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Lovely Tight Build. Small footprint and completely silent. With only the CPU fan, this noctua is barely audible running at max rpm. Build took over a month sourcing cheapest parts all over the net. Went SLS but it can no longer win online prices. Minor hiccup in the build process was the stock BIOS not booting 5600G. Had to tear out everything , bring it to shop and update. Never skipped a beat since then. CPU runs hot at 38°-55° idle/low load, and hits 95° on Prime95 test. Apparently it is by design, but will monitor and reseat cooler in a few months if necessary. Build Specs: AMD Ryzen 5600G with Vega 7 iGPU Asrock B550M-ITX mamaboard Noctua NH-L9a 37mm Height Cooler to clear the case dimensions Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB DDR4 3200 CL16 Inwin Chopin PRO SFF Casing with 200W 80+ Gold PSU WD SN750 SE Gen 4 NVMe M.2 Reused SSD and HDD

Yes, sai bin chao ah gua, anything else? Y keep avoiding the truth dat chiu r a pathetic sai bin cag? Wahaha song boh?

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - A rare five-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) loft unit at SkyTerrace @ Dawson has been sold for $1.328 million. The price translates to $1,011 psf on the floor area. The Option to Purchase (OTP) was exercised on Nov 22 and the sellers were represented by Lois Ho, associate group director of PropNex Realty. Read also: Dawson HDB flats cross million-dollar threshold soon after MOP The sale of the 1,313 sq ft, duplex HDB unit is the most expensive resale flat sold so far this year, based on HDB resale caveats as of Nov 29. It also marks the most expensive resale flat that has ever been sold at SkyTerrace @ Dawson and neighbouring SkyVille @ Dawson. The HDB loft unit is at Block 92 Dawson Road and occupies the 42nd and 43rd floors. According to Ho, there are only 26 such loft units available in SkyTerrace @ Dawson, making them a rare type of unit in the 758-unit development. PropNex agent Lois Ho in the living room of the HDB loft unit she sold. (Picture: Lois Ho/PropNex Realty) “This is an uncommon unit type that is rarely included in recent HDB projects. Some interested buyers even wondered if the sellers had configured the layout by themselves. Loft units are typically found in private condos and this particular HDB unit boasts an impressively high 5.4m ceiling height,” says Ho. (Find HDB flats for rent or sale with our Singapore HDB directory) The unit also benefits from its high floor position which provides an unblocked view of the landed housing estates in nearby Tanglin. The flat features two bedrooms on the lower floor and a bedroom on the upper floor. According to Ho, the sellers decided to put up the unit for sale in the first quarter of this year, but the fluctuating Covid situation made it difficult to actively market the property. Ho also felt that it was important to arrange physical viewings for serious buyers. “For a unique property such as this HDB loft unit, it is necessary for buyers to experience the space and the rare layout. I felt that factors such as the serenity of the unit and the impressive view were critical features those serious buyers needed to experience first-hand,” she says. She adds that this helps buyers understand why they should be prepared to pay a high premium for this unit compared to other five-room flats in the development. The bedroom on the upper floor of the unit which features a 5.4m ceiling. (Picture: Lois Ho/PropNex Realty) By mid-October, she and the sellers felt that the Covid situation in Singapore had stabilised enough to start scheduling physical viewings. Ho says that she received an overwhelming amount of interest for the HDB flat. Interest was so great that she was unable to schedule enough viewings to meet the number of viewing requests she received. She says that the buyer of this loft unit submitted multiple offers to purchase the property. “The buyer was wowed by the double volume space and spacious living room when they came to visit the flat”. The initial offers did not cross the $1.3 million price threshold as only two other low-floor loft units had been transacted before at SkyTerrace @ Dawson. The most recent was another 1,313 sq ft unit in the same block that fetched $1.095 million ($834 psf) on June 23 this year. “Eventually, a firm belief in the value of the property and the physical viewings paid off because the sellers accepted the $1.328 million offer. The transaction was also a nice birthday gift for the seller’s wife, and in Cantonese, the digits of the price translate to ‘Easy to prosper throughout life,” says Ho. Many of the serious buyers were aware that they would be paying a premium for the unit, given the property’s outstanding attributes such as its central location, spacious size, penthouse lifestyle and rarity, says Ho. The view of the Tanglin landed housing areas from the top of SkyVille @ Dawson. (Picture: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore) While the actual Cash Over Valuation (COV) paid by the buyer is confidential, the amount is likely around $100,000, says Ho. COV represents the difference between the resale price of an HDB flat and the actual valuation by HDB. The sale of this five-room loft will likely spur some sellers at SkyTerrace @ Dawson and SkyVille @ Dawson to increase their price, however, there are very few five-room units in these developments that are up for sale. Most of the units from these two developments that are on the resale market are four-room units,” says Ho.

