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Mon 4 Apr 2005

Glad Singapore is my home

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Reading about the Singaporean who was allegedly hit and punched when he confronted an alleged corrupt immigration officer in Batam last week1 brought back memories of my visits to Medan, Indonesia in the the 1980’s during the Suharto era.
On one of my visits then, while I was clearing immigration, I was told to step into a room at the Immigration checkpoint at Polonia Airport. An immigration officer said I was visiting Indonesia too frequently - my passport showed I went there once every two months in the past six months. I pointed to my relatives who were standing outside the immigration area, waiting for me.
In less than ten minutes, I was let out of the room and my passport was returned to me, duly stamped. The official merely said I could go; he did not tell me more. But, I found out later from my uncle that he had to pay S$30 to the official to secure my release from the immigration room. That amount was about one-third of an immigration officer’s monthly salary in Indonesia then.
I was to learn more about this strange Indonesian custom during my frequent stays in Medan. It was an accepted part of life there, according to my uncle who had been living there for the past few decades. In my accompanied forays into town, I was to learn not to look at police officers while I was in the family car. That’s because, if you caught the chap’s eyes, and he signalled you to pull over, it meant he wanted money. If I recall correctly, there is a market rate, based on the type of vehicle you are in. For lorries, you had to shell out S$30, and for cars S$20. So, I tried very hard to keep my eyes out of harm’s way.
The Singaporean who wrote in to the Forum Page of The Straits Times1 had said, “a higher-ranking official then took me to a room and questioned my attire. He said that wearing sandals was ‘wrong’ and, because of it, he would not allow me into Batam”.
To me, that bore the hallmarks of the Polonia Airport incident I was a party to in the 1980’s, except, this Singaporean was accosted in Batam, Indonesia in March 2005. It might seem, in the past twenty-odd years, not much has changed at the immigration checkpoints in Indonesia.
In Singapore, we take our corrupt-free civil service for granted, so much so that we are affronted when confronted by corrupt officials in other countries. These are indeed eye-opening experiences for us Singaporeans. Such experiences make me glad my home is Singapore.
Forgive me for sounding cruel, but I would say — jolly well have more such experiences while we are overseas, either on short-work assignments or holiday trips. These experiences will help us appreciate things we take for granted in Singapore, as one such experience helped enlighten the Singaporean visitor to Batam, that “it is only now that I appreciate the orientation towards excellence in public service. A similar incident would not be allowed to happen in Singapore and, even if it did, the victim would be ensured a proper channel for redress”.
To be fair to the Indonesians, we need to hear their side of the story in the Batam incident. The Straits Times has reported2 that the Batam immigration officer alleged to have assaulted the Singaporean has been reassigned while investigations continue. The Indonesian island’s immigration chief was reported as having told The Straits Times he had apologised to the Singaporean’s parents who are based in Indonesia.
The immigration chief was quoted as saying, “All complaints will be investigated. We have nothing to hide.” Kudos to the Indonesians for taking prompt action.
1 The Straits Times 29 Mar 2005 (H6)
2 The Straits Times 5 Apr 2005 (H5)
 

Mon 28 Mar 2005

Count on our children to take care of us in our old age?

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When the old Chinese man came up to the dustbin in front of the bus-stop, I thought he would, like many other old folk I had previously seen do, stretch his hands into it to look for used aluminium cans so that he could exchange them later for hard cash.
But, this man picked up a used bubble tea cup which he placed on the top of the dustbin. Then, he reached into the bin again and, this time, I saw in his hands a plastic bag - the kind used for storing take-away drinks. He proceeded to sip the remnants of the black liquid from the plastic bag after which he threw the bag back into the bin. The man continued on his way after picking up the bubble tea cup which still had some tea left. As he walked along the pavement outside Hougang Plaza, he sipped the tea, oblivious to the curious looks of those at the bus-stop.
That happened last Saturday. I recall witnessing a similar incident long ago as a 10-year-old boy in North Bridge Road where I spent my childhood. Then, I had seen an old Chinese man picking up leftover pig trotters from a swill bin and eating them there and then. But, that happened in the late 1960’s - more than 30 years ago.
I told myself it couldn’t be happening in Singapore now. But, I wasn’t seeing things last weekend. There were several other people waiting for the bus too. They saw what happened. The old man outside Hougang Plaza didn’t look like a vagabond. He was dressed just like any other grandfather one would meet in the streets. And he wasn’t untidy.
Perhaps, this man was senile. But, he didn’t look it. Today, as I read The Straits Times, my attention focussed on an article on parental maintenance. Among other things, it said that 105 cases were heard in the parental maintenance tribunal in 2004, up from 88 in 20031.
Apparently, siblings were quarrelling over financial maintenance of their parents. Ms Penny Tham, spokesman for the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents, was quoted in the article as saying, “Long-standing bitterness between siblings spawn such cases.”
I cannot say for certain that the old man I saw drinking from the used bubble tea cup is a victim of similar circumstances. But, in my estate alone, I often see old people going around picking up used aluminium cans, and then flattening them with their feet before placing them in a bag they carried with them. They are a common sight nowadays in Singapore. Perhaps their children are not giving them any allowances. Perhaps, they need to feed a smoking habit for which their pocket money was insufficient. Whatever the reasons, I don’t think it’s fair for their children to be calculating towards them or neglect them in their old age.
I despair to think of my old age. If I get to live to a ripe old age, will my compulsory CPF savings be enough to last me through my twilight years. Will my children - that is, if I can persuade my wife to have children - be kind enough to support my wife and me when we are no longer productive and have to depend on them for maintenance.
I see many youngsters engaged in animated conversation over who has the latest mobile phone and I think, at this age, they have yet to earn money and they are already bowing to peer pressure and thinking of spending more than pocket change. When they come into the mainstream of society, will they wise up and live prudently or will their parents still have to support them then?
Yesterday, I was having lunch with my wife in a foodcourt in Hougang Mall. Seated at another table next to us was a family of four - father, mother, and two pre-teen boys. Forgive me for being nosey, but, I couldn’t help noticing that both parents shared a bowl of Yong Tau Hoo while the two boys each had a western meal, complete with can drinks. It wasn’t the first time I had witnessed such things happening.
My point is this - as parents we do our part, but can we count on our children to do theirs and take care of us when we grow old? I despair to think of the answer.
I need to find good reasons to give my wife to convince her to have children. Providing descendants to carry on my family name isn’t a good enough reason for her.
1 The Straits Times 28 Mar 2005 (H3)
 

