Download Singapore to Open World`s Largest Ferris Wheel in March

Local News
5 – 11 September 2007
The Epoch Times •
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Singapore to Open World’s Largest Ferris Wheel in March
30 August 2007
mingguo/ The Epoch Times
Singapore Flyer, scheduled to open in March next year, will stand at a height of 165 metres
Singapore is set to open the world’s largest
Ferris wheel in March next year, as part
of the city-state’s drive to attract more
tourists.
At 165 metres (about 541 feet) high,
the Singapore Flyer will trump the 160metre Star of Nanchang in Jiangxi, China
and the 135-metre London Eye, and
will offer views of Singapore, southern
Malaysia and nearby Indonesian islands,
its operator said on Thursday (Aug 30).
The Singapore wheel will not be the
world’s tallest for long, as the same group
that will operate the Flyer is building a
208-metre high wheel in Beijing by the
summer Olympics in 2008 and plans a
172-metre wheel in Berlin by 2009.
“Since the success of the London Eye,
observation wheels are very popular. They
are the perfect way to get an overview of
a city when you arrive,” Florian Bollen,
Chairman of the Board of Singapore
Death triggered in cancer-prone intestinal cells
3 September 2007
Researchers in Singapore have worked
out a way to kill intestinal stem cells that
may develop into colorectal cancer, the
second largest cause of cancer related
deaths in western countries.
in the latest issue of the journal
Cell Stem Cell, the scientists said this
potential method of cancer prevention
had to do with the protein Wip 1,
which appears to bring down the risk
of cancer when it is inactivated.
In their experiment, the researchers
cross bred male mice suffering from
intestinal polyps with Wip 1-deficient
female mice - and their offspring
turned out to be relatively cancer free.
Intestinal polyps can develop into
colorectal cancer over time.
“Presumably they were supposed
to develop cancer because they got
this bad gene from the fathers, but it
is not going to be working because ...
(of the good thing from the mothers),”
Dmitry Bulavin, principal investigator
at Singapore’s Institute of Molecular
and Cell Biology, said in a telephone
interview.
While the adult male mice each had
70 adenomas in their intestines, their
offspring each had only 5 adenomas.
Adenomas are growths in many
organs which are benign at first and
could progress to become malignant.
Looking ahead, the scientists will
work towards narrowing down the
particular molecule in Wip 1 that
suppresses cancer.
“We are trying to identify this
potential molecule that can mimic
Wip 1 deficiency ... so hypothetically,
if you inject this small molecule, then
you would be able to suppress (the
development of cancer),” Bulavin
said.
“This study is primarily about
cancer prevention. If you are a group
of people who are predisposed to
cancer, you need to have something
to suppress the cancer ... you don’t
want to have terrible side effects,” he
added.
“So if you look at the Wip 1 mice,
they live normal life spans, they don’t
have accelerated aging and they are
cancer resistant.” – Reuters
Flyer, told reporters at a site visit.
Bollen -- who also heads AAA Equity
Holdings, the main shareholder of the
project -- told reporters his group is also
planning a 120-metre wheel in Orlando,
U.S., by 2009 and is negotiating with
Delhi and Mumbai about building
observation wheels there.
“We are now in active discussion with
the authorities in Delhi and Mumbai,”
said Bollen, 42, a German national.
He said the Singapore Flyer -- which
cost S$240 million (US$160 million)
to build -- hopes for at least 2.5 million
visitors per year. At an average ticket price
of about S$30 ($20), the wheel would
generate up to S$75 million per year.
“We will be cash-flow positive from
the first year,” he said.
Each of the Singapore Flyer’s 28 bussized capsules will accommodate up to
28 passengers. Each ride will last about
37 minutes and the Flyer will operate 16
hours a day.
Ten of the 16-tonne capsules have
already been attached to the 150-metre
diameter wheel, and the rest is expected to
be attached by early October this year.
But the large shopping and
entertainment complex around the
wheel will take several more months to
complete.
A marketing official for the Flyer said
that the firm had already sold about 1.5
million tickets, mostly to tour agents, and
the wheel is nearly fully booked for the
first three months. The Flyer is part of a
series of initiatives to boost tourist arrivals
in Singapore, which hopes to attract 17
million people by 2015 from nearly 10
million in 2006.
The city-state will also host a yearly
Formula One race from 2008 and is
building two casinos at a total cost of
US$7 billion, due to be ready in the next
three to four years. ($1=1.522 Singapore
Dollar) – Reuters
Falun Dafa Groups Celebrated
50th Malaysia Independence
Day at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Singapore Govt Lawyers Say FEER
Libel Defence Frivolous
29 August 2007
The Far Eastern Economic Review’s
defence statement in a Singapore libel
suit brought against it by two of the
city-state’s top leaders is “frivolous”, the
leaders’ lawyers said.
