This short video of less than 2 minutes showed how the accident at the Lucky Plaza happened on 29 December 2019. The accident killed 2 women and injured 4 others. The video captured the few seconds before the dreadful accident
Monday, December 30, 2019
The Claim Limits of MediShield Life in Singapore
28 December 2019
The local papers in Singapore reported that Surgery Patients would be able to get higher MediShield Life (MSL) payouts from 1 January 2020. This is because the Ministry of Health (MOH) has raised the MSL's claim limits. The papers have this similar table to show
Confusions
There have been a lot of confusions lately about how much MSL would pay for a medical claim. There were at least 2 Press complaints about the MSL's payout recently.
Many have the perception that they can get MSL to pay 90% of all the medical cost in hospitals They could also have the Government subsidies to defray some of the costs. In many cases, they would never expect the final bills of Public hospital to be higher than the Private hospitals. Some may or may not understand the "deductibles" but this was never a disputable cost item.
Mr. Seow Ban Yam is a 82-year-old Singaporean. He complained about the payout of $4.50 from MSL for his two cataract operations on his eyes. He did the operations at Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) in 2018. This $4.50 payout must be far from his expectation. He went to the Press, inviting active discussions in the local Forums. Quite sure Mr. Seow was not alone. There must be many other similar cases not reported to the Press.
Perception vs Reality
According to newspaper reports, Mr. Seow’s cataract surgery was around $12,000. His Government subsidy and "deductible" was about $10,500. Adding the cost of hospital stay of $205, the total payable left was around $1,500/=. Mr. Seow expected MSL to pay out $1,300/=. He was shock when he received a payment of only $4.50. These 2 tables must be what Mr. Seow expected and what MSL had worked out.
Mr. Seow expected
Item Description | Cost |
Surgery Cost | $11,831.00 |
Subsidy | $7,559.00 |
Sub Total | $4,272.00 |
Add Hospital Ward | $205.00 |
Sub Total | $4,477.00 |
Less Deductible Paid | $3,000.00 |
Total Payable | $1,477.00 |
Cost Sharings | Payment |
Patient 10% contribution | $147.70 |
CPF Life 90% | $1,329.30 |
MediShield Life worked out
Item Description | Cost |
Claim Limits | $2,800.00 |
Add Hospital Ward | $205.00 |
Sub Total | $3,005.00 |
Deductible Paid | $3,000.00 |
Total Payable | $5.00 |
Cost Sharings | Payment |
Patient 10% contribution | $0.50 |
CPF Life 90% | $4.50 |
The above tables assumed that the maximum claim limit of $1,400 has been used for the 2 operation done at the SNEC.
Claim Limit and Government Subsidies Workouts
MOH uses Claim Limits to make premiums affordable for everyone. It also ensure that there will be adequate coverage for almost every claim. MOH reviews the limits on a regular basis. The claim list has been expanded from time to time.
According to research materials, MOH used existing charges in Public and Private hospitals to work out the Limits. The charge covers about 50% to 75% of the patients. They sort out the Surgery Operation according to complexity to fit a Table of 7 shown earlier on in this article. The sorting work is shown in this “MOH’s Table of Surgical Procedures (TOSP)"
As for the Government Subsidies, they work out using this table released for Pioneer Generation Packages in 2014
Why Mr. Seow Ban Yam’s Surgery Cost so Much?
According to MOH, Mr. Seow’s Surgery Operation was complex. He’s surgery was one of 7 complex ones found among 42,000 surgery procedures. Mr.Seow’s surgery lasted for about 3 hours and he had this done on both eyes together at the same time.
How Much the Newer Limit would Help?
If Mr. Seow had the benefit of the new claim limits, he would have been $1,400/= richer. The amended work out is as shown in the following table
Item Description | Cost |
Claim Limits | $4,360.00 |
Add Hospital Ward | $205.00 |
Sub Total | $4,565.00 |
Deductible Paid | $3,000.00 |
Total Payable | $1,565.00 |
Cost Sharings | Payment |
Patient 10% contribution | $156.50 |
CPF Life 90% | $1,408.50 |
How to avoid “Mr. Seow's Problem"?
