He might be a star on the most storied satirical show in the world, but Ronny Chieng has not forgotten his Singapore connection.

The Malaysian’s signature scrunching of his face as he launches into his latest hilarious diatribe dissecting the news of the day into bite-sized morsels of equal parts information and entertainment has made him a favourite on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

New episodes of The Daily Show will air on Friday, 11.20pm, on Comedy Central (Singtel TV Ch 324 and StarHub TV Ch 516).

It has been quite a journey from Johor to New York, where Chieng is now part of an Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning institution that Time magazine has dubbed one of the 100 best TV shows of all time.

That journey included an education in Singapore via Yuhua Primary School, Pioneer Secondary School and Pioneer Junior College, en route to degrees in law and commerce from the University of Melbourne.

That is why, in late November, the 31-year-old strayed from his largely light-hearted tweets to post a heartfelt message to children in Singapore who felt disheartened by their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results.

JUST A NUMBER

Describing his own disappointment at scoring a 233 and entering a “lowly ranked public school”, he added: “Don’t let anyone give you a number, a grade or a school ranking and tell you that it is all that you are worth.”

When The New Paper asked Chieng what fuelled the tweet, he said: “I remember when I went through it, how I felt and how disappointed I was.

“So I wanted to share my experience with children of a similar age…

“Most of my tweets are a bit more jokey, but it’s something kids needed to hear because I wish someone had told me that.”

Another thing Chieng wished someone would have told him in advance was that Donald Trump would win the Nov 8 election.

On The Daily Show’s election-night coverage, Chieng said: “We prepared one (segment) for if Trump won, one for if it was too close to call and one for if Hillary Clinton won, and we were like there is no way we are going to use the Trump one. It’s just not going to happen.

“Then, as the night went on, we were like, ‘Oh s***, the numbers are turning’…

“That was the feeling at the show, this sense of dread.

“After Trump won, no one could believe it. Everyone was walking around in shock. There were genuine tears and people were upset.

“We were looking forward to not talking about him any more. And it ends up we’ve got to talk about him for another four years, at least.”

Chieng admits that he is unsure if The Daily Show would alter its approach to Mr Trump after he is sworn in on Jan 20, but conceded that the show had changed its tone during the campaign.

REALITY

He explained: “Now that he has succeeded against all odds, like a true underdog story – Donald Trump, billionaire white guy – the tone will be less like, ‘Look at this guy, what a joke’.

“The tone has shifted from when he started, when we dismissed him as a joke to now where we’re like everything he is saying is still a joke, but it’s reality now. It’s more serious now.”

And Chieng is adamant that there is a serious need for The Daily Show’s brand of humour.

He said: “I think it is needed more than ever – a sense of humour and also pointing out and analysing things that are going on in the political spectrum.

“Whatever job you do, you want your job to matter, and I feel that this is a job that matters.”

While the Malaysian believes his job matters, he conceded that The Daily Show’s coverage did not matter much to voters.

He said: “At the end of the day, we’re a silly comedy show. And if the past year and a half has shown anything, it’s that we can make jokes all we want and it didn’t change a thing.

“I guess Donald Trump realised we had no effect on anything and just left us alone.”

dilen@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 3, 2017.
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Between the two of them, they have more than 65 years of experience teaching learner drivers how to drive and stay safe on the roads.

So it would be a waste if they had to stop teaching once they turn 70.

But private driving instructor Roger Chong, 69, and Mr Tan Thia Hwee, 61, an instructor at a driving centre, can now work longer.

The Singapore Police announced last Wednesday that driving instructors can now teach until they turn 75, up from the previous limit of 70.

The changes kicked in on Sunday.

Said the police in a statement: “With this revision, driving instructors who are 70 and older can continue to conduct driving lessons until they turn 75, if they pass their annual enhanced medical examination.”

Mr Chong, who has been a full-time private driving instructor for more than 40 years, told The New Paper that this extension was “a blessing” which he appreciates.

TOO SOON

Said Mr Chong: “It was too soon a limit and I can still work. I like teaching people how to drive and taking that away from me at 70 would be too soon.

