SINGAPORE: About 33,100 job seekers have been placed into jobs, traineeships and training opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package as of end-August, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday (Oct 7).
This is an increase of 9,100 from the 24,000 job seekers placed as of end-July, the ministry added.
A total of 29,580 people were placed into jobs, an increase of 5,580 from end-July. Short-term jobs placements, or those with a duration of less than 12 months, fell from 58 per cent to 55 per cent.
“This was mainly due to the Government’s earlier focus in placing job seekers and affected workers into short-term public sector jobs to handle the surge in COVID-19 related operations,” said MOM in its latest jobs situation report.
Placements into long-term jobs have risen to 45 per cent, up from 42 per cent as of end-July.
Matching of longer-term jobs typically takes longer than shorter-term jobs, said MOM. For permanent positions, job seekers are more likely to “invest time in the search process” of around three to six months or longer, added the ministry.
“Employers also tend to take a longer time to fill permanent job positions, as they identify job seekers with the best fit with the jobs and their organisations,” said the report.
(Image: Ministry of Manpower)
(Image: Ministry of Manpower)
Similar to the situation at end-July, the top five sectors that most job seekers and workers were placed into were information and communications, food services, professional services, healthcare, and finance and insurance.
Of these, the food services sector placed the highest number of job seekers into long-term jobs, while the healthcare sector placed the most job seekers into short-term jobs, said the Manpower Ministry.
Within the healthcare sector, some job seekers have also taken on long-term jobs, such as nursing professionals and dental assistants.
The information and communications industry placed the highest number of job seekers in training and traineeship opportunities, it added.
(Image: Ministry of Manpower)
With increased efforts to promote and encourage job seekers to take on company-hosted traineeships and attachments, as well as training opportunities, placements into these opportunities increased to 3,510 as at end-August, from the 1,170 as at end-July, said the report.
This could be attributed to lower barriers of entry for job seekers tapping on opportunities to enter sectors they previously lacked experience in, and job seekers being “increasingly keen” to pick up relevant skills to “better position themselves for the eventual economic recovery”, MOM added.
After the SGUnited Mid-career Pathways Programme was launched in August, companies offering traineeships and attachments also have “a wider pool of talent” to select from, the ministry added.
The Manpower Ministry noted that although the original National Jobs Council target of 100,000 jobs and skills opportunities has been exceeded, there is still “a significant number” of unfilled vacancies.
“According to ground feedback, there continue to be mismatches in expectations and skills,” added MOM.
Urging employers to “look beyond” candidates with backgrounds that are an exact match to the job, MOM said: “Instead, employers are more likely to be successful if they focus on candidates’ transferrable skills and tap Government funding support to bridge skills gaps.”
Job seekers may also be placed more quickly if they are “prepared to consider” less familiar roles or sectors, it added, advising job seekers to seek professional career guidance early.
Overall unemployment rate climbed to 3.4% in August, and it “remains to be seen” if it will rise more quickly in the coming months, said the Manpower Ministry.
People are seen at Raffles Place in Singapore on Sep 15, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s overall unemployment rate rose to 3.4 per cent in August, climbing past the high of 3.3 per cent recorded in September 2009 during the global financial crisis.
But August’s rate is lower than the highest overall unemployment rate of 6.4 per cent, recorded in September 2003 during the SARS outbreak.
The latest jobs situation report from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday (Oct 7) showed the overall unemployment rate for August climbed 0.4 percentage points from July.
MOM said it has started to track the unemployment rate on a monthly basis to “monitor the labour situation more closely”. Unemployment rates are usually released on a quarterly basis.
The citizen unemployment rate rose to 4.6 per cent in August, up by 0.3 percentage points from July. It is lower than the 4.9 per cent recorded in September 2009.
The resident unemployment rate – of citizens and permanent residents – rose to 4.5 per cent in August from 4.1 per cent in July, but remained lower than the 4.9 per cent recorded in September 2009.
“We observe that while monthly unemployment rates have so far generally remained lower than past recessionary highs, it has been gradually rising,” said the ministry in a press release.
