SINGAPORE - Muji Singapore has removed a food product from its shelves here, after concerns that they may have come from areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

Singapore carries the conger eel rice kit, one of the two types of Muji ready meals containing ingredients produced in Tochigi Prefecture in Japan. The other affected Muji product is the crab rice kit.

In a statement on Friday, Muji Singapore said it was recalling the food product and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

It also advised customers not to consume the product, but to bring itto a Muji outlet or contact its customer service department for refund.

Muji Singapore has submitted the product for inspection by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), and will update again when further information is confirmed.

Elsewhere in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Japanese lifestyle store has also removed the related products from the sales floor and is recalling these products.

Muji Singapore's customer service department can be contacted at 6346-4123 or customerservice@muji.com.sg.

This article was first published on Dec 16, 2016.
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It is International Migrants Day today and several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) helping foreign workers are holding activities to celebrate their contributions.

The Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) is holding a talent show at Ci Yuan Community Club in Hougang where 12 foreign workers are competing to win the top prize of $3,000 cash. The MWC said it will stream the show live on the Internet to six foreign worker recreation centres for other workers to watch.

"The event showcases the musical talents among foreign workers," said Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, chairman of the National Trades Union Congress-backed MWC and assistant secretary-general of NTUC.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said its senior officials will be at the show.

Over at Toa Payoh Town Park, the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) is holding a fun fair for 300 maids, featuring games and singing performances. The CDE, which was set up by NTUC in January, will be presenting folded paper hearts to the maids to show its appreciation.

Meanwhile, newly formed non-profit group Project Chulia Street is hosting a dinner for 7,000 workers at the Westlite Dormitory in Tuas. It is the third dinner the privately funded group is holding for migrant workers this year. It previously held dinners for about 11,000 workers in conjunction with May Day and National Day.

Some groups, such as Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), celebrated the occasion early, with a movie and meal treat for about 200 migrant workers two weeks ago. The screening of superhero film Doctor Strange on Dec 4 also served as its annual fund-raising event, with some $60,000 raised.

Mr Patrick Tay, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, said such activities organised by NGOs complement efforts by the Government, public and embassies in looking after the welfare of foreign workers.

"NGOs can help promote the harmonious co-existence of migrant workers and locals, and generate greater acceptance and integration in our living and working spaces," said Mr Tay, who is also assistant secretary-general of NTUC.

Domestic worker Kristine Lim Lee, a contestant in the MWC talent show, said such events motivate foreign workers. "I feel encouraged that foreign workers like me are appreciated," said the 32-year-old who has worked here for five years.

But social worker and activist Jolovan Wham, consultant at the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home), said that events to mark the day cannot be entirely celebratory in nature.

Home urged the Government to ratify the United Nations' International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The convention, introduced in 1990, came into force in 2003 and spells out protections for migrant workers and their families.

"It is not about throwing them a party," said Mr Wham.

Responding, the MOM said 144 of the 193 UN member states have not ratified the convention. A ministry spokesman said the ministry ensures that the rights and well-being of foreign workers are protected under labour laws, but ratifying the convention means giving migrants and their families "a wide range of rights", including the "same access to social security, equal employment rights in terms of remuneration and conditions of work".

"Given Singapore's constraints, we do not think that we can accede to such stipulations," he added.

tohyc@sph.com.sg

joseow@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
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Migrant workers have been with us for centuries.

When modern Singapore was founded in 1819, migrants came here from across Asia to make a living - some returned home, others stayed on, as did many other migrants all over the world.

But only recently did the contributions of migrants get global recognition.

In 2000, the United Nations proclaimed Dec 18 as International Migrants Day.

On that day in 1990, a decade earlier, the UN adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The international treaty spells out protections for migrant workers and their families.

Since then, the day has been observed by countries in the world in various ways.

Singapore does not mark the day in a big way. There are no official events held around it and it does not appear on the diary of activities of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

However, a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are celebrating the day by acknowledging the contributions of migrant workers here.

These workers form a significant proportion of the Singapore population and labour force.

There are about 1.4 million foreign workers in Singapore, out of a workforce of 3.7 million and a population of 5.6 million.

This means that about one in four people here is a foreign worker. And about two in five workers here are foreigners.

The bulk of these foreign workers, about one million of them, are work-permit holders doing manual work, for example, as construction workers and maids.

Unlike top-rung foreign executives who come to Singapore on expatriate terms with their families in tow, those doing manual work receive low pay and live in dormitories or others' homes.

Without family support, they turn to non-governmental organisations for help when they run into problems.

NGOs say that the common problems these workers face are injuries related to work, salary and employment-related disputes and poor working conditions.

There are no official statistics on the number of foreign workers who die and are injured on the job, or those embroiled in disputes with their employers.

One of the oldest groups helping migrant workers is the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ACMI). Commissioned as a ministry by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore in June 1998, ACMI has largely kept a low public profile.

The four big NGOs in the field are the Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC), Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home), Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) and HealthServe.

The MWC is backed by the Government, the National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers Federation. It has the most resources in terms of manpower and funding.

Home has long been a champion for maids, offering training for them in vocational skills. It also runs the largest shelter for maids here.

TWC2, which runs a soup kitchen and provides shelter services, sees itself as a lobby group and advocate of migrant workers' rights.

HealthServe is the only NGO that provides low-cost medical and dental care for workers, besides running shelters and a soup kitchen.

Apart from these four big groups, there are several other smaller players in areas such as training and raising awareness of migrant workers' issues among university students.

Each of them fills a niche.

The MOM acknowledges the work of these NGOs. A ministry spokesman says: "The NGOs, together with many other stakeholders, such as the unions and employer associations, complement MOM's efforts to take care of the migrant workers."

On International Migrants Day today, Insight tells the stories of the NGOs that look after the welfare of these workers and speak up on their rights.

tohyc@sph.com.sg

joseow@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Aisyah, now eight, has never met her father. Her mother was in prison for half her lifetime - four years. Her parents never married.

Her grandparents and an aunt are also ex-convicts; like her mother, they were sentenced for drug offences.

When her mother was jailed - for the second time - for drug offences, Aisyah's great-grandparents had to take care of her and her stepsister, now five.

The stepsister is her mother's child by another man.

Aisyah (not her real name) has another sibling, a baby stepbrother - her mother married his father after she was released from jail last year.

Her mother, now 30, works as a sales assistant.

Aisyah is bubbly, but she does not make friends easily.

She says: "I never told anyone my mum was in jail. I was afraid, if they knew, they would not want to be my friend. I don't have many friends."

She is one of thousands of children here suffering from emotional hurt and material deprivation because of the mother's criminal behaviour and imprisonment.

There were 1,240 women in jail here at the end of last year, although the Singapore Prison Service did not say how many had children.

This group of female prisoners and their children warrant greater attention and help.

For a start, there might not be anyone to look after the children when a woman is sent to jail.

When men go to jail, there is often a wife to care for the offspring, say social workers.

In 2012, the Singapore After-Care Association started an initiative to ensure that children of newly incarcerated women would be cared for and given the help that they need to cope.

In some three-quarters of such cases, grandparents have to step in as caregivers when the mother is jailed.

The fathers are often not in the picture - they could be in jail themselves, or the parents could be divorced.

Such children need more attention. The risk they face is termed intergenerational offending.

This happens when children - like their parents or grandparents before them - break the law and end up in jail as well.

A host of research overseas has found that children are adversely affected by their parents' incarceration and are more likely to follow suit as a result.

This prompted Mr Amrin Amin, Parliamentary Secretary of the Home Affairs Ministry, to announce in May that the authorities want to focus more on helping inmates' children and to reduce intergenerational offending.

For example, the Yellow Ribbon Community Project has grassroots volunteers visiting families of newly incarcerated inmates to see what help they need and to link them up with aid agencies.

Since July, its volunteers have also been trained to identify children who might need more help in areas such as counselling or their studies, linking agencies up to support them.

Dr Sytske Besemer of the University of California, Berkeley, says the odds of offending for children with criminal parents are on average 2.5 times higher than for those with parents who are not offenders.

Her soon-to-be-published research is based on a meta-analysis of 24 studies on the topic, she told The Sunday Times.

