The one-stop centres, that have been providing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with free one-on-one business advice since 2013, will enhance their services to better help companies prepare for the future.

The SME Centres will focus on helping these firms achieve their aims in the next five years through group-based upgrading projects and digital technology adoption.

One initiative will involve aggregating common challenges among companies in the same trade or location, and identifying viable solutions for mass deployment, said Ms Sim Ann, the Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry.

Ms Sim cited the SME Centre@NorthWest, which has utilised support from the North West Community Development Council to roll out space optimisation solutions for over 50 heartland retailers at the Bangkit estate in Bukit Panjang.

The SME Centres intend to implement 10 such group-based upgrading projects each year, she added.

Business advisers at SME Centres will also offer free one-to-one consultation sessions to help firms select off-the-shelf technology solutions pre-qualified by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) that meet their business needs.

SMEs with more advanced requirements, in areas like cyber security and data analytics, can receive specialised assistance at the SME Digital Tech Hub, which will open in the third quarter of this year.

SOLUTIONS

Advisers at the SME Digital Tech Hub will help them identify appropriate solutions and guide them on changing their business processes to take full advantage of the technologies, said Ms Sim, who was talking at the SME Centre Conference 2017 yesterday.

The enhancements are part of this year’s Budget, which set aside $80 million for the SMEs Go Digital programme.

This will be implemented by IMDA in partnership with sector lead agencies like Spring Singapore and industry players such as trade associations and chambers.

In addition to making pre-qualified solutions available to companies, SMEs Go Digital will provide more structured and inclusive support for SMEs to build their digital capabilities in areas such as cyber security, data protection and data analytics.

yasminey@sph.com.sg

This article by The Straits Times was published in The New Paper, a free newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.

About a week after his last Primary School Leaving Examination paper last October, Evergreen Primary School student Ravi (not his real name) had just left school after an excursion.

He said he had walked briskly across a road junction, with the “red man” signal on, to catch an SMRT service 858 bus to get to his home three stops away.

Seconds later, he was lying in the middle of the road after slipping when he saw a car heading towards him. The vehicle ran over his legs and his mother is upset no action will be taken against the driver.

Speaking to The New Paper last Thursday, Ravi, 13, said: “Even though I was conscious, I couldn’t feel any pain.”

Ravi’s mother, Madam Rajinde Kaur, 30, admitted her son had jaywalked. He was rushed to the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital with a fractured left ankle, his skin torn from his right calf.

Witnesses outside the school had told Madam Kaur the driver had stopped his vehicle.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force told TNP it received a call for an ambulance at Woodlands Avenue 4 at about 1.35pm.

Madam Kaur said she received a report from the Traffic Police (TP), in February, indicating the case was closed and no action would be taken against her son. TNP understands no action will be taken against either party.

But the sales consultant is unhappy and told her Member of Parliament, Transport Minister Mr Khaw Boon Wan, about the incident during a Meet-the-People Session last month. She also engaged a lawyer for insurance claims.

She said: “Kids are expected to make mistakes. What makes me so mad is that the driver did not apologise and not once did he come to visit at the hospital.”

Singapore Road Safety Council chairman Bernard Tay said everyone had a role to play in road safety.

He said: “When you’re driving a vehicle, you always have to look out. Green or red light, you still have to look. Everyone is responsible for their safety.”

Parents were divided over the incident.

A father of three, who wanted to be known as Mr Ng, 39, felt both driver and the teen were at fault.

He said: “The driver should know it’s a school zone, and drive carefully and slowly. But the parents of the boy should also have educated him and told him not to jaywalk.”

A parent, who wanted to be known as Mrs Chua, 36, with two kids aged eight and 10, said: “I make my children read articles of accidents and discuss how they could have been avoided.”

Madam Kaur told TNP she did not reprimand Ravi for jaywalking, but told him to learn from his mistake.

Clinical psychologist Dr Carol Balhetchet, who specialises in family, children and youth, felt this might send the wrong signal.

She said: “By relinquishing the child’s responsibility, the child will never learn. In this case, parents should advise and teach their children to let them know that every action bears a consequence.”

tnp@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on April 6, 2017.
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When haze is blown into the country, a strong burning smell is not the only thing Singaporeans should be concerned about.

Poorer air quality is linked to an increased risk of cardiac arrest occurring outside of hospitals, according to a nationwide study led by the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

Comparing data for all reported cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) between 2010 and 2015 with air quality, researchers found that the short to intermediate term risk of OHCA increased by up to 30 per cent when the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) level rose into the unhealthy range of above 100.

There were more than 8,500 such cardiac arrests in the period studied.

The most vulnerable people were men above the age of 65.

The mean age of those who suffered cardiac arrest was 66, while 65 per cent were male.

The study also found that every 30-point increase in PSI levels was associated with additional risk of 5 per cent to 19 per cent, on top of risks associated with other factors such as age and physical health.

The first local study to show the impact of trans-boundary haze on mortality will be presented at the SGH Annual Scientific Meeting tomorrow.

Associate Professor Marcus Ong, senior author of the study and senior consultant at SGH’s department of emergency medicine, said the direct relationship between haze and mortality gave urgency to solving the issue of trans-boundary haze.

Cardiac arrest is a sudden heart malfunction in which the heart stops beating.

In Singapore, OHCA survival rate is around 15 per cent, said Prof Ong.

Though the study did not research causes, the heightened risk may be due to the body needing to work harder to breathe normally, among other factors, he said.