“It remains to be seen if unemployment will rise more quickly in the coming months,” it added.
“We cannot tell at this point in time, whether in the coming months the unemployment rate will uptick at a faster rate or will it stay around about the same,” said Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to Samwoh Group on Wednesday, she added: “But nonetheless we’re keeping a very close watch.”
Despite the “slight uptick” in the unemployment rate, jobs are still available in this same period, she noted.
“We also saw the ability to pull together more opportunities. And the vast majority of these opportunities that have been pulled together remain, still, in terms of jobs. And of the 60,000 or so long-term jobs available, a large part of it is still coming from the private sector.”
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) estimates that the combined Budgets will prevent Singapore’s economy from contracting by a further 5.6 per cent of GDP in 2020, and 4.8 per cent in 2021, said MOM in its report.
“Our economic support measures will also offset some of the rise in resident unemployment rate by about 1.7 per cent this year,” the ministry added.
“This could mean about 155,000 jobs saved over these two years, although we will still see job losses overall.”
In their latest collaborative project with Visa, Razer Fintech has announced a beta period for their new prepaid Razer Card, an offline-to-online digital payments solution that is not only subscription-free, but also offers numerous benefits for users when they make transactions with it.
Some of its core offerings include year-round cashbacks, a gamified reward system as well as the ability to make payment at 61 million Visa-supported merchants across the world via Razer Pay.
Applying for one is a simple process too. All you have to do is sign up for a virtual card at this website, following which the card beta will be added to your Razer Pay app.
But if virtual cards aren’t your style, you can also opt for a physical one instead at no extra cost. In fact, the physical option comes in two variants: Standard and Premium.
The former is just the company’s usual numberless black card, but the latter is a lot spicier – the Razer icon in the top left corner actually lights up when you make a purchase with it .
SINGAPORE: Beachgoers will now have access to more water quality information at seven popular beaches after the National Environment Agency announced it will provide such data on a weekly basis, on top of its annual findings.
The Beach Short-term Water Quality Information will provide data based on the enterococcus bacteria levels of the water, NEA said in a media release on Wednesday (Oct 7).
The level of the bacteria in the water will be indicated as bandings for easy interpretation.
“The information includes the weekly assessment of water quality of Singapore’s seven popular recreational beaches, along with accompanying advisories and recommended actions to guide beachgoers on precautions they can take to safeguard their health,” NEA said.
The seven beaches are Sentosa Island beaches (Siloso beach, Palawan beach and Tanjong beach), Seletar Island Beach, Sembawang Park Beach, Changi Beach, East Coast Park Beach, Pasir Ris Beach and Punggol Beach.
The National Environment Agency’s bandings and advisories under the Beach Short-term Water Quality Information. (Table: National Environment Agency)
For example, if the water quality is in the Band 2 (Elevated) range, beachgoers should exercise caution. In particular, children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised should reduce primary contact water activities.
Beachgoers are strongly encouraged to follow the advisories to safeguard their health, NEA advised.
However, the public need not be unduly concerned if certain stretches of the beach go into Band 2 or above for a particular week, NEA said, adding that enterococcus levels are transient in nature and the beach water is continuously flushed and mixed by currents.
“Notwithstanding this, when the water quality deteriorates to Band 3, NEA will monitor the water quality closely, conduct investigations to identify possible pollution sources, and carry out any remedial or mitigation measures as required,” it said.
NEA has worked with the National Parks Board and Sentosa Development Corporation to put up notices along the recreational beaches to point beachgoers to the water quality bandings on its website, the agency said.
There are plans to set up a dedicated Covid-19 testing facility at Changi Airport in the coming months, Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung said in Parliament yesterday, adding that testing is the key to unlocking air travel.
“With Covid-19 around for a while, the emerging international practice is to get tested before travel, no different from us going through security and having our bags checked before we board a plane,” he said.
There is already a facility at the airport which can swab up to 10,000 passengers a day.
