2015 - Free guided walks at Chek Jawa Boardwalk with the Naked Hermit Crabs
from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs
The banana (Musa ‘Cavendish’) inflorescence
from Bird Ecology Study Group
When do the Hawk Cuckoos visit Singapore? By Alan OwYong and Yong Ding Li.
from Singapore Bird Group
Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) @ Tampines
from Monday Morgue
MediShield Life: Details next week
Rachel Au-Yong The Straits Times 19 Jan 15;
The details of MediShield Life will be introduced when Parliament sits on Monday, a move that will bring the universal health insurance coverage one step closer to reality.
The proposed scheme - announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his National Day Rally speech in August 2013 - aims to provide Singaporeans and permanent residents with basic medical insurance for life, regardless of their health status.
The MediShield Life Scheme Bill is among four pieces of legislation that are to be presented on Monday when the House reconvenes after a one-month break.
The Bill is expected to be passed by end-March and, according to the Health Ministry, the scheme will be implemented from the end of this year.
Another Bill that looks set to attract popular attention is on curbs to liquor consumption.
The Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Bill is likely to spell out when and where people can consume liquor in public, as well as the hours allowed for the sale of alcohol.
But before the Bills are presented, the issue of consumer protection here will come under the spotlight during question time.
According to the Order Paper released by Parliament yesterday, MPs have filed 10 questions on it, the most on a topic.
Among their questions are calls to give more teeth to consumer protection agencies and to impose heavier penalties on errant retailers.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten), who filed two questions, told The Straits Times: "The number of questions is a strong signal from those who represent the people on the ground, that we don't think the current situation is satisfactory, and that we ought to look for other options."
Last year, media reports about a Vietnamese tourist who went down on his knees to beg for the return of his money from mobile-phone shop owner Jover Chew in Sim Lim Square horrified many Singaporeans.
The mall had a reputation for housing shops that allegedly cheat consumers, including tourists.
Another topic of interest is falling oil prices.
Four MPs, including Mr Alvin Yeo (Chua Chu Kang GRC), have filed questions on its impact on Singapore's economy.
Said Mr Yeo: "The conventional wisdom is that an oil-importing country like ours will benefit, but it may not be so clear when we have so many companies in the oil and gas sector.
"I want to know if this will dampen growth."
A total of 72 questions have been filed, including one on the controversial land reclamation projects in the Strait of Johor. They are Forest City near Tuas and Princess Cove near the Causeway.
Both were recently given the green light to restart work.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong GRC) wants an update on the results of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) carried out by Malaysia.
He said: "I'm concerned about the impact the projects have on our waters and our security.
"I also want to know if the EIA was conducted solely by Malaysia, or if it was a joint one, and if not, whether we plan to do one."
The other Bills are on regulating deep-seabed mining activities and a new tribunal to deal with feuding neighbours.
The House will also debate three Bills, including one on changes to the Industrial Relations Act.
It seeks to let Singapore have a union for professionals, managers and executives, a group that rank-and-file unions cannot represent because of possible conflicts of interest.
What's new
The MediShield Life Scheme Bill, which aims to provide Singaporeans and permanent residents with basic medical insurance for life, regardless of their health status.
The Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Bill, which is likely to spell out when and where people can consume liquor in public, as well as the hours allowed for the sale of alcohol.
The other new Bills are on regulating deep-seabed mining activities and a new tribunal to deal with feuding neighbours.
- See more at: http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/medishield-life-details-next-week#sthash.h68HSQzu.dpuf
KENNETH CHENG Today Online 19 Jan 15;
SINGAPORE — The National Parks Board (NParks) is exploring the possibility of setting up a first-aid facility on Pulau Ubin, as interest in cycling on the island grows.
While statistics on the total number of cycling accidents on the island are unavailable — given that not all injuries are reported — islanders and bicycle kiosk operators say they come across an average of about 20 such cases a month. These occur despite measures that have been put in place by the authorities, including the installation of about 30 warning signs at dangerous spots.
Tourists, who may be at greater risk of getting into cycling accidents on the island because they are not familiar with the terrain, are also forming a bigger proportion of the 2,000 or so visitors to the island every weekend.
When contacted by TODAY, NParks director of conservation Wong Tuan Wah said: “We are exploring a suggestion from residents and visitors to set up a first-aid facility on the island.”
While he did not provide details, TODAY understands that factors such as the suitability and accessibility of the site would be among the considerations when deciding whether to build a facility of this kind.
Currently, police officers and NParks staff stationed on the island are certified to administer first-aid. In response to TODAY’s queries, the police said their officers stationed there are equipped with a first-aid kit comprising basic items such as adhesive bandages and disinfectant solutions.
“Owing to the lack of a well-equipped medical facility on Pulau Ubin, the Pulau Ubin Police Post officers are also equipped with a stretcher to aid in the evacuation of a casualty,” the spokesperson said.
Depending on the extent of the injuries, a casualty may be transported to the mainland on a Police Coast Guard patrol vessel or met by ambulance crew on the island, the spokesperson added.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it responded to two cycling-related incidents on Pulau Ubin last year, and to five in 2013. All the casualties were alert and conscious when taken to hospital.
But bicycle shop operators and cyclists said a first-aid facility would ensure injured cyclists get help more promptly. Currently, they either ask passers-by to call the SCDF or police emergency hotlines, or go to NParks’ Ubin-HSBC Volunteer Hub and Chek Jawa Visitor Centre to seek help.
Mr Ewyn Lek, 29, a staff member at Comfort Bicycle Rentals, said: “It doesn’t have to operate daily, but maybe during peak periods such as public holidays or on weekends.”
The facility could be modelled after a mobile first-aid station, similar to those at mass cycling events, said avid cyclist and business owner Alvin Low, 42.
Dr Steven Lim, chief of Changi General Hospital’s (CGH) accident and emergency department, said cycling injuries on Pulau Ubin can “range from moderate to severe with either head, facial, wrist, ankle or neck fractures from trauma”.
Apart from the first-aid facility, visitors such as Mr Michael, 50, the managing director of a multinational company, said helmets, which are rented out mostly for S$2 from the bicycle kiosks, should be made compulsory for Ubin cyclists. Only about one in 10 customers request one, said an employee of Yen Fa Bicycle Rental on the island.
When TODAY visited Ubin on Jan 11, several cyclists were seen descending a slope near Belatok Hut at high speed, ignoring safety signs telling them to dismount and push their bicycles.
Full-time national serviceman Loke Jun Wei, 19, said that some tourists may have difficulty understanding the signs because of a language barrier.
NParks’ Mr Wong said other measures implemented on the island include notice boards at the jetty informing visitors of safe cycling practices and the colour-coding of trails of varying difficulty levels at the Ketam Mountain Bike Park.
He urged cyclists to exercise responsibility by wearing helmets and protective gear, observing the signs, and adopting safe cycling practices. “Novice and younger cyclists should be accompanied by experienced, adult cyclists,” Mr Wong added.
