Amir Khan is fearless as he prepares for his upcoming battle. The Singaporean lightweight will take on battle-tested veteran Vaughn “The Spawn” Donayre at ONE: DEFENDING HONOR on Friday Night, 11 November, live at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Donayre, a Filipino mixed martial artist who fights out of FitRepublik Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, is a Pan Asian BJJ Champion. He holds an 8-5 record, with three of those victories coming by TKO and another three by submission.
Though Amir acknowledges Donayre’s strengths, he is more focused on his own game.
“His strengths would be his durability and cage experience. He throws really hard single shots — I will be wary of that,” the 22-year-old admits. “I am not taking him lightly by any means, but I am also not overly concerned about what he can do to me. I am just going out there with my best effort.”
Originally, the Evolve MMA product was supposed to tangle with undefeated grappler Samir “Flexible” Mrabet, but an injury forced him out of the bout. Donayre is filling in on two weeks’ notice, and despite the late substitution, Amir’s preparation has not been modified too drastically.
“My game plan and strategy has not changed much at all,” he states. “The only difference I would say is that I will be able to engage more on the ground.
“I train with different partners every day, sparring with Muay Thai World Champions such as Nong-O Gaiyanghadao and Sagetdao Petpayathah. I am prepared for any kind of fighter.
“There are so many aspects to the MMA game. By training with all the world champions at Evolve, whether Muay Thai, BJJ, boxing, or MMA, I am able to prepare for everything.
“This preparation gives me the confidence no matter where the fight goes. No matter what happens, I am confident of coming out victorious.”
Aside from the world-class training he has been receiving at Evolve, he is particularly confident of achieving victory in this upcoming bout with “The Spawn” because he and his team have examined his opponent’s recent match from April’s ONE: GLOBAL RIVALS.
“I saw Donayre’s last fight against Honorio Banario. He held up three rounds with him. I think he is a tough guy with lots of experience, but his skills do not intimidate me,” Amir says. “I will finish him in the first four minutes of the first round, either by KO or TKO.”
The lightweight, who holds a 5-2 record, has finished all of his fights via strikes. That should not be too surprising, however, as he is a Singaporean Muay Thai Champion. Simply put, Amir is as exciting as they come, but does not always go into the cage looking to be elusive or flashy.
“Yes, I would say I am a fighter that always looks to finish,” he says. “I do not necessarily try to force anything in the cage, however.
“I just go out there and fight my fight, which happens to involve looking for openings to finish and capitalizing on them when they are there.
“At the end of the day, the best way to ensure a win is to finish it, so why not do that?”
Not only is he diligently focusing on his training, but he is also keeping busy with Singapore’s compulsory National Service (NS). Amir is currently enlisted with the Singapore Civil Defence Force, as well as training in mixed martial arts full time.
For most professional fighters, this would be too much, and mean MMA would have to take a back seat. But somehow, Amir is making everything work.
“Managing both my MMA career and my National Service duties can be tiring,” he admits. “I, however, feel that it really helps me set my priorities right and forces me to get good at time management.
“The discipline I gain from [NS] is something I value. MMA is my passion and I am also proud to have the chance to serve my nation.”
SINGAPORE: Proposed changes to the Elected Presidency will be up for debate when Parliament sits on Monday (Nov 7). The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Bill, which was tabled by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean at the last sitting, is up for a second reading.
The Bill provides more details on some of the proposed changes recommended by the Constitutional Commission set up to review the system of Elected Presidency. Key changes include more stringent eligibility criteria, and to reserve an election for a particular racial group if there has not been a president from the group for five consecutive terms. This applies to the Chinese, Malay and Indian and other minority communities.
Topics ranging from retrenchment numbers, online gambling, the safety of HDB structures to lift maintenance will also be on the agenda.
Following the incident in September where a sun shield on a Tampines block gave way, four MPs submitted questions to the Minister for National Development on whether there are inspections of HDB buildings from time to time, especially in mature estates, to ensure their structural integrity.
The recent announcement that the Park and Ride Scheme will be discontinued from December also drew questions from MPs. Mr Ang Wei Neng wants to know if terminating the scheme runs contrary to encouraging Singaporeans to take public transport, while Mr Lim Biow Chuan is asking what the alternatives are for motorists using the Park and Ride scheme.
