SINGAPORE: This year’s National Day Parade (NDP) funpacks will include practical and reusable items to encourage more sustainable practices.
Each funpack will include a 750ml sports water bottle with a spout, instead of two bottles of water, and reusable bamboo drinking straws that can be used as clappers during the parade.
Four bamboo straws of different sizes are included in this year’s funpack. (Photo: Corine Tiah)
The inclusion of these reusable items is in support of local campaigns “Say YES to Waste Less” and “Year Towards Zero Waste”.
The funpack will also have a water-resistant lining and adjustable straps, allowing it to be carried as a backpack or sling bag.
Other items included in this year’s funpack include a miniature flag, face tattoos, a souvenir magazine, a discount booklet, tissues, a sun visor or fan, mosquito patches and a luggage tag.
The reusable funpack for NDP 2019. (Photo: Corine Tiah)
According to Chairman of the NDP 2019 logistics and finance committee, Military Expert (ME) 6 Ignatius Tham said that the design of the funpack took about four to six months.
“It began as soon as the previous NDP was over,” he said.
“Specifically for this year … we wanted to do something (to) promote reuse so that people can continue to use the bag long after the NDP celebrations.”
When asked about the presence of single-use plastics such as food packaging in the funpack, the organisers referenced Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen’s speech last year for the items to be reusable “when available and cost-effective”.
Unused ponchos and LED wristbands will be collected at the end of each rehearsal and preview to be given out at the next one as part of the parade’s sustainability efforts.
“This year’s NDP theme is Our Singapore, and we want to do something for the future, we want to be the pioneers for our future generation,” added ME6 Tham.
“I wouldn’t say it’s too early or too late. But it is (an) opportune time and since all these initiatives are aligned to our efforts, why not (choose) this year … to promote reuse.”
Designed in partnership with the Temasek Foundation, the funpack – which made its debut at the NDP in 1991 – is also meant to be used as an “Emergency Ready Bag”, which organisers hope Singaporeans will reuse to store essential items in the event of an emergency home evacuation, for example.
The label on the funpack with recommended essential items to pack in an emergency-ready bag. (Photo: Corine Tiah)
There are also two QR codes that will launch the websites of the Singapore Civil Defence Force for more information on preparing an “Emergency Ready Bag” and the Singapore Red Cross Society’s page for details about a free cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AED) course.
Citing the terror attacks in New Zealand, Temasek Foundation director of programmes Fatima Mustafa said that “one can never be too safe”.
She added: “I think it is the responsibility of every citizen to be prepared for any kind of emergencies.”
Southeast Asian leaders must use an upcoming summit to hold unvarnished talks on Burma’s (Myanmar) treatment of the Rohingya, rights groups urged Wednesday, after a report by the bloc was pilloried for whitewashing the persecution of the Muslim minority.
The report, commissioned by ASEAN and leaked to AFP earlier this month, gives a glowing assessment of Burma’s repatriation efforts so far for Rohingya driven into neighbouring Bangladesh.
Burma’s military launched a brutal crackdown on the Rohingya in August 2017, causing some 740,000 to flood into Bangladesh with widespread accounts of rape, mass killings and the razing of their villages.
A repatriation deal with Bangladesh has stalled, with virtually no Rohingya choosing to return to Burma due to security fears and the government’s refusal to grant them citizenship or basic rights.
In spite of this, the report from ASEAN’s “Emergency Response and Assessment Team” predicted voluntary returns would be complete in two years.
It also refused to use the word “Rohingya” — an identity denied to them inside Burma where they are instead labelled “Bengalis”, shorthand for illegal immigrants.
ASEAN leaders meeting in Bangkok this weekend must “drastically rethink” their response to the crisis, according to Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch.
Rohingya refugees shout slogans during a protest march after attending a ceremony to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia on Aug 25, 2018. Source: AFP
“It’s preposterous for ASEAN leaders to be discussing the repatriation of a traumatised population into the hands of the security forces who killed them.”
Malaysia has led condemnation of Burma’s treatment of the Rohingya in the past.
But the ASEAN bloc broadly sticks to diplomatic protocols by avoiding discussion of member states’ internal affairs.
An Indonesian MP called for the regional bloc to “cease lending legitimacy to the repatriation process”.
“ASEAN needs to stop turning a blind eye to Burma’s atrocities against the Rohingya,” said Eva Sundari, who also serves as a board member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights.
