Starbucks cardholders enjoy 1-for-1 on the new limited edition beverages from 9 – 13 Jan. One redemption per cardholder
Starbucks 1-for-1 Limited Edition beverages for cardholders at all outlets from 9 – 13 Jan 2017
On 9 Jan, Starbucks will be crediting a free one-time use 1-for-1 Limited Edition beverage treat reward for ANY-size beverages for Starbucks cardholders, redeemable from 9 – 13 Jan 2017
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SINGAPORE: “Good progress” has been made in containing and cleaning up the oil spill in Singapore’s waters following the collision of two container vessels, said Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Friday (Jan 6).
The Tuesday night collision off Johor’s Pasir Gudang port resulted in about 300 tonnes of oil being spilled.
At least three fish farms in the East Johor Straits were affected, with one farmer telling Channel NewsAsia on Thursday that he had already lost about 1,000 fish and that damages could run up to S$700,000. Changi Beach was also partially closed for clean-up operations.
On Friday, MPA said that clean-up work is still going on at Changi Point Ferry Terminal, fish farms at Nenas Channel, and at Noordin Beach on the northern coast of Pulau Ubin.
Oil spill response vessels as well as containment booms and spill recovery equipment such as harbour busters, skimmers and absorbent booms and pads have also been deployed, said MPA.
It added that no new patches of oil have been spotted along the East Johor Straits.
Booms being deployed to block any possible oil residue. (Photo: Vanessa Lim)
Port operations remain unaffected, said MPA, adding that it and other government agencies are monitoring the situation closely and will “carry out necessary clean-up efforts”.
MPA said that members of the public who spot any oil patches in Singapore’s waters or coastline can contact its 24-hour marine safety control centre at 63252488 or 63252489.
2016 ended with a bang on the field. 2017 has opened with a bang off it!
There is much apprehension over the implications of the Supreme Court verdict. I think we worry too much.
Change is always uncomfortable because it challenges set ways but once you adapt, like you do to a new house or a new school, you find it isn’t all that it was feared to be.
I am a huge believer in the idea that the tide always comes in and brings with it fresh ideas, fresh talent and takes the world forward.
Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev seemed indispensable but we played cricket after them, as indeed we did after Dravid, Kumble and Tendulkar.
In essence, what the Lodha Commission was asking for wasn’t impossible, it wasn’t the end of the world.
At the heart of the recommendations was a desire for a greater degree of corporate governance and therefore, for transparency and accountability.
Those were not threats, those were generally accepted principles in all well-managed organisations.
And, in any case, if you are threatened by transparency and accountability, it means you have something to hide.
Many lesser luminaries than those that manned the Lodha Commission have been asking for this for years.
The debate should, instead, have centred around specific recommendations of the commission.
I didn’t agree with a couple of those either (the cap on advertising or the composition of the committee to be named, for example), but I have little doubt that a constructive dialogue would have impressed the honourable retired judges whose intent was positive.
Instead, the BCCI took them on and created an US and THEM situation in which there was only going to be one winner.
The moment positions get entrenched, dialogue ceases and hostility reigns.
Then, there is no give and take and that is what the BCCI needed.
I can offer a reason why this critical dialogue didn’t take place.
Sometimes, like athletes, administrators can live in a bubble too.
They can get sealed off from the outside world when, in effect, they must be in constant touch with it.
I am not talking only of the BCCI, but of very successful companies too.
Large companies have missed trends in the market because they thought what they knew was enough.
“We know best” are famous last words.
Successful people can sometimes start thinking they are invincible and that is largely because they are surrounded by people who are subservient to them, their future lies in saying “yes” and so the warning signs that come out of a challenge to prevailing thought get missed.
I have seen that with many top athletes and I fear this bubble might have come in the way of what could have been a constructive dialogue.
I have heard it said, most recently by Anurag Thakur, that the BCCI is the best run sports body in the country and continuously produces cricketers of high quality.
