identifies - Challenge Online

2013
/ APRIL
MARCH
HERE’S THE
PEPPER THAT
YOU ASKED
FOR!
The
game plan for a SHARING CITY
THANKS!
How does collaborative consumption help to build a more trusting Singapore?
17
COVER STORY
VIEWPOINTS
08
THE GAME PLAN FOR A
SHARING CITY
02
INBOX
Is collaborative consumption the key
to a kinder, more trusting Singapore?
Your views on the Jan/Feb issue
of Challenge
03
YOUR SAY
HOW WILL YOU LIVE 2013?
Life goes on after the Mayan
Doomsday. How do you plan to make
yours count?
18
THINKING ALOUD
GIVING STARTS WITH AWARENESS
Lawyer Adrian Tan on encouraging pro
bono work in Singapore
27
LETTERS TO A YOUNG
PUBLIC OFFICER
BE NIMBLE YET STEADFAST
Be quick to respond to changing times
but stay true to your values, says
Mr Khoo Boon Hui, the Home Affairs
Ministry’s Senior Deputy Secretary
(Development)
28
A CUPPA WITH…
“GOOD PLANNING IS NOT JUST
ABOUT NOW”
CEO of the URA Ng Lang shares about
the tricky task of land planning and
why he is always in white
FEATURES
05
THE ART OF AGILITY
We catch up with the IDA team tasked
to fast-forward IT projects
14
MAKING A SUSTAINABLE
COMEBACK
Malmö’s Mayor Ilmar Reepalu on how
the flourishing eco city came about
17
HAVING FUN WITH A
NATIONAL OBSESSION
Artists reinterpret national campaigns
that are part and parcel of the
Singaporean life
31
“SINGAPORE CAN THINK A BIT
MORE CRAZILY”
Italian Carlo Ratti, known for his
innovative architectural works,
challenges us to think out of the
box too
34 DETECTIVES IN DISGUISE
Part 3 of the Unsung Heroes series:
Meet the team of Sherlock Holmeses
from the Housing and
Development Board
36 THE INSIDE SCOOP
19
Inmates on the Singapore Prison
Service’s News Behind Bars programme
try their hand at producing news
40
LIFE.STYLE
HOMING IN ON CREATIVITY
38 HE’S NO QUACK
Welcome to the unique cribs of
public officers
An Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority officer shares with Challenge his
genuine passion for inspecting live
poultry imports
THE CHALLENGE PULLOUT
MIND YOUR MANNERS!
8 pages to hone your social skills
2013
ETIQUETS
DID YOU KNOW?
Much of today’s formal etiquette dates
back to the French royal court in the
17th and 18th centuries. A popular
story is that the word “etiquette”
came about after Louis XIV’s gardener
put up signs or “etiquets” to instruct
aristocrats not to trample through
the gardens. Later on, “etiquets” was
used to describe the tickets given out
at court functions with instructions
on where to stand or how to carry
oneself.
page guide to etiquette
44
Black Tie
Seen at: Ceremonial balls, gala
dinners, and weddings (if you’re the
one getting hitched, or are playing
best man or maid-of-honour.).
For women: A floor-sweeping
evening gown, your dressiest cocktail
dress or Little Black Dress.
For men: Black tuxedo jacket, bow
tie, matching pants and a white shirt.
Cocktail
Seen at:
Company
D&Ds,
weddings (if
you’re a guest).
For women: A
short dress of a
tasteful length,
usually at or slightly above the knee.
THE IRREVERENT LAST PAGE
$IGNS OF FEAR
How paranoid are you when it comes
to receiving external favours or gifts?
HIGHLIGHTS
NEWS FROM THE SERVICE
19
March/April
NAIL
THE LOOK
FOR ANY
OCCASION
19-26
04
28
REST & RELAX
For men: A dark suit, dress shirt in
white or a muted colour, and necktie.
Business
Casual
Seen at:
Work-related
functions like
networking
events.
For women:
A wellfitted jacket,
sheath dress or a blouse with
tapered pants. Stick to black,
white and muted colours.
For men: Dark business suit.
Or in a more relaxed setting
– sports jacket or blazer, dress
shirt, slacks or khakis.
Impress your boss (and that
cute co-worker) with your
impeccable P’s and Q’s. Reject
nauseating status updates
from others without losing
their friendship. All these and
more in our 8-page manual
on perfecting your social skills.
Now if you would just
say “please”…
ME OW
SMALL
TALK FOR
INTROVERTS
Three fail-safe ways to
survive a tête-à-tête
with a stranger.
Ask questions.
Find out more about your new
acquaintance. Don’t be afraid to
reveal what you don’t know.
PU
LLO
Listen for cues.
If your dinner companion is
dropping knowledgeable comments
about the food, ask if she cooks
or where her favourite restaurants
are. This could spark off a
separate line of conversation.
WHAT IF THE
DRESS CODE IS
“ANIMAL MAGNETISM”?
When in doubt, ask what the organiser’s
planning to wear. If you’re coming straight
from work and don’t have time to change,
incorporate just one element of the dress theme
into your workday outfit – for instance, leopard
print heels paired with a black sheath dress.
40
31
05
UT
Read.
Take five minutes beforehand to
skim through the top news of the
day, or check out the latest movie
listings. These can be inserted
casually into conversations – “I really
want to catch Great Expectations
next week. Looks great, doesn’t it?”.
The “Singapore Kampung”
As I pen this note, the talk of the town is whether or not Singapore can
accommodate 6.9 million residents and remain liveable. Not surprising, then, that
when Challenge spoke with Urban Redevelopment Authority Chief Executive
Officer Ng Lang for this issue’s A Cuppa With..., the man who helms the agency
that “budgets land” defined liveability by two factors now central to the debate –
economic competitiveness and the ability of individuals to live meaningful lives.
The two seem inversely linked: more manpower is needed for our GDP growth,
but the influx of foreigners that it entails may compromise Singaporeans’ ability
to live out their aspirations.
Elsewhere, however, both have found a happy co-existence in many cities which
are not just liveable but loveable too (see Challenge Jan/Feb 2011 cover story), and
the idealist in me does hope that despite a higher population density, Singapore
can be a place that people have a strong attachment to. Which leads to the
question, what gives people meaning in life? While the answers are diverse, one
commonality, I would hazard, is our relationships.
Perhaps that’s why there’s been much talk about reviving the kampung spirit.
Although I’ve never lived in a village, I did once belong to a “tribe” of foreign
students. As a transient community short on resources (we were students!), our
“rituals” centred on sharing. Initiations involved departing “villagers” passing on
belongings to the newly arrived, and those with cars generously making their
vehicles available for the community’s purposes, such as moving house.
Unknowingly, we were embracing what has now been termed “collaborative
consumption”, one of the “10 Ideas That Will Change the World” mentioned
by TIME magazine in 2011 and the subject of this issue’s cover story (see The
Game Plan for a Sharing City). Obvious benefits included cost savings and greener
living. But more meaningful were the trust and sense of shared responsibility
fostered as each “generation” of students cared for the objects entrusted
to them, to leave them for the subsequent “generation”.
So if Malmö could forge a reputation as a vibrant eco city in less
than 20 years (see Making a Sustainable Comeback), perhaps
come 2030, Singapore could too gain renown, this time for
its culture of sharing.
Editor
Tan Hui Min
What gives
people meaning
in life? While
the answers are
diverse, one
commonality, I
would hazard, is
our relationships.
2013
RUARY
Y / FEB
JANUAR
Publisher
PS21 Office, Public Service Division,
Prime Minister’s Office
INBOX
INBOX
100 High Street, #07-01 The Treasury
Singapore 179434
Email: [email protected]
Web : www.challenge.gov.sg
Love your Pullout issue
on The Generation Gap
For enquiries or feedback on Challenge,
please write to the Challenge Editorial Team
at [email protected].
– you’re spot on about
the differences!
Tay Choon Hong
Editor
Tan Hui Min
Assistant Editors
Estelle Low
Kaira Peh & Christopher Teo
Editorial Assistant
CGH
Diana Lee
298 River Valley Road Level 2
Singapore 238339
Tel : 6836-4030
Fax : 6836-4029
Email: [email protected]
Web : www.tuberproductions.com
Management
Challenge has been a great
piece of reading material
since its revamp.
Thanks for the efforts.
Director
Lee Han Shih
Project Director
Liew Wei Ping
Editorial
Editor-in-chief
Bridgette See
Contributing Editor
Chen Jingting
Sub-editor
Bernice Tang
Staff Writer
Siti Maziah Masramli
Cont ributors
Fiona Liaw, Jamie Ee, Lisa Twang,
Richard Hartung & Wong Sher Maine
va i
wa
No iPad
The future belongs to those who prepare for it today. – Malcolm
on X
This is one issue I must
show to my bosses.
Editorial Advisor
Tuber Productions Pte Ltd
BEST
GOVERNMENT
PUBLICATION
(SILVER)
Magnum Opus
Awards 2012
Abigail Yeo
NCSS
le
Challenge Jan/Feb 2013 has an
interesting “Snakes & Ladders” or
rather, “Spaceships & Comets” game
on the work of a futurist. Square 44
reads: “Circulate what you think is a
cutting-edge article, but everyone
already read it yesterday. Go back
to [square] 35”. Initially I thought it
might unintentionally cause some
officers to be afraid to speak up
or share information. But on
second thoughts, I think:
Challenge is a good read
“It is already very nice to
‘Go back to 35’. It could
have been ‘Go to Jail’!”
Jill Wong
Ernest Lee
– way better than what I remember
from several years back!
lab
IRAS
CLC
Intern
Heng Yishi
Creative
Art Director
GO DIGITAL
Yip Siew Fei
Graphic Designers
Ng Shi Wei & Ryan Ong
Cont ributing Photog raphers
Exclusively on Challenge Online at www.challenge.gov.sg
John Heng (www.daphotographer.com)
Justin Loh (shininghead.com)
Norman Ng (www.normanng.com)
Zakaria Zainal (zakariazainal.com)
Challenge is published bimonthly by
Tuber Productions Pte Ltd (Registration No:
200703697K) for PS21 Office, Public Service
Division, Prime Minister’s Office. Copyright
of the materials contained in this magazine
belongs to PS21 Office. Nothing in here shall
be reproduced in whole or in part without prior
written consent of PS21 Office. Views expressed
in this magazine are not necessarily those of
PS21 Office or Tuber Productions Pte Ltd and
no liabilities shall be attached there to.
