20% of P1 places go to those with ties to school

In 2011-12, kids of alumni, volunteers, community leaders get these spots

By Stacey Chia and Sandra Davie, The Straits Times, 25 Jun 2013

NEARLY a fifth of Primary 1 places in the last two years were taken up under registration phases which give priority to school alumni, parent volunteers and community leaders.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Ministry of Education (MOE) last Friday said about 7,500 out of 40,000 places were taken up at phases 2A and 2B of last year's exercise. The figure was similar to the year before.

With the annual registration exercise starting on Thursday next week, MOE's policy to give priority to alumni and parent volunteers has again divided opinion.

Some parents feel the scheme is unfairly weighted in favour of alumni, some of whom may not play an active role in the school.

Others have called for the parent volunteer system to be scrapped so more places can go to Phase 2C, where priority is given to those who live near the school.

Mr Kuan Choon Shiong, a manager, is worried about the chances of getting his son into a school close to his Novena home. His son will register for Primary 1 in two years and he hopes to get him into St Joseph's Institution Junior or Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), which he has no ties to. "After siblings are admitted, the remaining vacancies should be allocated equally among the various phases; this will ensure direct and fair competition," said Mr Kuan, 45.

There are several phases in the registration process, with siblings of those already in a school getting top priority. Next are phases 2A and 2B, which are for the children of alumni, parent volunteers, those with church or clan associations, and community leaders.

Phase 2C is for all other Singaporeans and permanent residents. If any phase is oversubscribed, Singaporeans are given priority over PRs. Those who live closer to the school also stand a better chance. Non-citizens come last.

More brand-name schools have been raising the bar for parents wanting to volunteer because of the overwhelming response.

Some schools are asking parent volunteers to commit longer than the required "40 hours" - or come up with specific projects.

"The spirit of volunteering diminishes if the parents' sole objective is to secure places for their children in a school of their choice," said Mr Nah Soon Huat, a parent who wrote to The Straits Times Forum Page last month.

But studies around the world, including Singapore, have shown that the more engaged parents are in their child's schooling, the better he performs.

Ministries make plans to minimise disruption caused by haze conditions

Singaporeans may need to adjust daily routines, warns Ng Eng Hen

By Amelia Tan, The Straits Times, 25 Jun 2013

ALL Government ministries will announce action plans this week to help minimise any future disruption to Singaporeans caused by haze conditions.

The chairman of the haze inter-ministerial taskforce, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, told a press conference last night that Singaporeans' lives could be affected by problems ranging from public transport delays to longer queues at hawker centres, to workers slowing down as they work with masks on.

He said it was therefore important that people heeded the plans to be announced so that they can adjust their daily routines.

Dr Ng listed various scenarios that could occur if air conditions worsen.

Lower visibility would mean drivers have to slow down to avoid accidents. Changi Airport may have to slow down its operations or divert planes, while road and sea supplies from Malaysia could also be affected.

Garbage collection and construction of Housing Board flats may be delayed as outdoor workers are required to rest more.

Dr Ng said: "The key will be to adjust, slow down but don't stop, and we must protect our health, but in addition, prevent mass disruptions as far as possible."

He also called on unions and employers to support the Government in ensuring the haze action plans are rolled out smoothly.

Dr Ng said the taskforce decided to turn its attention to helping Singaporeans cope with the impact the haze has had on them, now that most retailers have been stocked up with N95 masks.

Many had run out of supplies before the Health Ministry pushed out another four million to people on lower incomes, vulnerable citizens and retailers.

Dr Ng was speaking to reporters after a visit to Changi Airport and an HDB development project in Punggol, where he met workers to find out how they were dealing with the haze.

He was accompanied by Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin and Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew.

Mr Tan called on employers to put the safety of their workers first, and assured firms that his ministry would help them get face masks if they had problems acquiring them.

Keep calm, go about daily routine: PM Lee on haze

By Rachel Chang, The Straits Times, 24 Jun 2013

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday urged Singaporeans to stay calm and carry on with their normal routine, even as the country faced the possibility of the haze not abating any time soon.

