Following the smell of laksa wafting through the air, more than 3,500 Singaporeans homed in on an abandoned warehouse at Pier 70 in San Francisco – the site of this year’s Singapore Day.

“This could be somewhere in Singapore. It’s quite nostalgic, like going back to a Singapore warehouse in the olden days with rusty pillars and broken windows,” said Mr Eugene Chan, a 59-year-old retiree living in Arizona, last Saturday.

He was in San Francisco with his wife, civil servant Ho Mei Fun, 57, while their son Elroy, 25, a software engineer, flew in from Seattle.

Technology was a key focus of this year’s event, with many interactive exhibits informing Singaporeans of developments back home. There was even a networking session organised for tech professionals.

Saturday’s event was the ninth Singapore Day organised by the Overseas Singaporean Unit to help keep overseas Singaporeans connected to home, and this is the first time it has been held on the West Coast of the United States.

The event, a highlight for many living abroad, has been held in cities ranging from Shanghai and Sydney to London and New York.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said part of the reason the event was held on the West Coast was to “build connections” between Singapore and the vibrant Bay Area and its technology start-ups.

He also launched the Action Community for Entrepreneurship Silicon Valley Chapter, which will help Singapore start-ups ease into the US market by tapping networks such as the Bay Area Tech Singaporeans.

“I hope those who have gained valuable expertise and experience will bring these skills back and play active roles in building a better future for all Singaporeans,” he added.

Addressing the crowd, Mr Teo also spoke about the economy, leadership and political succession planning in Singapore, as well as security and terrorism.

On the last topic, he brought up the new SGSecure movement, which he said would help “keep everyone alert, help everyone stay connected and, in this way, everyone can stay strong”.

One of the most popular interactive exhibits allowed guests to immerse themselves in a virtual reality experience to get a glimpse of what Singapore’s future might look like.

“It was interesting to see how Singapore developed and the future of the Singapore landscape,” said student Ryan Ranjiv Singh, 24, an economics and statistics student at Boston University, who travelled here with friends just for the event.

Another interactive stop was the Singapore Sliders exhibit, where guests could swipe a screen to look at Singapore scenes of today juxtaposed with what they looked like in the past.

“There are always so many changes in Singapore,” said Mr John Cockrell, 44, while comparing a photograph of the Singapore River taken in 1975 with one today. He was with his Singaporean wife Joyce.

While some went through the exhibits, others lazed around on the artificial lawn enjoying performances by artists such as Dick Lee, Taufik Batisah and The Sam Willows.

What probably attracted the most attention was Singapore hawker food such as nasi lemak, fried carrot cake and Indian rojak.

Some said there should have been a canopy as they waited in line under the hot sun, while others suggested a separate queue for seniors and the handicapped in the future.

But overall, many praised the “excellent” and “authentic” fare.

Singaporeans also enjoyed being around other Singaporeans and hearing the familiar accent.

Said Mr Arun Prasath, 40, an IT professional who has lived in San Francisco with his family for three years: “It’s nice to be with fellow Singaporeans. It’s like we are in Singapore.”

This article was first published on September 26, 2016.
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A Singaporean underwater photographer who takes tourists diving at the Great Barrier Reef has been granted a work visa on appeal after an Australian tribunal found that his economic contribution to the community outweighed the fact that he had spent six months in jail.

Queensland-based Calypso Productions, the company that hired Singaporean Lim Yoong Xiang, 32, quantified the revenue loss from Mr Lim’s absence from lack of a work visa as being A$500 (S$518) a day and claimed it would take a year to find a replacement with his unique skills.

But the office of Australia’s Minister for Immigration and Border Protection objected to issuing the permanent work visa, indicating that Mr Lim did not qualify under the character test, as he had served two six-month jail terms concurrently in Singapore in June 2012 for breach of probation orders in relation to cannabis consumption.

Mr Lim had been placed on three years’ probation in 2010 for shoplifting, drug possession and drug consumption.

His sentence was equal to 12 months under Australian rules, which disqualified him for a visa under the character test.

At issue was whether his past criminal convictions here took precedence over his economic contributions to his Queensland employer.

Mr Lim filed an appeal with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia, with a hearing held in Brisbane.

