Category: Politik

Grace Fu: ‘No Discrimination In Helping Para-Athletes Excel’

Instead of focusing on post-podium rewards for national athletes, the Government’s focus remains on helping all athletes get to the podium, said Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu.

To this end, there will be no discrimination on the support extended to para-athletes, Ms Fu stressed.

Ms Fu was responding to questions on whether the Government will consider offering equal rewards to Olympic and Paralympic gold medallists.

Para-swimmer Yip Pin Xiu will receive $400,000 for the two gold medals she won at the recent Rio Paralympics, while swimmer Joseph Schooling received $1 million for winning a gold medal at the Rio Olympics.

The rewards medal-winning athletes receive are decided by the Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC), Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) and their sponsors.

“This is in line with the general convention that monetary rewards for competitions in sport are largely funded by private means through sponsorships, donations and product endorsements,” said Ms Fu.

“I encourage the SNOC and SNPC to review the schemes with their sponsors, and for more corporations to step forward to support SNOC and SNPC on the awards.”

What can make a difference to the national athletes is the combined assistance they receive from family, the community, corporations, the public and the Government, Ms Fu said.

She said: “Instead of a one-off cash prize, athletes would also welcome career opportunities that can accommodate their sporting commitments and provide greater security and dignity when they retire from their sporting career.

“To enable this, SportSG has the spexBusiness Network.”

There is also no discrimination. For instance, the monthly payments under the spexScholarship scheme for all athletes are the same.

And sports medicine and sports science specialists, psychologists and trainers under SportSG offer the same support to both able-bodied and para-athletes.

Source: The New Paper

October 12, 2016
No Further Action To Be Taken Over Former NMP Calvin Cheng’s Online Comments, Say Police

The police have decided not to take any further action against former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng, who was being investigated after a report was made over controversial comments he made online.

The decision was made after careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case and in consultation with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the police said in a letter to Mr Cheng dated Oct 5.

They added that all investigations and enquiries into the matter would stop, and the case will be closed.

A police report was made against Mr Cheng last December (2015) by People’s Power Party (PPP) organising secretary Augustin Lee Tze Shih, over Mr Cheng’s comments online about killing the children of terrorists.

In a four-line Facebook comment in last November, Mr Cheng had seemed to advocate killing the children of terrorists “in case they grow up to take revenge”, which drew sharp criticism from netizens.

Mr Lee had said in his police report that the comments contravened the Sedition Act.

Following the controversy, the Media Literacy Council, which advises the Government on developments pertaining to the Internet and media, and which Mr Cheng was a member of, issued a statement saying that his words were insensitive but did not amount to hate speech.

Mr Cheng also apologised to his fellow council members, the Media Development Authority and his supporters in a Facebook post.

Source: The Straits Times

October 11, 2016
Myanmar Sends Troops Into Muslim-Majority Region After Deadly Attacks

Myanmar has stepped up security in a Muslim-majority region near its border with Bangladesh, officials said on Monday (Oct 10), as authorities hunt for attackers who killed at least nine police officers.

Officials believe that members of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority launched three separate attacks in the early hours of Sunday, in which dozens of weapons and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition were seized from border police.

Nine policemen were killed, one was missing and five were wounded. Eight attackers were killed and two captured, police said.

The Rohingya, who are mostly stateless and are subject to severe restrictions on their movements, make up the majority of the population in the northern part of Rakhine State.

Authorities in the township of Maungdaw on Sunday announced the extension of an existing order banning gatherings of five or more people and imposing a 7pm to 6am curfew.

State media said the military – known as the Tatmadaw – had moved troops into the area by helicopter. Photographs on social media showed trucks full of infantry purportedly being deployed in the area.

No detailed information has been released about the operation in the area near a border guard office at Kyiganbyin village, where as many as 90 assailants seized weapons and fled into the hills.

“The Tatmadaw, the police force and the Ministry of Border Affairs are working together to ensure security and restore law and order,” said Min Aung, a minister in the Rakhine State government, who declined to disclose the size of the force sent to the area.

Human rights advocates raised concerns that civilians may be caught up in the sweep. Unverified reports posted online by advocates for the Rohingya suggested that a violent crackdown may be underway.

Ye Htut, administrator for Maungdaw, said he was not aware of the situation around Kyiganbyin village, which is under the control of security forces.

Muslim residents of Maungdaw town closed their shops amid the heightened security presence, he said.

“All of the security forces are deployed in Maungdaw, so we are not worried about security. Everything is fine,” Ye Htut said.

BANGLADESH DEPLOYS BORDER GUARDS

Matthew Smith, founder of campaign group Fortify Rights, said restrictions on the Muslim population already in place made northern Rakhine State “a police state, an apartheid state”.

“Human rights violations in the context of counterinsurgency in northern Rakhine State are not new,” Smith said.

“The authorities routinely accuse average Rohingya of involvement with armed extremists.”

Authorities routinely dismiss accusations of rights abuses.

Sunday was the bloodiest day in the state since 2012, when more than 100 people were killed in clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. Some 125,000 people, the majority Rohingya, remain displaced.

