FIVE A’S OF ACCEPTING BLAME

From TODAY, Voices
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2008

By Dr Bill Maier

Have your children learnt to take responsibility for their actions? Better yet, have you learnt it?

It’s amazing how often we blame others for the things that happen to us. And it’s not just a problem with children – I know a lot of adults who can’t seem to accept guilt when things go wrong. But part of growing is learning these five key principles of responsibility. We’ll call them the five As of accepting blame.

First, admit when you do something wrong. Everyone makes bad choices and the first step in overcoming them is being honest about it.

Second, apologise for how your transgression affected others. Make it right if you can.

Third, accept the consequences of your actions. And don’t expect others to pay for your mistake.

Fourth, ask for forgiveness. Just because you’ve apologised, don’t assume that others have forgotten how you hurt them.

And finally, alter your choices in the future. Decide now how you plan to do things differently the next time.

Why the rise in fees?

From TODAY, Voices
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2008

CHILDCARE CENTRES

Letter from Alan Tan

MY WIFE and I send our two toddlers to a childcare centre as my wife has returned to work after two years.

We are glad that the Government is placing great emphasis on the quality, affordability and accessibility of centre-based childcare and has taken steps to provide recurrent funding and scholarships and bursaries to eligible centres.

However, we are disappointed to be informed by our children’s care centre that it is increasing the fees by $50 per child per month. The centre said the increase was necessary to attract and retain qualified and committed teachers and to cover rising operational costs. It had increased fees in the first quarter of this year for the same reasons.

Based on the fact that the additional childcare subsidy granted to parents is $150, the increase of $50 is equivalent to a 33-percent “cut” from what parents have been given to help defray costs of raising a child.

However, the Ministry of Community Affairs, Youth and Sports (MCYS) has clearly indicated that a recurrent funding for eligible childcare centres will be introduced and this funding is specifically to help such centres recruit, develop and retain qualified teachers.

What then, is the basis for centres increasing their fees? Other parents I spoke to told me that the centres their kids attend are not waiting for the MCYS funding but are instead proceeding to also increase their fees.

I cannot help but suspect that some childcare centres are “taking advantage” of the subsidies granted to parents so that they can have a share of that as well as enjoy the MCYS funding.

Are childcare centres allowed to revise their fees as and when they deem fit? Do they need to seek approval from MCYS and justify their reason for doing so?

How can parents be “protected” against such seemingly arbitrary action by childcare centres?

Atom-smasher passes Test No 1

From TODAY, World
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2008

HISTORIC DAY
In time, the collider will replicate ‘Big Bang’ conditions

PICTURE: The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is designed to accelerate sub-atomic particles to nearly the speed of light and then smash them together. AFP

GENEVA — Particle physicists were jubilant yesterday after the long-awaited startup of a megamachine designed to expose secrets of the cosmos passed its first test with flying colours.

Cheers, applause and the pop of a champagne cork — rather than the cataclysmic suck of a black hole, as doomsayers had feared — marked the breakthrough at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern). Mr Robert Aymar, the organisation’s director general, hailed it as a “historic day” for Cern and mankind’s thirst for knowledge.

Built in a tunnel 100m below ground in a complex straddling the French-Swiss border, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is designed to accelerate sub-atomic particles to nearly the speed of light and then smash them together.

The collisions will briefly stoke temperatures 100,000 times hotter than the Sun, fleetingly replicating conditions which prevailed in split-seconds after the “Big Bang” that created the Universe 13.7 billion years ago. In this seething primordial soup, novel particles may lurk. Discovering them could resolve mysteries clouding our understanding of how matter is constituted and came into being, scientists say.

It has required nearly two decades, six billion Swiss francs ($7.8 billion) and 5,000 scientists, engineers and technicians from nearly three dozen countries to bring the LHC to fruition.

Yesterday’s operation began a long and cautious commissioning process, which weeks from now when all is ready, will whizz two parallel beams, one clockwise and the other anticlockwise, around the 27km ring-shaped tunnel.

- AFP

Stop making a mockery of Rule of Law: Let’s accept gays

Well, this is the firestarter, the article that threw it out in the open...

