SINGAPORE: During his time in the navy, Osman Jaffar, now 88, carved out a reputation for being every inch as stern as one would imagine Singapore’s military pioneers to be.

“When I was coxswain, I was in charge of a crew. If I had joked with them, they wouldn’t have taken my orders,” the retired first warrant officer told Channel NewsAsia with a warm, wide and single-toothed grin.

“When I was a seamanship instructor, I was also very strict. They used to say: ‘Wah, Encik Osman coming, be careful!’”

A reminder of his steely, mustachioed past hangs on the wall in Osman’s Woodlands flat. The sergeant major’s pace stick he brandished in the photo has since been replaced by a walking aid, the ramrod-straight posture bent by the scoliosis of aging, and a full head of jet-black hair dispersed into thinning wisps.

Yet his eyes still flashed with the same duty-bound verve and vivacity as he traced his beginnings in the Singapore division of the Malayan Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, circa 1954.

It all started on a rather mundane, if not vain, footing: 24-year-old Osman signed up because he was keen on wearing a uniform – not just any, but the navy’s dashing white.

“Also we would be able to go on sea trips, to follow the (British) Royal Navy ships for training,” he laughed.

“During the first few days, we really enjoyed being part of a gathering of all sorts of people who didn’t know each other. But when our instructors started teaching us, we were also very concentrated on learning.”

It was a good thing he paid attention – in 1966, Osman was mobilised for Confrontation, a drawn-out conflict arising from Indonesian opposition to the formation of Malaysia. He took charge of four radar stations surrounding Singapore’s waters – Bedok, St John’s Island, Raffles Lighthouse and Pulau Sakra – and described his task as “protecting Singapore from the enemy”.

“We had to look after our waters. The enemy had so many ways to come in, so we had to be alert.”

‘WE JUST THOUGHT ABOUT WORK, NO OTHER THING ’

When Confrontation ended, Osman was appointed coxswain – in charge of navigation and steering – on, at different times, the RSS Panglima and RSS Bedok.

The two patrol crafts – along with the RSS Singapura – made up the total arsenal of the Singapore Naval Volunteer Force then.

And it was a routine patrol shift on board RSS Bedok in 1967 which led to one of Osman’s most memorable experiences. “We saw a fast motor sampan moving from Anak Sambu Island (north of Batam, Indonesia) to Pulau Sebarok (a restricted island south of Singapore).”

“My CO (commanding officer) ordered me to give a warning shot at them, and after a few rounds from a light machine gun the sampan stopped,” Osman recalled. “Our boarding party found five Indonesian commandos and five AR-15 rifles hidden under the floorboards. They were all handed over to Marine Police.”

From 1971 to 1979 when he left the navy, Osman was recognised as a regular, and even in the later years of his service, continued to be involved in momentous events such as Operation Thunderstorm, the Singapore army’s bid to contain refugees fleeing Vietnam in 1975.

“In May 1975, when Vietnamese refugee boats and ships headed into Singapore water, the RSN (Republic of Singapore Navy) and Marine Police worked to prevent the refugees from making unauthorised landings,” said Osman.

“Food, water, oil and medicine were supplied to the refugees. We persuaded them to continue on to their destinations. The operation took more than 10 days, without sleep or rest at sea.”

Osman later wound down his career as a seamanship instructor and sergeant major at both the Naval Supply Base and School of Naval Training. He was awarded a clutch of Singaporean, Malaysian and British government service medals, but shrugged when asked to name the proudest moment out of his 25 years.

“We just thought about work and no other thing. Because as you know, during those times, we could not relax. We had to defend Singapore. We didn’t want the enemy to come – they were very near,” Osman reiterated.

He admitted however that the toughest part was having to see his family – wife and five small kids – for only two days at a time before leaving for long spells on board ships.

Of greater difficulty was having to “shoulder the burden of protecting our homeland and safeguarding Singapore’s territorial waters” after separation from Malaysia, said Osman in a transcript of a 1988 interview for the naval archives.

The mantle rested with just two seaworthy ships, 12 officers and 40 enlistees at the time.

Said Osman: “To achieve this, a few things the individual soldier must have had – faith, courage, bravery, respect and honour at all times.”

Notwithstanding the early struggles, he said he enjoyed being part of building up the Singapore navy to its present capabilities, and was looking forward to attending the commissioning of its first littoral mission vessel on Friday (May 5) at Changi Naval Base.

“I use wheelchair, also want to see,” he chuckled. “Encik Osman coming, be careful!”

