The_King

i jump from VQ to M1. speed / super low ping is very good at peak hours but it started to breakdown at least 1 per month, after 5 months in my 2 yr contract. until i feel it not worth it to pay $69 to have breakdown once per month

SINGAPORE - A construction worker molested an 11-year-old boy in an MRT train while the child's father was standing nearby. For committing the offence, Faruk Abdulla Al, 27, who is from Bangladesh, was sentenced on Friday (March 8) to 15 weeks' jail. District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam convicted him of a molestation charge last month after a two-day trial. In his submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Lai said the incident took place while the boy and his father were on their way to visit the child's grandmother in Tampines on Dec 4, 2017. The pair boarded an east-bound train at Boon Lay station and were standing in a cabin when Faruk came towards them after boarding at Jurong East station at around 12.30pm. He then stood beside the boy, unaware that the child's father was standing nearby. Faruk was a complete stranger to the boy and his father, the court heard. The train was travelling towards Clementi station when Faruk initiated a conversation with the boy by tapping the child's left shoulder to get his attention. The court heard that they started talking and Faruk placed his left hand on the boy's left shoulder. They were travelling from Clementi to Redhill station when Faruk slid his hand down and molested the child, said the DPP. His father saw Faruk committing the offence and confronted the construction worker by asking him: "Why did you touch my son?" DPP Lai added that when Faruk heard this, he apologised to the man and even knelt down in the train to ask for forgiveness. The father pulled Faruk out of the train when they reached Tiong Bahru station and took him to the control station. The police were notified and officers soon came to arrest him. During the trial, the boy testified that when Faruk first touched his shoulder, he thought the construction worker was just being "a little bit friendly". However, the boy told Judge Ng that he started to feel afraid when Faruk slid his hand down to his waist. DPP Lai said: "When asked why he did not stop the accused from doing what he did, the victim replied that he was too afraid to do it." The DPP added that the "key plank" to the defence's case was that Faruk had only tapped the boy's shoulder and nothing else. The construction worker, however, told the court during the trial that he had made no contact with the child's shoulder. DPP Lai said: "It is submitted that the accused's about-turn as to whether he had touched the victim's shoulder is material and is a major inconsistency in his evidence. "The accused can be seen clearly downplaying his culpability even during the trial itself." For molesting the boy, Faruk could have been jailed for up to five years and fined or caned https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/construction-worker-molested-boy-11-in-mrt-train-with-father-nearby

SINGAPORE - Some MRT stations on the North East Line (NEL) will close earlier on Fridays and Saturdays this month. Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary said on Saturday (March 9) that maintenance works would be carried out on the stretch between HarbourFront and Dhoby Ghaut starting this weekend. The stations include Outram Park, Chinatown and Clarke Quay. From March 8 to 30, these stations will close at around 11pm on those days. "The shorter operating hours will provide more hours for our engineers to intensify and speed up maintenance and asset renewal works," the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on its website. It added that commuters can look forward to increased train service reliability when these works are completed. In his Facebook post, Dr Janil said that the early closures have allowed for maintenance works on the NEL to be stepped up. "We've made good progress on the stretch between Serangoon and Punggol since the start of the year," said Dr Janil, who is also Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information. "We seek commuters' understanding as we push on towards better reliability for all," he added. Accompanying the post were several photos showing Dr Janil visiting staff at NEL stations as they carried out the maintenance works. LTA's website states that shuttle bus service 22 will be available for commuters to travel between HarbourFront and Dhoby Ghaut in both directions from 11pm on the affected dates. The shuttle buses will stop at designated bus stops or bus interchanges near affected stations, and will come every one to five minutes. "As the timing of the last trains departing each station on affected days will vary, commuters are advised to check for station-specific timings on SBS Transit's website and social media platforms when planning journeys on affected dates," LTA said. Commuters were also advised to cater for additional travelling time, plan their journeys in advance and travel via other MRT lines or bus services where possible. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/mrt-stations-between-dhoby-ghaut-and-harbourfront-on-nel-to-close-earlier-on

A security officer who was assigned to Bedok Mall stole from a shop while on her security rounds, a court heard. At the State Courts on Thursday (7 March), Thurga Ellan was fined $2,000 after she pleaded guilty to one charge of theft. If she fails to pay the fine she will have to serve 10 days in jail. The 27-year-old Malaysian was employed by Certis Cisco and assigned to the shopping mall. On 4 January, just after midnight, Thurga took a break while doing her rounds near the atrium at basement 2. Health and beauty store Watsons had just held a sale at the atrium and used a cloth to cover the cosmetics section of its products there. Thurga went under the cloth, took several items and hid them in her pockets. The stolen items totaled $316.98 included lipsticks, eyeliner, blushes, eyeshadow, foundation, lip pencils and a makeup brush. She then continued on her security rounds. The incident was captured on the mall’s CCTV. A Watsons sales manager called the police about the missing items the same afternoon. All the stolen items were later recovered. Thurga was arrested on 8 January when she reported for duty at work. She admitted to the theft. The maximum penalty for theft is up to three years’ jail along with a fine. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/shopping-mall-security-officer-fined-2000-stealing-watsons-stores-items-101836611.html

