SINGAPORE: It was a Sunday of many firsts for Kadir Mohammad Abdul, Hosen Sahadat, Islam Shohidul and Abul Hosen. It was their first time inside a Housing Board home – though they’d certainly helped build enough of these flats over the years.

Their first evening as guests of a Singaporean family. Their first taste of a real Singaporean home-cooked meal. 

On their sole day off after an draining week of 12-hour work days while fasting, the four men from Bangladesh had spent some time at their dormitory in Mandai dressing up for the occasion.

Kadir, the ‘elder brother’ of the group, sported a striped shirt, Sahadat and Shohidul donned punjabi suits, while Abul, the youngest, filled out a shirt and vest. They were upbeat if a tad nervous as the hour of iftar – the breaking of the fast during Ramadan – drew closer.

When asked, Kadir brushed it off with a laugh and the Singlish-ism he’d picked up after six years in Singapore. “No lah, scared for what?” he said, as they navigated the confusing layout of the HDB block’s circular void deck, trying to find the way up to the third-storey unit.

“Happy lah, our first time here.”

Waiting for them were their Singaporean hosts, Siti Zawiyah, a nurse in her late 30s, and her husband, interior designer Fadzullah Hassan.

When Siti learnt that a friend who works at CNA Insider was documenting the lives of migrant workers this Ramadan, she thought this would be a good opportunity to “take that first step” to invite them to dinner – a gesture of appreciation for what they’d done for Singapore, as well as sympathy for the fact that they were thousands of miles from home during this time.

(Read Part 1: ‘My heart cries’: Muslim migrant workers ache for family, but find support from bosses)

Over the years, Siti and Fadzullah have shared trays of food with migrant workers while breaking fast at the mosque during Ramadan.

We’ve been wanting to invite them over, but we just didn’t know how to approach someone and say, ‘Oh, do you want to come to our house?’

And so, Siti asked her parents if they could host the four Bangladeshis at their five-room flat, the roomy venue for countless family gatherings. “It was an instant yes, no apprehension whatsoever.”

In fact Madam Sukati Mustaffa, a homemaker in her mid-60s, asked if more of their fellow workers could come. Their enthusiasm, Siti reckons, springs her father’s time as a drydock fitter at Keppel Shipyard, where he worked for four decades alongside migrant workers.

The family had grown accustomed to hearing Mr Mohamad Lamin talk affectionately about his colleagues from Bangladesh, Myanmar and India. 

“He understands how they have been away from family, so it’s always been in his nature to bring food from home for them,” said Siti.

HAPPINESS AND TEARS

For iftar with their special guests that night, Mdm Sukati had prepared well-loved family dishes such as sambal prawns, pan-fried mackerel fillets, stir-fried vegetables and chicken curry. Siti’s younger sister and brother-in-law also came over with their young children.

At 6.30pm, Kadir and his friends showed up at the door. They greeted the adults shyly, but were almost immediately drawn to the children – Myiesha, a smiley six-year-old, and playful toddler Mateen.

Abul, 26, seemed to have a natural affinity for them, while the children seemed to touch something deep in Kadir. “Now, I’m seeing this, I’m missing…” said the older man, unable to finish as emotion took hold. 

This is the sixth consecutive Ramadan that the father of three has spent away from his family. Kadir has had to watch his children – aged six, eight and ten – grow up through video calls and photos. Earlier that day, he’d tried to make his usual Sunday call to them, but the connection had failed, and the homesick longing was clear on this face.

WATCH: Trying to make a home away from home (7:31)

Siti’s family was curious about their Bengali visitors, but didn’t want to to unnerve them by being too forward with questions. 

“It took a while for them to warm up. But my father helped a lot by sitting with and talking to them,” Siti said.

Her husband, Fadzullah, gave a short heartfelt speech thanking them for the sacrifices they made to work here and build Singapore. 

A beaming Kadir expressed how he was “very very happy” to be invited – and abruptly broke down into heaving sobs, the pain of being away from his own family crashing down hard on him.

“Don’t cry. You will meet your family,” said Mr Mohamad, trying to comfort him.

‘HAVE WE EXCLUDED THEM?’

Siti understands only too well what migrant workers like Kadir go through, especially the loneliness. “Despite being with friends in the dorm, ultimately that’s work, and it’s sad not to have family relations,” she said. “Relying on mobile phones, how happy can they really be?” 

In 2015, soon after she and Fadzullah got married, the couple organised a small backpack-and-toiletries donation drive for migrant workers. The idea came about when Siti spotted a worker on the train with a dirty, tattered bag. “My niece had a nicer bag,” she thought.

The couple collected more than 100 backpacks filled with hygiene essentials. But when they tried to hand these out for free to workers near construction sites, “they were quite apprehensive,” said Siti.

It was as if they felt they didn’t deserve any goodness from us.

The couple then contacted advocacy group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), which among other things, runs a free food programme for destitute workers in Little India. Being there and handing out the remaining backpacks “was an eye-opening experience”, Siti said.

They met migrant workers who could no longer work due to injuries, but had no savings to return home “so they were pretty much in limbo”. Some of these workers could not believe that they could keep the bags for free.

“‘Do I have to do something?’ they would ask me. I’d say, ‘No, no, it’s yours to keep.’

“That was when I asked myself why they would react this way. What does it say about us? Have we always excluded them?” added Siti.

Nicholas Harrigan, a university lecturer who volunteers as one of TWC2’s research coordinators, said that “despite adversity, overall these men are resourceful and proud”.

But, “they are away from home, they work long hours for low pay, and they’re often in considerable debt,” he noted. “All of these can contribute to poor mental health. But job insecurity, agent fee debt and verbal harassment by supervisors are the most damaging.”

So “while social integration would be nice,” Mr Harrigan said, “honestly, it is a long way down the list of priority issues migrant workers would like resolved”. 

GIVING BACK, BEYOND RAMADAN

Still, knowing that someone cares could go some way in helping them bear that burden. 

Fadzullah believes that coming to Singapore “is a gamble” for many migrant workers. “If it’s good, they earn money and rejoin their families. But if they fall sick or get injured, they lose everything. No money, no future for them or their families.”

That is why he and Siti hope that more Singaporeans would “play a part by giving back” to these men – and not just during Ramadan, when the spirit of giving runs high.

“For most of us who work, we have enough and there is always something we can give – not in terms of money all the time, but in terms of time and effort also,” Siti said.

And giving back is just what dozens of CNA Insider viewers have volunteered to do, in a moving response to Part 1 of this story describing the life of Muslim migrant workers during Ramadan.