From TODAY, News
Monday September 8, 2008

NEWS COMMENT
Why keep such an archaic statute when there’s no intention to prosecute?

HO KWON PING
news@newstoday.com.sg

SINGAPORE is known to be economically liberal, but socially conservative. It is a rules-governed society with clear parameters for behaviour, whether political, economic, or social. And within the “OB markers” (out-of-bounds markers) of these dos and don’ts, it is a transparent and fair social order, with no favouritism for anyone operating outside the parameters.

This state of affairs governed the issue of homosexuality in Singapore for many years. Not only was gay sex illegal, but every manifestation was openly discouraged — some would say suppressed — and discrimination against gays in the public domain (the civil service, the military, the police, schools, and so on) was commonly accepted. Indeed, because it was public policy to promote heterosexual family life as the only norm, any other lifestyle was considered deviant and handled accordingly. Repressive though it certainly was to gays, it was at least very predictable.

Today, official attitudes towards homosexuality in Singapore are quite different. They are certainly ambivalent and ambiguous — some would even say, schizophrenic. On the one hand, many gay Singaporeans are feted and lauded for their creative contributions to Singapore, and warmly accepted by even senior figures of the establishment. On the other hand, gay sex remains a criminal activity, even after much public debate on the issue, and any kind of activity which is seen to promote a gay lifestyle remains off-limits.

To those who believe that the non-persecution of gays is already something to be grateful for, one could argue that allowing a black person to sit in the front of the bus while legally forbidding it, is something to be grateful for. Or, in an analogy closer to home for the supposedly homophobic heartlanders, should a Chinese person be grateful if the edict forbidding Chinese and dogs to enter parks in Shanghai in the ’20s were relaxed in reality, but maintained in the law?

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To criminalise gay sex and, in the same breath, state that anyone breaching this law will not be prosecuted, makes a mockery of the rule of law.
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At another level, my gay friends argue cogently that non-prosecution (or non-persecution, for that matter) signals, at the most, simple tolerance of them, and nothing more. There is a difference between being tolerated because gays are seen to be at the leading edge of the “creative class” — which Singapore is trying to develop as part of its new knowledge-based, creativity-oriented economy — and being accepted because of the recognition that fundamental human rights and the dignity of the individual extends to gays as much as to anyone else.

The somewhat schizophrenic decision to not prosecute an illegal activity has ramifications beyond the gay community, and has disturbed some sections of the larger community, which is not particularly interested in gay issues.

To many thoughtful citizens, Singapore has always openly claimed that the Rule of Law, possibly even more than the formal mechanisms of democracy, is a vital component of good governance. Yet, to criminalise gay sex and, in the same breath, state that anyone breaching this law will not be prosecuted, makes a mockery of the Rule of Law.

Minor though this violation of the principle may be, the proponents of the concept that the Rule of Law is a sacrosanct pillar of the Singapore ethos lament that the Government did not take the bold step to simply decriminalise something which the rest of the developed world has long decriminalised; which most Singaporeans (except, perhaps, the most fervently fundamentalist Christians or Muslims) don’t care that much about one way or the other; which the police, courts, and legal community would welcome simply to remove an archaic, Victorian-era statute; and finally, which the gay community would embrace as an important signal that their right to privacy — a fundamental human right — is considered to be more important than the right of anti-gay groups to proselytise about morality.

Optimists hope that the decriminalisation of gay sex — a yawn to anyone except the homophobic and the gays themselves — will eventually occur. In reality, rather than in law, gays in Singapore today have never had it so good, and should within a short time, become fully-accepted — not just tolerated — members of an increasingly diverse, and therefore vibrant, Singapore community.

But if we pat ourselves on the back for being so “bold” as to accept casinos and Formula 1 events into staid Singapore, why can’t the boldness extend to a simple act to enable gays to realise their dream — indeed, their simple right — to be normal Singaporeans like anyone else, no more and no less.

The writer is chairman of Singapore Management University, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings and Chairman of MediaCorp.

ARE YOUR KIDS ON DRUGS?

From TODAY, Voices
Wednesday September 10, 2008

By Dr Bill Maier

It is not something parents want to deal with, but many children around the world face drug and alcohol temptations on a daily basis in school.

Parents are seldom aware that their children are involved until it is too late.

