SINGAPORE: When Typhoon Jebi blasted through Osaka’s city centre  on Tuesday (Sep 4) the walls at the hostel that Singaporean Luke Tan was staying in shook violently.

“I saw objects in the street being picked up by the wind and turned into flying objects,” the student from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) told Channel NewsAsia. 

And when he went went out to get dinner after the storm ended, the sidewalk was covered in debris.

The 25-year-old, who is on a two-week graduation trip to Japan, is just one of many Singaporeans who have been caught up in the most powerful storm to hit Japan in 25 years. The typhoon left in its wake shattered glass, toppled trees and overturned cars. At least 10 people have been killed and dozens injured. 

Mr Leslie Tan, who has been living in Osaka for three years was at work when the typhoon was wreaking havoc at its peak on Tuesday lunchtime. When he left work at about 7pm, the devastation was widespread.

READ: Osaka’s international airport flooded, tanker hits bridge as Typhoon Jebi wreaks havoc

“The rain had stopped. The streets were deserted and many shops were closed. I could see fallen trees and debris everywhere. Signboards had collapsed or were dented,” said the 39-year-old.

When he got home to his apartment building a short walk away, he saw that the winds had forced the steel gate to the carpark to bend and buckle, causing it to malfunction. At home, his wife and two children aged one and two were huddled together in the bedroom while waiting for the violent storm to pass.

“The winds were very scary, howling like hungry wolves. My wife was scared the windows would crack,” he said, explaining that his home has floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

For Mr Jason Neo, 30, a sales executive in the automotive industry who has been living in Osaka for more than seven years, the most shocking sight was of overturned vehicles and cars that had crashed into each other at the public parking space near his office. 

The two men who live in Osaka said that while they had experienced typhoons, Tuesday’s was the worst.

TRANSPORT WOES, CHANGED FLIGHTS

The typhoon has also disrupted the plans of those visiting the area. Transport has been badly disrupted with numerous cancelled flights. 

Mr Luke Tan, who was due to return to Singapore on Tuesday but was not able to because of disruptions at the airport, said that the experience of the typhoon itself was bearable.

READ: In pictures: Typhoon Jebi cuts a path of devastation across Osaka

“Instead, it’s the paralysed transport infrastructure that has made things very stressful,” he said. As of Wednesday evening, Mr Tan’s plan was to take try to get home by first taking a train to Tokyo and spending the night there, before taking a 10am flight to Singapore from Haneda Airport.

Mr Leslie Tan, who was due to fly back to Singapore next week on Singapore Airlines, has had to reschedule his flight. He was told by his travel agent that Osaka’s Kansai International Airport, which is currently flooded and shut down, will only reopen on Sep 11.

A spokesperson for Singapore Airlines (SIA) said that as of Wednesday, SIA has cancelled a total of 12 flights due to the situation. SIA operates twice daily flights to Osaka.

“We have at the same time, mounted additional flights to Nagoya in view of the prolonged flood situation, to offer customers who still need to travel to Osaka an alternative,” the spokesperson added.

Customers holding tickets to and from Osaka between Sep 4 and 10 can contact their nearest SIA ticket office if they would like to rebook to other SIA points in Japan or request a refund of their tickets, he said, adding that the new travel date must commence on or before Sep 30.

Dynasty Travel, which has customers trying to fly into and out of Kansai International Airport may have to land in other airports, like those in Kobe and Nagoya, or fly out from there.

“We are assisting to rebook and reroute accordingly,” said the agency’s director of marketing communications Alicia Seah.

SINGAPORE: Local telco StarHub on Wednesday (Aug 5) announced it has struck an agreement with Temasek subsidiary Leone Investments to form a joint venture, Ensign InfoSecurity, which it said will be one of the largest cybersecurity organisations in Asia. 

In a press release, StarHub said it will merge its Cyber Security Centre of Excellence as well as its subsidiary Accel Systems and Technologies (ASTL) with Temasek-owned Quann to form the new entity. Quann is a subsidiary of security vendor Certis Cisco. 

It will be led by Quann executive chairman Lee Fook Sun, according to a separate joint press release by StarHub and Certis Cisco. 

Temasek will hold a majority 60 per cent of the joint venture firm, while StarHub will own the remaining 40 per cent, it added.

Besides transferring 100 per cent of ASTL and other cybersecurity assets, StarHub said it will pay S$36 million in cash for its stake in Ensign and the transaction is expected to close by this October “subject to the fulfilment of mutually agreed conditions”. 

Certis Cisco did not disclose financial details. 

Ensign said in its own press release on Wednesday it will have about 500 cybersecurity specialists in its books, and will provide services for government and enterprise customers. 

It added it will generate revenue in excess of S$100 million annually in cybersecurity solutions, systems integration and managed services, and will look to expand beyond its core markets of Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.  

SINGAPORE: The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) on Wednesday (Sep 5) launched the Super Low Energy (SLE) Programme in a bid to improve energy efficiency at non-residential buildings.

Under the programme, BCA introduced a new benchmark to recognise buildings that have achieved either Super Low Energy or Zero Energy status. 

The new Green Mark (GM) for SLE voluntary certification framework provides recognition in addition to Green Mark ratings. 

For example, a building that achieves GM Platinum and GM SLE would be awarded Green Mark Platinum (Super Low Energy). 

