At a time when residents across Singapore are asking for more playgrounds to be built, some in Bukit Batok feel there are too many.

They say their neighbourhood could do with more fitness parks for the elderly instead.

It is perhaps a reflection of the maturity of the public housing estates in Bukit Batok, which was developed in the 1970s.

Among the 45,900 residents living there are many elderly Singaporeans, like 67-year-old Madam Au.

The long-time Bukit Batok resident, who did not want to give her full name, said: “I don’t think the children play at the playgrounds much. This area has a lot of old folk. It would be better if there are more fitness parks for us to exercise.”

Elderly residents like her are the focus of the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Murali Pillai and the Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) Chee Soon Juan at the upcoming by-election in the constituency.

Both men have pledged to champion the residents’ causes.

Mr Murali, a 48-year-old lawyer, has said that he hopes to help the elderly in Bukit Batok age with dignity.

Dr Chee, 53, secretary-general of the SDP, has said he will help them deal with the rising cost of living.

For these elderly residents, the personal touch is what matters.

Many still speak fondly of their former MPs, Mr David Ong and the late Dr Ong Chit Chung, whom they said were always around to chat with them and “always smiling”.

Madam Akthar, a 60-year-old support officer who goes by one name, said what she liked about Mr Ong, who stepped down over an alleged extramarital affair last month, was that “he is not a show-off”.

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“If you see him downstairs, he will say hello to you,” she said.

At the mature estates, amenities are mostly well developed. There is a bustling market and more than 10 coffee shops around the estate, which residents say serve them well enough.

With frequent bus services in the neighbourhood, transport is also not much of an issue.

Residents who spoke to The Straits Times mostly had minor gripes about rubbish in void decks or lifts breaking down once in a while.

With many of the flats in the constituency built about 30 years ago, they also hope for their living areas to be upgraded.

Madam Margaret Cheah, 66, who works in a clinic, is largely happy with her estate, as it has all the amenities she needs, and transport connectivity is good too.

She said she hopes there will be more sheltered walkways in her neighbourhood, adding: “There should be one leading to the bus stop. It will make things more convenient for residents.”

Bukit Batok was carved out as a single-seat constituency in the last general election, after 18 years of being part of Bukit Timah GRC and later Jurong GRC.

By-election battle for Bukit Batok SMC

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It was created in 1972 as a single-seat constituency in the west of Singapore.

Three-quarters of its constituents are Chinese, near the national average.

Reflecting the opinion of some residents, housewife Geraldine Koh, 31, a resident of 10 years, said: “Of course it would be better if our MP could speak Mandarin to us.”

Because of this, both Dr Chee and Mr Murali have made efforts to speak Chinese to residents.

Dr Chee has also made a point of writing in Chinese when posting updates on Facebook.

Mr Murali said that the Chinese-speaking seniors in the estate find it easier to call him “Ah Mu”.

“I’m really glad that they address me as Ah Mu,” he said.

This article was first published on April 21, 2016.
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A fire broke out on Jurong Island yesterday shortly before 3pm amid heavy rain.

The rising plume of black smoke could be seen from about 2km away, a reader who works at Tuas told The New Paper.

The reader, who declined to be named, said he could not smell the smoke from that distance, but could see “explosions”.

He estimated that the flames went up as high as 60m.

An engineer who works on Jurong Island said he felt his office shake slightly, but thought it was due to the stormy weather.

It was only when his colleague saw the fire from a window that he realised it was something more serious.

“My project manager told us, ‘If you don’t feel safe, you can leave the site.’

“Most of us chose to leave,” said the 26-year-old.

Although they were scared, they “managed to remain calm” and evacuate the island with their belongings, he said.

BLACK SMOKE

He said there was “a lot of black smoke”, although the fire looked quite small from his office, which is about 300m from the site.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said on its Facebook page that the fire at Tembusu Road on Jurong Island involved a tank containing light crude oil.

The tank measured about 40m in diameter and 20m in height.

“Upon SCDF’s arrival, the fire was raging and the in-house company emergency response team (Cert) was already fighting the fire with ground water monitors,” the statement said.

“The intensity of the fire caused the affected tank to fold and buckle.”

The affected tank was contained within a bund wall that measured 100m by 150m.

SCDF deployed its large foam monitor, which can shoot about 22,700 litres of water per minute, to fight the fire.

At the same time, it used several ground water monitors and fixed drencher systems to cool down two nearby oil tanks.

In all, about 150 SCDF officers and 38 vehicles were deployed.

One member of the Cert team was taken to the National University Hospital for heat exhaustion.

SCDF said in another Facebook post that the fire was extinguished at 7.45pm.