He is right, but to a limited extent.
The BCCI is by some distance India’s best run sports body and nobody in world cricket looks after its cricketers better than it does.
But the BCCI is one of India’s largest consumer product companies and therefore, must benchmark itself differently.
There is little honour in being better run than the Indian Olympic Association or the Cycling Federation, Sachin Tendulkar could have taken no credit for being a better batsman then I was!
The BCCI needed to benchmark itself against India’s best run companies and then, they would not have allowed the state associations to get away with what was happening.
TCS would never let one of its outpost offices get away with what the DDCA was doing for example.
The BCCI did more things right than wrong but allowed the states to get away with too much because the vote was important.
More than 15 years ago, I had written that a four-letter word was at the heart of all the problems in Indian cricket.
The “vote” at the national, and even more so, at the state level was at the heart of the troubles.
The easy alternative is to say that players must run sporting bodies. It is a myth that has been allowed to perpetuate.
Yes, players with the right ability and temperament would make wonderful administrators and there are some like those in Indian cricket, but the generalisation is faulty.
We have in India’s Cabinet someone who has probably never built a road doing, by all accounts, a wonderful job of running that ministry; an insurance executive took over an IPL franchise and is running it just fine.
I was hoping, and I wonder if it is too late, for people to cede a little ground, to move from their entrenched positions (not abandon them) and see what is best for Indian cricket.
I think a discussion works better than a revolution.
But the revolution is upon us and the way ahead lies in making the best of what comes your way.
The Lodha Commission needs to be very careful with their choice of people in the committee they nominate and I hope they cast their net wide enough for choices and recommendations.
The people they pick have to be relevant, contemporary and completely above board.
Having taken such a firm stance, they cannot dilute it with a committee that is uninformed or irrelevant.
These are interesting times, there will be turbulence but I am confident that, just as the congestion around a traffic light leads to greater order down the road, much good can come out of this.
tabla@sph.com.sg
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Ever heard of this 15-letter word katsaridaphobia? It means an absolute fear of cockroaches, which makes Sivakumar Palakrishnan freeze on the spot or even break into a cold sweat and can literally turn the sufferer’s life into a nightmare.
But despite being revolted, psychologically, by roaches, the 40-year-old actor had to put this secretly behind him when award-winning director K. Rajagopal asked him to spend his weekends living rough on the streets of Little India to explore his leading role in A Yellow Bird, as a former drug-addict convict, abandoned by family and friends after eight years behind bars.
“Yes, I’m afraid of cockroaches,” he says with an amicable smirk on his face.
“Getting out of it now after experiencing what it was to be homeless. Rajagopal gave me an experience every actor wants. He needed me to understand what it feels like not to have a home to go back to. You need to know it, at least experience for one day. The movie needed that honesty in performance.”
A Yellow Bird, which significantly premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival, follows an ethnic Indian man – or a “black devil” as one of the film’s Chinese characters calls him – trying to rebuild his life and family after a spell in prison.
“I made him go out and live and sleep in the streets because he doesn’t come from that side of the tracks,” recalls Rajagopal.
“It was tough for him but he did it. I wanted a fresh response, for him to feel what it was really like to be homeless. That is why I like him so much as an actor. He’s very open and intense.”
In his breakthrough major movie role, which received rave reviews from his contemporaries, Siva acted his role as a charmless, sweaty and sombre man whose quick-witted underworld-like temper is always ready to boil over.
He has to grapple with his minority “mama” status and the fractures he created within his family after marrying a Chinese prostitute.
From mother (played by Bollywood actress Seema Biswas of Bandit Queen fame) who rejected him and a society that offered no respite, Siva was, in a nutshell, a hopeless street vagabond.
He befriends Chen Chen (played by China actress Huang Lu), a prostitute who connects with him through their shared desperation. He works as a hired mourner in funeral processions to come to terms with a desperate life.
And when Siva discovers a terrible truth, he plunges into a liminal zone between death and redemption.
