Ramblings

This is a pretty interesting blog entry from a Today journalist about the evil things rogue employers of migrant workers do to those they hire.

Some of the ridiculous terms in the contracts, according to that entry, include:

• A $100 fine for raising one’s voice at the employer.
• A $500 fine plus a trip to the police station for not surrendering passport to employer.
• Worker to be liable for legal, transport and administrative costs to the employer if the worker files a complaint against the employer, which can amount to $300 a day.

Apparently, many employers seize information booklets prepared by the manpower ministry containing information about rights accorded to migrant workers when they have a chance to in order to prevent migrant workers from being informed of their rights.

If such practices are true, then I think it is necessary that the manpower ministry do more to ensure fairer standards for migrant workers. The easiest way is to make it mandatory for employers of migrant workers to attend a short talk about the rights of migrant workers within a week of arrival to prevent rogue employers from denying information by seizing information booklets. You can seize booklets, but you can’t seize information that’s already in the mind.

And, the manpower ministry doesn’t have to send an officer to give the talk. Local NGOs that work with migrant workers can be tapped on to give the talk.

Migrant workers have their rights too, they should not be denied the right to know their rights.

The topic of public housing seems to be really hot these days. There was a news report about skyrocketing cash over valuation, and the Law Minister weighed in on how he thinks permanent residents are not to blame for skyrocketing prices. The Minister for National Development, Mah Bow Tan, seems to be reassuring Singaporeans pretty often these days that the prices of HDB flats will be affordable.

Public housing has always been at the heart of Singapore politics. Right from the early days of independence, the PAP has always used public housing as one of its key offensives against rival political parties, and public housing has always been to be a reliable ally at the ballot box. Food, jobs and shelter are the basic necessities of life, and if the ruling political party that cannot provide these adequately, it can almost be assured of decimation at the ballot box.

Whether public housing can continue as a reliable ally for the PAP in the next election remains to be seen. Skyrocketing HDB prices are causing lots of concerns, especially among the young and newly married. While Mah has constantly assured Singaporeans that public housing are, and will remain, affordable, my chats with peers indicates a general consensus that HDB flats are too expensive. There seems to be a disconnect between what the PAP thinks and what the average person on the street deems as affordable public housing.

I think the other political parties are going to have a field day at the next elections with the issue of increasingly costly public housing. If I don’t recall wrongly, Chiam See Tong said he intends to contest in a GRC in the next election, and it is mouthwatering to imagine him going to Tampines GRC, the turf of Mah, who, as a political rookie, lost to Chiam. Mah now seems to be one of the more politically vulnerable ministers with the on-going concerns about public housing prices.

I do think that the government should try and hold public housing prices steady. Right now, it seems that there’s a vicious cycle of greed going through the public housing open market. Sellers are trying their luck as to how cut throat they can be, and those who desperately need a roof over the head simply have no choice but to give in. Of late, I have been seeing fliers and posters by property agents advertising up to $50,000 cash over valuation in my area, Jurong West, by so-called “serious and immediate” buyers who are PRs or new citizens.

I do understand that these folks need a roof over the head too, and it is an urgent need since they’re already here in Singapore. The problem is that when such high cash over valuations are blatantly advertised and newspapers continually publish pieces of news on record home prices, many who own a HDB flat will think that this is the norm. As some people say, “If you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth”. So, the vicious cycle of greed will continually perpetuate as people believe the values of their homes will rise indefinitely.

And, most people should know the danger of believing that housing or stock prices will rise indefinitely: a bubble. I leave it to the economics experts to discuss this because I’m no expert on bubbles, but the rate of increase of public housing prices seems abnormal to me. I’m a little lucky, having bought my place at the tail end of the post SARS property market slump/start of the current property market boom. In a short span of less than three years, prices of flats in my area have almost doubled, and I doubt that salaries have increased that much (at least mine hasn’t).

Ok, enough rambling. What I really want to say is that I hope the government tries to keep public housing prices steady. I do think it’s time for some form of intervention in the public housing market, especially when elections could be round the corner. The reliable public housing political ally seems to have developed an Achilles heel, and it would be a good idea to do something about that heel.

