Law. Faith. Justice. Community. Culture.
In my September 2015 General Election Social Justice Petition Paper, I highlighted the problem of self-employed persons / freelancers being possibly unduly prevented from claiming Government-paid leave. I have since obtained clarification from the Government that such persons will not be prevented from claiming Government-paid maternity leave.
Continue reading “Govt-paid Maternity Leave for Self-Employed Persons”
In short, the recipe to successful teams is cultivating a space where talented people can feel safe in contributing to the team.
MOM calls for public feedback on Employment Claims Tribunal
The current Labour Court under the Employment Act only covers workers who earn less than $4,500 per month regarding their salary disputes. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is considering establishing the ECT to expand this scope to include all employees (except public servants, domestic workers and seafarers for the time being). The detailed proposal can be found here. The public has until 23 March 2016 to give feedback.
Continue reading “MOM calls for public feedback on Employment Claims Tribunal”
its arm bled leaves. an orphaned
stub remained, stoic, silent.
the worker wielded a long blade
expertly, sawing at bone; dust
and sound of blunt metal on wood
flecked onto lifeless leaves.
I saw the whole row of them
standing in line, waiting for execution,
by the metal fence. on the other side,
infant shrubs watched listlessly.
we draw lines with surgical precision
dividing organ and waste, yours and ours,
cutting flesh and soul to which
none of us belong.
I read the Straits Times reports “Household income up, with biggest rise for poorer families“, “Policy changes ‘helped boost wages at bottom’“, “Face up to slower growth and productivity push: Lim Swee Say“, “Better quality jobs in future amid slower growth: Lim Swee Say” (27 February 2016) with interest.
In short, households with at least 1 working adult saw their household income increase in 2014. The bottom 10% households saw the largest increase with 10.7%; bottom 20th percentile was 8.3%; bottom 30th percentile was 7.2%. This was attributable to the Government’s redistributive policies including the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS). The other reason attributable is the tightening of foreign labour. This increased wages especially at the bottom percentile income-earners.
Continue reading “Household Incomes and the Future of Jobs in Singapore”
Do more to protect higher-skilled workers: NTUC, Straits Times (25 February 2016)
HR and employment matters can turn very ugly when employees are terminated, retrenched or dismissed. Anger and bitterness resulting in potential long-drawn disputes and litigation can actually be avoided if employers and HR professionals apply the fundamental Golden Rule to employees who are being asked to leave.
Unions offer a form of protection and support. Legal counsel is an even more important way because then one would know what the legal rights are and how to negotiate for a fair and peaceable outcome for all.
I wrote an OpEd for the Straits Times, “Why a Constitutional Commission to review the Elected Presidency?”, explaining the background to the recently appointed Constitutional Commission, which is only the 2nd one since independence. The previous one was in 1966.
I opined on why the PAP Government did so when it had never found the need for it regarding all its constitutional amendments since 1966. I suggest the new political context where a PAP Government-backed candidate may plausibly lose the vote. This is amidst the backdrop of societies and voters moving further left in economic policies and also rising sensitivities as regards ethnic-religious minorities.
Submit in writing, signed, by 21 March, 5 PM. There may be public hearings for clarification and elaboration.
Submissions can be in Malay, Chinese, Tamil or English and need to be typed or legibly written by hand. The submissions must also be signed, whether in hardcopy or PDF form.
The precise dates of the public hearings will be announced in due course, but these will likely take place over a limited number of days between April 18 and May 15, 2016.
The submissions must be addressed to the Constitutional Commission Secretariat, and sent by post to 1, Supreme Court Lane, Singapore 178879, or e-mail to CCSecretariat@supcourt.gov.sg.
300 – Inquiries received by tribunals in first three months
85 – Pre-filing consultations held
27 – Actual court filings
Meaning that presumably a substantial number of parties managed to resolve their disputes prior to court action. Most disputes are regarding excessive noise. Sometimes it just takes the real threat of legal action to nudge a stonewalling person to come to the table to mediate and resolve the dispute.
Read the Straits Times report “Breaking the silence on financial abuse of elders”.
I once handled a legal case pro bono with the Legal Aid Bureau. Elderly lady was emotionally abused by her son and made to add his name as a joint tenant of her HDB property. He influenced and misled her to effectively transfer the property to him. (As a joint tenant, when the other joint tenant passes on, one is automatically made the remaining sole owner of the property.) Apparently there was some spiritual voodoo-esque thing going on as well.
“We face four types of inter-related threats in Singapore, and they are becoming more urgent. First, of course, is the threat of a terrorist attack. It is not a question of “if” but “when”. Second is the threat of radicalisation of a part of the Muslim population. The third problem we face is our Muslim population growing somewhat distant from the rest of our society. The fourth, which is a very serious threat, is Islamophobia among our non-Muslim communities.”