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Their Build-To-Order (BTO) flats are not ready yet, but some home buyers who rent units in Dover Road as interim housing from the Housing Board have been told they still have to move.
This has upset some tenants because it means that they will have to move twice.
The Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS), meant to give these home buyers a chance to start their families earlier, has a clause that caps the tenancy duration at three years, or when the PPHS site is unavailable, whichever is shorter.
But BTO flats typically take up to four years to complete.
About 50 households in three PPHS blocks in Dover Road have been told by the HDB that they have to relocate to a different PPHS site for a short while, before moving again when their BTO flats are ready.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, the HDB said it is “not always possible” to ensure that the PPHS flats will be available until every tenant’s BTO flat is completed. This is because the use of the flats is interim in nature.
Applicants can also apply for a PPHS flat at any time, and the waiting times for completion of their new flats vary, said the spokesman.
The lease on the Dover Road site ends on May 31 and all its tenants will have to vacate by then, they told The Straits Times. A letter from the HDB to residents said the site was due for redevelopment.
The HDB spokesman said “Applicants are advised to consider the availability of the PPHS site and choose one that best meets the completion timelines of their new flats.”
They will receive two reminders to vacate the site, the first of which was sent a year before the deadline, added the spokesman.
Dover resident Tom Ye, 41, said he will have to move his family to an alternative PPHS site in Commonwealth Drive for about a month, before moving again when his Ghim Moh four-room BTO unit is ready in mid-June. He pays $1,700 a month for the Dover Road flat.
Added Mr Ye, an IT engineer: “I have a lot of furniture and with two young kids, it will be a lot of hassle to keep moving.”
While Mr Ye is grateful for the scheme, he wonders if the HDB could have allowed him to remain.
The HDB said 220 PPHS households have rented units at the Dover Road site, with a majority moving on to their newly completed homes.
Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Gan Thiam Poh, who is a member of the Governmental Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for National Development, said he understands the residents’ frustrations: “I don’t see why there is a need to move them here and there before they can collect their keys.”
Fellow GPC members Darryl David and Lee Bee Wah said the HDB should consider the impact on residents and allow flexibility. But they added that residents should also be fair because there can be construction delays.
Mr David said private landlords also define finite tenancy terms, including the lease period. But he said more can be done to help the tenants during these “transitory periods”, such as with the home mover fees. The HDB can also consider extending the lease for those who need the home for another three months or so, he added.
Mr Gan suggested that the lease expiry be aligned with the applicant’s BTO completion date from the onset.
ngjunsen@sph.com.sg
Eligible applicants waiting for their Build-To-Order flats can rent units from the Housing Board under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) at below market rates.
These are units vacated under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme.
There are 1,300 three- and four-room flats in Bedok South, Commonwealth, Jurong, Tiong Bahru, Eunos, Boon Lay and Bukit Merah under the scheme currently.
Introduced in January 2013, the scheme was initially extended to first-timer married couples with children under 16.
Later, married couples comprising first- and second-timer Build-To-Order applicants, those without children, and divorced or widowed parents with children also had access.
Families can co-rent a flat.
About 2,000 families have benefited from the PPHS, and more than 400 babies have been born to families living in the flats.
There are 780 households enrolled in the scheme as of last month.
Monthly rents for PPHS flats were slashed by as much as $400 from last Saturday, bringing down the rent to less than half of that offered in the open market in some cases.
Approximate number of households in three PPHS blocks in Dover Road that have been told by the HDB to relocate to a different PPHS site for a short while, before moving again when their BTO flats are ready.
This article was first published on April 4, 2017.
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About 20 hospitals nationwide will begin a test of an automated translation system used exclusively in medical contexts from this fiscal year, as part of efforts to help foreign visitors feel safe in visiting medical institutes in Japan, it has been learned.
The test will be conducted at medical facilities including the University of Tokyo Hospital, Mitsui Memorial Hospital in Tokyo and Rinku General Medical Center in Osaka Prefecture, with hopes of putting the system into practical use sometime before the opening of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics when an increasing number of foreign visitors are expected.
The University of Tokyo Hospital, the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology and Fujitsu Ltd. jointly developed a tablet device that translates spoken communication between patients and doctors from Japanese into English or Chinese, or vice versa.
The output may be in either written or voice form.
About 1 million translation examples of travel-related conversations as well as 200,000 examples for medical settings are registered on a server at a hospital that is connected to the device.
Artificial intelligence will select the most appropriate examples from the data. Subtle nuances such as “throbbing” or “gripping” pain are also registered in the system.
A test was conducted last fiscal year at six hospitals in Tokyo and Osaka Prefecture using a Japanese-English translation system.
This fiscal year, the system will be tested at 20 hospitals in Aichi, Kagoshima and other prefectures.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organisation, about 24 million foreigners visited Japan last year, and the government aims to increase the number of annual visitors to 40 million by 2020.
However, according to a government survey in fiscal 2013 covering 766 hospitals nationwide, only 35 per cent said they were ready to provide interpreters for patients, including interpreter services offered by phone.
Hideomi Yamada, vice chief of University of Tokyo Hospital’s International Medical Center, who is in charge of the system’s development, said: “This device will be able to provide hospital information and handle billing. We’d like to help patients who can’t speak Japanese feel at ease when they visit us.”
After a long battle, Xin Yue is finally living as her truest self.
The 72-year-old transgender woman was recently able to undergo gender confirmation surgery in China’s Guangdong province.
But her story makes clear the barriers and discrimination transgender people still face in society.
Xin, who is from Beijing, had to complete a series of tests and answer more than 1,000 questions to ensure she was “ready” for gender confirmation surgeries.
Under Chinese law, patients also need to get approval from their direct relatives before they can undergo gender confirmation surgery.
Thankfully, both Xin’s wife and daughter were in full support of her need to transition.
“(Our daughter) joked that she would have two mothers,” Leng Rui, Xin Yue’s wife told the Southern Metropolis Daily.
Xin says she still lives together with her wife, though she explained their relationship status has changed.
“In the future, my wife and I can use the term ‘sister’ for each other,” she said. “We will still live together.”
Xin grew up with two brothers, and was often dressed in girl’s clothing by her parents because they wanted a daughter. She was given the nickname Er gu niang, or “second girl.”
Xin eventually got married and the couple had a child three years after marriage. But it was only after her retirement in 2002 that she eventually came across a forum for LGBTQ people and realised she was transgender.
After undergoing confirmation curgery, Xin says she now feels like a woman in “her 30s.”
Chinese netizens were quick to come out in support of Xin, with many hailing her decision.
“She’s brave to do this on her own. I wish her happiness and health in old age,” said one netizen on Weibo.
“Her lifetime is finally considered complete. What a blessing!” said another.
Read the full article here.
Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture, and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the world.
If there’s one thing that all Star Wars movies have in common, it’s that they sweat the details of stuff you barely see – and that’s as true for Rogue One as it is for all the episodes of the Skywalker saga.
As a Star Wars nerd himself, Rogue One director Gareth Edwards inserted a galactic ton of easter eggs – odd references and details to delight his fellow fans – into his movie. In an unusual step, Disney revealed many of them in a bonus feature on the Rogue One Blu-Ray and DVD, released Tuesday. (We’ve got an exclusive excerpt of the special feature above.)
But the feature barely scratches the surface. And even in the age of internet obsessiveness, Edwards says, nobody has yet uncovered all the cool stuff he squeezed into the film.
“There are all sorts of little things,” the director told RadioTimes.com Monday. The example he offered: Did you know there’s a “space camel” being ridden by a stormtrooper in the film?
Indeed, the space camel was even ignored by the easter egg special feature, which (like most of us) focuses on the Imperial probe droid from Empire Strikes Back in the same scene.
“If you look really very carefully when Jyn and Cassian are walking through Jedha, you’ll see these giant camel things that Stormtroopers are riding on the left,” Edwards said.
The Imperial camels can also be briefly spotted in a wide shot that establishes Jedha City, and are shown (though not named) in the Star Wars Galactic Atlas released last year – though they didn’t merit a mention in the Rogue One Visual Dictionary.
An entirely new class of creature hidden in the background of a few shots like a trail of breadcrumbs for fans to follow? Welcome to the weird world of Star Wars.
Read the full article here.
Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture, and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the world.
NEW DELHI – Using his persuasive skills with captains of India’s entertainment industry, after spending most of the day wooing India’s business leaders, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak welcomed Bollywood to shoot its films in Malaysia.
He spoke of his meeting with Tamil movie superstar Rajinikanth in Chennai, and how he was becoming a Tamil movie fan since the actor shot his box-office hit Kabali in Malaysia last year.
“Malaysians are huge fans of your films (from India).
“There was a great deal of interest in my meeting with Rajinikanth, and a lot of speculation if we would meet or not.
“I’m glad that we did, and the selfie I took has had quite a few views.
“I even invited Rajinikanth to shoot a sequel to Kabali in Malaysia,” he said.
Najib had met Rajinikanth at the latter’s residence in the South Indian capital on Friday.
Najib said alternatively, India could make use of Malaysian skills for their productions.
“One of the Government’s key policy aims is to make Malaysia a favoured destination for the creative industries.
