Technology

SINGAPORE - Technology can be a catalyst for narrowing the gender gap, President Halimah Yacob said at the opening of the Women's Forum Singapore on Wednesday (Sept 12) at Raffles City Convention Centre. The three-day forum, part of an international platform which looks at major social and economic issues from a gender perspective, aims to foster women's leadership for social progress and economic impact across the world. President Halimah told those gathered for the opening that the disruptive economy could be viewed in a positive light. "We have, today, a world that is disrupted. Disruption has accelerated changes and challenges to the economy," said President Halimah, noting that a World Economic Forum study found that the automation of jobs was more likely to impact women negatively. But she said research has also shown that access to and, more importantly, the ability to understand and use technologies could have a positive impact on women's education and employment ... » Learn More about Technology can help narrow gender gap, President Halimah Yacob says at Women’s Forum Singapore

(NYTIMES) - No one in Ms Deena Al Mahbuba's family has met her daughter, Aara. She was born at the end of 2019, extremely premature. By the time Aara left the hospital for her home outside Boston in mid-June, the world was already months into Covid-19 lockdowns. Ms Mahbuba's close relatives, along with her husband's, all live in Bangladesh. The couple moved from there in 2013. Family members have done their best to stay connected, but Ms Mahbuba, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wishes her relatives were nearby. Her elder siblings could help her soothe Aara when she is sleepless. Or they could show her how they introduced foods to their babies. Aara, now 15 months old, struggles with new foods after having been tube-fed in her early life. Ms Mahbuba also hopes Aara will learn to speak Bengali, but worries she needs exposure to the language from people besides her parents. "Sometimes, I feel really sad," she said. "I feel like there is ... » Learn More about Bonding with a child born during pandemic times

SINGAPORE - Tearing your hair out over home-based learning (HBL), which started on Wednesday and is set to continue till May 4? Fret not. Here are some suggestions from academic and parenting experts, who advise thinking out of the box and letting the teachers get on with their job, albeit remotely, while schools are closed. Here is how parents can keep sane while optimising this time to help their children make true learning gains. More HBL resources for parents can also be found on MOE's website . 1. HONE SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING It is a good time to help the children develop self-directed learning abilities, says Dr Tan Seng Chee, an associate professor at National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU). There are many reasons why it is not feasible for parents to take the place of teachers. Subject teachers may have specialised approaches, especially at higher grade levels, while parents working from home have other demands on their time ... » Learn More about Coronavirus: 7 ways to thrive under home-based learning

SINGAPORE - Many hawkers find themselves struggling to stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic. With the ban on dining out during the circuit breaker period, local food vendors have been relying on takeaways and deliveries to survive. Those who work with food delivery platforms such as GrabFood, Deliveroo and Foodpanda say they pay an average of 30 to 35 per cent commission for each order. The high fees have led some to search for alternative options. Mr Melvin Chew, 42, owner of Jin Ji Teochew Braised Duck and Kway Chap at Chinatown Food Complex, started a Facebook group in April to help fellow hawkers during the circuit breaker. Hawkers United-Dabao 2020 now has over 260,000 members. "Many of the hawkers suffered income losses from about 70 to 90 per cent. I started this group to gather all the hawkers (and) bring in some customers from my Facebook friend list so that hawkers can look for business in this group," said Mr Chew. Mr Quentin Quek, 22, whose ... » Learn More about Hawkers go digital during Covid-19 circuit breaker

SINGAPORE - Singapore's tightened circuit breaker measures will remain in place for another week, with businesses like barbers, home-based bakers and laundry services allowed to resume operating on May 12. Some measures will also be adjusted next week. But the multi-ministry task force handling the outbreak took pains to stress that this did not mean the battle with the disease was won. "We are making good progress but we are not yet at single digits when it comes to local transmission, so it is not time to lift the tighter measures we have in place," said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong on Saturday (May 2). "We still need to continue for another week. But we can start making some adjustments." Mr Wong stressed, however, that the situation remains fluid and plans may need to be adjusted further, depending on how the situation unfolds in the coming weeks. "The bottom line is, this is not the time to slacken and let our guard down. We may be easing some measures ... » Learn More about Tightened circuit breaker measures extended for another week; some activities allowed to resume from May 5

