A cloaked figure lies huddled on a bench at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, a picture of helplessness and poverty.

His face and hands are hidden under a blanket, but go nearer and you will realise that it is a sculpture of Jesus with crucifixion wounds on his feet.

Called Homeless Jesus, the bronze sculpture, which has made headlines around the world, was installed at Singapore’s oldest Catholic church last November – in time for its reopening in the Civic District after a major restoration.

The sculpture is also the first to be sited in South-east Asia, though Homeless Jesus can be found in Catholic and Protestant churches in about 50 cities, including Madrid, Chennai and Washington, DC.

Created by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz, the life-size sculpture and its accompanying bench were also installed in the Vatican last year, after Pope Francis had previously blessed a smaller model of it.

But it has stirred some controversy, with some saying it demeans their neighbourhoods, or that Jesus was never said to be homeless in the Bible.

But Cathedral of the Good Shepherd rector, Monsignor Philip Heng, said: “Of course, Jesus was not homeless nor a beggar, but he lived simply with his 12 disciples… and preached the gospel of compassion and mercy.

“This sculpture is an artistic impression and expression of how He is one with the poor.”

Mr Schmalz had contacted the Catholic leader, Archbishop William Goh, in May last year, offering to send the sculpture.

An anonymous donor paid for the work and shipping. It was installed in one of the cathedral’s six gardens, at the national monument’s main entrance.

Mr Schmalz declined to reveal the cost of the sculpture to The Straits Times.

Monsignor Heng said Mr Schmalz’s only request was that it be located in a place where it would be noticed.

The rector believes it is an appropriate addition to the grounds.

He said: “I think it’s a rallying call for the cathedral because homelessness is part of the reality of Singapore.”

Even in a prosperous country like Singapore, there are people who sleep on cardboard sheets at street corners and five-foot-ways in the city centre, he said. Sometimes, they approach the cathedral and worshippers for food or money.

After Monsignor Heng took over as rector in 2015, he appointed two volunteers to speak with the needy who came around, so as to assess their situation to determine how much financial help they needed.

The cathedral has documented the cases of at least 20 such people.

It also distributes about 150 boxes of food every Sunday at the cathedral to both the needy and migrant workers.

The programme is funded by donations from worshippers.

Feedback about the sculpture from worshippers and visitors has been positive so far, said Monsignor Heng, adding that some people think it is a real person.

“Just because we don’t see the homeless and needy often, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” he said.

“The sculpture reminds people that the Christian faith is not just about you and God alone, but also about the larger community.”

Housewife Cecila Charmaine Chan, 60, who attends mass at the cathedral, agreed.

She said: “If we want to follow Christ, we also have to love the poor.”

Mr Schmalz said over the phone from Florida: “Singapore is a major city in the world and there are a lot of rich as well as poor people living there. So the message, which is to challenge people to see God in the poor, has to be represented there.”

Each sculpture takes about three to four months to create in his studio in Ontario, Canada.

Born Catholic, Mr Schmalz said he was inspired to create the sculpture after seeing a homeless person sleeping under a blanket on a busy street in Toronto, Canada, six years ago.

On the rejection he has faced, Mr Schmalz said: “It’s a powerful message that some people don’t want to talk about.

“Christianity is not meant to be cushy. It requires us to take a hard look at ourselves and treat everyone with love.”

melodyz@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on January 30, 2017.
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Employers who hire foreign workers and default on their wages sometimes wind up their businesses, only to set up new ones later, just to avoid paying the money they owe.

A non-governmental organisation that advocates for the rights of foreign workers has called for such employers to be banned from starting new companies until they have paid the workers.

This will ensure that they cannot hire and exploit a new batch of foreign workers, said the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) in a research paper published this month.

It also urged the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to proactively prosecute errant employers and give the new Employment Claims Tribunals more power.

Home interviewed 2,009 work permit holders from China, Bangladesh, India and Malaysia who had sought its help in 2015 and last year.

It found that unpaid wages and underpayment were the most common problems, with about half of the respondents citing these woes.

Home acting executive director Jolovan Wham said this exploitation was akin to “wage theft”.

“Wage theft is an appropriate and accurate term because in the majority of cases we have documented, there was a deliberate attempt by employers to underpay, ignore labour laws, deduct wages and manipulate payment methods,” he said.

Home also found “wage differences according to nationalities”.

It said new construction workers from Bangladesh or India typically earned $18 per day in 2015 and last year, a sum that had not risen since 1992, when the average daily wage of a new Bangladeshi worker was $16 to $19.

But a new construction worker from China earned about three times more in 2015 and last year, getting about $50 a day.

Another problem was workers not being paid for overtime or for working on public holidays.

One in three of those interviewed said he did not get overtime pay.

One in four workers said his employer made unauthorised cuts from his salary for purposes such as insurance premiums, safety equipment and even punishments for breaching the work contract.

Home said some unauthorised deductions were termed loans and savings.

Also, some employers recorded fewer hours worked, to punish the workers.

“This is another means to exact a financial penalty on workers without having to make outright deductions,” Home said.

