NTU Hall 11, a home to students in their prime.
Photo: Brian Leonal

The other side of Nanyang Technological University lies NOT in its darkest corners. Neither does it take place after the sunset. No drugs and guns involved. The other side of NTU exists in harmony with its normal, accomplished counterpart, which displays optimistic future, academic robustness and financial security. Quite befittingly, it is the bleak mixing with the bright. It is a few black sheep amongst a giant white herd, rendered invisible by human’s selective perception.

Madam Toh Leong Hui, 83, is part of that other side. Madam Toh has been cleaning in NTU for almost 60 years. With a meager monthly income of $750, she still chips in to pay for her granddaughters’ polytechnic education.

Madam Toh, with a smile that belies what eyes of 80 years have seen.
Photo: Brian Leonal

Madam Toh wakes up at five in the morning to clean up her house in Bukit Panjang. At around 6.30 am, she goes off for work in NTU Hall of Residence 11, to have another round of cleaning, although this time she’s paid.

She starts after she finishes her coffee and bread for breakfast. In a day, she has to clear the garbage and clean eight toilets, one lounge, a pantry and a laundry room in Hall 11’s Block 56. She clocks off at 4.30 pm.

Her typical lunch is, like her breakfast, bread and coffee. After work, she still has to cook for her family. She lives with her son’s family of five.

Her son works as a lorry driver. His $2000 income, although considerably higher than hers, is still not enough to finance the household as two of his daughters are studying in polytechnics now. As a result, Madam Toh contributes to the household finances.

Madam Toh, fortunately, has one golden child. One of her daughters gives her $200 every month. With that extra monthly allowance, Madam Toh gets by, although barely. Life has not been kind to Madam Toh. She started working when she was 17 because she did not have money to go to school. She started cleaning in NTU in the 1950s, starting off with a scanty daily salary of $2.

But it was not so bad back then. She recalls a bowl of beehoon only cost her 10 cents. With 50 cents, she could buy a lot.

Her monthly salary gradually increased from $60 to $750. It seems to most that her salary has folded 12 times from the 1950s. However, the price of beehoon has multiplied by 30 times – a bowl of it now costs around $3 on average. The 12 folds increase in wage suddenly does not seem to suffice.

For quite sometime, Madam Toh was the sole breadwinner of the family. Her husband retired 30 years ago as he had trouble breathing. He subsequently passed away 10 years ago.

Despite all these hardship and struggles, Madam Toh displays strength and characters in her work in Hall 11. One day, a resident suffered from a bad fever and his body was severely aching that even lying down hurt him bad. He could not feel his fingers and toes. He lost balance and had to hold tightly to the railing when he went down the stairs to reach the toilet.

After he was done urinating, Madam Toh helped him out go back to his room. She held his arms as he went up the stairs. He could feel the energy the 83 year-old woman exerted to hold him up. While most 80 year-olds are wheel chair bound and suffering from osteoporosis, Madam Toh still walks with a speed, cleans up an entire building every day and cooks for a family of six, without having any CPF, Medishield or Medisave accounts.

But above all else, she still smiles.

This article was originally written as an assignment for the Online Journalism class at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University.

With Mr Png Eng Huat elected as Hougang MP, writer Lew Zijian takes a look at some of the highlights of what transpired the night of the last rally – in pictures.

This supporter used an old tripod leg as his flag staff

An enthusiastic supporter wears the message, "Hougang voters, let the PAP go to sleep."

Workers' Party published an Hougang by-election message from Png Eng Huat and senior party members

Some supporters turned up for the rally with contraptions made with WP umbrella and flags.

Flags and other items were on sale before the rally to raise funds for the party.

An umbrella costs $10, and a flag costs $2.

Early birds managed to find a spot to sit on, while those who turned up later had to stand at the back.

The left column says that people who tell secrets are shameless traitors, presumably referring to the WP insider who leaked the CEC meeting minutes regarding the NCMP selection. The right column says that Hougang residents are still courageous.

Supporters gave Workers' Party Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang a rousing applause after he concluded the night's rally.

