SINGAPORE: His fancy flicks were greeted by a palpable buzz of excitement and his opening goal for Arsenal on Saturday night (Jul 28) was met with a roar of approval from fans at the Singapore National Stadium. 

Mesut Ozil more than entertained the 50,300-strong crowd, including Singapore’s Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, as the English Premier League side thrashed French champions Paris Saint Germain (PSG) 5-1 in the International Champions Cup.

A early goal from the German got the Gunners up and running, before PSG struck back with a spot kick from Christopher Nkunku. A late Alexandre Lacazette double then sealed the win for Unai Emery’s men, before a Rob Holding header and an Eddie Nketiah finish put a gloss on proceedings.

READ: ‘So much love’: Ozil thanks Arsenal fans after Germany racism row

Mired in a racism row which led him to announce his retirement from the international game, Ozil had been the name on football fans’ lips since Arsenal’s arrival in Singapore. 

An unused substitute for the Gunners’ penalty shootout loss to Atletico Madrid on Thursday, the playmaker took to the field against PSG as captain – this time he was one of the headline acts rather than part of the supporting cast.

It was PSG that started the game the brighter of the two sides, Thomas Tuchel’s men were menacing in possession, with the livewire Timothy Weah causing problems.

It took more than 10 minutes for Arsenal to find their footing, Ozil whipping in a tantalising cross which was met by Shkodran Mustafi’s flick-on, but Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang was a stretch away from tapping home.

Unai Emery’s men took the lead in the 13th minute. A sublime through ball from Henrik Mkhitaryan found Aubameyang in acres of space, and his cross was tucked home by Ozil to raucous cheers from the crowd.

PSG weren’t the only ones taken to task by Ozil, Singaporean referee Nathan Chan was lustily booed several minutes after failing to award a penalty when Ozil seemed to be tugged back in the box.

Arsenal were knocking on the door, and a smart flick from Ozil found Mkhitaryan, whose pass played in Alex Iwobi. But the Nigerian could only prod a shot at Gianluigi Buffon.

PSG could have easily found their equaliser moments later, as a flamboyant Ozil dummy on the edge of the box failed to materialise and Bernd Leno had to adjust to bail his skipper out with a smart stop.

Arsenal looked like they had their foot off the gas after the half-time break and they were punished as PSG were awarded with a penalty.

Beating his marker for pace, Weah’s probing run into the box was halted by a crude tackle from Sead Kolasinac. Up stepped youngster Nkunku, who smashed the spot kick past Leno.

The Gunners weren’t behind for long, as substitute Emile Smith Rowe – on for Ozil – picked out Lacazette and the Frenchman finished neatly off the underside of the crossbar.

Arsenal made it three in the 71st minute – as Lacazette bundled home from close range after a goalmouth melee. 

A looping header by Holding was the nail in the coffin for PSG, as the young defender scored Arsenal’s fourth a few minutes from time.

Substitute Nketiah added insult to injury with Arsenal’s fifth in stoppage time. 

The Gunners will now return home with a massive confidence boost and the added assurance that the enigmatic Ozil is capable of not just doing his talking off the pitch, but could be back to his best on it.

SINGAPORE: Police are searching for a man who threatened to blow up a pawn shop outside Boon Lay MRT station on Saturday afternoon (Jul 28) after a failed attempt to rob it. 

The man entered the pawn shop at about 4.30pm, said the police. 

Armed with a knife and a gun that is believed to be a replica, the man demanded that an employee hand over cash and jewellery. 

When the employee refused, the man allegedly said he would blow up the shop, claiming he had an explosive device. 

“The man then threw the said object on the counter and fled the pawnshop without taking any items. The said object was immediately thrown out of the pawnshop by the staff who then called the police,” said the Singapore Police Force in a Facebook post. 

“The police had established that the object only contained some electrical components.”

Authorities added that no one was injured.

The incident prompted the closure of exit C of the MRT station near Jurong Point mall. Police said earlier that they were investigating a suspicious object, which turned out to be nothing incriminating.

The pedestrian square near Jurong Point and several shops were cordoned off. Officers were seen walking in and out of a ValueMax pawn shop to take photos.

In their appeal for information, the police said that the suspect is about 1.75m tall and was last seen wearing a pink turban, blue jacket and long brown pants.

Anyone with information can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

Police said the case has been classified under Section 4(A) of the Arms Offences Act, which carries the death penalty.

SINGAPORE: A “suspicious object” was found outside Boon Lay MRT station on Saturday afternoon (Jul 28), prompting the police to cordon off an area outside exit C of the station near Jurong Point mall. 

In a Facebook post, police said they were dealing with an “incident” at about 4.30pm, and advised the public to avoid the area.  

In an update at about 6.10pm, the police said nothing incriminating was found after conducting checks on the object. 

“Exit C of Boon Lay MRT Station is now reopen for public access. Members of the public are advised not to speculate on the incident. Investigations are ongoing,” said the police. 

No details were given about what the suspicious object was, but police were seen dragging a luggage bag to the middle of a pedestrian square outside Jurong Point. 

Train operations were not affected, said the police. 

Armed police were at the scene and some were seen inspecting objects on the ground.  

Several shops, including Mr Bean and Value Max pawn shop near the pedestrian square were cordoned off. 

Users on social media reported that people were being diverted away from the area between Boon Lay MRT and Jurong Point. 

SINGAPORE: A “blood moon” enthralled stargazers across Singapore early on Saturday (Jul 28) as it was covered in shadow for the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century.

The total eclipse lasted one hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, though a partial eclipse preceded and followed, meaning the moon spent a total of nearly four hours in the Earth’s umbral shadow, according to NASA.

The eclipse also coincided with Mars’ closest approach in 15 years, with the Red Planet hovering close to the red-tinted moon.

Astronomy enthusiasts gathered at Marina South Pier and other locations across Singapore to witness the spectacle.

Others viewed the display from wherever they could.

The eclipse was visible throughout much of Asia, and the nearby getaway of Batam was no exception.

A total lunar eclipse happens when Earth takes position in a straight line between the moon and sun, blotting out the direct sunlight that normally makes our satellite glow whitish-yellow.

The moon travels to a similar position every month, but the tilt of its orbit means it normally passes above or below the Earth’s shadow – so most months we have a full moon without an eclipse.

When the three celestial bodies are perfectly lined up, however, the Earth’s atmosphere scatters blue light from the sun while refracting or bending red light onto the moon, usually giving it a rosy blush.

Unfortunately for those who missed Saturday’s eclipse, the next lunar eclipse of such a length will only happen in 2123.

SINGAPORE: About 22 million pairs of shoes are sold in Singapore yearly, according to a report by market research company Statista. 

Whether your go-to kicks are S$4 sandals or S$14,000 designer sneakers, chances are that shoes are something you wear every day. And while necessary to protect our feet, they also leave a significant impact on the earth we tread on.  

A typical pair of running shoes is responsible for about 13.6kg of carbon dioxide emissions in its lifetime – the equivalent of keeping a 100-watt light bulb on for a week, one 2013 study by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found.

Then there is the issue of waste. While there are no footwear-specific figures, National Environment Agency statistics indicate that 141,200 tonnes of textile and leather waste were disposed of in Singapore last year, of which only 6 per cent was recycled.

In Singapore’s voluntary national review presented to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development earlier this month, responsible consumption and production was one of five sustainable development goals it focused on.

READ: Singapore takes pragmatic approach to sustainable development: Masagos

“In order to maintain a safe living environment with a high quality of life for current and future generations, Singapore’s approach to sustainable consumption and production is to become a Zero Waste Nation,” the voluntary national review report stated.

“By reducing waste and our consumption of materials and goods, we also avoid depleting the earth’s resources through wasteful habits. This will keep Singapore clean, conserve precious resources, and reduce the need for space-consuming landfills.”

As a consumer, here are some ways you can walk with a spring in your step knowing you’ve helped give wasteful consumption the boot.

DON’T CHUCK THOSE CHUCKS, FIX THEM

The MIT study, which broke down every possible greenhouse gas-emitting step in a shoe’s life cycle from the extraction of raw materials to the disposal of the shoes, attributed most of the carbon emissions to production processes, especially the materials processing (29 per cent) and manufacturing (68 per cent) stages.

Veerappan Swaminathan, founder of social enterprise Sustainable Living Lab, said that as the footwear manufacturing industry for shoes sold in Singapore operates mostly in neighbouring countries, a lot of the local environmental challenges are “externalised”.

“Materials used are often petrochemical byproducts, and as they are comprised of mixed materials are extremely difficult to separate for recycling … Dyes used in the process of treating fabric are usually not processed properly, leading to poisoning of river streams.”

Ways to improve sustainability in the industry include consumer decisions to get longer lasting shoes, and keep them functional beyond their typical lifespan through repairs and restorations, Mr Swaminathan said. 

Shoemaker Lisa Teng said that for her own shoes, she makes the effort to replace the soles if they wear out or create new designs through patchwork or stitches when the uppers get damaged. 

Sports shoes are more complicated, Ms Teng said, as a lot of soles are manufactured to match the shoe shape. “In my case, I would take the challenge and combine different components to fit the design.”

For those who aren’t experts, Sustainable Living Lab runs Repair Kopitiam, a community initiative that teaches people how to repair items, including shoes, in an effort to combat “throw away” culture. 

The free event is held at Block 452 Jurong West Street 42 and Block 890D Tampines Avenue 1 from 10am to 2pm every last Sunday of the month. 

WATCH: Repair Kopitiam by CNA Insider’s It Figures

There are also off-the-shelf solutions such as Sugru, a silicone-based “moldable glue” that comes in various colours and has the consistency of Play-Doh. Out of the packet, it can be reshaped and pressed into most materials such as fabric and leather to cover small holes or tears. Left to cure for 24 hours, it hardens into a flexible rubber.

The possibilities are endless: Fixing frayed laces, patching small tears in fabric uppers and sealing cracks in waterproof boots. As a bonus, the different colours can be combined in designs to customise your shoes.

But when it comes to major repairs, it may be best to leave it to the specialists. 

Cobbler Kay Ching Boh, one of a handful of old-timers who still ply their trade at an open space known as Cobbler Square in Chinatown, estimates that 10 to 20 people bring their shoes to him for repairs a week.

From gluing on new soles to smoothing out scuffs on leather uppers, he does it all. “There are no repairs too difficult if you really want to do them,” he said. 

The 67-year-old, a former hawker who taught himself how to fix shoes more than a decade ago by “secretly” watching others work, said people from all walks of life come to him to refresh their footgear, from young professionals in their 20s to retirees. 

Another professional shoe fixer, who wanted to be known only by Uncle Tan, plies his trade under a nondescript walkway near Sengkang MRT station. 

He charges as little as S$6 for repairs such as hand stitching on new soles – he boasts of being among the best at stitching up shoes, with about 10 needles of different sizes dedicated to the craft. 

BUY SHOES MADE TO LAST

Both Mr Kay and Uncle Tan told Channel NewsAsia they run a brisk business and avoid taking unnecessary cases, such as small repairs that customers can fix themselves. The cobblers also each had tips for customers to keep their shoes in good condition so they don’t have to be fixed too frequently. 

Mr Kay recommends that new pairs be waterproofed at a cobbler to extend their longevity. “Sometimes people bring them to me to be treated after water has already seeped in but I tell them it’s too late, you should have brought them to me when they were new,” he said, shaking his head. 

Meanwhile, Uncle Tan stressed the importance of wearing shoes regularly to keep the rubber from becoming brittle or decaying – he recently had a customer who left a S$400 pair of branded shoes unworn for two years; by the time he wanted to wear them the soles were “black and sticky” from rot and had to be replaced completely. 

His hot tip for customers who want branded shoes on a budget: Buy them at warehouse sales for cheap, then bring them to him to stitch on the soles securely for a few dollars. 

“Shoes on sale have usually been sitting around for some time, so the glue would have weakened and the soles come off easily,” he said. “If you stitch them on, they will last longer.”

But the quality of the original shoe is also an important factor. 

Mr Kay said he discourages people from trying to repair cheap shoes: “It will cost more than what you paid to fix them, why bother? Just throw them away!”

Quality shoes, on the other hand, can be fixed again and again for years of wear. 

Brandishing a pair of boots he was working on, he explained that as the calf skin uppers were holding up well, replacing the soles – the part most likely to be worn down through regular wear and tear – occasionally was all that was needed to keep the pair in good shape. 

For S$12, he had glued on new non-slip soles, then painstakingly cut them down to size with a sharp razor. He let me scrutinise them: No rough edges. 

