The smell of the putu piring – from the famous stall in Haig Road – was irresistible, but they would have to wait.

Security officer Peter Lim was about to lift up his crisp white shirt to show an L-shaped scar – measuring 15cm by 15cm – on his abdomen.

The 54-year-old got it last March after he went through 10 hours of surgery to donate 60 per cent of his liver to a complete stranger.

It elicited wide-eyed looks of awe from those around him, including Mr Jabez Tan, a former drug peddler who now runs five bak kut teh stalls which employ many former convicts.

It was a gathering of heroes yesterday at the Command House, a stately building with expansive and verdant grounds perched on a little hill in Kheam Hock Road.

Once the dwelling of powerful military men and now the UBS Business University, the premises were used to host The Straits Times Singaporean of The Year award ceremony, supported by UBS Singapore.

There was a surfeit of good food, goodwill and good vibes under a white marquee from which gold chandeliers hung.

One would not have expected less; this was, after all, a soiree to celebrate more than a dozen local heroes, including Mr Lim and Mr Tan, who moved, inspired and made a difference with feats admirable and deeds laudable last year.

Ashvin Gunasegaran, the plucky 12-year-old who rushed to the aid of a pregnant woman involved in a car accident in Yishun last March, could barely contain his excitement at meeting fellow finalists: Paralympian swimmers Theresa Goh and Yip Pin Xiu.

Dressed in his school uniform, the Fuchun Secondary School student was accompanied by his father A. Gunasegaran and mother Swares Helen Louisa.

Ashvin had implored his principal not to tell the whole school he was attending the ceremony.

“Shy lah,” he said.

Not so shy was Mr John Shu, a 50-year-old mechanic who generously gave $6,000 to fund the studies of a former drug addict and single mother he had met at a bus stop.

Gregarious and garrulous, the lumbering giant introduced himself to all and sundry, calling everyone “Bro” and “Sister”.

He sniffled and wiped away tears when he saw himself in the video The Straits Times had produced for every finalist, but quickly recovered to recommend iced oolong tea to fellow guests, including singer Nathan Hartono – who made Singapore proud by coming in second at last year’s Sing! China competition – and Dr Radiah Salim, the doctor who started Club Heal, a charity for those suffering from mental illness.

In his ripped jeans, fire engine red T-shirt and black leather jacket, Mr Hartono was a magnet for autograph hunters and wefie-seekers.

Mr Marc Lim, The Straits Times news editor and one of the judges, said approvingly: “Not bad, quite hunky. A lot of girls and aunties swooning lah.”

The finalists and guests had time to mingle while waiting for the arrival of guest of honour, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

He presented the Singaporean of the Year award to the winner, Colin, May and Joseph Schooling.

Joseph had put Singapore on the world map by beating swimming great Michael Phelps in the men’s 100m butterfly event at the Rio Olympics last August.

On stage, the champion’s father told the crowd that they shared Joseph’s award with all the finalists.

This award is for all of you, you’re all winners, he said.

Meanwhile, Ashvin, when asked what he would do with his $5,000 cash award given to all finalists, said: “I will donate $200 to an old folks’ home, give $1,000 to my father, the rest to my mother, and keep $50 for myself.”

And what would he do with the $50?

“Buy myself a pair of headphones so that I can listen to music.”

kimhoh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on February 7, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

The authorities will gain new enforcement powers to ensure that pre-schools uphold standards, under a Bill introduced in Parliament yesterday.

These include powers to interview people, and take photos, videos or audio recordings at pre-schools for investigations.

Currently, the authorities are allowed to enter and inspect pre-school premises, and take documents from centres.

The Early Childhood Development Centres Bill will govern the 1,800 or so childcare centres and kindergartens here, which now come under the Child Care Centres and Education Acts respectively.

However, it does not apply to pre-schools run by the Government, such as Ministry of Education kindergartens.

It aims to regulate pre-schools to “protect the safety, well-being and welfare of children” there, and “promote the quality, and continuous improvement in the quality” of pre-school services.

Regulating both types of pre-schools under the same framework also means that requirements will be more consistent, regardless of the type of service offered.

For instance, under the proposed law, kindergartens will be issued licences that have to be renewed regularly.

Read also: 4 mega childcare centres to open in 2018

Currently, childcare centres must renew their licences every six to 24 months, depending on the licence tenure, but kindergartens can be registered through a one-off process.

