Dear A.S.S.

Yesterday, yet another goondu driver unable to drive his car properly, and ended up ramming the classroom of My First School. The car was apparently reversing, but it overshot, and went all the way to the child care centre.

The accident happened around noon yesterday, and the driver of the car escaped unhurt. Luckily, as it was a Sunday, the centre was empty. I shudder to think if this had happened on a busy weekday. There won't be any lucky escape. This is the second time that a car had reversed all the way to a HDB block in the space of one week. In both cases, there were no injuries reported, which was a lucky thing. Wonder if this new trend is because the drivers are just too goondu, don't know how to reverse properly, of some brake failure issues of their cars.

Let's hope none of this happen again. Imagine if there had been injuries in either accident. The child care one even worse. If the accident happened on any other day than Sunday, I shudder to think of the consequences.

Mrs Chen

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Yet another case of an injured foreign worker who was owed money by his boss, but even though the Courts asked his employers to award damages to him, he is unable to claim his money till today.

News reported that injured Bangladeshi construction worker Sujan Ahmed was awarded by the Labour Court a victory over his employers, as they were told to compensate him for permanent injuries he suffered after a fall in May 2015. However, the company, Ridgeway Marine and Construction refused to make good on the $9,145 owed to the injured worker. Sad thing is, this is the second case that have been reported this past week, and in both cases, it looks like the injured worker can only claim victory in name, but no money will ever be paid to them. The employers will get away without having to pay moneys owed, and MOM cannot do much about it. This exposes a gap in the protection of workers against employers who leave them uninsured, refuse to compensate them for injuries, or owe them their salaries.

Even though the MOM said they had facilitated the partial payment, why can't more be done? Is Labour Court powerless to stop employers from disregarding their verdict? And shouldn't insurance for all workers be made compulsory? There is certainly a gap, MOM should seriously look into. And offer more to help the inured workers.

T. Paul

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S,

As if raising carpark charges was not enough, HDB has sub-standard levels of service, especially at my main Carpark at SK62, with the gantries breaking-down regularly. I managed to keep track of these dates:

Break-down Dates:
1st September 2016
19th December 2016
24th December 2016
25th December 2016
12th January 2017
18th January 2017

and I am sure this is only the tip of the iceberg. Where the most recent delay caused a 20 minutes jam at the carpark entrance. Furthermore, these are relatively new gantries. It causes me to shudder when I think of the condition of these gantries a few more years down the road. Raise charges, but reduced efficiency.

Kader Zainuddin
A.S.S Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

The Singapore Police are currently investigating about 30 people for their act of protest at a public place without a police permit.

The 30 people, aged between 21 to 56 years old, had carried out a protest at Sembawang Park on Saturday, with some of them carrying posters to show their support for "Jallikattu" and the same protests that were being held in India. Jallikattu is a festival where young men "fight" with raging bulls, and this festival was banned in India last year. While the 30 people were clearly showing support for their home country and fellow countrymen, they should remember that they are not in India, and thus, have to respect the rules and the Law of the country they are in. Even if they were in India, most likely the 30 people would have been arrested by the police too.

Singapore have many foreign workers from different parts of the world. Police should take affirmative action like this, to show that foreign workers must respect Singapore's Laws. Otherwise, Singaporean society will be in danger from all these foreign elements.

James Aranvin

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Students having to clean their classrooms at the end of the day before dismissal also now becomes a piece of news. In fact, a Minister made this his crusade for kids to have "area cleaning" time before they leave for home.

Kids nowadays are so privileged. Maybe they have never hold a broom, dusters and other cleaning tools before this. Of course, their maids will do all the cleaning for them, the kids will not know what cleaning up after means. Just over a generation ago, cleaning of classrooms was normal practice. We all had to do our part in making sure the classrooms are always swept, and rubbish always cleared, while the blackboards are always maintained before and after lessons. And this was done without the need for a Minister to tell us what to do.

Apparently, this normal practice stopped somewhere along the way, so much so that the Minister sees a need to make this cleaning up a practice in all levels of school, and gets airtime in national papers. Kids nowadays are so privileged.

Wong C S

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

This morning's non-stop heavy rain maybe caught everyone by surprise, as this is January already, and yet we are experiencing December type weather. The rain was so heavy, that some sort of flooding was expected to occur in Singapore.

The surprise was that a flash flood occurred at the Tanjong Pagar area. National water agency PUB said on Facebook that floods occurred at Craig Road, Tanjong Pagar Road and Maxwell Road. The Land Transport Authority, in a tweet at 9.23am, also warned motorists of the flash flood on Maxwell Road (towards Kadayanallur Street) after South Bridge Road.

