Category: Singapuraku

200 Complaints Lodged With Regard To The English-Speaking Competency Of Bus Captains

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has received around 200 complaints regarding the language abilities of bus captains, most of which were on their ability to converse in English.

Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew revealed this in a written reply to MP for Aljunied GRC Muhamad Faisal’s parliamentary question on the number of public feedback received with regard to the language abilities of bus captains.

Mr Lui added that all bus captains are required to have a basic competency in conversational English before being deployed. Once LTA has received legitimate feedback, they will then inform the relevant public transport operators, who will send the bus captain for a refresher course.

The bus captain will only be redeployed once he has passed a language test.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

January 23, 2015
Blogger Alex Au Wai Pang Guilty Of Contempt Of Court

Blogger Alex Au Wai Pang was on Thursday (Jan 22) found guilty of scandalising contempt over a blogpost in which he discussed challenges of the constitutionality of Section 377A.

However, High Court judge Belinda Ang found that a second post by Au was not in contempt of court.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) took action against Au, 61, over two articles on his Yawning Bread blog in October 2013, arguing that the articles were not fair criticism and risked undermining public confidence in judiciary. The AGC also charged that the articles were baseless attacks against the authority of court and crossed the legal line.

Justice Ang found that Au’s first article, 377 Wheels Come Off Supreme Court’s Best Laid Plans, had imputed judicial partiality and impropriety on the part of the Chief Justice, and risked undermining public confidence in the administration of justice in Singapore.

However, she ruled that the AGC failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the charge of scandalising contempt on the second post titled Church Sacks Employee and Sues Government – on one ground right, on another ground wrong.

In this post, Au wrote that he did not have high hopes that former Robinson & Co employee Lawrence Wee’s application for a court declaration that Article 12 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, “mostly because my confidence in the Singapore judiciary is as limp as a flag on a windless day”.

Justice Ang disagreed with the prosecution that Au’s graphic description of his lack of confidence in the judiciary “stems from the judiciary’s inadequacies, incompetence and/or partiality against cases which relate to issues of sexual orientation”.

Sentencing for Au’s conviction in relation to the first article will proceed at a later date.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

January 23, 2015
Former NUS Law Professor Ordered To Pay AGC S$14,000 To Cover Legal Fees

Former law professor Tey Tsun Hang has been ordered to pay the Attorney-General’s Chambers S$14,000. This is to cover costs for legal fees and related expenses incurred in his failed bid to retain his permanent residency status.

Mr Tey, a Malaysian, lost his PR status after he left Singapore in October 2013 without a valid re-entry permit.

The former National University of Singapore lecturer had been charged with having sex with a student and accepting gifts from her in exchange for better grades. In February last year, he was acquitted of the corruption charges after an appeal.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

January 22, 2015
NUS Law Assistant Professor Convicted Of Assaulting 70 Year Old Taxi Driver

An assistant law professor with the National University of Singapore (NUS) assaulted a cabby over the change for a $20 fare, leaving him bloodied and in need of multiple stitches, a court heard yesterday.

Sundram Peter Soosay, 43, had vomited in Mr Sun Chuan Hua’s vehicle in the wee hours of Christmas Day in 2013.

He got out near King Albert Park in Bukit Timah and started to walk away without paying, but handed over a $50 note after the 70-year-old cabby chased him.

It is alleged that Soosay then attacked Mr Sun from behind as he returned to the vehicle to retrieve the change, knocking him to the ground and punching him several times in the face and body, an incident that was seen by an eyewitness.

In a trial that began yesterday, Mr Sun told the court he could smell alcohol on the breath of Soosay, who had boarded the cab along Serangoon North Avenue 1 to go to Clementi Road.

To get the passenger to pay, Mr Sun said he asked him several times and touched him “lightly” on the arm. Soosay paid when Mr Sun threatened to make a police report.

As he was walking back to his cab, someone hit him in the head, causing him to fall face down, said Mr Sun.

He tried to get up but Soosay forced him back on the ground, sat astride him, and continued punching him in the face, the cabby claimed.

Mr Sun, who needed 17 days of medical leave, told the court in Mandarin that he had got his taxi licence in 1983 and this had never happened to him before.

The eyewitness claimed he saw the two men scuffle before the alleged assault.

In his cross-examination of the witness, defence counsel Amarjit Singh said his client had walked away after the scuffle and did not attack the cabby. He suggested that the cabby had provoked Soosay by pushing him repeatedly in the back and throwing a punch of his own.

Mr Sun will stay on the stand when hearing resumes on Feb 5.

If convicted, Soosay, a permanent resident here, could be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000.

An NUS spokesman said Soosay joined the university in 2008. “NUS will await the conclusion of legal proceedings before determining what action, if any, should be taken.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

January 22, 2015
Wakaf Property Is Currently Being Occupied By Pu Guang Temple

A wakaf property is currently used as a temple.

The wakaf of Haji Pitchay Meerah Hussain was designated to be a madrasah or Arabic school. Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS)is the administrator of the waqf.

It is now used as the Pu Guang Tang Temple.

Why is a wakaf property used as a temple? Are there no Muslim organisations that can use or rent the property?

It is supposed to be used as a madrasah.

A wakaf is a religious endowment. The person who created the wakaf hopes to gain ajr/ pahala through the use of the wakaf property. It is part of his service to Allah.

But this wakaf property is used as a temple with a shrine.

Edit: MUIS claim to have leased the property for 199 years in an asset migration exercise. The property will revert to MUIS in 2201.

According to MUIS, “The Fatwa Committee opined that it is permissible to sell the commercial or residential units on a leasehold basis. In essence the freehold property will still remain with or belong to the waqf…”

This means that the property “remain with” the wakaf. It is used as a temple.

Source: Singapore Muslims for an Independent MUIS

January 22, 2015