Generally, childcare centres cater to children aged 18 months to seven years old, and offer the option of a full-day programme. Some centres also have infant care services.

Kindergartens cater to children aged two to seven years old, and most sessions last up to four hours.

The new Bill comes at a time when the pre-school sector has expanded significantly in recent years, owing to more mothers returning to the workforce and fewer grandparents willing to be primary caregivers of children.

The legislation has been delayed twice. It was initially slated to be introduced in the second half of 2015, before it was pushed back to last year, and then this year.

A spokesman for the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) told The Straits Times late last year that it “made some revisions to the earlier communicated timeline to provide the sector more time for a smooth transition onto the new regulatory framework”.

More consultations with pre- school operators were also held last year, after a public consultation exercise in 2015.

The proposed law will have heavier fines compared with the two Acts that childcare centres and kindergartens now come under – offenders face up to a $10,000 fine and a year in jail.

ECDA previously said this was to match the severity of the offences and to align with similar penalties in other laws.

Currently, the maximum penalty under the Child Care Centres Act is a $5,000 fine and a jail term of two years; that under the Education Act is a $2,000 fine and a year in jail.

The Early Childhood Development Centres Bill will likely be debated in Parliament after the Budget debate, expected to be held next month.

Read also: 13,800 kids on childcare wait list​

Name of Bill captures range of operators and services provided

The authorities hope to send a signal to parents with the title of the would-be legislation – Early Childhood Development Centres Bill – that was introduced in Parliament yesterday.

Explaining the name, Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) chief executive Eugene Leong told The Straits Times: “We wanted a title – unfortunately it’s quite long – that captures the range of operators and services that they provide.”

His remarks follow the introduction of the Bill in Parliament by Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin. It will give the authorities more powers to investigate and take errant pre-schools to task.

Mr Leong noted that some people use “pre-school” to refer to kindergarten services, which typically last half a day. Most childcare centres offer the option of full-day programmes.

He said: ” ‘Pre-school’ could refer to preparation for school, but that’s… not what we’re talking about, (which is) holistic development in a child’s early years.”

ECDA is the government agency that oversees the pre-school sector. Its website states that the pre-school landscape “comprises both kindergartens and childcare centres”.

The two types of pre-schools offer programmes for children up to the age of seven.

They are regulated under different Acts, but the new Bill proposes that they come under the same framework.

Some people also have the misperception that childcare centres offer only custodial care, when they actually offer education too, Mr Leong added.

He said: “We’re dealing with the same teachers and children who can move between the two sectors… The Bill helps us to harmonise and ensure consistent standards across pre-schools.”

Read also: Workplace childcare centres gain popularity​

Fewer enrolling for kindergarten, more opting for childcare

goyshiyi@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Feb 07, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

The introduction of a Community Committee for presidential elections sparked a flurry of questions on ethnicity and identity in Parliament yesterday.

This 16-member committee will be set up before each election to assess which racial group candidates belong to, and will comprise a chairman and three sub-committees for the Chinese, Malay, and Indian and other minority groups.

During the three-hour debate on amendments to the Presidential Elections Act, MPs dug deep into what defines a person’s race.

Presidential hopefuls must declare which community they consider themselves a part of, and the relevant sub-committee will issue a certificate if it agrees. This follows changes to the Constitution last year to provide for elections to be reserved for a particular racial group that has not been represented in the office for a period of time.

Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC) and Nominated MP Thomas Chua asked how this would apply to candidates of mixed race, who may identify with more than one community.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing responded that if such a citizen decides to apply for a particular community certificate, the relevant sub-committee “should adopt an inclusive attitude towards his application”.

He said this was “different from the approach suggested by some other members”, who wanted the lines between the different communities to be more clearly drawn.

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC) had asked if an applicant’s proficiency in his mother tongue should be a factor the committee considers. “Should a presidential candidate who sees himself as part of the Indian community pass muster if he or she can barely get by in Tamil or the other MOE (Ministry of Education) recognised Indian languages?” he said.

Read also: Presidential election to be held in September with new campaigning rules

Mr Chan said it was up to the committee to assess a candidate “holistically, and not home in on one factor”. He said this was not new, it having worked well in the context of the group representation constituency, which ensures minority representation in parliamentary polls.

Mr Singh also asked if the background of an aspiring president’s spouse would matter, pointing to how portraits of both president and “first lady” are prominently displayed in government buildings.