Children of offenders are at higher risk of offending not because they are "bad" children.

Children learn the values and behaviour of their parents.

Their home environments are often troubled - money is short and their parents are not positive guides.

These factors raise the chances of the children ending up in trouble, Dr Besemer said, citing past research.

Ms Durga Naidu, a senior social services executive at the Industrial and Services Cooperative Society (Iscos), which helps ex-offenders and their families, noted: "Without proper guidance in their lives, children might stray from their studies and look for company in the wrong places. Their friends can be a bad influence, leading them to illegitimate ways to make money."

The odds of offending are even higher for children with a mother in jail.

An American study of more than 7,000 prisoners, both men and women, found that incarcerated women are 2.5 times more likely to have an adult child in jail, compared with incarcerated men.

And those "at especially high risk" of imprisonment are children of female drug users, a study by Dr Danielle Dallaire at the College of William and Mary found.

This is because the quality of caregiving and separation from the primary caregiver, usually the mother, have a profound impact on a child during the formative years of the child's life.

And the quality of parenting by a drug-addled mother is, needless to say, cause for concern.

One former heroin addict told me that at the height of her addiction, all she could think of was herself and how to get her next fix.

She often lied to her mother that she needed money to buy milk and diapers for her two young children, only to use it to buy drugs.

So the million-dollar question is: How can we stop Aisyah - with her disadvantaged background and a family laden with drug issues - from ending up in trouble too?

The issue is even more pressing as the drug problem is creeping up again among men and women here.

Last year, there were 298 women at the Drug Rehabilitation Centre (DRC) in Changi Women's Prison - in 2010, the centre had 143 women.

And the odds of re-offending are higher for drug offenders than for those who committed other crimes.

Of those released in 2013, almost one in three (31.9 per cent) re-offended within two years of release from DRC.

The recidivism rate for penal offences is one in four (24.7 per cent.

So what can be done?

Currently, initiatives focus largely on helping inmates' families through financial and other forms of aid, for instance, by giving tuition to the children.

But there is also a need to reach out to support and guide children of inmates before they go astray.

For example, Iscos is already taking steps in this direction through its Fairy Godparent programme, which is aimed at breaking the cycle of intergenerational offending.

As part of the programme, Iscos pairs children of ex-offenders with mentors.

These mentors provide guidance, emotional and other forms of support to children who lack parental guidance.

More of such efforts would be helpful.

More support has to be given to the prisoners as well.

For women, especially drug offenders, it is vital to help them get their lives together after they are released.

This process could take years.

And when their lives are more stable, groups can look at teaching them parenting skills.

While efforts to break the intergenerational cycle of offending are resource-intensive, they would go a long way towards helping children like Aisyah.

She could hardly speak English, let alone read, when she started primary school. Volunteers from New Life Stories, a charity that helps incarcerated mothers and their children, have been reading to Aisyah regularly for the past 21/2 years.

When I met her last month, she proudly showed off her new-found reading skills to me.

She told me: "I want to be very clever. Some classmates kept calling me stupid, and it made me sad.

"My English has improved a lot, and I'm very happy. I want to be a teacher (when I grow up)."

theresat@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
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Just over a decade ago, Mr Jabez Tan was a prisoner in Changi whose job was to prepare meals for inmates on death row.

Each time one of them was due to hang in a few days, the warden would alert him.

Mr Tan would take extra care in preparing their meals.

"I'd always pray for their souls," he says.

The stint, he adds, was a major turning point in his life which, up until then, he had frittered away on lawlessness, drugs and triad activities. Then only 30, he had been imprisoned three times and spent nearly 15 years behind bars for drug offences.

"I was filled with a lot of thoughts. I told myself that if I messed up one more time, I might be the one sitting in there and someone else would be cooking for me."

Now 42, Mr Tan has more than turned his life around.

Today, he is the founder of Soon Huat, a social enterprise which employs former offenders and gives them a fresh start in life. He has five outlets serving bak kut teh and other dishes in Singapore; more than half of the 40 staff members he employs have done time in prison.

Boyishly handsome, he is the elder of two sons of a couple who ran a video business.

Because they had their hands full trying to build their business, his parents entrusted him to the care of his paternal grandparents who ran a provision shop in Bukit Ho Swee.

The area had its fair share of unsavoury denizens, including druggies and triad members.

Books did not interest him; the former pupil of Bukit Ho Swee Primary preferred to run wild and free in the neighbourhood and beyond.

"I only passed Primary 1; I failed all the other years. I was put in the Monolingual stream and was supposed to go to VITB (Vocational and Industrial Training Board) after finishing Primary 8," he says.

But he did not even do that.

In Primary 6, he joined a gang after he was roughed up by several teens.

"I had a fight with my classmate. He called three of his older friends who took me to a void deck. Two of them held me and one punched me until I was blue and black in the chest," he says.

By then, he was already frequenting roller-skating rinks in Orchard Road where he met many gang members. They asked him to join them, promising protection.

That marked the beginning of a reckless life.

He started smoking, sniffing glue, running away from home, stealing, extorting from others, eventually dropping out of school.

When he was 14, he stole money from someone's home.

When his parents found out, his father took him to the police station. He was sent to Bukit Batok Boys' Hostel - a home for young offenders - for a year.

"My parents didn't know how to handle me. They thought that by sending me to the home, I'd become better. They didn't know I would become worse," says Mr Tan. "I used to blame them but I know now that they were doing it for my own good."

There were different factions in the boys' home and fights took place frequently.

"You needed to be more violent and garang than others to survive," he says, using the Malay word for fierce or aggressive.

His involvement with gangs became deeper when he was released. By the time he was 16, the glue sniffer was also popping pills and taking marijuana with abandon.

In the early 1990s, he was caught after he broke into a Chinatown coffee shop to steal cash and alcohol. While waiting to be sentenced, he robbed a woman at knifepoint.

For the two offences, he was given a one-year jail term at the old Changi Prison.

Fear there was none but pride, yes. "I felt saat," he says using the Hokkien term for solid. "It was not just any RTC (Reformative Training Centre) I was going to but the big one, Changi. I felt like a somebody."

Shaking his head, he adds with a sigh: "Youth sometimes makes you stupid."

After completing his national service, he joined a motorcycle gang called the Mighty Warriors.

On weekends, nearly 100 of them would take to the roads, spoiling for trouble. They would go after smaller gangs, many of which would abandon their bikes to avoid being beaten up.

The Mighty Warriors would thrash the abandoned bikes with hammers and other equipment.

The psychoactive drug Ecstasy had by then made its appearance in Singapore and Mr Tan became so addicted to it that he sometimes popped as many as 20 pills a day.

"If you asked me to take one now, I'd probably go mad and if I took five, I'd probably die. But my system was so conditioned then, it was like taking rice."

To afford the habit, he started trafficking in drugs. When one of his friends was arrested by the police, he led them to Mr Tan, who was caught with about 400 pills in Geylang.

He was sentenced to seven years and seven months, with 12 strokes of the rotan. This time around, the incarceration at Tanah Merah Prison sobered him.

"Traffickers needed to serve at least one-third of their sentence before they could even think of working or studying in the prison. That meant I had to spend 15 months in a small cell with two other people. We were allowed only one hour of yard time a day, the rest was spent in the cell. It was tough," he says.

He started attending religious counselling sessions and found faith, and decided he could not waste his time in prison.

"At that time, I could not speak or read English. I could only manage simple children's comics like Doraemon and Old Master Q in Chinese. I felt that in Singapore, if I didn't know English, I would not be able to survive," says Mr Tan, who now has a competent command of the language.

Because he only passed Primary 1, he could only qualify for Basic Education Skills Training (Best) courses which required a one-year wait because they were not conducted every year.

So determined was he to become literate that he applied for leave to engage in self-study.

Each day, he jotted down 10 English words in a notebook he still possesses. "I literally started with nose, mouth and chair. Initially, my friends helped me but soon they were running away when they saw me."

Besides Best, he completed a couple of Worker Improvement through Secondary Education (Wise) modules and his N levels during his remaining time in prison.

