I just got a sad news from our Unit Head about the sad demise of Kuwait emir Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah due to illness.  I share the loneliness of the citizen of Kuwait for the lost of Father Amir, their great leader.

KUWAIT: Sheikh Saad Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, father Amir, has died after a long illness, the government announced. Sheikh Saad suffered from colon problems and battled cancer. Sheikh Saad was briefly Amir of Kuwait for 10 days from Jan 15 to Jan 24 2006 but stepped down due to health concerns. Born in 1930, Sheikh Saad served as Crown Prince for 28 years. He is survived by his wife and four children.

“The Amiri Diwan mourns His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah who passed away tonight,” the Amiri Diwan said in a statement. It also noted that Sheikh Saad had “faithfully served his country … and made sacrificies for it (Kuwait) and was thus beloved and occupied a special place in hearts of all citizens.” Sheikh Saad Al-Sabah will be laid to his final resting place at 9:30am Wednesday (Kuwait time).

Here is the recorded video of Charice Pempengco’s guesting on the popular show of Oprah Winfrey presenting World’s Smartest Kids. Local TV and radio stations back home regularly reported updates and teaser of Charice appearance on Oprah many weeks ago.

The wait is over and with Charice Pempengco rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing”, her (Charice) big voice has once again surprised the whole world. Even I who have heard and watched her previous performaces in YouTube was dazzled with amazement and she really made my hair stand - not because of fear but because of the splendid performance this little girl has shown.
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Lately I noticed that the post about the Civil Engineering Board Passers is receiving visitors from different search engine. Even the various engineering licensure examination for OFWs is also receiving traffic. Seems that there is a band of searcher out there looking for the Civil Engineer Licensure Exam results for May 2008.

Alright, to help our friends seeking for the latest CE board results please check out the following sites. These are the sites dedicated to post and published PRC board results whenever the PRC announces the successful examinees for a particular prefessional licensure examination. Not only are they posting list of Civil Engineer successful examinees, you can also find there the Board Exam Topnotchers and School Performance.

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Three years ago when I was still working in local company in Philippines, I have no direct access to my SSS contribution. For 5 years of working as a Product Development Engineer in Hayawaka (EPZA, Rosario Cavite) I can only see the SSS deduction in my payslip every 15 days. Should I need to check my contribution I must go to the nearest SSS office, or consult our SSS liason officer to verify the actual amount of my SSS which is very tiresome that requires lots of leg work.

Imagine the feeling of seeing SSS deduction twice a month without a proof if it is indeed added to your SSS account or not. Now add the media coverage of employers who are violating the SSS law. I tell you the feeling is uncomfortable. I’m lucky my previous company, Hayakawa doesn’t belong to these deliquent employers as reported in the news.

If at that time local employee like me is hesitant on the SSS contribution, how much more for the Overseas Filipino Worker SSS members? Trully it is more frightening as they are remiting a portion of their money blindly for the future security.

I’m glad that today, there is more assurance. With the availabilty of SSS online system, Filipino overseas can easily track their contribution. Premium SSS is available online and any SSS member who have internet access that can connect to SSS webpage can simply see their premum contribution, how much have their contributed and so on. All they need to do is supply the SSS number, last name and the date of birth. Here is the SSS online inquiry access page.

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