Many on Facebook said they would be happy to host migrant workers to a meal at home – and starting Sunday (June 10) night, several will get to do just that, in house calls facilitated initially by CNA Insider.

Reflecting on his first experience as a guest in a local home, Kadir said that while he was a bit nervous at first, the family was very friendly.

“The culture is actually very similar to my family. Together we sit on the floor, share makan, and after praying we have tea and talk… I miss this. It makes me very happy,” said Kadir, who is planning a one-week trip back to Bangladesh during Hari Raya Haji in August.

Said Fadzullah: “We as Singaporeans need to take the first step. I’m glad that we did today, and inshaa’Allah (god willing), we’ll do it again.”

If you would like to host a small group of migrant workers to a meal at home, contact us on Facebook. Read Part 1 of Ramadan diaries here. 

SINGAPORE: If you were in charge of admissions at a school with only one place to spare, which of these three students would you give it to?

Would you give it to Alan, who consistently scores top marks despite often being caught sleeping in class, whose parents have spared no expense to give him the best tutors and enrichment classes, and who also happens to be a national swimmer?

Would you give it to Mei Ling, a girl who does reasonably well in her studies, is passionate about dance, takes lessons at her local community club and helps train students in her school’s dance CCA?

Or would you give it to Swee Wee, who works hard and consults her teachers at school frequently, but does not do well academically due to her struggles with the English language and her parents’ inability to afford private tutors?

It is a question with no easy answers. But these Secondary 2 students at Swiss Cottage Secondary were trying their utmost to tackle it. 

“National swimmers have more recognition than the president of a school CCA,” said a student.

But another student countered, to laughter from the class: “What if he keeps losing?”

“Mei Ling is the president of the school’s dance CCA,” piped up another student. “So she has leadership skills, and she helps the younger students. I think that’s more important than being a national swimmer.”

Global Perspectives Programme. 

The programme hopes to teach students a plethora of skills, including critical thinking, exploring different points of view and ultimately, encourage them to suggest initiatives for social action.

The topic of the day was meritocracy and social inequality. But other topics like racial differences, multiculturalism and immigration are also part of the curriculum. 

Students also go for excursions or take up hands-on projects for the programme, which was first piloted in 2013 and integrated into the school’s curriculum for all lower secondary students.

“Last year, we visited a migrant worker’s dorm,” said Secondary 2 student Aleena Lim. “Most people have the impression that they just slack off every day, but we saw their living conditions, and realised that their life is very tough.”

“We learned how to take the perspective of the workers, and we understood how they would feel if other people were to criticise them.”

REFRESHED APPROACH TO NATIONAL EDUCATION: MORE SCHOOL AUTONOMY IN SHAPING SUCH PROGRAMMES

More school-driven initiatives like Swiss Cottage’s Global Perspectives Programme are likely to be on the cards for schools here, with the Ministry of Education’s announcement in March of a new, refreshed approach to National Education (NE).

The refreshed approach, spearheaded following a year-long review by the 30-member NE Review Committee, features three key thrusts that schools are encouraged to frame their NE efforts around.

For example, NE discussions will take on more contemporary issues, such as what students at Swiss Cottage are experiencing. And these discussions, explained Senior Minister of State for Education Janil Puthucheary in March, will also create safe spaces for students to have respectful conversations, whether they agree or disagree with each other and their teachers.

Schools would also be given the autonomy to implement their own changes based on the profiles and needs of their students. And this means different interpretations of what constitutes NE could emerge, said NE Review Committee member and founder of The Thought Collective, Tong Yee.

“Different people come from different walks of life, races, religions and background, and NE means something different for everyone,” he explained. “For example, there could be Christian values that might speak into what is meaningful for me as a citizen, and as a Buddhist, I might feel differently.”

He stressed that the content – and core NE messages, such as the idea that no one owes Singapore a living – will remain the same. But schools will have the autonomy to make that message relevant to students of diverse background.

“The sense of NE so far, is that it’s a very good historical tool,” added fellow committee member and executive director of social enterprise The Hidden Good Wu Jiezhen. “People learn about Sir Stamford Raffles landing in Singapore, how we ate tapioca during WWII, and how we overcame all the challenges we faced as a new nation.”

But she said that the feedback from teachers, students and other stakeholders were that they did not just want to learn about the past, but also learn about contemporary issues and take ownership of how the new NE narrative is shaped.

“When you teach the future, the future is not set, so you can’t teach a set curriculum,” she said. “That’s why one of the new thrusts is really about teaching the students about contemporary issues, to get them to think about how we are today, and how we can actively play a role in the Singapore that we want for the future.”

“That’s a lot more active participation, rather than just passively receiving information.”

MORE SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS ESSENTIAL IN SHIFT

For this approach to work, both committee members said supporting teachers and giving them the skills to design and conduct such programmes is essential. Which, perhaps, would explain why the third thrust of the refreshed NE approach focuses on giving teachers more opportunities for professional development.

“It’s not super easy to deal with contemporary issues,” explained Ms Wu. “So how can we equip teachers with the skill sets to facilitate conversations, rather than just delivering content?”

Professional development and more support at the school level were also raised by teachers involved in developing the school’s Global Perspectives Programme at Swiss Cottage.

The team, which includes staff members from various disciplines across the school, developed their materials and approach from scratch and tweaked it based on how students responded.

Teachers involved in the programme hold regular professional development sessions, where they meet to address potential discussion points students might bring in, and talk about how they can tackle them.

“Regardless of what subject you’re teaching, it’s useful, because you construct knowledge together as professionals,” said Mini Sathiya Sidhan, the teacher facilitating the lesson on meritocracy. “We also need to be very responsive to changes, because sometimes when someone prepares a lesson, it may not work in every class, and we sometimes get it changed on the day itself.”

To that end, Mdm Sathiya noted, support from her colleagues in the school and professional development to help teachers develop soft skills like facilitating discussions on current affairs are extremely helpful.

“When we offer students multiple perspectives on current affairs, we need to be aware of all the different perspectives, and also help students sift out the accuracy of the information,” said another teacher, Vicki Yong.  

“We also had to bounce off a lot of different ideas about the various scenarios that could come up in class, what examples we should give, and how it should reflect different perspectives.”

“So these professional development sessions are actually very critical to level up teachers’ knowledge on a certain issue.”

EXCITING FIRST STEPS, BUT ONUS LIES ON STUDENTS TO TAKE CHARGE

With schools being given the freedom to design and develop their own programmes, the sky’s the limit – and there are already several interesting ideas on the horizon, both committee members said.

