SINGAPORE - From Monday (Nov 21), the public can call a new anti-scam helpline initiated by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC).

The number, 1800-722-6688, will be in operation from Mondays to Fridays from 9am to 5pm, except on public holidays.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean launched the helpline at the annual Festive Season Crime Prevention Campaign on Sunday (Nov 20) held at shopping mall Rivervale Plaza in Sengkang.

Mr Tan Kian Hoon, chairman of NCPC said that scams are evolving very quickly.

"For those who do not have access to the Internet, it might take some time before they hear of it from their friends or loved ones. We hope that this helpline can act as an additional channel for us to reach out to this group of people so as to prevent a scam from happening," he said.

In a speech, he highlighted that in the first nine months of this year, people here were swindled out of $21 million in the China officials impersonation scam.

Giving details on other efforts to tackle the rise of such crimes, Mr Tan noted that a scam alert website set up by NCPC has been visited more than 400,000 times since 2014, and that there are lift decals at 1,200 HDB blocks.

The NCPC has also worked closely with stakeholders, such as banks and remittance agencies, and conducted roadshows to educate the public on scams, he added.

In addition, a television commercial starring local actor Li Nanxing will highlight three common scams in Singapore: Impersonation scams, Internet love scams and credit-for-sex scams.

Produced by NCPC and the police, the commercial drives home the anti-scam message with the tagline: "Don't panic. Don't believe. Don't give."

Said Mr Tan: "The fight against scams will be arduous as criminals use a variety of tactics to defraud their victims. Their scams are ever changing.

"However, if everyone stays vigilant, spread the message to not panic, to not believe, and to not give, regardless of what the scammers say, we can reduce scams and make Singapore and the cyberspace a safer one for everyone."

Top 7 scams in Singapore and more

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www.scamalert.sg

This article was first published on November 20, 2016.
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SINGAPORE - A Singaporean man died from cardiac arrest at the Bintan Reebok Spartan Race on Saturday (Nov 19), according to a Mediacorp report on Sunday.

Mr Syed Mohamed Yusof, 37, took part in the 21km category of the two-day obstacle course race in Bintan. The 21km race is described as the most difficult among the three race categories, and comprises more than 30 obstacles, such as rope and wall climbs.

Medical personnel performed emergency resuscitation on Mr Syed after he was found unconscious, according to a Mediacorp statement. They conveyed him via ambulance to RSUD Raja Ahmad Thabib Tanjungpinang, the local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7.25pm. Doctors established the cause of death as cardiac arrest.

Mediacorp partnered global obstacle race company Spartan Race for the event. It is the third race that Mediacorp and Spartan Race have teamed up to organise since November 2015.

Organisers have contacted the family and arranged for them to be brought to Bintan. A minute of silence was observed for Mr Syed on Sunday morning, before the flag off for the second day's races.

Mr Syed is understood to be single and working in a technology company.

Ms Jessie Sng, head of the Men, Women and Parents Segment unit at Mediacorp in charge of the event said: "We are deeply saddened by Mr Syed's tragic and untimely death. Our thoughts are with his family and we are rendering every assistance to them at this very difficult time."

This article was first published on November 20, 2016.
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Tickets for Shuttle Tebrau, the shuttle train between Woodlands and Johor Baru Sentral, will no longer be available online from Dec 1. Commuters will also not be able to book tickets in advance.

Instead, ticket sales will be released at 8.30am one day before departure, and will only be available at KTM Intercity counters. Sales will be limited to four tickets per person.

The tickets were previously available 30 days in advance online and at ticket counters.

Malaysian rail operator Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), which runs the service, explained that the change is to avoid the abuse of ticket sales and overcrowding trains.

This is to ensure that all passengers have valid tickets to board the train.

The Shuttle Tebrau was launched in July last year to ease traffic congestion along the Causeway.

The train takes five minutes to travel between JB and Woodlands.

Each trip, costing RM5 (S$1.60) from JB and $5 from Woodlands, caters to about 320 passengers.

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Investors in Singapore are likely eyeing the release of important local economic data at the end of the week but sentiment has been cushioned by a rally over the past week.

Singapore's third-quarter economic data is due on Thursday while industrial production numbers will be released on Friday.

Both sets of figures are coming out amid a slew of gloomy economic signs, which has had some forecasters warning that a technical recession might be possible.

However, this seemed far from the minds of local investors, who pushed the benchmark Straits Times Index up 0.85 per cent this past week by snapping up oversold banking and commodity counters.

