The Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) has still been unable to match the DNA of a deceased cadet and preserved organs that were believed to have been removed from his body, reportedly because of a shortage of required chemicals.
“We have to confirm via DNA tests first as to whether these organs really belong to Pakhapong Tanyakan before we proceed to determine what caused his death,” CIFS director Somn Promaros said yesterday.
Pakhapong, an 18-year-old first-year student at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS), died on October 17 in what his family believes were suspicious circumstances.
The family submitted his body to the CIFS on October 25, while the school has maintained that Pakhapong succumbed to a cardiac arrest.
After the CIFS performed an autopsy and informed the family that some of Pakhapong’s organs were missing, the family made a public statement calling for a transparent investigation into his death.
The military-owned Phramongkutklao Hospital then said some organs had been removed from the body as part of the autopsy at its facility. The hospital returned the preserved organs to the family, which submitted them to the CIFS for a detailed examination on November 23.
“We are carefully checking the organs in line with professional standards,” Somn said. He said the DNA tests for the organs took time because they had already been exposed to the preservative formalin.
“We need a special formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded solution,” he said.
A source said the CIFS had run out of the solution and would need to wait for funds to buy it.
Somn had not mentioned the issue when asked about Pakhapong’s case.
“Please give us time. We will work to the fullest of our ability in preparing the autopsy report. After we finish, we will forward it to Pakhapong’s family as well as police,” he said.
Several investigations are ongoing to determine if anyone should be held responsible for Pakhapong’s death.
TOKYO – The stench of flesh rotting on a sultry day fills the air as cleaner Hidemitsu Ohshima steps into a tiny Tokyo apartment where a dead man lay decomposing for three weeks.
The man, believed to be in his 50s, died alone in a city he shared with tens of millions of other people but no one noticed, making him the latest victim of “Kodokushi” or “dying alone” – a growing trend in ageing Japan.
Decked out in a white protective suit complete with rubber gloves, Ohshima lifts up a futon mattress soaked with the dead man’s bodily fluids, only to uncover a writhing mass of maggots and black bugs.
“Ugh, this is serious,” he says. “You wear protective suits to defend yourself from bugs that may or may not be carrying diseases.”
Kodokushi is a growing problem in Japan, where 27.7 per cent of the population is aged over 65 and many people are giving up trying to find partners in middle age, opting instead for a solitary existence.
Experts say a combination of uniquely Japanese cultural, social and demographic factors have compounded the problem.
LONELY DEATH
Photo: AFP
There are no official figures for the number of people dying alone who stay unnoticed for days and weeks but most experts estimate it at 30,000 per year.
Yoshinori Ishimi, who runs the Anshin Net service that cleans up afterwards, believes the true figure is “twice or three times that.”
Modern Japan has experienced sweeping cultural and economic changes in recent decades but demographers say the country’s social safety net has failed to keep pace – with the burden still on the family to look after the elderly.
“In Japan, family has long served as the strong foundation of social support of all kinds,” said Katsuhiko Fujimori, a well-known expert on welfare issues.
“But now things are changing with the rise of single people and the size of the family becoming smaller,” added Mr Fujimori, chief research associate at Mizuho Information and Research Institute.
In the past three decades, Japan has seen the share of single-occupant households more than double to 14.5 per cent of the total population, the rise driven mainly by men in their 50s and women in their 80s and older.
Marriage rates are also dropping, with experts saying many men fear their job is too precarious to settle down and start a family and more women entering the workforce and no longer needing a husband to provide for them.
One in four 50-year-old Japanese men has never been married. By 2030, the figure is estimated to rise to one in three.
The problem is exacerbated by a deep-rooted Japanese cultural tendency to turn to family rather than neighbours in times of trouble.
In a bid to be polite, elderly Japanese people fear to disturb their neighbours even to ask for help in the most trifling matters, resulting in a lack of interaction and isolation, expert Fujimori said.
