The_King

video: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/vending-machines-sell-chilli-crab-and-face-masks-at-sentosa-11337414

SINGAPORE: With the deadline for Ofo to remove all its bicyclesfrom public spaces in Singapore by Wednesday (Mar 13), and Mobike wanting to exit the same market, it appears that the heyday for bike-sharing here is over. According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Ofo's failure to do so could result in regulatory action including the cancellation of its licence. Former employees had earlier told Channel NewsAsia that the company had "practically ceased" with no staff left. This comes on the heels of another China-based bike-sharing provider Mobike announcing it has applied to LTA to surrender its licence, although the regulator said it is assessing the company's request. Should both Ofo and Mobike lose their licence to operate here, this would leave Singapore startup SG Bike as the only other entity with a full operating licence. Other players such as Anywheel and Qiqi Zhixiang only have a sandbox licence to offer such services here. The industry's decline is in sharp contrast to its promising start, with Ofo and oBike initially raising millions of dollars from investors and expanding quickly to other market. However, issues such as indiscriminate parking by users and abuse of the bicycles put the brakes on these companies' growth. The abrupt exit by oBike last June, which left many users in Singapore scrambling for their deposits to this day, tarnished the beleaguered industry further. This is a timeline of the industry's key developments in Singapore: Jan – Mar 2017: Ofo, oBike and Mobike launch in Singapore, introducing a few thousand bicycles onto the roads. Mar 28, 2017: LTA creates new parking zones, with about 750 additional parking spaces marked out in yellow lines. In a statement, LTA said it was working with bicycle-sharing companies to “incentivise their users to park responsibly”. Oct 2017: Five bicycle-sharing companies sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with LTA, the National Parks Board and town councils. Under the MOU, bicycle-sharing companies would have to remove indiscriminately parked bicycles within half a day, implement geo-fencing technologies by the end of 2017 and educate users on the proper uses of their bicycles, among others. In addition, LTA would create more than 4,000 yellow parking boxes. Mar 5, 2018: Parliament passes the Parking Places (Amendment) Bill. Some measures include a new licensing regime for shared bike operators, a review of fleet size every six months, and a QR code-based geo-fencing solution. The geo-fencing solution requires users to scan a QR code at each parking space to ensure proper parking. Jun 25, 2018: OBike announces its closure in the wake of new regulations implemented by the LTA. The company owed a total of US$4.6 million (S$6.3 million) to its users in deposits, with many users reporting difficulty in retrieving their deposits, Jun 29, 2018: Mobike and Ofo submit licence applications to the LTA. They become the fourth and fifth companies to apply for a licence, following the footsteps of SG Bike, Anywheel, and oBike. Oct 29, 2018: LTA awards licences to six bicycle-sharing companies. Ofo, Mobike and SG Bike received full licences, while Anywheel, GrabCycle and Qiqi Zhixiang received sandbox licences. Mobike was given a maximum fleet size of 25,000, while Ofo was given a maximum fleet size of 10,000 at its request. Nov – Dec 2018: Ofo terminates hundreds of employees in Singapore and faces “immense” cash flow problems. Two vendors in Singapore complain that the company owed them about S$70,000. Jan 4, 2019:GrabCycle gives up its sandbox licence, choosing instead to focus on a shared electric scooter service. Jan 14, 2019: LTA’s QR code-based geo-fencing solution comes into effect. Users who fail to scan the QR-code at the end of their trip face an additional S$5 charge on top of their rental fee. Feb 14, 2019: LTA suspends Ofo’s licence, citing the company’s repeated failures to comply with regulations. Ofo had failed to implement the QR-code system for parking and did not reduce the size of its fleet to the stipulated limit of 10,000. Mar 12, 2019: Mobike submits application to LTA to surrender its bicycle-sharing licence, but employees were not told beforehand that the company intends to cease operations. Mar 13, 2019: Deadline for Ofo to remove all its bicycles from public spaces. Source: CNA/cc

