Rory McIlroy switches focus to British Open after runner-up finish at the Scottish Open
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy in action during the final round of the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick on July 13.
NORTH BERWICK – Rory McIlroy was delighted with his form at the Scottish Open after finishing runner-up to American Chris Gotterup on July 13 and the Northern Irishman said his game is in a good place heading into the British Open at Royal Portrush this week.
McIlroy was looking to become the first player to win the US Masters and Scottish Open in the same season but finished two shots behind world No. 158 Gotterup at the Renaissance Club, tied with Marco Penge for second place.
The 36-year-old has struggled to find his best form after completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters in April and said in June he had not known how hard it would be to stay motivated.
However, after a strong performance in North Berwick, the five-time Major champion said he was now ready to fully focus on the Open from July 17 to 20 in Northern Ireland.
'I'm really happy with where everything is,' McIlroy, who won the 2014 British Open, told reporters.
'Looking forward to getting to Portrush tonight and getting out onto the golf course early tomorrow and just turning my attention to that.
'I'm really happy with where my game is, the way I played over the weekend, the shots that I hit, how I controlled my ball flight.
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'It has been a great week. Missing the trophy, that's about it,' added the world No. 2, who missed the cut at the 2024 British Open at Royal Troon.
On July 13, Gotterup's four-under 66 to finish on 15 under 265 was too good for McIlroy.
'This is awesome,' Gotterup said, fighting back tears. 'I'm not going to be able to keep it together.'
But he kept it together at key moments in the final round. Gotterup's 15-under 265 total was two strokes better than McIlroy and England's Penge at The Renaissance Club.
It was Gotterup's second PGA Tour win and guaranteed him a spot during at the British Open.
Penge shot 66 in the final round and McIlroy posted 68.
McIlroy, aiming to win the tournament for the second time in three years, led after back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. But after a birdie on No. 8, he had pars across each of the last 10 holes.
'Chris played a great round of golf,' McIlroy said. 'He was so solid. Made the bogey on 15 but bounced back with a really nice birdie on 16. Yeah, after he got a couple ahead, I just couldn't claw back.'
Gotterup used four birdies on a six-hole stretch ending at No. 12 to move to the top. He held a two-shot edge until his bogey on No. 15, where he hit his tee shot in the rough.
But on the next hole, Gotterup rolled in a 10-foot birdie for a two-shot advantage again. He sensed it was a key situation.
Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard (64) and England's Matt Fitzpatrick (67) shared fourth place at 12 under. REUTERS, AFP
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Straits Times
19 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Then and now: Days of being wild in Singapore
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Whether 1845 or 2025, some things in Singapore never change. Snippets on how we reported them then and now. Workers removing the body of Twiggy, a black panther, from an underground drain near the Singapore Turf Club. The animal had escaped from the Singapore Zoo in March 1973. In 2023, retail manager Durga Devi was walking back to her Bukit Panjang home when a wild boar charged at her. The animal attacked her four times, flinging her from side to side before tossing her onto the road, The Straits Times reported. A passing jogger rushed to help. She survived the attack but had to undergo multiple operations in what doctors described as one of the worst boar attacks they had seen. Animal encounters, whether wild or captive, have long fascinated the public. In March 1973, Twiggy the panther escaped from the Singapore Zoo. For 11 months, it roamed the island before it was found dead in an underground drain near the Singapore Turf Club. A policeman advising pupils from Sembawang Hills Estate School to stay away from the jungle, as a panther that escaped from the Singapore Zoo had been spotted nearby. Two troops of Reserve Unit officers on duty and three police dogs were ordered to the scene in March 1973. PHOTO: ST FILE Two years later, in 1975, the police were on the alert for yet another panther, this one prowling the Tampines area after it was brought into Singapore illegally by an animal trader and escaped. The female cat was eventually captured in Tanjong Rhu. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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The panther had been spotted in the fuel tank of a ship under construction in Tanjong Rhu. It was captured by zoo officials while shipyard workers stood by to gawp at the drama. From prowling panthers to rampaging boars, sightings of animals on the loose have long made headlines, underscoring the tension between urban development and natural habitats. A dive into The Straits Times' archives reveals a much wilder Singapore in the past, when tigers were a terror. By the mid-19th century, Singapore had gained a grim reputation for tiger attacks. Historian C.M. Turnbull wrote in A History Of Modern Singapore 1819-2005 that tigers were said to carry off a victim a day. A report on Dec 11, 1855, which chronicled the deaths of an agricultural labourer and a coolie, lamented: 'How often are we compelled to record such verdicts. It reflects the greatest shame upon the Supreme Government that effectual means are not employed to relieve our dense jungles of ferocious Tigers.' Tiger hunting became common, with rewards offered for kills. In 1864, a reader named Carnie wrote in, describing how he had shot a tigress during an expedition before 'she could make another spring'. The menace extended to islands such as Pulau Ubin where a tiger killed two men in 1874. Those who killed tigers would sometimes take the carcasses to police stations to claim rewards, as Changi residents Ali and Mahomed did in 1898, when they hauled a dead tiger to the Rochore Police Station. The last reported shooting of a wild tiger in Singapore was in Choa Chu Kang in October 1930. But even in 1951, a tiger hunt was mounted near the Causeway after a sighting. 'It is believed that recent heavy RAF (the British Royal Air Force) bombing in south Johor may have driven the tiger out of the jungle and over the Causeway,' The Straits Times reported. Today, as the city becomes more built-up, animal sightings are rising again, though they are not in the league of tigers and panthers. In March 2025, The Straits Times reported a 55 per cent increase in calls to the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society between 2019 and 2024. The hotline received 15,203 calls in 2024 – up from 9,800 in 2019 – and now deals with an average of 10 cases a day. Among the animals rescued: mynahs, pigeons, pythons, civets, monitor lizards and wild boars. A wild boar spotted in Lorong Halus on Jan 12, 2021. ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO Straits Times assistant news editor Audrey Tan, 34 , who oversees environmental coverage, says Singapore now has experts with deep knowledge about certain wildlife species. Studies have also been done on why some animals, such as critically endangered pangolins, venture into urban areas. All this has made coverage about wildlife more nuanced, she says. Nature provides many benefits to urban dwellers, from the cooling effect of trees to the rest offered by parks and nature reserves, and reporting has evolved to highlight these intangible aspects, she adds. Singapore is also slowly embracing nature in its land use plans – which is only a good thing. From corals to armoured pangolins, otters to once-extinct hornbills, the natural world is an inescapable part of Singapore's urban cityscape, down to people's own backyards.
Straits Times
23 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Singapore's sports odyssey, from amateur games at the Padang to Olympic triumphs
Weightlifter Tan Howe Liang (left) was Singapore's first medallist at the Olympics, clinching a silver at the 1960 Rome Games. It took the Republic another 56 years before it finally struck gold, courtesy of swimmer Joseph Schooling at the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro. SINGAPORE - Worn and faded though they may be, these ordinary objects at the Singapore Sports Museum at the Sports Hub would tell extraordinary stories if they could speak. The shuttlecocks with frayed feathers, for instance, helped Wong Peng Soon to his four All England titles in the 1950s. Chee Swee Lee's blue spike shoes from 1974 are torn and faded. That was the year she won an improbable 400m gold at the Asian Games in Tehran, becoming Singapore's first female Asiad champion. A white singlet, still pristine, clad the late weightlifter Tan Howe Liang, who won Singapore's first Olympic medal, a silver, in Rome in 1960. However, even if these artefacts cannot speak, the feats they bore testament to were covered in glorious detail in the pages of The Straits Times. News