<Reader's Contribution>

Saw this construction materials that was put at the fire engine accessway infront Blk 180C rivervale Crescent before circuit breaker. In the event of fire outbreak, not sure if fire engine is able to access as the materials are obstructing its access.

Normally, contractor has to submit a proposed layout plan for storing materials to Town council for approval, wonder if Pasir Ris Punggol Town Council Project Manager allows the contractor to do so?

Who will be responsible if anything happen?

ASS Loyal Reader Tan

An experienced Japanese dog grooming service in Singapore recently announced it will be reopening on 2 June 2020. This will be the day after Circuit Breaker (CB) ends, and replaced with a slightly relaxed CB Phase 1.

However this announcement by the pet groomer also mentioned a "need" to increase its pricing by $5. Their reason for this price increase was to put the blame on Covid19.

The announcement has sparked concern about what the groomer meant by "C-19 business environment". If the rental costs are too high for this business, should it not approach the landlord or government to cut or defer the rent?

This incident is similar to a local hair salon which suddenly increased its pricing by 80% just before CB started.

Will we be seeing more businesses follow suit with price increases?

Like most local restaurants, Lu Ding Ji had to adapt and allowed its customers to order food delivery during Covid19. Their food delivery service is even free from delivery charges. It is also understandable that many establishments are currently facing a manpower shortage, so Lu Ding Ji has to schedule their delivery timings as a time period from 12pm to 2pm. 

However, Lu Ding Ji happened to encounter an impatient and "abusive" customer from Sengkang. 

According to screenshots provided by the restaurant, they were exchanging messages with a customer named "Seng Kang".  Even when it was explained to her that the delivery person was in the midst of being contacted, the customer appeared insistent about getting a delivery timing from the restaurant. In the end, the food was delivered to the customer at 1pm.

But the incident did not end with the delivery. Screenshots showed that 1.5 hours after the food was delivered, the customer had not paid the restaurant. Instead she tried to delay payment by saying that she need to settle her things and "will take hours to do payment".

Lu Ding Ji has come out to defend its staff from such unappreciative behaviour where they are treated unfairly.

<Reader's Contribution>

First sacred cow to trim is the re-employment of those beyond 62 yo whom fit the following criteria:
1. Former DD, Director, Senior Directors, Group Directors, Deputy Chief, CEO
2. Last drawn pay at least MX10 at 62yo

This bunch should be made redundant to free up the budget to:
1. Prevent the mass from getting pay cut
2. Recruit the Freshly minted graduates to drive productivity.

Most government bodies have inverted pyramid structures already. Many are 40-60 years old and draw high salaries. These bunch of post 62yo role in the organisation (civil service and public service, including Stat Board) is quite menial and most of the time is NATO role. Although they have a paycut to be re-employed, the eventual pay is still at least that of a Assistant Director, can employ 3 entry level new officers.

Because of their iron rice bowl, they continue to cling on to their high paying jobs. The government needs to know how to trim these and make them leave, otherwise they will just strain resources.

So, it is time to STOP the re-employment of Former DD, Director, Senior Directors, Group Directors, Deputy Chief, CEO in Civil, Public and Stat Board. They have lots of $ and assets already.

ASS Loyal Reader Jim

After a May 21 petition to allow people to opt out of receiving the NDP funpack, Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Louis Ng shared a poll on his Facebook post on Monday (May 25) morning 9.38am. However at 5.52pm the same day, he updated that the poll was closed. That's barely a full day. We're not sure when it started but most people aren't aware of it either.

The post read:

[ Do you want a NDP Funpack? ]
We would like to hear your feedback regarding the distribution of the NDP 2020 Funpack to every Singaporean and Permanent Resident household.
Do share your views at: http://go.gov.sg/reach-ndpfunpack2020
And pls help share and spread the word

Netizens have been questioning whether the money that goes into the funpack could be put to better use since now the economy is suffering because of the covid19 pandemic. Do we really need sponsored items, water, snacks, tattoos, brochures and a whole bunch of items that will go to waste? Does the government think a funpack can cheer Singaporeans up during this gloomy times? Rather than wasting money on fireworks and putting up a parade, the government could be using the resources to support businesses and Singaporeans affected by this crisis instead.

