No wonder people call us a nanny state - we need the government to butt in everything!

From our hygiene habits to our love life. The ultimate solution to all our problems? The Government lah! And the root of our problems? Stupid Government policies! Ten years back we were using Switzerland as a role model, now its Sweden. Since we seem to have a fixation on European countries beginning with the letter S, will Scotland or Spain be next?

School bus mess : Enough, let Govt run it

As if the ding-dong over school bus seat belts was not enough, now comes another issue on higher school bus fares - whether it is anti-competition or not, whether Case should be involved and so on ('School bus fares going up on Aug 1', last Thursday).

Can the authorities comment on the transport mode of school children in Sweden? Does the government fund and manage school transport or are parents left to the vagaries of market forces when deciding which mode of transport?

On the one hand, the Government says children are our most precious asset and we need to move towards the Swedish model of better family welfare. On the other, those who implement policies are counting dollars and cents to see which policy makes economic sense - even over non-negotiable issues like children's safety and well being.

If we have to pay half a percentage point more income tax so children have better school transport with proper seat belts, so be it. But let us turn the school bus transport system inside out. It should be run by the Ministry of Education or schools themselves.

-- Nilesh Kantilal Sahita, Straits Times Forum

Things that make you go Awww : Widower's labour of love

A Cambridgeshire widower has spent 15 years piecing back together thousands of fragments of romantic notes that he sent to his late wife.

Ted Howard, 82, wrote 98 letters to Mollie during seven years courting as he travelled Europe as a farm worker.

But Mrs Howard tore them into pieces and stuffed them in a cushion after she caught someone reading them in 1953, reports the BBC.

Mr Howard, of Ramsey, wrote the amorous letters on hotel writing paper as he travelled the UK, Ireland, France and Holland in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

But Mrs Howard, who died three years ago, tore each one into more than 20 pieces creating more than 2,000 fragments, some smaller than a thumbnail.

Mr Howard said: "I still miss Mollie terribly but having the memories helps me through. The letters brought back so many good times."

Mr Howard has now written a book based on the letters, which will be dedicated to his wife and called A Week At Stanton.

The retired farm worker and machinery demonstrator, said: "It was love at first sight. No two ways about it. I was at a village feast (fair) and this girl jumped off the carousel and came careering into me.

"It turned out to be Mollie. That was 19 July 1948."

Mollie was 18 at the time and Ted was 23. They married in 1955 and went on to have three children and six grandchildren.

--Ananova

To still be so in love after so many years is hard, hence I always find it so romantic when old couples walk down the street hand in hand.

Snoozing at the terminal - Singapore's Changi ranked 1st for 10 years in a row

Airports range widely in what they offer overnight guests. The top-ranked airport at the Guide to Sleeping in Airports Web site for the last 10 years is Singapore's Changi Airport. It has dimly lighted napping areas, where comfortable leather chairs have leg rests and headrests. Some are even fitted with alarm clocks. There are also cheap sleeping cubicles available for travelers.

Sleeping at an airport overnight, once almost a sport for the young and short of cash, has become a lot more common lately, affecting even older and professional travelers. And a big reason is that airlines are no longer as free with complimentary hotel vouchers as they once were.

"Belt tightening by airlines over the last 18 months, and more so this year," is how Randy Petersen, editor of the online magazine InsideFlyer and the frequent-flier Web site FlyerTalk.com, explains it.

"They have to look at everything they spend a penny on," Petersen said. And because flights are fuller, he added, "they're not just dealing with a few passengers."

Bob Harrell, founder of Harrell Associates, an airline consultant, agreed. "If they're charging for extra bags, food and water, then the flip side is the airlines are going to go out of their way to minimize expenses on one side, while maximizing on the other," he said.

An unscheduled overnight stay at a German airport inspired one business traveler, Frank Giotto, the president of Fiber Instrument Sales in Oriskany, New York, to create the Mini Motel, a one-person tent complete with air mattress, pillow, reading light, alarm clock and pillow (which he now sells for $39.95).


Asked what airports would think of a tent city of his Mini Motels, Giotto expressed confidence.

"People sleeping in chairs don't seem to bother them," he said. "We could be forcing the airports to come up with a solution to respond to the tremendous need."

And there is even a Web site, the Budget Traveller's Guide to Sleeping in Airports (www.sleepinginairports.com), which lists the best and worst airports to spend the night in.

--International Herald Tribune, 15 July

So, thats another addition to our Number Ones list!

Couple 'suing' zoo for 10 million dollars

A couple from New York is trying to sue the Bronx Zoo for $10 million after being stranded in a gondola for five hours, hanging above dangerous baboons.

