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Wild boar crashes into motorcyclist on SLE, leaving the man with fractured shoulder

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SINGAPORE - A motorcyclist was injured on Thursday (April 21) evening after a wild boar dashed onto the road while he was travelling on the Seletar Expressway (SLE), causing an accident.

Logistics worker Mr Krishnan, 49, was unable to stop in time and crashed into the animal. He was flung about 2-3m, and the impact left him with a fractured right shoulder.

The accident happened on the Woodlands-bound SLE, before the Upper Thomson Road exit.

The wild boar was killed.

The Malaysian man told the Chinese evening daily Shin Min Daily News that there were cars all around him when he saw the boar rush out. The next thing he knew, he had been flung from his bike.

Mr Krishnan told reporters he travels daily from his home in Johor Bahru to his workplace in Tampines.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident at 8.30pm. It despatched an ambulance and conveyed Mr Krishnan conscious to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

Mr Krishnan was discharged from the hospital on Friday (April 22).


This article was first published on April 22, 2016.
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More prayer space at Orchard Road mosque

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The Al-Falah Mosque, the only mosque in the Orchard Road shopping district, opened its doors to congregants yesterday with a bigger prayer space.

The mosque in Cairnhill Road can now hold up to 2,000 congregants instead of 1,500, after extensions to both of its two floors. Amenities such as ramps and a platform lift for those who are disabled were also added.

Its entire prayer hall is now fully air-conditioned. Other additions include four classrooms that can be reconfigured, one youth room and a nursing room.

The total cost of the one-year upgrading works was $2.64 million, of which $750,000 came from the Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund. The rest was raised by the mosque and donors.

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, officiated the completion ceremony yesterday.

"We have to continue to do mosque upgrading as the needs, lifestyle and demographic of the congregation are changing," he said.

So far, 17 mosques, including Al-Falah, have been renovated under the Mosque Upgrading Programme of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore.


This article was first published on April 23, 2016.
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Ex-director of jewellery company jailed 22 months for forgery and CBT of $130,000

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SINGAPORE - A former director of a jewellery firm, who admitted to committing forgery and misappropriating $130,000, was jailed for 22 months on Friday (April 22).

A court heard that in July 2011, Chinese national Gou Linnan, 36, was a director of W&G Jewellery, which operates Chow Tai Fook Jewellery at Marina Bay Sands.

Gou was one of the two authorised signatories of W&G Jewellery's United Overseas Bank cheque account. The firm allowed cheque withdrawals with just one of the authorised signatures.

Between July 14 and 18, 2011, she issued and encashed two cash cheques, amounting to $130,000, from the firm's bank account.

She wrote on the cheque book summary page that the two cheques were payments to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery, a Hong Kong based jewellery supplier of W & G. But she had spent the money on gambling.

She also forged an application form for a telegraphic transfer of $100,000 from her bank account to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery on July 14, 2011.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hon Yi said Gou signed the document in the name of an employee of UOB to deceive W&G Jewellery into believing that $100,000 was paid to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery.

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery later confirmed that it did not receive the payments of $100,000 and $30,000 from W&G Jewellery.

She has made partial restitution of RMB500,000 (about $94,800) to Mr Wang Kaizhong, a director of W&G Jewellery.

Gou's lawyer Josephus Tan said his client had been in a seven-year relationship with Mr Wang and went through four abortions. When the relationship went downhill, she gambled. She had hoped to win, and return the money .

Mr Tan added that Gou had returned to China but came back as she wanted to meet her prospective parents-in-law. She married her Singaporean husband in 2014 and wants to start a family, he told the court.

District Judge May Mesenas, who took a second forgery charge involving $30,000 into consideration, backdated Gou's sentence to Nov 12 last year. Gou could have been jailed for life or up to 20 years and fined for criminal breach of trust. The maximum penalty for forgery is 10 years' jail and a fine.

elena@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on April 22, 2016.
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Can dad sell flat after mum's death?

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Can dad sell flat after mum's death?Reader Pat Chiow asked ST about the right to continue living in a Housing Board (HDB) flat after one parent dies.

She asked: "Does an unmarried daughter above 21 years of age and living with her widowed father have the legal right to stop him from selling his HDB flat and rendering her homeless?" 

Unfortunately, if the daughter is not a co-owner of the flat, she has no legal right to stop the flat from being sold, said the HDB.

As a legal owner of the flat, the widowed father can decide to sell the flat if he has met the Minimum Occupation Period of five years.

"If she is experiencing hardship or family dispute, the daughter could seek assistance from the Family Service Centre or the Legal Aid Bureau," suggested the HDB.

When a joint owner of a flat dies, the remaining joint owner can take ownership as the sole lessee, if he or she satisfies the eligibility conditions, such as being a Singapore citizen or permanent resident.

In such a situation, the remaining joint owner will have to lodge a Notice of Death with the Singapore Land Authority.

He may appoint his own solicitor to act for him, or engage the HDB's legal services.

If using the HDB's services, he should go to the relevant HDB branch, taking along his identity card, the original death certificate of the deceased joint owner, and a duplicate lease, if there is one.

He will have to pay registration and conveyancing fees at the point of application.

HDB's legal group will then prepare the Notice of Death and inform him to sign the documents.

janiceh@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on April 23, 2016.
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Parents of abused boy discovered maid's actions through CCTV footage

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They were happy with their maid as she was efficient and their toddler liked her. So much so that they treated her like a member of the family.

Imagine their horror then when they found out that Tursinah Sari, 32, had been abusing their youngest child who had turned one not too long ago.

On 15 occasions, the Indonesian had ill-treated her charge in various ways, including dangling him upside down from his ankles, spinning him around like a rag doll and dropping him head-first into his cot.

And it was only by chance, and a mother's instinct, that his parents discovered the abuse after watching footage from a closed-circuit television camera in their home.

On Tuesday, Tursinah was jailed for 12 weeks after pleading guilty to six out of 15 charges of ill-treating the child.

The boy and his parents cannot be named, to protect his identity.

Speaking to The New Paper yesterday, the parents, who are in their 30s, said the abuse came as a huge shock as they had a good relationship with Tursinah.

Said the father: "We treated her well, and she even said that she felt like a part of our family. But she was a totally different person behind closed doors, someone we didn't know at all. There were no tell-tale signs of the abuse."

On the evening of Feb 4 this year, his wife saw Tursinah lift their son out of his cot by his shirt when she decided to check the live CCTV footage from the boy's room.

They had installed the CCTV cameras in the common areas and bedrooms a few years ago for "peace of mind" and to "stay connected" with their children at home.

The couple, who have two other children, would watch live and recorded footage on their smartphones whenever they missed their kids.

It was routine for Tursinah, who worked for the family for five months, to put the toddler to sleep in his room around 7pm while the rest of the family had their dinner.

NEVER ALONE

They said that Tursinah was never alone at home with the baby as either of the couple's parents would come over every day while they were at work.

The maid was left alone with the boy only when she put him to sleep in the evening and during his bath time.

The mother said: "I wanted to check if she was having trouble getting him to sleep as he had a late nap that day. I didn't want to open the door in case I disturbed him, so I checked the live footage on my phone."

She thought the "rough handling" was just a one-off and later told Tursinah to be gentler with the boy.

But she could not stop thinking about the incident the next day while at work, and her mother's instinct kicked in.

"I felt uncomfortable, so I decided to check footage from previous days and discovered that it wasn't a one-time thing. I couldn't believe my eyes and was literally trembling in disbelief and anger as I watched her abuse my son," she said.