If the government were more prudent in their spending, they should just forget about the parade. Now that Singaporeans are raising concerns about it, they decided to do a survey but then it was like a snap election. Are they really interested in Singaporeans' feedback or not? Or they are just doing it for show?

Based on past weeks, foreign workers living in dormitories have been contributing to the high numbers of confirmed Covid19 cases here. With the Circuit Breaker (CB) ending on 1 June 2020, Singapore will see a gradually opening up of businesses. Among those businesses are construction companies, many of which have hired foreign workers.

Hugh Lim, the CEO of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), said in a media report on 15 May 2020 that construction firms must implement safety measures for workers, and more importantly foreign construction workers must be tested before returning to work and routinely every two weeks when they are back on the job.

The Singapore Contractors Association Ltd sent a letter to the government on 23 May 2020. The letter, addressed to Minister of Finance Heng Swee Keat, stated that construction companies should not bear the testing costs of swab tests. The Association wrote that the industry was "caught by surprise" by the 15 May 2020 announcement about employers bearing the cost of regular testing of construction workers in future.

The Association estimates that each test currently costs about $200, and it will translate into $120 million per month for the 300,000 foreign construction workers. This testing cost will be an added huge burden to contractors, and the Association is concerned that this deepening financial burden will cause many SMEs to collapse.

The Association therefore appealed to the Finance Minister and the government for help to stay afloat, as the livelihood of 100,000 local employees in the construction industry will be at stake.

<Opinions expressed are solely the contributor's and do not express the views or opinions of All Singapore Stuff>

Hi!

Recently seeing a surge in FTs having a lot to say about Singapore, where they are living and working in.

In this case, this guy reading an article made by the NYtimes, and trying to shit on Singapore? His ancestors colonised and did so many terrible things to other countries in the past. I don't even know where to begin.

And also, he probably came to Singapore and benefited from out economic success which was yes, partly due to the migrant workers not treated in the best way but if he was so disgusted he could always go somewhere else? And oh wait, its the same, or even worse everywhere else.

Lastly, that post has received lots of criticism and flak for it, so he should probably go and read up on why it is such a shit article.

No hate to you personally tho just sharing of thoughts.

bry

Hi All Singapore Stuff,

I want to share something. Yesterday i order Starbucks at Liat Tower's branch. i just order 1 drink and 2 slice of cake.

Because yesterday i feel moody so i put some note at the GrabFood app. Then i'm surprised the Starbucks gave me a free drink. i checked the receipt again maybe i order wrong, but it is not.

Maybe because of the note i wrote, so Starbucks gave me a free drink to cheer me up. They also wrote sweet messages for me and really made my day.

i'm really thankful for these staff at Starbucks!

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has proposed various programmes like RESTART (Re-Employment Scheme and Temporary Assistance for the ReTrenched), RISE (Retirement Income Scheme for the Elderly), and other healthcare plan and housing policies for the benefit of the people. These policies and programmes may be especially essential for a post-Covid19 era.

However these policies have been accused of being not affordable, with online counterarguments such as "Where is the money going to come from?". The SDP has recently addressed this funding issue with various concrete examples:

I. Cut profligate and wasteful spending

1. Reduce ministerial pay.

2. Stop the use of public funds to advertise PAP MPs and candidates through banners to newsletters to LED-display boards.

3. Exercise financial prudence in using public funds.

4. Stop mega projects that eat up tax monies.

II. Stop a 10-million population

This will put a strain on the mental well-being and overall quality of life for the people, who are already living in an overcrowded island.

III. Increase taxes on the wealthy

1. Increase personal income tax, especially for the wealthy.

2. Introduce a wealth tax for the richest of the rich.

3. Increase corporate tax to above 17%.

4. Reinstate estate duty for wealthy families/individuals who own multi-million-dollar homes and wish to pass it on to their children as inheritance.

