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Tag: senior citizens

  • Singaporeans Support Petition To Retain Sungei Road Flea Market

    Singaporeans Support Petition To Retain Sungei Road Flea Market

    The Sungei Road flea market’s last day of operation is on July 10 but the hawkers are hoping to be given an alternative or temporary site that will allow them to continue their business.

    On Thursday (Feb 23), Mr Koh Ah Koon, 76, the president of the Association for the Recycling of Second Hand Goods, unfurled a banner at Sungei Road calling for the site to be conserved.

    Speaking to The Straits Times later, Mr Koh said he was saddened but hopes an alternative site can be allocated for the hawkers.

    “We don’t need a permanent location and can move. We hope the government can give us a temporary site so that our lifestyle and this aspect of local heritage can be retained.”

    He said he has printed 10 banners and plans to collect signatures till July to support calls for the site to be “conserved” or retained. By 7pm on Feb 23, he had collected about 200 signatures.

    The Government said the free hawking zone has to make way for future residential developments in a multi-agency statement last Tuesday.

    Mr Koh’s association, which represents about 70 of 200 vendors at the flea market, had previously proposed four alternative sites – next to Rochor River, at Kampong Bugis along Kallang River, behind Sim Lim Tower and a roadside near Jalan Kubor Malay cemetery.

    But the authorities said the four sites had been zoned for parks and residential use under Master Plan 2014.

    After the Government announcement, the association submitted a fresh appeal to extend the deadline until the end of the year. If that fails, it hopes to secure a temporary site in Jalan Besar behind a hawker centre.

    Mr Kalay V., 45, a businessman who signed the petition said: “This provides the elderly hawkers a legitimate source of income and can be seen as an engagement programme for seniors – not that different from those run by community centres.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Syakir Hashim: Singaporean Elders Deserve Rest, Not More Work

    Syakir Hashim: Singaporean Elders Deserve Rest, Not More Work

    As I walk into Changi Airport today at about 7 a.m, I saw many workers of old age either cleaning or moving the trolleys around.

    I was reminded of an incident back when I was in year one in NUS. I went for lunch with my project groupmates in Utown. Three of them to be exact. All of them are foreign students.

    We all went to get our meals separately. I was the first to be back at the table followed by two others. We asked each other where the 4th person went. We waited for a few minutes and she was still nowhere in sight.

    Soon I walked around and I saw her helping an old lady clearing up tables. She was trying to help the lady pick up cups and rubbish from some of the tables, making the old cleaner lady discomforted.

    I asked my friend what she was doing and she said that she felt bad seeing the old lady working so hard. Where she came from, no elderly has to work that hard.

    That moment hit me hard. The fact that elderly workers are so common in foodcourts, malls and our airport, we sometimes forget to ask if its right to keep them working till that ripe old age.

    Can’t we as a developed country think of ways to give our elderly the peace of mind and rest they deserve after serving the country and its economy over four or five decades? I’m sure if our leaders put their mind to it, innovative policies can be formulated to help our elderly, here in singapore.

    Can you imagine your parents at the age of 70 having to work 8 hours a day clearing and cleaning at a foodcourt?

    Just food for thought.

     

    Source: Syakir Hashim

  • Singaporean Becomes NZ Citizen, Cannot Get Senior Citizen Benefit There Because of Unclaimed CPF In Singapore

    Singaporean Becomes NZ Citizen, Cannot Get Senior Citizen Benefit There Because of Unclaimed CPF In Singapore

    A 66-year-old Singaporean failed in his bid to get senior citizen pension benefits in New Zealand after a tribunal found he had not first used his Central Provident Fund (CPF) money, as advised.

    The Social Security Appeal Authority was not convinced by his concerns of being traced by the Singapore authorities if he applied to withdraw his CPF money, as there could be “significant repercussions” for his two grown-up sons, who were liable for national service (NS).

    “(He) was completely unable to explain what action the Singapore authorities might be able to take against him or his sons if they became aware of his residence in New Zealand,” said the Social Security Appeal Authority of New Zealand in decision grounds released last month.

    Superannuation benefits of about NZ$600 (S$570) are payable fortnightly to New Zealand citizens or permanent residents over 65 who have lived in the country for at least 10 years since they turned 20, five of which must be since they turned 50 years old, according to its website.

    But the payout is modified according to conditions such as deductions from income earned elsewhere or abroad.

    According to the decision grounds, the Singapore citizen, who is also a New Zealand citizen, was granted the benefit when he turned 65 in November 2014 but he disclosed in his application that he had lived in Singapore for 50 years.

    He had worked in various jobs in Singapore before emigrating to New Zealand in 2000 with his wife and two sons, then aged eight and 10.

    The Auckland-based man, who was granted citizenship in 2004, was told by New Zealand’s Ministry of Social Development to apply to Singapore’s CPF Board to withdraw funds from there.