of Chee's victory ran on the front page on Sept 16, 1974, with the report noting that the publication's switchboard was flooded for the result long before her race even took place. Chee Swee Lee's blue spike shoes and medals at the Singapore Sports Museum at the Sports Hub, and the story about her victory that ran on the front page on Sept 16, 1974. PHOTOS: ST FILE, JONATHAN WONG A last-minute cramp that almost derailed Tan's Olympic medal bid was retold in a behind-the-scenes article titled ' The 'miracle' in Rome' . Wong's breakthrough All England triumph in 1950 made the front page on March 5 under the succinct headline 'Wong wins title'. In the years that followed, more pages were devoted to his achievements. Badminton player Wong Peng Soon, seen here in the Thomas Cup finals in 1955, was one of Singapore's early sports stars. He won the prestigious All England Championships four times. PHOTO: ST FILE When he announced his retirement on July 15, 1955, the publication paid tribute to his legacy and 'a life of almost spartan severity' in which he played each stroke 'thousands of times till perfection was acquired and the grace of an artist was added'. Until Wong's rise in badminton, beginning in the late 1930s, however, The Straits Times in its early days paid only modest attention to sport. Wong Peng Soon's shuttlecocks and badminton racket, on display at the Singapore Sports Museum at the Sports Hub. ST PHOTO: JONATHAN WONG This, even though the history of organised sport in Singapore dated back to 1826 when the country's first sports club was founded – the Singapore Yacht Club. The first known organised game, cricket in this case, was played in 1837 by the British at the Padang, then known as the Plain. Such was cricket's popularity that it made its way into The Straits Times on July 29, 1846, a year after the publication's founding. A small announcement on Page 2 reported an upcoming match between 'Young Singapore and the military gents'. It was one of the first mentions of sport in the publication, an unheralded introduction to what would become some of the better-read pages. When Singapore's football team defeated Selangor to win the inaugural Malaya Cup on Oct 1, 1921, it was reported only two days later in a single column on Page 10. The front page that Monday was instead filled with advertisements for 'pure Devonshire cyder' and 'pure beef dripping'. Wong's success on the international stage, however, fired up the country. Support began to increase for home-grown talent. The first South East Asian Peninsular (Seap) Games held in Bangkok in 1959 gave local athletes a platform and brought them into the public eye, in an era when amateur sportsmen and women aspired to bring glory to Singapore. As Tan told a reporter many years after his Olympic success: 'I'm no hero. I was just a keen young man eager to win for my country in the Olympics.' While Tan stayed grounded, Singapore began to dream bigger. Three years after his Olympic breakthrough, the Government announced plans for a National Stadium in Kallang. It would eventually cost $50 million and open in July 1973, just in time to be the centrepiece when Singapore hosted the Seap Games for the first time soon afterwards. 'Sheares opens Seap Games' ran the front-page headline on Sept 2, with photographs of the fully packed 50,000-seater stadium and the colourful opening ceremony graced by then President Benjamin Sheares filling pages. A new generation of athletes, such as track runner C. Kunalan and swimmer Patricia Chan, were also becoming household names in post-independence Singapore. It was not just their sporting exploits at home and on the international stage that were regularly chronicled and celebrated. Post-retirement, Chan directed and sang in her own musical which The Straits Times c overed in its entertainment pages while Kunalan's wedding in 1966 also made the news. Singapore sprinter C. Kunalan was chosen to light the cauldron at the newly opened National Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 1973 Seap Games. It was the first time the country was hosting the event. PHOTO: ST FILE Growing up as a football fan in the 1980s and into the 1990s, when most games were not telecast live, Mr Paul Antony Fernandez, 59, a part-time security officer, relied on The Straits Times for reports of the lead-up to matches, the matches themselves, and – most crucially – the scores. 'There was no internet in those days,' says Mr Fernandez. 