HONG KONG, March 13 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered PLC has seen the departure of at least four senior Asia-based bankers from its private banking unit in recent months, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said, amid growing earnings pressure at the business. Among those who left the London-headquartered bank in the past six months include Teddy Kwong, managing director and market head for Hong Kong, and Peter Lam, managing director and team leader for Hong Kong, said the people. Both Hong Kong-based Kwong and Lam joined StanChart in the first half of 2017 from the regional private banking unit of rival HSBC Holdings PLC. It was not immediately clear where the two are headed. Ray Li, StanChart private banking managing director and head of relationship management, has also left after having worked at the bank for more than a decade, said the people and according to his LinkedIn profile. The Asia, Africa and Middle East-focused bank has also lost India private banking head Sandeep Das, who joined Barclays PLC last month as head of private clients India in private bank and overseas services, as per a Barclays announcement. A StanChart spokeswoman in Singapore declined to comment on recent staff exits in Asia, but said the bank continued to invest in and hire for its private banking business in 2019. Kwong, Lam, Li, and Das could not immediately be reached for comment. The people with direct knowledge of the matter were not authorised to speak with media and so declined to be identified. (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in DUBAI and Anshuman Daga in SINGAPORE; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

Airline pilots on at least two U.S. flights have reported that an automated system seemed to cause their Boeing 737 Max planes to tilt down suddenly. The pilots said that soon after engaging the autopilot on Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, the nose tilted down sharply. In both cases, they recovered quickly after disconnecting the autopilot. As described by the pilots, however, the problem did not appear related to a new automated anti-stall system that is suspected of contributing to a deadly October crash in Indonesia. The Max 8 is at the center of a growing global ban by more than 40 countries following a second fatal crash, this time in Ethiopia, in less than five months. In the U.S., however, the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines continued to permit the planes to fly. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines operate the 737 Max 8, and United Airlines flies a slightly larger version, the Max 9. All three carriers vouched for the safety of Max aircraft on Wednesday The pilot reports were filed last year in a data base compiled by NASA. They are voluntary safety reports and do not publicly reveal the names of pilots, the airlines or the location of the incidents. It was unclear whether the accounts led to any actions by the FAA or the pilots' airlines. In one report, an airline captain said that immediately after putting the plane on autopilot, the co-pilot called out "Descending," followed by an audio cockpit warning, "Don't sink, don't sink!" The captain immediately disconnected the autopilot and resumed climbing. "With the concerns with the MAX 8 nose down stuff, we both thought it appropriate to bring it to your attention," the captain wrote. "Best guess from me is airspeed fluctuation" due to a brief weather system overwhelming the plane's automation. On another flight, the co-pilot said that seconds after engaging the autopilot, the nose pitched downward and the plane began descending at 1,200 to 1,500 feet (365 to 460 meters) per minute. As in the other flight, the plane's low-altitude-warning system issued an audio warning. The captain disconnected autopilot, and the plane began to climb. The pilots talked it over later, "but can't think of any reason the aircraft would pitch nose down so aggressively," the co-pilot recounted. Preliminary information released by Indonesian investigators suggests they are looking at the possible role of the Max's new automated anti-stall technology as a factor in a Lion Air crash in October shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. Data indicates that the pilots struggled with repeated nose-down commands from the plane before it crashed into the Java Sea and killed 189 people. However, that anti-stall system — called MCAS for its acronym — only activates if the autopilot is turned off, according to documents Boeing has shared with airlines and the FAA. "That's not to say it's not a problem," American Airlines pilot Dennis Tajer said of the incidents reported to NASA, "but it is not the MCAS. The autopilot has to be off for MCAS to kick in." A third pilot complained that Boeing had not explained changes to the plane's automation to pilots. "I am left to wonder: what else don't I know?" the pilot wrote. "The Flight Manual is inadequate and almost criminally insufficient." The FAA declined to comment on the incidents that pilots reported, but said it was not aware of any verified reports of MCAS-related issues in the U.S. American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein said the airline has received no reports from pilots about problems with the anti-stall technology. Southwest has said the same thing. Leaders of the union representing United Airlines pilots, some of whom have flown the airline's 14 Boeing 737 Max 9 jets since last May, said the airline has tracked 23,000 hours of flights and found no performance or mechanical problems. The group, part of the Air Line Pilots Association, added, "It is imperative that pilots refrain from interacting with the media and adding to the sensationalism surrounding these incidents." Concern about the Max's safety seemed to be abating but returned on Sunday when an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board. Again, preliminary data appears to capture a brief and erratic flight. Investigators will analyze information from the planes so-called black boxes in hopes of understanding what caused the accident. https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/pilots-reported-issues-us-boeing-204117799.html

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian Air said on Wednesday it will seek compensation from plane maker Boeing for costs and lost revenue after grounding its fleet of 737 MAX 8 aircraft in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash. "We expect Boeing to take this bill," Norwegian said in an emailed statement. The Oslo-based airline has 18 'MAX' passenger jets in its 163-aircraft fleet. European regulators on Tuesday grounded the aircraft following Sunday's crash of a similar plane in Ethiopia, which killed 157 people and was the second crash involving that type of plane since October. Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said on Monday that he was confident in the safety of the 737 MAX in an email to employees, which was seen by Reuters. Industry sources, however, said the planemaker faces big claims after the crash. Norwegian has bet heavily on the 'MAX' to become its aircraft of choice for short- and medium-range flights in coming years as the low-cost carrier seeks to boost its fuel efficiency and cut the cost of flying. "What happens next is in the hands of European aviation authorities. But we hope and expect that our MAXes will be airborne soon," Norwegian Air's founder and Chief Executive Bjoern Kjos said in a video recording released on social media. "Many have asked questions about how this affects our financial situation. It's quite obvious that we will not take the cost related to the new aircraft that we have to park temporarily. We will send this bill to those who produce this aircraft," he added. Idle planes will add to pressures on the airline, which is making losses amid intense competition at a time when several smaller European competitors have gone out of business. The carrier has raised 3 billion Norwegian crowns ($348 million) from shareholders in recent months and said it would cut costs as it tries to regain profitability this year. "If this situation gets solved within the next fortnight, this will not be very serious for Norwegian," said analyst Preben Rasch-Olsen at brokerage Carnegie, adding that seasonally low demand in March likely leaves spare capacity. "The little extra costs they are incurring, they can probably get that covered by Boeing," Rasch-Olsen said. "But if this situation continues into the Easter holidays, or May and June, then it is a problem. They (will) need to get in new planes. And then comes the costs." Europeans tend to book their summer holidays in May, so the grounding may not yet affect bookings for the peak season for the airline industry, the analyst said. Meanwhile, Norwegian was maintaining its order for more aircraft of the same type from Boeing, spokesman Lasse Sandaker-Nielsen said. Norwegian is expected to take delivery of dozens more of the 'MAX' in coming years, raising the overall number to more than 70 by year-end 2021, according to recent company announcements. Shares in the airline have now dropped 10 percent this week as investors worried about the impact of the Ethiopian crash. They fell by 4.8 percent in early trade on Wednesday but partly recovered to trade down just 0.7 percent by 1008 GMT. Norwegian cancelled some flights on Tuesday, and on Wednesday it cancelled at least three dozen departures, its website showed, most of which were due to fly from airports in Oslo, Stockholm and other Nordic cities. The airline was booking passengers on to other flights and using other types of planes from its fleet to help fill the gaps. "We are able to accommodate most intra-European passengers by these efforts but are still working on other options for our passengers travelling between Ireland and the U.S.," Norwegian said.

happy to say, the best congee i tasted is the one i make, so smooth, thick, gooey

