SINGAPORE – Environmentally conscious individuals will have another reason to ditch their cars in as early as August, when the first of 1,000 French- made battery-powered hatchbacks are deployed here in the first big- scale car-sharing scheme of its kind.

Unlike some tax-exempt electric taxis with research plates plying the roads here, cars operated by Blue Solutions – which has a similar scheme in Paris – are normal-plated cars with full taxes.

Blue Solutions managing director (Asia and Middle East) Franck Vitte told The Straits Times that a soft launch of the phone apps-based car-sharing programme will take place some time in August.

It will start with 10 to 20 cars in five to 10 locations, somewhat fewer than the 125 cars and 50 locations envisaged last June when the Government announced it had awarded the 10-year car-sharing contract to France’s Bollore Group, the parent company of Blue Solutions.

Mr Vitte is, however, confident of having 1,000 cars across 500 locations in four years’ time. Each location will have about four parking spaces with chargers. The first few cars of the fleet are already here. The two-door, four-seater hatchbacks with lithium-metal-polymer batteries will have a range of 250km, and initial tests have shown that air-conditioning has little impact on that.

Mr Vitte said usage charges are likely to be slightly lower than taxi fares, starting from “a few dollars” for the first 15 minutes, followed by per-minute charges. Frequent users will enjoy lower rates.

Describing the sharing service as more like a self-drive taxi than a rental service, Mr Vitte is confident the business model will be viable despite losses in Paris. “There are 1.7 million driving licence holders here and around 500,000 private passenger cars,” he noted. “So there is a potential of 1.2 million users. And Singapore has a much higher population density than Paris.”

In Paris, the average usage for the company’s electric fleet is seven rentals per day per car.

Mr Vitte reckons Singapore will have a similar usage frequency, but will be more viable commercially. “In Paris, we have no control over how much we charge, or our location. So, often we had to set up in low-density areas, or areas with a high crime rate, and our cars were sometimes vandalised or burnt.”

In Singapore, cars will be able to carry advertisements, Mr Vitte noted. This will help it partly defray running costs such as parking.

“This will be another mode of public transport,” he said. “We’re not competing with taxis or other car-sharing operators… We’re providing a complementary service.”

He said the company’s fixed point model is better than a free-float model (where users drop the car off anywhere) because it offers the predictability of public transport, and users need not worry about parking availability or charges.

The cars have an estimated open market value of $20,000, and cost less than $100,000 on the road.

National University of Singapore Business School assistant professor Yang Nan has doubts about the scheme’s viability. “Given that the on-demand transit industry is flourishing, and that taxis are widely and inexpensively available, its market niche is very small,” he said, adding that “balancing the fleet and maintaining availability across locations will be challenging and expensive”.

This article was first published on Feb 13, 2017.
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How Singaporean should Singapore be?

According to one British film production house, Molinare, it means changing all street signs from English to Chinese and removing British tourists from scenes filmed in Singapore.

A tweet-storm brewed over the weekend after Molinare revealed it had digitally altered scenes shot in Singapore for the British television series Cold Feet.

Actor James Nesbitt plays lead role Adam Williams, who works in Singapore.

Molinare’s Daniel Mark Millar who spoke at London’s Visual Effects Festival on Feb 9, said that the team shot footage in Singapore, but observed upon their return that the scenes resembled backgrounds in Manchester.

“They actually did shoot this in Singapore, but for some reason they shot it in ‘Englishtown’,” Mr Millar said.

“You know, we have a Chinatown in London, they have an Englishtown in Singapore,” he added.

Now wouldn’t you like to know what and where ‘Englishtown’ is?

Radio Times published two photos from the series; one of Nesbitt canoodling with co-star Karen David on what appears to be Marina Bay Sands’ iconic infinity pool. He is pictured with Singaporean actress Tan Kheng Hua at Marina Bay in the other picture.

Mr Millar’s comment quickly drew ire on Reddit and Twitter.

Singapore’s identity

Before you get all riled up reading this, there are two issues here that are worth unpacking.

First of all, how do you define Singapore’s cultural anatomy?

Mr Millar said: “We had to make it look a bit more like Singapore – given it was Singapore.”

Now, this brings to question what quantifies as the city state’s essence. 

According to Singstat’s 2016 population report, Singapore is home to 5.61 million people, with non-residents making up an estimated figure of 1.67 million.

74.3 per cent are Chinese, 13.4 per cent are Malays, 9.1 per cent are Indians and the remaining minorities are grouped under 3.2 per cent.

Singapore is historically a Malay land, with immigration trends driving up numbers in the other ethnic groups since colonial times. As it stands, Malay is one of our national languages, while English is the official language of administration.

Regardless of ethnic diversity, students in Singapore schools are taught in English. The language is also the common mode of communication between the different ethnic groups – although a colloquial form called Singlish is still very much used.

Is ‘Englishtown’ a thing?

Secondly, no matter how bizarre Mr Millar’s suggestion of an “Englishtown” was, he had a point.

The said “Englishtown” doesn’t exist in modern Singapore, but its concept harks back to the 1822 Jackson Plan, an urban re-development programme designed by Lieutenant Philip Jackson.

This is the same plan that mapped out Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam. While the various ethnic groups settled in their respective quarters, European merchants were designated to European Town – which now makes up the Downtown Core, Singapore’s financial hub.