To achieve the Super Low Energy status, buildings need to achieve at least 60 per cent energy savings by adopting energy efficient measures and onsite renewable energy based on the 2005 building code level.

To achieve the Zero Energy status, buildings are required to use onsite and off-site renewable energy to generate more than 100 per cent of energy needed for building operation.

Public and private developers have agreed to strive for the GM SLE in close to 20 projects, BCA said in a media release. 

The two buildings at Kranji and Seletar camps are on track to achieve Zero Energy Building status, BCA said. 

The Defence Science and Technology Agency has worked with the Army to achieve a high standard of energy efficiency for building facilities in both camps, allowing the buildings to save close to 540 MWh of electricity a year, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of about 116 4-room Housing Board flats, BCA said. 

The SLE programme was announced by Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong at the opening of the Singapore Green Building Week and also consists of an SLE challenge to invite developers to take the lead in developing SLE buildings.

So far, more than 10 developers and building owners have pledged their commitment to achieve at least one SLE project in the next five years, BCA said.

“We have come a long way in our environmental sustainability journey,”  said BCA CEO Hugh Lim.

“To kick-start the next wave of our green building movement, BCA is working with the industry professionals to deliver cost-effective Super Low Energy buildings which can achieve a minimum of 60 per cent energy efficiency improvement over the 2005 building codes, when the BCA Green Mark was first introduced.

“We are embarking on more rigorous research and innovation to further push the frontier for green buildings to achieve up to 80 per cent energy efficiency improvement.”

BCA has also worked with the industry and academia to develop a Technology Roadmap to chart the pathways towards SLE.

Research findings from the Roadmap identified more than 60 potential solutions from enhanced existing technologies and emerging R&D innovations, BCA said. 

Keppel Land has committed to pilot various emerging technologies at its BCA GM Platinum certified development Keppel Bay Tower, BCA said. 

In 2017, BCA worked with Keppel Land to launch a Joint Challenge Call for test-bedding of SLE technologies at Keppel Bay Tower. 

The project, supported by an innovation fund of S$1.28 million from BCA’s Green Buildings Innovation Cluster programme, demonstrated technologies such as smart lighting system and air-conditioning based on indoor activity analytics.

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) continues to do well in global surveys. 

In July, it was named the world’s best airline in Skytrax’s 2018 World Airline Awards, almost right after it bagged the title of “Best Airline in the World” awarded by popular travel website TripAdvisor. 

But the airline is not resting on past laurels. Instead, it recognises the need to do things differently – demonstrated as the company embarks on a major rebrand as it aims to transform itself in a highly competitive environment. 

SIA has issued a request for information, inviting external agencies to pitch to provide an integrated marketing solution. It has sought a fresh take on how the SIA brand should be modernised, and for the creative agency best able to do that to manage its media, content, website and app. 

BUILDING A SERVICE BRAND

But in its rebranding exercise, SIA must not forget that top brands never start out with the intent of building a great brand. Instead, they focus on delivering a profitable product or service and an organisation that can sustain it. 

Towards this end, SIA’s investments in the latest aircraft, technology and processes is a step in the right direction.  

SIA has also always been cognisant that it needs quality people to differentiate its offering. From its humble beginnings, it has invested in cabin crew who can deliver high quality service. These combined puts SIA on a strong footing. 

READ: Singapore Airlines to launch world’s longest commercial flight – again, a commentary

SIA’s rebrand coincides with rapidly expanding air links that are expected to fuel global connectivity and the war for talent in the airline industry. 

The International Air Transport Association expects passengers to double to 7.8 billion in 2036. According to the Boeing Long-Term Market Forecast (2016 to 2035), the aviation industry will need to recruit more than 2 million employees. 

The Asia-Pacific region will have the highest demand for aviation talent. The question is, will SIA be able to compete with emerging players for talent to support its growth?

THE SINGAPORE GIRL 

Let’s take a step back to see what has also made SIA so well-known around the world.

Undoubtedly, the Singapore Girl, introduced by adman Ian Batey in 1972, is the most well-cited visual embodiment of SIA’s brand. 

Some critics argue that the term Singapore Girl is sexist, outdated and reinforces stereotypes of subservient Asian women. Shouldn’t she take a back seat in the upcoming rebrand?

Yet her success in being recognised by passengers who haven’t even flown on SIA proves that she is the soul of the company. By being SIA’s personification of quality and its most visible face in its marketing campaigns, the Singapore Girl humanises its employer brand.

She is a tangible representation of efficiency, warmth and the readiness to go the extra mile. She inspires SIA’s crew members, pilots, ground and support staff to put the customer first and be proud of being part of a top airline.

So while the Singapore Girl is an icon of SIA’s customer-facing brand, her popularity strengthens its employee value proposition as well.

DIFFERENTIATING EMPLOYEE VALUE PROPOSITION

But a compelling employee value proposition goes well beyond company image, salary or even incentives. It includes learning and development opportunities. 

Even though staff training is a key factor in the airline industry, SIA remains ahead of its peers with the strongest focus on this area. Its development programmes for newly recruited cabin crew are among the most comprehensive.

