Honesty may be the best policy, but not for these parents who were caught on camera making off with another child’s bag while their own daughter watched on.
According to a Facebook post by Ho Siew Thong, which has been shared over 2,000 times, his daughter had lost her bag on Oct 4 at Kiztopia’s Marina Square outlet.
The girl had left the light-blue sling bag on a bench at the indoor playground at about 7pm.
When Ho returned for the bag at 7.20pm, it was already missing.
CCTV footage showed that a couple with a young girl in tow had noticed the bag. After opening the bag to examine its contents, the man handed it to the woman, who proceeded to stuff it into a large black backpack. The three of them then left the scene.
BOISE, Idaho: This year’s Singapore Armed Forces Exercise Forging Sabre held in Idaho will see fighter jets fly longer missions, as the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) makes an appearance in its first overseas exercise.
The multi-role tanker transport parked at Boise airport. (Photo: MINDEF)
The MRTT, which was unveiled only last year and carries 20 per cent more refuelling capacity than the older KC-135R tanker aircraft, will enable the fighter jets to “stay airborne longer and go further than before”, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said in a news release on Monday (Oct 7).
Staying airborne longer is key to defending the skies more effectively. While an F-15SG fighter jet can stay airborne on its own fuel for about two hours, air-to-air refuelling allows it to stay up almost indefinitely. This means the jet doesn’t have to land and refuel before taking out more targets in a different location.
Exercise director Brigadier-General Ho Kum Luen. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
“This allows us more operational flexibility in being able to prosecute targets at different ranges and times of our choosing,” exercise director Brigadier-General (BG) Ho Kum Luen, 40, told reporters at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.
For instance, commanders can choose from more combinations of assets when hitting targets, while fighter jets can be configured to carry less fuel to make way for more weapons. In previous editions of the biennial exercise, longer-duration missions had to be simulated.
There are 10 F-15SGs participating in this year’s exercise. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
In another first, the exercise will take place at the Mountain Home Range Complex, a sprawling facility where some 600 personnel and 28 aircraft – including 10 F-15SGs, nine F-16C/Ds and five Apache attack helicopters – participating in the exercise can train more realistically.
This training airspace is more than 20 times the size of Singapore and three times bigger than the training airspace in Singapore. It is also slightly larger than the training area in Arizona where the previous edition of the exercise was held.
“The Mountain Home Range Complex offers us a very vast overland airspace as well as urban structures and the ability to have moving targets on the ground, which offers very challenging as well as realistic scenarios for our warfighters,” BG Ho said.
There are nine F-16C/Ds participating in this year’s exercise. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
The scenarios in the exercise, which runs from Sep 30 to Oct 10, have been increasing in complexity. Commanders have steadily combined more assets, introduced more targets and shortened the time needed to hit them.
“What this means is that from the time our sensors in the air pick out targets on the ground, to the time the strikers actually deliver the weapons on the target, we want to keep this loop as short as possible,” BG Ho added.
The exercise again seeks to showcase how the RSAF fights as as integrated force. (Graphic: MINDEF)
An integral part of this process is a smarter command post which uses the “latest technologies” to allow sense and strike assets to communicate a large amount of information effectively, MINDEF said, adding that it enables commanders to make faster, better informed and more effective decisions.
“Through the command post, the locations of multiple hostile threats are transmitted to the strike assets, guiding them to strike their targets with deadly precision,” MINDEF stated.
A Heron 1 unmanned aerial vehicle being towed. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
In one battle scenario, six remote-controlled enemy vehicles are moving at the same time. The Heron 1 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) detects and tracks them before sending the information back to the command post. Commanders there confirm the vehicles as enemies and order a strike.
Then, two UAVs and four F-15SGs use onboard lasers to target the moving vehicles. The fighter jets unleash six laser-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition bombs, destroying the targets simultaneously before they can scatter and escape.
This is the seventh instalment of the biennial exercise. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
Separately, the UAVs can guide a team of Commandos – also participating in this year’s exercise – on the ground to use lasers to allow fighter jets to strike with greater accuracy, reducing collateral damage in urban settings. The Apaches comb the battlefield to destroy enemy vehicles and tanks.
“Exercise Forging Sabre allows us to have this end-to-end execution of this integrated sense and strike operations – being able to start from the planning all the way to the weapons dropping on the targets, which is something that we can never do anywhere else,” BG Ho said.
The deep engine roars and flashy chassis of Lamborghini sports cars — over 40 of ‘em, even — would’ve looked awfully out of place in the HDB heartlands of Punggol, but it’s an annual affair that residents are used to by now.
