Parenting

NTUC Cashier Break Time

NTUC operations department must ensure that part time cashier are given break time according to their work time. NTUC@Admiralty sometimes do not give break to part time cashiers who have work for 6 hours. When the outlet are busy, no break was given to the part time cashier except for toilet break.

This is a violation of work practices. Most company will give workers 15 minutes of rest for every 4 hours work. NTUC Supermarket should understand this and should not abuse the system and allowed a worker to work beyond 5 hours without a break. This is mainly the problem with the management of the NTUC Outlet as it is not within the control of NTUC headquarters.

CNY Pasar Malam at Bishan

Bishan East has organized one of the biggest Pasar Malam for the Chinese New Year Celebration. It has bought excitement to the community as it provide another alternative other than Chinatown for shopping for your Chinese New Year.

But you will be disappointed if you have visited the Pasar Malam as many stalls are vacant with less than 7 days to CNY. One of the exhibition hall was empty without any stalls. There is not much excitement as compare with the ChinaTown Bazaars.

Lunar New Year Pasar Malam@Bishan
29 January - 28 February 2010
Open Space opposite the Bishan Interchange(Bishan Place)

Fun and Games Ride
If you are bringing your kids for the game rides and games, visit the place after 6PM where it will be cooling. Lots of game rides and games for your kids to choose. Watch out for your wallet.

Getting There
You may use public transportation and alight at Bishan MRT or Bishan Interchange. If you are driving your car, there are ample parking space within the vicinity. There are many multi storey car park and you get to park for free on Sunday. Try to avoid Bishan Place or you maybe stuck in a traffic jam since it is a single lane especially on weekends.

NTUC Part Time Cashier Experience

My wife has rejoin the work force by joining NTUC Supermarket as a part time cashier. But her experience as a NTUC Cashier was disappointing. She work part time for 6 hours and she was not given a 15 mins break except toilet break. She went through the 6 hours without meal except for the food taken before start of work.

NTUC should be a role model for the industry and should take care of cashiers standing at their tills. Would our Singapore Minister stand at NTUC Supermarket cashier tills for 4 hours without a small break.

Efforts must also be made to take care of our workers if we except them to be more productive. European staff are given 15 mins break regardless on whether your are full or part time staff.

OPC Drive on Weekends

OPC Scheme has been improvished and drivers will be able to drive on Weekends. That means you can use your car on both Saturday and Sundays. In addition, you can use your car on the Eve of the five holidays. But you have opt in the scheme or u will still be in the Existing OPC Scheme.

OPC users need to pay S$100 for a one time administration charge to opt in the scheme. They will be able to pay this fee from 21 Jan 2010 at AXS Stations or online at One Motoring Website.

But there is also a disadvantage to the scheme as tax disounts will be reduce from S$800 to S$500. If you are on the old scheme, you will still pay S$50 road tax for a 1.6L car. The road tax will cost approxmately $245 for the new OPC Scheme.

But it is still worth it to cross to the new OPC scheme as you can drive freely for the whole Saturday. No more waiting till 3PM or pay S$20 if you want to use before 3PM.

Renew OPC Car Road Tax

I have come out this checklist to ensure that you have done it correctly in order for you to renew your OPC Car Road Tax.

Step 1
Source for your best insurance quotes and purchase the motor car insurance. NTUC Income is probably one of the most affordable motor insurer.

Step 2
Go to a Vehicle Inspection Centre to do your number plate inspection(OPC Cars). In addition, you may need to do a vehicle inspection if necessary.

Step 3
Get the Number Plate Inspection Certificate and Vehicle Inspection Report(if necessary) together with your new insurance cover to renew your road tax. This can be done at all LTA approve vehicle inspection centre.

It is as easy as 123 to renew your OPC Car  Road Tax.

Visit One Motoring for more details>>>

Singapore School Holidays in 2010

The Singapore School Holidays 2010 has been released and you can made use of these to plan for your holidays or any other things.

