asoon88

Well, burning of joss sticks is an everyday thing. Joss papers is for special occasions...once a month on average except during the seventh month. The issue is, I am the one giving in to their "rude" panty hanging display every other day. I don't hang anything outside the corridor, burn anything or place used furniture outstide either. I am probably the perfect neighbour for those who like their common space empty. However, early this morning, I snapped ! Two women were talkng under my block's void deck at 2.30am. They were loud enough to wake me up from my sleep. It is not the first them that they have talked at this hour. I put on my T-shirt, went downstairs and shouted at them, " Hey, what time is it already ? Both of you jolly well go somewhere else to talk before I call the police ! There are people sleeping upstairs !" Both of them apologetically mumbled "solly, solly". I don't know these two women and I cannot see their faces clearly as I did not wear my glasses. I dare do what I did because I don't know them. However, with my neighbour, I will take the advice some have offered me on this thread and raise the matter when the opportunity arise.

I have worked in various companies over the past 20-odd years and this is what I see: Women who are pregnant and let go by their bosses usually have themselves to blame. You probably have heard of the army term "keng". Yes, many of these women I have come across are usually under this category even before they got pregnant. Bosses are not blind. They know who are the ones working and who are the ones just cruising along. However, to fire them because of their pregnancy is a poor excuse. My advice to women and to their male colleagues : Do your work properly and contribute to the success of your company. Don't complain about a heavy work load and doing nothing about it because the time spent complaining can actually be used to clear your in-tray documents awaiting processing. These are real situations that I have encountered personally. Such people deserves the sack whether pregnant or not.

These flying ants are attracted to light. Pour water into a low height pail (those that you use in your kitchen wash basin) and raise it near the light. The insects will all go into the water and drown. They head there because of the light reflection. Do this and you should have at least 1/2 hour or more to have a decent dinner before they come back again. These insects usually come out because of the wet weather recently.

I feel sorry for you but as owners, we should not be too trusting with contractors. I did not use NWI. However, their company men came over to my house to do the demolition work. Many IDs & Contractors tend to share resources by sub-contracting jobs when they do not have the expertise or manpower to handle the workload. I did not question my ID about NWI because I knew that's how they work. They always say it is their own people when it is not. Anyway, it's a tough job hacking tiles/bricks and removing the debris. I never fail to give each man from NWI I see working, $10, as a reward for a hard day's work so that they can buy dinner or a beer. They appreciate my generousity and do a good job. Other than demolition and cleaning work, the remainder of my reno works were by other agencies.

Thanks coldflamex & forgotten for the comments ! We didn't bring this up directly with our neighbour becauses my sister-in-law also had this problem with her neighbour. She brought the matter up about bras & panties hanging along the common corridor facing her study room window. Guess what ? It erupted into a tit-for-tat incident that the town council had to intervene. I don't understand why women like to antagonise another over a simple problem. Yes, the neighbour can hang her undies inside the house but perferred to do so outside. My sis-in-law is the type that sees red easily when such things happen. I guess, I will have to tell my neighbour tactfully one day.....I am thinking of using my aged mother when she visits me the next time ! Her tongue is sharp enough to probably cut the undies to shreds.

Your quote looks quite standard amongst contractors and ID firms that I have come across. Do insist on using premium paint (3 in 1 type) for item 26. They normally give you the cheapest or mid-range paint from Nippon or ICI. As it is almost $25K w/o electrical works, your contractor should oblige. The other thing is item 29, insist on a Maxden cockcroach-proof/odour-proof chute. What the contractor is giving you is just a SS chute. Cockcroaches and smell will come in. The Maxden chute plus labour usually costs $450. I know because I installed it in my home and my mother's.

My neighbour is Taoist. They pray and offer joss incense outside the common corridor regularly. I am not bothered too much because it is their religious practice. Despite having ash flying into my house at times and the occasion burnt smokey odour, I have learnt to bear with the pollution. They staying in a large flat (EA) but they still hang their laundry outside their flat on the common corridor. I have no problems with that too. However, what I cannot understand and disgusted is that they like to hang panties and underwear facing in the direction of my main door ! When I was a boy, my mother used to nag and remind my sisters to wash their panties separately from the main laundry and hang it away from sight if possible. It is definitely a red card if the panty is hung on the bamboo pole above one's head. Even today, I tell my girls not to display their washed undies indiscriminately. However, my neighbour is doing completely opposite what I have known since young. I have bump into my neighbour's wife a few times whilst she was hanging her laundry. How do you tell a female not to hang her undies facing my door direction ? Even my wife finds it awkward to tell her in the face for fear of making them think we are petty. I thought women should have known this from their own mothers with regards to their undies ? Any female forumers want to advise me what I should do ?

