The standard of service from the civil/government services

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#26

Forum: Piecemeal method of fixing potholes and defects

1 FEB 2021

With the recent increase in potholes (Sharp rise in number of potholes, Jan 16), I made an effort to compile a list of where the potholes and road defects are specifically located at, to report to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for its follow-up.

While some potholes were filled by the following day, quite a number of them and road defects are still there after a week.

Additionally, when LTA does repairs, they are piecemeal in nature - if there is an unreported road defect within 100m of the reported one, no action is taken to repair it.

It is only natural that motorists in Singapore, a First World country, expect to have roads that are smooth and defect-free.

More importantly, the safety of motorists is compromised if these defects are left unattended.

I urge LTA to get these defects fixed soonest.


Lee Yong Se

 

[shittypore]

The Minister in-charge must be tied to a tree and whipped.

 

[batman1]

Now all calls at govt ministries are answered by Front-line ROBOTS.

 

[steffychun]

What is their punishment? Promotion or caning?

 

[bushtucker]

When things go wrong, just blame it on technology. Self help kiosks, robot answering machines, e-portals, etc.

 

[steffychun]

NS standard of service sucks!

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#27
Monkey see, monkey see.
Do without thinking.
Safe distancing for the sake of safe distancing, forgot about the impracticality and inconvenience posed to the voters/tax payers.

Forum: Appointment needed to get refund for parking coupons

5 Feb 2021

After dropping my car off for servicing at Alexandra Village on Feb 1, I realised I had some unused parking coupons and went to the nearby Housing Board branch office in Bukit Merah Central to get a refund for them, since I will be using the Parking.sg app rather than the coupons.

At the branch, I was told that I had to make an appointment for such a transaction, which is usually done quickly over the counter. I went online to make an appointment and the earliest date I got was in March.

I cannot understand why an appointment has to be made for every transaction. I can understand that HDB is trying to minimise queues, but can't queues for some simple transactions that won't take long be managed?

A simple way to avoid crowds is to let people get a queue number, then inform them by SMS when their turn comes, which is what hospitals and banks do. It frustrates me that I had to make an appointment for such a simple transaction though I was already there.

Is HDB overdoing things by insisting that every transaction requires an appointment, in the name of Covid-19?

Jacqueline Lim

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Looks like every govt dept, stat board, quai-stat board, public service entity have undermanned hotlines. Never able to get through. Emails not answered within 3 working days.

Forum: Better manning of hotline for faster response

6 FEB 2021

We refer to Mr Ang Chee Peng's letter (Lost wallet found and returned at police e-kiosk, but still unable to retrieve it, Jan 29).

Lost items deposited into the found property dropbox at neighbourhood police posts are transferred to the Found and Unclaimed Property Office during office hours for processing.

Once ownership has been established, owners will be contacted via mail within seven working days with instructions to collect the item from the office.

We apologise to Mr Ang that he was unable to reach the Found and Unclaimed Property Office via the hotline.

This was caused by the high volume of calls and messages received, which resulted in the office being unable to respond to Mr Ang.

The office is aware of this issue and is working to scale up the manning of the hotline to respond promptly to the public.



Those who are unable to reach the office via the hotline may also send an e-mail to [email protected]

The office will respond to e-mail inquiries within three working days.

We have since contacted Mr Ang and returned his wallet to him.

Tan Mei Fer
Assistant Director (Public Communications Division)
Public Affairs Department
Singapore Police Force

 

[Loofydralb]

As usual the Sg modus operandi:

Find a scapegoat on the lowest ranks and crucify him, regardless whether he did right or wrong. Just find one.

Paying peanuts to the person in charge of the most critical operation that can shut you down, is basically the biggest failure of management. But management will never get the stick because they are in cahoots with HR.

 

[mojito]

#27
Monkey see, monkey see.
Do without thinking.
Safe distancing for the sake of safe distancing, forgot about the impracticality and inconvenience posed to the voters/tax payers.

Forum: Appointment needed to get refund for parking coupons

5 Feb 2021

After dropping my car off for servicing at Alexandra Village on Feb 1, I realised I had some unused parking coupons and went to the nearby Housing Board branch office in Bukit Merah Central to get a refund for them, since I will be using the Parking.sg app rather than the coupons.

At the branch, I was told that I had to make an appointment for such a transaction, which is usually done quickly over the counter. I went online to make an appointment and the earliest date I got was in March.

