SINGAPORE: Arranging and checking layouts for art works, corporate banners and signages before sending them for printing have been Ms Cheang Meng Ching’s key responsibilities as a desktop publisher for the past 10 years.
But since May, her keen eye for detail has been put to quite different tasks at work.
Instead of going over page layouts on her design software, Ms Cheang now keeps tabs on three production lines that can each churn out 4,000 surgical masks an hour, as part of her role in quality-control documentation.
“It’s (a) challenge because I didn’t know anything about ISO (standards) before this,” she said.
The big change came as her employer, AVS Technologies, decided to start producing masks out of its office in Ubi – something which had little to do with the company’s primary business of distributing printing equipment and providing printing services such as 3D printing.
Other employees at the local firm have also had to step into vastly different job roles in recent months, from running the machines, checking the masks produced to packing them.
The company has three mask manufacturing machines. This shows a machine for adult face masks. (Photo: Tang See Kit)
“We trained everyone – all 30 of them in accounting, graphic design, marketing, sales and administration – to go into mask production,” said AVS Technologies’ general manager Kelvin Mun.
“When we started, it was quite tough and there were days when we had to activate almost everyone,” he recalled. “But now, we are able to keep the team lean so at any one time, it’s a variation of four to 10 people from the different teams.”
Mr Mun himself has been handling customer service. “This is brand new to us so the best way to learn, I think, is to get feedback from our customers.”
WHY MAKE MASKS
It was in February when the company began toying with the idea of setting up a mask production line.
“All of us were having problems getting masks. There was a real need here,” said Mr Mun, recalling how retail stores were out of surgical masks and various countries had begun implementing export controls on medical supplies as the coronavirus outbreak developed.
Another push factor came in the form of being able to tap the expertise of Aztech Group, a separate company with whom it shares the same owner. Aztech is owned by Mr Mun’s father, Michael Mun.
“Through (their) office in China, it was possible for them to help us procure all the equipment for mask manufacturing,” said the younger Mun. “That was when we thought, ‘Why don’t we do something to support local needs?’”
The decision was made in mid-April, and the company received its first machine and raw materials two weeks later.
While taking the first step seemed relatively smooth-sailing, the company paid quite a steep price.
In particular, prices for the melt-blown polypropylene – the non-woven polymer fabric that forms the filter in face masks – had multiplied on the back of global demand. Mr Mun said the company had likely bought the crucial material at prices up to 10 times higher than when the pandemic began.
“It’s like a stock market and the prices just kept going up in March, April and hit the peak in May. We had to go in to purchase the materials quickly, which means we purchased them at the peak (prices),” he recalled.
Together with two machines – one to make smaller face masks for children – which it purchased later, AVS Technologies invested about S$1 million to kickstart its mask production.
CHALLENGES
The machines, placed in a refurbished room which used to be a showroom for printers, make a humming sound as large reels of materials run through them.
The materials are first layered together before they are cut, inserted with metal nose wires into the front, the corners stamped and ear loops welded all along the fully-automated line. Workers stand at the end of the line to run quick product checks before placing the masks into plastic boxes.
These days, operations are fairly smooth and at full speed, one machine can produce about 30,000 masks in a day’s shift, said Mr Mun.
AVS Technologies, whose primary business is in distributing printing equipment and providing printing services, ventured into producing face masks in May. (Photo: Tang See Kit)
But as with all new ventures, mistakes were inevitable at the start.
Mr Mun recalled some batches that were not welded properly, resulting in ear loops falling off easily.
“There were many mechanical parts in play (and) new technologies like ultrasonic welding, that we never used before. (The masks) seemed ok when we tested them but that was because we were pulling about 10 at a time, instead of one at a time. We realised it too late and (they) were already delivered to the customers,” he told CNA.
The company later did an exchange for these masks – about 4,000 pieces, which it later discarded. After which, the team refined its checking process.
Mr Mun noted that checking and packing were the “bottlenecks” of the production process, especially when orders built up towards the end of May before the “circuit breaker” was lifted.
“Apart from those conducting the checks before packing, the person running the machine must also be very sharp to identify the problems,” he said. “The pressure can be quite high.”
An employee of AVS Technologies seen checking the surgical masks and packing them into boxes. (Photo: Tang See Kit)
To assure customers about the reliability of its masks, AVS Technologies has obtained a licence from the Health Sciences Authority. Its brand of surgical masks, called WellM, also has the European Union approval, otherwise known as a CE mark.
Test reports of its masks are also available on its website.
“We spent time and effort on all these tests to make sure that people buying know that our masks are safe,” said Mr Mun. “We are not making cheap products and trying to make money out of this pandemic.”
DIVERSIFICATION?
Since starting production in May, the company said it has sold about 2 million masks. It has also added face shields and hand sanitisers to its repertoire more recently.
All of its products are currently sold via its website, with deliveries being made by taxi drivers who wish to earn extra income.
As part of its next step, the company has begun selling its masks to Canada and Malaysia, with other markets such as United States and Europe next on its list.
The company sells its surgical masks through its website and is looking to venture into overseas markets. (Photo: Tang See Kit)
Asked if making masks could be a key part of its business moving forward, Mr Mun said prices of surgical masks have retreated globally. Given that the company is still using raw materials that it bought when prices were at the peak, it has been hard for the new local brand to compete with much bigger foreign brands in terms of price.
“Prices of face masks have been coming down so I don’t think this can be sustainable in the long term given the cost to produce in Singapore … but we will not give it up though.
“We will look at maintaining at least one line in future; maybe not running every day but any time we need to press the panic button, we are ready to start producing.”
Mr Mun noted that the company’s printing business has been affected by the cancellations of major events and trade shows.On whether the company should have saved for rainy days instead of making the hefty investment into mask-making, he said: “I know if we were to go through the usual business processes of whether to do or not, it wouldn’t have made sense because it’s quite high risk.
“But we are generally still ok so we’ll like to think that this is an opportunity to build up additional capabilities and also do our part to build up local production of masks at a time like this.”
Through the process, the company has picked up knowledge about the production of medical equipment, which it is hoping could complement its more advanced capabilities in printing.
“Now that we know the requirements of making medical equipment, we are trying to link what we have learnt back to our expertise in printing, which consists of 3D printing and milling engineering … and see if we can explore any opportunities in medical manufacturing,” said Mr Mun.
“The Government has made it very clear that … businesses need to really think about diversifying.”
More importantly, it said it has received positive feedback about its masks.
“Some customers wrote back to tell us that their kids loved the masks and they were easy to breathe in,” said Mr Mun. “Reviews like these make us happy and accomplished.”
SINGAPORE: Cars have long been part of the Singapore dream. In a small country measuring about 50km from east to west, many spend an inordinate amount of their disposable incomes on private automobiles.
So integral have this been to our idea of success and upward mobility, it even became part of a widely known acronym – the five Cs of cash, credit card, car, condominium and country club membership.
Even stratospheric Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices pushing car costs to more than five times higher than Australia, China and the United States has done little to dull demand. Neither has the increasingly undeniable climate conversation made a notable dent.
Today, there are nearly 1 million vehicles for our 5.8 million population. With one in six Singaporeans owning a vehicle, traffic jams had been daily affairs.
Cars parked at Holland Village’s carpark. (Photo: Tan Si Hui)
That was until early this year, when some of the most congested expressways suddenly cleared up. For the first time in more than 20 years, all Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries were suspended for months.
Did COVID-19 and social distancing finally change our relationship with cars?
