Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Changes in your EZ Link Card


The Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) next-generation e-payment system for public transit, Symphony for e-Payment (SeP), is ready for implementation. The new system which is built on the Singapore Standard for Contact less ePurse Application (CEPAS), allows any smart card that complies with the standard to be used with the system and in a wide variety of payment applications.

With SeP, commuters will be able to use cards issued by any card issuer for transit purposes as long as the card complies with the CEPAS standard and includes the transit application. Commuters can eventually use CEPAS-compliant cards for Electronic Road Pricing payments in vehicles fitted with the new generation In-vehicle Unit, Electronic Parking System carparks and other electronic payment systems that support the CEPAS standard.

Unlike the existing ez-link card, the new CEPAS-compliant ez-link card will not have requirement for a travel deposit. Commuters will have full use of the stored value of the card for transit and non-transit purposes. To ensure commuters are familiar with the no-deposit feature and use of the CEPAS-compliant card, LTA is launching a public education programme for commuters from 2 December 2008.

Posters highlighting the no-deposit feature of the new card will be put up at MRT stations and bus interchanges/stops as well as on trains and buses. These posters also remind commuters to ensure that they have sufficient value in their cards to complete their journey before entering the transit system, and to top-up their cards when the balance is low (i.e. less than $5) as there is no travel deposit to tap on.

When SeP is launched this December 2008, the new system and the existing Enhanced Integrated Farecard System (EIFS) will run concurrently to allow commuters ample time to replace their cards.

REF: http://www.lta.gov.sg/public_transport/pt_travel.htm#ezlink

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Online Street Guide - Singapore

In Singapore, To plan for any traveling, there are lot good sites to guide you. SMART bus guide will guide you on route and there is online street map i found very useful and recent few meetings and visit to new places, i used this web site. Hope it will be useful for any one traveling in Singapore.

http://www.streetdb.com/

Saturday, November 22, 2008

MRT travel time

I was looking for Singapore MRT travel duration between different locations. Normally any one can see board in MRT station. However for any travel planning, it is good to access from web. Here link

http://www.smrt.com.sg/trains/documents/RailTravelTimes61.pdf

Sunday, September 28, 2008

China Melamine Scandal - How bad do business with Infant's Life

It was really sad story that most of people heard about infants affected in many thousands numbers in China due to contaminated milk which has melamine in considerable amount.

What is "Melamine" ?
Melamine is a chemical rich in nitrogen that is used in making plastics, glues and whiteboards.

However, Don't panic if you already had milk or milk related foods which has melamine. So, Far no issues.. It is really fine for Adults and no harm in significant. it based on level and usage also. However main issue identified for infants as for them milk is main food and if they had more melamine percentage milk items, they will get suffer with kidney failures and related diseases. So, Be careful for infants mainly.

Check more on : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine
And China's recent Melamine issue on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_Milk_Scandal

As i have seen, Singapore government taking serious action plan to save its people and you can get updated details from web site http://www.ava.gov.sg/

And there you will able to see the listed food items which has banned to due to melamine. keep mointoring it. And FAQ and details also there.

Please pass this post details to every one who has infants in family and living in South / South East Asian Countries.




Thursday, September 25, 2008

Mount Faber - Singapore

I used do my morning walk (it is still not proper jogging :-) ) to Mount Faber in weekends. It is really nice place and suitable for that as well. And it is another important place for people to visit also.

Mount Faber is a hill 105 meters height and can have nice view from top, one side city and other side harbour front. I have took few shots during my visits and will upload here. And people wish to go Senthosa. They could come either here or harbour front and take cable car to make their trip enjoyable.

Read more about Mount Faber on wikipedia

Cable car ticket rates can found from here

To visit Mount Faber check this site



Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Corruption Perceptions Index 2008 - Well done Singapore

Hope most of you aware about recently released Corruption Perceptions Index 2008. Singapore achieved good position in that. Mostly every one aware about Singapore and its uniqueness among Asian countries. But, this achievement is really great one. Every Singaporean should proud of that.

The Sweden, New Zealand (Well done NZ too) and Denmark are in first place and Singapore is next to them just because of 0.1 index difference. All other countries beyond them.

