Tag: Singapore

First Singaporean Charged Under PHTA Faces 18 More Charges For Recruiting Prostitutes And Sex With A Minor

The first Singaporean to be charged under the new Prevention of Human Trafficking Act (PHTA) now faces 18 charges for recruiting prostitutes, including minors, having sex with a minor and paying for sex with a minor.

Muhammad Khairulanwar Rohmat was yesterday slapped with 16 charges following police investigations. He has been in remand since he was first charged last week with one count of recruiting a child for exploitation, and for having sex with the girl, who is 15 years old.

Today (April 29), Khairulanwar was charged with recruiting another 16-year-old for the purpose of sexual exploitation. He is said to have done so at Cuppage Terrace on March 15.

Khairulanwar also faces charges for soliciting customers who paid him for sexual services by minors.

He is accused of being paid S$350 and S$450 on two separate occasions between March and April this year, in exchange for arranging for customers to have sex with minors.

He is also accused of paying S$70 to a minor to have sex with him in a male toilet on March 27, and faces another charge for having sex with a minor on April 13.

Five of the charges Khairulanwar faces are for living on the earnings of prostitutes between February 2013 and April this year, while he also faces six charges for procuring women for the purpose of prostitution.

Both crimes could earn him jail sentences of up to five years, with fines up to S$10,000.

The PHTA was passed in Parliament last November and implemented in March. It serves to deter human trafficking, including the sexual exploitation of individuals.

The Act states that any person who recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives an individual by means of threat, force or coercion, abduction, deception, abuse of vulnerability, or using money or any other benefit will be found guilty of trafficking.

For receiving payment for trafficking individuals, a convicted person can be jailed up to 10 years, fined up to S$100,000 and receive up to six strokes of the cane.

A harsher sentence will be imposed if he is discovered to have committed the offence more than once.

The maximum sentence for sex with a minor is up to 10 years in jail, or a fine, or both, while the maximum punishment for paying for sex with a minor is up to seven years in jail, or a fine, or both.

Khairulanwar’s case will be mentioned in court again on May 20.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 30, 2015
Zulfikar Shariff: Apakah Melayu Singapura Betul-Betul Maju?

Orang Melayu selalu ditipu dengan dakwaan bahawa bangsa kita makin maju, makin kaya, makin ramai yang berada. Kalau dulu kita tinggal di rumah kampung, sekarang tinggal di rumah flat.

Kalau kampung, tanah kita, kalau flat, tanah HDB. Tapi takpelah kita percaya juga yang kita ni makin kaya.

Sekarang dah ada kereta, semua ada mobile phone, dah boleh melancung. Kan bagus tu.

Tapi kita perlu juga selidik jika orang Melayu makin “kaya” kerana memang benar kita ni kaya, kerana tidak ada diskriminasi, atau hanya kerana mengikut arus keberadaan.

Kalau kita ingin tahu jika orang Melayu makin kaya, makin mewah, kita perlu bandingkan dengan kaum bukan Melayu di Singapura. Dan bandingkan perluasan jurang kemewahan: bila ia berlaku? kenapa? siapa yang memerintah?

Adakah kemewahan ini melalui absolute gains (kerana dunia semakin mewah jadi kita pun mewah) atau melalui relative gains (jika dibandingkan dengan kaum lain, sebenarnya kita makin miskin).

Adakah Melayu semakin mewah? Apabila PAP memerintah, siapa yang lebih mendapat habuan? Sama rata ke? Atau ada kaum yang makin mewah? Dan kita sebenarnya makin miskin?

Menurut Lily Zubaidah Rahim, PAP tidak suka kita bandingkan kemewahan orang Melayu dengan bangsa lain kerana ia akan menunjukkan jurang yang makin meluas (23-24).

The economic gap between the Malay and Chinese communities grew since the PAP took over.

“the gap between Malays and Chinese in the two highest occupational categories was 2.3 in 1957, which increased to 4.1 per cent in 1970 and 9.6 per cent in 1980.

Whereas there was approximately the same proportion of Malays and Chinese in the lower manual category in 1957, by 1980 there were 10 per cent more Malays in this occupational grouping. In the 1980s, the Chinese community continued to enjoy greater occupational mobility relative to the Malay and Indian communities…

While there was a decrease of 25.3 per cent of Chinese male workers in the income category of less than $400 a month between 1975 and 1980, the proportion of Malays in that income category actually increased by 1.5 per cent in the same period.