Mon 21 Mar 2005

Second-hand smoke in public places

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By October this year, more public places will be declared non-smoking zones. The ban will then cover bus shelters, bus interchanges and public toilets. That’s also the time when the ban on smoking in public swimming complexes, open air stadia and community clubs - currently enforced as a house rule - becomes official.
It seems that the number of public places in which a smoker can take a puff is slowly but surely dwindling in Singapore. As a non-smoker, I cannot appreciate the toll that the ban on smoking is taking on smokers. All I know is that there will be more public places where I do not have to force myself to breathe in air that is polluted by second-hand smoke.
Already, although the smoking ban is in place in many public places, I suffer the threat of second-hand smoke as I traverse such areas. Some smokers openly flout the law by partaking in their habit, oblivious to the inconvenience they are causing to non-smokers like me.
In many toilets of shopping centres, people indulge in this habit, albeit in the locked cubicles. Of course, one could argue that since they have enclosed themselves in the cubicles, they are actually being considerate to others frequenting the toilet. But, I become frustrated every time I enter a cubicle and have to suffer the second-hand smoke for the minutes that I spend in that enclosed space. It’s worse than having someone smoke near me in the open area of a shopping centre.
I know of one shopping centre in Selegie Road where, on more than one occasion recently, I have seen groups of men smoking as they converse with one another in the wash area of the toilet. In the same shopping centre, on a different occasion, I even saw some youngsters openly flouting the smoking ban by smoking outside a lan-gaming shop in the air-conditioned basement shopping area, just next to a fast-food restaurant.
Should I have asserted my rights as a member of the public and approached them to remind them they were violating the law? No way! I would have risked a broken nose in the process. Just last month, in a small shopping centre in Hougang, I saw someone approaching a teenager who was puffing away in the air-conditioned lobby of the place, just outside a lan-gaming shop. When he told the young man not to smoke there, the boy retorted, “I like it, leh!” 
Making it an offence to smoke in certain public places is one thing, but policing the ban effectively is quite another. As the number of non-smoking public places increases, the job of policing becomes more difficult. There are only so many public health inspectors around. They certainly cannot watch every single toilet or shopping centre on the island.
We can only count on our public health inspectors catching a few culprits every now and then and making an example of them. But, will this deter the bulk of the smokers? I think those who have not been caught before will continue to play a cat-and-mouse game with the public health inspectors. 
The price of a stick of cigarette has gone up from S$0.20 in the mid 1980’s to S$0.50 today. This, together with other governmental efforts at stubbing the problem, has led to a reduction of the number of smokers here, from 18%1 of the population in 1992 to 14% presently. The decrease is particularly significant for males aged 18-69 whose proportion has decreased from 33% to 24%.
But, there will always be teenagers willing to pick up the habit to boost their image in the presence of friends. To these teenagers, being able to smoke is akin to reaching adulthood, even though many of them are just entering adolescence. Then, there are those who succumb to peer pressure to become smokers.
Add to these, the boys who have entered national service and need to puff away their problems. Also, add to these, the growing proportion of female smokers aged 18-24, which almost tripled from 2.8% to 8.2%1, in contrast to a reduction from 29% to 24% for males in the same age group.
So, it’s welcome news that the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources is considering imposing a smoking ban on youngsters’ popular hangouts such as pubs, bars, discos, nightclubs and KTV lounges.
Even as I am preparing this column in my bedroom at 6am, second-hand smoke is wafting in from the flat just below mine. You see, my neighbour likes to puff away at his bedroom window. Every morning I have to close the bedroom window as soon as I get a whiff of the smoke. What can I say? That the Ministry of Health should also extend the smoking ban to cover HDB flats as well?
There are some areas where we should practise the ‘live and let live’ principle.
1 Smoking ban to cover more public places from 1 Oct 2005
 

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