SINGAPORE: “Aunty, (we are) not a supermarket. If you want to pick and choose, go to a supermarket,” said a food rescue volunteer in jest as she handed out free vegetables to the public on Friday (Sep 14).

It was SG Food Rescue’s third food wastage awareness drive – an event where they distribute “rescued” food items that are edible but were thrown out by suppliers.

About 800kg of food was given away to more than 200 members of the public in two hours from a room at the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) office on Maxwell Road. 

These were collected a day earlier from Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre by SG Food Rescue’s co-founder Daniel Tay and his volunteers. What they collect makes up only a small percentage of the roughly 2,000 tonnes of food thrown away daily.

READ: The man who finds treasure and the secret of happiness in the trash

The produce distributed are “perfectly edible” but were rejected by suppliers because they “don’t look nice”, he said.

Mr Tay said they already have programmes where leftover fresh produce is distributed to low-income families through charity organisations.

However, these programmes do little to raise awareness of how much food waste there is, Mr Tay said.

“We wanted to target a different audience – one that normally buys food at supermarkets. We want to show them that all these food that they normally buy are thrown away and to get them to ask questions like why are all these good quality food being thrown away,” Mr Tay said.

On offer were 15 varieties of fruit and vegetables such as zucchinis, french beans, cabbage, lettuce, onions, passion fruit and oranges.

“A lot of waste takes place before they even get to the shelves and all these would have never made it to the supermarket shelves,” he added.

MAKING THE VEGETABLES PRESENTABLE

About 50 to 80 per cent of the food collected is salvageable, said Mr Tay. His volunteers go through the produce and toss out or cut off parts that are mouldy or rotten.

For their latest rescue mission, the group received free sacks of onions but there were some rotten onions thrown into the mix. It took the volunteers several hours of sorting to prepare them for the public giveaway.

“Some onions were mushy and wet on its outer layers. So we used knives to peel off the outer layers, revealing their pristine insides,” he said. 

While the group took time and effort to trim the onions, business owners may just toss these seemingly spoilt onions out because it is more cost effective, Mr Tay said.

VEGETABLES IN “VERY GOOD CONDITION”

Ms Andrea Haw, who works in the Central Business District, was the first in line at the distribution drive. 

“I cook so I was interested to help out in the initiative by joining in this movement to reduce food wastage. Most of the vegetables are still in very good condition. It’s just that they don’t get sold in a supermarket,” said Ms Haw. 

Those who wanted to get the vegetables had to bring their own bags and they get only four minutes to collect any fresh produce to help the queue move quickly.

Ms Shirley Goh travelled from her home in Jurong to take a look at the vegetables, in particular, the french beans.

“When I saw the photo of the french beans posted on Facebook, I wanted to come down because I love french beans. When you buy from the market, you only get a small bunch for S$1.50. If I can get fill half my shopping bag, I think I can save S$20,” she said. 

Ms Goh added that it will benefit more people and increase awareness of food wastage if Mr Tay’s food rescue market moves around Singapore.

Ms Tan Soke Kiang, a cleaner who works nearby, said it was her second time at the distribution drive.

“I came to queue during my lunch time for my foreign colleagues. They are Malaysians and quite poor. So I just came to get some vegetables for them to help them out. I don’t cook at all because I’m by myself, so it’s all for them,” Madam Tan said.

SINGAPORE: Red Bull enjoyed a welcome return to the top of the timesheets after a few quiet races with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen setting the fastest times in the first practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday (Sep 14). 

The demanding Marina Bay Street Circuit has traditionally favoured the Red Bulls and Ferraris, so it was no surprise to see the Italian team’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen clock the next quickest times.

Mercedes, meanwhile, opted for a different strategy, deciding not to use the fastest “hypersoft” tyre compound throughout the session, making it difficult to fully assess championship leader Lewis Hamilton’s sixth-place finish.

Ricciardo has failed to finish the last two grands prix since Formula One returned from its summer break but the Australian again showed his street circuit prowess by clocking one minute, 39.711 seconds in the baking Singapore sun.

Dutchman Verstappen lapped in 1:39.912 to edge out Vettel by 85 thousandths of a second but the German will be looking to improve over the weekend as he seeks to eat into Hamilton’s 30-point championship lead with seven rounds remaining.

The session started in the mid-afternoon with the dusty, bumpy circuit difficult to navigate for drivers in conditions far removed from what they will experience when the lights on Sunday night.

Mercedes have already stated that they expect Ferrari and Red Bull to prove a handful over the weekend with team principal Toto Wolff explaining that they had used the first of three practice sessions to gauge the soft compound tyres.

