The Singahour

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 | THE SINGAHOUR

LOCAL UPDATES

1

Visitors at RSAF Open House Soar

With four hours of queue, 35 shuttle buses and 800 ambassadors, the RSAF Open House opens to a great fanfare.

BY MELANIS TAI

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Open House 2016 saw to over 220,000 visitors on a May weekend – almost double of the expectations.

With planning starting four months back and intensive training from a month and a half ago, RSAF finally opened its doors from May 21 to 22, with the theme “Defending Our Skies”.

The highlight of the event was the aerial display in which audiences can see the capabilities of the airmen and women are as they put up a show with the Apaches, Chinooks and Fighter jets.

Captain Nah Jinping, who flies the F15-SG in the aerial display, said: “This is the first open house whereby we have not one, but two female fighter pilots flying in the aerial display.”

Jayne Chan, a Singapore Polytechnic student, was fortunate enough

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Kim (left) and Captain Nah Jinping (right) fly the F15-SG for the Aerial Display. PHOTO: Melanis Tai to get an aircraft ride on the CH-47 Chinook. She said that the aircraft ride was “unforgettable” and the scenery was “great” from the Chinook.

Scenery aside, the fighter planes serve a larger purpose.

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Kim, who also flies the F15-SG, said: “We hope to convey the message that the RSAF is a potent, competent force

and we are first class at the same time.

We want to take away that we really provide strong deterrence and we are able to keep our skies safe 24/7.”

Visitors were able to view the showcase of 20 over aircraft and weaponries, aircraft arming and K9 demonstration, the Red Lions paratroopers.

Children also enjoyed carnival activities like the “Drone Flying Game” and

“The Young Aviator”.

First Warrant Officer Kumareson Athmanathan said that there has been improvement in the community engagement programme as they provide more opportunities for children to take part in aviation-related games and express their opinions on little cards to the RSAF.

The only downturn of the event is the queue. Mr Keefe Chan, a firsttime visitor, got his queue number for the Simulator ride at about 10:30am and he was already the 392nd person in line. He said he was “shocked that there was a 4-hour waiting time when the doors have only been open for an hour or so”.

Mr Chan also said that the queue for the shuttle bus to Paya Lebar Air Base at Eunos MRT station, “was so long it flooded the entire interchange, and out, all the way to the neighborhood temple”. To control the crowd, shuttle bus services increased from 12 to 35 buses per hour.

Bicycle on the Run

Residents prefer leaving their bicycles outside their flats than at the bicycle bay.

BY ADRIELLE CHUA

Unattended bicycles placed outside flats at residential areas are the main cause of ongoing bicycle theft, says the police.

The theft of bicycles has been a crime that police have had trouble eradicating since January 2014.

Mr Ryan Danial, 28, staff sergeant and assistant operator officer of Bukit Batok Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) said: “Theft of bicycles has been one of the major crime concerns flagged out by the police in the last few years.”

However, despite seeing a drop of 6.7 per cent or forty-two cases, Mr

Danial said that from January to June 2016, 588 cases of bicycle theft were reported. The main cause of bicycle thefts is people placing their bicycles outside their flats along the corridor instead of the designated bicycle bay.

Majority of residents at Bukit Gombak said that convenience was the main reason for placing their bicycles outside their flats.

Mund Amirullah, 18, said: “It is easier to access and at least we know our bicycle is here.”

Mund had encountered the loss of a bicycle accessory when he placed his bicycle at the bicycle bay.

He had to send his bicycle for repair as the whole wheel came out.

The experience led him to park his bicycle outside his flat instead of the bicycle bay.

To counter the problem faced, Bukit Batok NPC has been trying to raise awareness of the preventive measures done by the Singapore Police Force (SPF).

SPF has mailed out pamphlets about the security label to educate the neighbourhood on how the security labels works.

They also provide free bicycle locks to residents who obtain their bicycle security labels from SPF. Surveillance cameras and posters regarding how to properly lock their bicycles are placed at the bicycle bays.

In spite of the efforts made by Bukit Batok NPC, residents do not believe that the measures taken by the police are effective.

Zou Yun Chuan, 14, said he was sceptical of the security labels, as he believes that once the small label is torn off, it would not help in identifying a stolen bicycle.

At the same time, Mund said that the thieves would still be able to steal certain parts of the bicycle, despite the bicycle locks.

National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) and SPF will continuously improve their preventive measures and residents should also take responsibility for their bicycles.

2

CULTURAL ARTS SPECIAL

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 | THE SINGAHOUR

Kueh Losing its Taste

Kueh Appreciation Day returns to celebrate the traditional snack and fend off dilution by foreign cultures.

