wonder how many more of such cases to come? hot humid wet crowdy environment tend s to attract bed bugs and dengue

Stomp Thursday, Oct 24, 2013 A recent news report by a Taiwan media company highlighted the poor living conditions of foreign students who come to Singapore seeking work, and how this greatly differed from what they had been promised.In the video published by China Times which Stomp readers Derome and Steric alerted Stomp to, an 18-year-old Taiwanese student shares his experience about how he had come to Singapore to work and study English at the same time.Despite paying $280 for a room every month, he has to share the space with six to eight others. The tenants also have to take turns and wait to use a small bathroom.The only furniture in the room other than their bunk beds are a broken desk and a wardrobe so small that the student has to place his belongings in his luggage.The student also mentioned old sheets and being bitten by bed bugs. The report stated that he was scratching his arms repeatedly throughout his interview.He then added that he had been attracted by agency advertisements, which turned out to be different from the real thing. The agency website also failed to include photographs of the actual room he would be staying in.It is also reported that students earn a monthly salary of about NT$30,000 ($S1,264), but are left with only NT$14,000 ($590) after the deduction agency fees and living expenses.In a closing statement, the report said that one can only live in Singapore with a careful budget, and that those who have plans of working here should consider carefully so as to avoid being cheated. - See more at:
http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/over...iLdFv.dpuf

anyone bought from primark before? how do u find
it worth the money?

AFP
Thursday, Oct 24, 2013


LONDON - Clothing retailer Primark on Thursday announced that it is to provide further compensation to victims of the Bangladesh garment factory collapse that killed more than 1,000 people in April.

British charity ActionAid said Thursday it had surveyed more than 2,000 of the survivors and their families and found that 94 percent had not received any benefits from their employers, including sick pay or compensation.

Primark called on other brands who were supplied by the Rana Plaza factories, including Walmart, Mango and Benetton, to pay further short-term aid to the victims until a permanent deal is worked out.

A two-day meeting of major brands in Geneva last month - aimed at reaching a compensation deal for the Raza Plaza collapse and other Bangladeshi factory disasters - ended in failure, according to organisers.

Primark, one of many international retailers which were supplied by factories housed within the Rana Plaza complex, said it would pay an extra three months' salary to 3,600 victims and their families while the terms of a long-term compensation deal are worked out.

The discount fashion brand, which has 258 stores across Europe, had made two earlier payments to the 550 staff of the factory inside Raza Plaza that supplied it.

But it said it the third payment would be given to wider victims of the April 24 disaster on the outskirts of Dhaka, many of whom were left with terrible injuries.

"Primark will guarantee a further three months salary to the 3,600 or so victims of Rana Plaza to alleviate their immediate hardship, many of whom worked in the supply chain of other brands," a spokesman said.

The company is "confident" that it will be able to start paying long-term compensation to the 550 employees of its supplier New Wave Bottoms by early 2014, he added.

Primark is a subsidiary of British food company Associated British Foods but has its headquarters in Ireland.

It has stores in Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Belgium and Austria as well as Britain and Ireland.

Six months on from the disaster, former workers at the complex have complained that many other retailers have failed to provide any compensation.

Will the approach work in Singapore? I doubt so. I will let my kid go for it, if it is available in Singapore.

Shanghai pre-schools’ all-play approach making parents sweat

Public kindergartens in Shanghai are not allowed to teach children how to read or write. No teaching of mathematics, English or hanyu pinyin either.

These are the cardinal rules imposed by the government of China’s largest and wealthiest city — one which is at the forefront of the country’s economic ambitions and where parents are paying greater attention to their children’s academic development.

But for now, most five- and six-year-olds negotiate obstacle courses, sing, draw and tell stories to their classmates for the most part of a typical seven-hour day at the public kindergartens.

When TODAY visited Heng Li Jin Cang Kindergarten last month, children recited lyrics from a Wong Fei Hung movie soundtrack, and then sang along as they mimicked simple kungfu moves. Such activities not only serve to improve the children’s oral, observational and memory skills as well as their dexterity, but also introduce them to Chinese culture, said the centre’s principal Yu Haiping.

At other kindergartens, children role-played as customers or shopkeepers using cardboard props. This helps a child develop social interaction skills, which is important given how there are limited opportunities to interact with other children at home under China’s one-child policy.

Shanghai offers the best pre-school education compared to the other cities, experts say.

The curriculum across all public kindergartens — which is designed by each school’s teachers but based on municipal guidelines — emphasises learning through guided play and is centred on daily life situations, exercise and games. English and hanyu pinyin are omitted from the curriculum.

Mr Qu Jia Jie, an officer from the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (SHMEC) Basic Education Department, said: “Learning another language when a child is still learning his or her mother tongue may affect the child’s full grasp of one language.”

Ms Chen Si, Research Assistant at East China Normal University’s Department of Early Childhood Education, added that letting a child in pre-school learn or acquire skills beyond what are expected of his age could cause the child to not pay attention in class when he enters Primary 1.

Others, however, have a different view.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/daily-focus/e...ents-sweat

I can't believe that skinny tree can withstand the impact of the car and still stood so firmly after the impact.

..at other times, read rain cause falling tree..but this tree is really amazing

http://news.asiaone.com/news/ride/woman-...iew-avenue

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buz....html?vp=1

is this real?

SINGAPORE - The man is believed to have stabbed the lover, a 32-year-old China national who had previously worked in Singapore, in the wee hours of Sunday morning in Pahang. The victim later died of his injuries.

http://news.asiaone.com/news/crime/singa...ifes-lover

read earlier that the root cause was because of gambling loss at the casino in sg

http://bambooinnovator.com/2013/10/07/ca...her-death/

Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013
The Sunday Times
By Radha Basu

SINGAPORE – For eight long years, retiree Lim Ping Kiong, 77, tended gently to the daily needs of his bedridden wife, Madam Gan Siew Geong. The mother of four lost the ability to talk, laugh and walk after two brain tumour operations in 2005. Her husband of nearly 50 years sponged and dressed her and changed her diapers daily. At meal times, he fed her through a tube. Madam Gan died in her sleep late last month, aged 74. ”She was in hospital first and then at a community hospital for half a year,” said Mr Lim. “Finally, the doctors said there was not much they could do. You can just take her home.”In recent months, as his wife’s condition deteriorated, the retired taxi driver learnt to clear her phlegm with the help of a nasal tube and tend to her bed sores.

When The Sunday Times visited shortly before her death, Mr Lim was in the midst of cleaning and feeding her. “I change her every three hours to keep her clean and comfortable,” he said, as he gently wiped her face with a moist towel.

When Madam Gan was alive, he slept fitfully, waking when she coughed. “I worry about her choking on the pipe,” he said.
Local studies show about one in 10 caregivers in Singapore – about 21,000 people – is aged 74 or older.

A Home Nursing Foundation nurse visited monthly since early this year, after a referral by Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where Madam Gan was warded briefly.

Mr Lim has high blood pressure, and the caregiving routine was tough but he was unwilling to put his wife in a nursing home. “No, cannot,” he said tersely, when asked the question weeks before she died. “If she wants to go, I want her to go at home. Nicely.”

In the end, Madam Gan was hospitalised for a few days before she died. “I am relieved she is at peace now,” he said. But his caregiving days are not over yet.

Fate dealt the family a cruel hand. A motorcycle accident in the early 1990s left Mr Lim’s second son, who lives with him, partially paralysed. He works in the social service sector and uses a wheelchair. For the past eight years, Mr Lim, who does the housework, has helped his son, in his 40s, bathe, dress and empty his bowels with the help of suppositories nightly.

“When she was well, she used to be my son’s main caregiver,” he said of his wife. “She would cry at his condition but never complain.”
These days, he wakes up at 5.30am to get his son ready for work. “It takes time as I am not as strong or as quick as I used to be.”
When his son is working, Mr Lim catches up on housework and sleep. In the evenings, he cooks or buys a big meal for his son. “He only eats once a day as he tries not to go to the toilet when he is at work.”
On getting a maid, he said: “You all ask me to get a maid. How can? Who’s going to support me?”

