The Straits Times Blogs - Jessica Lim

Sorry, no tiger show yet

2008-11-17T07:47:00Z

Jessica Lim gives an update on why the White Tiger exhibit is still closed.

THREE days after last Thursday's shocking tiger attack on a zoo cleaner, the exhibit is still closed and people are still talking.

Comments stream in on on-line blogs and news websites. Some express their condolences, others question the zoo's response to emergencies.

Still others, out of morbid curiosity, requested for copies of the video footage.

Today's schedule at the Singapore Zoo? Two counselling sessions for keepers involved and further monitoring of the rare white tigers.

When I called for an update on the situation there earlier today, a spokesman told me that the tigers "seemed fine" but extra precautions were being taken to "make sure the signs of stress" are "totally gone" and that "the white tigers were comfortable and eating well".

What happened?

The tigers had been traumatised by the incident on Thursday as keepers and members of the public hurled items - including umbrellas and clay balls (from eight safety boxes located around the zoo) - in an attempt to distract the animals away from 32-year-old cleaner Nordin Montong, who died from the attack.

On top of that, the assistant director of the zoo Biswajit Guha told me that the white tigers - on loan from Indonesia - had never made physical contact with a human being since they were brought here seven years ago.

"They had not experienced anything like it before," he said.

The tiger exhibit is likely to reopen later in the week.

The day after the tiger attack

2008-11-15T17:48:00Z

Jessica Lim detects a kind of hush in the aftermath of a zoo cleaner's death.

ON the surface, it seemed to be business as usual at the Singapore Zoo on Friday - a day after cleaner Nordin Montong was mauled to death in the white tiger exhibit, shocking visitors and Singaporeans.

Tourists armed with maps explored the gardens with their cameras and sunshades, while children let out shrieks of excitement as they bathed in jets of water in the children's play area.

But look deeper, and it is another story.

On the visitor's tram, we drive past the white tiger enclosure and people start to whisper.

'This is where that Nordin guy got eaten by a tiger,' one said.

'Yes, that is why it's shut today. It is all over the news,' said another, as he craned his neck in an attempt to look into the enclosure.

In front of the enclosure, others are taking photos of the sign that read 'exhibit closed', and keepers speak to each other in hushed voices.

Tourists look at an empty white tiger enclosure at the Singapore Zoo after a man was mauled to death there. Source: AP

I ask them if they knew the 32-year-old Mr Nordin.

'We can't say anything, you better talk to the management,' they reply.

Behind the scenes, a team hurries to deal with what has happened.

Already, the management has met the victim's family. We were told that some form of compensation was offered.

And to prevent a recurrence, a slew of new safety measures would be rolled out in coming months. Think alarm buttons, more patrols and CCTV cameras.

But in the same breath, zoo officials reiterate that current measures are sufficient.

At the white tiger enclosure, for one, thick wooden railings and a plant bed overhang minimise the chances of a visitor falling into trouble.

What happened on Thursday, said zoo officials, was extraordinary.

'We cannot account for someone who intentionally scales the railing,' said official Ms Isabel Cheng with a sigh. 'We can do what we can for careless visitors, but it would be difficult for us to be 100 per cent secure for someone who wants to break into the exhibit.'

She brings up the analogy of a person with the intention of jumping off a block of flats.

'You can't stop them in that kind of situation can you? If the person wants to do it, they will find a way to,' she said.

Read also: Tigers should stay

Does rice come from flour?

2008-10-04T00:11:00Z

Jessica Lim traces the rice trail and explains why it should matter to you.

RICE has been hogging headlines lately.

Prices of our staple grain doubled in the first half of the year, then started dropping in June. Yet, even now prices are way higher than what they used to be last year.

A 5kg bag of house brand white rice at NTUC FairPrice that cost $4.70 last September, for example, costs $7.45 now.

Since the price hikes for rice, along with price jumps for other essentials like oil and bread, The Straits Times has received numerous letters and calls from consumers asking for tips on why this was happening.

It is all linked to supply and demand, I said, explaining to them that everything - from the recent goverment-imposed bans on export to fuel prices - affected the price of the bowl of rice they were tucking into.

Some understood, many didn't.

One asked: But, isn't rice made from flour?

Tracing that grain of rice in Thailand to research this week's Saturday Special Report brought me through the lush paddy fields of Thailand, into the intricate world of zig-zagging conveyor belts at the most prestigious mill in Singapore and, fianally, to the Pasir Panjang wharf here.

I never knew so much work went into every single grain.

In concrete-floored research centres all over Thailand hundreds of scientists cross breed rice grains from samples collected from all over Thailand in search for the most pest resistant strain to cross breed and multiply.

The resultant grain is dispersed to farmers working on light-green fields in central Thailand and up in the North. There, they toil for months before they harvest grain to truck to mills.

At mills the grain is measured, polished, cleaned and packed for large vessels that take about five days to arrive to Singapore where it is stored in a warehouse for a month before it hits supermarkets and provision shops here.

Yet, although we live in a small island that imports more than 90 per cent of our food, relatively few can tell you where their next meal comes from.

And if a recent survey is anything to go by, few care.

An Internet survey released by AC Nielsen on Sept 16 revealed that only 19 per cent of consumers always check food packaging labels – a figure that remains unchanged from 2005.

But should we care?

The latest scare emerging from China - when melamine was added to milk products, killing four infants in the country and affecting thousands all over the world - suggests we should.

The realisation: Just how vulnerable we are as a country relying solely on imports.

Already, authorities are sitting up. On Oct 1, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) announced that a new forensic unit will be set up next month to gather information from traders, importers, consumers and counterparts in other countries.