BY ADRIELLE CHUA & CHEW WEI YI

Kueh Appreciation Day, held on July 24, brought new insights to locals into the traditional bite-sized snack and inspired reflection on their understanding of their culture.

Kueh, with its Chinese and Peranakan roots, is slowly being forgotten among the younger Singaporean generation. Ms Susan Jung, 53, a kindergarten teacher and mother of two, said: “My children, they don’t like kueh, only I in my family likes kueh.” The reason: Western influence.

Mr Daniel Chia, President of Slow Food Singapore, said kueh is being “overtaken, overshadowed by these new western trends or new trends coming from other parts of the world that the younger people tend to be more interested in”. He said “old-fashioned” things like kueh are not well received among the younger generation due to them wanting “more exciting” things.

To stop this precious Chinese tradition from dying out, Slow Food, Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Food Festival came together and hosted Kueh Appreciation Day this year, after its first successful run in 2015.

The purpose of the festival was to “inject interest back” to the younger generation and make it become part of their lives, said Mr Chia. “When it becomes part of their lives, they would invest interest in the kueh’s ‘life’ and transmit it to the future.”

The event showcased booths run by groups selling delicacies from different dialects that had to be traditional and handmade. This year, the highlights of the festival were the rarely seen Hainanese Larp and Hakka mugwort rice cake.

Ms Michelle Lim, 53, said she had come to the event with the sole purpose of just learning how to make the Hainanese Larp, but came out

A wide array of colourful kueh from different dialect groups and cultures drew throngs of locals to Kueh Appreciation Day. PHOTO: Chew Wei Yi learning more about the significance of it than imagined.

“

It is a sort of enlightenment, because sometimes when we eat, you don’t know what is the history behind it and now I know there is a history to it.”

– Ms Michelle Lim

Hainan Cuisine & Snacks, a booth selling traditional Hainanese kueh, is just one of the many that agree with Ms Lim. The business has been running for the past 30 years with the aim of “preserving the local snack” and reaching out to the younger generation.

Mr Simon Goh, co-owner of Hainan Cuisine & Snacks, has been using social media to share about the tradition and getting youths to participate in their events. He has also tweaked certain recipes to fit their palettes.

“The Hainanese love a lot of ginger, but if you have too much

ginger, the younger generation would not like it anymore,” said Mr Goh.

Over the years, Hainan Cuisine & Snacks has managed to strike a balance by continuing to create traditional kueh, but tweaking its flavour to cater to all age groups, especially the youths.

During the festival, demonstration classes were also held to teach the public how to make the respective dialects’ kueh, ensuring the techniques and skills are being passed on to the next generation.

Lee Jia Wen, 18, a Temasek Polytechnic student currently pursing a diploma in Baking & Culinary Science, was a volunteer at the event.

She hopes to become a pastry chef and infuse kueh with pastry someday.

Firmly believing that “it is Clockwise from top left: Yam abacus seeds, Ang Ku Kueh, Hainanese Larp, Nyonya Ondeh-ondeh and assorted kueh. PHOTO: Chew Wei Yi important to learn about our own

roots”, she aspires to “continue the spreading of the culture”.

*based on a survey The Singahour did on 220 respondents

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 | THE SINGAHOUR

CULTURAL ARTS SPECIAL

3

Breathing New Life in Traditional Arts Chinese art programmes introduce new elements to appeal to the younger audiences.

BY JEAN YEO

One show was all it took for Mrs Valerie Ng, 36, to be captivated

by Chinese puppetry.

Staged by Chinese puppetry company, Paper Monkey Theatre, WuSong, The Tiger Fighter was Mrs Ng’s first puppet

show with her daughter.

“It’s a good avenue to expose children to Chinese arts,” said Mrs Ng. “Mandarin is something that I think a lot of Singaporean parents still want to expose their children to.”

The younger generation’s unfamiliarity with Chinese language and culture has inspired a modern twist to traditional Chinese arts to appeal to them.

Mr Andy Pang, 29, Associate Director of Paper Monkey Theatre, acknowledges that youths nowadays “ d o n ’ t speak Mandarin”.

He attributes this to the education system,

The audience were entranced by the puppets and could easily follow along with English translations in Wu-Song. PHOTO: Jean Yeo which places Chinese as a second language.

“Some parents have regarded Chinese as something inferior and this is one of the very huge language barriers that we have,” Mr Pang said.

To overcome this issue, English translations and modern context are weaved into their puppet shows.

