5 S’pore News That You Should Know About That Were Reported Yesterday (20 November 2019)

Let’s face it: in this social media world, exciting and viral news like a cat feeding a baby bear would often appear in your Facebook news feed, while important news like the GDP growth of Singapore this year wouldn’t get the same reach.

It’s understandable since social media platforms would prioritise engaging and viral content to keep users in their platform.

In order to ensure that you’d still know about important news instead just social news, below are the top five Singapore news that was reported yesterday which you should know, simplified for you in a bite-sized format:

Sections of Tampines Avenue 9 To Be Closed To Traffic On Nov 26 & Nov 29 For Bridge Building

Sections of a road in Tampines will be temporarily closed later this month due to the construction of two new pedestrian overhead bridges.

The road from the junction with Tampines Street 73 to the junction with Tampines Street 72, and the road from the junction with Tampines Street 72 to the junction with Tampines Avenue 6 will be closed on Nov 26 and Nov 29 respectively, between 1.15am and 5am.

Both bridges are expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020.

For more info, tap here.

Engineer Admits To Not Checking Calculations Made By Inexperienced Team Before PIE Viaduct Collapse

The engineer who prepared the plans of the building works for the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) viaduct that collapsed in July 2017 admitted that he was aware of his teams’ inexperience in designing bridges, but failed to give them guidance.

The man, Robert Arianto Tjandra, 46, also failed to check the design assumptions made for the corbels, which are support structures, between affected vertical columns that collapsed.

Even after he was aware of the errors in the calculations made by the engineering team, he failed to take the necessary steps to rectify said errors.

On Wednesday (Nov 20), he pleaded guilty to three of the five charges, with the remaining two charges to be taken into consideration for sentencing.

For more info, tap here. 

A*Star Launches New Research Institute To Tackle Food Security Challenges

The Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*Star) will set up the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI) to drive innovation efforts in food and biotechnology to tackle food security challenges.

This is part of the Republic’s efforts to hit the “30 by 30” target of producing 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030.

Singapore is vulnerable to global changes in food production that might arise due to climate change because we import over 90 per cent of the food we consume.

The institute will be staffed by more than 120 research, technical, and administrative personnel from various divisions within A*Star.

For more info, tap here.

Cop Gets Jail And Caning For Sexually Exploiting Two Women In Custody

Senior police investigator Lee Sze Chiat, 39, was jailed after he preyed on two women suspected of being sex workers while they were in his custody.

The Senior Staff Sergeant molested one woman and got the other to perform sex acts on him.

He sexually exploited both women while they were in handcuffs in an interview room at Jurong Police Divisional Headquarters.

Lee pleaded guilty to one count of molestation and an offence under the Police Force Act. Two other related charges were taken into consideration.

For more info, tap here. 

Man Jailed 4 years For Singapore Pools Branch Slashing

Hong Mee Yong, 70, was jailed for four years after he slashed another man, Mr Lim Eng Pueh, 61, at a Singapore Pools branch.

The two men had first argued over a horse racing bet. And when they later saw each other at Singapore Pools outlet in Rangoon Road, Yong got angry at Lim for staring at him.

Hong then bought a 30cm-long slicer and slashed Mr Lim, leaving him with an open fracture to his right shoulder blade and wounds to his right elbow and forearm, all requiring surgery.

For more info, tap here.