The study also found the elevated risk was not limited to the day of exposure but lingered for up to five days after a spike in PSI levels.

The dry season from June to October often brings haze to the region because of fires that are started to clear land.

The study increases awareness of the health impact of haze on a population, said Prof Ong, who noted: “We need to consider how we can protect more vulnerable populations like the elderly.

“Some things to consider would be when to stay indoors versus allowing normal activities.”

The National Environment Agency recommends that normal people reduce prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical exertion when the PSI level creeps into the unhealthy range, and that elderly people, pregnant women and children minimise such activity.

Dr Edgar Tay, senior consultant at the National University Heart Centre Singapore’s department of cardiology, said the results were consistent with previous studies linking air pollutants with OHCA.

He added: “It would be of interest in future to determine how different pollutants exact their effects.”

Researchers from the Singapore Health Services, Monash University (Australia), the Singapore Civil Defence Force and Duke-NUS Medical School also took part in the study.

This article by The Straits Times was published in The New Paper, a free newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.

SINGAPORE – The year 2018 will have just four long weekends, making it one of the worst years in terms of the number of long weekends for workers to look forward to.

Of the 11 gazetted public holidays announced on Wednesday (April 5), only four – New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year, Good Friday and Hari Raya Puasa – fall on a Friday or Monday.

But fret not – taking leave on a day (or five) could net you five four-day weekends.

Here’s a quick guide to public holidays in 2018.

THE 11 DAYS TO LOOK FORWARD TO

Take note: The “dry” months without a public holiday are April, July, September and October.

CHOPE YOUR LEAVE NOW

While there are only four long weekends, taking five days of leave (shh, don’t say we told you) will unlock another five four-day weekends.

This means a total of nine long weekends next year – not too bad if you move fast and “chope” that leave first.

January: Three-day weekend (Dec 30-Jan 1) as New Year’s Day falls on a Monday

February: Three-day weekend (Feb 16-18) as the first day of Chinese New Year falls on Friday

March: Another three-day weekend (March 30-April 1), thanks to Good Friday

April/May: Taking leave on two Mondays (April 30 and May 28) will net you two four-day weekends as Labour Day and Vesak Day both fall on Tuesdays.

June: Three-day weekend (June 15-17) as Hari Raya Puasa is on a Friday

August: National Day falls on a Thursday, so taking leave on Friday (Aug 10) means you get a four-day weekend

November: Yes to another four-day weekend – just take leave on Monday (Nov 5) as Deepavali falls on a Tuesday

December: Ditto for Christmas – taking leave on Christmas Eve (Monday) will ensure a leisurely, four-day-long Christmas weekend

THE ‘GOOD’ AND ‘BAD’ YEARS

Next year’s four long weekends is on par with the “bad” years of 2013 and 2014, which also had only four. There were five long weekends in 2011 and 2012, and six in 2016.

It is also a sharp drop from the seven long weekends in 2017.

The best year for public holidays in recent times is the bumper crop of an additional public holiday and two four-day weekends in 2015, Singapore’s Jubilee year.

That year saw seven long weekends, with a one-off SG50 public holiday on Aug 7 stretching the National Day weekend to four days. Chinese New Year also fell on Thursday and Friday, forming another four-day weekend.

This article was first published on April 5, 2017.
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The Public Transport Council (PTC) has begun a review of the formula it uses to adjust bus and train fares.

The review will assess “the effectiveness of the current fare adjustment formula and mechanism and propose improvements in consideration of the changes to the public transport industry”, the council said in a statement yesterday.

It will also “focus on maintaining a good balance in keeping public transport fares affordable while ensuring the financial viability of the public transport system”.

PTC chairman Richard Magnus said in a blog post that the council will consult and engage commuters, public transport operators, experts and other stakeholders.

He highlighted that the Government has taken over ownership of bus and rail assets and is now “bearing the cost of improvements” to the public transport system.

“Service improvements come at a cost. There will need to be equitable cost-sharing among commuters, taxpayers and public transport operators,” he said.

The PTC aims to complete the review by the first quarter of next year and apply the new formula starting from that year’s fare review exercise.

The current formula, which has been used since 2013 and takes into account changes in the inflation rate, wages and an energy index that charts oil and electricity costs, will be used for this year’s fare adjustment exercise.

Last month, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan told Parliament that it was not sustainable for taxpayers to increasingly subsidise the costs of running Singapore’s public transport system.

He said the Government expects to subsidise public bus services by almost $4 billion over the next five years, and while fare revenue goes to the Government under the new Bus Contracting Model, it is not enough to cover operating costs.

A further $4 billion is needed to replace ageing rail assets in the same period, and another $20 billion for new public transport infrastructure, he said.

Transport economist Michael Li, who is associate professor at Nanyang Technological University, told The New Paper that any fare increase is unlikely to be significant, or it could lead to a public outcry.

Singapore Management University Assistant Professor Terence Fan, who specialises in transport, said: “The PTC needs to consider whether this would be a one-off adjustment, or whether there would be a review every time costs go up.”

Prof Li said revenue from the fare increase should be channelled to operational needs and keeping public transport sustainable, and that public transport should adopt a revenue-neutral model.

He also suggested that public transport operators come up with tools to measure customer service satisfaction that can be linked back to operational details. Waiting times, for example, are related to scheduling efficiency, he said.

Prof Fan said that while measurement tools could help improve accountability, it is important they are airtight and efficient.

rloh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on April 6, 2017.
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