Come with creative investment proposals on tourism products and services to make Putrajaya an iconic ecotourism draw. That is the message from Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa to the private sector, as a way to increase the number of visitors to the administrative capital. “As Putrajaya is already a planned city with iconic buildings and complete facilities, private companies can readily utilise them, ” he said during a press conference to announce a glamping project in Putrajaya Wetlands Park. “This means they will not need big capital expenditure but just add value and run promotion programmes to draw attention to their tourism products and services. “We will be open and transparent so that these companies can help make Putrajaya a major recreational city that is eco-friendly and family-oriented, ” he said during the event held in Precinct 3. Annuar noted that Putrajaya was lacking in pull factor, which explained why the 25-year-old administrative capital ... » Learn More about Putrajaya keen to attract ecotourism projects

SHAH Alam residents have voiced their objections to a proposal to build a road and a cemetery across an existing forest that they call the Shah Alam Community Forest (SACF). A total of 25 residents attended a public hearing at Wisma MBSA in Shah Alam, Selangor to put forward their argument on why the state land would be better made a full-fledged urban community forest. Previously, Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) carried out a public feedback exercise for its 2035 Local Draft Plan, in which the proposal to build a road and cemetery across the SACF was stated. MBSA received 718 objections for the road and 195 objections for the cemetery from the public. SACF Society founder and secretary Alicia Teoh, who represented 9,000 members, laid out several reasons why the forest should remain a leisure area for the community. The session that was chaired by Selangor local government, public transport and new village development committee chairman Ng Sze Han and state tourism, ... » Learn More about ‘Preserve urban forest area’

When Teh Nur Shafiqah Ab Samad enrolled in an aircraft engineering technology course at a local university, the 22-year-old soon found herself volunteering to teach kindergarten children about the main parts of aircraft and marshalling signals. Her reason for wanting to be part of the junior aviators programme, run by the Air Scout unit at her university, was fairly straightforward — she wanted to inspire more young people to pursue careers in the field of aviation. “As a child, I was always fascinated by aeroplanes. “Every time, I saw contrails in the sky, I would make a silent wish to be able to work with these amazing machines one day, ” said Shafiqah. Abdul Mueiem showing the milestones of the Malaysian Air Scout movement at the museum within the Scouts Association headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Now in her final year, she has risen through the ranks and is now crew leader of Universiti Kuala Lumpur Institute of Aviation Technology’s (UniKL MIAT) Air Scout unit. Her ... » Learn More about Soaring fascination with planes

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia called on U.S. media group VICE to withdraw an article featuring newly colourised photos of the Khmer Rouge "killing fields" victims, saying the images were an insult to the dead because some mugshots had been altered to add smiles. At 1200 GMT on Sunday, the article later was no longer available on the VICE.com website. In the article published on Friday, artist Matt Loughrey said his project to colourise images from the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, or S-21, aimed to humanise the 14,000 Cambodians executed and tortured there. However, the article caused a backlash on social media after comparisons with the original black-and-white photos showed that some subjects were smiling only in Loughrey's colour images. The VICE article did not contain the original images. "To play around by using technology to put make-up on the victims of S21 ... is a very grave insult to the souls of the victims of #genocide," exiled Cambodian politician Mu Sochua ... » Learn More about Cambodia condemns VICE for images by artist who added smiles to Khmer Rouge victims

A NEW batch of Malaysian Association For The Blind (MAB) trainees are excited to start their lessons. One of them is 24-year-old Sharifah Nur Jahan Syed Jakirul Alam, who became blind due to a nerve inflammation. She has enrolled to learn Information Technology. Sharifah, who was pursuing a degree in law, stopped her studies in 2018 because of a severe migraine that had spread to her backbone. She was later diagnosed with glaucoma. “I experienced depression when I became blind. “My blindness came as a shock but I wanted to move on with my life and further my studies. “During the movement control order period, I surfed the Internet to find out how I could continue my education in this condition, ” she said. Hoping to continue with her law degree after completing her training at MAB, Sharifah added that she had decided on a university. Prior to this, she attended training sessions at Pusat Latihan dan Pemulihan Lembah Kinta and learned life skills such as cooking and ... » Learn More about Blind trainees eager to resume lessons