SINGAPORE – Who would you retrench at the workplace? A forty-year-old Indian man whose wife is dying of cancer, or a talented man with several years of service and is a homosexual? Or maybe someone who was formerly a member of the Workers’ Party?

In an exercise on getting consensus at the workplace, participants of a Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) course on effective communication were asked to deliberate on who, out of 10 people described, should be retrenched.

However, instead of telling participants to consider how well these people are doing in their jobs and the needs of the company, the course material asked for a decision to be made using information like how one man is a supporter of the People’s Action Party and how a woman is working two jobs to support invalid parents.

A photograph of the questionable material was posted on Facebook on June 10 and has already been shared more than 80 times. It was temporarily removed on Monday (June 13) morning.

One Facebook user who saw the post called the material the “holy grail” of workplace discrimination.

The netizen who posted the photo had said that a friend attended the WSQ course and was “appalled” by the material. The course instructor decided to “fail” his friend when he decided not to participate in the discussion, the poster claimed.

From the photo, the course is listed as “Communicate & relate effectively at the workplace“, a “softskill course” conducted by external course coordinator Eagle Infotech Consultants under the WSQ Employability Skills Framework.

The course was last conducted on June 7 and 8, according to information found online.

Eagle Infotech told AsiaOne on Monday that the material was taken “out of context” in the post. In fact, participants would have just learnt about diversity at the workplace and respect for people of different backgrounds before embarking on the exercise.

The assessment exercise would thus have been about respecting diversity and about being objective – the direct opposite of what it has been accused of – even though the information provided in the course material is insufficient for participants to make judgement calls on who to let go based on company needs and work performance.

Eagle Infotech also said that the participant who allegedly complained about the exercise had actually taken part in the assessment, contrary to what was claimed in the Facebook post, and had “passed”, meaning the instructor deemed him having learnt the core lessons of this exercise.

It added that it has conducted the course for years, and has not gotten a complaint before this.

The Singapore Workforce Development Agency, which manages the WSQ system, has said that it will respond to media queries later on Monday.

sinsh@sph.com.sg

BEIJING – A move to build a high-speed rail (HSR) line linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore has attracted interest from various countries with this kind of technology.

Among these countries is China, which aims to build and perhaps help run the proposed 350km-long track in Malaysia and Singapore.

Though somewhat of a latecomer to the scene (its first HSR line was built in 2003), China has aggressively pushed these trains across its country.

In January this year, China had 19,000km of HSR tracks – the longest total in the world. It aims to have 30,000km of HSR line length by 2020.

At the moment, negotiations on the project are ongoing between Malaysia and Singapore.

A memorandum of understanding is also due to be signed in the middle of the year.

With tenders for the project expected to be opened later in 2016, the battle to win the bid for the multi-billion-ringgit contract is expected to get very hot.

Check out The Star TV’s news feature on China’s interest in the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project to find out more.

There are places in our own backyard that take you away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore.

Photojournalist ISKANDAR ROSSALI discovers some of them.

JAPANESE GARDEN

1, Chinese Garden Road

The gardening at the Japanese Garden or Seiwaen was based on those used in Japan from the Muromachi period to the Momoyama period.

Its traditional arched bridges, stone lanterns, traditional house and rest house, ponds and gravel chipped pavings recreate and give the same feel as that of the traditional gardens in Japan.

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

National Parks Board, The Straits Times, The New Paper

LIM CHU KANG JETTY

695, Lim Chu Kang Road

Located at the end of Lim Chu Kang Road, it is one of the last few wooden, old-style jetties.

The wooden structure and well-worn planks of the jetty, balancing on large plastic drums, make it look rural.

This is a great place to explore nature, go fishing or enjoy the scenery.

You can explore the mangrove swamp, observe the fishermen carrying out their daily activities, or get a glimpse of Malaysia across the waters.

TAMPINES NEWATER SERVICE RESERVOIR

Tampines Road

They look like two giant UFOs, resting on a grassy slope and waiting to take off at any time.

You catch a glimpse of them as you drive along Tampines Avenue 10, giving you the feel that you are in Roswell, New Mexico.

These inverted cone-shaped structures are actually two concrete storage tanks built to hold 8,448 cubic metres of Newater each.

The elevated tanks, measuring 43m in diameter at the top, make up the Tampines Newater Service Reservoir, maintained by national water agency PUB.

LITTLE GUILIN

Bukit Batok East Avenue 5

Stroll around the nature park located in Little Guilin in Bukit Batok and you might feel as if you have just teleported from Singapore to China.

This is down to the disused granite quarry that resembles the granite rock formations in Guilin, China. This place is a good getaway for those yearning to escape the bustling city and enjoy nature.

Take a few snaps of the place to appreciate the beauty that is hiding behind the tall housing estates.

HAKKA CEMETERY

Holland Close

Nestled between high-rise HDB flats, a petrol station and a small industrial area lies this Hakka cemetery with nearly 3,000 graves.

Located on Holland Close, the 1.8ha patch – about the size of two-and-a-half football fields – belongs to the Hakka association Ying Fo Fui Kun.

The graves are in 65 rows, all spaced equally apart and identically covered in plain mosaics.

It reminds seasoned travellers of the Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

This article was first published on June 13, 2016.
Get The New Paper for more stories.

A Singaporean tourist who went missing for three days in Malaysia has returned home safely and is with his family.

Mr Sinar Widjoyo Tugi, 73, who was reported missing in Pulau Tioman last Wednesday, was located last Saturday morning in Johor Baru, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said.

Mr Sinar Widjoyo’s daughter, Ms Haryati, said in a Facebook post last Saturday that her father had been found. She also thanked those who helped in locating her father, including the Malaysian police.

Last Thursday, Pahang Fire and Rescue Department public relations officer Anuar Hassan said 14 staff had been mobilised in a search operation with the police to look for Mr Sinar Widjoyo, who was then last seen at a resort in Kampung Paya on the popular holiday island.

His family lodged a missing person report in Mersing last Wednesday afternoon before the case was referred to the police in Rompin.

According to local media reports, police investigations found that the Singaporean had taken a ferry to Mersing.

The ferry crew said they had seen Mr Sinar Widjoyo, but he did not disembark when they reached the Mersing jetty. He had told the crew that he wished to return to Singapore, and a crew member took him to the bus ticket counter.

He was believed to have taken a bus to Johor Baru, where he was found.

In a statement last Saturday, MFA said the Singapore Consulate-General in Johor Baru, which was in contact with the local authorities, assisted Mr Sinar Widjoyo’s family and facilitated his return home.

This article was first published on Jun 13, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.