“We were running a completely different programme to the other teams. We didn’t run the hyper and concentrated on long runs for this session,” Wolff told Sky Sports.

“We need to attack and be flat out in the next sessions.”

Renault also enjoyed an encouraging afternoon as Nico Hulkenburg finished fifth, ahead of Hamilton, with his team mate Carlos Sainz crossing the line seventh fastest, ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes.

Sauber’s Charles Leclerc continued to show the sort of form that encouraged Ferrari to sign him as Raikkonen’s replacement for next season by finishing ninth but his afternoon ended on a sour note when he crashed into a wall at Turn 13.

The 20-year-old apologised to his team on the radio as he left his car stranded in an escape road with two minutes left in the session, a sight that will disappoint his future employers, who will hope he does not make similar mistakes next season.

SINGAPORE: A total of 152 offenders were caught for duty-unpaid cigarettes in a three-day operation by Singapore Customs, the agency said on Friday (Sep 14). 

The offenders were issued with composition sums that ranged from S$500 to S$1,200, with about 170 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized. 

The operation was conducted on Sep 10, 11 and 13 and carried out in commercial areas, industrial estates, housing estates and a foreign workers’ dormitory. 

The operation was supported by the Singapore Police Force and the dormitory operator, Singapore Customs said in a Facebook post.

“We are committed to working alongside Singapore Customs and we appreciate their strong support and collaboration in taking a strong stand against the possession of contraband items, which are not permitted in our dormitory and in Singapore,” said Mr Syvester Henry, operations manager of S11 Granuity Management, whose dormitory was involved in the second day of the operation.​​​​​​​

The composition sum for a first-time offender who has up to one packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes in his possession is S$500. 

Heavier penalties will apply if he is found with more than one packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes and/or if he is a repeat offender.

SINGAPORE: The River Safari’s giant panda couple Kai Kai and Jia Jia celebrated hitting the double-digits on Friday (Sep 14) with bamboo cakes, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) said in a media release.

However, there’s still no sign of a panda baby as an attempt at artificial insemination this year did not result in a pregnancy. 

Male panda Kai Kai turned 11 on Friday, while female bear Jia Jia turned 10 on Sep 3. Giant pandas in captivity have been known to live beyond their 20s.

The 1.2m-tall cakes, made out of bamboo and topped with apples and carrots, collectively weighed about 17kg.

“Kai Kai and Jia Jia love getting treats, and we love spoiling them!” said Halim Ali, assistant curator at the River Safari.

“I’ve cared for the duo since they arrived in Singapore six years ago. They are like family to the team of keepers,” he added.

READ: No mating for Kai Kai and Jia Jia this year, as keepers turn to artificial insemination

READ: Third time unlucky: No baby yet for giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia

The two pandas, which are on loan to Singapore from the Chinese government for 10 years, arrived in Singapore in 2012.

They reached mating age in 2015 but three previous attempts at natural mating failed to produce baby pandas.

Both bears entered their fourth mating season in April earlier this year, and the veterinary team decided to only employ artificial insemination to secure the best semen quality from Kai Kai. 

As giant pandas have delayed implantation, a pregnancy cannot be determined until the later part of the panda’s gestation period.

Earlier this week, it was determined that the artificial insemination attempt was unsuccessful, although Jia Jia displayed increased moodiness and longer naps – signs of a possible pregnancy or pseudo-pregnancy, WRS said.

SINGAPORE: In the black comedy Horrible Bosses, three friends conspire to murder their overbearing, abusive bosses and hilarity ensues. 

Movie goers might view the film as a satire on relationships. It is certainly easy to see the scenes of workplace harassment and the murderous plot it ultimately inspires as rather extreme.  

Nonetheless, workplace aggression is a serious issue, can take many forms and its effects on organisations is only just beginning to be understood.

INCIVILITY AND LOW-LEVEL MISTREATMENT

According to a 2011 survey by a global jobs portal, 64 per cent of more than 16,000 workers polled around the world said they had been bullied and were either physically hurt, driven to tears, or had their work performance affected as a result. 

Yet there are also other forms of workplace mistreatment, less overt than bullying or physical abuse, which can be highly damaging. 

With demands increasing for more cross-team collaboration within and outside the workplace to enhance connectivity and hence productivity, employees seldom work in silos. 

As these pressures grow, interactions between staff can give rise to friction. Without checks and balances, even seemingly minor acts of incivility, such as ignoring a co-worker persistently, rudeness or disregard for others, can cause some surprising negative effects. 