I cannot understand why an appointment has to be made for every transaction. I can understand that HDB is trying to minimise queues, but can't queues for some simple transactions that won't take long be managed?

A simple way to avoid crowds is to let people get a queue number, then inform them by SMS when their turn comes, which is what hospitals and banks do. It frustrates me that I had to make an appointment for such a simple transaction though I was already there.

Is HDB overdoing things by insisting that every transaction requires an appointment, in the name of Covid-19?

Jacqueline Lim

Covid19 is good excuse for CS to chao geng.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#26
Who killed Jethro Phuah?
The Ministry of Education.
By awarding the tenders to the lowest-cost bidder and without checking and ensuring that the trainers are properly certified and not ownself-certify-ownself.

Certification standards come under scrutiny after recent adventure mishaps

High-element outdoor activities are under scrutiny after a student died following an incident at Safra Yishun.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Deepanraj Ganesan

11 FEB 2021

SINGAPORE - In light of recent misadventures involving outdoor activities for schools, industry experts have called for a re-look at certification standards.

In a statement released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Tuesday (Feb 9), it said that schools must ensure instructors have the relevant certifications before hiring vendors for such activities, and also need to have at least one certified person on site to handle rescue situations when necessary.

This follows the revelation on Tuesday that a girl from Concord Primary School in Choa Chu Kang had fallen while doing a zip line activity in the school last year.
High-element outdoor activities are under scrutiny after a student died following an incident at Safra Yishun on Feb 3.

All schools have suspended outdoor activities involving heights following the death of Anglo-Chinese School's (Independent) Jethro Puah and police investigations are ongoing.
To conduct the Challenge Course (rope obstacle course or zipline activities) for students, instructors are required to have either an Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) Challenge Course Instructor Level 1 or Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) Level 1 full certification.

It is also mandatory to have at least one certified person on site to handle rescue situations when necessary. Such qualifications would include the second level of the abovementioned qualifications or an equivalent documented Challenge Course rescue and certification from the Singapore Mountaineering Federation.

In Level 2 certification courses, participants will be exposed to difficult scenarios in student management, and perform rescue for students in distress. The Straits Times understands that while it is compulsory to have at least one Level 2-trained personnel on MOE campsites, this is not enforced strictly for out-of-school activities.

One industry veteran also said that while most vendors do hire instructors with proper certifications from OBS or ACCT, there are some who exploit loopholes.
"There are companies who have instructors who don't have the required certification," said the industry veteran, who did not want to be named.

"They conduct their own in-house training and certification and these guys issue the certifications based on their own discretion."

He did, however, add that "it's not a common practice for private operators".

Michael Lim, director of the School of Outdoor Learning, concurred and offered an explanation for why some providers hire instructors without proper certification.

He said: "The biggest customer in the industry is the ministry activities for schools.

"And for any project, prices determine who gets the job. The job goes to the lowest bidder and the lowest bidder will always have a way to keep prices low.

"Some of these companies conduct their own rope course or certification; they don't have to hire certified trainers. So when you hire someone without the ACCT/OBS certification, you cut costs."

Lye Yen Kai, founder of Pivotal Learning, which is accredited by the ACCT, explained that the certification process is robust enough.

He said: "We don't see the certification as the end point, we see it as a process of continual development. Whenever someone renews, I'll need to go through their portfolio. You have to go outside to get trained, not just do the in-house training, so that they understand the training of the operation."

A girl from Concord Primary School had fallen while doing a zip line activity in the school last year. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

A spokesman from the National Youth Council, which oversees the management of OBS, said that safety is a top priority and it had completed a comprehensive audit of its training structures, facilities and equipment last month. It also ensured that its staff continued with training or underwent refresher courses last year despite the suspension of programmes to ensure "skill currency".

The spokesman, however, added that the onus of executing activities safely lies with operators: "Whilst such training provides technical skills and knowledge, operators of outdoor adventure facilities and programmes have the final responsibility to ensure staff deployed are adequately qualified, competent and current in their skills to instruct on respective sites."

Mr Lim urged his fellow vendors to adhere to industry standards. He added: "I would suggest everyone in the industry who are instructors be accredited with at least ACCT or OBS certified training.

"The last thing we want is another incident like this. These events often happen because of human error. The equipment hardly fails, the fault is always human error or the procedure in which the activities take place."

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#26
"No further clearing has taken place at the site since then and the contractor has been issued a stern warning, JTC said."

Honest mistake.
Contractor not identified.
Only a stern warning for killing a few dozen trees.

