators, bitten by skyrocketing diesel prices, could soon start charging parents $10 to $15 more a month to ferry schoolchildren. (Straits Times)
July 19: SMRT Taxis to levy 30 cents fuel surcharge. SMRT Taxis will levy a fuel surcharge of 30 cents per trip for all taxi trips from July 26. The fuel surcharge will apply to all flag down trips, as well as call centre and advanced bookings, SMRT said in a press release on Saturday. SMRT’s move came after ComfortDelGro implemented the surcharge on Thursday. (Straits Times)
July 22: High power bills: Record number of cases probed. A RECORD number of complaints about overcharging for electricity were investigated by Singapore Power last month. SP Services, the power company’s customer service arm, said it looked into 1,093 cases where customers had complained that their bills for May were higher than in previous months. (Straits Times)
July 23: S’pore June inflation rises 7.5% on higher food, housing costs. Singapore’s consumer inflation stood at a 26-year high in June, rising 7.5 per cent compared with a year ago, according to latest figures from the Department of Statistics. (CNA)
July 24: Singapore ranked fifth most expensive city in Asia. Singapore is now the fifth most expensive city in Asia, according to Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. In world standings, Singapore is in 13th position, one notch higher than in 2007. (CNA)
July 30: Heartland shoppers hit hardest by Nets fee hike. SOME mom-and-pop stores in the heartland are passing on an increase in Nets fees to consumers, despite being barred from doing so. (Straits Times)
25 August: CPI for households up 7.1% in first six months. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for households increased by 7.1 per cent in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year. (CNA)
Aug 29: More unable to pay electricity bills. 35% of families with power bill woes stay in larger 4- or 5-room flats. As of June this year, about 13,700 households have been put on a pre-paid metering scheme after they had their power supply cut off or were in danger of having the supply disconnected. (Straits Times)
August 30: SINGAPORE‘S public hospitals have raised ward charges in the last two months. The increases at Alexandra Hospital (AH), Changi General Hospital, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and SGH took effect at the beginning of July. Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National University Hospital (NUH) raised their fees this month. (Straits Times).
Sept 12: Bus and train fares up on October 1. The Public Transport Council (PTC) has given the green light for an overall net fare adjustment that will result in fare changes that will range from a 7-cent reduction to a 4-cent increase per journey. (CNA)
Sept 28: Childcare fees going up. The average monthly fees for childcare and infant care now are $684 and $1,184 respectively. A Sunday Times check with 20 childcare centres found that all but three intend to charge $30 to $120 more a month. (Straits Times)
Sept 29: Households to see average rise of about 22% in electricity bills from Oct. On average, all SP Services customers will face a 21.89 per cent increase. (CNA)
Sept 28: Some papers to cost more. The subscription and newsstand prices of both The Straits Times and The Sunday Times, currently at 70 cents and 80 cents respectively, will increase by 10 cents for the Sunday to Friday editions, and by 20 cents for the bumper Saturday edition. (Straits Times)
Oct 6: SingTel increases local fixed line subscription and call rates. SingTel is increasing its local fixed line subscription by S$10 a year from January 1, 2009. Residential customers will therefore pay S$110 per year in subscription and business customers will pay S$160 per year. (CNA)
Oct 21: 3rd ERP gantry on PIE to kick in. MOTORISTS heading west on the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) will have to pay Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges to drive beyond Eunos from Nov 3. The gantry along the expressway near the Eunos exit will be activated, charging $2 between 7am and 7.30am, and $1 between 7.30am and 8am. (Straits Times)
Oct 23: Singapore’s September inflation up 6.7% on-year. Singapore’s consumer price index rose 6.7 per cent in September compared with the same period last year. (CNA)
Nov 24: Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) for October 2008 increased by 6.4 percent from a year ago due mainly to higher costs of housing and food. (Bernama)
Nov 25: Vegetable prices rise 10-15% due to early rainy season. Vegetable prices have risen by 10 to 15 percent on average during the past month due to the rainy season. (CNA)
Dec3: JUST months after food prices began retreating from record highs, the tab on some products is rising again, sparked in large part by the weakening Singapore dollar. (Straits Times)
Dec 11: 14% hike in school-bus fares too hefty. I was shocked to learn that the fare will be raised to $78. I recall that, just six months ago, it went up by 7 per cent from $68 to $73. (Straits Times)
2010
18 Feb: Singapore polytechnics and ITEto increase tuition fees
22 Feb: Foreign worker levies to go up from July
9 Mar: At least two town councils to up S&C charges
12 Mar: Licence fees to sell cigarettes could increase
18 Mar: Singapore’s 3 public universities, NUS, NTU, SMU, to raise tuition fees
23 Mar: Sheng Siong raises rent at 5 wet markets by 30%
30 Mar: Electricity to cost more from April.
1 Apr: HDB resale prices up 2.7%
20 Apr: Public transport fares to go down 2.5 per cent?
22 Apr: Home loan rates rise.
24 Apr: Private home prices up.
26 Apr: ERP rates up from May 3
30 June: Electricity tariffs to go up again.
02 July: HDB resale prices up 3.8%.
03 July: Distance-based fares for public transport takes effect.
23 July: Resale flat prices up 4.1 per cent.
02 Aug: Night parking charges doubled.
05 Aug: Pump prices up again.
24 August: Singapore inflation up in July
23 September: Singapore’s August inflation up 6.4% on-year
15 September: Rising food prices pinch Asian households
25 October: Inflation at highest level.
25 October: ERP rates to go up at 23 gantries across Singapore
ref: theonlinecitizen
everything goes up and never comes down. uniquely peesailand! the one little speck dot in the world that truly defies gravity. here's the record of the gravity defying skills:
The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
Posted: 27 Oct 2010 03:00 PM PDT
In 2009, Mercer ranked Singapore as the 10th costliest countries in the world (see here).
The following is a collated list of price increases which TOC could find – from various news reports, blogs, websites, forums, etc – since Jan 2006 to the present.
If we have left out any, please do let us know. If you have observed any price hikes around your neighbourhood (or anywhere else) please let us know also.
We can be reached at theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
The list may not be comprehensive and any clarification is welcome.
