Getting a laptop in Singapore? What to look out for?

Whenever I am set out to look for laptop, I am never prepared. The thing that I took into consideration first was always price, CPU performance, and RAM. Most times, the acquired laptop would last me more than 5 years while one time it only lasted a year.
I have a Samsung notebook that I am still using for > 10 years. It can no longer support most of the software in use today, but is can still permit playing yesteryear games and doing some MS Office 97.
This particular notebook elevated my impression on Samsung product. I have another netbook and ultrabook from Samsung. Both never disappointed me so far. In our household, we have NEC Versa notebook and it is still working. However, NEC design was bad. the wiring from MB to LCD got severed when the notebook was repeatedly flipped open and closed. I had to disassemble the machine to notice the severed wire and get replacement cable to replace it. I did that DIY as the 2 years warranty was over.
Acer TravelMate was a bad experience. The machine constantly burns up whenever in use for a duration of time. It crashed after less than a year. A visit to the Service Centre suggested that the MB was dead. The tech guy suggested that I top up few hundreds to get a newer and better version. I adamantly declined since I didn’t want to invest further on a brand that didn’t do a good job in the first place. After the MB change, the LCD kaput after few months later. Fortunately it was the backlight problem and EBay again solved my problem. I scoured for the right inverter and got it delivered to me. DIY to replace that part. A visit to any store would have requested that the whole LCD be replaced, which would have cost S$200 or more as compared to S$20 to 30 for the inverter.
Now, after 3 years of using the current Notebook from Samsung, it is time to get a new Notebook that will support most of the current software in use. I am still a MS Windows supporter. Although, I have dabbled with Linux, Mac and Android, I think MS Windows is still the choice for me.
Criteria for the next machine:

• Processing speed. Intel is best, AMD is good and affordable. A review of processors at ComputersShopper and TechRadar. I would want one that is power efficient and “cool-headed” (not burning up with fever).
• RAM. Slots and maximum RAM available for upgrade.
• HDD. Now there are two main types, spindle-type/mechanical HDD and solid state SSD. The latter is like a thumbdrive/flashdrive storage, only better. The spindle-type HDD makes noise and if dropped, it will damage the mechanical parts, whereas SSD will not. Talking about that, a salesperson at Challenger did that demonstration for a colleague to make that point! I was an accidental observer. SSD is faster than HDD but SSD is expensive. Soon, there will be light-based memory to take the spot of SSD. Probably then SSD will cost less. The capacity of SSD/HDD isn’t very important (as long as most software/games can fit into it comfortably). A 1 TB should be safe, while 500GB is no complain. Cloud storage is the way to go nowadays with their great sync and RAID function allowing better protection of our precious data. For example, Dropbox charges approx. USD10 per month for 1TB to USD15 per month per user/team for unlimited storage.
• Graphic and sound should be above average.
• Additional features: USB-A, mini- and micro-USB ports are going obsolete, there is a newcomer in town and it is USB-C. However, I still don’t like the feel of USB-C. Similar to USB-A, mini- and micro-USB, they jut out like a patient wearing intravenous (IV) cannula on an arm which is easy to accidentally shift the connection (Fig. 1). Thumbprint security feature is a joke. Longer battery life is a must (at least 6 hours). Screen size should be > 10.1” diagonally. Should have desired preloaded software, e.g. OS, MS Office, Brand’s additional bundled software, etc. Noise level tolerable (without internal cooling fan making aeroplane turbine sound). Trayless DVD writer. Don’t get Blu-Ray Disc (BD) ROM because a 25 GB BD disk is very expensive (at a range of S$0.50 to >S$1.00 per piece. If you get an equivalent 1 TB, it is about 40 pieces BD. That will cost 40 x S$0.75 = S$30.00 (for comparison 1TB “rewriteable” external HDD is at S$85.00). Moreover, BD is rare in Singapore. Bluetooth, HDMI, and network port are must. Touchscreen is okay but not necessary. Built-in webcam. Wireless connection should dual band at both 2.4 and 5 GHz (e.g. 802.11ac) but not necessary because a  dual band wireless adapters are selling at S$20 to 40 on EBay.

Fig. 1 USB-A, mini-, micro-USB, and USB-C all share the same bulky plug that jut out precariously like an IV cannula.

What happens when your online accounts are compromised?

Well, the first immediate thing I tried was to call IT helpdesk. Alas, I had no contact number readily available to call them.
When I did find out the contact number via GOOGLE, the Helpdesk was only available during office hours! That took me by surprise. Does it mean that our accounts shouldn’t be compromised after office hours and especially on weekends, else we are at the mercy of hackers? Fortunately, most servers will have their own workable “compromised account detector” and without fail, most compromised accounts will be inactivated.
Now, what about other online accounts such as Facebook and email services? Have we got the solution to a potential problem of having these accounts hacked/hijacked?

• Facebook. If your account is believed to be compromised, be sure that you have internet access. You can go to Report Compromised Account.
• Yahoo account. Go to Yahoo! Password Helper. Then select “My account may have been compromised”. Follow the instructions. Note that Yahoo adopted 2FA and had special security feature for different apps in smart phone.
• Google account. Go to Account recovery form. Then select “I’m having other problems signing in”. Follow the instructions. Google had also adopted 2FA.
• Banks. All have adopted 2FA.
• Paypal. I am not comfortable with lack of 2FA feature here. Anyway, if account is hijacked, go to Can’t log in. Choice the right option and continue. If you prefer call, then the number is +6565104650 (weekday from 8 am to 10 pm while weekends from 9 am to 6 pm). Paypal had not adopted 2FA.
• Online shops. Not so dangerous as payment is normally via credit card or paypal UNLESS you reuse the same password everywhere.
• Twitter. If your account has been hijacked (i.e. password deliberately changed), then request a password reset to retrieve your account. New password will be sent to your email address, unless that information is also altered. See help page. You can go to Support for hacked account. I think Twitter and other service providers will anticipate that sometimes password reset is impossible especially when information pertaining to email and contact could also have been altered by the hackers (a case study). In that case, personally contacting the help support team will be needed but validating your ownership will require competency of the service provider.

Most of the online accounts in Singapore, especially government services are adopting a two-factor authentication (2FA) type of login. This is way better than having to demand users to frequently change passwords every 6 months! Password is way too obsolete because it can be guessed by automated login attempts using differing permutation of characters. The only exception is when login is made extra difficult for supercomputers to figure out, e.g. answer simple question about random archived Google Images that only HUMAN can do, else wait for 10 min before attempting next login. That will surely take ages to figure out.
I dread to think that my company would have a one password to access all staffs’ information. That would be disastrous because personal information, contacts, emails, records and whatnot will be accessible by just one compromised password! I think a good practice should be to segregate services into separate services with sensitive information having a much more difficult requirement to access, e.g. 2FA or via assigned safe IP addresses (well, at least the IP address should be from Singapore and not somewhere in Ghana).
Another way hackers can gain into our accounts is by exploiting the reporting account compromised. It happened when Paypal and GoDaddy played a part in helping a hacker take control of GoDaddy account. First, call Paypal agent to get the last four digits (seems like no harm) of credit card (note that the Paypal agent is human who has access to all your sensitive information; so when he/she errs, that will allow the hacker to gain and you to lose). The hacker called GoDaddy and said that he can only remember the last four digits of the credit card, and voila! instant gain of access to the account. Both Paypal and GoDaddy erred in human factor!
A word of advice would be to shun away email providers that have bad security feature. Don’t keep credit card detail with half-baked service providers that don’t have 2FA feature.

