SINGAPORE – A domestic helper working here is in the spotlight after appearing to be possessed in a CCTV video clip that has gone viral.

But was she really?

Sceptical netizens believe she was play-acting in what they say is a common ruse among maids to get an early termination of their contracts.

Facebook user Fizzy Enzo Lumpkins claims he experienced it himself: “My maid did it previously and she confessed that this was what all the other maids told each other to do if they wanted an exit strategy.”

He points out how the maid in the video “conveniently positioned herself in front of the camera to get noticed”.

Several others share the same sentiments.

The creepy footage belongs to All Singapore Stuff reader Nurul, who said that the incident happened last Thursday (Mar 23).

She seems convinced by her maid’s bizarre behaviour: “My maid got possessed by ghost in my HDB flat after she came out of the shower… Lucky mum and kids were not home…”

In the 1min 24sec clip, the maid moves around in zombie-like motions, sporting a long dress reminiscent of Sadako’s (from The Ring) and a hairstyle similar to Bughuul’s (from Sinister).

Her bizarre behaviour has swayed some viewers who are not dismissing the possibility it could be genuine.

A few have commented how the whole episode raises practical questions.

What’s your take on this? Take our poll below and let us know.

huizhen@sph.com.sg

If you chance upon an empty canoe moving by itself off Seletar Island, do not be alarmed.

The yellow robot kayak roaming the Strait of Johor looking for signs of trouble is the latest weapon in the war against killer algae.

It is armed with sensors that measure water temperature, salinity and chlorophyll, among other things.

Scientists are using it to monitor waters for harmful algal blooms which have killed fish and marine life en masse here in the past.

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2017-03-29 12:14:54

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Tracking deadly algae

Source:

The Straits Times

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Scientists simply programme the robot to survey a designated area and collect data in real time that can then be used to map out patches of algae so scientists know how they are spreading.

Since 2010, scientists from the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) at the National University of Singapore and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Smart) Centre for Environmental Sensing and Modelling (Censam), have been harnessing advanced technologies to monitor environmental stressors, including algal blooms.

The project is funded by the National Research Foundation.

“The sea, as a research field, is a very challenging environment to collect data. Autonomous fleet of vehicles are able to collect relatively more data, more accurately as opposed to traditional methods,” said Mr Tawfiq Taher, a senior research manager at Smart Censam.

“Due to the harsh nature of the sea, the robots are required to be robust and resilient to the extreme weather conditions.”

Local fish farms here have been badly hit by algal blooms in recent years. Just two years ago, 77 farms were affected by the blooms which wiped out 500 to 600 tonnes of fish – about one-tenth of local farms’ yearly produce that year .

There are 118 Singapore coastal fish farms in the East and West Johor Strait, and the southern waters, where most rear fish in net cages in the sea. There are another seven fish farms on land.

Last year, the farms produced about 5,000 tonnes of fish, accounting for about 10 per cent of the fish eaten here.

Dr Sandric Leong, a senior research fellow with TMSI who is co-leading the project, noted that algal blooms are linked to many factors, including slower or warmer water, high nutrient levels and discharge from land agriculture.

“Advanced technologies assist in finding the blooms which are still in the early development stage so that the public can be alerted,” he said.

Dr Leong and his TMSI team are also using other technologies to help track and detect algal blooms with greater efficiency.

They include a machine which can identify algae species in a few hours instead of days.

An underwater camera is also able to operate at depths of up to 2km, to capture images of algae lurking deep in the sea.

National water agency PUB is also using technology to monitor reservoirs and waterways. It has developed a life-sized robot swan, with the NUS Environmental Research Institute and TMSI, to measure chlorophyll levels and water quality in reservoirs.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said it monitors the water quality around the nation’s fish farming areas.

“The use of autonomous surface vehicles (ASV) is relatively new in Singapore but such technologies can help to complement AVA’s monitoring efforts,” added a spokesman.

“On some occasions, we have tapped on the water quality data from NUS’ ASV trials to assist in our assessment of water quality in the East Johor Strait.”

Harmful algae in nearby waters

There are 270 known algae species found in coastal waters off Singapore. Here are some:

KARLODINIUM

Commonly found in the Johor Strait, it has toxic compounds that are known to cause massive fish kills during blooms.

