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Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Health
- Straits Times
Forum: Seniors urged to prioritise getting hearing checked
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox We agree that the proper fitting of hearing aids and structured post-fitting follow-up care can lower seniors' risk of dementia and enhance their quality of life by giving them a better chance of remaining active, connected and independent ( Sumiko at 61: Hearing loss is linked to dementia risk. Here's why you should not ignore it , Aug 12). Aside from research that links the treating of hearing loss to mitigating the risk of dementia, social isolation, loneliness, depression and anxiety, increased fall risk and cognitive decline are some other health risks associated with hearing loss, which the World Health Organisation says can be 'broad and profound'. It is common for seniors to delay seeking help until their hearing loss significantly impacts their social interactions, relationships, well-being and even safety. Early detection and intervention are important and I encourage everyone, particularly those aged 60 and above, to prioritise getting their hearing checked. Of those fitted with hearing aids, anecdotal evidence from caregivers and hearing health professionals suggests that many hearing aids end up being put away rather than being used. There are over 100,000 seniors estimated to have disabling hearing loss in Singapore and that number is expected to rise with Singapore's ageing population, but 89 per cent of seniors prescribed hearing aids through the national functional screening programme do not take them up. There are several reasons. Some expect instant results, but hearing aids improve hearing; they do not restore normal hearing, and learning to hear more again is a gradual process, and can take up to a few months. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Jobs, infrastructure and homes at the core of Singapore's resilience: Economists Business New online tools by SkillsFuture Singapore help companies plan and curate staff training Life Chinese EV brand Nio to be launched in Singapore in first quarter of 2026 Asia 2 firefighters die in building fire at Osaka's Dotonbori tourist district Singapore Driver hurt after car turns turtle in Upper Thomson accident Sport National tennis player Shaheed Alam serves up charity event to benefit migrant workers Life New Blackpink album scheduled for November, YG Entertainment confirms Singapore Jail for driver of 11-tonne garbage truck that ran over cyclist in Woodlands Hearing aids may be uncomfortable at first, with louder or unnatural sounds, or they may not sit comfortably at first. They also have to be tuned and adjusted regularly. And hearing aids are not cheap. The Singapore Association for the Deaf helps to lower the barriers to good hearing health by offering: complimentary hearing tests to aid early detection; personalised fitting services and comprehensive post-fitting care with patience and skill to help seniors maximise the effectiveness of their hearing aids; the care of professionals to educate, explain and journey with seniors to encourage them to persist in wearing their hearing aids; and assistance in securing financial aid through the Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund and the Assistive Technology Fund. Some may see hearing loss as an unavoidable part of ageing, but with early detection and proper care, caregivers, the community and hearing health practitioners can encourage seniors to take up and persist in wearing hearing aids so they can better enjoy their golden years. Sunil Kumar Senior Speech and Language Therapist/Audiologist The Singapore Association for the Deaf
Straits Times
11-08-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Iraq announces nationwide power outage amid ‘record' heat
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox While the vast majority of Iraqis rely on private generators, they often cannot power all household appliances, especially air conditioners. BAGHDAD - Power was out across Iraq on Aug 11 as scorching summer temperatures pushed electricity grid demand to unprecedented levels, authorities said. The outage came amid a heatwave that Iraqi meteorological services expect to last more than a week, with temperatures climbing as high as 50 deg C in parts of the country. Mitigating the grid interruption was the fact that most households rely on private generators, acquired to compensate for daily power cuts to public electricity. The electricity ministry said the grid suffered a 'total outage' after two transmission lines were shut down 'due to a record rise in temperatures, increased consumer demand, and increased electrical load in the provinces of Babylon and Karbala, which are experiencing an influx of millions of pilgrims' for a major Shiite Muslim religious commemoration. The shutdown caused 'a sudden and accidental loss of more than 6,000 megawatts on the grid', the ministry added, with power plants also halting operations. 'Our teams are currently mobilised on the ground to gradually restore the grid over the next few hours,' the ministry said. The northern Kurdistan region was spared. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Trump signs order extending China tariff truce by 90 days, White House says World Trump seizes control of Washington police, deploys National Guard Opinion Sumiko at 61: Hearing loss is linked to dementia risk. Here's what you risk by ignoring it Business S'pore start-up among 5 global picks for Japan construction group Kajima's mentorship and funding Business Lower-wage retail workers to receive up to 6% pay bump from Sept 1 Singapore Keppel to sell M1's telco business to Simba for $1.43b, says deal expected to benefit consumers Singapore ST Explains: Who owns Simba, the company that is buying M1? Singapore Telco price undercutting expected to subside after sale of M1 to Simba: Analysts The autonomous territory has worked to modernise its power sector and was able to provide round-the-clock state electricity to a third of its population. Authorities later announced that power was being restored in stages in the southern provinces of Dhi Qar and Maysan, with the strategic port city of Basra expected to have electricity back by dawn on Aug 12. Electricity shortages are a frequent complaint in Iraq, which is sometimes rocked by protests when outages worsen in the hot summer months. 