In Wu-Song, the puppeteers explained the dated Chinese term for a sovereign guard, “守卫”, by translating it to “security” in English. This took the children in the audience by surprise, cueing peals of laughter while conveying the meaning of the profound term.

His shows have also bridged the language barrier through employing subtitles, “so that people of other races can appreciate the show as well”.

Another traditional Chinese art company that has adapted their shows to capture modern audiences is Arts Theatre of Singapore, which focuses on children’s drama.

“Having nice music, beautiful choreography will make your audience think there is a lot of variety, so it is easier [for children] to accept,” said Mr Koh Chong Chiah, President of the company. “You have to let them enjoy first.”

Mr Koh works exclusively with schools that book his productions under the National Arts Council-Arts Education Programme (NAC-AEP) and Tote Board Arts Grant.

According to NAC, both work together to “promote arts appreciation amongst students”, by subdising up to 50 per cent of schools’ purchase of any of the 800 arts programmes approved yearly.

“We have a lot of school shows, but sometimes it is not very effective because I’m just an audience sitting down there. I appreciate it, but it doesn’t continue. But if I start to enjoy it, then there is something,” he said. “Appreciation has to convert to enjoyment.”

Lion Dance Roars No More

Despite efforts pumped in to save Lion Dance, the dancers are diminishing in numbers across the country.

BY MELANIS TAI

Back in 2010, there were 15 Lion Dancers in Pasir Ris Secondary School. However, recently, none remain.

With the number of members decreasing each year, the co-curricular activity (CCA) unfortunately closed down in 2014.

The last chairperson of the CCA in Pasir Ris Secondary School, Mr Wee Liang Hao, 19, said that besides the decreasing strength of the CCA, the closure is also due to the school’s strict management.

Mr Kenny Koh, the main coach of the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Lion Dance troupe, also echoes this understanding. He shares that in the past, primary schools and secondary schools used to have Lion Dance as a

for corporates to invite Lion Dance troupes during Chinese New Year or official openings, because of the belief that it is an auspicious blessing for companies.

The Lion Dance Sports Association of Singapore is trying to portray lion dance in a brighter light to promote them to the teenagers and children.

According to Mr Koh, there is a lot of cultural value in Lion Dance and in a racial harmonic society like Singapore, it should be valued and preserved. He says that there are even Malays in his troupe to support his A lion dancer is a sportsman. As a sportsman, you point. need very strong encouragement and then motivation,

Mr Chua says: “If no one especially from your family and then friends.” is going to keep the culture going, someday it is going to die down and it – Mr Kenny Koh is really sad to see, as I am proud to be Another Lion Dance member, For instance, it is still very popular a Chinese.”

CCA, but along the years, the school managements do not really encourage it anymore.

He says that one possible reason could be some parents voicing out that they do not have a good impression of Lion Dancing.

However, this is not the case for Mr Koh.

Mr Koh himself started as a Lion Dancer ever since he was eight years old. The main lure for him into Lion Dancing was his family who has exposed him to Lion Dancing since he was a child, igniting his passion for it.

“

Mr Marcus Chua Wei Xuan, 19, has been in the Jin Long Lion Dance troupe for more than four years.

Mr Chua said he joined the troupe due to peer influences, but he said he stayed because “it made me realise how my friends push me to do better each time. And I realise how much the Chinese culture means to me”.

Despite the diminishing numbers of Lion Dancers amongst the youths, Mr Wee says that lion dance is still popular amongst mature generations.

4

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 | THE SINGAHOUR

LOCAL UPDATES

Hougang Residents Struggle to Board MRT Overcrowding in Sengkang prevents Hougang commuters from boarding the train.

BY CHEW WEI YI New two-car Light Rail Transit (LRT) has been benefitting Sengkang residents at the expense of Hougang commuters taking the North East Line (NEL).

SBS Transit introduced the new two-car LRT at Sengkang on Jan 5, to accommodate the 61,000 commuters who ride the LRT route daily. Each two-car train carries 204 passengers, doubling the 102-person capacity from before.

On an average weekday morning, Sengkang MRT station would be filled with commuters, each train carrying its maximum capacity of 1,400 to 1,500 commuters at Sengkang, according to SBS Corporate Communications Manager, Miss Sam Shu Hui. With double the number of residents reaching Sengkang station quicker via LRT, some find it difficult to board the train heading south.

Sengkang MRT station is the second last stop of the NEL, where commuters can easily take the train to Punggol and back, to ensure a space in the train.

