SINGAPORE: CNA Digital reporter Matthew Mohan’s tale of a footballer pursuing his dream won Story of the Year at the Football Association of Singapore’s (FAS) annual awards night on Thursday (Oct 31).

Held at Orchard Hotel, FAS Nite 2019 showcased the best performers of the year from Singapore’s footballing fraternity.

Mr Mohan took top prize in the Story of the Year category for his captivating account of footballer Lionel Tan’s decision to interrupt his National Service stint to fight for a spot on the Under-22 national side going to the 2019 SEA Games.

In the story, Mr Mohan wrote of how Mr Tan juggled his National Service demands as he passionately pursued his dream of winning a place in the Under-22 squad going to the Philippines, after missing out on playing action at the 2017 Sea Games in Malaysia.

“I felt that Lionel’s story was one worth telling. Representing the nation clearly mattered to him – whether it be donning NS green or Singapore red,” said Mr Mohan. 

“His display of remarkable discipline and character really struck me and was one which I hoped to highlight through my feature.”

He added: “Sports stories often run the risk of being too results-orientated. I wanted this piece to underscore that beyond the glitz and the glamour of winning, sportsmen put in an incredible amount of effort and that deserves attention.”

Mr Tan, 22, was last month named in coach Fandi Ahmad’s 23-man squad for a training camp in Japan, ahead of the SEA Games in the Philippines.

OTHER RECIPIENTS

Other winners at FAS Nite 2019 from the Singapore Premier League were Hougang United’s Faris Ramli, who won player of the year; Hami Syahin of Home United, who won young player of the year; and DPMM’s Adrian Pennock, who won coach of the year.

Lions forward Khairul Amri, who recently announced his retirement from international football, was also lauded for his achievements in the sport.

In the Women’s Premier League, Nur Emilia Natasha of Police won player of the year; Tampines Changkat FC’s Nur Umairah Hamdan took home the young player of the year award; and Home United FC’s Azrulnizam won coach of the year.

SINGAPORE: Electric vehicles (EVs) are transport’s next frontier.

As cities mature, they are beginning to recognise the need for greener transportation.

Oslo, the EV capital of the world, has seen EVs account for more than half of all new cars sold in 2018, and is planning to encourage further growth through incentives and restrictions on diesel and gasoline vehicles.

In 2018, EVs saw a 63 per cent year-on-year increase in sales, with more than 2 million units sold globally. Drivers are also spoiled for choice, with 66 new models in total to be launched by the end of 2019, and 101 in 2020, according to a 2018 McKinsey study.

The same can be said of EVs in Singapore, which are gaining some traction. There were 1,036 fully electric cars on the road as of September this year, up from just 12 three years ago, according to the Land Transport Authority.

READ: What is keeping electric cars from gaining greater acceptance in Singapore? 

However, there are concerns in Singapore that the price of an EV is still too high.

The reality is that dealers themselves price EVs within the price range of combustion-engine cars in the Singapore market. While EVs could cost upwards of S$400,000, this price range tends to apply to high-end models.

A mid-range model, such as the BMW 225xe, which I drive, was priced around S$174,000 two years ago, while Hyundai and Nissan models could range from S$120,000 to S$140,000.

Hence, EVs can be affordable by local standards.

Consumer education around total cost of ownership over the lifespan of the car versus initial cost of ownership, as well as other purchasing models like leasing must be part of the value proposition to potential EV owners.

EV CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE IS BECOMING LESS OF AN ISSUE

Singapore transport is ripe for an EV disruption.

Infrastructure development in Singapore is already racing ahead of EV sales, with both normal and fast-charging options in place.

READ: Commentary: Where are all the electric vehicle charging points?

Shell, which recently acquired EV infrastructure company Greenlots, plans to install 10 EV chargers in selected stations across Singapore. These chargers leverage the strategic locations of Shell’s fueling stations, catering to traffic flow across the island.

This is over and above infrastructure already in place by Greenlots, SP Group, Red Dot Power and Blue SG among others.

