From The Akha Heritage Foundation
Human Trafficking
Akha Woman Imprisoned in Singapore's
Changi Prison - Why Does Singapore Imprison the Victims of Trafficking?
The Imprisonment of Ms. Meitinee Wongsa. Changi Prison ID S12369
We request her release.
The Brothel and Trafficker:
New Rose Karaoke
3/4 Chaiyakul Uthit Rd Soi 3
Hat Yai Songkhla, Thailand
Tel: 074-223 176
Mgr: 01-738 1797 (Ah Kib)
Name of trafficker : Chatkaew Sripormma (Female)
Contact Number : +66-8-94662262
We call on the Thai Police to arrest this trafficker.
Picture of the front of the New Rose Brothel in Hatyai.
A larger image. Large Image
How is it that the Singapore Police are so inefficient to find this information, when we are able to find out exactly what brothel and the woman who trafficked Ms. Wongsa into Singapore?
We know there are MORE Akha women in the Changi prison.
How many Akha women are in Changi Prison?
We request to know the answer.
We request to know, how ICA knows she came into the country, if they do not have a record from Anti Vice, and if they have a record with Anti Vice, then they know who Ms. Wongsa was sent to in order to get her permit for "work" in Singapore. Those are the individuals who have contacts with the trafficking agents. ICA is not being honest about this case.
ICA said that Ms. Wongsa applied to solicit legally in singapore through AVB. AVB rejected her application and recommend to ICA to ban her from entering singapore in the future. Ms. Wongsa was directed to go to Anti Vice and apply, through prior arrangement. Why she was rejected is unknown at this time, but Anti Vice is certainly aware of the particulars.
At the time that Ms. Wongsa entered Singapore, she could not speak Thai, or any other language but Akha, could not read or write. Certainly the arrangements have been made between Hatyai and Anti Vice.
We are concerned that the government of Singapore does not recognize the issue of trafficking and that Akha women are trafficked into their country for brothels. The Singapore Immigration people (ICA) have repeatedly told us that they are "checking into the case" but then never reply to our email.
We are informed that there numerous Akha women in Changi prison, possibly also victims of trafficking into Singapore. Does Singapore arrest victims of trafficking? We find it disgusting that Singapore allows women to be trafficked into the country for what ever reasons. We find it more disgusting that they put the victims in prison.
Ms. Wongsa was sentenced to one year in Changi Prison this last week.
She entered Singapore on documents supplied by her Employment Agent from Thailand but was refused a work permit and sent out of the country in 2004. Now on her own documents, Thai ID card and Passport, she has entered Singapore with her fiance. When she applied for an extension of visa as she and her fiance were to marry, the Singapore authorities told her that she had previously traveled under a different name and passport supplied by her employer, so was now to be arrested.
Upon her previous trip and return to Thailand, her employer told her that the Singapore police demanded 100,000 baht and she was made to repay this money working in Hatyai.
When Akha children are born, Thai authorities often give them a Thai name on their travel documents and any made up birth date. Employers often supply the Akha with documents for travel, as they may not even have an ID card of their own. These are the agreements they have to live with as contract labor. In some cases, contract labor may be more like trafficking or debt bondage. While it appears that Ms. Wongsa's employer was familiar to the Singapore police, Ms. Wongsa is being made to pay the price for what is often standard practice for people being shipped from Thailand to foreign countries.
There is little to no protection for ethnic women who find themselves in this situation in Thailand.
We have contacted the Singapore Embassy and Ambassador in the US, the ICA in Singapore, an MP in Singapore, Amnesty International and a number of individuals and agencies regarding this case. We are asking that her case be reviewed and that Akha women are not made to pay the price for either trafficking or unethical Agents who put them in these situations. We are asking that she be released and NOT deported from Singapore.
Please contact the Singapore Embassy regarding this case.
Is the grass really greener on the other side ?
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Originally posted by lionnoisy:
Christian sure is not the only religion in the world,as in Oz.
But why do
"the Lord's Prayer recited at the beginning of each day of (AUSTRALIA)
federal Parliament."?
Have they considered the feeling of non--Christian?
What do they write in the Oz Constitution?
And u cal this free and democratic country?
Govt, Opposition united in prayer stance--OMG!!
There is nothing more important than Votes,mates!!
So lets keep on praying.
,,,
Sometimes one can only wonder if you asking to get drubbed like a pet lion needs rubbing ?Since you have already mentioned in your opening sentence that "Christian sure is not the only religion in the world,as in Oz." - why should you commment further with your ridiculous piece when your sentence already stated that "Christianity is the ONLY religion in Oz" ?
The early settlers in Ozland were from England, all were Christians then, and the majority of British Citizens remain so today.
What beef are you trying to create from what you cannot swallow ?
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hmm, singapore izzit worse than last time?
lol, so many people has left singapore liao...
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Kronos® and the Australian Health Workforce Institute Launch---
"Current estimations indicate Australia will face a nursing shortage of 40,000 by the year 2010."
http://www.kronos.com/Aus/Archive/Future-of-Australian-Nursing-Workforce.htm
"Current estimations indicate Australia will face a nursing shortage of 40,000 by the year 2010."
i would like stay in Oz,after Oz make sure medical care givers
are enough and cottons etc are sifficiently provided.
In Australia, around one third of doctors are currently trained overseas. Given that the health workforce shortage is a global phenomenon, however, Australia cannot rely on other countries to supply an unending stream of health workers.
According to the Centre for Policy Development, issues that need addressing in Australian health workforce include;
- Immediate shortage in nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and dentists
http://www.ahwi.edu.au/?q=background
in 2006,there are 220,000 nurses in Oz.So 40,000 would be about
???% shortage.about 15%?
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/4819.0
2.can u guys ask more nurses migrate to Oz?
cccc
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A 28-hour wait for a bed at the Singapore General Hospital
Wednesday, 2 April 2008, 7:00 am | 562 views
Andrew Loh“In Singapore, within half-an-hour, you would be in SGH (Singapore General Hospital), TTSH (Tan Tock Seng Hospital) and within one-and-a-half to two hours flat, you’d know what went wrong.”
- Lee Kuan Yew, TODAY, November, 2003
Recently a friend of mine (we’ll call her ‘Esther’) was admitted to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department of the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
Esther had earlier seen her GP who recommended that she consulted doctors at SGH to determine the cause of her illness.
Day One
Registration – 8.40pm
The registration at the triage section of the A&E’s Isolation Ward (IW) was smooth and swift and went without a hitch. The triage nurse was courteous, friendly and apparently highly efficient. We thanked her and took our seats at the waiting area for Esther’s number to be called by the doctor on duty that night.
It was about 8.40pm.
The consultation with the doctor eventually took place at around 10pm – after some 1 hour 20 mins later. Esther was told that she had to be admitted for overnight observation so that more tests could be done to ascertain the cause of her illness.
So, we returned to the waiting area and waited for Esther to be assigned a ward and a bed. In the meantime, a nurse told us that they would find a bed in the IW for Esther to rest temporarily, instead of sitting on the chairs in the waiting area, which was an exercise in endurance for someone who is ill.
It turned out to be a frustrating, excruciating and a very long wait indeed.
At 12.20am, some 3 hours and 40 mins after Esther had registered at the A&E, I approached the triage nurse and asked if they were aware that Esther was waiting for a bed in the IW. (In all those 3 hours 40 mins, we were not informed or updated about when a bed might be available.)
The nurse was very understanding and explained that there were no beds available and that there was nothing they could do. And so the wait continued.
12.50am – 4 hours 10 mins
At 12.50am – 4 hours and 10mins after registration – we were finally informed that a bed was available in the IW’s Fever Zone. The relief – and exhaustion - on Esther’s face was evident. She would be able to rest her tired self finally.
The “Fever Zone”, where the temporary beds were, is a small section within the Isolation Ward. It has two rooms – one for male patients and one for female patients. Each room could hold about 6 to 7 beds. The Fever Zone is the place where patients who have to be warded are temporarily placed while waiting to be admitted to the wards of their choice.
Esther had opted for a B2-plus ward (5 patients in an air-conditioned room).
We were hopeful that we wouldn’t have to wait just as long for Esther to be assigned a bed in the B2-plus ward. The IW ward has its television and lights on 24-hours and patients are wheeled out to the wards and new ones wheeled in, a situation which doesn’t really allow one to rest properly amidst the noise and the comings and goings.
Our hope was misplaced.
The long wait was to last till the next day.
Day Two
9pm – 24 hours 20 mins
At about 9pm on Day Two – 24 hours 20 minutes after registration - Esther was informed that a B2 bed was available and the nurse asked if she wanted it. As a B2 ward is non-air conditioned, as opposed to a B2-plus ward, Esther declined. (See here)
The reason why she declined is because we suspected that Esther might have to stay quite a while in the hospital (as she already had 2 previous unsuccessful blood tests, one at a private hospital and the other with her GP) and because of her constitutional sensitivity to warm temperatures we decided to wait for a B2-plus bed.
Thus, we waited a further 3 hours.
12.50am – 28 hours 10 mins
At about 12 midnight, a nurse informed us that a B2-plus bed was available. Preparation was then made to transfer us to the ward. Esther was put on a wheelchair and wheeled to the corridor of the IW. We were so tired from all the hours of waiting. It was only 15 minutes later that we heard the nurse informing the ward, through a phone call, that Esther was ready to be transferred. A further 12 minutes later, a male nurse arrived to wheel Esther to the B2-plus area of the hospital. Esther had waited for about 30 minutes in the corridor.
It was 12.50am on Day Two before Esther finally managed to put her head down on a bed in a B2-plus ward.
All in all, from registration to being admitted to a B2-plus ward, it took 28 hours and 10 minutes.
Nurses were patient, courteous and professional
Now, before you think that my frustration is directed at the nurses on duty that night, let me say that they were very patient, courteous and professional in their duties. Although they could have done better in some areas – such as keeping us informed of the situation with the availability of the bed – it is understandable as the A&E is a very busy place to work in. The nurses also had to tend to many patients.
I would like to mention, particularly, the nurses at the IW’s Fever Zone. They were compassionate and understanding. This is especially commendable when one considers that most of the patients in the IW that night were elderly and weak.
One of the nurses explained to Esther that the situation has been such since the Chinese New Year. She also said that the wards in Tan Tock Seng Hospital were fully occupied and patients were being directed to SGH. Hence the shortfall of beds there.
A serious problem
Esther was not the only one who had to wait so many hours for a bed. But perhaps she is luckier than others who had had to wait in wheelchairs in the waiting area for hours and hours on end that night we were there – for even the number of beds in the IW is limited.
