NEW DELHI - A Samsung phone sparked alarm on an Indian flight yesterday when it emitted smoke, the airline said, weeks after the manufacturer recalled 2.5 million units of its latest model when batteries began catching fire during charging.
Airline IndiGo said it had dealt with an incident involving "minor smoke" coming from a Samsung Galaxy Note II device in a passenger's hand luggage on a flight from Singapore to the southern Indian city of Chennai.
The phone was not the same model as the one involved in the recall.
"IndiGo confirms that a few passengers travelling on 6E-054 from Singapore to Chennai noticed the smoke smell in the cabin this morning and immediately alerted the cabin crew on board," the airline said in a statement. "(The crew) observed smoke being emitted from the Samsung Note 2 (sic), which was placed in the baggage (of a passenger) in the overhead bin."
The crew used a fire extinguisher before submerging the phone in water and the plane made a normal landing.
The world's largest maker of mobile phones recalled 2.5 million units of its top-of-the-range Note7 model after incidents of batteries catching fire during charging.
The recall has put fresh pressure on Samsung Electronics, which is already squeezed by competition from Apple and Chinese rivals.
Samsung said yesterday it was aware of an incident involving one of its devices. "We are in touch with the relevant authorities to gather more information, and are looking into the matter," a spokesman said.
A spokesman for India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it would send out an advisory to airlines warning passengers to keep all Samsung Note smartphones switched off during the flight or avoid carrying the phones on commercial jets altogether.
The passion in the public discussion on the proposed changes to the elected presidency is palpable. This is not surprising as the issues involve multiracialism and meritocracy, which are core principles that Singapore upholds as a society.
Next month, the Government will table a Bill that encompasses changes to the elected presidency. Parliament will debate the Bill during its second reading in November.
How should policymakers and the public approach the discussions in the next two months? Here are my suggestions on ways to make a positive difference in the discourse:
PERCEPTIONS
First, we must remember that perceptions matter. We need to recognise that issues relating to the elected presidency are complex because they are interrelated. A decision on an issue can lead to benefits and positive multiplier effects, or unintended negative consequences.
The fact (or perception) that many issues are intertwined makes it difficult to look at the issue through a single lens and to evaluate the arguments for or against a proposed change or position. Instead, we must understand that people's views on the issues are likely to be affected by human psychological processes.
Discussions on the elected presidency are not just political or legal in nature, but are social and emotional as well. After all, the presidency is an institution that is meant to symbolise the unity of the nation. When an institution (and a person) is invested with such values and aspirations, it is not surprising that debate about changes to it can become heated.
Policymakers and citizens alike must thus realise that people may be unduly influenced by what is salient at the moment, such as a sound bite in the media. They may focus on the immediate past and imminent future, such as the previous presidential election and the next, rather than longer timeframes. They may also make inferences based on what the changes mean for specific individuals and concrete cases, rather than consider more abstract issues, such as how the changes will affect the system of governance or future changes in government.
And it is human to selectively seek out information and interpret it in a way to support preconceived ideas.
So for the public and policymakers alike, it is important to discuss issues frankly and keep an open mind.
Singaporeans - both the people and the Government - aspire to, and demand, a high standard of integrity in public and political service. This explains why one proposed change is for potential presidential candidates to have their character and reputation assessed more stringently by the Presidential Elections Committee. This proposal is based on the value of integrity. It complements the other proposals to raise the eligibility criteria relating to financial and executive management which, while relevant to technical competence and ability, may not predict integrity.
SOCIAL HARMONY
Second, social harmony must be kept paramount in discussions on the elected presidency. Social harmony has always been a shared value underlying Singapore's efforts to address differences, especially when multiracial issues are involved. It should guide how changes to the elected presidency are reviewed and discussed, and how differences in views are expressed and managed.
For the public and policymakers, social harmony should be a key consideration when they decide, if and when, to advocate a position, support a policy option or implement it. This is most relevant when there are reasons to believe that the positions or policy options have a risk of negatively affecting race relations and social cohesion.
Threats to cohesion occur when policies or public actions send signals - sometimes unintentionally - that one race is assumed inferior or unfairly advantaged as compared to another.
This leads to intergroup suspicion, tension and misunderstanding. There may also be negative individual or community effects on beliefs about perceived efficacy and self or public image. All these may eventually result in conflict, or civic and political disengagement.
When the shared value of social harmony is salient, individuals, groups and policymakers have a common and constructive basis to discuss issues of individualism versus collectivism, and group versus national interests.
Social harmony is especially relevant when discussing the need for a reserved election for a particular race and how the "hiatus-triggered" provision is consistent with Singapore's multiracialism and meritocratic ideals, or not.
Racial communities in Singapore have been living in harmony and in a way that is consistent with both multiracialism and meritocracy simultaneously. This precious societal asset that enables social cohesion must be preserved.
Like interpersonal trust and trust in government, social cohesion is difficult to build but easy to lose, and, once lost, is difficult to restore. We should appreciate why people are anxious about the proposal to reserve an election for a race if no person of that race has been president after five continuous terms, and encourage honest discussions and seriously consider how the reserved election compares with alternative options.
In this way, people from all communities can be assured and will express their concerns honestly. Sensitive issues that need to be surfaced will not be self-suppressed out of fear of alleged racism.
FAIRNESS
Third, we must understand that people will assess the proposed elected presidency changes according to whether they think the changes are fair. As I wrote in a previous article, people perceive fairness on four dimensions: outcomes, processes, performance and access to opportunities.
Changes to the elected presidency will be seen by citizens as fair if:
It results in an outcome where capable candidates with integrity are deemed eligible to contest, and the contest produces a president with capability and integrity.
If the process to determine eligible candidates has clear and objective criteria, and they are consistently applied.
If citizens can see that those who perform well are rewarded, based on objective assessment.
If citizens can see that everyone eligible has equal access to the contest. The consideration here is whether the access is unduly decreased, or increased, because of group membership or societal situations beyond the individual's control, and independent of effort and true potential.
In other words, people will assess the proposed changes to the elected presidency based on whether they provide an objective means of evaluating a potential candidate, and whether they think the changes hobble some individuals while privileging others.
MOVING FORWARD
Bearing in mind that feelings and perceptions matter, that people want processes to be fair, and social harmony is paramount, how should the parliamentary debate and public discussion proceed?
If social harmony is paramount, then we must make sure that political scapegoating and squabbles do not dominate the discourse.
Such rhetoric may be entertaining but the impact can be adverse. It will not only create confusion but also cause cynicism. It can even divide Singapore society and threaten the cohesion built up over the years.
Everyone contributing to the discussion should be constructive. The following are some concrete steps that can shed light in the heat of passionate debate.
Get the facts right and make them clear. Verify claims. Identify false beliefs, and dispel myths and misinformation. Explicate and emphasise the facts. Start by reading the government White Paper.
Distinguish between laws and values. What is not illegal and what can be passed as laws may not always coincide with what is acceptable by people socially or psychologically, or what they consider morally right or fair.
See things from another's perspective because feelings and perceptions matter. Find out from the various communities what is important or acceptable to them, what they think, how they feel and when they would or would not do something. Ask to find out their concerns and circumstances. Never just assume and attribute.
When making judgments on potential policy outcomes and the psychological impact on people, distinguish between theory and practice. When something is theoretically possible, consider the extent to which it is practically plausible. Good science, context-sensitivity and representative feedback from the people are critical here.
Frankly discuss implications of policy options and consider how likely they are to achieve the intended national goals or result in unintended negative consequences. In the light of new information or circumstances, have the intellectual honesty and political courage to change one's current position.
