A foodcourt in Midpoint Orchard with a strata floor area of 2,648 sq ft has a guide price of $11 million to $12 million. It has space for about four stalls.

“The foodcourt is situated in close proximity of major shopping malls and offers local fare at affordable prices,” marketing agent Knight Frank said yesterday.

It is tenanted at $25,000 to $30,000 a month until the end of this year, while maintenance fees are about $3,400 a month.

The other foodcourt is next to Tampines West Community Club, within a HDB eating house at Tampines Street 81. It has space for about 10 stalls, and there is currently an outdoor refreshment area, as well as living quarters. The total area is about 3,800 sq ft.

The guide price for the property is $17 million to $18 million.

It has a balance lease of about 70 years. It is tenanted at $50,000 to $55,000 a month for both eating house and living quarters till April next year.

The eatery is popular with the neighbouring schools and churchgoers; it is within walking distance to St Hilda’s Primary School and St Hilda’s Secondary School and Lighthouse Evangelism church, Knight Frank said.

Ms Mary Sai, executive director of investment and capital markets at the firm, said the last sale of a HDB coffee shop was at Bukit Batok for $31 million in the middle of last year . “These two foodcourts for sale will appeal to both investors and coffee shop owners as they are well-located, with high footfall and large catchment areas.”

The expression of interest for both properties will close on March 23 at 3pm.

This article was first published on March 8, 2016.
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SINGAPORE – The operating hours of full-day bus lanes will be extended by three hours to 11pm from March 21. 

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that there are 23 km of full-day bus lanes which currently operate from 7.30 am to 8.00 pm on weekdays and Saturdays, excluding public holidays. These are located mainly in the city centre.

LTA hopes that this extension of the hours “will help shorten travel time for bus commuters during the late evening periods”.

The new operating hours will be from 7.30pm to 11pm. 

Separately, LTA will also implement the Bus Priority Box, also known as the Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme, at two bus stops without bus bays along Orchard Road on March 21, in which motorists will have to give way to buses pulling out of the bus stops. 

They are the bus stops located opposite Mandarin Orchard (bus stop number 09037) and at Midpoint Orchard (bus stop number 09038). 

LTA will evaluate its usefulness after six months to determine if the scheme should be applied for similar bus stops in other locations. 

Since 2008, the Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme has been rolled out to 332 bus stops. 

maryanns@sph.com.sg

SINGAPORE – The operating hours of full-day bus lanes will be extended by three hours to 11pm from March 21. 

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that there are 23 km of full-day bus lanes which currently operate from 7.30 am to 8.00 pm on weekdays and Saturdays, excluding public holidays. These are located mainly in the city centre.

LTA hopes that this extension of the hours “will help shorten travel time for bus commuters during the late evening periods”.

The new operating hours will be from 7.30pm to 11pm. 

Separately, LTA will also implement the Bus Priority Box, also known as the Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme, at two bus stops without bus bays along Orchard Road on March 21, in which motorists will have to give way to buses pulling out of the bus stops. 

They are the bus stops located opposite Mandarin Orchard (bus stop number 09037) and at Midpoint Orchard (bus stop number 09038). 

LTA will evaluate its usefulness after six months to determine if the scheme should be applied for similar bus stops in other locations. 

Since 2008, the Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme has been rolled out to 332 bus stops. 

maryanns@sph.com.sg

Amateur astronomer Alfred Tan has loved the mysteries of space since he was a boy.

Now, the vice-principal of Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) (PLMGS) likes nothing more than sharing his passion. In October last year, he trained fellow educators on the use of solar telescopes, together with partners from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Physics Department, Bendemeer Secondary School and Juying Secondary, in anticipation of what will take place tomorrow.

At about 7.20 am, the moon will begin to pass in front of the sun, casting a shadow that will be viewed as a solar eclipse from Singapore and the region. More than 100 schools will be able to view the uncommon event safely, through a live feed from a telescope at PLMGS.

Mr Tan is excited about being able to use the real-life phenomenon to teach not just science, but also mathematics and the humanities. “I feel that there is a great potential in integrating astronomy into the curriculum. Through hands-on activities, we are able to cultivate greater interest in the students so they are more engaged in the classroom,” he said.

A total of 146 eclipses have been or will be seen in Singapore between the year 1700 and 2100.

PLMGS students have been learning to observe the sun through the 11 solar telescopes set up in the school’s sky garden since Feb 29. Eight of those belong to Mr Tan himself. Said Melodi Teo, a Secondary 2 student: “I come to the sky garden every recess. Seeing different features of the sun every time has made me very interested in discovering science.”

Elsewhere, other schools are also getting fired up about the eclipse. About 1,000 students and 100 staff members from Bendemeer Secondary will be viewing the eclipse as well.

Mr Ng Wee Nghee, 40, head of department (Normal Technical), is overseeing the event. The school has purchased about 300 solar glasses, and made 100 more, so students can protect their eyes from the ultraviolet and infrared light that will pose a danger in viewing the sun with the naked eye.