The airline trains its fresh recruits for four months — twice as long as the industry average of eight weeks. Since SIA recognises that it’s in the business of selling experiences, its programmes cover not only safety and functional issues but also include courses on deportment, etiquette and cultural sensitivity.

Cabin crew appreciate subtle issues, such as speaking at eye level rather than “talking down” to passengers. They also learn how to handle troublesome passengers diplomatically, and can manage inappropriate behaviour. 

To pass, trainees must prove they can handle whatever comes their way with confidence. They can’t be flustered when things go wrong and are encouraged to think on their feet. 

ATTRACTING AND RETAINING EMPLOYEES

While prospective cabin crew expect that a career with SIA will enable them to travel the world, they also know that they will be equipped with these soft skills — critical skills that will keep them in good stead for many years in an increasingly globalised world. 

Indeed, there are many examples of cabin crew pursuing successful careers in customer relations, marketing and PR after they complete their contracts with SIA.

This is the brand promise SIA’s prospective employees are buying into. Many educated bright young people from not only Singapore but Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, India and China apply to SIA due to this perceived value. 

According to one news report, SIA’s cabin crew stay with the airline for more than 10 years and ground staff serve for more than 19 years. SIA has also featured in Randstad’s annual ranking of most attractive employers in Singapore for many years.

But SIA must do more to transform its employee experience, as it invests in delivering a superior customer experience.

Last year, its staff complained that the airline’s appraisal system discourages those who are genuinely ill from resting at home. Since then, SIA has announced it will no longer dock its cabin crew’s points when they take medical leave for common ailments such as cough and cold.

SIA must continue to engage its employees and enhance its employer brand. It must invest in continuous dialogue by combining data, analytics and digital technology to create feedback loops that drive self-sustaining improvement, enabling its talent to maximise their potential.

According to Aon research, a 5 per cent increase in employee engagement is linked to a 3 per cent increase in revenue growth in the subsequent year.

Back to why it’s important to maintain the Singapore Girl in SIA’s rebranding. To be successful in the long term, a company’s employer brand needs to be in alignment with its customer-facing brand. The gracious Singapore Girl does a great job of achieving this for SIA in the minds of its customers and employees. 

By attracting and engaging high quality talent, the Singapore Girl is well positioned to not only wow existing customers but woo new ones as well.

As SIA goes for a rebrand, it will do well not to ignore her.

Maneesh Sah is Executive Director for External Communications, Asia Pacific for Aon and author of the book A NEW Marketer.

GILI TRAWANGAN, Indonesia: As dawn broke over the holiday island of Gili Trawangan, terrified and bloodied tourists as well as locals flooded the harbour beach, desperate to be anywhere but here.

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake had struck in the night, destroying homes and the picture of an idyllic paradise. Now, the first boats were setting out bringing the injured off the remote island to safety, and panicked holidaymakers were doing everything they could to get on the few available vessels.

“It was absolutely frantic. Imagine a beach filled with people with backpacks freaking out. Everyone wanted out,” said Singaporean Ms Tay Suyi, 26. “As people were carrying the injured, some would jump in and pretend to carry them so that they could get on the boat. 

It was insane.

But, while many fled, a group of foreigners including Ms Tan risked their own safety and stayed behind to help.

Following the devastating quake of Aug 5, which left more than 500 dead and thousands injured on the larger nearby island of Lombok, staff of Gili Trawangan’s various dive operations stepped into the role of impromptu rescuers, lifesavers, rubble clearers and fixer-uppers for days after.

They refused to get on the last boat out that the Indonesian authorities could guarantee them, despite the threat of further tremors.

“The reason you have a business here is because you love the island – and you want to see it come back to the way it was,” said Ms Tay, speaking to CNA Insider. “For me, it’s one of those places where it’s home, you know. You don’t leave home if shit goes down.”

IGNORING THE TSUNAMI WARNING

With its pristine turquoise water, soft white sand beaches and waters teeming with biodiversity, Gili Trawangan was perfect for Ms Tay, a professional dive instructor who had been working there for six months.

The largest of the three Gili islands, it is small enough to walk around in an hour and a half. There are no cars, buses or motorbikes, only bicycles and horse-drawn carts; and with many visitors heading here for the diving, there are over two dozen dive shops.

At around 7.30pm on the cloudless night of Aug 5, Ms Tay had just gotten home from work and had put on some loud music.

“And then, I thought the music got louder. I looked around, and everything was shaking.”

Earthquake, she realised. She’d felt tremors on the island before, the most recent fortnight ago, but nothing of this magnitude. Walls crumbled; glass shattered. 

“It couldn’t be more than seven seconds, but after three seconds, all the power shut off on the whole island. It was pitch black.”

She ran outside. “I remember sitting there, and thinking the stars were very pretty…  and then there were locals and tourists running by, crying. You could hear screaming everywhere.”

People were yelling about a possible tsunami, and rushing for the safety of the hills. But Ms Tay’s instinct was to head in a different direction: The dive shops at the harbour where she works, to check on her friends.

“I was terrified, I was alone. The first thing I wanted was to make sure that everyone was okay,” she said. “I figured that there would be some people around who needed help. 

Sitting on a hill wasn’t going to do anything.

At the dive shop, she grabbed a friend and began patrolling the streets to assess the damage and look out for the injured. “You know that when you stop, you’d just panic. So I just needed to do stuff.”

