Dear Editors,

This relates to my recent grievance experience with Mindef job application.

In July 2015, I have submitted an online job application for the DXO position of Assistant Executive(Finance) whereby HR Executive Es***r from Mindef Human Resource Department(MHRD) reverted back to me asking me to submit more documents for their selection process. There were much communications going on and eventually I was shortlisted for an interview on 19 Aug 2015.

Everything went well and the 2 hiring managers got to know my abilities and skill sets during the interview and they were fully aware of whether am i suitable for the job or not. On 24 Aug 2015, I was shortlisted and was asked called up by one of the hiring manager interviewer to go for an Unit Preview. Things seems to have went smoothly and MHRD called me on 4 Sep 2015 to inform me that the hiring managers shortlisted me for the position and would like me to go for Medical and Security Clearance. It was made known to me that they could only offer me the job AFTER I have cleared those clearance. Supposingly, Security Clearance is pegged together closely with the Final Management Approval as a main factor to get recruited.

Subsequently, I went for the Medical Clearance on 14 Sep 2015 and the Security Clearance at MSD on 25 Sep 2015. In between, I also received a call from Es***r(MHRD) on 17 Sep 2015 that they have computed the salary offer for me and according to her that verbal calculated salary offer is supposed to be part of the sincerity by them to take me in for the position as all these are approved by the Management.

After I have done the Security Clearance on the 25 Sep 2015, I called up to ask this Es***r and she reassured me that this will take like few weeks to a month or so. According to Es***r, I am the only one going for those designated clearance process and they are sincere to take me in. However, everything is subject to the Final Management Approval but theoretically based on the hierarchy of selection process unless I got serious medical problems like HIV, AIDS or Security issue compromised they found out that I am actually Osama Bin Ladin relative or I am an ex-criminal for example then I will get rejected.

Between 25 Sep 2015 to 23 Nov 2015, I only called them up twice to check on the status and Es***r kept telling me they are still processing. So on 23 Nov 2015, Es***r said will try to check for me with senior manager on the processing status and I was informed that "they may need to review on the suitability of the candidates and their skill sets needed for the job". I waspuzzled and worried what is this supposed to mean so I further checked with Es***r and she re-assured me that the Final Management Approval is still Processing and ask me not to worry. At that point in time, there is still no signs of rejection by the Management and they ask me continue to wait. Neither was there any problem with the medical nor security clearance on my application. During this period, I called MHRD a few times to check regarding my application status and Es***r asked me to wait till after Christmas that week and she will update me on the status.

During the midst of waiting, I suddenly received a call on 18 Dec 2015 from the security department to head down to sign some documents on 21 Dec 2015. It was supposed to be a good news on my security clearance status. I went down happily for the briefing and thought that my long way should have paid off and can start the job soon since I was not working. On 22 Dec 2015, I called Es***r to check on status and again asked to continue waiting.

On 30 Dec 2015, the things suddenly start to turn out differently in a totally unexpected manner. I received a call from MHRD Es***r and I was informed that the Final Management Approval was not granted and I have officially lost the job. The job which I have been waiting since the initial verbal offer on 4 Sep 2015 which is nearly 4months of long wait. Honestly, I am very devastated and unhappy, thus also curious and wanting to know why is there such a big twist of fate since there wasn't any problem with my Security Clearance. Seriously, I am NOT a sore loser complaining but it is extremely ridiculous and hard to believe that I waited for so long when I didn't have any medical and security problems which could affect my application status.

According to Es***r, she tried to explain to me that this is entirely the "Final Management fault"(sounds familiar? Train fault, track fault, power fault, signal fault, traction fault etc). From there, I managed to speak with the Senior Manager of MHRD S***e. I asked her whether it was a problem on me that the Security or Medical clearance issue that I don't deserve to be offered the job and she assured me that it was not a problem on me. She said it was due to "skill sets needed for the job and need to review on the suitability of the candidates". I asked her if it was really due to this reason, I do not need to wait for the medical and security clearance for this job since the hiring managers already know my abilities and skill sets during the interview and they were fully aware of whether I am suitable for the job.

