Tag: Singapore

Japan Optimistic Of Winning KL-Singapore High Speed Rail Project: Minister

Just two days after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Singapore and Malaysia on the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High Speed Rail (HSR) project, Japanese authorities are stepping up on their pitch to both countries to run the highly-anticipated link.

On Thursday (July 21), Mr Keiichi Ishii, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, met top officials in Malaysia, including Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai.

On Friday morning, he met with Ms Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State for Transport, before speaking at the 2nd High Speed Rail Symposium, which Ms Teo also attended.

Speaking to reporters through an interpreter, Mr Ishii was optimistic that a Japan operator could win the bid. “I informed the Malaysia and Singapore governments that Japan will work together (with them) in order to support the project in terms of finance and in terms of human development, and in terms of development of the facilities surrounding the terminal stations,” he said.

During the symposium, Mr Yuji Fukasawa, executive vice president of East Japan Railway Company (JR East), one of the Shinkansen operators, said that commercial operations for the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur HSR could start in just seven years — in Japanese hands.

On Tuesday, Singapore and Malaysia signed a seven-point MOU, under which both countries agreed on a target start date of 2026 for HSR services, which will cut land travelling time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to 90 minutes.

In the interim, both countries will have to appoint a company to provide and maintain the rail assets such as tracks and trains, and two train operators to run three types of rail services — an express service between Singapore and Kualu Lumpur, a shuttle service between Singapore and Iskandar Puteri, and a domestic service in Malaysia.

Mr Ishii touted several benefits of Japan’s bullet train system, the Shinkansen, when asked about their advantage over Chinese firms, which have also reportedly expressed interest in making a bid.

“There are several excellent points of the Shinkansen, there is safety, reliability, not only the low initial cost, but total life cycle cost is very low. The other point is that it is very excellent in project management, meaning that it could deliver the project within the designated time,” said Mr Ishii.

Japan and China had battled it out last year to build a rail line in Indonesia, with China Railway ultimately emerging with a deal to build the Jakarta-Bandung railway, which will be operational by 2019.

A spokesman for Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said Mr Ishii had stressed Japan’s track record in safety during his meetings with Singapore and Malaysia officials.

“The Singapore and Malaysia side didn’t clearly mention which point they are looking at in order to decide the winner of this project. But we just asked them to look (at) the safety and reliability and many points comprehensively,” he said.

During the symposium, Mr Fukasawa also gave projections and action plans on how JR East would roll out the Singapore-Malaysia project in seven years, if awarded.

For instance, in the first few years, training of personnel would commence, followed by construction of the test track and all sections, which would start in the third year and end by year six.

Commercial operations would start in year seven.

Source: TODAY Online

July 23, 2016
Singapore Bans ISIS-Linked Newspaper Al Fatihin

A newspaper linked to the Islamic State Group has been gazetted a prohibited publication under the Undesirable Publications Act.

Al Fatihin, which is published by Furat Media, an ISIS affiliated media agency, has been circulated across South-east Asia including in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, southern Thailand, as well as southern Philippines, according to reports.

It will be an offence to distribute or possess the newspaper, or come into possession of the newspaper, but fail to deliver the copy to the Police. Those convicted of an offence may be liable to a fine, imprisonment or both.

“The Singapore Government has zero tolerance for terrorist propaganda and has therefore decided to prohibit Al Fatihin in Singapore,” said the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) said on Friday (July 22).

“ISIS’ intention to use the newspaper, Al Fatihin, to spread extremist ideology in the region is deplorable. The contents of Al Fatihin and the fact that it is published in Bahasa Indonesia, which is used by many in this region, confirm the objectives behind the publication to influence the people in this region and to cause disharmony,” said Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs.

“Extremism has no place in Singapore – it cannot and must not take root here,” said Dr Yaacob. “We take a very strong stance against terrorist propaganda and we will take decisive action as necessary. Hence, I have instructed for the publication to be prohibited in Singapore.”

Source: TODAY Online

July 23, 2016
Singapura Tidak Boleh Biarkan Serangan Pengganas Pecah Belahkan Negara

Keharmonian kaum antara kaum dan agama berbeza adalah prinsip asas bagi Singapura.

Perdana Menteri Lee Hsien Loong berkata demikian sempena Hari Keharmonian Kaum hari ini (21 Jul).

Dalam satu catatan Facebook, PM Lee menulis rakyat Singapura harus merai kepelbagaian mereka dan berkongsi adat dan budaya satu sama lain.

Beliau berkata di banyak negara ada lebih banyak kes orang menolak kepelbagaian.

PM Lee merujuk kepada serangan pengganas baru-baru ini di Orlando, Amerika Syarikat, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Nice di Perancis dan Puchong di Malaysia.

Setiap kejadian itu kata beliau sifatkan sebagai menakutkan, didorong kebencian dan menyayat hati.

Beliau menambah bahawa Singapura harus sentiasa bersatu sebagai satu bangsa, dan tidak membenarkan keadaan sedemikian memisah atau memecahbelahkan negara.

Sekolah di Singapura memperingati Hari Keharmonian Kaum bagi mengingati rusuhan kaum di Singapura pada 1964.

Dua rusuhan kaum selama lima hari itu mengakibatkan lebih 30 orang terbunuh dan sekurang-kurangnya 500 cedera.

Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

July 22, 2016
Sejarah Penting Kampung Tempe Di Singapura Dibongkar Dan Kini Dibukukan

Bagi generasi muda Singapura, ramai yang biasa makan tempe, namun mungkin tidak pernah mendengar tentang Kampung Tempe. Mungkin mereka lebih biasa dengan nama Masjid Al-Huda?

