The Life History of the Little Maplet
on the Butterflies of Singapore blog
Blue-throated Bee-eaters and dragonflies
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog
Morning at Kranji Trail
on the colourful clouds blog
Walk at Central Nature Reserve
on the urban forest blog
Butterfly squirting
a video clip on the urban forest blog
Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia 4 Oct 08;
SINGAPORE: Woodlands residents can look forward to a closer experience with nature, with the opening of Phase Two of Admiralty Park - a 20-hectare nature area.
Home to more than 100 species of animals and plants, the nature area at the Admiralty Park is the biggest nature area within a park in Singapore.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Health and Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC, officiated at the event on Saturday morning together with fellow MPs Mr K. Shanmugam, Dr Lim Wee Kiak and Ms Ellen Lee.
At 27 hectares, Admiralty Park is the largest park in the Northwest district to offer both recreational amenities and a mangrove swamp. It has a hilly terrain, shaped like a river valley to reflect the history of the site, which used to have a river (Sungei Cina) running through it.
Phase One, comprising seven hectares of recreational space, was officially opened in October last year.
Construction works for Phase Two started in September 2007 and took about nine
months to complete. With Phase Two completed, the park now has three boardwalks and a 2-kilometre trail the public can explore.
The park is unique because of the variety of mangrove plants, such as the Nipah Palm from which "attap chee", an ingredient found in local desserts, can be harvested.
Mr Khaw, who joined nearly 1,200 residents on the morning trail, said kids who have grown up in built-up housing estates can learn much from the park.
He said: "For us, growing up in a kampong, we can relate to all these, but the next generation growing up in HDB (flats), they may not appreciate all these attap trees, seeds, lalang, birds, and mangrove swamps."
The park will be a great asset for the residents living nearby, he added.
Just like the vegetation and natural elements have a symbiotic relationship with each other, the park itself has a relationship with its neighbours. In this case, it is the Republic Polytechnic.
The school is experimenting with using waste wood from the park to lower the amount of electricity air-conditioners consume. The wood rot helps a drying agent to absorb humidity from the environment, which helps the cooling process.
Dr Wong Luh Cheng from the Republic Polytechnic's School of Applied Science said: "We came across this de-gasification process in which we can extract energy from the plant without creating smoke and other pollutants and it's clean burning. We will take this heat, and we dehumidify the air through a mechanism that we devised."
The park will also be a live classroom for the polytechnic students. More than 30 Republic Polytechnic students and staff have also been trained to give guided tours of the park.
- CNA/ir
Richard Lloyd Parry, The Independent 5 Oct 00;
After days of emotional and frequently acrimonious debate, Japan and Norway won their struggle yesterday to prevent the creation of a huge sanctuary for whales in the South Pacific.
After days of emotional and frequently acrimonious debate, Japan and Norway won their struggle yesterday to prevent the creation of a huge sanctuary for whales in the South Pacific.
The proposal, supported by Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, failed to win the three-quarters of votes needed at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Adelaide.
Japanese officials were triumphant over the defeat of a measure that would have further restricted their ability to bypass the 14-year old moratorium on commercial whaling. But Robert Hill, the Australian environment minister who proposed the whale sanctuary, said the anti-whaling lobby would not give up. "The South Pacific wants this sanctuary and we will ensure the South Pacific gets it."
The moratorium on commercial whaling was agreed by the IWC in 1986, after several species were driven close to extinction. But Japan and Norway continue to kill hundreds of whales, illegally, and under a loophole in the IWC moratorium enabling whaling for "scientific research".
Supporters of the defeated measure say whale sanctuaries in the Indian Ocean and in the Antarctic Southern Ocean feeding grounds should be extended to the breeding grounds in the Pacific.
Japan and Norway says the threat of extinction has passed and opposition to whaling is based on sentimentalism. "If Japan has sustainable resources of whales, then why must its right to use that resource be taken away just because people think whales are cute?" asked an official with the ministry of agriculture and fisheries in Tokyo.
But the IWC's scientific committee said the real number of minke whales in the southern hemisphere could be "appreciably lower" than the estimate of 760,000. Eighteen of the 35 IWC members eligible to vote supported the proposal for a sanctuary, 11 opposed it and six abstained or failed to vote.
Japan was supported by Dominica, Guinea and the Caribbean states of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent, countries with no whaling traditions who get substantial foreign aid from Tokyo. Patrick Ramage of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said: "This wasn't a vote, it was an auction, and Japan was the winning bidder."
Michael Graczyk, Associated Press Yahoo News 4 Oct 08;
One of North America's renowned bird migration and bird watching areas is strangely silent.
Blame Hurricane Ike.
"We had red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, a bunch of migrating birds," recalled Ernest Stone, 75, leaning on his cane and surveying debris on the cratered moonscape that used to be the family beach house on Bolivar Peninsula.
"I haven't seen a pigeon in a while," he said. "Seagulls. You could always go out and throw a piece of bread and the seagulls would come."
Not now.
"Nothing," his wife, Jimmie, said. "Zero."
The same could be said for their home and beachfront community of Gilchrist, where little is standing three weeks after Ike roared ashore with 110 mph winds, a 12-foot storm surge and waves up to 26 feet. The few palm trees or patches of grass, nearly unrecognizable amid the shells and dried mud, have turned a lifeless yellow brown, killed by sea water.
For people surrounded by devastation with months of rebuilding ahead of them, the birds represent yet another piece of normalcy lost.
"Pelicans and seagulls," Veronica Felty, 46, said, looking out over the gulf waters that wiped out her place. "Birds — 40 to 50 in a row — flying. They were endless. They were beautiful. Pelicans so thick...
"You wonder if they knew to leave."
Bolivar Peninsula is part of what's known as the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, with nearby High Island a prime bird watching spot and traditional rest stop for migrating birds heading north in the spring and south in the fall.
High Island, at 32 feet over sea level, is the highest spot on the gulf coastline for 700 miles between Mobile Bay, Ala., and the Rio Grande, and attracts thousands of bird-watchers a year.