His two daughters have low- paid jobs at a fast-food restaurant. His eldest son, who works overseas and has his own family, regularly sends him money. Mr Lim said: “He already helps us a lot. I cannot ask for more.”

His blood pressure is high, and Mr Lim worries he might collapse from sheer exhaustion one day. “But, what to do? I don’t have a choice,” he said. “My younger son needs help. So I must carry on.”

radhab@sph.com.sg

10 Oct 2013 11:36

SINGAPORE: The Chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was charged on Thursday with 60 counts of cheating, totalling almost S$89,000.

Sixty-year-old Lim Cheng Hoe faces 56 counts of cheating the ministry and four counts of cheating a government agency called Vital.Org.

Lim is accused of doing so by submitting false expense claims between February 2008 and May 2012.

He allegedly inflated the quantity of pineapple tarts and wines bought and used for official trips and visits.

He claimed more than 10,000 boxes of pineapple tarts but only used about 2,200 boxes. He also claimed 248 bottles of wine but used only 89.

Lim is said to have made claims for items he did not buy, or those that were bought but not used.

Lim's lawyer has asked to make representations.

A pre-trial conference will be held on October 25.

Responding to media queries, MFA said that when it discovered that there was evidence suggesting misconduct, Lim was suspended from all duties and a police report was made.

- CNA/fa

Sharing a news, there are always surprises by technology innovations...

‘Mum, the cactus on TV just pricked me’

Burbank (CALIFORNIA) — Forget 3DTV, Disney wants to bring the world Texture TV.

Researchers at the company have developed technology that simulates textures on a flat screen to allow viewers to feel what they are watching.

It means that users could feel objects and textures while they look at an image or watch a movie on a screen like a mobile phone or tablet.

Disney has also been testing the technology on larger screens and it could even be used to create a new generation of “textured” television that could enhance its movies.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/mum-cact...pricked-me

seems to be the best job in town, can enjoy school holidays and cheap student rate healthy food at the no crowd school canteen as well. the hardworking can moonlight as private tutor?


By Jacquelyn Cheok Sunday, Oct 06, 2013 SINGAPORE - Singaporean teachers are the highest paid among 21 countries according to a study, earning an average annual salary of US$45,755, ahead of the United States' US$44,917 and South Korea's US$43,874.But respondents in Singapore felt that local teachers were overpaid by about $5,000 annually - almost 14 per cent higher than what they perceived to be fair.This was in contrast to most of the other countries surveyed for the Varkey GEMS Foundation 2013 Global Teacher Status Index, in which they assessed actual wages to be below perceived fair wages.In fact, respondents from 95 per cent of the surveyed countries thought teachers were earning less than what they ought to.In the Teacher Status Index - which measures cultural, political and socio- economic factors, such as general attitudes towards the education system and perception of teachers in each country - Singapore was ranked seventh, surpassing the US (No 9), the United Kingdom (No 10) and Finland (No 13).China topped the rankings, followed by Greece, Turkey and then South Korea.Singapore came in third with regard to confidence and trust in the national education system.Finland took top position, followed by Switzerland. - See more at: http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/spor...VISM6.dpuf

In terms of trust in teachers to deliver a good education, Singapore tied with Portugal at No 6.Finland and Brazil topped the table, while Israel and Japan were at the bottom. Four in five respondents in Singapore said they would encourage their children to become teachers - making the Republic the fifth-ranked country to view teaching as a profession their children should aspire to. China topped the rankings.China is also the only country where respondents likened the social status of teachers to that of doctors, as shown by a question that seeks to determine the social standing of teachers. In two-thirds of the countries polled, including Singapore, teachers were regarded as similar to social workers, while respondents in the US, Brazil, France and Turkey mostly likened teachers to librarians, among other graduate- level jobs."Singapore's pay sits teachers very highly," said Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey GEMS Foundation. "But what our results show is that this does not necessarily mean teachers are highly respected," he added.While this may be true for most countries surveyed, it is not the case for Singapore as some 45 per cent of respondents believe students have respect for teachers here. - See more at: http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/spor...87Ljr.dpuf