Thursday, October 8, 2009

Canal in Bishan to become river

MY PAPER FRIDAY OCTOBER 2, 2009, A2, MY NEWS, HOME
http://myepaper.mypaper.sg/ebook/web_php/fvbrowserjs.php?urljs=http://myepaper.mypaper.sg/ecreator/sphopf/ep021009cnd_opf_files/ep021009cnd.js&ver=Gen

by JOY FANG - joyfang@sph.com.sg



PARK LIFE: In two years’ time, visitors to Bishan Park will be able to sit by the gently sloping banks of the Kallang River. Bridges, a water playground and a river promenade will be built as well. (GRAPHIC: PUB)


Canal in Bishan to become river
by JOY FANG - joyfang@sph.com.sg

COME 2011, the stretch of Kallang River that flows beside Bishan Park through a concrete canal will be transformed into a meandering river, with trees and shrubs on its banks.



Using a special soil bioengineering technique, the concrete will be ripped up and the banks covered with a mixture of big rocks, broken concrete and soil, where greenery will be planted.

Parkgoers will be able to sit by the shallow banks and dip their toes into the river.

It is the first time here that a canal will be naturalised and integrated into a park. Five bridges will also be built over the completed 3km-long stretch of the river, to allow residents in the area to cross it and reach the park. Currently, they need to skirt around it to get there.


The National Parks Board’s (NParks) director of parks development, Mr Yeo Meng Tong, said that it was time to redevelop the park as it was more than 20 years old. The canal also needed a revamp,as it was “a concrete drain, which is not accessible to anybody except drainage personnel”, he said.



Construction will begin after a ground-breaking ceremony officiated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong tomorrow. Under the $76-million project – a collaboration between national water agency PUB and NParks – a river promenade, a water playground, cafes and a lookout point overlooking the river and the park will be built.

Picture is obtained from http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=8&Itemid=73

Drainage-improvement works will also be done.

This is the latest project under the PUB’s Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme, which aims to beautify drains, canals and reservoirs, and bring people closer to them.

Picture is obtained from http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=8&Itemid=73

From 2007 to 2011, 28 projects will be completed. Of these, four, including Bedok Reservoir and Marina Barrage projects, have already been done.

Work on eight other projects, including those involving the Sungei Kallang/Whampoa river and Pandan Reservoir, is ongoing.

Another eight, involving Rochor Canal, Geylang River and Siglap Canal among other waterways, will start next year.

Picture is obtained from http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=8&Itemid=73

More than 100 other locations have been identified for improvement works in the next 10 to 15 years under the programme.

Bishan resident and undergraduate Ryan How, 24, said that he does not run much in Bishan Park, as he finds it boring and the canal, ugly. “With the new changes, I’ll go there more often to run becauseit’ll have more pleasant scenery,” he said.


Picture is obtained from http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=parks&id=8&Itemid=73

WATERWAYS BY 2010

  • Sengkang man-made floating island: To be reached via two bridges.
  • Rower’s Bay at Lower Seletar Reservoir: To offer water sports, a water stage and a viewing deck.
  • Jurong Lake: To have a geyser, water playground and boardwalks.
  • Pandan Reservoir: To have a fishing platform and offer boating activities.
  • Lorong Halus Wetland: To become a wildlife habitat.


ENGLISH EDITORIALConsulting Editor: FELIX SOH - felix@sph.com.sg
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

EZ-Link Giro top-up - Part 11 (switching EZ-Link Cards, Where's the benefit?)

The Straits Times, October 5, 2009, Page A22
By Kwong Hui Hen


Picture is obtained from http://photo.blog.sina.com.cn/blogpic/4a1e52010100eszr/4a1e5201g70a34a376741
Switching EZ-Link Cards, Where's the benefit?

EZ-LINK has spared no effort to promote its new Cepas ez-link card, But I am not sure if convenience and lower cost to the consumer were what it had in mind.

Consider these:
Under the Contactless e-Purse Application Standard (Cepas) card - Which EZ-Link dubs EZ-Reload - the cardholder must send a written application, pay a one-off application fee (with a waiver thrown in until February) and wait 21 days for the application to be approved.



Worse, the Cepas cardholder incurs a fee each time the card is topped up (ironically dubbed as ("convenience fee'' by EZ-Link).

Compare these with the previous arrangement where the ez-link cardholder could apply for Giro at a general ticketing machine and get instant approval.



I cannot help but wonder why we are switching to something that seems technologically more primitive.

I am not sure the new features are worthwhile either. According to the EZ-Link website:
A Cepas card can be used for Electronic Road Pricing payment with the next-generation in-vehicle unit (IU). Does one expect a motorist to fish out the Cepas card from his IU so he can use it on the MRT?



It allows a maximum stored value of $500. Who would want to put in that much?

It can be used for non-transit payments. With most shops accepting credit cards and Nets, the benefit of an additional payment option is marginal.



It retains full value with no need to pay a deposit. My understanding is that one cannot take a ride if the stored value falls below $3, so what difference does it make?

Looking at all these features, I cannot help but conclude that the switch to the Cepas card is solely commercially driven.


Picture is obtained from http://members.optusnet.com.au/wing813/mashimaro_wp05.jpg

It is disappointing that EZ-Link charges a fee to reload. I understand EZ-Link incurs a bank charge in the process, but which business does not incur a charge for customers paying by Nets or credit card? Employers incur Giro fees to pay salaries into employees' accounts by direct debit, but does any firm recover the cost from its employees?

The new Cepas card seems to be a step backwards rather than forwards.

Kwong Hui Hen





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Monday, October 5, 2009

Ez-link Giro top-up - Part 10 (Online Only - Ez-Reload: Frustrated at every step)

Updated 03:00 PM Oct 05, 2009
Letter from Sean Tan


Picture is obtained from http://hi.baidu.com/%CB%AA%D1%A9%D3%F9%CB%F9/blog/item/8511d7cabbcb0944f21fe781.html

Online Only - ez-Reload: Frustrated at every step

All those horrible experiences with ez-Reload are all true. I am one of those frustrated customers.



Many months ago, when the new ez-link cards were rolled out, I wanted to exchange my old card for the new one, but I was told that my card couldn't be exchanged as it was Giro-linked. If I'd wanted a new card, I'd have to buy a new one. For an exchange, I'd have to wait for a notification letter.



And so many months later, I received the letter, telling me that I have to exchange for the new card within two months, before my old card expired. That's really quite inconsiderate, I thought - not everyone passes by a ticket office often - people like me only pass by an MRT station during weekends.


Anyway I went to a ticket office to do the exchange on the next Saturday - naturally the queue was quite long. But after the long wait, I was told I couldn't get a new card because my card had just been topped up through Giro.



A card can only be exchanged when it hasn't been topped up in the last five days. I didn't remember this being communicated through the media or my notification letter. And seriously, how silly is this system to have such a restriction?


So I dutifully waited for five days and went to the ticket office again. This time, I was told that I'd have to reapply for the link to Giro (now known as ez-Reload) - all this while when I was waiting, I'd thought that they'd needed a longer time to prepare the system to convert our old Giro-linked cards automatically.



If I am getting a new card that is the same as the other non-Giro-linked cards and I have to reapply for the Giro link, why did I have to wait for so long?

Feeling really puzzled and grumpy (and not wanting to vent my frustrations on the person at the counter - after all, she's just an employee), I nonetheless applied for the ez-Reload on the spot, filled in the application form and chose the "reload" amount to be $50 - since there is going to be an administrative fee imposed on every reload, I thought I'd select a larger reload amount so that the card didn't need to be "reloaded" so often.



Another two weeks passed and I received a letter to tell me that my application was successful, and I have to go to a counter to "activate" the card before the ez-Reload starts to work. I was already quite perplexed by then.


Why did I have to go through so many steps to get my card working properly? Why couldn't they just send me a new properly Giro-linked EZ-Link card when even credit cards could be mailed directly to our house? They'd rather send all these silly letters to make me go to the ticket office?


Picture is obtained from http://blog.163.com/lijinyan_320@126/
In any case, I'd decided to stomach all that since I seemed to be just one step away from getting my ez-Reload card. I noticed an error, however, on the letter - I had chosen the reload amount to be $50, but the letter stated it to be $30. So I went to the ticket office to "activate" my card and to tell them that there was a mistake.