Simply put, it raises eyebrows of a damned Singapore lifestyle, seldom portrayed on screen.
Sensitive character
R. Ramachandran, Founder-Director of Act 3 Theatrics, says: “Siva lived his character with such subtle sensitivity and I was absorbed into the role in the movie. I had to constantly shake off my personal sense of frustration, desperation, anger and doom.”
Rajagopal, who has previously won the Singapore International Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize three years in a row, with I Can’t Sleep Tonight (1995), The Glare (1996) and Absence (1997), adds: “I have known Siva as an actor for more than 10 years. We have worked in short films and television dramas prior to A Yellow Bird. Siva was my first and only choice for the film. You can say that I wrote this film for him.
“He is an actor who likes to be challenged. He has great mental, emotional and physical stamina. He is always open to suggestions and collaborates with me very well. He totally immerses himself in the role and he is any director’s dream.”
This Rajagopal feature debut, shot over 25 days, is a co-production between Singapore and France, and is supported by the New Talent Feature Grant of the Media Development Authority of Singapore, as well as the World Cinema Fund of Le Centre National du Cinema et de L’image Animee of France.
The film, which was selectively picked for the Critics’ Week section of the world’s top film festival, also touches on the “simmering tensions beneath the skin” of Singapore’s seemingly harmonious multi-racial melting pot.
Rajagopal insisted that the struggling ex-con Siva overcame his cockroach fears and slept on the kitchen floor with his mother because she rented out the bedroom of her tiny apartment to mainland Chinese migrants.
“This is not unusual,” says the director, who was one of eight recipients of the Singapore Film Commission’s New Talent Feature Grant (NTFG), which supports promising first or second time feature film-makers with a grant of up to $250,000.
“People rent rooms to foreigners to make money to pay the rent. It is very, very common, particularly among poor Indians. One of the great things about Singapore is that we are given a government-subsidised home.”
A Yellow Bird also daringly touched on another taboo subject – inter-racial relationships – throwing Siva together with a young Chinese migrant mother (Huang Lu), who is forced into prostitution.
Siva says: “Rajagopal is just brilliantly natural. This was his first feature film. His passion in telling a story is very spiritual. I’m blessed to work with him and we have worked together in short films and television series, this was also my first feature film with him. I’m very honoured that he gave me the opportunity to be part of his first film. Was I surprised? Yes, of course! In fact that’s how I feel about every the project when I’m being shortlisted.”
Photo Gallery
Big occasion
He also praised his co-stars for making him rise to the occasion.
He says: “Acting with Seema (Biswas) is a blessing. I experienced the level of professionalism an actor needs to achieve in his craft. With a Bollywood background, she could’ve requested for a caravan by snapping her fingers but she sat on the floor with me and displayed utmost respect and humility with everyone.
“Huang Lu’s just a beautiful actress with awesome energy. If you are attuned, you can tap on it and it helps your reaction. A bubbly character and humble as well. Udaya (Soundari) is my favourite local actor. She is multi-talented and we have great chemistry. I love to work with her.
“Nithiya (Rao) and I shared one scene in A Yellow Bird. A very important scene and she gave me the amount of energy that was needed for me to react. I would really like to work more with her in the future.”
Siva, who has been a full-time actor and director for 15 years, the last three years with Mediacorp as a full-time producer for Channel 5, knows that acting is never a bed of the proverbial roses. But he challenges younger Singaporeans, with acting skills, to take the big shot.
“One of the biggest obstacles an actor faces is the mental challenge of constant rejections, a belief system that was in place that you bought in to and being surrounded by nay-sayers and non-do-ers,” he says. “Action cures fear. Indecision, delays on the other hand, feed fear. You should deposit only positive thoughts into your memory.”
Think big, he advises
“Big people monopolise listening. Small people monopolise talking. Top leaders spend more time requesting advice than they do in giving it. As a leader, the way you think towards your job determines how those around you think towards their jobs. Look important.”
