SINGAPORE: Just when the rules of commercial air travel were laid out in the dawn of the jet age in the 1970s, Singapore Airlines (SIA) barged its way into the international arena in the rudest of ways.
At a time when the bread thickness and the amount of cheese used in inflight sandwiches were dictated, when the reclining angle and legroom for customers were strictly regulated, SIA gave alcohol and headsets free of charge to its economy class passengers.
SIA’s determination to pursue its own rule-breaking path of “innovation” resulted in a temporary falling-out with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which had set these rules.
And in the 1980s, more than a decade after SIA’s split from the Malaysia-Singapore Airlines in 1972, there were also stories of German police raiding SIA’s offices for offering tickets at prices so low they were allegedly illegal. SIA called a press conference to condemn the police actions as too “extreme”, after which the raid stopped.
Elsewhere, Amsterdam airport authorities would question SIA passengers about how much they had paid for their tickets, effectively delaying SIA flights at the boarding gate. SIA went to the Singapore Government to call for something similar to be done to the Dutch flagship carrier KLM here. The harassment of SIA’s passengers ceased after Changi Airport authorities stopped and checked one flight of KLM passengers.
To the global commercial flight industry, SIA was the enfant terrible back then. But to passengers who sensed the truth in its motto “a great way to fly”, Singapore’s flag carrier was a darling that stood out from the pack.
To Singaporeans at large, SIA’s fortunes put the country on the world map, and came in tandem with the rise of Changi Airport as an aviation hub.
“You may have never been to Singapore. But you would have heard of SIA, or flown with them before,” said Mr Priveen Raj Naidu, an independent aviation analyst.
But almost overnight, the good times have become a distant memory as the Singapore icon – which had endured the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001 and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 – faces a storm unlike any other it had encountered before.
COVID-19 had hit SIA like a bolt from the blue, and at a bad time: It was already facing significant challenges to its competitiveness before the virus struck Singapore eight months ago.
The national carrier’s chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong called it “the greatest challenge in the SIA’s Group’s existence” when he wrote to staff in March via an internal memo, announcing a round of cost-cutting measures which have gotten even more drastic in recent months.
As international travel came to a virtual halt due to the pandemic, SIA recorded its first full-year loss of S$212 million for the 12 months ending Mar 31, after staying profitable throughout its 48-year history.
Earlier this month, SIA Group announced it will be cutting around 4,300 positions, affecting around 2,400 staff, including ground staff, pilots and flight crews — on top of other cost-cutting measures.
With COVID-19 now clipping SIA’s wings more severely than its closest rivals and imitators, the airline cannot simply weather the storm by hunkering down, aviation insiders said.
The pandemic has forced all of aviation to change, analysts said. Long-haul wide-body flights had been the first to be cut when borders were closed, business travellers are finding new ways to work cross-border amid national lockdowns, and packed budget flights may not be possible in a coronavirus-fearing world.
These traditional pillars of SIA’s growth, already under strain previously, are now being sorely tested, said analysts. SIA will have to become a game changer like it was before if it is to fly high again after the worst has passed.
Institute of Policy Studies senior research fellow Dr Faizal Yahya said: “The fact is SIA had succeeded (thus far), despite the twin Gordian Knot of the lack of domestic market and oil resources.
“Their competitors have these in abundance, therefore, SIA’s strategy has to evolve beyond the premium passenger segment.”
Singapore Airlines flight attendants wearing masks at Changi Airport Terminal 3’s arrivals hall. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
In response to queries about its post-pandemic outlook, an SIA spokesman said that it is unclear when the COVID-19 outbreak will be brought under control.
“But when it does, our customers can be sure that Singapore Airlines will be there to welcome them back on board and deliver, once again, the exceptional service that they have come to expect and are familiar with,” said the spokesman.
Before COVID-19 struck, SIA was already facing mounting competition from its rivals.
In 2014, Professor of Strategy Loizos Heracleous of Warwick Business School and Professor of Marketing Jochen Wirtz at the National University of Singapore (NUS) undertook a study to understand how SIA was able to achieve consistent profitability and zero annual operating losses within “an unforgiving, hypercompetitive industry environment”.
Citing figures from IATA, the study said the global airline industry between 2001 and 2011 had destroyed shareholder value overall and had not earned a real rate of return on capital, accumulating a staggering US$31.7 billion in losses in that time.
Yet, SIA was able to become one of the highest performing and respected airlines in the world through its ability to transcend “organisational paradoxes”, said Prof Heracleous and Prof Wirtz.