Myanmar will hold by-elections tomorrow, with the country’s democracy icon Ms Aung San Suu Kyi running as a candidate. The country is slowly opening up to political reform, tourism and more foreign investments. The country, located between India, China and Thailand, has been isolated from the international community after decades of military rule. The Enquirer releases some glimpses of the nation once seen as the Southeast Asia’s most promising country back in the 1950s.

Buddhists pray to one of the many Buddhist statues in Shwedagon Pagoda. The temple is a rallying point for many political uprisings for Burma such as the 1988 democracy uprising and the saffron revolution in 2007.

Buddhists lighting candles as part of their prayers at the country's holiest temple. Buddhism is followed by 89 percent of Myanmar's population and it plays an important role in the spiritual life of the people.

Elaborate roof designs at Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon. Many temples in the country are covered with gold leaf, showing the amount invested in temples from a people not known for having abundant wealth.

A road sign and posters in Yangon downtown. China, Myanmar's neighbour up north, has considerable cultural influence in the country. Mandarin lessons are becoming more common.

A Burmese university student at Inle Lake, Myanmar. University students were once a potent force in the country, leading demonstrations in 1988 that ended the rule of Burmese dictator Ne Win. However, they were suppressed by Ne Win's military successors. Today, the country's top university, Yangon University, is open for only a few selected Masters programmes.

International brands are slowing making its way into the country. In downtown Yangon, Giordano has opened a small outlet.

Women in Shan State travelling on an open air lorry. Few in the country can afford their own automobile.

Many vehicles in Myanmar are old. Lorries and pickups are common modes of transport. Many lorries lack a tailboard too.

A villager and his children at Inle Lake, Myanmar.

Children are exited about visitors coming to their village. Shan State, Myanmar.

A farmer in Shan State working on his field. Agriculture is still the primary means of earning money for the majority of citizens in this country.

A farmer surveys her farm located in the hilly regions of Shan State.

Farmers transport firewood on bullock carts. Myanmar has large reserves of virgin forest and it is a prime source of teak wood.

During the closing minutes of 2011, Burmese crowds release hot air balloons into the air to celebrate the New Year.

These photographs are taken on a field trip to Myanmar organised by the NTU Environmental Endeavour (EE2). More photographs can be found at the author’s photo blog.

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We all know of a few viral campaigns that have caught our eyes over the years, but none seems to have created quite as much of a stir as Kony 2012.

Ever since the 30 minute documentary was released on the 5th of March there has been heated debate over what it contains, the people that made the film, and Joseph Kony himself. Major newspapers, television news networks, new websites, and bloggers have all voiced their opinion about the now controversial Kony 2012 film, but it was Facebook, and other social media platforms, that brought it all to our attention. If you haven’t seen the film already, it’s time to see what all the fuss is about.

The film set out to showcase a heinous criminal guilty of atrocities that have affected thousands of innocent people, and it does this rather well. It’s well produced, has the support of celebrities and government officials, and gives eye-witness accounts of the devastating effect Joseph Kony and the Lords’ Resistance Army has had on the people of Uganda.

On the other hand, it’s a fund-raiser, and a movie to generate funds for a non-profit organisation, so that they can pursue their cause. It appeals to people’s emotions, and no doubt there has been one viewer who made an overzealous donation and is now looking for a credit card balance transfer.

There is no denying that Joseph Kony must be brought to justice, but he has been committing crimes for over 20 years already, so why has this issue suddenly become so important?

Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army

Kony was born in 1961, making him over 50 years old right now.

During his teens he acted as his village witch doctor, and in his mid-twenties he became the leader of a cult during the Ugandan Civil war that raged between 1981 and 1986. Opposed to the country’s new leader and the National Resistance Army (NRA), he gradually formed the United Holy Salvation Army, which later became the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The NRA fought a campaign against the LRA, which reduced their numbers drastically, and attacks on civilians who they claimed to be NRA sympathisers began. Parents were killed and children were kidnapped, to become child soldiers or sex slaves.