"This is a problem that will last at least a few weeks, maybe a couple of months until September or October, so I think we have to be psychologically prepared," he told some 300 residents during a dialogue in his ward of Ang Mo Kio GRC.

"Keep on working, keep on living. But be ready, if it gets worse, we know what to do."

He sought to draw the distinction between the haze and the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis.

Noting that SARS was deadly and infectious, he added that the haze was "not something which is so poisonous that you must avoid all contact".

"The haze can make your illness worse if you are ill. But for most people, the haze is an inconvenience, life can carry on."

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan made a similar point yesterday, adding that most people should have "no problem" with the haze especially if they stayed indoors.

And face masks are not needed indoors, PM Lee pointed out.

"If you are normal, healthy, you should not need the mask. Unless it's really bad outside," he said in Mandarin.

He also emphasised that there is no danger of a shortage of the masks, after major pharmacies temporarily ran out of stock last week amid panic buying.

The Ministry of Health has begun distributing its stockpile of nine million N95 masks to pharmacies, clinics and retailers, as well as free to low-income households, he said.

Over the weekend, more than four million masks were pushed out - a million to constituencies, and the rest to retailers.

PM Lee also paid tribute to Singapore Armed Forces personnel and People's Association employees who worked through the night to get the masks to constituencies around the island.

NEA-AHPETC dispute 2013: Bedok Market cleaning starts

All areas of Block 511 to be spruced up over 5 days, says WP-run town council

By Andrea Ong, The Straits Times, 24 Jun 2013

THE Workers' Party-run town council has agreed to a request from hawkers at a Bedok North market to clean all areas - including the ceiling - over five days starting today.

This is a change from a previous decision of the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) to clean the lower areas of the Block 511 Bedok North Street 3 market over three days, and clean high areas only next month.

"It is now agreed that (the) market will close for five days as past practice to facilitate high area cleaning to coincide with spring cleaning," said WP and AHPETC chairman Sylvia Lim yesterday in an e-mail to The Straits Times.

She said the town council acceded to the request by the Block 511 hawker association after further discussions, following a June 6 meeting between AHPETC, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and hawkers from two markets.

At that meeting, according to NEA and the hawkers, it was decided that the town council would spring-clean the lower areas of the markets at Block 511 and Block 630 in Bedok Reservoir within a month.

AHPETC would then clean the high areas on another occasion.

That brought to a close one thread of a long-running dispute, which flared after hawkers from two Bedok North markets said they were asked by AHPETC or its cleaning contractor to pay extra for the cleaning of high areas.

NEA backed the hawkers' claims, but AHPETC denied repeatedly that the hawkers were asked to pay more.

As part of a series of exchanges with NEA, AHPETC released a tentative schedule for the annual top-to-bottom cleaning of the five hawker centres in Aljunied GRC under its charge.

Block 511 was scheduled to be cleaned in November.

A day later, NEA issued a statement calling on AHPETC not to delay the annual cleaning of Block 511 as the major clean-up was due on June 24, and could not be postponed.

The issue appeared to be resolved at the June 6 meeting, but the NEA, WP leaders and Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan continued to trade barbs for another week.

Yesterday, Ms Lim confirmed that AHPETC would provide the necessary scaffolding and equipment for the high-rise cleaning at Block 511 without extra cost to the hawkers.

NEA spells out how PSI is compiled

Agency also explains the rationale for measuring haze the way it does

The Sunday Times, 23 Jun 2013

On a hot day, looking at a thermometer would tell you precisely what the temperature is where you are.

Many seem to think the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), Singapore's main indicator of air quality, works the same way. They expect it to correlate to the haze they see or smell around them at that moment.

This has given rise to some disquiet about the PSI readings in recent days, as the haze conditions worsened. Some members of the public expressed concerns when the posted PSI values - averaged over the past three or 24 hours - turned out different from what they observed.

Yesterday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) spelt out just how it compiles the PSI and why it does it that way.