MARTIN KHOR The Star 19 Jan 15;
The recent floods should be treated as a 'new normal' linked to regular weather extremes, and a system should be established to curb the causes and effectively managed disasters.
THE first half month of 2015 saw Malaysians pre-occupied with the big clean-up following the big floods that swamped many states, especially in the east coast.
It will take some time to get houses, schools, hospitals, offices, roads, drains, railway tracks, back into pre-flood shape.
The cost of doing so is staggering, with each the initial figure exceeded by new estimates.
The total will run into many billions of ringgit. The Government will foot the bill for repairing public facilities; and there is some government and spirited public help for flood victims’ personal losses.
But the affected people will still bear immense suffering and losses, for example, of lost business and livelihood income on top of the lost household belongings.
It is time to learn the lessons and prepare for the future.
Hopefully a high-powered coordinating council will deal with all aspects of analysing the causes of the floods and how severe we can expect future floods to be, of minimising the causative factors, preparing better to mitigate future events, and preparing to manage them more effectively when they inevitably happen again.
Recent events and climate science strongly indicate that the 2014 downpour and floods are not one-off events but part of a national, regional and global pattern linked to climate change and extreme weather events. And that we can expect the situation to worsen, more and more, in future years and decades.
Malaysia has experienced increase in temperature, consistent with the global warming trend, according to data in a 2012 paper by Yap Kok Seng, then the head of the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD), and his colleagues.
The global temperature increase has led to changes in weather, including major wind patterns, amount and intensity of precipitation, and increased frequency of severe storms and weather extremes, according to the paper, “Malaysia Climate Change Scenarios”.
Malaysia has experienced more extreme weather events over the past decades, as well as an increase in weather extremes, says the paper, backed up by graphs and statistics.
This increase could be associated with the natural variability in the sea surface temperatures of the equatorial Pacific Ocean (El Niño/La Niña events) and the Indian Ocean (Indian Ocean Dipole).
For example, the north-east monsoon of 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 brought torrential rain and floods to Malaysia, with the 2006/7 monsoon being the worst recorded over the southern part of the peninsula, especially in Johor, causing the worst floods.
“Other extreme events such as severe thunderstorms, dry periods and haze have become more prevalent over the recent years. Due to the complex interaction of the atmosphere, ocean and biosphere, global warming definitely has contributed to these changes, with climate variability and global warming acting in the same direction over the period.”
The paper points out that as the climate changes due to global warming, therefore, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) also continue to increase. Higher SSTs are generally accompanied by increased water vapour in the lower troposphere, thus the moist static energy that fuels convection and thunderstorms is also increased. Most tropical rainfall, as experienced in Malaysia, is from the thunderstorm activities.
According to the MMD analysis, Malaysia has experienced the following changes:
> Since 1980s there have been increasing number of days of extreme rainfall events.
> The number of days with extreme wind events has also increased at several stations.
> The peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak have seen an increase in the number of annual thunderstorm days.
The paper indicates that the north-east monsoon and the south-west monsoon have become more intense. Annual rainfall data for the period 2000-2009 compared to1970-1999 show an increase in rainfall for most parts of the peninsula (except the central part) and Sabah and Sarawak, and this occurred in the past five-year period of 2005-2009.
The regions with the most increase in rainfall are the north-east coast and north-west coastal parts of the peninsula, the central coast of Sarawak and north Sabah.
Interestingly, the paper also finds that there are more frequent and intense dry years (the 1975-2005 period compared to 1951-75), which are only partly due to El Niño events.
It thus appears that the new weather pattern in Malaysia includes both heavier rainfall and dryer spells – even within the same year. This explains the co-existence of no-rainfall months causing water shortages in various states with high-rainfall and flooding months in other states or even the same states.
The lesson from all this is that we have to pay more attention to increasing extremes and extreme events in the weather, counteract their causes and deal with their effects. In climate change terms, this means having plans for mitigation, adaptation and loss-and-damage.
While in the short term we can do little to alter weather patterns, we can certainly do a lot to prevent making the situation worse.
Top on the list is to stop further deforestation. The widespread chopping of trees, especially in highland areas, is a major reason why intense rainfall causes so much flooding.
The natural tree cover breaks the falling rain and allows the gentler drip of water to seep into the ground, providing ground-water to flow into reservoirs.
When trees are removed, the rain falls heavily onto the ground, removes the soil, and the water plus the soil is swept into streams and rivers, which get clogged up with soil and which are also filled quickly with the high volume of rain water.
The damage begins in the upper reaches of the river and is transformed into devastation as the engorged river reaches town areas, breaches its banks, and the raging waters sweep along houses, cars and everything else in its way.
After each disaster, promises are made to stop deforestation and disallow highland development. But after a few months and years, the logging and development work begin again, causing even more damage the next time there are heavy rains.
This time, the situation has become so serious, the public expects firm and effective action from all levels of government and all relevant agencies.
Besides conserving the forests, there are many other ways to mitigate and adapt better.
These include replanting of trees in deforested areas; soil conservation as a strategy and major activity all over the country; de-silting of rivers and streams; the vast improvement of drainage in urban and rural areas; climate-proofing of buildings, including building new schools and houses on stilts or on pillars in flood-prone areas; protecting coastal areas from storms, winds and high waves including through conserving and replanting mangroves.
There is also the whole set of activities for better management of floods and other disasters, including establishment of permanent evacuation centres; early warning systems; earlier and better systems of evacuation; stocking and distribution of food, clean water, medicine and other essentials to victims; plans for repair and rehabilitation; and the up-front allocation of financing.
If we treat the “great floods” not as once-in-20-years or once-in-a-lifetime events, but as part of the “new normal”, then the plans for a better eco-system and for managing the disasters can be made more systematically, and a significant budget for regular financing can also be set aside.
Let’s hope that we do learn the lessons of the recent great floods and prepare comprehensively to prevent, mitigate and manage them effectively. We may not be able to achieve “Never the floods again”, but we must achieve “Effectively manage the heavy rains and floods that are sure to come”.
> Martin Khor is executive director of the South Centre, a research centre of 51 developing countries, based in Geneva. You can e-mail him at director@southcentre.org. The views expressed here are entirely his own.
YU JI AND ANDY CHUA The Star 19 Jan 15;
KUCHING: While floodwaters in the east coast of the peninsula have largely receded, continuous rain over the past three days have caused floods in Kuching, Kota Samarahan, Mukah, Simunjan and Limbang.
The Meteorological Department has issued an “orange” alert warning for heavy rain until today over Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu, Mukah and Bintulu, placing many low-lying areas and settlements by riverbanks at risk of rising floodwaters.
Shalihan Annuar, the National Security Council’s assistant secretary for Sarawak, said as of 9.50pm, at least 1,023 people from all over the state had been evacuated.
Among the worst hit areas were Padawan and Simunjan, about 100km from Kuching, where nine villages are inundated. Further north at Balingian in the coastal town of Mukah, 35 families were evacuated.
Shalihan said 99 families were also moved to relief centres as floodwaters rose rapidly at Limbang.
“The exact number of evacuees is not known yet,” he said, adding that the numbers were expected to increase.
Several major roads in Sarawak were also under water last night, including Jalan Jemukan in Samarahan, Jalan Kampung Selabi and Tempurong in Serian, Jalan Kuching-Serian Lama in Siburan, Jalan Ranau Baru in Lawas, and Jalan Utama, Oya and Sungai Ud in Dalat.
“Four landslides have also been reported in the Bau and Padawan areas,” he said.
A 17-year-old girl was reported missing after a longboat sank in the Batang Mukah river during heavy rain at 6am yesterday.
Atikah Rosli of Kampung Tanjung, was with three other passengers, who managed to swim to safety.
Mukah Fire and Rescue Department chief Alimat Sam said the boat was believed to have overturned due to strong currents.
Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem told reporters that the situation was under control.
“We are prepared for any eventualities,” he said after visiting the Kuching Barrage, which regulates the Sarawak River.
Data from the Irrigation and Drainage Department showed that areas in and around Kuching received between 54mm and 125mm of rain yesterday.
Flash floods hit Sarawak
YU JI The Star 19 Jan 15;
KUCHING: Flash floods hit several low-lying areas in southern and central Sarawak since pre-dawn, Sunday, after almost three days of incessant rain.
According to the National Security Council, so far, 56 people have been evacuated in Mukah, a seaside town in central Sarawak, about a two-hour drive from Sibu.
In the state capital, incidents of flash flooding have occurred at several residential and commercial estates.
One of the worst affected areas here is at Univista Garden, between the city centre and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, where waters were about three-feet high around 10am.
Resident Abang Rosman told The Star that flood waters entered his house around 4am.
Another resident Dayang Hummida Abang Rahman blamed the drainage system.
"The drains are too small. It only took 30 minutes between the drains becoming full and water entering my house," she said.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department has issued an "Orange Stage" heavy rain warning for the divisions of Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu, Mukah and Bintulu.
The forecast is for the rain to persist until Monday.
According to data from the Irrigation and Drainage Department, areas in Kuching recorded between 30mm and 98mm of rainfall since midnight.
Strong Wind In Several Areas To Continue Until Tuesday
Bernama 18 Jan 15;
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 (Bernama) -- Strong north-easterly winds blowing over the waters of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, East Johor, Sarawak, Sabah (Interior, West Coast and Kudat) and Labuan are expected to continue until Tuesday (Jan 20).
According to a statement issued by the Meteorological Department, the strong winds with a speed of between 50 and 60 kmph and waves up to a height of 4.5 metres were dangerous for all shipping and coastal activities including fishing and ferry services.
"In addition, the coastal areas in Kelantan, Terengganu and East Johor are exposed to a rising sea level until tomorrow," it said.
The department also warned that strong north-easterly winds with speeds of 40 to 50 kmph and waves as high as 3.5 metres blowing over Sabah (Sandakan) waters were expected to continue until Tuesday and the condition was dangerous for small boats, sea recreation and sea sports.
Meanwhile, thunder storms over the waters of Sarawak and strong winds with speeds of 50 to 60 kmph and waves of as high as 4.5 metres would continue until late this afternoon.
The statement added that the situation in other areas including the waters of Condore, Reef North, Layang-layang, Palawan, Samui, Tioman, Bunguran, Kuching, Labuan and Sulu which were experiencing strong winds with speeds of between 50 to 60 kmph was expected to continue until Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the thunder storm alert in the waters of Bunguran, Reef South and Kuching with waves reaching up to 4.5 metres and the waters of Sulawesi with waves of up to 3.5 metres high, was expected to persist until late this afternoon.
The condition would be dangerous for all coastal and shipping activities.
-- BERNAMA
Flood: Garbage to be cleared by month-end
New Straits Times 18 Jan 15;
PEKAN: By month-end, the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation will clear garbage sedimented by floods at several districts in Pahang.
Its chief executive offi cer, Datuk Ab Rahim Md Noor said to date, 60 per cent of the 25,000 tonnes of garbage at flood-affected areas had been cleared.
“God-willing, the balance of the 40 per cent will be disposed off at the end of this month.
“Temerloh has the most garbage due to the floods, at 20,000 tonnes, 80 per cent of which has been cleared,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters at the corporation’s Humanitarian Mission Help Flood Victims ceremony, together with the Mata Hati Association at Taman Pelangkah near here today.
During the ceremony, Ab Rahim and the corporation staff took part in a gotong-royong with residents to clean up the area which was inundated by the recent floods.
Meanwhile, Ab Rahim, who is also the association president, said the corporation and the association would join forces to help flood victims in the state to repair electrical goods damaged by floods.
“We have association members comprising community college students who can repair electrical items. “In addition, we will also hold numerous activities to boost awareness among the public on cleanliness and factors contributing to floods,” he added.
– BERNAMA
High tide ends brief respite in Sarawak
YU JI, ANDY CHUA, AND STEPHEN THEN The Star 20 Jan 15;
KUCHING: There was a brief respite for flood evacuees in the state after the rain stopped at around noon, allowing the closure of three relief centres.
However, when high tide came at 4pm yesterday, the waters rose again, causing the number of evacuees to climb to 5,178 — the highest since shelters opened on Sunday evening.
At 5pm, two stations along Sarawak River showed readings above the danger level while three others were at the warning level.
According to the National Security Council, 34 shelters were opened across Sarawak by evening, of which 19 were in the Kuching division, serving 2,677 evacuees.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang said the Kuching Barrage would close and open according to the tide level, pointing out that flood gates at the Sarawak River mouth could “quite effectively” control the inflow and outflow of water.
During high tide, the Kuching Barrage would close and only open if swift currents from upstream push up the water level.
Jabu, who is state disaster relief committee chairman, said he did not expect the flood situation to worsen as long as it did not rain continuously like it did over the weekend.
Starting today until Sunday, tides are likely to be even higher.
Today, high tide is estimated at 6m around 5pm.The Drainage and Irrigation Department is forecasting the “king tide” to hit 6.3m on Thursday and Friday between 6.30pm and 7.30pm.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department extended its “orange stage” heavy rain warning (originally due to end yesterday morning) for another day. The warning covers the Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu, Mukah and Bintulu divisions.
In Mukah, the body of a 17-year old girl, who went missing on Sunday when a longboat she was travelling on with four others capsized in Sungai Mukah, has been found.
Mukah Fire and Rescue Department chief Alimat Sam said the body of Atikah Rosli was found by a fisherman at 8.05am yesterday about 7km from where the boat overturned due to strong waves.
In Miri, some 10 settlements in various parts of the middle basin of Ulu Baram in northern Sarawak have been cut off from the outside world as floodwaters reached remote areas of the state.
As at press time yesterday, parts of the Mulu National Park were flooded following a day of incessant rain.
Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau said the latest round of floods in Baram was more severe than the first one about two weeks ago.
“This time, more settlements are flooded, with the water level at some places more than a metre high,” he said.
Officials estimate that natural disasters incur losses of as much as Rp 30 trillion ($2.3 billion) on average
Jakarta Globe 19 Jan 15;
Jakarta. As natural disasters continue to hit parts of Indonesia, more regional leaders are asking for an increase in disaster relief funding from the central government.
Should Indonesia fail to boost its prevention efforts, state spending on rescue operations and the rebuilding process will only continue to expand, experts on the matter have argued.
The budget, they added, could otherwise be used for other purposes, such as developing the nation’s infrastructure.
Officials estimate natural disasters incur losses of up to Rp 30 trillion ($2.3 billion) on average, while disaster relief funds available for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) total only Rp 3 trillion per year.
Officials from East Nusa Tenggara’s local disaster-management agency reported on Saturday that natural disasters, including floods and landslides, have killed seven people across 13 districts so far this year, causing billions of rupiah in damages.
“These disasters have not only killed our people, they have also destroyed houses and public infrastructure,” said Tini Thadeus, head of the East Nusa Tenggara disaster agency.
The province’s East Sumba district has so far reported losses of up Rp 1 billion from floods and torrential rains, during which some 700 houses were damaged.
The local disaster agency is still estimating losses caused by natural disasters in 12 other districts and has asked for help from the BNPB, Tini said.
Floods and landslides are common occurrences throughout the archipelago during the rainy season, which usually runs from October to April.
The BNPB said as many as 270 districts and municipalities in Indonesia, a majority of which are on the islands of Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi, are prone to landslides. These areas are home to 124 million people — about half the country’s population.
According to a 2012 study sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund, BNBP and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), 99 percent of Indonesia’s population of 250 million people lives in an area with “very high risk” of natural disasters, meaning at least one natural disaster has occurred in the area in the past five years.
Experts have agreed that with global warming and climate change disrupting weather patterns, including by triggering more frequent and heavier rainfall, the prevalence of natural disasters might
continue to increase, posing even more threats to Indonesia.
A recent landslide in Banjarnegara, Central Java, claimed 39 people after heavy rain triggered the disaster, burying dozens of homes.
More than a dozen of people were injured and more than 70 others remain missing, while a total of 577 people have been displaced from their homes and are now staying in temporary shelters, the BNPB says.
Geologist Haryadi Permana of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, or LIPI, and Gede Suantika, an official with the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) both agreed that the country need to boost its preventive measures to avoid more victims and damages.
“We must intensify warnings against disasters ahead of rainy months,” Gede said.
Floods inundate 16 districts and cities across Indonesia
Antara 14 Jan 15;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Floods have inundated thousands of houses in 16 districts and cities across Indonesia over the past few days, stated an official.
"As earlier predicted, floods will continue to intensify as we enter January. Rainy season in January has the potential to trigger floods and landslides," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), noted here on Tuesday.
The peak of the rainy season is forecast to occur in January until February and is likely to trigger floods and landslides, he claimed.
The flood-affected districts and cities include Malinau, Langkat, Kudus, Tegal, Demak, Rokan Hilir, Pandeglang, Semarang, Situbondo, Aceh Tamiang, Donggala, Labuan Batu Utara, Tebing Tinggi, Medan, Kupang, and Jayapura.
"Although there is no major flooding, thousands of houses have been inundated in the regions," he noted.
The Tebing Tinggi city in North Sumatra has been flooded on three occasions during the last two weeks following incessant torrential rains in Simalungun Districts upstream areas that triggered Padang and Bahilang rivers to overflow their banks.
"Flood waters reaching heights between 20 centimeters and 1.5 meters inundated the sub-districts of Padang Hulu, Bajenis, Tebing Tinggi, and Rambutan in Tebing Tinggi District," he stated.
The Tebing Tinggi disaster mitigation office (BPBD) has evacuated several flood victims and has distributed relief aid.
In Demak District, Central Java Province, several villages in Karangwetan sub-district were flooded after the Cabean River broke its embankment at Rejosari village, he stated.
Some 257 houses in Demak were submerged in flood waters, while the Grobogan Purwodadi-Semarang road was also inundated by flood waters scaling heights of up to 50 centimeters.
"The National Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has forecast very high-intensity rains in January 2015 to potentially occur in Central Javas northern coastal areas, western, and southern Banten, Aceh, South Sulawesi, Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, Papua and West Papua," he reported.
A061 (f001/INE/o001)
Life History of the Small Branded Swift
from Butterflies of Singapore
Night Walk At MacRitchie Reservoir (16 Jan 2015)
from Beetles@SG BLOG
The Straits Times AsiaOne 18 Jan 15;
The developer of the controversial luxury housing project on four new islands in the Johor Strait says it is looking at a CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) facility being set up to ease access from Singapore. It also wants a direct connection to the Second Link.
The Johor megaproject off Tuas - whose total land size of 1,386ha is nearly three times that of Sentosa - will take 30 years to complete, the master developer Country Garden Pacificview (CGPV) said on its website.
The site, which details the concept behind the Forest City project and shows artist's impressions of the condominiums, landed houses and commercial projects coming up, was made public after the project received environmental approval to go ahead.
Under the Frequently Asked Questions section, CGPV said "yes" to a question on whether Forest City would have a direct connection to the Second Link.
"Yes, it is our hope and part of our long-term plan that the reclaimed land will have a direct link to the second bridge to Singapore," it said. The developer added that it was "studying the requirements of setting up the new CIQ" facility.
Vehicles from Singapore now pass through the Malaysian CIQ complex on the Tanjung Kupang side of the Second Link after passing through the Singapore checkpoint.
CIQ facilities are operated by the state authorities who would first have to agree to this arrangement. The project, though, does have powerful backers.
CGPV is a 60:40 joint venture between Country Garden Holdings and Esplanade Danga 88.
Country Garden Holdings is the third-largest developer in China by floor area sold, according to Bloomberg. It is controlled by China's richest woman, Ms Yang Huiyan, 33.
Esplanade Danga 88 is 20 per cent owned by Johor state's investment arm, Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor.
The remaining stake in Esplanade Danga, according to Malaysian media reports, is controlled by Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Ismail and royal court member Daing A. Malek Daing A. Rahaman.
The project has faced flak from Johor residents who see the planned luxury condos and landed houses as targeted at Singaporeans and wealthy people.
Fishermen have complained that their catch of fish and crabs has plunged since reclamation work started last year. "I used to be able to land between RM2,000 (S$740) and RM3,000 of fish a day," said Mr Azrul Izhan, 35. "These days I make do with 10 per cent or less of this," he told The Straits Times yesterday.
A Johor MP, Mr Liew Chin Tong, said the project does not make economic sense as there is "massive oversupply" of high-end housing in Iskandar and southern Johor.
Mr Liew, Johor chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party, is also concerned that the project would narrow the navigation channel for ships using the nearby Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia's biggest container port.
Forest City's developer said its project has more than the minimum buffer zone required for shipping navigation.
Reclaiming land for projects ‘not new’
The Star 18 Jan 15;
PASIR GUDANG: The Johor government says that the development of projects on reclaimed land is “not something new” as it has been done in other countries such as Singapore and Holland.
“Look at Singapore. They have also done massive land reclamation,” Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.
Referring to the multi-billion ringgit Forest City project, which will see reclamation of a huge part of Straits of Johor to create four man-made islands, he said the public should not be affected by negative views on the environmental impact.
The project would now proceed as it had received approval from the Department of Environment (DOE) on Jan 9, he said after attending the SMK Pasir Gudang Parent-Teachers Association meeting and presenting aid to students yesterday.
Mohamed Khaled said that all projects on reclaimed land in Johor had to meet stringent requirements and receive environmental impact assessment approval from the DOE.
Mohamed Khaled said the state government would ensure that the welfare of fishermen affected by the land reclamation in south Johor would be taken care of under the Fishermen’s Fund.
Under a state ruling introduced last year, property developers involved in land reclamation within Iskandar Malaysia have to contribute to the fund.
It was reported that about 3,237.48ha of land would be reclaimed within the country’s first economic growth corridor under its Comprehensive Development Plan from 2006 to 2025.
The Forest City Project, which was initially suspended for six months, was finally green-lighted by the DOE to resume.
However, its size was scaled down from about 1,978ha to 1,368ha.
From Today Online 17 Jan 15;
LOH CHEE KONG Today Online 16 Jan 15;
SINGAPORE — For a Government known for its foresight, the fact that it did not build up its infrastructure quickly enough in anticipation of a population growth driven mainly by an influx of foreign workers still gnaws on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who cited this as a regret in his 10 years or so leading the country. But lessons have been learnt: In future, policymakers have to be prepared for a wide range of outcomes and “insure ourselves”, he said.
“We have to plan in future less conservatively and try to be less precise in our prognostications,” said Mr Lee, adding that the external environment has a huge bearing – apart from government policies - on how the country shapes up in the next decade.
It is precisely with this approach that the Government put up the Population White Paper last year, with a 6.9 million population planning parameter for 2030 which was, however, misunderstood by the public as a target. “We do not want 6.9 million as a target but I want to have infrastructure… I want to get myself ready. If unexpected things happen, I can be prepared,” Mr Lee said. “That is the attitude which the Government needs even more, and so does the population. And when things turn out not quite right, well, we accept that that is the way the world is.”
Nevertheless, he could understand the public’s “strong emotional reaction” to the White Paper. On hindsight, the Government could have done better in communicating the White Paper if it had “a bit more time to prepare the ground - to explain it, to soft-sell, and prepare people to understand what is the issue”, he said.
In 2013, Mr Lee first admitted that the Government did not have 20/20 foresight, resulting in the problem of inadequate infrastructure. He brought up the issue again, when he was asked if he has any regret during his tenure as Prime Minister. “At the time we thought we were doing the right thing - pacing it, measuring it out, building it when we needed it and not spending resources until we needed to spend them,” he said. “It turned out that things did not pan out the way we expected.”
The Government has since taken steps to rectify the situation, ramping up public housing, tightening the inflow of migrant workers and improving public transportation.
On what he was most satisfied with, Mr Lee cited the continued emphasis on education, with a slew of far-reaching initiatives rolled out over the years. “Right from the beginning, at my first National Day Rally, one of my themes was on the young. We were talking about schools - Teach Less, Learn More and getting people to get the maximum out of their education,” he recounted.
Acknowledging the work of “successive capable, strong Education Ministers supported by competent and passionate professionals”, Mr Lee added: “We have followed through on that in many ways.” He cited the Government’s investments in schools, Edusave and building up the Institutes of Technical Education, among other initiatives. The polytechnic and university sectors have also been enhanced, with more university places being created for Singaporeans. Beyond formal education, there are also opportunities to develop skills relevant to the future and pursue lifelong learning.
Addressing criticism that the education system heaps too much pressure on students and parents, Mr Lee said: “If parents were unconcerned about their children’s education… we would have another set of problems… But we also would like people to have a holistic education. It is not just grades.”
The Ministry of Education has sought to re-emphasise character education in recent years, to reduce the fixation on academic grades. Mr Lee said: “Collectively, we put too much emphasis on tuition. We think that if we hothouse our children, it will make all the difference. I am not so sure.”
He added: “I can understand the concerns of the parents who want to give their children the best but we also want to give the children the time and the space to grow up. Have a certain steady attitude towards how the children are doing in school. If you get the top marks, that is good. If you did not quite get the top marks, it is not the end of the world. If you get into the school you prefer, well, congratulations; if you did not… keep on trying your best.”
Looking back on a decade as Prime Minister, Mr Lee said an important personal lesson is the need for the country – from the public, right through the Civil Service, ministries and the Cabinet - to work together. More than ever, the Prime Minister needs to depend on a strong team, he added. “That has been much more so than I expected. I would say for my successor, it would be even more so because the problems will be even more complex.”
'Slower growth but S'pore can still prosper'
LOH CHEE KONG Today Online 16 Jan 15;
SINGAPORE — The days of 5 to 6 per cent economic growth are behind Singapore, but the Republic can prosper if it responds well to a global environment that will be in constant flux with new technologies and competitors emerging, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said. And part of the response, he added, lies in raising productivity – a national effort that must continue even though it has yet to bear fruits.
In 2010, the Government set an ambitious target of achieving 2 to 3 per cent productivity growth per annum over the decade. Since then, the lack of progress in the country’s productivity drive has led to businesses and economists casting doubts on the Government’s strategy.
On whether it was time to relook the approach, Mr Lee said: “We have to persevere, it is not something that can happen quickly, but something which we have to continue working on. We have the schemes, we have the emphasis… There is no alternative to this.”
Mr Lee did not mince words in expressing dismay at the progress of the productivity drive in his recent New Year message - he had described the productivity performance as disappointing and warned that incomes would soon stagnate if there was no improvement. Nevertheless, he acknowledged during the interview the scale of the task, which is tough “because you are asking companies to change the way they are doing things”.
“They have to learn new skills and they may need a new organisation - they may not be able to operate as one little shop,” he said. “You may need to franchise or join together, you may need to change altogether and instead of having one waiter per table, you have self-service and the waiter just comes at the beginning and pours your coffee for you.”
The economy was a recurring theme throughout the 70-minute interview, and Mr Lee said that internationally, it is recognised that Singapore is a developed economy “so it is not possible to grow 5 to 6 per cent per year anymore”.
“If we can (grow) 2 to 3 per cent per year for the next five years, we are doing well. Domestically, we have to get used to what that means. Three per cent (growth) per year means your wages will go up correspondingly, gradually year to year - maybe not every year but over four, five years you will see improvements if we are successful in our policies.”
For its part, the Government will try to keep costs down and is also doing more to help the low-income groups.
Mr Lee noted that for the middle-income, efforts to keep the tax burden considerably low, for example, are succeeding when compared to Hong Kong and Australia.
This, he said, means that “what you earn, you keep, rather than I spend on your behalf. If we can maintain that, then we can improve our lives progressively. If we cannot maintain that, we go to zero growth - I think we have a problem”.
