Rilek1Corner

Tag: private sector

  • Fair Or Unfair?: Some Public Officers In Civil Service Can Get Extra Day Off In Celebration Of NS50

    Fair Or Unfair?: Some Public Officers In Civil Service Can Get Extra Day Off In Celebration Of NS50

    Some public servants will be receiving an extra day off this year to mark 50 years of National Service (NS50) in the Republic.

    The day off, which has to be taken between Aug 1 and Dec 31 this year, is meant for employees who have served as full-time National Servicemen or uniformed regulars in the Singapore Armed Forces and the Home Team, according to one statutory board.

    Rumours of the extra day off for public servants first surfaced on online forum hardwarezone late last week, with users asking if it was true.

    Checks by TODAY revealed that employees of some statutory boards have received an internal memo or email from their Human Resources department earlier this month.

    But it seems the benefit may not be rolled out to all public officers as employees at some other ministries and statutory boards said they have yet to receive word of the extra day off.

    In an internal memo seen by TODAY, the day off was declared by the staff member’s employer “in support of the Ministry of Defence’s NS50 initiatives”.

    TODAY has written to the Ministry of Defence and the Public Service Division for more information.

    This year, Singapore marks 50 years of National Service, and as part of the celebration, a year-long series of events and initiatives have been rolled out to commemorate the milestone.

    Among the perks given to all past and present national servicemen this year are S$100 worth of NS50 vouchers, which they can use at a wide range of retail and food and beverage outlets. Those currently in service, or have completely their operationally ready NS are also given an additional one-year membership at either Safra or HomeTeamNS.

     

    Source: http://www.todayonline.com

  • Suitable Eligible Candidates Should Step Forward, Proper Contest Of Presidency Beneficial To Singapore

    Suitable Eligible Candidates Should Step Forward, Proper Contest Of Presidency Beneficial To Singapore

    By Lin Weijie

    The ruling party in Singapore, the People’s Action Party (PAP), has governed our country for more than 50 years. PAP has dominated the Parliament since independence. The judiciary has been highly supportive of the government. It can be beneficial for our country, government and even ruling party to have an independent, non-partisan and qualified President who is caring, capable, committed, credible and constructive (5Cs?). An additional bonus is if he or she has charisma. The eighth President of Singapore who assumes office in September 2017 should be able to successfully work with our government to lead, unite and care for our people while exercising his constitutional, ceremonial and community responsibilities as our Head of State. Who are the potential candidates?

    Currently, the two interested candidates from the private sector, Salleh Marican and Farid Khan do not meet the stated financial criteria as their companies to do not have shareholder equity of at least $500 million. Salleh Marican is an Indian-Muslim chief executive officer (CEO) who seems not very fluent in Malay language. Farid Khan, who grew up in Geylang Serai, is a CEO of Pakistani descent. The third potential candidate is Halimah Yacob, our Indian-Muslim Speaker of Parliament who expressed interest.

    The Singapore electorate can benefit from having suitable Malay-Muslim candidates taking part in this election. As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in Parliament, the 2017 Presidential Election will be reserved for Malay candidates.

    Presently, there are a few potentially eligible Malay CEOs who may qualify as possible private sector candidates. One of them is Alternate Member of the Council of Presidential Advisers and Bank of Singapore CEO Bahren Shaari, who has not ruled out running for the Presidential Election. He was appointed CEO in February 2015. Though he has not met the minimum three years criteria as CEO, the Presidential Election Committee (PEC) may approve of his application and allow him to run for this election, if he decides to take part.

    The other potentially eligible private sector candidate is Shafie Shamsuddin who has served as CEO of Carrefour in Singapore and Malaysia. He is currently, the president and chief executive of PT Trans Retail (Carrefour Indonesia). Shafie Shamsuddin was named the Outstanding Chief/Senior Executive (Overseas) of the Year at the 2016 Singapore Business Awards. In 2016, Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation (GIC) invested 5.2 trillion rupiah (SGD$387 million) for a 17% stake in PT Trans Retail.

    According to the Presidential Election 2017 Candidate Handbook, one of the financial requirements is that “the company must have, on average, at least $500 million shareholders’ equity, during the interested candidate’s most recent 3 years of service as chief executive”. It has yet to be ascertained if PT Trans Retail meets this requirement. The companies led by Salleh Marican and Farid Khan do not meet this requirement.

    From the public sector, other potentially eligible candidates include Minister Yaacob Ibrahim and Abdullah Tarmugi who served as Speaker of Parliament from 2002 to 2011. Minister Yaacob Ibrahim has publicly declared that he was not interested. Abdullah Tarmugi may be persuaded to step out of retirement from politics to contest for this election.

    Another possible candidate is Singapore’s non-resident Ambassador to Kuwait and Foreign Minister’s Special Envoy to Middle East, Zainul Abidin, who is the Indian-Muslim CEO of Mendaki from 1990 to 1993. He served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in 2004 and Senior Minister of State from 2006 till 2011, when he lost his parliamentary seat as part of the PAP team that contested in the General Elections for the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency.

    Though former Senior Minister of State Zainul Abidin may not meet the requirement 1.1.1a of holding the office of Minister for 3 of more years, the PEC may qualify him under requirement 1.1.1c, which specifies that he has “served for 3 or more years in an office in the public sector for which the PEC must be satisfied, having regard to the nature of the office and the person’s performance, that he has experience and ability comparable to a person who satisfies paragraph 1.1.1 (a)… The PEC must also be satisfied that he has the experience and ability to effectively carry out the functions and duties of the office of President.” There is also a similar clause for private sector candidates who might not meet the exact requirements. There should not be a walkover for this Presidential Election.

