Spelling and grammar mistakes are aplenty on the internet.

For most of us, committing a boo-boo as such can be a slightly embarrassing affair (mostly drawing jibes from close friends), but for an account with a decent following, such errors can spell – pun intended – someone’s job being put on the line for the slip of hand or mind.

Regardless, these very public mistakes are usually spotted by and harped on by netizens and publications alike, and most recently, Pentel Singapore was the new butt of jokes.

Two days ago, this Facebook post by the Singapore arm of the stationery-maker got much attention for all the wrong reasons.

Glaring grammatical errors aside, the post itself didn’t conform to any definition of exciting, but it has since been shared 172 times so far, and covered by online publications like Mothership and SGAG (and now us as well).

The comments section is also rife with (pretty hilarious) jibes at the bad English, spurring Pentel Singapore themselves to address the situation:

Fair enough.

However, two days on, the mistake still mysteriously remains.

To give them the benefit of the doubt, let’s just assume that they’re not entirely active on their Facebook page (though they could have corrected the error when they posted the comment).

Not exactly.

While we appreciate that little plug for their erasers, there’s yet another grammatical error in a post promising to not have any more of said errors.

And yes, the mistake on the 18 Feb post still remains as well.

But given that Pentel is (fortunately?) not a company whose main business is selling educational courses or anything that would require good grammar, their sales probably won’t decline after this incident.

In fact, the buzz garnered by this fiasco might have actually drawn even more attention to their products than usual.

No one can really say for sure the exact intentions of their social media team (or even the lack of one), but hey, if they wanted hype – they certainly got it.

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2014-07-18 11:37:39

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SINGAPORE – Every Tuesday and Wednesday night, a long queue of migrant workers forms outside a small clinic in Geylang. They are here for the low-cost medical care.

Consultation is free for special pass holders while work permit holders pay $5. The clinic is run by non-profit organisation HealthServe, with the help of volunteer doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals.

A doctor at the Institute of Mental Health, Dr Joshua Lam currently volunteers twice a month at the clinic.

“I decided to volunteer for HealthServe because I wanted to play a part for migrant workers after seeing them at the polyclinics where I used to work. I know that they are always hesitant to seek treatment because of the cost, given that they are non-residents,” said Dr Lam, who is single.

The 30-year-old started volunteering at HealthServe in July 2015 and sees around 15 to 20 patients a night.

HealthServe was founded in 2006 in order to provide affordable healthcare services to migrant workers.

In 2015, it provided medical consultation for 4,618 workers and helped nearly 500 on their workplace injury or salary/contractual issues.

The migrant workers come primarily from China, Bangladesh and India.

In this episode of video series Heroes Among Us, Dr Lam talks about his experiences helping the workers at the organisation.

This article was first published on FEB 19, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Mrs Rosa Huey Daniel will be the new chief executive officer of the National Arts Council (NAC), the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) announced yesterday.

The 53-year-old will take on the role from March 1.

NAC deputy CEO Paul Tan is currently the covering CEO, after Ms Kathy Lai completed her tenure at the council on Oct 31 last year.

Mrs Daniel has been in public service for more than 30 years and has been posted to various ministries. As the current deputy secretary (culture) in MCCY, she oversees policy formulation and implementation in the arts and cultural sector.

She was involved in major developments in the sector, including the opening of the National Gallery Singapore, the setting up of Arts House Limited to run the Singapore International Festival of Arts, and the launch of the Cultural Matching Fund, which encourages private cash donations to arts and heritage charities and Institutions of a Public Character by matching them dollar for dollar.

The release by MCCY noted that Mrs Daniel “has a strong interest in arts and heritage, and a strong ability to connect with diverse stakeholders” .

It also stated that her concurrent appointment in MCCY would “provide greater synergy between the ministry’s role in shaping the wider cultural and heritage landscape, and NAC’s role in taking the Singapore arts scene forward”.

Mrs Daniel will continue as CEO of the National Heritage Board and will oversee the completion of its key projects until a new chief executive is appointed.

nabilahs@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Feb 21, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

The market for taxi and taxi-like services has doubled since private-hire car services Uber and Grab began operating here in 2013.

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan told Parliament yesterday that these private-hire services have now claimed about half the market for point-to-point transportation services.

This comes as the total number of taxi trips has remained relatively stable, with only a slight drop from an average of 967,000 trips daily in 2013 to 954,000 trips daily last year, he said.

“That means that the new players have been meeting new demand or unmet demand,” he said, in response to Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio GRC).

Mr Gan had asked if the Transport Ministry would control the private-hire car population, citing concerns that the expansion of private-hire car services could drive up certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums.

Demand from Uber and Grab has fuelled an increase in the rental car population over the last two years.

There are now about 53,000 rental cars in Singapore, compared with around 29,000 in 2015.

Mr Khaw said his ministry will leave the growth of private-hire cars to market forces and monitor the situation.

New services that apply innovative business models and improve the commuting experience should not be stifled, he added.

“The best approach I think is to let Singaporeans decide,” he said.

Referring to a recent survey conducted by the Public Transport Council, he said commuters expressed greater satisfaction with Uber and Grab compared with taxis in areas such as customer service and waiting times.

However, he noted that satisfaction with taxi services also went up between 2015 and 2016, due to taxi operators ramping up efforts to improve service in the face of competition from Uber and Grab.

“So in this particular space, competition has been good,” he said.

On private-hire car services affecting COE premiums, Mr Khaw said the evidence “does not suggest” premiums are going up as a result of private-hire car services.