They “won’t be returning home voluntarily until the situation on the ground in Rakhine state dramatically alters”.
UN investigators have called for Burma’s top generals to be prosecuted for genocide for the 2017 crackdown.
The enduring crisis has spread to the region.
Some of the 400,000 Rohingya remaining in Burma’s Rakhine state have attempted to flee their camps to Muslim-majority ASEAN nations Malaysia and Indonesia.
In recent months authorities in Burma and Thailand have stopped boats illegally carrying Rohingya, raising fears of a re-emergence of a trafficking route for the desperate stateless group.
SINGAPORE: A fire described as “massive” by eyewitnesses broke out at two shophouses in Geylang on Wednesday night (Jun 19), sending plumes of thick black smoke into the air.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post at about 9pm that it was at the scene conducting firefighting operations.
The force confirmed at around 10.45pm that the fire involved the contents of two shophouses at unit numbers 67 and 69 in Lorong 14 Geylang.
It had previously said that the fire was at 35 Lorong 14 Geylang.
A large column of smoke seen rising from the scene of the fire in Lorong 14 Geylang. (Photo: CNA reader)
“SCDF deployed 12 emergency vehicles and about 70 firefighters to the incident,” it said.
“At the height of the operations, three handheld jets and an aerial monitor were utilised to mitigate the fire,” it added, saying that the fire was under control.
There were no reported injuries.
An eyewitness described the flames a Lorong 14 Geylang as “massive”. (Photo: CNA reader)
An eyewitness, who said he could see the flames from Aljunied, described the fire as “massive”.
Another CNA reader said he heard an “explosion” from his apartment in Kallang.
“I heard a loud explosion from my living room and I saw the big fire from my balcony,” he said, adding that smoke could still be seen at about 9.40pm.
Firefighters battling the blaze at Lorong 14 Geylang on Jun 19, 2019. (Photo: CNA reader)
Videos online showed plumes of thick smoke rising from a building. Sirens could be heard and part of a street was cordoned off.
This story came from a reader tip-off. If you would like to send in photos or videos of something newsworthy, WhatsApp our Mediacorp news hotline at +65 8218 8281 or message us on Facebook.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article said that the fire broke out at 35 Lorong 14 Geylang. SCDF has since updated the previous information it provided to say the fire was at two shophouses at 67 and 69 Lorong 14 Geylang.
SINGAPORE: Firefighters are battling a blaze at 35 Lorong 14 Geylang on Wednesday night (Jun 19).
In a Facebook post at about 9pm, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it is at the scene conducting firefighting operations.
An eyewitness, who said he could see the flames from Aljunied, described the fire as “massive”.
A large column of smoke seen rising from the scene of the fire. (Photo: CNA reader)
Another CNA reader said he heard an “explosion” from his apartment in Kallang.
“I heard a loud explosion from my living room and I saw the big fire from my balcony,” he said, adding that smoke could still be seen at about 9.40pm.
An eyewitness described the flames at 35 Lorong 14 Geylang as “massive”. (Photo: CNA reader)
Videos online show huge flames rising from a building. Sirens can be heard and part of a street has been cordoned off.
This is a developing story, please refresh for updates.
This story came from a reader tip-off. If you would like to send in photos or videos of something newsworthy, WhatsApp our Mediacorp news hotline at +65 8218 8281 or message us on Facebook.
SINGAPORE: Representative bodies of Singapore’s key religious communities have affirmed their commitment to safeguard religious harmony in the country.
More than 250 organisations have put their names to the commitment, including the Catholic Archdiocese, Hindu Advisory Board, Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, National Council of Churches of Singapore, Sikh Advisory Board, Singapore Buddhist Federation, and Taoist Federation.
Singapore President Halimah Yacob received a commemorative version of the commitment from Venerable Seck Kwang Phing, the president of the Singapore Buddhist Federation, at the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS) on Wednesday (Jun 19).
Members of the National Steering Committee on Racial and Religious Harmony saying a prayer to commemorate the commitment to religious harmony. (Photo: Gwyneth Teo)
During her opening address, Mdm Halimah said: “The world would be all the poorer if it had no room for difference. If we were all the same, we would have nothing special to offer, nor anything to learn from others.
“Each of us has something precious that only we can give. The more diverse we are, the richer we become.”