SINGAPORE - One of Singapore's largest annual running events, the Safra Singapore Bay Run and Army Half Marathon (SSBR and AHM), has been called off this year, the Singapore Army said on Facebook on Saturday (March 9). "Not organising the SSBR and AHM will allow the Army to better manage the overall tempo for a busy year," the Army said. The SSBR and AHM is co-organised by the Singapore Army and Safra. It usually takes place in the later half of the year. More than 41,000 people took part in last year's event, which is aimed at promoting fitness and bonding among active servicemen, NSmen and their families. The last time the SSBR and AHM was put on hiatus was in 2015 to support the SG50 celebrations, said the Facebook post. It added that the army would be involved in supporting the Singapore bicentennial commemoration this year. "Safra and the Army will review if SSBR & AHM will be reinstated subsequently," it added. Other major running events here include the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, which attracted some 50,000 runners last December, and the 2XU Compression Run, which had some 30,000 runners in 2017. The cancellation of the Safra Singapore Bay Run and Army Half Marathon comes after the SAF announced an unprecedented lowering of training tempo across all services on Jan 24. It was among the measures taken after the death of actor and operationally-ready national serviceman (NSman) Aloysius Pang from injuries suffered during a military exercise in New Zealand earlier in January. The post also said that there was a "one-time impact" on training activities as a result of the two-week safety-timeout that was imposed after Corporal First Class (NS) Pang's death. "For instance, the Basic Military Training Centre recruits graduating today on 9 March 2019 had a 12km graduation march and not the usual 24km march, as they were not able to complete the required build-up training in line with existing training directives. "The 24km graduation march will be reinstated for subsequent batches." In-camp training for three national service units were also cancelled as they fell within or immediately after the safety timeout, said the post, adding that this cancellation will not affect the fulfilment of the NSmen's operationally-ready national service training cycle. The Chief of Army, Major-General Goh Si Hou, said on Jan 31 that the army would be reviewing the scope of its military exercises and redesigning training programmes as part of the lowered training pace in the next few months to focus on safety. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen gave some indication last month that some of the responsibilities that the SAF handled might be dropped. He was responding to Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh, who asked in Parliament on Feb 11 whether "non-operational responsibilities" that involve national servicemen such as the National Day Parade and the Army Half Marathon would be reviewed. Dr Ng said then that certain activities have been reviewed, but the announcement on what will not be done "so that it gives them enough bandwidth to focus on safety" will be done later. Business development director Tan Hon Kee, 44, who has taken part in four army half marathons since 2013, said he was disappointed with the cancellation of the event this year. While understanding the rationale of lightening non-operational demands on the Army to better focus on training safety, he said a better move could have been to appoint an event organiser to run the race. “The AHM is heavily subsidised for national servicemen or SAF personnel so all former full-time national servicemen enjoyed a half marathon race at really affordable rates,” he told The Straits Times. “The spirit de corp of all units is displayed along the running routes with good vibes,” he added. NSmen, Safra members and family members of NSmen enjoy discounts for the event. For instance, an NSman need pay $16 for the 21km run last year during the early registration period, compared to $65 for the public, which is about the cost of similar runs. The SSBR and AHM was formerly known as the Safra Sheares Bridge Run and Army Half Marathon. The Sheares Bridge Run started in 1992 to mark the 20th anniversary of Safra. In 1998, it merged with the Army Half Marathon, which began in 1994. SAFRA was formed in 1972 to provide for the social and recreational needs of NSmen and their families. SEA Games marathon champion Soh Rui Yong, 27, who won last year’s 21km Army Half Marathon men’s category, said the cancellation was a pity. “It’s the biggest half marathon in Singapore so all the competitive runners based here would plan to do it. “It’s a race that the community gets excited by and looks forward to every year, helping to develop fitness and running performance among elite athletes and recreational runners alike,” he said. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/safra-singapore-bay-run-and-army-half-marathon-called-off-this-year-singapore-army

simple bee hoon and diet cola with whiskey Not bad, still got a bit of whiskey taste and smell without the bitter and no longer burn my throat

M1. if m1 increase the price i will jump to whizcomms or which ever is cheapest

Choose Your Fate… Oxenfree is a supernatural thriller about a group of friends who unwittingly open a ghostly rift. Play as Alex, a bright, rebellious teenager who brings her new stepbrother Jonas to an overnight party on an old military island. The night takes a terrifying turn when you unwittingly open a ghostly gate spawned from the island’s cryptic past. How you deal with these events, your peers, and the ominous creatures you’ve unleashed is up to you. YOU determine every aspect of Alex's story while exploring Edwards Island, uncovering the base's dark past, and changing the course of your friends' lives. Created by Night School Studio https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/oxenfree/home