What would happen, he asked, if the aspiring president’s spouse had converted to Islam to marry, but does not follow the faith?

Mr Chan noted in his wrap-up of the debate that the Constitution does not enshrine the position of first lady, adding that it is a courtesy term customarily used for the wife of the president.

Mr Nair, meanwhile, sought to clarify that the “other minority communities” would not be a catch-all for those who do not fit into the Chinese, Indian and Malay ethnicities.

Mr Chan said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean had made clear in Parliament last November that this referred to groups with some degree of history, permanence and established presence in Singapore, such as the Eurasian community.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong GRC) said the discussion on minority representation in the presidency has led to an openness to talk about race, a topic that used to be seen as sensitive. “It made us a bit uncomfortable to think about the current state of affairs, but it has pushed us to think about issues a bit more,” she said.

Mr Chan said: “We will continue to work hard to ensure that each Singaporean feels cherished in our society, regardless of which community they are from.”

Read also: Names of potential presidential candidates surface

WP’s senate idea flawed, unworkable: Shanmugam

Tan Cheng Bock ‘disappointed’ he’s unable to stand in next presidential election

Debate on timing of reserved election

This article was first published on Feb 07, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

The issue of timing came up for debate yesterday during the parliamentary debate on the Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill.

The Workers’ Party (WP) questioned the decision to reserve this year’s presidential election for Malay candidates, with its chairman Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC) saying she was not convinced by the Government’s reasoning.

Meanwhile, Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong GRC) noted that the move to push back the upcoming presidential election to September could give rise to talk that the Government has other motives.

In making her point, Ms Lim reiterated the same arguments she raised last November, when the Constitution was amended to reserve a presidential election for a specified racial group if no one from that group has been elected president in the past five terms.

The Government then said the next election will be reserved for Malay candidates, as the five continuous terms started from that of former president Wee Kim Wee.

The late Mr Wee was in office when the elected presidency took effect in 1991.

But Ms Lim noted that Mr Wee was not elected to office. His successor, the late president Ong Teng Cheong, was the first to assume the nation’s highest office via a poll.

“Why not count from the first elected president, Mr Ong Teng Cheong? Is it because if President Ong was the first one to be counted, we would have to go through this year’s election as an open election and risk the contest by Chinese or Indian candidates who may not be to the Government’s liking?” she said.

In response, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing said Mr Wee was the first president to exercise the powers under the elected presidency, introduced in 1991. He added that the Government took advice from the Attorney-General on the matter.

He said Ms Lim was suggesting the Government has “all sorts of short-term political objectives to amend the Constitution and put in place this system”, though this was far from the case.

Rather, the Government was planning for the long term, so that the system can overcome potential difficulties over sensitive issues such as race, language and religion.

He also noted the changes carried high political risk and cost. “If this Government led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is for short-term political advantage, would we do it? Would we expend our political capital to do this?” he said.

Read also: Presidential election to be held in September with new campaigning rules

He also said the changes had been debated for more than a year in a transparent process that involved the setting up of a Constitutional Commission to review the elected presidency.

He also noted that the WP had declined to present its position before the commission, despite being invited to do so.

Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera was later drawn into the debate when Mr Chan referred to his parliamentary speech last November, and said it showed support to depoliticise the presidency.

Mr Perera said he does not support the elected presidency and was speaking in the context of having an appointed, not elected, president.

But Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean rose to read from the Hansard, saying it shows Mr Perera was with him on the need to depoliticise the presidential election.

Mr Perera did not clarify his position then, Mr Teo added.

Mr Ang welcomed having the election in September, and the move not to designate sites for rallies.

But he wondered if having an acting president after President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s term ends on Aug 31 would be seen by some as a move to install an interim president who would let the Government dip into the reserves.

“Let me quickly put such rumours to bed,” said Mr Chan, adding that the Government would “respect that the rationale of the elected presidency is for an elected president to be the second key to the reserves and to key appointments”.

At the end of the debate, the WP MPs and Nominated MP Kok Heng Leun voted against the Bill.

Read also: Names of potential presidential candidates surface

WP’s senate idea flawed, unworkable: Shanmugam

Tan Cheng Bock ‘disappointed’ he’s unable to stand in next presidential election

This article was first published on Feb 07, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

If a minority candidate leaves his group representation constituency (GRC), a by-election will not be called, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing said yesterday.

