Get the latest curated content with The Beat Asia's newsletters. Sign up now for a weekly dose of the best stories, events, and deals delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss out! Click here to subscribe.
Protecting our skin from the harmful rays of the sun is important, but did you know that some sunscreens can harm our ocean’s coral reefs? If you want to make sure you’re not contributing to the damage, it’s worth learning about reef-safe sunscreens.
So, what is a reef-safe sunscreen? It is a product that is free from harmful chemicals and small particles that can destruct coral health. Over the years, the negative impact of sunscreens on aquatic life has become a growing concern, with studies highlighting the effects of certain ingredients found in these products.
While avoiding harmful ingredients is vital, it’s not enough to ensure your sunscreen is reef-safe as the size of its particles also plays a big role. Non-nano particles and traditional zinc oxides, which are larger than 100 nanometres, are generally considered safe, while ingredients like oxybenzone, octinoxate, and benzophenone-1 are detrimental to marine life.
Although purchasing a reef-friendly sunscreen is essential, it’s equally important to check the ingredients as the term “reef-safe” is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). American media website CNET suggests going for a mineral-based sunscreen instead of a mist or spray, as it offers better skin protection and environmental safety.
With the increasing demand for reef-safe sunscreens, many consumers are turning to skin doctors for expert recommendations. According to dermatologists, the best mineral-based sunscreens are those that provide comprehensive protection while being mild and non-irritating to the skin. Some of their top picks include IDSIN Eryfotona Ageless Sunscreen (S$124) and Blue Lizard Sensitive SPF 30+ Sunscreen (S$99), both of which are available on Ubuy Singapore.
Get the latest curated content with The Beat Asia's newsletters. Sign up now for a weekly dose of the best stories, events, and deals delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss out! Click here to subscribe.
In celebration of the Chinese New Year and the spirit of unity, togetherness, and prosperity, Singapore's leading residential electricity retailer, Geneco, is launching its new campaign, #ForestOfProsperity, dedicated to fostering “family bonds as the foundation of societal well-being and driving positive change across generations.”
The campaign, made in collaboration with Families for Life and the National Parks Board’s (NParks) Garden City Fund (GCF), will see a series of activations that highlight awareness of Singapore’s botanical heritage.
#ForestOfProsperity Tree Planting Event
Photo from Website/NParks
In support of NParks’ OneMillionTrees initiative, Geneco is inviting families to plant a tree at a local park to commemorate the birth of their child (ages six and below). Local personalities including Tay Kewei, Kelly Latimer, and Xu Bin will also join the event.
Those who will join this initiative will receive a personalized certificate bearing their child’s name and birthdate, which also commemorates their contribution to preserving the environment for future generations.
Apart from the tree planting event, Geneco will also be donating S$15,000 to the Garden City Fund to support its existing efforts to plant over 450 trees in five years.
Families interested in joining can register until Jan. 31 via this form.
#ForestOfProsperity Pop-Up at Bugis Junction
Courtesy of Geneco
From Jan. 13 to 19, Geneco is also holding a special pop-up for the campaign at the Bugis Junction. This pop-up will feature a 2.2-meter prosperity tree, made with 100% recyclable, reusable, and FSC-certified cardboard. Here, visitors can pledge their support and share their wishes by hanging them on the tree.
Families who would like to join the tree-planting event can also register at the pop-up.
Meanwhile, those who would not be able to catch it can also submit their pledges online and get the chance to win eCapitaVouchers, limited-edition Families for Life DIY Craft Kits, Geneco Red Packet sets, and Green Starter Kits worth S$40, among other prizes.
The #ForestOfProsperity pop-up will be live at the Level 1 Atrium of Bugis Junction from 10 AM to 10 PM during the said period. To pledge your support online, visit the official campaign site.
Going Green: Exclusive Red Packets
Courtesy of Geneco
In line with the campaign, Geneco is also set to launch a new series of red packets, designed with Singapore’s lush greeneries in mind. These packets are made of 100% recycled paper and come in natural tones, adorned with gold accents reminiscent of the different unique forms of Singapore’s trees.
These packets are also available for free at the pop-up from Jan. 18 to 19 to the first 50 visitors.