While MM Lee may be right that “within one-and-a-half to two hours flat, you’d know what went wrong” (even though in Esher’s case the cause of her illness is still unknown 5 days after admission to SGH), the other important thing is the availability, or the squeeze, on the number of hospital beds.
According to the nurses there, this is not a sudden or a temporary hiccup. It has been like this since the Chinese New Year, as earlier mentioned.
While we trumpet the excellence of our clinical healthcare service (and I don’t disagree with this), it is what happens on the ground to each patient that needs to be looked at.
Waiting for more than 28 hours for a bed is simply unacceptable.
I hope that the Minister for Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, will put some effort into solving this problem – especially now that he has been called “the best Health Minister Singapore has ever had” by none other than SM Goh himself. (Straits Times)
When you are sick and weak, you shouldn’t be made to endure a frustrating and excruciating 28 hours just for a bed.
And I am sure that Esther is not the only one who has had this experience.
Perhaps the new Khoo Teck Puat hospital in Yishun, scheduled to open in 2010, will help to alleviate the situation. But that is left to be seen.
One can only hope that Singapore’s healthcare system will not become what MM Lee said of the system in the UK, where he experienced “restlessness and unhappiness” when waiting for 45 minutes for an ambulance:
“There’s no connection between those in the system and the patients..”
- MM Lee, (TODAY)
From Esther’s experience, one could say the same for Singapore’s system as well.
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Originally posted by lionnoisy:
<!--a-->
<!--m-->
Kronos® and the Australian Health Workforce Institute Launch---
"Current estimations indicate Australia will face a nursing shortage of 40,000 by the year 2010."
http://www.kronos.com/Aus/Archive/Future-of-Australian-Nursing-Workforce.htm
i would like stay in Oz,after Oz make sure medical care givers
are enough and cottons etc are sifficiently provided.
http://www.ahwi.edu.au/?q=background
in 2006,there are 220,000 nurses in Oz.So 40,000 would be about
???% shortage.about 15%?
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/4819.0
2.can u guys ask more nurses migrate to Oz?
cccc
Hey, lionnoisy - the following has been reported recently that there will be a ....
if you have been previously rejected for entry into Ozland, you could have a second opportunity to do so and get out of Singapore by taking up a nursing career now.
2010 is still 2 years away...
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we need gavaman to do things---right things.Not politically correct
things,like cancelling ISA or lower GST or cancelling GST.
I dunt need NATO gavaman.Thanks.
I am talking about Sydney,not a outback or a small city of
population say 500,000.
I cant accept a major city of about 4 millions are run
in this way.NO WAY.
Railroaded by 10 years of lies
TEN years after unveiling its bold transport plan for Sydney, the State Government has failed to build a single one of the five major rail projects it promised.
- Senator shifts: Forget gridlock, I'll work from home
- Cold reality: Daily grind keeps dad from family
The vision is contained in a long-forgotten $14 billion five-year plan unveiled in late 1998, just four months out from an election.Yet 10 years later the Government has failed to deliver a single one.
,m,,
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Daily grind keeps dad from family
Article from:
October 27, 2008 12:00am
IT'S been six months since the birth of his third child and each day proud father Loren Radovancevic still can't wait to get home to see his little daughter Anastasia.
But with a 90-minute drive in grinding traffic from the city to the family home in Sydney's northwest, the 39-year-old rarely steps through the front door before 7pm.
"I sit on the car park - or the M2 as some people call it - most days," he said. "It's annoying, it's frustrating, and it's costing my family a lot of money."
Mr Radovancevic works in Mascot for a company that distributes office supplies. He lives at Kellyville Ridge with his wife Lidija, a schoolteacher, and their three children.
Commuting to work is a daily drama for the family man. The drive costs about $150 a week in petrol and $20 a day in tolls.
Alternatively, he can catch a bus from Rouse Hill to the CBD, then a train to Mascot - a trip he says takes even longer than the three hours he spends in the car each day.
"To beat the traffic I sometimes leave home at 5.30am _ the later you leave it in the morning the longer it takes," he said.
And in the evening, his wife and children are forced to wait at home for dad to return from work.................
Radovancevic family: Loren and Lidija with Tatiana, 5, Marco, 19 months and Anastasia, 6 months. Picture: Carlos Furtado
,,,
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Forget gridlock, I'll work from home
Article from:October 27, 2008 12:00am
UNION boss turned politician Doug Cameron has found a way to tackle Sydney's crippling traffic congestion - but sadly it only works for him.
As millions of Sydneysiders get stuck in traffic snarls, Senator Cameron decided he was sick of it and moved his electorate office from the city to the Blue Mountains where he lives - 74km from the CBD.
Senator Cameron said he was sick of the two-hour each way commute to his current office and said it was a waste of his time.
The move has prompted criticism from within Labor ranks that the former head of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union is simply nesting in his Springwood home instead of targeting marginal seats.....
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WTF!!
Taxpayer subsidy drug pushers to take drugs---in Oz!!
do i have to write any more?
You pay for junkie drug rort
EXCLUSIVE: A heavily subsidised painkiller is beating heroin as the most popular drug in the Cross injecting room as evidence emerges of a booming black market.
You pay for junkie drug rort
Article from:October 27, 2008 12:00am
THE painkiller oxycodone, heavily subsidised by taxpayers, has overtaken heroin as the most popular drug in the Kings Cross injecting room as evidence emerges of a booming black market.
About 8200 of 17,971 drug injections in the room used the tablet painkiller, dubbed "hillbilly heroin". In comparison, just 6110 injections during the same June quarter period involved heroin, figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveal.
- Woman charged: Using cancer drug to get high
- Do drug prescriptions need tougher rules? Vote now
Medicare Australia figures show taxpayers paid $53.2 million in 2007-08 to subsidise 1.63 million scripts through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.Seven years ago, in the 2000-01 period, the cost to taxpayers was just $8.5 million for 441,398 scripts.
The drug, a morphine derivative, is available with PBS subsidy to treat severe, disabling pain commonly felt by cancer patients and high level back or tooth ache.
The growing use of oxycodone in the injecting room - triggered by the heroin drought - was an accurate sample of drug trends in the wider community, experts said last night. Tablets were almost certainly obtained through doctor shopping, the practice of attending numerous doctors with fake symptoms to access the drug for personal use or dealing.
Doctor's prescriptions for oxycodone have exploded in recent years, with an undetermined amount of it now finding its way on to the black market, as has occurred in the US. It is dubbed "hillbilly heroin" because it is widely used by poorer residents in parts of the US.
The figures on use in the injecting room were contained in the June quarterly report for the facility, released under Freedom of Information laws.
There is now so much oxycodone in the injecting room that staff hand out filters to users to screen talc and other binding agents as addicts prepare the oral tablet for injection.
Oxycodone is the generic name for the drug available under a number of names, usually OxyContin, OxyNorm or Endone or even in suppository form branded Proladone.
Tablets that cost $1.50 over the counter sell for more than $50 on the black market and drug squad commander Superintendent Greig Newbury said its illegal use was an unprecedented problem.
James Pitts, chief executive officer of the rehabilitation organisation Odyssey House, said there had been a significant increase in the numbers of people seeking help for addiction to oxycodone.
He put the reason down to a heroin drought and because the drug was available from doctors.
"It is a slow-release morphine derivative and people probably have their own particular doctors who prescribe it or they shop around at different doctors," Mr Pitts said. "It is not uncommon to forge prescriptions. People will steal prescription pads."
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no wander every two to 3 years,oz will find largest drugs haul.
10 years ago and again in 2005, 2008, Australia's record drugs haul
were seized and the targeted destination is of course Australia......
drugs seized in one operation--in Oz
1998--A$400 million--heroin: 400kg--"enough of the drug to supply every household in Australia"
2005---A$250 m--five million ecstasy tablets
2008---A$600 m---150kg of cocaine and 20 million ecstasy tablets
So u know the huge illegal drug market in oz....
Therefore,it is no suprised that killing related to drugs is a way
of life in Oz....
The following is not a moive scenes.....
Man had genitals set alight, then killed
October 15, 2008, 6:28 pm
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5081652/man-genitals-set-alight-killed/
A Melbourne man had his genitals set alight before being shot, placed in the boot of his own car and incinerated, a court has heard.
Michael Daou, 22, was allegedly restrained, kidnapped and driven to a Scoresby warehouse in Melbourne's outer-east, where he was tied to a chair and tortured by a group of men that included alleged drug dealers, on November 18, 2006.
The men wanted to punish Mr Daou for the alleged theft of 2,000 ecstasy tablets, a Victorian Supreme Court murder trial heard on Wednesday.
After several hours of alleged torture, Mr Daou was shot in the head.
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1998
Australian customs seized the freighter
Police in Australia have seized their largest-ever haul of heroin: 400kg, worth around A$400m ($250m).
<!-- real video link and caption here -->Barbara Plett: "End of a 10-week international operation" Australian Federal Police said there was enough of the drug to supply every household in Australia."It's the purest form of heroin," police agent Ray Tinker said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/193080.stm
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2005
The five million ecstasy tablets seized in Melbourne was the largest seizure of street-ready tablets in the world, Australian Federal Police said today
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/World-record-drug-haul/2005/04/15/1113509908439.html
The MDMA (ecstasy) tablets, found in a shipment of ceramic tiles from Italy, have an estimated street value of more than $250 million.
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2008
http://www.cntv.us/en/view/9861/Record%20Drug%20Bust%20in%20Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2007/s2182672.htm
Record Afghanistan opium crop to see cheap heroin flood Australia
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 06/03/2008
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24147111-661,00.html
FEDERAL Police today busted the Australian arm of a Mafia-linked drug ring which smuggled massive amounts of ecstasy into Melbourne.
In conjunction with the Australian Customs Service, police have seized 5.6 tonnes of ecstasy pills and 150kg of cocaine during a three-year operation.
The drugs have a street value of about $600 million.
Almost 20 million ecstasy tablets were seized during the exhaustive probe, which involved hundreds of AFP agents.,,
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Should a reasonably paid NATO Oz Minister be better rated despite a 10 year lie than our super talented MILLION Dollar Minister MBT ?
Singapore spends $400,000 to rename Marina Bay... Marina Bay
Agence France Presse
July 22, 2005
SINGAPORE
AFTER spending S$400,000 (US$240,964) to come up with a suitable new name for the revamped downtown Marina Bay, Singapore has decided to stick to, well, Marina Bay, media reports said Friday, July 22.The city-state's urban development authorities and global branding company Interbrand spent months deliberating over 400 potential names before settling on the original moniker, according to the Today newspaper.
