Written by Ashley Schaeffer

Although there are no major fires still tearing through the Tripa peat forest in Sumatra — the largest remaining Sumatran orangutan habitat in the world — updates from our allies on the ground tell us that Tripa is still gravely at risk. With one or two small fires still breaking out each day, combined with ongoing active forest clearing for palm oil plantations, the critically endangered orangutans depending on this forest for survival remain in danger.

Despite the international spotlight on Tripa since late March, there is still active clearing and building of more drainage canals going deep into primary forest.

I wish I could say that some of the largest players in the palm oil industry, such as Cargill, are doing everything in their power to ensure that controversial palm oil coming from these types of tragedies isn’t ending up in their supply chain (and our pantries), but that is definitely not the case.

RAN’s report, Truth and Consequences: Palm Oil Plantations Push Unique Orangutan Population to Brink of Extinction, points out that Cargill has no safeguards on its global palm oil supply chain, and that without such safeguards Cargill cannot ensure it is not contributing to egregious violations like the one underway in the Tripa peat forest of Indonesia.

Although Cargill is still misleading the public by releasing statements like the one from last week, titled, “Cargill Refutes Rainforest Action Network claims about Tripa Forest,” the bottom line remains: Cargill traffics a whopping 25% of the world’s palm oil and Cargill cannot ensure it is not trading palm oil from Tripa or parent companies profiting from the destruction of Tripa because it has no safeguards whatsoever in place to prevent it.

RAN released an official response to Cargill’s misleading claims last week with the following key points:

• Cargill claims that it “does not import Indonesian palm oil to the United States.” This is pure obfuscation. By Cargill’s own estimate, nearly 90 percent of the world’s palm oil is sourced from Indonesia and Malaysia, and the company traffics 25 percent of the world’s palm oil. Cargill’s claim that it does not ship any Indonesian palm oil into the U.S. is misleading and insincere, as a percentage of Indonesia’s palm oil is refined in Malaysia before being shipped to the US.
• Cargill also claims that it is not associated with the devastating fires raging throughout the Tripa rainforest of Indonesia. Cargill is hiding behind a shell game of shifting company ownership and complicated trade relationships between a web of subsidiary suppliers. However, the fact is that Cargill has a history of trading with at least one company that has profited from the destruction of the priceless Tripa rainforest.Trade data held by Rainforest Action Network shows that Cargill shipped at least 4,000 tons of crude palm oil produced by Astra Agro Lestari from the island of Sumatra in 2009. Astra Agro Lestari produced and exported palm oil from Tripa until at least 2010.According to Bloomberg, Astra Agro Lestari also sells millions of dollars of palm oil a year to industry giants Wilmar and Sinar Mas — two major suppliers of palm oil to Cargill. With a lack of supply chain transparency and no safeguards to prevent it, Cargill cannot in good faith claim never to have sold palm oil connected to the destruction of the endangered Tripa forest.
• Cargill has an enormous influence to exercise on the global palm oil market. The only way Cargill can guarantee it is not contributing to the devastation underway in Indonesia is if it adopts explicit environmental, social and transparency safeguards to prevent it, which does not mean relying on a third party like the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). It does mean taking responsibility for the practices of its suppliers. Cargill as a company has not articulated its values for its supply chain, meaning it does not publicly position itself against common abuses associated with palm oil production like slave labor and deforestation. Cargill has stated an intention to phase RSPO-certified oil into its global supply chain by 2020. However, the RSPO has at best a very spotty track record of enforcing its own rules to prevent tragedies like the one underway in Tripa. At the rate of destruction occurring today, 2020 is too little, too late for the forests, people and wildlife of Southeast Asia.

Just last week, Unilever, the world’s largest buyer of palm oil, announced a commitment to buy all of its palm oil, including its palm kernel oil, from traceable sources by 2020. Cargill’s modest commitments explicitly exclude palm kernel oil, an important commodity in the US market. Cargill also has no commitment to traceability, a crucial element for achieving transparency and accountability.

Cargill is showing an alarming failure to deliver on its time-bound commitments, including to secure RSPO certification for all of its palm oil plantations by the end of 2010, and completion of a survey and review of the practices of its palm oil suppliers by early 2011.

This post was originally published by Rainforest Action Network.

Prominent Blogger Andrew Loh said:

Cargill is a partner with Temasek Holdings in a company called CTP Holdings Pte Ltd. "Cargill is the majority shareholder of CTP and will assume managerial and operational responsibilities. Cargill’s existing palm plantation in Sumatra will now become part of CTP." 

[See Temasek Holdings' press release here:http://www.temasek.com.sg/mediacentre/newsreleases?detailid=8453]

Cargill is reported to be involved in forest destruction (such as slash and burn) in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Temasek Holdings should explain itself.

Does this mean Temasek Holdings indirectly caused the haze in Singapore? What do you think?

*illustrated photo

A customer service officer with a perverse interest in smelling women’s behinds was jailed for a month yesterday, after offering cash to a teenage student to fulfil his sordid desires.

According to a report in The Straits Times, Ow Sing Hai approached the 17-year-old one lunchtime near Raffles Place MRT station and asked her if she wanted to make some money. The 32-year-old then asked her if he can give her $200” to smell her bottom.

