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Road safety engineering and management were the focus of a nine-day course (15 to 25 November 2011) conducted in Singapore for government officials from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 21 training awards were provided by the Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st Century (JSPP21) for this course, which was one of 17 training programmes jointly organised by the Singapore Cooperation Programme of the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the current year.

The JSPP21 course was conducted by the LTA Academy, and participants learnt how Singapore developed policies and practices to enhance road and pedestrian safety. Participants were taught how road safety initiatives and various techniques like crash site investigation and data analysis effectively reduced road accidents. In addition, they visited the Traffic Police Department, Road Safety Park and ComfortDelgro Driving Centre to gain first-hand insights into how road safety measures were implemented and enforced in Singapore.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the course, Mrs Belinda Tay, Deputy Director for Technical Cooperation, Singapore MFA, urged participants to maximise their learning experience by drawing useful points from the training and sharing experiences with one another from the region. JICA Representative in Singapore Mr Takaaki Oiwa pointed out the high occurrences of road traffic deaths and injuries in Southeast Asia and expressed confidence that participants would benefit from the practical knowledge gained through the course to improve road safety in their home countries.

In her speech at the closing ceremony, class representative Ms Luksanawadee Tanamee from Thailand thanked the Governments of Singapore and Japan for organising the training for the ASEAN countries. She lauded the Singapore trainers for their professionalism and said that the training on road safety management would be very useful for her work.

Nineteen participants from Asia, Africa, the Pacific Island States, Latin America and the Middle-East attended the recently concluded course for trainers of early childhood educators.

The course, conducted by the SEED Institute, introduced participants to Singapore’s experiences in early childhood education and equipped participants with skills on teacher training including adult learning methodologies and curriculum planning. Apart from interactive lessons and hands-on activities, participants also had the opportunity to visit an early childhood education centre to gain insight on the practical aspects of training early childhood educators.

The course also provided participants with the opportunity to learn from one another and find commonalities in their experiences. Class representative Mrs Embler Gillian Spencer from Antigua and Barbuda said in her moving speech at the Closing Ceremony that the course had provided participants with a “wealth of experience and knowledge” and attributed this to the willingness of course instructors and participants alike to share what they knew openly and honestly.

Eleven senior environmental officials from six ASEAN countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines and Viet Nam) attended a 10-day customised course on sustainable development and environmental management in Singapore under the Thailand-Singapore Third Country Training Programme (TCTP). The course was conducted by the Singapore Environment Institute (SEI) with contributions from Mahidol University, Thailand.

Over the 10 days, the ASEAN officials learnt extensively about Singapore’s environmental journey and our national management framework that has helped to perpetuate our vision of a clean and green city. They also got a first-hand experience of our environmental facilities during the site visits, which included sessions at the Semakau Offshore Landfill and the Tuas South Incineration Plant.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the course, Mr Noel Antonio V. Gaerlan, Executive Director of the Manila Bay Coordinating Office, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, expressed his admiration for Singapore’s track record in environmental management and stressed that the “Singapore Experience” will come in valuable when the participants tackle the environmental issues they face in their home countries. In his address, Mr Gaerlan also urged the participants to emulate the “will and determination that Singapore has consistently displayed” when they implement long-term environmental programmes in their countries.