Here are some tell-tale signs to watch for:

• Has your child changed friends or developed friendships with older teenagers?
• Have they become careless about the way they dress?
• Are they pulling away from the family or avoiding family events?
• Have their eating or sleeping habits changed?
• Have they become moody and irritable?
• Are their grades slipping at school?
• Do they make secretive phone calls to their friends?
• Have you caught them lying – even about things that seem insignificant?

The key is to watch for any drastic changes in your child’s behaviour.

Want to have a say?

Have your say.
news@newstoday.com.sg

Sexual orientation not a ‘right’

From TODAY, Voices
Wednesday September 10, 2008

THE GAY DEBATE
Just because the rest of the world allows it, doesn’t mean Singapore should

Letter from Koo Xun Zhao

I REFER to “Stop making a mockery of Rule of Law: Let’s accept gays” (Sept 8) and would like to point out several fallacies in Mr Ho Kwon Ping’s reasoning.

First, contrary to what he says, the Government has not said it would not prosecute those who breach the law — just that it would not pursue those who breach it.

This is a fundamental difference which does not result in what he calls “a mockery of the Rule of Law”. It can be just as easily argued that we can avoid what Mr Ho calls our current “schizophrenic” situation by actually enforcing the law on gay sex.

After all, it was the Rule of Law before the Government decided to be more open to gays.

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I urge Mr Ho to speak to non-gays who are also knowledgeable, if not experts, in the law and who are for criminalizing gay sex to get their perspectives on the issue.
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Mr Ho also compares the so-called “persecution” of gays with racial discrimination. Sexual orientation or preferences, however, are not “rights”.

Hence the question of discrimination does not arise. Mr Ho also cites proponents of the Rule of Law advocating the decriminalisation of gay sex, “something which the rest of the world has long decriminalised”.

Using what the rest of the world does as the basis for establishing or repealing a law has no grounds in law-making.

The same goes for the argument that Victorian laws be removed as there are important laws in our books today that exist from those times that are still relevant: For example, the law against incest.

Mr Ho claims that it is only “the most feverishly fundamentalist Christians or Muslims” and the “homophobic” who care about whether the law against gay sex is kept. In this, he is misinformed since there are even gays who feel that the statute should be kept.

Moreover, The Straits Times reported on Sept 20 last year that a survey by Nanyang Technological University found that seven in 10 Singaporeans frown on homosexuality.

I urge Mr Ho to speak to non-gays who are also knowledgeable, if not experts, in the law and who are for criminalising gay sex to get their perspectives on the issue.

If double standards can apply to gays, what about to HOTA?

From TODAY, Voices
Wednesday September 10, 2008

THE GAY DEBATE

Letter from Tan Yen Ling

LAST year, there was campaigning by both the pro-repeal gay community and the anti-repeal Christian camp.

As a result of this, Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs, said that Singapore will keep the ban although the authorities would continue to not actively enforce the provision banning gay sex between consensual adults.

Such an arrangement would be akin to the authorities allowing “consensual” organ trading while the Human Organ Transplant Act explicitly forbids it. Surely, such an arrangement would make a mockery of the Rule of Law.

And as it now stands, men who have same-sex sexual relations are committing a crime but are “above the law” as they will not be prosecuted — as assured by the authorities.

There is a reason for the law

From TODAY, Voices
Wednesday September 10, 2008

THE GAY DEBATE
Homosexuality is anti-social

Letter from Heikel Bafana

I REFER to “Stop making a mockery of Rule of Law: Let’s accept gays” (Sept 8). I must disagree with the assertions of Mr Ho Kwon Ping.

Mr Ho calls for homosexual behaviour to be decriminalised. Whatever perception he has gleaned from the official attitude, the views of large segments of our society against the homosexual lifestyle are neither ambiguous, ambivalent nor schizophrenic.

Whether due to religious belief or personal family values, homosexuality is widely seen in Singapore society as aberrant behaviour. I concede, of course, that this view is not shared by members of the gay community.

Mr Ho’s assertion that only “the most fervently fundamentalist Christians or Muslims” in Singapore care about making gay sex a criminal act is baseless, and indeed, false.

The Penal Code provision represents the manner in which the law expresses our society’s commonality of understanding as to what is to be allowed and what is not.

Encouraging a family unit that is able to procreate and rear children who will contribute to the future of this country is the prime imperative of our society, and legislating against any behaviour — including accepting widespread homosexual behaviour, which attacks the sacrosanct nature of the family unit — is perfectly acceptable.

The Rule of Law constitutes the sum total of the social contract which we, as citizens, agree to live by. In a multi-racial and multi-faith society like Singapore, the Rule of Law is a delicate alchemy of competing racial, cultural and religious demands. It cannot be subject to change merely because of the high-pitched calls of a small segment of our society.

I concede that in the context of the prevailing practice of the criminal justice system here, the belief may arise that homosexual acts are not subject to criminal prosecution. However, this belief is not entirely accurate.

Similar non-prosecutions by the authorities are also the norm, for example, in cases of mischief or of assault involving simple hurt.

However — and this is the critical distinction — the victim still has the right to lodge a Magistrate’s Complaint and undertake a prosecution himself. From this perspective, why should a person who feels aggrieved as a victim of homosexual behaviour be deprived of such a right to prosecute an assailant?

To achieve acceptance, tolerance or respect, perhaps it is more effective for the gay community to address in substance the issues which lead society to frown upon homosexuality. Such engagement would be more effective than getting tied up in knots about the law.

Mr Ho calls for an act of boldness to allow gays to “realise their dreams”. To believe that changing a piece of legislation will attain this result is misconceived.

There is simply no need for anti-gay law

From TODAY, Voices
Wednesday September 10, 2008

Letter from Tang Li

I REFER to Mr Ho Kwon Ping’s “Stop making a mockery of Rule of Law: Let’s accept gays” (Sept 8), and I would like to applaud him.

Like Mr Ho, I have to ask myself if there is any justification for keeping a private act between consenting adults, criminal.

During last year’s debate on the repealing of Section 377A, Nominated Member of Parliament Thio Li-Ann argued passionately that repealing the act was bad for public morality. In her address, she noted that “Diversity is not license for perversity”.

The majority of Parliament agreed with this and the result was the retention of 377A, but with a promise from the Government that the law would not be enforced.

Mr Ho rightly pointed out that the idea of having a law that the Government has no intention of enforcing makes a mockery of the Rule of Law, something which is central to the heart of Singapore’s rules-based society. The proponents of the ban on homosexual intercourse spoke passionately about the need to defend public morality, but they failed to provide a logically-sound reason for their case.

At best, Professor Thio argued that private acts would have public repercussions as in the area of public health. She pointed out that HIV/Aids was spread most efficiently by anal sex.

What she failed to prove was how anal sex between two consenting men was more conducive to the spread of HIV/Aids than anal sex between heterosexuals.

The Ministry of Health’s statistics on HIV found that in 2007 there were 255 heterosexuals infected, versus 145 homosexual and bisexual infections, something that nobody seemed to have taken note of.

Furthermore, the defenders of public morality didn’t seem too troubled by the fact that the greatest rise in HIV among women was from loyally-married women who were infected by their husbands.

So, where is the premise for having a law against consensual homosexual activity? Singapore is socially-conservative, but does that mean it is necessary to have laws — albeit non-enforced ones — that discriminate against one group without protecting another?

Ministry of Health statistics on HIV show that anal sex between consenting adult men is no less of a threat to public health than sex between heterosexuals. So, why then do we need laws if there is no threat to public health or security? Is it because the majority of people disapprove of it? Surely, the people who disapprove of such acts would continue to disapprove of them regardless of whether laws against them exist or not?

There is no rational premise for laws against homosexuality, so why do we need them? More importantly, why do we have such laws if we have no intention of enforcing them? Is it because we know that such laws have no benefit to society? I may not like homosexuals or homosexuality, but I can see no reason for laws against what consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedroom.

I salute Mr Ho for taking a stand against the current mockery of the Rule of Law.

GLOBAL ROUNDUP

From TODAY, World
Wednesday September 10, 2008

SPECTACULAR Parade, but N Norea’s Kim Jong-Il absent

North Korea marked its 60th anniversary yesterday with a massive parade (picture) of its reserve military forces, but leader Kim Jong-Il did not make a public appearance, a report from Pyongyang said.

