Opinions

So we were just talking about how Singaporeans have a long way to go in terms of showing compassion and treating their foreign domestic workers (FDWs) with respect. According to MOM, there have been an increase in cases where employers have not provided for the basic needs of their domestic help. Some of these FDWs were even deprived of proper dietary nutrition. We may be technologically advanced but we are far from being a first world society. 

Now there is a video showing NEA officers at work, dismantling and taking away a makeshift mee bakso stall located at an open field next to City Plaza, near Paya Lebar MRT. The field is frequented mostly by Indonesian domestic workers on their off days, in particular, over the weekends. 

As an agency that enforces food hygiene, NEA needs to take a tough stance on such makeshift shops. If they do not, then similar makeshift, and usually unsanitary stalls may sprout in your neighbourhoods.  It is understandable that NEA seemingly has a zero tolerance policy on this matter. 

Nevertheless, the way it enforces the law can be reviewed. Admittedly, the video started showing the officers clearing up the area. What we say is only based on what we saw from the video. Instead of just throwing everything away, NEA could have been more nuanced in its approach, letting the FDWs finish consuming their food if they were in the midst of consuming it. They can then deal with the illegal hawker and the peripherals that were used. 

The FDWs are not the ones carrying out an illegal activity. They should not have to feel penalised or victimised just because they patronised the illegal stall.

The writer, Faith, wants some Mee Bakso.

The year for Singapore is ending on a slightly sour note due to the recent conflict with Malaysia. Both sides have agreed on a bilateral meeting in January 2019 to resolve the issues. While there may be some consensus on certain issues, it's not likely that there'll be more affirmative outcomes resulting from the meeting.

In the meantime, Malaysia has announced its plans for the temporary ban on the export of eggs, four species of fishes, and shrimps, to Singapore. The seafood ban will take place in Jan-Feb 2019, overlapping with CNY festivities. Among the species whose export can be halted are “kembung” (mackerel), “selar” (trevally), “pelaling” (Indian mackerel) and “bawal” (pomfret). Singaporeans are understandably concerned by the potential impacts.

We cannot say for certain if these plans are part of Malaysia's arsenal of non-military retaliatory weapons targeted at Singapore. On its part, Malaysia has indicated that these moves are what it deems necessary to meet the demand from domestic consumers during the monsoon season when supply is limited. Thailand will also be affected by the ban.

This is not the first time that Malaysia has banned the export of fishes in Singapore. The previous administration under Najib Razak imposed temporary bans to Singapore in 2013 and 2014. In fact in 2014, supplies were halted twice due to limited supply during the monsoon season. Consequently, there was an almost 20% increase in the prices of the affected fish species. Apart from this increase in prices, Singapore was largely unaffected by the bans.

The Singapore government must do more to ensure our food security. Without food and having adequate food security, we will always become vulnerable to changes in the external geographic, climate, social, and political conditions. Providing food for Singaporeans is a basic duty that our millionaire Ministers have to fulfill. What's the purpose of paying them so much that every time there is a limit to the food exports to Singapore, there is discontent and disquiet from the public.

Why then is Malaysia still the biggest source of egg for us? According to AVA, in 2017, Malaysia accounted for 73% of eggs imported to Singapore. Why didn't the millionaire Ministers look at reducing this to 65% this year and 60% next year and 55% the year after? If they had done so, the impact of any ban of egg exports to Singapore from Malaysia will be even more minimal.

Let this be a lesson for the millionaire Ministers. Not many of us Singaporeans are super-rich and have the money to eat more expensive egg or fish alternatives. Do not forget about the common man. 

They must not get complacent. A 2018 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Singapore first in terms of food security. While Singapore scored high for 'affordability' (94.3), Singapore scored 81 for 'availability' and 78.1 for 'quality and safety'. There is room for improvement especially, for the last two measures on the index.

Rankings like that don't make Singaporeans feel 100% secure about their food supply. What the people on the ground actually feel or perceive, are the impacts on their daily life, also matters.

The writer, Faith, still wants her kaya toast with eggs, and fish soup.

An Audi driver's selfish act has landed him the honour of being the most inconsiderate driver of the day. In a Facebook post by Kelvin Chew, an Audi driver was seen parking his car in an inconsiderate manner, where he was parked not on a parking lot, but between the spaces of 4 other properly parked cars, which also blocks off their access to going out of the lots.

The Audi was seen parked in a perpendicular manner to the other cars, and when the driver of one of the blocked car wanted to go out, he was prevented from doing so. Despite his honking repeatedly, the driver of the Audi did not return to his car until 26 minutes later. When the driver did eventually turn up, he did not apologise for this moronic actions, and instead told off the driver who had been honking for 26 minutes that he should have sounded his horn if he wanted to go out.