She warned that while globalisation and technology have drawn people closer, the ease in the “flow of ideas” has accelerated the spread of extremist ideologies.
“A society is fragile if its members view each other in mutual incomprehension. It is vulnerable when its communities live parallel lives and inhabit separate worlds,” Mdm Halimah said.
“Only a cohesive society built upon mutual trust can harness the strength of its diversity, so that its people can build a better future.”
President Halimah Yacob at the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS) on Jun 19, 2019.
She said that accommodating different cultures, nurturing a “felt reality of collective belonging”, dialogue and interaction are the foundations of social harmony in any society.
“Leaders play an important role in promoting peace and cohesion at both the national and international levels. But often, we see political leaders articulate division and conflict for their own personal agenda,” she said.
“Hence, all societal actors must play a part in managing diversity – from government leaders to individuals, from the media to educational institutions.
“Ultimately, social cohesion is not something that can be commanded or dictated by the government. It can only be nurtured and inspired by each of us, and what we do every day. Friendships and connections will have to be built, face to face.
“Social trust has to be forged, one positive encounter at a time. Strength from diversity can only grow from dialogue, give and take, speaking and listening.”
President Halimah Yacob speaking with 100 youth delegates during a fireside chat. (Photo: Syawal Yusoff)
The ICCS is the President’s initiative. About 700 international delegates across academia, government, religious organisations and civil society will attend the conference this weekend.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II will deliver the keynote address on Thursday morning.
About 100 youth delegates also attended the Youth Leaders’ Programme. Taking place in the two days before the conference, it is designed as a platform for the next generation to address pressing social concerns and share ideas with each other. They include 21 representatives from ASEAN countries and 34 others from around the world.
SINGAPORE: From April next year, town councils will have to abide by a new code of governance which aims to promote greater transparency and raise standards of management.
The code was launched on Wednesday (Jun 19), said the Ministry of National Development (MND), adding that it will take effect from FY2020 (Apr 1, 2020) to give town councils time to implement it.
Town councils must declare their compliance with the code and submit a checklist to MND annually.
“The code provisions set out best practices which TCs (town councils) are encouraged to adopt, through a comply-or-explain regime,” said the ministry.
The guidelines cover four main areas – council effectiveness, internal controls and processes, financial management, as well as vendor management.
For instance, town councils should have sound financial management practices to ensure that their funds and assets are properly safeguarded and accounted for, and are managed in compliance with the law.
There should be a process to identify, assess, regularly monitor and review the town council’s key risks, including financial, operational, compliance and information technology risks.
They should also have a performance evaluation system for the managing agent and all vendors.
Code of Governance for town councils. (Table: MND)
“Today, town councils collectively manage about S$2 billion worth of public and residents’ monies,” said MND in its media release.
“As public institutions entrusted with significant amounts of public funds, town councils should have good governance and management controls in place to remain transparent and accountable to their residents.”
In drafting the code, MND said it took reference from the Code of Charities and Institutions of Public Character, and the Code of Corporate Governance, where appropriate.
The drafting process involved MND’s appointed consultant Ernest & Young Advisory, and an advisory panel comprising academics, governance experts and industry practitioners was consulted.
The ministry added that it sought to introduce more robust governance standards whilst bearing in mind the cost of compliance and the differences in operating circumstances across town councils.
The first declaration for FY2020 will be due for submission in September 2021.
“Where town councils opt not to comply or are in the process of working towards compliance with certain provisions, town councils will be required to provide meaningful explanations on how the governance standards in the code are achieved,” said MND.
SINGAPORE: Low-cost carrier Scoot is aware of its shortcomings and is working to improve its customer service and recovery standards in light of recent flight delays and disruptions that have affected passengers, said its CEO Lee Lik Hsin.
Speaking to CNA on Monday (Jun 17), he admitted that the flight disruptions had hit the airline’s key On-Time Performance (OTP) metric.
“Admittedly, our OTP was not good from end-2018 to beginning of 2019. In December and January, we had occasions or months where OTP was in the 70s (in percentage terms) to low 80s. But we have bounced back up to mid-to-high 80s. In terms of delivering our promise to the customer of punctuality, we have improved since then,” added Mr Lee.
He added that prior to the dip in 2018, Scoot’s average OTP was also around 80 per cent.
Scoot CEO Lee Lik Hsin (Photo: Hanidah Amin)
Scoot suffered six flight disruptions between November 2018 and January this year that resulted in significant delays of between several hours and up to more than two days.