Singapore checking/current accounts

I am not going to talk about interest rate for customers because interest rate nowadays is negligible.
Citibank checking account
This is for personal checking account: Minimum balance is SGD5000; below SGD5000, SGD10 fee per month applies; free checkbook.

OCBC current account (bank opens on Sundays)
This is for personal current account: Minimum balance is SGD3000; below SGD3000, SGD7.50 fee per month applies; checkbook is charge at SGD10 per book.

POSB eCurrent account
This is for personal eCurrent account: No minimum balance required (BUT there is the risk of POSB taking money from your SAVINGS ACCOUNT to pay any outstanding amount in the current account); A monthly fee of SGD 2 applies if SAVING ACCOUNT is below SGD1500; SGD10 per checkbook.

UOB current account
For personal current account: Minimum balance at SGD3000; SGD7.50 per month applies if deposit is below SGD3000; SGD10 per checkbook.

Standard Chartered “Cheque & Save” (current) account
For personal account: Minimum balance of SGD5000; monthly fee of SGD2 applies; additional SGD7.50 per month applies if deposit is below SGD5000, thus, if deposit is SGD4999, you pay SGD 9.50 (compared to SGD10 per month for Citibank with same condition); free checkbook

CIMB current account
Note that I don’t like complicated product choices (which CIMB is doing).
For StarSaver account: Minimum initial deposit of SGD5000; there is no minimum balance required (BUT interest to customers is applied when balance is at SGD5000 or above); SGD1 per month applies; Balance below SGD5000 is not charged any additional fee; checkbook cost not mentioned.
For Shariah type, refer to CIMB StarSaver-i account.

HSBC Current account
For personal account: Minimum balance of SGD3000; below that, SGD7.50 per month fee applies; free checkbook

Comparison and my thoughts

• Minimum balance requirement should be less than SGD5000. SGD3000 seems to be the standard (except POSB which tap into SAVINGS ACCOUNT, which is risky in my opinion because SAVINGS & CURRENT SHOULDN’T BE MIXED!).
• Not interested in any interest on deposit to customers because the number is negligible nowadays. I would prefer to use the SGD2000 for other investment purposes rather than park it in CURRENT ACCOUNT (which charges 2.5% fee if the balance drops below SGD5000 [Citibank]).
• I am not interested in FREE checkbook. I haven’t even used up 10% of the 50 pages checkbook given by Citibank! Why would I be bothered with SGD10 per book then? FREE books don’t interest me. Reasonable monthly fee is more enticing.
• Low to no monthly fee for CURRENT account with requirement for low balance in current/checking account. I prefer to keep SGD3000 in the current rather than park additional SGD2000 for the minimum SGD5000 current account. The extra SGD2000 could have been used in other investments.
• CURRENT and SAVINGS account should be SEPARATED! Banks that tap into SAVINGS to pay off CURRENT accounts are risky business unless that SAVING is not the only and main savings basket to the customer.

Customers with checking accounts in Singapore should be aware of T&C and bank service fees

What irks me and probably many others is that banks don't work in the best interest of customers. When banks advertise next time, they should just say the truth, "WE WORK ONLY FOR YOUR MONEY & CUSTOMERS ARE JUST NUMBERS".

I have just realized that Citibank checking account had updated their terms and conditions (T&C). It used to be that we have to keep a minimum of $2000 in the account to have the service fee waived. I was surprised to notice that that minimum amount had been revised to $5000. If customers have less than $5000 in their checking accounts, a monthly fee of $10 per month applies. I am charged $50 for 5 months.

What does it mean?

Citibank is earning at least 2.4% pa of interest if my deposit is $4999 (above $5000 for waiver). Or at least 12% pa if my deposit is $1000. Also, if I have $100 in the account, it will only take 10 months for Citibank to wipe it clean.

Now, what upsets me is that Citibank did not contact me to inform about the service fee charges. There is no courtesy call to talk to customers and advice them to top up the deposit so that Citibank will not keep on savaging customers' hard-earned deposits (without them knowing about it; akin to a silent killer, e.g. cancer). If there should be any service charges, we as customers should be made aware of first before Citibank (or any other banks) starts deducting deposits! Furthermore, Citibank should charge us via bills and not by automatic deduction from our accounts! At least with bills, customers are made aware of impending fees or bills to be paid. By surreptitiously deducting our deposit is unfair (especially when some customers don't regularly check online statements) or might be oversea on months' assignment.

Why Citibank bother to get customers' contact details if Citibank will not use that to talk to customers when there is a REAL NEED? To me, the only use of my contact detail to Citibank is to SPAM call me about additional credit cards, more loans, insurance etc. That is not for my best of interest. That to me is a nuisance. It irks me more especially when Citibank failed to call me when they decided to charge me service fees. If Citibank had billed me instead of deducting from my deposit, I would have been less upset. Parking my money with Citibank is not safe anymore after this incident and especially considering that Citibank could at their whims decide to deduct something from my checking account (without notifying account holders). I am deciding to look for alternatives real soon.

Note that I have severed any link/business with Maybank Singapore. The reason: I was upset by the way Maybank handled my online money transfer oversea. I was charged two types of fees to transfer the money, i.e. transfer fee and exchange fee in Singapore for a sum of money that I wanted transferred to someone in Malaysia.

I was shocked to get a call from the recipient saying that the amount I transferred was insufficient. It seemed that Maybank Malaysia decided to charge me a transfer/deposit fee as well (and deducted the sum from the money transferred without notifying me!). That was a big embarrassment to me especially when the exact sum transferred was to pay off an EXACT debt! Nowadays, whenever I see solicitors from Maybank credit cards/services, I simply tell them that I hate the bank they represent and walk off.

I am contemplating of doing the same for CITIBANK.


Sorry, I just needed to vent out my frustration. That was my two cents thought.


Related complaints about fees for checking accounts in other banks

• Standard Chartered Bank complaints - monthly fee for checking account

Read also
Singapore Checking/current accounts

Are we by default leasing our home to domestic helpers?

I have a colleague who was shocked when she saw via real-time recording of her home CCTV that an unidentified man went into her house. That man was led in by her helper (without consent from the employer). That man came into the house when my colleague's 2 years old girl was asleep.
-
That man knew his way into the house and which room to go to. He went directly to the helper's bedroom. The thing about real time CCTV is that there is no playback. You can press a record button (when you need to record) but the rest of the footage is not saved (unless you opt for pricier hardware that can accommodate recording for several days before it overwrite).
-
Panic struck my friend and she had to leave work to rush home. Several calls were made and neighbour was alerted. My colleague's main concern was for the child. The neighbour was instructed to go into the house and retrieve the baby. Reluctantly, the helper let the neighbour into the house and told the neighbour that she had guest. The guest was let off and most importantly, the baby was safe.
-
My friend decided to terminate the helper's contract. The agency advised my friend against reporting to the police because that will delay the replacement. To a family with working parents, my friend had no choice but to comply. The helper was sent home with high probability of returning to Singapore to work. That would be a disaster to the next household.
-
After some thoughts, my friend decided to report to the police. After much deliberation, the police decided that there is no case against the helper and the "intruder". The police said that since the helper invited the unidentified man to the house, there is no criminal element to it. My friend insisted that the helper "invited" the man without their consent. To that, the police said that since the helper is staying in my friend's house, she has the right to invite people over.
-
All in all, it would suggest that if a household hire a domestic helper, it is by default that the said household is leasing their home to the helper and thus, the helper has the rights to invite people over.
-
I was shocked to know this!
-
An advice to parents/employers who have to leave their babies at home with domestic helpers (especially without any other family members such as grandparents at home): -
-
The next time you renew your helpers' contract, please include a term in the contract that forbids helpers from inviting people over to your houses (esp. without your consent). Having it written in legally binding contract will protect you from having to go through what my friend went through. I guess that would make the "invitation" illegal then.
-
For now, the helper is already back to Singapore waiting for the next assignment.
-
Just to share.

