Miss Anna was on the way back from the supermarket around 10am yesterday when she noticed a large crowd gathering at the void deck.
The 37-year-old domestic worker , who declined to give her full name, later watched the drama from her window on the third storey of Block 8, Jalan Rumah Tinggi.
"I saw a man being wheeled out on a stretcher from the rubbish chute under my unit. He was shaking and there was so much blood," Miss Anna told The New Paper on Sunday.
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Worker injured after falling through rubbish chute
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to a case of fall from height at about 10.10am.
When the rescuers arrived, they found an injured man in a one-man cage inside a rubbish chute on the ground floor.
TNPS understands that the injured man is Mr Balarugan, a construction worker from Chennai, India. He works for Scaf- Link Engineering.
SCDF officers spent 15 minutes using a hydraulic cutter to get Mr Balarugan out.
He was then taken to the National University Hospital, which had been alerted to be on standby to receive him.
It is believed that Mr Balarugan sustained serious injuries from the fall, including fractures on his ankles, shins and thighs and abdominal swelling, as well as spinal injuries.
Miss Anna said the victim appeared to be in shock as SCDF officers tended to him.
With tears in her eyes, she said: "It looked like he was in so much pain, I couldn't bear watching it."
Mr Balarugan was part of a team subcontracted by ATC Painting and Trading, which was carrying out repairs and redecoration works at the block.
Safety procedures
A contractor from ATC told TNPS that Mr Balarugan was lining the inner walls of the rubbish chute when the accident happened. It is not known how high up he was before the fall.
"We always make sure the proper safety procedures are in place. In this case, maybe the single man cradle slipped and he fell, but we are still investigating the cause," said the ATC contractor, who declined to be named.
A total of 54 workers have died on the job this year, with falls being the most common cause, according to a report on workplace safety released by the Ministry of Manpower on Sept 26.
This article was first published on October 9, 2016.
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Seven in 10 people with mental illness believe they are stigmatised by society, while slightly more than half have problems joining community events.
These are some of the key findings of the first government survey on the well-being of those with mental health issues.
Describing the findings as worrying, social workers are calling for more to be done to raise awareness of the problem.
The National Council of Social Service (NCSS) - a statutory board that oversees more than 450 social service organisations here - polled 477 people recovering from mental health issues such as mood and anxiety disorders or schizophrenia last year.
The study, whose results were released to The Sunday Times yesterday, found that 55 per cent had problems joining communal activities, including public festivities and communal sporting events.
Seven in 10 said they had problems "living with dignity" because of the attitudes and actions of others, meaning they do not feel accepted by society or that they can contribute meaningfully to it.
Ms Tan Li Li, executive director of the Singapore Association for Mental Health, said the findings are of concern as the respondents were using mental health social services in the community.
This means that they were likely to have less severe mental health issues and were able to hold jobs.
"So, knowing that 70 per cent have problems due to the attitudes of others may be cause for us to think about what we are lacking as a society," she said.
More than one in 10 people here will have a mental health condition in their lifetime, according to a 2010 Singapore mental health study.
The most common condition is major depressive disorder, which affected more than 5 per cent of adults in the 2010 survey, or more than 57,000 men and twice as many adult women.
Mr Anjan Ghosh, director of the service planning and development group at NCSS, highlighted that this feeling of being stigmatised could also stem from the respondents' own perceived fears and misconceptions.
He urged more interaction between both groups.
He added: "It is a vicious circle. The more there is perceived stigma, the more people with mental health issues isolate themselves and the more misconceptions develop due to the lack of interaction."
To raise awareness and educate the public on mental health issues, NCSS is coming up with a series of videos featuring real-life stories of people with conditions such as depression.
Last year, NCSS and the Singapore Anglican Community Services started an employment internship programme that provides on-the-job training for people with mental health issues.
By March next year, NCSS intends to start an employment assistance programme that will enable employers, through training for instance, to better understand and harness the potential of such workers.
Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob yesterday also made a call for employers to drop their prejudices and stop discriminating against people with mental health conditions.
Speaking on the sidelines of a mass walk in Orchard Road aimed at combating such stigma, held to mark World Mental Health Day tomorrow, she said getting hired is an important step in the road towards recovery for such people.
Employment will help them find a "meaningful purpose" and enable them to take care of their own needs, explained Madam Halimah, who is an MP in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC. "Give people with mental health issues a chance to work and also to contribute to the company," she urged.
•Additional reporting by Melody Zaccheus
This article was first published on Oct 09, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>Seven in 10 people with mental illness believe they are stigmatised by society, while slightly more than half have problems joining community events.</p>
The hallucinations and delusions started in her late teens. Then five years ago, Ms Hafizah Kamarulzaman was diagnosed with schizophrenia after giving birth to her son.
While the single mother, now 23, managed to control her condition after seeking help, she struggled to get a job for almost four years, she told The Sunday Times.
She described how she was turned down for positions in the food and beverage and healthcare sectors, on the sidelines of an event called "Walk with Us, Stamp out Stigma". It was held in Orchard Road yesterday to combat the stigma faced by people with mental health conditions.
She said: "When the boss saw in my application form for a waitressing job that I had a mental illness, he asked what would happen if I had a relapse. I told him I had coping methods that I could use.
"His response was, 'If that's the case, then our position is full'."
Ms Hafizah finally found a job late last year as a programme executive at Club Heal, a social service organisation that helps people who have mental illnesses. It was also where she had been treated.
Yesterday's event was co-organised by the Agency for Integrated Care alongside 14 other community health partners such as Caregivers Alliance and the Institute of Mental Health, to commemorate World Mental Health Day, which is observed tomorrow.
At the event, Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob urged employers not to be prejudiced against people with mental health conditions.
In a recent National Council of Social Service survey of 477 people recovering from mental health issues, seven in 10 said they had problems "living with dignity" because of other people's attitudes and actions, making them feel unaccepted by society or unable to contribute meaningfully to it.
Others interviewed by The Sunday Times said they felt the sense of societal rejection most acutely while job hunting.
Ms Yamuna Segaran (above) suffers from acute anxiety and depression. Photo: The Straits Times
Ms Yamuna Segaran, 26, who has had acute anxiety and depression since her teenage years, said an interviewer once pushed her resume away upon learning about her mental health condition.
This was even though the interviewer had initially been impressed by her work experience.
Ms Yamuna, a part-time student at Kaplan Singapore who is pursuing a counselling degree from Northumbria University, said: "The look on the interviewer's face is still etched in my mind."
While she wanted to reintegrate into society, the difficulties she faced in finding a job made it harder to do so. She persisted in her job search, thanks to the support of her family, counsellor and psychiatrist and has since found a job as a supervisor at a bar.
Ms Valerie Liu, 34, who has had schizophrenia since 2008, feels that people with mental illnesses also have to overcome their own biases and fears. Some may themselves hold negative stereotypes associated with mental health sufferers, or be afraid of communicating with people.
Ms Winnie Kong, 28, a thrift shop sales assistant who suffers from borderline personality disorder, said she had been rejected by employers for positions in administration and sales.
She said: "They think that we are violent but this is not true in most cases. I think we should be given a chance."
You can call Greater Bukit Brown Cemetery a social and cultural repository of early Singapore. In recent years, researchers have slowly unearthed the stories of many pioneering Chinese immigrants who rest there.
But it was only last month that the 1888 grave of a key personality, a merchant who was one of the original land donors of the cemetery itself, was found.
Mr Raymond Goh, a "tomb hunter" famous in the heritage scene here, had often passed by the tomb of Mr Ong Chong Chew without realising it was what he had been looking for. It was only on Sept 17, on one of his tomb-hunting walks in the grounds of Seh Ong Cemetery, that Mr Goh found the tomb.
"It had escaped my radar all this time because I was expecting a tomb from the Qing dynasty era to have a more elaborate design."
The tomb is in a forested part of the cemetery slanting downwards. It had been nudged into that position by the roots of an old tree.
On closer inspection, Mr Goh saw it bore the posthumous name of Mr Ong as "Ting Ying", and listed the names of his four sons. This corroborated with research by his great-great granddaughter, retired librarian Ong Chwee Im, 75, who had written a book about her ancestor in 2006.
The tomb bearing Mr Ong Chong Chew’s posthumous name, “Ting Ying”, and the names of his four sons. Photo: The Straits Times
The inscribed 1888 date in Chinese was another telltale sign.
Mr Goh had been trying to track down the tomb after descendants of the late pioneer asked him for help in doing so in 2011.
He told The Sunday Times his search was especially intense in the first year, and he spent many weekends combing through different parcels of Greater Bukit Brown, which includes Seh Ong and the Hokkien Huay Kuan cemeteries. "His descendants and I had looked through old records from the Ong Clan but we couldn't find any paper trail... It was very challenging locating the tomb."
It turns out that Mr Goh had been looking in the wrong area - bashing through overgrowth at the Sime Road section of Seh Ong Cemetery after a false lead.
Mr Goh was elated when he finally found Mr Ong's tomb. "I realised that the long-lost grave I had been looking for over the past five years had finally been found."
The late Mr Ong had come to Singapore from "dirt poor conditions" in Bai Qiao village in Fujian province as a young man in the 1850s.
He did well, setting up a lumber and shipping company called Teck Cheang located along Rochor River.
By 1864, he began buying land, and came to own parcels in Toa Payoh, Amoy Street, Bugis Street, Telok Ayer, Hylam Street, Victoria Street and Cecil Street.