2006
Jan 9: Pump prices at all 29 Caltex stations will go up from 11pm on Monday night. Prices will go up by four cents per litre for all three grades. (link)
Feb 13: Polytechnics and ITE increase fees by $50 and $10 respectively (link) (link)
Feb 14: NTU, NUS to raise tuition fees by 3% from next academic year. Tuition fees at both the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University will go up by S$180 for the next academic year. This 3 percent increase comes on the heels of a 5 percent hike just last year. (link)
Mar 6: Expect annual tuition fee increases. Hostel fees will also go up by 10% to 11% from next academic year. (NTU) (link)
Mar 9: Retail pump prices for Synergy petrol and diesel at all Esso and Mobil service stations in Singapore were increased by 6 cents a litre. (link) (link)
June 1: NTUC Car Co-Op raises fuel surcharge: We cannot continue subsidizing the fuel price increase in the long run without compromising the quality of service. Thus, the management has decided to implement a fuel surcharge of $0.30 for every 10km free with effect from 1 June 2006. (link)
June 27: Electricity tariff to go up next quarter. Domestic users, for example, will have to pay 21.15 cents for every kWH of electricity, up from 20.49 cents currently. (link)
July 10: Comfort Delgro raises taxi fares. Besides raising the flag down fare and the peak hour surcharge from $1 to $2, ComfortDelgro is also making distance-related adjustment. (link) (link)
July: Taxi companies raise fares. (link) (link)
July 17: SMRT hikes taxi fares. (link)
Aug: SMRT, SBS apply for fare hike. (link)
Aug: NUS hikes tuition fees by between $180, $220, and $510, depending on faculty. (link)
Aug: ERP rates to go up at six gantries, mainly at CTE. (link)
Oct: Public Transport Council approves 1.7% fare increase for bus and trains. Adult EZ-link fares for buses and trains will increase by 1 to 3 cents, which amounts to an overall fare hike of 1.7 percent. (link)
Nov: SingPost revises postage rate. (link)
Nov 12: Rates for HDB rental flats pegged to income. (link)
Dec: Govt spells out fees to be frozen. (link)
2006: Loan sharks cases rise by 19%, to 10, 221 cases. (link)
2006: A total of 419 people committed suicide in 2006, up from 346 in 2003. The suicide rate per 100,000 residents – a sobering indicator in population statistics – is also on the upswing, growing from 9.3 in 2003 to 10.3 in 2006, figures from the Registry of Births and Deaths reveal. It is the fourth straight rise in as many years. (ST, Aug 13, 2007) (link)
2006: Islandwide, home rentals climbed 10 per cent in 2006. (ST, Aug 6, 2007) (link)
2006: At Alexandra Hospital, A&E charges went up from $55 to $60, as did C-class ward charges — from $21 to $23 — and subsidised specialist outpatient clinic consultation rates, from $18 to $20. (link)
2007
Jan: All diesel-driven vehicles to undergo smoke test. (link)
Jan: NUH’s A&E fee raised from $70 to $80. (link)
Jan: Skilled Foreign workers levy raised by $50, from $100 to $150, for all sectors. (link) (link)
Jan 26: SMU Law Course to cost more, NUS says it may increase fees too. (link)
Feb: KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital hikes ward treatment fees. (link)
Feb 14: Tax penalties from GST audits could increase. With the hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) by two percentage points, tax analysts said tax penalties arising from businesses making mistakes in GST audits may also increase. (link)
Feb 25: Sunny Cove: Fees to Pulau Hantu Raised – As of 24th February 2007 (Saturday), the operator had increased the price for the chartering of boat to local water. With the price hike, all courses conducted at local water will be subjected to the increase from 25th February 2007 (Sunday) onwards. (link)
Feb 25: Eldershield premiums to go up by year’s end. (link)
April 1: Singapore Medical Association withdraws guidelines on fees. Doctors now have more flexibility to adjust their fees, following a decision by the Singapore Medical Association (SMA) to withdraw its guidelines on fees, as of 1 April. (link)
April 1: URA increase fees for Housing Developers’s Licence – from between $500 to $8,000. (link)
April 2: NUS revise car park charges. (link)
April 8: Means testing for hospital admission to start within a year. Subsidised patients that stay more than five days in a public hospital can expect some questions about their income. (link) (link)
April 11: Ikea to start charging customers for plastic bags. (ST, 11 April, 2007)
April 25: The Singapore American School increased tuition fees by between $425 and $1,000. (link)
April: Within hours of each other, the four petrol companies in Singapore – First Shell, then Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC), ExxonMobil and lastly Chevron – each revised its prices. The retail price of petrol and diesel rose by 10 cents. (Electric New Paper) (link) (link)
May 12: Inflation heads for a higher plane. For now, the major public concern is a rise in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 5% to 7% in July, which is likely to exacerbate the series of worrying price increases over the past year. (Littlespeck)
May 14: NUH increase ward charges for B2 and C-class wards by $2, increases of 4 and 8 per cent. (link)
May 23: DBS raises its e-transaction fee for initial public offering (IPO) applications. Retail investors who applied for IPO shares launched on or after that date, through the local bank’s ATMs and Internet banking, were surprised that they now have to pay $2. (link)
May 29: New fee hikes at public hospitals and polyclinics. A NEW round of fee hikes is underway at most public hospitals and some polyclinics. Subsidised patients at four public hospitals will now pay $24 or $25 for every visit to a specialist clinic, up from about $21. All 18 polyclinics, which used to charge a standard consultation fee of $8 for adults, now charge anything from $8-$8.80. (link) (link) (link)
May: From milk to Milo, cooking oil to coffee, canned foods, processed foods, wheat products and more, prices have been rising recently at supermarkets and hypermarts here. (link) (link) (link)
June 1: Prices of milk go up. The price increase for condensed milk ranged from $0.10 to $0.50, which means the prices for some brands of condensed milk have gone up by nearly 45 per cent. The price increase for evaporated milk ranged from $0.15 to $0.47, marking a percentage increase of between 18 per cent to 48 per cent. (link) (link)
June 4: Online hosiery shop increases price. There will be a overall price increase on 4th June 2007 for all brands due to increased cost of yarns and cost of shipping. (link)
