The shortlist of 12 candidates is complete with these final five, and voting opens from today till next Thursday.

A mental health advocate, a boy who rushed to help an accident victim, the founder of a social enterprise, the head of research and innovation at a family-run firm, and a mechanic who paid for a stranger's studies - these are the final five candidates in a shortlist of 12 nominees for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year 2016 award.

The second run of the award, supported by UBS Singapore, seeks to recognise Singaporeans who have put the country on the world map, persevered through great adversity or made the community a better place through selfless acts.

In the final batch of shortlisted nominees is 12-year-old Ashvin Gunasegaran, the youngest recipient of the Singapore Civil Defence Force's Public Spiritedness Award, and Mr Jabez Tan, 42, a former convict who now hires and helps others who have been released from prison.

Also shortlisted are Dr Radiah Salim, 54, founder of charity Club Heal; 50-year-old mechanic John Shu, who, after a chance encounter, gave about $6,000 to a single mother who needed the money to study for a diploma; and Mr Eric Lew, 43, the executive director of family-run transport engineering firm Wong Fong Industries.

The Singaporean of the Year will receive $20,000 and a trophy, while the other shortlisted candidates will each get $5,000, all sponsored by UBS.

Now that the shortlist of 12 candidates is complete, a public vote will open from today to next Thursday. The vote will be a factor in the final decision to be made by a panel of 15 judges.

The panel will include editors and senior writers from The Straits Times and also social entrepreneur Saleemah Ismail, Lim Hoon Foundation chairman John Lim and Mr Aaron Maniam, founding chairman of the National Youth Council Academy's advisory panel.

The first 100 to vote will win a commemorative book on Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Kuan Yew: A Life In Pictures, a pictorial book that covers the breadth of Mr Lee's achievements and also reveals the intimate moments of his personal life.

The winner will be announced at an award ceremony on Feb 6. Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be the guest of honour.

Crash victim's comfort - Ashvin Gunasegaran (above)

Unlike most of his friends, 12-year-old Ashvin Gunasegaran does not have Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts.

"I prefer to go outside more. If I'm on social media, I'll be spammed with too many messages," said the Yishun Primary School pupil who recently completed his Primary School Leaving Examination.

But for someone with no desire for social media presence, Ashvin became a Facebook darling in June, as people shared the exploits that made him the youngest recipient of the Singapore Civil Defence Force's Public Spiritedness Award since its introduction in the early 1990s.

Ashvin's sister Laava, 25, had posted a photo taken by one of his schoolmates showing Ashvin staying with and helping the victim of a car accident.

It happened on May 31 at about 1pm after two cars collided at the junction of Yishun Ring Road and Yishun Avenue 2.

Ashvin, who had been walking home from school with his friends, heard the collision.

While a group of about 10 adults gawked and snapped away with their phones, the boy's first instinct was to dash out to the busy junction.

He insisted on checking on the victims, despite his five friends warning him that the cars were emitting smoke.

The first driver he went up to was Ms Jocelyn Yu, who was pregnant.

The 32-year-old managing director at a marketing company appeared shaken.

"They thought there might be an explosion and told me to come back, but I said that she needs my help, and you can't watch people suffer without doing anything," recounted Ashvin.

Having learnt from a safety talk at his school that he should try to help people in an accident, Ashvin yanked at Ms Yu's car door, but it was stuck.

He asked a tearful Ms Yu, "Madam, are you okay?", words that she later said offered her immense comfort.

Ms Yu said she felt helpless and desperate when she was trapped in the car.

The left side of her body was numb and she had lost her glasses, impairing her vision.

Then Ashvin turned up.

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Photo Gallery

Boy rushed to help accident victims while adults snapped photos

Source: The New Paper, AsiaOne, facebook

"It gave me a lot of bravery because I was really scared," said Ms Yu, who presented the boy with a cap inscribed with his name as a token of appreciation when she met him in June.

Ashvin's father, assistant engineer A. Gunasegaran, was surprised by the amount of attention surrounding his son's deed.

"This is something normal that other children could also have done, it just so happened that he was seen doing it. We believe in karma, that you should help others when you can," said the 53-year-old.

And Ashvin's message to those who opted to gawk instead: "It was sad to see how everyone was so connected to their phones and technology that the first thing they thought of was that they needed to take pictures, instead of about caring about others."

Drive for innovation - Eric Lew

With its mix of retro furniture pieces and minimalist elements, the offices at Wong Fong Industries' research and innovation centre look nothing like the Joo Koon building's industrial facade.

Instead, they bear the look and feel of a workspace belonging to disruptors like Facebook and Google.

But the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) was not always this fashion-forward. In fact, it began life in 1964 as a truck equipment servicing business run out of a zinc-roofed workshop in Upper Bukit Timah Road.

Today, it not only sells, designs and services equipment such as trucks and cranes for construction, logistics, waste handling and military uses, but it also wants to be at the forefront of technology.

This is mainly due to its executive director, 43-year-old Eric Lew, who wants the company to stay on top of trends that will shake up transport engineering, including electric vehicles.

The impassioned Mr Lew has tried his hand at drama and other creative projects as a social services programme executive when he experienced "an early mid-life crisis" in his late 20s and quit his job as an auditor.

The youngest of four children, of whom two others are also at Wong Fong, Mr Lew found his groove in business development when he joined the family company 13 years ago. In 2013, he mooted the setting up of the Wong Fong Research and Innovation Centre (WFRIC), to work on new products outside of its core services.

Next year, Wong Fong will debut Singapore's first electric supercar, a project undertaken in partnership with British F1 giant Williams Advanced Engineering, at the Geneva Motor Show. The Dendrobium, named after an orchid, has a top speed of 300kmh and is designed by Vanda Electrics, a WFRIC spin-off.

WFRIC also wants to help other companies develop new products through a "hardware accelerator" that Mr Lew hopes to launch in the middle of next year.

The vision is to create an alliance among hardware firms to pool resources and prototype commercially viable products, such as self-driving logistics vehicles, that can put Singapore on the map.

"We're still an SME and our annual budget is limited. But if there is a consortium, we can come up with a framework for innovation so that other SMEs can benefit," said Mr Lew, who plans to provide mentorship and other resources such as educating companies on how to identify industry trends through the accelerator.

Engineering has the power to change people's lives, said Mr Lew. With more international companies moving research and manufacturing back to home base as new technologies reduce the need for outsourcing, it has become even more important for Singapore to make its own products to stay relevant. "Imagine if we are able to create many products and export it, then we can become an even more powerful economy and country."

Helping ex-offenders - Jabez Tan

He was an incorrigible gangster who was not afraid of rumbling with rival triads, and thought nothing of robbing a woman at knife-point when he was only 17.

But when he was spurned by a potential employer because he had spent a year in prison for stealing, Mr Jabez Tan found he was not too hardened for tears.

Mr Tan, who was then 20, had interviewed for a job in a car dealership. The interviewer recoiled when he heard he was a former offender. "It's the classic response. They'll say go home and wait to hear back from them, but I never did. It really hurt me."

A flurry of similar rejections followed when he tried to find sales jobs in between the 13 years he spent in prison for drug-related offences. Throughout, he never forgot how that first rejection felt.

So instead of waiting in vain for an offer, Mr Tan set up his own bak kut teh stall in 2011 with his savings and a loan from his parents. By then, he had had four years in a halfway house. Mr Tan found he had a nose for business and Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh grew steadily. It now has five outlets, including a newly opened restaurant on the second level of Chinatown Point that also sells other local dishes.

Mindful of the difficulties faced by former offenders in getting jobs, Mr Tan decided from the start that he would use his business to give them a helping hand.

Run as a social enterprise, Soon Huat has 40 staff of whom half are former offenders. Two years ago, the brand was franchised to Indonesia. It is now in talks with Chinese investors to open eateries in Shanghai.

Mr Tan, now 42 and a father of two sons, aged two and four, said he changed after he found religious faith.

He is more than just an employer to his staff, who include young people at risk and single parents. Food and rent are paid for, and he chips in for necessities like children's allowances or transport fees if someone is in need. Every month, the trained prison counsellor also holds mentorship sessions for his staff.

More than 100 former offenders have benefited from Soon Huat's programmes, with some staying three to six years before moving on to other jobs.

Mr Tan acknowledges it is an uphill battle keeping his staff away from a life of crime and drugs. But he never stops believing in them, even when they relapse time and again. "Some fail us, some talk bad about us, but even if we help just one person, it's good enough."

Mr James Giam, 48, the head chef at one of Soon Huat's outlets, has been working there since 2013 but went back to jail thrice for drug offences. "I caused so much trouble for Jabez, but he never once gave up on me and believed that I could change," said Mr Giam, who has kept clear of alcohol and his former addictions for over a year.

Mr Tan hopes to grow the company, but it is not all he wants. "We don't want people to think that ex-offenders are always just beneficiaries. I hope that when they become strong, they can contribute to society and also become their own bosses."

Life-changing kindness - John Shu

Mr John Shu, 50, earns just over $2,000 a month working as a mechanic for the Traffic Police.

But when he struck up an unlikely friendship with a former offender - who spoke to him about pursuing her education to better her lot in life - he did not hesitate to give her three months of his salary to pay for her school fees and other expenses.

