There are various areas being looked at such as how these autonomous vehicles should interact with other vehicles on the roads, says a Ministry of Transport official.
By Kevin Kwang
06 Jun 2018
SINGAPORE: As Singapore drives towards a future with autonomous vehicles (AVs), the Ministry of Transport is starting to look at how road rules can be extended to self-driven vehicles in the future.
Mr Chris Leck, director of the Futures Division at the ministry said on Wednesday (Jun 6) that those working on AVs are “quite aware” of the need to address issues like who has right of way during a situation between a human driver and an autonomous system.
There is a standards development team within the ministry working on such a framework currently. They are also looking at things like data management - “as AVs gather a lot of data" such as video surveillance of its environment - as well as cybersecurity, Mr Leck shared during a panel session at the ongoing Innovfest Unbound event.
They are also looking at international standards, such as those which relate to functional safety for cars, and how these can be incorporated into the framework, he told Channel NewsAsia on the sidelines of the event.
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Solar Power in Singapore. Two articles from 2016 and 2018.
From floating solar farms, to HDB rooftops: Where Singapore's sun-powered future lies
Different ways of harnessing it are being explored, as the programme Powering the Future finds out. But how realistic is the goal of having solar energy meet a far larger share of electricity demand, given the constraints?
SINGAPORE: It might seem obvious that in sunny Singapore, there's an abundance of a natural resource to be tapped for our energy needs, and a more sustainable future.
So one might wonder: Why does the island currently draw only about 2 per cent of its electricity from solar energy?
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
France starts work on revolutionary 'Alzheimer's village' where patients roam almost free
 |
| The "Alzheimer village" in Dax, France, is designed to give residents with Alzheimer's the best chance of living a normal social life Credit: Telegraph |
Henry Samuel, Paris
4 June 2018
The Telegraph
Work has begun on France’s first "Alzheimer's village” where patients will be given free rein without medication in a purpose-built medieval-style citadel designed to increase their freedom and reduce anxiety.
Residents of the village in Dax, southwestern France, will be able to shop in a small supermarket, go to the hairdressers, local brasserie, library, gym and even a little farm.
They will live in small shared houses designed to reflect their personal tastes and in four districts reminiscent of the southwestern French region between forests and the seashore.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
News Commentary: HDB flat prices and the lease decay issue
The problem of Lease Decay was created by the government. And a lot of the
problems built on initial misstep (or outright mistakes) and the magnitude of the problem
escalated beyond their expectations and control.
There were three problems or three stages to this ballooning problem.
1) They should not have allowed CPF savings to be used for resale HDB flat purchases.
Using CPF to buy flats DIRECT from HDB was safe. The prices were controlled by HDB, and HDB were not profiteering. So there is no vicious circle or spiralling costs. Allowing flats to be sold was also not an issue. It allowed for population mobility, flexibility and geographic and other adjustments.
However, allowing CPF savings to be used to purchase resale HDB flats created a distorted market, and with it, distorted price.
There were three problems or three stages to this ballooning problem.
1) They should not have allowed CPF savings to be used for resale HDB flat purchases.
Using CPF to buy flats DIRECT from HDB was safe. The prices were controlled by HDB, and HDB were not profiteering. So there is no vicious circle or spiralling costs. Allowing flats to be sold was also not an issue. It allowed for population mobility, flexibility and geographic and other adjustments.
However, allowing CPF savings to be used to purchase resale HDB flats created a distorted market, and with it, distorted price.
Monday, June 4, 2018
The U.S. is trying to find a discreet way to pay for Kim Jong Un’s hotel during the summit
By John Hudson
June 3 2018
SINGAPORE — At an island resort off the coast of Singapore, U.S. event planners are working day and night with their North Korean counterparts to set up a summit designed to bring an end to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.
But a particularly awkward logistical issue remains unresolved, according to two people familiar with the talks. Who’s going to pay for Kim Jong Un’s hotel stay?