5. Introduce capital gains tax.

IV. Use income from reserves

SDP's estimated its RISE programme to $2.8 billion annually. This amount pales in comparison to what the PAP had spent over the four Budgets it has drawn from the reserves to deal with Covid19.

<Opinions expressed are solely the contributor's and do not express the views or opinions of All Singapore Stuff>

Due to the outbreak of Covid19 in many foreign worker dormitories, the Minister of Manpower (MOM) Josephine Teo has been in the spotlight. At many press conferences where she had to address various issues relating to the high incidence of migrant workers infection, her most frequently-uttered word is none other than “dormitory” (ies).

Josephine Teo's pronunciation of the biggest keyword in Singapore’s Covid-19 vocabulary today could have been off-key — and often, distractingly inconsistent. Many a time, the 4-syllable “dormitory” clumsily rolls off her tongue as daw-mur-tur-ree with every syllable almost equally stressed, making it neither British (daw-mur-tree), American (daw-mur-tall-ree), nor quite Singlish. At the same time, there are occasions — even in the same speech peppered with the somewhat jarring pronunciations — she makes crisp enunciations of daw-mur-tree with the third syllable soothingly silent.

So why does the "usually eloquent" Josephine Teo fumble over this 9-letter word (or 11 in plural form)? Inconsistent pronunciation, apart from geographical adaptation or influence, is often associated with unfamiliarity of a particular word and/or its pronunciation. However, this is unlikely the case for a seasoned speaker like her, and definitely not for “dormitory” which is definitely in the familiar terrain of her work vocabulary.

Based on a podcast of an interview the London School of Economics postgraduate had with business radio station Money FM on the recent Budget and how it can help businesses on 26 March — and this was before the dormitories’ outbreak made headlines — her pronunciation of “dormitories” then was spot on.

However, her pronunciation deviation and schizophrenia started after the dormitories became hotbeds of coronavirus transmission, and MOM the target of blame and criticism. Cases in point: her speeches in the multi-ministry task force media conferences on 5 April 2020, 14 April 2020, 21 April 2020 and 2 May 2020, etc (check YouTube for more). Strangely, on a Parliament meeting on 4 May 2020, she deftly effected daw-mur-tree (trees) throughout. Then on the May 16 multi-ministry task force media conference, where she appeared fresh from a haircut, she reverted to daw-mur-tur-ree (rees) largely.

Often, in times of unusual stress and anxiety, one can exhibit temporary speech irregularities. Just as a shy guy stutters while professing his love, one can also be at a loss for words upon hearing bad news. In the case of Josephine Teo, her pronunciation of “dormitory” may have strayed from habit due to the great stress the D word has put upon the nation and her. Confronting or uttering it could even be upsetting.

Credit: Communications Whisperer

Hi All Singapore Stuff,

This man stayed at Blk 289A COMPASSVALE CRESCENT.

Spotted him working out within the prohibited area 28 May 2020 at 6:10pm underneath his block.

I calmly walked to him to remind him not to stay on the wrong side of the law, he told me off rudely. Hence. I took this picture and hopefully his family members and friends could help educate him when seen this post.

Keep safe.

Pauline

In a virtual press conference on 29 May 2020, political veterans Ravi Philemon and Michelle Lee announced the formation of a new political party - Red Dot United. Ravi Philemon and Michelle Lee shared the goals for their party, and explained the need for another credible voice in Singapore's political landscape.

Instead of joining existing parties, Red Dot United was created because there is distinct space in Singapore's political landscape for their party to bring new perspectives, ideas and methods. There is also a need for a party to keep asking hard questions and to seek solutions. With Red Dot United, Singaporeans will therefore have another good choice to consider for future elections.

The main roles of Red Dot United will be filled by Ravi Philemon who will be Secretary-General, and Michelle Lee who will be its Chairman. Red Dot United intends to be a party with a long-term view, and not just for the election season.

Instead of forming a party that is personality-driven, Red Dot United will shift the focus to politics centered on right policies to take Singapore forward. Another goal will aim to make politics enjoyable, even for people who are not interested in politics. Red Dot United will also have a focus on engaging the youths.

