A new bank scheme that is compulsory for newly arriving Indonesian maids will give them greater control of their own finances, while their employers will no longer have to foot large sums of money to pay agents on their behalf.

The Household Service Workers Industry Scheme (HIS) is part of the Indonesian government’s efforts to improve the treatment of its citizens who work overseas as domestic workers.

Details were announced by the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) (AEAS) yesterday.

It signed an agreement with Indonesia’s National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers in February to work together on the plan.

Under the new scheme, an Indonesian domestic worker will take up a personal loan of about $1,700 from Maybank Indonesia to cover the cost of training, passport applications, medical checks and placement fees for the Indonesian agencies, AEAS president K. Jayaprema said.

This currently can cost up to $3,600, and is usually paid for first by the Singapore employer.

Helpers then repay them by taking a salary cut for several months.

The new framework requires a domestic helper to use the finance scheme to apply for an identity card to work overseas, said Ms Jayaprema.

On arriving in Singapore, her employer will credit her full salary every month into her local Maybank account, from which she will repay the loan, with interest, over eight months.

She will also pay a separate service fee to the Singapore agency – which will now be capped at $1,000 – in instalments of, say, $50 a month, over 20 months.

Maids must also not be charged a transfer fee if they change employers, and Indonesian domestic workers must be paid a minimum salary of $550.

Saying the scheme was about transparency, Ms Jayaprema said helpers would be able to take charge of their lives and manage their own finances.

“Employers, too, don’t need to fork out thousands of dollars for the placement fees and costs upfront.”

AEAS has been conducting training in recent months for local agents to learn the new scheme.

Agents who have attended the day-long training course, costing $650 for association members, can apply for certification to show they are following the scheme.

So far, 89 agencies have been certified, and the first workers using the bank finance scheme are scheduled to arrive here next week, said Ms Jayaprema.

AEAS will also be setting up a mediation centre to oversee issues with HIS, recruitment agreements and contracts.

Indonesian Embassy counsellor Didit Parlambang said he is waiting for details from the Indonesian government on the implementation of the new system.

“But the goal is good, to protect the workers,” he said.

joseow@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 24, 2016.
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There are about 31,500 HDB households here with two or more cars, and these families may soon have to fork out more for season parking charges.

The Housing Board (HDB), which is reviewing public parking rates, provided the figures in response to queries.

There are 981,100 resident HDB households in total, according to the 2015 General Household Survey.

HDB is mulling over differentiated season parking charges for residents who own more than one car and non-residents who use its carparks to manage demand.

A resident’s first car will get priority.

The Straits Times first reported about the government review of both short-term and season parking schemes yesterday.

HDB and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) did not disclose the quantum of increase.

Public parking rates were last raised in 2002. Prices also went up in 1993 and 1989.

In all cases, the increase was over 10 per cent.

One family with two cars hopes concessions can be given to those who use their cars for business purposes, instead of imposing a blanket increase.

Financial planner Koh Geok Lan, 53, said she uses her car to meet clients, while her husband uses his multi-purpose vehicle to make deliveries.

They pay $90 monthly for season parking tickets per car.

“Most families that own more than one car need it for work. We wouldn’t want to incur more costs otherwise,” said Madam Koh.

Yesterday, drivers also raised concerns over how much parking rates would increase.

The URA had said the review aimed to “right-price public car park charges and reduce the gap between the fees charged by private and public carparks”.

In some areas in the city, hourly rates for private carparks during peak periods are more than double that of public parking spaces.

SIM University economist Walter Theseira said an increase of 10 to 20 per cent would not be unreasonable, given the length of time since the last review.

Parking rates here are underpriced for the level of economic development, he added.

“But any change would need to come with some transition period… It would be good to let people use their old coupons at the new face value,” said Dr Theseira.

MP Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten), who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, said drivers were worried that rates could as much as double.

“If it goes up by 10 cents extra per hour, I don’t think people will make too much noise,” he added, pointing out that public parking still needs to remain affordable to segments of the population.

The HDB and URA manage 607,000 and 24,000 parking spaces respectively.

But transport experts said increasing rates by a standard amount across the board is not the most efficient way to price parking.

Instead, parking rates could be dynamic, changing based on whether it was a peak period or in a busy area, said parking policy expert Paul Barter.

“In some places, drivers could pay 25 cents per half hour, in others it could be $4 per half hour. We could do it that way.”

He added that this was similar to how cities such as San Francisco price their parking – rates would be reviewed periodically to ensure occupancy targets were met.

“We set ERP (electronic road pricing) prices based on whether traffic is moving at the right speed.

If speeds go up, the price drops and vice versa. Parking prices could be set the same way,” said Dr Barter.

dansonc@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 24, 2016.
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In the month of Ramadan, construction firms are paying special attention to the needs and welfare of their Muslim workers.

