Daily Archives: September 29, 2017 (40 Articles Found)

OCBC’s facility a hit with staff

Ten years ago, OCBC was the first bank in Singapore to offer an in-house childcare facility but just 30 per cent to 50 per cent of the places were taken up initially. But after three years, all 110…

More childcare centres set up in workplaces

More children have been joining their parents in their commute to work, with more pre-schools set up in workplaces. There are 470 childcare centres in workplaces, including in commercial and government buildings and industrial estates – a rise…

Construction firms upbeat about new tender criteria

Construction firms are hopeful that new tender criteria that place greater emphasis on quality rather than price will raise industry standards and minimise price wars. The quality component of a tender will now be given greater weighting –…

Extra $700m in projects to boost construction sector

More estates will get a makeover and new walkways will be built across Singapore, as the Government seeks to give a fillip to the beleaguered construction industry. It is bringing forward $700 million worth of public amenities projects…

Bus services may be re-routed, merged or rationalised to optimise resources: Khaw

Bus services may be re-routed, merged or rationalised especially when new rail lines are opened. This is to optimise bus resources as ridership grows and ridership patterns evolve, said Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan on Fri. Such…

New smoking rules prompt changes in universities; experts say ban is step in right direction

The latest measures to widen the smoking ban at tertiary institutes will spur schools to do more to discourage smoking, although most are already smoke-free campuses. Experts also reassure that the ban is a productive effort. In response,…

Worrying that the authorities cannot explain mystery smell

It appears that both NEA and SCDF are still unable to get to the bottom of what caused the smell and smoky conditions in several parts of Singapore. This is worrying especially in this heightened security climate as…

Fire at St Andrew’s Junior School canteen toilet; no injuries reported

A small fire broke out at St Andrew’s Junior School on Fri afternoon. The fire, which started at about 12.50pm, involved some discarded items in the toilet of the school canteen. SCDF said that a staff member of…

WP opens new headquarters on 60th anniversary

WP has continued to thrive with a renewed strength, despite going through some “difficult and trying times”, said party chairman, Sylvia Lim on Fri at the opening of the party’s new headquarters. The party unveiled its new S$870,000…

3 injured in accident involving wild boar at Lentor Ave

Three people were injured after a car accident involving a wild boar at Lentor Ave on Fri morning. SCDF said it was alerted to the incident along Lentor Ave at 7am. Three people were conscious when they were…

URA to launch public tender for former Zouk site

URA will launch a public tender for a commercial and residential site where the iconic nightclub Zouk used to be. On Fri the authority said it has accepted an application from a developer to put up the 1.35-hectare…

Developers, office building owners to get grant for providing off-peak travel facilities

To encourage off-peak travel, LTA has enhanced its Travel Smart Grant programme and will award developers and owners of office buildings a grant for providing facilities such as showers, lockers and drying stations. It previously applied just to…

Strong gas smell in north-east S’pore traced to industrial facility in M’sia

The strong whiff of odour which plagued residential areas in the North-east of Singapore on Mon has been traced to an industrial facility in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia. NEA said that it had contacted its counterpart in Malaysia, the…

Yishun hawker centre aims for even more tray returns

It may well be the hawker centre with the highest rate of tray returns, but efforts are under way to get even more patrons of the new Yishun Park Hawker Centre on board. About 60 to 70 per…

More young people setting up pasar malam stalls

The number of people in their twenties who have been renting stalls at pasar malams (night markets) has risen by about 15 per cent over the last three years, leasing agents say. The uptick in interest from youths,…

Second industry briefing held for key KL-Singapore HSR tender

A second industry briefing held in London this week for firms interested in bidding for a key tender for the KL-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) drew more than 200 participants from over 110 intl organisations. Although lower than the…

Downside to en-bloc sales shouldn’t be thrust upon owners

My husband and I bought a resale apartment this year, after a property search spanning nearly a decade. We thought that we had found our ideal home, which was large enough to accommodate an extended family of eight…

New app for paying car parking fees available from Oct 1

Car drivers can download and use the new parking mobile application to pay their car parking fees at all 1,100 public car parks requiring paper coupons from Sun. Motorists just have to key in their vehicle number, enter…

PUB to extend floating solar panel trials at reservoirs

PUB is expanding its trials to test the feasibility of deploying floating solar energy panels on reservoirs, following the successful roll-out of the world’s largest floating solar test-bed at Tengeh Reservoir last year.  On Fri, the PUB called…

School buses exploiting Sembawang Park’s free parking

Sembawang Park’s free parking policy is increasingly being exploited by scores of school buses plying the Causeway route using it as a station inn. These bus drivers monopolise stretches of the parking areas and create a “camp” by…

Rebates more equitable in cutting plastic bag usage than extra charges

Although it is a fallacy that supermarkets are giving out plastic bags for free with purchases, many advocates of making consumers pay for the bags believe that this is the cause of their excessive usage. In all likelihood,…

Omron opens automation centre to study AI and robotics

Automation-technology provider Omron has opened its ninth and latest global innovation centre in Singapore, as part of a S$13.5 million investment in robotics capabilities in the Republic over the next two years. The automation centre in Alexandra Technopark…

The Business Times

Prime office rents to jump 15.8% over three years: Knight Frank

Singapore’s prime office rents are expected to rise 15.8 per cent over the next three years as demand starts to exceed supply, Knight Frank experts said at the release of the fourth edition of the Global Cities report.…

The Business Times

Beach Road shaping up to be a Quek and Kwek playground

A tie-up between GuocoLand and its Hong Kong-listed parent Guoco Group is poised to build a plush office, residential and retail project near City Developments-IOI’s South Beach – putting Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan’s project near that of…

The Business Times

Hello from the #countryside as InstaScram takes a long ride

A rarely seen facet of Singapore, set amongst the scents and sounds of the countryside. We might not have a bounty of long, winding roads, or plenty of expansive fields and farms. But, we do have a few…

AsiaOne

While Singapore sleeps: 2:15am at Dakota Crescent

At 2am, the last slivers of moonlight retreat behind advancing clouds. Any light that remains comes from the glow of streetlamps lining the roads of Dakota Crescent. It’s deathly quiet, except for the distant murmur of cars passing…

RICE

Shinvest subsidiary to sell factory property for $4.4 mil

Shinvest Holding announced on Fri that wholly-owned subsidiary Sin Hong Hardware has agreed to sell its leasehold property at 2 Kwong Min Road to Tong Tar Transport Service for $4.4 million. The property is a single-storey detached factory…

The Edge

AsiaMalls repositions its suburban malls

AsiaMalls Management, property manager of Pramerica Asia Retail Fund’s portfolio of six suburban malls and an office tower in Singapore, has been busy with asset enhancement works. The latest is Century Square, which was closed in Sept for…

The Edge

TT Intl’s Big Box assets put under receivership, operations ‘continue unaffected’

Shares in consumer electronics retailer TT Intl have been suspended since Aug 4 as the beleaguered company sought to refinance loans and other financial obligations linked to its 51% owned subsidiary, Big Box Pte Ltd (BBPL). TT Intl…

The Edge