The worst incident happened on Dec 18 to flight TR713 from Athens to Singapore. A total of 321 passengers were made to board and disembark at least three times due to technical and operational issues. The flight eventually landed in Singapore about 56 hours behind schedule.
Scoot passengers, including Singaporeans, stranded at Athens International Airport on Dec 19, 2018 due to a flight delay. (Photo: CNA reader)
Mr Lee explained that one major reason for Scoot’s improved OTP was tweaks made to reduce the utilisation rate for its fleet. The airline’s fleet of Boeing 787s now spend 13 hours in the air daily instead of 14 previously.
This increases the chances of having a spare aircraft when one is required to resolve a major delay, he said.
But time and approvals are still required before any relief flights can be mounted.
“It takes half a day (or) a day to get approval to fly up and bring the passengers back. But at least we have the resources available, as opposed to having no resources and waiting (for available aircraft). It is not so easy to use an Airbus A320 to recover a Boeing 787 flight. There (are) a lot of complications in terms of regulatory approvals. But in general, we will try to use the same aircraft type to bring the people back.”
BETTER, MORE CONSISTENT DELIVERY NEEDED
Mr Lee noted that one of the criticisms from passengers that Scoot faced during some of the flight disruptions was about the airline’s ability to provide “comfort items” such as food, drinks and accommodation. To that end, he added that the airline is working towards delivering them on a more consistent basis.
“As a principle, we always want to provide refreshments, provide hotels, despite being a low-cost carrier. Because this (is) actually, something that the customers want, whether they take low-cost or full service (airlines). We will provide (them at) a basic level. You will have a basic lunch box and nothing gourmet, and the hotels that we are able to put you up in may not be five-star hotels.
“But it is really (about) trying to improve the execution, (with) better communications with our partners in those locations, when these things happen to make sure that we deliver more consistently.”
THE ROAD TO WINNING BACK CUSTOMERS’ TRUST
Mr Lee said that Scoot has some way to go to fully win back customers’ trust and satisfaction.
He also cited that the airline uses two methodologies to gauge customer satisfaction in its post-flight survey. These are the “Net Promoter Score” and the “Customer Satisfaction Score”.
Mr Lee said that Scoot is “not doing as well as (it) would like” on the Net Promoter Score, which gauges customer loyalty, including the likelihood of them booking another flight on the airline or recommending the organisation to their social circle.
On a scale of between -100 and 100, he admitted that the airline “is positive but in very small digits”.
“Good companies tend to be above 50, but we are nowhere near that. We know we have a long road ahead of us,” said Mr Lee.
On the Customer Satisfaction Score, which rates the experience that customers most recently had with a company, Mr Lee said that about 70 per cent of Scoot’s passengers currently rate the airline as “good” or “very good”.
“It was very clear to us that we had a hit and we have a lot of work to do. But in recently two, three months, we’ve also seen improvements on both fronts. We know that we are heading in the right direction.”
LEVERAGING DIGITAL SPACE, PAYING ATTENTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Mr Lee said that another major issue that passengers had with Scoot during flight disruptions, was the lack of information provided by the airline.
“Customers were feeling uncomfortable because they didn’t know what was going on. Sometimes the news is not always good news. But they at least want to know what’s going on, what to expect,” he added.
“We understood that people want the information, (and) it’s only fair for us to be as transparent with our customers as possible, especially during times of disruption.”
To that end, Scoot has leveraged the digital space and launched what it described as a “delay information system”, in the first quarter of this year.
Mr Lee explained that passengers can sign in with their flight information on this online platform and get real-time information from Scoot’s operations centre on their delayed flight, such as the new expected departure time.
“It was like a light bulb suddenly coming on. Somehow the original communication medium to the customer, (through) our partners on the ground is not working. Maybe because there’s 10 of them and 400 customers. It’s very difficult. And they are dispersed all over the place – they may be in the terminal, they may be told to go have their meal, and you can’t get all of them in the same place to make an announcement. So digital was the best way to go.”
Mr Lee also said that in the last quarter, Scoot has equipped all its cabin crew teams with iPads so that feedback from passengers can be recorded immediately after their flight. This allows its customer service department to address concerns more quickly, as compared to processing feedback via physical forms.
In addition, Scoot is paying more attention to social media platforms as a means of getting customer feedback.
