FROM bringing specially curated reading materials to offices to transforming an MRT train into a mobile digital library, the National Library Board (NLB) is going all out to get more people to read.

It is starting a National Reading Movement, and will mark Singapore’s first National Reading Day on July 30. It will also conduct a nationwide survey on reading habits to better understand how to promote the activity.

The push comes amid survey results that paint a sobering picture of reading here.

Only 44 per cent of respondents in a year-long National Arts Council survey, which ended last year, had read at least one “literary book”.

And only half of Singapore residents had used library services in the past year, an NLB survey found last July.

Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim told Parliament yesterday that NLB will focus on three priorities for a start: reaching out to new audiences, encouraging reading in the mother tongue languages and expanding its network of partners to better court readers.

Adults are among those the NLB hopes to get on board, he said. Work commitments may leave them with less time to pick up a book so NLB is looking to “bring books to (them), instead of merely encouraging people to come to the books”.

It plans to create more chances for reading while on the move and in offices.

It is looking at curating short articles for commuters to access on mobile devices.

Later this year, NLB and the Land Transport Authority will launch a library-themed MRT train. Users can scan QR codes with their mobile devices to download e-books over the NLB mobile app, or access content like short essays.

Under a new Read@Work programme, the NLB will partner companies to curate reading materials tailored to them, such as on industry trends.

It is also reaching out to seniors, a group identified as the least frequent library user.

Only 24 per cent of those aged 60 and above visit public libraries while less than 20 per cent borrow library materials.

NLB plans to expand its range of reading programmes for seniors, start book clubs and set up more reading corners at community spaces.

asyiqins@sph.com.sg

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A town as big as Bishan will be built in Tengah.

Surrounded by greenery, it will be planned as a “Forest Town”, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said in Parliament yesterday.

As he unveiled a map and an artist’s impression of Singapore’s 24th Housing Board town before MPs, Mr Wong said it will be integrated with nature as well as the nearby Jurong Innovation District.

“This is only one picture, I have seen many more – plans, pictures and visualisations of what our planners are doing,” he said.

HDB will make public more details in due course, Mr Wong added.

Plans to develop Tengah, a 700ha site which is bounded by the Kranji and Pan-Island expressways, Brickland Road and Bukit Batok Road, were mooted as early as 1991 in a concept plan for Singapore in the future.

Twenty-five years on, the plan now is to integrate a new “industrial park of the future” that Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat unveiled in his Budget statement last month.

The Jurong Innovation District – whose first phase will be ready around 2022 – will bring together researchers, students, innovators and businesses to develop products and services for the future.

“Tengah will be a very exciting place to live, work and play,” Mr Wong said in the debate on his ministry’s budget yesterday.

When ready, the town bordering Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Batok and Jurong West towns is expected to have about 55,000 homes.

Mr Wong also outlined plans for Singapore’s urban development in the next 10 to 20 years.

These include a second central business district at Jurong Lake, a new creative cluster in Punggol and a new waterfront Northern Growth corridor in Woodlands and Sembawang.

New and innovative infrastructure, from driverless cars to smart power grids, will also be studied by the Committee on the Future Economy, in which Mr Wong chairs a sub-committee on the Future City.

Existing HDB towns will continue to be rejuvenated, Senior Minister of State for National Development Desmond Lee said, as he outlined some of the makeovers in store for Toa Payoh, Pasir Ris and Woodlands in the next 10 years.

Woodlands will get a town plaza for community activities and its waterfront will see more greenery and shaded spots.

Read also:

– $18m green makeover well under way in Yuhua

– Greenery, science to meet in Jurong

– Residents of three towns can share ideas on makeover

Dedicated cycling paths and new shelters will be built in Toa Payoh, while a new mixed-use development integrated with a new bus interchange will be built in Pasir Ris.

Mr Wong said that in transforming the city, greater focus needs to be placed on making sure public spaces are well-connected and conducive for walking and cycling.

Developers will be required to incorporate the needs of pedestrians and cyclists upfront in their plans.

Seamless cycling routes between six housing estates and the Central Business District would also be built, while parking charges may be raised to manage the use of cars.

In a bid to further boost home ownership, Mr Wong spelt out details of a scheme to help families in public rental flats buy homes again. Under the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, to start this year, eligible families with school-going children can get grants of up to $35,000 to buy new two-room flats with shorter leases.