With the outlook still murky for the major economies of the United States, China and Japan, Mr Lee said the global economy would be uncertain for a long time to come. “The global economy is never going to be certain, I mean, when everybody thinks that things are going swimmingly well, that is when you should get very worried that we are not paying attention to some danger and we are about to crash into something pretty soon,” he said.
“That was the situation before 2007 and everybody thought things were well, markets were brilliant and all making money and then you ran into a serious disaster.”
PM Lee on his achievements and regrets, after a decade at the helm
Channel NewsAsia 16 Jan 15;
SINGAPORE: As the nation gears up to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, Singapore should take the occasion to take stock and focus on its vision for the years ahead, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in an interview with Singapore journalists earlier this week.
In his first such interview since reaching the milestone of 10 years at the helm, Mr Lee touched on a broad range issues, such as the evolving political landscape, the challenges facing Singapore and Singaporeans, and his vision for the country.
ON WHAT HE IS PARTICULARLY SATISFIED WITH
"I would say putting a lot of emphasis on education. Right from the beginning, my first National Day Rally, I remember one of my themes was on the young. And we were talking about the schools - 'teach less, learn more' - and getting people to get the maximum out of their education.
"We've followed through on that in many ways, investing in the schools, Edusave, resources for the principals, making sure every school is a good school, developing tertiary education, building up the ITEs. I've now opened all three of them - the East, the West and most recently, and the best of all, I think is the Central campus.
"We've expanded our polytechnics and upgraded our polys and they are now a very attractive option for many young people.
"We've expanded university education. SUTD was one manifestation. It means a lot more young people are getting into our universities now and we are expanding the numbers further and opening up new paths with UniSIM, with SIT (Singapore Institute of Technology), and we are talking about beyond formal education, skills future, lifelong learning.
"I think it is not a single decision, but it is a continuing, consistent emphasis over a long period of time and successive capable, strong Education Ministers supported by competent and passionate professionals. I think that is very important to our future."
ON HIS GREATEST REGRET
"In retrospect, it's easy to say that we should have been building up our infrastructure a lot faster; that we should have got our trains running; that we should have got our HDB flats built more.
"At that time, we thought we were doing the right thing, pacing it, measuring it out, building it when we needed it and not spending resources until we needed to spend them. It turned out that things didn't pan out the way we expected and I think in the future, we have to plan less conservatively, and try to be less precise in our prognostications.
"You want to predict what's going to happen."
ON THE POPULATION WHITE PAPER
"I think there was a strong emotional reaction when we put out the White Paper. In retrospect, if we have had a bit more time to prepare the ground, to explain it, to soft sell and prepare people to understand what it is that is the issue and what we are trying to do, we should have done better. But that's water under the bridge.
"I can understand the reactions of people because they are not reacting on the basis of reading a paper and then trying to take a dispassionate, almost academic approach, to what should be done. They are reacting on the basis of their direct context - colleagues at work, people on MRT trains, public places where foreign workers may gather - and they have a reaction, to say things have changed.
"I am not surprised there is some such anxiety among Singaporeans. I think we have worked hard at this. We have calibrated the policies, we have slowed down the inflows, we have tightened up on foreign workers. In fact, it is causing employers a lot of pain.
"We will continue to adjust to get the balance as right as we can, but I don't think we are able to relax because we have to continue in a sustainable way. But neither are we able to say: 'We go to zero and let's do away with all these people. We don't need them to build our trains, we don't need them to make houses. We don't need them to serve us noodles in the middle of the night when we go down to the hawker centre.' I think that is not practical.
"People ask me: 'Next year, what is the growth?' Or 'Ten years from now, what will Singapore be?' The answer is what I can guess, but actually a lot depends on what we do, a lot depends on how the world goes. We have to be prepared for a wide range of outcomes and insure ourselves."
ON HIS USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
"I think it makes me a lot more conscious in pitching what I want to say, to ask myself: How will I distil this down in a form which somebody can digest on Facebook or Instagram? On Twitter it is very hard. It's 140 characters, I can just put a bit, but please click on this bit.ly to read more.
"But on Facebook, you can say a bit more, on Instagram, if you choose the right picture, the picture can tell a lot of stories. So it makes me a lot more conscious of the way I boil down my messages down into small chunks, and also the timing and the sense of the messages. You cannot always be putting out long, learned dissertations on some cosmic issue or other.
"There are times when you have to be light-hearted. There are times when you see a beautiful sunset, you share it with people and hope that they enjoy it with you. When you catch an owl somewhere in the Istana, maybe somebody is interested to see the owl. It's something unusual and personal. And I think that is helpful.
"But it's necessary, through Facebook, Instagram or whatever the next new thing is coming - I've not gone into Snapchat yet - to have not just light banter, but really some serious response, serious content as well."
ON COST OF LIVING
"In 1984, when I entered politics, nobody brought up the issue of cost of living. At that time, people were a lot less well-off than the people now, but nobody really felt they didn't have enough money. Or at least, they did not view this as the most important issue of their lives. This was because everyone believed their lives will improve and tomorrow will be better as long as they continued to work hard.
"Right now, our lives have indeed improved, and this applies even for low-income families. They live in better environments and their children have more opportunities to get a good education. But everyone still feels they don't have enough money. Why is that so? This isn't just a statistical problem and it also isn't just about the Consumer Price Index.
"This is about different lifestyles and people's aspirations. It's about people seeing what the average standard of living should be and everyone aspiring towards that. It's about them feeling the need to accomplish what they want in life and yet feeling that they can't because they don't have enough money. So they think they have a problem with the cost of living. It's not easy to solve."
ON OCCUPY CENTRAL
"We're all considered Asia's four new dragons, and we've all experienced a period of rapid growth. But in the last 10 years or so, we've been moving in different countries. Hong Kong is a part of China, but what is Hong Kong worried about? Housing prices, whether young people can afford their own houses. If they can't find a place to stay, they don't even have to think about starting a family.
"They're worried about China, not just in terms of competitiveness, but also whether the massive China society would overwhelm Hong Kong's uniqueness. So Occupy Central is about electoral issues against the backdrop of Hong Kong's political and societal context.
"As for Taiwan, I believe most Taiwanese want to maintain the status quo and its political position. Taiwan's economy has run into some problems in the last decade because their growth has been slower, and young people there want to find jobs and upgrade themselves. Graduating is not a problem as they have many universities and many of them are graduates.
"But many graduates are not satisfied with the jobs they've had to do. Some drive taxis, some do small businesses, while others have had to come to Singapore to work. Why? It's because their economy has not had a clear direction to move towards.
"If they move towards China, they're afraid of over-relying on China. Yet they can't completely move away from China because China's draw is huge. If they let foreign workers in, they're afraid it'll change their society. But if they don't, their economy can't progress. So their young people have reasons to worry, and this was reflected in their recent elections.
"We have our challenges. In terms of housing, Singaporeans may feel that we are not building them fast enough, but regardless, it's not difficult if you want to buy a house. In China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. If you ask a young person when he intends to buy a house, he may think you're trying to make fun of him. It's because they just can't imagine buying a house unless they're very rich.
