Category: Uncategorized

10 Things You Can Buy With $71 Million SG50 Civil Servant Bonus

The Public Service Division, under Prime Minister’s Office, announced recently that there will be a SG50 bonus for all civil servants, amounting to $500 per officer, “in recognition of their contribution towards nation building”.

The bonus was to be paid with the mid-year Annual Variable Component (AVC) of 0.5 month, in July 2015.

There is an estimated 143,000 public officers in government service, which means the SG50 bonus would amount to about $71.5 million.

That’s a lot of dough. So we decided to see what else the SG50 bonus could have actually been spent on, and came up with our favs…

#1 — 7,150,000 plates of Peach Garden XO sauce chai tow kway

Image credit – InSing

Openly endorsed by NTUC chief, Minister Chan Chun Sing, $10 for a plate of this prestigious adaptation of the delicious hawker centre favorite is not to be scoffed at. Confirm quite shiok, right? Civil servants and citizens who agree, kee chiu!

#2 — 8,937,500 heart bypass surgeries

Image – The Straits Times

If National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan can get it at the bargain price of $8, any civil servant and citizen should be able to! And let’s face it, after all that XO chai tow kway, it is better to be safe than sorry, as you can’t really depend on Medishield to cover you for everything!

#3 — 31,630 Kate Spade bags

Image – justonebyte.com

Nothing but the best to tote around with in swanky Singapore, forking out $1,900 for a piece of this will seem like a breeze with that much bonus. Civil servants can now emulate their favorite politician or celebrity. Good for both the guys and gals!

#4 — 1,430 HDB flat subsidies for single-parent families

It’s SG50, so lets not fuss too much about all this and share a little! And with about 500 single parent births registered in a year, $50,000 per family is surely not too much to ask, just to level things up a bit for everyone.

#5 — 35,750,000 neighbourhood kopi tiam kaya toast sets

Image – TripAdvisor.com

We are not letting this go without gunning for the bread and butter issues (literally)! Another local favorite, something enjoyed by uncles, aunties and children alike, the sweet aroma of a $2 kaya toast set is just irresistible. A great perk for the civil servant rushing to work, and the best gift of appreciation for your Minister boss!

#6 — A year’s worth of pocket money for 99,305 needy primary school students under the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.

Joseph Schooling (image – The Straits Times)

If Joseph Schooling can do it, so can our government! Needy primary school students receive $60 a month from the Fund, so why not help bolster it so that The Straits Times can spend the money somewhere else, like hire better journalists?

#7 — Palliative care for 2,958 elderly people a year

Our silver generation, unfortunately, does not come with the silver dollars. Annual fees for a patient staying at a non-profit palliative care home chalks up about $24,000. If we can give billions for the Pioneer Generation Package, this should not be too much to ask!

#8 — 14,300 collumbarium slots

Fortunately, we do not have to contend with the potentially sky-high prices at the now defunct Fernvale Columbarium. But a regular slot at any columbarium hovers around $5,000 a niche. So let’s not skirt around the death issue and face it with a bit of realism. In cash.

#9 — 143 units of dignity for our Ministers

Surely our civil servants would think nothing of sacrificing their SG50 bonus for their bosses! $500,000 for a bit of dignity, what a steal!

#10 — 2.1 years of good government for all Singaporeans

Ok, so we were wrong, this one surely beats the XO chai tow kway.

“The price of good government is $34 million a year – just $11 per Singaporean a year – or the cost of five plates of char kway teow per citizen. And the price of bad government? It could have been $3,166 per Singaporean, said Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.”

The man has spoken, ’nuff said.

Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

June 19, 2015
Impiang Terbang Di NDP Kini Jadi Nyata

Impian waktu kecil juruterbang jet pejuang Angkatan Udara Republik Singapura (RSAF), Kapten Muhammad Iskandar Dzulfadhli Abdul Rahman, menjadi nyata apabila beliau terpilih bagi pertunjukan udara Perbarisan Hari Kebangsaan (NDP) tahun ini.