Some workers said they were deceived about wages and work conditions by employers.

There were also those who ended up in irregular work arrangements, in which they were not working for the employers listed in their work permits.

These workers were brought in through “shell companies” set up for the purpose of profiting from recruitment fees and kickbacks.

Mr Wham said he hoped the paper would create greater awareness among the public and prompt MOM to change things.

Construction worker Sohag Fazlul Haque, 30, has had various unauthorised deductions made to his salary each month.

“Some people stay quiet, but I cannot. I want the workers not to have this problem in future. I want them to know the problems,” he said.

tohyc@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on January 30, 2017.
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I was riled up after reading about the unsuitable items that people donated (“Trashy donations hamper charities’ work“; Jan 22).

Food Bank Singapore and the Salvation Army rely on donations in kind from the public to aid them in their work.

They help us to help others by distributing donated goods to those who have need of them.

But it seems that some donors are treating them as rubbish collectors.

What does this say about the mentality of these donors?

First, there is a clear misunderstanding of what it means to be charitable.

The word “charity” has its root in the notion of love.

We do not treat those we love with disrespect.

To give them rubbish is the ultimate insult.

Second, there is a lack of common decency.

One of the key virtues in life is to treat others as we would like to be treated.

Surely, we would not like it if we were in a dire situation and we were given rubbish.

Donors should reflect on what they give to charities.

Charities have to sort through and dispose of unsuitable donated items.

This robs them of precious time that could have been invested in helping their beneficiaries.

It is heartening that some organisations are doing good in Singapore.

If we can help them, we should do so. If we cannot, we should not make things more difficult for them.

William Wan (Dr)

General Secretary

Singapore Kindness Movement

This article was first published on January 30, 2017.
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SINGAPORE – Overcast skies did not dampen the large crowds that gathered to visit the Istana on the second day of Chinese New Year, some of whom queued up for almost two hours to enter the grounds.

The Istana, the official residence of the President of Singapore, opened its gates early on Sunday morning (Jan 29), and by the afternoon queues could be seen stretching past neighbouring Plaza Singapura.

Though skies were grey, it did not rain, allowing more than 20,000 visitors to enjoy various performances, including displays by the Yuan Ching Secondary School Lion Dance Troupe and the Cixi City Celadon Ou Music Troupe.

President Tony Tan Keng Yam and his wife, Mrs Mary Tan, joined the crowds later in the afternoon and were treated to a performance by the Yi Quan Athletic Association’s Lion Dance Troupe.

They also took in a performance by the Maha Bodhi School Symphonic Band, and visited a Chinese calligraphy booth as well as a bird display by Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

Mr Vic Leong, 62, had queued up for more than an hour with his wife and two sons to visit the Istana in the afternoon.

“We had some free time, so we decided to come here,” said the retiree, adding that he had last visited the Istana in 2011,when his son performed there as part of the Deyi Secondary School band. “It’s a very beautiful place.”

Another visitor was Mr C.K. Ong, a Singaporean who has lived in Hong Kong for the past 35 years. He said he returns to Singapore every Chinese New Year, and after visiting friends and family, goes to the Istana during its annual open house.

“This is like our White House. We should be proud of it,” said the 63-year-old retiree.

azhaki@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 29, 2017.
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After years of trying, and several miscarriages, Madam Choong Pei Shan finally had a baby.

Four-year-old Teo Zi Ning could do no wrong and Madam Choong, 39, would regularly post pictures of her daughter on Facebook.

They were inseparable.

On Saturday, the first day of Chinese New Year, police received a call for help at 6.30pm.

Officers found mother and daughter dead in the bedroom they shared in their sixth-storey flat at Block 619, Woodlands Drive 52.

By 11pm, police were seen taking Teo Ghim Heng, 41, away in handcuffs, in connection with the deaths.

He is believed to be the dead woman’s husband.

Read Also: Woman and 4-year-old daughter found dead in Woodlands flat; man arrested

One of her Facebook friends, Mr David Seah, said Madam Choong went by the name of Ade Teo on Facebook.

He told The Straits Times yesterday that he had been Facebook friends with her for “many years”.

He said: “She only posted her child’s (photos) on FB. She loved her very much.”

He added that the housewife was always attentive to her only child’s needs.

“She had a miscarriage a few times (before) she had her little girl.”

Friends, like Mr Seah, have been trying to make sense of the tragedy.

Mr James Yap said he would “like” Madam Choong’s post every time pictures of her cute daughter were uploaded on Facebook.

Mr Yap, who befriended Madam Choong on Facebook about two years ago, said: “This must be sad news for her family, especially when it is the first day of Chinese New Year. It is supposed to be a happy time shared among family members.”

But there was no festive cheer, even among neighbours.

When ST visited the block yesterday, the faint smell of smoke lingered and soot stained the corridor outside the flat.

While Singapore Civil Defence Force officers found no source of a fire on Saturday, it is believed that the acrid smell is linked to what killed the mother and child.

Mr Seah said Madam Choong’s husband was a real estate agent, and that the couple moved from Hougang several years earlier.

