Rilek1Corner

Category: Politik

  • Local Undergraduates Expect $4,000 As Starting Salary

    Local Undergraduates Expect $4,000 As Starting Salary

    According to a poll by STJobs, one in five local under/graduates expects no less than $4,000 as their starting pay.

    This contrasts sharply with the average starting pay for a bachelor’s degree (without honours) at $2,741, according to an earlier report last month.

    In view of realistic market payouts, some soon-to-be graduates seem to be asking for the sky.

    In February, STJobs.sg conducted a survey among close to 200 fresh graduates and undergraduates across a wide variety of academic disciplines in local tertiary institutes to find out what their salary expectations are.

    12 per cent of all respondents expected to receive less than $2,500 per month while 70 per cent of them expected to be paid up to $4,000 per month. The remaining 18 per cent felt they should receive more than $4,000 in remuneration.

    When asked why they felt they deserved their expected salary, half of the respondents said it was because they would be graduating from a recognised university.

    This reasoning seems to align with an earlier mypaper report whose survey findings – conducted and compiled by a HR consultant firm – found that one in five employers placed an average premium of $214 per month for local university graduates over those with degrees from overseas.

    Jerry Wee, Director of JRT Recruitment, agrees that employers tend to prefer fresh graduates from a recognised local university compared to private tertiary institutions, and would even be willing to pay them 10 to 15 per cent more.

    “The tightening of EPs for employment, coupled with rising costs and difficulty of hiring experienced qualified locals will put fresh grads in good stead to compete in the job market,” he said. However, he also cautioned that fresh grads need to be realistic in their expectation on remuneration.

    Yu Lan, 26, a student from Nanyang Technological University, is one of them who thinks that her starting salary should be at least $4,000 as she has “strong analysis skills and trouble-shooting ability”.

    On the other hand, 25-year-old Samuel Tan expects to be paid up to $4,000 in starting salary as other jobs he has applied to offer similar payouts. Other reasons cited include “I have the required abilities and good work ethics and experience from my part-time jobs”.

    Interestingly, 1 in 5 fresh graduates admitted that they had no clue about the usual starting pay of the job they are looking for and thought up a random figure for their expected remuneration.

    Most of them said they decided on their expected salary after consulting with friends who worked in a similar industry (46 per cent) or assumed that the industry or organisation they wanted to work in would be willing to pay them their expected salary (23 per cent).

    Among those surveyed, 79 per cent are from local universities, 11 per cent from local polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), and the remaining from private institutions.

    The fresh grads also comprised of Singaporean and Singapore Permanent Residents (61 per cent) and foreigners (39 per cent), and 9 in 10 fresh grads are aged between 20 to 27 years old.

     

    Source: http://business.asiaone.com

  • Blogger Alex Au Fined $8,000 For Contempt Of Court

    Blogger Alex Au Fined $8,000 For Contempt Of Court

    Singapore’s High Court on Thursday fined a prominent dissident blogger $8,000 for “scandalising” the city-state’s judiciary in an online commentary.

    Alex Au, 62, was punished over an October 5, 2013 post insinuating that hearing dates on a constitutional challenge to an old law criminalising gay sex between men had been rigged.

    Au, also a gay-rights activist, apologised to the court and paid the fine. He would have been jailed for one day if he failed or refused to pay the fine.

    “I have instructed my attorneys to file an appeal,” Au told reporters.

    In an earlier ruling, the High Court said Au was “guilty of scandalising contempt” for publishing the article on his blog site.

    Contempt of court carries a possible jail sentence, a fine or both. There is no maximum penalty specified under the law.

    Au is well-known in Singapore for his commentaries critical of the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

    He has also called for the repeal of the controversial Section 377A of the penal code, which criminalises sex between men.

    First introduced by British colonial administrators in 1938, the law is not actively enforced by authorities.

    But the government says it has to remain on the books because most Singaporeans are conservative and do not accept homosexuality.

    Singapore’s highest court, the Court of Appeal, in October upheld rulings by lower courts that it was up to parliament to repeal the Section 377A.

    The government has taken a strong stand against attacks on the integrity of the judiciary, saying they undermine public confidence in the institution.