A Bangladesh guy plucked leaves in Botanics and got fined $2,000 dollars whereas contractors cut down an entire forest received only a “stern warning”.

NParks investigating after swathes of Kranji Woodland along rail corridor were cleared by mistake

Kranji Woodlands in an aerial picture taken in May 2019 (left), and a picture taken in February 2021.PHOTOS: BRICE LI/FACEBOOK

Ang Qing

16 FEB 2021


SINGAPORE - Large swathes of Kranji Woodland along the rail corridor were mistakenly cleared while the authorities were in the midst of biodiversity impact assessments there.

Aerial photos of the site showing the destruction of the woodland, a 70ha green patch that is home to around 40 species of birds, emerged on social media on Sunday (Feb 14). One picture showed a narrow strip of trees surrounding the rail corridor, with much of the rest cleared.

In response to these posts, a JTC Corporation spokesman said on Tuesday that the land was "erroneously" cleared by its contractor before the completion of environmental assessments.

The National Parks Board told The Straits Times that it is investigating the unauthorised clearance at the site.

"We take a serious view of unauthorised greenery clearance and will not hesitate to take the appropriate enforcement action," it added.

Development projects in Singapore near sensitive nature areas are subject to greater scrutiny and developers may be required to carry out more detailed environmental studies.

The green patches cleared were on a site slated for the Agri-Food Innovation Park, which is part of the Sungei Kadut Eco-District (Sked). The master plan for the latter, which seeks to support new growth sectors such as agri-tech and environmental technology, was announced in February last year.

Upon discovering the mistake during a site inspection on Jan 13, JTC instructed the contractor Huationg to stop all clearing works immediately.

The green patches cleared were on a site slated for the Agri-Food Innovation Park.
PHOTO: BRICE LI/FACEBOOK

No further clearing has taken place at the site since then and the contractor has been issued a stern warning, JTC said.

According to the statutory board, it had engaged an environmental specialist to conduct a biodiversity baseline study last December to create an environmental monitoring and management plan (EMMP) for specified plots of land within the area. These were expected to be completed around April before plans to engage stakeholders.

"JTC will continue with the baseline study and EMMP and will work closely with all relevant stakeholders... to ensure that the Sked redevelopment plans are carried out with due consultation and in an environmentally responsible and sensitive manner," the spokesman said.

One picture showed a narrow strip of trees surrounding the rail corridor, with much of the rest cleared.
PHOTO: BRICE LI/FACEBOOK

"The findings of the studies will be publicly available when ready."

In a statement, Huationg apologised and said it was working with JTC on ongoing investigations "to determine the cause of this lapse, and to prevent future occurrences".

"We are also reviewing internally and working with JTC to strengthen our project management processes," the contractor added.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#27

Quote: "MOM said it also conducts its own checks after the employer submits the academic documents, as an additional safeguard."

Looks like MOM checks is not robust enough. How many fake degrees have slipped through MOM?


MOM probing 15 work pass holders for links to Indian university fake degree scandal

The Indian university in the state of Himachal Pradesh had sold 36,000 fake degrees over 11 years.
PHOTO: MANAV BHARTI UNIVERSITY/FACEBOOK
Wong Shiying and Aw Cheng Wei

18 FEB 2021

SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Manpower is investigating 15 work pass holders working here who had declared qualifications from Manav Bharti University in their work pass applications.

The Indian university in the state of Himachal Pradesh had sold 36,000 fake degrees over 11 years, the Times of India (TOI) reported earlier this month.

Of the 41,000 degrees issued by the university, only 5,000 are genuine so far, a special investigating team in India has found.

MOM said on Wednesday (Feb 17) that if the work pass holders were found to have falsely declared their educational qualifications, their work passes will be immediately revoked and they will be permanently barred from employment in Singapore.

"We may also prosecute them under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. The offence carries a fine of up to $20,000, up to two years' imprisonment or both," said the ministry.

In the last five years, an average of 660 foreigners were permanently barred each year from working in Singapore because they had submitted fake educational qualifications in their work pass applications.

Over the same period, an average of eight foreigners each year were convicted and penalised for false declarations of educational qualifications.

MOM noted that employers have the primary responsibility of ensuring the authenticity of academic qualifications of the foreigners they wish to hire.

This means that employers should have evaluated the candidate, including his qualifications, to ensure that he has the right skills and qualifications needed, said the ministry.

MOM said it also conducts its own checks after the employer submits the academic documents, as an additional safeguard.

