ON THE LOCAL FRONT
Major events and happenings in Singapore
On Nov 4, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced the ban of electric scooters on footpaths, which was supposed to take effect in a day, but will be strictly enforced in January 2020. What does this mean? Hundreds of food delivery riders will be affected, as they rely on their e-scooters to get their job done. The latest report states that help has been offered to these riders to make a switch from e-scooters to bicycles and power-assisted bicycles. Rest assured you will never have to skip a meal.
The start of the year brought sad news on the death of 28-yearold Singapore celebrity Aloysius Pang, who was crushed to death while on military training in New Zealand. The Ministry of Defence set up a committee of enquiry whose findings revealed that the gun barrel in the cabin of the Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer was lowered without ensuring everyone was in a safe position. Two soldiers were charged and fined for their negligence.
The good news for commuters is that with the construction of the Cross Island MRT Line from Changi to Jurong, commuting time will be shortened. The bad news is that Singapore’s longest MRT line will run through the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. LTA says the tunnel will be deeper that the usual MRT tunnel to avoid disturbing the nature reserve, but nature lovers are concerned that this might still impact wildlife and nature.
33 Jewel of Singapore
We have another icon to be proud of — Jewel Changi Airport. This shopping destination received the Special Jury Award for excellence, innovation and creativity in the global retail real estate industry at the Mapic Awards — an international retail real estate show held in Cannes, France every year. Jewel is a mixed-use development with gardens, attractions, dining, a hotel and more.
34 U2 in Singapore
U2 was supposed to perform in Singapore in 1998, but that never happened. As the Asian financial crisis hit many sectors, and escalated from 1997 to 1999, it became untenable to stage a huge concert. Fast forward to 2019 and the band embarked on The Joshua Tree Tour 2019 worldwide concert tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. Singapore finally saw them in action on Nov 30 and Dec 1 and what a performance it was.
From Singapore to 35 Singaporean: The Bicentennial Experience
Singapore celebrates 200 years of its modern founding by Stamford Raffles this year, but at the From Singapore to Singaporean: The Bicentennial Experience, history went as far back as 700 years ago. This experience consisted of two parts: The Time Traveller was a 60-minute show that traced the history of our Little Red Dot in a well-executed multimedia show at Fort Canning, while
Pathfinder took visitors to the gardens at Fort Canning, where pavilions were set up with interactive displays.
Watch Art Grand 36 Exhibition: Discovering the World of Patek Philippe
It was an event that drew about 70,000 visitors over 16 days at Marina Bay Sands Theatre, which was transformed into a watch lover’s paradise. Visitors were given a rare and unique opportunity to delve deeper into the history of the last independent, family-owned Genevan watch manufacture and discover the fine art of watchmaking first-hand.
37 SIA’s non-stop flight to Brussels
The non-stop flights announcements just kept coming in. It started with Singapore Airlines’ non-stop flight to New York, and then to Los Angeles, and then Brussels. From the third quarter of next year, SIA will depart from Singapore on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. And if you are wondering what to do in Brussels, tour the Grand Place, take a Belgian beer tour, visit the Town Hall or take a stroll through the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula.