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What's New - New Things
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NEW THINGS
2008
2007
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Estate of Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat launches $25 million
fund for education |
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The Fund will provide for three programmes:
training opportunities to strengthen English language teaching in the
region, opportunities for needy students in our polytechnics and the
Institute of Technical Education to gain overseas exposure, and
scholarships for deserving students from Singapore and China to pursue
their undergraduate studies in Singapore universities. |
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The Ministry of Education will administer
the fund... |
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More..... |
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NEA commissions book on Singapore hawker centres |
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The National Environment Agency has
commissioned a book that traces the social history of this uniquely
Singapore icon. |
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"Singapore Hawker Centres - People, Places, Food" is the
definitive account on hawkers, their food and their stories. It also
features environment and public health officials who have been
instrumental in transforming hawking from a public health nightmare to a
respectable trade... |
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More..... |
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Singapore to start video games classification system
in 2008 |
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The Board of Film Censors (BFC) will be
launching a video games classification system next year to provide more
choice for adults while protecting the young. |
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In the interim period, the BFC has decided
to selectively use games rating to enable highly anticipated games to be
launched in Singapore... |
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More..... |
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National Registry Of Diseases Bill passed |
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Part II of the Bill establishes the
National Registry of Diseases and sets out its functions. These
include the collection of information on reportable diseases,
establishment of registers, compilation and publication of
statistics, and the provision of information for supporting health
services and national public health policies... |
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Clause 6, in Part III of the Bill,
makes the notification of reportable diseases mandatory for
managers of all healthcare institutions. The burden is placed on
the manager as he has the management and control of the
institution. Very limited data will be required to make a
notification... |
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More..... |
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Inaugural National Infocomm Club Awards |
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The National Infocomm Club Awards recognise
the creativity of Infocomm Club students in using technology to educate
and connect to the wider community, or within schools... |
Primary Category
Top Winner : River Valley Primary School (Project: The Adventures
of Respect)
Merit Winner : Chua Chu Kang Primary School (Project: Intelligent
Communicators)
Merit Winner : Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Project: HOPE) |
Secondary / Junior College
Category
Top Winner : Raffles Institution
(Project: E-learning Packages for Down Syndrome Youths)
Merit Winner : Hwa Chong Institution (Project: Spiderportal)
Merit Winner : Victoria Junior College (Project: Automated Quiz
Management System)... |
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More..... |
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SGNIC launches bidding for fully numeric domain names |
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While alphanumeric domain names already
exist, (eg, www.in2015.sg), fully numeric ones like www.123.sg have not
been allowed till now... |
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SGNIC, the national registry for domain
names, will now also allow pure numeric domain names in all the seven .sg
categories (ie. .sg, .com.sg, .net.sg, .org.sg, .gov.sg, .edu.sg, .per.sg).
The registration for pure numeric domain names will be phased
accordingly: |
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- 05 November – 28 December 20071:
All qualifying applicants including businesses and individuals can
register. Trademark owners2 will get priority over other
applicants. Example: A company with "123" as its trademark will get
priority for 123.sg, or in any other .sg domain category... |
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More..... |
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Singapore Airlines A380 enters commercial service |
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The Singapore Airlines A380 enters
commercial service today (25 Oct 2007), with its first flight – SQ380 – from Singapore
to Sydney, Australia... |
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The majority of the seats on the two legs of
this flight were sold on eBay, the global online marketplace, with all
proceeds donated to charities... |
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More..... |
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Medical devices in Singapore to be regulated |
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HSA is adopting a phased approach in
implementing the new regulations to minimise the impact to the
supply of medical devices and to provide sufficient time for the
industry to meet the new standards and requirements. The control
measures will be implemented in three phases, starting from 1
November 2007:.. |
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More..... |
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Five schools to pilot boarding programmes for students |
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Five schools will be piloting various models
of boarding programmes starting from 2008, to support the all-round
development of their students... |
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Anglo-Chinese School
(Independent) Year 1 – Year 4 Integrated
Programme (IP) students will board together to forge bonds across
levels, through activities such as inter-hall games. Each IP student
will board for at least two semesters in total. |
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Hwa Chong Institution
Sec 3, Sec 4, JC1 and JC2 students will have the opportunity to
board together on an optional basis, to forge bonds across levels.
