SINGAPORE: Sports fans in Singapore will soon be able to catch major international football action like Champions League matches, as well as the Rugby World Cup on Mediacorp’s Toggle.
Mediacorp and beIN SPORTS on Thursday (Aug 8) announced a partnership to bring sports programmes to the digital video platform.
Subscribers will be able to enjoy two packages – the beIN SPORTS Pass and the Rugby World Cup Pass – on any of their devices upon activation.
The beIN SPORTS Pass offers football lovers unlimited access to live and on-demand matches from the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, La Liga, Ligue 1, MLS, and more. Subscribers can choose from different tenured plans, priced at S$9.98 per month or S$68.98 for an entire season.
Rugby fans, on the other hand, can opt for the Rugby World Cup Pass, which will screen all matches of the Rugby World Cup 2019, to be held in Japan from Sep 20 to Nov 2.
File photo of England v Wales rugby match. (Photo: Reuters/Henry Browne)
Customers who sign up from now until Aug 31 stand to enjoy an early bird price of S$68.98 (regular price S$78.98). As an added bonus, all subscribers of the Rugby World Cup Pass will receive a complimentary beIN SPORTS Pass, valid until Nov 30.
Mr Anil Nihalani, Mediacorp’s head of Digital Products and Technology, said: “We are pleased to partner with beIN SPORTS, one of the world’s leading sports networks, to bring our customers an exciting selection of premium sports content.
“In addition, Toggle users enjoy the unrivalled convenience of instant activation and access to content on the widest range of devices, all without the hassle of set-top box installation.”
Mr Mike Kerr, beIN Asia Pacific’s managing director, said: “I have had a great experience as a Toggle user, so I am naturally excited over our collaboration with Mediacorp to expand its sports offering.
“Toggle is one of the most popular apps in Singapore, and through our partnership, local fans now have even more choices to fuel their appetite for live football content on beIN SPORTS.
“As Toggle continues to widen its engagement and grow its user base, we are committed to delivering high-quality coverage and enhancing fans’ experience starting with the upcoming football season and Rugby World Cup 2019.”
Subscribers to the beIN SPORTS Pass and Rugby World Cup Pass who refer their friends to sign up stand a chance to win all-expenses paid trips to watch a La Liga match in Spain and the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup in Japan, respectively.
More information on the referral contests and price plans is available at toggle.sg/priceplan.
SINGAPORE: Seven suspected drug offenders were arrested and S$197,000 worth of heroin seized in an operation conducted by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in a three-day operation this week.
The operation began on Monday (Aug 5) morning with officers deployed to observe a suspected heroin syndicate leader in Buona Vista.
The 58-year-old Singaporean was believed to be supplying “sizeable amounts of heroin” to other suspected drug traffickers, said CNB in a media release on Thursday.
Another suspect, a 52-year-old Singaporean, was seen meeting him at a bus stop in the area. The younger man subsequently left in a taxi and alighted at Bukit Merah View, where he was arrested. He had about 146g of heroin on him at the point of arrest.
Heroin seized during Central Narcotics Bureau’s (CNB) operation from Aug 5 to Aug 7, 2019. (Photo: CNB)
Officers also saw another suspect, a 59-year-old Singaporean, meeting up with the suspected heroin syndicate leader at Buona Vista. The 59-year-old was later arrested at Dover Drive, where about 9g of heroin was recovered from him.
OFFICER HAD TO FORCE ENTRY INTO SUSPECT’S UNIT
On Monday evening, CNB officers spotted a meet-up between two other suspects, a 50-year-old and a 47-year-old.
After they parted ways, officers arrested the 47-year-old, who is believed to be associated with the suspected syndicate leader, at Buangkok Crescent.
At the same time, another group of officers forced entry into a unit at Ubi Avenue 1 after the 50-year-old refused to grant them access.
About 9g of heroin was found in a sling bag inside a toilet in the unit, while about another 292g of heroin was found concealed in his motorcycle seat compartment.