Ken Lim, the owner of the boots, said he had brought four to five pairs of shoes to Mr Kay in the past year. 

“I’m very particular about shoes, so I like to buy those that are a bit more expensive,” the 57-year-old retiree said. 

“Usually the upper part, after a while, will still be very good. It would be a waste to throw them away because the sole or heel is damaged. So I will come here to fix the sole or heel, and the whole shoe is like brand new again.”

Ms Teng agreed. “These days, it is easy to get a cheap pair of shoes only to discard it quickly. However, the materials used are not environmentally friendly,” she said. 

For example, the shoe designer said she tries to avoid using PVC in her products as she discovered that over time, the material either becomes sticky or the coating flakes off. 

“It may seem expensive to invest in leather shoes, (but) it definitely lasts longer than most synthetic material,” she said. 

But durability may be less of a factor in the buying decisions of some consumer segments than style, according to Singapore Management University Associate Professor of Marketing Hannah Chang, who noted that there has been a growing fast fashion trend particularly among younger consumers in the last few years. 

“When it comes to fashion – be it clothes or shoes – there are different consumer segments with different buying processes and demands,” the consumer behaviour expert said. 

“While for many consumers style and comfort remain the top decision criteria, younger consumers may care less about how long shoes last compared to older consumers.”

WEAR ECO-FRIENDLY MATERIALS

Once under fire by environmental campaigners for their manufacturing practices, including allegedly polluting rivers with hazardous chemicals from its factories, major sports shoes manufacturers such as Nike and Adidas – two of the companies dominating the footwear industry in Singapore last year according to a report by Euromonitor – have found novel ways to turn trash into treasure. 

Under its Nike Grind programme, the footwear giant recycles surplus manufacturing materials and footwear by separating and grinding up rubber, foam, fiber, leather and textile blends into granules, which are then incorporated into products including new Nike footwear and apparel as well as sports and playground surfaces.

The company estimated in its latest sustainable business report that it had diverted about 5.67 million kilograms of factory and post-consumer waste from landfills with Nike Grind and that 75 per cent of its products contained some recycled material in the financial year of 2016-2017. 

Adidas has also taken strides to improve its environmental friendliness, recently teaming up with environmental organisation Parley for the Oceans for its Parley range of shoes, made with plastic waste intercepted before it reaches the ocean. The German sportswear maker pledged earlier this month to using only recycled plastic in its products, including apparel and shoes, by 2024.

There are also brands that have built eco-friendliness into their core brand ethos. 

Indosole, for example, says on its website that it is “on a mission to become the world’s most responsible footwear company”.  The Bali-based footwear company re-purposes discarded tires into soles for sandals and shoes, which it says is an effort to prevent the waste tires from getting to landfills or incinerators, polluting the environment. 

Meanwhile, Brazilian plastic shoe brand Melissa claims that its patented PVC material Melflex, which is used for all of its shoes, is 100 per cent recyclable, and Parisian sneaker brand Veja was built around environmental and social responsibility and focuses on sustainable materials such as wild rubber from the Amazon, a fabric created from recycled bottles and vegetable-tanned leather.

IF YOU DON’T WANT THEM, DONATE

If your problem with your shoes is not that they’re falling apart but that you’re tired of them and want a change, you could always give your pre-loved footwear a new lease of life by donating them. 

Nashville-based charity Soles4Souls collects new and used shoes and redistributes them through direct donations to people in need as well as through micro-enterprise programmes that create jobs in Haiti, Honduras and other developing nations.

Singapore lighting company Million Lighting partners the charity for shoe drives in Singapore as part of its corporate social responsibility. Soles4Soles said on its website that during their last shoe drive in April, 100,000 pairs of shoes were collected, bringing the total from the three shoe drives co-organised by the two organisations to 200,000 pairs. 

For more regular donations, you can drop off new and used shoes in good condition at The Salvation Army‘s collection bins at eight locations island-wide, to be sold at Salvation Army’s thrift stores. Sales from the stores contribute to the charity’s efforts to help the underprivileged. 

The Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations also runs a thrift shop, with proceeds going towards its shelter for women and children who are victims of domestic violence and other SCWO initiatives. 