“I know one school that’s developing an entirely new CCA centred around Singapore,” said Mr Tong. “So you get badges and points … and you become a better Singaporean.”

“We always say that doing good doesn’t have to look a certain way, and I think that’s relevant to the new approach to NE,” added Ms Wu. “It’s for people to explore different versions of what it means to them.”

“So you don’t have to volunteer at a beach clean-up if you want to support climate action,” she said. “It’s great if you do, but you don’t have to do that. You can come up with your own ideas … like running an advocacy campaign in schools to get students to bring their own lunch boxes to reduce plastic waste.”

But the true core of the shift, both committee members stressed, is seeing students take ownership and initiative of creating the NE curriculum of the future.

“Some schools have very interesting ideas and programmes, so we really want more schools to also get on board,” said Ms Wu. “But the narrative really needs to come from the ground-up: from the students themselves.”

“We all know that the next generation will be the ones running Singapore in the future,” added Mr Tong. “And it’s not about us entertaining them so they have a good experience with NE.”

“It’s more about developing the skills in the students now, so they become civic leaders, and start coming up with their own ideas.”

While he pointed out that there is “a lot of work to be done” and it could take at least five to 10 years before seeing this really bear fruit in the students, Mr Tong said he has high hopes for schools and students.

“Schools used to engage us to run trails in the community to grow in community understanding,” he explained. “But some schools are now asking for training to design trails, or ask their students lead the trail themselves.”

“So they want student development, and skill-set building, which is really the right focus,” he said. “So by doing this, it’s going to make more schools have this shift, or accelerate the shift.

“I have hope for them.”

LA MALBAIE, Quebec: Leaders of the G7 nations on Saturday papered over the cracks in their alliance at a summit in Canada but came away with little more than an agreement to disagree on trade, as U.S. President Donald Trump defiantly brandished his “America First” agenda.

Trump, who last week slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico, left the Group of Seven summit early but not before threatening to cut off trade with countries that treated the United States unfairly.

“We’re like the piggy bank that everybody is robbing,” he said at a press conference as his G7 counterparts continued their two-day meeting in La Malbaie, Quebec, and officials hammered out a joint communique.

“This isn’t just G7. I mean, we have India, where some of the tariffs are 100 percent … And we charge nothing,” Trump said. “And it’s going to stop. Or we’ll stop trading with them.”

In their communique, the leaders of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Japan agreed on the need for “free, fair, and mutually beneficial trade” and the importance of fighting protectionism.

“We strive to reduce tariff barriers, non-tariff barriers and subsidies,” they said in the statement.

Trump, who repeated that his tariffs are meant to protect U.S. industry and workers from unfair international competition, told reporters he had suggested to the other G7 leaders that all trade barriers, including tariffs and subsidies, be eliminated.

He also denied the summit had been contentious, a remark that contradicted what one G7 official described as an “extraordinary” exchange on Friday in which Trump repeated a list of trade grievances, mainly concerning the EU and Canada.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the official’s remarks about Trump.

Trump’s counterparts in the G7 have been scrambling this week to try to find some semblance of consensus with Washington on trade and the other key issues that have formed the basis of the 42-year-old organization.

“These are jointly shared principles, although the pitfalls lie in the details,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a press conference before the release of the communique.

French President Emmanuel Macron described it as a good first step that represented the G7 nations’ desire to stabilize the situation.

“Nevertheless, I do not consider that with a declaration all is obtained and it is obvious that we will have in the coming weeks, the next months, to continue to work,” Macron told reporters.

(Additional reporting by Jean-Baptiste Vey, Andrea Hopkins, David Ljunggren, Giselda Vagnoni, Jan Strupczewski and William James in La Malbaie and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Susan Thomas and Grant McCool)

BEIJING, China: Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Saturday (Jun 9) he was “impressed” by what he saw during his first official visit to Pyongyang, North Korea, ahead of the planned Trump-Kim summit in Singapore on Jun 12.

Dr Balakrishnan was invited to the country by his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho after a working visit to Washington on Tuesday, where he met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton. He was in Pyongyang from Thursday to Saturday morning.

In Pyongyang, he witnessed a clean and beautiful city with ongoing construction for modern commercial and residential buildings. He also saw an eye hospital with the latest medical equipment, he told reporters.

“To be frank with you, I come back very impressed,” Dr Balakrishnan said to Singapore media on Saturday in Beijing, where he made a brief stopover after flying from Pyongyang in the morning.

“Frankly, my views have also altered based on what I saw, heard, and (after I had) spoken to people,” he said, sharing his reflections on North Korea. “Clearly, the government has been hard at work all these decades to upgrade their infrastructure.” 

Dr Balakrishnan also said he saw beyond the hardware in North Korea. 

“I also got to experience the rugged, disciplined, determined, self-reliant society,” he said. “They know they have had enormous challenges for well-nigh a century in North Korea. But they are proud of themselves and of their identity, and I can see there is that determination to move on, get ahead and to progress.” 

“So the society itself is a very impressive society and a city in its own right,” he added. 

Dr Balakrishnan was on what he had described as a whirlwind visit to the US and North Korea. He had made the trips to ensure that preparations for the historic US-North Korea summit in Singapore will go through without any glitch. 

While he did not reveal the nature of his talks with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho, citing sensitivities, he said he walked away from his visit with a better understanding of the isolated nation, where he also met North Korea’s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam.

“Despite these maximal sanctions, what you have is a society that has continued to invest itself and continuously trying to upgrade people and their skills and the services they provide to their citizens,” Dr Balakrishnan said. “Now, can you imagine if peace finally comes, and North Korea is allowed to open up to the world and gain access to technology, capability, skills and markets.” 

“I think the sky is the limit for their people,” he added. 

And while Singapore is a neutral host, it’s hoping that a breakthrough can be made on its grounds on Jun 12, the foreign minister said.

“If a breakthrough is achieved during the summit in Singapore, if peace comes, there will be a bountiful harvest. 

“Primarily of course, with the Korean peninsula but also the rest of us, including Singapore as well.”

Dr Balakrishnan had previously made tongue-in-cheek remarks about how Singapore would just be serving coffee and tea to its guests during the Trump-Kim talks.

But on a serious note, he said Singapore has been working very hard to ensure it provides negotiating parties a safe and secure environment for the talks.

“If you knew how much work my staff in the ministry have worked: They’ve all had sleepless nights answering messages from all over the world, addressing very specific requests – it goes far beyond serving coffee and tea,” he said. 

