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     2007

 

No reported cases of medical complications related to body art tattoo

Tattooing procedures carry the risk of transmitting infectious diseases, like HIV, hepatitis B and C. However, if sterilised or disposable needles are used and proper infection control measures are followed, the risk of infection is very small...
In the past 30 years, there have been no reports of infectious disease transmission or serious complications from a body tattooing procedure in Singapore. There is no compelling need to regulate the industry...

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Use of outdoor display areas (ODA) by HDB shop retailers

Since 17 Oct 07, HDB, SCDF and NEA have been mounting joint inspections with the Town Councils to enforce the ODA guidelines. Sixteen joint inspections, one in each of the 16 Town Councils, involving a total of 1,180 commercial units, have been carried out to-date.
Upon the first joint inspection, an average of 41% of the shops at each site were found to have infringed the ODA guidelines. Some of the common infringements include installation of drop-down screens and lack of 1-metre distance between rows of goods...

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Cosmetic products to be regulated from 1 Jan 2008

Effective from 1 January 2008, all new products must comply with the ACD requirements and notify HSA prior to sale.
All existing products that are currently sold in the local market will be given 12 months to notify HSA and to fully comply with the requirements by 1 Jan 2011...

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S$40 million infrastructure upgrade for Orchard Road

With the planned landscape and infrastructural enhancements, Singapore’s premier shopping street will have state of the art lighting highlighting its lush tree-lined boulevard, new creative spaces for staging events and a more integrated and engaging pedestrian mall...
Orchard Road's infrastructure works will be carried out in phases to minimise disruption to businesses and the public, while access points to buildings will be maintained at all times...
Works are expected to be completed by April 2009.

More.....

 

Secondhand Goods Dealers Act effective from 1 Dec 2007

Under the new Act, only dealers who deal in secondhand goods that are listed in the Schedule will be regulated. This will be regardless of whether such dealings take place at a shopfront, via a makeshift stall or over the Internet.
The list of items was drawn up based on crime data of commonly stolen items. While the existing Act has a wider list of items, the new regulatory regime has a reduced list which comprises commonly stolen items. This allows a sharper regulatory focus in preventing fencing1.
Dealers who deal in items which are not in the new list will not be regulated. The list of items may also be revised according to crime trends...

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Rock Productions and CapitaLand develop Integrated Hub at Vista Xchange

"CapitaLand Retail will also project manage the entire development of the Integrated Hub, which is expected to be completed by 2011.
"The Integrated Hub will stand out in the one-north precinct with its stunning iconic architecture. Designed by Andrew Bromberg of AEDAS Hong Kong, the development will boast over eight levels of Civic and Cultural Zone, and four levels of Retail and Entertainment Zone, forming the base structure..."

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NETS and SingTel to launch Singapore's first NFC trials

"By including a stored value wallet with Over-The-Air (OTA) capabilities, which covers wireless downloads and top-ups of stored value to NFC phones, the trial becomes a first in Asia...
"Under the payment solution being planned, SingTel users will need to download a mNETS application, which will allow them to store and top up value on the mNETS payment application in their phones any time. Users will then be able to make payments using NETS FlashPay by flashing their SingTel mobile phones at NETS contactless terminals islandwide..."

More.....

 

Police conduct raid on syndicate selling counterfeit products

"In a 13-hour island-wide operation conducted from 9.30am to 11.00pm on 11 July 2007, Police busted a major local distributor and a syndicate involved in the sale and distribution of counterfeit luxury and sportswear products..."

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Optometrists and Opticians Bill

In May this year, the Ministry of Health will propose legislation, in Parliament, to regulate the practices of optometrists and opticians. If passed in Parliament, it will be called the Optometrists and Opticians Bill.

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     - Health Products Bill passed

 

Secondhand Goods Dealers Bill 2007 passed

"The current Act does not cover dealers operating without a shop. We recognise that many secondhand goods dealers today actually carry on their business via other means, such as on the Internet, or in an open-air setting like Sungei Road. This is unacceptable, as thieves and robbers will simply get rid of their loot through these other dealers who do not have a shop-front...
"MHA is hence widening the coverage of the law to include those dealers who do not operate within a shop. However, in keeping with the emphasis on a sharper regulatory focus, only dealers who trade in secondhand goods that are listed in the Schedule will come under the ambit of the Act..."

More.....

