SINGAPORE: Some drivers from Grab as well as a subsidiary of transport operator SMRT have been roped in to help authorities take suspect cases of COVID-19 to hospitals.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) told CNA on Wednesday (Apr 22) that this is to complement existing ambulance services.

These drivers will only ferry individuals who are “stable and clinically well”, taking them from primary care clinics to public acute hospitals or the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, said MOH.

“Suspect cases who are assessed by the doctors to be clinically unwell will continue to be conveyed by ambulance to hospitals,” it added.

“These vehicles are reserved specifically for MOH’s use for this purpose and will be dispatched by the 993 call operators,” said the ministry.

“These vehicles will not be available for public booking when they are part of the MOH fleet, and do not serve normal trips on days when they are on standby to ferry patients.”

READ: Retrenchments and withdrawn job offers: Singapore’s labour market shows signs of COVID-19 strain

In a media release, Grab said more than 250 of its drivers volunteered for this initiative and have been trained for it.

They are progressively being rostered on eight-hour shifts.

Meanwhile, about 70 drivers have been deployed from Strides Transportation, a subsidiary of SMRT Corporation.

It is understood that Grab and Strides Transportation will pay their drivers.

MOH said participating drivers have been trained by the Singapore Civil Defence Force on medical and safety protocol. They are provided with supplies like personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks, which they are required to put on for every trip.

“Proper safeguards have been put in place to ensure that the vehicles are thoroughly disinfected after each trip,” the ministry added.

According to Grab, drivers collect their supplies at a designated, central location, and are also required to disposed of their protective gear at designated decontamination zones.

Roy Lee, 39, is one of the drivers participating in the scheme.

Mr Lee, who has been driving with Grab since 2015, said he “didn’t have to think twice” when the call for volunteers came in end-March. So far, he’s responded to about 40 calls.

READ: Circuit breakers may need to be switched on and off until COVID-19 vaccine is found, say experts

While he was initially apprehensive about signing up, Mr Lee said the training helped to ease his family’s concerns.

“I have to keep myself alert even while waiting for standby jobs or after I drop off the passenger, I get reminded to ensure that I sanitise my hands, not to touch my face so much, and the first thing I do when I reach home is to take a shower, just to ensure that I’m not spreading or bringing anything back from where I’m working at,” he said.

“The experience has been quite eye-opening, because I get to see firsthand how the medical staff are working so hard, trying to get all these suspected patients tested,” Mr Lee added.

“At the same time I can see how important it is to just keep myself clean at all times. It’s not a matter of getting infected, it’s also a matter of not spreading the infection at the same time. ”

READ: Inside Singapore’s COVID-19 screening centre, on the front line against the disease

Infectious disease specialist Dr Leong Hoe Nam told CNA that with training and the necessary precautions, the private-hire drivers can ferry suspected COVID-19 cases “very safely with no concerns at all”.

“It comes down to education, training and awareness, we will need to brief the drivers on how the virus transmits and how we can stop it in its tracks. We need to show them how it’s been done consistently for the ambulance drivers and ask them to redo exactly the same thing,” said Dr Leong, who practices at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre.

When asked if this new fleet is an indication that Singapore’s healthcare capacity could be under strain, Dr Leong said that the Government is instead being forward-thinking in roping in private-hire drivers to provide non-emergency transport services.

 “What the Ministry of Health is doing is really repurposing and thinking out of the box,” said Dr Leong.

“We have seen this repurposing happening at Expo – military doctors are being recalled back to actually look after COVID-19 patients in Expo … And similarly, looking at how we do ambulance transport, by simply providing that little bit of education, we can value add so much more to the driver.”

The number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore crossed the 11,000 mark on Thursday, with 1,037 new cases reported. The majority are work permit holders living in foreign worker dormitories.

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SINGAPORE: A 58-year-old man was killed and three others were injured on Tuesday (Apr 21) night in an accident involving a lorry, a ComfortDelGro taxi and a car at a Yio Chu Kang Road traffic junction.

The police said they were alerted shortly after 9pm on Tuesday, to an accident at the junction of Phillips Avenue, Yio Chu Kang Road and Serangoon North Avenue 1.

The lorry driver involved in the crash was found “lying motionless” at the location and was later pronounced dead by an SCDF paramedic at the scene.  

According to dash cam footage circulating online, a lorry was seen dashing through a traffic junction when the traffic lights were not in its favour.

A yellow taxi crashed into the lorry, sending both vehicles spinning. People were seen coming to the aid of those involved in the accident.

A close-up video of the taxi after the incident showed the front of the vehicle mangled.

“At the time of the accident, our taxi was travelling straight with the traffic light in his favour when the lorry came at the perpendicular and collided into it,” Ms Tammy Tan, group chief corporate communications officer of ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited said in response to CNA’s queries.

A 50-year-old female passenger in the lorry was conscious when she was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the police added.

Also taken to the same hospital were a 56-year-old taxi driver and his 57-year-old female passenger. Both were conscious at the time.

ComfortDelGro said it was in touch with both the driver and passenger, and would assist them.

It added: “We are saddened to learn of the demise of the lorry driver.”

The company is also assisting the police with their ongoing investigations.

SINGAPORE: It is Apr 23 – an odd-numbered date, and only people whose identification card numbers end in an odd number can enter the Chong Pang Market.

But not everyone who turned up this Thursday morning was aware of this.

An elderly woman draws out her identity card and asks one of the safe distancing ambassadors whether she can go in, since the last digit on her IC number is even and it is a Thursday. Armed with illustrations on laminated cards, the ambassador explains to her that it is based on the date, not the day of the week.

But the rule is still not being enforced yet, and the senior citizen gets to join the queue to enter the market.

Chong Pang Market is one of four popular wet markets that has had this new rule imposed under stricter circuit breaker measures announced on Tuesday. The other three are Geylang Serai Market, the market at Block 20/21 Marsiling Lane and at Block 505 Jurong West Street 52.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) announced then that access to these markets would be restricted based on the last digit of patron’s identification card numbers beginning Wednesday. 

Those whose last digit on their IC is an even number may only visit these markets on the even dates of the month, while those whose last digit is an odd number may only visit these markets on the odd dates of the month. 

This measure was introduced to ensure safe distancing as part of measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, in addition to earlier measures such as controlled entry and exit points at markets.

ENFORCEMENT BEGINS ON FRIDAY: NEA

In a media release on Thursday, the NEA said it had been taking an “advisory approach” to the new requirements over the past two days, where patrons who came on the wrong date were reminded of the new restriction, but were still allowed to enter the markets.

The restrictions had resulted in decreased queue lengths during the morning peak periods at the four markets, with about 80 per cent of patrons adhering to the date restrictions on Thursday, the agency noted. 

There is now “increased awareness of the new entry restriction system” and strict enforcement of the date-based entry restrictions at the four markets will begin on Friday, said the NEA.

READ: Visits to 4 popular markets to be restricted based on patrons’ IC numbers: NEA

“LESS CROWDED AND MORE ORDERLY” 

The queue at Chong Pang Market on Thursday moved quickly and the crowd has thinned compared to before, said 67-year-old Madam Hock Hong, who visits the wet market once or twice a week. 

Her daughter was there to help her take the groceries home, but waited outside the market as her IC number ended with an even number.

“The market was less crowded and more orderly, no one bumped into me,“ she said in Mandarin.

At the market at Marsiling Lane, a queue that wrapped around the adjacent food centre had formed when CNA arrived on the scene at 7am. 

Safe distancing ambassadors fanned out to chaperone the patrons, check their identification cards and explain the new rule to people who joined the queue.

READ: COVID-19: Go out alone for essential needs, don’t make it a ‘family outing’, say Singapore leaders

Ms Elly Puteh, 50, was already on her way home with her marketing as she had come at 5.30am when there was no queue. 

She lingered to check with the ambassadors how her husband – whose IC number ends with an even digit – could help her with heavy groceries over the weekend if they cannot go to the market at the same time.

“I want to pass him the groceries but I don’t want to queue again if I go out of the market,” she said. She now goes to the market every morning as her fridge broke down recently, she added.

At this market, there were also some who were unaware of the new rule, such as Chinese national Jiang Zhen Hua. 