Dr Balakrishnan also said Singapore’s role in contributing to world peace and in improving bilateral ties between the US and North Korea is a worthy cause.

He also shared in a Facebook post on Saturday that he visited Mangyongdae, a traditional rural house commemorated in North Korea as the birthplace of its founding president Kim Il Sung. 

He also visited the Korean Revolution Museum, Juche Tower and rode the Pyongyang Metro, which was built in the 1960s, he wrote.​​​​​​​

JOHOR BAHRU: Twice every day, 10 times a week, Jason Han finds himself in a terrifying, treacherous situation. The 39-year-old Malaysian has to cross a small road which needs maybe just five steps but bucketloads of courage, to negotiate packs of roaring, honking motorcycles tearing down a bend toward him. Zero quarter is given by these riders, who throttle their engines to tackle the slight incline while yelling to intimidate Han and other clutches of pedestrians gingerly pottering at the side, anxiously waiting to make a run for it.

Traversing this part of the Causeway – which lies close to the Malaysian end – takes a formidable mix of experience and anticipatory skills, according to Han. Already he has witnessed two accidents here over four years of walking the 1km-long link, as part of his daily commute between home in Malaysia’s Johor Bahru city and his workplace in Singapore’s Jurong. Once, the engineer at Creative Technology was even knocked over by a fellow pedestrian who’d been plowed into by a motorcycle.

This fraught crossing is just one of multiple ordeals faced by some 300,000 Malaysians – according to a 2016 government report – who opt to cover the Causeway on foot every day. Emerging from Johor Bahru’s Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex (CIQ), there are no footpaths or traffic lights, only signs warning and discouraging pedestrians. “It’s quite dangerous for us to walk along the road where the cars are quite fast,” said Han.

In the middle of the Causeway, large stone slabs prevent motorcyclists from parking at the side – but also force pedestrians to walk even closer to oncoming traffic. Entering the Singaporean half of the bridge, a pavement leading to Woodlands Checkpoint finally appears, though overgrown shrubbery renders it single-file only. “Most of us walk because we have no choice – the jam is bad,” said Han. “If not, we would rather take the bus.”

Whether by foot, public transport or personal vehicle, hundreds of thousands of Malaysians endure a daily journey beset by pedestrian perils, severe traffic gridlocks, crawling customs and much more – all to make a living down south.

Their predicament came to the fore during campaigning for Malaysia’s 14th general election in May, and with a brand new government installed since, expectations are high that improvements will come – something local lawmakers themselves are acknowledging.

“We will look at the Causeway that is getting increasingly congested,” said Johor’s new chief minister Osman Sapian. “Our Home Affairs Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will come down and observe how to resolve related problems at Johor and the Second Link (at Singapore’s Tuas).

“Importantly, the congestion at the Causeway must be overcome by whatever means,” he added, reflecting the position taken by other Johor state exco members.

“WE ARE COMMITTED”

Motorcyclist Razali Tompang was once ensnared in a Causeway jam lasting up to four hours, but he considers the last few weeks of commute his most trying yet.

“It’s now fasting month – Ramadan – so I’m tired and dehydrated, and I’m sitting there with dust and exhaust generated by vehicles, plus people smoking cigarettes illegally,” said the 40-year-old professional, who has been riding from the Johor Bahru suburb of Larkin to his office in eastern Singapore since 2007.

Razali said the late-2016 implementation of an automated gantry system for motorcycles (M-BIKE) at CIQ helped speed things up for a while – but disorder was quickly restored with riders jumping queues and some counters still shut at 5am when bikes are already pouring in.

“The new government could increase the number of counters and make sure they’re open,” said Razali. “It’s been proven: On election day, when the immigration department said they would operate the counters at 100 per cent, there was really not much jam and we cleared everything smoothly within half an hour.”

Meanwhile, Han wondered if it was possible to speed up immigration and reduce manual checks on the Singapore side. “For the automated gate, time to pass through requires 14 seconds but the counter manned by the officer takes more than one minute,” he said.

“I hope the federal level government will come in with suggestions too – that would mean something.”

On May 30, transport minister Anthony Loke confirmed the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) would proceed, even though another major infrastructure project, the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR), looks set to be halted by Malaysia.

When up and running by 2024, the RTS will connect Bukit Chagar station in Johor Baru to the upcoming Woodlands North MRT terminus. The aim is to reduce Causeway congestion by up to 15 per cent, with the RTS able to carry 10,000 passengers compared to the 300 fetched by the current Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) Tebrau Shuttle.

Johor state exco chair for investment Jimmy Puah told Channel NewsAsia he knew of residents in his Bukit Batu ward waking as early as 2.30am to get to work in Singapore by 5am.

“With the RTS and better connectivity, I hope their travel time will be shortened,” he said. “But in the meantime, we have to think of more ad-hoc measures – perhaps building travelators on the Causeway. There are security issues of course, but we’re trying to think out of the box and look at several angles.

“We want to make sure people can travel to and from Singapore in a much smoother manner, and we are committed to solve the issue of jams, in whatever manner.”

Fellow state executive councillor Dzulkefly Ahmad suggested diverting traffic away from the Causeway by reducing toll charges at the Second Link – a move which the former government said it would consider at the start of the year.

He, along with local government exco chair Tan Hong Pin, also urged the need to promote public transport by cutting down on fees and adding more buses.

Johor expert Dr Francis Hutchinson, who leads the Malaysia programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, agreed. 

“By increasing parking spaces in strategic locations, coupled by good quality bus services, for example, the transit time could be made easier and less onerous,” he said, while proposing other “low-hanging fruit” such as increasing manpower at crossings at strategic times or making toll charges time-sensitive.

“AS LONG AS IT’S 1:3”

When he first started working in Singapore in 2009, delivery driver Arayani Aini would get severely worked up by the daily jams at the Causeway. These days, he’s just numb.

“If I get angry, it’s not at the congestion, because that’s normal. I get angry at fellow commuters,” said the 29-year-old. “They don’t abide by the rules and don’t work together to ensure everyone goes home efficiently. Sometimes motorcyclists enter the car lanes; sometimes car drivers use the motorcycle lanes; and sometimes lorries drive on the wrong lanes. If everyone has the right attitude, the congestion will be reduced.”

Arayani’s worst experience was during the long Easter weekend in April, when he left Singapore at 5.30pm and reached Johor at 1.30am – an astonishing eight-hour debacle that forced him to exit his car to stretch his legs.