They found familiar village roads blocked off by the rubble of collapsed buildings. “A big mosque that was right in the centre of the island had just dropped completely,” she recalled. “You look at the hotels, hostels and places you know where people were – they were gone, it was crazy.”

TRYING TO SAVE LIVES

At the main harbour, a makeshift medical centre had been set up. There would be no boats until morning.

So for those critical next few hours of darkness, it was all up to the few doctors and nurses – both locals and foreigners on holiday – and dive instructors, who were all trained in Emergency First Response (EFR), to treat the injured and try to keep the severely wounded alive.

“By the time we got there, there were about 15 injured lying on the sunbeds and sunchairs,” said Ms Tay, whose EFR training kicked in as she set about helping to bandaging those who were bleeding, setting up drips, and fetching supplies for the medical personnel.

“Every dive shop has medical supplies, so we brought it all there – oxygen kits, bandages, stuff like that.”

They worked overnight. Most of the wounded were locals, probably because their houses were less stable, Ms Tay guessed. The team couldn’t save everyone.

“We lost two during the night. 

One of the guys I remember because I was doing CPR on him when he passed. The lower half of his body had been completely crushed.

“We were just trying to keep everyone stable, you know, until they could get to the hospital in Lombok. We couldn’t get any boats out, we were waiting for the boats to come.”

During the night, people kept coming in and asking “what can I do?” A core group that included a divemaster trainee and a dive instructor took to delegating tasks, while one local girl acted as the sole translator.

“It’s amazing how people band together when something’s wrong,” said Ms Tay. “What was cool was that every dive instructor was trained in EFR, so the island was filled with people who knew what to do.”

FINDING A WAY OFF

Sunrise brought a flood of people looking for a way off the island.

“At about 6am they started pouring down to the harbour,” said Ms Tay. “Then we had to build a makeshift morgue, because there were tourists sitting next to dead bodies.”

A number of boats had been scheduled to arrive from Lombok in the morning. But given the devastation over on the bigger island, they didn’t appear.

In the north of Lombok, the earthquake’s epicentre, thousands of buildings had collapsed and most of the region was in ruins. 

The Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency later said that one of the difficulties they faced on Aug 5 was having to evacuate more than 8,000 people from the three Gili islands that same day. (For more on Lombok’s crisis, catch Insight: Earthquake in Paradise on Sept 6 at 9.30pm SG/HK.)

READ: Why multiple earthquakes are rattling one Indonesian island

Meanwhile back on Gili Trawangan, dive shops were doing what they could to get people a ride, including locals who were desperate to find loved ones living on Lombok.

“Everyone who had a connection to a boat was calling… we had private fast boats, we had slow boats, just any boat really,” said Ms Tay.

“We formed a human chain and built a ramp sort of thing with bricks to get the injured on the boats. There were a lot of spinal injuries, perforated fractures, that needed serious medical attention and there was nothing we could do on a beach, you know.”

They eventually sent them off – after having to physically hold back able-bodied, panicked tourists who wanted to get on the first few boats.

“Then I slept for 13 hours straight,” said Ms Tan.

CLEANING UP AFTERWARDS

By day 3 the exodus had petered out. Some 30 foreigners, including dive professionals, stayed behind to help with the aftermath, along with the locals.

According to Ms Tay, one government official told them that one last evacuation boat was leaving, and warned that if they stayed, there would be no supplies of food or water coming in (the island ships in most of its essentials).

But the group wasn’t too worried as businesses had been preparing for the high tourist season with ample stocks of food and drinks.

“Everyone was bringing stuff in from their houses, their shops, their restaurants. Everyone was just being really generous, and it was really nice to see that,” she said. One dive shop with its own generator welcomed the volunteers to stay in its facilities.

The group decided to divide up the work that needed to be done. “The 30 of us gathered and we said, okay, who’s good at what?” They formed teams to deal with plumbing issues, electricity supply, fixing things, and hygiene.

As part of the hygiene squad, Ms Tay and friends went around to every restaurant and empty home to clear away rotting food, to prevent pests like rats, cockroaches and maggots.

“Everyone was being really positive, we played music and made a game of it,” she said.

The group also set about making sure buildings that remained standing were safe, and took their sledgehammers to demolish any structures that weren’t. The rubble was cleared with horse-carts and wheelbarrows.

Ms Tay said that just before she left for Singapore nearly two weeks ago to renew her visa, security forces had stepped in with heavy machinery to clear the debris, and they are slowly helping to rebuild the place. 

MOVING AHEAD?

People have also been returning to Gili Trawangan, including some of Ms Tay’s dive friends who had earlier ended up in Bali coordinating relief efforts with non-governmental groups to get supplies to Lombok.

Ms Tay recalled: “On the fifth day after the earthquake, we had two tourists arrive on the island. We were like ‘what? How did you even get here?’ They just wanted to see the island, like a weird ‘dark tourism’ thing.”

But the fact that visitors are returning is encouraging. “The more people come back, the quicker they do, the quicker we can rebuild and bring things back to how it was,” said the Singaporean, who has since returned to work on the island.

READ: Lombok quake sends shudders through tourist industry

She noted that the island should be back up and running by this month, and that some restaurants and dive shops have already reopened.