He said the bids submitted during each cycle were “more or less” at the market rate, and that private-hire car firms were “not being particularly aggressive” in bidding.

This article was first published on Feb 21, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Singapore, a Southeast Asian city state whose early economic progress was closely tied to investments from foreign multinationals, presented a budget on Monday that has few incentives to draw more of such investors, one tax expert said.

Speaking to CNBC’s “Rundown” on Tuesday, PwC Singapore’s tax leader Chris Woo said the absence of such big-bang tax measures could mean that Singapore is feeling comfortable with its position amid an increasingly competitive tax environment.

“It’s interesting to see there isn’t anything spectacular that would grab the attention of the foreign investors. Last night in the US time or European time, if someone was looking to invest in Singapore or was waiting for goodies in the budget, there weren’t really any big goodies for these multinationals outside Singapore to attract them to Singapore,” said Woo.

“Singapore, at this stage of global tax competitiveness, believes that it’s at a good position at the moment. There could be some tweaks later on. Singapore of course has a very substantial incentive regime… it appears to be that Singapore is investing for the long term,” he added.

The city state’s low tax regime and its current tax incentives to lure multinationals has come under the spotlight in recent years. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s global initiative has worked to close the gap in international tax rules that allow companies to artificially shift profits across borders.

The OECD’s initiative is known as the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project.

“The BEPS project seeks to ensure that companies are taxed where substantive economic activities are performed. Singapore supports this principle. We are, in consultation with businesses, refining our schemes and implementing the relevant standards,” Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Monday while delivering his budget speech.

Read also: Budget 2017: 5 things that may affect you directly

Ajay Sanganeria, tax partner at KPMG in Singapore, said in a note that the country’s compliance to the BEPS initiative enhances its reputation as a legitimate place to do business.

“Singapore will definitely stand out as a low tax yet BEPS-compliant market to [multinational corporations] looking for jurisdictions in which to invest,” he said.

Today, even as the country increases its focus on building local capabilities, it continues to work on attracting foreign companies with its Economic Development Board targeting to draw between S$8 billion and S$10 billion in investments this year.

On Monday, Heng unveiled an annual Budget statement that featured strategies to tackle a rapidly changing economic climate and advances in technology. Among measures announced by Heng include help for local companies and workers to gain capabilities, higher corporate tax rebate and a new carbon tax.

For the fiscal year starting in April 2017, Singapore’s expenditure is expected to grow by S$3.7 billion from a year ago to S$75.1 billion with an overall surplus of S$1.9 billion, down from the previous year’s S$5.2 billion.

While many observers lauded the budget as being expansionary and inclusive, some questioned the lack of assistance to smaller companies, who are grappling with rising business costs.

Kurt Wee, president of the Small and Medium Enterprises Association, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that rising costs are a concern flagged by the community over the last three to four years, but there have not been sufficient measures to address that.

“You’ve got labour cost that’s quite a bit of pressure on businesses, you’ve got rental cost, compliance cost… In the near term, you’re going to see levies going up, we don’t see many cost measures that are going to help SMEs in this climate,” he said.

Read also: Budget 2017: What startups and SMEs need to know

Many cabbies are throwing in the towel but new taxi company HDT Singapore Taxi is hoping to lure them back by offering fixed salaries and employment benefits such as annual leave and Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions.

The scheme to treat drivers as full-time employees instead of renters appears to be taking off. Since the all-electric taxi operator hit the road last October, it has recruited drivers for all its current 50 cabs.

HDT managing director James Ng told The Straits Times last week: “Although people say that taxis are a dead business, we look at it in a different way. Our employment scheme provides a realistic alternative to taxi drivers.”

Of the company’s approach, he said: “For us, it’s about managing the revenue line. Our assets are not the cars but the drivers.”

The other five taxi operators, which run a total of 27,500 cabs, rent out their taxis at a daily rate that can be as high as $130 a day for a saloon model. Cabbies keep whatever fares they earn.

HDT’s cabbies get a basic gross income of $1,900 a month, including CPF contributions, which can go up to $2,800 with overtime. Their pay can go progressively higher with higher revenue targets. If $8,500 is achieved, for example, the gross salary rises to $4,300.

Besides street hails, HDT cabbies also get customers from bookings via ride-hailing app Grab, with which HDT has partnered.

The fare takings from all revenue streams are retained by HDT but its drivers do not pay a rental fee and get to keep any Grab incentives.

HDT cabby Michael Ng, 52, said he takes about three weeks, driving about 12 hours a day and six days a week, to hit the $7,500 target. With that, he gets $3,200 in gross salary. “I’ll usually take Sunday off. And I don’t have to worry about paying rental,” said Mr Ng, who has been a cabby for 10 years.

HDT also provides annual and medical leave, and free charging of the China-made electric cabs at 40 charging points it has built, which will grow to 57 by early next month.

With fixed salaries and benefits, HDT’s Mr Ng is “confident” it can recruit more drivers to fill the 100 cabs it intends to have by June, even as other operators are struggling to rent out their vehicles.

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng said it remains to be seen if HDT’s business model is sustainable. “The fleet is still small, and they are able to attract sufficient drivers for now,” he added.

Many taxi drivers said they still prefer renting their cabs. A cabby who wanted to be known only as John, 56, said: “It’s not that easy to hit $7,500… It’s still better to rent a taxi, and I have the flexibility of how much I want to work daily.”

Read also: HDT Singapore Taxi’s all-electric cabs may hit the roads soon
LTA removes requirement for taxi drivers to clock a daily minimum mileage

This article was first published on Feb 21, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.