Tag: Singapore

WP’s Lee Li Lian To Continue To Serve In Punggol East SMC

Member of Parliament (MP) for Punggol East Lee Li Lian has said she will continue to serve her residents in the Punggol East Single Member Constituency, in response to queries from Channel NewsAsia following the release of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee report yesterday (July 24).

She also said that addressing the residents’ concerns is her top priority. Ms Lee was speaking after a tea session with her residents, saying that she was not really shocked at the boundary changes.

According to the report, the opposition wards including Punggol East were left untouched. Ms Lee also said the Workers’ Party is currently studying the report carefully before making any statements.

Ms Lee won the Punggol East by-election in 2013 with 54.5 per cent of the vote against People’s Action Party candidate, Dr Koh Poh Koon.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

July 26, 2015
Mother Slaps Boy Who Knocked Into Her Son At School

A pupil accidently knocked into his classmate on Tuesday (July 21).

It should have been a small incident quickly sorted out between kids turned into something big when a parent decided to take matters into her own hands.

The incident is believed to have happened at a primary school in the Bishan area.

The friend of the pupil’s mother, Madam Huang, described to Lianhe Wanbao the series of events she says took place after the initial knock..

According to her, the mother of the classmate found out about the incident while dropping her son off at school the next day.

The angry parent then slapped a boy – whom she thought was responsible – in front of his classmates, said Madam Huang.

When she found out she had hit the wrong boy, she continued to look for the real “perpetrator”, and slapped that boy as well.

Madam Huang claimed the woman told the boy: “This is how it feels like to be slapped.”

Shocked, upset

The two boys who were slapped were shocked and upset, said Madam Huang.

Lianhe Wanbao understands that the school arranged for the parents of all three boys to meet on Friday (July 24) and that the woman apologised for her actions.

But the parents of the two boys who were slapped made a police report later that day as they felt the apology was insincere and that the woman’s story did not match-up with other details of the incident.

Police confirmed that a police report had been made.

Source: www.tnp.sg

July 26, 2015
NSP Disappointed With Electoral Boundaries Report

The National Solidarity Party (NSP) today (July 25) said it was disappointed with the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee’s (ERBC) report released yesterday, arguing for clearer guidelines to any change in electoral boundaries.

In a media statement, Acting Secretary-General Hazel Poa said that the ERBC report gave no explanation to why it was necessary for Moulmein-Kallang GRC, helmed by Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew, to be divided up, nor for the dissolution of Joo Chiat SMC and Whampoa SMC, as well as the range of electors per MP used by the ERBC to determine the boundaries.

She also took issue with EBRC taking instructions from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, saying that it is a “clear conflict of interest, no different from the conflicts of interest found in the management of AHPETC and the Auditor-General’s report on the various Ministries and Statutory Boards”.

“It is not difficult to set clear, fair and defensible guidelines on the issues mentioned above, and have boundaries that could only be changed if those guidelines are breached,” Ms Poa argued.

The five-member ERBC submitted its report to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday, eight days after he announced in Parliament that it had been formed two months ago. Political analysts have labelled the report to be more evolutionary than radical.

The committee was chaired by Mr Tan Kee Yong, Secretary to the Prime Minister. Its members are Housing and Development Board chief executive Cheong Koon Hean, Singapore Land Authority CEO Tan Boon Khai, Elections Department head Lee Seng Lup, and Ms Wong Wee Kim, who is the Chief Statistician at the Department of Statistics.

PM Lee had asked the committee to reduce the average size of the GRCS to fewer than five members. It was also to consider the population shifts and housing developments since the last boundary delineation exercise, and maintain the minimum number of Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) at 12.

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 26, 2015
Fed-Up With Malay-Muslim Personalities Drinking Alcohol To Fit In Non-Muslims’ Networking And Celebratory Events

I was at a celebratory event a couple of days ago and the waiters were offering wine. ‘oh I don’t drink alcohol’ – a simple reply that I’ve said time and time again but this time, I hear a new acquaintance pip in ‘oh not just a little? but (insert name of successful Malay person) does!’.

this is why I’m disappointed with us. Not the ignorant friend I had just made – us, the Malay Muslim community.

alcohol is almost always associated with celebrations and networking. I know this because for most of my career, I’ve been offered it and I’ve had to spend quite a bit of time explaining the reason why I don’t drink – I’m a Muslim and the Quran forbids it’s consumption.

In the Qur’an Surat Al-Baqarah [2:219] it says “They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: ‘In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.’”

this is why I get disappointed in the success of Malay Muslim professionals/success stories who choose to drink. I do not applaud their success because you are one more person who is saying ‘it’s okay, I’ll bend the rules so that I can succeed’ and that sucks. it paints a picture of me (not successful yet but working towards it) being inflexible when really, there is no room for flexibility in this matter – it’s a great sin. not a small one, a great one.

I’m sure there are many success stories of people who have achieved their amazing careers without ‘bending the rules’ and I want to meet these people. i want these people to be applauded and to be identified as role models. I want the future business/accountancy/law/whatever other fields that require networking graduates to know that it’s possible – to be successful in your career while not having to compromise on your beliefs.

Source: Nur’Ashikin Ahmad

July 25, 2015
MOH: Traces Of GBS Bacteria Found In Raw Song Fish And Toman Fish

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has issued an advisory on Friday (July 24) asking food stallholders to temporarily suspend sale of raw fish dishes as traces of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) have been found in test samples of Song fish and Toman fish.

MOH said that it is working with the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) to investigate the recent uptrend of GBS cases in Singapore.

The health ministry has received reports of 238 cases of GBS infections from public hospitals from January to June this year, a marked increase from the annual average of 150 cases over the past four years. It also noted that more than half of the patients are over 55 years old, similar to previous years.

AVA and NEA have been conducting field investigations at various locations, including sources and distribution chains of raw fish, while MOH has asked all hospitals to report GBS infections.

The authorities’ preliminary findings showed that some samples of Song fish, also known as Asian Bighead Carp; and Toman fish, also known as Snakehead fish, contain traces of GBS.

Although there is no proven link between eating raw fish and serious GBS disease in humans to date, the analysis of a limited number of identified cases in Singapore has found an association between the consumption of raw fish and GBS infections.

However, MOH said that more cases will need to be studied for a more definite conclusion.

While investigations are on-going, vulnerable groups of people, especially young children, pregnant women, the elderly, or people with chronic illness should avoid eating raw food such as uncooked oysters and sashimi as a precautionary measure.

GBS is a common bacterium found in the human gut and urinary tract of about 15 per cent to 30 per cent of adults without causing disease. However, the bacterium may occasionally cause infections of the skin, joints, heart and brain.

Source: http://yourhealth.asiaone.com

July 25, 2015