A legal feud between the Singapore Rifle Association (SRA) and the Singapore Shooting Association (SSA) has taken a new twist.

The SRA has filed a High Court suit against parent body SSA for alleged breaches of the constitution and for attempting to suspend its privileges.

With the SSA being a public institution, the SRA had to obtain the go-ahead to pursue the suit from Sport Singapore – the sector administrator assisting the Commissioner of Charities for charitable objectives to advance sports.

Last year, the SSA took the SRA to the High Court seeking to recover the SRA-managed armoury space at the National Shooting Centre (NSC) in Choa Chu Kang – where both parties are based – as it wanted to upgrade the premises.

But the suit was dropped by the SSA last March as was an SRA counter-claim for alleged breach of agreement.

A month earlier, SportSG had closed the NSC following an arms audit by the Police Licensing & Regulatory Department at the armouries of the Singapore Gun Club and the SRA.

Police seized a number of arms due to serious licensing irregularities and launched a probe into the matter.

SportSG, the national sports governing body, terminated the lease to the NSC issued to the SSA in February.

In the latest High Court suit, filed last month, the SRA, through its Drew & Napier lawyer Wendell Wong, alleges that the SSA e-mailed a proposed resolution to council members last December to suspend the SRA’s privileges at the NSC for failing to comply with SSA directives and its move to evict the SRA.

The SRA claims among other things that the governing body acted outside its powers as the constitution does not provide for resolutions by circular and a physical meeting was not called.

It further alleges that the SSA breached natural justice rules and conspired to cause loss to the SRA.

The SSA, through its lawyers from Bih Li & Lee, in disputing the claims, argues that the constitution expressly or impliedly allows for circular resolutions to be passed without calling for a physical meeting.

It points out in court documents filed that the SSA never asserted that the circular resolution had been carried out to suspend the SRA’s privileges. It affirms no suspensions were implemented at the NSC.

The SSA is the national authority for shooting.

Apart from the SRA, its other members are the Singapore Gun Club, Safra Shooting Club, Safsa Shooting Club and the Home Team Sports and Recreation Association.

SSA president Michael Vaz Lorrain was unfazed by the suit. He said: “They’re trying to rattle us before the next annual general meeting in September.”

vijayan@sph.com.sg

jonwong@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 10, 2016.
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Eight TV channels under the Fox Networks Group label will be removed from StarHub’s pay-TV service later this month, while the fate of Fox’s 25 other channels on the service hangs in the air.

Starting next Thursday at noon, the following channels will cease broadcast on StarHub: Music channels Nat Geo Music, Channel V, Channel V Mainland China, and Channel V Taiwan; non-fiction channel National Geographic Channel HD; and Mandarin entertainment channel Xing Kong.

Kids and baby channel BabyTV and Hindi entertainment channel Life Ok will stop airing on June 30.

It is not known whether Fox’s other channels, which include popular English channels such as Star World, Fox and Fox Crime, which screen popular dramas such as Scandal and The Walking Dead, will continue airing on StarHub.

The Straits Times understands that Fox’s contract with StarHub is ending soon.

Ms Fion Yeo, general manager of Fox Networks Group Singapore, says that “no agreement has been reached at this time” between the two parties over a renewal.

She adds: “We are working really hard with StarHub to ensure such an eventuality does not arise.”

She says that if the rest of Fox’s channels are all terminated from StarHub, the company’s channels “will continue to be available on Singtel TV and potential new partner platforms”.

In general, channels are taken off air when the pay-TV operator and their content partner cannot reach an agreement over contractual terms.

Ms Lee Soo Hui, head of the media business unit at StarHub, says that “channel cessations are always the last resort”. When they do occur, “it is usually due to pressing reasons which make carriage of the channels unsustainable such as low viewership or prohibitive costs”.

Several StarHub TV subscribers have complained on social media about how they were not informed of the axing of the eight channels.

StarHub says that it runs crawlers on the TV screen to inform viewers of channel cessations, and also put the news on the StarHub website.

Subscribers are also miffed because they cannot choose new channels to replace the cancelled ones.

Ms Low Sok Chong, 35, a human resource manager, says that her two children aged five and two love BabyTV.

She renewed her subscription in January and says that consumers should be allowed to renegotiate when the content changes.

Recently, media law changes were made to protect consumers against unfair pay-TV practices, making it possible for consumers to exit their pay-TV contracts within 30 days of the operators making changes to pricing or programming.

But that new rule applies only to consumers who subscribed to packages after April 30 this year.

In response to a query about possible compensation for affected subscribers, StarHub said that it is “constantly engaging various content partners to add even more compelling content to our TV offerings” for customers, and that it seeks “their patience as we freshen our content line-up”.

yipwy@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 10, 2016.
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It was a habit for Ms Sonum Puri to order breakfast to be delivered to her home in Tanjong Pagar.

But on April 27, after a rider from delivery company Deliveroo had handed over the paper bag containing her order, hot tea leaked from it and spilled onto her left thigh, scalding her, the 29-year-old technology consultant told The Straits Times.

