Popular chicken sandwich chain Chick-fil-A to open first Singapore restaurant in 2025
In June this month, Chick-fil-A held a three-day pop-up at the Esplanade, where it served its typical chicken sandwiches and crepe potatoes. Money from the sold-out cards were given to the Community Chest donation account.
Chick-fil-A is now accepting programs for local owners here. Because Chick-fil-A covers most of the startup costs, but also charges the owner for hire, a basic working charge, and profit-sharing, the franchise model has an unusual one. Applicants only have to pay a small franchise fee and are not expected to spend a lot of capital.
However, the franchisees are expected to have hands-on experience at their stores, and they are generally not permitted to open more than one tree to demonstrate their commitment to their current one.
Singapore franchisees will also have the opportunity to participate in the Chick-fil-A Shared Board food donation program, which provides food to those in need by donating surplus food to local nonprofit organizations.
This article was first published in 8Days.  ,
US charges Indian agent over alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist
Yadav, according to the Justice Department, allegedly orchestrated the plot and claimed that he hired Gupta to use a hitman in May of 2023. Gupta allegedly reached out to a person he thought was a fugitive relate to arrange for a hitman operation. In reality, the person was a secretContinue Reading
Deep Dive Podcast: Are beauty pageants still relevant?
Here’s an extract from the discussion:  ,
Crispina Robert:
Angela, perhaps you have any opinions on the beauty strategy, particularly in beauty pageants. In a way, it’s still being judged according to a file. You still have the underwear parts and (you are ) judged by a screen, watched by millions. Some individuals may ask, Is this a little out of date in the modern world? What do you think? What do you say to the opponents?
Angela Tay:
To me, wearing a bra or even clothing is about trust. You must have the self-assurance to put on a two-piece and perform on stage. It’s not about something terrible, but rather about your level of self-assurance and how you want to motivate others to enjoy themselves and feel more confident in what you have.
Crispina:
But some people would suggest that younger women now, educated women may say, why do I have to include a bikini to demonstrate that I’m comfortable, right?
Steven Chia:  ,
Yeah. They may claim it’s a more superficial sort of competition.  ,
Angela:
No, really, if you do not have a clothing category in a elegance pageant, then it’s not a beauty pageant again.  ,
Steven:
But, you’re saying that visual element is required. Why?
Angela:
Because, at the end of the day, we still want to look at the beautiful piece of a person, not merely having the brains, but as an overall point.  ,
Crispina:
I see. Therefore, elegance is still in terms of physical charm.  ,
Angela:
Yes, it’s a deal to be a beauty wife…
Steven:
For a charm show, I guess so, because the label says beauty show, right? However, some may say that placing people on a podium and objectifying them seems a little unfair in this day and age. What do you say in response?  ,
Veronica Lee:
I absolutely hear you. Prior to joining a pageant, I must admit, I ( did ) have my reservations, and like many people, preconceptions about what a beauty pageant is.  ,  ,
Singaporean teen who performed for Bhutan’s king feels ‘a deep responsibility’ to use music to spread awareness of climate change
Filming , The Girl And Her Piano was no simple feat. To get to Laya, the crew embarked on a whole week push from Paro, where Bhutan’s aircraft is, to the city of Punakha.
The crew then drove for five days to the start of their walk, where they spent seven hours hiking in thin atmosphere before finally arriving in Laya.
There was also the matter of carrying , O’Sullivan’s 41kg music.
Lim said:” It was too thick and long for the horses to have, so unfortunately, two focused gentlemen took turns hiking it up, strapping it to their tails. Their tenacity and perseverance made a lasting impression on our hearts, highlighting the generosity and spirit of the Bhutanese people we encountered along the way.
In the lead-up to the Royal Highland Festival, Hillary O’Sullivan had to practise outside in , cloudy heat and biting weather.  , She tried to nice her arms with hot water bottles. Nevertheless, because they lost their warmth immediately, she resorted to wearing snow boots whenever she was n’t practising.