When I raised the concerns on this issue, S***e replied that that was one of the reason for the rejection but however still assured me that I am still eligible for other positions in Mindef. I explained that it was extremely ridiculous that I wasted so much of my precious time considering that I was not working and even turned down other jobs while faithfully waiting for this position and this was what I get. As I wanted to further clarify with S***e on the reasons for the rejection, they try to make things difficult for me as I have suggested a meeting session and they actually gave me a very insincere date and time forcing me to oblige and even say that is the only schedule they accommodate. Basically for all the hassle which i have gone through for this job, the insincerity simply showed that I don't even deserved for a proper meet up session with them to clarify my concerns.

I don't think I should be waiting several months for any particular job positions of Mindef and getting rejected for their lame reason like " skill sets needed for the job and need to review on the suitability of the candidates" and I seriously need their explanation and assurance that this will not happen to me again. My grievance should not be for their future improvement services. This is an extremely unfair treatment by the Mindef towards my job application and they have simply deprived the livelihood of my life by doing me such a big grievance disfavour which I will never forget.

By the way, I also do have all the voice conversations recordings(don't ask me what phone/device am i using) between me and MHRD Es***r/S***e/Security department staff etc so if Mindef were to challenge against my allegations, I will here to stand up against their undesirable recruitment practice. Somebody should take up the ownership of this mistake instead of pointing the finger and say it was the "Management Fault". They sure will know who am I and where to find me and I will be waiting.

John
A.S.S. Contributor

Dear ASS,

This drink stall from Rochor Market want to charge me $0.30 for 1 cup of ice!!!! Conn stall!! But my son had just bought 3 cans of drink from her & ppl from market knock on him & the ice all drop on the floor.

My son took the empty cup & told thus drink stall auntie what happened instead of giving my son the ice , this auntie chase him away & want him to give $0.60 for 2 cup of ice...

Karine Lim
A.S.S. Contributor

Facebook post by Leslie Ang

I'd painfully struggled for 2 days, weighing the pros and cons before I made a decision to pen this post. Learnt from my brother-in-arms our former SAF Riggers' job of preparing our parachutes are now outsourced to PRC contractors! What on earth are these Commanders thinking when they signed the awarding contract?

Openly, our airborne capabilities like parachute model, jumping height, etc are made known to foreign contractors. We are, literally, placing our lifes in foreign contractors' hands when we leap from the plane?

*Note: SAF Riggers are required to sign for every parachute they'd packed. They're, too, airborne trained so they understand the importance of their job - it is LIFE or DEATH.

We might as well avail them the manifest of our Special Operation Task Force (SOTF) personnel; we don't need to bother donning our masks anymore. I'd sworn an oath to defend my country against enemies, foreign and domestic. Little did I realise the ones who sold me out are the ones who outrank me.

So much for - RESTRICTED -

<Reader Contribution>

Dear A.S.S,

Nowaday town council is getting worse to worsen.Cleanliness damn lousy. We are under Hong Kah and even the supervisor or Officer not doing their job.

I left a bunch of rubbish outside the corridor and wanted to see whether the cleaner come to sweep.Now almost 2 to 3 days.The bunch of rubbish still at the same location.

Town Council know to take money from us and dont know to do work.So to those MP that in charge of this location,pls take note about it.

Patrick Goh

Dear editor,

my mother was looking at a bag at this shoplet when the sales-woman approached my mother and asked my mom if she wanted the bag ... my mom then asked her for the price.

then woman then proceeded to ask my mom what color she wanted then my mom replied she just looking ... then immediately the woman took the bag away from the shelf and seemed to me straightening it as my mom opened the bag to look.

And when she turned around and saw my mother still there, she just kept the bag and only put it back on the shelf when she saw us leaving. is this the kind of service that customers should be getting? even if we are not buying now, we can also be potential buyers next time right? no wonder so many people say the service standard in singapore so lousy!

YSC3

Dear A.S.S,

On 9th Jan Saturday, the mail guy forgot to lock letterbox leaving 6 households of letter exposed,so I called town council to do something about it. First thing they said is we don't have the key so can you please call Singpost instead. So I told them it is not my unit and I'm just being nice but I'm not gonna bother anymore.