After viewing a few days of footage, she could no longer bear to watch. She asked her husband to continue checking the recordings.

He said: "I watched the recordings until 5am the next day, and I felt my emotions building up each time I saw her ill-treat my son. Seeing her turning, tossing and spinning my son made my heart break."

The couple said the older kids had not complained of abuse by the maid.

They made a police report on Feb 6, and Tursinah was arrested that very day.

The boy was examined at KK Women's and Children's Hospital that day and had no external injuries.

The father said he knew about Tursinah's conviction and sentence only when TNP approached them on Tuesday.

He said he had received a call from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority on Wednesday informing him that Tursinah had been released from jail as the sentence had been backdated to Feb 8.

The couple were upset that Tursinah had told the judge that they had not paid her salary for five months. This led to some online criticism of them, and some relatives had also questioned them about it.

The couple said this was not true as they were keeping the money for Tursinah. (See report at right.)

They said that they decided to make a police report as they did not want the same abuse to happen to another family.

Said the mother: "I did wonder if it was harsh of us to make a police report. But I didn't want her to be passed to another family where she could do the same thing."

Her husband added: "We hope my son won't remember any of this. He is a strong and happy-go-lucky child. The paediatrician told us the only thing we can do now is to observe him and shower him with love."

Dispute over five months' salary

In her mitigation plea, Tursinah Sari, 32, who was jailed for abusing her employers' son, claimed that she was owed five months' salary.

But her employers dispute this.

The couple told The New Paper yesterday that they had a written agreement with the maid stating that they would hold on to her monthly salary for safekeeping.

They also said they had paid Tursinah's loan for her to come to Singapore, and the loan would be offset by six months of her salary.

And the money they kept for her amounted to only a few hundred dollars as it was payment for when she did not take a day off.

Tursinah worked for them for only five months.

KEPT MONEY IN SAFE

"We kept the money in a safe and made sure she signed off each time we paid her. She was allowed to 'withdraw' money any time she wanted and she wasn't afraid to ask us for it," said the mother.

"The amount wasn't enough to open a bank account, but we had planned to do that if she stayed with us longer."

The couple said they had asked Tursinah if she preferred to keep the money, but she did not want to.

The father said after buying a $114 plane ticket for her to return to Indonesia, he handed her the remaining $185 owed to her through an officer at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority yesterday afternoon.

The Ministry of Manpower website advises employers not to hold their maids' salaries for safekeeping as this could lead to misunderstandings if things go wrong.

Its guidelines state that employers should allow their maids to manage their own salaries to minimise unnecessary misunderstandings.

Maids R Us director Graham George Spencer told TNP that if employers do hold on to their maids' salaries, there should be some form of written agreement to protect the parties involved.

"You have to get the agreement written down as proof. And each time the maid gets paid, you have to provide a receipt.

"A verbal agreement isn't enough, otherwise each party can say whatever they want," he said.

Timeline of abuse

Between Dec 25, 2015, and February this year, Tursinah Sari ill-treats the boy a total of 15 times when she could not get him to fall asleep.

She starts abusing the toddler, who is between 14 and 16 months old at the time, by forcefully pulling him upwards by one of his arms.

From then on, she continues manhandling him, sometimes up to three times a day.

On Jan 27, she drops him on a sofa before pressing his ribs with both her hands.

On Feb 1, she forcefully pulls him out of the cot by grabbing his legs. She then spins his body around to face her while he is dangling upside down.

On Feb 5, the boy's parents watch CCTV footage of the abuse and call the police the next day.

On April 19, Tursinah pleads guilty to six counts of ill-treating the child and is jailed for 12 weeks.

The maid, who is not represented by a lawyer, says in her mitigation plea that her employers owe her five months' pay.

District Judge Luke Tan replies that she would have to seek a separate recourse for this matter.

Tursinah's sentence is backdated to Feb 8, the date of her remand.

For each count of ill-treating the baby, she could have been jailed up to four years and fined up to $4,000.

tammei@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on April 23, 2016. 
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SCDF firefighters recount tackling Jurong Island oil tank fire

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In her six years as a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer, she had never encountered a blaze quite like this one.

The sight of the huge oil tank fire set Captain Clara Toh, 30, the station commander of Banyan Fire Station on Jurong Island, thinking of the need to contain it first, rather than put it out.

"The tank was engulfed in flames and there was a huge fireball above it.

"Then I saw the top of the tank start to cave in. That was when I knew the first thing to do was to contain the fire," she told The New Paper.

By then, the in-house company emergency response team (Cert) was already using ground water monitors to fight the fire that broke out on Wednesday in the Jurong Aromatics Corporation (JAC) petrochemical complex on Jurong Island.

Capt Toh led a team of 16 officers to the fire at 3pm, and there were 150 officers on site within an hour.

SCDF also deployed 38 fire-fighting and rescue vehicles from seven fire stations in the 1st Division HQ.

A section commander from Banyan Fire Station, Sergeant Rahmat Mohamat Haron, 23, told TNP that the station was just a five-minute drive away.

"As soon as the fire engine I was in got out of the station, I could already see the massive blaze coming from the tank.

"There were no explosions, just thick, black smoke," said the full-time national serviceman.

Another section commander from the same station, Staff Sergeant Fazeli Rahmat, 33, added: "When we reached the scene, it was so hot. It felt like we were being cooked."

Capt Toh said the temperature near the tank was about 700 deg C.

The tank could contain up to 2.5 million litres of light crude oil.

An SCDF spokesman said it was about 10 per cent full.

For safety reasons, the tank was surrounded by a 2m-high rectangular bund wall, 100m by 150m.

SCDF brought out its big guns to take on the fire.

A monitor that can shoot out 27,000 litres of foam per minute was set up to fight the fire. It is so powerful that it can fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in about one and a half hours.

Several ground water monitors and fixed drencher systems were used to cool down two oil tanks nearby, as well as a pipeline corridor away from the burning tank.

Lieutenant-Colonel Alan Chow, 39, commander of the SCDF's 1st Division HQ, explained that it was important to contain the fire within the tank and prevent it from spreading to its immediate surrounding.

SUFFOCATE

"The three elements that keep a fire burning are fuel, heat and oxygen.

"So we used the foam to blanket the fire so as to suffocate it and cut off the oxygen supply," said Lt-Col Chow.

He added: "When it comes to oil tank fires, it's better to use foam than water. It's like boiling oil - when you add water, it will actually cause the oil to boil over."

Station commander of Jurong Island Fire Station, Major Benny Ong, 35, who was in charge of overseeing the operation of the large monitor, said: "Because the large monitor uses very high water pressure, we have to co-ordinate with the rest on the ground.

"Sometimes, we have to make the call to close some ground monitors so that the water pressure in the large monitor is not compromised."

Sgt Rahmat and Staff Sgt Fazeli operated the monitor, along with Lance Corporal Sundar Raj Hemath Kumar, 20, a firefighter who joined Banyan Fire Station in January after passing his fire-fighting course.

Lance Cpl Sundar Raj said: "It was the first time I was sent out to such a major incident after I completed my training. I was a little nervous but confident because our training is all based on real-life situations. I was glad it all paid off."

According to Platts, which issues daily price assessments for the energy and metals commodity markets, JAC filed for receivership in September last year after debt-restructuring talks broke down.

The company has been offline since 2014.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, said SCDF.

Lt-Col Chow also thanked the Singapore Police Force, the Jurong Town Corporation and Aetos for helping in the operation.

