DSA

I have consulted Dr Koh before - one of the few Dr who has a heart and charged reasonable consultation fees. However, his consultation fees may have gone up as with prices of all other goods & services in Singapore. On community news: Girl's 4-storey fall due to human error Inquiry panel finds that it is due to failure to detect corroded railing By Cheryl Ong ongyiern@sph.com.sg Siti Nur Aini Mohamed has been discharged from hospital. She is back to her bouncy self, except for a limp and a bald patch on her head where she was operated on. INADEQUATE checks led to an eight-year-old girl's fall through a gap in a metal railing at the lift landing outside her fourth-floor Telok Blangah flat, the committee that investigated the mishap concluded. The error stemmed from failure to detect the corroded railing, which had a towel draped over it. Tanjong Pagar Town Council's plans All property officers will have to do a compulsory six-monthly check on all railings. Qualified professionals will be engaged in all future repair and redecoration projects to check on all structural elements like railings and recommend appropriate repairs. Siti Nur Aini Mohamed was playing at the lift landing on March 8 this year, when she plunged four storeys. The girl sustained multiple fractures and was warded in the intensive care unit at National University Hospital for two weeks after developing a blood clot in her brain. Tanjong Pagar Town Council chairman Koo Tsai Kee formed an independent inquiry committee on March 18 to find out the cause of the incident. The committee comprised architect Johnny Tan Cheng Hye as chairman of the group, as well as lawyer K. Anparasan and engineer Teh Hee Seang. 'We are of the view that the unfortunate incident is a one-off,' said Mr Tan at a press conference yesterday. 'The problem occurred due to human error.' The 60-day inquiry found that while the Tanjong Pagar Town Council's Residents Feedback System was 'fairly comprehensive', the telephone operators were not trained to deal with complaints about building defects. The committee was also unable to find conclusive evidence in the voice and phone logs from the town council feedback system that proved that residents had reported the damaged railing to the authorities prior to Siti's fall. Earlier media reports quoted two residents, besides the girl's grandfather and uncle, saying they had made reports to the town council about the corroded railing, but they were not checked out. 'But regardless of whether calls were made or not, the committee held the view that...such corrosion, given the regularity with which inspections were made, should have been noted and the missing railings rectified immediately,' said Mr Tan. Siti was discharged from hospital last month, and is back to her bouncy self, except for an obvious limp and a bald patch in her hair where she was operated on. The MP for the ward, Mr Sam Tan, said the town council paid for Siti's medical bills. Well-wishers have set aside a $10,000 fund for her studies, which her school principal can use with discretion. Said Siti's 69-year-old grandfather Johari Mohd Siamu: 'I'm very glad for the support the town council has shown us since the accident. We have no more worries for Siti now that she's taken care of.' The committee recommended that specialised contractors take over the maintenance of the housing blocks, as they will be better trained to assess damaged parts of the building. EM Services, which oversaw maintenance and repairs in the estate, said the property officer, who was in charge of maintenance of the block at that time, has since transferred to another division. This stresses the importance of residents taking notice of decrepit common areas that are in need of cleaning, repair or maintenance & reporting such occurrences to the Town Council, located at: Blk 206 Bedok North St 1, #01-353 Singapore 460206 Tel: 1800 444-9549 Fax: 6444-0775 Email: ectcnet@ectc.org.sg It is NOT the job of Town Council to ensure a safe & secure living environment; their duty is to collect Service & Conservancy Charges; it is the sole responsibility of residents to make sure that common areas are cleaned, maintained and if necessary repaired.

