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Building A Nation: The Early Years

July 31, 2014, 9:11 am
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A three-decade transformation
The people behind this transformation tell MINT KANG how S'pore went from a state of squalor to a liveable and sustainable city
The Business Times, 29 Jul 2014

SAFETY; cleanliness; mobility; spaciousness; connectivity; equity. These, said former minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew in a 2013 interview with the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), are the ingredients of a good city, and Singapore has all of them today.

But 50 years ago, urban Singapore would have scored zero on that list.

"50 years ago, Singapore was a basket case of urbanisation gone wrong. Overcrowding, traffic congestion, flooding, crime, no proper sanitation - name any urban problem and we had it," says Khoo Teng Chye, executive director of the CLC, who served with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) from 1976 to 1996, the last four years as its CEO and chief planner.

The creation of modern Singapore from that state of squalor took three decades and was driven by two key agencies: the Housing & Development Board (HDB) and later, the URA. The HDB was set up in 1960 with the mandate of properly housing the population, resettling thousands from the slums that predominated the urban landscape in those years. In 1964, to complement its work in public housing, it created the Urban Renewal Unit to redevelop the central parts of Singapore for commercial use. Later on, the unit was restructured first as a department, and then, in 1974, converted to an independent statutory board - the URA - with more manpower and funding to handle the huge job.

Bringing order to the city

Throughout the 1970s, the URA's work centred around implementing the first Concept Plan, which had been developed in 1971 with the help of the United Nations. The Concept Plan covered many areas, from population growth to town planning, road planning and transport systems, and the port and airport. It was a huge, multi-agency effort coordinated by the Ministry of National Development (MND).

"The Concept Plan required a lot of additional detailed and specific information for the purpose of implementation," recalls Liu Thai Ker, who headed the HDB and then the URA from the 1970s to the 1990s and is today known as the architect of urban Singapore for his work on public housing. From large-scale land development agencies like HDB and the Jurong Town Corporation, to water management agencies like the Public Utilities Board (PUB), each agency had to provide its plans to the MND in detail and declare their land use needs for incorporation into the Concept Plan.

"We were hungry for jobs and investors, but also very fortunate that our leaders avoided the approach of develop first and clean up later," says Mr Khoo. "To me, the important thing is that our transformation to a liveable and sustainable city is something that has been brought about because of good governance and an integrated approach to planning."

However, the Concept Plan called for the population to be moved outwards to new satellite towns surrounding the central water catchment area, connected by expressways and a MRT system, and for the vacated land to be developed into a financial and business centre. In practice, that meant relocating hundreds of thousands of residents, dozens of industries and hundreds of businesses.

Putting a roof over the population's head

"Some of the squatters would turn nasty and set their dogs on us. We carried umbrellas to defend ourselves; at worst we ran for it. Sometimes we even had to get the police to escort us," recalls Loh Yan Hui, the deputy chief executive officer of Surbana International Consultants, who joined the HDB's Building and Development Division as a civil engineer in the late 1970s.

Mr Loh and his colleagues were among the government officers at the forefront of the huge resettlement, and one of the challenges they faced was evicting squatters from rural settlements on the designated town sites. "Many of these squatters were very sentimental about their homes," says Mr Loh. "No matter how bad the living conditions were, they would bargain with us and ask for more time. We would compromise and clear other areas first, but inevitably we had to come back and make them leave."

Then, the HDB had to house a population of 1.7 million in as short a time as possible, and it had been given all the powers it needed to do so. The speed of building and resettlement ramped up through the 1960s. By the 1970s, HDB was building 50,000 units a year.

"We saw, in the rural areas of Singapore, a very dramatic transformation of the physical landscape over the course of just 5 to 10 years," says Mr Loh. "It succeeded because HDB took a multi-disciplinary approach and had been given a very strong mandate."

Each new town was built according to a template that hung in the HDB headquarters at Bukit Merah. The template dictated where arterial roads should be placed, how the land should be divided into neighbourhoods and precincts, and even where facilities such as schools should be placed.

"In the early 1970s, there was no clear definition of what a new town should be or what a neighbourhood entailed," says Dr Liu. "It was through our research, interviews and learning from other countries that we found out that for each new town to be highly self-sufficient, complete with essential facilities and amenities, we needed a population size of around 200,000 people."

Dr Liu and his fellow planners carried out similar research for neighbourhoods and even precincts, complete with input from estate officers, sociologists, and engineers. By the late 1980s, the last of the squatters would have been resettled, and HDB's quest to house the population would be complete.

Keeping Singapore flood-free

As Singapore was developing its new towns, it was also coping with flood problems. "In those days, when the rains came and coincided with the high tide, whole kampungs would be covered with water right up to the roofs," says Yap Kheng Guan, former senior consultant and senior director at the PUB. "Long stretches of road would be unusable for hours and even days until the floods subsided."

Mr Yap, who joined the Ministry of Environment's drainage department in 1975 as a civil engineer and spent the next 25 years working on Singapore's drainage, recalls that the ongoing urbanisation of those decades added to the flood problems. Each new development, whether public housing or industrial, increased the runoff into an already overloaded drainage system. Some of the most notoriously flood-prone areas were Bukit Timah, Geylang Serai and Potong Pasir.

"In the 1960s, Bukit Timah Road and Dunearn Road were the primary trunk roads - the expressways had not been built yet - and there were schools all along the area," Mr Yap says. "Each time it flooded, everything was disrupted. Something had to be done, but there was not enough money at the time. Singapore was just too poor."

One diversion canal had been built in 1969, but it was not until 1986 that construction began on a second canal. Like its predecessor, the second diversion canal was built with only basic equipment and methods. Lacking today's tunnelling and shoring technology, Mr Yap and his fellow engineers had to blast the four-kilometre canal from Swiss Cottage Estate to the Kallang River through soft and damp soil that hindered construction of the canal's concrete walls. In 1991 the canal was finally completed, and joined hundreds of other large and small drainage projects that reduced Singapore's flood-prone areas by 90 per cent.

The PUB had an entirely different water issue: that of ensuring a clean water supply to the population. In the 1960s, the waterways were notoriously polluted, such that the cleanup of the Singapore River and the Kallang Basin in the late 1970s and 1980s took 10 years and made the Anti-Pollution Unit famous.

As with the urban redevelopment effort, cleaning up the waterways took a massive cross-agency effort. Lee Ek Tieng, the former chairman of the PUB and one of the 10 civil servants involved in the cleanup, told the National Environment Agency in a 2011 dialogue that the success of the endeavour came from providing alternatives through infrastructure: building proper sanitation and garbage removal systems for both households and businesses.

In the early years, Singapore had only three local water sources: the MacRitchie Reservoir, the Kallang River Reservoir (later known as the Peirce Reservoir), and the Seletar Reservoir. The PUB spent the next three decades constructing 10 more reservoirs. Later, in the 1990s, the PUB's approach would expand in an attempt to make water integral not just to life but to lifestyles.

In those years, the PUB was also responsible for getting Singapore's electricity and gas supplies going. Pasir Panjang Power Station was one of the earliest power stations owned by the PUB, operating on 60 megawatt turbines installed by Hitachi in 1962 and 1964; later in the same decade, it would be joined by Jurong Power Station, running the same power generation system. Subsequent power stations also utilised Hitachi systems down to the 1990s, including the Seraya and Tuas Power Stations.

Turning points great and small

The modernisation and development of Singapore from the 1960s to the 1990s is marked by dozens of triumphs. Some, like the cleaning up of the Singapore River, have entered legend; others, like the closing of the last night soil station in 1987, went unnoticed except by the government officers involved in implementing the sewer system.

"There was no great fanfare, but the senior officers from the department lined up along the road that led to the night soil station to welcome back the last night soil wagon," says Tan Gee Paw, the former chairman of PUB who led the effort to clean up the Singapore River in the 1980s and is today known as the master architect of Singapore's water supply. In a 2014 interview with the CLC, he recounted: "It was a significant event which I clearly remember because it meant that every home, every block, every premise in Singapore has been sewered successfully. It was a massive effort that took 10 to 20 years to accomplish and we were probably the first in Asia to be able to do so."

For Dr Liu, who today chairs the CLC's Advisory Board, the turning points in public housing were marked every decade: in the 1960s, when the government committed itself to solving the housing shortage problem in the shortest possible time; in the late 1970s, when the housing shortage was finally brought under control; and in 1985, the year he feels that Singapore as a whole became a modern metropolis. "We can summarise our achievements then by the following four phrases: No Squatters, No Homeless, No Poverty Ghettos, No Ethnic Enclaves," he says.

To Mr Khoo, heading the URA in the 1990s, the turning point came when the various government agencies were finally able to step back from immediate action and begin institutionalising their work. "Up to the late 80s, we were very action-oriented. Our focus was on delivering the housing programmes as quickly and efficiently as possible," he explains. "It was only around the early 1990s, after infrastructure was no longer an urgent need, that we became more systematic: reviewing the Concept Plan and the Masterplan, restructuring the bureaucracy to place URA in charge of overall planning."

The 1990s was also when many other agencies were restructured and consolidated: for example, the Land Transport Authority was formed in 1995 from the merger of four other public sector entities that had previously worked separately on road building and maintenance and vehicle registration.

Ultimately, however, the very first turning point for Singapore's modernisation was that of political will: giving the agencies responsible for development all the support they needed, whether in terms of resources or legislation, at a time when the population was willing to accept the changes involved. As former minister mentor Lee said in his interview with CLC: "I'm pleased that we redeveloped the city when there was a chance to do it."

This is the first of a three-part series brought to you by Hitachi, in collaboration with Singapore Institute of Building Limited, and with resource assistance from Centre for Liveable Cities Singapore. The next part, Building a Nation: Today, will be published on Aug 5.





The port: Singapore's reason for existence

IN any story of modern Singapore, the port cannot be ignored. The city of Singapore was built around the port, and in the 1960s and 1970s, the port was still a key driver of Singapore's economy. Even as urbanisation went full speed, it was not neglected: one of the development agencies formed in the 1960s was the Port of Singapore Authority, established in 1964 to oversee the development of the port's infrastructure and ensure its continued viability.

PSA moved to fulfil its mandate in a very daring manner. In 1966, no container ships plied the trade routes to South-east Asia - but PSA took the gamble of building a container terminal at East Lagoon (today's Tanjong Pagar), and secured a $45 million loan from the World Bank to fund the construction. The idea, far fetched for its time, paid off handsomely. Six years later, the port opened to receive its first vessel: the MV Nihon, sailing from Rotterdam with a cargo of 300 containers. The stream of vessels that followed the Nihon would make Singapore the busiest container port in the world by 1985.

At the port's opening ceremony, then-minister for communications Yong Nyuk Lin told an international audience: "Singapore has therefore made a quantum leap today, into the container era ... able to deal right away with the larger, more sophisticated and latest type third-generation container ship with the official opening of its container port. This is as it should be."

And indeed the port's importance has remained over the years - more than four decades after PSA's bold decision.

Then-minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew, speaking at the inaugural Singapore Maritime Lecture in 2008, described the port as Singapore's reason for existence. "Singapore's raison d'etre was its port; Singapore must strive to remain a major hub port," he said.


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SNEF chief Stephen Lee steps down after 26 years

July 31, 2014, 11:30 pm
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SNEF head lauded for helping build ties between Govt, labour and bosses
By Aaron Low, The Straits Times, 31 Jul 2014

ONE of Singapore's biggest employers' groups is getting a new chief: Dr Robert Yap, 62, a veteran of the local logistics industry.

He will take over as Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) president on Sept 1, after Mr Stephen Lee, 67, steps down from the post after 26 years.

The passing of the baton comes with the national economic restructuring effort in full swing.

Since he was elected as SNEF president in 1988, Mr Lee, who is also chairman of Singapore Airlines, has "worked tirelessly" to strengthen employers' partnership with the Government and the labour movement, said SNEF in a statement yesterday.

Labour unions and the Government also paid tribute to Mr Lee, who has been involved in labour relations since 1977, when he began serving in SNEF's predecessor, the National Employers Council.

Mr Lee has also been on the National Wages Council since 1978 - its longest-serving member.

He said: "When I became involved in the work of the National Employers Council in 1977 at 30 years of age, I could not have imagined that I would stay in this area of work for 37 years. It has been a very rewarding and rich experience for me."

Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin thanked Mr Lee for his efforts in building stronger relations between employers, workers and the Government.

"In his own unique ways, he has helped shape the tripartism model as a centrepiece of our economic competitiveness," he said.

"His contributions to industrial peace and harmony and to the economic progress of Singapore cannot be overstated."

The labour unions also praised Mr Lee for always "adopting a fair and balanced approach when managing major issues that had great impact on both businesses and workers".

Mr Lee worked with unions and helped steer companies through four economic downturns, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) noted in a statement signed by its secretary-general Lim Swee Say and president Diana Chia.

It said: "During economic crises, he worked closely with unions and tripartite partners and urged managements to take the difficult but necessary lead in cutting their own wages first to save costs."

Both the Government and the NTUC said they look forward to working with Dr Yap, 62, the chairman and chief executive of home-grown supply chain management company YCH Group.

Dr Yap said that the country has benefited from peaceful and harmonious labour relations.

"Global competition is intense and we have to constantly innovate and increase productivity to stay ahead," he said.





'He's very firm but also willing to listen'
Labour movement pays tribute to outgoing leader of employers' body
By Chia Yan Min, The Straits Times, 31 Jul 2014

MR STEPHEN Lee has seen Singapore through various crises and economic downturns, and is an institution at the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

A key figure in carving out the tripartite alliance between the Government, employers and unions, Mr Lee will step down in September after 26 years as the federation's president.