Some 15 per cent of elderly Japanese people living alone report having only one conversation a week, compared to five per cent of their peers in Sweden, six per cent in the US and eight per cent in Germany, according to a Japanese government study.
And families increasingly live away or do not have the resources to help elderly relatives in tough economic times.
Mr Fujimori advocates raising taxes to provide better social care for the elderly and financial assistance for childcare, freeing up working-age adults to return to the workforce.
“If family can no longer play the roles it has been playing, society must build a framework that responds to that need,” said Mr Fujimori.
“If nothing is done, we’ll see more solitary deaths,” he added.
NO PICTURES, NO LETTERS
Photo: AFP
Aside from the anguish for relatives when they realise their loved-one has lain undiscovered for days, there is a practical element as these cases tend to cause apartment prices to plunge.
Cleaning firm boss Ishimi says Japan needs to educate young people about the issue and the lack of dignity suffered by the isolated elderly.
“How does one wish to die? Society as a whole must think about this,” he said.
Meanwhile, back at the Tokyo apartment, Mr Ohshima and his team keep the windows closed to prevent the noxious stench from spreading through the densely populated neighbourhood.
The room is filled with signs of the frugal, clean living of a music and movie lover who kept a vast collection of CDs and DVDs but not much else. No pictures. No letters.
Most items are thrown out but Mr Ohshima and his two colleagues methodically go through the man’s belongings for valuables in case his family eventually comes forward and wishes to see whatever he left behind.
“Police are looking for his relatives,” said Mr Ohshima.
“But no luck so far.”
Elderly Japanese dying at home rather than in hospital
SINGAPORE: Delays on Singapore’s train network have become frequent enough for some commuters to change their routines to accommodate them.
On Thursday (Nov 30), passengers reported delays at Raffles Place station because of a train fault. This was the latest in a series of problems over the past couple of months.
However, such incidents are no longer a problem for tax practitioner Paul Lee, who took the MRT to his workplace on Orchard Road for about nine years, but then switched to travelling by bus. Mr Lee, who lives in Serangoon, said that he decided to switch after finding the trains a bit too unpredictable.
He said that he was given a warning by his employer after delays caused him to be late to work six times in three years.
Before he stopped taking the MRT, he tried taking a different route by train, he said. But this did not help. The final straw for him was a delay on the North-East Line about eight months ago, in which he was shoved into the train by other commuters crowding on to the delayed service.
“My hand nearly got caught in between the doors, and the doors nearly closed on me. I was standing half inside, half outside,” said Mr Lee, who has cerebral palsy.
He now takes either a premium bus or public buses. “Taking the bus, I feel like I am in control of the situation. I can take a premium bus, or another straight bus, or switch buses,” he said, adding that he is more relaxed taking the bus.
Such decisions come against a backdrop of high profile problems on the train network. Earlier this month, 38 people were injured after a software glitch in the East-West Line signalling system caused two trains to collide at Joo Koon MRT station. In October, the stretch of tunnel between Bishan and Braddell MRT stations became flooded, leading to a suspension of services.
An MRT train collided with a stationary train at Joo Koon station during the morning rush hour on Nov 15, 2017.
There are also minor delays: Train operators SMRT and SBS Transit asked commuters to add 10 to 40 minutes to their travel time more than 10 times in November.
TRAINS STILL THE BEST MODE OF TRANSPORT FOR SOME
Croupier Ramesh Rajendran is no stranger to such problems. There have been three times when the 30-year-old has been caught up in train delays which were long enough for him to need an excuse slip documenting what happened as proof for his lack of punctuality at work.
While the delays are out of his control and his employer is sympathetic, Mr Ramesh now leaves home half an hour earlier than before, in order to avoid the stress of getting caught in a delay and having to find alternative transport. Still, he finds that the train remains the best way to get to his workplace in Marina Bay Sands.
Excuse letter given out by station staff. (Photo: Justin Ong)
“It’s not really convenient, with the unpredictable breakdowns and slow-moving trains, but it is still cheaper than other options,” he said.