They were likely buoyed by Wall Street, which had rallied to record highs following Donald Trump's shock victory in the United States presidential election on Nov 8.

However, the election-fuelled rally moderated on Friday, which may signal a pullback in Asia when markets open today.

Regional investors also had their eyes on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru, for signs of what regional leaders would do, now that the fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership hangs in the balance.

Mr Trump has said he would scrap the massive trade deal involving 12 countries.

Financial counters powered most of the gains last week, both on Wall Street and at home.

DBS Group has rallied 9.1 per cent since Nov 9, OCBC gained nearly 5 per cent and UOB rose 6.2 per cent.

The commodity sector is also picking up investor interest, noted CMC Markets analyst Margaret Yang.

"There's speculation of more merger and acquisition deals in distressed oil and gas companies. The valuation of the Singapore stock market is now among the lowest in Asia, which makes it attractive to value investors as well as overseas buyers," she added.

The US dollar, seen a safe haven currency in times of uncertainty, has been strengthening steadily against Asian currencies since the election.

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The average Singaporean probably spends more time wondering what to eat instead of whether there is enough to eat.

Food waste is an issue close to the hearts of those at local non-profit organisation The Food Bank Singapore (FBSG), which in April opened a store selling items close to their expiry dates for $1 each.

My Paper speaks to FBSG's co-founder Nicholas Ng, 37, about food issues in Singapore.

WHAT DOES THE FOOD BANK SINGAPORE DO?

FBSG aims to be the prevailing centralised coordinating organisation for all food donations and play a key role in the reduction of food wastage within the whole supply chain.

We hope to bridge potential donors and members to provide access to and knowledge of cheaper sources of food for members, to spread the word on the importance of food resource planning to ensure long-term providence of food for everyone and to look at ways to reduce food wastage by giving food a new lease of life through creative and alternative ways.

WHAT FOOD-RELATED ISSUES ARE MOST PERTINENT HERE?

Rampant food wastage despite relying on imports.

Food security is an issue for up to 10 per cent of the population.

Lack of knowledge of healthy eating among the under-privileged.

Not many people are aware of the food-related issues that we face as a nation.

HOW ARE THESE ISSUES BEING TACKLED?

On our part, FBSG is constantly looking at raising awareness of food wastage and what can be done at both individual and corporate levels.

Although nine in 10 Singaporeans have expressed concern about food wastage, only 13 per cent of food waste is recycled. FBSG has been very creative in implementing new programmes and activities regularly to highlight these issues.

An example is the launch of the Juniors Club to encourage volunteerism from the young in December last year.

HOW DOES SINGAPORE RANK IN TERMS OF FOOD WASTE?

We don't know Singapore's global ranking but Singapore generated 785,500 tonnes of food waste last year.

In terms of knowledge and awareness of the topic, most locals are still quite clueless about this startling statistic and what they can do.

YOU STARTED THE FOOD PANTRY EARLIER THIS YEAR, WHERE ITEMS CLOSE TO THEIR EXPIRY DATES ARE SOLD FOR $1 EACH. WHAT'S THE LATEST ON THAT?

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The Food Pantry is still running at 100 Sims Avenue. It was set up for the aim of increasing the awareness that food, even those close to their use-by dates, are perfect for consumption.

If more food closer to the expiry date can be consumed, then there will be less wastage.

The same goes for ugly fruit and vegetables.

FBSG is still sourcing for more food donations as not many food companies are donating their excess/close to expiry products.

ARE THERE ANY NEW INITIATIVES FBSG IS WORKING ON?

This year, we started, on a small scale, the collection of cooked food, mainly working with hotels.

We will be actively working with more partners as cooked food wastage contributes a significant amount of waste.

We are also hoping to roll out a recipe book filled with healthy ideas on how excess food can be cooked.

TELL US ONE OR TWO THINGS THE AVERAGE SINGAPOREAN MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT FOOD WASTE AND RELATED ISSUES HERE.

The date stamped on food packaging may not be the expiry date. It may be the "Best before" or "Use by" date.

The shelf life of similar products may differ based on the brands because each processing plant has its own criteria.

There are half a million of food insecure people in Singapore, yet we had 785,000 tonnes of food waste last year.

WHY DID YOU START FBSG?

Having been in the food industry for many years, my sister Nichol and I saw a gap between the amount of food wasted and the number of needy beneficiaries and people in Singapore.