'More intense' Heatwaves in Iraq are 'more intense and more frequent' than they were in the 20th century, meteorological service spokesman Amer al-Jaberi told AFP, blaming climate change and human factors. He said gas emissions and fumes from private generators 'contribute to the rise in temperatures', and called for the creation of a 'green belt' around Baghdad 'so the city can breathe a little'. In July 2023, a fire at a transmission station in the south caused a widespread power outage. While the vast majority of Iraqis rely on private generators, they often cannot power all household appliances, especially air conditioners. Even without a nationwide blackout, Iraq's poorest endure the intense heat daily. 'It's hot, we don't have electricity, it comes on for two hours and then we can sleep a little and rest,' said Mr Haider Abbas, a 44-year-old day labourer, in his concrete-walled home on Aug 10. Originally from the town of Al-Qassim in Babylon province, central Iraq, the father of five cannot afford an air conditioner and relies instead on an air cooler that he constantly refills with water bottles. 'When I was little, we didn't have these (high) temperatures,' he recalled. 'At 52 deg C, I can't work.' To avoid outages during peak demand, Iraq would need to produce around 55,000 megawatts of electricity. For the first time in August, the country's power plants reached the 28,000-megawatt threshold. AFP
Straits Times
22-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Changi Airport's passenger traffic crosses 17.5 million mark in Q2 2025
Find out what's new on ST website and app. SINGAPORE – Changi Airport handled 17.5 million passenger movements from April to June 2025, 5.9 per cent more than the figure recorded in the same period in 2024. This marked a 4 per cent increase from the number of passenger movements recorded in the second quarter of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. These latest statistics were released by airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) in a press release on July 22. The airport handled 5.78 million passenger movements in April, 5.82 million in May and 5.88 million in June, according to passenger traffic figures published on Changi Airport's website. China was Changi Airport's biggest market in the second quarter of 2025 by passenger traffic, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and India, said CAG. Traffic between Singapore and China registered a 15.8 per cent year-on-year increase, while traffic between Indonesia grew 12 per cent in the second quarter of 2025. In January, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said the authorities expect traffic volumes at Changi Airport in 2025 to exceed pre-pandemic levels . Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore S'poreans aged 21 to 59 can claim $600 SG60 vouchers from July 22 Singapore 2 charged over alleged involvement in posting of bail for man who subsequently absconded Singapore LTA seeks tailored solutions to improve Bukit Panjang LRT's maintenance inspections Opinion Singapore's vaping crisis lays bare the drug addiction nightmare for parents Multimedia 'It's very sad': She comforts loved ones turned away by inmates Opinion Sumiko at 61: 7 facts about facial skin ageing, and skincare ingredients that actually work World Trump 'caught off guard' by Israel's strikes in Syria Singapore Ports and planes: The 2 Singapore firms helping to keep the world moving Changi Airport handled 67.7 million passengers in 2024, 99.1 per cent of the record 68.3 million handled in 2019. Mr Lim Ching Kiat, CAG's executive vice-president for air hub and cargo development, said the airport continues to see healthy growth in passenger traffic from April to June 2025. Noting that traffic to and from China and Indonesia recorded particularly strong growth in the second quarter of 2025, Mr Lim said this demonstrates Changi Airport's ongoing efforts to boost travel demand in the region. There were 93,600 aircraft movements – which include landings and take-offs – at Changi Airport in the first quarter of 2025, up 4.9 per cent from the same period in 2024. In the second quarter of 2025, Changi Airport was linked to new cities, including Vienna in Austria, Kota Bharu in Malaysia and Nha Trang in Vietnam. Following Singapore-based budget carrier JetStar Asia's closure on July 31, two of four routes to the destinations previously served exclusively by the airline – Okinawa in Japan and Labuan Bajo in Indonesia – will be operated by Scoot starting some time between October 2025 and March 2026. China's Juneyao Air will also take over the former Qantas subsidiary's services between Singapore and Wuxi in China from Aug 29. But connectivity to Broome in Australia remains lost with the closure of JetStar Asia. As at July 1, some 100 airlines operate over 7,200 weekly scheduled flights at Changi Airport, connecting Singapore to about 170 cities in 50 countries and territories worldwide. CAG noted that T'Way Air, Philippine Airlines, Myanmar National Airlines and Myanmar Airways International will be operating from Terminal 2 in the coming months from July, as part of efforts to optimise resources across the airport's terminals. T'Way Air and Myanmar National Airlines currently operate from Terminal 3, while Philippine Airlines and Myanmar Airways International run services from Terminal 1.
