Singapore #1 among students

ASEAN university students are overwhelmingly gunning for one place to work and play - Singapore.

A survey of university students across the region last year finds the smallest South-east Asian country coming out the biggest winner.

More than half of the 2,170 undergraduates polled, or 54.3 per cent, said they would ‘most like to work’ in Singapore among the 10 Asean nations.

Malaysia is a distant second, garnering 11.2 per cent. This is followed by Brunei, Thailand and Vietnam.

As Mr Prapat Rucktajittakarn, 21, a senior-year student at Thailand’s Institute of International Studies Ramkhamhang told The Straits Times: ‘Yes, I would like to work in Singapore as well. As you can see from other students who used to work abroad, they probably gain more experience in their lives.’ (story)

“Oral Me” toothpaste, just lip service

A toothpaste sold at a hypermarket here, has raised a few eyebrows as well as having drawn laughter as its brand name was considered to be rather suggestive by some people.

The brand? ‘Oral-Me’.

The product is a toothpaste manufactured by a Kulim, Kedah, based company.

Melissa Leong, 28, from Sabah, felt the brand name carried sexual connotation.

“Manufacturers should think twice when naming their products,” she said.

Kuala Lumpur based advertising executive Martin Voon asked if the manufacturer understood the phrase while coining the brand name.

“I’m shocked. Such words are normally found on a spoof,” he said. (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)

Terengganu gets first woman candidate in 34 years

Tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of state Puteri Umno chief Nordiana Shafie when she was nominated to contest in the Batu Buruk constituency, making her the third woman to contest in an election in Terengganu. The last was Syarifah Azah Apple Syed Shith who lost to a Pas candidate in the 1974 elections. In the 1969 elections, Teh Hassan contested and won the Chukai seat. All three were from Umno.

Nordiana immediately called her husband, Ahmad Shukri, a lawyer, to tell the good news after the list of state BN candidates was announced by state BN chairman and Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh at Seri Iman here yesterday.

“I was not expecting it. Although, Idris informed me that I could be a candidate in the polls a week ago, I was not counting on it. My involvement as a candidate is also a recognition of the women community in Terengganu,” said Nordiana. (story)

Travellers jam the border for the holidays

Traffic at Singapore’s land checkpoints came to a standstill by 4pm on Wednesday, as thousands of travellers jostled to cross the border for the Chinese New Year celebrations and the long weekend. Vehicles were backed up several kilometres. Horns blared and tempers flared as motorists saw their chances of making it on time for their reunion dinner.

About 1.35 million travellers passed through the Tuas and Woodlands checkpoints on five days of the festivities last year, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

But this year’s number could well exceed that because, besides those marking the new year, other travellers have tagged the weekend to the public holidays on Thursday and Friday for a four-day break in Malaysia. (story)

Food shortages forces Malaysia to take action

Malaysia is planning to bar Singaporeans and Thais from taking home staple foods like flour and sugar to avert shortages of the subsidised goods, reports said Wednesday.

The move comes after the government was last week forced to flood the market with thousands of tonnes of cooking oil and flour as shortages left supermarket shelves stripped bare and restaurant owners warning they faced disruption.

‘So far, we have enforced prohibition to bring cooking oil out of the country but I will suggest (to the cabinet) that other food items be included in the list,’ Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shafie Apdal said.

Shafie told the state Bernama news agency that the proposal would be submitted at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.

Singaporeans often make day trips across the Causeway linking the island-state to Malaysia to fill their petrol tanks and buy groceries which are cheaper here. (story)

More security at airports please

Singaporeans are willing to weather delays at the airport for safer air travel, according to a study released on Tuesday. The latest Unisys Security Index, which surveyed citizens from 14 countries on security issues, found Singaporeans among the most concerned about aviation security in the region.

Of the 891 Singaporeans between 18 and 64 polled, 96 per cent believed more needed to be done to make regional air travel more secure, while 94 per cent of Hong Kongers and Malaysians believed the same.

And 97 per cent of Singaporeans were willing to go through added security measures to help make regional airline travel safer.

Almost as many Hong Kongers and 95 per cent of Malaysians feel the same way.

This despite measures that would inconvenience them, such as arriving at the airport 30 minutes earlier for extra screening, or providing more personal information, such as a traveler’s identity scheme. (story)

Minister proposes alumni should mentor students

Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam hopes to see more activities that will allow Singapore students to interact with their counterparts in the region.

Speaking at a student camp for over 180 students from Singapore and Malaysia on Wednesday, he stressed that this will help break down barriers between the young people who share a common future.

Foo Hui Chian, a Malaysian student said: “Even though we’ve just met each other for a few days, we’re like good friends, we’re staying in the same dorm, we get along very well.” (story)

Singapore and Malaysia cooperate on education, officially

Malaysia and Singapore Tuesday formalised their cooperation in the education field after realising recently that their past collaborations were done without official stamp.

Malaysian Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said he was shocked to discover that for many years education activities and exchanges between the two countries were conducted informally.

He was speaking at the opening of the Malaysia-Singapore Business Forum here prior to signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Educational Cooperation between the Education Ministries of Malaysia and Singapore at the forum venue.

His Singaporean counterpart who is also the Finance Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, inked the MoU on behalf of the Singapore Education Ministry.

Speaking to reporters later, Hishammuddin said he discovered the matter about six months ago but with the good understanding and his personal rapport with Tharman, and Singapore’s government sincerity, the memorandum with all the details was readied in a very short time.

Under the cooperation, both sides will, among others, carry out exchange programmes involving ministry officials, school principals and students from both sides, teaching of the English language and inculcating good values among the students which will go a long way towards constructing a platform for even healthier bilateral relations in the future. (story)

Malaysia detains 3 vessels without cause

The fishing season is now on, but trawler captain Ting King Song, 68, has no plans to head out to the South China Sea. The company he works for, Lian Yak Fish Merchants, has had three of its vessels detained by the Malaysian authorities since June, leaving five trawlers in its fleet.

Mr Goh Liang Soon, 60, who owns the vessels, is leery of losing any more.

He spoke to The Straits Times on Tuesday after months of keeping mum, for fear of antagonising Malaysian authorities.

He decided to tell his story after hearing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law S. Jayakumar say that Singapore fishing vessels had been detained by Malaysia while in international waters. (story)