People can board the train, it is whether they choose to

INT.OFFICE - PANTRY - EARLY MORNING

Ah Tan and Ah Lim walked in and joined Ms Saw at the pantry. She was having a cup of Starbucks while reading the newspapers.

AH LIM: Eh? Here got Starbucks meh?
MS SAW: Ah, I bought it at the mall on the way here.
AH LIM: Oh... but there is coffee in our pantry! You didn't know?
MS SAW: Er... Ah Lim, no offense, but these dark colored water aren't exactly coffee, you know?

Ah Lim stared at Ms Saw with eyes and mouth wide opened. He muttered half a "what" and stopped abruptly, then picked up his cup of pantry coffee and drink silently. Ms Saw continued to sip her Starbucks coffee.

AH TAN: So... what brings you here? I would have imagined you to be pretty busy these days with the recent security lapse incident.
AH LIM (interrupted): Yah! I thought you should be busy fixing your depot fence?

Ms Saw put down her coffee and stared at Ah Lim this time.

MS SAW: I know that was a serious security lapse in our depot, so I've already instructed my men to work on it ASAP. But this incident also reaffirms the importance of the public’s participation and support in reporting any suspicious sightings in our system. The public needs to do their work as well, you know?
AH LIM: Wah! You're the highest-grossing CEO that your company has ever employed and after receiving $1.67 million last year, you still need the public to do your job ah?

Ms Saw slammed her right palm on the table and stood up from her chair. Her face was as red as a tomato and her eyes as big as fishballs. Ah Tan immediately stood up and tapped her shoulder lightly.

AH TAN: Hey Saw, don't mind him. He has just lost lotsa money because of France, Italy and England.
AH LIM (stood up and bowed slightly to Ms Saw): Er... yah... sorry lah, didn't mean to be rude lah...

Ms Saw let out a sigh and sat down slowly.

MS SAW: I didn't get all those money for nothing you know? I have a whole transport company to take care of, I've gotta make sure my shareholders are happy with our profit, and I've got a whole country of commuters to please! It's not a very pleasant job you know?

Both men nodded in agreement obediently.

AH TAN: Anyway, is your company planning to procure any more new trains?
MS SAW: Erm... not that I heard of... why do you ask?
AH TAN: Er... because the trains are already overcapacity?
MS SAW: I don't understand.
AH LIM: He's meaning to say, the trains are already overcrowded!
MS SAW (made a "tsk" sound at Ah Lim): I can understand the word "overcapacity"! What I meant was, why do you guys, or even the whole country, have the impression that the trains are overcapacity?
AH LIM (eyes wide opened): You mean, you didn't know your trains are overcrowded?

Ms Saw shook her hand at Ah Lim, shook her head, and took a sip from her coffee before continuing.

MS SAW: Trains will be crowded during peak hours. The question is, how crowded? Have you ever seen seen the trains in Hong Kong, Taipei and Shanghai? That is what you call overcrowded. Our trains? They are not!
AH TAN: But from the pictures posted on the Internet and the letters submitted to forums, it appears that the people do feel that our trains are overcrowded. Maybe not as bad as Hong Kong, Taipei or Shanghai, but still overcrowded.
MS SAW: Look, Ah Tan, even at its most crowded, our train carries 1,400 passengers. This is not crush load! Our train is not carrying more passengers than the standing load it is designed to carry under normal circumstances! You don't find people sitting at the top of the train like India right? You don't find people squeezing themselves into the train through the windows like China right? Look, people can board the train, it is whether they choose to.

Ms Saw gave a "tell me I'm right" face to the men and took another sip from her coffee.

AH LIM (rubbing his chin): But then hor... seriously, have you ever taken your train before?
MS SAW (exclaiming in shock): Are you crazy? Then what's my Merz for?


Saw Phaik Hwa,SMRT CEO,train,overcapacity

Sinha Shekhar rents out his HDB flat and complains about high property tax

YPAP leader and new citizen from India Sinha Shekhar owns a private property and rents out his HDB resale flat, while complaining about the high property tax he is paying.



According to HDB, you are allowed to sublet your whole flat if you have occupied your:

• Non-subsidised flat (flat purchased from the open market without a CPF housing grant) for at least 3 years, or


• Subsidised flat (flat purchased directly from HDB or from the open market with a CPF housing grant) for at least 5 years

Which means to say that, even if Sinha Shekhar is rich enough to own a private property, it does not mean he can just rent out his whole flat. Well, unless of course, he has actually stayed in that flat for the required years.

While Ms Neo Saw Kian, the Executive Estates Officer from HDB, promised that HDB will look into the matters, a Facebook page has been set up by furious locals.

Do drop by the page We want HDB to COMPULSORILY ACQUIRE Sinha Shekhar's flat! to see the members number climbing up.

We need a safer way to transport foreign workers? Wait for another 2 years!

In August 2009, we heard the news of a foreign worker who fell off a lorry. It was quite a news at that time, partly because he was compensated $50k, but mostly because the people finally felt that enough was enough. We were dropping too many foreign workers off the road. Literally.

Foreign worker who fell off lorry gets $50k
Source: Asiaone.com

A FOREIGN worker, who fell off the back of a lorry two years ago when it went over a road hump, will receive $50,000 in a settlement with his former employer.

Mr Mohd Showket Ali Abul Hossain Moral, 38, filed a claim against the company and the lorry driver in the civil courts after the fall. He needed two weeks' stay in hospital and more than a month of medical leave.

Yesterday, in a hearing in chambers, the parties agreed to settle.

The Bangladesh national, who flew here for the case, is expected to return to his country this weekend. He now oversees crop workers on a piece of farmland.

Mr Showket was a construction worker for Nature Landscapes, according to court documents detailing how the incident happened.

On July 27, 2007, he and a co-worker loaded trash bags of dead leaves onto the cargo deck of a lorry at a condominium in Bukit Timah.

The next afternoon, they were tasked to go with the driver to Changi to dump the leaves. While his co-worker sat with the driver in the cabin, Mr Showket clambered up the rear of the lorry and sat on the trash bags.

Midway through the journey, it began to pour, drenching Mr Showket, but worse was to follow. Near their destination, along Simei Rise, the lorry went over a hump, and Mr Showket fell off the cargo deck onto the road.

He lay there unconscious. His colleagues had no idea he had fallen off.

It was only when they got down from the lorry moments later, at the gate to their destination, that they saw him lying on the road.

Mr Showket was taken to Changi General Hospital in an ambulance. He had head, neck and back injuries, according to his statement of claim.

It then took the ministry nearly 18 months of consultation and study to discover the measures to enhance the safety of workers being transported in the open back carriages of lorries. So many months were needed for meetings after meetings of brainstorming, probably because some of the elites have no idea how lorries look like. After all, the only open-top vehicles they are familiar with are the Mercedes-Benz Roadsters and BMW Convertibles.

Anyway, finally the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport, Mr Teo Ser Luck, announced happily in the Parliament that revolutionary measures have been created to ensure safer rides for those who sit in the back of lorries.

And the two measures that the group took 18 months to come up with?

A worker cannot be seated any higher than 1.1m from the cargo deck. Those who breach this rule will be fined $200. A lorry cannot ferry more workers than allowed by the space on the cargo deck. Those who breach this rule will be fined $500 for the first offence.

Yes, it took them 18 months to figure out who to fine and how much.

Of course, as usual, the minister will tell you a long-term plan is in place as well. And it will be another three years for the full slate of measures — which include installing canopies and higher side railings on the back of lorries — to roll out, implemented in phases, slowly and steadily.

Fortunately, someone was not sleeping in the Parliament and asked a sensible question. Jurong MP Mdm Halimah Yacob asked, why three years.

And unfortunately the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Teo Ser Luck had a callous yet economically sensitive reason for why a three-year period is necessary.

Source: Parliament Debates Official Report

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Sir, I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the reply. I have a number of supplementary questions to ask.

My first question is that the Senior Parliamentary Secretary said that the safety and enforcement measures currently in force are effective. I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether he is aware of an accident that occurred on 2nd August this year reported in the Straits Times which talks about a lorry carrying foreign workers which crashed and 16 people were hurt. That was barely two weeks ago.

Second, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary also referred to the existence of laws to prosecute those who jeopardise the life and safety of workers by carrying them on the back of lorries. How many convictions of such employers have there been in order to ensure the safety of these workers?