A GREEN REPRIEVE
It would seem so at first. During Singapore’s circuit breaker, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) reported as much as a 60 per cent drop in traffic volume. With 10 million daily trips before the pandemic, this means we made six million fewer trips each day.
As virtual meeting spaces replaced physical ones, and Zoom closed physical distances, congested roads quickly cleared up. Daily commutes for many were reduced to the ten steps it takes to walk from the living room to the work desk.
A laptop and other work from home items are seen on a table. (File photo: Unsplash/Christopher Gower)
Social media was atwitter with this “green recovery”. It was one of the few silver livings of the otherwise devastating pandemic, people said.
And they were not wrong. Transportation is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions globally, contributing 14 per cent. Road vehicles account for 72 per cent of global transport emissions.
As economic activities ceased or slowed with lockdowns and restrictions, including many cars left unused for days on end, air quality around the world improved remarkably.
From Delhi to Shanghai, people enjoyed clearer skies and better views. More were walking and cycling, with sales of personal bikes going up and bike-sharing companies reporting an increase in ridership since COVID-19 hit Singapore.
Fresh air was not the only benefit. As it is, our 9,000 land-km of roads and expressways make up 12 per cent of total land usage in Singapore, on par with housing.
In land-scarce Singapore, it would be difficult to build more roads to accommodate a growing demand for private transportation.
The reduction in car usage and traffic congestion would enable Singapore to reserve land for other needs, such as housing, business parks, amenities and recreation than already envisaged in the URA Master Plan.
WILL THIS CHANGE BE SHORT-LIVED?
Yet history suggests that this change may not last.
While this coronavirus collapse has been widely acknowledged to have few if any comparable precedents, the global financial crisis in 2008 also caused a significant but temporary global drop in emissions, only to be followed by a rebound.
An ERP gantry in Singapore.
Indeed, as Singapore emerged from the circuit breaker and moved into Phase 2 of a “new normal”, car usage started to increase again, prompting the reintroduction of the ERP at specific gantries from Jul 27 to manage congestion.
As people started going further for meals and fresh air, cars came to become valued as mobile safe distancing units, offering the safety of sheltering-in-place, and the freedom of mobility within Singapore.
Family friends with cars, especially those with vulnerable elderly and young children, expressed newfound appreciation for their cars, for reducing the risk of exposure to the virus from public transport, never mind that transmission on public transport hasn’t showed up in local cases, or that cleaning on MRT trains and buses along with anti-microbial coating have been vigorously applied.
In fact, a global survey of 6,000 people conducted in June by American management consultancy Oliver Wyman, found out of the 459 Singapore-based respondents that 22 per cent were “less willing” to take buses and trains and 39 per cent were “more willing” to commute by car.
It seems the pandemic may have unexpectedly enhanced the perception of cars as symbols of freedom, privacy, mobility and safety.
And when the virus, recession and restrictions are over, perhaps we will see a reversion to usage to pre-COVID levels and even an increase in car demand over public transport, eroding environmental gains made during this period.
REINVENTING THE WAY WE LIVE
All this suggests that it takes more than a global pandemic to effect lasting change. While COVID-19 has been a useful reset button, deeper changes are required for positive effects to last.
In essence, our relatively inelastic demand for cars and notorious car prices may come down to two things – cars are viewed as both items of necessity and luxury as well as a status symbol for many.
To make a dent in demand, the first step is to reduce the perception that a car is a necessity.
This has already been set in motion with the 2015 Sustainable Singapore Blueprint, a 15-year plan to enhance public transport, cycling, walking and car-sharing services.
Singapore already has high levels of public transport ridership, with these numbers expected to rise in tandem with the MRT line expansion of more than 50 per cent by the early 2030s.
Still, strategies to improve the infrastructure to make walking and cycling a better last-mile mode of transport could also help.
This includes the S$1 billion investment to triple Singapore’s cycling path network by 2030 announced by then-Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min in March. More pedestrian shelters for comfortable walking in hot weather will make a difference as well.
Other useful policy changes include LTA’s zero vehicle growth rate policy for all private passenger cars (Categories A and B) and motorcycles (Category D) implemented in February 2018, as well as the introduction of Singapore’s first car-free HDB town centre – Tengah.
With roads designed to run beneath the town centre, large swathes of open spaces can be freed up for safe and stress-free walking, cycling and other recreational activities.
If more companies continue to offer remote working options post-COVID, this could also go a long way towards reducing the sheer number of trips we take.
Indeed, redesigning our living and working spaces may be more effective in reframing our need and love affair with cars that may provide a stronger impetus for people to make the change than high COE prices.
Office workers at Raffles Place on Jun 2, 2020. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
That said, policy changes may only go so far. What Singapore needs is a meaningful mindset change.
With our global citizens of today more focused experiential pursuits, should we continue to view car ownership as a key yardstick of personal success, or spend weekends washing them?
If more thought leaders emerge to champion other modes of transportation such as biking, walking or simply using public transport, and channeling resources towards more meaningful pursuits and achievements, that might perhaps help shift public perception.
And perhaps in the not too distant future, we might finally see cars for what they are – as functional commodities rather than symbols; and as simply one mode of transportation among many that should not add undue burden to our personal, national and environmental resources.
SINGAPORE: Ms Simpen, 49, who goes by one name and has worked as a domestic helper in Singapore for 13 years, was among those in the Indonesian community here who were cheered by the news of the acquittal of their compatriot, Ms Parti Liyani. “She did not do anything wrong so it is good she is not going to jail,” said Ms Simpen.
Ms Parti, 46, had earlier been found guilty by a district judge of stealing S$34,000 worth of items from her employer, former Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong, and his family. She was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail.
But on appeal, her conviction and sentence for four counts of theft were overturned by the High Court on Sep 4, with Justice Chan Seng Onn ruling that the district court had failed to consider several points, and that Mr Liew and his son had an “improper motive” in accusing Ms Parti of theft back in 2016.
Reacting to the news, another Indonesian domestic helper, Ms Dewi Cahyani, 33, said she was not only happy for Ms Parti but also proud that a fellow Indonesian had stood up for herself. Ms Dewi added that she doubted that she would be able to do the same if she were in Ms Parti’s shoes.
Though they are from a different country, several Filipino domestic workers based in Singapore spoken to similarly applauded Ms Parti for her courage.
“I salute her,” said Ms Grecilda Capopez, 47, who has worked here for 21 years. “She is a very brave woman to fight for herself. I think some maids in her position will just give up.”
Apart from being an inspiration, Ms Parti’s protracted journey to clear her name also resonated with the foreign workers interviewed as they worry about the possibility of being accused of a crime they did not commit.
Earlier this week, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said government agencies are looking into what “went wrong” in the chain of events that led to Ms Parti being found guilty of stealing.
Mr Shanmugam added: “We have to find out what happened, why it happened and then deal with it. And be accountable. That’s the best way to build trust … in the system. To come out in public and say what steps we have taken once the reviews are done.”
Mr Bilal Khan, 28, who is a construction site supervisor, said it is very sad that a migrant worker has to go through such an ordeal.
“(Migrant workers) also have their own families. If something happens here, he or she suffers and the family suffers too,” he said.
Parti Liyani speaking at a press conference after she was acquitted of stealing S$34,000 from Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong and his family.
Indeed, Ms Parti’s conviction and subsequent acquittal have also shone the spotlight on the challenges that migrant workers here could face in getting access to justice when they are in legal trouble.