Red Dot United currently consists of 12 members, ranging from ages 25 to 55. The members are a good mix of open-minded individuals with political experience, as well as professionals such as medical practitioner and business owners. While the growth of its membership will be calibrated, Red Dot United is open to all Singaporeans as it is not an elitist party that will restrict membership.

Red Dot United believes in openness, transparency and accountabilty, and this was demonstrated by how Ravi Philemon and Michelle Lee had earlier spoken to various opposition leaders of their intention to create this new party. Red Dot United is also open to having alliances in the future as Singapore can benefit from this collective intelligence.

Refuting claims of Singapore being saturated by political parties, Michelle Lee explained how other democratic nations, some with similar population size as Singapore, have multiple political parties who hold seats in their Parliaments. In this way each political party will have its own clear identity and ideas, and bring Singapore forward.

Speaking on their intention to contest this General Elections, Ravi Philemon said the party intends to and has the resources to do so. But he said there will be things to consider. Something which comes to mind includes the need to call for an election before Covid19 is over.

But given the PAP's repeated calls for an election, Red Dot United will be writing in to the Registry of Societies (ROS) to expedite the registration of its party.

<Reader's Contribution>

Now, I have been complaining to the NPP and even made many 999 calls regarding a group of people who flouted social distancing laws for a very long time! Til today, they stil persist in their unlawful activities!

At Commonwealth Drive 2A Hawker Centre, The group which consist of a chinese woman and a few guys (including indians and chinese) would gather at the tables of  Farok Muslim Stall to eat, drink without wearing a mask everynight WITHOUT FAIL.

The woman even served as a lookout for authorities for the group, I couldn’t get close enuff to take clear pics of them for safety reasons cos they are a rowdy bunch.

In another picture, the woman was found at the bus stop below Commonwealth Drive BLK 58 eating and drinking without mask in broad daylight! She stared at me fiercely from the front so I could only take her back pic.

In any case, CCTVs will be able to capture their illicit gatherings clearly and the authorities are aware of it cos I told them.

What I don’t understand is, the police and NEA told me they would convey my complaints  to the relevant agencies many times, and yet absolutely nothing has been done!

Perplexed,
COVID-19 Fighter

<Reader's Contribution>

At a dialogue on race yesterday, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Minister Grace Fu said that the Covid19 outbreak has increased tensions between foreigners and locals. She cited certain locals' "visceral reaction" to reports of foreigners gathering, drinking and flouting social distancing rules at Robertson Quay.

As a minister paid by taxpayers, Grace Fu should be condemning the AMDKs in the strongest possible terms for flagrantly flouting our CB laws and endangering others instead of blaming Singaporeans for being "xenophobic".

How does demanding for EQUAL TREATMENT under the law be misconstrued as being "xenophobic" is anyone's guess.

In fact, she ought to be ashamed that Singaporeans are calling for the AMDKs to be punished instead of trusting the criminal justice system to do the work because they have so little trust in it!

If the photos of these AMDKs drinking beer publicly at RQ did not go viral and cause a massive public outcry, do you seriously think action will be taken against them?

ASS Loyal Reader Michael

It was reported that a sum of $35 million provided as wage subsidies to 32 commercial firms had been returned to the government. Apparently, these companies do not need money from our reserves. Another 29 companies also reported that they do not wish to receive further wage subsidies. No amount has been stated or how much they would receive had they not declined.

This is a huge sum of money by any means contributed by our hardworking forefathers, mothers, uncles and aunts by their sweat and toil. Some of our foreparents even preceded our labeled pioneer generation.

The refund of $35 million by these companies is no small beer. It was also reported that Citibank was among the returnees of the money.

Giving out large tranches of money erroneously during times such as this elicit some soul searching on what went wrong. Why are there no background checks carried out before large swaths of money are given away?

This would have been under the radar had the 32 firms choose not to return these $35 million! And Singaporeans will not be any wiser.

