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Little India Riot COI: Day 4

February 25, 2014, 8:27 pm
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'We felt outnumbered by mob and in danger'
If arrests came earlier, unrest may have been quelled: Auxiliary cops
By Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 25 Feb 2014

THE violence in Little India may not have spun out of control had there been more police officers on the ground making arrests earlier.

That was the opinion of two auxiliary police officers who testified on day four of the Committee of Inquiry into the Dec 8 riot.

The two officers from security firm Certis Cisco told how they felt outnumbered and in danger of being overrun by a crowd of what seemed to them like 1,000 rioters.



Constable Nathan Chandra Sekaran, 35, recounted how, armed with a baton and pistol, he and two unarmed protection officers answered a request for assistance from a fellow Certis Cisco team at about 9.20pm on Dec 8.

A similarly configured team of three officers arrived minutes later and, along with the original team, the nine officers formed a "human shield" to push back the crowd. The mob had been trying to get to Madam Wong Geck Woon, the timekeeper on a bus which had run over and killed 33-year-old Sakthivel Kumaravelu.

Some workers blamed her for his death and were already attacking the bus in an attempt to get at her, shouting that they were going to burn it.

The crowd of roughly 200 that had gathered shortly after the accident soon swelled to what Mr Nathan estimated to be 1,000.

Last Friday, the inquiry heard that at about 10.30pm - before troops from the Special Operations Command arrived - there were fewer than 100 police officers at the scene. And only 65 of them, mainly from Tanglin and Central police divisions, were directly involved in dealing with the rioters. The remaining 30 were Traffic Police officers who were performing traffic control operations on the outskirts of the area.

"I did feel that I was in danger, but it was important to form a protection line (to guard Madam Wong)," he said.

The police and Singapore Civil Defence Force managed to rescue Madam Wong and the bus driver, but this only appeared to incite the crowd which, according to Constable Raymond Murugiasu, 20, was becoming "rowdier".

"I was hit on the head and shoulders by bottles," he said. "I also injured my leg from the broken glass on the road," he said.

However, Mr Nathan said that only a small group within the crowd - most of whom were farther back - were shouting threats and throwing projectiles.

A CCTV clip played in court showed another handful of men defiantly gesticulating at Mr Nathan's colleague. At one point, some of them shoved the protection officer, spoiling for a fight.

"I truly believe the riot would not have gone out of control if the police had arrested some of the troublemakers early," Mr Nathan said in his police statement.

"The rest of the police vehicles might not have been burned if we arrested a few of those persons in the crowd who were threatening to burn the bus earlier."

Asked by State Counsel John Lu whether he could have possibly quelled the riot by arresting a man he suspected had struck his head with a stone, Mr Nathan disagreed. "You can't stop it by arresting one man; you need a 'man force' and you need to make a few arrests," he replied, noting that at that stage there were insufficient law enforcement officers on the ground - about 20 against a crowd around 50 times as large.

Mr Nathan eventually helped police arrest three rioters at about 10.40pm.

Mr Raymond also told the inquiry that police had "reacted too slowly", while those who arrived on the scene early only reported the incident and waited for back-up.

Both auxiliary police officers said most of the rioters were drunk, displaying signs such as slurred speech and emboldened behaviour. The two men estimated that at least 80 per cent of the workers who visit Little India drink when they are there.

"At the Tekka Lane open field, there would be 800 workers seated," recalled Mr Raymond of a typical weekend. "You can hardly walk around the field because they are in such large numbers."

The hearing continues today.




DRIVER WAS LOOKING AWAY

The bus was turning at a junction when I saw someone dashing to the front of the bus from the side... The bus driver did not appear to notice the person running next to the bus. I think this was because he was looking in other directions while the bus was turning. Subsequently I felt a hard bump... and the bus stopped. I concluded that the bus must have run over the person.
- Indian national Ganesan Thanaraj, a passenger on the bus that was involved in the fatal accident that sparked the riot




CALLS TO KILL TIMEKEEPER

I heard the foreign workers shouting the words to the effect that the timekeeper had caused the death of (Mr Sakthivel Kumaravelu)... they wanted to kill her and they wanted to burn the bus. I observed that these shouts were coming from some foreign workers who were standing at the back of the crowd throwing projectiles at the bus.
- Auxiliary Police Officer Nathan Chandra Sekaran from Certis Cisco, recounting what he heard at the scene of the accident




REACTIONS TOO SLOW

In my opinion the police reacted too slowly to the riot on Dec 8... more police officers should have been sent to the scene earlier. I truly believe that the riot would not have gone out of control had the police arrested some of the troublemakers early.
- Auxiliary Police Officer Nathan Chandra Sekaran






Officer held back as he feared 'provoking the crowd'
By Walter Sim, The Straits Times, 25 Feb 2014

AN AUXILIARY police officer yesterday explained why he did not make any arrests sooner during the Dec 8 riot in Little India.

This, even though a stone thrown by a man in the unruly crowd near Kerbau Road had struck him on the head.

"The crowd at that time was aggressive... It's not easy to enter that crowd and arrest that one man," said Certis Cisco Constable Nathan Chandra Sekaran, who was testifying yesterday before the Committee of Inquiry into the unrest last year.

He told the inquiry on the fourth day of the public hearing that he held back because he "feared that this would provoke the crowd".

State Counsel John Lu, who was presenting the evidence during yesterday's inquiry, asked if arresting the man would have stopped the others. Mr Nathan said no.

If he had gone into the crowd to arrest the man, he may have been attacked and have to use his revolver, he said. "It's too risky to go in (because) if I get caught as a single person in that crowd, they may get hold of my revolver. They may use it against us and attack my officers."

The 35-year-old was one of the first emergency responders at the scene to appear before the committee.

A total of 49 Home Team officers and five auxiliary police officers were injured in the fracas.

More than $650,000 worth of government property was also damaged, including 23 emergency response vehicles, five of which were set on fire.

Mr Nathan said the mob he faced that day appeared to be about 1,000-strong, although police estimates placed it at about 400.

Three Indian nationals have since been jailed between 15 and 18 weeks for their role in the unrest, while cases against 22 others are pending in court.

Another 57 foreigners arrested in connection with the incident have since been repatriated, while police advisories were issued to 213 others for their passive and incidental involvement in the riot.





Man who died appeared drunk, says passenger
By Walter Sim, The Straits Times, 25 Feb 2014

THE man who was killed after he tripped and fell into the path of a moving bus as he was running after it had appeared drunk before the accident in Little India, said a passenger on the bus.

Mr Ganesan Thanaraj, 34, told the Committee of Inquiry into the Dec 8 riot yesterday that he first noticed Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu after he staggered into a bus queue.

The welder, who is also from India, said he was standing in line for the private bus bound for a dormitory in Jalan Papan when Mr Sakthivel, a 33-year-old construction worker, approached him.

"He was asking if Bangladeshi workers were better than Indian workers," said Mr Ganesan.

"He then came up to me and asked me the same question... I told him that he was saying the wrong things."

This was after the bus timekeeper Wong Geck Woon asked a Bangladeshi worker to help tell all the workers from India to stand in line.

After ranting about the issue to others in the queue, Mr Sakthivel jumped the line and managed to get on the bus that was parked along Tekka Lane.

Madam Wong, 38, later ordered the Indian national to get off the bus after he allegedly dropped his bermuda shorts while on board.

Although Mr Sakthivel did not react at first, he alighted "on his own" after she raised her voice at him, Mr Ganesan said.

Mr Sakthivel would later be seen on closed-circuit television camera footage - that was presented to the committee - chasing after the bus before he fell and was run over by the vehicle as it made a left turn into Race Course Road.

"The bus was turning at a junction when I saw someone dashing to the front of the bus from the side," said Mr Ganesan.

"Subsequently, I felt a hard bump... and the bus stopped.

" I concluded that the bus must have run over the person."





Timekeeper pushed workers, used insults: Auxiliary cops
By Walter Sim, The Straits Times, 25 Feb 2014

BUS timekeeper Wong Geck Woon, one of the targets of rioters in the Dec 8 riot in Little India, was known to be rude to foreign workers, the Committee of Inquiry into the incident was told yesterday.

She was overheard calling them "stupid", "idiot" or other worse insults, said auxiliary police officer Nathan Chandra Sekaran, 35, on the fourth day of the public hearing.

Madam Wong, 38, had scolded and shouted at the workers to get them in line for the buses because of the messy queue system before the riot, said the constable from security firm Certis Cisco.

From what he has seen, she was the only bus timekeeper to resort to such insults, he added.

His colleague, Mr Raymond Murugiasu, 20, also told the committee yesterday that Madam Wong was rude to the workers.

"She's fond of pushing foreign workers and she uses vulgar language when she talks to them. They usually retaliate by shouting back at her," he said.

He had seen an Indian man fall down after being pushed by her, he added.

The testimonies yesterday contrasted with what Madam Wong said under oath last Thursday, when she flatly denied ever insulting or roughing up anyone.

However, Mr Nathan said in her defence: "I wish to say that it is difficult for her to carry out this job without scolding them."

The two officers have been performing "foreign worker management" duty in Little India for almost every weekend and public holiday for the last three years.

Mr Nathan said the workers may have been angry with her out of "human nature" after being scolded every weekend.

Mr Raymond agreed that the history of bad blood between Madam Wong and the men was a possible cause of the riot.


Related
Little India Riot COI: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
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MINDEF equips camps with more medical devices

February 25, 2014, 8:46 pm
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It buys 1,900 defibrillators, on top of more than 1,000 already purchased
By Hoe Pei Shan, The Straits Times, 25 Feb 2014

THE Ministry of Defence has purchased 1,900 more automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on top of "more than 1,000" it has already bought to equip its 30 military camps.

MINDEF revealed the figures to The Straits Times yesterday after it launched a drive to install defibrillators at Singapore Armed Forces camps last June.

The new batch was bought earlier this month from Irish manufacturer HeartSine, which said in a statement: "Due to the increasing number of sudden cardiac arrest fatalities in army camps... MINDEF sought to implement a comprehensive AED programme."

Between 2007 and 2012, there were two reported fatal heart attacks involving national servicemen.In the last six months, at least two other servicemen reportedly suffered cardiac arrests. One ended up in an intensive care unit and the other died a few days after.

All 30 military camps now have the defibrillators, which help to "jump-start" the heart by evaluating its rhythm and jolting it into action with an electric current.

They have been installed in areas where physical training is conducted such as gymnasiums, swimming pools and running tracks. They are also located in busy locations like dining halls.

Since 2010, all full-time servicemen have been trained in basic life support and certified to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and to use AEDs.

"The decision to make AEDs widely available in our military facilities will improve the chances of survival for our servicemen and women in the event of sudden cardiac arrest," said Dr Benjamin Leong, a senior consultant in the emergency medicine department at the National University Hospital. "Without life-saving interventions, every passing minute reduces the chance of this person surviving by 7 to 10 per cent."

Medics also carry the devices to all training activities with risk of drowning or heart trauma, including physical fitness tests, route marches and river-crossing exercises.

Neither HeartSine nor MINDEF would reveal how much the deal cost, except to say it was a "multi-million dollar contract". The usual price for each unit of the 500P model purchased is $2,990, according to the brand's official distributor here, HTM Medico.

MINDEF said the introduction of defibrillators in SAF camps "will enable SAF personnel to have quick and early access to AEDs, and this will enhance the first responder's ability to administer basic life support... in line with national and international best practices".
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S'pore experiencing record dry spell - and it could get worse

February 26, 2014, 5:17 am
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By David Ee, The Straits Times, 25 Feb 2014

THE nearly month-long dry spell from Jan 13 to Feb 8 has gone down in history as the country's worst since extensive data recording began five decades ago, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Barely any rain fell in Singapore for those 27 consecutive days, comfortably dwarfing the previous record, an 18-day dry spell in 2008.

Though brief showers on Feb 8 and Feb 9 ended the dearth and brought respite to parched parks and gardens islandwide, the lack of rain has persisted. Apart from again short-lived showers in western Singapore on Feb 16, the island has seen no rain since.

The dry weather is "likely to persist into the first half of March", the NEA predicted, which could set another record.

The Meteorological Service Singapore defines a dry spell as a period of more than 14 days with less than 1mm of rain. Drier weather is common at the end of the north-east monsoon, usually from February until early March.

The recent lack of rain is in part because the dry phase of the north-east monsoon set in during the middle of January, earlier than usual, the NEA has said.

Just 75.4mm of rain last month and 0.2mm this month to date was recorded at NEA's Changi climate station, compared to the long-term averages of 242.4mm and 161mm respectively.

"This is definitely out of the ordinary," said National University of Singapore weather researcher Winston Chow.

But "abnormal" and extreme weather patterns like this could be more common in the long term due to climate change, he added. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned of the same in its latest report last year, which drew from the conclusions of scientists and politicians from 195 countries.

"The concern is that these uncommon weather events may be happening more frequently sooner rather than later," said Professor Chow. He noted that in recent months, the United States has been hit by unusually freezing weather, Australia by extreme heat and Britain by devastating storms and floods.

The NEA also said "climate change increases the risks of both wetter and drier extremes", but that further studies were needed to investigate exactly how this would affect Singapore.

National water agency PUB has been pumping 20 million to 25 million gallons of Newater a day since late last month into reservoirs to maintain their water levels. Last week, it raised this to 30 million gallons, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the National Parks Board said it has started to water flora in parks and along roads, which is showing "symptoms of water stress".

Malaysia is also grappling with one of its driest spells in years, with some states declaring a water crisis and planning cloud seeding this week. Selangor has started rationing water and other states might do the same.



The dry weather has also worsened hot spots from fires in Indonesia's Riau province, with 1,234 hot spots detected yesterday, reported The Jakarta Post.








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No support, so no dialysis

February 26, 2014, 6:34 pm
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Some kidney patients refuse treatment and choose to die
By Salma Khalik and Lee Jian Xuan, The Straits Times, 24 Feb 2014

EVERY year, some people choose death over dialysis when their kidneys fail.

Without dialysis to clear toxins in their body, they are unlikely to survive long.

But there are others who are forced to forgo dialysis because they cannot afford it, or because their families said no.

At the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH), 24 patients suitable for dialysis declined the procedure in 2011.

Instead, they were placed under palliative care to ease their suffering as they died.

Out of this group, 10 turned down dialysis because they did not have anyone to take them for the treatment or help them with home dialysis.

Two among them wanted the treatment, but their families refused.

Another four turned down the procedure because they did not want to be a burden to their families as they were "old already".

Six rejected dialysis because it was too expensive.

The rest of the KTPH patients declined for various personal reasons, including fear of pain.

In Singapore, dialysis centres are run either by for-profit private companies, where it costs $2,500 to more than $4,000 a month, or by voluntary welfare organisations which charge highly subsidised rates.

But patients have to be means-tested to qualify for the subsidy.

Medical insurance coverage ranges from a third to full reimbursement.

Professor A. Vathsala, head of nephrology at the National University Hospital (NUH), said patients who do not undergo dialysis have a median survival of six months.

These findings appeared in the December edition of the Annals, a publication of the Academy of Medicine.

The median age of the 24 patients was 71, with the youngest at 45 years old.

A check by The Straits Times found that most hospitals, including KTPH where the study was done, do not keep track of the number of patients who decline dialysis, although all the hospitals say they do have such cases.

At Singapore General Hospital (SGH), which treats about 400 end-stage kidney patients a year, about 30 patients a year choose not to do dialysis, though some change their minds later when they start feeling unwell, said Associate Professor Lina Choong, a senior renal consultant.

Prof Vathsala said that about two NUH patients a year would reject dialysis "for their own reasons rather than due to issues such as family support or lack of funding for transport to dialysis centres".

She said that the low numbers are the result of painstaking counselling when patients initially refuse.

"All patients who refuse treatment are referred to a medical social worker to ensure that they have no financial reasons to reject the treatment.

"For patients who lack family support, we apply for residential homes for the patients. Further, the decision for a patient not to be dialysed is reviewed at every opportunity as an inpatient or outpatient, so as to give the patient every opportunity to change his mind about refusing treatment."

Dr Laurence Tan, a geriatric doctor at KTPH, and his team who did the study concluded: "More must be done to improve social structures which help support patients and their families who desire treatment, particularly if it is a means of prolonging life meaningfully at this stage."

Mr Gan Ah Soy, 68, had turned down dialysis when his kidney failed because "it's very troublesome, you have to waste so much time and money".

