HOSPITAL BANS BURQA TO PREVENT THEFT

Somebody has thought of the burqa's other creative use... theft with concealed identify...

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DHAKA - Bangladesh's largest state-run hospital has banned staff from wearing full-face burqas after an increase in thefts of mobile phones and wallets from wards, a hospital chief said yesterday.

Female staff have been ordered to wear standard uniforms, which do not cover either the hair or face, while on duty at the Bangabandhu Medical University Hospital in Dhaka, said senior administrator Abdul Majid Bhuiyan.

"We decided to enforce our uniform regulations after discovering instances of stealing by veiled staff," he said, adding some burqa-wearing staff had also been secretly sending unqualified "proxy workers" to cover shifts for them.

Only a small number of women working at the hospital wear the full-face veil, he said. "Doctors have also said burqa-clad women who travel to work on crowded public buses then do not change into regulation uniform could carry diseases into the hospital." 

Bangladesh has the world's fourth-largest Muslim population. Islam is the state religion although only a minority of women wear the burqa. AFP
From TODAYOnline.com, Tuesday, 23-Mar-2010----------

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BETTER TAX RELIEFS FOR MORE HOUSEHOLDS

Image via Wikipedia

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SINGAPORE - Missing are the direct cash transfers in the form of shares or credits seen in past budgets.

But the Government will still be setting aside $1.4 billion of this year's Budget for households to benefit mainly lower- and middle-income families with elderly dependants.

A slew of enhanced tax reliefs was announced during Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's 2010 Budget statement, noteworthy of which was a gender-equal spouse relief.

Soon, wives who are taxpayers and breadwinners can claim a spouse relief of $2,000, similar to the current tax relief for husbands. This will help families where the wife is the main source of income, especially in instances where the husband has retired, Mr Shanmugaratnam said in Parliament yesterday.

Accordingly, the wife relief will be renamed "spouse relief".

The Government will also increase the income threshold for dependant-related reliefs from $2,000 to $4,000.

This increase recognises taxpayers' efforts in supporting family members who are genuinely dependent while giving these members the flexibility to do some incidental work, Mr Shanmugaratnam said.

The Government will also remove the income threshold for handicapped dependant-related relief.

The $1.4 billion also includes a one-off top up to the Medisave account of Singaporeans aged 50 and above, as well as to the Post-Secondary Education Account Scheme; 650,000 young Singaporeans will get additional top-ups of between $100 and $500.

It also includes transfers to households that have been announced in previous budgets, such as the Senior Citizens' Bonus.

Sales manager Khalid Ismail, who has several dependants including a handicapped mother living with him in his four-room HDB flat, said: "I feel better because the Government recognises that taking care of my family is important." The 37-year old is the sole breadwinner.

Ms Dana Lam, president of the Association for Woman's Action and Research, applauded the decision to grant tax breaks to working wives and those with elderly dependants.

But she hopes greater attention will be paid to singles who have devoted most of their lives to care for dependant family members, but end up with little CPF funds and other financial resources to support themselves.

Many in this category tend to be single women, she said.

From TODAY, Tuesday, 23-Feb-2010

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RETURN YOUR SHOPPING TROLLEYS AFTER USE

Image via Wikipedia

I have been seeing some old folks and some house helps pushing these trolleys along the road - definitely already out of the supermarket's allowed usage vicinity... and I was thinking, what on earth? Perhaps a lax policy on misuse, or simply an inconsideration on the perpetrators' part? Are they even aware of it?

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Sheer laziness and inconvenience. A survey by supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice found these were the two reasons why customers do not return shopping trolleys after using them. The result: Some 200 trolleys go missing each month, with 2,403 lost last year.

This has led to a needless $150,000 bill in replacement and repair costs for FairPrice each year - not to mention the more-than-10 retail assistants deployed each day just to collect trolleys dumped by inconsiderate shoppers.

FairPrice is now working with the Singapore Kindness Movement to educate shoppers to reverse this trend. EVELYN CHOO
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From TODAY, Thursday, 11-Feb-2010

A disparity in job expectations?

By Alicia Wong | 05:55 AM Jun 08, 2009

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Minister of Manpower Gan Kim Yong (centre), with Tanjong Pagar GRC MPs, scaling fish during a community visit to Bukit Merah View.
Photo by WEE TECK HIAN

ARE locals really unrealistic in their job hunt?

For restaurateur Amelia Kang, hiring Singapore citizens and permanent residents has not been "that ideal". Out of 10 local workers, mainly in clerical work, it's typical for only two to last more than three months, while out of 15 locals, only three have stayed in the job for more than a year, she shared.

Some Singaporeans do not have industry-specific knowledge, but expect to earn their previous salary. Said Ms Kang: "It doesn't make sense."

But when Mr Andrew Tan applied for a job he was over-qualified for, his interviewer told him: "If you come in, I don't know what I can teach you, but you have a lot to teach me."

Mr Tan, who had used the Manpower Ministry's job matching system, suggested that it be improved.

The expectations of workers and employers was one of the issues at a dialogue session yesterday at the Tanglin-Cairnhill division, and with Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong visiting, it was not long before foreign workers soon became the bogeymen.

Mr Gan reiterated the need for a "calibrated approach" in hiring foreign workers. Reserving jobs for locals during hard times would affect our long-term economic position, he said. Measures such as foreign worker quotas and the Jobs Credit scheme protect Singaporeans, he added.

One participant among the 300 residents and grassroots leaders, however, pointed out that Singaporeans "do not quarrel with the fact that we need foreign talent" but with the marketing of foreign talent as "saviours of Singapore".

"You have to look at things in perspective," he said, as foreign workers come to eke out a living and can survive on less, unlike Singaporeans who have families to support.

Foreign workers in the production line are also more willing to work overtime compared to Singaporeans, added Mr Tan.

Speaking to the media later, Mr Gan said the foreign-local divide "will remain" and is a "stress point that ... is heightened during the recession".

"It's important for Government and community to continue to explain why it's important to do the right thing, rather then to do the favourite things (by keeping jobs for locals)," he said, and added that the Government is working to assimilate foreigners into society.

Other issues raised during the one-hour session at Singapore Management University included feedback on the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience. Mr Gan urged residents to go to the Community Development Councils or their Members of Parliament for assistance.

From TODAY, News – Monday, 08-Jun-2009

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