Ahead of National Day next month, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has launched its first National Day Parade (NDP) themed trains, awash in red and white.

Two of these trains, one each on the North-East Line and the Downtown Line, began running yesterday while two more will begin service from next Monday on the Circle Line and the North-South and East-West lines. The four trains, which are decorated to reflect the NDP 2016 theme, Building Our Singapore Of Tomorrow, will run until mid-August.

The trains feature three designs based on Singapore folklore, building a better future for Singapore, as well as unity and racial harmony.

Colonel (NS) Eugene Lam, chairman of branding and publicity in this year’s NDP executive committee, said: “The three designs are like a continuum, it is meant to reflect different acts of the NDP show.”

Hop on NDP-themed trains

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The Straits Times

The decorations include speech bubbles above passenger seats with lyrics of classic NDP songs such as Count On Me Singapore.

Other design elements, such as footprint decals with the words Stand Up For Singapore, in reference to the classic NDP song, are also meant to foster better commuter behaviour by encouraging commuters to move in, which can be helpful during peak hours.

The LTA hopes these features can be “social nudges” for people to act more graciously.

Commuters who took the NDP train on the Downtown Line yesterday gave the thumbs up for the decorations.

Full-time national serviceman Foon Hong Ming, 20, said the designs were “unique to Singapore” while 65-year-old Madam Jessie Lim, a part-time cleaner, called them “colourful and attractive”.

The people behind NDP 2016’s futuristic theme song

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The Straits Times, The New Paper

This article was first published on July 12, 2016.
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SINGAPORE – The Certificate of Entitlement (COE) quota for August 2016 to October 2016 will be 25,843, The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a statement on Tuesday (July 12).

The quota for small cars in category A will be 12,048, while that of big cars in category B will be 8,016.

Meanwhile there is a quota of 2,573 for vehicles in the open category.

Bidding under this quota will start with the first COE bidding exercise in August 2016.

The COE quota consists of the following components:

1. Provision for 0.25 per cent per annum vehicle growth based on the vehicle population as at Dec 31, 2015;

2. Replacement COEs from vehicles deregistered in the preceding three-month period of April to June 2016;

3. Adjustments for changes in the taxi population, replacement of commercial vehicles under the Early Turnover Scheme, and expired COEs.

4. The next quota announcement for the bidding period of November 2016 to January 2017 will be made in October 2016.

debwong@sph.com.sg

He knew he could ride his power-assisted bicycle, also known as an e-bike, only on the roads.

But on April 18 last year, coffeeshop helper Tan Heng Huat rode his e-bike on footpaths near his 10th-storey home at Block 121, Paya Lebar Way.

While doing so, he crashed into housewife Heng Lian Cheng, then 68, who suffered a head injury and facial fractures after falling face first from the impact.

Tan did not help her up nor check if she was fine.

Instead, he apologised, handed her a piece of tissue paper and rode away.

As it turned out, his victim lives on the fifth storey of the same block, though they did not know each other.

Tan, 40, was jailed for five weeks yesterday after pleading guilty to causing grievous hurt by performing a rash act.

Before handing down the sentence, District Judge Lee Poh Choo said while it was “convenient, fun and fast” to “zip around” on the bicycle, it was also Tan’s duty to ride in a safe manner.

She also felt that motorised bicycles are more dangerous than cars because, unlike drivers, riders do not need a licence to operate them.

The court was told that Tan bought the e-bike for $1,280 on Dec 31, 2014.

It weighs 50kg, and has a maximum speed of 25kmh.

He used the e-bike, which is approved by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and was not illegally modified, to travel to and from his workplace at Geylang Lorong 34.

On the day of the offence, he left his home around 9.15am to go to work, riding on the pavement towards Block 120 despite knowing he was not allowed to do so and he could crash into pedestrians.

As he turned right around a corner at Block 120, where his view was blocked by a pillar, his e-bike knocked into Madam Heng, who was going to a market at Block 89, Circuit Road.

UNSAFE SPEED

He had tried to brake but because he was travelling at an unsafe speed, he could not stop in time.

The speed was not mentioned in court.

After he rode away, Madam Heng managed to get up by herself.

A man approached her to see if she needed an ambulance and told her he recognised the rider as “Ah Huat”.

She declined his offer but later went to a general practitioner when her husband saw her severe injuries.

She was referred to Changi General Hospital, where she was warded for four days, and later readmitted for surgery on her facial fractures.

Madam Heng’s daughter, Ms Eileen Lee Li Xuan, made a police report about eight hours after the accident.

Tan surrendered himself at the Geylang Serai Neighbourhood Police Post on April 21 after a relative told him the police were looking for a man known as Ah Huat.

When TNP visited Madam Heng yesterday, she declined to comment, apart from saying she was feeling better now.

Yesterday, Tan’s aunt, Madam Tan Sok Cheng, 57, told The New Paper he is the family’s sole breadwinner.

Madam Tan, who shares the four-room flat with him, his wife and their two daughters, is worried about their financial situation now that he is behind bars.

She said his younger daughter is only a month old, while his older is 12 years old.

“He used the bicycle to go to work, and to fetch his daughter from school,” she added.

For causing grievous hurt by performing a rash act, Tan could have been jailed up to four years and fined up to $10,000.

This article was first published on July 12, 2016.
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The fall from the 11th-storey window should have ended his life.

But a clothes rack on the eighth storey gave him a chance for a fresh start.

The 68-year-old man’s clothes were snagged by the rack and rescuers saved him as he hung from it.

A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesman said it received a call about a man hanging from a clothes rack at Block 410, Tampines St 41, at about 3.30pm yesterday.

SCDF rescues man hanging precariously on clothes rack in Tampines

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Stomp

“A man was brought to safety from the eighth floor by the SCDF using a combined platform ladder (CPL),” he said.

The CPL is a hydraulic ladder-platform used for high-rise operations.

“The man was taken to Changi General Hospital in a conscious and stable condition,” said the spokesman.

The man’s son, who wanted to be known only as Mr Sin, a 34-year-old luggage handler, said his father had fallen from the kitchen window yesterday when he was home alone.

“The police told me that his trousers got caught on the clothes rack as he fell,” said Mr Sin.

“It was luck. I don’t think he was hurt or suffered any injuries.”

A police spokesman said the man was arrested for attempted suicide and that investigations were ongoing.

Residents in the area said they were not aware of what was going on and only saw the man being taken away in an ambulance at about 4.30pm.

Mr Sin said his father had always been quiet and the family was quite shocked when they received a call from the police.

“His only ailment is that he’s hard of hearing. He seemed a bit depressed recently, but we were shocked he tried to jump,” he said.

“He’s usually very quiet and spends his time watching television or staring into space.”

Mr Sin said his father was alone at home because Mr Sin, his mother and his brother were out working.

“My mother got the call from the police and then called me at about 5.30pm. I was already on the way home,” he said.

OPEN WINDOWS

“When we got home, we found the windows open, but there was no note or anything,” said Mr Sin.

The police also took away a 1.5m metal ladder from the family home, believed to be used by the man to climb out the window.

Mr Sin said the family will be keeping an eye on his father.

“At least he is okay, but we’ll now need to have at least one person at home to watch him when he gets back,” he said.

Those who attempt suicide can be jailed for up to a year or fined, or both.

davidsun@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on July 12, 2016.
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