Always wanted to drive an electric car but never had the chance to?
Well, after years (and articles) of anticipation, BlueSG has finally announced that they’ll be releasing the first batch of electric cars next Thursday (12 Dec).
Part of a public car-sharing scheme that allows people to rent these cars – very much like how they do for OBikes – a total of 80 cars will be available at launch.
By the end of the year, a total of 30 BlueSG stations with 120 charging points will be rolled out.
18 of these stations would be located in housing estates like Tampines, Bishan, and Punggol. 10 of them would be situated in the city centre, and the remaining 2 would be within industrial and commercial estates at one-north and the Science Park.
BlueSG aims to have 1,000 electric cars in the sharing fleet and 2,000 charging points by 2020.
Just Like Renting A Bike – But Much More Expensive
Graphic: BlueSG
From the instructions stated on BlueSG’s website, the process of renting a car is very much similar to getting an OBike/ofo/Mobike.
But the price is where there’s a difference.
The car-sharing scheme has 2 types of subscription plans – a premium yearly membership plan priced at $15/month, and a weekly membership plan without any recurring fee.
For the former, subscribers are charged $0.33/minute for a minimum booking of 15 minutes, and for the latter, users are charged $0.50/minute for a minimum duration of 15 minutes.
Rental rates are charged based on duration and not distance.
Graphic: BlueSG
This means that to use the electric car (without signing up for a premium membership) for the minimum period of 15 mins, it’ll cost you $7.50 – not that bad of a deal.
However, the problem arises when you think about renting the car for a longer period of time – like how you were to get a ride from a car rental company.
If you’re looking at a car just to get from place to place, you could easily rent a small car for just over $50 for a whole day.
Screengrab: Drive.sg
An hour of usage of a BlueSG car is $30 (for weekly members) or $19.80 (for premium members) – so go figure on how much that’ll cost if you intend to use it for an extended period of time.
Of course, a Bluecar has an average range of about 200 km, and users would be notified to return the vehicle to a BlueSG station once the charge level drops below 30 per cent – so using them as a replacement for rental cars is probably not the best idea.
“The cars are typically meant for trips around the city,” reiterates BlueSG in their FAQ.
Another issue that might crop up is if your intended pick-up and destination isn’t near any of the parking stations.
Screengrab: Blue.sg
At the moment, there aren’t too many BlueSG stations around Singapore, so taking public transport or an Uber/Grab might be a more viable option if you don’t have much time to spare.
But putting price aside, I do think that it’s great that electric cars are being introduced to Singaporeans as an alternative last-mile transportation mode.
With BlueSG also promising to create around 250 jobs in its first 5 years here with the setting up of its Global Innovation Centre, Singaporeans can also benefit from the additional vacancies and also EV-friendly facilities.
Of course, all we’re waiting for now is when Elon Musk is finally allowed to bring his Tesla cars here.
Perhaps for the first time, reality show “My English Puberty” follows Korean celebrities as they struggle to learn English.
The new tvN programme features six entertainers who find English daunting. For eight weeks, Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon, balladeer Wheesung, actresses Jung Si-ah and Hwang Shin-hye, comedian Ji Sang-ryul and model Han Hyun-min take on the challenge of furthering their English skills.
The show, which kicked off Monday at 8:10 p.m. on tvN, began by testing the English levels of each cast member. Han confessed to his poor command of the language.
“‘No?’ I mean, ‘on,'” he said, trying to read the two-letter word. “I only speak Korean. But I’m young, so I think I’ll be able to learn quickly.”
The 17-year-old Han, who was selected by Time magazine as one of 30 most influential teens of 2017 last month, has spent his entire life in Korea.
“Nobody speaks to me in Korean when they first come up to me,” Han, who is Nigerian-Korean, said at a press conference for the programme in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Monday. “That’s why I felt the need to study English.”
The other cast members also expressed difficulty with the language.
On Monday’s episode, singer Wheesung, when searching for the lyrics to the “La La Land” song “City of Stars,” spelled “city” as “sity.”
Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon, when placed in a room to interact with foreigners in English, could only utter short phrases such as “Sorry?”
Hyoyeon says that though she has many friends who are fluent in English, she herself struggles with the language. “For me, the anxiety of speaking English is worse than seasickness,” she said at the press conference.
“I think I studied harder during this show than I did when I was at school,” the girl group singer added.
“It was hard for me to begin studying at this age,” said veteran actress Hwang, 54. “But it was a joy to study alongside younger friends. It was a happy experience and I learned a lot.”
