Handcrafting artisans are some of the most creative minds in the design industry. In this current world and age, heavy emphasis is provided for efficiency and speed, and much effort is needed to be applied in order to cool down and concentrate on quality. There are four 100% homegrown brands that are worth checking out. Their crafts are one of a kind which reflects the designer's creative output and reflecting every inch of their creative mind juice. The products are not only aesthetics to the viewers, but packs with full functionalities that are useful to the lay person. The founders of the respective brands had come out to share their insights on the appeal of artisan crafts in this modern age.

The first would be Bynd Artisan. It was located in Holland Village. It has a wonderful smell of paper as well as leather, due to the myriad crafts made from the 2 main materials. Its vision for the stationery marketplace is reigniting the spark and passion for pen as well as paper, since we have glued to our smartphones and PCs all the time. Their in-house designed stationery are stylish yet functional. Their main field of expertise is bookbinding as well as leather crafting. You can engrave your name on the shop itself instantly when you purchase any stationery and is popular among buyers. Brand Manager for Bynd Artisan, Mr Lin Dan Hong has a strong held belief that handcrafted goods are timeless, and reflects maker's sweat and blood. There are much collaboration done with personnel on the creative industry namely Larry Peh, Erwin Lian, John Clang and Priscilla Ong. Its next collaboration is with local talent Gentle Bones.

The 2nd mention is Leather Mallet. Brian Ho is one of a kind creative in this current digital age. His daily routine consists of photographing timeless shots on his trusty analog camera. At the same time, he develops his own black white film, with handcrafting process at night. Leather Mallet's main objective when starting out was to transform discarded goods into a brand new item. Film canisters are aplenty, and he changes them into adorable nostalgic looking flash drives. These can be tailored by inserting photo of your choice, where the printing will be on high grade long lasting Monet art canvas produced by German manufacturer for fine art papers, Hanemuhle. Handmade products are lively and very “human”. Each handmade crafts are different, even though the items are similar. The individuality of every products made by hand is the charming aspect for these products.

The 3rd local brand worth noting is Obbi Good. Obbi Good may sound cheeky for a handcraft product label, but the leather goods company takes their product designs seriously. Their leather crafts are produced from specialized tools such as awl, stitching pony and prong, with the occasional use of vintage sewing tool. It is a combination of exquisite skills, materials and fine workmanship. James Dung, Obbi Good anchorman commented that the handcrafting sector have been able to return the fundamental of everlasting products in this high technology era. Its flagship Avaitor Bags are especially captivating, which features natural tan leather and solid hardware coupled in sturdy canvas.

The final local brand that warrants special mention is Palinoia (image by palinoia). A quick glance on the outer designs for Palinoi's accessories may pass by as any other common labels. However, detailed look will reveal stunning well-crafted designs, with colourful scales latering over each gradient. The founders' vision for the brand was to attain perfection in design, by repeating unique patterns. Tracy Mah, the founder remarked that handmade crafts can connect makers as well as buyers, with buyer having his appreciation for fine art perfection within an imperfection. Many would marvel at the complex and intricate designs. Each clay puzzle piece is remolded by steady hands, hence creating a vibrant collection of earrings and necklaces.

The Changi Airport store FairPrice's Finest is well known for a man that carries a notepad along wherever he goes. He scribbles down various items on the notepad, while he moves between different aisles, checking the products and looing through them. However, he is not at the supermarket to shop for himself. Mr. Louis Chua is an employee of the supermarket – their first deaf and mute one.

With the aid of the notepad, Mr. Chua is better able to interact with the customers that come to supermarket and help them in their shopping. He finds various ways to communicate with the people he works with, including basic hand gestures and simple sign language. This has been his way of life for close to thirty years, rising up the ladder the FairPrice shop.

Louis Chua began his journey at the age of 22, and has been working with the supermarket ever since. He is a store assistant and is beloved by the customers that come in to shop. Most of the regulars are familiar with him and often gravitate towards him when they need help. This reflects in his attitude with colleagues as well, who learn from his positive attitude and work ethics.

The store manager, Mr. Philip Ang, praises Mr. Chua, noting that he often walks with the customers and delivers their bags till the departure areas. He was even featured in a video on the FairPrice Facebook page, which was rapidly shared and viewed by people around the world. Taking note of his work, Mr. Chua was interviewed about his life at the supermarket and he opened up about it in a candid manner.

He notes that the start of work life was marked with hesitation, as communication was not easy with co-workers and customers both. He worried that they would not understand the interaction and cause problems in working. However, he now feels that the work he has been doing is an experience of a lifetime and there are no regrets. Mr. Chua is fond of meeting the locals and the tourists that come to the Changi Airport.

One of his well-known local customers is Ms. Priscilla Chew. She has been shopping at the FairPrice market for close to a year now and has become friends with Mr. Chua. She notes that he approaches each customer with a big smile and a friendly attitude, determined to help them out in any way possible. She makes it a point to meet him whenever she goes for shopping, in part to experience his service.

Louis Chua handles housekeeping, stocking of goods and customer service at the supermarket. He has worked hard to reach his position in life. Part of the journey has been the happiness of the customers and their compliments regarding his work. Moments when customers appreciate his out-of-the-way help in their shopping are of great importance to Mr. Chua.

While he was born with hearing, a subsequent bout of fever at the age of one left him deaf. He enrolled in the Singapore School for the Deaf to and become proficient at sign language after nine years of study. Currently, he resides with his brother and sister at their home in Little India. His siblings are more than supportive of his career, and are proud of his efforts.

His sister admits that there were reasons to be apprehensive when Mr. Chua was first offered the job. She was unsure about his communication skills when it came to customer interaction. These days, she feels a sense of relief and happiness when his work is highlighted and praised by others.

The director of the Singapore Association for the Deaf has noticed Mr. Chua. Ms. Sylvia Teng notes that his long lasting employment and loyal work ethic is laudable, as are the relationships he builds with others. The loyalty and commitment he has shown is what sets him apart from the others.

Louis Chua notes that it takes patience to work alongside deaf people, but it is not impossible. He fees that the support of coworkers and customers has had a lot to do with his success in life as well. Either way, Mr. Chua is a constant fixture at the FairPrice supermarket and continues to make the people around him smile.

Employment Support For Deaf Individuals

Ms. Teng notes that deaf individuals are easily employable in varied careers, but find it hard to gain initial employment. There are far too many employers that do not provide basic facilities for the deaf employees, such as communicating via notes and sign language. This hampers their career growth, making it difficult for them to reach better positions. She says that employers must be sensitized on the issue and learn how to work alongside differently-abled people.

Furthermore, she offers methods of interaction in a professional setup with deaf people. The best way to move forward is to reiterate instructions by noting them down and showing it to them. Ask them if there is any issue or if they need anything at all. For employers, having a sign language facilitation workshop is a must. Engaging with deaf people requires patience, but more importantly, respect.

NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd was founded by the labour movement in 1973, with a social mission to moderate the cost of living in Singapore. From one supermarket, it has grown to become Singapore's largest retailer serving over half a million shoppers daily, with a network of over 130 outlets, comprising FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Finest and FairPrice Xtra. Its convenience arm comprises a network of over 160 FairPrice Xpress and Cheers convenience stores, which serves over 100,000 customers daily. FairPrice Online caters to over 115,000 subscribers offering a hassle-free online shopping experience. NTUC FairPrice also owns a Fresh Food Distribution Centre and a centralised warehousing and distribution company.

Singlish words have been accepted and adopted into the oxford dictionary. The publishing bureau gives credit to the language as being part of the community and thus the need to be incorporated in such a huge publication project.

