With less than three weeks to go before the Nov 8 United States presidential election, the race for the White House is heating up.

But halfway around the world, a tight-knit American community in the serene Woodgrove landed estate in Singapore has labelled this election cycle a “joke” – and the most embarrassing one in US history.

Several residents in the American expatriate enclave, made up of families whose children attend the nearby Singapore American School, are not planning to cast their votes at all.

Others are casting their votes for third-party candidates instead of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton or her Republican rival Donald Trump.

A few in the estate in Woodlands even labelled the slugfest between the candidates as a full-on circus act.

Housewife Monica Moritz, who has been living in Singapore since 2002, said: “It is a circus.

“Trump is like an actor performing on stage and Clinton acts like she is a victim who’s scared of him when she should not be.

“I’m not sure what both parties are trying to accomplish here.”

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Trump and Clinton face off in final US presidential debate

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AFP

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The 47-year-old said none of the candidates has addressed pressing concerns facing the country, such as the sluggish economy and national security threats.

But Mrs Moritz, who mailed in her vote last week, decided to go with Mrs Clinton, whom she says has the political experience.

Since the mid-1990s, the American expatriate community has flocked to Woodgrove from the longstanding American enclaves of Bukit Timah, Tanglin and Holland Road.

This is largely due to the Singapore American School setting up home at its present campus in Woodlands in 1996.

Woodgrove has a distinctly American flavour, with barbecue grilles and mountain bikes found in many houses, and basketball boards standing in the driveways of some homes.

Property agents estimate that more than 80 per cent of the estate’s residents are expatriates, with Chinese, European and Indian residents.

For the upcoming US election, frustration seems to be the common denominator among the American residents there.

In regular coffee mornings and exercise group meet-ups, the election and its candidates – deemed subpar by many residents – are daily conversation topics.

Housewife Laura Zubrod, who has been living here for six years, said both Republican and Democratic nominees are mediocre.

“Everyone is frustrated over the really bad choices that we have,” said the 45-year-old, adding that some of her friends in the estate will not be voting in this election.

Other Americans call it a vote for the “lesser of two evils”.

Housewife Wendy Jorgensen said it is a difficult decision to make.

“We are worried because we do not like either candidate at all,” the 40-year-old added.

“We feel it is a choice between two evils.”

The mother of five, who moved to Singapore about two months ago, said the election usually comes up during casual conversations between neighbours.

“We can talk about it all day, but what can we do?” she said.

“Whoever ends up being elected, we hope that somehow God will intervene and help them.”

Several residents who spoke to The Sunday Times are leaning towards Mr Trump.

A mother of two, who only wanted to be known as Kelly, said that while she was turned off by some of Mr Trump’s demeaning comments about women, she said the businessman can bring change that the US desperately needs.

The 44-year-old, who has been in Singapore since 2012, added: “He is change. I bet he will bring to the table different ideas to be discussed. “He will rattle a bunch of cages, but I think that is what is needed.”

Other residents, though, are turning to third-party candidates such as Libertarian Gary Johnson and former Central Intelligence Agency operative Evan McMullin.

Mrs Sarah Lifferth, 39, a stay-at-home mother of six, and her husband Darren Lifferth have both voted for Mr McMullin after months of deliberation. They sent in their ballots last week.

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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in presidential debates

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AFP

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Mrs Lifferth, who has lived in Singapore for about four years, said: “I could not allow myself to vote for either Trump or Clinton.

I don’t think that either of them have America’s best interests at heart.

“We talked for months about this, trying to figure out who we could vote for and still sleep at night.”

A lot of the election talk around the neighbourhood is not about the issues plaguing the US but the candidates themselves, Mrs Lifferth said.

“It is sad because the two candidates are both so awful that you can’t quite move into anything more serious.”

The neighbours at Woodgrove are a close-knit bunch who look out for, and even babysit for, each other.