1. Never assume that MSL will pay the full medical operation cost. MSL is not like any private insurance plans which have higher medical coverage and claims. The MSL will only pay up to the Claim Limits. The rest will have to come from patient’s pocket or their MediSave;
2. Always ask how much the medical operation would cost. What one would expect to pay after the subsidy and other cost such as deductible;
3. There are approved procedures to qualify for Government subsidy. Choosing a particular doctor or asking for special treatments will be disqualified;
4. Read carefully any document that you must sign as such document must be important, often related to the medical charges;
5. Hospitals will always brief patients when there is a surgery operation. Besides the precautionary procedures to take, they will tell you the estimated cost of the operation. Take the opportunity to ask as many questions as you can including how they arrived the estimated cost.
6. Always check with friends and relatives who have done similar operations. Get them to advice you how to go about having the operation done. Also ask how much they have paid for the operation.
Friday, December 27, 2019
Repairing the Dremel MultiPro 395 High Speed Electric Drill.
17 December 2019
The Dremel MultiPro 395 finally called it a day when I was drilling hard to make a square hole on an wooden board. This was after 15 years when I first bought it for about SGD$100/= . It was made in Mexico. Today, the same tool advertised in TaoBao was for SGD$22/= including shipping. I have a similar one from other Chinese makes that cost only SGD$14/=.
 |
| Double click to go to TaoBao website |
As it was such sentimental tool that I decided to repair it yesterday. I made a video just to share for fun. There are many other video available in YouTube but none was able to tell me much about the tool.
TroubleShooting
In the past, a repair by changing the brushes and brush mounting did the trick but this time, it does'nt work. For the first time, I broke open this speed controller. There was unusual findings. The components was working using multi-meter testing method.
I’ve almost gone for an in-circuit testing for the TRIAC using an external 12 volt source. Upon further searching for other faults, I found it was a bad connection at one of the field coil connector.
The Fix
The socket of the field coil was not easy to remove to repair the connection. A direct connection using one strain of wire from a multi-core cable fixed the problem. The wire soldered and connected the field core wiring to the socket as shown in this video.
More Technical Information about the Dremel MultiPro 395.
1. Like any other tools, Dremel has a field coil and armature. In addition, it has also a simple and durable speed controller. The existing controller has a TRIAC BT134W that has a rating of 600Volts @ 1 Ampere. It has a DIAC like any other motor controllers. It has also a mystery an epoxy sealed component. It appears to be a thyrestor for over voltage protection of the TRIAC. The circuit is as shown
2. AliExpress has a newer speed controller for about SGD$3/= including shipping. This new controller has a ST Z9M TRIAC which works exactly like the BT134W. One can find the datasheet of ST Z9M and BT134W in here and here.
These TRIACs are very cheap. It cost only a few cents each in AliExpress.
3. The DIAC is a glass like component connected directly to the Gate of the TRIAC
4. One can also hack the controller by short circuiting the TRIAC's terminals MT1 and MT2. This will will connect the field and armature to the supply source. An external speed controller will be required.
Monday, December 23, 2019
Repairig a Battery Operated Clock
23 December 2019
The Clock stopped. What can be wrong? What can I do about it?
Should I replace it? Replace the motor mechanism or the whole clock?
What can be wrong?
Nowadays, battery operated clock comes with a clock motor and other parts and components.
The mechanism are pretty simple and they seldom breakdown. The use of Alkaline Batteries are usually the common cause of breakdown. Users should use only the common Zinc Carbon Batteries instead.
Many users thought that the Alkaline battery is better as it last longer. Nonetheless, these battery's electrolyte often leaks. Over some time, it would “smear” all over the clock's mechanism. This cause short circuiting in the electronic components.
