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Why reading should be a compulsory subject in school

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Reading not only improves grades but also nurtures better citizens
By Tan Tarn How, Published The Straits Times, 25 May 2016

Let's make reading a compulsory subject in our primary and secondary schools. In fact, let's make it examinable too.

This idea might seem hare-brained at first glance. But I believe that it will transform us not only as individuals but also as a nation.

The benefits of reading are widely established. As I argued last year in a commentary titled "Out with tuition, in with reading" co-written with Assistant Professor Loh Chin Ee, an expert in reading and libraries from the National Institute of Education, research has shown how reading not only improves school grades, but also enables a flourishing life as adults and nurtures better citizens.

I see readers as lucky beings with a light, one that illuminates a little of the mystery of life and pierces the darkness of ignorance for themselves and for others.

How will reading as a subject work?

Research shows that young children need help to read independently and with pleasure, so that can be the role of lower primary teachers.

Later on, up to secondary school, teachers can go on to talk about how to get more out of reading fiction, how to read non-fiction more efficiently, how to read critically, and how to choose books. Better still, rather than tell, teachers can show and share the sheer fun of reading.

However, the key is that most lessons will simply be class time set aside solely for reading, half an hour to an hour a day. The teacher will go round to help struggling kids, or just to chat with them about what they are reading or wish to read.

Each level will have a recommended list of both easy and difficult books, which students can borrow from the school library. Students need read only some of the books on the list, and can also choose to read books beyond the list.

The list should have a very wide range of titles: fiction, non-fiction, novels, poetry, science, biographies, history, philosophy, gastronomy, sports; and Singaporean, regional and international works. It will include books related to other classroom subjects. For instance, biographies of scientists, mathematicians and artists, travelogues, popular science or history books, or books on language. Students must also read some books in their mother tongue.

Why make reading compulsory?

First, we are not a nation of readers. The 2015 National Literary Reading & Writing Survey by the National Arts Council showed that only 44 per cent of Singaporeans read one or more literary books in the past year, with "literary" defined quite generously.

The Government was concerned enough to announce last month in Parliament the launch of a National Reading Movement. Among the mooted initiatives is having the National Library Board take books to working adults in the office. Some parents, if only a minority, and teachers had also expressed their concern about the dearth of reading, to Dr Loh and me, when we gave talks following our commentary last year.



Second, research shows that it is important to start at a young age - those encouraged by parents to read, or are read to by them, grow up to be adult readers. Researcher Deborah Hicks said in her 2002 book Reading Lives: Working-class Children And Literacy Learning: "One is not born a reader. Rather, one is socialised into reading and reading practices that become part of our identities as individuals and reading persons."

How many Singaporean parents read to their children or urge them to read? I have heard anecdotes of parents telling their children not to "waste" time reading for fun and to study instead.

There are already programmes to encourage reading. One is Stellar (Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading) in primary schools, but it stresses instruction rather than lots of class reading time. Some secondary schools also set aside class time for reading. The National Library runs kidsREAD, a reading initiative for underprivileged children.

The third reason to make reading compulsory is that these initiatives do not really address two core problems. One is that reading is not truly valued, unlike, say, science or maths. The other is that the long school day, including homework, leaves many with not enough time to sleep and rest, much less read. I can empathise that when our children have free time at all, they prefer television or computer games, as shown in a 2009 study by academic Abdus Sattar Chaudhry and librarian Gladys Low.

Besides being compulsory (all kids have to take it), reading should also be made examinable (it counts towards PSLE and O levels). Otherwise, teachers, parents and children will neglect it like many do with art, music and sports.

One possible objection to making reading compulsory and examinable is that it might turn students off reading. The answer is that few students are keen on reading anyway so it could not turn off any more of them. It is up to our teachers, properly trained, of course, to make reading a joy.

The second possible difficulty is in how to test students in reading. This is a valid objection but only as much as for, say, project work, which is also an examinable subject. If a subject is important, testing, no matter how challenging, should not be an obstacle. In any case, testing of reading should not be fixated on exact marks but merely reveal if the child has been reading widely and at a high-enough level for her year. Hence a pass-or-fail system might suffice.

I admit that my proposal is rather radical. But with the existing conditions in society, I see no better way.

So let us imagine a day when each one of us has been gifted that special light called reading. Only then will there be no need for this scheme.

Tan Tarn How is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies' Arts, Culture and Media research cluster. He is writing a book on flourishing education and life.








Scheme takes safe cycling message to schools

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It will also be piloted at foreign worker dorms and community centres, before public roll-out
By Danson Cheong and Jeremy Koh, The Straits Times, 26 May 2016

Students could soon be learning basic bicycle handling skills, cycling etiquette and how to recognise off-road signs and markings under a new programme that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is rolling out in secondary schools.

Launched yesterday at Qihua Primary School in tandem with the start of the Singapore Road Safety Month, the half-day Safe Cycling Programme will have both theory and practical sessions.

Students will learn how to manoeuvre through crowded spaces, share paths with pedestrians and other cyclists, and pick the best routes to go by bike.

The LTA said the programme will complement plans to boost active mobility here. Last month, the Government accepted a list of recommendations from an expert panel to allow cycling on footpaths. These are expected to be passed into law by the year end.

Parliamentary Secretary for Education Faishal Ibrahim, who chaired the expert panel, said in a speech yesterday that the new programme was "a follow-up" to the recommendations. It will help students "internalise what they need to do in real-life situations", he said.

Yesterday, East View Secondary School students took part in a pilot exercise, where they rode around a circuit within the Qihua Primary School compound before venturing out to Woodlands Park Connector.

But the Ministry of Education stopped short of saying the programme would be made compulsory. Instead, it will encourage secondary schools to offer it as an enrichment programme for students who cycle.

The programme will be piloted at foreign worker dormitories, schools and community centres, before it is rolled out to the public at the year end. Feedback from the pilot sessions will be used to fine-tune it.

Dr Faishal said it is important that cyclists learn to share space with pedestrians. "We cannot always find space to build dedicated paths, and there will be occasions where cyclists have to share space with cars or pedestrians."

One of the programme's trainers, Mr Steven Lim - who is president of the Safe Cycling Task Force - said it was important to start cycling education from a young age to minimise conflict when the new rules kick in.

While the programme is currently on an opt-in basis for schools, experts such as Mr Lim believe it should be made compulsory.

"Hopefully, it can become like swimming classes in schools... We want children to pick up something about safe cycling and for this to become like a life skill," he said.

Secondary 2 student Javon Low, 13, took part in the pilot exercise and felt it was fun, safe and educational.

"I learnt how to give way to pedestrians and how to signal to pedestrians before turning," he said.

Yesterday, the Singapore Road Safety Council, along with Volvo Trucks, also launched the "Stop, Look, Wave" programme that hopes to get students to steer clear of the blind spots of heavy vehicles.

The programme will be rolled out to other primary schools.

Traffic Police statistics show that accidents involving heavy vehicles that result in injury or death are on the rise. There were 877 such accidents last year. In 2014, there were 839 accidents, and the figure was 816 in 2013. The data also show that 282 children were injured, and one child was killed in traffic accidents last year.

Most of the accidents happened because either party failed to keep a lookout.










In an ambiguous world, can Singapore cope?: Bilahari Kausikan

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Domestic strength key for Singapore to stay relevant
Veteran envoy stresses three aspects that are crucial for that internal strength
By Rachel Au-Yong, The Straits Times, 26 May 2016

Singapore, as a small city-state, needs to have a sound domestic foundation in order to remain relevant in the international arena, said ambassador-at-large Bilahari Kausikan.

And that internal strength hinges on three aspects: politics, policy and the role of the civil service, and social cohesion, Mr Bilahari said yesterday in his fifth and final lecture as the Institute of Policy Studies'S R Nathan Fellow.


With politics, partisan interests should be kept out of foreign policy. But in reality, this is hard to achieve, he added.

In countries with long histories, partisan debates over foreign policy are conducted in a framework of shared assumptions on what ought to be in the fundamental interests of the nation, regardless of which party is in power, he said.

Singapore's opposition parties, so far, have not shown they "have any concept of the fundamental national interest", he added.

Mr Bilahari criticised the Workers' Party's Mr Pritam Singh for asking in Parliament in 2013 about Singapore's Middle East policies that "could have stirred up the feelings of our Malay-Muslim ground against the Government".

Noting that Singapore has been consistently even-handed in its relations with Israel and Palestine, he said: "The Arab countries understand our position and have no issue with our relations with Israel.''

Also excoriated was the Singapore Democratic Party's Dr Paul Tambyah, who called for a reduction in the defence budget in favour of health spending, pointing out that Singapore had a history of being non-aligned in its foreign policy.

Mr Bilahari retorted: "If the good doctor really thought that being non-aligned is an adequate substitute for deterrence through a strong SAF, he ought to consult a doctor of another sort without delay: a psychiatrist."

As for policy and the role of civil service, the veteran diplomat said it was important to have alertness, agility and an appreciation of nuances to navigate an uncertain external environment.

But the way the civil service is structured - with agencies led by Administrative Service officers who are generalists - "may have begun to degrade these qualities".

He cited the case of a Singapore agency that had signed a memorandum of understanding with China that specified disputes would be settled in Chinese.

"It broke a long-established principle of insisting that English should be the controlling language," he said.

"This was not a question of linguistic competency but of Singapore's identity," he added.

Things are changing, however.

He noted a new programme introduced in 2013 that lets members of specialist services be appointed to senior positions previously reserved for Administrative Service officers.

But whether the change is fast and far enough remains to be seen, he said.

On social cohesion, Mr Bilahari warned of Western diplomats trying to weigh in on Singapore's issues like the death penalty or gay rights, without paying attention to social and cultural fault lines.

China, however, poses "a more delicate and fundamental challenge", especially with how it approaches its ties with Chinese communities in South-east Asia.

Chinese officials often refer to Singapore as a "Chinese country", which Singapore leaders "politely but clearly and firmly" refute.

Accepting this characterisation of Singapore would not only provoke a counter-reaction from other major powers, but also strain, if not break, the multiracial compact on which Singapore's success is built, he said.

At the same time, it would be foolish to alienate China which would have a huge impact on Singapore's economic future, he added.

"Maintaining a good relationship with China, while preserving the autonomy to pursue our interests as we define them is the fine line we must walk."

Mr Bilahari also said many Singaporeans, especially younger ones, do not understand fully the complexity of the contradictory forces at play. The situation is aggravated by the move to de-emphasise history in the national curriculum, he noted.

However, he is not pessimistic about Singapore's ability to cope with the challenges ahead.

"We will cope if we continue to be clinical in our understanding of our own situation and hard-headed about what may need to be done," he said.

"We will fail only if we lose our sense of vulnerability because that is what keeps us united, agile and alert."









 




In an ambiguous world, can Singapore cope?
Ambassador-at-large Bilahari Kausikan, the Institute of Policy Studies' 2015/16 S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore, addresses this question in his fifth and final lecture. Below is an edited excerpt of his speech which he delivered on Wednesday.
The Straits Times, 27 May 2016

Small states are vulnerable. The margin for error is narrow. The government's role is essential. Thanks to what was achieved over the last 50 years, the threat is no longer that we will disappear as a sovereign and independent country, although that can never be entirely discounted. The threat is now more insidious. The danger is that our autonomy could be compromised even though we remain formally independent and sovereign. We will still have a flag and a seat in the United Nations. No one will stop us from singing Majulah Singapura. But if we are clumsy in our external relationships or mishandle our domestic politics, the freedom to decide our own destiny could be severely circumscribed. That is in fact the condition of many small states who are members of the UN.

Small city-states have no intrinsic relevance to the workings of the international system. Relevance is an artefact created by human endeavour and, having been created, must be maintained by human endeavour.The world will probably get along fine without a fully sovereign and independent Singapore. We perform no function that we did not in some way serve as a British colony and as part of Malaysia. Autonomy has enabled us to raise the level at which we perform such functions and prosper. But there is little reason to assume that we cannot in some way serve these functions even if we were under someone's thumb. It need not be only the panda's paw or eagle's claw to which we may succumb.

We are an anomaly in South-east Asia. Singapore is a Chinese-majority state in a region where, typically, the Chinese are a less than entirely welcome minority. We organise ourselves on the basis of multiracial meritocracy in a region where other countries, explicitly or implicitly, typically organise themselves on the basis of the dominance of one ethnic group or another.

This confronts us with a paradox: An anomaly can only remain relevant, survive and prosper by continuing to be an outlier. We cannot be just like our neighbours. We cannot be only just as successful as our neighbours. If we were only just like them, why deal with us rather than bigger and more richly endowed countries? To be relevant, we have to be extraordinarily successful. But this does not endear us to our neighbours.

The basic issue in our relations with our immediate neighbours, and in varying degrees with other countries in South-east Asia, is not what we do but what we are: the implicit challenge that, by its very existence, a Chinese-majority Singapore, organised on the basis of multiracial meritocracy, poses to systems organised on the basis of different and ultimately irreconcilable principles. That we have the temerity to be more successful adds to the offence. But we have no other choice.

No one who is even minimally familiar with our neighbours should have any illusions that they mean to surpass us and put us in what they consider to be our proper place, which is not, believe me, where the sun shines on first. This attitude was virulently explicit when Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) was prime minister of Malaysia but muted under Prime Minister Najib (Razak). Indonesia makes no secret of it, even though President Jokowi (Joko Widodo) is not hostile to us. It is never absent even when relations are at their friendliest, not because they necessarily hate us, but to validate their own systems.

This does not mean we cannot cooperate with our neighbours. We must, we can and we do. But we must do so from a position of strength. Strength is not to be defined in purely military terms. The Singapore Armed Forces is, of course, vitally important. But strength, success and relevance must first of all be defined in economic terms. To put it crassly, small countries will always have fewer options and operate on narrower margins than big countries, but rich small countries will have more options than poor small countries.

DELICATE BALANCING ACT

The management of the paradox I set out a moment ago lies at the heart of our foreign policy. It prescribes our most fundamental approaches: maintaining an omnidirectional balance in South-east Asia by facilitating the engagement of all major powers in our region, while fostering regional cooperation through Asean; maintaining our economic edge and keeping our powder dry. It is a delicate balancing act.

What could make us trip and fall? To adapt a phrase from the great American folk philosopher, Pogo: I have met the enemy and he is us.

I am quoting from a comic strip by the late Walt Kelly. But my point is a serious one. We can cope with the more complicated post-Cold War external environment provided we get our internal environment right. A successful foreign policy must always and everywhere rest on a sound domestic foundation. There are three aspects: politics, policy and social cohesion.

Ideally, politics should stop at the water's edge. This is an ideal realised nowhere on earth. It is therefore not surprising that in Singapore, partisan politics has begun to creep into foreign policy. Political debate over foreign policy is not necessarily a bad thing if it is conducted within, and leads to a domestic consensus on, the parameters of what is possible and not possible for a small city-state in South-east Asia.

In countries with long histories, partisan debates over foreign policy are generally conducted within such a framework of shared assumptions, often unconscious, on what ought to be in the fundamental interests of the country irrespective of which party holds power. With only 50 years of history, I am not sure we have a framework of shared assumptions about the national interest in Singapore. Perhaps we will develop one in time. But so far, the manner in which the opposition has approached foreign policy does not inspire confidence that they have any concept of the fundamental national interest - that should hold irrespective of partisan ambition - or that they really understand Singapore's place in our region and the world.

We live in a region that is going to become more uncertain. One of my previous lectures analysed the strengths and limitations of Asean. Regional cooperation is not a substitute for a strong defence; it is the stability in relationships created by a credible deterrent force that makes regional cooperation possible.

As our population ages, we will certainly need to devote more of our Budget to healthcare and other social spending. The Government has predicted that by FY2020, healthcare spending alone will outstrip defence spending. How is this to be financed? Obviously we will need to continue to grow to afford more social spending. We cannot live on our reserves indefinitely. But how are we going to grow in order to afford more social spending? A city-state with a small domestic market has no other economic choice but to be open to the world. Openness could well accentuate our vulnerabilities. All the more reason why the insurance policy of a strong deterrent is vital. If a strong deterrent can be maintained at lower cost, well and good. But would we be a desirable economic partner or an attractive investment destination if we could not defend ourselves?

WHAT AILS THE CIVIL SERVICE

This brings me to policy and the role of the civil service. The traditional role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of every country is to be the principal interlocutor of the country with the world. This concept of diplomacy is obsolete.

No MFA anywhere can now be the sole or even the main interlocutor of a country with the world. Of course, there are some things that only MFAs can do. But after the Cold War, the distinction that used to be made in international relations between "high politics" and "low politics" is blurring. Any MFA that tries to be a country's main interlocutor with the world is bound to fail its country: it can only pursue defensive interests - essentially just say "no" - because it will lack the domain knowledge to advance positive interests across the broad range of often highly technical issues that are now prominent on the international agenda, many of which span traditional bureaucratic boundaries.

This is confronting civil services across the world with unfamiliar challenges. All domestic agencies now have to engage internationally. There is no important policy domain that is now entirely "domestic". The only question is the degree to which an issue is "international". Within a country's civil service, agencies are being compelled to work with each other in new ways. This requires not just new structures and processes; that is the easy part. More crucially, it requires them to learn new ways of thinking and acting. This is difficult. Inertia is not a force to be underestimated in all bureaucracies. Any experienced civil servant anywhere can readily find reasons why something new should not be done, and as effortlessly find ways of presenting existing practice as new.

How does Singapore do? There is room for improvement.

A more uncertain external environment and the strategic imperative of avoiding being forced to make invidious choices or foreclose options in the midst of heightened US-China competition, places a premium on what have always been imperatives for the foreign policy of a small city-state: alertness, agility and an appreciation of nuance. But there are certain features of the way in which our civil service is currently organised that may have begun to degrade these qualities at a time when they are becoming even more important. I am not referring to big decisions taken deliberately by our political leadership as foreign policy decisions or to decisions taken with consciousness of their external implications. Here, I think our current structures and processes do quite well.

The challenge is more subtle. I am concerned about the accumulation of many small decisions perhaps with no obvious foreign policy implications, taken by different parts of the civil service for sound institutional reasons, but the cumulative effect of which may one day place us in an external position we do not want or intend to be.

Although the civil service now stresses a "whole of government" approach, it is my impression that - left to their own devices - agencies tend to take a more narrowly transactional approach in their institutional interests and hence in some ways operate more in institutional silos today than when I joined the civil service.

This degrades nimbleness, narrows vision and is making us risk-averse. It is always safer to remain within institutional boundaries.

At the apex of our civil service is the Administrative Service. This is based on the idea that senior public service leaders should be generalists, capable of taking on a range of appointments in different domains. Most senior appointments in the ministries and statutory boards are filled by Administrative Service officers rather than officers from specialist services. In my view, very few people can be equally good at everything. I, for example, would have been utterly useless in any other ministry than MFA.

The idea that generalists make the best senior public service leaders is based on a prior, perhaps largely unconscious, assumption: that there is only one type of logic that is valid across all domains. This is an assumption that leads to mistakes in domestic policy and is particularly antithetical to the requirements of a successful foreign policy.

A world of sovereign states is a world of different and competing logics because, in principle, a sovereign recognises no authority except its own. I do not want to push the point too far. In practice, states hold many basic assumptions in common. Otherwise, international relations as we know it would not be possible. But this still leaves a lot of space for what I termed the "Rashomon phenomenon" to operate within the ever-shifting kaleidoscope of possibilities that is the world of foreign policy. This is not a world that the Administrative Service generally finds congenial because control of events is not in its hands. But every ministry must now, at least to some degree, be responsible for conducting diplomacy.

In a world of competing logics, it is the function of diplomacy to reconcile logics or at least minimise friction between different logics, or when logics are irreconcilable, to ensure that your logic prevails. This requires first to recognise and accept that there are other valid logics than one's own. Every successful diplomat from any country I have met has one quality in common: empathy. By empathy I do not mean warm and fuzzy feelings but the ability to see the world through another's eyes and think as he does, the better to persuade him or out-manoeuvre him. This is not something that comes naturally to many Singapore civil servants.

I do not want to leave you with the impression that all is lost. All is not lost. Our elected leaders understand that policies that are not or cannot be communicated in political logic - that is to say a logic that will appeal to and can be understood by the intended audience - are policies that will fail. Political communication is improving. I am less confident, however, that this has yet been adequately hoisted in by all senior civil servants.

Still, where politicians go, the civil service must eventually follow. The idea that the civil service is or ought to be politically neutral or independent is a myth. A "politically neutral" or independent civil service is to be found nowhere on earth. This is for the simple reason that the civil service is always and everywhere the instrument of the government in power. The civil service has a responsibility to give its political masters objective advice. But that is not the same thing as being "politically neutral". The civil service is obliged to carry out the instructions of the government, irrespective of whether those instructions are in accordance with its advice.

I find it remarkable that so many people, even some civil servants, do not seem to understand the relationship of the civil service to the government. Perhaps they do not want to understand.

But ours is a pragmatic system that changes when it must. In 2013, a new programme was introduced that enabled members of specialist services to be appointed to senior positions hitherto reserved for members of the Administrative Service. This was, in effect, an admission that the assumption that there is only one sort of logic valid across all domains is wrong. It was a good first step. What is not clear to me is whether individuals chosen to take up senior positions under the new programme must leave their own services and join the Administrative Service in order to do so, or if allowed to remain in their own services, be remunerated on a par with Administrative Service officers holding similar appointments. Unless this is so, a caste may be perpetuated.

I am not pessimistic about Singapore's ability to cope with the complexities ahead of us. We have coped with far worse with far less on our side. We will cope if we continue to be clinical in our understanding of our own situation and hard-headed about what may need to be done. We will fail only if we lose our sense of vulnerability because that is what keeps us united, agile and alert.


MAS eases car loan rules with effect from 27 May 2016

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Bigger car loans over longer tenures as MAS eases curbs
Regulator says move is timely as demand has moderated; observers divided on the impact
By Christopher Tan, Senior Transport Correspondent, The Straits Times, 27 May 2016

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has eased car loan guidelines, just three years after instituting them.

For cars with an open market value (OMV) of $20,000 or less, buyers can now borrow up to 70 per cent of the purchase price, up from 60 per cent.


Buyers of cars with OMVs of more than $20,000 can borrow up to 60 per cent of the purchase price, up from 50 per cent.

Separately, the loan tenure has been raised to seven years from five.



MAS deputy managing director Ong Chong Tee said: "In 2013, when we introduced the measures, our immediate aim was to help restrain escalating COE (certificate of entitlement) premiums and consequent inflationary pressures.

"Since then, demand conditions have moderated and it is timely to ease the measures."

Industry observers were surprised by the news, which one said "came out of the blue". But they were divided over the impact it might have.

Some motor traders said it might not make a big difference as many parties have long found ways to circumvent the loan curbs. One common way is to inflate the invoice of the car. Another is to offer leases instead of hire-purchase deals.

Of late, ride-hailing apps like Uber have also been offering big loans to potential car buyers. They do so by registering the cars under a company's name, as private-hire vehicles, instead of the buyer's name. This way, the MAS restrictions do not apply.

Mr Ron Lim, general manager of Nissan agent Tan Chong Motors, said: "The reality is that high financing is already in existence, either through parallel importers or Uber.

"So, immediately, there will probably be no change in demand."

Mr Lim, however, welcomes the move because it "bridges the gap" for those who have been playing by the rules. "This helps to level the playing field." he said.

He does not think this will lift COE prices. "As in all businesses, the car industry has been impacted by the weaker economy," he said. Easing the curbs "won't make people feel richer".

But he said it might influence people to switch from Uber deals to more straightforward hire-purchase deals from authorised agents.

However, Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime, expects the rule change to support COE prices "eventually".

"It will draw in more buyers, especially to Category A (cars up to 1,600cc)," he said.

Nanyang Business School Adjunct Associate Professor Zafar Momin said: "By easing the curbs, the MAS is priming demand, which is good in the sense that more people can afford cars, but it will raise COE prices."

He added that this could mean people ending up "buying cars at even higher prices". "Also, I wonder what this means in terms of policy coherence for trying to make Singapore a 'car-lite' nation," he said.







MAS eases car loan rules: Car buyers fear COE prices will be driven up
Despite easing of loan curbs, they remain cautious amid concern over how move will affect premiums
By Zhaki Abdullah, The Straits Times, 27 May 2016

Though the Monetary Authority of Singapore has eased restrictions on motor vehicle loans, car buyers are cautious and concerned about how the move will affect certificate of entitlement (COE) prices.

Interior designer Daphne Gan believes it could lead to more people bidding for COEs and driving premiums up. "I did my calculations and, even though the cost of entry to the car market is cheaper, I won't be paying less in the long run," said the 33-year-old, who drives a nine- year-old Honda Accord.

Mr Shahjehan Ismail Kutty, a 48-year-old finance manager, whose COE on his Kia Rio expires in August, said: "I would still have to fork out quite a bit as long as the COE remains high."

Graphic designer Farhan Hassan, however, said the easing of restrictions has made the prospect of buying a car more attractive.

"The new loan restrictions put the car we want a little within reach," said the 33-year-old, who hopes to buy a Honda Vezel after he gets married next March.

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng said the move will influence more people to buy cars, including those who were previously on the fence about entering the market.

However, he added that the authorities were sending "mixed signals" as making it easier for people to buy cars was not in line with the push towards a car-lite society.

Deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport Ang Hin Kee said encouraging a car-lite society is an ongoing process and will not happen overnight.

He added that lifting the previous restrictions will make it easier for the average buyer to compete for COEs against companies such as Uber-owned Lion City Rental, which has secured about 1,700 car COEs in the last two months.

"Lifting the restrictions makes it easier for those who are self-employed and others who need their own vehicles," said Mr Ang, who is also an MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC.

GPC for Transport chairman and MP for Potong Pasir Sitoh Yih Pin noted that the restrictions are still not at their pre-2013 levels, when the maximum loan was 80 per cent of a car's price and the loan tenure was 10 years. "Whether this will have a significant impact on demand for cars and, consequently, COE prices remains to be seen."

Mr Ang Wei Neng, who is also a member of the GPC for Transport, said there are considerations beyond just financing a car purchase and that prospective buyers should do their sums.

The MP for Jurong GRC said: "I would caution people to be prudent before deciding to buy a car. "







Used-car dealers perk up as loan curbs ease
But some are worried about the effect increased demand will have on COE prices in the near future
By Rei Kurohi, The Straits Times, 28 May 2016

Used-car dealers here are cautiously optimistic about the easing of loan curbs announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Thursday.

MAS introduced restrictions on loans for motor vehicles in 2013 to moderate demand for cars and certificates of entitlement (COEs), but used-car dealers were hit hard and had appealed against the policy.

The restrictions placed a cap on loans for vehicle purchases: 60 per cent for cars with an open market value of $20,000 or less, and 50 per cent for cars above that value. They also required the tenure to last no more than five years.


Now, the cap has been raised to 70 per cent and 60 per cent respectively, and the maximum tenure has been increased to seven years.

Mr Raymond Tang, first vice-president of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association, said: "The two years' tenure extension is more significant than the 10 percentage point increments, but at the same time, buyers can enjoy it only if they are buying a car with seven years or less remaining in the COE validity period.

"We will have to wait and see how the market will react."

Mr Eddie Loo, founder and managing director of CarTimes Automobile, a new and used-car dealership, believes the move will boost car sales eventually. "Right now, banks are probably struggling with new documentation, coming out with loan packages, interest rates, commission and so on. They might need to change their agreements. The consumers will also take a bit of time to understand the impact on them."

However, he is also concerned about the effect an increased demand will have on COE prices in the near future. "We may have to re-adjust our selling prices as we continue to monitor consumer appetites."

"For used cars, we will not be increasing our prices but for new cars, the prices may have to go up by at least $2,000. There is some backlog from car importers, and some dealers would have signed deals for cars before the announcement was made. They might have to sell for prices below what they were supposed to."

CarTimes plans to give an update on the developments through its website and help potential owners secure COEs despite rising prices.

Others were sceptical about the impact on their businesses.

"This announcement will have a bigger impact on buyers of new cars," said Mr Jeremy Tang, founder and managing director of used-car dealer 99 Motors Trading. "Since they can stretch the loan up to seven years now and they can enjoy lower payments, more buyers will be going for new cars. Shifting COE prices don't really affect used cars much."


Singapore has 'avoided income stagnation': DPM Tharman

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Those from low-wage families outdid peers abroad in climbing income ladder: DPM Tharman
By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 27 May 2016

Singapore is doing relatively well when it comes to the ability of the next generation to do better than their elders, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said yesterday.

It has avoided income stagnation for the low- and middle-income groups so far, and low-income families here have outperformed their peers elsewhere, he added.

In Singapore, for instance, 14 per cent of those born in the bottom quintile, in terms of income, made it to the top quintile by their late 20s, according to a 2015 study by the Ministry of Finance. This is double that seen in the United States and slightly higher than the 12 per cent observed in Denmark.

Mr Tharman, also Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, was delivering the opening speech at an international conference on inter-generational transfer, human capital and inequality held in Singapore for the first time.

At the three-day conference at NUS University Town, attended by 250 academics from over 30 countries, he dwelt on various strategies in education and housing that countries including Singapore - which has adopted many of them - can look at to preserve social movement within society.

Firstly, urban planning matters. Many studies show a profound link between where one lives and how well one moves up in life.

Singapore's fundamental strategy, said Mr Tharman, is integrating people of different socio-economic groups and ethnic backgrounds in the same neighbourhoods.

The problems with ethnic enclaves and segregation are avoided by design through housing quotas and estate planning. Everyone has access to the same leisure and transport facilities as well as schools and, therefore, there is a higher likelihood of equal opportunities.

Aspects like unemployment, for example, are sometimes associated with certain neighbourhoods in other countries.

"The result of all this is that, while we have disadvantaged families and individuals in Singapore, we do not have a single disadvantaged neighbourhood," said Mr Tharman.

The gulf in wealth accumulation is avoided as everyone enjoys roughly the same rate of property price appreciation, from those in the smallest flats to private property owners. "If you look at it, since 1980, we have had the same rate of property price appreciation across the board - about 5 per cent per annum - in fact, slightly more for the smallest flats," said Mr Tharman.

Education also plays a crucial role in levelling the playing field.

That is why Singapore deploys its best teachers across the whole educational system, so students have access to quality teachers despite being in different schools, he said.

But being egalitarian does not have to mean having a uniform education. Doing so may result in unegalitarian educational outcomes.

He cited how the French belief in equality resulted in every school having the same curriculum and teaching pace. Yet, by age 15, one-third of the students have repeated at least one year of school and, by the time they leave school, one out of five leaves with no qualification.

Thus, there is a need to differentiate learning according to a child's abilities and learning styles, he said.

In general, the state needs to intervene in a way that reinforces individual and civic responsibility, he said. This is not a paradox, he stressed, and this approach informs all of Singapore's social policies.

For example, the state does step in fairly boldly to help the poor through schemes like Workfare for low-wage workers. Government data shows that a low-income couple today in their 20s will receive benefits, through Workfare and housing grants, that add an extra one-third to their lifetime incomes by the time they retire. However, they get benefits such as Workfare only if they continue to work.





Challenge of maintaining social mobility defies easy solutions: Tharman
Singapore’s way is through ‘inclusion, developing human potential’
By Neo Chai Chin, TODAY, 27 May 2016

In the face of social forces that are complicating solutions for the challenge of social mobility, Singapore’s strategy is developing human potential and building inclusive neighbourhoods, said Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday.

Speaking at an international sociological conference held at the National University of Singapore, he expounded on Singapore’s education system, early intervention attempts and public housing policies, and called for humility in tackling the challenge of social mobility, which has defied easy solutions.

Mr Tharman said besides income inequality, there are more complex social forces at play that are widening the distance between different social groups in many countries. He cited parenting styles, school performance, health outcomes and neighbourhoods segregated by race and income. Many of these shifts have taken place over long periods of time but are now in sharper focus, he noted.

In the United States for example, a much larger proportion of men with university degrees are marrying women with degrees, compared to decades ago. College-educated parents now spend significantly more time with their children — reading, playing, taking them to parks and museums — than parents who did not go to college. And a widening gap in family structures can be seen in the sharp increase in births outside of marriage by women with high-school education or less in the US, when this rate involving college-educated women has remained constant.

These and other shifts have created a sense of unease and loss of social trust, said Mr Tharman to an audience of about 250 scholars from over 30 countries at the International Sociological Association Research Committee 28 (Social Stratification and Mobility) Conference. Social mobility in Singapore is significantly higher than in many advanced societies but it will face the “same stickiness at the top” and at the bottom, as those who have done well find ways to retain advantages and as disadvantages get passed on to another generation, he said. Singapore must do its utmost to preserve an inclusive society, he added.

Mr Tharman called for innovative early intervention and learning from small-scale pilot projects. When it comes to schools, Singapore does central recruitment and training, spreads good teachers across the system and ensures teachers’ subject-matter expertise.

Singapore is also enabling differentiated learning within the public school system while allowing students to have a common school experience, he said. It is broadening the ways it measures students at the end of primary school, reducing emphasis on exams in the early primary years, and broadening the ways secondary schools and tertiary institutions select their students.

Calling it an extremely important reform, Mr Tharman said Singapore wants to keep the basic strands of meritocracy that are fair to those who have started well in life as well as to those who started off with less but have put in the effort and done well. But the concept of meritocracy has to be broadened to recognise a wider range of skills and talents that make a difference in life, he said.

Mr Tharman also spoke about how Singapore’s housing policies — such as public housing ethnic quotas and estate rejuvenation — have enabled integrated neighbourhoods where “everyone has enjoyed roughly the same rate of home price appreciation, from those in smallest flats to the upper-middle income group, and in fact including private property”. This has prevented a gulf in wealth accumulation within the population, he said.

Even as an “activist state” is needed to intervene, “we need some humility”, Mr Tharman said. “We must recognise that this is a challenge that has defied easy solution. Lots of interventions, in a whole range of societies over the last 50 years, but with very limited success. And some unintended results – unintended changes in social values and habits that now make the problems more intractable. So we need some humility in this whole endeavour.”


Don't pack dangerous goods when preparing to travel: CAAS

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Dangerous goods are items that include explosives or are flammable, corrosive or poisonous. They also include seemingly non-dangerous items such as cosmetics and power banks.
By Leong Wai Kit, Channel NewsAsia, 27 May 2016

Ahead of the holiday season, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) wants to remind passengers to avoid packing dangerous goods in their check-in luggage and hand-carry bags.

CAAS has expressed concern that passengers are not fully aware of what "dangerous goods" are, and the dangers they pose if carried on board.



WHAT ARE DANGEROUS GOODS?

Dangerous goods are items that include explosives or are flammable, corrosive or poisonous, including fireworks, camping gas, lighter fluid, pesticides and paints.

They also include seemingly non-dangerous items such as power banks and certain types of cosmetics products such as nail polish remover.

CAAS Airworthiness and Flight Operations Director Tan Kah Han said these items may not look like threats, but could be flammable. "When you go on board the aircraft and they catch fire, it’s something that concerns everybody.”

BANNED ITEMS

In January 2015, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) - the world aviation governing body - banned lithium-metal batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft.

Lithium-metal batteries are non-rechargeable and generally used in watches, calculators and cameras.

In April this year, ICAO banned lithium-ion batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft. Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable and generally found in mobile phones, laptops and power banks.

WHAT CAN I BRING ON BOARD?

Portable electronic devices that contain lithium-ion batteries are allowed in check-in and hand-carry luggage. These would include laptops, iPads, tablets or smart devices.

However, spare batteries for these devices - including power banks for smartphones - are not allowed to be checked in. They must be hand-carried, and up to two spare batteries - which must be separately packed - are allowed. 

WHY LITHIUM BATTERIES ARE DANGEROUS

A typical lithium battery unit contains many parts known as cells. Lithium batteries which are overheated or damaged or have defects in them may overheat and spark off a small fire.

However, because there are many cells within the battery, the fire gets passed from cell to cell - a chain reaction known as “thermal runaway”.

Thermal runaway gets out of hand if the burning lithium battery is in contact with other lithium batteries.

CAREFUL HANDLING OF DANGEROUS GOODS

This is why CAAS imposes stringent checks on dangerous goods before they are transported on planes.

On average, a cargo officer at SATS - which handles ground cargo as part of its business - spends nearly half an hour going through the paperwork of dangerous goods shipment as well as physically checking the condition of the packaging, before allowing the cargo to be stacked and secured for the aircraft.

Typically, these dangerous goods include lithium batteries, flammable products as well as items that contain radioactive materials like medical devices.

On average, SATS receives about 200 shipments of dangerous goods cargo every day. Of these, about 15 cargo are rejected because they fail to meet standards such as proper labelling, or there are errors in their paperwork.

CAAS said that between 2014 and 2015, it investigated 18 cases of dangerous goods cargo and had issued warning letters to the shippers involved. This year, nine cases have been investigated to date.

Channel NewsAsia understands that the nature of the investigation did not involve security breaches.

PACKING IT RIGHT

To help passengers understand what to pack and what to exclude in their check-in and carry-on baggage, CAAS said it is looking at sending flyers to all households in Singapore at the end of the year, which would coincide with the year-end holiday season.

In 2015, CAAS sent out flyers with information on dangerous goods to about 1.3 million households.

Meanwhile, CAAS has urged travellers to refer to information online at the CAAS website to avoid inconvenience at the check-in counters.


Emergency Preparedness Day: SG Secure in the Neighbourhood

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Shanmugam calls for unity when terror strikes
He says need to come together as a community just as important as ability to cope during actual attack
By Ng Huiwen, The Sunday Times, 29 May 2016

Coming together as a society after a terrorist attack is as important as learning how to cope during the actual incident, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday.

Besides knowing how to respond from the outset, citizens need a sense of "community cohesiveness" to move on, he said, speaking at Chong Pang's revamped Emergency Preparedness Day, the first of a series of exercises to prepare people for possible terror scenarios.



There have been terror attacks around the region and security agencies arresting people in neighbouring countries, while the authorities here have seized plans to attack Singapore and arrested those wanting to attack the Republic and assassinate its leaders, he pointed out.

"If an attack takes place, how do we react the day after? Do we point fingers at each other in our multiracial, multi-religious society? Or are we able to come together as a society and move on?"

He added: "The aim of terrorists is to divide us... and it becomes more fertile ground for them to recruit people. We need to come together and say that this is an isolated incident by some radicalised elements."

Mr Shanmugan, who is also an MP for Nee Soon GRC, was speaking to residents after he watched a simulated terror attack yesterday morning, where two gunmen stormed a heartland coffee shop and took five people hostage.

More than 1,000 residents turned up for the event, where they learnt basic first-aid skills as well as some practical lessons on dealing with such situations: by first running away, then hiding and telling the police.

Mr Shanmugam's ward, Chong Pang, is the first of six neighbourhoods to pilot the revamped Emergency Preparedness Day.

The exercise is among new measures to increase vigilance and speed up security response under the national SG Secure programme. In the community, the hope is to have at least one trained person in every household.

This comes at a time when Mr Shanmugam reiterated that there is a "clear and present" terror threat.

Just two days ago, six Bangladeshi workers, aged between 26 and 31, were charged with financing terrorism under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act. They had been detained here last month under the Internal Security Act for planning attacks back home in hopes of toppling the Bangladeshi government.

At yesterday's event, residents toured various booths and exhibitions. About 200 of them were given a free home first-aid kit after going through the basic skills training successfully.

One of them, retiree Yee Ah Yat, 74, said in Mandarin: "Singapore is safe for now, but it is also about being prepared.

"Now, I know how to help my friends if there's an emergency."

Over the next two years, the People's Association hopes to reach out to 20,000 residents through Emergency Preparedness Days held across all 89 constituencies.








Defence of Singapore cannot be outsourced, says Desmond Lee
By Kelly Ng, TODAY, 30 May 2016

The responsibility for keeping Singapore safe in terms of education and outreach cannot be outsourced to auxiliary police officers, Senior Minister of State (Home Affairs) Desmond Lee said yesterday at the revamped Emergency Preparedness (EP) Day held at Jurong Spring.

“We’re involving community volunteers, full-time national servicemen, teachers, educators and Singaporeans from all walks of life to drive the (counter-terror) message home because it’s important to us,” he said.

“(The EP day) is not just a programme but a national movement, which everyone needs to participate in because the stakes are very high.”

The revamped EP Day, a centrepiece of the SG Secure national movement, involves staged terror attacks and workshops that aim to “sensitise, train and equip” residents with skills and information to respond to a terrorist attack.

Mr Lee’s remarks to reporters were in relation to a letter in TODAY, which suggested that police work could be optimised by having auxiliary police officers conduct public education on dealing with terror attacks.

This came after it was announced that Home Team officers will be deployed, under a new citizen engagement vocation within the neighbourhoods, to teach residents how to safely evacuate a location under attack and encourage them to participate in the EP Day.


Yesterday, Jurong grassroots members launched a pocket community emergency guide, which features various emergency contacts and basic tips such as using a fire extinguisher and administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This guide will be rolled out to all other constituencies in Singapore.

“(It) is a good example of how each of us, as residents, can play a part to reach out to fellow residents by sharing information on how we can keep ourselves, our families and friends, safe and secure,” said Mr Lee.

The revamped EP Day will also be held across all constituencies in the next two years. During yesterday’s drill at Jurong Spring, two suspicious-looking men left a bag unattended at an automated teller machine below a block of flats. Residents in the vicinity reported the matter to the police, who helped evacuate them from the block.

Meanwhile, police officers covered the suspicious article with a bomb suppression blanket. A special task force from the Singapore Armed Forces then removed it using an improvised explosive device.

Trained community volunteer Chua Boy, 66, who played a resident who had a cardiac arrest during the evacuation, said it was especially important for elderly residents to know how to react in case of an attack.






Singapore's third bus operator Tower Transit launches first 9 services

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First Tower Transit buses hit the road; bus operator likely to bid in next tender
Singapore's third bus operator set to compete in next tender, likely in June, to run more routes
By Adrian Lim, The Straits Times, 30 May 2016

Even as its first nine bus services started plying the roads yesterday, Singapore's third bus operator, Tower Transit, already has set its eyes on expanding its presence here.



The Anglo-Australian firm, which won the first government bus contract a year ago, said it will compete in an upcoming tender - likely to be held next month - to run more bus routes.

It sat out the previous tender - which was won by British firm Go-Ahead - so as to concentrate on launching its operations here.


"We are very committed to growing our business in Singapore and we will absolutely be bidding for the third bus package," Tower Transit chief executive Adam Leishman told The Straits Times.


He said the firm's attention to customer experience, its engineering capabilities and its success in recruiting locals to become bus captains put it in good stead to contribute to Singapore's transport sector.

Tower Transit's debut on the roads here marks a key step in the restructuring of Singapore's bus industry to raise service standards.

Under the contracting model, operators are subject to stricter reliability standards, with performance incentives or financial penalties given depending on whether standards are met.

Tower Transit Singapore managing director Andrew Bujtor said the firm is "very confident" of meeting these standards, which include regularity in bus arrivals - often a bugbear among commuters here.



Mr Bujtor said a lot of training has been done so that bus captains can coordinate with the operations control centre to regulate bus intervals, to "deliver the consistent gap between buses that passengers desire".

Tower Transit's first nine services - 77, 106, 173, 177, 189, 941, 945, 947 and 990 - operate out of Bukit Batok bus interchange. Next month, it will gradually take over 17 more routes from SBS Transit that are also in the western part of the island.

At around 5.30am yesterday, the first Tower Transit service in Singapore, service 945, left the interchange. It was followed by service 106, which was taken by Mr Leishman, Mr Bujtor and National Transport Workers' Union executive secretary Melvin Yong, who is also an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC.

More than 20 "bus spotters" turned up in Bukit Batok to photograph the first Tower Transit buses arriving from Bulim Bus Depot. These were in lush green, the colour chosen in a public voting exercise.

The firm took over around 90 buses from SMRT and these remained in their original colour scheme. It received 10 buses painted in green from the Government, which owns all assets in the contracting model.

Institute of Technical Education student Muhd Naz Farihin, 19, said: "The arrival of the green buses marks a leap forward in the bus industry to the new contracting model."

Mr Etcoy Alvin Gimao, 35, a welder who takes service 189, said: "I feel that the bus driver is good and the ride was smooth, with less sudden braking."


















Few commuters notice difference after switch to Tower Transit
By Aleysa John and Sherry Xuerui Sun, The Straits Times, 31 May 2016

The first weekday of operations for Singapore's new bus operator Tower Transit appeared to go smoothly yesterday, said several commuters.

Among the commuters The Straits Times spoke to, who were travelling to the Central Business District on the operator's services 77 and 106, many said they had not noticed any difference after Tower Transit took over from the previous operator, SMRT. But a few of them noted some improvements.

Tower Transit began operating nine bus services on Sunday. Some commuters did not realise the bus services had changed hands because many of the Anglo-Australian firm's buses were not painted green yet - the colour chosen in a public voting exercise. Only 10 are green in colour. The other buses, around 90, retain SMRT's colour scheme or have advertisements on them.

For commuters like Ms Anne Chua, 25, the buses' colour change was the only feature that stood out.

Said the retail assistant, who took service 106 from Bukit Batok to Lucky Plaza: "If not for the colour change - the bus is now green - I would not even know that the service provider is different."

While Ms Meilina Wijaya, 30, an assistant manager, did not notice significant changes with the new operator, she said Tower Transit's bus driver "seemed more friendly than usual, because he was telling us 'good morning' very cheerfully".

Tower Transit was satisfied with yesterday's operations. Said managing director Andrew Bujtor: "Our bus captains are getting more familiar with the systems and processes. As with any transition, there are some kinks to be ironed out."

The operator said it is too soon to say whether it has met the stricter service standards set under a new government contracting model.

For example, Tower Transit is required to have 50 per cent of its buses operate at intervals of not more than 10 minutes during peak periods. The maximum interval allowed between buses is 15 minutes.

Under current service levels, 30 per cent of buses operate at intervals of 10 minutes, and the maximum interval allowed between buses is 30 minutes.

Some commuters noted greater frequency in Tower Transit's services.

Said Mr Basel Chan, 30, who works in healthcare: "The bus service seems more frequent. When I check the bus timings, (the frequency) is usually five to eight minutes. Now, it is two to five minutes."








Majulah! 50 Years of Malay/Muslim Community in Singapore

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Book commemorating 50 years of the Malay/Muslim community launched
Prominent figures also featured in new book tracing the evolution of the community
By Tiffany Fumiko Tay, The Straits Times, 30 May 2016

The composer of the Singapore national anthem Zubir Said, the Republic's first woman Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob and footballer Fandi Ahmad were among the notable figures mentioned at the launch of a book on the Malay/Muslim community.

The 700-page Majulah! 50 Years Of Malay/Muslim Community In Singapore was launched by Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing at The Arts House yesterday.

Mr Chan took over as the event's guest of honour from Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who remains in hospital after suffering a stroke during a Cabinet meeting earlier this month.

"I know that he would dearly like to have come here to give his support and affirmation to what the Malay and Muslim community has done in Singapore and for Singapore," said Mr Chan, who is also labour chief.

The launch was attended by some 100 guests including former President S R Nathan, Minister-in- charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim, Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Social and Family Development Faishal Ibrahim, labour MP Zainal Sapari, community leaders and foreign dignitaries.

The book, which traces the evolution of the Malay/Muslim community here and its progress in fields such as education and the arts, was published by World Scientific.

It is co-edited by former senior minister of state for foreign affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed and Dr Norshahril Saat, a fellow at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Among its 41 contributors are current and former ministers and Members of Parliament, as well as community leaders and academics.



Noting that the history of the community stretches beyond 50 years and the founding of the Republic, Mr Chan said "one can never talk about the history of Singapore without talking about the Malay and Muslim contributions to modern Singapore".

The Malay/Muslim identity in Singapore is constantly evolving, and also forms part of the Singaporean identity, he added.

Dr Yaacob, the special guest at the event, said the book is an important effort on the part of the community to document its history, so that the next generation can build on the legacy created by pioneers.

The book is available at all major bookstores and retails at $68 for the hardcover edition and $37 for the paperback version.







Khaw Boon Wan urges SBS, SMRT to emulate Taipei metro for reliability

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Rail system working towards regaining earlier standing: Khaw Boon Wan
SMRT and SBS Transit using Taipei's metro reliability record as benchmark, says minister
By Adrian Lim, The Straits Times, 31 May 2016

Singapore's rail system has lost its "mojo" but it is working hard to regain its earlier standing, said Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday.

It is measuring itself against the best in class, using Hong Kong as a good reference point, as announced earlier, and now also the Taipei metro system, he said.

Mr Khaw noted that rail staff from the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC) - which was incorporated in 1994 - had in its early years visited Singapore to study the MRT, which began operations in 1987.

"We were then an exemplary MRT player and a subject of study," he said in a speech at a forum on rail infrastructure maintenance.

"Unfortunately, maybe due to complacency or distracted management attention, we lost our earlier standing. I prefer to use the word, we lost our mojo. Let's work hard to regain our mojo."

He has given rail operators SMRT and SBS Transit up to 2020 to achieve TRTC's record last year of a mean distance of 800,000 train-kilometres travelled in between delays of more than five minutes. This is a key metric used by rail operators to measure reliability.

Taipei's record exceeds Hong Kong's 520,000 train-km registered in the first quarter of this year, and Singapore's preliminary figure of 160,000 train-km in the same period. "We may not achieve those very high targets, but I think they can be extremely motivating, so that if we fail, in absolute terms it could still be a very significant improvement," he said.

For this year, the goal should be 200,000 train-km between delays, said Mr Khaw, and when this is achieved, "even more audacious" targets should be set. The target for 2018 should be 400,000 train-km, and then doubled subsequently.

"My political mantra is, under-promise, so hopefully you can over-deliver. However, when organisations need to be transformed... I think we need to do the opposite - set clear stretch targets, motivate the troop, aim high and work our butts out," he said.

His remarks come on the back of rising rail incidents. Last year, there were 29 major rail disruptions, up from 14 in 2014. In April this year, a power fault resulted in an unprecedented breakdown of train services along three MRT lines and one LRT line.

Mr Khaw also shared lessons from a study trip to Taipei made by officials from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and rail operators.

Among other things, LTA is working with software vendors to develop an enterprise asset management system. This will allow a systematic assessment of the condition of rail assets by the LTA, SBS and SMRT.

The two operators' incident response and recovery procedures are also being reviewed, and the LTA is working with the TRTC to attach staff from SBS and SMRT to its metro workshops. Mr Khaw said operators should follow the TRTC's asset maintenance regimes since both cities' rail systems are similar.

"If they said they focus on this component and they replace it after one interval, I think just copy them first," he said. "We have no time to waste. I can't wait, you can't wait, our commuters can't wait."

He expressed confidence in turning rail reliability around. "At the moment, I describe the cup as 'three-quarters empty'. But I appreciate the efforts of our colleagues who have made the cup 'one-quarter full'. I'm confident we will have a 'full cup' in due course."

Responding to his speech, the National Transport Workers' Union said it stands ready to work with the LTA and rail operators. Executive secretary Melvin Yong said it was also important for operators to rally the staff towards a common goal. "Being directly involved in the ground operations, their inputs will be useful and important in this transformation process," said Mr Yong, who is also a Tanjong Pagar GRC MP.









Khaw urges SBS, SMRT to emulate Taipei metro
Staff and resources geared towards its key performance indicator of reliability
By Adrian Lim, The Straits Times, 31 May 2016

Lauding the Taipei metro system for its reliability, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday urged rail operators SBS Transit and SMRT to emulate it.

Mr Khaw said the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation's (TRTC) organisational structure, engineering excellence and the passion of its staff have allowed it to achieve remarkable train reliability.

He was sharing the findings of a study trip to Taipei two weeks ago, which was led by Land Transport Authority (LTA) chief executive Chew Men Leong.

At a rail infrastructure maintenance forum in Singapore yesterday, Mr Khaw said for the TRTC, reliability is the most important performance indicator, after safety.

To ensure that reliability metrics are understood by all, targets are set for individual departments and their directors.

"There is strong and tangible ownership of service reliability at all levels, from the chairman of the board, down to the president, management groups, engineers (and) the mechanics," he said.



The TRTC also systematically captures and analyses data relating to the condition, maintenance and performance of its assets, Mr Khaw said, which it uses to build up its engineering knowledge.

The corporation performs timely maintenance and replacement of assets on the rail network. To pay for asset replacements, it maintains a healthy "sinking fund" that the engineering department can draw from. In the last five years, the TRTC has contributed annually between $135 million and $204 million.

The TRTC has invested heavily in developing its maintenance-engineering capabilities, and also set up an electronics research and development laboratory. Mr Khaw said the corporation places an emphasis on fast response to technical incidents and prompt troubleshooting of problems, and deploys up to 250 employees daily to do this.

In response, both SBS and SMRT said they are working to implement the best practices from the Taipei metro system, and have been stepping up efforts to beef up reliability.

Mr Gan Juay Kiat, chief executive of SBS Transit, said: "For instance, we invest extensively in systems and equipment to help in monitoring and maintenance works, regularly review our maintenance regime, as well as continually upgrade the skills and professional competency of our engineering staff."

Mr Lee Ling Wee, managing director of SMRT Trains, said it has deployed sensors since two years ago to monitor the condition of its rail assets to see when to replace them.

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng said the TRTC is owned by the Taipei government and has no shareholders - a key difference from SBS and SMRT.

"TRTC directly answers to the Taipei city council if it does not take care of the commuters' benefit and welfare," Dr Lee said.


Singaporeans 'don't walk the talk' on special needs kids

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Poll findings show they are tolerant towards, rather than accepting of, these children
By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 31 May 2016

Singaporeans support the idea of inclusion but do not walk the talk, a survey has found.

While most people believe that children with and without disabilities can study together, only half of parents polled are comfortable with having a special needs child sitting next to their own child in class.

Furthermore, only one in 10 Singaporeans is confident of interacting with special needs children.


These were some of the findings of a survey, released yesterday at a press conference, which asked more than 1,000 people for their experiences of inclusion in daily life and early education. The survey was commissioned by local philanthropic house Lien Foundation.


The findings suggest that Singaporeans are tolerant towards, rather than accepting of, special needs people, said Lien Foundation programme manager Ng Tze Yong.

"Singaporeans embrace the idea of inclusion, but there is a gap between what we think and what we do," he said.

Inclusion means ensuring that everyone, including those with disabilities, is given opportunities to realise his potential in the same environment.

"Building handicapped ramps, parking spaces and toilets is the easy part. We now need to move beyond that to dismantle the obstacles in our minds and the barriers in our hearts," Mr Ng added.

Asked about the current level of acceptance and degree of social interaction between the public and special needs children, more than half of the respondents said Singaporeans are willing to share public spaces with such children, but not to interact with them.

Only 8 per cent of those polled feel that Singaporeans are willing to go the extra mile to make a special needs child feel welcome.

Yet nearly half of them believe that new laws are needed to promote the rights of such children.

For instance, eight in 10 of them believe it should be compulsory for such children to go to school. They are now exempted from the Compulsory Education Act.

One possible reason why special needs children, such as those with learning and behavioural difficulties or physical disabilities, are not accepted fully in society is the lack of interaction between the public and such children.

For over a third of respondents, such children are not part of their social circle. Only a quarter of parents surveyed report that their children are friends with them.

However, the survey also found that Singaporeans' uncertainty about interacting with special needs children falls when the frequency of interactions rises.

Given this correlation, Dr Kenneth Poon, a clinical psychologist and researcher,said there should be more opportunities for interaction so that friendships and shared interests can form. He said: "Pre- schools are a great starting point to seed this process of change."

Mr Tang Hui Nee, assistant director and head of community services at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, said that it would help if there was more public education, and people had more exposure to such children. Three in four respondents said being informed in advance about the special needs of a child will help them be more understanding when disruptive behaviour happens.

To better understand the needs and challenges of the special needs community, a separate survey of 750 parents of children with special needs is being done and the findings will be released next month.




Key findings

• 30 per cent agree that Singapore is an inclusive society.

• 64 per cent believe Singaporeans are willing to share public spaces but not interact with the special needs community.

• 50 per cent of parents are comfortable with having a child with special needs sit next to their own child in class.

• 49 per cent believe new laws are necessary to better promote the rights of children with special needs.

• 10 per cent are confident of interacting with children with special needs.




Related

DPM Tharman at Pre-University Seminar 2016

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Singapore in 2035: Inclusive and innovative
Education will be more flexible, Tharman tells Pre-U Seminar
By Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 31 May 2016

The Singapore 20 years from now will be an innovative and deeply inclusive one, where a new generation of Singaporeans define their own purpose in life, each with a sense of individuality, in a society that is bound together and at home with itself, said Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday.

Painting a picture of what the Republic will be like in 2035, based on a poll of students, he said: "Twenty years from now, we will still be a little red dot, always will be.

"But it will be a deep red dot. The colour of the Singapore heart."

Education, he said, would become more holistic, flexible and encouraging.

A more flexible system and a focus on skills and job performance, rather than qualifications earned early in life, will be needed instead for the fluid job market of the future, noted Mr Tharman, who is also Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies. He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Pre-University Seminar held at the Nanyang Technological University.

About 550 students from 30 pre-university institutions, including junior colleges and polytechnics, attended the event, whose theme this year is "Living the Singapore Spirit". It is co-organised by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Hwa Chong Institution.

Citing an informal survey MOE did to find out the aspirations of seminar participants, Mr Tharman noted that students ranked job satisfaction and the ability to make the most of one's talents, above factors like pay and career progress. Most also felt the Singapore of the future has to be innovative and inclusive.

Whether or not these aspirations could be met would depend on how Singapore reacts to changes in areas such as technology and geopolitics, said Mr Tharman.

Some jobs - such as software engineers, data scientists and healthcare professionals - could be in demand, while demand for lawyers, accountants and real estate or insurance agents could taper off.

While there is a "real fear" in many advanced countries that the jobs lost will outstrip the jobs created, Singapore can avoid that by responding in advance to what is coming, said Mr Tharman. Studies show it is more productive for humans to "cobot" - collaborate with robots - than to have enterprises that rely purely on humans or robots alone.

Education will also evolve, with a premium on original thinking, which breeds the innovative spirit.

The way students and parents go about selecting schools will change, he said, with people valuing schools that develop their interests rather than schools with the highest cut-off scores.

But there is a "deeper tension" between innovation and inclusiveness, said Mr Tharman. While young Singaporeans will have a stronger sense of individuality, Singapore must not become an individualistic society but maintain a "spirit of solidarity" with "diversity of thinking".

"It is a tension, but how this plays out depends on us," said Mr Tharman, who also fielded questions from students on issues such as meritocracy, media freedom and cultural preservation. The Pre-University Seminar, which has been held yearly since 1970, ends on Thursday.









More freedom of speech, but some restrictions necessary: DPM
By Neo Chai Chin, TODAY, 31 May 2016

Singapore society should evolve towards more freedom of speech but some restrictions, such as on hate speech, are necessary, said Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday at the Pre-University Seminar.

He was responding to questions from students about freedom of speech in Singapore, media censorship in the context of the need to develop originality of mind, and on remarks against Islam made by teenage blogger Amos Yee. Had the authorities’ response to Amos given him more support and attention internationally than he would otherwise have garnered, questioned a student from River Valley High School.

Mr Tharman did not comment on Amos as his court case is ongoing, but said some restrictions are necessary all over the world, with hate speech featuring prominently in the law of the many Western democracies. Enforcement against hate speech is needed, he said. It does not mean all comment and expression is scrubbed out, but individuals have to be responsible.

There is more freedom now compared to a decade ago, “let alone when I was your age”, said Mr Tharman. “I was a dissident, a government critic. It was completely different then, compared to where it is now. We have evolved into a society that has more freedoms, but it has some restrictions and they serve a purpose.”

He also spoke of the need to let values in Singapore “evolve quietly”, instead of having a debate to decide on values for the future, because it was not how societies evolved. Each generation, he added, would have its own sense of purpose and values, but rarely totally divorced from their parents’ or grandparents’.

On media censorship, Mr Tharman said it was not the only test of a liberal, progressive society. In some countries with looser reins on the media, there is much less freedom to walk safely on the streets and to advance oneself regardless of ethnicity or religion, he said.

Society has to find the right balance and some freedoms have to be curbed for it to evolve in a way that advances other freedoms, he said. “Every society faces this. We haven’t found the perfect balance, and we have to keep evolving.”









Future schools will cater to students’ interests, strengths
By Neo Chai Chin, TODAY, 31 May 2016

In Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s vision of Singapore 20 years down the road — shaped after a quick survey of pre-university students — Jurong Secondary School would be a very popular school where primary school students compete to get in for its basketball programme and scholarships.

Jurong Secondary’s environmental science programme would be known nationwide and abroad, with students developing sensors to detect the species and number of fish in neighbouring Jurong Lake.

As lifelong learning gains traction here and jobs and tertiary education evolve, so will the school system, said Mr Tharman, who quipped about his bias for Jurong Secondary as it was in his constituency.

Parents would select schools based on what they offer and their children’s interests rather than cut-off points, while schools would place a premium on original thinking and strength of character, said Mr Tharman, who was speaking at the Pre-University Seminar opening yesterday.

More open and flexible learning would stem from employers being more focused on skills and job performance. This form of learning would also cater to how people develop, because passion for learning develops at different stages of life, said Mr Tharman. Some people were “switched off” when they were young, while others thrive in a team or when doing something that fascinates them.

Tertiary education will change. “The campus-only model will be outdated, and the dominant form of learning will be what they call ‘blended learning’. Some face-to-face interaction with your peers and lecturers on campus, but also learning at the workplace, structured, longer internships, and learning online,” he said. Universities and other tertiary institutions will want to provide quality lifelong education that blends the academic with the practical, he said.

Asked by students after his speech if a more modular approach would mean students having to make choices from a young age, Mr Tharman said it would not be so. A modular approach provides a taste of different things. Quite a number of people today do not embark on careers they were trained for, he added.

And in seeking a new balance in meritocracy that gives recognition to a wider range of talents, Singapore is taking a bit of a lead on Asian countries with highly competitive exam meritocracies, he said.





More flexible ways of learning needed for jobs of future: DPM
Tharman shares with students his vision of an innovative, deeply inclusive society in 2035
By Neo Chai Chin, TODAY, 31 May 2016

Imagine a future where one’s chip-sized wearable device monitors his vital health statistics and reminds him of what he needs to do.

Or one where bundled mobility solutions are the norm, offering commuters some hours of car usage, a number of public transport and taxi rides and unlimited bicycle usage — the way telcos today offer bundled plans to consumers.

And instead of cleaning hawker centres, which would be taken care of by machines, some Singaporeans would be smart-home handymen earning good wages.

Sketching out a vision of an innovative and inclusive Singapore 20 years down the road at a seminar for pre-university students yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam called on them to develop a sense of individuality as well as a spirit of solidarity.

Jobs and learning will be very different, resulting in a cultural landscape that is less hierarchical, he told about 550 students from junior colleges, polytechnics and Millennia Institute at the opening of the four-day Pre-University Seminar, held at Nanyang Technological University.

Before the seminar, Mr Tharman had asked for a survey of what the participants hoped to achieve from their education and the factors that would influence their career choices, among other things.

Facilitated by Hwa Chong Institution, which co-organised this year’s seminar with the Ministry of Education, the online survey of about 330 students found that satisfaction at work and the ability to make the most of their talents factored “quite strongly” in career choice, said Mr Tharman.

And more than 90 per cent of respondents felt an innovative society, as well as social harmony and understanding among people, were qualities important in shaping Singapore’s future.

Painting a vision of Singapore in 2035 from the students’ views, Mr Tharman said it would be an innovative and deeply inclusive society.

Jobs in demand could include software engineers and developers, data scientists, various healthcare professionals, professions facilitating lifelong learning such as freelance lecturers, and designers, he said.

There would be less demand for lawyers, insurance and real estate agents, radiologists, and accountants. This is because technology would make it possible for customers to get what they want at low cost, he said in his speech.

How demand balances out is too early to say. Mr Tharman noted that many societies fear job losses will exceed jobs created, but Singapore can avoid this because it is small but has a global market. However, it needs to respond quickly and take advantage of technology as well as the productive combination of humans collaborating with robots, he said.

A more fluid job market will mean the blurring of lines between the academic and practical, degree and non-degree, and white- versus blue-collared, said Mr Tharman. Education will become more flexible and open, with the intense rush to learn as much as possible in the first stage of life to become “hopelessly outdated”.

Mr Tharman also expressed confidence that innovation would result in Singapore firms and brands being leaders, with a reputation for being safe and ethical, and with attitude and character. “We would have had our Angry Birds moment in the 2020s,” he said.

Inclusiveness would see a future where children who benefited from the KidSTART pilot initiative — which provides low-income and vulnerable children aged six and below with early access to health, learning and developmental support — are among the top band of PSLE scorers, Mr Tharman said.

Co-curricular activities would be less ethnically defined while retaining their authenticity, and Singaporeans would be resilient and remain bonded in the wake of any terror attack.

But there is a deeper tension between innovation and inclusiveness, he said. Innovation and breakthroughs spring from original minds, but such individuality must not mean Singapore becomes an individualistic society where it is each man for himself, he said.

Individuals must respect one another and Singapore must retain strong consensus in the middle of society even as its people have diverse views and lifestyles, he said. “It is not a contradiction; it can be achieved and we will achieve it. And your generation especially is going to make that Singapore possible for yourselves. Twenty years from now, we will still be a little red dot, always will be. But it will be a deep red dot, the colour of the Singapore heart.”


Centre of Expertise for Disability Sports launched in Sengkang

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New centres will help disabled be active and more confident
By Ng Keng Gene, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2016

When 51-year-old Tan Whee Boon lost all four limbs after suffering severe food poisoning linked to Group B Streptococcus infection last year, he never imagined that he would participate in a sport again.

However, the former technician enjoyed a dip at the ActiveSG Sengkang Sports Centre yesterday, at the launch of the first of five Centres of Expertise for Disability Sports.

Persons with disabilities (PwDs) like himself will now be able to take up sports at these centres, which provides PwDs access to facilities and programmes to learn a sport suitable for them.

"I've always liked to swim, and now that I have a chance to learn I hope I can do well enough to race. If they select me for next year's Asean Para Games, I will be glad to go," said Tan in Mandarin.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu, who officiated at the centre's opening, said: "Through sports, they (PwDs) can develop confidence, they have self- esteem, and so they can find physical, social and emotional wellness."

First in the pipeline of programmes is the "Yes! I Can" Swim Programme, which will begin this month. There are three programmes for the public and one for special education schools, where participants can develop water safety and competency skills.

Those interested can register for the programmes on the ActiveSG website. The fees from the courses range from $120 to $200 - of which 30 per cent can be offset using ActiveSG credits.

The Centre of Expertise in Sengkang is the first centre that will be rolled out within the next five years.

Queenstown, Toa Payoh, Jurong West and Delta sports centres are the other locations which have been earmarked based on location, among other considerations.

"These centres have been selected as they are accessible to people with disabilities... they have appropriate ramps, appropriate pools that are shallow, and there's access as well to the gyms from the roadside kerb," said Sport Singapore chief executive Lim Teck Yin.

"These facilities have been around for some time, the software now needs to come in to promote sport and to get people out here to learn a new skill through sport and build their confidence," he added.



The centres are just one of 18 recommendations by the Committee of Disability Sports, which was convened in January last year and chaired by then Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Sam Tan.

The recommendations, which will be implemented in phases over the next five to six years, include the setting up of inclusive gymnasiums with adaptive fitness equipment; the development and improvement of more inclusive and adapted physical education programmes in mainstream and special education schools; and the increase of awareness and outreach events that will promote inclusiveness through sport.














Religious Rehabilitation Group launches mobile application to combat radicalisation

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Religious doubts? Use app for private chat with counsellors
By Jeremy Koh, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2016

To combat the spread of radical ideology, the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) launched a mobile application yesterday that lets users have one-to-one live private chats with RRG counsellors to discuss issues and concerns.

Answers to frequently asked questions such as "What is jihad?" are in the app, which also notifies users on the latest RRG-related news.

The RRG, set up in 2003 to counsel detained members of terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), now also works with radicalised individuals, besides educating the community on the dangers of extremism.

The app was launched at the 12th RRG annual retreat. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, RRG vice-chairman Ustaz Mohamed Ali said his biggest concern is individuals being influenced by ideology propagated by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"The strength of ISIS (is) they have managed to influence anybody, anywhere," he noted.

It claims to have established a caliphate, and says Muslims must pledge allegiance to the leader of ISIS and join their ranks, he said.

"This has confused the community, so we need to explain to them about the caliphate, jihad, syariah, all these ideologies," he added.

Another concern is young Muslims here who might be against ISIS but are for the idea of adopting Islamic law in Singapore.

"We need to educate our community that they can live as Muslims and practise Islam anywhere in the world, not necessarily in a Muslim- majority country... and (they can) live harmoniously with people of other religions," he said.

The app is another platform for Singaporeans, especially youth, to voice religious queries, said RRG secretariat member Ahmad Saiful Rijal Hassan. Young people have asked who ISIS and JI are and what these groups want to achieve, the volunteer counsellor said.

Mr Salim Mohamed Nasir, the head of the secretariat, said RRG gives them upfront answers that these are radical extremist groups, and tells them to be careful.

Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who attended the launch, said the app will "provide clarifications on religious and doctrinal issues", and can be accessed quickly and easily.

He noted that RRG's website has been revamped and that its counter-radicalisation manual specifically addresses the ideology of ISIS. A very small minority of Muslims in Singapore "may be led astray by radical, extremist influences", he said, adding that since last year, "many" self-radicalised individuals have been arrested under the Internal Security Act.

The app's chat function will be manned by accredited volunteers from 9am to 5pm on weekdays. They will try to respond to messages as soon as possible.





Time for Singapore to invest in its 'Personality'

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By Sanjeev Sanyal, Published The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2016

Singapore has exhibited extraordinary flexibility as it evolved, in less than two generations, from a British colonial outpost to one of the most successful cities in the world. At each stage, the city state was able to add a new layer to the economy as it moved up the value chain - from a port to a manufacturing cluster, then a financial centre and more recently a hub for education, research and entertainment.

This flexibility is based in no small part on the willingness to radically rethink the economic and urban strategy every 15 years or so. The last round happened in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis and the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic. It is now time for a new round.

The succession of strategies used by Singapore to develop quickly has had one common theme - the economic model was the driving force and sociocultural policy had to adjust to it.

However, the city state now has to face a very different problem: How to maintain sociocultural continuity in the face of very rapid demographic change. How the city state manages this will have a significant impact on its political and economic future.

Singapore's population is currently estimated to be at 5.5 million, 3.4 million of whom are citizens and 500,000 are permanent residents (together they are called the resident population). Foreigners make up the remainder. The problem is that the resident population has a very low fertility rate. Total fertility rate (TFR) is defined as the average number of live births a woman will have over her lifetime. The city state requires a minimum TFR of 2.1 in order to keep its resident population stable, but the current rate is 1.24, a little more than half the "replacement rate". This implies a dramatic long-term shift because the number of "native" Singaporeans will drop to half the current level over a single generation (one must also allow for the fact that, in a globalised world, many Singaporeans will opt to live abroad).

The Government has long recognised the problem of low birth rates, but despite many efforts, nothing has so far succeeded in pushing up the fertility rate. This is not a unique problem and is common to many countries in Europe and East Asia. The obvious implication is that Singapore will need to rely heavily on immigration. In other words, the resident population will have to be steadily replenished by newcomers, including new citizens, merely to maintain the current population cluster.

One option for the city state is to accept demographic decline and allow the population to shrink. Some Asian countries, such as Japan, seem to be opting for this, but Singapore is a "global city" that requires a minimum cluster of activity. As it is, Singapore has the smallest population of any major global hub and there is a non-trivial risk that a steady decline in population would trigger a process of de-clustering. Urban history shows that once de-clustering begins, it can gather unstoppable momentum that is difficult to arrest (ask Detroit).

Using immigration to maintain the urban cluster is not a problem in itself since Singaporeans, despite grumbling occasionally, are remarkably open to outsiders; after all, everyone is an immigrant within a few generations. Indeed, immigration and foreigner inflow were largely responsible for the jump in population from four million in 2000 to today's 5.5 million. The real problem is how to maintain socio-economic continuity when the anchor population begins to shrink and age rapidly.

This is not about some sentimental attachment to a "Singaporean way of life". Despite a bubbling ethnic mix, Singapore's economic miracle was made possible by an exceptional degree of social cohesion.

Therefore, from a purely economic perspective, one needs to wonder if demographic change will happen too fast for the newcomers to be acculturated and sociocultural continuity to be maintained. In other words, the debate over immigration in Singapore should not be trivialised as xenophobia but seen as a fundamental one about the city state's long-term viability.

Singapore's leaders are aware of these risks and are trying hard to manage contradictory pressures.

On the one hand, the pace of immigration has been slowed to what is deemed socially acceptable. On the other hand, the Government has recognised that Singapore's urban mass can be increased by leveraging the hinterland.

Thus, we have seen support for urban developments in the Iskandar development region in Malaysia. Also, a high-speed rail link is to be built between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The idea is that the urban system around Singapore could be bigger than Singapore the country.

Even if successful, such strategies may keep Singapore's economy running for no more than a decade or two. The country's abysmal birth rates will sooner rather than later force Singapore to confront the issue of sociocultural continuity.

In many ways, Singapore's problem is common to all global cities where the population keeps churning. Successful cities such as New York and London have been able to deal with constant demographic change by developing a strong urban culture. This "culture" is so strong that a newcomer quickly becomes a New Yorker or a Londoner irrespective of the colour of his passport.

In turn, the culture is derived from anchor institutions that provide a shared experience and keep the collective memory alive. Institutions that help maintain continuity in London include its universities, museums, theatres, old buildings and traditions, and even the monarchy.

Cultural factors such as literature also play an important role: No matter who buys or sells real estate in Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes will continue to live there. New York is similarly served by Columbia University, New York University, Central Park, Broadway and the street grid of Manhattan. Popular music and local eccentricities are a part of the mix. In short, Singapore needs to make the transition from being an ingenious whizz-kid to becoming a mature city with a distinct personality.

This would be a big shift in the way the city state thinks of long-term economic strategy. The good news is that the ingredients already exist for creating a distinct and lasting personality for Singapore. As a Chinese-majority city with a Sanskrit name that started out as a European outpost in South-east Asia, it is the meeting point of some of the world's great civilisations. In the past, this cultural mix was seen as peripheral to Singapore's economic model but, in the long run, it may prove to be its single biggest strength.

Sanjeev Sanyal is an economist and best-selling writer who was Deutsche Bank's Global Strategist until last year. He is a member of the Committee on the Future Economy's Sub-committee on Future City, which looks at how to anchor Singapore as a leading global city and endearing home for its people.



NWC Wage Guidelines for 2016/2017

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National Wages Council recommends $50-$65 pay hike for low-wage workers earning up to $1,100 a month
By Olivia Ho and Toh Yong Chuan, Manpower Correspondent, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2016

A monthly pay rise of $50 to $65 is being recommended by the National Wages Council (NWC) this year for low-wage workers earning a basic salary of up to $1,100, in a continuing effort to lift their incomes.

And in a nod to tough economic conditions, the NWC is suggesting a range of pay increments instead of a fixed sum as it did in the past four years.

The range is not to put a cap on the pay increase but to allow for flexibility, said NWC chairman Peter Seah yesterday when he announced the annual wage guidelines. "It is to take into account affordability. Employers should give more if they can afford it."

Singapore's economy is expected to grow 1 per cent to 3 per cent this year.

For low-wage workers earning more than $1,100, the NWC recommends that they be given a "reasonable" wage increase and/or a one-off lump sum based on their skills and productivity.

In general, the NWC calls on companies that have done well and have good prospects to reward workers with pay hikes. But those that have not or have poor prospects should exercise wage restraint, with "management leading by example", it said.

The move to raise the basic wage of low-income workers has been one of the NWC's major efforts.

The move began in 2012, when it backed the National Trades Union Congress in its push for low-wage workers earning up to $1,000 each month to receive a built-in pay hike of at least $50. And since 2013, the sum was raised to $60. The salary bar was raised to $1,100 last year.

But non-unionised companies have largely ignored the NWC guidelines, which are not legally binding.

Only 18 per cent of companies, the majority of which are not unionised, gave their low-wage workers a pay rise of at least $60 last year, as specified by the NWC. In contrast, half of the unionised companies here followed the NWC guidelines.

Still, workers have generally benefited from the guidelines.

Local workers earning a monthly pay of up to $1,100 fell from 130,100 in 2014 to 112,900 last year, said the Ministry of Manpower.

With local employment growing in the same period, this shows workers have moved out of the $1,100 income bracket.

The Singapore National Employers Federation will step up efforts to educate employers on the guidelines. "For companies that really cannot afford it, we are not pushing," said its president Robert Yap.

The Government yesterday accepted the NWC guidelines, which take effect for one year from July 1.

The NTUC said more can be done for workers in outsourced jobs who face possible pay cuts when contracts are renewed.

The Government, noting that buyers of outsourced services need to play a part, said it will lead by example.

It "strongly encourages suppliers to the public sector to adopt NWC recommendations on wage increments for their workers".









Need to get more firms to adopt NWC guidelines, say unionists
Unionists express concern, with only 18% of private firms following 2015 proposals to raise low-wage workers' pay
By Olivia Ho and Sherry Xuerui Sun, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2016

As it has done for the last five years, the National Wages Council (NWC) yesterday called for more pay hikes to lift the salaries of low-wage workers, but unionists are concerned not enough companies are following the non-legally binding recommendations.

Just 18 per cent of private sector employers followed NWC's guidelines last year to give increments of $60 or more to workers earning up to $1,100 a month.

National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general Zainal Sapari called for the Manpower Ministry (MOM) to dangle more carrots to incentivise companies to adopt the NWC guidelines.

"MOM has many levers it can use, such as approval for work permits or grants, and we could explore some of these," he said. He suggested making the wage hikes part of the criteria for the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme, an initiative that allows firms temporary leeway on their foreign worker quota to help them restructure.

This year, NWC has suggested employers give workers earning monthly wages of up to $1,100 pay rises of between $50 and $65. It is the first time it has suggested an increment range instead of a minimum amount, to give employers breathing room in raising wages.

Unionists hope this will make companies more amenable to the increments. Noted Mr Nasordin Mohd Hashim, president of the Building Construction And Timber Industries Employees' Union: "Only 50 per cent of (unionised) companies gave increments last year, and many workers in outsourced companies don't even benefit."

In a Facebook post, NTUC assistant secretary-general Patrick Tay addressed naysayers doubting the effectiveness of the NWC. He said that when NTUC had taken employers to the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC) in the past few years, the IAC president had made "explicit reference" to the NWC guidelines in his grounds of decision.

Employers welcomed the more flexible guidelines in view of a gloomy economic forecast.

Singapore Business Federation chief executive Ho Meng Kit said the range "offers flexibility to businesses to reward their workers (in a way that is commensurate) with the companies' performance and prospects amid the sluggish global economy".

Association of Small and Medium Enterprises president Kurt Wee said: "I think it signals that they want to offer employers a bit of leeway."

He said companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are suffering cash-flow issues from falling orders, and productivity has not necessarily risen in tandem with wage hikes in past years.

Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Thomas Chua stressed that "continued emphasis on skills upgrading is necessary to underpin wage increases".

Eight out of 10 employers The Straits Times spoke to supported the new recommendations.

Ms Helen Thiang, executive director of piping supplier Soonsteel International, called the measures a "win-win situation".

"The recommended wage increases are fair enough in accommodating the current cost of living, and employers can also retain talent that way," she said.

But others felt they might not be able to handle the hikes.

Mr Rodney Seah, head of talent management at a Keppel subsidiary, said: "With the current market conditions, especially in the oil and gas industry, it may be quite difficult for us to adhere to the recommendations."





Guidelines not binding but National Wages Council has influence
By Toh Yong Chuan, Manpower Correspondent, The Straits Times, 1 Jun 2016

The annual National Wages Council (NWC) press conferences are pretty routine affairs.

This is how the council works.

The mammoth 36-member body is made up of unionists, employer groups and public sector officials. It meets every year between April and May to set wage guidelines for companies.

The meetings are held behind closed doors. Once the guidelines are hammered out, they go to the Cabinet for approval.

When the parties are ready to talk to the public, a tightly scripted press conference is held where the council releases its guidelines. The Government, Singapore National Employers Federation and National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) then release simultaneous statements to support the NWC guidelines.

How can they not support the guidelines, one wonders, when they are part of the council that decided on them?

But here's the rub - the guidelines are not compulsory for companies, which appears to make a mockery of the process. Is the council even relevant then when salaries are largely dictated by market forces?

The sceptics were surprised in 2012 when the council showed it was no mere rubber stamp.

In a bold move to help low-wage workers, it recommended that year that those earning up to $1,000 a month should receive a minimum pay hike of $50. It was an NTUC idea that both the council and Government backed.

The council continued in the same vein for four more years, progressively raising the minimum pay hike to $60 and the salary bar to $1,100.

This year, it spelt out the pay hike as a range between $50 and $65. It is the most significant aspect of the NWC guidelines this year, to give companies leeway so those doing better can give more.

When asked yesterday when the pay hikes for low-wage workers would stop, NWC chairman Peter Seah said the council is committed to lifting the lot of low-wage workers and would review every year how to help them.

