Parents WATCH OUT: Scary but true

Spent a lovely evening with an aunt who has been residing in HK and as we chatted, she share some really scary but true stories about the REALITY of child-napping around asia. So I thought I'll share what I can recall to help bring about some awareness.

She says that there's news of children missing daily in the newspapers. Its a real threat. Not one that's hearsay. Just because its safe in Sg, doesn't mean that we stop to educate our children what is "NO talking to strangers".

1. One duo-income family with 2 young kids hired a helper from China, they are addressed as 啊姨 (an affectionate auntie term). Their parents went to work one day, only to return home with no kids, no 啊姨. They reported the police and CCTV around train stations, bus interchanges showed how their 啊姨 took their kids further and further away from home. Finally into the chinese border and lost in the crowd. GONE forever!

=========================================================

2. Another duo-income family had a 3yr old boy and 6yr old girl. For many months after their domestic helper from Indonesia came into the family. Nothing unusual occurred. In fact, their helper was diligently bringing the kids down to the nearby playground daily. Without fail. Every single day. It became such a routine that no one really took noticed that the boy is not really talking much. The girl is not such a chirpy young child. One morning, the girl pleaded with her mummy not to go to work. Mommy thought that she was just throwing her tantrums. So mummy went to work as usual, left her daughter crying for attention.

One evening soon after that day, while the helper was busy with something. Mummy decided to shower her daughter for a change. 1st time in about 10months.....

Daughter told mummy that her private parts hurt. Mummy examined her, she was swollen, red with infection at her groin area. What comes to mind? 6yr old young child?

Their helper has been bringing the 2 young kids down to the shed NEXT to the playground daily to a guy. A guy who paid this maid $200/month to bring the kids to him. These poor children is traumatized for the rest of their lives.

What good does it do to the young children even if both the helper & the bad guy got caught?

The little boy has chosen to not speak.

=========================================================

3. Real life encounter:
One of my niece who took part in a school overseas trip in China for an exchange program with another school. She and 2 other girlfriends were taking a break and went out of the school gates for a chat. One big, clean, tourist looking bus drove by the gate with 3 men inside the bus. The men told the girls to get up the bus. They said that they knew which hotel they stayed, they can wait for the rest of their friends on the bus.

Thankfully, the girls were sharp enough to notice that it was a different bus from what they're taking. So they did not get up that dubious bus.

Who knows what will happen to them? Young blossoming girls! They actually knew where they stayed! Doesn't that mean that these guys were just waiting for an opportunity?

Be careful on your overseas trips people. You never know WHO is watching at you, just for one short moment when you are not looking, your kids may just vanish. Forever. So teach them well, grill into them to be ALERT.

=========================================================

4. Another real life encounter in SINGAPORE
A young and very pretty cousin just got her driving lessons and drove her daddy's car to Takashimaya for a shopping spree.
She got into her car and thankfully her mommy taught her well. LOCK immediately before you do anything else in the car. She hasn't even start her car yet.

A man came knocking on her window. Whacking it with some urgency.

Initially, she thought that he was trying to offer her some cleaning services. She was going to lower her window to give him so money when she noticed that there was something not quite right with that urgency on knocking on her door. He was also trying to open her door!

She also noticed that he's got a white hanky behind his back held by one of his hands. She knew that there's something not right with this guy!

She started her car engine quickly and drove towards the exit. Somehow that same guy got ahead of her and was waiting for her at the exit. He told her that he will remember her with fingers pointing towards her!

Ain't it scary?

They went to report to the police, to Takashimaya management and guess what? There was NO traces of that guy in their cameras at the carpark nor lift landings. So no one can figure out how this guy can appear in such a popular spot along Orchard road in Singapore.

Around the neighborhood

We were taking a walk around our neighborhood and found some interesting sightings.

We came across this mini-nursery, racks were filled with numerous potted plants. Almost feel like we are back to the wild, got that jungle feel to this tiny area of our neighborhood.