    He objected and failed to comply with the July 2015 deadline issued by the New Zealand ministry. A month later, his New Zealand Superannuation was suspended.

    He initially claimed it was discriminatory to require people from countries that paid pensions, such as Singapore, to be required to apply for those pensions, which were then deducted from their entitlement to New Zealand Superannuation.

    He pursued the case before the two-member appeal authority, arguing among other things that his two sons, now aged 25 and 23 years and having promising careers, could be affected if his whereabouts were known to the Singapore authorities through his CPF application.

    The man, who was not named, suggested his sons might be forced to return to Singapore to do national service and be prosecuted as enlistment defaulters. Under Singapore laws, eligible persons who fail to register for national service may be fined up to $10,000 or jailed up to three years or both.

    But the tribunal pointed out that the alleged offences under the Singapore Enlistment Act were not recognised as extraditable offences under New Zealand law and prosecution was, therefore, “remote”.

    “We are not satisfied that there is any real danger or disadvantage to either the appellant or his two sons if the appellant’s whereabouts were to become known to the Singapore Government,” wrote the Wellington-based appeal authority.

    It added that the man, having worked variously in Singapore as an aircraft mechanic, hotel cashier and elsewhere had maintained CPF deposits from which he could apply to withdraw funds, since he was already past 62 years old, the minimum age for CPF withdrawal.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Mother Requests Use Of MRT Reserved Seats To Make Milk For Baby But Was Rejected By “Old” Lady

    Mother Requests Use Of MRT Reserved Seats To Make Milk For Baby But Was Rejected By “Old” Lady

    <Facebook complaint by Mei Raz>

    See this auntie, ask her whether can she offer me the seat as I need to make milk for my baby and she look at my tummy but still give me that rude look at my face…

    She reply me that this SIT ALSO FOR SENIOR CITIZEN WHAT????? This kind of people need to make them famous!!!

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

  • Selling Tissue Paper At Food Centres – The Next Industry To Face Foreign Competition

    Selling Tissue Paper At Food Centres – The Next Industry To Face Foreign Competition

    Last week, we read in the Sunday Times that the latest industry facing stiff competition from “foreign talents” for jobs is the tissue-packet-selling industry at food centres and coffeeshops.

    We thought the report was interesting and taught us a few things. It reminds us that any “profitable business” is always susceptible to new entrants in the market. And believe it or not, indicators reported by the Sunday Times suggested that selling tissue paper is far more lucrative than most of us realize.

    A job that that pays a decent salary. 

    According to the article, people selling packets of tissue paper can earn anywhere from $20 to $100 day for a few hours of work. If we take the average value ($60) and assume 3 hours of work each day, the salary per hour works out to be a very decent $20.

    A seller could expect to make about $1,440 for 24 working days of 3 hours per day each month. Not too bad, especially when you consider that there isn’t really much economic value created compared to other jobs such as a cleaner or a security guard.

    Singapore, an open economy

    Our government never fails to remind us that Singapore is an open economy. And part and parcel of being an open economy includes a very open labour market. To ensure we retain our competitiveness, we are always taught to be cheaper, faster and better, and that applies to everything, including selling packets tissue paper.

    A more able-bodied foreigner who can cover ground more quickly would be able to reach out to more patrons at food centres and coffeeshops, thus, increasing their revenue. And because people are unlikely to make multiple purchases of tissue packets, this appears to be one of those finite, first-come-first-serve market.

    Taking care of our elderly

    We respect and empathise with the elderly in our society who are working hard to provide for themselves and their dependents in some cases, especially in our increasingly expensive country. Having to walk around for a few hours each day while lugging around huge plastic bag full of packets of tissue paper is not easy for some of the elderly people selling them. Doing so at an old age and possibly, with disabilities, makes it so much harder.

    Being “self-employed”, these elderly citizens have no access to the type of Human Resources perks that the rest of us take for granted. No paid medical leaves when they are ill, no annual leave entitlements and no medical coverage.

    And now, foreign competitors vying with them in the industry.

    What can be done?

    Even if they want to, it is difficult for any government legislation to help these elderly folks who are in the business. This is because sellers are required to have a license to sell tissue paper.

    According to NEA, only 11 such licenses have been granted to sell packets of tissue paper. As such, we think it is safe to assume that foreigner or not, most of the sellers plying their trade are doing so illegally anyway.

    Because most are plying their trade illegally, there isn’t much the government can do to help them. We believe that the government’s requirement for licenses to be applied for is to protect the local citizens, and maybe even, to render them further assistance via referring them to social welfare groups.

    However, most do not do so, and are thus, left to fend on their own.

    Singaporeans can do our parts by helping locals. By simply not purchasing packets of tissue paper from non-locals or able bodied people, we can ensure that only the most needy are able to sell their packets. We can also inform local sellers about the need to apply and get a license from the NEA so that they can continue plying their trade legally, and at the same time, get access to further social help if they are in hardship.

     

    Source: http://dollarsandsense.sg