But he listened to friends who told him that dialysis would let him live 20 to 30 years more. Now, he helps persuade other patients at SGH who decline the treatment.

Recently, he talked to a 77-year-old patient who has five children and 10 grandchildren.

But the man was adamant about not wanting to spend the money on dialysis or trouble his family.

He told Mr Gan: "I'm 77, I'm old, I've lived enough."





High kidney failure rate
By Salma Khalik, The Straits Times, 24 Feb 2014

SINGAPORE has the fifth highest rate of kidney failure in the world, with 279 people per million of population facing this life-threatening situation in 2012.

The top four, according to the United States Renal Data System, are Mexico (527), the United States (362), Taiwan (361) and Japan (295).

However, the seemingly high figure may not be cause to press the panic button.

Dr Terence Kee, director of the renal transplant programme at the Singapore General Hospital, cautioned that the ranking depends on the accuracy of the territories' reporting systems. Some might under-report, he said.

Patients with kidney failure require either a transplant or dialysis for the rest of their lives. At the end of 2012, there were 5,237 people here on dialysis.

In terms of transplants, Singapore does not make it to the list of top 30 places with the most transplants per million population, which include Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines.

In 2012, a total of 51 people received a kidney transplant, of whom 28 received one from a living relative. The remainder received their kidney from a dead donor.

Last year, 68 people received a transplant - 34 each from living and dead donors. By the end of last year, there were 424 people waiting for a transplant.

Uncontrolled diabetes is the main cause of kidney failure in Singapore, accounting for three in five cases.

Other causes include glomerulonephritis - a group of kidney diseases that cause inflammation and damage to the kidneys - as well as diseases that affect the body's immune system, such as lupus.





Time for awareness campaign on kidney failure

AFTER reading the reports ("No support, so no dialysis", Monday; and "Lofty sentiments are fine, but they won't save lives", last Friday), I would like to relate my own experience.

My nephew, who is in his early 40s, has kidney failure (both kidneys) and goes for dialysis every other day, with each session lasting four to five hours. After each session, I can see how exhausted he is.

It is the same with my colleague, a woman in her early 30s.

Both of them have family commitments and need to work to support their families.

Many people think kidney failure occurs only in the later stages of life. This is not true; there are many who suffer while in the prime of their lives.

If there is no living donor with a compatible kidney from his immediate family, a patient may have to wait for about seven to eight years for a cadaveric transplant - if he is lucky. Some do not make it past three to four years.

During the waiting period, the patient has to tolerate the pain and the drain on both his money and time.

Currently, there is no public awareness campaign on kidney failure and organ donation. I hope the relevant authorities can showcase the suffering a kidney failure patient has to go through, and appeal to the public to come forward to help.

Singapore has the fifth-highest rate of kidney failure in the world: There were 5,237 people here on dialysis at the end of 2012 ("High kidney failure rate"; Monday).

Each person has two kidneys but can survive on one. I appeal to all readers to consider donating a kidney to kidney failure patients.

Richard Chin Koon Fong
ST Forum, 26 Feb 2014









More living kidney donations needed

KIDNEY donor Dimitri Linde's article ("Lofty sentiments are fine, but they won't save lives"; last Friday) highlighting efforts to address the shortage of kidney donors in the United States echoes similar concerns the world over, including in Singapore.

This is a pressing issue given the rise in our nation's kidney failure cases, with four people losing the use of their kidneys every day.

Since the early 1970s, Singapore has been promoting kidney transplantation. The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) strongly supports this cause as it provides kidney failure patients with a much better clinical outcome than other treatment options such as dialysis.

There is still some way to go. In 2012, there were 457 people on the waiting list for a kidney transplant but only 23 cadaveric and 28 live donor kidney transplants were carried out. Many patients have waited beyond the average waiting time of nine years.

Progress has been made in developing the deceased donation programme under the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) of 1987. However, deceased donations alone will not have a significant impact on the long waiting list for an organ. For this, we need more living donations by family members and relatives of patients.

In 2004, one of the amendments to HOTA included regulating living donor organ transplantation beyond cadaveric donation.

With further amendments to Hota, the NKF launched the Kidney Live Donor Support Programme in 2009, where financial assistance is provided to a needy live donor who, through his act of compassion, gives someone a new lease of life. In this way, the patient can receive the gift of life and have the assurance that costs will not be a barrier for the donor's long-term medical follow-up.

The decision to donate an organ is not an easy one to make but it is definitely a kind and gracious act. We hope more people will come forward to help their loved ones suffering from kidney failure.

While the NKF continues to serve our country's poor and marginalised kidney failure patients and encourage kidney donation, there is some good news - the main causes of kidney failure, such as diabetes and hypertension, are preventable.

In this regard, the NKF will be doing more upstream to raise awareness of kidney disease and prevention in the community.

We will work in tandem with health-care and other partners to inspire many more Singaporeans to take charge of their health through simple efforts like having a healthy diet of less sugar and less salt, and a more active lifestyle, with a good dose of exercise and regular health checks to keep diseases at bay.

Edmund Kwok
Chief Executive Officer
National Kidney Foundation
ST Forum, 25 Feb 2014





Lofty sentiments are fine, but they won't save lives
By Dimitri Linde, Published The Straits Times, 21 Feb 2014

ON DEC 19 last year, I was admitted for surgery at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston at 6.30am. I swopped my street clothes for a hospital gown, and an hour later I was sucking down oxygen from a mask that drowsed me as no breath of air ever has. By the time I came to at 5pm, my right kidney was halfway across the country, being implanted in a middle-aged woman an algorithm selected for me.

There are more than 77,000 Americans currently on waiting lists for a kidney and, unlike the woman that got mine, many won't get one. In 2012, fewer than 17,000 of those waitlisted received a transplant, and 4,903 would-be recipients died while waiting.

Life on the waiting list is grim. Transplant candidates typically undergo dialysis three times a week, lasting four to five hours each. The sessions weaken patients to the degree that 71 per cent discontinue work after starting. Treatments dispirit them too: Those on dialysis experience clinical depression at a rate that is four times the national average. Absent finding a living donor, individuals on the list can expect a three- to five-year wait for a cadaver match. Nearly half die three years after starting dialysis.

Two policies would address the shortfall of kidneys in the United States: instituting a priority-scoring system for donors and their kin, and paying donors.

Israel pioneered the former in 2012. Prioritising organ allocation by donor status - a system that economist Alex Tabarrok termed "no give, no take" - incentivised people to register as organ donors.

It also removed a hurdle to living donation: The incentive to abstain because of a hypothetical (what if my son needs a kidney?) went away since the policy guarantees that a donor's kin will be prioritised in the event that they need a transplant. The results? Both living and deceased donations have gone up, and the number of people who have died on the waitlist fell by 30 per cent between 2010 and 2013.

To obviate the kidney shortage, we should heed the recommendation of Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker and others by making it legal to compensate donors. Now, the National Organ Transplant Act bans the "sale" of any human organs in the US. Those who oppose compensation object to its ramifications for donors and society. They argue that the poor will be exploited, and that people should give out of the goodness of their hearts.

But these lofty sentiments ignore the fact that 18 transplant candidates die each day. As the legal scholar Richard Epstein has put it: "Only a bioethicist could prefer a world in which we have 1,000 altruists per annum and over 6,500 excess deaths over one in which we have no altruists and no excess deaths."

Yet absent such policy changes, which have little traction in Washington, right now transplant chains are the best tool to facilitate donations. Chains begin with a would-be recipient identifying a donor - say, a man with polycystic kidney disease and his wife. In most cases, a potential donor doesn't have a compatible blood and tissue type with the intended recipient, so this spousal pair would likely be a poor match. (Incompatibility can marginalise the life span of the transplant, or preclude the body from accepting it at all.)

That's where organisations like the National Kidney Registry, a non-profit computerised matching service, come in. The NKR and similar non-profit groups work with hospitals across the US to create large national exchanges, linking incompatible and poorly compatible pairs to highly compatible counterparts elsewhere. Additionally, by working with living donors, these matching services furnish kidneys that endure, on average, twice as long as equally compatible cadaver transplants.

Through groups like NKR, altruistic donors - people willing to donate to an anonymous person - initiate "donor chains", catalysing multiple donations. Inspired by reading about a 60-person chain begun by such a donor, I entrusted the NKR to select my recipient. Their software churned up a highly compatible match for me more than 1,600km away. Concurrent with receiving a kidney, my recipient's incompatible donor gave to a commensurately strong match. A courier delivered this donor's organ to a third hospital in yet another region of the country, completing the exchanges. (The average NKR chain yields six transplants.)

I donated with some hesitation. The laparoscopic surgery to remove a kidney, though far less invasive than conventional surgery, still carries a mortality risk of 0.03 per cent (that's three deaths for every 10,000 procedures). But accepting a small potential for harm in the service of doing good is hardly unique: More than 1.4 million Americans do so every day in the military, a choice that also saves lives.

Donors can give safely into their 70s, but at 25 years old and healthy, with no dependants to support, I had an ideal profile. There was also no financial burden on me: Donors are not liable for any costs. The recipient's health insurance incurs the expense of the donor's pre-op, surgery and post-op recovery, as well as any unanticipated complications in the following year.

Living with one kidney, donors are advised against consuming gym supplements and the class of pharmaceuticals that includes ibuprofen. Otherwise, there are no permanent dietary or lifestyle prohibitions. My remaining kidney will grow to provide 80 per cent of the renal function realised with two. In the long term, donors don't face a heightened risk of developing kidney disease. If they later require a transplant - because of bruising, cancer or disease that would have shut down both kidneys - donors receive priority on the waiting list.

So how did I fare? By 9.30 on the morning after my surgery, I'd taken a lap around the hospital floor, a bit ornery with my nurse for not escorting me sooner. Twenty-four hours later, another nurse detached the IVs from my arms and processed my hospital dismissal. By Christmas Day, I was standing upright, walking briskly for as long as I cared to, no longer sore. I lost a few days of vacation and took a rain check on a trip to Tortola that I couldn't afford. Meanwhile, I enabled two people to receive lifesaving transplants.

Could this be you?



The writer lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.


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Little peace of mind with MediShield integrated plans

February 26, 2014, 6:57 pm
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By Salma Khalik, The Straits Times, 25 Feb 2014

THE more I look into the MediShield integrated plans (IP), the more concerned I get that by the time I'm old, frail and in need of hospital care, the insurance policy I've been paying for years in the hope of good medical coverage will let me down.

Like many people, I'm insurance-naive.

I assumed that when I signed on the dotted line for coverage by a particular plan, I would at least get the coverage the insurer had promised at the time I joined.

Yes, I know insurance premiums will go up as the cost of medical care rises. That I can live with.

What I find most disturbing is the way the insurer can decide to remove some of the coverage promised - without my explicit consent.

Isn't an insurance policy a contract between the insurer and the insured? Shouldn't both parties have to agree to changes?

I now find to my dismay that I have indeed agreed to the new terms by continuing with the policy - the contract is renewed every year when I pay my premium. Should I disagree with the new terms, I can decide not to re-contract.

But is that really an option?

Of course not.

Medical insurance, unlike car or travel insurance, is one where the insurer clearly holds the upper hand. Customers can't easily shop around for a cheaper or better plan - especially if they have some chronic ailment which most insurers would happily exclude from coverage.

So for most people, changing a plan after the age of 50, when more than half have some chronic ailment like high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels or diabetes, could mean getting lower coverage.

Only their existing insurer is obliged to continue covering them - a requirement by the Government for all IPs where Medisave can be used to pay for premiums.

Thank goodness for that.

But I've heard many stories in my 14 years of covering health care for The Straits Times of how some private insurers stop renewing, and stop paying out claims, after a person is down with a major ailment such as cancer.

This would appear to make a travesty of insurance, since coverage is withdrawn at the point when you most need it.

What I don't understand, too, is this: If the contract is renewable annually and each age band pays for itself, why can't I simply enter into a similar contract with another insurer - without having to make a new medical declaration and being excluded for some illnesses?

After all, what the insurers are saying is that all the premiums I had paid in the past were meant to be used by people in my age group, for treatment of diseases already diagnosed. Of course, some money from those premiums I paid has to be kept, to continue treating patients with diagnosed problems. But why can't I take the equivalent sum for future payments from my premiums with me, and go to another insurer for the same level of coverage?

I also wish that the Government - either the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which oversees insurance, or the Ministry of Health (MOH) - had put in further conditions to ensure that people are fairly treated by insurers.

Right now, before making changes to their plans, insurers need to get approval from the MOH. Unfortunately, the MOH does not appear to be a proactive supporter of patients' needs.

It was only when The Straits Times highlighted the lower dialysis payouts by AIA and Aviva to its policyholders from March last year that the ministry stepped in and told them not to reduce the payout for people already making claims.

But this ruling is only for people already diagnosed and making claims.

Anyone claiming after the payouts were reduced has no choice but to accept the lower sums.

If insurers can reduce payouts for dialysis at will, what's to stop them from doing so for other treatments in the years to come?

After all, many of their policyholders will find it difficult to switch plans. They are essentially a captive market.

The MediShield Life review committee might want to look at how people on IPs can be protected for their own good. Two in three MediShield policyholders also have IPs.

They could insist on no reduction of payouts.

Or the MOH could come up with a guide on the minimum required for each class of plans, leaving insurers free to give more should they want to.

Since Singapore is moving towards greater dependence on insurance to cope with large medical bills, it is imperative that health insurance regulators get their act together and place restrictions on the way insurers chop and change coverage and payouts at will.

The assurance of having sufficient payouts from one's insurance scheme is vital for people's peace of mind.


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Govt to manage possible hike in healthcare demand

February 26, 2014, 7:16 pm
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Budget measures could ultimately lead to higher costs
By Ng Jing Yng, TODAY, 26 Feb 2014

Acknowledging that Budget measures to help Singaporeans meet the rising healthcare costs could lead to a spike in demand and result in costs going up further, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said yesterday his ministry is looking to manage the situation — in particular, the demand for hospital care amid the ongoing bed crunch.

Apart from doing more in the areas of step-down care and home care, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will seek to ensure that only patients who are assessed by medical professionals to require acute care will remain in hospitals.



Speaking to reporters after the recording of the Budget Forum in Mandarin organised by MediaCorp, Mr Gan said: “One important aspect the Ministry of Health is looking at is how to manage healthcare costs, because with more funding, the risk is it will drive up demand. If we want to manage costs, we have to look at a holistic approach.”

Among the strategies that the MOH will be adopting is “proper gatekeeping to ensure that access to high-end acute care is on a needs basis, assessed by medical professionals ... if you do not need to be in an acute hospital, then you ought not to be in (it)”, Mr Gan said.

The MOH will also be enhancing support for community step-down care such as nursing homes and home care services. More details will be provided during the ministry’s Committee of Supply debate next month.

Last Friday, the Government continued its push to help the less well-off under measures unveiled in the Budget, with a particular focus on healthcare, which was identified as the main driver of higher social spending by Singapore over the next 10 to 15 years.

The centrepiece was the S$9 billion Pioneer Generation Package which will provide greater outpatient subsidies, Medisave top-ups and MediShield Life subsidies for seniors born in 1949 or earlier, and who became citizens before 1987. Singaporeans aged 55 and above this year who do not qualify for the Pioneer Generation Package will receive a Medisave top-up of between S$100 and S$200 a year over the next five years.

Healthcare practitioners whom TODAY spoke to agreed that the increase in government assistance could inadvertently lead to a spike in demand for hospital services. They suggested improving primary care provided by, for example, polyclinics to reduce the patient load on hospitals.

MOH statistics showed that, two weeks ago, more than four hospitals had bed occupancy rates of more than 85 per cent. The waiting times for admission also peaked at between six and seven hours for some hospitals.

Member of Parliament Chia Shi-Lu, who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, noted that it is difficult for doctors to turn away hospital patients or refer them to step-down care facilities and polyclinics. “The patient might feel that we (doctors) are abandoning them,” said Dr Chia, who is a consultant at the Singapore General Hospital. He added that he has come across cases where patients refused to be discharged and these patients had to be persuaded by doctors and medical social workers.

Dr Chia said the MOH is looking at diverting some services to the polyclinics; for example, conducting simple medical tests and dispensing certain types of medicine to relieve the hospitals’ load.

