Singaporeans have limited understanding of Elected Presidency: IPS survey 2011

Many confused about job of president: Poll
Majority of respondents believe he ensures Govt manages economy well
By Cai Haoxiang, The Straits Times, 2 Nov 2011

IN A finding that took researchers by surprise, a survey shows Singaporeans are confused about the elected presidency, and have limited understanding of the roles the president is supposed to play.

The two biggest misconceptions: That the president is there to ensure the Government manages the economy wisely, and that he is free to speak publicly on national issues he deems important.

This raised eyebrows among researchers like Dr Gillian Koh, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), which commissioned the survey.

She said she had expected voters to understand the constitutional limits on the president, given the extensive media coverage on the subject in the lead-up to the presidential election in August.

The situation needs to be corrected so that there can be an informed debate on the president's role, she added.

'The starting point of the informed debate is to at least understand what the official interpretation is, and then take it from there,' she said.

Constitutional law expert Kevin Tan suggested using TV dramas to educate more people. 'Have a 24-part Channel 8 drama on some features of the presidency, showing crises and so on, set the date at 2050.

'You might actually succeed,' he said.

Both spoke at a forum organised by the IPS yesterday to present the findings of the survey. It polled more than 2,000 Singaporeans aged 21 and older who were interviewed on the phone between Sept 20 and Oct 5.

Among other things, they were asked whether they agreed with 11 statements designed to test their understanding of the president's role. Included were six 'incorrect' statements on the president's role.

About 95 per cent of them recognised - correctly - that the president represents Singapore abroad, is the head of state, and can block the Government's intention to spend national reserves.

But four out of five thought - wrongly - that the president ensures the Government manages the economy wisely.

Similarly, three in four thought wrongly that the president was free to speak publicly on national issues he deemed important.

University Education - Do you need it and what should you study

Not all inequality is created equal

Income gap a problem but bigger issue is divide between grads and non-grads

David Brooks, New York Times, 2 Nov 2011

WE LIVE in a polarising society, so perhaps it's inevitable that our experience of inequality should be polarised, too. In the first place, there is what you might call Blue Inequality. This is the kind experienced in New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Houston and the District of Columbia. In these places, you see the top 1 per cent of earners zooming upwards, amassing more income and wealth. The economists Jon Bakija, Adam Cole and Bradley Heim have done the most authoritative research on who these top 1 per cent are.

Roughly 31 per cent started or manage non-financial businesses. About 16 per cent are doctors, 14 per cent are in finance, 8 per cent are lawyers, 5 per cent are engineers and about 2 per cent are in sports, entertainment or the media.

If you live in or around these big cities, you see stores and entire neighbourhoods catering to the top 1 per cent. You see a shift in social norms. Up until 1970 or so, a chief executive would have been embarrassed to take home more than US$20 million (S$25 million). But now there is no shame, and top compensation zooms upwards.

You also see the superstar effect that economists have noticed in the income data. Within each profession, the top performers are now paid much better than the merely good or average performers.

If you live in these big cities, you see people similar to yourself, who may have gone to the same college, who are earning much more while benefiting from low tax rates, wielding disproportionate political power, gaining in prestige and contributing seemingly little to the social good. That is the experience of Blue Inequality.

Then there is what you might call Red Inequality. This is the kind experienced in Scranton, Des Moines, Naperville, Macon, Fresno, and almost everywhere else. In these places, the crucial inequality is not between the top 1 per cent and the bottom 99 per cent. It's between those with a college degree and those without. Over the past several decades, the economic benefits of education have steadily risen. In 1979, the average college graduate made 38 per cent more than the average high school graduate, according to the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke. Now the average college graduate makes more than 75 per cent more.

Moreover, college graduates have become good at passing down advantages to their children. If you are born with parents who are college graduates, your odds of getting through college are excellent. If you are born to high school grads, your odds are terrible.

In fact, the income differentials understate the chasm between college and high school grads. In the 1970s, high school and college grads had very similar family structures. Today, college grads are much more likely to get married, they are much less likely to get divorced and they are much, much less likely to have a child out of wedlock.

Today, college grads are much less likely to smoke than high school grads, they are less likely to be obese, they are more likely to be active in their communities, they have much more social trust, they speak many more words to their children at home.

Some research suggests that college grads have much bigger friendship networks than high school grads. The social divide is even starker than the income divide.