Recalling the encounter, Mr Shu said he and two friends were on their way home from Yishun after a meal in late 2013.

Though they usually rode motorcycles, that day, they had to take the bus instead as their motorbikes were being repaired.

Ms Jaycie Tay, now 32, was on her way back to her halfway house in Sembawang - where she was finishing her 18-month sentence for drug offences - after attending a floristry workshop.

Mr Shu said: "She was carrying a big vase of flowers, and her friend had a bouquet in her hand. It looked quite out of place on the bus, and my friends started joking with her."

A friendship blossomed, and both of them started meeting regularly.

Ms Tay was introduced to drugs by her friends as a teenager, dropped out of school and was jailed twice for drug offences.

She was divorced twice and had four children. But she was determined to get her life back on track.

She knew she would have a better future with a diploma but did not have the money to pay for school.

Mr Shu, who himself has two children aged 19 and 22, was moved by her plight.

He said: "She was close to tears when she talked about her past, and she did not have anyone else who could support her. Every time I met her, she said she wanted to study.

"I did not see her as someone who had gone to prison before, but just as another human being who needed help."

When he offered to fund her studies, she decided to enrol at the Kaplan Higher Education Institute after she finished serving her sentence.

Eight months later, in December 2014, she graduated with a diploma in marketing management.

Mr Shu said: "She said she would pay me back but I told her to concentrate on upgrading herself first." He told her that he and his wife, a hawker, had enough for themselves.

Naysayers questioned Mr Shu's motives, and his wife initially misunderstood their friendship, but Mr Shu put her mind at ease.

"I see her as a sister," said Mr Shu, who saw the potential for Ms Tay to do well in life.

"I'm illiterate, and I would rather someone else take this chance to further their education."

Last month, Ms Tay started a part-time course for a bachelor's in business studies in management, with an award from the Yellow Ribbon Fund Star Bursary.

The degree is awarded by University College Dublin.

Ms Tay, an administrative assistant, said she still finds the scale of Mr Shu's generosity unbelievable.

She said: "Without him, I wouldn't know where I would be. Now my life has been transformed, and I'm living a better life."

Healer of minds - Radiah Salim

Dr Radiah Salim loves her job as a locum family physician, tending to patients' physical ailments so they can get better and go about their daily tasks.

Her other passion lies in raising awareness about invisible conditions that afflict the brain, particularly mental illness. In 2012, she founded Club Heal, a charity that provides support for those with such issues.

Having received Institution of a Public Character status, it now has three centres here and numbers Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob among its patrons.

Since 2014, it has helped over 650 people through its programmes and home visits.

Dr Radiah, 54, the seventh of nine children, grew up with an elder sister who had schizophrenia.

There were other family members who succumbed to mental illness - her sister's son, Amman, began to show symptoms similar to his mother's when he was 18 and, in 2000, leapt to his death at 23.

In 2011, a second cousin with depression and bipolar disorder committed suicide.

The incidents prompted Dr Radiah to act on plans to start Club Heal.

"Knowing what I know, I feel I should be a mental health advocate. You don't want similar tragedies happening to other people."

Formerly a resident medical officer at the Institute of Mental Health, she wanted to reach out to the Muslim community in particular. She noticed many Muslim mental health patients tend to relapse after being discharged, as they do not go for follow-up care offered by organisations such as the Singapore Association for Mental Health.

Her work involves educating patients and caregivers about mental illness, as well as empowering patients through rehabilitation programmes and support groups. Her family was not ashamed of her sister's illness, but they did not understand it well. Only when she studied medicine at university did she realise that what they had dismissed as signs of laziness were actually symptoms of illness.

Dr Radiah recalls a patient she visited in 2013, who went into depression after having lost her husband and mother in a year. "She didn't want to eat and had to be tube-fed."

A few months after making three home visits, Dr Radiah bumped into the patient's daughter, who said joyfully that her mother had started to come out of her depression and begun eating again. "That was really rewarding. I realised that when you help people with mental illness, you help their family members as well."

She takes pride in the fact that eight of Club Heal's 22 staff members are people with mental illness; four are its former beneficiaries.

Ms Nur Hafizah, 24, who has schizoaffective disorder, became a programme executive after joining Club Heal's programmes in 2014. "I had low self-esteem and was nervous about joining, but they were caring and made me feel comfortable about sharing my problems."

Ultimately, Dr Radiah hopes to see rehabilitative organisations like Club Heal become redundant.

"I want the stigma associated with mental illness to be completely eradicated so that all people will know what to do, and will seek help at the earliest signs of mental illness so they can recover," she said.

yuensin@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

In a class last month, Primary 5 pupils at Woodgrove Primary School mulled over a mathematical puzzle unlike any standard problem sum.

The puzzle read: "Take any two-digit number, reverse the digits and subtract the smaller number from the larger number - what can you say about the results?"

"Try as many numbers as you like on a piece of paper," said their mathematics teacher, Ms Lin Caili, 34, as she prompted pupils to test their hypotheses and explain their guesses.

"The answer is always a multiple of three," one boy concluded.

"Maybe it's a multiple of nine," said another.

Ms Tan Hong Kai, 34, the school's level head of mathematics, said the class was doing an investigative task on number patterns.

These open-ended activities, which she said are not usually tested in examinations, have been woven into lessons to equip pupils with higher-order thinking skills.

Such efforts by schools to encourage active learning have borne fruit, with Singapore students topping a global benchmarking test that measures how well they apply knowledge to solving real-world problems.

Read Also: Tuition industry worth over $1b a year

Earlier this month, 15-year-olds in Singapore were ranked No. 1 in maths, science and reading in the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) test, dubbed the "World Cup for education".

Last month, Singapore children in Primary 4 and Secondary 2 also topped another global mathematics and science test - Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss).

These results have placed Singapore on the world map and sparked discussion in media worldwide about the merits and flaws of the Republic's education system.

Dr Kho Tek Hong, a former curriculum specialist who led a team in the 1980s to raise maths standards, said these results reflect the performance of Singapore as a country, not individual abilities, an indication that students from different academic streams were represented.

Science was the major domain tested in Pisa 2015, and the results showed teens here were strong in scientific enquiry skills and could use evidence to support claims.

An Education Ministry (MOE) spokesman attributed Singapore's success in global studies to a teaching and learning culture which has built a "strong foundation in reading, numeracy and scientific literacy for all students".

It also develops their thinking and communication skills, exposes them to application of knowledge in real-life contexts across subjects and gives them "positive attitudes towards learning", he said.

Education experts point to Singapore's ability to refresh its school curriculum and level up its teachers as key factors behind students consistently topping global rankings since the 1990s.

National Institute of Education (NIE) don Jason Tan, 53, noted that Singapore has managed to attain a high average achievement level compared with other countries in the region.

"This is helped by a rather centralised administration which can push reforms quickly from headquarters down to schools," he said.

"Another plus point is the continuity in government, so there has not been much policy reversal."

He also pointed to schools here having the resources to develop teachers, and physical infrastructure such as labs for learning.

CURRICULUM SHIFTS

Dr Kho, 70, said that Singapore's journey to where it is today started with an overhaul of education in the 1980s to raise standards.

"The New Education system, as it was called, changed everything from school curriculum to teaching methods," he said.

For instance, the former Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore was set up in 1980 to develop good-quality teaching and learning materials.

In those years, Singapore also looked to education systems in countries such as Israel and Japan, and studied how it could learn from various psychological theories.

"That was the start of slowly moving away from traditional rote learning and passive memorising over the next 30 years," said Dr Kho.

"When students explore and are more active in learning, they make sense of concepts better."

Since about a decade ago, the MOE has also made an effort to cut content across subjects, to make room for students to learn higher-order thinking skills such as logical reasoning and problem-solving.

This was done to free up time in schools for teachers to be more flexible and help students learn creativity instead of just content.

Dr Yeap Ban Har, 48, principal of Marshall Cavendish Institute, which conducts professional development courses for teachers, said there is a "clear direction" across the system today to train students to develop deeper inquiry skills.

For instance, since the 1997 vision of "Thinking Schools, Learning Nation", curricula and assessment have focused more on critical thinking skills and creativity, he said.

Read Also: Pisa and the creativity puzzle

Increasingly, national examinations are also testing more application-based questions in novel scenarios, said Dr Yeap, who spent 10 years at NIE's mathematics and mathematics education academic group from 1999 to 2010.

Twelve-year-old Gary Gan, who finished Primary 6 this year, said "higher-level" mathematics questions can be frustrating but he enjoys them as they help him think more.

"Maths helps me learn to solve problems and I think this will help me in the future to solve more challenging problems," he said.

Dr Ridzuan Abd Rahim, an MOE lead curriculum specialist in mathematics, said: "It is no longer enough that we just know something.

More importantly, we need to know how to learn something new and how to apply what we know to new situations and problems."

Today's society and economy require workers to take ownership, be adaptive, and adapt ambiguity and complexity as the norm, said CHIJ Katong Convent principal Patricia Chan.

That is why curriculum has to evolve from one totally focused on content, to equip students with such skills for the future, she said.

In response to these rapidly changing needs, science and humanities subjects have been refreshed to equip students with skills for the future such as teamwork and the ability to analyse, be creative, make links and solve problems.

Lessons are now more grounded in real-life contexts, requiring students to apply textbook theories outside the classroom.