NEXT STEPS

Looking forward, Mr Swaminathan suggested that there could be policy-level interventions such as expanding requirements for producer responsibility, like those the Government intends to introduce to make manufacturers and retailers of electronic goods take responsibility for the disposal and recycling of their products. 

Manufacturers, on their part, can improve the design of shoes to use more sustainable materials and reduce the complexity of shoes so they can be made with fewer parts. One way they can do this is through industrial 3D printing, he said. 

The social entrepreneur also mooted the idea of new business models for selling sustainable footwear, such as footwear as a service. 

“Can there be a second-hand ownership or marketplace for shoes, if we can find a great way to address hygiene challenges?” 

SINGAPORE: The role of education in sustaining social and economic progress in Singapore is being robustly discussed today.

It stems particularly from social phenomena like inequality, which have given rise to concerns whether the playing field will be tilted further in the future economic landscape and if the education system can fix it.

MERITOCRACY AND EQUITY

The argument that meritocracy, despite all its potential to perpetuate achievement gaps in education, remains the best model for nurturing talent, is valid.

Singapore’s approach to creating a more level playing field is to uplift the bottom percentiles rather than introduce greater equity by dealing with the advantages that the top ones enjoy.

If uplifting the performance of the struggling ones is to remain the philosophy in attaining more equitable outcomes in education, then its approach needs to be discussed more critically.

Affluent parents have a significant advantage in strategising for their children’s educational success and have their social networks to capitalise on.

While it can be argued that no matter what system is implemented, the wealthy will always be better equipped to seize its benefits, the current state of inequality suggests that there is plenty of room for improvement. 

Two features of the education system that are believed to be creating a hierarchy among students are the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and early streaming.

READ: Can education fix inequality in Singapore? A commentary

ALTERNATIVE TO THE PSLE

A toned-down version of the PSLE – the shift from T-score to wider scoring bands – and continuing efforts to make it less of a high-stakes examination is welcomed. However, in whatever form it remains, it is unlikely to eliminate the deeply entrenched focus on grades among parents to get their children into desired programmes or pathways.

To address this, it is worth revisiting the argument against the PSLE. If the trade-off for scrapping the PSLE is a concern, then the Government may wish to consider a dual system in which the PSLE is made optional. Students vying for the more challenging pathways in secondary schools, like the Integrated Programme, can take the PSLE to boost their chances.

For parents who see the PSLE as an obstacle to a holistic education, I propose a 10-year alternative education system that integrates primary and secondary school education with its own framework for evaluating progress.

This 10-year system should aim to help develop students’ capabilities, identify their potential and help them specialise in a subject they are strong in, be it in the fields of arts, science or commerce. It should recognise a broader range of competencies than the binary academic-technical dichotomy that characterises the present secondary school system.    

Instead of a high-stakes examination, periodic assessments, say every two years, are conducted not for the purpose of placement, but to ensure students are making progress and assistance is rendered where necessary.

The decision on whether a student should pursue an academic or vocational track should come at the end of the 10-year programme, by which time knowledge about his or her inclinations would be more valid than that for a 12-year-old.

READ: Humanities the heart of a holistic education, a commentary by Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh

THE DOWNSIDES OF STREAMING

A key concern with the streaming system at the outset of secondary education is its tendency to lump together lower performing students, which would include the late bloomer, the socioeconomically challenged and the hands-on learner. For this reason, it is risky to label a child as not academically inclined at 12 years of age.

Greater recognition, for instance, need to be accorded to the fact that children from the lower deciles of the income strata have to overcome unfavourable socioeconomic conditions – such as the lack of a conducive study space at home or parental help with schoolwork – to level up with their peers.

Underperformers may be talented students whose need for more time and help should not be taken as signs that they are academically weak and thus lead them to be sorted into lower achievement tracks, something a system of early streaming is prone to doing. This merely compounds the problems they face in education.

Educational pathways should be meaningful. They should be committed to honing abilities or nurturing talent, and should be aimed at helping individuals discover their strengths and stand out.

Educational pathways cannot just offer a longer route towards the same destination, such as a polytechnic or a university. So some thought should be given, for instance, to how the Normal Academic and Normal Technical streams fit with the larger goal of producing individuals with deep skills and talent with their simplified curriculum.