For the seventh year in the running, Lamborghini Club Singapore teamed up with the People’s Association in a fund-raising event as part of a Children’s Day celebration with the Punggol Coast community.
Sunday afternoon (Oct 6) saw a fleet of Lamborghini automobiles hurtling (within speed limits) to a multi-purpose hall located at Block 324 Sumang Walk.
My brother took this, the annual Lamborghini event in Punggol. Makes me wish I was a Punggolian.
If you can get past the fact that you won’t be able to use Google apps and services (the loophole’s closed too, sorry), then by all means, get Huawei’s Mate 30 Pro.
Folks in Singapore will soon be able to purchase Huawei’s latest flagship smartphone for the flagship price of $1,298. But there are some caveats you should know about before you can even get your hands on what is officially the best smartphone shooter.
First off, there’re only a limited number of Mate 30 Pros available — only 200 customers will be chosen to be part of an exclusive group who’ll be able to test out and purchase the phone in a private event.
And if you do want to be one of the lucky few invited, you’ll have to first register your interest for the Mate 30 Pro on the Huawei website before Oct 16.
While the manned flight will last just three minutes, air taxis could in future become a more common sight in Singapore – and the world.
German company Volocopter told the media at a preview on Sep 30 that it had conducted closed-door trials at Seletar Airport every day the week before.
The passenger drone has been tested in Singapore’s hot and humid weather. (Photo: Gwyneth Teo)
The trials tested the passenger drone’s performance in Singapore’s hot and humid weather, and also demonstrated the feasibility and safety of the aircraft to authorities.
The test flights have received the support of the Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, as well as the Economic Development Board.
Volocopter said it intends to start accepting its first paying passengers within the next two to three years.
Dubai – where Volocopter flew an unmanned trial in 2017 – and Singapore remain contenders for where the first point-to-point routes could be deployed, according to co-founder Alexander Zosel.
“In the end, we want to have Volocopter systems here in Singapore as a public transport system for business travellers or tourists. The plan is to open the first route in the next two to three years, but this will be defined with the authorities, and that could be a tourist case or a business case for example from the airport to the business district,” said Mr Zosel.
The firm plans to expand fast after launching, targeting cities in “two to three continents” at the same time.
It also has plans to produce “tens of thousands” of units of the aircraft per year once it goes commercial, compared to conventional airliners, which typically produce less than a hundred per model annually.
THE PATH TO COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS
However, the drone that will fly over Marina Bay in October will never carry paying passengers.
Volocopter is using the current 2X model only for research and development and training purposes.
The model cannot be flown as a commercial aircraft, as it has been certified in Europe as a sporting aircraft.
The inside of a Volocopter flying taxi. (Photo: Volocopter)
Under those regulations, it is illegal for sports aircraft to have autonomous systems onboard, which Volocopter intends to develop on its passenger drones.
Instead, the German company is developing a new commercial model according to new regulations by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s Special Condition for small-category VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft.
According to Volocopter, the new model will be even safer. It will also be bigger, have larger batteries, and be able to fly longer. It will also have wings, which will make forward flights more stable and efficient.
In the meantime, the company has been exploring partnerships to build infrastructure for take-off and landing points, as well as to develop the digital infrastructure needed to pilot these flights autonomously.
Mr Zosel said the company has had discussions with landlords in Singapore, but is unable to announce anything yet.
“It’s a process. It’s also about growing partnerships with the ecosystem in Singapore. Not only with the authorities, also players like 5G network providers are very important to operate this aircraft, so we want to create an ecosystem here with different players.”
SINGAPORE – A complete ban on the use of personal mobility devices (PMDs) in Singapore is a possibility if the behaviour of users does not improve.
The Government may have no choice but to do it, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary on Monday (Oct 7), as he urged users to be “extra responsible and mindful of others”.
It is reviewing thoroughly its plans to improve the safe use of PMDs amid the rising number of accidents and fires linked to the devices, he added.
Speaking in Parliament, Dr Janil also said new HDB towns will have a clear separation of traffic, with pedestrians on footpaths, active mobility devices on dedicated paths for PMDs and bicycles, and motor vehicles on roads.
But existing towns do not have many dedicated paths for PMDs, he added.
The Land Transport Authority is taking steps to mitigate the situation.
SINGAPORE – If he was still feeling snoozy after his overnight flight from Paris, Neymar would have been awakened by the beat of the samba drumming that greeted him at the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach early Monday (Oct 7) morning.