Hwang said she had faced difficulties in the past while travelling abroad due to language barriers. “It was a shame when I met handsome men,” she joked. “I always told myself I would learn English someday, but that resolution always faded.”
According to producer Park Hyun-woo, he cast stars who seemed “desperate” to learn English. “There were difficulties in arranging the schedules for English lessons. Wheesung was very busy with concerts, but he never missed a lesson.”
Producer Park said his own efforts to learn English led to the show’s conception. “I saw a lot of people around me who found English difficult. (Koreans) are travelling a lot these days and a lot of foreigners are coming to Korea. I think it’s necessary for us to speak some amount of English.”
The show hopes to provide viewers tips for learning English and show the cast’s progress with each episode.
Already overworked, women reportedly do not want to add to their stress with going on dates that don’t promise a lasting relationship.
But while they don’t want to go on dates, women do want to get married. According to a website survey from cocoloni.jp, 80 per cent want a husband or stability. A wedding that would look impressive on social media was also preferred.
Overwork has plagued the country for decades that the Japanese even have a term for it: “karoshi.”
And since women have entered the workforce, both sexes experience immense stress from their occupations.
A man identified as Ali Mahmud, 23, reportedly robbed his own grandmother on Tuesday morning in Bekasi, West Java and beat her in the head and face with bricks.
East Bekasi police head Comr. Parjana said the alleged perpetrator pretended to be a guest and knocked on the door of his grandmother’s house. When the door was opened, Ali reportedly struck the woman’s head with bricks.
“He took Rp 3 million (S$300) and 10 grams of gold jewelry,” Parjana said, as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.
The grandmother’s maid, Nurhasanih, 30, found her and asked for help from the neighbours to take her to the hospital.
Currently, the police are still trying to catch Ali who fled outside the city.
The police’s criminal unit head First Insp. Yusron said the grandmother was recovering even though she was still wounded.
“We have deployed our officers to capture the [alleged] perpetrator. We encourage him to surrender,” Yusron said.
As evidence, the police seized a long piece of cloth, one brick and four brickbats used to beat the victim. If found guilty, Ali could face a maximum of nine years’ imprisonment, the police said.
When Amazon Prime Now launched, we were so excited about it because of its 2-hour delivery.
It is still a relatively new service by Amazon itself, so the variety of goods and products on it cannot be compared to Amazon USA’s site.
Anyway, it looks like shopping on Amazon USA will be less fun now that they are removing free shipping to Singapore.
Farewell, After Four Years Of Free Shipping
According to Geek Culture, they verified this with an online Amazon representative.
Screengrab: Geek Culture
In this blog post in 2013, the site announced that consumers in Singapore and India get to enjoy free shipping under the FREE AmazonGlobal Saver Shipping service when they have orders above S$125.
Earlier today, the same blog reported that items from the blogger’s purchases from his Black Friday 2017 sale, that used to qualify for the service, now no longer has free shipping.
In a later update at 1.30pm local time, the tech blogger had clarified the news with an Amazon representative.
Apparently, the service is still available but buyers have to contact Amazon’s customer service to waive the shipping charges.
But he reckons that it is only a “matter of time before they totally shut it down”.
Screengrab: Lester Chan
But… Why?
Geek Culture believes that this probably happened because of the entrance of Amazon Prime Now.
Some of the products on the mobile app were more expensive than those listed on the US online store.
So in a bid to retain users and increase user acquisition on the app, Amazon decided to leave Singaporeans with only one choice.
They also think that it could be because global distributors are turning away from cross-border sales since talks of imposing GST on goods bought online.
Perhaps local retailers stand to win now as consumers are now left with lesser options.
As my colleague throws up his hands and said, “I guess the good news is we don’t have to wait for our friends to kup to enjoy the free shipping now.”
A 33-year-old Myanmar woman, who received officials’ warning for putting her seven-year-old daughter in chains in front of their apartment in Phuket’s Muang district, claimed she did so out of love and caring because the “naughty” girl could be harmed or run over by a car, officials said.
After an image of the chained girl was shared on Thai social media, and subsequent child abuse complaints, Phuket children and family home care head Atchara Surakul and other officials went to inspect the apartment at 10am on Tuesday.
They told the family via a Myanmar language interpreter that they couldn’t chain a child, then took the mother, stepfather and children to Muang Phuket Police Station to record the incident.