Mr Ong said that with high-sensitivity tests, Singapore can filter out the virus at the border, or before the traveller boards the plane, and this would significantly lessen the risk of importing and spreading the virus here.
“In other words, on a selective basis, we can open up our border, do away with Stay-Home Notice(s), which is a big deterrent to travel, and replace (those) with tests.”
Mr Ong noted that Singapore could conduct only about 2,000 tests daily in March, and they had to be reserved for critical public health purposes.
SINGAPORE – Flat owners may have their flats seized by the Housing Board (HDB) if they intentionally make misleading or false statements when transferring flat ownership, following changes to a law that Parliament passed on Tuesday (Oct 6).
Currently, such compulsory acquisition is allowed only when flat owners deliberately make misleading or false statements for the purchase of flats, and not for the transfer of flat ownership.
Another change made to the Housing and Development Act will allow approved banks to pledge property loans involving HDB flats as collateral for liquidity from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
This is part of a pre-emptive move announced by the MAS in September when it launched a Singapore-dollar term facility to provide liquidity to local banks through the inclusion of a wider range of collateral.
This allows banks and finance companies in Singapore to gain access to more funds if they run into liquidity problems due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Presenting the Bill for debate, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee assured HDB flat owners that they will not be “adversely impacted” in any way.
SINGAPORE: Rescuing a dog is the easy part. The difficult part is finding it a suitable home.
Indeed, SOSD – a Singapore-based organisation dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming abandoned dogs – receives multiple calls to help homeless dogs every day. Some of them are injured or abandoned, while others are strays as kind callers are worried about them being caught and impounded if they remain in the open.
As much as animal shelters would love to take in every dog, we simply cannot, because of the lack of space. Nor is it the practical thing to do. The speed of getting dogs adopted is just not fast enough.
The odds are stacked against finding homes for rescued dogs, especially mongrels, in Singapore.
To begin with, mongrels, which are larger in size, are not allowed in HDB apartments. Although the change in regulations have made adopting them easier, there is also an inherent unwillingness to adopt a dog which is considered “not pure”.
Many, unfortunately, either prefer smaller dogs, pure-bred dogs, or designer dogs such as a labradoodle.
BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES
One other, less discussed, reason for this difficulty comes from the fact that rescued dogs often have behavioural issues which need to be worked on.
Contrary to popular belief, behavioural issues in dogs may not be a direct result of previous abuse. It could be due to poor socialisation, as is the case with ex-breeding dogs who are kept in cages all their life, or simply a direct result of selective pressure. This is the case with many stray dogs.
Zam is a retired sniffer dog that served in the Singapore Police Force K-9 unit for five years as an explosive detector dog. (Photo: Wendy Wong)
Stray or community dogs have been prosecuted for decades. According to data published by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), in 2015 alone, 942 dogs were put to sleep.
According to observations by animal groups like ours, the dogs who shied away from people survived and passed this paranoia or apprehension down to future generations of puppies.
That is the reason why a large proportion of the puppies SOSD now rescues are skittish and require a period of rehabilitation before they are ready for adoption.
There is a wide spectrum of behavioural issues in dogs. They commonly stem from fear. Many dogs cower in the corner of their enclosure for days and weeks when first rescued. It is only with the constant effort and patience of volunteers do they finally learn that we are here to help them, and allow us to touch them and put a leash on them.
Other dogs channel their fear in a different way. To protect themselves from being harmed, they may even bite when people come too close. This is termed fear aggression.
ADOPTION IS NOT THE END
Behavioural issues can also develop or worsen later in a dog’s life. Such was the case with Loki, the dog who was adopted as a puppy and tragically euthanised when he started biting people and attacking other dogs.
We do not always know the reason why, but often, it is because owners fail to spot and correct bad behaviours, like biting and guarding food, when they first arise in puppyhood.
It’s important to note that behavioural issues sometimes cannot be completely eliminated, but they can be managed.
Adopting such a dog requires time, effort and commitment.
This may mean consultation with qualified trainers, lifestyle changes, and even changes to the environment to ensure the safety of other dogs and people at home.