Yet another example of 3rd world mentality: theft of supermarket trolleys by mentally disabled cretins who lost their hands & legs. Supermarts' bugbear: Trolley thieves Problem persists despite the $1 deposit system; FairPrice starts campaign By Lim Wei Chean weichean@sph.com.sg Trolleys found abandoned in various parts of Toa Payoh estate. NTUC FairPrice alone reports about 70 missing trolleys a month. DESPITE the $1 deposit on trolleys, many supermarkets are still losing tens of thousands of dollars every month, with shoppers failing to return them. To prevent more from going on 'walkabouts', one supermarket chain is starting a public education campaign to remind shoppers to return their trolleys. Another is getting its security officers to keep a closer eye on trolley abuse and to issue verbal warnings to errant users. Yesterday, NTUC FairPrice started posting notices at more than 80 of its outlets to remind customers to return their trolleys to 'appropriate locations' after use. In-store announcements also echo the message. Its head of corporate communications, Ms Angela Soo, said about 70 trolleys go missing each month. The problem has persisted despite a $1 deposit system put in place about 10 years ago, added Ms Soo. The same problem plagues the Giant Hypermarket chain, where about 100 trolleys go missing each month from its eight outlets, its spokesman said. It is a constant bugbear for the chain, which is popular with people making budget and bulk purchases. To counter the problem, it hires an external company to retrieve trolleys from the neighbourhoods near the various outlets. But this initiative, started in 2000, has had minimal effect. Recently, its security officers also began keeping an eye on the movements of trolleys around the store. Another supermarket chain, Sheng Siong, records some 20 trolleys lost and stolen each month from its 22 outlets. Cold Storage and Shop N Save are unable to estimate how many trolleys go missing or are found abandoned. However, a Cold Storage spokesman said the current measures in place are enough to prevent it from being a widespread problem. Shopping trolleys cost supermarkets between $130 and $150 each. For NTUC FairPrice and Giant alone, the missing trolleys translate into losses of about $300,000 per annum. The missing trolleys can often be found abandoned at car parks and HDB estates. And some HDB cleaners do not know what to do when they find them. Housewife Irene Lim, 50, says she sees the illegal fruit sellers near her house using them to move their goods around. Administrator Luckie Tan, in her 30s, said despite the supermarkets being some 10 to 15 minutes' walk away, she frequently finds trolleys abandoned in her estate. She said: 'I've seen people with just two plastic bags of groceries pushing their trolleys back to their doorstep.' These trolleys are then abandoned. Mr Daniel Koh, a psychologist at Insights Minds Centre, said the persistent problem could be due to people getting lazy about returning the trolleys when the message is not consistently reinforced. He said that when they see others doing it, then it is easier to follow suit. Also, perhaps $1 has not that much value now, so people think the effort of returning it is not worth getting back that deposit. FairPrice's Ms Soo said the chain hopes its Please Return Trolley campaign can generate public awareness that not returning trolleys is considered theft.

Good effort. However, it is customary to quote source of photos used in this entry since those photos are not taken by you. Images displayed on web sites are the property of their respective photographers. Images may not redisplayed on another web site without permission of the photographer and the source site.

Both the owner of that dog & the parent of the baby, are obviously 废渣 - not having the hands & legs to pick up & dispose properly the excreta purged by their responsibilities ought to be PCMXed since their mindset is that of the 3rd world and unfitting as a resident of Linear Green.

Bring a high speed digital camera with good videoing capabilities & confront these juvenile delinquents, snap their faces & video them, take down their particulars & contacts & call their parents & schools. No one is to mess up Linear Green.U can then upload the pics to HWZ & STOMP. I recently stormed down to the open top level of MSCP Blk 219, blasted & captured faces of 5 kids being noise nuisances at 10+ pm, 1 of which was smoking - they're not even past primary schools kids' age. Issued stern warnings to them & hollered them to GET LOST & don't ever show up in Linear Green. U gotta make them piss in their pants right from the start, show them you're the boss, then they will be timid as toddlers.

Linear Green Welcome Party 2009! The welcome party where Linear Greeners can mingle with neighbours, have fun & laughter while enjoying exotic food & performances. Date: Saturday, 20 June 2009 Time: 4 pm - 9 pm Venue: Linear Green Garden between Blk 220B & 221B Souvenirs for 1st 200 Linear Green Residents only! So come on down & support your precinct! Program line-up: Enjoy Exotic foodPlay Carnival GamesEnthralled by Magic ShowMesmerised by Exciting Performances! Tickets at $3 each, available from Linear Green RC @ Blk 221A #01-70, Monday to Friday from 2 pm to 5 pm. NB: Opening hours of LG RC seems out of sync for those Linear Greeners who are working during those timings. We have a RC centre at Blk 221A, #01-70! And they are on Twitter as well.

