• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
  • Volunteer
    • Internship with The Online Citizen
  • Donation
  • Subscription
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
  • zh-hans 简体中文
  • en English
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Who demanded "Unlimited Changes" for design in its tender documents

by Terry Xu
16/02/2016
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3min read
0

Unlimited changes in bold on tender documents for design work

Yesterday, Kelly Cheng, a designer, posted a Facebook post of a tender document on Gebiz which contained terms and conditions which seem somewhat unbelievable to industry professionals.
She wrote, “Multiple Demands for Unlimited Changes for Design Services on Gebiz.
As a designer, I Protest, Do you? Please share this post if you are against Unlimited Changes – Be the Change you want to see in the world.”
Gebiz is a online platform where statutory boards and government agencies in Singapore publish their tenders to registered contractors so to have the process documented, ensuring that the whole process stay fair and aboard.

Many could not believe the terms have been issued by a government entity and started sharing the post to express their disbelief or disgust on the conditions offered to the bidders.
What unlimited changes in the tender document would mean is that the entity that awards the contract is able to ask for an unlimited number of revisions on the design work to their liking whether the changes are reasonable or not without any additional cost to the awarding entity.
This would mean, the awarded bidder will have to bear all cost of design work regardless of whether the changes were made due to poor workmanship of artwork or simply because the people making decisions have bad taste in design.
One of Kelly’s friend on Facebook, Tay Cheng Soon wrote, “These are retrograde procurement procedures emanating from a mindset based on street market practices inconsistent with an economy heading towards value creation. In such an economy intellectual and creative effort must be valued and respected if such effort is to grow. Those who continue street market practices should be re-educated. They have to see that their squeezing methods are counterproductive. In fact they are against new national interests!”
Another friend, Cheah Wei Chun wrote, “how about getting the client to sign a document that promises they will have GOOD TASTE and a high appreciation and knowledge of COMMUNICATION DESIGN?”
One of Cheng’s friends even wrote to Ministry of Fiance (MOF) asking for their comments on the terms of contract for the bidder. MOF replied to the friend in an email, “We agree that it is unfair to expect the suppliers to agree to unlimited changes. We would appreciate it if you could share with us the specific tender/quotation numbers and we will look into this matter.” and said that it is currently looking into the issue.
So which entity offered such a ridiculous bid in Gebiz?
According a search on the GeBiz system, the tendering entity is Whitley Secondary School.
The school had published the tender to request for a contractor to take up the designing and printing of its publications. Namely, its school magazine for 2016, a student handbook for all school rules and diary and the school’s newsletters that capture the key events in Term  1, 2 and 3.
The tender was published on Gebiz on 1 February and closed on 11 February. The status of the tender states that it is pending award.
However, this is not the first time the school has issued such a tender.
2014quote
In an archive of the school’s tender in 2014 (thanks to the internet), it is noted that the school had used the same conditions of unlimited changes for the design and printing of the school’s magazine. The tender was awarded at $8,690 for 1,100 copies of the magazine. Given that this tender includes the printing of the notebooks and newsletter, this amount should surely raise beyond the previous awarded amount.
Now, we have to wait for MOF’s review of Whitley Secondary School’s tender to see if it had violated any standards of issuing government tenders.
For those interested, the below is the full tender document minus contact details.
Fullscreen Mode

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Recent Posts

  • PSP launches music video, “The Palm”, to inspire Singaporeans to stay strong despite challenging times
  • Malaysian Parliament will not sit until end of Emergency: Minister Takiyuddin Hassan
  • AGC drops criminal charge against lawyer M Ravi for defaming Law Minister K Shanmugam; issues conditional warning
  • Netizens question the need for sign at Compassvale Cape after WP’s Raeesah Khan highlights damage to and misspelling of the sign
  • Worldwide donors raised RM1.2 million within 29 hours to save 670g premature Malaysian baby born in S’pore
  • Six dead as Myanmar security forces fire at protesters
  • ExxonMobil to cut 300 jobs in S’pore by end of year amid “unprecedented market conditions”
  • Myanmar junta charges six journalists, including AP photographer

Trending posts

What is Bangladesh’s controversial digital security law?

Netizens slam DPM Heng Swee Keat for calling LO Pritam Singh’s independent Budget office proposal a “wasteful duplication”

London mayor earns S$284K to oversee 9m while Denise Phua earn S$660K to oversee 1m

Man fined for leaving car “unattended” as he helped son with TraceTogether scan for a few seconds

How can the torture of a human being over 10 months take place under the watch of a police officer?

Jamus Lim tells MP Saktiandi Supaat who wants to keep reserves secret: All exchange rate policy is monetary policy

Netizens highlight irony of Govt stressing importance of adaptability in a rapidly changing world after Minister Lawrence Wong warns against replicating BlackBerry’s fate of obsolescence

Three-term MP Teo Ser Luck makes at least an additional $5m as mayor before saying “bye-bye”

Load More
February 2016
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
29 
« Jan   Mar »
  • About Us
  • Volunteer
  • Donation
  • Subscription
  • Letter submission
  • Contact Us

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

wpDiscuz
0
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
| Reply