If all parties take a constructive approach when considering the proposed changes to the elected presidency, it is possible to evolve a system of governance that benefits Singapore and Singaporeans.
A look at the presidents of Singapore
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
The Straits Times, Zawiyah Salleh, New Nation, Wee Kim Wee, The Business Times, The New Paper, The Ong family, Lianhe Zaobao
stopinion@sph.com.sg
-The writer is director of the Behavioural Sciences Institute, Lee Kuan Yew Fellow and professor of psychology at the Singapore Management University.
This article was first published on September 24, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
They slapped their maid, pinched her mouth, jabbed her foot with a metal prong and even used the back of a knife to hit her hand. Whenever the bruises showed, the maid, who was left scarred and with a permanent disability in her left ear, was forced to wear a face mask.
Yesterday, the abusers, a 65-year- old woman and her daughter, were jailed for hurting the maid.
Housewife Anpalaki Muniandy Marimuthu was convicted of six charges of hurting Ms Sriyatun, 27, and imprisoned for 16 months. Her daughter, 43-year-old warehouse supervisor Jayasheela Jayaraman, was found guilty of three charges, sentenced to 12 months' jail and ordered to pay $840 in compensation.
The duo are appealing.
District Judge Jasvender Kaur said there was a clear pattern of abuse each time the victim had done a wrong. She said Ms Sriyatun has a "cauliflower ear", a permanent disability, due to both women slapping her left ear.
Jayasheela first slapped Ms Sriyatun on the ear as the maid had not carried her employer's shoes into the family's Bendemeer Road flat one evening in 2012. She slapped the maid's hand when she tried to cover her ear as a result of the pain. Later that night, she slapped the maid's hand again when the latter was massaging her ear.
The Indonesian woman, who has a six-year-old son, testified that the pair pinched her swollen ear before it healed, and that it hardened.
Some time in 2013, Jayasheela grabbed her breast, squeezed and twisted it for being slow in her work.
On Oct 24 that year, a day before Ms Sriyatun decided to flee, Jayasheela dragged her into the bedroom, demanding to know why she had disturbed her then seven- year-old son. She pinched the corner of the maid's mouth and knocked her head twice with her hand. The assault caused her mouth to bleed and left a 2cm teeth imprint over her inner upper lip.
The court heard Anpalaki hurt Ms Sriyatun with household objects on a few occasions. Once, in November 2012, she jabbed the maid's foot with the sharp base of an aluminium prong for taking her son's shoes into the unit while she was praying. The maid's foot bled profusely and she was left with a 2cm scar.
In another incident in 2013, Anpalaki used the back of a kitchen knife to hit the maid's left hand and a rolling pin to hit both her hands a few times. She also used a wooden prong to hit her thighs.
When police visited the family's unit on Oct 25, 2013, they saw Ms Sriyatun wearing a face mask and shower cap. She said that whenever she was hit by either of them or had an injury, she was made to wear the mask.
Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew said the maid felt so mentally tortured that she tried to kill herself. "The fact that the accused persons had egregiously abused their authority and exploited the vulnerability of the victim is a significant aggravating factor that warrants a strong deterrent sentence," he said.
The maximum penalty for causing hurt to a domestic worker is three years' jail and a $7,500 fine per charge.
This article was first published on September 24, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
The Great Singapore Sale (GSS) got a new official card, a longer sales period and a more specific target audience - tourists from China. Still, it did not get shoppers to spend more.
Now, its organiser, the Singapore Retailers Association (SRA), has said it is reassessing the direction of the 23-year-old sale and plans to discuss with the tourism authority if there is even a point in continuing it.
This comes after three consecutive years of decline in retail sales during the GSS period, which took place from June 3 to Aug 14 this year.
Latest official statistics show that in July, retail sales excluding motor vehicles fell 3 per cent, compared with the same month last year. This follows a similar dip in June's figure, which was 3 per cent lower than last year's.
To be fair to the SRA - and as pointed out by experts - the slowing economy and weaker consumer sentiments were likely key factors in this year's poor showing.
An obvious solution? Give steeper discounts, as suggested by some readers. But this would eat into retailers' profits and would not be sustainable for their businesses in the long run.
Experts and shoppers have raised other ideas on how to revive the excitement for the annual sale, from holding it twice a year - one for tourists, one for locals - to lowering charges for excess baggage at the airport.
Straits Times readers said the event could also tie in with the annual F1 race, feature a mascot, and have a "pasar malam" or night-market atmosphere.
But is a revamp enough to save the GSS, and the retail industry, when fundamental problems persist?
Experts have pointed out problems with Singapore's shopping environment, such as a lack of differentiation in malls, which mostly carry similar brands and food-and-beverage offerings.
Perhaps retailers, too, should reassess how they can stand out from their competitors and attract shoppers - whether the GSS continues or not.
mellinjm@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on September 24, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
A woman complained about the din made by her neighbours downstairs when they sang karaoke.
They hit back by leaving their main door and windows open, and hurling vulgarities at the woman and her family. Early this year, the woman filed a claim with the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals (CDRT) - one of almost 80 made from October last year, when it opened, to July 31.
The tribunals, which are given powers to resolve disputes between neighbours under the Community Disputes Resolution Act passed last year, received more than 930 inquiries in the same period.
These statistics were revealed yesterday by the State Courts, which oversees the tribunals, in conjunction with its first seminar on resolving community disputes. Some 300 people from government agencies and community groups attended the event.
Neighbours 'from hell' smoke, barbecue in common corridor
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
Stomp
As in the case of the woman and her karaoke-singing neighbours, nearly 70 of the cases included complaints about excessive noise.
Other pet peeves are littering and interfering with movable property, each forming about a quarter of the cases. There may be more than one cause of dispute for each claim.
In the case of the woman, an order was issued to the other family to close all windows and doors completely when using the karaoke machine. They were not to use the machine when her children were having examinations, if told of the exam periods.
Both parties were also not to stare at each other or make abusive comments and sounds if they met.
Before the tribunals were introduced, people turned to the Community Mediation Centre (CMC) if they could not settle disputes on their own or even with the help of grassroots leaders. But there is little the authorities can do if the neighbours do not want to make up. Some do not even turn up. The no-show rate at the CMC was about 60 per cent.
The tribunals, which have jurisdiction on claims of up to $20,000, has more teeth. For unresolved disputes, the judge may order a hearing, in which he can make certain orders, like getting a neighbour to pay damages or apologise.
Still, while the tribunals do not conduct mediation, a State Courts spokesman said parties are "strongly encouraged" to go for mediation voluntarily before filing a claim.
Those who inquire with the tribunals will be referred to a free consultation to understand court processes and consider alternatives to resolution. Even when a claim has been filed, parties may be ordered to go through mediation.
Hard life for members of hoarding family
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
The New Paper, Shin Min Daily News
MPs told The Straits Times that spats between residents are common.
Said Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin: "There are often several sides to an issue, and it does take time to find solutions. Sometimes, we are not able to achieve a positive outcome."
Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Zaqy Mohamad added: "Mediation has a certain weakness to it. You can't force parties to attend it."
Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah said: "It is neither practical nor desirable for most disputes to go to the CDRT. I hope most cases can continue to be resolved with compromise and consideration, with the grassroots leaders' help."
This article was first published on September 24, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
SINGAPORE - Sixteen women in Singapore are confirmed to have Zika, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (Sept 23).
"Their doctors are following up closely with them to provide support and counselling," said an MOH spokesman.
The number has doubled from the eight cases that were confirmed on Sept 11.