Whereas there was an increase of 5.9 per cent of Chinese male workers in the income bracket of more than $1,000 per month between 1975 and 1980, the increase for Malays was only 1.9 per cent…

In 1980, the average Malay household income was 73.8 per cent of the average Chinese household income. By 1990, the income gap widened as the average Malay income dropped to 69.8 per cent of the average Chinese household income.” (20)

Rahim, Lily Zubaidah. The Singapore dilemma: The political and educational marginality of the Malay community. Oxford University Press, USA, 1998.

Source: Zulfikar Shariff

April 29, 2015
Dzar Ismail: Jangan Rosakkan Lagi Nama Baik Budak-Budak CD, Hantar Culprits Gi Nepal

Pikirkanlah blood brother korang yg bertungkus lumus bantu mangsa gempa kat Nepal. Jangan sebab segelintir, sebar video rosakkan harta bende, semua nama jadi busuk. Aku pun dulu SCDF jugak.

Dulu-dulu pakcik-pakcik pandang hina kat aku beb. Nak tackle anak dia, tanya army ker SCDF. Bila sebut SCDF, dia pandang atas bawah.

Last bila jumpa masa jemputan, cakap dia selalu dengar aku, dan berkenan sangat dengan aku. Well its too late pakcik, sapa suro ko pandang hina kat SCDF! Tapi mungkin selepas hari nih, dia akan senyum! Dia akan cakap, “Aku dah cakap dah!” Aku tau dia tengah senyum! Aku tampar kang. Jadi, hargailah mereka yg mengharumkan nama SCDF. Jangan amek sambil lewa, bila pakai uniform, sebab yg lain, yg tak bersalah, semua akan terbabit.

Dan kepada SCDF, janganlah sampai buang mereka, tapi, hantarlah mereka ke Nepal, baru mereka tau hargai kehidupan susah, cari mangsa pakai tangan, angkat batu bata, jadi rescuer, jadi medic, baru tahu menilai erti pakai uniform biru tuh.

Nih dah lemak sangat nih.

Source: Dzar Ismail

April 29, 2015
Moderate Wage Growth In Tight Labour Market

Despite a tighter labour market, wage growth in Singapore is expected to stay moderate for the rest of this year, dampened by weak productivity gains and the difficulty some businesses face in passing on costs to consumers, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said yesterday.

“Short-term wage dynamics in the economy appear to have been buffeted by opposing macroeconomic forces. While the constraints on labour supply ought to have led to a stronger wage response to increased hiring, moderate economic activity and a weak productivity performance in the near term could have dampened wage expectations,” the central bank said in its semi-annual macroeconomic review.

“Hence, although wage growth is expected to pick up in this year amid the tight labour market, it is unlikely to exceed the historical average of 3.7 per cent,” it said.

The steady rise of part-time workers in the resident workforce, a higher proportion of jobs in sectors with lower average pay, sluggish conditions in the export sector and weak labour productivity had resulted in a slowdown in wage growth to 1.6 per cent in the second half of last year. This was down from 3 per cent in the previous six months and the 10-year average of 3.7 per cent.

The MAS said wage gains in the coming months will remain uneven across sectors. Those in the accommodation and food services sector, retail trade as well as administrative and support services will probably enjoy larger gains, as vacancy rates in these areas have been high. The healthcare and financial services sectors will also probably see more hiring, while the construction sector and manufacturing will see smaller employment gains.

The central bank said some businesses have found it difficult to pass on rising labour costs to consumers, especially in segments where there is intense competition, such as retail and holiday travel. And with global oil prices expected to stay well below the previous year’s levels despite the recent gradual recovery, economists said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) will continue to fall, after having recorded five straight months of declines since November.

“There has been a cut in electricity tariffs, so core inflation is expected to moderate quite a bit. We expect it to be down to around 0.5 per cent by July or August before picking up a bit from there,” said Credit Suisse economist Michael Wan.

The MAS said core inflation is expected to range from 0.5 to 1.5 per cent for this year, while CPI-All Items inflation is forecast at between minus 0.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent, reiterating the forecast in its mid-April policy statement.

The expected softening of Certificate of Entitlement bids and housing rentals will continue to keep private road transport and accommodation costs in check. Meanwhile, the suite of budgetary measures such as the reduction in concessionary foreign domestic helper levy, one-year road tax rebates and abolition of national examination fees will also alleviate inflationary pressures.

Despite the expected fall in consumer prices in the coming months, economists noted that domestic consumption remains firm: A signal that the Singapore economy is not in distress.

“We have to remember that a lot of the fall in consumer prices is the result of administrative measures and low oil prices. Together, the items affected by these factors form a large portion in the CPI basket, so they are dragging down prices. But taking them out, the other components in the basket are still seeing prices going up, so the economy is not in the doldrums,” said UOB economist Francis Tan.

“This is not a permanent situation. The base effect due to these factors will wear off, oil prices are coming back up, people are still consuming, wages are still growing steadily although at a slower rate — so it will pass,” he added.

The central bank said in the report that wages could rise more sharply next year, especially if economic conditions improve and the unemployment rate falls further.

“Next year, inflation is expected to rise as global oil prices pick up and the effects of budgetary measures dissipate. At the same time, the labour market will be tight. The risk remains that underlying domestic cost pressures in the economy could mount, leading to stronger cost pass-through to consumer prices, especially if economic conditions improve,” said the MAS.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 29, 2015
Gilbert Goh’s 10 Reasons Singaporeans Should Reject Fake Degrees From Labour Market

Ten reasons why Singaporeans must strongly reject fake degrees from our labour market:-

1. Mockery of our educational system – Singaporeans study hard and make it through our educational system the meritocratic way and fake degree is a slap to our face.

It also humiliate those who take the effort and pain to earn their way into the competitive labour market by studying hard for a degree.

Fake degree is a unfair nasty short-cut into our lucrative labour market and must be totally eradicated.

It also stains the clean corrupt-free environment we have all along.

2. Mockery of our labour system – fake degree made our government look bad as it exposes the laxity in the way it tries to bring in foreigners by the hundreds of thousands.

Checking them.all will take light years and our government believes that the only way to do it is to allow them in first before lightly applying the selective screening method.

Degree cheaters were exposed previously and jailed but their numbers are too little to make an impact.

It is believed fake certificate cheaters should figure in the thousands or more and if remained unexposed will leave behind untold grave consequences on our labour market.

3. Unlevelled playing field for locals – fake degrees created a unlevelled playing field for local professionals as they are competing against people who say they possess certain relevant qualifications but do not have in reality.

Thousands of local PMETs stay jobless because these cheaters manage to beat the system and get a job the unethical way.

4. Encourage cheaters – fake degrees also encourage other foreigners to come in with their fake degrees and try to beat the system as there is minimum screening process in place.

Singapore will be the ultimate loser as we have in our workplace incompetent and unskilled foreign workers pretending to be experts in their own field.

One can’t imagine having fake doctors in our midst.

5. Lowering productivity – it is no wonder our productivity has nosedived alot lately as those who work with us are not truly who they profess to be.

Fake certs will hurt the reputation of Singapore and damage our image in the eyes of the world.

Our productivity has went down alot in recent years and this could be due to our false belief that we are getting quality workers but in reality they are not.

6. Meritocracy down the drain – fake degrees also makes a mockery of our stern belief in meritocracy – long practised by our founder Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Singaporeans took many years to earn their degree often through the hard way and fake degrees certainly hurt the efforts of our own people.

It devalues their hard-earned educational qualification and humiliates them even further when companies like IDA recognises them by believing in the employee’s story.

7. Reinforce foreigner-first policy – the recognition of the fake master degree of a IDA’s employee reinforced the belief that Singaporean companies have all along adopt a foreigner-first mentality.

People are wary of the government’s approach to foreign talent nowadays and such incident gives room for more speculation that foreigners are better treated and let off easily.

8. Overall suspicion of foreign talents – the recent fake degree saga also unfairly discriminated against those foreign talents who came in with genuine qualifications.

Colleagues will now view foreigners with disdain especially if they fail to show result after a while.

Its unfair and totally unjustified as they will be foreign talents who came in with real qualifications but they pay the price for those who falsify their resume.

9. Who is ultimately responsible – many people pinpoint the blame on MOM but who is ultimately responsible for the fake degree saga?

Some blame the FTA which stipulates that we must bring in X number of foreigners from India or else…

In the bid to show that we honour the agreement, our government has no choice but to openly show that it has allowed in the number of foreigners from a certain country – regardless of whether they are fake talents or not.

10. End of a 5-decade-long regime – the fake degree saga once again highlights the incompetence of a government that fails to deliver time and again.

From transport fault to the huge influx of foreigners into our shore, the current government has revealed its shortcomings.

One feels that the regime’s time is up and the recent failings only reinforced the fact that it could not live up to the demands of a new Singapore which prefers a new form of governance and bearing.

Lee Kuan Yew’s passing may signal the end of a regime that still stubbornly stick to the patriach’s old style of control and total dominance.

Unless the new leadership changes its tact and style, the writing is very much on the wall for the near-demise of the current regime as the young voters will surely prefer something new and refreshing.

Source: Gilbert Goh

April 29, 2015