These two forms of inequality exist in modern America. They are related but different. Over the past few months, attention has shifted almost exclusively to Blue Inequality.

That's because the protesters and media people who cover them tend to live in or near the big cities, where the top 1 per cent is so evident. That's because the liberal arts majors like to express their disdain for the shallow business and finance majors who make all the money. That's because it is easier to talk about the inequality of stock options than it is to talk about inequalities of family structure, child-rearing patterns and educational attainment. That's because many people are wedded to the notion that our problems are caused by an oppressive privileged class that perpetually keeps its boot stomped on the neck of the common man.

But the fact is that Red Inequality is much more important. The zooming wealth of the top 1 per cent is a problem, but it's not nearly as big a problem as the tens of millions of Americans who have dropped out of high school or college. It's not nearly as big a problem as the 40 per cent of children who are born out of wedlock. It's not nearly as big a problem as the nation's stagnant human capital, its stagnant social mobility and the disorganised social fabric for the bottom 50 per cent.

If your ultimate goal is to reduce inequality, then you should be furious at the doctors, bankers and CEOs. If your goal is to expand opportunity, then you have a much bigger and different agenda.

College Has Been Oversold

Alex Tabarrok, Investors.com, 19 Oct 2011

Education is the key to the future: You've heard it a million times, and it's not wrong. Educated people have higher wages and lower unemployment rates, and better educated countries grow faster and innovate more than other countries.

But going to college is not enough. You also have to study the right subjects. And American students are not studying the fields with the greatest economic potential.

Over the past 25 years the total number of students in college has increased by about 50%. But the number of students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (the so-called STEM fields) has been flat.

Moreover, many of today's STEM graduates are foreign-born and taking their knowledge and skills back to their native countries. Consider computer technology. In 2009 the U.S. graduated 37,994 students with bachelor's degrees in computer and information science. This is not bad, but we graduated more students with computer science degrees 25 years ago.

The story is the same in other technology fields. The United States graduated 5,036 chemical engineers in 2009, no more than we did 25 years ago. In mathematics and statistics there were 15,496 graduates in 2009, slightly more than the 15,009 graduates of 1985.

Few fields have changed as much in recent years as microbiology, but in 2009 we graduated just 2,480 students with bachelor's degrees in microbiology — about the same number as 25 years ago. Who will solve the problem of antibiotic resistance?

If students aren't studying science, technology, engineering and math, what are they studying? In 2009 the U.S. graduated 89,140 students in the visual and performing arts, more than in computer science, math and chemical engineering combined and more than double the number of visual and performing arts graduates in 1985.

The story is the same in psychology, which graduates about 95,000 students a year, more than double the number of 25 years ago and far in excess of the number of available jobs.

Perhaps most oddly, despite the decline in the number of news media jobs, especially in the print media, the number of students in communication and journalism also has nearly doubled since 1985.

There is nothing wrong with the arts, psychology and journalism, but graduates in these fields have lower wages and are less likely to find work in their fields than graduates in science and math.

As a result, more than half of all humanities graduates end up in jobs that don't require college degrees. Baggage porters and bellhops don't need college degrees, but in 2008 17.4% of them had at least a bachelor's degree and 45% had some college education. Mail carriers don't need a college education, but in 2008 14% had at least a bachelor's degree and 61% had some college education.

More help for parents of special needs children

By Ng Jing Yng, TODAY, 3 Nov 2011

To help parents make better decisions on which school is best for their special needs children, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has come up with a set of guidelines for professionals to provide consistent advice to them.

The Professional Practice Guidelines on the Psycho-educational Assessment and Placement of Students with Special Educational Needs were developed over a two-year period by professionals ranging from members of the medical fraternity to Special Education (SPED) educators.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education and Law), Ms Sim Ann, said yesterday: "We have to recognise that the needs in the SPED landscape are really quite diverse and complex."

So while different professionals may share common approaches, there may be areas where they differ when it comes to advising parents, Ms Sim noted. She added that the shared guidelines will help to bring out the commonalities among the professionals and promote greater consistency in assessment practices and advice.

From next year, parents will also receive a reader-friendly version of the guidelines for them to better understand the SPED sector so that it would be easier for them to decide which SPED school is most suitable for their child.

The MOE will also be setting up an advisory panel, comprising participants from various agencies, which will look into making the admission and selection of SPED schools clearer and more transparent for parents.

