Declare income to receive workfare bonus

'Singaporeans eligible for the Workfare Bonus Scheme(WBS) must declare their income by June 30 in order to receive their second and final portion of the bonus, said the Ministrhy of Manpower yesterday.' Anyone declaring?

Labour force survey or means testing?

I just completed the survey online and it still took me more than half an hour to complete it. But that is not the main issue. What I find disgusting are the questions. They are intrusive to the privacy and confidentiality of a person. It is as good as a means testing. With the data asked, there is no longer any need for means testing. They want to know how many TVs you owned and what type. Are they going to start a manufacturing plant for TVs? Luckily it stopped short of asking how many marbles I have. But they already know the answer. Two of course. And how many trips I made to Batam? Another lucky question they never asked. How much do we value our privacy and how much can the ministry be allowed to ask in the name of a national survey? Unfortunately, the game is that they can ask anything if they want to. And the law says that you must comply or else.

The disappointing big debate.

I was eagerly waiting for the opportunity to be enlightened by the two learned counsels and their great debate. I thought for once the little earthlings will have a chance to witness the best from the best legal minds arguing their cases in the court of the people. The debate, should it take off, will be fairly judged by the people without any favouritism. I thought, if one wrote a page, the reply would come in 3 pages. And the counter reply will be 9 pages and so on. The issues in question will definitely be given a fair hearing and everyone will become wiser. Unfortunately there was no debate. The match stopped at round one and lights were switched off.

NKF story - Is Durai a nice man?

I have to address this issue after Matilah got so worked up by my posts. Would anyone say that Durai is not a nice man? He has good look, charm, he is charismatic, intelligent, position and power and a maverick. How many supertalents in Singapore can stand near him and look good? And physically he is simply tall, dark and handsome. He could be a movie star. He must have a lot of secret admirers too. But his being nice must be matched by the company he keeps. He has friends everywhere who admire and worship him. And his friends are not the ordinary illiterate and ignorant Ah Kow or Muthu or Ahmad. His friends are all the who's who in Singapore. Anyone who is not nice and attractive and celebrated will not have such luminaries as friends. And not that he has no friends at the lower levels. All his staff and colleagues were mesmerised by him. They regarded him like god. Then the beneficiaries of his organisation, they will kiss his feet. Now, is that enough to convince anyone that Durai is a nice man?

Just another thought

If I were to buy a few properties, I will definitely have to rely on the expertise and professional knowledge of my property agents, bank officers and conveyancing lawyers to make sure that the deal will get through without any complications. Will I be buying a property from someone having trouble with the law and on the verge of being made a bankrupt? I may, without all the knowledge of how such a situation could affect my purchase. But my property agent, or my conveyancing lawyer will definitely do their due diligence and advise me to stay clear of such properties. That is the least I will expect for the money I am going to pay. And if I will to go to the bank to arrange for a loan for the purchase, the bank officer will very likely not approve of such a loan. And the approval may also take quite some time for such a big loan. There will be a lot of checks and approvals along the way. Buying several properties will probably take several months for all the professional people to do their checks. Would my conveyancing lawyer encourage me to buy such properties even at dirt cheap prices?