ST Headstart: Does your vote really count?
Welcome to the latest edition of ST Headstart, bringing you the best of The Straits Times' career, personal finance and lifestyle coverage every Tuesday noon. Sign up here to get weekly tips right into your inbox.
It's the last few days of campaigning before Polling Day on May 3, and if you're still on the fence about whether or not to attend a rally, watch this video on why it may be worth your while to do so. Also, here's a round-up of where to get some grub in five of the hottest constituencies, should you be heading to a rally there.
On the jobs front, Singapore's unemployment rose slightly in the first quarter of the year, and wage growth could weaken as global trade tensions weigh on business sentiment.
Meanwhile, meet the 25-year-old whose mala business is projected to turn over $20 million this year. Just five ago, he was cooking beehoon at his hostel canteen stall.
Have a great week ahead, and see you on the other side of GE2025.
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Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Queues at VEP application centres in Singapore, JB after news of enforcement from July 1
Singapore-registered vehicles entering the country from July 1 without a valid VEP will be fined RM300. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG Queues at VEP application centres in Singapore, JB after news of enforcement from July 1 SINGAPORE/JOHOR BAHRU – Waves of Singapore motorists showed up at Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) application and installation centres in Singapore and Johor Bahru a day after Malaysia announced that enforcement of the VEP will start on July 1. Singapore-registered vehicles entering the country from that date without a valid VEP will be fined RM300 (S$91), Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on June 4. The drivers will have to pay the fine and complete their VEP registration before leaving Malaysia. On June 5, motorists showed up at VEP centres in Woodlands in Singapore and Danga Bay in Johor Bahru because they needed help with signing up on the online portal or had problems activating their radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. VEP-registered vehicles need to have RFID tags installed and activated in order to make payments for Malaysian expressway tolls and the road charge when entering Johor via the two land checkpoints. The counters in Malaysia are operated by TCSens, Malaysia's ministry-appointed vendor for handling VEP registrations; while the one in Singapore is run by My VEP, a separate company, in collaboration with TCSens. Between 9.30am and 10.30am, around 40 persons were seen queuing outside the My VEP office in Woodlands Industrial Park. They include motorists collecting their VEP RFID tags and those needing help with applications. Those without appointment slots were turned away. Around lunchtime at the TCSens inquiry centre in Danga Bay, more than 60 motorists were seen queuing to seek assistance from staff to troubleshoot their VEP registrations. The centre allows walk-in inquiries. Mr Latiff Saleh, 64, who did not have an appointment, left the Woodlands centre in Singapore without getting any assistance. He needed help to terminate the existing VEP registration of his car, which was tagged to its previous owner, as he was not able to do so online. On hearing the June 4 announcement, he tried to log in to the VEP portal to restart the application process, but faced difficulties. He had not decided whether to try his luck at Danga Bay soon, or wait for the rush in Woodlands to subside before getting an appointment. Inquiries had been decreasing prior to the June 4 announcement, and appointment slots had been available daily since March, said Mr Ng Poh Heng, manager of My VEP. But by the morning of June 5, all the slots until June 20 have been taken up, checks by The Straits Times found. Ms Esther Chua, 50, received her VEP RFID tag earlier in 2025, but found that it could not be fitted to her car as required. The finance executive did not get around to exchanging the tag until after hearing the latest news. 'The Malaysian side seems to keep changing their mind, so I didn't feel the need to get it fixed (so soon),' she said at Woodlands on June 5. The latest move to enforce the VEP comes eight years after the plan was first mooted in 2017. Implementation of the system was shelved twice, in 2019 and again in 2020. It was rolled out in October 2024, but foreign vehicles found without valid VEPs were given reminders to get registered and not fined. At the Danga Bay inquiry centre on June 5, waiting times were long, with motorists saying they began queuing from as early as 6am for the counter to open at 9am. One of the motorists, a 76-year-old Singaporean retiree who wanted to be known only as Mr Chong, said that his VEP application was rejected in October 2024 because it was missing insurance documents. He said he never heard back after he replied with the documents. 