It explained that it uses a specific way of collecting air samples over time and measuring the amount of micro-particles in them to determine their quality.

It also requires a wider base of samples, taken from various parts of the island to get a better picture of how polluted the air is across the country.

The NEA said that its methods and equipment to measure pollutants are based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency standards.

The PSI is derived from measurements at 11 ambient air monitoring stations located at places such as Temasek Polytechnic and Nanyang Technological University.

Five key pollutants are measured separately. But the PSI is not a composite index. Instead, it reflects the pollutant of the highest concentration.

But just how does the NEA measure levels of tiny particles in the air like PM2.5 and PM10 and translate them into a PSI reading?

Keeping alive the memory of or sai, Black Lion of Moulmein

Black lion symbol to be preserved when Communicable Disease Centre moves out of current site

By Melissa Pang, The Sunday Times, 23 Jun 2013

A cabby will probably not immediately know where the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) is.

But if you say or sai, which means "black lion" in Hokkien, chances are, he will know that the destination you are referring to is the old compound located along Moulmein Road.

Such is the familiarity of the centre's black lion emblem, which adorns its main entrance, that it has become synonymous with the place since it was established in the early 1900s. That symbol, along with a few other artefacts from the centre, will be all that remains when the 106-year-old institution makes way for a new housing project.

The CDC, which will be demolished, now sits on a 9.65ha plot of land that has been zoned for residential purposes, according to a plan by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. It will be replaced by a new 300-bed centre that will be built at a site across from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) by 2018.

Its new name, the National Centre for Infectious Disease, was revealed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a SARS memorial event earlier this month.

From smallpox to chicken pox, polio to tuberculosis, and the Nipah virus and SARS outbreaks, the CDC has been through them all. Besides the black lion emblem, a cholera bed designed by the first matron of the CDC, old photos and a historical timeline of the CDC are the only relics that will remain of it.

Built in 1907, in the days when infectious diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and malaria were rampant, the centre was set up as the Government Infectious Disease Camp in Balestier Road and served as a quarantine camp. In 1913, the facility relocated to the CDC's current site in Moulmein Road and was called the Infectious Disease Hospital, which was helmed by Dr W.R.C. Middleton.

In appreciation of the Englishman's 27 years of service, it was renamed Middleton Hospital in 1920. But it later became colloquially known as or sai among locals because of its emblem and the two black lion statues at its entrance.

Before it was renamed the Communicable Disease Centre and made part of TTSH in 1985, the hospital witnessed many public health milestones, including the polio, smallpox, and diphtheria outbreaks in the 1950s and 1960s, and even the first birthday of a boy surviving on an iron lung. In 1986, it received its first HIV patient and shortly after, Singapore's first HIV baby was born in its operating theatre.

More patients living out final days at home

About 5,000 now receive palliative care at home, up from 1,700 in 2009

By Melissa Pang, The Sunday Times, 23 Jun 2013

Many more people are living out their final days in the comfort of home, according to Ministry of Health figures.

Currently, about 5,000 people are being cared for in their own homes. In contrast, 1,700 people were able to have this care for the whole of 2009.

The numbers are set to rise as more become aware of the benefits of end-of-life care, along with efforts by the Government and care providers to increase accessibility to such services.

Palliative care is crucial in ensuring good quality of life for not just patients, but caregivers too, said HCA Hospice Care's chief executive and medical director R. Akhileswaran.

It means relieving patients of pain and other debilitating symptoms like breathlessness. For caregivers, it provides "the necessary physical and psychological support", whether through palliative caregiver training or a listening ear, said Dr Akhileswaran.

Increasingly, palliative care programmes are focused on making sure patients are looked after at home.

In March last year, Dover Park Hospice piloted a home programme for patients living in the central region of Singapore, which has seen enrolment steadily increasing to about 300 patients to date.

Under this scheme, dying patients at home who need more medical attention are "seamlessly transferred" to the hospital or hospice. It eliminates the need for duplicate tests that may cause financial strain, or even delays in diagnosis and treatment.