Kim’s absence heightened speculation about his health following an earlier South Korean media report that he collapsed last month.

The parade in Kim Il-Sung Square brought together the military reserves and Pyongyang residents, who filled the large area that can hold about 100,000 people. Military equipment such as antiaircraft and anti-tank artillery were on display, but not tanks and missiles. The regular army, navy and air force did not take part. AFP

Thank you for the music

From TODAY, Health
Tuesday September 9, 2008

PALLIATIVE CARE
Some hospices turn to music therapy to soothe patients who are terminally ill

Eveline Gan
eveline@mediacorp.com.sg

PROPPED up against a pillow in bed, Kamaludin Ed is dying of lung cancer.

End-stage cancer has ravaged the 34-year-old physically. His face is thin and taut. Every breath he takes tires him.

At his bedside, a woman strums a guitar.

Singing along to the melody requires tremendous effort on Ed’s part but for a moment, his eyes light up as he goes through the lyrics of a song, titled Papa’s Wish, he has composed for his three young children.

Ed has also written a song to thank his wife of 15 years for the “hardships and sacrifices” she has made, but said that the lyrics are too personal to be sung in front of strangers.

“It’s very tiring for me (to compose the songs) but I just went for it. The songs tell them how much I love them,” he said.

Music and song-writing seem to give Ed, who is in Dover Park Hospice, temporary respite from his terminal illness. The hospice provides palliative care for terminally ill patients. Most of them have been given less than three months to live.

Said music therapist Melanie Kwan: “Music taps into a person’s emotions. A lot of the patients here are not ready to die yet. So, an activity like song-writing can help them find meaning.” Ms Kwan has been conducting music therapy sessions with Ed at the hospice for the past few weeks.

She described music therapy as part of the growing trend in palliative care for dying patients. According to her, “music therapy is defined as the purposeful use of music within a therapeutic relationship to effect positive shifts in physical, mental, emotional, social or spiritual states”.

Music therapy, when used as a healing tool for the hearing impaired, dementia patients or cancer survivors, is not new in Singapore. But Dover Park Hospice and Alexandra Hospital offer it as part of its palliative care programme for terminally ill patients.

“Music therapy can access different levels in a person,” explained Ms Kwan, who presented her study on the positive effects of music therapy on terminally-ill patients at the Singapore Palliative Care Conference 2008, which was held on Aug 29 and 30 at RELC International Hotel.

“A terminally-ill person can also have ‘well parts’. Music can be used to connect to these ‘well parts’,” she added.

Of the patients studied, more than half who had undergone music therapy reported “relaxation and support of breathing”.

“You can notice a marked physical improvement in the patients before and after a session.

“For instance, when they listen to tunes made up of open vowels (such as ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’), their facial expressions relax, their shoulders droop and they breathe better,” said Ms Kwan.

“Each session is individualized for patients who choose different ways to connect with music. I tailor the sessions according to the patients’ health status.”

Patients with “low functioning”, who are “uncommunicative” or are unable to sit up due to their illness may be able to do only simple activities such as humming or listening to rhythms and tunes.

Even so, Ms Kwan said such simple musical activities can bring peace to patients.


For more information on music therapy, log on to http://singaporemusictherapy.page.tl/.

How to keep the pounds off

From TODAY, Health
Tuesday September 9, 2008

Nutritionist Diana David gives couples tips on how to avoid the post-wedding weight gain.

• Plan a regular exercise routine before or after work with your spouse, instead of slouching on the sofa to watch TV.

• Make it a priority to wake up early to enjoy a substantial breakfast to avoid snacking in between meals.

• For a few days each week, plan and cook wholesome meals together.

• Don’t stock up on high-calorie snacks at home.

• Wash dishes together, or go for a walk after meals. Doing activities together can also help strengthen your relationship.

Does this wedding ring make me fat?

From TODAY, Health
Tuesday September 9, 2008

MARITAL MISS
Couples tend to put on weight after they get married

EVELINE GAN
eveline@mediacorp.com.sg

ON YOUR wedding day, you promised to love your spouse “for richer for poorer” and “in sickness and in health”. Now, you may want to add “extra kilos” to that list of wedding vows too.