Jobless rate for Singaporeans at 3% in Third Quarter 2011

It's higher than overall figure as 'unemployed foreigners have to leave'

By Cai Haoxiang, The Straits Times, 1 Nov 2011

THE three-month unemployment rate among Singaporeans was given for the first time by the Manpower Ministry yesterday, and it is 3 per cent as of September.

The rate, which used to be given once a year, is 0.1 point higher than the jobless rate of residents, which includes permanent residents.

In real numbers, it means about 8,100 PRs and 53,200 Singaporeans were out of work in September.

But the rate difference is much higher - 1 percentage point - when the Singaporean jobless rate is compared with the overall rate, which takes into account residents as well as foreigners.

The gaps are consistent in the data all the way back to September last year and economists said these are inevitable.

They explained that the rate for Singaporeans will always be higher than the overall rate because out-of-work foreigners have to leave the country and, therefore, will not figure in the calculations.

Pulau Ubin to get clean power next year

By Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, 1 Nov 2011

RESIDENTS of Pulau Ubin will be able to power their homes with clean energy such as biodiesel and solar power by the end of next year, replacing the noisy and pollutive diesel generators they currently use.

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) announced yesterday that a local consortium has clinched the contract to design, build, own and operate a micro-grid test-bedding project on the island.

The consortium is a partnership between clean energy firm Daily Life Renewable Energy (DLRE) and property developer OKH Holdings.

The EMA declined to reveal the cost of the project, but said the consortium was selected via a competitive tendering process that 'took into account the companies' proposed solutions, experience in similar projects and price competitiveness'.

The planned micro-grid is an intelligent system that will harness electricity from clean energy sources and regulate the flow of power to its users.

How might Medisave be stretched?

The Straits Times, 1 Nov 2011

CLAIMS made on Medisave eligibility keep rising. The progressive inclusion in recent years of chronic disease monitoring, on top of the original purpose of meeting hospitalisation costs, had extended eligibility by a good margin. Medisave has been a comfort to many Singaporeans. Pressure for more liberal use will grow as inexorably as the quickening pace of population ageing. This week, dementia and bipolar disorder were added to the list for outpatient management, just as MPs and the health sector lobbied for more inclusions.

Joint degeneration associated with ageing could well be the subject of new calls - not necessarily hip and knee replacement, but for the purchase of renewable devices such as braces and wheelchairs to improve mobility.

The case for wider eligibility would seem self-evident. Ageing, rising health-care costs and the importance of disease management for those aged 50 and older will continue to impose strains on pockets.

This was how the Medisave scheme, started in 1984 - reinforced later by the launch of MediShield and the ultimate Medifund safety net, the widely praised 3M model - became a key component of health-care financing. Employer-paid coverage and private insurance, state subsidies, co-payment and deductibles still form the bulk of financing.

Don't discriminate against hiring and promoting Singaporeans

New guidelines to end practices biased towards hiring of foreigners

By Kor Kian Beng, The Straits Times, 1 Nov 2011

THE Government has sent a strong signal to employers that Singapore will not stand for foreign managers who hire and promote their own kind, at the expense of qualified local candidates.

Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin yesterday announced new guidelines taking aim at such discriminatory practices. These include job advertisements that indicate foreigners are preferred, and preferential hiring of foreigners over suitable Singaporeans.

Drawn up by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (Tafep), the new guidelines are a response to a spike this year in the number of cases about unfair treatment based on nationality - 51 in the first nine months of this year.



Speaking at a tripartism forum, Mr Tan stressed that while Singapore stays open to foreigners, its own citizens must remain the core of its workforce, a point the Prime Minister had made in his National Day Rally speech in August.

Yesterday, Mr Tan said the Government is taking steps at the national level to moderate the demand for foreign labour, by raising levies, qualifying salaries and qualifications for work permits.

But on the ground, it is for employers to watch what they do. Many Singaporeans have expressed anxiety over discriminatory practices in their workplace, 'including allegations of foreign managers hiring their own kind'.

'Let me emphasise that discriminatory practices have no place in Singapore,' he said. Companies, he added, have a responsibility 'to attract, recruit and develop Singaporeans so that Singaporeans remain at the core of our workforce'.