MPs also submitted questions touching on the number of teachers who have resigned, whether the non-teaching workload is a significant factor in their decision to leave the teaching force and what’s being done to encourage them to stay on.
The issues are among 89 questions submitted for oral answer and 29 for written answer.
But before the debates begin, the House will move a motion to congratulate Singapore’s Paralympians on their achievements at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu won two gold medals, while fellow para-swimmer Theresa Goh clinched a bronze.
During the sitting, Workers’ Party MP Pritam Singh wants to raise a Motion for Adjournment on “Preventing the Scourge of Online Gambling”. This follows concerns after the Government approved the applications of two operators, Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club, to launch online betting services under strict conditions.
Five bills will also be introduced, including the Retirement and Re-employment (Amendment) Bill and the Mediation Bill.
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SINGAPORE: The first ship belonging to Genting Hong Kong’s new luxury cruise line made a port call in Singapore on Friday (Nov 5) en route to its home port of Nansha in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, where it is due to begin its maiden voyage.
The Genting Dream is an 18-deck, 151,300-tonne luxury liner that can accommodate 3,400 guests, who will be attended by 2,000 crew members.
It has been billed by Genting Hong Kong as the first cruise line from Asia that caters primarily to the luxury market. The cruise and leisure arm of Genting Group also operates Star Cruises.
While Singapore may not be on the itinerary when the Genting Dream sets sail on Nov 13, an outlet of homegrown nightclub brand Zouk will number among the entertainment options on board, along with a theatre show conceived by pop artist Jacky Tsai.
Genting Dream can accommodate 3,400 guests, who will be attended by 2,000 crew members. (Photo: Calvin Hui)
The vessel was handed over from its German shipyard to Dream Cruises on Oct 12 and is on its way to Nansha, where it will be prepared for its maiden service.
SINGAPORE COULD BE FUTURE PORT OF CALL: GENTING HK
In its itinerary between November and Mar 2017, the vessel will depart from Hong Kong or Guangzhou and make stops in Danang and Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.
A second ship under the Dream Cruises Line is expected to be ready in November next year, and Dream Cruises president Thatcher Brown said in a media conference that Singapore is under consideration as a port of call in the company’s new itineraries.
Genting Hong Kong’s chairman and CEO Lim Kok Thay added that Singapore will remain a key home port for Genting as the group expands. He also noted that Genting has invested in three shipyards in Germany, including the one that built the Genting Dream.
Trade and Industry Minister S Iswaran, who was the guest-of-honour at the Genting Dream’s launch ceremony in Singapore, said the Asia Pacific represents a key region for the cruise sector, with a growing middle class in the region.
He added that Star Cruises has become synonymous with cruising in Asia, and that Genting is a key partner in the growth and development of Singapore’s cruise industry.
“Singapore is committed to the cruise sector’s growth. The enhanced cruise development fund and the Meetings and Incentives special travel agent reward were rolled out earlier this year. These initiatives support travel agents and event organisers in chartering and attracting cruise incentive groups on sailings out of Singapore,” Mr Iswaran said.
SINGAPORE – Often lauded as a paragon of the modern global city, Singapore has experienced rapid transformation over the years. Yet, amid this, it has sought to conserve many of its historic buildings. Examples include recent Architectural Heritage Award winners Sultan Mosque, Church of Saints Peter and Paul, and 72 Club Street, as well as the Capitol Theatre, Capitol Building and Stamford House complex. In most cases, the conservation of heritage buildings has involved extensive restoration and refurbishment through the use of advanced techniques, with some restored buildings subsequently re-appropriated and adapted for new uses.
Heritage conservation, whether in terms of individual buildings or earmarked districts, has served multiple purposes for Singapore’s socio-economic needs and urban redevelopment aspirations.
First, by conserving buildings of historical significance, important elements of Singapore’s national identity and history are preserved. Second, the rejuvenation and adaptation of conserved sites has yielded vibrant locations for recreation, retail activity and tourism.
Heritage conservation has, in other words, brought about both social and economic benefits.
While the success and authenticity of preservation of identity and history remain rightfully and hotly debated, there is no doubt that heritage conservation, particularly of architecture, provides a significant contribution to a city’s storehouse of visual and collective memory.
However, there is a need to look beyond conserving physical buildings and sites to focus on the conservation of social activities and practices associated with these historical sites.