Smoker taxi driver should be made easily identifiable

There should be a tag or sticker to identify taxi whereby the drivers smoke. Taxi made easily identifiable would be useful to passengers who are asthmatic, allergic to chemicals derived from cigarettes, pregnant ladies who are health conscious, families traveling with babies (and concerned about the thousands of chemicals in cigarettes), and people who would prefer "fresh air" in the air-conditioned taxi. It is really unbearable to be confined in an air-con vehicle with strong scent of cigarette smoke. Worst are those taxi drivers who smoke inside the car, thus leaving an unbearable cigarette smell.
-
Why am I writing about this?

-

For parents with children who are car sick, having them endure a trip in a cigarette-smoke choked taxi is a torture. Worst is when the smoker taxi driver was unwilling to let passengers to unwind the car window. I have came across this taxi driver and when we told him that our kid is car sick and requested to unwind the window, his reply was this,  "No. You can use plastic bag instead". With that response, we quickly requested that he stop his car. We opted to get out of his car this time rather than have our kid endure his inconsiderate attitude and smell.
-
Sometimes I think that the Transport authority or Health authority should ban taxi drivers from smoking inside their cars. This is crucial for passengers who are sensitive, asthmatic, allergic, and also those who travel with babies. If it could be helped, I wouldn't want taxis with strong cigarette odor to stop by maternity hospitals to take passengers. Sorry, it is just too unacceptable to let my baby endure the lingering cigarette smoke during our travel.
-
Having said that, I am still appreciative of taxi drivers who let passengers like me to unwind their car windows when requested. Their thoughts make our baby's journey comfortable without risk of puking (or sneezing). 

-

Just a thought.

Unsolicited sales or donation at HDB flats after office hours

Lately there have been several visits by salespersons or "volunteers" soliciting donations (hereafter will be termed as solicitors) to my HDB home at private hours (e.g. 7 pm to 9 pm where we would be having our dinners). There was one occasion when a solicitor rang our bell and knocked on our door at 10 pm.
-
First of all, I would like to say that such action by them are unwanted and annoying. Secondly, I will not contribute a single cent to them mainly because of their inconsiderate action (e.g. encroaching our private time to have uninterrupted dinner especially after work), regardless of what they are push-selling (or push-marketing). For families with 4 months old babies and an unpleasantly loud door bell (which we never got the time to change), having someone pressing the door bell repeatedly can make your blood boil when babies started crying out from their slumber. One thing I suggest doing is to buffer your door bell with cotton balls (which worked for me).
-
Let me tell you about my experience with these solicitors at my HDB neighbourhood.
-

1. Ice-cream students used to coax HDB occupants to buy their products. It worked initially (and I bought some) but after the frequent visits, the trend probably died with dying demand (because I have not seen anyone of them knocking on my door anymore).
2. Donation solicitors with improper attitude and sometimes appearance. The ways they approach the subject of donation are akin to asking for fees. I got one that irked me tonight. He rang the bell and then knocked incessantly on my door. At time like this having a "legit" warning signage such as below would make my day.

   

   You can buy it at The Patriot Post Shop

3. Singtel salesperson push-selling broadband service at our home is mind boggling. Why would an established brand such as Singtel go door-to-door soliciting subscriptions?
4. Great Eastern insurance salesperson at my door step during dinner time is like asking to be shooed. What is worst was that he came back ringing my unmodified doorbell (i.e. prior to stuffing cotton balls into the darn thing) and woke up my baby at 10 pm later.
5. There are plenty of others whom I did not bother to greet them at the door step. Those who are smart will not bother to ring my bell or knock on my door. However, the one who did incessantly knocking on my door was the guy with bad attitude and appearance (see point #2). I can only try to guess his odd and inconsiderate behaviour.

 -
Now, we must be asking the same question right now. Are those solicitors who knocked at our HDB doors are doing something legit? If private homes such as condos can afford to have securities protecting them from unwanted solicitation, what do HDB occupants have to protect them from such unwanted solicitation?
-
What is not cool is that there are some HDB occupants who motivated such trade by buying into their solicitations, e.g. products, services, or donations (I'm assuming that these donations are legit but I am sure there are also those belonging to scams). These gullible customers are doing disservice to other HDB occupants because once there is motivation sparked by sales and profits (or positive response), many others will be jumping on the bandwagon to start "pushing" their trade to other HDB occupants. Be prepared to answer more door bells and knocks if that ever happen.
-

Logic/illogical question that went viral

Full article was referred here (from AsiaOne).
-
The following is the question.
-
Albert & Bernard just become friends with Cheryl, & they want to know when her birthday is. Cheryl gives them a list of 10 possible dates
-
May-15   May-16   May-19
June-17   June-18
July-14   July-16
August-14   August-15   August-17
-
Cheryl then tells Albert & Bernard separately the month & the day of her birthday respectively.
-
Albert: I don't know when Cheryl's birthday is, but I know that Bernard does not know too.
-
Bernard: At first I don't know when Cheryl's birthday is, but I know now.
-
Albert: Then I also know when Cheryl's birthday is.
-
So when is Cheryl's birthday?
-
=======
-
There are ten dates given by Cheryl. Bernard knows the day and Albert knows the month. Are they competing or what? There is no indication for the rule of this game which is frustrating, e.g. no sharing of direct information or what?
 -
Logic.
If Bernard was given either 19 or 18, he would have shouted I know! But he didn't. So Albert made the first comment about Albert not knowing it.
-
June-17 was not it either because Bernard would have shouted I know already if he had deduced that Albert didn't know and if the month he was given was June. So June is out.
-
Next is the strangest deduction by Bernard. He claimed he knew the answer, but based on what?
-
After striking out the improbable answers. He is left with these.
-
May-15   May-16
July-14   July-16
August-14   August-15   August-17
-
When Albert said "I know that Bernard does not know too", Bernard SPECULATED that it couldn't be May or June. Why strike out May (and based on what information)?
-
That would leave the following.
July-14   July-16
August-14   August-15   August-17
-
Bernard secret answer is July-16 (student don't know it yet).
-
Then Albert butted in saying he knew too. 