Essentially, SIA was able to provide service excellence and innovation, while being a low-cost leader. This is a paradox since the former requires significant resource investment, which precludes the latter.
A SilkAir plane sits beside a Singapore Airlines plane at Changi Airport in Singapore. (File photo: REUTERS/Edgar Su)
The study said SIA managed this because it had one of the industry’s youngest aircraft fleets, a high proportion of long-haul flights, an efficient work culture, high staff productivity, as well as relatively conservative salaries compared to Europe or America.
This concept of organisational paradoxes was conceived by American business theorist Michael Eugene Porter, who argued that being all things to all people is a recipe for “strategic mediocrity because it often means that a firm will have no competitive advantages at all”.
Any success in doing both is only possible temporarily, he added, because such a strategy will eventually be copied by one’s competitors.
Indeed, in the last 10 years, a number of airlines have emerged in the industry that began to provide award-winning services at a low cost to the company.
Between 2012 and 2018, SIA’s group revenues improved only slightly from S$15 billion to S$15.81 billion. Conversely, the global industry’s performance appeared to be growing faster in those years.
NUS Associate Professor Nitin Pangarkar said: “There was increasing imitation of SIA’s premium strategy. Price competition was stiff, especially for the leisure customer segment.”
In the oil-producing Middle East region, emerging flag carriers such as Qatar, Etihad and Emirates were able to woo passengers with premium services at lower fare prices for similar routes. Some have also claimed that these airlines benefit from unfair subsidies of fuel from their respective governments.
The service gap between SIA and other carriers had also narrowed – ANA, Delta and Cathay Pacific are consistently ranking well on the list of world’s best airlines.
At the other end of the spectrum, SIA and other full-service airlines have also been challenged by the emergence of low-cost carriers that choose to focus on cost leadership.
Faced with such competition, however, SIA could still hold its own. The airline was set to make an operating profit of S$253 million in the first three quarters of its 2019/2020 financial year, until the onset of COVID-19 in the final quarter caused a S$803 million operating loss.
A woman walks past a Singapore Airlines check-in counter at Singapore Changi Airport in Singapore on Sep 11, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
Mr Brendan Sobie, founder of Singapore-based independent aviation consulting and analysis firm Sobie Aviation, noted that SIA’s third quarter was one of the best in recent years.
“So while market conditions were rather challenging and competition was intense they were doing relatively well prior to COVID-19 … I think SIA would have had a good year in 2020 if it weren’t for the unpleasant surprise of COVID-19,” said Mr Sobie.
FLIGHTS BYPASSING CHANGI AIRPORT
Before the pandemic, SIA, whose fortunes relied on long-haul flights, business and premium travellers, also faced competition from its traditional rivals in Europe and Australia who were moving towards direct flights to and from both regions.
Part of this trend is due to the development of newer, more fuel-efficient and longer range aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350.
For example, in 2018, Qantas launched a once-daily Perth-London non-stop flight with the Dreamliner, which was reported to be 92 per cent filled per flight on average. The route has since been cancelled due to COVID-19.
Such developments could bypass Singapore as a transit hub for Europe-Australia flights, dubbed the “kangaroo route”, which saw about 2.2 million passengers shuttle between the two regions last year.
More than 10 per cent of these passengers flew on SIA, according to international flight data. Most had flown via the Middle Eastern airlines.
Dr Faizal said: “With better technology … alternative regional airports and rising business costs among other things, airlines need not use Changi Airport as a stopover. These are challenges for SIA to overcome and COVID-19 has accelerated the changes.”
Professor Martin Dresner, area chair of logistics, business and public policy at the Robert H Smith School of Business, noted that given the perceived dangers of air travel currently, “passengers may prefer direct flights to their destinations, rather than connecting routes through a hub such as Singapore”.
In July, Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung told reporters while speaking about opening up reciprocal green lanes that Singapore cannot take for granted that it will remain an aviation hub even when the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
“Others will be vying for it. It’s not something we take for granted. It’s something we fought for, and we’ve secured,” said Mr Ong.
FUEL HEDGING AND THE CHALLENGES POSED BY LONG-HAUL MODEL
As if these pre-existing challenges for SIA were not enough, the pandemic has turned the entire industry on its head.
With air travel impeded by lockdowns and travel bans, long-haul routes were the first to be cancelled, and many airlines could operate only limited domestic flights.
Since it is serving a city-state, SIA does not have any domestic capacity to rely on. In March, it grounded 138 of its 147 planes, or 96 per cent of its flights.