PRESERVING A BUILDING’S ‘ESSENCE’
Buildings do not exist in a vacuum. Rather, a building is enmeshed with the milieu from which it springs – such as the time of its construction to the relationship with its environs, and the lives it shelters and gives space to; all of which sustain its existence.
Despite the emergence of urban malls, businesses in Kreta Ayer and Katong shophouses have fought to persevere as the purveyors of traditional food and craft. These, of course, have slowly dwindled with changes in Singapore’s radically shifting retail and cultural scene.
As the modernisation of Singapore’s urban landscape continues apace, there is a need to conserve not just buildings but the crafts and practices that take place within them as well.
Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) defines traditional craftsmanship as the “tangible manifestation of intangible cultural heritage”. Indeed, Unesco advocates the preservation of the skills and knowledge of craftsmen, not simply craft products.
While existing efforts at urban conservation have tended to focus on the conservation of tangible cultural heritage – physical buildings – there is a corresponding need to place greater emphasis on the conservation of intangible cultural heritage such as traditional crafts, practices, food and clothing.
These include the social practices and rituals that shape the everyday life of a community. For instance, craftsmen make the lion heads that are donned by lion dance troupes – itself a dwindling art form – as a celebration of prosperity and good fortune in homes and businesses, particularly during Chinese New Year.
Similarly, the exquisite craft of Peranakan sarong kebaya “sulam” embroidery is at risk of becoming obscure. Indeed, the demand for these unique trades has fallen with the times.
FOCUSING ON THE EVERYDAY
There is therefore a deeper social reality beneath the physical veneer of what constitutes a heritage building. This is a reality that manifests itself in the traditional crafts and practices that animate the everyday lives of the inhabitants of a physical space.
Without taking into account the social practices, crafts and memories that permeate physical spaces, urban conservation runs the risk of creating “Potemkin villages” (places with a showy facade) that do not capture the diverse and rich social heritage of a physical landscape.
Examples abound of restored heritage buildings becoming converted into air-conditioned malls and filled with big-brand retailers.
Rather, conservation efforts need to address both the tangible and intangible aspects of heritage.
This, in turn, requires a closer understanding of what French philosopher Michel de Certeau terms the “practice of everyday life”. He argues that it is in their everyday practices that users of public spaces re-appropriate these spaces to make them their own.
In a similar way, it is in the everyday lived experience and social interactions between traditional craftsman and community that richly shape the way a building or space is used and remembered.
There is therefore a need to conserve both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. While the conservation of tangible buildings and spaces has been relatively successful in Singapore, there needs to be more effort at conserving the crafts and relationships that underpin heritage buildings and products. Policymakers and urban planners will need to develop a keener sense of the “everyday” that makes up Singapore’s intangible cultural heritage. A more holistic understanding of heritage conservation can ensure that both the form and essence of Singapore are preserved and handed down to future generations.
stopinion@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on November 04, 2016. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
gkriver04/ ST_02.11.2016_1630744331/Ng Sor Luan/Gurveen/: Life cover on the Singapore River Festival. Several events are happening around Clarke Quay, Boat Quay and Robertson Quay area.
From a booming reggae performance to a quiet disco, from daredevil tightrope-walking stunts to wow-inducing bubble shows – these are some of the diverse highlights of the Singapore River Festival happening tonight and tomorrow.
The annual event aims to set the three quays along the Singapore River – Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay – abuzz with performances and activities .
At Clarke Quay, French tightrope-walking duo of Underclouds Cie will walk a line suspended between the riverside promenade just outside hotel Swissotel Merchant Court and the foot of Read Bridge.
Along the riverside by the entrance of Clarke Quay Central, bubble expert Caroline Cornelius- Jones, or CJ the Bubble Girl, will weave air balls into various shapes and sizes.
Over at Robertson Quay, catch the local film anthology 7 Letters at an outdoor screening tomorrow evening at the quayside. Hammocks will be hung and popcorn and candy floss will be sold.
Around the area, there will be silent disco parties, where festivalgoers put on headphones playing music; and fitness workshops, such as kids’ yoga and barre classes.
The Boat Quay area will host a mini festival called Circular Spectacular, with most of the activities taking place in Circular Road, which will be closed to traffic tomorrow afternoon and evening.
In the line-up are live music performances, art installations and a barter market.