Sekitaran di mana terletaknya masjid tersebut sekarang, dahulunya merupakan kawasan Kampung Tempe, iaitu sebuah perkampungan kecil yang ditubuhkan pada awal tahun 1905 oleh sekumpulan orang Jawa.

Kini, Kampung Tempe tinggal kenangan dan mungkin namanya hanya akan meniti di bibir para penduduknya.

Namun, terdapat kisah-kisah menarik tentang Kampung Tempe yang perlu masyarakat tahu.

Oleh itu, buku ‘Kampung Tempe – Suara-suara Dari Sebuah Kampung Melayu’ (Kampung Tempe – Voices from a Malay Village), yang menghimpunkan kisah-kisah menarik tentang kampung tersebut daripada bekas para penduduknya sendiri, diterbitkan.

Menurut penulis buku tersebut, Cik Hidayah Amin, buku ini penting kerana ia merakamkan kisah-kisah menarik Kampung Tempe yang tidak diketahui ramai.

“Buku ini penting, kerana tidak banyak buku sejarah Melayu yang ditulis dalam bahasa Inggeris. Maka orang bukan Melayu boleh sama-sama membacanya,” Cik Hidayah memberitahu BERITAMediacorp mengenai buku dwibahasa itu.

Cik Hidayah menambah bahawa buku ini diharap dapat menarik minat ramai untuk mengenali sejarah penting Kampung Tempe.

“Banyak isu-isu menarik tentang Kampung Tempe termasuk sebuah madrasah – iaitu Bustanul Arifin, yang pengasasnya ialah Ustaz Hj Ahmad Sondhaji Mohamad. Buku ini mengupas bagaimana madrasah ini memenuhi keperluan penduduk Kampung Tempe pada lewat 80-an,” tambah beliau.

Jika namanya Kampung Tempe, maka dari kampung itu jugalah datangnya tempe pada waktu itu.

Buku itu turut menerangkan dengan lebih lanjut tentang proses pembikinan serta penjualan tempe di kampung tersebut.

Malah, tempe-tempe yang dibekalkan di Singapura pada waktu itu adalah dari kampung tersebut.

Menurut penulis bersama buku tersebut, Dr Yahaya Sanusi yang juga merupakan bekas penduduk Kampung Tempe, beliau menulis buku itu demi mendalami asal usul beliau.

“Tujuan saya menulis buku itu adalah untuk mencari jawapan kepada soalan dari mana saya datang, siapa moyang saya, apa yang berlaku ketika itu,” kongsi Dr Yahaya kepada BERITAMediacorp.

“Setiap kampung itu penting walaupun yang sekecil kampung tempe, maka kalau kita tidak mengkaji sejarahnya, gambaran Singapura itu seperti tidak sempurna,” tambah beliau.

Buku ‘Kampung Tempe – Voices from a Malay Village’, akan dilancarkan pada Sabtu (23 Jul) sempena pameran ‘Pusaka: Warisan dan Budaya Jawa di Singapura’.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

July 21, 2016
New Faith, New Lives

When train captain Muhammad Joy Kumar Paul turned 25 in May, he celebrated by converting to Islam.

The ceremony was held at the Muslim Converts’ Association (MCAS) and witnessed by his closest friends and fiancee’s family. That same day, he attended his first Friday prayers as a Muslim at Assyakirin Mosque, near his home in Taman Jurong.

Mr Muhammad was brought up in a Buddhist family, but growing up with Malay friends, he knew “how a Muslim behaves, what they are supposed to do and what they do not do”.

Still, he never expected to become a Muslim until he met Ms Syuhaidah Sha’ada, a 24-year-old pre-school teacher.

The couple got engaged in June but it was not an easy decision. They had a serious talk about their relationship in the long term and considered breaking up.

On his own accord, however, he researched and watched videos by Islamic scholars online, as well as talked to Muslim friends, to learn more about the religion.

Mr Muhammad lives with his mother, who is divorced, and elder sister. Both felt it was his decision to make. He also attended beginner courses at MCAS last year.

Every year, about 600 people convert to Islam at the three-storey building located in Onan Road in Joo Chiat.

Also known as Darul Arqam Singapore, the one-stop centre for converts was set up in 1980 to oversee the welfare, religious guidance and problems of new converts.

All prospective converts are encouraged to take up basic courses on Islam. Mr Muhammad went through Ramadan as a Muslim for the first time this year. The ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, Ramadan is a holy period of fasting, reflection, devotion, generosity and sacrifice observed by Muslims around the world.

While there have been challenges, he has been touched by the support of his loved ones.

His mother, a Buddhist, cooks the food he wants to eat and made sure there was food in the morning when he woke up to break fast during Ramadan. She buys meat and produce that is certified halal for his sake.

Like Mr Muhammad, Ms Rachel Aryssa Chung, 39, converted to Islam two months ago. The customer insight and communications manager at a gas company found fasting during Ramadan to be particularly challenging.

“What’s more, coffee is not recommended because it dehydrates the body but I don’t function well without coffee. I always tell my colleagues I’m not human until I have my coffee,” she said, laughing.

Divorced for 10 years, Ms Chung has two daughters. She has been dating a Muslim for a year and is still learning about her new faith.

It was her own decision to convert. She said of her new faith: “I feel that it’s a very comprehensive and disciplined faith. How you should treat other people, how you should behave as a person. We’re encouraged to pray five times a day. When you do things like that, I feel that it changes you as a person.”

Source: The Straits Times

July 21, 2016