New scheme gives car buyers more protection

New scheme gives car buyers more protection
Accreditation programme helps consumers easily identify reliable dealers
By Jessica Lim

CAR buyers now have added protection when making purchases with a new accreditation programme launched at the weekend.
The programme with the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association (SVTA), named the CaseTrust-SVTA joint accreditation scheme, was launched yesterday on the second day of a two-day Fair Trading & You Carnival held at Plaza Singapura.

Administered by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), the scheme is an extension of the existing CaseTrust Accreditation Scheme, launched in 1999, which has recognised sectors from private schools to online retail stores.

So far, 49 car retailers have applied to be on the new scheme.

Another result of the scheme is the launch of the new Motor Industry Disputes Resolution Centre at the SVTA office in Ubi, which allows anyone using the services of an accredited car retailer to avail themselves of mediation and other dispute resolution services if the need arises.

‘With this scheme, consumers can easily differentiate which are the reliable vehicle dealers simply by spotting the CaseTrust-SVTA logo at the showroom,’ said Case president Yeo Guat Kwang. ‘This way, disputes are prevented before they even occur.’

This is how the accreditation scheme works: Companies apply for accreditation by filling up a form and sending it to Case. The latter will then evaluate each firm in terms of factors such as cancellation and refund policies, whether the information given to its customers is accurate, dispute resolution procedures, and whether its staff are knowledgeable about the company’s practices. Accreditation will cost each company, which will receive a trust mark valid for four years, an average of $905 to $2,987 a year, depending on its size.

Currently, 500 business have signed on under the existing accreditation scheme, up from just 300 two years ago. Car retailers say the new CaseTrust-SVTA programme is a positive move by the industry.

‘It is a great thing,’ said the owner of Think One Automobile & Trading, Mr Neo Tiam Ting, 39. ‘It will weed out those doing seedy business and giving us a bad name. It’s also very timely, considering the flak the industry has got lately.’

Recently, the industry suffered a credibility blow in the wake of police reports lodged in February against a ‘car dealer’ who allegedly took thousands of dollars from customers without delivering the cars. Complaints to Case have also been increasing. Last year, the consumer watchdog received 1,709 complaints against motor vehicle businesses, up from 1,562 in 2007.

Meanwhile, existing members hope that the scheme will be made mandatory.

‘If all businesses sign up, it will make the scheme much stronger,’ said deputy general manager at Brother International Milton Toh. ‘It will be simple then. Businesses with no logos will not be trusted by consumers.’

Consumers who were present at the fair are glad for the added protection.

‘It’s a great move and really makes all the difference when it comes to trusting a company,’ said operations manager Ngoh Kien Pin, 41.

Source : Straits Times - 27 April 2009

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Maternity leave: Govt to pay firms earlier

Maternity leave: Govt to pay firms earlier

By Jeremy Au Yong

THE Government has modified its maternity leave subsidy scheme to let companies receive part of the payments earlier.
Starting next month, employers will no longer have to wait until a worker uses up all her maternity leave before being reimbursed. They can make one interim claim of the subsidy any time after a mother has taken half of the 16 weeks of leave she is entitled to.

The rest can be claimed after all the remaining leave is taken.

The scheme - which is part of the $1.6billion the Government spends annually to coax people to have more babies - has the Government paying the last eight weeks of the maternity leave for the first two children, and all 16 weeks for the third child onwards.

The change in the payment arrangement is prompted by feedback from employers. They had said it had caused cashflow problems, as it had them waiting up to one year after a birth for the reimbursement.

Announcing the change yesterday, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said the new arrangement would make the system fairer to employers.

In the existing scheme, the Government will reimburse businesses only after the mother has taken all the leave. ‘That can be as late as 12 months after delivery and in the current circumstances, that’s not fair to the companies,’ he told reporters after a visit to the Nee Soon South constituency of Ang Mo Kio GRC.

The change, he added, ‘is to improve cashflow for the companies because I also want to encourage companies to support women who want to have children and to remember that in both good and tough times, we must continue to be a family- friendly society’.