He was replying to the opposition Workers’ Party’s Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC), who wanted to know what would happen if a minority member of a GRC stepped down to run for president.

Mr Singh used Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob as an example.

Madam Halimah, the minority member of Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, has been tipped as a potential candidate for the upcoming election, which is reserved for Malays.

What then, Mr Singh asked, would happen to “the very existence of Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, which by law requires a Malay MP as one of its political representatives in Parliament”?

Read Also: Presidential election to be held in September with new campaigning rules

Mr Chan said a by-election would not be called if a member of a GRC resigns or is incapacitated in any way.

“This is totally unrelated to the Bill today but since it was raised, I will deal with it,” he said.

The GRC system has been in place since 1988, and requires each team to include at least one member of a minority race.

Mr Chan said that when Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong explained the GRC system in Parliament decades back, he said its intent was to achieve two purposes.

One, to ensure enough minority members in the House.

This, Mr Chan said, had been achieved over the years.

Two, to ensure no political campaign on issues of race and religion, “that we will all, regardless of party lines, campaign on the basis that we are all Singaporeans, that we will not use race, language or religion for political reasons”, Mr Chan said.

Elected members are expected to serve all residents, regardless of race, language and religion as well.

These key goals would not be affected if one member of the GRC left, Mr Chan added.

He noted there are 25 minority MPs out of 89, “more than what you’d expect proportionately from adding up the percentage of Malays, Indians and other minorities”.

Read Also: Names of potential presidential candidates surface

“Even if we have one less, that is 24 out of 89, which is 27 per cent of Parliament,” he said.

Near the end of the debate, Mr Chan accidentally called Madam Halimah “Madam President” instead of “Madam Speaker”, to loud laughter from the House.

He did it twice, before he corrected himself.

This article was first published on February 7, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.@sph.com.sg>

Some cabin crew working for Singapore Airlines (SIA) have expressed unhappiness over the company’s medical leave system, and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is in touch with their union and management about their concerns, The Straits Times has learnt.

Some crew members said the current scheme discourages those who are genuinely ill from taking medical leave. They told The Straits Times anonymously that employees have incentive points that are docked when they submit a medical certificate for common ailments such as cold and cough.

Everyone starts with 10 points each year, which are lost once 12 casual MCs are accumulated.

The Straits Times understands that these points are taken into account in staff’s annual appraisals, although they make up less than 5 per cent of the weightage.

A crew member said: “The whole system is flawed. Why even make it a factor… You really just end up penalising those who are really ill.”

SIA declined to provide details of its performance management process, but stressed that those on medical leave are encouraged to rest and recuperate at home.

Operating with an MC is in fact a disciplinary lapse, said the airline.

Crew members are granted up to 28 days of paid medical leave and six months of paid hospitalisation (non-casual) leave for chronic or prolonged illness.

SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides said: “As with all other businesses, employee productivity and attendance at work are important for a successful airline operation. Although crew attendance is a component in the performance management process, we would like to emphasise that crew performance is measured across many other factors.”

Read also: SIA air stewardess found dead in San Francisco hotel room

MOM, which is believed to have made contact with SIA in the last week, told The Straits Times that paid sick and hospitalisation leave is “a basic protection” under the Employment Act and a core benefit in collective agreements.

A spokesman said: “Employers should avoid penalising an employee solely based on his consumption of sick leave. Employers should adopt appraisal or performance management systems which are fair, objective, and which take into consideration the employee’s ability, performance and contributions.”

He urged all employers to communicate their employment and work-related terms and benefits to employees clearly to avoid any misunderstanding.

Employees who feel that they have been unfairly penalised for taking sick leave can approach the ministry for advice and assistance, he added.

The concerns raised by some SIA cabin crew follow the death of leading stewardess Vanessa Yeap, 38, in San Francisco last week.

She was due for a return flight to Singapore, with a stopover in Hong Kong, when she was found dead in her hotel room.

She had allegedly told her colleagues that she was not feeling well. The cause of death has yet to be certified.

When asked about these concerns, Mr Alan Tan, president of the Singapore Airlines Staff Union – SIA’s biggest union which represents cabin crew – said: “We are aware that there is some unhappiness and concern among staff, and we are in discussions with management over this issue.”

Read also: SIA refutes netizen’s claims over MC rules

MOM: All employees have right to MCs

karam@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Feb 07, 2017.
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