School Holidays for 2010
Semester 1
Term 1 Break : 13 March 2010 to 21 March 2010
Term 2 Break: 29 May 2010 to 27 June 2010

Semester 2
Term 3 Break: 4 September 2010 to 12 September 2010
Term 4 Break: 20 November 2010 to 31 December 2010

Schedule School Holidays
Youth Day: *4 July 2010(Sunday)
Day after National Day; 10 August 2010(Tuesday)
Teachers´ Day : 1 september 2010(Wednesday)
Children´s Day: 1 October 2010(Friday)
*The following Monday will be a scheduled school holiday.
#For Primary Schools students only.

Long Weekend for Families
National Day Holiday
Enjoy a long weekend on Singapore National Day where your kids will be off from 7 August 2010(Saturday) to 10 August 2010(Tuesday). But you need to take leave as 10 August 2010 and is a schedule school holiday only. But if you working in MOE Schools then you are probably excluded from taking leave since school are not opened.

For Singapore Public Holidays 2010, please visit the Ministry of Manpower Official Release Dates by clicking here>>>

Fuelsave 95/98 Promotion

Celebrate the launch of new Shell FuelSave 98 and 95 at just $1 (nett) per litre for a limited time! Hurry, this offer is valid between 10 am and 6 pm only on 24 October 2009. Experience the benefits of the new Shell FuelSave at your nearest participating Shell station and get the most out of every drop!

All Shell Stations are participating in the promotion except except Shell Pasir Panjang 328, Shell Sin Ming and Shell Upper Bukit Timah PIE.

Renouncing Your Malaysian Citizenship in Singapore

My wife will be going to renounce her Malaysian Citizenship in Singapore at Jervois Road. You will need to be at the embassy before 8AM and get a queue number. They only process a limited number of applications per day.

All documents (except Form K) must be accompanied with 2 photocopies. Ensure you bring all the necessary documents and photocopies for the application procedure.

Here’s what you need to bring with you:

1. Passport
2. I/C (Singapore & Malaysian)
3. Birth Cert (laminated)
4. Singapore Certificate of Citizenship
5. Expired (or not expired) Malaysian passports
6. Original Form K, which is Yellow.
7. 3 recent passport-sized photos (blue or white background)
8. SGD$6

Documents Needed for RENUNCIATION OF MALAYSIAN CITIZENSHIP>>>

There are some Malaysians who cannot have the patience to wait up to 5 months for the whole procedure to complete. They cross the Causeway to speed up the process.
Read this blog to find out more>>>

Singapore Citizenship Approval Letter
The approval letter is valid for eight months. But the RENUNCIATION OF MALAYSIAN CITIZENSHIP is going to take at least 5 to 8 months. The approval letter can be extended if you need more than 8 months by booking the Oath Date

You need to book the Oath Date through their e-site and the approval letter valid will auto-extended. The web site to make the oath booking is under Citizen Registration.
https://eappointment.ica.gov.sg/ibook/index.do
** you only  able to change 3 times and no more.

Camera Phones in Army Camp

Singapore Army Camps has restricted the use of camera phones in the camp for security purposes. But this is the most easily breach rules as many people own camera phones. Reservists, vendors, suppliers and even permanent staff still think of ways to smuggle the gadget in as a non camera phone does not fit into their lifestyle . Reservists has nowadays mostly use a non camera phone when they visit the camp for in camp training. They understand the camp security is strict and you will be subject to check when walking through the camp security.

But security will be more lax if u drive in by vehicles as it is impossible for the security to check every vehicles entering the camp. Personnel driving in can easily escape the check. I saw a EMart Staff using an iPhone when I visit the EMart for my stuffs. This is one of the way some external vendors has beat the security of the camp.

Another people which is most likely to break the rule is the permanent staff of the army camp. They understand how the security works and will find some ways to get the gadget in. You can easily find army staff using high tech camera phones like iPhone, Sony Ericsson Cyber Shot, Sony Ericsson WalkMan Phones, Window Mobile Phones on MRT after their work.

Army Security has been very tight nowadays and so my advise is not to challenge the rule. It breaks your wallet if you are found with a camera phone in the camp. Do not be influence by the personnel who have manage to get the gadgets into the army camp. You may be able to bring camera phones in the near future as the government committee is discussing on this topic.

Off Peak Car full day usage on Saturday

Changes to make off- peak car scheme more attractive@CNA