SINGAPORE: A 54-year-old man was arrested on Thursday (Feb 22) for drug-related offences after he was involved in an accident with a traffic police officer.
Police said the accident, which involved a Traffic Police motorcycle and a bicycle, occurred along Geylang Road towards Kallang Road before Lorong 4 Geylang at around 5.45pm.
In a video circulating on social media, a man is seen riding his bicycle diagonally across multiple lanes, with vehicles slowing down to let him pass.
Just as the cyclist reaches the left-most lane, a traffic police officer travelling on the lane seems to immediately crash and fall to his side.
Moments before the traffic police officer crashed to his side. (Photo: Facebook/Transporter)
The cyclist also falls as the motorcycle catches the bicycle’s rear wheel.
Nobody was injured from the incident. Police investigations are ongoing.
Singapore – The looming demolition of a horseshoe-shaped tower block that symbolised Singapore’s growth from a port town to an affluent city-state has sparked soul-searching about whether enough is being done to protect the country’s recent history.
Pearl Bank Apartments, on the edge of the business district, was groundbreaking when it was completed in 1976 – at the time it was the tallest residential building in Singapore, and became a model for high-rise living in the country and across cities in Southeast Asia.
It was a turning point for the city-state’s Chinatown, as it was the first skyscraper in an area dotted with low-rise buildings.
But the 37-storey, 280-apartment block has seen better days, with residents now complaining of leaking pipes and ageing lifts. Earlier this month it was sold for Sg$728 million ($550 million) to a developer, who plans to construct a modern, high-rise residential building on the site.
The block was constructed in a 1970s style that has now fallen out of fashion, and lacks the colonial-era charm of buildings from British rule, many of which enjoy official protection.
But Pearl Bank and other buildings from the era are held dear by some Singaporeans as they are a reminder of the country’s blistering development after independence in 1965.
“The buildings that were built just after independence were a reflection of the aspirations and hopes of a new nation,” said photographer Darren Soh, who has been documenting Pearl Bank and other buildings from the same period.
“If we tear all these down, there will be nothing to remind us of the era.” Some publicly-owned buildings from that era, including a town hall and a conference hall, have been listed as national monuments, which should protect them from the wrecking ball.
But Ho Weng Hin, from architectural conservation consultancy Studio Lapis, said there were no cases of privately-owned residential blocks from that period being conserved and there was a “real threat” to such buildings.
However residents of Pearl Bank who backed the sale said that conservation was not practical due to the high cost.
“A lot of the people calling for conservation are outsiders looking in but if you lived here yourself, you’ll understand the difficulties,” resident Marie Lim, a 68-year-old retiree, told AFP.
SINGAPORE: Travel agency Konsortium Express and Tours has unexpectedly closed down.
In a notice posted on its website accessed on Thursday (Feb 22), the agency, which specialises in coach trips to Malaysia, apologised for the sudden closure, citing a “financial crisis”.
It said that the company had gone into a “financial crisis and will cease operation on all services with immediate effect”.
Affected passengers should put in a claim with their travel insurance provider or approach the small claims tribunal, the company added.
“We are deeply apologetic for the sudden closure and we seek for forgiveness,” said the notice.
Screenshot of the notice on Konsortium Express and Tours’ website.
Photos online showed a physical copy of the notice posted on door of one of the company’s offices while a lock and chain could be seen on the door handles.
Other travel companies were quick to jump into the void left by Konsortium’s sudden closure, with Chan Brothers Travel saying it would aim to “help affected customers”.
“While sudden business closure is not peculiar only to the travel industry, Chan Brothers Travel aims to help affected customers of Konsortium Express and Tours mitigate their losses and resume their travel plans,” the company said in an email to the media.
It added that Chan Brothers Travel would be extending a “goodwill discount” of 10 per cent off package tours booked from now until Mar 4 for affected customers.
Robots may be gradually entering the workforce, but as CNBC recently found after testing a hotel robot in Singapore, they’re not completely flawless.
CNBC ordered a few items to a room at the M Social Hotel, from AURA, the hotel’s new robot.
AURA is made by a San Francisco-based manufacturer, Savioke, which has dispatched other robots to several locations around the world. AURA is not capable of delivering food items yet, so we ordered several bottled waters and towels.
As a hotel guest, the experience was relatively seamless. The only notable flaw was when AURA indecisively turned in circles in front of our hotel room after the delivery was made before finally cruising back down the hallway toward the elevators.
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We tested out this hotel robot – but all didn’t quite go to plan.
