A man driving a school bus in Commonwealth got a shock when metal pieces landed on its windscreen, shattering it.

The incident occurred along Commonwealth Avenue West, towards Clementi Avenue 6, on Aug 10 at about 10.40am, Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday.

The bus driver, Xu Yujin, 63, told Shin Min that he was driving when he heard two loud noises followed by a cracking of his windscreen.

“A bus was trying to cut into my lane so I slowed down when suddenly the windscreen shattered and gave me a fright,” he said.

Mr Xu added that the windscreen was double-glazed and the cracks spread out like a spider’s web but did not break completely, although some pieces fell inside the bus.

“Usually, primary school kids take my bus but luckily there were no passengers at the time of the incident,” he noted.

“When I alighted and saw two rusty metal plates, I felt it was serious and called the police.”

He pointed out that the road he was on ran parallel to the East-West MRT line viaduct.

He suspected that the pieces had fallen from above.

“When the police arrived, they notified SMRT, and they sent a spokesman down, who said they would provide compensation if they had caused the accident,” said Mr Xu.

“However, after investigations, they said that the metal pieces did not belong to them and so would not make any compensation.”

An SMRT spokesman told Shin Min that the metal pieces were not found to be from its tracks or trains.

It is understood that the metal did not match SMRT’s components.

Mr Xu spent $5,000 repairing his vehicle and getting a replacement driver.

He added that he has turned to an MP for help and requested for footage from the Land Transport Authority to determine where the metal pieces came from.

“However, it was fortunate that there were no kids on the bus or motorcyclists in front of me then, or it would have been disastrous,” he added.

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It is touted to be “clearer and simpler” but Uber’s new fare system has drawn brickbats instead.

The new upfront fare system shows users the exact amount they have to pay even before they take a ride.

It replaces a system in which users are given a fare estimate and a surcharge, or surge pricing, they have to pay when there is increased demand for the service.

Since the new system kicked in last Wednesday for the popular UberX service, a private-car hire service, many have gone to the start-up’s local Facebook page to complain about a lack of transparency in fares and a rise in prices.

Eric Teo, 41, a former equity analyst, said: “Previously, I would be told if the fares are 1.3 or 1.5 times more, but now I have no basis for comparison as to how much a trip actually costs without the surcharge.

“It lacks transparency.”

However, Uber’s head of communications for Singapore and Malaysia Leigh Wong told The Straits Times on Monday that riders now have “better clarity” on the fare they need to pay before they confirm their trips.

“Upfront fares take into account all the factors that typically affect the price of a trip, including the expected time, distance and traffic, tolls, how many other riders are requesting rides that time, and how many drivers are nearby,” he said.

Assistant Professor Yang Nan of the National University of Singapore Business School’s strategy and policy department said yesterday that Uber’s change in fare system is partly due to the “unpopularity” of surge pricing.

“I remember a few cases last year in which commuters complained about being ripped off by surge pricing when public (MRT) transit broke down,” Prof Yang said.

Uber’s surge pricing uses an algorithm to calculate a multiplier, which was reportedly up to five times more during the massive MRT breakdown on July 7 last year.

Upfront fares were first introduced with Uber’s ride-sharing option UberPool, which it launched here on July 1.

It gives commuters headed in a similar direction the choice to share a car, and save up to a quarter of the fare.

But the roll-out of upfront pricing for UberX has come under fire, with many claiming that fares have been surreptitiously increased.

Facebook user Jason Ooi wrote that a ride that normally cost him $6 is now $8 to $13 throughout the day.

Another Facebook user, Anoop Rachamalla, claimed that the minimum fare for a Uber ride to work for him in the morning had more than doubled from $12 to $29.

But Uber said there was no change in its UberX fare structure.

Asked about Uber’s upfront fares, Lim Kell Jay, head of Grab Singapore, said: “Seeing other players following the same business model is testament that our strategy works.”

