The other worker, Mr Tian Yongmin, is “almost fully recovered and in the company’s care”, said MWC.
He was discharged from SGH the morning after the fire.
“MWC will continue to maintain contact with both workers and the company to ensure that any assistance required, concerning their recovery or employment, is promptly provided to them,” said the centre in a Facebook post.
WIFE OF DEAD WORKER TO RECEIVE CASH TOKEN OF CONDOLENCE
Another worker, Mr Wei Xiaoyong, also a Chinese national, died in the fire.
“With our assistance, the company was able to expedite travel arrangements for the spouse and child of the deceased worker, Mr Wei Xiaoyong, to fly in to Singapore on Thursday,” said MWC.
Mr Wei’s remains were collected by his next of kin on Saturday morning.
Funeral rites, last respects and the cremation for Mr Wei will also be conducted later on the same day, added MWC.
Aftermath of a massive fire that broke out at a LPG facility in Jalan Buroh in Jurong on Jun 21, 2019. (Photo: Facebook/SCDF)
“The company has been forthcoming with the needs of Mr Wei’s loved ones, and responsible in undertaking all the necessary formalities.
“Furthermore, we have been told that the company is preparing a cash token of condolence to be given to Mr Wei’s spouse before her departure back to China,” said the centre.
“This amount will be more than adequate to help the loved ones tide through till the Work Injury Compensation is paid out.”
REPLACEMENT OF PASSPORTS, COUNSELLING FOR AFFECTED WORKERS
MWC said that to ensure there was no “unnecessary hindrance or delay in the subsequent injury assessments and compensation payments” for the workers affected in the fire, it has coordinated with PRC Embassy officials, company representatives and MOM’s work injury compensation department.
This is so that necessary claim applications, information, forms and identification documents have and will be submitted as soon as possible, said MWC.
MWC added that it has helped with the process of replacing the workers’ passports which were destroyed in the fire.
The workers of the facility will also be receiving emotional counselling.
MWC said that all workers affected by the Jalan Buroh accident “will continue to have their physical and employment well-being taken care of”.
“We offer our sympathy to all those affected and to the loved ones and family of Mr Wei Xiaoyong, we offer our deepest condolences.”
OSAKA: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday (Jun 29) said that it is “good news” that the United States (US) and China have decided to restart trade talks that broke down earlier this year, but there is a long way to go before the problems are solved.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the two countries’ leaders came to the agreement in a highly-anticipated meeting at the G20 Summit held in Osaka, Japan, Mr Lee acknowledged the positive development, as any understanding between them was not a given. The US also said that it will not impose further tariffs on China.
However, a period of uncertainty can be expected, PM Lee noted.
“You must expect many twists and turns along the way before some outcome is reached. Not only because the issues are complicated, but also because I think the objectives on both sides are up for tussle,” he said, on the second and last day of the summit.
Comparing this year’s summit to the one held in Buenos Aires, Argentina last year, where US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had not yet started serious negotiations, Mr Lee said there has been some “hardening” of positions that will make concessions and a deal harder.
“Both sides have taken harder stands than was the case in Buenos Aires, where negotiations came almost to the point of concluding and then came unstuck. And so the differences have been crystallised and some of the red lines have been made more explicit,” Mr Lee noted.
If the two economic heavyweights work out an agreement that fits into an international framework instead of one that benefits just the two of them and disadvantages the rest of the world, it would be good for Singapore, Mr Lee said.
However, Mr Lee, who was present at the summit as a guest of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said that in a period of uncertainty over a multilateral trading system, countries need to be prepared to protect their own positions, advance their interests and speak up for themselves.
SINGAPORE HAS TO STAY STRONG INTERNALLY
Mr Lee’s comments come as data highlights the economic headwinds being felt in Singapore as the global trading environment has become more challenging as a result of the tension between the US and China. Earlier this week, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that economic growth forecasts for 2019 are currently being reviewed.
MAS’ managing director Ravi Menon said that Singapore’s economy has been “clearly affected” by the global slowdown in manufacturing, trade and investment.
In order to overcome the challenges that may arise from the current situation, Singapore has to make sure that its internal strength is maintained and increased, Mr Lee said.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the last day of the G20 Summit held in Osaka, Japan. (Photo: Ministry of Communications and Information)
“(This) means training our people upgrading our skills, working together as one country, and being psychologically prepared for uncertainties to come because there’ll be many twists and turns, ups and downs,” Mr Lee said.
