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WELLINGTON (New Zealand) - NEW Zealand's Commerce Commission filed criminal charges Wednesday against three international airlines, including Singapore Airlines, for alleged price fixing in the local air cargo market.

The commission said the charges against Cathay Pacific Airways, Singapore Airlines and Aerolineas Argentinas allege noncompliance with notices seeking documents and information that were issued under New Zealand's Commerce Act in October 2007.

The commission is investigating allegations some airlines have colluded to reach agreements and understandings on the level of cargo rates, including fuel surcharges, on international flights to and from New Zealand, Chairwoman Ms Paula Rebstock said in a statement.

If the airlines are found in breach of section 103 of the Commerce Act they can be fined up to NZ$30,000 (S$31,189.5). New Zealand's air cargo market is estimated at about NZ$400 million a year.

The commission declined comment on the air cargo market investigation but said if it concluded there had been a breach of the Commerce Act, it would be file proceedings in the High Court later this year.

Ms Rebstock defended the use of statutory notices against the three carriers.

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'Any failure to comply with ... statutory notices that form part of a commission investigation is a serious enforcement issue,' she said.

'Cartels are insidious and cause extensive damage to the New Zealand economy,' she added. 'They are difficult to detect and extremely difficult to investigate because of their secretive nature.'

A number of airlines are already cooperating with the commission's investigation.

Overseas competition authorities are also investigating air cargo price cartels.

In the US, British Airways, Korean Air, Qantas and Japan Airlines have settled and agreed to pay record fines. US courts so far have awarded penalties of US$1.2 billion (S$1.62 billion) against airlines for participation in an alleged cartel that hiked air cargo rates to and from the US. -- AP

Originally posted by ray245:

Some of us seems to blame the PAP for having so much political power in singapore...but whose fault is it...to cultivate singaporeans into throwing so much support towards the PAP?

 

Is it the PAP's fault? Or is it the people's own fault? Or is it our forefathers fault?

 

It seems to me...that it is wrong to be too sucessful in doing what needs to be done at times.

 

During the early stage of the qing dynasty...that dynasty is so successful in fighting wars and maintaining peace...that people seems to think there is no room for improvement.

Sadly...when the qing dynasty think of this..this is the era when the rest of the world (in this case europe) advance at a fast speed.

So whose fault is it, for the PAP to be so powerful? Is it really their own fault? Or are we responisble for it as well?

Think about it. A butterfly can flap its wings in china...and that can cause a tornado in america.

Even the smallest actions can have the largest countereffect.

Fault or not, I dare not say for fear for my life.

1 thing which is a fact that I can say is

without the People who voted them in,

no matter how good or bad they are,

they could never never never never have gotten into power.

 

Hi SGF!

I do not know a suitable forum to post this question to . so....

Bank savings interest rate is extremely low nowadays.

Which bank, local or foreign, offers the highest savings interest rate?

I like to know and start withdrawing almost all of my savings from one bank to another. I believe that if a bank offers lower interest rate, money should not be put there and money should be withdrawn and dumped into other banks offering higher interest rate.

If everyone do what I do, banks will become more competitive.

I just hope they all dun karkat together....aiyo, I just kidding nia. Doon wanna get into trouble with rich people who could afford expensive lawyers.

I am thinking of Citibank. Any advice? 

 

 

Originally posted by kilua:

Thus the most important is to have check and balance.

There is nothing surer than have a third party to check on each other. We cant be sure a person is not corrupt or abusing funds, even if he was play an important role in building Ren Ci.

If you are clean why be afraid of third party checks?

 

I second Kilua's proposition.

We should learn from the lesson of  Kang who was guilty as charged and served his sentence in jail and now turned over a new leaf. Kang episode should have served as Wake-Up call. No one can be allowed to be above the law.

The lesson is that no matter who, Singapore needs Independent Check and Balance on ALL individuals and Organisations Regardless of Race, Language, Religion, Social Status, Power, Wealth, Influence and Rank. This is merely to ensure FAIRNESS.

