Over 150 F&B openings available at Marina Bay Sands career fair
Jobseekers interested in a career in the food and beverage (F&B) sector have an opportunity to enter the industry at Marina Bay Sands’ F&B career fair this week.
More than 150 full-time and part-time openings for positions at the integrated resort’s signature restaurants will be available at the fair, which will be held this Thursday and Friday (Apr 6 and 7).
Positions range from chefs and bartenders to restaurant managers and service attendants, Marina Bay Sands said in a statement on Tuesday (April 4).
Restaurants that will be participating in the career fair include existing establishments like Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen and Wolfgang Puck’s CUT, as well as upcoming restaurant The Bird.
Interested applicants can sign up for interviews on the spot, and successful candidates may receive a job offer on the same day.
The F&B career fair will be held from 9am to 7pm on both days at the Begonia Ballroom, which is on the third level of the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
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‘Pink Star’ diamond fetches record $99.7 million in Hong Kong
Hong Kong – A giant diamond named the “Pink Star” broke the world record for a gemstone sold at auction when it fetched US$71.2 million (S$99.7 million) in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
The 59.60-carat “Pink Star”, the largest in its class ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America, was sold to the city’s Chow Tai Fook jewellery chain.
“Sotheby’s Hong Kong is very proud to have this record,” its Asia chairman Patti Wong told AFP after the sale.
Sotheby’s worldwide chairman for international jewellery David Bennett, who conducted the auction, called it a “historic sale”.
Bidding started at around US$56 million. The sale lasted for five minutes and involved three bidders before the winning offer came by phone from Chow Tai Fook, prompting a round of applause.
The jewellery group is chaired by Henry Cheng, whose family is ranked third on Forbes’ Hong Kong rich list with US$17.9 billion.
The group has a large network of stores in China plus outlets in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, but is relatively unknown in the West.
The sparkling oval-cut rock measures 2.69 by 2.06 centimetres (1.06 by 0.81 inches) and weighs 11.92 grams (0.026 pounds).
It was 132.5 carats in the rough when it was mined by De Beers in South Africa in 1999, according to Sotheby’s. The stone was cut and polished over two years by Steinmetz Diamonds and unveiled to the public in 2003 under the title of the “Steinmetz Pink”.
The near-translucent rock was renamed after it was first sold four years later for an undisclosed sum to an unidentified buyer.
At an auction in Geneva in 2013 the stone fetched US$83 million.
But Sotheby’s was forced to take it back after that buyer, a New York-based diamond cutter, defaulted on the sale.
The auction house said it was confident of getting its money this time around.
“Of course, the buyer definitely has the financial capability,” Wong told reporters, adding all three bidders were vetted and had a longstanding relationship with the auction house.
Sotheby’s had previously said Hong Kong was the right place for the sale.
“Today Hong Kong has proven itself to be again the international sale centre,” Wong said.
Asian buyers have been making record diamond purchases in the past few years.
A 12.03-carat “Blue Moon of Josephine” was bought for the then-record price of US$48.4 million in Geneva by Hong Kong property tycoon Joseph Lau in 2015, a day after he spent US$28.5 million on a rare 16.08-carat pink diamond.
The previous record for a jewel successfully sold at auction was US$57.54 million in May 2016 for the 14.62-carat “Oppenheimer Blue” sold by Christie’s in Geneva.
Man squirts water and spits on 14-year-old girl during acting audition
A 14-year-old girl was humiliated when a man squirted water and spat at her face during an audition with talent agency Premiere at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre on Monday (Apr 3).
Jerald, a contributor to citizen journalism website Stomp, filmed his daughter’s audition at the Melati Ballroom where she was required to act opposite a man in a scene where she discovers he is a fake officer from the “Department of Education”.
During the audition, the man squirted water from a bottle at Jerald’s daughter’s face, before spitting water at her as well.
Initially, she had been excited when she was called for a second round after her first audition on Saturday (Apr 1), and had even taken the day off from school to pursue her acting dreams, he told Stomp over the phone.
When Stomp asked Jerald whether the producers had given his daughter any warning that somebody would be squirting and spitting water at her during the audition, he replied that she had not been expecting that at all.
