Category: Singapuraku

Siting Flats Away From City Centre May Widen Singapore’s Social Divide

With less public housing being built in Singapore’s city centre than in the past, a paper published recently by the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) raised the question of whether this may lead to “enclaves” of wealth and social stratification.

In the paper, titled How Should Singapore Improve Spatial Diversity and Equity In The City Centre, author Wu Wei Neng asked whether there is a need to build more public homes in central districts to foster social cohesion and promote social mobility in the population.

“There is a risk that relegating new HDB estates to the outlying areas of Singapore, while planning a glittering array of architectural gems, luxurious residences and material offerings for the well-heeled in the city centre, could alienate a large part of the population,” wrote Mr Wu, who added that the paper is not intended to “suggest correct or incorrect handling of the situation depicted”.

The issue made headlines earlier this week, when a participant at the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS) mentorship programme for students asked Social and Family Development Minister Chan Chun Sing if the Government would consider increasing interaction among social classes by building Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats on prime land such as Marina South.

The paper, published on the LKYSPP website, noted that in the past, HDB flats were built in central areas such as Tanjong Pagar and Chinatown. This has helped stave off challenges such as low-income or ethnic minority ghettos and other “extreme forms of spatial segregation”. However, the last batch of flats in the central area were completed in 1985 at Rowell Court and Rowell Road. Since then, public housing has been sited further from the city.

Mr Wu cited 2013 figures from the authorities, which showed that around 71 per cent of the completed housing in the central area were private housing units, compared with 22.7 per cent elsewhere. While there have been efforts to develop the outskirts, such as Woodlands and Tampines, high-paying jobs will still be concentrated in prime commercial hubs such as the Marina Bay Financial Centre, he wrote.

Plans to develop business hubs in the south such as Alexandra and Pasir Panjang may further tilt commercial activity towards the central region. Firms may relocate lower-end jobs elsewhere because of high land costs. As people tend to seek jobs near their homes, this widens household income differences and spatial segregation, he said.

Having a high concentration of private residences in the city may lead to the formation of exclusive communities for the well-heeled and declining social mobility as mixed-income spaces provide equal access to opportunities, he added.

However, building HDB flats in the city would mean sacrificing revenue earned from selling land to commercial developers. State intervention also interferes with market forces and may lead to depressing prices of nearby private properties. Locating public housing in pricey city-centre locations also “creates undeserved windfall gains for a select few” when these units are sold, Mr Wu noted, pointing to Pinnacle@Duxton — where resale units may fetch S$1 million and more.

Mr Chan echoed this point, saying that building HDB flats in prime locations would see buyers enjoying a windfall when they sell their homes at a high price in resale markets at the expense of taxpayers.

Mr Wu also noted that the majority of Singapore’s resident population live in HDB estates outside the central area and these estates are socioeconomically mixed.

Property analysts were mixed on having more public housing in the city. Mr Chris Koh, director of property consultancy Chris International, felt public housing estates at the fringe of the city centre, such as Toa Payoh, already caters to a degree of social mixing. He suggested building a better transport network to ensure accessibility to the city centre, while plans to create more jobs across the island will help lift other segments of society.

But Mr Colin Tan, director of research and consultancy at Suntec Real Estate, felt there is a need for a mix of housing types in every area.

NUS sociologist Tan Ern Ser felt siting HDB flats in prime areas would “incur more social and economic costs than social benefits”, such as resentment when those able to obtain these flats make large profits when they sell their homes. Schools and religious activities are other ways to bring different social classes together, he said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

February 28, 2015
7 Things Girls Must Know About Boyfriends Who Are In NS

What’s the worst part for an enlisting soldier who is attached? His relationship. More often than not, you hear stories of how relationships go bad when the boy enters army; guys “wear green hat” (translate that to Chinese), guys change in personality and the relationship becomes stale. Is it really the army that’s causing these personal tragedies?

I’m attached myself and I would say that my relationship is still going strong, thanks to my awesome girlfriend and both our efforts to keep this relationship going. In this article I shall share some common misunderstandings in the ladies’ point of view as well as some pointers which can help maintain your relationship or even remedy one.

“I’ve waited the whole day for one call, but during the call he speaks lesser than five sentences!”

Your boy is going through a transition where almost all his freedom is taken away, everything including his time is controlled according to schedule and the activities in camp are mostly physically demanding.