2008 CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX

country
rank

country

2008 CPI
score

surveys
used

confidence range

1

Denmark

9,3

6

9.1 - 9.4

1

New Zealand

9,3

6

9.2 - 9.5

1

Sweden

9,3

6

9.2 - 9.4

4

Singapore

9,2

9

9.0 - 9.3

5

Finland

9,0

6

8.4 - 9.4

5

Switzerland

9,0

6

8.7 - 9.2

7

Iceland

8,9

5

8.1 - 9.4

7

Netherlands

8,9

6

8.5 - 9.1

9

Australia

8,7

8

8.2 - 9.1

9

Canada

8,7

6

8.4 - 9.1

11

Luxembourg

8,3

6

7.8 - 8.8

12

Austria

8,1

6

7.6 - 8.6

12

Hong Kong

8,1

8

7.5 - 8.6

14

Germany

7,9

6

7.5 - 8.2

14

Norway

7,9

6

7.5 - 8.3

16

Ireland

7,7

6

7.5 - 7.9

16

United Kingdom

7,7

6

7.2 - 8.1

18

Belgium

7,3

6

7.2 - 7.4

18

Japan

7,3

8

7.0 - 7.6

18

USA

7,3

8

6.7 - 7.7

21

Saint Lucia

7,1

3

6.6 - 7.3

22

Barbados

7,0

4

6.5 - 7.3

23

Chile

6,9

7

6.5 - 7.2

23

France

6,9

6

6.5 - 7.3

23

Uruguay

6,9

5

6.5 - 7.2

26

Slovenia

6,7

8

6.5 - 7.0

27

Estonia

6,6

8

6.2 - 6.9

28

Qatar

6,5

4

5.6 - 7.0

28

Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines

6,5

3

4.7 - 7.3

28

Spain

6,5

6

5.7 - 6.9

31

Cyprus

6,4

3

5.9 - 6.8

32

Portugal

6,1

6

5.6 - 6.7

33

Dominica

6,0

3

4.7 - 6.8

33

Israel

6,0

6

5.6 - 6.3

35

United Arab Emirates

5,9

5

4.8 - 6.8

36

Botswana

5,8

6

5.2 - 6.4

36

Malta

5,8

4

5.3 - 6.3

36

Puerto Rico

5,8

4

5.0 - 6.6

39

Taiwan

5,7

9

5.4 - 6.0

40

South Korea

5,6

9

5.1 - 6.3

41

Mauritius

5,5

5

4.9 - 6.4

41

Oman

5,5

5

4.5 - 6.4

43

Bahrain

5,4

5

4.3 - 5.9

43

Macao

5,4

4

3.9 - 6.2

45

Bhutan

5,2

5

4.5 - 5.9

45

Czech Republic

5,2

8

4.8 - 5.9

47

Cape Verde

5,1

3

3.4 - 5.6

47

Costa Rica

5,1

5

4.8 - 5.3

47

Hungary

5,1

8

4.8 - 5.4

47

Jordan

5,1

7

4.0 - 6.2

47

Malaysia

5,1

9

4.5 - 5.7

52

Latvia

5,0

6

4.8 - 5.2

52

Slovakia

5,0

8

4.5 - 5.3

54

South Africa

4,9

8

4.5 - 5.1

55

Italy

4,8

6

4.0 - 5.5

55

Seychelles

4,8

4

3.7 - 5.9

57

Greece

4,7

6

4.2 - 5.0

58

Lithuania

4,6

8

4.1 - 5.2

58

Poland

4,6

8

4.0 - 5.2

58

Turkey

4,6

7

4.1 - 5.1

61

Namibia

4,5

6

3.8 - 5.1

62

Croatia

4,4

8

4.0 - 4.8

62

Samoa

4,4

3

3.4 - 4.8

62

Tunisia

4,4

6

3.5 - 5.5

65

Cuba

4,3

4

3.6 - 4.8

65

Kuwait

4,3

5

3.3 - 5.2

67

El Salvador

3,9

5

3.2 - 4.5

67

Georgia

3,9

7

3.2 - 4.6

67

Ghana

3,9

6

3.4 - 4.5

70

Colombia

3,8

7

3.3 - 4.5

70

Romania

3,8

8

3.4 - 4.2

72

Bulgaria

3,6

8

3.0 - 4.3

72

China

3,6

9

3.1 - 4.3

72

Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of)