When the offended teen shouted back “No”, he persisted and inquired “how about $300” to lick her rear. Annoyed and disgusted, she called the police while Ow walked off.

The teen told officers to look out for a man wearing a green and white striped shirt and jeans. They spotted him along Cecil Street. He tried to flee but was arrested after a chase and struggle.

Ow, who works for a travel agency, was jailed by a district court yesterday after admitting to insulting his victim’s modesty and using criminal force on a police officer.

A psychiatric report from the Institute of Mental Health indicated that Ow suffers from partialism, which refers to a sexual interest with an exclusive focus on one part of the body. Ow also has previous convictions. When he was 15, he was put on probation for 15 months for molesting women. In 2003, he was jailed five years for robbery, outraging modesty and criminal intimidation.

[Original photo posted on TRS: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=583559878355850&set=pb.416856241...

A sign which said children were not allowed to play at an HDB playground in Sengkang was taken down quickly yesterday after it drew ridicule from residents and online forums such as The Real Singapore & Hardwarezone Forums.

A picture of the sign was sent in yesterday (June 17) by TRS reader Jasmine, who was left confused at the sight of it at a playground in Block 323B at Sengkang East Way.

The sign was put up because residents complained that children at the playground were making too much noise, said the chairman of Ang Mo Kio Town Council, Dr Lam Pin Min.

"We did receive feedback in the past from young families of newborn children being woken up as a result," said Dr Lam, whose town council oversees the area where the playground is located.

But the town council has not received such complaints for a few years now, and when it received media queries on the matter yesterday, the sign was quickly removed. "We looked into the matter and found the sign no longer relevant, so we removed it," he said.

Netizens already had a field day poking fun at the sign and its contradictory message, reports The Straits Times. A picture of a girl studying at a playground with the caption "OK so I'm like just going to go there and do my homework" received thousands of "likes" and "shares" on Facebook.

Even residents in the area said the sign sounded silly. "A playground is for playing and running. What else are children expected to do there?" said Ms Siti Suhaini, 22, a housewife who takes her four-year-old there.

There are at least three childcare centres in the area and all of them use the playground, she added. Dr Lam said the sign was erected at least six years ago, when the town council was under a previous managing agent.

But most of the residents and childcare teachers who spoke to The Straits Times said they noticed it only a few weeks ago. Said Dr Lam: "This is likely a one-off signage with a poorly phrased message.

"A better message would be, 'Please be considerate and refrain from making excessive noise'."

**TRS EDITORIAL PIECE**

Ok, first of all I have been a resident residing in Serangoon  North Ave 1 for 27 years of my life. Another 5 years was from Kallang Bahru during my toddler period. First of all I am not here to support either party or to condemn anyone. I am posting here as a first hand witness since I've been living in this GRC for decades.

I shall share with all here what was it like to be living here before 2011. Talking about basic facilities, Pappies built shelters for us in my area to shelter us from rain. Whenever lift break down fully, they sent techies to repair it at the very moment. Bus stops was always full during peak hour, pretty well maintained though.
Saw once Ms MP did her walk when it was nearing 2011 GE, that's the only time I saw her face to face but I didnt know her name at all and it took me a while before I knew who she was because of all the white escorts.

Now, after 2011 GE. WPers took over our constituency, things changed a bit. Well, by a quite a bit. Shelters were extended by metres to shelter for almost all residents. 

Lift didn't have to break down before techies are sent. Minor problem like lift doors taking 3 times before it closes fully and starts moving is attended to.

Bus stops were tore down and rebuilt even they looked brand new! The huge new bus stops serve really well, it could accommodate so many more commuters during rainy or sunny day now. Great move!

From 2011 GE till now, I witnessed WPers at least on a count of 8-9 times walking around, not as a single MP with escorts but with 3-4 MPs with escorts. And they just did their rounds just 10 days back. Talking to hawkers and diners mainly. I recognized LTK, Sao Mao and Sylvia faces at least for now after seeing them face to face for few times already.

Conclusions.

Things are never attended to last moment, never waited for a major breakdown before repairing it. Saved quite a good costs in maintaining rather than repairing it.

Voices and noises are heard now. Though I didnt raise any.

Anticipation and pro activeness are seen.

Well, at least for now I know how my MPs look like. No guessing anymore.

So its untrue that no upgrading will be done if a SMC or GRC is not under Pappies care, Wpers are actually doing a better job in this area.

So I guess if this goes on, I shall continue to vote for the same party I voted as of 2011. Good Luck!

Porky

Junior TRS editor

In an article published in the Sunday Times yesterday (‘What Mak did at home, my father did for nation’, 16 Jun), PM Lee’s sister, Lee Wei Ling, reminisced about the days when her grandmother was alive and how she would to learn to make bakchang (rice dumpling) from her.

She wrote, “Wrapping the leaves around the four corners of the pyramid is not easy. The consequence of an unskilfully wrapped zong zi is that when you boil it, water would seep through the corners. After a few attempts, I decided to leave the making of zong zi entirely in Mak’s (grandmother) hands. I helped only in their consumption.”

“Mak died in 1980. The next few Chinese New Year eves and duanwu jies were melancholy for I would invariably think of Mak on these occasions. But the years have taken away the pain and sadness of losing my favourite grandparent. I now remember her with sentimental fondness.”