It is also important for Singapore to work hand in hand with countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nation and other like-minded countries like Japan to make voices collectively heard on common causes, Mr Lee added.
He also said that Singapore has to work in multilateral forums, build up institutions, support them and push for reforms where necessary to strengthen them in order to maintain an international rules-based order as best as possible.
LITTLE PROGRESS ON CORE ISSUES LIKE MULTILATERAL SYSTEM, ENVIRONMENT
His comments came against the backdrop of a summit where he said little progress was made on “core issues”.
“I do not believe that in this discussion for the G20, a great deal of forward movement has taken place on the core issues,” Mr Lee said, citing examples such as the environment and multilateral systems.
In fact, the situation has changed significantly from four or five years ago, Mr Lee said. Then, differences were on the lines of developed versus developing countries. Now, however, the divisions are even within developed countries, he added.
“America, to a large extent has gone its own way but the other countries as well, are not at one on many issues,” he said, highlighting environmental issues.
While the environment is critical to the world, the Europeans have adopted the environment as a “political flag” which they have rallied under, Mr Lee said. On the other hand, other countries are hoping to acknowledge environmental issues without having to take drastic action, he said.
He acknowledged that the problems faced are difficult to solve and that he did not expect them to be solved at G20 meetings, the hope is that countries get a sense of one another’s positions, he said.
“I think that it is still worrying that we’re not able to make significant forward progress,” he said.
SINGAPORE: Electricity tariffs will increase from Jul 1 to Sep 31, SP Group said on Saturday (Jun 29).
The increase of 6.4 per cent, or 1.43 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), from the previous quarter is mainly due to the higher cost of natural gas for electricity generation.
For households, the electricity tariff will rise from 22.79 to 24.22 cents per kWh from Jul 1 to Sep 30. This means that the average monthly electricity bill for families living in four-room Housing Board flats will increase by S$5.20.
SP Group reviews the electricity tariffs quarterly based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority, the electricity industry regulator.
Gas provider City Gas also announced on Saturday that it will raise prices for households by 1.6 per cent, or 0.30 cent per kWh, for the July to September period.
The increase is due to higher fuel costs compared with the previous quarter, City Gas said.
SINGAPORE: More than 500 food stalls at 44 hawker centres, coffee shops and industrial canteens have adopted a unified e-payments system, said Enterprise Singapore in a statement on Saturday (Jun 29).
The 10 hawker centres include Maxwell Food Centre, Chomp Chomp Food Centre and Zion Riverside Food Centre. The 22 coffee shops and 12 canteens are located across the island from Bukit Batok to Tampines. The full list can be found at http://www.epaysg.com.
The move, in line with the Government’s Smart Nation push, allows both merchants and customers in the food establishments to make cashless transactions.
The stalls are currently able to accept a total of 23 payment schemes under one point-of-sales terminal.
(Image: Enterprise Singapore)
In September 2018, Enterprise Singapore, together with the Housing and Development Board, National Environment Agency and JTC Corporation, appointed payment provider NETS to get small food outlets to adopt the unified payment solution.
A pilot deployment of the e-payment initiative was carried out from December last year to end-May 2019. They found that the total value of e-transactions per stall grew at an average of 40 per cent per month, with the number of transactions increasing by nearly 30 per cent per month. On average, the value of each e-transaction was around S$6.
Mr Ted Tan, deputy CEO of Enterprise Singapore said that the response in the last six months has been encouraging and the scheme will be expanded to include more payment options such as Diners Club, Razer Pay and VIA by October.
“Adoption of e-payment is a first step towards the digital transformation of small food businesses in our heartlands and industrial estates,” said Mr Tan.
To further encourage the use of e-payments, incentives such as redeemable credits and cashback to consumers may be introduced, it said.
Merchants participating in the initiative receive one-to-one training and support to learn how to operate the point-of-sales terminal, the agency added.
“The unified e-payment model is interoperable, making available multiple payment options at one time, addressing the issue of limited food stall frontage space and facilitating the consolidation of transaction receipts,” said Enterprise Singapore.
“Through aggregation, businesses benefit from a lower merchant discount rate that is feasible for their cost structure and operations. The hassle of maintaining a daily cash float is also minimised.”
SINGAPORE: Gas tariffs for households will rise by 1.6 per cent or 0.30 cent per kilowatt hour (kWh) from Jul 1 to Sep 30, City Gas said on Saturday (Jun 29).
This means that households will need to pay 19.10 cents per kWh, excluding Goods and Services Tax, up from 18.80 cents currently.
