By GOH KANG SHIONGgohkangs@sph.com.sg

By 2020, one million em-ployees in Singapore willbe working in a health-pro-moting workplace ecosys-tem with ready access tohealthy-living amenities,services and information re-sources as part of theHealthy Living Master Plandeveloped by the HealthPromotion Board (HPB)and the Ministry of Health(MOH), among other initia-tives.

At the plan’s officiallaunch yesterday, manynew workplace-relatedhealth promotion pro-grammes were announced,including HPB’s plan toreach out to workers in un-structured workplace indus-tries such as retail, trans-port as well as cleaning andsecurity. Such workers,with their irregular work-ing hours and lack of access

to health facilities, requirehealth promotion pro-grammes tailored to theirneeds.

Programmes targeted atthese groups of workerscentre on promoting goodhealth practices at workand getting service buyersto provide in-house healthpromotion programmes,such as flu vaccination andhealth screening, to theircontracted workers.

HPB also wants to repli-cate the model used in Ma-pletree Business City – thefirst business hub HPBworked with to promotehealthy living in a work-place setting – in at least 15other business parks and in-dustrial estates, create anindustry of workplacehealth promotion consult-ants, and develop a “TotalWorkplace Safety andHealth” initiative for work-ers.

MOH Parliamentary Sec-

retary Muhammad FaishalIbrahim, who earlier ad-dressed those attending thelaunch ceremony, told re-porters that the workplaceis a very powerful platformfor the changing of habits,lifestyles and the way work-ers engage themselves atwork.

“It is also an opportunityfor us to capitalise on groupplatforms. When you havethe healthy environment atworkplaces to create thenecessary nudges to choosehealthier options, that itselfcan translate into some-thing very powerful,” hesaid.

Focusing on promotinghealthy living at workplac-es forms one of the threekey areas that HPB is target-ing in order to bring healthi-er living “to the doorsteps”of one in two Singaporeansby 2020. The other two are-as are communities andschools.

By MINDY TANtanmindy@sph.com.sg@MindyTanBT

AS difficult as it is to let goof the reins of the business,business leaders need tolearn to let their successorsmake independent deci-sions.

“I like them to make mis-takes so I can see how theydeal with it while I amalive,” said KS Energygroup chairman and chiefexecutive officer Kris Wilu-an. “It’s better if it’s wrongnow, while I am around, soI can tell them what theyhave done wrong; ratherthan I make all the deci-sions – and I don’t knowhow they make decisionswhen I am gone,” he said.

Mr Wiluan was part ofthe panel at the lunch fo-rum Making Succession aSuccess which was co-presented by The BusinessTimes and Coutts at TheFullerton Hotel.

Other members on thepanel comprised RichardEu, Eu Yan Sang Interna-tional’s group chief execu-tive; Sat Pal Khattar, chair-man of Khattar Holdingsand Maya Prabhu, manag-ing director at Coutts Insti-tute. The panel was moder-ated by The Business Timesassociate editor VikramKhanna.

But as important as it isto empower family mem-bers to make decisions,there must be a clear deline-ation between work rela-tionships and family rela-tionships.

Marrying the two struc-tures – families which areemotional with permanentrelationships, and business-es which are rational withtransactional relationships– is one of the key challeng-es faced by family business-es, said Ms Prabhu.

Indeed, only an estimat-ed 10-15 per cent of familybusinesses survive to thethird generation, and only3-4 per cent beyond it.

This is largely due to

inter-generational conflict.Other factors include a lack

of shared vision, a lack of

structure and governance

to support the vision, and asimple lack of communica-

tion which can result in as-

sumptions and expecta-

tions being built – which

leads to misunderstand-ings, she added.

Separately, a commontheme floated by panellistswas that of meritocracy.

In the case of Mr Eu,who is the fourth genera-tion to take over the familybusiness, his successor isnot his son but his cousin.

“Right now, we havetwo fifth generation familymembers (in the organisa-tion) – my son and my niece– and they report to otherpeople,” said Mr Eu.

“My son has worked out-side (of the family business)for a few years, and now he

reports to the MD in Syd-ney. My niece is a qualifiedChinese physician and shereports to the product devel-opment head. In terms ofhow they progress in thecorporation . . . that re-mains to be seen.”

Mr Wiluan agreed, not-

ing that key performance in-dicators of family membersare judged not by him butby other professionals.

“If they are passionatebut not competent, they canbe a shareholder or a boardmember. But you need tolet the professionals do thejob,” said Mr Wiluan.

