Tanjong Pagar Terminal cleared ahead of schedule, port lease expires in 2027

August 14, 2017, 7:49 pm

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PSA transfers all 500 staff to Pasir Panjang; move could impact property, shipping sectors
By Jacqueline Woo, The Straits Times, 14 Aug 2017

Singapore's great port migration - which has major implications for both the shipping and real estate sectors - has crossed a key milestone well ahead of schedule.

Port operator PSA Singapore has moved all its 500 staff from Tanjong Pagar Terminal to the newer Pasir Panjang Terminal and is dismantling the cranes, as part of plans for the even bigger move to the future mega-port at Tuas. The relocation - well ahead of the city port's lease expiry in 2027 - means PSA might be ready to hand the 80ha site back to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) far earlier than expected.

PSA did not comment on whether it is looking at doing so, but a URA spokesman told The Straits Times: "We are in discussions with PSA on this matter, and are not able to comment further at the moment."

This, in turn, has raised the possibility that plans for the Greater Southern Waterfront project - a sprawling 1,000ha development three times the size of Marina Bay - could kick off faster than expected.

The huge project is to be built on land freed up when the ports in the city, including Tanjong Pagar, and Pasir Panjang are relocated to Tuas.

The Government could set aside some land for release earlier than expected, depending on market conditions and demand, said Ms Alice Tan of property consultancy Knight Frank Singapore.

"With real estate needs changing rapidly along with consumer and business trends, it could make sense for land use planning to evolve more flexibly ahead of changing needs," said Ms Tan, the firm's director and head of consultancy and research.

Mr Desmond Sim, head of CBRE Research for Singapore and South-east Asia, on the other hand, believes it is still much too early to tell if the Greater Southern Waterfront project could start earlier.

"It is a huge project, and there is still a lot of elasticity in land supply today, especially at Marina Bay. So, there is no need to rush and trigger plans for the waterfront area."

That said, Mr Sim noted that both PSA and the state planners would stand to gain if the land is vacated before the lease runs out.

"This would give PSA more buffer time to sort out any teething problems and ensure the handover goes smoothly. For the state planners, getting control of the land earlier... allows them to have more flexibility with planning."

Mr Sim said the land would be best used if predominantly set aside for mixed developments. "It is a very prime piece of land, and we have to maximise the plot ratio. The last thing we need in land-scarce Singapore is for land to be zoned for use only in certain hours of the day."

The transfer of 500 staff to Pasir Panjang Terminal, which involved the port unions, is complete, said a PSA corporate spokesman.

All the workers were prepared for their new roles and a new environment at Pasir Panjang. No workers were retrenched. The cranes are gradually being dismantled as well.

The spokesman said: "With the advent of larger container ships that require deeper berths, PSA has started the process of moving our operations from our city terminals at Tanjong Pagar, Keppel and Brani to our newer facilities at Pasir Panjang, where we will operate for at least another 20 years.

"This transition is part of an overall long-term plan to consolidate container port facilities eventually at Tuas."

The port leases for the city terminals at Tanjong Pagar, Brani and Keppel are due to expire in 2027. Pasir Panjang's lease runs out in 2040.

The big move to Tuas is expected to take place well before 2040.

Earmarked as the centrepiece of Singapore's Next Generation Port vision, the new Tuas mega-port will be opened progressively from 2021.

When completed by 2040, it will be able to handle up to 65 million standard containers of cargo a year, more than double what the port handled last year.

Tanjong Pagar Terminal: An icon of the Port of Singapore
By Jacqueline Woo, The Straits Times, 14 Aug 2017

For 45 years, it has served as a visual cue for the health of the Singapore economy.

The iconic Tanjong Pagar Terminal - just a stone's throw from the city's commercial centre - has been a significant cornerstone of Singapore as a global port city.

Now, as the Republic expands its port operations in the west of the country, the oldest container terminal is set to give way to the future Greater Southern Waterfront city once its port lease expires in 2027.

Back in the late 1960s, container ships plying trade routes to South-east Asia were unheard of.

But key decision-makers at the then Port of Singapore Authority took the gamble of building a container terminal at East Lagoon (today's Tanjong Pagar) and secured a $45 million loan from the World Bank to help fund the construction.

When Tanjong Pagar Terminal opened on June 23, 1972, it made waves not just as the country's first container terminal, but also as the first such facility in South-east Asia.

At the port's opening ceremony, then Minister for Communications Yong Nyuk Lin told an international audience: "Singapore has therefore made a quantum leap today, into the container era... able to deal right away with the larger, more sophisticated and latest type third-generation container ship with the official opening of its container port. This is as it should be."

It received its first container ship that day - the MV Nihon, which sailed into port from Rotterdam, carrying about 300 containers.

Global container shipping really started only in the early 1970s. Container trade here got off to a slow start that decade but grew in a big way during the 1980s, thanks to rapidly expanding world trade, which boosted Singapore's ambitions as a global container port.

By 1982, Singapore had grown to become the world's busiest port by shipping tonnage, and managed to handle one million standard cargo containers a year for the first time - a milestone Tanjong Pagar Terminal played a big part in. Singapore crossed the five million box mark eight years later to become the world's largest container port.

Today, the Port of Singapore continues to rank among the world's busiest, and as the top transshipment hub globally. The maritime industry accounts for 7 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product and employs over 170,000 people.

The Tanjong Pagar Terminal that Mr Teo Siong Seng of home-grown shipping line Pacific International Lines (PIL) remembers back in the 1970s was full of bustle - forklifts, trucks, clerks and stevedores were constantly moving in and out, and it was messy and dirty at times.

As a 15-year-old student back in the day, he had taken on his first holiday job as a tally clerk for ships.

"But that was the nature of the trade back then. I was awed by the people driving the cranes and the stevedores handling the cargo, the way things were moving so fast, and I had to be careful not to get in the way. You don't see this any more," says Mr Teo, PIL's managing director, better known in industry circles as S.S. Teo. "We've come a long way from when we first received the MV Nihon," he tells The Straits Times.

He officially entered the industry in 1979 when he joined PIL, his father's company. "I remember there used to be these tongkangs or tuakor (light wooden boats for carrying goods) that were phased out in the early 90s as Pasir Panjang Terminal was being built. The ships had to be punctured with holes and sunk so people could be convinced to let go. It was quite emotional," he recalls.

"But it's the passing of an age. Now you have all these container berths that are unmanned, so there is a lot of difference, but that is progress. We have to keep moving forward."

Work on the new port in Tuas is already under way, with reclamation ongoing for two out of four phases of the development.

Ocean Shipping Consultants director Jason Chiang believes it makes more sense economically for PSA to combine its operations at a single location now, in the light of the unprecedented wave of consolidation that the container shipping industry has seen since last year.

"Most of its customers, the container shipping lines, have decided to merge or buy over each other. So having four or five separate terminals to service fewer players, who probably want their ships to call at dedicated berths at the same location, doesn't make sense," Mr Chiang notes. "They could even try to speed up plans for Tuas."

For now, Tanjong Pagar Terminal - Singapore's oldest container terminal - will continue to offer ancillary services such as car transshipment, and serve occasional calls by container vessels, says a PSA spokesman. He adds that PSA plans to hold an event later this year to honour the role that the terminal has played in Singapore's port history.

In 2008, at the inaugural Singapore Maritime Lecture, then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had described the port as Singapore's reason for existence.

"Singapore's raison d'etre was its port; Singapore must strive to remain a major hub port."

↧

Taxi uncle turns Grab driver

August 18, 2017, 12:46 am

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While the pioneer leaders were the original architects of Singapore, everyday heroes helped build society here. This is another story about such people in the series, The Lives They Live.
By Adrian Lim, Transport Correspondent, The Straits Times, 17 Aug 2017

When he started driving a taxi in 1981, Mr Lim Chwee Choon, then 36, often had to ask his passengers for directions and, at times, decline to take them if they were unsure of the route.

While such behaviour is unheard of today because of technologies such as Global Positioning System, Mr Lim said they had little choice back then. Vocational training was very basic and cabbies were taught only the routes to a few destinations, such as major hotels and the airport.

There were street directories but trying to page through one while driving was not a good idea, he said. Map apps did not exist then, he quipped.

Mr Lim, now 72, said it took him about three years of plying the streets and memorising routes before he could get around on his own.

"It was not easy but passengers were also more understanding," he recalled in Mandarin.

"Nowadays, if you take a route which they don't like, they will be unhappy. Passengers are always telling me, 'Uncle, my time is precious.'"

With more than three decades of driving under his belt, this "taxi uncle" has seen the changes in one of Singapore's most iconic professions, which began in the 1930s, and is facing its greatest disruption now with competition from ride-hailing apps.

Mr Lim himself has jumped "ship".

Last year, he became a Grab driver, trading in his taxi for a Toyota Altis private-hire car.

Asked about the animosity between taxis and private-hire cars, Mr Lim said: "Everyone has their own views. For me, I prefer to take calls. As you know, very few people are hailing taxis from the street now. Taxis still have advantages, such as being able to queue at the airport. There's no right or wrong way."

Looking back, Mr Lim said he got into the taxi trade because work was hard to come by.

"I wasn't the type who was good at studying and studied up to only Secondary 3. Times were also not very good then," he recounted.

On the economic front, much of the Western world experienced a recession between 1973 and 1975 and, in Singapore, labour-intensive industries also saw a decline, as the nation evolved towards higher-value manufacturing, such as in electronics, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Mr Lim bounced between various menial odd jobs in the 1970s, working in a power station and a chemical factory, and as a parking attendant.

"I remember my eyes watering because of the ammonia fumes at the factory, and I lasted only two days," he said.

Wages were meagre too, he said - about $8 a day at the power station, for example.

A career change was in order. But getting into the taxi trade was not easy because of the limited number of cabs then, Mr Lim recalled.

The NTUC Comfort taxi cooperative - which later become ComfortDelGro - had a fleet of just 5,000 in 1980.

There was a wait-list which reports said swelled to about 2,400 applicants in 1986.

The other major players were yellow-top cabs, which were individually licensed.

In the 1960s, they numbered about 3,800 but, a decade later, the Government stopped giving out taxi licences to individuals. In comparison, there are 26,000 taxis run by five companies here today.

Mr Lim started out by being a relief driver for his older brother Chwee Poh, who operated a Nissan Cedric cab under NTUC Comfort.

"If you were willing to work hard, you could make about $30 a day. But you had to keep driving around to find customers," he said, adding that only the more well-to-do commuters took taxis.

With NTUC Comfort, there was also the opportunity to eventually own the taxi - an arrangement which Mr Lim said was preferable to the present renter-hirer model.

Under the cooperative's Vehicle Ownership Scheme, cabbies could collect a new cab by making a deposit of $500.

The taxi driver would then pay NTUC Comfort a weekly amount to cover the vehicle rental fees, administrative costs and insurance coverage. After about four years, the cabbies would become proud owners of their vehicles. The taxis would last these drivers seven years before they had to be scrapped.

Mr Lim said he could not remember how much the weekly fee was, but reports at that time said it was around $160. The ownership scheme, however, was phased out when NTUC Comfort became corporatised in 1993.

From the 1990s, Mr Lim became a hirer, renting taxis from CityCab, Trans-Cab and SMRT at different stages of his career.

In 2014, he was introduced by a fellow cabby to the GrabTaxi app, later renamed as Grab.

"I needed help to download the app into my mobile phone but, after being shown the steps, I found it quite easy to use. With the app, I do not have to drive about to find passengers, so it's less tiring," he added.

He said he could pick up as many as 10 GrabTaxi bookings a day.

But the bonanza was short-lived, Mr Lim said, as demand from customers shifted from taxis to private-hire cars.

In 2015, Grab launched GrabCar, joining Uber in offering privately chauffeured cars which were cheaper than cabs.

Going with the flow, he made the move to Grab last year.

Looking back, Mr Lim said he has had "no regrets" being in the taxi industry as it helped raise his family, with two daughters born in 1988 and 1989.

He declined to talk about his wife, whom he divorced in 2013.

Mr Lim turned 72 on Aug 9, which is also Singapore's National Day. Asked if this held any meaning for him, Mr Lim said no.

Until this year, he had never taken a day off on his birthday.

"I still have to drive to cover my daily rental fees," he said.

"But this year, I took a break.

"My daughters took me out for a meal," he added with a smile.

↧

Singapore Student Learning Space: New online platform will let students learn at own pace

August 18, 2017, 1:15 am

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Move helps level playing field as it gives all students same access to quality resources
By Calvin Yang, The Straits Times, 17 Aug 2017

Schools are taking e-learning to the next level with the launch of a resource-rich online platform on which students can learn at their own pace anywhere, any time.

The Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS), first announced by then Education Minister Heng Swee Keat in 2013, will be progressively rolled out to primary and secondary schools as well as junior colleges and Millennia Institute from next year.

The portal will also let teachers share best practices and work together on materials with their colleagues across schools.

Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng said the "rewards for students will be tremendous", adding that the SLS "will open up many opportunities for their learning". Speaking during a visit yesterday to Admiralty Secondary, one of 62 schools piloting the platform, he described how students who want to review a lesson will be able to do it on their own time, even at home.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) stressed that the platform will help level the playing field as it gives all students, regardless of school, the same access to quality learning resources. The move builds on ongoing efforts by the ministry to leverage IT to aid learning.

"By spurring our students to take greater ownership of their learning and work collaboratively with their peers, the SLS aims to support them towards being responsible future-ready learners," MOE said.

The platform, which will feature videos, simulations, games, animations and quizzes, will reinforce learning of subjects, including English and the mother tongue languages, mathematics, history and even physical education.

Interactive timelines on World War II, for instance, can help students visualise how history unfolded through the years.

Many of the resources have been developed with industry and external partners to offer real-world context to concepts taught in class, said the ministry.

Real-time monitoring of online quizzes, for example, will let teachers gauge their students' progress. They can then adapt their lessons to bridge learning gaps on the spot.

Through the platform, teachers will also find it easier to co-develop, adapt and share new pedagogies within and across schools. With the exchange of lesson ideas and strategies, "students in turn will benefit from the wider range of learning resources", MOE said.

Since last month, the portal's basic functions have been on trial at pilot schools such as North Vista Primary and Anglican High.

The ministry, together with the Government Technology Agency, which leads the country's charge in digital transformation, will work with schools to gather feedback and further develop the platform before its national rollout.

Jalan Besar GRC MP Denise Phua, who heads the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, hopes the move will not just level the playing field, but also reduce the need for tuition.

She told The Straits Times: "Good learning and teaching resources can now be shared instead of kept within the confines of particular schools. It may well reduce the excessive dependence on tuition, as students can access the portal for revision or self-driven learning."

Based on national curriculum
By Calvin Yang, The Straits Times, 17 Aug 2017

A key aspect of the Singapore Student Learning Space is that its online resources are based on the national curriculum, which means students will be learning what is expected of them.

And beyond self-directed learning, it will also encourage teamwork and collaborative learning. Students will be able to share knowledge and ideas, get peers' feedback, work on projects together and showcase their work online.

Examples highlighted by the Education Ministry include a lesson on water desalination. The resource includes a video developed with national water agency PUB to link what lower secondary students learn in class with developments in desalination technology. It also gives a glimpse into the work of a PUB engineer.

Another example is an English lesson to develop critical thinking. Students will be guided to solve a mystery through an immersive story in which they will have to join the dots and come to a conclusion about what happened.

After learning from a lesson package, students can take a quiz, which will be automatically graded to give a gauge of how much they have understood. Teachers will be able to analyse the results and reassign appropriate resources to address gaps.

New online learning portal 'could cut need for tuition'
Students, teachers will benefit from access to quality resources
By Calvin Yang, The Straits Times, 17 Aug 2017

A new online learning portal, which is set to become a major part of the education system from next year, is being described by observers and parents as a move that will "level the playing field" and hopefully, reduce the reliance on tuition.

Through the Singapore Student Learning Space, students and teachers will be able to access learning resources and pedagogies from other schools as well.

Admiralty Secondary principal Toh Thiam Chye, whose school is one of 62 already putting the platform through its paces since last month, said: "With more schools coming on board, there will be more quality resources being shared, and it will help to raise the quality of education here."

Social studies teacher Tay Peiyong, 33, has already seen his students appear more attentive during lessons when using the portal, which gives everyone, including the "quieter ones", a chance to engage in online discussions.

"Everyone participates," he said.

This also gives him a better gauge of how well students are absorbing his lessons.

And if needed, they can revise the lesson at home.

Dr Timothy Chan, director of SIM Global Education's academic division, said the portal could reduce students' dependence on tuition. "Students can learn at their own pace," said Dr Chan, adding that parents can also help guide their children at home.

Singaporeans are spending $1.1 billion a year on tuition, according to the Household Expenditure Survey released in 2014. This is nearly double the $650 million in 2004.

Parents who spoke to The Straits Times hope the portal will live up to its aim of encouraging students to "take ownership" of their studies, and allow them to learn at their own pace.

"If they do not know something, they can review their lessons at home and find the answers on their own," said Mr Julian Tan, who has a 14-year-old son.

"It is a good way to get our young ones to make lifelong learning a habit," added the self-employed 45-year-old who is in the food and beverage industry.

But some raised concerns that overeager parents may push children to cover more topics ahead of their peers.

Housewife Helen Lim, 43, who has two children in primary school, said: "Some may see the portal as a chance to give their kids a head start over their classmates, by getting them to learn more in advance. Students may end up having less free time because they have to study even more."

Experts believe this is unlikely to be an issue.

National University of Singapore lecturer Kelvin Seah said: "Even without the portal, kiasu parents will still be able to make their kids learn in advance if they wish, by making kids read textbooks beyond their grade level."

He pointed out that a more obvious issue is that the online platform may not suit some students who are reliant on external help.

"The portal may be less effective for more dependent and less-intuitive learners, who may fail to draw the connections between the activities in the portal and the concepts that these activities are meant to illustrate."

Schools here are given the autonomy to decide how they want to provide students with devices that can access the learning portal.

Experts such as Dr Chan said needy students need not worry as there is financial support available if they cannot afford such devices.

Admiralty Secondary student Kioko Chin, 15, likes the portal's real-time monitoring feature, as it gives teachers a sense of students' understanding of a certain topic. "If we have doubts, our teacher will know immediately and can address them," she said.

Her schoolmate Tan Ying Shan, 14, said that previously, lessons were less engaging as students merely listened when the teacher spoke in class. "Now, with the videos and discussions, we all can take part."

↧

Will the fortunes of Malays change in Singapore? President is only symbolic

August 19, 2017, 8:11 am

≫ Next: Para paddler Jason Chee fights on despite losing right eye

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Singapore's envoy to Malaysia rebuts Utusan on elected presidency
By Shannon Teoh, Malaysia Bureau Chief In Kuala Lumpur, The Straits Times, 18 Aug 2017

Singapore's High Commissioner to Malaysia has issued a rebuttal to Utusan Malaysia newspaper over false allegations on Singapore's upcoming presidential election which is reserved for Malay candidates, and on its Malay community.

Mr Vanu Gopala Menon wrote to the Malay-language newspaper yesterday in reply to its Aug 14 article "Berubahkah nasib kaum Melayu di Singapura? Presiden sekadar simbolik" (Will the fortunes of Malays change in Singapore? President is only symbolic).

"Contrary to the false assertions in the commentary, the Singapore President, who is elected with a popular mandate, plays key roles in nation-building and in ensuring good governance," he wrote.

Mr Menon said these roles include being the symbol and unifier of a multiracial Singapore, the custodian of the country's reserves, and the protector of the integrity of its public service.

"Surely, Utusan Malaysia would agree that these are important tenets which every country should safeguard."

The Aug 14 Utusan article by Ms Marzita Abdullah said: "The post of President of Singapore sounds great but it is only symbolic without any political power."

She wrote: "Maybe because non-Malays in Singapore are given priority and advantages in all aspects, (previous) presidents did not have to struggle to consider the fate of their own race. Therefore, when a Malay holds the post of president, the direction that Malays are headed will surely be given attention as that race constantly feels sidelined in its own country."

In his letter, Mr Menon stressed that "Singapore's Malay community has achieved significant social and economic progress within Singapore's rules-based and meritocratic society".

He said: "We are, as a nation, proud of these accomplishments, and we will achieve further progress together. It is incorrect to say that non-Malays in Singapore have been given 'priority and advantages'. We certainly do not have a race-based system of benefits and patronage."

He added: "Singapore will not tolerate the use of race or religion to promote ill will between different segments of Singapore society, or to undermine our institutions."

He had earlier replied to Utusan's May 28 editorial on the election to counter inaccuracies that meritocracy was used as an excuse to discriminate against the community.

"The Editor did not publish my letter for reasons I could not understand other than not providing a true picture to the readers. Instead, the Editor published a second commentary, with similar inaccuracies and misrepresentations," he said.

Utusan's largest shareholder is Umno, which dominates Malaysia's ruling coalition and owns 49.77 per cent of the 78-year-old newspaper.

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Para paddler Jason Chee fights on despite losing right eye

August 19, 2017, 8:45 am

≫ Next: Jokes about politics: The good, the bad and the ugly

≪ Previous: Will the fortunes of Malays change in Singapore? President is only symbolic

He suffers fresh setback after 2012 accident, but is back training for ASEAN Para Games
By May Chen, The Straits Times, 18 Aug 2017

For the second time in his life, the world as Mr Jason Chee saw it darkened around him this April.

This time, as far as his right eye is concerned, it is a darkness that is forever. He has lost the eye that helped him win multiple medals for table tennis at the ASEAN Para Games (APG).

A naval ship accident in 2012 that robbed him of both his legs, his left arm and three fingers on his right hand, did not manage to stop him.

Now he is practising again for next month's APG, intoning a simple mantra. "Once a fighter, always a fighter. I'm a fighter," he said. "I still have one eye. I can be happy day by day."

The latest storm broke when the navy serviceman felt a sudden partial "blackout" in his vision one morning when he reported for work at Changi Naval Base almost four months ago.

The 34-year-old was diagnosed with choroidal melanoma (a cancer of the eye) after a tumour 1.5cm in circumference was found in his right eye. Given that the disease had not spread, doctors advised that removing his eye would be the best way to arrest the cancer.

Within a fortnight, he found himself wheeled into the operating theatre once again, about to lose yet another vital and irreplaceable part of his body.

Despite being a self-proclaimed optimist, Mr Chee said he, too, questioned the latest hand he had been dealt. He told The Straits Times yesterday: "I tried to find treatment to save my eye, but there was no way. I was quite down, and wondered why this would happen to me."

It was even harder for his elderly father, a 75-year-old retiree and a former vegetable seller, to accept the latest misfortune to befall his only child.

Yet Mr Chee has the toughness of one who has been in the navy for 13 years, and the resilience of an athlete who became a successful national para-table tennis player following his accident.

He also had a mother who spent her lifetime teaching him to face adversity head-on, before she died in 2011 of kidney failure at age 65.

A day before he checked himself into the hospital for surgery - coincidentally it was Vesak Day - the Buddhist did what his mother would have done: He went to the temple and prayed.

Mr Chee, who won a team gold at the 2015 edition of APG on home soil, said: "I can't prevent this from happening to me but I can control how I respond to it."

He remained stoic, just as he had through his accident five years ago. There was, however, a considerable amount of adapting to do.

Having lost some peripheral vision and depth perception, Mr Chee, who still does household chores and enjoys whipping up dishes like chicken curry, has to be more careful with his movements to avoid falls and injury.

Getting ready in the morning now takes an hour, 20 minutes more than before.

Picking up the table tennis bat again also required considerable effort.

When Mr Chee returned to training in the second week of June, three weeks after surgery, he found himself missing routine shots.

He said: "I kept missing, and kept hitting into the net. But my coach (Chia Chong Boon) was very patient with me, everyone was encouraging me, so I told myself I couldn't give up."

Rather than believe that life has been unfair, he wants people to see how undeterred he is. By picking himself up time and again, he hopes to inspire others.

He said: "Look at me - I've lost a lot. But life has to go on. Our biggest enemy is ourselves. We must defeat our fears and not be afraid of anything that we think we can't do.

"I don't want to see myself as a person with disabilities. I want to see myself as a cheerful, normal person."

His vision may not be like before, but this man of the seas still views life with admirable clarity.

↧

Jokes about politics: The good, the bad and the ugly

August 19, 2017, 9:11 am

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Humour can reduce stress and build bonds, as well as spread lies and breed cynicism
By David Chan, Published The Straits Times, 19 Aug 2017

This essay is about the psychology of sociopolitical humour. First, let me assure you that writing or reading about humour does not kill the fun, although you may not laugh out loud. By humour, I mean a joke or a funny communication with a social purpose clear to the audience - to provoke laughter and provide amusement.

Humour can be communicated in written, oral or visual formats. Sociopolitical humour often combines the various formats, as is the case in a cartoon, a video clip or an Internet meme. A popular Internet meme is a photograph with the original image deliberately altered to inject humour.

In Facebook posts and chats on mobile applications like WhatsApp, friends freely share jokes that are sociopolitical in nature, often not knowing who created the humorous item or initiated its transmission in cyberspace. Marketing professionals examine how humour can influence consumer behaviour. In advertising, humour is a serious business. In contrast, politicians, political analysts and social scientists have not given humour the attention it deserves, especially with regard to the sharing of sociopolitical humour in social media.

Sociopolitical jokes can influence us in ways beyond having a good laugh.

HUMOUR AND HEALTH

Political figures are often the butt of jokes in sociopolitical humour, with such humour most common in times of elections and political scandals or sagas.

Sociopolitical jokes circulated on social media are frequently irreverent and sometimes reflect ignorance. But those that centre on issues that are emotive, unpleasant or confusing are often wildly popular. That is because the humour provides comic relief that temporarily defuses the tense feeling evoked by these issues, be it angst, anxiety or ambivalence.

Research has shown that humour is sometimes associated with subsequent decrease in stress, and this occurs through two pathways.

The first pathway is neuro-physiological. When we laugh and enjoy humour, our nervous system relaxes and our brain releases hormones known as endorphins. This biochemical mechanism helps to regulate emotions and relieve pain, increasing physical and emotional well-being.

The other pathway is socio-psychological. Joking brings people closer together, forges better relationships and increases social support from each other. It also helps us reappraise a stressful situation by seeing things from new perspectives.

But these positive effects on physical, emotional and social health occur only when the joke is acceptable. When we find a joke offensive or feel humiliated by it, it is no longer humour to us. We feel upset and may even react aggressively.

Also, some purported health effects of humour are highly exaggerated. There is no sound scientific evidence for claims that humour can cure cancer or other serious medical conditions. It is a bad idea to replace your medical doctor with a laughter therapist.

WHEN HUMOUR BECOMES HARM

Research has shown that a sense of humour is an attractive social trait, sometimes ranked as high as good looks and intellect. We like someone with a good sense of humour if we think it reflects social confidence, happiness and a healthy perspective on life.

