TR EMERITUS

The Manpower Ministry, in a statement today (5 Jun), has revealed that 82 charges have been pressed against the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering group for contravening Singapore's Employment Act (EA). 3 other construction companies have also been similarly charged: JK Integrated, Ng Brothers Scaffolding and Straits Construction. The cases came to light when MOM conducted checks at construction work sites and feedback surfaced through workers and third-parties. MOM investigated 2 companies of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering group: Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co. Ltd - facing 47 charges Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co. (Singapore) Pte Ltd - facing 35 charges MOM’s investigations established that 7 employees of both companies worked more than 72 hours overtime in June 2013 and July 2013. Under the EA, working more than 72 hours overtime a month is prohibited, and both companies did not have an exemption from MOM for their employees to do so. Both companies also deducted amounts that ranged from $100 to $200 from 14 employees’ monthly salaries from June to August 2013. The companies claimed that the deductions were meant as "savings" for the employees as well as retaining them and that "those monies would be returned to the employees at the end of their employment". However, such deductions are not authorised under the EA. In addition, both companies did not give 13 of their daily-rated employees paid annual leave and paid public holidays. In total, the 2 companies in Shanghai Tunnel Engineering group faces: 40 counts for making illegal deductions 16 counts for making employees work overtime beyond 72 hours a month without exemption 14 counts for not granting paid annual leave to employees who worked beyond 3 months of service 12 counts for failure to provide paid holiday MOM cautions employers that they must fulfil their legal obligations, and ensure that employees are given their statutory benefits under Singapore’s employment laws. "We strongly urge errant companies to review and rectify illegal and unreasonable clauses in their employment contracts. We will take action against companies that flout or disregard our employment laws," MOM said. Workers or members of the public with information on employment-related offences may call the MOM hotline at (65) 6438 5122 or email MOM at [email protected]. All details will be kept strictly confidential, MOM assured. Shanghai Tunnel Engineering won $421 million LTA tender Last year, Shanghai Tunnel Engineering was awarded a $421 million contract to construct Thomson Line tunnels in Woodlands ('LTA awards $421M contract to Shanghai Tunnel Engineering'). LTA said that Shanghai Tunnel Engineering is a China company with extensive experience in transit projects in Singapore. TRE then did a cursory check on the internet with regard to Shanghai Tunnel Engineering and found that it has an interesting past. 10 years ago, while constructing subway lines in Shanghai, 3 executives were arrested for negligence resulting in the collapse of a subway tunnel that cost the city about 150 million yuan [Link]. One of those arrested was a project manager from Shanghai Tunnel Engineering. The arrests followed an investigation into the accident, which found that improper management and inadequate emergency response measures were to blame for the tunnel cave-in. The collapse caused nearby land and buildings to sink. Shanghai Tunnel Engineering was involved in the construction of the subway tunnel then. The Shanghai authority even downgraded Shanghai Tunnel Engineering’s qualification status for urban construction projects. The authority blamed the 3 executives for failing to take remedial action in response to technical problems in the equipment used to build the tunnel. Flaws in the engineering plan as well as inappropriate on-site management and engineering supervision contributed to the accident. Other senior staff in Shanghai Tunnel Engineering who had not been arrested were summarily dismissed, including the general manager and a deputy general manager. Subsequently, a reader wrote in to sound his concern about the reliability of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering ('Netizen concerned about Shanghai Tunnel Engineering building our tunnels'). He asked, "Can we rely on Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co Ltd for safety and reliability with their track records?" "Was STE awarded the contract based on the cheapest tender price? Wouldn’t it be penny-wise pound-foolish; worse, risking Singaporeans’ (albeit slavish) lives?" he further questioned. "Is China’s widespread and well-known bribery/corruption culture likely to infect the contract or construction – resulting in unsafe works?" Another reader by the name of "TRE people are myopic" immediately jumped in to defend Shanghai Tunnel Engineering ('Defending LTA’s decision to award tunneling work to PRC company'). The reader said, "I feel ashamed as a Singaporean after reading TRE’s editorial (‘LTA awards $421M contract to Shanghai Tunnel Engineering‘) and the comment postings by netizens who behaved like savages out for blood." "I can only conclude that TRE and its readers are just a bunch of bigots, unfairly targeting at mainland Chinese." he added. He said that awarding the tender to the lowest bid saves money for taxpayers: LTA has gone through a public tender process to award the project to the lowest bid. This helps to save money for taxpayers, your money. Now, is that wrong? Are you expecting LTA to award the project to the highest and most expensive bidder? The fact that the Chinese company can win the project with the lowest bid shows that they are able to keep their cost low, ultimately benefiting taxpayers – that’s you. Again, is that wrong? The article then unfairly quoted an accident by the Chinese company while building the Shanghai subway. This was like a decade ago. Now, let me ask you, is that fair? The previous management have already been dealt with by the Chinese authorities, as described in the news link provided in the article. Don’t you think the new management taking over the company would have learned their lessons and be even more careful managing future projects? Do not try to stereotype and paint all Chinese companies black just because they are from China. There are good ones and bad ones, just like there are good and bad companies in Singapore. I think TRE and its readers should just grow up! You guys are just arguing for the sake of arguing and should be ashamed of yourselves, trying to pick on the mainland Chinese. PS. If TRE doesn’t want to publish this letter, I can understand.  Read More →

