Pump prices may be high but follow these simple fuel-saving tips to wring the maximum mileage from every drop of petrol. TEXT: LEOW JU-LEN PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK From setting off early on your journey to servicing your car regularly and enjoying fuel discounts at Sinopec for HomeTeamNS members, here’s a list of simple and effective fuel-saving tips that can put a significant dent in your monthly expenses. Some of these fuel-saving tips apply to the driver, some to the car, and others are just a matter of exploiting the fuel-saving features that the latest car models come with. 1. BE ORIGINAL The first thing to do is: Nothing. That means keeping your car in its original condition. That’s because adding an aftermarket rear wing or body kit may make your car look cooler, but they are detrimental to aerodynamic efficiency (how slippery a car is when it moves through the air). Upsizing the wheels and tyres increases rolling resistance (the amount of energy your car needs to travel at a given speed). Likewise, modifying the engine to increase power can raise the consumption of fuel. Just leave your car the same as it was when it left the factory if you want to keep it in the condition it was optimised for. How easy is that! 2. SAVE MONEY ON FUEL Great news for HomeTeamNS members: Show your digital membership card at Sinopec along with your driving license and you’ll enjoy upfront fuel discounts — get up to 24 per cent off your petrol bill at Sinopec’s Bukit Timah service station and 23 per cent off at the Yishun and new Woodlands stations. The single easiest way to stretch your fuel dollar is to save money when you buy it. 3. GIVE THOSE TYRES AIR Tyres that are even a little underinflated have more rolling resistance, and that raises fuel consumption by making the engine work harder. Be sure to check those pressures at least every other time you fill up the gas tank. That’s because air seeps out of tyres naturally, and that can cause a loss of 1 or 2 psi of pressure every month. Fuel consumption rises as much as 0.3% for every 1% of under-inflation, so let’s work out the numbers: suppose you have a small car that returns 15km per litre of petrol on tyres that should be inflated to 32psi. If the tyres are down to 30psi after a month, the loss in pressure would reduce the fuel economy to 14.7km per litre — enough to shave 15km off a 50-litre tankful. Properly inflated tyres are safer and last longer, too, making this hack a triple win. 4. BE SERVICE ORIENTED Tempted to combat higher pump prices by skipping servicing? Don’t. Lots of small mechanical flaws can raise fuel consumption meaningfully. Clogged filters, fouled spark plugs, engine oil that’s past its best, misaligned wheels, and the list goes on. These are all picked up and sorted during servicing, so take your car to the workshop on time if you want to keep it running efficiently. 5. SET OFF EARLY Rushing to your appointment is not only stressful, but it’s also bound to raise your fuel bill because it requires you to zoom along as quickly as you can. Try leaving five to 10 minutes earlier than you usually would, to give yourself time to get there without driving fast. It’s also safer, and you’ll be surprised at how much better your mood behind the wheel will be, too. 6. BACK OFF A LITTLE Fuel-efficient driving isn’t about going slowly, but about going steadily. Accelerating takes energy, and braking removes kinetic energy, so both of those things are detrimental to fuel consumption. Instead, try to get up to a steady speed and do your best to maintain it. Two things will help with that. Try to drive with a sense of anticipation and look further up the road than usual. That way you’ll be more aware of what’s going on around your car and can slip smoothly around upcoming hazards before you run into them. Second, try keeping a bigger gap between yourself and the car ahead than you’re used to. The extra space will let you keep going at a smooth pace while the car ahead speeds up and slows down with the rest of traffic. It gives you a better view of what’s up the road, too, which is great for safety. 7. BE AN ECO-MANIAC Saving fuel is sometimes a matter of pushing the right buttons in your car. Specifically, if it comes with different driving modes, try engaging the Eco setting. This turns down the throttle response (that is, the relation between how far you press the accelerator pedal and how much the engine responds) and makes the transmission change up the gears sooner. That might make your car seem sluggish, but full power is still available when you need it. Eco mode sometimes reduces air-conditioning power, but some cars allow you to tweak that setting and keep the cold air going. 8. COAST ALONG Many modern cars have a coasting or “sailing” mode (it’s sometimes activated by engaging the Eco setting) that’s similar to slipping the car into neutral and letting it roll freely. Get up to speed, take your foot off the accelerator (and keep it off the brake) and you’ll be amazed at how far you can keep going. Some cars, typically mild hybrids, are able to shut down their engines completely while coasting, which is a neat way to travel without using any fuel at all. Even if your car has no coasting function, however, you can try taking your foot off the accelerator early when you know you have to slow down (say, for a red light or upcoming bend). Modern cars shut down their fuel injectors under deceleration, which also means you burn no petrol while slowing down. 9. LET SATELLITES HELP YOU You might know your way around Singapore with your eyes closed, but