Some of SIA’s largest planes are at Alice Springs Airport, in Australia. (Photo: The Australian)
By November, SIA and its regional subsidiary SilkAir will be reinstating around 11 per cent of its pre-coronavirus capacity, with flights resuming for six cities.
But a full recovery for SIA, especially for its long-haul flights, will come slowly.
Business travellers are less willing to be paying more for premium seats amid a global recession and may curtail business travel entirely, said Prof Dresner.
IATA also warned in July that the advent of videoconferencing amid COVID-19 “appears to have made significant inroads as a substitute for in-person meetings”.
What this means is that SIA will continue to face fierce headwinds even after the pandemic passes.
The SIA spokesman said the airline adopts a portfolio strategy with a presence in both the full-service premium and low-fare segments, which allow it to meet demand when it returns.
SIA Group comprises the main SIA passenger arm, as well as its wholly-owned subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, which handle regional travel and budget travel respectively.
“Our extensive global network will also help us to flexibly deploy capacity to meet the demand from different markets as air travel slowly returns,” said the spokesman.
Assoc Prof Pangarkar said: “Long-haul routes are good for SIA because that’s where their value proposition is strongest. But, typically yields are lower and hence costs need to be managed well.”
The lower yields are due to the fact that such routes are inherently less fuel efficient than those with stopovers. Hence, seats on non-stop long-haul flights are more expensive.
This is also why there are only premium economy and business class seats on SIA non-stop flights between Singapore and Newark in America.
But like many airlines, such a global strategy puts SIA long-haul routes at the mercy of fuel prices and the global economy.
For example, the Singapore-Newark route was discontinued from 2013 to 2017 due to the aircraft’s high fuel consumption and rising fuel costs at the time, relaunching only after the fuel-efficient A350 wide-body jet came into service.
To guard against the volatility of fuel prices, SIA adopts a fuel hedging strategy. It buys fuel up to five years in advance – longer than most airlines – when it perceives the price of fuel will go up in future.
“But hedging is a double-edged sword. SIA has indeed struggled recently with hedging – so have many others,” said Assoc Prof Pangarkar.
The unexpected oil price crash earlier this year, due to disagreements between oil-producing countries as well as reduced demand caused by COVID-19, underpinned the weakness of this strategy.
From March 2019 to March 2020, SIA recorded a hefty S$710 million in losses due to ineffective fuel hedges that matured during the fiscal year, with more losses expected in future.
In a statement, SIA said it would “pause and plan to monitor developments closely before entering into any additional hedges”.
Regardless, experts say the hedging strategy has added to the carrier’s woes at a critical time, potentially overshadowing losses due to a fall in passenger demand alone.
SIA’S CRISIS RESPONSE
Amid these turbulent times, all airlines are tightening their belts to ride out the pandemic. In its July report, the IATA said that global passenger traffic is unlikely to return to pre-coronavirus levels until 2024.
SIA has resorted to cutting capacity, delaying non-critical projects and slashing its labour costs – by reducing management salaries, director fees and furloughing staff.
SATS aircraft interior cleaning team members disinfect a Singapore Airlines Airbus A350. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
An agreement between SIA and the Air Line Pilots Association – Singapore will see pilots taking sizable pay cuts ranging from 10 to 60 per cent until March 2022, in order to save more jobs.
SIA is also negotiating with aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus to defer deliveries and payment of aircraft. SIA had around 150 aircraft on order as part of its fleet renewal strategy, which will inevitably be delayed.
At the height of the pandemic from April to June, SIA saw its group revenue plunge by an eye-watering S$3.2 billion, or 79.3 per cent, to S$851 million, compared with the same period in 2019.
In this time, passenger carriage was virtually wiped out, falling by 99.4 per cent for SIA, 99.8 per cent for SilkAir and 99.9 per cent for Scoot on a year-on-year basis.
Group expenditures, however, did not come down as quickly. Costs fell by S$2 billion, or 51.6 per cent year-on-year, to reach S$1.9 billion.
Together, this represented a S$1.1 billion net loss in the first quarter of SIA’s financial year.
The lack of a domestic market for SIA is ultimately its biggest handicap, compared with other airlines that can serve domestic travellers and not be affected by lockdowns elsewhere.
“If SIA had domestic travel, things would not be so dire,” said Mr Naidu, who helped set up AirAsia in Singapore and now works as a consultant.
SIA now finds itself in a situation where it lacks options to raise revenue, he added, noting how regional airlines in Asia are clocking enviable load factors amid the pandemic.
One silver lining is in air freight, which has become more profitable due to a crunch in global air freight capacity and urgent demand in medical supplies, pharmaceuticals and fresh food.
Cargo yielded 173 per cent more revenue for SIA in the recent quarter, which had deployed passenger aircraft to ferry cargo.
But as air cargo trends track closely to the world’s economic health, relying on freight to staunch the bleeding will not be a sustainable solution, said Mr Naidu.
Another alternative revenue idea is SIA’s proposal for flights to nowhere, which has generated controversy due to its environmental impact.
The idea is not unique to SIA – airlines in Brunei, Taiwan, Japan and Australia have also begun offering such scenic flights which start and end in the same place.
However, not all interviewed were supportive of the idea. Mr Naidu said COVID-19 rules on safe distancing and minimising oral communication would affect the customer experience and thus the brand.
The unhappiness over the environmental toll could also affect SIA’s reputation, he added.
When asked to comment on its plans for flights to nowhere, the SIA spokesman said none of its plans to engage the public during the pandemic have been firmed up, and said it will announce if it intends to go ahead with any of these initiatives at an appropriate time.
But former senior SIA executive Chow Kok Wah said there are other hidden benefits to such flights – pilots and crew get to clock important flight experience and ground crews can continue to service the aircraft’s equipment.
Scoot crew walking out of Changi Airport Terminal 1 arrival hall on Jan 30. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
“See it as a bedridden person trying to take a few steps but (then) go back to bed. It helps the blood circulation and I think it is a significant psychological boost,” said Mr Chow.
Thus, the flight-to-nowhere is not so much about recovering revenue, which he said is insignificant at best.
“(Such flights) do wonders to everyone’s morale. Yes, we produce a relatively small amount of carbon emissions, but recognise that these are extraordinary times.”
“WITHOUT SIA, THERE IS NO AVIATION HUB”
Recognising the urgent need to strengthen SIA’s balance sheet, the airline in March aimed to raise around S$15 billion by issuing shares to existing shareholders and mandatory convertible bonds, with state investor Temasek Holdings pledging to mop up any remaining unsubscribed shares and bonds.
So far, it has raised S$11 billion – equivalent to about 10 quarters of April to July 2020 operating losses. SIA has an option to raise another S$6.2 billion in additional bonds.
The Singapore Government, through wage subsidies, rebates on aircraft parking charges and other relief measures, has also stepped in to aid the battered aviation sector.
The government and shareholder support received by SIA has given the flag carrier a better footing, compared to other airlines.
Senior aviation strategist Gerben Broekema, who founded Netherlands-based Broekema Aviation Advisory Services, said many flag carriers are already burning through their first wave of financial support and will need further support towards the end of the year.
“Most flag carriers at the start of the COVID-19 crisis had three to six months of liquidity to survive while leading cost carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet in Europe had nine to 12-plus months in cash to survive,” he said.
Governments support their respective carriers for various reasons, chiefly because the airlines provide vital air connectivity to the country, which, in turn, creates domestic industries catered to aviation such as the maintenance, repair and operations sector.
Dr Faizal said: “SIA and Changi Airport are symbiotic to each other because they maintain and grow air connectivity crucial for Singapore … which is important for Singapore as a trade-dependent nation.”
He highlighted how global logistics firms such as DHL have set up their bases here, making Singapore one of their regional hubs.
Becoming a logistical air hub is a source of economic resilience too, even during a pandemic, said analysts.
At a time when passenger travel has been decimated, some of the busiest airports in the world are those that handle freight and logistics, such as the Hong Kong International Airport.
Mr Chow said: “The hub led to a whole ecosystem evolving – repair centres, supply chain, regional service centres, aerospace colleges, R&D labs, aero conferences and the Singapore Airshow … It leads to creation of jobs that pay higher than national median salaries.
“Without SIA, there is no aviation hub, hence the importance of ensuring SIA’s survival.”
The Changi Airport control tower in front of Jewel Changi Airport (Photo: Jeremy Long)
BIG CHANGES NEEDED TO GET BACK TO THE TOP: ANALYSTS
The boost to SIA’s liquidity will help it stay on strong footing and ward off the shroud of bankruptcy, but the carrier needs to do more in order to also emerge stronger from the crisis, analysts said.
For one, SIA needs to start burnishing its post-coronavirus brand reputation, convincing customers – loyal and new – that despite the pandemic, the airline is still a great way to fly.
And despite the direness of the situation and the job cuts which it had to implement, SIA has to ensure its pipeline of talent in the longer term is not disrupted. At the same time, it also needs a ready pool of talent whom it can tap on when the industry recovers.
Mr Naidu suggested opening up SIA’s training centre, which trains its cabin crew, to the public for a fee. “This could spark interest in kids who may want to join the industry in future.”
With the shock of COVID-19, as well as the high cost barriers to aviation education, gone are the days where flight captains, first officers and air traffic controllers are seen as desired occupations, said Mr Naidu.
“For at least the next five years, COVID-19 will affect aviators in this generation as a cohort,” he said.
It takes around three to five years to train a commercial airline pilot, and about six months to a year to train a cabin crew.
Continued pilot training is needed in order to meet their licensing requirements and to maintain currency and proficiency.
Mr Abbas Ismail, course chair of Temasek Polytechnic’s diploma in aviation management, said that there will be major implications if youths shun the industry.
He warned: “When the aviation industry picks up, trained personnel must be ready to jump on the wagon. If training stops or slows down now, it will prove to be detrimental to the industry as the staff then will not be ready for the growth of the industry.”
A Singapore Airlines stewardess returns from a flight at Changi Airport in Singapore on Jun 8, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
Other analysts reiterated that SIA’s staff is its raison d’etre, since the quality of its pilots and the renowned kebaya-clad Singapore Girls were the key reasons the airline stood apart from its competitors.
Beyond retaining staff, there is a need for a significant shake-up in business models, they added.
Low-cost carriers, such as SIA’s subsidiary Scoot, will not be a feasible prospect if safe-distancing regulations and load factor caps limit the number of passengers that an airplane can carry.
SIA, which depends primarily on long-haul, premium travel, will likely be the last to recover fully in the group if it continues to focus on the same market segment.
Mr Chow said: “Even as the pandemic subsides there will be fits and starts as pockets of cases surface and countries react strongly. Even as COVID-19 fades away, authorities will be on the lookout for new diseases.”
As such, a post-pandemic SIA is likely to look very different from its past self.
Such a transformation exercise, however, will not come easy. Airlines have to contend with their existing fleet, which are often purpose-built to suit a particular business model. They also have to consider existing contracts signed for certain flight routes which may have been profitable in the past, but no longer.
SIA’s Abel Li (right) with his team, about to check a plane’s fuel tank.
The SIA spokesman said an internal task force has been set up to review all aspects of its operations “to ensure continued readiness to quickly ramp up services when the opportunity arises”.
“In particular, SIA has paid special attention to measures that would provide additional health and safety assurances to our customers and staff members,” said the spokesman.
In its latest quarter, SIA told investors that it is reviewing its network over the longer term given COVID-19 and the impact on passenger traffic and revenue, which is expected to be completed in six months’ time.
It warned that this will also likely lead to material impairment of its older generation aircraft, particularly the long-haul Airbus A380, which could account for around S$1 billion in losses.
The SIA spokesman said that during this period of “high uncertainty”, it will continue to “explore additional means to shore up liquidity as necessary”.
Mr Broekema noted that the current crisis “forces each airline to reconsider their right shape and size”. “Thus far, downsizing has never been a real option for airlines, especially not for flag carriers operating a hub model (such as SIA),” he said.
In a hub model, cancelling one route directly affects the profitability of other routes.
“(In general) this massive resizing transformation of all airlines creates opportunities and threats for carriers to position them in new markets,” said Mr Broekema.
National airlines are seen as “embassies with wings”, and represent a symbol of success for the country.
But with COVID-19, some industry-watchers are saying that the game is over for bloated and inefficient national airlines that are propped up by government handouts. This time, government resources are stretched too thin to continue bolstering their debt-laden flag carriers.
With many airlines likely to shutter in the coming years, the pandemic is expected to lead to an industry-wide consolidation while the market shrinks. Regional airlines, instead of national ones, could be the way for the future.
But if anyone can overcome the crisis, it is SIA, said Mr Chow.
“It may take two to three years to go back to normal but I am confident SIA will recover faster than the rest. It has to be thankful to the Government and shareholders who provided the urgent blood transfusion with the recent capital-raising. Without it, SIA wouldn’t last a year,” he said.
SINGAPORE: Firefighters put out a blaze that engulfed a car on Sunday (Sep 27) evening.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the fire at the junction of Tampines Avenue 2 and Tampines Street 23 at about 8.50pm.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze with a water jet. The driver and passenger got out of the car before the SCDF team arrived and there were no reported injuries.
