Quick News: Sunday, January 09, 2011

2 weeks' leave + 11 PHs = 43 days off

Rest assured, your two weeks' annual leave and 11 public holidays can together yield up to 43 days off this year. This, despite 2011 seeing just five long weekends, down from seven last year.

Three mature HDB towns to get $1b facelift

The Government will spend $1 billion over the next five years to rejuvenate and upgrade three HDB towns in Hougang, East Coast and Jurong Lake. These three mature estates are set to be transformed under the second phase of Remaking Our Heartland (ROH), an initiative first announced in 2007 by the Prime Minister.

Pre-enlistment jitters? This course claims to help

National service made easier: A sales pitch made by a former military psychologist to 18-year-olds who may have pre-enlistment jitters. Mr Stanley Chua, a former major in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), has devised a course to prep them for the two-year mandatory stint for male citizens.















These SMSes are not meant for me!

For a few days last month, 18 mobile phone numbers in Singapore were each 'shared' by two different subscribers - creating confusion and concern. It started when 18 people signed up for new lines with StarHub, Singapore's No. 2 mobile network operator. But when the numbers were activated, they could not get incoming calls and text messages though they could make calls and send SMSes.

'I didn't try to entrap Gary Ng for fame'

She went public last week on her dramatic attempt to ensnare 'Gary Ng', the 28-year-old who gained notoriety for his homemade sex videos with numerous women. But lawyer Yeo Poh Tiang insists her entrapment attempt was not for fame, even though she admits that the media attention she sought could bring her more clients.

Kids get early start in water survival skills

PRIMARY schools here will begin the new year by taking part in a water safety programme emphasising survival skills, which replaces an earlier course focusing on swimming techniques, National Water Safety Council chairman Teo Ho Pin said on Sunday. Launched last July, the new SwimSafer programme is aimed at imparting skills to help trainees save themselves and others during dangerous situations in water. It replaces the 2007 Learn-to-Swim (LTS) programme which just highlighted the different swimming strokes. While about 90 per cent of primary schools took part in LTS, now all but four of the 180 primary schools nationwide have come on board to SwimSafer. The four schools have not signed up because they are still working out the scheduling. 'But we are confident everyone will come on board eventually,' added Dr Teo.
The schools are free to design their own curriculum for participation in SwimSafer, such as making it an enrichment programme or getting whole cohorts to attend lessons. Like LTS, schools are encouraged to take part in SwimSafer but it is not mandatory.

Jalan Besar GRC to get $460m upgrading

JALAN Besar GRC is set to benefit from $460 million worth of projects which will make the five-member group representation constituency a better home for residents. Themed 'My Home in the City', the five-year masterplan was unveiled to residents at an exhibition beside the Boon Keng MRT Station on Sunday. Residents can look forward to the upgrading of facilities, more greenery, and increased links and focal points within the estate that will strengthen both the town's identity and bonds among residents. Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim, an MP for Jalan Besar GRC, said at the launch: 'It's about having a home in the city. We will link up the various heritage points, and we are blessed with the Downtown Line that will cut across the entire GRC. Therefore we will build our plans around those elements.' Eleven stations on the Downtown Line are located within the constituency. They are slated for completion in three stages by 2016. Jalan Besar GRC is also set to get six projects under the nationwide Active, Beautiful and Clean Waters programme, which integrates waterways with the living environment. These include floating decks, waterwheels and a floating bazaar, which will allow residents to reconnect with waterways in the GRC such as Sungei Whampoa, the Kallang River and the Rochor Canal.

Hub points elderly, disabled towards help

DESPITE the many schemes set up to help them, some elderly and disabled people struggle to navigate the complex social and health-care system on their own. As a result, they may be admitted to hospitals or care homes unnecessarily. A new social service hub launched in Chong Pang on Sunday aims to solve this problem by giving them a point of contact, so they know where to turn if they need help. Staff at the centre - set up by the Chong Pang Citizens' Consultative Committee and Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society - try to work out what kind of help they need, then link them with appropriate health and social services. Work started there two months ago, and the centre is now dealing with 11 cases. Mr Lee Kim Siang, chairman of Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society, recalled a case in which three siblings with a mental disability cared for their elderly mother. The centre looked into the needs of the mother and referred the siblings for vocational training and employment.