Firms to charge smokers, obese more for healthcare

By Jilian Mincer, Reuters, 31 Oct 2011

(Reuters) - Like a lot of companies, Veridian Credit Union wants its employees to be healthier. In January, the Waterloo, Iowa-company rolled out a wellness program and voluntary screenings.

It also gave workers a mandate - quit smoking, curb obesity, or you'll be paying higher healthcare costs in 2013. It doesn't yet know by how much, but one thing's for certain - the unhealthy will pay more.

The credit union, which has more than 500 employees, is not alone.

In recent years, a growing number of companies have been encouraging workers to voluntarily improve their health to control escalating insurance costs. And while workers mostly like to see an employer offer smoking cessation classes and weight loss programs, too few are signing up or showing signs of improvement.

So now more employers are trying a different strategy - they're replacing the carrot with a stick and raising costs for workers who can't seem to lower their cholesterol or tackle obesity. They're also coming down hard on smokers. For example, discount store giant Wal-Mart says that starting in 2012 it will charge tobacco users higher premiums but also offer free smoking cessation programs.

Tobacco users consume about 25 percent more healthcare services than non-tobacco users, says Greg Rossiter, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, which insures more than 1 million people, including family members. "The decisions aren't easy, but we need to balance costs and provide quality coverage."

For decades, workers - especially with large employers - have taken many health benefits for granted and until the past few years hardly noticed the price increases.

Lee Kuan Yew dialogue session at Shell Singapore's 120th Anniversary Charity Gala Dinner: Stability 'is key to drawing oil trade'

Singapore provided such security, says Mr Lee

By Teo Wan Gek, The Straits Times, 31 Oct 2011

IN THE face of emerging economies like China and Brazil becoming oil producers and oil hubs, Singapore can continue to stay relevant to the energy industry by keeping its economy growing and building up itself as a financial, logistics and trading hub, said Mr Lee Kuan Yew last night.

Speaking at the 120th anniversary celebration of Shell Singapore, the founding prime minister of Singapore also noted how Singapore provided stability and security to the oil companies, which gave them confidence to site their operations here.

Shell was the first to set up a crude oil refinery on Pulau Bukom in 1961, two years after Singapore attained self-government, Mr Lee noted. Over time, more followed in the footsteps of Shell and set up shop here.

Shell has been in Singapore since 1891, when it acquired 8ha on Pulau Bukom and set up an oil storage installation.

Mr Lee was guest of honour at the oil giant's charity gala dinner at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).

Shell's global campaign manager for future energy, Mr Warren Fernandez, was the moderator of the 40-minute dialogue.

It was attended by more than 1,000 guests, comprising customers, suppliers, partners, government officials, regional company executives and local Shell staff.

One of the guests asked if the petrochemical hub in the Iskandar region in Johor would complement or pose a serious threat to Singapore.

Mr Lee said Singapore could not prevent Malaysia from building a petrochemical hub.

'They can see how useful our petrochemical hub has been. They have placed a hub next to us, so that ships will call by on them first, before calling by on us,' he said.

'The question is: Which is the more efficient hub, and where do the ships turn around faster?'

After a brief pause, Mr Lee shot back at the guest: 'Have you got my answer?'

The latter replied to laughter from the ballroom: 'Singapore's.'

The evening opened with welcome remarks by chairman of Shell companies in Singapore, Mr Lee Tzu Yang, and Mr Peter Voser, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell.

Together with their industry partners, Shell raised $1.2 million from the charity drive. All proceeds will be donated to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds) and Fei Yue Community Services.

Govt, Opposition should participate in solving problems together: PM Lee

by Joanne Chan, TODAY, 31 Oct 2011

PERTH - Parliament is not just a place to hold either the Government or the Opposition to account. Instead, both sides should participate in solving problems together - or Singapore would be worse off for it.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made this point yesterday as he spoke to the Singapore media at the end of the three-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Earlier this month, Singapore's Parliament sat for the first time since the May General Election - with a record number of Opposition MPs since the 1960s.

Mr Lee noted that the opposition MPs had put a lot of effort into their Parliamentary speeches. However, it remains to be seen if they will participate in helping to solve problems, Mr Lee said.

Said Mr Lee: "This is not just a show, it's not just theatre. This (Parliament) is a place where we are discussing very serious business and where we have to make very difficult choices for Singaporeans on behalf of our voters.