https://www.facebook.com/donnabrowneny/videos/10212715779560603/

An Uber driver has pleaded guilty to taking hundreds of upskirt videos of female passengers via pinhole cameras trained on the back seat of his car. Wong Yiu-long, 44, is the director of a courier company who decided to become an Uber driver in order to make some extra cash to pay off debts. Sha Tin Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday that Wong was found out in the early hours of the morning on September 8. He was transporting a 28-year-old female financial adviser, referred to in court as “X”, who hailed the Uber at about 3am that day from Tsim Sha Tsui to the City One housing complex in Sha Tin. Apple Daily reports that Wong picked X up in his seven-seat Toyota Vellfire, and she fell asleep during the ride. About 15 minutes into the journey, Wong drove through Lion Rock Tunnel, but was stopped by police officers at the tunnel exit who asked him to do an alcohol breath test. He initially failed the test, but was asked to do it again and was found not to have exceeded the prescribed limit. But during this period, one of the officers asked if he could move the car to a safer position, and when Wong said yes, the officer got into the driver’s seat and found an iPhone facing upwards in a small compartment on the right-hand side of the steering wheel, showing a live upskirt video. Upon further inspection of the vehicle, the officer found that the back of both front seats of Wong’s car had pinhole cameras installed, and that the live video was of X. The officer then woke up X and told her what happened. She was reportedly shocked and upset, and was later given a full refund of the fare, which was HK$235 (about US$30). Police then went through the defendant’s iPhone, finding a total of 883 upskirt videos, 13 of which featured X. Wong pleaded guilty to the charge of “illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward” — hiring out a private vehicle without the necessary permits — and of “outraging public decency.” In mitigation, Wong told the court that he was ashamed of what he had done, that he had a wife and son, and that the upskirt videos were an attempt to inject a bit of excitement into his life, adding that he was under a lot of stress. The news couldn’t come at a worse time for Uber, which is fighting for acceptance in Hong Kong amid fierce resistance from the city’s taxi industry. Despite having been welcomed to the SAR by the government investment office, the ride-hailing giant’s operations are technically illegal due to Hong Kong’s permit laws surrounding cars for hire. Acting chief magistrate Victor So Wai-tak said yesterday that passengers place a certain degree of trust in their drivers, and that the defendant’s behavior caused shock and distress to X. So adjourned the case until March 21 pending a background report on the defendant. Illegally hiring out one’s car is punishable by up to three months in prison and fines of up to HK$5,000 (US$637), as well as a three-month license suspension, upon the first conviction. Penalties are doubled upon subsequent convictions if the person is found to have committed the crime again in the same vehicle. The maximum punishment for outraging public decency is seven years in jail.

Humans — we really are trash, aren’t we? Today’s mortal refuse incarnate takes the shape of a group of men, purportedly in the waters off Miri, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, who took it upon themselves to beat a crocodile that had become caught in a fishing net. Unsatisfied with simply calling the state wildlife department to cut the animal loose, the men in the clip instead repeatedly bashes the majestic beast over its head with a hammer and their rods, while another person records the animal writhing around in what we can only imagine is excruciating pain. Eventually, blood is drawn, but the men continue beating the croc. Local media has since alerted the Sarawak Forestry Corporation of the animal abuse, and authorities are launching an investigation into the individuals behind the clip. It’s pretty upsetting, but if you want to see for yourselves, you can follow the link HERE. We advise extreme caution. “We have sent our enforcement team to the ground in Miri to check on the details as shown in the video. “We want to identify the exact location now.” Social media users have suggested that the backdrop looks like Batu Satu Miri. Authorities went on to point out that the crocodile was already caught in the net. “These men could have just notify the authorities like the police or forestry or fisheries to handle the crocodile. What they did is a case of cruelty and they should be hauled up and penalized.” https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=261931848055090 Humans — we really are trash, aren’t we? Today’s mortal refuse incarnate takes the shape of a group of men, purportedly in the waters off Miri, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, who took it upon themselves to beat a crocodile that had become caught in a fishing net. Unsatisfied with simply calling the state wildlife department to cut the animal loose, the men in the clip instead repeatedly bashes the majestic beast over its head with a hammer and their rods, while another person records the animal writhing around in what we can only imagine is excruciating pain. Eventually, blood is drawn, but the men continue beating the croc. Local media has since alerted the Sarawak Forestry Corporation of the animal abuse, and authorities are launching an investigation into the individuals behind the clip. It’s pretty upsetting, but if you want to see for yourselves, you can follow the link HERE. We advise extreme caution. “We have sent our enforcement team to the ground in Miri to check on the details as shown in the video. “We want to identify the exact location now.” Social media users have suggested that the backdrop looks like Batu Satu Miri. Authorities went on to point out that the crocodile was already caught in the net. “These men could have just notify the authorities like the police or forestry or fisheries to handle the crocodile. What they did is a case of cruelty and they should be hauled up and penalized.” https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=261931848055090 https://coconuts.co/kl/news/video-men-beating-crocodile-trapped-fishing-net-goes-viral-horror-anyone-common-decency/

A diabetic man is now missing part of his testicles due to gangrene — which could have been detected and treated earlier if a doctor actually did his job. Dr. Mohd Syamsul Alam Ismail, a Malaysian doctor practicing in Johor, has since been suspended for two-and-a-half years on top of a $40,000 fine. The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) disciplinary tribunal had initially imposed a suspension of three months, but the duration was increased by 10 times yesterday by Court of Three Judges following a successful appeal to lengthen it. Dr. Syamsul was found guilty of failing to provide adequate clinical evaluation of a patient when he worked as the company doctor at the medical center of a marine and shipping company here in 2013. The patient had been having a fever for five consecutive days and went to the doctor to check on a painful lump on his right buttock area as well. “The Complainant thought the lump was a normal abscess but the lump had grown drastically in size and was causing him immense pain,” noted SMC. “It made a crackling sound when pressed and he could not even sit due to the pain.” Even after the patient told Dr. Syamsul that he was diabetic and he had not been taking his meds, the doctor said that it was unnecessary to conduct a physical examination on the lump. Instead, he simply gave him three days of medical leave and prescribed him some antibiotics. It proved to be a huge mistake. The next day, the patient’s lump started to spread to his testicles and his groin area, causing those parts of his body to well up as well. He immediately went to the hospital and was diagnosed with Fournier’s gangrene, a particularly worrisome type of infection that attacks the genital area. He required hospitalization for more than a month. The infection required multiple surgical interventions, which included partial removal of his scrotum. In his complaint to SMC in November 2014, he blames Dr. Syamsul for his inability to have sex for the rest of his life due to the pain. SMC found that Dr. Syamsul failed to make the appropriate diagnosis that the patient had gangrene and that he had also failed to immediately refer the patient to the emergency department of a hospital. According to the expert opinion of a general surgeon enquired by the SMC, the doctor should have had a high index of suspicion when it came to dealing with a poorly controlled diabetic patient. On Dr. Syamsul’s part, he refused to take part in the disciplinary inquiry against him and ghosted SMC’s attempts to contact him. “So far as we can tell, he is no longer practicing in Singapore,” said Chief Justice Menon, who presided over the case. https://coconuts.co/singapore/news/diabetic-man-lost-part-testicles-doctor-failed-check-properly-gangrene/

