In a move aimed at raising their service standards, maid agencies will be graded before they are allowed to renew their licences.

A scheme called Trustmark will be rolled out by December next year under which the agencies will be graded by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

All agencies will need to be graded before they are allowed to renew their licences, said Minister of State for Manpower Sam Tan at an industry seminar yesterday.

They will also have to display their grading certificates prominently on their premises.

Mr Tan said the ministry often receives complaints about how distressing it is for employers and maids when their expectations are not well matched.

He said: “When this happens, both the foreign domestic worker and the family feel highly stressed.”

Mr Tan stressed that maid agencies have a vital role to play as an intermediary as they have to understand employers’ household needs before matching them with a maid.

For example, a maid who does not want to work on Sundays will not be a good fit for a family with someone who needs constant attention.

Agencies should also help both employers and maids “set clear expectations upfront”, he added.

Even before Trustmark is rolled out, agencies will already be under the spotlight. In a scheme to be implemented by June, employers will be invited by SMS to rate an agency whose services they have used through an online survey that should take less than a minute to complete.

The system is developed by MOM, and employer feedback for each agency will be made public on the ministry’s website after at least three ratings have been consolidated for that agency.

Maid agencies are now listed on the MOM’s website with their number of years of experience, number of maids they placed, and the retention and transfer rate. The website also lists industry averages.

When the new initiatives are rolled out, employers will be able to see on MOM’s website the grade and rating each agency receives.

Ms Carene Chin, who runs maid agency Homekeeper, said that with the new initiatives, she will focus not just on matching maids to employers but also services before and after the pairing.

These include providing correct biodata, ensuring there are no teething problems after the maid moves in, and that she is paid on time.

“Employers are not our only customers, maids are too,” Ms Chin said, noting that happy maids can also mean better business for her firm as “word-of-mouth advertising is very strong” and maids tell each other about the good agencies and employers.

The Centre for Domestic Employees, an arm of the labour movement, welcomed the Trustmark scheme. Its executive director for operations, Ms Phyllis Lim, said it will foster more transparent and fair employment and recruitment practices.

It is also recommending that agencies adopt a model service contract between them and the employer. Terms to spell out include a detailed computation of placement cost, pay dates and bonus for contract renewal. Ms Lim said this will reduce misunderstanding.

Mr Jolovan Wham, executive director of Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, urged MOM to include maids’ feedback on agencies and “let them have equal participation” when grading them as they, too, are paying customers.

The Straits Times understands that the Government is looking at including maids’ feedback in the assessment criteria.

Employers are cheered by the schemes.

Operations executive Benson Wong, 32, who employed a maid last month to take care of his two- year-old son, said: “If I am not happy with the agency’s service, I know how to make my concerns heard.”

awcw@sph.com.sg

joseow@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 10, 2016.
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English has become the language spoken most often at home in Singapore. But at the same time, more people are reading and writing in at least two languages, according to a survey of households done every five years.

It shows 36.9 per cent of residents aged five and older use English most often at home against 34.9 per cent for Mandarin.

Five years ago, it was the reverse: 35.6 per cent said Mandarin was their most-used language at home while 32.3 per cent used English most frequently.

However, 73.2 per cent of people were literate in at least two languages, up from 70.5 per cent in 2010 and 56 per cent in 2000. No figures were available for this group for 2005.

These and other changes in the make-up of Singapore’s 1.2 million households were highlighted in the General Household Survey released yesterday by the Department of Statistics.

It also found that in June last year, Singapore had 3.9 million citizens and permanent residents, a rise from 3.47 million 10 years ago.

Chinese made up 74.3 per cent of the resident population, while the proportion of Malays stood at 13.3 per cent and Indians, 9.1 per cent – about the same as in 2005.

The use of English has been rising steadily: 23 per cent in 2000, 28.1 per cent (2005), 32.3 per cent (2010) and 36.9 per cent (2015).

During this period, the use of Mandarin at home has remained relatively stable, between 35 per cent and 36 per cent. Similarly, Tamil stayed stable, at around 3.3 per cent.

But the use of other Chinese dialects and Malay has fallen steadily.

Last year, 12.2 per cent reported using mainly Chinese dialects at home, down from 14.3 per cent in 2010 and 18.2 per cent in 2005.

For Malay, just 10.7 per cent of residents used it most often at home last year, down from 12.2 per cent in 2010 and 13.2 per cent in 2005.

The findings are in line with demographic trends, said Dr Susan Xu, who heads the translation and interpretation programme in SIM University.