'Any news we wanted about the Lions, we got it through the newspaper. If there was a match on Saturday, I would make it a point from Wednesday morning to get The Straits Times and The New Paper every day to find out who's injured, who's playing. Everything about the team.' His wedding in 1994 took place on Dec 17, the very day the Lions were playing Pahang in the Malaysia Cup final at Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor. To ensure that his guests – many of them die-hard football fans like himself – would turn up for the wedding dinner at the former Great Eastern Hotel in MacPherson, he hooked up his parents' 17-inch Nordmende colour TV in the wedding hall. Just like those Lions fans, The Straits Times did not hold back on the euphoria when Singapore won that final, 4-0. The photo of the triumphant captain, Fandi Ahmad, holding the trophy aloft, was accompanied by the headline 'Lions crowned soccer kings' on the next day's front page while the sports section was filled with more stories and graphics recreating two of the goals. Abbas Saad saluting Lions supporters at the Shah Alam Stadium after Singapore beat Pahang 4-0 to win the Malaysia Cup in 1994. PHOTO: ST FILE It was the Republic's first Malaysia Cup win since 1980 – that victory came with the front-page title 'A night to remember' – and also its last, as the Football Association of Singapore decided to withdraw from the competition in 1995. In a column headlined 'A special first in the techno-era of Cup', the sports desk's Yap Koon Hong proudly – and perhaps prematurely – declared: 'It is not hard to see why the Lions can drop defeat from their vocabulary like, well, a bad habit.' Despite football's ups and downs, the turn of the century marked a golden era for Singapore sport. From 2002 to 2006, Singapore won 44 Asian Games medals, only slightly less than half the number it had won in the previous 50 years. Then came a breakthrough team silver in women's table tennis at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the nation's first Summer Games medal since Tan Howe Liang in 1960. Two more Olympic medals followed in London 2012, thanks again to Feng Tianwei and her fellow table tennis players, before the defining moment for the country: swimmer Joseph Schooling's historic gold medal at Rio 2016 . Besides extensive coverage of Schooling's Olympic campaign in print, The Straits Times – in a sign of the online age – would add a gold medal to the masthead of its Facebook profile. It also produced several interactive graphics about the butterfly specialist, with one winning an Award of Excellence at the US-based Society for News Design's annual competition. As Schooling told the world's media after his race in Rio de Janeiro: 'Even people from the smallest countries in the world can do extraordinary things.' Indeed, the little red dot continues to punch above its weight. Yip Pin Xiu's dominance in the pool with seven Paralympic gold medals and counting, Loh Kean Yew becoming a badminton world champion, Shanti Pereira's 200m Asian Games gold, and Maximilian Maeder's kitefoiling bronze at Paris 2024 have all elevated Singapore sport to greater heights. Shanti Pereira's victory in the 200m final at the Hangzhou Asian Games in October 2023 was a breakthrough moment. It was Singapore's first athletics gold medal since 1974, when Chee Swee Lee won the women's 400m. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG In all these triumphs, The Straits Times has had a front-row seat, telling the stories of sacrifice, hard work and perseverance. These stories became a nation's, too.
Straits Times
23 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Breaking new ground: ST captures the magic of inventions that would change the world
From its earliest days, The Straits Times has tracked technology, delivering news as well as advertisements that showed how inventions could transform everyday life. 'One of the most sensational inventions of the day is considered to be the Telephone, whereby sound can be conveyed to long distances by wire, like a telegram.' So declared The Straits Times on May 12, 1877, just a year after American inventor Alexander Graham Bell was awarded a patent for inventing a device that could transmit clear speech over wires. From its earliest days, the paper has tracked technology, delivering news as well as advertisements that showed how inventions could transform everyday life. 'The media has always had a key role to play in society,' says Dr Wu Shangyuan, a senior lecturer from the National University of Singapore's department of communications and new media. 'Even before the internet, traditional media was – and still is – responsible for informing the masses about important issues of the day.' Here's how the paper captured the magic of eight landmark discoveries that shaped the modern world. 