zirhk3355

Wahh, what new job...? Hehe...the COP thingy still hanging on the air, all these red tapes and bureaucracy remains me of last time in civil service, luckily I left liao. Anyway, sorry to the COP guys, maybe have to wait till next RC meeting for me to bring it up again. As for THUM, yes it still supposed to be on leh, but we like got very bad response. If everyone is free this Sat, can come down to revive it??

I also agree to seal the dustbin with silicone, then just put a small plastic bag in the bin to contain the small rubbish.

I used to be like you. I used to think that people who believe in religion, FS, etc are insecure people who need to to seek solace in the supernatural to feel better. Now I realised that its all spiritual soup for the souls. Sometimes when everything is scientific and logical, life becomes abit too predictable, boring and even empty. When you have a belief and put your soul into it, you will feel more enriched, just like you love your job so much that you do not find it a chore to go to work everyday. Thus whether such belief is 'true or not' becomes unimportant; there is no right or wrong. If you believe, then its right, if you don't believe, then its wrong. Simple as that. The important part is your strong, ever-trusting belief in something and rise your spirits in doing everything else. That, I felt, makes my life more fulfilling.

What is a bidet washer cover?? I also want to change but worried about my parquet...will drip all over the place or not?

Sep 18, 2008 Coming up: 3,000 more HDB flats Govt to release more units for sale by year's end as demand for homes doubles By Fiona Chan THE Government will release 3,000 more HDB flats for sale by the end of the year, amid a doubling of demand for flats by home buyers. 'Demand for new flats from young couples has definitely gone up since 2006,' Mr Tay Kim Poh, the HDB's chief executive, told reporters at the release of the board's annual report on Tuesday. Flat buyers bought 11,991 new flats in the year ended March 31, more than double the 5,712 recorded the year before. To meet demand, the Housing Board has already released over 5,000 flats for sale so far this year, out of a planned 8.400 for the whole year. This is 40 per cent more than last year's 6,000, which was already higher than the year before. Next year, 'should the demand remain strong', the HDB 'will release just as many' flats, Mr Tay said. For now, though, 'unless our population grows very fast, there is no need to build at the same level as the 1980s', he added. The HDB's unsold stock has dwindled from about 2,000 flats last year to some 1,500 now. Hopeful buyers have complained of difficulties and long waits in trying to secure a home. 'Young couples looking for a flat should not come to us for a new flat. We don't have a ready supply,' Mr Tay said. First-time buyers who are not particular about location, however, usually bag a flat on their first or second try, he said. He also stressed that while the board is 'concerned' about rising construction costs, HDB flats remain 'very affordable'. At this point, flat buyers are using about 20 per cent of their incomes to service their loans, and most do not have to use all of their Central Provident Fund money, he said. 'When we price our flats, we don't link it to development costs, but to market prices. If market prices stabilise, like they are appearing to do now, our flat prices will also be stable.' Higher construction expenses, which by some estimates have risen by 20 per cent to 30 per cent in the last year, have hit the HDB less severely than some private developers. The board buys materials in bulk to supply to its contractors, mitigating the increase in costs, said Mr Sng Cheng Keh, its director of development and procurement. For this year, the HDB's focus is to meet the 'rising aspirations' of flat buyers and dwellers, said Mr Tay. fiochan@sph.com.sg

Don't have yet leh - I am trying to get the officers from the NPC but they seemed 'bewildered' at the moment. This is a new thing in our RC actually because nobody had done it before, so sorry ah, got to give me abit more time... ;P

That website is one of the basic multi-listing systems (MLS) that every agent will know/use. If that's not comprehensive enough, then your next source will only be to flip thru' ST classified. Or perhaps what you are looking for is not listed as available in the first place...?

Erm, this is what I meant by 'case-by-case' basis...

You mean they are selling you the flat at less than $10K above their buying price 5 yrs ago? Backdate 5 yrs ago is 2003, what was that period? SARS, remember? You believe?? The more likely the person becomes a bankrupt, the quicker you must file your damages' claims. Once you are awarded with the damages by court BEFORE the guy becomes bankrupt, all the claims will be channeled to the OA to pay them off. I don't see why you need to spend more on legal fees. And since you said your case is strong and very straightforward, I am quite sure it won't be $100K one lahh - you are not fighting a corporate lawsuit or murder trial! Win-win solution, to me, is to get the seller to continue selling the flat and you help him with whatever his situation is, eg maybe rent the flat back to him, pay his agents' fees to find new flat, etc. Unless the guy can show you some proof, I believe the likely reason for not selling is that he cannot MAKE enough money from selling/buying.

