SINGAPORE: The Jurong Bird Park announced its new animal icon on Thursday (Nov 3), a hornbill named Sunny.

It was chosen because the park is home to Southeast Asia’s largest collection of hornbills, and has long been actively involved in hornbill conservation efforts. 

When Jurong Bird Park opened in 1971, it had just five hornbill species, said Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) in a press release. Today, it home to 18 different hornbill species, with 11 native to Southeast Asia.

Show Presenter Eileen Lim with Harriet, a Bar Pouched Wreathed Hornbill, at Jurong Bird Park. (Photo: WRS)

Jurong Bird Park also wants to draw attention to the plight of hornbills. Some species are facing extinction globally because they are losing their habitats as a result of tropical rainforest destruction. Others, like the helmeted hornbill, are being hunted for the ivory in their solid casques.

“We think this striking bird will be a relatable ambassador for all threatened bird species that need our help and protection,” said WRS’ deputy CEO and chief life sciences officer Dr Cheng Wen-Haur.

“Whether it is the Great, Oriental Pied or Rhinoceros (hornbill species), they are all strong ambassadors for their wild cousins to bring forth the message of protecting biodiversity in our forests,” he said.

Jurong Bird Park has been actively involved in hornbill conservation efforts. In 2005, the park entered a collaboration dedicated to breeding and conserving Pied Hornbills.

Senior Avian Keeper Peter Teo with Sally, an Oriental Pied Hornbill, at Jurong Bird Park. (Photo: WRS)

Pied Hornbills were not seen for 140 years prior to 1994, but are now thriving in Singapore. In 2013, three of their eggs were rescued from Pulau Ubin and were successfully hatched at the park’s breeding and research centre, marking the world’s first successful incubation and hatching of an Oriental Pied Hornbill.

Mohd Saad bin Yahya, supervisor of animal presentation, with Sunny the Hornbill at Jurong Bird Park’s Pools Amphitheatre. (Photo: WRS)

You can catch Sunny at a free-flying performance daily.

SINGAPORE: National carrier Singapore Airlines reported a 70 per cent drop in net profit for its fiscal second quarter compared to a year ago, it said in a statement on Thursday (Nov 3). 

Earnings for the three-month period came in at S$65 million, down from S$214 million a year ago. 

Group operating profit declined 15.5 per cent, on the back of a 5 per cent drop in revenue. 

SIA said most companies in the group recorded weaker operating results amid a sluggish global economy.

However low-cost carriers Scoot and Tiger Airways registered improvements. Scoot reported a S$5 million operating profit for Q2, compared to an operating loss of S$2 million in the same period last year, while Tiger Airways posted a S$3 million operating profit for the second quarter of this year, compared to an operating loss of S$10 million in the same period in 2015. 

SIA attributed this to an extended network and reduced operating expenditure. 

The airline operator cited a challenging environment for the quarter’s results. “The passenger airline business continues to be impacted by geopolitical uncertainty and weak global economic conditions. The outlook in most major economies remains tepid,” it said in a news release.

Meanwhile, excess capacity and aggressive pricing continued to put pressure on loads and yields, SIA added.

The airline has declared an interim dividend of 9 cents a share. 

SINGAPORE: Free-to-air television continues to be the top platform for local audiences to consume news and entertainment, according to the annual Nielsen Media Index Report released on Thursday (Nov 3).

The report said 85.5 per cent of local viewers tuned in to free-to-air television on an average weekly basis, while pay TV had a weekly viewership of 51.7 per cent.

The survey of 4,660 people aged 15 and above was conducted between July 2015 and June 2016.

Among Mediacorp’s TV offerings, Chinese-language Channel 8 maintained the highest weekly reach at 56.7 percent, or 2.4 million viewers. The English-language Channel 5 reached over four in 10 viewers weekly, while Channel NewsAsia was viewed by three in 10 adults weekly.
Except for okto, all other Mediacorp  free-to-air TV channels registered increases in viewership ranging from 5.7 per cent to 46.6 per cent.

Overall, TV viewership grew 6 per cent from the same period last year.