We decided to start FBSG in January 2012 on a personal basis because we wanted to give back to society.

HOW CAN PEOPLE HELP?

The public can play their part by donating surplus food items to FBSG at our warehouse or our bank boxes all around Singapore.

We have an annual event called Project X-pired, where we take expired food products and create art pieces with them. This event is free for the public and is used to showcase what else we can do with expired food products.

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SINGAPORE - Mr Lim Chwee Leong, who is in intensive care after falling down an escalator at Bishan MRT station last Saturday (Nov 12), is now able to breathe without the assistance of a ventilator, reported Shin Min Daily News.

The 64-year-old retiree was near the station's Exit D when the incident happened at about 11.30am. Police were alerted shortly afterwards, and found him injured. He was unconscious when taken to hospital and it is not known if there were witnesses.

Mr Lim, who was self-employed before he retired, lives in Bishan with his three children and seldom ventures out using public transport, according to his son Lim Ka Hock.

Mr Lim Ka Hock told Wanbao that because his father's condition had improved, the doctor and family members were initially discussing whether or not to take his father off the ventilator.

"There is a risk in taking him off the ventilator, but now that my father can breathe on his own, the chances of recovery are better," he said.

However, doctors had told the family that Mr Lim Chwee Leong's condition will be under close scrutiny in the next two weeks to ascertain his recovery progress.

Mr Lim Ka Hock also said that SMRT contacted him on Saturday regarding preliminary investigations conducted on the incident. Investigations revealed that his father fell because his standing position on the escalator was unstable.

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"We do not want to blame anybody, we just hope to find out the results of the investigation so that this chapter can be closed," he said.

He also added that SMRT and the neighbourhood committee had sent fruit baskets and Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Josephine Teo will be visiting his father in the coming week.

"Thank you everyone for your concern, I hope my father can regain consciousness soon," he told Wanbao.

Mr Lim Ka Hock said that even if his father were to regain consciousness, he would need to be placed in a nursing home. As his injuries were severe and he had a pre-existing diabetic condition, doctors had said that his father would need rehabilitative care.

"As my two siblings and I have work responsibilities, we cannot take care of our father at home all the time. Therefore we need to send him to a nursing home, which will cost a lot," he said.

He said that ever since the incident was featured on the media, friends and relatives have offered their help.

"My siblings and I are still working and my father still has savings, so we still can cope at the moment," he said.

This article was first published on Nov 20, 2016.
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LONDON - Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that Singapore Grand Prix chiefs no longer want to hold a Formula One race, reported Motorsport.com.

There has been speculation for several months that Singapore was questioning whether or not it would renew its current contract, which runs out after next year's race.

However, in an interview with German publication Auto Motor Und Sport on Sunday (Nov 20), Ecclestone said that his belief was that Singapore was not going to extend its race deal.

He said: "Look at what we have done for Singapore. Yes, the Grand Prix has cost Singapore a lot of money, but we've also given them a lot of money.

"Singapore was suddenly more than just an airport to fly to or from somewhere. Now they believe they have reached their goal and they do not want a grand prix anymore."

F1 race heats up in Singapore Grand Prix

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

The Straits Times, The Business Times, Reuters

A Singapore GP spokesperson said last night that it does not comment on ongoing negotiations.

Ecclestone also said that he would not be surprised if some of the current manufacturers - including world champions Mercedes - quit in the next few years, too.

"It could happen to us that Mercedes and Ferrari run away," explained Ecclestone. "But honestly, if the races get better, this may not be such a terrible vision.

"We have to expect the manufacturers to leave us anyway. Mercedes will retire on the day when it suits them and it's something we had before - look at Honda, BMW and Toyota. They go when Formula One has done the job for them. There is no gratitude."

The doubts about the long-term future of the Singapore GP come amid serious question marks about both the German and Brazilian Grands Prix for 2016.

Speaking about the races that have not yet been confirmed, Ecclestone said: "We do our best to keep Canada on the calendar. In Brazil we try the same, even if it is difficult.

"In terms of Hockenheim. We cannot subsidise the race in Germany, if we do not do the same with other races in Europe."

Before F1, Singapore had Grand Prix from 1961-1973

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

The Straits Times

This article was first published on Nov 20, 2016.
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SINGAPORE - Traffic lights at the junction of Yio Chu Kang Road and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 stopped working on Sunday (Nov 20) during a heavy downpour, causing a traffic jam.