- Additional reporting by Nurul Asyikin Yusoff

fnawang@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on April 23, 2016.
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Is it the right time to buy cars?

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The increase in COE supply in the period of May to July was expected to drive premiums southward.

But throw in private-hire companies like Uber and Grab, which are snapping up COEs aggressively to build up their fleets, and the game changes.

That is why all prospective car buyers can talk about now is whether they should wait for COE prices to soften because of the larger COE supply, or buy their cars now before premiums go up due to higher demand from private-hire companies.

UniSIM's Adjunct Associate Professor Park Byung Joon told The New Paper that there is no good or bad time to buy a car because it is hard to predict which way COE prices will go.

"Everyone predicted that the COE premiums will gradually decline because of the number of COEs.

"But these private-hire companies are kind of unexpected," said Prof Park, the former head of UniSIM's urban transport management programme.

The Land Transport Authority announced last week that car COEs would increase by 14 per cent to 8,384 a month during the May to July period.

Whether the premiums go up or down will depend on how aggressively private-hire companies bid for the COEs, said UniSIM's senior lecturer Dr Walter Theseira.

In the most recent bidding exercise, Uber reportedly secured 14 per cent of the total COE bids across the three categories, which helped drive COE prices up by up to 5.5 per cent.

In the previous bidding cycle, Uber-owned Lion City Rental submitted more than 800 bids, which accounted for 11 per cent of the total bids made for car COEs.

That is why Singapore Vehicle Traders Association's first vice-president Raymond Tang believes COE prices will remain firm or go up.

The economy could also drive more people to work as an Uber or a Grab driver, which will in turn contribute to the rising demand from private-hire companies, Mr Tang said.

And it is not just the private-hire companies.

In the past few years, car rental and leasing companies have been doing quite well.

"When they have customers wanting to lease or rent new cars from them, they also join in the bidding," Mr Tang said.

DON'T WAIT

"If you need a car and your financial status allows it, you should not wait. You won't be able to predict what is going up or coming down when it comes to COEs."

Still, there are other factors that may exert downward pressure on COE prices.

While Dr Theseira said that COE demand could increase, the economics lecturer suspects that aggregate demand for cars could eventually fall.

"Demand could fall because some consumers who might normally buy a car could find that all their private transport needs are met by Uber or Grab and taxis," he said.

"Overall, I suspect that aggregate demand for cars will eventually fall because of the ease of taking private transport.

"Why buy the car when you can effectively rent the service only when you need it?"

Even if the premiums do drop, Prof Park said it will be unrealistic to expect a substantial drop.

"My advice: Don't panic buy, but don't panic delay," he said.

"If you plan to buy a car, just go ahead and don't delay your purchase, hoping that something will happen to the COEs."

Dr Theseira said: "Timing a car purchase is just like timing the stock market. It is hard to do and generally doesn't work."

He suggested buying a used car rather than a new one, because a substantial part of the cost is the depreciation that is incurred from buying a new ride.

fjieying@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on April 23, 2016.
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Singapore signs Paris Agreement on climate change

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SINGAPORE - Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan represented Singapore at the signature ceremony of the Paris Agreement on climate change in New York, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Saturday (April 23). 

Dr Balakrishnan delivered Singapore's national statement at the ceremony to "affirm Singapore's support and commitment for the Agreement", said MFA. 

In his speech, Dr Balakrishnan noted that Singapore ranks 123rd in emissions intensity out of 142 countries worldwide, but assured that the country "will continue to do more". 

"Within the geographical constraints we face, we will pursue renewable energy in the form of increased solar PV deployment. This will supplement our substantial energy efficiency efforts and other mitigation measures to lower our Emissions Intensity by 36% from 2005 levels, and to stabilise our emissions around 2030.

"We take our pledge seriously, and will now turn to making the necessary domestic preparations to enable us to ratify the agreement and to achieve the objectives under our NDC (nationally determined contributions)."

According to the United Nations, 175 states signed the deal on Friday. Of those, 15 states, including the US and China, also formally ratified the deal.

While in New York, Dr Balakrishnan also held meetings with prominent American strategic thinkers, including Dr Henry Kissinger. He also attended a dinner hosted by the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Mr Michael Bloomberg.

Minister Balakrishnan was accompanied by officials from MFA.

maryanns@sph.com.sg

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ITE students who helped cabby change tyre: He was having trouble so we volunteered

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Two 17-year-old Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students were on their way home last Thursday (April 14) at around 5.30pm when they came across an elderly cabby replacing a flat tyre at a bus stop just outside their school.

Seeing that the taxi driver needed help, the students took the initiative and approached him to offer their assistance.

Their kind deed was captured by netizen @Nigersaur who posted photos of what happened on his Twitter account.

A contributor to Stomp had previously alerted the citizen journalism website to the incident on April 16.

Speaking to Stomp, one of the students, Karna, said: "We were waiting for a bus outside ITE College West when we saw the cabby. He looked to be around 70-years-old."

"We saw that he was perspiring and went up to help him," he added.

The boys spent about 30 to 40 minutes helping the cabby replace the flat tyre. Following their kind act, the cabby offered to send the both of them to their homes at Bukit Batok.

The other student, Hakim, added: "The cabby looked to be in some form of trouble, so we volunteered. Our school principal is aware of what happened and will be speaking to us after this.

"I feel proud of what we had done."


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Beauty tips galore at Simply Her's Beauty & Wellness Retreat

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Singapore - Simply Her, the solutions-driven lifestyle magazine of SPH Magazines, held its annual Beauty & Wellness Retreat on Saturday afternoon, which saw 100 Simply Her readers joining in the day's activities.

Kicking things off to an energising start was an introductory Pilates mat work session by Lila Roosmalia from Focus Pilates. Lila demonstrated exercises to help tone the muscles, improve flexibility and help the posture.

This was followed by a series of talks, starting with one by Dr Siew Tuck Wah, a general practitioner with an interest in aesthetic medicine, who shared the secrets to radiant, glowing skin. He emphasised that wellness involved not only good skincare, but also having a healthy diet, lifestyle and positive mental outlook.

Dr Israr Wong, medical director of aesthetic clinic Knightsbridge Clinic, explained what and how chemical peels work for the skin. Dr Junwoo Park, R&D director of CNP Cosmetics, then focused on the different types of chemical peels and how the beauty brand's cosmeceutical skincare can help women get beautiful skin.

Eye care was also discussed, with Dr Cordelia Chan, consultant eye surgeon at Eye Surgeons@Novena, at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre. She shared tips on how to keep one's eyes healthy, as well as ways to cope with digital eye strain and computer vision syndrome.

Ending the day on a lighter note, Ivan Sei, founder of Ecoponics, gave participants a step-by-step demonstration on how to build a mini terrarium. Readers were also given their own terrarium kit to take home.

Diana Lee, general manger of Fashion & Beauty, SPH Magazines, said: "We are pleased with the positive response to our annual Simply Her Beauty & Wellness Retreat. The aim of this retreat was to equip readers with knowledge on how to make informed decisions on beauty, health and wellness, and it was a great success."

Penelope Chan, editor of Simply Her, added: "Simply Her readers lead busy, hectic lives, so the Beauty & Wellness Retreat was an opportunity for them to wind down and focus on their health and well-being for a few hours, something which many women tend to put aside. I'm happy to see that the participants enjoyed themselves and were enriched by the day's activities."

