Tag: Singapore

Indonesian PhD Student Convicted For Outrage Of Modesty

An Indonesian PhD student was convicted on Tuesday of outraging a woman’s modesty on an MRT train.

Irfan Syanjaya, 26, had been taking the train from Buona Vista to Jurong East on Aug 12 last year, when he deliberately stood close behind the 20-year-old student to do so.

He was sentenced to six weeks’ jail following a two-day trial.

The court heard that although the train was crowded at first as it was the evening peak period, it grew more empty after leaving Dover station. Nevertheless, Irfan continued to stand close to the victim even though there was space to move away.

She confronted Irfan, who apologised. Other commuters came forward to help and he was detained by security officers at Jurong East MRT.

During the trial, Irfan, who was unrepresented, maintained that he had touched the victim accidentally.

He had admitted during police investigations earlier to intentionally touching her, but denied this in court.

When asked why he kept standing so close to her, he said through a translator: “She seemed to have no negative thoughts about me so I did not move away.

“I assumed she had no problem about me standing where I was.”

Three witnesses who had been in the same carriage testified that they had seen Irfan make deliberate contact with the victim, even after she tried to avoid him.

One, Ms Nur Sharida Md Farok, said Irfan was standing close enough to whisper into her ear.

Another, Mr Johan Tay, said it was obvious that he had been inching towards the victim. He said he had tried to stop it from happening by putting his bag in between Irfan and the victim, but that Irfan had persisted.

At the time, Irfan was doing a PhD in electrical and computer engineering at the National University of Singapore.

For using criminal force to outrage the victim’s modesty, Irfan could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned, or any combination of the three.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

May 27, 2015
Singaporeans Value Family

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans value families – they want to get married, have children and feel a strong sense of filial piety a survey found. However, statistics by the Social and Family Development Ministry (MSF) show a gap between what they desire and their reality.

About nine in 10 respondents, across all age groups in a Survey on Social Attitudes of Singaporeans, said they have a close-knit family.

The desire for married couples to be close with their parents is also strong. But sometimes the environment does not allow for it.

In the survey conducted by MSF, about 40 per cent of families with young children said they either live in the same flat, in a nearby block, or same estate as their parents. But 55 per cent said they actually preferred to do so.

Professor Yeung Wei-Jun Jean, director of the Centre for Family and Population Research, explained: “They desire to do so perhaps because of the proximity to take care of … the parents or maybe grandparents to take care of younger children.

“But in reality, maybe some of the married couples or elderly parents already bought housing some time ago and it is not so easy to move to be closer to be in the same neighbourhood and housing. So maybe in terms of public policy, (it would be good) to look at how to make it easier for people who are living further apart but now because of the caring needs, they want to be living closer, and how to make it easier to move.”

INTER-GENERATIONAL CONTACT

And perhaps because of the distance, inter-generational contact seems to be affected. In 2003, some 76.4 per cent of married respondents had said they see their elderly parents either daily or at least once a week. In 2013, the proportion dropped to 70.6 per cent.

In fact, 18.8 per cent of respondents said they either never or keep in touch with their elderly parents just a few times a year.

Prof Yeung noted: “People have many demands and young couples are working long hours. We know from statistics that Singapore adults are working very long hours and children’s schooling is very demanding.”

The inter-generational bonding further weakens as the age gap widens – 71.4 per cent of those aged between 65 and 74 said they do not discuss their personal lives with their grandchildren; the figure goes up to 80 per cent among those aged 75 and above.

Dr Mathew Mathews, senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said: “Values transmission is important, and we notice that less than 30 per cent of grandparents actually discuss their personal life with their grandchildren. That is really a loss because if more are able to do that, grandchildren would be more richer for being able to catch a lot more value, which may be important to their lives, going forward.”

HIGHER EXPECTATIONS AND EVOLVING ROLES

And while there is an increasing number of companies offering some form of flexi-work arrangement, 55 per cent of respondents still said their job keeps them from spending the amount of time they would like, with their family.

Dr Mathews said it may be because expectations are higher and roles are evolving.

He said: “What we have here now is that more men are expressing the fact that work and family life is in conflict. We notice that in the newer wave of the survey, and I think it speaks to the fact that increasingly, wives also want their men to step up and be involved in caregiving roles which previously more of them shied away from but today the expectation is higher on them.”

Researchers also point to the growing number of single households saying that it is important to build on community networks and targeted support, especially for vulnerable groups, such as women who are divorced or widowed.