That's the EMSU number, same one for emergency lift rescue. For non-emergency, you guys can also call Steven from Town Council, who is also a RC member. His photo and hp is on the notice board at the lift lobby. Sh*t, I am sounding more and more like some kind of spokesman here...haha...

Thinking aloud: Most of us earns a household income of between $4001 - $6000 with less than $40K in CPF, but most of our monthly instalments are more than $1200/mth. Somehow this just does not sound right... ;(

As mentioned earlier, claiming for your legal fees are usually on case-by-case basis. To elaborate more, the rule of thumb in awarding claims/damages is to provide compensation, not to make a gain. To be candid, in order for you to claim for legal fees, you must prove that you are not taking advantage of the situation to rip the sellers off.

Sep 15, 2008 Lehman files for bankruptcy NEW YORK - LEHMAN Brothers Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy protection, after trying to finance too many risky assets with too little capital, making it the largest and highest-profile casualty of the global credit crisis. The Chapter 11 filing on Monday did not include its broker-dealer operations and other units, such as asset management firm Neuberger Berman. Those businesses will continue to operate, although Lehman is expected to liquidate them. It said it is in advanced talks on selling its investment management division. Lehman is one of the biggest investment banks to collapse since 1990, when Drexel Burnham Lambert filed for bankruptcy protection amid a collapse in the junk bond market. Time is of the essence as Lehman sells assets. Customers are often reluctant to trade with dealers whose parent companies are in bankruptcy, so the longer Lehman waits to sell its broker-dealer unit, for example, the less it will be worth. 'Much of (Lehman's) asset value at the end of the day is tied up in its credibility, and that takes a significant hit early in a bankruptcy case,' said Jack Williams, Resident Scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute and a professor at Georgia State College of Law. The Chapter 11 filing represents the end of a 158-year-old company that survived world wars, the Asian financial crisis and the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management but could not survive the global credit crunch. Financial institutions globally have recorded more than US$500 billion (S$715 billion) of writedowns and credit losses as the US subprime mortgage crisis has spread to other markets. Bankruptcy also represents a bad end to Chief Executive Dick Fuld's four-decade career at Lehman. Fuld, who piloted the investment bank through prior crises with aplomb, was widely seen as too slow to recognize Lehman's need to raise capital and shed bad assets. Lehman had US$600 billion of assets financed with just US$30 billion of equity as of the end of August. Having so little capital meant that a 5 per cent decline in assets would wipe out the value of the company, which investors saw as a real risk thanks to the company's billions of dollars of mortgage securities. 'Lehman decided to play chicken with the market, and they lost,' said James Ellman, portfolio manager at hedge fund Seacliff Capital, late on Sunday. Lehman listed its biggest unsecured creditors as Citigroup Inc, Bank of New York Mellon Corp, Aozora Bank, and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. Citi and Bank of New York Mellon are trustees for Lehman bonds. The investment bank, once the fourth-largest in the United States, had hoped to raise capital by selling off a stake in its investment unit, and use that capital as well as other funds to spin off some of its toxic assets to shareholders. But that plan did not satisfy investors, who pushed Lehman's share price to just a few dollars, or rating agencies, who pressed the company to find a stronger partner. The filing comes after a weekend of heated negotiations among regulators and Wall Street firms regarding Lehman's fate. The US government refused to backstop Lehman's worst assets in the way it backstopped Bear Stearns Cos Inc's sale to JPMorgan Chase. Government officials told banks to support Lehman or else be prepared for more investment banks to lose investor confidence and fail. But prospective bidders refused to buy Lehman without government support, people briefed on the matter said. In the end, Lehman was allowed to fail, and Bank of America Corp agreed to buy what was seen as the next weakest U.S. investment bank, Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. PIZZA AND BEER For many of Lehman's 26,000 employees the outlook is likely to be gloomy, with job losses expected to be substantial even if significant parts of the business can be sold. At Lehman's headquarters in midtown Manhattan on Sunday afternoon, men dressed in suits came and went, while some employees entered the building with what appeared to be empty duffel bags and then left with them full. Others emerged with accordion files, binders stuffed with papers and full valises. By Sunday night hundreds of Lehman employees were still in the office to clear their desks and pack personal belongings, according to an employee. Many even opted to say their farewells with one last office soiree. 'We are having pizza and beer,' the employee said. Markets are likely to be wary of what is ahead. Bankruptcy is a long, complex process where almost everything is done out in the open, as opposed to the veil of secrecy Wall Street uses to conduct deals. 'This isn't a manufacturer or retailer ... so we don't have a very rich track record about how the issues will be addressed, and the classic signposts just aren't there,' Williams said. 'Once the company goes into bankruptcy this is going to be an opportunity to look under the hood, and we might not like what we see.' -- REUTERS

Yes you are right, by admitting that they had made a wrong calculation and entered into a contract with you, they are already admitting guilt. Since they know they are wrong and that wrong had caused you to incur losses, then its only right to compensate you, isn't it?