All rights reserved.
All information correct at time of printing.
Printed by KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd
(Registration No: 197801823M)
57 Loyang Drive Singapore 508968
Insider’s Take
Are You Being Tested?
Read on to learn
some ways to try and
maintain as much peace
in your work life as
possible.
http://bit.ly/peaceinworklife
You are Creative
Reading Absurdity
Improves Learning
Do you know that
reading absurdity
offers mind-boosting
benefits?
http://bit.ly/readingabsurdity
Duck and Cover
Love in a Red Packet
Jonson’s romantic
odyssey starts in a shiny
red packet.
http://bit.ly/loveredpacket
You are Creative
The Other Side of
Creativity
If you find yourself
frequently stumped
at work, this test might
just be the answer to
kick-start your
creative juices.
http://bit.ly/dunckerproblem
To scan QR codes, please download any free QR code reader app available on iTunes Store and Google Play.
Your Say03
“Look at life through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror.”
This quote best describes my experiences in 2012 and goals
for 2013. Despite going through the passing on of a sibling
and other challenging situations, 2012 was a blessed year
for me. It taught me one important value in life – life
is fragile; never take things for granted. I am looking
through the “windshield mirror” at 2013! I have started
V imalathachen
i d/o
going for walks – I want to make sure I keep a healthy
R Gopalan
lifestyle. I need to complete my 10 Workforce Skills
SPS
Qualifications modules by year-end. It has been many years
since I last travelled and I would like to do so this year.
Having made it past the
Mayan Doomsday, Challenge
asked readers to share how they
would make their 2013 count.
My wish for 2013 is for all
mankind to care for animals
and nature as much as they
care for themselves and their
families. Mahatma Gandhi
said, “A country or civilisation
can be judged by the way
it treats its animals.” If all
governments care for animals
and nature as much as they care
for their country’s economy,
the world will be a wonderful
place to live in.
Nirmala d/o
Narayanasamy
NLB
Congratulations Vimalathacheni! Thanks for inspiring us with
your story. Enjoy life in one of Singapore’s most beautiful
spaces with a one-year adult pass to Gardens By The Bay and
tickets to its attractions worth $93!
Take on a new sport
Hug my kids daily
Always be contented
Never lose hope
Keep on learning
Find 12 good books and read
them
Use my resources wisely
Live my everyday to the fullest!
Goa l No. 1: Rea lisation.
Realising a new strength within
me, ranging from attaining
professional qualifications to
music/sport/arts competency.
Wong Pei Shi
Daren Tan
IRAS
Goal No. 2: Personal Grooming. Discovering a whole new
fashion sense for the new year.
AGO
S et h God in, aut hor a nd
marketing guru, once said:
“Instead of wondering when
your next vacation is, maybe
you should set up a life you
don’t need to escape from.” (It’s
another way of saying: “I used
up all my leave from 2012.”)
Jackson Neo
DOS
04 Highlights
NEWS
COMING UP...
from the
SERVICE
MOE ExCEL Fest
STEPPING INTO
BUSINESS ANALYTICS (BA)
So you have heard about data analytics and its wonders. Now you can
learn how to put it to use at work!
As part of the BAsis Programme,
the Ministry Of Finance and the
Infocomm Development Authority
are jointly organising a half-day
Experiential Learning Workshop
on March 28. Participants get to
analyse actual government datasets
using simple analytics tools under
the guidance of professional trainers. Learn how simple analytics can
provide interesting and insightful
solutions for your agency.
www.facebook.com/BAsisProgramme
’TIS THE SEASON TO BE TAX-SAVVY
Parents, catch up on the latest educational
developments at this year’s MOE ExCEL Fest on
April 6. Besides visiting the 55 booths set up
by schools, you can sign up for over 95 sharing
sessions and 25 seminars conducted by leading
educators. Topics range from creative strategies
to support your child at home to parenting tips.
Free admission and shuttle bus services.
www.excelfest.com
SINGAPORE MARITIME WEEK (SMW) 2013
The annual SMW (April 7-12) organised by the
Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore will
gather the international maritime community in
Singapore to celebrate all things maritime. Before
that, a public exhibition held at Plaza Singapura
from April 1 to 7 will provide an inside look
at Maritime Singapore and showcase winning
entries from a T-shirt design competition. Sign
up online to participate in the Amazing Maritime
Adventure contest on April 7.
www.smw.sg
SINGAPORE WORLD WATER DAY 2013
It is tax-filing time, but there’s no need to panic. Filing is no hassle if
you have received the No-Filing Service letter or if your employer is on
the Auto-Inclusion Scheme. Just remember to file by April 18, 2013, and
file early! Key in your mobile number at myTax Portal to receive timely
updates and reminders on tax matters.
mytax.iras.gov.sg/
World Water Day on March 16 celebrates the
International Year of Water Cooperation by
focusing on the collaborative effort for water
conservation. Join community-led activities at any
of the five Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters sites:
• Marina Barrage (main venue)
• Jurong Lake
• Kallang River @ Bishan – Ang Mo Kio Park
• Lorong Halus Wetland
• Lower Seletar Reservoir
www.singaporeworldwaterday.com
Art of Agility
The
Public off icers show their moves in developing swift and effective IT solutions.
Take that, slowpokes!
Text by Jamie
Ee Photos by John Heng
Mark Lim
Assistant Director
Lu Shanshan
Consultant
James Kang
Assistant Chief
Executive
WHEN THE NATIONAL LIBRARY BOARD (NLB)
had an idea to use social media to engage the public in its
book-buying decisions last April, it approached an “agile” team
in the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA)
to develop and test out a microsite prototype.
Though the waterfall method has its merits, it is more timeconsuming – agencies have to determine all the requirements
for their system, call for a tender and then hand the specifications over to an external software development team to
implement the project.
With feedback from the NLB and using the agile software
development method, the IDA team quickly designed and
developed the “Suggest A Book” microsite, which allows the
public to suggest and vote for books they want in the library.
It went live within three weeks.
Nowadays, more time-efficient solutions are needed. “In
today’s environment, everybody wants things yesterday,” says
the IDA’s Assistant Chief Executive and Government Chief
Information Officer James Kang. “Now, we cannot wait a
year for a programme to be rolled out, so the agile approach
becomes very appropriate.”
Had the microsite been set up with the usual waterfall software development method used by government agencies, it
might have taken up to six months to launch.
The 14-man team, the Citizen Engagement Technology
Division under the IDA’s e-Government Group, consists of
Alan Ramos
Ng Herk Low
Associate Consultant
Senior Consultant
Jacqueline Aw
UX Designer
Cheah Yin Ling
Software Developer
Lim Eyung
Consultant
In today’s environment, everybody
wants things yesterday. Now, we
cannot wait a year for a programme
to be rolled out, so the agile
approach becomes very appropriate.
developers, user experience designers
and gamification experts. Since February
last year, they have been giving talks to
agencies and collaborating with them
on using the agile method to develop
social media tools and mobile applications – the new frontier in governmentcitizen relations.
time feedback, is increasingly the preferred approach in view of today’s fastchanging technology landscape.
So far they have created six applications
for various agencies, with the average
turnaround time being two to three
months. Besides “Suggest A Book”, the
team also used the same approach to
develop the platform and mobile application of the NLB’s “Singapore Memory
Project” – an initiative to crowdsource
stories of Singapore from the public. A
further seven to eight projects with other
agencies are in the pipeline.
A lengthy development process also
ensues as officers spend large amounts
of time defining the specifications to
avoid making mistakes and paying for
changes later. But such a “scared and
kiasu” attitude could backfire. “They end
up putting in a lot of specifications, just
in case they miss out anything, which
leads to wastage of resources in building
more than what is actually required,”
says Mr Kang.
Fail early and safely
With the agile method, public officers
need not stress themselves out getting
things perfect right from the start. In-
The agile method, which aims to
develop a product quickly with real-
Contrast it with the traditional waterfall
method – the requirements are usually
established at the beginning, making
changes down the road difficult.
stead, they can improve upon the project
as prototypes are rolled out iteratively
and ideas can be tested on a smaller
sc ale before reaching the public,
giving public officers in charge of the
project the assurance to “fail early
and safely”.
Mr Mark Lim, Assistant Director of
the Citizen Engagement Technology
Division, explains: “We are able to know
the ‘mistakes’ early and change the code
early – even on the spot.”
Quick results
It helps that there is an agile division
in the Public Service as government
agencies can tap on the team to test
out their innovations before scaling up
the projects.
For example, the “Suggest A Book”
microsite, which has completed its
three-month pilot run, attracted at
Feature07
Mani
Sundaramurthy
Executive Consultant
Sasikala
Gnanamuthu
Software Developer
Janey Ngow
Consultant
Medy
Associate Consultant
Viviean Chan
Personal Assistant
Lim Soy Boon
Consultant
least 2,000 book submissions. There
are now plans to take the project further.
Public officers want something to show
their management so that they can get
more buy-in before engaging external
vendors, says Mr Lim.
With the waterfall method, they would
have to wait for a year before they have
an actual product. But with the IDA
agile team, public officers can develop
a prototype within two to three weeks.
How’s that for efficiency?
Roadblocks
While response to the newly formed
agile team has been favourable, a shift
in mindset is needed for the approach
to take off in a big way within the
government, says Mr Kang.
Agencies must learn to work together
in partnership, he says. “Using this ap-
proach, you’ll have to meet almost every
week. It’s no longer a case of you giving the specifications one time [to the
developer] and seeing if it works two
years down the road.”