For instance, Ms Chan said students would learn about the total surface area of a cylindrical container in relation to understanding why and how manufacturers minimise material cost when canning drinks.

"In the humanities, the move towards the inquiry approach positions itself away from typical rote learning, where one can score by just memorising," she added.

Students now need to make links between concepts and draw their own conclusions, using investigative work and examples from current affairs in the process, she said.

Pupils are also encouraged to speak up more so they are able to express themselves confidently.

A national curriculum called Stellar, short for Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading, was piloted in some schools in 2006 with the aim of developing pupils' ability to use the English language confidently in real-world scenarios.

Stellar, which does not rely on textbooks and instead uses storytelling, role-playing and texts such as news articles in lessons, was extended to all primary schools in 2009.

Schools also pay more attention to developing students beyond book smarts through applied learning in topics such as robotics, food science or transport.

These programmes, said Dr Ridzuan, give students a chance to experiment and take on hands-on activities that apply to the real world.

TEACHER TRAINING

The other plank of Singapore's global success lies in teacher training.

Experts said NIE and its predecessors have played a key role in training educators centrally over the years.

NIE director Tan Oon Seng said its partnership with schools and MOE ensures that teacher education is in line with "larger teacher policies, Singapore's education priorities and aspirations, and the ground challenges in schools".

For instance, to teach students higher-order thinking, teachers themselves must be equipped to "ask questions, to guide and facilitate students to think... beyond information or knowledge imparting", said former NIE director Lee Sing Kong.

Professor Low Ee Ling, head of NIE's strategic planning and academic quality, said having a central body that trains teachers is what makes Singapore "a very unique system".

This model began with the setting up of the Teacher Training College in 1950.

Before that, many teachers had little or no prior formal teacher training, leading to uneven quality of teaching standards across schools, she said.

Today, around 85 per cent of teachers are graduates, and at the primary school level, seven in 10 teachers have a degree.

Read Also: Parents ponder value of Pisa test rankings

NIE trainee teachers, called pre-service teachers, also go on practice stints in schools to help them link theory to practice.

The MOE has also been improving pay and promotion prospects for teachers.

For example, in October last year, up to 30,000 teachers received a 4 per cent to 9 per cent increase in their monthly pay.

Mentorship schemes introduced since 2006 have also helped new teachers hone their craft on the job.

Each beginning teacher is matched to a mentor in school who provides guidance in areas such as classroom management, basic counselling skills and assessment skills.

St Stephen's School teacher Gion Pee is grateful that the system emphasises beginning teachers' professional growth.

The 33-year-old, who joined teaching in July 2012, had a one-year induction where he learnt teaching and management skills from senior teachers.

Since January this year, he has received tips on teaching English during weekly meetings with his mentor, Madam Azizah A. Rasak.

The sessions helped him to reflect on how to differentiate his teaching style to suit his pupils' learning needs, he said.

Dr Charles Chew, principal master teacher in physics at the Academy of Singapore Teachers, said: "Teaching is a highly complex craft that needs to be constantly sharpened and honed to meet the needs of students... A good teacher is one who does not teach the subject but teaches students the subject."

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.@sph.com.sg>

When housewife Hua Yingying was a student, she was taught the basic concepts of maths and science from textbooks in school, and did not have much homework.

"We also didn't have things like hands-on learning or project work. Now, even children in kindergarten or primary school are taught how to use basic software and work on projects," said the 45-year-old, who has a daughter in Secondary 2.

And while many students tended to opt for traditional fields such as engineering or accounting in the past, it has now become harder to predict what jobs will be in demand.

Madam Hua wants her daughter to explore her interests and find her passion.

She thus cheered the news that Singapore had taken the top spot in the Pisa rankings, an international benchmarking test which places emphasis on higher-order critical thinking skills.

Read Also: Tuition industry worth over $1b a year

The results show the local education system has managed to equip students with such skills, she said.

"These skills are important for doing well in the global economy because children will need to learn how to adapt to changes quickly and cope with unforeseen circumstances," she said.

Other parents question the relevance of the Programme for International Student Assessment rankings, and say the education system has to evolve further beyond imparting knowledge.

Mr Eugene Seah, 40, agrees that the role of parenting and education has evolved as Singapore's economic needs change over time.

"We know for sure that what worked for us in the past would not work in the same way now," he said.

The speaker-trainer learnt that lesson the hard way - in 2013, he was retrenched after 14 years of working in public relations and marketing in the financial industry.

The father of three children aged between six and 12 questions the relevance of the Pisa rankings.

Read Also: Pisa and the creativity puzzle

After all, the giants of the future economy - Facebook, Google and Uber - were all founded in the United States, which ranked 25th in the Pisa test.

"Do we want to end up working for other people, or be the ones creating the next big company?" he said.

While he acknowledged that schools are placing more emphasis on critical thinking and inquiry, he thinks there should be a much bigger shift away from teaching knowledge towards independent thinking, as Singapore still lacks talent in creativity and innovation.

While the Pisa test takes critical thinking into account, there are also plans to measure how well students perform in areas such as inter-cultural sensitivity in 2018.

However, creative business consultant Calvin Soh, who has a 10-year-old daughter and a 14-year- old son, thinks the Pisa rankings are evolving too slowly and cannot catch up with the exponential pace at which technology is developing.

While the Pisa rankings measure one's ability to think critically, they do not measure qualities such as self-confidence and one's ability to recover from failure - key traits needed in a successful entrepreneur, he said.

His son Dylan, who will be in Secondary 3 next year, has failed exams at Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road).

However, Mr Soh, 49, said that has not affected Dylan's self-esteem, as he encourages his son's non-academic pursuits.

Read Also: How Singapore's students rose to No. 1

At One Kind House, a community space with an urban farm that Mr Soh designed and set up in Telok Kurau this year, Dylan works on his own projects, such as designing and prototyping urban farming tools.

"Often, they don't work out initially, but he has learnt to try and try again until he succeeds," said Mr Soh.

Some schools, such as Spectra Secondary, have similar projects.

Through a gardening programme that is part of its Character and Citizenship Education curriculum, students learn about values such as resilience and respect for nature.

But Mr Soh says academic achievement is still prioritised over hands-on projects.

He reckons the overemphasis on the former creates a culture where failure is stigmatised in Singapore, holding it back from having a risk-taking culture that embraces innovation.

This is despite the country doing well in academic benchmarking tests.

"Though we see gardening as a low economic skill set, it teaches us things about the variability of nature, and understanding and respecting nature so that you see the consequences of your actions. But is this more important than scoring As and Bs in science at the moment? It is not."

yuensin@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Last month, National University of Singapore economics lecturer Kelvin Seah analysed survey data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) in 2012 and made a surprising finding: Students who had tuition fared worse than those who did not.

Dr Seah, 34, said he came to two conclusions: "Either these students were receiving tuition because they were weaker in the first place or they did worse because of tuition. That means tuition and having too many lessons might be counter-productive."

Education experts said it is difficult to establish how much of a role tuition has in academic success or if it has contributed to Singapore's stellar showing in Pisa, a global benchmarking test which 15-year-olds here topped last year.

Read Also: Pisa and the creativity puzzle

But what is beyond dispute is the growth of the shadow education industry.

Tuition is worth more than a billion dollars annually here, almost double the $650 million spent on it in 2004.

Some parents spend several hundreds or thousands of dollars on tuition each month, despite knowing that having tuition may not raise their children's grades significantly.

This stems from a strong commitment to education in Singaporean families - doing well at national examinations is a priority for many parents and students.

Read Also: How Singapore's students rose to No. 1

Dr Yeap Ban Har, 48, principal of Marshall Cavendish Institute, which conducts professional development courses for teachers, reckoned tutoring helps in mastering the basics, but does not contribute significantly to performing well in novel, challenging problems.

"If a student is weak in basics, tuition might help with basic skills questions as it tends to be about practice and more practice," he said. "But it may not help with challenging, novel ones, like those found in the Pisa exercise."

National Institute of Education don Jason Tan said the efficacy of tuition varies from student to student.

"I don't think you can say tuition does not work for anyone."

Read Also: Parents ponder value of Pisa test rankings

Experts said tuition will exist as long as there are high-stakes national examinations.

Dr Seah said tuition should not be lightly dismissed. "For students whose families can afford better-quality tuition and enrichment, it could be a big part of why they continue to do well."

Dr Yeap said the skills of a teacher make more of a difference in a student's learning process. "It is not a case of tuition or no tuition... If a teacher can create opportunities (for students) to explore, to collaborate, to think structurally, to reflect, to communicate, to be independent, to make meaning, to be confident… It does not matter whether he is a teacher in a school, or a tutor."

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Sister Gerard Fernandez is sitting in a meeting room at the Good Shepherd Place in Toa Payoh, telling stories about her past in a voice clear, calm and soothing.

It was the early 1940s and she was then barely six years old.

Her late father - who was secretary to the chief justice - spoke impeccable English, and would put his children through enunciation drills while waiting for breakfast.

One morning, they had to recite a verse which went: "And I commit you to Sing Sing Prison, there to be hanged, drawn and quartered."

Sing Sing is a maximum security prison in New York City.

"I remember saying to myself 'I don't like those words and I'm not going to say them when my turn comes'," says the nun, now 78.

