Fatal rojak: Better feedback system needed

Fatal rojak: Better feedback system needed

IT TOOK almost three days from the first reports of food poisoning from the Geylang Serai rojak stall on April 1 to officials closing the stall on April 4.

According to the report, 'Hospitals and GPs have system to track outbreaks' (April 8), it was only at 10pm on April 3, after doctors at Changi General Hospital had noticed a surge in patients with similar symptoms of food poisoning, that the Ministry of Health (MOH) was informed of this outbreak.

MOH has asserted that there is an 'established system of surveillance and reporting of mass food poisoning cases'.

Unfortunately, it appears this system was neither fast nor effective enough to nip this outbreak in the bud. A major flaw is that it relies on individual doctors to spot trends before reporting to MOH. If 10 patients go to 10 different doctors or hospitals, how can any trends be spotted?

It is possible to develop a system to alert the authorities to food poisoning outbreaks. It will require multi-agency coordination and investment in technology.

An Integrated Food Contamination Reporting System could provide all doctors with a Web-based interface to report all cases of food poisoning they treat. The report could be as simple as stating who was taken ill, what the suspected food was, when the incident took place and where the stall is located. Consumers who fall sick after eating food could also file a similar report. The system will also make it easier for the authorities to contact victims in their investigations.

Once the reports are entered, the system can analyse the data and sound the alarm when a trend is detected. The alerts could be sent to MOH, the National Environment Agency and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority for coordinated action.

Gerald Giam

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Time for police and NTU to answer allegations in Jakarta Post article on David Widjaja

Time for police and NTU to answer allegations in Jakarta Post article on David Widjaja

Even before the investigations to the David Widjaja tragedy are completed, both NTU and the state media have already reached an unanimous verdict: that David attacked his professor and slashed his own wrists before plunging to his death.

In a desperate attempt to preserve NTU’s battered image, the state media went on a crusade to smear the name of David Widjaja by protraying him as a depressed, wayward and anti-social scholar who somehow lost himself in computer games.

Unfortunately, SPH’s reach has yet to reach Indonesia where its voracious media had been manufacturing conspiracy theories one after another to debunk its version of events.

In an article published on 14 April 2009, the Jakarta Post reported that the family of David Widjaja will take further legal action to investigate his death.

David’s family has rejected the story reported in the Singapore media , saying that the statement was based on the professor’s words only and that the director gave the statement before police completed their investigation.

David’s older brother William claimed that the family are “99 per cent sure” that David was murdered.

He also took issue with the Singapore police sending David’s autopsy report to them via NTU instead of the Indonesian Embassy as is the standard practice which raised doubts on both the legality and veracity of the report.

The family had unsuccessfully tried to meet Prof Su and Prof Chan during their visit to Singapore last week which raised questions as to Prof Chan’s persistent refusal to talk to the parents of his late student.

The Jakarta report contains a number of unsubstantiated allegations against the professionalism and integrity of the Singapore police and should be rebutted immediately to limit the damage already done to our international standing.

It has been 6 weeks since David’s death and the police has not completed their investigations. Given the intense public interest in the case, the police should step forward to reveal their findings to put the end to these baseless speculations and conspiracy theories once and for all.

The following questions need to be addressed urgently:

1. Were David’s wrists slashed as reported by the mainstream media?

2. David’s autopsy report revealed that there were 36 wounds to his body. Fourteen of them were knife-inflicted - were they all self inflicted?

3. Why did the police send David’s autopsy report to NTU instead of directly to the Indonesian Embassy? What is the usual standard practice in such cases?

4. Did David really jump to his death on his own or is there foul play involved?

While NTU has been most reticient on the matter, the controversial circumstances of David’s unnatural death continues to rag on at least in the internet chatrooms of Singapore and Indonesia.

As for the Singapore media, it will probably lose whatever shreds of credibility they have left if the case is brought up to the Singapore’s Coroners Court and the findings contradicts its original coverage.

A human life is lost. David’s family, as well as the public needs to know the truth. The Singapore media has proven itself to be most unreliable and untrustworthy. Can we trust our police force?

It is time for the police to come clean with us. Further delay in revealing their findings will only fuel more unhelpful speculations causing hurt to all parties concerned.

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AWARE's New team pledges to work for full equality of the sexes

New team pledges to work for full equality of the sexes

THIS is the statement issued by the new team at Aware shortly after midnight. It included an updated list of the executive committee, but did not provide any details about the women in charge:

'Aware, Singapore's leading women's advocacy organisation, is delighted to announce that its new president is Ms Josie Lau. She is joined by a dynamic, fresh and committed group of women forming the executive committee, who hail from diverse professional backgrounds drawn from the business, banking, finance, legal, education, management, human resource and social service sectors.

2009 marks the jubilee of our nation (50 years of self-government). In this period, the cause of women has made many great strides in many respects. The new team at Aware wishes to remember and honour the work of past Aware members for their vision and endeavours to advance the cause of women in all areas of society through advocacy and community work.

The new team intends to build on the solid foundations laid by the founders of Aware and will continue to promote the participation of women, on equal terms with men, in the political, social, economic and cultural life of our society. The goal remains to bring about full equality of the sexes and to end all forms of discrimination against women.