READ: Are we still missing the point of education? A commentary

READ: Let children take charge of their learning, a commentary

HELP ALL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EDUCATIONAL PATHWAYS

The education landscape today features many more pathways to educational and personal success than in the past. The definition of merit is being broadened and policies are being introduced to promote greater inclusivity. Efforts are being made to ensure that there are opportunities for all regardless of socioeconomic status.

However, a pertinent question to ask is whether parents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have the financial and social capital to actively act on the knowledge of these diverse pathways and greater opportunities.

Given that their bandwidth is taxed daily by their struggles to make ends meet, are they being given the necessary help and guidance to make the most out of the changes to an education system that is supposed to make opportunities more accessible to them?

ACTUALISING TALENT DEVELOPMENT

At a more micro-level, parents of lower primary students have been lamenting about how tough school work is for children these days. 

For example, Primary 2 students are now expected to draw problem sum models when, in the past, these were reserved only for older primary students. How can the abstract concept of modelling be effectively and comprehensively explained to an 8-year-old child who is only two years into the primary school system?

The question of whether our education system is inducing stress is not only about well-being but is also of strategic significance. 

If parents are struggling to devote time and resources to ensure their children do homework and pass tests, it leaves less time to undertake the exploratory pursuits which facilitates joy in learning and nurture attributes like an inquisitive mind in children. This is antithetical to the objective of developing talent.

READ: Applied learning a good move but how about some school-life balance first? A commentary

THE FUTURE

A level playing field is not only about being inclusive but also prevents the talent pool from being constricted. Socioeconomic background is a predictor of ability only because existing standardised measures and structures confer recognition to some groups while disadvantaging others.

Hence, going forward, the key is to continue reviewing these measures and structures, and work towards an education system that considers the child holistically and as an individual who is unique.

Azmoon Ahmad is a Nominated Member of Parliament.

SINGAPORE: By 3.30pm, a sizeable crowd of senior citizens had gathered at one durian stall in Tampines and was starting to swell.

A brief silence descended as a stall employee addressed them. “We are giving out the free durians at 4pm. Within 20 minutes, please finish eating. If you cannot finish, please take away the durians,” she announced, to cheers and claps from the senior citizens who had all been earlier issued Pioneer Generation stickers to qualify for the free fruit.

Sam Fruit Trading is one of a handful of durian sellers in Singapore and Malaysia that have been giving away stock for free, thanks to a glut of Malaysian durians that has driven prices to a 20-year low.

In fact, this was the stall’s second giveaway in as many weeks, with over 1,000 kg of durians distributed for free at each session.  

But with this cheap run expected to come to an end next week as Johor’s durian supply runs out, and China muscling into the market for the mao shan wang variety, are the days of cheap premium durians over?

READ: Malaysia expects to gain approval to export fresh Mao Shan Wang durians to China next year

The programme Talking Point asked this question following weeks in which mao shan wang durians hit a price low of S$10 a kg, down from the usual S$28 to S$35. The ‘red prawn’, D13 and D24 varieties dropped to just S$6, down from an average of S$15.

​​​​​​​

So far this year, Singapore has imported 8,900 tonnes of fresh and chilled durians – about six million durians. Almost all came from neighbouring Malaysia.

But the good times could be over sooner than we think.

CHINA’S DURIAN HUNGER

Over at Durian Fullhouse, managing director Siah Wee Cheong is happy that sales have doubled thanks to the low prices and promotional efforts. But, he said, production has already started to drop by about 70 to 80 percent.

“Johor should run out of durians in the next week or so,” he predicted. “In fact, prices have been rising since last week.”

Durians will still be in supply, albeit more limited, from Pahang and the Genting Highlands region. He projected that mao shan wang could hit S$28 to S$30 per kg come August, or about three times more than the low reported earlier this month.

And then, there is the expectation that Malaysia will receive approval to export fresh whole mao shan wang durians to China next year.

Demand is so high there that each kilogramme of the fruit (which currently can only be imported in pulp, frozen or chilled form) can reportedly cost more than S$100.

What would this mean for durian lovers in Singapore?

Mr Lim See Kiang, owner of a durian plantation in Tangkak, Johor, didn’t think this would affect supply to across the Causeway. “Johor is closer to Singapore, so it’s more convenient to export durians there,” he said.

Durians from Thailand would be more likely to better survive the transport to China, he added. Thai durians, in general, are harvested just before they ripen.