Does it pay to be a professional actor in Singapore, I candidly ask him.
Smiling cautiously, Siva, a father of two teenage girls, replies: “When you work hard and go for your dream, anything, everything pays. Yes, it has been challenging at times. Production companies don’t pay you on time, but bills will always arrive on time. Well, I have also looked at those who have somehow managed, succeeded in making a career out of this. It has its ups and downs but you have to just go straight.”
He feels blessed to be mentored by Rajagopal, adding: “The company you surround yourself with will surely have an impact on your success. It is up to you to surround yourself with people who uplift you and whose presence calls forth your best. Analyse your crew, filter out the negativity and dedicate time to relationships.
“Rajagopal was like a divine intervention in my life. He got more than the best out of me because we believed in each other.
“Remember: People who tell you that it cannot be done are usually unsuccessful people.”
Facing rejection
Facing rejection again and again is just part and parcel of an actor’s occupational hazard.
He says: “I have shared this with other actors or newcomers, it’s not rejection. To the person who is auditioning you don’t see playing the role and that’s okay or you failed to impress them at the moment. But it’s only through these moments that you will learn to understand and know where you lack in your skills and how to improve them. These rejections only make you better.”
Another sensitive question: Can you seriously make a living out of acting in “Singawood” (Singapore version of Hollywood)?
“The numbers vary because you have a lot of them in a multi-racial industry,” he replies. “Wages? Seriously, it depends on your popularity. Everyone wants to be on the side whichever ‘wood’ that is. Bollywood. Kollywood. Tollywood or Hollywood.
“I want to make it big in my own country as well. I want my name to be in the history of Singapore cinema for 50 years to come. If someone tells me they want to try Hollywood, I would say: Go for it, dream big, sky’s not the limit. Dreams are limitless.”
Having a positive mindset matters a lot, as he says: “Attitudes are mirrors of the mind, they reflect thinking…when our attitude is right, our abilities reach a maximum of effectiveness and good results inevitably follow.”
Siva adds: “Always try to have energy; your smile, your handshake, talk and walk. Act alive. Always broadcast good news. No one will ever accomplish anything positive telling bad news.”
He describes his dream debut at Cannes in May for the 55th edition of La Semaine de la Critique (International Critics’ Week) like a “kid in Disneyland”.
Holding his hands over his face, he says: “No words can explain this joy I went through in Cannes. I was like a kid in Disneyland, that’s the best explanation of my feeling I can share as a Singapore rookie with some of the biggest names in world acting.
Lessons at Cannes
“I wasn’t intimidated but I was excited about knowing that George Clooney and Julia Roberts were there and I’m walking down the same red carpet as them though it was on different days. I also realised that (actress) Zoe Zaldana was standing right behind me on the red carpet.”
Another quick fiery question: The most defining lesson you learnt at Cannes?
“Nothing is impossible but break the impossible to I’m-possible!,” he answers instantly.
Actress-director Daisy Irani, the co-founder of local theatre group HuM Theatre, says of Siva: “I’ve watched him over the years. He’s grown tremendously as an actor. I would say his strength is versatility. Give him a role, whether in comedy or drama, old or young, he bites into it and does a splendid job.”
Siva’s best advice for budding actors: “Share and never be afraid to share your knowledge. Enjoy what you do and be humble at all times. Never let fame take over. Be grounded at all times.”
His bottom-line message is simply, like a yellow bird, to boldly fly to the highest heights, without fear or favour. Just as he’s overcoming his fear for cockroaches, he believes the younger actor-generation must continue to be “honest in performance”.
Just as Siva showed in his first major feature film the importance of “personal honesty”.
He adds: “I want to be an actor because I have the luxury of experiencing what it feels to be someone else. A Yellow Bird has nothing to do with my personal life. I always try and make myself fit the role that I have been tasked with.”
tabla@sph.com.sg
Quick Siva quotes
When did you start acting?
