Trip to Pulau Semakau Landfill

12 July 2008

At 2.30pm, Eunos YEC members and friends left Eunos CC for a 1 Night Trip to Pulau Semakau Landfill. The visit is a retreat for Eunos YEC members, and it became the first ever YEC to set foot on Pulau Semakau.

Our bus reached the Marina South Pier at about 3pm. The group then went on board the ferry with all the prepared food for night barbeque and beverages. The journey on water took about 15min, faster than what we expected. Along the route, we saw a close-up scenery of Sentosa Cove.

Upon arrival at Pulau Semakau, we were greeted with a slight pungent smell which resembled the smell of "Ling Yang" Water [Chinese Herbal Drink]. Our tour guide, Edward, took a group photo for us and then we went to drop our luggage at the lounge which would also be the place for sleeping.

First programme for the day was the introduction to the island. We watched the screening of the background of Pulau Semakau and how it was to be the world's unique landfill.

Garbage waste in Singapore could be categorised as incinerable and non-incinerable. The incinerable waste would be burnt at the various incinerators in mainland Singapore. Incineration could reduce waste volume by 90%. The ashes and sludge would then be transported via a barge to Pulau Semakau from Tuas. At the site, some excavators, each costing over S$2 million, would scoop the ashes and place it into dump trucks. The dump trucks would deposit the waste into the designated area.

The landfill at Pulau Semakau is unique in the sense that the landfills in other countries are created by digging a huge hole and dumping thrash into it. In Pulau Semakau, a 7km barrage was constructed to join Pulau Semakau and another island together. The space within is further segmented into various cells. Water is pumped out into adjacent cells and sealed from the rest when the cell is used for depositing the waste. Hence, waste is directly deposited to the seabed.

Surprisingly, Singapore had developed a great method to prevent leeching of compost into the sea. A good evidence that indeed it had not been happening is the thriving mangrove swamps lining certain parts of the island. There were also exuberant growth of plants at the filled cells.

Pulau Semakau has a recreation corner for visitors. The 12 lamp posts are powered by a wind turbine and solar cells. There are barbeque pits, sheltered huts and free usage of bicycles.

After having our barbeque dinner with the sceneries of the sun setting and the cool breeze, we had a night walk before checking out the fireflies. As the moon was rather bright, we only managed to see some of them on the trees. The trees looked like Christmas trees with lightings.

On Day 2 morning, we embarked on a rainforest trail and strolled along the coast of Pulau Semakau. This is a lovely island!

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle so that we can achieve ZERO WASTE, ZERO LANDFILL :)

A Day of Enquiry with the ACRA helpdesk

10 July 2008

You know holidays are about to end when you need to choose your modules again. Selected my modules for the module preference exercise. The theme of study for the coming semester would be Chinese Politics. Studying is about strategising. Why spread yourself thin when you can focus on an area?

After settling the module preference, I went on to Bizfile to help my Uncle in renewing his business registration. From what I thought was a simple process, it took me the whole of my afternoon to get it settled and done with.

Logging on to Bizfile, I discovered that the business registration is expired. I clicked on the renewal button but it can't work. So I picked up the phone and call the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) helpdesk.

Through a long process of repeated calling to ACRA helpdesk and my Uncle, I realised that it will take you just a few months to get your business registration totally cancelled. It does not matter if your business had been operating for decades. With the new policy mooted just 2 years ago, business owners now need to be very prudent and diligent when renewing business registration.

An alternative route of redress was offered by the friendly ACRA helpdesk staff. Enclose a $30 cheque to the Ministry of Finance as a processing fee, together with a letter to the Business Faciliatation Branch of ACRA detailing the reason of delay in renewal and purpose of retaining the original business registration number. This was subjected to the departments' approval.

I immediately typed out a letter on behalf of my Uncle and would be awaiting for the reply from the authorities.

At night, I indirectly learnt some incidents that had been happening. I just find it strange why one could be so unconsciously addicted to money but proclaimed that one is not. It is one thing to love money, yet another to be addicted to it. My message to the individual: Even if you proclaim that money is not the factor, you know it is. Do something about it before it is too late.