By RAPHAEL LIMraphlim@sph.com.sg

SINGAPORE will take grea-ter interest in nuclear safe-ty, science and engineer-ing, with $63 million setaside for a research andeducation programme un-veiled yesterday.

The Nuclear Safety Re-search and Education Pro-gramme (NSREP) will usethe funds over the next fiveyears mainly for research,education and infrastruc-ture, said the National Re-search Foundation (NRF) ina statement.

NRF chief executive offi-cer Low Teck Seng said thecurrent lack of qualifiedand experienced staff inthese areas posed a bigchallenge for Singapore.

“We have to start build-ing up the capabilities nowto ensure that there are suit-ably trained local scientistsand engineers who can as-sess developments in nuc-lear technology and nuc-lear energy programmes inthe region, and advise thegovernment on nuclearsafety issues,” he said.

Countries in the regionsuch as Malaysia, Thailandand Vietnam have previous-ly shown interest in nuclearenergy as an option.

During last month’s Nu-clear Security Summit in

The Hague, Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong said Singa-pore needed to have someunderstanding of nuclearsafety, so as to have exper-tise to fall back on shouldanything happen in the re-gion.

In October 2012, apre-feasibility study on nu-clear energy commissionedby the government conclud-ed that current nuclear en-ergy technologies were notyet suitable for deploymentin Singapore.

However, the study not-ed that an active role inglobal and regional cooper-ation on nuclear safety andmonitoring the develop-ment of such technologieswas still necessary.

Based on those recom-mendations, the NSREP –

comprising two compo-nents – was formed. Thefirst component is the Sin-gapore Nuclear Researchand Safety Initiative, whichfocuses on research and de-veloping capabilities in nu-clear safety, science and en-gineering. It will be hostedin the National Universityof Singapore and led by pro-fessor of physics Lim Hock.

The Nuclear Educationand Training Fund formsthe other component, with$8 million set aside for ac-tivities including master’sand PhD scholarships,training courses, overseasattachments for nuclear-related topics and local un-dergraduate minors in simi-lar fields.

The main areas of studywould be radiochemistry,

radiobiology and nuclearsafety analysis. These in-volve measuring radioac-tive levels in the environ-ment, analysing effects oflow-level radioactivity onhealth, and running compu-ter-based simulations forrisk analysis.

NSREP aims to have 100researchers on board in 10years. Currently, there areno tie-ups with the privatesector but the NRF said thiscould be possible in the fu-ture.

Prof Low said the pro-gramme would bring broad-er benefits to Singapore,with relevance to fieldssuch as medicine, materialscience and agriculture.“There are more uses ofnuclear technology thanjust nuclear energy.”

By KARA QUEKkaraquek@sph.com.sg

A FULLY automated noodle-makingmachine will be the first in a pipelineof projects to be launched under anew strategic collaboration betweentechnology company Royal Philipsand Temasek Polytechnic (TP).

A new prototype of the Philips Noo-dle Maker, one of the first fully-auto-mated noodle-making machines avail-able on the market, will be the firstjoint project between the polytechnicand Philips. Designed for conven-ience in the making and customisa-tion of fresh noodles, the machinemay potentially revolutionise hownoodles are consumed at home.

The machine, slated for launch lat-er this year, will be put through itspaces by students at TP’s School of De-sign, who will test it in various as-pects, such as ease of use and productdesign.

As the machine does all the hardwork, like kneading and mixing, noo-dle-making is made easier for the us-er as all one has to do is place raw in-gredients, like eggs and flour, into themachine. In addition, the Noodle Mak-er provides users with many ways tocustomise their noodles, according toPhilips. The fat and salt content canbe controlled, and additional ingredi-ents like spinach or carrots can be in-corporated for creative noodle alter-natives.

TP’s School of Applied Science,with its deep knowledge of local cui-sines, will develop Asian noodle reci-pes designed for local palettes. Theserecipes will come with the machinefor users to make the noodles them-selves.

As TP is knowledgeable about nu-trition, and emphasises healthy eat-ing, the recipes will target segmentsof the population that include theyoung and the elderly.

Through the testing and develop-ment process, Philips will be able togather insights on local consumers,enabling it to better market the Noo-dle Maker to Singaporeans. Mean-while, TP students will benefit fromthe opportunity to apply their skillsand knowledge to real-world scenari-os with real-world business impacts,in the realm of food preparation.