Pictures of the incident taken by Ms Dilah Ali showed a chaotic scene as cars and buses headed in different directions made their way slowly across the junction.

​

Ms Ali, 31, was on her way from Punggol to Toa Payoh on bus service 88. When she experienced the slowdown in traffic at about 12.30pm, she thought at first that it was was due to the heavy rain.

"However, I saw a minor accident at the junction involving four cars. Then I realised that the traffic lights on all sides were not working," she said.

The bus was caught in the jam for about 15 minutes, according to Ms Dilah.

"The cars were coming in all directions and none gave way, they just tailgated each other. I felt a bit angry that the cars did not give way to the bus, and I heard many passengers from the lower deck urge the bus drive to 'just go!'" the receptionist said.

She also added that she only saw a traffic police officer arriving just as the bus emerged from the jam.

"The cars should have given the buses the right of way, but people were 'kiasu'. Surprisingly, I did not hear any honking," Ms Dilah said.

The Straits Times understands that a 'technical issue' had occurred with the traffic lights at the junction, and that the lights were fixed by around 1.15pm.

This article was first published on Nov 20, 2016.
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SINGAPORE - A day after seemingly sounding the death knell on the Singapore Grand Prix, Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone has clarified his comments, saying that F1 wants to keep Singapore on its calendar.

In an exclusive phone interview with The Straits Times on Monday (Nov 21) evening, the F1 supremo said: "F1's stand is to hopefully continue in Singapore. Everybody is happy to be in Singapore and (we) don't want to lose Singapore."

In an interview with German publication Auto Motor Und Sport published on Sunday, he was quoted as saying: "Yes, the Grand Prix has cost Singapore a lot of money, but we've also given them a lot of money.

"Singapore was suddenly more than just an airport to fly to or from somewhere. Now they believe they have reached their goal and they do not want a Grand Prix anymore."

Read also: Bernie Ecclestone hints Singapore no longer wants to hold F1 race

F1 race heats up in Singapore Grand Prix

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

The Straits Times, The Business Times, Reuters

Asked about this, he told ST: "My words were taken in a funny way. What I said was simple - no decision has been taken yet.

"Negotiations are ongoing and will be sorted out shortly... before the end of the year, I'm sure. We want to extend long-term. We'll see what happens."

His comments with the German publication were surprising, given that Ecclestone had previously called Singapore the "crown jewel" of the sport.

The Singapore GP is F1's only full night race, one that has proven a hit with fans and drivers. For example, international television audiences for the race have stayed constant at around 80.7 million, despite the sport's global viewership dropping from 600 million in 2008 to 425 million in 2014.

Drivers like Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) have also gone on record stating how much they have enjoyed taking on the 23-turn Marina Bay street circuit.

Read also: Malaysia's tourism minister says country will host last F1 race in 2018

Before F1, Singapore had Grand Prix from 1961-1973

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

The Straits Times

This article was first published on November 21, 2016.
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LIMA (Peru) - The deep social divides laid bare by the recent US presidential election and the Brexit referendum must be avoided in Singapore by developing a sense of identity and togetherness, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday (Nov 21, Monday morning Singapore time).

"There is no magic formula... The Government must have policies which generally will be working for people," he told Singapore reporters as he wrapped up a five-day trip to Peru to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit.

Mr Lee noted that in the United States, the Democrats are found in large numbers in cities and both coasts of the country, while Republicans populate the Midwest and the heartland. In the case of Brexit, there was a split between London and the rest of the country, as well as a divide along education and income levels.

Such social divides cannot be allowed to widen in Singapore as rebuilding bridges will be very difficult, he said.

Businessman Donald Trump won the recent US presidential election by appealing to voters in the Rust Belt states such as Michigan and Ohio who felt they had lost their jobs in the once powerful industrial sector because of globalisation.

In June, the British people voted to leave the European Union, in part due to anxiety over immigration. Last week, academic Gillian Koh described Singapore's 2011 General Election as a "mini-Brexit vote" as immigration was a hot-button issue during that election.

Asked about that comparison, Mr Lee said "there's massive difference in scale" between Brexit and the US elections and what happened in Singapore.

"The changes induced by globalisation, the Rust Belt problems, the uncertainty of jobs, these are real problems which people feel. You have to address them, you have to make people not only deal with the problems but make people feel that their concerns have been heard and have been attended to," he said.

Also, leaders must get people to understand that certain issues, such as technological and economic changes, "are not something which the Government can wish away or which are a result of the wrong set of policies".