Dr Chia said: “To change people’s perceptions of primary care, there also needs to be more publicity on our polyclinics.”

Tsao Foundation Hui Mei Centre for Successful Ageing Medical Director Ng Wai Chong noted that as older patients tend to have complex medical issues, hospital doctors who are seeing these patients for the first time might also prefer to admit them in order to examine them further.

The Salvation Army Peacehaven Nursing Home Executive Director Low Mui Lang said patients might also prefer to go to hospitals’ accident and emergency departments to obtain quicker referrals for specialist treatments.

To encourage more people to turn to primary care, she proposed that hospitals work with more general practitioners and accept their referrals. There could also be more enhancements to the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) so that more patients do not have to worry about the costs of seeing a family physician, she said.

“The ministry can also consider standardising the income ceiling for the various health subsidy schemes ... to help people understand the healthcare benefits better,” she added.





Govt will ensure MediShield Life premiums affordable: Gan
More support for care in the community to be announced during Committee of Supply debate, says the Minister
By Eileen Poh, Channel NewsAsia, 25 Feb 2014

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong today (Feb 25) said the government will ensure that MediShield Life premiums will be affordable for Singaporeans, and lower-income families may receive more help to pay for the premiums.

Mr Gan also said that more support for care in the community, such as step-down care and homecare services, will be announced during the parliamentary debate on his ministry’s budget next month.

He said: “One important aspect MOH is looking at is how to manage healthcare costs, because with more funding, the risk is that it will drive up demand.

“There are a few strategies we will be adopting. One is proper gatekeeping to ensure that access to high-end expensive acute care is on a need basis.

“For example, if you don’t need to be in the acute hospital, then you ought not to be in the hospital; you may be looked after in a community hospital, the nursing homes or even at home.

“We will also be enhancing community support, primary care from our polyclinics through CHAS enhancement and through our community services support, by building more senior care centres, for example.”

Mr Gan was speaking to reporters after the recording of the Budget Forum in Mandarin, organised by MediaCorp.

Joining Mr Gan on the panel were representatives from social services, business associations and grassroots organisations. They were joined by 12 guests from diverse backgrounds, including tertiary students and owners of SMEs.

The Budget Forum in Mandarin will be aired on Channel 8 on Thursday at 10.30pm.


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S'pore on its way to 'super-ageing'

February 26, 2014, 7:53 pm
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By Lim Yi Han, MyPaper, 26 Feb 2014

SINGAPORE is well on its way to becoming a "super-aged" nation, with two back-to-back reports coming as a stark reminder of the silver tsunami.

A super-aged nation, according to the United Nations, is one where over 20 per cent of the population is aged 65 and above.

Japan is the first country to be accorded the status, and the Republic looks set to follow. By 2030, about one in five people here will be 65 or older.

And by 2050, there will be only two persons of working age for each person aged above 65, according to a report by Allianz Global Investors on Monday.

The investment company, which conducted demographic research, said in the report: "By then, Singapore will not be able to avoid the problems super-aged Japan is already facing. The difference will only be in terms of the timeframe."

Meanwhile, another survey has found that nearly four in five Singaporeans plan to rely on their personal savings and investments as a primary source of income after retirement.

Ironically, many still aim to retire early. The poll by global survey firm Nielsen, released yesterday, found that three in 10 Singaporeans want to retire before 60.

Some 500 Singaporeans took part in the Internet poll between August and September last year.

The survey also found that Singaporeans' biggest fear about ageing is not having enough money to pay medical bills. Other worries include not being able to look after themselves and losing physical agility when they age.

Saving up for the golden years instead of splurging on a lavish lifestyle before retirement is important, said Mr Gerard Ee, chairman of the Council for Third Age, which advocates active ageing and lifelong learning.

"The worrying thing is that people are not doing enough to save for the future," Mr Ee told MyPaper. "We need to strategically plan, what do you live on to support yourself for the next 20 years after retirement?"

Singapore is not like Hong Kong, which also has an ageing population. Hong Kong is dynamic and is supported by people from China, said Mr Ee. "Singapore is very contained."

He added that dealing with the situation is a "work in progress".

On Friday, in his Budget speech, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam gave details of the Pioneer Generation Package, which consists of lifelong health-care benefits for some 450,000 pioneers.

The pioneers are defined as Singaporeans aged 65 and above this year, and who became citizens before 1987 if they were not born here.

Benefits include subsidies for outpatient care and Medisave top-ups, all to be paid for from an $8 billion fund set aside in the Budget.

Meanwhile, MP Lee Bee Wah, who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee for Social and Family Development, said that she hopes there will be more non-governmental organisations, and more entrepreneurs, willing to set up non-profit organisations looking into the needs of the elderly.

She added: "When the Government has to set up old folk's centres, we hope people understand and not cry out 'not in my backyard, don't put them there'."





Medical bills top fear about retiring: Poll
Other concerns: Inability to look after themselves, loss of physical ability
By Toh Yong Chuan, The Straits Times, 26 Feb 2014

NOT having enough money to pay for medical bills during retirement is the biggest fear among Singaporeans when it comes to ageing, a survey has found.

Besides that, being unable to look after themselves and losing physical agility with age made up the top three worries, all cited by nearly three out of five in a poll of more than 500 Singaporeans by global survey firm Nielsen.

Carried out online between August and September last year, the research was part of a worldwide survey on ageing which covered 30,000 respondents in 60 countries. Some 480 respondents in Singapore were working adults.

The survey findings were released yesterday, four days after Budget Day, when the Government announced a 1 percentage point hike in employers' Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions to go into their employees' Medisave accounts in a bid to help Singaporeans save up for medical needs.

The survey also found that two out of three Singaporeans plan to retire before the age of 65. Three out of 10 plan to do so before 60. But about half said they would ideally like to retire before their planned or actual retirement age.

The vast majority - nearly four out of five - said they will rely on personal savings and investments as the main source of income in their twilight years.

Mr Luca Griseri, Nielsen's head of financial services in Singapore and Malaysia, said the poll shows Singaporeans'"desire to be self-reliant and self-sufficient".

Nielsen told The Straits Times that CPF savings were not a specified response in the survey, but it would expect respondents to consider CPF as the "government-run plan" option rather than "personal savings and investments".

The poll also found that most Singaporeans want to be with their families when they grow old. Nearly three out of five said they plan to live with their spouses or children.

Retirees told The Straits Times how they try to stay active to keep healthy so they do not have to fork out for medical bills.

Former zookeeper Francis Lim, 59, who retired four years ago, lifts weights three times a week and takes regular hikes. He relies on personal savings and investments.

"There are no more monthly salaries or bonuses, so it is important to live frugally," he said, adding that it is also important for retirees to plan their time. "I now spend more time in church and I also wrote two books after I retired."

Retired Singapore Airlines steward supervisor Eddie Chew, 64, and two other retired stewards put some savings into Happy Crab, a crab speciality stall in a coffee shop, two years ago. He now spends his evenings there serving customers.

"When I see that the customers are happy, I feel happy and it keeps me active and, more importantly, healthy," he said. "At our age, staying healthy is more important than anything else."


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Little India Riot COI: Day 5

February 26, 2014, 11:55 pm
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'Not enough officers' to carry out early arrests
Police focused on protecting woman, extricating accident victim, says officer
By Walter Sim, The Straits Times, 26 Feb 2014

THE police did not have enough officers on the ground to effectively make any arrest when the riot first broke out, said a senior officer who was at the scene of the violence in Little India last year.

Instead, they were focused on two main tasks: forming a human barrier to protect rescuers so they could extricate an accident victim pinned under a bus, and evacuating a woman who seemed to be the target of the angry mob.



These were the two missions Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Jonathan Tang had set when he first arrived at the site of the accident where a private bus had run over and killed a 33-year-old Indian national.

"It's not that we didn't want to deal with these fellows," he said, referring to the rioters. "But in order to deal with them we would have to split our manpower, and I only had so many people then."

ASP Tang, 28, was one of the police officers who first arrived at the junction of Race Course Road and Tekka Lane.

Testifying on day five of the public inquiry into the riot yesterday, he said the death of their countryman seemed to rile up the emotions of the foreign workers gathered nearby.

They then turned on rescuers and police officers who were responding to the traffic accident.

Two auxiliary police officers (APOs) had told the Committee of Inquiry (COI) on Monday that the violence might not have spun out of control had there been more police officers on the ground making arrests earlier.

ASP Tang, however, disagreed, as he believed that any action to arrest the rioters would risk agitating them further.

A third APO, Constable Srisivasangkar Subramaniam, who had earlier arrested four Indian foreign workers for throwing bottles during the riot, was also instructed to stop, the committee heard.

"My ground supervisor told me that what I was doing was brave but dangerous and told me to stop, said the Certis Cisco officer.

The limited number of officers at ASP Tang's command at the time also meant he would not be able to adhere to the protocol of ensuring that all suspects in custody were escorted by a required number of officers.

He would also have to sacrifice men who had formed a cordon around the rescuers who were still extricating the accident victim. "If there was no barrier... the crowd would have gotten to the body. Who knows what would happen next," he said.

Therefore, leaving the victim while deploying manpower elsewhere was not an option, because it would have been disrespectful and might agitate the crowd.

Facing what was a 400-strong crowd, ASP Tang said it was a fast-changing environment and he had to be constantly assessing the situation and calibrating his actions. It was thus a "considered decision" that arrests were not made, rather than out of fear. "I don't think there was so much time, to even think about being frightened," said the team leader from the Kampong Java Neighbourhood Police Centre.

The committee heard that ASP Tang achieved his mission objectives within 38 minutes of his arrival on the scene.

And despite being "grossly outnumbered" by a crowd that included "about 150 to 200 active rioters", he then sought to ensure the safety of other officers. They included injured Staff Sergeant Mak Chung Kit and Senior Staff Sergeant Mydeen Sahul Hameed, who were among the first to the scene, having been conducting spot checks in the vicinity.

ASP Tang was also the officer who logged a request to activate troops from the Special Operations Command at about 9.45 that night, having sensed that officers with specialised training to deal with large-scale public order incidents were needed.

Even after he had achieved his objectives, ASP Tang went back in and started traversing the area for other officers who were hurt, when he was hit by a rock on his left temple. Still, he managed to help evacuate a group of Home Team and Certis Cisco officers in an ambulance from the chaos.

While agreeing with the committee that this might have given the public the impression that they were fleeing the scene, it was "never his intention".

He said he and his officers had later regrouped, forming a human barricade near Bukit Timah Road to prevent a spillover of the riot.

COI chairman G. Pannir Selvam later commended the officer: "You did a wonderful job in the situation you were in. If I had the power I would grant you a medal."





Officer explains why he did not use firearm
By Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 26 Feb 2014

THE first senior police officer at the scene of the Dec 8 riot decided against firing a warning shot to disperse the crowd for fear of agitating them further, the Committee of Inquiry heard yesterday.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Jonathan Tang, testifying at the public hearing, said shooting into the mob to ward them off was also not "feasible" as there were curious onlookers among the rioters and nearby.

"It was not a situation where just because we had firearms, we would have won the war," said the 28-year-old, one of the first officers who responded to the incident in Little India last year.

He said possibly a fifth of what he estimated to be a 400-strong crowd were bystanders. "We were not going to fire our firearms indiscriminately - it was a situation where the revolvers were out of play," he said.

ASP Tang, who is based in Kampong Java Neighbourhood Police Centre, was responding to what had initially been reported as a road traffic accident in Race Course Road.

He arrived at 9.40pm after being alerted to the case 13 minutes earlier, the inquiry heard.

This was within the 15 minutes response time stipulated in police service guidelines for emergency cases. Road traffic accidents are not classified as emergencies.

While ASP Tang did consider firing off a warning shot as the situation spiralled out of control, he said doing so might have further incited the rioters, who by then were fast growing in number.

"Second, discharging my firearm would remind the crowd that the police officers were armed and I was concerned that the crowd might attack the officers and seize their firearms," he said.

"That would be the worst-case scenario."




BRAVE BUT DANGEROUS ACT

I arrested four Indian foreign workers for throwing bottles by grabbing them from behind, one at a time, and handing that person over to the police officers. After handing over the fourth person, my ground supervisor told me that what I was doing was brave but dangerous and told me to stop.
- Certis Cisco constable Srisivasangkar Subramaniam, 22, one of the first responders at the scene. He added that he did not know how the police dealt with the four people, prompting Committee of Inquiry (COI) chairman G. Pannir Selvam to ask the investigators to check



POSITION NOT IDEAL

It was a situation where we are surrounded by the crowd all around us. This should not be the case. We should be the ones to surround them, why are we putting ourselves in the centre of all of them?
- Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Jonathan Tang, on why the decision was made to regroup



Mr Selvam: I'm not criticising you (ASP Tang). You did a wonderful job in the situation you were in. If I had the power I would grant you a medal.

State Counsel Sharmila Sripathy: You can always make the recommendation, sir.

Mr Selvam: Unfortunately that's not the recommendation I'm required to make in this COI.





Police were 'very, very outnumbered'
By Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 26 Feb 2014

THOUGH there were about 200 law enforcement officers on the scene in Little India on Dec 8, fewer than 90 were from the police force and dealing directly with the rioters before troops from the Special Operations Command arrived, the Committee of Inquiry was told yesterday.

The rest were auxiliary officers mainly from Certis Cisco, and Traffic Police and plainclothes officers.

The question of how many police officers there were compared with rioters on Dec 8 came up when former police commissioner Tee Tua Ba asked Assistant Superintendent of Police Jonathan Tang why he had not "engaged" the crowd when he reached the accident site.

Why, for instance, had ASP Tang not arrested the main instigators while the rioters had yet to turn on the police, he asked.

The three preceding witnesses, all Certis Cisco auxiliary officers, had argued that government vehicles would not have been burned if a small group of "active" rioters had been rounded up early.

But ASP Tang told State Counsel Sharmila Sripathy that the police were "grossly outnumbered". When he arrived, he had four auxiliary police officers (APOs) and two police officers, against "a rowdy and increasingly boisterous crowd" of about 200.

The crowd soon swelled to about 400, he added, with 150 to 200 throwing projectiles, shouting and instigating others. The rest were mainly curious onlookers and workers waiting to board buses back to their dormitories.

ASP Tang said he later managed to connect with other police officers, bringing his total manpower to nine police officers and four APOs. But as much as he wanted to start arresting the rioters at that point, the crowd still outmatched his small force.

"With this number of officers, we would not have been able to take decisive action to restore the peace," he said. "Yes, we were very, very outnumbered."

When asked later if he knew that there were actually some 90 police officers dealing with the rioters that night, he replied that he was not aware of these other officers as overloaded police radio and mobile networks had made communications with colleagues difficult.

"It definitely didn't feel like there were 90 police officers," he said, noting that even with that number, he would still consider the force outnumbered by rioters.





Carry a 'lathi' instead of T-baton, says COI chief
By Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 26 Feb 2014

INSTEAD of being armed with a T-baton, policemen here in a riot situation should carry a lathi, suggested the chairman of the Committee of Inquiry (COI) into the Dec 8 riot yesterday.

"The T-baton is not good enough for use (in a riot situation); it is a defensive weapon," said Mr G. Pannir Selvam. "When you go to a riot, you should not just have a defensive weapon."

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Jonathan Tang brought the police T-baton to court yesterday at the behest of the committee and demonstrated how it was an effective defensive weapon, such as against knife attacks at close range.

When asked by Mr Selvam if the T-baton could be used offensively, he said it was designed to be a defensive tool, at which point the retired judge asked if he knew what a "lathi" was.

A lathi is a long, heavy wooden stick used by riot police in South Asian countries such as India and Bangladesh. To show the policeman what he meant, Mr Selvam handed to ASP Tang a copy of an Indian newspaper showing pictures of the lathi being used by Indian riot police to successfully put down a recent protest march outside the Indian Parliament.

"Although you have a gun, you don't normally use it (and) this might be more useful," said Mr Selvam.

ASP Tang said he was aware that Special Operations Command troops already use long sticks.

The use of the lathi to quell riot crowds has been brought up by the COI chairman on at least three occasions since the public hearings began last Wednesday.

On Friday, Mr Selvam recommended to Deputy Commissioner of Police T. Raja Kumar that the Singapore police force should procure the instruments.