In judgment grounds released last week, it set aside the previous decision and ruled the discretion to refuse Mr Lim a visa on character grounds should not be invoked.

Calypso, which hired Mr Lim in 2014 as its imaging information and marketing manager, specialises in underwater photography and operates in Cairns, which is Australia’s tourist gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

Mr Lim is a graduate and certified divemaster whose job includes underwater photography, sales and training.

Cairns-based Calypso has an annual revenue of A$1.4 million and more than 60 per cent of its clients are Chinese tourists for whom Mr Lim could facilitate a “positive experience”, according to the company’s managing director Lisa Conyers.

Mr Lim argued that the seriousness of his conduct was “very low by Australian standards”, pointing to the different approaches to cannabis use in Singapore and Australia.

He added that he would have been unlikely to face a jail term for the same offences in Australia.

But the minister’s representative stressed that drug-related offences are serious on account of the harm and costs to health and law enforcement resources, and underlined the duty to protect the community.

Tribunal deputy president P. McDermott said such a consideration “weighs slightly against” Mr Lim, but although ” serious”, the offending did not involve violent or sexual crimes.

He gave Mr Lim credit for his “candour ” at the hearing and said that he “now has a certificate of clearance from the Singapore Police which was issued under local spent convictions legislation”.

He ruled that the impact on Calypso “outweighs” the other primary considerations. He found the risk of Mr Lim reoffending or causing harm to others in Australia to be ” low”.

“I am satisfied that the discretion to refuse the visa on character grounds should not be exercised,” said Dr McDermott.

vijayan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on September 26, 2016.
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He had turned his head to check his blind spot after overtaking a bus.

But by the time Mr Leonard Wong turned his head back and spotted the van tyre in front of him in the middle of the road, there was nothing he could do.

Mr Wong’s Ducati motorcycle hit the tyre and he was flung off the bike. He died on the road shortly after.

The information technology engineer, who would be 26 today, was travelling in a convoy with five other riders to Fraser’s Hill, about 105km north of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, when the accident happened on Saturday morning near Seremban on the North-South Expressway.

At his wake in Jurong East Street 21 last night, his friends in the convoy recounted the incident.

Mr Wong was the last rider in the convoy, they said.

“I was in front so I raised my hand to alert them that there was debris on the road,” said Mr Tan Teck Kian, 23, who works in the pharmaceutical industry.

The signal was passed down to the other riders, but Mr Wong might not have seen it because he had been checking his blind spot, said Mr Lin You Zhai, 26, the fourth rider in the convoy.

“He was checking his blind spot before changing lanes, and when he looked forward, he hit the tyre,” said Mr Lin, an undergraduate. “No one expected a tyre on the road.”

The group had pieced together what happened through footage recorded with the GoPro cameras they had with them.

Mr Lin said it took 30 minutes for the first ambulance to arrive. “If they had come earlier… (Mr Wong) might have had a chance to survive,” he said.

The Straits Times was at his wake yesterday for about two hours and observed over 150 friends and family members paying their respects.

Friends said Mr Wong was a responsible and experienced biker who would not scrimp on safety gear. He was also open with sharing tips on safe riding.

Accounts manager Andrew Luo, 58, said: “He was careful and cautious. He was the kind of person who would look after the group of riders when they go (to Malaysia).”

Other friends also remember Mr Wong as the “funny person” in the group. “He always knew how to make people laugh,” said insurance agent Christine Boo, 26.

Ms Jasmine Lim, 29, a cousin of Mr Wong’s who had been living with him since they were teenagers, said he was “very resourceful and handy”. She said: “Any time something was broken in the house, he would repair it.”

Mr Wong was an only child and his parents are divorced. He lived with his mother and relatives.

“His mum was worried about him (biking), but he would always try to reassure her,” said Ms Lim.

dansonc@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on September 26, 2016.
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A new road to replace Changi Coast Road will open between April and June next year to facilitate works to give the airport a third runway.

The current 6km road will then close, as Changi Airport looks to handle more flights through the development of a new passenger terminal, Terminal 5, and the extra runway, a Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesman told The Straits Times.

Works to link the third runway to the airport’s two existing landing and take-off strips will include building a 40km network of taxiways.

Changi Airport Group has already awarded the first two contracts, worth more than $2.2 billion in total, for the runway works.