6 ideas to keep your beloved pet’s memory alive, from whimsical to luxurious
When Optimus, our nine-year-old lunch lunch, passed apart in June 2023, it left a dog-shaped hole in my home. I wished I had anything less morbid to use to store him in an pot when we brought him home. And therefore I remembered: Well, I did have a special gift.
I recently asked a fellow chow pawrent and own chow pawrent to make me two dogs, Optimus the chang, and Rey the English bulldog, into felt figurines. I was asked to bring Optimus ‘ hair home so that she could incorporate it into the figurine’s chest and neck.
Back then, it was just a whimsical feel but then, I’m glad that I can strokes my Optimus ‘ hair again.
However, my fabric designer friend is not taking purchases for now. However, there are many other choices bereaved pawrents you discover, from as cheap as S$ 5.90 for a keyring.
1. Dog Seats, FELT FIGURINES AND OTHER MEMORABILIA
Online retailer @pea-nuts offers tailored pet antiques, starting from S$ 5.90 for an plastic keychain. The pillows , ( from S$ 10.90 ) are a bestseller, with up to 60 orders a month, 120 during Christmas.
How a local travel company designed American actress Drew Barrymore’s Singapore itinerary within a week
Then there are customers who are so well-traveled that their requests are incredibly certain. One, in special, was returning to Tanzania in East Africa despite having formerly been there during the Great Migration. Observing the year-long occurrence, which sees continual movement of over a million gazelle and hundreds of thousands of animals and zebras across the Serengeti-Mara ecology, is one of the most sought-after encounters for animals and nature enthusiasts.  ,
The visitor had stated,” I just go back to Tanzania because I need to see the wildlife crossing the river. I do n’t want to see them running about in the fields. They need to get crossing the river”, Tan recalled in joy.
You have to day it in such a way that you can tell the animals are going to be crossing the river when they are staying there because it was a very particular request.
One of the most “puzzling” demands that was made in Singapore came from a host whose name Tan requested withholding and wanted to replace the mattress in the political set of an ultra-luxe history hotel in the city center. He’d found it” too hard” according to his rear problems.  ,
The issue is that the bed was created especially for the custom-built bed frame. You ca n’t just switch it out with any other mattress”, Tan said. However, the butler team’s repeated attempts to loosen the bed with mattress toppers failed.
So she’d first apologised, unable to see any way her staff could accomplish the demand, even as they’d worked rapidly with the hotel’s butler team to try and fix the concerns. Therefore, quickly, a alternative presented itself.
” While ( the client ) was in the spa, we worked with the hotel’s butler team, who managed to source a softer mattress from a partner property that was able to fit the suite’s custom bed frame. The resort’s six to eight-person laundry team then carried the new bed across the road, hand-carrying it, and putting it back on while the client was in the spa.
China vows to catch up with Elon Musk’s Starlink – Asia Times
Chinese state media have launched a campaign to promote China’s accomplishments in developing its own Starlink-like technique following tech giant Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s success in October when its returning Super Heavy capsule was captured by a gigantic piece of mechanised” sticks.”
In China, at least three companies are trying to catch up with SpaceX’s Starlink, which aims to send 42, 000 satellites to low Earth orbit ( LEO ) in the coming decades. So much 6, 426 Starlink satellites have been sent.  ,
One of the group is China Satellite Network Group Co, a Hebei-based state-owned-enterprise. It operates the GW program, which refers to GuoWang or actually means” National Networks” in Taiwanese, and aims to build a Chinese version of Starlink with about 13, 000 satellites.
Shanghai Weixiao Satellite Engineering Center, a division of the Chinese Academy of Science, is another one. Its G60 or Qianfan strategy aims to deliver 12, 000 observatories to LEO by 2027.
The second one is Shanghai Lanjian Hongqing Technology Co, in which the Beijing-based LandSpace has a 48 % interest. Zhang Changwu, a former national at the Ministry of Land and Resources, founded the privately held company LandSpace. Lanjian Hongqing’s Honghu-3 plan may send 10, 000 observatories to LEO.