Ms Ong had learnt about her ancestor's role in Bukit Brown Cemetery only in the 1980s. She had read about him in a 1923 tome called One Hundred Years' History Of The Chinese In Singapore, which listed the late Mr Ong, as well as Mr Ong Ewe Hai and Mr Ong Kew Ho, both of whom can also be traced back to Bai Qiao, as having donated 500 yuan (S$103) to buy 85ha of Bukit Timah land. The trio had decided to give back to the community in 1872.
Their original plan was to build a village for newly arrived immigrants from China. "The three Ongs left a worthwhile, noble and pragmatic gift to the people of Singapore," said Ms Ong.
But eventually the area was used as a cemetery and came to be known as Seh Ong Cemetery.
As the area was under-utilised, the colonial authorities converted 39ha of it into a burial ground for the Chinese around 1919, before officially opening it as the Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery in 1922.
Mr Goh said the remains of the late Ong Ewe Hai either rest in Bukit Brown or have been transferred to a temple. Ms Ong said Mr Ong Kew Ho is likely to be buried in Malacca.
Her research also points to why the late Mr Ong's grave was not as elaborate as those of his contemporaries - it had likely been remade in the 1950s following its reinterment from the family's estate in Telok Blangah to Kheam Hock Road where Seh Ong Cemetery is today.
Man discovers final resting places of Lee Kuan Yew's maternal ancestors
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The New Paper, Raymond Goh
Last week, Mr Goh took The Sunday Times and Ms Ong's brother, Mr Ong Chin Leong, 69, a retired businessman, and her son, businessman Yeo Han Yong, 47, to the site.
There, they also got to see the graves of Mr Ong Chong Chew's eldest son Ong Kim Cheow, a founding member of the Straits Chinese Recreation Club who died in 1909, along with his wife "Tan Kim Tay Neo", as was written on the tombstone.
The graves of Mr Ong Kim Cheow (right) and his wife "Tan Kim Tay Neo". Photo: The Straits Times
Mr Ong hopes to show the graves of their forefathers to the rest of his family.
"This find is important to us because I get to tell them that our line goes back this far."
Meanwhile, work goes on for Mr Goh. While he has helped to reconnect more than 100 families with their ancestors, he still has another 50 or so outstanding requests.
"New discoveries await. The search must go on," he said.
melodyz@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on October 9, 2016.
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First-time Singaporean comic book writer Shaun Kang's graphic novel Flesh & Steel took four years to hit the shelves here. But the 160-page fantasy comic, which was released here in April, has already been picked up by a foreign publisher.
American publisher Caliber Comics will release it for the Western market next year.
It is a dream come true for Kang, who was gunning to have his first book travel beyond Singapore.
"It's not a localised story with Singaporean elements driving it. I wanted to create something that could be appreciated without the context of our local culture. I wanted to create fantasy. And maybe see it made into a Hollywood movie," says the 31-year-old.
At the heart of the black-and-white comic is Golem, a humanoid weapon forged from steel. Living and battling in a time of war, among knights and cavaliers armed with guns and swords, he struggles to find acceptance while trying to live with the fact that he was brought to life to kill.
It is Kang's spin on the tale of Golem of Prague, a creature fashioned from clay and brought to life to defend a Jewish community from their enemies.
The concept for it had been stewing in his head for years - one of the earlier story ideas he had been nursing since he started making up his own tales at age 15.
"But it took 15 years more before I finally had the time, determination and money to turn my book into reality. Aside from interest, you need those three things at the very least to get your work published," says the investment adviser at a private bank.
Kang finished his script in 2012, but was initially unsure whom he could send it to for consideration.
He decided to float it by comic artist Jerry Hinds, the president of the Association of Comic Artists (Singapore). Their first encounter was in 2009, when Kang submitted an entry for a comics anthology Hinds was putting together.
"My work didn't get selected, but we still kept in touch which, in hindsight, has been a great blessing," says Kang.
"I ended up getting in touch with Jerry because he seemed like the only guy in Singapore who would even bother to give my submission a read. And I know that he's published his own comics before, so if anyone could help, it would be him."
Hinds, a Briton who moved to Singapore in 1997, loved it. It was, he says, an easy read and a solid story - and he enjoyed that it was high fantasy, a different concept from what most comic offerings from Singapore were.
Flesh & Steel was produced with the support of the Association of Comic Artists (Singapore) and the National Arts Council, and published by Nice One Entertainment.
Hinds, 52, started Nice One Entertainment in 2002 as a vehicle to publish his own concept, Get Carter! The Last Dragon Scout. It is slowly growing its stable and has since put out 11 comics.
"I set it up not to make money, but rather to further a cause," says Hinds. "Local publishers of comics, graphic novels and manga tend to produce books that are either reprints from foreign territories, stories closely based on Singapore society, or educational."
But Nice One Entertainment, he says, looks for works that may not fit neatly in those boxes - stories that are "distinctly escapist" or that deal with the "extraordinary".
Another graphic novel it published here this year, Return, has also caught the eye of Caliber Comics, which has put out works by creators such as critically acclaimed comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis.
Caliber founder Gary Reed said that when he looked through Flesh & Steel, he was impressed by the quality and professionalism of the package.
He said: "Everything resonated - from the story to the artwork - into an exciting story that was well-told, well-drawn and well-executed."
He died of a heart attack last Sunday.
For Kang, a lifelong comic fan, creating a comic was an eye-opening experience he describes as "on-the-job training".
Conceptualising and writing the script was the easy part because he had full control of the story, but then came the real slog: cobbling it together with the artists.
"As a writer, it's not always easy to effectively communicate what you envision to the artist and that creates the need for a lot of back-and-forth and redrafts to get it in shape," he says.
"After a while, you learn the importance of specificity when describing a panel to the artist, from the angle to how 'clean' you want the panel to be. It's a lot like being a film director, I suppose."
While the script took him about three months to write, the actual production work took years.
Partway through the project, the book lost its original artist, Filipino Ernani Faraon - an Association of Comic Artists (Singapore) member - when he migrated to Australia.
The book was then continued by a group of artists from Indonesia's Madougar Studios and a team from HMT Studios - which is co- founded by comic artist Harvey M. Tolibao, who works for comic giants such as Marvel and DC - in the Philippines.
Another obstacle was production costs. More than $10,000 - cobbled together by the Association of Comic Artists (Singapore), Nice One Entertainment, Kang and the National Arts Council - was sunk into producing 1,000 copies for the first print run.
Hinds says they are still waiting for updates on sales figures, which will be released next month.
Kang has more yarns up his sleeve. He completed a magical realism short story collection earlier this year and has submitted the manuscript to local publishers.
And he already has an idea for his next graphic novel, which he says will be in the vein of manga rather than a Western comic like Flesh & Steel.
"I still have a lot of stories to tell. I easily have 30 or so story concepts that I'd like to turn into graphic novels, but I'd probably die before fulfilling them all," he says with a laugh.
•Flesh & Steel is available from major bookstores and selected comic stores at $18.95.
This article was first published on Oct 09, 2016.
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At the Tan Boon Liat Building off Outram Road is an office about half the size of a basketball court with just over 40 computer screens.
In it, more than half a dozen people remotely monitor over 6,000 locations in Singapore.
This is the central monitoring station of the Ademco Security Group, and the nerve centre of surveillance for the company's clients in the public and private sectors.
Instead of having their own security guards monitor their premises, these companies rely on Ademco to do everything from monitoring their carparks to looking out for medical emergencies and preventing would-be intruders from trying to break in.
Security companies told The Sunday Times this is what surveillance and security will increasingly look like - with monitoring done off-site, reducing the need for security guards on the ground.
There are about a dozen such remote monitoring sites operated by different companies here.
While security companies estimate that as little as 5 per cent of buildings here have their security monitored in such a way, this is increasing as building owners start taking security more seriously. This is due in part to the increased threat of a terror attack, which is at its highest level in recent times.
Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam has said boosting surveillance is a key part of Singapore's counter-terrorism strategy.
On its part, the police have been installing tens of thousands of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in public areas.
In August, during a counter-terrorism seminar held by the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force for the finance industry, companies were told to enhance security measures such as CCTV and access control systems.
But traditional methods of surveillance - with guards sitting in a building's security room watching CCTV screens - are not going to cut it, said Ademco's group managing director Toby Koh. Modern CCTV systems have video analysis capabilities that can pick out people who have been loitering in an area, for instance, said Mr Koh.
"Now, which security guard would be able to monitor... a person who has been loitering there for more than two minutes? (It's) impossible, but technology can do it," he said, adding that human operators are still needed to verify incidents flagged by machines.
Such systems can also be programmed to play loud recorded warnings and shine blinding lights when there are breaches, said Mr Jeffrey Seah, director of the Security Industry Institute.
"The obvious advantage is that of saving labour and greater 24/7 coverage, especially in remote and expansive locations," he said.
Modern surveillance relies heavily on such systems, which can alert security operators to incidents, reducing the need for "warm bodies" to physically patrol premises, said Mr Ong Kok Leong, group director of business development and operations at Secura Group.
He added that these systems can detect threats faster, allowing security guards to alert the police more quickly. "The sooner you realise something is wrong and call the police, the faster they can react. That is a big change compared to last time," said Mr Ong.
These systems would result in significant costs savings over the long term, he added.
This month, developer CapitaLand started using smart CCTV cameras to monitor its drop-off points at three of its malls, eliminating the need for security guards there.
Certis Cisco, which is handling security for these malls, said security manpower needs for these malls have been reduced by one-fifth.
"An officer will be deployed only during peak periods or when congestion is detected. This frees up the officer to perform other duties like patrolling the mall, managing incidents and doing crowd control," said a Certis Cisco spokesman.
Security companies say this is one way they can deal with the manpower crunch in the sector.
Manpower Ministry data shows that last year, there were 2,010 vacancies for security guards, and 1,440 stayed unfilled after six months.
