Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) Chairman Pritam Singh announced in Facebook today that his finance department has hired a person with disability. Mr Singh, who is also the MP for Aljunied GRC, said that the necessity to hire new staff arose soon after AHTC awarded a contract for the development of a new Town Council Accounting System at the cost of approximately $0.75m.
He said all the MPs in-charge of AHTC supported the initiative of the human resource (HR) department manager to hire Singaporeans with disabilities to work at the Town Council.
Saying how his HR department continues to look for experienced and steady hands for the Finance Department and Property Officers for estate management work, Mr Singh said that where they can, AHTC will look to hire more people with disabilities to work in the Town Council.
The opposition-held town council is working with the Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO), SPD (formerly known as Society for Aid to the Paralysed), under the VWO’s SPD-assisted hire programme.
Nominated Member of Parliament, Ms Chia Yong Yong, is the Chairman of SPD. Ms Chia is better known for her comments on CPF in Parliament, where she suggested that CPF is not the members’ money.
“Is it our money? Our CPF savings are enhanced and forced CPF savings which are accumulated through our own deferred consumption, through co-payment by our employers and through top-ups from public funds. Is it really my private money? Do I have the right to spend it the way I would spend my own salary? I’m not entirely sure.”
In another speech she questioned why Singaporean workers need work-life balance.
“Perhaps I want to ask what would you like to achieve with work-life balance as opposed to perhaps retaining your job, the competition you are getting from people from other countries and from your cohort who is willing to work harder than you. We want shorter hours, what are we willing to trade that in for? As a lawyer, I have spoken to many clients who have actually talk about the attitude of Singaporeans, that they want shorter hours, but they want more pay and they expect better benefits and they are not as good as other foreign employees.”
Ms Chia is the sister of Eunice Chia-Lim, a grassroots leader in East Coast GRC. Ms Chia-Lim was flagged by some netizens in April last year for suggesting that the Bible commands believers to submit to the Government.