SINGAPORE – A driver who evaded a police roadblock on Sunday (Sep 11) morning led five police vehicles on a 13-km car chase.

The chase, which began at about 1am after the driver sped off at a roadblock along Henderson Road, finally ended when he crashed his car into a Geylang coffeeshop.

The 22-year-old man also hit a motorcycle and a van along Geylang Lorong 16, and a taxi at Geylang Lorong 11.

After crashing the car at the coffeeshop at Geylang Lorong 25A, he then attempted to flee on foot but was eventually apprehended at Geylang Lorong 16, Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported.

In a statement, the police said that he was arrested for evading the roadblock, as well as other drug-related offences.

Investigations are ongoing.

Both the man and a passenger in the van that he hit were injured, and were conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

According to Wanbao, witnesses said that 20 police vehicles were at the scene of the incident, and police sniffer dogs were also brought to the vehicle, leading to speculation that the case may be drug-related.

Man in 13-km car chase before crashing at Geylang coffeeshop

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Separately, there was another serious road incident on Saturday night, when 13 vehicles were caught in a chain collision along the Seletar Expressway (SLE).

The accident took place at the junction of the SLE and Lentor Avenue, and involved nine cars, a lorry, a pick-up truck, a taxi and a motorcycle.

The Straits Times reported that the accident was caused by the lorry’s sudden braking, and that the crash caused traffic to be backed up for as much as 17km.

seanyap@sph.com.sg

No consumer electronics fair is complete without booth babes. And if you have been to Comex 2016 this weekend, you might have come across Miss Rachel Oh, and the other models at the Casio booth.

The 23-year-old says: “We’re not just here to look pretty, we have to sell cameras!”

Clad in mini skirts and tight-fitting clothes, these girls’ job is to rake in the crowd and stand out from the other exhibitors.

But it is no easy task for the models – there are no shifts and all of them work from 11am to 9pm for four days during the fair.

That means being on your feet all day, making sure you keep a smile and are ready to answer questions from any potential buyers.

Miss Oh says: “The toughest part of the job is not the fatigue, but trying to ‘psycho’ people into sticking around at your booth to look at your products.

“You have to have a thick skin and a lot of stamina.”

It is her third time working as a booth babe at a trade show, and Miss Oh says she loves the experience despite the hard work involved.

“I just like working together with all these girls. The job also pays very well and there is commission for each sale too,” she says, declining to reveal how much she typically earns.

Competition

So attractive are these jobs that competition for them is fierce – Miss Oh even took leave from her daily job as an administrative assistant to be a part of Comex 2016.

Before a show, the models would hear of job openings through word-of-mouth and they undergo a stringent interview process to qualify.

Part of the job interview involves a role-playing exercise where the candidate has to sell a product to the interviewers.

So if you think booth babes do not know what they are selling, you’re wrong, she says.

“Before every show, we are also briefed on the products and what they are about. We actually have to geek out and do some studying too,” she says.

“Luckily, I’m selling these easy-to-use cameras, not something way more advanced.”

Senior sales staff are also on hand to help out if the customer has a difficult question about the product.

Because she has to attend to anyone who stops and looks, Miss Oh says she has also seen her fair share of men who are more interested in her than the product.

They would end up asking for her contact number, without success.

Miss Oh says with a shrug: “You slowly realise that they were never interested in buying anything and they just wanted to talk to you.

“It’s normal, just part of the job.”

Comex, organised by Singapore Press Holdings subsidiary Sphere Exhibits, ends today (Sept 11) at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Secrets of the trade

1. Before every show, take extra make-up with you as it tends to run out over the course of the event.

2. With only an hour of lunchtime, make full use of it to rest and recharge.

3. Make sure you have sandals, especially if the job requires you to be in high-heeled shoes all day.

Comex 2015 booth babes

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Hardware Zone

This article was first published on Sept 11, 2016.
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What might the changes to the elected presidency mean? Insight looks at issues raised in the wake of the Constitutional Commission’s report on its review of the elected presidency

Bearing in mind the president’s duties as guardian of the nation’s financial reserves – tasks involving complex, highly technical issues – the Constitutional Commission recommended more stringent eligibility criteria. Will this lead to better presidential candidates?