(Photos: Justin Ong)

SINGAPORE: Twelve Indonesian men have been arrested for immigration offences and the peddling of duty-unpaid cigarettes, according to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Friday (May 5).

The men, aged between 18 and 41, were arrested on May 4 in Yew Tee Industrial Estate, in a joint operation involving ICA, the Singapore Police Force and Singapore Customs, according to the press release. 

A total of 62 cartons and 255 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized during the operation, with the potential duty and Goods and Services Tax amounting to S$9,520 and S$690, respectively. 

Investigations are ongoing, ICA said. 

Under the Immigration Act, the penalties for overstaying or illegal entry are a jail term of up to six months plus a minimum of three strokes of the cane, while those convicted for illegal departure face a fine of up to S$2,000, or a jail term of up to six months, or both.

SINGAPORE: As Singapore wrestles with slower economic growth and disruptive technological changes, challenges have emerged in the local labour market.

In his annual May Day speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong noted that unemployment increased last year and even with better growth in 2017, the Government expects a “steady trickle of redundancies” as the economy continues to restructure.

He added that other developed countries are seeing much higher unemployment of between 5 to 10 per cent, and as Singapore grapples with similar pressures as these mature economies, the local unemployment rate – which stood at 2.3 per cent as of March 2017 – “will gradually go up”.

Pressures that such economies face include an ageing workforce, technological changes and a global economy that has yet to completely shake off the ills of the 2008 global financial crisis, economists told Channel NewsAsia.

Across the euro zone, the jobless rate stood at 9.5 per cent in March. The US is faring somewhat better, where although the economy remains stuck in low gear there is diminishing job market slack. The March unemployment rate came in at 4.5 per cent – the lowest since 2007.

To be sure, there are some outliers: Japan continues to see a low jobless rate of 2.8 per cent amid a falling birth rate and ageing population.

But to have zero or minimal unemployment in a functioning developed economy is “impossible”, economists said.

“In any healthy economy, there will always be people switching jobs or graduates joining the labour force so there will always be some degree of frictional unemployment,” explained Nomura economist Brian Tan. “This in itself is not a problem… because it is impossible to have a zero per cent unemployment rate, which is a common misperception.”

In addition, cyclical downturns or shifts in industries which render jobs and skills obsolete will also lead to structural unemployment, which is caused by a mismatch in the skills of a worker and those required by an employer. 

Unemployment in Singapore remains relatively low by international standards and that boils down to reasons such as having a small and educated workforce, as well as extensive planning by the Government to ensure the economy stays on the right track, according to economists.

“We have a very thoroughly planned economy and that’s why we are able to stay relevant. Even though we are a tiny city-state, we have managed to attract foreign investments that create business opportunities and jobs that are more than enough for our local labour force,” said Mr Song Seng Wun, regional economist at CIMB Research.

A sizeable proportion of foreign workers in Singapore has also provided some “buffer for unemployment”, according to labour economist Walter Theseira from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).

“In developed countries, the proportion of foreign workers is much lower, and many foreigners are also entitled to stay on in the country without work, unlike Singapore. So when people lose their jobs, they become unemployment statistics. (But) in Singapore, all non-Singaporeans who lose their jobs just go home.”

REMAIN CAUTIOUS BUT NO REASON TO BE TOO PESSIMISTIC: ECONOMISTS

But amid expectations for the local labour market to soften further, how bad could things get?

Economists that Channel NewsAsia spoke to do not think that unemployment will return to the levels of 3.3 per cent and 4.8 per cent, last seen during the 2008 global financial crisis and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003, respectively.

“We are not in an outright recession here and there’s no financial crisis brewing in the horizon so there’s no reason to be too pessimistic or expect a sharp spike in the near-term unemployment rate,” said OCBC Bank’s treasury research and strategy head Selena Ling, who expects jobless figures to stabilise around 2.5 per cent this year.

For unemployment to hit new highs of 5 per cent or more would require a “severe recessionary situation”, said CIMB’s Mr Song.

“It would be cyclical downturns such as the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis, the dotcom bust in 2001, the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the global financial crisis in 2008… when businesses are so afraid that they freeze hiring altogether,” he added. “I don’t see that in the near future.”

Still, worries linger ahead even as recent data portray a rosier growth outlook for Singapore.

Thanks largely to an export-led rebound in the manufacturing sector, which makes up one-fifth of the economy, Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) picked up speed in the last quarter of 2016 and the positive momentum has since extended into the first three months of 2017.