    In 2010, British author Alan Shadrake was given a six-week jail term for publishing a book critical of the administration of the death penalty, which was ruled an insult to the judiciary.

     

    Source: http://news.asiaone.com

  • 5 Reasons Josephine Teo’s Service To Singapore Should Be Measured In Dollars And Cents

    5 Reasons Josephine Teo’s Service To Singapore Should Be Measured In Dollars And Cents

    In a post-budget 2015 forum on Feb. 26, 2015, Minister of State Josephine Teo was asked if national servicemen should be paid more.

    She said she noted the importance of giving NSmen recognition, but service for the country cannot be measured in dollars and cents.

    Here are 5 reasons why only Josephine Teo’s contributions to Singapore can be measured in dollars and cents:

    1. She is from the PAP.

    Only dollars and cents apply to them.

    2. It is a privilege for Singaporean Sons to serve National Service. Being a Minister of State, on the other hand, is a thankless job.

    Only money can be used as compensation.

    3. Because National Service is its own reward.

    And because serving Singapore as a Minister of State is not its own reward.

    4. Because Full-time National Servicemen get paid such a miniscule derisory amount it doesn’t even matter.

    Unlike what she gets, which can be counted easily because it is so much.

    5. She is the bulwark against any invasive force.

    She is not part of Total Defence. She is Total Defence itself.

    She can singlehandedly defend Singapore’s sovereignty by herself. That’s why only her contributions can be quantified in dollars and cents.

     

    Source: http://newnation.sg

  • Commuters Slam LTA And SMRT, Asks Lui Tuck Yew To Follow Suggestion Khaw Boon Wan Made To WP In Parliament

    Commuters Slam LTA And SMRT, Asks Lui Tuck Yew To Follow Suggestion Khaw Boon Wan Made To WP In Parliament

    It was reported that yesterday alone (3 Mar), SMRT was hit by two train service incidents, both during peak hours.

    In the early morning, a signalling fault at HarbourFront station on the Circle Line stopped all trains between Haw Par Villa and HarbourFront. And in the evening, track faults disrupted services on the East-West Line. Track faults at Clementi and Lakeside stations caused trains to slow down from Queenstown to Boon Lay. Commuters were advised to add 20 minutes to their travelling time between Bugis and Jurong East stations in both directions as bridging bus services were activated. Services resumed about 2 hours later.

    Many commuters were, understandably, angry with SMRT and lashed out at SMRT on social media (‘SMRT: Recent train incidents were ‘technically unrelated’‘).

    In all, there were 5 train disruptions in the spate of 9 days. LTA also joined in to condemn SMRT, saying that the situation is “unacceptable”.

    On LTA’s Facebook page yesterday, it said [Link]:

    “Today’s disruptions on the Circle and East-West Lines are the latest in a recent spate of incidents on the SMRT rail network. Commuters have been severely inconvenienced again. This is unacceptable.

    LTA has directed SMRT to investigate the various disruptions and give a full account of them. LTA is also conducting our independent investigations.

    LTA will be working with SMRT on the immediate remedial actions to turn around the situation. We expect the SMRT Board and management team to put in maximum effort and resources. We intend also to review again SMRT’s management of resources and processes for the maintenance of the rail system.”

    SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek was forced to come out to make, yet, another public apology.

    However, commuters were still not pleased. They also took the opportunity to slam LTA on its Facebook page:

    Shao Wei Chui Dear LTA, you most certainly do not keep my world moving. You keep mentioning that it’s “unacceptable” but so what? All that happens is a slap on a wrist on the transport companies and a fine but nothing changes and the fares go up to cover the fine

    Leon Chow: Don’t be a joke. If you all bother, things would not have gone out of hand. Useless jokers

    Shibly Mahmat: After investigate then what? Increase the fares again citing doing this for better service. Thats what you guys have been saying. But has the services ever improve? As far as all of us are concern, train disruptions due to faults are at an all time high now..is this your idea of better service?

    Evonne Sim: LTA, what can/will u do besides telling us this is unacceptable. How many times u want SMRT to investigate/explain! How many times we have to go thru these inconvenience over & over again! n what u going to do besides having endless meetings with no outcome? stop FINE SMRT as it will not solve any problem other than increasing their so-called operating cost n resulted fare hike. don’t juz lip service, we want to see action by the authority…

    Edmund Khor: you said you wanted to improve service.. but 4 years already, and it keeps getting worse. talk is cheap..