Boarding will take place for one term (3 months)... |
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More..... |
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Singapore and UK conclude landmark Open Skies
Agreement |
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Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK) have
concluded a landmark Open Skies Agreement (OSA) on 2 October 2007,
removing all restrictions on air services operated by carriers of both
countries. |
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With this agreement, Singapore Airlines (SIA)
will now be able to operate as many services as the Singapore-UK market
could support... |
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Similarly, UK carriers will be able to
operate any number of services beyond Singapore to any other city
in the world. These rights, which will be effective from end-March
2008, come nearly two decades after Singapore first made its
request to the UK... |
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More..... |
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Singapore's seaport to be world's first Wi-Max-Ready
by 2008 |
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By early 2008, all ships in Singapore can
have access to mobile wireless broadband, allowing real-time and
data-intensive communications between the ships and their customers and
business partners... |
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WISEPORT is one of the initial projects
under the Infocomm@SeaPort programme, which aims to provide a mobile
wireless broadband network within 15km from Singapore's southern
coastline... |
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More..... |
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Medisave lucky draws for self-employed and informal
workers |
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The Government is introducing the Medisave
Contribution Draw (MCD) to encourage low-income self-employed persons (SEPs)
and informal workers to contribute to their Medisave accounts... |
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The MCD will consist of four quarterly draws
for each year of work done... |
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The MCD will run for three years and will be
reviewed thereafter... |
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More..... |
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HDB introduces family season parking ticket from 1 Oct
2007 |
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The Family SPT is for HDB residents who
require SPT to two different car parks because of family arrangements... |
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For such residents, who have already bought
a regular SPT to park at their own residential car park, there is a need
for a second SPT to park at another car park for visiting their parents,
children, grandparents, siblings or their in-laws. |
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The Family SPT will be sold at 50% of the
regular SPT price applicable to the car park where the Family SPT is to
be purchased. |
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More..... |
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Foreign domestic worker levy concession for disabled
persons |
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Employers may now apply for the FDW Levy
Concession (Persons with disability) from 15 September 2007. |
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The FDW Levy Concession (Persons with
disability) will help families of persons with disability reduce costs
of caregiving where a full-time caregiver is needed... |
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Employers applying for the levy concession
will need to obtain a medical assessment on the functional ability of
the person with disability in performing his/her activities of daily
living... |
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More..... |
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Employer-financed insurance for medical expenses of
foreign workers |
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The Ministry of Manpower will require
employers to purchase and maintain insurance for the medical expenses of
foreign workers from 1 January 2008. |
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This requirement is being implemented in
tandem with the withdrawal of healthcare subsidies for foreigners1,
which was previously announced by the Ministry of Health. The
requirement will apply to: |
- All new and existing foreign workers
on Work Permit or S Pass from 1 January 2008.
- All new foreign domestic workers, and
existing foreign domestic workers when employers renew their Work
Permits, from 1 January 2008.
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More..... |
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Rapid HIV testing now available in medical clinics |
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"As of 1 Aug 2007, the Ministry of Health (MOH)
is allowing HIV testing with rapid HIV test kits to be offered in
medical clinics. Rapid HIV tests are screening tests that produce very
quick results, in approximately 20 minutes... |
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"Rapid HIV testing can only be conducted in a medical clinic by trained
clinic personnel, and only clinics which have participated in an MOH
training workshop on Rapid HIV Testing are allowed to offer rapid HIV
testing..." |
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More..... |
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NETS and SingTel to launch Singapore's first NFC
trials |
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"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... |
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"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..." |
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More..... |
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Dunman High School joins Chinese language elective
programme |
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"The Ministry of Education will be
establishing a 5th Chinese Language Elective Programme (CLEP) Centre to
nurture the language talent of students with an aptitude for Chinese
Language. From 2008, the Dunman High School will be offering the CLEP... |
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"The CLEP is a two-year programme, which
includes the study of classical and modern literature (poetry, prose,
novels, and drama) and Chinese culture..." |
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More..... |
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The Private Security Industry Bill 2007 passed |
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"Should a private investigator or security
officer be charged with or convicted of a prescribed offence which makes
his continued employment as a private investigator or security officer
undesirable, his licence can be suspended with immediate effect. This
power is provided in Clause 24(5) of the Bill. |