-
Albert based his deduction on this, i.e. There are two 14s, so it is unlikely to be that because Bernard can't possibly guess the month. He stroke out the improbables. What are left would be.
-
July-16
August-15   August-17
-
Albert can't possible guess the days in August (there are two), and that leaves July-16 as the most probable answer for students to guess right.
-
Back to the main problem in this question.
-
To me, the major problem with this question is its inadequate information. I don't know how many contenders were able to answer this problem but I know I wouldn't be able to get it.
-
IMHO, if the mock conversation had been such.
-
Albert: I don't know when Cheryl's birthday is, but I know that Bernard does not know too because it doesn't fall on the months where he could have possibly guessed.
-
Bernard: At first I don't know when Cheryl's birthday is, but I know now.
-
Albert: Then I also know when Cheryl's birthday is.
-
With the sentence in bold, then Bernard wouldn't have to speculate that May and June are improbables.
-
Educated assumptions is good but speculation is not!
-
Just a share.

Tired of Private Number calling in at inconvenient time?

If you are tired of receiving spam calls from Private Numbers or any numbers, you have two choices.

First, register your mobile phone number with Do Not Call Registry at Personal Data Protection Commission Singapore. That will prevent unsolicited phone calls, SMS, and fax.

If you don't want to register to Do Not Call and would want to have more control, then the second option would be to utilize your reject list setting on your Android phone (I'm not familiar with other operating systems).

Here are the steps.

Steps taken to set auto reject to Private Numbers (or Unknown).

However, be warned that if you reject Unknown (or Private Numbers), you will not be able to receive calls made from Singapore public phone booths. Strangely, calls from public phones are under Private Numbers (or Unknown).

To add a specific number to reject list, it's easy - Just go to Call Log and touch on this number. A pop up will appear showing several options with one asking "Add to Reject list". Touch that option and the number will be added to the reject list.

To select a number from Call Log to be added in the Reject List. Go to Logs and select the number by touching it. A popup will ask for several options. Select Add to reject list.

The thing about Reject list is that even my three year old toddler can do it. My number was selected in my wife's phone and added to Reject list. When I wanted to call my wife, I would get the "Line Busy" notification. I never thought that my call was rejected until I tried numerous times. This had happened twice (palms on face).

Is it going to the news tomorrow - M1 service disruption for a day?

Not sure if I am the only one experiencing M1 broadband service disruption. Anyway, if I am not the only one, then most probably the service disruption will be in the news tomorrow?

I can't wait to find out today, so, I decided to tether Singtel data-plan on my phone to my notebook and started investigating (easier to type on a notebook).

• Keying in "M1 service disruption 2015" in Google returned this article from Straits Times "Five-hour service outage not M1's fault" (dated 7 Jan 2015). It was an old issue.
• Next, I tried M1 on Facebook and the last update was 28 hours ago. That's a long time (or it could be a normal update frequency) but there is still no mention of service disruption.

M1 on Facebook with last update at 28 hours ago.

• I tried to search for users' input at the sidebar (or rather side-column) and the last update by any user was around 18 hours ago. It still did not answer my question, "is M1 down?".
• I tried to search for the service maintenance that M1 constantly send via email (which I promptly deleted because most of the time, it did not relate to me). Probably I missed out the announcement pertaining to service maintenance at my place. I went to M1 service announcement page. The fiber maintenance schedule and place weren't located close to my area. So, it is not possible that M1 is down due to maintenance.
• I tried rebooting my router (with no luck) and I tried switching-off-and-on of the whole machine connected to my multi-socket plug (with no luck).
• I give up and hope to get an answer tomorrow. I hope M1 will be able to cater to information-hungry consumer like me to know what went wrong today (from afternoon up today on 25 Feb 2015 until now at 12.15 am on 26 Feb 2015 and still counting in my sleep).

 Fortunately, I have a Singtel on my phone (capped at 2 Gb) when M1 is down to connect.

For those who aren't familiar with tethering and portable hotspot function, you can refer to this site or the following figure at the bottom.

How to convert your phone with data-plan into portable Wifi for your other devices. You can add security feature such as password to prevent other devices from connecting to your data-plan.

Just to share.

Update
Woke up this morning to try the connection and my router was still unable to connect to the internet. The WAN IP was 0.0.0.0 and attempt to renew the connection status returned "disconnected". There was a problem connecting to the M1 server.

Next thing I did was to go the the "fiber-optic modem thingy" (or indoor optical network terminal aka ONT), re-tighten all the cable connections, then switching off and then on the power button. Afterwards, I reboot my router via internet browser (key in "http://192.168.1.1/" in address bar) and waited for the good news. It worked.

Huawei ONT backpanel. I tried re-connect all cables and then press the Power button to switch off then on back again.

Well, I don't know if M1 was down or not yesterday, but the connection with M1 sure has it's ups and downs (most of the time) and sometimes, lost (in my case) without any way to know if M1 was down or my connection with M1 was down.

At least I know that if next time M1 is slow or lost, I will try to re-establish my ONT connection with M1 server by the above steps.

Balancing egg during LiChin or Equinox

I have no idea what Equinox meant and I Googled. Read about Equinox from Wikipedia here. I still couldn't picture the earth's spin and orbiting around the sun.

Anyway, I am guessing that the concept could be that when the earth's rotation is similar in direction to earth's orbiting around the sun, then the added up centrifugal force will be "singular" and less interference. That time, if you stand in the equator, you will be more lighter and "upright" (due to the combined centrifugal force). I'm not sure if that's how the egg balancing came about.

Today is Lichun and many of my friends are balancing their household eggs on the floor. They are posting their achievements on social media. I wanted to try that too in my HDB flat. However, I got no success in different location of the house. I guess I will need a "surface level" tool to spot which part of the flooring is truly flat.

It's fun to be able to balance eggs on flat surface but it has got nothing to do with celestial events. That's because the Earth's gravity is more influential to an egg than any other celestial forces. I think patience and luck are criteria for a successful egg balancing. Sigh.

What is fascinating is that for less dense matter like water, it is easily influenced by the moon's gravitational force (and Earth's centrifugal force) than denser matter like humans and eggs, hence the high and low tides. As for me, I don't feel lighter or taller during high tides.

I'll try again the egg balancing soon.
Good luck in your tries.

References

• Egg balancing by Wikipedia. Note that egg balancing on a nail is not possible unless superglue was used or super flat nail head and super duper amount of patience were involved (my opinion).
• It took 1 min 20 sec to balance an egg, and 3 min 40 sec for the second one. "How to balance or stand an egg during Li Chun " Youtube entry by Dian Miao Ling.

How we can improve evacuation and rescue during plane crash

It is sad to follow the news regarding retrieval of bodies, wreckage, and personal possession of ill fated Asia Asia flight QZ8501. The location of the crash site took more than 2 days to accomplish, mainly due to the lack of real-time tracking of airline flights and in my opinion, tracking of evacuees. Two days in the open sea is not conducive to survival chance!

In my opinion, the current evacuation and safety measures implemented on air travel is poor and insufficiently practical (in short, IMPRACTICAL). If you are a flyer, you would have been exposed to this safety card on-board the plane. For most people like me (e.g. cautious type who will read safety diligently), we are only theoretically wise in terms of aircraft evacuation and handling life-jacket. But truthfully, I am a fool in the practical aspect, especially when I have not seen the life-jackets and just took the words of flight attendants about them stored under the seats.

