With the Integrated Resorts at Marina Bay and Sentosa slated to open their doors in the next six months, you can expect Singapore's landscape – both physical and economic – to evolve quite drastically.

To prepare for the road ahead (as well as to allay concerns over the potential negative impact of the IRs as their opening day draws near), the authorities have undertaken various initiatives to ensure their operations remain good and clean.

Starting yesterday, a two-day training symposium is being held for officers from the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID). There, they will learn to tackle and curb organised crime and money laundering from casino industry experts from the United States, Australia and Macau.

"We are very good at the effective regulation of our financial sector. However, the casinos bring with them a whole variety of related problems and pose an operational paradigm challenge even for police officers who are generally used to dealing with people who are law abiding," said Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam, during the opening address at the symposium.

Indeed, the unique dynamism and business structure within the casino industry makes it a whole other ball game altogether. To meet these challenges head-on, CRA has also called for the casinos to have regulatory systems in place, such as the mechanical shuffling of cards and the use of bar-coded vouchers instead of tokens for slot-machine wins, amongst other anti-fraud measures.

However, should these prove ineffective, not all is lost. There will always be our trusty Neighbourhood Police Centres (NPC) to fall back on – the newly-opened Marina Bay NPC for the Marina Bay IR, and Bukit Merah West NPC if you're further south in Sentosa.

With the current economic crisis, businesses have become more cautious in hiring and expenditure. Hence it comes as no surprise that 2008 has seen a smaller wage increase amongst the workforce in the private sector, as compared to the year before.

The 2008 wage report released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) highlights that within the private sector, total wages (which includes bonuses) increased by merely 4.2%, compared to 5.9% in 2007; while bonuses dropped to an average of 2.31 months, compared to 2.36 months in 2007.

After taking into account the rise in Consumer Price Index by 6.5% in 2008, real wages actually decreased by 2.3% – a stark contrast to the increase of 3.8% the year before.

Amongst the three categories of employees, rank-and-file employees experienced the steepest decline in wage increase (5.4% to 3.2%), followed by senior employees (6.1% to 4.8%), and junior management (6.9% to 5.8%).

Visit MOM for more details on the 2008 wage report.

Yesterday, 30 more confirmed cases of H1N1 flu were reported, bringing the total to 629. With a majority of new cases now locally acquired, it is clear that community spread is inevitable.

In a prescient statement last Tuesday, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said, “We have crossed the tipping point, beyond which local transmissions will grow rapidly.” Since then, the government has changed its erstwhile strategy of border control and contact tracing to detecting and prioritizing “high-risk” patients.

This has caused confusion amongst Singaporeans. Yesterday, A Madam Ong Tze Lin wrote into the Straits Times Forum to enquire as to why her husband was not even tested for H1N1 despite developing indicative symptoms and having possibly come into contact with carriers in the Maju Camp cluster.

The Ministry of Health replied to say, “We are… moving from containment to mitigation phase… the definition of ‘close contacts’ and the need for laboratory testing of ‘close contacts’ are progressively being tightened… In the case of Madam Ong's husband, the doctor must have decided his exposure was very low.”

Food

Relish
501 Bukit Timah Road
#02-01 Cluny Court
Singapore 259760
Opening hours:
Mon - Fri: Noon - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm
Weekends: Noon - 11pm
Tel: 67631547

This Father’s day, take your Dad out to feast on a burger at Relish. The most reviewed and talked about burger is the mouth-watering Wild Rocket burger that comes with a thick and juicy beef patty. All the burgers at Relish are paired up with specially selected beers and come with crispy fries to make for a truly ‘happy meal’.

If beef does not satiate the appetite, perhaps your Dad will enjoy the Seafood Burger with fresh tangy of lemon mayonnaise. The burger boasts a unique seafood patty of crab, squid, fish and prawn.

Entertainment

A River Romance: The Dance Musical
UOB Promenade
Dates: 19, 20, 21, 26 & 27 June 2009
Time: 8.30pm to 9.30pm
Free Admission

The Singapore River Festival runs for its second year from 19 to 27 June, with host of exciting lifestyle and entertainment events on and along the river for a wonderful nightlife experience.