In Brazil, Zika has been linked to microcephaly in babies born to mothers with the virus.
Microcephaly is a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems.
Locally-transmitted Zika in Singapore
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
The Straits Times, The New Paper
MOH is also exploring plans to set up a national surveillance programme to monitor the development of babies born to pregnant women with Zika, it told Channel NewsAsia.
MOH said that 658 Zika tests were done between Sept 7 and Sept 17.
Of these, 197 were for pregnant or symptomatic individuals who require the test.
The tests were free or at a subsidised price of $60 per test.
Two new cases of Zika were confirmed on Friday, bringing the total to 387.
A video showing how a taxi rammed into a pedestrian before crashing into a pillar has been circulating online.
Two people were conveyed conscious to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) following the accident, the Police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told citizen journalism website, Stomp.
Contributors Dean, Bill, Mike and Marcus alerted Stomp to the incident and said it happened at the driveway of Tower 1, Marina Bay Sands earlier today (Sep 24) at about 1.30pm.
A clip they sent to Stomp via WhatsApp showed a man crossing the road when a taxi suddenly appears and ploughs into him.
Screeching noises from the vehicle's wheels can also be heard.
The taxi then hit a pillar before coming to a stop.
Photo: AsiaOne contributor
A second video contributed by Dean showed a crowd and security personnel rushing to check on the accident scene.
In response to media queries by Stomp, a spokesperson for the Police said the accident involved a taxi, a car and a pedestrian.
Photo: AsiaOne contributor
He added: "The 52-year-old taxi driver and 70-year-old pedestrian were conveyed conscious to SGH. Police investigations are ongoing."
The SCDF dispatched two ambulances to the scene and said that SGH had been alerted to be on standby to receive the victims, one of whom is a Chinese man in his 70s.
SINGAPORE - The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) has seized about 1.1kg of methamphetamine (or ‘Ice’), about 1kg of Ketamine, more than 50 Ecstasy tablets and 180 Erimin-5 tablets worth a total of over $218,000, and around $20,000 in cash in an operation in Geylang.
On Friday, Sep 23, CNB officers were deployed in the Geylang area to conduct observations on a unit of a suspected drug trafficker - a 32-year old Singaporean man, said a CNB statement today (Sep 24).
CNB officers also spotted a 41-year-old Malaysian man and a 25-year-old Singaporean woman approaching the back alley of the unit separately.
The woman was seen to have left the alley with a brown paper bag.
CNB officers proceeded to raid the unit, arresting the 32-year-old trafficker and the 25-year-old woman.
About 1kg of Ice and 1kg of Ketamine were seized from the brown paper bag.
Other amounts of ‘Ice’, more than 50 Ecstasy tablets, 180 Erimin-5 tablets and cash amounting to $19,200 were also recovered in the unit.
CNB officers continued to keep observation on the 41-year-old man to Eunos Avenue and arrested him, seizing a white envelope containing $950.
Investigations into the drug activities of all suspects are ongoing, said CNB.
The Misuse of Drugs Act allows for the death penalty if the amount of methamphetamine trafficked exceeds 250g.
SINGAPORE - Singaporean Leonard Wong Chee Wai would have turned 26 on Monday. Instead, he died on Saturday in an accident near Seremban, Negri Sembilan.
Wong, who worked in the IT line, was travelling on his motorcycle towards Kuala Lumpur when he hit a wheel on the North-South Expressway.
He was cutting from lane three to two and checking his blind spot when he hit a piece of debris on the road, said his close friend Jason Ang, 28, a marketing executive.
"It was the wheel of a van. When he hit it, he actually flew up in the air," he added.
Ang was in Singapore when he learnt of the accident from mutual friends who were in Malaysia with Wong.
Wong was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The New Straits Times reported that his Ducati bike had crashed into the road divider, caught fire and burnt out. A team of seven fire safety officers arrived on the scene after a distress call was made at around 10.20am. The fire was put out in three minutes.
Ang, who had known Wong since 2009 when they met during Basic Military Training, said he was shocked his friend did not manage to avoid hitting the wheel.
"He was always very prudent, he always put safety first. On overseas trips, he would wear full gear - a full-face helmet, leather riding jacket as well as riding shoes with padding and stuff. And he was a very skilled rider," said Ang.
The pair became riding buddies after they received their motorcycle licences three years ago, and they would ride to Malaysia at least once a month.
This time round, Wong was travelling with five other bikers to Fraser's Hill, about 105km north of Kuala Lumpur.
He was at the end of the convoy and his friends believe he did not see the wheel until it was too late.
Ang said he rushed over to Wong's house to inform his parents as soon as he heard the news. "His parents didn't really believe what I said."
Wong's parents will not be travelling to Malaysia.
His body is expected to arrive in Singapore by Sunday morning and the wake is slated to take place later today. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network
Up on the 18th floor of an HDB block in Marine Crescent is a unit which its owner has named The Bliss Loft.
The living room is uncluttered, and if you look out of the window, you see the sea. A smiling Buddha statue sits in a corner. On the coffee table, there are Tibetan prayer bells and a vase filled with, among other varieties, heliconia and sunflower.
Ms Anthea Ong, who lives here, is a free spirit. She teaches yoga, hugs a tree every week, is vegan and can meditate for more than two hours. Do not, however, write her off as a loopy hippie.
She was a corporate high-flier and a technopreneur. Her last job, which she left three years ago, was as managing director of an international consultancy which paid her more than $400,000 a year.
A series of events led her to junk the corporate world for a life of yoga teaching, life coaching and volunteerism.
The 48-year-old pats the couch she is sitting on. Some eight years ago, she says, she had lain on that same couch, overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness, despair and barrenness. An acrimonious divorce and a failed business had taken the wind out of her sails.
"That same day I checked my bank balance. I had only $16 to my name," she says. "But I also realised then that I was still alive and breathing. At the point when I completely lost everything, I also found out what I truly am about." Hers has been quite the journey.
She is the second of three children. Her father became a taxi driver after losing his construction company. Her mother is a housewife.
Her early years were spent in Toh Yi Drive off Bukit Timah where her grandparents lived with their rather sizeable brood on a big piece of land filled with fruit trees and vegetable plots. Because she was born with a squint in both eyes, she was subjected to a lot of taunting by adults as well as children.
Some of her relatives thought she was mentally challenged and called her "sampat", which means halfwit in Hokkien. They stopped doing so only when she started going to school and topped her class every year.
"The taunting gave me a complex but I also developed a very driven personality," says Ms Ong, whose family moved into their own three-room flat in Ang Mo Kio when she was 10.
To teachers and fellow students at Cedar Girls' Secondary and National Junior College, she was a confident self-starter, solid both in her studies and extra-curricular activities.
"But I had a deep sense of insecurity about my appearance. I even fabricated stories about having a boyfriend. Super loser, right?" says Ms Ong, covering her face with her hands to feign embarrassment.
She read business at the National University of Singapore and, upon graduating, joined United Overseas Bank where she got into corporate banking. In no time, she was acing her Institute of Banking and Finance courses and tests.
Despite being on the fast track, she felt restless and quit after just four years. "I remember looking at the levels in the op charts. Although I was getting promoted every year, there were 12 levels. I told myself, 'no lah'," she says.
"I was also angsty and wanted to travel. I told myself I was going to get out of this big ocean where I was a little fish and be a bigger fish in a smaller pond."
She joined a conference organiser AiC, which later became Terrapinn.
"As conference manager, my job was to create conferences and events so I had to read the trends and know what the next big thing was going to be."