“We realised that social media channels were something we needed to pay much close attention to. We also needed a good source of early information about any problems. We actually had to increase our coverage, our team size, and media monitoring has increased from eight to 14 hours daily,” added Mr Lee.
He said that the social media monitoring team has grown from five employees to eight.
“Customers have a voice and they are keen to share their feedback, not just with us, but with others as well, and social media provides that channel,” Mr Lee added.
He also reiterated Scoot’s commitment to safety and operational reliability.
“Being a part of the Singapore Airlines Group, it doesn’t matter that we are the budget airline. We will spare no expense in that area. But technical issues can still happen. That’s what happened to us.
“We’re not perfect. There’s always work to be done. But we hope that people understand that we are sincere in wanting to make that effort.”
SINGAPORE: Scoot expects growth to pick up in 2020, when more aircraft will be added to its fleet along with the expansion of its route network, said its chief executive officer Lee Lik Hsin.
Speaking to CNA on Monday (Jun 17), he said the global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX meant that growth this year will not be “to the intended scale”.
Its sister carrier SilkAir had previously planned to transfer 14 of its Boeing 737-800NGs to Scoot, but this has been put on hold as SilkAir was affected by the grounding of its six 737 MAX jets and was short of planes to operate its routes.
This led to SIA announcing in May that it will expand Scoot’s fleet by leasing between 10 and 12 Airbus A320s over the next two financial years.
On top of that, Mr Lee revealed that Scoot has extended the lease of one A320 and held back on the disposals of two other A320s. It will, however, dispose of an older A319.
This will bring its fleet to 47 aircraft.
Scoot will also receive three more planes over the next few months, bringing its fleet size to 50 aircraft by year-end.
The three comprise two new Airbus A320neos and one Boeing 787, which is returning to the fleet after undergoing aircraft inspections.
“That helps, though not to a full extent, for 2019. Because the number of transfers from SilkAir was supposed to be higher.
“So by and large, for 2019, we still have growth though not to the intended scale. We are looking for aircraft, and I think we are fairly confident that we will get the numbers we need. So (in) 2020, I think the growth plan will be back on track,” explained Mr Lee.
On the network front, Mr Lee said that Scoot will expand its route network in the coming months to include more points in China and Indonesia, though this will not be done organically.
Instead, Scoot will be leveraging the wider SIA Group and continue to take over some of SilkAir’s existing routes in the two countries.
He added that Scoot has already taken the Singapore-Wuhan route and will soon add Changsha, Fuzhou and Kunming to its network.
This comes as SilkAir prepares to merge with SIA after the former undergoes a major cabin upgrade, scheduled to begin in 2020.
In its May 2018 announcement, SIA said that as part of the SilkAir-SIA merger, there will also be transfers of routes and aircraft between the different airlines in the portfolio. It also added that this is “consistent with ongoing efforts to optimise the SIA Group’s network”.
Beyond China, Scoot will take on more of SilkAir’s routes to Indonesia cities such as Balikpapan, Lombok, Makassar, Manado, Semarang and Yogyakarta next year.
Despite SIA stating last month that Scoot’s decline in yearly performance for FY2019 was due to a slowdown in the growth of Chinese travellers, Mr Lee is confident of Scoot’s China expansion.
“The China market has had a bit of a slowdown, but it’s still a growth market. And so on that basis, we are going to continue with expansion into China, primarily from taking over many SilkAir points. All of them have been announced. So we are going to continue with those plans,” he said.
Scoot was the only SIA Group unit that recorded an operating loss in the last financial year, which came in at S$15 million, as compared to its operating profit of S$78 million the year before.
At the same time, Scoot has closed down several non-performing routes such as those to Lucknow, Kalibo, Quanzhou and Maldives.
File photo of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft operated by long-haul budget carrier Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, parked on the apron at Changi International Airport in Singapore. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
IN A BETTER POSITION TO COMPETE
Mr Lee also said that Scoot today is in a better position to compete against its regional rivals.
“Market competition is par for the course, (it is) what we expect. But we clearly much better position to compete today versus a few years ago. When we first merged (with Tigerair), we were at 35 aircraft. And now we are going to be 50 by year-end, and it’s a very fast pace of growth that we have undertaken in the last couple of years.