How to determine the cause?
By simply measuring the resistance of the battery terminals. A good clock will give at least about 8 to 10 mega ohms, the bad one will only get about 1 Mega ohm.
To Replace or Not to Replace
If the clock is a sentimental one, it is worth to change the clock mechanism which is usually cheap. Nonetheless, some would choose to repair the clock.
How to Repair?
The repair work involves the use of dish washing liquid to get rid of the electrolytes. After that, drying them with dry paper towels and hair dryer.
What is inside the clock mechanism?
They consisted of few components as shown
1. A motor that consist of copper windings and the electronic board
2. A set of about 7 gears
3. The battery connecting strips
4. The split plastic casing
How to repair?
Friday, December 20, 2019
The Global MiTV with Android TV Operating System
16 December 2019
(For mobil users, please rotate screen to see full table)
Additional Note: The MiTV remote controller with Netflix button shown earlier is from MiTV, India. The Spanish model has more buttons on the remote controller as shown here
The specification for the MiTV for the Indian markets are shown here. These MiTV are only for local market
(For mobil users, please rotate screen to see full table)
Xiaomi's Global MiTV with Android TV operating system are known to come from warehouses in Hong Kong, Spain and Russia. These models comes with DVB-T2 digital tuner that can be used in Singapore and many other Asian countries. The digital tuner can also be used in Russia and also some European countries like Spain. They are all manufactured by Xiaomi Authorised Agents in China.
The sellers in ASEAN countries like Singapore have known to get their TVs from the warehouses in Russia and Spain. Banggood who has warehouses in various parts of the World are known to get their TVs from Hong Kong.
The Russian Global MiTVs have model numbers ending with 5ARU; for example, L55M5-5ARU. The "RU" stands for Russia.
Xiaomi exports 2 type of Global MiTVs to Spain. One has Satellite Tuner ; the other has DVB Digital Tuner. The former are for local market and comes with Netflix and Prime video keys in the remote controller. The latter can be re-exported to other countries and they are without the 2 special keys. Other than that, the former has model numbers ending "5ASP" where "SP" stands for Spain. The latter has V5xR in the model number where "x" representing the different sizes of the TV.
The Indians' MiTV with Android TV operating system are on sale for quite sometime. Their TVs are only for local consumption. Most of their newer TVs have Netflix and Prime Video buttons on the controller.
The newer Global MiTVs that are from Russia has Cortex A55 chips. The chips are not only saving energy but also performing better. The newer chips appears to have VP9 decoders that can play YouTube @ 4K video quality. They are designed by MediaTek instead of Amlogic.
The specification of the MiTV for Russia and Spanish markets are shown here.
(For mobil users, please rotate screen to see full table)
Model | Global MiTV4 S Russian 55”, 43”, 32” | Global MiTV4 S Spain 55”, 43”, 32” | |||
Country of Origin | China | China | |||
Known Supplier | BOE (Anhui) and TCL (HuiZhou) | JuYiShiHou (Shenzhen) | |||
Type | Narrow Bezel | Narrow Bezel | |||
Model Number | 55” 43” 32” | L55M5-5ARU L43M5-5ARU L32M5-5ARU | DVBT2 model | Satallite Model | |