Third, I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary why does it take three years to introduce these measures? Can it not be a much shorter period? Because we are talking about the lives and limbs of people who come and work in our country. I do not see many Singaporeans being carried in this way; in fact, hardly any. If Singaporeans are carried in this way, they would probably not want to work for the company. So, why do we need three years? What are the interim measures the Ministry has in mind to prevent the occurrence of the accident which happened only two weeks ago?

Mr Teo Ser Luck: Sir, I would like to assure the Member that safety is paramount. That is our main consideration, and that of the Workgroup. And that is the objective of the measures that they are recommending.

It is a very complex issue. We have to address not only safety concerns but also the concerns of the business sector and other stakeholders, and find a point of balance, given how these measures might potentially impact the different stakeholders.

Nevertheless, they have come up with both immediate measures and measures for the medium term, after three years, eg, the canopies, the side railings, as well as not to expose the workers above the height that will increase the risk of them falling off. We are enhancing the enforcement measures as well. So, with all these measures coming in, we hope that we can continue to enhance the safety of the workers, and we will continue to monitor the situation.

For some probably political reasons, Mr Teo's reasoning was not questioned further and so it was accepted that we could wait till 2012.

Fast-forward to 2010 now, less than one year later, we see another two accidents involving throwing workers off their lorries.

Three dead as lorry overturns on PIE
Source: Todayonline.com

SINGAPORE - Three men were killed in a traffic accident after the lorry they were in overturned on the Pan-Island Expressway at the Thomson Road exit, towards Changi this morning.

Two men died on the spot while the third died in hospital.

Fourteen others who were in the same vehicle were also sent to the hospital.

Of the 14, eight have been discharged while the remaining six were warded for minor trauma injuries.

All 17 men are believed to be China nationals from Crec Construction. A representative from the company said most of the men are from Jiangsu province.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said they rushed five ambulances, a fire engine and a Red Rhino to the scene soon after receiving a call at around 7.39am.

The accident caused a massive rush-hour traffic jam on the PIE.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident. It is not known if the lorry was carrying more workers than what is allowed.


Truck with 35 hits tree
Source: Straitstimes.com

A 24-footer truck carrying 35 workers crashed into a tree along Jurong Port Road on Wednesday morning, a day after three Chinese nationals were killed when the lorry they were riding in skidded and overturned just off the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE).

Fourteen others were injured in Tuesday's horrific accident.

In the latest Jurong Port accident, there were no serious casualties, according to the company's boss Simon Subra.

Two of the 35 workers from Fining Engineers and Contractors were sent to the National University Hospital for head injuries and treated as outpatients. Another four escaped with scrapes and bruises and have since been discharged.

So what's next? About time for someone to come out and tell these foreign workers "Just bear with another 2 more years of accidents, and you will be safe!"!

How Singapore can be in the next World Cup

In his 1998 National Day Rally speech, PM Goh was so inspired by the French victory in World Cup 1996 with a group of players led by Zinedine Zidane who is of Algerian extraction, said:

“Last year I told you Singapore would never have a chance in the World Cup, because the rules require all players to be citizens. But after watching the French victory, I have changed my mind. Maybe if we change our immigration criteria to bring in top football talent and make them citizens, then one day we too can get into the finals. In fact we intend to do just this, to bring in sports talent.”

Of course, by now in 2010, we all know that we did get a world championship, just that of a smaller ball called ping pong. Perhaps it is not as easy to attract Brazilians/French/Italians/Spanish/Argentinians soccer players into the country as it has been for the Chinese table tennis players. Perhaps we are not paying enough.

However not all hope is lost. It might actually be possible for Singapore to be participating in the next World Cup! And thanks to China again, for their great ideas!

In the World Cup 2010 held in South Africa this year, we have seen a match of Brazil vs North Korea. Hundreds of North Korean fans were in the stadium to cheer for their country, dressed in red and white, and waving their DPRK flags ever so proudly.

But hang on... since when are the North Koreans so filthy rich, and free? No they are not. And this explains all...

Chinese 'volunteer army' arrive to back North Korea
Source: Reuters Africa

PRETORIA (Reuters) - Hundreds of Chinese soccer fans, including artists and well known singers, have arrived in South Africa to lend their support to North Korea in their opening World Cup match against Brazil on Tuesday.