Photo: Facebook
Officials took the girl and her nine-year-old brother into temporary care pending an inquiry into the family’s situation. Atchara said the mother claimed that the girl was naughty and the chain was used to keep her from harm while the mother took care of a one-month-old child born to her and her new Myanmar husband. The couple both worked in the construction worker industry.
Officials said the seven-year-old girl also had bruises, and the mother had admitted hitting her for being naughty. The Myanmar woman, whose name was withheld pending investigation, has five children – four of them from her previous husband. Three of these – the “naughty” girl and her siblings aged 17 and 9 – came to stay with her in Thailand five months ago. Atchara said the authorities did not want to take the children away, but they had to move two of the children as a temporary measure. She said officials would talk to the mother about how to raise children. A multidiscipline team would also discuss concrete ways to help the family.
SINGAPORE: A few months ago, Sam Lee* showed his client, the owner of a Good Class Bungalow (GCB), his final proposal to develop her garden. He had put it together with advice from irrigation and water harvesting specialists because the client had indicated she wanted to use collected rain water for the sprinkler system.
The final cost came to about S$90,000. However, that was too expensive for the client, Mr Lee said, and she decided to cancel the harvesting system.
“She ended up paying S$40,000 for the landscape irrigation, which consisted of built-in sprinklers, and she has been tapping from (national water agency) PUB water,” Mr Lee said.
The move to cut costs would simply be a personal decision if not for the fact that using non-harvested water for sprinklers goes against a rule that is enforced by PUB.
The regulation requires anyone using sprinklers to water their landscapes to have their own source of water – from harvested rainwater or ponds, for example – unless they have permission to tap on PUB supplies. PUB told Channel NewsAsia this clause has been in the Public Utilities (Water Supply) Regulations since the 1970s.
The rule is known among golf courses: Those that responded to Channel NewsAsia’s queries said they water their fairways and greens using harvested water.
But according to two landscape and irrigation specialists, both of which are major players in the market, some owners of landed properties are flouting the rule due to the costs of using harvested water.
Irrigation and landscape experts argue that sprinklers allow for more efficient use of water, and hope authorities would review its rule. (Photo: Monica Kotwani)
90% OF CLIENTS USE PUB WATER FOR SPRINKLERS: LANDSCAPE SPECIALIST
When connecting sprinklers to harvested rainwater, Mr Lee said a break-out tank needs to be built on the premises. This is to ensure the non-potable water does not contaminate drinking water.
A pressure pump also needs to be attached to distribute the rainwater through the sprinkler system. Irrigation specialist David Chua said the end result is costly.
“Often, these tanks have to be underground,” said Mr Chua, who is director of Christensen Irrigation, a global irrigation company which operates in Singapore.
“It is usually underground because space is a premium and also because of aesthetics. And because it is underground, it will be expensive to build. So I would think harvesting rainwater would only be confined to a very select few home owners, only for the GCBs. For the terraced and semi-detached houses, it’s unlikely.”
Mr Lee said 90 per cent of clients who approach him to develop their gardens end up not complying with this rule even though he makes sure they are aware of it.
“I need to ensure my clients know what they’re getting into. If you use tap (water), you are infringing (the rule) … but it’s very difficult to convince them.”
He said the plans for the sprinkler system are not indicated in the project’s plumbing plans. Once the authorities approve the plans, the sprinkler system is installed and connected to a PUB tap.
In a statement to Channel NewsAsia, PUB said it has a surveillance team to check for non-compliance. It said that when feedback is received that water sprinklers are being used, it will investigate the source of water.
“If they are using PUB-supplied water, the premises will have to remove the sprinkler system,” PUB said.
“Failure to comply can result in a fine not exceeding S$10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both and, in the case of a continuing offence, a further fine not exceeding S$250 for every day or part thereof.”
Mr Lee said he understands PUB’s rationale behind the need for a break-out tank to prevent contamination and not tapping on potable water because it is an important resource in Singapore.
But compared to home owners using hoses to indiscriminately water their plants with PUB water, he said allowing irrigation methods such as sprinklers could result in more efficient use of water.
MANUAL WATERING USING PUB WATER LESS EFFICIENT THAN SPRINKLERS?
Out of more than 10 landed properties along Andrew Road that Channel NewsAsia approached, a majority of home owners said they use hoses to water their gardens and plants. Two home owners that used water sprinklers for irrigation declined to be interviewed when asked if they had their own water source.
