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The Star
5 days ago
- Business
- The Star
New ‘drive-through' cargo centre at Changi Airport cuts processing time; will be test bed for T5 ops
SINGAPORE: A new air cargo handling centre in Singapore, said to be the first of its kind in the world, features a drive-through concept capable of reducing processing time for air cargo shipments by 20 per cent. It officially opened on Tuesday (Aug 5). The 3,000sq m Bulk Unitisation Programme (BUP) Handling Centre is able to process outgoing air cargo shipments in two hours, instead of 2½ hours. BUP is a packing strategy that consolidates loose cargoes into standardised, ready-to-ship individual units such as pallets or containers to speed up handling processes. It is typically used for consumer and electronic goods such as clothes and household products. Before the launch of the centre, freight forwarders needed to transport loose cargoes to a warehouse for packing into pallets or containers for loading onto an aircraft, in addition to some ready-to-ship individual units. Built by ground-handling services provider Sats, the facility in Changi Airfreight Centre, next to Changi Airport Terminal 1, will also test-bed enhanced air cargo processes and systems for the upcoming Terminal 5 (T5) and the Changi East Industrial Zone. The industrial zone is an airport logistics park that will optimise the flow of air cargoes and reduce the costs and transit time for processing goods to and from T5. As Sats has to work with the space available in the facilities here before the opening of the zone in the mid-2030s, it is important to maximise the use of the space it has by moving ready-to-ship units into a dedicated facility, said Kuah Boon Kiam, senior vice-president for cargo services at Sats. Faster processing time at the new centre comes from the acceleration of the acceptance process, in which freight forwarders hand the goods over to handlers to check the weight and shape of the cargoes to ensure they can fit into the aircraft, as well as to verify documents. With the drive-through concept, this has been halved from 10 to 15 minutes to five to eight minutes. The cargo handling processes at the previous air freight terminals were manual, as workers needed to use forklifts to place the cargoes onto weighing machines before transferring them into the warehouse for packing and acceptance. Each terminal had only one weighing machine, which often led to congestion at the roads near the terminals. The new centre is equipped with six cargo lanes and six weighing stations, where freight forwarders can just drive their tractors and cargo dollies in to deposit their cargoes after getting them processed. Cargoes are weighed while they are still on the dollies. The cargoes will then be towed to the airside. The centre will be manned by a team of 20, and the workers will need to perform new tasks such as verifying documents and checking cargoes to ensure they are ready for loading, instead of executing tasks such as moving cargoes. Sats declined to reveal the construction cost of the new centre. Kuah said freight forwarders can now go through a much more straightforward and simple acceptance process in a 'more spacious' set-up. It is similar to the clearance lanes for cargo trucks at the Tuas and Woodlands land checkpoints, Sats noted. Kuah gave these details during a media tour on the night of July 28, noting that the centre will streamline cargo flow and boost handling efficiency. Sats had previously operated two air freight terminals – one for Singapore Airlines and the other for all other airlines it serves. They have been repurposed since April 7. Hence, Kuah described the new sheltered facility as a 'one-stop shop' for cargo handling for all airlines. It started operations in early April. The handling of cargoes at one of Sats' previous air freight terminals, in which loose cargoes had to be manually loaded onto a weighing scale and then moved into the warehouse for packing. With the new centre, Sats hopes to increase the amount of freight it handles in BUP units from the current 30 to 35 per cent of its total volume to at least 50 per cent over the next one to 1½ years. Kuah noted that the new facility is able to handle 600 units daily, double Sats' previous volume of 300 units in total for both terminals. The new BUP Handling Centre allows freight forwarders to drive through the centre to weigh their ready-to-ship units, check the contours of the cargoes to ensure they fit into the aircraft and verify the documents. Adding that the utilisation rate is now at 50 per cent, Kuah said Sats had designed it this way with a lot of room to grow. 'This will be a test bed for what we intend to do for the new Changi East Industrial Zone, because that will be (launched) in the mid-2030s – so a lot of the things that we're doing right now will basically lead up to that.' 'So we will obviously look at how we are doing it now – if it works very well, then we will replicate it for the new facility. If there are certain improvements that need to be done, then we'll have time to do them before we move to the new facility in the mid-2030s,' he added. Speaking to the media at the opening ceremony on Aug 5, Kerry Mok, president and chief executive of Sats, said there is a need for Singapore's air cargo sector to be resilient amid the ongoing tariffs. He said Sats thus needs to improve its existing facilities and drive new cargo handling processes to support the rise in volume, because there will be no new infrastructure for the next 10 years until the Changi East Industrial Zone is ready. Noting that the BUP centre will allow Sats to handle increased cargo volumes using the same infrastructure, Mok said: 'When T5 comes, these are some of the new ideas that can be launched in the design of T5. So we can't wait, we've got to do it now.' He added: 'And to do it now, it means we can then design something better for T5.' On the impact of the new facility on Singapore's position as a transit hub, Kuah said any kind of time savings that Sats can give to the air cargo logistics industry will give the republic a competitive edge. Global air cargo demand will grow by 4 per cent to 6 per cent year on year in 2025, according to freight data analysts. Likewise, South-East Asia's e-commerce market is expected to grow at an average rate of 22 per cent annually from 2025 to 2026. - The Straits Times/ANN