INFORMATION ON CHARGING POINTS IS NEEDED

However, an overarching enterprise system is needed to manage all charging infrastructure. We should be able to find information on the charging points’ location and availability on Google Maps or a consolidated platform.

Charging Infrastructure companies should collaborate and have a common payment platform compatible with their different business models to make it easy for EV users.  

Singapore’s average daily driving distance is 55km, which makes us the perfect city for EVs. A full charge on most battery electric vehicles today, even with the air-conditioner running, should give you at least 120km – if not more.

Easy, predictable daily access to a charging station will reduce the vehicle’s charging time of the vehicle as batteries would not be fully discharged and cars can still run on partial charge.

READ: Commentary: New electric vehicle highway in Australia warmly welcomed

Opportunistic charging coupled with well-distributed and accessible charging infrastructure, especially with direct-connection fast-charging, will further allay EV owners concerns about range.

DISTANCE ONLY AN ISSUE WHEN TRAVELLING TO MALAYSIA

For those who plan to cross the border, options for charging are increasing in Malaysia.

For example, Petronas had planned to install 100 green charging stations at their petrol stations by 2018.

Malaysia also has many EV rental companies like COMOS.

POWER IS NOT AN ISSUE

The Singapore power grid is the most reliable grid in the world, In fact, we are blessed with lots of power – with a power generation sector at almost 75 per cent overcapacity. Distribution grid management will ease concerns around grid constraints.

We have the power grid to supply energy, we have the charging infrastructure to electrify the cars and we have the cars, almost 400 new models by the end of 2023.

Can our electrons get greener? Of course, it can. Singapore’s electricity grid emission factor, which measures the average carbon dioxide emission per MWh of electricity, has improved by more than 20 per cent over the last 12 years and will continue to do so.

We took the first steps a decade ago by changing our power generation fuel to natural gas with improved turbine technology. Then we started solarisation and will hit the 350 megawatt peak (MWp) installed capacity target by 2020.

Furthermore, the Singapore Government recently announced a commitment to make national energy supply more affordable, reliable, and sustainable at the Singapore International Energy Week 2019.

The Government also set a solar target of at least 2,000 MWp by 2030, demonstrating that the decarbonisation of Singapore’s energy system remains a top priority.

READ: Commentary: Here’s how to accelerate and fund the climate action revolution the world wants

The Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore also launched a white paper on accelerating our decarbonisation efforts in Singapore this week at the Asia Clean Energy Summit 2019.  So, electrons will become greener and less carbon-intense.

SUBSIDISE MORE TO ACCELERATE EV ADOPTION

The EV narrative is not only centered on reducing carbon emissions; EVs have zero tailpipe emissions.

This means that unlike combustion energy vehicles, EVs emit zero pollutants, promising better air quality for us and our children. 

While this concern over the pollutive poison combustion-engine vehicles emit has been addressed to some extent through a new Vehicle Emission Scheme encouraging drivers to switch to cleaner vehicles launched a few years ago, the subsidy quantum given is not sufficient to shift people away from regular cars in significant droves. This should be reviewed further.

EVs need a level playing field where the cost of externalities arising from tailpipe emissions, such as healthcare costs, productivity loss, and so on are factored in.

READ: Commentary: Buying a car has lost its lustre in China

READ: Commentary: Vietnam bets big on a homegrown US$17,000 hatchback

Pricing in these costs will mean the rebates provided under the Vehicle Emission Scheme should be as much as twice the car’s Certificate of Entitlement value.

Furthermore, sound pollution from vehicles in our densely populated housing estates will also reduce dramatically when electrified.

RECYCLING OF BATTERIES

There are also concerns around the EV battery as a source of pollution. In 2018, the City of Vancouver analysed a cradle-to-grave life cycle of an electric vehicle and a comparable internal combustion engine.

They concluded that the EV was almost 100 per cent better in terms of carbon emissions and energy consumption over a 150,000km range. Furthermore, there is now opportunity to use the spent EV battery in the renewables sector by coupling it to solar energy systems.