Said Mrs Lifferth: “Having so many Americans in the neighbourhood, it feels like home.

“It gives you that feeling of a community that you are familiar with, people who understand where you are coming from and what you are going through.”

But being away from home, she has also observed how divided her country seems to be during this election period.

“From here, you get a bird’s-eye view of home… and it feels very polarised,” she said.

This article was first published on Oct 23, 2016.
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A government survey has found that two out of three Singaporeans felt proposed changes to the elected presidency were done in the best interest of Singapore.

The same proportion of citizens also agreed that the Government was sincere in reviewing the elected presidency scheme.

These figures were highlighted by government feedback unit Reach yesterday, a day after Law Minister K. Shanmugam cited some results of the survey at an Institute of Policy Studies forum on the elected presidency.

The survey, conducted last month, found that 66 per cent of 1,058 citizens polled agreed that the proposed changes to the scheme were in the nation’s best interest. As for the rest, 23 per cent were neutral and 7 per cent disagreed, while 4 per cent were unsure.

The survey also found that 67 per cent of respondents agreed the Government is sincere in reviewing the scheme, while 22 per cent were neutral, 6 per cent disagreed, and 5 per cent were unsure.

A Constitutional Commission reviewing the elected presidency proposed, among other things, to raise the eligibility criteria for candidates and have reserved elections for certain racial groups if nobody from that group had been elected president for five terms.

The Government has accepted the proposals in a White Paper, and tabled a Constitutional amendment Bill that Parliament will debate on when it sits on Nov 7.

The Reach survey also found that 77 per cent agreed that ensuring racial representation for the elected president is important for Singapore’s multiracial society. Nine per cent disagreed, while 12 per cent said they were neutral and 2 per cent were unsure.

Six in 10 agreed with the need to ensure minorities can be periodically elected as president. On this issue, 23 per cent were neutral, while 14 per cent disagreed. The remaining 3 per cent of respondents were unsure.

Last Friday, Mr Shanmugam noted that while Singapore has come a long way in racial harmony, race is still a factor in elections.

This article was first published on Oct 23, 2016.
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Teaching is undoubtedly a demanding job, but there are ways to manage the increasing workload to prevent burnout, said educators.

The workload varies across schools as it depends largely on the school leaders’ approach in managing staff and students, they added.

Teaching today is not the same as it was in the past – there are higher expectations and additional sources of stress, from taking on more roles outside the classroom to being “on call” after school hours, said current and former teachers.

But figures from the Ministry of Education (MOE) show that the attrition rate of teachers has “remained low at around 3 per cent” in the last five years.

Earlier this month, The Straits Times reported that about 5,000 teachers had quit over the last five years.

The top three reasons cited by MOE for these resignations were “for childcare, other family considerations and a desire for a change of job”.

Yet, many educators stay in the job for a long time, and the size of the teaching force has remained stable at more than 33,000.

Mr David Leong, managing director of human resource firm People Worldwide Consulting, said the 3 per cent resignation rate of teachers is “low compared to other sectors”. On average, a company could have a yearly attrition rate of 10 per cent, he added.

He also noted that the teaching profession is quite “stable”. “Whatever happens, teachers are not affected by a slowing economy – that is a huge perk.”

Still, over the last few weeks many concerned Singaporeans have come forward to say that more can be done to retain teachers.

More than 10 letters were published in The Straits Times’ Forum page this month, calling for teachers to be given more rest and respect, and their administrative load and working hours to be reduced.

Madam Zann Lim, who has a daughter in Primary 5, felt that MOE should outsource programmes such as camps and co-curricular activities to people trained in these areas.

“Teachers are not trained primarily to plan these activities, and they shouldn’t be too burdened by them,” said the 40-year-old finance professional.

Mr Mike Thiruman, president of the Singapore Teachers’ Union, said: “Teachers, like the rest of us, are only human.

That they play an often understated and unappreciated role cannot be an excuse to deprive them of the rest and respect that they deserve.”

