Tag: Singapore

Renter Uncontactable, Owner Of BMW Who Put Up Car For Rent On Carousell In ICU
Offering his car for rent on online marketplace Carousell landed a man in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), after he was so stressed out that he suffered a heart attack.

The man had rented out his BMW for a month at $2,300 and the renter disappeared with the car. Two weeks after the $35,000 car was due to be returned, he was still uncontactable.

Car jockey Taufiq Hidayat, 28, related his father’s experience to The New Paper. His father did not want to be named.

“My father was so worried sick about his car that he suffered a heart attack last Saturday at about 3am and had to be warded in the ICU,” said Mr Taufiq.

When told about the laws governing car rentals, Mr Taufiq said: “I’m sure if my father was aware of the regulations, he wouldn’t have rented out his car.”

The Oct 15 deal, made through Carousell, was between Mr Taufiq’s father and a man who called himself Thomas.

“The next day, Thomas came with a man called Muthu, who was in his mid-50s. Thomas introduced Muthu as his uncle,” said Mr Taufiq.

“He told my father that Muthu was the one who wanted to rent the car.”

Mr Taufiq’s father then took a picture of Muthu’s identity card and made him sign a handwritten contract. The $2,300 was paid in full.

That was the last time Mr Taufiq’s father saw his car.

On Nov 15, the day that the car was supposed to be returned, Thomas was uncontactable.

“My father first thought that Thomas was busy, so he just let it slide and sent him another reminder,” said Mr Taufiq.

Two days passed but there was still no news from Thomas.

“When we called him, we could hear the dial tone but no one answered the call,” added Mr Taufiq.

“Even when we sent him a message on Whatsapp, we saw the blue ticks (an indication that the message was read) but there wasn’t any reply.”

Mr Taufiq then went to Muthu’s house to demand for the car.

“When Muthu saw me, he seemed quite afraid,” he said.

Muthu told him Thomas’ real name and admitted that they were not related. They weren’t even close friends, he claimed.

Mr Taufiq made a police report that day.

Over the past month, he also found out from summonses that the car had been cited for traffic offences, including speeding and beating a red light. There were over 20 fines, totalling $1,000.

SIMILAR EXPERIENCE

On Nov 27, Mr Taufiq posted on Facebook everything that happened. His post received more than 490 shares and caught the eye of Mr Shahrukh, who runs a car rental company.

Four months ago, Mr Shahrukh, 22, had a terrible experience when he leased a Nissan Presage to a man with the same name.

The man had said he wanted to rent the car for a week but after taking the car for a four-hour ride, he demanded a refund “because he didn’t like the car”.

Mr Shahrukh did not give him any money back.

In October, there was also a complaint against the same man on online classified site Gumtree.

A Gumtree member with the username Mouzzammil made a fraud alert alleging that he had been cheated by the man.

The man had taken Mouzzammil’s car for a one-day rental and abandoned it two days later, leaving the keys on one of the front tyres. Mouzzammil claimed the man texted him the location of the car.

“Fuel nearly empty, and scammed of taxi fares and rent for a day,” he wrote, referring to theMONEY he spent taking a taxi to the car.

Police investigations are ongoing.
Laws for car rentals

According to the Land Transport Authority website, private car owners are allowed to rent out their cars only if they fulfil two main requirements:

The car owner has to ensure adequateINSURANCE coverage for the period of rental.

Private cars can be rented out only from 7pm on Friday to 7am of the following Monday and from 7pm on the eve of public holidays to 7am on the firstWORKING DAY following the public holiday.

Lawyer Lawrence Lang said that many car owners are reluctant toPAY for car rental insurance because of its high premium.

“The main stumbling block of the scheme is theINSURANCE COVERAGE. OwnersPAY insurance according to the risk of claiming it,” said the insurance and construction litigation lawyer.

“So when you pay for car rental insurance, you are assuming that the person who rents the car is at high risk, hence the high premium.”
Source: www.tnp.sg
December 2, 2015
PAP Looking For Suitable Candidates In Preparation For Next Elections

The People’s Action Party has started preparing for the next general election, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Mr Lee told past and present PAP MPs at a dinner in Parliament House on Tuesday night that he has asked Health Minister Gan Kim Yong to take charge of the process of identifying new candidates.

And Mr Gan, who takes over the task from Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, has already started work to prepare for GE2021.

He told reporters that the first tea session with potential candidates is likely to take place by the end of this month.

PM Lee and Mr Gan were at a dinner to thank retired PAP MPs for their contributions to the party over the years.

Mr Lee said he was glad the PAP secured a clear mandate from Singaporeans across the board at the Sept 11 general election.

And while national factors like the SG50 celebrations and Government policies like the Pioneer Generation Package played a part, the hard work MPs had put in was crucial to the strong result, he added.

