“Finders keepers, losers weepers” may be a popular saying, but the old adage won’t protect you in a court of law here.
One man learnt this the hard way when he was slapped with a $3,000 fine in court on Thursday (Sept 10) for keeping an iPhone he had found on a grass patch, CNA reported.
Tan Yiap Ming, 30, had come across the iPhone XR, which was worth about $1,000, on Dec 14 last year near Block 202 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, the court heard.
The phone had dropped out from its owner’s unzipped waist pouch just minutes before.
The owner, identified only as Wang, subsequently made a police report after discovering that his phone was missing.
Tan had not made any attempts to contact Wang, nor had he handed the phone over to the police before they traced it to his home in March this year.
He claimed that he had not surrendered the phone to the police as he had prior convictions and was afraid of going to a police station.
He had also tried and failed to unlock the phone, he said.
The legacy of tokusatsu (live-action with special effects) series is a massive one, and has transcended well beyond the borders of Japan these days.
The likes of Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Ultraman inspiring the West to develop Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers is a testament to just how timeless this genre of TV series is.
This time, a group of tokusatsu fans from Singapore are attempting to establish themselves in the genre, in the form of Sacred Guardian Singa.
Life can change in an instant. Unexpected things happen — both good and bad.
Such was the case for one family who lost their mum on a quick trip to the loo that ended in tragedy.
According to fundraising platform GIVE.Asia, the woman was having her confinement at home but experienced a fall in the toilet and sustained a spinal injury.
Due to the severity of her injuries, the mother-of-five subsequently suffered brain death. She left behind her husband, Eddy, and five young children aged between two months and nine years old.
SINGAPORE – Local scientists have developed an integrated monitoring system that can be easily attached to any face mask in order to monitor the wearer for health indicators associated with Covid-19.
Sensors pick up skin temperature, blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure and heart rate – all of which are parameters associated with coronaviruses.
Professor Loh Xian Jun, who is one of the scientists behind the invention, told The Straits Times on Thursday (Sept 10) that the inspiration for the system came around the circuit breaker period.
“We saw that when Covid-19 patients were in isolation wards, the front-line workers had to go in and take temperature readings and blood oxygen saturation every 30 minutes or so to monitor their vital signs,” said Prof Loh, who is an executive director at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*Star) Institute of Materials Research and Engineering.
“This also coincided with the time when we saw findings that the virus was present in various parts of the hospitals… So we were wondering if there was a way to help our front-line workers and to reduce the risk that they face,” he added.
While Mr Al Wu was working at home in June, an Instagram advertisement for an adjustable-height desk caught his eye.
Convinced by the sleek photos and rave reviews, he placed an order on the website, Bikkuri Shop.
But the delivered product – costing about $70 – did not work as advertised, Mr Wu told The Straits Times. More than two months and dozens of e-mails to the vendor later, he has yet to receive the product exchange he was promised.
“They asked for cash on delivery, so there’s not much I can do. I didn’t have that level of caution,” said the 44-year-old researcher, who rarely shops online.
Such encounters with online sellers are not uncommon, according to a survey published by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) yesterday.
It found that over a three-month period, about two-thirds of consumers encountered unfair practices on online platforms.
False claims relating to discounts or benefits, limited time deals and scarcity of goods or services were the top complaints.
The 10-month-long trial involving Indonesian domestic worker Parti Liyani was “very, very difficult”, her lawyer Anil Balchandani said.
For one, there was “the sheer number of items that we had to deal with”, said Mr Balchandani, who was acting pro bono.
They were also up against “a very tenacious set of prosecutors”, not to mention “a very prominent family”.
Ms Parti, 46, the former domestic helper of then Changi Airport Group and Surbana Jurong chairman Liew Mun Leong, was accused of stealing from his family. She was sentenced to 26 months’ jail after she was found guilty by a district court in March last year.
SINGAPORE: Last year, the Singapore International Energy Week welcomed more than 13,000 delegates from more than 80 countries to its event in Singapore. This year, the number of physical attendees will number, at most, 250.
The event is one of the hybrid conferences that will be piloting a new way of holding Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) events.
While the event organiser did not give specifics on the number of attendees for this year’s conference, to be held from Oct 26 to Oct 30, it said that with live streaming, many more participants are expected to take part virtually, in addition to the 250 people on site at Marina Bay Sands (MBS).
Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing announced on Monday (Sep 7) that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will be accepting applications to hold MICE events for up to 250 people. Event organisers must demonstrate their ability to implement COVID-19 safe management measures in piloting their events, said STB.
MBS, where at least two pilot events will be held, has set up a hybrid event broadcast studio, which it said will turn the events into “immersive visual experiences”.
“Meeting planners need to build the agility to adapt to changing customer demands and accelerate their plans for digital transformation,” said Mr Ong Wee Min, MBS’ vice-president of conventions and exhibitions.
DIGITAL VENUES FOR HYBRID EVENTS
Founder and CEO of events technology provider GlobalSign.in Veemal Gungadin told CNA that while there has always been a digital component to events, it was more an “afterthought”. It has now become a mainstay amid the pandemic.
To facilitate such events, where most of the participants will be “attending” virtually, the company has built a digital venue at MBS – with the lights and cameras of a broadcast studio – and will be synchronising it with live elements as well as interactive functions, so that those logging in virtually can interact with physical participants in real time.
For example, a panel discussion can now be done with speakers who are both physically present and those who sign in remotely, and they can take questions from participants in the studio and remote attendees, he said.