The Brazil superstar, who scored the last goal in his club Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-0 win over Angers on Saturday, and his Selecao teammates are in town for the Brazil Global Tour which sees the five-time world champions face Senegal and Nigeria on Thursday and Sunday respectively in two international friendlies at the National Stadium.
Stepping out of a minivan after his compatriots and PSG colleagues Marquinhos and Thiago Silva, the 27-year-old Neymar, who wore a black cap, white T-shirt, khaki pants, as well as diamond-studded necklace and earrings, looked bleary-eyed as he scanned his surroundings.
Being prone to run off without warning, children can be quite a handful lot.
A mum got the shock of her life when her toddler dashed onto the road outside Sri Ruthra Kaliamman Temple on Saturday (Oct 5) evening.
As she chased after him, the woman wailed as she saw him get struck by an oncoming car.
Despite the scare, the boy appeared to have survived without sustaining serious injuries — he attempted to get to his feet before getting scooped up by his mum.
The heart-stopping moment was captured on the dashcam of another vehicle from the other lane.
Its driver could be heard yelling in alarm as he watched the child run right into the path of a red sedan.
SINGAPORE: The use of personal mobility devices (PMDs) could be banned if the behaviour of riders does not improve, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary.
Speaking in Parliament on Monday (Oct 7), he noted how the recent death of 65-year-old cyclist Madam Ong Bee Eng following a collision with a PMD rider had caused public alarm over the dangers that the devices pose to others.
Noting the number of accidents involving PMDs had increased with their increasing use, Dr Janil said the Government shared the concerns of Singaporeans.
“Many wish for footpaths to be safe for pedestrians again. We share this wish too,” he added.
“We are determined to improve footpath safety back to levels before PMDs were allowed onto footpaths.”
He noted that in August, a slew of measures aimed at ensuring the safe use of PMDs were announced – such as bringing forward a fire-safety certification deadline by six months and the introduction of mandatory inspections from April.
However, these plans will be revisited to see whether the current approach needs to be rethought or additional measures introduced, given the “heightened concerns and adverse feedback” in recent weeks.
“Please give us a month or two to do this review,” said Dr Janil.
He noted though that the authorities still view PMDs as useful modes of first-and-last mile transport if used responsibly.
The ideal would be to have one path for pedestrians and a separate path for PMDs and bicycles, he said, though infrastructure constraints mean pedestrians and bicycles are allowed to share footpaths as a “second best practical solution”.
While it may be possible to have such dedicated paths in new towns, these are scarce in existing towns, said Dr Janil.
Meanwhile, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is working with Members of Parliament to identify hotspots where improvement works – such as the widening of footpaths and the installation of speed-regulating strips – can be implemented quickly to enhance safety.
The LTA is also working with town councils to implement pedestrian only zones at town centres – announced by Senior Minister of State for Transport Dr Lam Pin Min in August – which will be done in stages to allow for implementation details to be worked out.
The authorities will also speed up the development of dedicated paths for bicycles and PMDs, said Dr Janil, though the full implementation of such infrastructure enhancements could take several years.
“Meanwhile, we have to make a decision on where to allow PMDs to be used, other than on dedicated paths for PMDs and bicycles – on footpaths, or on roads, or not at all until the town is ready,” he said, noting these are “difficult choices” which need to be re-examined.
“In the meantime, we strongly urge PMD users to be extra responsible and mindful of others. If their behaviour does not improve, we may have no choice but to ban their usage completely from Singapore,” he said.
Responding to a question from Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah, Dr Janil said 161 non-compliant PMDs had been confiscated by the LTA since July this year, when registration of e-scooters was made mandatory.
Riders with their e-scooters at Boon Lay Place. (Photo: Corine Tiah)
“LTA is studying upstream measures, including import controls, to tackle the problem of non-compliant PMDs,” he said, adding the penalties for illegal modifications of PMDs as well as other offences are being reviewed.
In response to Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan, Dr Janil said that between Sep 23 and Oct 3, the LTA had received more than 2,800 applications for the early disposal incentive scheme and collected more than 940 PMDs.
This is under the early disposal incentive scheme, where the authority provides a S$100 cash incentive for registered e-scooters which do not meet the UL2272 fire-safety standard as well as free disposal for all PMDs which do not meet the standard.
Meanwhile, the ban on the use of PMDs, bicycles and e-bikes at the void decks and common areas of HDB blocks by town councils has not resulted in a “noticeable drop” in reported incidents, said Dr Janil, noting the incentive is still in a two-month “advisory period” until the end of this month.
“We expect the full impact to be clearer, after the town councils begin enforcement action,” he said in response to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP Alex Yam.
