Buyers can expect fewer certificates of entitlement (COEs) for the November-to-January quota period.

The Land Transport Authority announced yesterday that there will be an average of 8,075 COEs per month for the next three-month period, down 6.2 per cent from 8,613 for the period from August to October.

There was a 7.1 per cent decrease in vehicle deregistrations, the main driver of fresh COE quotas, resulting in a more modest reduction compared with the 10.6 per cent drop from May-to-July to the current period.

This continues the trend of contraction from the current three-month period (Aug to Oct this year), following a series of expansions earlier in the year.

The monthly COE quota for cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp will dip by 8.2 per cent to 3,688 from the current 4,016.

For cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp, the quota will go down by about 7 per cent to 2,486 per month from 2,672.

There will be 799 COEs a month in the Open category, or a drop of about 6.8 per cent from the current 857.

Opinions are split as to how the smaller supply will affect COE premiums in the coming months.

In light of the current gloomy economic outlook and stronger Japanese yen, Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime, said: “The impact (on COE prices) will not be great.”

He added that COE premiums are likely to stabilise as the private-hire sector becomes more saturated.

A large number of bids from private-hire fleets drove an increase in COE premiums earlier this year.

Eddie Loo, managing director for new and used-car dealership CarTimes Automobile, however, said premiums are unlikely to go down as there is still a significant demand for cars.

Bucking the trend, there is a slight increase of 3.1 per cent for commercial vehicles, which will have 361 COEs per month from 350 currently.

For motorcycles, the supply of COEs will also grow from 718 to 741 per month, a 3.2 per cent increase.

azhaki@sph.com.sg

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SINGAPORE – A python was found at a hall of residence at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) on Wednesday (Oct 12).

NTU said that its campus security received a call at 2.45am from a hall guard about the snake at Hall 15.

“With the help of a pest control service, the snake was caught at 3am and taken away,” said a spokesman from NTU. “No one was injured in the incident.”

Student Koh Xiu Ming, 20, saw the reptile in the corridor outside his room on the ground floor, as he was returning from the toilet at Block 72 in Hall 15 at about 2.20am, school newspaper The Nanyang Chronicle said.

The snake, estimated to be 2m long, then crawled from the corridor to the nearby toilet, where Mr Koh had just been.

Mr Koh told his roommate, Lucas Leong, who said he was “shocked” at the sight of the snake. They called the security guard, and a few other students came to look as they waited for help to come.

Mr Leong, 22, took a video of the snake slithering across the corridor.

It was the first time they have seen a wild animal at their dormitory, which is near a forested area, Mr Leong said.

This is not the first reptile sighting at the university located in Boon Lay.

A cobra and a python were seen fighting outside the Research Techno Plaza in NTU last August.

Other wild animals such as pangolins and wild boars have also been spotted on campus.

This article was first published on October 12, 2016.
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With a focus on applied learning and an eye on SkillsFuture, the privately-run SIM University (UniSIM) is set to become Singapore’s sixth autonomous university, if a government proposal gets accepted.

The Ministry of Education then intends to fully fund the university and bring it under its ambit. It has discussed the arrangement with the governing council of the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), the membership organisation that oversees UniSIM.

The proposal will be presented at a general meeting of SIM members for their approval, said Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung at UniSIM’s convocation yesterday.

If the move is accepted, UniSIM will occupy a unique niche in the landscape of Singapore’s autonomous universities, currently comprising the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Technology and Design and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT).

Mr Ong pointed out that UniSIM had supported generations of working adults and mature learners and become an expert in addressing the needs of those who juggle work and study commitments.

“In this era of SkillsFuture, it is timely to consider putting in the concrete and making this a permanent and recognised path in our education and training landscape,” he said.

UniSIM, which currently has a campus in Clementi Road, will continue to focus on applied learning in the domain of social sciences, said Mr Ong.

It will target both adult learners and younger students.

Read also: Full house at new UniSIM law school

“Just as SIT will focus on applied programmes in science, technology and engineering, UniSIM will focus on social sciences and preparing students for socially-related careers,” said Mr Ong.

“This will include social work, human resource, psychology, early childhood education and also law, focusing on family and criminal law,” he added.

Right from the start, UniSIM has tried to offer upgrading opportunities for working adults.

MOE provides the same level of subsidies for Singapore citizens enrolled in UniSIM’s part-time and full-time degree programmes as it does to undergraduates in other autonomous universities.

Besides 490 full-time students, the university has 13,200 part-time students, mostly working adults.

UniSIM president Cheong Hee Kiat said, as an autonomous university funded by MOE, UniSIM will have more resources to better able to support its students.

He said the university intends to keep its focus on applied learning and customising courses for working adults.

sandra@sph.com.sg

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