Instead, she recited a prayer honouring the Virgin Mary when her turn came. "I went: 'Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope'."

Her father, who did not know she had committed the prayer to memory, was stunned, and delighted.

For Sister Gerard herself, the episode is perhaps prescient. She became a Changi Prison counsellor for those sentenced to hang.

Among them were Catherine Tan Mui Choo and Hoe Kah Hong, the women who helped medium Adrian Lim kill two children in the sensational ritual murders case of 1981; Flor Contemplacion who murdered a fellow Filipino domestic worker and her four-year-old charge in 1991, and Van Tuong Nguyen, the Australian drug trafficker sentenced in 2004.

"At the age of 36, I walked with my first inmate on death row. I wasn't aware of the call then but I guess it was long implanted in my heart," says Sister Gerard who joined the Good Shepherd Sisters, a Roman Catholic order of nuns, when she was 18.

Blessed with a serene demeanour and prone to bouts of girlish giggles, she is the fourth of 10 children.

"My parents were the most generous and loving of parents; my faith came from them," she says, adding that two of her sisters are Franciscan nuns.

Her early years were happy ones, spent in a house in McNair Road. The chief justice visited the family every Christmas, and allowed them use of his Jaguar during this period.

"We also had a pet pig running around the house," she recalls.

But the pig got slaughtered when her father uprooted the family to Malacca during the Japanese Occupation.

"My uncle came to do it. Mum salted the meat, put it in a jar and that was what we lived on during our journey to Malacca."

After a couple of years in the Malaysian state where one of her younger sisters died of tetanus poisoning after being pricked by a thorn, the Fernandez family returned to Singapore and a new home in Cairnhill.

After completing her secondary education at Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Victoria Street, she taught briefly at the Good Shepherd Kindergarten in Kampung Java before becoming a nun.

She felt the call to serve, she says, after meeting the Good Shepherd sisters who ran Marymount Centre in Thomson.

The place, which had to make way for the North-South Expressway, had several outfits including a welfare home and shelter for women and troubled teens.

"At the shelter, I saw this teenage girl, and she had such sadness on her face. I told myself: 'This is where I want to work, with girls like her'."

When she broke the news to her father one morning while he was having breakfast, he did not choke on his coffee.

"He put down his newspapers and said: 'Are you sure you want to do that?' And when I said yes, he said: 'The only thing I want you to know is that I am ready to see you through a tertiary education. Do you want to go now?'

"I said: 'Yes, if I don't, I may lose my vocation'," she recalls with a laugh, adding: "I was actually a very happy teenager, I enjoyed my life, going to parties and all."

Her late mother too, she says, readily gave her blessings.

On May 19, 1956, she entered the Good Shepherd Convent in Marymount; she was 18 years old.

After two years of formation - the process of learning about the religious life - she took her first vows.

Life in the convent was not easy.

"I came from a closely knit family and I missed them very much. There were times when I wanted badly to go home. On Christmas Day especially, I felt the loneliness and I remember I'd cry in the chapel," she says.

"But it's a matter of going deep down into your heart and asking what you really want."

During her formation, Sister Gerard attended two years of teacher training and taught primary school pupils at Marymount Convent from 1959 to 1962.

Her first mission was in 1962, when she went to Jakarta for four years to work with troubled teenagers.

The work was fulfilling but sometimes harrowing because of the political turmoil which rocked Indonesia then.

She recalls the Lubang Buaya incident in 1965, when a group of Indonesian military personnel captured and murdered six generals.

It was the start of an abortive coup that eventually led to the ouster of Sukarno, Indonesia's first president.

This period was also marked by large-scale killings targeting communists, ethnic Chinese and suspected leftists.

Even the Good Shepherd Convent in Jakarta where she was based, was a target.

"But we were protected by students. It was a frightening experience," says Sister Gerard who went back to the country for another stint between 1972 and 1975.

Over the next few decades, she worked with the abused, the lost and the marginalised.

"My calling is people who are broken," she says simply.

In the 1970s, when drug abuse was rampant in Singapore, Sister Gerard, already a counsellor, attended more counselling and rehabilitation courses held by the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association and started working with drug addicts.

Not long after, she founded the Roman Catholic Prison Ministry with two Redemptorist priests, Father Brian Doro and Father Patrick John O'Neill, to visit drug offenders, as well as other prisoners.

"In the beginning, we would go all the way to the prison even if it was just to see one prisoner. But now, we see nearly 20 inmates every week. From just four counsellors, we now have more than 100 in the Roman Catholic Prison Ministry."

Her work with prisoners took a dramatic turn in 1981 with the ritualistic murders of two children by self-styled medium Adrian Lim, his wife Catherine Tan and mistress Hoe Kah Hong.

The case was especially shocking for Sister Gerard because she knew one of the victims, nine-year-old Agnes Ng whose elder sister was a cook at Marymount, as well as Tan who attended the Marymount Vocational Centre.

"I knew Catherine's father too, he was an electrician and used to do the Christmas lights at Marymount," she says.

Tan, she says, was a sweet and simple girl who fell into bad company after she left Marymount. Lim made her go into prostitution and eventually led her to the gallows.

Sister Gerard felt a "desperate" need to see Tan, and wrote to her. Six months passed before the latter replied and agreed to see her.

"When I walked in, she looked at me with her sad eyes which said: 'You haven't condemned me. Please help me change'."

For seven years, until the three of them were hanged in 1988, Sister Gerard made weekly visits to pray with Tan and steer her back to her Catholic faith.

Not long after, Hoe, who was in the next cell, also sought her counselling.

Over three decades, the nun has "walked" with 18 convicts to the gallows, sometimes spending long nights with them in prayer.

Not all of them, she says, were Catholics. "There was this guy Kumar, he committed murder. He said he had seen me pass by his cell and heard me sing."

The day before he was to be hanged, he asked to see her.

"He said: 'Tomorrow morning, I'm going to see God and when I do, I will tell him all about you'," she recalls softly.

Candidly, the sister lets on that she opposes the death penalty because it takes away life which is precious. "But I won't give up the opportunity to be there for these people. When I walk in there, I can see a spark of hope in their eyes. It doesn't come from me, it's from the divine," she says.

Although she is claustrophobic, she has never felt fear walking through the oppressive cells and corridors of the prison.

"Many have asked me where I get the strength to do it. I have questioned myself too. That's why I believe this is a calling. I do not look at it as something I'm doing; it's a relationship between the inmate and myself.

"It is most beautiful when they say: 'Yes, I have done wrong but I have hope'," says Sister Gerard, who calls all those she has walked with her friends.

Australian drug trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen, 25, who was hanged in 2005, asked her to be by his side in his final moments.

But she did not.

"That would have been too traumatic for me," she says.

Last year, she decided to pass the baton. "I just felt it was time to stop. I have a team of people ready to take over," she says.

Just two years shy of her 80th birthday, she still leads an active life despite having 10 screws implanted in her back, and hip replacement surgery a few years ago.

Her days at Good Shepherd Place, where she still works with troubled teens, counsels couples and helps "broken souls", are packed.

"Don't make me out to be a saint," she repeatedly tells me. "I have my dark moments. My ego can be as big as a satellite. But I try to use the dark moments to become better. I'm 78 and I know when to pull back because that's not the way to live."

Asked to describe herself, she giggles and says: "I enjoy people and love chocolates."

She enjoys good relationships with many people, she says, because she is not afraid to love.

"My heart is full of love. Because I've made a vow of chastity, it frees me up to love everybody. You can't hold back and if you do, something's not right," she adds with a grin.

Sister Gerard sets great store by the words of St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier who founded Sisters of The Good Shepherd. "One person is more precious than the whole world."

kimhoh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

A massive project to replace every timber sleeper on the North-South and East-West MRT lines (NSEWL) with hardier, concrete ones has been completed, The Sunday Times has learnt.

A total of 188,000 sleepers across the two MRT lines were upgraded over a four-year period, with rail workers installing the last concrete sleeper on the westbound tracks at Clementi MRT station last Tuesday.

Sleepers help to hold the tracks in place. Worn-out ones can mean a bumpier ride for commuters and, in extreme cases, pose a safety risk.

The project's completion marks a milestone in the renewal of the 29-year-old NSEWL and commuters can expect a smoother and more comfortable ride.

Read Also: Recurring train fault causes MRT disruption between Jurong East and Joo Koon stations

During the project, speed restrictions had to be imposed for about four- to six-week periods on sections of the tracks where sleepers were newly laid, to give them time to settle on the ballast bed.

The last of these speed restrictions is expected to be lifted early next year, so trains will return to normal speeds of up to 80kmh, instead of being capped at between 40kmh and 60kmh.

The sleeper replacement project is one of several concurrent efforts - which include upgrading the signalling, third-rail and power systems - to boost the reliability and lifespan of the island's oldest and most-used MRT lines.

Concrete sleepers have a lifespan of 50 years, more than twice that of the wooden ones.

Read Also: Train breakdown reasons: SMRT must be clearer and more transparent

While the replacement of the 96,000 sleepers on the North-South Line (NSL) was finished in April last year, the schedule to upgrade the 92,000 ones on the East-West Line (EWL) was nearly thrown off-track.

Due to the massive July 7 disruption last year which crippled the NSEWL and affected more than 400,000 commuters, access to the tracks for re-sleepering works was temporarily suspended so investigations could be carried out.

To make up for lost time, SMRT closed stretches of the EWL earlier to extend off-service hours, giving rail workers more time on the tracks.

Certain EWL stations were also opened later on Sundays.

Besides smoother journeys, commuters can also expect trains on the NSL to arrive at shorter intervals of 100, instead of 120 seconds, in the first quarter of next year.

Read Also: SMRT apologises for disruption which affected more than 20 stations on Monday

This is when an upgraded signalling system becomes operational, allowing each train's exact location and speed to be relayed to a computer, so trains can run closer together.

For the EWL, signalling upgrading works are more than 80 per cent complete, and the system will be operational in 2018.

When the entire NSEWL moves to the new signalling system, capacity will be boosted by 20 per cent.

National University of Singapore transport researcher Lee Der Horng said the upgraded signalling system and planned addition of new trains will be key to improving the overall level of service.

Read Also: 4-hour MRT disruption on E-W Line

Dr Park Byung Joon, a senior lecturer at SIM University, added that engineers must continue to work on the rail power system, which has been the cause of breakdowns.

On April 25, the NSEWL, Circle Line and Bukit Panjang LRT were disrupted due to a power trip.

With the re-sleepering done, there will be more resources available, he added.

In October, the Land Transport Authority said it was "considering upgrading to a brand new power supply system".

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.@sph.com.sg>

Two Singaporean women were among 14 people who died yesterday when a bus plunged more than 6m off the North-South Expressway near Muar in Johor, the police said.

Sixteen others, including six other Singaporeans, were injured in the accident, which happened at around 4am.

The police told The Sunday Times that six men and seven women, as well as one female child, were among those killed in the Christmas Eve accident.

The two dead Singaporeans were Ms Au Poi Kiew and Ms Hamimah Mamo.

Read Also: MFA in touch with Singaporeans affected by KL-Johor bus crash

No other details were immediately available.

Although Muar police chief Azman Ayob said the bus was likely to have been speeding when its driver lost control, the cause of the accident was still being investigated.

"Some of those who survived are seriously injured and we can't interview them," Mr Azman said.

Checks found that there were no signs of the Alisan Gold Coach bus braking on the 150m grass patch by the side of the highway, which the police say implied that the driver did not attempt to slow down before the bus plunged from the highway.

Read Also: 14 on KL-Johor bus die in Christmas Eve crash

The bus was travelling from Johor Baru to Kuala Lumpur.

All the dead and injured were taken to the Sultanah Fatimah hospital in Muar.

At least four survivors have been discharged.

The six injured Singaporeans included one female.

Read Also: Johor bus crash: Driver only had 3 hours rest

Among those hurt were seven Malaysians, two from Myanmar and a person whose nationality had yet to be verified.

The Johor Fire and Rescue Department received a distress call at around 4am. Its deputy director Mohd Yusof Mohd Gunnos said the road surface was in good condition and it was not raining.

Mr Ahmad Fahmi Khairuddin, 19, claimed the bus was speeding before he saw it "flying" off the highway and smashing into a concrete wall below.

Mr Ahmad Fahmi was playing a board game with three friends at 3.25am at his home, about 100m from the accident, when the crash happened.

Read Also: Johor bus crash: 3 among the dead were to get married next year

"The noise was three times as loud as a tyre exploding. I heard screams for help. My friends and I helped to carry whichever victims could be moved," he told Bernama news agency.

Malaysian daily Berita Harian reported that one of those killed was Ms Nor Saidatul Akmal Idris, 21, who was due to marry on Jan 29.

Bernama also reported that Myanmar national Ralza Uk's plans to celebrate Christmas in Kuala Lumpur were dashed after his face and arm were injured.

"When the bus fell, I felt it floating but I was still in my seat. Suddenly, I felt pain all over my body and couldn't move," the 25-year-old said.

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Photo Gallery

14 on KL-Johor bus die in Christmas Eve crash

Source:

The Star/ANN

Berita Harian Malaysia

AFP

In response to the accident, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (Miros), called on the government to set up a transportation safety board as an independent government investigative agency for civil transportation accidents.

The setting up of a board was a key recommendation set out by an advisory panel following a bus crash in Genting Highlands in 2013 that killed 37 people.

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement: "We are saddened by the tragic bus accident. The Singapore Consulate-General in Johor Baru is in close contact with the Johor authorities. Our consul-general and MFA officers are at the hospital in Muar to assist affected Singaporeans and their next of kin."

shannont@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Soaring thousands of metres in the air on a flight from New Zealand to Singapore, Mr Grant Rawlinson is preoccupied by what is beneath him.

He completed an expedition in 2013 to summit the highest peaks in the North and South Island but his adventurous soul is again restless.

Instead of a plane, he thought, why not try making this journey by land and sea?

Two years of planning later, the grand quest will become reality.

On Jan 3, the Singapore permanent resident will set off on a 12,000km trip spanning almost a year aptly titled "Rowing from Home to Home".

Mr Rawlinson will attempt to row his $120,000 Ocean Rowing Boat 4,500km from Singapore, through the Indonesian archipelago and across to Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory.

The Kiwi will then cycle 4,500km south-eastwards to Coffs Harbour in New South Wales, while the boat will be shipped to the end of the cycling stage.

He will then row another 3,000km across the Tasman Sea to New Plymouth, in Taranaki.

"From there, it's just a 40km cycle back to my parents' house in Stratford," chuckled Mr Rawlinson last week at Raffles Marina.

"Hopefully I'll be home in time for Christmas."

He added to The Sunday Times: "No one to my knowledge has tried rowing this route before, so there are a lot of unknowns. There are no log books to reference and it's taken years of research to plan this entire trip."

Improbable as his goal may sound, the 42-year-old, who quit his job as a regional sales manager to focus on this trip, betrays little in terms of doubt.

After all, more than a decade of climbing mountains around the world - he scaled Mount Everest in 2012 - has taught him that no peak cannot be reached.

The budget for the expedition is $250,000, part of it covered by several sponsors.

There is neither silverware nor fame at the end of this personal undertaking, only the quiet satisfaction that explorers like Mr Rawlinson search for.

The former Singapore national rugby sevens player said: "Doing this is really about the journey and not the destination. I believe we are all capable of great things if we are willing to push our limits."

The physical toll will be immense. During the first leg from Singapore to Australia, both Mr Rawlinson and team-mate Charlie Smith will alternate one- to two-hour shifts, rowing non-stop for weeks.

One will rest in the narrow cabin while the other drives the 750kg (including supplies) fibreglass vessel forward.

They estimate that it would take them a month to reach Bali, where they will rest for about a week.

Mr Rawlinson's wife Stephanie and one-year-old twins Rachel and Kate will meet them there.

Mr Smith, a 26-year-old Englishman who works in Singapore as a project manager, said: "We hope to row at speeds of about 4-5kmh, which in good conditions could see us cover as much as 100km a day."

He will take part only in the first rowing leg. He was introduced to Mr Rawlinson last year by a mutual acquaintance and jumped at the chance to join the "once-in-a-lifetime" expedition.

An intensive training regimen over the past year has seen Mr Smith add 11kg to his previous 84kg frame, strength that will come in handy for the arduous work ahead.

They will carry two sets of clothing and about 150kg of food - mostly freeze-dried meals that range from curries to roast lamb and pasta - that can last roughly 40 days and will consume about 6,000 worth of calories each day.

Both men expect to expend a similar amount of calories every day by rowing.

Mr Smith, who was an avid ice-climber in England, added: "This will be by far the most physically demanding thing I've ever done."

Both men have clocked more than 300 hours in training.

They have rowed around Singapore twice and to Bintan and Batam, and spent a week at sea together.

Yet no amount of practice prepares someone for the vulnerability of crossing an ocean in a 6.8m craft powered by oars with a rear-view mirror fixed at the stern; they row backwards after all.

"There are so many dangers out there," said Mr Rawlinson.

"We could get hit by a ship, get swept into a bad storm, break our equipment, fall sick or run into pirates. You really don't know what to expect."

At least the boat is equipped with the latest technology to give them every chance to succeed.

Solar panels at both ends of the craft generate power for a host of electrical devices, including a pump that converts sea water to potable water, a GPS tracking device which emits their location every 15 minutes and a satellite communications terminal for daily weather updates.

It can get very lonely out there surrounded by such vastness, though Mr Rawlinson seems to relish the long hours of introspection.

This will be life stripped down to its barest form, he said.

"You eat, sleep and row."

The reason was simple.

As French Nobel Prize-winning author Andre Gide once wrote: "One does not discover new lands without first consenting to lose sight of the shore."

jonwong@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Australia's plans to develop a large site in northern Queensland as a training area for Singapore troops has run into trouble after farmers, who would be forced to sell their land, opposed the move.

The farmers say they do not oppose the training deal with Singapore but feel the land sale was unfair, and came as a "complete surprise".

They have called for the government to look at other locations, saying the properties have been held by their families for generations, and include fertile grazing land.

The proposal would involve about 23 farmers selling 200,000ha of farmland - nearly three times the size of Singapore.

The site near Townsville forms part of an A$2.25 billion (S$2.4 billion) deal signed by Singapore and Australia during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's visit in October.

Under the deal, Singaporean troops would increase their presence in Australia from next year, and train at Townsville and another site farther south in Shoalwater Bay.

By 2021, up to 14,000 troops will train for 18 weeks a year, compared with about 6,600 troops who currently train for six weeks.

Australian troops would also use the training area.

The deal has been welcomed by the local community and will give a much-needed boost to the economy, which has suffered from the end of the mining boom.

After a series of meetings in recent weeks between farmers, MPs and defence officials, the federal government last week agreed to review its plans for the site and has ordered an independent review into the impact on the local community.

The government also said it will consider two alternative sites nearby, even though the Defence Department previously said these alternatives were "unsuitable".

Resources and Northern Australia Minister Matthew Canavan said the Singapore deal would provide a significant boost to the region but the government also wanted to maximise opportunities to develop agriculture and water infrastructure.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Mr Canavan said: "The Singapore defence deal and the investment that will flow from it represent a great opportunity for central and northern Queensland.

"In recent weeks, the Department of Defence has been consulting widely with local landholders and community members.

"A socio-economic impact assessment will be conducted by KPMG as well as a broader masterplanning process in 2017." KPMG is an auditing and advisory firm.

It is believed the original site near Townsville was chosen because it features a variety of terrain types that will allow troops to train in different battlefield conditions.

The dispute has attracted growing media attention and is becoming a headache for the ruling coalition, which fears the issue could cost it public support in the state.

A lawyer representing several landholders, Mr Ian Conrad, said the farmers supported the Singapore deal but believed the proposed training site was unfair because it covered fertile land that was close to an abattoir and port.

Mr Conrad added that the farmers did not learn of the proposed forced sale until late last month and the move came as a "complete surprise".

He said: "Most of the farmers have been on the land a long time, and always planned to pass it on to their children and grandchildren. Their whole life is attached to the land."

Several prominent Queensland-based politicians have backed the farmers, including far-right MP and One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson, and long-serving popular independent MP Bob Katter.

This has worried the conservative coalition, which has been trying to stem a loss of support in Queensland to One Nation and Mr Katter's party.

Ms Hanson and Mr Katter have both visited the region and addressed local farmers.

During a visit to the area on Dec 16, Ms Hanson said she welcomed the Singapore deal and its potential boost to the region but insisted that it should not hurt local agriculture.

She said: "I can understand it will bring a lot of money to the area and benefits to Queensland but not to the detriment of farmers. We need this (land) because if we lost it, we will never get it back."

Defence Minister Marise Payne, speaking to The Courier Mail last week, said the government will now consider two alternative locations near the town of Pentland, to the west of the original site, and Greenvale, which lies a little farther north.

Singaporean troops will also train at an expanded site in Shoalwater Bay, where they have been training for more than 20 years.

For now, the federal government is wedged between its immediate political needs, the concerns of the farmers and securing the best interests of Australian and Singaporean troops.

Jonathanmpearlman@gmail.com

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Rochor Centre, with its iconic yellow, green, red and blue hues, may soon be gone but its community spirit lives on in Kallang Trivista.

The Upper Boon Keng Road development, which was fully completed in June, is now home to most of the residents from Rochor Centre, an HDB development with a mix of businesses and residences.

Of the 567 households at the centre, 504 chose to move to Kallang Trivista.

This means residents from three out of five units at the new Kallang blocks used to live at Rochor Centre.

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Photo Gallery

Come September morning...an icon becomes a memory

Source: The Straits Times, HDB

The Straits Times reported last Thursday that most have already collected their keys and moved into the 808-unit HDB project, though a few households still remain at Rochor Centre, which will soon be demolished for redevelopment.

Although the white and blue exteriors of the Kallang development seem drab compared to the multicoloured Rochor Centre, resident Catherine Quik, 56, said keeping the Rochor community spirit intact is more important than the colour of the paint.

"Every so often, I will bump into my old neighbours at the lift lobby and we'll greet each other and chat. Of course we still miss our old homes, but we are all slowly adapting to the change," she said.

Read Also: 'Each neighbour is worth a million bucks': Resident on leaving Rochor Centre

The clinic manager upgraded from a three-room flat to a four-room flat. She collected her keys in July and moved into her new unit in September.

Another resident, who gave her name only as Madam Pang, 65, recounted a recent community potluck at the void deck: "The people here all know one another. It feels like old times."

It also helps that Kallang Trivista was built with community features in mind, she told The Straits Times.

Trivista features two large roof gardens - equivalent to the size of 12 tennis courts - on the sixth and seventh storeys of the multi-storey carpark.

The roof gardens have yet to open but there are plenty of resting spots, an auditorium and a community plaza on the ground level where residents can hold activities and interact.

An activity centre for seniors has opened at Kallang Trivista and a minimart will soon open too.

At a site visit last Tuesday, HDB's deputy director of landscape implementation, Miss Tay Bee Choo, said efforts were taken to enhance the biodiversity of the area and attract birds and butterflies so that residents can feel close to nature.

Ninety-one species of tropical plants add a green ambience to the development.

Said Miss Tay: "We tried to bring back the tropical plants that used to grow in the 70s and the 80s."

Read Also: Rochor residents in rush to move out

HDB has built 175 carparks with rooftop gardens in recent years.

Another 126 multi-storey carparks with rooftop greenery are under construction, its spokesman said.

Madam J.J. Ong, 70, said she looks forward to growing guava trees at the community garden as some residents at Rochor Centre used to trade guava leaves, using them as a herbal treatment.

The retiree said: "It is good that there are these areas for us. There's less air pollution and the greenery is nice."

Despite having lived at Rochor Centre since it was completed in 1977, she will not be revisiting her old home before it is demolished.

"There's no point going back to see Rochor Centre now. It is a memory. Now I just want to look forward," she said.

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Rochor residents in rush to move out

Source:

The Straits Times

ngjunsen@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

SINGAPORE - More than 100 relatives of three Singaporean women who died in Saturday morning's bus crash at the North-South Expressway near Muar in Johor gathered at the Choa Chu Kang Muslim cemetery to bid them a final farewell.

Madam Faridah Tamron, 63, and her daughter, Nur Hazimah Mustafa, 21, were laid to rest side by side on Sunday (Dec 25), having been brought back from Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital in Muar in the early hours of the morning.

About 70 of their relatives, including Madam Faridah's son and another daughter, gathered under a scorching sun at around 1pm as final prayers were performed.

Missing from the sombre joint funeral were Madam Faridah's husband Mustafa Yasin, 63, and Ms Nur Hazimah's husband Muhammad Fitri, 23. Both injured in the crash, they are understood to be in hospital in Singapore, having also been transferred from Sultanah Fatimah hospital earlier in the morning.

Shortly after the funerals at about 1.45pm, some 50 relatives of Madam Hamimah Mammu, another Singaporean who perished in the Christmas eve accident arrived at the cemetery.

Madam Hamimah was laid to rest beside Madam Faridah and Ms Nur Hazimah.

Among those present were two of Madam Hamimah's sons, age 21 and 23, who had not been on the bus.

The two had been at the Sultanah Fatimah hospital's mortuary the previous evening.

Madam Hamimah's husband Mohamed Syed, son Muhammad Hilmi, 16, and daughter Alifah, 13, were all injured in the crash. They are also understood to be in hospital here.

The crash cost the lives of 14 people, while 16 were injured. A fourth victim from Singapore who died in the crash is permanent resident Au Poi Kiew, who hailed from Seremban.

The coach bus they were in had departed from JB Sentral in Johor Baru and had been en route to Kuala Lumpur's Bandar Tasik Selatan Integrated Bus Terminal when it fell off the North- South Expressway at Kampung Jayo, Jalan Kangkar-Senangar, Pagoh, near Muar, at about 4am.

The bus driver and his baby daughter died, while his wife was injured.

358797

2016-12-24 18:20:02

Photo Gallery

14 on KL-Johor bus die in Christmas Eve crash

Source:

The Star/ANN

Berita Harian Malaysia

AFP

The Straits Times

This article was first published on December 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

SINGAPORE - At seven years old, gymnast Eileen Chai was the youngest athlete to compete in the South-east Asian Games in 1985.

At 13, she won a bronze medal at the SEA Games after many years of training. But the constant travelling and training for competitions took its toll on her.

She was seldom in school and although she was winning medals, she was also feeling insecure about herself.

"I was always on my own. Training, eating and doing homework on my own. I didn't have any friends," said Ms Chai, who felt like a "useless" person.

When she enrolled in the National University of Singapore, she decided to pick up the violin, which she had stopped playing as a child to focus on gymnastics. She saw it as a way to bring music back into her life and meet more friends.

Now 38, Ms Chai, who is a violin teacher, performer, author and speaker, has regained her confidence and is using her experience in dealing with her insecurities to help other children overcome theirs.

She started the company Teach A Life, For Life in 2012 to encourage people to share their stories and the lessons learnt through music.

She tells her story in the second episode of Heroes Among Us, an eight-part video series which explores the lives of ordinary Singaporeans who overcame personal struggles to achieve greater things.

He had gone off to work on Wednesday night and was expected to get home the next morning.

But the engineering officer with PSA Marine was reported missing at 1.46am on Thursday after he fell into the sea.