During the mass fish death in 2015, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore found elevated levels of Karlodinium veneficum in seawater samples.

ALEXANDRIUM

The genus consists of more than 40 species and a third of them are toxic.

Four Alexandrium species occur in Singapore waters. One produces a toxic compound that kills young sea bass and seahorses, while another causes paralytic shellfish poisoning, which can be fatal.

KARENIA

This genus is known to have 12 species and can release toxins into the environment as aerosols, which can cause respiratory problems in humans.

Recreational beaches have been forced to close due to blooms caused by such species.

Eating shellfish contaminated with the algae may also result in neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, which causes headaches and aching muscles, among others.

An undetermined species was observed in the Singapore Strait in a study published last year.

kcarolyn@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Mar 29, 2017.
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The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is investigating a case where access to Clifford Pier was blocked, despite regulations to ensure the area remains open to the public after it was sold by the URA in 2006 and redeveloped into the Fullerton Bay Hotel.

In three photos dated March 2, obstacles such as a long couch and large potted plants could be seen blocking public access to parts of the waterfront at Collyer Quay, including Clifford Pier.

The couch cordoned off a part of the deck at the pier, while the potted plants were placed in front of doors leading into the Fullerton Bay Hotel, beside signs which indicated that the area was to be “accessible at all times”.

In response to queries, a URA spokesman said: “Developments such as Fullerton Bay Hotel are required to provide a pedestrian walkway along the deck areas at Clifford Pier to allow for public access to the waterfront.”

The URA will take enforcement action for any infringement of the guidelines after taking into account the impact of the infringement and circumstances of the case, the spokesman added.

When contacted, a Fullerton Bay Hotel spokesman said the hotel has yet to receive formal notification of the investigation from URA and thus had no comment regarding the incident.

When The Straits Times visited the site on the afternoon of March 6, the area where the long couch had been was cordoned off by workers conducting maintenance work on the flooring, while the potted plants had been removed from the front of the doors.

Built between 1927 and 1933, Clifford Pier was named after Hugh Clifford, who served as governor of the Straits Settlements – comprising Singapore, Penang and Malacca – between 1927 and 1929.

It was gazetted for conservation in 2007 after being replaced by the Marina South Pier.

Besides the Fullerton Bay Hotel, other developments, such as One Fullerton and Marina Bay Sands, are required to ensure public access to certain areas within their premises during operating hours.

raynoldt@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 29, 2017.
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Three weeks ago in Parliament, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan raised the possibility of higher bus and train fares.

Mr Khaw said it was not sustainable for taxpayers to keep on subsidising the cost of operating Singapore’s public transport system. He said that over the next five years, the Government expects to subsidise bus services by almost $4 billion. It expects to spend another $4 billion or so replacing ageing rail assets in the same timeframe.

“And all this is on top of about $20 billion we will be spending to build new public transport infrastructure,” he added.

Mr Khaw said the Public Transport Council (PTC) will review the fare formula when it expires later this year.

“They will consult widely,” he said. “I am confident that they will decide wisely.”

To say that fares should keep pace with cost will not go down well with commuters, even if it may be perfectly legitimate economically.

The argument is an old one, and has been relied on for practically all the fare revisions in the past. Unfortunately, it has become unconvincing, given that operators have had an unbroken profitability record.

True, running a bus operation on its own has occasionally been unprofitable. But if ancillary activities such as advertising, rental and engineering are included, both the incumbent transport companies have been in the black.

Taken as a whole (as it should be), with other core businesses such as rail, taxis and chartering, SMRT’s after-tax margins have ranged from 5 to 19 per cent in the last decade, while equivalent margins at ComfortDelGro have hovered around 7.5 per cent in the same timeframe. Also, when the fare formula was last reviewed in 2013, an energy component was introduced to better reflect costs faced by operators.

So, how should the formula be further tweaked so that commuters share the cost of running a public transport system with taxpayers? The question is trickier because, as Minister Khaw pointed out in his speech three weeks ago, “commuters are taxpayers too”.

Before we attempt to answer that question, we should ask a more basic one: Should taxpayers subsidise public transport?

And the answer to that is clearly “yes”. Public transport is a costly business because of the enormous infrastructural and operating assets involved.

