TR EMERITUS

SIA put up a Facebook posting on 18 Jul, saying that its flights aren't using Ukraine airspace. This was put up the day after MH17 was apparently shot down by a missile over Ukraine airspace on 17 Jul. The ill-fated MH17 was apparently shot down and crashed near the city of Donetsk while crossing above a conflict zone in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian rebels are fighting against Ukraine government forces. SIA's posting came under fire by many netizens who felt that it was in bad taste. Yesterday (19 Jul), it issued a statement apologizing over the incident ('SIA apologises for its insensitive social media postings'). Meanwhile, SIA's claim that it is not using Ukraine airspace has been challenged by reports [Link] stating that Flight SQ351 was about 25km away from the ill-fated MH17 when it went down. Posting on SIA's Facebook page, netizens were berating SIA on this issue, accusing SIA of not being truthful: Jessica Richardson: SQ it is now all over the international press – you had a flight 25km away from MH17 at the time of the incident. The BUK missile system has a range of 42km. Not only were you in Ukrainian airspace you were potentially in range of the missile. It is time for you to put out a statement and apology. Unlike British Airways, Virgin, Turkish, Lufthansa, Air France, Aeroflot, Qantas and all US airlines you made the decision to continue using Ukrainian airspace until MH17 went down. You have higher ticket prices than other carriers yet still used the shortest route over a war zone with known surface-to-air missile use. You have put your profits over the safety of your passengers and crew. My family and I are frequent flyers on the London-Singapore route and you have lost our custom for good. I used to be proud of Singapore’s national carrier. Now I am ashamed. Tong Foo Cheong: If SIA had said: “SIA was using Ukrainian airspace before the MH17 incident, but is no longer using Ukrainian airspace after the incident.”, SIA would come across as being completely honest and truthful. Now we all know that SIA is keeping quiet about whether its planes were flying over Ukraine before. Michelle Chan: You mean from now? Cause it did fly over Ukraine airspace 4 days ago from SG to Zurich on SQ346. TRE then went to the website Flightradar24 (www.flightradar24.com) to investigate. Flightradar24 is a flight tracking service that shows live air traffic from around the world. It also records the history of all the flight paths of the of the airlines. It combines data from several data sources including ADS-B, MLAT and FAA. Its service is frequently featured in the media: Flightradar24 exposes the Malaysian Prime Minister. Read more. Flightradar24 data shows how airspace was rebooted after Icelandic ash cloud. Watch video. EUROCONTROL talks about Flightradar24. Watch video. Article in German paper Bild. Read more. Article in French paper Le Monde. Read more. As it turns out, other than SQ351 which used the Ukraine airspace on 17 Jul, there were other SQ flights using it as well on or just before that ill-fated day. In fact, going through the history of SQ flights in Flightradar24, SIA has been documented to use the Ukraine airspace frequently for its Europe flights. In the week before the downing of MH17, at least 70 SQ fights had been recorded to fly over Ukraine airspace. SQ flights flying over Ukraine on or just before 17 Jul: SQ351 Copenhagen to Singapore on 17 Jul SQ25 Frankfurt to Singapore on 17 Jul SQ305 London to Singapore on 17 Jul SQ308 Singapore to London on 17 Jul SQ317 London to Singapore on 17 Jul SQ323 Amsterdam to Singapore on 17 Jul Other SQ flights found flying over Ukraine: SQ26 Singapore to Frankfurt 16 Jul SQ306 Singapore to London 16 Jul SQ324 Singapore to Amsterdam 16 Jul SQ322 Singapore to London 15 Jul SQ321 London to Singapore 16 Jul SQ318 Singapore to London 17 Jul SQ319 London to Singapore 16 Jul SQ326 Singapore to Frankfurt 17 Jul SQ325 Frankfurt to Singapore 16 Jul SQ327 Munich to Singapore 16 Jul SQ328 Singapore to Munich 16 Jul SQ333 Paris to Singapore 17 Jul SQ345 Zurich to Singapore 16 Jul SQ334 Singapore to Paris 16 Jul SQ352 Singapore to Copenhagen 16 Jul Etc So, according to the information from Flightradar24, how can SIA said that Singapore Airlines flights are "not using Ukraine airspace" ? A case of lack of transparency, just like it's parent company, Temasek Holdings? What do you think?    Read More →