And guess who has been keeping watch to ensure the "safety" of these plants?


yep, doreamon... hahahaha
CUTE

There was this void deck that was filled with delightfully colored pillars. I cant help but to go around them to check them out. Colors + cute pictures = eye-catching!


Turns out that they are painted by a group of youths that has a club near this void deck!

Definitely a great use of talent & energy!


PLUS, it helps to give gentle reminders to the neighborhood too!

Love it!

Then something more disturbing came to sight. We just changed the railings leading to the central. From the trusty & rusty iron railings (that served us for as long as I can remember), they were changed to lighter, cheaper aluminum ones. They do look more modern and sophisticated. But in less than 1 year, I have seen numerous thief of these railings, causing more replacements = increased cost!


The efforts to remove this piece must have been foiled... I hope the person is caught and sentenced! This is certainly public property! And it is important part of the pedestrian pavement that thousands transcends daily. What if there were elderly folks who were leading on these railings for a rest and with the weaken structure, falls into the drain behind it? It'll be disastrous!

Last but not least, these potted plants has been residence of our neighborhood for a few months. Perhaps due to lack of care or improper maintenance. They never really flourished since day 1. With the regular monsoon rain, they have also became a breeding ground for mossies!


I took this picture over the weekend. I told myself that if by the 1st working day, these pots continue to be flooded, I will go speak to the owner of the shops that seems to be the ones "taking care" of these pots. Thankfully, by late morning on Monday, these pots were cleared away! The shop has also seems to ceased operations. At least they were mindful not to leave a mossie breeding ground behind! Goody!

It's been a fun walk around the neighborhood!

Till the next time!

When Economy is down, Baby making goes up?

This is just a personal observation.

Since late 2008, world economy has been spiraling downwards. So folks cut back on their spendings. Instead of hanging out, they stay home. With more time spent at home, more hanky panky goes on?

Let's see.... how many pregnancies this year...

There's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. All due either late this year or early next year. And these are just my personal social circle. Why not earlier? Why not later? hmm......

What does that tell us?

If Sg govt wants higher birth rates, just keep the economy down! They are inversely related!

Loving Singapore, Loving To Be A Singaporean

The older I get, the further I've travelled, the more pride I feel about our country, Singapore. A tiny dot, with a loud presence. We get to travel to many places without the need for a visa. We have products and services known for its uncompromising quality, distinctive performance internationally. We are a legend of what may be small and limited in natural resources but definitely not limited in living beyond our dreams.

I am proud to be a Singaporean like never before, as I walked through the photo journeys that shows our first National Day Parade at the Padang. I saw the eager crowd waiting to witness the parade by the sides of the roads along the 5 foot walk ways. These are such precious memories of Singapore, precious reminders of how far we've come to be where we are today. And also, understanding the bigger challenges ahead of us.

Looking at our nation, we are truly blessed by great leaders who have made many right decisions for us. They have made it possible for us, Singaporeans to achieve the many dreams that we've set. Or to even make it possible to set dreams. One of the pillars of our nation is our investment in our youth, our next generation through Education. Every child is given an opportunity to learn the english language, their mother tongue, math & science. Not every child in today's world can be so fortunate to attend school.

We have a tremendously safe environment. Try leaving your bag on a chair in any other parts of the world, you'll be amazed at how fast it'll disappear before you! A friend recently shared his experience of traveling in europe. A "mother" threw her "infant" in the air, so that the tourist around her would raise their hands to catch the falling infant. And neglect their belongings for a few brief secs therefore losing their possessions in the process. He witnessed it with his own eyes just as his tour guide was warning them about it!

Here's some links to great NDP Celebrations coming up in Singapore!
Singapore NDP site

Photo Gallery of Singapore NDP from 1966

NDP Songs!
My favourite is still We Are Singapore after all these years!

