Category: Singapuraku

Computer Programmer Jailed For 8 Weeks For Secretly Filming Women

A computer programmer was jailed for eight weeks on Tuesday for secretly filming women in fitting rooms and on shopping mall escalators.

Jack Ng Kok Foong, 36, pleaded guilty to five of nine charges of intruding the privacy of women between April and May last year.

He was caught when a man in a cubicle next to his at the Factorie store at ION Orchard spotted a video camera lens protruding from a bag.

The customer alerted the store manager who sought the help of a security officer.

When Ng came out, the security officer wanted to check his bag but he refused and ran. After a short chase, he was detained and police were called.

Investigations showed that Ng was inside one of the fitting rooms at Factorie at ION that evening when he used a Sony Steadyshot video camera to film a woman trying on clothes in a fitting room.

Earlier on, he had filmed another woman in a fitting room in Cotton On at Wisma Atria and took an upskirt video on an escalator at Basement 4 of ION Orchard.

He committed two similar offences at Cotton On at Bugis Junction and an escalator at Pasir Ris White Sands sometime between April and May last year.

Ng, who had a previous conviction for causing hurt, would upload the videos to his laptop.

He could have been jailed for up to a year and/or fined on each charge of insulting modesty.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

March 11, 2015
Toa Payoh, Woodlands And Pasir Ris To Get Upgrades Under HDB’s Remaking Our Heartlands Programme

Three more towns — Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Pasir Ris — will be given facelifts under the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) Remaking Our Heartland (ROH) programme, said Senior Minister of State for National Development Lee Yi Shyan on Tuesday (Mar 10).

Plans for Toa Payoh include a revamped town centre and town park, as well as improved pedestrian access to the town centre. There are also plans to develop more public housing and parks around Caldecott MRT station, when it is upgraded to an interchange station along the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line.

More recreational spaces will be created along the Woodlands waterfront and the entire waterfront stretch will be opened to the public.

Residents in Pasir Ris can look forward to redeveloped neighbourhood centres and parks that will feature family-centred facilities.

HDB will be gathering feedback from residents and community stakeholders to refine these plans, Mr Lee told Parliament during the National Development Ministry’s Committee of Supply debate.

He added that following a successful pilot of the HDB Greenprint in Yuhua, another precinct will be selected for the programme, which aims to promote sustainable and eco-friendly living in existing HDB estates.

The ROH programme is aimed at breathing new life into young and mature estates. Six towns have been lined up for revitalisation since its launch in 2007 — Punggol, Yishun, Dawson, East Coast, Hougang and Jurong Lake.

Addressing Jurong GRC Member of Parliament Ang Wei Neng’s concern that only a handful of neighbourhood centres have been able to tap the Revitalisation of Shops scheme — introduced in 2007 to enhance the competitiveness of HDB shops — Mr Lee announced that a new committee will be set up to fine-tune the scheme.

So far, about S$8.4 million has been disbursed under the scheme, and one in two HDB shops have benefited from it, Mr Lee said.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

March 11, 2015
Training Contracts Unable To Meet Demand From Increased Supply Of Law Graduates

A 47 per cent increase in students studying law, in the UK and Australia over the past three years, has led to increased competition for training contracts with law firms in Singapore.

Numbers were revealed by Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah in Parliament on Tuesday (Mar 10), following recent news that eight UK law schools would be dropped from the list recognised for admission to the Singapore Bar.

The number at UK universities has doubled over four years, hitting 1,140 students in 2013. For Australian universities, that number has gone up by more than 25 per cent, hitting around 390 students in 2013.

Speaking in Parliament, MP Hri Kumar Nair, who is the Government Parliamentary Committee Chair for Home Affairs and Law, said that the glut of law graduates had given way to a shortage of training contracts.

“From a dearth of lawyers a few years ago, we are now faced with law graduates not being able to secure training contracts. Last year there were about 650 law graduates, but only about 490 training contracts.”

“Figures from the Ministry show that only about 70 per cent of foreign-trained graduates managed to secure training contracts with firms here, compared to around 94 per cent of local graduates.”

TRAINING CONTRACT FRAMEWORK UNDER REVIEW

Ms Indranee said that work was already underway by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE) to fix the problem.

“SILE has put in place measures to facilitate more training contracts. Senior lawyers can now supervise up to four practice trainees, instead of two, at any time. The SILE has also set up a Working Party to review the practice training framework,” she said.

“However, it ultimately depends on the number of trainees that senior solicitors can effectively supervise, and which the firms can eventually retain.”

