I WAS impressed to hear the testimonies of great athletes like C Kunalan, Mani Jegathesan and others about how they were motivated to train and perform because of Mr Tan Eng Yoon (Feb 1). These athletes achieved greatness for Singapore at a time when sports did not pay them anything for their endeavours and they had to hold full-time jobs. On the other hand,...

I AM shocked at the new charges for entry to, and for parking at, Sentosa. I have been taking my dog to the island resort for weekly swims for almost two years now. We enjoy the weekly exercise and networking with like-minded, animal-loving people. It used to cost me only a total of $6 ($2 for vehicle entry and $4 for my wife and me) to be at Sentosa. Less...

A FRIEND of mine recently separated from his wife of five years. The worst part of the separation was when she walked out last year while he was jobless. She was not open either to counselling or to seeking any assistance to resolve their marital issues. It...

EVERYONE knows that toilets in many coffee shops and certain hawker centres in Singapore do not have hand-washing soap or any toilet paper. People who eat at the coffee shops or hawker centres end up facing the risk consuming faeces and other bacteria as evident in the recent Geylang Serai rojak case. Although you may not be one of the people to use these...

THE tainted milk scandal has recently resurfaced in China. I hope the relevant authorities in Singapore can assure us that the milk products we import from China and currently sitting on supermarket shelves here are safe for consumption. Consumers of old may have been just happy to trust the stringent checks that ensure that everything was good and...

I AM a vegetarian from India and always have to read through the label on an item or ask food vendors in detail about the food they serve in order to ensure that what I want to eat is truly vegetarian. ''I do not eat eggs, fish, chicken, et cetera... Uncle/auntie do you have something for me to eat?'' Is my common refrain to bakeries and hawkers in...

THE road along Bukit Batok East Ave 3, especially after the turning from Toh Tuck Road and the leading road from Toh Tuck Avenue has very high volume of traffic during peak hours. Cars travel fast. Residential areas such as Burgundy Hills and Parkview Condo and the commercial building WCEGA have also contributed to the high traffic volume evident by the fact...

I REFER to ''Educating the investor: The days of caveat emptor may be over for complex structured products'' (Feb 4). The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) agrees that some speed in implementing enhanced safeguards for the sale of investment products would benefit retail investors. Banks that are members of the Association of Banks in Singapore have...

WE REFER to ''Home, but without a place to park'' (Jan 27). Ms Clara Chua is referring to Car Park J8 at Jurong East Street 21. To meet the high season parking demand, we have grouped this car park with the adjacent Car Park J9. This allows season parking ticket (SPT) holders to park at both J8 and J9. Both car parks provide a total of 574 lots, sufficient...

We refer to Ms Li Shi-En Lisa's online letter ''A flat yes, but not when you need it most?'' (Jan 20). The Housing and Development Board's (HDB) Public Rental Scheme provides heavily subsidised rental flats to help truly needy Singaporeans who have no other housing options. For example, the rental for a subsidized 1R flat is as low as $26 a month. To...