Mr Koh said the cost savings from reducing manpower are considerable. He added: "I'm not saying eliminate guards, but reduce them... and invest that money into systems that will perform 24/7."
This article was first published on Oct 09, 2016.
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Three days before he was to fly home for his wedding, Mr Mohan Suresh fell 14 storeys to his death.
On the morning of March 31, the 29-year-old plumber from India decided to check on some pipes on the roof of an HDB block in Jalan Damai, which he had fixed the day before.
He did not put on the safety harness and helmet lying in a storeroom 12 minutes' walk away, a coroner's finding on Sept 23 noted.
Perhaps he thought they were too far away. Perhaps it never crossed his mind to put them on. He had gone without them before. It had been fine. An hour later, his sandals lay empty on a ledge, next to a pipe which he had perhaps stretched a little too far to reach. He was found on the ground 45m below.
Mr Mohan never got to be a husband. He became a statistic.
He was one of the 55 people who died at work this year so far.
The rise in workplace deaths saw Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say warn last month that the fatality rate is likely to hit 2.2 per 100,000 workers this year.
Singapore had some success in bringing this down from 2.8 in 2008, when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called for it to be pared to 1.8 within 10 years. In 2004, it had been a dire 4.9.
Singapore met the goal of 1.8 four years early in 2014, but this was short-lived. The rate crept up again to 1.9 last year, with 66 fatalities.
Compared to other countries, Singapore fared better than the United States, which had a rate of 3.3 in 2014. However, it lagged behind Australia at 1.61 in 2014, and the United Kingdom, which had a rate of 0.46 from April 2014 to March last year.
The construction sector had the highest casualty rate with 20 deaths.
Of the others, five occurred in marine, six in manufacturing, nine in the transport and storage sector, and 15 in other workplaces.
The total number of accidents at work also rose in the first half of the year to 6,149 injuries, up from 6,009 in the same period last year.
Said a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesman: "Our analysis of the construction workplace fatalities indicates systemic lapses, workers' competency and absence of ownership as key drivers of the deteriorating situation in the construction sector."
GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT
Walk through a construction site and a barrage of hazards stands out even to the untrained eye.
Sharp lengths of metal protrude across paths. Workers pick their way among them, some in slippers, some checking their phones. Overhead, their colleagues clamber up and down scaffolding. Not all wear harnesses. Not all of those with harnesses have lifelines to hook onto.
Falls from height remain the most common cause of workplace death here, with 11 such deaths in the first half of the year.
Report a lapse via MOM's app
Spot a workplace safety lapse? Snap a photo and send it to free mobile app Snap@MOM.
The app by the Ministry of Manpower will send your feedback to the company occupying the site if it has subscribed to the service, so it can then take action. Companies which have not subscribed will be alerted to follow up on the issue. You will get an acknowledgement through the app when the workplace occupier has acted on your report.
Workers have died from other factors too - struck by falling objects, rolled into by trucks and forklifts.
The most recent death at work was unusual. Underwater World Singapore head diver Philip Chan, 62, died last Tuesday when a stingray he was handling pierced his lung with its tail. It is believed to be the first incident of its kind here.
The one thing all these deaths have in common, said National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) assistant secretary-general Patrick Tay, is that they were preventable.
Mr Tay, an MP for West Coast GRC, said top-down enforcement can go only so far: "Everyone along the value chain has to play his part. Leaders of organisations need to take ownership. Supervisors need to lead by example. And workers on the ground cannot be complacent, they must be proactive."
The Workplace Safety and Health Institute (WSHI) last month released a study on the beleaguered construction sector. It found that of 33 construction deaths between June last year and this May, nine in 10 deaths were due to unsafe behaviour by workers - such as not wearing protective gear, for instance.
Singapore Institution of Safety Officers president Bernard Soh said there are workers who cut corners with safety because it is convenient or they are distracted, especially given the prevalence of smartphones in the workplace.
But he is more worried about foreign workers for whom English is not a first language, who may not understand safety requirements. He said: "They will listen to what the supervisor wants them to do. I am concerned the supervisor may ask them to do something that is risky, and they may not realise it."
The Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC) this June launched an Awareness Booster Campaign, with pictogram posters teaching workers how to prevent injuries.
They are translated into Chinese, Tamil and Bengali, and distributed through channels such as dormitories, worksites and roadshows.
Older workers are another group the WSHC wants employers to pay attention to, with 18 per cent of accidents in the first half of the year happening to those aged 55 and above.
On Jan 14, an elderly cleaner sweeping leaves fell off a 1m-high planter wall and hit his head. He later died from his injuries.
Risks to older workers' health could be avoided, the WSHC said, if employers redesign tasks and equipment - like better lighting for visual tasks, or reducing physical workloads through mechanical aids.
WHY MESSAGE ISN'T HEEDED
But whether companies heed the call for safety is another matter.
The WSHI study on construction deaths also showed that nearly nine in 10 were due to companies failing to adequately manage risks. Some cut corners by neglecting to do risk assessments or withholding lifelines for workers' safety harnesses.
Contractors said it is tough to keep up standards in a cut-throat industry, where they have to undercut tender bids and rush to meet project deadlines in order to get by.
Singapore Contractors Association president Kenneth Loo said: "The economic situation is very challenging. Having gone through a period when growth in the industry was unprecedented, we are now having the reverse. Since the property market slowed down about two years ago, a lot of firms have been fighting for survival."
Struggling firms have been strapped ever since the MOM stiffened penalties in May by raising the minimum duration of a stop-work order from two to three weeks.
During such an order, companies cannot do any work until safety issues are rectified.
This drives up costs as they continue to pay workers and may face fines from developers if they miss deadlines.
Since May, 52 extended stop- work orders have been issued, each lasting an average of four weeks as companies also had to send their workers for refresher training.
Also in May, the MOM introduced the Safety Compliance Assistance Visits Plus (SCAV+). The programme offers free site assessments by certified WSH professionals to identify safety lapses, and 142 companies have made use of it.
The Government is also incentivising employers who put safety first. From this month, those who hire foreign construction workers trained in specific safety standards will have levies reduced from $650 to $300, and get to keep these workers for up to 22 years, up from 10 previously.
Contractors wonder if more can be done to support those who put in extra effort. Wee Chwee Huat Scaffolding and Construction operations manager V. Manimaran suggests making it compulsory for a chunk of each project budget - at least 5 per cent - to be set aside for safety. "This would even the playing field for companies which already invest in safety," he said.
The MOM noted that the number of construction fatalities per month has declined from an average of three between January and May to two between June and September. Its spokesman said: "While the drop in fatalities for the third quarter does indicate that our enforcement and outreach activities are taking effect, nonetheless, every fatality is still one too many."
MORE MUST BE DONE
Those who die at work include Singaporeans and foreigners alike. But the bulk of the workforce in high-risk sectors such as construction and marine are foreigners from countries such as China, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The MOM does not release information on the nationalities of individual victims, but has said that on average, two-thirds of workers who have died in fatal workplace accidents are foreigners.
SIM University labour economist Walter Theseira said this predominantly migrant workforce upends the economic theory that an employer has to pay workers more to get them to take up an undesirable job with higher risk.
"Here, these dangerous jobs are held mostly by foreigners who are not paid a lot and come from countries where workplace standards are significantly lower," he said.
"The economic incentives for employers to enforce safety are not there. So we have categories of workers in Singapore where the value of their lives is not as high as it should be. Is this because they come from countries where the value of their lives is lower, or because we, as a society, don't treat them the way we would if they were Singaporean?"
Migrant worker groups have called for more to be done to address what they view as the root causes of unsafe worker behaviour - low wages, high debts, a fear of speaking out against employers who could send them home at the drop of a hat.
Transient Workers Count Too committee member Debbie Fordyce said workers are often in debt because of high recruitment fees they pay to agents before they even come to Singapore and "we have to get rid of these".
Another problem is the amount of overtime some workers do, to earn more or due to employers rushing to meet deadlines. Ms Fordyce has heard of men working 15 hours a day, seven days a week, that "causes chronic fatigue, which leads to impairment of judgment and inattention to detail".
Under the Employment Act, workers commonly work up to nine hours a day. They should not work more than 12 hours except in emergency circumstances.
Social work executive Jevon Ng of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics said he often hears from workers that they are not given proper equipment, and cables are the wrong length for the height they must work at. Some even have to buy their own safety equipment. But workers are reluctant to voice concerns about safety hazards and near misses, as they fear being repatriated for doing so.
One way for the public to help out is the mobile app Snap@ MOM, through which anyone can anonymously report safety lapses. Since April, the MOM has seen a 40 per cent rise in reports on lapses via the app, with an average of 70 reports a month.
In one case, a photo taken of an unsafe worksite landed the contractor in question with a stop-work order for work at height and scaffolding activities, and fines of $7,500. The photo showed open edges at height not guarded by effective guard-rails or barriers to prevent falls.
Singapore's workplace safety will be in the spotlight when it hosts the 21st World Congress on Safety and Health at Work next September. It remains to be seen whether the workplace fatality rate will fall before then.
Said NTUC's Mr Tay: "When it comes to safety, it's not a matter of trying, but doing. There can be no compromise."
Injured workers stuck in limbo
Construction worker Qiu Lin Min (far left) and carpenter Zhao Lian Wei were injured on their worksites and remain in Singapore on a Special Pass as they await compensation. Mr Qiu broke his leg while Mr Zhao broke his wrist and had to have his spleen removed. Photo: The Straits Times
Carpenter Zhao Lian Wei had no idea what a spleen was until he fell three storeys at work and ruptured his own.
The 42-year-old from China had been working on scaffolding at a construction site in June when a plank above him came loose and struck him.