Look out for music collective Lion Steppaz Sound’s impressive 2.7m-tall homemade sound system as it blares out groovy reggae beats.
In addition, artist Samantha “Sticker Lady” Lo will stencil a 170m-long “My Grandfather Road” on the road.
Most activities in the Singapore River Festival, staged to the tune of more than half a million dollars, are free, but some require online registration. Organised by Singapore River One, the place manager for the precinct, the festival attracted more than 100,000 visitors last year despite the haze.
This time, the organisers have condensed the activities into two days, unlike the last edition’s three.
Ms Michelle Koh, Singapore River One’s executive director, says: “The intensity remains the same, but we wanted to pack it in so visitors just hop from one event to another within the day.”
Once Singapore’s centre of trade and commerce, the 3.2km-long Singapore River continues to be “a source of life”, but in different ways, says Mr Stan Lee, executive director of experiential marketing agency Muse Inc, the creative producers behind the festival.
“We want to remind visitors of the connections we all have to the river, whether we go to the quays to hang out with friends or family, or treat the places as after-work venues,” he says.
Two lovers will dance on a tightrope over the Singapore River tonight. They will inch towards one another on a 50m-long synthetic tightrope suspended 6m in the air. As they meet in the middle, a passionate dance is ignited as one pushes and climbs over the other.
This is Crossings, the highlight act of this year’s Singapore River Festival and the first time a tightrope has been set up over the river.
Taking place tonight and tomorrow evening, the aerial spectacle is by French performance group Underclouds Cie, comprising real-life couple Mathieu Hibon and Chloe Moura.
The tightrope is extended from the riverside promenade outside Swissotel Merchant Court to the foot of Read Bridge, closer to the entrance of Clarke Quay.
Inspired by the festival’s theme of River Connections, the duo have created an original piece inspired by the bonds they have built as a couple.
VIEW IT / CROSSINGS BY UNDERCLOUDS CIE
WHERE: Read Bridge, between Clarke Quay and Clarke Quay Central
Through a French translator, Hibon, 37, tells The Straits Times that a lot of trust is needed to execute death-defying feats on a tightrope. “We have to be one as this is a matter of survival,” he says.
The adoration the couple share is palpable. “It was love at first sight,” says a blushing Moura, 31. They have a nine-month-old daughter, but are not married.
“We have to first find a priest who will marry us on the tightrope,” says Hibon with a laugh.
Photo: The Straits Times
They met 10 years ago and is each experienced in different mediums. Hibon is a self-taught tightrope walker while Moura is a wire acrobat who picked up her skills at French circus school Academie Fratellini.
The pair started Underclouds Cie in 2011 and focus on balancing acts in the air. Their last major performance together was Funambus in Europe, where they walked on a tightrope attached to a moving bus.
This is the first time Underclouds Cie is performing in South-east Asia. They have travelled to various parts of Europe, including Spain and Poland, as well as Uzbekistan.
On the rope, they are obliged to “be in the present” and not dwell on the past or wonder about the future, says Moura.
Hibon concurs, adding that this is particularly poignant nowadays as the world is moving “so quickly”. “The rope teaches us to think only about the present.”
Hear reggae boom from a homemade 500kg sound system
Dissatisfied with the sound quality in most local nightspots when it comes to reggae beats, three deejays decided to build their own reggae sound system.
After a year of planning and research followed by months of construction, Araya Yuichiro (better known as Yooh The Vibration), Darren Tan (Darren Dubwise) and Ken Ito (Selecta Ken) created a mammoth 500kg, 2.7m-tall tower of six speakers built into wooden boxes and topped with two amplifiers.
The system was completed in May last year and has been the booming centrepiece at parties since. It will make a stop at street carnival Circular Spectacular, which is part of the Singapore River Festival, on Saturday evening in Circular Road. The DJ trio will play two sets at 6.15 and 9pm. There is no cover charge.
Music pounds through the beast of a speaker so hard – the sound is especially rich and heavy – that it reverberates through the entire space and even to the space next door.
VIEW IT / CIRCULAR SPECTACULAR – LION STEPPAZ SOUND
A grinning Yuichiro, 36, tells The Straits Times: “We have had complaints before that it was too loud.
“Now we make sure the place we set up at has no residents nearby.”