Officers escorted the suspect to his workplace in the area of Victoria Street, where another 939g of heroin in two bundles was recovered from a storeroom.
Heroin seized on Aug 5, 2019 from a suspect’s workplace in the Victoria Street area. (Photo: CNB)
WHITE PLASTIC BAG
On Aug 7, CNB officers saw a 39-year-old Malaysian man meet with the suspected leader in Buona Vista. The Malaysian man handed a white plastic bag to him and left on his motorcycle.
Officers moved in and arrested the suspected syndicate leader. About 1,191g of yellow-coloured heroin was recovered from the plastic bag.
The Malaysian suspect was later arrested at the junction of Lower Kent Ridge Road and South Buona Vista Road, with cash of about S$1,200 seized as well.
CNB officers also arrested another suspect, a 60-year-old Singaporean, in the Buona Vista area.
A total of about 192g of heroin, a small amount of Ice and S$2,452 of cash were recovered from him.
Investigations into the drug activities of all the suspects are ongoing.
CNB said the amount of heroin seized is enough to feed the addiction of 1,323 abusers for one week.
SINGAPORE: Police are investigating after the Chua Chu Kang Town Council (CCKTC) lodged a police report about a Chinese national flag displayed at a Housing Board block.
The flag, hung outside the staircase landing between the 11th and 12th floors of 489B, Choa Chu Kang Avenue 5, has since been taken down.
The incident was first shared on Stomp on Monday (Aug 5).
When CNA visited the block on Thursday, there were notices from the police at the doors of some flats on the 12th floor.
The notice, dated 12.27pm on Thursday, calls for the resident to contact the investigating officer, as “police are investigating into a case at your block”.
Residents of the block that spoke to CNA did not see or hear anything suspicious.
Ms Zima Salim, 31, said that she had not known about the incident until Thursday morning. There are no residents from China on the 11th floor, she said
“Why would they do this? They have no reason to. It was probably an act of mischief by a local,” said the housewife.
Some residents on the 12th floor received a police notice dated Aug 8 12.27pm, including the two units that sandwich the staircase landing where the flag was displayed.
Another resident who declined to be named said she first found out about the incident on Tuesday when a fellow resident sent a photo of the flag to the WhatsApp group chat for their block.
“I received the picture on the group chat, and the response from everyone generally was that it was someone doing it to get their two seconds of fame since National Day is coming,” the 10th-floor resident said.
Other residents CNA spoke to also said they had not noticed anything out of the ordinary. None of them could confirm when the flag was put up, or who alerted the town council.
The flag was taken down by the town council, right after they were alerted by a resident.
“CCKTC has lodged a police report with regards to the above mentioned incident and shall not comment further since police investigation is underway,” said a spokesman from the town council.
The police confirmed that a report was lodged, and investigations are ongoing.
The National Emblems (Control of Display) Act states that displaying any flag or national emblem that is not that of Singapore in public is considered an offence.
When an emblem is visible to the public in any place where the public has right of way or has access, it is considered as being displayed in public.
Exceptions to the Act include displays of a foreign flag or national emblem by diplomatic representatives of a foreign power to Singapore where authorisation has been granted by the Government, and displays on ships or aircraft.
Those found flouting the rules could be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$500 or both.
SINGAPORE: The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Thursday (Aug 8) warned the public about a scam email asking the recipient to pay a “fine” for a detained package to be released.
The email, received by a member of the public, came with a letter claiming claimed that a package was being kept at a “bonded warehouse”. He was told to pay S$1,500 for it to be released and delivered to him.
The email said that the recipient’s “item and cash worth US$27,540” was seized by immigration and customs officers on Aug 2.
(Image: Immigration and Checkpoints Authority)
“ICA would like to clarify that this letter was not sent by our officers,” the agency said.
On Tuesday, ICA issued a warning about phone scammers claiming to be its officers. Callers would ask for the recipient’s personal particulars or money transfers, and threaten deportment if they refuse to comply.