DROP IN NUCLEAR FAMILIES

Meanwhile, the number of nuclear families was down 7 per cent last year, from 56 per cent of resident households in 2000, according to data released at the Social Service Partners Conference 2015 on Tuesday (May 26).

The fall in the proportion of nuclear families, which are two-generation couple-based households either living with parents or with children, came despite its increase from 511 in 2000 to 592 in 2014. The proportion of 3G – households comprising three or more generations – families also dropped from 10 per cent to 9 per cent.

Conversely, one-person households saw an increase from 8 per cent in 2000 to 11 per cent in 2014. The proportion of married couples without co-residing children in households also rose from 11 per cent to 14 per cent over four years.

DIVORCED, SEPARATED, WIDOWED LESS SATISFIED WITH FAMILY LIFE

One key finding from the survey was that fewer divorced, separated or widowed respondents said they are satisfied with their family life, unlike the single or married cohorts.

The survey showed a 9.3 per cent drop in the number of divorced, separated or widowed respondents agreeing that their family life is satisfying, compared to the 4.6 per cent for singles.

Despite the 4.3 per cent increase in married respondents who are happy with their family life, those who are satisfied with their marriage dropped from 96 per cent in 2009 to 92 per cent in 2013. The survey also showed that 94 per cent of males were satisfied with their marriage, compared to 89 per cent of females.

A stark difference was also observed between the number of wives who said they do more caregiving and household chores than the number of husbands who said they do. For example, 59 per cent of wives indicated themselves as spending more time doing household chores, compared to 3 per cent of husbands.

Similarly, mothers were revealed to spend almost double the time alone with their children during the weekend compared to the fathers.

MORE SINGLES DESIRE TO GET MARRIED

In another survey, the number of single respondents who desire to get married increased from 74 per cent in 2004, to 85 per cent in 2012. As for parenthood aspirations, the Marriage and Parenthood Survey 2012 revealed that a 4 per cent increase in married respondents who intend to have two children was observed between 2007 and 2012.

FAMILIES SPENDING LESS TIME TOGETHER

Meanwhile, according to the National Youth Survey 2013 conducted by the National Youth Council, more than half of respondents across all age groups said they spend less than 10 hours with family members in a week.

A total of 55 per cent of respondents between the ages of 15 and 19 said they spend less than 10 hours, while the age-groups 20-24, 25-29 and 30-34 registered 62 per cent, 72 per cent and 74 per cent respectively.

Additionally, 63 per cent of youths surveyed by the National Youth Council in 2010 said they spend less than 10 hours with their parents or relatives in a week, out of which 4 per cent indicated no time is spent.
In comparison, 2013’s results showed 67 per cent of youths spending less than 10 hours, and 6 per cent spending zero hours with their parents and relatives in a week.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

May 27, 2015
Are Culturally Insensitive New Citizens The Cause Of Disharmony In Singapore?

by Wan Dan Liao, Straight Times

A dispute broke out between a Malay family and their new neighbour in Marine Terrace last week over the aroma of Malay cuisines.

The petrified Malay family, who declined to be named, showed ST the police report they filed. Their neighbour who moved in last November had repeatedly asked the Malay family to stop cooking Malay food as it was “smelly”. These requests escalated into police reports and complaints with National Environment Agency. To protect themselves, the Malay family filed a police report against their culturally insensitive neighbour.

Conflicts which rose from cultural differences and misunderstandings are not uncommon in Singapore. In 2012, A senior staff from NTUC of Malaysian origin fled to Australia after making an insensitive remark against the Malay community. Similarly, in 2011, Singaporeans were shocked to know of a Singaporean Indian family who had troubles with their new PRC neighbours who vehemently objected to the smell of curry.

ST sought the views of Singaporeans who are not aware of such conflicts. Mr Hui Jiao Tu, a Chinese Singaporean who converted to Islam after marrying his Malay-Muslim girlfriend of 5-months told ST he felt blessed after knowing her.

“The Chinese girls I dated last time expect me to drive BMW or cooper to fetch them”, Mr Hui lamented, “They won’t date guys who earn less than $5,000 [a month]. They don’t want to have children also, to be honest, they can’t cook, do house work and their figure is not great either!”

“After I met my wife, I finally know what is love” Mr Hui beamed “She happy I ride my super 4 to fetch her after school from Simei, everyday excited to have children, willing to cook and happy to be full time housewife after she graduated. She is a great cook you know! Her family very united and supported us!”