The future could remain an uncertain one for tourism in Lombok and the Gili islands. On Aug 31, a 4.8-magnitude quake hit Lombok, yet another of a series that have hammered the region. Four quakes in the span of three weeks have measured greater than 6.0 in magnitude – an unusual pattern which seismologists say is significant.

READ: Commentary: Lombok’s earthquakes reveal urgent need to prepare for the next shock

For now, the denizens of Gili Trawangan can depend on their community spirit to pull together and rebuild.

“No one is being paid to do any of this… they’re doing so much there just to get the island back to normal,” said Ms Tay. “It shows you the good in people.”

Catch the Insight episode about the earthquake In Lombok and its aftermath, in ‘Earthquake in Paradise’, on Sept 6 at 9.30pm SG/HK.

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SINGAPORE: Disney and Pixar characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, Elsa and Woody will be lining Singapore’s shopping belt this Christmas season, as the Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA) partners the Walt Disney Company for the annual light-up event. 

It will be Disney’s largest Christmas street light-up in Southeast Asia, said ORBA in a media release on Tuesday (Sep 4). 

The association added that this is the first “branded light-up” in the event’s 35-year history.

A 2.88km stretch of Orchard Road – from Tanglin Mall to Plaza Singapura – will be dressed in festive lights from Nov 10 to Jan 1. 

There will be four zones that take on different themes – Disney Princess, Mickey Mouse and Friends, Frozen and Toy Story. 

The centrepiece of the light-up – the main arch at the Orchard Road-Paterson Road junction – will feature selected 3D Disney characters.

Trees on either side of the road will be decorated with illuminated 3D Mickey Mouse icons, ORBA added. 

Two malls – Orchard Central and Wheelock Place – will also be decorated with Disney characters.

The Great Christmas Village, which made its debut last year, will return for a longer run at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza from Nov 15 to Dec 26. Apart from live performances, it will feature amusement rides and a duplex carousel complete with a special seat carriage for wheelchair riders.

There will also be a craft beer bar and food stalls operated by local brands such as New Ubin Seafood and Two Wings.

The light-up ceremony will be held on Nov 10 at 6.30pm. 

SINGAPORE: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Tuesday (Sep 4) announced it will progressively roll out over the next five years 24 “design guides” for each of its towns, beginning with Woodlands in the north.

Each guide will be a unique, comprehensive document broken down into three different levels – town, neighbourhood and precinct. It will provide a common reference point for different agencies, town councils and design consultants as they implement both new developments as well as rejuvenation projects for the town throughout its life cycle, said HDB in a press release.

“With different agencies and the town councils carrying out regular enhancements and improvements throughout the life cycle of the town, it is important to align all the different agencies’ efforts and ensure a coherent design and town identity,” said HDB’s chief executive officer Cheong Koon Hean.

“In this way, we continue to strengthen the identity of each town, preserve the distinctive local flavour, and deepen the sense of belonging among residents to their home.”

READ: Farm features to be part of first HDB homes in new Tengah town

HDB said Woodlands was selected first to illustrate how the design guides can be applied to an existing town which is undergoing rejuvenation.

“The name (Woodlands) originated from the many Keranji trees that dotted the coastline, which when viewed from the Johor side of the Straits, gave the area a heavily wooded appearance,” HDB explained. “When planning for Woodlands began in 1966, a ‘wooded’ theme was chosen for the town, to reflect its history and the gentle undulating terrain of the area.”

READ: Woodlands to have six ‘star attractions’ under HDB renewal plan

As an example of how this historical identity will be preserved during town planning, HDB pointed to the upcoming WoodsVista Gallery, a 1.9 kilometre-long community link “set amidst lush greenery, allowing residents to walk, jog or cycle seamlessly from the Woodlands MRT station to the Woodlands Waterfront”.

This “wooded” theme is further divided into five sub-themes at the neighbourhood level. For instance, HDB explained, Woodlands Central’s facade designs will have a suggested palette of light greys with contemporary accents of deeper greys and browns, in keeping with an “urban” sub-theme. 

At the precinct level, playgrounds in the same area can be designed with the use of bright colours and sculptural elements to bring out a “bold and vibrant character”.

“As the designs of public housing evolve, more attention will be paid to infusing character and identity into the towns,” said HDB. “The introduction of a town design guide for each town marks a key milestone in our journey towards well-designed, sustainable and community-centric towns.

“Going forward, HDB will continue to seek out new planning concepts and design ideas to create towns with strong identities to foster a strong sense of place and belonging for Singaporeans.”

SINGAPORE: The first district in Tengah to be launched by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will reflect the agricultural roots of the area, with community gardens and farming features.

The Plantation District will cover about 90 hectares in the southern part of Tengah, and will have about 10,000 new homes when fully completed, HDB said on Tuesday (Sep 4).

Among the features will be a 700-metre by 40-metre of strip of land called the Plantation Farmway. This will weave through housing precincts, serving as a green connector to link residents to other key facilities such as the town centre. Void decks will be oriented to face the greenery.

READ: Tengah will be new ‘forest town’, says Lawrence Wong

READ: Tengah to be Singapore’s largest smart, sustainable town

The Farmway will include about 2,000 sq m of space for community gardening and farming. HDB said there is potential for a farmers’ market for residents to sell their own produce. Playgrounds will be built with designs inspired by fruit and vegetables, in line with the overall plantation theme.