Related
Little India Riot COI: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4
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Singapore opens first LNG terminal, plans for 2nd terminal

February 27, 2014, 12:29 am
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Second LNG terminal planned to boost energy security
Govt looking at potential sites in eastern S'pore: PM Lee
By Jonathan Kwok, The Straits Times, 26 Feb 2014

SINGAPORE yesterday announced plans to build a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal even as the country's first terminal on Jurong Island was officially opened.

LNG is the fuel used to generate most of the electricity used here.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, speaking at the official opening of the Singapore LNG Terminal, said that potential sites in eastern Singapore are being studied for the second terminal.




The new terminal will also support new industrial sites and power plants, he added.

More than 90 per cent of Singapore's electricity is generated using natural gas, which is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than oil.

Having LNG terminals means that Singapore can take in imports from all over the world, in addition to the natural gas coming via pipes from Malaysia and Indonesia.

The terminal, which started operations in May last year, has received shipments from Equatorial Guinea in Africa and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.

The shipments have so far been for domestic use, but the terminal has the infrastructure to reload LNG into other vessels to be shipped elsewhere.

The Singapore LNG Terminal can handle six million tonnes a year. Plans are under way for a fourth tank and additional equipment to lift capacity to at least nine million tonnes a year by 2017. The terminal has space to accommodate seven tanks.

"But that's the limit because of land constraints," said Mr Lee. "Therefore we will build a second LNG terminal."

Mr Lee said that Singapore will continue to explore new energy options, such as solar energy. "We want to learn more about solar, so that when it becomes cheaper and more competitive we will be ready to deploy it on a large scale." Singapore is supporting solar pilot projects including those in Housing Board estates.

The Government will develop manpower resources and create good jobs in the energy sector, Mr Lee said. Singaporeans make up 80 per cent of the workforce of Singapore LNG Corp, the terminal operator, he added.

Earlier in the day, Mr S. Iswaran, Second Minister for Trade and Industry, highlighted plans to grow Singapore's LNG business. These include a framework to appoint new LNG importers to meet Singapore's domestic gas needs beyond the franchise held by British oil and gas firm BG Group.

CIMB regional economist Song Seng Wun said the second LNG terminal will help Singapore stay ahead of other countries in its bid to become a hub.

"In the region we are seeing growth in (LNG) demand. We are enhancing our position by investing more in this segment."





Post by Lawrence Wong.






Plans to grow Singapore's LNG business
By Kevin Lim, Channel NewsAsia, 25 Feb 2014

Singapore hopes to grow its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business by allowing more firms to import for the domestic market and expanding capacity at the city-state's recently completed LNG terminal, Second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an industry conference, the minister said Singapore will invest in a fourth tank and additional re-gasification equipment to increase the LNG terminal on Jurong Island's throughput capacity to at least 9 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) by 2017 from the current 6 Mtpa.

He added the government plans to license up to two new LNG importers to meet Singapore's domestic gas needs beyond the 3 Mtpa franchise held by exploration and production company BG Group.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will officially open the LNG terminal on Tuesday evening, while the Energy Market Authority will release its final determination paper for the post-3 Mtpa LNG Import Framework by the end of this week, said Mr Iswaran.

"As our market and terminal operations grow, we expect that it will support the full spectrum of LNG activities in Asia, including marketing, trading and procurement," the minister said.

He said more than 20 companies have already established or expanded their LNG desks in Singapore, with activities ranging from market research, trading, marketing, origination, operations and risk management functions.

In addition, there are LNG service firms such as ship brokers, law firms and price reporting agencies growing their operations in Singapore to support the LNG industry.

Mr Iswaran said: "We hope to see more market players establish a presence in Singapore.

"This will not only support the growth of the domestic gas market, but will also allow Singapore to contribute to efforts to build deeper regional gas markets by serving as a trading and pricing hub for LNG."


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HK 'could face debt crisis within 15 years'

February 27, 2014, 6:39 pm
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Experts' projection is a call for serious attention: Financial Secretary
By Li Xueying, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

A HEALTH check on Hong Kong's public finances has yielded the grim diagnosis that the city could suffer a structural deficit within 15 years based on current spending trends.

Buffeted by the twin developments of an ageing population, with growing health-care and welfare needs, and a shrinking workforce, Hong Kong will see its spending increase by 5.3 per cent each year, while revenue collected will slow to 4.5 per cent.

The debt crisis could emerge even earlier, in seven years, if the government continues to widen its social coverage as it did in past years.



It is a "clear warning and call for serious attention", he said.

In a 90-minute speech focused on competitiveness, Mr Tsang said steps need to be taken to stave off what he called "irreversible fiscal plight" even though public finances remain in good shape in the short term.

"More vigorous" control needs to be exercised over spending priorities. Tax enforcement will be stepped up. Fees will be increased. And a "Future Fund" of HK$220 billion (S$35.9 billion) may be established to be drawn on in times of need.

But Mr Tsang was non-committal on broadening Hong Kong's narrow tax base and increasing tax rates, saying there is "little room" for major tax hikes given the impact on the city's competitiveness and its people.

Any adjustment of Hong Kong's tax regime will be closely watched by Singapore. Both seek to attract companies and individuals with low taxes.

Hong Kong's economy grew 2.9 per cent last year, and could reach 3 to 4 per cent this year, said Mr Tsang. But this remains below its 4.5 per cent average growth of the past decade. Looking ahead, the experts project its real gross domestic product to grow at 2.8 per cent per annum for the next 20 to 30 years.

Observers say the Budget is on the right track in planning for the long term.

"The government could start considering other measures in other countries, for example, GST (goods and services tax)," said Ms Grace Tang, tax and business advisory services partner at Ernst & Young.







Tax cuts in HK Budget but no big handouts
The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

HONG KONG unveiled a modest package of measures for its working class in its Budget yesterday, as it tries to ease pressure on its finances while appeasing voters increasingly concerned about the city's growing income gap.

The Budget, presented by Financial Secretary John Tsang, contained some tax cuts for the working class but a bumper "giveaway" package did not materialise this time.

Mr Tsang did budget around HK$20 billion (S$3.3 billion) in one-off relief measures, including tax concessions, rent subsidies for public housing tenants and welfare handouts, but that was less than the previous year's HK$33 billion in one-off assistance. In addition, annual expenditure for elderly services, already increased by more than 40 per cent to HK$5.4 billion over the past five years, will see a boost of more than HK$660 million.

The city's lower- and middle-income families are struggling with rising costs from home prices that have more than doubled since 2008, and the spillover effects of a strengthening yuan.

Mr Tsang said the government would not loosen a raft of property cooling measures that have begun to show signs of moderating the once red-hot market. "These (measures) serve to forestall an increased risk of a property bubble that would hamper our macroeconomic and financial stability," he said.

A targeted 470,000 residential flats would be built in the coming 10 years, and 71,000 private units are expected to come onto the market within four years.

There will also be help for businesses, with stamp duty to be waived for trading of all exchange-traded funds.

To foster the longer-term economic development of Hong Kong, there will be assistance for the Airport Authority Hong Kong to press ahead with the planning for a three-runway system.

Mr Tsang noted that there remains a manpower mismatch and relatively high youth unemployment that need to be addressed.

To ensure the city's manpower resources can meet the needs of economic development, the government has to strengthen life planning, vocational education and training for youth, he said.

Measures to enhance manpower skills include a HK$1 billion endowment fund for workers' skills upgrading and new training schemes in schools to cultivate IT professionals.

The government recorded a provisional surplus of HK$12 billion for the 2013/14 fiscal year, in line with expectations, but far less than HK$64.8 billion last year, prompting Mr Tsang to stress the need to preserve Hong Kong's revenue base, though without raising taxes.

REUTERS, XINHUA







'More needs to be done' to avert HK crisis
Revealing long-term finance figures key first step in tackling challenges: Analysts
By Li Xueying, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

FINANCIAL Secretary John Tsang quoted a line from his favourite song at the end of his budget speech on Wednesday.

"Believe in opportunity, not fate," he trilled, adding that this is the innate mindset of Hong Kongers.

Certainly, the lyrics from rousing ballad Crossroads sung by local rocker Danny Summer could well apply to the government, which seized the initiative to commission some projections on the city's long-term public finances - and made them public to get a conversation going.

But opportunity may well segue into fate if this conversation remains just talk.

A group of economists and other experts tasked to take the pulse of Hong Kong's long-term finances has projected that the city will suffer a structural deficit in 15 years, based on current spending and adjusted only for demographic and prices changes.

Widening coverage for education, social welfare and health care could see a debt crisis emerging in a mere seven years.

The projections "spark off a clear warning and call for serious attention", Mr Tsang said, adding that Hong Kong will step up tax enforcement, increase fees and consider a new reserves fund.

But far more needs to be done to avert a crisis, say analysts here. The city should look at neighbours which also face similar challenges of an ageing population and a shrinking workforce.

"We are looking at Singapore, to see what it is doing," said Mr Marcellus Wong from the eight-member working group of experts which will release its detailed report on Monday.

Social spending in both cities is set to rise. While Singapore announced an $8 billion Pioneer Generation Package last week, the Hong Kong government under Chief Executive Leung Chun Ying came up with a Workfare-style scheme to supplement workers' income, while pledging to ramp up public housing. Another HK$660 million (S$ 107.8 million) this year is going to elderly services.

Since dampening spending is not a real solution, analysts say the key is for the government to boost its coffers. An obvious recourse is to broaden Hong Kong's tax base and to raise taxes. Only about 45 per cent of the working population pay income tax. Unlike Singapore, Hong Kong does not have a goods and services tax (GST).

But any such move here will be controversial. A bid to introduce a GST in 2006 was abandoned after public opposition. With fiscal reserves standing at a massive HK$700 billion, people are unlikely to accept it. Meanwhile, companies will fight tooth and nail against moves to increase corporate rates.

"Politically, it is difficult to introduce any new taxes in Hong Kong," acknowledged Mr Wong, a senior adviser at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A less painful way is for the government to drive economic growth, which will increase tax receipts. Gross domestic product growth last year stood at 2.9 per cent, and the group has projected, based on certain assumptions, that real GDP will grow at 2.8 per cent a year for the next 20 to 30 years. Singapore's GDP growth last year was 3.7 per cent.

One area in which Hong Kong needs to go great guns is nurturing innovation and its technology industry, said Mr Wong. "This is a new area that Hong Kong has not done well in. We moved a very small step in this budget, such as in giving seed money to universities. But far more needs to be done."

Introduce a Productivity and Innovation Credit scheme that rewards companies for adopting automation as Singapore has done, suggested Ms Grace Tang, a tax and business advisory services partner at Ernst and Young.

Meanwhile, the government has also taken a good first step in considering interest deductions in the taxation of treasury activities, "definitely a good way to encourage more overseas companies to set up their treasury functions here", said Mr Davy Yun, tax partner at Deloitte China.

Hong Kong has its strengths too - not least in labour productivity growth. However, this has slowed since the 2008 financial crisis, noted HSBC's Greater China economist John Zhu.

"Hong Kong is a services-driven economy, which means investment in education and skills, in addition to infrastructure, will be key. Indeed, deficits, if brought on by wise spending on investment in human and physical capital, should actually reduce the risks of structural deficits in future."

On Wednesday, an important first step was taken, with the publication of such projections. Singapore does not make public any such reports as it does not reveal the full size of its reserves.

As Ms Tang noted: "With this kind of analysis, we will have a heads-up on challenges ahead."


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ASEAN's open-skies dream

February 27, 2014, 7:19 pm
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By Karamjit Kaur, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

IN A new world being conceived by the end of next year, Singapore Airlines (SIA), SilkAir, Thai Airways and other ASEAN carriers will fly freely across the region to any airport and as often as they want.

Today, such flights are restricted by government-to-government deals that dictate how often carriers can fly between two points and the number of passengers they can carry.

ASEAN's ultimate goal is a single aviation market. Among other things, this would mean that the longstanding walls that now prevent an airline from holding a majority share in a carrier in another ASEAN country will come down. Airlines in the region would then be free to merge across borders if it makes business sense to do so.

But the more immediate goal is less ambitious. It involves allowing ASEAN carriers to fly with fewer restrictions within the region by the end of next year.

The challenge, of course, is in implementation and it is here that plans may go into a tailspin.

In November 2004, the ASEAN transport ministers who met in Cambodia drafted a 10-year plan under which the region's air travel sector would be progressively integrated and liberalised.

Three years later, when transport ministers held their annual meeting in Singapore, they agreed to push for open skies within ASEAN by the end of 2015.

What ASEAN refers to as an "open skies" agreement, however, is limited to what the industry regards as the exercise of unlimited third, fourth and fifth freedoms.

The first two freedoms - the right for an airline to fly over foreign airspace without landing and the right to stop in another country for refuelling or maintenance - are already common practice.

Unlimited third freedom is when an airline is able to fly from its home country to an airport in another country without the need for prior inter-governmental approval. The fourth is when it flies back home.

The fifth freedom in ASEAN's "open skies" scenario involves an airline flying to an airport in country A and from there to country B before heading back - again without the need for inter-governmental approval.

All this assumes, of course, that the carriers concerned have the necessary safety and other regulatory approvals to operate flights.

In its pure form, however, open skies would involve much more than this. For example, an airline would have the right to park its planes and operate domestic flights in another country.

With the 2015 deadline looming, however, not everyone is convinced that ASEAN's target for the unrestricted exercise of the third, fourth and fifth freedoms will be met.

Eight ASEAN member states have ratified the agreement. The Philippines is expected to agree soon, but there is a question mark over whether Indonesia will agree.

Aviation law academic Alan Tan of the National University of Singapore said: "Since Indonesia constitutes half of ASEAN's population, it's a huge gap. It's a bit like the European Union doing this without France, Germany and Britain combined."


It could be fear that local airlines may not be able to compete against stronger carriers from fellow ASEAN countries.

As the biggest country within the bloc, Indonesia may also be wary about giving away too much.

Open skies would give SIA, for example, access to tens of airports in Indonesia. But its national airline Garuda would be able to fly only to Changi Airport, the main airport in Singapore for commercial flights.

Still, ASEAN has made good progress. A significant milestone was reached in 2008 between Singapore and Malaysia when budget carriers were allowed to fly between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. And Indonesia has also allowed airlines from neighbouring countries to mount more flights to Jakarta and other key cities.

But such liberalisation will be meaningless if the infrastructure cannot cope.

What is the point of lifting air restrictions if passenger terminals are bursting at their seams? Or air traffic controllers cannot cope with a growing number of flights? Or airlines cannot secure landing slots because there are not enough runways?

In Singapore, Changi Airport's Terminal 4 will be ready in 2017. By the middle of the next decade, Terminal 5, which will be able to handle up to 50 million passengers a year, will open.

By then, Changi will be able to cope with 135 million passengers a year. A third runway will be operational by the end of this decade.

But not all airports are growing so rapidly. To relieve congestion at Indonesia's Soekarno-Hatta airport, Jakarta's old airport Halim recently re-opened to scheduled commercial passenger jet flights. But Halim is able to support only a small number of commercial flights.

In Kuala Lumpur, the opening of KLIA2 - Asia's biggest budget carrier terminal - is expected to be delayed again after two-thirds of the building recently failed fire and safety standard checks.

The terminal currently scheduled for a May opening is already more than two years late.

With demand for air travel in the Asia-Pacific expected to triple by 2030, industry experts have also warned of massive delays and congestion for travellers if air traffic systems are not upgraded and modernised.

In 2012, Singapore announced plans to spend $200 million in research on air traffic management.

The findings will be shared with other countries in the region.

ASEAN's vision for a new liberalised air transport framework will reap significant benefits for travellers and member states. For this to happen, however, the different pieces of the puzzle need to fall in place.

A similar initiative in Africa, which started more than 20 years ago, has yet to take off.

It would be a shame if ASEAN fails to fulfil its open skies dream.
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SMRT: Train signalling issues 'will remain for a while'

February 27, 2014, 7:32 pm
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This could mean delays as SMRT continues upgrading rail system
By Royston Sim, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

THE signalling issues behind recent MRT delays will continue to pop up occasionally over the next two years at least, which is the minimum time it would take to overhaul the system, said SMRT.

This year, the rail operator has been hit by at least three instances of faulty signalling on the North-South Line, leading to trains slowing down significantly. One occurred at the end of last month, and was followed by two more on Monday and Tuesday.

SMRT spokesman Alina Boey yesterday said a programme to upgrade the signalling system will "address many of the signalling-related incidents that we are facing today".

