FORMER Romanian diplomat Silviu Ionescu is unlikely to return to Singapore for a coroner's inquiry into the death of Mr Tong Kok Wai, which begins on Wednesday.
In his first comments to the Singapore media since leaving the country on Dec 18, three days after Mr Tong was killed in a hit-and-run accident involving a Romanian Embassy car in Bukit Panjang, Dr Ionescu said his failing health was the main reason he may not return.
He claimed that he could die as a result of his illness, believed to be diabetes.
Dr Ionescu also said reports that police investigations showed he had been the driver of the car factored into his decision.
But he firmly denied having anything to do with the accident that killed Mr Tong, or another later that day that left two people injured.
The Romanian has been at the centre of a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent weeks. Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) summoned his country's ambassador to the Republic two weeks ago to request that Dr Ionescu be asked to attend the coroner's inquiry. -Strait Times 26 Feb
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Dare to face the truth.
Friday, February 26, 2010
We are uniquely Singapore
The Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, the Government does not assign race to a person but follows the general rule that a child's race would follow that of his or her father. Nevertheless, recognising that the diversity of Singapore's racial demographics has increased in recent years due to the inflow of immigrants and the rise in the number of locals marrying foreigners, with effect from 2nd January this year, our birth registration forms were revised to provide for declaration by the parents on their child's race during birth registration.
Previously, such a child would be registered following the general rule as having the race of the father. The recent change gives parents who are of different races the flexibility and choice to decide how their child's race should be recorded. The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is not the authority or expert on "race". It will accept a race declaration so long as it falls within generally accepted notions of ethnicity by lineage. For example, a Caucasian-Chinese couple may decide to have their child's race recorded as Caucasian, Chinese or Eurasian.
In fact, the Singapore birth certificate gazetted under the Registration of Births and Death Rules does not require a child's race to be recorded. The child's race is recorded provisionally at birth registration in ICA's system until the child turns 15 and is required to register for an identity card. At this point in time, registration of the identity card will entail a registration of race declared and this will then be used to update the existing record of the individual in the ICA system. Changes of race declaration can also be made at any time by the parents or by the child himself when he is no longer a minor.
In short, the system, especially with the recent changes, already provides for an appropriate level of flexibility and choice to parents who are of different races. Ultimately, however, parents who are of different races should come to a decision as to which of their races they would like their child to be recorded as belonging to. -Extract from Parliament publications
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Feasible Budget 2010
Well, some Singaporeans feel that the budget is not helping them directly because most suggestions are for improving productivity and skill of workers. The benefits from these improvement will take time to happen maybe in the next 2 to 3 years. Well, I do not really know how all these will trickle down eventually to the average Singporean on the street. What do you think?
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Make More Tiger Babies
SINGAPORE'S Prime Minister today urged citizens to make more babies this year and ignore superstitions about the Chinese zodiac, as the city state's birth rate continued to plunge.
Lee Hsien Loong said in a Lunar New Year message the fertility rate in the predominantly ethnic Chinese island had dipped to its lowest level ever at 1.23 babies per woman last year, from 1.28 in 2008.
This is well below the 2.1 babies needed for the population to replenish itself naturally.
"This is the lowest we have ever experienced. It means last year we were short of at least 10,000 babies just to replace ourselves," Mr Lee said.
The fertility rate among ethnic Chinese citizens was even lower than the national average at 1.09 babies per woman.
"Probably the recession last year made couples hold back having babies. But it also reflects fundamental social changes that are affecting all East Asian societies," he said.
Mr Lee said he was particularly worried about ethnic Chinese couples who chose to hold back having babies during Tiger years because of a superstition that children born during the year will have the animal's attributes.
In each of the last three Tiger years - 1974, 1986 and 1998 - the number of births dropped by seven percent, the prime minister noted.
"It is one thing to encourage ourselves with the traditional attributes of the zodiac animals," he said.
"But it is another to cling on to superstitions against children born in the Year of the Tiger, who are really no different from children born under other animal signs."
The government has so far introduced a number of measures, including financial incentives and government-paid maternity leave, to encourage married Singaporeans to have more children.
Singapore had a population of 4.99 million as of June 2009, including more than one million foreign workers and their families.
news.com.au 13th Feb 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Vietnamese Lady on Taxi
POLICE have arrested a 19-year-old Vietnamese woman who climbed on top of a taxi and jumped on its roof, while screaming and kicking its advertisement board, for almost an hour yesterday.
Residents of an HDB block overlooking Hougang Avenue 9 said they awoke to the bizarre scene outside their windows, which took place at about 8am.
'I woke up to what I thought was noise from some construction, but I looked down to see this young woman stomping on the top of a taxi. She seemed hysterical,' said an eyewitness who lives on the 10th floor of the block, who gave his name only as Mr Letchumanan.
Police said they received a call at 8.45am yesterday, and arrived to find the woman still on top of the CityCab taxi. She was arrested for disorderly behaviour. The cabby did not want to be interviewed, but said in his statement to the police that the woman had flagged down his taxi and then climbed on top of it when he stopped his vehicle.
Eyewitnesses said the woman was screaming in Mandarin but they could not make out what she was saying. She was seen jumping on the cab's roof and kicking its advertisement signboard until it broke.
Mrs Joanna Ho, 33, who watched the incident from her flat on the block's 15th floor, said the woman climbed down at one point and quarrelled with the taxi driver. She then lay down in the middle of the road, causing a traffic build-up, and chased after a car before climbing on top of the taxi again
-Strait Times
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Something light hearted.