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"With the introduction of the licensing
schemes for security officers and private investigators, more than 500
private investigators and 30,000 security officers will need to apply
for a licence..." |
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More..... |
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Singapore Airlines A380 First Flight Charity Auction
Starts |
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"The Singapore Airlines A380 flies its First
Flight from Singapore to Sydney on Thursday 25 October and the return
leg on Friday 26 October. |
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"A majority of seats on both legs of the
First Flight will be auctioned on eBay, the global online marketplace,
progressively over two weeks from Monday evening (Singapore time), 27
August 2007..." |
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More..... |
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Draft Mental Capacity Bill for public consultation |
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"Currently, under the Mental Disorders and
Treatment Act (MDTA), the High Court can appoint a Committee of Person
or Committee of Estate to manage the personal welfare of or make
property related decisions for a person who is incapable of managing
himself or his affairs. However, the appointment can only be done after
a person has lost his mental capacity. |
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"One of the key features of the draft Mental
Capacity Bill is that it will provide a statutory framework to allow a
person to voluntarily make advance plans for his financial and personal
welfare..." |
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More..... |
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Inaugural F1 Singapore Grand Prix to be held on 28 Sep
2008 |
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"A fortnight ago, on 27 July 2007, the
Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA, or the World Motor
Sports Council) set the date of the first Singapore Grand Prix as 28
September 2008. |
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"The 5.05km long street circuit offers a
number of overtaking opportunities, fast turns and technically
challenging sections for F1 race drivers, which, in turn, will present
viewers with compelling race action to keep them on the edge of their
seats. |
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"More than 70 per cent of the street circuit
is made up of Singapore’s existing road network. The Paddock building
will house the control tower, garages for the teams, hospitality
lounges, Press Room and other facilities..." |
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More..... |
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Online submission of school choices for Sec 1 posting |
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"Parents of Primary 6 pupils will have an
additional channel of submitting their child’s school choices for the
Secondary One posting exercise at the end of this year. |
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"The Ministry of Education (MOE) will be
introducing a new Internet System to make it more convenient for parents
to be able to submit their child’s Secondary One school choices online. |
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"The new Internet System will also give
parents the option of checking their child’s Secondary One posting
results online... |
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"Parents who wish to use hardcopy forms
to submit their child’s school options to the primary school can
still do so. The Secondary One posting exercise procedures remains
unchanged..." |
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More..... |
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Inaugural study on work-life harmony in Singapore |
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"The study, which involved 1,601 respondents,
was conducted in partnership with the Family Studies Centre of Brigham
Young University in the United States1... |
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"This inaugural study revealed that the
benchmark work-life harmony score for Singapore for 2006 is 64,
with 0 indicating “no harmony” and 100 indicating "total harmony"..." |
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More..... |
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SingTel launches pay TV service |
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"Subscribers who opt for the Set-Top Box with
recording function can pause, rewind and record live
TV programmes so that they no longer have to miss
anything. |
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"The mio
TV website allows subscribers to programme their
recordings even when they are not at home, and an
upcoming service that will enable them to do it via
their mobile phones..." |
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More..... |
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Public consultation on proposed National Registry of
Diseases Bill |
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"The Ministry of Health is proposing to
introduce a National Registry of Diseases (NRD) Bill... |
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"Currently, the NRD includes registries for
cancer, renal failure, heart disease and stroke. |
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"The information captured by the NRD is
mainly from public sector healthcare institutions who submit data
on a voluntary basis. |
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"There is a need for data from the
private sector to be included so that the dataset is complete and
useful for national level planning..." |
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More..... |
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Optometrists and Opticians Bill 2007 passed |
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"For optometrists, those
with recognised qualifications and at least a year of
optometry experience will be fully registered.
Optometrists with less than a year of experience will
be provisionally registered, and will have to work
under supervision for 1 year before they become fully
registered... |
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"For opticians, those with
work experience of at least 5 years will be fully
registered as opticians if they pass a competency
test. Those with between 2 to 5 years of experience
will need to undergo a part-time modular upgrading
course. There may be some opticians who do not intend
to do any refraction but wish to do only dispensing;
they will need to undergo a competency test or failing
which, an upgrading programme but without the
refraction component. This will ensure that they can
uphold safe standards in dispensing. |
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"Opticians with less than
2 years experience and all new entrants to the
profession will need to attend a certificate course in
opticianry in order to qualify for registration.