The move could also allay fears that some employers, notably small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), tend to discriminate against pregnant women.

The existing system was put in place last August when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong unveiled a basket of measures to encourage couples to have children.

The package included a bonanza of tax benefits and paid maternity leave, which was bumped up from 12 weeks to 16 weeks.

Mothers could also spread the last eight weeks of the leave over one year from the child’s birth. While this was done to make it less disruptive for bosses, the time frame meant companies had to wait longer for the government payment.

Employers yesterday cheered the change. Petrochemical company Teijin Polycarbonate, which had highlighted the problem to the Government, was glad it was solved. Said its human resources manager, Mr Mohd Rashed Badarudin: ‘This scheme definitely helps… But there are other problems, like the need to hire a temporary staff to cover for the worker.’

The drive to get Singaporeans to marry and have babies is a long-standing focus as Singapore strives to reverse an alarmingly low total fertility rate. It is 1.29, below the replacement rate of 2.1.

Although babies did not figure at a dialogue during the visit, Dr Balakrishnan said he noticed two interesting things: There were many foreigners living in the ward and there were not many babies.

The first observation led him to announce the line-up of the National Integration Council, which will promote social integration among locals, new citizens and permanent residents.

The second had him urging residents to have more babies. ‘I guess the downturn will discourage some of you, but please continue to encourage the younger ones to have more babies and have them earlier,’ he said.

Source : Straits Times - 27 April 2009

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S’pore airport steps up checks for swine flu

S’pore airport steps up checks for swine flu

(SINGAPORE) All air travellers arriving at Singapore’s Changi Airport from today will be screened for signs of human swine flu, said to have killed up to 81 people in Mexico, and spread to the United States.

Since 11pm last night, passengers arriving from the US have been checked for symptoms of flu with thermal scanners at the airport, but all flights are operating as normal, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Health Ministry said in a joint statement last night.

From Wednesday, the scanners will also be deployed at the Budget Terminal and Seletar Airport.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said yesterday that the ministry is monitoring the situation and that the ability of the swine flu virus to spread among humans makes it especially dangerous, Channel NewsAsia reported.

Symptoms of swine flu in humans are similar to symptoms of regular human flu. But there is no danger of contracting swine flu from pork, as the virus is not spread by food, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority said in a separate statement.

Source : Business Times - 27 April 2009

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Countries worldwide batten hatches against swine flu

Countries worldwide batten hatches against swine flu

Latest flu strain has killed 81 in Mexico, infected around a dozen in the US

(MEXICO CITY) Governments around the world yesterday rushed to check the spread of a new type of swine flu that has killed up to 81 people in Mexico and infected around a dozen in the United States, including eight confirmed cases in New York.

Countries across Asia, which have had to grapple with deadly viruses such as H5N1 bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in recent years, snapped into action.

In Japan, airports tightened checks on passengers arriving from Mexico, with quarantine officials giving out face masks and using thermography imaging cameras to screen passengers for signs of fever.

‘Japan must prevent this from spreading in the country,’ Prime Minister Taro Aso told reporters.

Agriculture Minister Shigeru Ishiba appealed for calm, saying that the drug Tamiflu ‘is very effective’, adding: ‘We have enough stockpiles in Japan.’

South Korea and Taiwan followed suit, ordering all passengers on flights from virus-hit nations to pass through a strengthened quarantine check. Authorities in Seoul also put Mexican and US pork in quarantine to check for the disease.

Australia urged people who had recently returned from Mexico and had developed flu-like symptoms to seek medical advice.

China and Hong Kong bore the brunt of Sars in 2003 that killed nearly 800 people, most of them in Asia, bringing air travel there to a near-standstill and battering the region’s economies. The same year, the H5N1 strain of bird flu re-appeared in Asia.

The Chinese health ministry said that it was ‘paying close attention’ to the situation, studying inspection and quarantine measures to guard against the spread of the latest flu strain.

In Hong Kong, health officials said that checks at border crossings had been stepped up and that airlines had been asked to broadcast messages on all flights coming direct from affected areas.