The man and his pregnant fiancé's lawyer said they did not know whether they would survive the ordeal, the New York Post reported.

Dozens of people were stuck in the cable cars as it shut down on Wednesday and firefighters and police officers used a crane to rescue a family of three from gondola which swung about 100 feet (30 meters) in the air.

No injuries were reported but Damien Foster and Nandi Taylor who have filed a law suit said they suffered “psychological trauma” and the incident put her pregnancy at risk.

The Skyfari ride, which passes over the butterfly garden, the baboon habitat and part of the African plains exhibit where lions and gazelles roam, offers visitors a bird's-eye view of the celebrated zoo and its surroundings.

Each of its gondolas can hold up to four people.

-- The Metro

At least this doesn't sound as ludicrous as suing McDonalds because your son is overweight!

Malaysian police close down Parliament!

Malaysian police locked down Parliament on Monday with roadblocks and massive security to prevent an anticipated rally by supporters of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is awaiting interrogation on a sodomy accusation.

Anwar's party, however, said it was not planning a protest.

Anwar's questioning later Monday was to coincide with an opposition demand for an emergency debate in Parliament on what it says is the public's lack of confidence in the government.

The police action against the opposition is likely to increase political tensions, already high amid Anwar's threat to bring down the government by mid-September even as he fights the sodomy allegation.

The debate is not the same as a no-confidence vote, but the speaker was still not expected to allow it. In the past, almost every opposition motion has been rejected on grounds of being non-urgent or not in the public interest.

Anwar, who is not a member of Parliament, was supposed to witness the session from the visitors' gallery before going to a police station for questioning.

But police obtained a court order barring Anwar as well as the public from coming within three miles of Parliament. Copies of the court order were pasted in public places. Members of Parliament were also told not to bring guests to witness the session.

The roadblocks, which also prevented journalists from entering with their vehicles, caused massive traffic jams in many parts of the city.

District police Chief Ahmad Sofian Mohamad Yassin said the measures were necessary because Anwar's supporters had not sought a police permit for a rally, as required by law.

''We have such laws that any public gathering must first have a police permit ... so we are going to disallow any gathering,'' he said, adding only ''those who have business'' in Parliament would be allowed to enter.

Anwar criticized the court order barring him and his supporters from Parliament as an ''abuse of the legal process.''

Tian Chua, information chief of Anwar's People's Justice Party, said the party had merely wanted supporters to come to Parliament for the debate.

''There is no protest planned. We want people to go into Parliament to listen to the debate,'' he said. ''I think it (the police lock down) is deliberately to create a situation to cause confusion.''

Anwar, who has become a thorn in the side of the government, suffered a setback when he was accused last month by a volunteer worker in his office of sodomizing him. Anwar has dismissed the allegation as a political conspiracy to thwart his political ascendancy.

The People's Justice Party and two other opposition parties together won an unprecedented 82 seats in the 222-member Parliament in March 8 elections. Anwar claims he can get more than 30 ruling party lawmakers to defect to form a new government.

Anwar did not contest the elections because a previous corruption conviction barred him from politics for five years. The ban expired in April.

-- Associated Press, 14 July

Text appeal is all down to sending the right message

Chat-up lines are getting shorter because women are now rating prospective dates on the strength of their texting, a new study claims.And the men most likely to get the thumbs-up are those who can combine wit and wisdom rather than sending childish codes such as CUL8R for "see you later".

The way a man uses his mobile phone keypad says a lot about his personality, said the poll of 2000 adults.

More than three in four women (76 per cent) judge a potential date's character by his texting style in the early days of their courtship.

And nearly nine in ten (88 per cent) modern women prefer to use texts than real conversations after they initially swap numbers.

This is partly because 37 per cent believe men who call to talk after getting a girl's number can appear desperate, while texting does not give the same impression.

Despite the slang abbreviations associated with text messaging, a surprising four in ten (41 per cent) women are turned off by bad spelling and poor grammar.

They do not want brief, scrambled messages with two thirds (67 per cent) claiming they are more likely to go for men who send longer texts which include humour and some flirting.

Men are advised against sarcasm or appearing "lewd" but should use a witty style. Practical missives – such an instructions to meet at a certain time and place – are less popular and more than half of female receivers (56 per cent) are left cold by them.

-- The Scotsman

Men, hear hear!

Woman hit by lightning while filming with camera, survives, posts video!

This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime events. A woman is taking video of a rainstorm from her balcony when she is struck by lightning. She survives, and posts the video on Flickr.

