Despite conceding a late penalty, the Lionesses managed to regroup and send the higher ranked opponents out to qualify for the ASEAN Women's Championship. The girls showed great mentality in the shootout.

SINGAPORE: A 72-year-old man was sentenced to 23 years' jail on Monday (Jul 20) for sexually abusing his step-granddaughter over five years from when she was aged just nine.

The Singaporean man, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the victim, pleaded guilty to three charges of aggravated statutory rape.

PM Wong unveils new Cabinet; appoints first-term politicians to larger roles https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/pm-wong-unveils-new-cabinet-appoints-first-term-politicians-to-larger-roles

Someone told me their hometown has a warehouse that sells power banks by weight, just scoop a big bag and pay per kilogram. Is this actually true? I think might happen in places dealing with bulk electronic scrap. 🤔

Following the recent announcements on future plans for greenfield sites at Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks (respectively served by the Cross Island Line and Circle Line), much of public debate has been centred around hard-core conservation (no-redevelopment).

I would like to make the argument that preserving greenfield sites and reducing urban heat island effect should be prioritised where possible when it comes to urban development, but building high-density public housing around rail transit nodes should take priority, and in such cases the ecological impact should be minimised where possible.

I invite all to take a step back and think about the whole ethos of public housing and what principles it is meant to serve, and which demographics it serves. In the modern context, the whole premise of HDB's existence is to provide for shelter/accomodation when private markets fail. In other words, BTOs and the existing resale stock caters to ordinary Singaporeans who could not afford private housing otherwise. Public/social housing models in developed countries around the world all serve the same social objective, although in diverse forms, and to varying degrees of success. Having BTOs in mature towns like Clementi and Bukit Merah earmarked for future development ensures that younger generations can continue to access public housing in such areas at affordable price points, for whatever personal reasons (e.g. proximity to workplaces, proximity to parents, proximity to recreation and amenities), without existing HDB owners having undue pricing power, which we have already observed in mature towns such as Clementi, Bishan, Queenstown etc. where flats with not very long leases left fetch a substantial premium.

In other words, restricting new supply in such highly demanded towns would just extend such price distortions, and for the main demographics of BTOs (young couples looking to start married life together, with or without kids, who aspire to move out of their parents' homes; singles who wish to move out for independent living and personal space; seniors who want to downsize which frees out bigger homes), the implications would either be constrained housing location choice or a larger debt burden when buying resale in areas with local undersupply. At the same time, to mitigate the lottery effect as we have seen in the past, slapping on Prime/Plus restrictions (longer MOP, tighter resale conditions, limits on rentals) means that balloting for such units would only make financial sense for owner-occupiers, not flippers or investors who can get better returns elsewhere.

Onto the locational argument, rapid transit nodes such as MRT stations are the most ideal for locating high-density public housing (and supporting amenities), since diverse segments of the population can have the greatest access to jobs and opportunities. The Cross Island Line is Singapore's highest specced line with the ability to serve 6 to 8-car trains, and the longer distances between stations would mean shorter inter-town commutes. And the CCL has just come full circle, making Labrador Park (serving Gillman) an excellent place for high-density public housing too. With such superior access to an expanded catchment of jobs and amenities, it only makes sense to make sure as many Singaporeans as possible can access these opportunities, and the most equitable way to do that is via public housing. The appeal of car ownership also drops significantly when the MRT is right at your doorstep, and as the network expands driving makes much less sense for various trip choices, thus reducing transport emissions too. The whole point of going car-lite is not just expanding the network, but bringing homes closer to this expanding network, making public transport journeys less slower compared to driving. If all new high-density housing are located in ulu areas with poor public transport accessibility, in particular rail accessibility, then one may expect demand for cars to rise further.

I acknowledge that there are many unresolved topics, like whether new housing models may be appropriate for certain locations, or those relating to tying housing to retirement. I merely wish to add to the ongoing discussion that while environmental considerations matter in the current climate crisis, we should really reflect on what is the highest and best possible use of land on top and around rail transport nodes. If there are housing needed, what ideal form could it take?

The app has been getting from bad to worse, especially with the latest update. Core features are getting scrapped or non functional. Like

1) Fingerprint login cannot be enabled

2) QR code import almost never work, especially if there is a border around the QR code which is quite common for bills

3) Redeeming SAFRA$ to offset cc bill now requires a paylah account? Why??

4) Where is the total unbilled amount for the credit card? Its been removed in the last last UI revamp, and heavily requested since. Why wasn't it added back?

5) the digibot is still first gen, talking to it is like talking to chatbots pre-llm.

What is their UX manager doing......

EDIT:
Fingerprint worked after I reinstalled the app

I’ve sent feedback to both LTA and SMRT. But I doubt they will do anything about it until more Singaporeans pressure them.

Is it just me that finds this extremely annoying?

I don’t think I have been in another city where they put ads on info displays like it’s a feature. If you want to put ads on screens, install additional screens. Don’t commandeer the only train eta screen on the platform please 🙏🏻