"Now is when birds would normally be stopping at High Island to top off with bugs before heading south," said Ian Tizard, director of the Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center at Texas A&M University. "High Island has been stripped of leaves, and a lot of the trees are dying."
While the loss is tough for bird watchers, Tizard said it might not be so bad for many of the birds: "From a migrating bird's point of view, it's probably not a big deal to fly a few miles on until they find a batch of trees that looks better."
Tizard said he believes things will get better in the spring.
Just like humans, the birds need three basics that Ike took away: cover, food and water.
"There's no fresh water," said Texas Parks & Wildlife biologist Cliff Shackleford, who said a good rain would ease the peninsula's woes. "That surge killed everything and dumped salt water into everything, probably for miles.
"It doesn't mean they all died, but we don't really know. The birds ... need to drink, they need to bathe and salt water just doesn't do it."
Any protection the birds would seek was wiped out when the trees and most structures were obliterated.
"Look at the vegetation," Brent Ortega, one of Shackleford's colleagues, said. "Either there isn't any, or it's covered with salt. Plant material is dying, insects and seeds are not there any more. The habitat's changed and the birds have got to live. They probably moved somewhere else because it's not very suitable."
Jimmie Stone, 67, looked at a pile of palm trees that used to border their driveway.
"We had three on each side," she said. "We had a huge tree in the yard. We had a bird feeder..."
Instead, chunks of broken concrete — their former driveway, the home foundation, the patio — tip at angles where waves lifted them and cast them aside. A dead pigeon sat on the side of Texas Highway 87. A few lonesome pelicans roosted on the remains of a pier jutting into the Gulf of Mexico.
Otherwise, there weren't many places for a bird to roost.
"I've got plenty of structure, but it's not mine," Ernest Stone said matter-of-factly, looking at the rubble of his neighbors' homes littering his property.
His mobile home ended up across the highway. The only recognizable parts of it are the wheels, upside down and twisted amid other debris.
Singapore's marine protected areas: where?
on the wild shores blog
Short Attention Span Science Theater
marine conservation issues explained quickly on wild shores of singapore blog
Chestnut-bellied Malkoha feeding chick a lizard
from Bird Ecology Study Group blog
As numbers keep changing, presence of foreigners raises questions about us as a community
Constance Singam, The New Paper 4 Oct 08;
IMMIGRATION has become a source of concern for Singaporeans and may even become a politically-contentious issue.
For most of its history, Singapore was a land of migrants, most of whom arrived here to earn a living with the intention of returning to their countries of origin. I remember the time my parents, who had thought they would return to India once my father retired, made the decision to make Singapore their permanent home. They did this in the mid-50s and became citizens of independent Singapore.
Since the early 1800s, immigration has been a central factor of Singapore’s growth and attraction.
In 1922, a visitor, Mr Hermann Norden, described our city as “perennially fascinating Singapore” with its hundred tongues, its port alive with steamers, big and small, on their way to every part of the globe; and with its hustling, bustling life ashore. All the races of the world, representatives of every stage of civilisation jostle each other in the streets, he noted.
Yet another visitor described it as “seething with life”. Compared to Singapore, he observed that “London, Paris, New York and other great cities are a haven of peace”.
In 1837, the population stood at 30,000. A hundred years later in 1937, it had grown to 651,000. By the 1960s, the population had crossed the one million mark to 1,646,000. In July 1989, Singapore had a population of 2,674,362; in 1990, 2.7 million and in 2006, the population almost doubled to 4.5 million. In two years since, this figure has shot up to an astonishing 4.84 million.
The 1980 census reported that9 per cent of the population were not citizens and they were referred to in a report I read as “aliens”. Today, that figure has shot up to 35 per cent of the population. From being referred to as “aliens”, they have become “foreign workers” and “foreign talents”.
The one period when the Singapore Government imposed strict controls on immigration was from 1965 to the 1980s. Singapore began then to earn the reputation of being boring, sterile and oppressive.
We are now reclaiming our past historical reputation as a city of migrants with many races jostling with each other in the streets. This is what makes Singapore such a fascinating place to live in and the reason why I am a happy and proud Singaporean.
So why the concern about immigrants now? Firstly, I suspect that Singaporeans have settled in and transformed this island into their home. It is a predictable and dependable space. A sense of Singapore identity was evolving — when the few foreigners amongst us were here only to do the menial jobs Singaporeans didn’t want. The overwhelming presence of foreigners raises questions about who we are as a community, challenging us, yet again during a very short history of identity formation.
This more than anything else, I think, explains the reaction of the residents of Serangoon Garden against the1,000 foreign workers’ unexpected entry into their safe space. If there is one place in Singapore, relatively unchanged, with a settled population for over40 years, it is Serangoon Gardens.
Secondly, Singaporeans have become accustomed to a sense of social and economic security, assured of opportunities for education and jobs almost unchallenged by foreigners. In these uncertain times, economically, the threshold for tolerance drops dramatically and fear replaces it. There is no indication that things will get better any time soon. Indeed, as the spectre of recession looms, there is every reason to believe that things will get worse.
Assurances by demographers and policy-makers have not eased these fears. I, for one, am confused. Back in 1991, the population target was4 million and this figure was estimated to reach sometime after 2010. There was some concern then but National Development planners assured us that it was not a target but a figure to help the planners.
In 2000, the figure of 5.5-million was used in the then-Concept Plan review as an estimate for the total population over the next 40 to 50 years.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said worries that foreigners will swamp Singapore are baseless, because the 5.5-million population figure is not a target, but an estimate for long-term planning purposes.
The concern, he said, sprang from the idea that the Government wanted to have a 5.5-million population by a certain date. Last week, we were told that a figure of 6.5 million is being used by Government planners as a guide. It will take 20 to30 years to get there, said National Population Secretariat director Roy Quek.
Is there a difference between an estimated figure used for long-term planning and a target for population?
Whatever the final figure we are moving towards, the question to ask is this: Do we have the resources to sustain the numbers?
The writer is a social activist,currently a confused activist.
