I meant Gurmit’s mother

SINGAPORE: Global asset manager Keppel is taking its first plunge into the centralised cooling system pioneered at Tengah with a configuration that will enter through the kitchen and run under the beam where possible.  Keppel's version of the residential cooling system will also have pipes kept at the same height throughout the unit to minimise the use of joints.  The company is the second to have been awarded the contract to design, build, own and operate the centralised cooling system at Tengah.  The system involves piping chilled water to homes from centralised chillers installed on the rooftops of selected HDB blocks to cool the flats. Considered a more energy-efficient alternative to conventional air-conditioning systems, the centralised cooling system is a key push towards developing Tengah as a smart and sustainable Housing and Development Board (HDB) town. National grid operator SP Group designed and built the first iteration of centralised cooling systems alongside air-con manufacturer Daikin in Tengah's initial batches of flats, and continues to manage the system.  But the installation has not been smooth for all flats, with residents complaining of problems including condensation and leaks from their system.   Keppel's contract was announced in September last year. The company won a 20-year contract to handle the system at three upcoming Build-To-Order (BTO) projects - Brickland Weave, Plantation Edge I & II and Plantation Verge - which will have around 3,500 units when completed in 2027.  It is the company's first foray into district cooling in public housing.  Announcing the contract, HDB said it hoped to strengthen the industry’s capabilities with the participation of more market players.  A spokesperson for the housing authority told CNA that Keppel was awarded the contract via an open tender, where interested service providers that met HDB’s stipulated criteria could bid.  SP Group submitted a bid, HDB said, but it eventually decided to award the contract to Keppel instead. Tengah will have five districts when completed. The first is Plantation District and the second, Garden District, is currently under development. As of November 2024, more than 8,000 flats in the two districts have been completed – nearly 40 per cent of the 23,000 flats offered in Tengah to date. As of Nov 15, 7,921 households have collected their keys.  A five-room flat that has a centralised cooling system with pipes installed under the structural beam. (Image: Artist impression from Keppel) PIPES KEPT LEVEL, KITCHEN ENTRY The centralised cooling systems at Keppel's three projects will be connected to an "operations nerve centre", where staff can monitor the system's performance around the clock and step in when necessary.  At the Keppel EaaS Experience Centre, modelled after a flat in Tengah, staff explained how the Keppel system would differ from the current design at existing flats.  Where possible depending on the flat's layout, the pipes will enter through the kitchen along with the gas pipes. This would allow home owners to conceal them with carpentry, Keppel said. Only two-room flats and Plantation Verge four-room flats will have pipes running through the living room due to constraints with the layout. Like previous projects, pipes will enter the flat above the main door for these units.  A two-room flat where the centralised cooling system piping comes in via the main entrance and is kept at uniform level throughout the flat. (Images: Artist impressions from Keppel) However unlike the previous system, Keppel's pipes will stay at the same height throughout the flat from its point of entry so as to minimise the use of joints.  "The pipe trunking of each residential unit will be installed at a uniform height to reduce the number of bends and fittings required, and eliminating points with high stress where water leakages could potentially occur," the company said. "This layout is not only efficient, allowing chilled water to be delivered smoothly throughout each home at a consistent water pressure, but also maintains a neat and aesthetically pleasing appearance." Pipes will also run under structural beams rather than on the side, so that any trunking will extend the beam by 150mm on its underside, but there will still be at least 2m from the floor to the beam. The Keppel EaaS Experience Centre at HDB Hub shows how pipes will run under structural beams in flats. (Photos: CNA/Koh Wan Ting) The pipes will then run through along the corridor into each room.  To prevent leaking and condensation, Keppel said it will use high-density polyethylene which is resistant to corrosion, lightweight and durable.  It added that the pipes are surrounded by insulation made of industrial-grade polyurethane foam. Factory-fitted sections are then encased in trunking constructed from galvanised iron. Asked why the company took up the project despite the challenges seen in the first system, Keppel said it had extensive experience in developing cooling solutions for business parks, offices, hotels and malls.   The company will announce at a later stage the partners it will work with for the system.   Keppel will also have a different tariff rate for its centralised cooling system. Its rate will be based on consumption and the energy charge rate, similar to the electricity retail market where different retailers offer different rates and prices, it said, without elaborating on a formula. Its rate will be published on the Keppel EaaS’s website and updated every quarter, with residents notified via email.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sin...loited-2-boys-aged-8-and-11-gets-jail-4839731 SINGAPORE: A 22-year-old man who sexually exploited two boys living in the same housing block was sentenced to two years and eight months' jail on Monday (Jan 6). The identities of the victims and the offender are protected by gag order. The man, who was 20 years old when he offended, earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually exploiting a child and one count of possessing obscene films. Two charges of filming the sexual abuse and possessing obscene photographs were also considered for sentencing. In December 2022, the man approached the first victim, an 11-year-old boy, at the void deck of their block. The boy ignored him. But when the man encountered the boy on a second occasion, he persisted in talking to the child and followed him for a short distance. After that, the boy went to the man's home seven or eight times at the man's invitation. During one visit between December 2022 and April 2023, the man removed the boy's clothes and committed an indecent act. On the other occasions when the boy was in the man's home, he touched the boy's stomach and back. He also once