” After seeing SpaceX’s successful launch on October 13, many foreign media have mocked China”, Lei Xiangping, a commentator with the state-owned China Central TV (CCTV ), says in an opinion piece published on Thursday. ” Fortunately, China has already fought back in the following three days” . ,
Lei claims that China has stretched its muscle by launching the Gaofen-12 05 distant sensing dish on Wednesday via a Long March-4C aircraft jet in Gansu and sending 18 conversation satellites for the Qianfan system via a Long March-6A jet in Shanxi on Tuesday.  ,
By 2030, he claims, Taiwanese companies will send more than 15, 000 satellites to LEO.  ,
There will be no more room and speed in the orbit for other places when Starlink’s plan for sending 42, 000 observatories to LEO is finished, he claims. China may accelerate its spacecraft start plans in order to compete for resources in LEO.
He even claims that Beijing needs to move quickly with its Qianfan system, which will allow the People’s Liberation Army to conduct high-resolution military surveillance missions all over the world.  ,
” In this emerging field, whoever has the most advanced technologies and controls the sources may like a proper edge”, he says.  ,
The latest two powerful satellite launches, according to The Global Times, demonstrated China’s growing expertise in space technology and exceedingly strong capabilities for space applications on Wednesday.
” This success reflects the dedication of China’s aircraft workers in upholding the soul of the’ Two explosives, one dish,'” the newspaper said.  ,
China’s” Two weapons, one dish” system refers to the barrages of the country’s first nuclear weapon in 164 and second gas bomb in 1967 and the release of its first satellite in 1970.  ,
Who mocked China?
Gao Tianwei, a technology columnist with China’s Guancha.cn, on Monday commented on the SpaceX booster’s successful landing.
In its most recent flight launch, SpaceX significantly improved. Should China follow suit and speed up its development”? Gao says.
He claims that China should not be in a rush to launch its Long March 9, a super heavy carrier rocket that is similar to SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster but has a nine-meter diameter and parallel engines. He claims that this is because the nation has already become the No. 1 nation in the world. 2 in terms of aerospace technology.
He also says China would prefer to invest in projects that have been proven feasible, for example, reusable medium-lift launch vehicles like SpaceX’s Falcon 9.  ,
Gao only reiterates Beijing’s official position that Long March 9 will not be accessible until 2033, so there is no such thing as a problem with his remarks.  ,
But when the China Times, a Taiwanese newspaper, on Monday cited Gao’s comments, it used a negative headline and said that China will have to wait for a long time before it can achieve SpaceX’s breakthroughs.  ,
Lianhe Zaobao, a Singaporean newspaper, on Tuesday published a commentary with the title” Did Musk’s Starship outshine China’s rockets”? According to the statement, some Chinese media members worry that China wo n’t be able to compete with the US in space technology.  ,
On Wednesday and Thursday, Chinese state media responded to all these media reports.  ,
Mo Jiangli, a Shandong-based writer, says it’s unfair that foreign media only praised Musk’s Starship but not LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 reusable test rocket, which successfully completed a 10 kilometer vertical takeoff on September 11.  ,
Separately, Jiangsu Deep Blue Aerospace Technology, another private firm like LandSpace, is developing a reusable launch vehicle called Nebula-1. During its first test on September 22, the vehicle had a difficult landing.
Read more: China and SpaceX have various plans for Mars.
Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at , @jeffpao3
Govt launches lottery ticket pilot
PUBLISHED: 18 Oct 2024 at 05: 18
NAKHON RATCHASIMA: On Thursday, the captain step of the president’s N3 three-digit lottery program officially began as many people flocked to prize booths to purchase tickets to play the newest iteration of the state-owned game of chance.
Thatsaneeya Thipthanesuan, the owner of one of the jackpot stores on Jomphol Road in the state’s city area, said that as of 9.30am, more than 30 users had come to her shop to buy N3 raffle tickets.
The store had installed a bright Television, connecting with the Pao Tang app, to help consumers understand the purchasing process and payments, she added.
Many clients were reported to prefer the N3 lottery because, unlike the underground lottery, it does n’t limit purchasers from buying as many “locked numbers” as they want.
The N3 jackpot screening phase, which started yesterday, may work for six months. On November 1, there will be the second jackpot draw.
