Retailers charged in thawed pork fiasco

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has slapped 31 pork retailers with fines of $300 each, this year for passing off thawed frozen pork as chilled pork.In a statement on Friday, the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) said it takes a serious view of this and advises consumers to be extra careful when making such purchases.

CASE said meat, either chilled or frozen is flown from the abattoir to retailers to ensure that consumers here enjoy fresh produce.

Chilled fresh meat is more expensive than its frozen equivalent because of transportation costs, handling charges and shorter shelf life.

For example, chilled fresh pork costs about 50 per cent more than the frozen version.

CASE said given the price difference, ’some traders are tempted to pass off the thawed frozen meat as chilled fresh meat’.

‘This is compounded by the ignorance of consumers to judge visually whether the slab of meat is chilled or formerly frozen,’ it added. (story)

Woman dies in car crash

She was the family’s sole breadwinner but on Thursday morning, 29-year-old Rachel Quek lost her life in a tragic car accident which left two others injured.

The human resource professional died about nine hours after a car driven by her boyfriend, Mr Chiang Kwok Wai, rammed into a tree in a suspected drunk driving case.

Ms Quek was in the backseat of the blue Suzuki Swift. The couple’s friend, Mr Tay Huay Kia, was also in the car.

It was travelling along Bedok North Avenue 4 on Wednesday at around 11pm when it skidded.

It mounted the road kerb and went through a wire fence before ramming into the tree. The impact wrecked the car so badly that the Singapore Civil Defence Force took 15 minutes to extricate all three, who were taken to Changi General hospital.

Mr Chiang, 30, suffered light injuries and was discharged on Friday.

However, both passengers suffered serious facial and head injuries. While 30-year-old Mr Tay is still in intensive care, Miss Quek succumbed to her injuries at about 8.30am on Thursday. (story)

Exam results drop, slightly

The Education Ministry’s latest report card for the ethnic groups showed Malay performance slipping slightly at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), and at the GCE O and A levels.

Chinese and Indian students showed improvement at the PSLE and O levels, but both groups also dropped in performance at the A levels.

The good news in the data released on Friday is that children of all races did well overall at all the major examinations.

In the PSLE, over 95 per cent passed. At the O levels, over 95 per cent obtained at least three O-level passes and over 80 per cent obtained at least five.

And at the A levels, over 90 per cent obtained at least two A levels and two AO levels.

Across the board, Chinese students kept up their record of performing best at all three levels, their results outstripping the national average.

Malay students shone in mother tongue, outperforming Chinese and Indians at all three exams as in previous years. (story)

Employment numbers good for 2007

Singapore’s buoyant economy continues to be on a roll, with 58,600 more jobs created in the third quarter and the unemployment rate falling to the pre-Asian crisis level. Wages continued to rise between July and September and at a more moderate pace, said the Ministry of Manpower in a statement on Friday.

Employment in the third quarter expanded by 58,600, up substantially from the increase of 43,000 in the same quarter last year, making it the second highest quarterly increase after the 64,400 recorded in Q2.

This brings the total number of jobs created in the first three quarters of 2007 to 172,400 jobs, comparable to the gains of 176,000 for the whole of 2006.

Amid rapid economic growth and easing in the increase in resident labour supply, the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate declined to 1.7 per cent in September - fom 2.3 per cent in June.

The resident unemployment rate also fell significantly to 2.3 per cent from 3.1 per cent over the same period. (story)