The total number of fire calls has decreased by 1.8 per cent in 2021 – and while that’s good news, even one fire is too many. How can we reduce fire risk, and what should we do if a fire breaks out near us? TEXT: MELODY TAN PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK Fires can occur almost anywhere, from a HDB flat  to a waste oil processing plant, and even at a historical shrine on Kusu Island. While the overall number of fire calls dipped slightly last year by 1.8 per cent, there were 194 cases of fire injury – ten more compared to 184 cases in 2020. In addition, three people died due to fires. Fires are almost always preventable tragedies. Taking a few sensible precautions can ensure our safety, as well as the protection of our belongings and buildings. Read on to learn how to lower fire risk, as well as steps to take if a fire breaks out. TIP #1: DON’T MESS WITH ELECTRICITY There have been multiple cases of fires started by faulty battery packs of power-assisted bicycles (PABs) or personal mobility devices. These battery packs are often left to charge overnight or for a period of time, before exploding and igniting a fierce blaze. If you have a personal mobility device or a PAB, be sure to buy original batteries and refrain from charging them overnight, for a long and unattended period of time, or near combustible materials. You should examine the batteries regularly for signs of damage, such as corrosion, bloating or a powdery residue. Avoid charging the battery immediately after using the PAB or mobility device, and never tamper with or modify it. Similarly, electrical wiring in your home should be installed by a qualified electrician, as fires of electrical origin were the number one type of fire in 2021, with 588 cases, or 31.9 per cent of all fires. When purchasing electrical appliances, look out for the SAFETY mark. This indicates that the product has been tested for safety measures against fire, explosion and other dangers. TIP #2: COOK WITH CARE You might be a magician in the kitchen, but even a culinary wizard wouldn’t be able to stop a blaze once it’s out of control. To reduce fire risk, never leave your cooking unattended and be sure to keep flammable items away from any heat sources, such as the open flame on your stove. To avoid nasty burns – or worse – avoid wearing loose clothing, such as long flowing sleeves, when you are cooking. Switch off the electrical outlets to appliances when they aren’t in use, and make sure that they aren’t overloaded. Next to electrical fires, cooking-related fires were the second highest in 2021, with 408 cases. TIP #3: EXTINGUISH FOR CERTAIN Fires can start from the smallest of sparks – and that includes a cigarette butt that hasn’t quite been stubbed out. “Dropped light” fires – defined as fires caused by unextinguished cigarettes, charcoal embers and incense sticks – were the third most common type of fire last year, with 349 incidents. If you are disposing charcoal embers or cigarette butts in the common rubbish chute or a bin, make sure that they have been fully extinguished to reduce fire risk. And if you have an altar or an aromatherapy burner at home, place it far away from curtains. TIP #4: EDUCATE EVERYONE Whether at home or in the workplace, everyone sharing the same space should be fully aware of potential fire risks. For example, children should be taught to play with sparklers and lanterns outdoors only. Adults should make it a habit to avoid cluttering up fire escape paths, especially with flammable items such as books, newspapers and boxes. If you have a domestic helper who does the ironing, make sure she knows to switch off the iron instead of leaving it unattended on the board, as overheated fabric can catch fire. You might also consider organising a fire drill at least twice a year within your own household, so that everyone knows what to do in an emergency. In workplaces, fire safety equipment, like smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, should be kept updated. Employees should be trained to know what to do in the event of a fire. Employees should also make it a habit to turn off computers, laptops and other appliances when leaving the office. After all, fire safety is everyone’s responsibility. WHAT TO DO WHEN A FIRE OCCURS If a fire breaks out near you, the first thing to do is to stay calm. Call 995 for the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), alert others and proceed to evacuate. In the event of a small fire, you can attempt to put it out with a fire extinguisher (You can learn to use one on the SCDF website.) When it comes to a grease fire – such as cooking oil that has ignited – do not throw water on it, as that will cause the oil to splash and spread the fire even more. Instead, you can try starving it of oxygen by placing a metal (not glass, which will shatter) pot or pan over it, or pour a large amount of baking soda over the fire. It creates carbon dioxide when heated, which can smother the fire. You can also use a large damp towel to extinguish the fire. In the case where it’s not possible to put out the fire without endangering yourself or others, it’s best to leave the area. If you can reach the gas mains on your way out, turn it off. If possible, close the door and shut the windows of the room that the fire is in so that it can be better contained.  Avoid smoke inhalation by staying low and crawling close to the walls. Use the stairs and try to head down to the ground floor. If you’re on a very high storey, look for the refuge floor – a holding area that provides safe harbour for residents

