Man jailed for stealing manhole covers

SINGAPORE: A 36-year-old man has been jailed for five weeks after stealing 19 PUB manhole covers worth S$3,800.

By doing this, Abdul Rahim Ramli was also convicted of performing a rash act as he then left gaping holes on road surfaces which endangered the safety of others.

One taxi got stuck in the middle of the road because of his act.

Abdul Rahim pleaded guilty on Thursday to four charges while 16 others were taken into consideration.

Abdul Rahim admitted he stole the manhole covers from places such as Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 and Bedok Ria Crescent in December, last year.

He committed the offences with 37-year-old Juraimy Mohamed Hashim who was also sentenced on Wednesday to five weeks' jail.

The two men drove around the island in a van to steal the manhole covers which were then sold to an unknown China national for about S$200 each.

The court heard that due to the stolen cover at Bedok Ria Crescent, one of the rear wheels of a taxi ended up in an open manhole at around 2pm on December 14. As a result, the vehicle was stuck in the middle of the road.

Even though the taxi was not damaged and nobody was hurt in the incident, the cabby, 56-year-old Tan Thiam Poh, had to fork out S$60 to call for a tow truck to move his vehicle out of the manhole.

The prosecution stressed that missing manhole covers endangered the safety of road users and can damage vehicles.

Those who accidentally fall through the manholes can also be seriously injured.

For stealing the manhole covers, Abdul Rahim could have been jailed up to three years and fined for each charge.

And for performing the rash act, he could have been jailed up to six months and fined a maximum of S$2,500.

-CNA/wk

Budget 2011: S$90m set aside for children 6 years old & below

SINGAPORE: The government will introduce further measures to help families with children meet their expenses.

A new Child Development Credit scheme will be introduced for all Singaporean children aged six years old and below.

Children born between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2011 are eligible.

Announcing this in his Budget statement, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said 80 per cent of families will receive S$400 per child.

Meanwhile the remaining 20 per cent, who are better off, will receive S$300 per child.

The money will be paid into the Children Development Accounts and can be used to pay their children's pre-school, childcare and medical expenses.

The Child Development Credit will cost the government about S$90 million and benefit more than 220,000 children aged six years old and below.

The payout will start in July this year.

Notification letters will be sent by June, to parents of eligible children.

The government will also enhance the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (Kifas) and the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for childcare (CFAC) which currently provide subsidies to lower-income families.

The subsidies will be extended to a larger group of families, including those with up to S$3,500 in gross monthly household income.

Separately, some S$100 million will be pumped into schools for Edusave grants.

Meanwhile, a one-off top-up of S$4.7 million will be put into funds of School Advisory Committees and School Management Committees to help needy Singaporeans students.

There will also be more help for those attending special education schools (SPED).

The MOE Financial Assistance Scheme will also be extended to those from lower-income families.

Mr Tharman said with such a move, SPED students from such families will be fully subsidised for their school fees, uniforms and textbooks.

They will also receive a 75 per cent subsidy on their exam fees.

And to keep higher education affordable, Mr Tharman said undergraduate and diploma bursaries will also increase significantly to benefit students from both lower- and middle-income families.

University students from the bottom one-third of households will benefit from an 80 per cent increase in bursaries, from the current S$1,600 a year to S$2,900 a year.

Mr Tharman said the measures will cost an additional $120 million per year.

-CNA/wk

Budget 2011: Growth dividends for all adult S'poreans

SINGAPORE: One of the measures from this year's Budget includes payment of growth dividends.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said they will give growth dividends to all adult Singaporeans.

As in the past, the amount each Singaporean will receive will depend on his income and value of his home.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said 80 per cent of Singaporeans will get S$600 to S$800 in Growth Dividends.

"Those with low incomes and who live in a three-room or smaller HDB flat will get a growth dividend of S$800," said Mr Tharman in his Budget speech.

Meanwhile, "those in the middle-income group and who live in HDB flats and low-value private homes will receive a growth dividend of S$600," he added.

Mr Tharman said he will also give S$300 to those who live in expensive homes but do not have high incomes.

National servicemen and full-time national servicemen, including those below 21 years of age, will receive an additional S$100 in growth dividends.

MOF said the growth dividends will benefit about 2.5 million Singaporeans and will cost the government S$1.5 billion this year.

Singaporeans will receive their growth dividends by May 1 this year.

And to assist with rising utility costs, the government will provide an additional Utilities-Save (U-Save) and Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates this year.

This is a top up of the U-Save, S&CC and rental rebates as part of the GST Offset Package introduced in 2007.

"One- and two-room households will get an additional S$170, giving them a total of S$360 in U-Save rebates this year," Mr Tharman said .

"This is equivalent to about five months of their utility bills," he added.

Those in three- and four-room flats will get S$320 and S$340, with five-room and executive flats receiving a little less.

Singaporeans will also receive additional S&CC rebate from this year's Budget.