Kapten Iskandar akan memandu salah sebuah daripada empat pesawat pejuang F-5, bersama pesawat pengangkutan KC-135 dan G550-AEW dalam acara terbang lalu.

Semasa kecil, Kapten Iskandar, 26 tahun, sering mengimpikan menjadi juruterbang selepas terpegun melihat aksi akrobatik udara pasukan Black Knights RSAF.

“Saya bercita-cita menjadi juruterbang apabila menyaksikan pertunjukan udara pasukan Black Knights pada NDP dalam tahun 1990-an. Tidak sangka kini saya diberi peluang membuat pertunjukan itu pula,” katanya semasa acara pratonton bagi media di Padang kelmarin.

Pengalaman itu bertambah manis bagi Kapten Iskandar kerana pertunjukan udara NDP kali ini ialah yang terbesar – melibatkan 50 pesawat RSAF- sempena sambutan Jubli Emas Singapura (SG50).

“Saya rasa amat bertuah dan bersyukur dapat mengambil bahagian dalam NDP tahun ini,” ujar beliau.

Penonton teruja melihat jet terbang sederas 600 kilometer sejam, tetapi Kapten Iskandar dan pasukannya perlu melalui pelbagai cabaran bagi mempesembahkan pertunjukan itu.

“Cabarannya daripada peringkat perancangan. Untuk menerbangkan 50 pesawat dalam ruang udara Singapura yang kecil, rancangan dan aspek keselamatan amat penting.

“Oleh itu, kami memerlukan kerjasama daripada pelbagai agensi,” katanya.

Pasukan itu berlatih sejak April lalu.

Kapten Iskandar juga amat bersyukur pengorbanan dan perjuangan beliau dalam RSAF sejak menyertainya pada 2008 mendatangkan hasil “yang tidak ada gantinya”.

“Saya amat gembira dapat menjadikan impian saya satu kenyataan. Perjalanan saya sebagai juruterbang bukan mudah, dan lebih tujuh tahun saya berlatih untuk mengendalikan jet pejuang.

“Malah, saya juga bangga diberi peluang mewakili warga kerja Melayu RSAF dalam NDP tahun ini,” ujar beliau sambil tersenyum.

Selain pertunjukan udara tradisional seperti Terbang Lalu Bendera Negara dan aksi udara ‘letusan bom’ Black Knights, orang ramai akan dapat menikmati aksi juruterbang 20 pesawat F-16 membentuk angkat 50 di udara dan terbang lalu jet pejuang, helikopter dan pesawat pengangkutan bagi NDP kali ini.

Source: http://beritaharian.sg

June 19, 2015
Umardani Bin Umle – Another Ridzwan Dzafir Community Award Recipient

My late father was an ex-drug addict and he was the reason for me to embark on a social work career. My mother’s relentless support to aid him in his recovery, gave him the impetus to desist from his drug addiction. His ability to overcome the struggles and his determination to build better lives for his children proved that recovery is a possibility. His journey became my inspiration.

It was the decision to join Singapore Prison Service as a Counsellor that deepened my passion to help the offenders. Through this work experience, I was fortunate to hear the offenders’ account on their struggles in rehabilitation and widened my horizon of the complexity reintegrating into the society effectively. Personally I believe reintegration is not only about the individuals’ motivation to change but also community efforts to support the change.

I was dissatisfied in merely adopting theories and framework and had recognised the pitfalls of blindly applying theories. Having attained both degrees in Social Work, the PhD programme in Criminology would augment my current knowledge of rehabilitation practices. With exposures in both social work and criminology knowledge, such multi-disciplinary approaches would benefit both offenders and helping professionals exponentially.

The Ridzwan Dzafir Community Award provided me with the opportunity to pursue my dreams and to learn from a renowned professor in Criminology. There is a need to uncover new approaches and to challenge paradigms to suit the needs for population that I am serving. It is with this conviction; I believe pursuing a Criminology degree from the University of Glasgow would expose me to a wealth of new knowledge on best practices.

