Blog

MOM: 38 Firms Identified For Closer Inspection Of EP Applications

There are 38 companies identified for closer scrutiny and about 100 more firms for “further engagement”, said Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say in an update on the Fair Consideration Framework introduced last year.

In a blogpost on Thursday (Aug 13), Mr Lim said the 38 are from the 150 firms the ministry has engaged with over the past year.

“MOM is committed to scrutinise the applications for Employment Pass (EP) by what I call ‘Double Weak’ firms: Weak in Singaporean Core and weak in commitment to fair consideration in hiring and developing Singaporeans,” Mr Lim wrote.

The Fair Consideration Framework was introduced last year to ensure that Singaporeans are considered fairly for job openings before firms apply to employ foreign PMEs.

On top of the 150, another 100 companies were identified for further engagement and these are considered “outliers” in their respective industries such as such as Admin and Support, Construction, Infocomm, Finance and Insurance, Professional Services, Transport and Storage and Wholesale Trade, the minister said.

“Being placed on the watchlist means that MOM will scrutinise their EP applications more closely. They will be asked to provide additional details, such as the number of Singaporeans who applied and were interviewed for the posts, and whether their existing Singaporean employees have been considered,” said Mr Lim.

He added his ministry will engage the firms to up their efforts in the training, development and upgrading of local Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs).

“In the event that we have a shortage of qualified Singaporeans in some specific areas, we will encourage them to transfer know-how from the foreign PMEs to their Singaporean staff so that, over time, more Singaporeans will be qualified to take on these opportunities and challenges,” Mr Lim wrote.

“Should there be Double Weak firms that are unresponsive or uncooperative, they will have their EP privileges curtailed,” he added.

That said, the minister believes “a majority” of the Double Weak firms will respond constructively to its call to strengthen their Singapore core. “I also believe that many of our local PMEs are willing to up-skill and re-skill, and are open to try out some of these jobs and careers we are creating for them,” he said.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

August 14, 2015
WP To Give National Day Rally A Miss

The Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament (MPs) will not be attending the National Day Rally (NDR) because of a clash in timing with a grassroots event they have been planning since last year.

This is believed to be the first time that no WP representatives will attend the yearly event since the party’s parliamentary presence increased after the 2011 General Election.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the WP confirmed that its nine MPs, including its two Non-Constituency MPs (NCMPs), would not attend the rally on Aug 23.

The WP spokesperson noted that invitations to the rally are sent to individual MPs, not to the party, and said the MPs had “informed the organising committee accordingly”.

The date of the WP’s grassroots event — an SG50 celebration dinner for residents — was decided in December, added the spokesperson.

The rally usually takes place two Sundays after National Day, with the date confirmed closer to the NDR. Opposition and Nominated MPs have been attending it since 2007.

Before that, opposition MPs had never been invited to the rally, which is a platform for Singapore’s Prime Minister to explain policy directions and priorities, as well as challenges facing the nation.

In 2004, in reply to a parliamentary question, the Prime Minister said opposition MPs could not be expected to help the Government rally the ground to support its policies.

WP NCMP Yee Jenn Jong told TODAY this would be the first time he would be absent from the Rally since entering Parliament in 2011. “By the time we received the NDR invitation, we had already planned our National Day event,” said Mr Yee, who received the invitation in June.

“I think I need to commit my time to the residents who have supported us,” added Mr Yee, who had paid for a table for supporters and friends invited to the dinner.

Nevertheless, he said he intends to catch up on the NDR speech after that.

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 14, 2015
WP’s Sylvia Lim Dismisses Talk Of Competing In Fengshan SMC

Workers’ Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim will likely stay put to defend her seat in Aljunied GRC at the next election, party sources said yesterday, dismissing speculation that she is being sent out to boost WP’s chances in a different ward.

Talk of such a move spiked after WP chief Low Thia Khiang refused to say if his Aljunied team will remain unchanged for the polls and Ms Lim posted a photo of herself eating at Fengshan Market and Food Centre online. The photo, the first in her newly set up Instagram account, was accompanied by the caption “the taste of Fengshan – heavenly” and a cryptic hashtag “#reasonstowin”.

Party insiders, however, were quick to pour cold water on the idea, telling The Straits Times that internal chatter pointed to the Aljunied GRC team remaining unchanged. A party member said Mr Low wants to keep the current Aljunied team intact to “entrench the opposition vote in Aljunied GRC”. Mr Low himself has said he will definitely be standing in the constituency.

Political observers also agreed that moving Ms Lim to the newly created Fengshan single-seat ward did not make sense.

It would open up the party to accusations that it is taking Aljunied GRC for granted, raise questions about why the chairman of an embattled town council was abandoning it, and suggest a demotion for a senior party leader.

Said political scientist Derek da Cunha: “Ms Lim eating at a hawker centre at Fengshan could simply be a smokescreen. Moving out of Aljunied only makes sense if Ms Lim, given her relatively high profile nationally, were to helm a WP GRC team.”

Fengshan SMC is one of the five GRCs and five single-seat wards that WP wants to contest in the next polls. It was carved out of East Coast GRC, where WP polled 45.17 per cent of valid votes in 2011.