But economists have called this an “uneven recovery”, given that the turnaround appears limited to just the electronics and biomedical manufacturing clusters.

“We remain very cautious and think that the labour market will continue to weaken,” said Nomura’s Mr Tan. “The recent pick-up in GDP is driven by certain segments within manufacturing but if you look beyond that, other parts of the economy are not doing well.”

Ms Ling agreed, noting that the bulk of employment growth remains driven primarily by the services sector. “Manufacturing has not been creating net jobs so the contribution to growth over the past few months may not translate into an uptick in labour demand.”

The challenges faced by the labour market are not just about decreasing job creation and rising lay-offs due to a slower economy. Instead, a bigger worry looms in the form of structural unemployment, which is caused by a mismatch in the skills of a worker and those required by an employer, experts said.

Unlike previous economic downturns where jobs were hard to come by, there remain employers in Singapore that struggle to fill positions, such as those in the burgeoning IT industry. This boils down to unrelenting technological developments that have widened the gap between the skill sets that workers have and the ones that employers want.

“We shouldn’t discount the bigger issue of industry and technological change. When entire industries change, jobs get automated and become obsolete,” said Mr Tan.

“We are starting to see rising structural unemployment, especially among the higher-skilled older PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians). They have become so specialised that if the industry goes downhill and they lose their jobs, they are in trouble because their skill sets are not transferable,” he added.

The Government has on several occasions flagged its concerns about growing mismatches between jobs and the skills of the labour force. Earlier this week, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said that a shortage of skills is likely to be the catalyst for higher unemployment in the future, rather than a lack of jobs.

Because ultimately, it all depends on how fast Singapore restructures its industries to remain competitive and the ability of its workers to develop new skills to stay relevant.

Said Dr Theseira: “It is entirely possible to have economic growth and a recovery without growth in jobs. The global economy could recover but the benefits could bypass us. It very much depends on whether the Singapore economy is positioned to take advantage of global growth, and whether Singaporeans have the right skills and interest in taking up the jobs that are created.”

SINGAPORE: Three Malaysians have been arrested after heroin and cannabis with an estimated street value of S$307,000 was seized by officers at Woodlands Checkpoint on Thursday (May 4).

According to a statement from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), officers seized about 3.7kg of heroin and 1kg of cannabis after finding a “suspicious bag” in a Malaysia-registered bus coming into Singapore.

“During the course of checks, a suspicious bag was found at the right side of the driver’s seat,” said the statement. “The bag was opened in the presence of the three suspects and ICA officers uncovered some bundles, suspected to be controlled drugs.”

It added that the Malaysian driver, 36, and two Malaysian men, aged 20 and 24, were subsequently arrested.

In a follow-up operation, CNB officers also arrested a 35-year-old Singaporean woman and a 48-year-old Singaporean man on suspicion of being the intended recipients of the drugs. The two were arrested near Jalan Pelatok, off Upper Changi Road East.

CNB officers then raided their rented room in Jelan Pelatok and found about 260g of “ice”, 130g of heroin, two “yaba” or methamphetamine tablets, a small amount of cannabis and a bottle of methadone.

If convicted of trafficking over 15g of heroin or 500g of cannabis, the men could face the death penalty.

Investigations are ongoing. 

SINGAPORE: We need to talk about Yishun. Bad.

Yes, cats have been abandoned and/or killed there. Drug smugglers were found to have set up shop in the ‘hood. Headlines have been made about all sorts of horrible incidents, memes generated and parody videos filmed – all leading to the town being painted in a bad light.

Recent events have also inspired one budding Singapore-based creative to put together a map of Yishun (see below) with all the headline-making news, colour-coding them into various categories such as murders, siao lang (crazy people) and sex.

Even self-proclaimed blogfather mrbrown couldn’t resist pronouncing Yishun the “real dark side of Singapore”, in his takedown of an episode of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (if you haven’t seen it, you should). 

But let’s draw a line in the sand. Yishun should not be subjected to the ignominy of a border wall to, as some online commentators have suggested, “Make Singapore Great Again”.

Here are five reasons why the northern township of Yishun should not be tarred with a negative brush.

CONVENIENCE CENTRAL

Suffering from the munchies in the dead of the night? There is a 24-hour McDonald’s drive-through at SAFRA Yishun. Need a caffeine fix to get through your all-nighter? The Starbucks at Northpoint is open all night. These are not counting the handful of kopitiams (coffee shops) that open around the clock for night owls in need of a food fix.