Two green pockets, each about 1,100 sq m, will be located within the Plantation Farmway as spaces for residents to relax under the shade of trees. In addition, an open green space with a small stage will be situated adjacent to the Farmway as an extended area for community events.

Water features in the district will also be developed to attract birds, butterflies and dragonflies, which will help control the mosquito population.

READ: All new HDB projects to feature nature-centric designs

TWO MRT STATIONS, CYCLE PATHS

To help realise the vision of making Tengah a “car-lite” town, two MRT stations along the future Jurong Region Line will be developed in the Plantation district, connecting residents to Jurong East, Choa Chu Kang and Boon Lay. More MRT stations for the rest of the town are planned. Furthermore, most bus stops will be 300m or less from homes.

To make it easier for residents to cycle, all roads in the district will feature cycling paths that are 2m wide.

READ: Jurong Region Line to serve NTU, Tengah estate, Jurong Industrial Estate

Tengah will also be the first HDB town to be planned with smart technologies town-wide from the outset.

Across the whole of Tengah town, there will be features such as smart lighting and systems to collect rainwater for irrigation and to wash common areas. Such initiatives will help save energy and water. Additional power points and data points will also be installed in homes to enable the adoption of smart home devices.

The first housing parcel in Plantation District is expected to comprise more than 1,500 flats ranging from two-room Flexi flats to 3-Gen flats. They will be available in the November Build-to-Order exercise.

Plans for Tengah’s Plantation District will be exhibited at HDB Hub from Tuesday.

SINGAPORE: Two years ago, Grab driver Muhammad Syahmi joined a ride-hailing industry brimming with rosy prospects.

Buoyed by generous incentives dished out by firms, drivers cashed in on the lucrative business, where earning a decent wage was a relative breeze. “It was … easy money (then),” said Mr Syahmi, 25.

For many drivers like him, however, the tide has since turned: Dogged by meagre incentives and fares in recent months, those bolting for the exit have found themselves in a quandary, as they struggle to land jobs after years in the driver’s seat.

And they cannot say they had not been warned.

It was not too long ago that observers and experts cautioned that providing a private-hire car service could harm drivers’ job prospects. It did not add to their resumes and offered little in the way of skills-building, they had said.

But few were prepared to listen then, as ride-hailing firms such as Grab and Uber grew rapidly in Singapore after muscling into the point-to-point transport sector in 2013, and turning the industry on its head.

These fears are now being lived out by drivers, as some — seeking a way out for months — have been met with nothing but rejections.

Since Grab’s acquisition of Uber’s regional operations in March, Mr Syahmi has fired off no fewer than 50 job applications.

The polytechnic graduate, who has a diploma in outdoor and adventure learning, went after openings in areas ranging from customer service to hospital patient service.

He was called up for four interviews, but has yet to bag a job offer.

The soft-spoken young man cited a depleting wage, and concerns over advancement as the main reasons he is searching for greener pastures.

“At my age, I should be doing other jobs for stability and (better) prospects,” he said.

IN THE SAME BOAT

There are many existing or former private-hire car drivers in a similar predicament, including the thousands who recently left the industry following the new licensing regime.

In July, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said nearly half of the private-hire car drivers — 20,900 out of 42,900 — who received a one-year concession to attend a course and pass a test to obtain their vocational licence failed or did not attempt the test. Those who received the licence numbered 22,000.

Drivers who applied for the Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational Licence (PDVL) before July last year had to undergo the course and pass the test by Jun 30 this year to continue offering the service. The licence was introduced last year to ensure that drivers had the requisite skills to provide the service safely.

The Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), one of the test centres for the PDVL, has also been helping drivers without a licence find jobs.

Its spokesperson said drivers are still employable in other sectors, but noted that those who have provided chauffeured services for the past two or three years “may not be familiar with the current employment landscape or know how to go about seeking new employment”.

“As such, they will need time and effort to transit into full employment, and therefore, we are helping with these interventions,” the spokesperson added.

The institute did not provide figures for drivers who have approached it for such help, nor did it specify how many drivers had been matched to jobs.

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INCOMES HIT, POOR ADVANCEMENT

In the wake of the Grab-Uber deal, many drivers cried foul as their incomes took a battering after Grab slashed its drivers’ incentives, which until then served as a considerable boost to their earnings.

Drivers were hit in the pocket, as they reported lower earnings even after investing longer hours on the road each day.

For Grab driver Edmund Chua, 60, driving for at least 10 hours a day now nets him up to S$2,000 monthly. By contrast, in 2015, drivers who hit the roads for less than eight daily could earn S$2,500 quite easily with incentives, he said.

As recently as last year, drivers could snag weekly incentives of at least S$500 for completing a certain number of trips. Grab has since cut these to S$150, drivers said.

Mr Chua, a former contract teacher in secondary schools, said he plans to return to adjunct teaching, “in case I cannot drive anymore because I can be tired”.

“If private-hire drivers lose their jobs, they need to have a plan B. I don’t think this will be sustainable as a profession,” said the father of two daughters aged 13 and 15.

But the anxieties faced by drivers go beyond plummeting incomes. The lack of career prospects also weighs on the minds of some.