Mr Zhao lost his balance and fell, breaking his left wrist and rupturing his spleen, which caused internal bleeding.
What happened next was a haze of pain and nausea, he says. His supervisor took him to three different hospitals. He kept passing out in the toilet. He was parched, but every time he tried to drink water, he vomited.
"They told me I had to go for surgery," he says in Mandarin. "I was terrified. I had never had surgery before. They said, 'we need to take out your spleen.' I didn't even know what a spleen was."
He was eventually operated on and warded for eight days at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Since then, he has been unable to work and still has difficulty moving around.
According to Mr Zhao, the scaffolding structure where he worked was shoddily built.
"We did not have lifelines," he adds. "We brought this up to our bosses, but they just told us to be more careful."
He is now stuck in Singapore in limbo on a Special Pass, which is given to foreign workers who have to stay here for an injury compensation claim or salary dispute.
Community clinic HealthServe is helping him with free meals and following up on his case, but Mr Zhao has no idea how much longer he will be in this situation.
Such cases usually take three to six months to process, but can sometimes stretch past a year. Those on Special Passes are not allowed to work, and many depend on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for food and support.
Mr Zhao has told his family back home about his broken wrist, but not about the missing spleen. "I don't want to stress them out," he says.
A report by the Workplace Safety and Health Institute two weeks ago said there were 284 major injuries in the first half of this year, 4 per cent less than in the same period last year. Major injuries are non-fatal but severe. They include injuries that result in amputation, blindness, or burns with more than 20 days' medical leave.
But Mr Jevon Ng, a social work executive at NGO Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home), is concerned the number of injuries could be higher as some employers might not report them to the Manpower Ministry (MOM) to avoid investigations or higher insurance premiums.
Last year, Home saw 170 workers whose injuries went unreported by their employers. These ranged from a cut on the thumb to a neck fracture, which would constitute a major injury.
HealthServe communications manager Nhaca Le Schulze says: "The economy has gone sour this year, and workplace safety can be expensive. So companies trying to finish their projects quickly will cut corners."
Construction worker Qiu Lin Min, 42, broke his left leg in February after the contractor he was working for pushed him to meet a deadline. Mr Qiu, who is from China, was removing formwork panels used to create concrete walls when one of the panels fell on him.
It required more than one person to support the heavy panels, he says, but the rest of his team were too busy with other tasks to help.
"The boss kept rushing us, saying it was very urgent. That was why we had to work even on Sunday, our day off. There was not enough manpower and not enough time."
Mr Qiu, who is also on a Special Pass, has been waiting for seven months for his claim to be processed. "I've already been here too long," he says.
Doctors told him he needs to undergo another operation on his leg. It would cost $9,000, which he cannot afford.
He is worried about his wife and three school-going children, aged 11 to 15, who no longer have a source of income now that he cannot work. "I want to be with my family. I want to go home."
Local supervisors must speak up
Workplace safety and health trainer Han Wenqi believes safety officers should be empowered to order work to stop at once when they see something dangerous on site. Photo: The Straits Times
When he was 14, Mr Han Wenqi saw a man fall to his death.
He was on his way home from school when he witnessed a construction worker topple over the guard rails of a gondola in the air.
Shaken, he wondered: "How did this happen? Why didn't he anchor his harness? Where was the supervisor?"
The incident spurred him to pursue a career in workplace safety and health. He has spent 10 years in the construction industry, starting as a site supervisor and later becoming a safety officer.
Today, the 31-year-old is the principal trainer at centre Achieve Safety Training, conducting classes for several thousand workers a year.
Mr Han, who has worked on projects such as shopping centres, Build-To-Order flats and multi-storey carparks during his career, says safety professionals must tread a fine line between the cost concerns of their employers and the preservation of life and limb.
"Inadvertently, you will offend a lot of people," he says. "You could even risk losing your rice bowl."
Once, during the building of a major hotel, he upset colleagues when he delayed construction on a Sunday because a tower crane did not have a valid permit to be used at work. Some threatened to get him fired, although he was eventually able to make the upper management see sense.
Mr Han believes safety officers should be empowered to order work to stop at once when they see something dangerous on site.
"A two-hour internal stop-work order is better than a three-week one imposed by the Ministry of Manpower," he says.
He also feels that local supervisors have a responsibility to speak up as foreign workers are often hesitant to raise safety issues because they fear being sent back home.
"I'm Singaporean," he says. "If I lose my livelihood, at least I can go on JobStreet.com and look for something else. These guys, they can lose everything."
Mr Han has dealt first-hand with the consequences of such oversight. When workers died, he would sometimes have to pick up their next-of-kin from the airport and take them to the mortuary to identify the bodies.
"This is never an easy process," he says. "The first thing the family asks is, 'How did he die? Why couldn't you do something to protect him?'"
He asks workers to put up photos of their families around their workplaces.
"Many take safety for granted. They think it won't happen to them. I want to remind them of the reason they work, which is to send money home to their families. Every worker is someone's husband, son or father."
This article was first published on Oct 09, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
The annual Festival of the Nine Emperor Gods, also known as Kew Ong Yah in Chinese dialect, was celebrated in Nee Soon GRC, where Mr Shanmugam is a Member of Parliament.
The 10-day long celebrations involved performances and community events.
Said Mr Shanmugam: "Every year, the organisers extend the celebrations to everyone in the community - goodie bags are distributed, daily vegetarian meals are offered, the elderly residents are treated to a dinner and are given red packets.
"Devotees and the gods will also make a special tour around Nee Soon to pay mutual respects to the various temples, including the Indian temples who warmly welcome them."
As an MP, Mr Shanmugam has attended the festival every year if he is in Singapore during the celebrations.
Speaking to the media, he added that the event is very ground-up and also emphasises tradition. Beyond religion, the celebrations take on a multi-racial and multi-religious approach as well, he said, with many participating.
Accompanied by a procession of brightly-lit floats, lions and dragon dances and performers in elaborate costumes, Mr Shanmugam and the devotees left from the Chong Pang Combined Temple to Sembawang Beach where prayers were held.
After the prayers, he joined temple elders bearing the sacred urn representing the gods in "sending off the Nine Emperor Gods" into the waters of the Straits of Johor along Sembawang Beach.
They then returned to the shore to set a huge paper-mache dragon boat ablaze, to symbolise casting off bad luck and negativity.
Mr Toh Hong San, chairman of the Kew Ong Yah Jing Shui Gang Dou Mu Gong Temple, said cultural performances from other racial groups were included in the celebrations this year. Malay and Indian performances were featured during the vegetarian feast held for more than 950 residents on the ninth day of the festival as well.
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Photo Gallery
Nine Emperor Gods celebrations in Singapore and Phuket
Changi Airport's new passenger terminal looks finished from the outside with "Terminal 4" embossed on a wall at the departure level, and new roads and bridges constructed, along with a 68m-high control tower.
More than two years since construction started, a multi-storey carpark just in front of T4, an outdoor holding area for taxis and a bus terminus are also nearing completion.
Works are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
T4, however, will not be ready to receive travellers and visitors just yet, spokesman for Changi Airport Group Ivan Tan told The Straits Times. The opening is slated for the second half of next year.
The next phase of works will involve the testing of airport systems and equipment as well as operational readiness trials.
Unlike the other three terminals, T4 will see a massive rollout of self- service and automated options for check-in, bag tagging, immigration clearance and aircraft boarding.
Passengers will be subject to centralised screening instead of being screened at the gatehold rooms just before boarding - the system in place at the other terminals.
To minimise teething problems, extensive tests will be conducted later this year.
There are plans for more than 50 trials, including live flights, ahead of T4's opening.
This is more than double the number of trials for T3, which opened in 2008.
Built to handle up to 16 million passengers a year, T4 as well as expansion works at T1 will increase Changi's total capacity to 85 million passengers.
Cathay Pacific and budget airline AirAsia were the first two carriers to announce plans to move to the new terminal.
AirAsia's Singapore chief executive Logan Velaitham is looking forward to moving the airline's operations to the new facility.
The extensive use of automation and technology is a key attraction, he said.
This will not only benefit customers but also help the airline cut operating costs by as much as 40 per cent, with less reliance on manpower.
Mr Logan said: "We expect huge operational and productivity gains which we aim to translate into lower fares for our customers.
"At T4, AirAsia passengers can also look forward to a new travel experience which will offer seamless and easy processes from start to end."
While there will be no Skytrain linking T4 to the other terminals, those with connecting flights will be moved to a transfer lounge where they will be bussed to T2.
They can take a Skytrain to T1 and T3 from there.
Undergraduate P.S Sandhu, 19, said: "Automation is definitely a step in the right direction in terms of convenience and efficiency.
"But there must also be adequate provisions made so that travellers who may have issues with check-in or other processes can move to manual counters so they don't hold up the automated lanes."
This article was first published on Oct 10, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
Singapore - It started innocently enough, with a click on a third-party ad on an India news website by a staff member, back in 2014.
Soon, the data stored on that computer in a multinational logistics company in Singapore became inaccessible. The hard drive had been encrypted by a malware, triggered by the click on the ad.
A pop-up window offered to decrypt the data within the computer for the price of a bitcoin, a form of cryptocurrency then valued at about US$500 (S$686.42) per bitcoin.
Last year, the company saw 10 such attacks when rogue software infected the company's computers, and encrypted each hard drive. The offer from the hackers was simple - pay the ransom to unlock the data, or lose it forever.
The total number of ransomware attacks so far this year has already matched the total number from last year, says the company's head of security, who declined to disclose his name or the name of the company. The ransom amount varies, from a single bitcoin to two.