It reminded members of the public not to provide personal details such as name, identification numbers, passport details, bank account or credit card details to suspicious or unknown parties.
“ICA takes a serious view of such scams as it undermines public trust in ICA. If you wish to provide any information related to such scams, please call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness,” ICA said.
SINGAPORE: Retail sales in Singapore dropped 8.9 per cent in June 2019 compared to a year ago, according to figures released by the Department of Statistics (Singstat) on Thursday (Aug 8).
The estimated total retail sales value in June was about S$3.5 billion, with online retail sales making up an estimated 5.5 per cent.
On a month-to-month basis, retail sales fell 2.2 per cent. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose 0.4 per cent, said Singstat in the release.
Compared to last year, sales of motor vehicles declined by 32.4 per cent. This was mainly due to the higher volume of motor vehicle sales in June 2018, as well as the lower COE quota between May and July 2019.
Month-on-month, the sales of the motor vehicles decreased 16.1 per cent compared to May.
Sales of furniture and household equipment dropped by 15.1 per cent, computer and telecommunications equipment sales were down 7.7 per cent, while the sales of watches and jewellery fell 4.8 per cent.
However, the medical goods & toiletries, and clothes & footwear industries both grew by 1.4 per cent.
(Table: Singstat)
FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
Sales of food and beverage services grew by 5.3 per cent in June 2019 compared to the same period last year. Compared with the previous month, it rose 3.2 per cent.
Singstat added that the total sales value of food and beverage services in June this year was estimated at S$864 million, compared to S$820 million in June last year.
Year-on-year, the sales of fast food outlets grew by 10.6 per cent, partly due to the opening of new outlets by major fast food chains.
Food caterers, restaurants and other eating places such as cafes also reported growths in turnover of between 3.2 per cent and 5.7 per cent during this period.
Month-on-month, restaurants, food caterers and other eating places registered growths in sales of between 0.8 per cent and 6.9 per cent compared with May 2019.
However, turnover of fast food outlets dropped by 1.5 per cent from last month.
SINGAPORE: Samsung’s latest smartphones, the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ will be available in Singapore stores from Aug 24, the company announced on Thursday (Aug 8).
Prices for the new phones start at S$1,398.
A table showing the price list for the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+. (Table: Samsung)
The two smartphones, along with its respective 5G variant models, were unveiled in New York on Wednesday, where it was revealed that the headphone jack had been scrapped.
The Galaxy Note 10 will be available in two colours – Aura Glow and Aura Black. The Galaxy Note 10+ models will come in the same colours, as well as Aura White.
Pre-orders for the new flagship phones will begin on Thursday at 3pm, said the tech giant in a media release.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 and 10+ phones come with no headphone jack. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
Customers can place their pre-orders with local telecom operators, Samsung’s online store, Samsung Experience Stores, Lazada Singapore, as well as selected electronic and IT stores.
The pre-ordered devices may be collected from Aug 24.
Pre-orders at Galaxy Studio @ Plaza Singapura will only begin at 6pm, and can be collected from Aug 23.
Customers who pre-order the 256GB variant of the new phones are also entitled to complimentary exclusives, said Samsung.
Those who pre-order the Galaxy Note 10 (256GB) may receive Galaxy Buds, as well as a Samsung wireless battery pack. For those who pre-order with Galaxy Note 10+ (256GB) can look forward to a possible free upgrade to the Galaxy Note 10+ (512GB) and a wireless battery pack.
Current Samsung users can choose to trade-in their old devices to buy the new models, said the release. From Aug 23 to Sep 30, customers can receive an additional S$100 trade-in value on top of the regular trade-in amount.
During Samsung’s event in New York, the company also introduced the S-Pen to the Galaxy Tab S6 and unveiled the Galaxy Book S, a super-thin laptop.