Malay Mail
19-06-2025
- Malay Mail
Spiced and seized: Robber caught 300 metres from Langkawi gold shop after chilli powder heist
ALOR SETAR, June 19 — A robber was arrested before he could even turn the corner on the street of a gold shop he had just fled from at Jalan Pandak Mayah 5, Kuah in Langkawi today. Langkawi police chief ACP Shariman Ashari said in the robbery at about 11.48am, the 45-year-old local man entered the shop wearing a face mask. 'During the robbery, the 69-year-old owner and his 60-year-old wife were inside the shop. The suspect threw chilli powder at the victim's wife and proceeded to smash the jewellery display glass with a machete. 'The suspect then fled but was chased down by the goldsmith and several bystanders,' he said in a statement today. He said the suspect was arrested about a 300-metre dash from the gold shop by policemen on patrol in the vicinity. 'The gold (jewellery) looted was estimated at RM50,000. The suspect has been detained for further investigation and the case is being investigated under Section 392/397 of the Penal Code (robbery and causing grievous harm),' he said. — Bernama
Free Malaysia Today
19-06-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Man nabbed after using chilli powder to rob Langkawi gold shop
Langkawi police chief Shariman Ashari said the shop was manned by a man and a female assistant, aged 69 and 60, respectively. PETALING JAYA : A man has been arrested in Langkawi after robbing a gold shop in Jalan Pandak Mayah, Kuah, armed with a parang and chili powder. Berita Harian reported that police arrested the 45-year-old suspect near the shop shortly after the 11.48am incident today. Langkawi police chief Shariman Ashari said the premises was manned by a man and a female assistant, aged 69 and 60, respectively. 'As soon as he entered the premises, the suspect who was wearing a face mask threw chili powder at the workers and broke the glass of the displays with his parang. 'He ran off with gold worth around RM50,000. However, the man was chased by the shop owner and members of the public, before policemen, who were on patrol, arrested him,' he said. Shariman said the suspect is being detained for further investigation under Section 392/397 of the Penal Code for armed robbery.
AsiaOne
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- AsiaOne
'Modern kampung spirit': Neighbours leave heartfelt notes on newly-weds' apology notice for wedding 'gatecrash' noise, Singapore News
Worried that their early-morning wedding celebrations on Saturday (June 7) might annoy their neighbours, a couple left a note in the lift asking for a little understanding. Their "sorry in advance" got plenty of kind messages back from residents at Block 77 Marine Drive — a true show of modern-day kampung spirit. Bernard Kuah, 32, told AsiaOne that he and his wife, Chermaine Wong, had sought permission from the town council to post the note in both lifts. The couple were concerned that the wedding "gatecrash", a traditional Chinese ritual where the groom and his entourage pick up the bride after overcoming a series of funny — and slightly embarrassing — challenges, would disrupt their neighbours' sleep. It was scheduled from 4am to 7am that day, Kuah, an HR manager, said. The couple put up the notice three days before the wedding — giving neighbours ample time to see it, rather than finding out at the last minute, he said. "Just a day later, we went to run some wedding errands and was taking the lift back home and saw Post-it notes on our posters," he added. "As each day passed, more notes started to appear." Ariel Ee, 22, was among those who left a note the night before the wedding. The student told AsiaOne that she and her mother felt it was a thoughtful gesture for the couple to put up an apology notice and decided it would be nice to return the kindness with well wishes. In a TikTok video, Ee could be seen sticking a Post-it note on the poster which read: "Congrats! Wishing you love, happiness and wish wishes on your union. All the best!" She called the couple's gesture, along with the neighbours' warm responses, a modern-day display of the kampung spirit. @ariyakult Kampung spirit in a modern way i guess! #sg #sgtiktok #singapore #sgfyp ♬ original sound - 🤍 The couple said that they received nine Post-it notes in total and have since taken down the notice. "We found it really sweet of our neighbours to drop these well wishes for us," said Kuah. "Not just my wife and I… our family and friends were really touched by the messages." Will they be framing the notice in their new home as keepsake? 'We have not thought of it yet as we are still busy unpacking and preparing for our honeymoon,' Kuah said. 'But that it is really good idea and I will let my wife know.' Additional reporting by Tan Yuan Ru. [[nid:692953]] chingshijie@
