Haze may return to Singapore By Desmond Wong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 19 June 2009 1711 hrs SINGAPORE: Drier conditions as a result of possible El Nino effects later this year could see the haze returning to Singapore. The best way for Singapore to mitigate this danger is to work with its partners in Indonesia, said Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim. He said: "This year, for example, we're a bit worried, because there are indications...you could see El Nino coming back. El Nino conditions are drier than usual, and that is a cause for concern for us because the haze situation could worsen." Singapore has been working with Indonesia's Jambi province to reduce slash-and-burn activities by farmers there. The minister also said that the sharing of information and co-operation across governments is critical to avoid disrupting events like the Formula One (F1) race as the dry season heats up. Dr Yaacob said: "The dry season is starting now - July, August, September. If you look back at 1997 and 2006...September, October...was really the peak. I do not know if that will happen, but if it does, it will affect our (hosting of) F1. So there are many things we should be concerned about and we have informed the Indonesians that they have to do something about it." The minister was speaking at the opening of the Sea to Space building, home of the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing or CRISP. The National Environment Agency (NEA) is on its guard against the increase of forest fires in Indonesia, and CRISP will be lending the abilities of its new GeoEye ground station to help NEA monitor hot spots. - CNA/ir This explains my sore throat.. LoL.. Today is company off day, so we got an off day, and we had a little gathering.. a nice lunch with colleagues, and ex colleagues. Let's meet up again soon! Tomorrow, science centre! =P

Just my luck.. Bejeweled is down!! cannot play.. =( Let me introduce a nice song to my readers.. Lucky - Jason Mraz featuring Colbie Caillat We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things Do you hear me, I'm talking to you Across the water across the deep blue ocean Under the open sky oh my, baby I'm trying Boy I hear you in my dreams I feel your whisper across the sea I keep you with me in my heart You make it easier when life gets hard I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend Lucky to have been where I have been Lucky to be coming home again Oooohhhhoohhhhohhooohhooohhooohoooh They don't know how long it takes Waiting for a love like this Every time we say goodbye I wish we had one more kiss I'll wait for you I promise you, I will I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend Lucky to have been where I have been Lucky to be coming home again I'm lucky we're in love in every way Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed Lucky to be coming home someday And so I'm sailing through the sea To an island where we'll meet You'll hear the music, feel the air I'll put a flower in your hair Though the breezes through trees Move so pretty you're all I see As the world keeps spinning round You hold me right here right now I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend Lucky to have been where I have been Lucky to be coming home again I'm lucky we're in love in every way Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed Lucky to be coming home someday Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh Ooooh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh **** **** My friend is saying this shall be his 'march-in song'. Haha! another wedding dinner ~ Let me know if this song is nice? Am so tired this few days, tomorrow got class.. One more working day to go ! Friday is company off day, therefore its Hong Wei's off day too! =P Off to "handsome sleep"... Good night, all!

My dear brother, Vincent Tan wedding ! It was also a gathering for classmate, and schoolmates.. I know my table was fun... LoL The ''thank you'' gift... I also want to get married... Muahahahahha....

I saw this in twitter... I saw this in HardwareZone Forum.... It's so sad to see a 4 year old suffering like that... Help, if you can. If not, spread the news ! http://ourfeistyprincess.com 加油！ Little Charmaine !~

Great Soh Hong Wei Shopping at Jurong Point.... ALONE..

Thank you to the "A sisters".. Apple and April.. Thank you for giving me this offer! = D Meet up with another "A" friend for breakfast today.. *My dear friends cum colleague, able to guess the person?* PRIZE : one cup of 20cents KOPI from vending machine! LoL After the breakfast, i went over to Jurong Point.. shopping!! but........ A.L.O.N.E Dvds from TS Food ! ! Personal Plus some other "personal" things, not to be disclosed over the web... LoL

Thank you to Sieh Hiin, i heard this song before, but never know the title... let's dance to TGIF !! *yo ah yo* Supper with friend tomorrow night, Breakfast with another friend on Sat, and classmate's wedding dinner on Sunday night.. Hong Wei's fully booked! LoL

Last Tues, i was not able to finish my purchase at Tiong Bahru Plaza kopitiam, using their kopi tiam card.... Auntie : " hey boss, your card not enough money lehhh... " Me : " alamak ! because i 钱不够用 laaa~ " -____- " Usually July is means ''increment'' but this time around......sigh... =( This does not look good.. Economists expect Singapore economy to shrink 6.5% this year Source : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/435017/1/.html By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 10 June 2009 1306 hrs