     2006

     - AMK Hub set to open in Ang Mo Kio in early 2007

     - Tanglin Village attracts businesses with its rustic charm

     - New lighting plan for the City Centre

 

Survey shows Singaporeans upbeat about the near future

“Back home, Singaporeans registered an increased level of optimism in this latest survey compared to the previous period and a year ago. The Singapore Consumer Confidence Index climbed 7 points to reach a high of 110—surpassing the regional average of 94,” observed Mr Ashok Charan, Managing Director of ACNielsen Research Singapore..."

More.....

     - 15 sleight-of-hand cases reported since January 2006

     - Record 15,000 household products registered with SAFETY mark

 

 

Singapore's largest retail & lifestyle centre, Vivocity, to open in October 2006

Largest multi-experiential retail and lifestyle venue in Singapore

More.....

 

     2005

     - CapitaLand acquires Seiyu stores in Singapore

     - Man arrested for using counterfeit credit cards in Sim Lim Square

     - CASE survey finds 17 outlets selling expired food products

 

Celebrate Singapore This August!

• Red Hot Deals (month of August)
• Malls at Marina Bay promotions (month of August)

• Carnival@Marina (6 - 14 August)
• Skydive Festival (18 – 21 August)
• Dim Sum Dollies – Singapore’s Most Wanted (5 – 20 August)
• WOMAD (26 – 28 August)

More.....

     2004

     - Singapore dazzles with Christmas in the Tropics

     - Hitwise: Singapore online retail report - What's hot & wanted

     - Great Singapore Sale 2004 extended by 2 weeks (28 May - 25 Jul 2004)

     2003

     - Experience Christmas in the tropics

     - Notice to CashCard holders - end of 5-year validity period

     - Singapore Tourism Board: List of Errant Retailers

     - Tourism Board gets tougher with errant retailers

     - The Small Claims Tribunals: How to file a claim

       - Make payments online with the new NETS Virtual Card

      - OG People's Park reopens

     - The Majestic Reopens

     - Plaza Singapura set to draw in the crowds again

     - Promenade fades into history

 

The Singapore Tourism Board said on 17 Sep 2003 that it will publicly blacklist errant retailers from October 2003, reintroducing a measure it took 10 years ago. 55 complaints have been received against a shop in the basement level of Lucky Plaza shopping Centre in Orchard Road this year. (Straits Times 19 Sep 2003 H10)

The new extension to Paragon occupying the site of the old Promenade shopping centre has opened with 64 new stores, bringing the total number of stores at the combined Paragon to 184. The extension, costing S$45 million, added six levels of shops and restaurants in an area of 125,000 sq ft, and boosted the total retail space of Paragon to 435,000 sq ft. (Straits Times 18 Sep 2003 L6)

Robinson & Co, Singapore's oldest department store, is selling its entire retail assets, including its flagship Orchard Road store, seven John Little and eight Marks & Spencer stores here and in Malaysia. The company is exiting the retail business following a decision by two key shareholders - OCBC Bank and Great Eastern Holdings - to dispose of their combined 38.4% stake. (Straits Times 13 Sep 2003 1)

  TV Media closed its last three outlets recently. Its Shaw Towers outlet closed in mid-February, the Bugis Junction outlet in March and the Centrepoint outlet on Sunday last week. In its heyday in the mid-1990s, the store had five outlets here and its exercise products, such as Abdomenizer, Abflex and Power Rider were hot sellers. It was fined S$64,000 in July 2002 for distributing Slim 10 to pharmacies without a wholesale dealer's licence and selling the slimming pills after the government had recalled them. (Straits Times 24 May 2003) (H12)

  Meidi-Ya, a Japanese supermarket, will open in the former basement premises of Daimaru at Liang Court tomorrow. (Straits Times 3 Apr 2003)(H3)

  Only nine shop units out of the 34 shop units in the Ten Mile Junction shopping centre are occupied. Its landlord, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is planning to reposition the centre, which opened in 1999, as a one-stop learning centre. (Straits Times 24 Feb 2003)(4)

  Japanese retailer Best Denki is taking over Safe's third-floor space in Junction 8 mall in Bishan. Daimaru shuttered its supermarket in the basement of the mall last week and NTUC Fairprice will occupy the space there. Daimaru's space from the first to third levels will be taken over by fellow Japanese store operator Seiyu. Daimaru is exiting the Singapore market in March after 19 years. In all, it chalked up S$53 million in losses. (Straits Times Saturday 22 Feb 2003)(A33)

