Alternative Energy

Article on Channel NewsAsia on 26th March.



EDB to pump S$350m to develop Singapore's clean energy industry
By Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 26 March 2007 2115 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore will pump in a total of S$350 million to develop its clean energy industry.

This includes the previous S$170 million announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently.

The money will be spent to develop clean fuel products and groom manpower over the next five years.

There are also plans to export locally developed products overseas.

The fuel cell car, currently on trial in Singapore, is powered by electricity.

Such prototypes and more are expected under the Fuel Cell Community, set up at Temasek Polytechnic's School of Engineering, which is supported by the Economic Development Board (EDB).

Its focus is to help local companies and technopreneurs get started on developing fuel cell products.

Companies can even test-drive their prototypes at the poly's S$5.5 million fuel cell application centre, which will be completed in November this year.

Cham Yew Thean, Head, Temasek Engineering School, said: "We'll be initiating projects with members and partners in the hope of developing fuel cell commercial products for the market. These fuel cell products will develop an industry. Once we commercialise the products, then we're able to generate an industry manufacturing plant to produce these systems."

The Fuel Cell Community currently has about 17 members, including Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council, which can partner companies to test their products at housing estates.

All these come under Singapore's Clean Energy Industry Blueprint.

Headed by a newly formed Clean Energy Programme Office, the blueprint sets out to fund projects, build world-class research centres and groom manpower to power up the industry in Singapore.

Lim Siong Guan, Chairman, EDB, said: "EDB wants to do the same for the broader clean energy industry, not just fuel cells. We want to position Singapore as a global clean energy hub where clean energy companies can come to incubate, develop and produce solutions not only for Singapore, but to export to the world."

EDB said another reason why Singapore is going big on the clean energy industry is because of the growing market due to rising prices of fuel.

Nearly one billion people live without electricity in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and companies in Singapore can bring their clean energy products into these markets.

The clean energy industry is expected to boost Singapore's economy by about S$1.7 billion and create 7,000 jobs by 2015.



I need to find some way to wriggle into this field. I strongly believe, not only is there money to be made, it's going to change the world.

And I just learnt that my big boss is interested in renewable fuels too.



Post Date: 28 Mar 2007

Acceptance

My colleagues left for lunch without me. They went in 2 groups. Nobody called me; each assumed that I had left with the other group.

When I was younger, I used to get really upset over such incidents. It means nobody bothered if I’m there or not, that I’m not one of the “in group”. I remember once, at my grandma’s place, the cousins locked themselves in one of the bedrooms because there was this one pesky little cousin that kept irritating them. Unfortunately, I was locked out as well. My ego took a major hit. It was a while later that the bedroom door opened (can’t remember if I had knocked), and my eldest cousin exclaimed “What are you doing outside? Get inside!” and holding me by my arm, yanked me into the room.

There was this other incident in college. My girlfriend’s (now wife) good friend, for no rhyme or reason, decided one fine day that she will stop talking to me. I probed and I asked, but no response. I asked Wifey, she also got no clue. Wah, I really lost sleep because of it. (It was only years later, like recently, that she decided the war is over).

Not that I want to be Mr Popular, but I craved acceptance, acceptance into the group, into society. Yes, I may have been over-sensitive, but the lack of self-confidence was a greater devil.

Now, I’m still sensitive, but I don’t such things bug me. Actually, the truth is: I can’t be bothered anymore.

And my colleagues are back.



Post Date: 26 March 2007

War and Beauty (Final Episode)

Fwah, finished watching the entire VCD series with Wifey just.

Straight away got withdrawal symptons already.

I'm going to do some reading-up on the show, stars, comments, whatever.



Post Date: 26 Mar 2007

NATAS 2007

Woohoo, we are going to China!

Booked at NATAS today, at CTC. It will be 4 of us.

Very excited about going to the Forbidden City, and would be nice to cover more of Shanghai this time around.

Woohoo!



Post Date: 26 Mar 2007

War and Beauty (金枝慾孽)

Started watching from the middle of this show when it was on TV, and am watching the complete series on VCD now with Wifey.

This show really got under my skin. The storyline is captivating, and the characters believable, beautiful on-location filming and an impressive cast. 2 Saturdays (and a few hours last night) later, it got me interested in almost all aspects of the show, that I:

- read the 1st resource available, Wikipedia
- have been visiting forums that discuss this show
- read a number of Qing related articles
- bookmarked 2 unofficial blogs of Charmaine - in English and Chinese
- went on Youtube to view interviews, reviews and bloopers

It's not often that I get so drawn in, so I was thinking through the reasons, and I think they are:

- I've always preferred period dramas (神雕侠侣, anyone?)
- 人心险恶 shows make for a more interesting story (大长今, anyone?)
- it is based on history (although most of the characters are fictitious)
- it is backdropped against the place that we will be visiting soon (Yippee!)
- and finally, well ... it helps that *ahem*charmaine*koffkoff*isinit*koff*ahem*





Post Date: 20 Mar 2007