Many people were overjoyed when they received their S$30 Public Transport Voucher this year, which was credited to their stored value travel cards (“More than 125,000 applications received for Public Transport Vouchers”; April 8, online).
However, the joy was short-lived for some senior citizens, as the voucher cannot be used to partially offset payment for the S$60 Monthly Concession Pass for unlimited rides. The S$30 would be left idling in their stored-value cards.
The relevant authority should be mindful of these seniors and rectify this.
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
[Today] Prepare for end-of-life issues early
The article “As population ages, more are confronting the last taboo” (May 30), reminds me that death is the great equaliser. All humans must confront it sooner or later.
This also brings to mind what the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew related about his encounter with former Finance Minister Hon Sui Sen at the latter’s deathbed. Mr Lee remarked that Mr Hon, a Catholic, was serene and prepared for death.
The article quoted a medical social worker who said family members often find it painful to broach the topic of death with their ailing loved ones.
I reflected on how schools teach much about living, but unless one studies medicine, the only subject that touches on end-of-life issues is religious study.
Almost all religions teach something our spirit senses instinctively: That there is hope after death, that one’s soul lives on after the physical body dies.
While different religions may differ in their belief on where the spirit goes and in what form, the common thread is that the “last taboo” is not the end. To educate our young ones about living and dying well would not go amiss.
In almost every aspect of life, we are advised to start preparations early. To plan for retirement, one must start saving early. To plan for longevity, one must start exercising early. Now, the population should confront end-of-life issues early.
In fact, we should not have to “confront the last taboo” if we have been properly prepared to live and end our lives well.
Our medical social workers would have an easier time and more rewarding work if our general population understands the true meaning of life and death in a way that stills their spirit, from as early as their schooldays.
This applies to both death and major illnesses. I have read an ironic statement about a phenomenon of our society: We spend our health to acquire wealth in our youth, then spend our wealth to acquire health when we are old.
My wish for my fellow Singaporeans is for all of us not to leave this earth with loads of money and worries about it, as we know we cannot bring any material possessions with us on our deathbed.
This also brings to mind what the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew related about his encounter with former Finance Minister Hon Sui Sen at the latter’s deathbed. Mr Lee remarked that Mr Hon, a Catholic, was serene and prepared for death.
The article quoted a medical social worker who said family members often find it painful to broach the topic of death with their ailing loved ones.
I reflected on how schools teach much about living, but unless one studies medicine, the only subject that touches on end-of-life issues is religious study.
Almost all religions teach something our spirit senses instinctively: That there is hope after death, that one’s soul lives on after the physical body dies.
While different religions may differ in their belief on where the spirit goes and in what form, the common thread is that the “last taboo” is not the end. To educate our young ones about living and dying well would not go amiss.
In almost every aspect of life, we are advised to start preparations early. To plan for retirement, one must start saving early. To plan for longevity, one must start exercising early. Now, the population should confront end-of-life issues early.
In fact, we should not have to “confront the last taboo” if we have been properly prepared to live and end our lives well.
Our medical social workers would have an easier time and more rewarding work if our general population understands the true meaning of life and death in a way that stills their spirit, from as early as their schooldays.
This applies to both death and major illnesses. I have read an ironic statement about a phenomenon of our society: We spend our health to acquire wealth in our youth, then spend our wealth to acquire health when we are old.
My wish for my fellow Singaporeans is for all of us not to leave this earth with loads of money and worries about it, as we know we cannot bring any material possessions with us on our deathbed.
[Today] Shooting near Shangri-La Hotel: Police did the right thing
The case of police officers shooting at the car that rammed against road blocks at a secured venue showed the decisiveness of the men in charge (“Police shoot man dead near Shangri-La Hotel”; June 1).
The Singapore Police Force should not make any apologies. This is not a case of a roadblock to sniff out drink-driving, where if a similar action were to occur, there would at best have been a car chase. This was a high-security meeting of top defence chiefs at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Instead of consenting to the security check, the driver breached the checkpoint, ignored repeated warnings and did not stop.
The only conclusion at the time and place must have been a probable terrorist attack; stopping the car and disabling the passengers would have been a must. And if it were such, aiming at the tyres would have been a mistake.
With hindsight, the police officers have done the right thing, and Singaporeans should be proud of them.
The Singapore Police Force should not make any apologies. This is not a case of a roadblock to sniff out drink-driving, where if a similar action were to occur, there would at best have been a car chase. This was a high-security meeting of top defence chiefs at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Instead of consenting to the security check, the driver breached the checkpoint, ignored repeated warnings and did not stop.
The only conclusion at the time and place must have been a probable terrorist attack; stopping the car and disabling the passengers would have been a must. And if it were such, aiming at the tyres would have been a mistake.
With hindsight, the police officers have done the right thing, and Singaporeans should be proud of them.
[Today] Great expectations pull down Asian nations’ happiness scores
In the past 30 years, many Asian countries have achieved faster economic growth than the rest of the world. Living standards have improved, and many Asian cities are now world-class, transformed by rapid urbanisation.
But according to the World Happiness Report 2015, Asians are not that happy despite better economic achievement (“These are the happiest countries in the world”; April 24, online).