After a while they called me and said their guys went down and it's locked.

This is how they locked it...

It remained the same on Sunday since Singpost is not working. WTF.

Few months back there was a gas smell at the 1st floor lobby too, and when I called town council to do something and their reply was to ask me to call powergas. Sigh, are our public servants just high bonus phone operators?

<Facebook post by Bilahari Kausikan>

Every civil servant pays for parking. That teachers did not pay was an anomaly. Whether the anomaly ought to have been rectified is another matter.

I personally think it would have been wiser to let things be and justify it as an exception to the rule. There are several arguments that could have been used. But the civil service, particularly in its upper reaches, has a visceral aversion to anomalies of any kind.

Besides to try to justify an anomaly would require a fight with the PSD and Auditor-General. But it is not the requirement to pay that needs justification.

The police announced on Friday (8 January 2016) that a 37 year old man suspected of outraging the modesty of a victim on board the MRT has been arrested.

http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/ladies-beware-sembawang-mrt-mol...

The victim came across a post on ASS about a man touching a female passenger inappropriately from Sembawang towards Bishan MRT and lodged a police report the same day alleging that she was molested by the same perpetrator.

After officers from Ang Mo Kio Division and the Public Transport Security Command conducted extensive ground investigations, they established the suspect's identity and arrested him on 7 January 2016.

The alleged molester will be charged in Court under the Ourtage of Modesty under Section 354(1) of the Penal Code. He faces a jail term of up to 2 years.

The order to obese policemen to trim the fat or risk not being promoted has hit a raw nerve, with one inspector responding bluntly that they were overworked to the point of obesity.

The inspector in his early 30s, who identified himself only as Musa, said officers like him gained weight due to their hectic work schedule.

“Of course being healthy and fit is crucial as a policeman, but we work almost 24 hours a day sometimes.

“We don’t even have time to rest, let alone have a proper balanced diet.

“We’re overworked to obesity,” the policeman who is based in Sarawak said.

Mr Musa is not alone in his opinion that Bukit Aman was not being fair in penalising obese officers. Other policemen interviewed by The Malaysian Insider said the directive from the federal police headquarters should be applied across the board, including the top brass.

On Thursday (Jan 7), Police director of management Zulkifli Abdullah said overweight policemen will have to undergo a training programme to get fit as obese officers risked not getting promoted or confirmed if they did not lose weight.

He was reported by The Star as saying the force had some 11,000 obese policemen, and that was a “conservative number”.

For a start, 35 chubby policemen have been selected to participate in the pilot weight-loss programme called “Trim N Fit”.

A sergeant from Shah Alam, Rahman Kassim (not his real name) felt the directive should not apply to officers aged over 50 years.

“It is not suitable for old timers like us. It is difficult (to have to lose weight),” said the man, who suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and gout.

The get-fit programme is more suitable for new or younger cops, he added.

Mr Rahman said the last time he worked out was two to three months ago when he participated in a physical exercise programme.

He said he was no longer thinking about promotions since he was going to retire from the force in another year and a half.

Click on the link below to read more.

Dear All Singapore Stuff,

I read with a heavy heart news that MOE is exploring the possibility of making teacher pay for parking their vehicles in school. Having worked in the civil service for a number of years, I finally quit because of the sheer stupidity of agencies like the AGO who constantly nitpick our work to score points. Now their stupidity has finally caught up with our poor teachers. In a way, MOE is bearing the brunt of the immense public backlash even though it is totally not their fault but that of the AGO which tries to beat every government agency into conformity under the guise of accountability.

Instead of going after true lapses in accountability within the civil service and safeguarding public money, AGO has taken the easy route to fulfilling their yearly KPIs. Instead of scrutinizing the numerous public tenders taking place yearly, the AGO found it a worthy use of their limited time to nitpick against MOE and their parking policies. AGO can only see the micro in this issue and fails to understand the intrinsic motivations it gives our teachers.

