SINGAPORE – Facebook user Bryan Lim, who has several police reports lodged against him over his Facebook comment that he wanted to “open fire” on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, has apologised for his “strong words” and called…
Source link
Man who wanted to “open fire” on LGBT community apologises, takes down Facebook account
Man arrested for extorting ex-girlfriend with intimate photographs
According to a report from a 39-year-old woman, she handed S$350 to her ex-boyfriend after he threatened to expose intimate photographs from their past.
Source link
Candidates' expenses for the Bukit Batok by-election open for inspection: ELD
The expenses are available for inspection from Jun 15, for a period of six months, from Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm. A fee of S$2 is required to inspect each candidate’s expenses.
Source link
Bukit Batok by-election expenses returns up for inspection from Wednesday
SINGAPORE – The returns of expenses that were submitted by election agents of Bukit Batok by-election candidates Dr Chee Soon Juan and Mr Murali Pillai will be available for inspection at the Elections Department (ELD) for six months, starting Wednesday…
Source link
Resale prices for private apartments up 0.4% in May: Property index
An estimated 840 non-landed private residential units were resold in May, which is an increase of 35.7 per cent compared to the 619 units resold last month, according to SRX.
Source link
Additional S$14 million a year to help PMETs switch to new careers
SINGAPORE – Amid rising unemployment for older Singaporeans, particularly those in professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) roles, the Government will invest an additional S$28 million over the next two years to help these workers start…
Source link
Q3 hiring prospects to be worst since last recession
Image:
Publication Date:
Tuesday, June 14, 2016 – 15:00
Keywords:
External URL:
Send to mobile app:
Source:
Story Type:
Others
WSQ course on effective communication gets F mark
Test questions from a training course accredited by a Government body have had to be replaced after Internet users slammed the assessment for perpetuating workplace discrimination.
During the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) course on effective communication, participants were given a list of 10 hypothetical staff members and told they had to decide as a group which four to axe.
Descriptions of the 10 workers included elements of race, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation and marital status.
One candidate, for instance, was described as a former Workers’ Party member. Another was a divorced woman with five children. Others included a gay man, a former Catholic priest and a “confirmed racist”.
Only three had indications of the employees’ work competencies.
A photo of the test paper was posted on the All Singapore Stuff website after a friend of one of the participants wrote in.
The participant, Mr Lai Yew Sin, did the course last Wednesday and Thursday and said the exercise only served to confirm prejudices.
Mr Lai, an assistant therapist at Singapore General Hospital, said: “The group could not come to an agreement. It was very horrible to watch.”
He failed the overall course, becoming the first person to do so since it was started in 2011. Adding that he was not angry about the grade, Mr Lai said he was more frustrated with the activity, as “the exercise will affect real livelihoods through the encouragement of unwarranted prejudices during decision-making processes”.
Companies send their employees on the course to improve their communication skills in the workplace.
Course provider Eagle Infotech Consultants yesterday defended its material to The Straits Times.
Managing director Liana Tang said the test “was taken out of context”, clarifying that it was not meant to prescribe procedures for hiring and retrenchment. Rather, it was “to teach diversity”.
She also said the trainer had spoken on the importance of diversity before the exercise started. Mr Lai said this was not true.
Eagle has been an accredited Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) training organisation since 2005.
A WDA spokesman said Eagle will replace the questions immediately because they have been made public and also due to “perceived sensitivity”.
She said: “WDA would like to assure that all WSQ courses follow a rigorous pedagogical framework and trainers are accredited to provide quality training.”
Mr David Ang, director of corporate services capability development at Human Capital Singapore, said: “Good human resource practices dictate that retrenchment decisions should not be based on anything other than someone’s work .”
This article was first published on June 14, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
Image:
Publication Date:
Tuesday, June 14, 2016 – 14:00
Keywords:
Send to mobile app:
Source:
Story Type:
Others
NEA suspends licence of Prata Wala at Nex over cockroach infestation
SINGAPORE – The National Environment Agency (NEA) will be suspending the licence of Prata Wala at Nex shopping mall for two weeks starting next Tuesday (June 21) after the outlet failed to rid its premises of a cockroach infestation.
Prata Wala has also been…
Source link
Police investigate Singapore man accused of threatening to ‘open fire’ on LGBT event
A SINGAPOREAN Facebook user who implied that he wanted to “open fire” on a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) event because he wanted to “protect my nation” will be investigated after several police reports were lodged against him.
The investigation comes just two days after 49 people were tragically killed in a popular gay nightclub by gunman Omar Mateen in Orlando, Florida. Mateen was shot dead by police after a three-hour stand-off.
Bryan Lim, a regional performance consultant for Canon Singapore, made the comments on a Facebook page titled ‘We are against Pinkdot in Singapore’, an anti-LGBT group that protests against the presence of the non-profit organization Pink Dot SG.
Lim responded to a post referring to news that the government told foreign brands such as Facebook and Google to stop sponsoring Pink Dot SG’s event, the Singaporean equivalent of the pro-LGBT pride movement, which was held on June 4.
SEE ALSO: Singapore tells ‘foreign’ corporate sponsors to stop supporting LGBT event
According to local newspaper, Today, he wrote in a June 4 post: “I am a Singaporean citizen. I am a NSman. I am a father. And I swore to protect my nation. Give me permission to open fire. I would like to see these £@€$^*s die for their causes.”
His comments, which have been interpreted as violent hate speech against the LGBT community, raised concern among other netizens.
Several Facebook users flagged Lim’s comments to the Singapore Police Force, which said Lim is not a police national serviceman, as he appears to claim, and that investigations are ongoing.
According to Yahoo Singapore, Lim has since apologized for the “misunderstanding” and deleted his Facebook account.
He wrote on Monday that he was referring to “Bloomberg and foreign intervention in local matters”.
“My words were strong. I did not mean anyone… This was taken out of context. I hope this clears the air,” he said. “I did not mean physical bullets nor physical death. I mean open fire on debate and remove them from Singapore domestic matters.”
SEE ALSO: ‘Les Misérables’ musical producers scrap male kissing scene in Singapore
A spokesman for Pink Dot SG, Paerin Choa, said in a statement: “Recent horrific acts of hate underscore the discrimination that continues to be directed at the LGBT community.
“The presence of individuals who harbour such thoughts and who publicly perpetuate intolerance based on their narrow perspectives of the world deeply saddens and concerns us.
“This clearly shows we should never take what we have for granted and continue to seek dialogue and opportunities to highlight to others the dangers of discrimination and intolerance.”
Lim’s employer, Canon Singapore, also responded to the furore around his comments. In a Facebook post, Canon said it does “not condone violence in any form” and will be looking into the matter.
The post Police investigate Singapore man accused of threatening to ‘open fire’ on LGBT event appeared first on Asian Correspondent.