We must support the idea of ridding Kangaroos (if it exist), Corruption, Nepotism, Conflict of Interest, Insider Trading, Duress, Intimidation, Use of Public Funds for personal gains, Cronism and Puppyganda, if these ever exist. We must support not just laws that are Just and Fair  but also more importantly laws that are Lawful. UnLawful Laws exist in this world. I am not saying it exist in Singapore but that is what we need to avoid and prevent and eradicate if it ever exist in our system.

Based on the world class news, obituary section,

I have ever seen more dead before 80 than older than 80. Sometimes even as young as 50 or 60.

I am not sure why.

Originally posted by monoslayer:

i m not very sure of the contributions of tis dr ong..

with all the due respects in the world,

although I would think he is a very very super great man,

I also not very the sure what major contributions he had made to Singaporeans.

All I know is he served as an MP for long long time.

So, to be fair to the late great man, could someone pls enlighten me?  I would love to honor this guy.

I send my condolence.

Yes, he is just 1 man vs the entire gov.

David vs Goliath

Chee , like all people, is not Perfect.

Why should he be perfect when no one is perfect?

Although I do not declare myself a supporter of Chee,

neither do I declare myself not a supporter of Chee,

it is still the truth that without Chee, the political scene here would be much less vibrant and minorities' / majorities' voices may not be heard as clearly.

He is an activist and that is what activists do. What else do people expect him to do?

Originally posted by Leeky:

He will be casted to 18th level Hell!!!

Poor karma which he and his family memebers have to pay 4!!!!

Shame on him.

 On behalf of all ex- RIs, f him,go 2 hell now!!!!

Are you against the Reverend personally or

is it you detest his religion?

Or

are you just like that speaking like a little young boy?

I agree with Monoslayer that a person, regardless of Race , Language or Religion ,

is Innocent until Proven Guilty.

I also kept an open mind when Kang was charged last time. Of course, its now in history books that he is Guilty as charged.

 

 

Hi,

What is used to measure accurately the competence of MPs?

Do we know the performance and capability and competency of each MP that exist now, Ruling and Opposition?

What are the major achievements of these MPs that helped the People? Is there an official list to prove their competence and capability and achievements?  

Is there evidence to say that the Opposition MPs are ALL not capable enough to represent the people?

Is there evidence to say that ALL other MPs are ALL MORE Capable than Opposition?

What is the yardstick to measure the capability of any MP before we can say an MP is capable?

As seen in my questions above, I no no the answers. Do you?

Thus, I am a neutral person.

Originally posted by manjieass:

i happened to saw one when i was eating 'beach road prawn noodles' at katong..

 

the shop beside it was selling like something about a camera that can record 14secs of accidents or something like that..

Oh, I think that one you saw is already in production for a few years.

I think its the Korean one.

They brought into singapore market during a car expo a couple of years back.

I think this one is 1 camera only.

The black box is said to have 6 cameras in 1 package.

Still I doubt it can capture all the angles.

And some of you may be right, it may not yet be in production yet.

The concept is not new. As said, Korea been there done that.

 

I smell a rat

mac^^    =  £ Ỉ €ڰ

Originally posted by stormax:

You need to 1st of all open a Pte Ltd with capital of SG$ 2 million to apply for license to import n export oil.

At the same time, your competitors will be the giant MNC where your price will not be as competitive as them. They have the financial capacity to buy and hold stock sometimes more than millions or billions. They have holding space to keep and maintain the stock as they are highly flammable.

Another thing is the buyers. They usually dun from supplier without portfolio or clear background. Every process is done in high security.

The ones who control the price is a level that most average citizens are unable to enter or even participate.

Some who are able to do it, as they used to be from the industry and with contacts, they can tagged on to their supplier or clients.

Unless you are thinking of buying in barrels and illegally supply to car owners?

No lah just talk cork sing song on a sunday afternoon onlyz lah. I super kuai wan. I dare not do illegal stuff. I scared like hell to do that.

Would you agree that the Rich will get Richer as the poor can not compete on level playing field with them? This is only a question.