But the upgrade, which will allow trains to run more frequently, will be completed only in 2016 for the North-South Line and 2018 for the East-West Line.

Signalling faults accounted for nearly a quarter of the SMRT trains pulled out of service last year on these two lines.

On Monday morning, a track circuit failure between Yew Tee and Kranji stations caused trains to slow down. This held up service on stretches of the line on either side of those stations, resulting in thousands of commuters being late for work and school.

The next evening, a code generator fault along the track at Marina Bay station added about 20 minutes of travelling time for commuters going from Ang Mo Kio towards Marina Bay.

Code generators tell trains how fast they can travel. Tuesday's problem meant trains on the affected stretch had to run at slower speeds while SMRT engineers replaced the generator, said Ms Boey.

SMRT is working on interim measures to minimise such incidents even as upgrading works take place, she added.

These include refurbishing train tachogenerators, which indicate how fast a train is going. Faulty tachogenerators provide inaccurate speed readings to the signalling systems, and can cause signalling issues.

SMRT has previously said that such measures would also take about two years to roll out.

Ms Boey added yesterday: "Despite our best efforts, there will still be delays, as it takes time for us to implement these enhancements over the more than a thousand track circuits on the North-South and East-West lines."

Adjunct associate professor Gopinath Menon of Nanyang Technological University pointed out that rail operators have short windows to work on upgrading overnight, when trains are offline.

He also highlighted how the network is still not extensive enough for commuters to hop onto another line when disruptions happen, although this will change in the future. For instance, the Downtown Line will provide another east-west option when completed in 2017.

"Once the network grows, there will be less effect when something breaks down," said Prof Menon.


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Maids: No day off ? No way!

February 27, 2014, 7:54 pm
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More maids are changing employers when they are not given Sundays off
By Amelia Tan, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

DISPUTES over days off are prompting increasing numbers of maids to end their contracts prematurely and sign up with new employers.

A check by The Straits Times with six maid agencies found that three in 10 maids at these agencies who were transferred in the last four months did so for this reason.


All maids hired or who have their work permits renewed from that date must receive a day off each week, or pay in lieu.

Employers have to shell out about $70 a month, on top of the maids' basic pay of about $450, to get them to work on rest days.

Previously, few maids would cite having no days off as a reason for asking for a new employer, as working without any rest days was the norm, the agencies told The Straits Times.

Indeed, even after the new law took effect, many employers are still rejecting their maids' requests for a day off, leading the maids to seek a transfer to employers who are more willing to accommodate them, the agents said.

Manpower Ministry figures show that only 42 per cent of maids placed by agencies between February 2011 and February last year stayed with the same employer for at least a year.

A standard employment contract is for two years.

Ms Shirley Ng, owner of Orange Employment Agency, said: ''It is hard to change the minds of employers who are not receptive to giving a day off. On the other hand, more maids insist on having days off, which they see as their right.''

The issue of maids ending their contracts early and leaving their employers in the lurch was highlighted in a letter to The Straits Times Forum Page on Monday.

The letter by video editor Choo Sing Nian drew a flurry of online comments from employers who complained about being at the mercy of maids who cite various reasons - from family problems and being unhappy to wanting a weekly day off - for wanting to end their contracts and change employers.

Ms Choo's maid had worked for eight months without complaints but asked to go home earlier this month because one of her children is sick.

Maid agents said domestic workers usually negotiate for a weekly break or change employers after working for about eight months because by then, they would have cleared their debt of about $2,200 in placement fees to recruitment agents.

Ms Carene Chin, managing director of maid agency Homekeeper, said she tries to improve retention rates by telling her clients to be prepared to give their maids regular days off after they have worked for a few months.

However, agents pointed out that many families with elderly family members and young children find it difficult to cope without their maids even for a day.

Retired teacher Alice Tan, 60, whose Indonesian maid cares for her 85-year-old bedridden father, said: ''It would be difficult to do without her help as my father needs constant attention.''

But maids who take care of elderly people said they want a weekly break to take a breather from their round-the-clock job.

Indonesian maid Suharni, 28, who goes by one name, said: ''I want to rest and meet my friends.

''Ah ma cannot walk, so I have to take care of her all the time.''

She took care of a 70-year-old woman for six months but asked for a transfer when the woman's children refused to give her a weekly day off.

Agents expect more maids to ask for rest days in future and encourage employers to be open to giving at least one day off a month after the maids have worked for three to four months.

Mr Tay Khoon Beng, owner of Best Home Employment Agency, said: ''I tell my clients if they do not give a day off, their maid will ask for a transfer.

''And they will have to go through the process of recruiting and training a new maid.''





Flexibility of early contract termination applies to both employers and FDWs

WE APPRECIATE the pains that employers go through when they need to replace valued employees, whether they are foreign domestic workers (FDWs) or local hires ("Employers of maids also need protection" by Ms Choo Sing Nian; Monday).

These difficulties are compounded in a domestic setting, particularly when working couples depend on their FDWs to look after their children or elderly family members.

However, the termination of an employment contract is not a breach of contract if sufficient notice or pay in lieu of notice is given.

Given that either contracting party may need to terminate the contract early for unanticipated reasons, employment contracts typically provide for such flexibility through termination clauses. This flexibility is important for both employers and employees.

Some employers and employees have exercised this termination clause before the contract expiry, and it is not in breach of the contract.

While there may be unforeseen circumstances that result in the need for either party to terminate a contract early, we encourage potential FDW employers to select both their employment agencies and potential hires with care.

Employers can access information on all employment agencies' track records and the employment histories of all FDWs who have worked in Singapore on the Ministry of Manpower's website and Work Permit Online Application system, respectively.

Employment agencies are also required to provide prospective employers with the FDW's employment history.

Alvin Lim
Divisional Director, Workplace Policy and Strategy Division
Ministry Of Manpower





Employers of maids also need protection

LAST June, I hired a domestic helper from Indonesia to look after my 80-year-old disabled father.

For the past eight months, we were happy with her and were told by the maid agency that she had no complaints about us.

However, two weeks ago, she suddenly requested to call home.

After a chat with her "friend", she said she had to return home as one of her children was sick.

Given her insistence, we had to let her go even though it was in breach of her contract.

I was left facing the problem of finding a replacement maid and, among other issues, having to fork out another few thousand dollars to pay for the new maid's agency loan.

I fully agree that the welfare of foreign domestic workers must be protected and kudos to the Government for doing a lot to protect the maids' interests.

But what about the employers' interests? Currently, there is no law to protect the employers when a maid breaches a contract through no fault of the employer.

A contract is signed between the agency, maid and employer, yet what purpose does it serve when a maid can just give seven days' notice to quit, citing any reason and without any penalty against the maid nor the agency?

The employer still has to bear all the costs, including paying the agency's fee and insurance, each time a new maid is hired within the two-year contract.

What can the Government or authorities do to protect maid employers in such situations?

Choo Sing Nian (Ms)
ST Forum, 24 Feb 2014


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Little India Riot COI: Day 6

February 27, 2014, 9:26 pm
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Police 'did not want to escalate violence'
Staff Sgt says commander made right call in ordering officers to hold back
By Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

A POLICE staff sergeant responding to unrest in Little India on Dec 8 was so angry when he saw rioters overturning a police car and setting it on fire, that he wanted to move in to arrest them.

But he and his fellow officers held back as ordered because they did not want to risk escalating the violence, the Committee of Inquiry (COI) into the riot heard.

"I was shocked (when) I reached there - it didn't look like Singapore," said Staff Sergeant Azmi Mohamed Hamzah, who was testifying at the public hearing yesterday.

Was he "spooked" by the crowd? asked COI chairman and retired Supreme Court judge G. Pannir Selvam.

"Yes, but as time went by, I became agitated when I saw them burn the police car," replied the officer from Bishan Neighbourhood Police Centre.

He was at Hampshire Road with seven other officers when about 10 rioters overturned a police Fast Response Car in front of them. One of the men later threw something into the vehicle to set it on fire.

This angered Staff Sgt Azmi, who started moving towards the rioters. But he was stopped by Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) Lu Yeow Lim, commander of Tanglin Police Division.

Asked by State Counsel Joshua Lim if, in hindsight, he agreed with DAC Lu's move, Staff Sgt Azmi said he did. While only 10 men were attacking the police vehicles along Hampshire Road at that point, the policemen were between two big groups of onlookers on either side of the road, he added.

"If they turned hostile, became angry that we took action against this small group that was burning the vehicle, they may have just gone to us, grabbed our revolvers and batons and used it against us," he said. "It was a split-second decision in that chaotic situation - I believe my commander made the right call."

Earlier, a fellow officer who took the stand dismissed allegations of police cowardice, after testifying that about 15 officers left the immediate vicinity of the riot in an ambulance.

Calling it "a tactical retreat", Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Edwin Yeo of Tanglin Police Division supported the decision of incident manager, ASP Jonathan Tang, to get the ambulance to leave the flashpoint.

The officers were faced with a stream of projectiles from all directions and many were injured, he said. "It was a plan to bring my officers to safety, to a better place for us to regroup and plan the next course of action. The act of us going into the ambulance was not an act of cowardice."

The day's hearings began with officers setting out the timeline of events that followed the accident that sparked the riot, starting from the radio operator who received the first 999 call.

Radio incident manager Chandru Sivadass told the COI that when he received the call at the Combined Operations Room at police headquarters at 9.23pm, it was to report a road traffic accident. He informed the Singapore Civil Defence Force and Traffic Police accordingly, both of which then dispatched vehicles and officers to the scene.

The COI also heard that rioters told police officers at the scene that they felt disrespected here.

Special Constable Arshard Abdul Murad said some in the crowd asked him if the police "thought they were stupid". "They said to me words to the effect (of)... why this must happen to them and why they must be treated this way," he added.

On Tuesday, Senior Staff Sergeant Mydeen Sahul Hameed also said some workers in the crowd told him they did not feel respected here. "They believed they had been discriminated against in Singapore," he told the inquiry.

When asked what he thought the rioters meant, Senior Staff Sgt Mydeen said some might have felt that the accident victim died as his life was deemed less valuable. But the workers did not mention past incidents, he added.

There was also drama in the public gallery of the courtroom yesterday when Ms R. Angelina, who had been charged in an unrelated case on Monday, stood up in the public gallery and asked for "just two minutes" to speak.

Mr Selvam cut her off and said he would not give her two seconds. "This is not a townhall rally," he said.

The public hearing continues today with more first responders expected to testify.







Police officers deny they displayed ‘cowardice’
By Amanda Lee, TODAY, 27 Feb 2014

Two police officers who took the stand yesterday rejected suggestions that they and their fellow officers displayed cowardice and fled from the epicentre of the Little India riot.

That some of the officers got into an ambulance was a tactical retreat to regroup and plan for their next course of action, one of them said. Nevertheless, the other officer conceded that he ran away, after he was pressed by Committee of Inquiry (COI) Chairman G Pannir Selvam.

During the hearing, State Counsel Joshua Lim pointed out to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Edwin Yong Wen Wei that there were allegations that the police “were cowardly or displayed signs of cowardice getting into the ambulance”. “Were you cowardly getting into the ambulance?” Mr Lim asked.

ASP Yong said he did not think that it was an act of cowardice. He explained that there were injured officers in the ambulance and the others were initially outside, trying to protect the vehicle. “There was a need as a team leader to bring my officers to a safer environment, which is inside the ambulance,” he said.

The police officers with him also passed their riot shields to nearby Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel who were in a fire truck that had its windows shattered. The SCDF personnel in turn lent the police officers their helmets, ASP Yong said.

“So I don’t think it was cowardice. It was a plan to bring the officers to safety and it was a place to plan and regroup,” he added. Mr Selvam suggested it was a tactical retreat and ASP Yong agreed.

Before ASP Yong took the stand, Mr Selvam had pressed Special Constable Sergeant (Sc/Sgt) Abdul Aziz Abdul Khalid on whether he ran away from the scene. Mr Selvam said: “... a lot of people are saying — and one gets the impression when you look at the video footage on YouTube — that the police were frightened and ran away from the scene. Did you run away from the scene?”

Sc/Sgt Abdul Aziz replied: “I wouldn’t actually call it running away because we went away for a while to regroup and to think of a plan of how we can solve this issue.” He added: “So we went away for a while, we regrouped and then we came back.”

Under further questioning, Sc/Sgt Abdul Aziz said at first that he “walked away very quickly” before he eventually agreed with Mr Selvam that he did run away.

Mr Selvam then asked him if the officers around him also ran away. To which Sc/Sgt Abdul Aziz replied: “I wasn’t too sure about the other officers.”





Auxiliary cop 'caught' four suspects but did not arrest them
By Walter Sim, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

AN AUXILIARY police officer yesterday admitted that he had personally "caught" four suspects during the riot in Little India, and not "arrested" them as he previously claimed.

Certis Cisco constable Srisivasangkar Subramaniam, 22, was recalled to clarify his earlier evidence after investigators for the Committee of Inquiry (COI) were asked to look into his claims.

Two senior police officers had also told the committee that it was not possible to make any arrests because of their limited manpower, and doing so may have further agitated the mob and inflamed what was an already volatile situation.

Mr Srisivasangkar told the COI on Tuesday that he had arrested four Indian workers after he saw them "throwing things" during the riot.

The constable said he grabbed them from behind and dragged them 10 to 20 steps from Kerbau Road to Race Course Road and handed them over to the police.

After State Counsel John Lu asked if he caught all four men at once, COI chairman G. Pannir Selvam remarked: "You must be Superman if you had handled all of them at the same time."

Mr Srisivasangkar later admitted that he did not follow the proper procedures for making arrests, the inquiry heard.

For instance, he did not tell the suspects that they were under arrest, explain the offence committed or take down their particulars.

Furthermore, the "five to six" police officers that he left the suspects with were focused on dealing with the unruly mob, Mr Srisivasangkar said yesterday.

He added that he was unsure if the police had even seen him arriving with the four suspects, and that he could not remember if he had said anything to the officers at the time.

"It did not occur to me that they might run away," he added. "I thought the police would have seen me, so I left them there."

Mr Srisivasangkar said he later radioed his supervisor, Sergeant Mahmood Masdar, to tell him what he had done. Then, he made his way to meet the sergeant at Hampshire Road, as he had sustained a stomach injury.

The constable had said in his earlier statement: "After handing over the fourth person, my ground supervisor told me that what I was doing was brave but dangerous and told me to stop."

However, Sgt Mahmood, who was called as an unscheduled witness yesterday to clarify Mr Srisivasangkar's claims, said his remarks were taken out of context.

"I told him he was brave, but it was dangerous to go in (to the scene of the riot) alone without safety equipment," he said.

He added that he did not receive any message about the arrests Mr Srisivasangkar made through his walkie-talkie because "sometimes, there was interference; it was very noisy".

The status of the four men caught by Mr Srisivasangkar remains unclear.

When Mr Lu asked Mr Srisivasangkar if he considered himself as having "formally arrested the four Indian workers", the constable replied: "No."





Communication with crowd could have been improved
By Amanda Lee, TODAY, 26 Feb 2014

The language barrier was one of the issues police officers faced when the Little India riot broke out on Dec 8 last year, the Committee of Inquiry (COI) heard today.

Corporal Arshard Abdul Murad told the COI that he and the other police officers shouted in English to the crowd of rioters to disperse and go home. “But it did seem that they did not understand what we were saying and they continued to walk about aimlessly,” he added.

On that night, 33-year-old Indian national construction worker Sakthivel Kumaravelu was fatally run over by a bus, and the accident sparked a riot.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Edwin Yong Wen Wei felt the police officers’ initial communication with the crowd around the bus could have been better “as the crowd may not have understood” what the officers were saying when the crowd was asked to move back.

ASP Yong also added that while he has undergone training in crowd control and conflict management, he has not been trained for a “full-scale” riot such as the Little India riot.

Earlier today, another four police officers — either from the operations room, police station or present at the scene — testified in the inquiry.





Smaller teams can't handle large-scale riots
By Walter Sim, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

ASIDE from troops from the Special Operations Command (SOC), Divisional Tactical Teams (DTT) from Neighbourhood Police Centres are also trained to deal with public order incidents.

But these smaller teams do not have the capabilities to take on a large-scale riot, unlike the SOC, which was called in to quell the violence in Little India, the Committee of Inquiry (COI) heard.

