Residents living in Block 639 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 recently had to put up with a stench emanating from its void deck.
It drove one of them to share photos of a pipe spilling faecal matter onto the ground, and sewage water flowing into a nearby drain.
Signs of trouble first surfaced on Sept 3 when a resident contacted Ang Mo Kio Town Council, saying that the water in his toilet was unable to flow down his gully trap.
Although the issue was rectified on the day itself, the town council learnt of “an overflowing of faecal matter at the void deck” the next day, a spokesman told CNA. PHOTOS: Ang Mo Kio Town CouncilThe affected area was soon cordoned off and cleaned up.
While preliminary checks found a choked underground pipe, the town council said it is still investigating the exact cause of the pipe choke.
Stay in the know with a recap of our top stories today.
1. Upcoming EC, condo launches in 2020 to consider if you are planning for a new home
If you are planning for a new home with your other half, 2020 might just be the right time for you. Apart from the usual BTO launches, there are a slew of Executive Condominium (EC) and condominium (condo) launches in 2020….. » READ MORE
2. Residents raise a stink over faecal matter at Ang Mo Kio void deck, Town Council investigating
After a four-year legal battle — during which she was not allowed to work — Parti Liyani is taking the first steps to rebuild her life.
Over $28,000 has been raised in an online fundraiser for Parti, the former domestic worker who was acquitted on Friday (Sept 4) of stealing over $34,000 worth of items from Changi Airport Group (CAG) chairman Liew Mun Leong and his family.
Spearheaded by non-profit group Humanitarian Organisation for Migrant Economics (Home), the fundraiser, hosted on Giving.sg, hit its target sum within a day after it was launched yesterday and currently does not appear to be accepting additional donations.
The money will go towards setting up a food business once Parti, 46, returns to Indonesia, Home said.
“As she was unable to earn any income for the past four years, your donations will help her rebuild her life and realise her dreams, and allow her to support herself and her family in a sustained way,” it explained.
If brick-and-mortar stores located along the Orchard Road shopping belt weren’t already having a tough time before the Covid-19 outbreak, they sure are struggling now with even lower footfall due to safe distancing restrictions and measures. The coronavirus has pretty much hit the fast-forward button in the world of retail, administering a tectonic shift to e-commerce.
Which is great for us shoppers! The golden age of convenience we’re living in now gives us access to more stuff than ever before, and all within the safety of our own homes.
Within a short span of three months, the family of otters that made Punggol beach and Coney Island their home dwindled from a party strength of nine to just four.
The latest casualty is a four-month-old pup, found lifeless on the beach on Saturday morning (Sept 5) with a fishing hook in her throat.
Residents first spotted the injured pup days ago near Punggol beach with a fishing line hanging out of its mouth.
Despite multiple days of collaborative efforts by the National Parks Board, the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), and Ottercity, they were unable to trap and administer medical assistance to the agile creature.
When the pup was finally found, it was dead.
ALSO READ: Injured ‘mother’ otter now free of fishing line
The hook — which spanned just over a centimetre in length — would have left the pup starving and in pain, local otter watch group Ottercity shared in a Facebook post last night.
They described the pain felt by the pup akin to having a fishbone lodged in the throat.
SINGAPORE: Hiring slowed in the second quarter of 2020 but did not come to a standstill, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Manpower Research and Statistics Department.
Despite weaker hiring sentiments, “a good number” of retrenched workers re-entered employment – about seven in 10 retrenched workers re-entered employment within a month, said MOM in its latest jobs situation report on Monday (Sep 7).
The majority of those who were retrenched and found new jobs did not experience “sizeable pay cuts”, defined by MOM as an income decline of at least 5 per cent.
HIRING SLOWED BUT DID NOT STAND STILL
The observations were based on a study of 2,160 residents who were retrenched in the first quarter of 2020, using the same methodology as a study on retrenched workers in Q1 of 2018.
The 2020 study showed that 39 per cent had re-entered employment by June 2020, compared to the 47 per cent who did the same by June 2018.
“This suggests that job prospects for retrenched workers held up, despite their job search taking place in a much weaker employment market and within the ‘circuit breaker’ period during which many activities were disrupted,” said MOM.
Professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) and those in their 30s and 40s were more likely to have found jobs, said the study.
About half of the retrenched workers surveyed have transferrable skills that allowed them to switch to a different industry while 60 per cent of those who found a job did not take a “sizeable pay cut”.
A chart showing the occupation and industry change among residents who were retrenched in the first quarter of 2020 and found employment. (Image: Ministry of Manpower)
These findings suggested that hiring slowed in the second quarter of 2020 but did not come to a standstill, said MOM.
“Despite the weakness in the employment market, majority who found jobs did so relatively quickly with modest impact to salary,” said MOM.
To help companies retain workers during this period, the Government launched the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), which was introduced at the first budget in February. More than S$16 billion of JSS payouts have been disbursed, benefitting more than 2 million local workers in more than 150,000 firms, said the manpower ministry.
“With the JSS extended till Mar 2021, most businesses will receive wage support for 17 months to help them retain as many workers as possible,” said MOM.
Another S$1 billion was also set aside to support businesses to hire locals under the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) scheme, which provides salary support to help firms that continue to do well to bring forward their hiring plans and grow their local workforce from September 2020 to February 2021.
With the extension of the JSS, MOM said this was a “major boost” for job creation for locals.
“However, we recognise that despite companies’ best efforts and the coverage from JSS and JGI, some employers may still need to make adjustments to their businesses to stay viable, including conducting retrenchments,” said the manpower ministry.
“The Government will take active steps to ensure that workers who faced displacements would be able to find alternative employment and get back on their feet quickly.”
SUPPORTING WORKERS, BUSINESSES IN THE TOURISM SECTOR
With global travel restrictions in place due to COVID-19, MOM said the tourism sector had to “pivot quickly” to capture new business opportunities while preparing for an eventual recovery.
Many employers have tried to retain workers by redesigning jobs and training existing employees to take on new roles.
In February 2020, Workforce Singapore (WSG) rolled out two new reskilling programmes under the tourism sector as part of the COVID-19 support measures for businesses and workers.
These include the Job Redesign Reskilling programme for the hotel industry and the Digital Marketing Reskilling programme for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE), Attractions and Tour and Travel sectors.
“These served to minimise potential retrenchment and ensure that the hard-hit tourism sector would have the skilled manpower they need to meet business demand when it returns,” said MOM.
As of end-August, more than 1,400 workers from about 100 hotels and tourism companies were, or are being, retrained and redeployed to new or “higher-value” roles.
Employers in the tourism sector can also tap on the Enhanced Training Support Package to reskill and upskill their workforce. A total of 28,000 training places have been filled.
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE TOURISM SECTOR
Although hiring demand dropped in the past six months, some businesses in the tourism sector were able to move into new markets and products, as well as uncover new growth areas.
For example, with work from home being the default, some hotels started offering packages for individuals to work from a hotel with easy access to amenities.
There were also opportunities for tour operators to adjust their domestic tours to include topics that attract Singaporeans, said MOM.
With virtual events becoming more common, the MICE sector also started seeing a rise in alternative solutions such as exploring hybrid events and using technology to host meetings and conferences.
The shift into these new areas meant refreshed job opportunities, and also created opportunities for workers and job seekers who were able to embark on new careers within the sector, said MOM.
“Job seekers who are keen to enter the tourism sector or existing workers in tourism sector looking to reskill for new opportunities can tap on the SGUnited Jobs and Skills programmes,” added the ministry.
Since April, more than 2,400 job, traineeship, company attachment and training opportunities have been made available, offered by more than 220 companies in the tourism sector.
About 41 per cent of opportunities in jobs, traineeships and company attachments are in PMET roles.
Chart showing the SGUnited job, traineeship, company attachment and training opportunities in the tourism sector. (Image: Ministry of Manpower)
Between April to July 2020, more than 900 individuals found jobs or took on new roles in tourism through the SGUnited Jobs and Skills programme.
About 87 per cent were mid-career individuals who took part in career conversion programmes for new hires or to reskill existing workers for new jobs. About 51 per cent of these individuals were aged 40 and above.
Fresh and recent graduates, as well as mid-career job seekers who lack relevant experience or skills, but have a keen interest to enter the tourism sector can tap on traineeships or company attachments under the SGUnited Traineeships and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathway programmes.
They can also take tourism courses under the SGUnited Skills programme to undergo training to take on certain roles. Courses in areas such as digital marketing, social media marketing and business analytics are also available, which will better prepare job seekers to take on new roles in the tourism sector, said the ministry.
“MOM and WSG will continue to support job seekers and workers, and match them to meaningful opportunities,” it said.
To help job seekers navigate opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, WSG conducted 50 outreach and engagement activities across Singapore in August.