While this was going on, the government of neighbouring country Sudan, was supplying military support to the LRA because of Ugandan government support for rebels in Sudan. This ended once the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Kony and five other members of the LRA on October 6th 2005.

Since then there have been efforts by the Ugandan military and U.S. forces to capture Kony, but he still has not been found. The whereabouts of Kony is still unknown, and the LRA have become a dwindling force that is nowhere near as significant as it once was.

The real issue in Kony’s former stronghold of north Uganda is the need for rebuilding and security. The infrastructure is a state of disrepair, and people desperately need decent sanitation, health services, education, and housing. These are the things that are having the biggest effect of people’s lives in Uganda, not the menace of Joseph Kony.

Ten years ago it was a completely different story, and this campaign would have been an enormous help back then, but now it seems a little misguided.

Support and criticism of Invisible Children Inc

Celebrities like Rhianna, Oprah Winfrey, and George Clooney have endorsed the cause, which has led thousands more people to follow suit. The film presents the facts about Kony and the LRA so that even a child understands, and humbly as for your support and donations. The problem is that the situation in Central Africa as a whole is far too complicated for a most adults to understand, let alone a child.

Overall there has been a mixed reception to the Kony 2012 film, not just because of the message it tells, but because of how much the Invisible Children organisation is really doing to help the people of Uganda.

Arthur Larok, the Director of operation in Uganda for charity Action Aid, had this to say about the Invisible Children group. “There is nothing dramatic about them. They are like any other organisation trying to make a difference. At the moment I think the work of Invisible Children is about appealing to people’s emotions. I think that time has passed.”

After such a massive outpour of both support and criticism, a new video was released that shows Ben Keesey, the CEO of Invisible children, defending the organisations campaign and the way they have spent the money donated to them. See what Keesey had to say below.

Even though the motives behind the campaign and how effective it will really be can be questioned, what is undeniable is that as of today, the Kony 2012 documentary has clocked up over 85 million views on Youtube alone, making it one of the most successful viral videos to date.

So the cliché goes, “No pain, no gain”.

It is clear that Budget 2012 has prescribed some bitter medicine for the business community to swallow, placing curbs on excessive foreign labor.

It is also clear that this is a point of no return.

Given the current situation, an unlimited flow of foreign workers will test the limits of space and infrastructure, and even affect the Singaporean character of our society.

Just look at how many parodies there are reflecting Singaporeans’ unhappiness about foreign workers, such as Terry in The Noose.

If foreign labor continues to be easily available, this will reduce business incentives to upgrade, design better jobs and raise productivity.

Singaporeans could be rubbing their hands in glee now, as there will be fewer foreigners snatching their rice bowls.

And I personally applaud the new measures to curb foreign workers, and alleviate the coming pains that companies might face.

But worries abound.

Such measures could actually inflate labor costs in the short run, thereby raising business costs and decreasing competitiveness.

With Singapore’s jobless rate at a 14-year low of 2 per cent last year, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may find it tough to raise their productivity in the short term so as to cut their dependence on foreign workers or offset cost rises.

Employers will have to pay significantly more to attract Singaporeans to take up these jobs.

But even if employers want to pay them more, it does not mean that companies will be able to find people who are willing to work in labor-intensive manufacturing industries such as food and beverage.

Who would want to have shift work, extended working hours and rigorous physical activity when they can have a 9-to-5 desk job, with the air-conditioner turned on at full blast?

Policy accused of a Populist Approach

In addition, critics such as Dr Vincent Wijeyshinga have slammed the government for a populist approach.

Yes, the budget addresses concerns from a population that has griped about the growing number of foreign workers.

But in my opinion, the measures proposed were neither populist nor designed to reward an electorate for returning the government to power after a watershed election last year.

In fact, these measures have already been put in place and are simply running their course, such as the new Productivity Innovation Credit (PIC), which provides tax benefits for business investments.

But Singapore has an ageing society, and the pool of readily available labor will shrink with time.

If businesses think that the labor market is tight now, imagine what it will be like in 10 or 20 years’ time.

Change of Company Attitudes

Companies therefore have to change their processes and attitudes now.