Usually admin time at night is after all activities or training have ended, and the one thing everyone wants to do is to jump onto the bed and sleep. Trust me, as much as he would love to talk to you the whole night, he is most likely unable to do so after such a tiring day. But guys, this is no excuse for you, you can’t expect your girlfriends to only be the ones talking, think in their shoes!

Oh did I mention that there’s limited time to do everything as well?

“We have lesser things to talk about, all his topics are about the army”

There’s a saying in the army “same shit, different day”. When the days go on, everything becomes mundane, so he telling you what he did would be also the same. Plus, since he is exposed to something relatively new every day, what he will do is go find out on what he’s interested in and since it’s related to the army, everything he talks about would naturally be about the army!

Just a suggestion for ladies, you can go read up some things about the army. I’m sure your boy would be surprised to know you know so much and even if he has to correct you, he can prove how much he knows too.

He likes to go out more and wants to stay out during the weekends as much as possible! (or vice versa, staying in)

This might be a little more subjective for different army guys but it’s the same reason: we only have weekends to go out!

Same principle: he has very little time to spend outside, hence the weekends are for him to wisely do what he can’t do 5/7 of the week. If you cherish time with him, go out with him! It doesn’t matter what you’re doing as long as you’re spending time with him anyways. Of course some compromise should be reached between both parties, but I wouldn’t support anyone continuously shopping non-stop! It’s all about compromise!

For me, my girlfriend and I both prefer to stay home, so no conflict here!

When he books out, he starts getting sleepy at 10pm!

We all know we have limited time to spend with each other, but why still go to sleep? Simple: Body Clock. As mentioned above, his time and schedule is controlled. The army says we have to sleep at 10pm to prepare for the next day. Doing this same routine 5 days a week means our body clock most likely is adjusted to that.

You’re fortunate if your boy makes special effort to stay awake. I personally can’t keep awake as long as I’m sitting on a bed around that time… but that doesn’t mean I do that all the time, so guys, do make the effort to appreciate the time spent together!

Communication

This word is very often overlooked! It takes two people to communicate. If only one party puts in the effort, then it’ll be talking to a wall, not communication. If you don’t speak of what you feel or think, the other party is never ever going to know about it. This can make or break your relationship in the long run. Not to mention that means of communication is only via the phone on weekdays.

Having good communication not only means mindless talking. It means to let either party know what’s going on in each other lives, be it whether it’s of your interest or not – what’s important is your partner, and not the topic. Good communication also reduces misunderstanding.

Keeping Secrets

One of my principles for a healthy relationship is to never keep secrets from each other. Being a couple means that you both should have nothing to hide. On top of that, with him being in camp and unable to be updated on your activities, it’s normal to feel insecure. Keeping secrets leads to several negative consequences, in worst case scenarios, he may start doubting your loyalty; of which will lead us to my next point.

Cheating

Ladies, as much as your boy is in camp, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t die wishing to come out to give you a hug, you may be tired of hearing all the “I miss you” sweet talk but you never know it might very well be true. The least you can do is stay faithful and work things out.

Guys, don’t cheat on your loyal girlfriends in… well, camp. Wait, WTF?

Source: www.lowkayhwa.com

February 28, 2015
Elections Department Setting Up Hotlines To Handle Expected Surge In Public Queries

It looks like preparations for the next Election are really gearing up as the Election’s Department is also looking to set up a dedicated elections hotline.

Calling for a tender earlier this month, the Elections Department said that they were looking for the set up of hotline to address what they expect to be a surge in public inquiries. According to the elections department, the hotline can cost up to $1 million.

Earlier, the Elections Department also put out the list of revised constituency boundaries and electoral lists.

While the Elections Department has continually emphasised that these measures are just part of ongoing preparations which are conducted routinely, there is a lot of speculation in cyberspace that elections will be called very soon.

Many are expecting an early election sometime this year as it is SG50 and people are expected to be in generally high spirits after a year-long celebration for Singapore’s Golden Jubilee.

Source:www.therealsingapore.com

February 27, 2015
High Court Rules Application For Judicial Review By Former Sikh Religious Counsellor With Singapore Prisons Service As Abuse Of Court Process

The High Court has struck out an application by a former volunteer Sikh religious counsellor with the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) who had taken issue with the prison’s hair grooming policy for Sikh inmates and said his right to propagate his faith had been violated, after the SPS did not renew his volunteer pass.