Aware will build on existing advocacy, research (eg. attitude and policies towards singles) and education to empower women to deal with various forms of discrimination, raise their awareness of rights and responsibilities, and promote their welfare in tandem with the standards in the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw). In 1995, Singapore became a party to Cedaw which contains benchmarks against which to measure the elimination of discrimination against women on a national basis.

Singapore has made much progress in areas like education and health but can do better in other respects. In particular, the new team will seek to promote the role of women in politics and public life as Article 7 of Cedaw affirms. We endorse the Cedaw committee recommendation that women's participation in public life should reach a minimum of 30 per cent to 35 per cent, sharing the conviction that this will revitalise political and public life.

The new team will, as a paramount objective, seek to empower women to be leaders in our society, in politics, business, the professions and in all areas of endeavour which will benefit our nation.

President Josie Lau says: 'In these challenging times, the new team will actively seek to collaborate and align Aware with other women's organisations with outreach to girls and women who are affected by the current economic downturn.

'The new team aims to empower women who have been retrenched and equip them with new skills. In this context, we will work with training agencies and launch a series of programmes of practical assistance, such as grooming, budgeting, finance and debt management, career planning and management of change. We will continue to provide emotional, psychological or legal support for women.'

We call on all women of Singapore to rise to the challenge of taking on leadership roles in our nation. We invite volunteers to help make Aware a positive agent of change for the beneficial transformation of our society, where all people, regardless of race, religion or sex, are valued and have a place under the sun.'

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Meet Singapore’s new mascot for the Asian Youth Games!

The inspiration for Mr. Lye's genius, "Frasia"

The results for the “Name the Asian Youth Games (AYG) Mascot” competition are out: Mr. Lye and his wife have come up with Frasier Frasia, a short form of the words “Friends of Asia”. Here’s the winning address: “Frasia embodies the values and spirit of the Asian Youth Games. We aim to gather youths from around Asia in a celebration of youth, sports and learning, from where they will engage in friendly competition. Frasia exemplifies a spirited representation of young hearts and minds in pursuit of sporting excellence. (Source: CNA)”

Sounds promising, no? Now, behold — FRASIAAAA

I mean, this is one of the biggest regional events Singapore is hosting this year, and this is the best they could do?

From the picture, its really hard to tell if Frasia or Mr. Teo Ser Luck is the mascot here.

Sorry to be negative, but “Frasia” really looks like a mash-up between our Courtesy Lion and Kelsey Grammer. Well, at least this reflects a well-known reality in Singapore: when it comes to efficiency and planning, we’re top drawer, but when it comes to aesthetics and creativity, we’re still… Frasia.

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DBS exec is Aware's head

April 16, 2009

DBS exec is Aware's head

Josie Lau appointed despite employer's advice not to run

By Tan Dawn Wei, Wong Kim Hoh & Yen Feng
		Aware's new team inlcude (clockwise from left) Catherine Tan (exco member), Maureen Ong (honorary treasurer), Peggy Leong (exco member), Jenica Chua (honorary secretary), Charlotte Wong (vice-president), Lois Ng (exco member), Sally Ang (assistant honorary secretary), Chew I-Jin (assistant honorary treasurer), Irene Yee (exco member) and Josie Lau (president). -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

View more photos

BANK executive Josie Lau, 48, was appointed the new president of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) on Wednesday night at a meeting of the new team in charge.

Who's on the exec committee PRESIDENT: Josie Lau Meng-Lee VICE-PRESIDENT: Charlotte Wong Hock Soon ... more DBS to Lau: Don't run for top post A STATEMENT issued by a DBS spokesman: 'The bank requires all employees to obtain approval before running for or taking on an external appointment, and many DBS employees are involved in community work and/or support various charity organisations in their own personal capacity. ... more New team pledges to work for full equality of the sexes THIS is the statement issued by the new team at Aware shortly after midnight. It included an updated list of the executive committee, but did not provide any details about the women in charge: 'Aware, Singapore's leading women's advocacy organisation, is delighted to announce that its new president is Ms Josie Lau. She is joined by a dynamic, fresh and committed group of women forming the executive committee, who hail from diverse professional backgrounds drawn from the business, banking, finance, legal, education, management, human resource and social service sectors. ... more

She is vice-president of consumer banking group cards and unsecured loans for DBS Bank.

But shortly after she announced that she was president, posed for pictures and made brief comments to reporters, her employer expressed unhappiness that she had taken the top post at Singapore's best-known women's group.

DBS Bank said it had told her just before last night's Aware exco meeting that it did not support her running for president. The bank said it supported employees' participation in community work, but they needed approval before taking on external appointments.

And Ms Lau did not have the green light to be Aware president.

'We believe that as a vice-president in DBS, she already has a challenging job with many responsibilities, and the role of president would demand too much of her time and energy,' a spokesman said last night.

Ms Lau could not be reached to comment as the new team wanted media queries to be channelled via the Aware office.

Checks by The Straits Times revealed that she is married to Dr Alan Chin Yew Liang, who owns several clinics under the Lifeline Medical Group. They have two teenage daughters, and Ms Lau is also listed as director and shareholder in some of her husband's clinics.