Dubbed the 'fans volunteer army' back home, many stayed in Pretoria overnight and will meet up with fellow Chinese supporters in Johannesburg to back isolated North Korea in their mouthwatering first game at Ellis Park (1830 GMT).

The North Korean sports ministry authorised a Chinese sports PR agency to sell tickets for the game as few North Koreans could afford the journey or receive visas to leave the country.

"When it comes to support in worldwide competitions, Chinese fans will stand for the Asia teams," Bi Fujian, one of the most popular television anchors in China, told Reuters TV before leaving for the trip.

"Not to mention that 60 years ago, China's military forces valiantly crossed the Yalu River to fight alongside the North Koreans against their enemies.

"Sixty years on, we cheer for their football team and hope they will go far."

I hope all the elites reading this post are still with me so far, because here comes my suggestion. The Lion team might still not be good enough for the next World Cup, hell they might not even be good enough for the next Asean games. But wait! The Lion fans can be in the next World Cup!

It might sound silly to send loads of Singaporeans to the World Cup 2014 in Brazil when the Lion team is not there, but the Lion fans can cheer for another country! Yes! They can pick one of the country's favorite ally, dressed up in their country colors, pretend to be their countrymen and cheer for them! I'm sure our allies do not mind more fans turning up to cheer for their teams! In that way, we are sending Singaporeans to the World Cup! Literally!

What we have are foreign talented hookers, not sex trafficking victims!

INT.OFFICE - MEETING ROOM VIGILANCE - MORNING

Mr Teo entered the room holding an opened notebook in his right hand. Ah Tan, Ah Lim and Ali stood up to greet him. Mr Teo signaled all to be seated.

AH TAN: Er... Sir, you're holding a... notebook?
MR TEO (grinning): Yes! From now on, I'll come into meetings with my notebook instead of the usual email printouts! We need to move together with time, you know? Even Khaw is meeting his people on Skype!

The three men nodded to show agreement and support.

MR TEO (turned his notebook to face the men): Gentlemen, the boorish America has done something terrible to us! They placed us on the Tier Two Watch List in their 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report! Alongside those third world countries like Bangladesh, China and India!
ALI: This is bad, man...
MR TEO (heatedly): This is not bad! This is outrageous!
AH TAN (reading from the notebook screen): There were no labour trafficking prosecutions or convictions during the reporting period. The Singapore Government showed an inadequate response to the sex trafficking problem in Singapore...
AH LIM: Oh... so it's because of sex trafficking?

The three men looked at each other in silent. Mr Teo turned the notebook back to face him then closed it.

MR TEO (sternly): Yes. I was puzzled when I read the report for the first time, I mean... how can Singapore be even be suspected of trafficking? Then like you, Lim, I realised that they are making the accusation because of sex trafficking. They are blaming us that women from China, the Philippines and Thailand had been tricked into coming to Singapore with promises of legitimate employment and coerced into the sex trade.
AH LIM: Oh... so the US officials have been to Geylang?

Mr Teo slammed his right palm on the table hard and stood up, while staring at Ah Lim irately.

MR TEO (berating): That is not the point! The point is, who are they to accuse us? Who are they to rank us so low? Singapore is always number one! This is an insult to us! And in the first place, can the US rank itself in Tier One when it is well known that the US has been unable to stem a flood of illegal workers, many of whom are trafficked by organised criminal gangs? They have not been able to cope adequately with this problem and that is among the reasons why immigration is such a hot political issue in the US! Maybe they should examine its own record more carefully before presuming to pronounce on other countries!

The three men nodded in agreement anxiously and waited for Mr Teo to calm down.

MR TEO: I tell you, this is more of a political ritual than an objective study. The whole report is a joke!
AH TAN: Actually I too think that the report is incorrect. If a woman entered Singapore legally but was abused, we will classify her as an immigration offender, nothing to do with sex trafficking.
MR TEO: Exactly!
AH LIM: Mmm... so the US officials have not been to Geylang...

All turned to look at Ah Lim stunningly.

ALI: Ah Lim, really, what has the report got to do with Geylang?
AH LIM: You see... first of all, those women from China, the Philippines and Thailand did not enter the country illegally. We give them work permits and invited them to come into the country as foreign talents! Yes we're giving away work permits freely, but that is not considered trafficking right?
MR TEO (rubbing his chin): You can say that...

