Should employees be allowed to take sick leave without a medical certificate? Would this lead to an improvement or worsening of productivity?

It would allow people who are ill and have contagious but short-term illnesses to stay at home, get well and not infect other people. Most of the time, with bad colds and flu, a doctor can't do anything, and you're ill for a couple of days, at most.

Keir Gravil

It won't work in Singapore because the workforce is not mature and responsible enough not to abuse this privilege. Employers do not trust their employees enough to allow them to call in sick. This is evidenced by the longstanding requirement by many companies to recognise MCs issued only by polyclinics or their panel doctors.

Au Kah Kay

It is a good idea to limit the number of days an employee can call in sick without an MC to three to four days a year. Employees must inform the company in the morning, before work starts... If the person is still unwell the following day, he is required to see a physician about his condition.

Steve Lim

At the end of the day, it's about the employee's performance.

Someone who isn't present at work but delivers the goods is still pretty much a performer. Conversely, someone who has perfect attendance but doesn't deliver the goods isn't a performer.

Christon Cher Dingxiong

With more elderly folk falling prey to financial scams and elder abuse, what can the community do to help prevent this?

To most elderly folk, the safety of every child or grandchild is of the utmost importance. A scam phone call can trigger instant panic. They are unable to judge the validity of such a call because they fear that any delay will bring harm to the "victim/s"... We can assure them of our safety every day by making a phone call or paying them a short visit.

Also, constantly remind them of scam calls about kidnapping, parcels being held up by people who claim to be the authorities... and so on.

Michelle Tan

Are we too demanding as consumers, resulting in the need for more manpower and foreign workers? What can we do to save labour?

In some supermarkets, you can deposit the money at a counter without a cashier. Diners order food with an iPad. Most passengers do self-check-ins and drop luggage off at airports, and do self-service banking. Hence, I don't see the logic that we are demanding and must have the human touch.

Sangha Vandana

As long as we have the mentality that "I'm paying and I have the right to demand things go my way", we still have a long way to go.

Decry Hardiyanto Bin Zaidi