Mr Lim adds that the agile method
requires the public officers to be very
invol ved in the project but some
agencies are not ready for that. “They
are still used to the traditional way,
where they manage the vendor instead
of the project.”
the whole government, and to bring in
agile in a proper way.”
Beyond agility
Adapting to the agile approach is not
the only thing agencies have to grapple
with if they wish to develop quality IT
products in record time.
While it is still work in progress, he is
optimistic the efforts to promote the
agile method within the government
will eventually pay off.
Some organisations are still not receptive
to using social media tools, such as accepting comments on their applications.
“During the consultation phase, they’ll
find these features very interesting. But
when we reach the development stage,
they become unsure and they drop the
features, so the final product is not as
good,” says Mr Lim.
“We have to prove the concept first, or
else it’s very hard to move forward,” he
says. “Once we have taken the first step,
the second and third steps will become
easier. With that, it’ll be easier to change
It seems that the Public Service does
not just need to speed up its processes.
Taking calculated risks and having the
courage to venture into new territory is
an art to master as well.
The game
plan for a
SHARING
CITY
A Singapore built on greater trust and
cooperation between citizens could well be
within our reach, if we are willing to embrace
collaborative consumption in a big way.
Text by
Richard Hartung Photos by John Heng
Yip Siew Fei & Ng Shi Wei
Set Design by
F RO M A FA R M ER T RA D I N G
his excess eggs for another’s milk, to
hopping into your neighbour’s car for
a lift, the sharing of resources is an
age-old practice. Similarly, if you are
craving for a good book and know
your friend has it, you can borrow it
from her instead of buying it, saving
yourself a few bucks.
But if your neighbour is not going
in your direction or your friend has
already lent out that book, it might
seem you are out of luck. Or perhaps
not – all thanks to technology, sharing
nowadays has become easier, even fun.
For instance, instead of riding with your
neighbour, check out sharetransport.sg
for its community of thousands of
commuters to see who’s going your
way. Meanwhile the lucky folks living
in the London borough of Sutton can
borrow from a wide selection of books
loaned by other residents through an
online book-sharing scheme.
If these sound too good to be true, you
might want to consider experiencing
f or yourself this phenomenon of
sharing that is taking the world by
storm, better known as “collaborative
consumption”. Rachel Botsman, who
coined the term in What’s Mine Is Yours:
The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, the book she co-authored with
Roo Rogers in 2010, describes it as
“traditional sharing, bartering, lending,
trading, renting, gifting and swapping,
redefined through technolog y and
peer communities”.
More than about helping people save
money and cut wastage, this modern
kind of sharing is shaping out to be
a formidable force of change, for the
economy as well as society. It is, said
TIME magazine in 2011, one of the
“10 Ideas That Will Change the World”.
How it all began
While Ms Botsman’s definition may be
recent, the revival of resource sharing
in the modern-day economy dates back
a few decades ago. Car sharing started
in Europe in the 1980s, and the idea
was borrowed by two mothers living
in Massachusetts to start Zipcar in
Cover Story09
More than about
helping people save
money and cut
wastage, this modern
kind of sharing is
shaping out to be
a formidable force
of change, for the
economy as well
as society.
DARE TO SHARE:
Collaborative consumption has
the potential to strengthen
trust between people, giving
them the confidence to
share their living space or
possessions with strangers.
for goods and services (food produce
for computer technical help or language
lessons, for example).
North America in 2000. In 1999, U.S.
company Napster was founded to enable
individuals to share music files.
But it was the global economic crisis of
2008 that got people thinking harder
about innovative ways to slash spending,
or simply to survive. Sharing became
one clear answer. In hard-hit Greece,
there are now several Internet-based
community groups that host exchanges
In a bigger way, sharing-based businesses such as Airbnb – an international
shared accommodation scheme for
travellers – and Buzzcar, a car-sharing
service in Paris that lets you rent your
neighbours’ car when they are not driving, have taken off to become household
names – and major money spinners.
Airbnb, for one, was last valued at as
much as US$2.5 billion in 2012.
For your average Joe, resource sharing
can make living in an expensive city
more affordable. The San Francisco
Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), for instance, has found
that the city’s residents are saving money
by sharing expensive items, such as cars,
rather than owning them; or are earning extra income by renting out their
home when they travel. Airbnb hosts
in the Californian city earn an average
of US$5,000 a year from renting out
their housing space.
Besides helping to reduce consumption,
resource sharing also leads to less items
entering incinerators and landfills. Vehicle sharing cuts congestion of roads
and parking lots.
GOING TO THE SAME PLACE? LET’S SHARE A CAB!
Apps like Split-it! and GoMyWay enable commuters travelling
along the same route to share a taxi and split the fare.
FEELS
GOOD TO SAVE
MONEY!
HOP IN,
EVERYONE!
Social power
While the concept of sharing is nothing new, what makes collaborative
consumption transformative, is its use
of technology that enables sharing to
take place even among strangers.
For Mr Bryan Walsh, a writer with
TIME magazine, the real benefit of
today’s sharing phenomenon is social.
He wrote: “In an era when families
are scattered and we may not know
the people down the street, sharing
things – even with strangers we’ve
just met online – allows us to make
meaningful connections.”
Under the Sutton online book-sharing
scheme, for example, residents meet up
in real life to agree on the loan terms
for books after having initiated contact online. The Sutton council, which
worked with software developer Adrian
Short to develop the scheme, adopts
a “hands-off ” approach so the system
can function on its own based on trust
between the residents. The success of the
scheme has led the council to develop
a book-sharing programming code
with Nesta, a UK charity organisation
promoting innovation, which could be
used to spark off similar initiatives in
other communities and schools.
Technology builds trust between strangers by making it possible to monitor
each individual’s track record in sharing
across multiple digital services.
Ms Botsman called this the “reputation
economy” in a WIRED article last year.
The better your virtual reputation, the
more trustworthy you would seem and
the more “social capital” you would
have online, so others will be more
likely to share with you. Conversely,
you would want to take good care of
others’ goods so as to earn a better
reputation. Collaborative consumption
thus reinforces trust.
In nearly a dozen cities around the
world, that social connection is also
moving from the virtual world to the
physical. Meet-up groups like Sharers in
San Francisco and Wikinomics Collective in London have together attracted
hundreds of members – business owners
and individuals – who want to participate in the mass sharing movement.
“During commercial transactions, you
deal with a ‘what’ instead of a ‘who’.
The exact opposite is the case for
collaborative consumption,” observed
Jeffrey Andreoni, writing on OuiShare,
an online community portal dedicated
to promoting a collaborative economy.
The result, he said, is a new model
where people feel they can rely on
one another, even if they connected
online originally.
Singapore – a sharing society?
It is time to consider how the culture
of sharing can help us improve social
Cover Story 11
relationships, encourage empathy and
build bridges in communities all across
Singapore. This shift could be especially
important at a time when “NIMBY-ism”
and spats between neighbours seem to
be increasing, and where the kampung
spirit that helped overcome those difficulties in the past may be declining.
Additionally, as sharing rather than
owning could help to increase people’s
access to goods, this could in turn ease
some social tensions between this country’s “haves” and “have-nots”.
There are uplifting signs that collaborative consumption may have a shot
at succeeding in Singapore. Just a few
examples can show the breadth of sharing that is starting to expand.
An early market entrant is sharetransport.sg, which connects people who
want to share a ride to the office or
the mall by enabling carpooling and
taxi-pooling through its website and
mobile app. Commuters can also band
together to lease a bus for rides from
home to the office and back, with about
10 such routes formed so far. Started
in March 2012, sharetransport.sg now
has over 10,000 users.
There are also new players, like iCarsclub, which links car owners with other
drivers. Owners can set their rental
rates and advertise when their cars will
be available on weekends and public
holidays. Renters can go online anytime
to make a reservation, and pick up the
car from where the owner has left it.
Insurance is included in the rental.
“Singapore is the best place to test our
idea because of the high demand [for]
private cars, [coupled with deeper] trust
between people and overall [safety],”
It is time to consider
how the culture of
sharing in today’s
society can help
us improve social
relationships,
encourage empathy
and build bridges
in communities all
across Singapore.
MY OFFICE IS YOURS:
For computer geeks, HackerSpaceSg offers anything
from a sofa space to a dedicated desk in its
community-operated office at Bussorah Street.
WHATEVER...
AND YOURS
IS MINE.
iCarsclub co-founder Jamie Wang, who
hails from China, told technology news
portal Tech In Asia last year. “Once our
idea is validated in Singapore, we can
easily replicate our business in other
cities similar to Singapore.”
So far, Mr Wang told Challenge, customer reaction has been quite positive,
with over 200 cars and 600 drivers signing up even though iCarsclub was only
launched last December. The founders
have worked with online insurance
company DirectAsia.com to design a
new insurance model that protects car
owners and renters on their peer-to-peer
rental scheme. They have also come up
with a keyless technology to track speed,
mileage, location and even accidents.
Besides transport-sharing services, sharing of space is also becoming popular
here. Coworking Singapore is one example of an organisation offering space
for entrepreneurs, freelancers and other
mobile workers who want to share the
same workspace, build friendships and
exchange ideas. Along with a shared or
dedicated desk, members have access
to a conference room, lounge, pantry,
high-speed wireless Internet, printer
and locker. Another company, Cowork@
SG, has taken the concept even further
by setting up flexible workspaces in
four locations scattered across Singapore, as well as organising events for
its members.
Entrepreneurs or organisations with
a social or environmental mission can
approach The HUB, which provides
space for co-working, events and collaboration. “It is inspiring to be surrounded by people doing good work,”
says member and consultant Solonia
Teodros. The HUB has 260 members
as of February.
The Public Service is at it too
Some government agencies are also
taking to the sharing idea.
To encourage employers to set up shared
offices in communities across Singapore,
the Infocomm Development Authority
issued a call for collaboration in April
last year, inviting industry players to
conduct pilots in setting up Smart
Work Centres.