Then I was told that the first Reload application would always be $30 (then why did I have to make an option on the application form?) and if I wanted the Reload amount to be $50, I'd have to cancel this application and reapply.



This was it. Spent the next five minutes lashing out on the person at the counter on the ridiculously silly ez-Reload system which is not easy at all. Then when I finally calmed myself down (realising the queue that I was holding up behind me), I told the lady that I was not reapplying and she should just activate my card at the reload amount of $30.


Then came the most exciting news of it all.

The ez-Link card number on the activation letter did not tally with my card, so she couldn't activate my card. The lady then asked if I possessed more than one EZ-Link card - I said I didn't, and she said there's nothing she could do. I'd have to call up the company if I want to get my ez-Reload.



I give up. I shall just top up my card manually.


Picture is obtained from http://hi.baidu.com/%CB%AA%D1%A9%D3%F9%CB%F9/blog/item/8511d7cabbcb0944f21fe781.html


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Sunday, October 4, 2009

No need for women to do NS, says PM Lee

MY PAPER FRIDAY OCTOBER 2, 2009, A6, MY NEWS, HOME
http://myepaper.mypaper.sg/ebook/web_php/System/Zoom_In/Zoom_In_Page.html
by DAWN TAY - dawnt@sph.com.sg



Chinese female soldiers practice a drill in preparation for the National Day march pass, at a training centre in Beijing on September 6, 2009. China is planning a huge military parade and mass pageant in and around Tiananmen Square on October 1 to celebrate 60 years of Communist rule.
Picture is obtained from
http://shanghaiist.com/2009/09/08/national_day_parade_fashion_watch.php
http://www.photogallery.sandesh.com/cms/uploadimages/Drill-National-Day-march/07092009_20186671.jpg


A DIALOGUE between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and around 200 women from various women’s organisations yesterday focused on an arguably male-centric issue – national service.



A female militia unit toting submachine guns and attired in red miniskirts and white jackboots.
Picture is obtained from http://chinhdangvu.blogspot.com/


Of the 10 women who spoke, six rose to debate whether NS should be made compulsory for women and children of new citizens and permanent residents, and whether it disadvantaged men, at the People’s Association Women’s Integration Network Council dialogue.




Asked whether Singapore women are disadvantaged as, unlike men, they do not receive NS allowances as part of their pay, PM Lee assured the mainly female audience that career advancement for men and women alike would depend on the individual’s ability.



Allowances for Singapore men who have completed NS are to ensure that they are not left behind when they start work after their two-year army stint and to compensate for their time in reservist training, he said.


Officers and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army marched in front of Tiananmen Gate at the start of the military parade to mark the 60th China anniversary in Beijing on Thursday.
Picture is obtained from http://chinhdangvu.blogspot.com/


NS should not be made compulsory for women for the sake of career advancement, he said. “The purpose of national service is to have an operationally ready Singapore Armed Forces.”





Dialogue participants suggested making NS mandatory for children of PRs to ensure a level playing field for all young people here. But PM Lee rejected this, saying that doing so would scare away potential citizens.

He added that each year, several hundred children of new Singaporeans and PRs elect to serve NS. Before opening the floor to questions, PM Lee spoke on employment opportunities here and stressed the need for women to return to the workforce after having children.



He urged companies to be more supportive by adopting flexi-work schemes, and husbands to help with housework and bringing up the children.




He also said that the Government hopes to announce in two weeks whether the Jobs Credit Scheme – the $4.5 billion, one-year scheme to help employers retain local workers during the recession – would be extended beyond this year.

DAWN TAY dawnt@sph.com.sg




Picture is obtained from http://d.yimg.com/ca.yimg.com/p/090909/afp/iphoto_1252477602208-1-0jpg.jpg


Helpdesk: 我的字典
Wǒ de zì diǎn

Male-centric: 以男人为中心的
yǐ nán rén wéi zhōng xīn de

Disadvantaged: 不利
bù lì

Reservist: 预备役军人
yù bèi yì jūn rén

Supportive: 起支持作用的
qǐ zhī chí zuò yòng de




MY PAPER ENGLISH EDITORIAL
Consulting Editor: FELIX SOH - felix@sph.com.sg
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