“If the exchange rate falls to 1:2.1 or maybe even 1.9, I’ll be prepared to reconsider. But as long as it’s 1:3, I will continue working in Singapore,” said the father of one.

Han, his fellow commuter, said this strength of the Singapore dollar against Malaysian ringgit was the main reason for a “huge surge” of his compatriots crossing the Causeway to find work, with some descending from other states to buy or rent houses in Johor Bahru.

Razali, however, said it was also about equal opportunity. “A lot of Malaysians are going to Singapore to work because it’s all merit-based – if you do well and work hard, you will get your rewards.

“In Malaysia … we know it’s always about cronyism, and who you know to get you into both government and private jobs. This was then and I hope with the new government, these kinds of things will stop,” he said.

“Because given a chance, of course I would want to work in Malaysia and contribute to my country.”

Johor chief minister Osman said he would not – and could not – prevent Malaysians from working in Singapore, but promised his government would “try to create something good”, whether in terms of jobs, salaries or standard of living, for them to come back and serve their own country.

“Let’s say a Malaysian is getting S$2,000 a month, about RM6,000. If we can get a job for them paying RM4500, a lot of them will be willing to come back,” said assemblyman Tan. “Because when they work in Singapore, they are sacrificing their personal life, social life, time with children and family … It will be worth it if they can work in Malaysia with a bit of a lower pay, but gain back all these other things.”

Enticing Malaysians to return home to work is the “ultimate goal”, said his colleague Puah. “But of course with Singapore’s exchange rate, it’s always better prospects there. Unless we bring it down, the economic side of things dictate themselves.”

“Those things won’t happen overnight,” said Liew Chin Tong, an academic and former member of parliament who lost narrowly at the last election, but remains a key figure in the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition.

“We hopefully will see some results within five years. And by that time Malaysians – especially Johoreans – can go to the polls at least knowing there are more jobs; better jobs; better-paying jobs,” he continued.

“And perhaps the Malaysian economy will be in better shape, with the ringgit strengthened because we have better fundamentals, and eventually the number of people who’re prepared to come back to work in Malaysia will be more than before.”

This is the final part of a series looking at how the change of government in Malaysia is being felt in Johor. The first three parts discussed tourism, race-based policies and the role of royalty.

SINGAPORE: With the world watching the upcoming Trump-Kim summit intently, the spotlight has also been turned on Singapore – and its role as host. And according to marketing and hospitality experts Channel NewsAsia spoke to, the summit is a priceless opportunity for Singapore to showcase itself to the world.

Preparations are well underway for Tuesday’s summit, which will be held at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island, and in the lead-up, images of Singapore have been splashed across the front pages of newspapers and television broadcasts around the world.

This, said founder of marketing consultancy Kepios Simon Kemp, can help raise valuable awareness about what the country can offer.

“When I go travelling around the world, I find that a lot of people know that we exist, but they have no idea where we are on the map, and have no idea that we’re not part of China,” said Mr Kemp. “They have no idea how clean it is, how vibrant the city is…and once they do…I don’t think anything more than simple awareness is needed for people to add Singapore to their list of destinations.”

“The Formula 1 race has done a wonderful job in projecting Singapore’s landscape, image, and beautiful skyline on a global scale, and the upcoming summit will do the same,” added Lars Voedisch, managing director of PRecious Communications. “This is something that a lot of countries would pay a lot of money for.”

And when the throng of international media land in Singapore, they will experience, according to managing director of public relations firm Asia PR Werkz Cho Pei Lin, what she terms the “Singapore DNA”.

“From welcoming them at Changi Airport, to our garden city, connected infrastructure and transport network, a SMART Nation, clean and efficient, and the ability to put together the summit at short notice whilst ensuring safety and security for the two delegations and Singaporeans,” she said. “It is an opportunity like never before to showcase Singapore to the world.”

“As a Singaporean, I’m very proud that we are trusted by the United States and DPRK to put this together on such short notice,” she added.

BENEFITS TO SINGAPORE GO BEYOND TOURISM DOLLAR

Citing high-level meetings Singapore has hosted in the past, such as the Shangri-La Dialogue and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, Mr Voedisch added that the summit will reinforce Singapore’s reputation for being a go-to destination for such meetings.

This, he said, could also have benefits in attracting more foreign companies to set up shop in Singapore.

“If everything goes as planned, it will re-emphasise the image that Singapore is one of the safest places on Earth,” he said. “Which company, CEO or family wouldn’t want that for their families and staff?”

“The fact that both the President of the US and the North Korean leaders have chosen Singapore also shows that it’s easily accessible,” he added. “If you think about why Singapore attracts so many global and regional HQs, it’s because the CEOs and decision-makers feel that it’s not only a good place for them, but safe and enjoyable for their families.”

“So it adds to the image that Singapore can not just attract tourists, but also the best of the international workforce.”

Mr Kemp noted that the summit would also position Singapore as having a “relatively inclusive” culture and society. “It’s really interesting that two countries that are, perhaps, at complete opposite ends of the spectrum around the world have chosen Singapore as the place where they both feel comfortable,” he said.

“I think that says a lot about what Singapore means to political leaders around the world.”

Mr Voedisch added that from a political standpoint, Singapore’s reputation as a “neutral and trustworthy” player on the international stage will also be enhanced. “Singapore can also play up the image of a positive peacemaker,” he said. “That’s an added value that can come out of that.”

BENEFITS EXTEND TO SENTOSA, HOTELS AS WELL

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) noted that as with all high-profile visits, the Trump-Kim summit “places Singapore on the map for international audiences”, and “showcases Singapore as an ideal destination, especially for businesses and meetings.”

And experts pointed out that this will benefit Sentosa in particular, which has largely been perceived and marketed largely as a tourist and leisure destination.

“Sentosa is a tropical island off a tropical island,” said Mr Voedisch. “So in terms of the images, you have the greenery, landscape, and maritime shots that add to the flavour of what it’s known for.”

“But it’s mainly known for being an entertainment and holiday destination for families, so the summit will help Sentosa to position itself as a great place to hold meetings and events.”

“From a security perspective, you can see why Sentosa is attractive for such meetings,” added Mr Kemp. “It’s much easier to manage a small place, and you could very easily cordon off the whole island.

“Besides that, the idea that there’s a very serious political conversation going to take place there also gives Sentosa the opportunity to show off a whole new element to its image.”

And while hotels involved in the summit – whether host hotel Capella, or the hotels the foreign delegations will be staying at – will undoubtedly have its work cut out for them, hospitality experts noted that they will experience “priceless benefits”.