And I'm so going to recite my pledge at 8.22pm on the 9th August 2009 Singapore time! Will you join me?

Enjoy my photo journey that was taken today at the HDB Hub:









Mr. Wee, you are still the BEST president in my heart! Love your smile, love your grandfatherly nature. :D


Mr. EW Barker, I'm all grown up now! From the days of sharing a photo moment with you when I was 5, I'm delighted to share another photo moment with you again today! *hugs*

I love Wet Market Food!

Need I say more? *slurp*

Biker Cats

The cats in our neighborhood is pretty fascinating, we had whiskers the cat that looks so pretty. A really fierce tom cat usually spotted with scars on its face. Then, there's this two pretty new cats that really knows how to integrate into our neighborhood.





Cute cats! Rock On!

Fun with Shoes!

Peak Hour Train traffic

On this evening, we thought that we'll have a better chance of reaching Changi Airport via train. We had to do a transfer towards the East-West line at City Hall and guess what?



The train at the station was already jammed packed with passengers while there's a massive crowd waiting to board the next train. The crowd seems to be used to this situation as most were armed with either newspapers or a book or music player or some game machine. No one was pushing, no one was mumbling about the wait.

Interestingly, even though the next train was scheduled within the next min, the current train was stuck in the station for more than 5mins! ha ha ha....

We watched the clock nervously, sensing that the train is not going anywhere, we left the station to grab a cab towards the airport instead.

Gosh, I wont wanna be stuck like this on a daily basis. Hope that was a rare situation that we happen to meet!

Good morning Sg!

Its almost 6am and yes, I cannot sleep! Mind is too wide awake!

Guess what? 5mins to 6am and I can hear the birds chirping! Never before in my home here! So cool! Except that the weather is not as cool.... *bleah* so hot!

But yes, Good Morning SG!

Tea Anyone?

Date: 12th June 2009
Time: 2000hrs
Venue: Orchard Road - Royal Thai Embassy (Bus Stop number 09179)

Can someone please tell me HOW does the math work out here?

SBS Bus 07 Arr + 24mins??
It feels much longer than 10-14mins offered on the board!

Gotta wait for 22mins for the next 36? Isn't it supposed to be 15mins MAXED?


I'm actually hoping to hop onto SMRT's 106 actually... it'll take 32mins for their next bus! *faint*

What happened to their 10-15mins??

Tea Anyone?

Wished I can broadcast this right-away on the spot!

Live Life Online Anywhere with SingTel BroadBand on Mobile Youth Plan!

IT Fair!

Won't it just be easier to just shop at the Wheelock place EpiCenter itself instead of being packed like sardines here in Suntec City? They'll have the same promotion as well! I would so loved to share this pic with those who were planning to squeeze themselves through this thick crowd to reconsider their choices...

Live Life Online Anywhere with SingTel BroadBand on Mobile Youth Plan!

PC Show 11-14th June 2009

Its time for Singaporeans to show off how much they can spend again!

I'm always amused at how much electronics, gadgets that Singaporeans can swallow every quarter at the PC Show or PC Fair. So what's on your shopping list this June?

Dun forget to check out all the prices before going for the PC Show. The prices may dip a little at the show, but sure ASK for FREE GIFTS! Plus, the deals usually get GREATER on the last day if you are prepared to face the SEA of people trying to grab the best deals as well. But its always fun to go soak in the RICH atmosphere of watching others make a great bargain. Keeps our minds away from the brutal reality of the poor economy (or what's left of it)



Click here for more details

If you dun wish to squeeze with the thousands at the PC Show, then head down to Sim Lim Sq or Funan Center, they'll match the fair prices & offers as well. Found this trick to be useful as these normally very crowded places, will be empty and deserted!

Enjoy!

SBS Bus!

I would like to see SBS being fined repeatedly for having delayed bus services. Especially in down town area where its always packed with people getting around. How can the bus take so long to arrive?

