The People’s Action Party (PAP) has advised their PAP branches to suspend physical Meet-The-People (MPS) sessions and to hold them virtually or through the phone instead.

This is because of the recent increase in the number of unlinked Covid-19 community cases.

PAP said in a news release on 2 May, that the move is to minimise exposure of volunteers and residents.

Tanjong Pagar MP Indranee Rajah said that her team will be temporarily suspending the physical sessions and appealed to the residents to liaise with them through emails and/or Zoom appointments instead.

East Coast MP Jessica Tan and Jalan Besar MP Wan Rizal also sent out similar advisories and alternatives.

However, Marine Parade MP Seah Kian Peng said that door-to-door visits will be suspended for his constituency and that his in-person MPS sessions will continue, albeit under stricter safe management measures.

Physical MPS sessions at the Toa Payoh East branch will also be suspended for 2 weeks.

Tampines North MP Baey Yam Keng also advised residents to email or call them instead.

Images source: Lee Hsien Loong Facebook and Vikram Nair Facebook (Image used for illustration purpose only)

Nachammai Selva Nachiappan, 39-years-old; and her husband, Arunachalam Muthiah, 41-years-old, faced multiple maid abuse charges earlier today (3 May) for allegedly hitting their maid with a hot ladle and hitting her face with a hanger.

The abuse allegedly started just 11 days after the maid started working.

The offences were allegedly committed between 25 June and 2 August 2018.

Nachammai is claiming trial to 5 charges, including hitting the victim, Hla Hla Miang, 37-years-old, in the face with a hanger and throwing a hot ladle at her.

The accused’s husband, Arunachalam, is facing 3 charges, for allegedly kicking and punching the maid.

The maid testified that she had to work from 4.30am to 11.30pm every day for the family, who are based in a condo at Jalan Mata Ayer.

This was Miang’s first job in Singapore.

Miang is now working for another household here.

The Ministry of Education also said that they would review the case of Nachammai, who works as a primary school teacher, and they would take appropriate actions based on their internal disciplinary processes.

MOE added:

“MOE takes a serious view of staff misconduct and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to our standards of conduct and discipline, including dismissal from service.”

At the time of writing, the case is still under trial.

Image source: helpguide.org and Unsplash

Singaporean activist Gilbert Goh, who stood outside the ICA building holding a sign calling for all flights from India to be banned, is being investigated by the police.

The Singapore Police said that they received a report on 1 May about Goh allegedly taking part in a public assembly without a permit.

They explained that Goh did not have a police permit to carry out the public assembly.

The police then reiterated that organising or participating in a public assembly in Singapore without a permit from the police is illegal, and that it is an offence under the Public Order Act.

At the time of writing, police investigations are currently still ongoing.

Context

The placard being held up by Goh is likely to be in response to the growing concerns of imported cases from overseas, especially with India’s deteriorating Covid-19 situation.

India is currently the country with the world’s 2nd highest number of Covid-19 cases.

Image source: Gilbert Goh on Facebook and Google Maps

Singapore saw 39 new Covid-19 cases yesterday (2 May), of which 14 were from the community.

28 of the cases are asymptomatic and detected during proactive screening.

This resulted in the total number of community cases per week to increase, in comparison to the weekly number of cases over the past few months.

The number of new community cases have increased to 51 cases per week, from the previous 10 cases per week.

Also, the number of unlinked community cases have also increased to 11 cases last week, from 3 cases the week before.

From 26 April to 2 May, 70 out of the 212 confirmed cases tested positive for their serology tests; 101 tested negative and 41 are still pending.

Tan Tock Seng Cluster

It is worth noting that the rise in local cases comes in the wake of the TTSH cluster, which is the largest so far and is still active, with fresh infections still occuring.

Image source: Tan Tock Seng Hospital Facebook