"The job exposed me to a lot of sectors, from disaster recovery to theme parks to credit cards. I was paid a basic salary and a huge profit share. Essentially, I was running a business because I was looking at marketing, venue, creation of content."
By 25, she was already general manager earning a five-figure salary. Barely a couple of years later, she was made managing director of the office in Indonesia.
Her smarts earned her the attention of the company's founder who got her over to Sydney - where she was based for two years - to start a new business in financial training.
Not long after, she helped to negotiate a partnership with the New York Institute of Finance, and became the managing director of this new set-up in Singapore in 1997. The Middle East and Asia-Pacific later came under her purview too.
When there was a corporate reshuffle three years later, she took a redundancy deal to the tune of a whole year's salary, as well as a $25,000 outplacement package. It did not take her long to find another job as managing director of an e-learning outfit.
Her career was going great guns but her love life was less than ideal. Although correcting her squint at 30 did wonders for her self-esteem, she still nursed a chip over her attractiveness.
A relationship went south after eight years. "We are very good friends now but when we broke up, he said, 'Anthea, I will never be the boyfriend you have in your head'," she recalls with a sigh.
In 2002, she decided to take on the world by becoming a technopreneur. With a former classmate from university, she set up e-learning company Knowledge Director.
It was a bold move for a 34-year-old who had no computer background, and who was already making more than $20,000 a month.
But she had a lot of faith that her product learningDirector - a user-friendly Web-based app for creating e-learning content and games - would propel her into the big league.
"I invested $50,000 and didn't draw a salary for four years. If you're talking about opportunity costs, it probably cost me $1 million," says Ms Ong, who had a two-storey office in Joo Chiat and a team of more than 15 people.
The product won an award from Innovators and Entrepreneurs Association and the company was soon counting the likes of Citibank and Singapore Power as clients.
Ms Ong was en route to the big league when she negotiated a deal with an international computer giant to have the product embedded in one of its software programs.
"It was a 50-page contract," she says.
Life was made sweeter when, through a friend, she met an American e-learning consultant and married him after just seven months in 2004. But things fell apart when she went to Bali to celebrate her wedding anniversary on the weekend just before the launch of her collaboration with the Internet giant.
Due to a technical oversight, the product was loaded on an unsecured website. The Internet giant found out and the deal - with potential earnings worth millions - fell apart. "Overnight, we went into the dungeons," she says.
To pick up the pieces, Ms Ong decided to switch tack, and go from e-learning to educational consulting. She managed to bag three high-profile education transformation projects - using technology to boost learning in classrooms - in Singapore, Taipei and Kaohsiung.
"I thought we were starting to turn around. But as life would have it, I discovered my husband's infidelity," she says. "The night I found out, I thought I was actually having a heart attack."
It took more than a year before she mustered the strength to walk out of the marriage.
"I was trying to deal with my own issues. I was making excuses: 'I couldn't see myself coming out of the marriage; maybe it was a one-off; maybe he will change.'"
But when she finally filed for divorce, her ex-husband responded with six legal suits against her company, all served on special occasions such as her birthday.
It took more than a year, several court appearances and tens of thousands of dollars before her legal troubles were over.
"I was barren and in despair, very displaced. It affected the way I was running the business," says Ms Ong, who was forced to call it a day in 2008 after a creditor sued to have Knowledge Director wound up.
What saved her and changed her life, she says, was yoga.
In 2006, she started learning ashtanga yoga - which included lessons in breathing and meditation - at Ananda Marga Yoga Society of Singapore.
"I believe I did not go into a downward spiral because I was practising every day. The only time I felt sane was when I was practising."
Then came that fateful day when she was lying on her sofa with the realisation she had only $16 to her name. "I was feeling that deep sense of loss of self.
I was attached to my identities as married woman, high achiever, innovator, and then I realised I was not defined by all those things and I was so much more than that."
It marked the start of her recovery. She took on corporate social responsibility projects and started volunteering with the likes of Very Special Arts, a charity which provides arts and education programmes for people with disabilities, and served in various organisations including Unifem and Wings (Women's Initiative for Ageing Successfully), where she was president for two terms.
In 2008, she decided to rejoin the corporate sector and became managing director of Omega Performance, an international consulting group for banks and financial institutions. "Before I got on board, I told them the job would just be one-third of my life.
The other two-thirds I would give to service to humanity, and self-development," says Ms Ong.
She got her mojo back in the corporate world, and was amply rewarded for what she did. She also travelled extensively (she has scaled all the "holy mountains" on her bucket list, including Mt Sinai and Machu Picchu) and got herself certified as a micro-finance trainer and a life coach.
She founded a string of community-driven initiatives, including Project Yoga-on-Wheels - yoga for the underprivileged and disadvantaged; Playground of Joy - educating children through yoga, mindfulness and play; and Circle of Bliss, which holds weekly community meditation sessions.
"I'm not an accolade collector, okay? I just wanted to learn, it's interesting lah," says Ms Ong, who gave up alcohol, cigarettes and her car and became a vegan.
After more than five years, she decided to leave the corporate world.
"I can live with very little now. I've survived with just $16. What else can scare me?"
She now makes a living as a life coach. Two years ago, the husky-voiced woman set up Hush, a social enterprise which hires deaf servers to guide participants through tea sessions which encourage mindfulness and self-reflection.
The venture - which recently received a grant from The Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE) - now conducts about three sessions each month for corporations and has about 30 trained tea servers on its roster.
Meanwhile, she is content to follow her heart and go where her spirit takes her.
"My biggest wish is that with my experience and the skills that I have, I'm able to support other people who are struggling and tumbling and help them see the goodness and strength in themselves."
Social entrepreneur Saleemah Ismail, 47, has known Ms Ong for a long time. "She was a person who used to mask her insecurities by being bossy and getting people to do her bidding. But Anthea has undergone a transformation."
"She now listens and emanates silent love."
Ms Ong knows people laugh at her for being such a multi-hyphenate.
"The human experience is a multi-dimensional one. Who says we must have that one job?"
When wheelchair-bound Ms Julie Chong dances on stage, she has a specific aim.
Through her turns and swivels, the 41-year-old IT professional wants to make the wheelchair she's sitting on disappear.
Ms Chong tells The New Paper on Sunday: "The wheelchair has to become a part of you, so that when you dance, it's not a glaring thing.
"With dance, the audience sees the person as more than just a person in a chair."
Despite suffering from brittle bone disease, in which a person has fragile bones that break easily, Ms Chong has been making a name for herself as a dancer.
She has performed at ticketed events at the Esplanade and Marina Bay Sands and even danced with local celebrities.
A workshop she attended in 2001 sparked her interest in wheelchair dancing, but Ms Chong started dancing regularly only three years later.
"What appealed to me most was that one can negate the view of looking clumsy in a wheelchair. It's possible to look graceful too," she says.
Ms Chong focuses on Latin-ballroom dancing, where she dances with a partner who is standing up.
Coordination between the two partners involves a lot of communication, and Ms Chong says that can be a challenge.
"They have to be mindful of their own footwork and coordinate their steps for us," says Ms Chong.
"Not only do we have to know how to control our chairs, dancing with a standing partner requires an understanding and trust with each other."
Her best dancing partner is also her partner in life.
Ms Chong's able-bodied husband, teacher Andy Ang, 46, says he enjoys performing with her because it is something that always "makes us happy".
Says Mr Ang: "It's different because the person in the wheelchair looks to the one standing to take the lead.
"But holding hands and doing the steps together, it's all about that strength and connection."