Released in April 2002, he resolved to go on the straight and narrow, even enrolling as a student at the private St Francis Methodist School for his O-level studies.

"I was 27 but I had to wear a school uniform and a tie. I really wanted to change," he says.

But barely six months later, he went back to his friends and to newer drugs like Ice and ketamine, or K.

"When I took K, I'd wake up with a nosebleed every morning. I can't explain why I kept doing it, I guess I just wanted that 'feeling'," he says, referring to the hallucinations and trance-like state the drug induces.

Not long after, he was nabbed when he went for a mandatory urine test.

Back into prison he went, this time for four years.

He spent a lot of time reflecting on his life.

"I thought I had found my faith but why did I fail again? I realised I was overconfident and did not have a support group," he says.

The first thing he did was to renounce his gang.

"It's very important. By renouncing your gang, you're taking away your pride," he says.

Because he always had an interest in cooking, he applied to work in the kitchen. But instead of being a cook, he was made to wash dishes, for nine months.

Only after that was he given a gig to cook for inmates who opted for non-spicy meals. To get ideas, he would read recipe books his mother passed him on her visits.

Word soon got around that his cooking was far better than the standard fare. Many more inmates opted for his non-spicy menu.

When a vacancy opened up, the prison made him a cook for inmates on death row.

Among those for whom he prepared last meals was Took Leng How, the vegetable packer who was hanged for murdering eight-year- old Huang Na in 2004.

"He had a lot of requests, and kept changing his mind. I did my best for him," he says.

To make sure he stayed out of trouble after his release, he checked into a Christian halfway house. After six months, he became a staff member there and stayed for seven years, during which he studied theology, got himself a diploma in counselling and became a house master. He also snagged himself a wife when he married his colleague Joy, with whom he now has two sons, aged two and four.

In 2011, he opened his first Soon Huat outlet in Jalan Kayu, with his savings and a loan from his father.

From the outset, he wanted it to be a social enterprise to help former offenders, the marginalised and the elderly.

"Being an ex-offender myself, I understand the difficulties of finding a job."

There were naysayers who told him he was crazy to open a bak kut teh stall in Jalan Kayu, which was famous for halal roti prata eateries.

"The first few months were bad - we lost money. But then Lianhe Wanbao wrote a story about me, and the crowds just came," he says, referring to the Chinese evening daily.

In addition to blog reviews, there was good word of mouth about his hearty pork rib soup. The recipe is his own, and he has refined it over the years.

Last month, Mr Tan opened his fifth outlet, Soon Huat Dining House, on the second floor of Chinatown Point.

There is also a franchised outlet in Jakarta, and Chinese investors are in talks with him to open Soon Huat eateries in Shanghai too.

Running a social enterprise is challenging, he says.

"Besides manpower problems, we also have to deal with ex-offenders who are not reliable or stable," he says.

Several went back to drugs, including one whom Mr Tan groomed to be an assistant manager, who also stole $6,000 from him last year.

He writes to those who end up behind bars again, telling them not to give up and that he would give them a second chance.

"Of course, I feel disappointed but I tell myself not to give up. I always remember the Starfish story, " he says, referring to the tale of a boy who throws starfish back into the ocean after they have been stranded on the beach by the tides. "Even if I save just one life, it's worth it."

Besides running Soon Huat, he does regular prison visits to counsel and encourage young inmates, and also gives talks about second chances and social entrepreneurship at events like TEDx Talks.

On his Facebook page, he has a post which sums up his life: "I regret nothing in my life, even if my past was full of hurt. I still look back and smile because it made me who I am today."

kimhoh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Founded in 2006 by GP Goh Wei Leong and social worker Tang Shin Yong, the charity has 10 staff members and 300 volunteers, and relies on public donations.

It focuses on foreign workers who are injured and unable to work while they wait for the outcome of injury claims.

It has clinics in Geylang, Jurong and Mandai, a help centre and shelter in Desker Road, a shelter in MacPherson, and a welfare centre in Tai Seng.

It is 6.50pm on a Wednesday.

In Lorong 23 Geylang, a line of men, all foreigners, forms along a dimly lit corridor.

While they wait, some clutch their backpacks while a few play games on their mobile phones.

Nearby, the crowd at a coffee shop builds up.

Across Geylang Road at Lorong 18, the pink lights and lanterns of brothels beckon to men who walk by.

But the men in the line do not have dinner or physical pleasure on their minds.

Instead, they are waiting to see doctors at a low-cost clinic for foreign workers run by HealthServe.

"The workers pay $5 for each visit," says the group's executive director Colin Chia.

"Those who are on Special Pass and not working do not pay anything."

HealthServe has been running the Geylang clinic since 2007.

It also has clinics in Jurong and Mandai.

Last year, it opened a dental clinic in Geylang, where foreign workers pay $10 for services such as tooth extraction and fillings.

The clinics are run by volunteers.

The NGO has on its volunteers' roster about 100 doctors and dentists and 180 nurses, pharmacists and clinic assistants.

The number of foreign workers who visit its clinics has soared from 2,646 in 2013 to 6,898 in the first 11 months of this year.

One reason, says Mr Chia, is that HealthServe is the only non- governmental organisation (NGO) here that provides low-cost medical care for foreign workers.

HealthServe's co-founder, Dr Goh Wei Leong, says he did not start out with a plan to run an NGO .

"We started a clinic because we saw the need to provide affordable medical services to migrant workers," says the general practitioner.

"The rest of the services just grew."

HealthServe was registered as a company limited by guarantee in 2006.

"I relied on my network of friends for donations," Dr Goh says.

It became a charity in 2011.

"We wanted to hold a fund-raising dinner and donors asked whether we could issue tax exemption receipts. That prompted us to register HealthServe as a charity," he adds.

HealthServe also runs a welfare centre in Tai Seng where social activities and training classes are held on weekday nights.

The workers it helps are those who are stranded after getting injured.

HealthServe manager Eric Lee says this group of workers is the most vulnerable.

"They are injured, they cannot work and cannot send money to their families," he says. "They can become depressed."

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) says on its website that most claims are settled within three to six months, but some injuries need more time to stabilise before a doctor can assess the extent of permanent disability, which affects the compensation.

It declined to say how many injury claims made by foreign workers it handles each year or give details on the time taken to process the claims.

Last year, HealthServe gave out $223,320 in social assistance to such stranded foreign workers through free meals, temporary shelter and MRT card top-ups.

It housed 35 workers last year at its MacPherson shelter. In July this year, it opened a second shelter in Desker Road.

Mr Lee, who manages the Desker Road centre, says the number of workers seeking help there "shot up to more than 200 cases in less than two months".

To help them, Mr Lee and two centre employees provide free lunches, while volunteers hold social activities.

Last month, they took workers to see Christmas lights in Orchard Road.

Counsellors are present to speak to workers in the evenings.

Providing affordable medical care to foreign workers and social assistance to workers in distress will continue to be the mainstay of HealthServe's work, says Mr Chia.

Construction worker Ahammad Rubal appreciates the medical and dental services HealthServe offers.

The 25-year-old, who has worked in Singapore for two years, paid more than $100 to see a private dentist for a toothache earlier this year.

"(It was) expensive and my tooth (was) still painful," he says.

Read Also: Kudos to NGOs that help Singapore's migrant workers

A friend told him about HealthServe and he went to see Dr Winston How, a volunteer dentist, last week. He got a filling and follow-up treatment.

Mr Chia says HealthServe is looking at opening two more dental clinics next year.

Last year, it worked with researchers at the National University of Singapore to survey Bangladeshi workers on their diet.

The study found over nine in 10 of them were given stale food to eat.

Dr Goh hopes to do more research on the problems foreign workers face, including those they have before coming to Singapore.

He says: "This will help us understand them so that we can help them holistically, rather than helping them when they come to us in distress."

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Ask a foreign construction worker what he thinks of Singaporeans, and he will likely say "honest, polite and considerate".

But he may also be getting fleeced of thousands of dollars by his employers just to keep his job, says Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) volunteer Debbie Fordyce.

Several student groups who approached her in the course of their schoolwork felt that anti-foreigner sentiment is the root cause of the plight of low-wage migrant workers, but the TWC2 executive committee member says this is not true.