Erm, how long the case would be depends on how COMPLICATED the case is, so I can't really put my finger on a figure for you. I believe once the transaction is confirmed to have fallen thru, then the resale submission would withdrawn and you will proceed with legal actions to seek damages. So you should be able to go buy another HDB flat, unless of course you are seeking specific performance to buy the same flat. In any case, my advice is always to find out the underlying reason for the sellers to back out and try to settle it out of court; if its just truly because they regret their decision, then put an amount to them for compensation and close the case, everyone will be happy.

If everything is proper, ie documentation, OTP signed by all owners, eligibility to sell, bankruptcy checks, etc and there is no good reason why the transaction did not go thru', then you should have a strong case. Remember 'market price went up' or 'no place to stay' are excuses, not good reasons for the seller to refuse to sell. So what damages can you seek for? That include losses you would incurred from the failed transaction, eg the agreed price was $300K, then the cheapest similar unit is $325K, then you can sue for the difference of $25K. This is the most common damages that you could seek, while other losses/costs such as penalty for bank loan, legal fees, etc are subjective on case-by-case basis. But if your aim is not money but to buy that (and ONLY THAT) flat, then you should put up a case for specific performance, which means the court will enforce the other party to perform a certain act, ie in your case to sell you the flat lah! How to do that?? Most important is to prove that there is no way to determine a specific amount for damages. An eg this is the resale of a SERS flat, where the permitted period for owners to sell their SERS flat is over and there is no other similar flat for the court to determine the damages.

I am still trying to arrange the COP thingy with the police, but looks likely to be on Friday for the first time since most of us are okay with it. I will check with the rest if they are able to do Mon-Thu too; after all, we cannot everytime also do friday, otherwise we will be earmarked by those who want to do funny business to our estate. What is probably going to happen is that we will decide the next COP session after we finished one session, instead of having it fixed on same day same time.

I am not affected also, but I am also not using water storage heater, but the citygas gas heater.

Ok, why not we fixed it on a friday at about 7:30pm? Can you make it, oda? Might not be next week, maybe week after or something. I will update you guys again...

I just learnt this yesterday during the meeting: citizens-on-patrol (COP) is not just able security although its the primary objective. COP members can also spot and raise issues like cleanliness, dangerous items in public, etc and raise it to the relevant authorities. For eg, the above issue can be raised by COP members to Town Council. So how, want to join us in COP?? Hehe... Its citizens-on-patrol (COP). This initiative is by the grassroots to form a group of residents to help walk around the precinct for crime prevention and spotting anything that is not right (like abovementioned).

COP guys, hear'ya!! Sorry the delay, yesterday finally got an answer after raising this issue in the meeting. I was given the go-ahead to organise this, but because I myself also not sure what to do, I suggested to have the police from the NPC to brief us and/or follow us for the first time. So now, we need to arrange a date/time to meet up, then I can make the necessary arrangements. Kindly suggest a few of your available dates this week or next week...

Huh got lydat one ah, business so good got subsidiaries ah...

Oops, sorry should be 96730583. Confirm can, that's what I am ordering...

How did you know that it started to leak after a month? Did you inform the contractor when you know that? If you did and they didn't do anything, causing a 'prolong moisture of 3 months', then yes you are fair to get them to pay. Sorry if I sound too direct, but like I said, that's probably what your contractor will counter-attack you, so you can practise your 'sparring' here first...hehe...

I know in the market got some landlords practise paying the TV licence (maybe stupid agents bluff the landlord), but that's actually wrong. Repeat my primary reasoning above: If its a cost that will only be incurred with the tenant being there, then it will be payable by tenant. For TV licence, if there is no one staying in the flat, the landlord can take out the TV and don't pay TV licence. Thus if tenant want to have TV, then tenant pay lor. One more example of what landlord must pay is property tax; same reasoning again, because property tax is payable whether the tenant is there or not. Tenant can choose not to activate the cable point...no?