Some of the terms being used in Singlish have been adopted from the Chinese speaking inhabitants and another linguistic group called the Malay. The words are as a result of language dynamics that have brought about the sense and validity for use as a language. These singlish terms are more so the most commonly used words by the people of Singapore.

It takes a long period of time for some words in any dialect to gain the respect and credibility of being recognized as words of good quality. Academicians in the field of literature and languages from Singapore acknowledge that Singlish being incorporate into an international word reference book is a major breakthrough.

There should be a rise in the way Singaporeans value and gauge their pride and value as it patterns to their take on others. This will help in gaining confidence in the future endeavors when it comes to innovation and bringing of new dialects. The current status of the way the people of Singapore value themselves is not as expected and should now.

For those people speaking Singlish , it has been their believe for a fact that they would one day in the future have their mode of communication being an integral part of their way of life. There has been numerous times when terms used in English by the Singaporeans has been added into the dictionary. Lah as well as Sinseh makes some of the words that have ever been added into oxford dictionary, some years back.

Adding Singlish words into the dictionary of Oxford is major breakthrough when it comes to raising the identity status of Singapore. This has been received well and positively by the iconic celebrities as it would open various opportunities and niches for them to explore and exploit. It has been good news to musicians and song writers as they now have to bring in a new twist to sprinkle their rhyme and rhythm with the Singlish words. This comes as a wakeup call to many other artistes to spread out and give their audiences with a new taste of music with the new Singlish terms, now formerly accepted.

Singlish does not necessarily mean that the formal English will be squirted, rather it is a language that has found a people in their inhabitants and at a time that was defined to bring out the language. New words will be there, today, tomorrow and in the new future, the English previously known and understood will not turn to being obsolete. Simply, the language is an added advantage to their mode of communication and will serve to their unity. Other communities and interested people willing to know and understand the language are also at liberty to do so.

Grammar is the major constituent in English, whereas there are Singlish words that can substitute those means that all will be fine, with the mode of communication and the understanding of other people. The naivety will come to an end when people understand that this is not a non-familiar scenario as there are also some words that are French and also used in English.

For many people in Singapore, Singlish has been their favorite and continues to being one. It is a huge disillusion for them that there are a certain people that still perceive Singlish as being incorrect and uncivilized. The people that put down the Singlish words might have felt the need, urgency and logic of being incorporated into the dictionary.

There are still those that are finding it confusing for the inclusion of those words into English dictionary. They are of the opinion that, since the language might have been brought or borrowed from the Malay dialect. It is a surprise for them that an English words regulator as Oxford can allow such a move. It is bad English to them, bad English trying to find its spot and maybe stand out to the rest of the world. FYI. Latest feed is on Twitter.

HDB Resale Market. The Resale Price Index (RPI) fell by 0.5%, from 134.6 in 4th Quarter 2016 to 133.9 in 1st Quarter 2017. Resale transactions fell by 9.6%, from 5,012 cases in 4th Quarter 2016 to 4,530 cases in 1st Quarter 2017. In May 2017, HDB will offer about 4,600 Build-To-Order (BTO) flats and about 3,000 balance flats for sale.

Woodlands Set for Makeover as Star Destination of the North:

In April 2017 Minister for National Development Mr Lawrence Wong announced the renewal plans for Woodlands, at the launch of the Remaking Our Heartland (ROH) exhibition for Woodlands.

Woodlands, Toa Payoh and Pasir Ris are the latest batch of towns to be renewed under the ROH programme. The renewal plans will focus on strengthening the character, community, and connectivity of each town.

In drawing up the rejuvenation plans, HDB had actively engaged residents and stakeholders to seek their views and suggestions on the plans. For the first time, residents from the three towns were invited in the early stages of the planning, to participate in Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). A total of 11 discussion sessions was conducted, involving some 400 residents and community stakeholders from the three towns. With the views gathered from residents, HDB has refined the plans for each town to ensure that the improvements will benefit residents of all ages.