The $400,000 financed a massive branding exercise that involved market tests, focus group discussions and consultations with developers and the general public, Today said.
Finding the right name for the city-state's revised downtown, which will include the much-debated resort casino, a new business district and swanky retail outlets, was a process akin to parents deciding on a name for their child, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.
"We started off with (the name) Marina Bay and after looking at everything, the name that really tugged at the heartstrings was in front of us," Mah said. "The name itself is not new, but what has been used informally so far has endeared itself to all parties."
Not suprisingly, many Singaporeans were quick to lambast the government's latest publicity efforts as an utter waste of public funds.
"Waaah, you so clever... (you) think and think and think and come up (with) this new old name," Rockson Takumi Tan wrote on his popular blog, http://rockson.blogspot.com.
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Originally posted by lionnoisy:
,,,
Caught in the pay squeeze In the last six months, Madam Mala Swamy has cut down on weekend outings with her two children. She saves on transport costs by taking them to parks or malls that are within walking distance.
Since December, her boss has stopped paying her $50 every month in Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions, claiming it is not in her contract. The 39-year- old, who has only three O-level passes, earns $750 a month as a carpark attendant in a commercial building in Bukit Merah. She works an eight-hour day from Mondays to Fridays and half-days on Saturdays.
By day, she badgers her boss for the CPF money, such that he has taken to avoiding her. At night, she lies awake, worrying how she will meet the payments for the four-room HDB flat she lives in with her odd-job worker husband.
But she does not dare to complain officially, for fear of losing her hard-won job. She secured it only after over 60 job applications and after 10 years as a housewife. At countless interviews, she was told that her previous work experience as an administrative assistant was 'not relevant'.
Hers is the typical plight of the underpaid - and often unfairly treated - contract worker in Singapore.
Each month, the Unit for Contract and Casual Workers (UCCW), set up by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in May last year, handles about 10 cases, mostly complaints about withheld wages, CPF payments, medical benefits and annual leave.
The complainants may be a disgruntled individual, or as many as 50 workers contracted to a single company.
Mr Mah Cheong Fatt, head of UCCW, said a survey conducted between January and March this year of 2,000 contract workers, mainly school cleaners, reflected similar alleged mistreatment. But many, he noted, often do not complain officially, for fear of losing their jobs.
'Contract workers' typically refer to those who work on fixed-term employment contracts, usually lasting a year, or until their service contract with a company ends, whichever is sooner. They usually work as cleaners, landscape workers, dispatch riders, carpark attendants, security guards or valets here.
Their numbers are rising, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), which defines contract workers as those who work part-time, full-time and on ad-hoc projects that last a few months.
From 80,000 workers, forming 4 per cent of the workforce in 2002, their numbers rose to 172,000, or 12 per cent of the workforce in 2006. Last year, this group inched up to 183,600.
Of these, UCCW's statistics show that 20 per cent are cleaners and labourers, 19 per cent in professional and administrative services, 15 per cent technicians, 15 per cent in sales, 15 per cent clerks and 16 per cent machine operators, craftsmen and others.
Most contract workers tend to be aged 40 and above, and are primary or lower secondary school dropouts. Most get into casual work as a last resort - after difficulty in landing full-time employment, prolonged illness or time away from the workforce - thinking it is a temporary measure to make ends meet, but they end up as serial contract workers, often for life.
AT THE MERCY OF EMPLOYERS
Out of eight contract workers - two cleaners, two gardeners, two airport trolley handlers and two carpark attendants - interviewed by The Sunday Times, the lowest monthly wage earned was $550 and the highest, $1,200.
All said that upgrading their skills to remain relevant, as the Government constantly exhorts, was near impossible as they work shifts, have irregular days off, or pull 12- to 18-hour workdays, holding two jobs to make ends meet.
Six work at least six days a week. Six receive no CPF. Five have no medical benefits. Four had their salaries docked when on medical leave. In one case, a cleaner who declined to be named even had $50 deducted from her salary when her supervisor found water droplets on the toilet floor.
Most said they have seen their pay packets shrink progressively through the years. Whenever their contracting company loses out during the tender process to a cheaper bid, they are either shed with little notice or absorbed into a 'new company'.
But the 'new company' was often new in name only: The workers remained in exactly the same job, cleaning or guarding the same premises, but at reduced rates.
NTUC's deputy secretary-general Halimah Yacob, who has raised the plight of contract workers in Parliament, has noted that contractors often offer 'cut-throat prices' to secure contracts, then 'cut corners with workers'.
A 66-year-old cleaner, who lives in a one-room flat in Ang Mo Kio, told The Sunday Times he was paid less each time he 'changed uniform'. He has had three such changes in the last six years. He now earns $650, down from $700 in 2001.
This corresponds with the latest Report on Wages in Singapore 2006, which showed that low- wage earners' salaries had fallen by 30 per cent. For example, cleaners and labourers who earned $860 in 1996 took home just $600 monthly 10 years later in 2006.
National University of Singapore sociology lecturer Vedi Hadiz, who researches labour issues, said: 'This is because of the spillover effect on the local labour market with the existing reliance on foreign workers - wages get depressed and local workers can be displaced.
'Serial contract workers are a trend worldwide. But the difference between Singapore and other countries is the level of protection that the workers enjoy under the law.'
In Singapore, the Employment Act does not stipulate, for example, minimum wages or if there should be a written employment contract.
SEEKING FAIR TREATMENT FOR ALL
But there are other official channels to seek redress here. The MOM has received around 800 complaints in the past two years from contract and casual workers. The bulk of these involved non-payment of wages. Seven in 10 cases were successfully mediated. To date, all of UCCW's complaint cases have been resolved without the ministry having to step in.
Parliamentarians have also been calling for a better deal for the growing pool of contract workers here. Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, in March this year, and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in last month's May Day address, also voiced their concerns for contract workers.
The Tripartite Committee on CPF and Work-related Benefits for Low-wage Workers issued six guidelines earlier this year for companies that outsource services. These include awarding bids to contractors that comply with employment laws and ensuring that contract workers have written employment contracts which clearly state working hours, pay and benefits.
In March, the MOM issued an advisory to all companies and contractors on responsible outsourcing practices. It put on its website a sample employment contract spelling out terms such as basic salaries, allowances, CPF contributions, overtime rates and leave that contract workers should be entitled to. It also published an employee booklet in four languages to educate contract workers on their entitlements.
The UCCW has also held workshops for about 100 companies and contractors. UCCW's director, MP Zainudin Nordin, is working towards inculcating 'best sourcing' practices. That means companies should assess contract bids not on price alone, but also on contract workers' benefits, salaries and leave.
'It is a moral responsibility on their part. They cannot just not see when the cleaner in their office is not well treated,' he said.
The UCCW is also encouraging companies to include outsourcing practices as part of their corporate social responsibility ethos, said Mr Mah.
'Corporate social responsibility is about treating all workers - including workers in the contracted company's payroll - with decent salaries and benefits,' he said.
But the trouble is companies outsource services like cleaning that require a lot of manpower, precisely because they want to take it off their payroll, to concentrate on their core business. By extension, they see it as the contracting company's responsibility, not theirs, to look into workers' welfare.
Organisations like SingHealth and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore which outsource services such as cleaning, pest control, housekeeping and landscaping, said in replies to The Sunday Times that they 'leave' management of contracted staff to the contractor.
Businesses, being businesses, also face constant bottom-line pressures to pick the lowest bid when choosing contractors, partly because it is the most logical and easiest to justify to management.
A purchasing officer with a company that outsources its cleaning, lift maintenance and landscaping services said frankly: 'Most companies here don't have an attitude of paying for services. We want it cheap and good.'
Nevertheless, some companies are conscientiously bucking the trend by weighing in the welfare of contract workers. One local hospital, which declined to be named, does a detailed assessment of the deal the contracting company offers its workers. It looks closely at their salaries, benefits and leave terms.
Some contracting companies, such as Danish-owned ISS Facilities Services, also refuse to play the 'bargain basement' bidding game.
The 13-year-old Singapore- based company which provides cleaning, waste disposal and landscaping services and hires over 3,000 Singaporean employees, makes it a point to bow out of bidding for a contract if its homework shows that the company awarding the tender is focused on the lowest price.
Its chief executive officer, Mr Woon Hiap Chuan, said: 'I am happy too as I cannot bring myself to bid lower and then bully the 'little people' by cutting their salaries or benefits.
'Cheap and good cannot always work. We need to think of workers' livelihoods.'
This article was first published in The Sunday Times on Jun 8, 2008
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Originally posted by lionnoisy:
WTF!!
Taxpayer subsidy drug pushers to take drugs---in Oz!!
do i have to write any more?
You pay for junkie drug rort
EXCLUSIVE: A heavily subsidised painkiller is beating heroin as the most popular drug in the Cross injecting room as evidence emerges of a booming black market.
no wander every two to 3 years,oz will find largest drugs haul.
10 years ago and again in 2005, 2008, Australia's record drugs haul
were seized and the targeted destination is of course Australia......
drugs seized in one operation--in Oz
1998--A$400 million--heroin: 400kg--"enough of the drug to supply every household in Australia"
2005---A$250 m--five million ecstasy tablets
2008---A$600 m---150kg of cocaine and 20 million ecstasy tablets
So u know the huge illegal drug market in oz....
Therefore,it is no suprised that killing related to drugs is a way
of life in Oz....
The following is not a moive scenes.....
Man had genitals set alight, then killed
October 15, 2008, 6:28 pm
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5081652/man-genitals-set-alight-killed/
@@@@@@@@@
1998
Australian customs seized the freighter
Police in Australia have seized their largest-ever haul of heroin: 400kg, worth around A$400m ($250m).
<!-- real video link and caption here -->Barbara Plett: "End of a 10-week international operation" Australian Federal Police said there was enough of the drug to supply every household in Australia."It's the purest form of heroin," police agent Ray Tinker said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/193080.stm
@@@@@@@@@@@
2005
The five million ecstasy tablets seized in Melbourne was the largest seizure of street-ready tablets in the world, Australian Federal Police said today
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/World-record-drug-haul/2005/04/15/1113509908439.html
@@@@@@@@@@@@
2008
http://www.cntv.us/en/view/9861/Record%20Drug%20Bust%20in%20Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2007/s2182672.htm
Record Afghanistan opium crop to see cheap heroin flood Australia
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 06/03/2008
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24147111-661,00.html
,,
,,,,
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The Burma-Singapore Axis:
Globalizing the Heroin Trade
by Leslie Kean and Dennis Bernstein
Covert Action Quarterly, Spring 1998
Singapore's economic linkage with Burma is one of the most vital factors for the survival of Burma's military regime," says Professor Mya Maung, a Burmese economist based in Boston. This link, he continues, is also central to "the expansion of the heroin trade.") Singapore has achieved the distinction of being the Burmese junta's number one business partner -both largest trading partner and largest foreign investor.