More can be done to strengthen the teaching profession, he added.

When contacted, MOE said that it values teachers’ hard work and contributions. “We are committed to work with schools to help teachers better manage their workload.”

A spokesman said that it has “enhanced manpower support to schools” over the years.

On average, each mainstream primary and secondary school had 14 more teachers last year compared with 2005.

Today, there are also more than 2,100 allied educators and education and career guidance counsellors across schools.

This group of people support teachers in counselling work or helping students with behavioural needs, for instance.

MOE introduced student welfare officers last year, to help students with tough family backgrounds, and plans to hire more allied educators to cater to those with special needs.

Teachers told The Sunday Times that school leadership plays an important role in shaping the work culture.

A secondary school teacher of about 10 years said: “Selection of school leaders is crucial as some have different priorities, and they change every four to five years. For my school, you must be able to teach well first, then they look at the other roles you play.

“Some other schools might focus on community work… The worst combination is having a demanding principal who breathes down the neck of heads of departments, and if these HODs don’t communicate and split the jobs equally… you might end up being overloaded,” said the 33-year-old.

Ms Wang Ai Pei, a Hougang Primary School teacher, said: “During term time, we do work extremely hard, and there are days we are tired because of the long hours.

“But there are also good days – simple things make my day, like a well-done two-page composition by a pupil who handed in one with just eight sentences before.”

A 27-year-old secondary school teacher said having a senior teacher as a mentor helped in his first year.

“We met once a semester to talk about how I can improve my teaching and if I had any concerns.”

He added that schools also allow teachers in their first year to take on three-quarters of the full load of teaching time – provided they are not short-handed.

Some teachers said they learnt to pace themselves with more experience, and take advantage of perks such as school holidays and marking assignments in their own time.

Said the 33-year-old teacher: “It’s give and take – there are days when I can leave at 1.30pm if classes end earlier… It’s not so bad all the time if you are clever enough to manage your time well and fortunate to be in a good environment.”

Ultimately, educators said that teaching is more than a job – for some it is a calling.

Said Ms Wang, who has taught for about 19 years: “Our returns come in the relationships forged with students and watching them grow.

“I have ex-students in university now who come back to visit me. It’s a rewarding process.”

This article was first published on Oct 23, 2016.
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Parents have higher expectations of teachers, and students today can be more challenging to handle, said educators.

A 48-year-old primary school teacher, who joined the service in 1995, said parents in the past used to have more trust in teachers.

“Now, they will check assignments from school, check if you marked their kids’ work correctly, or even compare the number of assignments you give compared to other classes or schools.”

Some unreasonable parents even write to principals to complain about teachers, she added.

A former primary school teacher who left the Ministry of Education in August said: “Parents these days are more concerned about what their children are doing and learning in school… These are valid concerns, but it can create more work for us.”

The 51-year-old, who joined teaching 18 years ago, added: “Many pupils have tuition, and sometimes they come with their school assignments and challenge you with different methods from their tutors.”

There are also greater demands over the safety of students, said a 40-year-old head of department in a secondary school.

He said: “The safety expectations today are far more cautious than when I first started teaching 15 years ago, especially for adventure activities.

This indirectly results in increased demands on teachers’ time.

“For example, in the past, one teacher could take out a class of 40 students.

Today the ratio is about one teacher to 20, and if the activity is more intense, it is one to 10. But that is the current reality of parental and societal expectations, and we can’t change that,” he added.

This article was first published on Oct 23, 2016.
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It took stallholders years, and in some cases decades, to build up their businesses from scratch at Block 493, Jurong West Street 41.

Some served delicious hawker fare while others provided residents with essential items.

But in the early hours of Oct 11, their lives took a drastic turn after flames engulfed the wet market and coffee shop, razing the building to the ground.

Now, only skeletal stall fronts and a collapsed roof remain.

