SINGAPORE – The operating hours of full-day bus lanes will be extended by three hours to 11pm from March 21. 

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that there are 23 km of full-day bus lanes which currently operate from 7.30 am to 8.00 pm on weekdays and Saturdays, excluding public holidays. These are located mainly in the city centre.

LTA hopes that this extension of the hours “will help shorten travel time for bus commuters during the late evening periods”.

The new operating hours will be from 7.30pm to 11pm. 

Separately, LTA will also implement the Bus Priority Box, also known as the Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme, at two bus stops without bus bays along Orchard Road on March 21, in which motorists will have to give way to buses pulling out of the bus stops. 

They are the bus stops located opposite Mandarin Orchard (bus stop number 09037) and at Midpoint Orchard (bus stop number 09038). 

LTA will evaluate its usefulness after six months to determine if the scheme should be applied for similar bus stops in other locations. 

Since 2008, the Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme has been rolled out to 332 bus stops. 

maryanns@sph.com.sg

SINGAPORE – The operating hours of full-day bus lanes will be extended by three hours to 11pm from March 21. 

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that there are 23 km of full-day bus lanes which currently operate from 7.30 am to 8.00 pm on weekdays and Saturdays, excluding public holidays. These are located mainly in the city centre.

LTA hopes that this extension of the hours “will help shorten travel time for bus commuters during the late evening periods”.

The new operating hours will be from 7.30pm to 11pm. 

Separately, LTA will also implement the Bus Priority Box, also known as the Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme, at two bus stops without bus bays along Orchard Road on March 21, in which motorists will have to give way to buses pulling out of the bus stops. 

They are the bus stops located opposite Mandarin Orchard (bus stop number 09037) and at Midpoint Orchard (bus stop number 09038). 

LTA will evaluate its usefulness after six months to determine if the scheme should be applied for similar bus stops in other locations. 

Since 2008, the Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme has been rolled out to 332 bus stops. 

maryanns@sph.com.sg

Amateur astronomer Alfred Tan has loved the mysteries of space since he was a boy.

Now, the vice-principal of Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) (PLMGS) likes nothing more than sharing his passion. In October last year, he trained fellow educators on the use of solar telescopes, together with partners from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Physics Department, Bendemeer Secondary School and Juying Secondary, in anticipation of what will take place tomorrow.

At about 7.20 am, the moon will begin to pass in front of the sun, casting a shadow that will be viewed as a solar eclipse from Singapore and the region. More than 100 schools will be able to view the uncommon event safely, through a live feed from a telescope at PLMGS.

Mr Tan is excited about being able to use the real-life phenomenon to teach not just science, but also mathematics and the humanities. “I feel that there is a great potential in integrating astronomy into the curriculum. Through hands-on activities, we are able to cultivate greater interest in the students so they are more engaged in the classroom,” he said.

A total of 146 eclipses have been or will be seen in Singapore between the year 1700 and 2100.

PLMGS students have been learning to observe the sun through the 11 solar telescopes set up in the school’s sky garden since Feb 29. Eight of those belong to Mr Tan himself. Said Melodi Teo, a Secondary 2 student: “I come to the sky garden every recess. Seeing different features of the sun every time has made me very interested in discovering science.”

Elsewhere, other schools are also getting fired up about the eclipse. About 1,000 students and 100 staff members from Bendemeer Secondary will be viewing the eclipse as well.

Mr Ng Wee Nghee, 40, head of department (Normal Technical), is overseeing the event. The school has purchased about 300 solar glasses, and made 100 more, so students can protect their eyes from the ultraviolet and infrared light that will pose a danger in viewing the sun with the naked eye.

Five telescopes managed by trained Sec 1 to 3 student volunteers will be set up for the viewing.

“It is rare to be able to view an eclipse with 80 to 90 per cent coverage,” said Mr Ng. “Creating the exposure will allow my students to appreciate the Earth and learn more about the universe.”

First-time eclipse viewer Muhamad Daniel Rashid, 15, cannot wait for tomorrow morning. “I have a strong interest in astronomy,” he said. “To be able to witness this rare occurrence excites me and ignites a burning passion for this field.”