Pablo Cheese Tart, a Japanese chain famous for its dessert offerings, has sadly joined the ranks of other well-known international brands that attempted to make a splash in Singapore, only to bow out quietly a couple months/years later. There was much hype when it opened in August 2017, with queues galore and many a social media post boasting of the coveted cheese tart haul after a long wait, but it clearly didn’t take long for the buzz to die down and fickle diners to hop over to the next Must Try Thing. Less than two years after Pablo’s launch, the brand has left Singapore without a peep, discreetly disabling its Facebook page for both its Wisma Atria and nex outlets. So if you didn’t manage to get one last taste before its exit, perhaps Bake Cheese Tart can satisfy your cravings instead. Also closing its doors, Dazzling Cafe at orchardgateway has left behind its Shibuya toasts on the shopping stretch and set up a new concept at 86 Robertson Quay (next to M Social Hotel). According to its Instagram page, today’s actually the opening date of Botany by Dazzling Cafe, so you can pop by over the weekend to check out its menu, which apparently blends “the best of the East and West cuisines” and serves “delectable original recipes in its most natural flavors.” Breakfast here includes rosti or French toast with eggs and sides, an organic muesli bowl, and chicken congee. For something heartier, you can get grilled boneless chicken with Balinese salsa, beef burger, or ribeye steak plus sides such as mentaiko fries and otah chips. https://sg.style.yahoo.com/pablo-cheese-tart-dazzling-cafe-041801909.html

JOHOR BARU, March 8 — The Johor Department of Environment (DoE) has identified the illegally dumped substance that emitted hazardous gas fumes in Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang to be from marine oil waste. Johor DoE director Datuk Mohammad Ezzani Mat Salleh said the substance was an oil-based mixture that emits methane and benzene fumes. “The oily substance is believed to be oil waste commonly used in marine engine compressors and is considered scheduled waste that needs to be disposed off properly under the law. “Based on our investigations, we estimate that around 20 to 40 tonnes of the oil waste were illegally dumped into parts of the Sungai Kim Kim river,” Mohammad Ezzani told Malay Mail when contacted. Yesterday, it was reported that the Johor DoE and the state’s Fire and Rescue Department’s Hazmat unit have taken water samples from Sungai Kim Kim after 31 people fell ill after inhaling the fumes. The victims, aged between seven and 40, were students from SMK Pasir Putih and SK Pasir Putih, while the adults were canteen workers. Among the victims was a male DoE investigator, in his 30s, who was warded after he was overcome by the fumes during an early probe into the incident. Both methane and benzene fumes are considered hazardous as they are flammable. Mohammad Ezzani said the department views the incident seriously and will go all out to identify, nab and prosecute the culprits responsible for the illegal dumping of the substance. “A formal report has been submitted and based on eyewitness accounts the dumping was done from a tanker lorry during pre-dawn hours on Thursday. He said the department is not ruling out the likelihood that the waste substance may have come from certain marine engineering or petrochemical factories in Johor. On the cleaning-up efforts, Mohammad Ezzani said the bulk of the oily substance on the river’s surface have been disposed off. However, he said it will take at least another two days for the team to clear all remaining residue within the affected 5km stretch of the river. “We hope there is rain to help in diluting the polluted areas,” said Mohammad Ezzani, explaining further that in extreme cases carbon may be employed to neutralize the harmful substance. Mohammad Ezzani added that the department is also coordinating efforts the state government’s health, environment and agriculture committee and also the Johor Fire and Rescue Department for the clean up work. He said Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) has contacted the department seeking updates on the situation due to fears of cross-border water pollution. “At present we have managed to contain the situation,” he said. Those with information on suspected illegal dumping of scheduled waste can contact the DoE enforcement unit at: 011-2754 4926. Alternately, they can also reach out to the DoE national hotline at: 1-800-88-2727. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/johor-environmental-dept-chemical-fumes-030501675.html

A 2,852 sq ft unit at Grange Residences, on Grange Road in prime District 10, will be put up for auction for the first time on March 27. The property is offered for mortgagee sale with a guide price of $6.85 million ($2,402 psf), says Edmund Tie & Co (ET&Co), which is handling the auction. The 17th-floor unit will be sold with vacant possession. The previous owner purchased it for $6.8 million ($2,384 psf) in October last year, according to a caveat lodged then. “The unit offers gorgeous unblocked views of the Rochalie Drive and Chatsworth Good Class Bungalow area,” says Joy Tan, head of auction and sales at ET&Co. The living room and en suite bedrooms have views of the Embassy area, namely the China Embassy, the British High Commission and the US Embassy. View photos The unit offers unblocked views of the surrounding Rochalie Drive and Chatsworth Good Class Bungalow area (Credit: ET&Co) Located at the corner of Grange Road and Tanglin Road, Grange Residences is a redevelopment of the former Marco Polo Hotel by Wheelock Properties. The freehold, 164-unit Grange Residences was completed in 2004. All the units in the three 18-storey blocks are four-bedroom apartments with sizes ranging from 2,583 sq ft to 2,852 sq ft. The last transaction at Grange Residences was in November 2018, when a seventh-floor, 2,583 sq ft unit was sold for $6.25 million ($2,419 psf), based on caveats lodged. Prices are nowhere near the last peak, when a 2,852 sq ft unit on the 13th floor changed hands for $8.57 million or an all-time-high of $3,004 psf, based on a caveat lodged in September 2013. The price of $2,402 psf is “reasonable” in the current market, says ET&Co’s Tan. Nearby, new developements on Orchard Boulevard such as 3 Orchard-By-The-Park and the upcoming Boulevard 88 are priced above $3,000 psf. View photos The spacious living room of the 2,852 sq ft unit (Credit: ET&Co) Grange Residences will also benefit from the upcoming Orchard Boulevard MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, which will be just a two-minute walk away. “The proximity to the Orchard Boulevard MRT Station will increase the value of the property in the near future,” adds Tan. With monthly rental rates in the range of $11,500 to $14,800, investors can also anticipate gross rental yields of 2–2.6%, she estimates. Tan therefore expects to see “healthy interest” for the unit given its prime location, freehold tenure and unit size.