Review on the Pinhole Glasses

Finally received the free pinhole glasses from Pietro Joaquin.

Removing the pinhole glasses from the envelope, I was amazed by the design of it. The pinhole glasses that I usually see have black frames instead of transparent ones.


Pinhole glasses, also known as stenopeic glasses, are eyeglasses with a series of pinhole-sized perforations filling an opaque sheet of plastic in place of each lens. It works like a pinhole camera, restricting the amount of light that enters the eye so as to reduce the circle of confusion at the retina and increase the depth of field. As a result, it is said that pinhole glasses could treat myopia, astigmatism, hyperopia, cataract, presbyopia and computer vision syndrome. Check out how pinhole glasses work.

Now to the reviewing...

Comfort
Initially, looking at the pinhole glasses, I was afraid that it might be too small for my head. When I tried it on, it fit comfortably well with the elasticity. One size fits all.

Vision
The pinhole glasses worked better when you are in brightness. For instance, wearing it while blogging gave me the same kind of vision comparable to when I am wearing my own spectacles. However, I found it not very useful when reading the newspapers and book. I would suggest users to only use it in the day or when facing the screen where there is sufficient lighting. This would give you a good feel of how effective the pinhole glasses is.

Design
As mentioned above, I find this design cooler than the usual ones I encountered which have black frames, although you wouldn't want to wear this out to town (It's not meant for that anyway). With transparent frame, it looks more like a pair of sunglasses.

Purchase your pair of Pinhole Glasses from Pinhole Glasses Direct

Aljunied GRC MPs Block Visit at Eunos

6 July 2008

Started the day with L1 Branch District 80 Toastmaster meeting. This is my first meeting after I took up the Vice President (Education) position. The meeting was informative and (since it is a Toastmaster event) it ended punctually.

After the meeting, I took off immediately to my Residents' Committee (RC) office to prepare for the Aljunied GRC MPs Block Visit. Most of the members were already folding and counting letters for residents when I arrived.

My role was to take down notes of residents' concerns during conversation with the MP. I was assigned to BG (NS) George Yeo.

At about 2.30pm, the MPs started to arrive. First was Mrs Lim Hwee Hua (Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport), followed by Mr Yeo Guat Kwang and Mayor Zainul Abidin Rasheed (Senior Minster of State for Foreign Affairs).

A briefing by Mr Sim Wai Chin, Chairman of Eunos CCC

BG (NS) George Yeo arrived shortly after the MPs. Mdm Cynthia Phua was absent for the event. The 4 MPs were to visit the residents of Block 620 and 621 Bedok Reservoir Road. Grassroots leaders and representatives from Town Council, PCF, HDB, NEA, LTA were divided into groups led by a Eunos grassroots leader with the MP.

After getting to know the residents, the MPs then presented a notepad with a letter to them and took pictures. Many of the residents were thrilled. Of course, some also enquired about issues that concerned them and the various representatives were there to reply promptly.

BG (NS) George Yeo speaking to residents at Void Deck

After the block visit, the MPs and representatives gathered at the RC office for refreshment.

eDLink Singapore - Unethical Way of Driving Web Traffic to Site

I received this email in my inbox and felt weird about it.

I didn't register for such a service in the first place. My first thought was "Did anyone sign this up for me?"

Immediately, I attempted to log in at the website. However, fortunately or unfortunately, the given username and password didn't work.
A try at resetting the password shows that the username is not found.

Uh Huh! Another spamming email to drive traffic to its site! The email by eDLink Singapore mimicked a registration confirmation email so that it gets readers of such emails to log on to its website to check it out. According to the spam law in Singapore, all advertising emails/SMS would need to include a in its message title. So eDLink Singapore literally found such a loophole to gain traffic for itself.

I thought such unethical approach by eDLink Singapore would definitely be detrimental to its image.

Vinegar Egg - Production & Consumption

In Taiwan, Japan and China, "Vinegar Egg" has been seen as a great dish to nourish the body and improve health.

The benefits of the vinegar egg is that the egg yolk is acidified, causing the breakdown into simple substance, releasing vital nutrients from the yolk. The vinegar also causes the egg to be more easily digested. This is similarly applied to the egg white.