SINGAPORE: As Hyflux’s bid to restructure its debt continues, authorities have been keeping a close eye on developments around one of the company’s assets – a waste-to-energy plant in Tuas that is on the cusp of completion.
In response to queries from CNA, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said it “has been closely monitoring discussions” among the stakeholders of the TuasOne waste-to-energy project so as to see it through its final phase of construction.
It has also recently informed Hyflux and its Middle Eastern suitor Utico that it was “critical” for stakeholders to reach an agreement quickly, such as making financing available, for the plant to be completed “expeditiously”.
TuasOne, according to the agency, is now 96 per cent completed.
Last week, the chief executive of Utico – the United Arab Emirates utility firm which plans to acquire an 88 per cent stake in embattled Hyflux – told Singapore reporters that the TuasOne project “needs more money next month”.
Describing the yet-to-be-completed plant as the local water treatment firm’s “crown jewel”, Mr Richard Menezes said Utico has agreed to provide the funds needed and that it had a meeting with NEA to discuss the project’s progress.
“We met NEA (on Aug 2) in the morning and NEA has said that they will support it as long as there is funding for next month,” he told reporters after attending Hyflux’s case management conference on Aug 2 at the Singapore High Court.
“(Hyflux is) running out of funds at the project level … and there was talk about who will pay for the flood lights,” added Mr Menezes.
When contacted, NEA confirmed the meeting with Utico, noting that it has been closely monitoring the discussions “for months” and during which, it may involve “occasional meetings with the TuasOne stakeholders, lenders and other interested parties”.
“At Utico’s request, NEA met Utico’s chief executive, Mr Richard Menezes, together with representatives from Hyflux on Aug 2 to discuss the progress of the TuasOne Waste-to-Energy plant project,” said the agency in its reply to CNA earlier this week.
“At the meeting, NEA informed Utico and Hyflux that it was critical that the TuasOne stakeholders, namely Hyflux, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the project’s lenders, come to a quick agreement to complete the project expeditiously,” it added.
This includes making available financing under the facility agreement or from other sources so as to allow remaining work on site to be completed, as well as testing and commissioning of the TuasOne facility to be accelerated, NEA said.
TuasOne, set to be Singapore’s sixth waste-to-energy plant, is designed to add 3,600 tonnes of incineration capacity per day to the nation’s waste disposal system. It is meant to meet Singapore’s medium-term waste disposal needs, said NEA.
Worth about S$750 million, the project was awarded to Hyflux and its Japanese partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in September 2015.
Under the project, the joint venture partners will provide waste treatment services exclusively to the NEA for a period of 25 years under a Design-Build-Own-Operate scheme.
TuasOne was slated to be completed in May 2019, but has seen its finish date pushed back as funds ran low.
Illustration of Hyflux’s TuasOne waste-to-energy plant. (Graphic: Hyflux)
Hydrochem, a Hyflux subsidiary which is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor of TuasOne, had lacked funding to continue construction in accordance with the project schedule, wrote founder-CEO Olivia Lum in an affidavit dated Apr 30.
Last month, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries injected an additional equity commitment of about S$23 million. This was to be deployed to finance the project “for the next few weeks”, said a Jul 15 bourse filing.
While there have been further negotiations with the project’s lenders since then, there continue to be delays in the project given “restructuring and funding issues”, according to Ms Lum’s recent Jul 29 affidavit.
“Given the multiple interested parties involved in these discussions, including the offtaker, they take time, but progress has been made,” she added.
The debt-ridden water treatment firm has repeatedly described TuasOne as having “significant” potential returns and that its completion will “enhance the value” of the group.
For instance, TuasOne can access monthly payments of about S$3.8 million from NEA, as consideration of the plant’s thermal waste -processing services and incentives for the generation of clean energy once it reaches commercial operation date, said Ms Lum in another affidavit dated May 27.
NEA said it currently expects TuasOne to turn operational in 2020.
“Until then, NEA has sufficient waste incineration capacity to meet the needs of our resident population,” it told CNA.