It may be made available to those in other parts of Singapore in a few years.

Children, too, are not excluded. Last October, HCA Hospice Care began a dedicated home care service for children and young adults who are dying of cancer, as well as those who suffer from serious disabilities.

Ideas to make NS more engaging

First focus-group discussion throws up suggestions on making the experience more productive
By Jermyn Chow, The Sunday Times, 23 Jun 2013

National service remains a critical Singapore institution and must continue to be part of the country's development, said participants in the first focus-group discussion on how to strengthen the support for and commitment to NS.

More, however, can still be done to make the NS experience more productive and engaging, as well as improve the public's perception of national servicemen.

Some suggestions include matching a serviceman's skills and aspirations to his military vocation and offering more "impactful recognition" like priority housing and subsidies for education.

The 32 focus-group participants yesterday also shared their views on how to beef up support for the rite of passage.

During the 31/2-hour session, participants were asked, among other things, to rate their NS experience, identify the strengths as well as areas that can be improved.

They were also asked what they want NS to be like in 10 years' time.

The aim of the discussion was for the Committee to Strengthen National Service to gather the views and feedback from a cross section of society, on how to better recognise those who have served their NS obligations and increase buy-in from various other stakeholders like families, employers and new citizens.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, who chairs the committee, announced its formation in Parliament in March this year. The 20-member group is made up of ministers, MPs, top military brass, NSmen and employers.

Those who signed up for yesterday's focus group included full-time national servicemen (NSFs), operationally ready national servicemen (NSmen), employers and a mother.

Singapore will take all steps to protect citizens against the haze (2013): Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam

By Leonard Lim, The Sunday Times, 23 Jun 2013

Singapore intends to do what it can within the framework of international law to protect its citizens against the haze, said Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam yesterday.

"Our primary duty has to be safeguarding the health, security of Singaporeans," he told Singapore and international media. "We cannot allow this situation to continue, and do nothing and say nothing."

Later, in a separate briefing with local reporters, he said: "We have to take all steps regardless of how it may be viewed by our neighbours... even if it means that our neighbours are upset."

In international law, countries have a duty to control actions within their boundaries when they cause an environmental impact on other countries, he said, citing the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development adopted at a 1992 United Nations conference.

While Singapore will be pursuing this point at Asean meetings in Brunei this week, Mr Shanmugam, who is also Law Minister, signalled it may also be prepared to turn to other international fora to press its case if it came to that.

But first it will see what steps are taken through the Asean meeting and whether there are concrete results for Singapore. Asked to elaborate on which other meetings the haze issue could be raised at, he replied: "We will calibrate and decide where else this needs to be raised."

In 2006, Singapore raised the haze issue at a United Nations forum, but this was said to have drawn the ire of some Indonesians.

Pre-schoolers with learning delays get help

Ministry's pilot scheme finds early intervention can help them level up

By Aw Cheng Wei, The Straits Times, 22 Jun 2013

NEGLECT - through the overuse of technology or a lack of time spent engaged in active play - can result in developmental delays in young children.

However, a pilot programme run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development's (MSF) Development Support Programme (DSP) has found that mild learning delays can be arrested.

Through repeated, regular learning cues, children can even level up to be equal with their peers. The key is early intervention.

The year-old programme involved 300 children from around 90 pre-schools.

Based on its results, the MSF intends to spend $4 million a year on schemes to benefit up to 2,000 children in pre-schools nationwide.

With just an hour a week's tuition from learning support educators, a group of about 290 children aged four to six improved nearly 100 per cent in language, literacy, handwriting and social skills.

Parents are invited to sit in on the sessions.

Mr Teo Soon Min, a father of two, said his younger son completed the DSP for speech and literacy delays last June.

"He is more confident and willing to speak up now," said the 36-year-old retail manager.

"We learnt how to guide our son better. We would spend more time talking to him, correcting him and encouraging him."

Mr Teo noticed that the six-year-old had spent more time with technology than his elder son, who did not have developmental delays.