When asked about the achievements of para-swimmers Yip Pin Xiu, Theresa Goh and the other Team Singapore paralympians who made the rounds yesterday (See Page 3), Ms Chong speaks excitedly about how proud she is.
"What everyone sees is the result, but some of us in the community have known them since they were young," she says.
Grow
"Seeing them grow into their sport and achieve so much makes me happy and proud.
"They might not be physically strong but mentally, they are giants."
Wheelchair dancing is also a paralympic sport. The first world championship took place in Japan in 1998 - the year the sport came under the management of the International Paralympic Committee.
When asked if she dreams of being a paralympian, Ms Chong laughs and says she still wants to train and be good enough to join competition.
What she does hope for is a more inclusive community for people with special needs.
Ms Chong says: "There's a lot being done for us, but there can always be more.
"An underlying support system must be in place to help disabled people in doing whatever they want to do.
"If people see the value in us, we can be (more than) paralympians. There can be people like us who can be world-renowned scientists, writers and painters too."
This article was first published on September 25, 2016.
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Facebook user Danny Morgan Lin Yu is passionate, greatly values his downtime with friends, loves travelling, lives in Britain, and speaks Italian and English, according to his Facebook page.
He describes his strongest beliefs as "hope, faith and confidence". There is a profile photo that looks professionally shot, and he has been adding more and more friends in recent weeks.
Problem is, "Danny" is not who he claims he is. Whoever he or she may be is impersonating Facebook user Terence Quek, one of the founding members of Project Happy Feet, a non-profit group that provides footwear, schooling and job training for poor children.
The identity thief "cloned" Mr Quek's account, copying over all the publicly available information about him, including his profile picture and photos.
Mr Quek, the chief executive of a consultancy firm, told The Sunday Times a friend first alerted him to the imposter a week ago. Surprised and annoyed, he immediately went to Danny's page and reported it to Facebook.
"This was not the first time it had happened to me," he said.
Under its terms and conditions, the social network does not allow imposter accounts. It asks victims of identity theft to report the account or file a form, should they not have an account.
But things did not go as planned for Mr Quek. The Facebook team which reviewed the complaint told him that the fake profile had not violated community standards, and so it remained.
Even worse, Facebook disabled Mr Quek's account for "pretending to be someone else", he said.
To prove that he was who he said he was, Mr Quek, a Facebook member since 2007, would need to supply the tech giant with a government-issued identification card. Over the next few days, Mr Quek sent in photos of his driver's licence as well as his passport page.
At one point, he even had to take a photo of himself holding up the documentary proof.
Mr Quek, 41, also mobilised his 4,300 Facebook friends to help out and report Danny's mischief. More than 100 responded within the next 24 hours.
He eventually regained control of his account. "It was a frustrating experience," he said. "But crowdsourcing for help from friends worked for me."
While Mr Quek's ordeal passed fairly quickly, there are thousands of others who might not be so lucky and end up having to fight a protracted battle for their identity.
So why do scammers bother to impersonate strangers?
One possible reason is that there's money in it.
Mr Quek's first encounter with an impersonator was in June. A female Facebook user he did not know was fooled and sent money to the person pretending to be him.
He found out only after the woman contacted him to complain. "Unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do for her," Mr Quek said.
Some identity thieves even use the victim's exact name and birthday, in order to appear legitimate.
They might also block or report the victim first, in hopes that Facebook might suspend the genuine account or make it harder for the victim to report them.
From there, the con artists start "work" by seeking out other users.
To be fair, the social media giant is aware of the problem and is actively clamping down on impersonators.
Earlier this year, it announced that it would notify users if new profiles might seem too similar to existing ones. Profiles that have been reported would also be manually reviewed by a team.
But with millions of users joining every month, it is an increasingly challenging task.
Social media users can protect themselves by being circumspect with the information they put out and ensuring their privacy settings are up to date.
The Changi Experience Online
It started off as an innocuous thread on Reddit, but led to a pat on the back for Changi Airport.
Last week, Reddit user jullia321 posted a question asking pilots and flight attendants which airports they loved or hated.
It was probably little surprise that the name of Changi Airport - voted World's Best Airport in a Skytrax survey earlier this year - came up.
"Changi is like a major shopping and entertainment complex that just happens to have an airport attached to it. Amazing place," said one user. "Singapore airport has got to be one of the best in the world. Arcade, movie theatre, gym, best place for long layovers," said another.
One of the top posts in the thread, which garnered close to 3,000 "upvotes", was a list of amenities and services available to travellers at Changi.
The thread was reported by alternative news site Mothership.sg, and shared by Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin.
Mr Ivan Tan, senior vice-president of corporate communications at Changi Airport Group (CAG), said the team was pleasantly surprised by the attention. Social media is an important part of CAG's communications strategy, he added, as it allows them to monitor what's being said about the airport.
"As an example, through feedback received through various channels, we have introduced charging points for mobile devices."
It has also been busy producing content to serve its followers on its various social media accounts.
It routinely live-streams events which might appeal to its nearly 1.4 million Facebook followers.
The first live video, posted in April, was a war dance by the Fiji Rugby Sevens Team in Terminal 3.
More recently, it also streamed the arrivals of Olympic swimmer Joseph Schooling in August and the national Paralympian team last week.
Apart from its Facebook page, the airport has a presence on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
This article was first published on September 25, 2016.
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With a pair of white Calvin Klein underwear pulled over his trousers, lawyer Darren Tay delivered his speech at the World Championship of Public Speaking in Washington DC last month.
The briefs were used to illustrate a funny anecdote from his childhood: A bully made him walk around in school with his underwear worn over his pants.
It turns out he had the last laugh. He made history as the first Singaporean and South-east Asian to be crowned champion at the competition.
Mr Tay, 27, is a Toastmaster. That is, he is part of a global club comprising members who gather regularly to, well, talk.
They do not engage in idle chit chat, but present themselves in a structured, rhetorical way to an audience. In other words, they do what many people have nightmares about: public speaking.
Membership fees depend on the specific club, but in Singapore, it is usually about $150 a year.
During a meeting, there are three main segments: the prepared speeches that members book a slot for beforehand; table topics or impromptu speeches; and evaluation speeches, where fellow members go on stage to give their assessment of the prepared speeches.
Each member gets a basic manual that comes with a list of "projects" or speeches for him to complete, each time applying a skill, such as content organisation or vocal variety. As members progress, they can buy advanced manuals.
Founded in the United States in 1924, the Toastmasters programme has gone on to garner devotees all over the world. There are more than 345,000 members who are part of the 15,900 Toastmasters clubs in 142 countries.
In Singapore, the first Toastmasters club started in 1967. There are now 226 clubs with more than 6,000 members. This is an impressive tally compared with larger countries such as Japan, which has 172 clubs.
Countries are separated into districts as part of the Toastmasters network. Because Singapore has so many members, this little red dot counts for one district - District 80, to be exact.
Although Toastmasters clubs are not well known in the mainstream, members are often devoted and frequently speak of their experiences very highly. The main gain, they say, is that the club has made them more effective communicators.
Other than that, many say they gained confidence, improved their language skills and made more friends.
Toastmasters world champion Mr Tay, who is a member of the Punggol Park CC Toastmasters Club, used to be a shy teenager who loathed public speaking.
Through Toastmasters, he has learnt that public speaking is like a sport.
"Public speaking is something you can't learn by watching videos on YouTube or reading about.
"You have to keep practising and Toastmasters gives you the stage to do so," he says.
Personal grooming trainer Patricia Lum, 62,who is the district director for Singapore, says Toastmasters clubs are not just for articulate, established speakers.
