SINGAPORE: With more people returning to work or school following the end of the COVID-19 “circuit breaker”, trains and roads were noticeably busier on Tuesday (Jun 2).

During the morning peak hour, more commuters were seen at MRT stations such as Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar, Bishan and Paya Lebar, compared to Monday when the circuit breaker was still in place.

There was also morning congestion along certain stretches of the Central Expressway heading into the city. 

It was visibly busier in the central business district as well, as workers returned to their offices.

Just a day before, only a small number of people were seen at Raffles Place, mainly security officers, frontline bank employees and a handful of food delivery riders.

Some said returning to the office felt like an unfamiliar experience after more than two months of working from home. 

“When I came into the office, I couldn’t remember my password,” said one employee at Raffles Place who only wanted to be known as Leo. 

The 38-year-old, who works in commodities trading, said he had been asked to go into the office later, at about 9.30am, to avoid crowds on public transport. 

He told CNA that his work often involves “important documents” that have to be handled in person, adding that the company had discussed new working arrangements for post-circuit breaker.

This involves split teams alternating between working from home and going into the office on alternate weeks.

READ: MOE to review how to ‘blend’ classroom and digital online learning as schools reopen after COVID-19 circuit breaker

READ: Singapore to exit circuit breaker on Jun 1, visiting of parents, places of worship allowed with restrictions

While the arrangement could be disruptive, Leo said he accepts that it is necessary in order to keep to safe distancing measures.

Singapore is reopening its economy in phases, after a fall in the number of COVID-19 cases in the community.

In Phase 1, businesses that operate in settings with lower transmission risks are allowed to open. These include most offices and manufacturing firms.

However, authorities said telecommuting must be used to the “maximum extent”.

“Those who have been working from home so far should continue to do so, and employees should go to the office only where demonstrably necessary,” the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said earlier in May.

READ: COVID-19: Phase 2 of post-circuit breaker reopening could begin before end-June, says Lawrence Wong

This is why crowds in the CBD have not returned to levels seen before the coronavirus hit.

Graphic artist Shah Ismail said his employers have chosen to continue allowing staff members to work from home until further notice. 

“In our line of work, it’s fairly easy to work from home,” said the 38-year-old. 

He was out on Tueday to meet clients – his first such meeting in more than two months.

“It felt like my first day at work,” he added. 

Trains, too, were not as crowded as they were before the circuit breaker was imposed on Apr 7.

“I got a seat without anyone sitting next to me,” Mr Shah said, noting that this was even though the stickers reminding commuters to practice safe distancing had been removed from alternate seats.

READ: Singapore’s circuit breaker and beyond: Timeline of the COVID-19 reality

Now that the circuit breaker is over, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it will increase the frequency of trains and buses. Train operating hours will also return to normal.

“As Singapore enters Phase 1 of its safe reopening on Jun 2, more people will return to work and school. We will increase the capacity of the trains and buses to the maximum,” said LTA in response to media queries.

READ: Travelling or telecommuting – how COVID-19 could affect public transport costs in Singapore

LTA added that safe distancing stickers – which had been placed on train seats and boarding queues at bus interchanges during the circuit breaker – would be removed from most places in the public transport network due to the expected difficulty in maintaining physical distancing between commuters. 

Certain bus services where demand is expected to be low – such as night bus services and those heading to attractions such as East Coast Park, the zoo and Resorts World Sentosa – will remain suspended, LTA said. 

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Education (MOE) will review how to “blend” classroom learning and digital online learning to “harness the best of both worlds”, said Education Minister Ong Ye Kung on Tuesday (Jun 2). 

With schools reopening on Tuesday after the end of Singapore’s “circuit breaker” on Monday, Mr Ong noted that a month of full home-based learning has “taught us a lot”.

“We totally understand home-based learning and digital online learning cannot substitute classroom learning. But having forced ourselves to do this for a whole month, we also learned how to do it better, and that there are certain strengths in online learning that actually, classroom learning does not have,” he told reporters during a visit to Xingnan Primary School. 

Students can engage in self-directed learning outside the classroom, said Mr Ong, describing this as a “strength of digital learning”. 

“Moving forward, there is a big review happening in MOE to see how we can better plan to blend the two. Not too far into the future, I think we want to do this quite soon, (we want to) blend the two so that we can harness the best of both worlds in a modern education system,” the minister said.

Because schools entered full home-based learning “at such a short notice”, there are still “many areas for improvement”, Mr Ong added.

The resilient response from teachers, parents and students was “extremely encouraging”, he said.

LEARNING FROM SOUTH KOREA

Responding to questions about South Korea imposing limits on school attendance due to a spike in COVID-19 cases after schools there reopened on May 20, Mr Ong said that this was “unfortunate”. 

“We have been monitoring what other countries do. In the case of South Korea, unfortunately, when they opened, they extended to bars and clubs and many of the entertainment outlets and this resulted in certain big clusters being triggered off,” he said. 

Singapore is reopening in three phases after exiting the circuit breaker on Monday.

Adding that the clusters in South Korea were “a good reminder” to open up “step by step”, Mr Ong noted that many Singaporeans think Phase 1 of the reopening is “a bit tight”. 

“We are erring on the side of being more careful, learning from South Korea,” the minister said.

Schools and “most other places” in Singapore are “big enough” to accommodate safe distancing measures, he added. 

“Safe distancing is only breached only when people congregate during certain places at a certain time … so it’s a lot about the processes about this that we will slowly, in the next few weeks, inculcate in the students,” Mr Ong said.

‘PALPABLE SENSE OF ENTHUSIASM’ IN STUDENTS RETURNING

With students in Primary 4 to 6 and Secondary 1, 2, 4 and 5 returning to school on Tuesday, Mr Ong said the return has been “orderly” and “very calm”, and that there was “a palpable sense of enthusiasm” among teachers and students who came back to schools.