Foreign Bodies
One in three people living here today was born outside Singapore. These foreign-born folk include new citizens, permanent residents, foreign workers and students. With their numbers rising fast, Insight addresses some of your burning questions on the population shifts.
Li Xueying, Straits Times 4 Oct 08;
1. Who are they?
THERE are now a total of 4.84 million people living in Singapore.
Of these, 35 per cent are foreign-born.
They fall into three groups: new citizens, permanent residents (PRs) and non-residents.
In the first six months of this year, Singapore granted citizenship to 9,619 foreigners. The total number of new citizens since 2001 is 81,553.
There are 478,200 PRs here.
So, what are these new citizens and PRs like?
Figures just released by the National Population Secretariat (NPS) indicate that they tend to be better-educated than born-and-bred Singaporeans.
Take those granted PR and citizenship this year, for example: 77per cent of the new PRs and 62per cent of the new citizens aged 20 and above have post-secondary education. The corresponding figure for existing Singapore citizens is 36per cent.
While declining to give a breakdown of where these new residents hail from, the NPS says most are from South-east, South and East Asia. A smaller number are from the Americas, Oceania and Europe.
Public data shows that the number of new immigrants from South Asia is so significant that it has caused a shift in the ethnic make-up of the population.
Ethnic Indians now comprise 8.9per cent of the resident population, which is made up of both citizens and PRs, up from 7.1per cent in 1990.
The bulk of foreigners here are non-residents. Their numbers have risen to 1.2million - an all-time high.
Within this pool, there are two groups.
The first is here on a transient basis. This group is made up of work permit holders here to work as construction workers and maids. As of December last year, there were 757,000 work permit holders.
The second group of people are regarded as potential PRs and new citizens. There are 143,000 such foreigners here on employment passes and another 85,000 foreign students.
2. Has it become easier to obtain citizenship or permanent residency?
WITH the number of PRs and new citizens on the rise, the NPS says it is understandable that some people believe it has become easier to secure a red passport. But it stresses that the criteria are 'no less stringent' than before.
New residents are admitted on the basis of educational qualifications, their immediate and potential economic contributions and how well they and their family are likely to integrate into Singapore society.
The last factor is assessed on the basis of the applicant's length of stay here, the language he speaks, the culture he is from, whether or not he has family members here, and his contributions to society here. That would include his participation in grassroots and community work.
As Singaporeans become better educated, the NPS said, via e-mail, 'more will be expected of potential immigrants who wish to apply for PR and citizenship'.
It declined to give details on the number of applications and the success rate.
Ms Ragini Dhanvantray, managing director of Rikvin Consultancy, which helps facilitate immigration here, observes that the time it takes to obtain permanent residency has fallen.
'In the past, employment pass holders would apply for permanent residency only after working here for two years.
'Now, they can apply after just six months - and about 60 to 70per cent will get it,' she says.
3. Do we really need immigrants? What if we close the door on them?
IF SINGAPORE stopped accepting immigrants right now, deaths among citizens and PRs would overtake births in 12 years, says veteran demographer Saw Swee Hock.
That is based on a projection of a total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.31. Demographers use TFR to project the average number of babies that will be born to a woman in a population.
Singapore's TFR is now 1.29.
That means Singapore's population will start to shrink in 2020.
Even if the TFR goes up to 1.51, the population will still shrink - albeit later, in 2025.
Prof Saw, the author of a book entitled Population Of Singapore and a professorial fellow at the Institute of the South-east Asian Studies, thus states emphatically: 'We need foreigners, forever and ever.'
The need to grow Singapore's population is a function of the need to grow the economy, he notes.
Singapore Management University economist Hoon Hian Teck says that with the growing prominence of the services sector, the shortfall in skilled labour has become more acute.
'In addition, the economy has undergone an important shift from being a technology follower to one that also creates new technologies,' he adds.
That means placing a high value on skilled researchers, both local and foreign.
In an interview last year, National Population Committee chairman Wong Kan Seng calculated that for the economy to grow at 6per cent annually, Singapore needs an extra 87,300 workers each year.
The NPS notes that as a country without natural resources, Singapore needs to depend on human capital for growth. And the global competition for talent is intense, it adds.
'If Singapore does not welcome them, they will simply look elsewhere and compete against us.'
4. Are there other ways to keep the economy growing?
YES, say some experts.
One way is to increase labour productivity.
A country's economic growth is the sum of two factors - the size of the labour force and its productivity. So higher productivity can compensate for a smaller labour force.
Labour economist Hui Weng Tat, of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, who has served as a consultant to the Manpower Ministry, believes that this is the most 'desirable' strategy.
The share that labour productivity growth has contributed to Singapore's total economic growth has declined steadily over the past two decades.
Prof Hui charted the decline in a paper he co-wrote with economist Aamir Rafique Hashmi.
From 1995 to 2000, for instance, productivity growth averaged 2.5per cent, and accounted for 39.7per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) growth. That was down from 51.6per cent in the preceding five years.
The figure was also low compared with those in other developed economies.
For the same period from 1995 to 2000, productivity growth accounted for 60.1per cent of the United States' GDP growth, and 102.2per cent of Japan's.
Prof Hui projects that if Singapore's productivity growth can be boosted to account for 60per cent of GDP growth, the demand for foreign labour will steadily go down.
According to his projections, at current productivity growth rates, Singapore will need 2.78million foreign workers by 2034.
But if productivity were one percentage point higher, then Singapore would need only 1.48million foreign workers by 2034 - a difference of 1.3million workers.
But such a productivity boost could prove 'elusive', he says, as it depends on many factors, from infrastructure to workforce quality and fiscal incentives.
The NPS says that productivity improvement remains a key focus of the Government.
The second way to grow the economy without increasing the reliance on foreign labour is by encouraging older Singaporeans to work longer, and more women to return to the workforce, says Prof Saw.
The participation rates of both groups remain low compared with those of other countries.
The government has been trying to do both, and has made some progress.
But some, such as MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC Inderjit Singh, question if it is necessary to push so hard for growth year after year.
Mr Singh, a businessman, says: 'I personally feel that we have adopted a 'grow at all costs' economic policy.
