Driverless trucks may be tested on the roads here within three years, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and PSA Corporation announced yesterday, following the signing of agreements with automakers Scania and Toyota Tsusho.

The two companies will design, develop and test a truck platooning system, in which a human-driven truck leads a convoy of driverless trucks via wireless communications, for use on the roads.

A request for proposals for the trial was issued by MOT and PSA in October 2015.

The initiative is expected to address the manpower shortage in the trucking industry, as well as ease traffic congestion by allowing more freight to be moved at night.

Both companies were chosen for their “strong track record” in both truck manufacturing and self-driving technology development, the MOT and PSA said in a joint statement yesterday.

Autonomous trucks from Scania travelled more than 2,000km from Sweden to the Netherlands in April last year, as part of a truck platooning challenge organised by the Dutch government.

Last September, Toyota Tsusho, the trading arm of the Toyota Group, won a grant from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to conduct such tests.

The trials for Singapore will take place in two phases over a three- year period beginning this month.

Read also: Time to rev up discussion about insurance for driverless cars

The first phase, to be conducted over a year at Scania’s and Toyota’s research centres in Sweden and Japan respectively, will focus on the designing, testing and refining of the technology.

In order to qualify for the second phase, the truck platooning systems must meet certain criteria, an MOT spokesman said in response to queries from The Straits Times.

These include operating safely when a manned vehicle comes in between the platoon or when the lead vehicle has to make an emergency stop.

Only one of the firms will be selected for the second phase, which will test the system along a 10km stretch of West Coast Highway, between the Brani and Pasir Panjang Terminals, in various conditions, such as during rainfall and at night.

The trial may also eventually expand to include truck platooning between Pasir Panjang and Tuas Port, a distance of about 20km.

Permanent Secretary for Transport Pang Kin Keong said the introduction of truck platooning provided “an opportunity to boost productivity” in both the port and trucking sectors.

“It will also open up opportunities for truck drivers to take on higher-skilled roles as fleet operators and managers,” said Mr Pang, who is also chairman of the Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore, set up in 2014 to chart the direction for self-driving technology here.

PSA International’s regional chief executive officer for South- east Asia Ong Kim Pong said the agreements underscored MOT and PSA’s “joint commitment to being future-ready” and that truck platooning would allow PSA to better serve its customers.

The technology is taking off elsewhere as well. Last October, a truck developed by Otto, a self-driving technology start-up owned by Uber, travelled driverlessly for almost 200km in the US state of Colorado.

SIM University senior lecturer in urban transport Park Byung Joon said autonomous trucks might face fewer hurdles than self-driving cars in being introduced on the roads here.

“The routes are more contained and the movement of the vehicles is more predictable,” he said.

Read also: Uber rival Grab partners with driverless car firm nuTonomy in Singapore

azhaki@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 10, 2017.
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Singapore has launched a new five-year road map aimed at helping the legal sector adopt and create new technologies, in preparation for what Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon describes as the “uberisation” of the law practice.

In the Legal Technology Vision document released by the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL), small and medium-sized law firms will get help to adopt “baseline technologies” such as office productivity suites and online profiling and communications tools.

Two other prongs include setting up collaborative and shared virtual platforms and workspaces, as well as Web- and cloud-based tools that can be accessed remotely, and link-ups with other sectors to help create fresh legal technologies.

Speaking at the opening of the Legal Year 2017 yesterday, CJ Menon revealed details of the road map as he explained why the legal process must be transformed in response to technology because “the day of reckoning can no longer be put off”.

He cited how the advent of online dispute resolution platforms and easy public access to reliable and readily available standard precedents suggest that “some of the spaces that have traditionally been occupied by lawyers will diminish”.

“But it would be wrong to approach technology as if it is something to be vanquished just because it threatens to disrupt or challenge how we have been accustomed to operate,” added CJ Menon.

“Technology holds the promise of greater productivity and effectiveness. This should translate to higher quality legal services and cost savings for law firms and, ultimately, for society.”

For instance, he said, rapid and unbroken information flows will give clients greater access to resources on the law and lawyers.

“The traditional practice of retainers may fade in favour of a system that more efficiently matches supply and demand, leading to the ‘uberisation’ of legal practice,” said CJ Menon, in a reference to the impact of ride-hailing service Uber on people’s travel patterns.

The annual event at the Supreme Court was attended by members of the legal fraternity, three Chief Justices from Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam.

Outgoing Attorney-General V.K. Rajah said in his address yesterday that investigation papers used for prosecution work are now digitised. But he called for “an entirely electronic platform” to allow sharing of information between stakeholders at different stages of the criminal justice process.