Mr Lee pointed out that in Singapore, there is a lot of focus on equipping people with the right skills to do well, through the education system and the SkillsFuture initiative to encourage lifelong learning.

At the same time, the Government has put in place schemes such as Workfare and the Pioneer Generation package "to make sure that everybody feels fairly treated and if you're not doing so well on your own, well you get an extra leg up".

"Which makes everybody know that if you're in Singapore, not everybody is equally well off, but even if you're not well off, you're not badly off," he said.

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PM Lee in Peru for APEC summit

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AFP

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Facebook / Lee Hsien Loong

This article was first published on November 21, 2016.
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Animal welfare groups and pet farms in Loyang and Seletar, which will need to move out of their premises when their leases expire by the end of next year, will get new facilities in Sungei Tengah built and provided by the Government.

The sites in Loyang and Seletar are needed for redevelopment, said the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) in a release yesterday.

To help with the move, the Government will build facilities and lease them to the animal welfare groups and pet farms for monthly rentals.

"This means they need not raise funds to pay a lump sum to buy land and construct their own facilities," said the AVA.

It will manage the facilities which will be ready by end-2017. It said there will be sufficient space for the current number of animals from the affected animal welfare groups and pet farms.

Having government-built facilities ensures that the new spaces adhere to animal welfare standards, said the AVA.

The new facilities will have two storeys, instead of one storey like the current premises.

New Code of Animal Welfare to come into effect from October

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The Straits Times, The New Paper

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Singapore Exchange (SGX) has the biggest share of proceeds from initial public offers (IPOs) among the six South-east Asia stock markets as of yesterday, Deloitte Singapore said.

This is despite of global issues such as Brexit, the United States presidential election, uncertainty surrounding the US interest rate hike and lower economic growth.

SGX, which had 16 IPO listings so far this year, resumed its top spot in the region - generating $2.3 billion in IPO proceeds.

The surge in the total capital raised was boosted by the listing of three real estate investment trusts (Reits) - Manulife US Reit, EC World Reit and Frasers Logistics and Industrial Trust.

Together, they generated $1.9 billion of fresh funds.

Listings this year on the SGX bounced back from 2015 and contributed 16 per cent of total IPO listings in South-east Asia, which is equivalent to 36 per cent of the total funds raised in the region in 2016, Deloitte said.

The top performing industries in the last three years are consumer business, real estate as well as energy and resources.

Reits accounted for 61 per cent of total amount raised from all IPOs in the last three years.

This article was first published on Nov 21, 2016.
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All the public-sale tickets to Coldplay's upcoming concert at the National Stadium on April 1 are sold out.

They were snapped up within 90 minutes of going on sale at 10am yesterday.

Organiser Live Nation Lushington had told The Straits Times that up to 14,000 tickets would be released yesterday.

Sold through Sports Hub Tix, the tickets cost between $78 and $298.

The first two batches - for Citibank customers on Nov 17 and Live Nation Lushington's mailing list subscribers on Nov 20 - were also snapped up quickly.

It is estimated that up to 40,000 tickets in total have been sold.

Live Nation Lushington had also said that it might release 10,000 more tickets after finalising the concert's layout.

The scramble has resulted in tickets being re-sold online at inflated prices.

In a Facebook post, Live Nation Lushington announced that it has "voided a number of tickets found on the resale market as this contravenes our term and conditions of sale".

It urged fans not to buy through unauthorised sellers.

Coldplay, a multi-award winning quartet and one of the world's best-selling bands, played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2001, 2006 and 2009.

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Her foray into the business world started in university when she sold handmade traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) accessories to keep her cancer-stricken best friend from dwelling on the disease.

Jaren Ho, now 32, realised she was a natural entrepreneur and started her own cruisewear label Yacht 21 in 2009.

The made-in-Singapore brand recently opened its flagship store at Wheelock Place and its first lifestyle boutique in Plaza Singapura shopping mall, taking its number of stores and points of sale to 10.

My Paper speaks to Ms Ho, who designs all the clothes at Yacht 21, about retail in Singapore, online and offline shopping, and what it takes to succeed.

WHY DID YOU SET UP NEW PHYSICAL STORES WHEN THE RETAIL OUTLOOK IS NOT THAT GREAT?

We've been a retail brand since 2009. The online store was started in October last year.

We realised that when we are online, certain designs - printed styles and styles that are more colourful - sell better.

When shopping online, you can't touch the fabric. You will probably judge it based on the cutting and print.