This year’s festival boasts a delightful musical by the river. Discover the romance of the Singapore River, as the musical brings you a beautiful love story set amidst the hustle and bustle of Singapore River’s flourishing trading port in its heyday. A grand visual spectacle not to be missed. Visit www.singaporeriverfestival.com for more details.

Jazz by the River: An Evening of Cuban Jazz
Asian Civilisations Museum Green
Date: 19 June 2009
Time: 9.30pm to 11.30pm
Free Admission

If dance is not your thing, be serenaded by the sexy and soulful sounds of Cuban Jazz at this sundown jazz session by the river featuring Fabiola Zuniga and her Cuban band.

"Some consultancies do not charge candidates because employers will absorb the fees for every suitable candidate referred to them after the professional consultants have selected and interviewed the candidate.

If you go through those agencies that do not charge an agent fee, you are also widening your job search, and also get to understand the company which you intend to join, before going for a second interview."
says JobsCentral Forum user passionclaire07

"For me personally, I feel that going into a job site to find jobs would be easier. It is because the job site posts many jobs, and you would be able to send your resume to employers and apply directly for the jobs you are interested in. However, when you send your resume over to job agencies, you will be assigned a consultant to contact you on the jobs available."
says JobsCentral Forum user dynastypro

What do you think? Share your opinion with us on the JobsCentral Forum!

Clueless about the location of your job interview? JobsCentral's latest feature leads you safely to your destination!

Powered by , you can now view location maps of companies and find out how to get there! All you need to do is to click on the "How do I get there?" option.

Not only do you see a location map of the office, you can find out how to get there too! Get specific directions if you're driving or taking a taxi or make use of the public transportation option. What's more, an estimate of the distance travelled, time spent, cost of travel (on public transportation) is also available!

Singapore's overall unemployment rate has hit a three-year high of 3.3 per cent. In the first quarter of 2009, 10,900 workers were retrenched, while 1,860 had their contracts prematurely terminated, contributing to a total loss of 12,760 jobs.

The labour market is experiencing its first quarterly contraction in nearly 6 years, as the number of workers who lost their jobs exceeded the number of workers hired. According to the Ministry of Manpower, a total of 95,700 residents were unemployed in March.

Most job losses come from the manufacturing sector, which has been affected by falling external demand. Services industries with external exposure like hotels and restaurants were also hit, while financial services saw a net loss of 1,900 jobs.

Domestic services and construction experienced gains, with the latter growing by 8,300 jobs. As for domestic services, gains came mainly from community, social and personal services, boosted by public sector hiring.

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We are 1! Over the past year, JobsCentral Community has introduced popular features such as our very own Salary Calculator, the Retrenchment Watch, and the JobsCentral Forum. While we rack our brains to bring you the best, we would also like to hear from you!

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Anyone realised that this Sunday is Fathers’ Day? For some reason, this occasion receives much less fanfare compared to its counterpart. To prevent that from happening this year, we offer some suggestions for taking your Fathers’ Day celebrations up a notch, so Dad will feel extra loved, extra special...

Sweet tidings
Buy your dad a box of cupcakes – one for each year that he has lovingly nurtured you into who you are today. These days, cupcakes make pretty gifts for those who appreciate the regular cake n’ coffee pick-me-up. A delectable range is available at Marmalade Pantry, Bakerzin and online shop Cupcake Momma.

Dad’s Night Out
If Dad enjoys quality and quantity when it comes to food, take him to the Bar & Billiard Room at Raffles Hotel, either for dinner on Saturday or brunch on Sunday. The buffet spread at BBR boasts fresh seafood, roast meats, an array of desserts, and much, much more! For reservations, call 6412 1816. Dress code is smart casual.

Make it personal
If a scrumptious home-cooked meal rocks his boat, learn how to cook up a storm from Shermay’s Cooking School, where celebrity chefs and cookbook authors impart culinary skills to the uninitiated. Learn from guest chef Christopher Tan (co-author of Cooking With Asian Leaves and former food editor of Wine & Dine magazine) this weekend, or choose from other cooking classes in the weeks ahead. Visit www.shermay.com for membership and class details.