If you think this nitpicking will end with our teachers, think again. The next in line would probably be our SAF regulars who enjoy 'free parking' within the confines of their military installations. AGO must understand they are not dealing with objects or numbers but affecting the lives of hardworking honest public servants. Yes it is fair and equitable to deny teachers free parking but what is the social cost involved? Does it affect morale? Obviously AGO cannot care less so long it meets their KPIs and MOE will clean up the public mess for them. Why are we making life so hard for the little man on the street?

This totally avoidable situation is best summed up by our Ambassador-at-Large Bilahari Kausikan, he said and I quote "Every civil servant pays for parking. That teachers did not pay was an anomaly. Whether the anomaly ought to have been rectified is another matter. I personally think it would have been wiser to let things be and justify it as an exception to the rule. ... Besides to try to justify an anomaly would require a fight with the PSD and Auditor-General."

I hope the AGO will wake up and put their resources in the right place and stop oppressing the little man on the street. Get the big fishes and spare the small ones please.

Sincerely,
Former Civil Servant
A.S.S. Contributor

<Complaint by Mza Chon>

The chandelier fell on the ground right aft my Daughter climb out of the chair. It's a LIFE & DEATH matter (which the bosses claimed my Daughter is still alive and denied my requested amt for compensation). She was crying n shaking badly. THANKS GOD, she wasn't badly injured But she is traumatise, I became Very paranoid too.

I'm still waiting for Sim lighting explanation and compensation which last day is today. The bosses claimed to call me by 7-8pm...Sadly, they tossed me again. You are fortunate that my Daughter isn't badly hurt from your grave mistake but good enough to cause us fear n paranoid. If you don't pay responsible, I'll take legal action.

The act is totally disguised n unacceptable by ignoring, dragging my time n gave me tonnes of craps. I would like to create awareness for consumers who purchased, please Ensure your lightings are safely installed.

The Developer's electrician verified that it's common sense that 8mm screws hole were too big, a certified electrician will definitely be aware of it which makes me wonder is the installer certified. I need my justice!!!

Dear ASS Editors,

Here's a story about a guy named Xaiver Lim Jin Sheng. On May 2014, my sister had a shotgun marriage with this guy and he had been living with us since their dating period, the first few months their marriage was stable, my parents even got him a job with stable income and if he work hard he don't have to worry about any financial issues. But ever since he start staying with us he never contribute a single cent to the family's expenses once from food to toilet paper all bought by my parents.

My parents had even taken care of their wedding matters (wedding grown, studio, banquet, etc.), without a single help and not a single cent from him or his family. My parents even offered them to stay with our family by not been asking a single cent.

During my sister's pregnancy, all the tonics before and after delivery, maternity dress, hospital admission, confinement were arranged and paid by my parents. After delivery, he started to give baby allowance of $1K monthly (including milk powders, diapers, doctor consultations, transports, clothings and etc). Besides the 1K baby allowance, my sister who had stayed home taking care of the baby had $0 allowance and he not even bother to buy a single bread for her lunch, even my parents had told him so.

Middle of the nights, while my sister was making milk for the crying baby, he don't even bothered to wake up to carry or to calm the baby and at times he just covered his ears with pillow. When my mum woke up for the crying baby, she told him that he must help out with the baby crying. He answered my mum that he was working during daytime so he's very tired and got to work the next morning. My mum told him that she was also working and she don't understand why she can wake up and he can't, furthermore, the daughter is his not my mum's. He can't let my sister taking care Alone of the baby 24/7 without relief, when he worked he do had an hour of lunch break, then what about my poor sister (he heck care).

Few months later, he claimed that he needed to stay in office for OT (the company said no such thing ) and due to baby he had to work part time for extra. Both my parents, his mother and him had a few meeting together (due to his affairs, stealing and loans issues) also calculated that he will earned at least 6K per month including his daily part time midnight work, but the baby allowance still remains as 1K and not a single cent to my poor sister. My sister found out that he used his mobile to look for prostitute for sex, communicated with "girls" using very disgusting words and also acting as a Sugar Daddy.

We even noticed that he wanted to borrow money from his colleagues. We realised he had stolen my sister's wedding gold accessories, their daughter's gold necklace, bracelet and even my mum's diamond ring (but he shouted loudly and denied during the parents' meeting). We received Pawn Shop's reminder letter as proofed. Because of him, our parents had even bought a big safe and fixed CCTV for our peaceful family. He's that desperate for money till he even cursed his grandfather and mother by saying they were in ICU and needed CASH to pay for their hospital bills.

