Mr Tharman and the Jurong Hand-Severing Lift Incident

Exactly what we were thinking, and it takes a brave minister to say it:

"There’s nothing to hide, there must have been something wrong with the lift even if maintenance checks were done,” Mr Tharman told reporters after visiting Mdm Khoo Bee Hua, 85, at the National University Hospital.

There must have been something wrong, so we have to take responsibility. We will wait for the authorised examiner to do an independent report and then make sure on the basis of the report that this never happens again.” — Jurong GRC Member of Parliament and Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam

Source: Today http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/jurong-town-council-take-responsibility-lift-accident-tharman?sc_customer=952c9467-31d3-4f90-83b8-e9fd114f4f78&sc_src=email&sc_llid=27205&sc_lid=33987208&sc_uid=19xVRsbQ0Q



Wish we had Mr Tharman as our MP when our Ama was beaten up while under observation for dementia at a local hospital in Singapore.

Hospital had tried to cover up; we had lost faith in our district MP; and when we tried to contact the Health Minister, and then the Home Minister for help with housing so the family can stay closer to look after her, we were blocked by the staff.

Ever since then, we realize that in spite of the niceties presented in the media, we are in effect truly on our own when problem arises.

Below are some pics from the 2010 incident which left us, and our Ama severely traumatised, and in perpetual fear thereafter (she was lucid on and off despite dementia)....


Our poor, poor Ama — beaten in the very place we thought would keep her safe....
Till this day, we cry at the thought of it.

Ball formation on hand due to being plucked off shoulder.

Ama was 85 years old at the time of incident.
Her body took a major hit from the beating that arises from the negligence of the Singapore hospital.

Physical injury is visible. The trauma that lives on is unseen.

The perpetrators brought her down to her knees....

The knee area suffers excruciating pain when busted....

Other parts of her body were whacked too, but as the pictures were too graphic, it will not be shown.


When such a thing happens, we really, truly, are on our own.

GrabCar, Uber Brings Relief to Decades-old Taxi Shortage

All the King's Horses and All the King's Men could never solve the critical shortage of taxis in Singapore.

For decades, you can see the look of frustration - some even bordering on panic - in the eyes of locals and tourists alike, as they stood in hour-long queues, or running up and down the road vying with one another for the scarce cab that comes along, all figuring out if they should pay the hefty booking fee or tolerate the one to two hours wait standing in line for a cab.

Then there is the constant "Change Shift" drive-by; the cabs which magically appear around the corner only after you activate the booking fee; disappearing cabs during rainy days; and the cab drivers who put the green sign on yet zoom past on their own errands. 

The scene still persist, but there is noticeable relief for consumers in the more agile alternatives of GrabCar and Uber.

Just hope that competitors rise to the challenge in terms of service standards, and not try to kill a good thing.

American Express ~ Making Life Easier

Customer Service Officers at American Express Hotline are known to provide exemplary standards of customer care.











We put their standards to the test:-

January to September 2015 : 5 stars all the way.

October 2015 : 2 stars.  Polite and helpful.  But gave wrong information.

October 2015: 1 star. Impersonal, promise to call back on wrong information, but went MIA.