Speakers beamed ‘live’ into the studio in Marina Bay Sands Singapore. (Photo: Marina Bay Sands)
“It has really been putting into place existing technologies, but really gelling it all together … it’s really building, using all these building blocks,” said Mr Veemal.
“I think we are on the cusp of some really big change, and I think nobody really prepared for that – it’s being forced upon us.”
The next digital component that GlobalSign.in will be trialling is virtual booths for exhibitors, which will feature at a new event in November called TravelRevive, organised by ITB Asia.
STB said that these hybrid event models will be important, for continued testing and refining of events, as there are still border restrictions in place for many countries.
“We expect that while there may be overseas visitors who will attend these MICE events in person, many may choose to attend virtually for now,” STB said in response to media queries.
ON-SITE SAFE MANAGEMENT MEASURES
There will still be a physical aspect to the events being piloted, and that will face significant change as well.
For example, to make face-to-face meetings safer, participants at pilot conferences in Singapore may meet, but must be separated by a pane of plexi-glass in “meeting pods”.
Manpower Minister Josephine Teo (left) and Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing examine a meeting pod on Sep 7, 2020. (Photo: MTI)
Other ways to minimise the risk of infection include automated registration kiosks and plexi-glass shields in physical exhibition booths that serve to reduce droplet transmission.
To limit the density of attendees, especially in enclosed places, organisers are to ensure 1m spacing between participants at all times, and separate them into cohorts of fewer than 20 people. There is to be no intermingling between cohorts.
During meals or other scenarios where individuals are permitted to remove their masks, the number in each group must not exceed five people, STB said. These groups of five are not allowed to mingle.
Organisers must also be prepared for any COVID-19 related emergencies, and be able to respond to situations, such as handling attendees or staff with COVID-19 symptoms and seeking medical treatment for them.
Automated registration kiosks at Marina Bay Sands for attendees to sign in without having excessive contact with event organisers. (Photo: MTI)
The precautions extend to after the event. All attendees are required to use the TraceTogether system and they will be asked to monitor their health for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days after the end of event, and to report to the organisers if they develop symptoms.
If they do, they will be asked to get themselves tested for the coronavirus.
“Should there be a suspected or confirmed case from the commencement of event to 14 days after the event, event organisers would need to immediately inform STB and MOH. Contact tracing will also begin by utilising the TraceTogether data,” said STB.
The tourism board said that it will be enforcing the measures to ensure they are strictly adhered to.
Mr Ong Wee Min, vice-president of conventions and exhibitions at Marina Bay Sands showing the features in MBS’s new hybrid broadcasting studio. (Photo: MTI)
Professor Dale Fisher, senior consultant at the Division of Infectious Diseases at the National University Hospital (NUH), said that the safe management measures devised are consistent with good COVID-19 safe practice, but implementation is key.
“The test is always in the implementation, in that they provide an acceptable balance of safety while retaining the specific conference / meeting experience,” he said.
“There will be a lot to learn in the pilots; these will be helpful test-beds to ascertain what techniques and executional roll-outs work best.”
The MICE industry supported more than 34,000 jobs with an economic value-add of S$3.8 billion, or nearly 1 per cent of Singapore’s GDP, according to a study commissioned by STB last year.
For enthusiasts of hot sauces, eating a ghost pepper is a benchmark of how good one can handle spice. It is, after all, one of the hottest peppers in the world, clocking in at over 1 million Scoville Heat Units — it’s spicy enough to be used by the Indian Army as chilli grenades to flush out a terrorist hiding in a cave.
But when it comes to scoring a free iPhone 11, you can bet that Singaporeans will be more than happy to down a whole can of ghost pepper potato chips.
Back in July, Mister Potato Singapore launched a contest as part of a region-wide promotional event called the #ASEANSpicyChallenge. The local subsidiary of the potato chips brand wanted to entice customers in Singapore to take part in the challenge and offered three iPhone 11 sets, as well as $20 Grab vouchers to participants.
What folks needed to do is record themselves downing a whole canister of Mister Potato Daebak Black Ghost Pepper Crisps and share it on Instagram.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) recently released a glimpse of what the next-generation Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system will be like and… let’s say motorists have strong opinions on it.
Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung has since responded to the colourful comments on social media.
On Tuesday (Sept 8), LTA announced that the installation of new onboard units (OBUs) will kick off next year to replace the current in-vehicle units (IUs) motorists have been familiar with for more than a decade.
Minister Ong followed up by stating that the OBUs will sport a bigger screen that can double as a display unit to show maps, real-time traffic information and safety alerts. The new units are required before the overhaul of the ERP system in 2023, which will involve satellite-based tech and slimmer, smaller gantries.
SINGAPORE – The Singapore Airlines (SIA) group is cutting jobs amid the Covid-19 fallout.
Staff were told during a virtual townhall on Thursday (Sept 10).
The airline said in a statement: “The Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group today announced the difficult decision to cut around 4,300 positions across its airlines. After taking into account a recruitment freeze, natural attrition, and the take up of voluntary departure schemes, the potential number of staff impacted will be reduced to about 2,400 in Singapore and in overseas stations.
“This decision was taken in light of the long road to recovery for the global airline industry due to the debilitating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the urgent need for the Group s airlines to adapt to an uncertain future.”
The layoffs had been widely anticipated, and come as international travel continues to be paralysed with governments enforcing strict border controls to contain the pandemic.