Indonesia, which has recorded the most deaths from bird flu of any country, said that it was checking that thermoscanners were working at all ports and airports.

Thailand’s Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said that authorities were ‘monitoring the epidemic closely’ and advised people travelling to Mexico and the US to take advice from the ministry.

The US government is following developments on the swine flu closely and there is no need for Americans to panic over the outbreak, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said yesterday.

In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Mr Gibbs said that President Barack Obama was being briefed regularly by health and homeland security officials.

US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other administration officials were due to address a special White House briefing on the swine flu outbreak yesterday, the White House said in a statement.

International experts will convene tomorrow to advise the World Health Organization (WHO) whether to raise the current pandemic alert level, a WHO spokesman said.

Drugmakers said yesterday that they could supply millions of doses of medicine and were ready to work on a vaccine against the swine flu. Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu, known generically as oseltamivir, and GlaxoSmithKline plc’s Relenza, or zanamivir, are both recommended drugs for seasonal flu and have been shown to work against viral samples of the new disease. Roche said that it has a stockpile of three million packages of Tamiflu ready for use by the WHO, half held in the US and half in Switzerland. — Reuters, AFP

Source : Business Times - 27 April 2009

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Analysts expect pullback in May but see bright side

Analysts expect pullback in May but see bright side

Profit-taking unlikely to bring market down to March low and presents buying opportunity

By TEH HOOI LING

(SINGAPORE) Sell in May and go away, so goes the saying on stock markets. Will this play out this year, given that 2009 thus far has been anything but a typical year?

Analysts The Business Times spoke to generally think there will be profit-taking next month. But the positive spin is that the expected price weakness may be a buying opportunity for more intrepid investors.

‘Yes, the typical doctrine of ’selling in May and going away’ will still work this year,’ said Kenneth Ng, CIMB-GK’s head of research. ‘The market is looking a bit tired. It has rallied ahead of fundamentals.’

However, he reckoned that the selling in May will not bring the market down to the March low.

‘There is a lot of liquidity on the sidelines and governments are pulling out all stops to stimulate the global economy. We may see a big, big bear rally in the next few months, which will break the current high.’

Between March 9 and April 15 this year, the Straits Times Index soared 449.04 points or 30.8 per cent, briefly rising above the 1,900 level.

The stock benchmark has since given up some of the gains, but at last Friday’s close of 1,852.85, it is still 27.2 per cent higher than the low of 1,456.95 on March 9.

Mr Ng thinks it is still a bear rally because the fundamental problems of the world economy have not gone away. Demand has slumped and the balance sheets of consumers and banks will need time to be repaired. It is still not clear as of now if all the stimulus packages will have the desired multiplier effect in the economy.

‘The consensus underweight in equities has led to low exposure to equities. Now, what we are seeing is that markets no longer fall on bad news. And any news that’s not as bad as expected is likely to spark a buying frenzy. People are afraid to underperform.’

NetResearch Asia managing director Kevin Scully also believes investors will take some profit off the table given the pretty strong run-up in prices in the last six weeks or so. ‘By May, most of the first quarter results will be out. Investors will decide to take profit.’

Explaining the recent rally, Mr Scully said the low in March was a result of panic selling on an end of the world scenario. ‘Now, people are beginning to think it’s not end of the world, and so some money has gone back to the markets,’ he said.

Also, there was a severe depletion of inventories as orders dried up last December and in January. But in the last couple of months, there has been some restocking.

‘But a lot of companies will be using up the fat and surpluses in the coming months. If by then, the credit has not loosened and the consumers have not come back, we will see more corporate failures,’ he said.

Meanwhile, corporate lay-offs have continued to take place. Also, many banks still need to recapitalise. ‘Is the rally pre-mature, has valuation gone too high? By mid-May, we will know if this is a bear rally. Many funds still believe it is.’

Lim Say Boon, chief investment strategist at Standard Chartered Bank Group Wealth Management, shared similar sentiments.

