AUCTIONS ON-LINE: Yahoo: sg.yahoo.com < auctions AND eBay: www.sg.ebay.com .  In the US, eBay has many more listings than Yahoo.  In Singapore, it is the other way around.  For example, in the category “digital cameras and accessories”, Yahoo's auctions lists 3 times as many "cameras and equipment" for sale here in Singapore as eBay. 

CARS: www.onemotoring.com.sg It is Singapore’s #1 site for car information. You can renew your road tax, bid for COE’s, calculate your PARF/COE rebate -- and do it all on-line.  You can also find out the dealer’s cost -- which will tell you how much he can afford to lower his price.  At the top of the OneMotoring page, go to LTA Information & Guidelines < Buy a new vehicle < Car cost < Car prices < Detailed breakdown of car costs. 

CONSUMER HELP: www.case.org.sg  If you got a bad deal from a company, this is a good place to learn about the remedies which are available to you.

COMPANY DATA: www.sgx.com.sg  This is the site of the Singapore stock exchange.  It gives a wealth of data, but my favourite is the company information.  It is at “Listings” on the left-hand side.  It gives basic information about every publicly traded company.

CPF BOARD:  www.cpf.gov.sg The CPF site has a wealth of information.  My two favourite sections are “CPF Statements” and “Tools”. Both are on the top bar of the home page.  The statements lets you view how much you have in all of your CPF accounts.  Among tools, the coolest is the CPF savings projector.  It calculates how much you can withdraw from your CPF account at age 55.  (You’ll be surprised how much money you have.)

CURRENCIES: www.oanda.com  To use the full power of this site, click on “full currency converter” in the upper left corner. You can find the exchange rates for any of 164 currencies.  Not only does it give today’s rates, enter a date and it will tell you the exchange rate on any day during the past 13 years. That’s amazing. 

EDUCATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION:  www.mas.gov.sg  This is the site for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).  Hit the section, “For the Consumer”.  Then go to MoneySense.  It gives helpful tips about buying financial products.  Dispute resolutions is another useful section.  You can resolve disputes with banks, insurance companies and capital markets (i.e. stock brokers and the stock exchange) at www.fidrec.com.sg It is the Financial Industry Dispute Resolutions Centre.

FINANCIAL HELP FOR THE NEEDY:  www.ncss.org.sg  According to the National Council of Social Services (NCSS), “For most needy persons, life is harder than it needs to be. There are many help schemes available, and this site tells where to find them.”

At the top bar, click on “Social Services”.  Then on the right side of the page, click “Help available for the needy”.  The site gives a comprehensive 38-page list of all the financial assistance schemes in Singapore.  You will find schemes for housing, medical bills, tuition fees, elderly care, job assistance and more.

FINANCIAL PLANNING SUGGESTIONS: www.cpf.gov.sg Then click on sitemap < tools < calculators.  You will find loan repayment, CPF retirement, interest rate and many useful calculators.

GOV -- ALL SITES:  www.ecitizen.gov.sg  It is possibly the most complete government web site in the world.  You may wish to use the top bar to direct you. Check out the A to Z government list, which makes it easy to find any government office in Singapore.

GOV -- HELP FOR BUSINESS: www.business.gov.sg  This site is new. It is a wonderful site, especially for small and medium enterprises.  It tells about all the government help available for businesses.  You will learn about licenses, the home office scheme, how to export your products, networking and much more. 

GOV -- REGISTER A BUSINESS: www.acra.gov.sg  This is the site for the accounting and regulatory site of Singapore.  You can register your business.  You can also find out information about another business. 

HDB HOUSING PRICES: www.hdb.gov.sg This site has a wealth of useful HDB housing information.  My favourite section tells HDB resale prices. Go to eServices < More < Enquiries. Then select Recent Resale Transactions. Next, enter your block number series, such as 800 to 899 for Yishun. It will list the selling price of all recent sales in 800-series blocks in Yishun.

Another useful site is eServices < enquiries < ethnic group eligibility. Just enter the postal code and the site tells you which racial groups are eligible to purchase resale flats in that block. 

INVESTING -- ALL ABOUT FUNDS: www.fundsingapore.com   It lists Singapore Unit Trusts and ILPs (Insurance-Linked Products). It also tells which funds are approved under CPFIS (CPF Investment Scheme). The “power search” is quite helpful.  One tip: Do not end the address with “.sg” will not be able to access it.  

(i) One drawback is it doesn’t show the handful of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) such as Straits Times Index ETF, ticker symbol: STTF.SI.  ETFs have lower expense ratios than Unit Trusts or ILPs.  (ii) A second drawback of the site is it shows returns only on a bid-bid and not an offer-bid basis.  It is the same as assuming the initial commission is zero, which is not correct since all funds sold in Singapore charge front-end loads.  

INVESTING -- SHARE PRICES, LIVE: www.sg.finance.yahoo.com   Reuters News Service provides the live stock market quotes for this Yahoo site. From 9 AM to 5 PM, it continuously updates prices and it charts the Straits Times Index. It also shows live stock market action in KL, Japan and Hong Kong.  Tip: As with most live data, you must hit your computer’s “refresh” button to update the prices.

INVESTING -- FREE RESEARCH: www.remisiers.org  This is the web site for the Society of Remisiers (Singapore).  Go to the top bar and hit "research".  It lists the most recent research from Singapore's major brokerage firms.  

INVESTING -- TOMORROW'S PRICES: http://money.cnn.com/markets/morning_call This is the only money site that allows you to peek into the future. It continuously updates US stock futures prices. It is extremely accurate at predicting whether US markets will open higher or lower and by how much.  US stock markets open at 10:30 PM and close at 5:00 AM our time.  

JOB SEARCH and BUSINESS NEWS: www.AsiaOne.com.sg  AsiaOne is Singapore’s #1 news portal. On the left side is SPH news publications. Under it is “Business” with a job search called “AsiaOne Careers”.  The Business section will also give you a quote if you know the stock symbol.  It will also give you the latest update of the Straits Times Index (STI).

LEGAL REMEDY: http://www.subcourts.gov.sg  Go to the bottom of the page to learn about small claims court.  You can bring disputes, usually for non-fulfillment of contracts for either goods or services. Amounts should be less than $10,000 but can be increased to $20,000 if both sides agree. Also check out www.mediation.com.sg  It is a non-binding way for helping two sides to work out a dispute.

STATISTICS ABOUT SINGAPORE:  www.singstat.gov.sg Here you will find all you want to know about vital Statistics in Singapore.  It is a wonderful site for finding out how our economy is doing.