SINGAPORE: More than 80 retail outlets and a new heritage-themed zone will open at Changi Airport’s Terminal 4 (T4) when it opens in the second half of this year.

A quarter of the retail and dining outlets opening at T4 will be new to the airport, Changi Airport Group said in a news release on Friday (May 5).

These include home-grown footwear label PAZZION, paper maker Moleskine, as well as British retailer WHSmith, which will be opening its first Singapore store in the T4 transit area. New dining outlets include Tiger’s Den, serving bar food and light snacks, as well as dim sum restaurant Treasures (Yi Dian Xin) by Imperial Treasure.

There will also be 11 restaurants and cafes in the public area of the terminal, including Andes at Astons, London Fat Duck, Old Street Bak Kuk The and Sushi Goshin by Akashi. Food Emporium by NTUC Foodfare – also a new tenant at the airport – will operate a food court.

T4 will also have a new heritage zone, inspired by Peranakan shophouses in Singapore. This zone will house brands such as Bee Cheng Hiang, Bengawan Solo, Curry Times, Eu Yan Sang and Heavenly Wang, with heritage-themed interior design and furnishings. 

For the first time in Changi Airport, the liquor and tobacco zone in the transit area will be combined with the cosmetics and perfumes zone to make it easier for passengers to combine their duty-free purchases in a single transaction, the airport said. 

“T4 marks an exciting phase of growth for Changi Airport; and we are using the opportunity to celebrate the idea of shopping as a fun and interactive experience for our passengers,” said Executive Vice-President of Commercial Lim Peck Hoon.

All concession contracts for retail, F&B and service outlets in T4 have been awarded, the airport said, adding that interior design works are in progress.

The terminal will begin operations in the second half of this year.

SINGAPORE: More than 80 retail outlets and a new heritage-themed zone will open at Changi Airport’s Terminal 4 (T4) when it opens in the second half of this year.

A quarter of the retail and dining outlets opening at T4 will be new to the airport, Changi Airport Group said in a news release on Friday (May 5).

These include home-grown footwear label PAZZION, paper maker Moleskine, as well as British retailer WHSmith, which will be opening its first Singapore store in the T4 transit area. New dining outlets include Tiger’s Den, serving bar food and light snacks, as well as dim sum restaurant Treasures (Yi Dian Xin) by Imperial Treasure.

There will also be 11 restaurants and cafes in the public area of the terminal, including Andes at Astons, London Fat Duck, Old Street Bak Kuk The and Sushi Goshin by Akashi. Food Emporium by NTUC Foodfare – also a new tenant at the airport – will operate a food court.

T4 will also have a new heritage zone, inspired by Peranakan shophouses in Singapore. This zone will house brands such as Bee Cheng Hiang, Bengawan Solo, Curry Times, Eu Yan Sang and Heavenly Wang, with heritage-themed interior design and furnishings. 

For the first time in Changi Airport, the liquor and tobacco zone in the transit area will be combined with the cosmetics and perfumes zone to make it easier for passengers to combine their duty-free purchases in a single transaction, the airport said. 

“T4 marks an exciting phase of growth for Changi Airport; and we are using the opportunity to celebrate the idea of shopping as a fun and interactive experience for our passengers,” said Executive Vice-President of Commercial Lim Peck Hoon.

All concession contracts for retail, F&B and service outlets in T4 have been awarded, the airport said, adding that interior design works are in progress.

The terminal will begin operations in the second half of this year.

KATHMANDU: Singaporeans have “much to learn” from the Nepalese people, who, in the wake of the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake that shook the country in 2015, “showed what courage and resilience was”, said Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Defence Maliki Osman.

Speaking to Channel NewsAsia on Thursday (May 4) on the sidelines of a working visit to Nepal, Dr Maliki noted that the people of Nepal had “pulled together despite the adversities they had to go through”.

Dr Maliki was the guest of honour at a Singapore Red Cross exhibition held in Kathmandu. The exhibition, titled Partnerships For Humanity – Rebuilding in Nepal, showcases the rebuilding projects of the non-governmental organisation’s more than 15 partners.

During his trip, he also visited and officially opened the Shree Kalika Primary School in Sindhupalchowk district, a three-hour drive from Kathmandu. The Singapore Red Cross helped rebuild the school, which serves a community of 160 families, together with one of their local partners, Living Hope Nepal.