In the weeks leading up to 4th of June annually, Chinese authorities are placed on the highest alert. In a country where internet users alone surpass and dwarf the entire population of America, the Great Firewall of China is activated, and search keywords like "Tiananmen" or "Tank Man" yield no result. A blackout is obtruded on some international media outlets and they were taken off-air for 24 hours in an audacious bid to deny the factual events of what transpired on that fateful day. Every 4th of June marks the brutal suppression and aggressive removal of protestors at Tiananmen Square by the Chinese military in 1989. Beijingers arose to an untypical morning unlike any other. At the break of dawn, there was prevalent bloodshed and abominable carnage as blood of the innocents and fallen were splattered in the vicinity of the Square. The streets were littered with lifeless bodies of unarmed demonstrators, exacerbated by the intolerable foulness of decomposing corpses in the stale air. Hospitals were overrun and inundated by the mammoth number of wounded casualties. Retreating demonstrators were overwhelmed by a sense of unspeakable defeat while the Chinese government emerged victorious in their successful clampdown and subsequent indictment of those who were involved in the demonstration. Twenty-five years on, the Chinese government is still vehemently rejecting the protests of 1989 and categorically censoring the ensuing military clampdown. However, with the explosion of social media and proliferation of the internet and mass media, China's desperate efforts of whitewashing, masking and disguising the truth have failed to gain fruition or accomplishment worldwide as it struggles to mythify the “fallacious” events among the mainland Chinese population. The Tiananmen incident led me to think about our own past incidents in Singapore, namely, Operation Coldstore and Operation Spectrum. In Operation Coldstore launched on 2 February 1963, at least 111 activists were detained without trial, including key members of the opposition political party Barisan Sosialis. Others who were arrested included newspaper editors, trade unionists and university students. They were accused to be communists intending to "overthrow" the government through violent means. In Operation Spectrum, also known as the 1987 "Marxist Conspiracy", it took place on 21 May 1987. 22 people were detained without trial for their alleged involvement to "overthrow" the government and setup a "Marxist state". The people arrested were a mix of Catholic workers, social workers, overseas-educated graduates, theatre practitioners and professionals. If these people were really as "violent" or as "seditious" as what the government said, the government should charge them in an open court and provide the evidence to back up its claim so that Singaporeans can finally know the truth. If not, I think the government really owes them an apology. In this case I think the government should apologise, pay the necessary compensations and close these unfortunate chapters so that the country can move on. Attempting to whitewash history like what the Chinese government is currently trying to do is doomed to fail especially in this Internet age. DK * Submitted by TRE reader.  Read More →

A view of the causeway bordering Malaysia's southern state of Johor Bahru, background, and Singapore, foreground (Photo: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images) (4 Jun)   Darren Chin gave up a 15-minute train journey to his office in Singapore for a two-hour drive with a stop at passport control. The reason: By commuting from Malaysia, he can afford his own two-story home and car. “It’s worth it,” said the Malaysian financial adviser, who leaves his house before 6:45 a.m. to get to his job at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC) on time. “I’m saving on rent and I’m paying for my own house.” Chin is part of the expansion of Southeast Asia’s richest city across its borders as residents and companies seek property, labor and amenities, often at half the cost or less. The result is a three-nation urban complex with a population bigger than London and an economy that would rank as one of the fastest-growing in the region. Read more: www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-03/singapore-bumping-into-its-limit-forges-tri-country-zone-.html  Read More →