I always wanted to be an actor ever since I started watching movies at a young age. I was 10 and I told myself I would be an actor or director. I used to draw out my characters and finish up by drawing out my poster.
Biggest acting breaks?
For television, Red Thread (2009), Lifeline (2008) and First Class (2008). First movie in India was Naalai (Tomorrow). First Tamil movie in Singapore was Gurushetram and then came A Yellow Bird.
Favourite local actors?
I can’t do ranking but I do have some personal favourites: Sunny Pang, Gunaseelan, Pannir Selvam, Matstura, Fir Rahman and Udaya Soundari.
Any acting awards?
The 2014 Pradhana Vizha was my first award from Vasantham for Best Actor. I would not judge it whether it’s important or not but embrace the acknowledgement with absolute humility.
Biggest heartache for local actors?
Doubt on personal and/or professional ability.
How to keep a level head in acting?
It’s just a mirror experience of a choice made. One needs to know the difference between a “need” and a “want”.
Fun to be an actor?
Matter of perception, really. It’s fun to be an actor and can become stressful the very next day. One needs to know why they want to become an actor and have a goal. Same principle even if you want to be a dentist.
If you could turn the clock, what would you do or want to be?
I wouldn’t change anything. I’m really grateful for every single experience in life.
Biggest role-model in life?
My father, Palakrishnan. I don’t have reasons and this interview won’t be enough to fill up the reasons. He plays inspiring roles as a father, grandfather, husband, brother, uncle, father-in-law, friend and colleague in the utmost respectable way.
Your private family life?
My mother is Anjali. Two younger brothers Nantha and Barani, both are married. My wife, Sonniya, and two wonderful daughters, Ananya and Sai Akshaya. We are a simple family and have dedicated our times mostly to spiritual life. Respecting all religions and races.
How would you want Singaporeans to remember Sivakumar Palakrishnan?
Trustworthy.
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Partygoers in Asia may be familiar with Singapore’s nightclub Zouk, which often ranks among the top best clubs in the world, pulling some of the biggest DJs around the globe to spin in its hallowed halls.
But a crop of counterfeits in China and Indonesia have been so successful at passing off as Zouk branches that even the DJs invited to spin there don’t know they’re fake.
Changsha, the capital city of China’s Hunan province, has its Changsha Tianxin District Zouk Bar – commonly referred to as “Zouk Changsha.”
In posters, it uses the Zouk logo, and proudly includes Zouk’s DJ Mag ranking as a top global club.
Like Singapore’s Zouk, which has a successful sister club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Changsha counterfeit appears to pull famous guest DJs from around the world.
Jangil Han from South Korea (who performs as Reverse Prime) told Mashable via email he didn’t know that Zouk Changsha wasn’t part of the Singapore brand, when the club booked him for his show in Aug. 2016.
He added that he would be concerned if he wasn’t part of an official Zouk event, and that he thought Changsha was authentic, because he saw that famous artists such as DJ from Mars and Tenishia have spun there before.
Incidentally, the two acts he named have also played at Zouk Singapore in the past.
“How could I know (if it was) real or fake?” he said.
Zouk Singapore told Mashable it owns the Zouk trademark in China, and filed a complaint with the authorities in Changsha, which raided the premises in July 2016.
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Zouk Changsha appears to have since changed its name to “Zook” in its recent marketing collateral.
Meanwhile in Indonesia, another counterfeit Zouk appears to have popped up.
Read the original article here.
Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture, and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the world.
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SINGAPORE — It is that time of year when demand for new and good-as-new notes spikes ahead of Chinese New Year. And this year, customers of DBS/POSB will be able to reserve their new and good-as-new notes online, starting next Monday (Jan 9).
Customers will be able to choose from a combination of denominations and select their preferred collection dates at full-service branches when they make their reservations at the DBS website (go.dbs.com/sg-cnynotes).