Count The Roses Contest

Closing Date:  14 Feb 2003  at 12pm

  A youth-oriented L2 "concept floor" will open in March 2003 inside the Cathay Cineleisure retail and entertainment complex. The upgraded second-level retail floor will have 25 shop-units carved out of 15,000 sq ft of space vacated by former tenants, which included Chinois Chinois Bar and Viva Music Hub. L2's space is bigger than that of Parco Bugis Junction's Edge (10,000 sq ft) but smaller than the spaces of The Heeren's Annex (20,000 sq ft) and Far East Plaza's Level One (45,000 sq ft). The complex's two-storey mock gorilla has been removed to accommodate L2's gold and blue logo. (Straits Times Wednesday 5 Feb 2003) (A14)

     2002

 

  October retail sales totalled S$1.82 billion, up from S$1.77 billion in September, according to statistics released by the Department of Statistics yesterday. Sales of telecommunications equipment and computers registered the biggest jump of 27.6 per cent, while furniture and household equipment sales went up by about 13 per cent compared with the previous month's sales. (Straits Times 17 Dec 2002) (1)

  LevelOne, a collection of 106 small retail space modelled after Japan's fashionable Shinjuku and Harajuku fashion districts, has opened in Far East Plaza. The S$8 million project, started by the building's landlord Far East Organisation (FEO), occupies some 45,000 sq ft ground-floor space vacated by department store Metro in June. (Straits Times 9 Dec 2002) (A15)

  The old Goods & Services Tax (GST) of 3 per cent will be charged until 7am on 1 Jan 2003 when the new 5-per-cent rate comes into effect. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) said yesterday it was making this concession to businesses that operate after midnight. (Straits Times 8 Nov 2002) (H14)

  People who bought CashCards in 1998 or before that year should check the expiry dates of the cards as these cards are valid for five years only. Card owners can log on to nets.com.sg or call NETS at 65-6274 1322 to check when their cards expire. They will be able to get a full refund on the remaining balance, plus deposit, for up to two years after the card expires. From 2003, all new CashCards will have the date of issue printed on them to make it easier for users to keep track. (Straits Times 4 Nov 2002) (H3)

  Harvey Norman celebrates 1st birthday in Singapore

  FairPrice, Singapore's No. 1 supermarket chain, runs 36 Cheers outlets, a 24-hour convenience- store store concept it launched in 1999. It aims to have 100 outlets in the next few years and will farm out franchises for 80 per cent of them. The chain recently signed its first franchisee to run a Cheers outlet in Hougang Street 91. (Straits Times 23 Oct 2002) (4)

  Tattoo shops here are registered like beauty centres, but are not regulated by health authorities. There are also no age restrictions, unlike in some countries where the minimum age to have a tattoo done ranges from 16 to 21. The Health Ministry here steps in only if it receives a complaint. There are about 30 tattoo shops here. (Straits Times 23 Sep 2002) (H7)

  A 10-member committee has proposed measures to make it easier for consumers to take traders to court for dishonest business practices that range from advertising false closing-down sales to using high-pressure sales tactics. (Straits Times 26 Aug 2002) (1)

  Furniture retailer Ideal Home Living Center, opened five years ago, has closed its Suntec City store two months after 15 customer complaints criticising its services made the headlines here. Ideal Home is the latest of a string of local furniture retailers to flounder in the recession, after Pennsylvania House, Homestead Furniture and Actus, all of which had closed their stores in the last 16 months. (Straits Times 21 Aug 2002) (H1)

  Singapore shoppers will be able to use their Nets card in Malaysia by late 2003. Nets and its Malaysian counterpart, the Malaysian Electronic Payment System (Meps) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to link their nationwide electronic payment systems. (Straits Times 15 Aug 2002) (3)

  Four buildings along High Street are set to get a spanking new look by 2004. They are High Street Centre, High Street Plaza, Wisma Sugnomal, Amar Raj House and Satnam House. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has given them the green light to proceed with their refurbishment plans after a delay of more than a year. (Straits Times 22 Jul 2002) (A14)

