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NUS, NTU In Top 13 Of World University Rankings

The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have leapt into the top 13 of the annual World University Rankings, partly due to a change in how research citation is evaluated.

In the ranking by London-based education consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released this morning, NUS took the 12th spot this year, up from 22nd last year, and NTU was placed 13th, up from 39th last year.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology topped the list, closely followed by Harvard. The University of Cambridge tied with Stanford University in third place.

QS said it had changed the way research citation is taken into account, to correct the bias created by a large volume of citation generated by publications in some fields, such as life sciences and medicine.

QS head of research Ben Sowter said: “For example, the medical sciences account for 49 per cent of the citations in Scopus, the world’s largest citation database.

“In contrast, the arts and humanities produce only 1 per cent of citations, because of their very different publishing culture.”

With the change, research citation in five areas – life sciences and medicine, arts and humanities, engineering and technology, social sciences and management, and natural sciences – are given equal weighting of 20 per cent.

Mr Sowter said the new methodology “now evens the playing field”.

But even without this change, NUS and NTU would have improved on their rankings this year, he said.

“NUS has been steadily climbing various league tables for years, and has done so while developing excellence across the academic spectrum.

“It is that balanced approach that has led to a research profile that is not disproportionately geared towards medicine. This has been revealed with dramatic clarity in this year’s QS World University Rankings,” he added.

NUS ranked ninth globally in the academic and employers reputation criteria and made it to the global top 10 in three faculty areas.

NUS president Tan Chorh Chuan said the university needs to review the change in methodology to understand how it has resulted in the changes in ranking this year.

He added: “Our consistent performance in international rankings is a reflection of Singapore’s strong support for higher education, as well as NUS’ strong focus on talent and excellence. We are also pleased to note that NUS continues to be highly regarded and valued by academics and employers worldwide.”

On top of a significant improvement in research citation, NTU also fared better in terms of academic reputation and faculty-student ratio.

Its ascent would have still been remarkable without the change to the research-citation parameter, Mr Sowter said.

“If QS had continued with the previous approach, NTU would still have gained more than 10 places from last year, underlining its genuine transformation into a world- class university over the past decade,” he added.

NTU president Bertil Andersson said the achievement is clear recognition that NTU’s investment and efforts to build up its academic and research excellence have paid off.

He said NTU has been successful in attracting top talents, including promising young international scientists.

“Our faculty has been producing world-class impactful research,” he said, adding: “It is remarkable that the two Singapore universities, NTU and NUS, are both ranked within the global top 15. This is a fantastic birthday gift for this young nation on its Golden Jubilee.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

September 15, 2015
Drunk Woman Jumps On Car Bonnet, Attacks Taxi Driver

A woman, believed to be drunk, stopped a number of cars in the middle of an expressway early morning on Sunday (Sept 13).

Police said a 32-year-old woman has been arrested in relation to the case.

They were called to assist at 1.47am in the incident that happened along Seletar Expressway(SLE) near Upper Thomson Road.

An eyewitness told Shin Min Daily News that the woman was seen slumped on the hood of a black car in the middle of the highway.

It is understood that she attacked the driver of the taxi she was in, causing the driver to stop his car.

She then got off the taxi, ran to the next lane and stopped the black car. She was seen breaking the windscreen wiper of the car.

The woman then went to another lane and stopped a white car.

The driver of the black car and a motorcyclist then brought her to the road shoulder to await the police.

The eyewitness also said she was uncooperative and tried to hurt the police officers arresting her.

The incident was a case of rash act causing hurt, police said.

The police are investigating.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

September 15, 2015
Citizens, Not Opposition Parties, Who Should Feel Ashamed Of Opposition’s Electoral Performance

We did our round of thanking voters of CCK for their support this evening. There were quite a number of pairs of guilty conscience eyes in the coffeeshop but we just ignore. I always believe people deserve what they voted for.

Someone ask me don’t we feel shameful of going around to thank voters when we only get 23%? I laughed and said, people will only feel shameful when they have done something wrong. We have done no wrong and in fact we should be holding our heads up high because we have done a great public service and making sacrifices of money, time and effort to put up the contest. We should not be the ones who will worry about being shameful lah!

Goh Meng Seng

Source: People’s Power Party

September 15, 2015
Singapore Reiterates Offers Of Assistance To Indonesia To Fight Forest Fires

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan on Monday (Sep 14) spoke with Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar and reiterated Singapore’s offer of help to combat forest fires, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement. The offer came as the number of hotspots in Indonesia’s Sumatra island soared to a two-month high of 982 on Monday, and a state of emergency has been declared in Riau province.

Indonesia had earlier accepted the Singapore Armed Forces’ offer to send C-130s for cloud seeding and Chinooks for large water buckets to douse fires, only to decline it later. “While the Indonesian authorities accepted our offer of assistance initially, they have since expressed appreciation for the offer, and said they have sufficient resources of their own for now,” Singapore’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

“WE HAVE DONE EVERYTHING”: INDONESIAN MINISTER

Dr Siti Nurbaya told Dr Balakrishnan that Indonesia has already deployed a host of resources to tackle the fires but said she would consult Indonesian President Joko Widodo who is personally overseeing the effort again on Singapore’s offer.