Singapore recently announced that it was also looking at deploying 200MW of energy storage coupled to solar installations, enhancing the availability of solar power. The used EV battery, while not good enough for vehicle performance, tends to be good enough for power systems and hence has a viable second life.

Furthermore, Singapore’s electronic waste management initiative and the recycling of batteries will help recover components that can be reused.

So, if we truly believe in our aspirations of being a Smart Nation, then with the right charging infrastructure, information on where the charging points are and policies in place, Singapore will truly become one of the first few beneficiaries of the EV revolution.

Dr Sanjay C Kuttan is Chairman at the Sustainable Infrastructure Committee at Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore.

SINGAPORE: An employee who wanted to quit after less than three months on the job was told to pay the company a month’s worth of salary as compensation. 

While this was a clause found in the employee’s contract, it was an “unreasonable” one.

This was an example given by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday (Oct 30) in a statement addressing the issue of unfair clauses found in employment contracts in Singapore. 

Around 50 of such cases, with some involving a high financial penalty, had been lodged with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) since September 2018.

Employers involved in these cases were “generally … cooperative” after being told to justify the contractual clauses imposed and to remove or not enforce those that were unfair, said MOM. 

The firm involved in the example cited by MOM had heeded TAFEP’s advice to drop the demand for compensation after the latter said the clause was unreasonable. 

It also agreed to review the clause for future employees, said the ministry. 

MOM’s statement was in response to media queries about a blog post by Member of Parliament (MP) Zainal Sapari. 

Writing on the labour movement’s blog on Wednesday, Mr Zainal, who is the assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), cited examples of “one-sided and unethical clauses” that take advantage of the “vulnerable position” of workers, and called for more to be done.

“Due to the challenging business environment, there are employers who may resort to underhand practices or tactics to address the problems they are facing, but to the possible detriment of the workers … (Including) unfair clauses is unethical as they abuse the vulnerable position the workers might be in,” wrote the MP.

READ: TADM recovers S$29m in owed wages; resolves 85% of salary claims within 2 months

MOM said it has been in “active discussion” with tripartite partners on such issues and will ensure that unreasonable contractual clauses do not become the norm in workplaces here.

“While there are legitimate reasons why employers include restraint of trade clauses in employment contracts (such as to protect trade secrets and trade connections) or impose liquidated damages for specific contractual breaches (such as breaking a training bond), excessive or unreasonable use of such practices cannot be justified.”

The ministry added that “clear principles and markers on when such clauses are not enforceable” have also been set by the Civil Courts.

“Other than intervening in such cases to help the employees, MOM will also not hesitate to take other actions, such as suspension of work pass privileges, against recalcitrant employers,” it said. 

WHAT AND WHO IS AFFECTED

Human resource and legal experts said the unfair terms found in some job contracts can range from illegal salary deductions when performance targets are not met and penalties for contract termination to excessive non-compete or restraint of trade clauses.

Some also contain “catch-all phrases” like “all the above terms and conditions are subject to changes”.

“Such catch-all phrases usually allow the companies to easily make changes to pay structure, work location or schedule, and benefits without having to consult all employees,” said Singapore Human Resources Institute’s (SHRI) president Low Peck Kem.

These experts added that unfair employment contracts affect not just vulnerable workers, such as those earning lower wages, but the professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) as well.

READ: Commentary: Tip of the iceberg, when ‘disguised PMEs’ don’t get overtime pay and fair treatment

For the former, these tend to be illegal salary deductions and clauses that exclude them from overtime pay, said Mr Ian Lim, partner and head of employment at TSMP Law.

Construction is one industry that has seen more low-wage workers, usually foreigners, falling victim to such unfair clauses, added Mr Lim.

Another is the outsourced services industry, where job contracts are found with clauses that require workers to pay liquidated damages incurred by the company, according to Mr Zainal.

“In the outsourced service industry, such as cleaning and security, it is quite a standard practice for service buyers to reflect the liquidated damages payable for non-performance issues in the contract.