New Signage at Train Stations!

This is so much better! Got icons to help you identify the location quickly!

Another World in SG!

Its interesting how different parts of Singapore can constantly spring up with something new.

Here, under the MRT track at Boon Lay, I was amazed by the thousands of bicycles neatly piled up against each other.

And they looked very similar, how would you identify which is your bike? Its tougher than owning a car and getting lost in the mega car-parks.For cars you can make use of the car alarms to "listen" to where your car can be. How do you find your black bicycle in the sea of thousands of other black bikes?

What about during the peak hours when everyone is rushing to & fro work? Wont there be a "jam" to park, secure their bicycles? hahaha

Did You Know?

I wanted to FAINT!

Pie Kia!

I recall one of our early trips out with our Godson BabyA (not so baby anymore now) and we were all taken over by his "hokkien slang" when we tried to teach him a few hokkien words.

Here's the recap of our hokkien lessons...



Now, some humorous Singaporeans even opened a food chain to delight our hokkien roots with some attitude!

Orchard Central: When will you be opened?

Always exciting to have a new place to explore on this tiny island of SG. So when news got round that Orchard Central is almost ready, I took the opportunity to snap some shots! I think I saw a giant Nike sign behind some glass doors.... wooo.... soon soon... In time for GSS? hmm....

7.59am Good Morning Singapore

Woke up unusually early today and in a surprisingly cheerful mood! ha ha ha

Good morning Singapore at 7.59am as with what ST does.

Found trash on my aircon condenser unit AGAIN! This time it wasnt banana skin but a big giant chunky of tissue paper!

I wonder what's with throwing tissue out of the window with these folks. Is it purely habitual or do they think that its more natural this way by returning the pulp of the trees back to the ground which hopefully decomposes as fertilizer to the soil?





Long day ahead, going to be meeting some of my favourite people today and some on the way to being my favourite hee...

So let's not let some tissue spoil our mood, its going to keep happening until we catch the notty person!

Its also the sports day for the school next to my place, lots of cheer in the air! Hip Hip Hooray!

Enjoy your day too!

Cathay Showtimes

Do you know that you NEED the internet to find out the movie screening times for the movies that have been screened for more than 3weeks?

The other way is perhaps to BE at the cinema itself to find out the show times.

So interesting that Cathay have used this method to reduce cost of publishing show times on newspapers.

I was trying hard to find the show times for "Confessions of a Shopaholic" only to find a tiny line with the name on Straits Times Life Section with NO indication of the cinema venue/showtimes.

Had to check them online!

What about those folks like my mama who dun use the internet but still want to go and watch a movie? Their good old trusty Straits Times is not going to provide this information to them anymore!

New Electronic Signage on MRT

Yeah, finally technology has caught on in our public trains!

Many years ago, when I was in HK, we already found their train system very efficient, to the point of being scary! Not only that the information on the train system is simple and easy to comprehend (even for tourists), easy to change between trains too! Just walk across the platform and the train that you need will arrive in good time. Very little waiting time required.

What impressed me most was their electronic signage on the trains. It shows you clearly the direction the train is heading towards with a series of coloured lights on the stations of the train. These lighted stations were useful for tourist who may miss the announcements of the station names as some of the words may be hard to catch for non-chinese folks.

Finally after so many years, Singapore has similar system too!! Although its not on all the trains, but I'm sure those who are on the trains will find the information useful!

Beware of Bank Financial Planners! Esp. for your older folks @ home!

Did you see today's headlines on the Straits Times papers?

It showed a picture of an elderly lady drying her tears with her hanky. She has just lost her retirement savings because of the economic downturn. But MORE so because she mis-trusted a Bank Financial Planner @ DBS. She had wanted a Fixed Deposite account but ended up with an investment deal instead. How does that happen?