1. Washing machine (1850s) It was in 1858 that American inventor Hamilton Smith patented a rotary washing machine. ST ILLUSTRATION: LOCK HOCK LIANG The washing machine has roots stretching back to the late 18th century, but it was in 1858 that American inventor Hamilton Smith patented a rotary machine . This useful appliance had found its way to homes in Singapore by the first third of the new century. A glimpse into domestic life from that era appears on Page 25 of The Sunday Times on Dec 4, 1938 , lamenting the bane of 'yellow spots and dark specks' on blankets. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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PHOTOS: ST FILE 'Whether the blanket is washed or sent to be dry-cleaned is a matter of convenience: a washing machine helps a lot if the task is done at home,' it notes, hinting at the growing appeal of mechanised laundry. After World War II, the dream of effortless washing took a bold leap forward. On Sept 15, 1946 , a front-page advertisement shouted the arrival of an 'all-British cabinet washing machine' from Servis. 'Electrically operated' and 'streamline-designed', it promised to do 'all the labour of washing and wringing for you – at very little cost'. The age of modern laundry had finally arrived. 2. Telephone (1876) and mobile phone (1973) An illustration of the first mobile phone. ST ILLUSTRATION: LOCK HOCK LIANG Chances are, you read many Straits Times articles on a mobile phone, a device born from the simple idea of sending sound across a distance. In the 19th century, 'calling' someone was a game changer, faster than a telegram, radio broadcast or printed notice. Italian inventor Antonio Meucci and Frenchman Charles Bourseul toyed with early designs, but it was American Alexander Graham Bell who clinched the first patent in the United States in 1876. By May 12, 1877, The Straits Times was already hailing the telephone as 'one of the most sensational inventions of the day' and describing a set-up of two cylinders linked by thread. Among the first mentions of 'telephone' in The Straits Times was on May 12, 1877, when the device was considered to be 'one of the most sensational inventions of the day'. Just over a month after Motorola demonstrated the use of the first handheld mobile phone in New York, the words 'mobile telephone' appeared in The Sunday Times' May 20, 1973, edition (right). PHOTOS: ST FILE It would take nearly a century before a mobile version appeared. On April 3, 1973, Motorola engineer Martin Cooper placed a call from a handheld phone on the streets of New York City. The buzz caught on quickly. Just a month later on May 20, 1973, The Sunday Times reported on 'mobile telephone' technology in Malaysia's telecommunications system , noting that new facilities and services in Selangor and some adjoining areas could be used for mobile telephones. It would take several more decades for the smartphone revolution. Apple's iPhone, unveiled by Steve Jobs in January 2007, would change everything. Interestingly, The Straits Times mentioned the 'iPhone' even before that. In a March 28, 2006, story in the Digital Life supplement about consumers buying accessories for the portable media player, the iPod, it said: ' According to the rumour mill, fans are now waiting for the ultimate iPod to accessorise – the iPhone .' Apple's iPhone, unveiled by Steve Jobs in January 2007, would change everything. Interestingly, The Straits Times mentioned the 'iPhone' even before that, in a March 28, 2006, story. PHOTO: ST FILE 3. Electricity The phenomenon of electricity – a form of energy that powers everyday devices and underpins modern life – was understood gradually over centuries. A key moment came in 1752, when American scientist Benjamin Franklin famously flew a kite in a thunderstorm, demonstrating that lightning is a form of electricity. Later, in 1879, American inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison developed a practical and long-lasting incandescent light bulb, making electric lighting widely accessible to homes and businesses. The phrase 'electric light' appeared as early as Jan 24, 1849, when a writer talks about the possibility of 'an electric light, equal to a hundred candles at the cost of a penny an hour'. The phrase 'electric light' appeared as early as Jan 24, 1849, when a writer talked about the possibility of 'an electric light, equal to a hundred candles at the cost of a penny an hour'. PHOTO: ST FILE By 1906, electricity had come to the region, with a report on May 2 that year describing a tragic accident in Kuala Lumpur, in which a horse was electrocuted by falling electric light wires and killed instantly. Another