"There are structural problems causing employers to cut corners for things like food, accommodation and protective equipment," she says.

She says the work permit system results in workers not having the freedom to switch jobs easily, and gives them little say in where they live, how much they are paid, and how much they have to pay in recruitment fees or kickbacks.

One of thestrongest advocates for better working and living conditions for low-wage migrant workers, TWC2 was set up after a domestic worker was beaten to death by her employer in 2001. It was originally formed in 2003 as The Working Committee 2 by a group of activists to raise awareness about domestic workers' needs, such as rest days.

It was registered as a society and took on its current name in 2004.

Read Also: Medical and dental care offered to migrant workers for a small sum

Four years later, during the economic downturn, TWC2 was alerted to large numbers of foreign workers sleeping in the streets of Little India. "There were people lining the five-foot-ways with their belongings. Companies didn't know what to do for them, and couldn't house them," says Ms Fordyce.

TWC2 started giving workers free meals, and today the Cuff Road Project serves meals 11 times a week, helping 500 to 600 people each month. These are men on Special Passes who are unable to work after lodging an injury or salary claim with the Manpower Ministry.

One of those who visited Alankar Restaurant in Dunlop Street for dinner earlier this month was Mr Shaikh Mohammad Sahidul, 33, whose kneecap was dislocated after he slipped and fell into a hole at his worksite in May.

Speaking to Insight, he said he has not been paid for several months, and he moved out of his dormitory to live with his brother as he feared the company and other workers would scold him for not working.

He relies on relatives for money while waiting for his Work Injury Compensation claim to go through, and for his knee to heal. "If not for the free meals, the problems would have been much worse," he said.

Besides providing food, TWC2 also helps with ez-link card top-ups so workers can go for their hospital appointments. It also helps workers pay for urgent medical treatment.

Ms Fordyce says providing such services helps TWC2 better understand workers' problems but she adds: "We don't see charity as the answer. Advocacy comes first."

Although working mostly with those who are out of work could result in a blinkered view of the lot of foreign workers - they only see those with problems - there is still a sizeable group who needs help, she says. Once or twice a month, TWC2 organises excursions, like a recent trip to Orchard Road to see the Christmas lights, so jobless workers can take their mind off the stress of having no income.

Read Also: Kudos to NGOs that help Singapore's migrant workers

It still assists women who seek help, providing emergency shelter in volunteers' homes. It lacks the funds to run a dedicated shelter, which would cost about $100,000 a year, including a staff member, says TWC2 vice-president Russell Heng.

He and Ms Fordyce both agree that some things have improved for workers. Whereas they once encountered a worker who was on a Special Pass and out of work for six years, now only a few go beyond two years.

And these days, airport police know they can call TWC2 if a worker alerts them that he is being forcefully repatriated, says Mr Heng.

The group, currently headed by polytechnic lecturer Noorashikin Abdul Rahman, has also seen its own premises improving, moving from a room in a volunteer's home to bigger offices in Golden Mile Complex.

It now has a database for case notes on each worker it helps, and a volunteer management system, both developed by Singapore Management University students.

But the challenge of garnering enough financial support and manpower remains. Last year, TWC2 needed about $500,000 to run its programmes. Mr Heng is concerned the slowing economy may affect people's desire to donate.

TWC2 is careful not to help workers who also seek assistance from other NGOs, so as not to duplicate work and spend resources that could go to someone else who needs it. And they turn away workers whose stories are dodgy, Ms Fordyce says.

Mr Heng says he is thankful TWC2 "had stamina", and for his circle of like-minded friends there. "But it's not that I want this to go on forever. My wish is we can close shop tomorrow because the problems are solved."

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Formed in 2005, Fast has five staff members and 120 volunteers.

The charity has a round-the-clock helpline for maids (1800-339-4357) and a befriender clubhouse, and runs vocational skills courses.

Treadmills line the wall of an exclusive gym. In another room, shelves of books wait to be perused by club members.

This is not a lush country club, but an office building in Bukit Merah, which houses the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (Fast) clubhouse.

Instead of fancy furniture and swanky art pieces, the amenities are simpler; the exercise equipment was donated by a maid agency and a training centre.

But the clubhouse, which Fast moved into in August after outgrowing its previous location, is popular and bursting at the seams every Sunday.

Some 300 to 400 women take turns to use the computers, kitchen and karaoke rooms, or learn about cooking, crochet or financial literacy.

Fast was started in 2005 with the aim of providing training that employers would be keen for domestic helpers to receive.

Before the mandatory rest day rule took effect in 2013, days off were not the norm for many domestic workers.

"Activities were a way for helpers to break away from the house for a few hours, meet other people, learn a craft and relieve some stress," says executive director William Chew.

The charity, which is supported by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), was formed by Mr Seah Seng Choon, who is president of Fast, Mr Chew, Mrs Helen Tan, a former president of the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore), pastor Solano Reynaldo Ortiz, and Mrs Quek-Ng Siew Fong, a senior deputy director at MOM.

They were worried about the high numbers of domestic worker deaths after falls from high-rise buildings, whether through accidents or due to stress, and felt that MOM's focus on language skills was not enough, says Mr Seah.

"Emotional stress seemed to be the biggest adjustment problem. The women have to live with a new family and adjust to the culture and practices here which could be quite alien to them. Some are homesick and missing their children, and at the same time have to cope with job stress," says Mr Seah, who is also the executive director of the Consumers Association of Singapore.

One of the first things Fast did was launch training programmes to help new workers learn how to clean windows safely and cook, as well as how to build a good relationship with their employers.

Some of these later became part of the mandatory Settling-In Programme which MOM requires all new domestic helpers to attend.

Fast has since launched more in-depth courses with training providers such as a 160-hour eldercare course run by the Care Academy and an 80-hour infant and maternal care course by Aria Training and Consultancy.

As a charity, getting sponsorships and volunteers remains a challenge, as is finding a permanent building to call its own, says Mr Seah.

Fast hopes to advocate more for fair terms and better working conditions for domestic helpers.

It runs a 24-hour helpline which gets about 170 calls a month, a counselling service, and a shelter for maids who may be abused and need to be urgently rescued.

Where possible, the first choice is still to mediate and encourage employers and employees to foster strong relationships, says Mr Chew.

"It's a totally different lifestyle Singaporeans have gotten through domestic workers' help," he says.

"If this is the lifestyle we want, we should ensure that we can integrate them well into the family."

joseow@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
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Sports have long brought people together, and in some dormitories, young Singapore students and migrant workers have come together to play football, sepak takraw and badminton.

For the past few years, five Secondary 4 students from Hwa Chong Institution have been organising sports sessions every two to four weeks in Mandai.

"We hope to promote bonding, and allow Singaporeans to have a look at the living conditions of foreign workers," says the team's logistics head Dexter Tan.

In another initiative, students from the Migrants Committee of the College of Alice and Peter Tan at the National University of Singapore (NUS), as well as NUS medical and nursing students, volunteered at an inter-dormitory cricket competition for workers and helped them measure their blood pressure.

Student Bernice Lee notes that many one-off events are based on assumptions of what migrant workers need.

"We need to have conversations with them to have a deeper understanding of their lives and circumstances... before we can implement a more long-term and meaningful initiative," she says.

Many individuals and groups are stepping up to offer support to low-income migrant workers.

Mr Abdul Khaeer Mohammed Mohsin started local Bengali newspaper Banglar Kantha in 2006 to update the community on topics such as sports, Bangladesh politics and local Manpower Ministry rules.

Working out of his second-floor office in a Little India shophouse, he says problems for migrant workers have increased in the past decade, after the economic downturn saw some lose their jobs or get exploited by firms trying to cut corners.

"There aren't many recreation materials for them, so many want to read the newspaper," he says.

He publishes 6,000 copies a month. He also uses the shophouse to run the Dibashram cultural space, where workers rest, do literary work and seek counselling.

In 2011, some workers formed a literary society under the paper's name. Many of the 50 or so members contribute poems and articles.

Separately, lawyer Dipa Swaminathan and volunteers collect unsold food items from 18 Starbucks outlets each Saturday, to distribute to workers.