FREE ACCOMMODATION:
Couchsurfing.org, a social networking site with over 5 million
members worldwide, connects travellers with hosts who are
willing to offer free stays in their homes.
PULAU UBIN.
WHERE ARE
YOU FROM?
Another agency, SPRING Singapore,
has a part in funding Rent Tycoons, a
site that enables peer-to-peer renting
in everything from computers and tools
to fashion, jewellery, wedding gowns
and party items like popcorn machines.
Such support from the authorities is
heartening for entrepreneurs spearheading collaborative consumption in
Singapore, which is still in its infancy.
“Government endorsement will get
people thinking such activity is legitimate and [could go] mainstream,”
said sharetransport.sg co-founder Soh
Chong Kian. For instance, “government
assistance in identity verification for
online collaborative consumption can
allow people to connect with the confidence that the other party is legitimate.”
As new models of collaborative
consumption evolve, the Public Service is likely to get more involved in
one way or another. Experiences in
other locations and research by organisations like SPUR provide examples
of superior practices that the Public
Service can leverage in dealing with
this trend.
Government
agencies need
to make sure
their monitoring,
regulating and
taxing activities
help rather
than hinder the
sharing economy.
One requirement is in planning and
setting up rules that actually work.
For instance, car sharing was held
back in California for years because
insurance regulations didn’t allow it.
“What companies within the sharing
economy need from government is to
be allowed to operate,” SPUR noted,
and government agencies need to make
sure their monitoring, regulating and
taxing activities help rather than hinder
the sharing economy.
What is very important for the government, Melissa O’Young wrote on
Shareable (an online magazine about
sharing), is to play a role in clarifying
the legal rights and responsibilities of
people participating in collaborative
consumption. Updating regulations
is also critical, she said, since businesses and technology change so fast.
Only through regulatory changes in
California, for example, have peer-topeer lenders like Zopa been allowed
to operate and car owners enabled to
keep their insurance when they rent
out their car.
In Singapore, the growth of peerto-peer car sharing services could be
limited by current regulations that only
allow private car rentals on weekends
and public holidays. But changes may
be on the horizon – according to Mr
Wang, iCarsclub is in discussions with
the Land Transport Authority to open
its services to the weekday market.
Also, not all forms of sharing behaviour
are welcomed by the authorities here.
Room rental services such as Airbnb
are currently illegal in Singapore. The
Urban Redevelopment Authority told
The Straits Times in 2012 that “private
Cover Story 13
residential properties can be rented out
or sublet – but only for periods of six
months or more” because ‘‘transient occupiers may disturb and inconvenience
other residents.” Despite this official
stance, intrepid landlords and tourists
in Singapore are reportedly going ahead
anyway, with the hope that regulations
will catch up with the trend one day.
HEY, I’VE ALWAYS
WANTED A MAGIC
WAND. WANT TO
TRADE?
SURE!
All in all, the Public Service should be
prepared to handle a few ruffled feathers
in its efforts to encourage collaborative
consumption. If shared goods are damaged by people operating under rules
set up by government agencies, the
agencies could end up being blamed
for the problem. Meanwhile, for rules
governing Airbnb-type arrangements,
the Public Service could take the chance
to engage the public in discussions
about whether such rules ought to be
relaxed to allow leasing.
1
Privacy laws may also need to be
tweaked to allow websites to start
distributing personal details about the
sharing behaviour of collaborators, for
example. But would Singaporeans be
willing to compromise their privacy
in exchange for promoting sharing?
Perhaps this can be another opportunity
for more dialogue between the Public
Service and the public.
2
The ownership mentality
Rules aside, embracing sharing as a
cultural norm also requires us to overcome the ownership mindset.
Despite the small steps collaborative
consumption has made here, generally
“consumers in Singapore are not used
to the concept of sharing since we tend
to like new shiny stuff,” Mr Eugene
Tay, director of environmental solutions
company Green Future Solutions told
Challenge. In other words, the concept
of ownership has become so ingrained
in our culture that it could be difficult
to think about sharing.
“In many societies throughout the
world, material ownership is connected
with developing one’s identity and,
therefore, constitutes an integral part
of the culture,” reported CSRWire, a
portal for social responsibility and sus-
WELCOME TO MY HOME:
Airbnb may be illegal in Singapore, but that has not
stopped enterprising individuals from renting out their
housing space to tourists.
WE COME
IN PEACE...
tainability news. Singapore is perhaps
one of those societies. Many people
here buy apartments almost as much
for status as for a place to live, and the
same status could come from individual
ownership of other items – a fancy car,
for instance – rather than from the
sharing of resources.
Still, trends could shift. As Mr Walsh
explained in the 2011 TIME article,
“we yearn to trust and be trusted – one
researcher has found that people get a
spike of the pleasant neurotransmitter
oxytocin when they’re entrusted with
another’s goods. That’s the beauty of a
sharing society…” Despite the obstacles, it seems that
collaborative consumption is here to
stay – and grow. With its potential to
strengthen social bonds and connect
communities at a time when they are
drifting apart, the social benefits may
well help overcome weak neighbourhood links and reduce tensions caused
by income disparities.
Seeing how several sharing efforts are
already sprouting on the ground, perhaps the best support the Public Service could offer is to allow the seed of
collaborative consumption to continue
growing without choking it with overly
strict regulations and laws.
Making a
Sustainable
Comeback
From declining industrial town to vibrant eco city: Mayor
Ilmar Reepalu shares how he helped to transform Malmö.
Text by
Bridgette See
Malmö’s Kockums shipyard
was closed in the 1980s
and the land transformed
into sustainable housing
developments (above).
THE
YEAR
WAS
1994.
Mr Ilmar Reepalu, then 52, was
newly elected Mayor of the City of
Malmö, in the south of Sweden.
But what he had inherited was not
a pretty sight. The once-thriving
industrial city of 240,000 had been
in decline since the ’70s; by the
1980s, its key shipbuilding industry had collapsed. Unemployment
was rife and the city’s youths were
leaving, and the situation worsened
when industries shifted to Eastern
Europe for cheaper labour following the fall of the Berlin Wall
in 1989.
Mayor Ilmar Reepalu
has been at the helm of
Malmö since 1994.
Local political instability took a
further toll on the economy. Before
Mr Reepalu assumed office, political
power had flip-flopped between two
parties for a decade.
“During this period, politics shifted
180 degrees every time [a different
party won]. It was a very politically volatile period,” recounted Mr
Reepalu, who was in Singapore last
year for the World Cities Summit
where he spoke on Malmö’s sustainability efforts.
Elected on a majority ticket, he saw
a chance to reinvent the city. “I knew
I would lose my own majority after
four years… so I had four years to
Feature 15
Clockwise from left (this page): A solar engine
generates renewable energy; a child plays next to
the stormwater filtration system in Augustenborg;
and green buildings in the Western Harbour.
tween Malmö and the Danish city of
Copenhagen – convinced that the two
cities could prosper as an economic
region. These projects, among others,
helped to put the city back onto the
path of economic recovery.
Leading the pack
But what has helped to set Malmö
apart from other cities has been its
overarching focus on sustainable
urban development and housing.
All photos from the City of Malmö, www. malmo.se/sustainablecity
make all the difficult decisions,” said
the mayor, who has been re-elected
consecutively since 1994.
“I said, ‘Now if we want to change
the city, there must be a long-term
vision because the business sector
won’t invest if they fear a 180degree shift (in policies)’ after every
election.”
A clear vision
So Mr Reepalu, along with the local
government, gathered more than 150
representatives from the community’s various fields – politicians of all
stripes, state officials, administrators, artists, academics and business
people – to envision Malmö’s future.
The result was a collective vision to
make Malmö a city of knowledge.
With the transformation in mind,
the city embarked on a number of
key projects to turn Malmö around.
This included the setting up of
Malmö University. “At that time,
in the city centre, the stores were
closed and people were jobless. You
really felt the poverty of the city,”
said Mr Reepalu, who envisioned
a city university that would attract
young people and professors, create
buzz in the arts and cultural scene,
stimulate a bustling café scene and
add life to the city.
And when Sweden joined the European Union in 1995, Mr Reepalu was
convinced that Malmö had to look
beyond traditional national borders
for opportunities. So he pushed for
the Öresund Bridge to be built be-
As a young architect in the ’70s,
Mr Reepalu had attended the first
United Nations Conference on the
Human Environment in Stockholm
where the seed of sustainable living
was planted in his mind. Twenty
years later, he was finally in a position to convince Malmö’s stakeholders that its future could be that of a
leading environmental city.
So before “sustainability” and “climate change” became the world’s
buzzwords, Malmö was already
long on to them. From the late ‘90s
onwards, the city embarked upon
various sustainable urban projects,
including turning “brownfields” or
former industrial lands into eco-developments (see sidebox on pg 16).
Making green issues local
Yet Malmö did not start off by
just beating the “climate change”
drum to residents. Instead, it started
small, by addressing residents’ immediate concerns for cleaner and
cheaper living.
LEARNING
FROM FAILURE
Malmö has built 410km
of dedicated cycling
paths and infrastructure
to make cycling safer and
more convenient.
For instance, shared Mr Reepalu,
when city officials set out to rejuvenate Augustenborg, an ageing coaldependent public housing estate,
in 1997, they involved its residents
in planning the redevelopment as
they wanted residents to “own” the
solutions they came up with.
“ We formed groups and asked
‘How can we change the surroundings so you will stay and raise your
children here?’” When residents
replied that they wanted cheaper
heating, the city retrofitted their
homes to improve insulation and
added meters so residents could
monitor their usage. The latter led
to energy-saving behaviour, such as
taking shorter showers.
The residents themselves contributed ideas: they formed a carpooling
system, and also designed a waste
sorting and management system.
A resident even invented a stormwater filtration system that is now
a Malmö export. Today, Augustenborg is a living testbed for cleantech
initiatives, attracting thousands of
international visitors eager to learn
from it.
Making it easy to be green
So how did Malmö convince its
residents to think and act more ecoconsciously? “You start by making it
easy,” said Mr Reepalu.