Singapore was ranked 24th, Thailand 34th, Taiwan 38th, Japan 46th, South Korea 47th, Malaysia 61st, Hong Kong 72nd, Indonesia 74th, China 84th, the Philippines 90th and India 117th.
People in Costa Rica (12th), Mexico (14th) and Brazil (16th) are happier than Singaporeans, Japanese or Hong Kongers. Why?
The report noted that the better scores of Latin American nations over Asian nations could be due partly to cultural differences in response style.
In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality-of-life index in 2013, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea made it to the top 20.
This also makes me think that Asia’s quality of life is not bad, but that our high expectations have pulled down our happiness scores.
We Asians set for ourselves higher expectations in life. For example, we give higher priority to family life and our children’s education. Questions on expectations could be asked in future surveys, so we can compare scores of happiness against expectations.
Also, to make the results more useful in guiding policymaking — a key objective of the survey — it is important to ask respondents what makes them sometimes unhappy.
But according to the World Happiness Report 2015, Asians are not that happy despite better economic achievement (“These are the happiest countries in the world”; April 24, online).
Singapore was ranked 24th, Thailand 34th, Taiwan 38th, Japan 46th, South Korea 47th, Malaysia 61st, Hong Kong 72nd, Indonesia 74th, China 84th, the Philippines 90th and India 117th.
People in Costa Rica (12th), Mexico (14th) and Brazil (16th) are happier than Singaporeans, Japanese or Hong Kongers. Why?
The report noted that the better scores of Latin American nations over Asian nations could be due partly to cultural differences in response style.
In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality-of-life index in 2013, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea made it to the top 20.
This also makes me think that Asia’s quality of life is not bad, but that our high expectations have pulled down our happiness scores.
We Asians set for ourselves higher expectations in life. For example, we give higher priority to family life and our children’s education. Questions on expectations could be asked in future surveys, so we can compare scores of happiness against expectations.
Also, to make the results more useful in guiding policymaking — a key objective of the survey — it is important to ask respondents what makes them sometimes unhappy.
Monday, 1 June 2015
[Today] Fixing the lopsided nature of parental leave
The findings from the 2013 Survey on Social Attitudes of Singaporeans confirm that all workers, regardless of gender, need work-life balance (“Work eating into S’poreans’ family time: Survey”; May 27).
It is clear that men want to play larger roles in caregiving and domestic life — 58 per cent of male survey respondents agreed that their jobs eat into family time more than they liked, a significant increase from 44 per cent in the previous survey in 2009.
There is much that employers and the Government can do to help everyone, regardless of gender, enjoy both economic well-being and a family life.
The introduction of the one-week paternity leave entitlement in 2013 was a good step. In addition, working fathers can also share one week of the 16 weeks of maternity leave.
But two weeks of paternity leave still give men little time to enjoy their newborn babies or become more confident caregivers.
The huge disparity between maternity leave and paternity leave compels women to play a disproportionately large role in childcare. This harms everyone: Men have very limited opportunities to spend time with their family, and women are given less support in fulfilling their parental responsibilities.
We call on the Government to consider further extending parental leave to give men a real opportunity to take on an equal role in childcare.
Parents in the United Kingdom, for example, can split up to 50 weeks of parental leave between them as they wish. In Sweden, 60 of the 480 days of shared parental leave must be taken by men.
Employers can also help all workers create balanced professional and personal lives.
Businesses must recognise that work-life issues affect all their employees, not only women. Many employers offer flexi-work arrangements such as part-time work or telecommuting. Access to these arrangements and accommodation for domestic responsibilities must be accepted as a normal, integral part of employment, not an exceptional concession, for women and for men.
It is critical for employers to be supportive of men taking parental leave. As Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam mentioned in a speech in March, employers in Norway expect male employees to take time off to care for children. Some even count it against men if they do not.
We would like to see employers go above and beyond legal requirements to create supportive working environments for all employees equally.
With support from their employers and national policy, all of us can achieve balanced, happier professional and personal lives.
It is clear that men want to play larger roles in caregiving and domestic life — 58 per cent of male survey respondents agreed that their jobs eat into family time more than they liked, a significant increase from 44 per cent in the previous survey in 2009.
There is much that employers and the Government can do to help everyone, regardless of gender, enjoy both economic well-being and a family life.
The introduction of the one-week paternity leave entitlement in 2013 was a good step. In addition, working fathers can also share one week of the 16 weeks of maternity leave.
But two weeks of paternity leave still give men little time to enjoy their newborn babies or become more confident caregivers.
The huge disparity between maternity leave and paternity leave compels women to play a disproportionately large role in childcare. This harms everyone: Men have very limited opportunities to spend time with their family, and women are given less support in fulfilling their parental responsibilities.
We call on the Government to consider further extending parental leave to give men a real opportunity to take on an equal role in childcare.
Parents in the United Kingdom, for example, can split up to 50 weeks of parental leave between them as they wish. In Sweden, 60 of the 480 days of shared parental leave must be taken by men.
Employers can also help all workers create balanced professional and personal lives.