Century Egg and Pork Congee, Dim Sum-style

It's 2019 and there's a new high-SES (socio-economic status), low-SES controversy circulating on social media. This time, the hullabaloo revolves around a Primary 6 question which seemingly implies that children of hawkers belong to families that are not well-to-do. Within two days of 25-year-old Rainbow Lim uploading a photo of the contentious question onto Facebook, her post garnered over 2,400 reactions, 540 comments and 4,000 shares. According to the post, students were required to analyse a story, state whether they think a given statement is true or false and provide a reason. Lim, who teaches English tuition, wrote that her student's answer for why the author of the story does not come from a well-to-do family was because he can only afford to buy a slice of cake rather than the entire cake for his mother's birthday. Makes sense? But her student was penalised, as the model answer is, "The author's mother worked at a kopitiam". The answer caused further confusion for the student as her father works at a hawker centre and she did not consider her family poor. "She was frustrated that people would assume that about hawkers, and she found it very unfair," Lim wrote. Analysing the passage further, Lim gave more context, writing that she originally "thought the (author's) mother worked as a cleaner, but it turned out she sold popiah. "So I scanned the essay for any hints that, maybe, business wasn't good or that they weren't earning enough from simply selling popiah at a kopitiam, but the whole paragraph depicting the mother at her stall was about the huge number of customers that kept coming and coming and how she was so busy that her son needed to step in and help," her caption continued. "Why would you teach students that just (because) someone works at a kopitiam it means that they're not well-to-do? I don't understand. And neither does my P6 girl," she concluded. Here is her post in full: on Facebook on Facebook INTERNET TRIGGERED Lim's post riled up Facebook users over generalising backgrounds and making assumptions based on incomes. Some tagged the Ministry of Education (MOE) seeking a response and flamed the school for allowing the question. We've also reached out to MOE for comment. Many cited examples of hawkers who have broken stereotypes of hawkers being poor. BACKGROUND Within the comments, Lim uploaded a photo of the extract given to her student to analyse. Titled Grasshoppers, the story comes from award-winning Singaporean writer O Thiam Chin and can be found here. A commenter who studied English Literature gave more insight as to why the model answer might be the way it is. According to her, the answer would technically be correct given the entirety of the story. However, as this is a Primary 6 paper, the story was significantly shortened, omitting details like how the author comes from a single-parent household. Without the extra context, students would have to answer based on whatever is given to them. https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/internet-triggered-over-primary-6-question-implying-hawkers-not-well-do

video : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/70-of-malicious-urls-created-in-southeast-asia-last-year-came-11333470

Security concerns in using mobile banking apps rose from 34% in 2017 to 41% in 2018. Even with the government throwing its full weight in support of Singapore’s cashless ambitions, a number of sectors and demographics remain hesitant to adopt mobile payment alternatives as they still find comfort in hard, cold cash. Cash and cheques account for roughly 40% of payments in Singapore which highlights the risk to the government’s cheque-free target by 2025, a report from S&P show. Cash in circulation also represents around 10% of Singapore’s GDP compared to about 2% in global cashless leader Sweden, signaling the uphill battle in denting the dominance of cash especially amongst the more reluctant sectors like hawker centres, food courts and wet markets where small-ticket transactions often take place. Enterprise Singapore CEO Ted Tan earlier estimated that around 40% of dining occasions occur at hawker centres, canteens and coffee shops. Also read: Nets tapped to run unified e-payment system at hawker centres “We believe the transition to a cashless society will be a gradual one given the ageing demographics in Singapore. On a behavioural basis, the older population segment is more resistant to change and will likely prefer traditional or bricks-and-mortar banking,” said Ivan Tan, analyst at S&P Global Ratings. The preference for cash is not only exclusive to Singapore’s reluctant senior citizens, however, as 88% still prefer to withdraw cash in ATMs in 2018, according to an annual survey from J.D. Power, which observed that the reliance on cash spans across different age brackets. Security concerns when using mobile banking apps have also grown to 41% in 2018 from 34% in the previous year across Gen Y, Gen X and Baby Boomers, noted Anthony Chiam, Regional Practice Leader, Global Business Intelligence - Asia & Australia at J.D. Power. Moreover, the availability of digital alternatives is also unlikely to automatically change consumer attitudes. If anything, the availability of multiple mobile payment options like NETSPay, DBS PayLah, GrabPay and Alipay only serves to confuse and possibly discourage consumers from going cashless and causes more pain for merchants that have to maintain multiple terminals and apps to cover all their bases. Also read: Ride-hailing firms boost e-payment adoption in Singapore Although the government has rolled out the Singapore Quick Response Code(SGQR) in September 2018 to combine multiple payment QR codes into a single SGQR label, Chiam suggests that authorities could do more and cull the number of available options to surface the best possible payment alternatives. “Singapore could introduce stricter barriers to entry so that the mobile wallets on offer are in the best interest of the customers and are secure and of the highest quality,” he proposed. The government could also look into the possibility of setting up a common platform like Thailand’s PromptPay to solve interoperability issues and drive islandwide adoption, suggested Tan of S&P. “[T]he government can change the regulatory and legislation frameworks to provide an increased focus on consumer security and innovation in the field as well as encouraging banks and businesses to go cashless at a corporate level,” added Chiam. However, Chiam argues that the burden on fostering e-payments is not solely a government duty as retailers could also pitch in by incentivising mobile wallet usage through discounts and cashback to effectively foster customer loyalty starting with small purchases. “It is all about value adding and improving a customer’s experience and the key to do that is also the most fundamental – it is to provide a high-quality, secure service that improves a customer’s banking journey every step along the way and not just focuses on preaching to the converted and replacing one banking channel with another." https://sbr.com.sg/financial-services/in-focus/cash-still-king-in-singapore-reluctant-elders-shun-mobile-apps

