Hillgrove Secondary students get chance to see their experiment conducted aboard International Space Station

When dreams take wing
By Walter Sim, Japan Correspondent In Tsukuba, The Straits Times, 23 Sep 2016

Hillgrove Secondary student Wang Hao Ming, 17, is fascinated with space and, two years ago, he forked out $800 for a telescope.

His schoolmate, Justin Chua, 14, meanwhile, is passionate about aviation - in primary school, he had collected styrofoam model planes.

They came close to living out their dreams last week when they were among four Hillgrove students invited to visit the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

There, the Singapore students donned astronaut jumpsuits while participating in a mock field exercise, and were also given a rare look at the agency's mission control room.

But the highlight of their trip to the Tsukuba Space Centre, about 70km north-east of Tokyo, was witnessing Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi conduct an experiment they had designed. Testing the impact of a microgravity environment on the flight of paper planes, the experiment was beamed live from the International Space Station (ISS) under the Try Zero-G for Asia programme.



It is the first time a Singapore proposal has been selected for the programme, which began in 2011.

The programme invites students and youth from the Asia-Pacific to submit proposals, some of which will be conducted by a Japanese astronaut on the ISS, where Japan has a space experiment module called Kibo, or "hope" in Japanese.

There were more than 120 entries this year, and five were chosen.

Mr Onishi, 40, who was launched to the ISS in July, said: "Space is a unique environment. Using this uniqueness, we can do many varieties of experiments on board the station."

One such experiment is the Flying Paper Plane proposed by the Hillgrove team, which also includes Ethan Tan and Caleb Goh, both 14.

Man rides electric scooter at 70kmh, overtakes bus in Mandai; More than 700 caught for unsafe cycling and riding since May 2016

Clip of e-scooter user overtaking bus sparks safety concerns
By Jalelah Abu Baker, The Straits Times, 24 Sep 2016

A video of a man on an electric scooter overtaking a bus in Mandai Road has sparked safety concerns over the use of such personal mobility devices.

The minute-long clip shows the e-scooter user wearing a helmet and riding on the left-most lane of the three-lane road. At one point, he veered past a bus, nipping in ahead of a taxi, before cutting back close in front of the bus.



The incident was recorded on a phone camera in a car following the e-scooter, and uploaded on citizen journalism site Stomp on Thursday.

The car passenger who took the video said the incident happened on Thursday at about 8am.

"I think it is too dangerous for him to ride his e-scooter in this way and all the vehicles had to slow down for him," said the man, who did not want to be named.

According to what was said in the video, the e-scooter was travelling at at least 60kmh. The passenger started taking the video after the e-scooter user overtook another vehicle travelling at 50kmh, he said.

Mr Denis Koh, chairman of Big Wheel Scooters Singapore, a community of scooter enthusiasts, said the e-scooter rider tested all limits in doing what he did.

"He wobbled while overtaking. The wheels are not as big as a motorbike's or bicycle's, so it's difficult and dangerous to make such manoeuvres at that speed," he said.

He added that a standard e-scooter would be able to travel at about 30kmh, and the one in question was likely to have been modified illegally. The rider was also breaking the law by using it on the road.

"The Land Transport Authority will investigate the use of such personal mobility devices on the road," said a spokesman.

Take more balanced view on death penalty, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan urges world leaders

By Jeremy Au Yong, US Bureau Chief, The Straits Times, 22 Sep 2016

Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has called on world leaders to take a more balanced assessment of the death penalty, as he explained Singapore’s approach to capital punishment.

Speaking at a meeting taking place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Wednesday (Sept 21), he pushed back against calls for all countries to abolish the death penalty.

“This debate is a heated, painful and emotional one but I just ask members... to respectfully reflect on the views expressed, the diversity of the circumstances and the impact on the ground. And to give to each state its sovereign right to choose the most appropriate judicial approach so that we can adopt a more balanced perspective on this complex issue,” he said.

At the opening of the meeting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon had urged all countries to cease capital punishment. “The world reached a major turning point in 2007 when the general assembly called for a worldwide moratorium,'' he said.

"Since then the movement against capital punishment has been growing... I am gravely concerned that some countries are suddenly resuming executions. Others are considering reintroducing the death penalty. We have to keep up the fight for the right to life,” he added.

Singapore has often been among the minority of dissenting voices on the issue of the death penalty at the UN. Wednesday's event was billed as a forum to focus on the impact of the death penalty on the families of murder victims, children of the condemned, prison personnel who oversee executions and others. Speakers on the panel had placards on the table saying #EndExecutions.

