Latest
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Joint Tenancy or Tenancy-in-Common: How Co-Owners Hold a Home in Singapore
Joint tenants own a home together with no separate shares, and if one dies the survivor owns it all, whatever the will says. Tenants-in-common…
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Property Agents in Singapore: CEA’s Rules, Commission and What an Agent Can’t Do
Every property agent must be registered with the Council for Estate Agencies. Commission isn’t fixed by law: you agree it in a CEA prescribed…
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HDB Upgrading Programmes: HIP, EASE, NRP and What You Co-Pay
Under HDB’s Home Improvement Programme, essential repairs are free for citizen households and optional items cost 5% to 12.5% of the price. EASE senior…
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En Bloc Sales Explained: The Consent Thresholds, the Strata Titles Board and What Owners Receive
An en bloc sale needs 80% of owners by share value and strata area for developments aged 10 years or more, and 90% for…
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Executive Condominiums Explained: Who Can Buy, the Income Ceiling and When They Go Private
An EC is a condo built by a private developer but sold under HDB rules. Buyers need at least one citizen, a household income…
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Park Connectors in Singapore: The Routes, the Paths and the Rules for Walking and Cycling
Singapore’s park connectors link parks into free walking and cycling routes, including the 150km Round Island Route. Which path is which, the 25km/h and…
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Film Ratings in Singapore: What G, PG13, NC16, M18 and R21 Mean at the Cinema
Singapore has six film ratings. G, PG and PG13 are advice; NC16, M18 and R21 are age limits enforced by law, and cinemas check…
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Getting Into Sentosa: Boardwalk, Monorail, Bus, Car or Cable Car, and What Each Costs
Walking in on the Sentosa Boardwalk is free. The Sentosa Express costs S$4 including island entry, and the ride back is free. Cars pay…
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HDB Fire Insurance: What the Compulsory Policy Covers, and What It Doesn’t
If you have an HDB loan, HDB fire insurance is compulsory, renewed every five years and paid in cash. It covers the flat’s internal…
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Full-Grain, Top-Grain or “Genuine”: What Leather Labels Really Mean
Full-grain is the whole outer layer of the hide and ages into a patina. Top-grain is sanded smooth. “Genuine leather” is real leather from…
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Pearls Explained: Freshwater, Akoya, Tahitian and South Sea
Freshwater pearls are the most affordable, Akoya the classic white strand, Tahitian the dark ones and South Sea the largest and most valuable. What…
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Parfum, EDP, EDT or Cologne: What Perfume Concentrations Mean
The words on a perfume bottle describe how much fragrance oil it contains: parfum the most, then eau de parfum, eau de toilette and…
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The Kebaya: Why It’s on UNESCO’s Heritage List, and Singapore’s Part in It
On 4 December 2024, the kebaya was inscribed on UNESCO’s list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, nominated jointly by Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia,…
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Jade Explained: Type A, B and C, and What a Certificate Tells You
Type A jadeite is natural, Type B is acid-bleached and filled with polymer, and Type C is dyed. They can look alike, and even…
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HDB Renovation Rules: Permitted Hours, Noisy Works and Permits
General renovation in an HDB flat is allowed 9am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Noisy works like hacking and tile-cutting are limited to 9am…
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E-Bikes and E-Scooters in Singapore: What You Can Buy, Where You Can Ride
An e-bike must be LTA-approved, sealed and registered, weigh no more than 20kg and stop assisting at 25km/h. E-scooters must be UL2272-certified, and since…
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Childcare Fees in Singapore 2026: The Fee Caps and the Subsidies
Full-day childcare at Anchor Operator preschools is capped at S$610 a month in 2026, and at Partner Operators at S$650, before GST. A working…
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Your Gas Bill: How Singapore’s Town Gas Tariff Is Set
Piped town gas cost households 23.48 cents per kWh before GST from July to September 2026, a record. How City Energy’s quarterly tariff is…
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Paying Overseas: Card Foreign Currency Fees and Why You Should Never Pay in SGD
Most Singapore bank cards add about 2.5% to 3.25% to every foreign-currency purchase. Choosing to pay in SGD at the till (dynamic currency conversion)…
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Driving Overseas: The International Driving Permit and When You Need One
Singapore licences work across most of ASEAN, but Japan, Taiwan and the US are among the places that need an International Driving Permit. AA…
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Trouble Overseas: MFA’s eRegister and the 24-Hour Consular Line
eRegister is MFA’s free, voluntary way to tell it where you are travelling, so it can reach you in a crisis. The 24-hour Duty…
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Travelling With Medication: The Three-Month Rule and What Needs Approval
You can bring up to three months’ supply of personal medication into Singapore without approval, unless it contains a controlled or psychotropic substance. What…
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UK ETA, US ESTA and Europe’s ETIAS: The Travel Authorisations Singaporeans Now Need
Singaporeans still visit the UK, US and Europe visa-free, but need an online authorisation first: the UK ETA costs £20, the US ESTA about…
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Shopping in Singapore? | From Cassette to CD to MP3 to Streaming — How Singapore Stopped Shopping for Music as an Object
Singapore music shopping moved from cassette tapes and CDs to MP3 players, downloads and streaming. Each format changed not only sound but where people…
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Shopping in Singapore? | How Gramophone Made CDs, DVDs and Box Sets Part of Singapore’s Physical-Media Era
Gramophone belonged to Singapore’s physical-media era when CDs, DVDs, box sets and imported entertainment filled mall shelves before broadband, downloads and streaming moved the…
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Shopping in Singapore? | How Tower Records Brought the American Record-Superstore Idea to Singapore
Tower Records brought the American record-superstore idea to Singapore: deep catalogue, genre browsing, imports and youth music culture in an era when discovering an…
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Shopping in Singapore? | How HMV Turned CDs, Listening Stations and Heeren Into a Music Megastore Ritual
HMV made music shopping a destination in Singapore through giant CD selections, listening stations, imports and its landmark Heeren store before downloads and streaming…
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What Was Pioneer Before Pioneer? | Farms, Factories and the Western Frontier Before the MRT Station
Before Pioneer became an MRT station and western residential-industrial gateway, it was part of rural Jurong and then the expanding factory landscape that pushed…
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Shopping in Singapore? | How Film Developing and Photo Labs Turned 24 or 36 Exposures Into the Ritual of Collecting Prints
Before smartphones, Singapore photography shopping revolved around film rolls, processing counters and envelopes of prints. The wait between taking and seeing a photograph created…
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Shopping in Singapore? | How Cathay Photo Made Cameras, Lenses and Professional Photography a Specialist Shopping Culture
Cathay Photo became a long-running specialist destination for Singapore photographers through cameras, lenses, lighting and professional advice, surviving the shift from film to digital…