To open the emergency exit for evacuation, I only can hope that someone will be able to work with that come crucial moment because I don't know how to do that. Fortunately, I think it won't be difficult especially considering that first-timer Chinese passenger on-board Xiamen Air could open it for fresh air.

Now, if we are lucky and the plane landed on water, what is expected of the evacuation procedure? From the safety card, there are several things that can happen.

1. Prior to impact, the plane could lose cabin pressure (air is too thin that oxygen will be depleted), and if that happens, oxygen mask will be dropped from the upper compartment. Use it on yourself before attempting to help others because losing consciousness while helping the next person will be useless.
2. If there is time, wear the life-jacket. Hopefully they are not nicely wrapped in plastic wrapper or else you will have to tear them with your nail and teeth (while cursing the safety officer for the oversight). 
3. Brace yourself for impact by holding onto something (e.g. the seat in front) and lowering your head and body. This will ensure no flying debris hits you upon impact.
4. While wearing the life-jacket, you should proceed to the nearest emergency exits calmly (but I don't think it will be calm). Wait for someone to work on the emergency exit (or be proactive) so that an inflatable slide-cum-raft will be dispensed. Slide down in an ordered fashion (while giving priority to the needy).
5. This is the time to inflate your life-jacket now. 
6. The slide will be your raft (I have no idea how it works, see how dumb I am with just theoretical knowledge), so hold on to it and try to climb up. 
7. Wait for rescue.

 The above "expected evacuation procedure" is ideal in an ideal situation. Now, what the aviation and safety authorities need to ensure in reality is the following possibilities (in my opinion).

1. What happens if the aircraft went tail spun (or spin) and landed upside down on water? Would the "expected" evacuation procedure be applicable then?
2. Had the aviation industry (and safety authorities) estimated the time it takes for a floating plane in sea water to sink completely? Would the time be sufficient to evacuate everyone? Aren't there any mechanism/technology (that can be implemented) that could inflate parts of the plane to prolong buoyancy time of plane during evacuation?
3. Considering that the time ( > 2 days) needed to search and rescue (or retrieve) survivors, hadn't the aviation safety authorities came up with a more realistic evacuation kit for air passengers. This is considering that a life-jacket (with light and whistle) is hardly practical to save life (except to serve as a floatation device and attracts sea predators at night). Furthermore, who would want to float under the intense sun, dehydrated, and lost while waiting for either the inevitable or miracle? Hadn't the Asian Tsunami thought us anything, especially what happened to the ones who got swept away in mid-sea waiting for rescue? Dehydration.

 My suggestions to the aviation and safety authorities:

1. If the plane is lucky to crash on water intact, please have a mechanism to increase buoyancy of the aircraft so that there is sufficient time to evacuate all passengers.
2. Life-jacket (with whistle and light) is alright, but to have a manual water filtration system (those used by the army but with special filter to cutoff salinity) attached to the life jacket will be a blessing especially when dehydration will more likely kill evacuees faster than anything.
3. If you are going to provide the incidental (or accidental) inflatable slide-turn-raft, at least provide several floating (or attached) packages containing potable water bottles for evacuees. No food is okay but please let there be water (no pun intended).
4. Please oh please, provide radio transmission devices (aka radio transmitter) for evacuees who are stranded in the open sea. This is the 21st century for goodness sake. Is it really too much the cost to bear for attaching a radio transmitter in life-jackets or rafts for easy search and rescue mission during aviation accidents? If we can tag migratory birds or animals with radio transmitters for easy tracking of these migratory animals in National Geography, surely we can't be too stingy to bear the cost to save lives no? Do note that radio transmitter works better in the open sea than jungle (containing trees blocking the signal). For further information, refer to distress radiobeacon (Wikipedia) and note that the signal can also be used to triangulate the location of the transmitter/evacuee (with detection radius of >10 km for some model.
5. If it's not too much to ask, attach a water-proof, shock-proof, weather-proof satellite phone to assigned safety officer on-board (could be one of the flight attendants) so that he/she can call for help (or at least inform the authority that there are survivors and so please work your butt faster in the rescue operation rather than retrieval mission). Note that I'm sicked of following news reporting about effort to retrieve the "black box" (or orange box) for investigation. It seemed that "retrieval" is more practical than rescue in air disaster! In addition the satellite phone can be used for locating the caller.
6. Provide real-time tracking of planes!

 Keypoints

• Implement a more practical evacuation protocol (and mechanism) for aviation accidents or crash.
• Provide practical survival kit in addition to the life-jacket. A whistle and light at night can attracts sea predators (unless rescue boat can reach survivors/evacuees sooner). Without the crucial water supply, and no means to purify sea water, consuming the sea water will be toxic (Natl Ocean & Atmospheric Administration, NOAA), and survivors will perish before rescue arrives.
• Provide radiobeacon to life-jackets.
• Implement real-time tracking of flights.

My condolences to the victims family.

How to report a traffic violation to the police in Singapore

If member of the public wishes to report to the police of a traffic offense or violation that they encountered in Singapore, they can do so by following the minimal requirements stated in the Singapore Traffic Police website. The furnished information is necessary to build a strong case against the traffic offender.

•  Full registration of the vehicle of which the driver/rider committed the traffic violation/offense (if possible, provide the make and colour of the vehicle).
• The accurate date, time, and location (precise location would be required, i.e. as how you would provide your location to a tow trunk operator) of the alleged offense.
•  The circumstances/accounts leading to the alleged offense. If it's a parking offense, I guess you don't have to provide this (but sometimes you have to provide evidence showing that the vehicle was not stalled due to engine failure, e.g. a before and after pics or video showing the offender driving off afterwards, thus suggesting that his vehicle was not defective but rather he/she parked indiscriminately).
• Confirmation of willingness to testify in court should the offender dispute the alleged offense. This is important should the offender dispute the offenses alleged against him/her. The drawback is that if it was a foreign traveler to Singapore, he/she will be unwilling/unable to testify later. However, if Singapore court allows written- or video-recorded testimony, then justice will not be hampered by technicality.
• Full particulars of the informant. I guess if you are willing to testify, then you have to provide full particulars of yourself. Definition of full particulars would be your full name, NRIC/passport/ID, address, contact number, and email (the last three items are required for investigation officer to contact you for help).
• Corroborative evidence. If you have video- or picture- recordings (explicitly showing the alleged offense taking place such as snapshots or a video account; a pic showing the aftermath of the accident is not useful) with correct date and time (remember to set your compact camera with this information; for phone camera, it's already preset ready), independent witness(es) to corroborate your account (if you have a pen and paper, write down the date, time and location, and brief account; then allow the witness to write his/her particulars for your reference; you can then ask the witness to take a pic of the note with his/her phone camera; this is important because the witness might forget important information such as exact date/time/location later). The particulars of the independent witness should at least have name, contact informations (e.g. phone number and email address). Send video evidence to SPF_Feedback_TP@spf.gov.sg (quote the police report reference number on the email).

 Once the minimal requirement is met, they can approach Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) to submit a police report (form NP299). Alternatively, you can submit an electronic feedback to Singapore electronic Police Centre. The required login information SingPass user ID and password (What about individuals without SingPass?).

Fig shows the login window in the electronic police center.