Checks with lawyers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) revealed the same thorny issues: Migrant workers often face difficulties obtaining legal representation and struggle with language barriers when navigating the legal system. Compounding the situation, they have to cope with a loss of income – and the added anxiety – while waiting for their case to conclude, which could take years.
Sometimes, these workers also do not know who they can turn to for help, or what they are up against, as pointed out by Mr Anil Balchandani, Ms Parti’s defence lawyer, in a recent interview with migrant rights group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME). The NGO had provided support for Ms Parti during her trial, which stretched over four years.
When asked if they know who they could turn to for help should they be accused of a crime, most of the foreign workers interviewed said they will seek help from their respective foreign embassies, as that was what they had been told to do before they arrived to work in Singapore.
Otherwise, they said they would seek help from the local authorities – be it the police or the Ministry of Manpower – if they find themselves accused of a crime. Apart from these, most of them said they are not aware of any other channels that they can seek help from.
As of December last year, Singapore has about 261,800 foreign domestic workers and 293,300 foreign construction workers.
An issue that surfaced repeatedly in interviews with NGOs and lawyers is the difficulties migrant workers face in securing legal representation when they are accused of a crime.
As low-wage earners with limited means, these workers by and large can only afford to engage a lawyer on a pro bono basis.
Some workers can turn to their embassies to seek legal aid as such consular support is provided for them.
They can also turn to NGOs such as HOME, Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) and the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (FAST), which can assist them in finding pro bono legal representation.
But the NGOs said that it is not always easy for them to find a lawyer who is willing to take on a case free of charge.
Usually, their first course of action is to help the migrant worker apply for the Law Society Pro Bono Services’ Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS), which provides assistance to individuals who are facing non-capital offences and are unable to afford a lawyer.
However, it is not guaranteed that a worker will be able to secure a lawyer through the scheme as CLAS only covers offences under certain statutes, and applicants have to undergo means-testing and merits-testing.
Means-testing involves a set of tests that government agencies use to see if someone applying for financial aid meets the criteria, such as their income and annual value of their homes.
Merits-testing assesses, among other things, whether the applicant has reasonable grounds for defending his or her case in court
Mr Alex Au, vice-president of migrant worker rights group TWC2, said in his experience, about half of the applications that the NGO helps workers to submit are rejected.
A migrant worker looks on in a construction site in Singapore on Aug 20, 2020. (AFP/Roslan RAHMAN)
Similarly, Ms Seira Ong, a senior executive from FAST’s befrienders and volunteer management arm, said that quite a number of the domestic workers whom they helped to apply for the scheme had also been turned down.
She added that the paperwork needed also serves as a challenge for the workers, as some of them are unable to recall the annual value of their houses back in their homeland, for example.
In response to queries, the Law Society Pro Bono Services office said migrant workers who are unable to attain legal representation through CLAS may still seek help under its Ad Hoc Pro Bono Assistance Scheme (AHPBS).
However, AHPBS only accepts referrals and all applicants must still undergo means- and merits-testing.
About 15 to 20 per cent of the cases approved under CLAS and AHPBS involved migrant workers, said the Law Society Pro Bono Services office.
In 2018 and 2019, it received about 650 applications for CLAS from foreigners, of which 300 people were granted legal aid.
In 2019, the office said it received 98 referrals for AHPBS, of which 15 involved migrant workers. Assistance was granted to five workers.
For unsuccessful applicants, the NGOs would then try to secure legal representation for the workers through their own network of lawyers and law firms that they have worked with before.
Some of the foreign embassies would also step in to help the workers in finding a lawyer, said Ms Ong.
A spokesperson for the Indonesian Embassy said it provides legal assistance to Indonesian migrant workers. The type of help rendered – be it legal advice or finding a lawyer to represent the worker – is decided on a case-by-case basis, the spokesperson added.
A Philippine Embassy spokesperson said it works with the Law Society Pro Bono Services office and Singapore law firms to provide legal representation to Filipino nationals who face legal problems here.
For Filipino domestic workers who do not qualify for CLAS but are financially capable of hiring a private lawyer, the embassy may also assist in finding a private counsel to advise or represent them.
Domestic workers in Singapore (File photo: TODAY)
Still, Mr Au said there have been instances where even after exhausting all options, TWC2 is not able to find a lawyer to represent a worker, who would then have to face legal proceedings unrepresented.
“We treat everybody as equal which is how the justice system should work, but we fail to recognise the reality that in fact people are not economically equal,” Mr Au added.
HELP IS THERE, BUT “NOT ENOUGH LAWYERS”
There are adequate channels for migrant workers to seek legal assistance from, said criminal lawyer Mohamed Muzammil Mohamed from Muzammil & Company, but the problem lies with the fact that the pool of criminal lawyers in Singapore is small.
We understand that there are 1,200 lawyers in Singapore who practise criminal law.
Lawyers interviewed said they also cannot take up every pro bono case that comes to them as they, too, face time constraints and have to consider the other cases that are on their plate.
“Just because it is a pro bono case does not mean we will pay less attention to the case and give more attention to the cases where we are paid,” said Mr Muzammil.
“Once you undertake a case, regardless of whether it’s pro bono or not, you have to give your heart and soul to it … You need someone who is prepared to go and do the work well.”
Ms Felicia Ong, a lawyer from Beacon Law Corporation, said a tremendous amount of work is involved in a criminal trial and appeal.
“Due to various constraints, not all lawyers, even if they are willing to take on a matter pro bono, would take on a trial or a case that is likely to take a couple of years to conclude,” said Ms Felicia Ong, who has assisted migrant workers in both civil and criminal cases.
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore (Photo: Jeremy Long)
When it comes to deciding whether to take on a pro bono case, Mr Sunil Sudheesan, who is the president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers of Singapore, said one major consideration for lawyers is whether the case will go to trial.
“‘Claim-trial’ cases inevitably involve a significant time commitment. Not everyone puts in the work that Anil (Ms Parti’s lawyer) did, pro bono or otherwise,” he said.
“So if a CLAS volunteer can afford the time, trial cases can be taken up. If not, the volunteer can help out in ‘plead-guilty’ cases where the time commitment is frequently less taxing.”
Ms Felicia Ong said her main considerations are whether she has experience in the area of work relating to the case and if she has the capacity to take it on.
“In my view, the same care and dedication given to the case of a paying client should be given to a pro bono one, so I would only take on a case which I am confident I can fully commit to,” she added.
While his firm takes on every case that an NGO refers to it, lawyer Melvin Chan from TSMP Law Corporation said the firm is particularly motivated to take on cases that will advance the law and have a multiplier effect.
“That way we not only help that one worker, but all the others that come after him or her,” said Mr Chan, who assists migrant workers with civil cases.
He cited a landmark case from 2018 involving Bangladeshi worker Hasan Shofiqul. Mr Hasan’s employer had inflated his job title in order to avoid paying him the overtime rates which he was entitled to.
The High Court had held that Mr Hasan, who was deployed as a site supervisor, is not an “executive” as defined under the Employment Act, and was therefore entitled to the pay rates for the rest days on which he worked.
“The case brought to light the practice of mislabelling employees or giving employees titles that may not reflect the true nature of their job scope in order to circumvent employment laws and regulations,” said Mr Chan.
The case also prompted the amendments to the Employment Act in 2019, added Mr Chan, which extended the core protections in the Act to all employees regardless of their pay and title – be it managerial or executive positions.