She gives out donated raincoats, phonecards and other necessities on other occasions.

On a larger scale, some non-profit groups run training courses for low-income migrant workers.

Aidha, for instance, holds financial literacy sessions for maids.

One new kid on the block is Project Chulia Street, which hopes to be a "middleman" linking up companies and individuals with avenues to meet workers' needs.

It recently started a pilot scheme with Fullerton Hotel, where excess frozen food is delivered to dorms for workers to use.

Says co-founder Eva Lim, who is marketing director at fish farm company Kuhlbarra: "We realised a lot of companies want to give, but they want a systematic, organised way to do so."

The group organised two events for thousands of workers at Westlite dormitories for Labour Day and National Day.

It is holding a third fiesta today for 7,000 workers.

It aims to run classes in managing finances at dormitories and improve dental care for workers.

Founding director David Goh says the migrant worker community is a part of Singapore people overlook: "We are all common inhabitants of Singapore, so we should do what we can to strengthen our social fabric."

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

The Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) is a heavyweight among the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) helping migrant workers.

Set up in 2009 by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation (Snef), it may seem an anomaly as it is the only group with the full support of the Government, labour movement and employers.

When it was set up, NTUC appointed Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, one of its veteran labour MPs then, to oversee the centre as its chairman. The Manpower Ministry also deployed two of its up-and-coming officers to set up the centre. One of them, Mr Bernard Menon, later joined NTUC full-time and continues to run the centre's day-to-day operations.

When then Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin published a personal collection of travel photos in 2014, he donated $320,000 from the book's sales to the MWC a year later, making him the largest donor to the centre that year.

Last year, NTUC secretary-general Chan Chun Sing described the centre as "a tripartite effort".

Mr Yeo, an assistant secretary- general at NTUC, tells Insight the MWC sees itself as an NGO as it champions fair employment practices and the well-being of migrant workers. "Both NTUC and Snef are NGOs, we are set up by two NGOs."

Read Also: Kudos to NGOs that help Singapore's migrant workers

The MWC has 17 staff members, the highest among the four larger NGOs assisting migrant workers. HealthServe, Home and TWC2 have nine, six and five full-time staff members respectively.

But unlike the other three, the MWC is not a registered charity.

Instead, it registered one of the funds that it runs - the Migrant Workers' Assistance Fund - as a charity in May 2012. The fund stands at $457,706 as at March this year. It gave out $64,782 in assistance to workers last year.

Mr Yeo says the MWC keeps the costs of running the centre separate from the assistance it gives workers.

"This ensures the charity dollars go to helping workers, not the operations of the centre."

It runs two centres in Serangoon Road and Geylang, where workers from South India and China congregate. It also funds a soup kitchen run by HealthServe in Geylang.

Read Also: Working to improve living conditions of migrant workers

But while its NGO status raises eyebrows in some quarters, Mr Yeo dismisses the suggestion that the MWC has an image problem because it is closely linked to the Government, unions and employers.

"At the end of the day, workers trust us and still come to us for help. They see us as effective and that is what matters," he says.

Asked about criticism that MWC had been inactive until a strike by Chinese SMRT bus drivers in November 2012 and the Little India riot in December 2013, he says: "It is not fair. We have been working quietly in the background to help and advocate for workers."

He says the MWC has directly assisted more than 20,000 foreign workers with problems and conducted outreach to more than 650,000 foreign workers since 2009.

Recently, the MWC invited Insight to its outreach to foreign workers in Tuas View Square. For nearly three hours in the evening, a team of four MWC staff members and four volunteers distributed fliers on its services to foreign workers returning to their dormitories after work.

Read Also: Medical and dental care offered to migrant workers for a small sum

A Bangladeshi worker approached a volunteer and complained that his employer had deducted too much from his salary for food and lodgings. Mr Menon, who headed the outreach team, interviewed the worker on the spot.

"Employers can make deductions for food and lodgings, but there is a cap," Mr Menon tells Insight. "I will call the company the next day."

One of the volunteers was catering company boss Ishtiaque Ahamed. The Singapore permanent resident, who has been here for more than 10 years, says he joined the MWC as a volunteer last year to help his countrymen. "I speak Bengali and it is my duty to help them," he adds. The Bangladeshi national had approached the MWC to volunteer after a friend told him about it.

The MWC is not the only organisation set up by the NTUC to help migrant workers. In January, the NTUC also set up the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE). It runs a 24-hour hotline and provides counselling and mediation services between employers and maids.

Mr Yeo also heads the CDE.

It rents about 50 beds from a private dormitory operator to run a shelter for maids, and is setting up a 100-bed shelter that can be expanded by at least another 50 beds. This will be the largest shelter for maids here when it opens next year.

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Ms Sofhie Airinie, 19, has a twisted spine and a muscle-wasting disease that makes breathing and moving a struggle.

But the pain of living with scoliosis and congenital myopathy - an incurable disease of the muscle tissue - is forgotten when she starts to paint.

She said sketching and painting help her deal with life's difficulties.

One of her pieces, now on display at the Singapore Art Museum, is a collage of an owl and represents how she tries to focus on the positive in life.

Like her, several other patients have contributed artworks to help tell the stories of patients in Dreamcatchers, an adolescent chronic illness peer support group under the National University Hospital (NUH).

This year's exhibition theme of Into The Looking Glass explores the triumphs and tribulations of young people who live courageously with chronic illnesses.

Ms Sofhie started painting at age six and has made about 50 artworks, from sketches of birds to movie characters.

"Art distracts me from the adverse... Instead of what's distressing, I tend to think about art and what I want to create to feel better," she said.

Ms Bernadette Png, assistant manager at the Department of Paediatrics at NUH, said the aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness that childhood chronic illnesses are not disabling.

Dr Mahesh Babu Ramamurthy, head and senior consultant at NUH's Division of Paediatric Pulmonary and Sleep, said there is currently no cure for children with congenital myopathy although significant improvements have been made in supportive care over the years.

For instance, the availability of home ventilation and non-invasive ventilation has improved the quality of life for both patient and caregiver.

"The prognosis for these children has improved significantly in the last 15 years because of the supportive care.

There is, however, a gradual decrease in the amount of activity that these children can be involved in, and over time become wheelchair dependent," he added.

Ms Sofhie's mother Sofia Aziz, 48, said her daughter - the third of four children - hopes to one day sell her artworks so that funds can be used to help those who are sick.

Said Madam Sofia, who runs a mining company with her husband: "My family and I have to be strong and stay positive... even though sometimes I break down and cry behind her.

kcarolyn@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 18, 2016.
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Life is tough for ex-offenders. And it is worse for those who are also stateless.

Their plight has not been highlighted much but over the years, voluntary welfare organisations have been helping them with their challenges.

Among their biggest problems is the difficulty in buying or renting a Housing Board flat. This means that they may not be able to leave "toxic environments" even as they try to start anew.

Ain (not her real name), 47, who was in jail five times for drug offences, sleeps overnight at the building where she works as a cleaner if her brother turns violent.

"It will be a long time before I can move out," she said.

Figures on the number of stateless ex-offenders are not available and VWOs helping former inmates said they do not often see such cases. But those who have said that stateless ex-offenders are a vulnerable group.

"If the ex-offenders have a home and good family support, it's not so bad," said Ms Ang Poh Wah, president of the Women in Recovery Association (Wira), which helps women recovering from drug abuse.

Those who do not have such support, as well as the privileges that citizens enjoy, may find themselves frustrated and alone, she added.

This is why groups like Wira help them in writing appeals for identification and travel documents.

The last available statistics on stateless individuals showed that as of end January, there were 1,411 in Singapore. As of August, 82 per cent of stateless individuals here have become permanent residents (PRs).

Stateless people in Singapore include PRs who have lost their foreign citizenship, kids born to foreign nationals who are not recognised in their home countries, and those born in pre-independence Singapore who have been unable to prove their country of birth.

Interviews with stateless ex-offenders here found that they face multiple roadblocks in rebuilding their lives.

Ain started taking heroin at age 16 after seeing her father and brother do so. Addiction strained their relationships.