One- to four-bedroom HDB households will get an extra month of rebate, said MOF.

This translates to three months of S&CC rebates for one-to-two room households, two months for three-and-four room households, and at least one month for larger flats with five-rooms and above.

MOF said the rebates will benefit 800,000 households and will cost the government S$200 million.

-CNA/wk

Budget 2011: More than S$13b in benefits for S'poreans

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government is giving out more than S$13 billion in benefits to households and businesses - aimed at growing incomes and strengthening society.

Part of this is a S$3.2 billion one-off "Grow and Share" package - announced by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam when he delivered this year's Budget in Parliament on Friday.

On the back of last year's exceptional economic growth, the Government has also decided to put back into past reserves the S$4 billion drawn out for the Resilience package - introduced to help the country cope with the global financial crisis.

All adult citizens can look forward to Growth Dividends of between S$100 and S$800, depending on their annual income and the value of their homes. NSFs and NSmen also get an additional S$100.

The payout will be given by May 1, benefiting about 2.5 million Singaporeans

There will also be a one-off Special Bonus for those on the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme, which pays older low-wage workers who stay employed.

The bonus amounts to 50 per cent more for work done in 2010 and 25 per cent more each year, for work done in 2011 and 2012.

It will be paid out fully in cash, with the first tranche on May 15.

For example, a 55-year-old employee earning S$1,000 a month last year will receive a regular payout of S$2,100 plus S$1,050 for Workfare Special Bonus.

"This is equivalent to getting one month extra pay, on top of the WIS which provides him more than two months' extra pay," said Mr Tharman. Some 400,000 workers stand to benefit from the special bonus.

Self-employed persons who make Medisave contributions will also benefit. They will receive half of their bonus in cash and the other half in their CPF Medisave accounts.

Another S$3.4 billion will go into top-ups for long term social investments to help seniors, needy Singaporeans and to support life-long learning.

Taxpayers will also enjoy a personal income tax rebate of 20 per cent - capped at S$2,000 - for Year of Assessment 2011.

There will also be a more progressive income tax cut. Marginal tax rates will be reduced for the first S$120,000 of chargeable income. This means working Singaporeans will pay less tax - especially if they are middle income earners.

For example, those with chargeable income of S$60,000 will now pay 25 per cent less tax, and save S$650 a year, while those with chargeable income of S$160,000 save a smaller percentage of about 10 per cent.

However, because this group pays higher taxes, they will in fact save about S$1,600.

Those with chargeable income of above S$330,000 will save less than 1 per cent and get a modest S$350.

Mr Tharman said under this more progressive income tax schedule, middle income earners will "enjoy the largest percentage reduction in taxes". The changes will take effect from YA2012 and will cost the government some S$590 million a year.

Other tax changes include the employer CPF contribution rate, which will be raised by 0.5 percentage points to bring the total contribution rate to 36 per cent.

"This is a bonus, but it is not merely incidental to our fiscal policy approach. It is how we share and redistribute the benefits of growth with Singaporeans, while keeping to fiscal discipline. This package of surplus-sharing will also help most of our lower and middle-income households to offset their higher costs of living this year," said Mr Tharman.

The radio and television license fees will also be scrapped.

"I will remove radio and television licence fees permanently...the licence fees are losing their relevance," said Mr Tharman, garnering cheers from the House.

This is effective from January 1 this year and those who have paid the fees will get a refund.

In explaining the move, Mr Tharman said: "The ownership of TVs is no longer limited to the middle and higher income groups. Today, most households including 99 per cent of lower-income households own TVs. Second with increasing media convergence, Singaporeans can now receive broadcast content over the internet and mobile devices which do nor attract licence fees."

In a statement, MediaCorp said as the national broadcaster of Singapore, it "remains committed to produce PSB (Public Service Broadcast) programmes that promote social objectives and national harmony, within the framework of a commercial free-to-air environment. While MediaCorp is required to telecast a fixed number of PSB hours per year across its channels and stations, in reality, the quantum produced exceeds the number of hours mandated by the MDA."

This year's Budget is the last to be delivered before the next General Elections due by February 2012 and in many ways the government has addressed concerns on the ground. For example, the immediate need to help Singaporeans deal with inflation and in the long term, helping to raise the wages of low-income Singaporeans so they can lead a better life.

-CNA/ac

'Eighth wonder of the world' found under a New Zealand lake

..Wellington, Feb 14 (DPA) New Zealand's first tourist attraction, dubbed the 'eighth wonder of the world' by international travellers in the late 19th century, has been rediscovered 125 years after it was buried by one of the biggest-ever volcanic eruptions.

New Zealand and US scientists said they found the Pink and White Terraces, 60 metres below Lake Rotomahana, 30 km from Rotorua in the heart of the North Island's geothermal region.

The terraces, described at the time as a delicately-coloured fan-like staircase of rock covered with shades of pink and white silica rising like a giant wedding cake from the shores of the lake, disappeared when nearby Mount Tarawera blew up June 10, 1886.

The five-hour eruption split the 1,111-metre-high mountain in two, sending ash and lava over thousands of square kilometres of countryside, completely burying three villages and killing an estimated 153 people. Hundreds fled for their lives as smoke rose 10 km into the air.

Lake Rotomahana ('warm lake' in the Maori tongue) was emptied by the blast, only to be enlarged many times when it refilled, with hot springs bubbling up from up its shoreline and steam issuing from its banks, but with no sign of the largest silica terraces in the world.

Scientists from the state GNS Science organisation and America's Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, said they found the part of the terraces while mapping the floor of the eight-square kilometre lake and investigating its geothermal system.

Sonar images taken by two autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) showed a pink-coloured, crescent-shaped, grimy staircase rising 1-2 metres from the lake floor for about 70 metres.

Project leader Cornel de Ronde, of GNS Science, said: 'The first sonar image gave a hint of a terraced structure so we scanned the area twice more and we are now 95 per cent certain we are seeing the bottom two tiers of the Pink Terraces.'

He said there was no sign of the larger White Terraces, which were either destroyed during the eruption, or are still concealed under thick sediment that the side-scan sonar signal could not penetrate.

'This discovery puts to rest more than a century of speculation as to whether any part of the Pink and White Terraces survived the eruption,' de Ronde said. 'Something that's meant to be gone and that nobody's seen in 125 years. Highlights in a science career don't come any better than this.'

Historian Margaret McClure told the New Zealand Herald that the terraces and their cascading hot pools were the spark for tourism in the country, which now gets 2.5 million foreign visitors a year.

'Back then it was the tourism high point,' she said, attracting tourists from all over the world. 'People said it was like fairyland, or Aladdin's Cave.'

News of the find stunned local Maoris, whose ancestors lived near the terraces and died in the eruption.

Anaru Rangiheuea, an elder of Te Arawa tribe, told Wellington's Dominion Post newspaper: 'For me, it brings back a few tears and a few feelings of my people who were all buried and killed in the aftermath of that eruption.'

De Ronde said the investigation had revealed a 'very, very big' geothermal system under the lake floor, giving rise to speculation that it could be developed for power generation like a nearby field at Wairakei.

But to the Maori people, areas where their ancestors died are 'tapu' (taboo) and should not be disturbed. 'Before we start moving into any economic consideration, we need to get the spiritual aspect of this properly addressed,' said Toby Curtis, chairman of Te Arawa Lakes Trust, which owns the lake floor under an agreement with the government.

Junk food diet linked to lower IQ - study

PARIS (AFP) - – Toddlers who have a diet high in processed foods may have a slightly lower IQ in later life, according to a British study described as the biggest research of its kind.

The conclusion, published on Monday, comes from a long-term investigation into 14,000 people born in western England in 1991 and 1992 whose health and well-being were monitored at the ages of three, four, seven and eight and a half.

Parents of the children were asked to fill out questionnaires that, among other things, detailed the kind of food and drink their children consumed.

Three dietary patterns emerged: one was high in processed fats and sugar; then there was a "traditional" diet high in meat and vegetables; and finally a "health-conscious" diet with lots of salad, fruit and vegetables, pasta and rice.

When the children were eight and a half, their IQ was measured using a standard tool called the Wechsler Intelligence Scale.

Of the 4,000 children for which there were complete data, there was a significant difference in IQ among those who had had the "processed" as opposed to the "health-conscious" diets in early childhood.

The 20 percent of children who ate the most processed food had an average IQ of 101 points, compared with 106 for the 20 percent of children who ate the most "health-conscious" food.

"It's a very small difference, it's not a vast difference," said one of the authors, Pauline Emmett of the School of Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol.

"But it does make them less able to cope with education, less able to cope with some of the things in life."

The association between IQ and nutrition is a strongly debated issue because it can be skewed by many factors, including economic and social background.

A middle-class family, for instance, may arguably be more keen (or more financially able) to put a healthier meal on the table, or be pushier about stimulating their child, compared to a poorer household.

Emmett said the team took special care to filter out such confounders.

"We have controlled for maternal education, for maternal social class, age, whether they live in council housing, life events, anything going wrong, the home environment, with books and use of television and things like that," she said.

The size of the study, too, was unprecedented.

"It's a huge sample, it's much much bigger than anything anyone else has done," she said in an interview with AFP.

Emmett said further work was needed to see whether this apparent impact on IQ persisted as the children got older.

Asked why junk food had such an effect, she suggested a diet that was preponderantly processed could lack vital vitamins and elements for cerebral development at a key stage in early childhood.

"A junk food diet is not conducive to good brain development," she said.

The paper appears in the peer-reviewed Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, published by the British Medical Association (BMA).