WHEN LANGUAGE BECOMES A BARRIER
Another challenge raised by NGOs and lawyers is the language barrier that migrant workers face when navigating a legal system that operates in English – a language many of these workers are not familiar with, or do not even understand.
Migrant workers would face the language problem even before their case reaches the court, such as when they are called to give a statement to the authorities.
While the police may have an interpreter present to assist the investigating officer with taking a statement from the worker, the interpreter may not always speak the same language or dialect as the worker. This could result in discrepancies in the statements.
For example, the NGOs and lawyers both raised cases where an Indonesian worker’s statement is taken in Malay, rather than Bahasa Indonesia.
While the similarity between the two languages means the officer and the worker can largely understand each other, some words have different meanings in the respective languages. As a consequence, the worker’s statements may be misrepresented.
The same goes for other languages such as Tamil, Hindi or Bengali.
TWC2’s Mr Au said very often, the Bengali translators in Singapore tend to speak Indian Bengali rather than Bangladeshi Bengali, which is slightly different.
Migrant workers in essential services wearing safety vests and face masks cross a street at Orchard Road, May 27, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)
Then, there are workers who speak languages for which it is difficult to find an interpreter.
Ms Seira Ong from FAST raised an example of a Sri Lankan worker who speaks Sinhalese and a limited amount of English.
When the investigating officer read her charges out to the worker in English, she “sort of knew but sort of did not know” what she was charged for. “She roughly gets the idea that she did something wrong, but she does not understand what each charge states because there are so many charges against her,” said Ms Seira Ong.
She added that it is important that migrant workers understand these minor details since a wrong interpretation or understanding of their charges and case proceedings will affect their course of action.
TSMP Law Corporation’s Mr Chan said the language barrier may also mean that the workers do not fully understand what they are being asked during an investigation. They may end up giving a confession even when they do not actually want to.
Agreeing, Mr Muzammil said it is vital that statements are taken accurately as they will invariably be used as evidence during a trial.
If the worker’s statements are poorly interpreted at this stage, the burden is then on the lawyer to prove during the trial what the worker had actually meant in his or her statement – and that is extremely challenging to do, he said.
These translation issues also persist in the courts, said Mr Muzammil, when the interpreters provided may not be skilled enough in either the worker’s native language or English to provide an accurate interpretation.
At times, this can come in the form of an interpreter either summarising or condensing what the worker says, rather than interpreting what he or she says word for word, he added.
It is therefore vital that the courts have certified language interpreters who are fluent in both the migrant worker’s native language and English, said Mr Muzammil, who stressed that a wrong interpretation could have an impact on the court’s decision.
In response to queries, the police said it will engage the services of an interpreter if the interviewee is unable to understand the language used by the interviewing officer or vice versa.
They added that interpretation services are available in the four official languages and other foreign languages including Bengali, Burmese, Bahasa Indonesia, Thai, Vietnamese and Tagalog.
Both the High Court and the State Courts said on their websites that they provide interpretation services to witnesses who do not understand or speak English upon request.
The State Courts provides interpretation services in:
– Chinese languages: Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese
– Malay languages: Malay, Javanese and Boyanese
– Indian languages: Tamil, Malayalam and Urdu
The High Court provides interpretation services in:
– Chinese languages: Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese
– Malay languages: Malay, Javanese and Boyanese
– Indian languages: Tamil and Malayalam
A digital handbook available on the High Court’s website states that individuals who do not speak English or the languages listed will have to engage a private interpreter. Fees may apply for civil cases while interpretation services are free for criminal cases.
In response to queries, a spokesperson for the State Courts said that it has a database of freelance foreign language interpreters to provide interpretation services to a witness or an accused person if required.
These are separate from the pool of in-house interpreters who provide interpretation services in the listed vernacular languages and common dialects.
It added that all court interpreters are “held to a high standard of proficiency”. Newly appointed interpreters are required to pass the Certification Examination for Professional Interpreters, which is conducted by the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
The foreign language interpreters engaged by the State Courts are also required to provide proof of their language certification and qualification before they can be appointed.
GRAPPLING WITH LOSS OF INCOME
In a statement released after the High Court’s ruling on Ms Parti’s case, advocacy group HOME said that migrant workers are often left waiting in Singapore while investigations are ongoing without any indication of how long the process might take.
Similarly, criminal proceedings also often take a long time to conclude, said Beacon Law Corporation’s Ms Felicia Ong.
During this period, the workers are not allowed to work. Without a source of income, they have to rely on NGOs to provide shelter, food and financial assistance.
In response to queries, a HOME spokesperson said it assesses carefully the financial needs of all the workers who approach the group for help.
The advocacy group added that its fundraising efforts are driven by these financial needs which they aim to meet.
File photo of a foreign domestic worker. (Photo: AFP)
HOME had earlier set up a fundraiser for Ms Parti to raise funds for her to set up a food business in Indonesia. In less than a day, it met its target by raising S$28,000.
Mr Shamsul Kamar, executive director of the Centre for Domestic Employees, said it supports these workers by providing them with shelter, food and by looking after their emotional well-being.
The centre also conducts regular activities and programmes such as basic literacy, tailoring and culinary courses so that the foreign domestic workers under their care remain engaged as they wait for their cases to conclude.
HOME said that Ms Parti had spent almost four years at its shelter while waiting for the conclusion of her case. She was not able to work or return home to see her family.
Given the circumstances, some foreign workers may choose to plead guilty even if they believe that they are innocent.
This is because the time that it would take for them to serve their sentence may be shorter than the time it would take for them to dispute the charges through the criminal justice process, said Ms Felicia Ong.
“Often their homesickness and the pressing need to provide for their families back home far outweigh their desire to seek justice for themselves,” added the lawyer.
Echoing this, Ms Seira Ong from FAST said the loss of income is uppermost in the minds of many domestic workers when they are embroiled in criminal investigations.
She added that in her experience, the domestic workers often come from big families where they are the sole breadwinners and hence, there is immense stress – emotionally and financially – to keep providing for their families.
“It’s quite unfortunate but we do see their point that they cannot afford to just stay in Singapore for god knows how long just to fight for their rights,” she said.
“OVERWHELMING” LEGAL PROCESS
Ms Felicia Ong said even when the workers are able to adequately overcome the language barriers, they may still struggle to grasp how the various proceedings fit into the whole legal process.
Many of them are easily overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety, confusion and helplessness when navigating the legal system.
A domestic worker whom the lawyer assisted a year ago cried at almost every meeting they had as the criminal justice process felt very foreign and daunting to her.
“Much time was spent reassuring her as well as explaining and repeating legal concepts and aspects of the criminal justice process to her,” Ms Felicia Ong said.
That is why she said pro bono lawyers like herself rely heavily on NGOs for the emotional, social and financial assistance that a worker may require during the process.
Emphasising the importance of the NGOs, Mr Balchandani said in his interview with HOME that the “real work” is done by the people from these organisations.
“That’s the real jawbreaker, the back-breaking activity, meeting with (the workers) every week, every month, giving them that hope that something good can happen,” said Mr Balchandani, who himself was commended by Justice Chan for putting in “a lot of effort” and showing “a lot of dedication in his work”.
Chiming in, Mr Sudheesan, too, acknowledged Mr Balchandani’s hard work, but noted that there are many other unsung heroes whose efforts have gone unnoticed.
“We must not forget that there are many others who toil away who do not get the outcomes their efforts deserve,” he said.
“So while we rightly celebrate Anil’s efforts, let’s not forget the numerous volunteers who continue fighting for the accused persons in order to provide access to justice.”