Five telescopes managed by trained Sec 1 to 3 student volunteers will be set up for the viewing.

“It is rare to be able to view an eclipse with 80 to 90 per cent coverage,” said Mr Ng. “Creating the exposure will allow my students to appreciate the Earth and learn more about the universe.”

First-time eclipse viewer Muhamad Daniel Rashid, 15, cannot wait for tomorrow morning. “I have a strong interest in astronomy,” he said. “To be able to witness this rare occurrence excites me and ignites a burning passion for this field.”

At West Spring Primary, Primary 3 pupils will also get a first-hand viewing experience from their school’s rooftop through solar-filtered telescopes. Said pupil Isaac Low, nine: “I’m very excited to see the solar eclipse with my friends.”

At Nanyang Girls’ High School students, Sec 4 students will be doing a presentation on the eclipse and its relevance in culture and science as part of their lessons. They will also be watching the livestream from PLMGS.

Mr Tan said he was encouraged by the uptake of astronomy as a platform for teaching. A total of 104 teachers from 70 primary and secondary schools and junior colleges attended his five workshops.

He said: “Many teachers have interest in using astronomy in the education process, but don’t know where to start. My goal is to make it fun, simple and affordable so that all students can benefit.”

Members of the public who wish to view the eclipse tomorrow are advised to do so with caution as it is harmful to look at the sun directly without adequate protection.

kenggene@sph.com.sg

sywong@sph.com.sg

alexong@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 8, 2016.
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The trial of the husband-and-wife team accused of sedition, over articles on a now-defunct sociopolitical website, began with an unusual turn yesterday.

Australian Ai Takagi, 23, who is charged with seven counts of sedition for articles published by The Real Singapore (TRS), told the district court she would plead guilty.

But her Singaporean husband Yang Kaiheng, 27, is denying the charges and claiming trial.

The articles posted on TRS between October 2013 and February last year are alleged to have promoted ill will and hostility between different races or classes in Singapore.

The couple also face an eighth charge, for failing to produce financial statements on the website’s advertising revenue to the police.

In his opening remarks yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan said the couple “maliciously exploit(ed) racial and xenophobic faultlines” and deliberately sowed discord between Singaporeans and foreigners from the Philippines, India and China “for nothing more than their self-interest”.

Though the website purported to be the “voice of average Singaporeans”, DPP Kannan said the reality was that it reflected the views of “Takagi, a foreigner who had never resided, studied or worked in Singapore, and Yang, a disgruntled Singaporean”.

He said Takagi did the “outrageous” act of adopting the Malay name “Farhan” in one of the contentious articles to hide her identity as a foreigner while fostering xenophobia.

The couple, who married last October, were “wildly successful in their efforts to profit from the ill will and hostility that they were peddling”, he added.

Based on their bank statements, they earned between A$20,000 (S$20,500) and more than A$50,000 a month, he said. The court was not told when these sums were earned.

To bring in more advertising revenue, the couple “quite plainly regarded accuracy, propriety and truthfulness as necessary casualties”, he added.

DPP Kannan cited an article that falsely asserted a Filipino family had caused an incident between the police and participants of the Thaipusam procession last year.

He also said that TRS was jointly run by the couple, and that evidence will “show Yang’s continued, sustained and intimate involvement in every aspect of the running of TRS”.

But the couple’s lawyer, Mr Choo Zheng Xi, said Yang was not the person behind TRS. “He will deny the distribution, the proprietorship and the writing of the articles in question,” he said.

The maximum punishment under the Sedition Act is a $5,000 fine and three years’ jail on each charge.

The TRS website was shut down by its editors last May, after the regulator, the Media Development Authority, suspended their licence to operate the site and ordered them to take it offline.

The prosecution is expected to call six witnesses during the trial, including five police officers, while the defence said both Takagi and Yang would testify.

Takagi will make her guilty plea in court today, while Yang’s trial will proceed on Friday.

rachelay@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 8, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

The sedition trial of the couple said to be behind The Real Singapore (TRS) news portal kicked off yesterday, with the prosecution saying the duo had “profited handsomely” from the xenophobic and racist content on their website.

Singaporean Yang Kaiheng and his Australian wife Ai Takagi had allegedly earned sums of A$20,000 (S$20,500) to A$50,000 a month for the portal, which was shut down.

The couple face seven counts of sedition for deliberately sowing discord between Singaporeans and foreigners through a series of six articles and a Facebook update that they posted online between Oct 13, 2013, and Feb 4 last year.

Each is also charged with refusing to hand over documents on the advertising revenue of their website during police investigations.

In opening remarks yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan said that Yang and Takagi had repeatedly targeted foreigners residing in Singapore through inflammatory articles.

They “resorted to concocting scandalous, provocative and racy material” and even doctored articles contributed by ordinary Singaporeans, he said.

Yesterday, Takagi, 23, said she would plead guilty today.

Yang, 27, is denying the charges and will claim trial.

This article was first published on March 8, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.