When individuals are singled out and treated with incivility, they may feel stressed, blame themselves or withdraw from social interactions, according to a recent study we undertook with colleagues at Oregon State University. 

However, when the mistreated individual shares the same bad experience with a colleague, the impact of the harm is diminished. 

A SMALL EXPERIMENT WITH SURPRISING RESULTS

As email is a common form of workplace exchange within the workplace, we devised an experimental online game scenario in which some 240 individuals were asked to interact with other users on a small creative project using an email system. 

The game was designed to place participants on the receiving end of low-level bullying behaviour, or witness another participant being mistreated. However, unknown to the participants, the other members of their assigned teams were actually computer-generated avatars.

Individuals in the game nearly always blamed themselves when faced with aggressive behaviour. However, the extent of self-blame diminished when individuals experienced such behaviour as part of a group. 

While the shared experience makes it less stressful, it can also result in larger consequences.

The results suggest individuals take cues from how they view others being treated and that can impact their workplace performance, creativity and helpfulness towards others. 

READ: Address ragging but remember to also tackle workplace bullying, a commentary

Targets of incivility who were ignored, undermined in front of others, or experienced abusive supervision tend to have difficulty recalling information and are more distracted at work.

These in turn can have a significant impact on an organisation’s overall productivity and morale. 

INTERVENTIONS NEEDED

As workplaces become more interdependent, it is imperative for employers, supervisors and co-workers to pick up on tell-tale signs before real damage is done. 

However, more often than not, little action is taken – perhaps because of a lack of awareness among employers over ways to monitor and prevent such behaviour.

In Singapore, for example, the Ministry of Manpower’s tripartite advisory group guideline on Managing Workplace Harassment noted a myth of workplace harassment – that many believe it is a matter of personal relationships, and not for employers to intervene in.  

This myth suggests that conflicts of a personal relationship are nearly always met with little or no intervention by employers or HR staff. 

Yet there are effective steps employers can take. To curb bullying behaviour within the workplace, firms can formalise work policies and build in intervention mechanisms to reduce or prevent incivility. 

A first step would include clearly defining what constitutes uncivil acts in the workplace. From there, firms can devise training programmes for employees about incivility, to be incorporated into performance appraisals. 

Knowing what to look out for, supervisors can periodically review the tone used in their team’s interpersonal interactions and communications. 

Being alert to uncivil verbal or written interactions would help identify specific areas for mediation in a timely manner. 

MANAGERS MUST BE PARTNERS IN THIS ENDEAVOUR

Second, firms should encourage managers to intervene and point out inappropriate behaviour when they arise. It is important for top management to lead by example, and managers should be reminded not to “close one eye” when they observe employees behaving uncivilly to each other.

Yet managers may be aware of uncivil episodes between staff. Individuals may behave uncivilly to single targets in private, even though some may publicly lash out at multiple people. 

Third, simple prompts and reminders for civil exchange could be built into organisations’ internal messaging systems to curb incivility before it begins. These intervention mechanisms will help employees refrain from blaming themselves, and reduce other harmful effects caused by mistreatment.

In order to curtail incivility, more organisations need to emphasise civil behaviour in their HR policies. Given the mild character of uncivil workplace behaviour, targets, perpetrators, bystanders and leaders should intervene early, instead of dismissing it. This will help build more cohesive and productive work environments for everyone.

Ultimately, bad behaviour can be curbed if there is support from top management. 

Sandy Lim is Associate Professor in the department of Management and Organisation at the  National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. 

SINGAPORE: A smart waste collection system that has been rolled out in Tampines and Pasir Ris is able to send out alerts when they are nearly full, in a move that is expected to improve efficiency in the industry. 

It is the first such system in Singapore, and will be rolled out progressively islandwide by public waste collectors when the National Environment Agency (NEA) calls new tenders between next year and 2021.

This means waste collectors will have the option of collecting refuse every two days if the bins are not full, instead of having to do so daily.

The smart system uses sensors to track how much waste is in the compactors in the bin centres. 

Once the compactor is three-quarters full, an alert will automatically be sent to the operations team.

Another notification is sent when the compactor is full, at which time a collection crew will pick up the refuse for disposal.

Currently, the system is used only by 800 Super, which is one of four public waste collectors in Singapore.

800 Super has installed sensors at 52 bin centres in Pasir Ris and Tampines since July, and will soon be doing so at 26 more locations in Bedok, after it was awarded an NEA contract earlier this year.

To ensure public hygiene, officers from 800 Super work with town councils to conduct routine checks. 

According to the company, the system helps to reduce the number of refuse collection trips.

“In the past, we had to collect the refuse from the compactor every day and sometimes the bins wouldn’t even be full,” said operation manager Ivan Kwek.

“Now, we collect the refuse every two days, or when it gets full before that,” he said. 

But when Channel NewsAsia went down to a bin centre in Simei, the residents had mixed reactions.

Mr Andy Chan, 51, said: “There’s improvement in this area here. Previously, there was some stench.”

But another preferred to have more regular refuse collection.

“For hygiene purposes, I think this should be done every day,” said 66-year-old Michael Wee.

In response to queries, NEA said that the new system will not lead to higher domestic refuse collection fees.

Currently, the monthly rubbish collection fee is set at S$8.25 for apartments – including HDB flats and condominiums that have not opted out of the public waste collection scheme – and S$27.47 for landed homes.

The fees are reviewed on a regular basis, and the next review is scheduled for Jan 1 next year.

SINGAPORE: When around 20 personal mobility device (PMD) retailers shuffled out of a meeting with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Thursday (Sep 13) afternoon, there was an air of resignation.

The retailers, who are part of the PMD Retailers Association of Singapore, were invited by LTA to discuss the recent announcement that all motorised PMDs must conform with UL2272 fire safety standards by 2021.

The requirement has drawn criticism from retailers and users, as it would render around 90 per cent of the e-scooters in the Singapore market illegal in less than three years, according to Mr Eugene Ng, a spokesperson for Falcon PEV, a big PMD industry player.

READ: Users, retailers blast new PMD fire safety rule

Channel NewsAsia understands that LTA arranged meetings with some of the PMD retailers in Singapore on Thursday, and will speak to the remaining retailers on Friday morning at its office in Sin Ming Drive.

One retailer who attended the meeting on Thursday, Motocycle’s owner Leong TK, told Channel NewsAsia that he was hoping for an opportunity to air his concerns. But according to him and fellow retailers Channel NewsAsia spoke to, there was little room for reconsideration on the fire safety criterion. 

“The (UL2272) requirement is already set in stone, it will commence from 2021. The meeting we had was just a formality, a discussion to tell us what we have to do as retailers,” said Mr Leong.

He added that the sales of e-scooters from Motocycle has ceased completely since the announcement for the fire safety criterion was made in Parliament on Monday.

“All sales have been held back. Of course, as retailers we want to sell, but how can we sell these PMDs and tell our customers they can only use it for two years,” Mr Leong said.

Jay, general manager for Kernel Scooter, said retailers will have to find ways to comply with the requirements.

“We have to embrace it,” he said with a sigh. “From the customers’ point of view, they’re buying something that has an expiry date … but we have to get our scooters certified. Otherwise, it will be very hard to survive.” 

READ: All motorised PMDs must meet fire safety standards by 2021

Another retailer who declined to be identified told Channel NewsAsia that the briefing was “merely a dissemination of information”.

“We raised the point that UL 2272 is not an international standard. It’s from a privately owned US company – Underwriters Laboratories, and the cost for certification is higher than European standards. That’s why I’m angry,” he said.

PETITION PREPARED, LETTER SENT TO MP 

Mr Ng of Falcon PEV told Channel NewsAsia that 12 retailers have signed a petition to protest the UL 2272 fire safety standard imposed by the Government, and ask that authorities reverse their decision.

The petition reads: “We the stakeholders of the PMD Industry and representing the PMD Retailers in Singapore, hereby DISAGREE with the UL2272 Safety Compliance Standard proposed on Sep 10 in Parliament and seek the relevant authorities to review this proposal.”

According to Mr Ng, more retailers will likely sign the petition before it is presented to authorities on Friday. 

Additionally, the PMD Retailers Association of Singapore posted on Facebook a copy of a letter addressed to Member of Parliament Faisal Ibrahim, who is also chairman of the Active Mobility Advisory Panel. 

The letter acknowledged that there was a need for a PMD safety standard, but stated that UL2272 has a high cost of implementation and is difficult to apply to devices in Singapore which are mostly manufactured in China. 

Mr Ng further explained that the batteries on motorised PMDs are the causes of most fires, but UL2272 is a safety standard for the whole system – including the wires and motors. 

“But is that really a must?” he said. “What’s the cost incurred in looking at the entire system when the whole system may not be a contributing factor?” he said.

“This requirement, simply put, blows things out of proportion.”