The annual Simply Her Beauty & Wellness Retreat was held at Holiday Inn Orchard City Centre and was sponsored by CNP Cosmetics, Great Eastern Life and Imedeen.

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Madrasah student attacks: Man hires lawyer for accused

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A member of one of Singapore's oldest Arab-Muslim families has stepped forward to pay for a lawyer for the security officer accused of attacking three madrasah students.

The entrepreneur, who wants to be anonymous, is in his 40s and comes from the Aljunied family - descendants of Singapore's first Arab settler Syed Omar Ali Aljunied, who built Singapore's first mosque, and his family.

He told The Sunday Times that he is stumping up the money "purely out of love and compassion".

Security officer Koh Weng Onn, 48, was charged earlier this month with kicking a 16-year-old girl in the thigh in what court papers called a "racially aggravated" act.

He was also accused of swinging a plastic bag containing a filled 1.5-litre water bottle at two 14-year-old girls in separate attacks, hitting them in the face.

The donor said he made his decision after hearing of Koh's arrest and got in touch with lawyer Sunil Sudheesan, who will be representing Koh.

He has not met the accused's family. He said he was inspired by his forefathers, who had built madra- sahs, mosques and churches in Singapore. "I'm sure my forefathers would have done the same (for Koh)," he said.

The father of two children aged 13 and 11 added: "I want to inspire (in) them that ignorance and anger can only be neutralised with acts of compassion and love and mercy."

In the aftermath of the attacks, government and community leaders of all races have stressed that racially motivated acts of violence will not be condoned, urging communities to stand united against such acts.

The accused's older brother, Mr Mohammad Johan Koh, said: "I was very surprised to hear this - that a kind person wanted to help."

He did not expect to find out that the anonymous person was from the Arab-Muslim community.

The 49-year-old relief security guard added that his family hope to send their appreciation to the man, and to thank him in person.

"We know our financial condition; even if we decided to get a lawyer, we might not have been able to pay the legal fees," he said.

Mr Sudheesan, of law firm Quahe Woo and Palmer, said it is quite rare for an anonymous benefactor to offer to pay for an accused's full legal representation. He added: "It's humbling that someone thought well enough of me to recommend me to the benefactor."

Koh has been remanded for psychiatric observation. The case is scheduled to be mentioned tomorrow.


This article was first published on April 24, 2016.
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Cabbies talk of love- hate relationship with Grab and Uber

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Ask any taxi driver where he takes a break, and he is likely to mention 115 Bukit Merah View hawker centre. And the cabby haunt is also the perfect location for Grab staff to peddle their vehicle booking app.

Many taxi drivers have told The Sunday Times of a love-hate relationship with Grab and its rival Uber. Some, especially the younger ones, use the app to supplement their company's bookings but feel threatened by the onslaught of private-hire car services that the companies have added to the market.

"There has been a drop in bookings by up to 30 per cent on our company's systems," said Mr Dan Lim, 59, who has been driving a taxi for five years. "I have no choice but to use the app to get bookings."

Mr Ken Ng, 45, who has also been driving a cab for five years, said: "Technology has changed so we have no choice but to change with it.

Let's be honest, I'm making more because of these apps."

Apart from the benefits brought about by the taxi booking apps, Grab and Uber have added an unwanted dimension to the market that taxi drivers now have to deal with - private-hire car services.

Despite new rules announced in Parliament to regulate such drivers, the disparity between the standards required to get a Private Hire Driver's Vocational Licence and a Taxi Driver's Vocational Licence has angered drivers.

By the first half of next year, GrabCar and Uber drivers will have to attend and pass a 10-hour course, compared with a new 25-hour course for taxi drivers.

But that is not the only factor upsetting cabbies.

Mr Khoo, 54, a cabby of five years who, like some others, did not give his full name, said the minimum age of 30 years should be imposed on GrabCar and Uber drivers too, adding: "Twenty-one years is definitely too young."

Taxi drivers say they have seen losses since GrabCar and Uber entered the market in 2014 and 2013, respectively, with some having to work harder to make ends meet.

One of those hit is Mr Singh, 59, who has been driving for about six years. "I used to earn about $36,000 annually but that has dropped to about $29,000. It goes without saying that the entrance of private-hire car drivers has affected us," he said.

Another cabby, Mr Goh - who has a wife and two children - said it is a stretch to maintain his salary as the sole breadwinner.

The 56-year- old, a cabby of 10 years, said: "I drive an extra one or two hours a day on top of my usual shift to make up for the decrease in customers."

However, a handful feel the introduction of GrabCar and Uber has not taken a toll on their business.

Mr Tan Chong Sing, 52, said: "I haven't really been impacted, as our advantage over private-hire car services is that we can still pick up passengers by flagdowns and at taxi stands, so we still have a steady customer flow. Relying on my company's booking system is enough to keep me busy."

Mr Ong, 57, who has been driving for eight years, admitted the introduction of Uber and GrabCar has had some positive impact: For example, his company has been more lenient on drivers like him.

"In the past, if there was a complaint against us, they would terminate (our services) straight away," he said in Mandarin.

"Now, they're more relaxed - they'll give a warning because they know we can just go and drive somewhere else."

Many cabbies are weighing up their options now that they have more avenues to ply their trade.

Mr Tan, who is in his 50s, said: "I will consider driving a private-hire car, but not at the moment as I think things are still unstable. Perhaps I can think about it again when the new rules kick in."

However, others feel they cannot get used to the new systems that Grab and Uber offer. "I've been driving (for my company) for so many years," said Mr Khoo.

Mr Tay, 50, scoffed at the thought of having several phones on display, as he knows some Uber and Grab drivers do. He said: "So many screens, how to keep up?"

With the new rules for private- hire car drivers set to be implemented next year, taxi drivers and companies have grudgingly accepted that the scenario has changed.

Mr Tay added: "We used to complain, but what can we do about it after the new rules have been announced? We can only accept them and move on."

Mr Tan, 61, a driver of more than 10 years with ComfortDelGro, said: "The standards need to be as strict (for Uber and GrabCar) as (they are for) taxis... We just want the requirements to be fairer."


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Concerns over private-hire car firms driving up COE premiums

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Concerns have been raised about private-hire car firms buying large numbers of certificates of entitlement (COEs) recently, even as the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it will continue to "monitor the situation" .

COE premiums for cars have continued to climb recently despite more being available. At the latest bidding, last week, the COE price for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp ended 2.8 per cent higher at $47,300. That for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp finished 5.5 per cent higher at $49,602.

Uber-owned Lion City Rental is believed to have submitted 630 bids, including in the Open category, and succeeded in obtaining 510 COEs - 14 per cent of total successful bids in the three categories.

In the previous tender, it secured 270 COEs from 810 bids submitted.

Though most of the approximately 10,000 private-hire cars on the road are older vehicles, in recent months both Uber and Grab have started competing with private car owners for fresh COEs.

Pressure on bids may also have come from other private-hire companies such as SMRT's new outfit, Strides.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee on Transport, said he hoped the Ministry of Transport would come up with more comprehensive rules for private-hire car operators, adding that it would be in the interest of the public as well as existing taxi operators.

"As a car owner myself, I'm concerned about how companies like Uber can impact COE prices," said Mr Lim, who is also Member of Parliament for Mountbatten.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad, who is also on the committee, said it may be time to review the regulations for Category A - for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp - and Category B - for cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp - to allow only private individuals to bid.

"One person can't fight against a company buying hundreds of cars," said Mr Zaqy, an MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC, adding that firms looking to buy vehicles should be restricted to the Open and commercial categories.