“She had expected a change in script but not anything that would involve making her feel insulted and humiliated,” said Jerald.
Completely shattered by the incident, Jerald’s daughter was crying when she told him she did not wish to go for the Premiere programme, even though she had been selected.
According to Premiere’s website, the company travels around the world searching for young performers between the ages of five and 20 to go through their evaluation process in order to be invited to the programme.
The programme, held in Orlando, Florida, “draws dozens of today’s top agents, managers, casting directors and record labels from across the globe looking to find their next discovery for upcoming projects.”
Jerald called up the company to ask why they had gone to such lengths during the audition. He said: “They mentioned it was to push her to her limits and ‘come out of the script’.”
He said that his daughter’s confidence has been affected by the episode. “Do you think this is acceptable?” he asked.
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Turnout for Tampines job fair a reflection of situation on the ground: MP Desmond Choo
SINGAPORE: Returning to the job market was a difficult but necessary step for 50-year-old Rachelle Goh. The former accountant was retrenched at the end of last month.
“Finding a job has not been easy. I’ll be very worried if I am unable to get a job after a more than a month,” she said.
She was one of more than 750 people who attended the Inclusive Job Fair held at Our Tampines Hub and organised by the National Trades Union Congress, the Employment and Employability Institute and the North East Community Development Council.
Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC, Desmond Choo said the turnout reflects the mood on the ground and that many of his residents are taking a longer time to get a job. The Labour MP said many of them are professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in the late 40s and early 50s.
“It is more difficult for them to find a job due to the slowing economy and because the jobs are changing now,” he said.
MODIFY JOBS TO ATTRACT OLDER WORKERS
Representatives from 19 companies attended the fair, including SMRT, SBS Transit, Singapore Post, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, NTUC Health as well as others from the hospitality industry. Many of them, Mr Choo said, had modified job functions to cater to mature workers.
“This job fair is different from others,” he said. “The jobs offered here are those that middle-aged and senior workers will be able to adapt to and master within a shorter period of training. The employers here are also progressive and inclusive- they are willing to hire workers across all ages,” Mr Choo said.
NTUC Health’s assistant manager for recruitment, Joanna Pee said some of the more mature applicants were concerned whether they could perform at the job and whether their educational qualifications were up to the mark. While some of the six positions on offer in NTUC Health required higher certifications, Ms Pee assured applicants that a basic level of English and familiarity with dialects would suffice for other jobs such as that for operations assistants.
“We have a centre manager who is 70-years-old who works part-time for us,” she said. “By providing flexibility, more people can come on board, even those who are physically challenged. We have a colleague who uses a wheelchair to get around.”
SMRT was one of the more popular choice among job seekers at the Inclusive Job Fair in Tampines on Tuesday (Apr 4). (Photo: Monica Kotwani)
At SMRT’s booth, a crowd of people gathered, waiting to be interviewed. Luke Lim, who is with SMRT’s Human Resources department said about 60 per cent of job seekers who had been interviewed were mature workers. “We have a variety of jobs and the key thing about all these job is basically you don’t need to have any background for example, as a bus captain, we will provide the whole suite of training in order for them to progress. And we view it as a career, not as a job,” he said.
YOUNGER JOB SEEKERS TAKING A LONGER TIME TO FIND WORK
While the job fair was targeted at mature workers, many of those who turned up were younger. Ms Nurul Nadzirah Yussof, 24, said she has unsuccessfully applied for numerous jobs since she graduated in September 2016. The psychology major said she would ideally like a job in a related field, such as social work and counselling. “But I’m not picky. I’ll take whatever comes because the economy is quite bad now,” she said.
Ms Nurul said she applied to SBS Transit for an assistant manager position. “The response was encouraging but I won’t keep my hopes up just yet. I’ll just keep applying to more jobs,” she said.
Another hopeful, 31-year-old Kalai Selvi found out about the job fair through an app. She said she has been unemployed for almost two years and has been getting by working as a cleaner and dishwasher. She was previously a patient service associate at a hospital.
“Finding a job is difficult nowadays. Not like (it was) last time. It has taken me more than a year – almost two years. Last time, just after I graduated, I got a job in two months,” Ms Selvi said.
