Siren used as ring tone

Letter from Vasan S

I REFER to the letter "Time to silence phones, game consoles and headsets on trains" by Mr Sam Ang (Sept 2).

I would agree with Mr Ang on the disturbance from the headsets and, at the same time, would like to highlight the use of weird ring tones by some people.

While I was travelling on the North East Line the other day, I observed a student using an emergency tone similar to the ambulance and police siren as his ring tone.

Unfortunately, he received at least two calls during my trip. I could see that the people around him looked worried each time his phone rang.

One of the passengers later spoke to the student about his use of the siren as a ring tone but it was no use.

Should we allow the use of the emergency siren as a ring tone?

From TODAY, Voices – Wednesday, 02-Sep-2009

Time to silence phones, game consoles and headsets on trains

Image via Wikipedia

Letter from Sam Ang

THE SMRT has taken action against commuters eating and drinking on MRT trains. However a more annoying and pervasive daily problem is not about eating and drinking.

When I take the train to work in the morning, it is very common to hear irritating noises and music coming from electronic gadgets like handphones and handheld game consoles.

There are those who listen to music so loud that all those around them are forced to listen to it. The bigger audio headsets often give off loud noises and these should be banned. The worst scenario is to be seated next to someone wearing them.

Ring tones, too, can be loud but at least telephones do not ring all the time. On the other hand, one can be sitting near or next to a someone listening to music that is blasting away non-stop for half-an-hour or more.

As in the case of eating or drinking on the trains, most of this noise comes from teenagers and young adults.

This problem is getting worse because the culprits have been getting away with it. It is time the SMRT takes strong action to stop this nuisance. The culprits should be fined because, as in case of eating and drinking, warning them is not good enough.

Everyone would like to sit in a quiet train in the morning and concentrate on the day's work ahead.

From TODAY, Voices – Wednesday, 02-Sep-2009

Build character as well as a living

Letter from Benjamin Gan

I REFER to "All of us are guilty sometimes" (Sept 1).

Mr Wilson Lim's remark that "people here tend to mind their own business to avoid unnecessary trouble" is truly indicative of the mindset of the average Singaporean, a mindset that seems codified into our genes, reinforced and refined through generations in the name of survival.

And what is even more remarkable is that our society has progressed beyond the state of survival. We do not need to steal or kill for our food and we are comfortably sheltered from the wrath of nature.

I marvel at how this mindset could have flourished in the midst of our economic progress. My only sad conclusion is that our social development has been woefullly neglected in favour of economic development. I think it is time we get back to basics by revamping our education system to include ethics and social studies in the curriculum. Education is not just about grades and good jobs. It is about building character.

From TODAY, Voices – Wednesday, 02-Sep-2009

The nub of the matter

Image by mikeleeorg via Flickr

BUDGET TAI-TAI

Tabitha Wang

voices@mediacorp.com.sg

EVERY few months or so, I get an e-mail from yet another acquaintance from Singapore telling me how lucky I am to be working in Hong Kong "where the big bucks are" and asking if I can look out for a job for him or her.

"It must be amazing," one said wistfully.

"I imagine you partying in Lan Kwai Fong every night before going home to your expat pad in The Peak, while I am stuck here in my tiny HDB flat with my parents." If only…

Even before my husband lost his job, my life was nowhere was glamorous as my friends were imagining. There was no house in the Peak, no Aston Martin DB9 to whiz up to said Peak mansion ... heck, I couldn't even afford a live-in maid like so many middle-class families in Singapore.

But no matter how much I denied it, they still see me through the green-tinted glasses of the grass-is-always-greener sufferers.

It doesn't help that last week, global financial firm UBS released the results of a price-comparison survey showing how Singapore is now Asia's second-most expensive place to live in, after Tokyo and ahead of Hong Kong.

However, employees in Tokyo are paid twice as much as those in Singapore. To rub salt into the wounds, Hong Kong workers take home about 20 percent more than those in Singapore.

Singaporeans need to put in about three days' work, or 27.5 hours, to buy an iPod nano while Hongkongers just have to clock two days, or 19 hours.

Going by the figures, it looks like people working in Singapore are getting a raw deal, right?

They earn less but have to pay more for their daily expenses.

So it follows logically that someone like me, who's employed in Hong Kong, should be having a better life than the poor sloggers back home. Right?

Wait till you read the fine print. UBS said: "We endeavored to reflect the consumption patterns of an average Western European family as best as we could."

That's the nub of the matter.

A shopping basket packed to the brim with cheese, sausages and wine is going to cost less here than in Singapore.

However, soya sauce, Milo and rice cost less in Singapore than in Hong Kong - just that you're never going to see them in the basket of an "average Western European family", are you?

Pubs and western restaurants here may charge less than those in Singapore (because there are more of them competing for the same market).

But the food at the cha chan tengs (tea houses) here cost at least double that of kopitiams back home.

As for transportation, of course it's going to cost more if you insist on driving your expensive German car (thanks to COEs and ERP) or taking a taxi (thanks to surcharges) everywhere in Singapore.

But the MRT fare from, say Kranji to Pasir Ris is only $2 compared to HK$23.50 ($4.30) for an MRT journey of about the same duration from Tung Chung to Chai Wan.

As for rents, given how many bankers have been retrenched recently, maybe a flat in Mid-Levels is cheaper than one in Orchard Road.

But there is no way rent for a three-room HDB flat in Ghim Moh is going to be higher than that for a pokey studio in Kowloon.

So honestly, the middle-class Singaporean is actually better off than a Hongkonger trying to maintain the same standard of living. He eats better, lives in better surroundings and can afford to splurge on expensive cheese now and then.

For instance, I am earning 20 per cent more than I was doing a similar job in Singapore. It sounds impressive until you calculate than my rent is almost 80 percent of my salary and my grocery bill is almost twice what it used to be in Singapore.

I have no savings and have to take on freelance jobs to make ends meet, like some Hongkongers.

So why am I still here? It's not the money. It's the thrill of being in another country, doing the weirdest things like hiking in the hills in winter.

The other day, a Hong Kong friend who'd just returned from a trip to Singapore asked me: "Everything's half price compared to here. Should I try to get a job there?"

Tabitha Wang knows the grass is never greener on the other side - she's checked it on her hikes.

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From TODAY, Voices – Friday, 28-Aug-2009

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Singapore to launch new standard for hotel security

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Guarding against possible terrorist attacks? Perhaps.

All that I can say is that 'it is better to be safe than sorry.'

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Beauty queen's outfit falls short of Japanese tastes

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I agree with the detractors, those who fall under the conservative group.

Either you wear a totally revealing outfit (if you can call a two-piece underwear an outfit), or you dress up and down, all the way.

To me, this mid-way costume showing the hot pink underwear is more than simply an outfit: it seems that a crass and sleazy character is being projected by none other than Japan's Miss Universe contestant, and she represents the people, the female populace of Japan with that kind of dress.

If you are a Japanese girl, would you like to be looked at in that way?

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A con woman cheats on men on their money

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It used to be done by men, then by a few women now and then, then it became more frequent. Would it be a crime dominated by women?

Maybe this woman knows exactly where men’s weak points are, when it comes to women? And she capitalized on it…

Serial con woman arrested for cheating men of their money.

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