June 6: Even before the Nets fee hike kicks in, a shoe shop in Parkway Parade has already started charging customers extra to cover the increase. (link)
June 7: Wholesale price of ducks goes up. The wholesale price of ducks has increased by 20 cents a kilogram. (link)
June 7: Eggs price increase. Eggs now cost between 17 cents and 18 cents each. (link)
June 29: Rental space rents rise. Islandwide, rents at Grade A malls have moved up by between 5-7 per cent in the first half of this year and could increase by another 5-6 per cent by end-2007, analysts said. (Business Times, June 29, 2007) (link)
June 29: Fees up by 14% on average at NUS. Two days before the higher 7-per-cent GST kicked in on July 1, prospective students of the continuing education arm of the National University of Singapore (NUS) received news that fees for many courses had gone up — by an average 14 per cent. (link)
July 1st: GST increased from 5% to 7%. (link) (link)
July 1st: THE Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) and market leader ExxonMobil became the first companies to raise pump prices at their petrol stations following the GST hike. The two companies increased prices across the board for their three grades of petrol and diesel by 0.23 cents to 0.33 cents per litre from 7am. Caltex will be increasing its pump prices on Monday. (ST, July 1, 2007) (link) (link)
July 1st: NETS announced a price hike for its Electronic Funds Transfer Point-of-Sale (EFTPOS) and CashCard Services to between 1.5% and 1.8%. (link) (link)
July 1st: Pasir Ris – Punggol Town Council revise penalties for late payment of S&C charges to 2% and absorb 7% GST. (2004 rates) (2007 rates)
July 1st: Cigarette prices up as bar ban kicks in. Tobacco companies raised the prices of popular brands by an average of 40 cents. This brought the price of a 20-stick pack of Marlboro or Dunhill cigarettes, for example, to $11.60. (AsiaOne)
July 3: Resale price index for HDB flats rise 2.9% from 3 months before. (link)
July 4: The Committee Against GST Profiteering (CAP) has found price changes to be generally moderate since the announcement of the GST increase in November 2006. (link)
July 10: Changi General Hospital increases A&E charges. Following in the wake of earlier hikes by the National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital, CGH this month increased its A&E attendance fee by $10 — or 15 per cent — to $75. For the B2 and C-class wards, the daily treatment fee went up by $1, representing a 6-to-10-per-cent increment. The daily ward charge for B2 wards also rose by $1, or 2 per cent. (link)
July 11: Starhub raise prices for cable tv packages. SCV subscribers pay $4 more across the board. (link) (link) (link)
July 11: The Committee Against GST Profiteering has received 33 complaints in the past six months about price increases, all dealing with food items. About 10 cases involve chain businesses. (ST, July 11, 2007) (link)
July 15: Electricity tariffs to be raised by almost 9% for July to September. (link)
July 18: Govt raises development charge from 50% to 70% for new building projects from 50 per cent to 70 per cent of the increase in value of the land. (link) (link)
July 21: HDB rents at 10-year high. For the first time in recent memory, monthly rents for some HDB flats have pushed northwards of $2,000 in leases signed in the last couple of months. (ST, 21 July 2007) (link)
July 25: Hospital bills up 10% to 30% across all ward classes. (link)
July: July inflation hits 2.6%, highest in over 12 years. (link)
July (CPI): Housing costs increased 4.9 per cent because of higher housing maintenance charges, electricity tariffs and rented accommodation costs. (ST, Aug 23, 2007) (link)
July (CPI): Food prices went up by 1.4 per cent, mainly due to dearer cooked food, fresh fish, fruits, vegetables and milk powder. (link)
July (CPI): Transport and communication prices moved up by 1 per cent, reflecting mainly dearer petrol and higher car prices. (link)
July (CPI): The index for education and stationery rose by 2.1 per cent as a result of higher fees at commercial institutions and universities. (link)
July (CPI): Prices of clothing and footwear increased by 3.9 per cent. (link)
July (CPI): Health care cost rose by 2.2 per cent on account of dearer chinese herbs and higher charges for general medical consultation and dental treatment. (link)
Aug 2: SBS, SMRT seeking bus, train fare increases. If approved, transport fares could rise by up to three cents from October. (link)
Aug 2: Singapore Airlines raises fuel surcharge – from between US$2, US$5 and US$9. (link)
Aug 6: ERP rates at Orchard, YMCA and Fort Canning Tunnel to go up. From August 6, cars passing the Orchard, YMCA and Fort Canning Tunnel gantries will be charged an additional $0.50. That makes it $1 per entry. Rates for motorcycles will also double to $0.50. Goods vehicles and small buses will now be charged $1.50. Heavy goods vehicles and big buses will be charged $2. (link)
Aug 7: Student made to pay adult fare. (link)
Aug 7: Cost of living in S’pore getting higher compared to neighbours. Singapore retains its 9th position out of 41 Asian locations as the most costly city. (CNA)
Aug 7: Car insurance premiums likely to increase. Higher premium rates for car insurance look almost certain, after the motor sector suffered a second consecutive quarter of losses. Rises could be between 5 and 10 per cent, according to one insurer, as the industry battles higher claims. (AsiaOne, ST, Aug 7, 2007)
Aug 8: 17% hike in Delifrance’s tuna croissant sandwich, from $5.05 to $5.90. (link)
Aug 10: Change of supplier sees spike in price of medicine. A 80ml bottle of Minoxi 5 from Trima Pharmaceutical used to cost $38.50. This time round, the price was $45.50 for a 60ml bottle. Going by volume, the price increase was a hefty 57.6 per cent. (ST Forum, Aug 10, 2007) (link)
Aug 13: Up to 30% levy imposed on hotel room revenues during F1 race. The Trade and Industry Ministry (MTI) has decided a levy of 30 per cent for hotels on the trackside, and 20 per cent for others. (link)
Aug 23: More ERP gantries, extended hours. (link) (link)
Aug 24: By Aug 24, the Committee Against GST Profiteering had received 115 complaints on alleged GST profiteering. In the first two weeks of July, after the GST increase came into effect, 49 complaints were received, surpassing the 30 complaints received in May. (ST, Aug 29, 2007)
Aug 27: Singapore raises 2007 inflation forecast to 1-2 per cent. Singapore’s central bank confirmed an apparent off-the-cuff remark by Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang in parliament that inflation would come in at 1-2 percent this year, above the government’s previous forecast of 0.5-1.5 percent. (Reuters)