“Even in the digital age, most Singaporeans prefer to consume news and entertainment through free-to-air TV. Channel NewsAsia’s reach, for example, grew significantly while Channel 8 remains the most watched channel. Across Mediacorp, we will continue to focus on creating content that is engaging, relatable and in tune with the times, and to delivering it to our audiences in all the ways they choose to consume it,” said Mr Chang Long Jong, deputy CEO of Mediacorp. 

The survey also found that the use of the Internet continued to grow, with a monthly usage of 83.3 per cent. The increased usage came mainly from instant messaging, watching movies, TV, videos and news or accessing e-newspapers.

Close to two in 10 adults (18.4 per cent) accessed Channel NewsAsia’s website on a weekly basis, with 57.9 per cent of these online visitors being PMEBs (professionals, managers, executives and businessmen).

MediaCorp’s TODAY remains Singapore’s second most read daily newspaper. It had a combined average daily readership of 12.9 per cent. Its free print edition reached out to 11.2 per cent while its digital version reached out to 1.8 per cent on an average daily basis. TODAY also bucked the trend of declining newspaper readership – its print and digital version increased 3.6 per cent.

SINGAPORE — About 70 commercial buildings under the Ascendas-Singbridge group will have fibre infrastructure rolled out in their premises by 2018 under a S$200 million government scheme that subsidises the fibre installation costs for non-residential building owners, and also makes the process easier and faster.

With this move — the largest commercial deployment under the scheme to date — close to 200 buildings will have tapped on the Fibre Ready Scheme (FRS), Mr Khoong Hock Yun, Assistant Chief Executive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said on Thursday (Nov 3). IMDA also encouraged more building owners to sign up before the end of January 2018, as there is still sufficient funding for non-residential buildings.

“In today’s digital economy, access to cost-effective high-speed fibre connectivity is a very important consideration for Singapore businesses looking to grow and compete on the global stage. The FRS is part of our continuous product enhancement initiatives and it results in a faster turnaround time for our customers applying for fibre broadband services,” said Mr Tan Yew Chin, chief executive officer (Singapore & South-east Asia), of sustainable urban and business space solutions provider Ascendas-Singbridge. M1 is the telco selected by the group to install the infrastructure, but after that, tenants can choose any fibre broadband provider to have their service activated.

Before the FRS, tenants would have needed to individually hire contractors to lay out the cables and other equipment, resulting in more logistical hurdles and a longer processing time. Now, with the one-time deployment method under the scheme, contractors are no longer needed, cutting the fulfilment of corporate fibre broadband orders from four weeks to about two weeks, according to M1.

Previously, building owners also posed an obstacle to the roll-out of fibre installation on their premises, citing disruptions to their operations.

“One of the key challenges for fibre deployment in Singapore, for non-residential (buildings) was the long lead time. A lot of challenges came from building owners, a lot of disruption to (them), need to open panels, create scaffolding. What the FRS does is that we pre-lay the cables to every single tenant… now it is very efficient,” said Mr Willis Sim, Chief Corporate Solutions and Sales Officer, M1.

To date, 47 buildings have completed installation under the FRS, a programme launched in 2014 by the IMDA which subsidises up to 90 per cent of the cost of new in-building infrastructure, capped at S$300,000. These buildings include Far East Plaza, Novena Specialist Centre and West Coast Plaza. To receive the funding, said the IMDA, building owners are expected to facilitate any additional work required to provide fibre services to enterprises.

SINGAPORE: A total of 25 motorists were booked for excessive smoke emission from their vehicles and leaving their engine idling, during an enforcement operation on Thursday (Nov 3) carried out by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

The operation was conducted in Woodlands, Marsiling, Telok Blangah and Bukit Merah.

Twelve vehicles – of which four were foreign-registered – were booked for emitting smoke while travelling on the road, while 13 local vehicles were found with their engines running while in a stationary position, for reasons other than traffic conditions.

NEA hands out educational brochures to motorists on the road on the importance of turning off vehicle engines when stationary. (Photo: NEA)

NEA said it regularly conducts enforcement operations to reduce vehicular emissions to ensure cleaner air for all.

