A2
TOP OF THE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014
Lonely Planet picks
Singapore as top
travel spot in 2015
By MELISSA LIN
GLOBAL travel company Lonely
Planet has named Singapore the
world’s No. 1 country to visit next
year, thanks to the line-up of
events for its golden jubilee.
Its latest guidebook, Best In
Travel 2015, published yesterday
says that multicultural Singapore
“is always celebrating something”
and has more reason to when it
turns 50 next year.
New attractions opening to
coincide with the anniversary
include the National Gallery Singapore, which will house art of
19th- and 20th-century Singapore and South-east Asia. The
Singapore Sports Hub, which will
host the 28th South-east Asia
Games, will hold its official opening ceremony next year.
National Day, which falls on
Aug 9, is expected to be “celebrated with ultra-extravagant
fanfare”, the popular guide said.
Best In Travel 2015 is Lonely
Planet’s 10th collection on top
destinations, experiences and trav-
Booming gun salutes and
stately carriage procession
all part of day’s splendour
Top 10 destinations
1. Singapore
2. Namibia
3. Lithuania
4. Nicaragua
5. Ireland
6. The Republic of the
Congo
7. Serbia
8. The Philippines
9. Saint Lucia
10. Morocco
el trends, curated by its staff, authors and contributors. The book
is available in eight languages and
is on sale in over 100 countries.
It is the first time Singapore
has made it to any of the lists in
the guidebook.
The book noted that new developments, such as Marina Bay and
Gardens by the Bay, have “elevated the ‘Singapore experience’ to a
new level”.
Hotels such as W Singapore,
But it may also make Singapore a
target for extremists, says Masagos
IN IRBID (JORDAN)
SINGAPORE is taking a firm
stand against militant group
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
(ISIS) because it is the responsible thing to do, said Senior
Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs and Home Affairs
Masagos Zulkifli.
But the move may also make
Singapore an ISIS target, he
added.
Mr Masagos, who is on an official visit to Jordan, made the
point at a closed-door dialogue
on Monday in Irbid city, barely
20km from Jordan’s border with
Syria and less than 100km, or two
hours’ drive, from where ISIS is
fighting in Syria.
“Singapore has to be a responsible player on the world stage,”
he told about 70 Singaporean students studying in Jordan.
“It is about the rule of law...
They (ISIS extremists) are acting
A3
Royal pageantry marks
start of President’s UK visit
Global travel firm Lonely Planet’s latest guidebook, Best In Travel 2015, notes
that new developments such as Marina Bay (above) and Gardens by the Bay have
“elevated the ‘Singapore experience’ to a new level”. ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI
Parkroyal on Pickering and Sofitel
So Singapore have also opened
their doors recently.
Coming in second in the top 10
is Namibia, followed by Lithuania, Nicaragua and Ireland. The
Republic of the Congo, Serbia, the
Philippines, Saint Lucia and
Morocco round up the list.
The top country for this year is
football World Cup host Brazil.
Mr Chris Zeiher, Lonely
Planet’s sales and marketing director for the Asia-Pacific, said
Singapore scored high on its three
criteria – topicality, “wow” factor
and broad appeal.
What made Singapore stand
out was the fact that the city has
By CHARISSA YONG
IN LONDON
put itself on the sporting calendar
and has “quirky” attractions such
as Gardens by the Bay, he said.
It has also nurtured its dining
and fashion scene, he added.
Singapore Tourism Board
assistant chief executive Lynette
Pang said the board was humbled
by the accolade. “It’s a nice validation. But it’s not going to change
what we do, what our focus is on
and how we do our work.”
She added that the board will
continue to place emphasis on
quality tourism and work with the
industry to grow new products
and refresh old ones to cater to
the discerning traveller.
[email protected]
ABOVE: Mrs Mary Tan with the Duchess of Cambridge at the Royal Garden Hotel
yesterday. It was the first public appearance in over two months for the
Duchess, who is expecting her second child with Prince William next April.
LEFT: President Tony Tan and his wife, Mary, with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince
Philip during the welcome ceremony at the Horse Guards Parade ground in
central London yesterday. With them are (back row, from left) British Prime
Minister David Cameron, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Home Secretary
Theresa May. PHOTOS: REUTERS
Strong anti-ISIS stand ‘a responsible move’
By TOH YONG CHUAN
TOP OF THE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014
as a non-state player, they obey
no rules that the world has set for
itself.”
For example, ISIS does not
comply with the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners
of war and it executes “people
who are probably innocent”, he
added.
But while Singapore’s stand
“will have consequences”, he believes that “whether or not we
participate (in the fight), Singapore is a prized target”.
His comments follow Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s
statement in Milan last Friday,
after the Asia-Europe Meeting of
country leaders, that Singapore is
seriously considering how it can
be a helpful partner in the fight
against ISIS.
Despite the ISIS attacks in
neighbouring countries, Singaporean Taufiq Yahya, who is
studying Arabic in Jordan’s
capital Amman, feels safe in the
country.
“The reason is that Jordanians
take security seriously,” said the
30-year-old, a former enrichment centre owner who attended
the dialogue with Mr Masagos.
He moved to Jordan this year
with his wife and two children,
aged four and one.
The dialogue was not part of
Mr Masagos’ official itinerary,
which includes meetings with
Jordan’s ministers.
On Monday, he met Minister
of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate
Affairs Nasser Judeh.
Yesterday, he called on Prime
Minister Abdullah Ensour, who is
also the Minister of Defence.