One of the firms cited was Citibank as a prominent returnee, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Helping Citibank is akin to assist them paying out MORE dividends to its shareholders! Never mind that it’s Singapore Branch has a high percentage of Singapore employees.

There is no prize for guessing who the majority of the shareholders are! They are definitely not Singapore citizens or Singaporean corporate entities for that matter.

This breach of fiduciary duties is an embarrassment to all Singaporeans with hand wringing by the lowest 20 percentile of our poor citizens.

This lackadaisical attitude in which our hard earned savings were given out deserves more than a slap on the wrist compared to the case on the award of contract under waiver of competition by Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.

It would now appear that both the authorising and approving officers of the wage subsidies did not bother to carry out any background checks before sending out moneys to these 32 returnee companies. If they had done so, this would not happen.

Will similar checks be carried out on those who have yet to raise their hands on returning the reserve? Or adopt a wait and see attitude until they sent in their corporate tax returns?

To make matters worse, the government has now said that they will be using the returned portion and declined reserves for OTHER USES (emphasis mine) and also telling firms that they can use the reserves for PHILANTHROPIC (emphasis mine) purpose as well.

Oh hell! Did you say ‘Philanthropic?’ Err! Have they ever thought about the new poor from Chinatown to Jurong to Ponggol, Tampines and to the north of the city?

Is this allowed in sound financial practice by deviating from the original intent of saving jobs or the newfangled term of ‘JSS?’

If not, the returned $35 million by the companies should be sent directly back to the reserve account. This is the essence of sound finance and accounting practice.

For Singapore which wants to rival London for the number one financial hub position, it has to be clear headed when dealing with large tranches of money and its original intent.

Needless to say, the government needs a thorough review and overhaul of its procedures and processes in its financial management, especially our reserves.
A sound reporting system should also show the status of the allocated reserves including savings, if any after the pandemic recedes.

ASS Loyal Reader Gilbert Tan

The Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix has traditionally been held on September since 2008. With the Covid19 pandemic this year, the fate of the Singapore Grand Prix remains uncertain. However,  the Minister for Trade and Industry (MTI) Chan Chun Sing told reporters over the weekend that an announcement will be made this week. This is after Singapore apparently completes "some studies done on what is doable and what is not doable".

According to many experts and political observers, Singapore may also experience another major event in 2020 - the Singapore General Elections (GE). This comes after repeated calls by PAP ministers about the urgent need to call for an elections before April 2021. The state media Straits Times even published an article suggesting that the Singapore GE could be held in early July 2020.

Due to this "urgency" to call for an elections, the Workers' Party (WP) called for the government to "publish election campaign rules forthwidth" so that all political parties have a clear idea of how they can campaign safely despite the ongoing Covid19 pandemic. However, the same MTI minister Chan Chun Sing excused the Elections Department (ELD) saying that they have to explore various scenarios and rules due to the "evolving" Covid19 situation. When the ELD is ready, election candidates and parties will be given "sufficient time" to know the rules and regulations.

If the GE is to be held on July 2020, does it seem ironic that the fate of the Grand Prix (which will be held later in September 2020) can be decided earlier than the announcement of GE campaign rules?

A YouTube Channel to share everything about Singapore has caught the attention of many local netizens. The Channel aims to make Singapore "feel like a home" to its viewers by answering all queries about Singapore such as travel, work and things to do here.

The YouTuber aired her first video in February 2020 when Singapore raised its DORSCON level from Yellow to Orange. However, many netizens noticed that subsequent videos by this Channel focused on empowering its viewers with knowledge and tips about employment and settling down in Singapore. Examples of these videos include:

1. Explaining the difference between SPass and EPass
2. How to get a job and work in Singapore
3. Singapore contract jobs
4. Checking Singapore work visa status online
5. Singapore Employment Pass Salary Increasing from May 2020
6. Will Covid19 end jobs for foreigners in Singapore?

Singaporean netizens have voiced concerns about job opportunities and reduced income amid the pandemic. With this YouTuber encouraging more FTs to seek employment here and the supposed facilitation by CECA, Singaporeans worry that they will have to struggle for PMET job vacancies during this difficult time.