At West Spring Primary, Primary 3 pupils will also get a first-hand viewing experience from their school’s rooftop through solar-filtered telescopes. Said pupil Isaac Low, nine: “I’m very excited to see the solar eclipse with my friends.”

At Nanyang Girls’ High School students, Sec 4 students will be doing a presentation on the eclipse and its relevance in culture and science as part of their lessons. They will also be watching the livestream from PLMGS.

Mr Tan said he was encouraged by the uptake of astronomy as a platform for teaching. A total of 104 teachers from 70 primary and secondary schools and junior colleges attended his five workshops.

He said: “Many teachers have interest in using astronomy in the education process, but don’t know where to start. My goal is to make it fun, simple and affordable so that all students can benefit.”

Members of the public who wish to view the eclipse tomorrow are advised to do so with caution as it is harmful to look at the sun directly without adequate protection.

kenggene@sph.com.sg

sywong@sph.com.sg

alexong@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 8, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

The trial of the husband-and-wife team accused of sedition, over articles on a now-defunct sociopolitical website, began with an unusual turn yesterday.

Australian Ai Takagi, 23, who is charged with seven counts of sedition for articles published by The Real Singapore (TRS), told the district court she would plead guilty.

But her Singaporean husband Yang Kaiheng, 27, is denying the charges and claiming trial.

The articles posted on TRS between October 2013 and February last year are alleged to have promoted ill will and hostility between different races or classes in Singapore.

The couple also face an eighth charge, for failing to produce financial statements on the website’s advertising revenue to the police.

In his opening remarks yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan said the couple “maliciously exploit(ed) racial and xenophobic faultlines” and deliberately sowed discord between Singaporeans and foreigners from the Philippines, India and China “for nothing more than their self-interest”.

Though the website purported to be the “voice of average Singaporeans”, DPP Kannan said the reality was that it reflected the views of “Takagi, a foreigner who had never resided, studied or worked in Singapore, and Yang, a disgruntled Singaporean”.

He said Takagi did the “outrageous” act of adopting the Malay name “Farhan” in one of the contentious articles to hide her identity as a foreigner while fostering xenophobia.

The couple, who married last October, were “wildly successful in their efforts to profit from the ill will and hostility that they were peddling”, he added.

Based on their bank statements, they earned between A$20,000 (S$20,500) and more than A$50,000 a month, he said. The court was not told when these sums were earned.

To bring in more advertising revenue, the couple “quite plainly regarded accuracy, propriety and truthfulness as necessary casualties”, he added.

DPP Kannan cited an article that falsely asserted a Filipino family had caused an incident between the police and participants of the Thaipusam procession last year.

He also said that TRS was jointly run by the couple, and that evidence will “show Yang’s continued, sustained and intimate involvement in every aspect of the running of TRS”.

But the couple’s lawyer, Mr Choo Zheng Xi, said Yang was not the person behind TRS. “He will deny the distribution, the proprietorship and the writing of the articles in question,” he said.

The maximum punishment under the Sedition Act is a $5,000 fine and three years’ jail on each charge.

The TRS website was shut down by its editors last May, after the regulator, the Media Development Authority, suspended their licence to operate the site and ordered them to take it offline.

The prosecution is expected to call six witnesses during the trial, including five police officers, while the defence said both Takagi and Yang would testify.

Takagi will make her guilty plea in court today, while Yang’s trial will proceed on Friday.

rachelay@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 8, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

The sedition trial of the couple said to be behind The Real Singapore (TRS) news portal kicked off yesterday, with the prosecution saying the duo had “profited handsomely” from the xenophobic and racist content on their website.

Singaporean Yang Kaiheng and his Australian wife Ai Takagi had allegedly earned sums of A$20,000 (S$20,500) to A$50,000 a month for the portal, which was shut down.

The couple face seven counts of sedition for deliberately sowing discord between Singaporeans and foreigners through a series of six articles and a Facebook update that they posted online between Oct 13, 2013, and Feb 4 last year.

Each is also charged with refusing to hand over documents on the advertising revenue of their website during police investigations.