Skyscrapers characteristically map out the Downtown area. It is after all, Singapore’s Central Business District. With close proximity to attractions like Gardens by the Bay, Esplanade, Fullerton Hotel, ArtScience Museum and the Singapore River, it makes sense to observe the occasional tourist (British or otherwise) in the background.

Also, because Singapore was a Crown colony, there are remnants of the old British model still present: For instance, the country’s parliamentary system is modelled after the Westminister system of parliamentary democracy.

Iconic landmarks like the present Fullerton Hotel, National Gallery and Victoria Concert Hall were built by the British while some roads like Albert Street and Ellenborough Street were named after British notables.

So yes Mr Millar, signs in English are relevant to our identity, just as much as British tourists are.

The skyscrapers, diversity and hordes of tourists – we claim them all.

debwong@sph.com.sg

Two Singaporeans caught smuggling drugs were jailed in separate cases in New Zealand and Australia.

Sole breadwinner Mohamad Nazjib Abdul Majit said he tried to smuggle 100g of methamphetamine in his underwear because of financial stress related to his business.

He was caught in March last year by Customs officers at Auckland Airport.

In judgment grounds released on Feb 1, New Zealand District Court judge S. Patel said Nazjib’s detention and conviction had caused financial hardship and upset his family in Singapore. The judge took this into account when he sentenced Nazjib to 30 months in jail.

Nazjib was contacted by New Zealand-based drug supplier Thomas Cheng via phone and social media. Cheng suggested that Nazjib swallow 200g of the drug to smuggle it into New Zealand for NZ$4,000 (S$4,100) but Nazjib refused.

The judge said: “You now understand the negative consequences of methamphetamine and you say that having regard to seeing the first-hand damage that it has on other people incarcerated along with you.”

The court noted that Nazjib was a first offender who would have “considerable difficulty” in serving a jail term in New Zealand as he has no family support there.

The judge gave Nazjib, who could have been jailed for 54 months, a sentence discount of 12 months, given the hardship he would face serving time as a foreigner. Nazjib was given a further discount of 12 months for having pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Separately, 59-year-old Lum Fook Loong failed to convince a court in Western Australia that he had helped sell methylamphetamine on two occasions in 2011 because of threats against his family.

Lum helped sell a total of 56g of the white crystal in two deliveries for A$28,500 (S$31,100).

In judgment grounds released last week, the appeal court in Western Australia noted Lum had “intially refused to be involved in the delivery of drugs because he came from Singapore, where dealing in drugs carried the death penalty”.

But he claimed he agreed to do so when the principal offender, a man who went by several names including Jacky, threatened his family.

Lum said he owed money over mortgage payments and claimed that Jacky threatened to harm his son if he refused to help deliver the drugs. “He threatened my son. That’s the worst thing. I got no choice,” he said in court.

But the jury was not convinced by Lum’s defence that he had been under duress. He was convicted and jailed for four years by a district court in December 2015.

Following a hearing in December last year, the three-judge Western Australia Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed Lum’s appeal against conviction last week.

This article was first published on Feb 13, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

SINGAPORE – Even with the largest recall in mobile phone history, Samsung continued to grow on consumers, with its name on nearly one in every three smartphones that made their way to Singapore last year.

The latest data from market research firm IDC showed that Samsung accounted for 31 per cent of the 3.4 million smartphones shipped here last year, up from 28 per cent in 2015, which makes it No. 2 in the country behind Apple.

The figures excluded the Note7, which was recalled and scrapped following several reports of the phone emitting smoke or catching fire in the United States, South Korea and Australia.

If not for the recall, Samsung’s shipment could have been higher.

The Note7 was to have been Samsung’s best phone – slim and sleek, yet packed with the most advanced features and a long battery life. It received rave reviews until the faults came to light.

IDC Asia-Pacific research manager Kiranjeet Kaur said: “The way Samsung handled the refund in Singapore and the region limited the damage of the recall.”

Manufacturing and design faults with the Note7 batteries were to blame for the fires, according to Samsung and several independent investigation findings revealed earlier this month. Globally, 2.5 million units were recalled, with tens of thousands affected in Singapore.

It remains to be seen if consumers will take to the upcoming Note8.

Some Note7 users switched to another brand after collecting their refund. Investor relations consultant Ngo Yit Sung, 35, said he switched to the Huawei Mate 9.

However, retiree Herman Chia, 64, said he would consider buying the Note8 if the battery problem is resolved.

“From my Note7 experience, the photo quality is really good,” he said.

Meanwhile, Apple’s share shrank even though it continued to dominate Singapore’s saturated smartphone market overall, shipping the most number of phones here last year.

The iPhone maker accounted for 46 per cent of smartphones shipped to Singapore last year, easing from 47.6 per cent in 2015.

IDC’s figures include products shipped to Singapore that traders and tourists take to other nearby markets.

Globally, both Samsung and Apple lost market share while up-and-coming China brands Huawei and Oppo gained more of the growing global smartphone market.

IDC figures showed that Samsung maintained its global lead, followed by Apple, Huawei and Oppo.

In Singapore, Asus, Sony and LG took the remaining top-five spots.

TOP SMARTPHONE BRANDS IN 2016

Top 5 vendors in Singapore

1. Apple

2. Samsung

3. Asus

4. Sony

5. LG

Top 5 vendors in the world

1. Samsung

2. Apple

3. Huawei

4. Oppo

5. vivo

Source: IDC ASIA-PACIFIC

This article was first published on Feb 13, 2017.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.