Category: Singapuraku

Hougang DBSS Resident Files Court Application To Demand S&CC Refund From AHPETC

A resident of a new Housing Board development in Hougang has gone to court to obtain a refund for the service and conservancy charges (S&CC) she paid to the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).

Corporate travel manager Melinda Teo, 37, lodged a report with the Small Claims Tribunal on Monday (June 22), in a bid to get back the $367.20 that she paid in S&CC between November last year and May this year.

Ms Teo, who lives in the 680-unit Parkland Residences, a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) project, said she should not have to pay the fees to the Workers’ Party-run town council as it took over the management and maintenance of the property only on June 1.

Before that, the project’s developer, Kwan Hwee Investment, had to step in to clean the common areas.

Earlier this month, more than 300 residents of Parkland Residences sent a petition to the town council demanding to have their S&CC waived or refunded. But their appeal was not answered by either the town council or the Workers’ Party MPs, said Ms Teo.

However, an AHPETC spokesman had said in response to media queries earlier this month that the town council would have to compensate Kwan Hwee Investment for the maintenance work done before June 1. As such, it cannot return the S&CC to residents, it told reporters.

Following Ms Teo’s move to take court action, a representative of AHPETC must attend a meeting at the Small Claims Tribunal on July 2, according to a court document issued to the town council.

Otherwise, an order could be given against the town council in its absence. The order could include a mandatory compensation to the claimant for claims below $10,000.

Ms Teo said she decided to go down the legal route as “our e-mails and petition have only received the silent treatment from the MPs and town council”. She added that several neighbours have expressed interest in filing similar claims with the tribunal.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 25, 2015
Fugitive Former NTUC Chairman And PAP MP Finally Charged In Court

Former chairman of the National Trades Union Congress and Member of Parliament Phey Yew Kok appeared in court on Wednesday (Jun 24), after being on the run for almost 36 years.

Phey was charged on Dec 10, 1979 with four counts of criminal breach of trust of a total of S$82,520, and other offences under the Trade Union Act. He was out on bail at S$100,000 but did not have his passport impounded. Phey failed to turn up in court on Jan 7, 1980, and a warrant of arrest was issued on the same day. His two sureties lost S$95,000 of their bail bonds as a result.

Investigations revealed Phey had left Singapore for Kuala Lumpur by train on Dec 31, 1979, and proceeded to Bangkok where he disappeared. He surrendered at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok on Monday, and officers from Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau accompanied him back to the Republic on the same day.

State Courts heard that the charges still stand and investigations will resume. Additional charges may also be tendered.

When the charges were re-read to Phey before the State Courts on Wednesday, the accused said to District Judge Eddy Tham that “if my memory still does not fail me, I don’t think the money was transferred to my personal account”. Phey also had to ask the court interpreter to read the charges to him slowly as he said he was hard of hearing.

There will be no bail, and Phey will be remanded pending further investigation.

Phey is scheduled to appear in court again on Jul 23 at 2.15pm.

For the charges, Phey faces a prescribed punishment of up to seven years’ jail for criminal breach of trust by a public servant, and is liable to a fine.

For the Trades Union Act charges, Phey faces a prescribed punishment of a fine up to S$1,000 unless the offences warrant another form of punishment under the act.

“ZERO TOLERANCE FOR CORRUPTION”

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that a “clean and non-corrupt system” has been maintained in Singapore for fifty years “because we have zero tolerance for corruption”.

“We will not allow any cover up, even when it is awkward or embarrassing for the Government,” added Mr Lee.

We have maintained a clean and non-corrupt system in Singapore for half a century because we have zero tolerance for…

Posted by Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday, June 24, 2015

In response to media queries, Mr Lee said: “He has been charged in court, and the law will have to take its course.”

“This will bring closure to a long outstanding case involving a person who was holding public office as an MP and a senior union leader,” he added.

NTUC acknowledged Phey’s surrender to the authorities. “We must now let the law take its course,” the labour movement said in a statement.

Phey was general secretary of multiple trade unions including the Singapore Industrial Labour Organisation (SILO) and the Pioneer Industries Employees Union (PIEU) from 1970 to 1970.

He was also a People’s Action Party Member of Parliament for Boon Teck between 1972 and 1979.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 25, 2015
Three Myanmar Men Charged With Conspiring To Kill Own Citizen In Singapore

Three Myanmar men were charged on Wednesday with conspiring to murder a fellow national in Singapore with a gruesome collection of instruments including a chainsaw, a meat mincer, a cleaver and a chopping board.

Myanmar nationals Yae Wynnt Oaung, 32, Phyo Min Naing, 31, as well as Singapore permanent resident Zaw Min Hlaing, 37, were charged in a district court with plotting to murder another Singapore permanent resident, Aye Maung Maung Thet, 28.

A fourth suspect, 29-year-old Myanmar national Win Kyaw Kyaw Aung, left Singapore on Monday morning, police said.

The offence is punishable by up to 14 years in jail plus a fine.

The four men attempted to abduct Aye Maung Maung Thet at a suburban carpark on Sunday evening, with two of them assaulting him with a taser, an electrical device designed to stun and disable a person, court documents said.

The men fled when the victim’s cries for help attracted the attention of passers-by.

They were arrested the following day, two of them at a rented seaside chalet in Singapore’s eastern region.

“Items such as a meat mincer, chainsaw, kitchen knives, gas cooker, gas cylinder tank, a tool set, trolley bags, plastic sheets, cable ties, cleaver, aprons, chopping board and rubber boots were also recovered from the chalet and seized as case exhibits,” the police said.