The 29-year-old was given an exemption to enter the market even though his identification number ended with an even number.

He said he did not mind the regulation: “It’s to protect us, we should co-operate.”

Woodlands resident Abu Bakar Hussain, 55, delayed his trip to the market for a day to comply with the rule but said he did not see the need to restrict entry using one’s IC number.

“This is not comfortable for us, they can just check how many go in and go out,” he said.

Though barricades had been set up as part of crowd management measures at the wet market at Block 505 Jurong West Street 52,  the crowds had largely thinned there on Thursday. 

About 15 safe distancing ambassadors could be seen at various locations around the market, directing them to the sole entrance to the wet market, as well as checking their NRICs and informing them of the new safe distancing guidelines. 

Though some were unaware of the new requirements, they were still allowed into the market. 

READ: From bubble tea runs to getting a haircut: What you can or cannot do under tighter COVID-19 circuit breaker rules

On the other end of the island at the Geylang Serai Market, the crowds seen in recent days had largely disappeared, though the market itself was still bustling. 

TECHNOLOGY USED TO MONITOR CROWDS

In addition to the IC requirement, technology was used to ensure only 300 people were allowed in at any one time. 

Safe distancing ambassadors monitored the number of visitors entering the market via a monitor mounted on the wall, near the entrances to the Geylang Serai Market, with sensors seen suspended from beams on the ceiling of the market. 

Once there were 300 people inside, shoppers had to wait in line until others exited before being allowed in.

At each of the two entrances to the market along Changi Road, no more than 20 people could be observed queuing. 

NEA said on Thursday that it was testing the use of a digital check-in application, dubbed SafeEntry, at the Geylang Serai Market, adding that patrons there may have their IC or FIN scanned before they enter. 

“This will help to support contract tracing and also allow NEA to better fine tune its crowd management measures at the markets,” the agency said. 

Madam Ella, who was visiting the Geylang Serai market with her son, said the crowds had dipped since last week, when photos and videos circulating had shown crowds of shoppers outside the Geylang Serai Market, with the queue stretching more than 300m along nearby Jalan Turi. 

Though she lives in Jurong, she frequents the Geylang Serai market at least once every two weeks as she says it is easier for her to find what she needs there. 

The 52-year-old said she did not find it an inconvenience to comply with the safe distancing requirements. 

“It’s good because it helps keeps the number of people down,” she said. 

SINGAPORE: The police are investigating a case of unnatural death after a man was found motionless at a staircase landing in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

The Singapore Police Force said it was alerted to the case, which involved a 46-year-old Indian national, at about 7.30am on Thursday (Apr 23).

He was found lying motionless at the staircase landing and subsequently died of his injuries, the police said.

“Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play. Police investigations are ongoing,” the force added.

Responding to CNA’s queries, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said the man was a confirmed COVID-19 case. 

According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the man had worked as a construction worker for the same employer since September 2009. 

In a statement to the media, MOM said the worker lived in a factory-converted dormitory operated by his employer. 

“It was last inspected on Apr 12, 2020. At the time, it housed nine workers (including the deceased), less than the approved capacity for factory-converted dormitories,” said the ministry.

“The dormitory was found to be in an acceptable condition, including cleanliness and ventilation.”

MOM did not indicate why the man had been at the hospital.

In response to CNA queries, the High Commission of India in Singapore said it was informed of the Indian national’s death.

“We await further information about the circumstances surrounding the death from the police after coroner’s (inquiry) is complete,” the High Commission said in an email.

CNA has contacted the hospital for more information.

MOM said Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam and Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo visited the man’s roommates on Thursday afternoon to speak with them and understand their concerns. 

“The workers were sad but calm. They reported that they have been well taken care of by the employer. They also requested that the nephew of the deceased worker, who is employed by the same company, be allowed to pay his last respects,” said MOM, adding that it is working with MOH to facilitate the request.

MOM is also working with the Hindu Endowments Board to undertake the necessary funeral arrangements for the deceased worker, as well as with the Migrant Workers’ Centre to provide support to the family of the deceased.

In a Facebook post, Mrs Teo said she reassured the workers at the dormitory that their health and medical needs are of “uppermost priority” and that the Government will make sure they are treated and help them recover should they fall sick. ​​​​​​​

“I was glad they knew all the right numbers to call, which had been provided by our officers,” she said. 