She sought treatment the same day and showed The Straits Times a copy of her medical bill from MHC Medical Centre, which amounted to $122.

She also produced photos of her scars and the paper bag, which ripped after the tea had leaked.

While the blisters have healed, the scars remain despite the daily application of a scar removal cream, she said.

Ms Puri alleges that the tea from Group Therapy Coffee’s Duxton Road cafe had not been secured properly for delivery and had spilled in the bag. However, attempts to settle the issue with Deliveroo and the cafe have dragged on for over a month.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, Group Therapy Coffee’s group operations manager Weilin Loh said a review of closed-circuit television footage in the cafe showed the tea had been put in a cup holder before being placed in the paper bag, in accordance with its standard procedures for delivery.

The rider had also checked that the items were correct and secured before delivery, she said.

“We do remind riders also if there are delicate items inside like poached eggs, and they are generally quite careful. This is the first time something like this has happened,” said Ms Loh.

Deliveroo said the incident is under investigation and that it is in communication with both parties.

In the meantime, as a gesture of goodwill, it has credited Ms Puri’s account with the cost of the order.

The London-based start-up, which entered the Singapore market last November and has more than 1,300 restaurant partners here, said all hot drinks are placed in cup holders inside thermal delivery bags to prevent spillage and ensure that the packaging is retained.

It said while it provides guidelines for its partners’ packaging, the restaurants are ultimately responsible for ensuring the packaging is secure.

Food delivery services foodpanda and UberEATS said they had not had such incidents.

Foodpanda chief executive Jakob Angele said that under the company’s guidelines, hot drinks must be sealed and liquids must be strapped in the delivery bags for transit.

Ms Sharon Chang, owner of Jab Coffee at One Raffles Place, which partners both Deliveroo and foodpanda, said she has not had any complaints from customers about spills during delivery.

“After hearing about this, I’ll remind our baristas to make sure the lids are secured,” she said.

Ms Puri said she was offered $30 off her next order by Deliveroo, but does not plan to use them again.

She is seeking monetary compensation for trauma suffered and scarring, and is considering all her options if an agreeable settlement cannot be reached.

“I think they are both accountable, but Deliveroo should make sure that they take a final check to make sure that food is not spilling out before handing it over,” she said. “I want to stop this from happening to someone else.”

This article was first published on Jun 10, 2016.
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A government plan to set up 60 senior group homes by year’s end is not likely to materialise and experts say the model, while helpful, needs to be reviewed.

The target was set in 2013 by then Acting Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing. But there are just 14 senior group homes to date.

These homes – clusters of flats each shared by a few seniors – can take in up to 250 elderly people. But as of March, only 37 people live in them.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) told The Straits Times: “The initial target… is being reviewed due to new developments in home and community aged care options.”

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has been expanding home-care services by public hospitals and welfare groups, for instance.

The MSF said it is working with the MOH and partners to improve the coordination of services and will monitor the take-up rates and developments in the aged care sector.

Voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) which run the senior group homes said the model is good, but needs to be tweaked to attract more seniors.

The homes were piloted in 2012 to let elderly people with little or no family support age in place, in an environment they are familiar with, instead of in nursing homes.

Each senior group home is made up of five to eight rental flats, each shared by two or three seniors.

Admission to the homes is via referrals from the Agency for Integrated Care.

Occupants are free to pursue their own interests; VWOs coordinate and monitor services such as social activities for the seniors.

Mr Chan had said in 2013 that the two homes piloted had worked well.

“Many of the elderly have shared that, when they help to take care of (one another), they feel a sense of purpose, a sense of mission.”

But frail seniors are sometimes unable or unwilling to live with and look after other elderly people, said VWOs.

“It is not easy to live with a complete stranger, especially when one or both residents are wheelchair users and require special assistance,” said a spokesman for NTUC Health, which runs a senior group home of four flats in Bukit Merah View.

A spokesman for Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities said the low take- up rate could be due to it being hard to find seniors who are both eligible and willing to live in such homes.

The charity runs three homes – in Ang Mo Kio, Indus Road and Pipit Road. It said residents face space constraints when three seniors live in a one-room flat; this could contribute to conflicts among flatmates.

Having just one toilet for three seniors is also not a good idea, said Ms Lucy Tan, cluster director of Peace- Connect Cluster Operator (Pecco), which runs a home of eight flats in North Bridge Road.

“Seniors spend more time in the toilet because they want to be careful to not fall,” she said, explaining that they would prefer to share toilets with fewer people.

While elderly people can be good befrienders of their peers and residents can feel confident they will not die alone without anyone knowing, seniors may not be adequate caregivers, she added.

She cited one instance in which a resident fell, but his flatmate did not alert VWO staff.

“We asked the flatmate why he didn’t pull the cord to activate the alert alarm system. He forgot about the cord. He also did not see blood, so he thought the fall was nothing dangerous.”

VWOs and residents said some aspects of the senior group home model need to be reviewed, but noted that it still serves as a good option for seniors to age in place.