Malaysian durians, however, are collected only after they ripen and drop. “That means we have to be quick,” said Mr Lim. “If the market is too far away, the flavours would have changed and the durians would not be fresh.”

WATCH: At a durian farm (2:29)

The best time to collect durians is between 4am and 6am, which is when the most durians will drop from the tree, he said. “In the afternoon, the durian’s flavour will be worse.” Plantations would then need to rush these durians to Singapore within three hours.

When the Talking Point crew was at his 80-acre plantation, Mr Lim’s workers had 5 tonnes of durians harvested and packed in crates by 7.30am, for loading on a truck headed for Singapore.

FREE STILL GOOD

In recent weeks, durian lovers have had the weather in Johor to thank for bountiful harvests, which have led to rock-bottom prices – the lowest in 20 years, suppliers say – on both sides of the Causeway.

READ: Durian prices drop to RM1 at Malaysia stall

This year’s harvest is not only larger but also better in terms of quality compared to previous years, said Mr Lim, primarily because of the ideal weather.

Trees require just the right combination of sun, rain and perfect timing for a good yield: A dry spell of 15 to 20 days to initiate flowering, high rainfall for a month until the flowers mature, another 10 days of dry spell for pollination, and 45 days of rainfall for better fruit growth.

“The rainfall and weather (this year) is optimal, which is to say, we didn’t have rain all the time,” he said. Which means that just because some sellers have been giving away durians for free, it doesn’t mean they are of bad quality, he noted.

Now that Johor’s harvest is running out, durians coming from Pahang and the Genting Highlands region will likely cost more, but quality should be even better.

Said Durian Fullhouse’s Mr Siah: “There are a few mountains around the Genting Highlands, and every mountain produces different flavours. The higher the mountain, the thicker the flavor.”

Watch this episode of Talking Point here. New episodes every Thursday at 9.30pm on Mediacorp Channel 5.

SINGAPORE: Researchers from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have made a breakthrough in the field of light detection and ranging sensors (LiDAR), which could see the key component of autonomous vehicles becoming 200 times cheaper – and the size of a fingertip.

Driverless cars use LiDAR sensors to build a three-dimensional (3D) map of objects around the vehicle. The sensors send out light beams and detect those that are reflected back in order to measure where obstacles are.

That is how autonomous vehicles avoid collisions and keep other road users safe. 

Currently, LiDAR sensors make use of laser diodes to generate laser beams. These sensors spin furiously to cover a 360-degree view of a car’s surroundings and create the 3D map.  

But this makes LiDAR sensors expensive and ephemeral.

“Because of the mechanical moving parts, you have to actually replace the LiDAR before you have to replace your car tyres,” said Dr Nam Donguk, who is the lead researcher on the LiDAR sensors project. 

But NTU’s researchers have found a way to emit light from a silicon chip instead, which will replace the need for the diodes.

They found a way to stretch germanium – commonly used as transistors in electronics, especially in central processing units (CPUs) – and found that the element is better able to emit light when stretched. 

It is the first time scientists have been able to find a way to emit light from a material that is compatible with silicon.

In fact, it was previously thought to be close to impossible to create an on-chip laser for LiDAR – also known as a solid state LiDAR. 

CHEAPER AND BETTER

Currently, the cheapest conventional LiDAR sensor costs S$10,000, while the solid state micro LiDAR chip will cost just S$50 when it is commercially-ready.

“Since we can make our LiDAR chip with our technology using mass production, which means anybody can buy it with maybe S$50, it will open up the opportunities for maybe smaller companies who want to make autonomous vehicle technology to be ready,” said Dr Nam. 

“As of now, conventional LiDAR is too expensive, so not many companies can really jump in so easily.”

Another benefit is that image quality from the micro LiDAR silicon chip will be of a much higher resolution, thanks to the density of lasers on the chip, and images can be retrieved much faster than with conventional LiDAR sensors.

The breakthrough is also likely to make other technologies cheaper, faster and more reliable. 

For example, the micro LiDAR chip can be mounted on drones, which is currently impossible given the heavy weight of conventional LiDAR sensors.

It could also be used in mobile phone chips.

“The other possibility that I can think of is basically to replace WiFi technology with light communication, we call it LiFi technology,” said Dr Tan Chuan Seng, Associate Chair (Research) in NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, who oversees the project. “Those are the exciting applications we can foresee.”