In his speech, Law Society president Gregory Vijayendran added that financial support will be given to these firms to adopt IT solutions.

Besides the SAL road map, CJ Menon also announced a five-year technology blueprint charting the “courts of the future”, based on the study by a task force set up last year.

The blueprint proposes various IT initiatives that will be reviewed, revised and updated by a unified One Judiciary IT Steering Committee.

vijayan@sph.com.sg and nghuiwen@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 10, 2017.
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The number of people marrying in their early 20s or younger has plunged in the past decade.

More Singaporeans are better educated and study for longer periods before they start work. Many also want to establish their careers before they settle down.

Dr Mathew Mathews, senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said: “People want to make sure they are sufficiently prepared, in terms of finances, before they tie the knot. More also want a longer courtship to be sure they are compatible.”

In 2015, there were 1,606 grooms aged 24 and under – 26 per cent fewer than the 2,176 grooms in this age group in 2005.

Younger grooms made up 5.7 per cent of all grooms in 2015, according to the latest Statistics On Marriages And Divorces report.

As for women, there were 4,050 brides aged 24 and under in 2015, 33 per cent fewer than the 6,062 such brides in 2005. These young brides comprised 14.3 per cent of all brides in 2015.

Muslim brides and grooms made up a sizeable chunk of young couples. In 2015, Muslim brides accounted for 37 per cent of all brides, while Muslim grooms made up 41 per cent of all grooms aged 24 and under.

Mr Mohamed Khair Mohamed Noor, chief executive of SuChi Success, which runs marriage preparation courses for Malay couples, said the Malay-Muslim community frowns on premarital sex for religious and cultural reasons.

“Many parents urge their children not to wait too long to marry if they have started work and are dating,” he said.

“They are afraid their children would have premarital sex, which is seen as bringing shame to the family. So they would urge their children to wed if they have been dating for one to two years.”

This article was first published on Jan 10, 2017.
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With people who marry young much likelier to divorce, an intensive programme of one-on-one sessions and workshops will be rolled out to help young couples stay together.

Couples aged 18 to 24 will be encouraged to go for the Early Marriage Support programme by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), even before they exchange rings and say “I do”.

The pre-marriage part of the programme, which is 20 hours long, is compulsory for couples in civil marriages where at least one party is under 21. They have to complete it before they can register their marriage, an MSF spokesman told The Straits Times.

The programme includes a 16-hour marriage education workshop before nuptials and four peer support group sessions during their first year of marriage.

The MSF held a tender, which closed on Thursday, for service providers to run the programme.

This move comes as a study found that the divorce rate for couples where the groom is below 25 was “very high” compared with older grooms, the spokesman said.

The MSF’s 2015 marriage cohort dissolution study found that for all marriages registered in Singapore in 2008, 12.4 per cent of grooms aged 20 to 24 ended their marriage before their fifth wedding anniversary. This is double the 6 per cent for grooms who were 25 to 29 when they wed.

In February last year, the MSF amended the Women’s Charter, making it mandatory for couples in civil marriages where at least one party is below 21 to attend a marriage preparation programme. This applies to couples where at least one party is a Singapore citizen or a permanent resident.

The post-marriage segment of the new programme is optional for such couples.

For couples with at least one party aged 21 to 24, the new programme is not compulsory, but the MSF encourages them to attend.

The Straits Times understands that the programme is targeted at couples in civil marriages. There are already similar marriage programmes for young Muslim couples, the MSF spokesman said.

Couples who attend this pilot programme and take part in a study to assess its effectiveness can get shopping vouchers.

Counsellors said that one key reason behind the high divorce rates among young couples is that they are often not prepared for marriage and parenthood.

Many rush into marriage as the woman is pregnant, even though they may not be working and able to support a family.

Even for those not in shotgun marriages, many could not afford a flat or face money woes as they are just starting out at work. So they have to live with their in-laws, which could be a source of tension.

They also face other challenges common to couples of all ages, such as adjusting to married life and parenting responsibilities.

That is why marriage preparation is crucial to help them learn to budget, manage their roles and responsibilities and handle conflicts, among other things, counsellors say.

Ms Madelin Tay, a counsellor at Fei Yue Community Services, said: “Young couples are more driven by their emotions. But feelings change. So we have to help them learn how to sustain (their marriage) when they face challenges.”

Counsellors say the post-marriage component in the new programme is important.

It allows couples who are married to find support and advice from counsellors and other couples in similar situations, said Touch Family Services senior director Edmund Wong.

But the challenge will be to attract young couples for whom the programme is not compulsory.

Mr Wong said: “They might not be keen or may find it a challenge to make time for it due to their busy schedules.”

theresat@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Jan 10, 2017.
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