Aug 29: Middle-aged suicide rate up. In 2003, there were 14 suicides (of men in their 40s and 50s) per 100,000. In 2006, it went up to 19 per 100,000. For women, there were 8 per 100,000. In 2006, it went up to 13 per 100,000. (TODAY, Aug 29, 2007) (link)
Aug 29: Storage boom as rents rise. Companies which provide self-storage facilities are reporting a rise in rentals by foreigners as rising rental prices force more of them to downsize. (The Electric New Paper, Aug 29, 2007) (link)
Aug 31: Government raises property development charges. For non-landed residential use, the charge was raised by an average of 58 percent with prime areas like Cantonment Road seeing the biggest jump of 112 percent. Areas seeing the highest increase (of over 100 percent) include Telok Ayer, Maxwell, Shenton, Anson and South Bridge Road. (CNA)
Sept 1st: New dog licensing rules. To discourage dog owners from keeping unlicensed dogs, allowing their dogs to stray or not muzzling dogs of breeds2 that are required to be muzzled in a public place (eg, the Rottweiller or Mastiff); the maximum fine for such offences has been raised from $500 to $5,000. (link)
Sept 5: Esso won’t go public on fuel price changes. IF YOU are an Esso customer, you will not know if the price of your fuel has changed until you drive right up to a pump. ExxonMobil – the biggest player here with 74 out of the total of about 200 stations – has adopted a new policy against revealing changes in pump prices to the media. Neither does it display prices at station entrances. (Straits Times, Sept 5, 2007)
Sept 11: Adult EZ-link fares for buses upped from October. From 1 October, adult EZ-link fares for buses will increase by between one and two cents. But there will be no increase for train fares. (CNA)
Sept 12: Special needs school raise fees by 100%. I was shocked to receive a letter in July stating that school fees would increase by 100 per cent from this month. No other institution – even private schools – operates in this manner by increasing its fees by 100 per cent. (Letter to ST forum)
Sept 13: Employers to buy medical insurance for foreign workers. From January next year (2008), employers will have to buy and maintain insurance for the medical expenses of all foreign workers on Work Permit or S Pass. (CNA)
Sept 25: Electricity tariffs to go up because of higher oil prices. Barely 2 months after the increase of 9% in July, electricity tariffs will again go up later this year because of higher oil prices. SP Services said electricity tariffs will be raised by an average of 0.86 cent, or 4.29 percent, per kilowatt-hour, for the three months from October to December. (CNA)
Sept 25: Cosmetics costing more? Taking a hit from the Goods and Services Tax hike, prices of consumer products in Singapore grew at a pace not seen since 1994. (TODAY)
Sept 27: Gardenia loaf of bread cost 5% more in three months. “Yesterday we found out that its price has soared to $2. If you work that out against the original $1.90, it means that the total price increased is 5.3 per cent in three months.” (Letter to ST forum page.)
Sept 29: Why higher fees for vacant flat? “MY LATE grandfather, who was the sole owner and occupier of a three-room HDB flat, had been paying $38 a month in conservancy fees to the town council. His estate now has to pay $55 a month (a 45 per cent increase) for the vacant flat, the reason being that the $38 concessionary charge no longer applies as it is now unoccupied.” (Letter to ST Forum Page)(link)
Sept: Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society to increase fees from between $5 to $10 due to the society becoming a GST-registered entity. (link)
Oct: Starhub Cable TV sports channels subscribers pay $10 more. (link)
Oct 1: Public transport fare increase takes effect.
Oct 1: Private home prices in Q3 up by 8%: URA flash estimate. The prices of private residential property in Singapore increased by eight per cent in the third quarter of this year.. (CNA)
Oct 1: HDB resale prices up by 6.5% in Q3: HDB’s flash estimate. Public housing resale prices went up by 6.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, compared to the previous three months. (CNA)
Oct 1: Petrol, diesel price up 3-5 cents. At 10am, Caltex increased its petrol and diesel prices by 3 cents a litre, while Shell upped its rates by 5 cents a litre. By 3pm, Singapore Petroleum Co followed suit by raising its pump rates by 5 cents a litre. The increase is the fifth upward revision since July, as crude oil prices hover at record levels above US$80 a barrel. (AsiaOne)
Oct 1: Hotel room rates expected to go up by 25% in Q4. Hotel room rates in Singapore in the fourth quarter are expected to be 25 per cent higher than that of last year, according to industry players. (CNA)
Oct 3: The price of chickens has risen by 20 to 50 per cent here since last week, caused by the wholesale price hike from Malaysia, among the factors, according to media reports. (Bernama)
Oct 4: Queensway Shopping Centre, Sim Lim Square and sky-high rentals in Singapore. As the leases are expiring about now, get ready for a radical change in Sim Lim Square, the highest�rentals for the shops selling the lowest margin products ever. (C Net Asia)
Oct 19: SIA ups fuel surcharge by between $3 and $9. The new charges, which are between $3 and nearly $9 more than the current surcharges, will apply to tickets issued from Oct 24 and to both SIA and SilkAir flights. (TODAY)
Oct 20: Price of flour up 30%. The price of flour has increased again, but this time it has gone up by thirty percent. This is the biggest ever hike, according to industry watchers. From January, it will cost 20 cents more to buy a loaf of bread. (CNA)
Oct 22: Caltex petrol, diesel prices up. AMERICAN oil company Chevron raised pump prices of its Caltex petrol and diesel by five cents a litre on Monday – the sixth increase since July and the second in about a fortnight. The others – Shell, ExxonMobil and Singapore Petroleum – are likely to do likewise in the coming days. Chevron’s move brings its pump prices to record levels. (Straits Times)
Oct 26: Private home prices up 8.3% in Q3. Singapore private home prices rose 8.3 percent between July and September to their highest level in a decade. (Asia One)
Oct 27: Prices of HDB resale flats keep accelerating. ‘As at end-September, the HDB resale price index has increased by about 11 per cent since the start of the year,’ the HDB said. For five-room flats, the median resale price in Queenstown is the highest at $603,000, followed by Marine Parade at $560,000 and Bukit Merah at $530,000. (Straits Times)