When she needed her brother's documents to apply for citizenship, as she had lost her birth certificate, he did not help.

Read Also: Business owners aim to give ex-offenders a fresh start

Unlike Ain, who was given up as a baby, he grew up as a citizen.

"Slowly, I found a job and I'm trying my best to apply for citizenship," said the mother of two, who has steered clear of drugs for nine years.

For Mr Keith Loh, 36, a driver, a sense of alienation in his youth led him to crime and drugs.

Born out of wedlock to a Singaporean father and PR mother, he is a stateless PR. While his grandmother took him many times to the immigration department as a child, they were "denied application", he said.

"I expected that when I completed national service, I would get a pink IC," he said, but it did not happen. Not long after, he got into bad company and was caught selling illegal VCDs.

Unable to retain a job, he went in and out of jail four times.

In his final stint, he took his O levels in Tanah Merah Prison School in 2013, determined to start over.

"There was resentment over my citizenship in the past, but I've got over it," he said.

Read Also: More ex-offenders staying out of jail

Two years after his release in 2014, he worries about his job prospects.

"Up till now, when I go for interviews, people ask, 'Where are you from?' Their impression is, 'Are you Malaysian?'" said Mr Loh.

"But I have been living here all my life. I haven't even been to Malaysia."

He has since applied for a Certificate of Identity, which needs to be renewed after a year to travel abroad.

He also needs a visa to pass through other countries - a process he has to take time off from work to do.

"If I have to travel for a job on short notice, it will be quite difficult," he said.

This article was first published on December 19, 2016.
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An accident on the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) on Monday (Dec 19) morning left one dead and three others injured.

Two contributors sent videos of the accident, which occurred at about 8am, to citizen journalism website Stomp.

According to an eye-witness, the accident that left a trail of destruction on the expressway was caused by a driver of a Mercedes who allegedly drove 120km against the flow of traffic.

In the videos, a severely damaged silver-coloured car can be seen next to a wall of the AYE. The car's bonnet was completely smashed.

A few metres away, there was a fallen motorcycle beside a stationary car surrounded by debris. A woman was lying in front of the motorcycle. She looked to be conscious, and was being tended to by a man.

The video then shows a flipped car on the road shoulder. Debris was strewn all over the vehicle as other motorists rushed to check on what had happened.

Further along the expressway, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel can be seen attending to a black-coloured car that was also involved in the accident.

A fourth car also had its bonnet severely damaged following the carnage on the expressway. Walls behind the vehicle were also destroyed.

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2016-12-19 13:51:35

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1 dead, 3 injured in AYE accident

Source:

Lim Wee Teck

Rozaidy

Facebook screengrabs

The SCDF said that it was alerted to the accident at about 8.05am.

"One fire engine, one Red Rhino, two fire bikes, one support vehicle and four ambulances were dispatched," an SCDF spokesperson said.

"A male Chinese was found trapped in the driver's seat of a car and he was extricated by SCDF using hydralic rescue tools. He was pronounced dead by paramedics," the spokesperson revealed.

"Three persons were conveyed to NUH and the hospital was alerted to be on standby to receive them," he added.

A 53-year-old male car driver was arrested for causing death by rash act, The Straits Times reported.

Visit STOMP for more stories.

Singapore - After two weeks of voting, the Chinese character "变"（change）was the readers' choice for this year's Lianhe Zaobao's "Character of the Year".

The word "变" (change) sums up the year of events in 2016. Taiwan welcomed its first female President this year; South Korea's parliament voted to impeach its first female President; Theresa May was named United Kingdom's Prime Minister following Brexit and businessman Donald Trump marched into the White House to become the next President of the United States. Many were surprised by the change of events around the world.

Mr Goh Sin Teck, Editor of Lianhe Zaobao, said: "Singapore won its first gold medal at the Olympics this year, bringing joy to many; while political leadership renewal and the lacklustre economic performance brought concerns. Yet the word "变"　（change）was leading from the start of readers' poll, demonstrating readers' greater attention to world events.

"Singapore certainly has had its fair share of changes this year, bringing to mind constitution amendments to the Elected Presidency scheme and the appearance of two new public transport providers. As we usher in 2017, political and economic changes in Singapore and beyond are imminent. These bring both fear and expectation."

Read also: Chinese word in Lee Kuan Yew's name picked as character of the year

Lianhe Zaobao, the Chinese flagship newspaper of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), has been organising Character of the Year voting since 2011. For the sixth year running, readers were invited to participate in the annual poll by choosing a Chinese character that they feel would best summarise the major local and international news events of the year.

This year, the editorial team of Lianhe Zaobao, together with a panel of 10 members from the academia, business, sports and cultural sector among others, short-listed 10 Chinese characters for the poll. The 10 Chinese characters are: female (女)、talent (才)、warm (热)、smart (智)、change (变)、terror (恐)、Net (网)、worries (忧)、election (选) and topsy-turvy (颠).

During the voting period from December 1 to 14, Lianhe Zaobao featured each Chinese character in a full page report for 10 consecutive days. Each article centred on the major local and international events which embodied the particular character.

Readers voted through Zaobao.sg, SMS, email, mail or at Lianhe Zaobao's outreach events. Overseas voters indicated their choice of "Character of the Year" mainly through Zaobao.com.

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The most complex chinese characters

Source: Internet screengrabs

For Chong Hui Min, 17, collecting her N-level results today is a sign of how far she has come.

Diagnosed with bone cancer last year, she put her N levels on hold then, enduring six cycles of chemotherapy and an operation to replace her affected left knee with a metal implant.

This year, with her cancer in remission, she repeated Sec 4 in Junyuan Secondary School.

Her brush with cancer has made her determined to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor.

Said Hui Min: "I know with the knowledge I have, I can save lives."

In fact, even when she was undergoing chemotherapy in July last year, she pushed herself to attend the Parkway East Medical High School programme, which gives students hands-on experience in a hospital setting over three Saturdays.

Before her cancer was diagnosed, she was in the Girls' Brigade. Every day, she would walk the 2km distance between her home and school in Tampines.

One day at the end of 2014, a near-fall made her aware of a lingering pain in her left knee. Over half a year, she saw six doctors, who told her it was probably an inflammation or a ligament tear and prescribed painkillers, which were but a temporary relief.

"The pain was so alarming that I would wake up in the middle of the night because of it," she said.

She finally saw a specialist in April last year who did a magnetic resonance imaging test and diagnosed Hui Min with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.

While the Singapore cancer registry does not keep a log of osteosarcoma cases, Adjunct Associate Professor Richard Quek, deputy head and senior consultant at the division of medical oncology at National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS)- who treated Hui Min- estimates there are 10 to 15 new cases a year among Singaporeans and Singapore residents.

Hui Min's first reaction was of disbelief. "I was thinking, are you sure? How could I have cancer when I am, like, 15?"

She initially hoped to sit the N levels last year with the rest of her cohort but later accepted that the treatment took too much of a toll on her.

In August last year, just three days before her 16th birthday, she underwent an operation to remove the cancerous bone and replace it with a 34cm metal implant.

"It was really, really painful. It felt like my leg got langgar by a lorry," she said of the post-operative pain, using the Malay term for getting hit by a vehicle. Months of physiotherapy followed, where she learnt to walk again.

Assoc Prof Quek described Hui Min as "very positive" and "keen to help other patients".

She was among 23 recipients of this year's SingHealth Inspirational Patient award. Next year, she will support Relay For Life, a fundraising event by the Singapore Cancer Society(see box).

She has been trying to get back to her routine, albeit with changes. She takes the bus rather than walk to school and carries a lighter bag to reduce the strain on her leg.

She has to compensate for a shorter attention span, occasional hearing loss and difficulty making out similar-sounding words- a possible side effect of chemotherapy.

Now, "every day is a gift" to her.

She goes for regular check-ups every four months. She said: "Every time when I do scans and they tell me I am cleared, I just earned another four months."

This article was first published on Dec 19, 2016.
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Little India is noisy, crowded and not all that organised - which is exactly the way it should be, say locals, tourists and heritage experts alike.

They took issue with a recent Forum letter in The Straits Times, which compared Little India unfavourably with Chinatown and called on the authorities to give the historic cultural enclave a makeover.