The PAP won 83 out of 89 seats and nearly 70 per cent of the popular vote at GE2015.

Mr Lee also said a key contribution retiring MPs had made was to help their successors settle in on the ground.

And the PAP was helped by the fact that after GE2011, it identified and deployed potential new candidates early.

“This gave them time to learn and settle in, and gave the public time to size them up and warm to them,” Mr Lee said.

“It’s certainly something we want to do again next time,” he added.

The PAP has also improved the process of candidate selection, and included seasoned activists, senior backbenchers as well as members with private sector experience who were practised in assessing candidates for posts.

This gave the party a diversity of perspectives, and helped it make sharper and more reliable assessments of potential candidates, Mr Lee added.

Mr Lee also thanked the 15 retired MPs, who collectively served almost 250 years in Parliament, for improving community life in their wards and speaking up on a wide range of national issues.

They include former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who entered politics with PM Lee in 1984, and former minister Mah Bow Tan, who first stood in 1984 and was elected in 1988.

Others who retired include four who were elected in 1997: Mr Hawazi Daipi, Mr Inderjit Singh, Mr Seng Han Thong and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang.

“Some spoke forcefully and vigorously in Parliament, while others made your points firmly but in your own quiet and equally effective way,” he said.

For example, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, a four-term MP who was redeployed to Aljunied GRC at the last election, raised a rare private member’s bill to improve laws related to animal welfare last year, which Mr Lee called a “considerable undertaking”.

He also highlighted the five former officeholders who retired from politics at the GE – Mr Hawazi Daipi, Mr Mah Bow Tan, Mr Raymond Lim, Mr Lui Tuck Yew and Mr Wong Kan Seng – for their valuable contributions in their portfolios.

He singled out former Cabinet ministers Mr Mah, Mr Lim and Mr Wong, for staying on another term as backbenchers and “taking good care of their ground while nurturing able successors”.

Culture, Community and Youth Minister Grace Fu, who is Leader of the House, also paid tribute to the retired MPs, especially former Deputy Prime Minister Mr Wong Kan Seng and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mr Hawazi Daipi, for coaching the new candidates selflessly and generously.

She also thanked the spouses of the newly retired MPs by quoting recently-retired MP Hri Kumar Nair who had said: “When an MP is elected, his entire family serves.”

“When an MP is out serving the residents, a father or mother, a husband or wife, a son or daughter is out there serving. The spouse, parents or older children have had to step in to look after the home front,” she added.

Source: http://news.asiaone.com

December 2, 2015
AHPETC Banded Red In Two Categories In MND Report

The Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) has been banded “red” again in two areas in the latest Town Council Management report, the Ministry of National Development (MND) said on Tuesday (Dec 1).

The annual Town Council Management Report assesses the town councils on five indicators – estate cleanliness, estate maintenance, lift performance, service and conservancy charges (S&CC) arrears management and corporate governance. The town councils’ performance is rated in three bands – green, amber or red.

In the latest report, MND said most town councils performed well last year, although some “could do better” in the area of estate maintenance, S&CC arrears management and corporate governance.

Ten town councils scored “amber” in the estate maintenance category. The obstruction of common areas was the topmost observation, accounting for 36 per cent of total estate maintenance observations, the report said. Such obstructions are fire hazards and can hamper evacuation efforts during emergencies.

AHPETC BANDED “RED” IN TWO CATEGORIES

This is the third successive report that the Workers’ Party-led Town Council has been banded “red” for corporate governance, and the fourth successive report it has been banded “red” for S&CC arrears management.

AHPETC was banded “red” under S&CC arrears management for failing to submit its monthly S&CC arrears report for the assessment period, “even though it was reminded to do so and extensions of deadline were granted”, MND said, adding that most of the Town Council’s S&CC arrears reports since May 2013 are still outstanding.

Under corporate governance, the Town Council was banded “red” due to three legal and regulatory contraventions as indicated by its own auditor’s findings and its self-declared corporate governance checklist, the report said.

In the FY2013 report, the Town Council was banded “red” as it had not shown that it had rectified the various legal and regulatory contraventions for FY2011 and FY2012, and had not submitted its FY2013 audited financial statements, auditor’s report, auditor’s management letter and self-declared corporate governance checklist.

It subsequently made the required submissions for FY2013 on Jun 30 this year, which showed four regulatory contraventions. AHPETC would still have been banded “red” in the FY2013 report if it had submitted the required documents on time and therefore no revision of this rating was needed, the ministry said.

Chua Chu Kang Town Council and Potong Pasir Town Council were also banded “amber” for S&CC arrears management.

Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council received an “amber” rating for corporate governance on a “technicality”, the report said. The Town Council had incorrectly classified its residential rooftop antenna Temporary Occupation License income under its commercial property fund for FY2014, due to a data migration error when it moved to a new computer system. It has since made the necessary rectifications.

TOWN COUNCIL WORKING TO ADDRESS ISSUES: PRITAM SINGH

Responding to the report, chairman of the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council Pritam Singh said in a press release on Tuesday that the “red bandings for S&CC arrears management and corporate governance are issues that the Town Council has been working to address”.

Mr Singh added that a new Town Council management software system has been approved to tackle the issues.

“Despite incremental enhancements made to the existing IT system over the last few years, there remain inherent limitations which continue to contribute to some management and reporting challenges associated with S&CC arrears management and corporate governance,” he said. “The new system is expected to be operational within 18 to 24 months from the award of tender.”

The chairman also highlighted that they had appointed external consultants in March 2015 to advise the Town Council on compliance matters to address the Auditor-General’s Office’s (AGO) findings published in February 2015.

“In light of the recent Court of Appeal judgment, the TC will appoint an accountant(s) as mandated by the Court. The TC will work with the accountant, MND and HDB to facilitate the transfer of the outstanding government grants and make the mandatory sinking fund transfers,” said Mr Singh.

CHUA CHU KANG AND POTONG PASIR TOWN COUNCILS RESPOND TO “AMBER” BAND

In response to the report on Tuesday, the Chua Chu Kang and Potong Pasir town councils said they have stepped up efforts to improve the “amber” rating they both received under S&CC arrears management and estate maintenance.

“This is the first time Chua Chu Kang Town Council has received an ‘amber’ rating for arrears management,” said MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC, Mr Zaqy Mohamad.

He noted that an increase in appeals by residents to delay payment or lower their arrears instalments caused the S&CC arrears for three months or more to increase and exceed the MND threshold “marginally”.

He said: “Immediately, the TC stepped up its efforts with house visits and worked closely with social assistance agencies to help deserving needy cases. Families with financial difficulties who receive help are often better able to pay their arrears.”

“By late March 2015, we were back in ‘green’, as residents affected needed time to have their cases evaluated and manage their arrears,” he added. “However, this was not in time to overturn the results during the evaluation period of Apr 1, 2014 to Mar 31, 2015. We have since been in ‘green’ status”.

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, MP for Potong Pasir, said his Town Council has also been “working tirelessly with our residents who have fallen in arrears with their payments of S&CC”.

“We have contacted these residents and are working closely with them to deal with their arrears,” he said. “Often times, we have taken into account their financial circumstances and have arranged a scheme for them to make payment of their S&CC in instalments. This is done on a case-by-case basis.”

He added: “We are pleased to announce that we have made good headway in the past six months and our S&CC arrears have improved. Our Town Council will continue to work on further reducing our S&CC arrears.”

On estate maintenance, Mr Zaqy said Chua Chu Kang Town Council is “constantly working to improve our rating in this area”.

He said: “More than 50 per cent of the highlighted issues in the Town Council Management Report are caused by corridor obstruction and unauthorised fixtures by residents. This will be a focus area to continue our efforts to educate residents in helping to manage corridor clutter and illegal fixtures.

“We have also stepped up activity by our officers to proactively manage building defect issues moving forward to enhance the maintenance of our estate.”

Mr Sitoh said that Potong Pasir Town Council is also stepping up efforts to ensure estates are in compliance with MND rules. He pointed out that Potong Pasir is a mature estate, and as such, many of the HDB blocks are “older and in need of more maintenance”.

“We have been aggressively pursuing our Home Improvement Programme (HIP) to renew our HDB blocks and the homes of our residents,” he said. “As a result of the intensive HIP works, further defects, such as spalling concrete and damaged plaster/cracks, have emerged. These will be dealt with in due course through the HIP works.”

Mr Sitoh added: “On the issue of obstruction and unauthorised fixtures in common areas, our Town Council property officers are in active surveillance of such issues.

“Once observed, we will advise our residents to remove such obstruction and unauthorised fixtures. Some do so immediately, while others take a longer time to comply. However, if residents fail to comply after a reasonable length of time, our Town Council will intervene and remove these obstruction and unauthorised fixtures by enforcement.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

December 2, 2015
Court Of Appeal Throws Out Blogger Alex Au’s Appeal

Throwing out socio-political blogger Alex Au Wai Pang’s appeal against his conviction for contempt of court, the Court of Appeal issued strong words against his attempt to pass off the content in his offending blog post as fair criticism.

By using insinuations, rather than express statements, to allege that hearing dates for two challenges against laws criminalising homosexuality had been manipulated, Au’s blog posting on Oct 2, 2013 was an “even more insidious” attack on the judiciary’s independence, the court ruled, in its judgment released yesterday.

