Recently it seems like a norm to see the word retrenchment and recession.Many fear these words or even avoid discussing them. Are they so scary?

Maybe, when it is being abused. When I say abused, I mean there are companies who are misusing them with the current situation.

I see companies taking advantages by forcing you to work late, not to take leave and acting like tyrants just because its declared recession and many are being retrenched. The employees who work hard for the entire year now have to see bad things coming their way. Some may even see pay cut , bonuses and even benefits forgone even if companies do well.

So does it mean we at such expenses we still need to stay in the job just to make our ends meet, stayed employed? I foresee many employees will have to grit their teeth just to stay employed.

Source: http://www.singaporeupdate.com/

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is proposing three amendments to the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA). They are:

(a) Lift the upper age limit for cadaveric organ donation;

(b) Allow donor-recipient paired matching for exchanges of organs; and

(c) Compensate living donors according to international ethical practices.

Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A24 30 Oct 2008
Review by: Lee Wei Ling

I signed the AMD the moment I received my copy in the mail. That was in 1997. I must have been among the first in Singapore to do so…

Personally, I think legalising euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide would be a move in the right direction. Let the patient decide whether he/she is willing to suffer or prefers to die with dignity…

Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A25 18 Sep 2008
Review by: Walter Woon

Those who are well-educated and influential should be models for society. It would be a sad day for Singapore if such people think that they can choose which laws to obey and that it is morally and socially acceptable to lie on oath.

Source: The Sunday Times Think Page 26, 14 Sep 2008
Letter by: Bernadette Low (Ms)

I do not live in Serangoon Gardens. But for the past five years, I have been living 50m from a Circle Line construction site, and have many foreigners in my neighbourhood throughout the week.

…Sometimes, these men, taking a breather from their 24-hour work shifts during lunch or after dinner, would lie down at the void decks to catch a nap.

Yes, it is not always a pretty sight to have 30 to 40 men sprawled on the floor sleeping in your block, but I really have no heart to complain or tell them off.

I know they are exhausted from working all night …so that I — and everyone else — can enjoy zipping into town in mere minutes.

Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A35 13 Sep 2008
Letter by: Lim Fang Check

The Ministry of National Development (MND) must not relent in its efforts to find decent housing for foreign workers wherever it is practical and economical to do so. If it agrees with Serangoon Gardens residents that, for whatever reasons, it would set a dangerous precedent that could create a potentially social-divisive problem, can residents in the heartland now protest against foreign dormitories in their neighbourhood? Why should foreign dormitories be sited only in the heartland but not in private estates?

Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A35 13 Sep 2008
Letter by: Prof Arthur Lim (President, Medical Alumni Association; Former President, Singapore Medical Association)

Doctors must always remember that, in treating patients, their interests must always be foremost. A good doctor and a good lawyer, therefore, are not professionals who memorise numerous scientific and legal facts but experts who are compassionate.

Let us ensure the law on kidney transplants is changed rapidly so that those who need a transplant to live are not considered criminal.

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Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A35 6 Sep 2008
Letter by: Prof Walter Woon, Attorney-General

Dr Lee wonders whether the charges against Mr Tang were a matter of political correctness. The essential point is that everyone is equal before the law…There cannot be one law for the poor and another for the rich…
If Dr Lee disagrees with the Hota, she is at liberty to campaign to have it amended. If she feels that, in some circumstances, it is perfectly acceptable to lie in a statutory declaration, she may try to persuade Parliament to change the law…

Source: The Straits Times, 5 Sep 2008, Page A29
Article by: Salma Khalik

Moves to change the law seem to be gathering momentum and will hopefully occur soon enough to save the man who started it all.
Mr Tang, who gave up his position as executive chairman of C.K. Tang following his guilty plea in the organ trading case, has a host of medical problems. Without a transplant, the 56-year-old is unlikely to live beyong a couple of years. Even with a transplant, his chances are not good…