SINGAPORE: I have been following with great interest the events surrounding Hyflux over the last few months. For many years, the company and its founder, Olivia Lum, were held up as examples of a successful home-grown company and an outstanding entrepreneur respectively. That the company was in the water sector, a critical resource for Singapore and increasingly the rest of the world, was an added plus, when it implied the company was serving the nation and “doing good” while doing well. NOT PRETTY But somewhere in between its astronomical rise and the situation today, the wheels came off the wagon. There is a good possibility that many bondholders will lose most of their investments in Hyflux and the company will exist in a reduced form – that is if it manages to survive and secure the necessary support from financial backers and key stakeholders for the proposed restructuring. The situation is not pretty. Hyflux defaulting on its bondholders has been discussed extensively in the media. A recent report suggests that the PUB has also served a notice of default on Hyflux, for its potential inability to supply water. Too bad, Hyflux. Water being a critical resource for Singapore is now a double-edged sword. I will focus on the non-financial aspects of the Hyflux situation precisely because financial default is the most likely outcome of underlying strategic decisions. My intent is not to find fault with Hyflux’s decisions since hindsight is perfect, but to dissect the problems it faced to glean lessons for the benefit of Hyflux and other Singapore companies. SHIFT TOWARDS OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE A central premise is that Hyflux took on a greater amount of strategic complexity over time. Some risks of this greater strategic complexity may not have been factored in when decisions were taken while other risks only became apparent over time, because of an evolving environment. Hyflux started with a simple strategy of focusing on being a water treatment specialist, which served it well over its first two decades. All seemed to pan out well in its favour, including listing on the Singapore Exchange, a remarkable feat considering its modest beginnings, and after-tax profits of S$59 million in 2008. In fact, 2008 was also remarkable because the company was able to grow its sales by 188 per cent - from S$192 million in 2007 to S$554 million, helped by a five-fold increase in revenue from the municipal (or government) sector. In its 2008 annual report, the company noted that Hyflux membranes and systems had been installed in more than 1,000 plants in over 300 locations worldwide, again an impressive achievement. But someone in that giant corporation should have spotted obvious early warning signs. Revenue was geographically concentrated, however, with China and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) accounting for 54 per cent and 40 per cent of the total revenue in respectively. By 2008, Hyflux started placing greater emphasis on its Operations and Maintenance (O&M) business instead of its traditional Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) focus. One advantage of the former was its stable revenue generation with contract duration of 20 to 30 years. On the other hand, revenue chunkiness was a key disadvantage of EPC, because it means lumpy and unpredictable annual shareholder returns. So Hyflux began to see advantages in the former and maintained a portfolio of both O&M and EPC contracts. The downside of chasing after O&M contracts was revealed in the recent news of PUB serving a notice of default on Hyflux. Unlike EPC contracts, where a project is handed off to the client who operates the plant (and hence bears all subsequent risks), O&M contracts would require Hyflux to continue to operate the plant. If, for any reason, Hyflux’s ability to continue to operate the plant became impaired, given the critical resource that water is, the consequences for Hyflux would be severe. TUASPRING THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL’S BACK? A major increase in strategic complexity occurred when Hyflux took on the Tuaspring project. While the capital intensity of the Tuaspring project has been discussed extensively, the strategic implication was that taking on the business pushed Hyflux into a new market: Power generation. Though there may be some synergies across the water-desalination and power projects, like many diversification decisions where perceived synergies may be emphasised more than the downsides in evaluating project risk, the risks in the power project may have been underestimated - or possibly even overlooked. Two factors may have further complicated the risk assessment. First, the location of Tuaspring in its Singapore home market may have led to an underestimation of the risks because Hyflux was familiar with the context, unlike many of its projects which were in emerging economies that imply significant uncertainty. Funding infrastructure projects in the latter category would also require political risk insurance, encouraging Hyflux to exercise project discipline. READ: What Singapore can do to prepare for the next flood, a commentary As later events showed, however, the Singapore Government can be a demanding customer. Failure to deliver on its commitments would probably imply a swifter penalty to be imposed. Second, the deregulation of the power sector culminating in the Open Electricity Market may be another factor that exposed Hyflux’s power sector to the wild fluctuations of commodity prices. As luck would have it, the gyrations in oil prices have been more pronounced over the last few years. EROSION OF FINANCIAL HEALTH While strategic complexity rose, a number of other factors were slowly but surely eroding Hyflux’s financial health. Its revenue was erratic — between 2012 and 2016, revenue fluctuated between S$321 million (2014) and S$986 million in 2016. Clearly, despite greater emphasis on O&M, revenue had not stabilised. For an asset-based company like Hyflux, erratic revenue tends to have a disproportionately large impact on profits because costs are less flexible than revenue. In fact, the earning per share showed a steady downward trend after 2012, before turning negative in 2016. Even in 2016 when Hyflux reported record revenues, profits were rather modest — in fact, they exhibited a decline over the years prior to 2016. Through these years, Hyflux’s capital intensity rose with its asset base ballooning from S$2.1 billion in 2012 to S$3.8 billion in 2016. The increased asset base was financed by issuing debt which carried a high interest rate and drained valuable cash. Though Hyflux’s dividend per share peaked in 2010 at 4.77 cents, the company had to cut it drastically in 2016. Dividend payments would represent another drain on cash. MIND THE RISKS So, what are the lessons from the Hyflux story? The most important lesson is: Mind the risks. Diversification is an important growth strategy for many firms but is not a panacea when risk evaluations tend to overemphasise synergies and downplay risks. Some of the risks also can become magnified over time — as borne out in the case of the power sector. A second important lesson is about minding small changes in the environment that might cumulatively have a huge impact on your strategy and its viability. A number of changes have taken place on top of the deregulation of the power sector that had huge impact on Hyflux, including fluctuating fortunes for economies in the Middle East, a key source of revenue for Hyflux before 2012 and reduced orders from Chinese customers, which used to be Hyflux’s biggest market. Though each of these changes was not large enough to undermine Hyflux, their collective impact on Hyflux was substantial. A third and final lesson is about preparing for the worst-case scenario, especially when large, capital-intensive strategic projects are financed with debt. Looking ahead, even if Hyflux is able to win a reprieve from bondholders, it faces the possibility of PUB taking over the plant because non-performance of a strategic plant may be viewed as a national security issue. One hopes this is not the end of the story for this rare Singapore unicorn. Nitin Pangarkar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Strategy and Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not represent the views and opinions of NUS. Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this commentary mentioned Tuas Power. It should have been Tuaspring. We apologise for the error. Source: CNA/nr