View of the car in flames. (Photo: Sam Ong)
The cause of fire is under investigation, said SCDF.
Footage of the incident shared on social media showed the car engulfed in flames with smoke billowing from the vehicle while other motorists looked on.
The video also showed several SCDF firefighters at the scene as well as other personnel who directed traffic.
Tampines resident Sam Ong told CNA that he was in his flat when he heard a loud bang.
When he stepped out to investigate, he said the driver and passenger had already alighted from the vehicle.
“I could see a small fire at the dashboard of the passenger side. The couple stood beside the car for a short while and walked to the side of the road,” said Mr Ong.
The fire was extinguished with a water jet. (Photos: Sam Ong)
After reporting the incident to the police, Mr Ong said he noticed two men who tried to put out the blaze using a fire extinguisher. However, the fire grew bigger and the men were cautioned to stay away by a police officer who had arrived at the scene.
This story came from a reader tip-off. If you would like to send in information, photos or videos about something newsworthy, submit your news tips on CNA Eyewitness.
SINGAPORE – In a few more days, residents will have to stop displaying the national flag outside their homes.
After Wednesday (Sept 30), those who continue to display the flag will risk being fined up to $1,000 under the Singapore Arms and Flag and National Anthem Rules.
Every year, the flag can be displayed outside a building or in an open space without a flagpole between July 1 and Sept 30.
Earlier this year, the timeframe was extended to allow the flag to be displayed in such a manner from April 25 to Sept 30 as a rallying symbol during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) had said that the move to amend the rules to allow the flag to be displayed for a longer period was in response to requests from the public.
Following the amendment, a Straits Times Forum letter writer asked if the ministry would consider allowing the flag to be displayed outside homes throughout the year.
“Many other countries allow their flags to be displayed in homes, businesses and vehicles throughout the year, as long as the proper protocols are observed,” said the writer, Mr Dhevarajan Devadas.
Cashback company ShopBack and budget hospitality firm RedDoorz are investigating breaches of their IT systems that might have compromised their customers’ personal data.
In an email to its users on Friday evening, ShopBack said it became aware a few days ago of an incident involving unauthorised access to its systems.
A spokesperson told The Business Times that the company is confirming exactly what data has been compromised, and will give an update when it has further information.
In that customer email, ShopBack said the unauthorised access was removed as soon as it became aware of the issue. Cybersecurity specialists have already been engaged to assess the extent of the incident and enhance its security measures.
ShopBack said that passwords are encrypted and credit card information is safe, but it advised users to change their passwords as an added precautionary measure.
Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission has been notified of the incident and investigations are ongoing, The Straits Times reported on Saturday.
Earlier this week, RedDoorz became aware of a breach of one of its IT databases.
SINGAPORE – A dream holiday to Europe that a family had planned for six months turned out to be a nightmare which they are grateful to have survived.
Three days after the Ng-Chans returned on March 21, having cancelled two stops because of the looming pandemic, three family members fell ill with Covid-19.
Mrs Celine Ng-Chan, a 31-year-old tuition teacher who was 10 weeks pregnant, found out she had Covid-19 after going to a doctor with a sore throat. That night, her two-year-old daughter, Aldrina, came down with a fever as well.
In addition, Mrs Ng-Chan learnt later that her mother, Madam Choy Wai Chee, 58, had collapsed earlier that same day because of Covid-19 as well.
Only Mrs Ng-Chan’s husband, 32, and her father, 62, escaped infection.
Madam Choy was hospitalised for four months at the National University Hospital (NUH), spending 29 days on a life support machine that took over the function of her heart and kidneys. That was the longest any Covid-19 patient had been on the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in Singapore. She was also NUH’s longest-staying Covid patient, said an NUH spokesman.
When you renew your road tax, you are given the option to renew it for either six or 12 months. Naturally, your next renewal date will depend on the length you have formerly opted to renew your road tax previously.
You will get a letter informing you that your road tax (as well as vehicle inspection, if applicable) is due from the Land Transport Authority three months before your road tax expiry. So there is no need to keep track of the expiry date yourself.
If, however, you do need to figure out when exactly does your road tax expires, you can still do so here by simply entering your vehicle registration number.
Usually, this never becomes an issue. However, if you do purchase a new vehicle, you will want to take note of when the new car’s road tax will expire, especially since the reminder letters could have already been sent to the previous owner’s address.
SINGAPORE – Mr Albert See, 81, loves flights to nowhere.
These no-destination jaunts are now capturing the imagination, but the tour agency veteran was a proponent long before the pandemic.