Hyflux, regarded as one of Singapore’s most successful business stories in its better days, has been under court-supervised restructuring for more than a year now.
It abruptly called off a deal with Indonesian consortium SM Investments in April and has been in search of a new rescue investor since.
With its fifth debt moratorium extension approved, it has until Sep 30 to work out how to return to solvency, although Utico has given it only until Aug 26 to sign a definitive agreement.
Amid the financial woes, Hyflux lost its largest asset, Tuaspring. The desalination plant was taken over by PUB on May 18 at zero dollars, after the national water agency served default notices on the company for operational defaults.
SINGAPORE: In the battle against climate change, environment experts have urged individuals to look beyond single-use plastic and make bigger changes in their daily lives: Drive and fly less, and change what they eat and buy.
“Most of the individual actions people can do are often less visible than not using straws, and requires an effort to change behaviour for the long term,” Associate Professor Winston Chow of the Singapore Management University (SMU) told CNA on Wednesday (Aug 7).
“Some steps would be to reduce consumption of goods, materials and services that generate carbon emissions.”
A Mediacorp survey released on Wednesday showed that more than nine in 10 Singaporeans and permanent residents agreed that they would do their part to “minimise the impact” of climate change.
“Straws are a small part of our overall footprint,” said Singapore University of Technology and Design’s (SUTD) Assistant Professor Lynette Cheah, whose research interests include life-cycle energy and environmental assessment.
“Most of an individual’s carbon footprint arises from energy consumed, at home or for transportation, or to make the stuff that you buy, or food that you eat.”
More effective measures include reducing energy and material use as well as consumption in general, she said, noting that it is more challenging to make behavioural changes given how consumer culture is marketed.
“The most impactful actions are avoiding long flights, avoiding car or taxi travel, and carpooling. Opting for a vegetarian diet or avoiding beef also helps,” she added.
DRIVING AND FLYING LESS
A 2017 study ranking the effectiveness of 148 individual actions against climate change found that going car-free was the second most effective action behind not having kids.
The study said going car-free can save 2.4 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, showing “much greater potential … than commonly promoted strategies like comprehensive recycling or changing household lightbulbs”.
In Singapore, private cars contribute more than a third of emissions by the transport sector, behind commercial vehicles, taxis, buses, the MRT/LRT and motorcycles, according to the National Climate Change Secretariat.
Cars, motorcycles and general traffic in Singapore’s central business district (CBD). (File photo: Marcus Mark Ramos)
When it comes to flying, the same climate change study found that an average transatlantic round-trip flight can release around 1.6 tonnes of greenhouse gas, almost as much as the average yearly emissions of one person in India. A person in Singapore contributes about 10.3 tonnes on average every year.
“A major step would be to acknowledge personal activities that emit a lot of carbon, for example, overseas travel for business or tourism by aviation,” said SMU’s Assoc Prof Chow, whose research interests include urban vulnerability and climate change.
“One thing that can be done is to purchase carbon offsets from reputable agencies to reduce one’s impact from air travel.”
A passenger waiting for his flight to depart watches a plane take off from the domestic terminal at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali. (File photo: Reuters/Darren Whiteside)
The environmental cost of air transport should also be considered when going shopping, Plastic-Lite Singapore founder Aarti Giri told CNA.
“Buy produce or items that are imported from neighbouring countries, as these would have a lower carbon footprint over those imported from far-away countries,” she said.
CHANGING WHAT YOU EAT AND BUY
Beyond that, Ms Giri said individuals should reduce their consumption by moving away from “instant gratifications and start shopping according to their needs and not wants or impulses”.
“Reducing consumption, in my opinion, is one of the most important traits every person has to develop if we are to have a fighting chance to lower global carbon emissions,” she stated.
People shop at an H&M store in New York City, New York. (File photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
A 2017 YouGov study also found that a third of people in Singapore have thrown away clothing after wearing it just once. In 2018, Singapore generated 219,800 tonnes of textile or leather waste, of which only 6 per cent was recycled.