really using all sort of ghost words to con investors. 47 yrs left on the lease and still have to undertake refurbishment is jin kumgong investment. more practical is add another 99 yrs onto the lease, confirm sure got kumgong takers. but give limpeh sell this project to my good friend sherman, his laopeh sure give him another sgd1.9bln to burn one. wahahahahaha

this KGK already BLUR like these sotong liao ... u still ask him jiak turtle soup. later haven't put inside and pew pew already like the turtle head go into hiding liao ... jin sad life sia whahahahaahahaha

Worse than a beast and may they burn in hell for such acts.

Bark bark @socrates469bc your type? Dont be shy

kgb ah soh jiu shi kgb ah soh Go market every morning jjww the same thing buey sianz still cum here jjww again wahaha Tomy say one

Ya he fire missile barrage he Jin happy. If he drink the soup he fire the star forge already

SYDNEY/JAKARTA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - China told Indonesia to stop drilling for oil and natural gas in maritime territory that both countries regard as their own during a months-long standoff in the South China Sea earlier this year, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The unprecedented demand, which has not previously been reported, elevated tensions over natural resources between the two countries in a volatile area of global strategic and economic importance. One letter from Chinese diplomats to Indonesia's foreign ministry clearly told Indonesia to halt drilling at a temporary offshore rig because it was taking place in Chinese territory, according to Muhammad Farhan, an Indonesian lawmaker on parliament's national security committee, which was briefed on the letter. "Our reply was very firm, that we are not going to stop the drilling because it is our sovereign right," Farhan told Reuters. A spokesman for Indonesia's foreign ministry said: "Any diplomatic communication between states is private in nature and its content cannot be shared." He declined further comment. China's foreign ministry, defence ministry and embassy in Indonesia's capital Jakarta did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Three other people, who said they were briefed on the matter, confirmed the existence of the letter. Two of those people said China made repeated demands that Indonesia stop drilling. Southeast Asia's biggest nation says the southern end of the South China Sea is its exclusive economic zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and named the area as the North Natuna Sea in 2017. During a months-long standoff at sea, China demanded Indonesia stop drilling for oil and gas at the Tuna Block in the South China Sea, an area which both countries say is part of their sovereign territory. China objected to the name change and insists the waterway is within its expansive territorial claim in the South China Sea that it marks with a U-shaped "nine-dash line," a boundary found to have no legal basis by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in 2016. "It (the letter) was a bit threatening because it was the first effort of China's diplomats to push their nine-dash line agenda against our rights under the Law of the Sea," Farhan told Reuters. China is Indonesia's biggest trade partner and second-largest source of investment, making it a key part of Indonesia's ambition to become a top-tier economy. Indonesian leaders kept quiet about the matter in order to avoid conflict or a diplomatic spat with China, Farhan and two of the other people who spoke to Reuters said. Farhan said that China, in a separate letter, also protested against the predominantly land-based Garuda Shield military exercises in August, which took place during the standoff. The exercises, involving 4,500 troops from the United States and Indonesia, have been a regular event since 2009. This was China's first protest against them, according to Farhan. "In their formal letter, the Chinese government was expressing their concern about the security stability in the area," he said. TENSIONS AT SEA Within days of the Noble Clyde Boudreaux semi-submersible rig arriving at the Tuna Block in the Natuna Sea to drill two appraisal wells on June 30, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel was at the scene, according to ship movement data. It was soon joined by an Indonesian Coast Guard vessel. Over the next four months, Chinese and Indonesian ships shadowed each other around the oil and gas field, frequently coming within 1 nautical mile of each other, according to an analysis of ship identification data and satellite imagery by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), a project run by the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Data and images reviewed by AMTI and the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI), a Jakarta-based independent think-tank, shows a Chinese research ship, Haiyang Dizhi 10, arrived in the area in late August, spending most of the next seven weeks moving slowly in a grid pattern of the adjacent D-Alpha Block, an oil and gas reserve also in contested waters, valued at $500 billion by Indonesian government studies. "Based on the pattern of movement, nature, and ownership of the vessel, it looked like it was conducting a scientific survey of the D-Alpha reserve," said Jeremia Humolong, a researcher at the IOJI. On Sept. 25, the American aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan came within 7 nautical miles of the Tuna Block drilling rig. "This is the first observed instance of a U.S. aircraft carrier operating in such proximity to an ongoing standoff" in the South China Sea, AMTI said in a report published in November. Four Chinese warships were also deployed to the area, according to the IOJI and local fishermen. A spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Carrier Strike Group 5/Task Force 70 declined to disclose the carrier's distance from the rig. 'NEVER SURRENDER' China is in negotiations with 10 Southeast Asian states, including Indonesia, to hammer out a code of conduct for the South China Sea, a waterway rich in natural resources carrying at least $3.4 trillion in annual trade. The talks, under the auspices of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), restarted this year after being stopped due to the pandemic. Beijing's increasingly aggressive stance in the South China Sea has sparked concern in Jakarta, four sources told Reuters. Indonesia has not made any formal claim to areas of the South China Sea under United Nations rules, believing the extent of its waters is already clearly set by international law. Chinese president Xi Jinping has tried to play down tensions between it and Southeast Asian states, telling a China-ASEAN leaders summit last month that China "absolutely will not seek hegemony or even less, bully the small" in the region. Farhan told Reuters Indonesia's government played down the tension of the standoff publicly. Its leaders wanted to be "as silent as possible because, if it was leaked to any media, it would create a diplomatic incident," he said. The temporary rig operated until Nov. 19, after which it went to Malaysian waters. Indonesian security minister Mahfud M.D. went to the Natuna Sea last week. He said his visit had nothing to do with China, but said in a public statement that Indonesia would "never surrender an inch" of territory. The drilling was completed on time, according to a spokesman for Harbour Energy, the operator of the Tuna Block. In a similar confrontation with China in 2017, Vietnam abandoned exploration activities. Harbour Energy is expected to issue an update on the drilling results on Dec. 9. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-china-protested-indonesian-drilling-military-exercises-2021-12-01/