Posted by CNBC International on Monday, 19 February 2018
But during a separate trip in which CNBC followed AURA from its charging station in the lobby to the hotel room, things weren’t completely smooth.
AURA has the ability to wirelessly call for an elevator (the staff says it has a preferred one), but this time it hesitated to enter an opened elevator with several guests already inside with large luggage waiting to go to their rooms. The robot delayed the lift, and then waited outside as the doors closed without it.
The guests inside waited for the elevator to ascend, but it didn’t.
The doors opened again and the guests walked out annoyed, while AURA made its way in – in their place. This time the doors closed and ascended up with AURA ready to make its delivery.
Later, while cruising down the hallway, the robot got distracted by a housekeeping cart and hesitated to go inside the open room, before continuing on its journey to our room, where the delivery was completed.
But, AURA still gets the job done despite the minor quirks. In fact, maybe small flaws are simply part of the design to make it feel more … human?
Also read: M is for Millennials at M Social hotel, oozing with mystery and tech
SINGAPORE: A free membership programme that offers migrant workers discounts and benefits on insurance and remittance was launched on Thursday (Feb 22) by the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) and POSB.
A first of its kind in Singapore, the programme will give migrant workers access to savings as well as services they use on a daily basis through the POSB Jolly app.
Such services include remittance and telco services, insurance coverage, travel perks and even an easier access to rent an oBike.
One of the key merchant partners is MoneyGram, which allows remittance to overseas banks and enables migrant workers to send money to predefined beneficiaries, who can collect the remitted amount in their home countries through MoneyGram cash collection points.
MWC and POSB estimate that 200,000 workers could potentially benefit in the first year of the programme.
Singapore had 975,800 work permit holders as of June 2017, including 243,000 foreign domestic workers, who are not included in this programme.
A membership programme for helpers is expected in September.
NTUC Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing and MWC Chairman Yeo Guat Kwang (second from left) with tripartite partners this morning. (Photo credit: NTUC)
MEETING MIGRANT WORKER NEEDS
The membership programme was announced at a partners’ breakfast on Thursday where NTUC Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing was the Guest-of-Honour.
This membership programme is “a package of products and services that can allow us to reach out to the migrant workers to meet their essential needs, yet at the same time it allows us to be in communication with migrant workers to be of assistance to them,” said Mr Chan.
The programme will be rolled out in two phases, with the first phase targeting newly arrived migrant workers who submit their permit application from April 1.
Once an employer opens a POSB bank account for a new migrant worker, an MWC-POSB ATM and Membership card will be issued.
MWC Chairman Yeo Guat Kwang said one of the challenges will be in the second phase of the programme, which targets existing work permit holders with POSB accounts.
Workers can sign up for the MWC-POSB membership once the self-service option is launched in the POSB Jolly app in the fourth quarter of this year.
“We will be going to all the touch points including all the dormitories, the recreation centre and the congregating areas to make it easier for them to come to us to do a simple registration to get onto this network,” said Mr Yeo.
Migrant workers finding out more about POSB jolly App. (Photo credit: POSB)
FUTURE PLANS FOR E-SERVICES FOR FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS
DBS Singapore Country Head Sim S Lim said plans are in place to extend this service to foreign domestic workers.
“Right now a lot of the domestic workers are paid in cash, so this is another way we can include them,” said Mr Sim.
“We make it very simple, and we make the customer’s journey as friendly as we can.”
Instead of leaving after finishing his delivery run, a man was caught on camera lingering in the corridor of a condominium along Dunearn Road and taking a resident’s parcel instead.
The Dunearn Suites resident, Stomp contributor binary0018, said she had been expecting a courier delivery from FedEx on Feb 19.
As she was not home, the courier called at around 6pm to inform her that he had left her parcel on her doorstep.
According to Binary0018, her parcel contained $343.31 worth of beauty products and toiletries.
She told Stomp on Feb 20: “I was okay with it as my condo is quite secure and rarely anyone ventures to my floor.
“I returned after work at nearly 8pm and there was no parcel on my doorstep. I immediately checked with my courier, who confirmed he had delivered it.”
The resident then contacted her condo management and viewed CCTV footage showing what transpired.
She said: “We saw that about half an hour after my courier left my item, another guy came up to my floor. He was delivering something to my neighbour who stays on the same floor.
“The video showed saw him loitering in front of my door before surreptitiously picking up my parcel and going down the lift with it.”
(story continues below video)
In the video, the man can be seen entering the lift and leaving with a white parcel tucked under his right arm at around 6.33pm.
