SINGAPORE: About one quarter of the retail space at the new Funan mall has been taken up, with homegrown theatre company W!ld Rice and a string of familiar names among the retailers unveiled as tenants on Thursday (Apr 27).

Funan DigitaLife Mall, best known as a hub for electronic products, was shuttered last June to be redeveloped into an “experiential creative hub”. Its owner, CapitaLand, has estimated the redevelopment to cost around S$560 million.

W!ld Rice will build an 18,000 sq ft, 380-seat theatre – the first facility of its kind designed and manged by a local theatre group to be located within a commercial complex.

Meanwhile, local jewellery designer Carolyn Kan will be setting up shop on the second level, with the flagship store featuring her label Carrie K and a collective space for local designers called Keepers. More local brands are due to join Ms Kan’s store on the same level, according to the vice president of Funan’s retail development Kevin Siew.

“After 30 years of being an IT mall, I think we have a lot going for us … Now we want to build a home for local designers and makers,” Mr Siew said.

SINGAPORE: Plans are afoot for Google to capture Street View imagery for running tracks along parks and nature spaces across Singapore by strapping cameras to runners. From Thursday (Apr 27), the search giant will partner local running group JustRunLah! to capture more than 30 running routes in Singapore. The aim is to cover more than 400km over the next few months and will include places such as Singapore Botanic Gardens, Mount Faber Park and MacRitchie Reservoir.

This is Google’s first ground-up Street View initiative in Singapore.

The idea was first brought to Google by running enthusiast Ben Flint at the end of 2016. Mr Flint had a brainwave when he was trying to run from Seletar to Dempsey “without touching tarmac”, but was not aware of a possible route. Knowing that Street View had done similar mapping projects overseas, he wondered if something similar could be implemented here and got the ball rolling.

The project will see runners from JustRunLah! donning a backpack-like contraption called the Google Street View trekker. It is about 1.2 metres in height and there are 15 cameras sitting mounted in a green orb on top, capturing images which will later be stitched together to provide a 360-degree view. The runners are ironically, not advised to run around with the trekker, as it weighs between 18 to 20kg. For safety’s sake, walking is recommended.

“It’s clearly designed to be ergonomic and comfortable. We’ll just have to go a bit slower than we’re used to,” Mr Flint told Channel NewsAsia, adding that they plan to head out in pairs or threes so they can rotate the trekker if someone gets tired.

SINGAPORE: Countries around the world have to work together to deal with the underlying causes of radicalisation, said Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Wednesday (Apr 26).

Mr Shanmugam was delivering a keynote speech titled “The Conflict in Syria and Radicalisation in Southeast Asia” at a seminar in Washington DC, as part of his four-day official visit to the United States.

“A lot of countries have focused on downstream consequences,” said Mr Shanmugam who’s also Singapore’s law minister. “They are very good at taking out terrorist leaders, they dismantle organisations, they deal with their finances.

“But if we do not deal with the underlying philosophy and the underlying causes … as long as you do not deal with people’s views which need them to be radicalised in the first place, all you will be doing is cutting out their heads and new heads will come up.”

Mr Shanmugam urged the US to get involved in tackling the root causes of what drives people into becoming radicalised: “So there has got to be a more concerted international strategy to deal with the underlying causes and reasons why these things happen.”

ISLAMIC STATE’S REACH IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

The Singapore minister pointed out that Islamic State or ISIS is targeting Southeast Asia – in particular Indonesia, Malaysia and parts of the southern Philippines – and has become more effective in reaching out to this region.

He laid out the threat posed by returning foreign fighters, the flow of funds from the Middle East, the availability of radical online material and radicalisation in Indonesian prisons, with attacks planned by inmates behind bars.

Mr Shanmugam told the American audience that such developments would have implications not only for Southeast Asia but for the US and its assets in the region as well.

“There is an area of the world where things are happening but people are not paying enough attention,” he warned. “By the time it demands attention, it will be too late. So it is best to try and deal with the problem before it gets to that stage.”

Within Southeast Asia, Mr Shanmugam said: “We are trying to get together a group of like-minded countries to come together, such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, to try and deal with these issues.

“We may not be able to deal with all of them but at least we have a platform to start trying and talk about these issues and possible solutions. But America has to get involved, other countries has to get involved.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Shanmugam met US Secretary of Homeland Security John F Kelly in their first meeting since the latter was appointed. They discussed global terrorism and the challenges posed by radicalisation in Southeast Asia.

Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that on Thursday, the minister is scheduled to meet Mr Thomas Bossert, assistant to the President on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.

He will also attend separate bilateral meetings with senior officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

“At these meetings, Minister Shanmugam and the respective officials will reaffirm the good security cooperation between Singapore and the US, and discuss opportunities to further strengthen cooperation,” said MHA.

SINGAPORE: Senior Ministers of State Josephine Teo and Desmond Lee will be promoted to full ministers with effect from May 1, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Thursday (Apr 27).

Mrs Teo, who is currently Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Transport and in the Prime Minister’s Office, will be appointed as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Manpower and Foreign Affairs. She will relinquish her appointment in the Ministry of Transport, but will continue to oversee population matters, assisting Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Her promotion means that Singapore will have two female full ministers – including Minister of Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu – in its Cabinet for the first time.

Mr Lee, who is currently Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development, will be appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, and will also be Second Minister for Home Affairs and National Development.

Dr Lam Pin Min, Dr Janil Puthucheary, Dr Koh Poh Koon and Mr Chee Hong Tat will be promoted to Senior Ministers of State in their current ministries. Dr Lam will also be appointed as Senior Minister of State for Transport.

SINGAPORE: A company director and his firm Robofusion Asia, which supplies robotic ice-cream machines, were convicted on Thursday (Apr 27) of giving false information when making an application for a Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) cash payout.

The court ordered Yong Tai Kok to pay a penalty of S$120,000 plus a S$4,000 fine, while Robofusion had to pay S$60,000, which is the amount of cash payout wrongfully obtained, said the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).

Its investigations showed that Yong used the names of two people who were not Robofusion employees in a PIC application form dated May 23, 2013.

The company also made contributions to their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts so it would look like the two were Robofusion’s local employees.

For a company to be eligible for apply for the PIC, which is administered by IRAS, it must have employed at least three local employees. Under the scheme, businesses can receive tax deductions or cash payouts for making investments to enhance productivity and innovation.

In this case, Robofusion’s PIC cash payout application was for the purchase of a new ice-cream kiosk costing S$93,000, as well as for a “Software License and Implementation for Cashless Payment System and Kiosk Payment Integration” which cost S$14,980.

The amount of PIC cash which was wrongfully obtained was $60,000, IRAS said.

The tax authority said it takes a serious view of any attempts by claimants, vendors or consultants to defraud the Government. “Offenders convicted of PIC fraud will have to pay a penalty of up to four times the amount of cash payout fraudulently obtained, and a fine of up to $50,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years,” said IRAS.

It added that businesses or individuals are encouraged to immediately disclose any past tax mistakes as these would be mitigating factors when IRAS considers action to be taken.