Pigeon Feeding At Kampong Glam

Is it an offence to feed stray pigeons in Singapore? Under the AVA (Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore) Animals and Birds (Pigeons) Rule;

Rule 10 states that "No person shall feed stray pigeons in any premises or public place".

Offences : Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with Rule 10 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500.

The above video shows that the people there have been feeding the stray pigeons thus resulted in such a blg flock of pigeons daily. I'm surprised that this is just located besides the Kampong Glam Neighbourhood Police Post.

I'm even more surprised when I went into that Kampong Glam NPP on 24 Dec 2007 4.54pm and feedback to the SSG officer on desk duty, and he said he was not aware of the pigeons besides his NPP. Though this is not under their purview as mentioned by the SSG on duty, but it's not difficult for them to feedback to the relevant authority and have it under check since it's just besides their post. Only upon my insistence, the officer offer to feedback to the relevant authority.

So besides it's an offence to do so, what so bad about feeding of stray pigeons?

1. The droppings of pigeons pose a health threat to the people.

2. Pigeon droppings contain uric acid that actually eats into the surface it drops on. Painted surfaces, canvas awnings, signs and other similar surfaces pose the most risk.

3. This is the most important : Dried bird droppings can contain many fungal and viral diseases. Histoplasmosis, Encephalitis, Meningitis, St. Louis Encephalitis, and Salmonella are just a few of the common viral and bacterial diseases that have been associated with bird droppings.

Remember the Salmonella Disease happended recently in Singapore : Prima Deli and Sentosa Golf Club case as reported in the media.

So don't think that by feeding the stray pigeons, you are been kind to them. In fact you are doing the community a disservice and by doing so, you are making the pigeons to loose its ability to hunt for food in the wild.

The above video and photo were taken on : 24 Dec 2007 (Mon), 4.54pm

Civilian Carpark

When I saw this signboard at the Simei Road near the ITE College East (opp Expo), I thought there was an army camp nearby. The use of 'Civilian Carpark' seems to refer to an army camp nearby and maybe having an army activity. If it's for the public to park at the ITE campus carpark, I wonder why use the word 'Civilian' ? So is there an army camp or army activity in it? I'm not sure..any idea?

The video / photo was taken on 21 Nov 2007 and the signboard was around for some weeks. Besides this signboard, there were a few more similar signboards at other places near to that ITE. These signboards have now been removed.

Dark Carpark

This photo is untouched and you can see how dark is this carpark;


And this is how it looks after I brightened it using software;



This HDB Multistorey Carpark is at Blk.384A Tampines St.32. The Level B (Basement) is very dark even in the day especially when the weather is bad or raining. Previously I have feedback to the Town Council and they turned on a couple of safety lights and the condition improved. But that was last year and only for a couple of months. After the electricity tariffs went up, the safety lights never turned on again. It will turn on as scheduled like 7pm to 7am daily. Even on very dark day, the lights will not turn on and it's very difficult to drive and park your vehicle in such darkness.

The safety lights are at Level A1 only.

See this video below;


Date and Time Video Taken : 12 Nov 2007 (Mon) at 6.31pm

Essential Maintenance Notice

The above was the old Essential Maintenance Unit notice board put up on top of both lifts at every level of each HDB Board in my area.

It's kind of no fuss but light background with bold dark letterings where 'even the blind can see' type. People with poor eyesights preferred dark letterings over light colored background for easy reading.


Recently they changed it to;


I must admit in general it looks very nice over the old one. The Town Council logo and the block number - a separate piece and very large one, why? Both lifts can share one piece by putting it in the center and there's no need to have it both on each lift.

Now the important one - the notice board itself. The yellow letterings are on dark background (dark green) are smaller and the Toll Free Telephone Number itself are in Red (dark colored) and make it difficult to see from a distance and in the dark (early morning). The Town Council should consider when there is a black out or in the early morning and late evening or bad weather, it's difficult to see the number.

Since the new board is smaller in size than the previous one, the 4 holes left behind by the old notice board are just simply plastered up and you can see the 4 white patches. Does it look nice after this upgrading?



I don't know why use light color letterings over dark background? It is ok for art, but for important notices - it shouldn't. It's difficult to read.

Does this upgrading pieces serve any improvement in services or benefits the residents? I'm not too sure, but I still find it difficult to see the EMU numbers.

Car Wash Bay

1. When will the Car Wash Bay start operating?

The above Car Wash Bay was recently built at Blk.384A Tampines St.32 MSCP. It was 'completed' about 2 months or more.