SINGAPORE - The iconic Golden Mile Complex at Beach Road, which was gazetted as a conserved building in October, is up for collective sale again at the same reserve price of $800 million after its last attempt ended with no bids. The 16-storey building with 718 strata-titled units has 47 years left on its lease. Its owners last launched an en bloc sale in October 2018, but the two tenders in that first round closed without buyers in July 2019. The collective sale was reactivated immediately in August 2019, with the collective sale committee and marketing agent Edmund Tie continuing to provide feedback to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on the proposed conservation. At $800 million and depending on the proposed use mix, the indicative land rate will work out to about $1,350 per square foot per plot ratio including differential premium and lease upgrading premium payable. There is no additional buyer's stamp duty payable for buying the site as Golden Mile Complex is zoned for commercial use. There are also no restrictions on foreign ownership. Golden Mile Complex was completed in 1973, and is the first modern, large-scale strata-titled development conserved here. Known for its Brutalist architectural style, signature building features include its step terrace, slanted beams, and "floating" staggered staircases. The site will have a maximum potential gross floor area of 81,000 square metres. Additionally, a new 30-storey tower can be built beside the conserved building. In return for developers' abiding by the conservation guidelines, URA is offering additional planning incentives. These include a one-third increase in floor area with full tax waiver for the conserved floor area, a partial tax waiver for new floor area, lease renewal for a fresh 99 years, and the option to adjust the boundary of the 1.3 ha site. "The incentive package is unique to Golden Mile Complex, as its conservation is the first of its kind, another pioneering endeavour," Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said in October when he announced that the building had been conserved. "We hope that developers will consider the potential of the site, alongside our vision to rejuvenate a national icon," the minister added. Ms Swee Shou Fern, executive director of investment advisory at Edmund Tie, said: "Golden Mile Complex is a national icon that has shaped the visual character of our built landscape. Its distinctive architecture and worldwide iconic status will offer tremendous potential to transform the property to a vibrant destination integrating work, live, and play elements. "Besides financial incentives in the form of development charge waivers, the (conservation incentives) package offers the developers flexibility in the use mix as well as design flexibility by allowing reconfiguration of the site boundary," she added. The current tender will also include a building study of Golden Mile Complex, undertaken by URA, to guide bidders in factoring in rehabilitation works in their evaluation. The tender for Golden Mile Complex will close on Feb 28, 2022, at 3 pm.

https://www.facebook.com/100015039407739/videos/4051290411637293

Sai bin cag, mai salty I dun nid to bark "yes sir, no sir" rike a dkg slave dog rike wat chiu do everyday to chiur boss wahaha song boh WERK ISH FOR DKGKS WAHAHA!

u dun CAG la always go parklane. mus well u enroll urself in that skool beside, grow a pair of balls upgrade urself abit rah.