'I would have preferred a more moderate growth and, therefore, a more moderate population growth.'
He believes that the decision to build two integrated resorts in one go and a new sports hub, and expand the transport infrastructure in a massive way, is a case of 'trying to do too much too quickly'.
Prof Hui says that in an island-state with a very high population density of 6,000persq km, 'it might be argued that the lower growth target path could in fact provide a higher standard of living in Singapore'.
But lawyer and Hong Kah GRC MP Alvin Yeo is not so sure.
'There is the concern that with a small, open economy like ours, which is so susceptible to external influences which are hard to predict, planning for very modest growth could result in substantial under-shooting of our targets.
'But this is perhaps an issue which we need to review from time to time, as our economy, and society, matures.'
5. What can be done about the stresses caused by a rising number of foreigners?
AS FAR as the hardware goes, the NPS says the Government is 'confident that with creative planning and technology, Singapore can accommodate a larger population without compromising the quality of our living environment'.
Already, steps have been taken to relieve the stresses due to a larger population.
The frequency of MRT trains at peak hours went up earlier this year, though commuters are still feeling the squeeze.
A new hospital in Yishun will open in 2010 and international schools have been expanding their intakes.
Housing for the large number of foreign workers here has become an issue. Space for another 65,000 beds has been set aside at 11 sites around the island but the dormitories will take some time to build.
But the NPS is clear on one point - the answer lies in integration, not segregation.
'We must help encourage integration everywhere - in schools, at the workplace, in the neighbourhood and the larger community,' it says.
But Singaporeans such as Mr Mike Tay, 53, an entrepreneur, remain unhappy about competition from foreigners for jobs.
'Personally, I see that most do not add value to the economy, but are just a pool of cheaper labour,' he says.
Technical officer Lee Joo Meng, 55, also has doubts about the quality of immigrants allowed in.
'The next batches of immigrants need to be of a more competitive quality,' he says. 'No more foreign project engineers who declare 'I am learning through repeating mistakes'!'
Another area of concern is that the large numbers of foreigners here will affect the 'Singaporean Singapore' social fabric woven over the past 40 years, says Mr Tay.
'They will never have the same sense of belonging as those born here and who served national service,' he adds.
Mr Singh, the MP, says that if the number of foreigners were smaller, they would have felt a need to mix with the locals, and the locals would have felt a sense of responsibility in making the foreigners feel at home.
But that is not the case now because the influx of foreigners has grown so large so fast.
He adds: 'Instead, Singaporeans see them as a group trying to impose different social practices within their neighbourhoods.'
Government leaders have sought to remind Singaporeans that Singapore has always been an immigrant society.
Prof Saw, however, draws a distinction between the first-generation immigrants and today's.
'When our grandparents came here, they were pushed by poverty. Though some went back, many stayed on to make a living, and their children were brought up as locals,' he said.
'Today, we don't know how many of those who come in will continue to stay,' he says, noting that many are highly mobile.
A crucial factor is how these immigrants raise their children.
With PRs making up an increasing share of the population, the government will need to relook various policies, he says.
For instance, PRs now do not need to send their children to local schools.
But encouraging them to do so will help the integration process.
'If 100per cent are sent to local schools, there is nothing to worry about, he says.
'But if a high proportion of those who settle down here go to the international schools, they don't grow up as true citizens.
'Then, will the second generation stay?'
Yet, there must be a balance between measures to aid integration and the need to ensure Singapore's rules are not so onerous as to turn off would-be PRs.
Prof Saw acknowledges that the matter is 'a real headache'.
Ms Dhanvantray presents a different perspective.
She thinks more can be done to help new immigrants settle in and feel at home.
'Once the immigrants are inside Singapore, they are left to themselves to face the challenges of adapting to the local culture and society,' she said.
'Immigrants with families have to tackle the emotional and cultural shocks of relocation and also the process of familiarisation with the educational system. This is one of the biggest challenges.'
She suggests support groups to help immigrants cope with the changes, and the provision of basics such as a guidebook on the law, local neighbourhoods, schools and important addresses.
6. What will Singapore look like in the future?
WHAT is certain is that Singapore's population will continue to grow in the near future.
The resident population - citizens and PRs - now stands at 3.64million.
That is projected to go up to 4.8million by 2030.
The NPS says that is based on a TFR of 1.28, and an average nett migration of 50,000 for the next 10 years, and 26,200 a year thereafter.
What is less clear is how many of the 4.8million are likely to be born here, and how many born overseas.
In July, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew revealed his own comfort level.
He said: 'You need 65per cent of the population to be born-and-bred Singaporeans, steeped in the culture, with instincts of what a Singaporean is.
'They will slowly influence the migrants who join us to become like us.'
Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that over 80per cent of the current resident population of 3.63million comprise born-and-bred Singaporeans.
The NPS's assurance is that the Government fully intends for Singaporeans to 'remain as the core of our population'.
'We do not want to be like some Middle Eastern countries, where non-resident foreigners far outnumber the indigenous population,' it says.
'For Singaporeans to remain as the core, we must have more babies and encourage more suitable immigrants to become Singapore citizens.'
EMA explains spike
EMA response to the Straits Times Forum 4 Oct 08;
I REFER to Wednesday's letters ('Tariff hike goes against common sense' and 'Power Points') on the revision in the electricity tariff, and would like to clarify how the Energy Market Authority regulates the tariff proposed by SP Services. Singapore imports all the fuel we need for power generation and the electricity tariff must reflect this cost. Indeed, the cost of fuel accounts for about 60 per cent of the electricity tariff.
While 80 per cent of our electricity is generated using natural gas, the price of this gas is tied by long-term contracts to the fuel oil price. This is the market practice in Asia where fuel oil is the substitute fuel source to gas, and sets a natural benchmark for gas pricing.
The electricity tariff in Singapore is therefore pegged to the fuel oil price. If the fuel oil price goes up, the electricity tariff will be increased. Likewise, if there is a reduction in the fuel oil price, the electricity tariff will be reduced accordingly, as happened in two consecutive quarters last year.
