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High Medical Cost for Singaporean with Foreign Spouse

These days I've been thinking a lot about the money I spent on my wife's pregnancy, so far it all added up to around S$1000 and that's only for 3 visits at the gynae, all within a week, and I'm the type who is very careful with spending money so I'm still getting used to spending so much, so fast. Of course I don't forget that my wife is a special case due to her operation but still, even if considering only the consultation and ultrascan charges, it's still a significant amount. I have a colleague who knows a bit of my story and today he suggested getting insurance for my wife but actually I have spoken to my insurance agent last year, way before we decided to have a baby, and she told me that it's tough to get my wife insured due to her operation, furthermore it was a major operation i.e. open heart surgery. Plus she has to be on life-long medication. So when insurance is not available, and my Medisave is untouchable, what else can I do? Pay in cash.
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Review Heart Doctor Report at SGH Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) Centre

So we went back to O&G to review the report with the gynae and we talked about my wife's heart surgery done in Thailand. This time we brought along a memo from the Thai doctor who operated on my wife, we also told the gynae that last time we checked, the Thai doctor said my wife can have baby, but only one child at the most, and there will be a 10% risk. The gynae then gave us two options, one is to go for abortion but we must do it within 24 weeks of pregnancy as that is the legal limit, two is to continue with the pregnancy and they will monitor closely, of course we choose the latter. The gynae then told us that they have to take my wife off Warfarin and put her under Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH) for the next 7 weeks starting from today, by the way, my wife is about 5 weeks pregnant now. She said this is because the baby will be developing vital organs from the 6th to 12th weeks so it's important to avoid Warfarin during this period, and the alternative blood th
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Can Use Medisave to Pay for Pre-Delivery Expenses... Really?

This is covered under Marriage and Parenthood Scheme . This is the FAQ . I feel very disappointed and irritated when I read this part in the FAQ, What is Medisave Maternity Package and its purpose? Medisave may be used for maternity expenses. This includes expenses incurred during delivery and pre-delivery medical expenses such as consultations, ultrasounds, tests, medications, etc. Under the Medisave Maternity Package, up to $450 may be withdrawn for pre-delivery expenses when claimed together with delivery charges . All receipts for pre-delivery expenses must be submitted with the delivery charges for claims at the hospital. It means that I can only claim up to S$450 for pre-delivery expenses, and I got to cough it all up in cash first, and I can only make the claim if the baby is delivered, wow. I don't understand, it's my money after all, why should I be bound to this kind of stupid rule, not as if I'm using it to do something silly. If you read here  and count
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Appointment at SGH High Risk Clinic

We saw the doctor today at the High Risk Clinic, it's at level 2, right above the O&G centre. We were there early at 9.15am, on time for our appointment, luckily there wasn't any waiting. There was one doctor and two other personnel offering input, I'm not really sure who they are though, but I think they are doctors too, maybe different specialisation. Anyway, it all came down to understanding more about my wife's heart surgery which was done in Thailand and they really don't have any info on it. They needed to know exactly which valve was replaced because it makes a difference. So the doctor arranged for a Echocardiography session, also to be done in SGH but at Block 4. After lunch, we went for the "echo" session (short for Echocardiography), it took almost an hour and I was instructed to wait outside, so I have no idea about the process. After that, we were told that the heart doctor wanted to speak to us. She told us that my it was my wife'
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Appointment at SGH Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) Centre

Our appointment was at 10.20am and we reached there at about 10.45am due to a traffic jam; we took a taxi. When we reached there, we registered and waited outside the doctor's room, then a nurse did a basic health check for my wife, took her weight and asked her to do a pregnancy test. After that, we were told that my wife needed an ultrascan as she is pregnant, by the way, that's the 4th time we did the pregnancy test, and of course, it's positive. We waited a really long time for the scan, but when it started, it was quite interesting. As my wife is only about one month pregnant, there's really nothing much to see, actually we find it weird as to why they requested for the scan. Anyway, the specialist couldn't see anything if she scanned from the tummy so she had to insert a long and thick electronic penis into my wife's vagina. She even put on two pieces of condoms on the device... From the scan, the baby is about the size of a bean, very small, even the
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So Gain City Came Today to Fix My Aircon