Singapore Human Resources Institute president Erman Tan told The Straits Times that companies can do more stringent checks on their prospective employees, but they may not have sufficient resources to conduct thorough due diligence.

"This is especially so when companies are rushing to fill out positions," he said, adding that incidences of fake credentials tend to occur more frequently among lower level executives than those in higher offices.

One layer of checks can be if workers who suspect that their new colleagues are unqualified for their positions report this to their superiors, Mr Tan said.

Universities can also help by publishing the names of their graduates online, he added.

According to TOI, the police in India have initiated the process to extradite the chairman of the Manav Bharti Charitable Trust - Raj Kumar Rana - from Australia.

The trust operates private universities, including Manav Bharti University, in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan in India.

The Indian authorities estimated that the trust chairman and his family had amassed property worth 3.87 billion rupees (S$71 million) from the proceeds of the racket.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#28
How thorough were the inspections?
Who did the inspections: cheap foreign workers here on fake academic qualifications?
Who checked their work?
Looks like regular inspection is not effective.
So how now, NParks?

Woman killed by falling tree in Marsiling Park; last inspection by NParks in April 2020
1 of 3

NParks personnel doing an investigation on the fallen tree in Marsiling Park on Feb 18, 2021.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO

Jean Iau

18 FEB 2021

SINGAPORE - A woman was killed after a tree fell on her in Marsiling Park on Thursday morning (Feb 18).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they were alerted to the incident at about 8.15am and found a person trapped under a fallen tree.

SCDF officers used cutting equipment to extricate the 38-year-old woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

The police are investigating the incident.

Dr Leong Chee Chiew, commissioner of Parks and Recreation at the National Parks Board, said the 20m-tall Araucaria excelsa tree, which had a girth of 1.3m, was found to be healthy when it was last inspected in April last year.

“We are sad that there was one fatality. Our priority now is to accord assistance to the family of the deceased," he said. The board is investigating the incident.


According to eyewitnesses, a loud crack was heard just before the tree fell, pinning the woman under it. About 10 passers-by tried to lift the tree to help the woman but were unsuccessful.

Secondary 3 student Kayden Teo and his friend were among those who tried to help.

The 15-year-old said: "We were walking across the bridge (over the pond) and heard a loud crack and a splash. A tall tree fell and we ran over to help a woman who was stuck underneath it."

He added that SCDF officers arrived soon after.

Apart from police and emergency services officers, the park was mostly empty on Thursday morning when The Straits Times visited.

A large section of walkway had been cordoned off and a blue tent was seen on the walkway.

A large blue canvas was used to cover the area where the tree had fallen.

The incident comes after a 40m-tall Tembusu tree fell at the Singapore Botanic Gardens on Feb 11, 2017 afternoon, killing a 38-year-old Indian woman and injuring her husband, a 39-year-old French national, and their two children, aged one.

NParks personnel investigating fallen tree in Marsiling Park

A body being taken away from the scene in Marsiling Park on Feb 18, 2021. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO

The family were attending a public concert at the Gardens when the incident occurred. A 26-year-old Singaporean woman was also injured in the incident.

NParks said then that the tree was more than 270 years old and predated the establishment of the Gardens. It fell and brought down surrounding palm trees. It was last inspected in September 2016 and was found to be healthy.

In November 2019, a tree fell on a car at Scotts Road, in front of the Grand Hyatt Singapore hotel.

The driver escaped unscathed with the help of passers-by, although the rear windscreen of his white Subaru was shattered. No injuries were reported.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#29
Civil service: "Maybe if they ignore Mr. Chan long enough, hopefully he will give up on pursuing this."


Forum: Still waiting for carpark review two years after feedback

FEB 19, 2021


In September 2018, I gave feedback to a Housing Board branch regarding the non-provision of free Sunday parking at an HDB carpark in Serangoon North Avenue 1, seeing as all the other carparks in the same road do provide it.

Though HDB acknowledged my feedback and has assured me that it would conduct a review each time I asked for the outcome, I have yet to be informed of any review being conducted.

I brought up this long delay in response a few months ago to the Public Service Division, but the situation has not changed.

Roland Chan Boon Kiong

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#30
Heard it is very common.
Ministers don't talk to each other.
Ministries don't coordinate with other ministries.
The civil servants at government agencies and statutory boards just do what they are told and do not bother to flag any mistakes, oversight etc.

