The Straits Times

Red packets cannot be recycled in NEA's blue recycling bins with other paper products due to a large amount of red ink used. PHOTO: TAY PAPER RECYCLING.

Its founder Robin Rheaume said: “We’ve had people think that recycling is a marketing gimmick. But red packets are a problem because contaminants like foil stamping can mess up the recycling process of paper, which typically involves soaking the material in water. Among the companies that have started recycling collection points is UOB, which recycled a record 2,540kg worth of red packets in 2022. Collecting red packets in bulk allows for the removal of contaminants to take place at one go before the recyclable red packets are mixed with similar paper of low quality, he added. SINGAPORE - More red packets are getting a new lease of life in Singapore as businesses expand collection points around the island dedicated to recycling the festive envelopes, which are typically discarded after Chinese New Year. Red packets cannot traditionally be recycled in the National Environment Agency’s blue recycling bins with other paper products, due to the large amount of red ink used for the paper which is mixed in with other materials such as plastic and foil, said Ms Jen Teo, executive director of non-profit Singapore Environment Council.

The largest carpooling chat group here, SG Hitch, has over 199,000 members as at Saturday, up from about 56,000 members in April 2020. ST PHOTO: NADINE CHUA.

I’ll just block them and usually these people will have their accounts banned from the chat group after a while.” Prior to that, there was no minimum age, although applicants had to have held a driver’s licence for at least two years to qualify. He was sentenced to five years and 10 months’ jail and given six strokes of the cane for molestation. A check by ST found that there are at least five such chat groups on Telegram, with the smallest having more than 18,000 members. Chat groups such as SG Hitch on Telegram that connect drivers and passengers have grown in popularity over the years. In 2019, a man used carpooling chat groups on Telegram to dupe women into believing that he would drive them to their destinations.

Hear how Ms Shobana Baskaram had no higher school qualifications but has risen to become an assistant manager at Marina Bay Sands.

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SINGAPORE – Commuters were less satisfied with taxi and private-hire car services in 2022 than they were in 2021, an annual survey commissioned by the Public ...

In percentage terms, 95.6 per cent of taxi commuters were satisfied with cab services, down from 98 per cent in 2021. And 94.9 per cent of PHC commuters were satisfied with services provided by platforms such as Grab and Gojek, down from 97.1 previously. So, from an availability standpoint, it’s not as good as before.” Private-hire car (PHC) services scored 7.9, down from 8.3 in 2021. And it’s not easy to get ride-pooling services such as GrabHitch. Taxi services received a mean satisfaction score of 8.1, down from 8.5 in 2021, with waiting time being the biggest bugbear (7.1 points), followed by taxi stand accessibility (7.6).

Currently, all travellers entering Singapore via air and sea checkpoints have to fill up the SG Arrival Card within three days of their arrival.

Currently, all travellers entering Singapore via air and sea checkpoints have to fill up the SG Arrival Card within three days prior to their arrival. “Of course, all features are reviewed from time to time.” Common symptoms of yellow fever include vomiting, muscle aches and fever.

Peh Wei Jian had allegedly slapped the baby in a Sembawang flat on Jan 5. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Court documents did not disclose when the baby died. Those found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child below 14 years old in the same household as themselves can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned. He is also accused of causing or allowing the death of a child below 14 years old belonging to the same household as himself.

The new Bill will also allow polling stations to be placed in adjacent constituencies. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The new laws will also bar foreign entities such as companies or organisations from participating in election activities, on top of the current ban on foreign individuals participating in such activities. The statement added that various factors will be considered in determining whether a special polling station or a mobile polling team will be deployed, such as the number of voters in the nursing home and whether there is a suitable space in the nursing home for such a station. The law defines election activity as any activity that promotes the electoral success at any election for one or more identifiable political parties, candidates or groups of candidates; or prejudices the electoral prospects of other political parties, candidates or groups of candidates at the election.

Two-thirds of all supermarket outlets will impose a charge on all materials of disposable bags, including plastic and paper. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The bulk of the used cans and bottles is likely to be returned through smart reverse vending machines. The refund will likely be in the form of a cash or digital transfer, and beverage container return points will be set up at all supermarkets that are larger than 200 sq m. In furthering the recycling rate of drink bottles and cans by mid-2024, each beverage will likely cost 10 cents to 20 cents more.

There are also professional discussion groups among educators to explore the use of AI tools, he added. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Replying, Mr Chan said students will still be taught to understand fundamental concepts and not to overly rely on such tools. Australian states New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania have [ also banned access to ChatGPT in state schools ](https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/australian-states-block-chatgpt-in-schools-even-as-critics-say-ban-is-futile)over concerns that it could be used to cheat in assessments or homework. This is why MOE will also equip students with the skills to use AI tools responsibly, he added. Students will also be taught to understand how AI tools work, and must be able to critically assess the responses from such tools, which can be inaccurate or biased, for accuracy and objectivity, he added. [potential abuse of ChatGPT, such as plagiarism.](https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/teachers-v-chatgpt-schools-face-new-challenge-in-fight-against-plagiarism) Top French research university Sciences Po, for one, has banned the use of such AI tools amid fears of plagiarism and fraud. [how to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to enhance learning,](https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/tech-news/don-t-ban-chatgpt-in-schools-but-teach-with-it) given that these tools are likely to become pervasive over time.

SINGAPORE - A former director of a shipbuilding company was sentenced to five years' jail on Monday after he cheated a financing firm of over $1.3 million by ...