    Ken Ong: It’s all wayang. Lta n smrt management are pretty useless. They should all step down n resign.

    Calvin Xun Hui Wong: Another classic scene of relevant authority ‘takes action’ and ‘fine’ transport company, then on the other hand transport company takes the opportunity to raise fares with support from PTC (AKA the authority) to ‘improve transport system’. Its like LTA condemning SMRT but making the commuters pay their fines. So this is ‘action taken against SMRT’ ?

    Some even asked Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew to do what National Development Minister Khaw had suggested to WP MPs during the AHPETC saga, which Mr Khaw blamed WP:

    Rongjing Zeng: “In Japan, the chairman and CEO would call a press conference, take a deep bow and, in the good old days, they may even commit hara-kiri.” – KBW

    Gordon Teo: Why Tuck Yew haven’t hara kiri yet ah?

    Jabez Chai: What is our Transport’s Minister doing about it after so many years of breakdown and while doing nothing… He are being paid millions of dollars….

    Some questioned the rationale of approving the recent transport fare hike when the train services are “unacceptable”:

    Vasanthan Kanagasundaram: Could you also review why you think you deserve a fare hike.

    Ray Ng: Dear SMRT, the upcoming fare hike in April is not written in stone. please have the conscience to delay the fare hike in light of the recent train faults

    Robin Low: LTA, please justify why you allow price hike when there is no improvement and still lots of profits.

    Still, others think that it’s the fault of the government to increase the population of Singapore quickly by importing too many foreigners:

    Jeffrey Lim: So y import so many foreigners in the first place, if our mrt system can’t cope with it???

    Tan Cheng Siong Leslie: Nothing new. Cant imagine if population is 6.9, those top ‘elite’ mgmt dun care coz they dun take public transport, to them say a few words of apology n conduct investigation for show fat salary still goes to their pocket. TALK ONLY la.. Increase fare some more? Aiyooo, i so paiseh to say tat!

    Daniel Tan: Don’t blame SMRT, LTA. Blame the people who made the decision to overcrowd Singapore.

    Finally, one commuter said:

    “Main reason why I still hold on to my motorbike. Screw public transport. Now COE high, MRT haven’t improve, wanna encourage to take public transport. Screw that! I’ll never EVER let go of my motorbike!!”

     

    Source: www.tremeritus.com

  • Vice-President Jusuf Kalla Reminds Singapore And Malaysia To Be Grateful For Fresh Air For Most Of The Year

    Vice-President Jusuf Kalla Reminds Singapore And Malaysia To Be Grateful For Fresh Air For Most Of The Year

    Jakarta. Vice President Jusuf Kalla has denounced neighboring Singapore and Malaysia for complaining about the severe haze caused every year by Indonesian forest fires. He said he took note of the way the neighboring countries had kept complaining when toxic haze from adjacent areas in Indonesia, Riau in particular, fouled their air.

    “For 11 months, they enjoyed nice air from Indonesia and they never thanked us. They have suffered because of the haze for one month and they get upset,” Kalla said on Tuesday.

    Environmental group Greenpeace Indonesia reported forest fires in Riau have worsened from 6,644 hotspots in 2011 to 15,112 hotspots in 2013.

    Kalla said Indonesia has repeatedly and profoundly apologized for the forest fires and for the inconvenience and pollution the haze caused in neighboring countries.

    However, the outspoken vice president has previously sparked controversy when he claimed that foreign technology was behind the forest fires and therefore foreign countries must share the burden of responsibility in dealing with the forest fires.

    “Somebody once told me that Indonesia must restore its tropical forests, and I told him, ‘Excuse me? What did you say? Do you know who damaged our forests?’” Kalla added.

    Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BNPD, said the potential economic losses from the fires and haze that took place during the emergency period that ran from Feb. 26 to April 4 last year were estimated at Rp 20 trillion ($1.6 billion).

    Nearly 22,000 hectares of land were adversely affected, including 2,400 hectares in biosphere reserves. Nearly six million people were exposed to the haze, and 58,000 people suffered respiratory problems as a result.

     

    Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com