MP for Jurong GRC Ang Wei Neng said the bids by private-hire car services negated the higher supply of COEs and eroded the ability of individuals who may need to buy cars.

The LTA said the availability of private-hire services might reduce the demand for private cars over time.

It added that COE premiums are reflective of market supply and demand, and that it would continue to keep an eye on the situation.

Ms Daphne Gan, whose Honda Accord's COE expires next February, is concerned that Uber would drive COE prices up further.

"It's not right for them to bid in the private car categories," said the 33-year-old interior designer, who hopes the LTA would remove private-hire cars from the bidding process as it had with taxis in 2012.

Dr Walter Theseira, an economist with SIM University, said that while Uber buying large numbers of cars may raise COE prices in the short term, it was unclear what effect it would have in the long term.

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng supported the call for greater regulation, saying that firms had an unfair advantage over individuals when bidding for COEs.


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Singapore's Helen Keller fighting cancer

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Meningitis robbed her of her hearing and her sight when she was in her early teens, leaving her to live in a dark and silent world for nearly 60 years.

Now, Ms Theresa Chan Poh Lin, Singapore's Helen Keller, is battling another foe - cancer.

The 72-year-old, whose amazing life inspired film-maker Eric Khoo's award-winning movie Be With Me, was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer earlier this month.

She is now in Singapore General Hospital and has been told that the cancer has metastasised.

"There has been pain in my left leg and I've not been feeling very well since January, but I didn't know what I was suffering from until I came here," she told The Sunday Times from her hospital bed.

"But I'm not afraid of cancer.

"If I have to go home, I will be happy to see Jesus. I hope people will remember me and remember that whatever their disabilities, they should have hope and not be unhappy and discouraged," added the devout Catholic, articulating in complete sentences her responses to questions finger-spelled on her hands by an interpreter.

She has no regrets, she said, adding: "I have lived and loved and enjoyed a wonderful life."

The only daughter of a hawker and a waitress, she grew up in Chinatown's Sago Lane, where there were many funeral houses.

She lost her hearing at 12, and her sight at 14, after a bout of meningitis. Her life changed after a social worker found her.

An extraordinary chain of events saw her enrolled not only at the Singapore School for the Blind, where she learnt Braille, but also at the Perkins School for the Blind in the United States in 1960, where she learnt how to pronounce English words by feeling and touching a speaker's lips and throat.

The late John Wilson, who was director of the Royal Commonwealth Society for The Blind, described his encounter with Ms Chan in his 1963 book, Travelling Blind.

He wrote: "She told me she wanted to learn like Helen Keller, to speak English like the Queen of England, to meet everyone in the world.'

It was exactly what she did.

Ms Chan spent 13 years in the US.

She did not just receive an education. She also played sports and travelled extensively, not just the length and breadth of the US but also other countries including England, Germany, Portugal and Spain.

She met Queen Beatrix in the Netherlands, and the late Mother Teresa while attending mass in a New Delhi church.

She even fell in love, but tragically lost her boyfriend to throat cancer one Christmas morning.

After her return to Singapore in 1973, she taught at the School for the Blind until 1990.

An independent soul who lived on her own and cooked her own meals, her zest for life so inspired Mr Khoo that he made her the spine of his movie Be With Me.

The film, which explores the interconnected lives of several individuals, opened Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005.

Until she was admitted to hospital, Ms Chan stayed in touch with her friends and kept abreast of the news with her BrailleNote, a computer for people with visual disability, donated by the Khoo Foundation.

Her current condition has robbed her of her appetite, but not her wit or her feistiness.

Mr Khoo, who visited her in hospital, said: "She was frank, practical and, in her usual humorous way, told me and my sister not to send her any wreaths when she goes.

"She would prefer that the money go to her church."

He added: "Although she was in discomfort and a bit frail, she was still that tough cookie I met more than a decade ago - strong, brave, one of a kind.

"I really love her laughter."

During this interview, Ms Chan gamely posed for photos with her stuffed panda Popo and grumbled about a social worker who told her recently that she would be taken off public assistance and she needed to use her Central Provident Fund savings.

The septuagenarian, who hopes to be admitted to Assisi Hospice, also told The Sunday Times to put her story on "Book Face".

Ms Chan was referring to Facebook.

She has but one wish.

"Please remember me."


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Cafe owners worried as home bakers rise as 'rivals'

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From low-carb protein loaves to mango sticky rice tarts, more home bakers here are whetting appetites with their unique artisanal offerings. As they work from their own kitchens and do not run a brick- and-mortar shop, they are not required to be licensed by the National Environment Agency.

Most sell their products through word of mouth and social media.

However, concerns have surfaced over whether the authorities should be keeping a closer tab on the industry.

In a forum letter published last month, Ms Chong Siew Yen, 41, highlighted how home bakers who sell their products to the public are putting licensed bake shops at a disadvantage.

"We are competing with a higher cost, which includes rental, utility bills and licence fee," she wrote.

Home bakers come under the Housing Board's Home Based Small Scale Business Scheme, which allows them to practise "baking on a small scale for sale" in homes "without turning the flat into a bakery".

But Ms Chong, who owns The One Bake Shop in Toa Payoh, and other cafe owners The Sunday Times spoke to believe that such a definition is a grey area that home bakers could exploit.

"I've noticed several of them selling their baked goods to corporate clients and even catering a spread for functions," she said.

Ms Jessica Loh, who started dessert cafe Shiberty Bakes this month, said: "If I sell my cakes to my friends, is that not commercialism in a minor way?"

After baking from home for about four years, she decided to open her cafe at Owen Road.

"If you want to reel in the big clients, they will definitely require you to be licensed and operating in a commercial space," she explained.

However, running a cafe in Singapore is extremely costly, she added.

"It makes the business very cut-throat."

For housewife Shireen Shen Jega, 31, home baking has become a viable way to pursue her passion while selling her bakes for a small income.

The mother of two, who has been baking cupcakes and customised cakes for the past three years, has dreamt of opening a cafe, but the high costs of doing so has held her back on several occasions.

Clamping down on home bakers would stifle opportunities for those who are simply pursuing it as a hobby, she added.

"We have only one person doing the baking and that's definitely not going to generate a lot of business, compared to an established bakery," she said.

"In today's tough economy, we should be looking for opportunities to help everyone supplement their incomes."

Other home bakers believe that their baked products serve a niche market that would complement, rather than compete, with others in the industry.

For instance, 22-year-old Singapore Management University undergraduate and bodybuilder Yu Huimin enjoys baking "guilt-free" protein loaves and muffins for other health buffs like her.

A loaf, or a set of eight muffins, costs $13.20 and she receives about two orders of each every week.

She earns about $80 a month from home baking. "I bake protein products that have really good macro-nutrients. I even label them for customers if they are tracking their diet closely," said Ms Yu, who has enjoyed baking since she was 13.

Though she believes some form of regulation of the home baking industry is necessary, in particular to ensure food hygiene, she added that this could be difficult to enforce.

"Most bakers do this on an extremely small scale, like me. If all bakers had to be licensed, it would probably greatly reduce the number of recreational bakers who don't rely on this as a source of income."


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Singapore 'not immune to terrorist ideology'

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Stressing that Singapore is not immune to terrorist ideologies, Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs Amrin Amin yesterday urged the youth here to be vigilant and work towards maintaining social cohesion.

He stressed the need to be careful about what they read online, to verify sources of information and be responsible users on social media.