The group, who call themselves Lion Steppaz Sound, have played in bars such as The Training Shed and The Great Escape in Golden Mile Tower. They focus on reggae – from roots reggae to dancehall to dubstep – as they enjoy the genre.
Tan, 35, is Singaporean, while Yuichiro and Ito, 35, are Japanese. The group have two new Japanese members who joined this year – deejay Shingo Sakano, 32, and Toshikazu Miyanagi, also 32, who handles public relations.
Yuichiro and Ito note that the reggae culture is huge in Japan and they hope to grow it in Singapore as it is still a very niche interest here.
It takes about an hour for the group to set up the system, alongside a PA mixer and turntables.
While transporting the giant speakers might be backbreaking, the group have no plans to find a permanent home for their homemade system, says Tan.
“We don’t want to be stuck in one place. Instead, we want to bring the party to the people.”
Claiming ‘My Grandfather Road’ for a day
Artist Samantha Lo, better known as “Sticker Lady”, is resuscitating her infamous installation using the Singlish slogan “My Grandfather Road” and this time, it is legal.
As part of street carnival Circular Spectacular, she will stencil the words on a 170m-long stretch of Circular Road using chalk paint. The carnival will take place tomorrow and is one of the programmes under this year’s Singapore River Festival.
Four years ago, she had also stencilled “My Grandfather Road” on several roads, as well as stuck tongue-in-cheek stickers with slogans such as “Press Once Can Already” on traffic light buttons. She was eventually sentenced to 240 hours of community service.
Given her history, using the phrase “My Grandfather Road” is like “saying hi to an old friend”, says Lo, who is single.
The words were apt for the festival too. “Since they will be closing the street, we could actually claim it back and for just one day, it is our collective grandfathers’ road.”
Compared with her original 2.1m-long stencil, this will be bigger and is, in fact, her largest artpiece so far.
She says her run-in with the authorities and the resulting publicity have opened many doors for her and she has even come to embrace the alias Sticker Lady, which she used to hate.
Now she is a full-time artist with a range of extra-curricular activities. Last year, she founded collaborative platform Indigoism. One of the events that it organises is The Barter Market, a social initiative where attendees barter goods and services with vendors without money. The seventh edition will be held at Circular Spectacular and features a tarot card reader, a barber and illustrators.
Art-wise, she is also going places. She staged her first solo exhibition in August last year at The Substation Gallery, showcasing artworks sparked by the outpouring of emotions after Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s death.
A second exhibition, called Greetings From Singapore, will take place in January at One East Asia gallery, featuring photographs of her past works along with some new ones.
Lo, 30, will also launch her first book at the event, comprising postcards depicting her artworks.
As for her piece tomorrow, she hopes the public “will smile and see the humour in it”.
“I want them to take away the feeling that we are all the same and public spaces are ours.”
The bubbleologist who calls bubbles divas
Photo: The Straits Times
Ms Caroline Cornelius-Jones blows bubbles for a living. “I’m a bubbleologist,” she says with a straight face, before adding: “The word isn’t in the dictionary yet, though.”
But she can certainly create magic with bubbles. Whether they are big bubbles stretching 10 to 15m long, small bubbles, bubbles within bigger bubbles or a cluster of bubbles that looks like a dragon, the pint-sized Singapore permanent resident will blow them up. She can envelope a person – child or adult – within a bubble too.
The Briton is the “CJ” behind CJ Bubble Productions – the firm to contact if you want to watch a bubble show or attend a bubble workshop – and her stage alias is CJ the Bubble Girl.
Ms Cornelius-Jones, who is attached and declines to reveal her age, will perform at two free outdoor bubble shows as part of the Singapore River Festival’s Riverfront Carnival.
VIEW IT / RIVERFRONT CARNIVAL – BUBBLE SPECTACULAR
Catch her at the open area of Clarke Quay Central, next to the Singapore River, tomorrow evening.
Her skills have landed her in the Singapore Book of Records twice. In 2010, she enclosed eight people in a bubble before breaking that record last year with 15 people.
Her obsession with these “living sculptures”, as she calls them, was ignited after she watched the bubble antics of a busker in the early noughties. She headed straight to toy store Toys “R” Us to buy a bubble kit and tried it out herself. But she could not reproduce the tricks she saw.
She then trawled the Internet for recipes to make bubbles, but none proved successful.