‘Our strategy is to buy the dips. We expect there will be further corrections. So we are not keen to chase the rallies.’ But he noted that there is value in a range of risk assets including stocks. For example, US equities have fallen lower in price-earnings terms on only two other occasions - the Great Depression and the 1970s/early 80s stagflationary bear market.

‘While this recession is arguably the worst since World War II, we do not regard this as a new great depression,’ said Mr Lim. Policy makers have much greater monetary policy flexibility today and they are using that very aggressively. Comparisons to the 1970s/early 1980s are also not helpful because of huge interest rate differences - interest rates being the discount factor used in valuations.

‘So yes, there will be dips. May? Possibly, in conjunction with the results of the bank stress tests. We don’t chase the rallies but we would cost average on the dips,’ he said.

Even the CLSA’s tongue-in-cheek Feng Shui Index points to May being a weak month for stocks. According to the firm, May 5 to June 4 is the month of earth snake. ‘Beware the slippery Snake! Many pockets will be bitten hard this month,’ it warned.

So there is near consensus of profit-taking in May. But given how the market works, it still may not be a sure bet - often when just about everyone is expecting an event and preparing for it, the particular event has a tendency not to happen.

Based on the last two years’ performance, May wasn’t such a bad month for stocks. In 2008, the STI advanced by 1.4 per cent and in 2007, it was up by a whopping 4.7 per cent. The average in the last nine years, however, is -0.6 per cent.

Mr Scully thinks the buying will return in July, while the CLSA Feng Shui Index reckons it will be in August.

Mr Scully’s strategy - which will position his portfolio for the next two to three years - is to allocate 80 per cent of his equities portfolio to blue chips (one stock in each sector) and 20 per cent to the massively undervalued mid-cap stocks, those which he thinks will remain solvent.

Source : Business Times - 27 April 2009

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Flu facts

Flu facts 

The Health Ministry (MOH) yesterday released information on swine flu.

What is swine flu?

It is a respiratory disease affecting pigs that is caused by type A influenza virus. Most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months, similar to influenza outbreaks in humans.
Does it affect humans?

Swine flu viruses very rarely affect humans. However, sporadic human infections with swine flu have occurred. These cases commonly occur in people with direct exposure to pigs.
How does it spread to humans?

It spreads to humans mainly through contact with infected pigs.
Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?

There is currently no evidence to suggest that swine flu can be transmitted to humans from eating pork or pork products that have been thoroughly cooked.
What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of swine flu are similar to the symptoms of regular influenza. An early symptom is high fever, and this is followed by cough, sore throat, runny nose, and sometimes breathlessness a few days later.
How can the infections be diagnosed?

A respiratory specimen would be collected within the first four to five days of illness, when the infected person is most likely to be shedding the virus. However, some, especially children, may shed the virus for 10 days or longer.
What medications are available to treat the infection?

There are four different antiviral drugs that are licensed for use in Singapore: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir.

While most swine flu viruses have been susceptible to all four drugs, the most recent swine flu viruses isolated from humans are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. At this time, the US CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza) for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine flu viruses.
What is MOH doing to ensure that the disease is not transmitted here?

A medical alert has been sent out to all medical practitioners and health-care institutions to update them on the outbreak of swine flu in the United States and Mexico.

When the situation warrants, MOH will step up public health measures, such as quarantine of contacts, issuing public health advisories, and working with other government agencies to screen visitors at Singapore’s border checkpoints. MOH also has an influenza pandemic preparedness plan in the event of a pandemic situation.
Is it safe to visit countries with cases of swine flu and will I be quarantined when I return? What travel precautions should I take?

There are currently no travel restrictions or quarantine advised by the World Health Organisation. If you intend to travel to areas which have cases of swine flu, you should:

- Avoid contact with persons with symptoms of influenza

- Avoid crowded areas

- Observe good personal and environmental hygiene

- Maintain good body resistance

What should I do if I suspect I have swine flu after returning to Singapore?

You should consult your doctor immediately and inform the doctor that you had recently travelled to areas which have cases of swine flu.
What should I do if I fall ill overseas?

You should consult a doctor as soon as possible and refrain from travelling until you are certified fit by the doctor.
Does influenza vaccination help in preventing swine flu?

