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Bad news for smokers https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/smoking-banned-more-places-beaches-parks-water-sites-2544736 SINGAPORE: From Jul 1, Singapore will ban smoking at three new types of premises, although enforcement will only start in October to give smokers time to adjust. Smoking will be prohibited at all public parks and gardens managed by the National Parks Board (NParks), PUB’s Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) sites, and 10 recreational beaches, said the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), Sentosa Development Corp (SDC) and several statutory boards in a joint release issued on Monday (Mar 7). Together, they cover about 100 sites such as Raffles Place Park, East Coast Beach and Tanjong Beach, joining a list of more than 49,000 places where smoking is banned. These include entertainment outlets, shopping malls, bus stops and common areas in residential buildings. The extension of the smoking prohibition is part of Singapore’s efforts to clamp down on smoking and tackle second-hand tobacco smoke, the authorities said.

Buses with rooftop gardens will begin plying Singapore's roads, as part of an initiative to study possible energy and cost savings for bus operators. The Garden on the Move initiative, which was launched on Sunday (May 5), will see 10 SBS Transit buses ply Singapore’s roads for at least three months. The routes include one through the Central Business District and another through Orchard Road. Fares for these buses are the same as for regular buses. Touted as Asia’s first green-roofed bus initiative, the buses are outfitted with a soilless roof system - instead of conventional soil, the plants are secured on a lightweight mat used for skyrise greenery, said GWS Living Art, Moove Media, National Parks Board (NParks), Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) and Temasek Foundation in a joint press release. This makes it cleaner, easier to maintain and more economical than other conventional green roof systems, which are primarily soil-based, the release said. The aim of the three-month study is to confirm that the green roof will lead to a drop in temperature within the interior of the buses, and a reduction in the fuel consumption used for air-conditioning, the release said. Mr Oh Cheow Sheng, group director of NParks said: “This is a creative initiative that seeks to extend Singapore’s greening efforts, and which truly encapsulates the vision of a biophilic City in a Garden. We hope that this will spur others to explore other similarly innovative ways to green up Singapore." “Building upon the success of our Live.Work.Play.Green campaign in 2018 where we garnered massive support from the public on green buildings, this new initiative aims to once again drive green building awareness to the forefront of the public’s consciousness," said Dr Ho Nyok Yong, president of the SGBC. "We hope to sustain interest in green buildings by putting one of the most recognisable elements of a green building onto a very public platform.” https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/buses-sbs-transit-rooftop-garden-ply-singapore-roads-orchard-cbd-11505144 this sounds funny. can tahan thunderstorm or not?

Every Singaporean aged 18 and above in 2020 is set to receive S$100 worth of SingapoRediscovers vouchers, which can be used on staycations, attraction tickets and tours. The vouchers can be used between December this year and the end of June next year. The SingapoRediscovers vouchers for tourist attractions, tours and hotel bookings will be given out via SingPass. Every Singaporean aged 18 and above in 2020 is set to receive S$100 worth of SingapoRediscovers vouchers, which can be used on staycations, attraction tickets and tours. The vouchers can be used between December this year and the end of June next year. A S$10 subsidy will also be provided for children and youth tickets for attractions and tours, said the STB. Each adult may purchase up to six children or youth tickets at subsidised prices during the duration of the scheme. Announcing the details on Wednesday (Sep 16), Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said the move will help the local tourism industry, which has been battered by the COVID-19. “This is not a social assistance scheme. This is an economic scheme to help our tourist attractions to preserve their capabilities that have been built up over the years, while they consolidate capacity in the interim,” Mr Chan told reporters at the Jurong Bird Park. The vouchers will be provided in denominations of S$10 via SingPass, and may be used to purchase tickets for attractions and tours, and accommodation bookings at licensed hotels, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in a separate fact sheet on Wednesday. More details on the redemption mechanism will be announced in November. STB will be calling a tender to appoint the platform providers for the redemption of the vouchers, said chief executive Keith Tan. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced in August that the Government would give out S$320 million worth of vouchers to encourage Singaporeans to support local tourism businesses. The scheme will complement the ongoing SingapoRediscovers campaign launched in July, said the STB. More than 200 deals and bundled packages have been launched “to encourage locals to explore different precincts and aspects of life of Singapore”, the STB said. The vouchers will provide more encouragement for Singaporeans to do so, it added. All licensed hotels, tourist attractions and tours that have been approved by the STB to operate or reopen can benefit from this scheme. "We're working out the economic impact now, but certainly we do expect a return, not necessarily to the Government but obviously to the merchants. From the response we've seen so far, even from the initial SingapoRediscovers campaign, the merchants have responded very positively," said Mr Tan. "There is clearly a sense that they are responding, and the reason why they're responding is that they must see there is commercial return of interest and return of benefits to them," Mr Tan added. Mr Chan said he expects merchants to benefit from a "multiplier effect". “We’ll expect a certain multiplier effect because when people come here, they will also spend on other things ... So for example, they can use this to pay off the tickets or defer the cost of the tickets for coming in. But when they come in, they will spend on some of the F&B and other services that the attractions, hotels or the tours provide," said Mr Chan. “We think that there will be a catalytic effect. As to the exact extent of the catalytic effect, it will be hard to predict at this point in time, but we hope that is at least a few times what we have provided for in the Budget,” he added. Responding to questions on why the vouchers may not be used for F&B and retail purchases, Mr Chan said: "It's a balance between which sector we want to target, and also the simplicity in the administration so that people who (have) the vouchers can actually use it in a most convenient way. That's how we have designed the system." Thanking tourist attractions for “putting in an effort” to put safe management measures in place amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Chan said: “The other thing that they have done very well over the last few months or so was to help us work out the arrangement to have safe cohorting for the live performances.” From Sep 18, attractions that have received approval to resume operations can apply to the STB to increase their operating capacity from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, subject to approval from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Attractions can also apply to increase the capacity of their number of outdoor shows to five zones, with 50 people in one zone, subject to safe management measures. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singaporediscovers-tourism-vouchers-chan-chun-sing-covid-19-13115702 in before haters gonna hate n negative comments as highlighted its an economic scheme meant to help the tourism sector with many livelihoods at stakes do our part or jus dont use the vouchers lor why need to kpkb so much so many negative comments on fb from ppl who dont get the whole point behind the tourism vouchers there r many ppl struggling out there n wud prefer more social assistance schemes to tide them thru n so may not understand these vouchers are targeted to help those in the tourism biz to secure their jobs n prevent the tourism n sector industry from collapsing with our borders closed to tourism now n in the near future even locals spending may not be of much help but can help jiu help? for those who still have jobs n wanna bring ur kids out. bt maybe shd have given to those under 18 toooo la