The project is expected to be completed by the early 2020s.

Based on air traffic projections, Singapore could handle 700,000 flights a year by the end of the next decade – double its current traffic.

The number does not include flights that fly over Singapore, which also come under the responsibility of air traffic controllers here.

Today, Singapore manages about 300,000 such flights a year.

The new road, which will hug the eastern coastline, will be wider and more scenic.

From a dual two-lane road, there will be three lanes on each side, the LTA spokesman said.

The project also includes the widening of Tanah Merah Coast Road.

Work started in 2014 and, to date, about 75 per cent has been completed, she said.

A new park connector running between Tanah Merah Coast Road and Aviation Park Road will also be constructed along the new Changi Coast Road to replace the existing connector.

Cyclist and retail manager Junaidi Hashim, 34, is looking forward to the new stretch.

“The current road is not ideal any more for cycling because of the many heavy vehicles that move up and down, dropping bits of debris here and there,” he said. “I’m definitely looking forward to a more pleasant ride along the coast when the new road opens.”

However, the spokesman for LTA added: “Motorists and cyclists who use the road network in the area are reminded to obey all traffic rules and advised to exercise caution, as the area is expected to be heavily used by heavy vehicles for the airport’s expansion works.”

Works in Changi East are expected to last until the end of the next decade when T5 is slated to open.

By then, Changi Airport will be equipped to handle up to 135 million passengers a year, from 66 million today.

karam@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on September 26, 2016.
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Anna’s relationship with her boyfriend of one year was already on the rocks when the 18-year-old found out she was pregnant.

Her boyfriend, who is a year older than she is and serving national service then, asked her to go for an abortion. Anna (not her real name) could not bear to do so, after seeing an ultrasound scan of the foetus.

Now 21, she has since broken up with the father of her child. She suspected him of cheating on her and felt he was not involved in raising their son, who is now two.

Anna said she listed his name as the father on her son’s birth certificate. His family wanted her to do so as he was helping to support the boy by giving her $300 a month.

She added: “Society is judgmental and I worry that his teachers may treat him differently if there is no father’s name in his birth certificate.”

Ms Jennifer Heng, founder of the DaySpring New Life Centre, which helps pregnant women in need, said some unwed mothers, like Anna, list the father’s name in the baby’s birth certificate as they feel that it is best for the child if they do so.

They do so even if they have broken up with the man or have a strained relationship with the baby’s father, so that the child will not feel different from other children or, worse, be ridiculed.

Anna’s main worry now is making ends meet. Jobless and unwed, she gets by with the help of some financial aid from the Government. An orphan, she found it hard to keep her job with a young child to look after and no family member to help her.

In her former job as an administrative assistant, she took leave once too often as her son was sick and her boss was not pleased.

Single motherhood is stressful, she said. “I have no back-up at all.”

This article was first published on September 26, 2016.
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The dramatic incident that happened at Marina Bay Sands’ hotel driveway on Saturday afternoon was captured on video by an in-car camera.

It depicts valet captain Lee Yao Ji looking on helplessly at the red Trans-Cab taxi as it crashes into him.

But Mr Lee, 69, can only remember the incident up to that point.

“All I remember is at the time, I was near the hotel’s entrance when I suddenly saw this taxi moving quickly in my direction, and I was knocked down after that,” he told Shin Min Daily News.

“I lost consciousness and I cannot remember details of what has happened since.”

The valet captain had a bandage around his head and spoke through an oxygen mask at Singapore General Hospital’s high dependency ward.

His injuries are mostly around the head area, he told the Chinese daily.

Of the cabby, Mr Lee said: “I don’t know him and until now, he still has not visited me. I want to see the video and I am not ruling out a lawsuit.”

ON DUTY

Marina Bay Sands said Mr Lee was on duty at the time.

A spokesman for the hotel: “He is being treated in hospital. We are rendering assistance to him and his family… and are helping the authorities in their investigations.”

The valet captain, known as “Captain Lee” by his colleagues, has six years of work experience at the hotel and manages a team of valets.

The hotel will likely compensate him as it was a work injury, said Mr Lee.

Both he and the 52-year-old taxi driver were taken to SGH, the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force said.

Trans-Cab said it is investigating the incident.

This article was first published on September 26, 2016.
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