TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent After receiving much criticism and ridicule from the public over his use of an ill-thought fable of a "kingdom of frogs" in Parliament last week, Minister Lim Swee Say and NTUC Secretary-General now talks about "weight management" at workplace in style. Speaking at a NTUC event yesterday, Mr Lim announced the launching of a weight management programme next month to "promote healthy living at the workplace." "Women leaders in the labour movement, they make a big difference to the success and progress of the labour movement as well to the welfare of the workers of Singapore," Mr Lim said. His deputy Halimah Yacob, added: "There will also be a S$200 grant to each company which wants to take the initiative to help their employees to lose weight. .....So what we hope to achieve is to reach out to 50 companies this year and we hope it will be a momentum across all the companies." At a time when Singapore workers are getting cold feet over increasing competition from cheaper foreign workers, it is incredulous that Mr Lim chose to talk about "weight management" instead. Due to the ruling party's liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies, foreigners now make up more than a third of Singapore's labor force According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore over the years has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, especially that of public housing, decreased labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standard of living. The issue was never quite discussed in Parliament as PAP MPs took turns to give one another a "pat" on their shoulders for the "good work" done so as to justify their impending 8.8 percent pay hike Halimah Yacob said that the "greatest dignity" the PAP can give Singaporeans is the "dignity of having a job" never mind if the pay is sufficient to enable them to afford a decent standard of living in Singapore Singaporeans should not waste time criticizing the inappropriateness of Mr Lim's speech. To quote his now infamous words: "We never give up. We are like the little frog. We are deaf to all these criticisms." Don't be surprised if you hear Mr Lim talking about "weight management" in his next parliamentary speech.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent 22 year old model Wendy Chong who made the headlines by exposing her 2-year affair with Singapore famous comedian and movie director Jack Neo said she decided to reveal her affair as she felt "cheated" by Jack Neo. "I want to let the whole world know what kind of person Jack Neo is. Yesterday, he just said he loved me, but today he cheated me!" she was quoted as saying in Lianhe Wanbao which appeared to contradict Jack's earlier statements that he had wanted to end the extramarital affair many times, but stopped from doing so by Wendy's threat to commit suicide. Wendy revealed that Jack told her that he wanted to rekindle the "feelings of love" together with her after being married for 27 years. He reported his movements to her even when he is with his wife or overseas. The duo had gone on overseas trips together on four different occasions. In an interview with Shin Min Daily yesterday, she revealed that she had sex with Jack Neo only a month after they met at the filming of "Money no enough 2". She added that Jack had curtains in his car while they were making love. Jack also reminded her to be careful not to leave any "hair" behind. She stressed that there were genuine feelings between both of them when they were together and that she enjoyed his "company" tremendously. In the latest posting on her twitter, Wendy wrote: "It will be a terrible time to go through from now on, but I am brave, I have admitted my 2 years affair with Jack Neo. It ended." The affair stunned both friends of Jack Neo and his loyal fans alike. His number one disciple Mark Lee said he felt like giving Jack "two tight slaps" on his face. Jack has since ended the affair after meeting up with Wendy and her family last weekend. Wendy's father told the media that no "compensation" was solicited from Jack. Insiders from the entertainment industry opined that the scandal is likely to have a negative impact on the box-office sales of Jack's latest hit - "Being human". Singaporeans should not be too harsh only Jack. After all, he is only "being human".  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent It was reported by Sunday Times yesterday that the six public hospitals in Singapore have average occupancy rates in the mid-80s an as the hospitals must set aside some vacant bed at all times for emergency cases. This is only half the story. What was not revealed is that some beds are reserved for private paying patients staying in classes B1 and above. The shortage of bed is especially acute in Tan Tock Seng Hospitals where patients can wait for one entire day at the A&E just to secure a hospital bed. Some patients are sent up the ward only to realize that the wards are still full and have to be placed in the corridors until the patients are discharged. According to a medical officer who worked previously at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the hospital is never really "full house" as there will always be vacant beds in the private wards. For example, the two wards 13C and 13D run by the private John Hopkins Institution are seldom fully occupied, but they are reserved solely for the private patients of John Hopkins. The A class wards like 13A and 13B only accept paid patients and are out of bounds to subsidized patients. However, in times of real shortage, some bed places in the private wards are opened up to subsidized patients who are known as "lodgers". They will be transferred immediately to the subsidized wards when there are vacancies. The bed situation in TTSH is managed not by doctors but by the Bed Management Unit (BMU) which decides when to "close" the hospital to new admissions, after which patients brought by ambulances subsequently will be diverted to Alexandra Hospital. Patients with non-urgent ailments requiring hospital admissions are sometimes left at the observatory ward of the A&E department overnight till the next day when beds are made available again from the dischrages of existing patients. The medical officer advises patients to stay in private wards in public hospitals if they can afford it as it will speed up the admission process. Tan Tock Seng Hospital is especially busy as it accepts patients from the central and northern parts of Singapore. The bed shortage is likely to ease with the expected completion of the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun by 2014.  Read More →