For your information, the e-feedback is available to report on the following:

1. GOOD/COURTEOUS road behaviour :D
2. Feedback on pedestrians'/cyclists' behaviour on Singapore road (or non-designated area such as open mall), 
3. Parking violation (reporting to LTA; types of illegal parking can be referred to Onemotoring.com.sg), and 
4. Traffic violation (on the road)

Contacts

• Traffic Police Information Hotline +6565470000 (for non-urgent traffic-related enquiries; available Mon-Fri 0830-1730 and Sat 0830-1300)
• For Emergencies, call 999

How to fix a defective laptop LCD screen?

In Singapore, it is easier to just get a new electronics rather than fix/repair it. To repair an item will cost more than to buy a new one (especially when warranty period is over). For example, you will be charged with a diagnostic fee, then the repair fee, and the not-so-cheap replacement parts (that are always not available in Singapore) and need to be ordered.

Sometimes, for a fault that cost only a few dollars can escalate to more than SGD 50 when service charges are included. Other instances, to save time, the repair shop will suggest to change the whole module without determining the component fault.

For this blog, I will share my experience regarding my laptop and its LCD screen (that has gone black).

A visit to several repair shops suggested that the LCD need to be replaced. When I asked them if it could be back light or LCD inverter that is not working, they said it is possible. However, they will need to test it. Diagnosis will cost SGD 30 (others quoted SGD 50), and if I decide not to go on with the repair, I still have to pay for the service fee. Wow, the inverter only cost SGD 10 to 15 in my case (from eBay which I browsed earlier). It was just not worth the repair, unless if I decide to change the LCD screen that will probably come with its bundled inverter! That would cost me at least SGD 150.00.

So, I have decided to go on with a DIY project (that will cost me less than SGD 20). I guess if it doesn't work, I can comtemplate changing the LCD later.

• The first thing that I needed to do was to disassemble-and-reassemble the LCD panel and be very comfortable with the process. Fortunately, Youtube provided plenty of examples from contributors in this regard. Update: I found it easy to do that with my laptop model (thank you Acer).
• Secondly, I needed to purchase the backlight inverter from eBay (SGD 19.31 plus delivery) for my laptop model. Most of the parts are readily available from China and Hong Kong (with free delivery sometimes) whereas those from US or UK has higher delivery charge which is more than the price of item (and took longer time). I studied the reviews from the seller before committing the purchase. When that's done, I just waited for the item. It will take at least three weeks to a month for the item to reach Singapore. Update: the item reached my home on the second week. Note that the item doesn't come with a warranty, but it was mentioned by the seller (personal warranty for limited time).
• When the item arrived. I removed the old inverter, and replaced with the new one. Update: it worked and the LCD was not at fault. I saved plenty with this DIY. I will wait for couple of days to leave a positive review to the seller, just to be certain that the inverter is working :)

All in all, I have spent approx. SGD 20 and had a great experience trying out a simple DIY to change the inverter. I just hope the inverter will work for at least a year.

Just to share.

HDB ceiling leak in bathroom

If you noticed that the ceiling paint inside your bathroom(s) is peeling, don't assume that it is due to Singapore's humid weather (or the humidity in your bathroom). That is because, most paints are resistant to humid condition and will not peel due to exterior condition.

A most likely reason for the peel is due to a leak that resulted in wet ceiling that caused the paint to deteriorate and peel.

Now, how can a ceiling be leaky? As I got to find out, bathroom in HDB is layered by water-proof membrane (it is just paint-able waterproof polymer that will solidify and function as a water-proof layer). This waterproof layer act to direct excess water to a sink (or drain), while preventing water leak to the lower unit. See the figure for explanation. Due to wear and tear, the water-proof membrane need to be replaced.

 Fig. water-proof membrane (dark gray) and the bottom layer is the concrete scaffold holding the whole bathroom unit. A sink/drain is shown. Please don't be misled to think that the water-proof membrane is thick; they are not and comprise just a thin coat of paint!

 Fig. 2 dimension representation of bathroom floor layers. The uppermost is the tiling, the layer immediately down to the tile is the concrete/screed (for support?), the dark gray colored layer is the water-proof membrane. The bottom-most layer is the strong scaffold/concrete supporting the bathroom unit. The blue arrows are the water-flowing to the sink/drain whereas the red arrow shows a leak when the membrane is worn out.

I was surprised (if not shocked) to know that the water-proof membrane can only last 10 to 20 years. That is a short time as compared to a 99 years leasehold for HDB home. It means that we will have to repair our bathrooms at least 5 times throughout the lease. Well, that's not actually a bad news, considering that some of us (not me yet) tend to renovate our home after some time. Having said that, please remember to ask the contractor to repair the waterproof membrane too the next time you decide to renovate your house (especially bathrooms). This is to prevent unpredictable leaking to the lower unit that will cause a revamp/redo of your newly renovated bathroom! A competent interior designer (ID) will be able to advise homeowner about this (to save future cost and headache).

Fortunately, any bathroom leak in HDB unit will be "subsidized" by HDB in their Goodwill Repair Assistance (GRA) scheme, in which HDB will co-pay 50% of the repair cost and the the remainder is shared by both vertical neighbours at 25% each. For more information, refer to HDB website pertaining to "repair of ceiling leaks".

All the following took 2-3 months time (and it depends on the speed of home owners to response to HDB because HDB is powerless to "compel" owners, and so being responsible neighbour is important):


Once you report a leak, an officer will come to your home and inspect the leak. Once the leak is confirmed to be due to ceiling leak, they will send request for GRA scheme and repair. You will receive a letter confirming that HDB will co-pay the repair and an HDB contractor/surveyor will visit to assess the bathrooms and write prescription about the repair work and they will show you the type of tiles, toilet bowl and explain the procedures. When we agreed to the repair, the surveyor will arrange a convenient time for the repair work.

For the repair, the first day will be very noisy and dusty. The contractor will provide a protective sheet for you to cover your bed (up to king size about 6.1 inch in width). You might need to prepare more protective sheets for your other items on the master bedroom (if that's the case). The first day will likely fall on a weekday, and ideally on a Friday (so that you will only need to take one day off work). Your bathroom will be demolished along with your favourite toilet bowl (you can't salvage it UNFORTUNATELY!). Any fixture at the bottom will be removed. However, anything that can be salvaged will be removed with care (that's how good the HDB contractor is; at least what I experience that day).

On the second day (ideally on Saturday), there will be two visits per day. The first visit is to paint the water-proof material (black in colour) to the slab of concrete layered on the first day. When the water-proof layer is dry, the next visit on that day would be to layer the subsequent void with concrete (or screed). That will be left to dry for two days (because Sunday is off day).

On the third day (or rather fourth day because it fell on a Monday), your chosen tile will be laid. Now, if you don't prefer to have the 20 x 20 cm tiles (and would prefer a larger 30 x 30 cm tiles or larger still), you will need to source it elsewhere. A minimal fee of SGD 80 will be charged for the tile work (if they are not from HDB specification). I don't understand why HDB is not providing a minimal 30 x 30 tiles (because that will ease the contractor's work during laying down the tiles (rather than having to repeat many times for the smaller dimension tiles). Furthermore, the price difference is not a lot for these tiles (see different types of tiles in Singapore). For those owners with concealed piping for sink or other fixture, you will not be able to conceal it once HDB contractor finish their work. If you insist on having them concealed especially those "ugly" piping, you can arrange with the contractor (but with added cost). That is because HDB only allowed basic repair work that fix the problem while preserving the function of your bathroom, rather than to "beautify" your room. HDB contractor can advise you about added work but they normally will not "hard-sell" you of their added services (due to HDB regulation I guess, which is good because you are assured to get the best of what HDB expect, while better than best would require your own insistence).

