SINGAPORE: Employees at a spectacles shop in Tiong Bahru Plaza who were sworn at and assaulted by a woman on Monday (Apr 3) are still in shock and have bruises on their arms to show for the incident.

The two shop girls were about 10 minutes away from closing the Owndays outlet for the day when a passerby burst in, seeking help against a woman whom she said was aggressive towards her for “no reason”.

A nearly six-minute-long video of the incident has garnered more than eight million views on Facebook as of Wednesday. It shows a middle-aged woman berating and hitting the two petite staff and demanding that they help retrieve a bracelet that she apparently dropped. One of the staff members is yanked by her hoodie and the other ends up leaning against a counter as the woman slaps her repeatedly on her arm and back.

Other passersby and a security guard try to intervene but the woman gets behind the counter and rains more blows on one of the staff members.

The area manager in charge of the outlet, Trevor Hwong, 29, told Channel NewsAsia that the staff have been given a few days off to recover.

“I met them yesterday to check on them. They are still shocked. When I was trying to find out how they are, one of them started tearing up,” he said.

Owndays area manager Trevor Hwong arrived at the Tiong Bahru outlet shortly after the incident, having received a call from his colleague. (Photo: Jalelah Abu Baker)

STAFF CRYING UNCONTROLLABLY ON THE PHONE

On Monday, Mr Hwong received a call from his colleague during the incident. All she managed to say amid her crying was that she had been hit. He said he abandoned his dinner with friends and arrived at the outlet at about 10.30pm.

When he arrived, three policemen were at the scene and the woman at the centre of the fracas was yelling for filming to be stopped, Mr Hwong said.

The woman, aged 45, was arrested shortly after, he said. The two staff members who were assaulted went to the hospital for a check-up the next day.

“When I asked them why they didn’t run away, they said they just couldn’t think. They wanted to remain professional, so they didn’t retaliate,” said Mr Hwong. Another colleague who was on shift with them had been out washing equipment during the incident, he added.

Police said they were alerted to the incident just before 10pm on Monday and that investigations are ongoing.

A spokesman from Owndays said it has discussed with mall manager AsiaMalls how such incidents can be better managed in future.

Mr Hwong said of the staff members: “I’m proud of them. Despite the situation, they remained calm and professional.”

SINGAPORE: The imam who was fined for making controversial remarks against Christians and Jews has shown remorse and regret for his actions, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said on Wednesday (Apr 5).

Mr Shanmugam said this following a breakfast meeting with Imam Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel and leaders and members from the Federation of Indian Muslims and Jamae Chulia Mosque at Ba’alwie Mosque on Wednesday morning, at the invitation of Imam Habib Hassan of Ba’alwie Mosque.

The minister noted that Imam Nalla had shown regret for his remarks and commended him for apologising to other faith leaders. “He also met the leaders of other faiths, including the Rabbi, at the synagogue, to apologise for his actions. That showed real sincerity and courage,” said Mr Shanmugam.

Mr Shanmugam (C) and leaders and members from the Federation of Indian Muslims and Jamae Chulia Mosque at Ba’alwie Mosque. (Photo: Ba’alwie Mosque)

“I thought it would be good to meet and tell the imam that I appreciated the sincerity with which he had shown his remorse,” Mr Shanmugam said of his decision to accept the invitation for the meeting.

He added that action “had to be taken against the imam”, but – referencing an earlier statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) – “action against him was taken with some regret”.

The imam had last week, apologised in front of Christian, Sikh, Taoist, Buddhist and Hindu representatives, as well as members of the Federation of Indian Muslims, saying that he was “filled with great remorse” for the inconvenience, tension and trauma caused by his remarks.

MHA has said the imam will be repatriated to his home country of India.

SINGAPORE: Healthcare services provider Zuellig Pharma on Wednesday (Apr 5) launched its first innovation centre, Zuellig Health Solutions (ZHS), in Singapore and plans to invest over S$50 million over the next five years.

The centre, launched with the support of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB), will be located at Zuellig Pharma’s current office along Scotts Road. So far, the company has spent nearly S$15 million to set up the new facility.

With the launch, the company is on the lookout for more than 50 Singapore-based healthcare, technology and data specialists.

On why it chose Singapore as the location for its new venture, CEO John Davison said: “We see many of our clients in the pharmaceutical and consumer health sector (such as) GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca here in Singapore so it is about being close to our client base.”

“And if you look at the ecosystem for digital technologies and big data, Singapore is the leading centre. So for me, Singapore is the obvious choice,” he added, in an interview with Channel NewsAsia.

Being the company’s “first and only” innovation centre, the ZHS will be the centre for all development work in data, digital and disease management solutions that will help doctors develop more effective treatment plans, support patients with chronic conditions and help payers manage healthcare costs.

Singapore will also be the testbed for solutions such as chat bots, live nurses and health apps before being rolled out to the rest of Asia, according to Mr Maarten Kelder, the firm’s head of strategy & solutions.

Mr Davison added that the new centre will focus on addressing existing gaps in Asia’s healthcare sector, including access to care.

He raised statistics from the World Health Organisation, which estimated that nearly 130 million people in Southeast Asia do not have access to essential healthcare services. Through its innovation centre, the company hopes to extend its reach into the second- and third-tier cities in the region.

“Our role has always been to provide distribution of healthcare products and we are aiming to do that in the outer regions of these Asian countries,” Mr Davison explained. “Take Vietnam for example, the local industry has always been centred on Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi or Danang. If you live in the rural areas, you will not have access to higher-end medicine from abroad… but the way we want to build our supply chain is to get our products out to the tier-2 and tier-3 cities.”

In Singapore, the ZHS has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Healthcare Group to develop predictive models for early health screening, as well as analysis of treatment costs and quality, using data analytics.

It also plans to release a mobile app to help patients manage chronic diseases in the second half of 2017 in Singapore.

Zuellig Pharma had a panel discussion on digital solutions for healthcare at the launch. Panelists include National Healthcare Group’s chief medical information officer Dr Eric Wong, Zuellig Pharma’s head of strategy & solutions Maarten Kelder and Chairman of EDB Beh Swan Gin. (Photo: Zuellig Pharma)

SHIFTING HQ FROM HONG KONG TO SINGAPORE

The launch of Zuellig’s Pharma’s new innovation centre follows the company’s recent decision to relocate its headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore.

Citing factors such as being close to its client base and Singapore’s strength in data analytics, Mr Davison said: “The company has been in Singapore since 1939, so Singapore is not a strange place for us. We have an almost billion-dollar business here.”

A divestment of a China-based business was an additional “push factor” for the relocation from Hong Kong to Singapore, according to the CEO. “We used to have a business in China which we divested about 8 to 9 years ago and it made the reason to stay near China less vital. We still have a growing business in Hong Kong but the rationale for moving to Singapore balanced the other reasons (to stay).”

Zuellig Pharma, founded in 1922, now has more than 800 employees in Singapore.

EDB’s chairman Beh Swan Gin, who was present at the launch, described the healthcare services provider’s decision to establish both its headquarters and innovation centre in Singapore as a “strong endorsement” for the country.

“Companies need to develop a much deeper understanding of the evolving healthcare demands and requirements, and gain insights of their markets here to guide their strategies. So we believe that with their global headquarters here, Zuellig Pharma will have an effective control tower to help its clients monitor and navigate this diverse region,” said Dr Beh.

He added: “Another advantage which is often overlooked is that by locating in Singapore, in this case Zuellig Pharma’s management team, (it) will be located very close to the decision makers of many of its key clients… This offers opportunities for partnerships and supplier relationships which would not be so easily established if your clients are located (hours-long) flights away.”