For example, when I adopted a troubled dog two years ago, I had to build partitions in my home to separate him from other dogs. I also had to make sure that he was kept away from visitors, especially children. Extreme care has to be taken during mealtime so that fights will not break out.
Save Our Street Dogs president Siew Tuck Wah with Momo. (Photo: Siew Tuck Wah)
It is also equally important that dog lovers and rescuers understand that not everyone can afford the same level of commitment when taking care of a dog.
THERE ARE ALWAYS OPTIONS
One of the more common scenarios we encounter occurs when owners decide to give up a biting dog after having a newborn in the family. Before the baby’s arrival, they were still able to manage, but with a baby around, they simply did not want to take any chances of an accident.
In these cases, SOSD tries to be as supportive, non-judgmental and constructive as possible. It is a situation which nobody wants – not the family, not the shelter and certainly not the dog.
It is probable that Loki’s adopters did not return Loki to the organisation they adopted him from because they were afraid of getting blamed by other dog lovers for doing so. Instead, they sought other solutions – euthanasia – when they felt they had exhausted all options. It was a tragedy which could have been avoided.
An Action for Singapore Dogs adoption drive last November. (Photo: Facebook/Action for Singapore Dogs)
Many shelters have a strict adoption process. It not only includes phone screening, but also a home visit and a trial adoption period. These shelters are not trying to be difficult but are doing so because they understand that it isn’t easy to take care of a dog with medical or behavioural problems.
The process ensures that shelters find the most suitable dog for an adopter, taking into consideration their lifestyle, family dynamics, and their level of experience.
Not every rescue dog will find a home. Some of them grow old and die in a shelter.
But no matter the challenges, we will never give up trying. We believe that somewhere out there, there is a suitable home for every homeless shelter dog.
Even dogs which are deemed aggressive can be adopted if the owner knows how to work on the problem areas and avoid triggers.
From personal experience, I can confidently tell you that caring for a dog with behavioural issues is a truly fulfilling experience. There is no greater reward than having a dog trust you, and show love and affection back at you.
JAKARTA: Indonesia is in the final phase of negotiating a “reciprocal green lane” (RGL) with Singapore to allow essential travel between the two countries, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Tuesday (Oct 6).
In an exclusive interview with CNA, she said: “We have entered the final round or phase of the negotiations. And yesterday I had a telephone conversation with Dr Vivian (Balakrishnan), and we said that we are quite happy with the progress of the negotiations we have made so far.”
“So hopefully in the not too distant future, we will be able to launch this RGL together with this emphasis: That once again this RGL is specifically intended for essential business trips and official trips that are very urgent,” she added.
She also said: “Hopefully sometime this month, we can announce ‘we are ready for that’.” She stressed that it is important for health protocols to continue to be implemented and maintained.
A statement by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Aug 25 said that both sides were set to begin discussions on a “reciprocal green lane” to allow essential travel to gradually resume.
Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and Mdm Marsudi agreed that both countries should work closely together to strengthen public health cooperation, enhance economic growth and investments, deepen financial cooperation and facilitate safe travel, said the statement.
“Given the strong business links between Singapore and Indonesia, the two foreign ministers tasked the officials to begin discussions on a ‘reciprocal green lane’ to allow for essential travel to gradually resume in a manner that would safeguard public health and safety in both countries,” the statement added.
When asked specifically when the green lane would be implemented, Mdm Marsudi said: “If we have announced it, it means that the negotiations have been concluded … When it is announced, we agree that not long after being announced, it can be implemented.”
Mdm Marsudi added that authorities are now making preparations on the ground, such as ensuring that polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests can be performed at the airport of arrival.
The top diplomat reiterated that only healthy individuals can travel to both countries for essential purposes.
“Our duty is to make sure that this person who moves, who travels, is a healthy person. So, that’s why the health protocol is to check before departure, check after arrival, then there are other procedures, and we really need to apply them in a disciplined manner,” she said.
Singapore has been the largest investor in Indonesia for the last five years. Last month, President Joko Widodo expressed his hope for both sides to have a reciprocal green lane immediately, noting that it could pave the way for investments coming into Indonesia.