There is a lot of competition online, but retail-wise, the smaller shops are slowly moving online or switching over, and I see this opportunity for retailers to do better because there are too many online shops out there.

WHAT WAS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT SETTING UP YOUR BUSINESS?

To get a good factory to work with me. It took us a long time to secure a good partnership with a good factory and a good fabric supplier.

The factory we work with now has a very experienced tailor who helps us with our fabric sampling.

Looking for a good factory to work with took us two to three years.

THERE ARE SEVERAL SINGAPORE BRANDS THAT HAVE FOLDED, BUT NOT YACHT 21. WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS FOR YOUR SUCCESS?

We don't admit defeat.

We work with a lot of youngsters - interns and fresh grads. We get new ideas from them.

We continue to reinvent the brand. All brands have their golden age but it starts to fade.

We always have to be two to three steps ahead.

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME TO WHEN YOU JUST STARTED, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR YOUNGER SELF?

Put more time into the accounts part of the business. I'm the creative person... but the accounts part is also very important for a business to do well. The cash flow, the ins and outs, the inventory, the stock take.

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO START A BUSINESS?

Manage your cash flow wisely and always think about how to be different from others.

WHO ARE YOUR CORE CUSTOMERS?

Eighty per cent are Singaporeans aged 25 to 40. Also South-east Asians, like Malaysians and Indonesians.

WHAT DOES THE SINGAPORE SHOPPER WANT?

They want something that is fuss-free. They can wear it for work and off work, something versatile, affordable.

Things that don't require too much trouble to match.

But recently I think they have become more daring towards colours. Now, they are more adventurous.

WHAT ARE THE TOP THREE OBSTACLES YOU FACE OPERATING A BUSINESS IN SINGAPORE?

Manpower shortage. High rental. Also, we get customers thinking we are a sailor brand.

We want to change that perception.

WHAT HAVE YOU GIVEN UP FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

I gave up a lot of my personal time. I work long hours.

I gave up studying for my engineering degree at 21.

HOW SUCCESSFUL IS YOUR BRAND IN TERMS OF SALES?

We are up to expectations.

Every month, sales are a six-figure sum.

YOUR STORE HAS INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK. HOW IMPORTANT IS SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

It's very important.

It's to prepare the younger crowd to know us and one day reach out to us.

Now, we are not targeting them yet, but it's good if we keep ourselves in line with what they like because there'll be a time (when) they'll reach that age group we're targeting.

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS FOR YACHT 21?

We are thinking of venturing into kidswear but no concrete plans yet. We also want to expand our online store and market it towards South-east Asia.

lydialam@sph.com.sg

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A four-day rat raid at a wet market and food centre in Jurong West kicked off on Sunday night, with more than 20 rodents snared within hours.

The operation was carried out by almost 30 people at the market at Block 505, Jurong West Street 52, Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.

It was a joint effort by the National Environment Agency (NEA), the town council and the Federation of Merchants' Associations, Singapore.

All stalls have to be shut until the operation ends tomorrow.

A stallholder, who gave her name as Madam Huang, 58, said she had received a notice from NEA last Wednesday.

Pest controllers shifted her equipment and boxes out of her stall and examined the nooks and crannies for rats.

Madam Huang, who said the market has been plagued by rats this year, with sightings nearly every day, is glad that the authorities are taking action.

A spokesman for the Jurong-Clementi Town Council told Wanbao that the exercise is a routine one and will be carried out from 7.30pm to 11.59pm for four nights, ending tomorrow.

Read also: Oh rats! Rodent scourge on the rise, say experts

Rats! Problem is still plaguing Singapore

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Some tiny superheroes were celebrated at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) last Thursday.

Dressed in adorable costumes ranging from Captain America to The Flash, premature babies from the hospital showed off their superpowers.

When born at seven months of gestation, Sheraz weighed just 500g. He has spent about three months in hospital. But the little boy, clutching Thor's hammer in a photo on KKH's Facebook page, is "indestructible" and "smashes every challenge that comes his way".

Meanwhile, courageous "Wondergirl" Aliia was only 710g when she was born and has been at KKH for more than six months.

Senior physiotherapists Shelly-Anne Sherwood, 34, and Nur Mazlina Mazlan, 33, came up with the idea of dressing them up as superheroes to celebrate their resilience, KKH said.

They and their friends knitted all the superhero garb the nine babies were dressed in.

"We were inspired by their daily triumphs over challenges," the two said in an e-mail to The Straits Times, adding that it was a tribute to all premature babies.

The photo shoot, shared on Facebook on Nov 17, was part of KKH's Early Bird Baby Club commemoration of Prematurity Awareness Month.

The Club is a support group for parents of premature babies born at the hospital.

Parents and many medical workers, including neonatologists, dietitians, medical social workers and a range of therapists are in the club.

Both Ms Sherwood and Ms Mazlina are volunteers, as is Dr Janlie Banas, from the department of neonatology, who took the photos.

"Although it was a little more challenging to photograph some of the preemies who are on breathing support, I must say all of them did very well during the photo shoot, they are indeed our superhero preemies," said Dr Janlie.

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Robots which can deliver room service and roll 160 napkins an hour might just provide some of the answers to the labour-starved hotel sector's problems.

The number of hotel rooms in Singapore is expected to grow by about 13,300 by 2020.

But that rate is likely to outstrip growth in the workforce.

Therefore, the use of technology is the way forward for the hotel industry, said Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran yesterday as he launched the latest Industry Transformation Map (ITM) for hotels.

It is aimed at helping the 400 hotels here adopt manpower-lean business models, innovate, internationalise and grow the workforce.

From 2005 to last year, total room revenue grew 2.6 times from $1.2 billion to $3.2 billion, while revenue per available room nearly doubled.

Achieving the same growth as in the past will be "increasingly difficult" unless the industry transforms, Mr Iswaran warned.

Robots are one way hotels are preparing for the future.

At the Marina Bay Sands, a new employee is set to feature from next year - a metal robotic arm.

It will lend a hand to the hotel's human employees whose job is to roll up 3,500 napkins each day and slot utensils into them for use during events such as weddings.

The robotic arm, which can roll up 160 napkins in an hour, will be able to do the job of seven full-time employees, who can then be redeployed to do other higher value jobs such as interacting with guests, said Marina Bay Sands' senior vice-president for hotel operations Ian Wilson.

The use of radio frequency identification chips in linen, uniforms and even decorative items in hotel rooms is another way technology can help the sector.

An innovation used in more than 10 hotels here, this allows workers to track the items without having to manually count them, which can lead to average man-hour savings of up to 60 per cent.

But innovation is only part of the solution. In an industry powered by a 33,000-strong workforce, emphasis will still be on human capital.

Which is why a three-year campaign to raise awareness about hotel jobs and careers will begin in the first quarter of next year, Mr Iswaran added.

It is part of the ITM's aim to tackle challenges such as rising customer expectations, an ageing workforce and Singaporeans' lack of interest in a career in hospitality.

Grants - in which the government will fund up to 70 per cent of the cost - will also be given out to hotels which make changes to boost productivity.

In the first half of this year, Singapore received 8.2 million visitors, up 13 per cent from the same period last year. They spent $11.6 billion, a 12 per cent increase.

mellinjm@sph.com.sg

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An Audi R8 crashed in front of the Cathedral of Good Shepherd at Bras Basah Road today (Nov 22) at around 6am.

Contributors Daryl and Syed sent in photos to citizen journalism website Stomp after passing by the accident scene in the wee hours of the morning.

Photos show that several lamp posts along the road had been knocked down. The front of the sports car was also badly damaged.

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Audi R8 driver arrested after crashing car at Bras Basah Road

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Stomp

The crash also caused a traffic jam in the area, with the right lane of Bras Basah Road cordoned off with cones.

A SCDF spokesperson told Stomp that they were alerted to the incident at around 6am and dispatched one ambulance to the scene.

A 31-year-old Indian man was taken to the Singapore General Hospital.

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SINGAPORE - Former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei's net worth escalated from S$2 million to nearly S$26 million in just 15 months after he left the Swiss private bank in Singapore, the court heard on Tuesday (Nov 22).

This wealth includes funds earned through "illicit means" and the "taking of secret profits" in transactions linked to Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), said prosecutors .

Among Yeo's assets were three Singapore properties worth a combined S$6.15 million and two properties in Australia worth A$6 million (S$6.3 million), prosecutors said on day 12 of his trial on four charges of obstructing justice by tampering with witnesses.

"I put it to you that it is quite unbelievable to amass so much - S$23.9 million- in just one year and three months, by just acting as an 'introducer, intermediary, independent consultant or relationship manager'," Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng said in his cross examination of Yeo.

But Yeo, 33, disagreed. "This can be proven by facts," he argued. "CAD forgot these are referral fees earned from one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world."