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/antstream-arcade--epic-welcome-pack

You love eating cock ring. What with you and cock ring

zz must understand the old kumgong tiong investment fallacy.

Test it with watching 4k prawn...

SINGAPORE - Most owners of Housing Board flats can expect to pay more in property taxes next year, as the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) will be revising the annual value (AV) of HDB flats in line with increase in market rentals. Iras said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 1) that the AV will be revised upwards by 4 per cent to 6 per cent, with effect from January next year, and that this is part of its annual review of properties to compute the property tax payable. With the revision in AV, all one-room and two-room flat owner-occupiers will continue to pay no property tax. This will also be the case for 35 per cent of three-room flat owner-occupiers, while 65 per cent of three-room flat owner-occupiers will each pay between $8 and $14 more annually. The four-room, five-room and executive flat owner-occupiers will each pay between $21 and $26 more annual property tax in 2022. Iras said it monitors market rental trends to determine the AV of properties. AV is the estimated annual rent of the property if it were to be rented out and is determined based on the market rents of comparable properties. The AV of HDB flats had remained unchanged since its last revision in 2017. However, Iras added, with the rising market rents of HDB flats this year, the AV of all HDB flats will need to be revised upwards from Jan 1 next year. The property tax payable is derived by multiplying the property tax rate with the AV of the property, said the authority. Owner-occupiers enjoy concessionary property tax rates ranging between 0 per cent and 16 per cent, while the property tax rates for those who rented out their flats range between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. The tax rates are progressive, with higher-value properties being taxed at higher rates, it added. For example, owner-occupiers of a four-room flat will pay between $73.60 and $121.60 in property tax next year, after a $21.60 increase in annual tax payable from 2021. In comparison, the increase in annual tax payable from 2021 will be $26.40 for owner-occupiers of executive flats The applicable tax rates for HDB flats are up to 4 per cent for owner-occupied flats and 10 per cent for non-owner-occupied flats. All property owners will receive their property tax bills by end-December this year and are required to pay their property tax by Jan 31. There will be a 5 per cent penalty imposed for property owners who fail to pay or have not arranged to pay their tax via Giro instalments by the due date. Property owners facing financial difficulties may approach Iras for assistance to discuss a suitable payment plan before Jan 31.

That's practically impossible for me to avoid!!!

v

The head of drugmaker Moderna said he believes the Omicron variant is "highly infectious" and it is "highly possible" the effectiveness of vaccines is decreasing - adding that boosters may need a "double" dose to provide the best protection. Chief executive of the COVID vaccine creator Stephane Bancel said the new strain is overtaking Delta in South Africa at a faster rate than previously seen. "It took around four months for Delta to take over Beta, and it seems it's taking just a couple weeks for this new variant to take over Delta," he told CNBC. The new mutation - first identified by researchers in southern Africa - is believed to be already present in most countries. Albert Bourla, chief executive of rival vaccine maker Pfizer/BioNTech said he was "very confident" the jab works against all known mutations of coronavirus, including Omicron. However, he said his firm has already started making a new vaccine against the variant, adding: "Within 95 days basically we will have a new vaccine." Both stressed that more data is needed to fully understand whether B.1.1.529 is more contagious or resistant to vaccines. Mr Bancel said: "Given the large number of mutations, it is highly possible that the efficacy of the vaccine, all of them, is going down. But we need to wait for the data to know if this is true, and how much is it going down." The high number of mutations on the protein spike the virus uses to infect human cells could mean existing vaccines need to be modified. He said a higher dose booster jab would be the "first line of defence". More data needed "We've lowered the dose of a booster of a current vaccine, and so we have a lot of safety data showing that we could go back to a higher microgram dose at double the dose of a current vaccine, which should provide better protection than the third dose booster at 50 micrograms," he said. "So that's the first line of defence, actionable right away." Mr Bancel's remarks appeared to renew jitters on the financial markets after Omicron caused disruption last Friday. Pharmaceutical firms were among the losers, in a broad sell-off across Europe on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 in London down by 1.4% in morning deals. The European Union is already preparing for the possibility vaccines may need to be tweaked. European Medicines Agency (EMA) executive director Emer Cooke said: "Were there a need to change the existing vaccines, we could be in a position to have those approved within three to four months." Meanwhile, when asked about the prospect of developing new vaccines, Sage member Professor Paul Moss told Sky News: "Well, as you know, the companies have already started - the gene has been cloned, but typically talking around 100 days. "We've learned so much in the last 18 months - nobody felt we would get a vaccine within a year when the pandemic started, and we did - we got several." It comes as the head of the UK's Health Security Agency urged people not to socialise if they do not need to. Dr Jenny Harries told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that even if our "vaccines appear to be effective, but we find that the variant is more highly transmissible, having lowish grade infection, but in very large numbers of the population, (it) could still be a significant impact on our hospitals." She added: "If we all decrease our social contacts a little bit, actually that helps to keep the variant at bay." Some 14 cases of the variant have so far been identified across the UK, though experts expect this number to rise in the coming days.