Under the Environmental Protection Management (Vehicular Emissions) Regulations, it is an offence for any vehicle to emit smoke while in use on the road. 

Commercial diesel vehicles, including buses and taxis, must undergo mandatory smoke inspections periodically at authorised inspection centres. Owners of smoky vehicles will be offered a tiered composition sum based on vehicle type and number of offences committed. If they fail to pay the sum, they shall be liable to a maximum court fine of S$5,000.

Since June this year, NEA imposed tougher penalties on repeat offenders who leave their engines idle. They face a fine of S$100, up from S$70 previously. If the sum is not paid, the errant motorist will be liable to a maximum court fine of S$5,000.

“Reducing vehicle exhaust emissions is a priority and requires a concerted effort,” the agency said. “Members of the community and stakeholders are urged to play their part in keeping our environment clean and ensuring high standards of public health,” said NEA.

SINGAPORE: A 54-year-old lorry driver was arrested after he ran over two men on Thursday (Nov 3) at the worksite of Mandai Depot, which is part of the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). Both men were killed in the accident. 

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident at about 1.15pm. It despatched two ambulances to 20 Lorong Lada Hitam, where a 36-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man, aged 47, was sent to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, according to police. 

A spokesperson for the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the men were hit by a reversing lorry at about 1pm on Thursday. The second worker died later in hospital.

Both men were from Bangladesh and were employees of Gammon, a contractor responsible for fire protection and electrical works, LTA said. The authority said it will work with Gammon, as well as main contractor Jurong Primewide, to see what can be done to assist the affected workers and their families.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said officers from its Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate were sent to the scene and have started investigations, an MOM spokesperson said in a statement.

Police investigations are ongoing. 

In May this year, another Bangladeshi worker died after he was pinned under a truss which fell from a trailer at the Mandai Depot worksite.

SINGAPORE — Two workers died in an accident at the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) Mandai Depot worksite on Thursday (Nov 3) afternoon.

They were run over by a tipper truck at 20 Lorong Lada Hitam, preliminary investigations by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) showed. The truck was reversing towards a work area in the TEL Mandai Depot, which was under construction, the MOM said in a press statement.

The 54-year-old male prime mover driver has been arrested for causing death by negligent act, said the police. Investigations are ongoing.

When contacted, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the accident at about 1.15pm and despatched two ambulances.

One of the workers, a 36-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other male worker, 47, was conveyed unconscious to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun, where he died from his injuries later in the day.

Both workers are from Bangladesh and employees of Gammon, a contractor responsible for fire protection and electrical works, said a Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesperson. “LTA will work with Gammon Pte Ltd and Jurong Primewide Pte Ltd, the main contractor, to do what we can to assist the affected workers and their families.”

The LTA said it is assisting the MOM and police with investigations. The MOM said officers from its occupational safety and health inspectorate attended the scene immediately and have begun their investigations.

TODAY has contacted Jurong Primewide for comments. ADDITIONAL REPORTING CYNTHIA CHOO

SINGAPORE: A 54-year-old lorry driver was arrested after he ran over two men on Thursday (Nov 3) at the worksite of Mandai Depot, which is part of the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). Both men were killed in the accident. 

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the incident at about 1.15pm. It despatched two ambulances to 20 Lorong Lada Hitam, where a 36-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man, aged 47, was sent to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, according to police. 

A spokesperson for the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the men were hit by a reversing lorry at about 1pm on Thursday. The second worker died later in hospital.

Both men were from Bangladesh and were employees of Gammon, a contractor responsible for fire protection and electrical works, LTA said. The authority said it will work with Gammon, as well as main contractor Jurong Primewide, to see what can be done to assist the affected workers and their families.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said officers from its Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate were sent to the scene and have started investigations, an MOM spokesperson said in a statement.

Police investigations are ongoing. 

In May this year, another Bangladeshi worker died after he was pinned under a truss which fell from a trailer at the Mandai Depot worksite.