The aim: To get industry information, for example, on which manufacturers and importers are dependable.

If the authorities are realising the need for tighter controls, it is likely that those who consume the food should play a part.

After all as National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan mentioned, when he visisted an AVA lab in Lim Chu Kang on Oct 1, we as consumers have to play a part by taking notice of what we put in our mouths.

Two tips he provided: Consumers should start reading labels and make sure the food they eat is prepared in a hygenic manner.

Consumers might be starting to take matters into their own hands as well.

During a walk between the asiles of a Sheng Siong outlet three days ago I was faced with consumers pointing at labels and twittering amongst themselves.

"Is this product from China?" one asks.

View an audio slideshow and read Jessica's stories from The Saturday Special Report here.

Lucky to have a job

2008-09-09T10:58:00Z

Jessica Lim senses silent desperation at a job fair.

A 200-STRONG queue of jobless people snaked around the circumference of a small room at the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) in Redhill from 1.30pm on Tuesday.

Outside, banners - from employers like Carrefour and Sakae Sushi - shouted out job placements for everything from sous chefs to golf assistants. Photographs of lush golf courses at Orchid Country Club lined the walls of the educational institute.

Inside the sparsely furnished rooms, job hunters - mostly N level graduates - clutched folders stuffed with their CVs and other papers as they fervently filled up forms.

The employment and employability institute has organised an exclusive job fair for certified service professionals - eight employers from the retail, F&B and hotel and accomondation sectors will be offering a variety of positions at Redhill Rd.
ST Photo: Aziz Hussin

(From Left) Ms Nirma Suryani,23, Ms Hidayah, 22 and Ms Nirmal Meiyarti,18, applying for a job at the employment and employability institute.
ST Photo: Aziz Hussin

Mr Anthony Seah, 59, a freelance chef looks at the application form to apply job at Orchid Country Club.
ST Photo: Aziz Hussin

Many had been trained on the Certified Service Professional programme developed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency - which means they have attended classes to improve their service.

It seemed tranquil on the surface. But when this reporter dug a little deeper, what she found was quiet desperation.

“Why did you decide to come here today uncle,” I asked job-seeker Mr Anthony Seah, who was filling up an application form for a sous-chef position at Orchid Country Club.

“Aiyah,” he said, sighing. “Nowadays, so many youngsters give you pressure. They are so fast, we are so old. We cannot compete. So now I am here to look for a job. I don't want to miss anything.”

He has been jobless for a year - quite a long time considering that he has to foot medical bills for his diabetic wife and bring up four children.

His hope: To clinch a job that pays a stable wage of $1,500 a month.

Another, admitted that it was inflation that did her in.

Last time, said Ms Rani John, who is a part-time mail sorter at the post office for $4.50 an hour for four hours a day, it brought in sufficient to feed her family.

“Now its not enough since grocery bills have tripled,” said the 44-year-old. “We have no choice.”

One hour into the job fair and Carrefour has employed three people.

There are about 300 spots available in all - one of the organisers, an enthusiastic man in a black polo t-shirt, reckons that at least 30 per cent of the jobs will be filled up by the end of the day.

On the way out, I bumped into another job-seeker.

With just a Secondary 2 education and having been out of a job for the past 20 years, she said she was finding it next to impossible to get re-hired.

What are you doing anyway, she asked me.

“I'm a journalist for a newspaper,” I replied, a trifle embarrassed to be the only gainfully employed person there. “I write stories.”

But all she did was pat me on the shoulder and nod before telling me how lucky I was to have a job.

She was right: I should thank my lucky stars to be pulling a decent wage in these difficult times.

Shut up and show us your...

2008-08-06T12:38:00Z

Jessica Lim sees red at a Case meeting on breastfeeding. Red faces, that is.

SO THERE they were, then, officials of the Consumer's Association of Singapore (Case), all pressed suits and starched shirts, at their flourescent-lit office on the fifth floor of the Ulu Pandan Community Club, poised to talk to reporters about... breast-feeding.

The conference began with Case vice-president Lim Biow Chuan (did someone say "clinically"?) pulling out price tables from a survey conducted last month which showed that going natural isn't just good for the baby, it's cheaper too.

$710 cheaper over half a year, to be exact.

Case officials then proceeded to rattle off prices (in case you're wondering, Karihome Goat Milk Infant Formula was the most expensive, at $1,219.38 for 20kg) to show why breast milk is best, and then used phrases that just called out for a double-entendre joke or three: "Breast pumps."* "Cooler bags."* "Ice packs."*

Meanwhile, three representatives of the Breastfeeding Mothers' Support Group sat in the corner impassively. After a while - and reporters present saw this coming a while away - they decided to break their silence.

"It's not all about cost", said Mrs Doris Sok. She then proceeded to extol the virtues of breast milk: "It has antibodies, live cells and enzymes that formula doesn't."

She then took issue with Case's costing. The association had said feeding babies on mother's milk would cost as little as $25.50, but Mrs Sok said this could come down to "next to nothing". Breast pumps were optional as mothers could just "use their hands to squeeze the milk out", she said.

By this point, faces were beginning to redden - both Case officials on stage were men - and then came two topics that pushed matters over the top - sagging breasts and milk excretion.

Back and forth it went, Case trying to talk prices, mothers just as insistent on making their own point.

Finally, though, both sides had their way: Case got its two cents' about cost-savings in, and the Breastfeeding Mothers' Support Group attracted the bulk of publicity, and driving home the point by unveiling a giant banner highlighting World Breasfeeding Week as photographers clicked away.