Travel with a purpose: Finding contentment in slow travel and a community in protecting coral reefs
From April to June 2025, Ms Venny Lewis volunteered at Coral Catch, an NGO in Indonesia that focuses on coral conservation. She is currently working there. PHOTO: COURTESY OF VENNY LEWIS
SINGAPORE – Ms Venny Lewis, 27, quit her job in August 2024 to embark on a sabbatical that has landed her work in a different field in another country.
Her job of two years in a healthcare technology firm was her first since graduating with a degree in information systems from National University of Singapore. But she says she 'never felt passionate about the technology space' and wanted to travel for a while.
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AsiaOne
an hour ago
- AsiaOne
Depot Lane industrial estate and warehouses to be vacated by Q4 to make way for housing, Singapore News
SINGAPORE — An industrial estate and a row of warehouses at Depot Lane in Bukit Merah will be vacated by the fourth quarter of 2025 to make way for housing. JTC Corporation, which manages the industrial estate, said the plot will be returned to the state for future residential development, in response to queries from The Straits Times. Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's master plan, the Depot Lane industrial estate is part of a 7.3ha site zoned for residential use. Its plot ratio, which determines the intensity of the development, is subject to detailed evaluation. The industrial estate, consisting of about 240 units across eight blocks, was built in the 1970s. Six adjacent warehouses, which make up the rest of the plot, are owned by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). JTC said tenants were told about the redevelopment plans for the area in 2018 and were offered replacement factory spaces at JTC Space @ Ang Mo Kio or Bedok Food City. Western food stall Original Botak Jones took to social media in April to announce the closure of its outlet in the Yue Hua coffee shop at Depot Lane on June 22 due to redevelopment of the area. "We reopened this outlet during the most uncertain times — in 2021, when dining in wasn't even allowed. It's been an incredible four-year journey," it said. The coffee shop shuttered on June 23. Xu Tianmu, director of Yue Hua coffee shop, told ST that he felt reluctant to close the place as it had been at Depot Lane for around 20 years. "It's quite sad because this is the oldest coffee shop we have. Many of the stallholders have been with us for more than 15 years," said Xu, who also ran the Original Botak Jones outlet there. He took up JTC's offer of a replacement site at Bedok Food City and set up an Original Botak Jones outlet there in 2022. "Depot Lane used to be very vibrant and business used to be good," he said, adding that many businesses moved out of the industrial estate about three years ago. When ST visited the Depot Lane industrial estate on June 24, many of the tenants appeared to have moved out. Alex Lim, owner of PPF Singapore Xpel, a company that sells protection films for vehicles, said it has to move out of Depot Lane by the end of June, after about five years there. He said he had to bid for a unit at an industrial park in Ang Mo Kio, as JTC had not offered him a replacement site. When ST visited the Depot Lane industrial estate on June 24, most of the tenants appeared to have moved out. PHOTO: The Straits Times JTC said business owners who took up tenancies after the announcement of the redevelopment plans in 2018 were told not to expect replacement sites when they were asked to vacate. Although Lim was awarded the Ang Mo Kio unit, he lamented that its monthly rental of $4,500 is markedly higher than the $2,600 rent for the Depot Lane unit. In 2018, all of the Housing Board's industrial properties and land — including the Depot Lane industrial estate — were transferred to JTC. Tenants that were originally under HDB will be offered replacement units and other relocation benefits when they move out due to redevelopment, under HDB's Industrial Redevelopment Programme. The owner of a construction engineering firm, whose office has been at the Depot Lane industrial estate since 1987, said he initially wanted to take up JTC's offer of a replacement unit in Ang Mo Kio. But he could not get his preferred ground-floor unit. The owner, who declined to be named owing to the sensitivity of the matter, said he tried bidding for an industrial unit in Penjuru Close. As the tender closed with another tenderer placing the highest bid, he is unsure if he will be awarded the unit. "When we get a new place, we still need to renovate it, arrange for electrical installations and a lot of things. All this needs money," he said. The SLA-owned warehouses at Depot Lane are tenanted to a master tenant, real estate management services group LHN Group, ST understands. All sub-tenants will also have to vacate the site by the fourth quarter of 2025. Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at real estate firm Huttons Asia, said there could be pent-up demand for homes in the Depot Road area as the last public housing development there was launched in 2012. Depot Road is sandwiched between two mature estates — Redhill and Telok Blangah — and there was good demand for the four-room flats in the Depot Heights Built-To-Order (BTO) project launched in July 2012, he noted. Lee estimated that, with a gross plot ratio of three, more than 2,000 HDB flats can be built on the 7.3ha site, around the area of 10 football fields. He said BTO flats there could fall under the Standard category as it is not near any MRT stations. Standard flats, which come with a five-year minimum occupation period (MOP), form the bulk of flat supply. Plus and Prime flats, which are closer to the city centre, transport nodes and amenities, come with stricter resale conditions, such as a 10-year MOP and a subsidy clawback. [[nid:719607]] This article was first published in The Straits Times . Permission required for reproduction.