“I realised the ingredients found here were different from the ones in the West and Europe, so I had to experiment and make my own bubble solution.”
Photo: The Straits Times
After many months of trial and error and 18 recipes, she succeeded in concocting a suitable bubble solution.
“People think it’s just bubbles, but there is a lot of science behind it,” says the interior design graduate.
Ask what the ingredients are and she whispers that they are a “secret”. However, she relents and reveals that the two main ingredients are glycerin and dishwashing liquid, specifically the Joy or Fairy brands produced by Procter & Gamble. She sells bubble kits in various sizes – prices start at $5 – through her company website.
Armed with the right bubble solution, she then had to master creating bubbles in various weather and environmental conditions.
“Bubbles hate air-conditioning and love humidity. And you have to work with the wind and sun when outdoors too,” she says.
During the outdoor photo shoot for this interview, she moved to a spot that was less windy and hot – to prevent the bubbles from popping too fast.
“Bubbles can be such divas, but they bring me a lot of joy,” she quips.
Her favourite part of the job is the reaction from the audience – particularly the adults’.
“They have forgotten how to be a kid, then they see a bubble and go ‘wow’. They see a cube-shaped one and go ‘oh my god’ and, suddenly, they believe in magic again.”
Take a walking or bike tour
Did you know there was once a filthy public toilet in the middle of a roundabout in Clarke Quay?
Near Jiak Kim Street, where nightspot Zouk stands, there were once squalid houses on stilts that stood over the Singapore River.
Glean these colourful tidbits about life around the Singapore River from two history tours led by licensed guide Leonard Loo, 57.
The former finance manager set up tour agency Yafi, which cheekily stands for You Asked For It, in 2014 and has primarily been conducting customised private tours.
The two tours are being launched for the Singapore River Festival and will be available at a discount – the Colonial Era Bike About will be conducted twice a day and cost $60 (compared with the normal rate of $80); and the Twilight Singapore River Tour will run three times a day and cost $15 (compared with the normal rate of $30).
The Colonial Era Bike About is a 31/2-hour, 10km journey that starts at Clarke Quay and goes through Boat Quay, the Civic District, Beach Road and Robertson Quay. There will be pit stops at three parks – Fort Canning, Esplanade Park and Empress Place. Foldable bikes will be provided.
Mr Loo’s commentary includes the historical and economic significance of the Singapore River, as well as fun facts he gathered from his memories or stories told to him.
The public toilet in the middle of a roundabout is where the fountain square in Clarke Quay now stands.
Mr Loo says: “It was so filthy that women would rather turn blue controlling their bladders than use it.”
The area was rejuvenated in the 1980s when Clarke Quay was turned into a recreation and entertainment venue.
Mr Loo knows of the houses on stilts near Jiak Kim Street because he had been inside one as a child. “My great-grandfather’s house was once there and I used to visit him.”
The houses were torn down in the late 1970s to make way for the clean-up of the Singapore River.
The twilight walking tour around the Singapore River begins at 5pm and offers a glimpse of how the area transforms once the sun sets. Unlike the bicycle tour which covers more ground beyond the precinct, this 11/2-hour, 1km tour hones in on the three quays.
Mr Loo prefers to keep the tour groups small and will take up to eight people for each bike tour. For the walking tour, the optimal size is 20, but if demand is strong, he will enlist the help of other guides and accept up to 30 participants.
He says he wants to “show off Singapore” in his unique, personalised way.
“The facts are all there, but it’s how the stories are presented.”
This article was first published on Nov 04, 2016. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>From a booming reggae performance to a quiet disco, from daredevil tightrope-walking stunts to wow-inducing bubble shows – these are some of the diverse highlights of the Singapore River Festival happening tonight and tomorrow.</p>
SINGAPORE – More than 1,400 companies have started projects under a government scheme that helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be leaner on labour and more productive in their use of other resources as well.
The year-old Lean Enterprise Development (LED) Scheme has helped SMEs like restaurant chain The Soup Spoon to automate and cut workers at its outlets by 25 per cent.
At manufacturing firm Onn Wah Tech, automation has cut down the number of workers for a pin-insertion process from four to one. Also, the process is now two times faster.
The number of companies that have gone leaner and their achievements were highlighted by Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say yesterday when he gave an update on the scheme launched in October last year as a two-year pilot project.