Researchers have found that married couples tend to put on weight after their wedding.

According to a study by the US Obesity Society released late last year, many married and singles in their late teens and early 20s gain a significant amount of weight — an average of 6.8kg to 13.6kg — over five years.

But newly married men and women in that age group pack on 2.7 to 4kg more than their peers who are single and dating, with women gaining as much as 11kg and men gaining 13.6kg in a five-year-period.

There is currently no local data on post-wedding weight gain, but weight management and nutrition experts Today spoke to said this tends to be a common phenomenon among Singaporean married couples, too.

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With new responsibilities setting up a new home and family, newlyweds may have less time for exercise.
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Take married couple, Siti and Yusof bin Muhammad Ali, for example. Mrs Yusof weighed 75kg before they married two years ago, but has since packed on seven extra kilos.

Her husband has put on 5kg since his pre-marriage days. He now weighs 75kg.

Explaining their weight gain, Mrs Yusof said: “After we got married, eating together was a sort of novelty for us. We ate out a lot. When we stayed at home, we would have fast food delivered.”

Dr Stanley Liew, a consultant endocrinologist at Raffles Hospital who deals with patients with weight management problems, said the root of the problem is often due to “lifestyle changes” after marriage, as in case of Mr and Mrs Yusof.

“Those who are married may feel that staying slim is no longer as important as when they were single. After all, since they’re already married, they may feel that they do not have to look their best to attract the opposite sex,” said Dr Liew.

Ms Diana David, a nutritionist in private practice, agreed.

“The singles and those who are dating tend to watch their weight, especially if they want to impress or please the one they hope to marry. They may exercise more,” she said.

A more sedentary lifestyle after marriage could also cause couples to put on weight.

“With new responsibilities of setting up a new home and family, there may be less time for exercise or it may be neglected entirely,” said Ms David.

Dr Liew said it is also not unusual for couples to gain weight almost “immediately” after their wedding day, especially during their honeymoon period when they “often spend time eating together and enjoying life”.

But unlike the findings from the US survey, Dr Liew added that from his experience and findings from a 2004 National Health Survey, Singaporean women tend to put on more weight compared to their husbands.

“The 2004 survey found that Singaporean women in their 30s and 40s appeared to gain more weight than men,” he said. He attributed it to pregnancy weight gain, which may increase significantly after several pregnancies.

For first-time mother, Edayna Kwok, marriage and pregnancy have both contributed to an expanding waistline.

She weighed 59kg on her wedding day last June, after losing 15kg in a drastic two-month weight loss programme. She regained the same amount of weight within the first three months of her marriage when she conceived her first child.

“I think being pregnant made me feel hungrier. So, I ate a lot. But to be honest, I also slacked a lot after my wedding. I ate more fast food and didn’t exercise as much,” she said.

But not every marriage is a graveyard for trim figures. After all, “the weight gain is not something that happens out of the blue”, said Ms David.

Ultimately, weight gain is linked largely to “diet and exercise”.

“There’s always cause-and-effect. If we eat more calories than we burn off, we’ll put on weight.

“Married couples need not gain weight if they continue to watch themselves and are careful to exercise regularly and to eat healthfully,” she said.

Sorry, no vacancy…

From TODAY, Business
Tuesday September 9, 2008

HIRING SLOWDOWN
But jobs in service, construction still aplenty: Survey

ESTHER FUNG
esther@mediacorp.com.sg

Singapore employers are still hiring, though not as strongly as in the past. And they expect to slow down over the next three months.

The sectors that will be least affected by the slowdown are expected to be teaching posts and jobs for public administrators, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

There will still be some hiring in the fourth quarter, with the overall net employment outlook standing at 25 per cent, according to research company Manpower Staffing Services.

Net employment outlook measures the percentage of employers expecting to increase the number of people working for them, less the percentage expecting to employ fewer people.

The outlook has “weakened considerably” — 33 percentage points down on the comparable period last year — showing that the economic downturn is affecting employers’ hiring confidence.

“Companies will be very cautious when making hiring decisions and are paying more attention on their staff productivity figures,” said Mr Philippe Capsie, country manager of Manpower Singapore. “We have to be prepared for more job losses, mainly in the manufacturing sector, if the slowdown continues.”