Oct 28: Singapore raises noodle prices. Starting Nov. 1, the price of noodles in Singapore will increase 20 percent to 30 per cent, the Singapore Noodles Manufacturers’ Association announced on Sunday. (AHN News)
Oct 30: ERP rates going up again for third time this year. Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates are going up again for the third time this year. There will also be new gantries erected. From November 5, motorists will pay $3.50 from 7:30am to 8:00am. The amount charged goes up to $5.00 between 8:30am and 9:00am. This is a $1.50 increase in the 8:30am to 9:00am period since February this year. (CNA)
Oct 30: 100 bakeries to raise bread prices by up to 20%. OVER 100 bakeries have indicated that they will be raising bread prices by up to 20 per cent, following a jump in flour prices. (Straits Times)
Nov 2: Expect steep hikes in tyre, wheel and battery prices. BESIDES record fuel prices and higher Electronic Road Pricing rates, motorists must prepare to pay more for batteries, tyres and wheels. The Singapore Motor Tyre Dealers Association is preparing to announce sizeable price hikes, with battery prices going up by as much as 50 to 70 per cent. Tyre prices will go up by 20 to 30 per cent, and wheels by 10 to 20 per cent, the association’s assistant secretary, Mr Robert Tng, told The Straits Times. (Straits Times)
Nov 5: A TRIP to the supermarket will cost more now than it did at the beginning of the year. A Straits Times check on a random basket of basic goods sold at supermarkets here revealed price increases in almost every category, from fresh chicken to coffee and milk formula. (Straits Times)
Nov 5: Prices for Singapore Petroleum Company Limited (SPC) motor gasoline across all three grades and diesel will be increased by seven cents per litre. (SPC)
Nov 8: Raffles Place retailers face space crunch, soaring rents. A recent study by property consultant Cushman & Wakefield found rent rises of up to 24 per cent over the past two years in the area. (Straits Times)
Nov 23: Singapore’s October CPI up 3.6% on-year, 1.3% on-month. Singapore’s October consumer prices rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier after an increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), government data showed on Friday. (CNA)
Nov 29: Pump prices increase by 5 cents. All four oil companies — Shell, Caltex, ExxonMobil and Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) — have increased pump prices for petrol and diesel by five cents. In the past 11 months, the price of petrol has shot up nine times and twice just in this month alone. (CNA)
Nov 29: Second Link toll charges to go up next year. VEHICLES from Singapore crossing into Johor via the Second Link Expressway will have to pay higher tolls from Jan 1, the Malaysian government announced yesterday. Passenger cars using the Second Link route will have to pay RM10.80 (S$4.60) next year, compared with RM8.40 now. (Asia One)
Dec 9: Price of luncheon meat soar, from $1 to as high as $3. Prices of luncheon meat have been on the rise since August when the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) rejected and destroyed a consignment of canned pork products from two food processing plants in China. (New Paper)
Dec 10: ComfortDelgro raises taxi fares. Commuters will pay between 18 per cent and 49 per cent more for a taxi ride home from the city from 5pm to midnight. (Straits Times) (CNA)
Dec 11: SCHOOL bus fares will go up by at least $5 to $10 in January, sparked by the increase in diesel prices in recent months. (Straits Times)
Dec 14: Singapore’s second-largest taxi operator SMRT will be raising its fares from next Friday, December 21. The changes are in line with the adjustments made by market leader ComfortDelGro which will be increasing fares from December 17. (CNA)
Dec 14: Hike in POSB coins charge excessive. “IN THE past, whenever I made a deposit or withdrawal in coins, I paid $5 in service charge for every $500. Now, I have to pay $15 for every $500. So if I changed $1,000 into coins, I would lose $30.” (ST Forum Page)
Dec 14: Adjustment rate for housing loan changed unilaterally. “This unilateral change in adjustment rate is an increase in effective interest on the loan, and it is done without changing the loan interest rates. Is it fair for banks to offer adjustment rates as a ‘feature’ to woo customers but, six months into the loan, unilaterally reduce the benefits of the feature?” (ST Forum Page)
Dec 14: Hike in luggage surcharge wasn’t publicized. “When they were at the check-in counter, they were informed that the overweight charge was $20, not $8, and if they did not pay up they would not get their boarding passes. They had no choice but to pay.” (ST Forum Page)
Dec 20: Potong Pasir to raise S&C charges. THE opposition-held Potong Pasir ward is raising its service and conservancy (S&C) charges for the first time in a decade. Residents there will pay between $2.50 and $8 more a month, depending on the size of their HDB flat. (Straits Times)
Dec 20: Expect to pay more for food from next month. SINGAPOREANS should brace themselves for a sharp hike in food prices starting from New Year’s Day, which could affect anything from curry puffs to ice cream. (Asia One)
Dec 24: Singapore’s Nov consumer prices up 4.2% year-on-year. Singapore’s consumer prices rose faster-than-expected in November. The consumer price index – a non-core measure of costs for goods and services – rose 4.2 percent from a year earlier, after rising 3.6 percent in October. (CNA)
Dec 28: Electricity tariffs to go up. Highest since 2001. From next month (Jan 2008), electricity tariffs will go up nearly 6 per cent, to 22.62 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh). (Straits Times)
2007: HDB ups valuation and administrative fees for valuation report of flats. This is to include the new 7% GST. (link)
Quote:
Aug 24:
‘With rents rising, and some retailers not passing on the GST hike until later, we expect CPI inflation to continue to climb, probably close to 3 per cent towards year-end,’ said Citigroup economist Chua Hak Bin.
“Consumers Association of Singapore president Yeo Guat Kwang, who is also MP for Aljunied GRC, said if prices go up because of supply and demand conditions, that cannot be helped: ‘What we need to ensure is that price adjustments are fair.
‘So far, we haven’t seen a phenomenon of businesses profiteering from the GST rise,’ said Mr Yeo, who is the deputy chairman of the Committee Against GST Profiteering.
‘Most importantly, prices of basic necessities have remained stable.’