More than half these investments, totaling upwards of $1.3 billion, are in partnership with Burma's infamous heroin kingpin Lo Hsing Han, who now controls a substantial portion of the world's opium trade. The close political, economic, and military relationship between the two countries facilitates the weaving of millions of narco-dollars into the legitimate world economy
Singapore has also become a major player in Asian commerce.
According to Steven Green, llS Ambassador to Singapore, that city-states free market policies have "allowed this small country to develop one of the world's most successful trading and investment economies." Singapore also has a strong role in the powerful 132-member country World Trade Organization.
Indeed, the tiny China Sea island of three and a half million people is known far and wide as the blue chip of the region-a financial trading base and a route for the vast sums of money that flow in and out of Asia.
If the brutal Burmese dictatorship's international pariah status is of any concern to its more powerful partner, Singapore shows no sign of it.
Following the March 24 visit of Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to Rangoon, a Singapore spokesperson proclaimed, "Singapore and Myanmar should continue to explore areas where they can complement each other." As both countries continue to celebrate their "complementary" relationship, the international community must take note of the powerful support this relationship provides both to Burma's illegitimate regime and to its booming billion dollar drug trade.
Drugs 'R' Us
The Burmese military dictatorship- known by the acronym SLORC for State Law and Order Restoration Council until it changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) last November-depends on the resources of Burma's drug barons for its financial survival. Since it seized power in 1988, opium production has doubled, equaling all legal exports and making the country the world's biggest heroin supplier.
Burma now supplies the US with 60 percent of its heroin imports and has recently become a major regional producer of methamphetamines. With 50 percent of the economy unaccounted for, drug traffickers, businessmen and government officials are able to integrate spectacular profits throughout Burma's permanent economy.
Both the Burmese generals and drug lords have been able to take advantage of Singapore's liberal banking laws and money laundering opportunities. In 1991, for example, the SLORC laundered $400 million through a Singapore bank which it used as a down payment for Chinese arms. Despite the large sum, Burma's foreign exchange reserves registered no change either before or after the sale.
With no laws to prevent money laundering, Singapore is widely reported to be a financial haven for Burma's elite, including its two most notorious traffickers, Lo Hsing Han and Khun Sa (also known by his Chinese name Chang Qifu).
SLORC cut a deal with Khun Sa for his "surrender" in early 1996, allowing him protection and business opportunities in exchange for retirement from the drug trade. Khun Sa now bills himself as "a commercial real estate agent who also has a foot in the Burmese construction industry.
Already in control of a bus route into the northern poppy growing region where the military is actively involved in the drug business, he is now investing $250 million in a new highway between Rangoon and Mandalay, an SPDC cabinet member confirmed. "The Burmese government says one thing but does another," according to Banphot Piamdi, director of Thailand's Northern Region's Narcotics Suppression Center. "It claims to have subdued Khun Sa's group.
...
However the fact is that the group under the supervision of...Khun Sa's son has received permission from Rangoon to produce narcotics in the areas along the Thai-Burmese border.
Khun Sa's son is not the only trafficker reaping benefits in the Shan State area which borders Thailand and China and serves as Burma's primary poppy growing area. Field intelligence and ethnic militia sources consistently report a pattern of Singapore's investments in Burma are opening doors for the drug traffickers, giving them access to banks and financial systems."
Burmese military involvement with drug production in these remote areas. Government troops offer protection to the heroin and amphetamine refineries in the area in exchange for payoffs and gifts, such as Toyota sedans, pistols and army uniforms.
The only access to the refineries is through permits issued by Burmese military intelligence - without this, the heavily guarded areas surrounding the refineries are too dangerous to approach. The military is also involved in protecting the transport of narcotics throughout the region, which the authorities have sealed off from the outside world.
"There are persistent and reliable reports that officials, particularly army personnel posted in outlying areas, are involved in the drug business," confirms the March 1998 US government narcotics report. "Army personnel wield considerable political clout locally, and their involvement in trafficking is a significant problem."
Intelligence sources, working for ethnic leaders combating both the drug trade and the military dictatorship, report that the pattern of government involvement extends all the way to the top. The central government in Rangoon demands funds on a regular basis from regional commanders who, in turn, expect payoffs from the rank and file.
The soldiers get the money any way they can-through smuggling, gambling or selling jade-with drugs being the most accessible source of revenue in Shan State. The officers in the field also "tax" refineries, drug transporters, and opium farmers.
At great risk, the intelligence sources- who go undercover to infiltrate troops in the field-collect painstakingly detailed data including names, dates and places, such as these delivered in March 1998 from Shan State: "On 10th Jan. 98, SPDC army no. 65 stationed at Mong Ton sent 40 troops to Nam Hkek village. Pon Pa Khem village tract, collected 0.16 kilo of opium per household or [collected payment of] Baht 600.
Then the troops sold the collected opium to the drug business men at the rate of Baht 6000 for 1.6 kilos." Another report states: "Troops from SPDC Battalion nos. 277 & 65 stationed at Mong Ton are still protecting heroin refineries situated at Hkai ion, Pay lon & Ho Ya areas, Mong Ton township. Those who can pay B.200,00 per month are allowed to run the heroin refineries." And: "On 3rd of Jan. 98, Burma Army no.99 collected opium tax in Lashio township.
They charged 0.32 kilo per household. They arrested and beat seriously those who failed to give.
These sources also report that Ko Tat, Pnvate 90900 from SPDC battalion no.525 stationed in Lin Kay, recently defected from the Burmese army and said that his company had been giving protection to the opium fields around Ho Mong. While the lower ranked officers struggle to meet their quotas in the field, the highest levels of the government in the capital city strike deals with Burma's two top traffickers, one of whom is the prosperous partner of Singapore.
Lo Hsing Han: At Home in Singapore
With massive financial ties to Singapore, Lo Hsing Han is now one of Burma's top investors. He, along with Khun Sa, the former "king of opium," is a major player in the Burmese economy.
In the early l990s, Lo Hsing Han controlled the most heavily armed drug trafficking organization in Southeast Asia. He was arrested in 1973 and sentenced to death, but was freed under a general amnesty in 1980.
Now, like Khun Sa, he wears the public persona of a successful businessman in Rangoon-where no one does business without close government cooperation. Although he still oversees rural drug operations with the status of a godfather, according to US narcotics officials, the notorious Lo currently serves as an adviser on ethnic affairs to Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, the military intelligence chief and the junta's powerful "Secretary 1.
Lo Hsing Han is the chair of Burma's biggest conglomerate, Asia World, founded in 1992. His son, Steven Law, is managing director and also runs three companies in Singapore which are "overseas branches" of Asia World.
Although Singapore is proud of its mandatory death penalty for smalltime narcotics smugglers and heroin addicts, both father and son travel freely in and out of the friendly island-nation. "The family money is offshore," said a high-level US narcotics official. "The old man is a convicted drug trafficker, so his kid is handling the financial activities."
In 1996, when Law married his Singaporean business partner in a lavish, well-publicized Rangoon wedding, guests from Singapore were flown in on two chartered planes. According to a high-level US government official familiar with the situation, Law's wife Cecilia Ng operates an underground banking system, and "is a contact for people in Burma to get their drug money into Singapore, because she has a connection to the government."
According to the official, Ng spends half her time in Rangoon, half in Singapore; when in Rangoon, she is headquartered at Asia Lite, a subsidiary of Asia World. The husband-wife team are also the sole officers and shareholders of Asia World subsidiary, Kokang Singapore Pte Ltd. Founded in Singapore in 1993 with $4.6 million, the company "engages in general trading activities in goods/products of all kinds/descriptions. "
Singapore's ventures with Asia World include both government and private investments. Kuok Singapore Ltd., a partner with Asia World in many ventures, was Burma's largest single real estate investor as of late 1996, with over $650 million invested 20 Other Singaporean companies are mentioned in Asia Worlds company reports.
Sinmardev, another major Singaporean project linked to Lo's company, is a $207 million industrial park and port on the outskirts of Rangoon, which broke ground in 1997. Singaporean entrepreneur Albert Hong, head of Sinmardev, described the project as the largest foreign investment in Burma outside the energy field.
The Singaporean consortium leads the joint venture along with the Burmese junta, Lo's Asia World, and a slew of international shareholders
Kuok Singapore Ltd., Lo Hsing Han's Asia World, and the Burmese junta are also partners in the luxury Traders Hotel.
The hotel's November 1996 opening ceremony was attended by the Singapore ambassador, the president of Kuok Singapore, and briefly by Lo Hsing Han himself. The presiding Burmese minister publicly thanked Steven Law and the government of Singapore "without whose support and encouragement there would be very few Singaporean businessmen in our country."
While government and business connections in Burma and Singapore have boosted Asia World's prospects, other factors have contributed to the company's extraordinary growth. In the last six years, Asia World has expanded from a modest trading company to become Burma's largest and fastest-growing private sector enterprise with interests in trading, manufacturing, property, industrial investment, development, construction, transportation, import and distribution, and infrastructure.
"How is it that a company that has a humble beginning trading beans and pulses is suddenly involved in $200 million projects?" said a US government official, requesting anonymity "Where did all that start-up capital come from?"
The US government ventured a guess in 1996: It denied Asia World's CEO Steven Law a visa to the US "on suspicion of drug trafficking." Asia Worlds operations now include a deep-water port in Rangoon, the Leo Express bus line into Northern Burma, and a $33 million toll highway from the heart of Burma's poppy-growing region to the China border 24 On December 20, the conglomerate opened a wharf with freight handling, storage, and a customs yard for ships carrying up to 15,000 tons 25 "If you're in the dope business, these are the types of things that you've got to have to be able to move your product," said a high-level US narcotics official. "They have set up institutions to facilitate the movement of drugs. And in all probability, they are using laundered drug proceeds, or funds generated from investments of drug trafficking proceeds, to build this infrastructure," he added.