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And they didn't really fix it. They did a check, opened up the blowers, compressors, did some testing and found that there is a faulty part in the compressor and they have to order that part before they can fix my aircon. Sigh, and I thought I can enjoy my aircon tonight, and the weather looks hot now, I hope it rains later. Update: Yes! It's going to rain, and looks like one heavy downpour! Dark Sky
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Singapore Ranks Number 4 for People with Long Life

Source And I thought Singapore is a darn stressful place and people usually die very young, but that news report seems to say otherwise, what the heck, sounds like bullshit. I mean look at my lifestyle, wake up, travel to work, wait for lunch, wait to go home, travel back home, have dinner, park myself in front of the computer, sleep, repeat for 5 days, and all these for what? Money, because without money, it's like a car without fuel, a bird with no wings, a football game with no football, you know, the key component, driving force. And I'm grumbling, I know there are people who work more hours than me, for example retail staff, 10 or 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, even working on public holidays. But then again, what's the point of thinking so much, as long as a person is associated with money, I think that person will be very tired, even if he or she is financially free, that person has merely moved on to the next level of tiredness, you see, who doesn't want
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Triple Confirmed, My Wife is Pregnant

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So she took a test on 25 May, the test line on the test kit was vaguely pink so we weren't very sure. This morning, she did the test again, the line was clearer and to be even more sure, we went to Tampines Polyclinic, and when we reached there, I saw the renovation works and suddenly I remember it's closed until June, damn, so we went to a nearby GP instead. Test result for this morning We ran the test again at the GP, I thought he was going to use something different, actually it's the same kind of technology, just different brand, and same result, positive, so he wrote a letter for us to go back to polyclinic because they have my wife's prescription and medical records and he also mentioned that since my wife is on Warfarin, her case is much more complexed and it's beyond what he can do, that we can understand; we've seen doctors in polyclinic who scratched their heads when dealing with my wife's case. I think he is a very nice guy, at first he s
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Long-Term Visit Pass - Plus (LTVP-PLUS)

http://www.ica.gov.sg/news_details.aspx?nid=12665 Good news for those of us who cannot get PR for our beloved spouse, because the Singapore government has come up with a enhanced long-term visit pass called LTVP-PLUS or LTVP+. I'll sum up the key points in the FAQ provided by ICA so you don't have to go through one big page. Do let me know if I missed out anything or correction is required by dropping a comment. GENERAL LTVP+ will be in effect from 01 Apr 2012. LTVP+ holders will enjoy extended duration of residency, public healthcare subsidies and easier access to employment. No separate application required for LTVP+; an application for LTVP will automatically include your spouse for LTVP+, if eligible. LTVP applications submitted from 01 Feb 2012 will automatically be considered for LTVP+. The first approved LTVP+ will grant 3 years residency and subsequent renewal will be 5 years. Current holders of LTVP will be considered for LTVP+ on next renewal. If holde
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How to Marry a Thai in Singapore

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You should refer to here -  https://www.rom.gov.sg/reg_info/rom_marriage.asp Please spend some time to go through and understand the information on that section (legal provision, other information, filing of notice, solemnization and etc), if your still not sure, feel free to drop a comment here or you can use their FAQ . The ROM website did a really good job of putting together the information that you need in a well-organized manner. I've done it once and I think the guide is very easy to follow. The only hiccup I've had with my marriage is during the  Appointment for verification & Statutory Declaration where both of us were required to read out a wall of text and my wife had difficulty getting past the first few lines and the counter guy got fed up and told my wife to stop. Definitely my oversight as I didn't arrange for an interpreter beforehand but luckily, there was a licensed interpreter at the scene and we managed to get her to do the interpretation fo
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Commission Calculator for DBS Vickers SG Stocks

Made this little tool to help me calculate the costs of buying or selling a stock, just enter number of shares and price and it will show both buy and sell costs at the same time. Can even choose by cash upfront, online or phone and it will calculate using respective rates. Cash Upfront ONLINE By Phone Shares: Price: Value: Commission: Clearing Fee:
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