Mr Lee, 67, was elected president of the National Employers Council in 1977, to speak on behalf of employers. The National Employers Council and Singapore Employers Federation were merged to form SNEF in 1980.

He is the chairman of Singapore Airlines (SIA) and previously chaired both port operator PSA International and government trade promotion arm International Enterprise Singapore. He is also a former Nominated Member of Parliament.

Mr Lee is the longest-serving member of the National Wages Council, where he has represented the employers' group for the past 36 years.

During his time at SNEF, he steered Singapore employers through four economic downturns, wage reforms in 1986 and wage restructuring in 2004.

He also contributed in lifting the wages of low-income workers, extending the retirement age and implementing re-employment of older employees.

For all his achievements, Mr Lee is widely respected by unionists and labour MPs as a good listener and expert communicator.

As SIA's chairman, he met leaders from the SIA unions at coffee shops to resolve differences between the unions and management.

Mr Eddie Chew, 65, former president of the Singapore Airlines Staff Union, said Mr Lee "does not have airs, even though he's very smart".

"He comes down to your level and makes you feel comfortable... In negotiations, he's very firm but also willing to listen," said Mr Chew, who was the union's president for about 30 years and is now retired after stepping down in 2007.

Former NTUC secretary-general Lim Boon Heng said Mr Lee is an employer who understands employees, and also gets along well with union leaders.

He recalled union leaders inviting Mr Lee to a drink and a friendly game of poker some years ago.

"The next day, he told me about it, and said he felt bad about winning their money. I am sure he made up for it with a good dinner and drinks later."

Mr Lim added: "It is hard to find a person like Stephen Lee."

Mr Lee has "the ability to communicate very complex things in an understandable and simple way, and therefore get people to support him," said Mr Alexander Melchers, SNEF's vice-president.

"We've had to negotiate many challenges, such as the changes to CPF, and issues surrounding the re-employment of older workers, and Mr Lee was always very masterful at finding new ways to look at issues," he said.





Testing issues ahead for new SNEF chief
By Chia Yan Min, The Straits Times, 31 Jul 2014

LABOUR relations leaders believe Dr Robert Yap will face some testing issues once he takes over as president of the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) in September.

The labour crunch, restructuring to raise productivity, hiring of older workers and ongoing debates about the role of foreign manpower in Singapore will all be challenges in his in-tray.

The incoming president will also have to maintain harmonious labour relations between employers, unions and the Government, say labour leaders.

Dr Yap, the chairman and chief executive of supply chain management firm YCH Group and one of four SNEF vice-presidents, will replace outgoing president Stephen Lee.

Mr Alexander Melchers, also an SNEF vice-president, said Dr Yap must "put his own stamp on the discussion" about labour relations. "It's going to be a big challenge because (outgoing president Stephen Lee) has been in the position for many years, and the new president will have to develop his own style," he added.

One of Dr Yap's main tasks will be to keep the labour market "as flexible and liberal as possible, because that will ensure the Singapore economy stays competitive".

"We need to strike a good balance between what is important to Singaporeans as employees, and what is important to them as members of a thriving economy," added Mr Melchers.

MP Zainudin Nordin, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, said the tight labour market remains a real issue, as does the need to balance employers' requirements and the changing aspirations and demands of workers across all levels.

"(The tripartite movement) is unique to Singapore, and we need leaders who are strong and yet able to articulate the challenges that we need to overcome," he added.

"He also needs to rally employers to support the tripartite partnership that has been in place for a long time."

Singapore Management University associate law professor Eugene Tan said that the deep economic restructuring, productivity drive and concerns over immigration have made the employer's role even more critical.

"Is SNEF up to the challenge, or will it be seen as the weakest link in our tripartism framework?" he asked.

"The foreign-local tussle will continue to be part of the employment landscape for the foreseeable future.

"And much will be expected of SNEF to maintain an even keel in this regard, while also strengthening the Singapore core in our workforce."


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Sungei Road flea market will have to go

July 31, 2014, 11:48 pm
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NEA turns down alternative sites traders suggested
By Melody Zaccheus, The Straits Times, 31 Jul 2014

AROUND eight decades of history seem set to come to an end for Sungei Road flea market.

As it has to make way for the Sungei Road MRT station, due to open in 2017, an association representing its 200 traders had suggested relocating to one of four alternative sites nearby.

However, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has rejected this - and not given it any explanation. When asked, NEA referred The Straits Times to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which said the four sites have been zoned for parks and residential use under Master Plan 2014. They are next to Rochor River, at Kampong Bugis along Kallang River, behind Sim Lim Tower and a roadside near Jalan Kubor Malay cemetery.



The president of the Association for the Recycling of Second Hand Goods, Mr Koh Ah Koon, 73, received a letter from the NEA informing him of the decision last week. He passed on the bad news to members at a meeting on Monday. "Shutting down the market will mean taking away a source of income for many elderly folk here," he said. "Most of us have little education or are illiterate."

It could push some peddlers back to the ways of the past when they squatted illegally, he warned. At least 70 per cent of them are aged between 60 and 80. The market is open from 1pm to 7pm daily. Tourists, foreign workers and locals flock there on weekends to buy bits and bobs such as old coins, stamps, cassettes, jewellery, clothes and electronic gear.

Mr Loon Kwai Sng, 74, who sells electric parts, said: "Who will employ us? We're used to making a living on our own."

Father of three Ng Gin Kun, 62, who sells used phones, said: "We want the chance to fend for ourselves and be independent."

The letter stated that the NEA and other agencies will work with vendors and match them with financial assistance schemes.

The NEA had previously said the peddlers can bid for hawker centre stalls. But Mr Koh said: "We're not selling food, so a hawker stall space makes little sense. We shouldn't be split up either. It's the variety of goods that helps make the market unique."

The association's proposal, sent to government agencies in April last year, stated that it would take responsibility for maintaining the cleanliness and security of whatever space it used.

At present, the NEA makes daily checks to stop illegal hawking activities outside the zone and the sale of prohibited goods within it.

Central Singapore District mayor Denise Phua urged the Government to put together an inter-ministry work group "capable of making decisions on the vision and desired purpose of such a market, who their stakeholders are and their real needs and motivations".

As well as older traders in need of social aid, there are some opportunistic traders who are attracted to the Jalan Besar market because of its rent-free and city location.

Residents have complained about the market. One grouse is about traders who store goods in their void decks. However, Rowell Road resident Mardene Tay, 57, who has lived there for 30 years, said: "It was worse in the past. Today, cleaners clear up the mess shortly after they close, so I don't mind it that much. After all, the peddlers are just trying to earn a living."

Singapore Heritage Society president Chua Ai Lin said the market is a good example of a functioning community and economic system and a facet of Singapore's rich and diverse urban life.

It was documented by the National Heritage Board last year.






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LTA launches funding plan for companies to promote flexi-travel

August 1, 2014, 12:24 am
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Grants for firms to help ease rush-hour crush
By Royston Sim, The Straits Times, 31 Jul 2014

COMPANIES can soon tap more government funds to promote flexible travel arrangements, in a move to ease the crush on public transport in the morning.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has launched a "Travel Smart Network" to provide grants that employers can use to encourage staff to commute outside of peak hours or use alternative transport such as cycling.

Announcing this yesterday, Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo said: "We want to bring more employers on board, and make flexi-travel more readily available."

A company can apply for and receive grants of up to $510,000 over three years from the LTA. This comprises a $30,000 voucher to engage approved consultants to develop travel demand management plans, and grants of up to $160,000 a year, for three years, to co-fund initiatives such as bicycle parking and morning programmes for early birds.

Mrs Teo said a "sufficient amount" has been set aside for this programme, but did not disclose how much.

The authority has approached companies based near MRT stations with more than 200 employees. Several have expressed interest, including the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and DBS Bank.

The move is an expansion of an existing trial with 12 companies which have set up flexible work arrangements.

It also builds on a free travel scheme for commuters who exit at 18 city-area stations before 7.45am. That scheme, which has moved about 7 per cent of commuters out of the morning peak hour of 8am to 9am, was extended for another year in May.

Employees of companies in the network will have a higher chance of winning cash rewards on INSINC, a travel demand management scheme. One winner will win $1,500 in a monthly lucky draw.

On why the LTA is approaching larger companies, Mrs Teo said the earlier trial of 12 firms has shown that a critical mass is needed for flexi-travel schemes to work. Even so, she said the Government is "very happy" to support smaller companies that want to come on board.

SGX chief executive Magnus Bocker said the challenge will be to change day-to-day patterns.

Future Cities Laboratory transport researcher Alexander Erath thinks the LTA should open the rewards scheme to smaller employers as well, as it could spur more of their staff to take part.


Firms can use LTA grant for facilities like bicycle racks
By Royston Sim, The Straits Times, 31 Jul 2014
ARRANGING for morning exercise sessions is one way companies can tap government funds to encourage their employees to travel to work early.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) yesterday launched a Travel Smart Network to help companies shoulder the cost of developing flexible work arrangements.

This is to build on existing travel demand management schemes, and move more commuters out of the congested morning peak hour.

Besides a $30,000 voucher to engage a consultant, a company can get a grant of up to $80,000 a year, for three years, to build transport infrastructure. The LTA will fund 80 per cent and the company, 20 per cent.

A company can get another grant of up to $80,000 a year, also for three years, to pay for promotional activities which will be co-funded on a 50:50 basis.

The infrastructure and activities that can be funded include:
- bicycle parking facilities such as lockers and racks, or the conversion of carparks to bicycle parks;
- shower facilities;
- Travel Smart Day or forums to promote flexible travel arrangements;
- morning programmes such as exercise sessions or breakfast vouchers for early birds;coordinator to drive flexible travel plans.
Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo said the amount each company gets depends on what it puts in place.

"It is not a blank cheque, they do have to put in some effort."

She added that a "sufficient amount" has been set aside for this programme, but did not disclose the amount.

The Travel Smart Network expands on an LTA trial involving 12 firms which have put in place initiatives such as staggered working hours and tele-commuting.

These organisations said one challenge they face is the mindset that flexi-work could affect one's performance appraisal.

At Citi Singapore, employees are allowed to devise work schedules that fit them best. They could have a compressed work week, or have flexible start and end times.

However, its head of human resources Evangeline Chua said a stumbling block is the reluctance of managers to implement flexible work arrangements, for fear that it could affect daily operations.

There is also a general mindset among staff that they may be overlooked or negatively perceived by their colleagues if they utilise flexi-work options, she said.

Another company on the trial, audit firm KPMG, said about 13 per cent of staff eligible for flexi-work have taken it up. Staff turnover has fallen since such schemes were put in place, said Mr Stephen Tjoa, partner for people, performance and culture.

Mrs Teo said employers should make it possible for staff who come in early to go home earlier.

She added that companies under the pilot have found flexi-travel schemes beneficial.

"They find that they benefit from having happier, more productive, more engaged employees. They are able to attract and retain talent to a better extent."


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Patients now staying longer in hospital

August 1, 2014, 12:35 am
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Data from Health Ministry shows average stay is half a day longer than in 2008
By Salma Khalik, The Straits Times, 31 Jul 2014

PATIENTS are staying half a day longer in hospital now than they did in 2008.

The average stay last year was 6.4 days, up from 5.9 days in 2008, according to Ministry of Health (MOH) figures.

Professor Chee Yam Cheng, head of the National Healthcare Group, said reasons for this include hospitals taking in only more serious cases - largely because of the current bed crunch - and an increasing number of day surgery cases which are soaking up short-stay patients.

With a growing population, there has also been an increase in the number of patients needing hospitalisation. Between 2008 and last year, the number of people admitted to public hospitals went up by 15 per cent - from almost 258,000 to nearly 297,000 at the six acute public hospitals.

The longer average stay means hospital beds are being used for about 150,000 days a year more than they were in 2008 - an 8 per cent increase.

Prof Chee said the criteria for admitting patients were more lax in the past, given the greater availability of beds, while today, public hospitals are "more strict".

More operations and treatments can now be carried out as day procedures, with no hospital stay needed, such as the delivery of intravenous antibiotics.

Prof Chee said: "In the past, they were admitted while the intravenous antibiotics were administered maybe three or four times per 24 hours over five or 10 days.

"The newer antibiotics need only one daily dose so the patient can come as an outpatient instead of staying in hospital."

Dengue treatment has also improved as doctors become more familiar with the disease. Despite dengue cases reaching almost 12,000 so far this year, such patients occupied less than 1 per cent of beds.

Meanwhile, hospitals are seeing more and more elderly patients, who take longer to recover, Prof Chee said.

Their care is complicated because they often have more than one medical problem and "close monitoring is essential as... (their condition) can quickly turn bad".

MOH said patients aged 65 and older stayed about 8.2 days at a time last year, compared with the average of five days among younger patients.

With Singaporeans living longer, the trend towards longer hospital stays is likely to continue.


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Nurses stepping up to gain recognition

August 1, 2014, 1:06 am
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NURSES' work ethics and dedication are better known today within the health-care sector, as stated by Dr Leong Choon Kit ("Nurses deserve more recognition"; Tuesday) and Dr James Low ("Our front-line heroes and heroines, thank you"; Mind Your Body, July 24).

We are grateful for their strong affirmation, and concur with Dr Leong that more can be done to make nurses' contributions better known and appreciated by the public.

Nurses today are well represented on committees, strategic work groups and boards at both the organisational and national levels.

Post by CARE TO GO BEYOND.


Within the arena of evidence-based practice and publications, many of our nurses in various institutions have been getting their research papers successfully published in notable international journals, as well as in the local academic journal published by the Singapore Nurses Association.

We are heartened that ongoing efforts and consideration have gone into shaping the future development of nursing in Singapore and raising the competency levels of every nurse through comprehensive training, as well as regular recognition.

