Ministry of Foreign Affairs eRegister system.

Sat, 28 Nov 2009
1 min read
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If you’re a Singaporean, and you’re going overseas for work or travel, it’s probably best if you register your details with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

I don’t know how much information is used for ‘surveillance’, but I think it’s always good to be prepared in the event of any emergencies.

BTW I found out about this thingy after submitting an Overseas Travel Notification to the Ministry of Defence – not because I want to, but because it must be done.

Anyways, there was a nifty little link provided at the end of the confirmation page which brought me to the MFA eRegister system, and I thought I’d share it with everyone because I think all of you should know about this.

Also, since the Civil Service often gets more brickbats than it does bouquets, I thought I’d take some time to express my pleasure at a good idea (IMHO) and a good example of synergy at work.

Okbye.

13th month payment: It’s not a ‘bonus’?

Fri, 27 Nov 2009
1 min read
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I was quite curious about how and why there was a need for a 13th month payment after reading this article. So I Googled for some answers, and found a few posts on this topic.

Read them first, bad English and all, before coming back here:

Actually, they all say the same thing (with some variations) so the summary here:

  • We are paid according to the British system of accounting i.e. based on 28 days of work (one week has seven days; therefore four weeks has 28 days).
  • Since our salary comes in monthly, we have 12 payments in one year.
  • But one year has 52 weeks. 52 divided by four is 13.
  • So the 13th month is something that is entitled to us. However, we have been conditioned into believing that it’s a ‘bonus’.

Hmmm. Any thoughts on this from anyone?