Don't try if you are talking about the whole room. Get a professional. Small patches or lines is OK to DIY. I am quite a DIY person and I must say people who do plastering really got kang-hu ! I wanted to learn brick laying, tiling and plastering in Singapore from any ITE but apparently they don't offer such courses any more. It was offered back in the 70s & 80s. No wonder no Singaporean joins the construction industry, no one has the skills !!

It is up to you. If you are comfortable with his services and willing to pay his comm, no one is stopping you. However, if you want to save some money, as you mentioned, you can do everything yourself. Just don't sign anything with him. He will not be happy. It is typical of agents trying to cream both sides.

Yes, I have been buying & using display sets all along except TVs. Stretches your dollar ! No point wasting money on extended warranties because it is all psychological. Get a good branded display set. Electricals are not meant to last forever. If the equipment can last more than 5 years w/o breaking down, it is money well spent.

I have used Whirlpool's Washer cum Dryer for 4 years before it kaput ! I am now using LG's Direct Drive Washer - 7 years and counting already. My advice : Better to buy washer w/o dryer function because in Singapore's weather, having a dryer doesn't really help. In fact, your clothes get damage faster if you use a dryer regularly. The other thing is the smell that permeates into the clothes because of the heating element.

I think you made a wise choice. Better to settle into your resale flat, get the flat done up and take things one at a time. If you take up a new job now, you will be worrying about many things at the same time. The 3 year rule should not affect you at all if you are not hard pressed to sell it off by that time. If you intend to sell it, you will lose money because the future gain minus the present price you paid will be very small. That's the reality of staying in JW. Prices move very, very slowly.

The prices indicated are within market rates. For installation of celiing fan w/lights, only one main switch is needed. The light controls are activated from a pull lever dangling from the centre of the fan. For your second query, they are asking you whether you want to have a 3-gang rocker switch in a single box or 3 separate single rocker switch in 3 separate boxes. Electricians charge for anything additional unless they tell you otherwise.

Actually, all cooking hoods are the same. You need to clean them regularly if you want them to perform...minus the oily smell. FYI, the higher the air-flow rate, the noiser it will be. So if you chose Delizia, it maybe noiser than your household vacuum cleaner.

I think it is true. I am using both LPG & Citygas (because I got one built-in hob and a standalone all-in-one oven). When I boil water, I noticed that my Union LPG does boil my water faster than with CityGas. As far as cost is concerned, it is about the same.

Before you decide to use storage-type of water heater, consider how many people are living in your home. Many people whose house I have visited only have two people staying. Husband and wife. Why do you need a storage type water heater ? In one of my earlier threads, I have mentioned that unless your household have 6 or more people, having an instant water heater will suffice. It consumes less power and water. No ugly tank above your head ! If you intend to use gas water heater, piping is required. Don't expect to put a LPG tank in your bathroom to heat up the water !

Toilet reno usually cost between $2.5K ~ $3.9K depending on choice of tiles used. Mine was $2.8K including hacking.

It depends on whether the HDB officer classify it as a pre-existing condition or not. Contractors are a bunch of people that often use "warranty" to give you peace of mind about their worksmanship before renovations. However, when it comes to problems like this, such as leakage, finger pointing is the norm. My advise is to redo your toilet again, hacking out new + pre-existing tiles, do a good waterproofing layer and lay new tiles. At least the contractor can make sure that repairs below your unit is up to the mark. HDB officer can then do an inspection again. To cover your backside, perhaps you can get the contractor to prepare a document so that your neighbour can sign off upon satisfactory work done conforming to HDB standards. Since they need to pay partial, it will be for their own good.

Sadly, you will have to bear some responsibility when it comes to any complaints from the neighbour below you concerning leakage. It is best that you get your neighbour to contact HDB so that a technical officer can go over and inspect the complaint. Cost is shared, usually 50/50. So your neighbour cannot assume that they pay nothing to repair the damages.

You know, how I wished selling and buying property can be happy events ! My agent deliberately kept away families that did not meet his COV requirement. He was asking people for $40K COV. I told him that as long as people were willing to meet my target price which was $25K less than his expected COV, I would be willing to sell my flat. I was very tired entertaining families that viewed my flat for over a month. One evening, one of his colleague brought a family over to view my flat. He's a first-timer and came with his parents. His father liked my unit very much and asked how much I was selling for. He was surprised at my price and agreed it was a good buy. I knew that evening I was able to close the sale. His son later told me about his cash situation and offered me a COV half of my original. Just then, my agent called me to say he was rushing back from camp and to settle the case for me. It was already 9.30pm. He arrived at about 10.15pm and told the family that my price was Valuation+$40K COV !! I was very embarrassed. I had already agreed to sell him the flat at the lowered price and he made me looked like a fool ! I would like to sell my house to someone that I can connect, just like yourself. However, I wasn't so lucky on the buying part but managed to get the seller's agent to play alongside me to get him out.