This could range from break-fast events to rotating them into less labour-intensive roles.

GL Engineering and Construction held a break-fast event for 39 of its Muslim Bangladeshi workers, as well as more than 30 other non-Muslim employees, yesterday.

Its managing director, Mr Lim Sing Tian, said the event aims to foster closer ties among workers of different backgrounds. “With many different nationalities, backgrounds and religions among our colleagues, it is important that we learn about each other’s belief.”

Mr Lim urged non-Muslim workers to help ensure that Muslim colleagues who are fasting have enough rest and sufficient food during their break-fast period and morning meals.

Muslims mark the month of Ramadan by fasting between dawn and dusk every day. The month ends with the festival of Hari Raya Puasa, which is on July 6 this year.

Other construction firms are also taking steps to help Muslim workers during Ramadan.

Samwoh Corporation senior manager Hon Lip Yung said there were three key differences in how it deployed Muslim workers.

“The first is the working environment, where we try to shift them from outdoor to indoor jobs. Next is timing, where we will try to allocate them to night shifts instead of day shifts. Lastly, we try to give them jobs that won’t require as much manual labour.”

Mr Hon cited security guards and traffic marshals as less labour-intensive roles that Muslim workers can be assigned to during Ramadan. Samwoh currently employs 851 workers, of whom 185 are Muslim.

Mr Jimmy Chua, chief executive officer of construction firm Huationg, which has about 100 Muslim workers, said the firm tries to reduce the number of daytime working hours for Muslim employees.

He said Muslim workers work seven hours a day on average during Ramadan, compared with nine or 10 hours a day in other months.

“On the operations side, we try to send them on shorter jobs or routines if our schedule permits. We also have air-conditioned containers for them to rest and pray in.”

This article was first published on June 24, 2016.
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Singapore needs to take a strict approach when it comes to serious crimes like rape, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday.

Writing on his Facebook page about a controversial sexual assault case in the United States, Mr Shanmugam said an effective criminal justice system in such cases must achieve three things.

It must not make it difficult for women to report the crimes and it must not put women through an unnecessary ordeal during investigations while interrogations in court have to be sensitive to the state of the victims, he said.

Thirdly, the punishment has to be in keeping with the gravity of the crime when guilt is proven, he added.

Mr Shanmugam was commenting on the case of ex-Stanford University student Brock Turner, 20, who was sentenced on June 2 to six months’ jail for sexually assaulting an intoxicated and unconscious victim behind a dumpster after a campus party in January last year.

The sentence has sparked widespread outrage in the US among many who felt it was too lenient, and prompted calls and online petitions to remove the judge. It has also put the spotlight on rape at US college campuses.

Mr Shanmugam said the sentence of six months in a county jail and probation “borders on the absurd”, given that the potential maximum punishment Turner faced was 14 years in a state prison.

County jails in the US are typically meant for detention during a trial and for people convicted of misdemeanours like shoplifting. State prisons are for convicts of more serious felony offences like robbery.

“Cases like this can diminish confidence in the system as a whole,” said Mr Shanmugam.

He also drew attention to the victim’s 7,000-word account of her travails, part of which she had read out in court on the day that Turner was sentenced.

Said Mr Shanmugam: “I read the young woman’s account of what she had to go through in Court, being subjected to a highly offensive line of questions.

“It suggested a complete lack of remorse by Brock Turner. And his father’s statement, that it was only ’20 minutes of action’ was something else altogether.”

Besides a justice system that takes care not to put extra stress on victims of such crimes, Mr Shanmugam said more work needs to be done to make it easier for victims to come forward.

“In Singapore, we need to take a strict approach to these sorts of offences,” he added.

“And we need to work at making it easier for people to report and undergo examination when they have been victims of sexual violence.”

In Singapore, rape and sexual assault by penetration carry a penalty of up to 20 years’ jail and a fine or caning.

On Wednesday, a man who pleaded guilty to raping a 12-year-old schoolgirl was jailed for 16½ years and given 18 strokes of the cane.

yanliang@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 24, 2016.
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At least 17 people were hurt in an accident involving two lorries and a bus on the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) yesterday morning.

All 17 were passengers on one of the lorries.

They all suffered minor injuries.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the accident near the AYE’s Clementi Avenue 6 exit, in the direction of the Marina Coastal Expressway, at around 7.15am.

It dispatched a fire engine, three ambulances and a support vehicle to the scene.

Nine of the injured were taken to the National University Hospital, while the rest went to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

The Land Transport Authority first tweeted about the accident at 7.15am, and advised motorists to avoid lane 3 of the expressway.

Subsequent tweets warned of congestion till the Jurong Town Hall Road exit.

A police spokesman said investigations are ongoing.

This article was first published on June 24, 2016.
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