(Straits Times, Aug 24, 2007)
Other reports:
A relentless spiral by Littlespeck. (link)
CASE survey. (link)
Govt spells out fees to be frozen. (link) (link)
2008
Jan 3: Second Link tolls to go up from Feb 1. The tolls for all motorists at Tuas Second Link will be raised by between 10 cents and S$4.40 from 1 February. Motorcyclists will need to pay 10 cents more than the current toll of 60 cents. Cars will be tolled S$4.60, while vans and small lorries will be charged S$10.50. The largest jump is for big lorries, which will have to pay S$21 – S$4.40 more than the current S$16.60. (Channel NewsAsia)
Jan 08: Motorists to face five new ERP gantries. MOTORISTS can expect to pay more over the next few months to use the roads when five new ERP gantries are up, many in the heart of residential areas. (Straits Times) (Straits Times)
Jan 14: Prices of CNY goodies to go up. BE PREPARED to spend 10 per cent to 20 per cent more on foodstuffs this Chinese New Year. (Straits Times)
Jan 15: Inflation in S’pore may hit 6.5% this month. CONSUMER prices in Singapore may surge a staggering 6.5 per cent this month, bringing full- year average inflation to an equally eye-popping 5 per cent, according to Citigroup. (Straits Times)
Jan 18: Lunar New Year dinner prices set to rise by at least 10 per cent. Prices for restaurant dinners are set to rise by at least 10 per cent. (CNA)
Jan 23: Prices of suckling pigs double due to supply shortage in China. The prices of suckling pigs have doubled recently due to a drop in supply from China, and a 5kg pig is going for as much as S$180. (CNA)
Jan 24: Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) … rose 4.4 per cent last month from a year earlier, with transport contributing the most. (TODAY)
Jan 25: Resale HDB flat prices up 30% above valuation in Q4. BUYERS of resale Housing Board flats found themselves paying $22,000 above the valuation from October to December – a whopping 30 per cent increase more than the previous quarter. (Straits Times)
Jan 29: ERP rates to go up by S$0.50 at certain gantries from Feb 4. Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates are set to go up by S$0.50 starting 4 February, according to the Land Transport Authority. (CNA)
Jan 30: ERP rates, more gantries to go up – but road tax cut by 15%. Minister Lim said 16 new gantries will go on between April and November, bringing the total number in operation to 71. This is just the start. The base ERP rate will be upped from $1 to $2, with the increments in $1 instead of the current 50 cents. To make ERP more effective in a rising affluent community, these changes will be made gradually. (Straits Times)
Jan 30: MediShield premiums to go up for better cover. YEARLY premiums for basic MediShield insurance are set to increase – by about $120 for most people – to ensure that subsidised patients saddled with big hospital bills will get better payouts. (Straits Times)
Jan 30: Prime Taxis to raise fares from March. AFTER holding out for over a month, Singapore’s smallest cab operator, Prime Taxis, will raise its fares to come in line with other companies here. (Straits Times)
Jan 30: Prices for tickets for all Cathay cineplexes to go up on Jan 31. Expect to pay up to $10.50 on a weekend. (TODAY)
Feb 02: Prices of vegetables are up between 5 and 10 per cent because higher oil prices. YOUR shopping basket will be a little more expensive this year, no thanks to a rise in vegetable prices. (The New Paper)
Feb 4: Singapore inflation may exceed 5 percent this year – PM Lee. Inflation in the city-state could accelerate to 5 percent this year after rising 2.1 percent in 2007 given rising commodity prices worldwide, the Business Times newspaper quoted Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as saying. (Forbes)
Feb 04: Businesses say new ERP gantries may increase operating costs. The rise in Electronic Road Pricing and increase in the number of ERP gantries is worrying at least one business – the couriers. (CNA)
Feb 14: Varsities up tuition fees by 4% to 20%. TUITION fees at the three local universities will go up by between 4 per cent and 20 per cent for the new batch of undergraduates entering in August. (Straits Times)
Feb 26: INFLATION accelerated last month to a 26-year high of 6.6 per cent with housing, food and transport costs registering steep increases over the past year. (Straits Times)
Mar 3: Caltex increases petrol and diesel pump prices. The company increased all grades of petrol by 4 cents per litre at 11am on Monday. Its Regular 95 petrol is now priced at S$2.046 a litre, Regular 98 at S$2.12 and Premium 98 petrol is S$2.286 per litre before discount. (CNA)
March 10: Park in Orchard area? It’ll cost you even more. Parking fees have gone up at 18 out of 20 malls, in one case by 36 per cent. (Straits Times, AsiaOne)
March 12: Fishball prices increase 20% due to rising cost of raw ingredients. Retailers said the prices of fishballs have risen by 20 per cent since last July due to rising cost of raw ingredients. (CNA)
March 17: Price of Chinese herbs to increase by 10%-20%. The price of Chinese herbs is set to increase by 10-20 percent. (CNA)
March 18: Barely two weeks after an increase in pump prices … all four petrol companies raised prices yesterday. Petrol and diesel prices went up by four cents and five cents per litre respectively, with the exception of Shell’s V-Power, which went up by three cents, and Caltex Platinum Techron, which remained unchanged. Regular 98-octane petrol at all four petrol chains now costs $2.160 a litre, while diesel is $1.613 a litre, before discounts. (TODAY)
March 19: Cost of electricity to go up from April as oil prices rise. Electricity tariffs will go up by an average of 1.26 cents (S$0.0126) per kilowatt starting 1 April. (CNA)
March 25: Singapore’s CPI up 6.5 pct year-on-year in February. Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) jumped 6.5 percent in February from a year earlier, after gaining a 25-year high of 6.6 percent in January. (Trading Markets)
March 25: Singapore inflation stays at 26-year high. Prices of meat and poultry, cooking oils and dairy products clocked double-digit gains, while rice, cereal and fruit cost almost 10 per cent more than they did last year. High oil prices also made themselves felt in electricity bills and at petrol pumps. Indeed, transport costs jumped 9.6 per cent, boosted also by higher taxi fares and car prices. (Straits Times)
March 25: Prices of coffee, milk, sugar rise. In the past six months, the price of a 40-sachet bag of Nescafe 3-in-1 Regular Coffeemix has risen by 14 to 19 per cent across most major supermarkets. It costs $5.20 at Cold Storage and NTUC FairPrice. Super 3-in-1 Coffeemix is up 5 to 9 per cent, and now costs $4.95 at Cold Storage and $4.80 at NTUC FairPrice. (Straits Times)
March 26: Price of paper up by as much as 40%. The price of paper around the world has gone up by as much as 40 percent over the past year. This has caused the price of recycled paper to increase by 100 percent. (CNA)
March 28: NETS revises pricing for NETS CashCard. Consumers are going to have pay more for their NETS CashCard come May, as it will include the cost of the CashCard as well. (CNA)
March 29: Prices of rice rise. FairPrice raises price of its house brand varieties after Thai rice jumps 30% overnight. A 5kg bag of FairPrice Thai White Fragrant Rice now costs $5.30, up from $4.70, and a 10kg bag of Double FairPrice Thai Hom Mali Rice now goes for $17.90, up from $16.25. (Straits Times)
April 5: FairPrice ups price for one premium rice brand. SINGAPORE‘S biggest supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice, on Friday hiked the price of one of its in-house brands of premium rice. The rise is NTUC’s second in as many weeks: It hiked prices of three other in-house brands of rice by between 60 cents and $1.65 last week. (Straits Times)
April 23: Singapore’s March inflation rate up 6.7% on-year. The CPI for the first quarter of this year was 6.6 percent higher compared with the same quarter of previous year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI in March was 0.3% higher compared with February. Singapore’s inflation rate has been hovering at its highest level in 26 years. (CNA)
April 23: Pump prices up across all brands. THE OTHER oil companies have all followed Caltex’s move to raise pump prices here. ExxonMobil, Singapore Petroleum Co and Shell on Wednesday upped petrol prices by three cents a litre and diesel by five cents. The latest pump price adjustment is the 10th consecutive increase since July last year – 11th if the GST-triggered increase on July 1, 2007 were to be included. (Straits Times)
April 25: Sharp hike in kindergarten fees. SOME 1,500 students attending the seven PAP Community Foundation (PCF) kindergartens in Woodlands will see their fees shoot up by 30 to 100 per cent. (TODAY, April 25.)