Silky char siu pork, crispy wontons, and umami noodles. Singapore's Noodle Story serves high-tier street food. You’d be forgiven for feeling a bit done with the whole street food thing. After the trend exploded in the UK around four years ago, the promise of “street food” has become less like the enticing night markets of Bangkok or Vietnam, or Britain’s once vibrant market trader communities, and more of a homogeneous mass of bearded men selling overpriced brioche bun burgers. Which is why, on a blisteringly windy day, queues of hungry punters snake around a square in Central London, each hoping to try something from a place with an enviable street food tradition: Singapore. The city is famous for its “hawker” culture, which sees ridiculously tasty food sold from makeshift street stalls, often for less than £5. In 2016, one such hawker stall became the first street food venture to win a Michelin star. Hawker Chan's singularly perfect dish of soy sauce chicken and rice sells for the equivalent of £1.08. This year, another Singaporean hawker stall, A Noodle Story, has arrived in London for three days, selling 300 plates a day of Singaporean-style ramen. While the street food stall hasn’t won a Michelin star (yet), it was awarded the Bib Gourmand in 2016 for its only menu item: Singaporean-style ramen. The dish, inspired by co-founder Gwern Khoo’s experience of working with Japanese chefs and eating out in Hong Kong, consists of crunchy wontons, flat noodles in a dark sauce, 36-hour cooked char sui pork, and a perfectly soft stained egg. For street food, it is quite a feat, and tempting enough to have prompted customers to start queuing at 7.30 AM. “I always wanted to start my own business, but I didn't know in what,” Khoo tells me, after the second day of service at KERB market in King’s Cross. “I was very curious to learn [how to cook] because I love to eat, and I always wanted to know how to make what I love to eat so I didn’t need to go and buy it.” “Eventually, I enrolled full time into a culinary school,” he continues, “and it was there that I met my partner [Ben Tham],” The two went to work in different restaurants for a while, slowly collecting inspiration for their own prospective stall. After working in a Japanese restaurant, Khoo had the idea to combine the Singaporean love of dry noodles with Japanese food, monopolising on the recent Japanese food trend in Singapore. In 2013, Khoo launched A Noodle Story with partner Ben Tham, merging different Asian elements in their Singaporean dry ramen. “Usually, ramen from Japan is served in soup, but Singaporeans love their noodles dry, so I created them dry,” explains Khoo. “Ten years ago in Hong Kong, I had these amazing noodles with wontons, so I took some elements from there, as well as [from Japanese cooking]. That's how you make the Singapore-style ramen.” I am lucky enough to taste one of the 300 portions sold by A Noodle Story that day, and the attention to detail is clear. The textures of the dish are incredible—from the crunchy, crispy wontons, to the meaty prawns or the soft, almost silky char siu pork. Served without their traditional broth, the noodles retain a firm texture, meaning they’re perfect for carrying the rich, savoury sauce as you scoop them up with a plastic fork. I can feel my tolerance for the mediocre, overpriced, street food cheese toasties of my past diminish with every bite. Many who queued weren’t quite as lucky, with the dish selling out before they reached the front. So, why does Khoo think the dish is so popular? “We have a philosophy when we set up a food business: it must be value for money, it must be delicious, and the service must be great,” he explains. “I think with all these three, people will come back. If any one of these pillars isn't right, the stool or the table can't stand on its own. It will be shakey.” Oh, and there’s one other thing: “It's also good if it's more Instagram-friendly,” Khoo laughs. The Singaporean-style ramen may look simple (and pretty)—meat, noodles, wontons, and egg—but Khoo has spent time pouring over each element. I ask which ingredient is the most important, giving him the opportunity to launch into an entertaining five-minute monologue on every single one. “Every part is important,” he begins. “The char siu pork is cooked for 36 hours at 65 degrees, and we use the pork belly so you have the right ratio of fats. For the wontons, we use freshly minced pork with shrimps, and season it with a very important ingredient—salt fish powder.” Stage left: A coffee is delivered to the table. Khoo is unfazed. “The [wonton] skin must be thin enough to hold the filling but not too thick so when you eat it it’s not slippery,” he adds. “And the crunch—any element of crunch is OK, but it's best if it tastes good and looks good.” I think we’re done. We’re not: “The seasoning is very important,” he continues, and I nod enthusiastically. “For the noodles, we season it with oyster sauce, shallot oil, dark soya sauce, and sesame oil, but what we do differently is to add some umami [in the form of] some dried kelp. It's very flavourful.” That’s an understatement. Street food vendors take note: the palates of British diners have tasted some high-tier shit, for a mere £6. Your move, “Randy Jack’s Burger Shack.” https://munchies.vice.com/en_uk/article/nex5v8/we-tried-the-pound6-singaporean-ramen-that-almost-won-a-michelin-star