“English is the main language in Singapore. People use it in school and at work. So, it is understandable that they will use English at home when they start a family, even if they did speak their mother tongue with their parents.”

Ms Kate Tan, 27, grew up speaking Mandarin to her parents but now uses English when talking to her two children, aged two and five.

Said the customer service executive: “I speak English with my husband, so I use it with my children too. Also, there are many words I don’t know in Mandarin. It’s better to just use English instead of broken Mandarin.”

In other findings, the survey shows that ever-married women in the 40-49 age group are now having fewer children.

In proportional terms, more of these women would have at least three children in the past.

Now, more are having, at most, two children.

As for families living in condominiums, the proportion has risen to 13.9 per cent, up from 11.5 per cent in 2010.

On the other hand, those in Housing Board homes have dipped from 82.4 per cent in 2010 to 80.1 per cent last year.

Four-room flats remain the most common category, with 32 per cent of HDB residents living in them last year.

Interestingly, as Singapore becomes more affluent, more say they do not have a religion: 18.5 per cent versus 17 per cent five years ago. It was even lower in 2000: 14.8 per cent.

However, the proportion of people of different faiths, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, remained stable over the last five years.

leepearl@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 10, 2016.
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Bus and rail ridership rose by 4.1 per cent last year to hit a daily average of 6.9 million, a new record and the 11th consecutive annual rise since 2005.

According to statistics from the Land Transport Authority (LTA), LRT patronage led the growth, increasing by 10.9 per cent to 152,000 passenger trips per day. This was followed by MRT trips, which climbed 4.2 per cent to 2.9 million.

Together, rail ridership grew 4.6 per cent to cross the three million mark for the first time – more than double the ridership a decade ago.

Bus passenger trips grew by 3.7 per cent to 3.9 million.

The public transport ridership growth has come on the back of a growing population and more prohibitive car prices.

It has also been driven by more buses, trains and to a smaller extent, the opening of Downtown Line 2 in late December.

The chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, said: “I’m not surprised by the increase. I think it’s quite apparent that there’s been an increase in supply of buses and trains.”

As at the end of last year, more than three quarters of a planned tax-funded fleet of 1,000 public buses have been put on the road.

Rolled out in 2012, the Bus Service Enhancement Programme was a response to burgeoning demand from a population spike that the two publicly listed transport companies, SBS Transit and SMRT, were not able to cope with on their own.

On the rail side, 12 new trains were injected into the Circle Line to grow the fleet to 52. Four were added to the North East Line’s fleet of 25. More new trains are on the way for the various MRT lines.

Meanwhile, taxis, which are sometimes viewed as a cross between private and public transport, suffered a dip in ridership last year. According to the LTA, average daily cab trips fell by 1 per cent to 1.01 million.

ComfortDelGro spokesman Tammy Tan said: “As the rail network expands, it is not surprising that overall taxi ridership will dip.”

But veteran cabby Tony Pang, 66, said: “It’s more like a 30 per cent drop if you look at the period from last September till now.”

Mr Pang blamed the situation on “third party apps” such as Uber and Grab. These companies have been tying up with rental car operators and suppliers to put out thousands of private cars catering to on-call taxi services.

According to LTA statistics, the rental car population grew by more than 50 per cent to 29,369 last year, which industry watchers attribute largely to the growing popularity of such services.

On that score, people are hailing more cabs – just not necessarily from the traditional operators, nor on the street.

christan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 10, 2016.
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LEBIH ramai rakyat Singapura, termasuk golongan muda Melayu/Islam, diperlukan untuk tampil merebut peluang tersedia dalam bidang Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi (ICT).

Ini sekali gus diharap dapat membantu dalam membawa kemajuan sehaluan dengan perkembangan negara, menurut Menteri Perhubungan dan Penerangan, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.

Namun, walaupun sektor ICT kini sedang berkembang pesat dan dengan adanya inisiatif Negara Bijak, Dr Yaacob menegaskan bahawa masih terdapat kekurangan tenaga kerja dalam bidang itu.

“Jelas lebih banyak peluang pekerjaan akan muncul dalam bidang ini, dan kita juga mempunyai inisiatif Negara Bijak yang memerlukan bakat untuk membantu membawa negara ini terus maju.

“Ini merupakan salah satu masalah yang sedang kita lalui kerana menjelang 2020, kita menganggarkan terdapat sebanyak 30,000 pekerjaan yang akan disediakan, tetapi kita hanya mampu menghasilkan seramai 6,000 siswazah dan pakar dalam masa setahun.