"Yes, a DTT is trained to control riots and crowd situations," team member Azmi Mohamed Hamzah told the inquiry yesterday. "But we can only contain them until the SOC comes in."

The police staff sergeant, who was taking the witness stand on day six of the public hearing, said each Neighbourhood Police Centre is equipped with one DTT. It is usually a secondary appointment on top of regular police duties, said Staff Sgt Azmi, who has been a DTT officer since 2005.

DTT officers are trained to handle "passive resistance" or non-violent crowds who protest by holding placards, interlocking their arms as well as refusing to move or disperse, he added.

They can also arrest small groups of 10 people or less, depending on the situation.

Each DTT, whose predecessor was the Light Strike Force, comprises nine officers who have received formal training in riot and crowd control, the inquiry heard.

Last Friday, Deputy Commissioner of Police T. Raja Kumar said a DTT must assemble within four hours of activation, while SOC troops on stand-by are required to respond within 15 minutes.

DTT officers are usually equipped with a tactical shield, body armour, helmet with a visor and a long baton, the inquiry heard yesterday. The police say that the baton, which is less than 1m long, is a defensive weapon, though it can also be used during a "baton charge".

"Once the command is given, we will charge and give a full swing (of the baton) at whoever is in front of you," said Staff Sgt Azmi.

The DTT also takes part in joint training operations with the SOC, and up to nine different DTT units can be merged to form a larger team if required, the COI was told.

Former police commissioner Tee Tua Ba, who is on the committee, asked Staff Sgt Azmi whether, in hindsight, some DTT teams should have been put on stand-by on Sundays given the massive crowd and drinking problem associated with Little India.

"It can be done because our division at Clarke Quay has a team on stand-by," replied the officer.

To which Mr Tee said: "This is more dangerous than Clarke Quay, no?"

Staff Sgt Azmi agreed.





Duo jailed 18 weeks for failing to disperse
By Hoe Pei Shan, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

TWO Indian nationals were each jailed for 18 weeks yesterday for their roles in the Dec 8 riot.

Construction worker Thangaiya Selvakumar, 25, and welder Thiagarajan Sribalamurugan, 23, are the fourth and fifth workers, among the 25 who have been charged, to be sentenced.

Both pleaded guilty to the amended charge of failing to disperse despite being lawfully commanded to do so during the violence in Little India.

They had originally faced rioting charges, which carry a maximum sentence of seven years in jail and caning, compared with two years and/or a fine for disobeying dispersal orders.

Their sentences will be backdated to Dec 8, the day of their arrests, and they could be released within a week on the basis of good behaviour.



Deputy Public Prosecutor Sarah Ong had urged the court to sentence them to between 16 and 18 weeks each, noting that they had repeatedly defied police commands to disperse in "blatant disregard for authority" and "contributed to the impediment of the police's efforts to quell the riot".

Earlier this month, three other men were sentenced to serve between 15 and 18 weeks in jail under the same amended charge.

Cases against 20 other Indian nationals are pending. This, even as the Committee of Inquiry into the cause of the riot is under way.

Some 57 foreigners arrested in connection with the incident last year have since been repatriated. Police advisories were issued to 213 others for their passive and incidental involvement in the riot.


Related
Little India Riot COI: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5
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Proposed anti-harassment law to cover online bullying

February 27, 2014, 9:33 pm
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Bill to expand and bring legislation for anti-harassment under one roof
By Ian Poh, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

A WIDE-RANGING law targeting both online and real-world harassment, including cyber bullying and stalking, will be tabled in Parliament next Monday.


Sexual harassment in and out of the office will be included, along with stalking, which is being introduced as an offence. The proposed law will also cover some acts which originate overseas.



Not only will there be tougher sanctions for offenders, who can be ordered to seek treatment at the Institute of Mental Health, but victims are also given new remedies with the proposed Bill.

They include court protection orders which require harassers to stop doing anything to cause further harm. Victims can also ask the court to order the removal of offending material online, or make offenders put an alert highlighting the inaccurate parts.

Yesterday's announcement by the Law and Home Affairs ministries on the Bill came just over three months after Law Minister K. Shanmugam unveiled plans by the Government to clamp down on such anti-social behaviour.

Last November, he highlighted a 2012 Microsoft study of 25 countries which said Singapore had the second-highest rate of online bullying behind China among young people aged eight to 17.

A government poll last October also showed more than 80 per cent here believed online harassment was a serious issue and that there should be tougher measures to deal with it.

Other countries which have enacted specific laws to protect people from online harassment include Britain and India.

MP Hri Kumar Nair, who is also chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law, welcomed the new Bill, saying traditional laws do not take into account the harm that could be caused through the Internet.

"This is a step in the right direction," he said.

Lawyer Abraham Vergis, who is on the Law Reform Committee's sub-committee for harassment, added that the Bill improves "access to justice".

Other provisions in the anti-harassment Bill include extending protection to workers who deliver essential services, such as public health care and transport.

The Law and Home Affairs ministries said yesterday that they consulted extensively with stakeholders, including women's group Aware, the Singapore Children's Society and lawyers of harassment victims, in coming up with the Bill.

Assistant Professor Goh Yihan of the National University of Singapore law faculty said the legislation helps victims as it consolidates protection "scattered" across various legislation, such as the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act and Criminal Procedure Code.

But the effectiveness of the new Bill, he added, lies in educating victims on its provisions.





Wide-ranging law to tackle harassment proposed
Standalone Act to be tabled on Monday will cover various types of offensive behaviour
By Amir Hussain, TODAY, 27 Feb 2014

A wide-ranging law that will give victims of harassment civil remedies and issue offenders with various criminal sanctions will be tabled in Parliament on Monday — three months after it was mooted and views from the public were sought.

The move was first flagged by Law Minister K Shanmugam during a conference on harassment organised by the Institute of Policy Studies in November last year, when he cited a worldwide study by Microsoft in 2012 that showed Singapore to be one of six countries where bullying among youth aged eight to 17 was particularly pervasive.

He also cited a poll of Singaporeans aged above 15, where eight in 10 felt that online harassment was a serious issue, with almost 90 per cent calling for offenders to be punished under the law.

Under the range of remedies proposed in the Protection From Harassment Act, a victim can get expedited Protection Orders to force his harasser to desist from further acts that harm him, or a third party to remove offending materials causing harassment. A court can also order anyone who publishes false facts about another person to publish alerts about the falsehoods. Those who commit harassment can also be sued for damages.

A spectrum of offensive or anti-social behaviours are also classified as offences, including sexual harassment both in and outside workplaces, verbal harassment, cyber-bullying, as well as the bullying of children.

Stalking will be against the law too, if the perpetrator causes harassment, alarm or distress, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said yesterday.

Protection for public servants will also be extended to those who deliver essential services to the general public, such as those working in public healthcare and public transport, it added.

Under the proposed Bill, those who harass from outside Singapore will also get into trouble, so long as the victim is in Singapore and the perpetrator knew or ought to have known that when he committed these acts.

Meanwhile, existing penalties for harassment offences will be enhanced to reflect their seriousness, with repeat offenders facing heavier punishments. The court will also be empowered to make community orders in appropriate cases.

The decision to enact a standalone omnibus legislation was taken after public feedback, although the authorities had initially intended to tweak existing laws such as the Miscellaneous Offences Act to cover the various offending behaviours, the ministry added.

Currently, the legal remedies for harassment are specific and do not cover general conduct. For instance, the Moneylenders Act covers harassment in the context of moneylending, while the Women’s Charter covers harassment in the context of family violence.

The proposed Bill was drawn up after consultations with stakeholders, said MinLaw. These included the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), the Singapore Children’s Society and the Coalition Against Bullying for Children and Youth (CABCY). Lawyers who have represented victims of harassment, victims and academics were also consulted.

Despite the range of behaviours covered under the proposed law, lawyers did not feel it was too broad.

Mr Choo Zheng Xi, one of the lawyers consulted, said it provides a much-needed remedy for individuals who are being cyber-harassed as well as stalked. He added that the way harassment cases are dealt with in court under the proposed statute should not be too different, given the existing case law on the definition of harassment under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

Asked if there would be a surge in the applications for Protection Orders with the proposed new law, lawyer Abraham Vergis said it is hard to tell how the public will take up the new remedies.

Lawyers also did not feel the new statute promoted censorship, for example, as a way to curb critical speech against public figures when the writer did not go as far as to commit defamation. Mr Choo said, of his consultation with MinLaw: “I emphasised the need to strike a balance between an effective and accessible set of remedies for ordinary persons to seek the protection of, while at the same time making clear that the object of this Bill is not to curb critical speech of public figures. In my view, that objective has been met.”

Media analyst Ang Peng Hwa, who has also seen a draft of the Bill, added: “As long as you don’t abuse people, don’t insult or threaten, I don’t see how you will be caught by the law.”

When contacted, CABCY, which proposed the prompt removal of harassing content, said it welcomed the Bill. “Victims need to have the assurance that the content would be removed and they could close the chapter and move on without worrying or fear that the contents posted by the perpetrator would resurface,” it said.

CABCY added that it also suggested “a mandatory anti-bullying policy across all schools”, instead of punitive sanctions by law. “Clear direction and guidelines on how a reported case of bullying will be managed ... will give all children, youth, their family, school administrators, teachers, counsellors and staff a crystal clear idea on what to expect and what they can do about bullying behaviours.”

Separately, AWARE said it welcomed the strengthening of civil legal remedies for harassment victims but called for the proposed Bill to be expanded, or the Employment Act to be amended, to require employers to address workplace sexual harassment.

The women’s rights group also urged the Manpower Ministry to “mandate and enforce a detailed code of conduct specifically setting out best practices for employers on preventing workplace sexual harassment and processing harassment complaints”.




New Bill could change ways of behaviour
But experts say it depends on how well harassment law can be enforced
By Rachel Au-Yong and Vanessa Chng, The Straits Times, 27 Feb 2014

THE new anti-harassment law could lead to a big change in the way people conduct themselves at work, in school and online.

But experts say a lot depends on how well the Protection from Harassment Bill, which will be introduced in Parliament next Monday, can be enforced.

By including Internet behaviour, and tougher fines and jail terms, the law shows "clear-cut rules on what is right and wrong", said National University of Singapore sociologist Paulin Straughan.

She referred to recent cases of online vigilantism, in which netizens dug up and revealed personal information of certain people, such as British expatriate Anton Casey after he denigrated public transport users, and a vet who put down a healthy puppy named Tammy last year.

"Sometimes a mob reacts when law enforcement fails but, in doing so, crosses over to the dark side," she said. "The new law sends a message to all Singaporeans that there are certain behaviours that are not acceptable."

Full-time national serviceman Gan Chin Boon, a victim of cyber bullying, believes the new law will empower more people to take action against bullies.

The 19-year-old related how some of his posts, including those on his A-level results, became the target of ridicule on a Facebook group. "I asked the group's administrators to take down the post but they refused," he said.

"I think the new law will prevent that."

But experts wonder how many of the proposed provisions can be enforced, such as the one allowing victims to apply to the courts to remove false information online.

A 34-year-old teacher at a Bukit Timah school who has dealt with bullying cases said: "What is this dedicated body that can magically remove things from the World Wide Web? Even if you could, the damage is done."

Women's rights group Aware said it welcomed the recognition of harassment and stalking as serious problems, but was disappointed the legislation did not cover employers who turn a blind eye.

In Britain and Canada, employers can be held liable if they are aware of a sexual harassment case and do not act on it.

"I don't think it's too much to ask for an employer, when it knows there's a problem, to step in," Aware chief executive Corinna Lim said.

Harassment is also currently a non-seizable offence, which means that the police cannot arrest the suspect immediately without a warrant.

To seek redress, the victim must complain to a magistrate who can then instruct the police to investigate. This can be costly, time-consuming and emotionally draining, said Ms Lim.

"The police currently act on harassment cases on a discretionary basis and, more often than not, they don't investigate," she added.

The law has its heart in the right place, but a more successful transformation will come through education, said Professor Straughan.

"Policing individual cases can be very pricey for the state. It is more fruitful for families to teach children the difference between speaking your mind and bullying, and how to stand up for themselves."





Recent cases of online vigilantism


JANUARY 2014

Briton Anton Casey, who was working in Singapore, suffered online abuse after posting derisive remarks about public transport users.

Cyber vigilantes published personal details of the Casey family, including their home address and cellphone numbers online.

Mr Casey and his family fled to Perth.



OCTOBER 2013

The vet involved in putting down a puppy named Tammy, which was said to be aggressive, was labelled a "puppy murderer" by netizens.

Some posted her photo online, revealed her workplace and called for a boycott of the clinic. There was talk of activists going to the clinic to confront her.





Law creeping up on stalkers spells relief
By Jalelah Abu Baker, MyPaper, 27 Feb 2014

FORMER journalist Joanne Lee received flowers for her birthday in 2009. They were not from a friend, but a stalker.

For two years from 2008, Ms Lee's stalker would leave her multiple voicemail messages, send her letters, and sometimes call her "wifey". It took a court case to end the harassment.

Another victim is not as lucky. His stalker of 14 years is still at large.

To provide relief to victims of all kinds of harassment, a Bill is being tabled in Parliament.

For the first time, stalking, whether in the real world or online, will constitute an offence that will carry harsh penalties.

Called the Protection from Harassment Bill, it seeks to "better protect people from harassment and related anti-social behaviour", the ministries of Law and Home Affairs said.

Even a course of action that is seemingly benign, but causes distress, can be considered an offence under the Bill, said Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Law Beh Swan Gin. He gave the example of being delivered roses at the office table every day to the point of it being "scary".

The Bill, to be read in Parliament by Law Minister K. Shanmugam next week, will also protect people against sexual harassment at the workplace and bullying.

These offences are covered under the current Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act, but the upcoming one will replace them in a clearer way.

There will be civil remedies and criminal sanctions available to victims.

For example, victims may apply to the courts for a Protection Order, and should there be urgency, an Expedited Protection Order may be granted even before a hearing is held.

Ms Corinna Lim, the executive director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), said that the Bill would be useful because most victims really just want the harassment to stop.

"This is going to give them an affordable and administratively simple tool to stop the harassment," she said.

The courts will also have the authority to make the harasser or third parties, like Facebook and Instagram, remove offending material like nude photographs and hurtful posts.

Even offenders who are overseas will not be able to escape. The identities of anonymous harassers online may also be investigated.

An online moniker or username may be enough to get a Protection Order, said Ms Thian Yee Sze, director-general of the legal group at the ministry.

When it comes to sexual harassment at the workplace, Ms Lim added that some of the responsibility must fall on employers to stop it.

Criminal lawyer Amolat Singh said that the Bill would be a "marked improvement" over the current law, and that it would be more targeted legislation.

He added that it would be able to provide "immediate first aid" to victims.





One phone call, 14 years of hell
By Jalelah Abu Baker, MyPaper, 27 Feb 2014

AN INNOCENT chat with a woman in 2000 turned the next 14 years of one man's life into a living hell.

He is now hoping that a new Bill against harassment will put an end to it.

The woman said she was a real-estate agent. The man, a bachelor, chatted with her for a while.

The next week, she turned up at his doorstep and offered him a lift to work. Then the next, and the next. He accepted her offers each time because, he said, "Why not?"

"It never occurred to me how she knew I would be home at that particular time," the man, now aged 67 and a retiree, told MyPaper.

One day, she kissed him by his front door. They were about to have sex when she asked him to prove that he was free from Aids.

They argued and he "shoved her out the door".

"That was when the trouble started," the man said.

She has stalked him ever since, inundating him with thousands of anonymous phone calls - and even contacting his new female friends to slander him.

"I tried changing my number numerous times, but somehow she always got hold of my number," he said.

She once knew his new number even before it was activated.

He tried reporting the case to police, but nothing could be done at that time.

She would call him in the middle of the night and disturb his sleep, and send him e-mail from various addresses.

She even contacted his friends, their wives and his employers.

"She e-mailed them and told them that I was a rapist," he said.

Once, she even called when he was making a police report. He handed the phone over to the officer. Again, she alleged that he was a rapist, but did not make a police report.

She watched him when he went out. "She would call me and say things like 'I see you are in green today'," he said.

It was mental torture, he said, and he gave up hope of avoiding her.

Over the last year or two, the calls and messages have been reduced. But he is already 67 years old and says that the Bill that makes stalking an offence is "long overdue". He has suffered too long.

"If she starts again, I will report her," he said.





