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Cigarettes Price Go Up (Again)

https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/budget-2023-smoking-becomes-more-expensive-govt-raises-tobacco-tax Last year one carton of L&M Blue is S$114 at Sheng Siong, S$11.40 for one pack. After that they increase to S$121, S$12.10 for one pack. (+6.14%) Then after the budget 2023 announcement, today I bought at S$138, S$13.80 for one pack. (+14.04%) "The increase in excise duty for all tobacco products is expected to generate about $100 million in additional revenue a year , said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who delivered the Budget on Tuesday." At least this guy is honest about it, because if government really care so much about our health they might as well just ban tobacco, they don't because it is an income stream. Another S$100m in revenue, not sure how helpful it is if the various government organisations are wasting funds every year, it's like buying heroin for heroin addicts, left pocket in right pocket out to feed the addicts, and th
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Catch Up with Army Friend

Today met up with my army friend, last time used to be same platoon doing all the sai gang, quite a nice fellow but his character a bit more on the weird side. I think he is still single, no girlfriend but not hard to imagine why because like I said his character a bit weird. He likes coding and new tech, I think he is pretty knowledgeable, wanted to recommend him to my company, just learnt today that he has been jobless for the past 1 year or so, he told me he still doing some part-time work for his ex-company, probably some contract work. I asked him got apply for new flat or not, he said he staying with his father, and his father not working because retired already, didn't ask about his mother because he specifically didn't mention so probably not appropriate to keep asking. He also slimmed down a lot, not sure if he is in financial difficulty or what, we met up for lunch but he didn't eat, only drink, told me he eat one meal a day, hmm, he bought drinks for me though, I
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Nice Increment and Bonus

So this year increment and bonus still not bad considering bonus is prorated because I rejoined last year Jul. Increment is about 2.66%, bonus is prorated based on 1.5 months, I think they prorate the bonus by working day based on 5-day work week, I managed to derive the exact value using the formula from below website. https://dollarsandsense.sg/business/how-to-prorate-annual-bonus-and-performance-bonus-for-your-new-employees I also didn't expect any increment or bonus, feel kind of overpaid haha, and since I didn't have any expectation so this increment and bonus came as a nice surprise, I learnt to not expect too much so I don't get disappointed much. And just realised I didn't update my increment and bonus for 2022, I didn't get any increment in 2022 because in 2021 I got a pretty significant raise, as for bonus same as this year also 1.5. Anyway ok la, these days I don't worry much about all these increment and bonus, have job is good already, wife and daug
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Bought Razer Orochi V2 (White) SG$69.90

https://marrythaigirlsingapore.blogspot.com/2018/11/bought-new-mouse-g304-and-keyboard-akb55.html My office G304 (Black) mouse spoil so I went to a Popular bookstore near my workplace and bought the Orochi V2. I have been looking out for new mouse, office mouse started to feel faulty like turning off by itself, it was happening for a few weeks before it went totally dead. At least this mouse served me well for more than 4 years, bought it in Nov 2018, must be because I keep dropping it on the floor. I searched online to compare the Orochi V2 vs G304, generally people say the Orochi is better, but after trying it I find the Orochi a bit too small for my hand whereas the G304 fits perfectly. Another thing is the Orochi feels less precise than the G304 especially if I don't use a mouse pad, the G304 works nicely on the surfaces I use without any mouse pad. The only thing nice about the Orochi is the software, it's embedded in the mouse so I don't have to go to their website to
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Baby Might Need Operation Again

Today went to see the cardiologist again, the finding is that there is an obstruction in her heart valve, the given term is "Sub-aortic obstruction after AVSD repair", it appears that there is a "keloid" causing the narrowing of a heart valve. Doctor say no rush to operate now, he will discuss with his surgeon/team and come up with a plan, probably might need to operate in the next 1-2 years, most probably open-heart surgery again. Me and wife are quite shocked, but baby doesn't seem too bothered, maybe because she is still young, she asked what happens during the operation, I told her after anaesthetic she won't feel anything. Anyway going to see the doctor again in May, by then the doctor will probably propose something. Poor baby, so young need to undergo two ops, thing is it's not a permanent fix and in her lifetime it might occur again, and then she will need to go for op again. Today's bill is S$36, only see doctor never do anything else.
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Baby Seen Cardiologist Today

