Another family charged with maid abuse

Yet another family has been hauled to court for maid abuse.On Monday, an 18-year-old girl, together with her mother and mum’s friend, was accused of pulling out two front teeth of Indonesian maid Badingah at a flat in Jalan Minyak off Chin Swee Road.

Nur Rizan Mohd Sazali, who does administration work, is said to have done this with the help of the maid’s employer, Elsa Elyana Said, 24, and at the instigation of her mother, Maselly Abdul Aziz, 37, unemployed.

Her elder brother, Muhammad Iz’aan, 19, a waiter, faces one charge each of maid abuse and wrongful restraint.

Nur Rizan is also accused of using an iron rod and cane to hit the back of Ms Badingah, pouring hot wax onto her head, and restraining her by tying the victim’s hands with a bath robe.

Maselly allegedly used an iron rod to hit Ms Badingah on the head, abetted Nur Rizan to cause grievous hurt to her in the teeth incident, poured hot water onto the maid’s private part, and threatened to kill her if she did not return the money.

The last charge also states that she was holding onto two knives when she made the threat on July 26 last year. (story)

More bus drivers Chinese

Bus operators are turning to China for drivers as more Singaporeans here shun the job, complaining of irregular hours and low pay. This is the first time SBS Transit and SMRT are looking beyond Singapore and Malaysia in their effort to hire more drivers.

SMRT’s first batch of 34 drivers from China - it has hired about 100 to boost its pool of 1,700, 80 per cent of whom are Singaporeans - arrived in January.

Meanwhile, SBS is bringing in 20 drivers to start work soon on two-year contracts.

SBS Transit spokesman Tammy Tan said that if its first batch of bus captains from China performs well, it might hire more of them and also consider drivers from other countries.

It currently has 5,200 drivers, 75 per cent of whom are Singaporeans or permanent residents. Malaysians make up the rest.

Both companies said they are turning to China as they find it increasingly difficult to hire Singaporeans.

It is a problem that has surfaced in the past. (story)

SMRT fined $400k for service disruption

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has fined SMRT nearly $400,000 for causing severe disruption to train services betwen the Tanah Merah and Pasir Ris MRT stations on Jan 21. Services were interrupted for seven hours and 17 minutes because one portion of a maintenance train hit another parked portion during routine maintenance works.

This happened at 3.10am on the rail section between the Tampines and Simei MRT stations. The incident immobilised one of the locomotives and a rail grinding vehicle, rendering the tracks impassable.

Normal train services resumed at 12.45pm, after the vehicles were removed.

Investigations showed that the incident was the result of SMRT not complying with operating procedures. It had not secured the parked portion of the maintenance train, made up of a locomotive and a wagon, during maintenance works. (story)

Singapore small but carries a big stick

As a small state, Singapore cannot ignore the dangers to its sovereignty and must view the world clearly, even clinically, President SR Nathan said. ‘It is critical to have a clear and clinical assessment of the world - seeing the world as it is and not as we hope or think it ought to be,’ he said on Monday at the launch of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MFA) Diplomatic Academy.

His speech focussed often on the way Singapore’s size and vulnerabilty has shaped its foreign policy, for instance, its distinct pragmatism and search for international space.

Pragmatism has allowed the 640 sq km-island to transcend its size and limits, he noted.

‘We knew very well that we had very little influence over our external environment, immediate and beyond,’ he said.

‘We dealt with the business of foreign relations without sentiment, ideology or illusion.’

In parallel, Singapore chose ‘to wrap ourselves in something larger’ - be it Asean, the United Nations or international legal regimes. (story)