'Suddenly, they said they are going to enforce this July. This is very troublesome,' he said, adding that the announcement on June 4 caught him by surprise. Singaporean interior designer Andrew Ho, 44, who arrived in Danga Bay at 9am, waited five hours to get help from TCSens staff. His VEP RFID tag could not be read at the Malaysian customs gantry. A TCSens staff at Danga Bay told ST that by 2.30pm, he had already assisted more than 100 motorists, compared with the daily number of 130 cars that the centre had handled in the past few months. Singaporean interior designer Andrew Ho (right) waited for five hours at the Danga Bay TCSens VEP centre before he was helped by staff (in black). ST PHOTO: HARITH MUSTAFFA Mr Loke told reporters on June 4 that foreign-registered private vehicles have had ample time to be VEP-registered since the call to do so was made in May 2024. The minister added that 231,018 Singapore-registered private individually owned vehicles have signed up for the VEP, with 15 per cent yet to activate the RFID tags. Meanwhile, skip-the-queue VEP services in Singapore are seeing an uptick in inquiries. These services apply for the VEP on the motorists' behalf, saving drivers the hassle of making the online application or queuing at the counters. Mr Derrick Heng, d irector of Radiant VEP, which offers skip-the-queue services, said inquiries have spiked since the latest announcement after getting around 10 queries daily from the beginning of 2025. 'We received about 30 inquiries on June 4, and our office (in Kaki Bukit) was full, with motorists coming in to apply for the permits at the last minute,' he said. Mr Jason Koay, director of accounting and secretarial firm Bizwise Management, which advertises its VEP application assistance service on Carousell, said he helped with 50 applications on June 5, up from a norm of two to three inquiries a day since March. A TCSens spokesman urged Singaporean motorists to register promptly for the VEP via the website, as it is anticipating a surge in applications and appointments at its four centres in Johor Bahru and Singapore. 'Motorists must ensure that the VEP RFID tags are securely fixed on their vehicles and activated for use once they have received them,' he added. Lee Nian Tjoe is senior transport correspondent at The Straits Times, where he also oversees the Motoring section. Harith Mustaffa is a journalist covering Malaysia for The Straits Times, with a focus on Johor. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
AsiaOne
10 hours ago
- AsiaOne
GrabCab to launch in July, fares in line with market rate, Singapore News
Commuters will be able to flag down GrabCab taxis from July, according to a media briefing held on Wednesday (June 4). GrabCab will start out with a fleet of 40 fifth-generation electric hybrid Toyota Prius cars, with more vehicles including the electric hybrid Hyundai Kona to be added as they expand their fleet to the minimum fleet size requirement of 800 in the future, reported The Straits Times. GrabCab joins the likes of Comfort, CityCab, Prime, Strides Premier and Trans-Cab to become Singapore's sixth taxi operator. "Aimed at improving overall ride availability, GrabCab complements existing point-to-point services by serving passengers at taxi stands, via street-hails and through app-based bookings," said Grab in a media factsheet. The taxis will be equipped with Grab's advanced technologies, including a mobile data terminal — typically known as a taxi meter — that is fully integrated with the Grab Driver app. Taxis will also be fitted with AI-powered dashcams to detect road safety risks and promote safe driving. GrabCab's rates are similar to those of existing operators. The flag down rate for a standard 4-seater will be $4.60, with every 400m under 10km costing $0.26. Subsequently, $0.26 will be charged for every 350m after the first 10km. "All location-based, time-based surcharges, and booking fees are aligned with prevailing industry rates," Grab said. GrabCab will offer different rental packages for new cars starting from $117 per day to cater to different driver preferences, compared to other operators which have starting prices between $115 and $135, reported CNA. GrabCar will offer drivers fuel discounts of up to 40 per cent at Caltex locations islandwide, in addition to charging discounts of up to 25 per cent at Charge+, SP, Volt and Shell. Grab also offers a range of benefits to its drivers including a safe driving bonus of $1,000 for every 12 months of being at-fault accident free and coverage under GrabBenefits 2.0, which provides access to education sponsorship and upskilling support. Up to 800 drivers have expressed interest in renting a GrabCab vehicle, of which around 400 to 500 eligible applicants have been selected for the first pool of drivers according to Victor Sim, director of GrabRentals. Only applicants with a taxi driver's vocational licence (TDVL) and 'good safety records' were chosen, and applicants without a TDVL will be directed to take a TDVL course at approved training centres. Eligible drivers will be sponsored up to $400 by GrabCab for their TDVL application. Speaking about competition with other taxi operators, Sim said that GrabCab aims to reactivate the relatively large pool of inactive drivers with TDVLs and "focus on the national supply (of drivers) problem", according to The Straits Times. [[nid:716292]]