“People my age still have so much to give, as long as we are healthy and able.

“Getting rid of us would be getting rid of an abundance in the type of experience we can transmit.”

Mr Chong said he is just one out of many driving instructors pleased with the news.

Bukit Batok Driving Centre instructor, Mr Tan, who has been teaching for the past 25 years, said he now too may consider working till 75.

“I like meeting new friends from all walks of life, sharing my knowledge on road safety and being able to guide them in getting their driving licence,” he said.

Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Lee said that over the years, his ministry has heard from driving instructors, the Singapore Driving Instructors’ Association and some MPs that “many driving instructors wish to continue teaching beyond the statutory age limit of 70, if they are still fit and healthy”.

On the revision, Mr Lee said in a Facebook post last Wednesday: “This will allow qualified and experienced instructors who teach privately or in driving schools to continue teaching and imparting good and safe driving skills to learner drivers if they are mentally alert and in good health.”

Singapore Safety Driving Centre operations manager Gerard Pereira said the age-limit increase was well-received by his centre’s instructors.

About five of them will turn 70 in the next two to three years and he said they are happy to continue to work.

This extension also helps soothe the problem of a lack of fresh blood.

Said Mr Pereira: “It is also hard to find new instructors to hire, because of the shift work and weekend duties.

“We have employed some younger people but after two or three duties, they find they cannot handle the job and disappear.”

But disappearing is not on Mr Chong’s mind.

He said he is passionate about his job and wants to teach more students and increase the number of people he helped get licensed, which is more than 800.

“I was going to take up fishing and horticulture to keep my mind and body active,” he said with a laugh.

“Thankfully I can keep on doing what I like to do.”

harizbah@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 3, 2017.
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Before you follow through on your resolution and sign up for that fitness club membership this year, think twice – it could be a source of frustration.

According to the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), the number of complaints for clubs nearly doubled last year.

Case received 1,148 complaints about the club industry, which consists mainly of fitness clubs, from January to November last year.

For the same period in 2015, clubs were the source of 590 complaints.

This surge in grievances has propelled clubs to the fifth-most complained about industry this year.

The other four categories, in ascending order, are contractors, electrical and electronics, beauty and motorcars. (See below.)

Case told The New Paper that the bulk of complaints were due to the closure of California Fitness, which shuttered last July .

Said a Case spokesman: “Case received around 600 complaints from affected members, who had unutilised gym membership and personal training sessions with the fitness club.”

But a spokesman from fitness club True Fitness said that this rise in complaints about clubs can also be attributed to the convenience of reaching out to Case.

Said the spokesman: “Many people find Case to be an easy option to get their complaints heard and attended to, especially when they are not able to settle their issues with the respective establishments to their satisfaction.”

To improve customer satisfaction, True Fitness has implemented several initiatives to improve customer satisfaction, like developing an app to help members track their classes and opening up feedback platforms.

Fitness First, which has 16 outlets here, also prioritises the feedback of its members.

Its regional manager Andrew Phillips said: “By interacting with our members on a personal level, using channels like social media and sending targeted surveys to members via E-mail Direct Marketing, we’ve managed to draw out helpful insight on what works and what doesn’t.”

While clubs have seen a surge in complaints, the travel industry has seen the opposite happen. Figures from Case reflected better public sentiment when it came to companies in the industry, with 569 complaints received from January to November last year.

In 2015, Case received 955 complaints for the same period.

Miss Alicia Seah, director of PR and communications at Dynasty Travel, said reasons for this drop include greater transparency in tour prices and pre-departure briefings by travel agents.

Setting up an in-house customer service division to address issues also helped prevent complaints, she added.

