SINGAPORE: In this neighbourhood, large municipal banners are being transformed into everyday items like bags, lanterns and tissue boxes.
It is part of a Zero Waste Masterplan in Nee Soon East to upcycle banners into new products while helping women who are unable to work, Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC Louis Ng told CNA.
Project Sew, an initiative that started in 2015, had been repurposing some banners before the masterplan was implemented.
“They have already been upcycling some of the banners, but this year I launched the Zero Waste Masterplan and took the decision to make sure all the banners are upcycled,” Mr Ng said.
Various items created by Project Sew from recycled materials. (Photo: Project Sew)
Before the initiative was in place, old banners were thrown away.
“The main aim of the Zero Waste Masterplan wasn’t really about recycling, but rather to reuse and reduce,” Mr Ng explained.
HELPING THOSE IN NEED
Aside from benefiting the environment, the project also helps those in need — mainly women who are unable to work, including single parents, the disabled and all-day caregivers.
“The project gives these women an opportunity to earn a living by supplying them with a sewing machine and provides them with materials and sewing lessons,” Mr Ng said in a Facebook post.
“For a lot of them, it’s hard to get a full time job because they have young kids. This gives them a chance to make a livelihood at home to make things to sell,” he explained to CNA.
A tissue box made from recycled banners. (Photo: Project Sew)
A bag produced by Project Sew. (Photo: Project Sew)
Nee Soon East hands the old banners to lower income families, who sew the banners into bags. It then buys the bags back from the families and uses them at events, Mr Ng said.
The bags are also sold at the events – from S$2 for a small pouch to about S$40 for a big bag. Proceeds from the sales are processed and distributed by Nee Soon East and go towards helping lower-income families, Mr Ng added.
“Since 2015, about 50 families have benefited so far – about 10 families were given sewing machines by Nee Soon East so they could work on the bags,” the MP said.
One bag in particular, stood out.
“I told them not to use my face as a bag, but I guess they tried to be funny and did it,” Mr Ng laughed. “They were very happy to show me that bag during the Christmas party.”
Lanterns created by Project Sew. (Photo: Project Sew)
Project Sew and Sembawang Family Service Centre (FSC) are the two partners behind the making of the products.
The volunteer-driven Project Sew also creates rugs from old T-shirts, lanterns from red packets and bags from 3-in-1 coffee/tea bags.
Mr Ng added that about S$1,500 worth of A4 zip folders and pencil cases made from the banners have been ordered from Sembawang FSC by Nee Soon East.
The family centre has also produced 200 bags so far for an upcoming Edusave Awards ceremony.
[ad_1]
A Mazda driver managed to get out of his car in time before it was engulfed in flames along Tampines Expressway (TPE) on Tuesday evening (Dec 17).
The Stomp contributor was on a lorry and going past the scene of the incident at about 5.30pm.
He took a video of what he saw and told Stomp: “I was travelling towards Sengkang West Way.
“It was raining slightly and my friend, who’s driving the lorry, slowed down a bit.
“I saw a car in front of us speeding and then it crashed into the barrier on the side of the road.
“After that I started to see smoke emitting from the car and then there were flames. The fire was rather big.”
The Stomp contributor added: “The driver was lucky. He managed to get out of his car in time.
“It’s a good thing that traffic wasn’t that heavy then but there were vehicles behind us.
“I got off the lorry to approach drivers, asking them to clear a lane for the firefighters.
[ad_2]
Source link
[ad_1]
Stomp contributor Jackson was amused to see a cosplayer dressed in white from head-to-toe when on board a train on Monday (Dec 16).
He said he was approaching Bayfront MRT station on the Circle Line at around 5pm when he noticed the eye-catching sight.
Jackson told Stomp: “It was a girl and I heard she was going for a photo shoot.
“I think she was cosplaying as a character from a manga known as Heaven Official’s Blessing.
“It’s funny and I thought it was a ghost at first.”