By giving him more chances, my parents even engaged a helper to look after the baby, so that my sister able to work and they enable to have a better future. My sister had also decided to forgo their HDB BTO for selecting flat.

He had been asked to leave our house for both to reconsider of their marriage by my parents on September 2015. The next day, he changed his facebook status as divorced. He had been acting from bad to worst that he slept during daytime and once woke afternoon will just left the house (so called for work). The way he shown that he loved his baby was shouted loudly of his baby's name once or twice and that's it. He claimed that he changed his job, working as a Operation Executive at a Logistic company and the vessels might sometimes arrive during midnight, so he's needed on standby at the port. After leaving our family, to-date (From Sep 2015 to Jan 2016) he only gave $1,000 of baby allowance ($500 his mum loan from his brother in law and $500 from him) to feed the child and never once he asked or visit his daughter (even his mum told him that his baby was sick and admitted to hospital). Yes, he did given cheque to my sister, but was Bounced.

I believed the mistake that my parents had made was treated him as just like a son of theirs (when their children got to change of new mobile phone, they won't never missed him out).

Cheers!

Kenneth Koh
A.S.S. Contributor

<Complaint by Chris Pang>

The most bastard son in the world. He told my grandma that when she sell the house then she can stay in Block 54, within a few month he drove my grandma out of the flat. After taking all the advantage and he is not poor. His son is the president of a bank which had a monthly income of 40k to 50k thousand dollars (Sorry I was wrong about the 16 thousand dollar pay, it should be 40k to 50k), his son also gave him a few thousand for his expenses.

He still had the cheek to go to PAP meet people session to get NTUC voucher. He threaten every member of the family, saying white knife in and red knife out. He always make my cousin pay for every hospital bill. My cousin is working in engineering line with a normal salary and struggling to survive unlike his wealthy son who is the president of the bank. His wealth is .. so much. In addition to the house he stolen, the jade, ring, jewellery. Now my grandma is penniless, I took up the bills, I also know I might be bankrupt with the hospital bill and 46k of tuition fees.

I have no regrets, throughout history all people who do the right thing will end up with a tragic ending. Like Liang san 108 hao han (一百零八个好汉), yue fei(岳飞), (General Yang & his 7 Son) 杨家将，(descendant of general yang under yue fei) 杨再兴，(Xiang Yu) 项羽，(chen sheng) 陈胜、(wu kwang) 吴广，(peng yue) 彭越、(ying bu) 英布，(gao jian li, together with jing ke) 高渐离，樊噲 (help liu bang build han dynasty but was killed by liu bang) ， huo yuan jia(霍元甲), Gao chang gong(高长恭), huo chee pin(霍去病), Guan Yu (关羽), Jing ke (荊軻) and many more.

All had a tragic ending. I did all these is for my mum as the last person she wanted to see is my grandma. Every single one of you had the power to expose the truth, the more the shares then the authority will do a check on him. Hope everyone of you can help, to make this as big as possible so people will not ignore. I beg all of you for this favour.

Dear ASS,

Is this the way NEA officers are taught to detain females? NEA officer tried to detain lady to ascertain particulars bcos he accused her for lighting cigarette 1 meter away from smoking area.

Lady deny doing it and so tried to walk away he then follow her and then another guy(in photo)who claims that he is also a NEA officer without even showing any pass to her started to bear hug her from behind thus outraging her modesty and police was called.

I hope NEA can explain why is this happening? What is their authority? Can NEA officer go around hugging women to stop them from running away if they don't cooperate or violent? Are they properly trained in proper control and restraint techniques like our police officer?

Kelvin Teo
A.S.S. Contributor

Dear ASS Editors,

I writing to share ,that my Wife as a full- timer singer, performing singing at a pub (unplugged ) . We had been married since 21 Dec 2014 , but recently ,I suspected her behaviour is unusual den usual .

