Blog

Australian Animal Rights Probe into Mistreatment of Sheep Flown Over For Korban in Singapore

2,200 sheep were packed into wooden crates and stacked into the cargo hold of an aeroplane.

They were destined to face fully conscious slaughter in Singapore — but their suffering began much sooner.

Temperatures became so unbearable on a flight last week, that 174 sheep were found dead upon arrival (www.bit.ly/1xUdeAI).

In their wooden crates, there was simply nowhere these animals could go — nothing they could do — to cool their bodies down. It would have been a horrible way to die.

This is the fourth major incident of animals dying on planes in only the last year.

Both sheep and cattle have endured flights from hell — with ‘deficient’ or ‘inadequate’ ventilation blamed for the horrific suffering of animals who have suffocated to death, or died from heat stress.

Their deaths — like so many others — are just written off as a ‘cost of doing business’ to an industry that knowingly puts animals at great risk, for the sake of profit.

As you read this, our team of investigators are en route back to Australia — bringing with them the stories of the other animals who have suffered terribly at the hands of this industry.

Their evidence will form the basis of significant legal complaints to ensure those responsible for their suffering will be held to account.

Source: Animals Australia

October 9, 2014
Happy Family in the SAF

How I met my mother-in-law

While most people would have first met their wife-to-be, followed by their in-laws, Captain (CPT) Rudie Imran did the reverse. He first met his wife’s mother, 2nd Warrant Officer (2WO) Saloma Binte Johari, as a young lieutenant while serving in the 2nd People’s Defence Force (2 PDF) Training Centre. 2WO Saloma was the Chief Admin Supervisor there.

As fate would have it, his father-in-law, 2WO (Ret) Mawi Bin Mohd, was serving in the SAF too. Yes, it is a little complicated so we let the family do the talking instead.

How did you meet your wife?

CPT Rudie: It was at a unit event celebrating Hari Raya. 2WO Saloma’s daughter (who is now my wife) was one of those who were asked to perform and I was also performing. We dated secretly for a few months before I told 2WO Saloma!

2WO (Ret) Mawi: We knew! People would come up to tell me “your daughter going out with this young lieutenant, you know!” Before Rudie she had other boyfriends too but I told my daughter “now is study time, trust me, you will get a better man.”

What’s the best thing about having family who are also in the SAF?

CPT Rudie: They understand what is going on and why I have to stay late in camp sometimes. But it also means that I can’t lie about having to work late then sneak off to do other things, because my in-laws’ network is so wide, they would surely find out!

2WO Saloma: For my son, Sadali, I used to take him along to unit healthy lifestyle runs on weekends and sometimes I would bring him along to work. So when NS came around for him, I think he didn’t get too much of a shock!

CPT Rudie: During big events like SAF Day and National Day Parade, it can feel like the whole family is involved too. We would call each other and ask for help on certain things.

Does being in the SAF mean that you expect more from your children?

2WO Saloma: Our standards were higher in terms of discipline. We expected them to show respect and also be responsible for their own things.

2WO (Ret) Mawi: I used to set out certain tasks for them which they had to complete daily. If they didn’t do it and went to bed instead, I would wake them up in the middle of the night to finish the task.

How has being in the SAF influenced your family?

2WO (Ret) Mawi: There aren’t any specific SAF influences but we do bring back stories to tell our children. For example, I was deployed to East Timor (now called Timor-Leste) in 2002 and I saw how bad conditions were over there.

When I came back, I told my children about how the people lived in East Timor. I particularly remember the mission: We had to climb mountains to receive satellite signals to call our families.

CPL (NS) Sadali: Hearing these stories makes us appreciate what we have here.

2WO Saloma: The main thing is discipline and knowing the right things to do at the right time. Without these, everything will go haywire. Luckily, our children have been quite easy to manage.

PNR: What is it like having parents in the military?

CPL (NS) Sadali: Like being on Pulau Tekong! People always think that if your parents are in the military, your upbringing must be very strict but it was not that bad, really. In a way, being strict is also a good thing because we all grew up fine.

2WO (Ret) Mawi: How I learnt to relate to my children was through the NS boys (Full-time National Servicemen) and NSmen (Operationally Ready National Servicemen) under my charge throughout my career in the SAF. Getting to know new people all the time was one of the perks of the job.