As a doctoral candidate, I aspire to continuously provide new knowledge, through evidence-informed research, to advance our professionalism in managing offenders’ reintegration. Rehabilitation is a dynamic landscape and thus there is a constant search to ensure effective practices are in place to lower the recidivism rates. Through this PhD programme, I hope to work alongside the Malay/Muslim community to advance our community standing and contribute to nation-building.

– Umardani Bin Umle –

Source: MENDAKI SIngapore

May 18, 2015
Amos Yee Rejected Bail Conditions To Defend His Freedom To Express Himself

What you don’t read in the mainstream media – why Amos Yee refused the bail conditions, even though the DPP had agreed to reduce them:

Even though the DPP had agreed to reduce bail from $30,000 to as low as $10,000, and was also agreeable to remove the daily reporting to the police, the DPP was not budging on the condition that Amos does not post anything online until his case is completed.

The DPP also wanted Amos to subject himself to “psychiatric counselling”.

At one point, the judge asked the DPP if this was necessary, given that Amos’ trial will begin tomorrow (Thursday).

“How many counselling sessions can he attend?” the judge said.

Do also note that the bail conditions and the daily reporting would have become moot points since Amos’ trial begins tomorrow. So, the DPP’s concessions are nothing to crow about, really.

Amos rejects the conditions because, as I understand it, he feels he should have the right to express himself, as guaranteed in the constitution. So, he is in effect standing for his rights.

Amos’ lawyers had countered-offered that Amos be disallowed to only post things related to his case, and that he be free to post anything else online.

The DPP countered that Amos is free to “communicate privately” with his friends, such as through email, and that Amos could also do “online shopping”.

The judge shot back that he doesn’t think Amos would be doing a lot of “online shopping” and that this was not really the point.

No news media has mentioned this.

Source: Andrew Loh

May 7, 2015
Confessions Of A Minah Tudung: Disappointed At The Script For Beer Chugging Antics On Stage, Sadder That Muslim Friend Cheered Them On

Admin jangan marah saya nak luahkan perasaan sikit.

Tak tenteram fikiran saya. Satu malam tak boleh tidur dibuatnya.

Semalam, saya dan another four of my girlfriends pergi tengok concert The Script at the Indoor Stadium. Kita dah lama kenal each other…sejak dari madrasah dulu. We all buat lain pekerjaan sekarang. Satu masih lagi studying in private uni – lets just call her M.

Kita semua love sangat dengan The Script. They are a mature band and their songs are full of meaning. No contest between them and One Direction.

Tapi yesterday our patience betul kena test. Kata concert start at 8pm tapi the show start lambat. Kita tunggu punya tunggu punya tunggu, tak start jugak. I rasa the concert only eventually started around 930pm gitu. Apa tak darah up?! Tapi kita sabar jugak. Amazingly, other people pun sabar jugak and were having fun among themselves.

Only later they explained ada technical problem dengan he big screen. Hai.

Tapi tu bukan the worst part.

Yang buat kita uncomfortable and disappointed ni, one-third through the show, they stopped to interact with the fans.

Kalau interact je tak kisah lah kan…Tapi the singer, Danny (O’Donoghue), and the guitarist, Mark (Sheehan), ada macam drink-off competition. Diorang minum beer on stage one after another and urge the crowd cheer them on as they try to drink a whole bottle of beer without stopping. Subhanallah.

People around us semua started to cheer and encourage them like it was the most fun thing to do.

Me and my friends tak kena gaya because kita were very uncomfortable by their drinking. What they dd in their personal life is their choice. Tapi kalau they do it at a concert macam gini, it makes Muslimahs like me think twice about attending another concert, even though we love, love, love their music.

Yang lebih mengelirukan, si M pun dengan ghairahnya pun ikut sama cheer diorang minum beer. Awkward sey…I coud feel the may stares we were getting from being this mostly-hijab clad group with another Malay girl boisterously cheering the drink-off.

Tak tau lah if we’ll ever go to another concert again. Even if The Script comes back.

But what’s bugging me now is, how do we tell M that kita tak senang dengan perangai dia?

S is for The Script

April 22, 2015