report the same month, on May 30 , said that two new houses of then Sultan of Selangor Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah were 'lighted with electricity throughout', and hoped that the town of Kuala Kangsar would similarly be 'lighted with electricity' soon. A Straits Times article on May 2, 1906, reporting that a horse in Kuala Lumpur had been electrocuted by falling electric light wires and killed instantly (left). An article on Page 7 of the May 30, 1906, edition, which said that two new houses of the then Sultan of Selangor Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, in what is now Malaysia, were 'lighted with electricity throughout' (right). PHOTOS: ST FILE That same year, another report on Nov 22 announced that electric lighting and fans would be installed at a new pavilion at the Singapore Cricket Club, and that the price of electricity had fallen greatly from an initial estimate of 40 cents per unit to 25 cents per unit. In all, 24 fans and 132 lamps would be powered this way. Clearly, electricity had arrived, and life was bright with possibility. 4. Automobile (1886) The Benz Patent-Motorwagen, a three-wheeled vehicle powered by a petrol engine, is now widely recognised as the world's first practical automobile. ST ILLUSTRATION: LOCK HOCK LIANG Before modern cars, early experiments in transport included steam-powered vehicles like steam cars and buses, though these were often impractical or limited in use. That changed in 1886, when German engineer Carl Benz introduced the Benz Patent-Motorwagen – a three-wheeled vehicle powered by a petrol engine. It is now widely recognised as the world's first practical automobile. One of the earliest mentions of the word 'automobile' in The Straits Times appeared on June 25, 1898. An article on Page 3 reported how French aristocrat Anne de Rochechouart, the Duchess of Uzes, was a trailblazer – a 'lady automobile driver' at a time when only men drove. One of the earliest mentions of the word 'automobile' in The Straits Times was on June 25, 1898, in an article that referred to the French Duchess of Uzes as a 'lady automobile driver'. PHOTO: ST FILE She was reportedly the first woman in France to earn a driver's licence and aced her 40km test drive in Paris, showing 'perfect familiarity with the machine' and confidently answering all the examiners' questions. In 1899, five automobile vehicles appeared at the Esplanade here, including an automotor tricycle, which could be driven 97km on less than 2 litres of 'petroleum essence' . The details of the vehicles, said to be linked to the Phebus company, a French manufacturer of early automobiles, were reported on Feb 20, 1899 . By 1902, advertisements for cars began appearing, such as one by The French Automobile Company offering trials to potential customers, including teaching them how the cars' mechanisms work. 'No explosion possible', read the ad on Page 6 of the Sept 12 edition. 'In great demand', it also proclaimed. 'Once tried, always appreciated.' An advertisement on Sept 12, 1902, by The French Automobile Company, offering trials of cars to potential customers, who will also learn the cars' mechanisms. PHOTO: ST FILE Cycle & Carriage , a car retailer and distributor, was founded in 1899 in Kuala Lumpur. Although it started out as a trader in nutmeg and sundry goods, it soon sold other goods, such as bicycles, motorcycles and motor cars. In 1916, it opened a branch in Orchard Road in Singapore, and in an article on Aug 25, 1916, reportedly had an 'illustrated catalogue' of bicycles, motorcycles and accessories, in stock for immediate delivery at the Singapore branch. An article on Aug 25, 1916, reporting that Cycle & Carriage – now known as Jardine Cycle & Carriage – was selling bicycles, motorcycles and accessories. PHOTO: ST FILE It is now Jardine Cycle & Carriage, after it became a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Jardine Matheson Group in 2002. 5. Radio (late 1880s) and television (1927) Radio broadcasting arrived in Singapore in the 1920s. ST ILLUSTRATION: LOCK HOCK LIANG The history of radio is hotly debated, but most agree that German physicist Heinrich Hertz first proved the existence of radio waves in the late 1880s. It took years before these waves were harnessed for communication, navigation and more. One of the early mentions of 'radio' appeared on May 23, 1907, in an article about Britain's Radio-Telegraph Convention Committee. The article highlighted an intriguing 'discovery' – that sunlight, unlike fog or mist, could disrupt long-distance wireless signals. It noted that messages could travel twice as far at night compared with a sunny day. The