There is no vaccine to protect humans from swine flu. The seasonal influenza vaccine is unlikely to protect against H1N1 swine flu viruses.
Is it safe to come into contact with live pigs in nature reserves and the wildlife reserves?

So far, there are no known cases of swine flu in Singapore. However, proper hygiene practices, such as washing of hands after contact with animals, including pigs, should be maintained.

Source : Straits Times - 26 April 2009

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New flu virus kills 68 in Mexico

New flu virus kills 68 in Mexico 

Health officials act to prevent pandemic; eight also infected by the swine virus in US 
  
Subway commuters in Mexico City wearing face masks to protect themselves from the new multi-strain swine flu virus on Friday. More than 1,000 people in Mexico are suspected to be affected by the virus, and eight in the US. — PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Mexico City - A new strain of flu that has killed as many as 68 people in Mexico has had health officials scrambling to avert a possible global outbreak.
As the Mexican government axed public events and shut schools, libraries and cinemas, World Health Organisation (WHO) experts were dispatched to Mexico.

More than 1,000 people there, and eight in the United States, are suspected to be down with that strain of flu.

WHO director-general Margaret Chan warned yesterday that the new multi-strain swine flu virus had ‘pandemic potential’.

‘A new virus is responsible,’ she said after an emergency meeting of flu experts in Geneva. ‘It is a serious situation which needs to be closely followed.’

Separately a US health official warned that it may be too late to contain the new virus.

‘It is clear that this is widespread. And that is why we have let you know that we cannot contain the spread of this virus,’ Dr Anne Schuchat of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told reporters.

Dr Chan said it was too early to say whether a pandemic - defined as a global infectious disease outbreak for which there is no immunity - will actually occur.

But the UN agency has advised countries worldwide to look out for similar outbreaks following the discovery of related strains on both sides of the US-Mexico border.

Scores have died in Mexico from severe pneumonia after infection. At least 24 new suspected cases reported yesterday in Mexico City, a city of 20 million people.

Tests on some of the victims found that they had contracted a new version of the A/H1N1 flu virus, which is a combination of bird, pig and human viruses.

‘It has pandemic potential because it is infecting people,’ said Dr Chan. ‘However, we cannot say on the basis of currently available laboratory, epidemiological, and clinical evidence whether or not it will indeed cause a pandemic.’

As the new strain was still poorly understood and the situation evolving quickly, it was too soon to announce any travel advisories or to advise drugmakers to switch to producing a new vaccine, she told a teleconference.

The CDC said some of the samples from Mexican patients were a genetic match of the strain seen in eight people in California and Texas, who later recovered.

In New York City, health officials were looking into what had sickened scores of students who fell ill with flu-like symptoms.

The French government said suspected cases are likely to occur in the coming days because of global air travel.

Most of the dead were young healthy adults. That alarms health officials because seasonal flus cause most of their deaths among infants and elderly people, but pandemic influenza - like the 1918 Spanish flu which killed millions - often strikes young, healthy people the hardest.

Influenza can spread quickly when a new strain emerges because no one has natural immunity.

Yesterday was the first time Dr Chan has convened such a crisis panel since the procedure was created almost two years ago.

An official source said yesterday the panel is expected to declare the outbreak ‘a public health emergency of international concern’. With that, the WHO would have to decide next on measures such as travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures.

The panel is also likely to ratchet up the WHO’s six-phase flu pandemic alert level. It is now set at Phase 3 - meaning there is no or very limited risk of a new virus spreading from human to human.

US health officials are urging anyone with a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath or muscle and joint pain to seek medical attention.

The WHO stands ready with antivirals to combat the outbreaks in Mexico. But the authorities have a sizeable supply of Tamiflu, which has proved effective against the new virus, the UN agency said.

Mr William Schaffner, a US flu expert, said the new strain is the biggest threat of a pandemic since the emergence of the H5N1 strain, which has killed millions of birds and hundreds of people.

AP, Reuters, AFP

 
Source : Straits Times - 26 April 2009

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