The plans for Woodlands comprise several major improvements to transform the town into the “Star Destination of the North”, in keeping with its status as the northern regional centre and gateway to Singapore.

Six "Star Attractions", in the form of new recreational and residential developments, will be introduced to revitalise Woodlands. The existing neighbourhood centres in Woodlands will also be enhanced to bring more greenery and better connectivity to the town.

The Woodlands Regional Centre, comprising Woodlands Central and Woodlands North Coast, is set to become an even more vibrant hub of activity, with better connectivity and new commercial and residential developments.

As part of the upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), three new MRT stations will be introduced in Woodlands by 2019 to serve residents in the town. This will be joined to the future Johor Bahru – Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link. Together with the future North-South Corridor, travel from the north to the rest of Singapore will be seamless and convenient.

In Woodlands Central, a new Town Plaza will be built next to the Woodlands MRT station, in response to residents' suggestion for a bigger community space. This will offer a convenient and vibrant community node for Woodlands residents to come together to participate in community events.

Residents can also look forward to new housing developments in Woodlands. Within Woodlands Central, there will be a landmark residential development located near the MRT station, integrated with a vibrant Pedestrian Mall with commercial and community facilities.  

In Woodlands North Coast, a new residential development will offer a “Housing-in-the-Woods” experience. Drawing from its natural setting and proximity to Admiralty Park, lush landscaping will be introduced as green extensions from Admiralty Park. The project will leverage on the hilly terrain, so residents will be able to enjoy good views of the park and the Straits of Johor.

Beyond new housing developments, the Woodlands Waterfront – a popular recreation spot in the northern tip – will be transformed. A new rustic park, with trails and a nature promenade, will enable residents to enjoy abundant greenery even as they unwind by the waterfront.

In response to residents' suggestions for a direct connection from Woodlands Central to the Woodlands waterfront, a new scenic WoodsVista Gallery will be developed to connect the two areas. Set amidst lush greenery, the WoodsVista Gallery will be a 1.9-kilometre-long community link with dedicated cycling and pedestrian paths. Residents will be able to walk, jog or cycle seamlessly from the Woodlands MRT station to the waterfront; or simply relax and take in scenic views of the town at strategically located rest points and activity nodes.

The Woodlands Town Garden located at Marsiling will be upgraded and expanded into a new “Discovery Playground”, where residents can enjoy the garden anew and learn about the history of the town. It will feature a new boardwalk, children's playground, a heritage corner and a learning lane with storyboards to showcase the heritage of the town. When completed, the revamped Woodlands Town Garden will be renamed Marsiling Park, and will offer yet another recreational spot for Woodlands residents.

Next to the upcoming Woodlands South MRT station on the TEL, a new integrated healthcare complex will be developed. To be called the Woodlands Health Campus, it will comprise a new acute care hospital, community hospital and a long-term care facility. Designed to integrate with a new park, the healthcare complex will open in phases from 2022, bringing healthcare facilities closer to home, and providing better support for elderly residents to age in place.

On the eastern side of Woodlands, residents can look forward to a new Community Nexus right next to the Admiralty MRT station. Located in this Community Nexus is the integrated development, Kampung Admiralty, which is expected to be completed in 3rd quarter this year. It will house a range of facilities such as a medical centre, eldercare and childcare centres, a hawker centre, dining and retail outlets, as well as housing for the elderly. Together with existing facilities such as Admiralty Place Neighbourhood Centre and Woodlands Galaxy Community Club, the Community Nexus will serve as a one-stop hub of facilities for all ages.  

The existing park connector that runs from the east to the west of Woodlands will be transformed into a ‘Social Corridor', with lush greenery, community gardens and 3-Generation facilities along the park connector and MRT viaduct. Residents are invited to give their suggestions on how the community spaces can be used, during the exhibition.

Beyond the six star attractions, the existing neighbourhoods in Woodlands will also be enhanced. These improvements include rejuvenating the neighbourhoods, enhancing the greenery, and improving connectivity within the town.