Some, like Mr Yong Jian Rong have altered their route to avoid the more heavily-used East-West Line (EWL). The 19-year-old travels from Lakeside to Paya Lebar along the EWL for work.
“I still take the train every day as taxi fares are still very expensive. However, I now take a faster route through the Downtown Line, North-East Line and then the East-West Line. The idea is to avoid the EWL as much as possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, although worries about the train service have created doubts among some passengers, there are those who still prefer it to other methods of travel.
Undergraduate Goh Wei Hao, 23, who counts himself lucky for never having been caught in a train delay, said that it is still the best mode of transport for him.
“There’s less anxiety waiting for the train because they tell you exactly how long it takes for the next train to arrive,” he said, adding that the many different lines mean that he can get to the same location via several routes.
EMPLOYERS SHOULD BE UNDERSTANDING ABOUT DELAYS: ZAINAL SAPARI
Deputy chairperson for the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower Zainal Sapari urged employers to be understanding about train delays, as the circumstances are out of their control.
“Trust is important in any employer and employee relationship. Most employers would not reprimand their employees if they are late due to train breakdowns because such incidents can be verified,” he said.
Changing travel habits is not easy, he said, adding that while there may be some knee-jerk reaction in switching away from the train, people will usually revert to their usual mode of transport.
Managing director at logistics firms Logwin Air and Ocean Singapore Jimmy Ler Said that he is forgiving of employees who are late to work because of train delays.
“It’s something many employees face from time to time. We tell them not to rush, because it’s hard to get a Uber or Grab at that time as well, and it would be expensive,” he said. The firm has 120 employees.
He added that it does not make sense to ask employees to leave home earlier to accommodate delays as they may have other commitments such as sending their children to school before work. On their part, when they arrive late, they stay late to finish up their work, Mr Lee said.
“It’s a situation where nobody can do anything, they have no choice, so employers have to be understanding,” he said.
SINGAPORE: The PIE viaduct collapse in July this year brought Singapore’s workplace safety and health landscape to an inflection point, driving home the point that even one workplace catastrophe is one too many. Critically, it is making Singapore ask some hard questions.
Not too long after this latest high-profile incident, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a new target for workplace safety: Reducing fatalities to less than one death per 100,000 workers within 10 years – around half the current rate of 1.9 per 100,000.
TOWARDS A NEW APPROACH
Mr Lee made an important distinction with this announcement. He rightly noted that this goal cannot be achieved by more regulation alone. Instead, he suggested that a new, total and holistic approach to workplace safety and health was needed, which he termed Total Workplace Safety and Health (Total WSH).
This is an important next step in the evolution of Singapore’s workplace safety and health system. It serves as a call to action for businesses to ask not only what more can be done, but also how they should go about doing it.
Singapore is already taking steps to improve workplace safety and health. On top of harsher fines, the government also made changes to the WSH Act that will see the WSH commissioner release incident learning reports early to the public even before criminal proceedings have concluded, so that other firms can learn from these incidents.
While these are solid steps in the right direction, more needs to be done to achieve a more holistic system of workers’ care under Total WSH.
A HEALTHIER WORKFORCE
Total WSH speaks to the strong correlation between a healthy workforce and a safe workplace. Singapore’s current approach mostly ensures affected workers can get the necessary treatment through the Work Injury Compensation Act, but the evolution to Total WSH will see more emphasis on both preventive and rehabilitative care.
This is important because ill health has contributed to more than one third of work-related fatalities in Singapore. A preventive and rehabilitative approach, as called for by Total WSH, has the potential to significantly improve Singapore’s workplace fatality rates.
The most progressive economies had systems where workplace safety and health policies not only accounted for physical health but also paid close attention to a worker’s overall mental health, based on the Ministry of Manpower’s studies of best practices in other countries’ workplace safety and health systems.