Andy Warhol said we'd all be famous for fifteen minutes. The Internet and Youtube have redefined that to fifteen seconds. This is some of the most amazing fifteen seconds of footage I've ever seen.

Apparently, she was standing on the balcony of her house, filming the rain storm, and resting her right hand on a conductive railing. A lightning stroke hit her camera-hand. Thankfully, the charge didn't go through her chest cavity and stop her heart, but rather went across her back and grounded out through her other hand.

-- Digital Journal

This is just one of those things that makes me go speechless. Even "awesome" seems far off.

Why the Swedish way won't work

I refer to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's suggestion in Thursday's report that Singapore emulate Sweden's strategy in improving birth rates ('Taking a leaf from Sweden's book to boost birth rate').

It may not work as Singapore has a very competitive educational environment relative to Sweden. Spending money on creches, giving fathers time off for each childbirth and other Swedish initiatives are not enough in Singapore. The reason our educational environment is so competitive is because parents know that without tertiary education, our kids will not have a good life.

The presence of cheap foreign labour has made low-skilled jobs unrewarding. This is not the case in Sweden. Garbage collectors, bricklayers and carpenters are relatively well paid in Sweden. Thus, even the less skilled in Sweden have a good life. Hence, the urgency on the part of Singapore parents to give their children a tertiary education.

Of course, importing foreign labour has boosted our growth rate. But the price we pay is that it depresses the wages of the lower-skilled workers. That is why Singapore has a high Gini Index compared with Sweden. The index measures the gap between the rich and the poor.

To boost our birth rate, child-rearing should be recognised as a career in itself. Ideally, we want the better-educated women to have more kids. Mothers who stay home tend to have more children than working mums.

I suggest that the Government pay mothers their last-drawn pay for a period of say 10 years after the second child is born, if she chooses to stay at home. If she has more children, the 10-year period restarts after the subsequent children are born. The higher her last drawn pay, the more she is paid.

Second, a portion of her children's future Central Provident Fund payments should be transferred to her after they start working for the rest of her life.

One reason people in the past had more children is that they saw their kids as a source of pension funds for their old age. It's time to restore the old relationship.

Tan Keng Soon - Straits Times Interactive

I think the main reason here is that life in Singapore is very stressful, who wants to bring up a child in a very stressful environment? Its either you make it or you don't. If you don't have a good tertiary education, you're doomed for life.

Xiaxue and Dawn on Yahoo Polls!

This is the current poll results.

Go and vote now!

Woman Posts Cat!

A cat was posted 450 miles by mistake after it crawled into a parcel box for a cat nap.

The cat's owner Gitti Rauch said her pet climbed into a box filled with presents for relatives. She did not notice the cat as she sealed up the package and sent it off.

After the two-day journey from Rottach-Egern in southern Germany to Dorsten in the north of the country the cat leapt out unharmed - and no worse for wear - when the parcel was opened.

Mrs Rauch, 44, said: "Janosch usually goes off on his own for a few days and I wasn't worried when I hadn't seen him for a while - then I got a call telling me what had happened.

"I can understand though how he survived the journey without a scratch. He is a very special little cat. He likes to ride in cars, he likes boxes - and he never complains."

The Local - Germany

Woah! Poor kitty!

We are enough!

How often it is that we go the extra mile to please people and end up being disappointed? Why do we have to keep comparing ourselves with people who are more prettier, skinnier, taller etc than us? It only makes us feel worse off.

As you know, beauty/slimming centres, magazines etc, blatantly feed on our insecurities. I'm not saying that I've never felt insecure, I'm sure everyone has.

The thing is, we don't give ourselves enough credit. Being who we are can be tough. All of us play many different roles to different people. We are mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers, sons, daughters, wives, husbands, friends, teachers etc. We always feel that we can be a better person. Yes we can, sure we can. But, lets save that for another day.

We need to realise just for this moment that we - we, are enough. Our purpose in life is not pleasing people to gain acceptance, we just have to be enough for ourselves.

We are enough!

Now, go tell your mom, dad, husband, wife that they're enough. Even writing them a "you are enough" post it note will mean a lot to them.

I am enough! And you are too ;)


-- Starwish

The ‘Fake’ Steve Jobs Is Giving Up Parody Blog!

The once-mysterious blogger known as “Fake Steve Jobs” is turning off his iPhone for good.

Daniel Lyons, the former Forbes magazine journalist who wrote the blog The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs for the last two years, is moving on with his professional life and creative pursuits. In a final entry Wednesday entitled, “I’m sailing away,” the author, who is moving to Newsweek as a technology columnist this fall, said he was shutting down the popular parody of the life of the Apple chief executive and starting a new blog under his own name.