Business Times
3 hours ago
- Business Times
Depot Lane industrial estate and warehouses to be vacated by Q4 to make way for housing
[SINGAPORE] An industrial estate and a row of warehouses at Depot Lane in Bukit Merah will be vacated by the fourth quarter of 2025 to make way for housing. JTC Corporation, which manages the industrial estate, said the plot will be returned to the state for future residential development, in response to queries from The Straits Times (ST). Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's master plan, the Depot Lane industrial estate is part of a 7.3ha site zoned for residential use. Its plot ratio, which determines the intensity of the development, is subject to detailed evaluation. The industrial estate, consisting of about 240 units across eight blocks, was built in the 1970s. Six adjacent warehouses, which make up the rest of the plot, are owned by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). JTC said tenants were told about the redevelopment plans for the area in 2018 and were offered replacement factory spaces at JTC Space @ Ang Mo Kio or Bedok Food City. Western food stall Original Botak Jones took to social media in April to announce the closure of its outlet in the Yue Hua coffee shop at Depot Lane on Jun 22 due to redevelopment of the area. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up 'We reopened this outlet during the most uncertain times – in 2021, when dining in wasn't even allowed. It's been an incredible four-year journey,' it said. The coffee shop shuttered on Jun 23. Xu Tianmu, director of Yue Hua coffee shop, told ST that he felt reluctant to close the place as it had been at Depot Lane for around 20 years. 'It's quite sad because this is the oldest coffee shop we have. Many of the stallholders have been with us for more than 15 years,' said Xu, who also ran the Original Botak Jones outlet there. He took up JTC's offer of a replacement site at Bedok Food City and set up an Original Botak Jones outlet there in 2022. 'Depot Lane used to be very vibrant and business used to be good,' he said, adding that many businesses moved out of the industrial estate about three years ago. When ST visited the Depot Lane industrial estate on Jun 24, many of the tenants appeared to have moved out. Alex Lim, owner of PPF Singapore Xpel, a company that sells protection films for vehicles, said it has to move out of Depot Lane by the end of June, after about five years there. He said he had to bid for a unit at an industrial park in Ang Mo Kio, as JTC had not offered him a replacement site. When ST visited the Depot Lane industrial estate on June 24, most of the tenants appeared to have moved out. PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI, ST JTC said business owners who took up tenancies after the announcement of the redevelopment plans in 2018 were told not to expect replacement sites when they were asked to vacate. Although Lim was awarded the Ang Mo Kio unit, he lamented that its monthly rental of $4,500 is markedly higher than the $2,600 rent for the Depot Lane unit. In 2018, all of the Housing Board's industrial properties and land – including the Depot Lane industrial estate – were transferred to JTC. Tenants that were originally under HDB will be offered replacement units and other relocation benefits when they move out due to redevelopment, under HDB's Industrial Redevelopment Programme. The owner of a construction engineering firm, whose office has been at the Depot Lane industrial estate since 1987, said he initially wanted to take up JTC's offer of a replacement unit in Ang Mo Kio. But he could not get his preferred ground-floor unit. The owner, who declined to be named owing to the sensitivity of the matter, said he tried bidding for an industrial unit in Penjuru Close. As the tender closed with another tenderer placing the highest bid, he is unsure if he will be awarded the unit. 'When we get a new place, we still need to renovate it, arrange for electrical installations and a lot of things. All this needs money,' he said. The SLA-owned warehouses at Depot Lane are tenanted to a master tenant, real estate management services group LHN Group, ST understands. All sub-tenants will also have to vacate the site by the fourth quarter of 2025. Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at real estate firm Huttons Asia, said there could be pent-up demand for homes in the Depot Road area as the last public housing development there was launched in 2012. Depot Road is sandwiched between two mature estates – Redhill and Telok Blangah – and there was good demand for the four-room flats in the Depot Heights Built-To-Order (BTO) project launched in July 2012, he noted. Lee estimated that, with a gross plot ratio of 3, more than 2,000 HDB flats can be built on the 7.3ha site, around the area of 10 football fields. He said BTO flats there could fall under the Standard category as it is not near any MRT stations. Standard flats, which come with a five-year minimum occupation period (MOP), form the bulk of flat supply. Plus and Prime flats, which are closer to the city centre, transport nodes and amenities, come with stricter resale conditions, such as a 10-year MOP and a subsidy clawback. THE STRAITS TIMES
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
China's envoy urges Australia to resist US pressure on military spending
Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian said both Australia and China rely on the same trade routes and have a major stake in safeguarding maritime security. PHOTO: AFP CANBERRA – China's envoy to Canberra urged Australia not to be 'incited' by Nato's support for US demands to sharply raise defence spending and instead cooperate with Beijing to resolve regional disputes. Ambassador Xiao Qian, in an opinion article published in The Australian newspaper on June 30, wrote that both Australia and China rely on the same trade routes and have a major stake in safeguarding maritime security. He emphasised their roles as key trade partners with 'highly complementary' economies. 'Dramatically increasing military spending places a heavy fiscal burden on the countries involved, undermining their efforts to boost economies and improve livelihoods, and further straining a global economy already struggling with weak recovery,' Mr Xiao said. He added some countries at events such as the Group of Seven summit and the recent North Atlantic Treaty Organisation meeting have 'hyped up the so-called China threat narrative,' to increase defence spending 'and even incited Australia to follow suit.' Australia spends a little over 2 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence, and is under pressure from the US to raise that to 3.5 per cent. The centre-left government has pushed back, pointing out it has already increased outlays. At a higher level, Canberra is trying to balance the increasingly confrontational relationship between the US and China, which are respectively Australia's historic security ally and its biggest trading partner. Australia likely wants to avoid raising defence spending excessively and antagonising Beijing. 'As I often hear from Australian friends, 'we have hundreds of reasons to be friends, and none to be enemies',' Mr Xiao said. Nato leaders last week agreed to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP and renewed their 'ironclad commitment' to mutual security as they aim to push back against an increasingly belligerent Russia. The US wants allies to take up more of the fiscal burden for their own defence so it can focus more heavily on China. Australia's Labor government has managed to rebuild ties with Beijing after they plunged into a deep freeze, which included punitive trade actions against some Australian goods in 2020. The fallout was triggered by the then centre-right government calling for a probe into the origins of Covid-19. 'China and Australia are friends, not foes. This should never have been in question,' Mr Xiao said. 'China has been always developing bilateral friendship and co-operation with the utmost sincerity and patience, and we hope Australia will work with us in the same direction.' BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
