THE Philippines’ leading casual restaurant operator Max’s Group Inc (MGI) is launching its Yellow Cab Pizza brand in Singapore as part of offshore expansion.

MGI said it had signed a deal with a family-owned company, Pagh, to build at least five Yellow Cab Pizza parlours in Singapore.

“We are confident that our mainstream offerings and value proposition will allow us to stay competitive alongside some of the biggest global food names,” said MGI president and chief executive Robert Trota.

Singapore has a population of only about 5.4 million but its consumers have strong purchasing power and high propensity to dine out.

This is the fourth brand development agreement inked by MGI for this year, translating to a total of 116 international stores set to be opened over the next few years.

MGI envisions operating at least 200 outlets overseas by 2020.

Pagh was set up to invest in the casual dining business.

“We recognise that Yellow Cab Pizza offers a different, more exciting experience than the brands currently offered in Singapore.

“Singaporeans are discerning in their food experience.

“We are, therefore, confident that Yellow Cab Pizza will be the Singaporeans’ place of choice for American-Italian casual dining,” said Pagh director Tiara Chopra.

A graphic novel written by a Singaporean writer has caught the eye of an American publisher ahead of its launch tomorrow.

The 160-page fantasy graphic novel Flesh & Steel is local writer Shaun Kang’s first work.

Supported by the Association of Comic Artists (Singapore) (ACAS) and the National Arts Council (NAC), the novel follows the battles of Golem, a humanoid living weapon forged from steel, as he struggles to find acceptance among men in a fantasy land torn apart by knights and cavaliers armed with rifles and shotguns.

Published by Nice One Entertainment, the black and white single volume work is illustrated by concept designer and main artist Ernani Faraon, Madougar and HMT Studios.

The book is now available for $18.95 at the Digital and Arts Den at Funan DigitaLife Mall, a collaborative arts store by ACAS and the mall.

It will be rolled out to Kinokuniya and other leading book stores later this month.

The first 30 My Paper readers to present this article at the book launch – from 2pm tomorrow at the Digital and Arts Den – will get a free, exclusive A3 art print.

Speaking to My Paper, ACAS president Jerry Hinds said this graphic novel launch “absolutely” bodes well for the local industry.

“The book has just been picked up by a United States publisher for the western market, Caliber Comics, which is indeed a great sign,” he added.

“This is high fiction with big screen potential, in my opinion.”

Mr Kang, 30, who is an investment adviser in a private bank, admitted that “it’s tough for local writers to compete with the big boys from the US and Japan”.

“Many writers have done a great job with locally flavoured comics but who’s to say that we can’t create a globally acclaimed work of our own.”

He and Mr Hinds will be giving a one-hour talk on May 7 at the Kinokuniya book store at Ngee Ann City about the process of creating and marketing a graphic novel.

Acting director for sector development (literary arts) at the NAC, May Tan, said that it has seen more graphic novels being published locally.

Readers’ interest in this genre has also grown “amid an increasingly vibrant literary scene in Singapore”.

“The council is heartened by this and continues to promote our home-grown literary scene as well as to bring Singapore’s literary content to readers globally.”

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Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, he said he was unmoved by the rhetoric he had heard at the meeting.

Singapore will not soften its drug policies, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam has said at a United Nations meeting, pushing back against calls for a shift in approach to the global war on drugs.

Mr Shanmugam did not mince words in his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, as he issued a strong rebuttal to countries pushing for a less hardline approach.

He said he was unmoved by the rhetoric he heard at the meeting and would only review Singapore’s stance if there was evidence that a different model would work better to create the outcomes the Republic was able to achieve.

“I am prepared to compare our experiences with any city that you choose. Show us a model that works better, that delivers a better outcome for citizens, and we will consider changing. If that cannot be done, then don’t ask us to change,” he said.

Mr Shanmugam’s remarks highlighted a clear rift in opinion at the meeting on whether countries should continue to take a hard line on drugs or switch to an approach known as harm reduction.

Under harm reduction, a drug-free world is deemed impossible, so policies are designed to minimise the harms associated with drug use. That includes providing clean needles for drug abusers and safe, supervised injection sites.

The UN meeting – the first since 1988 to focus on the drug issue – was the result of lobbying by Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia. They want an end to the global war on drugs that they say is a source of much violence in their nations, and a “humane solution” that does not just focus on law enforcement.

Sex drugs openly sold in Geylang

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The Straits Times

But Mr Shanmugam rejected the dichotomy between human rights and oppression, stressing there was a middle road between “treating them as criminals, and feeding them with drugs”.