She described her grandmother’s temperament as one of “aggressive kindness”.

Indeed, there is anecdotal evidence that once when she was staying at younger son Freddie Lee’s home in White House Lane off Stevens Road, Freddie and wife Eleanor forgot to ask her down for dinner, so Mak went downstairs and smashed all the antiques that were in the house.

Ms Lee wrote, “She would try her best to help if she thought help was justified – and she could be very pushy in delivering her help.”

She then compared her father, Lee Kuan Yew, to her grandmother, Lee Kuan Yew’s mother.

She said, “I think my father Lee Kuan Yew resembles her in this respect. Of course, he occupies a totally different position in society compared to his mother. But it can be said that he did nationally what she did domestically.”

In other words, Ms Lee is saying her father, Lee Kuan Yew, also exercised an “aggressive kindness” but to Singaporeans.

Ms Lee continued, “Just as she tried to improve the welfare of her children and friends, he tried to improve the welfare of Singaporeans. And just as she was pushy in offering her help, he could at times almost force Singaporeans to do what is right though it may have caused them temporary pain. I would describe that as being ‘aggressively kind’ too.”

Ms Lee then talked about how she and her father are still suffering from the loss of her mother, who died 3 years ago. Ms Lee’s mother, Mdm Kwa Goek Choo, suffered a massive stroke in May 2008 and died in October 2010.

Ms Lee said her father’s health took a turn for the worse after her mother’s death, “My father is an exceedingly rational person. But even his capacity for rational thought is helpless in the face of his deepest emotions. Since Mama died, his health has taken a turn for the worse.”

“It may have done so in any case for he is nearing 90. But I am certain that the grief of losing his lifelong love, friend and partner played an important part in causing his health to deteriorate.”

Meanwhile, to show the public that he is still mobile, Mr Lee Kuan Yew planted a rain tree in Holland Village yesterday (16 Jun).

A crowd gathered to watch the former Minister Mentor shovel some soil onto the tree and then water it.

Some 1,963 trees will be planted all over Singapore, from West Coast to Punggol, over the next 5 months to commemorate the Green Campaign started in 1963 by Mr Lee himself 50 years ago.
 

TR Emeritus

*Article first appeared on www.TREmeritus.com

Singapore’s skyscrapers were shrouded in haze and the acrid smell of burnt wood pervaded the central business district.

(17 Jun) – Singapore urged Indonesia to take “urgent measures” on Monday as severe air pollution from a rash of forest fires on Sumatra island choked the densely populated city-state.

Singapore’s skyscrapers including the famous Marina Bay Sands casino towers were shrouded in haze and the acrid smell of burnt wood pervaded the central business district.

Parts of neighbouring Malaysia were also suffering from the smoky haze, a recurring problem Southeast Asian governments have failed to solve despite repeated calls for action.

Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) said it had alerted its Indonesian counterpart on the situation “and urged the Indonesian authorities to look into urgent measures to mitigate the transboundary haze occurrence”.

But the Indonesian forestry ministry said firefighters were already tackling the blazes and water-dropping aircraft would only be deployed if local governors made a request, which they had yet to do.

Ministry official Hadi Daryanto attempted to shift some of the blame onto Malaysia and Singapore, saying their palm oil companies that had invested in Indonesia were also responsible.

“We hope the governments of Malaysia and Singapore will tell their investors to adopt proper measures so we can solve this problem together,” he said.

More at: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130617/singapore-malaysia-choking-haze-indonesia-0

According to a government poll conducted in 2011, over 90 per cent of those surveyed said National Service (NS) is necessary. Arguments that it can be shortened, however, are regularly made.

These arguments typically rest on two assumptions. The first concerns time. Some argue the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) uses it too inefficiently. “Hurry up to wait”, or “wait to rush, rush to wait” is often used to describe one’s experience in NS. They reason that NS could be shorter if time were more efficiently used.

In fact, it was because of the increased efficiencies achieved through technology and innovation that the length of full-time NS was standardised to two years for all ranks almost a decade ago.

The second assumption is that if other developed countries conscript their citizens for shorter periods of time, surely Singapore can too. Supporters of this argument point to countries such as, inter alia, Finland, Denmark, Austria and Norway where conscription is shorter, often only a few months long.

These assumptions and their related arguments are not intrinsically illogical. They do not, however, sufficiently account for the functional objectives of NS.

NS does not exist for its own sake, but as its first principle states, it “must be to meet critical national need for security and survival”. It does so by providing a large body of highly-trained front-line troops for the SAF, a conventionally structured deterrent force.

Singapore’s approach to defence dictates its function and therefore its form. As such, arguments that full-time NS should be shortened cannot be merely guided by internal logic alone, anecdotal observations or the experiences of other countries. They must fully recognise what full-time NS is expected to deliver.

HIGH TRAINING STANDARDS

Singapore’s defence policy rests on the twin pillars of defence and deterrence. The SAF provides the means to achieve the latter.

More than half of the active-duty Singapore Army, the biggest service in the SAF, is made up of full-time NSmen (NSFs). Few countries, even the aforementioned ones with long traditions of conscription, have such a high conscript-to-regular ratio.

