Choosing to sleep in the streets - Rental flatmates fallout

Some elderly people prefer to spend the night outside after falling out with their rental flat roommates

By Elizabeth Soh, Cheryl Ong, The Straits Times, 13 Nov 2011

In the past few years, the elderly woman has had three roommates living with her in her rental flat, each lasting no more than six months.

She is now on the hunt for another, after accusing her current flatmate of locking her out of their one-room unit in the Havelock Road area.

When the woman, who is in her 70s, does not immediately get a new roommate, she takes to sleeping on the streets instead.

She was among about 30 elderly people found regularly spending the night at Sago Lane in Chinatown when The Sunday Times visited the area over the past few weeks.

According to stallholders at food centres nearby, the number of elderly vagrants has almost doubled in the past six months.

Falling out with roommates is a key reason some of them end up sleeping in the streets, said social workers and volunteers.

When The Sunday Times spoke to about 15 of these elderly people at Sago Lane, most claimed initially that they did not have a home to go back to.

Eight later admitted that they live in rental flats nearby but did not want to return because they had quarrelled with their flatmates.

The rest said they preferred to sleep outdoors, or that they had filled their rental flats with so much junk that they have no room to sleep.

These elderly vagrants, mostly men clad in singlets, shorts and slippers, often use large pieces of cardboard as makeshift mattresses. Some simply lie on plastic chairs, exposed to the elements.

Others, like Mr Peh Yong, 78, claimed they were thrown out by their families.

'What to do, I have nowhere to sleep - my son says I'm dirty and smelly and threw me out,' said Mr Peh, who was seen packing his belongings into bags before using them as pillows.

Mr Robert Chua, centre manager at the Chin Swee branch of the Kreta Ayer Senior Activity Centre (SAC), said the problem of squabbling flatmates lies at the root of this phenomenon.

Mr Chua, who has worked there for 10 years, said about half of the 1,200 elderly residents in his area are unhappy with their roommates.

The great MRT crush, Capacity to rise by up to 50%

More permanent relief will arrive only several years down the road, say transport experts

By Royston Sim, The Straits Times, 13 Nov 2011

Stockbroker Cole Cheong is fed up with the MRT.

In particular, the crowds are getting to him.

'Non-peak hours are bearable, but the morning peak is getting more crowded,' he said.

'More people are getting frustrated and they start quarrelling in the trains, and our personal space is compromised.'

Mr Cheong, 44, has been taking the East-West Line to Raffles Place from his home in Lakeside for 20 years. In that time, he has seen the rail system become more crowded, particularly in the last five years.

The trains are most crowded along certain stretches and in certain directions during peak hours - for instance, city-bound trains tend to be packed in the morning.

Complaints about the great train squeeze are now commonplace, and passenger figures back that up.

Ridership on the North-South, East-West and Circle lines averaged 1.79 million a day in September, up from 1.66 million in the same period last year.

Average daily ridership on the North-East Line, which is operated by SBS Transit, was 434,000 in September, 9.6 per cent more than in the same period last year.

The authorities and transport operators have heeded commuters' frustration by introducing a slew of measures, but the bald fact remains: permanent relief will only arrive several years down the road.

In particular, alleviating the great MRT crush depends on three projects:

- upgrading the ageing signalling system on the North-South and East-West lines;

- the arrival of more new trains;

- the completion of new lines.

All these need time. The signalling upgrade will not be completed till 2018, while new trains take several years to deliver. New rail lines also take years to build.

For now, however, two initiatives are under way.

PM Lee Hsien Loong at the APEC 2011 CEO Summit: Future is in openness

Best for Singapore to integrate closely with Asia-Pac region, stay attractive to talent
By Chua Chin Hon, The Straits Times, 13 Nov 2011

With Asia-Pacific economies geared for rapid growth in the coming decades, Singapore can best position itself for future success by integrating closely with the region and staying attractive to talent at home and abroad, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday.

He noted that the best way to stay ahead in the increasingly competitive regional environment was with greater openness, rather than protectionism.

'I don't think it is possible for us to have a closed group and say we will work within this group and we will develop our economies together,' he told top business leaders and officials at a business forum.

'We have to bring talent and companies from around the world so they can work with the people you have (domestically) in order to spawn new centres of ideas and prosperity. The future is in openness rather than in a limited pool of competition.'

He was speaking on the topic 'The Future - Redefined' at the event held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.



Greater openness is certainly on the agenda for world leaders gathering in Hawaii this weekend, as they look to use the annual APEC meetings to boost free trade and economic integration. The economies of the 21-member grouping already account for over half of global economic output and 43 per cent of world trade.

With the US economy stuck in neutral and Europe mired in an escalating debt crisis, many are also looking to the Asia-Pacific to help sustain global economic growth.

But if questions posed to Mr Lee and his two co-panellists - Mr John Lechleiter and Mr Dennis Nally, the respective CEOs of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers - are any indication, the general optimism about the region's economic future is not without dark spots.

GST refunds for tourists made easy (eTRS)

New electronic system reduces hassle for GST refunds

Shuli Sudderuddin, The Straits Times, 10 Nov 2011 

Tourists in Singapore can now claim their good and services tax (GST) refunds in as little as five minutes, compared to the usual 20.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore together with financial services company Global Blue, launched the world's first Electronic Tourist Refund Scheme (eTRS) on Wednesday.

The paper-based refund system, which some retailers still use, requires tourists to fill in application forms, submit the forms to Singapore Customs, get them stamped and then queue at different counters to claim the cash refund.

The eTRS scans receipts at the point of sale, and captures and tags the information to the credit card of the tourist. At the airport, tourists merely need to swipe their passports and credit cards at the eTRS kiosks and decide on a cash or credit card refund.

Speaking at the launch, Minister of State for Finance and Transport Josephine Teo said the convenient process will benefit many tourists and retailers, especially since Singapore hosted a record 11.6 million tourists last year, who spent a record $18.8 billion and claimed $175 million in tourist GST refunds.

Smaller flats do not mean lower quality of living: HDB CEO

By Joanne Chan, Channel News Asia, 10 Nov 2011

Public flats in Singapore may be getting smaller but this has not lowered quality of living, says Housing and Development Board's (HDB) CEO, Dr Cheong Koon Hean.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a housing forum on Thursday morning, Dr Cheong noted that there were now fewer persons living in one flat which works out to increased living space per person.

"Our families are smaller. In the old days, we have very large families living in a flat. Today, the family is two, three, four (people)."

The size of HDB flats has shrunk by five to 10 per cent over the last 20 to 30 years.

For example, a five-room flat in Bukit Batok Central built in 1989 has a floor area of 121 square metres, compared to 110 square metres for a similar unit built in 2003.

Based on official surveys, the average household size was 3.5 in 2010, and 4.9 in 1980.

This means an occupant in a 110 square metre five-room flat today will have 31 square metres of space, while a resident in a 121 square metres five-room flat in the 80s had only about 25 square metres of space.

Dr Cheong added that interior design also plays a part in creating good living space.

"In many global cities of the world or big cities, people do pay attention to how they do the inside of the flat as well as optimising the use of furniture and storage. It can be a very comfortable living environment."

Singapore to host SEA Games in 2015

Singapore will host the 2015 edition of the SEA Games

Patwant Singh, Channel News Asia, 12 Nov 2011

This was confirmed at the SEA Games Federation council meeting on Saturday in Palembang, where Singapore were the only member nation to submit an official bid.

This will be the fourth time Singapore will host the Games after the Lion City last staged it in 1993.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also President of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), announced the news to reporters at the Jakabaring Aquatics Complex.

Mr Teo was one of the heads of the regional National Olympic Committees who attended the meeting.

Cambodia were also considering to bid for the 2015 Games, but will now make a possible bid for the 2017 edition.

The next SEA Games in 2013 will be held in Myanmar.

More visiting Malaysia for medical treatment - can use Medisave at 12 hospitals

Bills are up to 50% lower, and Singaporeans and PRs can use Medisave at 12 hospitals

By Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 12 Nov 2011

WHEN Mrs Goh Chai Gek wanted to deliver her baby boy, she decided it would be cheaper to head across the Causeway.

The total cost of her caesarean section delivery was about RM8,190.

This bill - which included three nights in June at a hospital an hour's drive from Singapore - was the equivalent of $3,575 according to exchange rates at the time.

It would typically have come up to about $5,840 in Singapore General Hospital Ward A, meaning she enjoyed savings of about 40 per cent.

'It was cheaper, convenient as my family is in Johor Baru, and I could claim the amount from Medisave,' said the accountant, 30, a Singapore permanent resident.

Lured by savings of up to 50 per cent, growing numbers of Singaporeans and PRs are travelling to Malaysia for medical treatment. It comes after the Government relaxed rules in March last year to allow Medisave to be used to pay for hospitalisation and day surgery treatment in 12 hospitals there.