“It is possible to work with drug abusers to rehabilitate them. This is difficult and resource-intensive. But because every life is important, we do that. Legalising and giving abusers drugs is the easier option. But not the better one,” he said.

His speech received applause from the delegates in the hall but it is clear that there is little agreement on the best way to address the issue.

A day earlier, the Indonesian delegate to the meeting was booed when he defended the use of the death penalty to deter drug crimes.

Many Latin American and European countries lamented the resolution adopted at the start of the meeting, which outlined various steps countries should take to tackle the drug problem, for not shifting the approach enough. Countries such as China and Russia had prevented the words “harm reduction” and any reference to the death penalty from being included.

Mr Shanmugam on Wednesday noted the need for a global consensus on how to move forward on the problem but also said this needed to allow for every country to pick the approach that works best.

“For us, the choice is clear. We want a drug-free Singapore, not a drug-tolerant Singapore,” he said.

jeremyau@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on April 22, 2016.
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The New Paper, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News

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CNB

Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam told world leaders at the United Nations that the city state will not soften its drug policies, pushing back against calls from some nations to change its approach to dealing with drugs.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, he said he was unmoved by the rhetoric he had heard at the meeting.

He stressed that Singapore would stick with its approach until there is evidence that a different model works better.

Noting that the country’s policies have created a safe and secure environment, he said: “We are not very impressed with rhetoric alone. Good speeches are one thing. Enjoying safety and security, to the level I have identified – letting your 10-year-old child take public transport alone – that is different.”

“I say to anyone with a different view – come forward. I am prepared to compare our experiences with any city that you choose. Show us a model that works better, that delivers a better outcome for citizens and we will consider changing. If that cannot be done, then don’t ask us to change,” he added.

Mr Shanmugam’s remarks highlighted the rift in opinion at the meeting on whether countries should continue to take a hardline stance on drugs or switch to an approach known as harm reduction – where a drug-free world is deemed impossible and policies are designed to minimise the harms linked to drug use.

Countries like the United States have also been moving towards decriminalising the use of certain types of drugs. Last year, Colorado and Washington became the first two states to pass laws legalising the use of marijuana.

ASEAN countries, meanwhile, will present a joint declaration to the UN outlining their commitment to pursuing a drug-free ASEAN.

The UN meeting was scheduled after lobbying by Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia, countries which argue that the global war on drugs has been the source of a lot of violence.

They have called for a more “humane solution” that does not emphasise as much on enforcement.

But the Singapore minister rejected the dichotomy presented between human rights and oppression.

“Maybe this rhetoric is based on the experiences in some countries. To us, it sounds like a lot of straw man arguments. Because it’s not based on facts.”

He stressed that there was a middle road between “locking everyone up, treating them as criminals and feeding them with drugs”.

“It is possible to work with drug abusers to rehabilitate them. This is difficult and resource-intensive. But because every life is important, we do that. Legalising and giving abusers drugs is the easier option. But not the better one,” he added.

Mr Shanmugam reaffirmed Singapore’s commitment to a drug-free world, stressing that there was no argument against the harmful effects of drugs.

“You wouldn’t knowingly and happily give drugs to your teenage children, would you? You might accept it and deal with it, if they abuse drugs. But you wouldn’t voluntarily give it,” he said.

And while Mr Shanmugam noted the need for a global consensus on how to tackle the drug problem, he also said that every country has the right to choose the approach that works best for it.

“For us, the choice is clear. We want a drug-free Singapore, not a drug-tolerant Singapore,” he added.

jeremyau@sph.com.sg

Commuters saw their journeys disrupted by separate faults on the North-South and North East MRT lines yesterday.

On the North-South Line (NSL), a maintenance locomotive that stalled at Raffles Place Station shut down northbound service between Marina South Pier and Newton from the start of service till about 6.50am.

Just after 11am, a power fault disrupted train service between Outram Park and Farrer Park stations on the North East Line (NEL) for about 40 minutes.

SMRT spokesman Patrick Nathan said NSL services towards Jurong East were affected as staff worked to move the stalled locomotive, which prevented northbound trains from passing through the eight-station stretch.

He added that a passenger train was activated to haul the faulty locomotive to Bishan Depot, and that SMRT is investigating why it stalled.

He apologised to those affected.

SMRT first sent a tweet at 6.09am to inform commuters about the disruption which lasted for about an hour.

Train service resumed along the affected stretch at around 6.53am.

