Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Toxic fumes in industrial building

Dear Mr. Tan
I work in an industrial estate complex belonging to a listed industrial REIT in Ang Mo Kio Ave 10. Since late last year, a unit next to the ground floor lift lobby have been discharging a foul smelling air. This pervades the lift lobby and on cold days, drifts up to even the third and fourth floor. The smell of this discharging is nauseating although the discharge is intermittent and the intensity varies from time to time.

I was wondering if the gas is toxic or carcinogenic. So I sent a mail to NEA and also notified the management of the building. After much tai-chi and wayang, the situation did not change significantly and I think no real measurements and test of the air was done after a full 6 months.

What can we do to these people especially the NEA? Are they not supposed to act like civil servants looking after the people's health and interest? Must we wait until someone dies or get cancer before something happens?

HW

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Posting an article in my blog

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Employment and older workers

Hi Mr Tan,

I refer to one of blog's article titled "Wages of older workers".


The survey done by SNEF/MOM/NTUC is merely a red herring and a public relation exercise by the govt. Which employer in their right mind would tell the surveyors that they automatically cut the wages of workers who are 60 or older?? Do SNEF/MOM/NTUC verify or audit what the employers tell them? Of course not. This survey only tells us the percentage of employers who are stupid enough to admit that they automatically reduce the wages of older workers! The best part is, our govt is leading the charge with depressing our wages by reducing the employer CPF contribution rate for older workers.


Notice that shortly after the survey results were published, Capt James, who heads the pilots union at SIA, recently criticised SIA for discriminating against S'porean pilots (who face pay cuts and/or placed on pay-if-you-fly contract when they get older) in favour of expat pilots who are provided with a generous package. I am not disputing that pilots are paid well and most can retire comfortably, but the pertinent point is the fact that S'poreans are being discriminated against in our own country!


I can empathise with the your friend's plight. He must have felt betrayed by his employer. The govt claims that S'pore is a meritocratic nation and so by natural extension, employers will find the best talent for the job without any discrimination. Frankly, that is just wishful thinking on the part of out govt. It is extremely naïve to believe that personal relations don't play a part in employment. Say a company hires a Filipino manager.....he will try his best to hire his countrymen since they share the same cultural background and mother tongue. This is not meritocracy. This is pure stupidity of our national policies.


Like you said, how can S'poreans have more babies when our livelihood is in danger? I guess that the a key downside to paying our ministers and senior civil servants outrageous salaries......they begin to live in their own world.

TY