Businesses must recognise that work-life issues affect all their employees, not only women. Many employers offer flexi-work arrangements such as part-time work or telecommuting. Access to these arrangements and accommodation for domestic responsibilities must be accepted as a normal, integral part of employment, not an exceptional concession, for women and for men.
It is critical for employers to be supportive of men taking parental leave. As Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam mentioned in a speech in March, employers in Norway expect male employees to take time off to care for children. Some even count it against men if they do not.
We would like to see employers go above and beyond legal requirements to create supportive working environments for all employees equally.
With support from their employers and national policy, all of us can achieve balanced, happier professional and personal lives.
[Today] How does NAC grant withdrawal help the arts?
I am disappointed with the National Arts Council’s (NAC) recent decision to withdraw an S$8,000 production grant to Epigram Books for the graphic novel The Art Of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (“NAC cancels grant for book with ‘politically sensitive content’; May 30).
By not elaborating on the reasons for its revocation, the NAC is taking a seemingly “schoolmaster” approach to the arts: “Do something we deem wrong or inappropriate, and we will withdraw the support we had promised.” This approach goes against the spirit of artistic expression.
Both the artist and the publisher have achieved acclaim and contributed to Singapore’s arts scene and reputation locally and abroad. The author, Mr Sonny Liew, has been nominated for three Eisner awards — the equivalent of the Oscars for comics. Epigram Books has been publishing works by Singaporeans across many genres, from children’s books to graphic and other types of novels.
Funding is the lifeblood of any arts organisation and/or artist. Taking funding away from Epigram after it has made plans and taken risks affects both morale and cash flow. How does this decision help the arts?
NAC should reconsider its decision and be more specific and forthcoming with its reasons for the grant withdrawal.
By not elaborating on the reasons for its revocation, the NAC is taking a seemingly “schoolmaster” approach to the arts: “Do something we deem wrong or inappropriate, and we will withdraw the support we had promised.” This approach goes against the spirit of artistic expression.
Both the artist and the publisher have achieved acclaim and contributed to Singapore’s arts scene and reputation locally and abroad. The author, Mr Sonny Liew, has been nominated for three Eisner awards — the equivalent of the Oscars for comics. Epigram Books has been publishing works by Singaporeans across many genres, from children’s books to graphic and other types of novels.
Funding is the lifeblood of any arts organisation and/or artist. Taking funding away from Epigram after it has made plans and taken risks affects both morale and cash flow. How does this decision help the arts?
NAC should reconsider its decision and be more specific and forthcoming with its reasons for the grant withdrawal.
Saturday, 30 May 2015
[Today] Protect founding fathers’ names from exploitation
I refer to the report “Government looking to enact laws to protect name, image of Lee Kuan Yew” (May 23, online). It is time to enact laws on the use of our founders’ names for commercial gain or in advertisements.
For example, on May 29, 2010, NTUC Income placed a newspaper advertisement with a picture of Dr Goh Keng Swee in conjunction with its 40th anniversary. This was well intentioned: To honour his contribution towards the setting up of the insurer.
However, the use of a founder’s name and image with a company logo displayed conspicuously should be discouraged. There is a commercial factor in drawing customers through tributes to our founders; it could be deemed as indirect commercial gain.
In the case above, NTUC Income is just like any other insurer competing for business. Moreover, there is no level playing field because other insurers do not have such marketing “tools”.
Fast forward to March, and we had BreadTalk apologising for using Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s name to promote its buns in the name of charity (“BreadTalk apologises for Lee Kuan Yew commemorative bun”; March 25, online).
Besides publicising its brand in that manner, which was unacceptable, there was the question of preserving Mr Lee’s dignity. Using his image and name for a consumable item was a reprehensible, humiliating public relations stunt.
The Government would be right to introduce any legislation to protect the dignity and esteem of Singapore’s founding fathers, respected symbols who must not be treated as tradeable commodities for use in advertisements or other channels to promote sales.
To protect their names and images from commercial exploitation would be a step in the right direction.
For example, on May 29, 2010, NTUC Income placed a newspaper advertisement with a picture of Dr Goh Keng Swee in conjunction with its 40th anniversary. This was well intentioned: To honour his contribution towards the setting up of the insurer.
However, the use of a founder’s name and image with a company logo displayed conspicuously should be discouraged. There is a commercial factor in drawing customers through tributes to our founders; it could be deemed as indirect commercial gain.
In the case above, NTUC Income is just like any other insurer competing for business. Moreover, there is no level playing field because other insurers do not have such marketing “tools”.
Fast forward to March, and we had BreadTalk apologising for using Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s name to promote its buns in the name of charity (“BreadTalk apologises for Lee Kuan Yew commemorative bun”; March 25, online).
Besides publicising its brand in that manner, which was unacceptable, there was the question of preserving Mr Lee’s dignity. Using his image and name for a consumable item was a reprehensible, humiliating public relations stunt.
The Government would be right to introduce any legislation to protect the dignity and esteem of Singapore’s founding fathers, respected symbols who must not be treated as tradeable commodities for use in advertisements or other channels to promote sales.
To protect their names and images from commercial exploitation would be a step in the right direction.
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