SINGAPORE: A tipper truck driver was taken to hospital after his vehicle skidded and overturned on the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) on Tuesday morning (Feb 13). 

Police said they were alerted to the accident at around 10.40am. The driver, a 37-year-old man, was conscious when he was taken to Changi General Hospital, police added.

The accident happened on the PIE towards Changi Airport near the ECP (City) exit.  

Channel NewsAsia understands that the truck skidded at a bend, causing construction material that was in its truck bed to be spilt across the highway.

Police investigations are ongoing. 

SINGAPORE: Administrators of a Facebook group that published a post containing a news report with a doctored headline about the City Harvest case have apologised, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said on Tuesday (Feb 13).

Administrators for the Facebook group 议论政策论坛 (Discuss Policy Forum), Mr Ong Sooi Eng, Mr Lee Leng Kok, Madam Ng Kwee Lay, Madam Tan Siew Tee and Mr Yap Tze Kiat, were held responsible for the publication of Mr Neo Aik Chau’s post on the group’s page.

Mr Neo had earlier published an apology for his post. The original post, published on the group’s page on Feb 2, had made reference to the widely publicised decision of the Court of Appeal ruling in favour of the accused people involved with City Harvest Church.

According to AGC, Mdm Ng, as one of the Facebook group’s administrators, had approved Neo’s post for publication, “thereby causing publication of the Facebook post”.

By failing to remove the Facebook post from the group from Feb 2 until Feb 5 despite being aware of its publication, Mr Ong, Mr Lee, Mdm Tan and Mr Yap, as the other administrators of the Facebook group, had also caused publication of the Facebook post, AGC added.

Administrators of Facebook groups, or any other similar online platforms, are responsible for the content published on their platforms, AGC said.   

“They are not immune from liability even though they are not the authors of the offending content,” added AGC. 

The five administrators of the Facebook group had thereby committed contempt of court, AGC noted.

AGC said it required the five administrators to “publish an apology and undertake not to allow any posts that amount to contempt of court to be published on the Facebook group, or do any other act that amounts to contempt of court”.

Mr Ong, Mr Lee, Mdm Ng, Mdm Tan and Mr Yap complied and published the apology on Tuesday (Feb 13), added AGC. 

SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Chen Show Mao has described its upcoming Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections as “ultimately a matter for (its) party members,” adding that he looks forward respectfully to them making a decision soon, and in good time. 

The party’s assistant secretary-general Pritam Singh has been tipped as a likely successor to current party chief Low Thia Khiang, following recent reports in the media. 

In a TODAY article, WP Non-Constituency MPs Dennis Tan and Leon Perera, as well as former NCMP Gerald Giam, had all expressed support for Mr Singh. 

Fellow NCMP Daniel Goh had also made a Facebook post on Monday (Feb 12), backing Mr Singh as the favourite to become the next party chief. 

He also confirmed that the party’s elections will be held on Apr 8. 

Responding to Channel NewsAsia’s queries, Mr Chen noted that he agrees with many things that have been said in public. “Even so, the election is ultimately a matter for our party members.” 

When approached, Mr Singh said he had no comments on the matter. 

In his Facebook post, Dr Goh wrote that he believes that for the party to further develop as a viable opposition party, it needs a leader who has “good experience of speaking and debating in Parliament”, has constituents’ confidence and support and has “good experience in leadership of town council management”. 

The MP also must be “a humble servant-leader who knows his own flaws, works closely with the party grassroots and exhorts them to unite for the common good of Singapore and Singaporeans”, Dr Goh added. 

“I am only a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament with two years of real political experience. I have a lot more to learn. Pritam, on the other hand, is a proven MP in these respects,” said Dr Goh. 

Mr Low had announced in November last year that he would not contest the next election, to “make way for new blood”. 

In the party’s 2016 CEC elections, Mr Low had fended off a stiff challenge from Mr Chen for the post of secretary-general. He had retained his post as party chief with a reported 61-45 vote.

SINGAPORE: At this year’s Singapore Design Week (SDW), the neighbourhoods of  Holland Village and Tanjong Pagar will come to life with music performances, creative workshops, and all sorts of pop-up events courtesy of two brand-new mini-festivals.

The fifth edition of the annual event by DesignSingapore Council (Dsg) will take place from March 5 to 18, and visitors can experience these two places through the unusual lens of design.

Tanjong Pagar will play host to Singapore’s first Urban Design Festival. Organised by creative studio LOPELAB, it will feature design workshops and cultural activities, such as film screenings and music performances at Keong Saik Road. 

There will also be a “design route” through the district where audiences can encounter eight installations such as a multi-sensory “sound tunnel” at the Duxton Plain Park underpass.

Meanwhile, creative agency HJGHER is presenting District Design Dialogue – Holland Village, where 10 terrace houses at Chip Bee Gardens will be opened up to a series of activities, open houses, pop-up concepts, and exhibitions related to design fields such as fashion, art and furniture. 

Literary collective Sing Lit Station, for instance, will be holding fort at a “Library” house while the “Runway” house will feature products by brands such as Just Gaya, biro, and Waiyang. The area’s cafes, restaurants and studios will also be participating in the event.

The two mini-festivals were chosen from an open call after Dsg decided to activate certain parts of Singapore as part of the annual event.

While SDW has always offered design trails, this is the first time it has consciously put the design spotlight on specific places, said Agnes Kwek, executive director of Dsg.

“We wanted people to suddenly sit up and go, ‘I’ve never thought of, say, Holland Village as a design place before. Yes, we know it for the bars and restaurants, but design? My hope is that once people see these coming alive, then more (organisers) will put up their hands next year.”

She added: “Personally, I’d love to see someone turn Jalan Besar or Kampong Glam into this (design-centric event). We just need a few great examples so people can say, okay it’s possible.”

In preparing for the Holland Village event, HJGHER co-founder Justin Long said it’s all about bringing the community on-board. “We wanted to do something from the ground up and everybody’s been really supportive. It’s a very creative neighbourhood and everybody is really open to interesting things.”

These two new events join other SDW mainstays such as anchor event SingaPlural and the design tours.

This year’s SingaPlural, which will be presented at the National Design Centre, will carry the theme A State In Play and will touch on the experimental process that takes place when designing products.

Curated by design studio Produce and organised by the Singapore Furniture Industries Council, it will feature 13 installations all over the centre, including a central pavilion that’s all about the laminate product Formica.

This year, SDW’s popular design tours comes in the shape of a newly branded The City Ramble Design Trails. 

Organised by Shophouse & Co, it comprises two tours. One will take audiences to three heritage sites: The Goh Loo Club, The Quadrant at Cecil and The Warehouse Hotel. Another tour will introduce them to the creatives working at urban farm The City Farm, industrial building The Mill and Funan Showsuite. A new urban guide featuring neighbourhood recommendations by young designers will also be launched.

“We felt it gives people the opportunity to really go into places that may not be accessible, so you can actually come and approach design in a very intimate and accessible (way). It removes this apprehension when you sometimes see a very nicely designed product put on a pedestal,” said Shophouse & Co co-founder Stella Gwee. 

“Through this format, people can just walk up to it, ask the designers questions or speak to the architects to understand the process behind their buildings.”

Aside from these, other events during SDW include a design-centric edition of the National Heritage Board’s regular BBB Arts Sprawl at the Bras Basah.Bugis Precinct; the inaugural Brainstore Design conference, featuring leaders in the business, design and public policy sectors; the International Furniture Fair Singapore; and Red Dot Design Museum’s Market Of Artists And Designers, which features 50 makers from Singapore and the region as well as workshops.

For more details on Singapore Design Week, visit the website here.