But individuals who use humour often are not necessarily happier and likeable people. Studies show that individuals who use jokes to ridicule others and put people down are disliked at the workplace. They have poor social relationships, and they tend to have lower well-being.

Of course, many jokes among colleagues or friends taking aim at bosses or politicians are mostly harmless. They may even be downright hilarious with a positive bonding effect for those who get the humour.

But there are situations when sociopolitical humour produces negative effects, and these are not necessarily about the impact on individual physical and mental health.

There are obvious ways that sociopolitical humour can cause harm. For example, a joke may contain a claim that threatens or ruins the reputation of the person targeted. Such a claim can also be legally defamatory, even when communicated as a joke in the context of an Internet meme.

Jokes that result from prejudice or purportedly humorous statements that are highly insensitive and offensive to race and religion can result in dismissal, disharmony, distrust and even death. Practical jokes in the form of fake news on the Internet may be funny to those propagating them but can end up wasting public resources or causing serious damage in crisis situations.

But besides these more obvious situations of how jokes can go wrong, there is a potential silent effect that has not received sufficient attention.

SLEEPER EFFECT

Sociopolitical humour in social media oversimplifies the issues that it targets. But it is rare to criticise the simplistic depiction. The simplification is psychologically acceptable to the audience, since a joke is meant to amuse rather than provide an intellectual analysis.

And if anyone in a chat group tries to disagree with the message in the joke or point out its fallacy, he is likely to be deemed as lacking a sense of humour. That is quite a deterrent.

Jokes go viral because they are incisively sarcastic, incredibly creative or people instinctively find them funny. That is why many of us tap the forward button to share such jokes with friends without hesitation.

Therein lies the power of sociopolitical humour in social media. It arrests the attention of the audience. It conveys the intended sociopolitical message. The message is a particular viewpoint, and one selected aspect of an issue that is in fact multifaceted. We are drawn into a particular position in an affectionate way, and in the context of an informal social interaction where there is no expectation to formulate any argument to support the position.

The net effect of all these can be surprisingly sinister. Adverse impact can occur in insidious ways. One way is through a powerful psychological phenomenon known as the sleeper effect. It is so-called because it refers to how we remember a message but not its source, and how a message becomes more persuasive over time even though the source was not highly trusted.

This is how it works. The sociopolitical message associated with a humorous item was not taken seriously when it was first received. After all, it was part of a joke. But over time, through widespread sharing and repeated exposure to the underlying message in recurring humour, a cynical position on an issue or a negative view of a target public figure becomes rooted in public consciousness.

The propagated positions and views in the message become socially acceptable criticisms because they are perceived as widely held beliefs. We freely share them with our friends. They are salient and readily available for people to use to explain political events and actions, especially controversial and complex ones. The remarkable thing about the sleeper effect is that we believe a message from a source that we had not considered trustworthy. That is possible because we remember the message but we forgot the source.

If you find this hard to believe, see if you find this experience familiar. You and your friends were gossiping when you recalled a story or an allegation about a public figure that someone had told you, but you did not remember who told you and when.

In short, the overuse and over-consumption of sociopolitical humour not only end up reinforcing a preconceived position, but it can also create a public view and develop public cynicism. And the process is subconscious, as it is due to widely shared messages taking root and becoming normalised in public consciousness.

HANDLING HUMOUR

How then do we handle humour?

In the vast majority of situations, humour is harmless, and it can even help in our personal, social and work lives. Continue to have fun. But be sensitive to the feelings of others, especially when it involves race and religion. And remember that "just kidding" is a poor defence when an offence is committed.

Three simple guiding principles may be useful before we create or communicate humour, whether just for laughs or to convey a sociopolitical message.

First, use humour but do not humiliate. Second, fictionalise but do not fabricate. Third, denounce but do not defame.

As for politicians, analysts and social scientists, it may be worth taking time to re-examine a position, conclusion or interpretation on a particular policy or issue if it is a constant butt of jokes.

Persistent and recurring themes in popular humour may be signals for political self-reflection and analysis of public sentiment. If we dislike a certain strain of sociopolitical humour, it does not mean we should treat it as noise.

The science of humour is clear. The benefits of good humour go well beyond adding spice to our lives. Humour brings people together, and it broadens our perspective and bonds us. It can enhance well-being by mitigating stress and tempering our impulse when dealing with difficult issues.

If we have little or no humour, we are not just boring. We may be neglecting an important mechanism to cope with stress and negative events.

But if indiscriminate humour is abundant and discernment is absent, it is no longer funny. Harmful humour means we all end up as losers, and not just jokers.

We all need a sufficient dose of good humour. We live better if we know how and when to be funny - both in producing humour and reacting to it.

Whether in social media or face-to-face situations, humour is here to stay. So we all should learn to relax and embrace it, but not get carried away. Humour can either help or hurt us in a serious way.

The writer is director of the Behavioural Sciences Institute and professor of psychology at the Singapore Management University.

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ESM Goh Chok Tong calls for 'stronger, more inclusive' leadership team

August 20, 2017, 8:23 pm

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With Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stating that he will step down by 70, the new generation of leaders will have to quickly establish themselves as a cohesive team, the Emeritus Senior Minister says.
Channel NewsAsia, 19 Aug 2017

Singapore's new generation of leaders will have to build a "stronger and more inclusive millennial generation team", said Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong on Saturday (Aug 19).

Speaking at a National Day Dinner for his constituency, Marine Parade, Mr Goh said the robustness of the country's leadership pipeline is one of the determinants of how a "small boat like Singapore" will fare in a turbulent climate of internal and external challenges. Other factors, he said, include the resilience of its politics as well as the cohesiveness of its multi-racialism and social equity.

Mr Goh noted that 65-year-old Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said he will step down by the age of 70.

"The fourth generation (4G) leaders will have to quickly establish themselves as a cohesive team and identify the captain amongst them," he said in the speech.

"They must try their utmost to bring in potential office-holders from outside the Singapore Armed Forces and public sector to avoid group-think. Highly competent Singaporeans outside the Government must also be prepared to step up and serve," he said.

Beyond technical competence, Mr Goh also said Singaporeans will want to know what "the leaders stand for, what kind of Singapore they want to build and what they will pass on to the fifth generation later".

SINGAPORE POLITICS MUST BE "BOLD, RESILIENT"

At the dinner, Mr Goh also said Singapore politics must be "bold, forward looking and inclusive of all races and different political opinions". It also has to be resilient, he added.

Mr Goh credited the country’s stability to Singaporeans having successively elected a strong government. "This enables the government to plan for the long term and prepare for contingencies ... a strength which most other elected governments lack," he said.

Elaborating on how Singapore has adapted the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy to local conditions, he said that Singapore's provision of Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) and Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) prevents a dominant party from shutting down opposition as at least one in five Members of Parliament (MPs) is not a member of the ruling People's Action Party.

Furthermore, the Group Representation Constituency system "guarantees" a fair number of minority MPs in Parliament, he said, adding that this “prevents the 'tyranny of the majority' in free elections and gives every community a stake in our shared destiny".

The Elected Presidency is likewise "a check against a populist and profligate government", Mr Goh said.

He called the recent decision to set aside reserved presidential elections for minorities a "stabiliser to ensure our multi-racial society stays afloat".

"If these stabilisers are not introduced to our political system, our democratic state risks being capsized when buffeted by internal differences and divisions, let alone external storms," he added.

MERITOCRACY PROTECTS AGAINST DANGERS OF NEPOTISM, CRONYISM

Mr Goh stressed that meritocracy must remain a key pillar of Singapore's "fair and equal society", as it protects the country from the "greater dangers of nepotism and cronyism".

Underlining the importance of maintaining social equity, Mr Goh said: "For a new country, the first round of meritocracy has produced the desired results. The brightest, ablest and most hard working have risen to the top. But for subsequent rounds, meritocracy entrenches the successful, widens the income gap and creates a sense of social inequity," he said.

The Emeritus Senior Minister said children of well-to-do families inherit the gift of good family backgrounds and networks from the day they are born. The state, however, must intervene to ensure the meritocratic process serves it purpose, he argued, so that every citizen has equal opportunities at the starting line and a fair chance to succeed throughout life.

"We must guard against social inequity as a new fault line in our society," he said.

Some Government policies that have gone some way to narrow the income divide are subsidies in housing, healthcare and education, as well as recent measures which soften the focus on academic grades and re-skill Singaporeans to take on higher value jobs, he said.

"The 4G leaders must find their own robust language, political values and programmes to lift the lives of lower-income Singaporeans," he added.

These new leaders will have their "work cut out for them" - they will have to build their own social compact with the people and must be able to grow the economy, create jobs, resolve everyday livelihood issues, check divisive trends in society, give hope and improve the lives of all Singaporeans, Mr Goh said.

"But they will inherit a political system in good working order. In time, they will have to bequeath a fair and multi-racial society to the generation after them."

Reserved presidential elections unique stabiliser in Singapore system: ESM Goh
By Joanna Seow, The Sunday Times, 20 Aug 2017

The change to the Constitution to set aside reserved presidential elections for minorities will help ensure that Singapore's multiracial society stays afloat, and is one of the unique stabilisers in the country's political system, said Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Speaking at a National Day dinner in his Marine Parade ward yesterday, he said the Government has introduced "Singapore-style innovations" to the Westminster parliamentary system over the years to stabilise "a free-wheeling democratic process".

Citing other such stabilisers, he said the elected presidency itself serves as a check against a populist and profligate government; that the system of Non-Constituency MPs and Nominated MPs ensures there will always be opposition MPs; and that the Group Representation Constituency system guarantees a fair number of minority MPs in Parliament.

"If these stabilisers are not introduced to our political system, our democratic state risks being capsized when buffeted by internal differences and divisions, let alone external storms," he said.

The presidential election next month is reserved for Malay candidates, after changes to the Constitution to ensure multiracial representation in the highest office in the land.

Mr Goh said being able to keep politics resilient, bold, forward-looking and inclusive of all races and different political opinions is one key factor which will determine how Singapore fares as it deals with the challenges thrown up by a more turbulent world. Also important is having a robust leadership pipeline, and a cohesive and fair multiracial society, he added.

With Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is 65 this year, saying he will step down by age 70, the fourth-generation of political leaders will have to quickly establish themselves as a cohesive team and identify their team captain, Mr Goh said, adding that Singaporeans will want to know what they stand for.

He urged them to build a stronger and more inclusive team by bringing in potential office holders from outside the Singapore Armed Forces and the public sector to avoid group-think.

He also encouraged highly competent Singaporeans outside the Government to "step up and serve".

Finally, Mr Goh said, meritocracy must remain a key pillar of society to guard against social inequity - a deep fault line in many countries.

Still, he cautioned that while meritocracy may help the brightest and most hardworking rise to the top at first, it may end up entrenching the successful later, and the Government must intervene to ensure that meritocracy serves its purpose.

He added that the Government has expended immense resources on this, while guarding against the downsides of a generous welfare state, and people should not develop an entitlement mentality.

Singapore's success so far is not due to inherent talent or smarts, said Mr Goh, but the result of common values, political stability, national cohesion and good governance as well as each generation working and sacrificing for the next.

Describing this as the "Singapore secret", he said the fourth generation of leaders "have their work cut out for them".

"They will have to build their own social compact with the people... They will have to bequeath a fair and multiracial society to the generation after them."

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National Day Rally 2017

August 21, 2017, 5:19 am

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Building up preschools, Fighting diabetes and Making Singapore a Smart Nation

Pre-school sector to ramp up quality, offer more places
At National Day Rally, PM Lee also focuses on fighting diabetes and creating smart nation
By Royston Sim, Assistant Political Editor, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Singapore will double its annual spending on pre-schools in the next five years, to add 40,000 new places for children and improve the quality of pre-school education.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday announced three initiatives to build up the pre-school sector so that every child - regardless of family background - can have the best possible start in life.

Besides increasing the number of childcare places for children aged up to four, the Government will roll out more kindergartens and set up a new centralised training institute for pre-school teachers.

"Today, every child goes to a good school. We want every child to go to a good pre-school," said Mr Lee.

"If we get this right, we will foster social mobility and sustain a fair and just society."

At his 14th National Day Rally, Mr Lee focused on building for the future, highlighting three issues that he said are important for the nation's prosperity and the well-being of its citizens in the long term.

Unlike past rallies where he spoke of Singapore's future, its economy or geopolitical issues, Mr Lee homed in this year on improving pre-school education, fighting diabetes and creating a smart nation that offers opportunities for all.

He noted that the economy is expected to grow by about 2.5 per cent this year, and, most encouragingly, productivity went up by 1 per cent last year after years of almost zero growth.

But he moved beyond immediate priorities like creating jobs to discuss longer-term issues.

He said the Government had moved decisively to transform the pre-school sector five years ago, by creating nearly 50,000 childcare and kindergarten places, increasing pre-school subsidies and raising education standards.

Anchor operators will build more childcare centres in new Housing Board developments to address a shortage of places in young towns.

To improve the quality of education, the Ministry of Education (MOE) will increase the number of its own kindergartens from 15 now to 50 in the next five years, Mr Lee said. This greater scale will allow MOE to influence and raise the quality of the whole sector, he added.

In addition, a National Institute for Early Childhood Development will be set up to consolidate existing training programmes for teachers and develop new curricula.

The Government will also work with employers to ensure salaries for pre-school teachers rise in tandem with their career progression.

Annual spending on pre-schools, which was $360 million in 2012, has more than doubled to $840 million this year. It will double further to $1.7 billion in 2022, he said.

But pouring resources into the sector will mean little unless young parents do their part, he added, as he encouraged them to have more babies.

Moving to health, he warned Singaporeans about the threat posed by diabetes, and urged them to maintain a healthy lifestyle by exercising more and watching their diet.

Soft drink producers have agreed to reduce the sugar content in all their drinks sold here, he said, adding that the Government is exploring solutions tried elsewhere, like a sugar tax in Brunei.

He then turned to the Smart Nation initiative, noting that Singapore is lagging behind in several areas, including cashless payments and using IT to enhance security.

As Mr Lee outlined various ongoing projects, including using artificial intelligence to comb through data from an integrated national sensor network, he also cited a new app to solve daily problems like paying for parking.

The app, named parking.sg, will allow users to remotely pay for the exact duration they park after it is launched in October, saving them the hassle of adding coupons.

Singapore, he said, had to keep pushing such projects to keep up with a changing world and make sure it stayed among the world's leading cities. Underlying this drive for a smart nation, he added, was the need to make the most of IT to create new jobs and opportunities, making life better for Singaporeans.

Concluding, he noted that each generation in Singapore has sought to create a better future for the next, adding that it is his Government's duty to help realise this. "It has ever been so, and it must always be so."

He added: "Keeping our eyes on tomorrow, and investing in our children. Undaunted by challenges and disruptions.

"Instead, working together to overcome every obstacle, seize every opportunity and realise a bright future for all of us."

Each generation builds for the next – the Singapore story
PM Lee cites a family that has moved up the social ladder, adding every family can do so
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

In January this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong presented an Edusave Merit Bursary to nine-year-old Adam Zafran Aziz.

When he met the Teck Ghee Primary School pupil's family after the ceremony, he was, to his surprise, shown a small framed photo of a similar award ceremony in 1986. The photo showed Adam's father Aziz Ahmad, then a schoolboy, receiving a Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) House Union Bursary from Mr Lee.

"So, I have presented awards to father and son, 31 years apart," he recounted to applause last night, as he wrapped up his National Day Rally.

When Mr Lee met Adam's 79-year-old grandfather recently, he discovered that Mr Ahmad Azali used to be a gardener with the now-defunct SBC - the reason his son Aziz qualified for the bursary all those years ago.

Mr Lee highlighted young Adam's family to drive home the importance of each generation in Singapore building for the next.

He noted that Mr Aziz, now 42, received his bursary at a challenging time for Singapore, which was coming out of a severe recession.

But even as the nation dealt with the crisis, it never stopped building for the future, and continued to improve its schools, he said.

This allowed Mr Aziz to work hard and do well. He graduated with a diploma in mechanical engineering from Singapore Polytechnic, worked in the semiconductor industry for over a decade, and earned a master's degree.

Two years ago, he was headhunted by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, where he now works as a senior maintenance engineer.

Now, Mr Aziz's son is growing up in a completely different world, where he will need different skills to compete in the future economy.

"It is my Government's duty to build for our future, so that every family can be like Ahmad, Aziz and Adam. It has ever been so, and it must always be so," Mr Lee said.

"In the beginning, when we had little else, we had faith in our future. We believed every family should have the chance to work hard and do well, and improve their lives. We wanted every generation to outdo their parents. We strove mightily to make this happen."

Like his father, Adam will have the opportunity to thrive, Mr Lee said. He and his schoolmates will, for instance, learn how to code.

This will give them a strong foundation to take up good jobs and seize opportunities in the future, Mr Lee added.

"This is the Singapore of the last half century: Ahmad, a gardener; Aziz, a pharmaceutical engineer; and Adam, (with) a bright future ahead of him," he said. "Each generation striving and building for the next."

Mr Aziz's path to success was a tale of grit. His father's highest salary was $700, and he entered the polytechnic with the help of tuition fee subsidies from self-help group Mendaki. There, he opted to study engineering in the hopes of improving his chances at employment.

Now, his son's career dreams run the gamut, from being a palaeontologist to a scientific researcher, a chef and a YouTuber.

Said Mr Aziz, who also has a seven-year-old daughter: "I feel honoured to be mentioned by PM Lee, but I know there are many others just like me, who started at the bottom and worked hard to get to where they are now.

"This comes from a combination of the Singapore education system and good governance, plus our own hard work."

Multiracial presidency 'will strengthen racial harmony'
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Singapore's multiracial presidency will strengthen racial harmony and national pride, and enable its people to work together more closely, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the National Day Rally.

"It will enable us to work even closer together to face whatever challenges that may come our way, so we can thrive and progress as one people, one Singapore," he said in his Malay speech yesterday.

Next month's election is reserved for candidates from the Malay community, following changes to the law to ensure that the highest office in the land reflects Singapore's multiracial society.

"I am glad that the Malay community is participating fully in our efforts to build a better Singapore. Our collective resolve will enable us to tackle the challenges we face and progress together as one united people," he said.

This, said Mr Lee, was what Singapore's first president Yusof Ishak envisioned 50 years ago, adding: "If he were alive today, he would be happy to see how much progress we have made."

He said: "If all goes well, another distinguished Malay Singaporean will become our next president.

"I hope he or she will bring as much distinction and honour to the office, and be as well-loved and remembered by Singaporeans as Encik Yusof Ishak was. Our multiracial presidency will strengthen our racial harmony, and our pride in and love of Singapore."

Ramping up pre-schools

Big increase in childcare places, MOE kindergartens
Teaching standards to be raised; spending to go up
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Two in three pre-schoolers will, by 2023, have a place in a childcare centre or kindergarten that is run or supported by the Government, up from one in two today.

This will be achieved as more places become available at pre-schools run by anchor and partner operators - which get government grants but must meet fee caps and quality criteria - and the Ministry of Education (MOE).

About 40,000 childcare places will be added by 2022, a 30 per cent increase from now. Most will be run by anchor operators.

MOE will run 50 kindergartens by 2023, more than three times its current 15. With the increase, the ministry will have greater scale to influence the kindergarten sector and raise quality standards.

Since Aug 1, the Government has also appointed 29 more pre-schools under a scheme for partner operators, which face requirements that are less stiff than those for anchor operators. This brings the number of pre-schools in the partner operator scheme to about 200.

At the National Day Rally last night, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said pre-schools, for children aged two months to six years, are important. "Today, every child goes to a good school. We want every child to go to a good pre-school, so that all children, regardless of family background, have the best possible start in life," he said.

The Government will also double its annual spending on the pre-school sector to $1.7 billion in 2022 - "a heavy investment, but worthwhile and necessary", said PM Lee. He also said he hopes that with this financial support, government-funded pre-schools would be as good as government-funded primary and secondary schools.

A new national institute for pre-school teachers will also be set up to raise standards.

These moves come amid rising demand for childcare places as more parents see the importance of pre-school education in a child's development, and more mothers return to work. The Early Childhood Development Agency, which oversees the pre-school sector, said most of the additional childcare places will be at centres that take in about 200 children each, twice that of an average centre.

PM Lee noted that the shortage of pre-school places is mainly for children up to four years of age. To mitigate this, more "early years centres" will be set up. These centres admit children aged up to four years, unlike most childcare centres that admit children aged up to seven. Eligible Nursery 2 children in the centres will be guaranteed a Kindergarten 1 place in an MOE kindergarten.

The first four centres are under construction in Punggol and expected to open next year. The other new centres will be built in new Housing Board estates for a start.

As for children aged five and six, the quality of pre-school programmes will be raised. The 15 MOE kindergartens have offered good programmes at reasonable prices, said PM Lee. "Parents know that they can trust the MOE brand."

He said raising the number of MOE kindergartens to 50 would allow MOE to make a wider impact beyond its own pre-schools and raise the quality of the sector, which has about 500 kindergartens. Extra help is also being given to children from low-income families, under the government scheme KidStart.

But all of the Government's investment in young children "will be for nought", said PM Lee, if young couples do not start families. "Please have more babies!" he said, to much laughter from the audience.

Civil servant S. Thevigha, 34, who has a one-year-old in pre-school, said: "With government-supported pre-schools taking a larger market share, I think that will set the price benchmark for private operators. That could help keep costs low and encourage more families to have children."

New national institute to train pre-school educators
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

A new national institute will be set up to train pre-school educators to improve the profession and attract good people.

The National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) will offer the full range of diploma and certificate programmes for pre-school professionals.

It will be the pre-school equivalent of the National Institute of Education (NIE), which trains teachers in primary and secondary schools as well as junior colleges.

Its establishment comes at a time when demand for pre-school teachers has gone up, with the sector expanding to meet increased demand for childcare services.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, announcing the setting up of NIEC at the National Day Rally, said it was important to upgrade the profession as pre-school teachers "make all the difference to our children".

With the institute, pre-school teachers can go through the same rigorous training as school teachers employed by the Ministry of Education (MOE), who attend NIE before they start teaching, and to upgrade their skills and prepare for senior roles. NIE also conducts research on teaching methods and keeps them up to date. After obtaining the requisite qualifications, they can progress to be master teachers who show others how to teach, be subject specialists who develop new curricula or school leaders.

"Because teachers are trained well, paid well and have good career prospects, good people take up teaching, and we have a good education system," said PM Lee.

"We will take the same approach with pre-school teachers - train them well, reward them well and attract good, passionate people."

The NIEC, which will come under NIE, will bring together training programmes offered by the Institute of Technical Education, Ngee Ann and Temasek polytechnics, and NTUC's Seed Institute.

It will also have the scale to develop curricula with different specialisations such as music and art, and the faculty will have more professional development opportunities in a larger fraternity.

All trainee pre-school teachers will get their fees fully covered, plus an allowance.

Mr Victor Bay, chief executive of pre-school operator PAP Community Foundation, said the NIEC "will expand the availability of continuous professional development for our current teachers".

The Government will start a three-year campaign to attract people to the sector, and work with employers to ensure pre-school teachers have good career prospects and competitive pay.

PM Lee said: "As we upgrade the profession, salaries need to improve further... Only then can we upgrade the pre-school sector and get good people to join and make it a career. Only then can we build a strong pre-school system."

Why mother tongues are better learnt when young
By Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

The late Madam Kwa Geok Choo began learning Chinese only when she was in her 20s, during World War II, but seldom spoke the language although she could understand and speak it well.

It turned out that a friend had once told her she spoke Mandarin with an English accent, and she felt conscious about her pronunciation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said of his mother.

He cited hers and his own experiences during his Mandarin National Day Rally speech yesterday to illustrate why languages are better learnt when young.

"Adults can also learn a language, but it will not be as easy for them and they will not be as fluent," he said.

"If you learnt Mandarin as an adult, you may not be able to discern its four tones... And if you mispronounce Chinese words, you may end up making a faux pas."

PM Lee himself learnt Chinese at the age of three, when his parents enrolled him in the Chinese- medium Nanyang Kindergarten.

But he did not learn hanyu pinyin, which had not been adopted then.

The romanisation system helps students learn the proper pronunciation of Chinese words.

His Mandarin, thus, has a Nanyang, or Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese, accent, he said.

"Getting the right pronunciation is still not easy for me," PM Lee added.

Because mother tongues are used less at home these days, pre-schools play a greater role in teaching these languages, he said.

This is why the Government will work to improve bilingual education in pre-schools to give children a good foundation, in its push to upgrade pre-school education.

Promising feedback for KidStart scheme
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

A government scheme to help disadvantaged children has received promising feedback after being piloted for a year.

KidStart offers a range of support for children aged up to six, and about 400 families are currently on the scheme.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the National Day Rally yesterday: "Parents say that their children are more talkative and expressive, and interact much better.

"If these results are confirmed, we will scale up KidStart to benefit more children."

The support offered to those on the scheme includes home visits to teach parents about babies' nutrition and care, playgroups for those aged one to three and dedicated staff at pre-schools who focus on keeping these children in school.

Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin wrote in a Facebook post last night: "(KidStart) is an initiative that is very close to my heart. When we talk of inequalities and disadvantage, we need to go way upstream to begin breaking the cycle."

He also commended the children's parents for their efforts, as well as the staff and volunteers involved. "We couldn't have done this without the dedication of our KidStart practitioners and volunteers. They have been the families' teacher, partner and friend, seeing them through their brightest and darkest moments," he wrote.

A taxi driver, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, has gone for 10 playgroup sessions with his wife and two-year-old son. Parents pick up parenting skills during these sessions, and learn how to strengthen the bond with their children.

Mr Tan, who is in his 40s, said his son is now more confident and interacts well with strangers. "My two older children had problems transiting to pre-school, and that affected my work. But when I see my youngest child now, I have peace of mind."

Quality pre-schools pay off in big way
By Sandra Davie, Senior Education Correspondent, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Singapore is known around the world for having built a school system that nurtures world beaters.

In the last Programme for International Student Assessment test, 15-year-olds here were ranked No. 1 among students from 72 countries in mathematics, science and reading.

But looking at the powerful body of research on the benefits of quality early childhood care and education, should Singapore be shooting for the top in pre-school education instead?

It is a reachable target, with pre-schools poised to get better and more accessible.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced yesterday that the Ministry of Education (MOE) will run more kindergartens, from 15 now to 50 in the next five years, so that it has the scale to influence the rest of the kindergarten sector and raise standards.

To cater to children younger than that - those from age zero to four, there will be the early-years centres set up in Housing Board estates.

What was especially heartening was the announcement on the new National Institute of Early Childhood Development, which would be the pre-school equivalent of the existing National Institute of Education for school teachers. This will be set up to train pre-school educators to upgrade the profession and attract good people to the sector.

