The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said in a statement earlier today (26 February) that a 39-year-old SAF regular serviceman died at Kranji Camp after completing his own physical training.
He reportedly felt unwell after the session and at 0830hrs, he was conveyed to Kranji Camp Medical Centre, and he was then subsequently taken to NUH in an ambulance about 20 minutes later, where he suffered a cardiac arrest on the way.
Resuscitative efforts were immediately made, and the ambulance arrived at NUH at about 0910hrs.
However, the serviceman was pronounced dead at 1058hrs.
MINDEF added:
“The Ministry of Defence and the SAF extend their deepest condolences to the family of the late serviceman. The SAF is assisting the family in their time of grief.”
Minister for Trade and Industry, Chan Chun Sing, said in Parliament that the issuance of a “stern warning” for the contractor who reportedly cleared a group of forested area in Kranji Woodland “erroneously”, is not necessarily “the end of all that is to be”.
He was reponding in Parliament to a question from MP Seah Kian Peng, who asked what consequences were intended by the issuance of the “stern warning”.
Chan said that NParks and JTC are conducting respective investigations to determine if further “wrongdoings” were committed.
Chan added that all agencies involved in land clearance projects have been instructed to conduct immediate checks to ensure supervision and processes of implementation are in order.
He said that Joseph Leong, the Permanent Secretary for Defence Development, has been taksed with leading a review of the lessons derived from this fiasco.
Chan added that the outcomes from the investigations and review will be shared with the public when they are ready.
FIRE IN THEIR BELLY
Chan also added:
“I say this particularly for the public service — people with the right values, who are conscious of their duties, determined to execute it well and constantly find areas to improve when the need arises. I have every confidence that I have such a public service in service of Singapore.”
“Because when I speak to the officers in JTC and NParks, and when I look at them in the eye. I know, I have seen in their eyes, the fire in their belly, that they want to put this right.“
“I am sure that even if I have not tasked them to do so, they themselves would want to get it right and improve.”
Images source: Chan Chun Sing Facebook, Brice Li Facebook
Nee Soon MP Carrie Tan forwarded a notion about elderly homeowners renting the spare rooms in their homes to low income families, and that the elderly can help them with caregiving.
She said that this would be beneficial to both sides as this would provide the elderly with social interaction, and help to meet the caregiving needs of low income families and give them a vetter environment.
She added that the amount charged for rental could be subsidised by the government as appropriate rates.
Tan highlighted that there were 67,600 seniors above the age of 65 who lived alone in 2019, and that these homes might be under-utilised with several vacant rooms.
She said that these old people living alone are very likely to be socially isolated and face risk of adverse health outcomes.
She said that this situation is likely to be worsened by the recession brought about by the pandemic.
Hence, she said, her suggestion provides a “simple solution” to these issues.
Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung said that he was informed of the distressing news last night, and expressed his deep condolences to the deceased’s loved ones.
He said that he understands that there are many questions from the public about the incident, but stresses that investigations are still ongoing and as such, the information that can be revealed are very limited at the moment.
“I know the public have questions. SMRT is working closely with the police in investigations, so there is a limit to what can be said publicly.”
He also added that some safety feaetures at the MRT stations have been added, because there were occasional incidents of people going onto the tracks from the platforms of the MRT stations.
Ong also revealed that SMRT is providing support to the station manager as well as the train captain who were the first responders handling the emergency, they handled it well despite being shaken by what happened.
More information will be released by SMRT when they are made available.
Central Singapore CDC’s mayor and PAP MP Denise Phua hit back at Workers’ Party’s Chief Pritam Singh for questioning the relevance of CDCs.
Singh said that many Singaporeans think that the mayors’ salaries are “outrageous” and do not commensurate with their roles and functions.
He said that some Singaporeans do not even know what the CDC is; and he added that it seems as if the government is trying to find some way to make the CDCs relevant.
Phua then responded by saying that Singh’s statement “belittles” the CDCs, and she countered by highlighting Singh’s role as the Leader of the Opposition:
“Singaporeans too ask what the role of the Leader of Opposition in our Parliament is — under the circumstances that all nine of the elected Opposition MPs are from one single Opposition Party.”
However, she noted that Singh’s comments have prompted the CDCs to reflect on how it could have done more to promote its work.
But she did add:
“Do not politicise the good work of the CDCs and our partners.”
Image source: Denise Phua Lay Peng Facebook and Workers’ Party Facebook
During this week, Tesla has stopped production for 2 days and had since reopened on Wednesday. This was due to the shortage of spare parts for the Tesla Model 3 vehicle.
Shares of Tesla have also been seen dropping up to 8% in the stock market.
Some other carmakers like Volkswagen and Ford Motor have also been affected by the shortage of materials making them downscaling the production amount.
Tesla might be facing an issue of global semiconductor shortage and logistic disruptions said their spokesperson.
Samsung Electronics, supplier of self-driving technologies chips for tesla had suspended their Austin factory due to a winter storm that causes power outages.
Tesla has also reduced its prices for the lower range model.