Now the tap is still not installed and there is no water either. How to wash car at the bay? I wonder how long do they need to install the tap?



Now that the Car Wash Bay is still not operating yet and we don't know when it will start operating; the residents also cannot park their cars there! Or they are allowed to park there until it's operating...anyway the only sign there is this;





2. Why build the Car Wash Bay on lower level?

This Car Wash Bay is located at Level B2 which is second level. A Car Wash Bay for 2 cars can accomodate 3 car lots.



Most people wash their cars on weekends and weekdays, the Car Wash Bay is seldom utilise. Even on weekends, how many people can wash their cars in a day. Some people take 2 to 3 hours to wash, clean and wax their car. So the Car Wash Bay is only serving a minority group of car owners.

In that case, why not build the Car Wash Bay at the top level of the MSCP? Most people will benefit as 3 more lots will be free at the lower level. For the minority who wish to wash their cars (unless they wash their cars daily), it's not too difficult to drive to the top level where it's brighter and easier for the car to dry.

Now take a look at the top level of this MSCP;



It was taken at 6.53am in the early morning on 14 Nov 2007 (Wed). Don't you think it's better to have the Car Wash Bay built on the top level instead?

The building of the Car Wash Bay is to benefit the residents/car owners so why built in on the lower level and inconvenience more residents/car owners? By having it at the top level, it will benefit more people!

Repair And Redecoration Of MSCP

This is the new evening ERP gantry built off Ophir Road flyover joining ECP towards Airport. It took about 1 month to build it only. Pretty fast.



Not too long, I heard from a TV program that Tampines new town was the first town to have pre-cast flat back then. It took about 33 days to built a block of flat! Really fast!

When the contractor pasted this poster at my MSCP (Multi-Storey Carpark) at Blk.384A Tampines, I bewildered;



Why it takes 4 months to Repair and Redecorate the MSCP? Frankly, mainly repainting work is to be done. The contractor only took less than a month to repaint our whole block of flats but the carpark....

They started painted for first 2 weeks, then stopped for about another 2 to 3 weeks. And now they continued with just a few workers. I wonder why it takes One Third of a Year to do such repainting job? Why HDB or Town Council approve to such a long period?

Advertisements

We see them at the Bus Stops, Bus and Taxis, now...

I'm surprised to see ads appearing at this Ticket Dispensing machine at the Geylang East Swimming Pool. What a way to advertise! So what's next?

Road Closure

Have you notice that there are getting more and more Road Closure along ECP Service Road and that Changi Coast Road in this year? When you are driving along the ECP (from airport towards the city), you will see such Notices on your left. It's like doing 'Speed Reading' while you drive. You have to watch out for traffic and at the same time, take note of the Road Closure Notices;





Do you know that it's difficult to take note of the 3 important infos : Date, Time and Road Name of that notice.

I wonder is there a better place to host such events like this, so that there won't be so many Road Closure;

Bench Facing Fence

I'm wondering why all these new benches are put surrounding Ngee Ann Secondary School facing it's fence? Seems like the Chinese saying 'Face the wall and repent on your mistakes' but in this case Face the Fence haha.

Frankly whether facing the fence or the blocks (Tampines Block 38x to 39x) are the same; where is there to see. Moreover in the day time, it's too hot to sit there. Raining days, needless to say - who will sit there. During night time, what to see?

It's been there for maybe a couple of months, and I hardly see any residents making use of these benches. I would rather the grass patch be leveled so that the kids can play football there instead of at the void deck. Another white elephant? I'm not sure...

Date of Photo : 11 Nov 2007

Tuition Flyers

Such flyers are common in HDB estate. The most common types are Real Estate, Tuition, Babysit, and recently Lost Dogs.

This tuition flyer really caught my attention!


"Home Tution" and "10 yrs full time tutor for ..." - look at these sentences. I wonder who needs tuition?

The other issue is I don't like these flyers to be pasted at public property. The glue they used is not easy to remove and usually when the cleaners tear it off, it will still leave some 'marks'.



Personally I feel, if they paste it for one day (using scotch tape) and remove it themselves - it's fine. But most of them just simply paste their flyers all over the void deck and leave them there forever. The RC and the Town Council should work hand in hand to contact them via their contact number on their flyers, to ask them to remove it personally immediately. That's what the Pasir Ris RC members did many years back - kudos!

Cashless Payment

Cashless Payment, I mean payment by card instead of cash. This foodcourt Kopitiam had introduced this Cashless Dining card system in most of her outlets quite sometime back. Only recently, it was introduced at my neighbourhood foodcourt at Tampines Mart.