Mr. Lyons said that he had grown tired of his fictional creation, but mainly he was worried about making fun of a real person whose health has been a recent topic of speculation. (After a reporter for The New York Times asked about his lean appearance at a conference last month, Mr. Jobs said he was healthy.)

“I tried transitioning to other voices, like Jerry Yang’s, but it just didn’t work,” Mr. Lyons said, referring to the embattled Yahoo chief. “It seems clear that people reading the blog wanted to read Fake Steve or nothing.”

For Mr. Jobs’s online doppelgänger, the lights are dimming on a creation that once captivated the technology world. Publishing pseudonymously until an article in The Times revealed his identity last summer, Mr. Lyons wrote with insight and hyperbole about Mr. Jobs’s tyrannical moodiness at Apple and the fictional antics of other high-profile technology figures, including Microsoft’s Steven A. Ballmer and Oracle’s Larry Ellison.

An industrywide guessing game as to the identity of “Fake Steve” ensued, with the real Mr. Jobs and Microsoft’s Bill Gates weighing in.

Mr. Lyons translated the appeal of his blog into a novel, “Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, a Parody,” published in October by Da Capo Press, and he is writing a screenplay based on the book for Hollywood production house, Media Rights Capital. Unlike the book, Mr. Lyons said, the screenplay will feature a generic chief executive.

-- NYTimes

Bangkok voted world's best city

Bangkok was voted the world's best city for 2008 and the Galapagos were picked as the best islands in an online poll by Travel + Leisure magazine, trumping last year's winners Florence, Italy and Bali, Indonesia.

Magazine readers also voted Singita Sabi Sand, at the Kruger National Park, South Africa, as the world's top hotel while Singapore Airlines grabbed the best airline award again.

It was the first time that Bangkok, the vibrant capital of Thailand, and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador topped their respective categories, said Nancy Novogrod, editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure.

Last year, Bangkok was ranked number 3 and the Galapagos number 8. The 2007 winners of best city and best island -- Florence an Bali -- fell to number 5 and number 2 respectively.

"We're delighted to welcome so many new winners this year," she said in a statement. "Nature, and adventure, were clearly a draw in the selections."

Last year's number one hotel, the Oberoi Udaivilas in India, fell to number 4 this year. Singita Sabi Sands was voted the number two hotel in 2007.

The results were complied from votes by magazine subscribers in an Internet poll which went live between January and March. Travel + Leisure will honour winners on July 24 in New York City.

The complete "World's Best Awards" is available on www.travelandleisure.com. Following are some highlights:

Best hotel - Singita Sabi Sand, South Africa

Best island - Galapagos, Ecuador

Best cruise line (large ships) - Crystal Cruises

Best cruise line (small ships) - Silversea Cruises

Best international airline - Singapore Airlines

Best domestic airline - Virgin America

Best tour operator - Micato Safaris

Best car-rental agency - Hertz

Best hotel for $250 or less - Domaine des Hauts de Loire, France

-- Reuters

Beijing Olympics Results Already Predicted Before Actual Games Begin

Study: China will win more medals than U.S in Beijing

Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has come out with a study that estimates China to win one more medal than U.S in the Beijing Olympics.

Accountants got their turn in the Olympics with the publication of a report that predicts China to top the medal tally in the Beijing Olympics in terms of overall medals as well as number of gold medals won. The report predicts China to win a total of 88 medals, one higher than United States overall tally of 87.

John Hawksworth, the report's author, says a number of factors such as population, average income level and being the host nation are taken into consideration while preparing the report.

Hawksworth predicts Russia will drop to third place at Beijing with an overall tally of 79 medals , down 13, followed by Germany (43), Australia (41), Japan (34), France (30), Italy (29), Britain (28) and South Korea (27). He also said former Eastern bloc nations are likely to do better because of their planned approach.


-- Digital Journal

hmmm? I also predict that China will be first.

Will Anwar Swear on the Holy Quran to Prove His Innocence?

Anwar and his wife

It is on everyone's mind right now. Will he or will he not? Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the alleged person whom he commited sodomy with, challenged him to swear in front of the Ulamas (religious leaders). According to The Star Online, Anwar responded by replying, “Just inform me of the time and date. I am not afraid to keep my promise”.

Swearing on the Holy Quran is a very big deal. It is the most sacred book to Muslims just as the Bible is to the Christians. Should Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak also swear on the Quran to prove that he did not have an affair with Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu who was murdered in 2006?

With allegations, suspicions and tempers flying, will this measure bring a temporary reprise to the Malaysian political scene?

If they did no wrong, they should have nothing to fear - or do they?


-- Starwish