“Having a more minimalist and timeless fashion sense would go a long way to caring for our environment and mitigate climate change,” Ms Jen Teo, executive director of the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), told CNA.
“In more affluent medium or high-income societies like Singapore … we buy more than what we need and also discard things when they are still in good condition because they are no longer trendy or we no longer like them.”
Ms Giri said other ways of reducing consumption include maximising the life of gadgets and appliances, as well as opting for second-hand goods like clothes or furniture.
Cattle stand in an enclosure at the Adventure Farm during preparations for the Green Week international food, agriculture and horticulture fair in Berlin. (File photo: Reuters/Thomas Peter)
As for consuming food, the food industry – in particular, the meat and dairy sector – is one of the largest contributors to climate change, after fossil fuels. In fact, if cattle formed a country, they would be the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China and the US.
Ms Giri said individuals could adopt a low-carbon diet by incorporating plant-based foods as much as possible. “Raising beef requires 20 times more resources than plant-based proteins and 10 times more than chicken,” SUTD’s Asst Prof Cheah said.
File photo of food waste products. (Photo: AFP/Jean-Christophe Verhaegen)
Nevertheless, food waste as a whole remains a problem in Singapore, with the Government singling it out in its first Zero Waste Masterplan as one of three major waste streams. In 2018, Singapore produced 763,100 tonnes of food waste, of which 17 per cent was recycled.
A recent SEC survey on food waste in Singapore showed that less than a quarter of its 1,002 respondents could be classified as “smart consumers”.
Among other things, this refers to those who consume all food items bought, do not throw away unconsumed food, and are not swayed by promotional offers to buy excess food items that are potentially wasted.
“The other 80 per cent throw away 10 per cent or more of uncooked and unconsumed food items per week,” Ms Teo said. “What we need is to have more people make conscious efforts at being a smart and efficient shopper.”
HOW URGENTLY SHOULD YOU ACT?
These measures would go a long way in fighting climate change, with a 2018 United Nations report saying current actions are not enough to keep the Earth’s temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Meeting this target, rather than the 2 degrees Celsius target agreed at global climate talks in Paris in 2015, would have “clear benefits to people and natural ecosystems,” the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had said.
But Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli warned on Jul 17 that “time is running out”, pointing out that this increase could occur as early as 2030.
Napping under the sun during a spell of hot weather in Singapore. (File photo: Marcus Mark Ramos)
Asst Prof Cheah said it is good to consider what you can do to tackle climate change “at an individual level first, because that is where climate action starts”.
However, she pointed out that “saying is different from doing”, noting that there remain many challenges to climate action.
“Barriers include not knowing what an adequate response may be, or going against social norms that do not encourage climate-friendly behaviours,” she explained. “Ideally, the expressed motivation is translated into real and effective climate action at different levels.”
Asst Prof Cheah added that actions can be scaled to households through buying used items, schools through monitoring electricity use, and companies through opting for virtual meetings.
“There are global and local perspectives to (climate action), and it is paramount to understand the Singapore context in order to make informed decisions and take salient action,” Zero Waste SG manager Pek Hailin told CNA.
“Being open-minded to other options, such as simply buying less to avoid spending too much time decluttering, is great too.”
SINGAPORE: A motorcycle caught fire at the Woodlands Checkpoint on Wednesday (Aug 7) evening, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said.
The incident took place at about 7.40pm at the arrival motorcycle zone of the checkpoint, SCDF added.
Videos circulating online showed flames engulfing the vehicle, with several motorcyclists watching from behind a barricade. A charred motorcycle was also spotted at the scene.
A motorcycle caught on fire at Woodlands Checkpoint on Aug 7, 2019. (Photo: Facebook/Nash Khan)
Officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and a member of the public put out the flames with fire extinguishers before firefighters arrived at the scene.