On Friday afternoon, Mr Ilzam Odit's body was found floating in waters around the small Indonesian island of Karimun Anak, according to Indonesian news reports.

He had been working at Banyan Basin, off Jurong Island, but the circumstance of his fall into the waters is not known.

The New Paper understands that Mr Ilzam, who had been with PSA Marine for about five years, usually worked the 9am to 6pm shift.

FAMILY

The sole breadwinner, 53, leaves behind his wife and two children.

When TNP visited his home in Sengkang yesterday, a young man believed to be Mr Ilzam's son, who looked to be in his early 20s, declined to be interviewed.

The Sunday Times reported there was a crowd of mourners offering their condolences to the family on Saturday morning.

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, told TNP that Mr Ilzam was a "friendly and nice man".

"His family would give us food during the festive occasions," said the neighbour of about a year.

"Even though we were not close, we would always greet one another."

A PSA Marine spokesman said: "PSA Marine's management extends its deepest condolences to Mr Ilzam Odit's family and will continue to work with the relevant government agencies to provide assistance and support to his family."

ASSISTANCE

The company also thanked Indonesian and Singaporean agencies for their assistance in the recovery and return of the body to Mr Ilzam's family.

The spokesman added: "The incident is under investigation and we are not able to provide more details at this time."

Mr Ilzam was reportedly found in a T-shirt with PSA Marine's name, black trousers and black safety shoes.

He was identified by his identity card.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said that the Singapore consulate in Batam "is in touch with the Indonesian authorities over this incident and is providing the necessary consular assistance to the family".

myklim@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Dec 26, 2016.
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The prices of mandarin oranges may increase this Chinese New Year, but the same may not be said for pineapple tarts.

The prices of mandarin orange are expected to go up by 20 to 30 per cent, the chairman of the Singapore Fruits and Vegetables Importers and Exporters Association Tay Khiam Back told The New Paper.

The price increase is due to the heavy snow in China's Fujian province and Taiwan, which are still reeling from the effects of the typhoons in September.

As a result, their supplies of mandarin oranges are expected to be reduced by as much as half.

Farmers there also predicted that their harvests will be reduced by 30 per cent.

"The supply of mandarin oranges will not be affected as Singapore's demand is not big, but the prices will increase," Mr Tay said.

He added that Singapore also imports mandarin oranges from Pakistan, Japan, South Korea, Morocco and Europe.

Miss Seah Lay Hoon, who is in charge of sales at wholesaler Bee Seng Fruit Supply, told TNP she has seen a 20 per cent increase in the prices of mandarin oranges for the upcoming season compared with this year's.

US DOLLAR

"There is short supply in China due to the poor weather.

"We are also affected by the increase in the US dollar, as the cost price quoted to us by our Chinese supplier is in US dollars," she said.

"We are trying to price it so that the impact on the consumers is not so bad."

Other Chinese New Year goodies, such as pineapple tarts, however, are not seeing much of an increase in prices.

True Blue Cuisine chef-owner Benjamin Seck told TNP the prices of his popular pineapple tarts will not increase.

"We import our pineapples from Malaysia.

"We do not see a difference in price although the Malaysian ringgit has fallen against the Singapore dollar because the (cost of the) local labour for (turning) the pineapples into the jam has increased."

A bottle of 12 pieces of True Blue Cuisine's pineapple tarts will cost $38 next year - the same as this year.

A spokesman for Bakerzin told TNP that its $22.80 price tag for 18 pieces of pineapple tarts is not expected to increase.

Owner of D'pastry, Mrs Cynthia Koh, said that while the price of pineapples has not increased, the costs of other raw materials have.

As a result, it will have a "slight increase" in the prices of its pineapple tarts next year.

bxliew@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Dec 27, 2016.
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Wearing a seat belt on express buses could save the lives of passengers, say experts here in response to calls in Malaysia to make them compulsory.

This follows the horrific accident in which a Kuala Lumpur-bound express coach from Johor Baru crashed into a ravine on the North-South Expressway near Muar, Johor, in the early hours of Saturday, killing 14 people, including three Singaporeans and a Singapore permanent resident.

Mr Azman Ujang, chairman of Malaysian national news agency Bernama, then suggested banning express buses from travelling during "sleepy hours" and making seat belts mandatory for passengers as measures to prevent similar road accidents.

Welcoming the proposals, Malaysia's Road Transport Department director-general Nadzri Siron suggested bus operators could take the initiative and install seat belts for passengers.

But he said operators and consumers were against previous proposals to ban night-time express buses.

Singapore Road Safety Council chairman Bernard Tay told The New Paper that making seat belts mandatory in express buses was a "good idea" and could save many lives in an accident.

"When there is an impact, the seat belts can prevent passengers from hitting hard objects or being flung," he said.

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14 on KL-Johor bus die in Christmas Eve crash

Source:

The Star/ANN

Berita Harian Malaysia

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The Straits Times

"Many studies over the years have shown that seat belts lower passenger injuries in cars, and it is the same for coaches."

Referring to the introduction of compulsory seat belts in school buses here in 2012, he said: "Even kids have to wear seat belts on the buses over short distances. You can see the importance, and this can be applied to tour buses too."

Transport engineering consultant Gopinath Menon said: "Anything that improves safety is a good idea.

"With the seat belt, chances of you getting thrown out is lower. Being restrained like that will minimise harm."

Read also: KL-Johor bus crash: Driver was speeding, cops say

But he said implementation might be challenging.

"It works for schoolchildren because it is easier to enforce, but will all buses need to have seat belts and over what distances? It opens up a spectrum of issues," said Mr Menon.

Mr Ang Hin Kee, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, told TNP that measures to prevent accidents could also be considered.

BEYOND SEAT BELTS

Safety features such as the lane departure warning system, which alerts drivers if they suddenly change lanes without signalling, go beyond seat belts, Mr Ang said.

He added: "Seat belts are useful if you get into a collision. But minimising accidents is just as important, and we should assess all the safety concerns."

Madam Sarina Moh, a retiree in her 70s who makes annual trips to Kuala Lumpur to visit relatives, said the accident has heightened her concerns about travelling on express buses.

She said: "I used to use them without worry, but now I would be too scared to fall asleep."

Read also: Johor bus crash: Driver only had 3 hours rest

Asked if being belted down would make her feel better, Madam Sarina said: "It won't hurt. Maybe it can encourage people to be safer on the roads."

harizbah@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 27, 2016.
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What began as an ordinary trip to the bathroom at home in November last year ended in agony for Mr Sim Kok Keng, 72.

The Woodlands resident heard a "crack" and felt a sharp pain when he stood up after using the toilet in his Housing Board flat.

Doctors later said that his left heel bone had split open.

While the retired vegetable seller had always found it difficult to walk after contracting polio as a child, the injury made it tougher for him.

But flat upgrading last month provided timely assistance.

Mr Sim and his wife Jenny Koh, 64, were one of 105,500 households that had applied for the Enhancement for Active Seniors (Ease) programme as of last month.

The scheme, launched in July 2012, allows HDB home owners to equip their flats with elder-friendly fittings such as grab bars, slip-resistant tiles and ramps.

The HDB saidsome 42,200 households have applied for Ease directly, while another 63,300, including the Sims, opted for it through the Home Improvement Programme (HIP).

Citizen households with a family member aged 65 and above qualify for Ease.

They also qualify if a member is aged between 60 and 64 but needs help with at least one of six activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing or feeding.

"It's much more convenient to go to the toilet now," said Mr Sim, who now uses a walking stick.

Madam Koh agreed: "We used to put three plastic stools in the rest- room so he could hold on to them. But the grab bars are much safer."

Introduced in 2007, HIP helps address common maintenance problems related to ageing flats, such as spalling concrete and the replacement of pipe sockets with new laundry drying racks.

These "essentials" are paid for by the Government.

Optional HIP components include those under Ease, and improvements such as toilet upgrades and a new front entrance gate.

The Government subsidises up to 95 per cent of the cost of these for Singaporean households.

Only flats built up to 1986 that have not undergone the Main Upgrading Programme are eligible for HIP.

Works proceed when at least 75 per cent of a block's eligible households have voted in favour of it.

The scheme is popular, with an average support level of 90.1 per cent based on a poll, the HDB said.

This had MPs such as Ms Lee Bee Wah asking in Parliament last month if it could be extended to units built after 1986 when they become 30 years old.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong replied that the HIP is not a one-time expenditure, but a multi-year expense that has cost "billions of dollars".

So the Government has to "consider whether or not we are able to afford such a major programme that will run through many years, potentially even past this term and future terms of government".

About 220,000 flats have been announced for HIP so far. Works have been completed for about 74,000 flats and are in progress for another 93,000 homes.

As of March, the Government has spent about $1.47 billion on HIP and $30 million on Ease.

It is expected to spend another $464 million on HIP and $19 million on Ease by March next year.

This article was first published on Dec 27, 2016.
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Thomson Medical Centre, an old dame of obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) services in Singapore, could be headed for a makeover soon.

With its 37-year-old premises in Thomson Road packed to the rafters, the company is looking to ramp up its capacity. "The current hospital is already operating at full capacity," Thomson Medical chairman Roy Quek said. The average bed occupancy rate of the 190-bed hospital is around 80 per cent.