"The sophistication of the attacks has also increased. We have had malware that infects the computer, and tries to spread to our servers, and hold data stored on our servers to ransom as well."
As the company had established a policy of not paying up, it has had to lose the data, wipe all the infected machines, and train its staff on how to recognise these new forms of malware and attacks.
While the first instance was due to a rogue online ad, subsequent attacks were caused by a variety of methods, including attachments sent to staff members, some marked simply as "Invoice".
This use of social engineering, where hackers try to trick their prey, makes it a little harder to ensure that such files are never opened, explained the head of security.
While the company has not paid up any amount to the hackers, it estimates that it has wasted close to S$100,000 in the last two years in dealing with the issue, with time spent on wiping all the infected computers, and on training staff in recognising the changing methods of hackers.
According to security companies, such ransomware attacks, where data is stolen or locked by hackers and released only when money is given, are fast becoming the most popular and lucrative form of digital crime.
In 2015, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center saw 2,453 complaints about ransomware incidents, which cost users more than US$1.6 million.
Locally, the number of such attacks has increased as well, says the newly minted Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), which is responsible for Singapore's cybersecurity efforts.
"There has been a spike in the number of ransomware cases reported this year," said Dan Yock Hau, director, operations, CSA. "In the whole of 2015, there were only two reported cases. In comparison, in the first eight months of this year, 17 cases of ransomware have been reported to SingCERT."
The Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team, or SingCERT, which falls under the purview of the CSA, was set up to facilitate the detection, resolution and prevention of cybersecurity-related incidents here. And that figure could actually be higher, as companies big and small are often unwilling to talk about being hit, as it means admitting that their systems have been compromised.
Those who disclose the nature of such attacks might actually send a signal to hackers that they are vulnerable.
"We believe that the number of victims is much higher as most cases tend to go unreported," said Mr Dan.
The CSA says it has also received recent reports indicating that ransomware has started to spread to mobile devices as well.
"Hence, judging by global trends, the numbers are likely to escalate rapidly, given that ransomware has proven to be a lucrative monetisation tool," said Mr Dan.
Some companies might choose to pay the ransom, as the amount can be quite small, but security experts say that the first instance of a ransomware attack is normally a drive-by attack, and not a full-blown one.
This is where hackers release the malware into the wild, and only demand a small fee in exchange for the decryption key.
Once hackers determine that an individual or company is willing to pay up, the attacks can escalate, with the ransom amount increasing each time.
According to Symantec, the financial sector, comprising finance, insurance and real estate, accounts for 47.5 per cent of ransomware attacks here, making it the most vulnerable industry in Singapore.
The company's Internet Security Threat Report Vol 21 ranks Singapore as being eighth in the region, and 42nd globally, for ransomware by destination, with 16 total attacks per day in 2015.
But no industry should count itself safe from being targeted, warned Evan Dumas, head of emerging technologies, APAC, Middle East and Africa, at Check Point Software Technologies.
Because ransomware is usually targeted at a geography using a common service, all industries and companies of all sizes, as well as individuals, are targeted.
"A common tactic is to find a service like POPStation, and then use a phishing email claiming you have a package delivered and to click on the link to see the status. Another common tactic is to impersonate a government entity and trick the user into clicking on an attachment that is disguised as an official document," he said.
These methods allow an attacker to target a geography broadly without the need for specific customisation, as would be required with, say, a banking Trojan software.
Still, some industries can be more vulnerable. In the United States, there are reports that the utilities and healthcare industries are being targeted because they provide a critical service to the community.
"It just so happens that healthcare facilities commonly have outdated security. They are also an emotional target because of the critical nature of the services provided," noted Mr Dumas.
"What makes a good target is outdated security or a poor security posture, resulting in that company or industry being a good target."
In April, the Board of Water and Light in Lansing, Michigan, was hit by ransomware.
In February, the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid 40 bitcoins 10 days after hackers locked access to the hospital's medical records and computer systems.
But there is no guarantee that paying the ransom solves the problem.
The Kansas Heart Hospital in Witchita paid the ransom amount in May, but did not regain full access to its files. The hackers quickly demanded another sum, which the hospital subsequently decided against paying.
"From a cybercriminal's perspective, healthcare is a popular target because of the non-perishable information available. While a quick call to the bank can easily terminate a credit card, medical records have no expiry date attached to them," noted Nick Savvides, security evangelist at Symantec.
"Furthermore, patients' lives are at stake in hospitals and often enough, a time delay could result in a life or death situation. Cybercriminals are aware of the urgency associated with healthcare and may use this to their advantage."
Still, it is better not to pay the ransom, for the obvious reasons, said David Siah, country manager at Trend Micro Singapore.
"Firstly, paying does not always warrant the release of kidnapped files or data. In several cases, companies do not get their files back after making payment. Secondly, paying only serves to perpetuate the crime. It is an expedient and short-term solution, and often ends up fuelling the cybercriminal's confidence in carrying out more attacks at other organisations."
When dealing with cyberattacks, having proper back-ups has always been the advice and while it is good to have back-ups safely stored away, in case companies need to replace the ones encrypted by hackers, cyberattacks have also moved beyond merely locking up data.
These days, the threat can be to release stolen information, whether it's private and personal photos, or publishing a company's sensitive sales or research information to competitors.
"We now see that attacks have moved to mobile devices, encrypting files, and anything else that an owner is willing to pay to recover," said Mr Savvides.
"Some ransomware now also threatens to publish the victim's files online unless they pay, which is an interesting and sinister twist, since the traditional advice of keeping effective back-ups does not help in this scenario."
Another form of ransomware attack used by hackers is to prevent proper business functions.
A dedicated DDoS, or Distributed Denial-of-Service, attack on a company's e-commerce website can overload the site and prevent customers from making online transactions. At least until the business owner pays the hackers to stop the DDoS attack.
This has prompted local Internet service provider ViewQwest to launch a DDoS Protection Service for its subscribers. Powered by enterprise security specialist NSFOCUS, the S$699 per month service was launched in April and offers premium Internet security services to businesses, to beef up their IT infrastructure.
The service works by monitoring traffic for unusual activity and diverting suspicious traffic to its scrubbing centre, to filter real users from bots.
After identifying, in real-time, the bots used in a DDoS attack, a trigger is sent to drop the malicious traffic so business operations can continue smoothly.
The company said that in 2014 and 2015, DDoS attacks mainly targeted gaming companies but in 2016, the scope widened to threaten public institutions and financial companies as well. Some are politically motivated and often evolve into orchestrated ransom attacks.
"Corporations are increasingly going beyond plain-vanilla Internet lines to premium 'clean-pipes' which monitor and prevent malicious DDoS traffic in real time. Attacks of over 10 gigabits per second of traffic account for over 20 per cent of total DDoS attacks, signalling a growing trend in the amount of DDoS attack traffic," pointed out Vignesa Moorthy, chief executive of ViewQwest.
"If your Internet security solution is to deal with DDoS attacks only after you have detected the attacks, you are already too late. Prevention is not only better than cure, it is now the only cure for huge DDoS attacks."
This article was first published on October 10, 2016.
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The world is counting down to the United States presidential election on Nov 8, an event that could cause market turbulence in the near term while raising questions about the future of global trade.
Analysts expect regional markets to reflect volatility on Wall Street in coming weeks, so investors should tread carefully even if opportunities for bargain-hunting turn up.
One reason for caution is that US presidential elections have traditionally been preceded by sell-offs. In 2012, for instance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by around 6 per cent in the month leading up to the vote on Nov 6.
ELECTION JITTERS
"Historically, US equity indexes tend to be volatile during presidential election years when the incumbent is not seeking re-election," DBS analysts Janice Chua and Yeo Kee Yan said in a recent note.
"Given the high correlation of global equity markets with the US', investors are likely to stay on the sidelines in the run-up."
Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average have been range-bound in the past 30 days - a sure sign of jitters building up. Both indexes have been down around 1.3 per cent over the period.
Against this backdrop, DBS has forecast that the Straits Times Index (STI) will trade between 2,750 and 2,950 points for the remainder of the year. The benchmark closed at 2,875.24 last Friday.
What complicates matters is that Republican candidate Donald Trump has stirred worries within and beyond the US with his controversial policy stances on immigration and trade.
While Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has been viewed by many as being more appropriate for the job, the markets might be unprepared for a nasty surprise, said CMC Markets analyst Margaret Yang.
"Right now, she is ahead in opinion polls, so equity markets have not fully priced in a victory by Mr Trump. But seeing how Brexit ended despite opinion polls, I wouldn't completely rule out his winning, which would be a huge market shock and lead to panic selling," Ms Yang told The Straits Times.
"One way to hedge against the risks is to get some gold and Japanese yen positions. Both are popular safe-haven assets and sought after during 'bad times'. The key is having a balanced portfolio.
"As for shares, the local market is one of Asia's cheapest and downside is limited, so there are opportunities for long-term investment.
"But now is not the right time to buy. Perhaps wait until the second or third day after the election when markets hit bottom and rebound, as they did after Brexit."
Yield plays such as Keppel Reit (real estate investment trust), Ascendas Reit and Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust are good buys amid the volatility, DBS noted, while ComfortDelGro and Sheng Siong are also worth a look.
Bank of Singapore has retained its neutral stance on Asia-Pacific equities, while advising investors to get exposure to high-quality bonds with shorter maturities to avoid interest rate risks.
LONG AFTERSHOCKS
Even so, the bank's chief economist, Mr Richard Jerram, sees no reason to be overly bullish, as aftershocks from the election might be worse than just near- term market disruptions.
"With Clinton, we can expect a large degree of policy continuation. But if Trump wins, it will be a totally different game," said Mr Jerram.