There are clubs that cater to different levels of speakers and members can come from all walks of life, not just white-collared professionals.
Slightly more than half of the clubs here are based in community clubs, while nearly a quarter are started by corporate organisations such as DBS Bank, technology giant IBM and insurance group AIA.
The remaining clubs are split among educational institutions including Ngee Ann Polytechnic and the National University of Singapore, and private associations such as YMCA.
English is not the only language in which meetings are conducted.A quarter of the clubs are Mandarin, Tamil, Malay or bilingual. There is even a French Toastmasters club.
Depending on the number of members in a club, which can range from 10 to more than 100, meetings can be held once a month or weekly.
Likewise, annual membership fees vary from club to club. Typically, the fees for a community club-based one starts at about $150 a year.
Business planner Allison Ching, who is president of the Toastmasters Club of Singapore, which is one of the largest in Singapore with more than 130 members, says: "Members are free to take their time to complete their projects or speak whenever they want to. So it's purely up to them how fast they wish to progress."The club holds its meetings at Sheraton Towers Singapore in Scotts Road.
Members can also club-hop and test their public speaking skills in front of different sets of audiences.
Meanwhile, Ms Lum, who is in the same club as Mr Tay, says she always knew it was "a matter of time" before the orator would nab the title he won.
"Like Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, he has put Singapore on the world map - for public speaking," she says.
Delivering 80 speeches in four years
Image: The Straits Times
Judging by her confident demeanour, it is hard to imagine that five years ago, Ms Joyce Kingsly endured sleepless nights preparing for a seven-minute speech.
The 42-year-old businesswoman now takes the floor regularly for her job.
She owns an etiquette and image consultancy called Creating 'A' Class Corporates, conducting courses in dining etiquette, personal grooming and communication. She also runs an import and wholesale meat distribution company.
Five years ago, it was a different story.
She tossed and turned in bed for two nights before having to deliver her debut Tamil speech at a Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association (Lisha) Tamil Toastmasters Club meeting. It was her first speech and so was a selfintroduction.
Her nerves were shot because she had always been terrified of public speaking.
Ignoring her pounding heart and shaking hands, she went on stage, delivered her speech - and was awarded best speaker.
"I couldn't believe it," says the mother of two daughters aged 21 and 17. Her husband works as an engineer.
"I didn't sleep for another two nights after that as I was in disbelief."
She joined the Toastmasters club in 2011 at the encouragement of Mr Harikrishnan Muthusamy, a key driving force in the formation of the 14 Tamil Toastmasters clubs in Singapore.
At that time, she had been taking on more leadership roles, including joining various grassroots groups, and felt that joining a Toastmasters club would "be good for her personal development".
She found the course structured and effective. "Each chapter in the Toastmasters manual concentrates on an aspect of public speaking and refines you in some way, whether it is planning your speech or eye contact.
"As you progress, you get feedback from evaluations and become a more all-rounded speaker," she says.
Shortly after joining the Tamil language club, she founded the Lisha women's wing a year later.
So far, she has delivered 80 speeches - five in Tamil - in the last four years.
As a result of the practice, her verbal Tamil has improved significantly, she says.
This helps her in her work and regular community engagements with Lisha, as she has to speak in Tamil about a third of the time.
She says: "All of this would not have been possible without Toastmasters."
Coming out of his shell to help with youth
Image: The Straits Times
A self-professed introvert, Mr Saiful Reduwan did not have the confidence to speak in front of crowds.
His solution was to learn from established speakers.
As a teenager, he used to flip through the newspaper in search of free seminars to attend.
It did not matter what the topic was, he just wanted to observe the speakers and study how they expressed themselves. He would complement his seminar attendance by watching videos of American motivational speaker Tony Robbins online.
Yet, he realised it was not enough to just watch. He still could not articulate his thoughts effectively.
Over the years, a growing desire to help the youth in the Malay-Muslim community compelled him to take action.
"I want to inspire the youth in my community to aim higher, but I wasn't able to reach out to them because of my poor communication skills," he says.
His dream was to set up a youth academy, a space for him to guide young people in whatever activity they hoped to pursue, be it sports or the arts. To do that, he had to first come out of his shell.
At 32 now, he is an allied educator, which means he provides teaching and learning support in a secondary school.
Two years ago, he joined the sole Malay-English Toastmasters club, Jauhari Bilingual Toastmasters Club at Cairnhill Community Club.
"If I was going to help the community, I figured it was better for me to join a club that allowed Malay speeches too," he says.
So far, he has delivered two speeches in Malay and seven in English.
"The members are very encouraging and they give me tips," he says, adding that the benefit of a small club is that the members all know one another. The club has 18 members and Mr Saiful is the youngest.
His confidence has soared since joining the club and he is keen to share his skills and insights.
He volunteers as a youth coach at social enterprise The Green Apple Project, which offers youth empowerment programmes such as mastering communication skills.
He is also helping a group of teenage hip-hop dancers market themselves and showcase their skills.
"Now that I'm more confident speaking up and conducting workshops, I am teaching youth how they need to communicate better to be heard."
Founder of world's first mandarin club
Image: The Straits Times
If Singapore has a godfather of the public speaking scene, he could well be Mr Ernest Chen, 73.
He has been instrumental in spreading the growth of the Toastmasters club scene in Singapore and is a veteran public speaking coach.
He first joined the Toastmasters Club of Singapore in 1983 to learn to speak more confidently on public occasions.
He found the experience so worthwhile that he went on to start 15 other Toastmasters clubs in Singapore in the following three decades, including the world's first Mandarin club, Thomson C.C. Mandarin Toastmasters Club, in 1991.
When he joined Toastmasters, there were only three clubs in Singapore. Now there are 226.
He used to run an event management company and a stationery business that he inherited from his father. He subsequently switched careers and, from 1990, started coaching people in public speaking.
He has taught more than 3,000 people and regularly conducts workshops in not only verbal communication, but also speech writing and business brokerage.
He has written three books - two in English and one in Chinese - on public speaking too.
In 1993, he was awarded Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest award a member can attain.
Looking back on how far he has come, he said he had just wanted to "reach out to as many people as possible".
He adds: "To do so, I learnt that you must speak correctly and effectively."
The bilingual speaker, who is married with three children, decided to start a Mandarin Toastmasters club as he noticed that there were many Chinese Singaporeans who preferred to speak in their mother tongue.
To get as many members as possible, he decided to start the club at a community club.
The first one he founded was the Thomson Toastmasters Club at Thomson Community Club in 1988 and that created a ripple effect.
"Other community clubs started contacting me and now, there are so many of them," he says.
Looking back, he says he has no regrets.
"I now do what I love and that is to influence others through how I speak and help them effectively speak well too," he says. "I'm a Toastmaster for life."
Finding friends and her mother tongue
Image: The Straits Times
Speaking to suppliers in China used to drive Ms Cassandra Ang, 50, up the wall.
For the past 12 years, she has been helping her husband in his trading business and often needs to speak to suppliers in China, where they source for goods.
While her conversational Mandarin is solid now, it was not the case a decade ago. Because she spoke mostly English, her command of her mother tongue weakened over the years.
She remembers having difficulty speaking to Chinese suppliers over the telephone. "At times, I'd have no idea what they were saying," she says.
Due to miscommunication, she once accidentally ordered 1,000 handbags with no straps when she had wanted long-strapped ones.
As her poor Mandarin was costing her time and money, she decided to fix the problem and brush up on the language.