“If you are good enough for the President of the United States, then you’re good enough for anyone,” said Kevin Wee, a senior lecturer in hospitality and tourism management at Nanyang Polytechnic.

“Let’s say security-conscious billionaires want to book entire floors for their entourage,” he explained. “They might say that if Capella or Shangri-La have met the President’s needs, they should be able to meet your needs.”

“This sort of branding is priceless, which is probably why they’re happy to go through all the work.”

“Imagine the President is making a speech at the podium, and it has your hotel name and logo, and the façade of your hotel is on all the news broadcasts around the world,” added Revi Nair, a senior lecturer in hospitality and tourism management from Temasek Polytechnic.

“The value of that kind of publicity can’t be measured.”

The opportunity of hosting such an event also gives hotels the chance to put their culinary and banqueting skills on full display, added Mr Nair.

“From choosing the local produce on the menu, to decorating the tables with subtle hints like an orchid here, or a Merlion there…hotels would not pass up the chance to showcase Singapore and their hotel.”

Watch our comprehensive coverage of the Trump-Kim summit live on YouTube from 7am on Tuesday (Jun 12). Subscribe to our channel here.​​​​​​​

You can also watch the livestream, and read updates at www.channelnewsasia.com/trumpkimsummit

SINGAPORE: Diving in Singapore waters is usually like jumping into a massive bowl of miso soup due to the toll that land reclamation and rapid industrialisation has inflicted on the island’s reefs and seas.

Specks of sediment swirl around you and the visibility ranges from less than 1m on a bad day, to perhaps 5m on an exceptionally good day. 

This particular Saturday (Jun 2), there was a downpour in the morning and we felt lucky we could see beyond our outstretched hands in the murky depths.

Twenty volunteer divers, myself included, had sailed southwest from Singapore out to Raffles Lighthouse on Pulau Satumu for an underwater cleanup and marine BioBlitz organised in conjunction with World Oceans Day, which falls on Jun 8.

The first dive involved hunting for trash; the second, for marine life, which we were to document with our cameras for experts at the National Parks Board (NParks) and community group Friends of Marine Park to sieve through, and add to NParks’ database on marine biodiversity.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been a number of such events organised in Singapore waters. This particular dive trip, organised by the Marine and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), was a little different as Raffles Lighthouse is normally a restricted area.

Other than marine biologists, who conduct their field research here, few dive at this southernmost islet in Singapore waters.

Marine biologist Neo Mei Lin, who has dived extensively in Singapore for her work, told Channel NewsAsia it was her favourite local dive site, as it has a plethora of coral.

“It is also home to numerous marine life such as a nurse shark, pink dolphins and giant clams!” she said.

But for our first dive on Saturday, we were looking for rubbish, not sea creatures. Armed with mesh bags, baskets, shears and gloves, four groups of divers scoured the reef for things that should not be there.

We picked up about 110kg of trash, comprising plastics, netting, fishing lures, ropes and more.

Mr Jeremy Seaward, a regular volunteer at MPA’s marine conservation programmes, said: “The trash that we found were mainly nylon ropes, glass bottles and fishing lines. We also saw some interesting marine life that we don’t usually see elsewhere in Singapore waters.”

On the second dive, we looked for fish, sea slugs, coral, sponges and crustaceans, among other marine life. The purpose was to log as many species as possible to aid scientists in their scientific surveys.

The trick, in such low visibility, was to go slow. Then steadily, as we got used to the dimness, the reef gave up its wealth of sea creatures to our searching eyes.

A school of yellow-tailed fusiliers zipped around us as we finned, shy angelfish and damselfish darted into holes when we got close, a large grouper glared with baleful eyes from under a coral overhang and clownfish squirmed in their anemone homes.

Look even closer and you will see the colourful nudibranchs (or sea slugs), slender pipefish, translucent clingfish, pygmy cuttlefish and, at times, the wary eyes of an octopus peeking out from its hideout like periscopes.

MORE CLEANUPS IN LOCAL WATERS

A series of marine cleanups and BioBlitzes were started this year, the International Year of the Reef, with the aim of spreading awareness about biodiversity in Singapore waters and conservation of the environment.

MPA is organising multiple marine cleanups this year, to collect trash underwater and to pick up surface flotsam from kayaks. The BioBlitzes organised by NParks were also started this year.

NParks has also rolled out a new citizen science programme called Beach Patrol where volunteers help look out for certain species along Singapore’s shores, such as sea turtles and their nests, and horseshoe crabs.

Besides the MPA and NPark efforts, a community group started by Mr Lim Teck Koon, 31, also holds monthly marine and beach cleanups at Lazarus Island, where they have picked up between 100kg and 200kg of trash each time.

Mr Lim started the group, named Small Change, in April 2017 and organised their first cleanup last October. Boat owners have lent their vessels to the group at no cost.

“We pick up lots of plastic cups which are likely from the party boats. The beach clean-up team usually picks up lots of plastic bags and food packaging,” he said.

THE UNDERWATER TREASURE HUNTERS

Underwater photography enthusiasts have also been actively promoting local dive sites such as the reefs at Pulau Hantu, right by the oil refineries of Pulau Bukom.

Mr Kelvin Pung, 40, started the Sg Underwater Macro Photographers Facebook group in 2016 along with Dr An Ng, a former Hantu regular. Mr Pung started diving in Indonesian waters but is now hooked on local diving.

“I dived into Hantu without expectation, but I saw so many nudibranchs I had never seen in my first two years of diving,” he said.

While there are no manta rays and a turtle sighting is rare and momentous, there are many tiny gems in local waters, in particular, a large variety of luridly-decorated nudibranchs, which are manna to the underwater photographers.

“Our shores are under-appreciated. Our goal is to discover more new species and photograph them then show it to everyone, create awareness for local diving,” Mr Pung, who is also a para-badminton coach, said.

He hopes that this increased awareness will boost the local scuba diving industry and preserve Pulau Hantu from future reclamation.

Many regulars sign up for trips via another Facebook group, the quirkily named Weird Divers@Singapore. There are now about 100 active divers in the group, according to Mr Pung.

Their effort to dispel the notion that there’s “nothing to see” in Singapore waters appears to be gaining some traction.

According to Mr Francis Yeo, who has been running dive operations in Singapore for 25 years, there has been a small surge in interest recently. 

He was pleasantly surprised to have dozens of new divers signing up for local dive trips on the Dolphin Explorer, the only large-sized dive boat that takes divers out to local waters regularly.

According to NParks, there is much life yet on our shores and beneath the waves.