"In Singapore, you have to buy a house before you get married, so it's completely different. In terms of jobs, our economic development has been quite good in the past 10 years, so we have enough jobs. Once you graduate from polytechnic or university, you can basically find suitable work. Maybe you're hoping for higher pay, but to find a job at least is not a problem. And about 90 per cent manage to find proper work within six months, and these are good jobs.
"Everyone wants higher pay, better jobs, shorter hours - I'm hoping for these too. But with work, there'll be tradeoffs. We need to import foreign workers and new immigrants if we want economic development, so we have a different set of challenges. We need to achieve a balance.
"So I think all three societies have different situations. We learn some of their lessons, but we also need to understand that we are Singapore. Singapore is different from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan."
ON FUTURE ELECTIONS
"I think it must change. I'm not sure which way it will change. We are in a very unusual situation where there is a clear consensus for the ruling party, for the People's Action Party.
"There's desire for alternative views, but basically Singaporeans want the PAP to govern Singapore. And if you ask the opposition party, whether it's the Workers' Party or SDP (Singapore Democratic Party), nobody says: 'Vote for me, I will form the Government, I will be the Prime Minister, I will run this place better'. Nobody.
"So in that situation, for the Government to continue to maintain support and to be able to carry the consensus of the population over the long term - I think it's very important. Will it remain the present situation exactly today? I don't think so. How will it change? I cannot say.
"It depends on voters. It depends on how the new MPs and ministers we bring in bond with the people. It depends on what situations we run into. If we run into a turbulent situation, I think people will be very worried about the dangers and there will be a flight to safety. If you are in a peaceful and prosperous environment, people will say: 'This is the way the world is, why do you need the Government? We can prosper without the Government.'
"So there is no safety net, no certainty that what we have now is going to continue. And each election is a very serious contest for who is going to form the next Government."
ON THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION
“I think there’ll be quite a few (new candidates). You have already seen some of them, so you can do an estimation.
“(The number of Group Representation Constituencies) will be decided by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee. But at the last General Election, the average number of MPs assigned to each GRC went down, and there were a few more SMCs (Single Member Constituencies). I am satisfied with that.
“In principle, every MP should be able to contest on his own to keep his constituency. I think every MP should be prepared for this because they won't be able to know whether the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee will carve out an SMC from their GRC. The objective of having GRCs is to ensure we will have minority representation in Parliament. I think this is still necessary, so we definitely will not change the GRC system.
“There is no institution that can guarantee it will never be overturned. Even if you don't hold elections, there may still be revolutions. So in Singapore, if everyone just assumes the Government will not be unseated and votes as he wishes, I think that is a very dangerous assumption."
ON HIS SUCCESSOR
“It's very possible (my successor) is already in the current Cabinet line-up, but it's not an absolute because I want to bring in a group of new candidates with strong leadership potential in the next election. I believe we should be able to find my successor from the previous two elections or the next one.
“Times have changed, and his background would also be different. He would need some time to establish his authority, to let Singaporeans know his character, his working style and his leadership abilities. In other countries, it's quite rare to find a Prime Minister that has had many years of experience before leading a country.
“But he may not be a stranger.”
ON THE NARRATIVE FOR SINGAPORE
"I think that for the next phase, the narrative cannot be a single word, nation-building. It has to be that we live in Singapore, we have a home, this is a place which is quite special, if you travel, you would know it's very special. Not just if you travel to developing countries and backward areas.
"If you travel to developed countries, you would know that this is a place where you don't find the same kind of multiracial mix, you don't find the same kind of opportunities as you would in Singapore and many places.
"I think we can make this something really outstanding for ourselves and our children. And for Singapore, as well as for the individual, we have to work at it ... it's not easy, but we have the resources, and if we can work at it, it will be better.
"Better to do what? Better for you to fulfil what you want to do in life. We accommodate one another, we are not just so many individual human beings but a society. In Singapore we get on together, and I think we can have a good future, a bright future."
- CNA/ly/ms
Nabilah Said The Straits Times AsiaOne 18 Jan 15;
SINGAPORE - Jurong Fishery Port will be upgraded and architects think it has the potential to be a lively restaurant and retail centre
Something fishy has been going on in Jurong.
In the wee hours of the morning, goods are unloaded off boats, money changes hands and, by sunrise, much of the business winds down.
Not many people know about the Jurong Fishery Port, a 5.1ha area that integrates a port for docking of fishing vessels, a 400m-long wharf and a 9,000sq m wholesale fish market. The port started operating in 1969.
Up to 3,000 people, including fish retailers and a smattering of members of the public, head to the market every day to buy up to 250 tonnes of seafood, such as red snappers, prawns and crabs.
According to a Lianhe Zaobao report published two weeks ago, Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan announced last year that the fishery port will be upgraded, although no dates were given.
A spokesman for the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), which operates both the Jurong and Senoko fishery ports, says: "AVA is planning to redevelop the Jurong Fishery Port. More details will be shared at a later date."
Lianhe Zaobao also interviewed fish merchants operating in the market, who said that the new port could include a multi-storey centre, seafood processing facilities and eateries to attract both businesses and consumers.
If these hoped-for changes take place, the Jurong Fishery Port may become something like the bustling tourist attractions such as Fishermen's Wharf in San Francisco or Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, the Zaobao report said.
Though it is still early days, architects Life!Weekend spoke to say that the Jurong Fishery Port does have the potential to blossom beyond its current form.
"An array of restaurants and retail facilities selling fresh sashimi and seafood, as well as related restaurant supply shops, will certainly add to the vibrancy of the place," says Mr Seah Chee Huang, director of DP Architects.
He adds that like Fisherman's Wharf, "recreational and civic spaces" located near the pier, such as a visitor centre, heritage gallery and festive markets, can add dynamism to the port.
Mr Jason Pomeroy of architecture consultancy, Pomeroy Studio, envisions that the port can be a "home to a cluster of high-tech, innovative vertical fish farms", citing Singaporeans' growing appetite for home-grown and sustainable food sources, coupled with land scarcity.
Such farms make use of recycled water systems to allow fish farming activities to take place in industrial settings.
However, the architects caution that infrastructural changes are necessary to increase the accessibility of the port, which is located near Jurong River.
Director of RSP Architects Planners & Engineers Seah Chee Kien says the location is "not conducive", adding that the "heavy industrial port traffic" makes it difficult to turn it into a compelling attraction. But he adds that the development of the Jurong East area and Jurong Lake District would bring more people into the vicinity.
Mr Seah from DP Architects agrees, suggesting that alternative transportation routes for cycling and even water taxis could be explored, on top of improving vehicular access. If these suggestions are implemented, the new port might net an increase in visitors and even tourists in the future.
One such visitor, Mr Adib Jalal, 32, welcomes these potential changes as he feels that "we Singaporeans sometimes have a disconnect with knowing where our food comes from".