Addressing about 300 students at a forum on countering radicalism, he said that while Singapore has tough laws and tight border security, the crux of its counter-terrorism strategy is a community which is vigilant, resilient and united.

"The modes of attacks are targeted at tearing people apart," he explained, adding that terror attacks aim to get people to mistrust one another.

Yesterday's event, held at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College West, is the fourth youth forum held by the Inter-Agency Aftercare Group - a voluntary group set up to support families of detained terrorists.

Mr Amrin said that while recent attacks in Paris and Brussels are half a world away, Singapore is still susceptible. He highlighted how 27 Bangladeshi foreign workers were arrested last year under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

They supported armed jihad ideology of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

It was also revealed last month that four Singaporeans had been dealt with under the ISA for undertaking or intending to undertake violence in overseas armed conflicts.

Two were detained last year, while the others were placed under restriction this year.

But countering terrorist ideology cannot be the Government's job alone, and communities have to be watchful and guide loved ones from going down the wrong path.

The anonymous nature of the Internet also allows individuals to propagate violent ideas, and he urged them to be mindful of what they read.

"Take care what you read online, verify sources and help to correct misconceptions. When seeking religious knowledge, it's important that you check the sources," Mr Amrin said.

He encouraged young people to get involved in community exercises against terrorism, and also to be aware of what to do in an emergency.

He also said on the Government's part, a national movement called SG Secure will help strengthen the community response to terrorist threats and to stay united in the aftermath of an attack.

Second-year ITE student Shilpa Shades, 19, one of the participants, said: "These forums are useful in that it keeps young people like us aware of how we should prevent ourselves and our peers from falling into terrorist ideologies, and joining these groups."


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Wages in Singapore are competitive, survey shows

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Singaporean workers had much to cheer about last year.

Citizen unemployment was low and the labour market remained tight with more jobs chasing available workers, even though redundancies grew as well.

The nominal median wages of Singaporean workers grew 6.5 per cent last year.

After adjusting for the negative inflation of 0.5 per cent, the real growth of wages was 7 per cent.

But even as wages raced ahead, productivity growth remained tepid. It shrank by 0.1 per cent last year.

This has led some analysts to question if these wage increases are sustainable over the longer term.

Can too much wage growth be a bad thing in the long run?

PRODUCTIVITY VS WAGES: A SIMPLE EQUATION

The problem of wage growth outstripping productivity growth in Singapore is not a new one.

In fact, a chart drawn up by The Sunday Times on productivity and wage changes in the last decade found that wages grew faster than productivity in eight of the past nine years.

The only year when wages lagged behind productivity growth was in 2010 when productivity grew 11.6 per cent and median gross income grew 2.5 per cent as Singapore rebounded from the global financial crisis. (See chart.)

When asked if it is worried about wages rising faster than productivity, the Manpower Ministry (MOM) would only say: "Wage growth may fluctuate from year to year, and it is useful to look at a longer period."

It did not shed more light on the reasons behind the 7 per cent wage hike of Singaporeans or the long-term trend of wage growth.

But wage growth without a corresponding rise in productivity is a recipe for disaster, said economists.

In the recent debate in Parliament on MOM's annual budget, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say put out some simple maths to illustrate the dire situation of low productivity.

Economic growth is a combination of both manpower growth and productivity growth.

The problem with Singapore, however, is that recent growth has largely been powered by manpower growth.

Over the past five years, the Singapore economy's growth of about 4 per cent a year was powered solely by manpower growth, while productivity was more or less stagnant, Mr Lim told Parliament.

Add in a shrinking local labour force and a slowing foreign workforce growth, and the result is simple: Growth will fall.

"Without a breakthrough in productivity growth... low growth will become the new norm," he warned.

And if productivity does not improve, the country's economic competitiveness over the long run will take a hit, economists pointed out.

Said Singapore Management University (SMU) Professor of Economics Hoon Hian Teck: "Wage growth that outstrips labour productivity growth translates into declining profit margins, business closures, and layoff of workers.

"Unless accompanied by a depreciation of the Singapore dollar, the increase in unit labour costs also implies a loss of international competitiveness."

Singapore Business Federation (SBF) chief executive Ho Meng Kit agreed.

"If wage growth continues to outpace productivity growth, we will price ourselves out of a globally competitive market. Our businesses will be uncompetitive," he said.

In a paper published in February, Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) economist Foo Xian Yun found that from 2005 to last year, labour productivity grew annually by 0.5 per cent.

But the real wages of the resident labour force grew by 1 per cent annually.

If employers' Central Provident Fund contributions were added, the annual wage growth was even higher at 2 per cent.

"It will be difficult to sustain increases in wages over the longer term without a corresponding increase in productivity, given the potential impact on our economy's competitiveness," she warned.

SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS

But while it is easy to understand the maths behind the productivity challenge, fixing it is a lot harder.

For one thing, it is a difficult task just trying to get an accurate measure of productivity.

Economists point out that the way labour productivity is measured - gross domestic product divided by the total number of workers - is too crude.

This is because of the large pool of lower-skilled, low-wage foreign workers present in the Singapore economy, said labour economist Hui Weng Tat from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Many of these low-skilled workers end up doing low-value jobs and are also not eligible for subsidies to upgrade their skills.

As a result, overall productivity is pulled down, especially if companies continue to rely on large numbers of foreign workers.

"Productivity performance is the outcome of joint team effort of both local and foreign workers," said Associate Professor Hui.

The other fear is that should wages continue to push above market rates for an extended period of time, when a recession hits, workers could take a hard hit, with large numbers of layoffs.

On the flip side, the rapid wage growth could also be the result of distortionary factors in the economy.

Government policies in recent years also probably accelerated the pace of wage growth among Singaporeans, said economists.

Prof Hui said government wage subsidies like Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) and the Wage Credit Schemes could have raised wages without corresponding productivity improvements.

The WIS scheme was introduced in 2007 to boost the income of low-wage workers.

The Wage Credit Scheme was introduced in 2013 as a three-year scheme under which the Government co-funds 40 per cent of the wage increases that are given to Singaporean employees over 2013 to last year. It has been extended to next year at a lower co-funding level of 20 per cent.

Said Prof Hui: "Both schemes increased income without providing incentives for the employer to raise productivity through training or job and process redesign."

Correspondingly, the national push to raise productivity, which includes programmes like the Productivity and Innovation Credit scheme launched in 2010, has not made a tangible impact on the productivity numbers.

NOT ALL GLOOMY, YET

But while economists and businesses are clearly worried about Singapore losing its competitiveness should wages continue to push ahead of productivity, some said that it is not all doom and gloom yet.

For many companies, including multinational firms, the decision to set up shop in Singapore rests on a multitude of factors.

Labour is a big part of that equation but firms also have other reasons for wanting to do so.

So far, Singapore has managed to retain its top billing in many international surveys of economic competitiveness.

For instance, it ranked second in the World Economic Forum's Global Economic Competitiveness Report last year.

NUS economist Tilak Abeysinghe noted that commercial rents became lower in the second half of last year.

"There may not be a substantial erosion of international competitiveness as yet," he said.

SMU's Prof Hoon said that there are other factors that continue to make Singapore attractive to foreign investors.

"Our strong legal and corporate infrastructure, our strong economic link with the global economy, and a forward-looking and eager-to-learn workforce all provide us a margin of advantage," he said.

It comes down to whether Singapore workers are able to make themselves invaluable to employers, said SBF's Mr Ho.