Like Dr Leong, we look forward to the recommendations by the National Nursing Taskforce.

While the incidence of abuse of nurses by demanding patients and families has been on the rise, this is generally true for all health-care workers. The reporting of abuse cases and deterrent penalties by the courts of law are steps in the right direction.

The professionalism of nurses has won the respect, appreciation and admiration of the public. Their consistent and engaging approach to care is often alluded to in complimentary letters from patients or their families to health-care institutions.

The ongoing work on improving professional and career progression is an indication that our nurses and nursing leaders are committed to improving patients' lives.

On behalf of all nurses in Singapore, I thank members of the public for their faith and trust in nurses. And to all nurses, have a great Nurses Day!

Lim Swee Hia
(Associate Professor)
President Singapore Nurses Association
ST Forum, 1 Aug 2014




President’s Award for Nurses 2014
Four bag Singapore's top award for nurses
By Aw Cheng Wei, The Straits Times, 31 Jul 2014

TWO days after a woman died in hospital following a heart attack, her children waited at a ward to thank Ms Karen Koh for the help she had given.

Until that point, Ms Koh, 38, had "never felt the higher calling to be a nurse". She had taken up a career in nursing as it married her interests in biomedical science and hospitality.

Yesterday, the advanced practice nurse at National University Hospital received the President's Award for Nurses from President Tony Tan Keng Yam at the Istana. Her achievements include setting up a clinical service that slashed the time that heart patients have to wait for an appointment from three months to one.

She was one of four recipients of the award, along with Madam Sim Lai Kiow, Madam Ng Wai May and Mr Yong Keng Kwang.

Madam Sim developed guidelines at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital to help other nurses advise patients on resuscitation efforts.

The 57-year-old clinician nurse, who also specialises in palliative care, visits elderly patients at their homes in her spare time. "This award is a huge encouragement and I'll continue to be a pillar of emotional support for my patients in the last lap of their journey," she said.

Madam Ng, 39, an advanced practice nurse, set up the stroke clinic at National Neuroscience Institute. Mr Yong, 43, introduced a system of co-governance at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, in which nurses can elect council members to partake in policymaking processes that involve nursing education, practice and work-life balance.

"This award represents my colleagues' affirmation," said the nursing director. "They all helped by giving testimonials."

The 15th annual award ceremony was attended by about 650 people, mostly from the nursing community, as well as Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and MPs Lily Neo and Chia Shi-Lu.





Nurses deserve more recognition

I LOOK forward to the recommendations by the National Nursing Taskforce, and their possible implementation ("Nursing task force finalising proposals"; July 15).

As a doctor, I have learnt much from my nursing colleagues. Our health-care system will not be able to function without them.

Unfortunately, their work often goes unrecognised. At times, they are also subject to abuse by members of the public.

We need to do more to raise awareness of our nurses' significant contributions.

First, Singaporeans must be educated on the nurses' job scope, and learn to trust and respect them.

It is not uncommon to see patients' family members treating nurses like their servants. They turn abusive when their demands are not met or when the nurses are busy tending to other patients.

Second, the public must understand that hospitals are not in the "traditional" service industry, and that patients are not customers.

Health-care workers do not choose their vocations because of the pay. Creating such a mercenary culture and public image will not help the nurses.

Third, the medical profession bases its practices on evidence-based principles. This protects the public from unsubstantiated and unnecessary treatments.

Nurses have contributed much to evidence-based research in Singapore, and they should be recognised for their efforts.

Perhaps an annual nursing scientific conference could be organised to showcase the fruits of their labour. A local nursing academic journal could also be considered for our nurses to publish their research.

The Ministry of Health could consider funding these, which will allow more nurses to be appreciated, on top of the usual Nurses' Day awards given to just a few of the many nurses who deserve recognition for their contributions.

Finally, more nurses could be invited to serve on think-tanks, and the boards and committees of various organisations. Their contributions will help us shape the medical landscape better.

We will be patients some day and will need the care of nurses. It will benefit us if we pay them the respect they deserve.

Leong Choon Kit (Dr)
ST Forum, 29 Jul 2014





Our frontline heroes and heroines, thank you
By Dr James Low, The Straits Times, Mind Your Body, 24 July 2014

It was the year 2003.

The Sars virus had just found its way into Singapore.

There was a sense of panic in the air. A few of our comrades had fallen to an unseen enemy.

We did not know who was next in line.

The doctors were divided into those who would cover the "clean" wards and the dreaded "fever" wards. We were to be very careful with febrile patients as they could be harbouring the Sars virus.

I remember entering the "fever" ward for the first time, all geared up with my personal protection equipment of gown, gloves and N95 mask, ready for action, albeit a little scared.

It was hot and humid and my breathing was impeded by the mask.

Soon I would be entering a "war zone".

But as I walked into the ward, and to my surprise, I was met with a strange calm and quietness.

It was the sight of the nurses going about their work perfectly composed and unperturbed.

They were attending to the patients without a semblance of fear or worry. It was a reassuring sight, seeing them don their hot and humid gowns and suffocating masks and going about their duties as always.

They were truly at the front, in the direct line of fire. It must have taken courage and altruism to do this.

Fast-forward to 2014 and we are in the midst of another kind of epidemic, a new war zone - the greying of a population.

I took a peek into the day of the nurses in one of the aged care wards.

It was just past 7am in the morning. The ward was already a hive of activity.

One nurse was pushing her medication cart around administering medications to the patients.

Other nurses were scurrying around tending to patients, who were being wheeled one by one into the bathrooms.

Some were assisted as they walked to their morning shower while others were sponged in bed.


Beds were made while the patients were bathed. Soon after, the old "aunties and uncles", as they are affectionately called, were helped to their armchairs while others were tucked back into bed.

It got busier as the day wore on and the doctors started their rounds.

The multitude of tasks and duties seemed daunting.

The nurses were on their feet most of the time.

A patient was calling to be brought to the toilet. Another, a "fall risk" patient, was trying to clamber out of bed by himself, alarming the nurses in the process.

At another end of the ward, a patient with dementia was calling out for her dinner when she had just finished her breakfast.

Yet another patient had put on her home clothes and was walking out of the ward with plastic bags of her worldly possessions. She was only half way from completing her treatment.

Then there were the patients who required daily wound dressing change, turning every two hours, tube feeding every three hours and blood glucose measurement every six hours.

Many patients had to be patiently fed by spoon and required regular toilet care after wetting or soiling their diapers.

Cleaning up after a helpless person who has soiled himself is not only humbling but, more importantly, it is also an act of true compassion.

In the midst of these, a heartwarming story unfolds.

A patient was living alone but was admitted to hospital with a large oozing wound on her scalp.

It was a sorry sight. Unkempt and reeking of urine, her clothes looked worn out, stained with stale blood and covered in grime.

As she changed into the hospital garb, her dirty clothes stood in a pile on the floor.

The attending nurse picked them up and put them in a plastic bag.

What the nurse did next was unexpected. She took the clothes home to wash them. But before she could bring the clothes back, the patient died. Moments after her death, the nurse got someone to drive her home to iron the clothes so that she could have them ready for the patient's funeral.

While we were experiencing sympathy and pity, this nurse demonstrated what compassion in action meant.

These are just a few stories of the women and men who, daily, walk in the footsteps of the Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale, who, during her late-night rounds, carried a lamp bringing warmth and comfort to many sick and wounded soldiers during the Crimean war.

Nurses work tirelessly to keep the hospital going 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Through thick and thin, come rain or shine, whether battling thick haze or viral epidemics, one can be sure that nurses will be standing there right at the forefront of patient care.

As Nurses' Day is just around the corner, it would be a most opportune time to highlight the importance of the nursing profession and to thank our nurses for what they have been doing for us.

I will leave this message for all the nurses, on behalf of my elderly patients and I:

"We are sorry that life can be tough and that your work may go unappreciated. We know that you bring kindness and warmth into the wards.

"You brighten the lives of many a suffering soul. Your hands are the instruments of angels that bring comfort and healing to our patients for no treatment would ever work if not for the work of your hands and heart.

"No pain or suffering would ever be relieved if you were not there to administer the balm. No miracles could ever happen if not for your assistance and intervention.

"Because of these and more, we would really like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And we would like to express our deep appreciation with the wish that you will one day be blessed in a special way for the love and sacrifice you put into your life's work.

"Happy Nurses' Day!"

Dr Low is a senior consultant and palliative care physician at the department of geriatric medicine at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. He is a member of the specialist training committee for geriatric medicine.


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More nursing home beds by 2020

August 2, 2014, 4:37 am
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MOH targets 17,150 beds by 2020; it will also run small number of homes
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 1 Aug 2014

FOR the first time, the Health Ministry (MOH) is planning to run its own nursing homes to help Singapore cope with the demands of a greying population.

It is also looking into releasing land for new facilities and helping operators scale up more quickly, after revising its initial target of 15,600 beds by 2020 to 17,150 - a 10 per cent increase.

"With more rapid population ageing in the next couple of decades, we need even more nursing home capacity to meet the anticipated increase in demand for nursing care," said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday, as he revealed several initiatives to ramp up the number of beds from around 10,000 now.

MOH is considering running three to four of its own nursing homes to help the ministry better understand the issues faced by operators, and come up with solutions and innovations in eldercare which can be adopted by others.

"Our intention is not to become a major player in the market," said Mr Gan, pointing out that MOH intends to directly operate only about 1,000 beds by 2020, which will account for 6 per cent of the total.

To help operators expand, MOH will call for tenders in which more than one nursing home will be awarded to one operator at a time.

These homes will also be located close to each other so that operators can enjoy economies of scale and better manage resources. A therapist, for instance, could work at two nearby homes, cutting back on manpower.

The first of such tenders will be launched this month, and is open to voluntary welfare organisations and private operators.

Those who wish to apply will "have to be prepared to provide more holistic care", said Mr Gan, explaining that they should offer home-care services as well. This will help patients receive care under their own roof after a stay at a nursing home.

The ministry will pay for the building of these new facilities, and lease them out to operators in order to keep costs low for patients.

MOH had announced two years ago that 10 nursing homes with 3,000 beds will be built under this Build-Own-Lease model by 2016.

Yesterday, Mr Gan said another nine homes, which will provide 2,000 beds, will be built under this scheme between 2017 and 2020. The Government also plans to release suitable land sites and state properties for the private sector to own and run their nursing homes with their own care models, he added. This will add about 450 more beds by 2020.

About 1,000 more beds will also be provided through the expansion of existing nursing homes.

Mr Gan revealed his ministry's plans at the opening of the Society for the Aged Sick's new tower block in Hougang, which added 160 beds to the previous capacity of 244 beds.

Nursing home operators welcomed MOH's plan to run its own homes.

All Saints Home chief executive Eugene Yeo said: "It's encouraging that the policymaker wants to experience first-hand the challenges on the ground."

But some were concerned about manpower issues, given the crunch affecting the health-care sector. Last week, NTUC also revealed plans to open its first nursing home next year under the Build-Own-Lease model.

Ms Loh Shu Ching, chief executive of Ren Ci Hospital, hoped for a "level playing field" in hiring staff. "The recruitment machinery behind MOH-run homes will definitely be bigger. These homes may be perceived to be more attractive employers, with strong government funding behind them."









MOH’s nursing homes will improve standard of eldercare services: experts
By Sara Grosse, Channel NewsAsia, 2 Aug 2014

Healthcare industry players say there will be an improved standard of care at nursing homes when the Ministry of Health (MOH) operates its own eldercare facilities.

MOH plans to operate a few nursing homes of its own so that it can develop innovations in eldercare and share successful models of care with the rest of the sector. But while this may mean better innovation in the nursing home sector, there will also be competition for manpower.

To prevent falls for elderly patients getting out of bed, Peacehaven Nursing Home developed a prototype call system two years ago - a switch connected to the bed rail is triggered once a patient moves from the bed, alerting staff. But the nursing home has had problems bringing the prototype to fruition, and is hoping that the nursing homes operated by MOH would also share innovations that they come up with.

Low Mui Lang, executive director of Peacehaven Nursing Home, said: "In the nursing home, we carry out a few innovations. We do prototyping. But we do have difficulties because we don't have the additional manpower.

“MOH will have the ability to employ a project manager to be in charge of innovation. And this project manager can actually work through with the nursing home that they have to do the design-thinking and come up with prototyping. And after the prototyping, the ministry and I would see that they would have the platform to bring this prototyping to Spring Singapore or to any other vendor to be able to produce the product. "

While Madam Low welcomes new models of care in the nursing home sector, she says there is still some apprehension that government-run nursing homes may be in a better position to attract trained staff, compared to other nursing homes.

Madam Low said: "Maybe MOH will be able to recruit professional staff and pay them competitively as compared to the hospitals, which currently some of us are still struggling with. So MOH will be in a better position to recruit trained staff. For us, our current system is such that we hire foreign staff and we upgrade them into enrolled nurses and registered nurses. So our staff in our homes take a longer time to upgrade, whereas those in MOH, they would be able to attract those with hospital experience."

Some healthcare analysts however say competition in the nursing home sector is good, even if costs increase. Associate Professor Phua Kai Hong from Heath Policy and Management at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said: "If it is lucrative enough, many more private operators would come in and if the standards are raised, obviously costs would have to go up. But if it is a necessary demand, it is a more optimal solution rather than to resort to just providing more medical care."

The overall consensus of having MOH run its own nursing homes is that it will raise the standards and improve the overall quality of care of the nursing home sector. But manpower resources still remain a key concern and it is something that has to be tackled through intensive training.