Singapore’s landmass is twenty-two per cent reclaimed, a fact that doesn’t escape the supposed main character of A Land Imagined, hard-boiled insomniac detective Lok (Peter Yu). Less than an hour after watching the movie, I find myself sitting down with Singapore’s latest international-film-festival-awardee, director of A Land Imagined, Yeo Siew Hua. I wanted answers; after watching the film, trying to put it into words was like pouring sand to fill an ocean—fittingly the entry-point for the film’s narrative. In the film’s opening scene, Lok remarks to his partner that the land he’s standing on used to be nothing but sea; they are at a land reclamation site to investigate the disappearance of a foreign worker, Wang Bi-Cheng (Liu Xiaoyi), a character played with endearing earnestness. This mystery is the single thread that leads viewers through the ensuing labyrinth, a neo-noir game of ‘Where’s Wang?’ Of all the things to make a movie about, I ask Siew Hua, why reclamation? “After studying film, I studied philosophy for about five years. I was really interested in the idea of a nation-state: what makes it up, if not for natural boundaries?” Siew Hua explains that in the past, countries were divided by geographical features: rivers, mountain ranges, coastlines. But this isn’t the case anymore. “Now, it requires … an imagining of nationhood.” This ‘imagining’ is especially relevant in Singapore, a nation of immigrants (recent or former), where demographics can be determined, quite literally, by the visa system. In a way, he says, the very notion of ‘Singapore’ is fashioned out of public policy, hence the film’s title. Nothing represents this interplay of geography, policy, and nationhood quite like the mountains of sand we’re dumping into the ocean. “The … materiality of soil, and of reclamation, is what interested me. A lot of people haven’t seen it. The process is invisible, so we don’t get to reflect on this issue.” To counter this, many of the film’s shots follow the industrial processes of land reclamation in all it’s stifling, deafening, dehumanising glory. It’s this line of thought that led him to consider the human hands behind reclamation. “When I looked into [reclamation], the real human drama involves the people working on it: migrant workers. Some of them have lived here for over twenty years, building this city.” “What would happen if one of them went missing?” Unusual for a noir film, A Land Imagined also tells the story from the perspective of the John Doe, Wang Bi-Cheng. Before his disappearance, he’s injured in an accident and gets put on driving duty, striking up a friendship with an amicable Bangladeshi worker named Ajit (Ishtiaque Zico). His nights, however, are sleepless, so he frequents the nearby cyber-cafe run by the ethereal Mindy (Luna Kwok). Wang’s relationships with Ajit and Mindy make up a significant portion of the film, as Siew Hua blurs the lines between reality and dream. These plot points did not spring from Siew Hua’s mind fully-formed. In researching the subject of his camera, he spent two years hanging out with foreign workers on weekends, immersing himself in their community. “Everything in the film comes from a tidbit of a real story … A lot of people don’t imagine them as being tech-savvy, but they too live their lives in a very virtual world, just like us.” As he learnt more about foreign workers, Siew Hua felt that something was amiss in the media coverage surrounding them. “We are starting to hear more about integration from mainstream media … but it’s all ‘Us versus them’. This ‘othering’ of migrant workers is really the heart of the problem.” That’s why the film tries to views migrant workers not as foreign, or pitiful, but merely as human. In this vein, the characters participate in numerous communal dances; each set to a song of the different languages spoken in the film (Bangladeshi, Mandarin, English). While immersed in the migrant workers’ community, Siew Hua noted the importance of dancing: “Dancing is trance-like. [You] stop thinking about ‘you’re a worker, I’m a local’; we are just moving bodies to the beat.” Siew Hua feels that one of the main messages of the film is the common humanity shared by migrant workers and locals. “Instead of a discourse of sympathy, we should have a discourse of empathy.” The selection of genre was necessary for this very reason. I point out that we don’t associate a Singapore film with the detective noir genre; why, then, did he decide to venture off the beaten path? “Noir is not about solving the mystery. It’s about the psychology of the detective. [Lok] is a stand-in for me, for the audience. He is a relatable, middle class, majority-race person. He is someone who is [initially] uncaring, indifferent, but as he discovers the parallels between himself and Wang (such as their insomnia), he … discovers the ability to have compassion.” It’s one part documentary, one part noir, one part surrealist psychodrama; perhaps that’s why the film resembles, as The Hollywood Reporter put it, ‘a few genres tossed together into a cement mixer’. Throughout, fantastical sequences are interspersed with naturalistic scenes or conversations, causing reality to bend over backwards. Meanwhile, the story is never fully explained. The main plot seems but window dressing on the sidelines of Wang and Lok’s psychic adventure. After a while, I gave up following the narrative path and just sat back to enjoy the ride. In one memorable, trance-like scene, Wang is playing an early version of Counter-Strike (CS), when the first-person camera begins to glitch through the terrain, swooping through the virtual air and ground. Under a resonant soundtrack, accompanied by Wang’s narration, the film produces a hypnotic, thoroughly bizarre effect from this very technical glitch. Movies have, for years, been trying to depict the intricacies of the virtual world, with mild to moderate success. The film’s depiction of cyberspace struck me, a self-described film enthusiast, as a moment of incipient brilliance in the art of film—not just in Singapore, but worldwide. Siew Hua came upon the idea while mucking around on his computer: “When I go into first-person, it’s very disembodied … and for these games, when you die, you can roam around the map while waiting for the game to end, like a soul, a ghost, ignored by everyone else … just like how Wang feels.” Then, the game glitched. “I realised, at this moment, something very fascinating. This virtual world looks real—until it stops working. All of a sudden we realise [that] it is wholly constructed: like Singapore, [the game] is nothing more than … a land that is imagined.” Hours after watching the film, its iconic magenta-violet hues are still dancing on my retinas, superimposed over dull-as-ditchwater panoramas of industrial machines grinding endless dirt. In a way, this colour cacophony is a fitting metaphor for A Land Imagined: soothing, yet invigorating; verisimilar, yet dream-like; dissonant, yet harmonious (yes, I too own a thesaurus). An inherent tension tears at the film, thematically, narratively, even visually, but I can’t decide whether it’s utter madness or utter genius. Maybe both. If you can’t already tell, this is not your typical film. Admittedly, enjoying it requires an open mind. I ask Siew Hua why he chose to make a film that can be described as ‘art house’, which typically has but a niche audience amongst local movie-goers. “That label is useless to me,” he laughs, “it is useful only to distributors.” He does, however, admit that he’s deviated quite a bit from standard film conventions that moviegoers here are accustomed to. “I’m not making this film for festivals,” he explains. “I made it for a local audience. To me … It’s important to introduce something to them; something abstract, something new.” This is, ultimately, what makes the film worth watching—it’s something novel, something strange, something wonderful, and I left the theatre uncertain but enriched. Uncertain, only in that I was unable to identify what exactly it was that had enriched me. Yes, it is a Mandarin-language film, but as a member of the non-Chinese community, I can vouch for the simple and effective subtitling. Besides, the visuals speak more than dialogue ever will. Artistic, to be sure, and airy-fairy, for some, but Siew Hua puts his directorial vision in terms that even the most pragmatic of us can understand: “With cinema, I want to experiment; if I’m not pushing the form in some way, I’m wasting resources.” “I cannot do things any other way—I don’t know how to.”