They not only have to learn how to increase productivity and make do with fewer workers, but also get used to having older workers among the rank and file.

Hiring more older workers could save costs for businesses. The enhanced Special Employment Credit (SEC), for one, would provide the company with wage subsidies to hire older workers. It will also save on the higher foreign worker levies.

Seen in that light, the stance on foreign workers is really tough love.

So, too, are the measures announced to help SMEs – instead of taking the easy option of handing out goodies, the Finance Minister has put his money into grants and schemes that have a longer-lasting effect.

The rationale behind it?

It is all for the long-term. As the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce puts it: “The outlook is very overcast even if we are not expecting a tsunami to take place.”

The economic growth rate will suffer a little with the labor dependency being reduced gradually.

But this is pain that has to be endured until efficiency gains come through, and a small price to pay if companies are to make quantitative leaps in incomes, productivity and lifestyles.

*Terry is Leticia’s foreign worker ex-boyfriend in The Noose

Many Singaporeans do not associate ourselves with foreign workers, especially factory workers and construction workers. At the sight of them, we think: “They are loud, they stink and they may rape us.”

I would not be surprised if many Singaporeans think that way, or that an even greater number of Singaporeans see them as a necessary evil – people who are willing to do jobs no self-respecting local will do, but crowd our public spaces and overload our transport system.

Now that the Singapore Government has announced in this year’s Budget to reduce reliance on the foreign workforce, I believe locals, especially those in the manufacturing and service sectors, are rubbing their hands in glee.

Complains that there are too many foreign workers in Singapore are not new.

Back in 2009, residents, worried about their property values, submitted a petition against the Serangoon Gardens foreign workers’ dormitory. The Bukit Batok foreign workers’ dormitory is also located away from other residential properties and surrounded by undeveloped land.

Accusations that foreign workers steal jobs and cause overcrowding reached their peak around last year’s General Elections, amid worries that the government’s method of creating jobs for foreigners to boost Singapore’s GDP is unsustainable.

Why the mentality shift for overseas projects?

Such unhappiness lies in stark contrast when we voluntarily live amid poor and ‘dirty’ foreigners. This seismic shift in the Singaporean mentality comes when we do overseas community projects. Going overseas for community service projects is almost always seen as a good thing.

We may, for example, go overseas to build houses for the poor. But the very people whom we help on our overseas community projects may have friends or relatives building our houses in Singapore. The only difference is that we, tired of our too-comfortable lives, choose to go overseas to ‘suffer’; but they, the foreign workers, are forced to come to Singapore because of their poverty.

So there are two very similar groups of poor foreigners – one group in their homeland, the other group in Singapore. But our attitudes towards the two groups vastly differ. We pat ourselves on the back when we do overseas community projects, but distance ourselves from the foreign workers here. This is hypocrisy at its finest.

We help the alien poor because it gives us a sense of satisfaction. It is a social exchange. We pay for the products that foreign workers in Singapore assemble on factory lines. It is a heartless business exchange. But have we forgotten that in both cases, we are dealing with people?

A person with a true heart for people and the overseas community would not have drastically varied responses to the two groups.

Selfishness behind the “altruism”

Perhaps the scenario that I just painted betrays the fact that despite doing community work, we are all self-serving people at heart – we only want what benefits us or makes us feel good.

There is a similar selfish mentality when it comes to doing overseas community projects. It is the ‘cool factor’ that the exoticism of this project brings, that truly attracts us.

If one truly desires to help, there are no shortages of volunteer opportunities in Singapore. Why not help our fellow Singaporean first? Because we are in it for that short holiday that makes us feel morally good.

And to what extent are we willing to help? Spend a lifetime overseas like Mother Teresa? No, we only want a ‘quick fix’. Help to the point where the foreigners’ living standards match our own?

I do not doubt that there are people who do overseas community for altruistic reasons. But the reasons for some are never purely altruistic – there are definitely some selfish reasons.

So let not the person who does community work overseas trumpet his good deeds. And let not the schools, which so often encourage their students to go overseas for community work, beat the drums of pride. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone.