It is an inherently cost-inefficient business too, because in catering to peak demand, there is a lot of underutilisation during off-peak hours. For instance, average bus occupancy throughout the day is merely 20 per cent, even if buses are packed in the morning rush hour. Yet, because public transport is also the most efficient way of moving the masses, it has to be affordable to the masses. So, the Government – or more rightly, taxpayers – have to pick up the slack.

In the recent overhaul of the bus industry, and the move to transform the rail sector, policymakers have deemed it necessary for the Government to assume a more active and direct role in making public transport the choice mode among Singapore residents.

This entails beefing up the bus and train fleets quickly, assuming ownership of all fixed and operating assets and ensuring their timely renewal, and regulating a more competitive environment. For this, it will have to dip more into the public coffers.

Without a doubt, questions will now be raised on whether tax revenue – of which vehicular taxes alone account for some $9 billion a year – is not already sufficient for such an endeavour.

Attempting to answer that will invite more questions on how government funds are apportioned, and even whether certain ministries can curtail their spending. It would be a futile exercise, and one which might be encouraged if the Government hangs on to its “costs are rising, so must fares” argument.

A better way to frame the argument would be to form a relationship between price and service quality. People would be more willing to pay more for better service than to pay more so that a service provider can recover its cost. That is just intuitive.

A 2011 study by American Express reaffirms this. It found that 73 per cent of people were willing to pay more for good service.

But what is good service? In the public transport sphere, that is relatively easier to quantify. There are a number of measurements to gauge service standards, such as reliability, punctuality and comfort level in the rail network.

A new real-time tracking system for buses will soon allow the authorities to do likewise for buses. These figures should be audited and published.

If the PTC can tweak its formula to include a service-quality component, it will have a more persuasive tool to convince commuters why they should pay more (or not). It will also be a more effective tool to ensure the regulators do a proper job of maintaining or even raising service standards.

To do this, the council must first be seen as independent. Its close relationship with the Transport Ministry (council members are appointed by the Transport Minister) casts some doubt over this.

Now that the Government collects bus fare revenue, it is even more important for the PTC to be seen as unbiased, and not as an extension of a government body.

Ideally, the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA’s) regulatory role should be transferred to the PTC. Right now, the LTA is responsible for awarding bus contracts, collecting fares and regulating service standards. That is not ideal, even if the conflicting roles are taken care of by different departments. Hopefully, all these structural anomalies can be addressed by the time the new fare formula is put to paper.

christan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 29, 2017.
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Although many parents of those with disabilities worry about what will happen to their children after they die, few have taken action by opening trust accounts to look after them.

When Mr Ong Yeow Ping, 38, who has intellectual disability, lost his mother in 2004, for example, he inherited her four-room flat, savings and insurance payouts.

But the money ran out in 2014, after being used to pay for his fees at Metta Home for the Disabled and the expenses of his elderly father, who died in 2012.

Mr Ong needed to sell the flat to fund his stay at the home, but his late father’s relatives had moved in and they refused to leave. He also lacked the mental capacity to authorise its sale.

Read also: Depression will be world No.1’s disability by 2020, warns Malaysian mental health group

His cousin Tan Ngan Seng, 55, a retired civil servant, then opened an account for Mr Ong with the Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC) and applied to be Mr Ong’s deputy – which allowed him to sell the flat.

Under the Mental Capacity Act of 2008, a deputy can make decisions for those with mental disability, and the SNTC account allowed Mr Tan to create a trust fund for Mr Ong.

When the four-room flat was finally sold last December, his father’s relatives relented and moved out. The $313,236 from the sale was credited into Mr Ong’s trust – an amount that can fund him for the rest of his life, according to a care plan drawn up by social workers and Mr Tan.

SNTC, a non-profit fund, was started in 2009 to allow family members to park monies and assets away to support their loved ones with special needs. The accounts can also be opened by children whose parents have acquired disabilities in old age or through accidents.

As of this month, 447 SNTC accounts have been opened. Two years ago, there were 300 accounts.

Read also: Puppy love: therapy pooches bring peace of mind at Spanish psychiatric centre

There is no official central registry of people with disabilities, but the Ministry of Social and Family Development estimates that 3 per cent of the resident population of 3.9 million have disabilities. That works out to 117,000 people thought to have disabilities.

