Tag: Singapore

7-Eleven Store No Longer Allowed To Sell Tobacco Products After Employees Again Caught Selling Tobacco Products To Minors

The 7-Eleven retail store at Cineleisure Orchard is no longer allowed to sell tobacco products, after its employees were caught, for the second time, selling tobacco products to minors under the age of 18. The revocation of its tobacco retail licence took effect on July 31.

Four other errant retail outlets have also had their tobacco retail licence suspended for six months after they were caught selling tobacco products to under-18 minors for the first time.

The suspension for Nice Minimart at Tampines Street 32 takes effect today (Sept 28) until March 27 next year, while the suspension for Tastebud Foodcourt at Queen Street and J Plus Ten Mini Mart at Bukit Batok West Ave 6 started on July 31 and will last until Jan 30 next year. The suspension for Hwa Soon Heng Mini-Supermarket at Yishun Ring Road ended on Sept 15.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) listed errant retailers and actions taken against them in a press release issued today. The HSA said they were caught via its ground surveillance and enforcement activities.

In the last three years, 37 tobacco retail licences were suspended and 22 were revoked.

The HSA reminded licensees that they are responsible for all transactions of tobacco products taking place at their outlets, as well as for the actions of their employees.

Under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, anyone caught selling tobacco products to persons below the age of 18 is liable, on conviction in Court, to a fine of up to S$5,000 for the first offence and up to S$10,000 for the second or subsequent offence. In addition, the tobacco retail licence will be suspended for 6 months for the first offence and revoked for the second offence.

If any outlet is found selling tobacco products to under-18 minors in school uniform or those below 12 years of age, the tobacco retail licence will be revoked, even at the first offence.

The HSA also reminded members of the public that anyone caught buying or acquiring any tobacco product for a person below the age of 18 years, is liable on conviction in Court, to a fine of up to S$2,500 for the first offence and up to S$5,000 for the second or subsequent offence.

Anyone caught giving or furnishing a tobacco product to a person below the age of 18, is liable on conviction in Court, to a fine of up to S$500 for the first offence and up to S$1,000 for the second or subsequent offence.

Between 2011 and August this year, 48 people have been caught for such offences.

Source: www.todayonline.com

September 28, 2015
60 Year old Indian National Is Second Dengue Death Victim This Year

A 60-year-old woman has died of dengue, said the Ministry of Health and the National Environment Agency (NEA) in a joint press release on Sunday (Sep 27).

The Indian national, who arrived in Singapore on Sep 17, was here to visit her son staying at Block 444, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10. She was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital on Sep 23 and died on Sep 26.

“Although it is unclear whether the patient had caught the infection here or in her home country, NEA has stepped up its inspections of the premises in the vicinity of Block 444 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10,” said the press release.

There are only two other recent dengue cases in the area, one at Block 438 and another at Block 441, said NEA. So far, 11 counts of mosquito breeding has been detected, of which the majority were found in residential premises.

“Vector control operations to kill adult mosquitoes and destroy any potential breeding habitats have been ongoing since the cluster was notified on Sep 15,” they added.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

September 28, 2015
Indon Maid Stole Employers’ Valuables And Escaped From Singapore On Off Day

Dear Editor,

The Indonesia maid has been working for me about 6 months. She is very good in acting. Like a normal person just do her job to look after our new born baby girl and housework.

During the weekdays my wife need to sent my 2 years old son to the child care centre and do marketing for the daily need so we leave the maid and the baby at home. We trust her that she will do her job. One Saturday evening we wanted to past her the work permit for her off day the next day but we couldn’t find the work permit and the passport!

When we ask her and she said that her work permit is with her and claim that the passport is with us. After that we decided to search for the passport in our room but we could not find it. The next day the maid go for her off day and we try to search for her passport again but cannot find it than we decide to check our locked drawer to check if our gold and money if is still inside but to our surprise our gold in a bag n cash is missing!!!!

We hope that the maid would come back from off day but she didn’t return to our house by 6 pm that day. That’s when we made a police report. And the police officer did make a check from ICA and say the the maid already left Singapore on that Sunday. This maid is so cunning and deceiving. Beware!

Charlie
A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

September 28, 2015
Working Mum To Get $1 In Maintenance

A working mother who divorced her pilot husband has been awarded $1 in annual nominal maintenance after the Court of Appeal clarified a previous ruling, a decision which means she can apply for further maintenance in future if her circumstances change.

Last October, the High Court ruled that the couple’s $1.65 million matrimonial home should be divided 70:30 in favour of the wife, while a $1,500 monthly maintenance for their child should be borne equally by both parents.

However, the judge made no order as to her maintenance but made it clear that she had a legal right to apply for it in the future.