In the first quarter of 2020, Singapore was Indonesia’s top foreign investor, with a total of US$2.7 billion in realised investments, according to data from the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board.
UPCOMING LEADERS’ RETREAT TO FOCUS ON HEALTH, ECONOMY AND FINANCE
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a Leaders’ Retreat on Oct 8, 2019. (Photo: TODAY/Najeer Yusof Muallim)
Like previous years, the leaders of Indonesia and Singapore are expected to meet later this year for an annual leaders’ retreat. It is Indonesia’s turn to host the meeting this year.
But given the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, Mdm Marsudi said it has not been decided when the event will take place.
It has also not been finalised whether it will be a virtual meeting or an in-person meeting, she noted.
There will be at least three main issues the countries will discuss, namely health issues, the economy and financial issues, she said.
“Singapore is one of our important partners for trade, investment and prior to the pandemic, also for tourism. So our Leaders’ Retreat is not oriented on the event. It is not event-oriented but it is more about the deliverables.”
SINGAPORE: Visit a hawker centre today and you will likely find that it is business-as-usual, except that people are adhering to safe distancing measures and many food stalls bear the “SG Clean” quality mark.
However, there is one thing that should cease to be business-as-usual: The habit of not clearing our trays after we finish our meals.
Despitethe Return-Your-Tray initiative that was rolled out in 2013 and updated again this year, it is common to see majority of diners leaving their trays behind after meals – along with used tissues too.
This was a point brought up by Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) in parliament on Oct 5.
In her remarks on amendments to the Environmental Public Health bill, she said: “We are overly reliant on efficient cleaning services.’’
She cited a Singapore Management University (SMU) survey where 1 in 3 respondents felt it was the cleaner’s job to return trays.
A dirty table at a hawker centre in Singapore.
It is clear that the government’s various interventions – which range from offering incentives to more stick-like measures such as the one-dollar-deposit system – have not moved the needle in this aspect of our hawker culture.
Why is it so hard for us to return our trays? Do we really need legislation and fines to mobilise collective action?
CONSISTENCY IS KING
Perhaps one obstacle to ingraining the tray-return habit in Singaporeans is consistency, or the lack thereof.
Some hawker centres such as Adam Road Food Centre use visual and audio reminders exhorting consumers to clear their own trays.
Other newer food centres such as the one in Our Tampines Hub have a central tray return system that gives diners reward points if they return their trays.
As a result, The National Environment Agency figures show that more than half of the diners in such establishments fall in line. This tells us that systems actually play a part in shaping culture.
Diners at the hawker centre at Our Tampines Hub. (File photo: Fann Sim)
This stands in contrast with the smaller, privately-run food centres, where the cleaner sometimes clears your tray even before you think of doing it yourself.
Or even if the thought did cross your mind, you had to look around to locate the tray return station.
Singapore spends some S$120 million on cleaning public areas each year. If we could reduce litter and consequently our cleaner labour cost, some of that money could be pumped into other essential areas like healthcare and transport, or even improving the salaries or investing in training of cleaners.
While such an efficiently “cleaned nation” shores up our reputation as a clean and green city, it leaves little room for ordinary Singaporeans to step up to the plate.
It also contributes to a “this-is-not-my-problem” mentality, as many uphold the notion that returning trays, just like picking litter, is the cleaner’s job, not ours.
LEARNING FROM OUR YOUNG
First-time travellers to Japan often marvel at the fact that it is such a clean and orderly country, despite the obvious lack of trash bins in public areas.
One can only attribute this to the high levels of civic-mindedness in Japanese society and general importance placed on hygiene.
They are efficient but they take on a greater sense of personal responsibility for the spaces they live in and use.
School children there are taught from the get-go to clean up their classrooms, lunch tables, and even toilets in school. Even children as young as four can be seen serving lunch to their peers and cleaning tables after.
This service culture continues to be propagated at home, as many parents too expect their children to clean up after themselves.