“We have seen improvements in our coastal and marine habitats, despite Singapore’s busy waters,” said Dr Karenne Tun, director (coastal & marine) of NPark’s National Biodiversity Centre.

For example, the corals here have shown signs of recovering from coral bleaching events that happened in 1998, 2010 and 2016, she added.

SINGAPORE: It was a cold night in January. A sudden clap of thunder woke me up from a fitful slumber and disoriented me.

Somehow seized with the notion I was under surveillance, I thought to myself: “The world is ending”. Something moved near me. I bolted upright.

“Are you awake?” my sister whispered.

“What’s happening to me?” I responded, confused.

She crept up to my bed and put her arms around me; I hugged her close.

I was diagnosed with a brief psychotic disorder when I was 25.

A few episodes later, doctors revised their diagnosis to schizophrenia, a form of psychosis where an individual’s thoughts and perceptions become increasingly detached from reality.

Often misconceived as a person having a split personality, schizophrenia manifests itself in a variety of symptoms including visual and hearing hallucinations, delusions, distorted thinking and difficulties in communication.

These are signs I can attest to. When the illness hits, it is a struggle to hold onto my thoughts and put them together in a coherent manner. At the height of my last psychotic experience in December 2017, I was convinced that I was a test subject forced to participate in a scientific experiment.

Conspiracy theories loomed large, and my erratic thoughts were frightening to deal with. Yet, the symptoms subsided in a week and I went back to work in February after an extended break.

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

It was encouraging to learn that more than half of patients who experienced psychosis recover completely or at least show significant improvements, according to studies from a number of countries in the 1970s to 1980s.

Many healthcare professionals are seized with “clinical recovery”, a remission from or reduction in symptoms, and restoration of functions in a patient with the disease. To doctors, schizophrenia is a medical illness, a result of changes in the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that controls language, abstract thinking and appropriate social behaviour, as a result of stress and other triggers.

But those who suffer from mental health issues favour the idea of “personal recovery”, and in rediscovering anew life’s meaning, purpose and hope while living with the disease.

A widely-cited definition of personal recovery by famed healthcare expert William Antony of the Boston University’s Centre for Psychiatric Rehabilitation describes the process:

Recovery is a deeply personal, unique process of changing one’s attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills or roles. It is a way of living a satisfying, hopeful and contributing life even within the limitations caused by illness. Recovery involves the development of new meaning and purpose in one’s life as one grows beyond the catastrophic effects of mental illness.

Medical treatment and psychiatric forms of therapy, including widely used cognitive behavioural therapy, may help to reduce symptoms but those who suffer from it value the journey of recovery, including finding a purpose and their place in the community.

Sometimes part of this rehabilitation process includes re-engaging with work, in developing a repertoire of actions that aid with recovery.

A person who has lost a limb due to diabetes may not be able to grow one back, but may consider himself recovered when he adapts to the loss and finds ways to lead a productive life.

It is similar for people with mental health issues. I’ve met so many people in the course of my work who go on to live gratifying lives and form meaningful relationships, despite their struggles with mental health issues.

WHAT DOES RECOVERY MEAN TO ME?

For me personally, recovery is about taking control, changing my outlook on life, and adapting.

I have come to understand myself better than before and appreciate the importance of my emotional health. I have also grown more empathetic and sensitive towards people in emotional distress.

But recovery has not been an easy journey. There was a period in my life that was filled with negativity. At my lowest point, getting out of bed in the morning was an agony.

I wish I could say that I woke up one day and it all went away. But it didn’t. Recovery was a very slow, painful and non-linear process of transformation. 

BARRIERS TO RECOVERY

The accompanying stigma remains a huge challenge for people living with mental health issues. A person struggling with, say, depression is more likely to be told to “get a grip” than to be met with empathy and concern. People are also more familiar with dealing with anxiety or depression than psychosis.

A mental health literacy study conducted in Singapore in 2016, Mind Matters, found that the majority of respondents think that persons with mental health issues are “weak, not sick”. Even a person suffering from depression may be telling himself to be stronger and more diligent about turning his life around.

Stigma prevents people from seeking the help or taking the rest they need. Can you imagine a person running a high fever struggling to get out of bed to go to school or work, yet refusing to see a doctor? Many people with mental health issues are doing exactly that.

In the Singapore Mental Health Study conducted in 2010, the time taken for patients to seek help for major depression was four years, and nine years for bipolar disorder. That is a long time to live with a disease. 

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

No man is an island. It takes a lot of support and understanding from the people around to help someone recover from a mental health issue.

You may be a family member, a friend, or a co-worker to someone living with a mental illness. A word of encouragement, a simple meal, or a listening ear can make a world of difference. As Stephen King so eloquently wrote about mental health issues in The Body:

The secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.

From my experience, the simple act of someone providing a safe space for me to share my inner thoughts without the fear of judgment made the sum difference. It is okay to tell us you don’t know what to say, or just stay silent in the moment.

I did not get out of the terror of psychosis on my own. My family and friends’ unwavering support for me in the last five years played a huge role.

On another note, it is important for friends and family members to provide space for the person in recovery. Being overly concerned and getting on the person’s case may aggravate the situation.

Recovery from schizophrenia is a lifelong journey, a balancing act and those of us who once suffered from the terrifying grips of the disease know we need all the support we can get.

Lee Ying Ying is a certified peer support specialist at the Institute of Mental Health.

SINGAPORE: It was a “beautiful day” in Glenlorchy, in New Zealand’s South Island, and the scenery was “gorgeous”, with mountains, open fields and a lake. Ms Jean Ling Ching Yee was driving on the aptly named Paradise Road.

All it took was a split second of checking the rear-view mirror – and the next thing she knew, the car was skidding.

“I kind of saw a cliff down the road. I was trying to avoid the cliff, and I turned far right, back onto the road,” she said. “That was when I hit a tree.”

Later, the police would tell her that there was no cliff, and it had been a trauma-related memory sprung from fear. But on that day, all she knew was waking up in the car in pain, her life changed forever.

“I couldn’t feel my lower body, so I thought that my whole body was amputated. But when I looked down, my legs and my body were still all attached,” the 35-year-old recalled of that day in March 2014, on the programme On The Red Dot. (Watch the episode here.)

“Blood was coming out of my mouth. I couldn’t breathe that well, and I started to press the horn before I fainted.”

She was five minutes from her destination, a horse ranch where she’d planned to go riding with her companion, when her car crashed. 

