zirhk3355

You mean drink beer/wine free? Cuz u quoted that part... If there are only a few kids then I guess everyone will be ok to waive the charges for kids lor... Small problem, my friend! Main thing now is attendance!

Yes, the maximum loan repayment period is 65 years minus your age or 30 years, whichever is shorter.

No more "normal" loan from HDB; they had sub it out to private banks liao a few years ago. HDB only has concessionary loans at 2.6%.

Of course is BYO! But that day will be a good day for me to let go some of my wines...

Ya, same here! Bonus, what bonus...??

Well can be worked out lah. Those who are keen/able to cook then no need to pay for the food lor, maybe just share for the yu sheng, which won't be much anyway...

Hi guys Made a few calls on Saturday to some of you, managed to settle the date on 15th Feb 08, Friday, evening instead. Suggest that since its a Friday evening and difficult for people to potluck, we could order food from some catering plus yu-sheng, budget at $15/pax (enough? Too much? Pl comment). Also, the final thing to confirm is the venue; any volunteers?? If not and if you guys don't mind, we can have it at my place. All comments welcome! And please if you are a quiet 'onlooker' staying at our estates and reading all these, this is a good opportunity for you to come out and meet us lah! No shy, no shy!! CNY Lou Hei 2008 Date/Time: 15th Feb 08, Evening Venue: (TBC) Budget: $15/pax (Ok??) Attendance List: 1. Armani and Wifey (2 x adults) 2. jule & hubby (2 x adults) 3. sakae sushi & family (2 x adults, 1 x child) 4. Cartoon Wayne (1 x adults) 5. zirhk3355 & wifey (2 x adults) 6. vineyard & wifey (2 x adults) tentatively, will give early warning if cannot make it 7. skyspectrum & family (?? adults, ?? child) Pl update 8. Enalyze & wifey (2 x adults) 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

I think the water pressure knob is just a gauge/stopper to restrict the flow of the water. So if temp is the same, lesser water flow thru the heating element, the output will be hotter lor. Very simple way of working, actually...

Erm not going to type alot this time, otherwise this thread will be very heavy. About standard of living, I did have my fair share of travelling to both fairer and worse countries, but in general I found that other places, their people have a CHOICE. For us, whether we run to Tuas or Changi or Woodlands, we still cannot stay out from the rat race. Like one of my foreign friend said, Singapore is a nice place, very stable economy, structured systems, etc, but nobody wants to grow old here. Your comparison is income is apt, because it shows that without income, there is really nothing else you can rely on. Dun need stress; u need abit of bossing the workers around, just give me a call...hehe...

Ok, onz! Ur reno start liao??

Its true that most of the units were taken up, but not 100%, maybe like 99%. Why still got leh?? Hmmz, tell you over kopi lah - post too much really will increase my blood pressure...cannot... !! Eh, so where's our kopi?? I think ah, kopi already become kopi-peng already...

ya, want to burst my artery liao...haha... Well for me its ok lor, no need to cash top-up or whatever, but as you mentioned 'our children', that's made me really worried. What is going to happen to them...? Hmmz better go talk to my immigration agent soon... !!

True case in point; my parents bought a 3-rm flat at $24K in 1993. They sold the flat at $122K in 1999. 400% increase within 6 years. I think all of us were around during this period; has our standard of living really increased by 400% since 1993? If my children were to be writing the same as what I had written, then it means my flat now can sell at $1.4mil in 2013 (400% increase in 6 years). Possible...? Thus its not just the standard of living that has increased, but the market (demand and supply) had pushed up the prices of the HDB flat. But instead of solving the problem at the root (ie restricting high resale prices), HDB chose to raise their new flats' prices and impose levies so that people like my parents will not profit anymore when they sell the flats. For awhile it SEEMED to have solved the problem; yes we really cannot profit anymore and HDB is in control of the prices. But in the long run (ie now), we are seeing the ill-effects where young couples cannot hardly afford their new flats. It was crazy for anyone to take a 30-yr loan during my parents' time, but today its very common, plus some of us even have to pay cash top-up monthly. So really, the situation is not the same as the past anymore... And the key is, while we can no longer earn money from selling our flats, the HDB is profiteering themselves. The same flat (in our estate) selling for $400K during the first ballot is now $520K, or a 30% increase within a year. For what reason?? Its anyone's guess...