Elderly folks are the easiest targets for these Financial Planners. Elderly folks will have SOME savings, they are usually not english-literate, they listen to some big numbers and get excited by it. They do not know how to ask questions about service fees, admin charges etc because they assume that everything would be told to them. They will trust the lady behind the counter because DBS feels like its government related, sure can trust. They cant really tell the difference between FD & investment products because the FP will usually emphasized that they are BASICALLY the same because you put $ in there, they take care of it for you.... at this explanation, anyone would also think that FD & investment are the same!

That's how many elderly folks get "conned" into joining these investment funds instead of sticking to their fixed deposits.

Why I am so aware? Because, this was exactly what happened to my mum!

I was with her at the bank, i walked away to look at some brochures before sitting down next to her at the counter, 5mins I think was all that FP took to convince my mum that her FD has a lousy rate, she's better off investing that away. Upon hearing the better (non-guaranteed - this they dun say, they just tell you the forecasted interest rates at 8% or 10%) returns, my mum's mouth was drooling already.

I was shocked that it was so easy to convince my mum, (she did claim that she's a very alert person.... but I think cannot take pressure still lah). I asked a few questions like service charges? Admin charges? Is the principal sum guaranteed etc and the lady fumbled.

Thankfully, my mum saw the true picture and did not get persuaded into. All because there was someone else who helped to be the bystander to read the information which are all printed in english in fine prints and ask more questions.

I am not saying that I'm very hero save my mum some heartache today, rather, I would like to warn everyone out there, please be on the alert when your old folks go to the bank, let them know that they can bring home the investment plans to share with you, let the family help to decide if it was a good deal to take part in or not. If they are afraid to let their own children know how much life long savings they have .... they should really go find a good friend who is educated in english, a neutral person and accompany them to the bank.

Let your old folks at home know the tactics that the bank FP uses to get people to invest their hard earned money with them. So that they can be more alert, if need be, remind them like mad, even if you are called long-winded, its worth it, just look at the old couple on the front page of today's ST.

We are Truly Blessed!

Below are extracts taken from Yahoo News through a concern friend.

=========================================================
REYKJAVIK, Iceland - This volcanic island near the Arctic Circle is on the brink of becoming the first "national bankruptcy" of the global financial meltdown.

Home to just 320,000 people on a territory the size of Kentucky, Iceland has formidable international reach because of an outsized banking sector that set out with Viking confidence to conquer swaths of the British economy — from fashion retailers to top soccer teams.

The strategy gave Icelanders one of the world's highest per capita incomes. But now they are watching helplessly as their economy implodes — their currency losing almost half its value, and their heavily exposed banks collapsing under the weight of debts incurred by lending in the boom times.

"Everything is closed. We couldn't sell our stock or take money from the bank," said Johann Sigurdsson as he left a branch of Landsbanki in downtown Reykjavik.

Famous for its cod fishing industry, geysers, moonscape and the Blue Lagoon, Iceland was the site of the Cold War showdown in which Bobby Fischer of the United States defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in 1972 for the world chess championship. Last year, Iceland won the U.N.'s "best country to live in" poll, with its residents deemed the most contented in the world.

Back home, the average family's wealth soared 45 percent in half a decade and gross domestic product rose at around 5 percent a year.

But the whole system was built on a shaky foundation of foreign debt.

The country's top four banks now hold foreign liabilities in excess of $100 billion, debts that dwarf Iceland's gross domestic product of $14 billion.

Those external liabilities mean the private sector has had great difficulty financing its debts, such as the more than $5.25 billion racked up by Kaupthing in five years to help fund British deals.

===========================================================

more reads at the original Yahoo News site.

Can you imagine a whole entire country going into financial crisis? Everyone's assets becomes 45% of its original worth. Overnight your country is in severe debt.

Here in Singapore, each individual is heavily padded from such downturn of events by our government who thinks very far ahead. Which government keeps stuffing cash into their citizens's bank accounts?

Arent we truly blessed?