Ms Kelly Louise Morritt, who lives close to the accident site, still remembers hearing “the screech of tires and a massive bang”. She was surprised to find Ms Ling still alive. “The car was pretty awful,” recalled Ms Morritt, who ran back home to call the ambulance.

The Singaporean was flown to the hospital in the country’s southernmost city, Invercargill. She had punctured lungs and fractured ribs – three on the left and two on the right. 

“They had to insert a metal rod to pump out the blood inside my lungs so that I could breathe well,” she recounted. Her companion, amazingly, had only minor injuries.

“I WAS LIKE A BABY” 

But worse news was to come. As the doctors kept touching her “from head to toe”, she thought to herself, “What are they trying to do?”

They were testing her for sensation – and she had none from the waist down. Her spinal cord was “severely cut”.

The first thought was, ‘Oh no, how am I going to carry on with my life? How am I going to work? How am I supposed to take care of my mum when she’s old?’.

For a young woman who loved travelling and exploring new places, trying things from horse-riding to rock-climbing, it must have been a gripping fear to find herself immobilised. 

“I couldn’t control my bowels. I had no balance; I had no core muscles. I was like a baby. From dressing up to cleaning up and showering, everything started from zero,” she said.

She was flown to Christchurch’s Burwood Hospital, where she spent four months undergoing rehabilitation, and crying “every night”.

Her brother and sister-in-law as well as three of her friends took turns to visit her. It was their love and concern – most especially her mother’s – that Ms Ling drew strength from. The former accompanied her through those long months, staying with a family living near the hospital. “Her concentration was all on me.”

“I told myself that I needed to be strong because there were still lots of people who cared for me, who wanted to see me stand up again and be myself again.”

And so, she took to her physical therapy with determination. Ms Eny, who goes by one name, said her paraplegic friend kept a “brave front”. “Even the therapist mentioned that she was one of the faster learners. And from what I saw, she was doing things very well,” she said.

But on her return to Singapore, Ms Ling’s feelings of helplessness returned almost immediately – when she found she could not enter her home by herself. “People had to carry me, with my wheelchair, in.”

“I couldn’t reach things any more. I couldn’t take my clothes that were hanging up there. I couldn’t enter the toilet freely.

Every time, I had to call for people to help. It was, “Ma, can you help me with this? Ma, can you help me with that?  

She felt terrible, like she had when she’d just had her accident – “that kind of feeling that I was going to have to start all over again…  I just went to the living room window and burst out crying.”

“IS THIS LOVE TRUE?”

The question of whether anyone could love and accept her in a wheelchair was one of the first thoughts she had in hospital.

Her doubts grew when her then boyfriend, who was her travel partner in New Zealand, left her because he was unable to handle her disability.

Then about three years ago, Ms Ling met Jake Oh through mutual friends. They were not close initially, she said, but as time passed, he “expressed his love” for her.

At that point, however, she had yet to regain her faith in love. “Is this love true?” she asked herself.

(But) he used his love and patience to touch my heart. He told me, ‘It’s fine. Time will heal, and my love will heal you. It’ll prove (itself) to you.’

So it did. On Dec 23, 2017, they got married. And the bride “arranged a surprise” for her groom at their wedding dinner, which also fulfilled her own dream – of literally walking down the aisle.

“I didn’t want to roll myself in; I wanted to make the day very memorable. I secretly trained myself to walk. And I tied myself with equipment to straighten my legs,” she recounted.

The day came, and using a walker, she pushed herself to make her entrance on her feet, clad in a beautiful white gown, and in heartfelt tears. “It was so emotional that day,” said Ms Ling, who now has a “good husband who knows how to cook and doesn’t complain”.

Their flat for their life together was designed for wheelchair access. “There are some places high up that I can’t reach, but with some technological enhancements, I can actually dry my own clothes,” she said.

Mr Oh, who sometimes works overtime and night shifts, wants her to be capable of such things. “I’ll try and accommodate her when I’m around,” said the 28-year-old. “I also have to let her be independent when I’m not around.”

WATCH: A journey of grit and love (6:09)

A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

It was a trip back to New Zealand, some months before their wedding, that roused Ms Ling’s can-do attitude again.

Back there for a medical check-up in July last year, she did things she had never done as a person with disability. Adaptive skiing, for example, was “fun”, despite her lack of balance. Skydiving was another sport they tried.

And she managed to “complete” her journey by going horse riding. “It was difficult. I did a small circle, and it freaked me out so badly because I didn’t have any balance,” she admitted.

But she kept going – “through the woods, and the snow and the trees”, the movie-setting she had hoped for three years ago when she first set out for the ranch. “The feeling was awesome. It was so good,” she said triumphantly.

She also revisited her accident site in Glenorchy town. The trees were gone, the open field there was fenced up and “the feelings were totally different” in the cold of wintertime. “It was very emotional,” she said.

In a sense, I was back to the place that changed my whole life. But also, I was back to a place that gave me a new life.

As part of that fresh start, Ms Ling is now looking forward to having a family of her own. “I still can conceive, and there’s no problem with me at all,” she said. But having a baby “will be another challenge again”.

With a confident smile, her husband added: “I don’t think it’ll be that challenging because our love has overcome everything.”

Buoyed by the knowledge that people with worse conditions than hers are still travelling, Ms Ling has also told herself that there are more things to do, places to go and people to meet.

“You just have to pick up the courage, and learn to take the first step. You just tell yourself that you can. Being disabled won’t stop you from doing that,” she said.

“You just have to try. If you try and fail, nobody will blame you.”

Jean Ling is one of four Singaporean travellers who shared their stories of terrifying misadventures abroad with On The Red Dot. Watch this episode here. New episodes air on Mediacorp Channel 5 every Friday at 9.30pm.

SINGAPORE: A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) firefighter was taken to hospital after a fire broke out at a scrap metal plant in Sungei Kadut on Friday (Jun 8).

SCDF was alerted to the fire at 6 Sungei Kadut Loop at around 5pm, according to an SCDF Facebook post.

The fire involved the contents of a decommissioned 10-metre long cylindrical heat exchanger at a scrap metal plant, said SCDF.

“In such fires, water is not a suitable extinguishing medium,” said SCDF. “Hence, during the initial stage of firefighting operations, boundary cooling was conducted on the exterior of the cylindrical container with five water jets to prevent the fire from spreading. Dry powder was subsequently used to combat the fire.”

The fire was brought under control by 7.30pm, it added.

A firefighter sustained minor burns from the incident and was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, said SCDF. He has since been discharged.

Photos of the incident showed massive flames emerging from the cylindrical heat exchanger as firefighters battled the blaze.