Mr Lee said he thinks that using sprinklers is more efficient: “Once I turn on the tap, within a minute, each sprinkler will have the same pressure, and will be watering at that point. Which means if I set (the timer) for five minutes, the 15m to 20m length of plants will be watered at the same time.”
Mr Chua agreed: “I would think it can be as much as 50 per cent more water consumed when you water using a hose.”
He said using hoses also does not allow plants to receive the amount of water they need.
“In Singapore, my feeling is that the main cause of water wastage is not about using pop-up sprinklers or drip lines,” Mr Chua said.
“It is actually managing watering schedules. For example, the home owner or landscape maintenance supervisor may tell their worker or helpers: ‘Hey, please water every day’. But do you need to water every day? My answer is no.”
Experts say sprinklers are also more efficient as they allow landscape planners to supply water based on the needs of the plant. ( Photo: Monica Kotwani)
For gardens with plants of different varieties and sizes, Mr Lee and Mr Chua agreed that use of sprinklers can be more efficient.
Mr Chua said drip lines are used to cover an even area, for example, in a planter bed with the same type of plants. But in a landscape with a variety of plants, it makes sense to use pop-up sprinklers.
“If you have a tall shrub with long stems, the emitter can be placed at the base of the plant, and water laterally and it can be quite effective,” he said.
SPRINKLER TECHNOLOGY HAS COME A LONG WAY: IRRIGATION EXPERT
Mr Chua said that as the regulation has been in place since the 1970s, it could be time to review the ban on using PUB water in sprinklers. While sprinklers may have been less efficient in the past, technology has come a long way.
“In the past, I think the impact sprinklers, which did not give a very good distribution of water, could be a good reason to say: ‘This is not very efficient, yes, we should put it aside’,” he said.
“But today, where every other country in the world uses sprinklers – and the manufacturers come from the US where they have done a lot of research and they have huge farms – I would think that the sprinkler technology is very advanced and watering distribution is very even.”
Meanwhile, he said more could be done to educate home owners about using water in their gardens.
“It’s not about the implementation,” he said.
“What they will end up doing if you prevent sprinklers is that they will ask their helpers to manually water the turf, which will waste even more water.”
SINGAPORE: A few months ago, Sam Lee*, showed his client, the owner of a Good Class Bungalow (GCB), his final proposal to develop her garden. He had put it together with advice from irrigation and water harvesting specialists because the client had indicated she wanted to use collected rain water for the sprinkler system.
The final cost came to about S$90,000. However, that was too expensive for the client, Mr Lee said, and she decided to cancel the harvesting system.
“She ended up paying S$40,000 for the landscape irrigation, which consisted of built-in sprinklers, and she has been tapping from (national water agency) PUB water,” Mr Lee said.
The move to cut costs would simply be a personal decision if not for the fact that using non-harvested water for sprinklers goes against a rule that is enforced by PUB.
The regulation requires anyone using sprinklers to water their landscapes to have their own source of water – from harvested rainwater or ponds, for example – unless they have permission to tap on PUB supplies. PUB told Channel NewsAsia this clause has been in the Public Utilities (Water Supply) Regulations since the 1970s.
The rule is known among golf courses: Those that responded to Channel NewsAsia’s queries said they water their fairways and greens using harvested water.
But according to two landscape and irrigation specialists, both of which are major players in the market, some owners of landed properties are flouting the rule due to the costs of using harvested water.
Irrigation and landscape experts argue that sprinklers allow for more efficient use of water, and hope authorities would review its rule. (Photo: Monica Kotwani)
90 PER CENT OF CLIENTS USE PUB WATER FOR SPRINKLERS: LANDSCAPE SPECIALIST
When connecting sprinklers to harvested rainwater, Mr Lee said a break-out tank needs to be built on the premises. This is to ensure the non-potable water does not contaminate drinking water.
A pressure pump also needs to be attached to distribute the rainwater through the sprinkler system. Irrigation specialist David Chua said the end result is costly.
“Often, these tanks have to be underground,” said Mr Chua, who is director of Christensen Irrigation, a global irrigation company which operates in Singapore.
“It is usually underground because space is a premium and also because of aesthetics. And because it is underground, it will be expensive to build. So I would think harvesting rainwater would only be confined to a very select few homeowners, only for the GCBs. For the terraced and semi-detached houses, it’s unlikely.”
Mr Lee said 90 per cent of clients who approach him to develop their gardens end up not complying with this rule even though he makes sure they are aware of it.
“I need to ensure my clients know what they’re getting into. If you use tap (water), you are infringing (the rule)…but it’s very difficult to convince them.”