Government assistance will also be given to ensure the families get the social support they need, he said.

This article was first published on April 12, 2016.
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SURFING speeds on Singapore’s free public Wi-Fi service, Wireless@SG, will be more than doubled to 5Mbps by the end of this year, as the Government sees the network as a key enabler of Singapore’s smart-nation vision.

The number of Wireless@SG hot spots will also be doubled to 20,000 by 2018 to better complement telcos’ 4G networks in meeting consumers’ rising demand for mobile broadband.

“We must build first-class infrastructure for pervasive, seamless and high-speed connectivity to benefit citizens and businesses,” said Janil Puthu-cheary, Minister of State for Communications and Information, yesterday in Parliament.

Some Members of Parliament had asked if there were plans to improve the surfing speeds of Wireless@SG, with Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC) saying: “Today’s Wireless@SG speeds are slower in performance than what our 4G mobile networks provide.”

Addressing this, Dr Janil said Wireless@SG’s current speed is already faster than most public Wi-Fi services around the world. But because demand is increasing, there is a need to boost current speeds.

With the upgrade, Wireless@SG speeds will be faster than existing 3G speeds, he said. Singapore will also have the highest hot-spot density in the world, calculated by the number of hot spots per inhabitant. Currently, it trails only Tokyo.

“But it is not the connectivity that makes us smart; it is what we do with it,” said Dr Janil. “Operators can also use Wireless@SG to offer improved services such as cashless payment and location-based analytics. All this benefits consumers, businesses and productivity.”

One group of beneficiaries is the low-income users. The idea is to allow Wireless@SG to complement existing efforts to bridge the digital divide.

Coverage expansion will target busy places such as hospitals, government buildings and community centres so that more people can connect to the network without surfing slowdowns, a common bugbear.

More public places such as hawker centres, train stations and retail malls will also be added to the list of Wireless@SG zones.

About half the existing 10,000 hot spots at the current 3,000 locations are already allowing users to surf at up to 5Mbps, from 2Mbps previously.

Speeds at the remaining hot spots will be upgraded by the year end.

As at December, there were two million frequent users on the network, clocking 10 million hours a month.

itham@sph.com.sg

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SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has, for the first time, hired women to fly its planes. Two of them joined in August during the last intake of cadet pilots.

Their training – in Singapore and Australia – will take between two and three years, after which they will be rostered for commercial flights.

SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides confirmed the hiring but said no target has been set for the number of women pilots to be hired. The airline has about 2,000 pilots.

“We will recruit whoever is the most qualified,” he said.

SIA is the last Singapore passenger carrier – and possibly major global airline – to hire women pilots.

The group’s regional arm, SilkAir, and long-haul budget unit, Scoot, already have women flying their planes. Low-cost carriers Jetstar Asia and Ti-gerair also have women at the cockpit controls.

SIA did not provide any details of the two women cadets, nor say why it is hiring women only now.

A pilot who did not wish to be identified said: “Unlike many other airlines that hire licensed pilots, SIA trains cadets from scratch at a cost of more than $200,000 for each trainee. It’s a significant investment so you want to ensure that the pilots you train are always operationally ready.

“This is not possible when women are pregnant and have to be grounded, usually for a year or more.”

The decision to now hire women is a good move, said captain Ng Thim Fook, president of the Air Line Pilots Association – Singapore.

He added: “I see this as a positive step towards gender equality…Times have changed. With flexible rostering and other tools in place, pilots can now have better work-life balance.”

Female pilots say that while the industry is still dominated by men, mindsets have changed.

First officer Amandine Aignan, 37, who has a two-year-old daughter and is now pregnant with her second child, said her employer, Jetstar Asia, has been supportive.

The airline allowed her to do ground duties when she was pregnant with her first child, said the French national who has been flying with Jetstar Asia for four years.

She resumed flying after that. Grounded again now, she will take to the skies again after her maternity leave.

But there are challenges, said her colleague, captain Priya Doobaree, 37. “In my 16 years of flying, I’ve found that as long as you are capable and meet all the criteria, you will gain the same respect as your other colleagues.” she said.

“But it is also true that as a woman, you are expected to perform the same as or even better than the men.”

While women pilots are more accepted these days, there are not that many, added the 37-year-old, who is single.

“People do look quite dazzled when you walk around in a pilot’s uniform and once when I did a flight announcement, someone put it on Twitter.”

karam@sph.com.sg

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