In 2004, she heard about Toastmasters clubs from a friend and joined a Mandarin-speaking one - Bukit Batok CC Mandarin Toastmasters Club - near her home.
She took quickly to the course and was so active that she decided to take up leadership positions at the club.
After becoming treasurer, she worked her way up to being president. Each position can be held for only a year.
She did not stop there. She volunteered to be part of a division committee before graduating to district level, the top rung within each country's Toastmasters scene.
She subsequently joined another club, Chua Chu Kang CC Mandarin Toastmasters Club, in 2009 and was appointed president three years later.
In total, she has taken on 16 positions.
"I enjoy being a leader and Toastmasters is a good place to take on different roles," she says.
Ms Ang, who has two daughters aged 20 and 17, is also attracted to the social aspect of Toastmasters clubs.
The clubs tend to attract middle-aged people, particularly those above 50, for whom "Toastmasters is a place where they can make friends too", she says.
She organises quarterly bonding activities, such as karaoke sessions and day trips to Malaysia, for members to get together outside the Toastmasters setting.
"We are a close-knit family," she says.
Besides having a steady group of friends, her Mandarin woes are over too.
In fact, she even received a great compliment from her Chinese supplier. "After two years in Toastmasters, the supplier asked me how I could speak such good Mandarin now," she says.
This article was first published on September 25, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
E-mail enquiries from his potential customers read like an assassin's job listing.
A head wound from a hammer? No problem, Mr Liew Boon Siong, or Kel Liew, as he is known by his friends, would reply.
Want a body part removed? It will cost you extra, but it can be done too.
But Mr Liew, 38, is no serial killer or sadistic torturer. He is a freelance special effects make-up artist who specialises in creating gory and graphic "injuries".
His make-up work can be seen in television dramas and web series on artistes like Pierre Png or Ann Kok.
Each artificial wound can take between five and 20 minutes to create, depending on the complexity.
The diploma graduate from The School of Make-up expanded his repertoire to special effects more than a year ago, when one job required him to create a stab wound during the filming of a local drama.
Until then, he had been doing only regular beauty make-up for weddings and events, which is still his mainstay.
"I think I did a poor job of the stab wound," he admits, adding that his interest was piqued ever since.
During his free time, he practises new ideas for wounds and bruises on himself.
That, or browsing through gruesome pictures of real wounds and bodies online.
All in the name of supporting his passion, he says.
"I am not obsessed (with gore). Some people think it's weird, but I'm only trying to be as 100 per cent anatomically realistic as I can," he says.
He admits that his curiosity sometimes leads him to take a closer look at wounds that strangers may have.
He quickly adds: "But it is not like I will take photos of their wounds or anything, that would be rude."
Once, he accidentally wore a bloody-looking laceration wound out in public after rushing out to run an errand, drawing gasps from people.
Thankfully, no one called the police on him.
While the wounds look convincing enough to this reporter, Mr Liew confesses that most of the time, camera tricks are still needed to complete the effect.
Mr Liew says: "You need to play with light and angles to create depth in the wounds, otherwise it would look flat."
One pet peeve, however, is the director's reluctance to be as gruesome as he desires.
"They will sometimes tell me to tone down the blood used, probably because it may affect the (age) ratings," he recalls.
He becomes his most daring self on social media, plastering his Instagram and Facebook pages with no-holds-barred versions of his works.
So realistic are his creations that even medical professionals are impressed. Some even offer tips on how he may improve on the realism.
"Being praised by my friends in the medical field is the most rewarding feeling of all. These are the people who have seen the real thing," he says.
Although his wide knowledge of all things grotesque and his ability to recreate them artificially have shocked some people, Mr Liew says that criticism is part of the job.
Twice, pictures of fake wounds were removed from Facebook account after some users reported them, believing that they were real.
Instead of being offended, Mr Liew says he is secretly flattered when it happens.
He says with a laugh: "It just means that I did a good job."
Secrets of the trade
1 Always discuss with the client about possible skin allergies, as some of the make-up materials can sometimes cause irritation.
2 The international community of special effects make-up artists is a close-knit one, so don't be afraid to ask someone more experienced for advice.
3 Don't be afraid to experiment and practise. Even material like chicken skin or soba noodles can be used to create certain effects, such as emulating body fat or tendons.
This article was first published on September 25, 2016.
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The annual Red Dot Award: Design Concept focuses on uncovering exceptional professional-level design concepts.
It is open to both students and professional designers, and entries are judged not only on creativity, but marketability as well.
Out of the 4,698 entries submitted this year, 245 concepts were awarded the globally coveted Red Dot award by an international panel of jurors.
Another 42 concepts were honoured Red Dot: Best of the Best for exceptional design excellence, and 53 concepts were credited with an Honourable Mention.
Mr Ken Koo, president of Red Dot Asia, says: "Only 6 per cent of all entries were awarded a Red Dot this year, making each awarded concept an outstanding feat of accomplishment.
"The Red Dot award seeks to open doors for designers, giving them more opportunities to bring realisation to their own work."
Fik Light
Image: Fk Light
Red Dot
Designer: Edmund Liew
Singaporean freelance designer Edmund Liew believes that road traffic safety can be improved, and he wants to do that with FIK Light, his version of traffic lights.
Conventional traffic lights change from red to green, green to amber, and then from amber to red, sometimes abruptly.
Some countries have taken the initiative to install a countdown LED light beside the red and green lights to inform drivers and road users of the time left.
"But countdown numbers unconsciously have a psychological impact on the drivers, causing nervousness or frustration, especially if they are in a rush," says Mr Liew.
The FIK Light also has green, amber and red lights, but Mr Liew designed the lights to appear as strips, giving them a more modern look.
He says that in the strip lighting countdown system, the individual strips denote the time left for each individual light element.
"The remaining strips that appear tell drivers how much time is left in each of the lights, be it red, amber or green.
"The light system in each module can be catered to different traffic intersection time duration," says Mr Liew.
Swash
Red Dot
Designer: Ronald Tan
Mr Ronald Tan, a final-year undergraduate design student at Lasalle College of the Arts, was inspired by his mum when he was designing Swash, a mini clothes washer.
"My mum still hand-washes clothes," says Mr Tan.
"I noticed that there are individuals who have no need or space for a full-sized washing machine, hence Swash was created."
Swash makes use of the pails or containers most households already have, and replaces the strenuous act of hand-washing clothes by incorporating the washing process of a washing machine.
It delivers a similar result within a unit that is compact and portable.
The two components of Swash - the washing unit and the washing basket - can be detached to facilitate storage.
Swash's washing process mimics the washing machine and begins with the basket holding the dirty laundry.
The process is streamlined as the basket is directly attached to the washing unit mounted on a pail.
Three spring-loaded clamps secure and centralise the unit in place.
The control interface's simple design consists of only four buttons - start, stop, timer up, and timer down.
Once washing starts, the basket moves in rotational motion.
The pail is emptied and Swash transforms into a dry spinner once the washing completes.
The activation button on Swash's handle indicates the hand position required to grab the unit in order to begin.
The basket keeps the clothes in and filters the water out into the pail, and with that, the process is complete.
Piperine and Crystalline
Honourable Mention
Designer: Jonathan Saphiro Salim
Mr Jonathan Saphiro Salim, an undergraduate at Lasalle College of the Arts, wants to make kitchen countertops more exciting with his version of the salt and pepper grinders.
His Piperine and Crystalline grinders have a cylindrical weight at the end of their spinning shafts.
This allows the grinding process to be performed with only one hand.
As the process uses centripetal force, less effort is required from the user compared to conventional mills.