He chartered new jumbo jets from Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the supersonic Concorde from British Airways for high-altitude joyrides four decades ago for his clients.
He has also flown round-trip on a Qantas plane from Australia to Antarctica, hovering low over the white continent.
And his delight in these air adventures sparked a business proposal. Last month, Mr See, who is managing director and chief executive of ASA Holidays, sent SIA his plan for “flycations” that combine air, sea and land experiences. He is awaiting a response.
The Straits Times reported recently that the carrier is planning to launch a flights-to-nowhere campaign.
In response to queries, Singapore Airlines said several initiatives are being considered, adding: “We will make an announcement at the appropriate time if we go ahead with these plans.”
More employees have been given the green light to return to workplaces, but there are still many challenges facing companies and staff preparing to make the shift back to the office.
These range from the need to reconfigure work areas to maintain safe distancing to the mental readjustment workers have to make to pivot back to being on-site.
Introducing staggered hours or shifts may also create problems, said human resource executives and experts.
Mr Leong Chee Tung, chief executive and co-founder of human resource technology firm EngageRocket, said it might be counterproductive to make staff work half the day at home, and half in the office.
“Task switching has a significant effect on attention and productivity, making it likely that being subjected to such a split schedule will cause a lot more time spent mentally wandering than focused on work,” he said.
“It is much better to have either the full day working in the office, or working from home.”
Mr Mayank Parekh, chief executive of the Institute for Human Resource Professionals, said some companies could roster staff to work on alternate days or weeks in the office.
SINGAPORE: A few months ago, Raj’s* life in Singapore was turned upside down.
The 44-year-old migrant worker from India, who has worked here for more than 12 years, had been looking for a job during the COVID-19 pandemic. He found an employment agent who put out an advertisement on Facebook for a position that promised a monthly salary of about S$1,000.
It turned out to be a scam.
The agent handed him a fraudulent in-principle approval (IPA) for a work permit. Meanwhile, it filed for a work permit without the required written authorisation from Raj – and with a different employer from the one stated on the fake IPA. The salary was less than half of what was promised.
When Raj asked for the unauthorised work permit to be cancelled – as he had, in the meantime, found another job on his own – the employment agent refused to do so. The agent insisted that Raj hand over a large sum of money and take the job at a lower pay instead.
Raj filed a police report and a complaint to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
But there was a limit to how long he could stay in Singapore while waiting for the case to be resolved, with the validity of his Special Pass coming to an end. The pass is issued to workers who became unemployed during the dormitory lockdowns and could not be sent home during the confinement period.
He sought help from migrant worker advocacy group ItsRainingRaincoats (IRR), which roped in international law firm Morrison & Foerster.
Raj’s case is one of several that the firm has been involved in, on a pro bono basis.
While lawyers at international firms here are not allowed to give legal advice on Singapore law or represent workers in court, they can help to make sense of their plight.
For Ms Tessa Davis, one of the lawyers in Raj’s case, her work typically involves talking to workers to get the facts and timeline laid out, digging for more information that would help the worker’s case, documenting all the evidence if the case goes to court, or talking and writing to employers and employment agencies to sort out the worker’s situation.
“The idea is to try and get involved at an early-stage … so it’s not legal assistance that we’re giving but just maybe helping tip the scales back in their favour a bit,” Ms Davis told CNA.
Migrant workers work at a construction site in Singapore on Aug 20, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Roslan RAHMAN)
In Raj’s case, lawyers spoke to the employment agent and the construction company but neither party budged.
They also helped him print the necessary documents needed to explain his case to MOM.
A ministry officer told Raj that he had to hand-deliver a letter to the unauthorised employer confirming he did not want the contract, so the lawyers drafted a resignation letter for him and got an office manager to drive him to their office to print it.
The office manager accompanied him to the construction company’s office the next morning to drop off the letter, then waited together for a few hours at the door to prove that the office was closed, before taking a picture as evidence that he had delivered the letter when he slid the signed notice under the company’s door.
After all that work, Raj was told that the fraudulent application would be cancelled. His permit to remain in Singapore would be extended and he could accept the new position with his new employer.
“I am … grateful to have the fake work permit issue resolved and the opportunity to start again with a new employer. I will remember for a lifetime the help that Tessa and her team has given to me,” Raj said.
His real name was not used in this report due to the sensitivity of his case.
Each case takes between 12 and 20 hours, said Ms Davis, and they mostly involve recovering wages from employers, unjust practices by employment agencies, or getting employers to write transfer letters allowing workers to switch jobs instead of repatriating them.