Additionally, Ms Jane Chang, head of marketing and communications for Chan Brothers, said that reminding customers to purchase insurance and having a quick response time to incidents has lessened complaints as well.

harizbah@sph.com.sg

Categories with the most complaints

January to November 2016

1 Cars: 2,963 (last year: 2,675)

2 Beauty: 1,563 (1,551)

3 Electrical & electronics: 1,320 (1,535)

4 Contractors: 1,227(1,343)

5 Clubs: 1,148 (590)

6 Furniture: 1,051 (1,154)

7 Cellphones: 766 (772)

8 Maid agencies: 724 (844)

9 Telecommunications: 640 (764)

10 Travel: 569 (955)

This article was first published on Jan 3, 2017.
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Sports enthusiasts who live in and near Punggol and Sembawang can look forward to new sporting facilities within the next three years.

Preliminary work has begun for a regional sports centre (RSC) in Punggol, to be ready in 2019, and a town sports and recreation centre (TSRC) in Sembawang, expected to be completed the same year or by 2020.

An RSC is a Tier 2 facility under the Government’s Sports Facilities Master Plan, second in scale only to the Tier 1 Singapore Sports Hub. A TSRC is a smaller-scale Tier 3 facility, which may include a swimming pool and indoor sports hall, among others.

The recently opened Tampines Town Hub incorporates the first RSC under the master plan. The hub includes a variety of sports facilities, a brand new regional library and countless community club programmes and amenities.

The Government plans to build five such centres in total. No fixed number has been set for the TSRCs to be built.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s plans, the new Punggol facility will be integrated with the nearby waterways and be adjoined to the Safra clubhouse there.

Sport Singapore (SportSG) chief executive Lim Teck Yin said the Sembawang TSRC will be “an interesting proposition”.

He told The New Paper in an interview last week: “(The centre) is being steered to be a facility in the park. The Admiralty House on Sembawang Hill and a lot of the surrounding greenery will be preserved.

“We are looking at some of the designs that include a landscaped natural pool, some lap pools that blend into nature, and also an indoor sports hall that blends (into the surroundings).”

ActiveSG, the national movement for sport, will branch out beyond traditional sports to target specific groups of people this year.

At present, there are ActiveSG academies for football, tennis and basketball, as well as a club for athletics.

While the movement, which comes under SportSG, will continue to expand its activities in sports such as floorball and volleyball, it will also reach out to groups such as outdoor enthusiasts and the elderly.

Mr Lim said: “This is aimed at having a bigger catchment of adults because from these activities, you can reach out to more people, and maybe from there, we can introduce them to other sports.”

A 2015 report here stated that 55 per cent of Singaporeans and permanent residents (PR) took part in sports at least once a week.

This is comparable to Holland (58 per cent) but higher than the UK (46 per cent), according to a 2013 Eurobarometer study.

According to SportSG, more than half of Singaporeans and PRs engaged in sports at least once a week last year.

Since its launch in 2014, ActiveSG has seen its membership grow to 1.1 million, and the number is expected to rise as SportSG targets 25 academies by 2021.

Mr Lim said: “I think it’s myopic when people say that there’s no sporting culture in Singapore. Do parents value sport? I would say, increasingly, yes.

“The school curriculum has changed such that students are learning to play more, and the number of students who are actually participating beyond PE (physical education) lessons is higher.”

sayheng@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 3, 2017.
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SINGAPORE – A 60-year-old woman slipped into a coma after allegedly being knocked over by a lorry at Bukit Panjang on Dec 30 (Friday).

The incident occurred at about 9.45pm on Friday (Dec 30) at the entrance of a carpark near Block 233, Pending Road, Shin Min Daily News reported on Monday (Jan 2). The family is appealing for eyewitnesses to come forward.

The nephew of the woman, a 25-year-old student who gave his name as Mr He, told Shin Min that his aunt Xiuying had been returning home that night when the incident happened.

When she did not return home on time, the family went to look for her and found out only later that she was in hospital.

His aunt, who was wearing a red blouse at the time, suffered injuries to her head and leg in the accident. She is in a coma in intensive care.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force on Monday told The Straits Times that it responded to a road traffic incident involving a lorry and a pedestrian at 9 Pending Road at 9.50pm.

It dispatched one fire engine, one Red Rhino, two fire bikes and one ambulance.

The woman was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The police confirmed that a report was lodged. Investigations are ongoing.

This article was first published on Jan 2, 2017.
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