Employers in the transportation and utilities sector are the most pessimistic, with an outlook that declined by 51 percentage points quarter-on-quarter.

Mr Kwan Chee Wei, group chief human resources officer of supply chain company IMC Corp, said: “We did the bulk of hiring in the first half and are likely to slow down for the rest of the year. This has nothing to do with the external slowdown. Nevertheless, we are always on the lookout for talent for future expansion.”

The strongest employment projections came in the mining and construction sector — with 25 per cent of employers expecting to take on people — followed by the public administration and education sector with 22 per cent.

The former is likely a result of the upcoming projects such as F1 and the integrated resorts, said Mr Capsie.

“Services and construction sectors are likely to continue hiring to meet the high labour demands required of these industries,” he said.

Overall, 26 per cent of the 629 employers surveyed expected to hire more people in the final quarter of this year, while 44 per cent did not foresee changes in hiring. Ten per cent of employers may reduce staffing.

In the region, employers in all eight countries and territories surveyed expect to pull back on hiring. Employers in Singapore, India and Taiwan have the strongest outlook on hiring.

COPING IN A BROKEN HOME

From TODAY, Voices
Tuesday September 9, 2008

By Dr Bill Maier

We all know that there would be no divorce in a perfect world. But we don’t live in a perfect world – I’m afraid.

Today, a lot of children are living in broken homes. There’s no easy way to help these kids overcome the pain of divorce, or help them navigate the problems involved in being shuttled between two households. But parents can do a lot to help ease the stress they feel.

The first step is to avoid putting down your former spouse in front of the kids. Using your child as a sounding board for your frustration is the worst kind of emotional abuse.

It’s also important that your children not feel responsible for the break-up. Make sure they know that they are loved deeply by both of parents, and that the divorce had nothing to do with them.

Finally, talk to them often to make sure they are coping well. And never take their feelings for granted.

Don't send mixed signals

<<GayLaw.JPG>>

From TODAY, Voices

Tuesday September 9, 2008

Letter from Felicia Tan Ying Yi

I REFER to the commentary “Stop making a mockery of rule of law: Let’s accept gays” (Sept 8). I fully agree with Mr Ho Kwon Ping.

The Government’s stand on homosexuality in Singapore seems to pander to religious fundamentalists who are vocal.

Such an attempt to pacify those who believe that it is their place to impose their value system on others should not happen in a country that prides itself on openness, secularism and pluralism.

It is all too convenient for the Government to “appease” the gay community by not taking action against them, while at the same time continue to pacify the conservatives by keeping the law in name.

However, this merely cheapens what the rule of law means. Laws should not be made or retained to reflect the views of a vocal minority; in fact, their purpose should not even be to reflect the views of the majority.

Instead, they are there to protect the rights of the citizens. In this way, section 377A of the Penal Code achieves nothing.

I feel that the Government should be courageous enough to finally decide that everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race or religion, has an equal right to privacy, and this right should never be superseded by the moral posturing of any group, regardless of how vocal or influential.

Or, if the Government should still choose to retain this archaic law, then it should enforce it instead of sending mixed signals.

But it should also be ready to expect the exodus of not only the gay community, but also of liberal, tolerant people like me, who refuse to settle down and start families in such a country.

What's next? Same sex marriages?

From TODAY, Voices

Tuesday September 9, 2008

Repealing Section 377A

Letter from Anton Chan

MR HO Kwon Ping is wrong to propose the acceptance of gays into Singapore society because accepting a gay lifestyle would have a tremendous impact on society as a whole in terms of religious beliefs, social well-being and families.

As a Christian, I oppose legalising a gay lifestyle in Singapore because it’s against my beliefs. As a father of three teenagers, I care because I don’t want my children to be affected by such a lifestyle.

Imagine if we allow the acceptance of such a lifestyle in Singapore. What next? Legalise same sex marriages? Legalise adoption of children for gays?

Where are we as a socially-conservative society heading towards?

Soon gays will claim the right for social acceptance in all areas including education, welfare et cetera. What effect will this have on the next generation of children and parents who wish that their children will grow up normally and produce children in the normal course of their being?