The team behind the project has been awarded a grant by the National Research Foundation to get the technology ready for commercial use, which could be in the next five years.

SINGAPORE: A total of 17 women were arrested during a series of raids against massage establishments and public entertainment outlets, police said in a news release on Friday (Jul 27).

The raids took place on Thursday and Friday.

During enforcement operations along Beach Road, one massage establishment was found to have contravened licensing conditions while three other establishments were found to be operating without a licence.

A total of six women, aged between 32 and 59, were arrested for offences under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. Five of these women did not have valid work permits while the sixth had employed a foreign employee without a valid work permit.

During separate enforcement checks on public entertainment outlets along Beach Road, Haji Lane, Duxton Road, South Bridge Road and Tanjong Pagar Road, three outlets were found to have flouted licensing conditions.

Eleven women, aged between 19 and 37, were also arrested for working without valid work permits.

Another two outlets were caught providing public entertainment without valid licences. One of the outlets had supplied alcohol without a licence.

SINGAPORE: Cyberattacks have hit the headlines in the past week in Singapore, with a number of high profile incidents collectively affecting millions of people.

From the major cyberattack on SingHealth, to fraudulent transactions on customers’ iTunes accounts, to revelations that the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) was actually hacked some years ago, the issue has been the source of much discussion.

The attack on SingHealth has been called the biggest data breach in Singapore.

The personal information of 1.5 million patients was stolen, along with the outpatient prescription records of 160,000 people.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was among those affected, and his personal particulars and outpatient prescription records were “specifically and repeatedly” targeted. 

What is so valuable about medical records?

Sid Deshpande, Research Director at Gartner who specialises in security infrastructure and services, gave this explanation in this week’s Asia Business First podcast: “The data contained in the entire healthcare record is more valuable than that of a credit card breach. You can always cancel or change a credit card once the breach is disclosed. 

“But in a health record, you have your national identity number, you have your bank account details, you have other types of e-governance details to spoof your identity and to conduct identity fraud, medical fraud and tax fraud.”

However, it is believed that the SingHealth data breach was the work of state-sponsored hackers.

Steve Ledzian, Technical Director for Asia with cybersecurity company FireEye, shared his thoughts on the matter.

“It does not look like this was the work of casual cybercriminals. It looks like it was likely to be the work of a sophisticated threat actor. In that case, the value of the data may not be for commercial or fraudulent financial purposes. But more for intelligence collection or espionage purposes.”  

Nevertheless, these incidents raise questions about how well-protected people’s personal information really is.

According to Mr Deshpande, total prevention of cyberattacks is not possible.

“The problem is while you are in your bed sleeping at 4am in the morning, the attackers are up, trying their best to get into your environment. So, unless you are spending all your time on security, 24/7 – which is what organisations should be doing – you are not putting in an adequate effort commensurate with what the attackers are doing.”

Mr Ledzian had this analogy: “Would you expect to be able to prevent all crime in all cases? Of course not. From a cybersecurity perspective, you can prevent a lot of these breaches, but you cannot prevent all of them.

“The way that attackers attack – it is actually quite easy for them to break into a network. But the impact of that attack does not align to the moment they gain entry into the network. So while breaches are inevitable, the consequences and the impact of the breach do not have to be. 

“It is impossible to say, ‘Someone will never break into my house.’ But we can say, ‘If they do break into my house, I can react very quickly and I can stop them before they do any damage.’ ”

Mr Deshpande elaborated on how that might be achieved.

“While prevention is an important thing to focus on, detection and response is something that organisations and governments need to invest in. To make sure that once a breach happens, they are able to limit the impact and damage of it.”

He emphasized that the solution did not lie in buying more “shiny new technology”, but rather, focussing on the basics of security and risk management.

“There is no one-stop shop for this problem. If you look back to last year when we experienced a lot of security incidents around the world – particularly the Wannacry incident – the primary reason those organisations were breached is that they had not patched a vulnerability that the industry knew about for three months. 

“An attacker is not always looking for some newly-researched vulnerability. They are looking for the low-hanging fruit. They will first try methods that have worked in other areas and then they will move higher up the chain. So focus on the basics and you will make the attacker’s job more difficult.”

To listen to the full Asia Business First podcast, click here.