Aiya, whatever we write on that survey form will not change anything for Linear Greeners - the purpose of the survey is purely moot. Weakest links in HDB's value delivery chain - Surbana International Consultants which came up with rubber stamp design plans with no evidence of design ingenuity nor element, followed by China Construction & its sub-cons' utter dismal workmanship. Makes one really wonder what specifications did HDB ever laid out to these 2 vendors: 上梁不正,下梁歪得实在厉害。

It's HAMMER TIMEPlease hammer HDB & Surbana International Consultants for the maze-like void deck walkways. It is apparent that the SIC architect is only good on paper & did not walk the ground when he designed the walkway. Just how long it takes one to walk from one end of Linear Green to the other. The convoluting walkway maze can be used as a roadblock for the Amazing Race! Just one of the major screw-ups amongst the 101 issues with China Construction dismal workmanship, eg the unevenly laid floor tiles & ugly grout lines, low quality rubber O rings under the shower heads and rubber seals used on window sashes, no rubber seal on the bottom window sash, plus the use of wooden doors for the toilets which are wet areas - water corrodes wood, a simple fact of life which eludes the SIC architect = BRAINLESS! Moreover, the swing out position of the wooden door in the master toilet practically usurps any movement space. When a simple elegant bifold door of a colour that matches the bronze black door frame with white acrylic inserts can be installed. And at a lower cost than the wooden door too! So Hammer HDB! And hammer hard!

And pigs can fly. Yes, pigs now do fly. SWINE FLU. Just betting when the authorities will track down Singapore's patient zero. And how many would have been swined by then. But the above delusion of uneducated ah peks & ah mahs slurping pasta will remain. As a delusion.

Bedok unveils new look for next year New mall will liven up town centre while shops there get facelift By Leow Si Wan BEDOK Town Centre has changed little over the past 30 years, but that is all set to change when it opens its first mall in the third quarter of next year. Frasers Centrepoint is developing the five-level mall of shops, eateries and entertainment outlets to compete with popular malls in Tampines and Pasir Ris. [There is no fight at all. Period.] GETTING A FACELIFT Opening next month [Already opened & operating] is Spageddies, an Italian casual dining restaurant, which is moving into the town centre to compete with fast-food stalwarts Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald's. A new karaoke lounge took up residence last month. Bedok's younger crowd is excited by plans for the centre, which is currently a more popular hangout with the older residents. Student Bryce Tan, 16, who has lived near the centre all his life, hopes it will be the new 'heartland hangout''. He said: 'Tampines still has more to offer than Bedok, but it is getting too crowded. Bedok is still closer to home, so it will be great if I can hang out here.' The older folk are less effusive about the changes, but they welcome efforts to do something for the long-time shops there. Madam May Liaw, 53, a retiree, said: 'Princess Cinema ceased operations late last year and the site is now occupied by a karaoke business. Progress is important, but you can't help feeling nostalgic sometimes.' Since January, the Housing Board, East Coast Town Council and Bedok Town Centre Merchants Association have rolled out a scheme to renovate 163 shop units at the centre. The shop owners are involved in a pilot project to protect themselves and their products from fire hazards. Shop awnings made of composite metal will replace the existing fabric ones, which can catch fire easily. Vertical blinds with heat sensors to protect goods displayed outside the shops from rain will also be installed. A first for Singapore, the blinds automatically roll up if a fire starts, which means walkways will not be blocked. Shop owners will pay half of the costs - about $10,000 - while HDB and the town council will cover the remainder. Other works-in-progress include a plaza area where residents can gather, a precinct marker, new drop-off areas, ramps, footpaths and linkways. In addition, nine blocks will get new lift shafts and lifts. All works should be completed by the first quarter of next year. HDB said it will spend $9 million on the upgrading programmes. With the works still ongoing, businesses have had to contend with slower sales. A Straits Times check with 10 shops affected by the renovations revealed that business for them has dropped 20 to 30 per cent since the beginning of the year. To counter the drop, they have resorted to lucky draws and renovation sales. Mr Ching Kwang Meng, the chairman of the Bedok Town Centre Merchants Association, said there are plans to hold promotional activities later this year. 'We don't want Bedok to be forgotten. We want people to know they can get everything they need at affordable prices in Bedok.'

There are solar films which can effectively repel infra red while allowing visible light in, so the room will effectively be as bright as without solar film on the glass yet it feels less hot with the sun blazing in. It's worth applying solar films to ward off the heat yet allow visible light in coz the blaze is a permanent occurrence. Does anyone experience the water flow from the tap under the shower head in the 1st bathroom is less than the one in the master toilet? Submitted a Maintenance Request for Residential Properties as all new HDB flats, such as Linear Green, are provided with a one-year defects liability period (DLP). The DLP is effective from the date of sale. During the one-year DLP, HDB will rectify defects in the flat reported by the flat owner. However, do note that defects arising from the flat owner's renovation works or usage are not covered by the DLP.