Retired odd-job labourer Kang Siew Keng, 71, moved to the Pecco home about a year ago, after living in two dormitory-style homes for the elderly for about 10 years.

He said: “There is more privacy and I wanted the freedom. There were a lot of limitations in the aged homes – what time to sleep, what food we eat, and you share the TV with others. Here, I can watch whatever I want.”

VWOs suggested reviewing the eligibility criteria to improve the take-up rate of senior group homes – including accepting seniors who are not eligible for rental flats.

They also said not more than two seniors should be allowed to live in a single one-room flat, so seniors would worry less about space constraints or conflicts with flatmates.

Mr Kang also thinks having three residents in a flat is too crowded.

He lives with a flatmate in his one- room flat and even then they try not to cross paths. “He goes out in the morning. When he comes back, I go out. I have no quarrel with him. We come here to relax, not to quarrel.”

goyshiyi@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 10, 2016.
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A maid’s “foolhardy effort” to re-enter a locked room via the balcony of a 15th floor condominium ended in tragedy when she fell to her death, a coroner’s court heard.

Ruling out foul play, State Coroner Marvin Bay found that Indonesian Sriyati had either slipped or missed a step.

He found that the 29-year-old had succeeded in opening the window of the room, but fell before she could get through it to enter the room – which was 1.16m away.

“This case exemplifies the need for employers to keep their helper apprised of where keys are kept for use, in the case of an emergency,” he said on Wednesday.

“Helpers should also be counselled never to attempt to re-enter a locked room by climbing through the room’s window via a balcony or ledge.”

Madam Sriyati died at the Ris Grandeur condominium in Elias Road on Dec 17 last year.

The court heard that before her female employer’s husband left for work that morning, he gave her $10 to buy food for his two sons, aged 13 and 11, at a nearby food court.

The employer was in Kuala Lumpur on a business trip.

The boys were in the master bedroom when Madam Sriyati told them she was going to buy food for them.

About 20 minutes later, they heard a door slam, but did not think it unusual as it was normal for the doors to slam shut due to strong winds.

After that, the younger boy heard Madam Sriyati cry out, but the older boy had headphones on and heard nothing.

It was some time later that they realised she was missing. The house keys were still on the table.

Madam Sriyati’s body was found on a grass patch near some bushes about 2m from the block.

After the boys’ father had rushed home, he used a key in a display cabinet to unlock the room door.

The coroner said Madam Sriyati’s employer conceded that she might not have known that the key to unlock the door was in the cabinet.

Investigations found that the window of the room was open, and there were some black prints on the window and window panel.

A plastic chair had been placed at the corner of the balcony and a flower pot had been moved.

The court heard that Madam Sriyati had never complained of any problems nor expressed any intention to end her life during her nine-month employment with the household.

The coroner added: “The investigation showed that upon the room door being locked shut from wind pressure, Madam Sriyati had apparently made a foolhardy effort to try to reach the room from the balcony, presumably to unlock the door.”

He said Madam Sriyati’s accidental fall was a tragic misadventure.

This article was first published on Jun 10, 2016.
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A Government notice advising Singaporean tourists to exercise vigilance when visiting Thailand has not deterred them from taking holidays there, travel agents say.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) issued the notice on Tuesday, advising caution in the wake of five incidents in the country last year – most noticeably the bomb blast at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok on Aug 17 last year which killed 20 people, including one Singaporean, and injured 125.

However, tour companies say they have not had any cancellations since it was issued.

Dynasty Travel and Chan Brothers Travel have not received inquiries on the safety of travel in Thailand. They added that they have established safety precautions for customers travelling to Thailand, including a 24-hour emergency hotline. They also advise customers to purchase travel insurance and register with the MFA when travelling overseas.

Chan Brothers spokesman Yeo Mui Ling said: “We closely monitor the local situation and assess its continual development through our overseas counterparts or local guides and tour leaders on the road.”

Ms Alicia Seah, director of public relations and communications at Dynasty Travel, said that although last August’s bombing caused an immediate slump in tour bookings, demand picked up after two months.

Thailand is a perennial favourite of Singaporeans due to its proximity and affordability. The country is especially popular during the June school holidays among families.

Ms Prabhmeet Kaur Hundal, 23, who is currently on her second trip to Chiang Mai, said the bomb incidents had discouraged her from visiting Bangkok and Phuket but did not stop her from travelling to Thailand completely.

“It makes me cautious and I would be more mindful, but I don’t feel less safe,” said Ms Hundal, who recently completed her studies at NUS. “I have stayed in Chiang Mai before and I feel safer here than in Bangkok.”

The MFA advised Singaporeans to keep themselves updated about latest developments through Thai news outlets and heed the instructions of local authorities.

The notice added: “Singaporeans are also advised to take all necessary precautions to ensure their personal safety, including purchasing comprehensive travel insurance and be familiar with the terms and coverage of the insurance policies.”

feliciac@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 10, 2016.
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