He pointed to former BSI banker Yak Yew Chee earning S$27 million from salary and bonuses from BSI from 2011 to 2015.

But DPP Tan countered: "Yak earned S$27 million in four years. You earned S$23.9 million in one year and three months."

Yak was sentenced last week to 18 weeks' jail and fined S$24,000 for forgery and for failing to disclose information on suspicious transactions - the first person to be sentenced here in the 1MDB-linked probe.

Yak was the relationship manager of Malaysian tycoon Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, suspected of playing a key role in the siphoning of billions of dollars from 1MDB.

BSI Bank caught in 1MDB scandal

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Yeo on Tuesday defended his earnings as "referral fees that were directly earned". He said that "Yak took commissions as a private banker. There is a big difference."

DPP Tan accused Yeo of "playing poker" with the court when he did not admit to using secondary phone lines, meeting his former boss Kevin Swampillai at Springleaf Park on March 20, staying at Jho Low's apartment in Hong Kong in order to downplay his relationship with Low.

"To prevent the truth about your illicit wealth and dealings from coming out in court, and the CAD investigations, you obstructed the course of justice," DPP Tan said.

But Yeo said: "Nothing I have done is illegal."

This article was first published on November 22, 2016.
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SINGAPORE - British band Coldplay are aware of touts trying to profit from the resale of tickets to their upcoming National Stadium show on April 1.

Says Live Nation Lushington managing director Michael Roche: "Even the band saw what happened, and said, 'Michael, we have to do something.'"

The organiser has taken steps to void some of the tickets re-sold online at inflated prices. It is the first time that Live Nation Lushington has ever had to do that for its concerts here, although Mr Roche, who is also the executive director of the Singapore Grand Prix, had taken similar steps against scalpers for the F1 races.

He declines to provide details of how his company went about tracing and voiding the tickets.

In 2012, the organiser of K-pop concert SMTown Singapore, Running Into The Sun, listed the names of four ticket-holders who tried to resell 34 tickets at a profit on its website. The tickets were invalidated and those trying to enter with them were barred from the show.

In Ontario, scalping tickets was formally illegal, but was made legal by the government last year as long as the tickets were authentic. In the United States, there is no federal law banning scalping, but some states have made it illegal.

Tickets to Coldplay's upcoming show, their fourth here, were released in three batches from Nov 17 to 21, and all were sold out quickly. It is estimated that about 40,000 tickets have been sold so far.

The organiser is also planning to release additional tickets once it finalises layout and logistic issues on Wednesday and Thursday (Nov 23 and 24).

Read also: Coldplay fans livid over ticket limit 'loophole'

The rush for Coldplay tickets have resulted in many disappointed fans who could not get tickets and are venting their anger at Live Nation Lushington and ticketing agency Sports Hub Tix online.

While some ticket buyers have complained that the ticketing agency website crashed on them, a spokesperson for Sports Hub Tix says: "The Sports Hub Tix system was able to manage the surge of buyers, but could not open up inventory to those waiting in the system as tickets were either being transacted or held pending payment clearance."

The spokesperson also said that the demand for the third batch of Coldplay tickets released on Monday (Nov 21) was the highest for a National Stadium concert to date. Almost 20,000 users were trying to get tickets online at any one time, in addition to hundreds of walk-in patrons who had queued, some overnight, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium main Box Office and SingPost outlets.

"Within 10 minutes of the public sale, all ticket inventory had either been snapped up or held in the online shopping carts while the customers completed their payment transactions. At the peak, thousands of tickets were being transacted each minute. With this level of demand and a limited number of tickets, some people were not able to complete the sales process and secure tickets. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused."

Live Nation Lushington and Coldplay's management are also aware of the high demand that has resulted in an online petition to add a second show in Singapore.

Says Mr Roche: "It's the start of the tour so it's difficult to make a decision that quickly.

"We're looking at everything so let's just see what comes up in the next two days."

According to him, Coldplay had also asked that the organiser keep the ticket prices low. The tickets were eventually priced from $78 to $298.

"Our ticket prices were originally a little bit higher and they said no, move that price. They really care," says Mr Roche.

He is also aware of a recent BBC report where the honcho of Live Nation Italy, Mr Roberto De Luca, had admitted to selling a small number of tickets to online ticket resale website Viagogo. But he stresses that Live Nation Lushington does not engage in such practices.

dinohadi@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on November 22, 2016.
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