He also witnessed the signing
of a memorandum of understanding between the Singapore Civil
Service College and Jordan’s Institute of Public Administration on
training Jordanian officials in
Singapore.
Today, he visits the city of
Ramallah in the Palestinian Territories, where he will meet
Palestinian National Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas and
Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki.
They will discuss areas where
Singapore can help Palestine in
capacity building.
Last week, Singapore announced
a
US$100,000
(S$127,000) contribution to a
United Nations Children’s Fund
programme to help provide water
and sanitation in Gaza.
Tomorrow, Mr Masagos will
head to the city of Petra in southern Jordan that is famed for its
rock-cut architecture, to explore
tourism cooperation between
Singapore and Jordan.
[email protected]
L SEE WORLD A16
Pistorius begins 5-year jail sentence
PRETORIA – Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius
started his five-year jail sentence
yesterday for killing his girlfriend
Reeva Steenkamp, marking the
end of a trial that has gripped
South Africa and the world.
His uncle, Mr Arnold Pistorius, indicated he would not
appeal.
As judge Thokozile Masipa
gave her decision on the culpable
homicide conviction, Pistorius
stood resolutely in the dock.
His only reaction was to wipe
his eyes before he was led to the
holding cells beneath the High
Court.
Ninety minutes later, an
armoured police vehicle carrying
Pistorius, 27, headed towards
Pretoria Central Prison, where he
is expected to serve his time.
Prisons officials said Pistorius,
whose lower legs were amputated when he was a baby, would be
housed in a separate and secure
hospital wing of the massive complex.
In delivering her decision,
Judge Masipa, 67, stressed the
difficulty of arriving at a decision
that was “fair and just to society
and to the accused”.
She also rebuffed suggestions
that Pistorius – a wealthy and
influential white man – might be
able to secure preferential justice
despite the “equality before law”
guarantee enshrined in the
post-apartheid 1996 Constitution.
Ms Steenkamp, 29, a law graduate and model, died almost
instantly on Valentine’s Day last
year when Pistorius shot her
through a locked toilet door in
his luxury Pretoria home.
Prosecutors pushed for a murder conviction, but the athlete
maintained he fired in the mistaken belief that an intruder was hiding behind the door, a defence
that struck home in a country
with one of the world’s highest
rates of violent crime.
While many ordinary citizens
were unimpressed with the sentence, Ms Steenkamp’s family
said they were satisfied with the
sentence. The state prosecuting
authority, which has two weeks
to decide whether to launch an
appeal against the verdict, said
Pistorius was likely to serve at
least a third of his sentence in
prison or 20 months.
On a separate conviction for
firing a handgun in a packed
Johannesburg restaurant, Pistorius was given a three-year
suspended sentence.
Even if he is freed early, Pistorius will not be able to resume his
athletics career until his full term
is served, the International Paralympic Committee said, ruling out
any appearance at the 2016 Rio
Olympics.
REUTERS
THE red-and-white flag of Singapore flew proudly alongside the
British Union Jack in central
London yesterday, as President
Tony Tan Keng Yam officially
began his state visit to the United
Kingdom to much fanfare.
Booming gun salutes and a
stately carriage procession
flanked by Royal Horse Guards
were all part of the day’s pageantry for Dr Tan, the first Singaporean president to make a state
visit to Britain.
The morning began with the
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
greeting Dr Tan at the Royal Garden Hotel where he was staying.
It was the first public appearance of Prince William’s wife,
Catherine, in over two months,
and she appeared healthy and
cheerful. The royal couple are expecting their second child in April
next year, and the Duchess has
been suffering from acute morning sickness.
Dr Tan and his wife, Mary,
together with the royal couple,
then went in a car procession to
the Horse Guards Parade ground,
where they were received by
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke
of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. A
103-gun royal salute was fired
from Green Park, a royal park,
and from the Tower of London, a
royal palace and fortress, as part
of the ceremonial welcome.
The Queen, who wore a navy
blue coat and matching hat, presented dignitaries to Dr Tan.
These included British Prime Minister David Cameron, secretaries
of state, senior military officials,
and top officials from London.
Dr Tan then inspected the
guard of honour, who were in
their signature red tunics and towering black fur hats.
The President and his wife
then boarded gilded state carriages – Dr Tan rode with the Queen
while Mrs Tan rode with the Duke
of Edinburgh – that brought them
to Buckingham Palace, where they
will stay until tomorrow.
Escorted by over 100 members
of the Queen’s household cavalry
mounted on horses, the procession moved off to rousing renditions of the Singaporean and British national anthems, Majulah Singapura and God Save The Queen.
Later, after a private lunch, Dr
Tan and his wife were given a tour
of the palace’s picture gallery by
the Queen and Prince Philip,
where they viewed an exhibition
of Singapore-related items from
the royal family’s art collection.
These included a diary entry describing Queen Mary’s visit to Singapore in 1901.
The President gave the Queen a
collection of hand-painted china
plates depicting places she had visited during her three previous
state visits to Singapore in 1972,
1989 and 2006.
The Queen, in return, gave him
copies of Adam Smith’s famous
The Wealth Of Nations volumes
and James Maitland’s 1804 tome,
The Nature Of Public Wealth.
Security in central London had
been beefed up yesterday following earlier fears that the ceremony
would be disrupted by Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria sympathisers, The Times reported. But the
day proceeded without incident.
Dr Tan was set to visit Westminster Abbey, address the British Parliament and attend a state
banquet hosted in his honour.
[email protected]