Justice Quentin Loh said the applicant, Mr Madan Mohan Singh, did not have reasonable cause and that his application to start judicial review proceedings on these issues was “frivolous, and vexatious and/or otherwise an abuse of the processes of Court”.

Mr Singh, who was represented by lawyer M Ravi, had filed an application in 2013 to quash the labelling of Sikh prisoners as “practising” or “non-practising”. He had also sought a declaration that the SPS had violated his right to propagate his religion — which is contingent on him obtaining leave for the quashing order.

In response, the Attorney-General applied to have these applications struck out.

Based on the facts set out in Justice Loh’s judgment published yesterday, Mr Singh, a counsellor with the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association’s Sikh Aftercare (Counselling) Services, began volunteering with the SPS in 2000.

In 2010, he wrote to the SPS requesting a review of the prison’s hair grooming policy for Sikh inmates. Sikhs who have unshorn hair and beards at the point of admission can keep them unshorn during their incarceration. But those who had shorn their hair and beards at the time of admission or during incarceration would not be allowed to grow them out.

In his request, Mr Singh asked the authorities to look into incidents where the policy had not been adhered to. He also objected to the terms “practising” and “non-practising” Sikhs, used at the time to distinguish between Sikh inmates with shorn and unshorn hair and beards.

The SPS has since switched to using the terms “shorn” and “unshorn”.

Following his request, the SPS saw a spike in the number of Sikh inmates requesting to keep their hair long. Upon investigation, it found Mr Singh had “actively and persistently encouraged” inmates to keep their hair and beard unshorn to challenge the policy. This was deemed a threat to prison discipline and safety. In December 2011, Mr Singh was told his volunteer pass would not be renewed.

Mr Ravi had argued that Mr Singh had the right to seek the quashing order, as by not renewing his volunteer pass, the SPS was curtailing Mr Singh’s right to propagate his religion to a group of Sikhs to whom he owed a duty to rehabilitate.

But Justice Loh disagreed, noting that the application, interpreted substantively, was to quash the hair grooming policy, not challenge the non-renewal of Mr Singh’s pass. Even if he accepted the argument that the policy was the reason for the non-renewal, this was still not an infringement of Mr Singh’s constitutional rights. This was because prisons are restricted spaces, within which inmates suffer temporary exclusion from society. “A person would thus ordinarily have no access to a prison, much less free access to propagate his religion to the inmates,” he said.

Justice Loh also noted that Mr Singh did not object to the policy in the first 10 years of his stint with the SPS.

Two prominent members of the Sikh community, including chairman of the Sikh Welfare Council’s Inmate Counselling Subcommittee Manmohan Singh, also filed affidavits on behalf of the Attorney-General attesting to the fairness of the policy, he said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

February 27, 2015
Former CPIB Staff Charged In Court For Cheating And Theft

A former staff member from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was charged in court today, 27 February, with offences that include cheating and theft.

25 year-old Christopher Gan Boon Khong, an assistant with CPIB was charged with 15 offences – two counts of theft of credit and debit cards, 12 incidents of cheating and one of causing hurt.

On 2 July 2014, Mr Gan allegedly stole a debit card at a club at Jalan Sultan on 2 July 2014, before proceeding to another club at Tanglin Shopping Centre to use the card to pay for liquor worth $358.

He then went to another club and attempted to pay for four bottles of liquor worth $776. In the same night, he allegedly assaulted another man at the first club.

Mr Gan was also alleged to have stolen another credit card earlier on 29 June 2014, and had similarly attempted to use the card to pay for liquor worth $135, and flower garlands totalling $1,430.

The penalty for cheating is up to 10 years of jail time and fines for each charge; for theft, up to three years in jail and fines; and for causing hurt, two years in jail and a fine.

Bail of $15,000 was allowed, and Mr Gan had indicated he would legal services from the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.

CPIB has said in a statement to media that Gan had resigned from the service on 4 July 2014. “CPIB does not condone any criminal or improper acts by its officers. Errant officers will be dealt with and can expect to face criminal and/or disciplinary proceedings if they are involved in any wrongdoings.”

In February 2014, a former assistant director of CPIB, 40 year-old Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong, was sentenced to 10 years of jail for misappropriating $1.76 million. Mr Yeo had faced 21 charges, to which he admitted to four.

Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

February 27, 2015