This allowed 12,000 job seekers to meet hiring companies and obtain career guidance to improve their job search.
The next SGUnited Jobs and Skills Info Kiosks will be held at the Lot One Shoppers’ Mall and Causeway Point from Sep 11 to Sep 13, 10.30am to 8.30pm. The SGUnited Jobs and Skills Series will be held at Oasis Terrace @ Punngol on Sep 25 and Sep 26, 10am to 7pm.
SINGAPORE – Bigger exhibitions and conferences with up to 250 participants are set to return to Singapore.
Organisers will be able to apply to pilot such Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (Mice) events from Oct 1.
Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, announcing the move on Monday (Sept 7) over a virtual press conference, said that trialling events with up to 250 attendees is intended to open the doors to holding events at an even larger scale.
“We are working with overseas partners, including overseas event organisers… to see how we can learn from the experience of other countries, scaling this up from the hundreds to the thousands in a safe and sustainable manner,” he said.
The increase in the maximum number of attendees from 50 currently is in line with the gradual resumption of economic activities in Singapore and it comes after a successful pilot in August for an event with up to 50 delegates, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said on Monday.
A restaurant in Chinatown has been ordered to suspend operations, after a check after midnight last Saturday found patrons consuming alcohol past the 10.30pm restriction.
Wang Zi Chu Fang also failed to ensure diners were limited to groups of five and that a 1m space was left between them, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said in a statement yesterday.
The joint operation by STB and the Singapore Police Force found that the restaurant had provided customers with drinking games, which food and beverage outlets are not allowed to do without an amusement centre licence.
The establishment was fined in July for breaching safe management measures.
STB also issued $1,000 fines to Bistro Du Le Pin at Orchard Plaza and Wang Dae Bak in Amoy Street for not ensuring that customers kept a safe distance apart.
Enterprise Singapore (ESG) said in a separate statement yesterday that it had fined five restaurants and a beauty salon for flouting safe management measures, following a sweep last month.
SINGAPORE: Private-sector economists are expecting the Singapore economy to contract 6 per cent this year, a slight downgrade from their earlier forecast of a 5.8 per cent decline following a worse-than-expected slump in the second quarter.
This was according to the latest quarterly survey from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released on Monday (Sep 7), which polled 26 economists and analysts.
Watchers of the local economy had earlier predicted a 11.8 per cent year-on-year decline in the April to June quarter, but official quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) showed a 13.2 per cent plunge amid muted external demand and a domestic “circuit breaker” period that saw widespread business closures.
The second quarter GDP marked Singapore’s worst-ever quarterly performance, but that could be the trough for the economy as those surveyed by the MAS expect a smaller contraction of 7.6 per cent in the third quarter, the survey showed.
Across the key macroeconomic indicators, the outlook for the year was a mixed bag.
Expectations improved for industries such as manufacturing – with a median forecast of 2.3 per cent growth, a slight pick-up from 2.2 per cent in the last survey – and for finance and insurance with a growth forecast of 4.9 per cent compared with an earlier 3.1 per cent.
Wholesale and retail trade is expected to shrink by 6.4 per cent, halving an earlier estimated 12.8 per cent fall, while respondents foresee non-oil domestic exports to grow 4.5 per cent this year, as opposed to the flat growth earlier predicted.
But forecasts for other indicators were gloomier, particularly for the hard-hit construction sector, where a 23 per cent contraction is now expected, much worse than the previously-predicted 11.4 per cent decline.
Accommodation and food services is expected to see a full-year contraction of 29.1 per cent, worsening from the 26 per cent decline forecast in the earlier survey. Private consumption is seen falling 11.8 per cent this year, down from the last forecast of a 5.2 per cent fall.
Turning to the labour market, respondents expect the unemployment rate to be 3.5 per cent by the year-end, down slightly from 3.6 per cent in the previous survey.
A further deterioration in the current COVID-19 outbreak continued to top the respondents’ list of downside risks to the economy, followed by an escalation in US-China trade tensions and a slower-than-expected global economic recovery.
Conversely, the top upside risk was a containment of COVID-19 due to reasons such as the successful global deployment of a vaccine. Other possible upsides include a stronger-than-expected manufacturing sector performance – led by electronics and pharmaceuticals production – and an easing in global trade tensions.
Looking forward to 2021, economists are expecting a recovery given how they have pencilled in growth of 5.5 per cent. This is a more optimistic forecast compared with the 4.8 per cent growth in the previous survey.