word 'radio' made an early appearance in ST on May 23, 1907, when an article on Page 4 referred to the Radio-Telegraph Convention Committee in Britain. PHOTO: ST FILE Radio broadcasting arrived in Singapore in the 1920s through the efforts of a small group of amateur radio enthusiasts including the Amateur Wireless Society of Malaya, an interest group comprising mostly European expatriates. In 1925, they successfully transmitted speech and sounds from a gramophone from their rooms at the Union Building in Collyer Quay. An article on Page 9 on May 7, 1925, about the Amateur Wireless Society of Malaya, an interest group comprising mostly European expatriates, successfully transmitting a speech and sounds from a gramophone from their rooms at the Union Building in Collyer Quay. PHOTO: ST FILE Back then, local amateur singers and musicians were some of the first to have their performances regularly broadcast on the radio. As for television, the magic moment came after decades of experimentation elsewhere. On Feb 16, 1963 , the front page proclaimed 'TV comes to Singapore', and quoted then Minister for Culture S. Rajaratnam as saying this could be the 'start of a cultural, social revolution'. An article on Page 1 of the paper on Feb 16, 1963, announcing the arrival of television in Singapore. PHOTO: ST FILE The evening before, at 6pm, Mr Rajaratnam was the first person to appear on television screens here, where he said: 'If used intelligently and responsibly, television can far more effectively than any other medium of communication broaden the intellectual horizons of the ordinary man.' The first successful demonstration of electronic television came in 1927, thanks to American inventor Philo Taylor Farnsworth, who used electronic signals to create moving images on a screen. But The Straits Times had shown interest in the idea much earlier. On Jan 10, 1910, it published an article about German scientist Ernst Ruhmer, who transmitted simple images using selenium cells over telegraph lines. The article imagined that one day, 'the head and shoulders of a human being could be seen over a distance'. The word 'television' appeared in the paper on Jan 10, 1910, when an article talked about the possibility of one day being able to see people in Paris while sitting at home in London. PHOTO: ST FILE This story offered a glimpse of a future television technology that would later develop with cathode ray tubes. 6. Air-conditioning (1902) One of the first few air-conditioning units in the early 1900s. ST ILLUSTRATION: LOCK HOCK LIANG If you cannot survive one day without air-conditioning, imagine what life was like before this invention came to Singapore in the 1930s. Reports say air-conditioning was first installed here in 1932 , at the Chinese Recreation Club. Also among the first adopters was Singapore General Hospital , which tested out air-conditioning in its X-ray screening room, X-ray viewing room and two patients' rooms in 1937, and subsequently installed it in its operating theatre in 1938. Both events were reported on. A Page 15 article on Nov 7, 1937, for example, said: 'Air-conditioned wards, operating theatres and X-ray rooms at the Singapore General Hospital may become a reality if experiments now being carried out at the hospital impress the authorities.' An article on Nov 7, 1937, about Singapore General Hospital testing out air-conditioning in its X-ray screening room, X-ray viewing room and two patients' rooms. The hospital was among the first adopters of air-conditioning. PHOTO: ST FILE And impress they did, for on June 19, 1938, another article, this time on Page 2, announced that patients there would soon be 'released from the agony of prickly heat'. The change would also allow surgeons to operate in comfort, instead of being bathed in sweat, and asthma sufferers to be treated in a suitably dry atmosphere, it continued. It was all thanks to American engineer Willis Carrier , who built the first modern air-conditioning system in 1902. Designed to control humidity and lower the temperature of air to a desired dew point temperature , his invention would eventually transform how humans live and made cinemas, shopping malls, long-haul flights and computer servers possible. Early mentions of air-conditioning included an article on April 7, 1931, describing the new technology's ability to produce temperatures as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 deg C) with almost any degree of humidity, 'artificially created whatever the outside weather'. It noted the technology was still experimental, with studies in a British university monitoring pulse rates, body temperature and weight loss from sweating . 