How the unauthorised clearing of Kranji woodland happened

One of two plots of forested land cleared at Kranji Road, as seen on Feb 22, 2021.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Ang Qing

21 FEB 2021

On Jan 13, JTC corporation suspended clearing works at a site, which is part of Kranji woodland. This was after the statutory board discovered excess clearing of the forested area, which had been slated for the development of the Agri-Food Innovation Park (Afip). Here is a timeline of what transpired, according to JTC:

July 1, 2011: Land belonging to the former Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway line is returned to Singapore. This includes a 25ha site around Kranji Road and Kranji Close. The area - which is part of Kranji woodland - was formerly unused scrubland.

2014: The site is set aside for industrial use in the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Master Plan 2014. The Rail Corridor is re-routed southwards along Woodlands Road after consultations with community stakeholders.

2019: In planning for Afip, JTC and the National Parks Board (NParks) propose the retention of the Rail Corridor as a green corridor that cuts through the development. This plan is exhibited in URA's Draft Master Plan 2019. Fast-growing non-native Albizia trees and scrubland vegetation have grown at the site. No environmental impact assessment is required for the land parcel because it is not close to sensitive nature areas.

May 2019 to July 2019: JTC engages a consultant to execute planning and design works for Afip. The consultant submits a building plan for tree felling and conducts a study that details plants in the area.

August 29, 2019: Nparks approves the consultant's request to clear three of 18 plots of land after verifying trees that can be felled.

March 2, 2020: Site clearance works for one of the three plots, around 1.9ha of land, begins.

June 1, 2020: Wildlife Act comes into effect, which states that those who do not comply with wildlife-related measures for development or works issued by NParks can be fined up to $50,000 and jailed for six months.

August 21, 2020: NParks asks for a study detailing the animals in the area and a programme to monitor and manage environmental impact after a resubmitted plan for the Afip shows a new drain that affects a nearby river, Sungei Pang Sua.

August 2020 to September 2020: Four plots of land, around 2.8ha, are cleared while the animal study is pending.

Sept 29, 2020: Afip's building plan receives clearance for tree felling from NParks, subject to conditions set on Aug 21, 2020.

November 2020: The consultant, on Nov 3, asks for permission to clear four more plots of land, and on Nov 6 NParks approves only partial clearance of one plot.
Dec 15, 2020: Two plots, around 2.1ha, are cleared.

Dec 23, 2020: A consultant is engaged by JTC to conduct the animal study and draw up an environmental monitoring and management plan.

End Dec 2020 to Jan 13: Contractor Huationg clears further plots of land amounting to 4.5ha, larger than the size of the Padang. These were not approved for clearance.

Jan 13: JTC's project manager discovers the further clearing and immediately suspends all work. About 13ha of vegetated land remains. JTC begins internal investigations.
Jan 15: A stern warning is issued to Huationg.

Feb 16: JTC releases media statement acknowledging the "erroneous" clearing. NParks announces that it is also conducting an investigation to determine if there were breaches to the Parks and Trees Act and Wildlife Act.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#31


Forum: Official responses to feedback can be improved

24 FEB 2021


Government feedback unit Reach conducts regular surveys on key government policies. However, the response to feedback e-mailed directly to ministries leaves much to be desired.

Quite often, the main issues raised are sidestepped. A template reply listing a host of existing measures and programmes is given instead.

For example, calls for legislative deterrence against neighbours' second-hand smoke have been met with responses citing the "three-pronged approach" adopted by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment: increasing the sense of social responsibility, exploring ways to have productive conversations between neighbours, and studying how to better address disputes.

If these measures had been effective, there would not be such persistent discontent on the ground or requests for more concrete help to resolve this longstanding public health and public nuisance problem, which has been exacerbated during the pandemic with more people working from home.

Singaporeans do not feel that they are being listened to. The over 80 per cent of Singapore residents who are non-smokers suffer while the authorities issue standard replies and offer solutions that do not really solve the problem.

Liu I-Chun

 

[Leckmichamarsch]

big rot at top
descending downwards

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#32
Quotes:
"But no signs of her distress were picked up on any of these occasions."

"MOM added that Chelvam and his family members had previously employed four other FDWs and MOM had not received any complaints or adverse feedback from them."

Total incompetence, complacency and negligence from MOM.

Case of Myanmar maid who was abused and killed 'appalling': Josephine Teo

Gaiyathiri Murugayan (left) admitted to starving, torturing and ultimately killing Piang Ngaih Don.PHOTOS: HELPING HANDS FOR MIGRANT WORKERS, LIANHE WANBAO
David Sun

24 FEB 2021

SINGAPORE - The abuse and torture suffered by Myanmar domestic helper Piang Ngaih Don is appalling and should never have happened, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo.