Yesterday when she came back after work, she went straight into shower as I was still awake awaiting for her to be home . Usually , when she was back home she was leave her phone charging on the table . But this time , I discover that that her phone was not there . So , I decided check on her , when I push open the shower door she was shocked and anxious while holding onto her handphone . I ask who was she texting , she couldn't reply . I ask for her handset for verifying and she rejected me .

I snatched it over to scroll on the WeChat app that she was using, to my disappointment I saw all the flirting conversation between her pub's manager named "Slyester Sim" who has actually attended my wedding dinner when we were married . This guy was actually a married man as well, I have no idea why both of them did this to me and my Daughter. I felt heartbroken and depressed after my Wife confessed that she actually having affair with him .

My story here was alert everyone for those who were not ready to be married don't do so . What is the point for flirting around when you are married . I don't want this marriage anymore, my wife have apologize to me telling me that Sylvester was the one who seduced her. However, I have to expose them to let the world know and aware of it that Marriage is a holy thing and not to fool with.

Sylvester sim have no intention to apologize that he actually shut down his face book and page that he currently had. He already a married man and aware that we both were married yet he destroyed other marriage. Please help, thank you as I will be filing a divorce from my side .

Ng Song Yang (https://www.facebook.com/ng.songyang.5)
Depressed Husband
A.S.S. Contributor

Dear ASS Editors,

I spotted this PRC man hanging clothes illegally on top of a HDB shophouse rooftops in Bedok North. This is the second floor and a rooftop, below this rooftop are shops, they are living on the second floor of the next HDB block. They climb their kitchen window to hang clothes on the rooftop of the next block.

Is this allowed by the HDB? Isn't it dangerous? What if strong winds blow the racks down and hits someone? Who will be responsible for damage or injuries? I hope HDB will do the right thing.

Fadly
A.S.S. Contributor

In response to allegations of SAF outsourcing their parachute rigging operations to a PRC contractor (http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/saf-parachute-riggers-job-outso...), a former SAF parachute rigger and a serving SAF regular shed some truths on the situation. Hopefully this will help alleviate the concerns many Singaporeans have over this incident. Their clarification can be seen below. Are your fears allayed after reading their explanations?

<Facebook clarification by Michelle Evelyn Chow-Lee>

Hi Peeps, I was a former Parachute Rigger. This job is now done by PRCs, but still checked and rechecked by SAF Riggers. Regardless, whatever leaves the doors of the Parachute Training Wing have been checked and rechecked by true blue Singaporeans, and certified for a safe jump.

We have one of the safest record in the world. So yes we are covered.

<Facebook post by Gabriel Heng>

I am still jumping. If you do not trust the riggers , then dont jump. That's the age old code among paratroopers. I believe in the system which like Michelle Evelyn Chow-Lee said.

There are many checks and re-checks. Plus, these packers are trained by our own riggers.

Hi Editors,

This post was not by me but by a fellow EDMWer. However I do agree with some of the points here.

EDMW user hbster:

"I see facebook teachers whining and whining over a carpark fee... dont understand why they wanna kpkb so much? always complain that parents kp them, zhuo bo lan during school holidays...and when need to work OT like marking KPKB like no tomorrow....come on who doesnt do OT?

AND HOW MUCH IS THE CARPARK SEASON PARKING ONLY? LESS THAN 100 BUCKS? AND YOU JUST GOT HOW MUCH INCREMENT??? lol losers"

"Think must sexpose those teachers who kpkb online. This kind of teachers will only teach our children to kpkb in future. And since they like pap so much they voted for this"

Are Singaporean teachers complaining too much?

EDMWer
A.S.S. Contributor

My simple rules in choosing the right one.

1. Set a baseline on what you will never do or allow her to do (e.g. speak bad about your parents, have flings, gambles, heavy drinker, anyhow spend money, etc). If the girl repeatedly commit the mistake after numerous reminders, it is a good chance this will persist into marriage. Think if you want to continue. Life is too short to make yourself miserable. Better to be lonely but happy and carefree.

2. A girl who cannot even get along with her family members. If they brought her up all these years and they cannot get along, how possible is it for her to get along with your family?

3. If she dump her boyfriend to be with you. She will do the same to you.

4. If she is competitive, she will compare herself to her friends and their living standards. Once people compare, they will never be happy with you because there will always be someone better.