"There is a social dimension to it," he said. "There is no fixed formula (on when the minimum increases will stop)."

For low-wage workers, this is the single most important function of the NWC - that it works with employers, unions and government officials to raise the salaries and improve the well-being of low-wage workers.

Official data showed that the council has had a positive impact, despite its naysayers. In 2012, when the NWC first started the minimum pay hikes, there were 150,000 local workers earning $1,000 and below.

The salary bar is now $1,100, but the number of workers earning below the higher bar has fallen to 112,900 last year.

The council and its work remain acutely relevant. Even though its guidelines are not binding, it can still influence salaries and improve workers' lives. Its work should not be undermined by employers who ignore or cannot adopt the guidelines.



CPF Board recovers record $516m in arrears from bosses in 2015

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By Olivia Ho and Sabrina Faisal, The Straits Times, 2 Jun 2016

The Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board recovered $516 million in CPF arrears from errant employers last year, the highest annual amount to date.

The sum was owed to more than 360,000 workers. Most of it was down to bosses being tardy with their CPF payments. In other cases, employers had contributed less than they should have, or not at all.

The amount recovered last year was the largest in the past five years, the next highest being $420 million in 2013. Information on sums recovered before 2011 is not available.

A spokesman for the CPF Board said the high number of arrears last year was because more employers had not been punctual in paying CPF. She added: "The Board understands that most of the late payments are due to cash flow issues."

Overdue CPF payments made up $500.8 million of the sum recovered last year for more than 353,000 workers, compared with $364.2 million in 2014.

An average of 5,600 employers each month were behind schedule in paying CPF. The spokesman added: "However, most of the employers were able to pay up the arrears within the month."

One company, Hanis Montessori Kindergarten, was found guilty last month of nine charges of late CPF payment and fined $18,000. Its owner, Madam Jamelah Sulaiman, 48, said it had racked up arrears of about $90,000 over three months for its staff of 60.

She blamed the difficulties on the Child Development Account scheme, which parents use to pay the kindergarten, adding that parents are often late in topping up their children's accounts, which causes payments the kindergarten has made through Giro to bounce.

"It wasn't that we didn't submit the payment; it just didn't go through," she said. "We have to do a lot of chasing. We usually manage to get it done within the three- month period, but I guess this was the one time we were a little later."



The remaining $15.2 million recovered last year was from 1,840 companies which had underpaid or not paid CPF to more than 14,700 workers.

A top-tier construction company had arrears of $2 million from not paying CPF to 70 of its drivers over eight years. Investigations showed that the company had classified the drivers as independent contractors, when they should have been considered employees.

A retired driver, who gave his name only as Mr Tan, lodged a complaint and took back $40,000.

"I'm happy as it goes some way to making things easier for my family," said the 66-year-old in Mandarin. He has since left the company, which he declined to name.

The Board also took more employers to court last year, convicting and fining a total of 273, up from 269 in 2014. Those who flout the CPF Act for the first time face a fine of up to $5,000, a jail term of up to six months, or both. Repeat offenders may be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to a year, or both.

Elections Department, police explain Cooling-Off Day probes

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Despite the rules being publicised, there were deliberate and serious breaches, says joint statement
By Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 2 Jun 2016

The reason the Elections Department (ELD) and the police took action against various persons and websites for their online posts on Cooling-Off Day for the Bukit Batok by-election was set out in a joint statement last night.

It came amid criticism from netizens about the way the police are reportedly conducting the investigations, and a call from the Workers' Party (WP) for the police to be consistent in their probes.

The statement noted that the rules for Cooling-Off Day, introduced in 2011, have been breached in the various elections.

The approach taken by the ELD has been to give warnings. In some cases, the breaches were found to be unintentional, it added.

However, "we observed what appeared to be deliberate and serious breaches of the rules... during the Bukit Batok by-election", it said.

This despite the ELD making public past breaches as well as publicising the rules several times, including issuing an advisory before Cooling-Off Day and a subsequent reminder on Cooling-Off Day itself against activities that are deemed election advertising, said the joint statement.

In the Bukit Batok by-election, various persons and sites published online posts in contravention of the rules. It said The Independent Singapore, a socio-political website, continued to post such material even after receiving a specific reminder from the Assistant Returning Officer not to do so.

"Given the blatant disregard of the (rules) in the Bukit Batok by-election, the Assistant Returning Officer decided to make police reports so that the police could investigate."

It added: "As part of the investigations, the police need to examine for evidentiary purposes electronic devices used to publish the online postings. As such, these devices had to be seized."

When the investigations are completed, the police will make their recommendations to the Attorney-General's Chambers, said the statement.

Besides The Independent Singapore, blogger Roy Ngerng and former political detainee Teo Soh Lung are being investigated as both made Cooling-Off Day posts in support of Singapore Democratic Party candidate Chee Soon Juan.

Mr Ngerng and Ms Teo said on social media they were interrogated for long hours by the police on Tuesday and their homes were also "raided". They added that their phones and computers were confiscated.

The WP urged the authorities to ensure consistency and proportionality are applied to all investigations. It also said others who were reported for similar violations in the past "were not known to have faced the same lengthy interviews, and searches and seizures of personal equipment".

Asked to elaborate, it told The Straits Times they include two People's Action Party (PAP) candidates in previous general elections. They were Dr Vivian Balakrishnan last year and Ms Tin Pei Ling in 2011. Both were reminded by the ELD of the election rule, and the posts were removed the same day.

In a Facebook post last night, PAP MP Tan Wu Meng referred to the WP statement and said WP central executive council member and Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera has been linked to The Independent Singapore, and "this was not declared in WP's statement".

"Given this, WP should be aware that it could be seen as having an interest in the outcome of the investigation, and that every effort should be made by WP to avoid the impression that WP is trying to interfere with the investigation," he said.

The Independent Singapore lists Mr Perera as a member of its advisory board. These advisers are not involved in operating the website.











Workers' Party Leon Perera 'not involved in managing site under police probe'
By Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 3 Jun 2016

Workers' Party (WP) Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera said he is not involved in the management and operations of socio-political site The Independent Singapore (TISG), which is being investigated for violations of election advertising rules.

Mr Perera also said yesterday that he is not a member of the website's board of directors.

He is, however, a minority shareholder whose role, he said, is limited to "providing occasional advice on long-term business strategy, not on editorial decisions or content".

His statement, which he posted on his Facebook page, comes a day after People's Action Party MP Tan Wu Meng made a comment about Mr Perera's links to TISG.

Dr Tan, an MP for Jurong GRC, made the point in a Facebook post, when remarking on the WP's statement about the police probe into online posts on May 6 and May 7, Cooling-Off Day and Polling Day for the Bukit Batok by-election.


The WP had said it was concerned about the way investigations were reportedly conducted, and urged the authorities to ensure consistency and proportionality in probes.

Dr Tan, who said the law should be allowed to run its course, said that given Mr Perera's links to TISG, the WP "could be seen as having an interest in the outcome of the investigation". He added that the party should make every effort "to avoid the impression that it is trying to interfere with the investigation".

Mr Perera, in his response, said his involvement in the website was "a matter of public record" and that he had declared it in a previous interview with the news site Mothership.

He is one of six shareholders of Protegesoft company, which owns TISG. He owns two million of the company's 8.51 million shares, according to official records. He is also a member of TISG's advisory board.

Blogger Roy Ngerng and former political detainee Teo Soh Lung are also being investigated for online posts made on May 6 in contravention of election advertising rules.

The duo have said they were interrogated for long hours by the police on Tuesday and that their homes were "raided". They added that their phones and computers were confiscated.

A group of 141 activists and members of the public said yesterday in a statement that they were "gravely concerned" by the seizure of the duo's belongings without a warrant, and the archiving of their personal data. These actions are "completely disproportionate to any harm alleged to have been caused by the actions of Mr Ngerng and Ms Teo", the statement said.






Donald Trump "opposes the role a free press plays in a democratic society"

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Trump makes venomous attack on US news media
The Straits Times, 2 Jun 2016

WASHINGTON • He called a news conference ostensibly to answer questions about his fund-raising for charities that benefit military veterans. But Mr Donald Trump instead spent most of his time on live television berating the journalists covering his presidential campaign in unusually vitriolic and personal terms.

"You're a sleaze," he told a reporter for ABC.

"You're a real beauty," he told a reporter for CNN, snidely denigrating the man's competence.



For 40 minutes on Tuesday, Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, assailed reporters with a level of venom rarely seen at all, let alone in public, from the standard-bearer of a major US political party. And he warned that a Trump White House would feature more of the same.

The issue had come to light through simple fact-checking. In January, fuming at Fox News, he skipped the final Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses because that network was hosting it. He held a competing event, a televised fund-raiser that he said would benefit military veterans, and announced that he had raised more than US$6 million (S$8.3 million), including US$1 million he was donating himself.

But The Washington Post reported a week ago that Mr Trump had yet to make his own donation.

In Tuesday's news conference, Mr Trump read aloud a list of charitable groups and the exact amounts he said each had received, interrupting himself frequently to issue broadsides at individual journalists, the news media in general, or political reporters as an exceptionally odious class.

"Unbelievably dishonest", he called them. To show that he had finally made his own million-dollar donation, Mr Trump produced a photocopy of a cheque.

"The press should be ashamed of themselves," Mr Trump said. Veterans are "calling me, and they are furious", he said, adding, "You make me look very bad."



The president of the National Press Club, Mr Thomas Burr, issued a statement suggesting that Mr Trump "misunderstands - or, more likely, simply opposes - the role a free press plays in a democratic society." The pro-Clinton group Correct the Record said the performance raised new questions about Mr Trump's temperament.

And more ammunition for his opponents has emerged in claims Mr Trump's business seminar programme created a class to teach students how to cash in on US mortgage foreclosures during the housing crisis.

Trump University promised in 2009 that its Fast Track To Foreclosure Investing class would teach students how to take advantage of the crisis, according to university documents in a lawsuit against the now-defunct programme.

NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS


Indonesia sends troops to Pulau Manis, after map blunder involving Singapore

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AsiaOne, 2 Jun 2016

JAKARTA - Furious officials sent troops to Indonesian islets near Singapore after an online map of an eco resort mistakenly suggested they belong to the city-state.

Indonesian lawmakers also demanded the country's sovereignty be defended as anger mounted at the map of the under-construction "Funtasy Island".

The map initially showed the islets that make up the resort in blue, the same colour as Singapore, prompting outrage in Indonesian media at what they said was an attempt to claim their country's territory by stealth.

Both governments scrambled to defuse the escalating anger, with the city-state's foreign ministry saying it was "deeply puzzled" since it did not claim the islands while Jakarta insisted it was a mistake.

The six islets were also changed to red on the website map, one of the colours on the Indonesian flag.

But by this point, Indonesian army and navy personnel had already been dispatched from a local base at the weekend to the resort to place the country's flag on the highest point of one of the islands.

Local tourism chief Guntur Sakti said he had sent a warning to Singapore over the map, while Indonesian parliament speaker Ade Komaruddin told news website Tribunnews that "our sovereignty must be upheld".

However Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir played down the row, saying it was due to a mistake by the group Funtasy Island Development, which is building the resort.

"The issue has basically been resolved," he said. "The mistake has been corrected".

Funtasy Island Development insisted in a statement it recognised the islands were all Indonesian and it had never claimed the resort was inside Singaporean territory.

It added the map was just "to show the location of Funtasy Island Resort and for showing the distance between Singapore and Funtasy Island Resort".

The affluent city-state and its huge neighbour have a historically acrimonious relationship. They clashed repeatedly last year after Indonesian forest fires choked Singapore with toxic smog for weeks.

The resort website describes the development, which is 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Singapore, as the world's biggest eco park, where visitors can stay in villas and enjoy nature trails and water sports.

AFP






















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