When a court decision is made to have the assets liquidated on the open market upon reaching a divorce settlement, emotions have to be put aside. My seller was a divorce case. He wanted to delay the 2nd appt as late as possible so that he had an extra 3 weeks to stay and look for alternative accommodations. I rejected him outright infront of the HDB officer during our 1st appt. His ex-wife didn't protest either. He backtracked on his word that he would move out before the 2nd appt during the OTP. Anyway, I made my agent chase him out of his house by the eve of the 2nd appt. I stood across the road from a distance and witnessed him scurrying his things onto the lorry.

Hi Plastic3, Thanks for sharing ! I attended a real estate course myself 10 years ago. I paid the course fee to the agency but turn down their offer to refund me the money since I did not join them as an agent. I told the CEO that the amount should help defray the cost of refreshments and materials supplied. People tell me that I can do property but I turn them down. What irked me was the way some 'lies' had to be told in the selling process inorder to sell houses and close deals ! This was a big No-No for me because we are talking about collecting a 2% commission from day-day folks. Lying = 2%. Don't lie , no 2%. Probably that was why almost all agents who bumped into me last year (when I sold my house and bought another) had a hard time dealing with me because I know my stuff. I am not against anyone being an agent of some organisation. What I want to impress upon real estate agents is that the 1% ~ 2% they get is easy money. The time spent on the job, transport and associated costs does not even hit 10% of the 1% commission in many instances. This is unlike the example of a mover. People need movers because no one will buy a lorry to move house and later sell off the lorry. Being a mover requires manpower and that equals money. However, how much do we pay movers for the strenuous 2 ~ 4 hour job ? Probably 20% of the 1% commission paid to a real estate agent. See the difference in work done vs money paid ? I would say real estate agents are worth their buck if they charge like what lawyers or doctors charge. Time base or symptom base consultancy /treatment fee. That way, it is more equitable. Only sincere, honest agents will remain offering tip-top service in industry. By the way, I don't have a cushy job. My income is irregular because the company's cashflow is not good. However, my colleagues and I are cracking our heads every day to find new prospects local and overseas. We make computer systems for hospitality industry which are entirely designed and manufactured by ourselves.

The list of people in this world not worth trusting...especially in the Singapore context are as follows :- i) Grassroot leaders/Govt officials ii) Insurance agents iii) Property agents iv) Your Boss I have given up hope as far as (i) is concerned. I would have tied insurance and property agents in the no. 2 spot but decided that insurance should be no. 2 since many sell things that they do not understand themselves ! Property agents...they are a bunch of people that make easy money out of innocent people who need a roof over their head. Many have a good education background in engineering, business and social sciences. They take the easy option in life by taking other people's money by producing nothing. When I saw my DWG agent's photo recently in the ST's big advertisement being the top 50 producers, I asked my wife, what did this guy do for us ? The answer : Nothing much. After paying him $6K for agent fees, I told myself never to pay another person for a simple job that I could do myself. We learn from our mistakes and I advise forumers to follow HDB clear guidelines and sell/buy the flats themselves. Save the money for the renovations. To the property agents reading this : Go and get yourself a real job !

If you are moving house on your own, just visit your nearby provision shop and asked for the unwanted cartons meant for diapers, milkpowder or soap. These cartons are light and good enough to be carried by one person for packing your clothes,etc. After use, I returned back to my provision shop two MPV loads of cartons since my wife promised them. If you are engaging movers, they will provide the cartons FOC since you need to return them after use.

My advice is to buy a Japanese branded fridge, Made-in-Japan, if budget permits. Made in Thailand is also worth considering. My first fridge was Frigedaire now known as Fisher & Paykel. The fridge kaput after 6 years. I bought a Sharp - Made in Thailand fridge after refusing to pay the $300 premium for a same model but Made-in-Japan. It has been more than twelve years already and it is still cold and works like new. I hear from my Korean friends that between Samsung & LG, the latter is highly regarded in Korea. I have an LG direct drive washing machine for the last 7 years, other than the water pump replacement, no major issues. In fact, this is my longest lasting machine that I have used. My first washing machine was Italian- Castor, followed by Whirlpool. Both did not last because of major mechanical failure even after repairs.