Our patrol officer, SGT Kayisah, was conducting foot patrol when she came across an elderly resident requiring assistance near Block 220 Ang Mo Kio. Without hesitation, our officer stepped in – SGT Kayisah helped wheel the resident to the nearby supermarket, assisted her to purchase groceries and also to bring her back to her residence after that.
This seemingly small, but gracious act, makes us proud.
Kudos to the officer!
Source: Ang Mo Kio North NPC
WO Rennysa Bte Ithnin joined the SCDF after she found out more information about the organisation at a Career Fair. She was immediately sold by the opportunity to learn lifesaving skills and the adrenaline rush of attending to emergencies.
Having been a firefighter in various fire stations for many years, she is now a Senior Instructor in the Civil Defence Academy’s Hazardous Materials (HazMat) Branch.
It is hard to fault the tangy WO Rennysa for being too-cool-for-school. A mother of three and a passionate instructor herself, WO Rennysa believes that every learning experience should be a fusion of theoretical and practical vigour, and most importantly, it must be a fun and memorable one.
With this mindset, WO Rennysa has taught hundreds of local and international trainees from different professional industries on HazMat identification and mitigation techniques. Her trainees include local participants like members from the Company Emergency Response Teams, SCDF Emergency Responders and international participants from countries like Bhutan, South Korea and Oman.
At the start of every course, WO Rennysa makes it a point to break the ice by gaining a better understanding of her trainees and their professional background. WO Rennysa believes that it helps inject a sense of warmth to the classroom and that in turn, allows her trainees to feel more comfortable about asking questions candidly. WO Rennysa also explained that adult learning takes place more effectively through discussions instead of the traditional classroom learning methods.
WO Rennysa applies the same principles when teaching her children. Together with her husband, they guide them through discussions instead of instructions.
“This is what I strive to achieve as an instructor and mother, and it is to deeply embed in my trainees and children the ‘moral of the story’ instead of the countless number of technical points that he or she should memorise,” WO Rennysa said.
Source: www.scdf.gov.sg
Good afternoon Mr Gilbert.
I need your help…right now I am facing a financial melt down.
My hubby has been sacked by a company last year and he managed to get a contract job as a packer earning $1200 to sustain the whole family.
But his income is not enough to stretch till his next pay day.
I myself is a stay-at-home mum and currently pregnant with our second child. We are currently staying at my parents’ place.
My first child is 19 months old and I need a favour from you just for this month.
I need some help for my first child milk Friso stage 3 and pampers size XL and some money for us to survive till 4th July – my husband’s next pay day.
Right now my son milk is running low and this is his last tin of milk.
Totally we have no money on hand. I hope you could help us just this month.
Anything you can get back to me.
Anonymous
Source: www.transitioning.org
Do not conflate religious conservatism with extremism.
As is always the case, once a terrorist attack occurs (which again seems to be the exclusive domain of Muslims, as the media has shown from its reluctance to use the word ‘terrorist’ to describe the murderer of Jo Cox), experts rush to dissect what is wrong with Islam.
Almost inevitably, there will be a group of analysts who suggest that Islam itself is the problem, and that Islam needs a ‘reformation’. They would then proceed to conflate expressions of religious conservatism with extremism.
Which is not only mistaken, in my opinion, but extremely dangerous. Suddenly, conservative Muslims are viewed with much suspicion. How many times have we heard – whether in jest or otherwise – people making remarks such as ‘eh why your beard so long? Like terrorist/osama/al-qaeda/isis.’
What these people do is essentially equate conservatism with extremism.
Personally, i do shake hands with members of the opposite gender, i do wish non-Muslims on their festive occasions, and so on, but i know many Muslims who do not, but utterly despise extremism and extremists.
And if we start saying that conservative expressions are signs of extremism, as was recently done when it was suggested that not wishing ‘Merry Christmas’ was a step toward/an indication of extremism, where do we draw the line? What about those who do not shake hands with those of the opposite gender? What about someone who dons the hijab? Or someone who only eats halal? Or someone with a beard?
We must be more careful in using terms such as ‘moderate Muslim’, ‘extremist’, ‘radical’ inter alia, as words do have meanings, and they may shape perceptions. Otherwise, we may end up creating unnecessary frontiers in the fight against extremism.
Source: Walid J. Abdullah
StandWithUs has been described as a “notorious right-wing pro-settler organization that works closely with the Israeli Foreign Ministry”. The aim of the American not-for-profit is to enhance Israel’s image in the eyes of the world. The grassroots group concentrates on three main areas: Media Action for Israel, Call to Action for Israel and Educational Action for Israel.
A Singaporean Christian family has drawn the criticism of some for supporting StandWithUs. In a message to the pro-settler group, the Singaporean family said:
“As Singaporeans, we are thankful to Israel for the IDF’s help during our country’s infancy. Our military and our country are indebted to Israel. As Chinese with an ancient culture, we are inspired by the Jewish culture, which is of a similar vintage as ours. Chinese and Jews have much to learn from each other. As Christians, we are lovers of Israel and all its people; it is the birthplace of Christianity and central to the coming of HaMashiach. We remain contrite for anti-semitism in the Christian heritage and are committed to return to the Jewish roots of the faith. Today, we celebrate these things and our hearts are full. We stand with Israel, we stand with Jerusalem, now and always. Am Yisrael Chai!”
StandWithUs shared the Singaporean family’s picture in their Facebook and captioned it, “We LOVE our supporters of Israel from around the world! This week we received this message from a family in Singapore.”
Facebook user Shaffiq Haz who is from Singapore, in responding to the right wing group’s sharing of the picture said: “You guys do know . .. a large percentage of Palestinians are Christians . . .right . .. and they are similarly oppressed . . ”
Hidhir Arafat Ariana Aifa, another Facebook user from Singapore said: “Where does Israel stand in the map?? Obviously nothing… the biggest bully which call other place their country…shame on you.”
Other Facebook users from Singapore, like Mohd Jamil Mohd Said agreed that Israel was a bully. He said, “Zionist STEALS Palestinian land and kills innocent woman and children. Lets not forget that…!!!!”
The Singaporean family though got support from some others.Facebook user Magdalene Shane Lee said, “I am Singaporean, and I support Israel too. They are a secular nation among theocratic nations, as we are.”
Sources: The Independent – Singapore and StandWithUs