But before the hospital can be redeveloped, it will have to find an alternative site. "If we are able to develop additional capacity beyond the existing hospital, we will be able to redevelop the existing hospital to better serve our patrons," Mr Quek said.

Whether the extra space will take the form of a brand new building or build upon existing healthcare space remains to be seen, although Mr Quek said Thomson is already in discussions with the relevant authorities. The Health Ministry declined to respond to queries on this.

Mr Quek's ambition is to move Thomson towards providing the full spectrum of medical care - similar to what a general hospital provides - rather than limiting itself to just O&G services. This will put Thomson on a par with other private healthcare groups here which already have comparable general hospital facilities, such as Raffles Medical or the Parkway Group.

Freelance designer Kimberly Ang, 24, who gave birth to her first child at Thomson last month, felt the hospital is due for an upgrade. "Parking is a little troublesome because parking spaces are so limited," she said, adding that the hospital's interior was "quite run down".

"It's quite small and the passages are winding, so it's quite difficult to make your way around," she added.

Thomson will also branch out into preventive healthcare services under a new company, Thomson Wellth, that will start operating from the first quarter of next year.

They include providing services such as health screenings. "We will need additional capacity to grow our range of specialities and consolidate our operations, as we have about 30 clinics operating outside of the hospital," Mr Quek said. These include women's and children's clinics in the heartland, such as in Jurong, Tampines and Sengkang.

Thomson already operates a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur, and will open a second one in Johor Baru by 2020. Ideally, said Mr Quek, its Singapore operations will be the company's flagship: "Singapore will be the base from which ideas, standards and innovations can flow to the other centres."

This article was first published on Dec 27, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Singapore has earned the second spot on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (PETA) list of top 10 most vegan-friendly cities in Asia.

The animal rights group said that Singapore has a "roaring vegan scene," with a wide range of offerings such as vegan chicken, meat-free pulled barbecue, and dairy-free mac 'n' cheese.

A vegan diet is plant-based and excludes all animal products like meat, fish, eggs, and dairy.

PETA also highlighted several eateries offering tasty vegan treats which included VeganBurg's plant-based burgers, nomVnom's QQ Cheezy burger, and Brownice Italian Vegan Ice Cream & Kitchen's vegan barbecue chicken pizza.

For dishes with local flavours, it recommended Genesis Vegan Restaurant's "fish head" vermicelli and "chicken" rice, Loving Hut's nyonya laksa and mee pok, Gokul Vegetarian Restaurant's claypot curry "chicken" as well as VegCafe's vegan char kway teow, mee siam, and tofu goreng.

PETA vice president of international campaigns Jason Baker said: "Whether you're looking for first-rate artisanal food, a decadent dessert, or a low-key lunch, Singapore has the vegan restaurant for you. PETA loves Singapore for its top-notch cruelty-free grub that satisfies appetites while being kind to animals."

Other cities that made it to the list are:

1. Taipei, Taiwan

2. Singapore

3. Chiang Mai, Thailand

4. Makati, Philippines

5. Bangalore, India

6. Hong Kong

7. Bangkok, Thailand

8. Bali, Indonesia

9. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

10. Shanghai, China

In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of Singaporeans switching to a vegan diet, which is linked with lower risks of health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers.

However, nutritionists often remind vegans to plan their meals carefully in order to prevent deficiencies in vitamin B12, vitamin D, zinc, and iron.

minlee@sph.com.sg

In the spirit of Christmas giving, TNP features seven ordinary heroes who have made a difference to other strangers' lives. They are among 26 people whose heartwarming deeds were highlighted in a campaign collaboration - Good Man Good Deeds Good Rice - between Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao and Tong Seng Produce's rice brand SongHe

He always fretted whenever he saw his passengers who were caught in the rain run into the air-conditioned bus.

They could catch a cold and fall sick, SBS Transit bus captain Kamarul often thought.

Five months ago, he chose to do something about that.

Mr Kamarul, who has been driving for about a year, would stand between the bus and bus stop with an umbrella to shelter those without one.

His kind acts warmed the hearts of those he helped as well as witnesses, who shared it on SongHe's Good Man Good Deeds Good Rice Facebook page.

In an interview with Lianhe Wanbao in September, Mr Kamarul, 29, said he was inspired by his mother's advice.

"My mother once met a kind bus captain who alighted from the bus to help carry her shopping bag after he noticed how heavy it was," said Mr Kamarul.

"When she found out I was going to become a bus captain too, she reminded me to be patient with the passengers and help whenever I can."

He described how the kind act has a snowball effect.

Mr Kamarul said: "My mother received help from the bus captain, now it's my turn to help others.

"I hope we can spread these kind acts around."

Despite getting caught in the rain, Mr Kamarul never complains and always has a smile on his face.

He is also grateful to the other passengers for waiting patiently in the bus when he has to shelter those who are boarding when it rains.

Lianhe Wanbao readers nominated Mr Kamarul to be featured by the Chinese evening daily.

Sponsor Tong Seng Produce also donated 500kg of SongHe rice and 60 litres of canola oil to the beneficiary of his choice.

But Mr Kamarul said he did not expect to be commended.

He added: "If my passengers can benefit from that little action of mine, why not?"

This article was first published on Dec 26, 2016.
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Crowdfunding platforms see huge growth in projects launched and money pledged this year

This year, $2.9 million was pledged to projects started by Singaporeans on Kickstarter, nearly 3½ times more than the $854,464 pledged last year.

Crowdfunding platforms have seen huge growth this year.

GiveAsia, a charity-focused crowdfunding platform, also saw a growth of 80 per cent in total donations raised this year.

Mr Sean Leow, Kickstarter's director of international, who helps support its international community, told The New Paper Singapore backers of its projects had grown by 25 per cent.

Kickstarter was officially launched here in August.

Mr Leow said: "We've been officially open for creators here for less than four months, but we've been blown away by the number of brave creators who are using Kickstarter to bring their ideas to life."

Singaporeans launched 145 projects on Kickstarter this year, compared to 34 last year.

The projects cover a range of creative categories from art to technology, but Kickstarter does not allow any projects to raise money for charity.

GiveAsia co-founder Aseem Kumar Thakur attributes its boom to Singaporeans becoming more aware and accepting of crowdfunding from when it was founded in 2009.

More than 250 local charities use it as a source to collect donations online, he said.

With the recent launch of GiveAsia's mobile platform, most of its traffic now comes from mobile.

Singaporeans who started successful crowdfunding campaigns say they are grateful for these platforms.

Ms Lim Li Xue, an industrial design student at the National University of Singapore, and two friends raised more than $280,000 on Kickstarter for their wallet design, which automatically sorts coins from notes.

The 23-year-old said: "We think Kickstarter is a good platform for innovators."

The scene here is set to further flourish as more crowdfunding platforms make their presence felt.

Israeli platform OurCrowd, which was launched in 2013 and opened an office here last month, told TNP it saw a 200 per cent growth both in the number of investors and amount in the investments from Singapore.

OurCrowd, which also has offices in Israel, North America and Australia, said Singapore provided about 6 per cent of its total investment dollars.

Home-grown company CoA­ssets said it smashed local records when it raised $200,000 under 30 minutes for a small Singapore business in March.

Next year looks set to be even bigger for crowdfunding.

Mr Thakur told TNP: "We will see a rise in crowdfunding projects to help people in need.

"We believe more charities will rely on online fund-raising platforms to raise funds and awareness, compared to offline third-party fund raising (that is not cost effective)."

Mr Denes Ban, OurCrowd's managing partner for Asia, predicts more deals will come from Asia, one of its fastest growing markets.

He told TNP: "The financial technology environment in Asia is changing, with more regulators open to collaboration."

Viral crowdfunding campaigns

BABY YUJIA

Baby Yujia cannot use her mouth to eat because part of her oesophagus is missing.

Last June, her parents turned to crowdfunding sites to raise $2 million for her treatment. By February, they had raised about $1.2 million.

MAID WHO HAD STROKE

Madam Dora Sern turned to GiveAsia after her Filipino maid, Madam Felicidad Muna Mico, 57, had a stroke in October. She raised$50,039 to cover Madam Mico's hospital bills and her flight to the Philippines.

THAI STUDENT HIT BY CAR

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Thai student who was hit by car ready to go home

Source:

The New Paper

Photos courtesy of Mr Sarayuth Jattanathammajit

Kansinee Boonlong

Aroonrak Jattanathammajit, 16, fell into a coma after a car hit her in September.

After The New Paper broke the story, Singaporean Dennis Yeo turned to GiveAsia and raised $132,000.

She later woke up and returned to Thailand for further treatment.

EDWIN CHEN

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Netizens raise $29,000 for Singaporean with leukaemia

Source: Edwin Chen

Mr Edwin Chen, 25, was worried about the $50,000 treatment after he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia on July 11.

A friend, Mr Ray Goh, turned to GiveAsia. $21,000 was raised in 24 hours.

By yesterday, it had gone up to $45,000.

WALLET INVENTION

Their goal was $4,000 on Kickstarter. But within a day, the three National University of Singapore students raised $30,000 for Kin, a wallet they designed that automatically separates coins and notes.

So far, more than 4,700 people have pledged a total of $280,468.

leeganjp@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Dec 28, 2016.
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