(Bloomberg) — Singapore’s world-leading pivot away from Covid Zero is being watched closely as the omicron variant roils global markets. So far, the country has refrained from reversing course on its gradual border reopening, and experts say it has time to wait before pushing the panic button. Instead of joining Japan and Israel in slamming borders shut again to foreigners, Singapore kept its existing vaccinated travel lanes open, choosing instead to step up testing for travellers and pause further easing of travel and social curbs. “There is no evidence that this variant should cause panic or require substantially different procedures to manage and contain,” said Ashley St. John, an associate professor of immunology at Duke-NUS Medical School. “I don’t think it’s realistic to expect that omicron can be contained easily. It is likely to spread substantially in the world in spite of many measures including testing and restricted movement.” Key to Singapore’s ability to hold off on immediate drastic curbs is one of the world’s highest vaccination rates, efforts to protect its healthcare system from surges in infection, and its already measured reopening pace, experts say. The Southeast Asian economy, which is highly reliant on trade and transport, shifted to a strategy of living with the virus when the highly transmissible delta variant made Covid elimination all but impossible. It was the first to do so among a few Asia-Pacific jurisdictions that had previously tried to wall off the virus. “Closing of borders, particularly in places with high rates of vaccination, is unnecessary,” said Ooi Eng Eong, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at the Duke-NUS Medical School. “I suspect that omicron has already spread to many places undetected. If omicron is as transmissible as delta, then closing borders would only delay the inevitable virus introduction.” Singapore Aims to Reopen Borders With Malaysia Despite Omicron Vaccination is still the best defence, Ooi added, because even if there is some reduction in effectiveness against an omicron infection, immunisation would very likely still prevent the infection from progressing to become severe Covid. With more than 85% of its population fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and new infections stabilised, Singapore recently allowed people from different households to dine together in groups of 5 at restaurants. It had also gradually extended its vaccinated travel lane program to more countries before delaying those with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as a precaution amid concern about omicron. “If omicron comes, it comes,” said Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease specialist at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, who believes it’s unlikely the variant would test the resolve of Singapore’s government much. “The decision on whether or not to close up depends on hospital capacity and the Covid-19 treatment facilities have boosted them tremendously.” Transition to Living With Covid Sparking Division in Singapore Still, authorities in Singapore seem to be taking no chances, Leong said referring to a decision by the nation on Tuesday to ramp up testing at its border. With high rates of vaccination, Singapore should be able to withstand the new variant relatively well, judging by the experience of similarly well inoculated Portugal where omicron has emerged, he said. To be sure, much remains unknown about omicron, and Singapore has signalled it will tighten up if it needs to. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung compared the situation to a game of snakes and ladders — if the variant turns out to be worse than past ones then there will be significant setbacks in the pandemic fight, but if it’s more infectious yet milder and less harmful, “it is actually a positive development. We will ladder up towards living with Covid-19,” he said on Facebook. “In the meantime, we should take a prudent approach and implement appropriate measures to contain omicron, not let it establish itself in our community, while we find out more” in the coming weeks, Ong said at a briefing Tuesday. “When we learn more about it, I am confident we will learn to live with omicron, just like how we learnt to live with delta.”