“When you drive for too long, maybe people think that you only can drive and you don’t have a lot of skills,” said Mr Syahmi, whose flurry of job applications were sent via various online portals, including Monster and JobStreet.

Nevertheless, he said driving has taught him soft skills, such as controlling his emotions when dealing with irate or demanding passengers. 

“We tend to be more patient or calm … skills that are quite important if we want to work in the customer-service line,” said Mr Syahmi, who added that he would leave straight away if a job offer lands.

Another driver, who wanted to be known only as Mr Sim, 38, stopped driving for Grab in June. His “long-term prospects” were the main consideration, he said, so he jumped at an opportunity in logistics operations when it emerged.

“Based on my age, I feel that driving can be something (I could do) towards retirement. It’s not a job I look forward to doing until the end of (my) days,” Mr Sim said.

The prospects for drivers, he added, were not as good as before and the dearth of benefits — such as contributions to the Central Provident Fund savings scheme — was a drawback.

For others, like Ms Vanessa Tiffany, 43, driving is not their only source of income. Apart from running a children’s events company, she is a relief teacher at a playgroup.

She cautioned drivers against relying on full-time driving as their rice bowl. 

“You’re not (going to) get anything. (You’ve to spend) 18 hours on the road every day to get S$4,000-plus (each month). In the end, you’ll fall sick,” the mother of three said.

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Asked how the company was dealing with drivers’ concerns over reduced incentives and earnings, Grab Singapore head of transport Andrew Chan said its focus was to keep its drivers’ operating costs low, and to support them and their families.

Mr Chan noted that Grab was expanding its Better 365 programme, which improves drivers’ experience and welfare.

Apart from fuel discounts and free personal accident insurance coverage, Grab recently introduced a three-day rental subsidy for top drivers when they take time off from driving, said Mr Chan.

Other initiatives include discounts for medical services for drivers and their families, and education bursaries for their children.

“While the freelance nature of the gig economy often results in higher turnover rates than other industries, we continue to find more ways and opportunities to maximise our driver-partners’ earnings through better technology, more ancillary revenue streams through GrabAds, and Better 365,” Mr Chan said. 

“This model is more sustainable and improves overall income in the long run for our driver-partners.”

It is understood that Grab also has a partnership with government agency SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), under which workshops are conducted to help drivers identify their skills-upgrading needs and how they can better tap the resources available. There is also a set of training courses curated for drivers.

Meanwhile, home-grown ride-hailing service Ryde said its drivers’ earnings have been “healthy”. They earn an average full-time income of S$5,500 monthly, after deducting commission fees, its spokesperson said.

Ryde takes a 10 per cent cut from its private-hire car drivers, lower than the 20 per cent commission Grab levies on its drivers.

ALTERNATIVES: FOOD DELIVERY, CHAUFFEURING VISITORS

While many drivers are looking to get out of the ride-hailing industry, some have found other ways to make ends meet.

These include taking on bookings from tourists — mostly from China — and chauffeuring them to and from the airport as well as between major tourist sites.

Others have switched to become delivery-partners under Grab’s food-delivery service GrabFood, for example.

Mr Ong Boon Piew, 56, who has failed at least 10 attempts at the PDVL test, said he was left with no choice but to become a GrabFood delivery-partner.

Armed with a motorcyclist’s licence, Mr Ong bought a motorcycle of more than 10 years from a friend in July for about S$3,000.

The former lorry crane driver said food delivery was less stressful than driving a private-hire car, as he did not have to pay rental.

Right now, he clocks between eight and 10 hours a day, receiving about two assignments every hour. On good months, he can earn more than S$3,000.

He acknowledged, however, that he could earn more as a private-hire car driver, although this entailed clocking longer hours on the road.

Mr Ong said he will reapply for a Taxi Driver’s Vocational Licence, which allows licensees to drive both taxis and private-hire cars. But for the moment, he said in Mandarin: 

I have no choice. Without the option of (private-hire car driving), I’ve to find another job as a substitute.

GrabFood crew can deliver food on bicycles, motorcycles, personal mobility devices including electric scooters, and even on foot. Those who wish to use cars must ensure that they are not using a private-hire chauffeured motor car or station wagon, Grab said.

Under the LTA’s regulations, taxis and private-hire cars are meant to carry passengers for hire and reward, and cannot be used for the conveyance of goods for reward. Drivers accepting such jobs may have their vocational licences revoked, said an LTA spokesperson.

The spokesperson added that owners who use their private vehicles to carry out a business for the transportation of goods must ensure that their vehicles have appropriate insurance cover for such additional uses.

Grab’s spokesperson said last month that it has helped the majority of its drivers who did not obtain their PDVL by Jun 30 and were keen to explore other career options. This included converting them to GrabFood delivery-partners and referring them to e2i.

“For those who wish to retake their PDVL, Grab continues to support these drivers with their reapplication process and provides free revision classes to help them better prepare for the exams,” added the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, drivers such as Mr Chris Koh, 51, are devoting the bulk of their time to fulfilling bookings from tourists largely from China. For them, Grab rides have been relegated to a secondary source of income.

These drivers shuttle tourists between the airport and their hotels, or to tourist attractions, such as the Merlion, Gardens by the Bay and the National Gallery Singapore.