Binary0018 believes that the guy is an Uber Eats deliveryman after making checks with her neighbour.
She continued: “My neighbour was able to provide me with details of her Uber Eats transaction, the delivery person’s name and even a full-face profile photo of him (from the app) — which matches the person captured in the CCTV.”
The resident has since made a police report and contacted Uber Eats about what happened.
She added that her parcel was not see-through, though there was a folded invoice, so it is unclear if the man knew what items it contained.
In response to a Stomp query, the police confirm that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.
A spokesman for Uber Eats told Stomp: “What has been described is unacceptable and violates our Community Guidelines.
“We are currently looking into this incident and stand ready to support the relevant authorities in their investigations.”
Stomp contributor Binary also said: “A team member from Uber Eats got in touch with me yesterday (Feb 21) for further discussion after Stomp contacted them.”
SINGAPORE: Days before his failed escape bid, Chew Eng Han vowed that he would not return to City Harvest Church unless there was a change of leadership.
“I won’t go back, unless the whole leadership is removed – the current leadership,” said Chew in an interview with Channel NewsAsia last Monday (Feb 12).
Just nine days after he made that statement – and a day before he was due to begin his jail term – Chew was arrested on Wednesday morning for attempting to flee Singapore in a motorised sampan.
His boat was intercepted by Police Coast Guard vessels off Pulau Ubin at about 8.45am, after authorities received a tip-off.
The motorised sampan in which Chew Eng Han tried to flee Singapore. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
The 57-year-old was one of six City Harvest leaders, including church founder Kong Hee, convicted in 2015 of misappropriating S$50 million of church funds. Chew was sentenced to six years’ jail, which was later reduced to three years and four months on appeal.
The five other leaders began their sentences on Apr 21 last year, while Chew had his imprisonment delayed after he launched several attempts to challenge his conviction.
After losing his final challenge, he was to surrender himself on Feb 22. He had asked the court to defer his sentence for one last time to spend Chinese New Year with his family.
During his interview with Channel NewsAsia, Chew said he left City Harvest in 2013 – the year the trial began – and is now part of a small fellowship that meets every Thursday.
Chew also insisted that his friends and family did not doubt him. His family was staying “relatively strong” despite the long-running saga, he said.
On Monday – two days before he was arrested at sea – Chew cancelled another interview with Channel NewsAsia. The interview was to be held on Tuesday at Bedok Jetty, where he is said to sometimes seek solitude.
In a WhatsApp message to this Channel NewsAsia reporter, Chew said he had “too many things” on his plate.
If found guilty of leaving Singapore unlawfully, Chew could be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$2,000 or both.
SINGAPORE – A Singaporean man convicted over a high-profile fraud case at a megachurch was caught Wednesday trying to flee in a boat before he was due to start his sentence, police said.
In a case that gripped the city-state with a heady mix of religion, showbiz and fraud, six leaders from City Harvest Church were convicted in 2015 of pilfering tens of millions of dollars from the place of worship to promote the pop career of the pastor’s wife.
Among them was investment manager Chew Eng Han, who was sentenced to three years and four months but had his imprisonment delayed by a series of appeals.
After losing his final challenge, the 57-year-old was allowed to remain out of prison on bail until after the Lunar New Year holiday, and was meant to start serving his sentence on February 22.
But in the latest bizarre twist to the case, police caught Chew around 8:45 am (0045 GMT) in a small fishing boat off eastern Singapore allegedly attempting to flee to Malaysia.
Ex-CHC leader Chew Eng Han tried to flee Singapore: Other criminals who did the same
He was with a second man who was piloting the craft.
“Preliminary investigations suggest that the duo were attempting to depart Singapore illegally,” said a police statement.
The men were carrying $5,000 in cash, three mobile phones and fishing gear. A source close to the investigation told AFP that when approached, the pair claimed they were going fishing.
They will be charged in court on Thursday and are accused of attempting to leave Singapore unlawfully, an offence that carries a maximum six-month jail term and fine of $2,000.
Former City Harvest Church leader Chew Eng Han had been ‘praying hard’ to prepare for jail before failed escape bid
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The church leaders were convicted of using $24 million from a church building fund to help advance the music career of the pastor’s wife Ho, and were also found guilty of misappropriating huge sums as they scrambled to cover their tracks.
Pastor Kong Hee was initially sentenced to eight years but his term was cut to three and half years in 2017 by the High Court on a technicality, sparking a storm of criticism.
An appeal court this month upheld the decision to reduce his sentence.