    Indeed, it can be beneficial for our country if we have highly suitable (5Cs?) and eligible candidates from both public and private sectors taking part in this reserved Presidential Election so that our citizens will not be denied the opportunity to take part in this democratic process and vote for our eighth President of Singapore.

     

    Lin Weijie is a director in the private sector. He has served more than 15 years in the public service, before providing consultancy services to overseas governments and organizations such as the World Bank. 

     

    Source: www.theindependent.sg

  • Damanhuri Abas: The Malay Reserved President Is A Done Deal

    Damanhuri Abas: The Malay Reserved President Is A Done Deal

    The Malay Reserved President is a done deal no matter how much Dr Tan Cheng Bock try to argue for an Open Election. He will be admired for his tenacity and resolve to truly serve the people he love. So what can Singaporean hope for after Dr Tan Cheng Bock?

    Looking at the rank and file in Government, they are still mostly dominated by career civil servants from the uniformed or non-uniformed services. This reality undermines the Government’s claim that pegging Ministers salary to that of top private sector senior management will lead to more coming forward to join politics and becoming Ministers.

    In fact since the Government calibrated the salary of Ministers to be on par to that of private sector senior management, we have not seen any ground-breaking move that is worth mentioning. The truth is, if one has attained senior management position in business it is most unlikely that a political career is anywhere in his or her radar. Instead it is those who don’t see financial prospect in the private sector that will grab a chance of making big bucks as politician. It is definitely rare and extremely far between to expect anyone who is earning a handsome annual pay comfortably in the private sector to be so driven by a calling to serve the people.

    Singaporean yearns for that truly fresh face to rejuvenate their hopes and dreams amidst the gloom of a Machiavellian driven politically sterile landscape dominated by the powerful elite and their avarice. For now, such a one is imperceptible in both the near and far vista of our political horizon.

     

    Rilek1Corner

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

  • Goh Meng Seng: If Private Sector Can Accept Employees Wearing Tudung, Why Not The Public Sector?

    Goh Meng Seng: If Private Sector Can Accept Employees Wearing Tudung, Why Not The Public Sector?

    I do not understand why Tudung is such a difficult issue.

    I believe most Chinese like me are used to seeing our fellow Malay ladies wearing Tudung in our lives, in our working places and on the streets or neighbourhood.

    It is nothing intimidating at all and it should be a proud Heritage of our multi ethnicity and culture. Local born Singaporeans do not feel uneasy with Tudung ladies because we understand and respect their dress code. This is nothing special just like seeing our fellow Sikh brothers wearing turbans.

    So stop talking about difficulties or social acceptance of such. If private sectors have no problem about tudung why should the Government has any problem with that?

     

    Source: Goh Meng Seng

  • Ngiam Tong Dow Not Only Insider To Criticise The PAP

    Ngiam Tong Dow Not Only Insider To Criticise The PAP

    This was not the first time Ngiam Tong Dow had critiqued the PAP leadership. In 2003, he asked for more competition for PAP elites. His retraction is a desperate play of power by PAP, it may even be LKY bleeding for retraction. Given what Ngiam had said earlier in 2003, his retraction cannot be sincere.

    1. About political competition.

    “It is the law of nature that all things must atrophy. Unless LKY allows serious political challenges to emerge from the alternative elite out there, the incumbent elite will just coast along.

    At the first sign of a grassroots revolt, they will probably collapse just like the incumbent Progressive Party to the left-wing PAP onslaught in the late 1950s.

    I think our leaders have to accept that Singapore is larger than the PAP.”

    2. Spreading of top talents between government and private sectors.

    “When ten scholars come home, five should turn to the right and join the public sector or the civil service; the other five should turn to the left and join the private sector.”

    3. Economics.

    “Take our industrial policy. At the beginning, it was the right thing for us to attract multinationals to Singapore.

    For some years now, I’ve been trying to tell everybody: ‘Look, for God’s sake, grow our own timber.’ If we really want knowledge to be rooted in Singaporeans and based in Singapore, we have to support our SMEs.

    I’m not a supporter of SMEs just for the sake of more SMEs but we must grow our own roots. Creative Technology’s Sim Wong Hoo is one and Hyflux’s Olivia Lum is another but that’s too few.

    We have been flying on auto-pilot for too long. The MNCs have contributed a lot to Singapore but they are totally unsentimental people. The moment you’re uncompetitive, they just relocate.”

    Ngiam Tong Dow is not exactly alone among the insiders to criticize PM LHL’s government in recent years.

    a. Dr Tommy Koh had called the income inequality as socially unconscionable.

    b. Professor Lim Chong Yah, had a dramatic proposal to narrow the economic gap – raising low-level salaries by 50 per cent over three years and freezing top-end incomes for a similar period.

    c. Yeoh Lam Keong, former chief economist at the Government Investment Corporation (GIC) headed by Lee Kuan Yew:

    “What we need to do is to be much more stringent on admitting such unskilled labour. We’ve really got no excuse to be so relaxed about this kind of immigration.”

    At every level of society, nothing is quite right for PAP. Even the insiders who are closely related to PAP feel that the policies are alienating people from the government. And Ngiam has correctly pointed to the way a closeted culture without competition had made the PAP too comfortable.

    Contrary to their insidious assertion that Singaporeans are becoming too ‘dependent’, PAP is the one that is uncompetitive, unimaginative and relying on a compliant citizenry to have an easy life.

    Well, no more! No more.

    BK

     

    Source: www.therealsingapore.com