For starters, artificial intelligence is already a big part of your life – and it’ll become even more important in the future. TEXT: MELODY TAN IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK We tend to think of artificial intelligence (AI) as hailing from the futuristic realm of science fiction – but chances are, AI is already a part of your daily routine. For example, if you’ve ever approached HomeTeamNS’ chatbot, Hey Irene, on the HomeTeamNS Mobile App or website for help with your HomeTeamNS membership, you’ve successfully interacted with AI. In fact, just unlocking your phone using facial recognition software entails using AI as well. Checking for traffic jams on your way to work using Google Maps? You guessed it – also powered by AI. In its most basic form, AI combines computer science and high-quality data to solve problems. There are two main types of AI: Weak or narrow AI and strong AI. The former is most common, as it’s used to perform specific tasks like recognising your face or crunching data to generate insights. Researchers are working towards strong AI which is also known as general AI. This involves a machine with the same level of intelligence and self-awareness as a human being – think Blade Runner, or the androids in Westworld. While we still have some ways to go before we achieve computer sentience, here are five things you probably didn’t know about AI, and its growing impact on our lives. 1. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS ALWAYS IMPROVING ITSELF – WITH YOUR HELP Every time you ask a chatbot – like HomeTeamNS’ AI Chatbot 2.0 – for help, you’re helping it in return. Unveiled in December 2021, HomeTeamNS’ AI Chatbot 2.0 on the website, mobile application and Facebook page was developed with data analytics, which was launched in December 2020. AI Chatbot 2.0 aims to achieve an intuitive chatbot experience. Queries are successfully answered, without users having to ask the same question in different ways until the AI recognises what they’re looking for. To do this, useful chat analytics break down the Chatbot’s performance into categories including “type of enquiries received” and “number of clicks” for each main menu item. This enables staff to identify service gaps and better understand users’ behaviour. From the start, the Chatbot function has proved popular, with an average of 54 daily interactions across a two-month period from December 2021 to February 2022. These days, instead of being “trained” by having instructions programmed into them, AI chatbots are increasingly capable of automatically using past interactions to learn more about what users want, in a process called self-feeding. 2. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS PERSONALISING SHOPPING LIKE NEVER BEFORE Just as AI chatbots learn from your conversation, AI solutions can tap on machine learning and big data to hyper-personalise advertising – targeting your likes and dislikes, right down to the smallest of details. For instance, e-commerce site Lazada uses deep-learning technology to learn customers’ preferences in real-time as they shop. This helps the platform’s search and recommendation engine to suggest relevant products that pop up immediately as customers scroll down the page. E-commerce giant Amazon uses AI not just to learn what customers are searching for, but why they are searching for a particular product. By predicting the occasion (a family beach holiday) that customers are buying the product for (children’s tropical print swim trunks), Amazon is able to recommend other products they are likely to buy (like sunscreen, flotation devices and towels). 3. AI’S DEVELOPMENT IS GUIDED BY STRONG ETHICS If the classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey scared you with its depiction of HAL 9000, a homicidal and super-intelligent AI, don’t worry. There are clear guidelines governing how AI solutions should be developed, so even if we had the technology to create them, evil AI masterminds will still stay fictional. Currently, the main ethical challenges posed by AI revolve around privacy and surveillance, bias and discrimination, and deciding when human judgement is needed. For example, AI-powered apps can collect – and analyse – huge amounts of information on a person’s online preferences. AI algorithms that sort through job resumes can end up rejecting excellent candidates who miss out on using the right keywords or have qualities that only a human being will notice, such as creativity. To ensure that AI developers in the private sector take these ethical concerns into consideration when building AI technologies, Singapore launched the second edition of its Model AI Governance Framework in 2020. It aims to ensure that AI solutions are accountable, transparent and most importantly, human-centric. 4. A.I. WILL MAKE MEDICAL TREATMENT FASTER AND MORE EFFECTIVE One of the most exciting applications of AI is in healthcare, where AI is being used in areas like detecting diseases, monitoring people’s wellness, identifying the right medications for treatment and training medical professionals. When developing pharmaceutical drugs, AI is used by many leading companies to crunch patient data and other relevant information to identify the medicinal compounds with the highest chances of success, instead of the traditional approach of trial-and-error. Similarly, AI can be used to process data and more accurately identify different types of cancer – ensuring that patients can be treated quickly and more effectively, giving them improved outcomes. 5. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAN HELP FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE We tend to think of technology and big data as vast consumers of energy – but AI also has the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions across the world by 4 per cent by the year 2030. It can do this in a variety of ways, such as monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region, improving the storage and deployment of energy, and creating more energy-efficient buildings. The last is especially important, as air-conditioning uses a large amount of energy. In Singapore, air-conditioning in buildings and homes contributes 19 per cent of our carbon emissions. AI can change this. AI software enables a smart air-conditioning system to adjust its temperature based on insights derived from real-time data, without requiring people to manually do it. For example,