The city, for instance, has built recycling complexes for most apartment
blocks in Malmö. Each of these
complexes has separate containers visibly labelled to recycle glass,
paper, cardboard, metal, plastic
and batteries.
The city also enhanced laws to
change behaviour, shared the mayor.
For example, residents are rewarded
for recycling by getting 2 kronor
(S$0.40) for every plastic bottle
and 1 krona (S$0.20) for a beer
can. There is also a landfill tax of
500 kronor (S$95) for every tonne
The residents
themselves
contributed ideas:
they formed a
carpooling system,
and also designed
a waste sorting
and management
system.
of waste to encourage greater recycling, reusing and reducing of waste
in Malmö.
As a result, Malmö residents now
recycle 98% of their waste.
A cleantech leader
The city’s forward thinking and bold
investments in cleantech – before it
became a trend – have paid off. In
Malmö’s Kockums shipyard, which
closed in the 1980s, was on prime
land. The city invested millions
to convert this brownfield to a
sustainable development. In 1998,
Malmö University opened here
and then in 2001, a large-scale
international housing expo, Bo01, was
built. The bold pilot project showcased
how polluted industrial land and water
could be rehabilitated for sustainable
developments. Bo01 became Sweden’s
first climate-neutral city district,
with energy produced from 100%
renewable sources and organic waste
converted to biogas for city buses.
The expo was a financial failure but it
has been credited for furthering ecothinking in Malmö with its tangible
showing of sustainable innovations.
RIDICULOUS
CAR RIDES
To encourage cycling, the city built
410km of dedicated cycling paths and
numerous bike stations for cyclists to
park and take a shower before heading
to work. More recently, it used humour
to encourage cycling with a campaign
highlighting how silly it was to drive
short distances. Car drivers who shared
the most ridiculous stories of their
short drives won bicycles.
less than 20 years, Malmö has gone
from a polluted industrial city to a
“cleantech city” where researchers
and businesses develop new ideas,
products and services that benefit
the world.
Today, it has Sweden’s largest
photovoltaic plant for solar energy
and the world’s third largest wind
park to tap wind energy. Now it is
even aiming to be carbon neutral by
2020, with the entire city to run on
renewable energy by 2030.
Once reputed for its bustling shipyard and towering cranes, Malmö
today takes pride in leading the
world in sustainable living, while
safeguarding its residents’ future.
This is the final of a three-part series on
the World Cities Summit.
Feature 17
1
2
Having
fun
with A
NATIONAL
OBSESSION
4
3
With tongue firmly in cheek,
an exhibition explores
Singaporeans’ relationship
with national campaigns.
6
IF YOU HAVE GROWN UP
in Singapore, you would probably
be familiar with slogans like “Clean
and Green”, and Singa the Lion,
one of our many national mascots.
As part of the Singapore Memory
Project, the National Library Board
and art curatorial company Salon
Projects have teamed up to organise
Campaign City: Life in Posters – a
showcase of artworks from 50
artists who, drawing inspiration
from their own memories and
experiences, put their own spin
on campaigns we know and love
(or not).
5
The exhibition held at the Lee Kong
Chian Reference Librar y (Level 11
of the National Library Building) is
on from now till July 7. Register for
guided tours at eKiosks available at all
libraries or go to golibrary.nlb.gov.sg/
1. For artists from design studio ampulets, the tigers – male and
female – are lifeless rugs, campaigning in a city that is desperately
seeking babies.
2. Artists from Cake Theatrical Productions wonder if anyone is
listening to what national campaigns are saying.
3. Livia Chng’s cheeky take on the lack of effectiveness of campaigns
to mould social behaviour.
4. Eeshaun doubts if the government’s call for more babies will work.
5. Green Zeng wants to get the audience thinking about issues
related to the Speak Mandarin Campaign.
6. Artist ZXEROKOOL uses the panda, now a pop culture icon, to
depict how “cool” it is to master the Chinese language.
18 Thinking Aloud
Knowing how help is needed
can spark the pro bono spirit,
says lawyer Adrian Tan.
Giving starts with
AWARENESS
DURING THE LAST GENERAL
Election, visually handicapped Singaporeans faced their usual hurdle:
they could not vote in secret. Many
complained they weren’t allowed to
mark their own ballot papers. Instead,
over ly enthusiastic officers at the
voting centres insisted on asking for
their voting choice to mark the papers
for them. In frustration, some blind
vo t e r s t o re u p t h e i r b a l l o t s l i p s ,
rather than reveal their choice to
absolute strangers. Helping the blind in this case could
have been quite simple: if they were
told the layout of the ballot paper, they
would be able to write an “x” in the
right space. The Singapore Association
of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH)
President Tan Guan Heng wrote to the
Ministry of Law to address the issue.
With typical Singaporean efficiency,
who could then research the law and
prepare a letter to propose changes
in voting procedures. And there were
(and still are) many lawyers who
would have jumped at the chance to
help the blind – if they knew about
the problem. If only there was a way
to matchmake public-spirited lawyers
with charities that needed pro bono
legal help.
Now, we have such a matchmaker.
The Singapore Law Society ’s Pro
Bono Ser vices Office runs Project
Law Help, an initiative to match
non-profit organisations with lawyers
who want to help them. Project Law
Help placed me in the SAVH and with
Why didn’t this happen decades earlier?
I put it down to a lack of awareness.
Minister K Shanmugam’s team very
quickly organised a meeting with the
authorities and SAVH representatives.
Procedures were swiftly revamped – as
a result, during the 2011 Presidential
Election in August, stencils were
provided to blind voters to help them
“read” ballot papers. For the first time
in Singapore history, the blind voted,
on their own and in secret. Why didn’t this happen decades earlier?
I put it down to a lack of awareness.
The blind needed to talk to lawyers,
the blessing of my law firm, Drew &
Napier, I provided free legal help to
the organisation. I had a small part
to play in looking up voting laws and
starting the ball rolling to change our
election practices.
Like many lawyers, I was always keen
on pro bono work but without Project
Law Help I would never have known
how to go about it. It’s only when we
discover that people need our help that
we start to think about what needs to
be done, and how we can do it. Since
then I’ve found that there is no shortage of ways to help the blind.
Make no mistake: blind Singaporeans
are very capable but every now and
then they encounter problems that
the sighted would never dream of. For
instance, the blind, like others, want to
own and operate their own businesses.
But every business needs a corporate
bank account to receive and pay out.
So far, we have not been able to find
a Singapore bank willing to open a
current account to be operated by blind
businessmen. The reason? Banks don’t
feel comfortable allowing the blind to
sign cheques. We haven’t solved that problem, just
as we haven’t solved the problem of
traffic crossings. The Land Transport
Authority had introduced beeping
traffic lights for blind pedestrians but
some residents asked for them to be
removed, complaining that they disturbed their children’s studies.
Now that you’re aware of these two
problems and the help that is required,
please let me know if you have ideas
or can lend a hand.
Adrian Tan is a law yer and author of
bestselling novels The Teenage Textbook
and The Teenage Workbook. He was the
moderator for the inaugural inter-varsity
Pro Bono Debate between the law faculties
of the National University of Singapore and
the Singapore Management University in
September 2012.
Letters to aYoung Public Officer27
Be nimble yet
STEADFAST
by Khoo Boon Hui
Senior Deputy Secretary (Development),
Ministry of Home Affairs
Director, Institute of Leadership and Organisation Development
and Senior Fellow, Civil Service College
DEAR YOUNG OFFICER,
OUR PUBLIC SERVICE AND THE
world at large have evolved beyond
recognition since I was a young officer
like you some 40 years ago when I first
joined the Service. Today’s challenges
and opportunities are not those of a
decade ago, nor will they remain the
same a few years from now. Hence we
need to be fast in responding to change.
The Singapore Police Force used to
rely upon a top-down, command-andcontrol management approach. While
such a traditional leadership style has
its merits, we have realised that the
strength of any organisation lies in its
people, and its preparedness to engage
staff as partners to co-create success.
That is why when I became Commissioner in 1997, we embraced collective
leadership and practised transparent
and open communication at all levels.
When I took on the role of President
of INTERPOL in 2008, I thought the
same concepts of openness and transparency would put me in good stead in
guiding the organisation. However, as an
international organisation with numerous stakeholders, these basic tenets were
often inadequate, handicapped in part
by cultural and language differences.
Such experiences showed me that
change is constant – there is no onesize-fits-all strategy to managing people,
organisations and work challenges.
Instead, explore better ways of doing
things and come up with creative solutions. Be mindful, however, that many
ideas have been previously considered
and not all the reasons for decisions
made have been or can be recorded.
Stand firm
In the midst of making bold moves,
there will be times when mistakes are
made, or changes introduced are slow to
produce results. To that, I urge you to
push on, and hold fast to your values; not
just your own, but your organisation’s,
the Public Service’s and Singapore’s.
Through my years of policing experiences, I have learnt to live by a core
set of values which remind me to be
self-disciplined, have respect for others,
uphold integrity, commit selflessly to
our Public Service, engage with others,
and have compassion.
Mistakes will not define you, but your
values will. It is easier to make deci-
Brave – Have the intellectual courage
to speak your mind even when talking
to your superiors.
T houghtful – Instil in your team
members a sense of self-worth. Engage
and involve them, and develop processes
and platforms for them to create value
for the organisation and themselves. Be
a leader and a team player by taking
ownership for both the team’s triumphs
and failures.
Also, to lead well, you need to regularly
examine the moral implications and
effects of your actions on others, and
understand the values that drive you.
Many high-potential young
leaders have derailed because
they had failed to learn from
mistakes, change and grow.
Some were over-reliant on
strengths that became weaknesses when circumstances changed.
Others failed to address some crucial
deficiencies that became accentuated
when their roles expanded. To remain
effective in your leadership, you have
to be keenly aware of what strengths
you bring to your leadership and where
your limitations lie, and to continuously
challenge yourself so as to expand your
own capacity to lead well.