When ST asked Mr Hui the secret to a successful mixed marriage, Mr Hui smiled, “Cast away your stereotype of people or friends from other nationalities or races. Look at them objectively and you will see the beauty in them.”

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

May 27, 2015
Wakaf Philantropher: Syed Mohamed Bin Ahmad Alsagoff

Salaam Friends,

Wakaf (Islamic endowments) in Singapore are typically properties bequeathed for a charitable purpose by a philanthropist. Our pioneering wakifs such as Syed Sharif Omar Ali Aljunied, Syed Mohamed bin Ahmad Alsagoff and many others left behind significant assets that are still benefiting our community today.

We will be sharing with you “info bites” of some of these great philanthropists in the upcoming days. We hope you get to learn more about our forefathers and their contributions to our country.

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Philanthropist #1: Syed Mohamed bin Ahmad Alsagoff
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Born of royal parentage and a respectable Arab clan, Syed Mohamed bin Ahmad Alsagoff engaged in the export of Straits produce and Malayan tin to Arabia and Europe. From his vast assets, Syed Mohamed bequeathed a portion of his estate to Wakaf SMA Alsagoff.

Together with other pioneers, he also set up the Muslimin Trust Fund Association (MTFA) in 1904 to look after the welfare of poor and underprivileged Muslims. In his last will just before his death, he had stated that a school be built to teach Islamic knowledge, Arabic language as well as English for the Muslim community. The school, Madrasah Alsagoff Al-Arabiah was later opened in 1912.

Source: MUIS

May 27, 2015
Jobless Breadwinner With Master’s Degree Wants All EPs To Stop Immediately For PMET Vacancies

Transitioning: First of all, thanks for allowing us to interview you online and can you provide us with some background information about yourself?

Patrick: I am a Singaporean PMET with many years of IT experience. I have a wife and a two-year-old child.

We live in our HDB flat and trying hard to have a happy life.

Growing up in Singapore was much more better times that it is now.

Looking at how things are now, I am often worried about how it will be when our child grows up.

I am usually an optimistic person and consider myself quite intelligent and solving problems.

However, this is one problem that I am quite frustrated about as I can’t seem to find the solution.

Transitioning: What was your last occupation and you have told me that you were unemployed for a few months, can you tell us more about this and also your job search experience?

Patrick: My last job was as a permanent employee with an IT MNC where I was in charge of implementing large scale IT projects. However, after my last project was successfully completed, I was retrenched as part of their global restructuring program. They did acknowledge that I was a good performer and that it was not due to my performance but due to the Global restructuring.

I had put in a lot of effort and time during my project and sacrificed my family time for the sake of the company success. I had been putting in 16-17 hours daily for more than 6 months and sometimes on Saturdays too.

As a result the project was a success. However, shortly thereafter, I was retrenched.

Therefore for the first couple of months after my retrenchment, I spent a lot of time with my family to make up for the earlier time lost.

I started looking with more vigour since January this year and have submitted hundreds of applications for relevant jobs.

I did have a handful of interviews, but they were all unsuccessful.

I found that employers themselves aren’t sure of what they want to do. For example, some employers interview, but do not take any action for months or put the position on hold.

Others have said that they decided to hire/promote internally or the worst is they give absolutely no update at all.

Transitioning: You have told me that you are currently jobless for more than six months, what did you do in order to survive? Did you also approach the CDC for assistance?

Patrick: Luckily I have been good at saving all these days, and am now eating into my savings. Hopefully, I can find a job before my savings finish. I have not approached CDC for financial or other help.

Transitioning: Did you attend any interviews during the past few months and why do you think you are unsuccessful so far?

Patrick: Yes, I have attended interviews, but as mentioned, the companies themselves aren’t sure what they want to do and end up not selecting any candidate. I have also lowered my expectation to below market standards, and agencies question me why so low.

I do not think that I am being choosy in terms of salary, location of even workload. However, I do have a strong feeling that employers are spoilt for chose and they are the ones who are being choosy these days.

I think the basic reason is that employers are being choosy.

Transitioning: Tell us abit more about what you have learnt from your jobless experience and how it has impacted your family.

Patrick: Jobless experience is not very good. It does affect the family life and causes unnecessary friction as both husband and wife are worried about the future.

As the sole breadwinner, I am constantly under pressure to provide for my family and to keep the roof over our head. It is very frustrating to apply for jobs in Singapore.