The letter, written by Mr Roy Goh Hin Soon, had said: "Little India is not as organised as Chinatown. Most of the shops in the small lanes feature businesses that have no relevance to tourism at all, such as shops selling automobile spare parts, and food caterers.

"More can be done to spice up the area to attract more visitors, such as having food and beverage outlets with reasonable standards, and outdoor performances."

But Dr Chua Ai Lin, president of the Singapore Heritage Society, said "organised" is not always the best approach and while Chinatown is geared towards tourists, it is authentic heritage that gives visitors a meaningful experience.

"Heritage derives its value from what is important to locals," she said.

In fact, tourists increasingly want to explore places the way they are, said Ms Lena Loo, who organises heritage tours to Chinatown, Kampong Glam and Little India.

The shops - including food caterers and those selling car spare parts - are there because that is how people have always been trading, and the area not being specially made- up for touristsis exactly its appeal, she added.

"In general, (tourists) love Little India. They like the authentic feel of Little India. It's not a manicured experience for them," said Ms Loo.

A search on travel website TripAdvisor turned up mostly praise for the area. Most reviewers from countries such as Thailand and the United States highlighted Little India's colourful sights, aromatic smells and cleanliness despite the crowds.

Some, however, said they prefer Chinatown as they found Little India confusing to navigate.

Chinatown underwent a massive overhaul in 1998, when the Government restored dilapidated shophouses and new types of businesses moved in. Street hawkers were later brought back to sell their specialities in Smith Street. The makeover received mixed feedback. While some lauded it for being modern, others said it lost its "soul".

The other ethnic anclave, Kampong Glam, also underwent a makeover in 2012 to a lesser degree. It is now a popular hangout for hipsters.

By contrast, Little India, where Indians used to trade cattle, has been left mostly untouched and is patronised by locals for spices, vegetables, cuisine and clothes, and foreign workers for food and services like cash remittance.

One key complaint of Mr Goh's was that visitors are forced to squeeze and walk along the five- foot way in Serangoon Road.

In response, shopkeepers said while the pathways are narrow, the cluttered pavements have a purpose.

At the Thandapani grocery store in Dunlop Street, the pavement was partially blocked by gunny sacks holding spices and ingredients like cumin, dried chilli and lentils. Another rack carried onions and ikan bilis.

Ms Saraswathy Ramasamy Thever, 52, who has been a cashier at the shop for 22 years, said these items attract tourists into the shop almost every day.

"They may not be thinking of coming into the shop, but when they see the spices or smell the incense sticks outside, they come in, they enquire, and they buy."

Mr G. A. Abdul Kader, 58, a store manager at a grocery shop in Upper Dickson Road, said Little India has its shortcomings, but these do not seem to affect tourists.

"They love to take photos of women clad in saris, and they are curious about how Indians go about doing everyday things. If you're making thosai or grinding spices, they will stand and watch," said Mr Kader, who has been working there for 30 years.

However, he said he supports Mr Goh's idea of having regular live cultural shows featuring Indian clothes, song and dance. Currently, these are held just during festivities.

He also said a food street in Campbell Lane will also attract more to the area without changing its identity.

The Singapore Tourism Board and the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association did not reply to queries by press time.

Ms Stella Eswari, 33, a civil servant who works in Little India, said she sees a healthy number of tourists in the area. As a Singaporean, it is also her go-to place for everything Indian.

"The way the shops are right now captures the essence of Little India. It's not gimmicky. You get what you see," she said.

jalmsab@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Dec 19, 2016.
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Christmas shoppers in Orchard Road were treated to a surprise yesterday evening as a 15-strong amateur choir of foreign domestic workers got off a bus and began carolling on the pavement.

The flash mob, organised by the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (Fast), featured carols like When A Child Is Born and Feliz Navidad, a Latin American Christmas song.

One of the choristers, Masyitoh, an Indonesian who goes by one name, is a Muslim whose parents support her carolling.

The 37-year-old, who has worked here for 18 years, said: "I joined because I love music and I want to learn singing. My parents supported me... They said it's about the singing, not religion."

The choir, formed only in October, was conducted by Ms Iris Koh, music and programme director of Singapore-based edutainment provider Candle Academy.

"I feel grateful to the domestic workers in Singapore, so I volunteered to train them," said Ms Koh.

It took her a month of three-hour sessions every Sunday to get them to listen to one another and sing in tune, as they had little or no singing experience.

"I feel a sense of achievement," said Ms Koh.

"And a little nervous... This is one of the first real flash mobs I have done!"

They started outside a crowded Tang Plaza at about 5pm, with a single voice leading off and progressively more voices joining in alongside a guitar and tambourine.

Curious passers-by stopped to listen, while some took photos and videos.

The group then moved on to Lucky Plaza, the Paragon and Ngee Ann City.

Fast executive director William Chew said: "The idea is to bring the joy out to the public... The girls also appreciate the potpourri of cultures in Singapore and embrace it through events like this."

linyc@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 19, 2016.
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For some listed firms, getting out the next annual report may prove to be a big challenge.

Besides putting together their financials in the annual report, they will also be expected to discuss non-financial matters such as management of environmental risks, supply chain partner practices and even employee satisfaction.

This arises from a Singapore Exchange (SGX) initiative requiring listed firms to publish sustainability reports for the financial year ending on, or after, Dec 31, 2017, as it joins other major stock exchanges around the world in encouraging companies to be more transparent by offering more than just financial information on their businesses.

But rather than make sustainability reporting a hard and fast rule, the SGX is adopting a "comply or explain" regime to give listed firms a chance to explain away non-compliance.

This has led to a concern that a few listed firms may be tempted to take the "explain" route as management is confronted with bigger challenges such as keeping their businesses afloat as the regional economies slow down.

Not that adopting sustainability reporting is a bad move.

Going through a firm's financials offers few insights into the sustainability of its business mode.

Its profit and loss account may give us some insights into its profitability. But the numbers themselves do not tell us the challenges confronting a company and what it is doing to face up to them.

In order to get a flavour of that, a company will have to issue a sustainability report which maps out the different threats posed by environmental, social and governance issues and how it plans to respond to them.

There is a further incentive: Jumping on the bandwagon to do a sustainability report may even widen the pool of investors available to invest in a company's shares, given the US$60 trillion (S$86.8 trillion) of assets under management that have signed up to adhere to responsible investing principles.

Despite the obvious benefits, a study conducted by the National University of Singapore Business School's Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations and the ASEAN CSR Network showed that as at the end of last year, over 60 per cent of mainboard-listed firms are still not reporting on their sustainability practices.

That said, there is no denying that the bosses of many listed firms - especially the smaller ones - are still failing to see the merit in compiling such reports.

To them, sustainability reporting is useful only to big companies which do it as part of their efforts to attract new investors who may see areas such as environmentally friendly practices as a key threshold to a decision to invest.

In fact, for many smaller firms facing tough times as they confront a slowdown in business in major markets such as China, sustainability reporting is just more paperwork they could gladly do without as they struggle for survival.

Then there is the question of costs. One common complaint in the market is the outrageous fees which consultants want to charge listed firms - the figure can run to as high as $120,000, according to some sources - to help them comply with sustainability reporting.

As cash resources become a more and more precious commodity with worsening business conditions, some firms are very reluctant to be saddled with the new set of costs that they may have to shoulder in order to do sustainability reporting.

It led one market pundit to ask: "What happens if a listed firm steps forward to say that the reason it doesn't comply is that it is too costly and the money saved can serve shareholders and the company better in other ways? Will that suffice as an explanation?"

Some companies, however, do get a helping hand in defraying the costs. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, for instance, will help listed maritime firms to pay for half of the costs of producing the reports, capped at $50,000 per company.

Still, there are some who continue to argue on the need to keep sustainability reporting voluntary, given the costs to be shouldered by companies for completing the task.

One merchant banker said: "If companies think that they can attract investors keen on sustainability, they will do the report regardless of whether there are requirements from the SGX or not."

For the rest of the firms yet to be convinced of its merits, there are other means to ensure a higher take-up rate, rather than using the "comply or explain" approach.