2WO Saloma: We manage soldiers and we see some of the issues they have, and we can share with the children when we come home.

Source: http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/resourcelibrary/cyberpioneer/topics/articles/features/2014/oct14_cs.html#family2

October 9, 2014
Singaporean Tourists Injured in Kuala Lumpur Explosion

KUALA LUMPUR: At least 14 people were injured, one seriously, after an explosion in front of a pub at Sun Complex in Jalan Bukit Bintang at about 4.20am on Thursday (Oct 9), Bernama reported. The explosion is believed to have resulted from a homemade bomb, the news agency reported on its Twitter account.

Berita Harian Malaysia reported that police confirmed among those injured are Singaporean, Thai and Chinese tourists. The newspaper said initial police investigations indicated that the explosion was targeted towards the seriously injured victim.

The Star reported that the injured were aged between 22 and 40 and included two women. They have been sent to Hospital Kuala Lumpur and the nearby Tung Shin Hospital.

At least four cars were hit by the explosion, according to The Star. The report said that the explosion came from two devices placed underneath two cars parked in the area – one of which was believed to be an unexploded grenade. The Star reported that the two explosive objects were thrown at the scene from the second floor of a building.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/several-injured-in-kuala/1405298.html

October 9, 2014
Singapore Muslims Must Embrace Change

For those interested in political science:

I have discussed the concept of path dependence in government institutions several times. Basically, in historical institutionalism, a policy, structure or rules tend to be retained from its founding or initial development. Because stable institutions have defined their characteristics, decisions today are based on the choices made before it.

B. Guy Peters argues that path dependence develop into local optima. In relating economics to policy, he stated:

“These inefficiencies produce numerous local optima and firms, once they find such a local optimum, seize it and that local optimum becomes the dominant solution to the problem. Phrased more in terms of the operations of government programs, a particular program addressing a policy problem may not be the best in the abstract but once it has been shown to produce some positive results it will dominate other solutions that may in principle, be superior but which will require movement from that existing and seemingly functional program”.

Path dependence and the adoption of local optima is not confined to government policies. In Singapore, we see a similar behavior with Muslim organizations.

These organizations have taken an approach in political engagement and regardless of its inefficiencies, have remained within the engagement model. While there are better models to adopt, they are unable or unwilling to change from the way they have always engaged because it appeared to have worked before.

Thus, the inability for the Muslim community to solve their problems cannot be viewed simply from the government’s refusal to respond or change. Our organizations have been caught in an engagement inertia. Until we acknowledge that the model we have utilised all these years are not the best or most appropriate, we will always remain in this situation.

We have taken a specific model that has not worked for decades and expect a different result. Either we change our goals, change those we engage with or change how we engage.

Authored by Zulfikar Shariff

October 8, 2014
Unemployment Rate of Degree Holders Remained Low, Relatively Stable

SINGAPORE: On an annual basis from 2008 to 2013, the unemployment rate of resident degree holders has remained low and relatively stable at an average of 2.9 per cent, amongst the lowest across all educational groups in this period, Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said in a Parliamentary written reply on Tuesday (Oct 7).

He was responding to a question by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Yee Jenn Jong.

Mr Tan said the unemployment rate for such degree holders fluctuates from quarter to quarter. It is typically higher in June each year due to seasonal factors such as the new graduating cohort entering the labour force. This trend is reflected in the recent increase from 2.5 per cent in March 2014 to 3.9 per cent in June 2014.

He added that over the last decade, the proportion of degree holders in the resident population has increased substantially – from 14.4 per cent in 2003 to 23.9 per cent in 2013.

But the proportion of degree holders who are economically inactive only increased marginally – from 10.5 per cent in June 2003 to 11.9 per cent in June 2013. This is significantly lower than the 33.3 per cent of economically inactives in the overall resident population.

The proportion of resident degree holders under the age of 30 who were economically inactive in 2013 is the lowest across all educational groups, at 10.6 per cent. For this group, further education and training as well as childcare were the most commonly cited reasons for being out of the workforce.

Mr Tan said: “MOM (Ministry of Manpower) will continue to monitor the economic activity status of degree holders closely. We will continue in our efforts with tripartite partners to ensure that all residents, including degree holders, have good access to quality jobs, career development and progression pathways.”

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/unemployment-rate-of/1402952.html

October 8, 2014