In addition, the bank will also be increasing the number of pop-up ATMs to 41 – up from 36 last year – from which customers can withdraw their notes, and they will be accessible round-the-clock from next Wednesday, except the ones located at Chong Pang and Toa Payoh West, which will only be available from 9am to 10pm daily.
The pop-up ATMs will be located at 22 community clubs across the island.
New notes can be withdrawn in in sums of S$100 (S$2 x 50), S$300 (S$10 x 30) and S$500 (S$50 x 10), up to their individual card limit, the bank said in a press release on Friday.
POSB ambassadors will also be on hand to assist customers at the various pop-up ATM locations from Jan 11 to 27, 9am to 9pm, the bank added.
To minimise wait time at bank branches for customers, DBS/POSB customers who wish to get their new and good-as-new notes will also be able to request for a queue number via SMS (www.dbs.com.sg/personal/deposits/bank-with-ease/sms-q) before visiting the branches. They will receive notifications on the number of customers ahead of them.
Mr Jeremy Soo, Managing Director and Head of Consumer Banking Group (Singapore), DBS Bank, said: “As there is always increased demand for new notes during the Lunar New Year season, we want to ensure that customers enjoy a hassle-free experience in getting them. Over the years, public response to our POSB new notes pop-up ATMs has been overwhelmingly positive and our pop-up ATMs are now met with great anticipation during Lunar New Year. We are delighted to deploy more of them across the island this year to bring more customers joy during the festive season.”
Four months into starting casual Thai restaurant Porn’s Sexy Thai Food in 2010, television host Pornsak Prajakwit was already fielding offers to take over the restaurant.
Now, the 34-year-old has entered into a joint partnership with food and beverage company, the Jus Delish Group, which owns Thai restaurants such as Som Tam and Talay Kata mookata restaurant, both in Orchard Central, and Gin Khao in One Raffles Place and Sentosa Cove.
The group now has a 60 per cent stake in Porn’s, which has four outlets, including at Alexandra Retail Centre and Kitchener Complex, and has been managing the chain’s day-to-day operations since October last year.
The joint partnership was finalised last month. Mr Ralph Liow, managing director of the Jus Delish Group, said the company paid a seven- figure sum for the partnership.
Pornsak will be an ambassador for the chain.
He says that the time is right to take a backseat in his restaurant business. “I would like to spend more time with my 94-year-old father, who lives in Bangkok. I used to fly back once a month,” he says. “I also hope to spend more time on my education business.”
Pornsak, who co-owns a tuition centre, Study Room, in Toa Payoh North, says it took him four years to find “the right match for my baby”.
“Jus Delish Group has strong financial backing, was sincere in its negotiations and specialises in F&B,” he adds.
Mr Liow says that incorporating Porn’s into the Jus Delish Group is “a chance that doesn’t come twice”.
The group is the food and beverage subsidiary of Micro 2000 Group, an information technology company. It also owns Kwan Inn Vegetarian Restaurant in Tanjong Katong Road, which it took over in July last year.
He adds: “Porn’s has a bigger potential to expand than other local Thai restaurants here. It is a soughtafter brand that is endorsed by a Thai celebrity, who has a strong following among diners here.”
The group also plans to open 10 Porn’s outlets here within the next five years. An outlet is slated to open in the second quarter of this year at a location yet to be confirmed. He adds that the group “doesn’t plan to rock the boat”, so there will be no changes to the menu and prices.
Mr Liow says the first overseas outlet should open in Kuala Lumpur by the third quarter of this year.
This article was first published on Jan 06, 2017.
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Get your dose of Horrible Histories from SISTIC! http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/ckidsfest2017f
http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/children-love-history-when-its-nasty-says-horrible-histories-actor
Children love history when it’s nasty, says Horrible Histories actor
British actor Ashley Bowden wishes his history lessons back in school had included the gruesome and macabre details that he now has to act out in the Horrible Histories stage productions.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Singapore
CHANGI Airport is reaching out to companies and startups to develop technology solutions for the airport under a five-year innovation programme, zooming in on areas such as automation and data analytics.