So, flash floods did not occur at slums in Singapore, but instead, at Tanjong Pagar. How the rain gods is laughing at us now.

L. Bernard

A.S.S. Contributor

I saw this article today on the news.

I couldn't believe my eyes that this is the park where I used to bring my children 50 years ago.

It seemed like just yesterday when I brought my young daughter aged 2 and son aged 4 to play at the recreational playgrounds there.

So much time has passed. I didn't even realize it's now SG100.

I wonder how many more of such "once in 50 years" events we'll experience in the future.

Derrick
A.S.S. Contributor

<Facebook post by Enimsaj Ang>

Appeal for witnesses (16/01/2017 along T junction of Woodlands Ave 6 and woodlands dr 65 at around 8 plus pm). One of the witness told me there was a malay lady who help my mum throughout and she help to called the ambulance. If you happen to know this good samaritan, or u are reading this, i would like to express our gratitude to you. Please contact me.

It's just one split second, i lost my mum in that accident. How irresponsible can one be if this kind of accident happened. Because of some reasons, which i wish to know what are the reasons.

From mummy's accident, we learnt a very huge lesson, everyone needs to do our part, even when we are crossing during green man, we need to make sure the car come to a complete stop before we cross.

Why Mankind always make things so complicated, when god made us that time is that simple and pure. Now mankind are so selfish and irresponsible that even the government make everything so safe, yet people are the ones who make it unsafe. Why can't we just do our part as human, think for people and drive carefully so that other people won't lose their family.

To the driver who knock my mum down, though u will go through punishment by the law, but after you are released, you can start all over again, what about my mum? She lost everyone she love. She can't speak to us or even give us a hug.

We lost not just our mummy, but a special kind hearted best friend for everyone who knows her. New year is coming, that makes us more devastated. We were suppose to have reunion dinner together. Now, we can only live with the memories.

I miss you alot mummy.

As evidence that employers are willing to go to all lengths to lower labour costs and exploit cheap labour, our reader has shared with us this story of a PRC cleaner who does both cleaning duty and sales for fresh fruits as well at this Tampines branch of NTUC.

According to the reader, he had seen the PRC doing cleaning duties at the BLK 476 Fairprice outlet before and was shocked to find him helping to sell Mandarin Oranges to customers.

What do you think?

Read his account here.

"Today during afternoon, i was shopping at NTUC Fairprice at tampines blk 476, saw this PRC cleaner (in green t shirt) helping to sell mandarin oranges to customers. I recognized him doing his cleaning duties in this outlet as i frequent here for shopping.

I think its not a good idea to use a cleaner to do cleaning job and also use him to sell fresh fruits to patrons.The fresh fruit dept supervisor must be very lazy."

Nickybutt
A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

The CNY period is typically the time of the year where prices of everything goes up. That also includes the price for cutting hair. Normally, during this period, there will be a minimum increase of $2 for hair cuts.

This, while not ideal, is understandable, as many people will use up this last week before CNY to go for their haircuts. Thus, there will be long queues, and hair salons typically suffer from lack of staff during this period. Some shops hire more part time workers, hence the increase in price.

What I was most amused with was the Malay barber shop also increasing their price. Maybe they also don't want to lose out in terms of getting extra income, so that's why price also increase. But, if I really put on my thinking cap, if your price did not increase like the rest, then maybe more people might come cut their hair at your barber shop. Cheaper mah. Right? So why increase? Our Malay barbers showing solidarity with the Chinese-owned hair salons? Then, we salute you!

Han MC

A.S.S. COntributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

LTA has just announced that the speed limit for the MRT trains on the East West line will be increased back to 80kmh, back to the normal speed before the works for the sleeper replacement project commenced.

Now that the works are over, the MRT trains can move back up to a faster speed. Maybe this will help finally to ease the congestion on the trains every morning, as people rush off to work. But, with the spate of latest breakdowns that has tarnished the MRT image for the past five years, hopefully the higher speeds does not mean more breakdowns coming our way.

If after this latest round of sleeper replacement project, there are still frequent MRT breakdowns, then we take the bus to work. And LTA will be back to square one to solve why MRT always breakdown.

Alvin Lam T

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Now, we read more and more news on taxi drivers and bus drivers getting physical and verbal abuse from their passengers. Some people might say the cases are now more in the spotlight, because everyone has a camera in their pockets, so anytime got a fight somewhere, can just easily shot and upload later.

However, in a ChannelNewsAsia interview, cab drivers and bus captains confirmed that verbal abuse against them are on the rise. Why is this so? These cabbies and bus captains work hard to earn their money, sometimes waking up before dawn and driving all the way until the sun sets, yet, they are subjected to such vile verbal abuse.