“To all our migrant workers, I know some of you are worried. We will look after you, your health and safety, your daily needs. You can approach our officers at any time for help. Please stay strong so that you can be reunited with your families.

“We know this is a stressful time for all of you. You are not alone and the Singapore Government will take care of you,” she said. 

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SINGAPORE: For the first time in history, oil prices are now negative.

A few days before, Singapore’s largest oil trader Hin Leong applied for court protection to stave off claims in excess of US$3.85 billion (S$5.49 billion). 

Press reports suggest that the home-grown company’s billionaire founder may have directed the firm to hide about US$800 million in losses over the years.

This isn’t the first time a giant in the oil industry has racked up a mountain of debt – the effects of the collapse of OW Bunker in 2014 and of the offshore downturn in 2016 still linger on today.

The current troubles of the industry provide a unique opportunity to understand the interdependence of the oil community and the impact Hin Leong’s fall-out will have outside of it.

THE CREDIT WEB

The lifecycle of oil is a capital intensive one. From the time oil exploration begins to how it is processed, shipped, stored and traded, the industry is very much dependant on financing.

The confluence of factors surrounding poor demand, low prices – owing in part to the spat between Russia and Saudi Arabia – and Hin Leong’s struggles, will mean liquidity is drying up while oil is overflowing.

This will be acutely felt by the interdependent oil companies in the industry. Oil can be bought and sold on credit terms and in today’s world of shrinking physical arbitrage opportunities, credit is sometimes more important than the price of the black gold itself.

READ: Commentary: Plunging oil prices will have huge consequences

Oil traders are dependent on their financiers not just for purchasing oil but also to extend credit terms to their buyers to only make payment in the future.

Oil traders without sufficient banking lines, engage in credit sleeving whereby they leverage on the physical assets of a larger supplier while other traders use letter of credit (LC) agents as third parties inserted into a transaction to enable the opening of LCs to effect a purchase.

The practice of LC agents is not uncommon for Chinese oil purchasers who want to buy oil but do not have sufficient banking lines to open an LC so a third party – the LC agent – is used to open an LC on its behalf. 

In back to back trades, a buyer of oil can use the LC of its own buyer as a source of funding to pay its supplier, meaning oil can be purchased by leveraging on the liquidity of other parties.

There is no lack of creative structures that companies in the oil business deploy but they have a common objective in leveraging for liquidity.

As credit gets tightened, highly leveraged oil companies will stagger – there will be difficulties in open LCs and credit terms and sleeves would be withdrawn.

Just as lenders are withdrawing credit, oil suppliers will be forced to do the same and the drying of credit will leave some companies upended in its wake.

THE SCRAMBLE FOR SECURITY

Oil can be a slippery asset if creditors are looking to lay a claim on it.

READ: Commentary: A financial crisis is underway, as demand collapse ripples through companies across the world

We saw this in the aftermath of the global collapse of Danish oil bunkering giant OW Bunker in 2014 when it filed for bankruptcy just eight months after its listing in Copenhagen  – partly due to losses on an estimated US$130 million credit line given by its Singapore-based arm to local company, Tankoil Marine Services. 

When OW Bunker collapsed, it owed debts to numerous parties but in particular to the banks that financed it and the physical suppliers who supplied oil on its behalf to vessels. Banks and traders around the world. including in Singapore, started scrambling to take back oil or arrest vessels that the fuel was supplied to.

The banks and the physical suppliers dealing with the company’s local subsidiary were left with competing claims against vessel owners to which OW oil was supplied.

The vessel owners, faced with the threat of arrest by either group, were left with the unenviable task of deciding which party to pay to, with no assurance that an arrest be forestalled as there were competing claims for payment of the same oil.

The uncertainty resulted in unprecedented levels of litigation around the world testing the interface of maritime laws with insolvency legislation leaving vessel owners with a double exposure and some physical bunker suppliers without effective recourse.

Oil is consumed and commingled, making it notoriously difficult to lay precise claim to it. Even if you do manage to get your hands on it, what does one do with oil today?  