55” 43” 32” | V53R V57R V52R | L55M5-5ASP L43M5-5ASP L32M5-5SP | |||
Resolution | 55” 43” 32” | 4K (3840x2160) 4K (3840x2160) HD (1366x768) | 55” 43” 32” | 4K (3840x2160) 4K (3840x2160) HD (1366x768) | |
Price @ Nov 19 | 55” 43” 32” | 33,999 Ruble 22,999 Ruble 11,999 Ruble | 55” 43” 32” | 449 euro 349 euro 175 euro | |
Viewing Angle | 1780 | 1780 | |||
CPU & GPU | |||||
Speed | 1.1 -1.4 Ghz | 1.1 -1.4 Ghz | |||
Model | 55” 43” 32” | Cortex A55 Cortex A55 Cortex A53 | 55” 43” 32” | Cortex A53 Cortex A53 Cortex A53 | |
Chip Designer | MediaTek | MediaTek | |||
core | 4 | 4 | |||
Bits | 64 | 64 | |||
RAM | 55” 43” 32” | 2 GB 2 GB 1 GB | 55” 43” 32” | 2 GB 2 GB 1 GB | |
Flash | 8 GB | 8 GB | |||
GPU | Mali 470 MP3 | Mali 470 MP3 | |||
Refresh Rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz | |||
Response time | |||||
Backlight | Back lited | Back lited | |||
Contrast Ratio | |||||
Operating System | |||||
PatchWall OS | Yes, depended on geological servers | DVBT2 model: Yes | Satallite Model : No | ||
Android TV OS | Yes Android 9.0 | Yes Android 9.0 | |||
Features | |||||
HDR10 | Supported | Supported | |||
Wifi | 2.4 /5 Ghz | 2.4 /5 Ghz | |||
Bluetooth | 4.2 | 4.2 | |||
Bluetooth remote | Supported | Supported | |||
Netflix & Prime Video key on controller | No | DVBT2 model: No | Satalite Model : Yes | ||
Google Assistant | Yes | Yes | |||
Google Chromecast | Yes | Yes | |||
Google Voice Search | Supported | Supported | |||
Digital Sound Decoder | Dolby Audio/DTSＨＤ | Dolby Audio/DTSＨＤ | |||
Video Decoders | MPEG 1/2/4, VP8 / VP9 / VC1, H.264, etc. PNG, GIF, JPG | MPEG 1/2/4, VP8 / VP9, H.264, etc. PNG, GIF, JPG, etc. | |||
Input Output | |||||
IO connection | 55” 43” 32” | HDMI 2.0 (3; 1 with ARC) AV in (1) Headphone (1) USB (3) USB (3) USB (2) Internet DB5 (1) | 55” 43” 32” | HDMI 2.0 (3; 1 with ARC) AV in (1) Headphone (1) USB (3) USB (3) USB(2) Internet DB5 (1) | |
DVBT2 model | Satallite Model | ||||
Cl+Module 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
Tuner | Satellite (1) DVB-S2 | ||||
DVB-T2 + DVB-C | Supported | Yes | Yes | ||
SPDIF | 55” 43” 32” | Optical Optical Not supported | 55” 43” 32” | Optical Optical Not supported | |
Sound System | |||||
Speaker Power | 55” 43” 32” | 2x10W 2x 8W 2 x 5W | 55” 43” 32” | 2x10W 2x 8W 2 x 5W | |
Sound Bar | Nil | Nil | |||
General | |||||
Appearance | 55” 43” 32” | Metallic case Metallic case Black back lit | 55” 43” 32” | Metallic case Metallic case Black back lit | |
Stand & Wall mount | Yes | Yes | |||
VESA Mount | 55” 43” 32” | 300x300 225x400 100x100 | 55” 43” 32” | 300x300 225x400 100x100 | |
Power Consumption | 55” 43” 32” | 120 Watts 75 Watts 45 Watts | 55” 43” 32” | 120 Watts 75 Watts 45 Watts | |
Remarks |
|
| |||
Web Site | DVBT2 model | Satellite Model | |||
The name plate of the TV |  This TV is from TCL Electronic |  This TV from Beijing Xiaomi factory | ||
The Difference between Russian and Spain Satellite model |  Without the Satallite port |  With the Satellite port |
Additional Note: The MiTV remote controller with Netflix button shown earlier is from MiTV, India. The Spanish model has more buttons on the remote controller as shown here
The specification for the MiTV for the Indian markets are shown here. These MiTV are only for local market
(For mobil users, please rotate screen to see full table)
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