The Auditor General released its annual audit report on the civil service yesterday. http://www.ago.gov.sg/doc/ar-1314.pdf Among the many lapses highlighted across various ministries and statutory boards was a curious but significant finding on NParks. According to the Report, an audit of NParks' Gardens By the Bay project uncovered indications "that certain documents furnished by NParks upon AGO’s request could have been created and backdated to give the impression that they existed at the time when the relevant transactions took place." This, the AGO noted, is "a serious irregularity" and "casts doubts on the authenticity of other documents and information provided." The AGO further disclosed that an inquiry by MND had found out that this was perpetuated by an officer who "created and backdated a total of 16 letters, purportedly issued by NParks to its suppliers satisfy AGO’s queries." The officer also arranged with the suppliers to issue another 11 backdated letters, out of which five were created by the officer on behalf of the suppliers. Now as we know, NParks comes under Khaw Boon Wan's Ministry of National Development. If readers recall, the same statutory board was involved in the Brompton Bike procurement lapse. At that time, Khaw had "memorably" defended the purchase before the true degree of severity of the lapse came to light. The blame was eventual pinned on Assistant Director Bernard Lim Yong Soon who was alleged to have failed to disclose his friendship with the owner of Bikehop, the bike supplier which won the tender. So in the short space of two years, Khaw has presided over two critical lapses in a statutory board under his watch. In the corporate world, under such circumstances, any CEO would have been asked to leave, taken a pay cut or at the very least, apologized. However, we know things are different in PAP lalaland. As Lee Hsien Loong said two years ago during the Ministerial Pay debate: "we cannot expect Ministers never to make mistakes or never to have mistakes happen on their watch in their ministries. It is not possible – this is a very big organisation and it is a very complicated world, and even with the best intent in the world, from time to time, things will go wrong." The question then arises: when will a Minister ever be made accountable if one goes by the size of his ministry? So here we are. Trapped in a Groundhog Day-like cycle of repeated lapses with the same cast of characters at the top ensconced comfortably in their million dollar positions. Until the next election, we hope.   The Alternative View [source]: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Alternative-View/358759327518739    Read More →

“NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd was founded by the labour movement in 1973, with a social mission to moderate  the cost of living in Singapore. From one supermarket, it has grown to become Singapore's largest retailer, with a  network of over 230 outlets comprising FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra, FairPrice Xpress  and Cheers convenience stores, to serve the varied needs of people from all walks of life.” NTUC has come a long way from its true directions and its humble beginnings, same as PAP, to serve the common folk. NTUC was set up by the sweat, tears and blood of the workers of Singapore. What are they now? Nowadays 'NTUC FINEST' has sprung up, targeting more for the rich. I surveyed the  'Finest'. Yes all the finest items are there to cater more for the rich and mostly Caucasians and the rich Northern Indians patronize the stores. NTUC described 'FINEST' as 'epicurean' more to the elitist. From a humble labour movement to the elitist class, from the above definition and meaning of epicureanism, only those with  a extreme elitist mindset will choose such a word. Does the NTUC still champion the workers in Singapore? Far from it. It has lost its purpose, the very purpose for which it was set up and it contradicts itself as its main purpose of being created: to serve the ordinary working class, not only the rich. I was at the one of the 'Finest' branches; you will get a shock; only a few customers as most of the ordinary folks do not patronize 'Finest' as they found  most of the items  are expensive. In contrast, the ordinary branches are always packed. If the NTUC knows the 'Finest' stores are not making money, why are they still keeping the branches and even expanding them? Perhaps it is time for the authorities to look into the matter, where sections of their executives having elitism and apartheid attitudes. Even Cold Storage, a premium supermarket would not go to this extreme direction, why NTUC chose this direction and to add insult, it belongs to the 'labour movement' with no room for the rich. Well PAP is the same; million dollar ministers, elitist name like Emeritus, where the promise of a Swiss standard of living was just a mirage . We have elitists like MM, SM; the organizations seem to cater for the rich, party supporters and anak bapak saudara saudari. Would the NTUC answer my article? aziz kassim *  Submitted by TRE reader.  Read More →