Had a long day at work, but groceries need replenishing? Both NTUC Fairprice and Sheng Siong have 24-hour outlets within a stone’s throw away from each other in Khatib Central.

Needless to say, the town has its residents covered – at all hours of the day. 

YISHUN LOVES CATS, REALLY

The spate of cat murders that took place in 2016 put Yishun in the spotlight, which also saw a 41-year-old man sentenced to 18 months’ probation for throwing a cat 13 storeys to its death under the city-state’s enhanced animal cruelty laws.

As recent as this February, two grisly cat deaths were reported there – one involving a cat whose throat was slit and the other had its stomach cut open.

But Yishun is, at heart, all for its feline friends.

In October 2012, the Love Cats pilot was launched in Chong Pang by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who was the MP of Nee Soon GRC then. The scheme allows residents to keep cats at home despite rules by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) prohibiting the practice. The pilot was extended by another two years in 2015 to give the Ministry of National Development time to assess the impact of the initiative.

There are also community-led groups that champion the rights of these cats, with Yishun 326 Tabby cat – an online community on Facebook – one of the more prominent examples. 

Purrr-fect, right?

GREEN GOING

Before Yishun was earmarked as one of the neighbourhoods to site a big chunk of the public housing the Housing and Development Board (HDB) had planned for, the town was considered a green haven. (It was also a haven for bugs, but it’s a small price … )

Quiet walking and running paths sheltered by trees were found in pockets of Yishun, and insect sounds were usually the soundtrack of one’s early morning or late night jogs.

In recent times, however, swathes of land have been taken up to be developed for homes – such as those at Yishun Ave 4 and Yishun Ave 1 – as well as to house other developments such as international school GEMS World Academy.

That’s not to say there isn’t any more nature to gaze at and soak in. The green-tinged backdrop framing Lower Seletar Reservoir as the train rumbles into Khatib MRT station remains one of the more memorable vistas in Singapore, helped in part by the golf course at Orchid Country Club. The parks near Khatib MRT station and behind SAFRA Yishun are also to-go destinations to take in some fresh air.

But as Singapore continues to urbanise, and demand for land intensifies, these natural habitats are worth highlighting, and preserving.

FOOD, FOOD, FOOD

It would be remiss to do a list on anything Singapore without a mention of food. Sacrilegious, in fact. After all, food, as is commonly said, is a national past-time and hunting for good food, a national sport.

Yishun would then, I argue, be an Anfield or Old Trafford (at least before its various facelifts in recent times) for food fans – it might not be known for any bells and whistles like its more modern counterparts, but it’s one steeped in history and with a loyal supporter base.

It is, after all, the home of Chong Pang Nasi Lemak, Yishun 925 Chicken Rice and Shami Banana Leaf Delights – all known food destinations. That’s not to mention the many kopitiams that pop up around the neighbourhood.

I seem to keep returning to the number of food places available at all hours in Yishun, but it is no accident. Having recently shifted from Yishun, it’s one of the main things that I truly miss about the place. Being kept awake at 2am because of hunger pangs and no respite in the vicinity is a nightmare, I can assure you.

And last but not least … 

MP NEVER-SAY-NO

This, I suspect, will be a controversial choice – but I am going for Member of Parliament (MP) for Nee Soon GRC Lee Bee Wah as the last point to round off the list. 

The politician might not be everyone’s cup of tea, with her straight talk and bulldog-like persistence some of the more notable features. But as someone who champions residents’ rights and worries, Dr Lee is right up there with the best.

Her focus on domestic issues, and her successes, were featured prominently during the General Election in 2015. For instance, her insistence in installing lifts outside MRT stations to benefit her not-so-mobile residents paid off in 2011 when Khatib MRT station was identified by authorities as one of six test locations for the initiative. It has since been rolled out across the country.

She also oversaw the implementation of having smoking points in her constituency of Nee Soon South, with six tested in January 2014 and 50 by the end of 2016. 

In more recent times, citizens were up in arms over the water fee hike announced during this year’s Budget announcement, and this trickled down to possible cost increases for common items. Dr Lee took up the issue in last month’s Parliament session, and engaged in a lengthy back-and-forth with the recently promoted Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon over whether enough is being done to prevent opportunistic price increases.

The 56-year-old credits her tenacity and never-say-no attitude to being given a second chance in life, having survived colon cancer in 2003.

If you want a polished politician who speaks in neat soundbites, Dr Lee may not be for you. But if you want something done, this woman is your man.