Source: City Gas
The increase is due to higher fuel costs compared with the previous quarter, City Gas said.
City Gas reviews the gas tariffs based on guidelines set by the Energy Market Authority, which has approved the gas tariffs for the three-month period.
SINGAPORE: When Anne* became pregnant by her first boyfriend at the young age of 18, it looked like she was set for a life of failure. Having dropped out of school early, she did not have many friends and sought love and affirmation through other means to fill the void in her life.
Anne wanted to be a good mother to her first child but her own mother berated her often, calling her incompetent. Between the struggles of being a new, young and unwed mother and her own mum’s verbal abuse, Anne started to fall apart.
She cut herself to cope with her pain, and got into numerous conflicts with her mother and sibling. At times, the conflict escalated to physical violence.
I first got to know Anne when her mother approached our family service centre for financial help in 2012. Anne’s mother could not hold onto a regular job as she was the main caregiver to two children, Anne then aged 16 and her younger sibling, aged 13.
Anne’s father had left the family for several years by then. Her mother seemed particularly worried about social workers interacting with her children. In spite of her concerns, I managed to meet them from time to time.
File photo of a positive pregnancy test kit. (Photo: Unsplash/Rawpixel)
My persistence paid off after a few months. I discovered that Anne and her sibling were suffering from some of the worst early childhood abuse I would come across in my career.
Anne’s mother often directed her anger at her children and hit them till their faces were bruised and swollen. Before going to work, she would often bind the hands of Anne and her sibling so that they would not misbehave and leave them to starve in the dark.
While Anne longed for her mother’s care, she was also extremely afraid of her. The immense stress and anxiety that came from fearing someone whom you depend on wrought severe damage to this young life.
“Why can’t we be normal children and be free out there, not locked up in a room like this?” she often lamented. As a result of the extensive abuse, Anne started thinking that she was worth less than others.
TRUSTING RELATIONSHIPS – THE VEHICLE OF CHANGE
Anne had a hard time trusting people and built a wall around herself. Sometimes, I would sit with her at their doorstep when her mother was not home, just so she knew I was actively reaching out to her.
Woman lying in silence. (Photo: Unsplash/MMPR)
With time, Anne began to open up to me. I found out that Anne had self-harm tendencies and suffered from restless sleep at night. She also regularly lashed out at her sibling when she was frustrated.
Anne experienced with her mother what we consider a trauma bond, a strong pull to someone who hurts you. I tried many ways to mediate between Anne and her mother and to address her mother’s abusive behaviour but Anne’s mother was often unremorseful.
To keep her emotionally and physically safe from her mother, Anne finally agreed to my suggestion to move to a women’s shelter. Unfortunately, she had a difficult time as she endured unkind remarks from other women about her situation, and struggled to remain disengaged from her mother who was seeking her out.
I met with Anne regularly in the shelter then, to offer support and counsel. I helped her learn to value herself and see that she had the power to control how her life turns out.
LESSONS FROM ANNE
Journeying with Anne over six years has taught me many things. It changed the way I work with individuals and families who receive help from my organisation. It also changed the way I guide my colleagues in how they engage with the people we serve.
My relationship with Anne has shaped the way I interact with individuals who are less powerful, and more vulnerable in society. It is far too easy to ignore the voices of the less vocal, and the less visible.
But I have learnt that it is critical to understand their worldviews too. I always remind myself and my colleagues to lean in and listen to their narratives.
Second, it has influenced the way I understand individuals who behave in ways that do not adhere to social norms and expectations, when someone decides to have a child out of wedlock at a young age, use aggression to resolve issues, and self-harm as a way of coping.
These behaviours are manifestations of more deep-rooted issues. Beneath Anne’s seemingly deviant behaviour is a deep pain but also a tenacity that helped her survive.
Anne’s experience made me realise what massive impact adverse life events can have on an individual’s functioning, and how seemingly simple activities of life can be more challenging for them.
Working with Anne also reminded me of the danger of reducing the life of the vulnerable to a singular, linear narrative – one of a victim. Anne is more than a victim. I learnt to recognise her strength, especially in her darkest moment, without negating her pain.
She showed me that those struggling in difficult and complex situations are also capable of developing and desirous of relationships with others.
I realised what a privilege we experience as social service practitioners, when we enter into the sacred space of their lives and witness people like Anne emerge victorious from adverse life events.
THE JOURNEY OF HEALING
With physical and emotional distance from her mother, Anne began to heal and was able to make better decisions for herself and her child.