“This operation was a race against time in view of the tank that has buckled and on the need to prevent the intense fire from spreading to its immediate surroundings,” the post said.

marielim@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on April 21, 2016.
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Values are often taught through community service projects or during character and citizenship lessons in primary schools.

But a new pilot programme, launched yesterday by Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Education Low Yen Ling, aims to go beyond that by giving teachers and pupils resources to teach and learn about seven core values through lessons as diverse as physical education (PE) and music.

Two schools in the South West District, Rulang Primary and Xingnan Primary, will join the six-year Values in Practice (VIP) programme. Costing $80,000, it is being led and funded by the South West Community Development Council and voluntary welfare organisation Bringing Love to Every Single Soul (Bless).

At the lower primary levels, for example, pupils will run around the school hall to pick up bean bags as part of the PE programme to develop their psychomotor skills.

Under VIP, teachers will hold a class discussion after the PE lesson, prompting pupils to think about responsibility and care for the environment by asking them to imagine that the bean bags that they picked up were pieces of litter that had been strewn about.

There will also be a greater focus on putting values into practice outside the classroom.

Programme booklets will give pupils “missions” to carry out – such as getting Primary 1 pupils to pack their own schoolbags to learn about responsibility, or asking Primary 5 and 6 pupils to start their own community projects.

Mr Chan Cheong Cheong, vice-principal of Rulang Primary, said VIP builds on the existing Values In Action scheme in schools, which focuses on the inculcation of values through community involvement.

“This programme appeals to the masses as everyone can initiate their own projects,” he said.

VIP will be reviewed annually and may be extended to the other 31 primary schools in the South West District.

Housewife Subramanian Lakshmi, 37, who has a daughter in Primary 6 at Rulang, welcomed the programme. “It will teach her how to be responsible when she takes care of her siblings,” she said. “She is sometimes busy with studies but still reads books to her younger brother.”

yuensin@sph.com.sg

Additional reporting by Rachel Oh

This article was first published on April 21, 2016.
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SMRT and Netherlands-based firm in tie-up to bring driverless vehicle systems here and to region

Driverless “pods” ferrying passengers within private estates, university campuses and business parks could arrive in a big way, with a new joint venture announced yesterday.

Local transport operator SMRT and Netherlands-based 2getthere have formed 2getthere Asia – an outfit to bring such automated vehicle systems into Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region.

The joint venture is 51 per cent owned by SMRT and 49 per cent by 2getthere.

By the end of the year, 2getthere Asia could showcase what it calls a group rapid transit (GRT) vehicle – an air-conditioned, 24-passenger “pod” – in a live setting here.

While the GRT will not ply public roads, it can work in what 2getthere calls a “semi-controlled” environment, in which the behaviour and speeds of other road users can be managed.

Travelling at up to 40kmh, it can pick up and drop off passengers at designated stops.

2getthere has already installed similar automated vehicle systems in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, and the Rivium Business Park in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

In Masdar City, the system cost some US$10 million (S$13.4 million) to implement, and has transported more than two million passengers.

Company executives said they are in talks with several organisations in Singapore – including an education campus and a private company – to implement such a system, but declined to reveal names.

As the GRT will not require drivers and can be ordered on demand, it is touted to be safer and more resource-efficient.

SMRT Services managing director Colin Lim said during a press briefing: “There is a growing national push to implement future mobility solutions that can meet our first- and last-mile connectivity needs in Singapore.”

During the parliamentary debate on the Ministry of Transport’s budget last week, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said driverless pods that can be summoned with a mobile device will allow people to do without cars, and help Singapore go “car-lite”.

While 2getthere’s automated vehicle system, which also has a configuration using smaller, four-passenger pods, is not sophisticated enough to navigate public roads unlike, say, the Google car, Mr Lim is confident of its value in application.

He said: “Fully autonomous travel is very exciting… It’s a very exciting future, but will this future come about tomorrow? This product you see is ready today – it’s safe and has got a good track record.”

Mr Carel van Helsdingen, chairman and founder of 2getthere, said its automated vehicle system is able to work well in bad weather – unlike driverless cars that employ laser and camera sensors – because it uses magnets embedded in the road to guide the vehicles.

The thumb-size magnets are installed every 2m to 3m in the road. Sensors on the vehicles help to spot obstacles, such as pedestrians, hence preventing accidents.

Mr Lim said that, in the future, the automated vehicle system could also be deployed at SMRT’s depots to transport staff.

Elsewhere on the island, autonomous vehicles are undergoing tests at one-north, while the Sentosa Development Corporation and ST Engineering are working on developing self-driving shuttle services on Sentosa.

adrianl@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on April 21, 2016.
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