NSFs fill a wide variety of vocations and appointments across the SAF and are trained to the same exacting standards as their regular counterparts. The high quality of NSFs was amply demonstrated in 2009 when a Leopard tank crew of three NSFs led by a young regular, having only trained with the vehicle for six months, beat seasoned regulars from Australia and the United States in a friendly tri-nation competition.

It is more often witnessed in the complex, high-tempo overseas exercises, such as Forging Sabre or Wallaby, that the SAF regularly conducts.

Such standards are typically not expected of conscripts in other countries because of the different doctrinal structure and lower technological sophistication of the militaries they serve in. In many instances, conscripts operate in a more evenly mixed military manpower system and augment the regular core of the military, rather than form it, as is the case in Singapore.

The training they consequently receive reflects this. Given the difference in what is expected of each country’s conscripts, it is unfair to suggest full-time NS can be shortened simply because other countries have shorter periods of conscription.

NS cannot be benchmarked against conscription elsewhere as each system is fit for its own specific purpose.

The skills conscripts are expected to acquire dictate the time needed to train them well and, more importantly, train them safely. This in turn determines the length of full-time NS.

IT CAN’T BE HURRIED

Training to such a high standard cannot be rushed. While technology can indeed be a force multiplier in allowing more to be done with fewer men, it can also be a double-edged sword as its complexity also demands more extensive training.

Technology-assisted training can mitigate this, but a learning curve still remains because of the technological sophistication of the equipment used. There are often multiple levels of instruction before overall proficiency is attained. Furthermore, these skills have to be applied in cooperation with others — within the unit, and the unit itself with others in a larger formation.

Acquiring group — in addition to individual — competency takes time. Rushing through the different phases of training may result in the boxes being ticked on paper but an ineffectively trained soldier, as well as unit, in reality.

Training also needs to be sequential and incremental for reasons of safety. Often a new experience unlike any other, military service can be emotionally and physically challenging. Assuming a soldier can transit seamlessly between roles without allowing sufficient time for the transition to take place can be dangerous.

Full-time NS is therefore intentionally incrementally structured, even if this requires more time. For example, the Physical Training Phase to help recruits meet the fitness standards of military service is almost as long as Basic Military Training itself.

UTILITY OF ‘WASTED’ TIME

While the SAF should investigate if there is any basis to the claim that NS training is excessively inefficient, a certain amount of inefficiency in NS might actually be desirable.

An apparent inefficient use of time can, perhaps somewhat counter-intuitively, provide opportunities for camaraderie to be built. Esprit de corps is developed through shared experiences; war or intense physical action typically comes to mind. But a common refrain heard, at least since the World War I, is that war, and by extension military service, is actually mainly boredom punctuated by brief moments of sheer terror.

This reality of military service suggests unit cohesion is not generally built during the intensity of action, for this is limited — but in the boredom of daily routine when soldiers interact and bond with one another while engaged in the mundane, or while awaiting orders.

Arguably, it is precisely because men are not busy with demanding tasks that they can afford the time and attention to actually get to know one another at a deeper level. These “wasteful” pockets of time also allow individuals to decompress during the intensity of training.

The value of periods of idle time must be appreciated. What may appear to be a waste of time may not actually be so.

The regularity of calls for full-time NS to be shortened suggests their supporting arguments and assumptions have not been adequately addressed. Engaging them is important because ensuring that there is common agreement on — or at the very least, understanding of — why full-time NS cannot be shorter is crucial to securing commitment to it.

It is crucial that this discussion acknowledges the practical objectives of NS and the constraints it faces in achieving them. Until Singapore’s defence policy changes — an important but separate issue for discussion — the length of full-time NS will always be guided by these practical considerations.

Ho Shu Huang

Ho Shu Huang is a MPhil/PhD candidate with the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. He is currently on study leave from the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.

Poverty refers to  a state of perpetual stress, a feeling of being powerless, a kind of hopelessness causing deprivation of basic needs and shortened life expectancy.

Welcome to the real world!

Since young, my blue-collared parents toiled hard to afford us an education and we believe that it  would deliver us from poverty.

They were heavily brought by the paradigm that if you worked hard enough with a graduate education, you would be released by the servitude and pain that is brought by poverty and low status.

My parents were the ones who were kind and honest, never cheated, and accepted what was given by the fate and state.

Thank God for the grace and mercy, their children managed to barely conform to the system and scraped through the mindless local university education which rewarded nothing but good grades.

A local university education is a ploy, a ploy to seduce people from the middle and lower income family into surrendering their money for better career prospects and locked their children away from early working exposure as the economy is tight and unable to produce many good jobs for the local population.

After graduation, I barely survived a patchy career as I became inflicted with schizophrenia (genetic disadvantage).

It took me some time off to get rid of the voices inside my head.

After that, I encountered a corporate psychopath who happened to be my boss.

I was heavily tormented with heavy verbal abuse, mind games, object throwing, heavy work load, late night meetings and harassing remarks for one year.

During this period, I was downtrodden with a bruised self-esteem, yet I can’t leave as there are bills and loans to pay.

I was constantly pondering whether I was such a lousy commodity or slave, condemned to a lifetime of poverty. I told myself since I was that bad, it’s imperative that I would never reproduce or have kids, because bad genes and environment would never have good outcomes

Soon, the bastard bounced me out of the company.