Always felt that public housing should not be made to fluctuate together with the market, because it is, after all, for the public. In the past, public housing prices were kept very low, like $20K for a 3-rm flat, so that everyone can afford it. However, the resale of the flats were not restricted and open to negotiation between sellers and buyers. We start to see alot of people selling their flats at high prices then come back to HDB to get a similiar flat for fraction of their selling price, thus making a huge profit just by moving house. So in order discourage profiteering, the govt decided to raise the price of their new flats and implemented levies. However, that had worsened the problem in two ways, 1. young new buyers cannot afford better housing, and 2. the resale prices of HDB flats are pushed up even higher! Had the govt been sincere in tackling the issue of profiteering, they would have restricted the HDB resale prices, maybe say, resale price cannot be more than the buying price + accrued mortgage interest paid. In this way, the selling price would be controlled and the govt can continue to offer cheaper new flats. But alas, HDB being a privatised organization now, they have P&L to answer to. That the people are profiteering becomes a good excuse for them to move and implementing high prices, on the pretext of curbing profiteering, PLUS reaping more income for themselves. So kill two birds' with one stone lor. In the end, yes we are not able to profit from selling flats like our fathers' time, the problem of profiteering is solved. But at who's expense? Ours!! The tables are now turned on us and HDB becomes the one profiteering instead.

One to adjust the temperature, one to adjust water pressure. Just try them out lor, its not a mystery de...

But isn't that like developers?? Got soft launch, then 1st phase, 2nd phase, etc. Its really not fair that the govt is taking adv of the property price increases to earn more. Hmmz, suddenly the boon keng DBSS is doesn't seem so ex when compared to ours... Well, not that I am complaining, because as current owners, new flat's prices go up means our flat's value also go up mah!

No numbers, please. All volunteers same same...hehe... anymore??

Wow, glad to have someone to share the same idea! For participation, its a chicken and egg story. If we have alot of goodies inside, eg members will get 10% off at sheng siong, you think people will participate or not? But on sheng siong side, if we do not have that many members to let them earn a reasonable profit, will they give that 10% discount?? Just like business lor, it takes time to build up, marketing and creating awareness. But the problem I always see in such initiatives is always the committee itself; being unpaid 'workers', they are only driven by passion. However, there will always been demanding people asking for this and that, so it will act on the committee's morals, 'chi li bu tao hao', eventually the committee members start to drop out and the whole thing will degenerate. Thus, its impt to establish a group of volunteers who are keen on the idea, passionate and will not be easily demoralised by unwanted comments/remarks. Any, erm...volunteers?? Hehe...

Yes you can cancel anytime you want. However, unless you have written inside the sales agreement that "to be void and null in case of loanshark harassment", you probably won't have any recourse to claim damages. In fact, the seller might have a case AGAINST YOU for cancelling the deal without a VALID reason. His arguments could be: 1. No black and white agreement that you would not buy if there's loanshark harassment, or 2. The loanshark never came before and this time they came to the wrong unit, or 3. When seller moves away, he will inform the loanshark, so this is a separate issue and cannot affect the resale of my flat. You might be able to rebutt Point 1 by saying there is a verbal agreement, but for Point 2 & 3, you won't have any arguments unless you can get the loanshark to testify in court that he will continue to harass you as the new owner. Thus you might have a weak case here, pl be careful and consult your lawyer first. Also if an agent is involved, please expose his/her name here and complain to the agency. Such agents need to be wack thorough thorough one... For your reno, aircon and bank loan, do try to negotiate and see if can use for your next flat. Good luck!

Eh, I didn't say you leh?? Why so sensitive?? Haha...got bedframe never mind, we all can help you dismantle, move it out and set up the table for food. But after that huh, assemble back is on your own...haha...

OIC - thanks! So if I want to paste until my windows black black is ok right? Hehe... Haiz, HDB and its thousands of regulations...really quite irritating at times; somemore not confirm one, change all the time! Several years back, my parents' old flat wanted to put sliding doors instead of lourves as they will air-con the whole unit, but not allowed. Then after one year, our neighbours got approval to put liao, HDB changed regulations.

Yeah, don't you find it amazing about how the guy missed the opportunity to know the girl, who had moved to Boston, then took so much efforts to find the girl in vain, and in the end took a long shot to see if he could send the camera back to her with his phone number. Morale of the story: Grab every opportunity; it may be too late if you wait and dilly-dally... ...especially when comes to wooing girls...

Actually we had toyed with the idea of putting up notices in the lifts, but guess people would probably not be very happy about so many ads, not forgetting the notices would probably be lost amist all the other commercial ads and flyers. Can also start a website, call something like www.88tanglin.com or something, where it can become a portal for all residents to use, be it for products, services, merchants, activities like gatherings, BBQs, etc. Can also act as information counter regarding crime rates, wanted criminals, missing pets, etc. Further, our children/teenagers would be terrified if we can list their photos on the web for neighbours to recognise and keep a watchout on each others' kids who play truant or sit at long john silver too long. Elderly/Needy people can have their family contacts and medical conditions listed (locked up with passwords and accessible by certain people only), so we can help when there is an emergency. Blah blah...alot of usages! But I guess this will take time, like who to do it, getting sponsorships from the merchants, maintenance of the website, event organisers, etc.

Ya lah, but at least it forms part of our itinerary for the day mah. Otherwise we all end up in slouching in front of the TV, or the mahjong table.

Come see us at CNY lou hei! Or want to drink kopi?? Put time put place!!