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Friday, May 30, 2008

MRT Fare Cheats!

The Straits Times published this absolutely GOLDEN nugget of a rant.

Train commuters who cheat

MUCH has been said about fare-cheating passengers in buses. There is another type of fare cheaters - those who take the MRT.

These are the ones who board the train at the station before the last one on the route. They do not alight at the last station, but remain in the trains and continue their journey when the train starts again.

I have observed that this occurs in two stations - Tampines and Raffles Place. Those who board the train at Tampines remain in their seats at Pasir Ris and continue their journey towards Boon Lay. Similarly, those who board at Raffles Place do not alight at Marina Bay, but continue their journey in the same train towards Jurong East.

As this happens during peak hours, those who are waiting for the trains at Pasir Ris to proceed towards Boon Lay and those at Raffles Place waiting to proceed towards Jurong East are put to hardship. The trains are almost fully occupied and they have to wait for the next train to get a seat - provided that the train too is also not filled up by these free-riders. Secondly, these people are not only enjoying a free ride at the expense of those who are paying the full fare, but they are also preventing the fare-paying passengers from having a comfortable journey. Perhaps, SMRT could make announcements requesting passengers not to indulge in such acts.

A. Raviprakash

All I have to say is.... What an idiot, this is not trying to cheat MRT fares, it's trying to get to where you want to go! Trains are so crowded nowadays, of course we have to throw a few stunts here and there.

You cannot cheat fares like this, the gantry doesn't know which direction you went. Does he think that getting on the train at Raffles Place and going towards Marina Bay, before continuing north means the commuter pays for only 1 station worth of travel?? How does the system know that he went to Marina Bay? Why do we scan our Ez-Link cards at the exit gantry?

Seriously, I don't know if he is too lazy or too dumb.

Don't blame others for your laziness. Other people are spending the extra 15 mins to travel to an extra station before continuing the journey.

Has he ever really thought about how he would justify the fare cheating in such scenarios... I really wonder if he really believe himself. Did he really think all this was done to cheat the fare, or just a lame excuse to rant about people taking extra time and trouble to get a seat.

I am really speechless... and was severely tempted to write in to ST to respond to it but it's a waste of time.


********************


After careful thinking, I realised that Mr Ravi was right after all. These people are indeed fare cheats.

As I am one of them, I now humbly declare that I am ashamed. I apologise for cheating the MRT fare for the travel I made between the 2nd last station and the last station on the line.

For those who are confused, this is the illustration.

For example, you want to go to Jurong East from Tampines. It is 22 stops from Tampines to Jurong East.

However, I choose to go to Pasir Ris, back to Tampines before continuing on to Jurong East. I am still paying for only *gasp* 22 stops worth of travel!!

I traveled free from Tampines to Pasir Ris and back!

OMG, I never realised that I have been cheating on my MRT fares and I feel totally ashamed.

# posted by Silverelf @ 3:59 pm
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Buying a PSP

So my colleague has been asking me when I was going to buy a PSP cos he has alot of stuff I want to play... namely FF!

Well, I don't really have a timeline as to when I will buy one, but I do intend to buy one soon. One of the hugest impeding factors is the myriad of colours that the PSP comes in. I simply do not know which one to choose....

I just saw this particular model on Playasia... oooh. I probably won't choose it though, it seems like an expensive colour ; ;



PSP Slim & Lite Matt Bronze



Another couple of nice colours are:


PSP Slim & Lite Felicia Blue




PSP Slim & Lite Lavender Purple





PSP Slim & Lite Rose Pink


Which one should I choose? I'm kinda leaning towards Lavender........ Urgh!

# posted by Silverelf @ 1:39 am
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Shopping .... yummy!

So I went to Playasia again cos I received an email that a couple of items I was eyeing had come back in stock.

So after I ordered the stuff I wanted, I also put in an order for these items!



Hello Kitty Dim Sum Noodles - Japanese Soy Sauce




Nissin Noodles - Pork Chowder


Now just waiting for the delivery!

# posted by Silverelf @ 12:54 am
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Sharon Stoned

A little interview the Sharon Stone did at the Cannes Film Festival.



Well, all I gotta say is that she sure is shooting her way to fame this time!