Yeah :) A very welcome SG50 present for our Singapore :)) Singapore Botanic Gardens clinches prestigious Unesco World Heritage site status http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-botanic-gardens-clinches-prestigious-unesco-world-heritage-site-status BONN, GERMANY - The nation has its first Unesco World Heritage Site in the bag. The 156-year-old Singapore Botanic Gardens was awarded the coveted status at the 39th World Heritage Committee meeting in Bonn, Germany on Saturday. The listing was announced at the International Conference Centre of Bonn by the chair of the session Ruchira Kamboj, a delegate of India to Unesco. All 21 members of the World Heritage Committee elected to speak on the Gardens nomination. They lauded its various qualities, and gave it a resounding "yes". This is something we all Singaporeans should be proud of :))

Parking Rates For Cars: From 05:00 AM - 06:00 PM $0.025 per minute for the 1st five hours, = $1.50/hr and $0.05 per minute thereafter From 06:00 PM - 02:00 AM $0.02 per minute for the 1st five hours, = $1.20/hr and $0.04 per minute thereafter For Motorcycles: From 05:00 AM - 02:00 AM $1.20 per entry Note: All parking rates are exclusive of GST. OK, I admit I'm cheapskate and always look for free parking. Question, possible to park at Marina Barrage then walk over??

Gardens by the bay tix - 2 tix to let go valid till 17 Nov. $32 for both. pls email [email protected] if interested thks!

Thinking of going to KL Lake Gardens with family. Anyone has experience / been there before? Any tips for accommodation, transport, and must do sightseeings within Lake Gardens? Will not be driving there, but taking a coach and bunking into one of the hotels. Please share your experience and ideas. Thanks in advance.

A very weird review. Never mention about what flowers or plants or the ambience. Only talk about chicken rice. http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/the-flipsid...-085320199.html ......

The performance will be at 6pm . . . classical music. Any bro going?? I'll be packing a picnic and heading down around 5pm The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (Sun) Venue : Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage Time : 6pm - 7pm Contact : Visitor Services (6471 7361) Join Maestro Lim Yau as he guides the Symphony over the 60min performance in the Gardens! As this is last outdoor performance in the Gardens, mark your calendars now! The evening's pieces for your enjoyment. SUPP

I thought Mr Malboro said sometime ago that a leaked letter stating the Go-ahead for Serangoon Gardens dorm was a misunderstand. so it has become reality so is this another case of wayang http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews...1003-91443.html

Dear All, Interested to have a chit chat at Ridout Gardens McDonald's, 1500 hrs on Friday, Jan 6. 1. Fortress 2. Skodarr - he said that just tell him the place and time, "as usual" - assuming he is coming.

One hero white evoluton, cutting thru the lanes, speeding in excess of 100km/h pass shell and into the roundabout at serangoon gardens causing many vehicles to jam brake etc. Few minutes later, take corner after the pub area leading to worthing road, slam right into school gate. out walks a bleeding young kid no more than 25 whom imho looks beng with slightly long hair and looks in a daze. dunno drunk or disoriented. neighbours rush out to give aid. another evo gone. lucky he smash himself into a school. what if he killed another? i have seen racers but this was really hollywood movie style. damn hero. i admire his guts to smash an evo. happened slightly past 12.15 a.m. sorry, no pics.