Tag: Singapore

AHPETC: No Managing Agent Has Submitted Bid

The Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) will not have a Managing Agent from July, as no one has come forward to submit a bid, said chairman Sylvia Lim in an open letter to residents published in the June edition of the Good Neighbours newsletter.

“Come July 2015, we will be embarking on direct management of the TC, as no MA (Managing Agent) has submitted a bid to work for AHPETC. We will do our best to keep costs down and protect AHPETC’s long-term financial interests,” she wrote.

She added that the Workers’ Party-run town council would continue to serve residents to the best of its ability despite the “challenging political climate”.

Ms Lim said the three-page letter aimed to clarify any misconceptions that may have arisen, as well as to update residents on matters concerning the management of the town council.

Earlier this year, a report by the Auditor-General’s Office pointed out serious lapses in the town council’s books. This sparked a two-day debate in Parliament.

Among the lapses identified was a failure to manage conflict of interest when it came to transactions involving its Managing Agent FM Solutions & Services (FMSS). Its owners were also senior party officers.

In the letter to residents, Ms Lim said AHPETC had not given contracts to friends, and that public tenders had been called in 2012.

“AHPETC does not and cannot reserve contracts for friends in a public tender,” she said, adding that a tender was not called for MA services only in the one-year period from July 2011 to July 2012.

The then newly-elected MPs had decided to award FMSS a one-year provisional contract – to ensure a smooth takeover of town management and avoid any disruptions in services to residents.

The town council is also said to have overpaid FMSS by an estimated S$1.6 million a year, over a four-year period.

But Ms Lim said what AHPETC pays its Managing Agent cannot be compared to the “weighted average” of rates that all other town councils pay.

She pointed to tables detailing the rates for residential and commercial units between 2011 and 2014, saying that there is “a lot of variation” in rates among the town councils – which reflect the different geography and requirements of each town. This, in turn, affects how they are managed.

Ms Lim added that this, and later contracts involving FMSS, were fairly priced and based on “strict reasoning” using available market information.

In wrapping up her letter, Ms Lim told residents that since the AGO report, AHPETC has made some improvements, and hired external accountants to help clean up its accounts as well as to further strengthen processes and controls.

“The work is making progress and certain financial issues will take time to resolve. AHPETC is also working towards filing its audited accounts by the deadlines set by the Ministry of National Development (MND),” she said.

MND is currently appealing a High Court decision not to appoint independent accountants to safeguard Government grants to the town council. The court did also point out that grave and serious questions had been raised about the state of the town council’s accounts.

The ministry said there is an urgent need for independent accountants to be appointed with powers of inquiry and recovery, given the “serious questions” raised about payments AHPETC had made to related parties — a reference to the town council’s managing agent firms.

The case is likely to be heard on Aug 3.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 11, 2015
MERS Outbreak: SIA To Waive Cancellation Fees For Flights To Seoul

In light of the MERS outbreak in South Korea, flagship carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) will waive cancellation fees and administration fees for refund, rebooking or re-routing for customers holding confirmed tickets to and from Seoul’s Incheon Airport, it announced on its website on Wednesday (Jun 10).

In a sales circular, Singapore Airlines said the waiver is valid for all commercial Singapore Airlines fare tickets issued on or before Jun 9, for travel on flights to and from Seoul up until Jun 28 (inclusive).

Low-cost carrier Scoot, which is owned by SIA, will also allow customers travelling on specific dates to rebook their travel dates free of charge. “Guests with bookings made on or before June 3 for travel to Incheon up to June 15 (inclusive) have the option to rebook either to another Scoot destination or another travel date. The change fee will be waived but the fare difference will apply,” a spokesperson said.

In a notice on its website on Tuesday, Cathay Pacific, which runs daily flights from Singapore to Seoul, said it would not waive cancellation fees for flights to South Korea, or offer refunds.

However, it would waive rebooking and re-routing charges for all passengers travelling to and from Seoul, Busan and Jeju, with tickets issued on or before Jun 8, regardless of fare type. This applies to confirmed bookings with Cathay Pacific and Dragonair, for travel between Jun 9 and Aug 31, Cathay Pacific stated.

Rebooking and re-routing charges will be waived if requests are made on or before Jun 19, the airline said. Revised travel dates must be on or before Oct 31, and subject to flight availability, Cathay Pacific added.

Korean Air has stated on a MERS advisory on its website that a refund or date change penalty may be charged in accordance to a passenger’s ticket.