At a similar event in 2014, then Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam had dismissed the portrayal of the issue as one of “taking lives versus not taking lives”.

Dr Balakrishnan reiterated that point in his speech: “I think our starting shared position has to be that all human life is sacred... The immediate question that confronts all of us, whether within or without this room is whether the death penalty, within the proper context, and in strictly limited circumstances plays any role in protecting the sanctity of life.”

NorthLight School influenced Singapore's education system: PM Lee Hsien Loong

More NorthLight students making it to tertiary institutions
By Calvin Yang, The Straits Times, 22 Sep 2016

More students from NorthLight School - a specialised school that takes in those who failed the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) - are furthering their studies at tertiary institutions.

Currently, about 45 per cent of students move on to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), up from about 30 per cent in its initial years.

Today, more than 1,400 students have completed their education at NorthLight. Fourteen have done well enough to jump from the ITE to polytechnics and, so far, three have graduated with diplomas.

Others have gone to hospitality institutes such as Shatec and private institutions like Kaplan Singapore.



But when NorthLight started in 2007, many thought it would fail.

The school's founding principal, Mrs Chua Yen Ching, said many did not think its students would be able to progress to tertiary institutions.

"Some of the students may have a difficult past, so we cannot change the starting of the story," she said. "But we tell the students and their parents that we can work together to change the ending of the story."

The school has since proven its critics wrong.

NorthLight's current principal Martin Tan, who took over in 2011, said: "A model like this works for those who appear to be struggling in their early years of education."

He said teachers at the school do more than just teach and would make countless home visits, take students to the doctor, buy food for students who are hungry and even provide counselling.

Some former teachers have since brought NorthLight's best practices, such as its hands-on approach to teaching, to their current schools.

In 2009, the Ministry of Education (MOE), inspired by NorthLight's progress, started Assumption Pathway School, which also takes in those who fail the PSLE.

In data released by MOE last year, before these two specialised schools were set up, about 60 per cent of pupils who had failed the PSLE would drop out of school. With the two schools, this has been lowered to about 10 to 15 per cent.

Yesterday, NorthLight was lauded by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who said its success is a result of the effort put in by many different individuals, including passionate educators who volunteered to teach at the school.

1st primary school for children who are deaf opens in 2018

From next year, Beatty Secondary replaces current 2 schools for sign-language students
By Amelia Teng, The Straits Times, 21 Sep 2016

A primary school designated for deaf children who use sign language will open in 2018.

Currently these pupils attend Lighthouse School, a special education establishment.

The new primary school will be in a central location and further details will be revealed later, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said yesterday as it announced the development.

It will be the first primary school designated to accept pupils who are deaf, although there are already four that cater for them at secondary level.

Outram and St Anthony's Canossian Secondary both cater to students who learn via the oral approach, which focuses on the spoken language, lip reading, and voice training.

Balestier Hill and Boon Lay secondaries cater to students who use sign language.

From next year, the latter two schools, which have fewer than 15 such students, will be replaced by Beatty Secondary in Toa Payoh as a result of falling student numbers.

In a statement yesterday, the MOE said that designated schools have teachers trained to support these students using methods such as sign interpretation, social-emotional support and assistive technology devices.

It added: "With a small number of these students (using sign language), locating them in a single designated secondary school will provide them with a greater sense of community, with more opportunities for mutual communication through signing, social interactions and peer support.

"This will also allow better pooling and strengthening of specialised resources within one location."

10,000 trained to spot and help those with dementia

They include front-line staff, as part of efforts to raise awareness in society
By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 21 Sep 2016

When a home owner found an elderly stranger trying to enter her Woodlands flat with a key, she called a local grassroots leader.

"She asked me what to do," said 51-year-old consultant James Lim. "I suspected it could be a senior with dementia so I told her to stay calm and not to do anything while I went over.

"I spoke to him in Hokkien to put him at ease and told the crowd of neighbours who were milling around to give him some personal space so that he would not get more disorientated or agitated."

Although the man could not recall who he was or where he lived, police later managed to contact his daughter. It turned out that the elderly man had mistaken that flat to be his on the same floor, but a few blocks away.

Mr Lim is one of more than 10,000 people in Singapore who have been trained to spot those with dementia, interact with them and refer them to aid agencies, if needed. They include front-line staff from transport companies, banks, retailers and public organisations, as well as school students and mosque and church members.

As people around the world mark World Alzheimer's Day today, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) and the Lien Foundation are also spearheading local efforts to raise awareness of dementia in the community. Since last year, they have been encouraging workers from organisations and members of the public to sign up and be trained as a "dementia friend".