Could more be done to protect our cab drivers and bus captains? Everyone should play a part, after all, these drivers are driving in public spaces. So, they are not alone. When one does see an incident of verbal abuse, the least we could do is stop taking videos of the abuse, and help out to diffuse the situation instead.

M Sabri

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) just issued a statement that the advisory that was spreading online over the weekend regarding a drug known as “strawberry quick”, which is said to taste like pop rock candy and is targeted at children, is a hoax.

CNB stated that they had not come across any cases of such drugs in Singapore in recent years, and that CNB had not issued any advisory on the drugs. Still, CNB urged parents to remind their children about the dangers of drugs. “While there is no specific information about ‘strawberry quick’, we urge parents to remind their children that drugs are harmful. Unscrupulous traffickers may seek to disguise the harmful nature of drugs by making them look like candy or foodstuff,” it said.

It is more of an issue that people are spreading such rumours and hoaxes and taking it as fact without properly checking. These people should be brought to task for spreading false information.

Sim T S

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear ASS,

I refer to this distasteful post by Westgate. They have come up with an "Ang Pau rate card" where family members are judged based on their income level to determine how much ang bao money they should give.

A lot of people have left comments saying that Westgate is encouraging people to be materialistic. A lot of people have also said that ang baos come from the heart and people should not be pressured into giving something beyond their means.

I think it is inappropriate of Westgate to post the rate card. What makes matter worse is that Westgate gave replies that they thought were witty but they were seriously distasteful.

Someone left a comment asking about relatives that gave $2 ang baos, Westgate reply was that the commenter needed to remind his relative that it was 2017 and not 2007. Eventually, Westgate even said that he needs new relatives.

How is this even funny or humourous?

Kim Tan
A.S.S Contributor

A 43 year old man who was unhappy that his girlfriend was earning $80 for 12 hours of work a day went to the stall that she was working at to hurl vulgarities and assault the stall assistants.

The series of harassment began on 13 Jan. The stall in question was a roast meat eatery in Chinatown.

Even though his girlfriend was "fine" with the arrangements, the man felt that he had to deal with the "injustice".

He proclaimed that he was the notorious "Geylang Tiger" and hurled vulgarities at the stall assistants. One time, he even hit one of the assistants on his back.

When the stall assistants called for the police, the man claimed that the assistants had threatened him with a knife.

Undeterred, the man returned another occasion with an accomplice to hurl vulgarities at the stall assistants again.

The police are investigating the case.

<Facebook post by Roads.Sg>

Old Airport Food Centre along Dunman Road at 5.50pm (Jan 22).

White Toyota car SLA7719S driving against traffic flow towards the carpark.

The vehicle was driven by a female driver. Pedestrians were yelling at the driver, but she simply ignored them and continued driving towards the gate.

Only when she reached gate did she realise that she couldn't pass through. At that point, she simply made a U-turn and drove off.

It was reported that there is an elderly man who goes around Boon Lay Place Food Centre for money every morning to ask for money.

To avoid attention to himself, he would sit with the diner before he asks for money.

When the diners say no, the elderly man would start to scold and lecture the diners saying, "Why $1 you also don't have, I only ask $1, not much why you don't give, your handphone few hundred dollars why no have $1 to give me, government never give me work, you work got money, why cannot give to old man like me..."

Stall owners at the food centre are aware of man's antic and they do not take his orders as he has no money to pay for food.

Sometimes, the elderly man would order food. When it arrives, he would tell the diner that he only has 50 cents and he does not have enough money to pay.

He would then sit with the diner until the diner changes table or give him money.

This is Dasiyati, or affectionally known by us as Yati. She is not just my domestic helper, but my dear friend and a great nanny to my kids. She just returned from Semarang, Indonesia on 9 Jan 2017 after her well-deserved 2 weeks break. We were all excited that she is going to spend another 2 years with us.

But we noticed she had water retention when she returned and brought her to the GP the next day. There was blood and protein in her urine. Her BP was 200 and the GP ordered us to admit her to hospital immediately. She also started to experience pain in her body. After one week of investigations at Changi General Hospital, our worst fears were confirmed. She has kidney failure and her kidneys are functioning at only 10%. The next treatment she needs will be dialysis which the doctor predicted may take place in a year’s time. Eventually she will need to undergo transplant surgery.

I can’t help but to cry at the diagnosis. We hugged and cried together. With her condition, there is no way she can continue working for us. Also, she receives no subsidies here as she is a non-Singaporean. But my thoughts for her goes beyond Singapore. How can she pay for her treatment back in Indonesia? She still has a school-going daughter and her husband struggles to find work back home.