According to Thanavath Phonvichai, the Government Lottery Office ( GLO ) spokesman, the N3 lotto was launched to tackle lottery overpricing and black market tickets.
The N3 cards are available at all 400 jackpot stores registered with the GLO nationwide.
He said that customers can make their purchases at the factory using electronic payment systems, and that any amount between 000 and 999 will appear in the Pao Tang wireless application.
The tickets are priced at 20 baht each, and up to 100 tickets can be purchased at a time.
The winning numbers, according to Mr. Thanavath, coincide with the GLO’s bi-monthly lottery draw results.
Every ticket is eligible to win prizes in one of four categories: 3-digit straight, 3-digit alternating, 2-digit straight, and special prizes.
The first lottery drawing for the N3 ticket will take place on November 1, and the winners can claim their prizes through the app, he said.
Mr Thanavath said that the GLO will collect sale information, consumer impacts, and matters relating N3 lottery during this pilot phase.
The full launch is expected in April, he added.
CNA Explains: Why Singapore and Southeast Asia could see a wetter, rainier end to 2024
What does it imply for the location and Singapore?
Dr Dhrubajyoti Samanta, a senior research fellow with the Earth Observatory of Singapore at , Nanyang Technological University, pointed to the , NOAA prediction a poor La Nina in Southeast Asia.
This leaves it “very likely” that it wo n’t be “very wet” or cause significant concern beyond a typical La Nina.
For conditions could even be useful for water refill- where water infiltrates deeper earth layers- and agriculture, while improving air quality, said Dr , Samanta.  ,
However, according to Prof. Roth, a La Nina over the upcoming month may coincide with the upcoming Northeast rain season, which is already the rainiest time of year.  ,
Aside from cooler air conditions, there’s an increased likelihood of localised flood when above-average snowfall coincides with intervals of currently high water levels, such as during seasonal high waves, he said.  ,
Dr. Wang speculated that some Southeast Asian nations might experience a higher risk of flooding in low-lying places with inadequate drainage and floods or landslide in mountainous regions.
This can also interfere with planting and harvesting routines, or worse, damage crops, lowering agricultural yields and causing financial loss, among other things.
For instance, Malaysia’s 2021 storms affected more than 10, 000 acres of land, causing grain supply to fall by more than 200, 000 kilograms, Dr Wang pointed out.
He added that recovering the infrastructure damage and wheat production, which are still not at their best levels, may take years.
Most countries on the Indochina island are now dealing with the effects of dangerous storms in recent months, as it stands.  ,
Typhoon Yagi brought strong winds and heavy rainfall to Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar in September, killing thousands and destructive factories and land.  ,
And in recent months, the Philippines has experienced a number of fatal storms, including Typhoon Gaemi in July, Yagi in September, and Krathon in October.
Commentary: I’m not rude, you’re rude! Or are we all just misunderstood?
OFFLINE BUBBLES HAVE OFFLINE IMPACTS
These mistakes are not fresh, but they are made worse by the fall of modern communications.
Algorithms priest our virtual experiences, surrounding us with like-minded people, usually of similar age groups or ethnic backgrounds. We are less sensitive to how other people might view the same words or gestures separately because of this.
Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, and also Gen Alpha have each developed their own expressive rites- often unknown to one another.
Are you aware of how various years speak?
Here’s a simple test: Is there a difference between replying” Ok” ( without a full stop ) versus” Ok”. ( with a complete halt )?
Older generations generally use” Ok.” ( with a final flourish ) using the effort to punctuate properly as a sign of respect.
Younger generations, on the other hand, tend to perceive” Ok”. ( with a complete stop ) as passive-aggression- the receiver is unhappy enough to go through the hassle of adding that last punctuation.
Only by saying” Ok,” I discovered that I had unintentionally made individuals frightened. to their demands, they believed I was upset with them.
If this scares you, you might be in a conversational bubble.
Conversational bubbles make us less conscious of other people’s communication rituals because they can be so subtle that they go unnoticed, leading to misinterpretation of their behavior or unwittingly acting in ways that cause miscommunications, both online and offline.