Tag: Singaporeans

This Black Sheep Is Proof That Racism Still Exists In Singapore

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Racism in Singapore I thought was something on the decline. Everyone around me is so kind. Everyone is more and more understanding towards racial equality and racial understanding. But someone people just like to prove that they are the black sheep of the bunch. Posting on social media acting unafraid of consequences.

Being a Chinese myself, I can’t stand this kind of behavior. I have contacted facebook about it but no actions have been taken. Posts with racist comments are all over his facebook.

My purpose is to show that racism in Singapore isn’t gone and we have to take action when such an injustice is done. Keeping silent isn’t helping.

(yalams is another term for Malays)

UpDog

A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

February 25, 2017
Gay Community Expressed Mixed Feelings About Prominent Activist Charged For Drug Crime

A prominent gay activist, Dr Stuart Koe, was hauled to court yesterday for six drug-related charges (including one of trafficking) and the gay community have expressed disappointment that the incident will cause the public to have poor view of it.

Dr Koe was one of the 3 petitioners who appealed to parliament to repeal Section 377A in 2007. He is also the managing director of a local pharmaceutical company, ICM Pharma and the founder of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) news and social networking site Fridae.com.

The 44-year-old allegedly sold a packet of crystalline substance which contained 0.17g of methamphetamine, to another man for $240, at a Spottiswoode Park Road apartment on 25 Aug last year.

Reverend Miak Siew, the pastor of the gay-friendly Free Community Church, said that the community should not kid itself about the harms of drugs. “I know far too many lives destroyed by meth (ice),” he said.

And added: “Addiction is a disease that takes over a person and it is dangerous and irresponsible to say “a little bit” is ok.”

Nic Lim the founder of the Facebook page ‘GLBT Voices Singapore’ said that he had been repeatedly attacked in the past by people in the gay community for posting honest entries about drug use in his page dedicated to gay confessions. They accused him of painting a bad image of the community and of disgracing them.

“So long a huge swath of our community prefers to pretend that we don’t have a drug problem (and we definitely do), then we will lose more and more of our gay brothers and sisters to it, and see more of them in the news,” he said.

Otto Fong, a former Raffles Institution teacher whose coming out in 2007 caused a stir, said:

“But let’s be rational here and look at the real problem. It isn’t Koe who blocked all positive portrayals of gay people in the media. This is a concerted effort by others to erase all the good stuff gay people have been doing – like charity for orphans, creating families in spite of the odds, researches, shaping policies, being great healers and teachers. Just erase our contributions, and make sure the public only reads only the bad things. How can individuals like Koe fight against a tide of people coached weekly to complain, to repeat lies and to hate us with irrational fervor?

I can only hope the younger generation of gay people and straight allies find a better solution. Instead of aiming our hopes and frustrations at Koe, we can do far better to reflect on ourselves and what we can and need to do.”

Another prominent gay activist, Kelvin Wong, said that the conversation on drug use needs more clarity.

“I think we need more clarity when talking about drug use. There is drug use for medical purposes, drug use for recreational purpose, drug abuse and drug addiction. There are growing cases that not all drugs have the same level of harm and addiction level. It is those whose addiction level is high and/or harmful that we need rigourous awareness. There are drugs that have shown to help medical conditions. So we cannot lump drug use or people’s attitudes to drugs the same boat. Furthermore, the law on drugs is historically politically driven and has little relevance to science and facts as the law treats all drugs the same. We could well say the same about alcohol, but because is not against the law and socially accepted people are getting drunk nightly in pubs and dead pissed or dying of liver related failures but nobody cares as much.”

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Comments are found in this Facebook post: http://bit.ly/2lyqU2t.

Source: www.theindependent.sg

February 24, 2017
Singaporeans Support Petition To Retain Sungei Road Flea Market

The Sungei Road flea market’s last day of operation is on July 10 but the hawkers are hoping to be given an alternative or temporary site that will allow them to continue their business.

On Thursday (Feb 23), Mr Koh Ah Koon, 76, the president of the Association for the Recycling of Second Hand Goods, unfurled a banner at Sungei Road calling for the site to be conserved.

Speaking to The Straits Times later, Mr Koh said he was saddened but hopes an alternative site can be allocated for the hawkers.

“We don’t need a permanent location and can move. We hope the government can give us a temporary site so that our lifestyle and this aspect of local heritage can be retained.”

He said he has printed 10 banners and plans to collect signatures till July to support calls for the site to be “conserved” or retained. By 7pm on Feb 23, he had collected about 200 signatures.

The Government said the free hawking zone has to make way for future residential developments in a multi-agency statement last Tuesday.

Mr Koh’s association, which represents about 70 of 200 vendors at the flea market, had previously proposed four alternative sites – next to Rochor River, at Kampong Bugis along Kallang River, behind Sim Lim Tower and a roadside near Jalan Kubor Malay cemetery.

But the authorities said the four sites had been zoned for parks and residential use under Master Plan 2014.

After the Government announcement, the association submitted a fresh appeal to extend the deadline until the end of the year. If that fails, it hopes to secure a temporary site in Jalan Besar behind a hawker centre.

Mr Kalay V., 45, a businessman who signed the petition said: “This provides the elderly hawkers a legitimate source of income and can be seen as an engagement programme for seniors – not that different from those run by community centres.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

February 24, 2017
15,000 Jurutera Diperlukan Untuk Industri Kereta Api Jelang 2030

Terdapat hampir 10,000 jurutera dalam industri kereta api sekarang ini, namun jumlah itu dijangka meningkat kepada 15,000 menjelang 2030, kata Menteri Pengangkutan Khaw Boon Wan hari ini (23 Feb).

Encik Khaw, yang juga Menteri Penyelaras bagi Prasarana, berkata sepanjang lima tahun lepas, LTA dan kedua-dua pengendali kereta api, SMRT dan SBS Transit, sudah meningkatkan jumlah pekerja yang diambil mereka untuk kejuruteraan, operasi dan penyenggaraan sebanyak 50 peratus kepada jumlahnya sekarang ini, namun, lebih ramai pekerja diperlukan.

“Menjelang 2030, kami menjangkakan bilangan ini akan meningkat lagi – sekurang-kurangnya sebanyak lagi 50 peratus kepada 15,000. Tapi saya rasa kami akan memerlukan lebih ramai daripada itu. Ini menjadikan industri kereta api sebuah industri pertumbuhan, yang prospek pengambilan pekerjanya hampir dijamin untuk dekad seterusnya,” katanya.

Menteri itu berkata demikian di pelancaran Akademi Kereta Api Singapura hari ini, yang bertujuan membangunkan generasi jurutera akan datang untuk rangkaian infrastruktur kereta api yang kian meluas di Singapura.

Akademi itu ditubuhkan di dalam Penguasa Pengangkutan Darat (LTA) yang berpangkalan di Kampus Bedok, dan di situ, para bakal jurutera dan teknisyen boleh meraih kemahiran dan pentauliahan yang diperlukan untuk menyertai industri kereta api. Akademi tersebut juga akan berperanan sebagai pusat kajian dan pengembangan (R&D) untuk kejuruteraan kereta api, dengan menjalankan kajian gunaan bersama institut kajian yang lain serta Institut-Institut Pengajian Tinggi.

Akademi itu kini sedang bekerjasama dengan Institut Pekerjaan dan Daya Kerja (e2i) untuk membangunkan program latihan yang disasarkan kepada para jurutera dan teknisyen yang memulakan kerjaya mereka dalam sektor kereta api, serta para pekerja yang melangkah ke industri itu semasa pertengahan kerjaya.

Program itu sudahpun mengalu-alukan kumpulan pertama hampir 30 jurutera dari SBS Transit, SMRT dan LTA, yang selesai menjalani modul asas selama tiga hari yang pertama kali disediakan, dari 9 hingga 11 Januari. Modul itu meliputi topik-topik seperti aspek kawal selia dan kewangan sistem kereta api Singapura, pemikiran tentang reka bentuk dalam kitaran kejuruteraan kereta api, dan dasar tambang pengangkutan awam.

Dikenali sebagai program Career On-boarding for Railway Engineering (CORE), e2i akan menyediakan geran-geran latihan bagi semua peserta program yang layak. Modul-modul pertengahan dan lanjutan akan juga dibangunkan selaras dengan rangka kerja kecekapan industri kereta api.

MEMBANGUNKAN BAKAT TEMPATAN

Di acara itu juga, satu memorandum persefahaman (MOU) dimeterai antara LTA, Institut Teknologi Singapura (SIT) dan Majlis Antarabangsa tentang Kejuruteraan Sistem (INCOSE) untuk membangunkan tenaga manusia berkemahiran dalam kejuruteraan sistem untuk menyokong keperluan tenaga manusia dalam pengangkutan awam di sini.

Ketiga-tiga pihak akan bekerjasama untuk membangunkan kurikulum-kurikulum pembelajaran berdasarkan pembangunan industri bagi latihan sebelum pekerjaan dan program-program pendidikan dan latihan yang berterusan.

Sejajar dengan kerjasama itu, LTA juga mengumumkan pembukaan dua makmal di SIT untuk menjalankan latihan dan kursus-kursus untuk para pelajar di program sarjana muda Kejuruteraan Infrastruktur Mampan (Darat) SIT, program sarjana muda Kejuruteraan Sistem (Sistem Elektromekanikal) SIT-DigiPen serta para jurutera.

Sebuah makmal juga dilengkapi dengan sofwe simulator kejuruteraan kereta api untuk membolehkan para pelajar dan pelatih cuba mereka rangkaian kereta api, dan didedahkan kepada pelbagai operasi isyarat kereta api dan simulasi. Sofwe itu diperolehi dari London Underground, dan disesuaikan untuk rangkaian kereta api Singapura.

Source: BeritaMediacorp

February 23, 2017
New Book On Local Fatwas

Can a Muslim man donate his sperm? Can cadavers of Muslims be used for medical research? Can pig skin be used to treat a heart defect? These are among the questions answered in a new book explaining the rationale behind 29 fatwas on science, medicine and health.

The first volume in Muis’ Fatwas Of Singapore series was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday (11 Feb). He said he hoped the book would be a source of education for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It is available in both Malay and English, with an e-book version of the English edition available for download from Muis’ website.

Since its inception in 1968, the Fatwa Committee has issued 577 fatwas. As Muis turns 50 next year, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim said “it is timely to showcase how our fatwas have evolved, and take stock of the development of Islamic jurisprudence in our country”. The series explains the socio-historical context behind some fatwas.

Dr Yaacob explained the importance of developing fatwas with society in mind, adding this is recognised in Singapore’s Administration of Muslim Law Act, which allows the Fatwa Committee to follow the tenets of various accepted schools of Muslim law.

And to safeguard public interest, the committee is allowed to re-examine rulings in new circumstances. Dr Yaacob cited a 2007 fatwa that revised an earlier ruling excluding Muslims from the Human Organ Transplant Act. The committee concluded that amending the Act to include Muslims would ultimately promote public interest and welfare.

Speakers at yesterday’s conference included Singapore Mufti Fatris Bakaram, who currently chairs the Fatwa Committee, and Professor Quraish Shihab, a prominent Islamic scholar from Indonesia.

As for the above questions, Singapore’s Fatwa Committee ruled that a Muslim man cannot donate his semen to a sperm bank, and its chairman in 1972 permitted the use of cadavers in certain cases. And while pig skin can be used to treat life-threatening illnesses, there are certain conditions.

Source: StraitsTImes

February 23, 2017