The blaze also damaged an adjacent coffee shop at Block 494, with witnesses reporting as many as three explosions and a fire that rose up to two storeys high.

About 300 residents evacuated the neighbouring blocks in one of Singapore’s worst fires in recent years.

A 41-year-old man was charged with committing mischief by fire on Oct 15.

Lim Ying Siang allegedly set fire to styrofoam boxes at the market at about 3am on Oct 11.

Demolition work on Block 493 started last Wednesday and it is expected to take about three weeks.

In the days following the incident, Jurong GRC MP Ang Wei Neng and various agencies stepped in to help the 51 affected stallholders, such as by giving them an emergency relief fund of $500 each.

A temporary market will be ready before Chinese New Year, although rebuilding a new permanent market is expected to take more than a year.

Two weeks on, while some stallholders have started exploring options to restart their businesses, others have found it hard to move on due to their age or lack of savings.

Ng Huiwen speaks to three who have been affected.

Distraught family determined to reopen stall nearby

When he was a teenager, Mr Soh Chun Wee ate chicken chop almost every day for several weeks as his dad tried to perfect the recipe.

Twelve years ago, his father, Mr Soh Chin Soon, had just started running his halal Western food stall at the Block 493 coffee shop in Jurong West Street 41.

“If it was too salty, I would give my feedback and dad would keep trying again and again,” recalled his son, now a 27-year-old traffic engineer.

“I remember being so sick of chicken chop after that.”

His father’s tenacity in whipping up the best dishes for his customers propelled his Western food business through the years.

Before the Oct 11 fire which ravaged the wet market and coffee shop, where Chicken Supremo Western Food was located, customers would flock from as far as Punggol to taste its signature chicken chop and coleslaw.

The stall has 3,819 followers on its Facebook page. Since the fire, several customers have visited the page to lament its loss.

However, it has not been easy.

Before he became a hawker in 1991, the elder Mr Soh, now 56, worked as a delivery driver.

After his second son was born, he decided to start his own business to better support the family.

The younger Mr Soh remembers his dad working 11-hour shifts each day, sometimes returning home after midnight.

One of the lowest points for the family was when his dad had to undergo a heart bypass operation about 20 years ago.

His mother ran the stall during the day and visited his dad in the hospital at night.

This went on for two months, with the younger Mr Soh tagging along with her.

He said: “Although it was tough for us, giving up was not an option.”

Seeing his father’s hard work pay off, with the customer base growing each year, has been a proud moment in his life.

“My family is what it is today because of my dad’s stall. It has helped put me and my brother through university,” he said.

He graduated from Nanyang Technological University last year, while his 25-year-old brother is in his final year at the Singapore Institute of Management.

Though they were distraught after the fire, the family plans to reopen the stall nearby.

“My dad is an optimistic guy and has never complained,” he said. “The fire is definitely a setback for him, but I am sure he can bounce back.”

Stall is gone but she visits site every day

Almost every day for the last decade, Madam Haw Mui Eng, has woken at about 5am to travel by bus to the coffee shop at Block 493, where she sold up to 500 bowls of fishball noodles until the afternoon.

When the 47-year-old started 493 Fishball Noodles with her husband in 2006, she wanted to make use of the skills she picked up as a hawker assistant to provide for her two sons, now aged 21 and 23.

But over the years, she forged close friendships with other stallholders at the building, where she worked for close to nine hours every day, except for two rest days a month.

Although her stall was destroyed in the fire, Madam Haw continues to wake up at the same hour to return to the site each day.

“I’m used to waking up early already. It’s my habit,” she said in Mandarin.

“I know the stall is now completely gone but I will go down to take a look at it, even if it’s just to stand behind the hoardings. Everything was burned down in an instant. My heart is broken.”

About 12 years ago, she began honing her cooking skills while working at a canteen stall at Choa Chu Kang camp for eight months.

As the menu varied each day, she learnt to cook a range of local fare, including laksa and fried beehoon.