Earlier this month, in the Committee of Supply debate, Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said SNTC will step up on outreach efforts to address caregivers’ “major concern” about how their children with disabilities will be cared for after they die.

When an account is set up, social workers and caregivers look at how much a trustee needs for food, transport and medical services, among other things, and determine how the money will be spent when the trust is activated.

Mr Tan Ngan Seng took the advice of a lawyer to set up an SNTC account for Mr Ong so that the court would know how he intended to use the proceeds from the sale of the flat. “He has the mental capabilities of a three-year-old,” said Mr Tan, who is also Mr Ong’s caregiver.

Mr Ong’s account is one of 19 that have started paying out money to the dependants.

Read also: Singapore book for special needs kids lauded

Each month, the payment of his fees for Metta Home comes from SNTC. And if Mr Tan needs to draw additional funds, say, if his cousin fell ill, the withdrawal has to be approved by SNTC to ensure that there is no misuse of funds.

SNTC general manager Esther Tan said: “This means the deputy will not need to account to the relatives on how the monies are used, because SNTC takes over the disbursement of monies from the trust.”

She said: “It is also good for me. I’m relieved that there is long- term financial security for Yeow Ping for the rest of his life.”

A trust fund requires just $5,000 to be started, and caregivers are encouraged to pledge the proceeds from the future sale of their homes to it. They can also make a minimum top-up of $500 at any time and the Government subsidises the set-up and activation fees.

Ms Tan said: “Our priority is to reach out to elderly parents or caregivers so that they can make plans, including setting up an SNTC trust, make their will and appoint deputies for their special needs dependants before they pass on.”

Read also: Beggar pretending to be one-footed arrested in Indonesia

She said targeting elderly caregivers was especially crucial so that cases like Mr Ong’s can be avoided.

To do so, SNTC will partner grassroots leaders to reach out to Pioneer Generation Singaporeans with special needs dependants. It will also collaborate with hospitals, senior activity centres and family service centres, said Ms Tan.

An SNTC account is a crucial safeguard, she said. “Even if you can find somebody you trust to take care of your child when you die, what if the child outlives his caregiver?”

And if the person with disability dies, a residual beneficiary named by the parents – for example, an able-bodied brother – will inherit the unused portion.

This article was first published on Mar 29, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

A local firm has been warned by the Personal Data Protection Commission after a staff member disclosed personal information of a former employee in a WhatsApp group.

The commission, which probed the case in 2015, found that a director at Executive Coach International had shared highly sensitive information about the former employee’s drug problem and “issue with infidelity” with more than 50 members of a closed WhatsApp group. The group comprised staff and volunteers. The firm provides life and executive coaching services to individuals and corporate clients.

The former employee said she had disclosed her personal details to the director in his capacity as her employer, teacher and coach.

Read also: Cyber attack likely mitigated, US Homeland Security says

Under the Personal Data Protection Act, it is an offence to collect, use or disclose personal data from an individual without consent. Breaches can draw penalties of up to $1 million or an order to ensure compliance, among other things.

This is the first case where a breach under the Act has been committed via an instant messaging platform. The firm argued that the director had disclosed the data in his personal capacity and not as an employee, adding that the data was known only to him.

The commission in its decision grounds issued last week said the company’s ignorance of what happened was immaterial under the Act, highlighting that the director was a senior member of the firm.

Read also: Some agencies delinked ahead of deadline

It added that the disclosures were made in the context of an ongoing spat arising from her unamicable departure from the company.

The director had expressed his disappointment with her and claimed she had tried to undermine his authority and convince others to leave the company.

This, the commission decided, meant the personal data was disclosed in the course of work by the director, and the “disclosure is treated as a disclosure by the organisation for which the organisation is responsible”.

It added the disclosures were internal and not to the public at large.

It ruled that a “calibrated” approach should be taken based on the circumstances of the case, and issued a warning to the company for breaching two sections of the Act.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, a spokesman for the firm said yesterday that the company respected the commission’s decision and regretted the incident. The spokesman added: “Since the incident, strict internal measures have been implemented to ensure that it never happens again.”

This article was first published on Mar 29, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.