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Contractors Association (SCA) has brought forward its quarterly safety timeout, as it expressed "grave concern" over the recent spate of workplace fatalities at construction sites, it said in a statement on Monday (March 11). The call comes after the fourth reported death in a worksite-related incident since the start of 2019 on Saturday. In that incident, a 36-year-old foreign worker was killed after he was struck by a sheet pile at a Sengkang construction site. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the police are investigating the incident. The timeout, which is optional and originally scheduled for next month, requests construction firms to stop work and review how they carry out particular activities. It is often completed in a few hours or less. The association, which has more than 2,800 members, urged companies to also take the opportunity to review all aspects of safety and risk assessment at all their worksites. SCA president Kenneth Loo said the association is deeply concerned about the rise in the number of construction incidents and fatalities over the past two months, adding that "our thoughts and prayers go to those affected and their families". "As an industry, we need to take a holistic and responsible approach to ensure workplace safety. This is a shared responsibility where management, supervisors and workers at all levels take ownership and embrace the same mindset towards sustaining a strong safety culture. "We call on all construction firms to conduct a safety timeout as soon as possible to reinforce this shared responsibility, and for everyone to remain vigilant in safeguarding workplace safety at all times," he said. A spokesman told The Straits Times that, on average, 60 companies respond to the quarterly timeout, reviewing the work processes at between 300 and 600 sites. Some firms also carry out their own reviews regularly, and do not report these findings to the association. The death on Saturday came just over two weeks after another Indian construction worker died at a worksite of the Changi East project, which includes Changi Airport Terminal 5. On Feb 22, the 27-year-old man was on the left of a tipper truck at a T-junction when the vehicle made a left turn and hit him. MOM said it was the first fatal accident at the worksite. Police later arrested a 32-year-old man for causing death by negligent act. On Jan 22, a 27-year-old construction worker fell to his death when the rope he was attached to snapped after part of it became entangled with the side mirror of a passing bus. The worker, who was also an Indian national, was painting the exterior of the Royal Plaza on Scotts hotel. About a week earlier, on Jan 14, a 28-year-old Bangladeshi worker was killed after a Housing Board lift that was undergoing upgrading seemingly dropped from the fifth to the first floor. The worker was part of a team carrying out lift replacement works at Block 805 in Chai Chee Road, MOM said. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-contractors-association-calls-for-immediate-safety-timeout-after-four-worksite