READ: COVID-19: Graduating primary, secondary students to attend school on weekdays after circuit breaker ends; others to rotate weekly

“There are bound to be many teething problems,” Mr Ong said, adding that students are getting used to the safe distancing measures.

Some parents remain apprehensive about schools reopening, said Mr Ong, adding that he has received requests from parents to open schools only a month or two later.

“Very practical considerations” were taken on board before the decision was made for schools to reopen, he said.

“Many parents are going back to work, and schools and work come hand in hand. You have to provide a safe environment in school so that parents can go to work with a peace of mind, leave their kids here to study,” the minister said.

With the end of the circuit breaker, more people will want to go out, and it is better for students to go to school to study in a safe environment instead of letting them go out into the community, he added. 

Noting that Singapore saw no new community cases on Monday, Mr Ong stressed that the number of COVID-19 infections is likely to rise in Phase 1. 

“So if we are not comfortable opening up now when we have zero, very low daily infections, what more later? You will end up having the possibility of very prolonged school closure and that impact will be quite significant,” he said.

PSLE AND NATIONAL EXAMS

As for concerns from parents about the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and other national examinations that graduating cohorts will take, Mr Ong noted that some topics have been removed from this year’s exams.

As part of the gradual easing of circuit breaker measures, schools were allowed to reopen for students in small groups for face-to-face lessons from May 19.

Priority was given to graduating cohorts and those who needed additional support or school facilities for coursework and practical sessions during the May school holidays.

“I think the load and the pressure on children, students will be less this year. And then as to whether you find the paper is going to be harder this year or harder next year, people always speculate,” he said. 

“Just try your best. And ultimately, PSLE is still just the first gateway of a very long learning and education journey.” 

Urging students not to be “too hard” on themselves, he added: “You still have a long journey ahead of you and discover your passion, to learn to grow and to be a better person. Don’t let one exam in an exceptional time think that it will determine your future.” 

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SINGAPORE: Six men and one woman were charged in court on Tuesday (Jun 2) with breaking a COVID-19 regulation by meeting each other near Robertson Quay during the “circuit breaker” period when social gatherings were prohibited.

The seven are: Neil Gordon Buchan, a 30-year-old British national; Perry Scott Blair, a 37-year-old British citizen; Bao Nguyen Brown, a 40-year-old American; Jeffrey George Brown, a 52-year-old American; Michael Czerny, a 45-year-old Austrian national; James Titus Beatt, a 33-year-old British national and Joseph William Poynter, a 35-year-old British citizen.

They are each charged with one count of breaching Regulation 6 of the COVID-19 regulations by meeting each other without reasonable excuse between 6pm and 6.44pm on May 16, either at Rosso Vino at 15 Merbau Road or TAP@Robertson Quay, a short walk away.

READ:  Singapore’s circuit breaker and beyond: Timeline of the COVID-19 reality

Czerny and the Browns are accused of meeting at the TAP@Robertson Quay bar for chatting and drinks, while Beatt, Poynter, Buchan and Blair are accused of meeting each other to chat and drink at Rosso Vino.

The Browns and Czerny are represented by Mirza Namazie, while Shashi Nathan is defending Beatt and Buchan. Lawyer Christopher Bridges is representing Poynter and Blair.

The case was adjourned to Jun 16, and S$3,000 bail was offered to each of them. Lawyer Shashi Nathan said that his client’s charge was an Urban Redevelopment Authority one and that usually no bail is required.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh said the prosecution would be asking for bail because of the “complexion” of the case.

Mr Namazie said Bao Nguyen Brown is not a flight risk and has a son in school here. She has also been in Singapore for 14 years and is on an employment pass.

However, Mr Koh said she is a foreigner and pressed for bail. He did so for the rest of the accused.

The court heard that Czerny is a permanent resident and has two children in school here.

No indications were made on whether any of the accused would plead guilty or claim trial.

The incident drew attention when Facebook user Lectress Pat posted photos of the alleged gatherings at Robertson Quay on May 16.

The post, which questioned enforcement levels in the heartlands versus those in other areas such as Robertson Quay, has since been shared more than 2,000 times.

A day after this, the Urban Redevelopment Authority issued a written direction to some restaurants in the area selling takeaway alcohol to cease doing so. 

READ: COVID-19: Robertson Quay restaurants ordered to stop selling takeaway alcohol to prevent gatherings

This had contributed to gatherings around the premises, said Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli. Two days after the incident, he said the police had traced a number of those who gathered in the area and added that the “non-Singaporeans” were currently under police investigations.

On May 30, Mr Masagos announced that the seven would be charged for breaching safe-distancing measures at Robertson Quay on May 16.

“We take such breaches very seriously and will not hesitate to take action,” he said.

The Ministry of Manpower had said in a statement on Monday that foreigners working in Singapore on work passes “must abide by our laws”.

“Regardless of pass types, those who are convicted (of) offences risk having their work passes revoked, in addition to an employment ban,” said a spokesperson. 

He added that the ministry has “consistently revoked the work passes of persons convicted of criminal offences or for making false declarations in work pass applications”.

These include holders of work permits, S Pass and Employment Passes, with more than 100 Employment Pass holders having their work passes revoked in the last three years.

MOM said that circuit-breaker measures are strictly enforced, with “Singaporeans and foreigners alike” penalised for flouting the rules in widely publicised cases.
 
“Work pass holders are reminded to take these rules seriously, for their own protection and the safety of the community at large,” said the spokesperson.

For each charge of flouting COVID-19 regulations, the accused can be jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both. 

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