me die la, so popular i nv hear of it

Actor Joshua Tan is being praised today for standing up to a frothing lunatic in Sydney. Tan’s celebrity pals praised the 31-year-old after he spoke out against bullying and racism on social media, where he posted a clip showing him keep his cool while being screamed at and insulted by an unhinged man in a pink, Justin Bieber-brand hoodie. “[B]ruh the RESTRAINT 😍 well done my man,” singer Benjamin Kheng wrote. The clip, showing what appeared to be a moment of inflamed parking lot passions, was apparently filmed in Sydney by Tan’s partner Zoen Tay. “Shikes sorry this happened to you man. Honestly I cannot believe this racism in the country, in this day and age. Kudos for keeping your cool – must not have been easy! Stay safe,” actress Jade Seah wrote. “That must be awful but thanks for sharing such positive energy,” actor Romeo Tan wrote. https://www.instagram.com/p/CWzpQzIvlHY The praise continued to flow from other famous friends including actors Paul Foster, Tosh Rock, Shane Pow, and Irene Ang. In the clip, the infuriated man tears vulgarly into Tan, calling him a “fucking imbecile,” a “fucking idiot” and telling him multiple times to “fuck off.” Tan refuses to fuck off; instead, he stands his ground without becoming antagonistic. The actor best known for his role as Ken Chow in the Ah Boys To Men film franchise, is Australian but has mainly worked in Singapore. It wasn’t clear what provoked the exchange, but the older man could be heard saying that Tan “blocked the line” and “slowly pulled in” while driving. “It is possible to stay calm but also stand up to bullies, some resort to aggression and raised voices when confronted by firm restraint,” Tan wrote in his post. “However it is possible to stand up for yourself while at the same time, not resort to violence.” He topped it with “RACISM IS NOT OK BULLYING SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED,” though no racial slurs were heard in the video.

