Postal Service Totally Breaks Down!

[kukubird58]

Dunno if you've ever done Xmas decorations before but other than the Xmas tree, people would also display received Xmas cards as part of Xmas decorations. This adds to the Xmas mood

Sending an email might be more efficient but lacks the personal touch. Even electronic postcards can't replace the real thing.

hahaha..u r right, i have not done christmas decoration.....
btw now most company/organistation have resorted to sending e-greetings....

 

[johnny333]

One telling sign is that stamp collecting as hobby and as industry have also died off. Nobody uses postage stamps that often anymore to make them collectible. .

I remember in the old days you could buy beautiful stamps from a place called Marga Poste?? With the falling interest in stamp collecting that place wherever it is must be suffering

 

[johnny333]

hahaha..u r right, i have not done christmas decoration.....
btw now most company/organistation have resorted to sending e-greetings....

It's also about being courteous. If someone takes the trouble to buy a card & send it, it would be rude to reply with an e-greeting

Sending Xmas/new year cards is only a once in a year chore and Singpost does give a discount for Xmas cards, a flat rate of 45 cents globally.

 

[Ramseth]

I remember in the old days you could buy beautiful stamps from a place called Marga Poste?? With the falling interest in stamp collecting that place wherever it is must be suffering

In schooldays, I used to deal with a philatelic shop at Golden Mile Tower basement, can't even remember the shop name now. I also ordered "grabbags" from US (yeah, also comic adverts). The stamps in those grabbags were mostly worthless as they were, but quite useless for filling up a thematic album. I wasn't that rich to deal with Stanley Gibbons though I did keep up with their magazines and catalogues.

It's also about being courteous. If someone takes the trouble to buy a card & send it, it would be rude to reply with an e-greeting

Sending Xmas/new year cards is only a once in a year chore and Singpost does give a discount for Xmas cards, a flat rate of 45 cents globally.

Christmas (and birthday) cards were meant for long distance greetings in days without phones and e-mails. When China learned about it, Chinese also started doing it with CNY.

 

[johnny333]

I also ordered "grabbags" from US (yeah, also comic adverts). The stamps in those grabbags were mostly worthless as they were, but quite useless for filling up a thematic album. I wasn't that rich to deal with Stanley Gibbons though I did keep up with their magazines and catalogues.

Christmas (and birthday) cards were meant for long distance greetings in days without phones and e-mails. When China learned about it, Chinese also started doing it with CNY.

When one's younger, the simple things in life are enough. It's when we get older that we learn about the importance of material wealth & branding.

For me ordering from the US mean't getting something from a far away place. It was where Superman, Spiderman, Hulk,...,came from. America was still a great super power. Imagine my disappointment when the things I ordered turned out to be made in Hong Kong or Taiwan

We Sporeans don't have many traditions. Sending Xmas cards by snail mail may take longer but it is a tradition for me at least. If we discard everything old, we'll never have any traditions in Spore. :o

 

[halsey02]

In schooldays, I used to deal with a philatelic shop at Golden Mile Tower basement, can't even remember the shop name now. I also ordered "grabbags" from US (yeah, also comic adverts). The stamps in those grabbags were mostly worthless as they were, but quite useless for filling up a thematic album. I wasn't that rich to deal with Stanley Gibbons though I did keep up with their magazines and catalogues.



Christmas (and birthday) cards were meant for long distance greetings in days without phones and e-mails. When China learned about it, Chinese also started doing it with CNY.

Gosh! I have also forgotten about the name of that shop at G Mile Tower basement, are they still there?? I used to frequent all the stamps exhibitions, browse through all the stamps shops in Singapore, that, I remember the shop owners faces, especially the one you mention...

I rattle off a few, & some are gone, Asia Philatelic ( Straits Tradg bldg the old one), Kenneth Fish ( Holland V I think), CS Tan ( Peninsular shopping), and that was this shop at the 3rd floor Shaw Center ( Orchard Rd)... Stanley Gibbons shop here...

I still can see my piles of Stans Gibs Mag, Stamp Mag, Linns...Commonwealth Catalogue..etc...now in the dumps of history..

Waiting in line outside the PO just to buy the FDC...that was really long time ago...so much so, I know quite a plenty of Post Office peopl, from General Post Office to.........

those were the days...when life was slow & easy & the post office was a fun place to visit...

 

[halsey02]

It's also about being courteous. If someone takes the trouble to buy a card & send it, it would be rude to reply with an e-greeting

Sending Xmas/new year cards is only a once in a year chore and Singpost does give a discount for Xmas cards, a flat rate of 45 cents globally.

I still send out Christmas card, but sadly every year, to a few people I know overseas...

 

[johnny333]

Waiting in line outside the PO just to buy the FDC...that was really long time ago...so much so, I know quite a plenty of Post Office peopl, from General Post Office to.........