The only strong contention in Mr Ho’s proposal is the so-called gay leading edge in the “creative class”. Doesn’t our society have many other people to develop and nurture? Why are we so eager to promote creative class talent in Singapore? So that we can become a more tolerant society to accept whatever lifestyle these bring? Definitely no.

I would like to borrow a similar argument by Attorney-General Walter Woon regarding the Human Organ Transplant Act (Hota). In “None above the law” (Sept 8), he said: “If Dr Lee (Wei Ling) disagrees with Hota, she is at perfect liberty to campaign to have it amended… But until Parliament amends or repeals the Hota and the Oaths and Declarations Act, they remain the law of Singapore.”

If anyone disagrees with the law for gays as enacted by Parliament, he/she is at perfect liberty to campaign to have it amended… But until Parliament amends or repeals the law of Singapore for gays, it remains the law of Singapore.

The Pastor And His Son

The Pastor and His Son

A good reminder of God’s love.

Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at the church, the Pastor and his eleven-year-old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel Tracts.

This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside, as well as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, ‘OK, dad, I’m ready.’

His Pastor dad asked, ‘Ready for what?’

‘Dad, it’s time we gather our tracts together and go out.’ Dad responds, ‘Son, it’s very cold outside and it’s pouring down rain.’

The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, ‘But Dad, aren’t people still going to Hell, even though it’s raining?’

Dad answers, ‘Son, I am not going out in this weather.’ Despondently, the boy asks, ‘Dad, can I go? Please?’

His father hesitated for a moment then said, ‘Son, you can go. Here are the tracts, be careful son.’

‘Thanks, Dad!’

And with that, he was off and out into the rain. His eleven year old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel Tract.

After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet and down to his VERY LAST TRACT. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to, but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody answered. He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.

Finally, this eleven year old trooper turned to leave, but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch! He rang again and this time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked, ‘What can I do for you, son?’ With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, ‘Ma’am, I’m sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU and I came to give you my very last Gospel Tract which will tell you all about JESUS and His great LOVE.’

With that, he handed her his last tract and turned to leave. She called to him as he departed, ‘Thank you, son! And God Bless You!’

Well, the following Sunday morning in church Pastor Dad was in the pulpit. As the service began, he asked, ‘Does anybody have any testimony or want to say anything?’

Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face, ‘No one in this church knows me. I’ve never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed on some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart that I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live.

So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof, then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted I was about to leap off, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, ‘I’ll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.’ I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, ‘Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me.’ I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.

When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead, TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, ‘Ma’am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU.’ Then he gave me this Gospel Tract that I now hold in my hand.

As the little angel disappeared back out into the c old and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel Tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn’t be needing them any more.

You see - I am now a Happy Child of the KING. Since the address of your church was on the back of this Gospel Tract, I have come here to personally say THANK YOU to God’s little angel who came just in the nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.’

There was not a dry eye in the church. And as shouts of praise and honor to THE KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated.

He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Probably no church has had a more glorious moment, and probably this universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love & honor for his son… Except for One.

Our Father also allowed His Son to go out into a cold and dark world. He received His Son back with joy unspeakable, and as all of heaven shouted praises and honor to The King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above all principality and power and every name that is named.

Blessed are your eyes for reading this message.

Don’t Forget To Feed Them Fruit

From TODAY, Voices
Monday September 8, 2008

By Dr Bill Maier

“Eat your vegetables!” That’s what my mum used to say, and yours probably did, too. But today, we know that fruits are just as important.

A new study shows that children who eat a diet rich in fruit are less likely to develop some common types of cancer as adults.

Researchers found that adults who ate a lot of fruit when they were children were about 40 per cent less likely to develop cancer in their 60s and 70s.

The risk of cancer appears to be directly linked to the amount of fruit they ate as children. Those who ate fruit just a few times a week as children decreased their risk, but not as much as those who ate fruit every day.

There are a lot of reasons for this dynamic. Fruits are not only high in fibre, but they also contain a high level of antioxidants, like vitamins C and E, and beta carotene – which are all cancer-fighting nutrients.

So, make sure your kids eat their vegetables, but also see that they get a lot of fruit.