In 1991, the Constitution was amended to allow for an elected president with custodial powers – the so-called “second key” safeguard mechanism – against a government that might wish to draw on and spend past reserves.

Then, private-sector candidates were required to have experience running large, complex companies that had a paid-up capital of $100 million.

But given inflation and today’s vastly different commercial landscape, the 25-year-old requirement is inadequate to ensure that candidates have the fiscal savvy to safeguard the reserves. Today, the total value of Singapore’s reserves is more than $700 billion – $344 billion managed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, $242 billion managed by Temasek, and well over $100 billion managed by GIC.

In 1993, only 158 – or 0.2 per cent – of companies here fulfilled the $100 million paid-up capital requirement. But as of March this year, the top 0.2 per cent of Singapore-incorporated companies numbered about 600, with the smallest of these having a paid-up capital of about $431 million.

Hence, the commission suggested revising the amount to $500 million in shareholders’ equity, as it is a better indicator of a company’s size and complexity.

It also suggested a performance requirement: The company should have posted a net profit when the candidate was heading it. It must also not go into liquidation or insolvency within three years of the candidate’s departure.

Some observers have lamented, as many did in 1991, that the higher benchmark limits the sort of people who can apply. But, as was the refrain then, the commission said the objective is not to ensure every citizen has the opportunity to stand for president, but to ensure voters are given qualified and suitable candidates to choose from.

The commission noted that while the criteria should not be manipulated so as to artificially increase the size of the pool, more companies would meet the revised thres- hold today than when the old one was imposed.

As far as the president’s custodial role is concerned, the higher benchmark would bring in people more equipped to safeguard the nation’s reserves.

But a higher bar will also make the pool of candidates smaller, when compared with that in 2011.

This means that there would be fewer candidates who not only have the fiscal know-how but also – just as importantly – the temperament for the job.

The latter is needed to fulfil the office’s other role as a unifying symbol for the nation. It is a point that “tend(s) to be overlooked because a great deal of attention has been directed at the president’s custodial powers”, the commission said.

This aspect of the job demands emotional dexterity: The president must be equally comfortable feting high-ranking visiting officials one day, and engaging with the man-in-the-street at a crowded bazaar the next.

Candidates who are at the apex of their careers in commerce, for example, are not guaranteed to be suited for the president’s ceremonial and community duties, which could be a problem, observers note.

“The criteria are overwhelmingly weighted in favour of financial and management nous, while judgment, wisdom and empathy are not given similar weight,” says Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan, who made submissions to the panel.

The raised bar has prompted concerns by some, like Workers’ Party chief Low Thia Khiang, that voters would be left with candidates drawn from establishment circles – which he says may make it difficult for the president to fulfil his role as a check on the government.

Mr Low’s critics would point him to the first popularly elected president Ong Teng Cheong, a former PAP chairman and deputy prime minister. He clashed with the Government over what information he was entitled to regarding national assets, which made up the country’s reserves. He also had a knack for empathising with people, which saw him referred to as the “people’s president” at the time.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong himself noted in a TV interview last Sunday that “even if I raise the standards, I cannot guarantee that nobody who is going to be difficult will become president”.

“It is not possible because however, wherever you cut off, there will be somebody, even a former minister or a former judge or somebody who may have run a very big company, (who) may have his views, may clash with the government,” he said.

The commission has also suggested that the size and structure of the Council of Presidential Advisers should be strengthened, and it should be consulted on all fiscal matters on the reserves and all key public service appointments.

A look at the presidents of Singapore

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The Straits Times, Zawiyah Salleh, New Nation, Wee Kim Wee, The Business Times, The New Paper, The Ong family, Lianhe Zaobao

Political scientist Lam Peng Er of the National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute cautions against making the institution too complicated.

“In 30 or 40 years, when the present batch of leaders are gone, and the issues of the day are different, can we really have constitutional safeguards to protect everything?” he says. “Someone might ask, ‘Who guards the guardians of the guardian?’ There’s no end to it.”

The commission noted that the Presidential Elections Committee, which ensures aspiring candidates meet the eligibility criteria, must continue to ensure candidates possess “integrity, good character and reputation”.

It also called for greater disclosure on their past to attest to their character and integrity.

While there is no guarantee that a strong resume makes for a good president, better checks on candidates will help make sure they are the best persons for the top office.

rachelay@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on September 11, 2016.
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