May 3: Rice and cooking oil lead price rise. Yes, the price of rice is going up. But so too are the prices of cooking oil and other items such as instant noodles. (Straits Times)
May 3: SIZZLING HOT: Cooking oil prices on the boil. In the last two months, retail prices have jumped between 9per cent and 56 per cent, depending on the brand.. (Straits Times)
May 9: Expect to pay higher electricity bills. Soaring crude oil prices drove the benchmark market price of electricity to a record last month, and there is not much relief in sight. (Straits Times)
May 16: Caltex pump prices up. Prices at Caltex were increased as of 10.00am today. Prices of Silver, Gold and Platinum petrol grades went by $0.02 to $2.136, $2.210 and $2.336 respectively. (AsiaOne) (TODAY)
May 19: Food operators to charge more for home deliveries. A Straits Times check with 25 food-delivery services found that more than half have increased their menu prices by at least a dollar in the last few months. Five have also upped their delivery fees, while three have increased their minimum order amount. (AsiaOne)
May 23: Singapore inflation rate hits new 26-year high of 7.5% in April. Singapore’s annual inflation rate rose to a new 26-year high of 7.5 percent in April as food, housing and transportation costs soared and is now a risk to the economy, the government said on Friday. (CNA)
May 24: Pump prices up for second time in a week. The latest jump – the 12th consecutive increase since last July – was sparked when oil giant Shell upped petrol prices by five cents a litre and diesel by seven cents at 5pm on Thursday. (Straits Times)
June 5: Poultry prices to rise due to higher transportation costs. The cost of every kilogramme of duck to go up by five cents. The price of chicken products is also expected to increase. (CNA)
June 7: Singapore consumers to feel knock-on effects. THE fuel price hike in Malaysia is going to bite Singaporeans soon, and hard. Prices of a range of goods are set to go up as the cost of trucking them in rises, and fresh food tops the list. (Straits Times)
June 7: Singapore’s poor turn to temples to fill bellies. Many Singaporeans increasingly turning to free meals at temples to fill their stomachs, as surging global commodity prices hurt, even in a country that is one of the richest in Asia. (Reuters)
June 7: Coach fares to Malaysia up. The Express Bus Agencies Association (EBAA), which accounts for six in 10 buses heading across the Singapore border, has raised its fuel and insurance surcharges from a previous flat fee of $3, to between $5 and $16 — that’s up to five times more — depending on your destination. (TODAY)
June 11: Up prices of eggs and some vegetables. The prices of eggs and some vegetables have jumped at wet markets across the island, according to a Straits Times check. This comes barely a week after Malaysia – Singapore’s biggest food supplier – trimmed domestic fuel subsidies. (Straits Times)
June 18: ERP rates in CBD to go up, 5 new gantries added. About half of existing ERP gantries islandwide will see their rates increase from July 7. (CNA) (Straits Times)
June 19: Housebrand rice prices up. The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) has found that prices for housebrands rose between 14 and58 per cent last month. The most dramatic jump was for Cold Storage’s First Choice Thai Fragrant Rice: :From between $8.75 and $9.10 for a 5kg-pack, to $13.80. (TODAY)
June 25: Pump prices up for 13th time since last July. PUMP prices have risen again, with petrol going up by five cents a litre and diesel, 10 cents.This latest increase, the 13th consecutive rise since last July, started when oil giant Shell raised rates at 4pm yesterday. By evening, Caltex and ExxonMobil had followed suit.(Straits Times) (TODAY)
June 25: Electricity tariffs to rise 4.98% from next quarter. Electricity tariffs will go up by 4.98 per cent or by 1.19 cents per kilo watt per hour (kWh) for all households from the next quarter, beginning July 1. (CNA)
June 28: Premium bus fares to go up. PREMIUM bus fares will soon go up, as operators here feel the pinch from higher fuel prices. SBS Transit, which runs more than half of such services, will raise fares by 30 to 60 cents, up to a maximum of $3.60 per trip. The fare hike will affect all of its 40 premium services. (Straits Times)
July 2: Private bus operators up prices over diesel price hikes. FACED with skyrocketing diesel prices, private bus operators are charging more to transport workers and rent out coaches. Ten bus companies contacted by The Straits Times said they have raised prices by at least 10 per cent in the last few months due to rising rising diesel prices, which have almost doubled in the last year. (Straits Times)
July 6: 5 S’pore River ERP gantries kick in on Monday. The new gantries, which will bring the total number of gantries in Singapore to 65, will charge $2 from 6pm to 7.30pm and $1 from 7.30pm to 8pm. (Straits Times)
July 7: Expect to see more of these gantries in coming months. New KPE will have 16, taking grand total from 60 to more than 80. When it opens fully on Sept 20, it will have the most ERP gantries among all roads here. New KPE will have 16, taking grand total from 60 to more than 80 (Straits Times)
July 12: 30-cent fuel levy for cab rides from Thursday. MOST cab rides will cost 30 cents more from next Thursday, after Singapore’s largest taxi operator ComfortDelGro yesterday announced its decision to levy a fuel surcharge on all trips. (Straits Times)
July 14: School bus fares going up on Aug 1. SCHOOL bus operators, bitten by skyrocketing diesel prices, could soon start charging parents $10 to $15 more a month to ferry schoolchildren. (Straits Times)
July 19: SMRT Taxis to levy 30 cents fuel surcharge. SMRT Taxis will levy a fuel surcharge of 30 cents per trip for all taxi trips from July 26. The fuel surcharge will apply to all flag down trips, as well as call centre and advanced bookings, SMRT said in a press release on Saturday. SMRT’s move came after ComfortDelGro implemented the surcharge on Thursday. (Straits Times)