She will be returning to Indonesia very soon to continue her treatment. I will be managing the funds donated to her so as to ensure the funds are properly utilised. I will be providing updates through this page. My family and I will be giving her money to start something that can help them to sustain their livelihood eg buy a cow & chickens. We are believing the best outcome for her.

We are not sure what is the amount that will be needed to sustain her life. We are currently searching for hospitals in Indonesia and the treatment prices and will update here as soon as possible. The complication that she may need to relocate her entire family to a place where she will be able to get reliable treatment and to get access to a good doctor.

For now, we are hoping to raise $50,000 to help her and her family resettle and for initial treatments and medication. If there is anyone who can help to advise where she can seek treatment in Semarang, where she is staying, or other hospitals that has such renal treatments, please PM me.

No matter of the level of our economic status, I believe every individual deserves proper medical treatment and a chance in life. She is an individual loved by God and I believe together, our contributions can make a difference to her life. I appreciate any amount donated to her for our little is a lot to her. Also, please keep her in prayer as we continue to trust the LORD for a manifestation of a miracle in her life.

My handphone number is 90110061 if you need any clarification. Thanks for your giving and God bless you richly. And we appreciate any donation regardless of the amount.

Hebrews 13:16

16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Update as of 24 Jan 2017:

Dear all,

It is really heartening to see how all of you have responded to loving someone in such a practical way.

I have just accompanied Yati to return to her hometown. Her family missed her a lot as they were not able to be with her during her period of hospitalisation. She gets tired easily and needs lots of rest. It is sad to see her like that as she was once stronger than any of us at home.

A big thanks to those who have donated! Your giving irregardless of the amount has been a great blessing. It is also lovely to see the Indonesian community reaching out to us.

Based on the preliminary information I am receiving, the amount I have collected could be sufficient to sustain her treatment and even long term care. I am thankful for that. I am in the midst of verifying the information. Thus, I will end the fund raising now and will reach out again if I have to.

Meanwhile once I confirm all the treatment amounts, I will update again. Thank you everyone!

<Credits: KX-Unit Debt Recovery Agency>

Appeal for UFun/UToken Victims

On behalf of victims of the UFun/UToken scam, KX-Unit is making an online appeal for all of the victims that have yet to join in the petition to come forward. As of now, 30 plus of the scam victims have already taken the first step to lodge police reports and join in our petition. KX-Unit is assisting victims of UFun/UToken and we hope those of you who are victims or aware of other victims in Singapore can join the collective efforts.

UFun/UToken is an international online investment scam platform dealing with virtual currency. It has been around since 2013 and has representatives all over the world, including Singapore. The main representative in-charge of their branch in Singapore shall be referred to as Mr X. According to the victims, he is the mastermind in Singapore and has relative autonomy to run the scam by training and instructing his many “down lines” or subordinates and “sales” agents below him to search for victims to target (including taxi drivers, housewives, senior citizens and more). He targets those who are unfamiliar with financial instruments by likening the UFun/UToken platform to Bitcoins, which is an established and recognized online currency.

According to the victims, Mr X has a particular way of dealing with them. He is very particular that all of them MUST submit their payment only by CASH to their respective agents, who will then submit the money up to him. In return, Mr X will “deposit” this money into their individual online accounts for them to check. But the truth is that these online accounts are simply databases reflecting number figures which has no relevant verification of Government Authority or Bank’s guarantee that reflect actual live money. But the victims do not know or understand that. As the mastermind behind the scene, Mr X took advantage of that to dupe the hard earned money of all the victims and this is unfair for the unknowing victims. For himself? Well, he is the owner of multiple business entities in Singapore.

When UFun/UToken collapsed, Mr X still continues to persuade and dupe the victims again and again. He asked for a 20% of their investment saving sum as an “administrative fee” to “port over” their online accounts to another online “investing platform” so that they can continue to “maintain their investment savings” their money. But that is not all. Till date, he has persuaded victims to port over THREE times to a total of 3 different online platforms since 2013, and he is still doing so. Such a despicable and unscrupulous act should not be allowed to continue his ways.

The victims of this UFun/UToken scam are coming forward together group by group, and they demand for justice to be served. If you are a victim, come forward to join the efforts:

Ricky Tan (Victims of Ufun Scam - Facebook Page): +65 9871 7027
KX-Unit and Associates Pte Ltd Main Office: +65 6291 3656
Whatsapp: +65 8112 7790
Email: enquiries@kx-unit.com