Those crossing the Causeway for hospital treatment will soon have more choice, when a $2 billion medical hub - a joint project between billionaire Singapore investor Peter Lim and the Johor royal family - opens in 2015.

Before the liberalisation, Medisave could be used only in Singapore, or for emergency treatment overseas.

Health Management International (HMI) and Parkway Pantai Group are currently the only two health-care groups here accredited to refer patients to Malaysia.

An HMI spokesman said yesterday that 120 patients have used Medisave overseas for their medical treatments to date.

HMI has two hospitals in Malaysia - the Regency Specialist Hospital in Johor Baru, which Mrs Goh visited, and Mah-kota Medical Centre in Malacca.

Japan teachers quit in record numbers

Many leaving because of 'monster parents' and stresses of the job
By Julian Ryall, The Straits Times, 12 Nov 2011

TOKYO: The terrifying roar of 'monster parents', combined with Internet-capable students and the day-to-day pressures of the job, are forcing record numbers of Japanese teachers to give up their jobs out of concern for their health.

A study by the Japanese Ministry of Education revealed that the number of first-year teachers quitting for such reasons has jumped twentyfold in the last decade.

The report examined the well-being of 25,743 teachers at public schools across the country who began working last year. Of the number, 101 left the profession before the end of the academic year ending March 31, citing health reasons, compared with just five in 2000.

'We believe there are problems among many of our new teachers,' admitted Mr Yuki Nakamura, head of the Elementary and Secondary Education Planning Division at the ministry and one of the authors of the report.

'One problem is that young teachers lose their self-confidence soon after they start their first job,' he said. 'They have a very good image of the profession before they join, but soon after they start, they have to deal with many problems and they have many duties, so they lose the belief in themselves.'

Another problem that faces teachers here afflicts almost everyone in Japan: long hours. The regular working day is eight hours, Mr Nakamura said, but teachers put in an average of 42 unpaid overtime hours every month, the survey showed.

'New teachers are required to take charge of after-school clubs, so they have to deal with parents, and we have found that to be a serious problem for many of them,' he said. 'It can be very stressful.'

The issue of overly demanding mothers and fathers - dubbed 'monster parents' - has also risen in recent years.

In January, a female teacher at a primary school sued the parents of one child for five million yen (S$83,300), claiming the situation with the parents was making it impossible for her to sleep, infringing upon her human rights, and seriously threatening her career.

She filed suit after the mother protested to the teacher over an incident involving her daughter and another pupil. Apparently unsatisfied with the response, she wrote eight insulting messages in the parent-teacher liaison book, and submitted a letter to the school board that the suit claims defamed the teacher.

The mother, who was required to appear in court to defend her actions, claimed she had done nothing wrong and was simply trying to prevent her daughter from being discriminated against.

Economics of Land Transport in Singapore

Jointly developed by LTA and MOE and launched in August 2010 for A'Levels Economics students, this is a series of four case study videos that illustrate how economic concepts and principles apply to the land transport system in Singapore.




The Land Transport Masterplan:

Densely populated and highly urbanised, Singapore needs a good transport infrastructure that will improve productivity and attract foreign investments. The vision is a more people-centred land transport system that will meet the diverse needs of an inclusive, liveable and vibrant global city. Find out more about the blueprint that will help to achieve this vision - the Land Transport Masterplan (LTMP).

What has changed and what hasn't, after GE 2011?

It has been six months since May's watershed general election.

Do voters detect change on the ground and nationally?

How are politicians trying to win over constituents ahead of their next electoral bout?

By Andrea Ong , Teo Wan Gek , Janice Heng & Toh Yong Chuan, The Straits Times, 11 Nov 2011

AMONG opposition voters who live in Aljunied GRC, the first to fall to an opposition party, the euphoria from General Election 2011 lingers.

When Insight visited the group representation constituency last week, five residents said the new Aljunied-Hougang Town Council cleaners are friendlier, more hardworking and smile more than those under the town council run by the People's Action Party (PAP).

Such feedback leaves Workers' Party (WP) MP for Aljunied GRC Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap bemused. After all, the WP town council has retained the cleaning contractors used by its PAP predecessor.

That reality squares better with the responses of another 25 Aljunied residents, who said little has changed in the estate since the May 7 polls.

Still, there are residents like housewife Lilian Chih, 63, who only have praise for their new MPs - in her case, Mr Pritam Singh.

Recently, she asked him when her wooden door and metal grille would be upgraded. He explained that such upgrading falls under the purview of the Housing Board, not the WP, but he was 'very polite and kind', she says.

