With less than three months before Funan DigitaLife Mall rolls down the shutters for a three-year revamp, many of its shops have made arrangements to move on.

Nine of 10 stores The Straits Times spoke to said they are moving to places such as Bugis Junction, Suntec City Mall, Plaza Singapura, Velocity and that other IT mall, Sim Lim Square.

Worldwide Computer Services is one of the two that will move to Sim Lim Square. Its managing director Muthiah Nagappan said: “In Singapore, if anybody wants to buy electronics, only two buildings are very famous, so we have no choice if Funan is closing.”

It will be joined by computer repair shop Vital Repair and Parts.

Still others argue that there is no longer any need for a specialised IT mall. Mr George Tan, who runs mobile and gaming shop DigiVue, said: “The IT concept is redundant, since you can buy IT products anywhere in Singapore. We have to move with the times.”

His store, formerly known as Microhouse, is the only one that will shutter when the mall closes on July 1. The shop had been at the North Bridge Road mall for about 30 years, he said.

The redeveloped mall is “one where shoppers can enjoy retail in a technology-enabled environment, with new experiences beyond just shopping and dining”, said CapitaLand Mall Trust Management’s chief executive officer Wilson Tan.

“Imagine a mall where you can try on outfits virtually, learn more about products and where they are made before you buy them, and eat with ingredients sourced from an urban farm in the mall itself.”

A campaign for ideas called #BeyondIT was launched yesterday by CapitaLand and The Straits Times, inviting Singaporeans to submit ideas for this space in the heart of the Civic and Cultural District.

People can contribute their ideas under three broad categories, Play, Create and Live, on www.straitstimes.com/BeyondIT until May 31.

The integrated development will add 388,000 sq ft for a total of 870,000 sq ft, about the size of Ion Orchard.

Ms Christine Li, director and head of research at commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, said that while CapitaLand has announced plans to move beyond an IT mall, “it might be a missed opportunity if the new Funan were to stray from this niche given its strong branding and name recognition”.

Still, the future mall could be incorporating technological wizardry even if it does not retain Funan’s IT focus.

CapitaLand has said the new mall will “set a new benchmark for experiential retail”, a trend that SIM University marketing lecturer Dianna Chang sees as the future of retailing.

“Experiential retail is an enhanced shopping experience created through technologies such as virtual reality, image recognition and automation,” she said.

Singapore Polytechnic marketing and retail lecturer Amos Tan said such branding could give it a significant edge in a crowded and homogenous landscape.

“The Internet cannot replace brick and mortar stores, but today’s consumers want more than just walking into a store and buying a product – they want an experience,” he said.

Software engineer Lester Chan, 32, said he used to frequent Funan’s flagship Challenger store, but now buys most of his tech gadgets online, where prices can be 30 to 50 per cent cheaper.

“It’s a little sad that Funan is closing, but I don’t think there will be a gap in the IT market as it is already a bit saturated,” he said.

This article was first published on April 16, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

After a night of drinking, Mr Sean Tan usually gets into his car to head home. But the 32-year-old accountant does not take the wheel.

Rather, a valet driver, more commonly known as a “jockey”, drives him home in his own car for a fee.

Mr Tan is part of a growing pool of drinkers opting for such services to enjoy their night out while avoiding drink driving. “I can drink without worrying that I will get caught and lose my licence,” he said.

In the past two years, demand for drive-home valet services has risen by up to 60 per cent, said seven valet companies that The Straits Times spoke to.

“We have seen a significant rise of between 50 and 60 per cent for drive-home services since starting out about two years ago,” said a spokesman for iDrive Valet Services.

“Our customers are not just executives or business owners. We’re also seeing a younger crowd, especially on Saturdays,” she added.

There are at least 40 valet companies now, up from about five just four years ago, said Mr Gary Yeo of Drive U Home, which was established seven years ago and is one of the first valet companies here.

Friday nights are usually the busiest, said Mr Alvin Cheng of DH Valet. On average, he gets 60 to 80 requests on a Friday night from customers at popular drinking spots such as Holland Village and Clarke Quay. The number of requests ranges from 40 to 60 on Saturdays and 20 to 30 on Sundays.

Many valet companies attribute the growing demand to greater public awareness of the dangers of drink driving as well as stricter and more frequent law enforcement.

“There are more roadblocks and Traffic Police operations now. Most people know that it is a serious offence, so they don’t want to take the risk,” said the iDrive Valet Services spokesman.

Stricter enforcement might well be having a deterrent effect. Last year, 2,297 people were arrested for drink driving, a 23 per cent drop from 2,982 in 2014, Traffic Police figures show.

Drink-driving accidents fell 26.4 per cent from 182 in 2014 to 134 last year.

Those who use such valet services usually book via a phone hotline at least half an hour in advance.

Most companies charge a basic fee of around $38 in cash for a single destination, and $10 for each additional drop-off.

Some have launched mobile apps such as ValetUncle, which was rolled out last December. ValetUncle co-founder Edwin Lim gets up to 40 bookings a night through its app, compared with about 10 via its phone hotline.

“Younger customers prefer using the app because it might be too loud in the club to make a phone call,” said Mr Lim. “They can also pinpoint their exact location on the app using GPS (Global Positioning System).”

There is also a crowdsourcing app for drive-home valet services, which works with several valet firms. The app, called Jocky, was launched last month by a local start-up of the same name.

The team of five at Jocky hopes the app will help reinvent the industry. Jocky does not hire its own drivers but works with valet companies to match an available driver to the nearest customer. Eventually, it hopes to engage freelancers.

“Our idea is to use crowdsourcing to offer drive-home services on demand,” said its CEO Bernard Lim.

The Jocky app aims to help the industry maximise its resources, as companies are alerted to jobs near their locations, Mr Lim said.

The app also offers cashless payment, an option which financial consultant Champ Tan, 31, appreciates. “It’s more convenient for me because I may not have enough cash with me after drinking,” he said.

Before he was introduced to valet services about a year ago, he would drive home first after work and then go out by taxi or other forms of public transport. “Now, I can meet my friends directly after work and at the end of the night, we can all get home safely,” Mr Tan said.

nghuiwen@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on April 16, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

SINGAPORE – The police have received around 400 reports about scam phone calls.

The police said in a statement today that members of the public first received calls from persons claiming to be employees of courier companies or banks in China.

They were told that their identities had been used to send parcels containing fake passports or weapons, or were used to apply for overseas credit cards.

They were then referred to another caller claiming to be a customs officer, a police officer or a government official from China.

They asked to provide their personal particulars including name, identification number, address, passport number and bank account numbers.

Some complainants were threatened with legal action and were instructed to remit monies to China so that the authorities would not pursue the matter.

The police said victims have lost more than $1 million to this scam till date.

The police advise members of public to take precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties.

Police advice:

– Ignore such calls

– Ignore caller’s instructions

– Do not provide any name, identification number, passport details, contact details, bank account or credit card details to the callers. Such information is useful to criminals

– Do not make any funds transfers as no government agency will instruct payment through a telephone call and direct you to pay to a third party’s bank account.

Call the police: If you have any information related to such crime, call the police hotline at 1800-255 0000, or dial ‘999’ for urgent police assistance.

spanaech@sph.com.sg

Top 7 scams in Singapore and more

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www.scamalert.sg

Hundreds of local men fell for sex scams and lost thousands

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The New Paper, Internet screengrabs, Lianhe Wanbao, Stomp

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