7. Electric refrigerator (1913) and microwave (1945) Microwave cooking was discovered by accident in 1945. ST ILLUSTRATION: LOCK HOCK LIANG One of the first mentions of refrigerators was in a shopping advertisement . On Feb 26, 1884, department store John Little proudly announced the arrival of 'Kent's refrigerators' among its 'new goods', alongside card tables and a billiard room liqueur table in its furniture section. While the science behind it was not explained, it most certainly did not run on electricity. On Feb 26, 1884, an advertisement by department store John Little announced that Kent's refrigerators were among its new goods. PHOTO: ST FILE The first electric refrigerators for home and domestic use were invented only in 1913. They had reached Singapore by 1927, as an early ad for an electric refrigerator was published on Page 12 of the July 23 edition of The Straits Times that year, promising a device that 'makes ice, ice cream (and) keeps food and drink fresh' and 'never wants repair'. An ad on Page 12 of the July 23, 1927, edition for an electric refrigerator that 'makes ice, ice cream (and) keeps food and drink fresh' and 'never wants repair'. PHOTO: ST FILE Microwave cooking was discovered by accident in 1945 after American engineer Percy Spencer noticed a chocolate bar melting near a World War II radar device. He later used microwaves to pop popcorn. Microwave ovens gained popularity in Singapore homes only in the 1970s, when smaller and more affordable models became available. Japanese electronics manufacturer Sanyo took out an ad on Page 8 of the Feb 22, 1970, edition to explain how a microwave oven worked and promised 'Roast a chicken in minutes'. Japanese electronics manufacturer Sanyo took out an ad on Feb 22, 1970, to explain how a microwave oven worked. PHOTO: ST FILE It said: 'A microwave oven utilises high frequency energy to cook or heat food. Since the heat energy permeates the entire mass of the food at once, cooking is extremely quick and even. A whole chicken takes only an instant to roast.' 8. Laptop (1981) An early laptop. ST ILLUSTRATION: LOCK HOCK LIANG 'Laptop computers are really something. They weigh just over 2kg, run on batteries and stash neatly in a briefcase. But how does one print a letter?' This was the introduction to a New York Times article that ran in The Straits Times' Section Two – a lifestyle section – on July 15, 1985. A New York Times article that ran in The Straits Times' Section Two – a lifestyle section – on July 15, 1985. The report marvelled at the convenience of laptop computers. PHOTO: ST FILE The first laptop was the Osborne 1, which weighed 11.1kg, had no internal battery and was powered by a wall plug. Released in 1981 by American company Osborne Computer Corp, it was considered a portable device as it could be carried by hand when its keyboard was closed. In those days, the word 'laptop' was not common parlance. One of the first mentions of the word appeared on May 13, 1985, in Section Two. It was used to describe the Kaypro 2000, a 4.12kg IBM-compatible briefcase-size portable computer, which was selling for a hefty US$1,995. One of the first mentions of the word 'laptop' appeared on May 13, 1985, in ST's Section Two. It was used to describe the Kaypro 2000. PHOTO: ST FILE Another laptop, the Bondwell 2, was also written about in Section Two on Sept 9, 1985. It sold for about $2,000 , which included software packages. Another laptop, the Bondwell 2, was written about in Section Two on Sept 9, 1985. PHOTO: ST FILE At that time, a reporter noted: 'The crop of portables available here are rather high-priced and beyond the reach of most people.' Thankfully, that has changed, with some laptops today priced in the low hundreds. The Kenbak-1 , built by American inventor John Blankenbaker in 1971, is widely seen as the first personal computer. Originally designed for educational purposes – to teach computer concepts and programming – it paved the way for laptops in the 1980s and smartphones in the 1990s, all turbocharged by the rise of the internet and social media. Today, most people interact with some form of personal computer daily. This digital transformation was predicted as early as 1967 by American mathematician John G. Kemeny . In a Straits Times report on Jan 28 that year, Kemeny forecast that by 1990, computers would be as common in homes as telephones and TVs, and used for chores such as shopping and banking. He was spot on . In an article on Jan 28, 1967, American mathematician John G. Kemeny predicted that by 1990, a computer terminal would be as common and important in American homes as a telephone and TVs. PHOTO: ST FILE