Singapore Polytechnic has organised a course to cater
to these opticians. Such a course can be completed in
9 to 24 months..." |
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More..... |
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Changi Airport launches new lifestyle magazine Changi
Class |
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Singapore Changi Airport has launched a new
magazine for passengers, entitled Changi Class. Changi Class replaces
the fortnightly tabloid, Changi Express. The complimentary monthly
publication will be available at Changi Airport's Departure Transit
Malls from 5 July 2007..." |
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More..... |
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MOE Selects First Five FutureSchools@Singapore |
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From 2008, students at Canberra Primary
School, Crescent Girls’ School, Jurong Secondary and Hwa Chong
Institution can look forward to even more innovative teaching methods
and engaging lessons – made possible through more widespread use of
Information and Communications Technology (ICT). |
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"These four schools will join a new primary
school, Beacon Primary School, as the pioneer FutureSchools@Singapore..." |
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More..... |
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Site preparatory works start on Gardens by the Bay |
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"Marina City Park will close from 1 June 2007
for the Gardens by the Bay’s site preparatory works. Marina South
Promenade facing the Marina Channel, the playing fields and waterfront
promenade will be closed to the public... |
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" 'The public can look forward to the Gardens
by the Bay when its first phase opens in 2010. Meanwhile, we urge the
public to bear with the temporary inconvenience and encourage them to
visit other parks in the vicinity for recreation,' said Dr K Ismail
Sudderuddin, Assistant Director of Gardens by the Bay..." |
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More..... |
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Optometrists and Opticians Bill |
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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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More..... |
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Direct School Admission Exercise 2007 for admission to polytechnic |
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"The first Direct Polytechnic Admission (DPA)
Exercise will commence on 11 July 2007, for admission into polytechnics
in 2008... |
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"The five polytechnics – Nanyang Polytechnic,
Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and
Temasek Polytechnic – will each admit up to 2.5% of their Academic Year
2008 intake through DPA, or about 100 students per polytechnic on
average..." |
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More..... |
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MOH drafting a National Disease Registry Bill |
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"We support the stand that personal
information identifiable to an individual participating in human
biomedical research should be safeguarded. |
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"Proper rules governing the access and use of
personal information and a secure system of information protection would
re-assure research subjects on the confidentiality of personal
information. |
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"In this connection, MOH is drafting a
National Disease Registry Bill to provide an overarching legal framework
for the collection of epidemiological information on key diseases for
public health policy and planning purposes..." |
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More..... |
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New Burial System using concrete crypts for all burials |
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"The New Burial System (NBS) introduced in
2002 for the re-internment of exhumed remains from the Bidadari Cemetery
will now be extended to all burials from the end of this month. |
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"The system will first be implemented in the
Muslim Cemetery end of May. This will be followed by the Chinese
Cemetery in August, Christian and Lawn Cemeteries in October, and Hindu
Cemetery in December..." |
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More..... |
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World’s largest floating stage being built at Marina Bay |
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"The Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA)
conceptualised the design and managed the development of the new
multi-purpose facility at the Marina Bay. The facility comprises a
seating gallery and a floating platform... |
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"DSTA worked closely with the Ministry of
Defence, Singapore Sports Council and Urban Redevelopment Authority to
conceptualise the innovative solution to address the need for a
temporary facility to hold mass spectators events over the next five
years in view of the expected demolition of the National Stadium..." |
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More..... |
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Schools may hire full-time Infocomm Technology
executives |
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"From July 2007, schools
will have the option to engage full-time Infocomm
Technology (ICT) Executives. |
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"The ICT Executives will
provide schools with professional ICT support and
additional technical expertise to handle the
increasingly sophisticated ICT implementation in
schools..." |
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More..... |
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Inaugural Singapore Day at Central Park in New York
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Inaugural Singapore Business Events Awards |
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"The inaugural Awards
ceremony will be held some time in early August 2007
and thereafter, it will be held annually... |
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"The Awards will
recognise industry players that are innovative in organising
business events and whose expertise and service levels meet global
standards..." |
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More..... |
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Spam Control Bill 2007 passed |
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"Part I of
the Bill defines spam. A message is “spam” when it is
an unsolicited commercial electronic message sent more
than 100 times, with the same or similar
subject-matter, during a 24-hour period, or more than
1,000 times during a 30-day period, or more than
10,000 times during a one-year period... |
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"An opt-out approach
is adopted under the Bill as it balances the need of companies and
marketers to send unsolicited messages for business reasons... |
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"In order to balance
between consumer interests and industry needs the Bill will
require that each message contains a valid unsubscribe facility,
an ‘<ADV>’ label to mark it out as an advertisement,
accurate header information or subject titles and functional
contact details of the sender... |
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"The unsubscribe
process has been structured to be consumer-friendly so that even
individuals who receive small volumes of spam have a means of
recourse, without resorting to legal action. The Bill makes it
mandatory for senders to allow recipients to unsubscribe via the
same medium through which the spam was received. This ensures that
unsubscribing from spam can be done easily and conveniently by
replying to an email or SMS..." |
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More..... |
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Pre-bookings for flights on Singapore Flyer |
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"Fly high for the best view of Singapore for
the affordable price of just $29.50! Singaporeans can now snap up the
experience of a life-time on the Asia's latest world-class iconic
attraction - the Singapore Flyer - at a fraction of the price of tickets
on other observation wheels around the world... |
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"The iconic landmark attraction is set
to usher in 2008 with a big bang when operations take flight early
1st quarter..." |
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More..... |
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The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on
Society formed |
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"A new Council, The Advisory Council on the
Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS), will be formed on 1 April 2007 by
the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), to
study the far-reaching social, ethical, legal and regulatory
implications of a rapidly growing Interactive and Digital Media (IDM)
sector..." |
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More..... |
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