To provide certainty in pricing, the electricity tariff is set in advance for a three-month period based on the three-month forward fuel oil price. For example, the forward fuel oil price quoted last July for delivery between this month and December will determine the tariff for this period.
As the fuel oil price increased sharply in July this year, there was a corresponding spike in the July forward fuel oil price for this month until December. This is why we are experiencing a sharp increase in the electricity tariff now. Recently, the fuel oil price has started to come down. If the downward trend continues this month, we can expect a reduction in the electricity tariff for the first quarter of next year.
The increase in the electricity tariff has nothing to do with the recent Formula One event. The F1 organisers brought in their own generators and equipment for the race. The electricity tariff was not used to pay for the costs of lighting the F1 circuit.
The increase in tariff is also not linked to the privatisation of the electricity industry. On the contrary, the privatisation process has helped to promote greater competition and drive efficiency gains in the power generation companies. This has brought real benefits to all consumers. Despite the substantial rise in fuel oil price over the years, the increase in electricity tariff has been much smaller in comparison. Our electricity price would have been much higher had it not been for competition.
Jenny Teo (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications
Energy Market Authority (EMA)
Queries on your power bill answered
Straits Times 4 Oct 08;
Readers have flooded The Straits Times Forum mailbox with letters about the recent 21 per cent hike in electricity charges. LIAW WY-CIN put some of their questions to the Energy Market Authority and got the following responses.
# Crude oil prices are coming down and petrol stations are slashing pump prices. So why are electricity prices still going up?
Crude oil and fuel oil are two different products with two different prices.
Crude oil, the raw material pumped up from deep underground, is not used to produce electricity.
Instead, companies use fuel oil, which is made from refining crude oil. Electricity prices are therefore pegged to fuel oil prices.
The oil prices usually mentioned in the news refer to crude oil prices. The pump prices at petrol stations are pegged to crude oil, which is why the recent fall in crude oil prices led to cuts in petrol and diesel prices.
# But 80 per cent of our electricity is powered by natural gas, so why are electricity prices pegged to oil prices rather than gas prices?
Asia does not have a benchmark for gas prices. Until its gas trading industry comes up with a gas index, electricity prices will be pegged to oil prices.
# Fuel oil prices are also coming down, so why are electricity prices still going up?
Since 2004, electricity tariffs here have been pegged to forward fuel prices instead of spot fuel prices.
Spot fuel oil prices are those that apply to oil for immediate delivery to customers.
The forward fuel price is the price for a contract to deliver fuel oil during a future period. These contracts are traded in the commodities market.
Forward fuel oil prices are set in advance to lock in the price of fuel oil so power generation firms have some certainty in pricing electricity. Uncertainty tends to lead to higher prices and volatility in the commodities market.
Changes in the spot fuel oil price will influence the forward fuel oil price. But because our electricity tariff is based on the forward price quoted three months earlier, there is a lag time of about three months before we experience the impact of the change.
For example, between October 2006 and June last year, electricity tariffs fell by 13 per cent, from 21.64 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh) to 18.88 cents per kwh, after fuel oil prices fell.
Spot fuel oil prices are falling now, so this should translate into lower forward fuel prices three months later, if the decline continues.
# Did the recently concluded Formula One race contribute to the electricity price hikes?
No, the F1 organisers brought in their own generators and equipment for the race. The electricity tariff has not been raised to cover the costs of lighting up the F1 circuit.
# Why can't electricity be more heavily subsidised?
The Singapore Government has a policy of subjecting essentials like electricity, water and oil to market forces as it believes blanket government subsidies are generally unsustainable.
The Malaysian and Indonesian governments, for example, recently found it hard to revoke their heavy fuel subsidies when oil prices rose. Demonstrations and riots broke out.
Here, the prices of essentials are allowed to rise and fall according to market forces. Subsidies are made available to those in financial need.
# In about three years, the Government is planning to further liberalise the electricity sector, opening up household power services to other providers. How will that benefit residents?
The liberalising of the market for electricity for industrial use has resulted in a 3 per cent to 8 per cent drop in electricity prices.
Electricity for household use is now provided only by Singapore Power. Opening up the household electricity sector in about three years could bring in more competing energy providers, driving electricity prices down. The effect could be the same as that of the liberalisation of the mobile phone industry, which lowered the cost of using a mobile phone.
Power generation companies might even throw in freebies to entice consumers to sign up with them.
Let it fly
Lediati Tan, The New Paper 4 Oct 08;
THE latest power rate hike has Miss Chua Kim Choo scratching her head.
On the one hand, the bank administrator read in the newspapers that electricity bills are up by 21 per cent from Wednesday. On the other hand, there are news reports saying that oil prices have fallen.
Miss Chua, who is in her 50s, pointed out that My Paper carried an report that quoted the Energy Market Authority (EMA) as saying that the projected fuel-oil price for the next three months will jump by 38 per cent, justifying the 21 per cent increase.
She said that in the same day's paper, there was another report saying that Taiwan Airlines will cut fuel surcharges on international routes to reflect oil prices.
The latest round of power hikes - the fourth this year - has left MissChua fuming.
'The 21 per cent increase is ridiculous. It's too high.
'How can it be justified when there are reports saying fuel prices have fallen?' she asked.
It is the highest one-time increase in about seven years, EMA said.
EMA chief executive Khoo Chin Hean explained that petrol and diesel pump prices, which have fallen in recent weeks, are not indicative of how much power generation companies have to pay.
Since 2004, electricity tariffs have been pegged to the price of fuel oil delivered to power generation firms for the next three months, otherwise known as 'forward fuel oil' prices.
Mr Khoo was hopeful that if oil prices continued to drop, electricity tariffs could fall in the next quarterly revision, due in January.
When this reporter asked Miss Chua if she understands what forward fuel oil prices means, she replied: 'I don't know what it means. I don't think the majority of us do.'
This only adds to her confusion.
Miss Chua lives in a five-room HDB flat with her younger sister and her 20-year-old niece.
They pay power bills of more than $300 a month. With the latest increase, they can expect to pay another $63.