The woman, 42, a bank officer, appealed to the apex court against the whole judgment in July. It dismissed her case but explained that “no order” maintenance was not appropriate to reflect the judge’s ruling.

Instead it granted her nominal maintenance, which preserves her right to apply for maintenance in the future should the need arise.

“In order to preserve a wife’s right to apply for maintenance to the court in the future, an order for nominal maintenance is required,” wrote Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang, on behalf of the Court of Appeal in judgment grounds released this month. “What the judge was doing, in substance, was to equate the legal effect or result of an order for nominal maintenance with that for an order that there be no order on an application for maintenance. With respect, we disagree.”

The 43-year-old former Republic of Singapore Air Force pilot and the working mum, whose salary soared after she got her master’s degree, will share custody of their 11-year-old child despite the wife’s bid for sole custody.

The couple cannot be named for legal reasons. Their marriage broke down in 2010 after 12 years and she cited his unreasonable behaviour.

She was represented by lawyer Koh Tien Hua, while he was defended by Ms Sim Bock Eng.

In a commentary on the appeals court’s decision, two Singapore Management University law graduates have suggested that the award of $1 maintenance orders as the default position should be reviewed.

This should be considered “in an age when women are increasingly financially independent and spouses share familial responsibilities more equally”, Ms Beatrice Yeo and Ms Fiona Chew wrote in a commentary published in Singapore Law Watch last week. “Arguably, the award of $1 maintenance simply to preserve the wife’s future right to maintenance without further justification might also be said to be out of touch with the realities of today’s more gender-equal era.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

September 28, 2015
Ever Wondered What A Jumbo Flat Looks Like?

He describes his home as a “halfway house” for family members who are in need.

His parents stayed with him for about seven years after his mother had a knee operation, before moving back to their own flat.

Now, his 53-year-old sister, who is currently waiting for her new flat, has moved in with her two children.

Together with Mr Ramdzan Minhat, 51, his wife, three children and a maid, nine people live in this jumbo executive flat at Woodlands Avenue 1.

In the early 1990s, HDB converted hundreds of unsold new flats in Woodlands and Yishun into jumbo flats by knocking down the walls of two adjoining flats.

A total of 395 jumbo executive apartments in Yishun and 90 units of seven-room HDB flats in Woodlands were offered to the public back then.

Mr Ramdzan’s home is made up of a four-room unit and a three-room unit. It has a combined space of about 1,700 sq ftwith four bedrooms and three halls – the living, dining and family rooms.

Mr Ramdzan, who runs a jewellery business, says: “The family hall is like the games centre, where the kids play with their PlayStation and Wii.

“It is also my work area because I work from home most of the time.”

WATCH: Exploring a jumbo flat

Mr Ramdzan bought the resale flat about 16 years ago for $433,000, a drop from its previous market value of about $600,000.

He had cashed out from the sale of his first home – a four-room flat at Woodlands Avenue 9 – before the property market crashed.

A similar jumbo unit now goes for $699,000, based on listings on STProperty.

Mr Ramdzan, who has always like big spaces, says the flat was already combined into a jumbo unit when he bought it.

And all that extra space is perfect for entertaining guests and accommodating his extended family.

Mr Ramdzan, who has five siblings, says: “We do a lot of entertaining. We host our family and friends at least twice a month. There’s easily eight to ten of them, excluding us.”

During Hari Raya Aidilfitri, the number of guests can easily swell to 30.

Every week, the extended family also gathers for religious or Arabic language classes at his home.

When he hired interior architect firm M3 Studio to give the flat a makeover last November, he wanted a Mediterranean theme.

He used Mediterranean tiles for the kitchen backsplash and tiles with bolder patterns and colours for the walls of the two toilets, each of which has a dry and wet area.

He says: “We have two entrances, so that two persons can use them at the same time. There’s also a stool in the toilet where my elderly parents can sit while they shower.”

CUSTOM-MADE

Mr Ramdzan even designed his own furniture and got a manufacturer to make them to his liking.

His favourites are the rattan furniture in the living room and the ‘smoking corner’ along the corridor, which is part of the flat.

He says: “It is sturdy and the look is classic. I can always refurbish it and change the fabric. It is also easy to clean. I just use a blower to blow away the dust.”

When he moved in about 15 years ago, he and his children got their hands dirty decorating the feature walls of the dining and living rooms.

He says: “We used our hands and fingers to make prints and marks.”

He has also brought back many souvenirs from his overseas work trips, such as an old leather suitcase from Germany and a piece of driftwood from Batam that cost close to $1,000. He displays it in the family room.

He says: “Our home is like a retreat.”

Source: www.tnp.sg

September 27, 2015