Mr Lee reiterated that the responsibility of an MP "is not just to repeat what others say… it's also to think for yourself, to have views of your own, and to express those views fearlessly".

Said Mr Lee: "The Government is not the emperor, it cannot chop your head off. But to dare to stand up and say something which is true but may be difficult, spiky, which the population may not wish to hear… that takes courage."

"And I think as Government, it's our responsibility to speak the truth to Singaporeans and I think it's the Opposition's responsibility also to acknowledge the truth and to speak it, whether or not it's politically advantageous to them."

Sociological Study on Littering in Singapore

Add garbage bins, chuck banners

Study distinguishes litter-control methods that work from the ineffective ones

By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 30 Oct 2011

Bin there, done that.

Researchers wanted to know what it was exactly that would lead people to litter less.

Well, a year-long study which ended last year, has come up with the answer.

Adding more bins had the best effect, nearly halving the rate of littering.

The most ineffective method was the use of banners reminding people not to litter.

The 'dustbin test' carried out at four town centres was part of a sociological study conducted by the National Environment Agency, with experts from the National University of Singapore led by sociologist Paulin Straughan.

The study, which ran from 2009 to 2010, has been published. Copies of the book were distributed to schools and public libraries yesterday.

A soft copy can be viewed at Public Hygiene Council.

Its key findings: 62.6 per cent of the 4,500 people surveyed say they never litter; 1.2 per cent are hardcore litterbugs who admit to dropping their trash most of the time; and 36.2 per cent do it out of convenience.

Smokers insisted that it was culturally acceptable to flick their cigarette butts away after smoking, and students and young people were more likely to litter.

To cut down littering, the researchers tested four different litter-control methods at four town centres: more bins; banners encouraging binning; having more uniformed NEA officers around; and stationing volunteers to spread environmental messages.

They found that having more bins cut littering most at Tampines while using volunteers cut littering in Bedok by about 30 per cent.

Banners, generally, failed to have an effect.

'Singaporeans may be suffering from campaign fatigue, being tired of being told what they should do as good citizens,' the study suggested.

Paradoxically, having enforcement officers around reinforced the idea that littering was okay.

Singaporeans do tend to litter and the presence of enforcement officers only serves to remind them that this is the fact, the study suggested.

Also, enforcement officers cannot be everywhere, so 'their ability to discourage littering is outweighed by the fact that their presence also encourages littering'.

The study also showed that some communities are just cleaner. For instance, Tampines town centre was much cleaner than the town centres in Yishun and Bedok.

No one knows why this is so, but Associate Professor Straughan suggested that people might feel more guilty about littering if a place was well maintained.

Queenstown gets park on former KTM railway land

Park is the first project on former KTM land to be announced

By Rachel Chang, The Straits Times, 30 Oct 2011

By next April, Queenstown residents will have a 1.3ha neighbourhood park built on former Malayan Railway land.

The Rumah Tinggi park is the first project giving former railway land a new lease of life to be announced.

It will be a central neighbourhood green space, and will free up smaller parks elsewhere in the neighbourhood for sorely-needed carpark spaces, said Queenstown MP Chia Shi-Lu.

The tract is long and lean, with a wide space at one end.

When ready, it will be punctuated by playgrounds, adult fitness facilities and community gardens, and perhaps even have a boardwalk rending through.

But the design is not final, said Dr Chia, who is meeting residents on Saturday to tell them the news and solicit suggestions on what they want to see in the park.

What to do with all 170ha of former Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) land, which reverted to Singapore on July 1, has been the subject of national debate since a landmark resolution of the 1990 Points of Agreement was reached last year.

The Nature Society has spearheaded a lobbying effort for the former train route to become a largely contiguous green corridor.

But some of the land sits in prime districts, such as Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Timah, and are of substantial commercial value.

Other stakeholders want to see the land used to enhance infrastructure in the form of wider roads or an MRT track.

The final word on how most of the railway land will be used will likely come only with the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Draft Master Plan in 2013.

Dr Chia believes that the authorities have been swift in giving the go-ahead to the Queenstown park because of the plot's odd shape and location.

'There's not much else they can do with the land, because it's sandwiched between industrial and residential buildings,' he pointed out.

The land sits in a valley. On one side is the Alexandra Road Ikea and car showrooms; on the other are blocks of HDB flats.

Other MPs are in the midst of negotiations with the authorities for the use of KTM land in their wards.