  Giant electronic billboards, better known as video walls, are becoming more popular here. The largest, at Suntec, is 14m by 11m. Other places which have them are The Heeren (5m by 4m), Shaw Centre, Manchester United store at Orchard Parade Hotel, and Caltex House. The electronic billboards cost from $700,000 to a few million dollars. Free-standing billboards were banned in 1993 because they were considered a blight on the city's skyline. (Straits Times 6 Jul 2002) (H1) 

  The Majestic, a former Chinatown cinema, will reopen later this year as a three-storey shopping mall at a cost of S$8 million. It marks Cathay Organisation's first foray into the retail business. The mall will retain the name of the cinema which closed in 1998 and has remained empty since. (Straits Times 3 Jul 2002)

  Japanese retailer Daimaru is closing all its three stores here by March 2003. Daimaru Singapore, which has been in Singapore for the past 19 years, turned in a profit of S$500,000 after a decade of losses. It said that 320 employees from its stores in Plaza Singapura in Orchard Road, Junction 8 in Bishan and Liang Court in River Valley, will be laid off. Daimaru is the fourth Japanese retailer to bow out of Singapore, after Sogo in 2000, Yaohan and Tokyu in 1998. Once it has gone, Singapore will have only three Japanese giants on the retail scene - Seiyu, Takashimaya and Isetan. (Straits Times 29 Jun 2002) (3)

  Ideal Home Living Center, a major furniture retailer at Suntec City, has been the target of consumer complaints over the past six months. Fifteen customers have complained to the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) about non-delivery, late delivery and defective items. At least three had taken their case to the Small Claims tribunal. (Straits Times 28 Jun 2002)

  Metro Far East Plaza Branch yesterday closed its doors after 19 years. Metro's four remaining stores are at Paragon Shopping Centre, Marina Square, Century Square and Causeway Point. Metro will open a new store in Sengkang in August 2002. (Straits Times 17 Jun 2002) (H6)

  Heartland Mall Kovan shopping centre and the surrounding 120 neighbourhood retailers woven around a hawker centre and a bus interchange will be managed as one big "complex" called Kovan City under the Government's first experiment at making mom-and-pop shops collaborate with trendy suburban malls. (Straits Times 15 May 2002) (H1)

  The Economic Review Committee (ERC) has proposed raising the Goods and Services Tax to 5 per cent from 3 per cent next year. It also proposes to slash both the maximum personal income-tax rate and corporate income-tax rate to just 20 per cent within three years. Currently, the top personal-tax rate is 26 per cent and company profits are taxed at 24.5 per cent. In its 90-page report, the ERC also suggested exempting from tax all interest earned on bank deposits as well as income from foreign sources. The Government will study the committee's proposals and respond in its Budget statement on May 3. (Straits Times 12 Apr 2002) (1)

  The sub-contractor responsible for the collapsed wall that killed a man at IMM Building in August 2000 was fined a total of S$40,000 yesterday. Yuong Cheong Construction was found guilty last week for two breaches of the Factories Act. (Straits Times 9 Apr 2002) (H2)

  A new office building - The Atrium@Orchard , located next to Plaza Singapura, will be completed by the end of the month. The complex has two office towers - 10 storeys high and six storeys high. In all, 359,000 sq ft of office space and 16,000 sq ft of retail space will be available. The Atrium and the new Dhoby Ghaut MRT interchange which is integrated with it cost its developer, Land Transport Authority (LTA), S$268 million. (Straits Times 6 Apr 2002) (H1)

  The sub-contractor for demolition works at IMM Building was yesterday found guilty of two charges of breaching the Factories Act over the hacking of a wall that collapsed and killed a man in August 2000. Yuong Cheong Construction (YCC) was engaged by main contractor Shimizu Corporation to do upgrading work on the first storey of the building. YCC will be sentenced next Tuesday. (Straits Times 5 Apr 2002) (H10) Collapse of wall at the IMM Building in Jurong on 11 Aug 2000

  The Fair Trading Act is expected to be ready within 15 months. Consumer Association of Singapore (Case) president YEO Guat Kwang said Case and the Trade and Industry Ministry (MTI) are in the "final stages of having the Act in place." He said the Act would, in principle, guard both merchants and consumers. (Straits Times 4 Apr 2002) (H1)