At the same time, observers did not want to completely discount the possibility that WP is plotting a surprise move. Institute of Policy Studies senior research fellow Gillian Koh said: “While Mr Low is saying that he is going to hold fort in Aljunied GRC, if the party does wish to extend its reach, it will have to send its other top gun out.”

Dr Koh added that if Ms Lim does make the move, where she ends up will depend on “whether the WP is ambitious in wanting to make a serious bid for East Coast GRC… or it is a little more modest and places its chairman in a single seat”.

Similarly, Dr da Cunha said WP could calculate that it can hold Aljunied even without Ms Lim on the slate there, since Ms Lim’s Serangoon division drew the highest vote for WP in all five Aljunied divisions.

Former Nominated MP Zulkifli Baharudin said WP would probably have to weigh the options of having Ms Lim “stay and solve the issues in the safe seat” and of letting her helm another GRC but face the potential of losing.

Ms Lim is the chairman of the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council, which is currently sorting out finance and governance issues after the Auditor-General’s Office found lapses in these areas in a year-long audit.

“Certainly the issue complicates things for them, otherwise it would be quite obvious that they should spread out their best candidates instead of putting them all in the same place,” said Mr Zulkifli.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 14, 2015
Tin Pei Ling Raring To Rejoin Team For Macpherson Battle

Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling is raring to rejoin her team in gearing up for the contest in MacPherson in the upcoming General Election. Speaking exclusively to 938LIVE, she said she will nevertheless complete her one-month confinement period, after giving birth to a baby boy, Ng Kee Hau, on Aug 5.

Ms Tin said even now it is business as usual, as she is maintaining close contact with her team in the constituency.

“This is because I have put in place a great team. They know what to do. We have also worked out a system, be it communication or about getting work done, even as I’m taking my one-month confinement break, things are running as normal within MacPherson,” she said.

She hopes that the residents at MacPherson will understand her month-long absence. “(I) hope that residents will judge based on past experience, past work done, as well as looking ahead, I hope that they will continue to let me have this opportunity to serve them, continue the work that I’ve been delivering for them,” she said.

Ms Tin also said she is ready to face a contest in MacPherson. “My mission right from the beginning is to serve my residents, that has always been the case. So most part of my energy, my mental and physical energy, will be focusing on making sure that the day to day issues of my residents have been taken care of. MacPherson is well run, so whoever comes to contest in MacPherson, we will just roll with the punches and prepare accordingly,” she said. 938LIVE

Source: www.todayonline.com

August 14, 2015
SPF: Senior Police Officer Melvin Yong Retiring on 16 Aug

Senior police officer Melvin Yong will be retiring from the force next week, adding to speculation that he may be fielded by the People’s Action Party (PAP) as a candidate at the coming general election.

A police spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the 43-year-old Assistant Commissioner’s (AC) last day of work is August 16.

Mr Yong declined to comment on his post-retirement plans but said Thursday that he had “the privilege of serving constituents both as a police officer, as well as a grassroots volunteer for many years and found it richly rewarding”. He added: “I plan to continue doing so even after I retire from the force.”

The Straits Times understands that the PAP will introduce him sometime next week as a candidate for Tanjong Pagar GRC alongside Labour Chief Chan Chun Sing, Senior Minister of State for Education and Law Indranee Rajah, backbencher Chia Shi-Lu and another new face, former public servant Joan Pereira.

The five-member GRC was previously helmed by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew until he died in March this year.

If Mr Yong is indeed fielded at the upcoming polls, he may be the first police officer to trade his blue uniform for the party’s white garb since Singapore’s independence.

Former police officers who are now in politics include Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, Senior Minister of State Heng Chee How, labour MP Patrick Tay and Workers’ Party chairman Sylvia Lim.

However, unlike Mr Yong, these MPs had moved on from law enforcement to positions in government, the private sector or labour movement, before entering politics.

NTUC deputy director Desmond Choo, who was fielded in WP-held Hougang single-member constituency in 2011 and the 2012 by-election, is also an ex-cop. He is widely expected to be fielded by the PAP in Tampines GRC.

Mr Yong, who is currently director of the police’s Public Affairs Department (PAD), will leave the force after 20 years in service. He was commander of Clementi Police Division from 2010 to 2014.

He has held key appointments such as deputy director for Planning & Organisation as well as director for Administration & Finance. He was also concurrently deputy director for Operations between November 2013 and June last year.

A police spokesman said Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Tan Hung Hooi, who is currently director for Manpower, will cover the duties of director PAD.

“The Singapore Police Force (SPF) thanks AC Melvin Yong for his leadership and many contributions during his service,” said the spokesman.

National Crime Prevention Council chairman Tan Kian Hoon, who has known Mr Yong since 2002, said Mr Yong was always able to hold “various appointments concurrently and yet do well in all of them, despite the constraint in time”.

“Apart from his clear and methodical thinking, he has the EQ to motivate and garner the support of those working with him, be they his work colleagues or fellow volunteers,” added Mr Tan.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 14, 2015