As she continued to experience flashbacks, sleepless nights, hyper-vigilance and panic attacks, my role shifted to helping Anne manage her post-traumatic stress symptoms while she cared for her child and worked hard to keep her job.
(Photo: Unsplash/bady qb)
It has been more than a year since I last worked with her. Anne has since settled into a stable marriage and remains a loving mother to her child. She is also gainfully employed with a network of friends who often seek counsel from her.
As I look back on how far she has come, I realised one thing: Anne always had within her a strong will to live. She also had a deep love for her sibling, her child, and even her mother despite the abuse she suffered.
Her self-harm, emotional outbursts and panic attacks were signs of her attempts to cope. In her pain, she demonstrated tremendous strength.
Anne taught me and my colleagues to be less judgmental and more empathetic, to go beyond labels and stereotypes, to reach out to engage, understand and to learn to embrace the complexities of each person’s life.
When we relate to survivors of abuse as fellow beings with both vulnerabilities and strengths, and see them as more than just victims, only then can we develop a more inclusive, humane and empowering society.
*Not her real name
Cindy Ng is Director of Professional Standards at Methodist Welfare Services, and a social worker with extensive experience working with low-income families and persons experiencing violence and abuse.
SINGAPORE: Hundreds of shoppers lined up to enter Funan Mall when it re-opened its doors to the public at 11.30am on Friday (Jun 28), nearly three years after it closed for redevelopment.
Once known as the one-stop shop for all things IT, the mall now has a lot more lifestyle offerings and is kitted out with features such as a cycling path, a climbing wall, a futsal court and an urban farm.
It had a 95 per cent occupancy ahead of its opening.
Here are five things to look out for at the revamped mall:
1. An Instagram-friendly Love, Bonito store
Love, Bonito’s Funan outlet. (Photo: Darius Boey)
Popular local fashion brand Love, Bonito opened its third and largest retail store spanning over 6,000 sq ft at Funan.
It describes the store as a “retail playground” with plenty of Instagrammable features for what it calls its “phygital” shopping experience.
For instance, shoppers can use an augmented reality runway to strut their stuff in a field of flowers. There are also accompanying Facebook filters.
Love, Bonito’s augmented reality runway. (Photo: Darius Boey)
The infinity mirror room allows shoppers to nail the perfect OOTD picture. (Photo: Darius Boey)
For the person who loves an #OOTD selfie or two (or two hundred), there is an infinity mirror room that lets you take your outfit from all angles. Love, Bonito Funan will offer a greater assortment of office workwear to cater to the CBD shopper, the brand said.
It is also debuting a stylist-on-demand service at its Funan store, and has an LB Concierge that offers alteration services and parcel pickups.
The LB Concierge counter. (Photo: Darius Boey)
There are also adjoining fitting rooms for those who want to try on outfits on together and two spacious VIP rooms with wheelchair and pram priority access.
Two modular fitting rooms that can be combined into one for shoppers who want to try on clothing in groups. (Photo: Darius Boey)
2. COURTS’ first IoT-themed store
COURTS Funan specialises in Internet of Things devices. (Photo: Darius Boey)
One of the returning retailers for Funan, COURTS is back with a smart twist on its store. It specialises in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, retailing smart home, AI and voice-controlled technology gadgets.
Approximately 80 per cent of products stocked here are smart home-compatible, such as digital locks.
There is also a Google retail experience zone in-store, a first in Southeast Asia. It allows shoppers to try out Pixel smartphones and Google Home smart speakers.
The COURTS Funan store carries smart home products like the Samsung Digital Lock. (Photo: Darius Boey)
COURTS will also feature a Google retail experience zone showcasing the brand’s smartphones and smart speakers. (Photo: Darius Boey)
You can even get a robot companion here for your child or young-at-heart friends. For a limited time, shoppers will be greeted by GT Assistar, a robotic sales assistant, when approaching the GT Robot corner in the store.
The Wobo, aka GT Wonder Boy Series. (Photo: Darius Boey)
3. Sewing workshops and spaces by Bernina Singapore
Funan’s Bernina store offers sewing workshops and machine rental services. (Photo: Darius Boey)
Swiss sewing machine brand Bernina has a flagship store at Funan that offers sewing workshops and machine rental services, useful for those who are exploring sewing as a hobby.
The Bernina store includes automated painting machines for users to create art pieces. (Photo: Darius Boey)
The store has personalisation services and automated painting machines for art projects as well. People into crafting and DIY projects can also book Makers Studios for workshops.