With the pricing of oil where it is and an acute shortage in storage capacity, holding on to oil can actually be a liability.

UPSTREAM EFFECTS

Negative oil pricing might sound like good news to consumers but its effect is more detrimental than beneficial.

READ: Commentary: COVID-19 presents a ticking default time bomb

Oil prices have gone through many cycles and each time it is on a downward trajectory, production is impacted alongside the massive machinery of ancillary services that support the industry.

The oil crisis will not only hurt exporting nations – regardless of what the Russians or Arabs tell you – oil producers, the contractors that build the infrastructure, rig owners and offshore support services are also looking at bleak times.

When prices dipped in 2016 – fuelled by a slowdown in the Chinese appetite for commodities and the emergence of US as a shale oil producer – the offshore market was badly exposed leaving many companies and inexperienced investors with their hands burnt.

Many offshore companies were left unable to service their loans used for capital intensive purchases of offshore support vessels.

When offshore oil production activity slowed, orders for these vessels fell and offshore companies like Swiber Holdings who were dependant on offshore oil activity had to apply for court protection.

Swiber who had issued several bonds to raise capital, were left with debts of about S$1 billion around the time it sought court protection.    

The 2016 dip provided a much-needed catharsis to the offshore industry – overleveraged companies had to restructure or go under. The process culled several players and forced others to streamline their operations.  

More importantly banks were more sensible with their lending, resulting in less easy liquidity being sloshed about and by extension, lower chances of offshore companies now toppling over despite the headwinds.

TIME TO RE-EVALUATE HOW FINANCING IS DONE

Nevertheless, the collapse of the oil price will invariably have its casualties in the oil industry, particularly companies geared on credit.

It does however give lenders and traders an opportunity to re-examine the fundamentals of how credit is assessed and the effectiveness of security.

Hin Leong’s application for court protection while staving off astronomical claims is not particular to the oil industry.

Every year, commodity companies seek to restructure massive debts – this year alone, the high profile collapse of Agritrade with a US$1.5 billion exposure and Hontop Energy have raised concerns for banks.  

In the “post-mortem” analysis, lawyers like myself are called in to examine trade structures and I am always struck as to how companies of all shapes and sizes sometimes get access to a startling amount of financing.

With banking secrecy laws keeping banks distant from each other in terms of lending activity, there is the all too familiar scenario when a group of banks meet a distressed borrower only to find out the staggering amount of money given to the debtor collectively.

This in turn, begs the question whether we are using the correct metric to assess the financial viability of companies.

Lending by the balance sheet of a company alone has repeatedly proven itself to be an inadequate metric.

Accounting practices needs to be sharpened and lenders will need to focus on what should go on or off a balance sheet particularly in the world of trade finance where the lines between trades and loans can be hard to distinguish. 

A company can sell its invoices or receivables due to it and receive cash, thereby taking the receivables off its balance sheet. But sometimes such structures are not deemed “true sales” and should not be reflected on the balance sheet.

READ: Bankruptcy looms over US energy industry, from oil fields to pipelines

READ: Sembcorp subsidiary terminates deal with troubled oil trader Hin Leong

These are not new lessons – the cautionary tales have been around with each spectacular collapse over the years. The lessons unfortunately have not been learnt.

Another metric used to determine financing relates to the underlying assets itself where banks hold on to title documents of the goods financed as security.

Here again, history has proven that in the pursuit for liquidity, the lack of title documents does not stop borrowers from moving and discharging goods. 

Lenders therefore sometimes find themselves holding on to worthless pieces of paper and even the best lawyers in the world cannot do much about that.

Trade finance is fundamental to the global economy and in the present climate there is tendency for lenders to withdraw credit lines, trigger margin-calls and grab any assets they can to reduce their exposure.

In the days that follow that, a company that may have been viable at some point, can quickly spiral into a collapse. When the wheels of finance stop, the effects can easily spread to other parts of the economy wiping out confidence in the markets.

This is precisely why we have one of the most sophisticated restructuring laws in the world: to contain the contagion.

Baldev Bhinder is the Managing Director of BlackStone & Gold, a specialist energy and commodities law firm in Singapore. He can be reached at baldevbhinder@blackstonegold.com