Employment statistics released by the Manpower Ministry last month revealed that the job market in 2016 was one of the bleakest in recent years, illustrated by rising unemployment, layoffs and people taking longer to find jobs.
MP Desmond Choo urged companies to work faster in offering flexi-work arrangements to attract more women back to the workforce. (Photo: Elizabeth Neo)
OFFERING FLEXIBLE ARRANGEMENTS FOR WOMEN
Mr Choo said despite the slowing economy, there are still jobs out there and for companies to reach out to job seekers, it is also about changing their mindsets and processes. One area that could see improvement is in companies offering flexible work arrangements, especially to attract women with children back into the workforce, he said.
Mr Choo said among the job seekers in the market are well-trained professionals such as accountants, engineers and technicians. “We did a recent survey. Of the PMET women, more than 90 per cent want to come back but don’t for two reasons. They are uncertain about the workplace and the workplace is still quite inflexible,” he said.
He added that NTUC has started work on a Returnship Programme that would help women returning to the workforce overcome the first concern – that of being unsure about their skills having been away from work for a long time. The programme was mooted ahead of this year’s Budget, with the proposal that the Government covers the cost of wages for hiring back to work mothers for a period of two to four months while they undergo training.
But Mr Choo said companies also have to do their part, offering more flexible work arrangements. “We are not evolving at the pace we need to be to bring back more women into the workforce. They can be an important pillar of the workforce and we just need the employers’ side to catch up,” he said.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Neo
4 companies, 1 individual charged for failing to pay salaries
Four companies and one individual were charged in the State Courts on Tuesday (April 4) for failing to pay salaries to their employees.
In a statement, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) revealed that the four firms include two in the food and beverage (F&B) industry, a metal furnishing manufacturer and a construction firm.
The biggest offender was Goodmate Global, which makes metal doors, window and door frames, grilles and gratings. It faces 17 charges in total, comprising 14 counts of non-payment of salary, as well as three counts for failing to pay salaries to staff who left the company due to a breach of contract by the employer.
The two F&B companies involved were 3S Restaurant and WOW Holdings, which face seven charges and five charges respectively.
Both face multiple counts of failing to pay their employees. In addition, 3S Restaurant is also facing charges for not paying employees for working on public holidays, whereas WOW Holdings is facing charges of failing to pay salaries to workers who were dismissed.
The other two employers who were charged are construction firm Access Builders, and Woon Junyang, who is the sole director of robotics solutions provider Infinium Robotics.
Meanwhile, MOM said that another employer, Ching Hwa Ming, will also be charged soon for non-payment of salaries. Mr Ching, who is a director at both JS Environment Enterprise and Nam Hong Engineering, faces a total of 30 charges.
If convicted, the employers face fines of up to $15,000 and jail terms of up to six months. The penalties could be doubled for repeat offenders.
Mr Raymond Tan Choon Guan, MOM’s director of employment standards enforcement, urged employers to pay their employees on time.
“MOM will take stern action against errant employers for salary non-payment, including prosecuting those who have wilfully refused to comply with Labour Court orders or those who owe a large amount of salaries to workers,” he stressed.
The ministry also urged employees who have not been paid, or those who feel that their salaries have been wrongfully withheld, to approach MOM or their unions for assistance, as it will improve their chances of recovering their salaries.
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Army chief apologises for recruit’s death
The Army Commander-in-Chief on Monday apologised to Thais and expressed regret to the family of a conscript who died in hospital following his fatal torture at a military base in Surat Thani province.
General Chalermchai Sitthisa-ard also vowed to bring all those responsible to justice, saying the army is conducting an investigation into the death of Yuthinan Boonniam who died after he was put into military detention as a punishment.
He was sent from the detention centre to a hospital with a swollen face and bruises. The photos were widely shared on social media over the weekend.
“I wish to send condolences to the family of the conscript and am ready to take legal action against all concerned. The incident is already under investigation,” he said.
He said that he has emphasised in many meetings that there must not be assaults on the conscripts. “When this kind of incident happens, those responsible have to face prosecution according to the law. The superiors of those who are responsible for the incident will have to face disciplinary action for their lack of supervision that allowed this to happen,” he said.