“I would like to invite all of you to make Malaysia your favoured location to produce more films and TV series by leveraging on Malaysia’s unique scenery, culture, diversity and skilled talent,” he added.
The PM also cited the launch of Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios in 2014 as the largest independent integrated studio facility in South-East Asia, involving a US$120mil (S$167.7 million) investment.
He said the Government had also introduced attractive incentives for content development, specifically for film, TV and other areas of screen production.
“We have also had film crews from India come to Malaysia under our Tourism Ministry’s Mega Familiarisation programme, which is about promotion, branding and understanding of Malaysia and what we have to offer,” Najib added.
Thailand’s Chiang Mai tourism market has undergone a millennial transformation that is now tapping into a new base of travellers seeking authentic Thai experiences.
Last year, more than 4.6 million people arrived at the city’s international gateway, thrusting the destination into a new light, as passenger volume only trailed Phuket in terms of provincial airports in the country.
According to C9 Hotelworks’ latest market research Chiang Mai Hotel Market Overview, much of the growth has been fueled by rising low-cost carriers, with 5,346 flights from Greater China last year.
Over the past 10 years, passenger arrivals have shot up three-fold with 2013 being the turning point fueled by the epic success of the Chinese film “Lost in Thailand”.
Noting the explosive impact of cinematic wanderlust on tourism, C9’s managing director Bill Barnett said: “Be it ‘Eat Pray Love’ or ‘Notting Hill’, the impact of film in destination marketing is remarkable.
While Thailand’s travel market outside of Bangkok shifted to the beach in the early millennium, a rising tide of Asian travellers and westerners increasingly want into the culture club instead of the atypical surf and turf.”
As Thailand’s government has pivoted its tourism ambition from quantity to quality, Chiang Mai has fit nicely into the equation with a range of impressive new boutique hotels, a rampant art scene and budding culinary offerings, the shift is resonating with Thai and foreign travellers alike.
One of the most eagerly awaited entries to the creative scene was the debut of the MAIIAM Museum of Creative Art in mid-2016. This 3,000 square metre facility has attracted global attention.
“We are certainly seeing increasing demand for personalized itineraries for Chiang Mai – for both the city itself and also connecting cities to explore the far north of Thailand,” said ASIA DMC Thailand managing director Andre van der Marck.
“Strong domestic airlift is helping access while the increase of creative, boutique accommodation is an ideal match with the experiential millennial travellers we see more and more.”
Looking into the prospects for 2017, while the government instituted a crackdown in zero-baht tours from Mainland China in the mid part of last year, the impact is normalizing, given strong demand from Thai domestic travellers who are being drawn to a different Chiang Mai experience.
Digital media is super charging the pace of change as millennials abandon guidebooks and replace them with smartphones and a new mode of travel driven by authentic local experiences and a lifestyle of sharing, thanks to Facebook and Instagram.
In less than three years, Diya Prabhakar has gone from strutting down the runway on the New Face stage to a much bigger one – modelling for multiple labels at London Fashion Week 2017 (LFW) in February.
The 18-year-old Singaporean, winner of The New Paper New Face 2014, decided to take a gap year after finishing her studies at Jurong Junior College to pursue her dream of being a full-time model before going to university.
Taking part in her first LFW proved to be a hectic but memorable experience for Diya.
She told The New Paper in an e-mail interview: “I’ve been living in London for three months now, and I’m basically doing shoots and castings.
“I’ll probably be coming back for the next fashion week.
“I’ve only done fashion weeks in Singapore and India, so it’s definitely one my biggest modelling gigs apart from my covers for ELLE India and Her World.”
She added: “The models and designers were all so lovely and nice, and they made the whole LFW journey really enjoyable.”
Scouted in India – where she was holidaying – at 14 by fashion guru Prasad Bidapa, Diya said she fell in love with modelling instantly.
She later signed on with modelling agency Looque in Singapore, and taking part in New Face gave her more visibility here. Her mother agency in India, Anima Creatives, then helped her sign a contract with Storm Models in London.
Diya went to different castings there and ended up modelling for Daks, Toga, Fashion East and Sadie Williams at LFW.
MORE EXERCISE
Luckily for the snack addict, she did not have to change her diet much while preparing for the shows.
She said: “But I started exercising more often and even signed up with a gym.”
Now that LFW is over, Diya is busy with test shoots, modelling assignments and editorial work for magazines Wonderland and i-D, before she officially hits the books.
She said: “Once I start my degree, I will most likely have to balance both and probably scale back on my socialising.”
huienl@sph.com.sg
Not only did she want to hone her skills as a model, she also wanted to do her country proud.