Linking up with riders via China-based applications such as Hi Guides and Yun Di Jie, drivers said that at peak travel seasons, such as during China’s recent summer school holidays, they earned nearly twice as much as what they drew from Grab rides.

Prices are fixed by the apps, where users can choose from a range of car types, said Mr Koh, who began taking on these bookings about a year ago and knows of 80 to 100 drivers doing the same.

Drivers in five-seat cars earn S$30 to S$35 for a journey from the airport to downtown Singapore, compared with about half (S$18) on Grab, before deducting commission fees, he said.

Mr Koh has cut down on Grab bookings significantly, doing just 20 rides a week now, compared with 80 to 120 trips previously.

He also gets more satisfaction from interacting with the tourists. “We get to know people from overseas, mainly … from different parts of China. We’re like ambassadors (of Singapore) as well,” he said.

Mr Koh said it was “optional” for drivers to show their guests around the attractions and they do not get paid for this, recognising that tourist guides must hold a licence granted by the authorities.

Another driver, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lim, 50, said he gets at least four such chauffeured bookings daily, including airport transfers and trips to take in the sights. He also takes on limousine services for business guests. 

Apart from China, his customers are from Korea, Japan, Russia, the United States and the Middle East, among other places.

Ms Ong Ling Lee, the Singapore Tourism Board’s director of travel agents and tourist guides, said that the agency monitors such practices and has contacted some platforms to tell them about Singapore’s legislation on guiding services, where necessary.

Ferrying tourists does not constitute guiding, said Ms Ong, but she added that individuals must hold a valid tourist-guide licence if they provide guiding services to one or more tourists for remuneration.

Mr Koh said that he was mulling over taking up a tourist-guide licence in the longer run. However, juggling the course, which lasts about half a year, with his driving commitments would be cumbersome, he said.

HELP AVAILABLE

Members of Parliament (MPs) from the labour movement urged drivers to gain new skills even while on the job, so as to prepare themselves for other jobs should the need arise.

Mr Desmond Choo, an assistant secretary-general with the National Trades Union Congress, acknowledged that re-skilling and re-training can be difficult at times for many of these drivers, especially those who are older.

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But he urged them to seek help from the National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA), which can work with organisations such as e2i to help workers gain new skills under the Government’s Adapt and Grow employment-support initiative.

For instance, the Place-and-Train Professional Conversion Programmes, where workers are hired by employers and trained to take on new jobs, will allow drivers to make the transition, said Mr Choo, an MP for Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

“This process will take some time, so it’s important that the workers have to start this journey earlier,” he added.

Mr Choo said that through the relevant agencies, drivers can also be matched to industries for which they have more “transferable skills”, such as the automotive sector as driving instructors or the public transport industry as bus drivers.

It is also key for younger drivers to avail themselves of career-planning resources such as the NTUC’s Youth Career Network, which helps workers keep in step with industry trends and skills in demand.

With better career planning, they are able to see other career opportunities rather than just driving for Grab.

There is also a need to help drivers gain transferable skills, said Mr Choo. In this regard, modular, bite-sized training — conducted online, for instance — that could count towards a diploma or certificate will become increasingly important.

“While they may not be able to go to classes full-time, they can learn during their free time and then (attend) a few days of classes and … over a certain period of time, they can get a certificate,” he said. “This must be the new direction.”

Besides help from e2i and government agencies SSG and Workforce Singapore, Mr Ang Hin Kee, executive adviser to the NPHVA and the National Taxi Association, said that both associations have asked and will continue to call on the LTA to allow private-hire car and taxi drivers to be allowed to deliver parcels, in order to “monetise their time”.

At TransportSG, a division of e2i, drivers are coached on job opportunities and the employment landscape. Employability coaches can also guide them to pick up new skills.

e2i’s spokesperson said drivers stand a much higher chance of landing a job through job matching or career fairs if they are “job-ready”. In July, the institute had 14 employers engage drivers who were seeking other driving-related positions, for instance.

It also designed a new Career Trial-cum-Place and Train Programme to help drivers without the PDVL find jobs. Under the Career Trial, drivers will be placed for a month with employers, who are encouraged to recruit them as full-time staff members at the end of the stint with a wage support scheme.

The programme is not confined to certain industries or job types, although driving-related positions are among the options. “We will assess the applicants’ transferable skillsets and work with them to match job positions according to their best fit,” said the e2i spokesperson.

Mr Choo said the gig economy is a permanent and growing part of the workforce not just in Singapore but globally, as app-based work becomes more common.

“It’s not a bad thing … because it does allow people to transit to industries to find new sources of income more flexibly,” he added, though concerns remain over how to better protect such self-employed workers and ensure their long-term financial security.

Agreeing, Mr Ang reiterated that disruptive technologies will create new job opportunities for workers, but also disrupt existing ones. “As a global phenomenon, we are better off finding a way to manage it than to reject it,” said the MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC.

As for Mr Syahmi, he recognises the benefits of picking up new skills as he looks for a new job. He said: 

We’re quite used to being our own boss… (but) we can’t be drivers our whole life

He is thinking of learning another language, such as Mandarin, which will come in handy for jobs in customer service, for example.

However, he will not be approaching e2i for help for now, as he would like to secure a job on his own. “I just want to discover where I should go myself,” he said.