There would be no interference in the investigation, he said, adding he has already assigned the Fourth Army Region commander to take care of the family of the dead conscript..
“I want to apologise to society again and will try to solve the problems so that this will never happen again,” he said.
He claimed tough discipline for conscripts has long been part of the army’s practice, noting that the soldiers have to be trained to work along the border.
“They have to adhere strictly to the rules and those who do not face severe punishment,” he said. However he insisted such activities have decreased.
Read also: Thailand army recruit killed for waking up late, grieving mother says
Taxi driver in Thailand caught on video allegedly demanding $40 from TV executive
The Land Transport Department has issued a summons to a taxi driver after he was caught on a video clip allegedly forcing a TV executive to pay Bt1,000 (S$40.60).
The department has ordered Rungnakhon Dulkul to report by 1pm Monday.
The video clip went viral and generated more than 1 million views and was shared more than 6,500 times after it was posted on Facebook by user Free’night Kub.
Thakolkiart Verawan, an executive of One channel of GMM, was seen in the clip allegedly being forced by Rungnakhon to raise his hands in apology after he hit the taxi with his hand. The driver was also seen allegedly demanding that Thakolkiart give him Bt1,000 in compensation or he threatened he would shoot him with a gun he claimed he was carrying.
Thakolkiart later said that he became angry and hit the back of the taxi with his hand after the driver refused to stop when he tried to hail it.
Thai army under fire over death of recruit
Human rights campaigners condemned the fatal torture of a conscript at a military base in Surat Thani on Saturday, while the Army admitted some commanders became too angry when punishing subordinates.
Pictures of conscript Private Yuthinan Boonniam, who was hospitalised with a swollen face and bruises, were widely shared on social media on Saturday, as this year’s annual military draft proceeded.
Angkhana Neelapaijit, commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), pointed out that this was not the first case of torture resulting in death at a military training camp, while urging the Army to stop using harsh punishment and respect draftees’ human rights.
Offering her condolences to the victim’s family, she said: “As it is a duty for Thai men to serve as conscripts to serve their country, the Army also has a duty to take good care of them and respect their human rights.
Read also: Thailand army recruit killed for waking up late, grieving mother says
“The death of Private Yuthinan was a tragic one and can be considered as a human rights violation. The NHRC will discuss how to deal with the case on Tuesday.”
She said torture and harsh punishment in military camps were nothing new, as the NHRC had earlier considered the case of Private Wichian Phuaksom, who was tortured to death at a training camp in Narathiwat in 2011. Following that incident, the NHRC submitted recommendations to the Army.
“We have asked the Army to stop the violent punishment and torture. Moreover, the Army has to properly compensate the family of the victim too,” she said.
Preeda Nakpiew, a lawyer from the Cross Cultural Foundation, said his organisation had assisted in legal battles regarding at least three similar cases, including those of Wichian and Private Songtham Mudmad, who was beaten to death at a military base in Yala last year.
“It is totally illegal to torture anyone, even if they are subordinates in the Army. Our organisation is trying hard to campaign on the inspection of exercise of power inside military bases, but so far our efforts have not been fruitful,” Preeda said.
“This is a chronic problem in the Army. Most of the time, the exercise of power at a military base is left unchecked and there is no control on the use of power to order or punish someone, despite there being clear rules about this.”
Maj-General Wichai Thassan-amontian, commander of the Military Circle 45, ordered the two soldiers allegedly involved in the torture of Private Yuthinan Boonniam, which led to his death, to be removed from their posts at Military Circle 45 to facilitate further investigation.
Wichai also ordered the setting up of a committee to investigate the death of Private Yuthinan.
Meanwhile, Royal Thai Army spokesperson Colonel Winthai Suvaree said Saturday’s incident was caused by commanders who did not control their emotions.
“The death of a conscript is very rare. Most of those [who died] had weak health or a chronic disease, so they had problems when facing intense punishment, and we find very few cases from more than 100,000 conscripts. We only find such a case once every year, or less than that,” Winthai said.
The spokesman said the incident would not have any effect on military conscription this year, because it was “a separate story”.
It has been reported that the number of conscriptions is slowly increasing every year.
This year there was a need for 103,097 draftees compared to 101,307 in 2016 and 99,373 in 2015.