A beaming Ms Lau refused to take questions from reporters when she emerged from last night's exco meeting which lasted nearly four hours. But she said she was pleased and delighted to be president.

'Together with the new exco which was duly elected under the Constitution, I will build on the good work of the past Aware members who advanced the causes for women in all areas of society through advocacy, research and community work,' she said.

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Former Ren Ci CEO Ming Yi approves several loans to staff

Former Ren Ci CEO Ming Yi approves several loans to staff
By Liang Kaixin, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 16 April 2009 2106 hrs

	Photos 1 of 1 > " onclick="Next();" src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_next.gif" type="image" width="18" height="15"> Ming Yi
	Related News • Ming Yi's former aide confesses to a cover-up • Ren Ci management committee didn't approve Ming Yi's salary rise

SINGAPORE: The sixth day of the trial against former Ren Ci CEO, Shi Ming Yi, threw light on the way staff loans were granted, even though the hospital did not have a formal policy on it.

The court on Thursday heard that Ming Yi had approved several loans to various staff. Among them, was Dr Ong Seh Hong who is currently the community hospital's chief operating officer and clinical director of Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre.

Dr Ong is also a Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC. When contacted by Channel NewsAsia, the MP said he is unable to comment as the trial is still ongoing.

Testifying in court, Ren Ci's former human resource manager, Joyce Teng Lee Foong, said the staff loan was made to Dr Ong when he first joined the hospital in 2000.

The S$60,000 loan is understood to be the largest sum approved by Ming Yi. It is not known whether the loan has been repaid.

The court also learnt that Ming Yi's former aide, Raymond Yeung, was offered an employment contract in 2001, despite his unsuccessful application for an employment pass.

Ming Yi subsequently granted Yeung a S$50,000 loan, even though the latter remained without an employment pass until 2004. This was recorded on Ren Ci's books as a loan made to Mandala Buddhist Cultural Centre.

At issue now is whether Yeung, who is an Australian citizen and only became a Singapore Permanent Resident in 2006, had received the loan as a legitimate Ren Ci employee.

The trial continues.


- CNA/so

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DBS “disappointed” with Josie Lau’s disregard for staff Code of Conduct

DBS “disappointed” with Josie Lau’s disregard for staff Code of Conduct

Thursday, 16 April 2009

Darren Boon

Not the first time that Lau had breached the staff code of conduct.

DBS this evening issued a stinging statement rebuking Josie Lau for flouting the DBS staff code of conduct twice.

“Every year, all employees are required to acknowledge that they will abide by the bank’s policies. We are disappointed that Josie knowingly disregarded DBS’ staff code of conduct twice,” the spokesperson said. “Such attitude is not one that DBS, or any other organisation, can condone in a leader.”

In response to TOC queries, DBS spokesperson stated that in accordance to the Bank’s staff code of conduct, employees need to request and receive approval before taking on an external appointment, something which Lau failed to do.

“Josie informed the bank of her appointment as AWARE Ex-co member on 13 April, over two weeks after she was appointed on 28 March. She had not sought prior approval for this appointment and thereby breached the staff code of conduct,” the DBS spokesperson said. “Nevertheless, DBS made a concession and agreed to support her involvement as Ex-co member.”

Lau had informed DBS of her intent to run for President of AWARE early in the week. After a review, DBS replied to Lau that while DBS will continue to support Lau’s involvement with AWARE, DBS could not support her bid to run for President given the demands associated with the top post of a leading advocacy group in Singapore.

“Banks worldwide are facing very challenging times and her role as VP in the credit card space today is even more challenging, given the environment we are in,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson pointed out that DBS takes pride in its employees’ pursuit of individual interests and passions outside work such as involvement in various community, charity and volunteer organisations in a personal capacity. The spokesperson clarified that these employees had sought and obtained prior consent to do so in line with the Bank’s staff code of conduct.

“Approval is granted on a case-by-case basis, depending on the demands of the proposed external appointment as well as the job responsibilities that the individual holds in the bank,” the spokesperson said.

Ms Lau is the Vice President and Head of Marketing, Cards and Unsecured Loans, Consumer Banking Group, and is married to private General Practitioner Dr Alan Chin. Dr Chin is an outspoken advocate of for the continued criminalization of homosexual sex between consenting males.

This comes on the heels of DBS’ controversial support of the anti-gay group Focus of the Family (FOTF) last November. DBS had held a campaign pledging to contribute up to S$15,000 to FOTF when credit cardholders spend a minimum of $300 during weekends at selected malls between 14 November and 21 December.

FOTF Singapore is an affiliate of the American FOTF, which is led by the Christian evangelical James Dobson. FOTF USA is a proponent of school sponsored Christian prayer and is staunchly anti-abortion and anti-gay. The money from DBS’ campaign was intended to support FOTF Singapore building of a new learning centre for children with learning disabilities.

After strong public outcry, DBS rescinded all references of FOTF in its campaign advertising and clarified DBS acceptance of diversity and inclusion.

DBS is currently conducting an internal review into Josie Lau’s breach of the staff code.

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