Miss Chua said: 'I've grown tired of analysing it, so I just pay.'
She said she and her family have tried out ways to cut down on their power usage. They no longer leave their electrical appliances on standby and they have used energy-saving lightbulbs for the last three years.
But, she lamented, 'no matter how much we save on usage, the electricity bills are always high'.
Despite the Government's rebates, she feels that the lower-income will be the worst-hit, although she thinks middle-income earners are also increasingly being squeezed.
This home-owner is happy because he can track hourly rate of usage, detect appliances left running
Teh Jen Lee, The New Paper 4 Oct 08;
HE has saved an average of more than $220 a month on his electricity bill, thanks to a device that tracks his energy usage.
Mr Tommy Ng, 50, a financial services consultant, had the ETrack installed in early July as part of an energy savings competition on TV that was sponsored by the National Environment Agency (NEA).
On its own, the device does not save electricity, but it helps users manage their power usage and cost.
Based on his September power bill, which shows consumption for the past six months, Mr Ng was paying an average of $480 a month for his power use from April to June.
From July to September, this fell to about $260, despite the electricity tariff going up by 5 per cent. The tariff has now gone up by another 21 per cent.
Air-conditioners in each of Mr Ng's nine bedrooms were responsible for the biggest proportion of his bills.
Mr Ng lives in a condominium penthouse unit with 11 others - his mother, his wife, their four children aged 12 to 22, a maid and four children of overseas friends who are studying in Singapore.
He has a budget for his monthly electricity bill and he monitors his weekly usage to see where he needs to cut down.
'Say my monthly budget is about $200 - I expect to chalk up about $50 each week. If it exceeds $50, I will take action such as cutting down air-con usage,' he said.
For example, he'll implement a 'no air-con before 10pm' rule or set the timer for the air-con to switch off about one hour before his children wake up.
'After seven or eight hours of air-con, the room temperature will be low enough. Anyway, if they start to feel hot, it would serve as an alarm clock,' said Mr Ng.
He added that it was important to educate his family members, and the ideas to save energy came from his children.
For example, a note reminds the family not to open the fridge door for too long as this will make the fridge use more energy.
Mr Ng said: 'With the rising prices, we will continue to find out other ways to save electricity. Maybe we will try to reduce the number of rooms using air-con at night.'
Since ETrack was jointly launched by NEA and local electrical equipment developer Bridex Harwal in August, about 100 units have been sold.
There are similar devices available overseas but Bridex Harwal president Lawrence Lee said his company is the first to introduce one in this region.
Besides providing the monthly electricity usage in dollar value for overall usage, ETrack can also individually monitor three other distribution lines or channels, namely for air-con, lighting and power supply via thesockets.
The four-channel model retails at Home-Fix stores for $200. The retail price includes cost of installation by a qualified technician.
The device, which consumes less than 1watt per day (this comes up to about 22cents per month), is installed at or near the electrical box.
Appliance alert
As this is usually near the entrance of most HDB homes, there is an added benefit of ETrack helping to alert you if an appliance has been left on when you head out the door.
Suppose the hourly rate of usage is 10cents per hour when everything is switched off.
If you notice that the hourly rate is significantly higher than that, this means something has not been switched off.
A quick look around will show you what it is, for example, the bedroom light.
Industrial companies have been buying ETrack for their own energy projects, too.
Mr Eric Tan, executive director of Energy Partnership, which does energy management for corporate clients, said the industrial meters he had come across were not user-friendly as ETrack is.
'With ETrack, the clients themselves can monitor their energy consumption.
'Even before the Singapore Power bill comes, they know how much savings have been achieved.'
Inventor wanted to know his own energy usage
MR Lawrence Lee, 36, came up with the idea of ETrack because he wanted to know what his family's energy usage patterns were.
He said: 'I was spending a lot on electricity.
'Since installing ETrack, I've saved 20per cent on my bills simply by minimising usage of air-con and switching to fans.'
Mr Lee thought of making a domestic energy consumption tracking device about three years ago.
He made a prototype late last year and, within two months, had something that he could show to the National Environment Agency.
A spokesman for NEA said ETrack empowers households to manage their electricity usage and practise energy saving.
He said: 'NEA worked with Bridex Harwal as we saw the potential for the device to motivate households to be more efficient in their electricity usage.
'Reducing electricity wastage is a direct way for households to mitigate Singapore's greenhouse gas emissions and help slow down climate change.'
He added: 'Together with the energy saving tips on our website (www.e2singapore.gov.sg/
energy-saving-tips.html), the ETrack can help households save on their electricity bills.'
Mr Lee said most people don't calculate energy usage because it can be technical andtedious.
'ETrack is an educational tool to change behaviour of people.
'You can buy an air-con with four ticks for energy efficiency, but if it is on 24 hours a day, it defeats the purpose.
'Reducing usage is the most productive way to save energy,' he said.
Depending on what changes are made based on usage patterns shown by ETrack, users can offset the cost of the device through savings on their power bill within a year, said Mr Lee.
A six-month ETrack pilot project was started in North West and South West community development council in August.
It involves installing ETrack in 200 residents' homes for free and monitoring their usage patterns.
Readings will be taken every month and compared to readings for residents without ETrack.
Bridex Harwal sales manager Frederick Goh said: 'There are no concrete comparisons yet as it has only been two months. The project aims to increase awareness of usage so that people can be less wasteful.'
Straits Times 4 Oct 08;
IN ABOUT three years, buying electricity could become similar to choosing one's cellphone price plan - several plans to choose from, pre-paid cards, accounts to top up and even freebies thrown in.
By then, several rival companies could be in the picture, each vying for a slice of the household electricity pie and striving to come up with competitive pricing and strategies that will benefit the consumer.
The Energy Market Authority (EMA) will create such a scenario in a six-month pilot involving 1,000 households in Marine Parade and West Coast starting next month.
If this dry run works well, the system will be implemented in the 1.2 million households here in about three years.
Liberalising the market for household electricity will bring in companies to rival Singapore Power, which is now the only player.
Competition among the players could shrink electricity bills for households.