Later, she decided to venture into her own business selling fishball noodles at a coffee shop near her home.

Business was slow, so she decided to cut her losses and shut down after six months. But soon after, she accepted an offer to run a stall at Block 493.

“This was the only trade that I knew, so I didn’t have the courage to try other jobs,” she said, adding that it took her about eight years to “perfect the skills of making a tasty bowl of noodles”.

Now, she spends her time chatting with the shopkeepers or residents in the area, or running a few errands before heading home to care for her family.

Her 60-year-old husband used to serve customers at the stall, before taking a break about a month ago after a cataract operation.

Her older son is currently studying at the Institute of Technical Education College Central, while the younger one is studying at the Lasalle College of the Arts.

With the family living from hand to mouth, she is worried what little savings that they have will be wiped out soon.

“I still find it hard to sleep at night. I wonder: ‘Will my kids have enough pocket money for school?”

After the blaze, she received $500 in immediate relief funds. She has also applied for government assistance for three months.

Last week, Lasalle offered to refund her son’s semester fees of $2,700 to ease the family’s financial burden.

The school has waived its fees for the next semester.

Though she is keen to start selling fishball noodles again, she is unsure if she can afford the $10,000 or more it will cost to do so in the near future.

Instead, she will look for suitable job options at an employment fair to be held on Thursday for affected stallholders.

Looking through the pictures of stallholders she had previously snapped with her mobile phone, she said: “We have become like family over the years and now we may have to go our separate paths.

I’m not sure I can let go yet. It’s a pity.”

Getting by on wages at supermarket

Madam Teo Ai Yoke was working the midnight shift at a supermarket at Block 491, Jurong West Street 41 when she heard a commotion outside.

Rushing out, the 65-year-old’s heart sank upon seeing the coffee shop and wet market at Block 493 in flames.

Her husband had run a stall at the wet market for the last 20 years, first as a florist and then selling imitation jewellery, before selling bags and slippers in the last few years.

A year ago, she began tending to the stall on her own, from 8am to 2pm, after he fell ill with a pancreas infection.

For about six days a week, she also works nights as a store assistant at a Giant Express supermarket, earning about $6 per hour.

That day, as the fire raged on for hours, Madam Teo said she did not think of alerting her husband.

“I just couldn’t believe my eyes,” she said. “Besides, he was already in bed. What could he have done?”

She said her husband has been moody and quiet since he heard about the news the next day.

The couple have been married for about four decades and have three children, aged between 30 and 40.

Although the affected stallholders have been offered an option to move to a temporary market in the next few months, Madam Teo is uncertain if she should take it up.

“For now, I will try my best to cope with the income from my store assistant job.”

This article was first published on Oct 23, 2016.
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The Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) has not submitted its latest audited financial statements, the only town council among 16 yet to do so, said the Ministry of National Development (MND) in a statement yesterday.

AHTC had asked for an extension on Aug 12, citing “outstanding issues to resolve with its auditor”, the ministry said.

The town council had appointed accounting firm KPMG to look into its books after the Auditor- General’s Office found significant governance lapses in a special audit last year.

This is the fourth time the statements have been late since the Workers’ Party won Aljunied GRC in May 2011. The town council submitted its statements for the 2014/2015 financial year on time.

MND said it is awaiting a reply from AHTC on when it planned to submit the documents.

AHTC chairman Pritam Singh then said in a statement that it “would not be helpful” to give a date as KPMG is finalising a draft report to determine if any of AHTC’s past payments were improper, which could throw up new queries about the financial documents.

“We do not anticipate this to significantly affect the town council’s audit of its financial statements for FY15/16. However, as a matter of prudence and professionalism, our auditor would inevitably have to peruse this report carefully before signing off (on them),” he said.

Mr Singh said AHTC wanted to submit its statements on time, as it had last year, but was delayed due to “significant resources” being devoted to KPMG’s reviews of its financial processes and past payments.