Yesterday’s disruption came just two days after Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan wrote in a blog post that the NSL had gone 100 days without any major delays, saying that the milestone is especially inspiring, as the NSL is the oldest of Singapore’s five MRT lines.

Both SMRT and SBS Transit, which runs the NEL, deployed shuttle bus services and made regular bus services passing between the affected stations free for commuters.

SBS Transit spokesman Tammy Tan apologised to affected commuters and said the cause of the power fault is being investigated. Both operators declined to provide the number of commuters affected by the delays.

Medical student Sean Wu, 25, boarded a train at Outram Park after work to head home, and waited in it for about 15 minutes. He said he was unaware of the shuttle bus services as he did not hear any announcements.

“There should have been a public service announcement at the station, not on Twitter,” he added.

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Supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice generated a total of 1,300 tonnes of food waste last year, a 41 per cent drop from 2,200 tonnes in 2014.

In a press release yesterday, it said the amount made up 0.2 per cent of total food waste in Singapore, down from the previous year’s 0.3 per cent.

To quantify and track its waste reduction efforts, FairPrice last year developed a Food Waste Index which is derived from total food waste over total retail space. This measure is not affected by opening of stores, for instance.

The index dropped 39 per cent from 11.9kg per sq m in 2014 to 7.2kg per sq m last year.

Food categories such as tropical fruits, exotic fruits, vegetables and fresh fish or seafood registered the highest wastage.

A total of 210,000kg of fruits and vegetables were saved through the Great Taste Less Waste selection, where fruits with slight blemishes and cut vegetables were repackaged and sold at marked-down prices to reduce waste.

The initiative was piloted at all seven FairPrice Xtra stores in May last year.

Another 64 FairPrice stores have taken up the initiative since the end of last year.

In a partnership with Food from the Heart charity, FairPrice now donates a total of $20,000 worth of unsold but still wholesome groceries each month from all its 131 stores islandwide to 41 charities.

xueqiang@sph.com.sg

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A new attendance system at Singapore Polytechnic (SP) has drawn mixed reactions, with an online petition asking for the system to be reviewed garnering about 700 signatures since last August.

To mark their attendance, students have to key in a code that will be displayed in class into an app on their phones or on a website, using the school’s Wi-Fi network.

If they fail to do so in 15 minutes, they will be marked as absent.

The system is compulsory for all of SP’s more than 15,000 students.

The first of its kind at the five polys here, the system was started in April last year and replaced one where teachers took attendance manually before keying it in electronically.

But SP students have expressed concerns that the system might have glitches, and might not reflect their attendance even if they made it to classes within the stipulated time.

Some also say they were penalised when they forgot to mark their attendance even when they had turned up.

This can drag their grades down – those with attendance rates below the minimum 75 per cent are given pass or fail grades in their modules, equivalent to 0.5 or zero points out of the maximum four points.

“The Wi-Fi connection at school is horrible, so even if you only manage to sign in one minute after the 15-minute mark, you are marked as absent.

“Or sometimes the app is down,” said marine engineering student Lorenzo Santos, 20.

A computer engineering student, who wanted to be known only as Nathan, said the new system was more stringent and he was almost penalised when his attendance rate fell below 75 per cent last August.

“They implemented it without any warning. Teachers used to be more flexible and would not penalise us for our attendance if they knew that we went for class, handed in assignments on time and worked on our projects.”

He said he was on track for an A but almost got a pass/fail grade for a module worth a third of his overall grade for the year.

A recent graduate from the electrical and electronic engineering school, who declined to be named, said it was common to see people who try to beat the system.

“Out of 100 students in a lecture, sometimes only about 30 would be present even though 80 have already marked their attendance,” said the student.

An SP spokesman said the school is aware that some students had expressed concerns.

“We had taken steps to engage them, gather feedback and address the issues,” added the spokesman, noting that the new system helps to inculcate personal integrity and social responsibility.

Since the system was started last year, overall punctuality and attendance rates have improved, said SP.

Meanwhile, at Nanyang Polytechnic, students tap their student cards on a card reader to sign their attendance, or do so manually.

Lecturers at the other three polytechnics take students’ attendance manually and record them electronically. They said most students meet the minimum attendance rate of 80 to 85 per cent.

But some SP students like the new system. Chua Feng Qing, 18, a chemical engineering student, said: “Lecturers don’t have to call our names one by one to see who is present. We can also keep track of our attendance.”

yuensin@sph.com.sg

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