PM Lee said this was the Government's way of giving children "the best chance to succeed in life".

Indeed, there is a mountain of research showing that the race is already half run by the time a child enters formal schooling at Primary 1.

A large-scale British study - the Effective Pre-School, Primary and Secondary research project launched in 1997 - tracked more than 3,000 children from the age of three through their years of education to employment.

And the evidence was clear - pre-school education is beneficial. Children who attend pre-school end up with better results. The benefit of going to any type of pre-school equated to getting seven B grades in the General Certificate of Secondary Education exams - the equivalent of the GCE O levels - rather than seven C grades. The higher grades, in turn, would translate into better jobs and higher incomes over their lifetime.

Children with pre-school education were also more likely to regulate themselves.

Self-regulation is as important as learning your ABCs, as such children pay more attention in class and can ignore distractions.

Exposure to pre-school will especially benefit children from lower-income homes, for whom one-third of the places in MOE kindergartens have been reserved.

A study by developmental psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley shows that achievement gaps for some children open up as early as the age of three.

The landmark study in the 1990s found that children whose parents were professionals were exposed to far more spoken words - more than 1,500 per hour, on average - than children from homes on welfare. Over one year, that amounted to a difference of nearly eight million words and, by age four, a total gap of 32 million words.

Professor Edward Melhuish, one of the principal investigators of the British study, explained to The Straits Times: "It comes down to having little learning opportunity at home. Going to a high-quality pre-school will not only give them a good foundation for numeracy and literacy skills, but it will also teach them the other skills that studies show are increasingly important - the ability to self-regulate and cooperate with other people better."

Attending a good pre-school teaches children that learning can be enjoyable and that they can be good at it, he pointed out.

But what makes a high-quality pre-school?

Research indicates that the most important factor in determining the quality of pre-school programmes may be what teachers do, and how they do it, when interacting with children.

The Perry Pre-school Project in the United States in the 1960s involved providing high-quality pre-school education to a group of three- and four-year-olds living in poverty and assessed to be at high risk of school failure.

The children were taught by certified public school teachers with at least a bachelor's degree. The average child-teacher ratio was six to one and the curriculum emphasised active learning. These children were tracked for decades after leaving pre-school. Not only did more of them go on to complete high school and enter college, they also had better jobs and earned higher salaries.

Meanwhile, the Abecedarian Project in North Carolina - better known as ABC - trained children in self-control and social skills from the time they were just a few months old, stimulated their learning and also provided parental education.

This programme was found to have lasting effects on the child's IQ and the children later did better in school and found more high-skilled jobs.

These studies make a clear case for governments to invest in early childhood education.

Early education, especially one that is of high quality, yields handsome returns. It has enduring benefits for children and the societies that invest in it.

Singapore's goal, then, should be to top the charts in early childhood care and education. Future generations will be happier and more prosperous, if the nation can pull this off.

War on diabetes

Soft drinks to pack less sugar to cut diabetes risk
PM also urges Singaporeans to exercise more and watch what they eat
By Linette Lai, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Soft-drink makers have pledged to reduce the amount of sugar in their drinks, as part of a national effort to help curb diabetes in Singapore.

But the work will not stop there, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

In fact, the Government is already looking at ways to help people cut down on soft drink consumption, he added.

He also advised Singaporeans to get their health checked, exercise more and watch what they eat, so as to reduce their diabetes risk.

The chronic ailment affects an estimated 400,000 Singapore residents, a third of whom do not even know they have the disease.

The battle against sugar is one that is being fought worldwide.

Some countries, such as Mexico and Brunei, have implemented a sugar tax. Others, including Chile and Britain, have pasted warning labels on drinks that have high sugar levels.

But it is not clear yet how effective such measures are, said Mr Lee. In fact, consumers might simply find other ways to get their sugar fix.

"Others have tried to limit the size of soft drinks - no more Big Gulp," said Mr Lee, referring to the popular drink from convenience store chain 7-Eleven.

"But (we are) not sure if that works either, because people might just have two smaller gulps instead."

Even though no perfect solution has presented itself, the Government is determined to do something about the problem of soft drinks and sugar.

"If anybody comes up with (a solution) that works, we will study it, and we will implement it," said Mr Lee.

Getting soft-drink companies to come to a consensus is a first step, he added.

The Ministry of Health will give more details in the coming week.

In recent years, local drink manufacturers have rolled out healthier versions of popular beverages, often with less sugar.

Many of these product lines have been certified by the Health Promotion Board as healthier options through the Healthier Choice Symbol.

For instance, Yeo's chrysanthemum tea comes in a "light" version that has 40 per cent fewer calories.

And while Heaven and Earth sells a sweetened jasmine green tea, a sugar-free Ayataka green tea is also available. The line of drinks is under the Coca-Cola group.

Meanwhile, F&N's website says that it tracks the quantity of sugar added into all its drinks, and that it has gradually decreased sugar levels for all of its beverages over the past few years.

Dr Kevin Tan, an endocrinologist at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said that the move to reduce sugar levels in soft drinks "sends the right signal".

But there are more factors affecting a person's risk of diabetes than just sugary drinks, noted Dr Tan, who is also vice-president of the Diabetic Society of Singapore.

Other factors include the amount of carbohydrates consumed.

"The Government might declare war on diabetes, but the success of the war lies in the individual's lifestyle and choices," said Dr Tan.

Beating diabetes starts with small steps, says PM Lee
By Linette Lai, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Eat right, exercise more, get your health checked regularly and think twice about picking up that can of soft drink.

These are Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's words of advice to Singaporeans who want to beat diabetes.

"It takes effort and discipline, but it can be done," he told the audience during yesterday's National Day Rally, where he devoted a third of his time to speaking about the chronic illness.

Mr Lee, who has a family history of the disease, said winning the war against diabetes often starts with the little things.

"Genes play a part, but your choices make a difference," he said, sharing how he tries to make healthier choices in everyday life.

"Wholemeal bread instead of white bread. Teh-o kosong instead of teh.

"But if the dessert is chendol, it can't be helped. I will just take a little bit."

The average Singaporean can expect to live up to the age of 82 - among the longest lifespans in the world.

But many will spend around eight years of this time in poor health, with the culprit often being diabetes, Mr Lee said.

While diabetes is often a silent illness, its complications - which range from kidney failure to blindness and even impotency in men - can prove debilitating.

Roughly 400,000 Singapore residents have diabetes.

A significant proportion of them do not even know it.

Diabetes also becomes more prevalent as people age, and is estimated to affect nearly a third of Singaporeans aged over 60.

The Government alone cannot solve this problem, Mr Lee said. It is a matter of personal responsibility.

The first thing people should do is find out where they stand by going for regular medical check-ups.

These do not have to be expensive. From next month, nearly two million Singaporeans can get a basic health screening for $5 or less under the enhanced Screen for Life programme.

This was first announced in March, during the debate on the Health Ministry's budget.

"Don't take the attitude that it is better not to know," Mr Lee said. "You must want to know, because if you know about your condition, you can do something about it."

Do not sit on the results, he added, but see a doctor about any red flags in the medical report.

Apart from prescribing medication, the chances are your doctor will advise you to eat healthy and exercise more as well, Mr Lee said.

Ideally, people should get at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week - whether it is from a dance class or a Zumba session.

Failing that, walking at least 10,000 steps a day can be an alternative goal.

For instance, why not walk to the MRT station rather than take a bus, Mr Lee suggested.

Alternatively, climb the stairs rather than wait for a lift. "Let's all make the effort to walk a little bit more and work it into our daily routine," he said.

All the audience members yesterday received a free steps tracker from the Health Promotion Board (HPB), which is spearheading the national effort to get people up and moving.

According to one of its recent studies, more Singaporeans are hitting the target of 150 minutes of physical activity weekly.

But this is not enough to offset the growing amount of calories they consume.

In 1998, Singaporeans ingested around 2,100 calories a day.

But by 2004, they were downing 300 extra calories daily. This is equivalent to two scoops of ice cream, Mr Lee said.

And in 2010, the average daily intake had gone up by a further 200 calories - that is, a third scoop of ice cream and toppings.

"To burn off these three extra scoops of ice cream, you need to run more than an hour every day," Mr Lee said. "Most of us don't do that, so obesity has gone up."

A final target of Mr Lee's speech was soft drinks and sugar.

These drinks contain refined sugar, which is bad for a person and can increase the risk of diabetes.

This problem is especially tricky because drinking such sugary beverages can become an ingrained habit from a young age, he said. "Our children are most at risk because soft drinks are part of their lifestyle."

The Government has worked with soft drink makers to get them to reduce the sugar of all the drinks sold in Singapore. More details will be released later.

"But ultimately, what to drink is a personal choice," Mr Lee said. "The best is to drink plain water."

Eat less white rice, switch to brown or mixed rice, urges PM
By Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Each week, before the Cabinet ministers get down to the business of government, they gather for lunch.

Brown rice is always on the menu of this Pre-Cabinet lunch. The ministers agreed to having the healthier, nutty-tasting grain a few years ago on the suggestion of then Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan.

"But only very, very recently, I found out that some ministers don't like brown rice. So when we come to Pre-Cab lunch, they don't have rice and they go home and they eat white rice for dinner," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday, to laughter.

The example illustrates how it can be difficult to switch to healthier options, he said, adding: "As a compromise, I am thinking of trying white rice mixed with brown rice. It is not quite as healthy, but it is better tasting than all-brown rice and it is healthier than all- white rice."

Brown rice, which is unpolished and has its bran layer and germ intact, is packed with nutrients such as zinc and iron. It is higher in fibre, which slows glucose absorption by the body.

Starchy white rice, on the other hand, with its high glycaemic index, can overload bodies with blood sugar and heighten the risk of diabetes.

PM Lee said: "White rice may not taste sweet, but the effect is almost like eating sugar, and when you eat white rice, your blood sugar will shoot up."

He quipped that he needed to hold "another serious Cabinet discussion" on what to serve at the Pre-Cab lunches.

The Prime Minister related this anecdote at the National Day Rally to underline the importance of choosing healthier eating options as one way for Singaporeans to combat diabetes.

Fighting the disease is a major policy goal of the Government.

The key was to be disciplined and make the right dietary choices, said PM Lee, relating a story Punggol East MP Charles Chong told him about a lunch with founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Chong was having lunch with Mr Lee and, when the main course was served, he saw only 1-1/2 pieces of steak on the plate.

As the guest, Mr Chong was served first, and picked the smaller piece of meat out of respect for Mr Lee.

"Mr Lee stopped him. He said: 'That's my piece. You take the other one!'" recounted PM Lee.

Singaporeans could follow the late Mr Lee's example and make healthier choices, he added.

He, too, had to take this advice to heart, given his family's history of diabetes, he said. His paternal grandmother and several uncles had the disease, though the late Mr Lee did not. "For diabetes, genes play a part, but your choices make a difference," he said.

PM Lee urged Singaporeans to choose healthier dishes such as fish soup, if they eat out, or healthier alternatives offered by hawkers, with less oil, sugar and salt.

"And if you do cook at home, make small changes, like replacing white rice with brown or mixed- grain rice," he said.

FairPrice, in a statement last night, said that it will offer discounts on the healthier rice options it carries in its supermarkets from today to Aug 30 to encourage healthier eating.

Among the eight products that will be discounted by at least 10 per cent are brown and red rice, as well as organic rice.

Diabetic cabby improves his health
By Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

When taxi driver Song Hee Pheow found out he had diabetes three years ago, the diagnosis came as a shock and a surprise.

His family had no history of diabetes, and the 65-year-old had thought it was unlikely he would come down with the disease.

"I thought it couldn't be, I didn't believe it - I thought maybe it was what I ate over the last few days," Mr Song told The Straits Times in Mandarin.

He took action after a subsequent polyclinic check-up confirmed that initial diagnosis at a health check-up for cabbies by the Health Promotion Board and ComfortDelGro.

He cut out soft drinks, and eats a much smaller amount of white rice, and more fish and vegetables.

"I used to drink two cans of soft drink at one go... and when I went home for dinner, I used to eat a big bowl of white rice," he said.

In addition, he now climbs the stairs to his taxi at the multi-storey carpark instead of taking the lift.

Because of those lifestyle changes, Mr Song has lost 4kg in six months, and his doctor said his blood sugar levels are good.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong related Mr Song's turnaround tale during the National Day Rally last night, as he issued a clarion call to fight the scourge of diabetes.

Mr Lee urged Singaporeans to eat healthily, exercise more and go for health check-ups. "If Mr Song can do it, each one of us can do it too," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Song is glad his blood sugar levels are under control. He said: "Diabetes is serious, it can lead to things like amputations. People need to take care of their bodies, and diet is one of the most important things."

He added that these lifestyle changes are difficult, but will bring handsome benefits in future.

It was a similar message to Mr Lee's, who said: "The payoff is large, and it can be done."

Building a Smart Nation

Coupon-free parking with new mobile app from Oct 2017
Just key in the vehicle number, carpark and parking duration to pay on per-minute basis
By Irene Tham, Senior Tech Correspondent, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Motorists will be able to pay for parking on their phone from October, instead of using coupons, when the mobile app Parking.sg becomes available for download.

The app - developed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Housing Board and GovTech - will replace the use of paper coupons in about 1,150 carparks, including kerbside parking spaces.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, speaking at the National Day Rally yesterday, said: "It will save motorists a lot of unnecessary parking hassles."

Making people's lives more convenient by taking full advantage of technology is a key strategic goal of Singapore's Smart Nation push, he added.

Payment through the app will be cashless, and motorists just need to key in their vehicle number, select the carpark and indicate their intended parking duration.

Charges will also be calculated on a per-minute basis, with refunds given if motorists park for a shorter period than they initially intended to.

With the paper coupon system, motorists pay at least 60 cents for 30-minute blocks, and those who park for a shorter time do not get to pay less.

The app also makes it more convenient for those who need to extend their parking sessions, as this can be done remotely. Currently, motorists have to go back to their cars to add more coupons if they need to park for a longer period, or risk being fined.

Mr Lee noted that motorists here have been tearing out parking coupons for the past 40 years, even though Singapore boasts a world-class Electronic Road Pricing system and many Singaporeans are savvy with smartphones.

A month-long trial for Parking.sg took place in May and involved 2,300 public officers and nearly 100 public carparks.

Since then, the app has been upgraded to include a new alert feature to warn users before their parking session expires.

Sales executive W.K. Heng, 43, said he likes the new app and its alert feature, saying: "I don't have to rush back to the car any more to add coupons."

Paper parking coupons will still be in use when the system is rolled out in October, but will eventually be phased out.

Parking.sg will pave the way for the next-generation satellite Electronic Road Pricing system, which is expected to be introduced in 2020.

Satellites will monitor vehicles to calculate road usage and parking fees, and charge motorists electronically, saving on enforcement costs.

When Lim Swee Say felt like a 'suaku' paying cash in Shanghai
By Joanna Seow, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say was queueing up to buy chestnuts at a roadside hawker stall in Shanghai a few years ago.

When he saw customers ahead of him waving their mobile phones, taking their chestnuts and leaving without paying any cash, he thought they were showing their phones to get a special offer.

He declined to participate, offering to pay the full price in cash.

But it turned out the customers were using WeChat Pay to scan the hawker's QR code.

Mr Lim felt like a "suaku" (country bumpkin), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday when he recounted the incident.

Loud laughter greeted the narrative Mr Lee used to make a serious point: Singapore lags behind other cities in several areas of its Smart Nation push, like electronic payments. This is despite its "natural advantage", with its compact and highly connected state, a digitally literate population, and basic computing and robotics being taught in schools.

In major Chinese cities, nearly all payments - from taxi rides to tips for waiters - can be made by scanning a QR code with a phone. Cash and credit cards are rare.

"So, when visitors from China find that they have to use cash here, they ask: How can Singapore be so backward?" PM Lee said.

Six in 10 transactions here are made via cash or cheque, and there are too many different e-payment systems and schemes which must be simplified and integrated.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has been working on this.

In the next 18 months, 25,000 unified point-of-sale terminals, which accept multiple payment options such as credit cards and contactless payments through phones, are expected to be deployed islandwide, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office said in a statement yesterday.

Citing the newly launched PayNow service, Mr Lee said he hopes to use it to pay for hawker centre meals in the near future.

PayNow lets people make payments to a person's mobile number, instead of his bank account number, and works across different banks.E-payment at hawker centres will be rolled out in phases by the National Environment Agency by end-2019.

The drive is among five government projects to promote pervasive use of smart technologies.

Other e-payment initiatives include a common QR code to be rolled out in six months' time, which consumers and small businesses can use to receive money via PayNow, and account-based ticketing, which lets commuters use contactless bank cards to pay for trips without making top-ups.

To be a smart nation, Singapore has to take full advantage of information technology, said Mr Lee.

It is not just about having the fastest Internet connection or using self-driving cars and artificial intelligence, he added. It is about "using IT comprehensively to create new jobs, new business opportunities, to make our economy more productive, to make our lives more convenient, and to make this an outstanding city in which to live, work and play".

Language whizz helps silver peers get to grips with tech
By Jose Hong, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Retired human resources professional Tariam Singh speaks five languages that he puts to use regularly as he helps fellow senior citizens get to grips with technology.

Mr Singh, 70, is one of 163 volunteer Silver Infocomm Wellness Ambassadors.

"In my working life, I saw that many seniors had problems with IT," said Mr Singh, explaining why he became an ambassador.

It is also a good way to socialise and combat the loneliness the silver years can bring. About once a month, he teaches his peers how to use gadgets such as smartphones and tablets.

He does so at venues like Silver IT Fest roadshows where there are Learning Island Tutorials, at which seniors are taught to use mobile apps.

Anyone aged at least 50 can be an ambassador, as long as he is active with IT and can encourage his peers to actively adopt digital technology. He can nominate himself or his friends online.

Ambassadors are appointed by the Infocomm Media Development Authority and People's Association Active Ageing Council under the scheme, introduced in 2012.

Mr Singh, who has been an ambassador since June, said his ability to speak English, Mandarin, Malay, Hokkien and Punjabi helps him with students who may not understand terms used during lessons, which are in English.

One difficulty in teaching the elderly is that they tend to forget fast, so he gives them material to take home and his phone number.

One of his most rewarding experiences was when a man whom he taught saw him on the street, and ran to hug and thank him. He had taught the man to use a smartphone.

Mr Singh does not see himself stopping any time soon.

"My inspiration is to help my peers... Until the day they don't need me, I have no intention of stopping," he said.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong singled out Mr Singh when speaking on Singapore's Smart Nation drive. He said anyone could be like Mr Singh in sharing IT knowledge with others to bring them up to speed.

'Smart' lamp posts to transmit data
By Irene Tham, Senior Tech Correspondent, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Plans are afoot to turn every lamp post into one that can transmit information gathered from surveillance cameras and sensors across the country.

This network of interconnected lamp posts could form the spine of the Smart Nation Sensor Platform (SNSP), which aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to analyse, for instance, video footage collected by various government agencies.

Such data could be used to detect anomalies and predict situations such as potentially unruly crowds and traffic congestion.

"We are making every lamp post a 'smart' lamp post to mount different types of sensors," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his National Day Rally speech yesterday when he spoke about making Singapore a smart nation and using technology to boost public safety.

The AI-based video analytics system is slated for a trial in Orchard Road as well as selected housing estates from October.

During the year-long trial, the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) and other agencies will monitor noise, water and sewage levels for better estate management, and install smart water meters in homes to better track the use of utilities, said PM Lee.

GovTech and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will test the lamp posts with trials in selected areas over the next 18 months.

The private sector will also be roped in. GovTech will call a tender at the end of the year for products that will let LTA's 95,000 street lamps be used for transmitting data such as temperature, humidity, footfall or vehicular traffic.

PM Lee said the SNSP initiative was born after the Little India riots in December 2013 - the first public disturbance of its kind in 40 years.

"We were caught a little flat-footed. There were too few CCTV cameras... We had to rely on footage posted by the public on social media," he said.

Around 300 foreign workers were involved in the riot at the junction of Race Course Road and Hampshire Road, which lasted for about two hours.

Since then, more CCTV cameras have been installed in public places. However, the different surveillance systems have not been brought together, said PM Lee.

For instance, LTA has its own cameras to monitor traffic conditions and deter illegal parking. The police have put their cameras at the void decks of Housing Board flats and lift landings as part of efforts to deal with loan sharks.

National water agency PUB has sensors to detect water levels in drains.

In this respect, Singapore lags behind other cities, said PM Lee.

"Many cities already have comprehensive CCTV and sensor networks. And they also can integrate the inputs from all the sources, analyse and make sense of the information, and respond promptly if there is an incident or emergency."

Combining such inputs into an integrated data source is crucial, PM Lee added.

"If one day, we have an incident like the Boston bombings, our Home Team can assess the situation quickly and respond promptly, or even pre-empt it," he said.

In April 2013, twin bombs near the finishing line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and wounded 264.

The Boston police identified the two bombers in three days after pulling together and analysing a vast amount of data from CCTV cameras, social media and footage from the public.

Dropout seizes tech advantage
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

When online retail giant Amazon's Prime Now service landed in Singapore last month, it picked home-grown logistics firm Riverwood as its main delivery company.

The brainchild of school dropout Syafiq Yussoff, Riverwood had a rocky start seven years ago, with four workers and two vans. Competition was stiff, but Mr Syafiq pressed on, often joining workers to make deliveries and upgrading operations by tapping technology.

Today, it has more than 60 vehicles, over 120 workers and big-name clients like Sephora.

Mr Syafiq, 33, was one of several success stories in the new economy that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted at his National Day Rally last night.

In his Malay speech, Mr Lee noted how, like Mr Syafiq, more young Malays are taking advantage of IT, and starting new companies in a range of sectors.

Mr Syafiq said Riverwood was born out of a hunch that e-commerce would be the next big thing. He dropped out of a mass communication diploma course because of financial problems, and later attended night classes for a business studies diploma, but stopped out of lack of interest.

He started work as a personal trainer, but after six years saw fresh potential in online shopping: "I may not have much when it comes to formal education, but I am a hard worker and, when I saw the opportunity, I was willing to adapt and learn."

Economy and jobs immediate priorities for Govt
By Joanna Seow, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

Singapore's economy remains strong and growth is expected to reach around 2.5 per cent this year, higher than last year's 2 per cent.

Productivity, key to better jobs and better pay, is also improving - it rose 1 per cent last year after several years of negligible growth, and should do even better this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at last night's National Day Rally.

As with the early nation-building years, the country has to deal with many urgent issues, among them the economy, terrorism and international relations, he added.

"The Government is managing these issues carefully and calmly, and we hope the people will support us and work with us."

In his speeches in Mandarin and English, Mr Lee said economic performance and jobs are immediate priorities which the Government will continue to focus on.

He said that while economic transformation is progressing at an encouraging pace, it is not complete and all involved must push on.

He pledged that the Government will continue to help those affected by the restructuring process, such as professionals, managers, executives and technicians who have lost their jobs.

Through SkillsFuture, the Government is helping displaced workers and professionals retrain and reskill for new jobs.

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat and the Future Economy Council, together with unions and employers, are also implementing industry transformation maps to guide efforts in each growth industry.

And companies are given support to upgrade and enter new markets overseas.

A successful example is soya snack company Xiao Ban, started by the son of the founder of Lao Ban Soya Bean Curd. It has opened outlets in Vietnam with the help of International Enterprise Singapore, said Mr Lee.

"I believe that so long as the Government, people and industries work together, our economy will continue to grow steadily, we will open new frontiers and we will create good job opportunities for all," he added.

Weighty themes underpin the issues highlighted
By Toh Yong Chuan, Manpower Correspondent, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

At first glance, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's decision to devote the bulk of his National Day Rally speech last night to pre-school education, diabetes and building a smart nation may appear unusual.

The rally speech is an annual policy address to Singaporeans. These three seem to be softer issues compared to weighty matters like foreign policy, jobs and economic transformation that Mr Lee covered in past rallies.

Indeed, even Mr Lee acknowledged that some Singaporeans may be puzzled by his choice of topics. He said in Mandarin: "Many wondered why the Prime Minister should talk about diabetes at the National Day Rally."

But on deeper analysis, the issues are not as soft as they may seem. There are some common themes that underpin them. Here are three.

One, all three issues affect large numbers of Singaporeans.

Pre-school education affects six-year-olds and below, including future generations.

Diabetes looks set to strike older Singaporeans, as well as younger ones who will grow old in the future.

And if pre-school education and diabetes are issues that bookend a person's life journey, the Smart Nation plan, when it takes full shape, will affect people from cradle to grave.

As Mr Lee put it: "Smart Nation is for all of us, young and old."

What PM Lee talked about last night will impact Singaporeans at several points in their lives.

Two, not only do the issues affect Singaporeans, but they also fundamentally shape their long-term well-being.

Take pre-school education. Mr Lee took pains to explain last night why the Government is drastically expanding pre-school places, upgrading the profession of pre-school teachers and doubling its spending on pre-schools in the next five years. "Pre-school is important to give our children a good start and the best chance to succeed in life," he said.

The Government's greater focus on pre-school education also strengthens an important pillar of social policies here: meritocracy.

This is why programmes like KidStart, that give children from low-income families a head start in life, cannot come soon enough.

Controlling the spread of diabetes and implementing the Smart Nation programme will also improve the quality of life of Singaporeans.

Avoiding the ailments that diabetes brings means a smaller healthcare bill and being able to lead a fuller, active life. The benefits of technology in improving daily living can be eroded if one has poor health to begin with.

Finally, these issues also shape an important third area - jobs.

The Smart Nation programme is not just going to change how Singaporeans go about their daily lives, but it will also shape the economy and shake up the labour market.

PM Lee said that the Smart Nation drive will create new jobs and opportunities, such as engineers, programmers, data analysts and technicians - good jobs that Singaporeans can aspire to.

One can expect tertiary institutes to churn out graduates equipped for such jobs and Workforce Singapore to step up conversion programmes for mid-career workers. Picking up skills that these jobs demand will be easier if a sound educational foundation has been laid from a young age. This is how early investments in pre-school can pay off later when the young charges enter post-secondary education and even after they join the workforce.

Meanwhile, for older workers, their health is going to directly affect their employability and income-earning ability as they age, especially with the re-employment age having been raised to 67.

Put bluntly, being stricken with diabetes can bring about financial hardship for workers and their families, both in terms of larger healthcare bills and reduced earnings.

While pre-school education, diabetes and the Smart Nation drive may appear to be unrelated on their own, collectively they will impact Singaporeans not just in terms of how they live, but also how they work.

But while PM Lee may have given Singaporeans much to think about in his rally speech, two questions remain.

First, on issues like diet and exercise, one wonders how much the Prime Minister can shape personal, individual decisions.

He can raise awareness, but that alone may not be enough to coax Singaporeans to change their diet and daily habits.

Government agencies such as the Health Promotion Board must expand their outreach. Employers, too, can do more, such as by getting their desk-bound employees out of their chairs and away from the keyboards.

The second question has to do with displaced workers.

The parking app to replace parking coupons may mean fewer carpark wardens in the long run.

Similarly, cashless payment options and self-service checkouts mean fewer cashiers.

What is going to happen to workers like carpark wardens and cashiers? For displaced workers, the Smart Nation programme may mean joblessness.

Overall productivity may rise, but this downside of the Smart Nation drive cannot be underestimated. Efforts to prepare, help and retrain these workers should start right away.

National Day Rally 2017 Speech (Chinese)

National Day Rally 2017 Speech (Malay)

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'Invisibility' makes managing money hard for youth

August 23, 2017, 1:30 am

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Financial literacy experts say as society goes cashless, the young lose sight of value of money
By Serene Luo, Deputy Schools Editor, The Straits Times, 21 Aug 2017

University education for British citizens used to be free - until the late 1990s when policies changed and students instead took loans to pay for tuition fees.

By 2013, students would graduate with some £45,000 (S$80,000) of debt, as they would have borrowed roughly £9,000 for tuition and £6,000 for room and board each year.

On top of that, said Mrs Marilyn Holness and Dr Nicky Reid, students were being handed cheques as part of their loans every few months - to pay for their rent and bills - but they had not been taught to manage their finances and often found themselves struggling to buy food before their next cheque was to arrive.

The two were behind the Money Doctors national support service for students in Britain, which at its peak reached 200,000 students in more than 100 universities there, teaching them life skills in managing their personal finances.

Both of them are at the University of Roehampton: Mrs Holness is director of student engagement, and Dr Reid is an educational developer at the learning and teaching department.

They were recently in Singapore to conduct workshops for parents and children as part of the RHB Financial Literacy Programme by RHB Bank.

The "invisibility of money to young people" is one main factor exacerbating the problems that young people have with money, they said.

Said Dr Reid: "For Marilyn and me, our parents worked and brought home pay packets - money in little brown envelopes. Money was spoken about in the household. As a child, you knew things had to be paid for (out of this packet). We knew money was finite.

"But now, kids sit in a trolley in the supermarket, and you take whatever you want and pay with a piece of plastic."

Added Mrs Holness: "Also, with ATMs, (as a child) you see people put a card in the wall and out comes money like magic."

They named things such as contactless card payments, or features like Apple Pay on the iPhone, as adding to that invisibility of money.

Singapore, for instance, wants to be a Smart Nation where technology has widespread use, including e-payments and banking transactions.

The downside is that "you don't make a tangible link when you tap that it (money) is coming out of your account", Dr Reid said.

This can lead to the inability to understand what money is worth and, eventually, bad financial habits.

Added Mrs Holness: "Even if you don't change your behaviour, be aware of it. Challenging attitudes towards money is the first step to changing behaviour. If you are not aware of it, you can't change."

For instance, property agent David Ng, 45, said his eldest son, 13, thought of car-hailing services like Grab as "cheap" and that "he could just keep pressing the button (on his cellphone to book a car)".

He had to explain to his son how the services worked, Mr Ng said, adding that "the sooner you get started with (financial education), the better".

Moreover, children are coming into contact with electronic money at an increasingly younger age, Mrs Holness said, which could exacerbate the problem.

Singapore's glitzy retail scene, with an abundance of shopping malls and brands, may create "a whole set of pressures" too, Mrs Holness said.

"How do you go around without spending money?" she said.

"There must be some people who must be walking around and seeing these malls, but knowing they don't have a lot of money.

"But you still have to walk through the mall and see others spending. It's difficult to be in a mall and not want things."

Ultimately, children are "not doing anything wrong" when they think that money is limitless, said Dr Reid, as they have not received proper or adequate education in learning to manage money.

"As parents, we always want to make things better for our children, like giving them everything.

"But as we become more affluent as a society, we are not giving them that life skill," she said.

Experience of handling cash priceless for the young

The POSB Smart Buddy scheme may eliminate the hassle of handling cash for children and parents, but the tactile experience of managing cash is still priceless for the young (Pupils go cashless with smartwatches; Aug 17).

When my son entered Primary 1, what excited him most was having his own pocket money and buying his own food.

He had to make decisions based on the length of the queue and the cost of the food. He then had to count his change to ensure it was correct.

Digital payments would erase these experiences.

How would children learn the value of counting, budgeting, making discerning choices and managing their money if all they do is tap a smartwatch on a machine?

Most importantly, I worry that if children are not exposed to the tactile experience of handling cash, they will have no inkling of where money comes from and believe that money grows in a computer.

This is similar to the phenomenon of children being unaware of the origins of the food they eat - a poll of 1,000 children in Britain showed that 5 per cent believed strawberries grew inside the fridge, a quarter didn't know carrots grew underground, and 78 per cent didn't know broccoli grew on a plant.

Sometimes, age-old traditions are there for a reason.

Nothing can replace the tactile experience of receiving pocket money for the first time, and filling up a piggy bank with coins saved from one's allowance.

Huang Shoon Lheng (Ms)
ST Forum, 21 Aug 2017

Some seniors worry about cashless top-ups at MRT stations
Find ways to help them adapt to new public transport payment methods, say observers
By Shayna Toh and Clara Chong, The Straits Times, 22 Aug 2017

Madam Heng Ah Leh walked to Rochor MRT station and, having memorised the exact buttons she needs to press on the ticketing machine, fed it a $10 note to top up her ez-link card.

But she will soon have to learn a new order of steps when Singapore's public transport system goes cashless.

From next year, passenger service centres at all train stations will no longer do cash top-ups for commuters.

By 2020, all ticketing machines at MRT stations will accept only cashless top-ups such as Nets, and debit and credit cards, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) earlier this month.

Madam Heng, 75, a part-time hawker, lamented in Mandarin: "I am not highly educated and do not know how to use machines. Not allowing cash top-ups is definitely more troublesome.

"But young people today are very helpful, I might ask the person in front of me to help me top up and repay the person in cash."

Several senior citizens The Straits Times spoke to expressed similar concerns.

Retiree Theresa Choo, 82, said: "I am not confident of using cashless top-up methods but this measure will force us to learn. I am sure there will be people around to ask if we need help."

Figures from LTA show that 69 per cent of Singaporeans use cash as their preferred top-up method, implying that the impact of the new measure will extend to young students and working adults.

Ms Moh Su Jin, 21, a National University of Singapore student, said: "I use cash because it gives me some form of privacy. Our retail landscape does not really support cashless payments as some shops accept only cash. It is hard to navigate this landscape if only certain aspects are cash-free."

Mr Ang Hin Kee, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Transport, said his constituents have had a mixed response to the move to go cashless.

Some cited the additional cost of topping up their ez-link cards at convenience stores, and the lack of a universal card for multiple purposes such as transport, shopping and food.

"We shouldn't stop progress and forget about technological solutions because they (the elderly) won't come on board. Let's find a way to convince them to," he said.

Likewise, Dr Lily Neo, a member of the GPC for Social and Family Development, said some elderly people construct a barrier when tasked to learn new things.

"We will go all out to help and hand-hold them, letting them learn slowly until they realise it can be done," she said.

Acknowledging that many senior citizens and low-income families primarily use cash to make transactions, Mr Ang suggested directly transferring a partial value of rebates or vouchers to travel cards or PAssion cards that can be used for public transport.

Dr Neo suggested introducing a system for children similar to POSB smartwatches, where primary school pupils tap their watches on payment terminals.

She also proposed installing top-up stations at community centres and conducting classes at these centres to teach people how to adapt to the new system.

Ms Normala Manap, a senior associate director at the Centre for Ageing Research and Education at Duke-NUS Medical School, said efforts to engage and educate the elderly must remain a top priority.

"If we don't actively help seniors make this transition, we run the risk of them not getting onto transport and not being involved in society," she said.

Public transport system to go fully cashless by 2020; Pupils go cashless with smartwatches

↧

Can Singapore catch up in race to go cashless?

August 24, 2017, 3:46 am

≫ Next: ‘I’m old, but I won’t give up on her’ - a love story

≪ Previous: 'Invisibility' makes managing money hard for youth

By Irene Tham, Senior Tech Correspondent, The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2017

In high-tech Singapore, where cashless payment options abound, consumers prefer to fish for physical notes and jiggle coins to pay for goods and services.

Last year, six out of 10 consumer transactions were made in cash here - a huge spanner in the works for Singapore's Smart Nation drive.

In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong contrasted Singaporeans' highly connected lifestyle and digital literacy with their unwillingness to go digital when it comes to payment. As such, Singapore lags behind other cities on this front.

Recognising that Singapore has too many different payment schemes and systems that act as impediments, confusing people, he made a call to the industry to "simplify and integrate".

Singapore has to play catch-up with places like China, where everyone in major Chinese cities is scanning a QR code and paying with digital wallets WeChat Pay and Alipay. These digital wallets, linked to the Chinese people's bank accounts, are even accepted at roadside stalls and in taxis. Waiters at restaurants can be tipped in the same cashless way.

Cash may be considered king, but there is a cost to handling it - from the time taken to count it, to storing it securely, and then banking it. Think of the hawker who has to ensure he has cash for change, and needs to take time to count out change for each customer, holding up customers waiting for their food.

Over in India, the government has laid the groundwork for a cashless society following its announcement late last year to demonetise the nation's high-value currency notes. It pushed a national digital funds transfer system, called Bharat Interface for Money, and a biometric identification system, dubbed Aadhaar, to secure transactions. Its goal is to ensure that all Indians, even the rural poor, have access to financial services through digital banking.

WHY SO SLOW?

In many ways, Singapore is a victim of its own success.

Major banks here - DBS Bank, POSB, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank - combined have about 2,000 ATMs islandwide. This means an ATM is within a 500m radius from most people's homes, making cash easily available.

Singapore also lacks the push factors present in China and India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's drive to promote a cashless society stems from a political will to eliminate the flow of undeclared "black money" and fake currencies. Electronic money transfers are more traceable and taxable.

Concerns over counterfeit money and the fear of being robbed - not a problem with digital payment systems - drove China's cashless revolution.

In contrast, people in Singapore feel safer with their cash. Also, some had a bad experience with wrong electronic transfer charges and vowed to stay away - at least from its use in certain apps.

Said account manager Kelly Kin, 29, after once having been wrongfully charged by a local ride-hailing app: "I have gone back to using cash in the app ever since."

CONVENIENCE FEES

The biggest incentive for cash use today comes from it being free.

With cash, customers do not have to pay a "convenience fee" - unlike when they use their credit cards. For instance, taxi rides paid with a credit card attract a 10 per cent surcharge.

Even with the Land Transport Authority-owned EZ-Link - which issues the ez-link stored-value cards - its supposedly fuss-free scheme that automatically reloads the value of the ez-link cards comes with a 25-cent "convenience fee" for every transaction. The convenience fee, however, is waived for people who link a DBS/POSB or Citibank credit card to the auto top-up scheme.

Golden Village and Sistic too charge customers at least $1.50 extra for the convenience of buying a show ticket online with e-payment schemes.

MERCHANTS' COST

Consumers are not the only ones paying a price for going cashless.

A 3 per cent transaction fee is imposed on merchants for accepting Visa and Mastercard payments. The same fee applies when they accept mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay - which are layered on the existing credit card infrastructure.

Other online payment options like PayPal and Stripe charge an even higher transaction fee of 3.9 per cent and 3.4 per cent, respectively.

Business owner Lim Jialiang, 27, said: "You will want people to make payment in cash when a 3 per cent transaction fee hurts your margins."

Arguing for more regulatory intervention to cap such fees, Mr Lim, who sells chocolates at the National Design Centre and at pop- up stores, added: "Cash will be king until banks, Visa and Mastercard accept a lower profit margin."

In the European Union, for instance, a rule introduced in December 2015 allows merchants to be charged no more than 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent for accepting credit and debit card payments, respectively. And all consumer- facing credit and debit fees, which can be as high as 20 per cent, will be outlawed from next year in the EU.

In Singapore, merchants typically pay about 3 per cent in credit card fees. Even at a large retail chain like Courts Singapore, the cost of accepting cashless payments at its 14 outlets is now about three times higher than the cost of accepting cash, its Singapore chief executive, Mr Ben Tan, told The Straits Times.

SETTLEMENT DELAYS

The high cost of going cashless is not the only reason why merchants drag their feet over e-payments.

Delay in payment settlements has been a perennial issue for merchants with cash flow concerns.

Singapore's most extensive cashless payment network, dubbed NETS, takes at least a day to settle payments. The 30-year-old system lets consumers insert their ATM cards for direct deductions from their bank accounts.

Interbank Giro, another initiative for direct payment debits from consumers' bank accounts, is also not real-time - requiring at least a day for payments to reach merchants. Credit card transactions too take up to two days to settle.

FAST, a two-year-old online interbank funds transfer system, is the only instant settlement method. But it is "grossly under-utilised", Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon has repeatedly said on several occasions.

Following what The Straits Times understands to be pressure from the MAS, a new instant mobile payment scheme that rides on Fast was launched on July 10. Dubbed PayNow, users need not enter bank account numbers to initiate a transfer on their mobile phone to any bank user.

By year end, a QR code function will also be added to PayNow to allow merchants to accept payments without having to ask customers for their mobile or NRIC number. Customers just need to scan the merchant's QR code to make payments. In his Rally speech, PM Lee said he is looking forward to buying a meal with PayNow at a hawker centre soon.

REGULATORY OVERSIGHT

PayNow with QR code has the potential to be ubiquitous, even among merchants and hawkers, and become the catch-all solution to take Singapore forward.

Its success hinges on the roll-out of a common QR code in Singapore - a work in progress by MAS to unify every payment scheme.

The launch of a common QR code, which PayNow can ride on, is slated for the year-end. Its end goal is for merchants to display just one QR code, which can be scanned by any bank app - DBS PayLah, UOB Mighty and OCBC Pay Anyone - for fuss-free, instant fund transfers.

This initiative could put Singapore ahead of China, where merchants that accept Alipay and WeChat Pay have to display two different QR codes as the two systems do not interoperate.

Regulatory oversight is important for a common QR code in Singapore so that banks, payment networks and e-wallet providers - with conflicting business interests - do not create close-loop systems that can only work with their own apps.

Singapore's payment landscape has suffered from commercial entities dividing and conquering for decades. This gave rise to the problem of merchants accepting one payment option and not another, confusing consumers as a result.

And consider the two most widely used cards, ez-link and CashCard: The former does not work at some carpark gantries, though it is accepted for public transport payments, so motorists still need their CashCards.

Singapore missed the opportunity to go cashless much earlier by standardising the ez-link card as the universal payment card, as Hong Kong did with the Octopus card.

Going forward, Singapore should not let legacy systems and policies hinder its Smart Nation progress.

Cash is king? Not in China
By Lim Yan Liang, China Correspondent, The Straits Times, 22 Aug 2017

A common refrain when I meet fellow Singaporeans in Beijing, such as during recent National Day get-togethers, is how we will manage when we eventually return to Singapore and have to deal with paper money again.

A civil-servant friend recounted how she instinctively reached for her phone to settle her taxi fare on a trip home.

Another shuddered when he thought about having to deal with coins and wet notes of unknown provenance, after having got so used to shopping with his phone at a Sanlitun fresh market.

As for me, the biggest change after moving to Beijing early this year for work is that my wallet has become largely redundant.

Since I opened a local bank account - the key step to going cashless in China - and activated my own Wechat Pay and Alipay accounts, I have been paying for just about everything from meals to groceries to high-speed rail tickets with my phone.

Even shopping online, whether on Taobao or ordering waimai (delivery), the default payment options are these two platforms, and not cash or card.

Indeed, my starkest memory from my first week in China was how much I stood out in queues, fishing for cash and waiting as cashiers who have become unaccustomed to dealing with paper currency did mental maths to work out my change, while those before and after me breezed by with a scan and a beep of QR codes on their mobile phones.

More than once, a vendor would point to his prominently displayed QR codes on seeing me with yuan in hand, and seem almost grudging in accepting my hard currency.

It later dawned on me that no stallholder would want to go back to handling cash, finding the exact change, and dealing with the entire banking and bookkeeping process when all of this can be handled so smoothly, hands-free.

China has now reached a stage where the government has to remind merchants and payment providers that cash is still a valid payment option.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), or central bank, last week told Alipay's parent company Ant Financial to rein in its "cashless weeks" promotion that encourages merchants to exclusively accept Alipay in exchange for incentives. Such merchants went so far as to refuse cash payments, prompting PBOC to ask Alipay to delete the word "cashless" from its campaign advertisements.

But while the reaction to this news was mostly amusement, it shows how far China has come in becoming a cashless society.

So I totally got Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech on Sunday, about how Chinese tourists would consider Singapore backward for still doing things the old way.

A common misconception of my friends back home is that payment security is a concern. But Wechat Pay and Alipay can be secured by either a password or fingerprint, which means a stranger with your phone must still have your code - or fingerprint - in order to start buying things with impunity.

Going cashless has other perks. Going Dutch is as easy as opening a split-bill in Wechat, with options for splitting by exact amounts (great for when someone tucks into a three-course meal while another opts for a salad) or splitting evenly.

As for my wallet, now relegated to holding my identity and metro cards and a bit of emergency cash, it no longer inhabits my back pocket but a corner of my work bag. I still carry it every day out of habit, and only because the leather billfold is a birthday gift from my fiancee, but that might soon change.

The Beijing metro was one of the last hold-outs to cashless payments, demanding that passengers use a stored value card to ride. But since June, it has been trialling contactless smartphone payment, and I think I will jump on board soon.

Sorry my love, but cashless beats cash any day.

China's sprint to cashless society well thought out

China's march to a cashless society has been spectacular and relentless (Cash is king? Not in China; Aug 22)

The drivers behind China's progression to a cashless society have not been the government, its central bank or state-owned commercial banks.

Rather, the push came from ambitious and forward-thinking private enterprises, in particular, the Alibaba Group and Tencent, the creators of Alipay and Wechat Pay, respectively.

Alipay was introduced in 2004 to handle payments on Taobao, but it became so successful that other companies outside of the Alibaba ecosystem adopted it to handle their payments.

Subsequently, Alibaba introduced the Yu'e Bao money-market fund, which allowed account holders to earn a higher interest rate on their deposits than their bank account deposit rates.

This move, in turn, drew even more people to set up Alipay accounts.

As for Tencent, the company leveraged on its popular messaging app (Wechat) to introduce its digital payment system.

Besides using their accounts to make payments, Wechat account holders could also store their savings in their accounts to earn better interest rates for their savings than from banks.

China did not evolve into a cashless society just for the sake of becoming cashless.

Innovative and ambitious private enterprises paved the way and lured users through a well-thought-out strategy and by dishing out attractive incentives for people to go cashless.

Chan Yeow Chuan
ST Forum, 24 Aug 2017

Japan: Tech-savvy nation now a laggard
By Walter Sim, Japan Correspondent In Tokyo, The Straits Times, 23 Aug 2017

Blame it on old habits cultivated during years of economic malaise, or a pervasive sense of security given Japan's low crime rates, or simply mistrust in newfangled technology.

Japan, a pioneer in mobile "e-wallet" payments in 2004, has, ironically, since become a serious laggard on this front.

Cashless payments account for just 19 per cent of the nation's overall retail consumption, the Japan Consumer Credit Association has said. The central government wants to increase this to 40 per cent within the next decade.

The reluctance to embrace cashless payments is not unique to Japan. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday highlighted this as an area that the Republic is falling behind in in its drive to become a Smart Nation.

Japan, for all its tech savvy, has managed to be concurrently traditional and futuristic. It has clung on dearly to its love for cash, with many still preferring to grapple with wads of bills of 1,000 yen and above, and even one-yen coins.

And yet Apple Pay, Line Pay and Rakuten's Edy are among payment options accepted by businesses such as convenience stores nationwide, along with the contactless rechargeable IC transport card that is akin to Singapore's ez-link card.

By early next year, Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba will launch in Japan a localised version of its Alipay digital payment system.

And since the bitcoin cryptocurrency was regulated in April, it too has been accepted at electronics giant Bic Camera and budget carrier Peach. Department store chain Marui also announced this month a trial for bitcoin payments.

The Nikkei daily cited the Nomura Research Institute as estimating Japan's digital payment market to be worth 5.6 trillion yen (S$70 billion) this year - a figure eclipsed by China's 15 trillion yuan (S$3 trillion).

China and Kenya were cited as global leaders in the mobile payment movement in a Bank of Japan (BOJ) report in June last year.

Only 6 per cent of respondents of a BOJ survey last November said they made mobile payments, while another 42 per cent said they were aware their smartphones had such functions but did not use them.

Sociologist Emi Kataoka of Komazawa University in Tokyo told The Straits Times: "Japan places a very high value of trust in its cash. Safety measures embedded in its paper bills make counterfeiting difficult."

This trust is absent in the "invisible" mobile payment system, which remains underutilised, given security and privacy concerns.

In June, eight months after Apple Pay was launched in Japan, a Chinese man was charged with fraud after he allegedly used stolen credit card data to pay for 4.45 million yen worth of cigarettes with an iPhone 7S at a Saitama convenience store.

The BOJ said the rate of mobile payment growth in Japan depends on how fast "this feeling of anxiety among people can be dispelled".

Many elderly Japanese still eschew banks with low interest rates in favour of storing their cash under tatami mats at home, Dr Kataoka said. The low crime rate also means many carry wads of cash around without fear, while decades of economic stagnation have led to wariness about payment methods that make it easy for them to overspend.

Also, cashless payment terminals are still unavailable at many mom-and-pop shops and eateries reluctant to fork out money. Such terminals cost 100,000 yen to set up and come with monthly fees.

But Tokyo is looking to help these businesses modernise by offering subsidies, with an eye on the 2020 Olympic Games.

India: Big push to go cashless, but hurdles remain
By Arvind Jayaram, The Straits Times, 23 Aug 2017

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised India's high-value banknotes late last year in a move to tackle corruption, the severe currency crunch led Indians to embrace mobile-based cashless payment systems in a big way.

Vendors helped to play a significant role in facilitating this mindset change in a country where cash has traditionally been king.

Seeing how their customers did not have enough cash to pay for groceries or even a cup of tea, many vendors switched to mobile-based payment applications.

The private sector was quick to capitalise on the opportunity, with players such as SoftBank-backed Paytm, Mobikwik and FreeCharge launching mobile wallet apps that have attracted a large user base through the promise of rewards and cashback on transactions. Recently, Internet retail giant Amazon joined the bandwagon with the launch of its own wallet app.

The government also responded to the demand for an easier way to transfer funds by floating its own platforms, such as the National Electronic Funds Transfer mechanism, the Bharat Interface for Money and the Unified Payments Interface. It has also rolled out online wallet apps.

Seeking to boost the attractiveness of its own digital payment offerings, the government has also considered higher payouts to users if digital transactions are adopted.

India exhibits strong potential for digital payments and has been categorised as a "breakout" nation in the Digital Evolution Index 2017 released by the Fletcher School at Tufts University and Mastercard.

But there are concerns that the ease of payment will fuel a spending spree by many of India's less financially literate people, resulting in less liquidity as well as less savings for future generations.

There are also concerns over whether India is prepared for digital transactions, due to low information and communications technology penetration, with poor connectivity impeding cashless payment in large swathes of the country.

South Korea: More turning to digital wallets, mobile apps
The Straits Times, 23 Aug 2017

In South Korea, cash is definitely not king as more people switch to using digital wallets and mobile apps to pay for goods or services.

Only about 20 per cent of all payments in the country are made with cash - among the world's lowest, according to the Bank of Korea. The wide range of cashless payment options plays a part.

Tech giants have invested more in mobile payment systems since the government eased financial regulations in 2015, and such payment platforms have become hugely popular.

Samsung Pay, for instance, has hit 10 trillion won (S$12 billion) in accumulated transaction volume in South Korea since it was launched in August 2015, the company said, according to Yonhap News Agency. The app is even pre-installed in newer models of Samsung smartphones.

Toss, another mobile payment app, is also a huge success. It has handled more than US$3 billion (S$4.1 billion) in transactions since its launch in 2015. Meanwhile, mobile payment systems Naver Pay has over 16 million subscribers, and Kakao Pay has 14 million.

Electronic payments gained popularity in South Korea after the introduction of T-money in 2004, as the country sought to streamline public transport payments with a single touch-and-go smart card.

Much like Singapore's ez-link card, T-money is a rechargeable stored-value card with a smart chip for fare deduction. The chip has been modified to fit credit cards, debit cards and even mobile-phone SIM cards - which means people can tap their phones to take the bus.

T-money can also be used at most convenience stores and some retail shops and restaurants.

The Bank of Korea is now aiming for the country to go cashless by 2020, beginning with plans to phase out coins so as to reduce the cost of minting them. It has already cut back on issuing paper money.

The shift towards electronic payments could help boost overall economic growth.

"We can save a lot of cost by not using cash," said researcher Kim Seong Hoon of the Korea Economic Research Institute in an interview with the Financial Times last December. "If we abandon cash, we could see 1.2 per cent extra economic growth a year. A cashless society can help us tackle low growth, low inflation and the low-interest environment."

↧

‘I’m old, but I won’t give up on her’ - a love story

August 24, 2017, 11:43 pm

≫ Next: 50 MOE kindergartens to open by 2023

≪ Previous: Can Singapore catch up in race to go cashless?

While the pioneer leaders were the original architects of Singapore, everyday heroes helped build society here. This is another story about such people in the series, The Lives They Live.
By Theresa Tan, The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2017

Mr Loh Yew Kim, 77, is devoted to his wife of nearly 40 years.

Rain or shine, he has faithfully visited her seven days a week in the past year since his ailing wife was admitted to the Ren Ci Nursing Home.

He spends the entire day with Madam Ng Gun Yok, 78, and will bring her favourite food and attend to her every need.

Mr Loh is such a constant presence at the home that other residents will get him to help them buy food and other things.

He said: "If I don't see my wife for one day, I would feel very uneasy. She's the person closest to me. No one else is more important."

Mr Loh's daily visits used to involve a tedious journey via public transport from his Ang Mo Kio flat to the nursing home in Jalan Tan Tock Seng, near Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

He suffers from osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, in both knees and is bow-legged. Walking is painful and he has to stop frequently to catch his breath.

To get to the nursing home from Novena MRT station, he had to walk up and down slopes - which made the journey even more tiring for him.

A one-way journey took about 1½ hours by bus, MRT and on foot. To make his journey easier, Touch Community Services (TCS) helped him apply for a subsidy from the Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund to buy a motorised scooter earlier this year. He paid only $150 for the device, which cost $1,500, and it has cut his travelling time by half.

TCS' senior occupational therapist Jacinda Soh, who has accompanied Mr Loh on his visits, said: "He's very attentive to his wife's needs and I'm struck by his unwavering love for her."

Impressed by his devotion, TCS nominated him for the Healthcare Humanity Awards, which honours healthcare workers, volunteers and caregivers for their dedication and selflessness. Mr Loh was one of the outstanding caregivers recognised last year.

The youngest of three children of a painter and a housewife, Mr Loh left school at the age of 10 to earn a living after his mother died.

"We were so poor we could only afford to eat chicken once a year, during Chinese New Year. People have such a good life now and can eat chicken every day," he said in a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese.

Mr Loh, who spent most of his working life as a welder, was introduced to Madam Ng by his friends. He was in his 30s and felt it was time to start a family. She was his first girlfriend and they dated for about two years before marrying.

"I like her personality. She's a good person, does not like to gossip and is not demanding," he said.

Madam Ng is the third of four children. Her father died when she was about eight years old and her mother could not afford to send her to school. She started working when she was in her teens as a domestic helper, among other jobs.

Although money was tight, Mr Loh said they were happily married and hardly quarrelled.

Madam Ng said: "He treats me very well. He always gives in to me."

Their only regret? Not having children. She had one miscarriage and after that, they considered adopting a child, but that did not pan out.

About two years ago, Madam Ng had a fall at home. She became increasingly frail after that. She had a few more falls and had to use a wheelchair. She was also diagnosed with gastric cancer.

Mr Loh, who was then working at a hawker centre collecting plates, had to stop working to care for her. He also sacrificed his only hobby - playing chess with friends - to be there for her 24/7.

He had to quickly learn to attend to her every need at home, such as changing her diapers, giving her a shower and carrying her from the bed to the wheelchair.

The TCS home-care team visited the couple regularly to help bathe Madam Ng. They also taught Mr Loh caregiving skills.

Still, caregiving was taking an increasing toll on him, noted Mr Kelvin Lee, TCS' manager of caregiver support. He described Mr Loh as a "very devoted husband", saying: "Mr Loh hesitated to place his wife in a nursing home as he felt he was not doing his duty of caring for her, like he was abandoning her."

Mr Loh's struggle is not uncommon, especially among the pioneer generation who see nursing homes as places where the elderly are abandoned by their families.

In a rapidly ageing society, the stresses of caregiving can be daunting, more so if the caregiver is old and frail himself. Besides, Mr Lee said many seniors may not want - or know how - to seek help when they cannot cope with their duties.

For Mr Loh, his daily journey to see his wife is now only a five-minute ride on his motorised scooter as the nursing home recently moved to Ang Mo Kio, which is near his flat.

On why he decided to place her in a nursing home, he said: "I'm old, my legs are not good and I found it increasingly difficult to care for her. But I never complained about it. I wouldn't give up on her."

↧

50 MOE kindergartens to open by 2023

August 25, 2017, 1:41 am

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16 more Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens to open in next three years
MOE aims to have 50 by 2023; full-day pre-school places will be upped by 40,000
By Priscilla Goy and Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2017

Sixteen new kindergartens run by the Ministry of Education (MOE) will open in the next three years as part of a wide-ranging effort to offer affordable, high-quality pre-school education to more children.

By 2023, MOE hopes to have 50 such kindergartens located in primary schools and providing 14,000 places - enough to cater to a fifth of all Singaporeans and permanent residents aged five and six.

Over the next five years, full-day pre-school places will also be ramped up by another 40,000, part of which will come from new "early years centres" that take in children aged up to four and are run by government-funded pre-school operators.

To ensure a steady pipeline of quality educators, the National Institute of Early Childhood Development will take in its first batch of students in 2019. It is expected to provide 60 per cent of all trainee pre-school teachers in the next few years.

These details were revealed by MOE yesterday, expanding on initiatives announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Sunday's National Day Rally, in which he said he wants every child to go to a good pre-school.

Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng stressed that these moves were not an attempt to nationalise the early childhood sector. He pointed out that the 50 kindergartens MOE aims to have are still a minority compared with the 450 or so kindergartens already running.

Instead, the MOE kindergartens will serve as the "engine" driving higher teaching standards, and better pedagogies and curricula in a bid to "uplift the (early childhood) landscape".

He said pre-school education has moved on from rote learning methods in his time, "when we learn mathematics is one plus one equals two and we recite the timetables". The focus now is on getting young children to learn through exploration and play, and "allow them to expand their natural curiosity and develop that creativity".

"We want to ensure that every child in Singapore will have access to equal opportunity and social mobility - that every child has a strong start regardless of family background so that they can have a solid foundation in the first steps towards our education journey," said Mr Ng. He highlighted how subsidised monthly fees at MOE kindergartens are as low as $1.50 for households with an income of less than $2,500.

He also said that "parents will still have a choice" in picking the right pre-school option for their child, given that pre-schools run or supported by the Government will make up two-thirds of the market by 2023.

Since 2014, MOE has launched 15 kindergartens. Of the upcoming 16, three will open next year, seven in 2019 and six in 2020. They will be in newer estates such as Punggol and Sengkang, where there is high demand for pre-school services.

Asked if the moves will encourage Singaporeans to have more children, Mr Ng said he hopes so.

"But education outcomes in themselves are already a good achievement, if we can get this right. There is (a lot) of work to be done, and we intend to do it well."

MOE KINDERGARTEN FEES MAY BE AS LOW AS $1.50
The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2017

Fees at Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens start from as low as $1.50 a month, after subsidies.

This is for Singaporean families with a household income of up to $2,500 per month, who get the highest amount of support under the Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS).

The KiFAS subsidy amount depends on the income tier that a family falls under and the fees charged. Parents may be eligible for subsidies of up to 99 per cent of the fees, capped at $170.

Singaporean families with a higher income of $4,500 per month, for instance, pay $75 per month after subsidies.

Those with an income of more than $6,000 do not get subsidies and pay $150 a month for fees this year. This will rise to $160 next year, but is still below the industry median fee of $171.

Increasing the number of MOE kindergartens would lead to more affordable pre-school places provided, the ministry said yesterday.

Children enrolled in kindergartens run by anchor operators, which get government grants and priority in securing sites but must meet fee caps and quality criteria, are also eligible for KiFAS subsidies.

All MOE kindergartens to be within primary schools
Move will allow for closer collaboration between pre-schoolers and primary pupils
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2017

All Ministry of Education (MOE) kindergartens will be located within primary schools so that pre-schoolers will have a smoother transition to Primary 1.

The ministry said yesterday this was based on its experience so far - having run 15 kindergartens, including 12 in schools. Having both in one place allows for closer collaboration between pre-schoolers and primary pupils, and is a win-win for both.

During a visit to an MOE kindergarten in Punggol Green Primary yesterday, Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng said: "One of the programmes here that I like a lot... has Primary 3 and 4 pupils taking the five- and six-year-olds around the school on a biodiversity trail. The younger kids have somebody to look up to, and the older kids have a sense of responsibility, taking charge and taking care of the kindergarten kids. All this lends to a lot of tacit learning."

MOE launched its kindergartens in 2014, starting with five. It currently runs 15, and will expand to 29 by 2020. It plans to have 50 by 2023, catering to about one in five Singaporeans and permanent residents aged five to six.

Among the existing MOE kindergartens, three are located in public housing estates.

MK@Fernvale Link in Sengkang will move to nearby Fern Green Primary in 2019, while MK@Yishun will move to Huamin Primary in 2020. Details on which primary school MK@Tampines will move to will be revealed later, said MOE.

At a media briefing yesterday, MOE said there are currently no plans to give pre-schoolers priority admission to the primary school they are studying in. But as more such kindergartens are set up, the issue bears looking at.

An MOE spokesman said: "We have had only 15 MOE kindergartens (MKs), of which 12 are sited in schools... To have MKs on a much wider scale and then thinking about what that might mean for admissions, that is something we would have to study quite closely."

MOE kindergarten teachers use two key pedagogies to engage children - purposeful play, where activities are planned to achieve learning outcomes but are still enjoyable, and quality interactions, where teachers use prompts and ask questions that engage children in conversations to help them build on ideas and concepts.

MOE kindergarten staff and parents said there are benefits to the co-location arrangement.

Ms Panmeline Wong, centre head of the MOE kindergarten in Punggol View Primary, said: "There have been good interactions between the older and younger children, with the older ones taking more responsibility and being like the gor gor and jie jie (older brothers and sisters) to the younger ones."

She said about half of the pupils who graduated from the pre-school went to Punggol View Primary.

Housewife Kris Cheong, 39, said she enjoys the convenience of sending her daughter, six, to the MOE kindergarten in West Spring Primary, and her son, eight, to the same primary school.

"I think my daughter will be familiar with the environment and can explore the rest of the facilities more easily before going to P1."

19 PCF-run places to serve as early-years centres
All eligible kids in these EYCs to be guaranteed a place in an MOE kindergarten within 1km
By Priscilla Goy, The Straits Times, 25 Aug 2017

At least 19 childcare centres and kindergartens run by PCF Sparkletots will be converted to "early-years centres" (EYCs) which admit children aged up to four, unlike most pre-schools that take in children aged up to seven.

PCF Sparkletots is the largest pre-school operator in Singapore and is managed by the PAP Community Foundation.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and PCF Sparkletots gave details yesterday of which early-years centres will partner the 13 new MOE kindergartens to open in 2019 and 2020. All eligible Singaporean and permanent resident Nursery 2 (N2) children in EYCs will be guaranteed a place in an MOE kindergarten within 1km of the centre.

On average, 60 per cent of places in the kindergarten will be reserved for them.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said at the National Day Rally on Sunday that more EYCs - on top of the first four announced in February - would be set up to address the shortage of pre-school places for children aged up to four.

The first four EYCs - three run by NTUC's My First Skool and one by PCF Sparkletots - are expected to open in Punggol next year. The PCF-run EYC in Punggol North will partner three MOE kindergartens, two to open next year and one in 2020.

Most of PCF Sparkletots EYCs will be in areas with high demand for pre-school services, with eight in Sengkang and four in Yishun.

MOE also listed two more EYCs that will partner with two MOE kindergartens in Punggol and Sengkang, with details to be given later.

A spokesman for PCF Sparkletots told The Straits Times that parents are being told of its partnership with MOE, so they can decide whether to enrol their children in the MOE kindergartens, go to other pre-schools or stay on in PCF Sparkletots after N2.

She added: "Due consideration has been given to children who will soon be in their kindergarten years in PCF pre-schools converting to EYCs... These pre-schools will continue to offer K1 and K2 programmes until end-2020 for these older children who choose to remain in PCF Sparkletots."

When asked what this move would mean for teachers in the K1 and K2 classes, she said PCF Sparkletots is the largest pre-school operator here and teachers would be able to continue teaching in the EYCs or take up available teaching positions in its over 340 other pre-schools.

Sengkang West MP Lam Pin Min and Mr Teo Ser Luck, MP for Sengkang Central ward in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, said the conversion of PCF pre-schools to EYCs will help to alleviate the long waiting lists in pre-schools in their wards.

Mr Teo added: "It's a good coordination of space usage, with EYCs having more space for children aged up to four, and MOE kindergartens having the space in primary schools to take in K1 and K2 kids."

Dr Lam, who is Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health, said there is still a need, however, to set up more childcare centres as "the demand will continue to be high due to the many new flats still being built in the constituency."

New institute will cater to 60 per cent of trainee teachers
By Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2017

When it begins operating in 2019, the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) will cater to about 60 per cent of trainee pre-school teachers, making it a major player in offering such training.

This is because the new institute will consolidate the early childhood programmes now offered by the Institute of Technical Education, Ngee Ann and Temasek polytechnics, and the Seed Institute.

Newly-appointed director Loke- Yeo Teck Yong, 50, said bringing the four training institutes under one umbrella will create critical mass that can allow it to respond quickly to the sector's needs.

"With this consolidation of the faculty, there is more scope (for) specialisation," said Mrs Loke, who is currently the Ministry of Education's divisional director of education services. For example, training in niche areas, such as special education needs and mother tongue languages, could be strengthened.

Courses will continue to be run at the four institutes when NIEC accepts its first intake, expected to exceed 2,000. But students from the different locations will be brought together regularly.

In his address at the National Day Rally on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke about the need to raise salaries and attract more talent to the sector. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said last year that about 4,000 more pre-school educators are needed by 2020, to add to the current pool of 16,000.

While the Singapore University of Social Sciences offers a degree programme in early childhood education, NIEC will offer certificate and diploma-level training courses for post-secondary students, and continuing education and training courses for those who made mid-career switches and pre-school educators.

Diploma holders make up the majority of the 4,000 educators needed, said the ECDA.

NIEC trainees can also take up a training award, which will cover their school fees and provide an allowance in exchange for them serving a bond of one to three years in the early childhood sector.

Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng told reporters yesterday that much work needs to be done on career pathways for teachers and improving their salaries, and it is a crucial first step to raise standards in professional development and the quality of early childhood education training.

Mrs Loke noted that the current training system, which includes three other ECDA-accredited training providers besides those under NIEC, provides for an adequate number of trained professionals. But setting up the NIEC will make it more nimble and responsive to change.

↧

36 buildings may have combustible cladding that do not meet fire safety rules; police report lodged

August 26, 2017, 12:17 am

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But they are safe for occupancy, says SCDF, which is getting owners to replace the panels
By Ng Jun Sen, The Straits Times, 25 Aug 2017

A total of 36 buildings here, including an industrial complex in Toh Guan Road where a lethal fire broke out in May, are using external cladding that may not adhere to safety standards in the Fire Code.

Of these, 15 were confirmed to be using combustible cladding that allows flames to spread quicker than they are supposed to. They include the new Our Tampines Hub, parts of Singapore Polytechnic, and luxury condominiums The Peak @ Cairnhill I and II.

Checks are ongoing for the rest.

It prompted the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to announce yesterday that it will review the fire safety regulations and certification process for the use of composite panels in buildings.

The trigger was the Toh Guan fire, which killed a woman.

Preliminary police investigations found that another 40 buildings were using the same composite panels from American brand Alubond.

It was found that local distributor Chip Soon Aluminium had mixed up panels of differing safety standards at its warehouse. This means that buildings could be using external wall panels with less stringent flame-spread standards.

Of the 40, five have passed SCDF checks carried out over the past two weeks, 14 have failed, while 21 have yet to be tested.

A police report has been lodged by the SCDF, said the Ministry of Home Affairs and SCDF yesterday. "Action will be taken if there is evidence of criminal culpability," said the SCDF.

Despite the cladding concerns, the 40 buildings are safe for occupancy, it added.

It said it conducted fire safety assessments and deemed them safe for occupancy due to provisions such as sprinklers and fire alarms. It also considered factors such as the proximity of the cladding to possible ignition sources and the proportion of external walls with cladding.

The SCDF said it was working closely with the building owners to replace the composite panels on their buildings within two months.

It will be updating the list of affected buildings on its website.

Building owners and developers contacted yesterday said they will remove the panels as soon as possible, with some saying the exercise will be carried out today.

The distributor, Chip Soon Aluminium, said it was "shocked and dismayed" to learn that its panels did not meet the safety standard. It has ceased supplying Alubond here and has demanded a response from the manufacturer, United Arab Emirates-based Eurocon Building Industries FZE, it said.

The Toh Guan fire preceded two major fires in London's Grenfell Tower in June, and Dubai's Torch Tower earlier this month. Reports attributed the spread of the Grenfell and Dubai fires to the use of combustible external cladding.

Only a small number of Housing Board buildings use composite panels - and these are for the cladding of lift shaft exteriors. They have been found to be compliant with the rules, said the SCDF.

On Wednesday, The Straits Times found that the cladding panels at 30 Toh Guan Road had been removed.

Its building owner claimed the cladding panels were installed "in compliance with then existing fire safety guidelines".

ESR Funds Management chief executive Adrian Chui said: "As a precautionary measure, we have decided to remove the cladding from 30 Toh Guan in consultation with SCDF to ensure business operations can resume as soon as possible."

A coroner's inquiry later this year will look into the death of Madam Neo Siew Eng, 54, who worked on the fifth floor of 30 Toh Guan.

The case is the only one, out of 19,013 fires from January 2012 to June this year, to involve external walls.

Action will be taken if there is evidence of a crime, said the SCDF. Police investigations are ongoing.

Cladding woes: Affected buildings to be rectified as soon as possible
Owners will remove non-compliant cladding; some say only small part of facade involved
By Linette Lai, The Straits Times, 25 Aug 2017

Owners and developers of affected buildings said they will rectify the situation as soon as possible, with some adding that the non-compliant cladding constitutes only a small part of the facade.

Yesterday, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said all 14 projects found with such cladding remain safe for occupancy.

It added that building owners must work with their qualified persons to remove the affected cladding within two months.

Several of the affected buildings are new developments or have undergone renovation works in recent years.

One of these is the newly opened Our Tampines Hub, which was launched with much fanfare on Aug 6.

The People's Association (PA), which led the project, said the affected cladding panels comprise less than 5 per cent of the building's external facade and will be removed.

It added that SCDF has said evacuation would not be compromised in the event of a fire, as the cladding is not extensive nor located along escape routes.

"Nevertheless, we will continue to take fire safety precautions, such as conducting regular checks to ensure that all exit passageways are free from obstruction," said a PA spokesman.

"(We will also) ensure that the fire safety system and processes are in place."

Another affected building is 3, Pioneer Sector 3, an industrial building located within the Jurong Industrial Estate that is managed by ESR-Reit.

A spokesman said the aluminium composite panels had been installed in 2015 as part of an upgrading exercise. "The panels supplied were compliant with the fire safety guidelines at the point of installation, and a certificate of conformity was received," she said.

The panels, which do not comprise more than 3 per cent of the building's total external surface area, will be removed today.

JTC, which is in charge of CleanTech Two - part of the CleanTech Park that focuses on eco-business - said all the building's tenants have been informed.

Five other JTC buildings, all located at LaunchPad @ one-north, have been flagged by the SCDF as also possibly using non-compliant cladding. The building has not been tested by the SCDF.

Both JTC and Singapore Polytechnic - where some teaching blocks also have non-compliant cladding - said they would rectify the issue as soon as possible.

"The contractor who supplied and installed the cladding panels - which were supposed to be in compliance with the Fire Code - will be responsible for the rectification," said a spokesman for the polytechnic.

Residents and tenants of the affected buildings did not seem alarmed by the news.

Ms Flora He, who moved into The Peak @ Cairnhill I two years ago, did not seem worried, although she felt that the condominium's management should take action.

"I have not heard about this issue, but I hope the management will replace it (the cladding)," said the 28-year-old, who works in the travel industry.

Ms Lucy Comway, who lives in luxury condominium The Boutiq in Killiney Road, said she received a letter from the management informing residents of the situation on Wednesday night. "They said there were problems with the cladding and they would be replacing it, but that it was safe, so I'm not very worried," said the 26-year-old.

The managements of both condominiums were not available for comment.

At 30 Toh Guan Road, where a 54-year-old woman was killed in a fire in May, the non-compliant cladding had already been removed.

Said an office worker at the building, who wanted to be known only as Madam Fauziah: "The building management told us that the building is safe to use. Since all the panels are gone, I don't have an issue."

Additional reporting by Ng Jun Sen

How did cladding woes happen despite layers of checks?
By Ng Jun Sen, The Straits Times, 25 Aug 2017

The sole Singapore distributor of the cladding material found in 41 affected buildings here had mixed together two different models at its warehouse, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said.

The two Alubond models sold by Chip Soon Aluminium, FRB1 and FRB2, carry different fire ratings.

FRB1 is given a Class 0 rating, which means fire will not spread along its surface when ignited. Under the Fire Code, only Class 0 panels can be used as external cladding. Meanwhile, FRB2 carries the Class 1 rating, which is less flame-retardant and is approved for use on roofs and interiors.

But the firm placed both models together in one stock in its Bendemeer Road warehouse.

These panels were later supplied to 41 buildings to be used as cladding. In May, one of them, 30, Toh Guan Road, an industrial building, caught fire. One woman died.

Tests showed that the external walls in these buildings contain a mixture of Alubond models FRB1 and FRB2, said SCDF.

Even stocks of the Class 0 model FRB1 were also not uniformly of the required standard. Some panels did not comply with the requirement to prevent surface spread of fire.

"Investigations are continuing as to how this came about," said SCDF in its statement.

Safety and building experts told The Straits Times they were shocked at the degree of non-compliance, especially since Singapore has a system of checks involving multiple stakeholders in the construction process.

For these materials to be used here, they must first be given the green light by an accredited certification laboratory, which will test batch samples of the product, said principal architect of TBL Architects, Mr Tan Beng Leong.

The supplier or distributor has to obtain a certificate of conformity (COC) stating if it is Class 0 or otherwise. The COC will be submitted to the architect of the project.

Once the architect approves the building plans and the cladding arrives at the site, the clerks of work, namely the resident engineers and technical officers, will check that the materials are correct.

Said Mr Tan: "These fire-rated materials will typically be stamped with serial numbers which would indicate which COC it holds. After installation, those who installed the panels - typically a contractor - will have to issue another declaration of compliance, ensuring that the COC documents match the panel numbers."

It is not over yet, as the architect or developer has to hire a third-party registered inspector to check the numbers once more.

SCDF will also send its own inspectors to the work site to do their own checks, before granting first a temporary fire permit, and later on, a fire safety certificate.

With such layers of checks in place, there are puzzling questions about what exactly happened, said Mr Tan.

The SCDF has said that in the light of what has happened, it will review the fire safety regulations and processes for certification relating to the use of composite panels on buildings.

One possibility is to make on-site testing mandatory as in the United States.

Also known as bench testing, it involves building a small model using the materials and setting it on fire to see how fast the flames spread.

It is not mandatory here for cladding as it is assumed the product, made off-site in a factory, meets the requirements.

But while it is possible that bench testing could have prevented a mix-up, it is neither feasible nor foolproof, said Mr Seet Choh San, chairman of the Singapore Standards Technical Committee for Workplace Safety and Health.

"It is not possible to test every single panel as they will be destroyed in the process of testing, so a sample has to be taken, which might not be accurate too," said Mr Seet.

He cautioned against blaming the existing system of checks as this incident concerns one distributor only, even though there are a large number of buildings affected.

Said Mr Seet: "What is more important right now is to solve the problem at the source. If the source is bad, of course wherever their supply ends up will turn up bad. From what I see right now, it is not systemic."

However, consultant engineer Lee Seong Wee said it remains to be seen if there are other brands of aluminium composite cladding which may turn up problems when scrutinised.

He said: "If one supplier decides not to play ball and something goes wrong, what is stopping others from doing the same? There must be something that shifts some responsibility of ensuring compliance back to the authorities."

About cladding and checks
The Straits Times, 25 Aug 2017

Q WHAT IS CLADDING?

A It is a type of "skin" or extra layer on the outside of a building. It can be attached to a building's framework or an intermediate layer of shafts or spacers. Typically used to stop wind and rain from entering the building or for sound insulation. It is also used to make a building's exterior look more attractive.

Q WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF CLADDING?

A There are five classes of composite panels, from the most stringent Class 0 rating to the least stringent Class 4. While still combustible, Class 0 rated panels are certified to not allow the spread of fire on the surface and will burn only at a localised area.

Q HOW COMMON IS COMPOSITE PANEL CLADDING FOUND IN SINGAPORE AND WHAT DOES THE FIRE CODE SAY REGARDING ITS USE?

A Since the Fire Code was introduced in 1974, all building materials used in Singapore had to comply with it.

Cladding, however, was not commonly used till the 1980s, and the code had been updated several times since. Old buildings need only follow the prevailing code when it was built.

Q DO HOUSING BOARD FLATS HAVE CLADDING?

A A vast majority of HDB blocks do not use cladding or use only non-combustible cladding, such as fully aluminium panels.

Only a small number of HDB blocks use composite panels as cladding on lift shaft exteriors. These panels meet fire safety requirements, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force after conducting checks.

Q WILL THERE BE CHECKS ON THE REST OF BUILDINGS IN SINGAPORE?

A The 41 buildings were checked because they used the same Alubond-branded composite cladding as the ones used in the industrial building at 30, Toh Guan Road, where a fire killed one person in May.

Alubond is solely distributed by Chip Soon Aluminium here.

Q WHO PAYS FOR THE REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF THE PANELS?

A In most cases, the building owners will have to soak up the costs for now. A spokesman for ESR Funds Management, which manages 30, Toh Guan Road, said they paid for the removal of the panels and will eventually find replacement panels. They declined to reveal how much they spent.

Singapore distributor conducting its own probe
By Ng Jun Sen, The Straits Times, 25 Aug 2017

The Singapore distributor behind the problematic cladding material, Alubond, said that it is conducting its own investigations even as it cooperates with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

In a statement last night, Chip Soon Aluminium appears to insist that the safety classifications of two models of composite panels, FRB1 and FRB2, were of the most stringent standard.

It wrote: "We have been shocked and dismayed to learn from the SCDF that they believe that FRB1 and FRB2 may not be of the requisite Class 0 standard as required under the Singapore Fire Code, as we have always believed these products to be fully compliant and properly certified.

"We understand from the manufacturer that these products have been used for building cladding in other countries."

SCDF, however, has said that model FRB1 is classified as the Class 0 for use as cladding on external walls, while FRB2 is classified as the less flame-retardant Class 1 for roofs and internal walls.

Stocks of both models were mixed together at Chip Soon's warehouse, added SCDF, and the panels from that pool were then supplied to 41 buildings for use as cladding on external walls.

Tests showed that the external walls of some of these buildings contain a mixture of both models, meaning that the cladding was not of the required Class 0 standard.

SCDF has lodged a police report and investigations are ongoing.

Chip Soon did not respond to Straits Times' queries for further elaboration.

In its statement, the homegrown firm said it is "demanding a response from the manufactuer of the products on the products' compliance with the appropriate standards".

The manufacturer is United Arab Emirates-based Eurocon Building Industries FZE.

Chip Soon, which deals in building materials here and abroad, was registered in 1982 with a paid-up capital of $4.3 million. Company records show that the firm is run by two directors - Mr Moh Chiew Cheng and Mr Phua Kay Lock.

No reason to think improper cladding used elsewhere: SCDF
Some experts urge more checks, but cost would be an issue
By Ng Jun Sen, The Straits Times, 26 Aug 2017

Beyond the 36 buildings that had installed potentially problematic cladding panels, there is no reason to believe that other buildings in Singapore contravene fire safety regulations, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

In a reply to The Straits Times last night, it said: "At this juncture, there is no reason to suspect that there has been improper usage or inconsistent quality of other cladding brands or models."

This was in response to a question on whether there is a need to check all buildings that use aluminium composite panel (ACP) cladding, to reassure building owners and occupants the materials are safe, in the wake of Thursday's announcements that some buildings' facades do not meet the Fire Code. These buildings had all used Alubon panels, supplied by Chip Soon Aluminium.