SINGAPORE: Commuters will be able to use their Mastercard contactless bank card or compatible mobile phone to pay for their public bus and train rides from April this year, with Visa expected to get on board “later this year”. This was revealed by Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary during his Committee of Supply (COS) speech on Thursday (Mar 7). Dr Puthucheary said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) had partnered Mastercard to test the use of contactless bank cards on public transport under the account-based ticketing pilot in March 2017. This has been “successful” and LTA is now ready to fully launch the service under a new brand called SimplyGo. “With SimplyGo, commuters will have the option of carrying one less card for transport, or maybe no cards if they are using their mobile phones, and not having to do card top-ups,” Dr Puthucheary said. LTA said in a separate press release on Thursday that commuters can register for a SimplyGo account and link different contactless bank cards on the TransitLink SimplyGo portal or app. Participants of the pilot can continue to use the same Mastercard, it said. Those with stored value cards, such as concessions cards, ez-link or NETS FlashPay cards, will be able to get the same convenience when they upgrade their existing cards towards the end of the year, it added. Mastercard said in a statement after the announcement that it is "delighted" to be the first international payments brand to partner LTA for the launch of SimplyGo. AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES TO CREATE NEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES Dr Puthucheary also pointed to autonomous vehicles (AVs) as another area of technology that can allow the Government to potentially reinvent how land transport is provided and deliver better services through, for example, dynamically routed services. It was previously reported that self-driving buses and shuttles will be introduced in Punggol, Tengah and the Jurong Innovation District in 2022. This vision came a step closer earlier this week when Nanyang Technological University and Volvo Buses launched a 12-metre autonomous electric bus. It can also help create new job opportunities in the sector, he added. ST Engineering, for one, is conducting a trial of autonomous buses and has partnered SBS Transit to deploy a few of its bus captains to be safety operators, Dr Janil said. “While the widespread deployment of AVs is still years away, such trials give us an early sense of the requirements for the new job roles that will be created,” he said. Source: CNA/kk(aj)