Thereafter, three successors to my position arrived and failed to outlive me.

As I have extricated myself from this company, I began to embark on a 6-month tortuous job seeking assignment.

I have to struggle between the shadow that casted upon me during my last job and the bleak future waiting for me as I have noticed that our economy would not be growing until 2014.

At the same time, there are spinned illusions spewed out from my parents saying “If you don’t work, there’s no money and we would be sent to hell”.

Out of desperation, in order to get the horse, I ride the cow (Chinese idiom).

This means that after getting shortlisted for so many positions when there’s no or slow response, I decided to end it off by omitting my degree qualification in the form.

Come on, some of my friends did that because the process of waiting kills. The real teaser only comes in when I received the phone call next day, affirming my appointment.

After waiting for months, my job search process was amazingly expedited through under declaring my qualifications. And yes, I was disgusted because I was committing a legal crime (not moral crime) and underpaid certainly. Pardon me for not disclosing the nature of my job because I want to protect my identity and family. But my organization is statutory in nature.

I may conclude my story off by the realization that if one is in a “survival mode”, his or her anxieties may tie his/her to the indoctrinations that have being reinforced by her culture.

This will cause her to devalue her/himself, which is the current notion of today. I, as the commodity of the system, have failed to utilize myself to the potential, due to inherent fears and securities that I may not be able to get a job.

To worsen the situation,  I have also failed to oblige my social and genetic duty as I have only earned a pittance and felt trapped by our meritocratic system here. This is the bitter reality I face.

This is the ugly truth.

I would implode people to question about the myth of poverty again. Is poverty caused by :

• refusal to work
• welfare dependency
• poor people don’t plan ahead, i.e. idea of instant gratification
• there are enough jobs around, anyone can get a job if they want one

My article is only meant to invoke people to have compassion and not to blame the graduate poor for not working hard enough as opportunities are few out there.

Mabel

*Article first appeared on http://www.transitioning.org/2013/06/19/female-jobless-graduate-managed-...

Sharing a photo of the haze taken from Istana. The city in the distance is barely visible.

We are all affected by the haze. Farmers and plantation owners in Sumatra are burning crops to clear land in the dry season, and unfortunately the winds are blowing the smoke all the way to Singapore. Ministers Vivian and Shanmugam have called their Indonesian counterparts to register our serious concerns and offer our help to fight the fires.

We are monitoring the situation closely and will stay in close touch with the Indonesian authorities. Meanwhile, please stay indoors whenever you can, especially children, seniors and those prone to respiratory problems. And do monitor NEA’s website (or use their myEnv app) for the latest updates. – LHL

http://app2.nea.gov.sg/corporate-functions/newsroom/advisories/update-on-haze-situation-17June2013

PM Lee Hsien Loong

[Source]: https://www.facebook.com/leehsienloong

By Myles Miller | Reuters 
 

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - A jury on Monday cleared a doctor of negligence in a lawsuit filed by a Delaware truck driver who underwent a penile implant procedure and ended up with an erection that lasted eight months.

"We're stunned," attorney Michael Heyden said as he left the New Castle County courthouse, where his client Daniel Metzgar, 44, of Newark, Delaware, was suing urologist Thomas Desperito of Wilmington, Delaware.

In April 2010, four months after the procedure was performed, Metzgar experienced swelling and went to a hospital, where he underwent testing. Before going to the hospital, Metzgar had been unable to reach Dr. Desperito.

The doctor's lawyer argued that hospital staff who performed tests were unfamiiar with penile implants and were not properly trained to do them. Therefore, the results from the tests, including images showing swelling, did not prove negligence.

Metzgar and his attorney during the one-week trial described the frequent discomfort and daily embarrassment he experienced after the procedure - including trouble riding a motorcycle, wearing normal clothes and joining family social events.

"I could hardly dance, with an erection poking my partner," Metzgar told jurors at the start of the trial. "It's not something you want to bring out at parties and show to friends."

Metzgar's stepson Alexander King, 18, described a once close relationship that grew distant after the procedure. King felt uncomfortable having friends over and noticed his stepfather stopped showing up at school and sporting events.

"I was - I'm sorry - highly embarrassed," he testified during the trial.

The device was ultimately removed in 2010 after tubing punctured Metzgar's scrotum. He received a replacement implant from another doctor.

Metzgar had no comment on the jury verdict.

The doctor's lawyer, Colleen Shields, said, "We think the jury reached the appropriate verdict."

Source: Reuters

A local radio host's comments about the Singapore Armed Forces reducing outdoor training for its soldiers because of the haze has gone viral online, drawing both support and anger from two opposing camps.

987 FM producer and DJ Rosalyn Lee posted on her Facebook page on Tuesday that she felt that the SAF should train its men in all weather conditions instead of cutting down on physical and outdoor training as PSI levels soared to "unhealthy" in Singapore's worst haze in 16 years.

"Shouldn't the SAF, of all people, train in all-weather conditions and be at least haze-ready? I'd imagine the haze to be a similar condition to that of war where s**t gets blown up in flames right?" wrote the outspoken Lee, 33, in a post that garnered over 170 likes.

Lee also posted in response to comments that "our defence force needs to toughen up", adding that she felt that she had trained harder in 4-hour ballet classes than some National Servicemen.