He said: "For instance, the SGX can do an annual survey to give a state of play of the larger versus smaller firms on such practices, which is similar to what the Monetary Authority of Singapore does with its annual fund management survey. This can give a good snapshot by segment of the areas of improvement which have been made."

Another way is to offer incentives such as granting awards by sector to companies that do best in terms of sustainability reporting, he added.

But getting the SGX to change its stand may be tough as matters stand. The big challenge for firms is how to implement sustainability reporting without being crippled by the costs. One suggestion is to try to do as much of the work in-house as possible and leave only the finishing touches to the external consultant. A company's management is, after all, in the best position to articulate the challenges it is facing and how it is tackling them.

For the sustainability report, the SGX requires a listed firm to have a discussion on five primary components - environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues; policies, practices and performance in relation to the important ESG issues; targets for the coming year; the reporting framework being used; and the board of directors' affirmation of compliance.

And this is the carrot which company bosses overlook when they gripe about the difficulties of doing the report: Firms get to enjoy considerable latitude on how they plan to report.

They can decide on which are the material issues within the five primary components that they need to report on. They also have the discretion on the reporting framework to adopt, the implementation timeline and the need for a third party to offer assurance.

Better still, sustainability reports don't even have to come in hefty tomes. Currently, many of them are crammed full of details of the good work which companies do, such as handing out cheques to charities. But that is not exactly information that is useful to investors.

Indeed, smaller listed firms can cover disclosures on exposure to key environmental and social risks and how these risks are being managed in a page or less - and this would have taken care of some of the reporting requirements.

Given the dearth of analyst coverage on their stocks, a good sustainability report may turn out to be another way for smaller listed firms to attract investors' attention. How they prepare it can lead to greater investor confidence in their shares. In the end, isn't that what it really boils down to?

engyeow@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Dec 19, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

When freelance tutor C.K. Tan terminated an assignment with an online tuition agency in August, he was due to receive half of the paid fees.

But after delays in the two months that followed, SmileTutor stopped picking up his calls, the infocomm executive alleged.

When he contacted the agency, it said it could pay him only when the tutee did.

Mr Tan, 27, who started tutoring seven years ago, made a police report in late October.

Last month, he filed a claim with the Small Claims Tribunals to receive the $75 he was owed and took to Facebook to warn others about the situation.

Mr Tan is among thousands of freelancers who work with tuition agencies linking them to prospective students.

Such agencies do not need to be registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE).

The Consumers Association of Singapore does not handle remuneration to tutors.

And under the Employment Act, part-timers without a contract are not covered by the Manpower Ministry.

So freelancers like Mr Tan have few means of recourse when they run into payment disputes with such agencies.

Many tuition firms operate online, some boasting up to tens of thousands of tutors.

It is hard to estimate the number of online tuition agencies, but the private tuition industry is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion annually, with some 600 tuition centres registered with MOE.

While new online agencies have been opening, they also tend to close down in less than a year, said Mr Andy Chan, 35, co-owner of EdustarAsia Tuition Services.

Freelance tutors said they often do not sign a contract with online agencies but submit proof of their education background before being matched to assignments.

But when disputes occur, they tend to be swept under the carpet.

Said Mr Tan, who earns around $2,000 a month from tutoring: "Most people, including myself, often don't want to pursue cases because it's a waste of time and involves small amounts of money."

Mr Tan said this was the third time he had not been paid after work he got through an agency.

He was owed $125 in 2009, which he did not recover, and around $350 in 2010, which he managed to get.

After those times, he started asking parents to pay fees to him directly after a month instead of through the agency, which generally takes a cut in the first month.

"The agency told me it was the parents' fault as they did not pay up. I don't know who to believe," he added.

He has not been able to contact the parents, he said.

SmileTutor manager Tan Ruming said: "In this particular case, the tutee has so far defaulted from paying... We have been following up diligently regarding payments."

Mr C.K. Tan still worries that agencies will take advantage of tutors.

Freelance tutors The Straits Times spoke to said they have had issues with two other firms.

A tutor who wanted to be known only as Janice, 30, said she was not informed by agency Nanyang Academics when, after a month, a client wanted to engage a new tutor who could teach more subjects.

A Facebook page she created, asking tutors with bad experiences to come forward, received more than 10 other anonymous entries against the firm, including claims that the owner did not pay them.

Mr Edwin Choy, 26, alleged that Nanyang Academics threatened to publish his personal information on social media after asking for commission from a cancelled lesson.

Mr Ethan Lau, owner of Nanyang Academics, denied this and alleged that the tutee had paid Mr Choy.

On the other Facebook claims, Mr Lau said that there had been some miscommunication.

Experienced tutors such as Ms Yap Si Hui, 30, who has spent 14 years in the field, encourage unpaid tutors to file a claim with the Small Claims Tribunals.

She said that inexperienced tutors tend to forgo their cash if tutees stop classes after one or two weeks.

On filing a claim, she said: "We have to let them know that we are also making a living. Otherwise, people can take advantage of us."

Should there be more regulation?

National University of Singapore economics lecturer Kelvin Seah, whose research focuses on the economics of education, said: "The problem arises not because of a lack of regulation but a lack of transparency and communication regarding agency fees."

He added: "I don't think hard regulation would be the right answer. A best practices-based suasion approach may be more apt."

byseow@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 19, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Bulletproof glass has long been a critical component in military vehicles and aircraft, helping to shield their occupants from hostile fire in the battlefield.

But see-through ceramics - thinner, lighter and yet stronger - may soon take its place in Singapore's arsenal.

For five years, a pair of scientists toiled away in their "kitchen" in the Science Park at Kent Ridge.

Now, principal scientists Ang Seok Khim and Ernest Lau of Singapore's DSO National Laboratories are seeing the fruits of their labour as the material goes into small-scale production while they wait for a patent to be granted.

These are the first steps towards actual use in military vehicles and other security applications such as civilian guardhouses and VIP cars.

The use of transparent ceramics will help Singapore reduce its reliance on other countries for cutting-edge defence technology, said DSO.

The two scientists' endeavour started with a white powder - a secret ingredient - that is treated with a classified process that includes exposure to high pressure and temperatures exceeding 1,000 deg C.

This is needed to get rid of the microscopic defects that scatter light and prevent run-of-the-mill ceramic from being transparent.

The final product comprises tiny irregularly shaped crystals held together by strong chemical bonds.

The exact size of the crystals is a secret, too.

Ms Ang, 41, said: "It's really (like) cooking... how you cut the vegetables, how long you want to cook, the temperature, how much pepper, salt and chilli."

Like bulletproof glass, the transparent ceramic is laminated with plastic materials for actual use, but it is much harder than glass and works very differently.

While glass slows down a bullet through friction, the ceramic destroys it altogether.

First, the bullet fractures the ceramic into tiny pieces that have extremely sharp edges.

Mr Lau, 44, said: "You can picture it as millions of small little knifes.

As the bullet goes in, they shred it. This is really destroying the round (bullet)."

The ceramic, which is denser than glass, is so strong that it has to be only a tenth the thickness of glass to confer similar protection.

With the plastic lamination, the ceramic is about half the weight of bulletproof glass.

Mr Lau also explained that for a vehicle driver in the battlefield, bulletproof glass hit by bullets will shatter across a wide swathe of windscreen, preventing the driver from seeing outside.

"But for this material, the damage is so localised that... you can still see through the areas that are not hit. It means you can drive to safety."

Other institutions here and around the world are developing transparent ceramics too.

Another institution here is Temasek Laboratories, which has facilities at three research universities in Singapore and is supported by the Ministry of Defence.

Professor Gan Chee Lip, director of Temasek Laboratories at Nanyang Technological University , explained that his institution explores the more basic properties of transparent ceramics while DSO's work is more applied.

Prof Gan said DSO did a very good job, as a lot of engineering challenges had to be overcome to make such materials in larger sizes and quantities.

Farther afield, Germany's IBD Deisenroth Engineering developed a similar ceramic in 2014 which it has introduced into armoured vehicles, while US company Surmet has come up with its own version, called Alon, in work funded by the US Department of Defence.

linyc@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 19, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.