"Compared with domestic affairs, the US president has more power in directing foreign and trade policies. If Trump implements the 45 per cent tariff on Chinese exports that he pledged, the move could crash global trade because the whole Asia-Pacific supply chain would be affected. The worst-case scenario is that he throws the global economy into recession.
"As for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, you can be sure there's no chance he would let it pass. In fact, it's as good as dead even if Clinton wins - the deal is unlikely to get past the US Congress."
A Trump administration might also create complications for Federal Reserve policies, noted ABN Amro chief economist Han de Jong.
"It is not only Trump himself, but also others in his camp who have come out to claim that the Fed is essentially a supporter of the Democrats… This raises a risk to Fed independence should Trump become president, not something financial markets should like," said Mr de Jong.
This article was first published on Oct 10, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>The world is counting down to the United States presidential election on Nov 8, an event that could cause market turbulence in the near term while raising questions about the future of global trade.</p>
Nowadays, you can buy practically anything online.
So it is no surprise that some drug abusers try to get their fix by frequenting the many sites peddling illegal drugs on the Internet.
Last year, 30 drug abusers were arrested in Singapore for trying to buy drugs online.
In the first half of this year, the figure jumped to more than 100, according to Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) statistics.
Most of the arrests resulted from the detection of drugs and drug paraphernalia in the mail and courier parcels.
Although the 100 or so arrests make up less than 10 per cent of the 1,778 abusers arrested in the first half of this year, there is cause for concern that more abusers are trying new avenues to get their drugs, rather than just relying on local pushers.
In an exclusive interview with The New Paper, CNB's senior assistant director for ops research, Superintendent 1A Ng Khai Song, said the bureau has been paying more attention to this avenue of drug purchases.
"I can't make a prediction about the trend as the significant increase only started this year and more time is needed.
"But we're on the lookout for this emerging trend," he said.
Supt Ng, 41, studies trends and cases that the CNB comes across. The research is used to help CNB officers prepare themselves and conduct operations in the field.
He said: "Given the rise in e-commerce, it's not surprising that people would attempt to purchase controlled drugs as well as drug paraphernalia online."
Drug paraphernalia includes utensils and instruments used for consuming drugs, such as bongs and grinders.
Also of concern is that the drugs are being advertised for sale on at least two popular local online marketplaces.
Over the course of three weeks, TNP observed multiple advertisements hawking drugs on these two sites.
STILL DETECTED
Supt Ng said: "People have the misconception that if they purchase drugs over the Internet and get them delivered to their homes, they can avoid being detected.
"But they cannot be more wrong.
"We watch this space very closely and we will investigate and take action if anyone is found to be engaging in such activities."
Supt Ng said the majority of those arrested are aged 20 to 39, who might have more liberal attitudes towards drugs.
The group is also a mixture of first-time and repeat offenders.
He added: "They might be more comfortable with the Internet, and advances in connectivity also allow them to make these purchases more conveniently."
Without giving away too many details that might affect CNB's operations, Supt Ng said that parcels of certain shapes, mailing addresses and countries of origin usually set off alarm bells, but the bureau is always on the lookout for changing methods of drug abusers so that it can stay one step ahead.
Besides the use of innocuous envelopes and CD covers, CNB has also come across more innovative concealment methods - hiding drugs in a metal box disguised as a book, and stashing them in tea packaging.
The bureau also works closely with the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), its foreign counterparts, and major postal and courier companies such as Singapore Post and DHL to monitor and spot drugs and drug paraphernalia smuggled in from overseas and in the local post.
Said Supt Ng: "Given the sheer volume of parcels coming into Singapore, we have been and will be continuing to focus our attentions on this area."
Apart from the fact that drugs are harmful, Supt Ng also warned of the added dangers of purchasing them online.
"There are plenty of question marks, like who are you buying it from? How do you know it's not a scam? And you don't know if the drugs are adulterated or what they might contain.
"It's not like you can report them to the police," he said.
Ads for drugs found on two local sites
Over three weeks, The New Paper observed multiple posts advertising the sale of drugs on two local marketplaces.
These posts were usually hidden among the regular categories of online marketplaces such as beauty, healthcare and even gardening.
In the more surreptitious posts, the drugs were referred to by their lesser known code names and given vague descriptions.
In the more brazen advertisements, the sellers marketed their goods using common street names for cannabis (weed), cocaine (coke), and methamphetamine (Ice).
Under the guise of an interested buyer, TNP contacted a seller through a secured chat app, but did not purchase the drugs.
Throughout the conversation, the seller promised that the deal was "100 per cent" secure, and that the drugs would reach Singapore safely without detection by the authorities.
The seller could not have been more wrong.
The Central Narcotics Bureau's senior assistant director for ops research, Superintendent 1A Ng Khai Song, said the CNB is aware of online platforms, including local ones, purportedly selling drugs.
"Many of these sellers are hosted overseas.
"And while it might take some investigation to identify the real identities of the seller and buyer, as long as you attempt to bring drugs into Singapore, we will take tough action against you," he warned.
Addiction specialist: Number of cases will rise
Addiction specialists said they are not surprised that some drug abusers have turned to the Internet to have drugs delivered to their doorstep.
When contacted by The New Paper, Dr Thomas Lee said that a handful of his clients have shared stories about obtaining drugs by mail, but he has not seen a rising trend.
The consultant psychiatrist at The Resilienz Clinic added: "To them, it's just another mode of purchasing and it's mostly for convenience, I believe.
"It's not the main mode (of getting drugs). But it breaks the traditional way of doing it face to face at spots like Geylang."
Another addictions specialist, Dr Munidasa Winslow, has noted an increase in his clients buying drugs on the Internet and receiving them by mail.
In the first half of this year, he has seen at least four cases involving such clients.
"It's definitely more than before and I suspect that the numbers will rise in the coming years," he said.
The psychiatrist from Promises Healthcare said that such clients are usually under 30 and might be more comfortable making purchases online.
While Dr Winslow said the drugs bought online are usually sleeping pills or prescription medicines, Dr Lee said he has heard of people buying designer drugs like Ecstasy online.
Dr Lee believes that drug abusers turn to online purchases because they think they can avoid getting caught.
"They think they can hide their tracks better using fake names and addresses. It could also be that they want to experiment (with drugs), but do not have any local contacts, so they resort to ordering online," he said.
Past arrests
SEPTEMBER 2016
CNB carried out investigations after ICA officers at Changi Airfreight Centre detected a parcel believed to contain cannabis.
They tracked down the intended recipient, a 35-year-old Singaporean, and arrested him outside a HDB flat at Buangkok Crescent.
A small packet of Ice was seized from his bag.
A raid of his home uncovered about 13g of Ice, a small amount of heroin, Erimin-5 tablets and various improvised drug-smoking apparatus.
CNB officers also found two cannabis plants and equipment used for cultivating them.
JUNE 2016
A 29-year-old man was arrested after CNB officers went to an apartment in the Orchard Road area. He was suspected of having ordered online a parcel containing drug apparatus.
A search of the apartment uncovered over 100g of cannabis, about 20g of Ice, Ecstasy tablets, Erimin-5 tablets, a small amount of ketamine and other drug-taking apparatus.
AUGUST 2015
CNB crippled the activities of a drug syndicate suspected of receiving drugs from overseas by mail and repacking them for sale in Singapore.
The officers arrested a 29-year-old man suspected to be the syndicate leader, two suspected drug traffickers, four clients and one accomplice, all aged between 18 and 31.
About 1.8kg of Ice, with an estimated street value of about $324,000, was seized.
DECEMBER 2014
A suspicious package arriving from a neighbouring country was found to contain a locked safe box disguised as a book.
About 103g of ketamine and 299 tablets suspected of being Ecstasy were recovered from the "book".
CNB investigations led to a raid on a Marsiling home where the suspected intended recipient and importer, a 25-year-old man, was arrested.
This article was first published on October 10, 2016.
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Erratic work-rest schedules, challenging routes and overall inexperience are some of the reasons bus drivers here do not like plying multiple routes, also called "interlining".
Dr Marc Rochester, 61, who drove buses in London from 1976 to 1979, wrote to The Straits Times to say that one obstacle to interlining here could be the length of some services. He drove up to seven different routes a day in Britain, but the longest was only about 7km.
The longest here is 73km - Service 858 running from Woodlands Regional Interchange to Changi Airport and back.
Dr Rochester, now a music history lecturer, said: "It was inconceivable as a bus driver (in Britain) that you would drive only one route."
But in Singapore, interlining is practised sparingly. Operator SMRT Buses said interlining requires drivers to know each route's road network, road conditions and bus passenger travel patterns.
SMRT Buses & Road Services managing director Tan Kian Heong said interlining can be used to achieve operational efficiency, but he noted that driving multiple routes is more demanding for drivers.
There could also be an impact on their work-rest cycle, as they would be required to hop onto another bus immediately after completing one route - it might not be possible to schedule breaks as easily as is the case for single-route schedules.
"For our interlined services, SMRT Buses will ensure that all bus captains receive route familiarisation training and cater for sufficient rest so they can carry out their duties well," Mr Tan said.
The issue came to light last month when new bus operator Go-Ahead announced it was borrowing drivers from the incumbents after being hit by a wave of resignations.
Twenty of its drivers quit because they could not cope with juggling multiple routes.
"Interlining is the basis of our operating model in Britain," said a company spokesman, adding that all its drivers here were told on joining that they had to do multiple routes.
Veteran transport consultant Bruno Wildermuth said: "Bus drivers here are spoilt. They never had to do different routes before."
SBS Transit, the biggest operator here, does not practise interlining.
Mr Wildermuth said: "I don't know any other country where bus drivers drive only one route."