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Ebola Virus Disease

August 2, 2014, 5:21 am
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No travel curbs from WHO despite Ebola
The Straits Times, 1 Aug 2014

GENEVA - The World Health Organisation (WHO) is not recommending travel restrictions despite the Ebola outbreak, as it says that there is a low risk to airline passengers if an infected person is aboard.

The WHO advisory came as Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency yesterday in its struggle to control the epidemic, which has taken 729 lives.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) said yesterday that residents should not be alarmed by the spate of Ebola cases overseas either, but assured them that local hospitals would remain "vigilant" against the disease.

In the United States, Mr Stephen Monroe, deputy director of the Centre for Disease Control's National Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Infectious Diseases, told CNN that it was very unlikely that Ebola victims would be able to spread the disease to fellow airline passengers.

"The Ebola virus spreads through direct contact with the blood, secretions, or other body fluids of ill people, and indirect contact - for example, with needles and other things that may be contaminated with these fluids," he said.

He said most people who were infected with Ebola had lived with or cared for an ill patient.



The statement on travel safety came from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) after several days of consultation with the WHO and the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Iata said Ebola is transmitted only when patients are displaying very severe symptoms in which case they are unlikely to feel well enough to travel.

However, the ICAO said it was considering passenger screenings for Ebola, now that the deadly virus has crossed international borders aboard an aircraft for the first time.

Concerns were raised after reports emerged that a man who died from Ebola had taken an international flight from Liberia to Nigeria with a stopover at Lomé in Togo.

The West Africa outbreak, which began in Guinea in February, has spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Another 57 deaths were recorded between Thursday last week and Sunday in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the UN health agency said.

It said 122 new cases were detected over those four days, taking the total number of confirmed and likely infected cases from the outbreak so far to 1,323.

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma said he would meet the leaders of Liberia and Guinea in Conakry today to discuss the epidemic.

"Sierra Leone is in a great fight... Failure is not an option," he said in a speech late on Wednesday, adding that the state of emergency would initially last between 60 and 90 days.

Singapore's MOH noted that the country has "low travel connectivity" to West Africa. Changi Airport said there are no direct flights to or from that region.

Ebola also poses a "low public health risk", said the MOH, as it is transmitted only through direct contact with bodily fluids of those infected.

But hospitals will test for the disease in patients with symptoms and who have travelled to places where Ebola has been detected. If the disease is detected here, the MOH said it will isolate all suspected and confirmed cases.

Contact tracing will be conducted to find out who the patient had been in recent contact with, and all close contacts will be quarantined, it said.

Hong Kong has put quarantine measures in place, while Britain is considering emergency measures.

Fears that the outbreak could spread to other continents grew after leading medical charity Doctors Without Borders warned that the epidemic was out of control.

REUTERS
Additional reporting by Kash Cheong








How Ebola travelled: By plane, bike and taxi
But so far, no action has been taken to curb travel in West Africa
The Straits Times, 1 Aug 2014

LONDON - For scientists tracking the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, it is not about complex virology or genotyping, but about how contagious microbes can spread via planes, bikes and taxis.

So far, the authorities have taken no action to limit international travel in the region. The airlines association Iata said yesterday that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had not recommended any such restrictions or frontier closures.

The risk of the virus moving to other continents is low, disease specialists say. But tracing every person who may have had contact with an infected case is vital to getting on top of the outbreak in West Africa, and doing so often means teasing out seemingly routine information about victims' lives.

In Nigeria, which had an imported case of the virus in a Liberian-American man who flew to the capital Lagos this week and died, the authorities will have to trace all the passengers on his flight and anyone else he may have crossed paths with to avoid the kind of spread that other countries in the region have suffered.

The West Africa outbreak, which began in Guinea in February, has already spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. With more than 1,323 cases and 729 deaths, it is the largest outbreak of the virus since it was discovered almost 40 years ago.

Sierra Leone has declared a state of public emergency to tackle the outbreak, while Liberia is closing schools and considering quarantining some communities.

"The most important thing is good surveillance of everyone who has been in contact or could have been exposed," said Dr David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology and head of global health security at Britain's Royal Institute of International Affairs.

The spread of this outbreak from Guinea to Liberia in March shows how tracing even the most routine aspects of people's lives, relationships and reactions will be vital to containing Ebola's spread.

The original case in the cross-border spread is believed by epidemiologists and virus experts to have been a woman who went to a market in Guinea before returning, feeling unwell, to her village in neighbouring northern Liberia.

The woman's sister cared for her, and in doing so contracted the virus herself before her sibling died of the haemorrhagic fever it causes.

Feeling unwell and fearing a similar fate, the sister wanted to see her husband - an internal migrant worker then employed on the other side of Liberia at the Firestone rubber plantation.

She took a communal taxi via Liberia's capital Monrovia, exposing five other people to the virus who later contracted it and died.

In Monrovia, she switched to a motorcycle, riding pillion with a young man who agreed to take her to the plantation and whom the health authorities are desperate to trace.

"It is an analogous situation to the man in the airplane (who flew to Lagos and died)," said Dr Derek Gatherer of Britain's Lancaster University, an expert in viruses who has been tracking the West Africa outbreak closely.

Liberia's Ebola case count is now 329, including 156 deaths, according to the latest information from the WHO, although not all are linked to the Guinea market case.

Dr Gatherer noted that while Ebola does not spread through the air and is not considered "super infectious", cross-border human travel can easily help it on its way.

The only known instance of Ebola reaching Europe from Africa via air travel occurred in 1994 when a Swiss zoologist became infected after dissecting a chimpanzee in Ivory Coast.

The woman was isolated in a Swiss hospital and discharged after two weeks without infecting anyone.

REUTERS







Sierra Leone buries 'hero' doctor
The Straits Times, 1 Aug 2014

KENEMA (Sierra Leone) - Sierra Leone has buried a doctor it hailed as a "national hero" for saving the lives of more than 100 Ebola patients before succumbing himself to the killer tropical disease.

Dr Umar Khan, 43, the West African nation's sole virologist, was at the forefront of his country's fight against the epidemic, which has seen more than 729 deaths in Sierra Leone and its West African neighbours.

He was buried yesterday in the eastern town of Kenema, where he had spent much of his working life, in a Muslim ceremony attended by family, friends, local dignitaries, aid workers and health officials.

"He was committed and dedicated in the quest to save the lives of his compatriots," said Health Minister Miatta Kargbo.

"For the short time we interacted, he constantly described Ebola as a war that all Sierra Leoneans should join to fight against, or otherwise it would be devastating," she added.

Local media described a "grief-laden" atmosphere weighing heavily on the town, with offices closed and markets empty.

President Ernest Koroma declared Dr Khan a "national hero" following the medic's death on Tuesday, and named a research centre in Kenema in his memory.

"The late doctor saved the lives of more than 100 patients before succumbing to the deadly Ebola disease himself," Mr Koroma said in a statement ahead of the funeral, which he did not attend.

Medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders described Dr Khan as "an extremely determined and courageous doctor who cared deeply for his patients".

"His work and dedication have been greatly appreciated by the medical community in Sierra Leone for many years," it said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE








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Q2 job growth slows to lowest level in 4 years

August 2, 2014, 5:36 am
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By Joanna Seow, The Straits Times, 1 Aug 2014

THE labour market remained tight in the second quarter of the year, with the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stable at 2 per cent.

But momentum eased on the jobs front, with employment growth slowing to the lowest level in four years, according to preliminary figures released yesterday by the Manpower Ministry.

Some 22,000 more workers were holding jobs in the last quarter, bringing the total number of people in employment to 3.54 million. This is down from 28,300 in the first quarter of this year, and 33,700 in the second quarter of last year.

However economists said the latest figures are not worrying given the small size of the domestic labour force.

Labour economist Hui Weng Tat from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy said: "It's not surprising and is in line with what the Government is trying to do in cutting back our dependence on foreign workers."

OCBC economist Selena Ling said the amount of slack in the labour market should have lessened: "Some of the labour force resources that businesses can tap, such as retirees and housewives, have already come back into the market."

The manufacturing sector in particular lost 2,600 workers in its worst quarterly showing since the third quarter of 2009.

This is likely to be due to ongoing restructuring, especially in the technology industry, said CIMB economist Song Seng Wun.

On the whole, the labour market was fairly stable in the last quarter. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for residents was 2.8 per cent, a slight improvement from 2.9 per cent in the preceding quarter. The rate for citizens remained at 3 per cent.

Layoffs fell for a second consecutive quarter. Employers let go of 2,300 workers, a dip from 3,110 in the first quarter of the year and lower than the 3,080 in the second quarter of last year.

This could mean that companies are being more cautious in releasing employees and are mindful of a limited talent pool in some areas, said Ms Femke Hellemons, country manager of human resource firm Adecco Singapore.

Mr Song said that although businesses are still having trouble finding workers, it is not to the extent that more of them are closing down. And when developed economies see stronger growth, perhaps next year, sectors like manufacturing should see stronger output and headcount.

He added: "The question is how much flexibility the Government will give local businesses in terms of hiring in the face of increasing global demand, as there are only so many workers in Singapore."


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New MOM department to probe discrimination complaints

August 2, 2014, 5:47 am
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Anonymous grouses hard to probe: MOM
Anonymity limits new dept's ability to look into discrimination against locals
By Toh Yong Chuan, The Straits Times, 1 Aug 2014

DO NOT make anonymous complaints against your bosses if you want the authorities to probe your grouses fully.

While acknowledging that whistle-blowers carry some personal risk, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said anonymous complaints would limit a new department's "ability to carry out in-depth investigations as (its) officers are unable to ask specific questions related to the complaint".

The ministry made the warning in an official blog post yesterday, a day before new rules kick in that require firms to consider Singaporeans for employment, training and promotion fairly.

Post by Singapore Ministry of Manpower.


From today (1 August), firms must advertise in a government-run national jobs bank before they can apply for employment passes for foreigners to fill the vacancies.

The new rules, called the Fair Consideration Framework, come on the back of a slowdown in the inflow of foreign workers after Singaporeans voiced unhappiness about them taking away good-paying professional, managerial and executive (PME) jobs from locals.

The MOM also announced yesterday that it had set up a new department to probe complaints of discrimination.

The Fair Consideration Department, headed by a director-level senior official, will also "engage firms across different industry sectors to better understand their human resource practices and efforts to develop Singaporean PMEs", the ministry said.

The MOM did not answer queries by press time on details of the new unit. But it said in its blog post that its staff have been "engaging firms" to help them "adjust their human resource practices", without giving details. It did, however, single out two firms which it had talked to regarding their "disproportionately low concentration of Singaporean PMEs".

One of them, German technology company MSG Global Solutions Asia, provides software for insurance firms. It has six Singaporeans out of 50 IT consultants.

Its finance manager, Ms Melanie Gooi, said it struggles to hire locals as not many Singaporeans have experience in the field, but it is stepping up training and recruitment.

While supporting MOM's stand on anonymity, Member of Parliament Zainudin Nordin, chair of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, urged the ministry not to completely dismiss those complaints which may contain vital information about company practices.


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Pioneer educators lauded for shaping entire generation

August 2, 2014, 6:03 am
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They're trailblazers who laid S'pore's educational foundation, says minister
By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 1 Aug 2014

THEY laid Singapore's educational foundation; were resourceful, responsible and resilient; and nurtured new generations of teachers.

Singapore's pioneer educators left these three legacies, and their words and work shaped an entire generation, said Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, as he paid homage to 700 retired principals, educational specialists from ministry headquarters, and administrative staff at a Pioneer Tribute Dinner last night.

Post by Heng Swee Keat.


Speaking at the dinner at the Fairmont Hotel, Mr Heng celebrated these trailblazers'"rich store of life lessons".

For instance, as a school principal, Mrs Mangalesvary Ambiavagar, 100, had to make sure the children had meat in their dishes and drank the powdered milk they were given as nutrition was a key school issue, he said.

Singapore laid its educational foundation by building more than 130 new schools and recruiting thousands of teachers.

This system then evolved as different streams were created to help different students, and today more flexibility and new specialised schools in science, sports, and the arts have been introduced, Mr Heng said.

Today, education takes up as much as 20 per cent of the Budget, at almost $11.5 billion, and is second only to defence.

"But for a young nation 50 years ago, that was unthinkable," he said. The pioneer educators' enterprising spirit in the face of limited resources, was another major contribution to the country.

Mr Heng singled out several for praise, including Ms Nanda Bandara, 76, who sank a bathtub into the Haig Girls' School garden to create an eco-pond.

Ms Bandara, who was at last night's dinner, recalled: "We were limited in resources. But the children were interested in science - what's the difference between the eggs of a frog and a toad, for instance?

"So when we had the pond there for them, they could remember. They saw the difference between different water plants."

Mr Heng said the ministry often recruited 16-year-olds straight after their exams to plug a shortage of teachers.

Some had to juggle teaching in the morning and training in the afternoon.

Others, like former Commonwealth Secondary principal A.N. Balagopal, 84, were once posted to remote Christmas Island, a 135 sq km speck in the Indian Ocean, south of Java, that was formerly administered by Singapore.

It took three to four days to sail there in choppy waters.

Because of these educators' resourcefulness and dedication, many of their students have been inspired to follow in their footsteps, said Mr Heng.

This is the third legacy of these pioneers: nurturing a generation of teachers who will continue their good work.

"We stand on the shoulders of giants and through our collective hands we hold the future of the nation, and build on the firm foundations you have laid.

"Those same values you stood for still hold true even if the tools to teach and the programmes we roll out may have changed," said the minister.

Last night's dinner was the first in a series of Ministry of Education (MOE) events to mark Singapore's first half-century and pay tribute to educators. There are some 14,000 retired pioneer educators in the ministry's books, Mr Heng said.

These events will continue into next year.