“Given the narrow profit margins they are getting, these service providers may then resort to passing the cost of liquidated damages to the workers,” the MP wrote in his blog post.

The MOM website states that salary deductions for such liquidated damages should not be made, even if employees have given their consent. 

However, some low-wage workers may not be aware of their rights or are afraid to report their bosses for fear of losing their jobs, thus allowing errant firms to get away with these unreasonable practices, said Mr Zainal. 

READ: NTUC eyes new taskforce to protect workers at ‘pre-retrenchment’ phase, sets 1.5 million membership goal

For the PMETs, contractual disputes tend to involve excessive “non-compete” or restraint of trade clauses.

These typically involve non-solicitation clauses that seek to stop a worker from soliciting clients or staff away from a former employer. Non-compete clauses prevent people from working in the same industry for a certain period of time.

One excessive example, according to Mr Lim, is a contract that had a non-solicitation and non-poaching clause lasting five years, as well as a two-year non-compete clause.

There is currently “no bright-line test to determine reasonableness” of these clauses, he added, given the current lack of specific guidelines in this area.

Ms Amarjit Kaur, partner at Withers KhattarWong, echoed that: “The Employment Act provides basic legislative protection to employees and goes into the details for areas like overtime pay, but not everything is prescribed.”

Referring to the restraint of trade clauses as “some of the most onerous clauses” that can be found in job contracts here, she added: “A lot of it is left to the freedom of contract between the employer and employee.”

“When there is an imbalance of power, the employer will be able to dictate the terms and very often, employees will just sign the contract because they don’t feel they have the opportunity to negotiate it,” said Ms Kaur.

Rank-and-file workers have not been spared, according to Mr Zainal, who raised the example of how one security agency used the restraint of trade clause on its security officers.

These contractual terms are typically aimed at preventing employees in senior management positions from competing with the firm after they leave, but this security agency stated in its contracts that it would take legal action against officers who join another agency within four months of resigning.

“The law is on the workers’ side in this aspect but the only thing is that workers must take it to the courts if challenged by their employer which, unfortunately, many low-wage or vulnerable workers are not prone to doing,” added the MP.

WHAT MORE CAN BE DONE?

Mr Zainal said there is an “urgent need” for tripartite partners to provide greater clarity and guidance on fair and proper contracting practices, given how workers who are not properly advised of their legal rights are more likely to succumb to the unreasonable demands of their employers.

There also needs to be greater education efforts to help workers understand employment contracts.

The MP also suggested a “cooling off period”, up to five working days for example, to allow workers to rescind an employment contract they have signed without penalty.

The MOM, or the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM), could also consider starting a watch-list of companies found to have unfair clauses in their employment contracts.

Administrative penalties should be imposed on them, added Mr Zainal.

READ: Enhancements made to Employment Act will see more workers protected

Mr David Leong, managing director of PeopleWorldwide Consulting, said authorities and unions can also draw up templates of employment contracts that are in accordance with the Employment Act for companies to refer to. 

More can also be done to protect migrant workers whose main recourse is to seek pro-bono help through charity help groups that have limited resources, suggested Mr Lim.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

To be sure, experts said that the Singapore authorities have made strides in beefing up protection for workers with changes to the Employment Act, as well as the set-up of dispute management office TADM.

“The most effective way of resolving such disputes is usually amicable settlements, without going to the civil courts. With a mechanism like TADM that offers mediation services, it means that workers won’t be disadvantaged just because they don’t have lawyers to represent them,” said Mr Leong.

But experts also urged workers to be up-to-date with local employment laws and not rush into signing a job contract.

“Sign the contract with your eyes open,” said SHRI’s Ms Low.

“Seek clarification and discuss with the HR staff or recruiter on the clause you are not comfortable with. If you think it is blatantly unfair, then one can always go to TAFEP and TAFEP will take up the case with the employer.”

In its statement, MOM said that any employee who feels that he or she has been the subject of an unreasonable employment clause in his or her contract should approach the union, TAFEP or MOM for assistance as early as possible.