“We have deployed soldiers. We have conducted water bombing in Riau with 18 million litres of water, in South Sumatra and Jambi with 12 million liters of water. Cloud-seeding in Riau with 120 tonnes of salt and 56 tonnes of salt in South Sumatra,” Dr Siti Nurbaya said.

“We have done everything. I was trying to convince the minister that we are serious in putting out the fire.”
NEA said Minister Siti Nurbaya agreed to Dr Balakrishnan’s request for Indonesia to share the names of companies which are suspected to be causing the forest fires once they are able to verify this with checks on the ground. She also said she would inform him if there are links for these firms to Singapore.

As of 9pm, the 3-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) is 249 and the 24-hour PSI is 133 – 166. This is the highest 3-hour PSI reading this year.

NEA noted that there was a brief respite in hazy conditions on Monday morning, but haze from Sumatra was again blown in by the prevailing winds in the afternoon.

Thundery showers are expected in the pre-dawn and early morning hours of Tuesday, but NEA said the 24-hour PSI in the next 24 hours is still expected to be the mid to high sections of the Unhealthy range, and may enter the Very Unhealthy range.

WILL A “TOUGH COP” APPROACH PAY OFF?

Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Associate Professor Simon Tay said being a “tough cop” may not be the best approach for Singapore when tackling the transboundary haze issue. NEA on Sunday said it would conduct investigations into the situation.

“I think in any investigation of this nature, the temptation is to say you have to play a really tough cop,” said Mr Tay. “But while the Singapore Government could do that, it probably isn’t the best approach.

“In the end, many of the companies now – the bigger ones in Singapore – have actually put their maps online. They’ve taken steps, they have firefighting equipment that even the provisional officers don’t have. So I would hope, in a sense, that the first response must be cooperation.

“In many of these cases, the companies may claim whether it’s true or not, they didn’t start the fires, the fires came on their land. So I think the first step we can agree on is that, for whoever started these fires, are the companies able and willing to try and put these fires out? Then, and again we have to give them some room because the scale of these fires and the scale of the land won’t make it easy, even if they’re trying their best.”

Under Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act which came into effect in 2014, fines of up to S$2 million can be imposed on companies which cause or contribute to haze pollution in Singapore.

Haze pollution is said to have occurred if the 24-hour PSI remains at 101 or higher for 24 hours or longer. NEA said this had taken place from 10am on Sep 10 to 2am on Sep 12 – a full 41 hours.

NEA said it is closely monitoring the hotspots in the region. It is also drawing on information from maps, meteorological data, and satellite imagery in its investigations.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

September 15, 2015
Riau Declares Emergency As Haze Worsens

Indonesia has declared a haze emergency in Sumatra’s Riau province, as the choking smoke surged way past already hazardous levels and forced thousands to flee Pekanbaru, Riau’s capital, which is about 280km away from Singapore.

The deteriorating situation – the result of forest fires in Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra provinces – prompted President Joko Widodo to instruct the police and armed forces chiefs to deploy additional personnel to help combat the haze.

Mr Joko, who is on an official visit to Qatar, also warned in a statement yesterday that the government would take harsh legal action.

“I have also told law enforcers to take stern action against those who are responsible, including confiscating land licences and forestry permits,” he said.

In Singapore, the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) readings hovered within the unhealthy range (101-200) throughout yesterday and are expected to worsen. At 9pm, it ranged between 133 and 166. The three-hour PSI was 249.

Mr Chia Aik Song, an associate scientist with the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing at the National University of Singapore, said that while it was difficult to predict how the haze would develop, he noted that a dry spell would worsen the situation. “As long as there is not enough rain to put out the fires, the threat of unfavourable winds bringing smoke from Sumatra across the Strait of Malacca to Singapore will persist.”

The 24-hour PSI is predicted to be in the mid to high sections of the unhealthy range but may deteriorate into the low section of the very unhealthy range (201-300) today, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) yesterday evening. Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan spoke with Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar yesterday afternoon to further express his concern over the haze situation.

According to the NEA, he also reiterated Singapore’s offer of help, which Indonesia has so far declined. Ms Siti said she would consult President Joko again on the offer. She also agreed to share the names of companies suspected of causing the fires when they are confirmed.

Singapore’s Ministry of Education has activated haze management measures and will consider closing all schools if the air quality is at the hazardous level, it said on its website.

In Malaysia, the government has ordered schools in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan to be closed today. Air Pollutant Index readings as of 11pm yesterday showed that air quality in Kuala Selangor had reached a dangerous level of 207, while readings for the rest of Selangor hovered around the 170 range.

Source: www.straittstimesc.com

September 15, 2015