Most of these workers don’t have strong a strong command of the English language or documentation, so it is often very difficult for them to recount what has happened in clear terms, Ms Davis said.
This could affect the outcome if they had to explain their request to MOM representatives, or the parties they are up against.
Often, the employer or employment agency pays up or hands over a transfer letter after lawyers get involved, Ms Davis said.
In cases that require formal legal advice, Ms Davis ropes in local firm TSMP Law Corporation, which has experience doing pro bono work for migrant worker rights groups like HOME and TWC2.
“When you need a lawyer to give Singapore legal advice or to fight in court, that’s when we need to get rustled up,” said Stefanie Yuen-Thio, the managing partner of TSMP.
WORKING WITH NGOS
More lawyers are getting involved in pro bono work.
It has been about three months since Ms Davis got involved in cases through IRR. Since then, her team dealing with such cases has grown from three to nine.
She said several of Morrison & Foerster’s clients – who each have their own in-house legal teams – recently asked how they can get involved as well.
Ms Davis was approached by IRR founder Dipa Swaminathan around the end of May.
The organisation was, at that time, “inundated with requests” over workers’ grievances due to uncertainties over COVID-19 and the dormitory lockdowns, said Ms Davis.
Workers from the same zone gather for a daily morning briefing, while ensuring they keep a safe distance from each other. (Photo: Cheryl Lin)
Ms Swaminathan’s team manages the first level of cases that come in. About 90 per cent of them are resolved by IRR volunteers, some of whom are lawyers as well.
There is “no magic formula” in choosing which cases are sent to Ms Davis’ team, Ms Swaminathan said, but they tend to be more serious ones.
“The worker is kind of vulnerable. And some employers might think that workers don’t have a circle of well-wishers around them to come to the worker’s aid in times of distress. This makes the worker even easier to be taken advantage of,” Ms Swaminathan said.
Just having somebody write a clear and persuasive letter in a formal language to the employer, state facts in an objective and detailed manner to the authorities, or provide the worker with the assurance that there are lawyers overseeing their situation is extremely helpful, she added.
“I think it’s wonderful,” said Ms Swaminathan, commending the work of the lawyers.
“People are coming forward to give up their time in their personal capacity to speak up for these workers …. giving a voice to the voiceless. And when that voice comes from a legally trained person, it becomes a very powerful voice,” she added.
Lawyers from K&L Gates Straits Law, as well as legal counsels from Facebook and Singtel recently volunteered to help IRR in their personal capacity, she highlighted.
Ms Yuen-Thio said it is rare for an international law firm in Singapore to be so deeply drawn into such pro bono work which is more demanding on time as the lawyer could have to “drop everything” to help a worker who only has a few hours to get his issue solved.
“I’ve done a lot of pro bono work, but the emotional investment in reviewing contracts or serving on the board of an NGO is a lot less than when you have someone’s life, livelihood and the wellbeing of his family back home at stake,” she said.
ACCESS TO JUSTICE
Ms Davis dismissed suggestions that lawyers doing pro bono work take their role more lightly compared to paid work.
Lawyers who work on a pro bono basis for foreign workers came into the spotlight recently after Mr Anil Balchandani secured a successful acquittal for former domestic helper Parti Liyani. Ms Parti was accused of stealing from her then-employer, former Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong.
Parti Liyani with her lawyer Anil Balchandani outside of the State Courts on Sep 8, 2020. (Photo: Hanidah Amin)
Mr Balchandani won praise for his dedication and hard work as her defence counsel. The judge who delivered the acquittal, Justice Chan Seng Onn, also commended him on his pro bono services.
“When a firm gets involved in a case on a pro bono basis … they are a hundred per cent committed to the importance of pro bono and providing the same level of service that they would for a paying client,” Ms Davis said.
“And in many cases, that assistance goes above and beyond that standard,” she added, referring to the office manager who spent hours sitting with Raj outside the construction company’s office to make sure she captured the necessary proof.
“Somebody’s life is going to be impacted here and so, the lawyers that are volunteering to do this, they want to be involved, they want to make a difference – so they’re just so keenly happy to be involved in a case where they can do that,” she added.
“The whole ‘equal access to justice’ idea – I know it sounds high-minded, but it is the thing that really motivates us: That somebody risks being deprived of access to justice, just because of their socio-economic status,” said Ms Davis.
“(These) are things that lawyers are supposed to care about because, as lawyers, we can play a pivotal role in helping to provide that access to justice.”