He knew him only as Eric Teo.

A 44-year-old neighbour on the sixth floor, who wanted to be known only as Madam Kam, said that neighbours saw the couple only in the mornings when they would drive little Zi Ning to pre-school.

The housewife said: “In the evenings, the wife (Madam Choong) would wait under the block for her husband to return with their daughter. They appeared normal.”

Mr Muhd Hilmi Deres, who also lives on the sixth floor, said that the family mostly kept to itself and rarely had visitors.

The 47-year-old said that last year, an elderly couple stayed with the Teos for a few days during Chinese New Year.

Said Mr Hilmi: “The Teos moved in about five years ago and occasionally, there would be three men who visited the family to play mahjong.”

Another resident of the block, who gave her name only as Mrs Yeo and has lived there for 18 years, said she spoke to Madam Choong once last year.

The 44-year-old housewife, who lives in a flat one floor below Madam Choong’s, described the doting mother as polite.

She said mother and daughter would always walk together.

Mr Roland Tay, founder of Direct Funeral Services, said the mother and daughter would be cremated together.

He added that their bodies were yet to be collected, but he was working with the family on the funeral arrangements.

zaihan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on January 30, 2017.
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SINGAPORE – An American sales operations director here and his Iraqi-born wife are among those dealing with uncertainty following a controversial order restricting travel into the United States on Friday.

On Friday (Jan 27) President Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting people from seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – from entering the United States.

The order sparked protests at several airports in the United States, even as reports of Muslim travellers being detained at airports across the country emerged.

On his Facebook page Randy Olsen, 39, said he had been planning to relocate back to the United States next month (Feb) with his wife and their two-year-old daughter when he read the news about the order on Friday. As of Sunday evening (Jan 29) the post had been shared more than 500 times on the social network.

His wife, Iraqi-born National University of Singapore research fellow Zaineb Al-Qazwini, received her green card – a document that allows permanent residence in the United States – last month (Dec) after a two-year process.

When contacted by The Straits Times Mr Olsen, who has been living and working in Singapore for the past six years, said he tried going to the Embassy of the United States here on Friday (Jan 27) but it was closed.

“It’s been frustrating,” said Mr Olsen, adding that his e-mails to the embassy has yet to be answered. “There hasn’t been any direction for Americans living here.”

On its website, the embassy said it will be closed between Jan 27 and 30 in observance of the Chinese New Year holiday.

The former United States ambassador to Singapore, Kirk Wagar, was among 80 envoys who left their post on Jan 20, on inauguration day.

The US embassy in Singapore is now headed by Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath, who is Charge d’Affaires, ad interim, according to the embassy’s website.

Dr Al-Qazwini, 33, said her relatives in the United States are in a state of uncertainty following Friday’s executive order.

“Most of them are green card holders or waiting for their paperwork. They’re in a state of fear. Nobody knows what’s going on,” she said, adding that she and her husband do not have permanent residency here.

azhaki@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 29, 2017.
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SINGAPORE – Disruptions on the East-West MRT line earlier this month were caused by faulty track circuits and were unrelated to the replacement of sleepers on the ageing line, said rail operator SMRT on its blog on Sunday (Jan 29).

The four-year project to upgrade sleepers on the 30-year-old North-South and East-West lines was completed last month.

Train services on the East-West line were disrupted twice in the past two weeks – once on Jan 19 during the morning peak period and again last Monday (Jan 23) evening – due to track circuit failures between the Jurong East and Clementi stations.

There was also a track fault near the Clementi station on Jan 4, which caused a delay of an hour during the morning peak period.

Track circuits are integral to the signalling system, said SMRT, as they send signals to the operations control centre to monitor the speed, location and identity of trains.

“When a track circuit fails, trains have to travel at a lower speed over the affected stretch for safety reasons,” said the rail operator, adding that the slower speeds of trains caused congestion during peak hours.

SMRT said that track circuit failure could be caused by an equipment failure either at a signal equipment room within an MRT station or at track side.

While a hardware failure in the signal equipment room can be quickly rectified, for trackside failures engineering staff must go down to the track to investigate the cause.

The transport operator said that this can be “very challenging” when the track is on a rail viaduct, particularly in cases of heavy rain or lightning risks.

Replacement of the signalling system, which began in 2012, will substitute the old track circuits with a “more advanced system that is more reliable”, said SMRT.

“After we renew the signalling system, faulty track circuits will no longer cause prolonged delays for commuters.”

More than 85 per cent of signalling upgrading works on the East-West line have been completed, and the new signalling system is expected to be operational by the end of next year.

The new system is also expected to increase train frequency as it will allow trains to run at intervals of 100 seconds, instead of 120 seconds now.

Earlier this month, the Land Transport Authority said that the new signalling system on the North-South line will begin operating in March this year during the off-peak periods.

In a blog post last month, SMRT Trains managing director Lee Ling Wee said that a third of train delays that lasted more than five minutes last year on the East-West and North-South lines were signal-related.

azhaki@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 29, 2017.
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