She added that the Law Ministry’s objective is to ensure a sufficient pipeline of quality legal talent to support Singapore’s legal needs.

“We uphold high standards to maintain quality. We do not try to beat the market mechanism by controlling numbers, but have the responsibility to inform aspiring lawyers of the situation to enable them to make informed choices on whether, and where, to pursue a law degree.”

Ms Indranee also pointed out that while there is no overall shortage of lawyers, many are keen to practise commercial and business law. This means a shortage in some areas of practice, like criminal and family law.

LOCAL LAW GRADUATE NUMBERS FAIRLY CONSTANT

While overseas law graduate numbers climb, the number of local law graduates has remained fairly constant. Fewer than 400 students graduate with a local law degree each year.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

March 11, 2015
Pay Increments For Low-Wage Civil Servants And Single Track For Poly And Uni Graduates

About 2,200 lower wage civil servants will receive a salary increase of between S$60 to S$80 in April, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announced in Parliament on Tuesday (Mar 10).

This follows the total salary adjustments of about S$300 to S$330 they received from 2012 to 2014 – an increase of about 25 per cent in their monthly salaries, over and above their annual increments.

This year’s increment followed a Public Service Division study in partnership with the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE) and the Ministry of Education on the challenges faced by these officers.

“This move will keep salaries market competitive as part of our regular review of salaries. From next month, their salary scales will also be lengthened so that officers who have reached the previous maximum of their scales can receive further increments as they uplift their skills,” said Mr Teo, speaking at the Committee of Supply 2015 debate in Parliament.

“The Public Service will continue to work closely with the unions, and make salary adjustments where necessary, while providing our lower-wage officers with relevant opportunities to upgrade their skills.”

EXTENDED MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE SCHEME

The Management Executive Scheme, currently spanning Management Executive Officers (MXO) and Management Support Officers (MSO), will be merged into a single scheme with effect from August, said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Both degree holders and non-degree holders will be recruited on, and progress along, the extended Management Executive Scheme, he said.

“All officers in the same grade will be assessed for performance and potential in the same way. Officers assessed to have the same performance and potential will have the same opportunities for advancement and career development, whether they are degree holders or not,” he added.

“The extension of the scheme will be accompanied by a re-design of jobs and responsibilities so that the Civil Service can make full use of the abilities and potential of our officers.”

The AUPE said it welcomed the new adjustments, and the move to implement the enhanced Management Executive Scheme.

The union said it was “heartened” to note that civil servants who have hit the maximum of their salary scales can continue receive increments for their hard work and good performance.

“This would help the lower-wage civil servants cope with the rising costs of living,” AUPE said in a statement.

AUPE also said the enhanced Management Executive Scheme would bring “greater transparency and fairness” for the career advancement of degree holders and non-degree holders.

“We will continue to work with PSD to provide the same opportunities for public servants, regardless of their academic qualifications, on career development and advancement, and promote based on skill competency and performance,” the union said.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

March 11, 2015
Restaurant Secretary Fined $5,000 For Forging New Halal Certificate

A restaurant secretary who had failed to renew the company’s halal certificate forged a new one and showed it to potential customers.

Pung Chee Lai then lied to her boss by telling him the halal application was still being processed and backed this up by showing him a faked email purporting to be from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis).

The 57-year-old was fined $5,000 on Tuesday after she admitted using the forged email.

At the time she had been working for Pioneer Spring Restaurant and Tuas Point Seafood and Catering, which provided halal food for company functions.

Tuas Point’s halal certificate expired on Nov 20, 2011, but when Rotary Engineering and Singtel made inquiries for halal food in the three months after that, she provided fakes that expired on Nov 30, 2012.

A police report was lodged in March 2012.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ang Siok Chen said that Pung’s boss was alerted to the forged certificate by his staff, and when he confronted Pung about it she told him that the application renewal was still being processed.

To back up her claims, she showed him an email from Muis – which had also been forged.

Ms Ang highlighted the public interest in deterring conduct which undermines the Halal certification regime. She said Pung’s actions were dishonest and premeditated.

Agreeing, District Judge Wong Choon Ning said the whole system would be affected if people could bypass it or create false certification, adding: “In this case, I do not find any basis of a deliberate commission of the act to provoke racial disharmony.”

Pung’s lawyer Devadas Naidu said his client made the false statement to Mr Lee in order not to be pressed further and cause further stress to her boss.

Pung, who has two other charges considered, could have been jailed for up to four years and/or fined for using a forged document.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

March 11, 2015