Keeping things tongue-in-cheek, she peppered her responses with smileys and posted that she welcomed all opinions and encouraged healthy debate about the issue.

However, her post was picked up and re-posted on popular online forum Eat-Drink-Man-Woman's Facebook page, where it was mostly slammed by netizens in over 500 comments and shared another 187 times.

In its scathing description of her, EDMW described Lee as a "failed blogger cum little-known DJ", and many of the comments made attacks on her personal appearance.

Facebook user Iqbal Mohamed said that Lee, "as a woman" who has not served National Service, "should not talk about how easy it (NS) is."

"Sure, NSFs nowadays don't go through the strenuous training like our parents. But... what if I say child birth is nothing? Never experience don't anyhow say (sic)."

Another comment from Lew Jia Qing pointed out that "If NSFs get respiratory problems due to training in hazy conditions and as a result die from it, how many men will be left to fight the war?"

Lee also had her share of supporters, who criticized the personal attacks.

"If we were to prepare for war, everyone has to continue fighting, male or female. Stop being demeaning and insulting her opinions. You people can't even handle a comment without bringing someone down? That says a lot about you," posted Facebook user Khatijah Begum.

In response to the fierce debate her comments sparked online, Lee posted a response today on her Facebook that she was "overwhelmed and heartened" by the support shown online for Singapore's Armed Forces and National Service.

"Regardless of how we each express our views, I believe the common goal that binds us is the obvious fact that we all care about our country and that we will stop at nothing to keep it safe - and that is something I choose to take away from these humbling exchanges," she posted.

When contacted, Lee told Yahoo! Singapore that the above statement was the final response she would be giving on the issue.

The PSI has been at unbearably unhealthy levels again. One of the things that we can do is to support companies with proven good land clearing practices and boycott those found to be burning. However, we currently do not know who the good companies are and who are the ones doing the burning.  Perhaps there can be cooperation amongst ASEAN governments to push through a sort of labelling programme where agricultural companies with good land clearing practices can be independently certified and use the label on their products. At the same time, we need more information on the owners of the land with hotspots.

We should also have the ability to take action on agricultural companies listed or registered in Singapore if they are found to be the culprits of burning in a foreign land. Our laws currently do not have this provision. So even if we do know that a Singapore-listed company or a company controlled by Singaporeans is burning to clear land in a neighbouring country, we will need the foreign government to impose action. That will impact our ability to deal swiftly with the culprits. I believe we can do more.

Below are two parliamentary questions I filed last year on this issue.

15-Oct-2012: Efforts to Resolve Transboundary Haze Problem

http://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/topic.jsp?currentTopicID=00078046-WA&currentPubID=00078007-WA&topicKey=00078007-WA.00078046-WA_2%2Bid-69d01997-b19e-4c73-8bb9-3333f669e785%2B

Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources if the Ministry will consider (i) publishing the identity of errant companies which it is aware of that have been found to be conducting illegal burning activities in neighbouring ASEAN countries; and (ii) taking action against any of the companies identified if the company or its subsidiaries are registered, listed or operating in Singapore and, if so, by what legal means.

…

Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-constituency Member): Yes, Sir, I do have some supplementary questions. I thank the Minister for answering the questions. At last month’s meeting, it was said that the ASEAN Environment Ministers met and talked about the identifications of these companies. I would like to know if in the identification of these companies, are any of these companies listed in Singapore or are owned by Singaporeans or have their subsidiaries based in Singapore. What can the Singapore Government do to these companies that are Singapore-owned or Singapore-operated? Also, what particular methods can we use to prosecute these companies?

12-Nov-2012 Efforts to Encourage Responsible Land Clearing Practices in Neighbouring Countries

http://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/topic.jsp?currentTopicID=00078137-WA&currentPubID=00078220-WA&topicKey=00078220-WA.00078137-WA_1%2BhansardContent43a675dd-5000-42da-9fd5-40978d79310f%2B

Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what are the exact plans and timeline that ASEAN has to exert commercial pressures on plantation owners to practise responsible land clearing; and (b) if the Ministry will consider amending the Environmental Protection and Management Act to give powers to our authorities to prosecute Singapore-linked companies or Singaporeans who are found to have practised illegal burning activities in neighbouring countries.

Yee Jenn Jong
Non-constituency Member of Parliament

[Source]: Yee Jenn Jong’s blog (http://yeejj.wordpress.com/).

The recent flare-up of the Indonesian forest fire problem and the deterioration in our air quality is understandably also causing temperatures to rise in Singapore. Our neighbor Malaysia is also equally if not more severely affected. This happens year after year causing severe respiratory problems for those afflicted with asthma, forcing schools to cancel outdoor activities and keeping people inside. Yet what is notable is that our government seems unable to come up with any solutions despite the fact that this has been going on since 1997.  In particular they do not seem capable of applying some simple lessons from economics.

Economics teaches us that pollution is an example of a negative externality. A negative externality occurs when a third party has to bear the costs or negative impact of the production of another party.  An example within Singapore would be congestion on the roads.  As the roads become congested due to the increasing number of private cars, public transport users and non-car owners have to bear the negative costs in terms of longer and slower journeys, pollution, noise and congestion.