South Korea on Wednesday reported two more deaths due to MERS, and 13 more cases.

Singapore’s Government has not issued an advisory against travel to South Korea, but on Tuesday announced temperature screening measures for passengers arriving from South Korea at its airports.

SINGAPOREANS CALL OFF TRIPS

Ms Rachel Fong was among the few who decided to cancel their trips following news of the MERS outbreak in South Korea. The 22-year-old undergraduate had been planning to head to Seoul to catch a music festival and celebrate her birthday with her friends.

“We actually decided to change our plans quite late because we were kind of hoping that the MERS situation wouldn’t be this severe,” she said. “But when it got to this, such a stage, we decided, my parents decided that it’s too risky for me to go.

“Even though there was no travel advisory issued, MOE (Ministry of Education) did decide that schools had to cancel and postpone their trips to Korea. So that indicates how severe the situation is and my parents were not going to take that risk,” she added.

Mr Huang Ban Chin also called off his work trip to South Korea.

The Chief Operating Officer of a wellness company in Singapore, which specialises in direct selling of skincare and wellness products, was supposed to go on a site visit, as the firm has an office comprising seven South Korean staff in Seoul.

Mr Huang said he is also adopting a wait-and-see attitude for another upcoming trip to Shanghai, China, which reported its first case of MERS two weeks ago.

“I think the real concern at this point of time is not so much about whether we will be inflicted with the disease or not, but it’s really about the inconvenience if things escalate and coming back would be a hassle,” he said. “We would be subjected to quarantine.”

Travel agency Dynasty Travel said less than a hundred of its customers have cancelled or changed their trips to South Korea. However, it noted that June is not the peak season for travel to the country, as holidaymakers prefer to visit during the year-end winter season.

“We have about 20 per cent who have opted to cancel, or deviate to other destinations such as Taiwan, Japan and Australia,” said the director of marketing communications Ms Alicia Seah.

“Travel agents are middle men, we act on behalf of airlines, hotels, transportation overseas, so cancellation fees are not within our control and at this juncture in time, with no travel advisories nor travel bans against visiting Korea, we will have to impose cancellation fees accordingly.”

TRAVEL AGENCIES TAKE PRECAUTIONS

For those who are still travelling to South Korea, travel agencies like Chan Brothers Travel said precautions are in place. The agency has about one tour group a day flying to South Korea this month.

“We acted immediately,” said the senior manager of customer service Reshel Chan. “We went to buy masks to pass to our tour leaders, and also wet wipes. During the courtesy call, when we have to call our customers – a reminder call before departure – we will also tell the customers that they can bring along sanitiser and during the trip, before every single meal, we remind our customers to wash their hands.”

“We have been constantly contacting our tour leaders and also our tour guides to ensure everything is in order. We message them to have hourly updates on what’s going on, how the situation is,” added Ms Chan.

Two local tour operators who handle groups from South Korea told Channel NewsAsia that some organisations – including corporate groups and schools – have cancelled their travel plans to Singapore.

One said about a hundred people, or about 20 per cent of its customers, have cancelled their trips. They, however, also noted that this is not the peak season for travel in Korea as the summer holidays begin in July.

MOE had recently said all school trips to South Korea have been postponed or cancelled. Students who went on trips to South Korea have also all returned.

MOE added that all schools are currently equipped to manage an acute outbreak and will be further supplemented should the situation require it. Standard procedures and measures include temperature taking and contact tracing, as well as closure of schools and home-based learning.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 11, 2015
Alex Weaver: Lay Off Sahil Suhaimi

Great to see this young man show a little bit of spunk and cheekiness in his goal celebration last night! I’m not sure whether some people expect our players to be out there competing in this extremely demanding sport, under so many different pressures, taking challenges from opponents and suffering tough set backs yet at the same time, when successful simply nod their head, show a faint smile and shake hands with everyone before popping off to prepare the tea and biscuits for later…..!

The lad, who by the way actually played much better in his previous 2 games WITHOUT scoring than he did last night when he DID score, has played for 90 minutes in a testing environment with the score still close and was still able to think correctly under pressure in the final minutes to pass precisely past the keeper to seal the win for his country.

Now, its a shame he didn’t think so well when in previous situations in front of goal but this should be addressed by the coaching staff from here on – the point is, that this young man is a talented, explosive player who needs to encouraged to be himself but at the same time, intelligently coached to think about and execute his football actions on the field…..and if this means letting his emotions free a wee bit when he is successful, after doing what he loves doing while wearing his nations flag on his chest…..……then bring it on lad!!