There seems to be nothing much that anyone can do. I have approached many people and seeking help from them. But no luck. My only avenue is job portals and job agents. Both are not much help.

There are some good points as well to being jobless, in that I get to spend more time with my child and help my wife with the household chores. I also enjoy a little gardening, going to the library to catch up on my reading and sometimes if its not too hot I go to the nearby park to fly my kite.

Transitioning: What do you think you could have done to shorten the unemployment period?

Patrick: I have no idea. If i did, I would have done it already and not be unemployed for so long.

Transitioning: Do you think that Singapore is now a more difficult place to make a living?

Patrick: Yes, its very difficult for Singaporeans to make a living in Singapore. Its quite ironic that we find it difficult in our own home whereas newcomers seem to have it easier.

Transitioning: What do you think the government can do to alleviate the current employment situation?

Patrick: Immediate (should start by July):

1. Stop issuing all EP’s for PMET jobs immediately.
2. Enforce a rule that makes it necessary for employers to look at the unemployed Singaporeans first.
3. Start a database of all unemployed PMET’s in Singapore that the employers can tap on for immediate hire.
4. For those employers who are looking for a specific skill, WDA can provide free/subsidised training for the candidates who come close to the requirement but missing one or two skills. Employer could also provide OJT for such candidates.
5. Provide clear & transparent statistics on unemployed PMETs to the general public. The statistics could include things like Age, Gender, Race, Qualification, Duration of Unemployment (1-3months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months >1 year, >2 years). I believe right now if you are unemployed more than 6 months you are considered”retried”. Currently the statistics says that Singapore unemployment rate is 1.9%. I don’t think this takes into consideration people who are jobless for more than 6 months. I feel that the unemployment rate might be much higher. Lets be transparent about how many are really unemployed.

Long term (should start by Jan 2016):

What should happen is that employers should have to demonstrate that there is a shortage of the specific skills/PMET in Singapore and so needs to hire from overseas. The EP should only be given after a 3-6 months of exhaustive search locally. Exhaustive mean that they should keep all records of those people they interviewed and have a clearly detailed report on why that person was not suitable.

Their search should not be limited to job agents and job websites, but they should also work with WDA, MOM etc to find suitable locals. Companies can only apply for EP if such a skill is not found locally (SG/PR). MOM needs to review the report made by the employer and cross check with the candidates, WDA and job agents to ensure the authenticity of the report. During the review if a suitable local candidate is found then the employer will not get an EP approval.

We should also have an absolute limit to the number of EP’s per year, just like the US does with its H1B. So for example if Singapore adds 50K PMET jobs annually, then only about 10-15K EP’s will be set aside for that year. Once the EP’s finish, no more EP for that year. Try next year!

Employers need to plan their future needs properly and those who are good planners will not face issues even if they need to wait 6 months for foreign hires/EP. These days, employers tend to be short sighted and not able to plan properly at all. They are too spoilt and need to be reined in by controlling the EP’s! This will also increase the chances of local talent to get employment.

Transitioning: Many people have blame foreigners for competing jobs with us, what is your view on this?

Patrick: When I was employed, we used to often invite friends and family over to our home for dinner. These days we have completely stopped as we are trying to cut down on our costs. To me, its the same at the national level. When you have unemployed people in your own home, you should not be inviting others to come in. It’s like you have hungry mouths to feed in your home and you invite outsiders for dinner.

I don’t blame the foreigners, they are coming in because we let them in/invite them. Its a policy and implementation issue. There is no policy that forces employers to hire locals first (guideline is not a policy/law its just a suggestion, not compulsory); so employers will do whatever they are allowed to in order to maximise their profits.

We locals are losing out to corporates who just want to save some money. We lose out as we are not protected by our own people.

Transitioning: Lastly, whats your advice for those who are still jobless and feeling down?

Patrick: My basic advise is to stay strong, don’t give up. You probably heard this a million times, but its true, its hope that keeps us going. We need to keep the hope. Sometimes we feel like the situation is hopeless, and nothing can be done etc. Every morning I wake up with new hope, that maybe something will happen today. Every evening I go to bed angry and frustrated that nothing happened. But I wake up again next morning and I try something a little different.

Its like we’re trapped in this maze, in order to get out, we must 1. Not give up. 2. Keep trying different paths. You WILL get out of this mess.

That what I am hoping for myself and I hope for you too.

Editor’s note: any employer keen to review Patrick’s resume please let us know by emailing [email protected].

Source: www.transitioning.org

May 27, 2015