“It was carefully crafted so as to take the form of insinuations that were just as effective as (if not more effective than) overt or express statements. There was, in addition to the very nature and tenor of the article itself, a total absence of a rational basis on the part of (Au) when he wrote the article, and it follows that the article clearly did not constitute fair criticism,” the three-judge court said.

“This insidious attack on the independence as well as impartiality of the judiciary goes to the very heart of what the (indeed, any) judiciary stands for and clearly undermines public confidence in the administration of justice.”

Au had appealed against an S$8,000 fine for the blog post titled 377 wheels come off Supreme Court’s best-laid plans, which alleged that the Supreme Court’s “strange calendaring” had allowed a gay couple’s constitutionality challenge against Section 377A to be heard first, although they had launched the bid after a similar contest by Mr Tan Eng Hong, 51, who was caught having oral sex with a man in a public toilet.

This, Au alleged, was because Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon wanted to be on the three-judge Court of Appeal to hear the constitutional challenge against Section 377A. CJ Menon could not do this otherwise because of conflict of interest, as he was Attorney-General when Tan’s criminal case was heard in court.

In arguing against the conviction for contempt of court, Au said he had not engaged in mere descriptive reporting in the article. Instead, it was based on what he called logical deductions arising from a set of objective facts.

But his argument was dismissed by Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang, who delivered the judgment on behalf of the three-court judge. From a “plain reading” of the title of the article, “the implication — or rather, insinuation — is that there was something untoward or even sinister in the alleged deliberate scheduling” of the cases, said the court, which comprised Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Justice Tay Yong Kwang.

“Put simply, why would the ‘wheels’ need to come off a perfectly functioning vehicle which was presumably headed in the correct direction to begin with?” the judges wrote.

Au also did not have “even a shadow of objective facts upon which to premise what he claims is fair criticism”, they added, referring to the blogger’s argument that his article was based on conversations with several unnamed sources. “The alleged sources – or, rather, their rank absence – bear this out. They were nothing more than general as well as vague references.”

Justice Phang noted that this was not simply a case of Au getting his version of events incorrect or off the mark, as he had claimed. Neither was it a case of Au being misled by these so-called sources,” he added.

“It should also be noted that in his affidavit, Au even attempted to rely on ‘sources’ that post-dated the publication of the article. His efforts in this regard – viewed in their totality – come across as disingenuous. It is clear that the Article did not constitute fair criticism,” the judge added.

Source: www.todayonline.com

December 2, 2015
Pemerintah Harus Melarang Madonna Dari Membuat Persembahan Di Singapura

Tuan Yaacob Ibrahim,

Saya baca dengan amat prihatin terhadap berita akhbar Straits Times pada tarikh 29 Nov 2015 mengenai rancangan bagi penyanyi terkemuka, Madonna untuk mengadakan konsert di Singapura Februari depan. Pernampilan Madonna di dalam konsert-konsert sebelumnya agak keterlaluan, dengan pakaian yang menonjol mata, dan aksi-aksi yang tidak sesuai hingga boleh dikatakan amat lucah. Dia pernah dilarang membuat konsert di Singapura pada tahun 90an, mengikut akhbar Straits Times kerana persembahannya bercanggah dengan ajaran Islam. Persembahan Madonna tidak banyak berubah walaupun telah dimakan masa, beliau masih terus manyajikan bahan bahan kontroversial di dalam persembahannya. Madonna juga adalah penyokong kuat LGBT.

Dengan penyanyi Adam Lambert, yang sah mengaku dirinya sebagai seorang LGBT, dijemput sebagai tetamu khas di perayaan akhir tahun Singapura, tidakkah kehadiran Madonna akan menambah lagi anasir-anasir yang kurang sihat di kalangan belia-belia Islam di Singapura, yang masih mudah dipengaruhi minda mereka?

Sebagai Menteri Bertanggungjawab bagi hal ehwal Islam, anda bertanggungjawab untuk melindungi kepentingan masysrakat Islam di Singapura. Jadi saya amat berharap yang Madonna tidak akan diberi kelulusan untuk mebuat persembahan di sini, seperti mana yang dilakukan oleh pihak kerjaan pada tahun 90an. Masayrakat Singapura amnya, dan masyarakat Islam Singapura khususnya, harus dilindungi dari anasir barat yang kurang sihat, seperti kaum LGBT dan konsert-konsert yang menampilkan aksi lucah.

Sebagai seorang Muslim yang bertanggungjawab, kita semua perlu memainkan peranan untuk membentuk belia yang bermoral dan kuat pegangan agama, bukan belia yang menyokong anasir anasir buruk.

Wasalam,

Syed

[Reader Contribution]

December 1, 2015