The activities of Lo's company Asia World have triggered an international narcotics investigation led by Washington. US investigators allege that Asia World's relationship to Singapore paves the way for the narcotics trade to be woven into all legitimate investments between the two countries.
"Singapore's investments in Burma are opening doors for the drug traffickers, giving them access to banks and financial systems," said one government official familiar with the situation.
One Stop Shopping: Intelligence to Repression
The Burmese junta's control of its impoverished population through crude methods such as torture, forced labor, and mass killings leaves it open to international condemnation. In contrast, Singapore takes a more sophisticated approach to repression, both at home and abroad.
While the island-nations citizens have material benefits and the appearance of rule of law, they live in fear of an Orwellian government that closely monitors every aspect of their lives. The ruling party often sues those who dare to oppose it on trumped up defamation charges, forcing many into bankruptcy or exile.
The FBI is investigating complaints by US citizens of harassment by Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD). One California academic, a widely respected specialist on Southeast Asian affairs who asked not to be identified, said ISD agents broke into his home because he was working to bring leading Singaporean opposition figure Tang Liang Hong to an American university The operatives tore out his door handle to get in, then searched his computer and desk.
A week later, an Asian man, waiting in a tree, photographed and videotaped the academic while he walked in the park. After temporarily blinding the academic with his bright flash, the man jumped from the tree and made a getaway in his car. Tang -who is facing a $4.5 million defamation lawsuit by Singaporean senior ministers-was not surprised by the burglary. "I've been followed everywhere, whether I was in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia or in London," he said in a phone interview from Australia.
Singapore has been more than willing to share its expertise in intelligence with its Burmese counterparts. The Singapore-Myanmar Ministerial-Level Work Committee was set up in 1993 in Rangoon to "forge mutual benefits in investment, trade and economic sectors." The committee includes intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, other top Burmese ministers, and high level Singapore an officials. At the December 23 meeting, Khin Nyunt urged his ministers to give priority to projects arranged by the Singaporean government. "Pilot projects are being implemented to transfer know-how to Myanmar," said Khin Nyunt in his address.
One such project is a state-of-the-art cyber-war center in Rangoon. Burma's military leaders can now intercept a range of incoming communications-including telephone calls, faxes, e-mails and computer data transmissions-from 20 other countries.
The high-tech cyber-war center was built by Singapore Technologies, the city-state's largest industrial and technology conglomerate, comprising more than 100 companies. This government-owned company also provides on-site training at Burma's Defense Ministry complex, and reportedly passes on its "sophisticated capability" to hundreds of Burmese "secret police" at an institution inside Singapore.
Burma has no external enemies, but the ruling junta goes to extremes to terrorize the population through its elaborate intelligence network. Intelligence officials have already used their newly-acquired talents from the cyber-war center to arrest pro-democracy activists, and it is well known that Burma's feared military intelligence often tortures its victims during lengthy interrogations.
Singaporean companies have also helped suppress dissent in Burma by supplying the military with arms to use against its own I people. The first shipment of guns | and ammunition was delivered on October 6, 1988.35 Throughout that month, hundreds of boxes of mortars, ammunition, and other supplies marked "Allied Ordnance, Singapore" were unloaded from vessels in Rangoon.
Allied I Ordnance is a subsidiary of Chartered Industries of Singapore, the arms branch of Singapore Technologies-the same govemment-owned company which built the cyber-war center. The shipments also included rockets made by Chartered Industries of Singapore under license from a Swedish company and sold in violation of an agreement with Sweden require authorization for re-exports.
These shipments from Singapore arrived only weeks after the September 1988 military takeover in Rangoon, in which the new leaders of the SLORC massacred hundreds of peaceful, pro-democracy demonstrators in the streets. These killings followed another wave of government massacres earlier that summer, when longtime dictator Ne Win struggled to keep power in the face of nationwide strikes and demonstrations for democracy He eventually stepped down but, operating behind the scenes, installed the puppet SLORC. As the killings continued, thousands of civilians fled the country fearing for their lives.
When numerous countries responded by suspending aid and Burma's traditional suppliers cut shipments, the SLORC became desperate. Singapore was the first country to come to its rescue.
Singapore companies have continued to supply Burma's military, sometimes acting as middlemen for arms from other countries. In 1989, Israel and Belgium delivered grenade launchers and anti-tank guns via Singapore. In 1992, Singapore violated the European Commission arms embargo against the Burmese regime by acting as a broker and arranging for a $1.5 million shipment of mortars from Portugal.
"It is highly unlikely that any of these shipments to Burma could have been made without the knowledge and support of the Singapore Government," wrote William Ashton in Jane's Intelligence Review. "By assisting with weapons sales, defense technology transfers, military training and intelligence cooperation, Singapore has been able to win a sympathetic hearing at the very heart of Burma's official councils."
Singapore's Stakes
Last November, Singapore deployed its diplomatic arsenal to defend Rangoon at the UN. Singaporean UN representatives made an effort to water down the General Assembly resolution which castigated the Burmese government for its harsh treatment of pro-democracy activists, widespread human rights violations, and nullification of free and fair elections that had voted it out of power.
In an "urgent" letter to the Swedish mission, which was drafting the resolution, Singapore representative Bilahan Kausikan cited "progress" in Burma and said that "the majority of your co-sponsors have little or no substantive interests in Myanmar.... Our position is different. We have concrete and immediate stakes."
Objecting to parts of the resolution and attempting to soften the language, Singapore's representative circulated the letter to key members of the UN's Third Committee on Human Rights. "The driving force was definitely business connections," according to Dr. Thaung Htun, Representative for UN Affairs of Burma's government-in-exile. "Singapore is defending its investments at the diplomatic level, using its efforts at the UN level to promote its business interests."
The protection of Singapore's "concrete and immediate stakes" is essential to the ruling party s success in maintaining power and the basis of its support for Burma, said Case Western Reserve University economist Christopher Lingle. "Singapore depends heavily upon its symbiotic relationship with crony capitalists and upon accommodating a high enough rate of return to keep the citizenry in line.
Therefore its very survival is tied up with business and government investments., William Ashton, writing in Jane's Intelligence Review, suggested an additional incentive for Singapore's alliance with Burma. As Rangoon's major regional backer and strategic ally, China has provided much of the weaponry, training, and financial assistance for the junta. China's expanding commercial and strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific region, coupled with its alliance with neighboring Burma, is a source of great concern in Singapore. The desire to keep Burma from becoming Beijing's stalking horse in the region may provide another motivation for Singapore's wooing of Rangoon.
Turning a Blind Eye
The Singapore government has consistently disregarded the gross human rights violations perpetrated by its allies in Burma. The UN Special Rapporteur, appointed to report to the United Nations on the situation in Burma, has been barred entry into Burma since 1995.44 The new US State Department Country Report on Burma for 1997 states that its "longstanding severe repression of human rights continued during the year.
Citizens continued to live subject at any time and without appeal to the arbitrary and sometimes brutal dictates of the military dictatorship." Amnesty International reports that there are well over 1,200 political prisoners languishing in Burmese dungeons, where torture is commonplace.
Singapore has issued no urgent letters about a recent report by Danish Doctors for Human Rights which noted that "sixty-six percent of the over 120,000] refugees from Burma now living in Thailand have been tortured" and subjected to "forced labor, deportation, pillaging, destruction of villages, and various forms of torture and rape." The doctors reported that refugees witnessed the junta's military forces murder members of their families.
Singaporean leaders also seem unconcerned about the fact that the Burmese government shut down almost all of Burma's colleges and universities following student protests in December 1996 and imprisoned hundreds of students. At a February ceremony of the Singapore Association in Myanmar, the Ambassador to Singapore presented a large check to Gen. Khin Nyunt-who is also Chairman of the government Education Committee-for the "Myanmar education development fund." While depriving young Burmese of higher education, the junta's "Secretary 1" Khin Nyunt responded that "Uplifting the educational standards of our people is one of the social objectives of our Government." He then went on at length to extol the "firm foundation of growing economic and trade ties" between Singapore and Burma.
The Burmese government has also kept computers and communication technology away from students and others in opposition to the regime. All computers, software, e-mail services and other telecommunication devices-which hardly anyone can afford anyway-must be licensed, but licenses are almost impossible to obtain. Yet Singapore has made the best computer technology available to the ruling elite and their business partners.
Singapore Telecom, the largest company in Asia outside of Japan, was the first to provide Burmese businesses and government offices with the ability to set up inter- and intra-corporate communications in more than 90 countries.
Complementary Relations Singapore's concerns are dramatically different from those of countries sharing a border with Burma. Thailand has to deal with the deadly narcotics trade and an overwhelming number of refugees arriving on a daily basis. Banphot Piamdi, the Thai counter-narcotics official, believes Thailand made a big mistake when it voted for Burma's entry into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), given Burma's lack of cooperation in fighting drugs. Not surprisingly, the Singapore government lobbied hard for Burma's 1997 acceptance into the powerful regional trade alliance.
Ironically, Burma's inclusion in ASEAN may force member nations, including Singapore, to address the havoc that their newest ally is imposing on the region- especially since Burma provides approximately 90 percent of the total production of Southeast Asian opium. China and India, Burma's other neighbors, now face severe AIDS epidemics related to increased heroin use in their bordering provinces. Most of the heroin exported from Burma to the West passes through China's Yunnan province, which now has more than half a million addicts. And even Singapore-whose heroin supply comes mostly from Burma-had a 41 percent rise in HIV cases in 1997.
As we head into the "Asian century," Singapore has become Washington's forward partner in the unfolding era of East-West trade. Ambassador Green called the country "a major entry port and a natural gateway to Asia for American firms." US companies exported $16 billion worth of goods to Singapore in 1996 and more than 1,300 US firms now operate in the country Singapore's strategic and economic importance to the US cannot be overstated. The two nations just reached an agreement allowing the US Navy to use a Singapore base even though the deal violates ASEAN's 1997 nuclear weapons-free zone agreement.
The US has condemned the Burmese junta's record of human rights abuses and support for the drug trade, but has turned a blind eye when it comes to Singapore's dealings with the regime. Although President Clinton imposed economic sanctions on Burma partly for its role in providing pure and cheap heroin to America's youth, he has not commented on Singapore's willingness to play ball with the world's biggest heroin traffickers.
Ambassador Green told Congress last year that the US "has an important role in working with the Singapore government to deal with illegal drug and weapons proliferation issues," but most US officials have remained silent about Singapore's investments with Lo Hsing Han and Burma's narco-dictatorship. It's unlikely Clinton made any mention of this issue last fall while golfing with Singapore an Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong during the APEC summit in Vancouver.