She also urged the community to help look out for and report signs of abuse of foreign workers.

Ms Piang was 24 when she died on July 26, 2016. She weighed just 24kg then, having lost 38 per cent of her body weight since she started working here on May 28, 2015.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday night (Feb 24), the minister extended her condolences to Ms Piang's family and said the Government takes the protection of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) seriously.

On Tuesday (Feb 23), her Singaporean employer, Gaiyathiri Murugayan, 40, the wife of a police officer Kevin Chelvam, 41, admitted to starving, torturing and ultimately killing her.

Chelvam, who was a staff sergeant, was interdicted from Aug 8, 2016, and faces multiple charges in connection to the abuse and death of Ms Piang. His case is still before the courts.

In a statement on Wednesday, the police said officers are expected to uphold the law, and officers who break the law will be dealt with severely.

Mrs Teo said Ms Piang worked in Singapore for less than a year and had attended the settling-in programme.

She was examined by doctors twice, between six and 10 months of her employment, and her employment agency also spoke with her on two separate occasions.

But no signs of her distress were picked up on any of these occasions.

"Although it happened nearly five years ago, I can only imagine the anguish her family endured," said Mrs Teo.

"The suffering and death of Ms Piang should never have happened. Abuse is abhorrent, whoever the victims are. When it involves FDWs, all the more we have to act."

A statement issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday night said that in the first six months of Ms Piang's employment, Chelvam had provided feedback to the employment agent (EA) on communication problems and her work performance.

The EA offered to replace Ms Piang multiple times, but Chelvam did not accept them.

"During this period, the EA had spoken to Ms Piang on two different occasions but did not pick up on any issues," it said.

MOM added that Chelvam and his family members had previously employed four other FDWs and MOM had not received any complaints or adverse feedback from them.

The statement also revealed that upon Ms Piang's death, MOM had ensured that a full insurance payout was made to the next-of-kin, consisting of the full death benefit, repatriation cost and a special gratuity payment.

The Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) had also made a donation to Ms Piang's family and facilitated her brother's visit to Singapore.

MOM said it will be intensifying efforts to reach out to and interview all new FDWs about their well-being, and also engage healthcare providers to see how it can support them to identify cases of possible abuse.

The Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) said in a statement on Wednesday that more must be done to protect FDWs.

"Horrific, dehumanising, and abhorrent understate the abuse that Piang Ngaih Don faced," it said.

"We grieve Piang's death. She leaves behind a young son who will grow up motherless."

The organisation also urged medical professionals who detect domestic and migrant worker patients showing signs of abuse to proactively take measures to flag them to the authorities, medical social workers, or groups that assist migrant workers.

Ms Teo, urging the community to support FDWs and "do better", said: "We can't do it alone. We appeal to you for help too.

"There's no place for FDW abuse in Singapore. Let's put an end to it."

Members of the public who may be aware of any ill-treatment of FDWs, or FDWs facing employment or other issues can reach out to CDE or the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (Fast) for help.

FDWs can also call the MOM helpline at 1800-339-5505 to speak to an MOM officer.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#33

Forum: Public servants should learn from SIA crew when it comes to customer service

FEB 25, 2021

Public servants can be trained more effectively to improve their service delivery if they learn from Singapore Airlines.

Last month, a family member of mine was sent to the accident and emergency department at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Naturally, I was anxious about the condition of my family member.

I was disappointed that the doctor in charge was so impatient that I had to make a trip to the hospital to speak to her in person.

Last week, I was visiting someone at Singapore General Hospital. As I was not familiar with the place, I was walking rather slowly looking for the room number and was not aware that someone was behind me with a trolley. He raised his voice and asked me to move out of the way.

I finally found the room and I spoke to a nurse, who was also rude.

Later, a woman came into the room to check on the meals. Within a minute, I could sense that she was different from the hospital staff I had spoken to. She was so polite, patient, and spoke with a caring tone.

I asked to look at her name tag and realised she was a healthcare ambassador from Singapore Airlines.

Why can't the hospital staff I encountered at the two hospitals be like this SIA employee?

Also, on numerous occasions, I have experienced very friendly service from SIA ambassadors in MRT stations. They are always patient and ever smiling.

Singapore Airlines should be proud of its training programme and the employees it has trained.

Singapore will truly be a gracious society if all our public servants are like SIA crew.

Low Chan Pong