4. KOPItech
KOPItech, a high-tech Kopitiam (Photo: Darius Boey)
This is not your usual food court. Kopitiam’s new outlet KOPItech has a new concept – allowing diners to order at 17 self-service kiosks or through Facebook Messenger.
KOPItech has 17 self-service kiosks for diners to order their food. (Photo: Darius Boey)
There are various cashless payment options, including cryptocurrency. Diners can also get discounts for using e-payment instead of cash.
5. Other high-tech features
Facial-recognition gantry for office workers. (Photo: Darius Boey)
Funan has twin office blocks and you might notice workers going in and out without passes, gaining access with facial-recognition technology.
A wireless charging dock at Funan. (Photo: Darius Boey)
There are also numerous wireless charging docks at communal areas in Funan, such as near the stairs, the Tree of Life structure, and the customer service centre.
SINGAPORE: The import of all bottled drinking and mineral water from Malee Mineral Water has been banned with immediate effect after bacteria was detected in recent consignments.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) announced this in a circular addressed to all bottled water importers on its website on Friday (Jun 28).
“We wish to inform you that through our recent surveillance, consignments of bottled drinking water from the manufacturer, Malee Mineral Water Sdn Bhd, were detected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa,” said the circular.
“In view of the detection, the import of all bottled drinking and mineral water from Malee Mineral Water Sdn Bhd is not permitted, with immediate effect.”
Malee Mineral Water has three drinking water lines, according to its website – Sukahati, Ro Fina and Still.
Screengrab from Malee Mineral Water’s website.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is ubiquitous in the environment and can be found in soil, water and on plants.
It can cause infections in humans with weakened immune systems, according to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The use or consumption of products containing the bacteria can cause a range of infections but “rarely causes serious illness” in healthy people, according to SFA.
The ban on Malee Mineral Water comes just weeks after the agency announced the recall of Starfresh bottled drinking water imported from Malaysia after the same bacteria was detected in the product.
SINGAPORE: Three years after it closed its doors, the new Funan welcomed its first visitors on Friday (Jun 28) after a S$560 million renovation and redesign.
With flagship stores from well-known international and local brands, hundreds of new visitors eagerly waited for the doors of the revamped mall to officially open at 11.30am.
The new Funan is home to Taobao’s first Singapore store, while Brompton Junction, a British manufacturer renowned for their folding bikes, also debut its flagship store on Friday.
Early birds waiting to get their hands on the free shopping vouchers and latest deals at the opening of Funan (Photo: Corine Tiah)
Dyson’s Demo Store Beauty Lab is a world’s first, and Singaporean fashion brand Love, Bonito also chose to set up its largest outlet in Funan.
The futuristic mall is home to Singapore’s first fully-unmanned futsal court, and shoppers can expect robot-enabled handsfree shopping and a 24-hour click-and-collect drive-through service by the end of the year. Visitors to the KOPItech food court can also pay for their food using cryptocurrencies.
Shoppers can collect their shopping afterwards via this 24-hour click and collect service. (Photo: Corine Tiah)
“The reimagined Funan relaunched the mall as a social retail space for discovery, learning and shopping, underpinned by a digital layer of customer experience to enhance satisfaction,” said CapitaLand Singapore managing director of retail Chris Chong.
Among the first in line on Friday morning was 33-year-old Khaironisha, who had been waiting outside the mall since 7am.
“I’m very excited. I’ve been checking out their Facebook page waiting for them to open up,” said the housewife.
“Like normal Singaporeans, a bit kiasu. I want to get the vouchers and I want to buy something, I want to buy a new laptop.”
Ms Khaironisha has been queueing since 7am, three and a half hours before the official opening time of 11.30am. (Photo: Corine Tiah)
Many shoppers said the vouchers were a huge draw for coming early. The first 300 shoppers received a tote bag with up to S$100 worth of shopping vouchers if they spent S$50 in a single receipt.
It wasn’t just Singaporeans waiting for Funan to open. Ignatius Hariadi, a 42-year-old manufacturing officer, flew into Singapore from Indonesia just to visit the mall. Sporting a Brompton t-shirt, he was waiting with four other friends to get into the bike store.
“I’m going to see Brompton Junction. This one is the first in Southeast Asia,” said Mr Hariadi.
“We’re going to buy one of the bikes that was made for Singapore, the Lion City Special Edition.”
Mr Ignatius Hariadi and friends arrived in Singapore from Indonesia this morning and headed straight to Funan to get the latest bike from Brompton Junction. (Photo: Corine Tiah)
More than 60 per cent of the stores in Funan are from homegrown brands.