The Return to Work element in Australia’s Safe Work system is one instructive example. Australia’s work injury policies encourage the employer, worker and rehabilitative caregivers to work together to get injured workers back to work quickly, safely and with a view to their long-term health and workplace contributions.
They collectively work to give workers the assurance they have a role to come back to, including starting with light duties and gradually working their way back to their primary duties. This way, workers avoid a long-term layoff that can be detrimental to mental wellbeing and self-worth.
Minister of State for Manpower (MOS) Sam Tan visiting workers injured on Jul 14 after the collapse of the unfinished viaduct along PIE. (Photo: Facebook/Singapore Ministry of Manpower)
COMPANIES KEY TO WORKPLACE SAFETY CULTURE
For Singapore, the prevailing view is that we should maintain the existing tripartite approach, involving employers, workers and the Government, to successfully transition to Total WSH. The role of companies within this mix cannot be underestimated, as they are ultimately critical to the success of any initiatives
While the Government can educate and encourage businesses to adopt safer practices, the onus is still on companies themselves to put this into practice.
The leaders of companies – including boards, CEOs and senior management – must lead the mindset change needed to move beyond a transactional approach of simply providing compensation, to focus more on prevention.
Corporate leaders must drive home a sense of belonging and pride among teams, to value the life of any single worker above the cost of insurance policy premium or safety measures.
That is not to say that companies should simply purchase exorbitant insurance and see that as fulfilling their responsibilities, for no amount of compensation can help a company with lax safety practices.
File photo of a construction site along Geylang Road without proper scaffolding and safety barricades in place. The construction company was issued a Stop-Work Order (SWO) of three weeks under new conditions imposed on May 12, 2016. (Photo: Loh Chuan Junn)
INSURERS CAN AID COMPANIES
Insurers, for our part, can play two distinct roles to bring about change. The first is preventive, through an advisory role to clients. Insurers can conduct in-depth risk audits and analyses, and present findings to help businesses understand their key vulnerabilities and safety gaps.
Insurers can also play a rehabilitative role, in ensuring that lessons from prior incidents are internalised by the company, and propose measures to avoid a repeat, with the impact on the livelihoods of workers limited through fair and robust compensation levels that take care of treatment ad recovery costs.
Ultimately, insurers must also help drive home the importance of a proactive, high-awareness, best-practice safety culture. Insurers must be committed to raising safety standards and reducing injuries in the workplace by providing companies with access to policies that help mitigate the risks of a workplace incident.
Insurers also have a role in holding companies to account, making it clear that having insurance should never make safety an afterthought.
Indeed, insurers continuously monitor workplace accidents and in particular companies with poor track records to understand what is going wrong. Their insights can guide how workplace injury compensation insurance is priced. If a company has a lower probability of claims or incidents occurring, this should be reflected in their premium.
Importantly, compensation limits set by insurance policies directly determine how much treatment and rehabilitation is afforded to affected workers. Where limits are high, these help incentivise firms to get their workers insured and protected, guaranteeing their valued staff a smooth transition back to work.
It’s clear that every stakeholder in the process has an important role to play in making a full transition to Total WSH a reality. Beyond government regulation and mandated measures, it will require a shift in culture and mindset that takes into account workers’ health, rather than being solely focused on their short-term recovery.
In transiting to Total WSH, Singapore can help set the standard for how to cultivate safer, more risk-resilient workplaces. While changes to the current Workplace Safety and Health Act can shift behaviour, imposing more regulation is not the cure-all. Ensuring that companies, workers and insurers play their respective roles will be key.
Karl Hamann is chief executive officer of QBE Insurance (Singapore).
Can someone please explain to me how tomorrow is December!
Let’s kick start the end of the year with the world’s best trance DJs Aly & Fila who hail from Egypt.
They are on at mao on Cecil Street on Friday.
I’m not super into trance but these guys, yes!
On Saturday, if you’re in the mood for an afro-tropical discotheque, a night called Wild Fyah! is on at Artistry at Jalan Pinang.