Mistakes will not define
you, but your values will.
sions when you have deeply held values
that will steadfastly guide you at the
crossroads of your life. Only then will
you be able to do the right thing at
the right time in the right way, and
with the right motive to produce the
right results.
On leadership
As you advance in your career and take
on greater leadership roles, I encourage
you to be…
Humble – The best ideas do not always
come from the top. Listen to your peers
and subordinates. It is your fresh mind, enthusiasm,
optimism about what is possible, and
commitment to the core values of our
profession that will bring our Public
Service forward.
“Good
Planning
is not just
about now”
With a projected 6.9 million population
in 2030, how does the Urban
Redevelopment Authority (URA) plan
to f it that many people into 766 sq km of
land (after reclamation), while ensuring
Singapore remains a liveable space?
Its CEO, Mr Ng Lang, explains.
Text by
Wong Sher Maine
John Heng
Photos by
EVERYONE WHO HAS WORKED WITH
Mr Ng Lang, CEO of the URA, would have noticed that he seems to be clad in the same white
long-sleeved shirt every day. Ask him why and
he demurs: “Oh, this is so embarrassing. Please
don’t write this!”
It takes a considerable amount of probing before
Mr Ng explains: His wardrobe is actually filled
with identical shirts. “When I started working, I had a wardrobe of different shirts but
after two years, I realised it was a chore making such decisions.” He would rather direct his
time and energy towards his responsibilities
at work.
“It (wearing identical shirts) grows on you
after a while,” says the CEO who admittedly craves simplicity. And so, in his trademark white shirt, Mr Ng sits down at Emporium, a cocktail bar and restaurant near his
office, for coffee with Challenge to talk about
URA’s work.
Budgeting land
“Our job is almost like the Ministry of
Finance’s but instead of budgeting money,
we budget land,” Mr Ng begins.
Discipline, in parcelling out 710 sq km of
land, is requisite. “We have to make difficult
trade-offs and juggle the competing needs of
a rather sophisticated society,” he explains.
“You have conservation groups that want to
keep Bukit Brown, youngsters who say they
A Cuppa With...29
want more HDB flats that should
not be smaller, and people who want
more roads and cars.”
The co-owner of Emporium herself
would have given Mr Ng an earful
had she known who he was. “We
have been appealing to the URA
to close off the road (Emporium is
located at Ann Siang Road) to cars
on weekends to no avail,” she later
bursts out after he has left and she
learns who he is.
the expense of everything else. Apart
from the economy, we also look at
the social and environment aspects.”
With various groups in society having different and sometimes conflicting opinions of how the land should
be used, communicating effectively
so that citizens understand the decision-making process is an important
part of the URA’s work.
We cannot consume
things ahead of time,
and some land areas
are kept for future
use when your
children grow up.
Banking land for the future, even if
people are complaining, is also part
of that discipline.
Creating liveability
Ten percent of Singapore’s land is
put aside for nature reserves and
parks, and when asked if the URA
would raze the jungles in the northwest corner of Singapore for development, Mr Ng answers (albeit indirectly): “We do safeguard forested
areas for nature reserves and military
training. But good planning is not
just about now. We cannot consume
things ahead of time, and some land
areas are kept for future use when
your children grow up.”
Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that
Singapore is a liveable city, for now
and in future, he says.
Asked to define “liveable”, Mr Ng
replies: “A liveable place is where we
can sustain a competitive economy, a
place with a quality living environment where people can thrive as individuals and live meaningful lives.”
And what does he have to say to
those who claim that Singapore, in
its pursuit of economic growth, has
become less liveable? “The economic part is important because that
must work before everything else.
Without a robust economy, all your
dreams about having a good quality of life would be very difficult
to achieve. But it doesn’t mean that
it’s something we want to achieve at
The former NParks CEO is proud
of how Singapore has scored on the
environmental front. This is from
a strategic standpoint – “there is
no other built-up city in the world
that has as much greenery as Singapore, which gives us a competitive
advantage [in drawing skilled foreign talent and investments]” – as
well as personal.
He talks fondly about the “80-something Ah Ma” who cares for a community garden bursting with golden
sunflowers on the rooftop of Block
337, Jurong East Avenue 1, and
brings his foldable bike for weekend spins at the park connectors.
At home, he has himself created a
“garden in the sky” on the balcony
of his 9th floor apartment. Featuring fragrant plants like bread flowers, murraya and jasmine, the garden took seed two-and-a-half years
ago, after Mr Ng was inspired by
his NParks stint. “Birds nested in
our garden, which confirmed my
belief that if you make an effort
to green things up, nature will
come back.”
Future Singapore
Since he became the URA’s CEO in
30 A Cuppa With...
2010, Mr Ng has been busy with the
concept plan review, which looks
at land use in Singapore every
10 years. It has recently been
completed and released as the Land
Use Plan.
This is what living in Singapore will
be like in the years to come: Instead
of commuting into the city, you
will probably be working nearer to
home as the URA develops suburban economic zones in areas like
the Jurong Lake District, Kallang
Riverside and Woodlands. It will
be greener, as more Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters projects and a
150-km round-island park connector route bloom into reality.
Expect to see more gardens in
the sky as developers integrate
vegetation into concrete buildings. Singaporeans can also look
out for more mixed-use spaces for
living, working and playing, such
as the condominium with the mall
and offices downstairs.
As this writer bristles at the proliferation of malls in Singapore, Mr Ng
observes: “You seem to have a problem
with malls. What does it matter if they
are providing quality public spaces
where people can gather and enjoy
themselves? We also balance that
with a generous provision of parks.”
One of his favourite malls, he
reveals, is VivoCity, simply because
What’s usually in your cuppa?
Black coffee without sugar. I cannot
reconcile bitterness and sweetness.
When do you usually have
your cuppa?
Once a day in my office.
It’s not just
about beautiful
buildings and iconic
structures, but also
about inculcating a
sense of ownership
and belonging.
families congregate there for a
good time at the rooftop park and
water playground.
Of late, the URA has gone into
thinking about the “software” aspects of a space and what makes
people flock there. So beyond building the physical infrastructure, a
special URA unit has since 2008
gone into organising place-making
activities. “It ’s not just about beautiful buildings and iconic structures,”
Mr Ng says, “but also about
inculcating a sense of ownership and belonging.” That could
include getting people on the
ground involved in land planning.
Making exceptions
“Software” also implies a closer
understanding of the needs of busi-
nesses and individuals. Sometimes,
exceptions can be made. For instance,
while the URA generally does not
allow businesses to mar the skyline
with waterfront advertisements in
Marina Bay, it is willing to relax the
rule during big celebrations. “I often
tell people that exceptions can be
rules in themselves,” explains Mr Ng.
Last September, the URA was asked
by The Straits Times to explain why
the agency allowed a Haji Lane
shophouse owner to keep its graffiti art, although the strong colours
of the art contravened the conserved
shophouse colour guidelines. Mr Ng
says: “What’s been done there is in
keeping with the entrepreneurial,
lively character of the place, and is
welcomed by the community.”
A week after Challenge’s interview with Mr Ng, an article
appeared in The Straits Times: In
response to feedback, the URA
is considering closing off Ann
Siang Road to cars on Friday and
Saturday evenings.
Emporium’s lady boss would be
pleased to know that.
“Singaporecanthink
abitmorecrazily”
Known for creating spaces that can sense our presence and respond to us, Professor Carlo Ratti
shares how he makes his ideas come alive.
Text by
Chen Jingting
ITALIAN ARCHITECT CARLO
Ratti is probably the only person in
the world who has garnered rave reviews for creating a “watered down”
version of a building.
Together with his team from
the SENSEable City Lab at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Professor Ratti built the
Digital Water Pavilion in Spain. It
was constructed out of curtains of
water and fitted with sensors to detect the presence of visitors, so that
the curtains would part to let them
in. The “water walls” also double up
as display spaces – thanks to computer-controlled nozzles, the water
droplets can be shaped into various
texts and images.
The first of its kind to digitally
manipulate water as building and
display material, the Pavilion was
named by TIME magazine as one of
the “Best Inventions of the Year” in
2007 and was part of the 2008 World
Expo in Zaragoza, Spain.
Photo Lars Kruger (www.lumivere.com)
It is an example of how technology
can change the way we see and interact with space. Sensors and computers that control them have made it
possible for once-static structures to
respond to us in real time.
Clearly, here is a man who has
turned the architectural convention of buildings as fixed and static
elements on its head. But even the
visionary himself admits he once had
doubts about his “crazy” ideas.
“There was a time when I wouldn’t
mention many of the ideas I
thought about,” he tells Challenge,
“because I wasn’t convinced about
them. That actually killed a lot of
possible creativity.”
Bright ideas
Besides manipulating water to create
dynamic environments, Prof Ratti
has also experimented with lights.
His 2010 Flyfire project with the
MIT SENSEable City Lab attempts
to construct 3D displays from tiny
flying LED lights that can be controlled to morph into different
shapes in the air.
Photos on this page www.dwp.qaop.net
Though the project is still being
developed and has its critics (one
criticism is that it may not work in
environments with strong winds),
if successful, it could change
the face of public communication.
For instance, the way we view
advertisements in public spaces
could be transformed. Good-bye,
2D posters and billboards; hello,
3D moving canvases.
fore they scored their first successful
prototype, which shows that innovation does not stop at “Eureka!”
Quoting inventor Thomas Edison who gave the famous adage
“genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration”, he says: “Being innovative
is not just about being inspired but
making things happen.”
Bettering lives
If at this point, you think he is
only interested in innovative ideas
with little care for how they provide
tangible benefits for the present,
think again.
Prof Ratti, who is also trained
in civil engineering, is involved
in projects that enable city dwellers to lead more sustainable lifestyles. That is why he and his team
at the MIT SENSEable City Lab
are studying how real-time data
about the city can be harnessed
to change human behaviour for
the better.
Capitalising on smart networks
created by the ubiquitous use of
smartphones, they worked with the
Copenhagen Municipality to develop the Copenhagen Wheel, a bicycle
that stores energy generated when
How does the 42-year-old get inspiration for bright ideas like these?