The work comes with a warranty (10 years).

A letter to therealsingapore highlighted a ceiling leak of a 20 years old building, the title was "HDB not taking responsibility for building defects" (19 May 2014). The complainant was unaware that waterproof membrane is not forever, and HDB does help owners to subsidies the repair work. Any warranty for the waterproof membrane on the new HDB unit is for 10 years and it is owners' responsibility to repair the leak thereafter (but co-paid by HDB on Goodwill scheme). The complainant was unaware of his role and blamed HDB for defect without approaching HDB for help and clarification.

Here are several responses from readers (of therealsingapore):
Khor Wee Siong · Top Commenter
"This accusation is based on assumptions which may not be accurate - namely - that the building work was defective and that the leak was caused by defective materials and/or workmanship. The normal warranty for waterproofing is only 10 years. So, if the slab remained watertight for over 10 years, it has already performed beyond the warranted period. This leak is thus fair wear and tear. The cost of repair should thus fall upon the owners, not the HDB."

Tempest Abraham · Top Commenter
"Seriously dude, your ceiling has started to leak after close to 20 years. Poor initial workmanship or not, likewise premium quality construction materials or otherwise, it is not unreasonable for them to start failing now. How often do you get life time warranties?"

---


Do I like my bathroom now?
Well, I preferred my previous bathroom because it was sleek and beautiful BUT I don't dislike the current fixed bathroom because the work was surely not done shoddily. The officer-in-charge, the surveyor, and down to the contractors and workers were friendly, helpful and professional. Based on all these, I would give 4 out of 5 stars, with one star left out to encourage continued effort to improve.

My hope is that the waterproof membrane will last for 10 years plus plus.

Just a thought.

Updated (20141129)

• HDB ISN'T DOING ANYTHING ABOUT THE LEAKING PIPES IN MY CEILING (TRS, 2 Jan 2014) - I guess it's really difficult to expedite some repair, especially severe leakage that causes drips (if not pour), and it is important to spot the fault early so that immediate action can be taken. Fortunately, the above neighbour cooperated (as according to the contributor). We need to understand that HDB is powerless to compel people to act according to being neighbourliness and responsible because there is no law for HDB to act upon to compel owners to cooperate. It all boils down to being responsible neighbours. For example, in my case, when HDB informed me that my unit was leaking water to my neighbour at lower level, I immediately followed HDB recommendations to repair the leak. It was all done in less than 2 months time. As for my upper level neightbour unit that is causing my ceiling leak, it was difficult for HDB to contact them for several weeks but when HDB did, this neighbour followed the recommendation to fix the bathroom and the expected repair took about 3-4 months time. Considering that repairing leak (plus the paper works) takes longer time, it's always good to spot the fault before it gets bigger. However, there is also a hotline to call HDB in case of emergencies, e.g. ceiling pouring down water overnight instead of drips (e.g. 1800-225-5432 from 8.00am to 5.00pm on Weekdays). I guess we should hope that there is no emergency on weekends... All in all, we should understand that HDB is not superman (who can fix any problems immediately), the importance of being good and responsible neighbours, authorities act within bound of law (and not "common sense"), e.g. HDB don't hand-cuff people because they failed to cooperate.

Digital TV transmission in Singapore

MediaCorp started transmitting free-to-air (FTA) channels in digital format (i.e. the Is and Os) since Dec 2013 using the Digital Video Broadcasting - Second Generation Terrestrial (DVB-T2; previous version being DVB-T) standard. The analog transmission will cease operation once the switch to digital transmission is completed (expected to be around 2016-2020). This blog is just to educate myself about the transition from analog to digital TV reception, especially considering that my TV is not digital TV-integrated. I tried to research on this topic..

The benefit of digital transmission versus analog can be referred to this site (briefly, better resolution and sound quality, unclog/clear the radio-frequency being transmitted in Singapore [for other commercial purposes], richer content [more function for viewers and content provider], et cetera).

What must I do (or what had been done)?

• Digital transmission in Singapore (ready and in progress) can be referred here (MediaCorp). The report is just to show which area is digital TV ready and when will the other region be expected to be ready to receive digital transmission. Transmission is via several radio frequency bands, e.g. VHF III (174-230 MHz), UHF IV (470-606 MHz), and UHF V (606-862 MHz) bands. In Singapore, we will be using UHF IV-V band (e.g. 470-862 MHz).

Fig. Progressive rollout of DTV transmission from 2013-2016 (sourced from MediaCorp)

• What will I need to get to enjoy DTV? A digital TV antenna and also a tuner/converter.

A digital TV antenna (that can bandscan or search VHF and UHF). For example, Philips DTV tuner/antenna (Model SDV1125T/27) that cost USD 15 (output is via coaxial connection). Ebay Singapore produced several hits when search input was "Philips digital TV antenna" and the price range was around SGD 30 and above. The antenna will be connected to a tuner/converter before being fed to the TV.

A digital tuner/converter box with several output connections, e.g. coaxial, S-video (or RCA), HDMI, USB, etc. Things to look out for are support options (aspect ratio, resolution, closed caption, parental control, etc.. A search in Ebay produces an example, e.g. Supersonic SC-58 DTV Digital to Analog Converter box +HDMI Output (1080P) +USB for reference. It cost below USD 50. The output connections for this item are HDMI and RCA (aka A/V jack).


I guess the next step would be to search for an antenna and tuner/converter. In the US, the transition from analog to digital was sponsored by the government, with a "voucher" at USD 40 to get the antenna and converter/tuner. Not sure if Singapore is going to sponsor the transition to digital when the analog transmission is ceased (considering that many household will be affected)? For those who can't wait to enjoy better TV experience, I guess they will be looking for one right now (or had got one). I'm still deciding...


References

• What is DVB-T2 and why should I care? (HardwareZone Sg)
• Radio frequency (wikipedia)

Alzheimer's diease association (ADA) Singapore

Alzheimer's disease association (ADA) Singapore was formed in 1990, and a member of National Council of Social Service (NCSS) and Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI; refer to Wikipedia and official site based in the UK).

ADA is a voluntary welfare organization (VWO; the list of VWO in Singapore by Wikipedia) manned by caregivers (family members with affected member), professionals, and anyone who is interested in dementia.

ADA provides following services & programmes:

• Dementia Day Care (New Horizon Centres)
• Caregiver (by family members) Support Services - the centres are located in Bukit Timah (204, Bukit Timah Rd, #04-00 Boon Liew Building S229863, Tel 67379971, Fax 68367925) and Tiong Bahru (298 Tiong Bahru Rd, #03-01, Central Plaza S168730, Tel 65936440, Fax 65936444). The opening hours are Mon-Fri from 9.00 am until 6.00 pm.
• Research & Publications
• Public Education
• Resource Library
• Safe Return Card
• Volunteering Opportunities

New Horizon Centres (website)

Centres that provide relief for caregivers (family members), increase families' abilities to cope with and continue caring for people with dementia and/or physical disabilities, provide nursing care, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and social activities, and maintain/increase the well being of clients.