So stop complaining about being a Singaporean and start being grateful for the peace that we enjoy!

Milk Products on Recall

This is a list that I received today via email, not sure if these are all the products at risk or just partial, currently on AVA website, only 3 products are listed. They even put photos of the affected products which is great for domestic helpers who may not understand english so well!









Rabbit candy has always been a topic of hot debate, so for those who enjoy that sweet since childhood, do you have any strange or adverse medical condition that plagues you? Are you weak in certain areas that is outside your family tree?

Olympics to me....

We've been trying to catch bits of the Olympics on tv whenever we can. Its not an event that occurs everyday. What fascinates me is always the diving, gymnastics and swimming. I love watching the different sports persons push their barriers and perform beyond our wildest expectations.

It was a historical moment when the Koreans lost their 24years top position in archery to China. I can feel their pressure even when we are a few thousand miles away, watching them behind the box.

I was amazed at how Michael Phelps could swim so FAST! In his 100m swim, he wasnt even leading in the first 50m, but that sudden burst at the last 50m.... felt like he had an engine underneath that water. Impressive.

Synchronized diving was another sport that amazed me this time when I saw how the world champions from China do their nearly perfect dives. They have perfect synchronization even in the slow motion playback. That was so unbelievable. I wonder how many million dives have they jumped before they could achieve such perfect dives.

When you look at each of these athletes, they are all just one individual, from humble background. Who pursued their dreams, persevered in trying to achieve their goals. The amount of sweat, blood, tears that has gone into their training must have weighed buckets. For their determination, I salute them.

On screen, you can also often see the gymnast falling off the poles, landing on their knees, that feeling of failure must be immense for them. To be able to put aside that lousy feeling, pull themselves together and garner more courage to continue on with their item. That to me is real courage and maturity.

Well, the most exciting moment must have been getting sms updates from Alvin who was watching the table tennis semis LIVE! His smses kept me on my toes, wishing that i was right infront of the tv at that moment!!

It was a proud and joyful moment when we knew that we will definitely WIN a medal! At last, we wont be just a tiny red dot, we'll be a tiny red dot with some decent paddlers. hee hee

I was going to sing MAJULAH SINGAPURA but all my friends were not into expressing their love for their country so openly... so I just have to secretly sing that in my heart lor.

Here's to more exciting matches!

Tank In Action!

Are you packing up your bags and trying to run?

Dun worry, its not a real tank... its a miniature, remote control version with sound effects also!

It's quite a beauty, moving through the flat-to-me-but-mini-slope-to-it-terrains. Especially on patches of the grass which a stone has been removed or something, you can see the tank dip its head hee hee so cute!

Found outside Marina Shopping Mall facing Esplanade, under a blazing hot sun at 1pm on a Sunday afternoon... Go find them if you are interested!

Here's one more close up!

T3!

Yes, our T3 is opening soon!

When the news came on tv for visitors to go check out our latest terminal, I was pretty excited as I've seen its construction over the past year (as I've been sending and receiving my home VIP to&fro the airport). So I was excited to go check it out!

Then! by some mere co-incidence, I ended up in T3 without really intenting. And since I was there, I might as well take some shots with my Linus :)

I was fooled into thinking that I was at some new wing of the T2 when I saw these men working hard at the counters with these "fake lugagges"


I peeped and saw the famous T1 tower from the windows and thought for a moment, the direction is really wrong if I was really at T2... hmm....


Which means I must be at T3! ha ha ha

Do you know that you can SEE the arrival guests checking out at the customs in T3? Cool right?


take a closer look...


So I still need to take the sky train to T1 from T3... sigh... And I thought that there was a direct walkway between the two.


And did you know that there's a different train to go to T2 from T3 as well? I wonder why dun they just build one train track to move between all 3 terminals? Most of the international terminals with more than one terminal usually just have one train, save $ and confusion... strange.


here's a short clip of my "exploration" of the new T3 ha ha ha