Quick News: Friday, January 14, 2011

Singaporeans welcome new retirement age of 65

EVERYONE looks forward to retirement, but many Singaporeans still feel capable of working beyond the age of 62, so many rejoiced at the government's recent announcement of lifting the retirement age to 65. Ramesh Prakash Sharma, 66, is so good at his job that when he turned 62, he was given a promotion instead of being asked to retire.n His company Qioptiq, an optics manufacturing company, made him a Technical Mentor to show younger employees the ropes. He says: 'I love my job. Optic is in my blood.' Under the new Retirement and Re-employment Act passed in Parliament on Tuesday, employees who turn 62 will now be given the option to work for another three years. The new re-employment law will be in place from January 2012 and will affect some 20,000 workers. Another gainfully employed sexagenarian is Elizabeth Hendriks, a 63-year-old steward with Fairmont Singapore who has never missed a day of work in her 13 years with the organisation. She says she is happy with her job as it keeps her active, and she has only taken 2 days of medical leave in the last 5 years. Leon Bock, General Manager at The Family Movers, says that older workers bring a lot of value to the company. He says older workers are more experienced and loyal to the organisation, and also take fewer MCs.

SLA $12m scam: 10 years' jail for ex-swim coach

THE first man to plead guilty in the Singapore Land Authority $12 million scam was given 10 years' jail by a district court on Friday. Ho Yen Teck, 31, a former swimming instructor, had set up seven sole proprietorships in a conspiracy with two others to deceive the statutory board into paying for fictitious IT maintenance services and goods which were not delivered. The transactions took place between January 2008 and March 2010. His share in the conspiracy was about $200,000. The court was told that almost 80 per cent of the total payments by SLA for the fake transactions was made to Ho's seven companies totalling $9.8 million. Ho's alleged accomplices, former SLA deputy director Koh Seah Wee, 40, and ex-manager Lim Chai Meng, 37, have since been charged and their cases are at the pre-trial stages. Five others have also been hauled to court. Their cases are also pending. The prosecution had urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence, citing several aggravating factors. Deputy Public Prosecutor Jean Chan had said that the offences were committed against a public institution over a substantial period of time, resulting in the loss of an astronomical sum of public funds. Ho's role, she added, was pivotal. The offences undermined the integrity of the public procurement process, she said. Neither did Ho make full restitution. District Judge Jasbendar Kaur agreed with the prosecution that a stiff sentence was clearly warranted. She felt that Ho's role was significant and without his participation and active facilitation, the elaborate and well-planned fraud would not have been successful. Ho, who had pleaded guilty to 21 of 195 counts, could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined on each charge. His sentence was backdated to his remand on Oct 6 last year.

Rape trial: Endearing messages from coach

FRAGMENTS of endearing messages were recovered from the computer and laptop seized from the homes of a martial arts instructor and the 16-year-old student he is alleged to have raped three years ago. One specimen read: 'Hope you know how much lao gong treasure lao po.' When the trial started on Wednesday, prosecutors said the couple even went to a temple to solemnise their 'marriage', and addressed each other as lao gong (husband in Mandarin) and lao po (wife). Part of another message stated that their love will never fade as it was more than 100 per cent true, said an investigating officer on Friday. Another promised: 'Reach (age of) 16...I get supplementary credit (card) for u so u can do some shopping also.' Then there was: 'Just wanna use this lifetime to lurve u.' The instructor, now 45, faces three counts of statutory rape and four counts of sexual exploitation, allegedly committed between February and May 2007. He is denying the allegations. The girl, now in Secondary 5 in the same school, testified in-camera on Friday. Earlier testimony revealed that the man, who was the coach of a martial arts club at a secondary school, had told two of his trainees to keep his relationship with the girl, a secret. The girl's parents are divorced and her mother, a KTV singer, testified that she did not know of her daughter's affair. The girl had admitted to it to a school counsellor on May 11 2007. She also said she had three boyfriends in 2006 and had had sex with one of them - a 15-year-old - from another school. And while she was 'wife' to the instructor in 2007, she was seeing two teenage boys on the side. The trial continues on Jan 17.

More to criminal law than money

WHEN lawyer Josephus Tan decided to go into criminal litigation, he knew he would not be earning as much as his contemporaries who had chosen commercial law instead. But it was an area of law he was passionate about. 'It's emotionally rewarding,' said Mr Tan, 31, who has been practising for about a year-and-a-half.















Singapore retail sales continue north

SLUGGISH car sales continued to drag the retail index down, even as shoppers took to the malls. The Singapore retail index fell 2.4 per cent in November, compared to the same period last year. Car sales fell by almost 30 per cent compared to last year, due mainly to higher COE prices. However, excluding car sales, the retail index actually grew, by 5.4 per cent, the 13th straight month, spurred by higher wages, big bonuses and record tourist arrivals.