The tip he gives sounds almost too
easy to be true: “You don’t need to
think too hard about it to get ideas.
Sometimes the ideas just come
when you’re relaxing.” The idea for
Flyfire hit him when he was about
to fall asleep on a flight. “Travelling is a good time to think about
things,” he says.
Prof Ratti and his team then spent
two years developing the project be-
Clockwise from top: The Digital Water Pavilion in
Zaragoza, Spain; water curtains part to allow visitors
through; the water droplets can be controlled to
create different patterns and text, which is another
interactive feature of the Pavilion.
Feature33
OTHER PROJECTS
FROM CARLO RATTI:
Photo senseable.mit.edu/copenhagenwheel/
• During a competition for the London
Olympics last year, Prof Ratti and
his team came up with the idea
of The Cloud, an observation deck
consisting of large plastic bubbles on
top of 120m-tall towers. It will be an
interactive space that displays real-time
information, such as weather updates,
using LED lights. Though the idea did
not materialise for the Olympics, there
are ongoing discussions with other
major cities in the world to build it in
their countries.
Photo senseable.mit.edu/flyfire/
Top: The
Copenhagen
Wheel, thanks
to its ability to
detect data such
as pollution and
traffic congestion
levels, enables
cyclists to make
better decisions
in routeplanning.
Left: The Flyfire
project has the
potential to
make public
communication
more dynamic by
creating moving
3D light displays.
We need to be able to listen to people’s ideas,
we need to be able to share ideas and then
creativity can come in a more collective,
bottom-up way.
biking and braking, and releases it for moments when the cyclist
needs more power. The bike also
has sensors to track real-time
information like traffic conditions
and pollution levels.
Cyclists can then use the information to plan smoother and more environmentally friendly routes with
their smartphones.
Teamwork works
Though it seems he has no problem
coming up with ideas on his own,
Prof Ratti stresses the importance of
teamwork during brainstorming.
“We need to be able to listen
to people’s ideas, we need to be able
to share ideas and then creativity
can come in a more collective, bottom-up way,” he says. He tries to
make listening and sharing ideas a
daily practice wherever he works,
whether it is at the MIT SENSEable City Lab or his architectural
design company, carlorattiassociati,
which has offices in Turin, London
and Boston.
The MIT SENSEable City Lab also
has a presence in Singapore. Prof
Ratti has been making yearly trips
here since 2010 when the Lab start-
• In 2011, the MIT SENSEable City Lab
worked with General Electric to analyse
data from over 7 million medical
records in the United States and create
the “Health Infoscape”, which sheds
light on seemingly unrelated medical
conditions (for example, insomnia
could be associated with abnormal
weight gain). Researchers are using the
data to find out how environmental
factors lead to certain illnesses.
ed developing LIVE Singapore!, an
open platform that transforms real-time information about our city
into visualisations (read more about
LIVE Singapore! in Challenge Jan/
Feb 2012).
Singapore, get crazy
Affirming Singaporeans’ eagerness to try new technologies, Prof
Ratti thinks that this country can
be an ideal base for urban experimentation, such as creating new architecture that emerges from our
changing lifestyles.
For instance, flexible work arrangements mean more people are going
to work outside the office in the near
future. Prof Ratti believes that could
translate to designing more open air
working spaces with richer greenery.
“In terms of design, Singapore can
think a bit more crazily,” he says.
After all, thinking out of the box
may require us to stretch our imagination – just a little.
DETECTIVES
in DISGUISE
To ensure the proper handover of a Housing
and Development Board (HDB) flat earmarked
for demolition under the Selective En bloc
Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), HDB off icers
often have to channel their inner Sherlock Holmes
to track down missing owners.
Te xt by
Heng Yishi
P h o to by
Justin Loh
IT’S A JOB THAT SOUNDS STRAIGHTFORWARD
enough. A few years after a block of flats is announced for
the SERS, officers from the HDB are tasked to take possession of the flats. They make their way to the individual
units, hand the former homeowners cheques for compensation and take over the keys.
Yet things are not always so simple. Sometimes the owners
are nowhere to be found, which means SERS officers then
have to double up as investigators in their search for them.
In one case, Higher Technical Officer See Cheng San
sought out a missing owner’s previous homes and spoke
with several people, before he found out that she had moved
to Malaysia. He managed to contact her in the end, to his
relief. “Because we didn’t give up, we got in touch with
these [missing homeowners],” says the 56-year-old, so that
they would be informed of their housing status and could
receive their compensation.
Officers from the 8-man SERS team liaise with the relatives
of these owners – who can be reluctant to help at times –
to work out the housing options together.
Homeowners who have run afoul of the law and are imprisoned get help too, as the unsung heroes from the HDB
make multiple trips to the prison to discuss housing issues
with them.
No matter who the owner is and what he has done, he still
has the right to know his housing status and be helped so
that he can have a roof over his head, says the team’s leader,
Tan Wee Teck. This simple conviction, backed by patience
and perseverance, is what moves him and his team to deliver
their best service to the public.
Because we didn’t give
up, we got in touch
with these [missing
homeowners].
Unsung Heroes 35
Top, from left: Mr Tan Wee Teck;
Mr See Cheng San; Mr Chan Yong Chin
and Mr Chua Choon Keong, Eric.
Bottom, from left: Mr Seah Eng Poh;
Mr Wee Tien Chwee, Malcom; Mr Chan
Chye Chin and Mr Seah Thian Poh, Bobby.
11:29 AM
THE
INSIDE
SCOOP
An initiative from the Singapore Prison Service is
preparing inmates for life beyond bars. Challenge
goes behind the prison walls for the story.
Te x t by
Lisa Twang
P h o to s by
Norman Ng
SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR
a drug-related offence, Charles* was
expecting to spend his term doing
manual labour or helping out at the
prison bakery or laundry.
Instead, he was pleasantly surprised
to be asked to participate in News
Behind Bars (NBB), an internal news
programme produced exclusively for
Singapore Prison Service inmates and
officers at its Multimedia Hub. Charles
is now a newscaster, roving reporter
and scriptwriter for NBB. “I didn’t
realise that the Prison Service offered
so many opportunities for on-the-job
training,” he says.
NBB began as a radio news programme
in 2006, produced by the Kaki Bukit
Prison School. Since then, it has evolved
into a 20-minute TV news programme,
and is now shown for tnightl y in
all 13 institutions of the Changi
Prison Complex.
*Names of the inmates have been changed to protect their identities.
20/12/2012
Feature 37
Providing the insider’s take
Usually, inmates interested in the NBB
programme have to undergo a ninemonth multimedia training course first.
Most of the inmates are selected for the
course based on IT skills, prior working
experience and academic qualifications.
The training is co-organised by the
Singapore Prison Service and the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative
Enterprises, a statutory board under
the Ministry of Home Affairs. Depending on how the inmates perform in the
course, they will then be chosen for
the NBB programme.
The NBB team currently consists of
eight inmates from the Tanah Merah
Prison. Programme Executive Siti Syahedah Md Sani
and her colleagues
from the Multimedia Hub work
closely with the
inmates to produce the episodes.
script is written and sent for vetting
and editing.
Next, the programme is shot in-house
at the Multimedia Hub studio. During the filming of inmates reporting
on the news, officers are on the sidelines,
encouraging those who struggle with
camera shyness or helping them with
pronunciation.
Both camera footage and voiceovers
are recorded within a day. Green screen
technology allows for roving reporters
to be placed at the news scene through
skilful video editing. This is where editors and compilers like David* come in.
“We combine real-life footage with
what we shoot in the studio,” says
David. “Special effects and captions are
mealtimes, it has become so popular
with both inmates and officers that
some have suggested the programme
be expanded to feature more topics
per segment.
Going out there
A few former inmates who worked on
NBB have gone on to find jobs in the
media industry upon release. No wonder
Charles and David are excited at the
prospect of using their newfound skills
when they re-enter the workforce.
“I would love to find a job as a cameraman or video editor in the future,”
David enthuses. “ Editing c an be
tedious sometimes, but there is a great
sense of satisfaction from completing
an episode. The most memorable story
I have worked
on was filming
a Prison Volunteer Appreciation event. The
best par t was
hearing how
the volunteers
themselves were touched by our work.”
I used to be more camera-shy in the
beginning, but [participating in NBB] has
improved my presentation skills tremendously.
Each episode of NBB consists of three
segments. “Prison Happenings” shows
the latest internal updates like the Yellow Ribbon Fund Star Bursary, “Home
Front” presents local news such as National Day updates, and “Juice Box” is a
lifestyle and infotainment news segment
depicting innovative ideas and events in
Singapore and overseas.
Production begins with the brainstorming process – the team scans the
newspapers for news items that would
interest inmates and help them reintegrate into society upon their release.
Once the contents are confirmed, the
Scenes from the production process.
also added to illustrate the news in a
clearer way.”
Meeting deadlines is their greatest
challenge in producing the programme,
says Ms Syahedah. “We need to work
within a tight timeline of three weeks
per episode. We also have to factor in
the time taken for clearance to ensure
each episode is suitable for viewing
by inmates.”
Once the final product is completed and
approved for viewing, NBB is produced
on DVD, with copies distributed to the
Prison institutions. Screened during
W hile Charles does not expect to
work in the media industry after his
release, he believes his skills from
being on NBB will definitely benefit
him. “I used to be more camera-shy
in the beginning, but [participating
in NBB] has improved my presentation skills tremendously. I’m grateful
to have had this exper ience, and
helping other inmates through their
sentences by providing them with outside news is also personally meaningful
to me.”
Quack
He’s no
An Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) off icer shows
Challenge he is the real deal when it comes to examining live poultry at our borders.
Te x t by
EVERY WEEKDAY BEFORE THE
rooster crows, AVA officer Alex Teo
is already in his office at the Tuas
Checkpoint. Slipping on a brand new
isolation gown meant to protect him
from infection, the Senior Technical
Officer (Border Control) gets ready to
inspect the thousands of imported live
chickens and ducks that will reach the
checkpoint at 5am.