The prideful but cash-poor pariah state requires that a foreign country foot the bill at its preferred lodging: the Fullerton, a magnificent neoclassical hotel near the mouth of the Singapore River, where just one presidential suite costs more than $6,000 per night.
June 3 2018
SINGAPORE — At an island resort off the coast of Singapore, U.S. event planners are working day and night with their North Korean counterparts to set up a summit designed to bring an end to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.
But a particularly awkward logistical issue remains unresolved, according to two people familiar with the talks. Who’s going to pay for Kim Jong Un’s hotel stay?
The prideful but cash-poor pariah state requires that a foreign country foot the bill at its preferred lodging: the Fullerton, a magnificent neoclassical hotel near the mouth of the Singapore River, where just one presidential suite costs more than $6,000 per night.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
HDB flats "lease decay" issue
The Big Read: No easy answers to HDB lease decay issue, but public mindset has to change first
By Wong Pei Ting
02 June, 2018
SINGAPORE — When the lease of his three-room flat in Lorong 4 Toa Payoh runs out in 2066, first aid and swimming coach Low Mong Seng, 34, expects the Government to give him “something in compensation”.
“Either another shelter over our heads, or a lower lump sum amount (compared to the value of the property) for us to get another flat to stay in,” said Mr Low, who inherited the unit from his mother who died in 1995.
But another homeowner, who gave her name only as Ms Kwok, has a different view.
There is “a misunderstanding (among the public) of what homeownership is”, she said.
“People think ‘ownership’ means a freehold ownership but if you buy a leasehold then obviously the limited lease is reflected,” added the 30-year-old lawyer. Three years ago, she bought a three-room flat in Tiong Bahru — completed in 1973 — with her husband.
By Wong Pei Ting
02 June, 2018
SINGAPORE — When the lease of his three-room flat in Lorong 4 Toa Payoh runs out in 2066, first aid and swimming coach Low Mong Seng, 34, expects the Government to give him “something in compensation”.
“Either another shelter over our heads, or a lower lump sum amount (compared to the value of the property) for us to get another flat to stay in,” said Mr Low, who inherited the unit from his mother who died in 1995.
But another homeowner, who gave her name only as Ms Kwok, has a different view.
There is “a misunderstanding (among the public) of what homeownership is”, she said.
“People think ‘ownership’ means a freehold ownership but if you buy a leasehold then obviously the limited lease is reflected,” added the 30-year-old lawyer. Three years ago, she bought a three-room flat in Tiong Bahru — completed in 1973 — with her husband.
Friday, June 1, 2018
The truth about organic produce and pesticides
By Tamar Haspel
May 21, 2018
The Agriculture Department recently released the latest measurements of pesticide residues in our food, in the form of the 2016 Pesticide Data Program results, so it seems timely to talk pesticides and organics.
And bias.
I’ve been following these issues for a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of evidence that organic foods have lower levels of pesticide residues than conventional foods, so I was surprised to read a two-part analysis on Forbes.com by Steve Savage, a conventional-side plant scientist I know and respect, showing that the number of residues, and the amount of pesticide in those residues, were virtually the same for organic and conventional foods.
What could be happening in our food supply for the difference in pesticide levels to narrow so markedly? That would make an interesting column, I thought.
May 21, 2018
The Agriculture Department recently released the latest measurements of pesticide residues in our food, in the form of the 2016 Pesticide Data Program results, so it seems timely to talk pesticides and organics.
And bias.
I’ve been following these issues for a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of evidence that organic foods have lower levels of pesticide residues than conventional foods, so I was surprised to read a two-part analysis on Forbes.com by Steve Savage, a conventional-side plant scientist I know and respect, showing that the number of residues, and the amount of pesticide in those residues, were virtually the same for organic and conventional foods.
What could be happening in our food supply for the difference in pesticide levels to narrow so markedly? That would make an interesting column, I thought.
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