I am not requesting Singaporeans to take concrete actions to help the lives of the poorer foreign workers in Singapore. But at the very least, remove the scorn from our minds. Stop associating them with dirt and filth.

Whether you are Chinese, Indian or Malay, remember that your forefathers came here as foreign workers too.

Would it actually kill NTU students to dress better? And does NTU have implicit dress codes? Blogger Grace Chew finds out more.

The next time you think about coming to school in flip-flops and shorts, think again – what you wear can actually have far-reaching consequences that you might not have thought of.

Your dress sense can actually reflect personal and school identity, according to Dr Jung Younbo, a professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information in Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

“Clothing can be part of nonverbal communication. You are showing part of yourself and your personal identity,” he said.

He added that different dressing styles might be related to the work that students do.

For example, business students may be dressed more formally when they are out on internships to meet clients, while engineering students may need to spend long hours at the laboratory, and therefore are dressed in jeans and T-shirts out of comfort.

Kenny Yong, a second-year Biology student, also agrees that practicality can influence such implicit dress codes in NTU.

He said: “No one would wear a pair of $500 Louis Vuitton shoes to the lab – you can’t afford to have toxic chemicals spilt all over your best outfit.”

In addition, hall students may tend to dress more casually out of convenience, noted Year 1 Psychology student Caitlin.

Casual dressing, however, may reflect poorly on your personal image, said Wilfred Lim, winner of the 2011 NTU Style (Nail That Unique Style) contest.

“I feel that wearing slippers to a lecture is too casual as you’re showing your toes. It feels like you’re not showing enough respect to your professors and classmates,” he said.

Similarly, fourth-year Economics student Gladys Ng also pointed out that students should have the basic self-courtesy to dress well.

“Some students come in FBT shorts, T-shirts and slippers. It’s as if they don’t give a damn about anyone else,” she said.

Thus, the former Dapper Editor from Nanyang Chronicle decided to start the NTU Style contest, so as to encourage students to dress well.

She attributes the casual dress culture in school to a possible judgment present.

“If I dress up, people will ask me if I am going clubbing.

“But it’s normal when you are in Singapore Management University as it’s so near to town. This contest was also started to tell people that they don’t have to be afraid of being judged,” she said.

So how should NTU students dress? NTU Style contestants offer some wardrobe advice.

“I am always dressing to my character – My dynamic character is like an explosive bomb that shocks people. I would not hesitate to rip my top and cut my sleeves. So be yourself, and wear something comfortable, be it just bra and undies.”

Alice Ng, Art, Design and Media Year 2

“Dress appropriately for the occasion. For example, I won’t go in T-Shirts and shorts to a wedding dinner. Also, being minimalist is a good style. I don’t wear accessories, I won’t try out flamboyant styles and I stick to safe combinations. ”

Wilfred Lim, Art, Design and Media Year 2

“Dress comfortably. While dressing well could have a good impact on your school reputation, some people dress well but don’t know anything. At the end of the day, it’s still substance over appearance. Avoid dressing up so fancifully, say, in 8-inch high heels. It’s bad for the spine.”

Kenny Yong, School of Biological Sciences Year 2

Watch the video to see what NTU students from various faculties really think, and what a Professor has to say about wearing slippers to school! NTU Dress Culture

Photo Gallery of NTU Style 2011 Contest Winner and Finalists

More Singapore doctors are taking time off to save lives in the Third World. Vivien Sham finds out more.

Peering through a microscope, eye surgeon Shamira Perera carefully makes an incision in a patient’s eye and extracts a thick, clouded cataract. He then inserts an artificial lens. After a few hours, the patient can see clearly again.

A few metres away, long queues of low-skilled workers wait for a life-changing surgery they cannot afford, but made possible when the 38-year-old ophthalmologist from Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) took time off to volunteer at a Myanmar hospital.

Like Dr Perera, more Singapore doctors are joining voluntary mission trips, bringing more advanced surgical techniques to needy patients in countries such as the Philippines, Cambodia and China. These trips are also better organised than a few years ago.