The creative director of urban consultancy Shophouse & Co has visited the wholesale market twice in the past two months, attracted by the prices of the seafood, which are about 25 per cent cheaper compared to regular markets.
But while he believes that the fishy smell of the market is "part of the experience", Nanyang Technological University student Kamarulzaman Mohamed Sapiee says he could do without the stench.
The 24-year-old wishes for a jetty for people to stroll along, as well as restaurants, but hopes that the changes will not be too complex. "At the end of the day, it is still a fishery port and the area shouldn't change into a garden or park or something else," he says.
Ronald Loh The New Paper AsiaOne 18 Jan 15;
They perch on branches and lamp posts, watching the people below them walking by.
When they spot something that catches their eye, like a plastic bag that could potentially carry food, they strike.
Flapping their big black wings, the crows swoop down on their targets, peck at their victims and startle them. This has been happening over the past few days, just outside Hougang MRT station. Men, women, children - no one is exempt.
About half a dozen crows began their attacks on Tuesday evening, reported Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao.
When The New Paper visited the area on Wednesday at about 7pm, we spotted at least five big adult crows swooping down on unsuspecting people.
We followed some of the birds and were led to a small tree just outside Hougang Mall on Hougang Avenue 10, opposite Block 425. A few crows nestled in the tree while the rest perched on top of lamp posts.
We noticed that they would particularly strike at those carrying plastic bags walking near their tree.
In half an hour, seven people were attacked. All the victims did not see the crows flying down on them.
By the time they felt the crow's beak and the flap of its wings, the offending bird would have flown off.
While some people shrieked in shock, most were left puzzled and looking around before they hurried away.
A woman in her 20s was walking past the tree with a plastic bag of groceries in each hand when a crow flew down and pecked her head.
She started, spun around and immediately swung her plastic bag at the bird.
She said: "I'm okay. I was just shocked, that's all. Perhaps the crow was hungry."
Ms Aini Abdullah, 41, who works at a booth at the carpark near Hougang Mall, said the crows appeared in numbers on Monday.
LOUD NOISES
"One afternoon when I was in the ticketing booth, I heard loud noises from the roof. When I came out of the booth to check, I saw many crows perched on top, pecking away at my roof. It shocked me," she said.
A biodiversity expert told TNP that the attacks could have stemmed from people feeding them.
Assistant Professor Frank Rheindt from the National University of Singapore's Department of Biological Sciences said the attacks were likely carried out by house crows, or Corvus splendens.
"What they're doing could be misinterpreted as them attacking people, but they may actually just be wanting to be fed.
"Like monkeys, they are incredibly smart and they are able to recognise plastic bags, which they think will have food for them," he said.
An Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) spokesman told TNP that the AVA will conduct surveillance and crow control operations when it receives reports on crow attacks, to safeguard public safety.
These include tree pruning to deter the birds from roosting, properly disposing of food to deny the birds available food sources and bird control operations.
There were 260 crow-attack reports from the public last year, down from 460 in 2013.
When TNP visited the area again yesterday, we spotted six crows, although the birds did not attack anyone.
While most Hougang residents said they have not seen or experienced attacks by crows, some voiced their concern about the recent development.
Said Ms Cheryl Chong, 19, a student: "Of course I'm afraid. I didn't know this was happening. I take the MRT every day and I have to pass by the area."
Another resident, Ms May Lee, 23, a stewardess, said she may avoid the area near Hougang Mall for now.
"It is scary and it worries me to be walking on the streets now," she said.
The best thing for residents to do is to stop feeding these birds, said Prof Rheindt.
"Many people don't realise that feeding these birds with food scraps is a bad thing. Plus, what you are feeding them may not be healthy for them," he said.
BY THE NUMBERS
260: Reports of crow attacks by members of the public made last year, down from 460 in 2013.
WHAT TO DO WHEN ATTACKED BY CROWS:
Seek shelter immediately and avoid the area as it may be near their nest
Wave your arms or umbrella at the crows to scare them off
Use shiny objects to scare them off
Contact AVA at 1800-476-1600 or through its website
HOW TO PREVENT CROWS FROM GATHERING:
Keep your surroundings litter-free.
Properly dispose of trash and keep trash bins covered.
Clean up after feeding your pet as crows may look to scavenge leftover food.
Crows 'opportunistic when it comes to food'
House crows are not native to Singapore.
They were brought here from India on trading ships in the 1940s to feed on crop pests.
Today, house crows have settled down and made the urban jungle of Singapore their home, said Assistant Professor Frank Rheindt of the National University of Singapore.
"But these birds are not considered a desirable part of Singapore's fauna as they were introduced into the ecosystem. They are not supposed to be here in the first place," he said.
Over the years, they have been able to survive and thrive in Singapore - becoming cohabitants of the human settlement here - because of their intelligence. For example, they make their nest at the top of trees where they will be out of reach to most predators, he said.
He added that crows have also been reported to use tools when finding food.
Mr Alan Owyong, the vice-chairman of the Nature Society (Singapore) Bird Group, said crows have also been known to attack larger birds, such as eagles.
"When they see an eagle carrying food in its talons, they will attack in a group knowing they have strength in numbers. The eagle, when harassed, will then drop the food, which the crows will pick up."
Crows, being omnivores, are also highly adaptable and eat practically everything, said Prof Rheindt.
"They feed on anything such as plants, food scraps and dead animals on the road. They are opportunistic when it comes to food," he said.
Prof Rheindt also said some crows may have grown used to people feeding them.
"That could be why they are swooping down on people, hoping to be fed by them."
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said crows are also particularly protective of their young and may attack when threatened. They can also hold grudges and may attack if you have accidentally offended one of them.
Audrey Tan The Straits Times AsiaOne 18 Jan 15;
SEVERAL birds and rats have been found dead in Pasir Ris Farmway 2, where a number of animal shelters are located. Volunteers at the shelters suspect that the animals might have been poisoned after eating kibble in styrofoam boxes left along the road.
The volunteers have been told to be more careful when walking the stray dogs under their care in the area. In particular, they should ensure that the canines do not eat anything off the ground.
No dog has been found dead so far.
In a Facebook post on Jan 8, independent dog rescuer Ray Tan sounded an alert to those volunteering in the area. "Lots of dead birds and rats (found) along Pasir Ris Farmway 2. Suspect poisoning. Avoid walking the dogs if possible," the post read.
It was accompanied by a photograph of a dead bird.
Mr Tan, 45, added: "It could be that someone is trying to poison the rats. But it should be done properly, by getting pest control in."
In response to queries, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority told The Straits Times last Friday that it was aware of the case. Investigations are ongoing.
"Our officers have visited the site and collected the dead birds for testing," said its spokesman, adding that no food was found though.
Welfare group Mutts and Mittens said its volunteers had removed the leftover food "for fear that more small animals might become victim to poisoning".
Said Dr Siew Tuck Wah, president of welfare group Save Our Street Dogs, which has a shelter in the area: "This area is known for having a high concentration of dogs, so volunteers should ensure they (the dogs) do not consume food lying on the ground."
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