She gives the PAP credit for giving Singapore 'a reliable government' but likes the WP because its MPs 'seem humble'.

The six months since the May 7 polls have been a 'honeymoon phase' when Aljunied voters tend to be more forgiving, says Dr Reuben Wong of the National University of Singapore.

'Besides having a reserve of goodwill, it's also lots of hard work on their part,' notes Dr Wong. 'The WP is very organised. They want to make sure they hit the ground running so voters don't suffer for having voted them in.'

Dr Wong reckons the 'honeymoon' may last up to a year.

'I think by next May, people will make demands of them just as they make demands of any PAP MP,' he says.

PAP MPs - and there are 81 of them compared to six from the WP - are not taking it easy either but their residents seem less inclined to heap praise on their efforts.

Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin leads check on workers' dorms

Tan Chuan-Jin describes conditions at two dorms as crowded, 'abysmal'

By Kezia Toh, The Straits Times, 11 Nov 2011

IT IS not every day that a minister leads a raid to check on foreign workers' quarters to see their conditions for himself, but Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin did just that on Wednesday evening.

After visiting two dormitories, one in Sungei Kadut and the other in Tagore Lane, he wrote in a post on his Facebook page that one was overcrowded, and that conditions in the other were 'abysmal'.

'One was abysmal, even if the workers themselves claimed that they were okay with it,' he wrote.

He said that if they sounded accepting of their living conditions, it was probably because they feared getting into trouble and possibly being sent home.

He also noted that one of the dorms was clearly unhealthy to live in because of the sawdust generated in the workshop, which was a fire hazard.

Mr Tan noted, however, that from his one-on-one conversations with these workers, he consistently got the picture that other aspects of their employment here, such as salary and terms of employment, were fine.

He said that for many workers, the conditions here may be better than what they get at home, but 'be that as it may, we should not accept those conditions here'.

He ended the post by stating: 'We'd have to deal with these violations.'

His post was warmly received by netizens, with many praising him for taking the trouble to lead the inspection.

Many thanked him for striving to achieve living conditions that were more than just 'good enough'.

One of them wrote: 'We really need our leaders to 'walk the talk'. These foreign workers, like our forefathers, work hard in Singapore to seek better pay and opportunity to give their families back home a better quality of life.

'They have contributed to our society and to Singapore and should be taken care of fairly and reasonably.'

PM Lee Hsien Loong interview with CNBC, Post G-20 Summit 2011

EURO ZONE CRISIS

Govts knew they had to act early and decisively: PM Lee
But it is politically hard for leaders to do so, he says
By Janice Heng, the Straits Times, 11 Nov 2011

THE European governments knew that to tackle the euro zone debt crisis, they had to 'get in decisively early, with a big package, and instil confidence', said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a TV interview.

The approach is not new, he added, pointing out that the world had experienced it during the 2008-09 global financial crisis, particularly in the United States.

'But politically they're finding it very hard to do,' Mr Lee told CNBC in an interview, an excerpt of which was broadcast yesterday.

The need for governments to over-react and instil confidence in a massive way was imperative 'because by the time the markets are moving quickly and the situation is getting out of control, the psychology is probably too late to reverse', PM Lee said.

The full interview will air tomorrow afternoon.

It took place after his visit to Cannes in France for the Group of 20 (G-20) Summit last week, in the shadow of an unfolding debt crisis that had led to Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou stepping down.

Now, it has engulfed Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - survivor of several political scandals - has offered to resign.

CNBC interviewer Martin Soong noted that the G-20 summit had not yielded definitive solutions to the crisis. He asked if investors should be worried.

PM Lee observed that 'once you have a big meeting, you expect a big solution'. But the European crisis 'is not one that's susceptible to a single, big solution', he said.

The problem is very deep, going beyond Greece to include other countries such as Italy and Spain. Also, there are 'longer term structural questions about the euro, and whether it will go forward or it'll go backwards', he said.

Countries at the G-20 meeting tried very hard to push for further action because what had been done was not enough, said PM Lee.

The final communique recorded what could be agreed upon. But, he added: 'I think all the ministers know that they have to do a lot more work and more action needs to be taken.'

The interview also touched on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade deal with Singapore as one of its four members. The others are Brunei, Chile, and New Zealand.

Negotiations to include five other nations - Australia, Malaysia, Peru, the United States, and Vietnam - will take place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, which PM Lee is attending this weekend in Hawaii.

Japan is expected to join the negotiations - a move which PM Lee said would be 'a good idea'.