Volunteer missions are very popular in places where advanced medical services, such as surgery, are not widely available.

“When we went to Yunnan three years ago, the medical team comprised barely eight staff,” said Dr Stephanie Young, a 28-year-old ophthalmologist from the National University Hospital (NUH) active on such trips.

Three years later, Dr Young’s team had 18 people, higher-tech instruments and operating microscopes for a cataract removal mission trip to the Chinese city of Xining.

Mission trips are warmly welcomed in neighbouring countries where such surgical services are not so easily available.

“Operations are the biggest draw for patients,” said Dr Helen Isaac, a practitioner who volunteers regularly on medical missions. The 44-year-old feels that the free consultations and medicines provided there provide only fleeting benefits.

The success of the pioneer small-scale projects has generated excitement in the medical community, with more sponsors and medical professionals wanting to contribute and participate.

For Dr Young’s Xining project, it gained visibility through the media and word-of-mouth.

“A lens company donated intraocular lens, and other hospitals loaned us their equipment,” said Dr Young.

A volunteer doctor at a clinic in China.

The field of general surgery in volunteer missions, likewise, is starting to pick up and more doctors are forming medical teams to go abroad and operate on low-risk cases like hernias and tumours.

In the past, most volunteer doctors in general surgery worked independently. This changed when Dr Anthony Than, 39, a general surgeon from NUH, founded Project SOUL (Surgical Outreach for Underprivileged Localities) in 2009.

Under Dr Than’s project, surgeons formed a team to provide general surgical services to rural areas lacking in medical amenities.

Doctors invest heavily, often with their own time and resources, into organising and planning these overseas trips. For Dr Loon Seng Chee, head of the Xining project, a lot remains to be done even after returning to Singapore.

“I’m already doing the stock-taking and emailing the local Bangladeshi doctors about the next trip in December,” said the the outreach director for medical missions for National University Health System (NUHS).

However, there are factors preventing Singapore doctors from heading to developing countries.

Dr Loon even had to turn down some who wanted to join.

“I only need a core team of medical personnel who would then take on additional responsibilities like crowd control,” said the consultant ophthalmologist from NUH. “Doctors outside ophthalmology cannot help much during the mission trip.”

Back in 2007, Dr Perera was already keen on making the Myanmar trip but the birth of his child made him delay his mission trip plans till last year.

Dr Joel Aduan, 35, ophthalmologist at NUH, volunteers for local eye screenings but said: “I’ve never gone on such trips as they are more time-consuming and I’ve got other commitments.”

Doctors in private practice also forfeit some earnings when they stop business to go overseas. Dr Cheong, who works in Gleneagles Medical Centre, said: “There is an opportunity cost in going for these trips. Even if the clinic is not open, I still have to pay rent.”

Conditions are less than ideal on these missions and doctors have to adapt to the unexpected, such as electricity cut-offs and even snow storms blocking patients’ access to clinics.

Despite these challenges, doctors are going back for more.

Dr Cheong, who has gone on cataract missions trips once every six months in recent years, declares it is “not all about money” and enjoys seeing the world off the beaten path.

Cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness in low-income countries and we are fulfilling a real need, she added.

Dr Than, the Project SOUL founder, said that Singaporeans see treatment like “paying $5 for a burger, and that’s it.”

In contrast, on these mission trips, patients and their families are happy and grateful.

“It becomes a two-way exchange of us providing services and them giving us the professional satisfaction of being a doctor,” said Dr Than.

This edited article was written as an assignment for the News Writing and Reporting module at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University.

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Over the past few months, our student editors are simply too caught up with work to handle the Enquirer, leading to an article drought.

But here’s your ang bao for the Dragon Year: We are back and working hard to kick-start this enterprise again!

For this semester, we will be releasing a mixture of stories, commentaries and live updates. We cannot guarantee regular updates all the time, but follow our Facebook and Twitter and you will receive our new stories easily.

We are also in a process of transition. Over the past year, the online journalism world has transformed. New websites and information providers have entered the fray. The Enquirer is in the process of redefining our niche in the marketplace, and suggestions for improvement are welcome!