Unless the financial crisis in Asia limits profits, Singapore will probably continue to expand its investments in Burma. "Our two economies are complementary and although we can derive satisfaction from the progress made, I believe that there still remains a great potential that is yet to be exploited," said the junta's Gen. Khin Nyunt last February, Aided by Singapore's support, Burma's thriving heroin trade has plagued the majority of countries around the globe. While these countries blithely pour money into drug-connected companies based in Burma and thereby help them to expand into foreign markets, an abundance of the world's finest heroin continues to plague their citizens. At the same time, the line between legitimate and illegitimate investments grows dimmer in the global economy.
Leslie Kean is co-author of Burma's Revolution of the Spirit The Straggle for Democratic Freedom and Dignity and director of the Burma Project USA.
Dennis Bernstein, associate editor at Pacific News Service, is producer of KPFA radio's "Flashpoints."
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u may know many people migrates to Oz.---430,000 overseas arrivals to be exact.
i bet u dunt want to know 230,000 overseas departures---from Australia!!
So,why do 230,000 leave Oz---a honey country?
"In the year ended March 2008, net overseas migration to Australia of just under 200,000 people accounted for over half (59%) of Australia's population increase.
The 430,000 overseas arrivals and 230,000 overseas departures represents an average of 1,180 overseas arrivals and 630 departures per day.
In March 2008 Australia's population reached 21,283,000 - an increase of 1.6% (336,800 people) from the previous year.
Natural increase (the excess of births over deaths) contributed 137,700 people (or 41%)."-abs -
summary,
In 2006/2007,about 1400 Singapore citizens migrated to oz.
and about 1300 SG citizens became Australia citizens!!
@@@@@@@@@2
some forumers said quality of immigrants to Oz are better than SG
importing FT.
I beg them to digest this info and other info.
only 25% or 49,600 migrating to Oz are on works visa,the rest--u see for yourself.
May i remond u that while 4 persons moving to oz,two persons
in Oz moving out of Oz at the same time.1 out of 2 moving out was born in Australia.
2.http://www.immi.gov.au/about/reports/annual/2006-07/_pdf/annual-report-2006-07-appendices.pdf
about 1,100 Singaporeans in a year went to Oz in the past 10 years.
1995--2005 10 years average for top 10 countries is 55,100 in a year.
Singapore share is about 2%,ie 1102.
In 2006,61,000 x say2.3%,=1403.
I dunt know if students included.
ONLY 1283 Singapore citizens became Australian citzens in 2006/07.
Did every one of them renounce Singapore citizenships?
i know some step on two boats.
They are taking risks of their SG citizenships cancelled if found out.
"Table 107: Country of nationality or citizenship of people who were conferred in 2006-07 continued
Singapore 1 283"
below--pl note this table refer to flowing of foreigners.
i think it refer to foreign born.
In the outflows,it do not include people born in Oz.
pl read no.2 table in this post.
No.2 table---one out of 2 emigrating was born in Oz
5.3 PERMANENT DEPARTURES, Australia - Country of birth
pl read page 1 of this thread.
kkk
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LA in USA have used recycled water for few decades.
Yankees pumped the recycled water to mix with underground water.
Do u think million of lawyers in USA will let this golden opportunity
to slip from their hands if the water is not safe?
But Oz Prodessor think recycled water is not safe:
Recycled sewage 'will have bugs'
Greg Roberts, Padraic Murphy AN authority on water infrastructure has claimed it is not possible to prevent potentially harmful organisms from entering southeast Queensland...
Australian National University emeritus professor Patrick Troy said:"It will not be possible to remove all biologically active waste molecules from the system," Professor Troy said.
"The probability is that something like 8 per cent of these impurities will get through, and that is assuming the system is working properly."
PUB shall invite him to visit NEWater Vistor Center ,at his cost ,of course!
So u see,it is thequality of a emeritus professor.
I agree each Ph D holder need to renew their degree every few years,
just like other Professionals need to attend mandatory
Continuation Education for a number of hours eavery year.
http://www.unimelb.edu.au/unisec/calendar/honcausa/citation/troy.html
cccc
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think Professor is not the best person to comment on this issue.
he was a trained town planner/engineer.
http://www.assa.edu.au/Directory/listall.asp?id=323
TROY, Patrick Nicol. AO. BE (West Australia), DipTP (London), MEngSci (UNSW), MICE, FRAPI. 1996. Panel C.
Professor PATRICK TROY is Professor of Urban Research in the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies in the Australian National University. He is currently exploring issues surrounding the future of Australian cities. His research interests include:
- the history of housing policy in Australia,
- suburbanisation and urban frontiers,
- infrastructure investment,
- urban environmental issues,
- urban governance and institutions,
- the vulnerability of cities,
- housing policy.he is a town planner.i think Oz press need to think if he is
a righe person to make this kind of comments!!
The Structure and Form of the Australian City:
Prospects for improved urban planning
by Patrick TroyGriffith University
Urban Policy Program
The Structure and Form of the Australian City:
Prospects for improved urban planning
Patrick Troy
Issues Paper 1
May 2004cc
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Originally posted by lionnoisy:
think Professor is not the best person to comment on this issue.
he was a trained town planner/engineer.
http://www.assa.edu.au/Directory/listall.asp?id=323
he is a town planner.i think Oz press need to think if he is
a righe person to make this kind of comments!!
Griffith University
Urban Policy Program
The Structure and Form of the Australian City:
Prospects for improved urban planning
Patrick Troy
Issues Paper 1
May 2004cc
so lionnoisy, any comments on this?
or you going to keep quiet because you don't dare to answer?
Rising Costlist of 2008
Jan 3: Second Link tolls to go up from Feb 1. The tolls for all motorists at Tuas Second Link will be raised by between 10 cents and S$4.40 from 1 February. Motorcyclists will need to pay 10 cents more than the current toll of 60 cents. Cars will be tolled S$4.60, while vans and small lorries will be charged S$10.50. The largest jump is for big lorries, which will have to pay S$21 – S$4.40 more than the current S$16.60. (Channel NewsAsia)
Jan 08: Motorists to face five new ERP gantries. MOTORISTS can expect to pay more over the next few months to use the roads when five new ERP gantries are up, many in the heart of residential areas. (Straits Times) (Straits Times)
Jan 14: Prices of CNY goodies to go up. BE PREPARED to spend 10 per cent to 20 per cent more on foodstuffs this Chinese New Year. (Straits Times)
Jan 15: Inflation in S’pore may hit 6.5% this month. CONSUMER prices in Singapore may surge a staggering 6.5 per cent this month, bringing full- year average inflation to an equally eye-popping 5 per cent, according to Citigroup. (Straits Times)
Jan 18: Lunar New Year dinner prices set to rise by at least 10 per cent. Prices for restaurant dinners are set to rise by at least 10 per cent. (CNA)
Jan 23: Prices of suckling pigs double due to supply shortage in China. The prices of suckling pigs have doubled recently due to a drop in supply from China, and a 5kg pig is going for as much as S$180. (CNA)
Jan 24: Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) … rose 4.4 per cent last month from a year earlier, with transport contributing the most. (TODAY)
Jan 25: Resale HDB flat prices up 30% above valuation in Q4. BUYERS of resale Housing Board flats found themselves paying $22,000 above the valuation from October to December - a whopping 30 per cent increase more than the previous quarter. (Straits Times)
Jan 29: ERP rates to go up by S$0.50 at certain gantries from Feb 4. Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates are set to go up by S$0.50 starting 4 February, according to the Land Transport Authority. (CNA)
Jan 30: ERP rates, more gantries to go up - but road tax cut by 15%. Minister Lim said 16 new gantries will go on between April and November, bringing the total number in operation to 71. This is just the start. The base ERP rate will be upped from $1 to $2, with the increments in $1 instead of the current 50 cents. To make ERP more effective in a rising affluent community, these changes will be made gradually. (Straits Times)
Jan 30: MediShield premiums to go up for better cover. YEARLY premiums for basic MediShield insurance are set to increase - by about $120 for most people - to ensure that subsidised patients saddled with big hospital bills will get better payouts. (Straits Times)
Jan 30: Prime Taxis to raise fares from March. AFTER holding out for over a month, Singapore’s smallest cab operator, Prime Taxis, will raise its fares to come in line with other companies here. (Straits Times)
Jan 30: Prices for tickets for all Cathay cineplexes to go up on Jan 31. Expect to pay up to $10.50 on a weekend. (TODAY)
Feb 02: Prices of vegetables are up between 5 and 10 per cent because higher oil prices. YOUR shopping basket will be a little more expensive this year, no thanks to a rise in vegetable prices. (The New Paper)
Feb 4: Singapore inflation may exceed 5 percent this year - PM Lee. Inflation in the city-state could accelerate to 5 percent this year after rising 2.1 percent in 2007 given rising commodity prices worldwide, the Business Times newspaper quoted Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as saying. (Forbes)
Feb 04: Businesses say new ERP gantries may increase operating costs. The rise in Electronic Road Pricing and increase in the number of ERP gantries is worrying at least one business - the couriers. (CNA)
Feb 14: Varsities up tuition fees by 4% to 20%. TUITION fees at the three local universities will go up by between 4 per cent and 20 per cent for the new batch of undergraduates entering in August. (Straits Times)
Feb 26: INFLATION accelerated last month to a 26-year high of 6.6 per cent with housing, food and transport costs registering steep increases over the past year. (Straits Times)
Mar 3: Caltex increases petrol and diesel pump prices. The company increased all grades of petrol by 4 cents per litre at 11am on Monday. Its Regular 95 petrol is now priced at S$2.046 a litre, Regular 98 at S$2.12 and Premium 98 petrol is S$2.286 per litre before discount. (CNA)
March 10: Park in Orchard area? It’ll cost you even more. Parking fees have gone up at 18 out of 20 malls, in one case by 36 per cent. (Straits Times, AsiaOne)
March 12: Fishball prices increase 20% due to rising cost of raw ingredients. Retailers said the prices of fishballs have risen by 20 per cent since last July due to rising cost of raw ingredients. (CNA)
March 17: Price of Chinese herbs to increase by 10%-20%. The price of Chinese herbs is set to increase by 10-20 percent. (CNA)
March 18: Barely two weeks after an increase in pump prices … all four petrol companies raised prices yesterday. Petrol and diesel prices went up by four cents and five cents per litre respectively, with the exception of Shell’s V-Power, which went up by three cents, and Caltex Platinum Techron, which remained unchanged. Regular 98-octane petrol at all four petrol chains now costs $2.160 a litre, while diesel is $1.613 a litre, before discounts. (TODAY)