Court documents showed on
Wednesday that the lawyers for Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong and former
premier Lee Kuan Yew have dismissed
the defence statement by the Hong Kongbased magazine as “frivolous, vexatious,
scandalous, and an abuse of the process
of the court”.
The Lees sued the magazine, owned
by Dow Jones & Co, and its editor Hugo
Restall in August last year over an article
on prominent Singapore opposition
politician Chee Soon Juan.
The Lees’ lawyers were responding to
the magazine’s defence statement filed
two weeks ago. According to the local
Straits Times newspaper, the lawyers
reserved the right to seek summary
judgement, which if granted means the
court will give its ruling without going to
trial.
The magazine had argued that the
article did not defame the prime minister
and his father because it was based on
facts and fair comment.
It also argued that the topics addressed
in the article were of public interest,
and that Chee had qualified privilege to
comment on them.
The article that sparked the lawsuit,
entitled “Singapore’s Martyr: Chee
Soon Juan”, criticised the government’s
handling of a pay-and-perks scandal at the
country’s largest charity. The magazine
also quoted Chee attacking the Lees.
The lawyers said in the court
document that the magazine and Restall
had worked together with Chee to “run
down” the Lees.
They said the article had defamed the
leaders by suggesting that they are corrupt
and unfit for office, and would sue
and suppress those who question them
because this would expose corruption.
Singapore leaders have sued and
won damages in the past from foreign
media groups when they report on
local politics, including the Economist,
the International Herald Tribune and
Bloomberg, as well as the Far Eastern
Economic Review when it was published
as a weekly news magazine.
The leaders in the Southeast Asian
city-state say the lawsuits are necessary to
protect their reputations. – Reuters
Malaysia Discovers ‘Singapore - Size’ Water
Reservoir
28 August 2007
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has
discovered water caverns roughly the size
of Singapore, a government official said
on Tuesday, dispelling fears that Selangor,
its most developed state, could run dry in
three years.
Initial studies reveal the existence of
water-filled granite caverns in Batang
Padang, a district in northern Perak
state, which can be tapped for use
as early as 2009, Energy, Water and
Communications Minister Lim Keng
Yaik told reporters.
“We have found a huge amount of
underground water in Batang Padang.
Huge. The underground cavern is the size
of Singapore,” Lim said.
Selangor sits just south of Perak state.
Water demand in Malaysia, driven by
population growth and industrialisation,
is rising so quickly that experts have
warned of serious shortages by 2011 or
2012.
The government has responded by
doubling to 8 billion ringgit ($2.30
billion) its spending on the water sector
until 2010.
Anticipation of that spending has
helped boost share prices of water-related
firms. Shares of Kumpulan Perangsang
Selangor Bhd, have surged almost six-fold
in a year, while JAKS Resources have
doubled.
The discovery of water caverns will
be a timely boost to fast-industrialising
Malaysia, which competes aggressively
with neighbouring Singapore to draw
foreign investments. Singapore relies on
Malaysian water supplies to help meet
local demand.
Lim also said the government would
soon invite bids from international firms
for an interstate water supply project.
The 10 billion-ringgit plan, which has
been on the drawing board since 1999,
involves transferring water from resourcerich Pahang state to Selangor by cutting
through the country’s main mountain
range.
Work on the dam and the tunnel
through the mountain range could cost
about 4 billion ringgit, with the rest of the
money being spent on water treatment
plants and the distribution network.
– Reuters
Singaporean Sentenced to Death for
Drowning Toddler
31 August 2007
A Singaporean man was sentenced
to death after he was found guilty of
killing his 2-year-old step daughter by
submerging her in a pail of water, local
media said on Friday (Aug 31).
The Straits Times newspaper said
on its Web site that Mohammed Ali
Johari was charged with murder after
he drowned his step daughter to stop
her “incessant crying”. The toddler’s
naked body was found under a flyover
last year, the paper said. Singapore
enforces its death sentences through
hanging.
The city-state of 4.5 million
people has been ranked by Amnesty
International as having the highest
per capita execution rate in the world,
though Human Rights Watch says Iran
now executes the most per capita.
According to Amnesty, Singapore
has hanged more than 420 people
since 1991. Other crimes punishable
by death in Singapore include drug
trafficking. – Reuters
Gao Fei/The Epoch Times
The performance of the Falun Dafa Waist Drum Troupe from Singapore at the Centre Point
was well-received
Gao Fei/The Epoch Times
The Divine Land Marching Band from Taiwan which is composed of 120 band members
performed Negaraku (national anthem) at the celebration in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, in
conjunction with the 50th Malaysia Independence Day.
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