How to reduce your carbon footprint in Singapore

Can you feel the heat? HosayBo isn't referring to anything else, but the walau-eh so hot weather in Singapore. We are sure that everyone knows that the change in climate is due to the rising concentrations of greenhouse gases, but how many of us actually know how to decrease our carbon footprint in Singapore?

As a country, we aren’t the poorest nor do we lack capacity. Every little effort goes a long way. Let’s all help ourselves, and the Earth, stay beautiful, wo-kay?

Tip #1: Indoor plant

Living in closed work and home environments, and being reliant on air-conditioning increases our exposure to chemical vapours and toxins.  Here are two out of the many indoor plants to remove toxins in the air:

Peace lilies enjoy moderator watering in a semi-shaded place. They are excellent for removing all pollutants including benzene, alcohols and trichloroethylene.

The snake plant thrives in any conditions – it requires little watering and its tough leaves are like the Hulk, indestructible. It’s also useful for removing chemical vapours from the air.

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Tip #2 :  Carousell your way, or be a seller/buyer at any flea markets

Maybe we love to shop, maybe Singapore is too small and we do indeed have little to do but shop. We all have once bought-then regret things we bought, pre-loved clothes, etc; and what better way can we pass on the good taste than flea markets? Don’t create the demand that leads to more produce unnecessarily. Be a buyer at flea markets. The Great Singapore Garage Sale 2, with beautiful finds and great prices, is on 14^th Jun, 9pm-12pm – plot this on your calendar for something else to do in tiny Singapore (:

Tip #3: Donate to the Salvation Army

Donate to the Salvation Army, but they aren’t the garang guni man leh. Here is a reminder to exercise sensibility, sensitivity and common sense. Why give someone else something which you can’t use yourself? They aren’t the dumping ground for trash; but for some things which you do not need but others will have the use for, please be kind enough to help those whose cash bags are a little tighter at the moment.

Tip #4: Use the recycling bins in your office and homes

On top of the usuals like using both sides of the paper, using paper to fold boxes for bones, categorise your trash and put them in the recycling bins!

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Tip #5: Don’t take plastic bags unnecessarily

There are lots of pretty grocery, hemp bags out there. Use one of these for grocery shopping.  Should you only be buying a few items, why not put them in your bag instead?

Tip #6: GET OUT THERE!!!

Stop staring at your screens, then using your office electricity to charge your iPhones, iPads, iTouch or make your mother dig out your eyes lah. Get out there, be away from your gadgets, give them a rest, and go to our many parks in Singapore. Spend some time with your loved ones, get ‘me time’ for yourself, and appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature. From the littlest ladybug, to the biggest clear blue sky.

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Have a great week ahead, happy Tuesday! (:

Have no fear, MediShield Life is HERE!!

Medical costs have been on the rise over the years and our current MediShield is finally due for revision to be more effective in shielding us from the hefty medical bills.

But what’s so special about MediShield Life?

1)  It covers EVERYONE, even those with pre-existing conditions as well as those rejected by insurers. My 75 year old papa can now sleep well knowing that he is covered under this scheme though he has an existing heart condition. He was not able to purchase a life insurance last time!

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2)   If you fear that your 94 year old grandmother will be left with no insurance coverage when she reach 95 years old, now you can relax because MediShield Life will cover her and everyone FOR LIFE :) Heng ah!

3)    Forking out cash from the wallet can be heartpain for most of us especially a hospital stay can easily end up costing a couple thousand dollars medical bill! But now with MediShield life, it’ll pay more for your hospital bills and so, you PAY LESS!

1.   4)   Don’t worry that you cannot afford the premiums. It will be PAID BY MEDISAVE and not from your pocket. More coverage and does not hurt your pocket, Hosay la!

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5)   Premiums higher than MediShield but SUBSIDIES will be offered to:

             i.      Lower to middle income families

             ii.      Pioneer Generation

             iii.      All Singaporeans for first 4 years to ease transition

At least, we won’t feel the pinch when we see the premiums deducted from our 

Medisave accounts. Those who do not have sufficient funds in their accounts need not

worry either!

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6)  Additional SUPPORT for those who can’t afford premiums after subsidies.  Who says our

gahmen don’t care about us? Everyone in Singapore is taken into consideration.

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This new scheme will kick in end of this year, what do you think? 

I know my family will benefit.

What about you?

If you need more info, you can find out more here.

Confessions of a Cleanaholic

Never leave your bedroom till your bed is made. Why is that crease in the blanket there… it wasn’t there this morning – someone’s been in my room. What else did they touch!?

Don’t press the lift buttons using your fingers – use your house keys. Don’t use your bare fingers to punch in the numbers in the ATM, use the tip of your fingernail and quickly disinfect it with hand sanitizer after.

Always arrange your clothes from light to dark, same goes for everything else – there MUST always be some form of order in your arrangements.

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Disciplined? Maybe.

Obsessive-compulsive? Perhaps.

Tiring and cumbersome? Very much so. 

But I guess my case can be considered quite mild, if you bothered to trawl through the Internet and read on about even more flabbergasting obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) behaviour.

Nonetheless, I still get mocked by those around me – calling me a freak, obsessive, germophobe, leceh, ma fan - anything bad that’s related to having that need to have everything in order so that you don’t go into a panic attack and start hyperventilating. But really, is it that bad?

If I had to put a positive spin to my obsessive-compulsive behaviour, it’ll be – I tend to obsess about perfection and feeling perfect. I have found that I give up easily when I am trying something new. I think it is because when you first try something it obviously is going to be far from perfect, so I tend to associate trying with failing. The one thing that my OCD has taught me is to have grace for myself. Allow myself to not feel OK but to not let it consume me.  It has helped me stick to certain self-disciplines.

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On the flipside, there’s a completely opposite trait of those with OCD – often shown through a symptom called “hoarding”. I’m sure many of us witnessed the magnificent sight of flying cockroaches during the cleaning out of a particular 3-room unit in Eunos Crescent. The wife was said to be a compulsive hoarder, who, according to the husband, brought home 2-3 bags of stuff every day, which became much worse about five years ago. Now, you do the Maths. 2-3 bags each day, for 5 years. 

That’s about 5,000 bags of stuff in one 3-room unit. Things got so bad that these roaches started “moving” into the home of their next door neighbour.  So when some kind souls heard of the plight of this couple – they did what anyone else wouldn’t think of doing. They stepped forward to help. They offered to clear out the unit so that these couple can live in a clean, liveable home.

The sad thing is this is not necessarily “news” to us anymore. Over the years, we’ve heard of several other similar scenarios happening throughout our sunny little island. Perhaps, they hoard because they are sentimental – or feel that they may find some use for the things that they keep. Perhaps, they’ve wanted that one particular item for the longest time and found it discarded among someone’s thrown out junk. 

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So, what can we, as normal everyday superheroes, do?

1) Approach them and get to know them better. Only when there’s that trust established, could we even think of suggesting to them that they may need help!

2) Do it the good, old ground-up way – offer to volunteer your assistance in clearing out the unit. More often than not, they do not know where or how to start.

3) If things are getting out of hand, ask the authorities for help. A new task force was set up in late 2014 led by the Ministry of National Development and involved the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social and Family Development, the police, the Housing Board, Singapore Civil Defence Force, National Environment Agency (NEA) and People’s Association. Also involved is the Institute of Mental Health, because hoarding can be a symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder or dementia. For compulsive cases, the HDB will work with social workers, grassroots leaders and the SCDF to provide counselling and help. [Source]

We all have our issues – big or small. But regardless, knowing that we have someone to turn to or an outlet to seek help from, we can get through it one small step at a time.

OK, I need to go sharpen and re-arrange all my (already sharpened and neatly stacked) 2B pencils now. Taa~

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We So Clever Right?

We always think that we are cleverer than the govt, and that we can run the country with much lower pay, but how true is that, really? We share 3 cases where we think that our 

gah-men is not wrong. 

We start off with:

Shut down TRS – Hosay liao!

Thumbs up to the government for shutting down The Real Singapore (TRS). Some say that the government is flexing its muscles to stop freedom of speech and revelation of truths. Let’s think about it – were the stories (and we say stories because we believe mostly are fictional) really a reflection of the real Singapore? Or is it a site that uses sensational headlines to incite hate and to sow discord? #whereisthelove

Preying on Singaporeans fears and insecurities with malicious articles, troll comments, unverified sources, which do not improve our lives,  wasn’t TRS trying to cause a great divide? With 2 out of 3 TRS editors being non-Singaporeans, and the sole Singaporean being a student studying abroad whose roots are deeper in Australia than in Singapore,  how much do they really know of the problems REAL SINGAPOREANS are experiencing?

Spread love, not hate. Spread sense, not make our brains cramp. For some of the comments left on TRS FB, my grandma will blush seeing the language you all use. #shameshame

See what one of TRS’ foul-mouth editor wrote:

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“Bolts from the blue”

Source: Shin Min Daily News (14 Apr, p8)

This lady complained that she was asked to leave the the pool 4 times, in 5 days because of lightning warning. But, the skies were clear…. Where’s the lightning? Must be an by an excuse by the lifeguard to skive and go drink kopi!

Hello miss,  maybe you haven’t heard of the phrase “bolt from the blue”? It is not uncommon for lightning to strike even if the skies are clear. Google if you want to find out more, but lightning travels far. In this instance, don’t doubt the authorities. They know better and have your interests at heart. It is better to be a little bit fatter with the lack of exercise, than be fried in the pool, yah? 

Not-In-My-Backyard Syndrome

Do you want the benefits of having facilities like childcare centres, eldercare facilities near our homes, but not at our backyards? In 2012, Singaporeans complained about having nursing homes being built in the vicinity of their homes (can refer to this news report).

But really, have we thought about the day if there are too few nursing homes because we previously petitioned to stop their construction? Fast forward 20 years. Because we didn’t want a nursing home near our house, our children may have to travel to Pulau Sotong to visit us.  *wails 

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In the second case, a minority of residents were unhappy that the government will be building an RC underneath their blocks. Despite the RC exploring alternative sites, adjusting plans, and even reducing the size of their RC, a few of the residents were still unhappy with the construction, citing reasons like safety concerns. This HSB writer really doubt that Singaporean are better than all the authorities, especially when it concerns technicalities like fire safety etc.

Some of them also said they wanted the RC, just not at the void deck under their houses. What if everyone thinks like you? What if everyone doesn’t want a coloumbarium anywhere near their houses too?! Do we have to go to Pulau Semakau to pay our respects in future? HAIYO!

What do you think?