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It's been more than a decade of daily updates, I would like to have a rest. It's now easy to build your own news feed, and to gather the info you need from social media. So it's a good time for me to stop the updates. Besides, I sense that very few people really read the updates... Ria hello@wildsingapore.com Update 16 Sep: Thank you to the about 10 people who wrote to me about wildsingapore news. It really means a lot to me to hear from you. All these years, I've not heard from subscribers. Glad at least a few people have been reading it. If you would like to keep up with marine issues, do consider subscribing to the Celebrating Singapore Shores blog or the facebook page .

Butterfly of the Month - September 2019 Butterflies of Singapore Night Walk At Windsor Nature Park (06 Sep 2019) Beetles@SG BLOG

Lim Min Zhang Straits Times 7 Sep 19; SINGAPORE - A 1.8km stretch along Kallang River has received a facelift, to make it not only more attractive, but also a better defence against the onslaught of rain. The four-year, $86-million project called ABC Waters @ Kallang River is meant to boost flood protection for residents in the area, as well as to strengthen the canal's structural integrity. With the canal wider and deeper, drainage capacity has been increased by 80 per cent. The drainage improvement works by national water agency PUB at Singapore's longest river was completed recently and unveiled on Saturday (Sept 7), at an event attended by Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MPs Ng Eng Hen and Chong Kee Hiong. Dr Ng is also Defence Minister. Previously, this part of the canal, between Bishan and Braddell roads, was plain concrete and did not have such water features. Features to beautify the area include a naturalised slope, small islands with plants, and water cascades which help the wa...

Channel NewsAsia 6 Sep 19; SINGAPORE: National water agency PUB has released "tens of thousands" of fish into Pandan Reservoir, the latest measure employed to try to control the midge pupae population, it said on Friday (Sep 6). The release of the guppies, mollies and swordtails into the reservoir was done in a controlled manner that does not affect its ecosystem, PUB said in a Facebook post. Midges, which are commonly mistaken for mosquitoes, are small insects which exist in and near water bodies. "While these midges do not bite or spread diseases, they can be a nuisance when present in large numbers," said PUB. Residents and businesses at Teban Gardens have been affected as swarms of the insects have infested the neighbourhood. PUB biologist Tricia Poh releasing fish into Pandan Reservoir to help control the midge pupae population. (Photo: Facebook/PUB) PUB said insect nets have also been installed at bus stops along Penjuru Road and West Coast Road. The nets are...

NAVENE ELANGOVAN Today Online 7 Sep 19; SINGAPORE � In a country where most people do not think twice about buying new clothes, Mr Leow Yee Shiang has not bought a single piece of clothing in the past two years. The 31-year-old civil servant practises what he calls a �minimalist lifestyle�. He rarely shops, and has only bought four items for himself this year � a water bottle, socks, lenses for his sunglasses and a motorcycle plate number. What sparked the decision? Mr Leow said it happened early last year when he was packing his belongings for his return to Singapore from Australia, where he had been living with his wife for two years because of work. �I got a bit fed-up as I was packing� There were many boxes. I got so angry at myself that I just started throwing away things,� he recalled. Among some of the items which he threw out included his wedding photo and its frame, as well as the love letters he got from his wife when they were dating. It means that he can now �focus on che...

Let�s consider a set of new 3Rs for environmental sustainability � namely, reinvention, recalibration and reward, says Nominated Member of Parliament Professor Lim Sun Sun. Lim Sun Sun Channel NewsAsia 7 Sep 19; SINGAPORE: One of my favourite Instagram accounts is that of Tabao Girl�s. This environmentally minded young woman meticulously photographs the efforts she makes daily to reduce her use of disposables. On most days, she succeeds remarkably with her inspiring arsenal of reusable cups, containers, and cutlery, and enjoys her take-away food like the rest of us. But one day in July this year, she recounted in a post her distressing experience at a bakery, while waiting behind another customer: ��when he was done paying, I was almost going to cry. First the 13 buns, each in 1 plastic bag of its own. Then he wanted 6 buns in 1 bag, and 7 buns in another � and he wanted them double-bagged. Then he asked the cashier to give him 1 large bag to put everything into. In 1 bakery trip for ...

Ang Hwee Min Channel NewsAsia 9 Sep 19; SINGAPORE: You might think that switching from single use plastics to biodegradable plastic alternatives is good for the environment but in Singapore, there are �no effective differences�, experts said. They often end up in the same place - the incinerator, said Associate Professor Tong Yen Wah from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Biodegradable plastic wastes make a difference to the environment only when they are buried in landfills, he added. �In these situations, these plastic bags can degrade faster as compared to a regular polyethylene plastic bag and will not affect the environment as much. Overall for Singapore, it might even be more expensive to incinerate biodegradable plastics," said Assoc Prof Tong.He explained that this is because some biodegradable options take more resources to produce, which make them more expensive. The opinion squares with what Dr Amy Kh...

Changi Beach Offshore Singapore

Clement Yong Straits Times 5 Sep 19; SINGAPORE - An accident with a wild boar and a separate chain collision involving four vehicles caused a major jam along Mandai Road on Thursday morning (Sept 5). The accidents happened one after the other along the same stretch of Mandai Road towards the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) at 6.50am, causing traffic to slow for more than an hour during the peak period. Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported that the wild boar had been killed by an oncoming vehicle, and the motorist left the scene after the accident. Shortly after the accident with the boar, a chain collision occurred involving four vehicles. The Singapore Civil Defence Force said a 20-year-old man was taken conscious to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. When Lianhe Wanbao arrived at the scene at 8.30am, the dead boar had been moved to the central divider but traffic was still congested. Officers later removed the body of the animal in a bag.

JUSTIN ONG Today Online 4 Sep 19; SINGAPORE � One hundred newly-hatched hawksbill turtles were released into the sea from Tanjong Beach in Sentosa on Wednesday morning (Sept 4). According to a Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) spokesperson, the eggs were hatched on Tuesday at approximately 10pm. SDC carried out measurements and checks on the hatchlings before they were released into the sea at about 7am on Wednesday. The hawksbill turtle nest was discovered at Tanjong Beach on July 14, said SDC. A protective barrier was erected around the nest within the day of the discovery to �keep the eggs safe from natural predators such as monitor lizards and crabs, as well as other potential disturbances during the incubation period,� said SDC. SDC also worked with the National Parks Board (NParks) to conduct checks to ensure that the nest was safe. Hawksbill turtle hatchings are rare; this is only the fifth time since 1996 that eggs of the critically-endangered turtle have hatched on Sento...

Clement Yong and Melissa Heng Straits Times 5 Sep 19; SINGAPORE - Supermarket giant NTUC FairPrice and fast-food chain McDonald�s have jumped on the eco-friendly bandwagon. Both companies announced on Wednesday (Sept 4) that they will be trialling initiatives to cut down on plastic bags and plastic packaging. NTUC FairPrice will start charging 10 cents and 20 cents for plastic bags at seven outlets in a month-long trial, starting from Sept 16. The "No Plastic Bag" trial will encourage shoppers to use their own bags, FairPrice said in a statement on Wednesday. The seven stores are FairPrice Xtra at Hougang One mall, FairPrice Finest at Zhongshan Park mall, FairPrice at 18 Tai Seng mall, FairPrice Xpress in Lorong Chuan and Cheers outlets at Sengkang Community Hospital and in Create Way and Aljunied Road. Shoppers who want plastic bags will have to pay 20 cents per transaction at FairPrice, FairPrice Finest and FairPrice Xtra stores, and 10 cents per transaction at Cheers and...

Ang Hwee Min and Aqil Haziq Mahmud Channel NewsAsia 4 Sep 19; SINGAPORE: The issue of single-use plastics was discussed in Parliament on Wednesday (Sep 4), with some Members of Parliament (MP) reiterating a call for plastic bag charges. This came as MPs debated the Resource Sustainability Bill, which was passed on Wednesday. The Bill introduces regulations to reduce food, packaging and electronic waste, as Singapore�s only landfill at Pulau Semakau is expected to run out of space by 2035. It will be mandatory for large food waste generators to segregate and treat their food waste by 2021. Producers of regulated electrical and electronic products will be responsible for collecting and recycling e-waste like mobile phones, computers and large appliances through an extended "producer responsibility" framework that will be launched by 2021. A similar framework for packaging waste will also be introduced. Companies that use packaging, like importers and supermarkets, will be requ...

Kelly Wong Channel NewsAsia 4 Sep 19; SINGAPORE: The built environment sector received a S$20 million boost to go green on Wednesday (Sep 4). This was announced by National Development Minister Lawrence Wong at the opening of the inaugural International Built Environment Week (IBEW), organised by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). Mr Wong said that the top-up of the funds will encourage more collaboration between the built environment industry and the research community. This is to support BCA�s drive toward Super Low Energy (SLE) buildings, which BCA has said will be the �next generation of green buildings". The additional grant provided by the National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF) can be used by companies in the Green Buildings Innovation Cluster (GBIC) set up by BCA in 2014 and that had an initial grant of S$52 million, also from NRF. The aim of this cluster is to experiment with, exhibit and exchange knowledge of energy-efficiency solutions with stakeholde...

LTA releases CRL EIA Phase II report Love our MacRitchie Forest Terumbu Raya is amazing wild shores of singapore

KENNETH CHENG Today Online 4 Sep 19; SINGAPORE � Residents who may have to live with construction work at their doorstep are not letting up in opposing the proposal for the future Cross Island Line to skirt the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Nature enthusiasts, for their part, are also sticking to their guns, repeating their objections to the MRT line passing underneath the nature reserve, saying that this could damage fragile ecosystems and harm wildlife. These entrenched positions remain despite assurances this week that both alignment options being explored for Singapore�s eighth MRT line were feasible. The latest assessment report found that the environmental impact of either tunnelling through the nature reserve or going around it could be �adequately managed� with comprehensive mitigating measures and monitoring plans. On Monday (Sept 2), the authorities gazetted for public inspection and feedback the second stage of a report assessing the environmental impact of building the...

NG JUN SEN Today Online 3 Sep 19; SINGAPORE � To finance the fight against climate change, smaller-scale infrastructure such as flood barriers can be funded from the Government�s Budget each year, while �long-lived major� infrastructure � including sea walls � could involve borrowing, said Second Finance Minister Lawrence Wong in Parliament on Tuesday (Sept 3). When land reclamation is involved, the costs will come from Singapore�s past reserves and the value of the reclaimed land after it is sold in the future will be fully returned to the reserves, said Mr Wong, who is also the National Development Minister. �The reclamation of land is in essence a conversion of past reserves � from financial assets to state land. This use is not a draw on past reserves,� said Mr Wong, adding that this arrangement is part of the Reserves Protection Framework agreed between the Government and the President, whose constitutional role is to safeguard the national reserves. Mr Wong was answering a parli...