But then you don’t always get a seat even though you take a rebound because there’s so many other people doing the same thing,” says Ms Chanel

Lee, 18, a Singapore Polytechnic student.

According to the Singapore Department of Statistics, Sengkang is one of the more densely populated areas in the northeast, with a population of 206,680 compared to nearby areas like Hougang (196,670), Punggol (109,750) and Serangoon (120,670).

Two stops away from Sengkang, Hougang residents struggle to board the already packed MRT at Hougang station. At every train door, barely two people can enter the train.

Long queues forming in front of train doors are a common sight at Hougang MRT from 8am to 8:45am. For residents like Ms Angela Ho, 47, it is routine “to wait for the second or third train” after 8am.

This has caused inconvenience to the Hougang residents, with most of them rushing to school and work during the morning peak hour.

“There were a few times I was late for work, although I left my house early,” says Ms Ho.

Residents have said that the two-car Sengkang LRT contributes to the crowd at Sengkang station, causing the MRT trains to be too packed for Hougang residents to board.

Hougang resident Mr Bobby Tan, 52, strongly believes the new

Hougang residents especially struggle to board the MRT filled with Sengkang commuters every morning after 8am on weekdays.

PHOTO: Chew Wei Yi

LRT trains’ ability to carry twice the number of people in a single trip has worsened the situation.

However, SBS Assistant Vice President Mr Raymond Hong, disagrees and says: “We increased to two-carriage [trains] to increase capacity. So I will see that the LRT is an improvement for us.

LTA has come up with measures to mitigate crowds at different stations in Singapore. One is The Free PrePeak Travel scheme, started in June 2013, that aims to “divert those who can go to town before 7:45am to get full rebates”, says Mr Hong. However, these measures are not helping the

crowds in Hougang and Sengkang.

“Sometimes it’s hard for us because what we can do is try to encourage people to move in, or ask them to travel in different times. On our part, we can add more trains to help the crowd, but I really don’t know how else to handle commuters,” Mr Hong added.

Mr Hong reassures that the Land Transport Authority is aware of the current overcrowding situation and is working on this “nation-wide issue”.

He also says there is a “possibility of having a MRT line connecting Hougang or Sengkang in future”, to ease the crowd.

Indie in the Campus Campus music festival STAGED 2016: Indie Moment is a hit with Ngee Ann Polytechnic students. originals, without the constraints of a specific genre. This is exactly one reason singer-songwriter Joie Tan, enjoys being an indie artiste.

“

Highly-anticipated Take Two ended the night with electrifying vocals and energy, leaving the crowd wanting more. PHOTO: Jean Yeo the organising committee from NP

BY JEAN YEO Student Union, said indie music was

Seven hundred Ngee Ann chosen based on a student survey, Polytechnic (NP) students spent their to “encourage people to live in the Friday night jamming to Take Two, moment”.

To complement the laidback Joie Tan and fellow student performers feel, teepees and mats were set up for at STAGED 2016.

Themed ‘Indie Moment’, attendees to snuggle with their friends this year’s music festival, held on and the Convention Centre stage was May 20, shone the spotlight on adorned with fairy lights.

While most student acts like local independent artistes and gave aspiring student musicians a chance to duo Natasha Elle and Umar crooned acoustic covers, other guest artistes showcase their talents.

Joshua Taylor, Festive Head of performed a range of mellow to upbeat

When I write my music, I don’t write within a certain genre and I hate pigeonholing myself, because then there is no growth. So I think calling myself an indie artiste is kind of giving myself space to [explore] different boundaries and genres.”

– Miss Joie Tan

For quartet Disco Hue, they take pride in being on recent local top charts without big labels backing them. Synth player Mohamad Auzaie says: “Being indie means your music can also be accepted by the general public.”

This was proven true by the crowd, who spontaneously gathered around the stage to clap along to hits “Gotta Find You” and Take Two’s “In Your Arms”. NP audiences, noted Joie, who had experience performing on campus, were always “very, very

EDITOR

MELANIS TAI JING EN melanistai@singahour.com

SUB-EDITOR

JEAN YEO KENG QI jeanyeo@singahour.com

DESIGNER

CHEW WEI YI

chewweiyi@singahour.com

REPORTER

ADRIELLE CHUA XIAN HUI adriellechua@singahour.com

ADVISOR

MS FOO YUEH PENG receptive”.

Perhaps it was also because most students had attended the festival to unwind from school with friends, with specific acts they wanted to see.

Jewel Tan, a second-year Advertising & Public Relations student, came to support Take Two and Joie Tan.

She also said “I like that you can just come after school and the tickets are very cheap.”