That was why R Nametha, who was first runner-up at New Face 2015, joined the upcoming fifth season of reality TV modelling series Asia’s Next Top Model (AsNTM).
The 1.78m-tall beauty told TNP: “I was delighted to know that out of all the girls who auditioned, I was chosen to compete and represent Singapore.
“However, I was really nervous at the same time because I didn’t want to let anyone down.”
The series, which premieres tomorrow on Star World (Singtel TV Ch 301 and StarHub TV Ch 501) at 9pm, will see 14 hopefuls from Asia competing for the title.
Another Singaporean, Layla Ong, 20, is also in the competition.
The prize package includes a Subaru Impreza, a cover and fashion spread in Nylon Singapore, and a modelling contract with Storm Model Management in London.
Nametha, 18, has been a full-time model for two years now.
On the difference between competing in New Face and AsNTM, the Singaporean said: “(The latter) is a lot more competitive because it’s more global, and we represent our own countries so the stakes are higher.
“But one thing that’s similar is that I’ve made some dear friends whom I’ll cherish forever.” – ELAINE LEE
The first South Korean national in The New Paper New Face history, Ji Won Heo, is also making a name for herself in the modelling world beyond our shores.
The 2013 finalist officially kick-started her modelling career in May 2015, and she has since scored gigs for bridal wear brand Lusan Mandongus during Si Sposaitalia Collezioni – a world renowned event dedicated to bridal fashion and formal wear.
She also walked two seasons – last September and February – of London Fashion Week (LFW).
Currently a full-time model represented by Body London, the London-based 21-year-old revealed how nervous she was and how she could not wait to finish her walk during her first runway experience in 2015.
But after her maiden LFW stint, she started to enjoy the spotlight “rather than being scared of it”.
Heo, who recently bumped into fellow New Face alumna Diya Prabhakar when they were at the same shoot, told TNP in an e-mail: “Funnily enough, now I want the runway to last longer.
“I love having more outfit changes, since it means I would have another round on the catwalk.”
NICE FEELING
On modelling for brands such as Mark Fast, Hallie Sara, A.V. Robertson and Malan Breton at the recent LFW, Heo said it is always a nice feeling to have her agent tell her she has been booked for a show, especially after jostling with so many other hopefuls during castings.
She said: “Working with brands who have such a big and great team inspires you to work harder, and it also gives you more self-confidence.”
One downside, however, was suffering an allergic reaction on her eyebrows after LFW.
She said: “They were bleached for one of the shows, and when I dyed them back after LFW ended, my skin had a really bad reaction.”
Heo, who has tried boxing and yoga, added that LFW motivated her to hit the gym regularly. Diet-wise, she got into healthy eating – oatmeal is her go-to meal almost every morning – and cooking after she started modelling.
“Fashion week or not, I will always try to eat clean and stay healthy. It is not about the shape of my body but how I feel,” she said.
“I do not only look better, but also feel so much better, when eating right.” – ELAINE LEE
This article was first published on April 4, 2017.
Get The New Paper for more stories.
The Indonesian Embassy and the Saudi authorities are investigating a report that claims hundreds of Indonesian migrant workers are being locked up by a recruitment company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The information was reported to the Foreign Ministry after 10 Indonesian workers ran away from their company’s temporary shelter in Riyadh.
The workers, who have already returned to their homes in Indonesia, reported that 300 workers, who mostly came from West Nusa Tenggara, have been abused and are still being held against their will in the Riyadh shelter.
Indonesia has implemented a ban on sending domestic workers to 21 Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, which has prompted illegal practices through which workers are abused by recruitment agencies and employers.
“This report and the number, 300, still need to be verified,” the ministry’s director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
“With the help of the local authorities we were finally able to visit the recruitment company, but the report [about the confinement] is not proven yet.”
On Wednesday, the Saudi kingdom enacted a 90-day amnesty to allow illegal workers to report themselves and leave the country without suffering any legal penalties.
There has been no information on whether any from Indonesia have reported themselves.
Read also: Kuwaiti woman held for filming maid attempting suicide
However, Sachin’s song has not been released on social media or YouTube yet but is available on his newly-released official app, 100MB, reports Indian news portal NDTV.
The song reflects the excitement of watching a live cricket match and features an animated version of the cricketer on field.
Sonu Nigam, who was also a judge on Indian Idol 9, accompanied the cricketer when the song was screened at the music reality show and had something to say about Sachin the ‘genius’: “I am glad to be part of Sachin’s new innings. The song that he has sung with me is called Cricket Waali Beat. I was very surprised to see the way he was pitching right. That’s why I believe that when God blesses someone with genius, it spills in other faculties too,” IANS quoted Sonu as saying.