SINGAPORE — A psychiatrist from the National University Hospital (NUH) has been fined S$50,000 for failing to verify a caller’s identity before writing a memo to refer a patient to the Institute of Mental Health. The caller turned out to be the patient’s brother and not her husband as he had claimed. And although the memo was addressed to ambulance personnel or the police officer-in-charge, it was handed to the brother, who used it to support his application for a personal protection order against the patient. The personal protection order was granted by the Family Court. A three-member disciplinary tribunal found Dr Soo Shuenn Chiang guilty of failing to maintain patient confidentiality. The tribunal — chaired by cardiothoracic surgeon Joseph Sheares — had wanted to impose the maximum fine of S$100,000, but reduced it by half after considering mitigating factors. In the grounds of decision released on Tuesday (March 5), the tribunal said that a breach of patient confidentiality is a serious and important matter. Read also SingHealth cyber attack a result of human lapses, IT system weaknesses: COI report This case justifies a deterrent sentence “so as to create public awareness, more particularly among potential offenders, that punishment will be certain and unrelenting for this type of breaches and offenders”, it said. The patient's name was not disclosed in the grounds of decision to protect her identity. FACTS OF THE CASE On Jan 19, 2015, the patient was admitted to NUH for an overdose of a pain relief drug. She was reviewed by Dr Soo for adjustment disorder with depressed mood and alcohol misuse. She was noted to have a risk of self-harm as she had a history of depression. The woman was discharged the next day. Two months later, Dr Soo received a phone call from the woman’s brother. Dr Soo did not check the caller’s identity by asking for his name, identity card number or contact number, and comparing these against NUH’s records. The memo he wrote contained her confidential medical information, and he instructed his clinic staff member to pass it to the caller, believing he was the patient’s husband. While Dr Soo’s response to the phone call was appropriate in trying to rapidly get help for the patient, he failed to take proper care to ensure the memo did not fall into the wrong hands. Dr Soo’s lawyers said that it was an “honest oversight” during the course of seeing 17 patients that day. The psychiatrist accepted that he had caused potential harm to the patient. The tribunal agreed that the lapse occurred on a hectic day, but said that the preventive actions he should have taken by verifying the caller’s identity were simple and “not onerous”. “We could only conclude that the failure of Dr Soo to take such steps reflected both a lack of concern for or appreciation of the required standards and an indifference to the patient’s medical confidentiality,” the tribunal said. But it agreed that Dr Soo’s misconduct was not as egregious as a previous case, in which a doctor — who was with the KK Women's and Children's Hospital — was fined S$10,000 in 2011 for accessing the electronic medical records of two patients not under his care, but who were his ex-girlfriends. At the time, S$10,000 was the maximum fine. https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/s50000-fine-psychiatrist-who-failed-protect-patients-confidential-info

SINGAPORE - The much-anticipated Jewel Changi Airport, with more than 280 shops and food and beverage outlets, will open its doors to the world on April 17, 2019. Before the opening, a public preview will be held from April 11 to 16 for Singapore residents eager to be among the first to see the 10-storey development. Registration will open online at jewelpreview.com at 6am on March 12, and each person can register for up to four people. A total of about 500,000 free tickets will be available, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said in a statement on Thursday (March 7). It came after Jewel's opening date was announced by Senior Minister of State for Transport Lam Pin Min in Parliament during the debate on the ministry's budget. The public preview, CAG said, will run in four three-hour time blocks from 10am to 10pm daily. Visitors can shop and dine at more than 90 per cent of Jewel's shopping and dining outlets, which will be open. The only area that will be off-limits, for now, is a 14,000 sq m Canopy Park - the size of 11 Olympic-size swimming pools - located on the top floor of Jewel Changi Airport. It will be open to the public only in the middle of the year, the airport said, without giving a date. The park will feature a 50m-long suspended bridge with a glass flooring that will allow visitors to look down at the greenery below; a 250m-long bouncing net, which at its highest point, will be suspended 8m or three storeys above ground; and play attractions including mazes and slides. When Jewel opens, travellers will be able to access an early check-in lounge serving passengers of 26 airlines, including Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot. This is among the aviation facilities that include integrated ticketing and baggage services for fly-cruise and fly-coach transfers, all of which will improve the travel experience of travellers, said Dr Lam when he announced its opening date on Thursday. Jewel, with its distinctive dome-shaped facade made of glass and steel, is sited next to Terminal 1 (T1) and linked to T2 and T3 via air-conditioned linkways fitted with travelators. It is designed by architect Moshe Safdie, well-known for his iconic Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. In his latest effort, the highlights include a five-storey garden with 2,500 trees and 100,000 shrubs, with two walking trails. There is also a 40m-high Rain Vortex - the world's tallest indoor waterfall. Jewel Mr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir), chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, said : "I must confess that before I visited the Jewel in early February this year, I had my doubts about the need for yet another shopping area at Changi Airport, given the shopping opportunities already available at the existing terminals. "Instead, what I found was a beautifully designed garden concept recreational centre which complements the existing airport and exemplifies our position as a garden city. It will also create many job opportunities for Singaporeans." Responding, Dr Lam said: "I am happy to hear from Mr Sitoh that he believes Jewel Changi Airport will be a delight for visitors and Singaporeans alike." He added that apart from Jewel, plans are on track for other infrastructure developments in Changi, for example, the construction of the future T5 in Changi East. Upgrading works on T2 will also start soon. It will be expanded and refreshed, with automated check-in kiosks, biometric-enabled bag drops and automated immigration gates, to offer passengers greater convenience from check-in to immigration to their flight, he said. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/jewel-changi-airport-to-open-on-april-17