SINGAPORE: Two malls – Waterway Point in Punggol and Clementi Mall – were added to the list of public places visited by COVID-19 community cases during their infectious period, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday (Sep 13).
Tekka Centre was also added to the list, along with The Spread Cafe at the National University of Singapore Business School at 15 Kent Ridge Drive. The cafe was listed three times on separate days.
The new locations are as follows:
List of public places visited by COVID-19 cases in the community during the infectious period. (Table: Ministry of Health)
Those who have been identified as close contacts of confirmed cases would already have been notified by MOH.
As a precautionary measure, people who were at those locations during the specified timings should monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit, said MOH.
“They should see a doctor promptly if they develop symptoms of acute respiratory infection (such as cough, sore throat and runny nose), as well as fever and loss of taste or smell, and inform the doctor of their exposure history,” it added.
The ministry said there is no need for people to avoid places that have been visited by COVID-19 cases, and that the National Environment Agency will engage the management of the affected premises to provide guidance on cleaning and disinfection.
Singapore reported 49 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, including one in the community and eight imported infections.
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Videos of women selling dresses and pans were posted on former People’s Action Party’s candidate Victor Lye’s hacked Facebook account on Saturday morning (Sept 12) before the page was taken down.
Mr Lye, a grassroots leader who was in the losing team in the Aljunied GRC contest in the general election in July, told The Straits Times that he had “lost control of the account four days ago”.
He added that he was not aware of the videos posted on to his Facebook page before ST contacted him.
Screenshots of the hacked account showed Facebook posts bearing Vietnamese words and Mr Lye’s name above videos of women engaged in online sales of dresses and pans.
The videos were unavailable after the page was taken down.
Mr Lye said that he was managing the account before he lost access to it.
He added that he had informed Facebook of the hack and he is in the process of recovering his account.
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
A J&T Express driver has been issued a formal warning after leaving a box of parcels unattended at the lift lobby of Blk 735 Woodlands Circle on Tuesday (Sep 8).
Stomp contributor Az alerted Stomp to the incident and sent photos of the unattended box that she spotted at 5.45pm.
“My husband and I were on our way out to buy dinner. When we exited the lift at level one, we saw a box left unattended and we were shocked to see many Shopee parcels in it,” Az said.
“We did not dare to touch any of the items but I took some photos of the box.
“I noticed that the parcels were from J&T Express. What if someone else saw it and took the goods?
“It does not matter how cheap or expensive the items are. Negligence is the issue here.
“I hope all online platforms and local courier services will make efforts to maintain good services and take extra care when handling customers’ orders.”
SINGAPORE: The team from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) has been here before.
For the first time since February, there are only around 20 COVID-19 patients warded in the NCID. At its peak, it had around 500 patients.
The NCID screening centre, led by TTSH’s emergency department, is scaling down. And it feels almost like it was when CNA Insider first met the team.
During the lull of late February to early March, Singapore’s recovery rates outpaced infections. And going back to business as usual was an option for the hospital.
But it soon proved to be the last thing possible when travellers and returning Singaporeans brought a wave of cases to the screening centre. For close to seven months, our cameras kept rolling.
In our final interview with Charmaine Manauis, who is part of the team leading efforts at the screening centre, the doctor finally does not look like she is rushing somewhere.
We ask her how she feels looking back, now that things have quietened down. While she is usually composed, words fail her at this point.
She thinks of the manpower that came together to run the screening centre, and begins to tear up. “The screening centre is going to (be here for) a long time,” she says.
Dr Charmaine Manauis.
We remember, once again, the weight of a hospital’s work in this crisis and how drawer plans were put to the test, pivots were made and lessons learned.
This is an exclusive look behind the scenes at Singapore’s dedicated outbreak facility and how TTSH-NCID fought the COVID-19 battle to come out on top so far.
THE SCREENING CENTRE ENTERS THE STORM
On the afternoon of Mar 24, we receive a call from TTSH, which is shifting beds across the road to the NCID — so could we be there in an hour?
As it turns out, the day before was, in Manauis’ words, “the most terrible Monday”. There was an attendance of 523 at the screening centre, which until today is the most people the centre has seen.
“The patients (had to) wait outside (for) two hours. Inside, we really needed to run,” says senior staff nurse Yu Yong, who volunteered to triage patients at the screening centre the first chance she got.
Singapore’s border restrictions for several European countries had kicked in, and many of the students and workers who flew home translated into more suspect cases.
The proverbial storm had arrived, just weeks after the country saw a slowing rate of infection. It was time to make room for potential admissions at the NCID, which shared resources with TTSH.
We make it to TTSH’s geriatric ward 9D in time. It is eerily quiet, if not for the 20-odd nurses gathered around the 20 beds meant to “double stack” wards at the NCID.
Nurses prepare to transport beds from TTSH to NCID.
Confirmed COVID-19 patients were going to be put in isolation rooms of two, rather than have a room to themselves, as there was “no theoretical transmission risk”, says NCID clinical director Shawn Vasoo.
The NCID wards were designed to scale up from 330 to 586 beds, he adds.
After the nurses set off with the requisite equipment — down lifts, around bends, through doors, across a linkway connecting the two buildings — less than an hour and multiple trips later, NCID Ward 5F is stocked.
Even with beds already on standby at the NCID, opening a ward is not as simple as it sounds, or looks.
TTSH chief nurse Hoi Shu Yin recalls that Feb 5, a day after Singapore’s first community transmission happened, was one of the most stressful times for her department.
The patients who contracted the coronavirus while working at the Yong Thai Hang health products shop triggered a change in the definition of a suspect case, to include those in close contact with Chinese travellers.
The attendance at the screening centre jumped from about 70 to more than 300 overnight. Back then, anyone being checked at the screening centre was admitted for isolation as a precaution, and only four wards were open at NCID.
It took 100 beds, in less than 24 hours, and a lot of manpower to outpace the surge.
“There’s a lot of coordination to make sure the medication’s there, the linens are there, the kitchens catered the bento food for our staff … (since) they wouldn’t be able to leave the ward to purchase food,” Hoi says.
The materials management department supported them with supplies, the housekeeping team put up curtains and bedsheets in the wards, and engineers had to make sure the airflows were correct, says her counterpart, NCID nursing director Margaret Soon.
Since the day NCID opened in 2018, she adds, they have been drilled for this, but “it was a real test”.
On top of that, they have a military-inspired computer system to thank. Like the hospital’s nerve centre, the Command, Control and Communications (C3) system gathers data from all across TTSH-NCID, such as on supplies, patient flow and bed occupancy.
The Operations Command Centre of TTSH-NCID, the first of its kind in a hospital setting, became operational last year.
On the night the definition of a suspect case changed, C3 detected a surge of patients coming to the screening centre. The sustained high number “set off an alarm bell”, says TTSH chief operating officer Jamie Mervyn Lim.
“Very quickly, we activated the drawer plans,” he says. “We don’t want to be reactive, but (rather) to be ahead of the signs and signals that are presenting on the ground.”
By the time patients were admitted, there were enough beds for them.
THE PIVOT FROM FRONT LINE TO LAST LINE
On the same day the NCID’s capacity was expanded via the bed movement exercise, the Ministry of Health announced its first community isolation facility, D’Resort NTUC.
This was a “turning point” in Singapore’s isolation strategies, says Vasoo, whose job is to inform policymakers about clinical data from the ground.
Dr Shawn Vasoo, NCID Clinical Director.
