My Friend went to the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority recently to register a new business.
He ended up going home early, because the entire business registration process has gone online, and he figured that it would be more comfortable to log in from the comfort of his home. Last month, I went to the Central Provident Fund Building to get a CPF statement of account.
After waiting for about 30 minutes at the information counter (there were loads of uncles and aunties trying to encash their Economic Restructuring Shares or something like that on that day), I was asked to use the 'free online PCs' to print out the statement myself.
Like my friend, I decided to do it from home. A lot of things can be done from home these days.
I mean accessing government services and information using the Internet instead of trudging down and queueing up at the various government offices and agencies.
And it is even better now because the e-government websites have been revamped and relaunched.
ONE-STOP SHOP
Previously, the main government website, the eCitizen website (this is the one for most of us), and the business website were disparate ones, but now they are all linked together via the new Singapore Government Online website at www.gov.sg.
Anyway, I decided to go to the new website for a spin, and discovered some really cool stuff there.
You should try it too. I give you three good reasons.
- You don't need to queue - queues don't exist in cyberspace.
- You save time - you can log on from home, any time, any day and even in pyjamas.
- You save money - you don't have to incur transport or parking charges.
Here are just some of the things that you can now do online:
- Check your CPF account and print out a statement
- Apply for a new passport
- Check if you have any outstanding traffic offences and print out your Certificate of Merit (to get discount on car insurance)
- Book public sports facilities
- Search and apply for both private and public jobs
- Verify if your tenant is a foreign worker with a valid work permit
- Register your newborn's birth and get an extract of your own Birth Certificate
- Apply for a new or renewal of URA season parking ticket
- Check your National Library account
And if you have the time, you can even check out the cyber Heritage Trails.
This is a good site to visit if you have run out of ideas on where to take your foreign visitors.
At livelife.ecitizen.gov.sg you can access information about three heritage trails - Civic District, Monuments and Fort Canning.
The Civic District part is the best one. It consists of two heritage trails - one starting at the Raffles Landing Site and takes about two hours to complete, and the second starting at Raffles Hotel and takes about three hours.
The first trail takes you through well-known places like the Victoria Theatre and Asian Civilisations Museum to lesser-known ones like the Tan Kim Seng Fountain and the Lim Bo Seng Memorial.
You can print out maps to guide you along and even get pocket guides from various locations like the Victoria Theatre.
The Monuments trail does not have a proper trail to follow but is an online timeline indicating the various historical buildings in Singapore.
You can always visit each of these buildings and monuments such as the Old Parliament House and Goodwood Park Hotel separately but you definitely cannot walk through them like the Civic District Trails.
The Fort Canning Trail is basically about touring Fort Canning Park and contains a recommended trail you can follow.
Now, who says government websites are boring.
Autor: Oo Gin Lee
Quelle: The Electric New Paper, 02.11.2004