“To compete, you do need some level of scale. That’s the part that we’ve been trying to address. And I think we’ve addressed that pretty well. You don’t have to be the biggest, but you have to have scale, which I think we now have. I always like to use the example of going to Terminal 2 in the morning. And we look at the display board, (it is) mostly Scoot flights.”
On operating long-haul, low-cost flights, Mr Lee describes the business model as a “fairly niche” one, with Scoot having “experimented” and received mixed results.
Scoot has since pulled back its services to Honolulu, but continues to operate long-haul services to Berlin and Athens. Mr Lee said the two European services “are doing decently” and that the carrier will continue to build on them.
He also said Europe would most likely be the continent for long-haul expansion if Scoot were to launch a new long-haul route in the future.
“It’s hard for us to imagine being able to venture to another long-haul continent somewhere else. My colleagues are very curious about the same. I have sort of said it is 99 per cent Europe for future expansion.
“(Long-haul, low-cost services are) something we think is worth experimenting with and some of it has turned out well. But clearly, we are not going to be a major player from Asia to Europe. We find underserved markets like Athens, like Berlin, and go in.”
SINGAPORE: Kaplan Professional was suspended from the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) accreditation due to serious lapses, said SkillsFuture Singapore last week.
SkillsFuture Singapore did not mention the reason for the suspension.
Notwithstanding this case, from my experience, the bulk of such lapses typically relate to whether training programmes meet their learning goals. Are trainees learning a new skill as the course promises?
But then again, why should we bother whether trainees learn anything? Market forces can decide if a course has been useful. People should naturally move away from providers that offer empty promises.
However, because the Government is paying a significant portion of the training fees, provided through SkillsFuture credits, and the co-payment is small, lapses sometimes go undetected and companies continue to profit from public coffers.
In other words, the market isn’t able to correct itself.
HERE’S A DIFFERENT MODEL FOR TRAINING PROVIDERS
A different model from co-payment can give training institutes more skin in the game.
The Lambda School in California teaches information technology skills online and charges no tuition fees. Instead, students can agree to pay a percentage of their income after they’re employed, and only if they’re making more than US$50,000 a year in the first five years.
The deal is students pay back 17 per cent of their income from their first two years of work after, if earnings exceed US$50,000 a year, with a cap of US$30,000 of fees they pay in total.
Otherwise, students also have the option of paying US$20,000 in tuition upfront and keeping their future income.
The incentive structure is clear. If the training institute does not impart transferable knowledge to trainees that can earn them a great job that pays well, the training institute does not get a single cent.
Some form of deferred payment, conditional on a pay floor of the worker who has undergone training is possible under SkillsFuture, if the training provider agrees. Though the mechanics might seem complex at first sight, this self-regulation can be a virtuous cycle, which will require less auditing of such programmes from authorities in theory.
The brand logo of Alphabet Inc’s Google is seen outside its office in Beijing, China August 8, 2018. (Photo: REUTERS/Thomas Peter)
Lambda founder Austen Allred has said that the average income of entering students is US$22,000, a figure that triples after they leave. Eight in 10 graduates land jobs in fast-growing tech giants like Google, Amazon and Verizon.
REMAINING SENSITIVE TO MARKET DEMAND FOR SPECIFIC SKILLS
Sometimes, all an effective training provider needs to do is identify and respond to fresh gaps in the market and emerging demand for certain skills in a particular industry.
For instance, Singapore’s Ministry of National Development announced in 2018 that the Building and Construction Authority will introduce a mandatory façade audit for some buildings. Under this new regime, all buildings taller than 13m and older than 20 years will be required to hire qualified personnel to carry out an inspection every seven years.
The dangers are real. Tiles, beams and other façade features on tall buildings can fall off if unchecked and seriously hurt people. Just last year, a man was injured after a falling piece of concrete outside Wanderlust Hotel in Little India hit him.
A handful of enterprising training institutes are already offering such training programmes.
Some companies have also arranged for their staff to go for training so that they can stay abreast and be quick to capture this new market need. Some civil engineers are paying with their own money to familiarise themselves with BCA guidelines and audit framework.
A man was taken to hospital after being struck by plaster that fell from the facade of Wanderlust Hotel. (Screengrabs: Facebook/Lee Hwa).
Apart from certificates of completion, what matters most to this segment of workers is learning effective new skills that will enable them to perform this new audit function. Market forces should weed out ineffective training programmes because they aren’t subsidised.