  More than 1 million shopping bags are given out here each day. Singapore's biggest supermarket chain, NTUC Fairprice, gives out a total of 160 million bags each year. Cold Storage spends about S$2 million each year on the 70 million plastic bags it gives out. One researcher estimates that people here use as many as 40 billion bags a year. (Straits Times 4 Apr 2002) (H3)

  There were 200 more cases of shoplifting last year, an 8-per-cent rise that brought the total to 2,600. Most of them took place in shopping centres and supermarkets. The number of young shoplifters dropped slightly from 1,147 in 2000 to 1,071 last year. (Straits Times 27 Mar 20020 (H8)

  Singapore's second Fashion Festival kicked off last night with 130 models and performers strutting their stuff in the latest streetwear at an outdoor show, The Hit Parade, at One Fullerton. Homegrown designers, absent from last year's event, were included this year. The number of international designer labels taking part has doubled from 15 to 36. (Straits Times 17 Mar 2002) (6)

  From Saturday, the stretch of Nicoll Highway between Merdeka Bridge and Ophir Road will be closed for two years as construction work on the first phase of the S$6.7 billion Circle MRT Line gets underway. By year-end, the last stretch of the underground City Link shopping mall, from City Hall to Suntec City, will be closed temporarily. Retail outlets will not be affected, but pedestrians will have to get out into the open from the underpass near Raffles Boulevard. Close to 2.2 million people visit Suntec City every month, said a Suntec City spokesman, adding that the construction works would cause great inconvenience to conference participants, shoppers and office tenants. (Straits Times 14 Mar 2002) (3)

     2001

 

  About 1,000 retailers in Nee Soon Central, Tampines West, Toa Payoh Centre, Bedok Town Centre, Hong Kah Point, Clementi Town, Kovan City in Hougang, and Marine Parade Central and Marine Terrace will take part in a month-long Heartland Shopping Surprise from today. Shoppers stand to win prizes, such as a Mitsubishi Spacewagon worth S$90,000 and three Mitsubishi Lancers worth S$50,000 each. (Straits Times 1 Dec 2001)(H3)

  The 17-year-old Promenade shopping centre in Orchard Road will be demolished and rebuilt as an extension of The Paragon, its next-door neighbour. The new shopping centre will be ready in 2003. (Straits Times 20 Nov 2001)(L3)

  The Turf City shopping mall will open its doors in the middle of November 2001 at the 56-ha site of the old Bukit Timah Turf Club. The 760,000sq ft Turf City building was created by linking together the two existing grandstands. (Straits Times 5 Nov 2001) (S12)

  The oldest 100-yen (S$1.47) shop chain in Japan will come to Singapore before the end of the year. Daiso Industries, which runs a wildly successful 2,000-store chain in Japan, has teamed up with Indonesian retailing giant Matahari in its first investment in South-east Asia. Executives are shopping for a 2,800 sqm site, according to Daiso President Hirotake Yano. (Straits Times 26 Jul 2001) (6)

  New web-enabled AXS stations to replace ageing NETS kiosks in Singapore.

  From 1 Aug 2001, a new form of electronic payment - Nets Virtual Card - will allow a subscriber to make purchases at brick-and-mortar and online stores using his mobile phone. To settle his bill, a subscriber messages Nets his UserID and Personal Identification Number (PIN) for the virtual card, the amount due, the merchant's name and the bill number - all done on a mobile phone. To subscribe, a cell-phone user registers online at the Nets website, nets.com.sg, and will be given a UserID and a PIN. This card service is free for the first year. (Straits Times 9 Jul 2001) (H8)

  A new cashcard, Touch 'n Go Cashcard, will allow visitors to go cashless in Malaysia when paying toll fares for bridges, expressways, inter-city roads and fares for buses, trains and parking which use the new payment system. Here in Singapore, users can pay for purchases at retail outlets, vending machines, payphones, carparks and libraries. The card can also be used for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges and online purchases. It will be launched in the next quarter by Network for Electronic Transfers (Nets) and Malaysian smart-card operator Rangkaian Segar Sdn Bhd (RSSB) (Straits Times 21 Jun 2001)

  The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) is investigating whether Courts megastore has been fair to its customers who ordered laptops at a price that the company quoted incorrectly on its website. Case told The Straits Times it was looking into the matter because it had received complaints from six shoppers after Courts decided not to fill their orders. They put in online orders for computers at S$279, just 10% of the actual price. (Straits Times 12 May 2001)

News Snippets commenced on 12 May 2001