“Mr Lee Kuan Yew was about that: Always looking for things that were wrong, never being satisfied and always wanting to improve,” says Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
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'Never be satisfied, always try to improve': DPM Tharman on continuing Lee Kuan Yew's legacy
SIAS moves to educate investors from falling prey to scams
SINGAPORE – After losing some S$450,000 of his life savings on scam investments, 69-year-old retiree Nishan Singh was caught up with so much worries, he started suffering multiple health problems such as glaucoma, prostate and knee problems.
Recalling the…
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Singaporeans gather to commemorate Mr Lee Kuan Yew on his death anniversary
March 23 marks the first-year death anniversary of former prime minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew where Singaporeans gathered for multiple events that happened today.
AsiaOne went for two significant events in the evening as they were held at Mr Lee’s former constituency, Tanjong Pagar GRC, and where residents paid their respects last year, at the Padang.
Tanjong Pagar residents and grassroot volunteers gathered at Tanjong Pagar Community Centre (CC) to pay tribute to Mr Lee. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) at Tanjong Pagar for more than six decades.
The remembrance showcased six speakers, including two young children who shared their thoughts on Mr Lee as well as their aspirations for Singapore.
Vera Ang Jer Jan, 11, delivered her speech in both Mandarin and English, credited Mr Lee for her ability to converse in both languages due to his bilingual policy. She shared that even though she is part of Generation Z, she has in some way been inspired by Mr Lee.
“He showed me that nothing is impossible on earth because he made Singapore a third world country to a first world country,” she beamed.
Significant commemoration of Mr Lee Kuan Yew
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AsiaOne, The Straits Times
A Primary Five student at Nan Hua Primary School, Vera had the pleasure of meeting Mr Lee when he was still alive.
She said, “I did see Mr Lee once, in 2014, during a Tanjong Pagar National Day dinner. He had been on a wheelchair,” she recalled.
Vera has been a resident of Pinnacle@Duxton since she was five years old and calls the condominium’s roof “her happy place”.
Tanjong Pagar’s grassroot advisors’ Ms Indranee Rajah and Mr Chan Chun Sing were also in attendance at the Remembrance.
In her speech, Ms Indranee shared memories of Mr Lee and told Vera that she will install a telescope on top of the Pinnacle sometime later this year since she loves star-gazing on the roof so much.
“This way, while you have your feet planted firmly on the ground, you can still reach for the stars. I am sure this is something Mr Lee would want all of us to do,” she said.
Over at the Padang, Singaporeans gathered to write their well-wishes on electric candles to commemorate the first-year death anniversary of Mr Lee.
However, due to limited resources, the two-hour event happened on the front steps of the National Gallery.
It was organised by Facebook group Silent No More three weeks prior to the event, and self-funded by its members which provided manpower, printing, and refreshments for the event.
Jaromel Gee, 26, founder of the Facebook group said, “we wanted to organise an event that was for the people, by the people”.
Watch our Facebook Live broadcast here:
Lighting our way forward Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Posted by AsiaOne on Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Kelvin Lam, 40, co-organiser to the event said, “People associated Mr Lee with a man who had strong values such as incorruptablity as well as someone with a strong distinction of right and wrong”.
He also said that there are challenging times ahead for Singapore and we should learn from the values of Lee Kuan Yew to push us to success.
“If no one similar to Mr Lee steps up, we won’t make it to SG100”, added Mr Lam.
mldas@sph.com.sg
ryanho@sph.com.sg
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Missed our live broadcast? Here's what happened at Lee Kuan Yew's memorial at Padang
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Crucial step to stop trains from entering area not carried out
Maintenance workers are authorised to get onto train tracks to investigate incidents even when trains are running as per normal.
Such deployment of personnel onto tracks happens two to three times a day on average, SMRT said…
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Mr Lee Kuan Yew a ‘geopolitical guru’ who had the world listening: Indian diplomat
SINGAPORE – Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew not only built “Brand Singapore”, but was the brand-builder for Asia’s modern leadership in many ways, a senior Indian official said on Wednesday (March 23).
And after being “a driver of…
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Singaporean couple convicted of starving maid whose weight dropped from 49kg to 29kg
SINGAPORE – After three days of hearing, a Singaporean couple who claimed trial to charges of failing to provide their former Filipino domestic worker with adequate food, causing her weight to drop by 20kg over a 15-month period, threw in the towel on Wednesday (March 23).
Madam Thelma Oyasan Gawidan, 40, weighed just 29kg when she was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital in April 2014, compared with 49kg in January 2013.
Her former employer, freelance trader Lim Choon Hong, 47, pleaded guilty to a charge of contravening the Employment of Foreign Manpower (Work Passes) Regulations 2012 which requires employers to pay and provide adequate food and medical treatment for their domestic helpers.
Lim’s spouse, Chong Sui Foon, also 47, admitted to a count of abetting Lim in committing the offence, which carries a maximum punishment of 12 months’ jail and a $10,000 fine.
The couple’s newly appointed lawyer, Mr Raymond Lye, told the court that his clients are undergoing assessment by a psychiatrist. He requested for more time to prepare the psychiatric reports.
District Judge Low Wee Ping adjourned the case to April 20. The couple are out on bail of $3,000 each.