In Singapore, we are quite privileged in this regard. Hundreds of thousands of homes have a domestic helper who clears the dirty dishes, mops the floor and does all the household chores.
This lack of habit in picking up after ourselves can lead to a lack of strong sense of service, especially in our children.
When my children were younger, we too had hired help at home. In those few years, despite having her around, we tried to inculcate in our kids the responsibility of clearing their plates and placing them in the kitchen sink.
The results were choppy at best.
It was only after our helper left that they started to chip in more regularly and reliably.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting we get rid of the army of cleaners we have hired just so that we are forced to pick up the pieces ourselves.
But it does beg the question: If the work is outsourced almost completely, then why would we even need to think about clearing our own trash?
Since COVID-19 hit our shores earlier this year, students across the nation have been enlisted in the work of wiping down their desks and dining tables after recess. Sanitizing sprays and paper towels are now a common sight in most canteens.
What other kinds of skills and values should an education encompass? (Photo: Linette Lim)
The concept is simple: If you dirtied it, you clean it.
I have not heard a whisper of complaint from my children about this new normal. Perhaps it is because they know that their individual action breeds a collective sense of safety and well-being.
They don’t need to be bribed with a carrot or warned with a stick. I would go so far as to say they might actually feel good about contributing as it feeds into their sense of self and identity; that they are being helpful and responsible, and are capable of acting for the greater good.
THE TIME FOR CHANGE IS NOW
A mentality of chipping in can meet with resistance at the start; old habits are after all hard to change. But once cultivated, the effects can be wide-reaching.
It is the sense of taking ownership and doing the right thing without anyone looking at you or nagging you.
This was how Clean Up Australia began in 1990. Avid sailor Ian Kiernan was shocked by the amount of rubbish he encountered in the oceans. He decided to mobilise friends and the local community to clean up their own backyard.
Over the past three decades, over 18 million Australians have volunteered their time in Clean Up Australia activities and cleared 380,000 utility trucks worth of rubbish. It is today the largest community-based environmental event in Australia.
How did such a ground-up movement become so successful? Obviously it required buy-in from the people; they had to believe in the vision that he espoused – of a cleaner and more livable country for all.
Volunteers from Temasek Polytechnic and Mediacorp collecting trash at the East Coast Park beach. (Photo: Mediacorp)
But there is another factor. The country does not have access to low-wage labour and simply cannot afford to hire the huge number of cleaners needed to keep its beaches, forests, and streets clean.
On a smaller scale, I witnessed a similar event one sunny Saturday afternoon, when my children, led by their godmother, cleared two full bags of trash at East Coast Park.
They were hot and sweaty by the end of it, but you could pick up their feelings of satisfaction at having contributed in a small way toward caring for our environment.
At a time when delivery culture has taken flight and we are producing more plastic and cardboard waste than ever before, it is time we acknowledge that we are part of the nation’s environmental problem.
But thankfully, we can also be part of the solution.
If we’re proud of Singapore’s hawker culture and want to continue taking part in its delicious spoils, then we should make every effort to re-invigorate our tray-return culture.
For the past 50 years, Singapore has relied on a large army of cleaners to gain international recognition as a clean and green city.
For the next 50, in order for us to truly lay claim to that accolade, we should take things into our own hands, and the humble hawker tray is one small item we can begin with.
June Yong is a mother of three, an educational therapist and owner of Mama Wear Papa Shirt, a blog that discusses parenting and education in Singapore.
In unstable times such as the one we’re living in now (or otherwise), free money is always welcome.
Out of the kindness of his heart and for the pure content, one local TikTok user is creating his own series of treasure hunts where viewers can score themselves the cold hard cash he hides in various spots across the country.
There are no strings attached to these giveaways too. Ko Homma (@treatyourself_smt on TikTok) drops a couple of clues in his videos for people to study and hunt down. Reminiscent of Sqkii treasure hunts, but probably a lot easier.
The first one the TikToker did back in August was a $10 cash drop somewhere along Holland Road, hidden in a makeshift envelope attached to a railing underneath a flyover.