The “Living Lab” programme, a tie-up between the Singapore Economic Development Board and Changi Airport Group, will see investments of up to S$50 million over the next five years. The lab will also work with accelerators, universities and research institutes from Singapore and overseas.
Aside from automation, data analytics and the Internet of Things, other areas of focus will include non-intrusive security technologies as well as smart infrastructure management.
For instance, the airport is already working with companies to conduct trials for a queue analytics system at its taxi stands. This will allow the airport to provide travellers with better information on ground transport options during peak periods as well as inform taxi drivers about anticipated demand for taxis at the airport. Data for the taxi trial is being collated over a six to 12-month period.
Another ongoing project involves prototype trials for autonomous cleaning robots to clean the floors in the airport terminals.
Meanwhile, it is exploring the use of automated guided vehicles to take passengers between terminals.
Speaking at a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing on Thursday, chief executive officer of airport operator CAG, Lee Seow Hiang, highlighted that factors such as an increasingly vibrant eco-system of startups as well as the availability of improved technology make it possible for the airport to up its game when it comes to innovation.
EDB’s chairman, Beh Swan Gin, added: “This project is significant because it will provide valuable opportunities for companies from across different industries to co-develop and test innovative airport solutions in a real life operating environment.”
To cope with growing passenger traffic, the airport will open Terminal 4 in the second half of this year, adding a capacity of 16 million annually to Changi’s existing capacity of 66 million passengers. Against the backdrop of a tight labour market, T4 will offer self-service options as well as a centralised security screening to operate more efficiently and with reduced dependence on manpower.
“(The Living Lab) is an initiative. . .to enhance the competitiveness of Singapore’s air hub as an airport that’s fast growing and also expanding in the next 10, 15 years,” added CAG managing director (airport operations management) Jayson Goh. “Innovation is a key avenue to help us build up new capabilities, enhance passenger experience, enhance efficiency as well as optimise infrastructure capacity, moving forward.”
Changi Airport handled a record 55.4 million passengers in 2015. For the first 11 months of this year, passenger traffic grew 5.7 per cent to 53 million putting the airport on track to post year-on-year growth.
This article was first published on Jan 6, 2017.
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SINGAPORE: New notes and “good-as-new” notes, traditionally used for Chinese New Year, will be available from Jan 11 onwards at POSB new notes pop-up ATMs, DBS Group announced on Friday (Jan 6).
Customers will be able to withdraw these notes at 41 POSB new notes pop-up ATMS, an increase from the 36 pop-up ATMs last year, according to a media statement. These ATMs will be located in 22 community clubs, and will be operational round the clock apart from the ones located at Chong Pang and Toa Payoh West, which will be available from 9am to 10pm daily.
DBS Group added that this year customers could also reserve their new and good-as-new notes online and select collection dates from full-service branches. (From Jan 9 onwards, customers can visit go.dbs.com/sg-cnynotes to reserve their new and good-as-new notes.)
“As there is always increased demand for new notes during the Lunar New Year season, we want to ensure that customers enjoy a hassle-free experience in getting them,” said Jeremy Soo, managing director and head of Consumer Banking Group (Singapore), DBS Bank.
“This year, we have also introduced an online reservation service where customers can simply select their preferred denominations and collect their new notes at their convenience.”
Customers can also get their notes from all full-service DBS/POSB branches from Jan 11 to Jan 27, with priority queuing available for the elderly and those with special needs. Those who withdraw or collect new notes at these branches and pop-up ATMs will also receive a set of either DBS or POSB red packets.
Map of pop-up ATMs, provided by POSB.
Customers will be able to use their DBS/POSB ATM card to withdraw new notes in sums of S$100 (S$2 x 50), S$300 (S$10 x 30) and S$500 (S$50 x 10), up to their individual card limit.
UOB also said its “good-as-new” notes would be available from Jan 11.