SIM University senior lecturer Park Byung Joon said it is rare, but does occur in South Korea, to let drivers "personally take care of their buses". They even mop the vehicles.
This model seems to work. Seoul's bus system is well regarded worldwide and, according to Dr Park, the driver turnover rate is "effectively zero". "Most work for the same company until they retire," he said.
In Singapore, the turnover rate for public bus drivers is reportedly up to 15 per cent, with more than 1,000 resignations a year.
Industry observers said many drivers do not stay long enough to master more than one route, exacerbating the interlining problem.
The Land Transport Authority is said to be so concerned about the issue it has extended the deadline for its latest bus route tender to Oct 27. The original deadline for the tender, covering 26 bus routes in the Seletar package, was last Thursday.
Industry sources reckon the authority wants to give bidders more time to tweak their proposals to scale back on interlining.
Meanwhile, Tower Transit, the other newcomer, said interlining is more commonly practised in cities with relatively low-frequency services. The company noted that, even though the concept itself is not entirely new to Singapore, "we have made only limited use" of it.
Still, Mr Wildermuth said he does not see why Singapore cannot have interlining if drivers are better trained and better paid.
Asked if that would also mean having the public pay more for bus services, he said: "In (bus) contracting, we're already paying more."
In contracting, operators are paid a fixed sum (which they tender for) to run a parcel of routes. The Government collects fare revenue that, in the case of London, falls far below the tender sum. Taxpayers make up the shortfall in this operating model, which is supposed to lead to higher service levels.
Dr Rochester said that, given time, drivers here would be more open to the practice of interlining.
This article was first published on Oct 10, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>Erratic work-rest schedules, challenging routes and overall inexperience are some of the reasons bus drivers here do not like plying multiple routes, also called "interlining".</p>
Mr Leow called the police and rushed down to help the victim.
Recalling a video showing a group of people lifting a lorry to free a trapped victim in an accident in July last year, Mr Leow, 41, thought the 20 to 30 people who had gathered there could do the same.
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Crowd took photos instead of helping man pinned by bus
But he was dismayed when several of them were more interested in taking pictures and videos of the trapped man instead of helping him.
His HDB flat at Block 662, Hougang Avenue 9, overlooks the scene of the accident, which occurred opposite Ci Yuan Community Club at 10.30am on Sept 30.
A pedestrian, Mr Lim Chin Soon, 51, was trapped under the front left wheel of SBS Transit Bus Service 72.
Mr Leow, who runs a car workshop, told The New Paper on Tuesday: "At first, I thought his head was pinned beneath the wheel."
When he got there, he realised it was the victim's right leg.
Said Mr Leow: "I felt so sad and helpless. The only thing on my mind was to keep him conscious. He kept saying his leg was in pain."
Mr Leow spoke to Mr Lim until Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers arrived.
CROWD DIDN'T HELP
Mr Leow said he had tried to get the crowd of bus passengers and pedestrians to try to help Mr Lim.
"I called out to them to come forward to help lift the bus," he said.
But no one responded.
Said Mr Leow: "I'm very sad because there were so many people there, but no one came forward to help. I can't lift the bus off the victim on my own.
Referring to those who were preoccupied taking pictures and videos of the scene, he said: "What's the point of taking all these photos? What good will it do them?"
A bus passenger, Mr Bernard Chua, 45, said: "No one came to help, they were just taking photos."
Mr Leow noticed that Mr Lim's head was on the kerb, which was hot.
"So I borrowed a lady's umbrella to shield him from the scorching sun," he said.
For his kind deed, he was dubbed "The Umbrella Man" by netizens.
"Another kind woman gave me her handkerchief, which I placed between the hot kerb and his face," he added.
Mr Chua, a security officer, also placed a newspaper under Mr Lim's head.
Mr Leow said: "The SCDF and SBS officers were all professional and calm. They were polite to me and let me stay to hold the umbrella over him."
Last Tuesday, Mr Leow, accompanied by a TNP team, visited Mr Lim at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
When Mr Leow walked into the room, Mr Lim recognised him and kept thanking him.
Mr Lim, who is single and lives alone, told TNP that all he could remember about the accident was that he was heading to a coffee shop to look for a job.
"I'm not angry at the bus driver, I forgive him. He was just doing his job," he said.
Last Wednesday, The Ray of Hope Initiative, a non-profit organisation, contacted TNP to offer financial help to Mr Lim. Mr Lim said he will be undergoing his second operation today at the hospital.
Mr Leow said: "I hope more people will render their help if they see an emergency. Don't wait for the SCDF because it might be too late."
This article was first published on October 10, 2016.
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Preparing food - such as pasta, mashed potato and rice with chicken and spinach - for children has become much easier at more than 30 pre-schools here.
They have signed up for a centralised catering system started last month and believed to be the first of its kind in the pre-school sector here catering to different schools.
It is one of at least two initiatives launched recently to lower costs and raise productivity in a rapidly expanding pre-school sector. The other initiative helps pre-schools identify IT solutions that help educators in their administrative work.
Both initiatives are led by the Association of Early Childhood and Training Services (Assets), which represents pre-school operators and teacher training institutes here.
In the catering service, meals are prepared daily by Singapore Food Industries for about 2,000 children in pre-schools run by different operators across Singapore.
The menu is approved by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and Ministry of Health, and meets nutrition standards set by the Health Promotion Board.
After a pre-school industry forum in May, several operators said they were keen on a centralised catering system, so Assets worked with the Employment and Employability Institute to get a vendor.
Assets chairman T. Chandroo, who also chairs pre-school chain Modern Montessori International, told The Straits Times: "With the centralised meal-catering system, pre-schools can save on manpower and resources, as they do not need to have dedicated space and staff to prepare meals for the children."
The early childhood sector has been growing due to rising demand for pre-school services. There were 1,700 pre-schools last year, up from 1,200 in 2008.
Five centres under Safari House Preschool signed up for the catering service last month. Its director Vincent Teoh said: "Currently, it is very difficult to recruit cooks and kitchen helpers, and we also have to closely monitor and manage the food hygiene and consistency of the food quality.
"With the catering system, we can be assured that the children will have quality healthy food daily, without any interruptions. The management can then have more time to focus on children's development."
For children with food allergies, the caterer has special menus, said Dr Chandroo. "The caterer fully complies with Singapore's strict hygiene and safety standards in preparing the meals, hence ensuring food safety for the children."
Meanwhile, an initiative to support teachers in administrative work was also launched earlier this month. Under the Smart Solutions initiative, Assets has been working with ECDA and the Info-communications Media Development Authority to identify ways to help pre-schools move away from labour-intensive administrative processes.
These include apps that make it easier and paperless for educators to mark attendance, record children's temperatures, manage information on staff and pupils, and communicate with parents.
Six vendors were shortlisted after a call for proposals in August. Pre-schools that sign up for such solutions under this initiative can receive funding of up to 70 per cent.
One vendor is education technology firm LittleLives. Its apps have been used by Cherie Hearts @ Upper Thomson since 2014 to help with tasks such as taking attendance and tracking children's progress.
Other cost-saving initiatives by Assets are in the pipeline, including bulk purchasing for pre-school supplies and zonal bus services.
Mr Izaan Tari Sheikh, 32, an executive director at a bank, has a three-year-old daughter in a pre-school that is not on the centralised catering scheme.
He said: "As long as the food is halal and safe, I'm okay with whether the pre-school uses the central catering scheme or not. But having a central established caterer could lead to better monitoring of food safety."
This article was first published on Oct 10, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>Preparing food - such as pasta, mashed potato and rice with chicken and spinach - for children has become much easier at more than 30 pre-schools here.</p>
While two of the three mechanised carparks in Housing Board estates - Changi Village and Yishun - can have utilisation rates of more than 90 per cent during peak hours, it is not the case for the one in Bangkit Road, which sees just around half its spots taken up in its busiest periods.
The mechanised parking systems (MPS) started operation last December and January, with those in Bangkit Road and Yishun for season parking and the Changi Village one open to short-term users too.
The HDB says it plans to allow short-term parking at the mechanised carpark in Bangkit Road in Bukit Panjang later this year where "the needs of our season-parking ticket holders are adequately met".
There are 26 parking spots in the Yishun mechanised carpark, 60 at the one in Bangkit Road, and 195 in Changi Village, where the mechanised carpark is near offices and eateries and is most popular during lunch and dinner on weekdays.
In Yishun, residents said the mechanised carpark is well used, with vacancies falling to single digits at night. But at Bangkit Road, vacant spots remained at around 50 between 8pm and 9pm when The Straits Times visited last Thursday.
At a mechanised carpark, users drive into a lift before exiting their vehicle and entering a PIN code outside. The car lift doors then close and the system automatically parks the vehicle. It is retrieved by entering the same PIN code.
Those who use the mechanised carparks told The Straits Times the system is convenient and safe, despite the occasional glitch. For those who do not use them, waiting time is a major concern.
"We cannot afford to wait five, 10 minutes in the morning. My kids will be late for school," said Mr Low Soon Peng, 45, a safety officer living in Yishun. He uses the mechanised carpark only on weekends.
It takes 10 to 15 minutes for users to retrieve their cars during the peak period and an average of five minutes during the off-peak period, said the National Development Ministry.
Motorists who need to use the car frequently also find it a hassle to park at a mechanised carpark.
Said retail manager Jo Yang, in her 40s, who works in Bangkit Road: "It's not very convenient for shopkeepers like us. We have to move merchandise sometimes and it's troublesome to go in and out of the carpark."
Other problems related to the three mechanised carparks include breakdowns. In half a year, there were 11 breakdowns out of some 54,000 parking transactions, mainly due to user issues such as motorists forgetting to apply their parking brakes, said MND last month.