As long as the boy thinking is correctly, his actions on the field will, I am sure lead him and his teams to success. It’s when external factors begin to dictate his thinking that problems will occur – thinking about ‘proving himself’ to others for example is an ‘outcome’ and not relevant to the ‘process’. Singapore has some really great ingredients with this kid. Lets just hope those responsible will make the most of him.

‪#‎somefolksneverhappy‬

Source: Alex Weaver

June 11, 2015
Aide Iskandar: Cut Out Abuse And Get Behind Young Lions

Needing nothing less than a win tonight, Singapore head coach Aide Iskandar has urged all of the Republic’s fans to get behind the team, including those who he claimed have been abusive.

The Young Lions need to beat Indonesia in their final Group A match at the Jalan Besar Stadium tonight to reach the semi-finals of the SEA Games under-23 football competition, but the former national captain revealed that his players had been on the receiving end of verbal abuse from a section of the supporters.

Although he declined to identify them, TODAY understands they are part of the Singapore Die-Hard Fans (SDHF) group who travel regularly to Malaysia to support the national side and LionsXII’s games.

Indonesia and Singapore are level on six points after three matches, but the former’s superior goal difference means they need only a draw tonight to join group leaders Myanmar in the semi-finals. But with a large turnout of Indonesian fans expected for the match, Aide appealed to Singapore fans to wholeheartedly get behind the team. “Some (among) our fans in the past three matches have been hurling abusive remarks at the whole team and that got personal,” said Aide, who declined to elaborate.

“To put it generally, I think there are some among our fans who need to give more support. Everybody wants this team to go to the semi-finals. But for us to do that, we must stand united as Singaporeans. I think that’s the key.”

Akbar Hashim, who started the SDHF in the 1980s, admitted some in his group were abusive towards the Singapore team, but claimed it started after their 1-0 win over the Philippines on June 1.

“We were seated at the grandstand and had supported the team throughout,” said the veteran tour operator. “But after the match, the Singapore players ignored us and headed straight for the fans at the stands near King George’s Avenue to thank them. That made some in our group furious.

“We are also paying fans and supported the team, but were given the cold shoulder in the end.”

The group that received the Young Lions’ attention calls themselves Exclusive Singas and number about 200. They are prominent at every match involving Singapore sides with their drum-beating and non-stop singing.

“Some of our SEA Games players said they wanted to thank us because we kept their spirits up with singing and our drums,” said the group’s leader Syed Faris. “They just wanted to show their appreciation and I think some people were upset.”

Akbar said he raised the issue with “officials” and in the following matches against Myanmar and Cambodia, the players also acknowledged those sitting in the grandstand. But the abuses, he conceded, did not stop.

“I had asked those responsible to stop doing such things,” said Akbar. “But football is an emotional game and fans get frustrated, especially when their team makes silly mistakes, and some lost their heads. But we are Singaporeans and all we want is for this team to get to the semi-finals.”

Aide expects Singapore to have their work cut out against the Indonesians tonight, where midfielders Evan Dimas and Muchlis Hadi Ning Syaifulloh have been identified as the danger men. But he said: “I hope the fans will get behind the team to motivate them, because abusing them won’t help them to play better and, in fact, will unnerve them.”

The match between Singapore and Indonesia will be shown “live” on MediaCorp Toggle at 8.30pm tonight.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 11, 2015
Audrey Yong Win’s First Gold Ever For Singapore In Windsurfing At SEA Games

It’s been 26 years since Singapore’s Kelly Chan won gold in windsurfing at the SEA Games.

The arduous wait for another win finally ended yesterday at East Coast Park when Audrey Yong won the women’s RSX windsurfing final.

Yong became the first Singapore woman to be a SEA Games champion in the sport.

“It’s incredible to win this for our country, on home ground,” she told The New Paper, after the contest.

Yong, who was a bronze-medallist in 2011, went into the final race just one point ahead of fierce rival Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam of Thailand.

The double points for the final meant Yong had to finish ahead of her rival to make history, and she kept her cool to cross the finish line first.

In the men’s final, Leonard Ong claimed the silver for Singapore. He beat Indonesian windsurfing legend Oka Sulaksana by a hair’s length as they approached the finish line neck to neck.

Natthaphong Phonoppharat had already been assured of a gold medal and crossed the line safely in fifth position to claim his title.

Source: www.tnp.sg

June 11, 2015