A positive externality is when the third party benefits from the action or production of others. Those who choose to forgo the comfort of a car are benefiting others.  Growing plants for our own pleasure or use on our balconies ( so long as we guard against mosquitoes) actually benefits the whole environment not just us. A government that invests in education produces a host of positive externalities.

In the case of the haze from Indonesia the negative costs are primarily the additional health expenditures required to treat the problem as well as any economic losses arising from people having to take days off work. There is also the damage to the tourist industry, both short and long term. There is also the possible long term damage to health resulting from the pollution. This damage is all capable of being quantified yet it does not seem to have occurred to the government to do so. I would confidently estimate that the costs run into billions of dollars.

Now Iam going to bring in some theory. A government familiar with the Coase theorem (named after Ronald Coase who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1991) could have gained some insights here.  Problems with externalities can be viewed as problems of the distribution of property rights.  The right to pollute can be viewed as a property right as can the right to clean air. Now, in an efficient market without transaction costs this property right should go to the highest bidder, i.e. the party to whom that right is worth most.

Is there any way to stop this menace? Well, the economic loss if not the misery could be solved by the Indonesian companies involved paying Singaporeans for the additional health and other costs that we incur as a result of the pollution. However Indonesia as a sovereign state feels no necessity to compensate Singaporeans and Malaysians for the costs incurred. Disappointingly ASEAN has set up no legal mechanism for dispute resolution of this kind and the awarding of compensation for damage suffered from externalities that cross national borders. It shouldn’t surprise us that the PAP government appears unable or unwilling year in year out, to do anything beyond telling their Indonesian counterparts that the situation is serious. It shows how ineffectual ASEAN is. So penalizing Indonesia or fining them clearly isn’t workable given the current framework.

I have a much better idea based on The Coase theorem. Rather than seeking damages for the costs of the pollution we should just pay Indonesia for our clean air. Singapore could pay the Indonesian farmers and plantation owners responsible for the haze to use other methods to clear their land.  We are a wealthy Nation and because we lose billions of dollars to this haze every year, this right (the right to clean air) is worth a lot of money to us.

Lacking an international legal framework to award and enforce compensation claims, Singapore and Malaysia should offer the Indonesian government a sum sufficient to compensate the farmers and plantation companies for the additional costs incurred by switching to another method but obviously less than the value to us of having clean air.  The problem is that the prospect of financial payments is likely at the margin to induce new companies to enter the “industry” of slash-and-burn clearance just to receive compensation.   For example if I pay my neighbours on the left to stop growing flowers in their garden because I have hay fever then the neighbours on the right would immediately start planting flowers to get me to pay them to stop.
Therefore it would be better if the compensation took the form of a lump sum payment to the Indonesian government to be given to those responsible coupled with a continuing payment towards the costs of rigorous enforcement of a total ban on such methods. This cannot be too difficult given rapid developments in drone technology to allow intensive monitoring of large areas.  Singapore could also contribute towards the development of low cost but less environmentally harmful methods of land clearance.

Objections have been raised, particularly by Indonesia, that a large part of the pollution is produced by plantation companies listed in Malaysia and Singapore. We are able to raise a levy on these companies sited on our homeland. Perhaps part of the costs of compensating Indonesia can even be defrayed by levies on these companies. They are unlikely to be able or willing to escape the levy by relocating elsewhere.

So,  I offer a simple solution.  I am sure there are many other suggestions. The real question is why our government has done nothing about it for the last fifteen years. As always I am convinced that they have no long term plan or model capable or reacting to evolving situations. I have many times said that their plan is a super tanker set on course. They can calibrate it slightly on route from A to B but super tankers are notoriously difficult when it comes to turning a circle or changing direction.   The one child policy is a perfect example of a PAP super tanker route. Population rates are particularly difficult to change and once affected almost impossible to put into reverse. Another example is the PAP economic model of growth essentially based on low cost labour which is now increasingly obsolete in the face of disruptive technologies like advanced robotics, 3D printing and automation of knowledge work.

The PAP ministers cocooned in their million dollar salaries are largely  indifferent to our health and well being or are simply incapable of  coming up with positive policies.  Let us return to those negative externalities.  I often berate Singaporeans for being prepared to put up with conditions of austerity that citizens of advanced democracies and economies would never tolerate. Maybe it would be more obvious if we were to look at what I call austerity as a negative externality.

Let’s turn this on its head. If the PAP was a farmer burning and causing haze the negative externality it produced would be obvious to you.  It is not a factory of course but citizens as the innocent third party are forced to bear the negative costs of the PAP policy of unnecessary savings. Savings far beyond any level that would be considered necessary for a reserve fund, as a buffer against a rainy day. The negative externally is borne by you as over a 50 year period the PAP wilfully under spends and under invests in its citizens’ education and health. This causes me to ask once again, who do our huge reserves (even taking into account the discrepancies I have highlighted before) actually benefit? And do our people vote for the PAP believing that bearing the negative externalities is a good way of existing or have they simply had the wool pulled over their eyes?