Another hot area of demand is data analytics skills. Many marketing executives I know are attending night courses on data analytics at their own expense.
Time is precious. If the courses are not useful, those undergoing training might quit after a few lessons and the take-up rate will fall.
But if the Government wants to encourage training providers to be sensitive to market demand, it’s worth considering tweaking the SkillsFuture framework to incentivise them to provide well-subscribed courses with good income growth.
LIFE-LONG LEARNING IS OXYGEN
Beyond ensuring training providers are driven by market forces, it’s critical to ingrain in our workforce a new growth mindset towards adopting new skills and ensure they are encouraged and supported to do so.
In Singapore, our unions are diversifying their value-add and shifting from worker representation to worker empowerment.
In Singapore’s new economy, which is increasingly driven by digitalisation and globalisation, employers need a flexible workforce that can learn new skills fast.
Singaporeans must understand that nobody owes us a living. Once you are employed, you must find ways to keep yourself useful.
To achieve progression, a worker must learn new skills to move to the next job, and build up his portfolio of knowledge. This can take place within the same company or institution.
Workers in Singapore’s CBD. (Photo: Sutrisno Foo)
In educational institutes of higher learning in Singapore, some economists have switched from teaching theory to teaching applied econometrics and data analytics.
If an executive remains on the same job for five years and what he does can be performed by a fresh graduate who is paid less, he might find himself at risk of losing the job or be forced to go back to apply for the entry-level job along with fresh graduates.
Imagine he has a housing mortgage, a child and other family responsibilities. How does he compete?
Once a person is caught in this vicious cycle, it can take so much more resources to help him out of his predicament, compared to if he had routinely upgraded his skills.
Workers must take matters into their own hands. Life-long learning is not a choice anymore but oxygen.
We can tweak how training institutes are funded but more importantly, we must make life-long learning into a way of life that we embrace instead of resent. Age cannot be an impediment.
I know of some medical professionals in their 60s who have started learning Traditional Chinese Medicine, including some academic professors. They may get a certificate but their main motivation is to stay ahead of the curve so that they can continue to look after themselves and their loves ones well.
There are abundant training opportunities in Singapore – whether employer-funded programmes, NTUC-backed courses, those offered by self-help groups and many more funded by the Government.
For publicly funded training programmes, there must be accountability. But there is only so much that the Government can do. Leaving the market to discipline training providers is the best approach.
Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung speaking to participants at a lifelong learning event where he unveiled details of the SkillsFuture Credit system. (Photo: Leong Wai Kit)
ONE MORE SUGGESTION
I’ll leave you with another example of how we can increase skin in the game for workers. Each citizen aged 25 and above in 2016 has been given a SkillsFuture account of S$500.
Instead of SkillsFuture funding payment for courses in full, it’s worth considering a co-payment model for the worker and his company, with a SkillsFuture credit dollar-to-dollar matching by the Government for some courses, so that they too have skin in the game and greater accountability when it comes to retraining.
That way, workers feel the pinch if the training course is not helpful. Companies will also be loath to send workers for training that do not yield productive results.
Dr Chew Soon Beng is a labour economist at NTU. He is also Senior Fellow at RSIS.
SINGAPORE: She has seen patients as young as one month old suffer from serious escalator-related injuries, such as to the head or spine.
And more than half of those who arrive at the hospital with injuries involving prams on escalators tend to be admitted, said Dr Sharon Goh from the Department of Emergency Medicine in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
“What can happen is that parents push their children onto the escalator while they’re still seated on the pram. And sometimes the seatbelts aren’t buckled. They might fall off the stroller,” she explained.
Parents may also underestimate the pram’s weight, and this can lead to prams toppling on the escalator, which can “cause a significant impact” when the child falls.
Dr Sharon Goh.
On average, one escalator accident takes place in Singapore almost every day. And of the 350-odd incidents reported last year, more than 90 per cent were caused by user behaviour, while the rest were down to technical faults.
At KKH’s emergency department, the number of escalator–related injuries among children more than doubled between 2012 and 2016. More than half of these injuries seen at the hospital occurred in shopping centres.
Escalators provide convenience, but with recent incidents — like the steps of an escalator collapsing at Tampines 1 mall — giving a bit of a scare, Talking Point finds out how dangerous our escalators are and whether people are using them wrongly. (Watch the episode here.)
A report in TODAY in September.