It also had to finalise and submit the financial statements for Punggol East, and “continues to attend to queries” from the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council’s (PRPTC) accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, he said.

AHTC had also lost some time as its chosen auditor was only approved by MND in May, when such appointments are usually confirmed by March, he added.

The ministry had initially rejected AHTC’s proposed auditor but later approved it after an appeal.

In a subsequent statement last night, MND said it initially rejected AHTC’s auditor as the firm’s proposed partner had failed the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s Practice Monitoring Programme (PMP), which ensures public accounting firms and accountants comply with standards and procedures.

In its appeal, AHTC assured MND and the Auditor-General’s Office that concerns about weaknesses in the town council’s accounting system would be addressed by KPMG.

MND said AHTC was given the green light in view of this, and because the PMP’s findings against the proposed auditor “were not considered severe”.

After MND’s second statement, Mr Singh responded with a detailed timeline setting out the sequence of how its auditor was eventually appointed, and reiterated AHTC’s commitment to submit its audited financial statements to MND “as soon as practicable”.

The WP lost Punggol East to the People’s Action Party in September last year, and the single-member constituency returned to the fold of PRPTC.

Both town councils are in an ongoing dispute over documents needed to review the accounts of Punggol East.

Mr Singh pointed out that AHTC’s unaudited financial statements were submitted on time by June 30, but both KPMG and MND had highlighted transactions to look into.

In its second statement, MND said the unaudited statements “contained numerous errors, inconsistencies, and non-compliance with MND guidelines”.

The ministry had earlier noted that AHTC’s delay affected PRPTC, which received a qualification on its financial statements “solely because it was not able to confirm the accuracy of the amounts due from AHTC” for Punggol East.

AHTC said it had informed PRPTC in August of the delay.

In its own statement last night, PRPTC said it received the audited financial statements of Punggol East in late September and noted that these were qualified.

It added that it will continue to “pursue a proper handover and accounting” of the Punggol East accounts.

MND said the other 14 town councils submitted unqualified reports.

This article was first published on Oct 23, 2016.
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Early on Friday morning, Australian-Vietnamese social entrepreneur Yen Siow and her family of five headed to Changi Airport’s Terminal 2.

They were armed with placards, waiting to welcome a Norwegian man whom she had met only once, 36 years ago.

It was an encounter she would never forget.

When she was just four years old in October 1980, she was one of hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled in boats across the South China Sea after South Vietnam fell to the communists in 1975.

Adrift and on the verge of death while crowded with 81 others in a flimsy boat, a Norwegian oil tanker by the name of Berge Tasta came to their rescue.

The ship’s crew of 29, which included 18-year-old Mr Bernhard Oyangen, fed and clothed them and eventually found a temporary refuge for them – the Hawkins Road Refugee Camp in Sembawang.

It was the first and only refugee camp here until 1996, when the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees decided to shut all its camps in the region.

When 54-year-old Mr Oyangen entered the arrival hall, Ms Siow, 39, wrapped him in a long hug and introduced her three children, aged between five and 10.

“I said to him, ‘Mr Bernhard, these are my children, and without your team and your captain, they wouldn’t be around today’,” recalled Ms Siow.

She resettled in Australia after her four-month stay in the refugee camp, and relocated here last year with her Singaporean husband.

In August, she decided to track down her Norwegian rescuers and contacted Mr Oyangen through Facebook.

They arranged to meet this month when he was due to pass through Singapore on a business trip to New Zealand.

Over breakfast at the airport, she found out other details of their 10-day journey at sea – why and how the crew had willingly taken in a group of refugees with an “indescribable” stench and given them the clothes off their back.

“It was wonderful to hear simple replies like, ‘You’re humans. We’re people. We would save you no matter what’,” said Ms Siow.

“The profound kindness of his actions really hit me when I met him and heard those words from him.”