A power play with sexual overtones
By Jalelah Abu Baker, MyPaper, 27 Feb 2014

ANEWLY proposed law, which will specifically make harassment an offence, has put the spotlight on what seems to be a widespread phenomenon - sexual harassment at work, an issue that has been kept largely under wraps.

In most cases, the balance of power is skewed, said experts MyPaper interviewed. The victims are usually young and inexperienced, and the culprit, typically a senior colleague abusing his authority.

And, more often than not, the victims hesitate to report the incident for fear of losing their jobs and being ridiculed.

Ms Corinna Lim, executive director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), said that the victims are mostly women, and that they are likely to be young and just starting work.

Mr Alvin Ang, who owns a recruiting company, said the problem is both serious and common.

"The harasser, whether male or female, uses his power, and the victim is helpless. Companies would rather let the powerless person go," he said.

An Aware survey in 2008 of more than 500 people found that more than half had faced some form of sexual harassment at the workplace.

Aware handled 45 calls from people being harassed at the workplace last year, but many cases go unreported. Rather than stir what they think is "trouble", most would rather leave their jobs, said Ms Lim.

Associate Professor Ravi Chandran, who teaches employment law at the National University of Singapore's Business School, said: "The employee may be fearful that he may lose the job if he does complain, especially when the harasser is a superior."

But harassment is widespread, going by accounts from victims MyPaper spoke to:

In one case, a woman who did not get her bonus approached the general manager of her company for redress, only to have him lunge at her for a kiss.

She refused, but this went on for a year until she decided to leave the company.

In another case, a senior staff member, aged about 50 and seconded to Singapore from a London office, would e-mail a junior colleague incessantly, inviting her to his office under the ruse of "career guidance".

He tried the tactic with several women, and had even sought to force one of them to go with him to Thailand by booking tickets for her, and asking her to stay in his hotel room.

A manager would send messages inviting an intern home when his wife was not around, and ask her out in the middle of the night, cautioning her to go alone.

Victims in smaller firms may find it more difficult to get help, said Mr Ang. More often than not, the company may be controlled by one boss, who may be the harasser.

With the new Bill, those who have been harassed can apply to the courts for protection orders against their harassers. The offence will carry harsh penalties.

But experts said that the Bill may not be effective unless victims feel protected enough to come forward to report the incidents. Here is where employers come in.

OCBC has general guidelines against harassment and bullying, while auditing firm Ernst and Young targets sexual harassment specifically - including subtle behaviours.

The Ministry of Manpower said that workshops have been held to educate employers on how to handle grievances properly. The policy should be communicated to all staff and action taken against perpetrators.

And it's not always a hopeless battle. Mr Ang recalled one case in which a client called him shortly after being placed in a company to tell him of the harassment she was facing.

Her senior had made her stay late so they could work alone and had touched her waist on one occasion.

Mr Ang then called the company's human-resources staff, who investigated and fired the manager.

What clinched the matter was the firm fearing for its reputation if a police report was made. There's light at the end of the tunnel.


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PM Lee pays tribute to pioneer generation leaders

March 1, 2014, 2:56 am
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PM leads tributes to Chua Sian Chin
Former minister improved public health, promoted bilingualism
By Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

FORMER Cabinet minister Chua Sian Chin died of heart failure on Wednesday, triggering a host of tributes from political leaders who hailed his dedication and drive in helping to build modern-day Singapore.

Family members said he was at his Chestnut Drive home when he started to exhibit signs of a heart attack at about 8.30pm.

He was rushed to the National University Hospital, where he died of heart failure three hours later. He was 81.



Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Mr Chua belonged to Singapore's pioneer generation of leaders who had led the country to independence and set it on the path to growth.

"Mr Chua's passing is a sad loss to Singapore, but his contributions live on in our policies and institutions," said Mr Lee in a condolence letter to the former minister's widow, Mrs Alice Chua.

Mr Chua, who was conferred the Order of Nila Utama (Second Class) in 1990, had helmed the Health, Home Affairs and Education ministries, and Mr Lee highlighted his contributions in all three portfolios. These ranged from improving public health standards, strengthening the Penal Code, enhancing the vocational and technical streams, and promoting bilingualism.

One of Mr Chua's first projects was the Keep Singapore Clean campaign, which he started in 1968. This was his most important contribution to Singapore, the Malacca native told The Straits Times when he retired from politics in 1991.

In his two-page condolence letter, PM Lee also cited Mr Chua's humility and dedication as an MP in MacPherson. When he was first elected, the ward was a new estate that had many resettled residents from nearby kampungs.

Said Mr Lee: "He made sure that they settled in well into their new homes, and worked hard to develop their sense of community and camaraderie. He also personally groomed many young grassroots volunteers who served him throughout his 23 years as MP, including several who have continued volunteering till today."

Mr Lee recalled how Mr Chua was studying law in London when he met Dr Goh Keng Swee, an Old Guard leader who served as Singapore's deputy prime minister.

It was during this period that Mr Chua also met founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Chua would later recount what a "profound impression Mr Lee had made on him and his fellow students", wrote PM Lee.

Yesterday, the older Mr Lee said in a letter to Mrs Chua: "It is with sadness that I was informed that Sian Chin has passed away. You have my deepest condolences."

President Tony Tan Keng Yam, who served in the Cabinet with Mr Chua from 1980 to 1984, also paid tribute in a Facebook post.

"As a member of Singapore's first generation of leaders, Mr Chua played an important role in setting Singapore on a path of development and growth from the early years of our independence," he wrote.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean credited Mr Chua with "laying the foundations for the safe and secure Singapore we enjoy today".

He is survived by his wife, three children - Eng Chiang, Hui Tin and Eng Leong - and five grandsons. Eng Leong, 43, the PAP's branch chairman for the Eunos ward in Aljunied GRC, recalled how his late father developed dementia in the late 1990s, slowly losing his faculties and eventually becoming bedridden.

"My father did not get to see how Singapore has developed because of his illness, but now he will be able to," said the younger Mr Chua.




A PIONEER LEADER

Mr Chua belonged to our pioneer generation of leaders, who led Singapore in our early years of independence, and set us on the path to growth. Mr Chua's passing is a sad loss to Singapore, but his contributions live on in our policies and institutions.

- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in a letter to Mr Chua's widow Alice




SAD LOSS

It is with sadness that I was informed that Sian Chin has passed away. You have my deepest condolences.





HE PLAYED A VITAL ROLE

Mr Chua was my senior in the Parliament when I entered politics in 1979 and I served with him in the Cabinet from 1980 to 1984... As a member of Singapore's first generation of leaders, Mr Chua played an important role in setting Singapore on a path of development and growth from the early years of our independence.

- President Tony Tan Keng Yam, in a Facebook post


MAKING HIS MARK

MR CHUA Sian Chin, a Peranakan Chinese, was born in Malacca in 1933. He studied law in London on a scholarship and worked in Malaya as a barrister after graduation. Later, he joined law firm Lee & Lee.

Mr Chua was first elected in 1968 and was immediately made Health Minister, making him the youngest Cabinet minister then at 34.

He went on to spend 23 years in politics, and also held ministerial portfolios in Education and Home Affairs.

As Minister for Home Affairs from 1972 to 1984, he was instrumental in improving Singapore's internal security by clamping down on triads and dealing with the drug menace.

As Education Minister from 1975 to 1979, he enhanced the vocational and technical streams and promoted bilingualism.

He was conferred the Order of Nila Utama (Second Class) in 1990, and retired in 1991.







PM Lee pays tribute to pioneer generation leader Mohamed Ariff Suradi
The Straits Times, 26 Feb 2014

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong paid tribute to one of Singapore's first generation of leaders, Mohamed Ariff Suradi, who died on Tuesday at the age of 84.

PM Lee wrote on Facebook on Wednesday: "Was sorry to learn of the passing of Haji Mohamed Ariff Suradi.

"He belonged to our pioneer generation of leaders, who set Singapore on the path of growth and success."

Post by Lee Hsien Loong.

Mr Ariff was a legislative assemblyman while Singapore was part of Malaysia, and then an MP after independence, serving in Ulu Pandan and Kampong Kembangan.

"Those were tumultuous times, with racial riots, and strong ethnic tensions," Mr Lee wrote.

"Because (he) and the other PAP Malay leaders of his generation stood firm, and supported the PAP's vision of a multi-racial Singapore, we were able to build the harmonious society that we have today."

Mr Lee had asked if he could attend the Feb 9 Pioneer Generation Tribute event at the Istana, but was told that he was unwell and could not make it.

Mr Lee added: "His passing marks another step in the passage of generations.

"Our condolences to Hj Mohamed Ariff's family. May he rest in peace."


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Last lap for Buona Vista Swimming Complex

March 1, 2014, 3:15 am
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By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 1 Mar 2014

ON ITS last day of operations, the pool lanes at the 38-year-old Buona Vista Swimming Complex were packed with swimmers splashing and churning, as the community held a final swim for charity.

More than 220 swimmers showed up for the "Hasta la vista Buona Vista" pool party, swimming 8,642 laps and raising $6,800 for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.

Ten past and present lifeguards rounded the evening off by swimming a final lap.

Triathlete Dennis Quek, 51, one of a group of volunteers who organised the event, said: "Actually, we expected only about 50 or 60 people to show up."


ST School Pocket Money Fund general manager Martina Wong said it was "heartwarming to see so many people come for a party to raise funds and to say farewell to a place they are so fond of".

Built in 1976, the swimming complex is to make way for new developments, including a mixed-use development and a community park.

The Singapore Sports School brought its entire swim team. Some 55 students and staff members did laps in the pool in lieu of a regular training session.

"It's a good cause, and in the name of national education," said the school's swimming general manager Ng Kok Wei, 46.

"They learn about the changing landscape of Singapore, where the old gives way to the new; about the masterplan for Holland Village and about urban planning."

In fact, Buona Vista was where Singapore Sports School Secondary 3 student Hoong Enqi, 15, learnt to swim 11 years ago.

Her mother, Mrs Katherine Hoong, 49, said: "I remember the baby pool was very cold because it was sheltered from the sun, and we were always here early in the morning every Sunday."

Long-time pool stalwarts Phillip Tan, 85, and Cheng Yoon Kong, 83, were there too; Mr Cheng took the plunge, while Mr Tan sat on the sidelines, chatting with other regulars.

Mr Tan, a resident of 40 years who swims there every weekday evening, said: "This is the last night I can be here, so I might as well watch them and enjoy myself. But my heart is very sad."




Buona Vista pools have a place in many hearts
Complex which has been part of residents' lives shuts after 38 years
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

THREE generations of Mr Riduwan Matni's family have used the pools at Buona Vista Swimming Complex, which after 38 years will lock its gates for good tomorrow as the land is cleared for redevelopment.

As a child, Mr Riduwan and his brothers would splash around in the pools under their parents' watchful gaze. Now, the 44-year- old marketing agency owner is the doting father, watching over his two daughters.

"The cycle ends here, unfortunately. My daughters won't be able to bring their children here," said Mr Riduwan, whose family has lived in the area since he was two. "It's like how you want your kids to go to the school you went to. You want them to have the same memories you did. That sort of bond brings you closer."

The complex is more than a timeless landmark to residents.

A regular since it opened, Mr Phillip Tan, 85, said: "It hasn't changed at all, it's like walking back into the past. This place is our heart. When you demolish it, it's like you're breaking our heart into pieces."

When it first opened in 1976, the $1.8 million complex was a modern marvel with three pools equipped with bi-flow filter systems that automatically filter and drain water. It was part of the Singapore Sports Council's (SSC) Master Plan on Sports Facilities.

But the complex's time has come. It joins eight other public pools that have ceased operations since 2001. The SSC has told residents they can use the Queenstown, Clementi or Delta pools instead.

But most Buona Vista regulars are senior citizens who have lived in the area for decades, and travelling may be too difficult.

Last year, the Urban Redevelopment Authority announced plans for Holland Village, including new mixed-use developments and a community park.

The modest Kampong Holland Mosque and the open-air carpark next to it will also disappear soon.

The SSC's assistant director of corporate communications and relations, Mr S. Parameswaran, said part of the new community park will be built on the swimming complex's current site. Part of the complex will also be used as an interim carpark while a new underground one is built.

Change has been lapping at the edges of the complex for years. Flats around it were earmarked for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme in 2005 and construction barriers from the projects ring its perimeter.

But swimmers still see in it rosy memories of their youth: swimming lessons marked by desperate flailing, horsing around with friends and even the first, timid steps of teenage courtship.

Mr Kenny Lee, 48, took his first girlfriend there on a date. "We were both too shy to hold hands, but that day I reached out under water to take her hand for the first time," he said.

"I thought nobody could see, but my friends suddenly stopped playing and started shouting 'Goaaaallll!' My girlfriend was so embarrassed she cried."

Residents have rallied to save the swimming complex on several occasions. In 1999, when whispers of its closure swept through the community, they sent a petition to the SSC, which assured them there were no such plans.

Years later, these whispers resurfaced. In 2011, actress Pamela Oei, a long-time resident of the area who had watched the pools being filled up from her window when the complex first opened, handed MP Chan Chun Sing a petition to save the complex.

She said he later told her the plans been sketched out before he took over as MP and the land was already divided.

"I never doubted it would go," she said. "But I just had to make an effort, and register my unhappiness. If it just closed down with nobody protesting, it would be a bigger shame."

The end will come not with a whimper, but a splash.

Mr Tan and 83-year-old Mr Cheng Yoon Kong - who meet other old-timers at the complex about five times a week for a swim and a chat - organised a buffet lunch yesterday at their own cost to thank the pool staff.

Ms Letchami Ramachandra, who has worked there for three years, will be redeployed to Queenstown Swimming Complex.

"A lot of senior citizens are regulars here and they've become like grandparents to me," said the 30-year-old. "It's like I'm losing my family."

Tonight, a group of volunteers have planned a charity swim, inviting residents and fellow swimmers to bid "Hasta La Vista Buona Vista" to the complex. Proceeds will be donated to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. One of the organisers, Mr Dennis Quek, has trained at the complex with fellow triathletes for over three years.

The 51-year-old said: "It's how we want to say goodbye to a place so many people have grown fond of. If we have to let it go, let's do it by having a good time and by having one last swim, all of us and our memories."


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Community event for all at opening of Sports Hub

March 1, 2014, 4:03 am
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Members of public to be among first to experience the facilities in June
By May Chen, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

THE public will be among the first to run, play and swim at the Sports Hub's facilities when it is fully completed in June.

The Community Sports Festival will be held alongside three international events to mark the opening of the facilities, giving the public their first chance to use the $1.33 billion hub.

The three events are the South-east Asia Swimming Championships (June 14-26) at the OCBC Aquatic Centre, the World University Floorball Championships (June 18-22) at the OCBC Arena, and the rugby World Club 10s (June 21-22) at the National Stadium.



The one-year countdown to the SEA Games, which Singapore is hosting from June 5-16 next year, will also take place at the same time. These were unveiled yesterday, alongside a calendar of 13 sporting and 11 entertainment events that will take place at the 35ha hub this year.

Said Singapore Sports Council chief executive Lim Teck Yin: "It is very important that before anything else happens, we should have a large sporting event for the community to come in, play and experience the facilities first-hand."

Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong, in a Facebook post yesterday, said it was important that a community event be among the Sports Hub's first order of business. He wrote: "I've specifically asked for this to be the first event at the Sports Hub, so that we can launch (it) on the right footing - as a community space and public venue for all Singaporeans to enjoy."

Said Ms Alicia Ng, a 35-year-old teacher with two children: "I'm excited about the fact that there'll be many different sports facilities in one venue. This will give everyone in my family adequate opportunities to do what they enjoy."

Specific dates for the festival will be fixed after the availability of the facilities is confirmed.

But both sports and music fans can start clearing their calendars.

Among the events that have been pencilled in are a clash between Singapore and Malaysia on Aug 8, the first football match at the National Stadium, and the Women's Tennis Association Championships from Oct 17-26.

Taiwanese megastar Jay Chou will be the first music act at the National Stadium on Nov 8.

Sports Hub chief executive Philippe Collin Delavaud promised more events will be announced soon. He said: "We are inking, and will ink a lot more events in the weeks and months to come."

While most of the hub is on track for completion in April, work on the stadium's retractable roof and movable seating means the 55,000-seater is slated to be ready only around June - a target the Government is keeping its eye on.