Their Forget Us Not initiative started by training 2,000 people in Yishun. The area was chosen to test out the concept of a dementia-friendly community because it has a significant number of elderly residents as well as a geriatric centre at KTPH to support them.

One in 10 people aged 60 and above in Singapore has dementia and the condition strikes half of those aged 85 and beyond, according to findings from a large-scale study released by the Institute of Mental Health last year.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said last year that tackling dementia needs to go beyond having the "hardware" - such as infrastructure - to fostering stronger community support and creating dementia- friendly communities.

$450 million set aside to boost safety of HDB lifts; Town councils must set aside 14% of conservancy fees for lift replacement from 1 April 2017

Under new scheme, town councils get 90% funding to install recommended features
By Yeo Sam Jo, The Straits Times, 20 Sep 2016

The Government will set aside $450 million to modernise public housing lifts, and ensure that costs are not a barrier to maintaining high safety standards.

Under the new Lift Enhancement Programme (LEP) announced yesterday, town councils will get 90 per cent funding to install safety features recently recommended by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) after a series of lift incidents.

About 20,000 lifts are eligible and while no start date has been fixed yet, town councils will have 10 years to take advantage of the scheme.

Explaining the reason for the LEP , National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said yesterday that implementing the extra safety features will pose a considerable financial challenge to town councils if they were to do it alone. "But given the importance of lifts in our daily lives and in our high-rise HDB living environment, the Government is prepared to commit to this additional spending and maintain high safety standards," he said.

Last week, the BCA drew up a list of eight safety-improving features that, while not mandatory, were recommended for all lifts here. These include devices to prevent unintended lift movements and multiple-beam sensors for doors.

The recommendations are part of the BCA's ongoing review into lift safety here. This comes after several accidents that have taken place since last October. In the most serious incident in May, an elderly man died after he fell as his mobility device reversed out of a lift that was not level with the ground.

The Housing Board, which will administer the co-funding scheme, said that of the recommended features, all its lifts already have one - the automatic rescue device. It brings the lift to the nearest landing and allows doors to open during a power failure. But HDB acknowledged some of its older lifts may not be equipped with the more modern features "due to technological advancements".

The LEP is not mandatory but HDB urged town councils to upgrade, "to bring the older lifts to the same standard as newer lifts".

The programme applies to lifts not yet equipped with some or all of the eight features. They must also have been in operation for 18 years or less. "For older lifts, it will make more sense for the town councils to replace them with new lifts which will come with these enhanced features," said Mr Wong.

Town councils already have a lift-replacement regime, in which lifts are generally changed after 28 years. About 24,000 of the 61,000 passenger lifts here are in HDB blocks. More details of the LEP will be shared with the town councils in the coming months.

Polytechnic Early Admissions Exercise: 3,680 offered poly places based on aptitude, interests

New Early Admissions Exercise focuses on students' talents and interests, and not just academic grades
By Sandra Davie, Senior Education Correspondent, The Straits Times, 20 Sep 2016

Some 3,680 secondary school students have been offered a conditional place in a polytechnic even before they take the O levels next month.

The offers were made at the end of the Early Admissions Exercise (EAE), introduced this year to allow students to secure places in diploma programmes using course-specific talents and interests and not just academic grades.

Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung, who revealed the figures on Facebook yesterday morning, said he was encouraged by the response. "We have seen a large number of applications, offers and acceptances to the EAE," he wrote.

He said the polytechnics received applications from around 8,000 students, which means more than one in four eligible candidates applied.

Of these applicants, 46 per cent were given conditional offers.

He said most were offered places in courses such as early childhood education, mass communication, nursing, visual communications and media design, and sports and exercise sciences, where interest and aptitude are important for the mastery of the skills required.

Just over 500 of the places offered through the exercise were for the early childhood education course, while 130 places were for nursing.

Mr Ong also said that of those who received an offer, 72 per cent were offered their first-choice courses and more than 92 per cent have accepted their offers.

They now need to score no more than 26 points for their O levels and meet other minimum subject requirements to be enrolled.

From former PM to nobody by age 50

Is there a right age to become the leader of a nation? Those who rise to the top young retire early and struggle to remain useful.
By Jonathan Eyal, Europe Correspondent, The Straits Times, 19 Sep 2016

LONDON • He did what was expected of him: After resigning from office in the wake of losing a referendum on his country's membership of the European Union and having forfeited the confidence of his fellow politicians, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced his total retirement from politics.

He could have waited until the end of the current parliamentary term in 2020; after all, that is what he was elected to do by voters in his constituency. But he didn't; he went now, immediately, despite the fact that this triggered a by-election nobody wanted.