For a start, the MOE Heritage Centre will organise a series of weekly Friday tea sessions for pioneer and retired senior educators from Sept 5 to Oct 31.

To sign up, retired educators can call 6838-1614 or visit www.moeheritagecentre.sg


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PM Lee hands out first 100 pioneer generation cards

August 3, 2014, 1:15 am
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By Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 2 Aug 2014

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave out the first 100 of about 450,000 pioneer generation cards yesterday, and promised there will be a "very big effort" to distribute the rest by the end of this month.

Among the 100 pioneers invited to yesterday's launch of the cards were retired nurses and housewives - people who left legacies in their professions, or toiled behind the scenes, said PM Lee.

Post by Lee Hsien Loong.


He spoke in Malay, Mandarin and English on the country's gratitude to the pioneer generation for their contributions to Singapore, and concluded his speech by saying "thank you" in all four official languages, including Tamil.

In paying tribute to those who "have been pillars of support in their homes, for their spouses", he said: "Their contributions are no less important and no less valued."

One such pioneer last night was Mrs Theresa Stewart, 99, widow of Mr Stanley Stewart.

He was the head of the civil service when Singapore became independent in 1965, and was among the first to know of Singapore's separation from Malaysia in 1965.


"Like many other spouses, Mrs Stewart supported her husband in his work, and was there with him every step of the way," said Mr Lee, who wished her happy birthday in advance.

She turns 100 in about three weeks, on Aug 26.

Said Mrs Stewart's daughter Olivia, 71, a nun: "Mummy and Papa really helped forge a lot of interracial friendships and broke the barrier between colonials and locals."

The Stewarts are Eurasians.

Seniors who are aged 65 and older this year and became citizens before 1987 will receive a pioneer generation package in the mail this month.

It will have personalised red-and-white cards identifying them as pioneers. Mr Lee personally handed the packages to 100 pioneers yesterday.

From next month, the cards can be used to get more subsidies at polyclinics, specialist outpatient clinics, and participating general practitioner and dental clinics under the Community Health Assist Scheme.






Seniors in Hong Kah North get new $100,000 community fund
Residents to raise money for the elderly
By Joanna Seow, The Sunday Times, 3 Aug 2014

Besides the health-care subsidies that can be obtained with their new Pioneer Generation cards, seniors in Hong Kah North will be able to get help from a $100,000 community fund launched yesterday.

The Hong Kah North Pioneer Generation Fund, believed to be the first set up for a constituency, will support activities and financial assistance for the elderly.

Half of the money will be raised by residents themselves through the sale of handmade friendship bands at $2 each.

"In this way, the fund will be truly one that is contributed by the community for the community," said Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower Amy Khor, at an appreciation event for pioneers.

The other half of the fund has been donated by civil engineering firm KKL Construction.

Dr Khor, MP for Hong Kah North, said the money will complement existing government schemes for pioneers, and can fund excursions and exercise programmes as well as transport allowances for the needy.

The aim is to help the vulnerable elderly aged 60 and above "who may be in need of financial help or who may have very little family support", she said.

Some 210 pioneers - those aged 65 and over, and who were citizens before 1987 - attended the event at the neighbourhood's community club. They were taught how to make the friendship bands by students from Westwood Secondary School.

Secondary 3 student Lee Hui Zhi, 15, said she enjoyed finding out more about what the elderly residents did in the past. "A few of them said they are quite lonely, so they appreciated our presence and they found the crafts fun," she said.

The seniors had their photos taken for free as keepsakes.

They were also presented with vacuum flasks and their Pioneer Generation cards, which provide access to special subsidies at health-care providers.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave out the first batch of cards last Friday. The rest of Hong Kah North's 3,400 pioneers, who make up around 7 per cent of the constituency's residents, will receive theirs by September.

Madam Lim Ah Keow, 69, who has lived in Hong Kah North with her daughter for nearly 30 years, said the new subsidies and assistance will be helpful. "Even a little bit of transport money will last a very long time for me because I don't go out much except to go to the doctor or buy things."







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HDB expands EASE to benefit 100,000 more elderly households

August 3, 2014, 1:31 am
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Help for 100,000 more HDB households
Lower age criterion means more can apply for elder-friendly fittings
By Janice Heng, The Straits Times, 2 Aug 2014

A HOUSING Board programme to install elder-friendly fittings such as grab bars will now be available to 100,000 more households due to a lower age criterion, and will offer improvements to not just one, but two bathrooms.

The Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme, introduced in 2012, seeks to help prevent elderly residents from falling at home.

Homeowners can choose from fittings such as slip-resistant treatment of floor tiles in one bathroom, and grab bars and ramps in the flat.

Post by Ministry of National Development.


"Since its launch, HDB has received feedback from hospitals, beneficiaries and their caregivers, on how EASE could be further enhanced," said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan in a blog post yesterday.

Previously, the scheme was available to Singapore citizen households with an elderly family member who is either at least 70 years old, or aged between 65 and 69 but requiring assistance for at least one of the specified activities of daily living, such as dressing and moving around.

Starting yesterday, it is now available to citizen households with an elderly member aged at least 65, or aged between 60 and 64 and requiring assistance.

In addition, for households with two bathrooms, slip-resistant floor tile treatment and grab bars will now be offered for the second bathroom as well. It was previously offered for only one bathroom.

The scheme offers subsidies of up to 95 per cent. Households which opt for the full scope of improvement works need pay only between $125 and $312.50, with those in larger flats paying more. The Government covers the rest of the $2,500 cost.

The expanded EASE programme is available in two ways. One is as part of the Home Improvement Programme (HIP), an upgrading scheme for older flats.

The expanded EASE scheme will apply to future HIP projects polled from Aug 1, and ongoing projects that are not yet complete.

For all other types of flats, including those which have undergone HIP, flat owners can apply for the additional improvements either online or at HDB branch offices.

Households which have already applied directly but where installation has not yet been carried out will be eligible for the extra improvements. Where installation has been completed, homeowners can still apply for the extra items.

One of those who can now qualify is Mr Lee Yew Lee, 66, who is semi-retired. He said he would consider applying for EASE if the HIP is offered to his estate. "I don't mind, to prepare myself for old age," he said.

But he will not go out of his way to apply yet. "Maybe when I get closer to 70. But for now, I'm still young."


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Panel set up to monitor probes into Home Team officers

August 3, 2014, 5:22 am
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By Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 2 Aug 2014

INTERNAL investigations into Home Team officers accused of serious misconduct may now be scrutinised by an independent review panel.

The 19-member Independent Review Panel, set up yesterday, has been formed in the wake of the death of a prison inmate for which a senior prison officer was prosecuted last year, and other high-profile allegations of impropriety by officers, such as those claimed by the bus drivers accused of instigating the SMRT bus strike in 2012.

The panel is chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Goh Joon Seng and is meant to ensure that the Home Team's investigations are thorough and fair, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The panel is advisory in nature and reports directly to the Home Affairs Minister, added the ministry. "It is neither an investigation body nor a disciplinary body."

It will look into cases that resulted in death or serious injury, obstructed or perverted the course of justice, or which are of public interest.

Mr Goh, who is also a presidential adviser, said that the panel will work to maintain high public trust and confidence in the Home Team and its officers.

"The Home Team is an institution that Singaporeans trust and depend on to keep us safe and secure," said the veteran lawyer, a consultant with the Lee and Lee law firm. "The Independent Review Panel is fully committed to strengthening the review process."

The panel, announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean at the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament in March, will be appointed for a two-year term.

Nominated MP Eugene Tan had then cited two events that had undermined the image and standing of the Home Team.

One, a seemingly inadequate response by law enforcement bodies during the Little India riot.

The other: the lack of coordination among Home Team agencies when a Malaysian school teacher slipped through Woodlands Checkpoint.

The MHA said that in developing the panel, it had studied models used in other countries which have an independent body to review complaints against law enforcement officers.

The other 18 members of the panel include the former directors of Prisons and the Central Narcotics Bureau and the former chief executives of Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the Health Sciences Authority.


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Pupil-teacher ratio differs from class size: MOE

August 3, 2014, 5:25 am
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IN HIS letter ("Is student-teacher ratio correct?"; Tuesday), Mr Ivan Goh compared the ratio to class size.

The pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) is the ratio of the total pupil enrolment to the total number of teaching staff in schools, while class size refers to the number of pupils being taught by a teacher at a particular time.

Today, the PTR is about 17 pupils to one teacher at the primary level, and 14 students to one teacher at the secondary level.

If the class size were the same as the PTR, it would mean all the teachers are teaching classes all the time. This is not tenable as teachers would need time to prepare for classes, to mark assignments, and to guide students who need help.

Depending on how schools group their students and deploy their teachers for the various subjects, the class size would vary.

For example, learning support programmes in literacy and mathematical skills at Primary 1 and 2 are conducted in classes of eight to 10 pupils.

Some schools may also choose to deploy two teachers to a class of 40 students, where one teacher guides the class through the curriculum while the other assists specific students who may have greater learning difficulties.

We thank Mr Goh for the opportunity to clarify.

Leong Der Yao
Director, Human Resource Strategy & Leadership
Ministry of Education
ST Forum, 2 Aug 2014




Is student-teacher ratio correct?

I HAVE two daughters, one in Primary 3 and the other in Secondary 2. There about 40 children in each of their classes.

Hence, I was puzzled to read on the Ministry of Education website (Education Statistics Digest 2013) that in 2012, the ratio of students to teaching staff was 17.7 for primary schools, and 13.9 for secondary schools.

Can the Education Ministry explain why these figures do not reflect the reality on the ground?

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Northpoint City integrated development to be ready by 2018

August 3, 2014, 5:59 am
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Northpoint extension will add 300 shops to mall
By Aw Cheng Wei, The Straits Times, 2 Aug 2014

SINGAPORE'S first heartland shopping mall is to be extended, in a move that will see it boast almost three times as many shops as it does now.

Northpoint, in Yishun, currently has 170 retail outlets, but about 300 more will be added when Northpoint City is completed in 2018.

Plans were unveiled yesterday by Foreign Affairs Minister and Law Minister K. Shanmugam - who is also an MP for Nee Soon GRC - at an exhibition at the mall. Construction work is already under way.

The upgraded shopping centre will feature an air-conditioned bus interchange, a 4,400-sq-m town plaza and a roof-top community garden, as well as Singapore's first community club based within a mall.

A 920-unit residential estate called North Park Residences will also be built.

Mr Cheang Kok Kheong, chief executive officer of development and property at Frasers Centrepoint Limited, said Northpoint City will be "seamlessly linked" to the nearby MRT station, the town centre and the current mall.

Business at Northpoint, which opened in 1992, will continue as usual, he said.

The development is part of the Housing Board's Remaking Our Heartland initiative that aims to spruce up mature estates.

"Nee Soon was among the first heartland towns to be selected," said Mr Shanmugam.

Yishun is also set to be boosted by more than 18,000 residential units, both public and private.

Next year, it will get a 15km cycling path, while Northpoint City will provide 300 cycling lots to encourage residents to exercise.

An exhibition showcasing the mall extension will run from now until Aug 10 at the atrium of Northpoint Shopping Centre.

Mr Shanmugam expects Northpoint City to bring the community closer.

"The results in Nee Soon speak for themselves," he said, referring to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Yishun Pond and its lookout tower and the upgrades to existing parks.

"They have been delivered, and more will come."






3 things about Yishun's upcoming integrated development Northpoint City
By Tung Shi Yun, The Straits Times, 1 Aug 2014

Residents in Yishun can look forward to the development of Northpoint City, the latest addition to the rising number of integrated developments in Singapore's suburbs.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam unveiled the latest development by Frasers Centrpoint Limited at the Northpoint City exhibition in Northpoint Shopping Centre this afternoon.

With a full integration of public shopping malls and private residential estates, the Yishun community is set to transform into a vibrant hub for its residents.

Although it is not slated to be completed until 2018, here are three things to know about the upcoming Northpoint City and what exciting things we can expect.

1. It will feature Singapore's first Community Club in a shopping mall

Northpoint City will feature Singapore's first Community Club located in a shopping mall, Nee Soon Central Community Club. It is also the first Community Club to be fully air-conditioned, moving from a "void deck CC" to a "lifestyle CC", a name penned by the People's Association (PA).

The idea was first suggested by Nee Soon Central MP Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim. The Community Club will offer programmes that the PA says will “promote community and intergenerational bonding”.

Residents, especially the elderly, will be able to relax in an air-conditioned environment. PA's chief executive director Ang Hak Seng had also promised that there will be no additional costs to the residents for activity fees held in the Community Club.

2. It will fully integrate public and private spaces

Residents will soon be able to shop right at their doorsteps with the integration of commercial and residential spaces in Northpoint City.

The whole development will run like a dynamic self-sufficient town. Northpoint Shopping Centre, the largest mall in the North of Singapore, as well as the new shopping centre to be built across the street from it, will provide an array of shopping, dining, leisure and entertainment facilities.

A residential development will also be integrated into the commercial and retail spaces of the shopping malls, allowing residents greater convenience and transforming the area into an exciting place to live in.

3. It will feature a shopping underpass leading to the MRT station

There will be a shopping underpass that leads from Northpoint City to Yishun MRT station, the town garden and surrounding amenities, so residents can now make their walk to the station a more exciting and vibrant one.

Additionally, with an air-conditioned bus interchange in Northpoint city, residents can comfortably wait for their buses without going out into the heat.

These latest developments will help to create seamless connectivity and greater accessibility for residents living in the area.