“I reflected on what I saw, what I could have imagined … if this was in Singapore, if my kids had to go through some of these very tough times,” said Dr Maliki. “You see the smiles on the faces of the children, the elderly folks in the village … you wouldn’t have imagined that they were victims of an earthquake just two years before.

“You see so much resilience in them, so much tenacity and so much courage to be able to go through that,” he added.

He noted that he had also met several Nepalese government ministers on his trip, and all of them expressed deep appreciation for the contributions that Singapore and Singaporeans have made in helping Nepal rebuild itself in the wake of the earthquake.

Beyond financial contributions, Dr Maliki added that another way Singaporeans can help countries like Nepal is to visit and volunteer in these countries.

“To do more of the actual work, to experience what they experience, and to learn more about the spirit of humanity,” he said. “And I think only when you go through it that you can truly experience that.”

Dr Maliki also officially launched a post-disaster recovery training programme that aims to give healthcare professionals the expertise to manage emergencies after a disaster, and develop disaster response systems and protocols.

The three-year programme was jointly developed by SingHealth and the Nepalese government, and supported by almost S$600,000 in grant funding from Temasek Foundation International. SingHealth and the Nepalese government also provided assistance and in-kind contribution.

SINGAPORE: Animal welfare groups are calling for measures to prevent the overbreeding of small pets, after an increase in calls for help by pet owners unable to manage mice, hamsters and rabbits from breeding out of control.

Three animal rights groups – Bunny Wonderland Singapore (BWS), House Rabbit Society Singapore (HRSS) and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) – noted in a joint letter to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) on Apr 11 that private owners that overbreeding was a major source of abandoned rabbits. 

They called for authorities to tighten regulations on the sterilisation, microchipping and registration of pet rabbits. Ensuring the traceability, management and minimum standards of care for pet shop rabbits will help reduce overpopulation and abandonment rates while improving their welfare, the groups said.

Another welfare group, Voices for Animals (VFA), also urged mouse and hamster owners to be responsible and separate male and female animals to prevent them from breeding, as these rodents are too small to be sterilised. 

Last month, VFA, HRSS and BWS were approached by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and Tampines Town Council to help remove and re-home some mice and rabbits from a Tampines flat. 

Three fancy mice – domesticated house mice – had multiplied to over 300 over the years. The homeowner, believed to be in his 40s to 50s, also had more than 20 rabbits in the house.

The critters bred rapidly and found their way into the man’s television, speakers, washing machine and other household appliances. Some escaped to his neighbours’ house, prompting other residents to lodge a complaint with HDB, which in turn called on pest control and the animal groups for help. 

VFA founder Derrick Tan, who posted a video of the mice discovered, wrote on Facebook that the group was looking to re-home about 70 mice it had rescued from the residence.

Mr Tan told Channel NewsAsia such cases, involving hundreds of mice, were not common. However, VFA has noticed an increase in calls for help, he added. 

BWS co-founder Jackie Fang said she herself had unintentionally overbred rabbits. 

The 53-year-old had four rabbits – one of which, unbeknownst to her, was male. Within three months, the number of rabbits had multiplied to 30.

“For newbies like us, 30 babies are really, really a big disaster. From there I learnt that sterilisation is very important. Some people do not know where to get help,” she said.

Ms Fang said she hoped to be a good example for those who unintentionally breed their rabbits.

Today, her animal welfare group takes cares of about 60 to 70 rabbits which are waiting to be re-homed. These are either rabbits abandoned by the public or those rescued from breeders. She said her biggest rescue mission was two years ago, when she took over 82 rabbits from a former breeder. 

Her co-founder Lynne Tan said Bunny Wonderland receives two to three calls per week asking for help with rabbit management cases.

“We can only do what we can provide, and so our capacity is very limited. So as many calls we receive we can’t attend to all of them, and we have to limit (ourselves), Ms Tan said.

Baey Yam Keng, Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC, the constituency where the mice were found, said the pets were controllable if owners are responsible. 

“I don’t think we need a knee-jerk reaction because it’s only one case, and I don’t believe it’s a trend or a prevalence of such incidents,” he said. “It may be cumbersome and also impractical for authorities to enforce … how many mice one person can keep because they do breed quickly, yes, but if the owner is responsible enough, able to control, manage, find way to care for them, most of the time they shouldn’t cause a problem in the community.”

Mr Tan, however, argued that it was not about how many pets one had. “Sometimes, just keeping one is also too much because the person cannot handle it. So it’s dependent on how you look after the animal and how you manage it.”