Heaven Official’s Blessing is Chinese webnovel and manhwa series about a crown prince who ascends to heaven.
According to its Fandom page, it has “handsome men and lots of the feely feels”.
[ad_2]
Source link
[ad_1]
SINGAPORE – It is not an offence for pedestrians to use mobile phones while crossing the road, the police said in a Facebook post on Tuesday night (Dec 17).
But they would rather pedestrians not do so for safety reasons, the police said in response to rumours circulating online that pedestrians who use their phones while crossing roads can be fined up to $1,000.
“We advise pedestrians to avoid using such devices when crossing the road, as such usage would distract them from the road conditions and the movement of vehicles around them. Pedestrians should exercise caution at all times, and look after their personal safety and that of other road users,” the police said.
In the Facebook post, the police also highlighted three key amendments to the Highway Code in a video posted on Facebook in November.
Pedestrians were reminded to avoid using mobile communication devices while crossing roads and to obey traffic signs and rules.
In 2018, 887 pedestrians were injured and 39 were killed in road accidents.
Other key amendments addressed in the video include giving way to emergency vehicles, and proper use of active mobility devices.
[ad_2]
Source link
BALI: Five accused drug smugglers from Hong Kong, Chile, Switzerland and Thailand who were caught in Bali could face the firing squad if convicted, police on the Indonesian holiday island said Wednesday (Dec 18).
A sixth person, a Singaporean woman who was caught with a small amount of cocaine, will not face the death penalty, authorities said.
The group, arrested in separate incidents this month and in November, were paraded in shackles and orange jumpsuits at Bali’s airport customs office, escorted by machine-gun toting police – a common practice in Indonesia.
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers.
While death sentences are often reduced to long jail terms, Indonesia has executed foreign nationals in the past, including two Australian masterminds of the Bali Nine heroin gang who were shot in 2015.
Two of the five are men from Hong Kong, who were caught with 3.2kg and 4kg of methamphetamine, respectively, police said.
The Chilean was allegedly carrying 77g of meth while a Swiss citizen was arrested with 30g of marijuana in his possession, police said.
The Thai man had nearly 18g of marijuana, they added.
Foreign suspects detained for drugs charges sit during a press conference in Bali, Indonesia, Wed, Dec. 18, 2019. (Photo: AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
“The law allows for a life sentence or the death penalty,” Ida Bagus Komang Ardika, head of the Bali police narcotics unit, told reporters.
Indonesia has slowed the pace of its executions in recent years despite broad public support for the penalty.
In October, police said two Thai women and a Frenchman could face the death penalty after they were caught smuggling drugs into Bali.
A French drug trafficker briefly on death row saw his sentence commuted to 19 years this summer.
There are dozens of smugglers on death row in Indonesia, including a cocaine-trafficking British grandmother, an American caught with crystal methamphetamine, and several west African inmates.
SINGAPORE: An importer who failed to make an accurate declaration of a Ritter Sport chocolate bar that was recalled has been fined S$800, said the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) on Wednesday (Dec 18).
The affected product, Ritter Sport – KAFFEESPLITTER, was recalled by SFA in September for an undeclared milk allergen.
Back of implicated product package. (Photo: SFA)
In a statement on Sep 14, SFA said it had directed two local importers to recall the implicated product. In an update two days later, it said that the recall for importer Radha Exports had been completed, while the recall for Associate & Uniters Distributors was ongoing.
On Wednesday, SFA said that Associate & Uniters Distributors had failed to accurately declare the brand name and product description for 4,495kg of the implicated product, as well as 1,417kg of other food products in a cargo clearance permit (CCP).
“Accurate declarations are important for traceability of food sources,” SFA said.
“SFA takes a serious view on false and inaccurate declarations in the CCP.”
Under the Sale of Food Act (Food Regulations), those who fail to declare the necessary brand particulars in a cargo clearance permit may be fined up to S$1,000. Repeat offenders face a fine of up to S$2,000.