Said Mr Wong: "The private consortium in charge of the project has promised us that the stadium will be completed in time for the events in June. We will hold them accountable, and make sure they complete the project safely and on time."





Post by Singapore Sports Hub.





Uniquely Singapore events the key goal for Sports Hub
Long-term strategy is to develop events anchored in Singapore
By May Chen, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

THE likes of Serie A champions Juventus and Fifa World Cup holders Spain might be headed for Singapore's shores soon.

The Straits Times understands that match promoters and the Football Association of Singapore are in advanced stages of a deal that would see Spain and Italian giants Juventus play a match at the new National Stadium this year.

Football is seen as one of the few sports that can fill the 55,000-seat National Stadium on a regular basis. Yet, even as one of the Sports Hub's key goals will be to attract big-name football teams for one-off matches, the long-term strategy for the $1.33 billion facility is to develop events that are anchored in Singapore.

For example, the Women's Tennis Association Championships will call Singapore home for the next five years. Likewise, the Singapore Swim Stars event is set for a minimum five-year deal. Such longer-term contracts are being sought in the hope that these events, which will also see top athletes conducting clinics for young people here, will leave an impact on the local sporting landscape.

"Our event strategy is aimed at ensuring that the event portfolio contributes to the sporting ecosystem by having a social, sporting and industry impact," said Singapore Sports Council (SSC) chief executive Lim Teck Yin. "We are looking at events that will inspire people to participate in and bond through sports, and celebrate our identity, be it at the community, team or national level."

Economically, there are also benefits of having a uniquely Singapore event. The annual Singapore Grand Prix, the world's only Formula One night race, has enjoyed an average crowd of more than 250,000 people since its inaugural race in 2008. Each race weekend attracted about $150 million in extra tourism receipts from the first five editions and about 40,000 visitors from abroad over the race weekend.

Singapore Rugby Union (SRU) president Low Teo Ping is well aware of the need to create an event that Singapore can call its own.

On that note, the SRU has, in the pipeline, an annual event which will feature global teams at the National Stadium for the next decade. It is expected to be finalised over the next few weeks. Said Mr Low, who is also vice-president of the Singapore National Olympic Council: "You've got to have your own property if you want to develop sports here."

There is also hope that the Asean Super League, a Singapore brainchild featuring top teams from the region, will help fill the National Stadium on a regular basis when it makes its debut next year.

Football Association of Singapore president Zainudin Nordin said: "It's not just about a one-off (occurrence) of having 55,000 people fill the stadium. It's about bringing people back regularly."

Sports Hub chief executive Philippe Collin Delavaud said: "Having an exhibition (event), and a major sports event that happens once every 10 years is OK, but what's important is for Singaporeans to move from television screens and lounges back to the National Stadium, OCBC Arena and the OCBC Aquatic Centre, and really be a part of the sports."


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8 town councils raise service, conservancy charges

March 1, 2014, 4:17 am
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By Goh Chin Lian, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

HALF a million residents in estates managed by eight town councils will pay higher service and conservancy charges (S&CC) from April 1.

This is the first increase in 10 years for seven of the town councils - Ang Mo Kio, Marine Parade, Moulmein-Kallang, Nee Soon, Pasir Ris-Punggol, Potong Pasir and Sembawang. The eighth, Jurong Town Council, last raised its charges in 2010.

The overall increase is 50 cents to $13 a month, depending on flat type. The hike will be done in two steps, with the first increase this April and the second, in April next year.



Those living in one- and two-room rental flats will face smaller increases of 50 cents to $2, while those in three-room flats will pay on average $4.60 more; four-room, $6; and five-room, $7.10. The top rate of $13 may be for executive flats or five-room DBSS.

The town councils cited higher electricity, maintenance and operation costs as the main reasons for the hike.

Sembawang Town Council, which announced the increase yesterday for all eight town councils, said they resisted S&CC increases for 10 years, and even when the inflation rate spiked to 6.6 per cent in 2008.

But it was getting harder to operate at current S&CC rates, with several town councils running into operating deficits, it added.

Electricity accounts for the lion's share of town councils' cost increases.

Utilities make up 35 per cent of operating costs and power tariffs shot up by 66 per cent between 2004 and last month, from 15.44 cents per kilowatt hour to 25.65 cents per kwh.

The town councils also said that most towns have undergone the Lift Upgrading Programme, adding 1,800 new lifts and 3,800 upgraded lifts that stop on every floor. Every new lift in a 12-storey block costs the town council another $3,300 a year to maintain and run.

The eight town councils will spend a total of $7.2 million more a year to upkeep and run these new and upgraded lifts, with costs set to go up as more new lifts are built in the next couple of years.

Maintenance and operation costs will rise further too as more covered walkways, car porches, hard courts, playgrounds and fitness corners are built.

The eight town councils said they were breaking the hike into two parts to reduce its impact on residents.

From April 1, fees for homes will go up by 50 cents to $8.50, depending on flat type. Commercial units will pay 10 cents to 21 cents per sq m more, and cooked food stalls, $9.90 to $15.83 more.

The second hike is from April 1 next year. Home owners will pay up to $6.50 more; commercial units, seven cents to 11 cents more per sq m; cooked food stalls, $9.50 to $12 more.





Eight town councils tightening purse strings
They are cutting costs as service and conservancy charges go up
By Goh Chin Lian And Linette Lai, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

THE eight People's Action Party run town councils that are raising their service and conservancy charges (SCC) this April are trying their best to rein in rising costs, Sembawang Town Council chairman Hawazi Daipi said yesterday.

They will be prudent in their spending and explore cost-saving measures, such as energy-efficient lighting and bulk procurements.

They will also work with Members of Parliament and community organisations to help residents who have difficulty paying.

Mr Hawazi, a Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education, Manpower), also welcomed the Budget's one-off SCC rebates of one to three months for flat dwellers.

On cost-saving measures, Sembawang Town Council's use of energy-efficient lighting has saved it more than $1 million a year in electricity costs since 2004, its general manager Soon Min Sin said.

This is why despite a 66 per cent rise in electricity tariffs in the past 10 years, its total utilities cost has gone up by a lower 45 per cent, he said.

Jurong Town Council installed LED lighting and solar panels in HDB blocks to save energy and cope with rising electricity tariffs.

It also re-used roof slabs in its re-roofing programme of 85 blocks, which saved about $2.13 million.

Even so, it is the only town council in the group of eight that increased its SCC in 2010. The other seven last raised their charges in 2004.

Jurong Town Council chairman David Ong said it faced a 9 per cent increase in electricity tariffs, from 23.56 cents per kwh in April 2010 to $25.65 cents per kwh last month.

Also, the cost of running and maintaining the lifts has gone up by 43 per cent, as more lifts were added to its HDB and carpark blocks. There has also been a 195 per cent increase in the cost of grass cutting and horticulture maintenance costs from three years ago, he said.

This is why the town council, which raised its SCC by 50 cents to $3.60 in 2010, is increasing it by up to $4.40 by April 1 this year.

A quick street poll of 10 residents living in Ang Mo Kio found that most thought the fee hikes were reasonable.

Ms Shalini Rina, 37, an administrative assistant who lives in a one-room rental flat, will see her SCC go up by 50 cents in April. She said: "For us, the increase is not much. We can afford it."

Operations manager Amos Raj, 55, who lives in a three-room flat in the area, said the rate increase was "reasonable". His SCC goes up by $2.50 this April and another $3 in April next year. "I do (give) feedback to the town council on issues like cleanliness, and they are very on the ball," he said.

Housewife Lim Geok Lian, 37, lives in a three-room flat and said: "If we pay an extra $2 or $3 and they get another worker to clean it up, I don't mind."

SCC charges are tiered according to flat type. Those who live in one- and two-room flats pay the least for SCC, experience the smallest fee hikes and enjoy more rebates.

One-roomers in Ang Mo Kio, for example, now pay $18.50 a month, before the increase. Two-roomers pay $26.50 a month.

At the other end of the spectrum, those living in an executive flat pay under $77.50. The highest charge is $83 for a Design and Build executive flat.


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Little India Riot COI: Day 7

March 1, 2014, 4:35 am
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Cop who charged at mob lauded for bravery
By Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

A LONE traffic policeman, captured on camera charging at a violent mob in Little India with a baton in hand, was commended yesterday for his bravery by the Committee of Inquiry (COI) into the Dec 8 riot.

Sergeant Fadli Shaifuddin Mohamed Sani had testified earlier that he charged into the crowd two more times, before he was ordered to stand down. He had to pull back later to avoid being cornered and possibly having his firearm snatched from him.

His evidence, presented on the seventh day of the public hearing, was the first time the committee had heard of a police officer engaging the rioters with force. In the past few days, COI members had repeatedly asked why the police failed to "gravitate" towards the rioters or engage them before their vehicles were burned during the riot.



Sgt Fadli told the inquiry that he was dispatched to the scene at about 10pm on Dec 8. When he arrived in Race Course Road on his police motorcycle, glass bottles and other projectiles were being thrown at two police cars down the road.

About 50 of these "active" rioters standing near Kerbau Road began throwing projectiles in his direction. He then decided that his duty - to divert traffic away from the accident scene - had to take a back seat to restoring some semblance of "law and order".

"Instinctively, I charged at them with my baton drawn as I wanted them to know that the police were still in control of the scene," said the 27-year-old officer from the Traffic Police.

Video footage presented during yesterday's inquiry showed Sgt Fadli, who still had his helmet on, rushing at the crowd with his baton raised, and single-handedly scattering the mob towards Kerbau and Serangoon roads.

He is seen later back-pedalling to Race Course Road. Asked why he did so by State Counsel Sharmila Sripathy, he replied: "To have eye contact with the rioters and to show them I mean business."

It drew nods of approval and praises from the committee. COI member and former police commissioner Tee Tua Ba said: "What you have done is a very brave act; you wanted to assert control."





Two cops, two different reactions from COI
Young officer praised for charging at mob, veteran criticised for evacuating
By Lim Yan Liang And Walter Sim, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

ONE young officer was praised, a seasoned veteran chastised.

Such were the contrasting reactions from the Committee of Inquiry (COI) on day seven of the hearing into the Little India riot on Dec 8 last year.

Even as Sergeant Fadli Shaifuddin Mohamed Sani was commended by the committee for confronting the violent mob with only a baton in hand, Senior Station Inspector Muhammad Adil Lawi had to defend his actions, which were recorded on video.

The clip, which showed a group of auxiliary police and Home Team officers, including SSI Adil, running out of an ambulance, was circulated widely on the Internet after the incident.

The same footage was played during the inquiry while SSI Adil was on the witness stand yesterday.

"You were the law, and you were running away, how does that reflect on the police force?" former NTUC president John De Payva asked the Traffic Police officer.

SSI Adil replied that the eight men in the ambulance - which was immobilised - would have been burned alive if they did not beat a retreat. He added that the vehicle was set on fire shortly after they had evacuated from it.

State Counsel Sharmila Sripathy told the inquiry that an auxiliary police officer had overheard a foreign worker say in Tamil as he closed in on the ambulance: "I want you all to die today."

The inquiry had earlier heard how SSI Adil found himself under siege from the moment he arrived on Race Course Road.

"I was in the midst of assisting the officers with traffic control when the crowd began hurling projectiles at my officers," said the 42-year-old.

He told the inquiry that there must have been an estimated 200 rioters against his team of four.

"At this point in time, projectiles were being thrown at us from various directions," he said.

"Nevertheless, I directed my officers to stand their ground, as it was vital that Race Course Road remained unobstructed and accessible from Bukit Timah as I knew (Special Operations Command) vehicles were en route."

SSI Adil said he and his men held their ground, but the "increasingly rowdy crowd" forced him to decide to direct his men to take cover in an ambulance nearby.

"When I heard one of the paramedics say (the rioters) were going to burn the ambulance with us inside, I felt that our lives were at stake," he added.

He then decided that it was time to leave the ambulance and regroup in Bukit Timah Road, where he knew other officers were stationed.

To ensure the safe evacuation of the officers, SSI Adil made it a point to be the last man out. "So that if anyone of them gets in trouble along the way, I will be there to assist," he said.

His action was praised by Deputy Commissioner of Police T. Raja Kumar at the inquiry last week.

But when asked by the COI if his decision to retreat was an "act of cowardice", SSI Adil disagreed and said: "At no time was I afraid."

The COI noted that his actions were in contrast to those of Sgt Fadli, 27, who had arrived earlier on a police motorcycle.

"We've heard testimony from many other police officers that they all hesitated to act because they felt that if they moved forward to effect arrests, they would be more or less overwhelmed, and maybe their guns taken away, and their lives at stake," COI member and former police commissioner Tee Tua Ba said to Sgt Fadli when the officer took the stand.

Video footage showed Sgt Fadli charging towards a group of about 50 rioters with just a baton in hand. He testified that he did the same thing two more times, before he was ordered to stand down by SSI Adil, his team leader.

This was because his initial success at dispersing the rioters did not last. The same footage showed a rioter re-emerging and throwing a rock towards him.

The young sergeant said about 40 of the "active rioters" returned shortly after, more incensed than before.

"They became rowdier and they were shouting loudly," he said. "I realised that they continued damaging the vehicles and hurled projectiles when I pulled back."

SSI Adil told him to stand down. "He said, 'Anything can happen to you, but you are holding a revolver with a lot of bullets - innocent parties can lose their lives.'"





SCDF officer nearly crushed during rescue
By Walter Sim, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

A RESCUER who had crawled under the bus that ran over and killed a man in Little India to recover the victim's body pinned underneath, was nearly crushed by the 41-seater vehicle.

This happened after an angry crowd around the bus started pushing and shoving against the vehicle, causing the hydraulic jack used by Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers to raise the bus for the extrication to collapse.

The rescuer, an SCDF officer, got away just in time, and even managed to pull the victim's body out in the process, said Senior Station Inspector Akhbar Ali.

The deputy team leader from the Kampong Java Neighbourhood Police Centre was testifying yesterday on day seven of the Committee of Inquiry into the Dec 8 riot.

In a video clip taken from an SCDF vehicle that was shown during the public hearing, the bus, which had been raised on its left rear end, was seen collapsing from the rocking caused by the crowd's shoving. "The hydraulic jack suddenly gave way," said SSI Akhbar.

The 44-year-old was one of the first responders to the scene of what was initially reported as a traffic accident.

He told the inquiry that his main priority at the time was to fend off the unruly crowd, which was pelting the bus with projectiles during the rescue operation.

He was also seen in the video trying to calm down some of the foreign workers, even as one man was shoving him and gesticulating in his face.

This was the first time that the committee heard how the lives of SCDF officers were put in peril as they carried out the extrication. Previous witnesses said that while projectiles were pelted in the direction of the bus, they were aimed at the bus driver and timekeeper, who were then seeking refuge on the vehicle.

The court also saw footage taken from Land Transport Authority closed-circuit television cameras, of SSI Akhbar's vehicle being flipped by rioters.

He said he was "frustrated" by the mob overturning his car, but did not intervene because rocks were "raining" down on him even as he was trying to control a separate crowd.

He sustained a few cuts and scratches on his head.

"It was the first time in my life I saw something like that," said the policeman of 25 years.

"The people near my car were jumping and clapping, and (from) the way they shouted, it was like they were so happy."





Witness list trimmed to cut repetition of testimony
By Walter Sim, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2014

THE witness list for the public hearing into the Little India riot has been trimmed after the Committee of Inquiry decided not to call 39 of the 117 witnesses scheduled to testify.

This was decided after the Attorney-General's Chambers' team established that the evidence from the 39 witnesses "will be a repeat of what other ground officers have testified", said Senior State Counsel David Khoo yesterday. Their statements have been submitted to the committee, and chairman G. Pannir Selvam said: "We will take them as read."

The move cuts the total number of scheduled witnesses to 78 - with 24 people having already testified since the inquiry started last week. This does not include auxiliary police sergeant Mahmood Masdar, a last-minute witness called on Wednesday to clarify evidence given by one of his men, constable Srisivasangkar Subramaniam. Three Singapore Civil Defence Force officers will appear today - the eighth day of the hearing.

Police officers from the Special Operations Command, including its deputy commander, will appear next Monday. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lu Yeow Lim, the commander of Tanglin Police Division and the incident manager of the Dec 8 riot, will give his evidence next Tuesday.



Related
Little India Riot COI: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6
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