He said the plans for the sprinkler system are not indicated in the project’s plumbing plans. Once the authorities approve the plans, the sprinkler system is installed and connected to a PUB tap.
In a statement to Channel NewsAsia, PUB said it has a surveillance team to check for non-compliance. It said that when feedback is received that water sprinklers are being used, it will investigate the source of water.
“If they are using PUB-supplied water, the premises will have to remove the sprinkler system,” PUB said.
“Failure to comply can result in a fine not exceeding S$10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both and, in the case of a continuing offence, a further fine not exceeding S$250 for every day or part thereof.”
Mr Lee said he understands PUB’s rationale behind the need for a break-out tank to prevent contamination and not tapping on potable water because it is an important resource in Singapore.
But compared to homeowners using hoses to indiscriminately water their plants with PUB water, he said allowing irrigation methods such as sprinklers could result in more efficient use of water.
MANUAL WATERING USING PUB WATER LESS EFFICIENT THAN SPRINKLERS?
Out of more than 10 landed properties along Andrew Road that Channel NewsAsia approached, a majority of home owners said they use hoses to water their gardens and plants. Two homeowners that used water sprinklers for irrigation declined to be interviewed when asked if they had their own water source.
Mr Lee said he thinks that using sprinklers is more efficient: “Once I turn on the tap, within a minute, each sprinkler will have the same pressure, and will be watering at that point. Which means if I set (the timer) for five minutes, the 15m to 20m length of plants will be watered at the same time.”
Mr Chua agreed: “I would think it can be as much as 50 percent more water consumed when you water using a hose.”
He said using hoses also does not allow plants to receive the amount of water they need.
“In Singapore, my feeling is that the main cause of water wastage is not about using pop-up sprinklers or drip lines,” Mr Chua said.
“It is actually managing watering schedules. For example, the homeowner or landscape maintenance supervisor may tell their worker or helpers, ‘hey, please water everyday’. But do you need to water everyday? My answer is no.”
Experts say sprinklers are also more efficient as they allow landscape planners to supply water based on the needs of the plant. ( Photo: Monica Kotwani)
For gardens with plants of different varieties and sizes, Mr Lee and Mr Chua agreed that use of sprinklers can be more efficient.
Mr Chua said drip lines are used to cover an even area, for example, in a planter bed with the same type of plants. But in a landscape with a variety of plants, it makes sense to use pop-up sprinklers.
“If you have a tall shrub with long stems, the emitter can be placed at the base of the plant, and water laterally and it can be quite effective,” he said.
SPRINKLER TECHNOLOGY HAS COME A LONG WAY: IRRIGATION EXPERT
Mr Chua said that as the regulation has been in place since the 1970s, it could be time to review the ban on using PUB water in sprinklers. While sprinklers may have been less efficient in the past, technology has come a long way.
“In the past, I think the impact sprinklers, which did not give a very good distribution of water, could be a good reason to say, ‘this is not very efficient, yes, we should put it aside’,” he said.
“But today, where every other country in the world uses sprinklers – and the manufacturers come from the US where they have done a lot of research and they have huge farms – I would think that the sprinkler technology is very advanced and watering distribution is very even.”
Meanwhile, he said more could be done to educate homeowners about using water in their gardens.
“It’s not about the implementation,” he said.
“What they will end up doing if you prevent sprinklers is that they will ask their helpers to manually water the turf, which will waste even more water.”
SINGAPORE: An unlimited-leave policy sounds like an employee’s dream: It keeps staff happy, encourages them to take time off and minimises the risk of burnout.
But at some companies here whose staff had autonomy in deciding how much leave to take and when – no questions asked – it did not quite pan out.
Local humour website SGAG, for example, switched to 21 days of leave last year after just one year of offering staff unlimited paid leave. The problem? Some of its staff did not take leave instead.
Co-founder Karl Mak had wanted a culture in which the employees would have time to go out, socialise, “fall in love, have a relationship, pursue a hobby or passion outside of work and bring those experiences back to tell stories through the content they create”.
But unlimited leave had the opposite effect. “When we reached the end of 2015, people were burning out, they weren’t resting and they weren’t using it,” he told the programme Why It Matters (watch the episode).
A lot of them started saying, ‘I don’t know if I’m entitled to; I kind of feel guilty because I don’t know if I’ve earned it.’ So that was strange.
There were also those who felt that it was wrong to take leave when others were not doing so, worried about colleagues having to cover their work or about being perceived as not hard-working.