In opening remarks yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan said that Yang and Takagi had repeatedly targeted foreigners residing in Singapore through inflammatory articles.

They “resorted to concocting scandalous, provocative and racy material” and even doctored articles contributed by ordinary Singaporeans, he said.

Yesterday, Takagi, 23, said she would plead guilty today.

Yang, 27, is denying the charges and will claim trial.

This article was first published on March 8, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

SINGAPORE – A solar eclipse will take place on Wednesday (March 9), and thousands are expected to gather at various vantage points across the island to view it.

Solar eclipses occur when the moon crosses between the sun and the earth, forming a shadow on the earth’s surface.

Here are some things you should know about the eclipse.

When will the eclipse occur?

Wednesday’s solar eclipse will happen between approximately 7.20am and 9.30am. The peak of the solar eclipse will be at 8.23am, where a maximum of 87 per cent of the sun is expected to be obscured by the moon when viewed from Singapore.

Sunrise on that day will be at 7.12am.

Where can I view it?

The Astronomical Society of Singapore says one can get an unobstructed view of the eastern horizon from anywhere in Singapore, at a compass heading of 94 degrees in order to view the eclipse.

What are the other types of solar eclipses?

The solar eclipse on Wednesday will be a partial eclipse, which is the most common out of the three types of eclipses.

Total eclipses occur when the sun is completely covered by the moon when viewed from the earth’s surface, while partial eclipses occur when a portion of the sun is obscured by the moon.

The last type of solar eclipse, known as the annular eclipse, occurs when the sun and moon are completely in line with each other in relation to the viewer on earth, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than the sun.

This forms a light around the moon from the viewer’s perspective, commonly known as the “ring of fire”.

How often do solar eclipses occur?

Solar eclipses occur once every 18 months according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), but they can be viewed only from a specific region on earth due to the small size of the shadow formed by the eclipse.

In Singapore, 146 eclipses have been or will be seen from the year 1700 to 2100. The last eclipse happened in January 2009, while the next solar eclipse, an annular one, will occur on Dec 26, 2019.

How can I view it?

Anyone keen on observing the solar eclipse is advised to do so with extreme caution.

Serious and permanent eye damage may occur as a result of looking at the sun without proper equipment. A pair of solar filters or glasses is needed for safe viewing.

The same rule applies to devices used to take photographs of the solar eclipse, as focused sunlight may potentially heat up and crack the optics of cameras.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of unsafe methods to view the eclipse:

1. Both polarised and non-polarised sunglasses

2. Solar film used in cars and household windows

3. Tinted glass, such as brown and green coloured beer bottles

4. Photographic negatives

5. X-ray film

6. CDs/DVDs

7. Photographic filters

8. Looking at the reflection of the eclipse through a bowl of water or a mirror

9. Welding glasses which do not block out ultraviolet and infared light

Are there events that I can attend to view it?

There are three public events that The Straits Times recommends.

1. The National University of Singapore (NUS) will play host to the Solar Eclipse 2016 @ NUS event, to be held over two days on March 8 and 9.

Members of the public can join in the activities for free, which will kick off with an astrophotography exhibition beginning at 2pm on Tuesday. It will be held at the Faculty of Science in NUS.

Following that, a series of public lectures related to the eclipse will start at 7pm, while an overnight stargazing session will begin concurrently in the lead up to the solar eclipse observation the next morning.

Live streaming of the total eclipse to be recorded by two NUS Physics Department students in Luwuk, Indonesia, will be shown at the event.

2. Over at the Science Centre Singapore, thousands are expected to turn up at an eclipse viewing event beginning at 7.30am on Wednesday.

A live stream of footage from the total eclipse viewed in Micronesia will be screened, courtesy of a team from San Francisco’s The Exploratorium that Science Centre Singapore has partnered with.

3. The Astronomical Society of Singapore will be organising a hosting event at Labrador Park, beginning from 7am on Wednesday. This will be held at the Red Beacon area, and members of the public will be able to view the solar eclipse safely through solar-filtered telescopes set up by the society.

kenggene@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 4, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.