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The doctor in school called me up some time back during the school health visit and told me she heard some unusual sounds in baby's heart and recommended that we see a specialist, she asked me which centre I prefer so I told her NUH so she provided a referral letter to "Khoo Teck Puat - National University Children's Medical Institute". Today went to the centre, did Echo, ECG and the doctor spoke to us and said something about some hole narrowing and they need to study the Echo and ECH results and discuss with surgeon but in the meantime there is no immediate action required since baby is doing fine, can eat well and participate in PE lesson normally. The doctor also mentioned that we are supposed to be following up and come for yearly scan and that we missed 3-4 appointments, hmm somehow I had the impression that if nothing wrong with baby then no need to follow up, oh well, anyway need to go back again next month, good thing no need to do scan again, but it's du
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SG Arrival Card (SGAC)

Wife and daughter came home yesterday, everything was smooth until the Changi Airport clearance where the ICA counter asked for this SGAC, have to submit before they will let you through. Submission is easy, it's just a declaration, need to submit for each traveler so I submitted for my wife and daughter, all in less than 5 minutes, after that they try again and managed to get through. So before you reach Changi Airport, submit first to save the trouble later. https://www.ica.gov.sg/enter-transit-depart/entering-singapore/sg-arrival-card Anyway wife and daughter landed at T4, there really nothing much, looks like a clone of T3, hardly any shops outside, and many of the shops are closed, lucky still have a Cheers.
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Coming to The End of 2022

Wow, how time flies man, so fast 2022 going to finish, faster finish also good la, this year really terrible, so many bad things happen, I thought after Singapore government relax Covid rules things will get better but globally so many shit happen, the one which everybody can feel is the inflation, prices across the board shoot up. Next year don't know what other shit will happen, not so much about Singapore but globally, so far seems like US inflation is coming down, they probably going to start slowing down on the rate hike which means people will slowly start spending rather than saving, then China seems to have abandoned the zero Covid policy which is good because their cities will start to open up more, production and spending will slowly return. Then the Russia-Ukraine war I lost track already, like never going to end, as every country start to adjust, nobody is going to give a shit about the war anymore, Russia can become North Korea and isolate from the world if they want.
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This Bloody FTX

Looks like the entire crypto market is still very cautious and reeling back from the FTX collapse, just checked  coinmarketcap.com , the total market cap is around US$795B, compared to two weeks ago it was around US$1.02T, roughly US$225B wiped out. Now my portfolio looks sibeh jia lat lol, down by about 75%, really sian half, but I still have confidence in Bitcoin and Ethereum, I actually read the whitepapers and also took some courses, so I know these two confirm will make it. As for exchanges, personally I use Crypto.com , kns hope they don't collapse, nowadays very hard to say, anything can just collapse in a matter of days, but so far they seem pretty stable, their CEO also did a nice AMA  addressing quite a number of key concerns, I also hold their CRO tokens because I find that it has several utility and is the native token i.e. fuel of two blockchains namely Cronos and Crypto.org, they also promised a Proof of Reserve Audit in coming weeks to show that they indeed hold cust
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Temasek Holdings Lost US$275M on FTX Collapse

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ftx-cryptocurrency-exchange-temasek-write-down-investment-275-million-3079086 Wow, even Temasek Holdings also kena burned, but US$275M peanuts la, not their money anyway, but might as well give every Singaporean better, better than throw into a blackhole, still want to increase GST and public transport fares, power sia, I wonder what the leadership of Temasek Holdings have to say to Singaporeans, or nothing to say. Anyway after the collapse, everybody started to dig out all the dirt on Sam Bankman-Fried and his partners in crime, even I also curious who the heck this guy is, to be honest I have never even hear his speech or anything, went to google his interviews, he sounds like a gin na, a bit like Donald Duck, cannot imagine how this gin na managed to convince all the big names to invest in his ponzi scheme, names like BlackRock. Knn, back in May I still thought of signing up for an FTX account, but lucky didn't sign up because I can'
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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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