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New Canberra MRT station between Yishun and Sembawang stations

August 3, 2014, 6:08 am
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New MRT station up north to be completed in 2019
It will be located in Canberra Link; work to start in middle of next year
By Lee Jian Xuan, The Straits Times, 2 Aug 2014

WORK on the new MRT station between Yishun and Sembawang stations will start in the middle of next year, and residents there can expect to start using it in 2019 when it is completed.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said yesterday that the Canberra MRT station will be located along Canberra Link and serve commuters living in nearby estates such as Sembawang Springs, as well as new public and private residences.

Currently, residents in the area have to take a bus to get onto the MRT network at either Sembawang or Yishun station.

"With this direct connection to the MRT network, residents travelling towards the city centre or Jurong East will enjoy time savings of up to 10 minutes," the LTA said.

Canberra will also be the second MRT station in Singapore to be built on an existing rail line - the first was Dover station, which opened on the East-West line in 2001.

While building the station on an existing line will be "challenging" due to constraints on working hours and space, the LTA said it will prioritise the safety of MRT operations and site security.

The new station will have a sky bridge built across Canberra Link to allow commuters to bypass the station's concourse level and get direct access to the city-bound train platform.

Residents there are hoping that the new station will help relieve crowds at existing stations.

For accountant James Lim, 29, who lives in an HDB flat in Montreal Link, the Canberra station will be closer than Sembawang station to his home. He said: "It'll make my place more accessible for friends to visit."

A committee member of the Holy Tree Sri Balasubramaniar temple, Mr Y. Ramalengam, 64, said the new station would benefit worshippers living in Sembawang.

"Most of them now take a bus from Sembawang to Yishun, before changing to another bus service to get to the temple. So this will be more convenient," said Mr Ramalengam, who sees about 600 to 800 worshippers at the temple during peak days.

The new station will benefit at least 10,000 residents, said Nee Soon GRC MP Lim Wee Kiak.

But residents will have to bear with the inconvenience and noise of construction, he added.

"The station will provide convenience for all residents, especially those with long travelling times now... we should look forward to the long-term benefits," said Dr Lim.





Direct lift access from HDB blocks to three MRT stations
Projects at Commonwealth, Clementi, Queenstown stations to finish by mid-2015
By Joy Fang, TODAY, 1 Aug 2014

Some residents living near Clementi, Commonwealth and Queenstown MRT stations will soon get to enjoy direct lift access to the stations from their Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks.

This is part of upgrading work to be carried out at these stations, which will also see new additional concourses with room for more fare gates.

When completed by the middle of next year, they will help disperse commuters and ease congestion, and provide greater convenience, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said yesterday, as it shared these plans.

Post by Land Transport Authority – We Keep Your World Moving.


Residents from HDB blocks 326 and 327, which are located next to Clementi MRT Station, will see a new lift at the ground level of their HDB block. This lift will lead to a sheltered bridge, which will connect to the new concourse built at the other end of the station.

The concourse will be directly linked to the platform, providing an additional entrance for commuters. Another bridge will connect the concourse to Block 450, which is across the road.

The Commonwealth and Queenstown stations will also see similar lift access, which has already been introduced at Yew Tee MRT Station. At Commonwealth, the station will link to Blocks 88 and 89, while at Queenstown, the station will connect to Blocks 181 and 182.

As for the new concourses, they will allow for nine more fare gates at Clementi, and six more each at Commonwealth and Queenstown.

All three will have one more ticketing machine.

The LTA said the work — which began last year — will cost S$11.7 million. Good progress is being made at all three stations and are on track to be completed by the middle of next year.

Mr Saifulbahri Rasno, the LTA’s deputy director of infrastructure enhancement, said currently, work is done very close to existing tracks. The extended concourse will also require the hacking of the wall at the back of the station.

The challenge is in minimising disruption to operations and ensuring the integrity of the existing structure is not compromised, he said. Hence most major work, such as heavy lifting, are only being carried out during non-operational hours.

A commuter who wanted to be known as Madam Cham, 45, said the new arrangements will bring her relief. The salesperson said Clementi station is very crowded during peak periods, and she has to squeeze into and out of the trains every day.

Insurance agent Derek Nathan, 25, who travels to Clementi four times a week for work, said the improvements would help in dispersing commuters who are crammed on the two existing bridges.

“But more people leaving through the new exits also means more people can come in through them, which may not alleviate the crowd situation,” he pointed out.

Separately, two more new trains were added to the East-West Line last month, joining the first new train that was added to the line in February. The LTA said three more trains are undergoing testing and will be added by next month.


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Economic Restructuring: Time for a pause?

August 3, 2014, 7:44 am
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MTI refutes calls to slow the pace of restructuring
It says economists are 'too hasty' in saying the policy is not working
By Robin Chan Assistant Political Editor, The Straits Times, 2 Aug 2014

THE Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has strongly refuted economists who have warned in recent weeks that the ongoing restructuring of Singapore's economy is not working and needs to be put on hold.

MTI said these economists were being "too hasty" in making this claim based on gross domestic product (GDP) growth figures from just one quarter - namely the second quarter - which came in worse than expected.

It also disagreed that the restructuring pace is too fast for businesses to adapt to. On the contrary, it said, the pace is "balanced" and restructuring is taking place in phases to give firms time to adapt. "We need to press on with restructuring at a steady, sustainable pace," it added.

In a four-page response to questions from The Straits Times, MTI said of the second quarter's growth figures, which have been a matter of concern: "Weak GDP growth in the second quarter of 2014 is not reflective of the impact of economic restructuring."

Fluctuations each quarter are to be expected given Singapore's export-oriented economy, it added.

And the average growth of 3.4 per cent year-on-year for the first half of the year is "healthy" given the current stage of economic development.

Four years into a 10-year plan to boost productivity and median wages while tightening the inflow of foreign labour, several established economists have become concerned that the effort is hurting the economy.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Chua Hak Bin said in a report on Singapore to clients that economic restructuring is failing and Singapore is losing its ability to seize growth opportunities.

Singapore Management University economist Augustine Tan raised similar concerns in a commentary in this newspaper. He drew parallels with the restructuring efforts of the early 1980s which contributed to Singapore falling into a recession.

Rebutting their views, MTI cited a slew of figures which point not only to the economy being in good shape, but businesses and investors also having confidence in it going forward.

These include the monthly Purchasing Managers' Index, a leading indicator of factory output. It has been in expansionary territory for six consecutive months.

A Department of Statistics survey of about 1,500 firms in the service sector in June found that 21 per cent expect business to improve in the second half of the year, up from 15 per cent of those polled in April.

More companies are also being formed, and investment commitments and unemployment levels remain healthy so far this year, while wages continue to grow.

These show that "business sentiments and outlook for the rest of the year have generally improved in tandem with an expected improvement in the global economy", the MTI said.

On productivity, MTI said that while growth overall has been weak, certain manufacturing sectors have achieved gains. It acknowledged that industries like construction and retail and food, which have historically relied heavily on cheap foreign labour, continue to be laggards.

But the situation is improving and gaining momentum, MTI said, and there is greater take-up of productivity incentive schemes.

"We remain confident that the economy will be able to restructure successfully over time to be more productivity-driven," MTI added.





The new economy: Too fast, too furious?
It was meant to make Singapore more competitive and less reliant on foreign workers. But the hoped-for surge in productivity has not happened with economic restructuring. Growth lags expectations. Workers may not care, as pay has risen. Is it time for a breather? Insight checks this out.
By Robin Chan Assistant Political Editor And Aaron Low Assistant Money Editor, The Straits Times, 2 Aug 2014


AT THE four-year mark of the decade-long economic restructuring, to the man in the street, it looks to be paying off - the inflow of foreign labour has slowed, wages are up and unemployment remains low.

Yet for businesses, things are not so rosy. While economic growth is slowing as predicted, the push for increased productivity does not yet seem to be bearing fruit.

This is because the same measures to restructure the economy have created stark labour shortages and driven up costs. A strengthening Singapore dollar has also made exports more costly. These factors are hurting the competitiveness of firms, making them look to move to other countries, and for those not so agile, even threatening their survival.

However, despite their cries for help, the Government continues to assure that all is well, urging companies to push harder to adapt and telling doubters that things will improve in the second half of the decade.

Asked about the progress of restructuring in the Committee of Supply debate in March this year, Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said Singapore is behind schedule and needs to try harder. "If you look at the way the economy is still growing, the jobs we're still generating and the labour force is still growing - one could argue that we're slightly behind the curve."

But several heavyweight economists are now sounding the alarm bells, adding backing to the chorus of protests by business owners and MPs against the unrelenting pace of restructuring.

With Singapore's latest export numbers disappointing, and the economy contracting by 0.8 per cent in the second quarter from the first, several research houses rushed to downgrade their gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts this year to 3 per cent - the very bottom of the 3 to 5 per cent growth range predicted in this new era of growth.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Chua Hak Bin declares that restructuring is failing, Singapore is losing its competitiveness and flexibility, and this will hurt the economy in the long run.

And Professor Augustine Tan of the Singapore Management University warns that there could be a repeat of the recession in 1985 caused by restructuring too drastically to raise productivity. "Perhaps we should pause in the helter-skelter drive towards the holy grail of higher productivity and higher wages and ask: Is it realistic to push so hard?" he says.

Are these economists right, and has the economic restructuring been too fast, too furious? And if they are, what are the potential consequences, politically and economically?

Failure to launch

THE restructuring drive began in earnest in 2010, acting on the recommendations of the high-powered Economic Strategies Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

It said Singapore must raise productivity and reduce the foreign worker inflow - moves aimed at fundamentally changing the way the economy grows, to prepare Singapore for the future challenges of an ageing population and a more competitive region, and to ensure its growth is sustainable and inclusive.

Since then, measures have been introduced to drive change: foreign worker quotas lowered, levies raised, and the ratio of foreigners-to-locals a company can hire reduced.

But four years on, the poor results of the restructuring drive are worrying economists.

For one thing, economic growth has clearly been crimped by the restructuring, growing slower by 1 to 2 percentage points than it should be, they say.

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy associate professor Tan Khee Giap estimates that Singapore could be growing at about 5.5 per cent. But it has only grown by about 4 per cent a year between 2011 and 2013.

Slower growth is to be expected as with any push to change the underlying fundamentals of the economy, notes Dr Chua. But he adds that the Republic could be losing what has been its strength - the ability to be flexible to catch opportunities.

Rising wages while productivity gains remain elusive is also misleading, he adds, as it means that the growth is not sustainable.

The official target has been for the economy to raise productivity by between 2 per cent and 3 per cent a year. But in the last three years, this target has not been met, with productivity growth averaging just 1.3 per cent each year.

"Not being able to see any visible productivity improvements for such a long period must surely raise doubts and question marks," says Dr Chua, who was also one of the first economists to flag that dependence on foreign workers and a growth-focused government agenda were creating widening income inequality here.

Yet even as productivity growth fails to live up to expectations, workers are enjoying higher pay. Management group Hay Group said in June that the actual average salary increase for this year is forecast to be 4.3 per cent.

There are two views on this. Some economists argue that wage growth should follow productivity gains, so it is important to first boost productivity. But others feel that higher wages will in turn force up productivity, which was the thinking behind the wage restructuring in the early 1980s - although this eventually led to a recession in 1985.

DBS economist Irvin Seah points out that real median income per household member grew by an average of 3.1 per cent a year between 2010 and 2012. Last year the real median income per household member grew by 3.3 per cent. He, for one, asserts that "the widely cited measurement of productivity is not a good indicator of true productivity growth. Real median income has been rising steadily; the goal of restructuring is on target".

Meanwhile, businesses are feeling the pinch from the labour crunch - which Nominated MP and Singapore Business Federation chairman Teo Siong Seng says will only become more challenging as more measures kick in. "These challenges, amid the backdrop of lacklustre productivity performance, rising business costs and a weak external environment, are weighing heavily on businesses, particularly SMEs."

Association of Small and Medium Enterprises president Kurt Wee says that despite the pressure from businesses at many levels, the Government "feels their hands are tied because they think they can't change course where labour policies are concerned".

"We've had this conversation for three years, and each time they say they can't turn back."

While in theory business owners understand what they need to do to raise productivity - make more efficient use of workers by adopting technology - in practice many find it challenging to adapt rather than perish, and feel that the Government needs to cut them some slack.

Take one company, CE Engineering - its director Christian Eber has had to roll up his sleeves to fix and fit air-conditioners himself alongside his technicians, because there is not enough people to do the work. For the business to run at optimal levels, he needs to have about 25 people on the team. He currently has seven and struggles to find more.

"We tried to recruit ITE students who were on attachments with us, but not a single one wanted to join us. Levies are so high that many of my business owner friends have decided to work with their own hands rather than pay the high levies," he says.

This predicament has been noted by DBS' Mr Seah, who observes: "The restructuring rests upon the belief that by starving companies from easy access to lower-skilled foreign labour, it'll force them to invest more on technology, thereby raising productivity in the process. But reality has proven otherwise. Not all business functions can be replaced by technology."

He says that apart from inhibiting growth, because the restructuring is raising cost levels, there is a danger of a scenario of slow growth and high inflation, a phenomenon that could lead to negative real wage growth over time.

Adding to the woes, the restructuring is taking place amid an uncertain global environment. As well as the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, there are questions over China, Europe and the United States. Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have downgraded their global growth forecasts this year.

The environment has led to a stronger Singdollar - it is up nearly 2 per cent against the US dollar - making Singapore's exports more costly and less competitive relative to others.

Taken all together, the pace of change and restructuring has been punishing and it could lead to "killing off the goose that lays the golden egg", worries Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Inderjit Singh.

"We have been too ambitious and failed to understand the real issues (on rents and labour costs) companies are facing as we went for rapid economic restructuring. We are today losing our competitiveness as our costs have skyrocketed and we face a tight manpower situation," he says.