“So nobody dared to take action, and they kept working,” said Mr Mak.
SGAG co-founder Karl Mak
SGAG assistant manager (business development and accounts) Cassi Yang, for instance, ended up taking fewer than 10 days of leave. “It was (my) first year in the job – I wanted be a bit more hard-working,” she said.
“After not taking a break for quite a while, (I felt) a bit burnt out.”
THE UNICORN QUANDARY
Ask most Singaporeans, however, whether unlimited leave would be a job perk – in a country where, by a law unchanged since 1968, employers must provide a minimum of seven days of paid leave – and they would probably say yes.
In 2015, recruitment agency Robert Half found that the one thing employees here want from their boss is more days off, which topped their wish list ahead of working from home or getting more training opportunities.
To attract and keep talent, website designer Fixx Digital was another company that implemented unlimited leave in 2015.
But it was exploited by some employees, and managing director Darren Lim forecasted that there could be staff taking 40 days of annual leave. “Effectively that’s almost like spending a quarter of a year on vacation,” he said.
What we realised is that the ones who worked the hardest and were the most deserving … utilised it the least. The ones who didn’t work the hardest would tend to take more leave.
Mr Lim dubs the unlimited-leave system a unicorn, “something that’s an ideal, a myth … that’s nice to have”.
“But when you put it into practice, from first-hand experience, from the companies that have implemented these systems, it’s impractical,” he lamented.
The company has since modified its system, offering unlimited leave only to those who have worked at least a year in the firm and have shown good results.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
At Netflix Asia, which set up shop in Singapore last year with the unlimited leave system – a company policy that has been in place worldwide since 2004 – its experience has been more pleasant, for the firm and its staff.
Take, for example, its public policy co-ordinator Darren Ong, who has been with the company for over a year and is taking three months off for the birth of his child.
He said his colleagues are supportive and happy with the arrangement, with his wife being “the happiest”.
“In this age when we’re all working using the Internet, (we’re) reachable pretty much anywhere. There’s room for freedom … to have a say in managing (our) own time,” he added.
“If you ask me now how many days of leave I’ve taken, I wouldn’t be able to give you an exact number.”
Netflix Asia’s public policy co-ordinator Darren Ong is taking three months off for the birth of his child.
Netflix Asia director (consumer and brand communications) Anne Wallin explained that employees can take whatever amount of leave they need, but they also have a “responsibility to the team and to the company to do the right thing”.
“We’re bringing in people to work at Netflix who bought into what we’re doing, and they love the work they’re doing,” she added.
So when you have things like parental leave or vacations, they also understand that helps them … to do their jobs better.
As unlimited leave is not a common practice, it is understandable that most employees do not know how to respond to this unstructured system, said Mr Martin Gabriel, the founder of human resources consultancy HRMatters21.
“We’ve been conditioned to behave in a certain way. When a company surprises its employees, saying that ‘we’re giving you unlimited leave’ … they would be confused because there are no guidelines on how (they) should go about taking this leave.”
Most employees may be cautious, as they would not want to be seen to be abusing the system, added Mr Gabriel.
Employees may be confused when there are no guidelines on how to go about taking unlimited leave.
According to him, the average Singaporean worker should get between 15 and 18 days of leave a year. And if more leave is given, he suggests guidelines instead of a “free-for-all”.
DOCTOR SHOPPING
On the flip side, he cautioned, if a company does not provide adequate leave, some employees would probably go “doctor shopping” and take more medical leave, even if they are not genuinely sick.
A healthcare chain, which spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the number of medical certificates dispensed spike on Mondays and right after public holidays.
The number also went up on Sept 22, the day the iPhone 8 was launched in Singapore.
Family physician David Tan said “a small proportion” of patients may try to stretch public holidays to get “a little bit more rest”.
“As an employer, if you start to see employees take leave or call in sick every time work comes around or there’s a long weekend holiday, that may be something you may want to have a conversation with your employee about,” he said.
The cost of medical leave for firms is higher than they think, noted Mr Gabriel.
A person who earns $100 a day would cost the company the same amount if he were on medical leave, in addition to the loss of output valued at $100.
And if one adds the medical reimbursement, say, at $50, the total cost when that employee goes on medical leave is $250, calculated Mr Gabriel.
The solution is not necessarily unlimited paid leave. What that system is, however, is a new way to think about work-life balance, workplace flexibility and how bosses can trust their staff to decide how many hours they need to put in to show results.