3,6

6

2.9 - 4.3

72

Mexico

3,6

7

3.4 - 3.9

72

Peru

3,6

6

3.4 - 4.1

72

Suriname

3,6

4

3.3 - 4.0

72

Swaziland

3,6

4

2.9 - 4.3

72

Trinidad and Tobago

3,6

4

3.1 - 4.0

80

Brazil

3,5

7

3.2 - 4.0

80

Burkina Faso

3,5

7

2.9 - 4.2

80

Morocco

3,5

6

3.0 - 4.0

80

Saudi Arabia

3,5

5

3.0 - 3.9

80

Thailand

3,5

9

3.0 - 3.9

85

Albania

3,4

5

3.3 - 3.4

85

India

3,4

10

3.2 - 3.6

85

Madagascar

3,4

7

2.8 - 4.0

85

Montenegro

3,4

5

2-5 - 4.0

85

Panama

3,4

5

2.8 - 3.7

85

Senegal

3,4

7

2.9 - 4.0

85

Serbia

3,4

6

3.0 - 4.0

92

Algeria

3,2

6

2.9 - 3.4

92

Bosnia and Herzegovina

3,2

7

2.9 - 3.5

92

Lesotho

3,2

5

2.3 - 3.8

92

Sri Lanka

3,2

7

2.9 - 3.5

96

Benin

3,1

6

2.8 - 3.4

96

Gabon

3,1

4

2.8 - 3.3

96

Guatemala

3,1

5

2.3 - 4.0

96

Jamaica

3,1

5

2.8 - 3.3

96

Kiribati

3,1

3

2.5 - 3.4

96

Mali

3,1

6

2.8 - 3.3

102

Bolivia

3.0

6

2.8 - 3.2

102

Djibouti

3,0

4

2.2 - 3.3

102

Dominican Republic

3,0

5

2.7 - 3.2

102

Lebanon

3,0

4

2.2 - 3.6

102

Mongolia

3,0

7

2.6 - 3.3

102

Rwanda

3,0

5

2.7 - 3.2

102

Tanzania

3,0

7

2.5 - 3.3

109

Argentina

2,9

7

2.5 - 3.3

109

Armenia

2,9

7

2.6 - 3.1

109

Belize

2,9

3

1.8 - 3.7

109

Moldova

2,9

7

2.4 - 3.7

109

Solomon Islands

2,9

3

2.5 - 3.2

109

Vanuatu

2,9

3

2.5 - 3.2

115

Egypt

2,8

6

2.4 - 3.2

115

Malawi

2,8

6

2.4 - 3.1

115

Maldives

2,8

4

1.7 - 4.3

115

Mauritania

2,8

7

2.2 - 3.7

115

Niger

2,8

6

2.4 - 3.0

115

Zambia

2,8

7

2.5 - 3.0

121

Nepal

2,7

6

2.4 - 3.0

121

Nigeria

2,7

7

2.3 - 3.0

121

Sao Tome and Principe

2,7

3

2.1 - 3.1

121

Togo

2,7

6

1.9 - 3.7

121

Viet Nam

2,7

9

2.4 - 3.1

126

Eritrea

2,6

5

1.7 - 3.6

126

Ethiopia

2,6

7

2.2 - 2.9

126

Guyana

2,6

4

2.4 - 2.7

126

Honduras

2,6

6

2.3 - 2.9

126

Indonesia

2,6

10

2.3 - 2.9

126

Libya

2,6

5

2.2 - 3.0

126

Mozambique

2,6

7

2.4 - 2.9

126

Uganda

2,6

7

2.2 - 3.0

134

Comoros

2,5

3

1.9 - 3.0

134

Nicaragua

2,5

6

2.2 - 2.7

134

Pakistan

2,5

7

2.0 - 2.8

134

Ukraine

2,5

8

2.2 - 2.8

138

Liberia

2,4

4

1.8 - 2.8

138

Paraguay

2,4

5

2.0 - 2.7

138

Tonga

2,4

3

1.9 - 2.6

141

Cameroon

2,3

7

2.0 - 2.7

141

Iran

2,3

4

1.9 - 2.5

141

Philippines

2,3

9

2.1 - 2.5

141

Yemen

2,3

5

1.9 - 2.8

145

Kazakhstan

2,2

6

1.8 - 2.7

145

Timor-Leste

2,2

4

1.8 - 2.5

147

Bangladesh

2,1

7

1.7 - 2.4

147

Kenya

2,1

7

1.9 - 2.4

147

Russia

2,1

8

1.9 - 2.5

147

Syria

2,1

5

1.6 - 2.4

151

Belarus

2,0

5

1.6 - 2.5