Signed copies of new book on MM Lee sold out

ALL 30 signed copies of a new book on Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew have been snapped up within 15 hours. Published by Singapore Press Holdings, the book - Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going which will be launched on Jan 21 - was sold for a minimum of $10,000 per autographed copy, with proceeds going to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. It otherwise will be available at leading bookstores for $39.90 (including GST) from Jan 21. The book is based on 32 hours of interviews MM Lee had conducted with seven journalists from The Straits Times on a wide ranging list of issues. The first buyer sent in a purchase form at 5.59 pm on Thursday evening and by 9.30am on Friday morning, all 30 had been sold. One of the first buyers, Mr Cheo Ming Shen, 27, co-founder of Nuffnang, said he had heard about the book through a friend, and once it was up for sale, he did not hesitate to buy a copy. 'There is nobody bigger than MM in Singapore,' said Mr Cheo, who has read and owns both of Mr Lee's previous memoirs. On the question and answer (Q & A) style of the new book, he said: 'I am very interested to see how how he reacts to being interviewed by different generations of reporters and to all the different questions.'

MM Lee: Meritocracy vital for schools

SPEAKING to 800 guests at the Raffles Institution inaugural Gryphon Award, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew reaffirmed his belief in meritocracy as practised in Singapore's education system and the governance of the country. Recalling his days as an RI boy, he said that being surrounded by students from various socio-economic backgrounds made him realise the importance of recognising a person's talent regardless of his race, religion or parent's wealth. MM Lee was the first person to receive the Gryphon Award, which is given to illustrious Rafflesians who have contributed greatly to the nation. At the fund raising dinner held at Ritz-Carlton Millenia, MM Lee pledged $20,000 to Raffles Institution's 1823 Fund. The fund was set up in 2009 shortly after the reintegration of Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College, for the school's scholarship, training and school-building needs. Billionaire Peter Lim, also a Rafflesian, challenged the guests to raise $800,000 that evening. If they did, he would donate another $2.5 million to the 1823 fund.

NTU tuition fees to rise in 2011

NANYANG Technological University (NTU) on Friday announced an increase in tuition fees for undergraduate and postgraduate courses and financial aid schemes for the Academic Year (AY) 2011, which commences in August 2011.


TUITION FEES FOR UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
This is an increase of 4% in AY2011, similar to AY2010; it represents an annualised increase of 1.6% over 4 years. Business programmes will increase by 6%. The new fees will apply to the AY2011 cohort throughout their course duration. Current students already enrolled in NTU will not be affected by this revision. Similarly, returning National Servicemen will continue to enjoy tuition fees based on the year they were offered a place at the University.

TUITION FEES FOR POSTGRADUATE COURSES
Fees for the incoming intake of students for postgraduate courses (coursework and research) will be adjusted upwards by 6% for AY2011. In subsequent years, the fees for the AY2011 intake will be increased by 3% annually for the remaining duration of their course.

FOR PERMANENT RESIDENTS (PR) AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS (IS)
To achieve a sharper differentiation by citizenship, PR and IS admitted to NTU in AY2011 will pay between $700 and $1,320 more than the existing fee rates for PR, and between $1,140 and $2,180 more than the existing annual rates for IS. To help students who need assistance, NTU will set aside $5.65 million in financial aid in AY2011. This will provide for bursaries, Work Study Schemes, loans and emergency grants for NTU undergraduates. Professor Er Meng Hwa, Senior Associate Provost in charge of undergraduate education said: 'For Singaporean students, the existing aid schemes will cover all their tuition fees, as well as between 60% and 100% of their living expenses, subject to the qualifying criteria. For needy students who are permanent residents, the existing schemes will ensure that 100% of their tuition fees are covered. For international students, they cover about 85%.'

Police arrest boss of human smuggling syndicate

THE Singapore Police Force - with the assistance of the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) - has taken into custody Zulkifly Muhammad, a 38-year-old Malaysian man, for his suspected involvement in leading a human smuggling syndicate. He was arrested in Malaysia and brought back to Singapore on Jan 12 2011 for further investigations. Zulkifly Muhammad is believed to be the leader of a syndicate involved in smuggling illegal immigrants by sea into Singapore through the northern Johor Straits. Investigations revealed that he operated his illegal human smuggling business from Sungei Pok near Kampung Ladang in western Johor, by engaging a team of boatmen to ferry the illegal immigrants to Singapore and a middleman to collect smuggling fees from them. He is also believed to have provided shelter and food for them while waiting for an opportunity to smuggle them into Singapore. Zulkifly Muhammad will be charged in court on Friday. The offence is punishable by imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than five years; as well as caning of not less than three strokes.


2nd COE open bidding exercise on Monday

THE tender for Certificates of Entitlement (COE) will open at 12pm on Monday, Jan 17 and close at 4pm on Wednesday, Jan 19. The total quota available for this tender is 1,955. COEs for categories C and E are valid upon receipt until Apr 30, while COEs for categories A, B and D are valid until July 31. Bid applications can be submitted through the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of DBS/POSB, the Internet Banking facility provided by Citibank and UOB, or via the OCBC phone banking services. The bid deposit for COEs in Categories A, B, C and E is $10,000 per bid application, while that for Category D is $200 per bid application. During the bidding exercise, bidders can check on the status of their bids and revise their reserve price using these banks' services, the LTA Open Bidding website (https://ocoe.lta.gov.sg), or call the LTA Open Bidding Phone System at 6362-1465. The public can check the current COE price on the One.motoring website (http://www.onemotoring.com.sg) or on Teletext. Although the COE Open Bidding System has been designed to handle large numbers of bids, transmission of bid data through the system could be delayed by external factors. The public is advised to bid early, as the system will only process bid submissions or reserve price revisions that reach the processing system before the closing time at 4pm, Jan 19.