Huh?

I read this on the news today: 5,000 passengers affected by disruption in eastbound train services.

"SINGAPORE : An SMRT spokesman has said that some 5,000 passengers were affected when an eastbound train service was disrupted on Saturday afternoon.

A passenger had jumped onto the track at Tanah Merah MRT Station and was hit by a train heading towards Pasir Ris.

SMRT said that to maintain services on the East—West line, eastbound trains were turned around at Eunos and Tanah Merah MRT stations, while the middle platform at Tanah Merah MRT Station was used for eastbound train services.

Announcements were made in all stations and on affected trains to inform passengers of the delay and to advise them that the trains may be more crowded.

Normal service resumed at around 3.40pm.

Passengers who were unable to complete their journeys due to the disruption can claim a full fare refund from the Passenger Service Centre in any of the 58 SMRT stations, within the next three working days.

SMRT is assisting the police in its investigation.

Half—height platform screen doors have not been installed at Tanah Merah Station.

So far, they have been installed at Pasir Ris MRT station, as well as Jurong East and Yishun stations.

By 2012, they will be installed in all 36 above—ground MRT stations in Singapore. — CNA/ms"

So, after reading the entire article, I had one question ringing in my mind... Is the person who jumped ok? Did he/she die? Seriously injured? Will he/she live?

But no, it seems that we're more concerned about the disruption of the train service.

Cup holder lady

Saw this picture on Yahoo! today. For a brief moment, I thought that one of the women in the picture was wearing a cup holder on her belt. (you can easily pick out which one)

Rush hour. Can't find a seat at the cafe. Not to worry.

Charlie Simpson

Good on you Charlie!

A 7 year old boy, Charlie Simpson, rode his bike around a park and raised over USD160,000 for Haiti, putting Singapore to shame with its $50k donation.

Sudesh Maniar, Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "Among other things, we have to consider the nature of our relations with the affected country and whether we can provide aid which will add value to the relief efforts when deciding what to contribute, as we have limited resources and cannot respond to every disaster in the same way."

But $50k? when a 7 year old boy can raise more than 3 times the amount?

Come on...

So... what's next?

A recent news headline: GIC booked losses for investment in New York property.
SINGAPORE: The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has booked losses, believed to be in the tune of US$675 million.

Soon after, we see this headline: Electricity Tariffs to go up.

And after that: 4 more Electronic Road Pricing gantries to be up soon.

And after that: ERP rates up at 3 gantries from next month.

Sigh...

Ridiculous

Haiti has just experienced a crisis beyond what they're prepared for. A 7.0 quake that has left an estimate of a hundred thousand people dead and the country in chaos...

It's really sad that our Singaporean news don't really give much coverage of this crisis and spend more time telling Singaporeans about headlines such as Youths spending more to look good and some actor's new ugly role...

But here's the ultimate jawbreaker .... The Singapore Government has donated just US$50K to help the situation at Haiti.

Singapore is a rich country. Yet we're really just giving "peanuts". The 2nd lowest on the list I saw was South Korea, which gave a helpful US$1,000,000.... then it was Singapore...at the bottom... no, not half of that (500,000)... just 50K. That's just 1.8% of what they pay the President.

Heartless? Cheapskate? Or does the Singapore government just care about the Integrated Resorts opening soon? Or is this due to the fact they made a huge mistake investing in the Manhattan project?

Kids and school

Saw an article on the newspaper yesterday with the headlline: "School's not a blast for all kids."

Seriously?? You mean, not all kids enjoy school? My gooodness, this is a shock to me! Because I've always thought that all kids LOVED school and are excited each day as they put on their uniforms and head out to class.

Longer life expectancy?

An elderly man was found dead in his own house in Singapore recently. Police believe that he had been dead for 6-12 months before they found him.

There was a news article on this and one paragraph caught my attention -

"Most Singaporeans live in densely populated public housing estates like Tan's because of land scarcity, and an increasing number of elderly citizens live on their own due to longer life expectancy."

He was 69... Live alone due to longer life expectancy?? What does that mean?

Singaporeans know that the sentence should have been read : "...and an increasing number of elderly citizens live on their own due to the lack of welfare in the country."