This is a transcript of what she said:

Well you know it was very interesting because at first, you know, I am not happy about the ways the Chinese were treating the Tibetans because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And so I have been very concerned about how to think and what to do about that because I don’t like that.

And I had been this, you know, concerned about, oh how should we deal with the Olympics because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine.

And all these earthquake and stuff happened and I thought: IS THAT KARMA? When you are not nice that bad things happen to you.

And then I got a letter, from the Tibetan Foundation that they want to go and be helpful. And that made me cry. And they ask me if I would write a quote about that and I said I would. And it was a big lesson to me, that some times you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even to people who are not nice to you. And that’s a big lesson for me …


There are so many things I could say in response to this statement, but nah. Let's just remember the various disasters, natural and man-made, that have visited so many places and killed so many people all over the world. Some of them not very far from Ms Stoned herself.

Leave the politics out of disaster, just as we should leave politics out of the Olympics (which is also included in Ms Stoned statement...)

# posted by Silverelf @ 12:15 am
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Sunday, May 18, 2008

A Silver Lining

Well, I have finally decided that I would do a funds transfer to donate money to the Sichuan Relief funds. I was debating whether to go down in person (I do not know their opening hours) or to mail them a cheque.

I donated through the Embassy of China's Sichuan Relief Funds account at the Bank of China. I prefer to choose the most direct and neutral way to donate, it matters not to me which group says they will provide such and such an item.

For anyone else who feel like they may want to contribute, please remember there is no sum that is too small. Every cent and dollar helps, just help out in whatever way you can. You don't have to donate a lot of money, or go there and help, just a little bit from you is better than none at all.

I find that it is often in such situations that we see a better part of mankind. We bicker and bitch at everyone all the time, but when disaster strikes, almost everyone will stand together and feel sadness for the victims.

Remember, at the end of the dark tunnel, there will always be light. It only matters that one holds on long enough to see this silver lining.

For friends who know me long enough and have suffered my endless jokes in bad taste, they will find this familiar: 希望永远存在

# posted by Silverelf @ 5:31 pm
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Saturday, May 17, 2008

Donation Details for Sichuan Earthquake

I've looked on the website of the Embassy of PR China and I found this information for anyone who is keen to make donations towards the Sichuan Earthquake Relief Funds.

The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Singapore has opened a special account to receive contributions in cash or by telegraphic transfers and Giro, the details of which are as follows:

Beneficiary's Name: Sichuan Earthquake Relief Fund-Chinese Embassy

Beneficiary's Bank: Bank of China Singapore Branch

Account No.: 011-0-024188-6

Our embassy also receives donations in cash and cheques directly. All cheques are expected to be crossed and made payable to: Sichuan Earthquake Relief Fund-Chinese Embassy.

Please kindly leave your name and contact details while making contributions in whatever form

I believe you can proceed to Bank of China branches to make donations to this account, mail a cheque to the embassy or drop by personally.

I believe cheques can be mailed to this address:
Embassy of P R China in Singapore
150 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247969

To make things easier, probably add a "Sichuan Earthquake Relief Fund" as addressee.... and remember to cross your cheques!

# posted by Silverelf @ 12:54 am
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Sunday, May 11, 2008

天冷就回来

Heard this song over the radio the other day. It's not exactly new, but that time the lyrics really struck me.

The phrase "天冷就回来" always makes me misty eyed. It was the same when I saw the promos for the play with the same name. I feel that this phrase represents the feelings of all parents.


# posted by Silverelf @ 7:47 pm
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Saturday, May 03, 2008

It's Official!

So today I finally called in to cancel my accounts with Citibank. Seems succesful. We'll see if it is.

Anyway was activated with about 30 mins notice to attend my friend's daughter's first month gathering. It was a minor scuffle to get showered, pick up ang baos and make it to meet my other friend so that we can take a cab down to the place.

Also thinking to resume my German lessons. Wanted to started this month since there are classes this month, but I think it is ore prudent for me to do some revision and then take a placement test. Hopefully I can shave a few months of the entire course leading to Zertifikat Deutsch.

So many courses in mind these days.

# posted by Silverelf @ 11:59 pm
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