SOME RAN DOWN THE STEPS
There are nearly 7,000 escalators across Singapore, and issues surrounding their safety have become increasingly important.
Building and Construction Authority (BCA) director of investigation and enforcement Darren Lim pointed out that in 60 per cent of last year’s incidents, users had to be sent to hospital because of injuries.
“The most common (reasons) we see are those causing people to lose balance, for example not holding onto the handrail, carrying heavy objects, walking up the escalator steps and sometimes even leaning against the side of the escalator,” he said.
BCA director Darren Lim.
Of late, there have been instances of pram wheels getting stuck between the steps, causing the steps to dislodge and stopping the escalator altogether. Eight accidents last year involved prams, according to the BCA.
From its data, the BCA also found that more than half of the incidents involved those aged above 60, while another high-risk group were young children who put their feet against the side of the escalators.
“That can cause the shoes to get stuck in the gap. Sometimes even the toes can get stuck, and that can cause serious injuries,” said Lim.
To find out if people are aware of escalator safety, Talking Point host Steven Chia stationed himself at Compass One, a shopping centre in Sengkang, and observed how they use the escalators.
Steven Chia in position.
Within an hour, he noticed that many were not practising safe behaviour. He counted seven people on their phones, four running down the steps and three pushing their prams onto the escalator.
One mother confessed that she used to push a pram onto the escalator, even though she knew she was not supposed to, when her children were younger.
“Sometimes the lift takes a long time. And I think it’s because of inconsiderate people. They don’t have a pram, but they still prefer using the lift,” she explained.
IT’S ABOUT SELF-DISCIPLINE
Dr Christopher Cummings, an expert in understanding user behavior and risk communications, felt that part of the problem is that escalators are such a common technology that people take them for granted.
Dr Christopher Cummings.
By the time a child is five, he would have ridden escalators “hundreds of times”.
“So there’s no thought process about (the risks),” said the assistant professor of strategic communications at Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information.
“This is one of the few machines that we let children use all the time. We don’t let children drive cars, we don’t let many people use things that are considered heavy machinery. But that’s what this is.”
He also thought the warning stickers on escalators were small or contained too much information for people to bother reading.
Talking Point conducted an experiment by pasting huge stickers on the floor before users step onto the escalators at Compass One, to see if this will change behaviours.
A safety poster modified to create a floor sticker.
Cameras were set up to observe users, and after a day, it seemed that many people ignored the stickers, which advised parents not to push their prams onto the escalator.
Compass One general manager Sharon Tan, who has seen her fair share of escalator-related accidents in the mall, said that when shoppers want to get to their destination fast, they do not stop to think about the risks.
To the question of what can be done, she said: “It should be about self-discipline and how safely we want our journey to be. And hopefully, our shoppers can inculcate the value of safe use of escalators.”
NOT ALWAYS WELL MAINTAINED
In 2016, the BCA imposed strict new regulations to ensure that escalators are maintained every month and undergo annual inspections. And any incident involving a malfunction must be reported immediately. But have these new rules been effective?
Nexco Enterprise engineer Chan Chee Kong, a certified independent escalator inspector, said some escalators are not maintained properly.
“Most lift and escalator companies would have a checklist,” he said. “But (by) physically ticking off the checklist, does that mean that the work is being physically done? I’ve seen instances in my inspections (when) work isn’t being properly done.”
These include switches clogged with dirt, and rusty parts on the escalator.
There are 2,100 lift and escalator technicians in Singapore. It is estimated that half of them are over the age of 50. And within the next decade, this group may retire.
Escalator inspector Chan Chee Kong.
Without new blood, a smaller pool of technicians may be forced to work on more escalators every day, putting a strain on maintenance services.
KONE, a global escalator manufacturer, provides service crews to perform maintenance on their escalators. And its Asia-Pacific head of quality and safety Timo Skog agreed that not enough people are willing to enter the profession.
As for maintenance standards, he said “it’s an issue in any service industry”. And while escalators are “heavy-duty”, designed to withstand wear and tear, they can be damaged.
“Look at the escalator guidance: We have stickers that show … strollers (and) personal mobility devices can cause harm to people and can also damage the escalator,” he added.
“An escalator is a machine. If it’s used correctly, then it’s quite difficult to damage it.”
Watch this episode of Talking Point here. New episodes every Thursday at 9.30pm on Mediacorp Channel 5.