The accused thus had a clear motive to cheat CMP.” The prosecutor told the court: “Francis had no motive to cheat CMP. “Each of the 10 LMC work orders was forged. According to the prosecution, Vignish accepted that LMC had cheated CMP. LOM was the sister company of LMC. There was no contract between LMC and Keppel FELS in relation to the painting and blasting works stated on the 10 work orders.

This takes the total number of firms sanctioned under a six-month heightened safety period to 15. Read more at straitstimes.com.

“The ministry is reviewing the next steps when HSP (heightened safety period) ends in February. This takes the total number of firms sanctioned under a six-month heightened safety period to 15. He died from his injuries on Jan 23. In response to questions from labour MP Melvin Yong (Radin Mas) and Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC), Dr Tan said the main causes of the 46 workplace deaths in 2022 were inadequate control measures and safety procedures, poor implementation of control measures and unsafe behaviour by workers. The construction sector was the top contributor of workplace deaths and major injuries in 2022, but Dr Tan said there were 21 per cent fewer enforcement actions taken by MOM for every inspection conducted in the sector since October 2022. No decision has been made on whether it will be extended.

Payments will be held in escrow and released to sellers only when buyers receive their purchases and are satisfied with the product. PHOTO: CAROUSELL.

Under this programme, users can sell items such as mobile phones and luxury bags to Carousell for cash. It will then authenticate or certify these items before selling them to buyers. The online marketplace also reminded users to keep their transactions within its platform, noting how scammers try to direct the conversation elsewhere before their accounts are detected. The online marketplace is also piloting a new feature to reduce the risk of transactions. On Monday, the online marketplace said this new requirement will be introduced within the next few months, with more details to be shared soon. This means that payments will be held in escrow and released to sellers only when buyers receive their purchases and are satisfied with the product.

SINGAPORE - For three years, Mr Edmund Nathan, who set up B2B (business-to-business) procurement platform provider Singapore E-Business (SGeBiz) in 2014, ...

With funding, we’ll be able to move to a new stage of growth,” Mr Nathan noted. SGeBiz is based in Singapore and has offices in Malaysia, Thailand and India. After an initial investment closes, additional investors can invest in the same round with the same terms within a certain time. It can also provide electronic documentation, and convert photos of paper invoices into digital versions. Mr Nathan also hopes to use the Series A funding to enhance the company’s technology and add new features, including cross-border payments, QR-code-based payments and same-day payments on EzyPayment. He started speaking to venture capitals (VCs) only in 2018, and in his first fund-raising pitch, he was turned away for his “lack of ambition”.

SINGAPORE – Singapore is catching up with Hong Kong's rental market as the city's prices are expected to soar on limited supply, while Hong Kong grapples ...

The speed of any recovery in Hong Kong rents will hinge on the city’s removal of all the remaining pandemic measures, which have deterred businesses and visitors. “A lot is predicated on the speed with which the final restriction is lifted; how the border reopening plays out,” said Savills’ Mr Smith. Singapore rents are “much closer to Hong Kong levels now”, said Mr Simon Smith, a senior director at Savills in Hong Kong. Areas popular with expats were among the locations with the steepest fall in rents in the past three years, according to online rental platform Spacious.hk. Home rents in Hong Kong are predominantly more expensive when compared with those in Singapore. That is the view of analysts, who say many factors impacting prices in the two places remain intact.

The new residential development will be linked directly to the Jurong East MRT interchange station, Westgate and IMM Building via J-Walk, which is a covered ...

The station will also serve the upcoming Cross Island Line, which will open in phases from 2030. Capitaland chief executive Tan Yew Chin said the development is expected to launch for sale in the second half of this year. The mall will shut down on Aug 6 at 10pm.

The writer says it is difficult to estimate how long local communities can keep women-led households and their families alive.

According to the 2015 Demographic Health Survey, only 1.7 per cent of Afghan households were headed by women. This follows Taliban decrees banning women from education at the secondary and university levels and not allowing them to travel without a mahram (a male close relative as chaperone). Very cold weather has been forecast for the western zone of Afghanistan in February. Jamila said that previously, under the former government, her family received a monthly salary from the State Ministry for Martyrs and Disabled Affairs, which would pay families of military veterans or those killed in the fighting. Since the Taliban gained control of the country, Afghanistan has been on the brink of universal hardship. The recent Taliban ban on women working in international and national organisations and women moving about in public spaces has also affected women’s ability to find employment.

They included those in healthcare, education, telecommunication, and food and beverage. Read more at straitstimes.com.

And very quickly, we were able to give them a proposal about the courses that we offer,” he said. Singapore’s bilateral trade with Indonesia was $59.1 billion in 2021, a 21 per cent increase from the year before. The total value of Singapore’s investments in Indonesia amounted to US$9.4 billion (S$12.5 billion) in 2021. The Singapore Enterprise Centre in central Jakarta is staffed by SBF’s local market advisers. “So we will facilitate them on a case-to-case basis in what they need. They included those in healthcare, education, telecommunications, and food and beverage.

SINGAPORE – The community has put forward ideas for marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Lee launched the first tree-planting campaign in 1963. These include conferences to examine Mr Lee’s legacy, publications that draw from his values and life experiences, and activities to engage the younger generation of Singaporeans, said Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng. “We welcome these ground-up initiatives, and the spirit in which they have been conceived.”