Industry players said there are potentially hundreds of buildings that currently use other brands of aluminium composite panels as external cladding beyond Alubon, which had supplied to 41 companies here.

Mr Chong Kee Sen, former president of the Institute of Engineers, Singapore, said the rise in popularity of cladding is a global trend, as cladding helps to enhance insulation of a building, making it more energy-efficient as it is protected from external heat, or cold in the case of temperate countries.

Said Mr Chong: "It is probably a good (time) to carry out a closer review of the requirements for the different types of cladding used."

But cost would be an issue, said others. Principal architect of TBL Architects Tan Beng Leong warned that checking every single building with ACP cladding may be a resource drain on both SCDF and building owners, who will have to replace the samples that are destroyed during fire testing.

He suggested incorporating on-site testing of ACP cladding during SCDF's regular audits of buildings, which is currently not included.

Said Mr Tan: "Since SCDF already conducts thousands of these audits yearly, I believe it has the ability to do it."

Sales executive Amanda Jiang, whose firm SinMetal International is the sole distributor of Darren ACP, a Chinese brand, said it competes with around 10 other brands that are sold here. Her firm has supplied panels to three projects here.

She said: "There are two models of ACP, a fireproof and a non-fireproof one. In Singapore, only the fireproof versions are sold so there is little chance of a mix-up."

The checks by the SCDF were triggered by a fire in May at an industrial building in Toh Guan Road, in which a woman was killed.

The authorities launched "comprehensive on-site fire safety assessments" on 40 other buildings that use the same brand of cladding material, Alubond, SCDF said on Thursday.

Of these, 15 failed tests for the required Class 0 standard, which does not allow flames to spread on the surface.

Alubond is a US brand distributed solely by Chip Soon Aluminium, a home-grown firm.

Construction expert Lee Seong Wee, a consulting engineer, said the case of Chip Soon Aluminium shows how a single supplier can undermine the current system of building checks.

Preliminary investigation findings by the SCDF showed the company could have mixed up two Alubond products of different fire standards at its warehouse.

Mr Lee said: "Definitely, more checks should be done. Without a full-scale exercise for all other buildings with cladding, how would the authorities know if other suppliers do not have similar mix-ups?"

He suggested having architects declare the projects that use such aluminium composite cladding, and allow the authorities to perform these checks.

Said Mr Lee: "If building developers and architects say they comply with the code, they should come forward and stand by its quality. This shifts the onus back to the people who specified the building material used."

Workers start removing problematic cladding
By Linette Lai, The Straits Times, 26 Aug 2017

The process of removing problematic metal cladding is already under way at some buildings, following Thursday's announcement that 36 may have contravened the Fire Code.

At 3, Pioneer Sector 3, workers were seen stripping panels off the industrial building yesterday afternoon.

When The Straits Times arrived at 2.30pm, they had already removed around 10 of about 80 panels, which were installed during an upgrading exercise in 2015.

On Thursday, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said its investigations revealed that 36 buildings may be using external cladding that does not adhere to safety standards.

Only Class 0 or non-combustible panels can be used as external cladding. However, the SCDF said that Chip Soon Aluminium, which supplied the cladding material found on all affected buildings, had mixed two different models - one of which had a Class 1 rating. Flames spread quicker with Class 1 panels than with those rated Class 0. Some of the panels rated as Class 0 also did not meet the requirement to prevent surface spread of fire.

While checks are ongoing, 15 of the buildings have been confirmed to have installed some non-compliant panels.

The affected buildings include 3, Pioneer Sector 3, as well as 30, Toh Guan Road, where a fire broke out in May and killed a 54-year-old woman.

Both buildings are managed by ESR-Reit, which said that the aluminium composite panels were compliant with fire safety guidelines at the point of installation.

This was echoed by Eng Wah Global, which owns affected shopping mall 321 Clementi.

In a statement, Eng Wah said that during the early stages of the project, Chip Soon Aluminium had provided a cladding sample that was approved based on its Class 0 rating. "We were not aware that the cladding presently on the building does not align with what was selected and approved," an Eng Wah spokesman said.

It added that architecture firm Aedas and Chong Tong Construction, which were engaged for the mall's construction, are working "round the clock" to work out a plan to remove and replace the affected portions.

JTC, which manages CleanTech Two at eco-business park CleanTech Park, said that it would be removing the non-compliant panels there today.

Five blocks at its LaunchPad @ one-north are also affected, but have not been tested. A JTC spokesman said that it has arranged with the SCDF to send samples for testing on Monday and Tuesday.

Affected buildings may not be unsafe, say experts
By Ng Jun Sen, The Straits Times, 26 Aug 2017

Building experts have cautioned against prematurely linking the Grenfell Tower in London and Torch Tower in Dubai with the 36 buildings in Singapore with potentially problematic cladding material.

All the buildings do share similar material - that is, aluminium composite panels - albeit from different brands.

But this does not mean that the buildings in Singapore are unsafe, they said.

In its checks, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) had determined that they are "fit and safe for occupancy due to their existing fire provisions", it said on Thursday.

These include well-ventilated escape routes, fire hose reels, sprinklers and fire alarms. Buildings here are also made to compartmentalise fires within individual floors or rooms through fire-rated doors, walls and ceilings.

Police in Britain have said they believe the cladding panels added during a refurbishment of Grenfell Tower may have contributed to the rapid spread of a fire there in June in which 80 people died.

But not all of the affected buildings here featured prominent cladding on the external walls, noted the experts.

At Our Tampines Hub, for example, the affected cladding panels comprise less than 5 per cent of the building's external facade, said the People's Association.

Mr Seet Choh San, chairman of the Singapore Standards Technical Committee for Workplace Safety and Health, said: "From a safety point of view, you have to look at the system as a whole, in totality, because cladding is only one part of a building's (defence against) fire."

The British media reported that the cladding material used in Grenfell was sold under the brand Reynobond.

Made by American firm Arconic, distributors had sold three models of the panels within Britain, each with different fire ratings.

Reports said the one used at Grenfell Tower had a polyethylene (PE) - a type of plastic - core, which had the least stringent fire rating and was suitable for use in buildings up to 10m in height. Grenfell Tower was 60m tall.

SCDF has said it will review the fire safety regulations and processes for certification relating to the use of composite panels on buildings to ensure that they remain robust.

All new homes to have smoke alarms from June 2018

↧

Passion Made Possible: Singapore's new international brand by STB and EDB

August 26, 2017, 1:41 am

≫ Next: Hate speech: Boundaries must be drawn says Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam

≪ Previous: 36 buildings may have combustible cladding that do not meet fire safety rules; police report lodged

Singapore's new tagline: Passion Made Possible
Wooing tourists and firms with new tagline
By Kok Xing Hui, The Straits Times, 25 Aug 2017

Surprising, unique, yours, and now a place where passion meets possibilities. Singapore's national brand received its latest makeover yesterday with the unveiling of the tagline: Passion Made Possible.

The latest incarnation of the tagline broke new ground on two fronts: It is the first time the tagline contains no explicit mention of Singapore, and also the first time the brand will be used to target tourists as well as woo businesses.

The unified brand was a joint effort by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Economic Development Board (EDB), and will also be used by other agencies under the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Speaking at the launch, STB chief executive Lionel Yeo said it "captures the idea of the determination to pursue something truly worthwhile, and possibilities made real is the promise of Singapore".

The tagline is accompanied by a logo of the letters SG inside a circle, drawing on the SG50 logo's popularity. "We are calling it the SG Mark, and this can be applied to visuals or text to immediately connote the Singapore stamp of quality and trust, which underpins our spirit of passion made possible," said Mr Yeo.

A key feature of the new campaign is an emphasis on storytelling. Instead of talking about the different things a tourist can do in Singapore, STB will use local personalities and share stories about their passions - be it food, shopping, culture or business. For example, it released a 41/2-minute-long video of wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai talking about his love for nature as he walks through Pulau Ubin and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

Noting that Singapore's iconic attractions and efficiency are already well known, Mr Yeo said: "We will build on this by telling stories of Passion Made Possible to develop an even more positive affinity towards Singapore."

Passion Made Possible was launched yesterday at Infinite Studios, near Ayer Rajah, by Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S. Iswaran. On the global front, it will launch today in Japan and later in 14 other cities.

Mr Iswaran said this campaign was relevant to start-ups, big businesses or tourists: "Passion Made Possible, really, is about people who believe that they have something valuable and different to offer."

The revamp comes on the back of stiffer competition for tourism dollars from other countries, but also at a time when the tourism sector here is growing. The number of visitors rose by 7.7 per cent to 16.4 million last year, while tourism receipts grew by 13 per cent to $24.6 billion.

This is Singapore's fifth such campaign since the then Singapore Tourist Promotion Board kicked off with Surprising Singapore in 1977. That was followed by New Asia Singapore in 1995, Uniquely Singapore in 2004, and 2010's YourSingapore.

To come up with the new brand, STB and EDB surveyed close to 4,500 respondents in Singapore and 10 other countries on what the Republic stands for.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic tourism senior lecturer Michael Chiam thought the slogan was good in that it is flexible enough for business and tourism purposes: "For the tourism sector, the new tagline invites tourists who are passionate about something to explore different possibilities relating to their passion when they are in Singapore. For the business person, he can explore what drives Singaporeans, which can open up business possibilities."

But as with previous recent rebranding efforts, there were some mixed reactions.

Mr Kevin Cheong, immediate past chairman of the Association of Singapore Attractions, said it was good that the Government is working across agencies to develop this, but thought the word "passion" could be misconstrued.

He said: "Passion is so subjective. It can be provocative and sensual. Is it about romance, about coming here with a fling? We need to speak the language of the market and not try to be too smart."

STB and EDB jointly unveiled unified brand, Passion Made Possible, to market Singapore internationally. https://t.co/RQrLJhCv2v pic.twitter.com/O3lz0XM6Yb
— STB (@stb_sg) August 24, 2017

Brand 'sends clear message on what Singapore has to offer'
By Annabeth Leow, The Straits Times, 25 Aug 2017

The national branding project unveiled yesterday will give the world a clear message about what Singapore has to offer, officials said.

The Passion Made Possible theme positions Singapore as a place where dreams can come true. Jointly launched by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Singapore Tourism Board, it will also be adopted by other statutory boards within the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).

The Ministry of Communications and Information is also looking to encourage other government agencies to adopt the brand for their own initiatives.

A unified brand "allows us to then, in a very targeted way, get the message out to different groups", Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S. Iswaran said at yesterday's launch.

"In the economic sense, whether you are a start-up, a scale-up or a large enterprise, I think this message has resonance."

He added that the new brand "offers a unifying theme which all our agencies, especially those that are externally facing, can use and adapt to their own purposes" to reach stakeholders from around the world.

Check out the new #PassionMadePossible video by @stb_sg& EDB. How many familiar landmarks can you spot? – LHL https://t.co/BvZvu8ME3l
— Lee Hsien Loong (@leehsienloong) August 25, 2017

EDB chairman Beh Swan Gin told The Straits Times that the new brand will help to effectively signal Singapore's economic strategy, which aims to foster new enterprises and wed core strengths in industries, such as semiconductors and industrial machinery, with new technological opportunities.

"(The brand) seeks to communicate how being in Singapore can help innovators create solutions for a better world and build successful new businesses," said Dr Beh.

Passion Made Possible follows the EDB's Future Ready Singapore campaign, set up in 2010 to boost the country's image as a creative and innovative global business hub.

American consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a multinational that is "excited about how this (new brand) will lead to more interactions with our consumers from the region and the world".

P&G Asia-Pacific president Magesvaran Suranjan said: "We believe this campaign will attract more tourists, and we are excited about how this will lead to more interactions with our consumers from the region and the world."

He added: "This unified brand identity... strengthens Singapore's commitment to leading innovation, to becoming the destination for world-class talent and businesses."

MTI agencies IE Singapore and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) said they will take up the brand to sharpen the focus of their marketing materials.

An IE Singapore spokesman said: "There is synergy to have common branding across all agencies. The new Singapore brand personality very much applies to Singapore companies and their DNA, and will help us as we work with companies to go global."

One avenue where IE Singapore will use the brand, he said, is Singapore Pavilion booths at international trade shows.

A spokesman for A*Star said: "The new marketing and communications strategy helps to refine our messages, highlighting how we aim to turn a passion for science into innovation and economic outcome."

Mostly thumbs up for Singapore's new brand
Many industry players praise slogan, though some tourists are unsure about the wording
By Jose Hong, The Straits Times, 26 Aug 2017

Reactions to Singapore's new brand, "Passion Made Possible", have been mixed, with industry players mostly praising it, while early indications are that tourists have their reservations.

Where they agreed was that the new branding attempts to capture the heart and soul of Singapore.

Ms Yu Yah-Leng, creative director of brand agency Foreign Policy Design Group, said: "We're proud to say that we're not just showing our grand architecture and the Merlion, but that we have our little cultures we're really proud of and our lifestyles that we want to talk about."

The result of a partnership between the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Economic Development Board, the slogan was unveiled on Thursday. A key feature is a shift towards storytelling, while the "unified" brand will be sold to both tourists and businesses. The tagline is also accompanied by a logo that draws on the popularity of the SG50 mark, with the letters SG inside a circle.

Most tour agencies praised the new branding direction. Chan Brothers Travel's marketing communications executive Justine Koh said removing the word "Singapore" from the slogan changes the focus to the nation's "soul and mindset".

There is more interest in going beyond the main attractions, said industry experts.

Ms Shalini Lalwani, founder of Ruby Dot Trails, said the number of tourists going for her "heartland tour" has increased by about 40 per cent this year compared with 2016. "The tourists go into the food centre, the wet market... and these tours always overrun because visitors are so curious and want to know the real Singapore story."

But Diethelm Travel Singapore's general manager Judy Lum said that while the slogan "tells the world about Singaporeans, it doesn't tell the world about Singapore". "STB is supposed to promote Singapore as a holiday destination... If you want to attract visitors to Singapore, I would expect the branding to tell the world what Singapore, rather than Singaporeans, can offer,"she said.

Nonetheless, the slogan is wide enough to encompass different messages "under the umbrella of Passion Made Possible", said Mr Nico Stouthart, managing partner at marketing consultancy Kantar Vermeer.

Tourists were more ambivalent.

Ms Dorothea Volz, a public relations agent from Germany, said that experiencing the way locals live is "the tourist dream". But she said if the shift means too many tourists entering Singapore's heartland, it could negatively impact citizens, who might end up feeling like tourist attractions. Ms Volz, 35, visited Singapore for four days last month.

She added that the word "passion" gave her pause: "If I think about it in an innocent way, it sounds a bit like a retreat slogan. And if I think not so innocently, it could be for some kind of escort service."

Dutchman Bjorn van Noord, 26, who spent 51/2 days here in February, said that though the slogan was "a bit over the top", it fit his impression of the country.

The network planner at a bus company said: "I perceived Singapore as a very diverse community with people from all parts of Asia and the world who came to build a new life and live together, so Passion Made Possible makes sense to me."

Tours to offer visitors a more local experience of Singapore
By Kok Xing Hui, The Straits Times, 25 Aug 2017

At 11am yesterday, Ms Mary Grace Lucero sat in the sidecar of a vintage Vespa for 30 minutes, visiting the nooks and crannies of Kampong Glam.

The 28-year-old tourist from the Philippines stopped at the Sultan Mosque and learnt about its history, saw the Malay Heritage Centre, and took pictures in front of colourful murals in Haji Lane as part of her $30 tour package.

It is one of a series of trips the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is planning with tour agencies to give tourists a more local experience instead of just visiting the country's iconic landmarks.

This is part of STB's new branding strategy of "Passion Made Possible", which was unveiled yesterday. As part of the new campaign, STB has worked with operators to refresh 16 tours, as well as introduce four new ones. The Vespa ride is for those who enjoy exploring - the three other fresh offerings involve a walking tour of next-generation hawkers, a shopping escapade to boutiques in Kampong Glam, and, for tourists interested in the country's businesses, to the Singapore Maritime Gallery and urban farms.

Mr Gwee Leong Woon, managing director of Betel Box Asia, which began offering the Vespa tours on Monday, said: "Places like Vietnam have Vespa tours, but sightseers have to be a pillion rider. We decided to use vintage Vespas restored by hand and fitted with sidecars."

It has seven scooters in its fleet and offers either 30-minute spins or half-day tours in locations such as Joo Chiat, Chinatown, Kampong Glam and Little India. Tourists who pick the Joo Chiat package will visit Geylang Serai Market, swing by a popiah stall to try their hand at wrapping one, and check out the views from a Housing Board block.

STB is also partnering hotels.

Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa, for instance, will take guests around Sentosa to show them the last two World War II air raid shelters here, and tell them about Singapore in colonial times.

Parkroyal on Pickering will have an augmented reality app showing how their architectural features pioneered green hospitality here.

At Village Hotels, local designers will create a special room each at its hotels in Katong, Changi Village, Albert Court and Bugis to reflect the personality of the precincts. Guests booking these rooms will receive a booklet on interesting areas around the hotel, and coupons to try out local food - such as Katong laksa for those putting up at Village Hotel Katong, or roti prata at Zam Zam for those staying at Village Hotel Bugis.

Said Ms Lucero, who is on a four-day trip here with three friends: "It is actually my third time in Singapore but this was my first time visiting Haji Lane.

"Going around in the Vespas was really nice and fun. The ride was Instagram-worthy!"

Republic showcased 'inside out' in Tokyo
By Walter Sim, Japan Correspondent In Tokyo, The Straits Times, 26 Aug 2017

Stories are the heart of Singapore's tourism strategy and the backbone of its new tagline "Passion Made Possible", Singapore Tourism Board (STB) chief executive Lionel Yeo said in Tokyo yesterday.

Japan is the first overseas market where the agency is unveiling the new brand, and came as the Singapore: Inside Out (SGIO) showcase marks its return after two years with a three-day event in Tokyo.

"Storytelling is a way to build deeper and more personal connections with our target audience," Mr Yeo said. "To make that emotional connection, it boils down to the personal stories of Singapore and its people."

Singapore: Inside Out, a showcase of SG's leading contemporary creative talents, opened in Tokyo today. https://t.co/Ihpu9qp7tU pic.twitter.com/v5269KjxVt
— STB (@stb_sg) August 25, 2017

It is against this backdrop that the SGIO has been revived.

The difference is that while the roving showcase in Beijing, London, New York and Singapore in 2015 featured works by Singapore artists, the exhibition in Tokyo involves fresh collaborations by Japanese as well as Singaporean talents, with 13 of them in all working together to create multi-sensory productions based on the theme "hypercity".

Likewise, when the SGIO showcase goes to Sydney from Nov 3 to 5, there will be an exhibition featuring works jointly created by 20 Singaporean and Australian artists.

"In every market we are active in, we need to find an entry point into the hearts and minds of consumers," Mr Yeo said, with these joint projects acting as a bridge between diverse cultures.

Nearly 800,000 Japanese visited Singapore last year, forming the fifth-largest group by nationality.

"Winning the hearts and attention of Japanese consumers in a sophisticated market like Japan is not an easy task," said Mr Markus Tan, STB's regional director for North Asia. "Consumers here have a very strong cultural identity and very unique consumer needs."

That was why the STB engaged Japanese heart-throb Takumi Saitoh, 36, as its tourism ambassador for Singapore to Japan. He has a starring role in Singaporean director Eric Khoo's new movie Ramen Teh, which is slated for release next year.

Saitoh's ties with Singapore began nearly 20 years ago, when, as an in-demand model, he met Tokyo-based Singaporean photographer Leslie Kee. They became bosom friends, and yesterday, both took the stage to share stories of their friendship.

The SGIO Tokyo event, at the Bank Gallery in the hip Omotesando district, drew an audience of about 2,000 yesterday. The event ends tomorrow.

There are also partner events, including food tie-ups such as a chilli crab-inspired dessert by head chef Malcolm Lee, of one-Michelin star Peranakan restaurant Candlenut, with pastry chef Dominique Ansel of the eponymous bakery.

It is being sold at the bakery's Omotesando store until Sept 10, for 2,400 yen (S$30) each. Twenty- five pieces will be available daily.

Separately, a showcase of Singaporean brands is also ongoing at Parco in Aoyama until Sept 3, featuring 13 local labels.

Mr Yeo said: "In line with quality tourism, people want to do more than just take a photograph with the Merlion. They want to go deep, and we need to push these stories to the surface.

"Singapore is a place with so much to discover."

↧

Hate speech: Boundaries must be drawn says Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam

August 27, 2017, 6:11 am

≫ Next: Jurong Lake District to create more than 100,000 jobs, 20,000 homes

≪ Previous: Passion Made Possible: Singapore's new international brand by STB and EDB

Shanmugam: Society as a whole has to condemn such rhetoric
By Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 26 Aug 2017

Sensible boundaries need to be drawn to prevent hate speech and protect social institutions and people from the harm it can cause, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam yesterday.

In a Facebook post where he cited the recent unrest in the American city of Charlottesville, Mr Shanmugam made the point that societies cannot just look to "debate and discussion" to build and maintain social harmony in the battle against hate speech.

Neo-Nazis and white supremacists held a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug 12 to protest against the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

They paraded in the streets yelling Nazi slogans, and clashed with counter-protesters. The protests turned deadly when a white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd near a downtown mall, killing one person and injuring 19 others.

"Charlottesville reminds us that when hate speech is allowed to be routinely uttered and its symbols are paraded openly, it pollutes the discourse and normalises extremist behaviour," said Mr Shanmugam.

Calling hate speech a "precursor to violence", he highlighted the importance of society coming together to condemn such rhetoric, instead of accepting it as part of free speech.

"If society prohibits open expressions of hate, then racists may still only be paying lip service to societal norms. But they have no choice. They have to accept that certain behaviour has no place in the public sphere, and that creates a different dynamic in society," he said.

His post comes as the Government looks at policies to tackle acts that denigrate other races or religions, preach intolerance, or sow religious discord. He first spoke about these changes last year.

At the moment, the Government can use the Sedition Act to take action against those who seek to sow discord among Singaporeans.

In his Facebook post, Mr Shanmugam cited how Germany's school system, laws and social environment "send a clear message that some types of speech or conduct should not be tolerated".

These include certain historians' revisionist denials of the Holocaust massacre and pro-Nazi rhetoric.

In contrast, "open expressions of hate" are becoming normalised in the United States, he said. For instance, white supremacists from the Ku Klux Klan were once shunned as fringe elements of society. But today, they make up the "far right", and are unafraid to show their faces unmasked.

Just a decade ago, it would have seemed "far-fetched" to see people openly parade the language and insignia of the Nazis, he noted.

"Norms take a generation or two to build up, but can be eroded in a relatively short time," he said.

↧

Jurong Lake District to create more than 100,000 jobs, 20,000 homes

August 27, 2017, 7:06 am

≫ Next: President Tony Tan reflects on his presidency

≪ Previous: Hate speech: Boundaries must be drawn says Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam

New homes, jobs, lifestyle in Jurong Lake District
Draft masterplan envisions 100,000 jobs and 20,000 new homes, and car-lite zones
By Rachel Au-Yong, The Straits Times, 26 Aug 2017

Now known more for its industrial estates and HDB homes, the Jurong Lake District is gearing up for its reincarnation as Singapore's second Central Business District - a development the Government hopes can kick-start the country's next phase of economic transformation.

While the financial heart of the country is in the CBD south of the Singapore River, its ambition is for Jurong to become a second nucleus, anchored by sectors such as maritime services, energy and IT.

They could yield some 100,000 new jobs, due to the district's proximity to the upcoming High Speed Rail (HSR) terminus and Tuas mega-port, based on a draft masterplan the Urban Redevelopment Authority made public yesterday.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said: "It can be the catalyst for Singapore's next phase of economic transformation, in the same way that Jurong Industrial Estate kick-started our manufacturing sector more than 50 years ago."

There are also plans to build 20,000 new homes. It is not clear yet what the mix between public and private homes will be.

The planners want to introduce new ways of living and getting around. For instance, the district will be as car-lite as possible, with public transport-only zones, limited parking and a logistics hub outside it to minimise the number of delivery trucks in the area.

There will also be a district-wide cooling system to pipe cool air directly into homes to save energy. There will also be 16ha of new parks.

In total, the district will span 360ha, about one-fifth the size of the current CBD. The masterplan could be finalised as early as 2019.

But as the plans are expected to materialise only from 2040, some flexibility is worked in: The district will be divided into grids, allowing land parcels of varying sizes to be sold. Most of the area will be zoned "white", an arrangement allowing uses from residential to business. The Government is looking to start land sales in the next few years.

The Jurong Lake District comes after the establishment of regional centres in Tampines in 1992 and Woodlands in 2014 as part of a decentralisation strategy to bring jobs nearer to homes and alleviate congestion in central Singapore. A fourth, Seletar, is in the works.

Ms Yvonne Lim, URA's group director for physical planning, also said the new district differs from other nodes given its strong emphasis on residential living with more than 40 per cent of the mixed-use area around the HSR to be set aside for homes, public transport-only zones and proximity to a lake.

Property analysts, however, urged caution to prevent an oversupply of office and retail space.

Cushman & Wakefield research director Christine Li said the target of 100,000 new jobs would translate to about 9 million sq ft of office space - more than five times the current stock there.

"There is the question of whether URA will reduce future supply of land parcels in Marina Bay to reduce the risk of an oversupply of office space islandwide."

Meanwhile, JLL research and consultancy head Tay Huey Ying said "most businesses still need that financial push to locate outside the CBD", and suggested a rental gap of at least 60 per cent - almost double the 34 per cent now.

The draft masterplan is being exhibited at the URA Centre Atrium until Thursday, and at Westgate Mall from Sept 8-17. The plans can also be found online at www.jld.sg

Fewer car parks, more cycling lanes in new Jurong Lake District
12% of upcoming district to be served only by buses, while URA looks to curb parking space
By Rachel Au-Yong, The Straits Times, 26 Aug 2017

The upcoming Jurong Lake District (JLD) has set the ambitious goal of getting commuters to use public transport for at least eight in 10 trips within the 360ha district.

Currently, public transport accounts for just 66 per cent of all trips across Singapore.

In 2008, the Government set a target to raise the public-transport mode share to 70 per cent by 2020.

Observers and residents say realising JLD's goal may be an uphill task but not an impossible one.

To nudge commuters in this direction, 45 ha - or about 12 per cent - of the district will be served by public transport-only corridors. This means no private vehicles will be allowed, with only buses plying the roads. There will also be 39km of cycling paths, and more space for pedestrians and personal mobility device users.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is also looking at restricting parking space. Instead of individual carparks at each building, it will build four consolidated underground parks, to be within 400m of every development. It is not yet clear how many parking spaces each will have.

It is this particular move that National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng says will give drivers the much-needed push to turn to buses and trains instead.