The 1st day it was introduced at my neighbourhood foodcourt, I was very happy because my Blue Card entitles me to 10% discount on food and drinks purchased. But my happiness was short lived. Some stalls had increased their food prices or those that didn't, have their quantities reduced...

Some foodstalls have increased their prices from 10 cents to as high as 50 cents since the introduction of this card system. I'm not too sure if the price increase is due to the card discount or the 7% GST not too long ago...

I thought they are not going to increase their drinks prices since it's about 1 mth after they have launched their card system here at Tampines Mart. But I was totally wrong, on 1st of Nov they increased their drinks prices too!

My morning Kopi-O Siew Dai paper cup takeaway cost me 10 cents more from that day.





See the receipts above - it was 80 cents previously and then it's 90 cents for the same cup of Kopi-O Siew Dai. Also the other soft drinks (can type) also have their prices adjusted up too - from $1.20 to $1.50 (increased by 30 cents).

My goodness, no increase in value added and a 30 cents increased in price! The same can of drinks cost about 66 cents to 76 cents at the Shop & Save Supermarket. If you ask the foodcourt drink stall for another empty cup with ice, it costs you 20 cents!

Wonder all these drinks price increased are for the making of the card system and the employment of 1 person to mend the top-up card booth?




So there is another foodcourt at the DownTown East at Pasir Ris that uses a similar card system. Yes, I'm talking about the Funkey card;



Let's compare the price of a can of the same softdrink;



So they charged me $1.40 but no 10% discount, only 4 points for the card.

Now such card system benefit who more - the customers or the owners? Your guess is as good as mine...

Vandalised Wall

Who the hell will carry around a spray can and walk about vandalising the wall? Not many, yet there are some who like doing so. My block has just been repainted a couple of months only, and now someone left behind his/her 'signature work'.

What the town council or HDB will do is just simply repaint the part of the wall and case close. How I wish the town council or HDB can install CCTV to deter such vandalism. Those caught maybe will have to pay for one month conservancy fees for the residents of the whole block haha! It's time to remind these vandals the act of Michael Fay - what's the price to pay for vandalism!

Date and Time Photo Taken : 27 Oct 2007, 1.28pm

Crossing Behind A Reversing Truck

Wonder why some people like to cross behind a moving reversing truck or vehicle? It's dangerous as the driver may not be able to see the person behind. It's better to wait a while or go by another safer way.

Singnet Roadshow

This is the 'empty booth' of Singnet Broadband Roadshow at Giant Hypermarket on 20 October 2007, 12.35pm. By 'Empty booth' I mean I couldn't find any sales staffs or promoters at the booth and it was the 2nd day of the Roadshow.

I saw the group of the sales staffs earlier at the food court but I didn't expect that all of them were having lunch together. I thought that there will be at least a couple of them still at the booth but...

Maybe I shouldn't expect the same standard of service at Roadshow in heartland town area...but the price of product is the same leh...

Date and Time Photo Taken : 20 Oct 2007, 12.35pm

HDB Multi Storey Carpark Repainting 1

I'm surprised to see this is the completed work of a commercial painter for the Tampines Block 384A Multi Storey Carpark. Looks more like a job of a student. I'm expected a stencil to be used in such job since it's not just a one time painting but....

Date and Time of Photos Taken : 7 Oct 2007, 6.15pm


Below follow-up post on 27 Nov 2007;

Saw the workers removed the wordings sometime back, and yesterday 26 Nov 20007 they repainted the words with stencils;



An improvement over the previous one though, but personally I find the alphabets are too close together especially the 'UT' of the 'OUT'. Don't you think so?

Disappearing Act

These pedestrians choose to do their "Disappearing Acts" at this Beach Road (just outside the Golden Cinema Building). The pedestrian crossing and overhead bridge is not too far away, but they choose to cross here.

To the drivers driving on the other side, they may get a shock when they see pedestrians suddenly pop out of the bushes!

Loading and Unloading Lot

What is the HDB Loading and Unloading Lot for? For the normal cars to park "free of charge" and to their convenience instead of loading and unloading purposes?

Here we can see that the Loading and Unloading lots are empty and yet the truck choose to load up at the non designated lot. I've seen before a truck that was too high and reversed to the same place and hit the balcony of the second floor unit. Some cement chipped off at that time, and luckily not much damage done. Anyway, it's convenient to them but inconvenient to the residents walking past there.



Pls note that the weather is fine and not even raining at all.

Both photos taken on : 26 Sep 2007, 10.44am and 11.31am respectively.