Issue under ECTC and NEA Footpath next to road under management of LTA. LTA has no enforcement powers over illegal parking, shoots it to TP. TP says it's too small of an issue for them to bother = No action. I say, STOMP those blasted bikers license plates!

Various stat boards & agencies do respond on the various issues that I observed & witnessed around Linear Green, & escalated to them. I guess the will to act speaks loudest. The key is to whom to call upon. SGDI is the best directory. One of the issues I escalated to ECTC/HDB is the walkway you mentioned, that links the service road next to Blk 219C to the footpath next to New Upper Changi Road. Apparently, construction of a matching walkway is underway. However, there is no seemingly reason to barricade off the old walkway. Well, at least there is a workaround, albeit a longer route. Stat boards & agencies officers ain't stupid. They just tend to act in a certain manner. A certain B word describes it. On your rather intrusive query, I reserve the right of response and humbly decline comment. Thank you. Perhaps the best response to alien & lengthy posts is to ignore them completely.

There's a reason for every design. Whether the design is good or bad, that is highly subjective, much of which hinges on the perspective & position from which evaluation is deliberated. Evaluation requires, at the very least, a clear & logical thought process. Without which, the outcome is simpleton. So which is the one that is ? The design? The designer? Or the users who yet to realise the purpose of the design?

Hey Norman, have you notified ECTC on this? If u have a digital camera or phone with a good camera, you can take some clear close up shots of the damaged part if u pass by the playground again and email to: Mr Ong Chong Pin Senior Property Officer East Coast Town Council Tel : 1800 444 9549 Ext 164 Fax: 64440775 That's the fastest way for ECTC to act. ECTC needs the help of Linear Greeners to maintain & upkeep the condition of our estate. Linear Green is a new estate and with any other new HDB estate, it comes with the misfortune of having some stick-in-the-cess-pool uncouth & boors with 3rd world mentality living in the same neighbourhood.... So extra efforts are required for maintenance & upkeep.

Pursuant to the Penal Code Cap. 224, the punishment for act which endangers life or the personal safety of others are laid out in Section 336. ECTC can't act unless the killer litter mofo is identified. Thus the killer litter mofo must be identified if there's any chance of punishing the killer litter mofo. Identification of the perpetrator may be achieved by expending some time & some effort, which is entirely optional. It's either that or living with the life-threatening danger of some day, someone's head/shoulders receive a strike from above. Since the offence can be witnessed during specific time periods, some sort of monitoring can be carried out from a concealed position that offers a good and unblocked view of the stack of units above the landing point of the killer litter. Hint: The impact of the killer litter upon landing provides clues to the range of units to be monitored: A killer litter released from an unit on the 17th level will impact harder & louder upon landing than one that is from an unit on the 1st level. Linear Greeners can also help by advising those who exhibit boorish, uncouth behaviour to refrain from such actions. It may be surprising but courteous advice does work. Well, sometimes. What is definite is stern, fierce telling off will not work on such boors & uncouths. That said, anyone has a digital camera capable of achieving 12x optical zoom for loan? Mine only has 3x optical zoom which doesn't capture objects clearly that are at a considerable distance away. This request stems from the will to act, wanting to identify the female stinking smoker in action of flicking her toxic ciggie butts out from the 1st bedroom window at Blk 219C, #17-120. A clear shot of her face & sequence shots of her uncouth demeanour should do wonders on STOMP, HWZ & SG Forums. Together with some emails direct to the personnel in charge of such matters in ECTC, HDB & NEA. You'll be surprised how much photos sent to govt agencies can expedite actions taken.