SINGAPORE - Patients at hospitals, polyclinics and some specialist centres under the SingHealth group of healthcare institutions can now get their prescription medication delivered. The service is available for hospital patients from Singapore General Hospital (SGH), Changi General Hospital, Sengkang General Hospital and KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH). Patients at the Singapore National Eye Centre, the National Cancer Centre Singapore and the National Heart Centre Singapore, as well as SingHealth Polyclinics, can also tap the service. It will be free until June 30 this year, after which it will cost $8 per delivery. Similar delivery and collection services are available at polyclinics and hospitals under the other two public healthcare groups here such as Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National University Hospital. In a press release on Monday (March 11), SGH's director of pharmacy Lim Mun Moon said: "The service will benefit patients who are prescribed long-term medications. For example, those with well-controlled high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes. "After seeing the doctor, instead of collecting their medication at our outpatient pharmacy, these patients can skip the queue by signing up for the medication delivery service and opting for their medication to be delivered." Patients can sign up for the service at the outpatient pharmacy in the institution that issued their prescriptions. Payment for the medications can be made online or at payment kiosks in the pharmacies. The medication will then be delivered within three working days, either to the patient's home or to collection points around the island. This includes Prescription in Locker Boxes, or Pilboxes for short, located at SingHealth polyclinics in Bedok, Marine Parade, Punggol, Sengkang and Tampines. SGH and KKH patients can also opt for their medications to be delivered to 18 bluPort self-collection lockers mostly located at FairPrice Xpress outlets in Esso petrol stations and Cheers convenience stores. Subsequent medication refill requests can be made by calling the pharmacy or through the SingHealth Health Buddy app. Patients who reschedule their appointments and need a top-up prescription to tide them over until the appointment date can also request one using the app. Using the app, patients can also check information such as dosage, side effects and storage instructions for over 300 commonly prescribed medications, including their own prescribed medications. Patients can also set reminders on the app to alert them when they need to take their medicine. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/medicine-delivery-for-singhealth-patients

i getting the cheapest one, as i need VPN so it like $29 + $5 = $34 per month

SINGAPORE - Hardy brand Valencay, a raw milk cheese, has been recalled, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said in a release on Saturday (March 9). The European Commission Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed had issued a notification that some batches of the cheese were recalled due to the presence of Shiga-toxin producing E. coli bacteria, prompting AVA to direct the importer to recall the product. The recalled cheese was manufactured in France. Nine pieces of the affected product were imported into Singapore and sold to two hotels, AVA said. Seven pieces were consumed, and the remaining two pieces have been returned. The recall is complete. In its release, AVA said that consumers who choose to consume raw milk cheese must be aware of the risks involved. Raw or unpasteurised milk is likely to contain more bacteria and other pathogens, including E. coli bacteria, than pasteurised milk. Vulnerable groups of people, especially young children, pregnant women, elderly people or people with chronic illnesses, should avoid eating raw food. Those who feel unwell after consuming raw milk cheese should seek medical attention, the authority said. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ava-recalls-hardy-brand-raw-milk-cheese-due-to-presence-of-e-coli-bacteria

SINGAPORE - Taxi operator ComfortDelGro has apologised after one of its drivers fainted while driving on the East Coast Parkway (ECP), colliding with the centre divider and causing his passenger to alight in the middle of the expressway. Dashcam footage of the incident, taken around 1.10pm on Friday (March 8) shows a Comfort taxi swerving in and out of the rightmost lane on the Benjamin Sheares bridge. The cab is seen colliding with the centre divider of the bridge, appearing to leave a dent in the barrier, before swerving across another two lanes. Other road users are seen slowing down or moving out of the way to avoid the taxi. As it slows down, its left passenger door opens and a man steps out. He closes the door and quickly moves to the side of the road. A silver car drives into the path of the cab, seemingly in an attempt to block it, but the taxi manoeuvers around it and drives off. The taxi's passenger is soon picked up by another car. "I don't understand," says the passenger of the car recording the footage, before the video ends. Many netizens also expressed confusion as to what had caused the taxi driver and passenger to act the way they had. On Sunday, ComfortDelGro's group chief corporate communications officer, Ms Tammy Tan, told The Straits Times that the cabby in the video had "blacked out momentarily". She said that when the driver regained consciousness, he realised that his passenger had disembarked. "He wanted to get off the expressway to seek medical help and continued driving slowly until he was out of the expressway and at the Rochor Road exit gantry," she said. The driver then proceeded to call for assistance, she said. He is currently warded at a hospital for observation. Ms Tan added that Comfort is currently in touch with the passenger who was on board the taxi, and will be sending a hamper and vouchers to him as a gesture of goodwill. On behalf of the company, she also thanked the driver of the private car that stopped to pick up the stranded passenger. "We would like to apologise to all affected motorists for this incident," she said. The police confirmed that a report had been lodged, and are investigating the incident. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/passenger-alights-moving-taxi-in-middle-of-ecp-after-cab-driver-suffers-blackout-comfort