11 January 2010
Dear Editor,
1 In response to the forum letter by Mr Qiu Zhaoxiang, the Chemical Industries Employees’ Union (CIEU), held a Family Day gathering for our union members at Jurong West Swimming Complex on 10 January 2010. CIEU is an affiliate of the National Trades Union Congress, which is a non-governmental organisation. As there were more than 1000 union members and their families attending, CIEU had pre-booked the swimming complex way in advance in early December 2009 so that the venue operator had sufficient time to inform the public of the half-day closure of its swimming pool till 3pm.
2 As this was a non-profit private event only for CIEU members, members of the public were politely turned away. Union members who came for the event were charged $5 per person, while members' children and senior citizens were charged $3 per person. This was to defray the cost of rental, entertainment and food within the premise. As Mr Qiu was very keen to enter the pool, CIEU staff exercised some flexibility and therefore extended the same rates to Mr Qiu.
3 However, he declined the offer and hence was referred to staff from the Jurong West Sports and Recreation Centre for pool closure queries. As the CIEU official was not familiar with the pool’s rental policy and procedures, he could not answer Mr Qiu’s repeated queries. We apologise to Mr Qiu for any inconvenience caused.
Mr Frank Lok
Deputy Executive Secretary
Chemical Industries Employees’ Union