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SINGAPORE – Dinner took a stomach-churning turn for Mr Quek Yong Pheng, 38, on Monday (Sept 5) evening, when he and his group of friends found a dead rat in their soup.

However, Mr Raymond Tan, 53, the owner of Sin Yew Huat Eating House in Jalan Besar, said the coffee shop premises are kept clean, and has denied that there are rats there.

Mr Quek, who runs his own auto shop, told The Straits Times that each of the eight diners ordered a bowl of soup at the popular Kong Kee Mutton Soup in Jalan Besar.

One of his friends was very full, and fished out what was thought to be a piece of mutton, to put in another friend’s bowl. “It (the rodent) was right on top and we saw that it was a rat,” he said, adding: “My friend went to the road side and started to vomit.”

The owner came over, apologised and gave them a refund on their dinner, which amounted to around $42.

Mr Quek said that she told the group the rodent might have fallen from the rafters into the pot of soup in the kitchen.

He said that although he made a public Facebook post about the incident, he did not think it was necessary to alert the National Environment Agency (NEA) because no one in the group had suffered any lasting ill effects from the extra ingredient in their soup.

“But my friends told me to report it to the NEA,” Mr Quek said, “so that at least the rats can be cleared away from the stall before any other customers consume it.”

He added that he saw the stall owner continue to dish out soup to customers at other tables.

When The Straits Times visited the stall on Tuesday afternoon, there were no rats in sight. The stall owner, a woman who did not want to be named, said that they practise high standards of hygiene.

“We clean the place three times every day, when we open, at midday, and at closing time. I never see any rats around, so I also don’t know where it came from.”

She explained that when she cooks her mutton soup, the ingredients are placed aside in bowls, with the large pot of soup beside it.

“If there’s a rat, I would have noticed it while preparing the ingredients,” she said. She was alerted to the rat after a commotion at the table.

Miss Zhang Ying Hong, 40, a member of staff from the stall, said: “My boss came over and said sorry and gave them a refund.”

Mr Tan said NEA officers had come down to inspect the premises earlier. “They told me to engage pest control, and also to head down to their office to get my statement taken.”

He added that the stall owners and staff there keep the place clean, and the stalls and toilets are washed often. The mutton soup stall has been running for 20 years, and never had a record of rats, according to Mr Tan, who has been in the coffee shop business all his life, since his father first opened a coffee shop in the 1950s.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the NEA said it is aware of the incident and is investigating, and will take the necessary enforcement action against any parties found responsible for rat infestation.

This article was first published on Sept 6, 2016.
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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday morning, ahead of the opening of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits in the afternoon.

During the half-hour meeting, the first between the two leaders, Mr Lee congratulated President Duterte on his election.

Both leaders also reaffirmed the long and close ties between Singapore and the Philippines and looked forward to the celebrations of the golden jubilee of diplomatic relations in 2019, said Mr Lee’s press secretary Chang Li Lin.

The two leaders discussed domestic and regional developments, and Mr Lee welcomed Mr Duterte to make a visit to Singapore.

Mr Duterte sparked controversy even before he left the Philippines for the annual meeting of leaders of the 10 ASEAN nations.

ASEAN Summit 2016

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

AFP, Reuters, Lianhe Zaobao

On Monday, he launched into an expletive-laced tirade against United States President Barack Obama in front of reporters in Davao, cautioning Mr Obama against questioning the extrajudicial killings that have marked his anti-crime push at home.

Mr Obama’s National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said later that Mr Obama’s meeting with Mr Duterte, set for yesterday afternoon on the sidelines of the summit, was off.

Mr Duterte has since expressed regret for his remarks, with his office issuing a statement yesterday that said he looks forward to “ironing out our differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions”.

“While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the US President,” the statement added.

The Philippines will take the ASEAN chairmanship in 2017, with Laos set to formally pass the baton at the close of this year’s ASEAN summits tomorrow.

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