SINGAPORE - Economists polled by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) now expect the domestic economy to shrink 6.5 per cent this year. This is worse than the 4.9 per cent contraction predicted in the previous survey in March. But the headline number is still at the more optimistic end of the government's forecast of a 6 to 9 per cent contraction. The 19 economists and analysts who took part in the latest quarterly survey also expect a jobless rate of 4.2 per cent by the end of the year, according to the survey released on Wednesday. This is slightly better than the 4.4 per cent unemployment rate forecast in March. Job cycles usually lag 2 to 3 quarters behind the economic cycle but economists are optimistic that the job situation will improve by year end. Economists said the worst may well be over for the Singapore economy, after the economy shrank 10.1 per cent on year in the first quarter. And the low base effect may well see the numbers improving from here on. "By the end of this year, we could see year-on-year gains in GDP. I think there is a chance that when we get the final 2009 data, it will be better than minus 6," said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, senior Asian economist at HSBC. The survey said the construction industry is set to grow about 16 per cent this year, compared with last year. But the median forecast is for manufacturing to decline 14 per cent on year and for financial services to shrink 4.1 per cent. "Some of the key data we should keep an eye on is exports and industrial production numbers. These two numbers will have very strong implications on the manufacturing sector," commented Irvin Seah, economist at DBS Bank. "I think the big turnaround from here will be in the industrial sector, the manufacturing sectors of the economy which will be lifted by an improvement in trade. We have seen the bottom of the industrial cycle and that in turn means we have seen the bottom of the economic cycle. So industry will begin to recover and then finally, services after that," said Prior-Wandesforde. The survey of 19 economists also reinforced recent views that the economic recovery is expected to gain traction from the second half of this year. According to preliminary predictions, GDP will grow 4.2 per cent in 2010, higher than the 3.3 per cent prognosis made in the March survey. DBS thinks the better numbers could result in consumer inflation rising to 1.5 per cent next year. The survey also expects the consumer price index for 2009 to fall 0.5 per cent, compared with expectations for a 0.2 per cent rise reported in the March survey. On the Singapore dollar, the economists expect the US dollar to fetch S$1.466 at the end of the year, compared with S$1.560 forecast in the previous survey. - CNA/ir/ls

Rihanna's Umbrella in Hokkien

Sometimes.. you need to have a good laugh... when the day is bored..

Went to Bugis area, Guan Yin Temple.. It was really crowded, and with a pasar malam going on there.... Full of people... The legend and why we celebrate "Dumpling Festival". Dinner was settled at Raffles City. Looks like Dian Xiao Er and Din Tai Fung, however food was nice, especially the "Duck"... Guess the late night programme ? oops ! =)

This is still the mystery of the week.. where did the plane go to ?? Source : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/434048/1/.html

Air France crash mystery deepens Posted: 05 June 2009 1648 hrs

FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil : The mystery surrounding the crash of an Air France plane off the coast of Brazil deepened after Brazilian officials said items they had pulled from the sea were not in fact debris from the downed Airbus. The search by ships for wreckage from Air France flight AF 477, which came down early Monday as it was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people on board, continued in a zone where confirmed items from the plane had been spotted earlier in the week. "Up to now, no material from the plane has been recovered," Brigadier Ramon Cardoso, director of Brazilian air traffic control, told reporters in the northeastern city of Recife late Thursday. That contradicted a statement Cardoso made earlier Thursday when he said a pallet and two buoys plucked from the Atlantic by navy crews were the first pieces of the Air France crash. In fact, Cardoso admitted later, they were nothing more than sea "trash," probably from a ship, as was a big oil patch originally described as a fuel slick from the French jet. Several Brazilian navy vessels are looking for debris from the plane, including a seat and a big chunk of what appeared to be fuselage, sighted by air force aircraft on Tuesday and Wednesday. Defense Minister Nelson Jobim has said there was "no doubt" that the debris spotted from the air came from flight AF 477, and that they marked the area close to where the plane hit the ocean. The French government, which is in charge of the probe into the crash, has sent investigators to Brazil to inspect any debris that could be recovered from the zone, around 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off-shore, and take them back to France. Speculation over what caused the accident has ranged from a massive, lightning-packed storm in the area at the time, to turbulence, to pilot error or a combination of factors. No mayday call was received from the plane, just a series of data transmissions signaling it had lost power and then had either broken up or gone into a fatal dive. Memorial services were held Wednesday in Paris and Thursday in Rio for those on board the plane, though no bodies have been spotted at sea. Many relatives of the passengers attended, but others declined, refusing to give up hope that somehow, despite the evidence, their loved ones had survived. Brazil's air force late Thursday invited the Brazilian relatives to its center of operations in the northeastern city of Recife to observer developments. Some of the relatives have said they wanted to go to Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian archipelago 400 kilometers (250 miles) into the Atlantic that is serving as a forward base for the search and initial collection point for any debris or bodies that might be recovered. "There is no need to go to Fernando de Noronha because all the same information is available in Recife," a spokesman for the air force-run air control center said. The city has prepared a morgue and debris inspection area for anything found. Jobim said Wednesday that "if necessary, the air force may possibly organize an overflight of the search zone" for the families. - AFP/vm

Tomorrow weekends, i plan to go out have a walk.. (since i finished my 2 tests..) LoL ! =)

Beware of fake DBS website

Got this from an email.. Be careful !! http://www.dbs.com.sg/sg/personal/ibanking/additionalinfo/security/phishing/Pages/default.aspx