5. Is she is emotionally dependent on you. It feels good to be wanted but can you keep up supporting her emotionally for a lifetime? It can be rather tiring, worse when you guys have kids.

6. Look at her 5 closest friends. They are close because they may similar character and mindset. If you dun like her friends, you may not like her when you know her better.

7. Are you at your normal self when with her? Can you speak freely? If you start to realise you are will always looking forward to hang with your buddies. Then think again.

8. Remember that a relationship is not a competition to see who control who. No need to show the world how great your relationship is on FB.

9. Enjoy the company of your partner and be yourself.

10. No one owe anyone anything. You dun owe her anything to ensure she is happy. You make her happy because you want to not she ask for it. Same goes for gifts, buy what you want for her only when you feel like it and not she demands it.

Once married, both your life will be intertwined. How successful and happy your life will be is dependent on each other. Her flaws will affect your life and vice versa. Choose wisely.

Newsbar

Dear Editors,

This email is with regard to the news that MOE wishes to start charging teachers for parking. While the public remains divided about this issue, and many are quick to point out that teachers had a pay rise last year, none of the forums point out the following realities for teachers in MOE schools:

1) When there are a recession about 6 to 7 years ago, salary increments were frozen for MOE's teachers. Teachers did not get any wage increments that year.

2) In many schools, it is not uncommon for teachers to often fork out their own cash several times a year to pay for things for their students.

These can range from meals to treat their form class and subject classes several times a year (e.g. Children's Day, Youth Day, Graduation Farewell Presents, end of CCA season, school year farewell makan session for kids to celebrate them graduating up to the next level and a new form class, yearend CCA bonding Camps etc) to even helping students who are on financially needy schemes pay for stationary, enrichment books etc. Some teachers even make it a point to sometimes bring extra servings of lunch or breakfast for students whom they know are at risk and somehow don't know how to help themselves. They'll eat with the student during break and use that opportunity to offer a listening ear, a voice of stability and a hot meal.

Teachers are generally not a calculating lot of people and the paperwork is quite daunting when making claims so they seldom make these claims or these purchases can't be claimed (how do you claim a meal treat to encourage your graduating students before an exam especially if you have easily 3 to 4 classes of graduating students, and yet giving these meal treats and buying little graduation souvenirs for every single one of your graduating students is something that kids really, really appreciate and treasure)?

Teachers also often end up driving to students' homes to give them lifts e.g. if they are recalcitrant and don't come to school so teachers painstakingly drive to their homes to fetch them but these teachers don't make transport claims. Similarly, when kids are sick in school, during camp etc etc, it's not uncommon for teachers to fetch the students home or fetch them to the doctor and then fetch them home and all of these transport costs are not claimed. Whoever has the car and happens to not be teaching in class at that point in time, just chips in and helps out.

Similarly, when teachers rush from school to HQ or to other schools to attend briefings in the afternoon, very few of them claim transport costs or to even claim for parking at HQ (which is very costly).

In schools e.g. teachers also spend their own money to buy stationary (marking pens, files, notebooks etc) for their own use as teaching resources as schools don't provide these. Schools will provide photocopying paper and whiteboard markers but if you're a teacher organizing your notes etc for teaching, you pay for your own stationary.

3) It's also not uncommon for senior management in schools like department heads, subject heads, level heads, school leaders etc to contribute money out of their own pockets to buy gifts to appreciate their various departmental teams and staff e.g. treating them to dinner, contributing financially to the annual staff dinner, buying staff gifts during teachers' day, various celebratory days in the year etc etc.

Unlike in the private sector, there are no expense accounts for these things.

A talk to ordinary teachers from heartland schools will reveal a lot about the extent to which teachers pay many things out of their own pockets to help their students and their fellow teachers.

All of these add up to hundreds of dollars, sometimes much more, a year, but teachers do all this to help and encourage their students and their fellow teachers so does the decision to charge teachers for parking in schools make any sense? We ask for a society with empathy so how do we support, encourage people who demonstrate much empathy for others in their daily work?

Concerned Member of the Public
A.S.S. Contributor