Minister of Trade and Industry (MTI) Chan Chun Sing recently responded to media questions about the over-reliance on foreign construction workers. To replace this 300,000 foreign workforce, he argued that Singapore will need 2,500 local babies per year over the next 40 years to become construction workers. His challenge was based on the assumption that 100,000 Singaporean workers will be three times as productive as these foreign labour.

Just today, the Workers' Party Yee Jenn Jong wrote a blog post to counter Chan Chun Sing's opinion.

1. Chan Chun Sing was exaggerating as Singaporeans are not asking for a total replacement of foreign labourers. He also made it seem like construction is a shunned career.

2. Singapore has neglected some job sectors over the decades, leading to a poor job image and lower wage prospects. The government needs to intervene to assist the construction associations and guide the market such that construction work can become a viable job with decent salary for locals.

3. While Chan Chun Sing expects Singaporeans to be thrice as productive, the reality is our construction workers' productivity "pales in comparison" to locals in other developed countries.

4. Paying higher salaries to local workers may not lead to much higher overall costs. This can be seen in the hiring of locals in develop nations with small populations, whose well-trained construction workers are able to efficiently complete their jobs with less manpower.

5. Singapore cannot afford to neglect this issue of labour intensive growth policy, and the Covid19 crisis has only shown the need shift from low-wage industries that are over-dependent on migrant foreign workers.

Sheng Siong supermarket is truly impressive. After announcing an additional one month salary for its employees, it went around neighbourhoods quietly giving donations at wakes out of kindness. This is setting the bar way too high for competitor NTUC FairPrice supermarket which is already being accused of raising its prices during COVID-19.

In April 2020, Sheng Siong decided to reward its staff with an additional month of bonus after it had a net jump in profit in Q1 of the year. That's not all. Two months later, netizen Caleb Low wrote on Facebook about his discovery that a Sheng Siong staff slipped $200 into the money collection box at his wife's grandmother's wake.

Apparently, Sheng Siong has been offering contributions at funerals near their stores for 30 years already to keep the kampung spirit alive. This is a supermarket chain that believes in giving and sharing its gains. Before, COVID-19 it was rewarding customers with big prizes in The Sheng Siong Show which Singaporeans are all so familiar with. All this while keeping its prices low for customers.

Now the same cannot be said for NTUC FairPrice as it looks unlikely that it can rise to the high standards set by Sheng Siong. NTUC FairPrice, a government-linked company that has also seen increase in business during panic-buying episodes, has other ideas about what it plans to do with its profits: giving staff a fat bonus is certainly not one of them. Customers have noticed that some items in FairPrice supermarkets became more expensive during COVID-19. This is simply not living up to its name at all and they should consider changing it.

FairPrice has lots to learn about humility and generosity from Sheng Siong.

A Facebook user shared about his encounter with a GrabFood rider who experienced stomach pain while making a delivery.

The kind samaritan was on his way home after sending his child to school. Based on his photos, the samaritan was in a car waiting at a road junction when he say the rider collapse with his motorcycle. The driver went to check on the rider and realised the rider looked very pale and his body was cold. The rider repeatedly said his stomach was in pain.

The driver managed to assist the rider to mount his bike, and advised him to go home and rest. However, the delivery rider insisted he had to send and complete his last order. At this moment, the driver offered to escort the rider home and send the last order on the rider's behalf.

In the samaritan's own words:

"Objective of this msg is to share the hard work of Bros and Sis doing delivery... Times like this is not easy. Sometimes if they are slightly late, its definitely not intentional. I hope Singaporeans will have more emphaty towards them, especially times like now when delivery is on a rise. Coming from delivery background myself, I know and understand how tough it can be. But always remember... Health comes 1st. If really feeling unwell, take the day to rest and nurse your health back. Hopefully this young man will recover soon and be back on his delivery route again....."

Netizens have sent outpourings of messages for the driver's kind act. We also wish to highlight the rider's professionalism in thinking about his delivery, and wish him a speedy recovery.