In court on Wednesday, the three men, dressed in civilian attire and handcuffed, appeared sombre as the charges were read to them in Burmese, the Myanmar national language, by an interpreter.

No pleas were entered. They were ordered remanded in police custody for one week to assist in investigations.

The case follows a spate of murder cases in neighbouring Malaysia last year involving Myanmar nationals, mostly in the northern state of Penang. In some cases, victims were decapitated or had some of their body parts severed.

Malaysian police have said they believed the attacks are related to violent clashes in Myanmar between members of the Buddhist majority and its population of Rohingya, a Muslim minority.

But the motive for the botched murder plot in Singapore has not been disclosed.

Gruesome murders are rare in Singapore, a densely populated island of 5.5 million, 40 percent of them foreigners.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

June 25, 2015
Ikea Prihatin Maklum Balas, Akan Tukar Iklan Raya

Gedung perabot Ikea akan menggantikan iklan Hari Rayanya mulai Khamis minggu depan menyusuli maklum balas negatif sesetengah pelanggan.

Di media sosial, iklan yang antara lain disiarkan di akhbar selain di laman web Ikea itu, telah menerima kritikan kerana dianggap kurang peka kepada budaya masyarakat Melayu/Islam setempat, selain tidak menggambarkan semangat sambutan Ramadan dan Hari Raya yang sebenar.

Iklan tersebut, bertemakan ‘This Raya, Bling Glamour Home’ (Raya ini, bawa pulang glamor ke rumah anda) dan mempunyai dua versi, memaparkan sebuah keluarga berbaju Melayu bertemakan budaya hip hop, lengkap dengan topi, kasut jenis high-cut dan kaca mata hitam. Dalam iklan itu, model lelakinya juga memakai rantai dan perhiasan emas.

Menjawab pertanyaan Berita Harian (BH), pengurus pemasaran Ikea, Cik Caroline Ng, berkata iklan baru itu berlainan daripada yang asal.

“Niat kami bukanlah untuk menyinggung perasaan sesiapa pun dan kami harap orang ramai dapat melihat keikhlasan kami menerusi usaha yang kami lakukan ini,” ujar beliau.

Cik Ng menambah: “Di Ikea, kami amat prihatin dengan masyarakat dan menghormati dan terbuka menerima keprihatinan orang ramai.”

Dalam pada itu, Ikea telah pun menarik balik iklan asalnya itu daripada beberapa penerbitan, termasuk akhbar ini.

Bagaimanapun, ekoran masa yang amat suntuk, sebahagian iklan lama tidak sempat ditarik balik, tambah Cik Ng sambil memohon maaf.

Diminta mengulas, seorang pembaca BH, yang hanya ingin dikenali sebagai Encik Rafi, 46 tahun, berkata beliau mengalu-alukan langkah syarikat Ikea menukar iklan tersebut.

Beliau telah mengirimkan e-mel kepada syarikat itu untuk memberi maklum balas berkaitan iklan berkenaan.

“Kalau perubahan untuk kebaikan dialu-alukan sangat kerana iklan Hari Raya perlu memberi gambaran yang tepat supaya anak-anak muda tidak terpengaruh dengan budaya popular,” ujar beliau, yang telah pun menerima e-mel balas daripada Ikea.

Source: http://beritaharian.sg

June 24, 2015
Masagos Zulkifli: Muslim Community Must Beware Of ‘Absolutists’

The Muslim community has to be wary of the growing presence of “absolutists”, who have a rigid way of interpreting Islam, said Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Second Minister for Home Affairs, on Tuesday (Jun 23).

Previously, religious teachers here came from Egypt, but now, they come from “all over” the world. The variations of Islam they embrace are “very cultural” and some of the conflicts experienced in other countries are brought to Singapore, said the minister in an interview.

He noted that Singapore has succeeded as its people can live with one another despite their differences.

However, “absolutists” believe there is only one way that Islam ought to be, and those who do not agree with them are considered “un-Islamic” for example, he added.

When asked what was being done to reach out to or engage the absolutists, Mr Masagos said there is a need to ensure the Muslim community is aware of this phenomenon. “When we hear something that is really out of the norm, be alert to it. We have to accept them for their freedom to express their religious variations, too,” he said.

However, he cautioned that Muslims should not easily “succumb” to the views of absolutists. “They may look attractive, they may look correct … but do not be gullible.”

ONLINE BATTLE AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE

On the issue of the online battle against the ideology of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Mr Masagos said religious teaching in Singapore is moderate and tolerant.

However, he noted that not every young person has gone through the structured way of learning Islam, such as doing so in a mosque or through accredited teachers.

“Some of them take lessons from the Internet not because they’re looking for religious guidance, but because something may have happened in their lives,” said Mr Masagos.

For instance, he cited M Arifil Azim Putra Norja’I, who has been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for “terrorism-related activities”.

Mr Masagos said the 19-year-old’s father had died and the teen was trying to find “meaning in life”. “Unfortunately, he found the meaning in life through his conversation and engagement with … (a) radical.”

“He (Arifil) did not have references or background information about Islam to tell him these things are wrong,” Mr Masagos said.

On the other 17-year-old unnamed youth, who has also been arrested under ISA for further investigations into his radicalisation, Mr Masagos said there are no updates yet.

He said the teen’s views had “already (been) known” since he was 14. And now at 17, his parents “cannot somehow control” him and his views. “It’s important for him to know we are watching him. And that he has to behave and not do anything … to (affect) the safety and security of our country,” said the minister.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 24, 2015