March 19: Cost of electricity to go up from April as oil prices rise. Electricity tariffs will go up by an average of 1.26 cents (S$0.0126) per kilowatt starting 1 April. (CNA)
March 25: Singapore’s CPI up 6.5 pct year-on-year in February. Singapore’s consumer price index (CPI) jumped 6.5 percent in February from a year earlier, after gaining a 25-year high of 6.6 percent in January. (Trading Markets)
March 25: Singapore inflation stays at 26-year high. Prices of meat and poultry, cooking oils and dairy products clocked double-digit gains, while rice, cereal and fruit cost almost 10 per cent more than they did last year. High oil prices also made themselves felt in electricity bills and at petrol pumps. Indeed, transport costs jumped 9.6 per cent, boosted also by higher taxi fares and car prices. (Straits Times)
March 25: Prices of coffee, milk, sugar rise. In the past six months, the price of a 40-sachet bag of Nescafe 3-in-1 Regular Coffeemix has risen by 14 to 19 per cent across most major supermarkets. It costs $5.20 at Cold Storage and NTUC FairPrice. Super 3-in-1 Coffeemix is up 5 to 9 per cent, and now costs $4.95 at Cold Storage and $4.80 at NTUC FairPrice. (Straits Times)March 26: Price of paper up by as much as 40%. The price of paper around the world has gone up by as much as 40 percent over the past year. This has caused the price of recycled paper to increase by 100 percent. (CNA)
March 28: NETS revises pricing for NETS CashCard. Consumers are going to have pay more for their NETS CashCard come May, as it will include the cost of the CashCard as well. (CNA)
March 29: Prices of rice rise. FairPrice raises price of its house brand varieties after Thai rice jumps 30% overnight. A 5kg bag of FairPrice Thai White Fragrant Rice now costs $5.30, up from $4.70, and a 10kg bag of Double FairPrice Thai Hom Mali Rice now goes for $17.90, up from $16.25. (Straits Times)
April 5: FairPrice ups price for one premium rice brand. SINGAPORE‘S biggest supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice, on Friday hiked the price of one of its in-house brands of premium rice. The rise is NTUC’s second in as many weeks: It hiked prices of three other in-house brands of rice by between 60 cents and $1.65 last week. (Straits Times)
April 23: Singapore’s March inflation rate up 6.7% on-year. The CPI for the first quarter of this year was 6.6 percent higher compared with the same quarter of previous year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI in March was 0.3% higher compared with February. Singapore’s inflation rate has been hovering at its highest level in 26 years. (CNA)
April 23: Pump prices up across all brands. THE OTHER oil companies have all followed Caltex’s move to raise pump prices here. ExxonMobil, Singapore Petroleum Co and Shell on Wednesday upped petrol prices by three cents a litre and diesel by five cents. The latest pump price adjustment is the 10th consecutive increase since July last year - 11th if the GST-triggered increase on July 1, 2007 were to be included. (Straits Times)
April 25: Sharp hike in kindergarten fees. SOME 1,500 students attending the seven PAP Community Foundation (PCF) kindergartens in Woodlands will see their fees shoot up by 30 to 100 per cent. (TODAY, April 25.)
May 3: Rice and cooking oil lead price rise. Yes, the price of rice is going up. But so too are the prices of cooking oil and other items such as instant noodles. (Straits Times)
May 3: SIZZLING HOT: Cooking oil prices on the boil. In the last two months, retail prices have jumped between 9per cent and 56 per cent, depending on the brand.. (Straits Times)
May 9: Expect to pay higher electricity bills. Soaring crude oil prices drove the benchmark market price of electricity to a record last month, and there is not much relief in sight. (Straits Times)
May 16: Caltex pump prices up. Prices at Caltex were increased as of 10.00am today. Prices of Silver, Gold and Platinum petrol grades went by $0.02 to $2.136, $2.210 and $2.336 respectively. (AsiaOne) (TODAY)
May 19: Food operators to charge more for home deliveries. A Straits Times check with 25 food-delivery services found that more than half have increased their menu prices by at least a dollar in the last few months. Five have also upped their delivery fees, while three have increased their minimum order amount. (AsiaOne)
May 23: Singapore inflation rate hits new 26-year high of 7.5% in April. Singapore’s annual inflation rate rose to a new 26-year high of 7.5 percent in April as food, housing and transportation costs soared and is now a risk to the economy, the government said on Friday. (CNA)
May 24: Pump prices up for second time in a week. The latest jump - the 12th consecutive increase since last July - was sparked when oil giant Shell upped petrol prices by five cents a litre and diesel by seven cents at 5pm on Thursday. (Straits Times)
June 5: Poultry prices to rise due to higher transportation costs. The cost of every kilogramme of duck to go up by five cents. The price of chicken products is also expected to increase. (CNA)
June 7: Singapore consumers to feel knock-on effects. THE fuel price hike in Malaysia is going to bite Singaporeans soon, and hard. Prices of a range of goods are set to go up as the cost of trucking them in rises, and fresh food tops the list. (Straits Times)
June 7: Singapore’s poor turn to temples to fill bellies. Many Singaporeans increasingly turning to free meals at temples to fill their stomachs, as surging global commodity prices hurt, even in a country that is one of the richest in Asia. (Reuters)
June 7: Coach fares to Malaysia up. The Express Bus Agencies Association (EBAA), which accounts for six in 10 buses heading across the Singapore border, has raised its fuel and insurance surcharges from a previous flat fee of $3, to between $5 and $16 — that’s up to five times more — depending on your destination. (TODAY)
June 11: Up prices of eggs and some vegetables. The prices of eggs and some vegetables have jumped at wet markets across the island, according to a Straits Times check. This comes barely a week after Malaysia - Singapore’s biggest food supplier - trimmed domestic fuel subsidies. (Straits Times)
June 18: ERP rates in CBD to go up, 5 new gantries added. About half of existing ERP gantries islandwide will see their rates increase from July 7. (CNA) (Straits Times)
June 19: Housebrand rice prices up. The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) has found that prices for housebrands rose between 14 and58 per cent last month. The most dramatic jump was for Cold Storage’s First Choice Thai Fragrant Rice: :From between $8.75 and $9.10 for a 5kg-pack, to $13.80. (TODAY)
June 25: Pump prices up for 13th time since last July. PUMP prices have risen again, with petrol going up by five cents a litre and diesel, 10 cents.This latest increase, the 13th consecutive rise since last July, started when oil giant Shell raised rates at 4pm yesterday. By evening, Caltex and ExxonMobil had followed suit.(Straits Times) (TODAY)
June 25: Electricity tariffs to rise 4.98% from next quarter. Electricity tariffs will go up by 4.98 per cent or by 1.19 cents per kilo watt per hour (kWh) for all households from the next quarter, beginning July 1. (CNA)
June 28: Premium bus fares to go up. PREMIUM bus fares will soon go up, as operators here feel the pinch from higher fuel prices. SBS Transit, which runs more than half of such services, will raise fares by 30 to 60 cents, up to a maximum of $3.60 per trip. The fare hike will affect all of its 40 premium services. (Straits Times)
July 2: Private bus operators up prices over diesel price hikes. FACED with skyrocketing diesel prices, private bus operators are charging more to transport workers and rent out coaches. Ten bus companies contacted by The Straits Times said they have raised prices by at least 10 per cent in the last few months due to rising rising diesel prices, which have almost doubled in the last year. (Straits Times)
July 6: 5 S’pore River ERP gantries kick in on Monday. The new gantries, which will bring the total number of gantries in Singapore to 65, will charge $2 from 6pm to 7.30pm and $1 from 7.30pm to 8pm. (Straits Times)
July 7: Expect to see more of these gantries in coming months. New KPE will have 16, taking grand total from 60 to more than 80. When it opens fully on Sept 20, it will have the most ERP gantries among all roads here. New KPE will have 16, taking grand total from 60 to more than 80 (Straits Times)
July 12: 30-cent fuel levy for cab rides from Thursday. MOST cab rides will cost 30 cents more from next Thursday, after Singapore’s largest taxi operator ComfortDelGro yesterday announced its decision to levy a fuel surcharge on all trips. (Straits Times)
July 14: School bus fares going up on Aug 1. SCHOOL bus operators, bitten by skyrocketing diesel prices, could soon start charging parents $10 to $15 more a month to ferry schoolchildren. (Straits Times)
July 19: SMRT Taxis to levy 30 cents fuel surcharge. SMRT Taxis will levy a fuel surcharge of 30 cents per trip for all taxi trips from July 26. The fuel surcharge will apply to all flag down trips, as well as call centre and advanced bookings, SMRT said in a press release on Saturday. SMRT’s move came after ComfortDelGro implemented the surcharge on Thursday. (Straits Times)
July 22: High power bills: Record number of cases probed. A RECORD number of complaints about overcharging for electricity were investigated by Singapore Power last month. SP Services, the power company’s customer service arm, said it looked into 1,093 cases where customers had complained that their bills for May were higher than in previous months. (Straits Times)
July 23: S’pore June inflation rises 7.5% on higher food, housing costs. Singapore’s consumer inflation stood at a 26-year high in June, rising 7.5 per cent compared with a year ago, according to latest figures from the Department of Statistics. (CNA)
July 24: Singapore ranked fifth most expensive city in Asia. Singapore is now the fifth most expensive city in Asia, according to Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. In world standings, Singapore is in 13th position, one notch higher than in 2007. (CNA)
July 30: Heartland shoppers hit hardest by Nets fee hike. SOME mom-and-pop stores in the heartland are passing on an increase in Nets fees to consumers, despite being barred from doing so. (Straits Times)
25 August: CPI for households up 7.1% in first six months. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for households increased by 7.1 per cent in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year. (CNA)
Aug 29: More unable to pay electricity bills. 35% of families with power bill woes stay in larger 4- or 5-room flats. As of June this year, about 13,700 households have been put on a pre-paid metering scheme after they had their power supply cut off or were in danger of having the supply disconnected. (Straits Times)
August 30: SINGAPORE‘S public hospitals have raised ward charges in the last two months. The increases at Alexandra Hospital (AH), Changi General Hospital, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and SGH took effect at the beginning of July. Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National University Hospital (NUH) raised their fees this month. (Straits Times).