The line-up of local DJs are awesome-sauce and it’s only $5 entry.
Go support local!
And on Sunday, hailed as the first female vocalist of dancehall music from Jamaica, Sister Nancy is doing a live show here at Hard Rock Cafe on Cuscaden Road.
It’ll be a fun night of gyrating to set you up for next week.
If you don’t know, now you know.
To catch Simi the Party Girl, listen to her on OneFM‘s #1 Breakfast Show with Glenn Ong and The Flying Dutchman on Thursday mornings.
Find out what she gets up to on AsiaOne’s social media! Follow @sphasiaone on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and @simiaut0matic on Snapchat.
SINGAPORE: Passengers on a Jetstar flight from Bangkok to Singapore were stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport for nearly 24 hours from Wednesday (Nov 29) after their departure was delayed twice.
Flight 3K1514 was originally scheduled to depart Bangkok at 9.20pm local time on Wednesday, but was postponed to 2.45pm local time on Thursday.
Passengers said they were provided with overnight accommodation at an inn.
On Thursday, however, the passengers said their flight was delayed again, without notice.
When they arrived at the designated gate at G1A for departure, the display board was flashing information for a Hong Kong Airlines flight to Hong Kong instead.
When passengers arrived at the designated gate at the airport on Thursday (Nov 30), the display indicated a flight to Hong Kong instead of Singapore. (Photo: Oh Hui Min)
Video footage taken at the departure gate showed passengers displaying frustration over the delays, with one man complaining that the meal vouchers they were given to purchase food at the airport were insufficient.
The passengers said they were each given 250 baht (S$10) to purchase food at the airport.
“One bowl of mee how much? 360 baht. How to pay?,” a male passenger was heard shouting at an airport staff.
All their luggage were also checked in and they had no to access their personal belongings, the passengers said.
“Just give us our luggage so that we can book other flights,” one person said.
At about 4pm local time, passengers received an email from Jetstar, informing them that the flight had been moved to 8pm.
The display board at the departure gate G1A was updated at nearly 6pm with the correct flight information to Singapore, the passengers said.
In its flight update email to passengers, Jetstar said that both flights were delayed “due to engineering requirements”.
“We apologise for the unexpected change to your travel plans,” the email said, adding that passengers can check for available alternate flights.
In response to queries from Channel NewsAsia, Jetstar said that delay was due to a “series of technical issues with the aircraft”.
“We apologise to all affected passengers who had been inconvenienced by the delay of 3K1514 from Bangkok to Singapore,” it said.
It also confirmed that the flight was rescheduled to depart at 8pm local time and would arrive in Singapore at 11.30pm on Thursday.
“Our engineers on ground worked hard to conduct tests on the aircraft but it has taken longer than expected. To ensure the well-being of our customers, passengers were provided hotel accommodation and meal vouchers including refreshments at the airport,” Jetstar said.
“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority. Once again, we apologise to all customers and thank them for their patience,” it added.
SINGAPORE: A train fault at Raffles Place MRT station caused delays on the North-South Line during the evening rush hour on Thursday (Nov 30), commuters reported.
Commuter A Kannan told Channel NewsAsia he was boarding a train at Newton at around 6.10pm when he heard an announcement warning of delays due to a train fault at Raffles Place.
Commuters were told to expect an additional travel time of 10 minutes from Marina Bay to Khatib.
The scene at Newton MRT station. (Photo: A Kannan)
Long queues and crowds of people could be seen at various stations including Newton and Bishan.
Commuter Serene Soh, who was travelling to Sembawang from City Hall, told Channel NewsAsia at about 5.50pm that her train at City Hall station was “not moving”, adding that she had gotten on the train about 15 minutes earlier.
The train eventually started moving but stopped at “every station” for about five minutes, she later said.
Heard there’s a train fault at Raffles Place MRT! Commuters say about 10 minutes train delay. Do share any info you have! Dhoby Ghaut and Raffles Place MRT stations seems to be affected as well #smrt