Something lighthearted for everyone. Never occurred to me but she does live up to her name for what she is doing.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Dr Silviu Ionescu seeing Psychiatrist
MFA Spokesman's Comments in response to media queries on developments in the two hit-and-run traffic accidents on 15 December 2009 that involved the Romanian Embassy vehicle S3401CD
In response to media queries on developments in the two hit-and-run traffic accidents on 15 December 2009 that involved the Romanian Embassy vehicle S3401CD, the MFA spokesman said:
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned HE Aurelian Neagu, the Romanian Ambassador to Singapore (who is based in Tokyo), to MFA on 11 February 2010 on the matter of the two hit-and-run traffic accidents on 15 December 2009 that involved the Romanian Embassy vehicle S3401CD.
MFA stressed to Ambassador Neagu that the matter is of the highest concern to the Singapore Government and yet again reiterated that it was most important that the Romanian Embassy cooperate fully with the Singapore authorities on this matter.
MFA informed Ambassador Neagu that the Coroner's Inquiry into the death of Mr Tong Kok Wai will be held from 3 to 10 March 2010. It was explained to the Ambassador that the Inquiry is not a trial, but a fact-finding inquiry to establish the facts where there has been an unnatural death.
MFA handed Ambassador Neagu a diplomatic note seeking the Romanian Embassy's assistance in requesting Dr Ionescu to return to Singapore to attend the Coroner's Inquiry. MFA noted that it would appear from Romanian media reports that Dr Ionescu was still maintaining that the car had been stolen and that he was not the driver at the time of the two accidents. MFA pointed out that if Dr Ionescu was maintaining that he was not responsible, it was all the more reason why he should come back to Singapore to give his version at the Coroner's Inquiry. This will help the State Coroner to ascertain the facts relating to the two accidents. At the Coroner's Inquiry, Dr Ionescu can also question the witnesses. MFA also pointed out to Ambassador Neagu that Dr Ionescu was welcome to engage a local lawyer to examine the witnesses and put forth his version of the events at the Inquiry. Alternatively, the Romanian Embassy could engage a local lawyer on Dr Ionescu's behalf.
Noting media reports of Dr Ionescu's claim in a recent Romanian television interview that there was a witness who could exonerate him, MFA asked the Romanian Embassy to request Dr Ionescu to give the Singapore authorities details concerning the identity of this witness. The witness can then be required to give evidence at the Coroner's Inquiry.
MFA also handed Ambassador Neagu a second diplomatic note informing the Romanian Embassy that the State Coroner has issued a witness summons for Mr Marius Trusca, Administrative Officer at the Embassy, to give evidence at the Inquiry and assist the State Coroner in establishing the true circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Tong Kok Wai. The witness summons was issued because Mr Trusca's evidence is directly relevant for the Coroner's Inquiry. MFA noted that under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Mr Trusca is not obliged to give evidence as a witness. MFA therefore requested the Embassy to let Mr Trusca's immunity be waived so that the witness summons may be served on Mr Trusca.
MFA referred Ambassador Neagu to Romanian media reports that in his recent interview by a Romanian television station, Dr Ionescu had also alleged that this was a case of a "set-up" by the Singapore Government because he had been reporting on political activities in Singapore. Dr Ionescu had alleged that there had been a similar case in 2007, when he was also accused of being the driver in a hit-and-run accident, but was eventually let off as he had an alibi at that time.
MFA told Ambassador Neagu that if these media reports had accurately quoted Dr Ionescu, then he had made very serious allegations against the integrity of the Singapore Government which MFA categorically rejected as lacking any basis in fact. These allegations were also a gross insult to the victims of the two accidents. Dr Ionescu's claim that he had been accused of being the driver in a hit-and-run accident in 2007 is entirely false. Our records show that the Romanian Embassy vehicle S3401CD was involved in two traffic accidents in 2007. The first was a minor non-injury accident where the driver was not Dr Ionescu and the other driver did not wish to pursue the matter. In the second case, it was established then that Dr Ionescu, who was the driver, was not at fault and action was taken against the other driver involved in the accident. These facts clearly show that Dr Ionescu's claims are fictitious and at no time was he ever accused by the Police of being the driver in a hit-and-run accident in 2007.
MFA also asked Ambassador Neagu for more information on the status of the criminal proceedings in Romania against Dr Ionescu, and on the Romanian system of investigations and prosecutions.
The next step will depend on the Romanian Government's response to our requests and the outcome of the Coroner's Inquiry."
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
11 FEBRUARY 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
New skills for older worker
LOW-WAGE workers can look forward to help schemes that will make it easier for them to upgrade their skills for better-paying jobs.
They could also enjoy more benefits from the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme as the Government is reviewing the three-year programme, including the frequency of payments and qualifying criteria.
Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday elaborated on these proposals which were made last week by the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC), when he spoke at a dialogue.
He promised that more will be revealed in the Budget later this month.
While the high-level committee focused on the issue of raising productivity levels, Mr Gan, who was part of the ESC, said it also paid close attention to improving the plight of low-wage earners.
'The focus is how to make it easier for older, low-wage workers to continue to acquire new skills... to pursue higher-value jobs so that their incomes can improve over time,' he explained.
Straits time 8 Feb 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Foreign Worker Levy
A WORRYING outcome of increasing the foreign worker levy was raised at a dialogue with Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday.
Such a move would make it tough for some businesses to survive, especially if Singaporeans are unwilling or unable to take up such jobs, said a resident of Nee Soon Central. Her question follows recent recommendations by the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC), which proposed increasing the levy gradually.
Mr Gan explained that the move should be viewed as a way to encourage companies to make more productive use of their manpower, so that they would need fewer workers to do the same job.
'The purpose of it is to encourage companies to go for productivity improvements,' he said.
For example, he said, a company might need 10 workers now. But this could be shaved down to eight workers if it can do more with the same or fewer resources.
'The saving of two workers might be more than enough to offset the higher foreign worker levy,' he said.
Strait times Feb 8 1010