Sept 12: Bus and train fares up on October 1. The Public Transport Council (PTC) has given the green light for an overall net fare adjustment that will result in fare changes that will range from a 7-cent reduction to a 4-cent increase per journey. (CNA)
Sept 28: Childcare fees going up. The average monthly fees for childcare and infant care now are $684 and $1,184 respectively. A Sunday Times check with 20 childcare centres found that all but three intend to charge $30 to $120 more a month. (Straits Times)
Sept 29: Households to see average rise of about 22% in electricity bills from Oct. On average, all SP Services customers will face a 21.89 per cent increase. (CNA)
Sept 28: Some papers to cost more. The subscription and newsstand prices of both The Straits Times and The Sunday Times, currently at 70 cents and 80 cents respectively, will increase by 10 cents for the Sunday to Friday editions, and by 20 cents for the bumper Saturday edition. (Straits Times)
Oct 6: SingTel increases local fixed line subscription and call rates. SingTel is increasing its local fixed line subscription by S$10 a year from January 1, 2009. Residential customers will therefore pay S$110 per year in subscription and business customers will pay S$160 per year. (CNA)
Oct 21: 3rd ERP gantry on PIE to kick in. MOTORISTS heading west on the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) will have to pay Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges to drive beyond Eunos from Nov 3. The gantry along the expressway near the Eunos exit will be activated, charging $2 between 7am and 7.30am, and $1 between 7.30am and 8am. (Straits Times)
Oct 23: Singapore’s September inflation up 6.7% on-year. Singapore’s consumer price index rose 6.7 per cent in September compared with the same period last year. (CNA)
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Population
The exodus continues
Foreigners more than make up for increasing local outflow; unfortunately it doesn’t help consolidate nationhood. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Feb 24, 2008YEARS of strong economic growth have failed to stem Singapore’s skilled youths from leaving for a better life abroad, with the number topping 1,000 a year.
This works out to 4%-5%, or three in 10, of the highly educated population, a severe brain drain for a small, young nation, according to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
Such high-end emigration is usually associated with less better-off countries where living conditions are poor. Here the opposite is the case.
Last year the economy created almost 200,000 jobs, far in excess of the 38,000 births recorded.
The future doesn’t look better, either, despite Lee holding out promises of “a golden period” in the next five to 10 years.
Lee believes the exodus, which has been worrying him for two decades, could only grow because “every year, there are more people going abroad for their first or second degree.”
The emigration rate, one of the highest in the world on a per capita basis, is a blow to the government, particularly to Lee, who takes pride in building up this once poor squatter colony into a glittering global city.
They are people who abandoned their citizenship for a foreign one, mostly in Australia, the United States and Canada.
It is particularly serious for two reasons. First, Singapore is a young nation that is working hard to consolidate its nationhood and its people, and second, its defence lies in a reservist army.
This is made up of young men who have served two years of compulsory military training when they reach the age of 18. Any big outflow will badly affect security, not to mention the economy.
Adding to a declining birth rate, the problem of emigration, which appears to have worsened during the past few decades as people became better educated, will further reduce the base of this well-trained people’s army.
Hundreds of thousands of foreigners and permanent residents who have come to Singapore help make up the numbers, but they do not have to serve national service.
The emigrants, mostly professionals, don’t leave Singapore out of poverty but to seek a better, less pressurised life.
Lee recently said the brain drain is touching close to this family.
Lee’s grandson, the elder son of Prime Minister Hsien Loong, who is studying in the United States, has indicated that he may not return.
Over the years, the children of several Cabinet ministers have also made Britain or the US their home.
Lee, aged 84, has often spoken on the issue with emotions, once tearing when referring to the losses.
However, he has offered no reasons for the exodus beyond economic opportunities, although the government more or less knows what they are.
Singaporeans who have or are planning to emigrate are given a host of 10 questions and asked to tick the three most important ones. They include the following: -
> High costs of living
> Singapore is too regulated and stifling
> Better career and prospects overseas
> Prefer a more relaxed lifestyle
> Uncertain future of Singapore.
Some liberal Singaporeans believe Lee himself, with his authoritarian leadership and unpopular policies, is largely to blame.
Singapore’s best-known writer Catherine Lim calls it a climate of fear that stops citizens from speaking out against the government, saying it could eventually lead to the decline of the state.
She praised the government for its economic achievements but added: “A compliant, fearful population that has never learnt to be politically savvy could spell the doom of Singapore.” Globalisation, which offers opportunities in many countries like never before, is a big reason for the outflow.
Many countries, including populous China, are making a special effort to attract foreign talent.
Others who leave were worried about the future of their children living in a small island, and look for security and comfort of a larger country.
The exodus is more than made up – at least in numbers – by a larger intake of professionals from China and India.
“The trouble is many of the Chinese then use us as a stepping stone to go to America, where the grass is greener, Lee said.
“But even if we only keep 30%-40% and lose 60%-70%, we’re a net gainer,” he added.
He believed, however, that the Chinese would cease to come in 20 to 30 years’ time, when China’s living standards rise to match Singapore’s.
Some feel the large presence of foreigners, and the perks they enjoy over locals in military exemption as well as in scholarships, are themselves strong push factors.
They see the foreigners as a threat to jobs and space, undermining salaries and loosening the nation’s cohesion.
“I just feel very sad to see the Singapore of today with so many talented, passionate Singaporeans moving out and being replaced by many foreigners,” said one blogger. “I feel sorry for the future.”
Others point out the danger of an easy fix in numbers without regard to quality.
“Foreigners treat this place as a hotel, when the economy turns they will leave,” said a teacher who is seeing more and more foreign students in his class.
Lee recently made a passionate appeal to youths to think hard about their country. He said they had received education and opportunities provided by Singaporeans who had worked hard for it.
“Can you in good conscience say, ‘Goodbye! Thank you very much?’ Can you leave with a clear conscience? I cannot,” he said.
(The Star published this article under the hadline “Goodbye and thank you” on Feb 23, 2008.
Comments
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Brain Drain
by Kenneth Lyen
In the past few years, a number of my friends have emigrated from Singapore. Many of them are young gifted individuals on the upward swing of their careers. They have difficulties getting attractive jobs here, and they are aware of the exodus of manufacturing and consultation jobs out of Singapore. In addition my friends had become increasingly uncomfortable with the stifling nature of our bureaucracy, which prompted them to seek greener pastures overseas.
Ngiam Tong Dow wrote in the Straits Times of 14 August 2004 that SingaporeÂ’s future economic survival depends on the number of talented and creative individuals that we can cultivate and retain. Competition is now global, and we need to create new products and innovate old ones regularly. We are competing with the brightest and most creative brains in the world.
Each year we send large numbers of students overseas for study and research. Not all will return to Singapore, and we are suffering from a small but significant brain drain. Those who do return, will only remain for a while, and ultimately they will emigrate.
Top companies worldwide recognise the importance of talent, and they scour the world in search of gifted people, whom they will grab. How do we reduce the number of our brightest individuals being drawn overseas?
Ngiam suggested that one of the reasons why our talent leave is that they do not have enough creative space. Expanding this space can be achieved by giving greater freedom of expression, developing greater tolerance of divergent views and pushing out-of-bound markers. He also suggested that we make an emotional appeal to these people to return to Singapore, although he does not say how.
However he misses out on a couple of important points. Why do our young talent forsake Singapore? Yes, some find our academic and intellectual climate and our excessive government regulation, quite suffocating. Yes, we do not treat our own citizens as well as we treat our overseas visitors, and indeed we tend to look down on our own and do not accord them the recognition they deserve.
But there are a few other important factors that push our people away. First is the difficulty in getting financing for new businesses. Our financiers and venture capitalists tend to be very conservative, and do not like to take risks. They tend to underfund projects, so that there is no chance for them to succeed. Indeed, it is relatively easier to find funding overseas.
Secondly, the high cost of living in Singapore has become a handicap in doing business. We are the 46th most expensive city to live in, according to Mercer Human Resource ConsultingÂ’s report for 2004. Our businesses are no longer competitive.
Thirdly, we have a highly rigid atherosclerotic educational system. A significant number of emigrants cite this as the main reason why they are leaving. Their children are not coping with the excessively competitive and uncreative educational system. We may win international competitions that test convergent thinking, but we would most surely lose out on divergent thinking competitions if they were to exist.
And the last straw that pushes our creative people away is that we have a quiet, skeletal arts scene that has inadequate government and public support.
They have noted that Singapore agencies likes to "throw" money at overseas companies. For example, the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board is giving $10 million to lure overseas film companies to make part of their film in Singapore. The Singapore Film Commission gives 50% of film production costs to overseas companies on joint ventures, which in reality fail to afford any real benefits to Singapore filmmakers. Such behaviour sends the wrong message to Singaporeans.
Unless we redress these and other complaints, and take effective remedial action, we will continue to lose our best and brightest minds.
The former prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, accused such people as being "quitters". Well, instead of regarding this as a shameful label, the emigrants pride themselves in being "quitters". They send me photographs of their children enjoying the benefits of a more imaginative educational system overseas, and they tell me about the more self-fulfilling lifestyle they live.
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Singapore Scholarship Board Admits Defeat, suggests cutting bond to stem Brain Drain
Cut scholarship bond to stem brain drain Grace Ng Fri, Feb 29, 2008
The Straits Times
CUT the length of scholarship bonds to three years and grant tax rebates for the overseas university fees paid by parents whose children return to Singapore after studying abroad.
These measures were suggested by Nominated MP Loo Choon Yong to help tackle Singapore's brain drain.
He noted that many talented young Singaporeans are leaving the country annually to study overseas and feared they 'may be lost to Singapore permanently' if they settle overseas after studying there.
'We are losing some 1,000 bright people annually to other countries,' he said. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew provided the same statistic in an interview with United Press International earlier this month.
Dr Loo said he supported the notion that scholarship students must return to serve Singapore after they study overseas. But he urged the Government to cut bond periods to three years and allow them the option of serving also in the private sector, not just with the Government.
In this way, scholars who choose to work in the civil service would do so willingly. They would be attracted by the excellent compensation and improved work environment in government agencies, as well as the pride of serving Singapore, he said.
The scholarships must 'not be an instrument for converting free Singaporeans to indentured serfs,' he said.
In the light of the current shortage of places at local universities, Dr Loo also urged the finance minister to consider giving tax rebates to parents whose children study at approved overseas universities and return here to work.
These tax rebates can be the same size as the subsidy given for the child if he had attended a local university.
This can help to grow the pool of graduates in Singapore and give more Singaporeans a chance at tertiary education, said Dr Loo.
'If we lose our young, we will have nothing,' he said.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Feb 27, 2008
