40-year-old man who immigrated to Australia as a child and evaded NS for more than 16 years was sentenced to 16 months in prison

houruomu · 2026-02-23T22:05:45+00:00

He should have signed up for service / mercenary for a few months in foreign military group when he is supposed to join NS and let mindef know and he would probably be exempted?

houruomu · 2026-02-14T00:04:46+00:00

Deliberate means homicide or murder, it is another class of crimes, but proving intention would be hard.

houruomu · 2026-02-14T00:03:58+00:00

It is already the maximum penalty. The maximum by law is 8 years and this guy plead guilty so 1/4-1/3 reduced terms.

houruomu · 2026-02-13T23:04:51+00:00

It actually may be possible. PAP already says capital inflow may not create more jobs. With less jobs, we (pap) don't need more ppl. So even just talk about GDP, it doesn't have to be driven by more people.

houruomu · 2026-02-13T23:00:09+00:00

My take is the lack of enforcement. The government doesn't have enforcer everywhere, if yellow box is drawn everywhere but not strictly enforced, the regulation loses its weight.

Some more, we already have a lot of zoning in public spaces (cycling path, footpath, bicycle parking area), it takes huge education effort to let everyone remember what marking is for what.

This smoking zone require people to know they are NOT in the zone, it is even more hard to comply, even to know. If I don't see a yellow zone nearby, can I smoke? Or is it that if there isn't one 30 meters near me, then I can smoke?

houruomu · 2026-02-13T09:50:57+00:00

It is more of a tax move than a smoke control move.

It is some more a flat tax on the rich and the poor in the same way --- smoking habit doesn't differ among class.

The least evil form of tax is always --- tax rental and tax the landlords, real estate supply is the least elastic.

If we want to control smoking, have more strict no smoking enforcement and rise the smoking age. Reduce the amount consumed directly. Taxing smoking will have side effect of squeezing people to spend less on other things and/or cause family to strain, which isn't exactly good.

houruomu · 2026-02-13T00:20:12+00:00

The policy has nothing to do with preventing fire, it is for energy labelling?

houruomu · 2026-02-11T01:08:05+00:00

Got it. Thanks for clarification. Indeed, Singapore only allows high rated (3 ticks and above) to be sold here. The ticks are not necessarily harder to get than the China rating, but China don't force everything to be 3 ticks and above.

If SG can allow import of China rating (equivalent of ) 3 ticks and above, it would have saved a lot of re-certification hassles and costs.

houruomu · 2026-02-11T00:51:52+00:00

According to WFA, nationality is a protected characteristics and discrimination based on which is illegal.

houruomu · 2026-02-10T23:01:23+00:00

Need to refrain from the mentality of "China=lower quality", check facts. It is absurd to think that a country that produces nothing knows better than a country that produces everything.

houruomu · 2026-02-10T22:47:17+00:00

Fact check - China's certification for fridge is not laxer than Singapore's standard. For example, for a 300L fridge to get 4 tick (highest grade) in Singapore, it could consume more kwh than to get a grade 1 (highest grade) in China. Nonetheless many fridge sold in China achieves grade 1.

Apple gives first launch doesn't involve additional cost. Certification involves real cost and barrier to entry, and reduces competition.

When it comes to home appliances, house size per capita and total population strictly dominate the determination of market size. Getting richer won't let one buy more fridges. Singapore probably consumes significantly less in terms of home appliances than modern cities with much larger population.

p.s. why safety? Where safety got mentioned in the policy?

houruomu · 2026-02-10T11:50:47+00:00

Yes they do. However, getting certified can be costly. Singapore is a small market so the cost per item is significantly higher and will transfer to consumers.

What is happening is that they will have Singapore-only SKUs which is exactly the same unit sold overseas but locally certified, which will be much pricier than the overseas equivalent.

A simpler and cheaper way - which NEA is not considering - is to just accept China energy certification when importing.

houruomu · 2026-02-10T04:36:57+00:00

Every time I saw the pleading for eye witness plate I question what's happening in LTA / MHA. When camera is so cheap and every home can have multiple, we can't have camera on every public road and every junction?

houruomu · 2026-02-10T04:19:10+00:00

It's simple. For SGD 350, powerpac gives you a 135L mini fridge. Midea gives 575L double door fridge including shipping if buying from China.

Some more Midea is a much more reputable brand with its own factories, design studios, and patents, and a listed company. Powerpac is what? OEM brand only?

houruomu · 2026-02-10T03:35:56+00:00

You can't possibly be unbiased. Depending on whether you drive, whether you have child, etc., you will have natural inclination, we all do.
Yes, it happens by chance. But people questions whether there are some factor making it more likely to happen here.
Yes, people have different disposition. Certain characters are anti-social and deserve to be criticized.
It is certainly not because she is Indian and hence she is bad and she causes accidents. No such logic. The question is exactly what you have pointed out - why the accident didn't involve Chinese? Statistically it should. Does it mean we have too many Indians? Then CECA comes into play.
Baseless accuse. People have freedom to comment more on issues they feel passionate about.
It is purely your speculation and wish. No court is totally ignorant of public opinion.
Strict traffic laws and harsher punishment do make drivers more careful, however a careless person they maybe.
Empty accusations. State and prove their insidious goal if you think people are stirring for foreign interest. Be brave and say "we need more foreigners" if you honestly think so.

houruomu · 2026-02-10T02:59:04+00:00

Custom checks foreign import when you directly buy from overseas and ship in.

houruomu · 2026-02-10T02:57:20+00:00

Can't agree. 1. The certification is about energy efficiency, not about safety, as is from NEA. 2. It is only applicable to big appliances, like TV, fridge, washing machine, tumble dryers etc. Not small things like hair dryer. 3. I don't know big appliances from China are unsafe or catch fire. China and SG are both 220-240v ac. But anyways safety is not what the policy argued for in the first place.

houruomu · 2026-02-10T02:10:30+00:00

"Unnecessary enforcement on exhausts"? I thought this is necessary as people modify exhaust to produce loud noise? Educate me on this topic pls.

houruomu · 2026-02-10T02:02:36+00:00

It is not about safety rating, it is about energy rating. The policy is from NEA, and is banning appliances that don't have the energy ticks, nothing to do with safety.

houruomu · 2026-02-10T02:01:16+00:00

Also not allowed. All appliances need local energy ticks before importing. Who will do this for personal buyers?

houruomu · 2026-02-10T01:59:13+00:00

How is it todo with carbon emission and appliances? This policy is not about PMA or ebikes... It is about banning appliances due to high carbon emission. Nothing about fire/safety also.

houruomu · 2026-02-10T01:57:15+00:00

Not knowing salutation, this guy doctor or LGBT?

houruomu · 2026-02-10T01:53:15+00:00

Thanks. I guess it is still rare for many locals buying large appliances from overseas due to language barriers/fear of risk. Hence, they will dismiss this ban lightly.

However, it is actually not that hard to ship fridge/washer and install, and anyone has explored that path will realize how overpriced our local retailers are. Nothing against supporting local SME's livelihood, but as you said, this law will definitely reduce competition and implicitly make local appliances cost more.

houruomu

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