Fight the haze (2013)

A test for Singapore: Not being hazy about the haze

It’s time for MPs and grassroots leaders to be seen rallying and helping people. This is also a test for Singapore society - how much are we willing to do for each other?

By Devadas Krishnadas, Published TODAY, 21 Jun 2013

Singapore is facing a multi-dimensional crisis due to the haze. The crisis has an environmental origin but it is manifesting itself upon several planes – health is the most obvious.

However, given the acute and protracted nature of the phenomenon, we will soon see the effects on social, economic and political dimensions as well. How will we, as a nation, cope with the haze? What needs to be done?

First, the nature of the challenge must be recognised by the political, corporate and social leaders. The haze poses structural and persistent risks to Singaporeans and the Singaporean economy. It is likely to disrupt to economic, educational and social routines and for a protracted period of time, measured in months, not weeks or days.

Second, the Government must recognise that its responsibility is first and foremost to the well-being of its people and not the important but ultimately secondary consideration of maintaining good international relations.

If required, we can afford to tear and repair the bilateral relationship with Indonesia, but what we cannot expect is to tear and repair the relationship of trust between our leaders and Singaporeans. That has much more divisive and insidious consequences.

Singapore has to get tough with Indonesia to ensure that the effective action is taken at the origin of the problem. What good is a long working relationship if it is of little help when we need it most? Financial sanctions and diplomatic action at international forums such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations should be considered, should our entreaties to the Indonesian government be met with further recalcitrance or petulance as evident by comments by certain Indonesian politicians.

A TEST FOR SOCIETY AND LEADERS

Third, the Government needs to get ahead of the crisis and not play catch up. It should mechanise to deal with the anticipated economic and social fall-out from the haze. The economy, already performing only marginally, may need buttressing. Social cohesion will need reinforcing through active leadership at the ground level.

It is time for Members of Parliament and grassroots leaders to be seen and not hidden by the haze, in rallying the people and helping to make adjustments or provide assistance at the local level. In this respect, it is important for Government and opposition leaders alike to go beyond partisanship and be leaders not of party but of people – come together and work for the common good.

Fourth, this is a test for Singapore society. This crisis shows us that as much as we have differences, our lot is fundamentally a common one.

S'pore slams US report on human rights

MFA criticises 'hypocritical' report which contains 'gross inaccuracies'

By Elgin Toh, The Straits Times, 21 Jun 2013

THE Singapore Government has slammed the United States State Department's annual human rights report on Singapore, saying it was "hypocritical" and contained "gross inaccuracies and misrepresentations".

While the criticisms levelled at Singapore have been rebutted in detail "year after year", the US has chosen to ignore "even factual clarifications", thereby compromising the report's objectivity, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a stern statement yesterday.

The MFA also turned on the US' own human rights record, noting how the superpower "has been the subject of both domestic and international criticism regarding various allegations of egregious human rights violations".

It did not cite any examples.

The US, however, has come under fire for its continued detention of 166 enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - an arrangement Amnesty International has called "the gulag of our time".

Singapore's latest rebuttal comes two months after the US released its yearly assessment of human rights practices for about 195 countries around the world.

The report called Singapore's Internal Security Act (ISA) a form of "arbitrary arrest", although it added that the law has in recent years been used against alleged terrorists, not political opponents.

Other human rights "problems" it noted include caning as a form of criminal punishment, as well as restrictions on free assembly, union rights and opposition activity.

The MFA, zooming in on the report's mention of the ISA, said its criticism of the law represented the application of a "double standard" by the US.

"The US, in its own fight against terrorism, has at the highest level publicly articulated that certain trade-offs between rights and security are necessary and worthy," it said.

The MFA added that the repeating of inaccuracies and misrepresentations about Singapore shows the US is more interested in "imposing its own ideology, rather than making a genuine attempt to understand human rights practices as they actually exist".

Promoting and protecting human rights was something Singapore took seriously, it said, but "human rights cannot be considered in isolation from the circumstances of the society in which they are embedded".