For me, I dare not say what I think for fear for my life.  I kiasi and kiasu and kiasai wan. you know why right? kekeke...

 

Originally posted by Paradise Lost:

Im sure its legal but the execution of such a business proposal is financial unfeasible as the costs of doing so outweighs the benefits. Here are the reasons why:

1) You do not have the proper storage facilities and technical know-how to conduct proper oil storage. Keeping oil in its barrelled from requires regular maintanence as it is after all a flammable and hazardous commodity. What about rental costs of a factory and the respective costs of hiring respective manpower?

2) In Singapore, im sure you need a permit to do so. How long would you need to apply for it and for how long does it take for you to be granted one, given the protectionist policy of our governement towards the oil industry?

3) Assuming you get points no. 1) and 2) right, what about your sources? Its definite that you would be purchasing oil at its already lofty market price and even paying more for it if your unlucky. Upon doing so, what about the costs of import tax, duty tax and the relevant logistical and transportation costs?

The relevant costs as stated above makes your proposal excessively risky and outweighing the potential benefits if any, assuming oil price DOES continue to rise. Probably oil will have to hit USD$200 for you to break-even and hit it fast before your creditors come knocking.

 

These rumoured speculators participate in the upward price movement of oil through speculation of oil related derivatives. Such future contracts would normally include the barrels of Brent Crude Oil and North Sea Sweet Crude as the underlying asset. Its highly unlikely that they(the speculators) would hoarde oil in its physical form and thus create an aggregate supply shock to the world economy.

What you said are valid concerns. Do business here may not be as easy as one may think for many reasons.

I think there is virtual warehouse concept. Have you thought about it?

Not a single drop of oil involved. Only digits.

Just like playing commodities on stock market. Alas, I no no much about stock market lah. Only layman layman onlyz.

But you should have gotten what I mean right?

 

Originally posted by CasperV:

what the hell's a black box?

The one tv news talked about wan lor. You no no ah?

They say when accident you got evidence mah.

 

Originally posted by Lin Yu:

does our friend up there still believe he's in Singapore?

  

Well, the truth is, neither you nor anyone in pore can say for sure where abang is. Try to disagree to this statement and convince me otherwise.

There is no official report as to in which country is abang now. There are only some info that he COULD BE in indonesia.

'Could be' is not 'IS'.

but I wonder, does this mean, no one knows for sure where is abang? By this, does it mean that no one can say abang IS in pore?

If so, could there be an official report informing the public the actual status that no one knows for sure where is abang and that investigations are still on-going? Would this not be more clear report to the public? So many could have, before this week, still assume that Abang IS still probably in the pore based on some info they heard that there is no evidence that abang has left. 

I would like to suggest that there be a report that says, there is no evidence that abang has not left the pore ALSO.

This is also a form of TRUTH.

So, its a Truth that there is no evidence abang has left the pore. AT THE SAME TIME, the other TRUTH is that  there is no evidence abang has not left the pore.

This kind of report would make things clearer as some naive people may not be able to comprehend well, that is, failed in basic news / language comprehension.

But now, since the news says there is some clues from the captees that abang MAY BE in indonesia, then, I am glad the public is now informed about it. This makes a world of difference.

don't know does not mean no.

don't know means don't know. Clueless.

 

 

 

 

what credible person compiled this list and based on what?

can the list rank credibly if the money of some people are not disclosed?

What prove does the ranker have that there is no undisclosed wealth?

Who would be totally transparent? (i think all lor. song boh?)

ha ha ha.

What a funny world.

 

 

Hello folks,

Oil is a commodity.

Its rumored that speculators or investors are causing it.

Is it legal to :

> setup a company and buy oil in bulk and keep it somewhere cheap. Given that oil price will continue to go up, would it be legal to keep buying oil but hold it,  as in not to sell it until a later time when the price is even much higher , and profit from it?

> gather as many investors as possible, collectively buy as much oil as possible. Keep for sometime until the supply is showing problem?