He was speaking to more than 600 employers at a symposium, at which about a dozen organisations shared their success stories. LED provides one-stop support for SMEs – which form the bulk of firms and employ about 70 per cent of the 3.7 million workers here – that need money for upgrading.
It also gives them the room to employ foreigners as an interim measure while they raise the quality of jobs or train Singaporeans for new and improved jobs.
But fewer than half of the 1,400 companies needed to use this provision while implementing their projects, Minister of State for Manpower Teo Ser Luck told reporters at the symposium.
The need for such foreigners for a project is reviewed yearly and their numbers can be renewed for up to three years. But whether other companies can apply for these extra workers after the two-year pilot period will be decided later, he said.
In the economic slowdown coupled with the tepid labour market, Mr Teo said firms need to hasten restructuring.
“There’s a lot that companies can do in different ways to keep their manpower lean through automation, through process redesign, job redesign. We’re hoping that we can introduce many other different schemes to help them,” he added, without elaborating.
The symposium was organised by the LED task force – the National Trades Union Congress and government agencies – and the Singapore Manufacturing Federation.
Mr Lim, in his speech, spoke of the urgency of getting SMEs to transform.
The local workforce may stagnate in the next decade, amid an ageing population and a low birth rate, he said. “With foreign manpower growing much slower too, our challenge is to ensure this sharp drop in our total workforce growth will not become the bottleneck in the future growth of our economy and SMEs.”
In helping the SMEs, the task force found four types of firms.
These include the unaware and the unwilling to change, the willing who do not know how, and those who can band together to implement larger-scale projects for the whole industry.
The Soup Spoon’s managing director Andrew Chan sees his goal to move up the food chain – from selling food in Singapore to manufacturing food to sell overseas – resulting in better-quality jobs. “We can move from lower-skill assembly jobs to more roles in sales, research and development, food technology, logistics supervision and quality assurance,” he said.
“There is also more scope for training, exposure and advancement for the staff.”
Two Beneficiaries
THE SOUP SPOON
After opening 28 outlets here, the restaurant chain wants to expand abroad. But it needs to keep its soups fresh. It turned to Spring Singapore for funds.
A high-pressure processing machine it bought lengthens the shelf life of its products from two weeks to three months.
The firm also cut down its number of workers by digitising services such as ordering and payment at outlets.
To fill the gap while it sent staff for training, it turned to the LED Scheme’s transitional foreign manpower allowance to hire six workers.
CONTAINER DEPOT ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE
Funds from Spring Singapore and Workforce Singapore helped to introduce an Electronic Container Trucking System that links drivers and trucks with depots, ports and warehouses.
Drivers no longer need to get out of their cabins to register and pick up order documents.
The system also meshes with the existing Container Management System, cutting queueing time by 30 per cent. Drivers can also make an extra trip or two each day.
joseow@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on November 04, 2016. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
SINGAPORE: The Pokemon cafe is coming back to Singapore for a second run, nearly six months after the first edition of the pop-up cafe opened at Bugis Junction.
The cafe is slated to open again at the Everything With Fries restaurant on the fourth floor of the mall.
This time round, it will feature themes from the Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon games. New items will be added to the menu, and there will also be original merchandise with the crowd-favourite Pokeball mug upgraded to a Great Ball mug.
The first edition of the cafe, which ran from May 27 to Jul 31, drew long queues with hundreds of Pokemon fans turning up on the first day.
SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) has set up a new institute to serve as a focal point for its analytical research work, it announced on Friday (Nov 4).
The Institute of Operations Research and Analytics (IORA) will receive S$16 million in funding over five years, and carry out work in areas such as data analytics and operations research, the university said.
The institute has already started research work with partners such as hospitals and government agencies to solve real-world problems, NUS said. Some examples of its projects include helping hospitals better allocate and utilise their resources, and developing the nationwide parcel locker system the Government announced in April.
Apart from contributing to the country’s Smart Nation initiative, the new facility is also expected to enhance the university’s global standing, said the president of NUS, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, at the annual State of University address.” Our faculty will gain unprecedented opportunities to do game-changing research and translation that will mark them out internationally”, he added.
The university estimated that IORA will have about 50 researchers and staff working on its projects. More than 20 faculty members are also developing a new PhD programme under the institute, it said.