The CONQUAS 21 Score for Linear Green, whose project name is Bedok Town Centre C6, is out. Uber low score of 78.9 for Architectural works - more gunpower to take HDB & Surbana International Consultants to task! S.No FY PROJECT CATEGORY CONTRACTOR DEVELOPER STRUCT SCORE% ARCH SCORE% M&E SCORE% CONQUAS SCORE 1 2008 Bedok Town Centre C6 Public Housing China Constr (SP) Devt HDB 95.3 78.9 96.2 85.5 The Construction Quality Assessment System or CONQUAS was developed by the Building and Construction Authority in co-operation with major public sector agencies and various leading industry professional bodies to measure workmanship quality in a completed building. Since the launch of CONQUAS in 1989, more than 2,238 public and private building projects have been assessed by BCA. The total cumulative contract value exceeding S$81.9 billion. As a de facto national quality yardstick for the industry, CONQUAS has been periodically fine-tuned to keep pace with changes in technology and quality demands of more sophisticated Singaporeans. What does CONQUAS cover? CONQUAS covers three main aspects of the general building works: Structural works - covers the structural integrity and helps to safeguard the interest of building occupants in relation to safety.Architectural works - deals with the aesthetic of the building such as finishes and components. This is the part where the quality and standard of workmanship are most visible.Mechanical & Electrical (M & E) works - concerns with the performance of selected mechanical and electrical services and installations to ensure the comfort of the building occupants.Who are the assessors? A team of assessors from the Building and Construction Authority carries out assessments. Assessment Areas FLOORSCeramicMarble & GraniteTimber Flooring INTERNAL WALLSGeneralPlaster FinishTiled FinishPainting CEILINGSkim CoatsFalse Ceiling DOORS & WINDOWSDoorsWindows COMPONENTS RailingsOthers ComponentsBASIC MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL (M&E) FITTING M&E FittingsWhat does the CONQUAS 21 score mean? In CONQUAS 21, the weightages for Structural, Architectural and M&E works are allocated according to public housing buildings are as follows: Structural Works 45% Architectural Works 50% M&E Works 5% The weightage system, which is aimed at making the CONQUAS score objective in representing the quality of a building, is a compromise between the cost proportions of the three components in the various buildings and their aesthetic consideration. The CONQUAS score of a building is the sum of points awarded to the three components. A high CONQUAS Score means a building with good quality workmanship. A CONQUAS Score of 80 indicates 80% of the items checked for workmanship quality in the selected samples met the CONQUAS standards. A CONQUAS Score of 100 means the best-constructed building or ideal building. However, it is not possible to achieve a defect free building. A building achieving a CONQUAS Score of 80 is better constructed than a building with a CONQUAS Score of 75. Distribution chart of CONQUAS Score from 2004 to 2009

It's a very bad omen for Singapore.

There are worse pests than insects - Smokers who puff away 5 mins of the lifespan at their window & the cigarette smoke wisps to the upper unit. Suspect there's a wretched, cursed smoker below my bedroom. And they do even more damage by simply flicking the ciggie butts out. I spotted one in the 1st bedroom of Blk 219C #17-120 on a few occasions late at night. Woe to whoever's unit at the ground floor.

Armaflex insulation is the better choice.

This burglar either has the key to the wrought iron gate or possess lock picking skills. If he has lock picking skills, it doesn't explain why he needed to force open the main door unless the solid timber door's lockset is difficult to pick. The two security barriers are from different supplier though. The wrought iron is from Nam Lee Metal while the solid timber door is from Yuen Tai Loong.

Households need to have existing cable points whether for existing customers or non-customers. For existing StarHub TV customers, simply tune in to StarHub Free Preview on Channel 01. For non-customer, tune in to frequency UHF 527.25 MHZ to enjoy this Free Preview. If you should encounter technical problems, please call the public cable hotline number 68732828.

Try LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY, ROAD OPERATIONS & COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP GROUP, ROAD OPERATIONS SUB-GROUP, TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT DIVISION, South East?

The wind is from the north. Units whose bedroom faces north and with unobstructed view, enjoy breezes all day & night. Don't even have to install air-con! That saves a tidy sum for holiday(s) overseas!

Well, it's good to hope but one must be a hard realist to get by in the real world. Short of saying lift access security gates will never be installed at the ground level lift waiting area of Linear Green blocks, the likelihood of that happening is 99.99% zero. The reasons are multi-fold - I merely mentioned three of them. The first two are due to practical actual situations. The responses to the 1st litmus test easily kill the idea of lift access security gates. The barricade gates will cause more impedance & inconvenience to Linear Greeners & non-Linear Greeners than provide adequate security by restricting access by unauthorised persons who can easily do the vertical climb. And they have a choice of two pathways! Unless access to these two pathways are also secured & restricted. The third reason is plainly obvious - Nothing in this world happens without $$$.