The streets around Serangoon Road and Race Course Road will soon be transformed with colourful lights and decorations for Deepavali.

The light-up, which will run till Nov 12, will be launched by President Tony Tan Keng Yam at at the event marquee opposite Serangoon Plaza on Sept 17.

To kick off the celebrations that evening there will be an array of traditional and cultural performances by local artists and arts groups, including performances by those of other races.

For the first time, there will be two giant structures – a lotus with elephants and 20m-tall peacocks – on Serangoon Road and Kinta Road for the public to take photos with.

The social media savvy can tag their pictures on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #Deepavali2016.

The Festival Village on Campbell Lane and Hastings Road will be home to a shopping bazaar consisting of a mix of stalls offering Indian ethnic wear, costume jewellery, ornamental decorations, greeting cards, traditional sweets and delicacies, festive cookies, henna and more.

There will also be a crafts and heritage exhibition on Hastings Road, where a traditional craftsman and parrot astrologer will showcase their skills. The public can try their hand at pottery-making and make a sculpture of their own.

Visitors will also be treated to a medley of performances with music, dance and comedy at Clive Street every Friday and Saturday evening till Oct 28.

Also, dance and frolic at the Arts Carnival with art and photo exhibitions, interactive art installations, art jamming and sand art sessions on Hindoo Road.

The carnival will feature works based on Deepavali and Indian culture by students from the Lasalle College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, The School of the Arts and local painters.

Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association chairman Rajkumar Chandra said the festivities drew 1.6 million visitors last year. The association is expecting 2 million visitors this year.

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SINGAPORE – Hairline cracks have been found on 11 first-generation Sengkang-Punggol LRT trains, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Friday (Sept 9).

This comes just two months after hairline cracks were reportedly found on new MRT trains manufactured by the China Southern Railway (CSR) Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company. In July, it was also reported that cracks were found on the underframe of 19 US-made Bombardier trains on the Bukit Panjang LRT.

The cracks on the LRT trains were found during SBS Transit’s fleet-wide inspection in July this year. According to LTA, these trains have been in use since the Sengkang-Punggol LRT started in 2003.

The hairline cracks were found on the bogie frames, which are on the undercarriage and support the guidance system of the light rail vehicles, but do not compromise their ability to bear weight.

An independent assessor, TUV Rheinland, has established that the defects are not safety critical.

However, as a precautionary measure, these 11 trains were withdrawn from passenger service and scheduled to have their bogie frames replaced.

Six vehicles have since been restored and returned to service. The remaining five are expected to be reinstated by mid-October.

The authority added that LRT services have not been affected by the discovery as there are 57 light rail vehicles in the Sengkang-Punggol LRT fleet, and a maximum of 36 trains are deployed at any one time.

SBS Transit has also been inspecting all its light rail vehicles on a weekly basis.

A sample of the affected bogie frames have been sent to manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industry (MHI)’s R&D Centre in Japan for a detailed analysis.

LTA also said that it would be working with SBS Transit and MHI to redesign, strengthen and replace the bogie frame structures on all 57 LRVs.

MHI will bear the replacement costs.

ljessica@sph.com.sg

Read also: ‘Impurities in material’ caused cracks on MRT trains

SINGAPORE – Readers of Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) Chinese papers can now access morning broadsheet Lianhe Zaobao alongside the evening tabloids on the new zaobao.sg website.

Content from Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News will be pooled on the website. Readers can access the content on desktop and mobile browsers as well as iOS and Android apps.

Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Han Yong May, who is also digital editor of the SPH Chinese Media Group (CMG), said: “By incorporating content from the three publications, zaobao.sg will now encompass the best of Chinese media content in Singapore and provide our audiences with a one-stop station for their daily news, lifestyle, and entertainment needs.”

Subscribers will be able to read all three papers in electronic form.

The website also carries digital-exclusive videos and interactive content in its free section.

Ms Han said: “Besides providing more content to existing readers of the three Chinese papers, we aim to attract more young bilingual and bicultural readers to the upsized zaobao.sg.”

The new website is accompanied by the “Gamsia365” initiative that CMG describes as a corporate social responsibility project.

Drawing on the word for “thank you” in Hokkien, the project was launched in August to encourage showing gratitude for small positive gestures every day.

See also: Lianhe Zaobao organises “Rediscovery” mass singing event to engage readers

This article was first published on Sept 8, 2016.
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