Fans of the system, however, cited advantages such as security.
Yishun resident K. Krishna, 61, director of a human resource consultancy, said: "When I go overseas, I can leave my car there for a month. In the open-air carpark, you don't know what's going to happen but (at the mechanised carpark), I'm very sure the car is safe."
SIM University senior lecturer in urban transport management Park Byung Joon said such systems make it "quite easy to increase the parking capacity by (at least) threefold".
He said: "It has been implemented in cities like Seoul and Tokyo for many years. Given the scarcity of land in Singapore, MPS is really a way forward."
But Dr Park added that engineers will need to shorten the time for retrieving cars, as a 15-minute wait during peak hours may almost be "psychologically unacceptable" for users.
This article was first published on Oct 10, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>While two of the three mechanised carparks in Housing Board estates - Changi Village and Yishun - can have utilisation rates of more than 90 per cent during peak hours, it is not the case for the one in Bangkit Road, which sees just around half its spots taken up in its busiest periods.</p>
SINGAPORE - Economists are saying - meekly - that Singapore's central bank will not alter its monetary policy approach when its decision is announced this Friday, while an easing is ripe for 2017.
Some, including Nomura and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), see a 60 per cent probability of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) keeping the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) policy band untouched.
But recent developments have heightened some of their worries, prompting them to increase the odds as going down to the wire. Citi economist Kit Wei Zheng said in an Oct 5 note that its base case is now 50 to 55 per cent standing pat.
Looking ahead, economists are more certain of a monetary easing next year, most likely in the form of a re-centring, if growth fundamentals do not improve.
Wrote RBS economist Vaninder Singh in a note on the chance of MAS easing: "Not yet, but we are getting there."
In April, MAS flattened the S$NEER slope to zero per cent as it forecasted that core inflation will pick up more slowly than expected over 2016 as economic growth slows.
Core inflation, which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs, is a key policy consideration for the MAS.
The MAS also looks at other price and cost measures to assess inflationary pressures in the economy. These include prices of commodities and electronic goods, output gap and labour unit costs.
Economic data in recent months seemed to affirm MAS' woes.
The labour market has seen increased slack in recent months, and latest export numbers also painted a worrisome picture for the city-state's trade-reliant economy.
A surprise drop of 1.5 per cent in private home prices in the third quarter also dented economists' confidence further, as there is a correlation between home prices and quarter-on-quarter (qoq) gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Yet many economists said that these still fall within MAS' expectations when it flattened the S$NEER band in April.
For one, September's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), a leading indicator of activity in the sector, inched into expansionary territory for the first time in 14 months.
Factory output, specifically those within the electronics cluster, also expanded slightly in August. Factory output is closely related to manufacturing's GDP performance.
More crucially, economists are placing their bets on the recent upbeat inflation forecasts from MAS as a strong case for no policy change.
In July, MAS said that core inflation for 2016 should "average around one per cent". It had previously expected that core inflation would be in the lower half of the 0.5 to 1.5 per cent range for the year.
HSBC economist Joseph Incalcaterra said that the upgraded inflation forecast "sent a clear signal to the market that costs will rise", and is a strong basis for MAS to not ease.
But even as economists expect no policy change from MAS, they predict that Q3 growth data, due also on Friday, will be disappointing.
Recent bearish comments on growth outlook made by MAS chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam heightened these worries up a notch. Mr Tharman, who is also deputy prime minister, said in late September that Singapore's 2016 growth is likely to come in at the lower end of the one to 2 per cent range.
Some see this as a hint at a deeper Q3 qoq contraction. ANZ economist Ng Weiwen put this at 0.3 per cent, while Citi's Mr Kit had placed the contraction at 0.5 per cent before Mr Tharman's comments.
With no expectations of a monetary easing, economists see fiscal resources and policy responses to the upcoming Committee on the Future Economy report to support growth in the meantime, said BTMU's Leong Sook Mei.
Even if the Singapore dollar might be spared from undergoing policy surgery this week, economists say that an operation is still in the works. This is likely to be in April next year when the weakness in Singapore's economy becomes more apparent.
By then, MAS will most likely re-centre the S$NEER band. This is because the slope is already flat, and volatility in the foreign exchange markets is not high to warrant a widening, wrote RBS' Mr Singh.
While the general consensus leans more towards no policy change from MAS this Friday, the large probability they accorded to a surprise move is partially substantiated by the fact that the central bank has rarely issued policy statements on the last working day of the week. The last time it was issued on Friday was three years ago on April 12, 2013.
Also, in light of the three latest easings by MAS, ANZ's Mr Ng is still holding his breath: "Recently MAS has been surprising the market, so an easing is still not totally off the table."
This article was first published on October 10, 2016.
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He was collecting money from a customer at his drinks stall when he heard a loud crash.
When Mr Zhang realised what had caused the sudden sound, he was shocked. Several ceiling boards in the coffee shop had fallen onto the floor and smashed into pieces.
"It was a very loud bang. There was a lady walking past and it nearly hit her," the drinks stall operator told The New Paper yesterday.
The incident happened at 12.40pm yesterday at Nan Heong Ho Kee coffee shop at Block 148, Silat Avenue, in Bukit Merah.
Mr Zhang said he immediately called his mum, who owns the drinks stall, and the person-in-charge of the coffee shop to tell them what had happened.
It was the first time in his nine years of working at the coffee shop he had encountered something like this, he said.
A woman, 30, was walking towards the drinks stalls when she was nearly hit by the falling ceiling boards.
Her father, who went to the coffee shop afterwards, told Shin Min Daily News that his daughter was in shock.
Ceiling boards at coffee shop falls, startling customers
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
The New Paper, Lianhe Wanbao
STARTLED
A regular customer, who wanted to be known only as Raju, 49, a manager, told the evening daily he was having his lunch when the ceiling boards fell.
He said: "The entire incident happened in less than five seconds. A family of five who were sitting at the corner were startled.
"Their two children, who look no older than 10 years old, ran out immediately. Others also ran for their lives."
The affected area was about half the size of a badminton court. Broken pieces of the ceiling boards were all over the floor. Four to five fluorescent light holders and a few pieces of wire were also left dangling in mid-air.
Debris being cleared after the ceiling boards fell. Photo: Wanbao
After the incident, the person-in-charge of the coffee shop, who wanted to be known only as Mr William, 55, told TNP he had left the coffee shop for about half an hour when the ceiling fell.
He said: "My owner bought over the coffee shop eight years ago and we had a major renovation. The ceiling was new."
He said that he had hired workers to remove the affected ceiling, light holders and wires to ensure that the area is safe and will not affect customers.
"We will be changing the entire ceiling and this will take about a week.
"The cost is not known yet. Business will be as usual during this period," said Mr William, adding that he has engaged a contractor to review the situation.
huienl@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on October 11, 2016.
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Changes to the elected presidency and Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) schemes were introduced in Parliament yesterday, bringing them one step closer to being effected.
Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean tabled the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Bill, draft laws of the proposed changes, which will be up for debate at the next sitting of Parliament, likely to be next month.
The changes are part of a larger review of the political system, first raised by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the debate on the President's Address in January.
Most of them were covered by the White Paper released last month, which set out the Govern- ment's response to recommendations by the Constitutional Commission set up to review the elected presidency scheme.
The key changes include:
Reserved elections
An election will be reserved for a particular racial group if there has not been a president from the group for the five most recent presidential terms. This applies to the Chinese, Malay and Indian and other minority communities.
A committee will be set up to determine whether an individual satisfies the legal definition of being a member of these communities for the purposes of the election.
Similar committees are set up before general elections to determine if candidates for the Group Representation Constituency scheme belong to the Malay, Indian and other minority communities.
Meanwhile, any open election will be open to people of all races, including those who do not fall under the major racial categories.
Parliament will decide when the clock starts on the reserved elections, which will determine if the upcoming presidential election due next year needs to be reserved for any particular racial group.
More stringent criteria
A candidate from the private sector must have helmed a company with at least $500 million in shareholder equity to qualify, instead of $100 million in paid-up capital now.
The shareholder equity threshold will have to be reviewed at least once every 12 years - that is, two presidential terms - by the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC).
The PEC can recommend that the sum be raised, but not lowered. Parliament will then decide if the recommendation should be adopted.
Removal over false statements
Even after being elected, the president can be removed from office if he is found to have made false statements to the PEC, which certifies a candidate's eligibility to run for president.
This includes situations when a candidate has intentionally made a false or misleading statement, or knowingly failed to state a fact that is important in determining his eligibility.
More advisers, more consultation
The Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) will be enlarged to include two more members, bringing the total to eight.
The president must also consult the CPA before exercising most of his discretionary powers, such as over fiscal matters.
The council must state the number of votes for or against its recommendations, and the grounds for these recommendations. Similarly, if the president withholds his assent to Supply Bills, he must publish his reasons for doing so in the Government Gazette.
Recrafting entrenchment provisions
A set of provisions that "entrenches", or protects, the presidency by making it difficult for Parliament to amend the office, will be recrafted into a two-tier system.
The first tier covers the establishment of the elected presidency, while the second tier has to do with the president's powers to safeguard the reserves and make key public- service appointments.
To introduce changes to the first-tier provisions, the Government must get either the president or the CPA's support, or the support of more than half the electorate in a national referendum.
To pass the changes, they must be supported by a two-thirds parliamentary majority. For the second-tier provisions, the Government must get a three-quarters parliamentary majority to pass any changes.
The recrafted provisions will not be brought into force for now.
More NCMPs
The maximum number of NCMPs will be increased from the current nine to 12, and they will be given the same voting rights as elected MPs.
This article was first published on Oct 11, 2016.
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