July 22: High power bills: Record number of cases probed. A RECORD number of complaints about overcharging for electricity were investigated by Singapore Power last month. SP Services, the power company’s customer service arm, said it looked into 1,093 cases where customers had complained that their bills for May were higher than in previous months. (Straits Times)
July 23: S’pore June inflation rises 7.5% on higher food, housing costs. Singapore’s consumer inflation stood at a 26-year high in June, rising 7.5 per cent compared with a year ago, according to latest figures from the Department of Statistics. (CNA)
July 24: Singapore ranked fifth most expensive city in Asia. Singapore is now the fifth most expensive city in Asia, according to Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. In world standings, Singapore is in 13th position, one notch higher than in 2007. (CNA)
July 30: Heartland shoppers hit hardest by Nets fee hike. SOME mom-and-pop stores in the heartland are passing on an increase in Nets fees to consumers, despite being barred from doing so. (Straits Times)
25 August: CPI for households up 7.1% in first six months. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for households increased by 7.1 per cent in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year. (CNA)
Aug 29: More unable to pay electricity bills. 35% of families with power bill woes stay in larger 4- or 5-room flats. As of June this year, about 13,700 households have been put on a pre-paid metering scheme after they had their power supply cut off or were in danger of having the supply disconnected. (Straits Times)
August 30: SINGAPORE‘S public hospitals have raised ward charges in the last two months. The increases at Alexandra Hospital (AH), Changi General Hospital, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and SGH took effect at the beginning of July. Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National University Hospital (NUH) raised their fees this month. (Straits Times).
Sept 12: Bus and train fares up on October 1. The Public Transport Council (PTC) has given the green light for an overall net fare adjustment that will result in fare changes that will range from a 7-cent reduction to a 4-cent increase per journey. (CNA)
Sept 28: Childcare fees going up. The average monthly fees for childcare and infant care now are $684 and $1,184 respectively. A Sunday Times check with 20 childcare centres found that all but three intend to charge $30 to $120 more a month. (Straits Times)
Sept 29: Households to see average rise of about 22% in electricity bills from Oct. On average, all SP Services customers will face a 21.89 per cent increase. (CNA)
Sept 28: Some papers to cost more. The subscription and newsstand prices of both The Straits Times and The Sunday Times, currently at 70 cents and 80 cents respectively, will increase by 10 cents for the Sunday to Friday editions, and by 20 cents for the bumper Saturday edition. (Straits Times)
Oct 6: SingTel increases local fixed line subscription and call rates. SingTel is increasing its local fixed line subscription by S$10 a year from January 1, 2009. Residential customers will therefore pay S$110 per year in subscription and business customers will pay S$160 per year. (CNA)
Oct 21: 3rd ERP gantry on PIE to kick in. MOTORISTS heading west on the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) will have to pay Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges to drive beyond Eunos from Nov 3. The gantry along the expressway near the Eunos exit will be activated, charging $2 between 7am and 7.30am, and $1 between 7.30am and 8am. (Straits Times)
Oct 23: Singapore’s September inflation up 6.7% on-year. Singapore’s consumer price index rose 6.7 per cent in September compared with the same period last year. (CNA)
Nov 24: Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) for October 2008 increased by 6.4 percent from a year ago due mainly to higher costs of housing and food. (Bernama)
Nov 25: Vegetable prices rise 10-15% due to early rainy season. Vegetable prices have risen by 10 to 15 percent on average during the past month due to the rainy season. (CNA)
Dec3: JUST months after food prices began retreating from record highs, the tab on some products is rising again, sparked in large part by the weakening Singapore dollar. (Straits Times)
Dec 11: 14% hike in school-bus fares too hefty. I was shocked to learn that the fare will be raised to $78. I recall that, just six months ago, it went up by 7 per cent from $68 to $73. (Straits Times)
2010
18 Feb: Singapore polytechnics and ITEto increase tuition fees
22 Feb: Foreign worker levies to go up from July
9 Mar: At least two town councils to up S&C charges
12 Mar: Licence fees to sell cigarettes could increase
18 Mar: Singapore’s 3 public universities, NUS, NTU, SMU, to raise tuition fees
23 Mar: Sheng Siong raises rent at 5 wet markets by 30%
30 Mar: Electricity to cost more from April.
1 Apr: HDB resale prices up 2.7%
20 Apr: Public transport fares to go down 2.5 per cent?
22 Apr: Home loan rates rise.
24 Apr: Private home prices up.
26 Apr: ERP rates up from May 3
30 June: Electricity tariffs to go up again.
02 July: HDB resale prices up 3.8%.
03 July: Distance-based fares for public transport takes effect.
23 July: Resale flat prices up 4.1 per cent.
02 Aug: Night parking charges doubled.
05 Aug: Pump prices up again.
24 August: Singapore inflation up in July
23 September: Singapore’s August inflation up 6.4% on-year
15 September: Rising food prices pinch Asian households
25 October: Inflation at highest level.
25 October: ERP rates to go up at 23 gantries across Singapore
ref: theonlinecitizen
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