With most the cases sent to NCID before then, its clinicians learnt that age and medical history largely affected the severity of the virus infection.
“Most of the patients, thankfully, didn’t need ICU care. They didn’t need oxygen support. Their symptoms were mild, and generally they recovered uneventfully,” said Vasoo.
“We knew that such well patients probably shouldn’t be in an acute hospital bed … Those (beds) should be reserved for patients who are (sicker).”
His team then “came up with safe criteria to inform policymakers” about who were suitable for external care, the kind of monitoring the patients needed and the “criteria to re-refer these patients back to acute hospitals”.
Then came the peak of the pandemic in Singapore, when positive cases went up anywhere from over 400 to 1,000-plus daily among foreign workers. The need to conserve healthcare capacity was no more apparent than then.
The NCID’s wards were filling up again, and the centre activated its expansion plans.
Six general wards in TTSH were converted into isolation wards to house migrant workers who tested positive and needed hospital care. Those who were recovering well were discharged to community isolation facilities, like the Singapore Expo and Changi Exhibition Centre.
But was this all part of TTSH-NCID’s drawer plans? Were they really, as touted, always one step ahead of the pandemic? They were “flexible”, NCID executive director Leo Yi Sin replies with a wry smile.
While the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003 lay the base for most of TTSH-NCID’s outbreak response, she was careful to answer whether they were more prepared for COVID-19, given that “outbreaks come in different shapes and sizes”.
“I’d say, we thought we were prepared because we had the past experience,” said the professor, who was part of Singapore’s Sars fight as an infectious diseases doctor.
“A lot of times I think we kind of underestimated the Sars-CoV-2, or COVID-19.”
But chief of what they learnt from past experiences with infectious diseases, she stressed, was flexibility.
“It may not already be in your plan, but you must have a system where it’s flexible enough so that it becomes situation-based and we can still respond effectively.”
To this end, being able to preserve healthcare capacity for those who require it, by moving patients into community isolation facilities, “enabled (the hospital) to save as many lives as possible”, says TTSH chief executive Eugene Fidelis Soh.
This was especially important during the peak of the pandemic here, he adds. And as far as war metaphors go for COVID-19, no one puts it quite like him.
“We started as the front line of the outbreak response,” he says. “As local transmissions started to occur in the community, the front line of the outbreak response shifted into the community.
“That meant we became the last line of defence.”
WHEN THE FIRST DEATHS STRUCK
While most of Singapore’s COVID-19 cases came and went without serious complications, a fraction wound up in the intensive care unit. On Mar 21, Singapore saw its first two deaths.
For ICU nurse clinician Gu Chunguang, this year’s experience in a pandemic has been sorely different from her nearly 20 years seeing “life and death almost every day”.
This time, “even in (the patient’s) last moment”, family members were not allowed to hold the patient’s hand and say their goodbyes properly.
“They need to say their goodbye (on) the phone,” says Gu. “What you all see is outside the ICU ward. What we see is the reality and the sickest patients among all the COVID-19 (cases) we have.
“Unfortunately, some patients, because of their age or their co-morbidity … despite our every effort, still pass on.”
When the physicians think the patient might die soon, Gu helps to coordinate with medical social workers on a time for family members to call the ward’s dedicated mobile phone.
Then, in personal protective equipment (PPE) and the phone in a Ziploc bag, she takes them to their loved one.
Some family members “respond (in) anger”, and in one case, fainted during the video call, Gu recalls. “We feel sorry for the family … we just feel helpless.”
And among the patients, she can “see fear in their eyes”.
“Imagine when you try to snorkel, you breathe through a straw. And when this straw is almost closed, and you’re gasping for air, you try to hold on to something, but you can’t hold on,” she says.
In those quiet moments, she would hold the patient’s hand. “Mr So-and-so, we’re here with you,” she would say. “We’ll do our best to make sure your last moment is comfortable.”
The ICU team — comprising physicians, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, among almost 16 roles — started seeing patients in February and were busiest in March and April.
They tended to young and old, locals and migrant workers. Most of the time, the patients were intubated for life support.
“The trajectory for critically ill patients … can be very tumultuous,” said Vera Lim, a consultant doctor in the department of anaesthesiology, intensive care and pain medicine. A patient can become “very, very ill, very, very suddenly”, multiple organs could be deteriorating at once and the patient would need a concoction of about 10 types of medication.
That is where ICU pharmacist Neo Rui Yi comes in. “ICU patients really change (condition) hour to hour. So we do quite a lot of frequent dose adjustments,” she says.
A patient, at any point, has at least 12 to 13 healthcare professionals to provide round-the-clock care, say Ng Ziqin, a senior resident doctor in respiratory and critical care medicine.
Some of the sickest patients were migrant workers who were young and fit. Tending to these patients “was an emotional period for (her) personally”.
One worker who “etched a deep memory” was so ill he needed to be laid prone on his belly, “to improve the oxygen delivery to the lungs,” she recounts.
This takes five to six healthcare workers to do and is especially difficult if the patient is unconscious and hooked up to many tubes.
One of the toughest parts of the job, however, comes a step before helping the patient, says senior respiratory therapist Emelin Tan.
It comes when rushing to wear, in sequence, an N95 mask, goggles, shower cap, yellow gown and gloves, going through one door to an “anti-room” and then waiting for that door to close before the door to the patient opens — while the patient is gasping for air.
While necessary, it is the sense of helplessness that upsets Tan. “I have to get through all these physical barriers first, just to go in and offer reassurance,” she says.
Ultimately, she and the team try to remember that they are doing their best. “If a patient passes on … it’s more (about) how they passed on. That’s important to me,” she adds.
FAIL-SAFE, NOT FOOLPROOF: STAFF INFECTIONS
When it is all hands on deck to manage a pandemic, the last thing a hospital needs is an in-house cluster.
On Mar 30, in the thick of the imported cases, an NCID porter tested positive for COVID-19, the first of 10 staff infections (as of Aug 28).
In 2003, there were 97 probable Sars cases among healthcare workers, when TTSH was the main hospital dealing with the outbreak.
The porter was a 20-year-old Malaysian, who was in Malaysia from Mar 16 to 17 just before the country’s movement control order set in. He reported onset of symptoms on Mar 28 and was confirmed positive the next day.
The department of clinical epidemiology got down to work immediately.
It took one click on the staff surveillance system to identify his “first generation” contacts in the hospital, specifying those who had interacted with him for more than 30 minutes — thanks to a tracking device for everyone in the NCID.
“That helps us determine who’s a close contact versus someone who just walked past,” says Angela Chow, the doctor who leads the department.
If a contact was “unfortunately” not in PPE, “then we can quickly identify who had been exposed before the person becomes symptomatic”.
On top of the tracking system, all staff must input their temperature twice a day. A dedicated team watches this data closely, especially from those working at the screening centre and outbreak wards.
When staff fall sick with respiratory symptoms, TTSH-NCID “insists” that they visit the screening centre rather than a family doctor, to “close the gap as to where they’d go”, says Brenda Ang, the clinical director of TTSH’s infection prevention and control department.
“You could say this is Big Brother watching you, but just say this is a friendly father, a hospital observing people for staff safety,” she adds.
Underlying the surveillance system are the hospital’s infection control measures, which hinge on basic things, like posters and instructional videos to remind staff how to don and doff their PPE safely. Every staff member, even contractors, is also “mask-fitted” for the most suitable N95 mask.