Furthermore, the shell of the egg is also softened by the vinegar, releasing the calcium into the solution. The dissolved calcium also gets easily absorbed by the intestines. Calcium aids growth and can prevent or alleviate diseases like high blood pressure.

Health Benefits of Vinegar Egg

• Reduce Stress
• Good for Rheumatism
• Improve Sleep
• Prevent Osteoporosis
• Improve Appetite
• Helps in countering Asthma
• Reduce Cholesterol and Blood Pressure
• Improve constipation
• Aids Digestion
• Combats Aging
• Slimming Effect
  
• Improve Skin Texture

What You Need

Basically, you just need to have a chicken egg (best if it's fertilised), a jar, rice vinegar, ceramic spoon (do not use metallic spoon), satay stick, and some wipes.

How to Make a Vinegar Egg

1. Clean the Egg. Use Rice Vinegar to wipe the surface of the egg repeatedly.
2. Pour 14 spoonful of Rice Vinegar into the jar.
   
3. Ensure that the egg is completely submerged into the vinegar. Tighten the cap of the jar.
   
4. Upon contact of vinegar, the egg shell begins to break down. You will observe bubbles (see picture below) forming on surface of egg.
   
   
5. On Day 2 and Day 3, open the cap to allow gas to escape for one minute once in the morning and once at night.
   
6. On the 4th Night, break open the egg first. Use the ceramic spoon to bring the egg up and peel off the outer layer of the egg with a satay stick. Pour the egg white and yolk back into the solution. For the outer layer of the egg, divide it into smaller pieces and then pour it back into the jar too. Use the stick to stir. The Vinegar Egg is ready to be consumed.

How to Consume the Vinegar Egg

1. Prepare 4 spoonful of water
2. Add 1 teaspoon of honey into the water and stir
3. Scoop 2 spoonful of Vinegar Egg solution and mix with honey solution. Gulp the mixture down.
   
4. Consume the Vinegar Egg twice a day. In the morning, take it with an empty stomach. At night, take it right before sleep. Finish the Egg within 7 days.
5. After consuming, do allow 30 - 45 min before eating breakfast. Do not drink dairy products as vinegar could react with them.
6. After 7 days, continue the process again.

Local Opposition needs to form a Shadow Parliament

Recently, each state in Southeast Asia had its fair share of troubling issues in local politics. Singapore wasn't spared too, even though on the surface, the political field still remains peaceful compared to our neighbours.

A few weeks ago, I chanced upon Workers' Party member Yaw Shin Leong's blog and saw his post expressing his remorse for voting for the PAP candidate at the place he resides. He also added that Workers' Party will continue to aim to be a check on the PAP government. Here's a snippet of his entry.

"For the record, it is not the intention of Singapore’s opposition, specifically the Workers’ Party to become Singapore’s government in the near or mid-future. As such, Singaporean voters can definitely vote in more opposition members without fears, contrary to MM Lee’s warnings."

While many political apathetic Singaporeans have come to agree with this philosophy, the politically concerned Singaporeans (like myself) will tend to disagree with it. Anyway this was my comment to his post:

"If everyone feels that this is the way, then Singaporeans could unknowingly vote in more opposition than they thought and MM Lee's nightmare might take place.

The Opposition should begin forming a "shadow parliament" so that in the event that they are voted in, they could have the people with capability to be in place. We do really want to avoid having the case where the opposition is voted into Parliament in big numbers but they do not have the substance to bear such responsiblities.

So while MM Lee's speech might be controversial, there are still some valid points."

In my opinion, the main factor that is drawing back votes to the Opposition lies primarily in the quality of its members and the uncertainty of voting them in. One way of countering these problems would be to establish a Shadow Shadow Parliament or Shadow Parliament out of Parliament, whichever way you want to put it.

With an established SSP format, the Opposition can go further to construct a SSC (C for Cabinet). In this way, voters can be certain that if they were to vote for the Opposition, they are assured of a group of MPs that could represent them and have the substance to mete out quality debates in Parliament.

Opting to be a mere check on the government will not bring a political party too far.