Electricity prices have already come down by 3 to 8 per cent among industrial users of electricity, following the opening up of that sector to competition.
Power companies may even throw in freebies such as air-conditioners to entice users to sign up with them, said EMA chief executive Khoo Chin Hean.
Electricity tariffs have been going up since July last year on the back of rising fuel oil prices. The latest jump of 21 per cent, the largest in seven years, took effect on Wednesday; tariffs went from 25.07 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh) to 30.45 cents per kwh.
The households taking part in the EMA's pilot will each get a free wireless gadget which measures the amount of energy they use, including hourly consumption, so they know when to cut back.
The gadget will also display what they have to pay, down to the last cent, as well as the amount left on the family's pre-paid electricity account.
EMA's deputy chief executive, Mr Lawrence Wong, said each 'vendor' created for the trial will offer its own peak and off-peak tariffs and users can choose the one they want.
Participating households will not end up paying more than households outside the pilot, said Mr Wong.
Take, for example, a household which picks a peak-hour tariff of 32 cents per kwh and an off-peak one of 28 cents per kwh: If its bill is smaller than what the family would have paid under actual tariffs, it will pocket the savings. If the bill ends up higher, the family will be refunded the difference.
Mr Eugene Toh, a senior analyst working on the system, said: 'This way, there would be no loss to the participants.'
LIAW WY-CIN
Same old brand new landmarks
Ong Dai Lin, Today Online 4 Oct 08;
Mr Mah said: “The identity of a city evolves from its history, culture, and collective memories of its inhabitants ... These heritage buildings give our city a distinctive character and lend soul to our urban environment.”
MANY Singaporeans may remember taking their wedding photos at the Look-out Tower at the Toa Payoh Town Park in the past.
Today, the memories will live on not only in picture albums but through the efforts of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The statutory board is expanding its conservation programme for buildings and monuments to include heritage structures.
“What makes a place distinctive and elegant are not just the buildings. It could be an elegant tower, a historic bridge, or a beautiful pavilion ... places where we spent quality time with our friends and family,” National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said on Friday.
Six other pavilions and towers will also be kept. They include the Swan Lake gazebo and Band Stand at Botanic Gardens, the observatory tower at Seletar Reservoir Park and the floating pavilion at MacRitchie Reservoir.
Six historic bridges will also be conserved. They include the Elgin Bridge at Boat Quay, the first vehicular bridge to be built across the Singapore River, Cavenagh Bridge outside Fullerton Hotel and the Crawford, Ord and Read bridges. Anderson Bridge, now part of the history-making Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, is also on the list.
“Most of these bridges are over 100 years old and are engineering feats of their time. They act as important landmarks of our rivers,” said Mr Mah at the 2008 URA Architectural Heritage Award presentation ceremony.
Singapore Heritage Society president Dr Kevin Tan applauded the “long-overdue” move. Historical artefacts that lie outside a conservation area tend to be neglected, he told Today, and URA’s initiative will help to “preserve these important iconic structures for our future generations”.
The URA will also conserve four “Black and White” houses at Bukit Chermin, bringing the number of these conserved colonial houses to 29.
Seven restoration projects were recognised at this year’s heritage awards, which are given for work done by owners, architects, engineers and contractors to conserve buildings while catering to modern needs.
The awards went to Sri Temasek at the Istana, film and foodie haven The Screening Room at Ann Siang Hill and five residential projects, which include The Sea View Clubhouse, Tan Chin Tuan Mansion, a black and white bungalow at No 14 Cable Road and a restored double-storey shophouse at No 120 Cairnhill Road.
The fifth residential project is Citylights at No 82 Jellicoe Road. Once a row of 16 motor workshops, the reconfigured 10 units of double and triple-storey pre-war shophouses now anchor a high-rise residential development.
Mr Mah said: “The identity of a city evolves from its history, culture, and collective memories of its inhabitants ... These heritage buildings give our city a distinctive character and lend soul to our urban environment.”
A total of 84 restoration projects have received the annual URA Architectural Heritage Awards since it started in 1995.
Twelve iconic structures
The URA has extended its conservation efforts to cover towers, bridges and structures other than buildings for the first time.
Tay Suan Chiang, Straits Times 4 Oct 08;
LONG-TIME Toa Payoh resident Kenny Leck has seen many changes in the housing estate where he has been living for 28 years.
Neighbours have moved away and old blocks of flats have been demolished to make way for skyscraper blocks.
Yesterday, the 30-year-old bookseller was glad to hear that one landmark in his neighbourhood will be conserved: the 25m-tall Lookout Tower in Toa Payoh Town Park.
Built in 1972, it was at one time a very popular spot for photo taking. Mr Leck said that on public holidays, his family often went to the park to take photographs, posing with the tower looming in the background.
'The tower holds fond memories for residents and it is a good move to keep it,' he said.
He was responding to the announcement that the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is extending its conservation programme beyond buildings, to include structures such as towers, pavilions and bridges.
The structures are: the Botanic Gardens' bandstand and the Swan Lake Gazebo; MacRitchie Reservoir's water intake tower and bridge and its pavilion and bridge; the water intake tower, bridge and weir at Lower Peirce Reservoir and the lookout towers in Toa Payoh Town Park and Seletar Reservoir Park.
The six historic bridges to be conserved are Anderson, Cavenagh, Elgin, Read, Ord and Crawford.
In announcing the extension of the URA conservation programme, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that what makes a place distinctive and memorable are not just buildings.
'It could be an elegant tower, a historic bridge or a beautiful pavilion. There are many places and landmarks that we can identify with and feel for in Singapore - places where we spent quality time with our family and friends.'
He cited the Lookout Tower in Toa Payoh Town Park, which he called a landmark that many people identify with the estate.
He was speaking at the annual URA Architectural Heritage Award ceremony held at The Sea View Clubhouse at Amber Road. The clubhouse, built in the early 1900s, is a former seaside bungalow that has been restored and is a heritage award winner this year.
More than 6,800 buildings have been conserved under the URA programme since the programme started almost 30 years ago.