Their trial, which started in December last year, had been scheduled to resume with Lim’s cross-examination on Tuesday. Four more days of hearing had been set aside for the trial.
But Mr Lye, who was appointed after the couple discharged their first lawyer, Mr Tan Hee Liang, told the judge on Tuesday that his clients would be pleading guilty instead.
While on the witness stand last year, Lim said his wife had previously suffered from anorexia nervosa – an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat – and from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Due to her preferences, he said their lifestyle “revolved around food and cleanliness”.
Lim and Chong provided Madam Gawidan with only two meals a day at their previous condominium home at Boulevard Residence in Cuscaden Walk.
Employers accused of starving maid, not allowing her to shower
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The Straits Times
The first meal, which was usually provided at around 1am to 2am, comprised two to three slices of plain white bread and one to two packets of instant noodles. Occasionally, Chong would mix small portions of vegetables and meat with the instant noodles.
The second meal, which was provided in the late morning or early afternoon, would consist of five to six slices of plain white bread.
Lim bought Madam Gawidan’s food. Lim, Chong and their children ate different food, which was greater in quantity and higher in nutritional value than what their helper was rationed with.
Madam Gawidan also had to ask for permission before drinking water, and Chong would give her water from the tap. She stopped menstruating after February 2013 and her hair started falling out a few months later.
Chong also forbade the helper from using the toilets in their home. The domestic worker had to use the common toilet in the condominium. Madam Gawidan was also allowed to shower once or twice a week and Chong would stand inside the toilet while she showered.
Madam Gawidan also testified that her salary and mobile phone were kept from her and she was not allowed out of the home.
On the morning of April 19, 2014, she fled from her employers after she was left alone near the condominium’s lift area.
She made her way to Far East Shopping Centre nearby, where she borrowed a phone and called a friend who then took her to a shelter run by the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home). Home reported her complaints to the Ministry of Manpower.
Madam Gawidan, who has three children, now works for another employer.
This article was first published on March 23, 2016.
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Thursday, March 24, 2016 – 09:00
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Candles and flowers light up remembrance ceremonies for Lee Kuan Yew
March 23, 2016 10:19 PM
SINGAPORE – Candlelight tributes lit up the Singapore sky on Wednesday (March 23) evening as Singaporeans paid tribute to founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on his first death anniversary.
Fine balance between growth and restructuring for Budget 2016: Analysts
This year’s Budget comes on the back of the slowest GDP growth in six years for Singapore and the flattest employment growth in more than a decade.
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SMRT acknowledges lapse in procedure before train hit 2 employees
SINGAPORE – There was a lapse in procedure before an MRT train hit and killed two trainee employees yesterday (March 22), according to a timeline of events provided by operator SMRT today (March 23).
Mr Nasrulhudin Najumudin, 26, and Mr Muhammad Asyraf Ahmad Buhari, 24, were part of a 15-member maintenance crew sent to investigate an alarm that had gone off at a servicing point on the tracks near Pasir Ris MRT station at around 11.10am.
They were authorised to do so, in a practice – of sending a team to the tracks to investigate faults when trains services are running – that SMRT said yesterday was normal.
SMRT said in a statement today that an average of two to three such authorisations are given each day.
Before they are allowed to step back onto the tracks, the team is supposed to coordinate with the signal unit to ensure that oncoming trains stop and do not enter the affected sector.
“Our records do not show that this procedure took place,” SMRT said.
SMRT’S timeline of events
a) At 8.08am yesterday, a signalling condition monitoring device installed along the tracks near Pasir Ris MRT station registered a warning.
b) At 10.54am, authorisation was granted for the Permanent Way team and the Signal team to move down from the station platform, cross the track, and access the maintenance walkway in order to proceed to the location of the device.
c) The 15 members comprised one engineer, five assistant engineers, five technical officers and four trainees. Led by an experienced assistant engineer, they moved in a single file along the maintenance walkway (of approximately 0.5m width) beside the track toward the device location. They followed the safety procedure of walking in the direction facing oncoming train traffic.
d) Nasrulhudin and Muhammad Asyraf were following immediately behind the lead assistant engineer.
e) Before the team is allowed to step back on to the trackway, the following procedure must be carried out: The team must coordinate with the Signal unit at the station for oncoming trains to be brought to a stop and to ensure that no trains enter the affected sector. Our records do not show that this procedure took place.
f) Pasir Ris MRT station is a terminal station with two platforms. Trains arriving at Pasir Ris can berth at either platform. Trains can cross from one track to the other as they approach the station. In this accident, the train moving in automatic mode was routed to Platform 2. When the train captain saw staff on the track, he immediately applied emergency brakes but was unable to prevent the accident.
g) The accident took place at 11.08am and was immediately reported to the Operations Control Centre.
2 SMRT staff die in incident on MRT tracks
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Stomp, The Straits Times, Berita Harian
huizhen@sph.com.sg
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Wednesday, March 23, 2016 – 21:36
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Workers’ Party renews calls for Elected Presidency to be abolished
SINGAPORE – The Workers’ Party (WP) has reiterated its call to abolish the Elected Presidency (EP), adding that current concerns about the office, such as the potential for a political gridlock due to an uncooperative president, are largely of the…
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