Singapore Local News, 2011-12-01

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Civil servants to get 2 days of parent-care leave a year SINGAPORE: Some 76,000 civil servants will get two days of parent-care leave per annum from next year. With effect from 1 January 2012, civil servants can use this leave to care for their parents, including parents-in-law. Medical certification......     SMRT to add over 260 extra train trips each week SMRT is adding more than 260 extra train trips each week on the North-South East-West Lines ahead of the year-end festivities. The additional train trips start December 3 and will last until the end of the month. In........ Moderate to heavy rain expected over next two days Singaporeans can expect more wet weather and potential flash floods in the next two days. The Meteorological Service said Singapore is likely to experience moderate to heavy showers with thunder on Friday and Saturday...... MFA condemns UK embassy attack Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has described the attacks against the United Kingdom embassy in Tehran on Tuesday as unacceptable behaviour for any state that desires an honourable place in the community of nations...... ComChest TrueHearts 2011 charity show raises S$3.63 million The ComChest TrueHearts 2011 charity show, held at the Marina Bay Sands' Event Plaza on Sunday, raised a total of S$3.63 million for the 300,000 beneficiaries of the 70 charities supported by the Community Chest. Numerous local and........ Majority of Singaporeans work on holiday: Study The majority of Singaporeans just cannot stop working during their vacation. A survey by online travel agency Expedia said Singapore has some of the world's most dedicated workforce, with 81 per cent of respondents admitting to........ DBS to roll out new security tokens from end 2011 DBS Bank customers will start receiving a new Internet banking token from the end of this year. The new token promises to be more secure in light of increasing cyber attacks that target banks internationally. The new token, said to........ 18 more MRT stations to get budget ad notice boards The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is extending its notice boards for low-cost advertisements to 18 more locations near MRT stations. It said this is to provide an avenue for users to put up advertisement in an orderly manner, so........ Scoot daily to Sydney Singapore Airline's (SIA) long-haul budget carrier Scoot has unveiled Sydney as its first destination for daily service. Scoot, which will fly from Changi Airport's Terminal 2, has said it will offer airfares of up to 40 per cent........ Sengkang Hospital to open earlier The opening of Sengkang Hospital is likely to be brought forward to 2018 from 2020. Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong said today in his blog. Mr Gan said the Ministry of Health (MOH) is planning to open the hospital in........ SIA, Virgin Australia's collaboration approved The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has approved Singapore Airline's (SIA) proposed alliance with Virgin Australia, SIA said today in a press release. Under the alliance, SIA and Virgin Australia will codeshare........

Quality of living, safety place S'pore as top-ranked Asian city The Republic has been ranked 25th on the Mercer's Quality of Living survey - beating cities like Tokyo and Hong Kong to be the highest-ranked Asian city in terms of quality of living and safety. Vienna topped the list of 221 cities,........     Embrace change to tackle long-term challenges: Ng Eng Hen SINGAPORE : The way forward is to embrace change to tackle head-on the long-term challenges facing Singapore. That is the message from the Leader of the House, Dr Ng Eng Hen, to Members of Parliament (MPs) and activists from the ruling People's Actio..... Masagos Zulkifli in S. Korea for 3-day visit Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli is in Busan, Korea for a three-day visit...... FAST pushing for mandatory training to help maids settle in SINGAPORE : Maids in Singapore should go through mandatory training under the Settling-In Programme (SIP) to help them settle in, says the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Skills Training (FAST), which is pushing for this...... Ex-MD jailed for bribing SAF captain A former managing director of a company that sells aviation spare parts and equipment was jailed eight weeks Thursday for bribing a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) captain in exchange for confidential information on military projects...... Moderate to heavy rain expected over next two days SINGAPORE : Singaporeans can expect more wet weather and potential flash floods in the next two days...... S'pore farms aim to produce 15% of fish consumed locally SINGAPORE : Farms in Singapore are moving towards the target of producing 15 per cent of fish consumed locally...... SMRT to add over 260 extra train trips a week in December SMRT is adding more than 260 extra train trips each week on the North-South and East-West Lines ahead of the year-end festivities...... Civil servants to get 2 days of parent-care leave a year Some 76,000 civil servants will get two days of parent-care leave per annum from next year...... Ex-undertaker charged with corruption A former undertaker was charged in court on Thursday with two counts of corruption for allegedly accepting bribes to reveal addresses of deceased persons...... Probation report called for girl involved in abusing boy A probation report has been called for a 14-year-old girl who held her 10-year-old relative while her mother splashed hot oil on him...... ITE to roll out new tourism course The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is introducing a new course on attractions operations from January...... S'pore says UK embassy attack "unacceptable" Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has described the attacks against the UK embassy in Tehran on 29 November as unacceptable behaviour for any state that desires an honourable place in the community of nations...... NEA urged to get tougher on litterbugs Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said he wants the National Environment Agency (NEA) to send a clearer deterrent message to litterbugs...... More notice boards island-wide for budget advertisements The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is extending its notice boards for low-cost advertisements to 18 more locations near MRT stations...... Scoot to fly daily to Sydney SINGAPORE : Passengers travelling from Singapore's Changi Airport to Sydney, Australia will soon have a cheaper alternative...... Sengkang hospital "likely" to open in 2018 The opening of the new general hospital in Sengkang is likely to be brought forward to 2018 from 2020, said Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong in his blog on Thursday......