While he thinks this restructuring policy is "far-sighted and the right one for the country", the Government has been too ambitious in wanting to see results quickly. This has hurt many companies and resulted in closures and failures for some that could have become stronger companies had the rate of restructuring been more measured, he says. "It is urgent that someone takes a closer look at the problems created as a result of the restructuring policies and addresses them systematically to rebalance things," he adds.

Time to pause?

MR SINGH thinks a time-out is called for. "Overall, I think we are going to be worse off with the current situation. I would rather see companies have a little more breathing space than to force the restructuring efforts, hurting companies more than necessary."

Taking a pause has its advantages because the restructuring will still continue, just at a slower pace, say economists.

Among the suggestions of how to make use of such a time-out, Dr Chua says the impact of foreign worker levies may not be fully understood and should be looked at further.

West Coast GRC MP Foo Mee Har says the policy approach needs to be more multi-dimensional, taking into account overall productivity plans of companies and giving them more room to manoeuvre. She cites the problems faced by a company wanting to be leaner - to re-engineer its processes and buy more machines, and to participate in Singapore's call to hire more women, it needs to invest time to get all these things in place.

"If these people are already invested (to restructure) and you have evidence that they are doing all these things, can they have a bit more slack regarding the tightening of manpower policy and adapting to new rules?" she asks.


However, such a pause could be economically and politically unpalatable. The economic costs of failed restructuring are huge, and the livelihoods of each individual business owner must be taken into account. And if the restructuring efforts continue to yield little in results, it could exact further political cost on the PAP.

The dilemma for the PAP is that it may also be turning another large voting bloc - SME owners and employees - against it. Says Mr Singh: "SMEs hire two-thirds of people so the employees of SMEs who see their companies hurting will also be unhappy."

Others say that there is actually no need to hit the pause button on restructuring.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Finance and Trade, is one who keeps the faith, noting that the results of the push will only be seen with time. "This is a leap of faith journey and we have no other choices. To revert back to our old way of growth would also not yield higher real growth either, as we have basically reached the limits and the physical and social constraints. There is no turning back now," he says.

Responding to concerns, a spokesman for the Ministry of Trade and Industry points to positive business expectations in the services sector and low unemployment, among other data, as evidence that there is no need to get too alarmed about Singapore's economy. It is too hasty to draw such conclusions from a single quarter of economic data.

The productivity drive is also yielding results in sectors such as precision engineering and transport engineering, although progress in more domestic sectors such as construction and retail remain poor. "We are restructuring our economy at a balanced pace," she says.

Indeed, closures of companies - a measure of the uncertainty of the economic climate - have not skyrocketed, and therefore neither has unemployment. Between 2010, when the squeeze began, and 2013, company cessation climbed from 15,134 a year in 2010 to 19,007 in 2011. But it has been on a decline over the last two years, falling to 17,376 last year.

For every 100 new companies formed over that four-year period, 52 closed. This is comparable to the 51 company closures for every 100 new companies registered during the high-growth four-year period from 2003 to 2006.

It could be argued that while larger companies are more resilient, smaller firms have struggled, but again the statistics show otherwise. For smaller businesses not required to register as companies, from 2010 to 2013, there were 99 closures for every 100 new businesses formed. This was lower than the 118 businesses closed down for 100 new businesses formed from 2003 to 2006.

Economic restructuring is always painful, and often the time of transition is one of slower growth, and sometimes even recession. On the Government's part, its challenge is to exercise judgment as to how fast to push towards a goal that can be reached only some time in the future, while moderating and managing the shorter-term impact on small businesses and employees.





DANGER SIGN NO. 1

Economic growth lags expectations

Economists are downgrading forecasts for the year to the bottom of their earlier 3-5 per cent range


DANGER SIGN NO. 2

Productivity does not match wage increases

The average salary hike is forecast to hit 4.3 per cent, but productivity growth is averaging 1.3 per cent a year


DANGER SIGN NO. 3

Rising $ means a less competitive economy

Exports are now more costly, as the local currency has risen nearly 2 per cent against the US dollar


DANGER SIGN NO. 4

Labour shortage, higher costs

Some businesses being hit hard by tighter foreign worker quotas and levies that continue to rise






MTI replies: Restructuring at a balanced pace
The Straits Times, 2 Aug 2014

ECONOMIC restructuring is a long-term undertaking. Some analysts have cited the slowdown in second-quarter GDP growth as evidence that economic restructuring is failing. It is too hasty to draw such conclusions from a single quarter of economic data.

Weak GDP growth in the second quarter is not reflective of the impact of economic restructuring. Given Singapore's externally oriented economy, quarter-to-quarter fluctuations are to be expected. For the first half of this year, GDP growth averaged 3.4 per cent year on year, representing a healthy growth rate given our stage of economic development.

Latest leading indicators such as the Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing sector and Business Expectations Survey for the service sector have shown that business sentiment and outlook for the rest of the year have generally improved in tandem with an expected improvement in the global economy.

It is important for analysts to consider other indicators beyond GDP when assessing the state of the economy.

In the second quarter of this year, the net formation of companies and businesses was 8,837, higher than the quarterly average of 5,051 establishments in 2013.

Singapore remains an attractive location for doing business. In the first quarter, investment commitments remained healthy, with fixed assets investment and total business expenditure commitments coming in at $2.5 billion and $1.3 billion respectively.

Labour market conditions are healthy, with the resident unemployment rate at 2.8 per cent in June this year.

Steady wage growth remains. The nominal median gross monthly income from work of employed residents (including the employer Central Provident Fund contribution) rose by 6.5 per cent in 2013.

We are restructuring our economy at a balanced pace. We need to press on with restructuring at a steady, sustainable pace. To give firms sufficient time to adjust, we have introduced measures in phases.

The reductions in dependency ratio ceilings were announced two years before they take full effect. We have also provided support packages such as the Wage Credit Scheme.

While overall productivity growth remains weak, we have seen improvement in competitive sectors. From 2009 to 2013, labour productivity grew by 2.9 per cent per year, within the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council's productivity growth target of 2 per cent to 3 per cent per annum until 2020.

This aggregate figure, however, masks cyclical fluctuations. Recent productivity growth has been weak, with labour productivity up 0.2 per cent per year from 2010 to 2013.

However, a sectoral analysis gives a clearer picture. From 2010 to 2013, exportable sectors such as precision engineering, transport engineering and finance and insurance showed healthy productivity growth of 4.1 per cent, 8.1 per cent and 2.2 per cent per year respectively. These sectors are globally competitive and were able to transform and adjust their processes quickly.

On the other hand, domestic sectors, such as construction and retail and food services, have seen poor real productivity growth. Productivity in the construction sector declined by 0.2 per cent per annum from 2010 to 2013. These sectors are struggling with the tightening manpower supply, with some companies facing problems moving up the value-chain or improving processes. Nevertheless, we must continue to press on with restructuring in these sectors.

The restructuring progress is gaining momentum. Businesses are changing their mindsets and adapting to the new environment. Businesses have responded well to the call to raise productivity, and take-up of our incentives has been ramped up. To date, more than 17,000 companies have benefited from productivity initiatives, with 7,000 companies in 2013 alone. Take-up is also healthy in laggard low productivity sectors. More than 6,000 companies have tapped schemes under the Building and Construction Authority's $250 million Construction Productivity and Capability Fund.

The Productivity and Innovation Credit scheme, which provides businesses with enhanced tax benefits and cash incentives for investing in a broad range of productivity and innovation activities, saw take-up rates increase from 36,000, or 33 per cent of all active companies in Singapore in 2011, to 50,000, or 40 per cent of all companies in 2013.

Similarly, we have seen take-up rates for the Innovation and Capability Voucher scheme increase. From March 2 to June 13 this year, over 2,700 vouchers were awarded to businesses.

Our labour market is more flexible than it was in the 1980s and our workforce is higher-skilled - these are key advantages we did not have before, and will help support our competitiveness even as we restructure the economy.





Boost to growth not reflected in polls
By Robin Chan, The Straits Times, 2 Aug 2014

ECONOMIC restructuring efforts of the past have boosted growth, created jobs and kept Singapore economically relevant to the world.

Yet they have rarely translated to election gains for the People's Action Party (PAP) Government.

In contrast, the only time an election was held during an economic recession, it resulted in huge swings towards the PAP.

This is shown by a look at the last four restructuring periods.

The 1984 General Election took place well into Singapore's first restructuring efforts since independence. And the PAP's vote share fell to 64.8 per cent, from 77.7 per cent in 1980.

Five years before GE84, the Government introduced a policy aimed at raising productivity through wage rises. The National Wages Council had recommended three consecutive years of aggressive salary increases - of 20 per cent a year - to move the manufacturing industry up the value chain. But it spiralled out of control, and the restructuring took its toll on the economy.

Indeed, a year after GE84, the economy contracted by 0.7 per cent - leading to a recession - Singapore's first since independence.

More restructuring came when the Economic Committee was formed in 1985 to find new ways to grow, and in fact, growth returned to the double digits of the earlier boom years.

In the next election year, 1988, the economy expanded 11.1 per cent. This did not help the PAP, however, as its vote share fell further to 63.2 per cent.

This trend of economic restructuring yielding little at the polls would repeat itself again over the next two decades.

Of course, it is difficult to draw a direct correlation between economic restructuring efforts and electoral behaviour. This is because many factors affect voting decisions including non-economic issues, as well as developments in the external environment.

For example, GE2001 came amid a deep economic recession for Singapore, with the 1997 Asian financial crisis followed by the dot.com bust in 2000 and 2001, and then the Sept 11 terrorist attacks.

And yet the GE in November that year saw the PAP's vote share rise to 75.3 per cent.

Observers describe this voting behaviour as a "flight to safety", meaning that voters go with the party they know amid uncertainty.

A new restructuring period began in 2004, steered by the Economic Review Committee set up in December 2001. Implementing their recommendations had been delayed by Sars in 2003.

The economy recovered to average 8.6 per cent growth between 2004 and 2006.During that time the Government opened the door to more foreign workers to spur economic growth.

However, in GE2006, the restructuring and higher economic growth did little to move voters. The PAP's vote share fell to 66.6 per cent.

The high-powered Economic Strategies Committee was formed in 2009 and its recommendations for the latest restructuring - involving a 10-year period - kicked off the next year.Measures included reducing the foreign worker inflow, while rolling out productivity-enhancing incentives such as the Productivity and Innovation Credit Scheme.

Economic growth clocked in at a healthy 6.1 per cent in 2011.

However, at the next GE in 2011, a year into the restructuring, the PAP recorded its worst electoral performance, losing Aljunied GRC, and seeing voter share fall to 60.1 per cent.

Voters were concerned about soaring home prices, crowded MRT trains and buses due to more foreigners, and fears that they would steal locals' jobs.

With the law requiring the next general election to be held at the latest by January 2017, what does this mean for the PAP as this long and painful economic restructuring presses on?

Much will depend on the progress of the restructuring efforts in the next two years. Will there be a productivity boom as companies and industries finally adapt?

Or could there be more transitional pains with an increasing number of companies shutting down or relocating, higher unemployment and perhaps even a recession, if there is another global economic crisis?

Or perhaps it will be more of a slow burn, with low economic growth, poor productivity gains and companies continuing to feel the pain of the labour squeeze and high costs?

Analysts and MPs agree that it is hard to draw conclusively any relation between economic restructuring and the polls.

Singapore Management University Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan says: "Given the PAP's track record with economic performance, economic slowdown and recessions tend to see voters being less willing to challenge the status quo and (more inclined) to opt for the tried-and-tested PAP."

In which case, an economic crisis might actually work in the PAP's favour as it did in 2001.

However the other two scenarios could be trickier.

If the restructuring efforts are paying off, and productivity growth is high, and economic growth healthy, voters may be more confident to take a risk against the PAP, as they have done in previous elections following economic restructuring.

Similarly, in a slow-burn-type scenario the PAP could continue to lose votes.

The current restructuring, while in part prompted by external developments, is largely seen as being initiated by the current Government, "so responsibility for success or failure is wholly the Government's", says Prof Tan.

Even if the Government cannot be faulted for putting in much effort but with little to show for it, that is not something voters will stomach, he adds.

"If the pains from current restructuring are laid squarely at the Government, then it will have a bigger negative effect, and may even be a potential game-changer in marginal seats," he says.

Says former Nominated MP Zulkifli Baharudin: "It will be painful and that pain is going to happen right smack when you go for elections. I can't see the PAP not being affected."





S'pore 'must stay the course' on restructuring
Journey to improve productivity and innovation gaining momentum: Swee Say
By Joanna Seow, The Sunday Times, 3 Aug 2014

Singapore must stay the course on its restructuring journey, even though it may not be a painless or instant one, labour chief Lim Swee Say said yesterday.

"I firmly believe that we are heading in the right direction," he said.

Even though there is still much work to be done in some sectors, such as construction and retail, the move towards productivity improvement and innovation is gaining momentum, added Mr Lim, who is secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress.

To improve, the jobs that are created must be above the national average in terms of productivity and the value they add.

At the first of the labour movement's National Day observance ceremonies, held at The Promontory @ Marina Bay, he told reporters: "Our business cost and wage cost are going up, so we are becoming a higher-cost location for doing business. But being a higher-cost location does not mean being a high-cost location."

Speaking to an audience of 7,000 comprising workers and their family members who had gathered for a picnic, Mr Lim also said that Singapore needs to keep one step ahead of the competition by doing things other people cannot do, so that the profitability for businesses and the wages of workers can continue to improve.

Separately, in his written National Day message to unionists, Mr Lim said that a higher re-employment age for older workers and a more progressive wage ladder for low-wage workers will make Singapore's labour situation even better.

Under the Retirement and Re-employment Act, which kicked in in 2012, bosses must offer healthy workers who have performed satisfactorily re-employment from the ages of 62 to 65, or a one-off payment. But calls have been made to raise the ceiling to 67, and a tripartite committee is discussing when and how to do so.

Mr Lim also said separately that progressive wages are applicable to workers at all levels. "For us to succeed at restructuring, we have to find ways to make better use of every worker because of the tight labour market."

The progressive wage model sets out career ladders with benchmark wages for resident workers - Singaporeans and permanent residents - in various sectors.

Adopting the scheme is mandatory for licensed cleaning companies, and this will soon apply to the security sector as well. Discussions are under way about the need for a progressive wage model for the landscaping industry.

Mr Lim, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, shared in his message that he told international union leaders in June about Singapore's low unemployment rate, its growing employment rates for women and mature workers, and how wages were rising faster than inflation.

"I hope the next time when we share our Singapore Story with tripartite leaders of other countries, it will be an even better story," he added.

Only a minority of countries will succeed in creating enough jobs, both in number and quality, said Mr Lim. "I believe Singapore will be one of them."

While employers agree with the need to improve productivity, many are at a level where, without additional manpower, they feel unable to grow their capacity, said Association of Small and Medium Enterprises president Kurt Wee.

He added that although the association tries to help members make use of available government assistance programmes, it still comes across some who are unable to take on additional orders.

"It still feels like productivity doesn't happen overnight and sometimes, businesses wonder if it will happen at all," he said.


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The lure of Hong Kong

August 3, 2014, 9:53 pm
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Some high-profile names have joined the latest wave of Singaporeans who have moved to Hong Kong for various reasons.
By Li Xueying, Hong Kong Correspondent, The Sunday Times, 3 Aug 2014

When Mr Stanley Tee was fired as corporate sales director in Hong Kong five years ago, it fired him up.

Instead of looking back, the Singaporean worked on growing a string of express barbershops. Today, he has 11 outlets across Hong Kong and 44 employees driven by the motto - peng leng zeng (cheap, good-looking and good-quality).

Mr Tee, 43, who was sent to Hong Kong in 2006 by a Singapore telecommunications company, believes he wouldn't have been able to reinvent himself so quickly if he had been back home.

"Singaporeans will wonder - is there a problem with you (for being fired)? Hong Kongers are more realistic. They say, what can you offer me? They look forward. They will not look at your past."

Mr Tee's experience is a unique one, but his takeaway is one echoed by a number of Singaporeans in Hong Kong - and also a reason why some have chosen to sink roots in this city.

For many decades, there has been a constant and easy flow of people between Hong Kong and Singapore, which share traits as former British colonies, Chinese-majority societies and cities at similar stages of development.

The latest wave of Singaporeans is notable for certain high-profile names, including former foreign minister George Yeo, now chairman of Kerry Logistics, and former Singapore Press Holdings senior executive Robin Hu, now chief executive officer of South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Last month, former National University of Singapore law academic Michael Hor became law dean at Hong Kong University. Media academic Cherian George joins Baptist University's journalism faculty this month.

Says Mr Yeo: "I'm struck by the growing number of Singaporeans working in Hong Kong and the to-ing and fro-ing between the two cities. I feel myself part of this two-way flow, as the old China trade which created Singapore and Hong Kong as two stations for the British East India Company flows again on a much larger scale."

From por-zai to nga-chart

Hong Kong has always been an attractive destination for Singaporeans.

Of the 207,000 overseas Singaporeans, about 12,000 to 15,000 are here - a fairly substantial number in this city of 7.2 million. By contrast, the most popular stop - Australia - has 50,000 Singaporeans.

Today, there are three broad categories of Singaporeans in Hong Kong.

The first are descendants of old-money patriarchs from South-east Asia who despatched sons to Hong Kong to grow the family business. Many of their offspring were born and bred in Hong Kong but retain their red passports.

Mr Ivan Owyang, 42, is the grandson of the late Chi Owyang, co-founder of Overseas Union Bank and later Singapore's ambassador to Thailand.

"I believe my grandfather planned that his eldest son Hsuan Owyang was to look after the Singapore operations and his second son John Owyang was to be posted to Hong Kong to expand the operation," he recounts. "Thus I was born in Hong Kong. However, I feel as much a Singaporean as most people; my son will do national service."

The late property tycoon Ng Teng Fong sent his son Robert to Hong Kong where Sino Group is today among the city's major developers. Third-generation scions Daryl and David look set to stay on.

Within this category is also a dwindling group of old political

idealists. In the 1950s and 1960s, the offspring of middle-class families in South-east Asia including Singapore, lured by a mix of Communist strongman Mao Zedong's propaganda and a sense of nationalism, set off for China, often breaking family ties in doing so, says anthropologist Bryan Wong. From 1949 to 1966, nearly 500,000 overseas Chinese returned to China.

When the Cultural Revolution broke out, they were reviled as bourgeois capitalists and many fled to Hong Kong. There were fewer than 10,000 of these Singaporeans, and about 500 to 800 are alive today, estimates Dr Wong.

Then there are those who came to Hong Kong to make their fortunes - and stayed for good.

From the 1960s, ambitious young Singaporeans sought out the Fragrant Harbour, a superior business market given its size and the relative sophistication of its population, many of whom hailed from Shanghai's mercantile classes.

One of the earliest to arrive was gangly 21-year-old Robert Chua, who was hired by TV station TVB in 1967 and who later made a name producing variety shows for the region.

"We Singaporeans were viewed by the Hong Kongers as country bumpkins then," he recounts with a chuckle. Singaporeans became known as "por-zai" (Singapore kid). Other early arrivals include food critic Chua Lam and businessman Chou Cheng Ngok, who later dotted Hong Kong's cityscape with Popular bookstores.

The peak influx came in the 1990s, as China opened up, says business academic Chan Yan Chong, renowned in Hong Kong for his investment advice columns.

"Singapore companies were keen on China but it was difficult then as we could enter only as tourists. There also weren't enough hotels or office buildings in China and so the employees were based here and commuted instead."

Today, the Singapore pool continues to see an infusion of fresh blood, with finance and law professionals looking for opportunities and higher pay - up to 30 per cent more than in Singapore. The new demand is partly driven by mainland Chinese companies, which view Singaporeans as bilingual and, in particular, as men with leadership skills due to National Service, says Mr Tony Teo, past chairman of the Singapore Association.

With many also brought in to take up increasingly senior positions, the local perception of Singaporeans has changed, Mr Chua says.

"In recent years, some Hong Kongers tell me they think Singaporeans, especially the young, are stuck-up."

Rather than "por-zai", some Singaporeans are now called "nga-chart" - arrogant.

A love-hate relationship

Indeed, there has always been some tension between the denizens of the two cities.

Singaporeans in Hong Kong tend to have strong reactions to the city, says Mr Tee.

"Those who hate it, hate it for the politicking, the fakeness sometimes compared to Singaporeans who are more 'straight', or just the rudeness of the market stallholders."

Those who cannot speak Cantonese find it difficult to fit in. Others who yearn for a more settled lifestyle despair at quirks as random as water droplets dripping from air-conditioning units along pavements.

But those who love living in Hong Kong do so with a certain passion.

Mr Hu calls Hong Kong "a pulsating city that accelerates at the thrilling heartbeat of China". For him, in particular, helming Hong Kong's main English-language daily is exciting, given its role in chronicling China's changes.

"The China story is as exhilarating as it is ever evolving and deserves to be told without bias, contempt or glorification, and at SCMP, we see it as our responsibility to do so," he says.

Hong Kong's laissez-faire business environment and emphasis on civil liberties and political diversity also appeal to those who feel it offers opportunities that Singapore does - or did - not.

UOB chairman Hsieh Fu Hua recounts his four years here from 1996 to 2000 fondly. He had set up a finance house but the regulatory framework in Singapore then was "rigid" and unwelcoming of small start-ups. This has since changed, he says.

"Hong Kong was more receptive to companies big and small. And that spirit of enterprise was invigorating. You can be new in town - and make a success of it."

This remains true today, say those in Hong Kong now.

Corporate lawyer Basil Hwang, 42, describes an environment of "intellectual freedom to think as boldly as you wish".

"So long as you get the job done, no one dictates how it is done, or if it is permitted. You come with an idea, and then you check, is it legal? Whereas in Singapore, the first question is, is it legal?"

Lawyer Angela Wang, 56, who came to Hong Kong in 1991 and later set up her own firm, agrees. A fundamental difference in attitudes, she points out, is between "doing the right thing according to rules versus doing the best thing".

"They believe in motivating people through money - if I agree to the price, you will be motivated and that's good for me. They are thus more demanding; if you tell them you cannot apply for delisting because ABC already said so, they will ask you to think of a different way. Be creative.

"But if I squeeze you - which is how clients do it in Singapore - you won't be happy, and I won't get the best performance out of you."

At the same time, there are those who found Hong Kong a haven after encountering rejection back home.

Mr Chua says he tried to return home in the 1970s and contribute to Singapore's TV industry but was brushed off by the then Singapore Broadcasting Corporation. He says he does not know why.

Dr George meanwhile did not get tenure at Nanyang Technological University - a move that sparked talk that it was politically motivated due to his critical commentaries of the government.

Of his choice to move to Hong Kong, he says: "In my particular academic sub-field of journalism studies as well as related sub-fields like political communication, Hong Kong is No. 1 in Asia."

He wrote on his blog: "It was a bittersweet irony that, when I was forced to start searching, universities in Hong Kong welcomed me more warmly than did university administrators at home."

Though a small city like Singapore, Hong Kong seems more embracing of people with a past. It is not because it is a kinder place; rather, it is because Hong Kongers are more focused on what one can offer then. As Ms Wang puts it: "This place has short memories, they don't care. You are what you do, you are what you can deliver."

This, say those who are here, is something Singapore can and should learn from.

Mr Hsieh sums up Hong Kong's appeal this way: "If you don't fit in in Singapore, you come to Hong Kong and it can fit you in. That is the beauty of Hong Kong."

It is not all rosy though.

Some Singaporeans are uncomfortable with Hong Kong's blatantly materialistic culture. Others decry a creeping "China-centric" culture in industries such as finance.

One banker who just returned to Singapore after seven years here says: "There is a difference between how Singaporeans and the Chinese do things and treat people. For the Chinese, the ends justify the means. I made the decision that I am Singaporean at the end of the day, and I want to adhere to my standards."


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I, Robot. You, friend or foe?

August 3, 2014, 9:54 pm
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Hitchhiking robot in Canada wins fans in experiment to see if it can rely on people for help
The Sunday Times, 3 Aug 2014

Ottawa - A talking robot assembled from household odds and ends is hitchhiking thousands of kilometres across Canada this summer as part of a social experiment to see if those of its kind can trust humans.



Society is "usually concerned with whether we can trust robots", Dr Frauke Zeller, co-creator of the "hitchBot", told Agence France-Presse.

Hollywood movies like The Terminator and The Matrix often depict machines as enemies of mankind, said the assistant professor at Toronto's Ryerson University. But, she noted, quite the opposite is true of hitchBot.

"This project turns our fear of technology on its head and asks, 'Can robots trust humans?'" Dr Zeller said. "Our aim is to further discussion in society about our relationship with technology and robots, and notions of safety and trust."

Dr Zeller and fellow professor David Smith of McMaster University, along with a team of specialists, designed hitchBot to be fully dependent on people.

"It cannot achieve its task of hitchhiking across Canada without the help of people, because it cannot move by itself," she said.

And hitchBot certainly has what it takes to charm its way into people's hearts. It can strike up a conversation and answer trivia questions by consulting information using built-in computers. It will even tell you when it is tired and in need of recharging from your car's cigarette lighter.

hitchBot has what has been described by Canadian media as a "yard-sale aesthetic", built from parts found in a typical Canadian home or hardware store.



It has an LED-lit smiley face wrapped in a transparent cake saver set atop a plastic beer pail wrapped in a solar panel.

Its feet are rubber boots and it wears yellow latex gloves - including one with its thumb extended to show it wants to catch a ride.

The robot also had to be small enough to fit into a car's backseat but have enough heft so it would not be blown over by gusts of wind while hitchhiking on the side of the road.

"It had to be sturdy but also appealing to people," Dr Zeller said. "We wanted people to feel like, 'Yeah, I should stop to help that robot.'"

And that is exactly what has been happening. hitchBot began its trip a week ago in Canada's Atlantic port city of Halifax, after being picked up by an elderly couple in a camper van.

After a night in the Canadian outback, they handed it over to three young men from Quebec province. hitchBot then zipped through eastern Canada to Toronto for a brief check-in with its creators before hitting the road again. It is ultimately headed for the country's westernmost city of Victoria - more than 6,000km from its starting point.

The trip is being documented on social media (www.hitchBot.me), allowing people around the world to connect with the robot. Less than 24 hours after it began its journey, it already snapped up 12,000 followers on Twitter. By last Friday, it had nearly 20,000 followers.

"Everyone is rooting for it," Dr Zeller said. "It's an interesting phenomenon - people are developing attachments to the robot, including many who (will) never meet hitchBot, but are following it on social media."

Once its travels are over, researchers will analyse comments posted on Twitter and Facebook to see what they can surmise about the public's attitudes concerning robot-human interactions.

With the growing use of mechanical humanoids in space, manufacturing and everyday life, "it's becoming more important to explore our relationship with robots - especially if they come into our households", Dr Zeller said.

Particularly interesting, she added, is the question of whether robots will be seen as disposable as they age and break down.

"What do we do when they will need to be repaired?" Dr Zeller said, suggesting that some people may become attached to the little humanoids and will "keep and cherish" them.

"Do we repair them, or will they become just another convenient item that we can throw away?" she asked.

"We have to study all of that to ensure it works out right."

AFP


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