Tag: Singaporeans

SingFirst: Marine Parade, Tampines Here We Come

Stepping up our door to door visits

It was definitely a fruitful night for SingFirst on their walkabouts in both Tampines and Marine Parade GRC’s yesterday. We were warmly received in all the six wards that we went to, especially in Chai Chee where 4 members of the public spontaneously joined in our door to door visits.

The majority of the residents who were at home gamely took our pamphlets. Some even asked if election is around the corner and when is the exact date. There were also residents who invited us into their home for a chit chat. A lot of introduction about SingFirst was also communicated in different languages and dialects.

With these visits, more voters are now aware of and familiar with the name and logo of our party, what we stand for and what we intend to do for Singaporeans when we get into Parliament. We will step up our walkabouts in the weeks and months ahead.

Here are the photos of our walkabout.

Source: www.tremeritus.com

July 9, 2015
MOE To Consider Introducing Modules On Race And Religious Issues

The Education Ministry will consider introducing a module for students to better appreciate issues concerning race and religion, said Education Minister Heng Swee Keat.

He said this at a Racial Harmony Forum on Wednesday (Jul 8) attended by 900 school leaders and teachers.

“I think that is something that we ought to consider so that over a period of years, as our students go through the primary school all the way to secondary school and then JC, ITE and polytechnics, there can be some continuity in how we mould their understanding,” he said.

“I think that will be a useful idea because today a lot of these materials are already embedded in the different Character and Citizenship Education material as well as in social studies and history and so on. If we can pool it together, in order to give it a focus, I think that is something that we should consider.”

Singapore has enjoyed racial and religious harmony in the last 50 years but the young should be reminded that it is a delicate asset that should not be taken for granted, Mr Heng said. He pointed out that fault lines can emerge, if misinformation about other races and religions are allowed to spread.

The minister said efforts to maintain harmony must be doubled, given several challenges. For instance, the internet makes it easier to post careless remarks about other races and religions, with wide-reaching repercussions.

Radicalism, the ISIS threat as well as increasing religiosity, also raise the need to facilitate understanding between people of different beliefs even more. “We first need to be aware of these issues, consider what they might mean for our students, and prepare to engage them meaningfully,” Mr Heng said.

“It also means that we need to keep a watchful eye on our charges, helping our young find meaning and purpose in their school and community, so that they will not fall prey to radical and extremist religious beliefs,” he added.

“With high internet connectivity, it has become easier to connect with others of similar beliefs from across the world, and for people to congregate around causes and movements. If you look at some of the videos produced by the ISIS, they are highly sophisticated. There is great need today for our young to be discerning, responsible users of information, as well as to navigate this terrain wisely. Now, we have to work a lot harder to keep the ideals of our nation.”

To promote inter-racial understanding among students, schools mark Racial Harmony Day on Jul 21 annually.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

July 9, 2015
School Bus Provider Charged With Cheating

A schoool bus provider who allegedly failed to provide transport services to several primary schools and pre-schools as he had promised was charged in court on Wednesday with four counts of cheating.

Adrian Lee Chong Boon, 38, the director of Sindoz Group Pte Ltd, collected at least $50,000 in bus fees from five schools, according to a report by The Straits Times in January.

Parents of children at Red Swastika School told The Straits Times they had been unable to reach Lee to finalise details of the transport for their children, after they had paid him their deposits.

On the first day of school, some primary school children from Coral Primary School waited for an hour for the bus to pick them up.

Following concerns raised by parents, the two schools terminated their contracts with Sindoz, citing its unsatisfactory services.

Three pre-schools later came forward to say they had paid deposits ranging from $3,000 to $7,000 to the company but were similarly left in the lurch.

Lee has been released on a $15, 000 bail and his case will be mentioned in court again on Aug 6.

If convicted of cheating, Lee will face up to three years’ jail, a fine or both.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

July 9, 2015
NUS’ MyISIS Portal May Change Its Name

With its student online information platform having an acronym similar to that of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the National University of Singapore (NUS) will be looking into whether a name-change is needed.

Last month, Dunman High School changed the name of its Integrated Student Information System (ISIS) to Dunman High Information System (DHIS).

MyISIS is where NUS students pay their school fees, check examination seating plans and schedules, besides using it for other administrative functions. “The university will conduct a review to determine if a change in the name of the NUS student platform is necessary,” said an NUS spokesperson in an email response to TODAY’s queries.

Most NUS students TODAY spoke to said there was no need for a revision, as it is far-fetched for anyone to draw links between the university and the militant group.

“I don’t think it is necessary because I would think students know better than that,” said sociology undergraduate Nurul Syuhaidah Senin, 21. “But I feel that it would just give people peace of mind.”

Dentistry undergraduate Chloe Sim, 21, added: “If (tomorrow) a new terrorist group with NUS as its acronym pops up, are we supposed to change the name of our school, too? It’s just bad luck that it coincides, but there’s no need to be drastic.”

However, financial engineering postgraduate Kim Vu, 27, felt a name change would be appropriate as those who have suffered from the group’s terrorist acts could find the similarity offensive.

“The name doesn’t affect me, but it may offend other people. So the change can be good,” he said. “It will not hurt anyone, anyway.”

In an email sent to Dunman High students on June 18 and that has since been circulated online, the school said it was changing the name of its student information system to DHIS because the system “shares the same acronym as the terrorist group in Syria”.

When contacted by TODAY, the school declined to comment.

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 9, 2015
Gerald Giam: Caught In The NSEW Line Breakdown

I was caught in the massive breakdown of the North-South and East-West Line (NSEWL) of the MRT yesterday evening as I was heading to a meeting at the WP HQ in Jalan Besar. When I reached Dover station at about 7.05pm, the eastbound train was already at the platform but with all its cabin lights off. I got onto the train anyway, but waited almost 5 minutes before it finally moved off. The westbound train on the opposite track was similarly stalled. My train stopped midway to the next station and all its lights went out again. This pattern was to repeat itself several more times over the next 25 minutes. When I reached Outram Park station at about 7.35pm, the lights in the train went out a final time and we were told to detrain as it was no longer in service.

The PA system announcements at the station informed us that train service on the entire NSEWL had been suspended and free shuttle buses were available. So I exited the station thinking I could hop onto one of the buses. Big mistake! The street level was packed with people and there were no buses to be seen and no directional signs to guide the stranded commuters. Someone asked me where the buses were. I told him honestly that I had no idea.

Knowing that it would be pointless to attempt taking a cab, I headed back down to the station, against the flow of the crowd, hoping to get in again and take the North-East Line (NEL). But all the fare gates were closed and I was told by an SMRT staff that I had to exit and walk around the station to get into the NEL entrance. I finally boarded the NEL and arrived at my meeting almost half an hour late.

I consider myself fortunate that I was able to hop onto the NEL. The guy sitting next to me on the East-West Line train (before it stopped at Outram) said that he was heading to his home in Simei. I think he, like hundreds of thousands of other commuters, probably got home much later than usual.

This 3.5 hour service disruption, which happened simultaneously on the two busiest MRT lines during the Tuesday evening rush hour, was probably the most serious service disruption ever. I had flashbacks to November 2011, when I had another close shave — I just missed getting on one of the trains from City Hall station that was to eventually stall in the middle of the tunnel.

According to SMRT and LTA, the outage was due to a power fault. Preliminary investigations found that a faulty train could have caused the power to trip. I find it astonishing that a fault with a single train could cause power to be cut to trains at all 58 stations on the NSEWL. Is there so little redundancy in the system? Or are all the circuits strung together in series like a cheap set of Christmas tree lights?

As of the time of this writing, it is still unclear if the MRT service will be available in time for the Wednesday morning rush hour. SMRT has already advised commuters to make alternative travel plans. Both the Minister for Transport and LTA have come out to apologise for the breakdown and demanded that the faults be investigated and rectified. That is little comfort for the quarter-of-a-million or so commuters who suffered this massive inconvenience and frustration.

The Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the November 2011 MRT disruptions had identified maintenance (or lack thereof) as a key cause of the multiple breakdowns then. Now, almost 4 years later, with a new CEO at the helm who promised to focus more on engineering and maintenance capabilities, we seem to be back to square one. What can we expect moving forward? Another COI?

Source: http://geraldgiam.sg

July 9, 2015