The collaborative effort on the Noo-dle Maker is but one of many projectsin the pipeline for Philips and TP, asboth parties signed a memorandumof understanding (MOU) yesterday,with the aim of co-creating solutionsfor Singapore and the region in areassuch as consumer insights, andhealthcare and gerontology. Throughthe collaboration, Philips and TP also

aim to promote the exchange of know-ledge, build both new and existing ca-pabilities, and develop research com-petence.

“Through this long-term collabora-tive and multi-disciplinary partner-ship with Temasek Polytechnic, wewill develop innovation activities thatdeliver impactful local solutions thataddress people’s needs and solve soci-etal challenges such as healthcare foran aging population,” said Harjit Gill,chief executive officer of PhilipsAsean and Pacific.

“In addition, we aim to also con-tribute to capabilities building in Sin-gapore, not just for present industriesbut also to build new capabilities forfuture industries as we tackle the bigchallenges of our world today,” sheadded.

To this end, Philips and TP plan toembark on various projects and at-tachment programmes, conduct work-shops and joint research, and shareand set up research facilities.

Lack of experienced,qualified staff inthese areas poses bigchallenge: NRF chief

M1 ties up withbooking app GrabTaxi

M1 is partnering taxibooking app GrabTaxi inSingapore’s first carrierbilling service for taxidrivers. Under thepartnership, taxi driverswho are M1 subscriberscan make GrabTaxipayments through theirM1 bill. Taxi drivers willalso enjoy a 20 per centbonus for each top-up of$10, $30, or $50 madethrough this arrangement.The first 10,000 M1customers who book a taxiride with the GrabTaxi appwill get a $3 discount fromnow until May 31, 2014.

More filing taxreturns ealier

MORE taxpayers filed theirtax returns earlier thisyear, with 75 per centfiling by April 1, 4 per centhigher than last year. Theoverall filing rate remainedhigh, with 95 per cent oftaxpayers filing by theApril 18 due date. Apenalty of up to $1,000will be imposed for latefiling. The Inland RevenueAuthority of Singapore willissue the Notices ofAssessment (NOA), or taxbill, to taxpayers from nextmonth. Those not on GIROare required to pay theirtaxes within one monthfrom the date of the NOA.

Let successorsmake theirown decisions

Family matters: The panel, comprising (from left) Mr Khanna, Mr Wiluan, Ms Prabhu, Mr Eu and Mr Khattar, stressed that there must be aclear delineation between work relationships and family relationships. PHOTO: ARTHUR LEE

Panel on familybusiness highlightsmeritocracy

$63m set aside for nukesafety research, education

SINGAPOREROUNDUP

Temasek Polypartners Philipsto co-createsolutions

Collaboration: A new prototype of the Philips Noodle Maker, one of thefirst fully-automated noodle-making machines available on the market,will be the first joint project between the polytechnic and Philips

Big push for healthy livingat the workplace by HPB

WORLD CUP

Calling CEOs toscore for Charity

Join Coca-Colaregional chiefGill McLaren andscore for charity

We are looking for 32 CEOs to take part in The BT-Coca-Cola Charity Drive, where you can use your corporate funds set aside for charity in a creative way! Each of you will be assigned one of the 32 teams by drawing lots(or for a one-time donation of$2,000, you can make your own choice from the avail-able teams). You will then face off one another for each match on paper. The losing CEO coughs up $2,000. The winning CEO does not need to pay. If the match ends ina draw, both fork out $1,000.

The maximum amount that you are expected to donate is $6,000 (or $8,000, if you had chosen your team). It can be from corporate funds and enjoys tax credits. Proceeds will be shared equally by The Business Times Budding

Artists Fund and the Singapore Sports Council’s SportCares

Fund. To register yourinterest, kindly e-mailchuamc@sph.com.sg. Participation will be

on a first-come-first-served basis.

Join Coca-Colaregional chief

score for charity

$2,000, you can make your $2,000, you can make your own choice from the availown choice from the avail-able teams).able teams). You will then face off You will then face off one another for each one another for each match on paper. The match on paper. The losing CEO coughs up losing CEO coughs up $2,000. The winning $2,000. The winning CEO does not need to CEO does not need to pay. If the match ends inpay. If the match ends ina draw, both fork out $1,000.

Artists Fund and the Singapore Sports Council’s SportCares

Fund. To register yourinterest, kindly e-mailchuamc@sph.com.sg. Participation will be

on a first-come-first-served basis.

12 SINGAPORE NEWS The Business Times, Thursday, April 24, 2014 ●