asked the boy to touch his private parts. The man also hugged the boy at the void deck or staircase landing of their block about five times, and was seen by a neighbour on one occasion. This neighbour informed the boy's mother about the hug on May 24, 2023, and the mother made a police report after speaking to her son. The second victim was an eight-year-old boy. Court documents did not specify how they knew each other. On Apr 3, 2023, the man invited the boy to his home. There, the man told the boy to remove his clothes and the boy did so. The man then committed an indecent act on the boy. The man filmed the indecent act with his phone, and also asked the boy to blow a for the camera. The boy did so. This was captured in a 47-second video that the man kept for his sexual gratification. Police arrested the man in his home on Apr 27, 2023. According to the prosecution, a police report was made against the man by another complainant. Thirty-seven obscene films were found on the man's two mobile phones. These included the video of the second victim, as well as five videos of child abuse downloaded from the internet. Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Heng proposed 38-and-a-half months' jail for the man, while defence counsel Mr Harpal Singh asked for probation. Ms Heng argued that the young victims were vulnerable, and the degree of sexual exploitation was high. She also said there was an element of premeditation, as the man invited the victims to his home where he could offend in private. The man was persistent in getting to know the first victim, following him and calling him "adorable", Ms Heng added. The defence sought to show that the man had familial support and had made progress in rehabilitation between the time of the offences and his sentencing. This progress included him seeking mental health treatment, complying with his bail curfew and making a police report when he noticed an issue with his e-tagging monitor while on bail But in sentencing, Deputy Principal District Judge Ong Chin Rhu said there was a lack of evidence of rehabilitation. While the man was seeking treatment for mental health issues, there was no evidence that his condition contributed to his criminal behaviour, she said. Observing bail conditions like curfew and e-tagging also did not count towards rehabilitation in relation to his criminal conduct, she said. Noting that the man was already 20 at the earliest of his offences, the judge agreed with the prosecution that he should not be treated as a youthful offender. The punishment for sexual exploitation of a child under 14 is a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to S$10,000 (US$7,300) or both. The penalty for possessing obscene films is up to six months in jail, a fine of up to S$20,000 or both.

SINGAPORE - A new underground MRT station will be built near Yew Tee Village as part of a planned extension of the Downtown Line (DTL) from Bukit Panjang to Sungei Kadut, with travel time to downtown areas such as Chinatown expected to be cut by 20 minutes when it is completed. The 4km rail extension will also comprise a new interchange with the North-South Line (NSL) in Sungei Kadut Central. The stations will open in 2035, with construction to start in the fourth quarter of 2025, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a statement on Jan 6.   LTA said the first new station after the current DTL terminus in Bukit Panjang will be located in Sungei Kadut Avenue on industrial land owned by government agency JTC Corporation that is slated to undergo future development. Codenamed DE1, the station will be located near the Rail Corridor, and it will be connected to Pang Sua Fishing Deck, Yew Tee Village and the Pang Sua Park Connector via a new pedestrian bridge. A dual two-lane vehicular bridge, as well as access roads, will be built to connect the new MRT station with Choa Chu Kang North 7 and Woodlands Road. Covered linkways and cycling paths will also be constructed to improve first- and last-mile connectivity.   Farther north, the new interchange in Sungei Kadut will serve as the new terminus for the DTL.     The DTL station will be built underground, and it will link to a new above-ground NSL station between the existing Yew Tee and Kranji stations. The interchange will serve the upcoming Sungei Kadut Eco-District, a 200ha industrial estate being developed by JTC as part of longer-term plans by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to revamp one of Singapore’s oldest industrial estates. Given the proximity of the new DTL extension to the Rail Corridor, which serves as a key ecological corridor between major green spaces and forest habitats in Singapore, LTA said it has carried out an environmental study in consultation with nature groups. Measures will be taken to minimise the environmental impact of the works, including providing a wildlife corridor along the Rail Corridor during construction. The relevant reports will be published on LTA’s website this month for public feedback.   LTA said the DTL extension will improve the resilience of the MRT network in north-western Singapore by giving passengers alternative travel and transfer options. At present, residents living in the north-western region can take the NSL or the Thomson-East Coast Line to the downtown area. When the extension is ready, the DTL will have 39 stations spanning 44km. These include the upcoming Hume station, which will open in second quarter of 2025, as well as Xilin and Sungei Bedok stations, which will be operational in the second half of 2026. The idea of constructing an MRT station in Sungei Kadut to serve north-western Singapore has long been in the works. Concrete plans to do so were announced in 2019 as part of the Land Transport Master Plan 2040, which lays out LTA’s roadmap to expand the MRT network, so that nine in 10 peak-period journeys can be completed within 45 minutes using public transport.   Sungei Kadut, which houses businesses in the timber, furniture, construction and waste management industries, will be progressively developed over the next 20 to 30 years to support the transformation of traditional manufacturing industries as well as new growth sectors, such as agri-tech and environmental technology. A centrepiece for the new eco-district is the 18ha Agri-Food Innovation Park (AFIP), which was supposed to open in phases from 2021. Construction of the AFIP was, however, paused for five months in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has since stalled. JTC and the Singapore Food Agency told The Straits Times in October 2024 that plans for the development of the park are still being worked out, and details will be announced when they are ready. The agencies did not say then what had caused the delays.