“Oleh itu, kita perlu sedar dan merebut peluang yang tersedia dalam bidang yang sedang berkembang ini,” kata Dr Yaacob, yang juga Menteri Bertanggungjawab Bagi Ehwal Masyarakat Islam, ketika berucap dalam sesi perbincangan SGFuture di perpustakaan library@Orchard kelmarin.

Seramai 40 peserta merangkumi anggota masyarakat Melayu/Islam Singapura mengambil bahagian dalam sesi yang diberi tajuk ‘Mendakapi Teknologi bagi Pembelajaran Sepanjang Hayat’.

Ia anjuran bersama Kementerian Perhubungan dan Penerangan (MCI) dan Penguasa Pembangunan Infokom (IDA) untuk mendapatkan idea dan pandangan selain mengetengahkan kepentingan ICT dalam kehidupan masa depan kepada masyarakat.

Melalui sesi itu, pihak penganjur juga berharap dapat menggalak masyarakat Melayu/Islam agar meraih manfaat daripada trend itu dan menyumbang kepada pembangunan negara serta bekerjasama mewujudkan masa depan lebih cerah bagi seluruh rakyat.

Sesi itu dihadiri peserta yang berusia antara 14 tahun dengan 50 tahun merangkumi pelajar, ibu bapa, guru sekolah tadika dan juga pekerja swasta.

Encik Mohd Shariff Abdullah, atau lebih dikenali dengan gelaran Singapore Blade Runner, melahirkan rasa teruja dan gembira kerana diundang mengambil bahagian dalam sesi itu.

“Saya memang rasa gembira apabila diundang menghadiri dan menyumbang pandangan dan idea saya dalam sesi ini.

“Ia adalah sesuatu yang sering saya nantikan dan saya rasa ini adalah peluang baik buat kita sebagai masyarakat Melayu dan juga rakyat Singapura untuk bersama dalam membantu usaha membina sebuah negara bijak bagi masa depan kita,” ujar Encik Mohd Shariff.

This article was first published on March 10, 2016.
Go to beritaharian.sg for more stories.

SINGAPORE – Dr Tan Cheng Bock, who lost the 2011 presidential election, will announce on Friday whether he will make another bid for the presidency.

The former People’s Action Party MP for Ayer Rajah from 1980 to 2006 lost the 2011 election to President Tony Tan Keng Yam by 7,382 votes – or 0.35 percentage points – in a four-way contest.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock, 75, wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday: “At the last Presidential Election in 2011, some 738,000 Singaporeans voted for me. Many of my friends and supporters have asked if l intend to contest in the forthcoming Presidential Election in 2017.

“I owe them an answer. This Friday, I shall let Singaporeans know of my intention,” he added.

Dr Tan plans to hold a press conference at 10.30am at the MHC Asia Healthcare building in Commonwealth. His wife Cecilia is chairman of the healthcare company.

The next presidential election must be held by August next year.

Dr Tan’s post comes amid an ongoing review of the elected presidency by a nine-member Constitutional Commission chaired by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon.

The review will focus on three specific aspects:

One, the criteria for who is eligible to stand for the election, given the President’s custodial role over the reserves and public service.

Two, provisions to ensure people from Singapore’s minority communities have fair and adequate opportunity to be elected President.

Three, refinements to the role and makeup of the Council of Presidential Advisers in governing how the President exercises his powers.

Several of Dr Tan’s supporters, in comments on social media, see the review of the elected presidency as an attempt to disqualify him from running for President.

A look at the presidents of Singapore

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The Straits Times, Zawiyah Salleh, New Nation, Wee Kim Wee, The Business Times, The New Paper, The Ong family, Lianhe Zaobao

The 2011 election was also contested by Mr Tan Jee Say and Tan Kin Lian. Mr Tan Jee Say said on Saturday that he did not rule out standing in the next presidential election if he qualifies.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock has remained in the public eye since 2011 and attended rallies from the PAP as well as several opposition parties during last year’s general election.

Some opposition politicians as well as grassroots leaders from his old ward also attended a gathering at his house during Chinese New Year last month.

Political observer Derek da Cunha said on Facebook the timing of Dr Tan’s announcement is probably of significance, taking place amid the review of the presidency.

Dr da Cunha wrote: “Will Dr Tan say that he would like to contest the next election as long as he meets the eligibility criteria, and that as he met the criteria back in 2011, that he should be permitted to re-contest in 2017?”

Opening session of the 13th Parliament

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Ministry of Communications & Information, Berita Harian, The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao

ziliang@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 10, 2016.
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