I mean, if the rumored investors can get away with doing that and seems that nothing can be done about price speculation and investors, can I say that it is legal or can get away with this?

Pls let me know what you think about this idea.

thanks!

B_E_C

 

 

Originally posted by £ Ĭ €ڰ:

Speakers Corner is "run" by SDP what. didnt you know that? infact internet is the best place for SDP to spread their teaching, because it is free, faceless, riskfree and effective.

You can convince everyone if you could show the evidence you have.

Your words could be even more convincing.

Well, people here also condem CSJ and their voices are not silenced in this forum.

There can be many truths to a truth. For instance, a gun is a wonderful creation as it can be used to save and protect lives. This is a truth in itself. If the other truth about gun is not heard or let known to the innocent ones, they may never know that a gun is also used by bad people to murder and gun accidents happen frequently around the world and drug criminals use guns to commit crimes. There are many truths to understand  just 1 truth.

If not all truths are heard, one may not see the whole picture.

Let all views be heard and the truth will emerge if there is no selective muting of dissent.

Let the people be the judge also.

Originally posted by sinicker:

specialty & variety.....

so what car accessories are we talking about here?

Well, for a start, things like the poly black box, which I was asking for more info in another thread.

Sorry, maybe my definition of accessories is too wide. I mean the normal accessories like HID lamps and convex mirrors but also anything else like add-on devices, tools and things like decals and stickers of any sorts. Variety. To have variety varied enough, this shop should be a specialty shop.

Thanks.

 

hi car gurus,

I like to know has anyone tried the new black box from poly students?

Is it really able to capture all angles? I am skeptical that it is possible to capture all the angles.

or does anyone knows in more detail how it works?

thanks!

TS,

to play safe for you, you no need use own phone to sms him.

use something like via internet or something less easy to hunt you down.

this is to avoid violence to come to you.

Hello friends,

Just to get a rough idea from you,

what kind of price would stop you from even attempting to go under an ERP gantry?

Of course, the ERP must only operational during peak hours.

I start first, to me personally, if ERP fee hits  $4.50 or higher, I would definitely try all my means not to use that road. This is assuming company wont pay and pay for your such expenses.

and if , hypothetically, all major roads implement the same, I would consider giving up my car or convert to weekend car, if that is possible.

So, the psychological limit for me would be $4.50. Now, that is not too far away.

I ever paid at least $3 for 1 pass under a ERP gantry.

Then, I imagine, if my hypothesis comes true,

there would be very few cars running on the road. And what if the worst were to happen, that is, all ERPs operational most time of the day? Even if priced at different rates for different times?

Majority would be affected.

Then , public road would have a new meaning.

Somehow, something tells me, this would never happen because:

1. why have less oil revenue?

2. why have less car servicing , maintenance, insurance revenue?

3. why have less road tax collected?

4. why have less parking fee collected?

5. why have less or no more ERP fee collected? And how about all those money spent on the gantry manufacturing?

6. why have the roads under-utilized?

And then, eureka! ,  enlightenment, I suddenly understood the whole picture. 

Originally posted by alwaysdisturbed:

saw the cellphone number.

call and tell him la. post here for what.

TS,

sms him this thread url . Say he kenna lucky draw condo 1st prize. Sure will read this.

cheers!

 

Originally posted by CasperV:

you mean they take away accesories that came from the factory for their own profit?

No lah dude. That would be ridiculous siah. :)

Originally posted by jeez88:

Car Accessories - Add on enhancements do you mean?

There's this shop at Syed Alwi Road, just by the corner of McDonalds and they carry a whole range of add ons to your ride.

Stuff like their full range of LED bulbs, all those accessory stuff you find in the megamarts like Giant, solar films, car mats, gauges, grounding wire, antenna wire...and the list goes on..

Stumbled upon that shop a couple of months ago when I was driving around and decided to have a look as add on parts for my car are just not easy to source, esp from the megamarts.

Price is reasonable too!

Thank you very much Jeez88. Will take a look today. Going there at 12pm.

Cheers!