While I’ve been ranting about the Straits Times pretty often of late, being the most decent English newspaper on this island, I have no choice but to read it for local news, and this piece of news about a man jailed for pitching and living in illegal tent was rather disturbing to me.

I do not know the complete facts of the case, but assuming the newspaper report is accurate, this man pitched a canvas tent at East Coast Park in 2007 without a valid license, and he lived there for a month before being discovered and apprehended by park rangers who presumably handed him over to the police, and then the attorney-general’s chambers decided to proceed with the case, resulting in the fine which became a 4 day jail term because of inability to pay the fine.

The reason for this man living in a tent is apparently homelessness and unemployment. And in that month he lived outdoors, he claimed he seldom ate, subsisting on food that friends would bring from time to time.

I believe these information should have been given to the police, who would have in turn passed it on to the AGC. While I understand that this man has indeed broken a law and legal prosecution is completely justified, surely some empathy could have been shown in deciding whether to charge this person. The justice system worked flawlessly in this case, but what this person needs is not a fine nor jailing; what he needs is social assistance to deal with the source of his transgression of the law. The justice system is not the antidote to this problem.

This is not the way to build a more inclusive and gracious society. And yes, a more inclusive and gracious society needs a greater supply of empathy, and of course, the participation of the justice system too.

It’s a sad story to read.

I was just reading this website that’s trying to raise awareness of dating violence (http://www.chooselovenotabuse.com/). This whole concept of dating violence, I must admit, is something that’s foreign to me, probably due to my idealistic views of a relationship.

The first thought I had of what constitutes dating violence was physical violence, and as an afterthought, sexual violence. And yes, my immediate mental imagery was that of men as the abusers and women as the victims (looks like I’m not immune to gender stereotyping). Well, perhaps some women might abuse their partners physically, but I’m not quite sure about the sex part… Never mind.

Anyway, it turns out that emotional and psychological abuse are part of dating violence too. I don’t quite get what’s the difference between the two, though. Do our emotions not emerge from our brains as well? Why the different classification? Anyway, I’m digressing. The point here is that dating violence isn’t necessarily restricted to physical or sexual harm.

I don’t understand why would anyone resort to physical or sexual abuse of their partners. If you’re pissed off and need to take things out physically, go pummel a wall or sandbag. If you are not having enough sex, I’m sure there are better options other than forcing yourself on your partner. If you’re the one on the receiving end, I sure you wouldn’t enjoy the experience of being either physically or sexually abused (masochists excluded from my argument).

As for psychological/emotional violence, this is a little tricky. Being humans, we do get upset and say hurtful things or carry out actions that might wound our partners psychologically and emotionally. I am guilty of inflicting psychological/emotional hurt sometimes. I definitely need to continue working on that to be, in the words of Robbie Williams, a better man. But I guess the occasional outburst is pretty normal; it becomes dangerous only when the psychological/emotional hurting becomes pathological.

If you’ve been physically or sexually abused by your partner, I think it’s clearly time to seek help. As for psychological or emotional abuse, this is going to be a harder call. I don’t know where the line is drawn for non-physical forms of dating violence. I believe different people have different thresholds and definitions of psychological/emotional abuse. Nonetheless, it’s perhaps a good idea to read up a little on dating violence. You might never know when the information could come in handy.

Anyway, for all of you who are attached or married, have a great Valentine’s Day. If you are in a long-distance relationship as I am now, I feel your pain. I’ve held out fine on my own for a few months but my walls are crumbling. When you are with someone for a long time, their absence is like having a heart or lung missing (not that I know what it feels like to be literally having a missing heart or lung; it’s a figure of speech).

So if you’re spending your Valentine’s Day this year with your significant other by your side, take a moment to cherish the fact that she’s with you now. Even though videoconferencing technology is cheap and easily accessible these days, it still remains a poor substitute. Nothing beats having your loved one by your side. Enjoy your Valentine’s Day while I stare into tonight’s sky wondering if my wife is looking at the same moon on the other side of the globe at the same time.