At the centre, there is a personalized care (or Individualized Care Plan) as according to individual physical, cognitive and social functioning.

Activities at the centre are occupational therapy & physiotherapy, group and individual exercises & games, reality orientation, sing-along & dancing sessions, reminiscence activities, outings & excursions, and leisure & hobbies.

To apply
Application depends on eligibility, and can be made through the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), hospitals, or general practitioners (GPs). Application forms for referral can be obtained from any of the New Horizon Centres or via ADA website (admission).

Criteria for admission are

• Diagnosis of dementia/related disorders (by qualified doctors)
• Medical condition must be stable & non-infectious
• Mobile/semi-mobile
• Clients with unmanageable disruptive behaviours may be excluded (ineligibility)

Government subsidy
Refer to Ministry of Health (refer to Subsidies for Government-funded Intermediate Long-Term Care Services).

Subsidy for Intermediate and long term care (ILTC) services depends on result of means-testing, which is important to access the amount of subsidy based on gross income and number of family members (for more accurate information, please refer to MOH).

Opening hours for all centres
Mon-Fri from 7.30 am until 6.30 pm

Location of centres and contact details
Bukit Batok
Blk 511 Bukit Batok Street 52,
#01-211 S650511
Tel 65659958
Fax 65652257
email alzheimers.bb@alz.org.sg

Jurong Point
1 Jurong West Central 2,
#04-04 Jurong Point Shopping Centre
S648886
Tel 67901650
Fax 67901521
email alzheimers_jp@alz.org.sg

Toa Payoh
Blk 157, Toa Payoh Lorong 1,
#01-1195
S310157
Tel 63538734
Fax 63538518
email alzheimers.tp@alz.org.sg

Tampines
Blk 362, Tampines Street 34,
#01-377
S520362
Tel 67865373
Fax 67849587
email alzheimers.tm@alz.org.sg

For volunteers
To register or get more information, please contact ADA Volunteering Coordinator by
Tel 67379971
email adahq@alz.org.sg

To donate
Write a cheque payable to
Alzheimer's Disease Association
Mailing address: Blk 157, Toa Payoh Lorong 1,
#01-1195, S310157

You can also donate essential items to Day Care Centres, such as groceries, toiletries, or sponsorship for outings, festive celebrations etc.

Purchases that support ADA funding
There are resource books (in different languages), CD on memory games, and handicrafts items available for purchase that will add fund to the ADA coffer. For e-purchases, visit www.alz.org.sg.

The information here was procured from a brochure sent by ADA. For more updated information, please visit their official site at http://alz.org.sg/.

Community Mediation Centre (CMC) Singapore

CMC is under the Community Mediation Unit of Ministry of Law Singapore. CMC provides community mediation services to minimize conflict and promote a more harmonious, civil and gracious society.

CMC
100 High Street, #03-02, The Treasury, S179434
Tel: 63251600
Fax: 62279201
Email: mlaw_hq_cmc@mlaw.gov.sg
Website: http://www.cmc.gov.sg

Opening hours
Mon-Thu 8.30 am until 6 pm
Fri 8.30 am until 5.30 pm
Sat 8.30 am until 1 pm

An administrative fee of SGD 5.00 is applicable for complainant.
To register your case, you can either:

• call hotline at 63251600
• register online at www.cmc.gov.sg, or
• email at mlaw_hq_cmc@mlaw.gov.sg

When the case is reviewed by CMC staff and deemed suitable for mediation, a notification letter will be sent to the other party (respondent to the complaint) for mediation. When the respondent accepts, a date will be arranged for mediation. If the respondent refuse, the complainant will be notified (and the case closed). That means alternative course of action by complainant.

For more information, visit CMC site or contact CMC staff.

Battery recycling effort in Singapore

There isn't any battery recycling need in Singapore because the importation of primary batteries (non-recyclable) has been restricted to the lowest possible content of toxic metal such as mercury. See two articles giving great explanation of the scenario in Singapore and also how we can do to minimize wastage and pollution. (1) recycling batteries in Singapore, (2) Efforts to recycle batteries - part II.

Lithium ion batteries from phones and notebooks are recycled in Singapore but the collection centers are available only at certain areas. Lithium is toxic and a teratogen. However, the material safety data sheet (MSDS) pertaining to lithium ion battery states that teratogenicity and  reproductive toxicity are "not anticipated". I could mean that no data is available and no toxicity is expected, or preliminary data shown that toxicity is not anticipated, or preliminary data on animal shows no anticipated toxicity in human.

My main problem with batteries is that some are prone to leaks. The leaked fluid often damages sensitive gadgets. Although the content of batteries is stated as non-toxic, but there is always a possibility that certain individuals will be susceptible to allergic reaction to the content.

I have tried Duracell batteries (Made in China) that leaked afterwards and damaged my mouse. I have tried Panasonic batteries (Made in Thailand) that also leaked and tainted the stroller fan. I bet most batteries out there are prone to leakage.

So far, I have not experienced leaky recyclable batteries. It seemed that the exterior of these batteries are different from primary batteries (non-recyclable; they are recyclable up to 10 times with certain charger).

Different types of tiles in Singapore

Google is disappointment in this topic too. Sigh, probably lack of data to show.

What I wanted to know

1. Different types of tiles
2. What are the material that made up these tiles
3. Comparing the performance of each tile, or the pro and con of these tiles

I've got one blogger who provided a good answer to my query, "Home Memory" blog and the types of tiles (Laminate, homogenous, granite, parquet, teak, marble, ceramic), and the pros and cons. Parquet is a flooring design made of wood, whereas a teak is a wood derived from evergreen tree (Tectona grandis) of southeast Asia. Therefore, parquet is a process whereas teak is the material. Similarly, don't confuse with mosaic with tiles. Mosaic is a process that uses materials other than tiles.


Types of tiles
Homogenous(or homogeneous) tile
Man-made tile composed of uniform materials (no information regarding the material used), and considered to be as tough as granite (coarse-grained, light-coloured, hard igneous rock [composed of quartz, orthoclase/microline, and mica]).

Marble tile (not to be confused with marble toy)
Durable, but weaker than homogenous and granite tiles. Marble tiles can be porous (even though after polished or honed) and coloured liquid can easily stain marble tiles. In addition, constant acid (such as lime juice) exposure will corrode marble tile (but not to worry because it could be repaired with cost).

Compressed marble
Not as durable as homogenous tiles. The compression might not be as efficient as nature intended.


Granite tile
Granite is hardest stone used for flooring, but can be slippery if not well maintained.

Ceramic tile (not homogenous)
Low cost, not durable (if in constant contact that could cause cracks) and hence not advisable for flooring. It is made of red clay and glazed with surface coating.



Pricing
Got it from Forum
Thanks to yoongf for the input in a forum estimating the price of different tiles (minus workmanship and other materials; which can markup the price 20% to 80%).

• Real Marble approximately SGD 12 per square foot (psf), 
• Compressed Marble approximately SGD 9 psf, 
• Homogenous Glossed approximately SGD 3.50 psf. 

Note that 1 psf is roughly 30 x 30 square cm (or exactly 929.0304 square centimeters). 


I will continue the blog once I visit the showroom and compare the prices for homogenous tiles. I'm looking for textured homogenous tiles.