151

Central African Republic

2,0

5

1.9 - 2.2

151

Côte d´Ivoire

2,0

6

1.7 - 2.5

151

Ecuador

2,0

5

1.8 - 2.2

151

Laos

2,0

6

1.6 - 2.3

151

Papua New Guinea

2,0

6

1.6 - 2.3

151

Taijikistan

2,0

8

1.7 - 2.3

158

Angola

1,9

6

1.5 - 2.2

158

Azerbaijan

1,9

8

1.7 - 2.1

158

Burundi

1,9

6

1.5 - 2.3

158

Congo, Republic

1,9

6

1.8 - 2.0

158

Gambia

1,9

5

1.5 - 2.4

158

Guinea-Bissau

1,9

3

1.8 - 2.0

158

Sierra Leone

1,9

5

1.8 - 2.0

158

Venezuela

1,9

7

1.8 - 2.0

166

Cambodia

1,8

7

1.7 - 1.9

166

Kyrgyzstan

1,8

7

1.7 - 1.9

166

Turkmenistan

1,8

5

1.5 - 2.2

166

Uzbekistan

1,8

8

1.5 - 2.2

166

Zimbabwe

1,8

7

1.5 - 2.1

171

Congo, Democratic Republic

1,7

6

1.6 - 1.9

171

Equatorial Guinea

1,7

4

1.5 - 1.8

173

Chad

1,6

6

1.5 - 1.7

173

Guinea

1,6

6

1.3 - 1.9

173

Sudan

1,6

6

1.5 - 1.7

176

Afghanistan

1,5

4

1.1 - 1.6

177

Haiti

1,4

4

1.1 - 1.7

178

Iraq

1,3

4

1.1 - 1.6

178

Myanmar

1,3

4

1.0 - 1.5

180

Somalia

1,0

4

0.5 - 1.4


Source : http://www.transparency.org

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

COMEX - 2008

I have been visited Saturday and Sunday. COMEX was really great event and i never expected and prepared for that. Whatever i thought to buy or identified from web were over on last day. However i was able to buy good camera, mp3 players from Samsung. It was good offer. Then Another normal camera, Plam mobile phone with good offer and portable DVD player. Next time, i should prepare well for the event to do good purchase.

Here photo captured during COMEX:

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Find COMEX Hot deals

Here link to CNET which has update on the Hot deals available in up coming COMEX event

http://asia.cnet.com/comex/08/

Saturday, August 23, 2008

COMEX - IT event 2008 -- coming soon

This is the first time, i am plan to visit. Looks more offers and hopes ... Will see.

CHECK OUT THE BEST TECH BARGAINS AND HOTTEST PRODUCTS IN THE COMEX SPECIAL SHOW SUPPLEMENTS IN:
  • DIGITAL LIFE ON 26th August 08 (Tuesday)
  • THE STRAITS TIMES ON 28th August 08 (Thursday)
  • TODAY Newspapers ON 28th August 08 (Thursday)
  • Thursday, August 21, 2008

    Sunday, August 10, 2008

    Saturday, August 9, 2008

    Latest MRT map which i found useful

    Two weeks back, i traveled to Tai Seng, That time the above map only showed me the central line. Hope this would be useful for any one looking for MRT map. (click above image to open full size image)

    Singapore National Day 2008 - Video

    Singapore National Day 2008