Ah Lim grinned with satisfaction at Mr Teo's agreement with him. He then cleared his throat and continued.

AH LIM: Yes, we have more prostitutes than we used to have, but this is unavoidable right? As the population grows, these so-called low class jobs are shunned by the locals, so we have to bring in more foreign prostitutes! And then, these women are not abused what! Just take a stroll down the alleys in Geylang and you can see how happy they look! Just by sleeping with the generous Singaporean men, they earn so much more than what they make in their countries! They love us okay! Where got abuse?
ALI: Er... Ah Lim, you seems to know a lot about those women at Geylang...

Ah Lim froze in his seat and suddenly, blood rushed to his face.


2010 Trafficking in Persons Report,Hillary Clinton,Tier Two Watch List,Ministry of Foreign Affairs,MFA,human trafficking,sex trafficking

New Creation Church pastor makes fun of Taoist rituals

New Creation Church pastor Mark Ng, who heads the church's Chinese ministry, joked about Chinese rituals and compared praying to Taoist deities to 'seeking protection from secret society gangsters'.



"You know, the police, they like to worship which idol? Guan-Gong! You know, the beard one and the face very red red one and the Guan-do very big big one? The police force Hong Kong worship, then everytime they go out har to catch the thief or robbers they always pray first. But do you know that the gangsters, the secret societies, they also pray to the same Guan-Gong!"

Church pastor apologises
Source: Straitstimes.com

THE Internal Security Department (ISD) has looked into an incident involving the New Creation Church over a 2008 sermon being circulated online that mocks Taoist beliefs.

The 10-minute audio clip was posted on YouTube last Friday. In it, a church pastor, Mr Mark Ng, can be heard joking with the congregation about Chinese rituals; in one instance, he compared praying to Taoist deities to 'seeking protection from secret society gangsters'.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said yesterday in a response to queries from The Straits Times that the church had, on its own accord, contacted YouTube to remove the clip. It has also apologised.

'We are aware of the case. ISD has looked into it and taken up the matter with the New Creation Church.'

In a six-paragraph letter posted on its website on Sunday, New Creation said that Mr Ng, who heads the church's Chinese ministry, did not intend for his comments to be disrespectful to other faiths.

It added that earlier this year, the church had reviewed its archive of sermons and had stopped reproducing that particular sermon and other insensitive content that had been previously sold in the church bookstore.

School tracks down a student just to ask her to remove her vulgar tweet

Just when you thought those old-fashioned discipline masters in your schools have no idea what is Twitter...

School tracks down student's vulgar tweet, tells her to remove it
Source: Todayonline.com

SINGAPORE - Unhappy with her school's dress code, she whipped out her mobile phone, logged into her Twitter account, and tweeted a furious message, containing a vulgarity, criticising her school.

A few weeks later, the 20-something student got a call from her school. They had tracked her down and told her to remove the vulgar tweet.

MediaCorp is not naming the school at her request.

The student said she was shocked and impressed they actually bothered to track her down. Her Twitter account does not have her full name, so she thinks the school may have scrolled through previous tweets where she had talked about the course she was taking. And uncovered her identity.

Social media specialist Paul Charles, chief operating officer of Lewis PR, said a school going to such lengths to locate a student is saying: "We're not prepared to accept such criticism on social media".

Just like Paul Charles, I'm impressed and amazed by the length the school actually went to track down a teenager's tweets.

Apparently, though Twitter is not banned in Singapore (though I'm very sure the gahmen is very envious of China's Great Firewall, and very tempted), one does not have the freedom of just tweeting anything and everything. Now we know that besides the gahmen and statboards, you can't bad-mouth schools in this country as well.

So you might ask, if we're not allowed to rant even on the Internet, where else is safe? No, not the Speakers' Corner, you silly! Did you count the number of CCTVs installed there? These are the safe places where no elites, MPs and school discipline masters will step their precious foot on...

• Adults (40s and above): non-airconditioned kopitiams


• Adults (below 40s): clubs


• Teenagers: fastfood restaurants

See! You do can use vulgarities after all! And with the vast number of kopitiams, clubs and fastfood restaurants in the country, who dare say there is no freedom of speech in Singapore! As long as you don't do it on the Social Media!