We are welcoming a new editor on board: Grace Chew. She is currently in her second year at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, NTU.

Other members of the editorial team — Chua Yini, Kuek Jinhua, Rachel Loi and Bhavan Jaipragas — are taking a well-deserved rest from this project. We thank them for their contributions and wish them all the best.

Parents are spending liberally on electronic products for children as young as two. Sara Yap finds out more.

When Kylie Choong bought her nine-year-old son Dylan an iPad, his younger brother Darius begged to be given one too. Out of fairness, she bought an iPod Touch for three-year-old Darius to share with her third child, two-year-old Drayden.

Ms Choong does not think her sons are too young for such costly gadgets. In fact, Dylan was only three years old when she bought him a Gameboy Advance handheld game console.

“I want my kids to be trendy. I don’t want them to feel inferior; I don’t want them to see people having things they don’t have,” said Ms Choong, a human resource manager.

Dylan, Darius and Drayden belong to an unlikely market — young children aged 12 and below with no spending power. Drawn to “hip factor” of possessing such items. they are snapping up smartphones, e-book readers, laptops and game consoles.

Parents do not want their children to miss out on the trendy gadgets of today, said Mr. Jonah Joaquin, 29, who works in frontline sales at iStudio, a store specialising in selling Apple products.

Every weekend, Mr. Joaquin sees three out of 10 customers patronizing the store to buy products such as the iPad and iPhone for their young children of primary school-going age and younger.

Children are savvy customers too, keeping up-to-date with the latest gadget and making informed choices, according to mobile phone promoter Lew Ying Tong, who from 2010 to April last year saw a daily average of seven to 10 parents buying smartphones for their children. The most popular item was the iPhone 4.

School Clerk Jane Tan recently bought her 12-year-old daughter Kai Lin an iRiver Cover Store and iPhone 4.

The iRiver, an e-book reader, was purchased during an IT Fair in 2009. Kai Lin’s aunt had bought the device for her son at a technology fair back then. Not wanting Kai Lin to feel left out, Ms Tan bought one for her as well.

“As a parent, I didn’t want to disappoint my child,” said Ms Tan, 55. “If children cannot keep up with the trends, they will feel left behind. They may ask their parents why they cannot have (the same gadgets) their friends own.”

Some parents have capitalized on the “cool” factor of owning such products to motivate their children to achieve certain goals, offering the iPad and iPhone to their children in exchange for stellar examination results.

General manager Tan Yeok Leng gave his son Hong Rui a Creative MP4 as a reward for his good Primary Four examination results. Today, 13-year-old Hong Rui has his eyes set on the iPad 2 and he plans to ask his father to buy it for him if he excels in his exams.

Consumer electronics retailers said that advertisements and savvy marketing campaigns has helped popularise certain gadgets.

“The media presents (Apple products) as a ‘must-have’. Apple products have become a status symbol” said Mr. Joaquin.

However, school counselor Goh Eng Keng warns that gadget games are addictive because of their easy-to-master nature. Young children will find it difficult to stop using gadgets, leading to prolonged gameplay.

She suggests that parents moderate their children’s use of electronic devices, and even reap benefits from using these electronic gadgets.

Many of these gadgets are equipped with connections to the Internet, so children now have access to a ‘wealth of information’, said Ms Goh. For example, they can be used for academic purposes after downloading e- books and educational games for their children.

“Ultimately, it is important for children to know how to use such devices as they are living in an age where everything is digital,” said Ms Goh.

Some parents are unwilling to buy electronic gadgets for their young children. The main reason given is that children—especially those aged 12 and below—are not mature enough to moderate their usage of such devices.

Civil servant Neo Boon Sim, 41, does not plan on buying any electronic gadgets for his two children anytime soon.

“I deliberately choose not to buy such devices for them. Even when they reach Primary 5 or 6, I still don’t think they will be mature enough to control their usage (of these gadgets),” said Mr Neo.

This edited article was written as an assignment for the News Writing and Reporting class at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University.

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