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Eldercare staff fined $10k each after elderly man in wheelchair died from fall off van platform
Myanmar national Moe Thadar, then 49, was a healthcare assistant at the time, while Singaporean Kwa Kim Seng, then 67, was employed as a van driver. Eldercare staff fined $10k each after elderly man in wheelchair died from fall off van platform Shaffiq Alkhatib The Straits Times June 3, 2025 Two employees of an eldercare services provider were helping clients board its van when one of the senior citizens fell off the vehicle's wheelchair lift platform and his head struck the ground. Mr Hassan Mohamed Karchi Arsan Osman, 76, was unconscious when he was taken to the National University Hospital on Feb 3, 2021, and died of a head injury at 9.35pm that day. On June 3, Active Global Respite Care was fined $7,000 after it was convicted of an offence under the Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations. Court documents stated that it failed to implement safety control measures and safe work procedures governing the use of the wheelchair lift at the rear of the van. Two people, who were working for the company when the incident took place, were each fined $10,000 in December 2023. Myanmar national Moe Thadar, then 49, was a healthcare assistant at the time, while Singaporean Kwa Kim Seng, then 67, was employed as a van driver. They failed to ensure that the brakes of Mr Hassan's wheelchair were engaged, causing his death. For the current case, Ministry of Manpower prosecutor Kimberly Boo told the court that Active Global Respite Care owned two vans used for transporting elderly clients between their homes and a senior care centre at Block 31A Ghim Moh Link. A healthcare assistant would be present in each van to assist with the transportation. Each van was installed with a wheelchair lift, allowing wheelchair users to get into the vehicle through a platform that could be raised. At around 4.40pm on Feb 3, 2021, Moe Thadar and Kwa were helping the clients to board one of the vans at the senior care centre's pickup point. Ms Boo said: "When Moe wheeled (Mr Hassan) from the pickup point onto the wheelchair lift platform, she failed to engage the brakes of (his) wheelchair. "As Moe was walking away, she told Kwa, 'uncle, hold', in order to inform him that (Mr Hassan) was ready to be lifted. Kwa proceeded to raise the wheelchair lift platform while chatting with a colleague." As the platform was reaching the top of the lift, in line with the van, Kwa did not wait for a healthcare assistant inside the van to grab hold of the wheelchair. Kwa released his grip on Mr Hassan's wheelchair, which rolled backwards and off the platform. Mr Hassan's head struck the ground when he fell. He was pronounced dead later that day. Ms Boo told the court that prior to the incident, Active Global Respite Care had no documented risk assessment on the transportation of its clients using a van with a wheelchair lift. She added that on the day of the incident, multiple control measures to minimise safety risks to Mr Hassan were not implemented. These included ensuring that wheelchair brakes were engaged before activating the wheelchair lift. Defence lawyers Gloria James-Civetta and Noelle Teoh, who represented Active Global Respite Care, on June 3 pleaded for their client to be given a fine of not more than $5,000. The pair from Gloria James-Civetta & Co added: "The incident was an isolated and unprecedented occurrence that tragically resulted in the passing of the late Mr Hassan. "Prior to the incident on Feb 3, 2021, Active Global had operated in Singapore for several years without any record of similar serious incidents or accidents. It is also noted that the late Mr Hassan had successfully completed nearly 500 rides with Active Global over the course of his engagement, without issue." The lawyers stated in court documents that since the incident, their client has taken immediate and proactive measures to address any gaps in its safety protocols. This includes updating its standard operating procedure in June 2021 to further enhance clients' safety during transportation. It also deployed additional manpower to act as traffic marshals at the drop-off and pickup points of its centres, the court heard. Click here to contribute a story or submit it to our WhatsApp Get more of Stomp's latest updates by following us on:
