travel news review



3 May '99
Visitors to Singapore will see a life-sized spaceship standing in the Marina Promenade. The space shuttle replica is part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) World Tour Space Show, the biggest in the world, which will be held in Singapore in May. The replica took a month to construct and NASA spent more than $US10 million on the exhibits. The show will be on from 15 May, and tickets are available from the Singapore Science Centre.

19 April '99
Singapore's main shopping street will have touch of Paris this month: it has been twinned with the Champs Elysees in an attempt to boost retail. For the whole of April, Orchard Road will host French food, French fairs, dancers, mime artists and a mock vineyard. The program is designed to promote closer ties with France, and to attract French retail business to Singapore.

22 March '99
Move over road rage - air rage has been identified as a serious problem by Singapore Chief Justice Yong Pung. As part of a tougher stance on air rage incidents, he sentenced a Malaysian man to a maximum one year in jail, overturning a previous sentence that imposed only a fine. The man, an economy class passenger, had attempted to sleep in business class during a Singapore Airlines flight. Infuriated at having been ordered back to his seat, the man vented his frustrations by setting fire to a roll of tissue in the airline toilet.

6 December '98
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will use larger planes with greater seating capacity on all Singapore-Beijing and Singapore-Shanghai flights. The move up to bigger aircrafts is a result of increased passenger demand on the Singapore-China route. One route that isn't going so well is Singapore Airline's once a week flight from Singapore to Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. The airline recently announced it will cancel this flight due to poor passenger numbers.

20 November '98
There's a new airport shuttle service at Changi International Airport. The shuttle service to Singapore city operates from Terminals 1 and 2. The shuttle will operate between 9 am and 11 pm each day, with a bus every 15 minutes during peak hour and every half hour at other times. Unlike the existing Airbus service, the new shuttle has no specified route, travellers can get dropped off anywhere in the city. An adult single fare is US$4 and a child's fare is US$3.

13 November '98
Promoters of the Ricky (ole, ole, ole) Martin Singapore concert are taking advantage of new entertainment rules introduced in Singapore on 1 October. Under the new laws concert-goers have been given permission to dance and the Ricky Martin concert on 25 November, at Harbour Pavilion, will be the first concert where standing, or dancing, tickets will be sold. As well as allowing for dancing at concerts, the new law allows performers on stage to wear fewer clothes than is currently required and fans can also join performers on the stage.

5 August '98
A new customs, immigration and quarantine check point has been opened on the Singapore-Malaysia border for rail passengers travelling between the two countries. The checkpoint previously located at the Tanjong Pagar train station is now located at the Woodlands Train Checkpoint.

28 July '98
An increase in the number of dengue fever and malaria cases has been reported in Singapore. Although the number of cases reported so far this year is not in epidemic proportions, travellers are reminded that both these diseases are spreading throughout South-East Asia and the number of cases reported in the region are growing each year. The best way to avoid the diseases is not to get bitten in the first place, so cover up day and night, use a mosquito repellant and anti-malarials where appropriate.

3 June '98
Passengers on Singapore Airlines can now check themselves onto their flight at Changi Airport following the installation of self-service counters. Passengers can check their own passport and travel particulars as well as seat allocation and frequent-flyer points. As the automatic check-in is available only to passengers with no luggage, most users of the system will be business people. Check-in times average around 30-45 seconds.

27 May '98
The first direct flights from Asia to Las Vegas, USA, will commence on 1 July when Northwest Airlines kicks off twice-weekly services from Singapore via Tokyo. Northwest Airlines also plans to offer non-stop flights to Las Vegas from Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

29 April '98
Singapore is currently amending its already harsh anti-drug laws to introduce the death penalty for people caught trafficking the drugs ecstasy and ice. In the past few years, drug use among young Singaporeans has increased considerably, as it has in most other South-East Asian countries, and the Singaporean government is taking tough steps to reverse the trend. Last year the number of Singaporeans convicted of using ice, a stimulant that can be either smoked or injected, increased by more than 16% over the previous yearÆs figures. As yet, law makers have not decided the quantity of ecstasy or ice that will incur the death penalty.

11 March '98
Not content with banning chewing gum and cigarette butts in the street, the government of Singapore has recently introduced legislation to ban the burning of giant incense sticks at religious shines. The new legislation, which came into effect on 1 March, is part of a move by the government to improve air quality in Singapore. Singaporeans caught burning incense more than 2m (6.5ft) in length will be issued an on-the-spot fine of up to US$1130.

25 Februray '98
Experts warn that if the Indonesian forest fires continue to spread, the haze that covered South-East Asia last year could return as early as March or April. The Singapore Meteorological Service says that for the next two months wind directions are unpredictable, as March and April fall between the current north-east monsoon period and the east-west monsoon period which will begin in May. The haze warning comes just one week before ASEAN environment ministers meet in Kuching to discuss a regional plan to control and prevent the problem. Singapore is responsible for coordinating early warning and monitoring systems in the region, and a network of satellite images has been set up to monitor hot spots.