I remember queuing for first day covers, nowadays the long queues are of people paying bills. Our post offices have become bill payment centres

 

[johnny333]

I still send out Christmas card, but sadly every year, to a few people I know overseas...

As we age the sending & receiving of Xmas cards serve as indicators of the health of our friends & relatives.

My mother has been receiving fewer & fewer cards each year from her friends overseas. If you stop getting from one of your friends/relatives you'll know that they are gone:(

 

[KuanTi01]

I remember queuing for first day covers, nowadays the long queues are of people paying bills. Our post offices have become bill payment centres

The good old days belonged to a nostalgic bygone era! It is now irreversibly and forcibly replaced by cold commercialism and profit-centric service with ever-falling standards to boot. This is a wake up call for all concerned Sinkaporeans. We are sinking slowly but surely! Be forewarned!:

 

[johnny333]

The good old days belonged to a nostalgic bygone era! It is now irreversibly and forcibly replaced by cold commercialism and profit-centric service with ever-falling standards to boot. This is a wake up call for all concerned Sinkaporeans. We are sinking slowly but surely! Be forewarned!:

I may look nostalgically at the past but have no illusions as to where Spore is heading:( They say when you look more to the past than the present, it's a sign you're getting old. :(:(

Maybe tha'st why LKY is always referring to the 60's/70's

However I'm prepared for the worse. Even for a Madoff style revelation with regards to our CPF

 

[Ramseth]

I may look nostalgically at the past but have no illusions as to where Spore is heading:( They say when you look more to the past than the present, it's a sign you're getting old. :(:(

Maybe tha'st why LKY is always referring to the 60's/70's

However I'm prepared for the worse. Even for a Madoff style revelation with regards to our CPF

There is cause for worry if we look back. In the 70s and 80s, CPF was paying 1 to 2% when banks were paying 6 to 8%. These days, CPF is paying 2.5 to 4% when banks are paying 0.5 to 1%. How can CPF afford to pay up to 4 times the general interest rates? Many of those that promised 5% have collapsed, i.e. structured minibonds, a.k.a. minibombs.

However, the government has the power of taxation, i.e. using future taxation to fund present obligation. It works like a ponzi scheme using future clients' investments to fund present clients' dividends.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

Last time there was greater market competition amongst the banks who were subject to market forces, and so had to pay competitive interest rates. Also, inflation was much higher at that time, so global interest rates were high too. That's why banks had to pay 6% on savings.

The CPF is shielded from market forces. However it is not correct to compare to minibonds because the mechanism is different. CPF basically is a debt obligation - what the govt owes us. The only difference is that investment in this debt obligation is compulsory and interest rate is fixed by them. CPF int rate is fixed at a particular level on which to peg the HDB mortgage rate. Too high, HDB owners suffer. Too low, retirees suffer.

Now with all the consolidation of banks in SG, they are also to some extent capable of engaging in market collusion, hence the 0.1% savings int rate.

There is cause for worry if we look back. In the 70s and 80s, CPF was paying 1 to 2% when banks were paying 6 to 8%. These days, CPF is paying 2.5 to 4% when banks are paying 0.5 to 1%. How can CPF afford to pay up to 4 times the general interest rates? Many of those that promised 5% have collapsed, i.e. structured minibonds, a.k.a. minibombs.

However, the government has the power of taxation, i.e. using future taxation to fund present obligation. It works like a ponzi scheme using future clients' investments to fund present clients' dividends.

 

[Ramseth]

However it is not correct to compare to minibonds because the mechanism is different.

Agree, minibonds are too complexly structured for a direct comparison to bank and CPF interest rates. My point is, financial institutions are going to the extent of such complexly structured products to come up with a possibility of returning 5%, and so risky probability at that.

 

[po2wq]

There is cause for worry if we look back. In the 70s and 80s, CPF was paying 1 to 2% when banks were paying 6 to 8%. These days, CPF is paying 2.5 to 4% when banks are paying 0.5 to 1%. How can CPF afford to pay up to 4 times the general interest rates? Many of those that promised 5% have collapsed, i.e. structured minibonds, a.k.a. minibombs ...

msia fd rate is ~ 3% ...

msia epf interst rate > fd ... sum mor got gif epf dividend - ~ 6% ...

ah loon boast his gdp soot up ... y cpf interest rate so obscenely low? ...

 

[kukubird58]

ah loon boast his gdp soot up ... y cpf interest rate so obscenely low? ...

hahaha...i think cpf interest rate is not a factor to determine ministar salary...so ah loon boh hiew.......

 

[johnny333]

msia fd rate is ~ 3% ...

msia epf interst rate > fd ... sum mor got gif epf dividend - ~ 6% ...

ah loon boast his gdp soot up ... y cpf interest rate so obscenely low? ...

CPF is a tax on all working Sporeans:(

Many have suspected that LKY & company have been exploiting the CPF funds as a cheap source of $$$.

That's why even though my CPF is invested in lost making unit trusts, I haven't done anything about it because if I take it out, it will only end up in Temasek