Being all-powerful one day and then just another anonymous citizen the next is the lot of any politician in the Western world. And the British are particularly keen to make this point, as Mr Cameron discovered when he recently sat forlornly with his wife on a seaside bench, licking an ice cream cone; not one of the hundreds of passers-by even looked, let alone acknowledged the presence of a man who a mere few weeks earlier decided the country's destiny.

Yet there is a bigger question lurking behind this episode. Here is a man who had led the ruling party for a decade and a country for over six years, but who is now expected to fade into retirement before he has celebrated his 50th birthday. Is it wise to discard his accumulated experience? And what do such episodes say about the nature of politics today?

For the British phenomenon of politicians retiring in the prime of their lives only to linger on in obscurity for decades thereafter is relevant to most Western nations; Mr Barack Obama will meet a similar fate by early next year.

Dysphagia Diet: Whipping up tasty meals that are easy to swallow

Patients with dysphagia, who have difficulty swallowing, can soon enjoy a variety of dishes
By Rachel Oh, The Straits Times, 20 Sep 2016

Patients who find it hard to swallow their food may no longer have to eat porridge all the time.

They may soon be able to enjoy ready-to-eat dishes which are easy to swallow, ranging from seafood otak to ginseng chicken.

The meals, which are developed by Changi General Hospital (CGH) and produced by local specialist nutrition company Health Food Matters (HFM), fill a gap in the market for food that appeals to the local palate while meeting the dietary needs of those with dysphagia, or swallowing difficulties.

Dysphagia is a symptom of a variety of diseases and affects up to 30 per cent of elderly patients admitted to hospital. People with dysphagia must consume food prepared with soft textures to ensure safe eating.

CGH chief executive officer Lee Chien Earn said the quality of life is affected by food, especially if people cannot enjoy their meals.

"In this case, we recognise that elderly patients who have difficulty swallowing will need food with the appropriate texture that is suitable to our local palate," he said.

The new meals are available in 14 recipes such as kicap fish, chicken masala and braised ginseng chicken, as well as in three textures - finely minced, coarsely minced and blended.

Ms Magdalin Cheong, deputy director for the department of food services at CGH, said: "If a patient is used to having... only porridge every day and suddenly is able to have a variety of food, that definitely makes a difference to his or her quality of life."

Belgium 'euthanises' terminally-ill child in landmark case

Channel NewsAsia, 17 Sep 2016

BRUSSELS: A terminally ill 17-year-old has become the first minor to be euthanised in Belgium since age restrictions on such mercy killings in the country were lifted in 2014, it was learned Saturday (Sep 17).

"The euthanasia has taken place," Jacqueline Herremans, a member of Belgium's federal euthanasia commission, told AFP. She added that the assisted death had taken place according to Belgian law.

Wim Distelmans, head of the euthanasia commission, gave no details of the minor involved beyond saying it was an exceptional case of a child with a terminal illness, the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper reported.

VRT public television said the incident involved an adolescent who was about to turn 18.

"Fortunately there are very few children who are considered (for euthanasia) but that does not mean we should refuse them the right to a dignified death," Wim Distelmans told the newspaper.

Since 2014, when its euthanasia legislation was amended, Belgium has been the only country in the world that allows terminally-ill children of any age to choose to end their suffering - as long as they are conscious and capable of making rational decisions.

The Netherlands also allows mercy killings for children, but only for those aged over 12.

Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle Walk-In-Harmony 2016

Walking on the side of religious harmony
By Zhaki Abdullah, The Straits Times, 19 Sep 2016

For about two hours yesterday, the early risers in purple T-shirts sought out places of worship in the north-western part of Singapore.

They walked from one place of worship to another for the Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) Walk-In-Harmony.

Participants started from their individual constituencies in the area and were divided into seven routes. But all finished their walk at the ITE College West in Choa Chu Kang.

On one route, participants visited Murugan Hill Temple, Bukit Panjang Gospel Chapel, Masjid Al- Khair, Choa Chu Kang Combined Temple, Leng Hup San Chee Chea Temple and the Methodist Church of The Incarnation.

Altogether, more than 3,000 people from nine constituencies took part in the walk, covering 25km. They visited a total of 19 religious and community organisations.

First held in 2009, the walk aims to raise the public's understanding of different religions here and promote unity between races.

Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling, also the Mayor of South West District, said IRCCs play an important role in "strengthening the bonds of trust and understanding" in communities here.

"As we walk alongside each other, visiting different places of worship, we are also making a statement of solidarity: That though we may have different cultures and religions, we are intrinsically Singaporean."