The user only needs to move the shaft in a circular motion, and this causes the weight attached to the end of the metal frame to spin, activating the grinder.
The refilling process is easily done by sliding out the semi-circular cylinder container.
When not in use, the grinders can be neatly kept away in a specially constructed dock.
Living Shelter
Honourable Mention
Designer: WY-TO and Pod Structures
What happens when a natural disaster strikes? Often, those affected find themselves without any shelter.
Singapore-based design firm WY-TO hopes to provide a solution for those affected by natural disasters.
Co-founder Yann Folian says: "We decided to use our skills to create a shelter solution designed specifically for the climate, geography, and cultural habits of South-east Asia."
Nearly 43 per cent of natural disasters happen in the Asia-Pacific region.
His team created the Living Shelter, an affordable flat-pack capsule, designed to be easily shipped and assembled in any kind of tropical environment.
Inspired by the kampung house, Living Shelter has openings that ensure natural ventilation, roof eaves to protect from sun and rainwater, and legs to elevate the liveable area from the ground.
The engineering system provides sturdiness, and adaptability to hot and humid weather conditions.
All components and systems can be easily dismantled and reused separately in an entirely new building on a more durable term.
The Living Shelter offers privacy and security, as well as basic needs such as electricity, water and furniture.
It includes a water bag for water collection; a built-in solar panel on the roof to charge electronic devices and provide light; and built-in foldable furniture such as a bed, hammocks, shelves and portable furniture. These are all conveniently flat-packed.
A custom-made folding mechanism was also created to ensure that the overall structure works correctly without the need for tools or special training for installation.
This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in The Business Times weekend edition on Sept 24.
This article was first published on September 25, 2016.
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SINGAPORE - Onlookers stared as a piece of the building at Block 201E Tampines Street 21 looked like it was about to come crashing down today (Sept 25).
The concrete sunshade on the top floor of the four-storey block had given way and was thankfully supported by the one below.
Stomp contributors Mr Lee, Nicholas, Christopher, Brandon, Alex and Qiancheng witnessed the incident at about 11.20am.
"Thank God this concrete is still holding up," said Mr Lee.
When the Stomp Team went to the scene at about 12pm, passers-by were still crowding around the area.
Police were seen cordoning off the area to ensure the residents' safety. They were also seen talking to the shopkeepers from the stores directly below the damage.
According to one shopkeeper, nobody was injured in the incident. "It did not hit anyone," she said.
Photos sent by Brandon later at 4.30pm showed workers trying to clear the collapsed structure from the building.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) issued a statement clarifying that the collapse of the concrete sunshade did not affect the structural integrity of the building.
"Earlier today, the Building and Construction Authority was alerted to an incident where the concrete sunshade located on the fourth floor of HDB Block 201E at Tampines Street 23 was dislodged at one side and rested on the sunshade on the third floor. The dislodged structure is part of the architectural façade of the building's exterior.
"The areas directly below the dislodged concrete shade have been cordoned off for public safety. BCA has directed the building owner (Tampines Town Council) to engage a Professional Engineer (PE) to advise on the necessary measures to removethe dislodged sunshade, carry out a detailed investigation and recommend permanent rectification works. The PE engaged by Tampines Town Council has inspected and assessed that the structural integrity of the main building is not affected by the incident.
"As an added safety precaution, the building owner's PE is also required to inspect all the other HDB blocks in the area with similar architectural façade," BCA said.
Singapore-based social music start-up BandLab Technologies has acquired a 49 per cent stake in Rolling Stone, which publishes the eponymous magazine.
The size of the deal was not disclosed, but this is the first time Rolling Stone is taking on an outside shareholder since it was founded 49 years ago by American Jann Wenner.
BandLab chief executive Kuok Meng Ru is no complete unknown.
Backed by his father and palm oil tycoon Kuok Khoon Hong, the 28-year-old Cambridge graduate has been building a smaller empire of his own in the music world.
In 2012, he acquired Swee Lee Music, a guitar and audio equipment distributor which he expanded online.
BandLab, the group's flagship app, debuted last August as a platform for musicians to find collaborators.
Earlier this month, the group acquired Mono, which designs accessories for musicians.
The Rolling Stone deal was first tabled about 15 months ago, after Mr Kuok was introduced to Mr Wenner by the Forbes family.
Mr Kuok told The Straits Times: "We initially started talking about a possible joint venture for Asia. Jann introduced me to Gus, his son, who is head of digital and our business partner in this deal, and we had a wonderful dinner in New York about 12 months ago from which everything escalated to the partnership we have today."
Together, Mr Kuok and the younger Mr Wenner, who is 26, will set the pace at Rolling Stone for the next 50 years and beyond.
Mr Kuok said: "A 49 per cent partnership, it's like a marriage right? And to us, it's the best kind because that means the both of us together will work on this for the long term."
While editorial decisions will continue to be made from the New York office, Mr Kuok will lead a new unit called Rolling Stone International, to be headquartered here.
His task is to take the brand into new markets and work on brand extensions.
Rolling Stone already publishes 12 international editions, so Mr Kuok will spend the next six to nine months getting to know the licensees and learning what support they need.
For Mr Kuok, who is Malaysian but lives here and is in a serious relationship, music magazines were a part of how he grew up. "Whenever we were able to get our hands on a copy - it was always something quite special," he recalled.
The familiar laundry drying racks that dot Singapore's public housing landscape may look different in time to come, as the Housing Board is considering some new designs.
The HDB is reviewing its external clothes drying rack system, which can be found outside the windows of most flats here, The Straits Times has learnt.
It put up two tenders at the end of June this year, calling for 11 types of drying systems to be made and put through wind tests.
Of these, three are designs already used by households: pipe sockets into which laundry poles are slotted; galvanised steel racks with grooves that support both sides of the pole; and similar racks with an additional metal plate with holes.
Six of the new designs feature stainless steel drying racks with grooves of different shapes.
The remaining two will be revealed only after the tender is awarded.
Responding to queries, an HDB spokesman said the tests are part of a regular review "to assess how we can further enhance the clothes drying rack system, taking into consideration factors such as weather conditions, and the type of laundry poles used".
She added that no other details are available as the review is still at a preliminary stage.
Clothes drying racks in HDB blocks have evolved over the years. From the 1960s to early 1990s, they came as pipe socket holders. Racks with two plates that support both ends of the laundry pole were introduced from 1995. Some of these racks were later fitted with an additional metal plate with holes to stop poles from dislodging.
From 2002, new flats come with fixed metal racks that did away with bamboo poles.
When shown the latest proposed designs, experts and residents said they prefer some of the new designs over the existing ones, citing factors such as safety and user-friendliness.
Fong Kim Choy, deputy president of the National Safety Council of Singapore, said design 3A, which comes with jagged-shaped pole slots instead of straight ones, would be "most effective" in preventing dislodgement.
"The addition of the third plate closest to the window would also help retain the pole in the event of strong winds," said Mr Fong, 65.
But John Heng, senior lecturer at Nanyang Technological University's School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, noted that the designs with jagged slots could "hinder the smooth removal" of poles.
"The sharp protrusions will cause the scoring of the surface on the poles and damage the poles," added Dr Heng, 50.
He noted, however, that the use of stainless steel would make the new designs more weather resistant as opposed to galvanised steel, which can rust when the coating material is damaged.
But noting that there is still a risk of users falling from leaning too far forward when using the racks, Associate Professor Chui Yoon Ping, head of the human factors in safety programme at UniSIM, said: "We really need to remove the use of poles altogether and think of a much safer way of drying our clothes."
