TR EMERITUS

“Freak floods that happens only once in 50 years” according to Minister for Environment Mr Yaacob Ibrahim, have hit Singapore again on early Saturday morning for the 4th time in 2 months this year, not 'once in 50 years as suggested'. Affected areas include Braddell Road, Changi Road, Joo Chiat, Telok Kurau,  Geylang and Bukit Timah, where trees were uprooted and rising floodwaters stranded several drivers in their vehicles. Parts of Kallang and Tanjong Katong were also flooded. The hardest hit areas were Braddell Road, Joo Chiat Terrace, Changi Road, Bukit Timah and Delfi in Orchard Road with water rising to waist level. According to the Straits Times, waters rose to knee-high level at the Tessarina Condo in Bukit Timah area, flooding the basement carpark. Some cars were almost submerged in water, prompting frantic residents to move them out to drier grounds. The same paper reported that 60 people were evacuated by Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel in 20 different places, including passengers who were stuck in an SBS bus along Upper Thomson Road. There were further reports by Netizens of fallen trees along Dorset Road causing traffic congestion, shops badly damaged by the flood along Upper Thomson Road and a flooded carpark at the Delfi Orchard which was hit by the worst flooding in 26 years in June just less than a month ago. Despite a public outcry over the incompetency of the PAP government to prevent the frequent floods which caused millions of dollars of losses, PM Lee remained nonchalant about the inconveniences and losses the frequent flooding have caused to ordinary Singaporeans and even appeared to chide Singaporeans for having overly high expectations. Last month, in a speech made at Lower Seletar Reservoir which was widely reported by MSM, PM Lee tried to exonerate the PAP government from any blame by coming up with the "lameretest"  excuse that it is very “costly” to keep Singapore “flood-free.” He claimed that given Singapore’s “tropical climate”, any attempt to “wipe out” flooding in Singapore would require plenty of money and land without providing any concrete evidence or statistics to substantiate his claims. In a nutshell, PM Lee deems spending Public Money on preventing floods "costly" but have no reservation whatsoever on giving a Massive Pay Rise (expected to be more than 8% this year) to Singapore’s "betteretest" multi-millionaire PAP ministers, who are already the "higheretest" paid political leaders in the world. Ironically, 66% of eligible Singaporeans voted for a ruling party thats only interested in spending Public Money to enrich themselves instead of safeguarding the life and property of Singaporeans.      Andrew Tay    P/S: As usual, Singaporeans should not expect Minister for Environment Mr Yaacob Ibrahim to appear anytime soon as he is still in the process of  "learning from previous floods".   Recent Floods: 1) 19 Nov 2009 – Bukit Timah 2) 16 June 2010 – Orchard Rd & other areas 3) 25 June 2010 – various parts, island-wide 4) 1 July 2010 – MacPherson & Tai Seng 5) 17 July 2010 – various parts, island-wide   Read More →

Dr Amy Khor's claim that the Marina Barrage helped to alleviate flooding on 16 and 24 June raises several issues. First, it appears to contradict earlier statements made by PUB that no action had been needed at the Barrage as the water in the reservoir never reached a critical level. Did somebody misspeak? Second, she implied that the Barrage made a difference because six of the seven floodgates were left open during the flooding. Well, if the opening of six gates helped, why was the seventh kept shut even when it was clear that the flooding was going to be severe? Next, Dr Khor should explain how exactly the Barrage helped alleviate the flooding on 16 and 24 June. Since both episodes occurred during low tide, the rain water would just have flowed out to the sea had there been no Barrage to hold it back in the first place. Finally, Singaporeans do still want to see those pictures of the offending clogged culvert near Cuscaden Road.     Lee Yew Moon   Editor's Note: The following was sent to ST for publication but appears to have been rejected.  Read More →

When the vehicle skidded and tipped over off Singapore's Pan- Island Expressway in the morning rush hour of June 22, the workers were thrown from the lorry. Three Chinese nationals died, 14 of their colleagues were injured on their way to work. The fatal accident - the most recent in a spate of similar calamities - has once again stirred a debate in Singapore, where foreign workers crammed on the rear deck of open lorries, shielded from the blazing sun or torrential rain only by plastic bags, are a common sight. 'It's a gross anomaly that first-world Singapore is so third world in this respect,' said a comment in the mainstream Business Times newspaper, adding that 'even Bahrain ... has banned commuting in the back of open lorries.' 'How many foreign lives need to be lost before we do something?' asked a Singapore resident in a web forum 'Stop companies from killing any more workers,' said another. An estimated 200,000 foreign workers - mainly from Bangladesh and India - are being transported on lorries daily on Singapore's streets, according to the Ministry of Transport. Last year, 166 rear passengers had been killed or injured in open lorries or on cargo decks of pickups - down from 210 in 2008, according to police statistics, but no details were given for foreign workers involved. The Transport Ministry said that both fatality and injury rates of workers on lorries in the past several years 'were about six times lower than the average annual rates of all road accidents.' In September 2009, however, the authorities tightened the safety for the transport of foreign workers, lowering, for example, the maximum allowable height of a seated worker and implementing harsher penalties for breaching the regulations. Further measures, including the installation of higher side railings and canopies on lorries, are set to be implemented in September 2012. But following the June 22 accident, legislatures and worker- welfare groups put some pressure on the government, saying the new rules should kick in much sooner. 'The new safety measures should be implemented earlier,' said Halimah Yacob, chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Manpower. She said that 2012 'is no longer a feasible date and the authorities should act quickly.' Jolovan Wham, executive director of the worker's advocacy group Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, agreed. 'Every day that these measures are not in place means increased risk and potential loss of lives for workers,' he said, adding that the latest accident was 'a strong wake-up call.' The safety of foreign workers on Singapore streets 'is a very complex issue,' senior parliamentary Secretary for Transport, Teo Ser Luck, told parliament when presenting the new rules last year. 'We have to address not only the safety concerns, but also the concerns of the business sector,' he said, noting that ferrying workers on lorries 'has helped companies control business costs.' The authorities, therefore, gave employers three years to fully comply with the stepped-up measures. But Halimah said it was reasonable to put all new rules in place by the end of this year, because businesses had been given ample notice of the changes. 'So long as the law is not in place, the rules are not mandatory and companies will drag their feet to the detriment of the workers,' she said, adding that companies 'must be prepared to pay for the safe transportation of their workers.' Halimah also called for more stringent requirements 'before foreigners are allowed to drive such lorries, as this has been identified as one of the causes of the accidents.' Singapore's Land Transport Authority signalled it would consider doing more, 'including bringing forward the implementation of the remaining measures.' Transport Minister Raymond Lim said that, in the long run, the government should consider phasing out the use of lorries for ferrying workers. Halimah agreed, saying that the use of buses should be the ultimate goal, as 'lorries are designed to carry goods and not people.' The foreign workers were not just numbers, but human beings, she said. 'It is not good for Singapore and for them to come here to work and go back in coffins,' said Halimah.   By Kai Portmann  Read More →