Thirteen brands have come back home to Funan, including camera retailer Alan Photo, which was in the old Funan DigitaLife Mall for 10 years. Its new store is twice the size of the previous one.
“A lot of loyal customers are still here. And we find that Funan now is the most exciting place to be, no other mall is like this,” said founder and managing director Alan Tan.
“The rent increased a lot, but actually it’s quite reasonable and quite frankly it’s a good challenge to come back.”
Mr Alvan Tan (left) and Mr Alan Tan (right) outside their new store at Funan. They have previously operated in the old Funan DigitaLife Mall for more than 10 years. (Photo: Corine Tiah)
His son Alvan Tan, who is the general manager, said that he was excited to make the business more interactive using new structures in the mall.
“We can do different kinds of small pop-up workshops there and in the other spaces,” he added.
One of the highlights of the new mall is a 25-metre tall structure, dubbed the Tree of Life. The mall’s centre piece houses retail pods for brands to showcase their products on a pop-up concept and host workshops.
The cycling path inside Funan mall. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
The Tree of Life also serves as the connector to other parts of the building, including the office blocks, serviced residences and an urban farm.
It is not just the retail side of the mall that got an upgrade. Executives who work in Funan’s new twin office blocks will also get access using facial recognition technology.
Working professionals can enjoy the convenience of facial recognition turnstile access while entering Funan’s twin office blocks. (Photo credit: CapitaLand)
NOSTALGIA
When asked, if they feel any sense of nostalgia for the old mall, Alan admitted that he still misses the place.
“100 per cent of the old Funan mall (was) an IT mall. If you want to buy IT (products), you should come to Funan, no other place,” reminisced Alvin.
“In this new mall, it’s only the third floor that is all IT. The second floor is fashion, the first floor is F&B – it’s very different.”
A retail pod in the “Tree of Life”. (Photo: Corine Tiah)
His son Alvan said he is looking forward to bigger crowds which he hopes the refurbishment will bring.
“It caters more to the younger crowd and I’m part of the younger generation, so I like the new Funan more,” he laughed.
“In your heart, you know that it’s the same Funan, but the whole concept has changed. It’s so different from the other malls so I think more people will come to the mall.”
The Trusted Data Sharing Framework helps by providing a common language when businesses discuss sharing of data, as well as sample legal templates.
Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Transport Janil Puthucheary speaking at Innovfest Unbound on Jun 28, 2019.
(Updated: )
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SINGAPORE: A new framework to facilitate the ease of sharing data between organisations was introduced on Friday (Jun 28), as a means to increase trust in Singapore’s digital economy.
Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Transport Janil Puthucheary introduced the Trusted Data Sharing Framework during his speech at the ongoing Innovfest Unbound tech event here on Friday.
The Info-communications Media Development (IMDA) said in its press release that it worked with the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) to speak with industry players before developing the new framework to create a common “data-sharing language”.
Some of the challenges businesses face in this area today include a lack of guidance and systemic approaches to sharing data, establishing trust with partners when sharing data assets and concerns that data sharing could lead to exposing trade secrets or loss of competitiveness, it said.
“While it is widely accepted that intangible assets such as data are valuable, organisations face specific challenges such as ensuring compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) or in accurately measuring the value of data assets,” IMDA said.
This, in turn, can impact their ability to maximise the use of data to develop and bring innovative products and services to market, the agency said.
An example could be a retailer and an e-payments service provider that wants to work together to create more customised shopping experiences and deals, but are unsure how much of their customer data to share with each other to achieve the outcome.
The new framework is thus intended to solve these, by incorporating content from existing PDPC guides on personal data anonymisation and sharing.
It also includes new materials like a guide to evaluating data assets for sharing and sample legal templates to enable the sharing process, it said.
Furthermore, the Trusted Data Sharing Framework can also help improve industry norms by enabling better, trusted data flows for the digital economy – both in Singapore and globally.
For artificial intelligence (AI), in particular, the trusted data would mean more accountability and transparency from the beginning, it said.
This is the latest in a series of initiatives by Singapore to boost the development of AI here.
Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran had earlier this year introduced the Model AI Governance Framework to guide private sector players on how to use AI solutions ethically.
The government had also said it will double down on its efforts to build the AI sector here. Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation Initiative said in Parliament an inter-agency taskforce will be formed this year to study how Singapore will develop AI as a strategic capability and become a trusted global hub for test-bedding, deploying and scaling AI solutions.