It was found that none of the 10 infected staff members contracted COVID-19 in the course of their work, notes Chow.
THAT MISLABELLING INCIDENT
More than half a year after work for COVID-19 began, with the microbiology laboratory’s testing capacity ramped up from 500 to 2,000 tests a day, Adjunct Assistant Professor Partha Pratim De’s nightmare comes true.
A mislabelling incident leads a student to be incorrectly diagnosed with COVID-19.
The TTSH head of laboratory medicine pushes back our interview, scheduled the next day, by a week. When we meet again, he tells us it was just not a good time.
“The honest answer is that it was a very simple basic error. But around that, there were a whole lot of other contributory factors. A lot,” he says.
The Jurong West Secondary student had her specimen “cross-labelled” with a migrant worker’s owing to a “human error in the laboratory”, according to a TTSH media release on July 14.
With the case reclassified, the Education Ministry said there was no student-to-student transmission.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, as CNA Insider witnessed in our very first shoot inside the testing lab, is a very manual task.
Lab technicians must be precise in handling, measuring and transferring the specimens, even in the wee hours, since COVID-19 testing was taking place 24/7.
“In the past, we were having to manually enter the patients’ details. And for a thousand of those, in the middle of the night, that’s quite a lot, when the PCR team is trying to do the more complicated, actual PCR work,” says Partha De.
“This was … distracting them, and they were more likely to make errors.”
The patient registration and results entry processes are now automatic, “which helped to reduce the fatigue”. What machines cannot do, however, is relieve the “psychological demands” of the job.
“Even when we tell them to take their time … (the staff) have a very service-oriented mentality. They know there are patients waiting at the end of this, and they want to do their best,” says Partha De. “So we’ve had to try and manage all of that.
“I have to support them. I have to keep them going.”
READY FOR A SECOND WAVE
Asked how the past six months have been for him, he says one word “sums it up”. “Very tiring,” he replies with emphasis. “But it’s been necessary.”
While other hospital departments are gradually returning to pre-COVID-19, the lab’s workload has doubled as Singapore’s testing strategy expands. The lab almost hit its maximum capacity of 2,000 tests in 24 hours in July, and is averaging 1,000 a day.
“Previously we were doing diagnostic testing, which is of people who have symptoms,” says Partha De. “That’s now moved on to screening, which is testing of people who are well, who have no symptoms.”
They include construction workers, schoolteachers and delivery riders, to name a few.
The lab is “expecting that COVID-19 will become a new normal respiratory virus that we’ll test for every year”, as with swine flu, H1N1 and the seasonal flu. “Hopefully with a vaccine against it as well,” Partha De adds.
Places like Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea have seen a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. Despite the slowdown in Singapore, TTSH’s emergency department — while it has released its augmented manpower to their conventional roles — is not letting up.
“Every day, I’d look at the newspaper, and I’d see a little bit of an increase … in the community cases, and then we’d get worried,” said Manauis. The department is, however, prepared.
“In case of surges, we already have workflows in place … We have standby manpower that can be activated within eight hours,” she cites. “Our infrastructure’s already in place, so we’re ready.”
To ensure that doctors are not “de-skilled” regarding screening centre protocols, she continues to lead monthly trainings for doctors from the surgery, radiology, psychiatry and neurosurgery divisions, she says.
She is also training new staff continuously “so that existing medical staff don’t get burnt out”.
In a Talking Point episode, Lim the COO, who is a doctor himself, outlined some of the “contingency plans in place” for a second wave, such as standby beds and facilities, fully equipped.
“In 24 to 48 hours, we’re able to ramp up,” he told the programme.
As for other patient services, chairman of TTSH’s medical board, Associate Professor Chin Jing Jih, said a “hospital services prioritisation committee” has been formed.
“We get the doctors to prioritise many of the needs of these patients … That helps us to not overwhelm ourselves, and reserve some of this capacity in case a second wave arrives,” he said.
“The principle is to ensure that patients are triaged according to their needs and those who require timely treatment aren’t deprived.”
TTSH-NCID have also collaborated with other hospitals to take on urgent cases “in the event (the hospital) is overwhelmed by demands”.
A SENSE OF DUTY
For all their plans, to Soh the CEO, the most important factor in the hospital’s state of readiness is its people.
“Our people choose to join TTSH, knowing that one day they may be called upon to serve in the frontlines of an outbreak response here in Singapore,” he says.
“To them, this is a sense of duty.”
Dietetic technicians have rolled up their sleeves to help security marshal cars at drop-offs. Corporate communications specialists have taken on visitor registration roles. And of course, doctors, nurses, allied health workers and ancillary staff have stepped up at the screening centre and outbreak wards.
It has been a united front against the pandemic. As of Sep 7, the NCID has admitted more than 4,000 patients with COVID-19 infection.
“I’m tremendously proud of my colleagues. They’re marvellous. They’re kind hearted, and they give the best in their care,” says Soh.
As for planning ahead, it is post-Sars 2003 all over again. “We learn with every outbreak. So for me, NCID will always be a work in progress.”
SINGAPORE: While rigorous COVID-19 testing and shortened stay-home notices could help revive mass travel, it is unlikely to be an easy process, say experts.
Last month, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said that Singapore may have to consider replacing the two-week isolation period for the overwhelming majority of travellers with a “rigorous testing regime” as part of efforts to revive the country’s air hub.
Mr Ong had said international travel could start with other countries and territories where virus transmission risk profiles are “similar to or better than” Singapore’s.
Measures could include “unilaterally opening up” to passengers from countries and regions that have kept the coronavirus “under control”, as well as the proliferation of reciprocal green lanes for business travel and expanding them to include general travel as well, he said.
Singapore currently has cross-border travel arrangements with China, Malaysia, Brunei and South Korea. Singapore and Japan on Friday (Sep 11) also announced that they will launch a “reciprocal green lane” to facilitate essential business and official travel between the two countries on Sep 18.
Earlier this week, the Singapore Consulate-General in Hong Kong had also said it welcomes discussions with Hong Kong on the gradual resumption of cross-border travel between both sides, with safeguards in place.
Health experts told CNA that there are several operational considerations that need to be kept in mind when setting up a comprehensive testing regime for incoming travellers.
Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, who is an infectious disease expert from the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, noted the question would have to be asked if travellers were willing to fork out money to pay for tests. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests would cost about S$130 at “cost price”, he pointed out.
“Ultimately it’s a matter of costs and logistics,” he said. “Unless they are returning citizens, or those are coming for essential reasons, there’s really no reason for Singapore to absorb the costs of all these tests.”
In addition, Dr Hsu noted that the “operational scale” of tests carried would also need to be considered, keeping in mind Singapore’s testing capacity and the potential number of incoming travellers. “That capacity is an important factor in determining whether we can test everybody or not,” he added.
Dr Paul Tambyah, who is the president of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection, noted that rigorous testing can be done, but this would require better tests than currently available.
He explained how having a test like a pregnancy test which could give results which are 99.9 per cent accurate in minutes could allow testing to be “done routinely without too much cost or inconvenience”. Rather than providing a urine sample, when it comes to COVID-19 tests, a saliva sample could be used instead.
“We are not there yet but are getting nearer every day,” he noted.
A COVID-19 testing facility for passengers and employees is seen during a media tour at Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal B in Newark, New Jersey, U.S., September 8, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
When it comes to pre-departure and post-arrival tests, it is also important to note what kind of tests are being conducted, said Associate Professor Josip Car who is from the Nanyang Technological University.