(Bloomberg) — Even before the new omicron variant forced the delay of several vaccinated travel lanes, Singapore’s grand reopening was off to a slow start. Despite the social media hype and initial bookings rush, the number of people actually traveling using the city-state’s quarantine-free travel lanes is surprisingly few, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore data. Some 20,510 travelers received approval to enter Singapore since the first travel lanes kicked off in early September through Nov. 26, just 12.5% of the around 164,500 people theoretically allowed in under the nation’s daily quotas. Including Singapore citizens, permanent residents and children aged 12 and below who don’t need to apply for re-entry approval, that figure rises to 37,001, still only 22.5% of the total possible. While omicron will start to be reflected in carriers’ schedules in coming days, Singapore’s recovery already ranked the slowest among major countries in the Asia-Pacific region, OAG data show. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Transport didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. While no-one expected the floodgates to open right away and the daily quotas put a natural cap on visitors, the numbers coming in on the vaccinated travel lanes average out to less than 500 people a day, a far cry from the more than 181,600 travelers who used to stream through Changi Airport 365 days a year pre-Covid. “The numbers aren’t all that fantastic,” said Mohshin Aziz, director of the Pangolin Aviation Recovery Fund, which invests in aviation-related businesses. “The first to travel will be those who need to see family or who are going borderline insane with the travel curbs. But after that, reality will sink in very quickly” considering the high cost of air tickets and Covid tests. Omicron “creates an additional layer of anxiety,” he said. It’s not just the expense of travel during a pandemic — rapid result Covid tests at some airports in Europe run to almost 300 euro ($315) a pop — but the uncertainty of travel that’s putting people off. Even before omicron blasted onto the front pages, Covid cases were rising at an alarming rate in Europe, sparking fresh lockdowns in parts of the continent. One of the earliest places that Singapore announced a vaccinated travel lane with was Germany, where new infections have been hitting records. In Europe, Singapore also has vaccinated travel lanes with the U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark and France. Freezing weather — Arctic blasts have left parts of the U.K. without power — and a winter ski season under threat from potential lockdowns for a second year has made the prospect of flying 12 hours across the globe only to be hit with frigid temperatures and lifestyle curbs less appealing. The risk of travel in a pandemic was only reinforced by the emergence of the new variant, which triggered a cascade of various travel curbs — even though its severity is yet to be determined. By Monday, several countries had started to raise their drawbridges, with Israel and Japan banning foreigners and others limiting entry to travelers from parts of southern Africa, where the new strain was first identified. The number of airline seats offered on flights from Singapore, which doesn’t have a domestic market, was about 22% of pre-Covid levels for the week of Nov. 22, the OAG data show. Singapore Airlines Ltd. said earlier this month it expects to be at just 43% of pre-Covid capacity by the end of December. And while capacity on flights to Australia picked up in the weeks after two-way quarantine-free travel was allowed, it’s still well under half of what it was pre-pandemic. Some of the same factors that are keeping people in Singapore from rushing toward the departure gates are holding back would-be visitors to the city-state, too. The cost of vaccinated travel lane flights, the price of Covid tests and the restrictions on daily life after arrival are putting many people off coming to the island nation, Hannah Pearson, the Kuala Lumpur-based director of tourism consultancy Pear Anderson, said. Most visitors to Singapore on vaccinated travel lane flights must take a Covid test upon arrival at the airport for around S$160 ($117). “What happens if you’re a family of six? You can’t eat out. What are you going to do? You’re still not getting this full travel experience,” she said, referencing the fact that local rules in Singapore currently restrict dining to groups of five. Singapore, where you can drive the length of the island in under two hours, also typically isn’t a place where travelers spend much time, she said. Many tourists use the nation as a transit destination en route to Europe or Australia, often never leaving the airport. “If you’re going to all that trouble to go to Singapore, to go anywhere really, you want to stay more than a few days,” Anderson said. “The long-haul market would probably use Singapore as a hub” however the more countries you visit, “the more border restrictions you’re going to bump into,” she said. Even travel within Asia using Singapore’s vaccinated travel lanes, which now extend to Malaysia and will soon encompass Sri Lanka, Thailand and Cambodia, isn’t cheap. People board a bus in Singapore on November 29, 2021, under the VTL for border-crossing passengers to Malaysia's Johor (PHOTO: AFP/Roslan RAHMAN) Mohshin, who was on one of the first vaccinated travel lane flights to Kuala Lumpur on Monday, said the cost of a round-trip ticket to Malaysia’s capital, plus forking out for the numerous Covid tests at either end, can rival a fare to a Europe. “If you’re traveling with kids, it’s too costly. It’s too taxing,” he said. “What’s the justification of getting swabbed four times and spending money on that?” There’s also the risk that unless Singapore acts swiftly to protect its own borders, omicron enters and spreads substantially in the densely populated city-state, causing other countries to turn their backs on the nation, further thwarting efforts to open up. “To me that’s what we want to avoid,” Associate Professor Alex Cook, vice-dean of research at the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said. “I’m not convinced that we need to stop it from getting into the country, but we want to avoid other people blocking the border, turning from Singapore.”

If not kumgong, only see $$ and people as numbers, then how will they get a kumgong nation to vote for them?

SQ earnings how?

but tiagong kgk xdd every afternoon watch jdrama after lunch gao gao hor. so where got atbgf??????? wahahahahahahhaha

jin kumgong shld be focusing instead on how to bring infection back to double digits then talk. wahahahhahahahha

Singapore was recognized for its pricey lifestyle today in an annual study. The tiny island with over five million people vaulted from fourth to second to tie with Paris as the world’s most expensive city to live, according to The Economist. Israel’s capital Tel Aviv topped the Worldwide Cost of Living survey conducted by the newspaper’s research arm and published Wednesday. Rounding out the top 10, in descending order, were Zurich, Hong Kong, New York, Geneva, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, and Osaka. The poll found the rate of inflation across the cities has “accelerated” since the pandemic began, rising to 3.5% from 1.9% last year, and 2.8% in 2019. It is the fastest rate recorded in the past five years. The survey compiled prices for more than 200 goods and services including recreation, petrol, and tobacco in 173 cities, 40 more than last year. Researchers noted the prices of products and services from a range of stores. The data was then converted to US dollars and compared to New York as the base line. In last year’s survey, Paris, Zurich and Hong Kong shared the No. 1 spot. According to the findings, Tel Aviv climbed to the top on the back of a strong New Shekel, which has driven higher transport and grocery prices. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the list, war torn Damascus and Tripoli were among the cheapest cities in the world. Image: Economist Intelligence Unit Image: Economist Intelligence Unit

I guess wrongly...thot Tokyo is no.1 most costly

Meaty...