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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Stand-alone neighbourhood retail outlets attract dropouts and truants
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LATELY, I have seen 7-Eleven outlets sprouting up at void decks of HDB blocks in the heartland.
Many school dropouts loiter in the vicinity of these 24-hour retail outlets, recruiting students to join their gangs by offering them freebies like comradeship, protection and cash. These gullible students do not realise the consequences of joining such gangs.
In Sengkang, there is a 7-Eleven outlet at the void deck of an HDB block within walking distance from a convent school. Sadly, I have seen students from this school in the company of school dropouts who act as their big brothers. These students often play truant without the knowledge of their parents.
The schools and the police can do only so much. One way to save these troubled students is by not issuing licences to proposed 7-Eleven outlets within the vicinity of schools.
These retailers should restrict their operations to shopping malls and neighbourhoods where there are other shops and where there is constant human activity. They should not be stand-alone retailers.
Paul Antony Fernandez
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->LATELY, I have seen 7-Eleven outlets sprouting up at void decks of HDB blocks in the heartland.
Many school dropouts loiter in the vicinity of these 24-hour retail outlets, recruiting students to join their gangs by offering them freebies like comradeship, protection and cash. These gullible students do not realise the consequences of joining such gangs.
In Sengkang, there is a 7-Eleven outlet at the void deck of an HDB block within walking distance from a convent school. Sadly, I have seen students from this school in the company of school dropouts who act as their big brothers. These students often play truant without the knowledge of their parents.
The schools and the police can do only so much. One way to save these troubled students is by not issuing licences to proposed 7-Eleven outlets within the vicinity of schools.
These retailers should restrict their operations to shopping malls and neighbourhoods where there are other shops and where there is constant human activity. They should not be stand-alone retailers.
Paul Antony Fernandez