"So long as our workers provide a premium to the companies they work for exceeding their cost, they will be competitive.

"However, that premium is no longer a given. It has to be worked for and earned," he warned.

The productivity push has also made progress since it was launched, with the Government taking a more targeted approach in tackling it now.

Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam identified the laggard in the productivity race: the domestic sectors of the economy.

From 2011 to last year, the average annual productivity growth in outward-oriented sectors, such as manufacturing and finance, was 3.2 per cent. But in the domestic sectors such as construction and retail, it was 0.2 per cent.

Mr Victor Mills, chief executive of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, is not surprised by how the domestic and export sectors responded to the productivity push.

"The export sectors have no choice (but to innovate) because they're competing globally," he said.

Lastly, Singapore's challenge is not a unique one as others are also grappling with the same problem. This gives the country some buffer to find the right solutions.

According to the MTI paper last year, the wage and productivity growth trends of nine developed economies from 2004 to 2014 showed that in countries like Canada, France and Germany, productivity also lagged behind real wage growth.

But in countries like the US, South Korea and Japan, real wage growth was lower than the productivity gains over the same period.

Said Ms Foo: "Apart from helping export-oriented sectors to restructure into higher value-added products and services, emphasis should also be placed on raising the productivity of domestically oriented sectors in order to sustain wage growth in these sectors."

The $4.5 billion Industry Transformation Package introduced in the recent Budget is proof that the Government has not given up the fight to raise productivity.

Workers and employers now need to roll up their sleeves and get down to the hard work of getting more value from the same amount of resources.

Singapore's economic competitiveness and its workers' wages depend on it.


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S'porean takes part in N Korean marathon, becomes translator for tour group in Pyongyang

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On April 7, 13 North Korean restaurant workers defected en masse to South Korea.

This suggests that North Korea is a place people flee from, not flock to.

Yet three days later, 1,000 foreigners flocked to the reclusive country to run in the Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, also known as the Pyongyang Marathon.

Singaporean Ong Wann was one of them. She was there with her brother, a running enthusiast, to race in the 10km category of the event.

He had asked her to go along to be his translator as she speaks Korean.

Miss Ong, 39, who owns and operates the Hanok Korean Language School in Singapore, had studied to be a Korean language teacher in Sogang University and Kyung Hee University in Seoul.

She had previously run the 10km race in the Standard Chartered Marathon and Great Eastern Women's Run. This would be her first overseas race.

Was she apprehensive about going to North Korea, especially since an American tourist was recently sentenced to 15 years of hard labour for stealing a poster from a Pyongyang hotel?

"Nope," Miss Ong says. "I have friends who have been there and all of them got back safely.

"But the South Korean teachers in my school were both excited and worried for me. One of them said, 'You must come back alive!'

"Although she was joking, I think she really meant it too."

WORST AIRLINE

Miss Ong had to fly from Singapore to Beijing, China, to make the connecting flight to Pyongyang on Air Koryo, North Korea's national carrier, which has been ranked the world's worst airline four years in a row by Skytrax.

After surviving the two-hour flight, she was surprised to find that she could order a skinny latte at the Pyongyang airport cafe.

"Some cafes in Singapore don't even have low-fat milk," she says.

Miss Ong was then taken in a tour bus to 22m-tall bronze statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il and instructed to place flowers in front of the statues and bow to them.

During a pre-tour briefing, Miss Ong was told that the leaders were treated almost like religious figures, and visitors must be careful not to behave inappropriately at their monuments.

While photography is allowed, the whole statue must be in the frame. You cannot, for example, take a picture of the statues from the waist up.

There are other restrictions - no photos of the military, construction sites and local people without their permission.

But when Miss Ong saw a local couple using the giant statues as backdrop for a bridal shoot, she couldn't resist taking a picture of them - without their permission.

It is a wonder she wasn't arrested and sent to a labour camp immediately.

You are also not allowed to go anywhere without your tour guide. At the hotel, guests were warned not to wander beyond the hotel grounds.

Not that you would want or need to. In the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where Miss Ong stayed and the American stole the poster, you can drink at the bar, buy snacks, shop for souvenirs, get a haircut, swim, bowl, play billiards and table tennis, and sing karaoke to rock classics like Bohemian Rhapsody.

"During the pre-tour briefing, we were told there's a massage parlour, which was really a brothel," she says.

Before going to Pyongyang, Miss Ong also read that the North Koreans foreigners see on the streets are actors.

To verify this, after completing her 10km race, she chatted with two young North Korean runners and asked for permission to take pictures with them. "They are not actors," she concludes.

Her fluency in the Korean language also came in handy as she became the de facto translator for her tour group of runners from Europe, US, Israel and Hong Kong, who turned to her to find out the prices of souvenirs and decipher random signs and slogans on propaganda posters for sale.

"I know as tourists, what we saw and experienced are many times better than what most North Korean enjoy," says Miss Ong.

"By talking to the local tour guides, it seems their leisure lives revolve around sports and hanging out with friends and family.

"Although they use mobile phones and have a national intranet instead of the Internet, they are careful about what they say and have a slower pace of life - it's almost like going back to 30 years ago.

Miss Ong flew out of North Korea with her brother the day after the marathon and was surprised that at the Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, their cameras weren't checked for unauthorised photographs.

PRESUMPTIONS

The trip made her grapple with her presumptions about the country, "some true and others utter nonsense", she says.

"I could describe the experience as surreal, strange, unexpected, because the place is really more normal than what we expected it to be."

Back in Singapore, in the taxi from Changi Airport, Miss Ong mentioned to the driver that she and her brother had just returned from North Korea and was taken aback by the cabby's intense reaction.

She recounts: "He started telling us how dangerous the place was and insisted that it wasn't safe like we said.

"It was as if he was the one there - not us."


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What does it mean to be poor in Singapore

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Nicholas wants to shield his extended family from the shame of him being poor in Singapore.

He wants a fictitious name used and pictures that do not show his face.

The former freelance tutor, 51, tells The New Paper on Sunday: "I have siblings, nephews and nieces here, and I don't want to shame them."

Nicholas did not start out poor.

He had a job that paid $2,500 a month and was a strapping man until he took ill suddenly in 2008.

"My potassium level had fallen really low a couple of times that year, and I had to be warded and given potassium chloride from a drip.

"The pain was excruciating," he recalls.

It was then that Nicholas was diagnosed with diabetes, a condition that had gone undetected for two years.

By the time it was discovered, he had already suffered nerve damage.

The chronic disease that cost him his sense of touch also took away his confidence to teach and face the world.

"No one would give me, a sick man, a job. My self-confidence and emotions took a tumble," he says.

"The condition got worse and I lost the use of my left hand. I've no feeling in my hands - I can't retrieve coins from my trouser pockets because I can't feel them."

Getting up from a chair or the toilet seat is a long-drawn-out process.

STRUGGLE

"It takes me 10 to 20 minutes every morning when I go to the toilet because I struggle to get up. The pain I encounter every day cripples me, both physically and mentally," Nicholas says.

He could not work because of his condition, and it took a toll on his mental well-being. He is also now no longer on speaking terms with his family. Without support, Nicholas became depressed.

"I tried applying for a rental flat, and the Housing Board officer advised me to approach the CDC (Community Development Council).

"I guess I ticked all the boxes because I got on Public Assistance without any hitches," he says.

Nicholas says that out of the $450 he receives a month, he has a little more than $200 left after paying all his bills.

"It is still a struggle. I've to make sure I spend only between $7 and $8 a day to survive," he says.

"Every morning, Willing Hearts delivers food packs. I usually have that for lunch - sometimes for both lunch and dinner. I add water to make the food into porridge for dinner," he adds.

Willing Hearts operates a soup kitchen that cooks and distributes about 4,500 meals to the needy every day.

Fully run by volunteers, its beneficiaries include the elderly, people with disabilities, low-income families, children from single-parent families as well as migrant workers here.

Nicholas says his Medisave ran out in 2013 and he now depends on help from both Changi General Hospital and the CDC for his medical expenses.

Every day is a struggle for Nicholas.

When asked what he fears most, he says: "Tomorrow."

Robin Hood of North Bridge Road


Photo: The New Paper

Mr Willie Yeo, 65, is wheelchair-bound and needs financial and medical help.

But his poor elderly neighbours are his priority.

"Whenever my friends, who remember me, take me out for a scrumptious meal at a grand restaurant, I would tar pau (pack in Hokkien) food back for my neighbours," he says.

It is no wonder that he earned the nickname "Robin Hood" among his neighbours at the rental flats in North Bridge Road.

Mr Yeo, a divorcee who lives alone, says he lost his job because of his many health problems.

"The bank foreclosed my flat in Yishun, and I was forced to sell it. I made only $15,000 from the sale, which went to paying back money I had borrowed," he says.

"I used to be a roving salesman more than 10 years ago, selling beads for making jewellery.

ILLNESSES

"I would lug between 20 and 30kg of beads from one place to another and travelling only by public transport," he says.

He believes that was the cause of his degenerative wear and tear of his right ankle, which resulted in metal pieces being attached to his right foot.

Mr Yeo has a litany of other problems.

"I have diabetes and hypertension, and I suffer from fatty liver. I also have asthma and testicular cancer.

"I recently underwent radiation treatment for prostate cancer. I go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for a check-up twice a month. That's why the nurses all know me well," he says with a chuckle.

He is also recovering from a fractured right shoulder - believed to be due to osteoporosis - and suffers from pain in his knees.

While his medication is covered by Medifund and the hospital's endowment fund, Mr Yeo is no longer on Public Assistance since he started collecting his Central Provident Fund in 2013 after he turned 62.

"So I withdraw $540 each month, and I sell tissue paper to earn another $300 to supplement my income," he says.

Some people have rebuked him for selling tissue paper and that has depressed Mr Yeo.

"I hope people understand that we didn't ask to be sick and to be thrown suddenly into poverty.

"Who doesn't want to be healthy and earn a proper living?

"Perhaps that's why I throw myself into helping my neighbours out. I feel happy when I see them happy," he says.

He hopes to become healthy again


Photo: The New Paper

He was once a cook - and a good one too, he says.

Then the 54-year-old, who wants to be known only as Mr Lee, suffered a heart attack and stroke six years ago.

He says he lost his job, his family and a roof over his head.

The bachelor was living with his mother in her flat in the east of Singapore, but he felt like a burden as he was jobless and sick, so he left.

"I felt that I was a disappointment to her. If I were not living there, it would be out of sight, out of mind," he says, tears welling in his eyes.

Homeless for the last three years, Mr Lee has been sleeping in parks and sometimes at an uncle's place.

"He recently suffered from a stroke, so by staying over, I can help to keep an eye on things," he adds.

Mr Lee gets his meals from charity Willing Hearts, which runs a soup kitchen.

PHYSIOTHERAPY

"Previously I went to a Chinese temple in Geylang for vegetarian food. Many homeless people I've met take their meals there.

"But I developed gout and have to stay away from bean-based food, so I stopped going to the temple," he says.

For his daily hygiene, Mr Lee says he goes to a public pool for his showers.

"I don't go in free of charge. I use the voucher given out by the Government for SG50. I also swim once in a while as a form of physiotherapy.

"I am hoping to get back my health so that I will be able to look for a job," he says.

He told The New Paper on Sunday that his Public Assistance fund of $400 a month "will dry up by the end of the month".

"I can't simply wait around for handout," he says.

He was advised to claim insurance as he suffered his heart attack while still working, "but I don't want to, because that would mean if I win, then I cannot seek help from any government agencies any longer".

He does not have a clue how much money he can claim from his insurance.

Mr Lee hopes to return to cooking for a hawker stall, even though the stress may be too much for his heart to take.

"I am working on getting healthy because that is the only skill I know, but I am worried no one will hire a sick man," he says.

"Then again, tomorrow is another day," he adds in a chirpy voice before riding off on his bicycle, with his worldly possession contained in the basket behind him.

About the study

To design solutions for the poor and get low-income Singaporeans to help lead the study, the researchers formed an advisory committee made up of 10 men and women from low-income communities.

The Centre for Culture-Centred Approach to Research and Evaluation then launched an online campaign to raise awareness on poverty here.

Research assistant Naomi Tan says: "This is where we argue that the community members, in this case the low-income, are in the best position to identify and define the problems they face and the corresponding solutions that would actually be impactful and relevant to them."

What does it mean to be poor

The study found:

Low-income Singaporeans either live in interim or public rental housing. Some are homeless.

They have a monthly household income of $1,500 or less. Some are on Public Assistance, which ranges from $450 to $1,180 each month and has a set of eligibility criteria.

They are unable to afford healthcare as they do not have enough savings or do not earn enough.

Some of the elderly, despite having children, are struggling to get by.

They suffer from food insecurity, so they eat cheap but non-nutritious food.

They cut down on the number of hot meals a day, worry if there is enough food in the house and are choosing to not spend their limited cash on healthier foods

Challenges faced by the poor

Although the resources to help are available, the poor do not know how to get information on what they are eligible for or how to get to the relevant agencies.

Another significant hurdle is the submission of an application that is according to the requirements set out by the agencies.

Many from the low-income group find the stringent conditions tedious and frustrating.

Stigma and alienation from relatives and the community at large hinder the poor from seeking the help needed.

The Government has set up safety nets, such as Medifund, for low-income individuals who face health problems.

Despite these efforts, they still cannot afford healthcare due to insufficient savings or a low wage.


This article was first published on April 24, 2016.
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Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 21:00
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Bukit Batok by-election: Nomination Centre open to public from 10am on April 27

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Supporters and members of the public are advised to arrive only after 10am at the Nomination Centre for the Bukit Batok by-election, when it is open to the public on Nomination Day on Wednesday (April 27).

A police statement said that proceedings at the Nomination Centre, at Keming Primary School, will commence from 11am, and that candidates are reminded to arrive early.

Keming Primary School is located at 90 Bukit Batok East Avenue 6.

Parking is prohibited at the Nomination Centre, so supporters and members of the public are advised to take public transport to the venue.

The statement also said that the police will step up deployment and conduct security checks in and around the centre.

Bags and other belongings brought into the Nomination Centre will be subject to security checks and those planning to go are advised not to bring along items such as sharp objects, flammable liquids or gas, bulky items or big bags.

No placards, flags or banners of any candidates are to be displayed in the Nomination Centre before the close of nomination proceedings.

The public is also advised not to bring in or fly any unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, into and/or the Nomination Centre as this could endanger public safety. The police will take firm action against anyone who does so.

The police will also monitor the law and order situation closely, and will not hesitate to take action again anyone who is unruly or who commits any offence at the Nomination Centre.

The statement added that the police seeks the co-operation of supporters and members of the public to assemble at and to disperse from the Nomination Centre in an orderly manner.

sujint@sph.com.sg

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Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 14:16
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