The National Parks Board also has its own conservation programme, under which some of the more scenic and significant tree-lined roads in Singapore are protected.
These include Arcadia Road, Mount Pleasant Road and Mandai Road. Mature trees along these roads cannot be cut down.
In June, the Land Transport Authority announced that it is saving the oldest bus stop in Singapore - a bus stop along Old Choa Chu Kang Road that was built in the 1970s.
Yesterday, Mr Mah also announced that four black-and-white houses at Bukit Chermin in Telok Blangah will also be conserved. These were built in the early 1900s by the then Singapore Harbour Board for its senior staff members.
The four houses, together with 25 pre-war colonial buildings that are already conserved at the Southern Ridges, can be developed for future use as hotels, restaurants, art galleries and the like.
Dr Kevin Tan, president of the Singapore Heritage Society, is pleased that the URA is now looking at individual structures for conservation. 'It is a welcome and long overdue move as these structures are important to our historical and cultural landscape,' he said.
Six historic bridges in Singapore gazetted for conservation
Ryan Huang and Greta Georges, Channel NewsAsia 3 Oct 08;
SINGAPORE: The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is expanding its conservation programme beyond buildings.
For the first time, structures such as bridges, towers and pavilions will be conserved as part of Singapore's architectural heritage, and Anderson Bridge is one of six bridges named for conservation in 2008.
The others are the Elgin Bridge at Boat Quay, the Cavenagh Bridge just outside Fullerton Hotel, the Ord, Read and Crawford Bridges.
Also gazetted for conservation are the iconic observatory tower at Seletar Reservoir Park and the floating pavilion at the MacRitchie Reservoir.
The grand Band Stand and Swan Lake gazebo at Botanic Gardens will also be conserved.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said, "Our city is not just a collection of buildings. Iconic new buildings alone do not give a city its unique character. The soul of a city requires more careful nurturing. By preserving the collective memories of our past, we make our physical environment more meaningful."
One major challenge in conservation projects is the loss in redevelopment potential, but seven conservation projects managed to overcome this.
They won the 2008 URA Architectural Heritage Award for restoring heritage buildings to their former glory and giving them a new lease of life.
One of the winning projects is a century-old seaside bungalow, which is currently the clubhouse for the Sea View condominium.
Another winner is the Screening Room, previously the historical two-star Damenlou Hotel within the Chinatown District. It has been transformed into an eclectic film and food haven complete with a screening theatre and a rekindled rooftop under the stars.
The other winning projects are Sri Temasek at the Istana, a row of high-end townhouses transformed from pre-war shophouses at Jellicoe Road, Tan Chin Tuan Mansion, No 14 Cable Road and a shophouse at Cairnhill Road.
Nearly 7,000 buildings and structures have been conserved so far.
Conservation to include structures
Teh Shi Ning, Business Times 4 Oct 08;
CONSERVATION efforts will now extend beyond historic buildings to include heritage structures such as bridges, pavilions and towers, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.
Familiar structures slated to join more than 6,800 buildings conserved so far include the Botanic Gardens bandstand and swan lake gazebo, the look-out towers at Toa Payoh Town Park and Seletar Reservoir Park, and the water intake towers and bridges at MacRitchie Reservoir and Lower Peirce Reservoir.
Six historic bridges will also be conserved - Elgin Bridge at Boat Quay, Cavenagh Bridge outside the Fullerton Hotel, and the Anderson, Ord, Read and Crawford Bridges. 'What makes a place distinctive and memorable is not just buildings,' said Mr Mah. 'There are many places and landmarks we can identify with and feel for in Singapore.'
He also announced the conservation of four black-and-white bungalows at Bukit Chermin.
Conservation status prevents the alteration of a building beyond URA's guidelines and, by guaranteeing its future, raises the value of the conserved building.
Mr Mah was speaking at yesterday's presentation ceremony for the URA Architectural Heritage Awards (AHA) 2008.
The awards are presented yearly to owners, architects, engineers and contractors to promote quality restoration of buildings in Singapore with preservation or conservation status. The seven winning restoration projects this year are: Sri Temasek in the Istana grounds, The Screening Room in Ann Siang Road, The Sea View Clubhouse in Amber Road, 14 Cable Road, Tan Chin Tuan Mansion in Cairnhill Road, 120 Cairnhill Road, and Citylights in Jellicoe Road.
Including this year's crop, 84 buildings have received awards since the inception of the AHA in 1995.
- CNA/yt
Jessica Yeo, Today Online 4 Oct 08;
INSPIRED by the Baby Bonus for mums, an animal welfare group which rescues and rehomes dogs is offering a bonus for dog adopters.
As part of World Animal Day, Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD) and Pet Lovers Centre have come up with the Pet Adoption Initiative to encourage Singaporeans to adopt a pet instead of buying one.
They will be given a hamper of food vouchers, canned food, vitamins and toys,as well as advice on caring for their new pet.
Potential adopters, however, muststill go through ASD’s standard screening process. ASD president Ricky Yeo said: “We want to make sure they don’t abuse these new incentives. We will be looking out for impulse buyers.”
Mr Yeo said some people hold to the misconception that “a rescued dog is a problematic dog. But this is 90 per cent of the time not true, as most people abandon their dogs for no reason.”
All dogs are assessed on their temperament and behaviour before adoption, and all information passed on to the would-be adopter.
Pet Lovers Centre will also provide advice to adopters, educating them on their pet’s diet, medical and other needs.
Said Mr Yeo: “Sometimes a little help from experienced people can help these adopters feel more assured.”
Mr Ng Whye Hoe, Pet Lovers’ managing director, said: “In the US, we see a growing trend of people adopting dogs. We hopeto see it here. Most Singaporeans tend to buy rather than to adopt, as most petsup for adoption are usually over a year old.”
The growing stray population and number of abandoned dogs has been cause for concern for animal groups.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) gets an average of 250 lost or unwanted dogs each month, and ASD takes in five to 15 dogs each month.
Animal welfare group like Noah Ark Cares are turning to sterilising stray dogs to curb the population.
Posts
visitors since Nov 07