Tag: Singaporeans

URA And NHB Unlikely To Allow Oxley Rise Site To Be Redeveloped In Manner Which Diminishes Historical Significance

Should the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s house in Oxley Road be demolished, the Government is unlikely to allow the site to be redeveloped in a way that would diminish its historical significance.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and National Heritage Board (NHB) said this in a joint statement yesterday, in response to a commentary in The Straits Times last Friday suggesting greater public involvement when selecting buildings for conservation and preservation.

The late Mr Lee had stated in his will his wish for his house to be demolished to avoid it becoming a museum. But because his daughter, Dr Lee Wei Ling, has decided to continue living there, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Parliament on April 13 that there is no need for the Government to make any decision now on the property.

In their statement yesterday, the URA and NHB said the Government will take into consideration very seriously the wishes of the late Mr Lee regarding the future plans for the house. “In view of the historical significance of the property, if a decision is made to allow for the demolition of the house, the Government is likely to disallow the site to be redeveloped in a way that would diminish its historical significance, for example, for commercial or intensive residential development.”

The agencies also noted that the area is planned as a low-rise residential precinct and zoned two-storey mixed landed. The Planning Act requires building owners to seek the URA’s approval before they carry out work to demolish, redevelop or make additions and alterations to their properties.

Under the Preservation of Monuments Act, the NHB draws advice from its panel of experts comprising individuals from diverse backgrounds in the people, private and public sectors. The NHB also engages owners to seek their support to preserve their properties.

In the ST commentary, (“Mr Lee’s house a chance for due process”), Mr Terence Chong and Mr Yeo Kang Shua wrote that “a state agency must decide (if it is a heritage-significant house) to trigger legal protection for the house”, citing the URA and NHB as the two agencies with the “legal tools and institutional capacity” to ensure that due process is carried out.

They also acknowledged the “emotional dilemma” such a decision would cause to loved ones.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 30, 2015
Three Year Old Boy Falls From Sixth Floor, Survives

A three-year-old boy has survived a fall from a sixth floor flat.

The boy tumbled out of the kitchen window when his grandmother went downstairs to retrieve a pair of pants that had fallen downstairs, reported Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News on Wednesday.

He landed in the carpark at Block 168 on Stirling Road.

Police said they received a call about the incident at 6pm on Tuesday.

A neighbour told Shin Min that she saw the boy hit a ledge before landing on the ground.

She immediately called for an ambulance. His back was bruised but he had no other obvious injuries, she said.

The boy was conscious, but he was short of breath as he was conveyed to National University Hospital, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said.

The family declined to be interviewed when approached by a reporter at the hospital, Shin Min said.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

April 30, 2015
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
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