Heng Yishi
P h o to s by
Zakaria Zainal
Soon enough, the first five of many
trucks to come – each of them carrying
about 1,400 to 4,500 live birds – pull
into the compound. Undeterred by the
emanating pong, Alex walks up to one
truck and peers into a crate of quacking ducks. With his trusty yellow torch,
he checks for birds that have fallen sick
or died during the long hours on the
road from Malaysia. If an estimated 3%
1
of the birds are dead, that could signal
a disease outbreak, he says.
After seven years on the job, he has
built camaraderie with the truck drivers (“when we respect them, they will
respect us”). They communicate in
Malay, trading friendly banter. The moment he gives an approving nod or a
wave of his torch, the drivers get the
cue that their trucks have been cleared
and proceed to drive off.
“I took up this job [as it is] not stagnant or monotonous,” says the energetic
officer, who left his desk job at the
Singapore Police Force to become an
inspection officer in 2004. In a typical
day, he inspects about 100 trucks, including those carrying eggs from Malaysia.
So passionate is Alex about his work
that even after he has knocked off
(on most days, he finishes around
1pm), he still volunteers to be on 24hour standby for colleagues who need
assistance or to inspect late consign-
2
1. Alex rises at 3am on most mornings and is in his office before 5am to
prepare for the day ahead. This includes putting on his protective gear.
2. Keeping records of monthly import figures is also an important part
of the job.
3. Alex (left) waits for his colleague (right) to verify the Cargo Clearance
Permit and Veterinary Health Certificate presented by the driver (in
orange) before he starts the inspection.
3
Perspectives 39
4
[I want to live] a life full of
challenges, curiosity and
adventures.
5
6
7
ments. Having time off to rest, he says,
is “immaterial”.
4. Alex checks that the eggs have been individually labelled
with a code that identifies the farm source.
5. Alex keeps his eyes peeled for sick and dead birds. A sign
that he looks out for? Bird legs sticking up in the air.
6. Ducks, Alex shares, produce large amounts of faeces and are
noisier than chickens.
7. An antigen test is conducted on samples taken from dead
birds to check for the presence of the avian influenza virus.
The 50-year-old also readily sacrifices
sleep for his job. D uring a case of
animal smuggling, he was called in at
2am to conduct investigations with
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers from the Tuas Checkpoint.
Adrenalin-filled moments like these is
another reason why Alex lives for his job.
The father of two also relishes new
challenges. By the time you read this,
Alex would already have moved from
his duties at the Tuas Checkpoint and
started work at the Changi Animal and
Plant Quarantine Station. This time, he
is inspecting animal imports that go
through Changi Airport.
“[I want to live] a life full of challenges, curiosity and adventures,” he tells
Challenge chirpily.
For an extended story on Alex’s work, go to
Challenge Online at www.challenge.gov.sg
We meet public officers who have transformed their regular
flats into unique living spaces bursting with personality.
Te x t by
Blast from the past:
Mr Teo’s home is like a
treasure trove of everyday
items used in the good ol’
days. He enjoys collecting
relics, from a traditional
biscuit tin and old records
to an actual trishaw.
Fiona Liaw
P h o to s by
Justin Loh
Life.Style41
With its traditional Peranakan screen
divider, fuchsia sheets and beaded curtain,
Mr Teo Zhiliang’s master bedroom is a
pretty picture from the Peranakan past.
The headboard of his bed is decorated
with Peranakan tiles from the late 1800s,
similar to the façade of his grandparents’
old shophouse along Victoria Street. At
just 30 years old, the Bowen Secondary
School teacher describes himself as a
nostalgic person. He and his wife, Mrs
Teo Siew Hwa, 32, an academic staff at
Republic Polytechnic, were inspired by
memories of old buildings to re-create
similar-looking spaces at home.
Window grilles are replicas of those popular in the 1960s and ’70s and discarded
traffic signs adorn the walls. Some items,
like the sofa cushion covers, were made by
sourcing for vintage prints in old heartland
textile shops, but most pieces were donated
by family and friends. Mr Teo’s collection
of retro items extends to a trishaw that
was once a display piece at Changi Airport
and a clock that runs on electricity. “The
same pieces I treasure might be perceived
as worthless to others,” Mr Teo says, so
all the better for him, as he continues to
uncover jewels that preserve the everyday
spaces of time past.
Bring together two people with a flair for
design and a penchant for things homemade, and the result is a home that is
anything but ordinary. Public Service
Division Communications Designer Siti
Zuraidah, 31, and her visual communications lecturer husband Iskandar, 35, took
it upon themselves to design their flat so
that they could create their own special
space. The end product? Bold colours,
simple patterns and textures that give the
interiors an edgy, stylish feel.
Statement-piece furniture such as a
guitar-shaped coffee table and its matching pick-shaped seat, and a shoe cabinet
re-fashioned from an old locker, complete
the look. True to the DIY spirit, the couple
channelled their love for typography into
designing a wall with an optimistic decal
that reads, “Today is going to be a better
day”. In the dining room, a brick wall
creates a loft-like, homey feel. It is only
upon moving closer that you realise the
“brick wall” is actually an effect created by
meticulously sticking masking tape on a
maroon wall, and paint. The couple plans
to keep redecorating their private space.
They enjoy the process, they say, to make
a home that is uniquely theirs.
Craving for
fresh designs:
The couple
is constantly
thinking of
how to inject
new creative
ideas into
their space.
Ms Zuraidah
tells Challenge
that she is
considering
repainting
her home!
Life.Style43
Earth lovers:
The couple adores
nature so much that
they even have a
painting of a tree
at home. They also
cultivate their
own little green
universes in the
form of terrrariums.
Tanjong Katong Primary School teacher
Rae Wong and sales manager Adrian
Chew, both 35, met at the age of 13 and
developed a shared love for nature. Today,
their home is a reflection of this passion.
Outside, Chinese evergreens, dumb canes
and money plants deck the corridor.
Indoors, the green theme continues. The
couple is exceptionally proud of their
colourful terrariums – easy-to-maintain
plant enclosures that they created themselves. The plants, Mr Chew explains, add
a finishing touch to the yellow lighting,
whitewashed walls and liberal use of wood,
contributing to a warm, cosy atmosphere.
Ms Wong and her sister also painted a
tree, freehand, on the dining room wall.
About eight animals, including a rabbit and
an owl, are hidden amongst the branches.
But the most special feature is that just
half the tree is painted, making it visible
as a whole only through its reflection
in the glass panels next to it. Ms Wong
says this “adds to the illusion of depth”
and spaciousness created by the mirrors.
Such artful design and manipulation of
space allows the couple to overcome the
flat ’s size limitations, while recreating
the tranquillity of being close to nature
in their home.
44 The Irreverent Last Page
$igns
Miss
Blur
Sotong
of
(zai)
(soh-tong)
FEAR
Malay for
confused
How do public officers
respond when it comes
to receiving gifts
or favours at work?
Challenge’s Department
of Eye-Power-Only
presents its observations.
Miss
Kalang
Kabut
Mr
Tzai
I need to
account for the
gift? What's
there to declare?
It's just a nice
gesture from
others what.
Mr
Kiasi
(kee-ah-see)
hmmm...
(kah-lang kah-bote)
Hokkien
for cool
Well aware of
the sensitivities
surrounding
the recent
corruption
scandals, you
know which
items require
declaration and
which do not*.
Aiseh!
MisS
Jin
Kiasi
(gin kee-ah-see)
Malay for
panicking
Hokkien for
cowardly
Hokkien for
very cowardly
Your heart pounds
whenever you are
presented with a gift
and your first thought
is: “Must declare anot?”
Seeing how troubled
you are, your vendors or
guests almost feel bad
for giving it to you in
the first place.
After a meeting,
you’d rather walk to
the nearest MRT than
take a ride offered by
your vendor. Anyway,
our public transport
fares are cheaper than
those of Hong Kong,
London and New York.
Even having a
cup of coffee
with the vendor
is a brew for
corruption. You
don't want to
end up having to
lim kopi at CPIB.
* Check out the guidelines in the Public Service Instruction Manuals.
Disclaimer: This notice will in no way help you in your career.
Definitions and pronunciations borrowed from Talkingcock.com’s The
Coxford Singlish Dictionary. Kam sia!
Need We Say More?
Here’s where we let the humour loose, and
learn to laugh at ourselves a little more. Have
ideas or jokes about the Public Service?
Email us: [email protected]
1.
was established in March 2012 to connect people wanting
to share a ride by enabling carpooling and taxi-pooling through its
website and mobile app.
a. sharetransport.sg
b. fareshare.sg
c. transportshare.sg
d. sharethefare.sg
2.
is an initiative by the Singapore Law Society’s Pro Bono
Services Office to match non-profit organisations with lawyers who
want to help them.
a. Project Legal Help
b. Legal Assistance Project
c. Legal Aid Project
d. Project Law Help
3.
“Safe food, healthy animals and plants for Singapore; trusted and
.
respected globally” is the vision of
a. Health Promotion Board
b. Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority
c. National Environment Agency
d. Ministry of the Environment & Water Resources
4.
Rent Tycoons is Singapore’s first peer-to-peer online renting
.
portal where you can
a. list your items for rent
b. rent items
c. request for items that you cannot find
d. All of the above
Pairs of
Movie
Vouchers
to be won
Submit your answers by
April 3, 2013 at:
Challenge Online
www.challenge.gov.sg
Please include your name,
email address, agency and
contact number.
All winners will be notified
by email.
CONGRATULATIONS
to the winners of the
January/February 2013
Trivia Quiz
Loh Yin Ling
MTI
Pam Krish
Customs
5.
The
is an initiative by the National Library Board to
crowdsource memories of Singapore from the public.
a. Memory Lane Project
b. Singapore Memory Project
c. Our Memory Project
d. Singapore Story Project
Ernest Phoon
ICA
Ranelle Tay
NHCS
Sushma Prahbu
NEA