“One could argue that doing two tests is better than one. As a public health researcher, what I would say matters just as equally is which test is being done, as not all are same and have differing durations and efficacies, and the time difference between the tests,” said Dr Car, who is the director of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine’s Centre of Population Health Sciences.
“Also, this formula is never static when it comes to science: There’s discussion in the scientific community now whether the thresholds for considering a test ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ should be revised in order to reflect the latest scientific understanding about viral loads, transmission potentials, which might potentially see a reduced number of positive test cases as a result.”
Pre-departure and post-arrival tests also do not guarantee a 100 per cent success rate in ensuring those with the virus are detected, added Dr Tambyah.
“It is better than nothing but should not give public health officials on either side a false sense of confidence,” he explained. “They should be accompanied by good contact tracing and surveillance while we wait for better rapid point of care tests which can be deployed at borders or elsewhere.”
And there is a need to remain vigilant, noted Dr Jeremy Lim, co-director of global health at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.
“We have to be very vigilant with false declarations, false negatives and so on. And we cannot let our guard down on the other measures like mask-wearing … The Government has to tread a fine balance in assuring Singaporeans that we can reopen borders but also re-exhorting them – you still have to wear your mask, you still have to safe distance and so on,” he explained.
‘RISK VERSUS BENEFIT’ ASSESSMENT
Earlier last month, it was announced that travellers entering from Brunei and New Zealand from Sep 1 would not be required to serve a stay-home notice but will take a COVID-19 test upon arrival.
Travellers coming from some low-risk countries and regions also had their stay-home notices reduced from 14 days to seven days. The isolation period can be served at their place of residence.
These countries and regions are Australia (excluding Victoria state), Macau, mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia. They will be tested before the end of the isolation period.
All other incoming travellers will continue to serve their 14-day stay-home notices at dedicated isolation facilities, and will be subject to a COVID-19 test before the end of the notices.
Public healthcare experts noted that the duration of the 14-day stay-home notice is to account for the length of the virus’ incubation period.
Given that this is so, the decision to cut short home notices will have to be made on “risk versus benefit” calculations, said Dr Tambyah.
“The incubation period for the virus cannot be shortened as this is a biological phenomenon. However, public health decisions are not based on science alone,” he said.
“Policy makers have to make a call based on risk versus benefit calculations and put in place risk mitigation strategies. For example, in Singapore, we are heavily connected to Malaysia and the control there seems to be very good for now. As such, the stay-home notice period for Malaysians with Singapore work passes has been reduced to seven days. The risk to public health of not having Malaysian workers has been viewed as greater than the risk of a small number of them incubating the virus and transmitting it.
“When the data are analysed after the policy has been in place for a while, we will know whether this risk-benefit calculation was justified.”
Infectious diseases expert Professor Dale Fisher suggested that more countries could be added to the same category as New Zealand and Brunei.
“It (the public health risk) is country-specific – the public health risk for someone coming from a country that’s really got no cases is absolutely negligible,” noted Dr Fisher, who is the chair of Infection Prevention and Control at the National University Health System (NUHS).
“There’s never no risk, but you have to have a sensible approach to risk.”
Dr Fisher noted that there may not even be a need for swab tests for travellers entering Singapore from such countries. These tests and their administration could be a waste of manpower and resources, he pointed out and Singapore has good systems in place to ensure that even in the off chance that they are COVID-19 positive, the spread will be limited.
“(It is) just like (how) a case in the community isn’t spreading to 30 others like the outbreaks we had before the circuit breaker. We’re not having those now because of masks and social distancing and stopping large gatherings. This is a big reason why you can open borders. Even if someone comes in, (it) probably won’t turn into much,” he said.
Dr Hsu agreed, and also noted that the risk of an imported case causing a cluster in Singapore is “very low” due to the compulsory mask-wearing policy as well as safe distancing measures.
“The risk of an imported case causing a cluster is actually very low, especially with all the safe distancing measures in place. But if we drop the mask rule, and if we allow bigger-sized gatherings then obviously the risk will start to go up,” he noted.
“WAITING FOR THE GREEN LIGHT”
Even as countries gradually open their borders, experts CNA spoke to acknowledged that there is a demand for travel but said there remain numerous obstacles for those hoping to go abroad.
Mr Christopher Khoo, the managing director for international tourism consultancy Masterconsult Services, noted that Singaporeans have become “COVID fatigued”.
“Honestly, I think we all COVID fatigued already – I wouldn’t say not scared of COVID anymore but we are learning to live with it,” he noted.
“Internationally, I’m sure that there is demand. Everybody is experiencing some form of cabin fever in one way, shape or form. But I think everybody’s also very cautious, whether they are from a country that is doing well … or whether they’re the country that’s like India and then looking at other countries which are less prevalent, they all face different kinds of considerations.”
Dynasty Travel’s director of public relations and communications Alicia Seah noted how her company had received a number of enquiries on travel packages to New Zealand when Singapore’s plans to ease travel restrictions were announced.
New Zealand’s border remains closed to all but citizens and residents, a spokesperson for Immigration New Zealand told CNA following the announcement.
“Our customers had expressed to travel to places such as New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Thailand and Maldives and Malaysia once travel restrictions are lifted and a no quarantine policy (is) in place,” said Ms Seah.
People, some of them wearing protective face masks, at Singapore’s Changi Airport on Mar 30, 2020, following the COVID-19 outbreak. (File photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)
“Around us, if you ask 10 people, they are just all waiting for the green light. Of course, they will also book cautiously. Depending on which country they feel the healthcare systems are robust. That’s one. Second is that the health and hygiene protocols are all in place. And also, travel insurance. I think these are things that they will look at before they book a tour,” Ms Seah explained.
However, a number of considerations remain – for one, the stay-home notices that Singaporeans face when they return home, noted Mr Khoo.
“The main sticking point … is even if a country like Japan … or whoever wants to accept us, coming back we would still be subjected to stay-home notices. And until that is relaxed, or until that has changed in a significant way, I think that it would impact a lot of outbound demand,” he pointed out.
Relaxing the 14-day stay-home notice can have a “mitigating effect”, but might be outweighed by the hassle and high cost incurred to travel during this period, said Mr Kevin Wee, a senior lecturer at the School of Business Management at Nanyang Polytechnic.
“The hassle of travelling during this time includes serving stay-home or quarantine notice at the destination country and home country upon return, higher costs for flights and various COVID-19 tests, and high costs for COVID-19 related medical treatment should the traveller fall ill,” he said.
“In addition, leisure travellers might not be able to visit attractions given the tighter entry requirements to guard against visitors who have been to another country within the past two weeks.”
Mr Wee also pointed out how the re-emergence of new “waves” of the virus could also occur anytime as evidenced in Europe.
“Travellers themselves must first be assured that it is safe to travel, and that the benefits of travelling outweigh the cost and hassle incurred when travelling during this period. The increase in travellers would most probably only start after the COVID-19 vaccine is ready,” he said.
While Singapore is now regarded as one of the safer destinations during the worldwide pandemic, the pandemic will continue to dampen demand.
“For a Japanese tourist, a Chinese tourist, a New Zealander – even for them, it’s not a matter of how attractive Singapore is right now, it’s not a matter of how much cabin fever they (tourists) have got. It’s just the fact that COVID-19 is around and it will dampen outbound travel (from those countries),” added Mr Khoo.
“Travel will rebound and I am certain it will rebound and rebound strongly. But it will not be the same as it was pre-COVID.”