Finally I will compare Temasek Holdings with Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. As you know I often bring up Norway’s SWF as a model of good governance and a model of transparency.  Bearing in mind that Norwegians of course enjoy a full welfare state although this is not something I would advocate for Singapore.  A couple of years ago Norway’s SWF made a major policy shift. They decided to invest a significant part of their funds into environmentally responsible companies.  Norway’s Ambassador speaking at the time said the investment strategy was “just the start” of her country’s use of state – backed financial mechanisms to halt environmental degradations. Meanwhile Temasek is using state finance to invest in plantation companies. In 2005 it acquired CDC group’s plantation interests in Indonesia including Sumatra. So ironically if we do pay for our clean air we could be paying our own government for the right to clean air.

Kenneth Jeyaretnam

*The author is the secretary-general of the Reform Party and he blogs at http://sonofadud.com/

Source: Channel News Asia

Just back from my Meet-the-People Session. We were all tracking the PSI during the MPS, and dismayed that for a time it went above 300. Minister Vivian has briefed the press to explain what we are doing, and guide the public on how to respond (http://bit.ly/10xFN8c). 

Cabinet had discussed the haze situation fully when it met this afternoon. But as the haze has worsened, I am meeting the relevant ministers again first thing tomorrow, and will brief the press after that. 

Meanwhile, if the PSI reading stays high, please stay indoors where possible and avoid heavy outdoor activities. Look out for one another - we will get through this together.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

[Source: https://www.facebook.com/leehsienloong/posts/534464273282950]

Dear Indonesia,

We know you have your problems, like dealing with protestors because you decided to up fuel prices. But we hope you realise that your little neighbour here is choking to death because you’re burning another type of fuel. 

Look… our Government says it can’t interfere in your domestic affairs and you obviously don’t think Asean can do much to make you do what you don’t want to do. (After all, you’re the Big Brother of Asean). So we’d like you to hear from the people of Singapore, all four/five million of us and countless of PRs, foreign workers, including your Indonesian citizens. 

The haze, or rather this unhealthy pollution, coming from your end has become way too much of us. We are watching PSI figures like we we’ve just taken a huge bet on the stock market. Even the stock market doesn’t rocket up by 100 points in an hour. So the PSI is 290 now at 10pm and reaching hazardous levels. We feel as though you’ve launched some kind of chemical warfare against us, although we know it’s really just dirty smoke. 

We’re more than willing to help with your slash-and-burn problem. So what would you like from us? $100 million worth of helicopters and fire trucks? More policemen to stop illegal de-forestation? Your civil service replaced by our squeaky clean ones? Our CPIB is quite free now that the sex-for-favours cases are out of the way.

Or you really don’t care about what we think or how we’re faring? We’re hurt…we thought we were friends… Plenty of your politicians shop here, by the way. They even get hospitalised here. Your fabulous rich shop here although they are probably giving the Great Singapore Sale now on a miss. Or maybe it’s even worse in Indonesia? Like in Riau? What about the capital Jakarta or anywhere the rich people stay? Is Bali affected? 

Our ministers have been on the phone with you but all you can say is that some of those fire-starters are greedy capitalists based here. So give us their names and we’ll deal with them. Name them. Shame them. Boycott them. Crash their servers. Vandalise their buildings. Seems our laws can’t quite reach them since they are burning in YOUR land. You have, however, our permission to do as you like with them, except take their money.

So bro, can you give us some face or not? Take those cloud-seeding offers. Take the money. Take whatever. We assure you we won’t think you are any weaker for accepting our aid. 
How can we? We’re just a little red dot after all. 

And maybe that’s the problem.

Sincerely,

Singapore

Bertha Henson

*The author is a former editor of The Straits Times, she is now the co-founder of Breakfastnetwork.sg

1. Under the Workplace Safety & Health Act (WSH Act), employers have a duty to protect their employees’ safety and health at work. When PSI levels exceed 100, employees will be exposed to higher levels of safety and health risk due to poor visibility and/or ill effects of haze. 

   Advice for employers

2. Employers must carry out a proper risk assessment and implement appropriate measures, including specifying when to stop work, so as to ensure that risks identified are minimised or mitigated. Employers can also refer to the Guidelines for the Protection of Employees against the Effects of Haze at Workplaces, or refer to Annex A. The Guidelines aim to help ensure both employers and employees are better prepared to minimize or mitigate the effects of haze. The PSI levels stated in these guidelines refer to the 24-hour average level issued by the National Environment Agency (NEA). 

   Advice for employees

3. Employees with existing heart or respiratory illnesses are more susceptible to the effects of haze. When PSI levels exceed 100, these susceptible employees must use respiratory protective devices (or respirators) if working outdoors. If they experience breathing difficulty from wearing respirators while working outdoors, employers should deploy them to work indoors. Outdoor work involving strenuous physical activity should be minimized.
4. “Employers should refer to the guidelines and ensure they protect the safety and health of employees who work outdoors, against the unhealthy effects of the haze. Employers should also ensure they communicate clearly with the employees on how their organizations are putting in place measures to help workers cope with the impact of the haze,” said MOM’s Commissioner for Workplace Safety & Health Er. Ho Siong Hin.
5. In situations where haze poses imminent danger to the safety and health of workers and measures have not been taken to mitigate those risks, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) may order the affected work to stop. If any person (individual or corporate bodies) fails to comply with a stop work order, under the WSH Act he shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

Annex A - Guidelines for the Protection of Employees Against the Effects of Haze at Workplaces

Source: Ministry of Manpower

Source: http://www.nea.gov.sg/ar06/03SideASEAN.html