He pointed to Hong Kong, where public transport utilisation is close to 90 per cent. Besides a convenient and reliable public transport network, a lack of parking is a major factor, he said. "At the moment, as long as you're willing to pay, you'll always find a place to park in Singapore," he said. "But with the JLD, you are better off leaving your beloved Mercedes at home."

The move, if successful, may have a knock-on effect on other parts of Singapore when they go through redevelopment, he added.

Another idea URA is exploring is an offsite consolidation centre. A concept borrowed from Japan, the centre will be a logistics hub located outside the district, where goods can be consolidated and dispatched with smaller delivery trucks. This would cut the number of delivery trucks by at least 65 per cent during peak hours, URA said.

Nanyang Technological University senior research fellow Gopinath Menon said this measure can have a significant impact, given that "commercial traffic in Jurong can be quite high compared to other areas".

In addition, the district, already served by three MRT stations across two lines, will be further connected by the future Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line. It will also be connected to the High Speed Rail terminus that links Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.

Jurong resident and interior designer Angeline Seow, 34, said she may be prompted to sell her car should all these developments come to fruition. "Jurong is so far from the main parts of Singapore," she said. "But with the changes, it'll be easier to get around."

↧

President Tony Tan reflects on his presidency

August 28, 2017, 1:49 am

≫ Next: Presidential Election 2017: Polling Day set for Sep 23

≪ Previous: Jurong Lake District to create more than 100,000 jobs, 20,000 homes

It's been hard work but... very rewarding: Dr Tony Tan on his six years at the Istana
As end of his presidency nears, Dr Tan stresses the need to further strengthen social bonds
By Zakir Hussain, Political Editor and Joanna Seow, The Sunday Times, 27 Aug 2017

President Tony Tan Keng Yam leaves office this Thursday as the head of state who preceded the biggest change to the elected presidency in its 26 years.

The move to entrench multiracialism in the highest office in the land, by ensuring members of the country's main races occupy it periodically, is a change he fully supports.

He believes it will stand the nation in good stead and further fortify the social fabric at a time when the terror threat to Singapore is at its highest.

Citing the spate of recent terror attacks and disrupted terror plots around the world, he says: "Singapore is a target for terrorists."

In a measured voice, he adds: "One of these days, an incident will happen. And when that happens, it's very important to ensure we do not allow it to destroy our cohesion, or to have tensions between the various communities.

"In that respect, reserving this next election for the Malays is appropriate - unfortunately, because of these circumstances around the world which Singapore is caught up in," he says.

For Dr Tan, 77, the need for Singapore to continue reinforcing multiracialism is never-ending.

It is a key reason he cited for supporting the reserved election when the Constitutional Commission proposed the mechanism last year.

"Since the elected presidency was instituted, the presidents, including myself, have all been non-Malays," he adds in an interview at the Istana's Yusof Room, where a bust of the first president, Mr Yusof Ishak, who died in office in 1970, is displayed.

"It's good to make sure from time to time, people of different ethnic groups have the opportunity to become president so that it reflects our multiracial society," he says.

Indeed, ensuring Singapore stays multiracial and the bonds that bind its diverse people grow stronger each day are aspirations especially close to the President's heart.

During the 75-minute farewell interview with The Sunday Times and sister newspapers Lianhe Zaobao and Berita Harian late last month, he repeatedly stresses the need to constantly tend to the social fabric, to build up what he calls the country's "social reserves".

These reserves include mutual trust and understanding developed over the years by Singaporeans of different backgrounds, which has helped cement inter-racial and inter-religious harmony, he says.

But out-of-the-ordinary incidents, like the Little India riot on Dec 8, 2013, demonstrate how fragile this state of affairs could be.

Dr Tan was abroad when he got news on the scale of the riot by foreign workers from the Indian sub-continent.

"I was alarmed," he recalls. The violence and burning of police cars - scenes reminiscent of the communist and race-instigated riots of the 1950s and 1960s - worried him.

"If it gets out of hand, it could cause great strain on our social fabric," he says, recalling his anxiety.

He felt it would be good for the President to make a statement "to emphasise the need for calm, for people not to take matters into their own hands and reinforce the importance of racial harmony".

"We should not let a single incident such as this undermine confidence in our society," he wrote in a Facebook post soon after the incident. "Instead, let us redouble our commitment to keeping Singapore safe, peaceful and strong."

Dr Tan recalls in the interview: "We have no SOP (standard operating procedure) for this sort of thing because we never thought this could happen in Singapore. But when it arises, you have to decide whether you should just sit back or whether that's an area (in which) you could make a contribution."

Singapore's multiracial harmony and peace are very fragile, he notes.

"You have to keep emphasising it and it's not something which is to be taken for granted," Dr Tan says.

MULTIRACIAL HARMONY IS KEY

Dr Tan came to the job after a quarter-century of public service and in an election that he won by a whisker: 7,382 votes.

During the 2011 campaign, the call by some for the president to be an alternative centre of power was not only insistent but reflected a widespread misunderstanding of the role of the elected president.

In his characteristic calm voice, Dr Tan describes the president's role and responsibilities, making clear the job of governing the country is that of the Government, not the president.

But as head of state, the president can build a sense of community and a cohesive society.

This thinking underlies his active support for various causes to help the less fortunate and encourage volunteerism, among others.

It also explains his Facebook posts to remind Singaporeans that racial harmony and understanding are fundamental to the nation's stability and progress when incidents, like the arrests of radicalised Singaporeans in June this year, happen.

As many leaders here and overseas have, Dr Tan reiterates: "Islam is a religion of peace and all the violence propagated falsely in its name is not Islam."

Islamophobia - or hateful sentiments towards Muslims that have gained ground in other societies - unsettles him too and he feels its spread is "very, very dangerous".

The scourge of terrorism and its impact on communities elsewhere is an issue Dr Tan has intimate knowledge of. He was deputy prime minister and defence minister back in 2001, when the Government uncovered home-grown terror cells that were part of regional network Jemaah Islamiah. And two years ago, he was the target of a young Singaporean radicalised by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The youth had planned to go to an Istana open house and kill the President if he could not go to Syria.

Dr Tan reminds Singaporeans that such cases should not lead to fear and suspicion that drive a wedge between communities.

He notes that the Malay-Muslim community has taken progressive steps to counter radicalism.

Foreign leaders he meets are keen to find out how Singapore maintains multiracial harmony and what role is played by the Malay-Muslim community.

He credits the community for its response, saying: "A large part is due to the way the Malay community has reached out to other communities as well." The progress the community has made and continues to make "can be a source of pride for all Singaporeans", he adds.

BRINGING PRESIDENCY CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE

Educating people about the presidency and explaining its unique evolution in Singapore have also been a key effort of Dr Tan's during his time in office.

It led him to initiate the formation of the Istana Heritage Gallery in Orchard Road to make the Istana more accessible and highlight the president's other critical roles - the ceremonial, like leading the nation in major celebrations and representing it abroad; and the custodial, which involves safeguarding the reserves as well as the integrity of the public service.

He also initiated guided tours of the Istana and its grounds for the public during the five open houses a year. "They are helpful in demystifying the presidency and making people more aware of its role," he says.

"The president has the right to be informed, but the Government is actually the one that sets out the initiatives, that runs the country daily," he adds.

His slim victory, a result of the unsettled state of the ground in the wake of the May 2011 General Election, led Dr Tan to declare, when he was sworn in as Singapore's seventh president, that it would be his "most challenging appointment in three decades of public service".

He pledged to reach out to all Singaporeans, whatever their political persuasion.

It is manifested, among others, in his frequent meetings with cultural and community groups, the Istana Heritage Gallery and his active presence on social media.

In Facebook posts, he would recount his public events and offer a voice of reassurance in the wake of terror arrests, and offer comfort during tragedies like the bus crash in Muar on Christmas Eve last year, when Singaporeans were killed.

One area he is heartened by is how ethnic self-help groups work together on joint activities for those in need, regardless of race.

"This helps show this is what Singapore is - despite our different communities, we all work and walk together and share common aspirations, and we can help other people together. It's an achievement we have to carry on," he says.

Dr Tan's presidency coincided with several eventful milestones that brought Singaporeans closer. These include Singapore's Golden Jubilee festivities, its first Olympic gold medal and the death of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

TAKING PRESIDENTIAL ADVISERS TO PUNGGOL

However, a very important function of the presidency that is hardly carried out in public view is the custodial role.

Dr Tan says he spends "a lot of time" on it: from reading information papers and briefs from government agencies to discussing fiscal matters touching on Singapore's reserves with the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA).

Under the Constitution, the president holds the second key to the national reserves, accumulated in previous terms of government.

These include deposits with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and assets managed by GIC and Temasek Holdings. No official figures have been made public, but the reserves are valued at several hundred billions of dollars.

Dr Tan, a former executive director and deputy chairman of GIC, notes that as a country with no natural resources, "our reserves are the only asset which will see us through a crisis or a difficult time".

The CPA, which was expanded this year from six members to eight members, meets him very often, Dr Tan says. "They give me their views, I join them at meetings with ministers. And they always give me their recommendation on proposals from the Government or the appointment of senior officials."

Several long-term issues also feature in his discussions with the CPA and the Government. These include large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the expansion of Changi Airport and the seaport, the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail and the expansion of the MRT network.

"This would take not one term of government, but many terms. You have to study ahead and see how these can be financed in different ways," he says.

Dr Tan previously noted that he has had a harmonious working relationship with the Government, which keeps him informed of all its major decisions. In a statement to Parliament last year, ahead of its debate on changes to the elected presidency, he said: "On a regular basis, the Prime Minister and I meet over lunch and on other occasions, for him to brief me on his preoccupations and intentions, and to exchange views on the strategic direction in which Singapore is heading.

"Our relationship is built on mutual trust and respect. This, to me, is key to the effective functioning of our system," he said then.

Giving his assent to the Government's annual Budget is another function which Dr Tan does with the close involvement of the CPA.

Dr Tan and the CPA would meet Finance Ministry officials to hear the Government's spending priorities, and clarify questions they might have on the Budget.

This is because after the Budget is presented to Parliament and approved, it goes to the president, who will consult the CPA for their recommendation and decide whether to give his assent."The actual figures are fairly straightforward. What is less straightforward is understanding the motivation, the concerns of the Government and the issues they see ahead," Dr Tan says. "Also, (understanding) the implications of some of these expenditures, because they may take many terms of government."

To better understand the workings of major agencies, Dr Tan says he and CPA members have made visits to the Housing Board and JTC Corporation, as well as newer towns like Punggol to see developments first-hand and what the Government is doing to improve the lives of Singaporeans and benefit the economy. "You talk to people who are actually doing the job, and see what they are concerned with on a day-to-day basis rather than just at the policy level," he says.

Asked for his assessment of his term in office, he says: "I've done my best. It's been hard work but it's always been very rewarding. How Singaporeans will regard me, that's for Singaporeans to decide.

"It's been an honour and a privilege to serve as your president. I'm glad to have been able to help Singapore continue to progress."

In carrying out his duties during the six years in office, Dr Tan has also been steadfastly supported by his wife Mary, 76, who is often by his side at community events.The quiet ways of Mrs Tan, who is also warm and friendly, have endeared her to many, say Istana staff, officials and ordinary Singaporeans who visit the Istana when it is open to the public.

Dr Tan seems more approachable when his wife is with him. "She has a way of empathising with people, and they warm up to her," he says.

Has she softened his image?

"I won't say soften. I don't think I've got a harsh image," he says with a chuckle. "We each contribute in our own way."

Dr Tony Tan on the presidency and today's young
The Sunday Times, 27 Aug 2017

Q What are your reflections on the presidency as you approach the end of your term?

A The president has a very important role domestically. As head of state, he's a unifying force. He has to build a sense of community, a cohesive society, where people help each other, look out for each other, are concerned for each other.

This is more important than ever in these difficult times when we have problems of radicalisation and extremism.

I've met many voluntary welfare organisations and social groups to try and understand their different concerns in order to explain some of the major changes in Singapore - for example, our demographic changes and how technology is disrupting our economy.

Singapore is an ageing society and that has vast implications for our organisation of social services. Health spending will go up, government spending will go up.

Q What are your views on today's youth and how confident are you of their capacity to take Singapore forward?

A Every generation is different. Our younger generation grew up in a very different world from the previous generation in the sense that Singapore has done well over the last 50 years. They have had a comfortable livelihood.

But I'm very impressed with their energy, in that they are able to fend for themselves.

For example, it is unusual for anybody nowadays to take a job when he or she finishes school or university and remain in one job for life. So being resilient, looking forward, lifelong education, being prepared for change - these are important areas our young people need to absorb.

And talking to them, I take heart and am encouraged by their enthusiasm and confidence.

I look forward to Singapore being in their hands. I'm sure they will do a good job. Maybe not in the same way the previous generation would have done it, but things must change, we have to change with the times.

Q There have been a number of spoofs about you. One is of you as Colonel Sanders of KFC. How do you react to them?

A Some are amusing, some less so. As long as it's not defamatory, you have to take it in your stride. I won't say it's comfortable, but what can you do?

They have all been done in reasonably good spirit. People are amused and I try not to get too excited over that.

You can't keep on being angry about all of this. There's no end to it.

Q Looking back at these six years, did you make any conscious effort to distinguish yourself from your predecessors?

A Every president has got his own style, his preoccupations. The circumstances were different in each term. I don't think it's a battle.

You can't change yourself. You have to be yourself. Each of us is made up of a complex combination of personality, behaviour, likes and dislikes, what you're concerned with, and it is for each president to define his or her role and then to work out the priorities.

The president has to set out his own style.

Q What do you think Singapore can expect from the next president?

A I am sure there will be a suitable candidate who will do a good job. Singaporeans should choose wisely, look at their background.

Q Any advice for your successor?

A That would be presumptuous. Each president has his or her own priorities and strengths, and will have to use that as well.

Making waves for Singapore abroad
By Joanna Seow, The Sunday Times, 27 Aug 2017

There was little time to spare.

As the last guest left the National Day reception that President Tony Tan Keng Yam and his wife Mary hosted at Gardens by the Bay, the President's car pulled up to take him home and then to the airport for his post-midnight flight to Brazil.

Hopes were high that swim star Joseph Schooling could win Singapore's first Olympic swimming medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Some 30 hours later, at about 9pm on Aug 11 (local time in Rio), Dr Tan landed at Rio de Janeiro's Tom Jobim International Airport, swiftly donned a Team Singapore T-shirt and headed to the Olympic Aquatic Stadium.

He arrived in time to see the then-21-year-old clock the fastest time in the semi-finals for the 100m butterfly event.

Like many Singaporeans, the President began to dream that history could be made the next day.

It was. Recounting the moment of glory last year, his face lit up as he relived the 50.39-second swim, followed by the robust sound of Majulah Singapura, heard for the first time at the Olympics.

"It was a moment we all came together, you could feel the pride, excitement of Singaporeans," he says.

"It's one of the highlights of my presidency, that I was able to be there cheering for Joseph Schooling, not only with the Singaporeans who were there but also Singaporeans back home."

Equally jubilant, the Olympian later draped the gold medal on the President's neck before they posed for photographs. Dr Tan, 77, quipped: "This is the only time I will ever wear an Olympic gold medal."

It was a sweet end to a nail-biting episode at the start of Dr Tan's working visit to Brazil, one of at least 35 overseas trips he made in his six years as the country's chief envoy in promoting Singapore.

Of these, 25 were state visits, which is the highest level of international visits where one head of state is hosted by another.

These were made to, among others, all the ASEAN nations except Thailand - as its then-King Bhumibol Adulyadej was ill - as well as China, India, Australia and New Zealand. Some trips took him as far as Norway and Mexico.

Last October, Dr Tan went to Thailand to pay his respects to King Bhumibol at the Grand Palace after the monarch's death.

The President broke new ground on several occasions as well, being the first Singapore head of state to make state visits, for instance, to Latin America and the Holy See.

Each trip is painstakingly prepared by the President's Office and the Foreign Affairs Ministry, as a positive impression at the highest level can deepen ties, open doors for more business and project Singapore's image.

A high-level business delegation often goes along on these visits.

"When you make a state visit, the host country will form an impression of Singapore, depending on how they interact with you as president - is this a country worth cultivating, how do we strengthen ties," Dr Tan says.

"It's very important to put across our case for Singapore, that we are an open society, we have an open economy, we are in favour of freer trade and dealing with all parts of the world. We're not a closed society where people are prevented from speaking out," he stresses.

Each visit is also an opportunity for Dr Tan to raise issues that are important to Singapore, take into account the concerns of the host country and establish rapport with foreign leaders - and in so doing, strengthen the nation's network of friends and expand opportunities for its people and businesses.

The European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was one key area of cooperation he assiduously argued for when visiting European countries.

"It's still in the process of ratification, so when I visit European countries I stress to them the benefits of this FTA for their companies as well as for Singapore and the region, and how it can be a pathfinder eventually for an EU-Asean FTA."

Air connectivity is another topic he pursued as Singapore seeks to establish more agreements to let the national carrier's planes fly to, from and beyond other countries.

The President made two state visits in 2012, and four to six a year after that. These have included visits to celebrate Singapore's 50 years of diplomatic relations with countries such as Japan, France and Egypt.

The trips, which can last from a few days to more than a week if it includes visiting a neighbouring country as well, are packed with activities, ranging from state dinners and meetings with officials to cultural events and visits to educational institutions.

They can be tiring, Dr Tan says, as "you have to be alert all the time" and find issues relevant to both sides to discuss.

Sometimes, he has to address the misconception that Singapore is a closed society.

It has become more difficult nowadays because of social media and the Internet, where false statements can be circulated widely and do great damage even if they are taken down later, he adds.

But the key to tackling such fake news is to explain how the Singapore system works, he says, adding: "By and large, Singapore is quite well known now to all the countries. They know our positions, our foreign policy, our positions on economic policies."

↧

Presidential Election 2017: Polling Day set for Sep 23

August 29, 2017, 7:35 am

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PE 2017 Writ issued: Nomination Day on Sep 13, Polling on Sep 23
Elections committee to check if candidates meet criteria, and inform them by Sep 12
By Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

Singaporeans will vote for their eighth president on Sep 23, if more than one person qualifies to run for the position.

The winning candidate will be the second Malay president in Singapore's history, and the first to be chosen in a presidential election reserved for candidates of a specific community.

But whether the nation's 2.5 million eligible voters get to cast their vote at all hinges on the Presidential Elections Committee.

It screens all presidential hopefuls to see whether they meet the required criteria and will inform them of its decision by Sep 12.

If only one candidate qualifies, he or she will be declared the president on Nomination Day, Sep 13. Otherwise, a contest is on the cards.

The contenders will be nominated at People's Association headquarters at 9, King George's Avenue.

These details were given by the Elections Department (ELD) yesterday when it announced that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had issued the Writ of Election.

PM Lee later stressed in a Facebook post the significance of the reserved election, saying it is important in a multiracial country for every citizen to "know someone of his community can... and does become president from time to time, and thus represent all Singaporeans".

In the event of a contest, Polling Day, which is Sep 23, will be a public holiday. The Returning Officer will be Mr Ng Wai Choong, chief executive of the Energy Market Authority.

Three people have stepped forward to potentially join the contest: marine services firm chairman Farid Khan, 61; former Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, 63; and property company chief executive Salleh Marican, 67.

Mr Farid and Mr Salleh handed in their forms last week, although neither qualify to run automatically.

Mr Salleh said yesterday in a statement that he is confident of getting the green light, adding that he will be independent of political parties and other organisations.

Mr Farid is confident as well that he will qualify.

To get the nod to run, the potential candidates have to apply for a certificate of eligibility, and a community certificate confirming that they belong to the Malay community. Both applications must reach the ELD by 5pm next Monday.

Candidates also have to apply for a political donation certificate from the ELD by Sep 9.

The final document needed is the nomination paper. It must be signed by the candidate and a proposer, seconder, and at least four assentors.

The candidates must submit their nomination paper, and all three certificates, in person between 11am and noon on Nomination Day. They must also pay an election deposit of $43,500.

A new feature in this election is a form for candidates to voluntarily undertake to conduct their campaign in a dignified and decorous manner consistent with the president's position as the head of state and the symbol of national unity.

These signed undertakings will be made public, with the nomination papers and certificates, on Nomination Day.

When President Tony Tan Keng Yam's term ends on Thursday, Mr J.Y. Pillay, chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers, will be Acting President until the new president is sworn in.

PM Lee, in his Facebook post, expressed the hope that "Singaporeans will support the candidate who will best represent their interests and aspirations, and our nation".

"Not just at home, but internationally too," he added.

3 presidential hopefuls: With the Writ of Election out, all three hopefuls are stepping up preparations for the campaign in the lead-up to Nomination Day.

Farid Khan confident of getting nod, rolls out videos to woo voters
By Toh Yong Chuan, Manpower Correspondent, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

Businessman Farid Khan is confident he will qualify to run for the highest office in the land in next month's election, which has been reserved for Malay candidates.

"I am confident that both committees will affirm my eligibility to contest and that I belong to the Malay community," the 61-year-old said in a statement yesterday after the Writ of Election was issued.

The chairman of regional marine services company Bourbon Offshore Asia handed in his forms to the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) and the Community Committee last Thursday.

He does not automatically qualify for the Sep 23 election, as candidates from the private sector must have run a company with an average of at least $500 million in shareholder equity for the most recent three years.

Bourbon Offshore Asia reportedly has shareholder equity of around US$300 million (S$406 million), which falls below the threshold.

Mr Farid declined to spell out what was the shareholder equity stated in the form he submitted to the Elections Department.

"I believe that it meets all the requirements and criteria set by the PEC," he told The Straits Times.

He added that his campaign team is ready, and his campaign will make use of social media and also woo voters on the ground.

On Facebook yesterday, he launched a 46-second video titled "Who is Farid Khan?" Eight more videos are in the pipeline.

"While I have to admit that I am new to this, I hope I can reach out to as many Singaporeans (as possible), getting to know them and getting them to know me too," he said.

Mr Farid previously announced that his campaign would be based on the theme "Together we build our nation". He has also listed five issues he would prioritise if elected, which include countering the threat of radicalism by working closely with the Government and other organisations, and building trust among people of different races and religions.

Mr Farid is of Pakistani descent, a fact that has led some to question whether he can represent the Malay community. He has countered this by saying he speaks Malay, was born in a Malay village in Geylang Serai, practises the Malay culture and worships at Al-Abdul Razak Mosque in Eunos.

Halimah Yacob confirms proposer, to hold press conference today
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

Presidential hopeful Halimah Yacob yesterday announced her proposer for next month's election - Singapore Business Federation chairman and Chinese community leader Teo Siong Seng.

Madam Halimah, 63, is the only one of three aspiring candidates to automatically qualify for the reserved election, as she had served as Speaker of Parliament for more than three years.

In a Facebook post after the Writ of Election was issued yesterday, she said many people have stepped forward to express their support since she announced her presidential bid earlier this month.

Among them was Mr Teo, who "generously accepted" her request to be her proposer, she said.

Her post included a video of Mr Teo, who spoke in English and Mandarin of Madam Halimah's dedication to the welfare of workers.

They first met during her time as a unionist and MP. Mr Teo, a veteran in the maritime industry, was a nominated MP when Madam Halimah became Speaker in 2013.

She was able to manage discussions in Parliament very well, and would "remind us not to forget why we are there... to speak up for the people", said Mr Teo.

"Some people may say 'Oh, maybe she is not stately enough', but I don't think so," he added.

"I think she's got tremendous intelligence, and she really can represent Singapore well both domestically and internationally."

Madam Halimah is slated to give a press conference on her plans today. She has been based at the NTUC Centre, home to the labour movement where she spent 33 years and rose to the post of deputy secretary-general. The unions have traditionally backed presidents with strong union links, such as late former presidents Ong Teng Cheong and S R Nathan. It will be no different with Madam Halimah.

NTUC president Mary Liew will be one of the assentors on her nomination form, and unions affiliated with the labour movement are expected to mobilise their members in support of Madam Halimah on Nomination Day. Her long years in politics have made her a recognisable figure. Elected in 2001, she was MP for Jurong GRC for more than a decade before moving to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC in the 2015 General Election.

Besides her Facebook page, which has over 24,000 followers, she now has an official website - halimah.sg - and a YouTube channel.

Salleh Marican: I'll be independent of any political party or organisation
By Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

Presidential hopeful Salleh Marican yesterday reiterated he will be a president who is independent of any political party or organisation.

In a statement after the Writ of Election was issued yesterday, the businessman also pledged to guard the nation's reserves with prudence, help the less fortunate and donate his entire salary to underfunded charities if elected.

The chief executive of Second Chance Properties submitted his applications for a certificate of eligibility and community certificate to the Elections Department (ELD) last Wednesday. "I await eagerly the decision on whether I will be given the go-ahead to join the race. I am confident of getting that green light," he said yesterday.

Mr Salleh's investment holdings and retail firm had shareholder equity of between $254.3 million and $263.25 million in the past three financial years - below the $500 million threshold set for private sector candidates. The Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) has the discretion, however, to issue an eligibility certificate to candidates even if they do not meet the criteria for automatic qualification.

"I look forward to be eligible to contest the election. A contest will be good for Singapore," Mr Salleh, 67, said.

He has assembled a core team of 20 members and a group of volunteers. His campaign manager Abdul Halim Kader, 66, is a People's Action Party stalwart who has helped the ruling party in five previous general elections. Mr Abdul Halim said he and Mr Salleh are close friends who have known each other since the 1980s. "He's a very charitable man," he said, pointing to Mr Salleh's annual donations of $22,222 to the Tabung Amal Aidilfitri Trust Fund to help the needy.

He added that if the PEC gives the businessman the nod, Mr Salleh plans to do walkabouts in all five districts, visit hawker centres and wet markets, go door-to-door to meet residents, and hold meetings with resident and merchant associations. Work is also under way on a campaign manifesto and banners.

Mr Salleh, who was initially criticised online for stumbling while speaking Malay after collecting his forms at the ELD in June, has been taking regular Malay lessons.

After he submitted his forms at the ELD last week, Mr Salleh spoke to the media in fluent Malay, before turning to his assembled supporters and declaring: "Who says Salleh Marican cannot speak Malay!"

Three uncertainties in the presidential election
By Elgin Toh, Insight Editor, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

The clock has started ticking.

In less than four weeks, Singapore will elect its eighth president. Nomination Day will fall on Sep 13. Polling Day will be Sep 23. The election will be reserved for Malay candidates, since five terms have passed without a Malay president.

Thus, by Sep 23, Singapore would have elected its first Malay president in more than 46 years. The previous one was Mr Yusof Ishak, the Republic's inaugural head of state. He died in 1970 before the end of his third term.

Three uncertainties confront Singaporeans at this juncture.

First, will there be a contest?

Supporters of former Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, 63, will probably sense the mantle of history moving towards their candidate. She is hitherto the only presidential hopeful who meets the criteria for automatic qualification.

She qualifies on her experience as Speaker, a post she held from 2013 to Aug 7 this year, when she stepped down to run for the presidency.

The others who have applied to run are Mr Farid Khan, 61, chairman of a marine services firm, and Mr Salleh Marican, 67, chief executive of a listed property company.

To qualify automatically, private sector candidates must have helmed a company with an average shareholder equity of $500 million in the three most recent years. Both Mr Farid and Mr Salleh fall short.

But it is too early for Madam Halimah's team to be measuring the drapes for the Istana office.

There may be others who qualify but have yet to declare their interest. All who want to run have to apply for certificates by next Monday.

Also, the Presidential Elections Committee has the discretion to qualify candidates via a deliberative track, if their experiences are comparable to the automatic criteria.

In 2011, the committee surprised many by clearing Mr Tan Jee Say. He too did not meet the explicit criteria, but it said his firm was "an organisation of equivalent complexity".

Still, Madam Halimah is undoubtedly the current front runner. She has served close to 40 years in public service and the labour movement. She was a union lawyer, an MP, deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress, minister of state in two ministries, and the first woman to become Speaker of Parliament.

People also remember her fights on behalf of the underdog - whether vulnerable workers or pre-school children from low-income families.

She is the clear favourite to win at the moment, if there is a contest.

The second uncertainty: If there is a contest, will it be dignified?

Singapore has seen only two contested presidential elections: in 1993 and 2011.

The 1993 one, which elected President Ong Teng Cheong, is generally remembered as a tepid affair.

But 2011 saw four candidates surnamed Tan - dubbed the "Tan Quartet" - engaged in a vigorous jostle for the office. Observers said there was a politicisation of the presidency, with some candidates at times making promises on issues that clearly fell outside the constitutionally prescribed powers of the president.

To ensure this would not happen again, Parliament amended the laws to require that each candidate sign a statutory declaration that "he understands the president's role under the Constitution".

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing, who introduced the Bill in Parliament, stressed that making a false declaration "is an offence".

A campaign this year is thus likely to be calmer and more correct. But if the race is close, candidates may yet be tempted to take chances.

The third and final uncertainty: Will Singaporeans take to the concept of a reserved election?

The issue has been discussed for nearly two years, since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong asked a Constitutional Commission to look into the need for minorities to be elected to the highest office from time to time, to ensure it reflects Singapore's multiracial society.

This led to the "five-term hiatus" rule, paving the way for this election to be reserved for Malay candidates.

Some have expressed concern that the rule may erode meritocracy, since it seems to choose a president on factors other than merit.

The Government's response can be thus summarised: On principle, Singaporeans should decide on merit alone. But the evidence shows that many do consider race when voting. Meritorious minority candidates are hence less easily elected. To ignore this reality could cause more damage to the system, because Singapore would be forgoing multiracial representation, which is as important a value as meritocracy.

The "five-term hiatus" rule strikes a good balance, because it provides for a future where minority candidates might be elected in open elections. The rule would then fall out of use naturally, an outcome that all Singaporeans would hope for.

Dissenters may not come round to the Government's view via just theoretical argument. The issue might be settled only after Singaporeans live through a presidential term following a reserved election, and decide from the experience if the country is better off for it.

This would place a heavy burden on the next president.

The person has to show Singaporeans that he or she is every bit as capable of performing the roles and duties of president as one produced by an open election.

Presidential Election 2017: Contest or walkover? Find out on Sep 13
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

Whether 2.5 million voters will have the chance to head to the polls on Sep 23 rests on the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC).

This six-member panel, headed by Public Service Commission chairman Eddie Teo, will decide which of the presidential hopefuls make the cut. In order to be issued a certificate of eligibility, a candidate has to convince the committee that he or she is "a person of integrity, good character and reputation".

Also, public sector candidates must have spent at least three years in a key public office.

Those from the private sector are up against more stringent criteria, following changes to the law passed in Parliament last November. They must have helmed a company with at least $500 million in shareholder equity to qualify, instead of $100 million in paid-up capital previously.

But those who do not automatically meet the criteria can qualify under the "deliberative" track, which gives the PEC some leeway in determining whether hopefuls are able to carry out the functions of president should they be elected.

Singaporeans will find out on Nomination Day on Sep 13 whether there will be a contest or a walkover.

The PEC will inform all applicants of their decision by Sep 12.

The committee's other members are: Ms Lim Soo Hoon, chairman of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority; Professor Chan Heng Chee, a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights; Mr Po'ad Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar, a member of the Council of Presidential Advisers; Justice Tay Yong Kwang, a Judge of Appeal; and Mr Peter Seah, chairman of DBS Bank.

As this election is reserved for Malay candidates, aspirants must also be certified as members of the Malay community by the Community Committee.

Its Malay community sub-committee, which will assess applicants, is headed by Mr Imram Mohamed, former chairman of the Association of Muslim Professionals.

Its other four members are community leaders Fatimah Azimullah and Alami Musa, and ambassadors Yatiman Yusof and Zulkifli Baharudin.

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Political battles over statues

August 29, 2017, 7:02 pm

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Much ado about statues
Recent events a reminder of how statues reflect people's memory
By Ho Ai Li, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

A statue is not just a statue.

Recent controversies, from Charlottesville to Sydney and Seoul, have underlined how these monuments are often proxies in the battle over what people remember.

"Any form of commemoration is necessarily controversial," said Dr Kevin Tan, a legal expert and president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites Singapore. There will be winners and losers, with some in and others out.

"Statues are even more problematic," he told The Straits Times, "because they are usually larger than life, physically personify the person being commemorated and act as natural magnets for opposition."

Certainly, statues of Confederate generals in parks and university campuses across the United States have attracted controversy as symbols of racism.

The Confederacy was made up of 11 southern states that broke away from the US in the 1860s to preserve a way of life that included slavery. Many of these statues have since been moved, but plans to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee triggered a fatal clash between white supremacist groups and their opponents earlier this month.

Asia, too, has its statue battles.

In South Korea, these have been used as weapons against the downplaying of Japanese war crimes. One comfort woman sculpture was put up in Seoul opposite the Japanese embassy in 2011; another was installed opposite the Japanese consulate in port city Busan last December, so angering Tokyo that it recalled its ambassador.

The issue of comfort women - mainly Koreans forced or recruited to work in Japanese military brothels before and during World War II - still festers. Many Koreans are unhappy with the agreement their country signed with Japan in 2015 to settle the issue. Victim groups, in particular, say Japan's apology did not go far enough.

In the lead-up to South Korea's National Liberation Day on Aug 15, comfort women statues were installed on five public buses in Seoul, where they will remain until the end of next month.

In Asia, statues have also been deployed by countries against a common former wartime enemy.

In 2013, China put up in north-east Harbin city a statue of Korean hero Ahn Jung Geun, who had shot dead a Japanese colonial official. This was at the suggestion of then South Korean President Park Geun Hye.

In Taiwan, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek was knocked off his pedestal and decried as a despot after his Kuomintang lost the 2000 presidential election to the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

While smiling statues of Mao Zedong, who defeated Chiang in the Chinese civil war, still occupy pride of place in cities across China, an army of some 250 of Chiang's clones have been shunted to a quiet park in Taoyuan in the north of Taiwan.

Some Chiang statues left in prominent places have become casualties of politics - many are defaced each year and at least one was recently "beheaded" in tit-for-tat attacks.

In April this year, a former Taipei city councillor cut off the head of a statue of Japanese civil engineer Yoichi Hatta in Tainan, a southern DPP stronghold where Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945 is fondly remembered by residents generally. Hatta was credited with designing waterways that contributed to agricultural development.

A pro-independence group took revenge by hacking off the head of a Chiang statue in Yangmingshan on the outskirts of Taipei days later.

"The transition of justice has not been completed," lawyer Lai Chung-chiang told Agence France- Presse. Despite being a democracy, remnants of authoritarian rule, like Chiang's statues, still stand, he added.

Over in India, the statues of "Dalit Queen" Kumari Mayawati, former head of Uttar Pradesh state, are quite untouchable, even if controversial.

As the state's chief minister from 2007 to 2012, she had drawn flak for spending millions of dollars on memorial parks with life-sized statues of herself, as well as those of elephants, the symbol of her Bahujan Samaj Party. The party is supported by the Dalits, who occupy the lowest rung in India's caste system.

But statues of Dalit heroes like Ms Mayawati are a source of pride for the caste. It is feared that any bid to remove them may spark unrest.

In Australia, as in the US, recent spats over statues have put the spotlight on the battle over memory.

For example, the role in Australia's history of British explorer James Cook, honoured with a statue in Sydney, has been questioned by those who objected to the "damaging myth" inscribed on the statue saying Cook discovered the territory in 1770. According to the Historical Dictionary Of Australian Aborigines, published in 2010, Aboriginal people had first arrived in Australia at least 60,000 years ago.

Last Friday, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rejected calls to alter memorials.

"All of those statues... are part of our history and we should respect them and preserve them," he said.

But executive director James Grossman of the American Historical Association, referring to the removal of the Confederate statues, was quoted in The Guardian newspaper as saying it is not about changing history. "You're changing how we remember history," he said.

Most still standing tall
The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

1 Jakarta is one Asian city with a taste for statues. Its first president, Sukarno, in power from 1945 to 1967, commissioned many statues with themes like liberation and revolution and was himself immortalised in statues. For instance, the Welcome Monument, featuring a man and a woman waving hello in the centre of a traffic circle, was built in 1962 to mark Jakarta's hosting of the Asian Games.

2 In India, colonial-era statues can be found in "a graveyard of statues" in its capital Delhi, The Wall Street Journal reported. Statues of British kings like George V, who ruled from 1910 to 1936, and forgotten colonial officials stand amid trees in Coronation Park.

3 A large statue of Confucius in flowing robes was put up in 2011 at the National Museum of China. The presence of the Chinese sage near Beijing's Tiananmen Square sparked talk of Confucianism regaining favour in Communist China. But a few months later, the Sage disappeared, said to be carted off to a less conspicuous spot.

4 North Korea is so good in making giant statues - just look at its statues of leaders Kim II Sung and his son Kim Jong Il. It has even spun off a business in exporting statues, the BBC reported last year. Large statues made by Korean artists in a style called "the statement of the obvious" have found clients in African nations from Angola to Togo.

5 The statue of Stamford Raffles, founder of modern Singapore, should not be removed, Dr Albert Winsemius advised Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. The Dutchman, chief economic adviser to the Singapore Government, said the statue would be a symbol of public acceptance of the legacy of British rule in Singapore and could have a positive effect.

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One Belt One Road: Singapore well-positioned to make gains in game-changing initiative says Shanmugam

August 29, 2017, 11:53 pm

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Singpore in 'a position to benefit' from Belt and Road push
Its edge includes good governance, educated workforce, financial centre and port, says Shanmugam
The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

Having recognised early the benefits of China's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) push, Singapore has actively supported it and is well-positioned to make gains from it, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said in a lecture yesterday.

Singapore's edge lies in its good governance, the rule of law, its educated workforce and its respected financial centre and port, he said.

Singapore has also been an "active proponent" of China's growth since its opening-up, and was an early supporter of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which funds Belt and Road projects.

One Belt, One Road - unveiled by President Xi Jinping in 2013 - seeks to enhance links between Asia, Europe and Africa by building roads, railway and other infrastructure in a network of projects covering more than 60 countries.

Describing it as a "game changer" that is bold, innovative and ambitious, Mr Shanmugam said: "If connectivity improves, people travel, investment flows increase; we will benefit if we are ready and smart."

He cited figures that showed Singapore is already benefiting: 30 per cent of China's Belt and Road investments in all countries are in Singapore. In return, Singapore's investments in China account for 85 per cent of total Belt and Road investments there by all countries.

Mr Shanmugam's speech, at an Asia Competitiveness Institute forum, was the latest in a series of remarks by Singapore's leaders in support of China's bid to recreate the Silk Road.

The Republic was one of three South-east Asian countries whose heads of government did not attend the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in May, causing some to raise questions about bilateral ties.

But observers say relations are on an even keel, with a June announcement that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will be visiting Singapore.

In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Shanmugam also placed the Belt and Road Initiative in the context of shifting geopolitics. China, said the former foreign minister, was likely to continue its rise as a superpower, despite domestic problems like corruption and an ageing population. And while the United States has not gone into actual decline, the relative positions of the two countries will change.

One Belt, One Road, a result of China's rise, may well accelerate that rise, he said, noting that China is already the largest trading nation in the world. China is also able to translate plans into reality, given its resources, its ability to muster the nation's will towards a clear goal, and its great leap forward in technology and science, he added.

China's strategic investments abroad have at times created tensions, but they have also helped forge strong ties and are likely to "predispose many countries towards the Belt and Road Initiative".

In contrast, the US has in recent times defined its interests more narrowly, wavering on once fundamental issues like free trade, he noted.

Mr Shanmugam said the shift is understandable, since the US has hitherto been bearing a disproportionate share of security costs. But if it continues, "more countries may find the Belt and Road Initiative to be more attractive".

For China, the initiative is not without risks, he said, as the Silk Road passes through Central Asia, a very "tough" region where other powers - Russia, India, Turkey and Iran - have their own interests.

A key to China's success is to convey benign intentions and to foster trust by working within the international framework, he added.

In this unfolding situation, Singapore's interest is in developing good relations with as many countries as possible and in latching on to One Belt, One Road and other growth opportunities, he said.

"The world can pass us by in an instant... We need to keep... finding new ways to add value," he said.

Singapore has to work hard to meet competition that will arise, such as from neighbouring ports built to challenge Singapore's ports, he said.

As a small state, Singapore is a price-taker. But if it gives in to bigger states, it will lose its sovereignty.

Said Mr Shanmugam: "If we allow ourselves to be bullied or seduced by bigger powers, that can break or severely stress our own domestic social compact, which is built on multiracialism. Once broken, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to put together this compact again."

Think-tanks 'may disagree with Government but not under a foreign state's influence'
By Elgin Toh, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

Think-tanks may sometimes disagree with the Government, but they must not do so under the influence of a foreign country, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday.

While such institutions play an important role - to explore issues civil servants may not be able to - they must maintain an independent stance.

"Objectivity is critical," he said at a forum at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

His remarks came shortly after an academic was rapped for working with a foreign government to influence Singapore's foreign policy.

Dr Huang Jing, 60, who was from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, had his permanent residency cancelled this month after the Home Affairs Ministry labelled him "an agent of a foreign country".

While Mr Shanmugam did not refer to a specific case, he said it is unacceptable for academics to be "suborned" and to project the views of a foreign country "under the guise of objectivity and academic freedom", with a hidden agenda of influencing Singapore's policies.

He said academics do so either because they are "working with foreign intelligence" or because they are "seduced by them".

He was responding to a question about the role of think-tanks and businessmen in foreign relations.

Mr Shanmugam said the late deputy prime minister Goh Keng Swee set up think-tanks here to provide fresh perspectives and to prevent groupthink.

Dr Goh envisioned think-tanks challenging the Government's views at times and being knowledgeable, objective and clear.

"Dr Goh would certainly turn in his grave if he thinks that the think-tanks he set up or was responsible for have become instruments of influence for other countries," he said.

He added that think-tanks could challenge the Government - not "for the sake of challenging", but "where (the Government) needs to be challenged". Academics ought to be "real scholars and... put forward scholarly viewpoints, but practical ones, that help the country".

Turning to businessmen, he said they play a key role in expanding Singapore's gross national product and in building good economic relations with other countries, which helps Singapore's foreign relations.

But both businessmen and the Government should "understand where the line is drawn".

"Sometimes, the Government cannot take the advice of businessmen... because businessmen will carry a business perspective, but the Government has to take a larger, countrywide perspective as a sovereign state," he said.

Firms urged to 'act fast to secure first-mover advantage'
By Chia Yan Min, Economics Correspondent, The Straits Times, 29 Aug 2017

Singapore companies keen to tap opportunities in Belt and Road countries "must act fast to secure our first-mover advantage", said Mr Liew Mun Leong, the chairman of Changi Airport Group and Surbana Jurong Group.

While the projects on offer might be too huge for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take on alone, Singapore firms can come together to form consortiums, the former CapitaLand chief executive added.

Mr Liew was speaking yesterday at this year's Asia Economic Forum, co-organised by the World Bank Group and the Asia Competitiveness Institute at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) at the National University of Singapore.

The forum focused on the impact and implications of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which calls for massive development of trade routes and infrastructure across 60 countries, mainly in Asia and Europe.

Mr Liew, who is provost's chair and practice professor at LKYSPP, said the BRI could be the sole remaining locomotive propelling global growth in the coming years as other efforts to lift trade, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, have run into roadblocks.

Besides infrastructure, there will also be opportunities for Singapore firms to provide services in BRI countries - including in development consultancy, IT, logistics and financial services, he noted. "We must be prepared to enter into international collaboration... to address BRI market demand," he said.

SMEs can also tap these opportunities, said Mr Liew.

"In terms of infrastructure development, the fact is that many of these are mega projects, which can be handled only by big developers... But small companies can join a consortium to participate," he said.

In response to a question about dealing with poor corporate governance and corruption when doing business in China, Mr Liew said his approach is to make sure business partners understand that "under the table" deals are out of the question.

"For a company going to China, it is not sustainable to pay bribes if you want to be there for the long term. You will get caught, they will get caught," said Mr Liew, who has been doing business in China for more than two decades.

How Singapore can gain from One Belt, One Road initiative
On Monday, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam spoke about the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, an effort by China to recreate the Silk Road through infrastructure projects that connect Asia, Europe and Africa. He discussed the implications of the initiative for geopolitics and Singapore in his talk at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. This an edited extract.
The Straits Times, 30 Aug 2017

Let me give my views on the possible implications or impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

First, let's look at the larger geopolitical trends.

One, the rise of China. It is likely to be the largest world economy in absolute terms, though not in per capita terms. This is likely to happen sooner rather than later.

China aims to be a superpower - understandably. When you consider the combined metrics of economy, technology, population, you will conclude that China's aim to be a superpower is realistic.

Two, there will inevitably be a change of relative power between America and China. I am not suggesting that America is in actual decline. It is more a question of relativity.

In absolute terms, it will be some time yet before China or any other country can match the US, let alone surpass it, militarily.

Nevertheless, over time, the United States will have less and less scope for unilateral action, especially in areas of the globe where China has strong interests. China will not be able to ignore US interests either. They will have to find a new modus vivendi.

China is fast drawing level with the most advanced countries in many fields and surging ahead in some. Its infrastructure, technology, education system are now better than world class.

China's rate of growth now is roughly double that of the US. If you look at trade, it is now the world's largest trading nation, and the largest trading partner for most countries.

These trends are irreversible. Any attempt to reverse or stem them will fail.

The US Congress put up roadblocks to giving China its rightful role in the World Bank. China simply set up its own international bank - the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Many countries, including Western countries, made haste to support the AIIB. So with or without BRI - these underlying trends are inexorable. The BRI is both a result of these trends and may well accelerate them.

THE HISTORIC SILK ROAD

The history of trade shows that the global economic centre of gravity for much of human history was in China and India. And the Silk Route was the spine of world trade.

The Silk Route brought great wealth to China, and to the cities along the route.

With the BRI, China tries to recreate this history. It is bold, it is innovative, it is ambitious. It exemplifies the vision of a country that is today the world leader in many aspects of infrastructure technology.

Take permafrost railway for example. It presents multiple engineering challenges. Permafrost melts with slight changes in temperature - heat from trains can also cause melting. Permafrost thaws, ground becomes muddy, affecting the integrity of the entire system.

For fragile sections, Chinese engineers built elevated tracks with pile-driven foundations sunk deep into the ground. And China has built an impressive rail network on permafrost - quickly as well.

China's first emperor Shi Huang Di's feats of construction inspired the idiom "shave off mountain peaks and fill valleys" (qian shan yin gu). It is a country which centuries ago built a wall, which today can still be seen from space. The Chinese understand infrastructure.

The current international situation will tend to accelerate these larger geopolitical trends.

And I will list three developments that will impact these trends.

First, China has been very strategic in the way it has been investing. China identifies regions of interest, and then focuses on them relentlessly. Neither the US nor Europe can do the same. Their political and economic systems are different. Their leaders cannot make the same type of long-term commitments.

China-Africa trade was US$10 billion in 2000, it was US$220 billion in 2014. Chinese companies purchase stakes in mining operations in Africa, in return for loans to finance large-scale infrastructure projects.

These investments create strong relationships. Of course they have not been without some backlash. But, on the whole, they predispose many countries towards BRI.

Second, China's centralised system allows it to bring together the necessary resources and focus intensely, relentlessly, on the outcome that it wants.

This is not to say that everything about the Chinese system is good or works well. China does have some serious issues, as China itself acknowledges.

For example, corruption is a serious issue, and is being actively dealt with by President Xi (Jinping) and his team. And over time China will have to deal with other social issues and political issues as well. Ageing, for example.

While there can be many criticisms levelled at China and its political system, nevertheless, they are often skewed, or a little unbalanced. For example, you will often hear this: the Chinese political system does not allow innovation, and so China cannot compete at the frontiers of modern science and technology. Therefore, it will not ultimately succeed.

China has been showing its detractors are getting it wrong. China has shown it can move up the tech value chain quickly.

Take telecoms. Huawei is now a world leader in info technology. It makes world-leading hardware, and world-leading software as well.

Another illustration: quantum satellites. China is moving ahead on space-to-ground quantum key distribution technology.

It is a way to send data over long distances which is very difficult, if not impossible, to hack. This technology was actually developed in Europe. But China put in the resources to take it further.

AMERICA FIRST

America's long-held position, post-World War II, was that the maintenance of global peace and order was, in itself, in America's interests. Now it has been suggested that America should define its interests more narrowly, an "America First" approach. America has wondered aloud on positions which were once considered fundamental. For example, its commitment to Nato, stability in the relationship with China and free trade.

To be fair, some of the questions being raised by America are understandable. For example, it has been pointing out since the 1980s that it bears a disproportionate share of the cost of Nato.

But if there continues to be a perception that the US is withdrawing or reducing its global footprint, that may then accelerate the larger geopolitical trends. If the US continues with anti-trade rhetoric, removes itself from trade agreements, targets countries with economic sanctions, and there are tariff wars, then more countries may find the BRI to be more attractive.

The BRI is arguably the most ambitious infrastructure project in history. Trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending expected, in over 60 countries. Nearly US$50 billion (S$68 billion) has already been invested in economies along the Belt and Road.

The BRI seeks to capture the imagination of partner countries. Many would-be partners believe that when the routes are laid, wealth will flow as it once did.

It has the potential to bring Eurasia, China and South-east Asia even closer together.

But let me strike a note of caution. Central Asia - for centuries, conquerors have swept through the area. It is a hostile environment, difficult to enforce law and order.

Afghanistan has been called the "graveyard of empires" for good reason. There is a poem by Kipling, The Young British Soldier, on fighting in Afghanistan.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew gave a copy of the poem to president (Barack) Obama. It is worth reading.

Thus success of the BRI in these areas is not a given.

There are other associated risks. Russia has very substantial interests in the region. It is not a given that Russian and Chinese interests will align on the BRI.

Beyond the specific difficulties of Central Asia, China also has to try and engage countries which have been less than enthusiastic about BRI. For example: India, Japan.

It is good for China to be respected, liked and trusted. If there is a deficit in trust, we then might see regional counter blocs forming. No country, not even China, can go it alone in the modern world.

The BRI is not a substitute for the current international order. The current order is built on free trade. If the world turns protectionist, that will affect the BRI.

If China plays this right and successfully conveys that it has benign intentions, through the BRI and other regional initiatives, it has the potential to build a new economic architecture that can uplift economic growth in this hemisphere.

China is likely to find South-east Asia easier in the context of the BRI. The connectivity - roads, rails, ports, airports - will be of great benefit. And the potential to create a vibrant economic zone, including the maritime states, is huge.

The BRI, if successfully executed, will reshape global trade. It will anchor the world's centre of economic gravity in Asia. And China will be the centre of that centre. Not all roads will lead to Beijing, but many roads will.

SINGAPORE AND THE BRI

Singapore recognised very early the potential for China's growth, from the early 1980s. And was an active proponent of that growth.

We supported the BRI since its early years of inception, recognised it would benefit Asia and Asean, and lead to greater regional economic integration. We were among the first few countries to support the AIIB, because we recognised its importance for the BRI.

As a small country that is well governed, with rule of law, a highly educated population, we should be able to benefit from all of this economic growth. The BRI in itself offers tremendous economic opportunities. If connectivity improves, people travel, investment flows increase, then we can benefit - if we are ready and smart.

The figures show that we are already benefiting significantly from the opportunities offered by the BRI. China's investments in Singapore alone amount to about one-third of its total investments in Belt and Road countries. Singapore's investments in China accounted for 85 per cent of total inbound investments from Belt and Road countries.

In this unfolding multi-polar world, it is even more important for us to have as many good relationships as possible.

Small states must continually earn their relevance. For us, nothing is guaranteed. The world can pass us by in an instant.

We need to keep improving, keep reinventing and finding new ways to add value. We should try to punch above our weight, rather than just be seen as a 700-sq km rock at the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia. We have good reasons to be optimistic.

We pack quite a punch.

Note what Professor Tommy Koh said earlier this month: While we may be small in terms of territory or population size, we are not so small when you consider other yardsticks: GDP per capita, size of our foreign reserves, our connectivity with others, ease of doing business - to name just a few factors.

There will be fierce competition, certainly. We must anticipate that our neighbours will, for example, want to build big ports to challenge our port.

We must be nimble, quickly adapt - modernise, expand our own container port; have the foresight to make the necessary changes today for a better tomorrow. If we do so, we can secure our future, and ensure we remain a key port of call in South-east Asia.

And don't be easily rattled. As a Straits Times article pointed out, it is not so easy to displace our port. Don't be spooked by social media disinformation campaigns that claim we are about to be surrounded and cut off.

We achieved what we have by thinking bold, and thinking big. We didn't allow anyone to bully us, or subject ourselves to the demands of other countries. Many have tried. We resisted.

International relations, it is not unlike a jungle. And small states are at risk. Small states that are intimidated or cajoled by bigger states into allowing their identity and interests to be defined by bigger states are not going to remain sovereign states for very long. They may retain a flag, a national anthem and a vote in the United Nations, but that is about all. They will lose the autonomy to be themselves.

The issue is existential. If we allow ourselves to be bullied or seduced by bigger powers, that can break or severely stress our own domestic social-political compact, on which modern Singapore rests. Once broken, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to put together this compact again.

If our founding fathers had conceded that Singapore should behave like a small state - "adiks" - we would not be having this conversation today. We would not be speaking in English, certainly; and there would be no Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

But thankfully, our founding fathers thought boldly, so we have a vibrant, confident modern state.

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