The Audi driver's response as to why he parked like that, the idiot driver said that there was no available parking lot. Maybe in his mind, that made it alright to inconvenience others, such is the self-entitled nature of this idiot.

Transport Minister, Khaw Boon Wan said that he felt 2018 was a much better year for public transport, and particularly for train reliability. He then attributed the good performance of the SMRT trains to new SMRT CEO Neo Kian Hong, whom Khaw described as a good leader.

In a further slap to the face to former SMRT CEO Desmond Kuek, Neo replaced him effectively only on August 1, which meant that Khaw had indicated the appointment of less than 5 months of Neo had helped turn the corner, while Desmond Kuek's tenure, which included for most of this year, was the one causing trouble. 

Khaw also pressed his point that having good leaders means things which are in trouble can be turned around, and again used Neo as his example. Of course, both appointments were rubber stamped by Khaw himself, so this says a lot about his leadership capabilities too. If your man fails you, throw him to the sharks to be devoured, and praise the next man you appointed to high heavens. It remains to be seen for how much longer will Neo be Khaw's blue eyed bot, before things start to turn bad again. 

So the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced some good news - more students passed their N' level exams this year compared to last year. So for the vast majority of you, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. After that, there's more thinking to do about your future.

About 76.9% of N(A) students did very well and are able to move on to doing your 'O' levels in Secondary 5 next year. The conventional route is to stay and complete your 'O' levels so that you'll have a chance at junior colleges and after that, the universities. This is the route that we Singaporeans have fixated on for many years.

The 'O's and 'A's mattered very much in the past because options were limited and academic performance was one of few ways to differentiate people.

It is no longer the case now. There are so many other ways of attaining success. Academic results matters, but not to extent that it defines your whole life. If you qualify, you can choose to go for the Direct-Entry Scheme to Polytechnic Programme (DPP), through a two-year year Higher NITEC programme at the ITE. For those who are not so theory-inclined, but are very hands-on and learn better through practical routines, then this could be a better option for you.

Don't decide, against your own conscience, to stay on to do your 'O' levels just to conform to old mindsets. Sec 5 will be a struggle and you will hate yourself for making the wrong decisions. You can still get to university in the future through your polytechnics.

At this age, it is difficult to know or understand what you really want to do with your life. The more reason to take this next decision more seriously.

The writer, Faith, wishes parents will stop pressuring their children to do their 'O' levels, knowing that it'll be a struggle.

Hi Admin,

Came across this on HWZ. Very curious allegations against an RMAF officer, this Major Kamarulzaman Ali, basically trying to stir shit between Singapore and Malaysia using a website called AirTimes. A netizen on HWZ linked this Major to Airtimes which had published an article with very verifiably fake news that an Apache helicopter belonging to Singapore was monitoring Malaysian ships by intruding into Malaysian airspace and threatening its sovereignty.

To support its claims, the article included a 2 minute long video of a helicopter flying and nothing else. No other explanations or any indications that it was really a Singapore helicopter. You watch the video and you make your own conclusions.

When making an allegation between two neighbouring countries in times sensitive times, it takes a very brave or a very stupid man to use such videos to make claims of an intrusion.

So anyway the netizen did a little digging on AirTimes and found the link to Major Kamarulzaman. 

Turns out, when the netizen googled his name, you can find a person of a similar name called Major Kamarulzaman Ali who is purportedly from RMAF. There's actually an article from 2011 which named this Major as a Public Relations Officer with the Malaysian Royal Air Force. What are the odds that they might be the same person?

A lot of the content of this AirTimes website is carried on a Facebook page called 'Malaysian Military Power', whose objective appears to be to foster animosity between Malaysians and Singaporeans. Guess what the motto of 'Malaysian Military Power' is? Win With Words!

It is clear that no matter the state of the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore, we remain a vulnerable target for our neighbour. Politicians left, right,  and centre, like they have done many times in our short history, will attempt to use and abuse us to serve their own political agendas. We have to learn to deal with it and not be so insecure and react to every provocation.

What's different in this case is that we don't often see the hand of the Malaysian civil servants working to stir tensions. This is possibly the first time that someone with the profile and rank like Major Kamarulzaman Ali is shown to be allegedly behind a platform that is purposely targeting Singapore

Even more disappointing was that the Malaysian government had committed to dialogue and de-escalating tensions just last week. With this bit of fake news alleging that Singapore was challenging Malaysia's sovereignty, you have to question the commitment of the Malaysian government towards dialogue. The article was mischievous. The less said about the video, the better because it was an insult to the intelligence of Malaysians and Singaporeans who are sophisticated enough to not fall for such cheap trickery.

As a Singaporeans with many Malaysian friend both here and in Malaysia, I surely hope that the politicians will not escalate the matter further. At the same time, I also hope that the civil servants also do their part to do what's right and ethical, for the good of both countries.

Fahmi