She has found four other crew members since August, and hopes to travel with her family to Norway to meet them in December.

Mr Oyangen, who owns a business in the shipping industry, was surprised when Ms Siow contacted him out of the blue.

The last time that he had met former refugees from the camp was about 15 years ago in Norway.

“Helping people at sea is a part of seamanship,” he said. “I was happy to meet her and hear her story.

The Vietnamese people didn’t talk much (about their history), but I know a lot more today after meeting her.”

Mr Oyangen will be in Singapore until Tuesday, and has been spending time with Ms Siow and her family, visiting landmarks and having meals together.

Yesterday, they also met Norway’s Ambassador to Singapore, Mr Tormod C. Endresen, at his residence.

Next Sunday, Mr Oyangen will visit Singapore on the way back to Norway, in time to celebrate Ms Siow’s birthday on Oct 30, and mark the 36th anniversary of the arrival of the tanker in Singapore.

It brings a sense of closure for Ms Siow. “(It was very) important for me to put the story together so I can teach my children the importance of the kindness of strangers, the value of human life and how we treat each other… It affects people for the rest of their lives.”

This article was first published on Oct 23, 2016.
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OneKM Reading and Writing, a MindChamps franchisee in Tanjong Katong, had its licence revoked by MindChamps headquarters in early September this year due to the franchisee’s failure to meet the HQ’s quality checks.

In a statement yesterday, the company said that MindChamps HQ stepped in to service all OneKM Reading and Writing franchise centre’s students.

For those parents who could not continue in other MindChamps Reading and Writing centres, their fees were refunded.

Although this OneKM centre carries the name of MindChamps, it is a franchise centre and it is ultimately owned by the franchisee, who is responsible for the running of the business and all associated costs.

Nonetheless, MindChamps made sure that OneKM Reading and Writing full-time employees were paid up to the end of August this year, while part-time independent contractors were advised to file their claims through the small claims court for any balance payment owed by the franchisee.

In the event that they do not succeed in their claims, they have been informed that MindChamps headquarters will step in to pay them out of goodwill, the company said yesterday.

In addition, MindChamps has also offered positions to affected employees at the HQ and other MindChamps centres.

The statement follows a TNP report on Oct 20 quoting some centre employees who had trouble claiming salaries owed by the franchisee.

Some of the trainers had a scheduled hearing at the Labour Court on Oct 20, but the two directors of the axed franchisee did not show up.

A new date has been fixed for November.

The centre that has been closed is one of two at OneKM. MindChamps Pre-School remains open.

As to the claim that the Reading & Writing Centre was closed without notice, MindChamps said all parents had been given advance notice.

The company said the MindChamps brand is known not only for its strong scientifically validated curriculum, but also for honouring its promise in delivering high quality standards to its students.

It currently has 33 MindChamps Pre-schools and seven MindChamps Reading & Writing centres islandwide.

AWARD

Its soon-to-be announced 2016 win as Influential Brand of the year for three consecutive years is a testament to its promise, added the company statement.

On their response to the situation, founder of MindChamps, Mr David Chiem said: “Honour is everything to us.

“Our number one priority is our children and we will do whatever it takes to keep our promise in providing them with the very best.

“In the case of the OneKM Reading and Writing franchise centre, revoking their franchise licence is about upholding our stringent quality standards and protecting our parents’ and stakeholders’ trust in us.”

MindChamps franchise owners felt the same way, the statement added.

Mr David Lee, who owns five centres, said: “I started my first franchise centre with MindChamps Preschool in 2008, and am very grateful for all the support and training provided by MindChamps headquarters.

“Now with our fifth centre, I am delighted to be a part of a strong brand where stringent quality control and standards are not compromised in any way.”

He added that the fact that MindChamps HQ had no qualms shutting down a franchise centre that did not deliver excellence, makes him even more confident be a part of the MindChamps brand.

This article was first published on Oct 23, 2016.
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