Myanmar’s state counsellor and foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi – who in August appointed former U.N. chief Kofi Annan to head an advisory commission into the situation in Rakhine State – discussed the attacks with security officials in an emergency meeting on Sunday, said foreign ministry official Kyaw Tin.

“The state counsellor instructed us to handle this issue cautiously in accordance with the law,” Kyaw Tin told reporters.

Officials in Bangladesh said Myanmar had closed the border after the attacks.

Bangladesh deployed additional border guards, said Mohammad Tanvir Alam Khan, a Border Guard Bangladesh commander.

Myanmar police chief Zaw Win has said his force was investigating possible links between the attackers and rebel groups.

Zaw Win also mentioned big drugs busts by police in the area – some 6 million methamphetamine pills were seized in September – as a possible trigger for the attacks.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

October 11, 2016
Shorter Wait For BTO Flats On The Horizon: Lawrence Wong

Young couples will soon be able to move into their new homes quicker, as the Government is looking to shorten the wait for public housing.

When implemented, the move will see the waiting period for Build-To-Order (BTO) flats dip to two to three years, from the current three to four years, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong last week.

He was speaking to The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao in his first sit-down interview since taking over the portfolio a year ago.

Referring to young couples who are buying flats for the first time, Mr Wong said: “We would like to see how we can help them settle down and get their flat faster.”

He noted that some couples who urgently need their own flat currently opt for provisional housing or balance flats not sold in previous launches. Such balance flats are closer to completion, but are subject to balloting as well. “The demand for moving in is always there, that’s why balance flats are always more popular… People want to move in as soon as possible,” he said.

The shorter wait will be achieved by bringing forward construction and building ahead of BTO launches. But this will not apply across the entire housing stock, Mr Wong said. “It’s not possible because you just can’t construct all the flats within such a short period.”

Doing so would risk building too much ahead of demand and ending up with a redundant housing inventory, he added.

To be meaningful, the waiting time has to be shortened by one to two years, Mr Wong said.

“There will be a range of BTO flats with different waiting times… so people can pick and choose,” he said, adding that this spells more options for more home buyers.

Special education teacher Pearlyn Tay, 25, who is getting married in December, said a shorter wait will help young couples who want their own place after getting married.

“Logistically, it’s very difficult for couples to wait four years… So many people are applying for BTO flats first, before they even propose (marriage),” said Ms Tay. She and her fiance, marketing manager Russell Tan, 26, will be moving in with his parents after the wedding.

Mr Wong said the shorter wait will be pushed out as soon as possible, but added that the Housing Board still needs to work out the details. “Exactly how many of these units can we offer, what steps do we need to take in order to advance the construction process – that’s something we are all studying now.”

Mr Wong said he does not expect prices of flats with shorter waits to be higher, adding that price points are “more location specific”.

Shorter waits for BTO flats is one of three areas that Mr Wong’s ministry hopes to focus on going forward.

The second involves making it easier for seniors to unlock the value of their flats for retirement. The third will be the rolling out of the Fresh Start Housing Scheme from February’s BTO launch. It will help families with young children in public rental flats buy homes again.

Mr Wong also touched on other housing-related issues during the interview. He said that property cooling measures, which have dampened demand for homes and pushed down prices, are still needed to keep the market stable.

Future public housing projects in coveted downtown areas might come with stricter resale conditions, he added, in a bid to mitigate any “windfall effect” from the resale profits and ensure more equity.

Source: The Straits Times

October 10, 2016
Abd’ Al-Halim: The New Poor In Singapore Are Majority Malays

AsSalaam’alaikum!

This has happened before several years ago but when Al-Jazeera covered it, to hide their utter shame, the government banned the broadcast station in Singapore. At the time, there were several malay families who were kicked out of their HDB flats who had no alternative but to live in tents. The Malays were the most hard hit whenever there is any economic trouble. They are the first to be retrenched and the last to be employed. Now with the unbridled influx of foreign workers and the ongoing Islamophobia and general hatred for the Malays, even Malays with high qualification find it very very hard to get jobs. And when any Malay complain about their situation they will be told that they are too choosy or are simply not as well qualified because, this is after all, a meritocracy! This is the result of such macro-economic and socio-political mismanagement that further disadvantage the Malay-Muslims. It is a good thing that the Malays do not turn to crime as they still have not lost their faith in Islam. I worry that is a matter of time because desperate people do desperate things – Children need food shelter, proper sanitation and education.

There must be transparency in this. We need to know the racial breakdown of these people. It is also ironic to note that the PAP government had since the 60’s destroyed the kampung villages and appropriated the lands of the Malays via legislation of URA laws but now the Malays are returning to set up kampungs (villages) with a penghulu to boot. Another question is, where are the zakat (&/ waqaf) officials? Are they at ready only to collect but when there is such a clear need to disburse the funds they are not to be found?

In the early 90’s the opposition spoke about the rise of the “New Poor” in Singapore. Well, if we are not careful, the new poor will, by and large be the Malays.

Source: Ustaz Abd’ Al-Halim

October 10, 2016