Used Red Packet Recycling Initiative
Courtesy of Geneco
Now in its fifth year, Geneco is bringing back its Used Red Packet Recycling Initiative, now supported by partners such as IUIGA, OTO, REFASH, Wisma Atria, CapitaLand, PAP Town Council, Gardens by the Bay, ION Orchard, Frasers Property, Harbourfront Centre, National University Hospital, and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
With this movement, Geneco is setting up over 100 collection points islandwide, where the public can drop off used or excess red packets, which will be recycled to reduce waste and promote sustainability.
To view the full list of collection points, click here.
Geneco’s #ForestOfProsperity follows the success of their Till the End of Time and #VoyageToProsperity campaigns for the Chinese New Year.
For more details on Geneco’s campaign, visit their website.
Get the latest curated content with The Beat Asia's newsletters. Sign up now for a weekly dose of the best stories, events, and deals delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss out! Click here to subscribe.
For most business owners, it all started with an idea. For Books Beyond Borders founder, Randall Chong, it started with a book. Or perhaps, more accurately, a dare. According to their website, Randall received a book from a friend in 2016, and on its cover was scribbled: “Do one thing that scares you.”
However, this wasn’t what made him start a bookstore. In fact, it was never part of the plan. “I love reading books but I’ve never thought of opening a bookstore as one of my goals. It was actually an accidental startup,” he revealed.
Books Beyond Borders is a social enterprise bookstore that helps raise money for girls' education in Nepal through selling old books. Since launching online in 2019, the little book business — which is not so little anymore considering they now have their own physical bookstore — has given back over S$40,000 and rehomed over 20,000 books in Singapore.
Earlier this year, Books Beyond Borders expanded its offerings and launched Two Storytellers, a lifestyle brand dedicated to unique, meaningful gifts that celebrate the rich stories behind every craft.
The Beat Singapore sat down with co-founder, Randall Chong, to get to know this thoughtful gifting brand that started from an accidental startup and is now producing some of the most beautiful, handmade creations — not to mention sustainablegifts and novelty items in the current local shop scene.
Dare to Do: How Books Beyond Borders Made a Difference
Two Storytellers was born from its sister company, Books Beyond Borders, a bookstore that collects and sells gently used books. When asked about how it came to be, Randall told us how it was from one of his travels.
“A couple of years ago, I was backpacking through Nepal
and I wanted to see Mt. Everest by hiking to Everest base camp. And so that's like a two-week journey of trekking the Himalayas. When I got there, I happened to chance upon a lot of young boys and girls who were out of school working in back-breaking jobs with little to no pay. It was a profound experience, one that got me thinking like: ‘Is there something that I can do?’”
Randall has always had a passion for education and building businesses and has worked on different startups before. Seeing those children out of school had flipped a switch in him, and what came with it was the desire to be of help to these children.
Photo from Website/Books Beyond Borders
“I was also at a point in time where I was quite unhappy with my current job, so you know, with all those factors and with this curiosity of like, 'Hey, you know, a lot of kids are out of school, is there something that I can do?' I decided to leave my job and dedicate a year to raising money for kids in Nepal.”
Randall started baking and selling cookies at first, and had asked friends and family to donate a bit of money to his campaign. When he ran out of ideas, he decided to sell some of his old books lying around the house. The idea took off and captured the attention of the locals, who were more than happy to donate more books.
“I learned that in Singapore, it's really difficult to ask people for money. We've started fundraising, but after the first two years, people tend to not continue putting a donation down, especially for the same cause.
And that was also a really bad business model, so we decided that maybe what we could do is instead of operating the business as a charity, we could look at it as a social enterprise where we make our money, and how we do so is by collecting used books and figuring out how we can resell them.”
The pandemic also seemed to be good for their business as many people began decluttering and were picking up reading as a hobby. So while many businesses were shutting down, Books Beyond Borders took off and grew a community and movement that eventually led the small business that started in his grandfather’s room to launch its own bookstore.
As a business that relies a hundred percent on collecting used books, Randall knew that they would eventually have difficulty keeping it afloat. As the business grows, so would the expenses. He also told us about changes in reading habits and book-buying behavior, citing the closing of Book Depository, which was once the world’s foremost international online bookstore offering over 20 million books and free shipping worldwide.
“If we were to bet all our eggs on one basket for the long term, which is relying on just collecting gently used books and reselling them to make a profit, it would never scale,” Randall explained. “And for me, I want a sister brand where we can grow in many different ways, and not just stationery and tote bags, which are what most bookstores sell. I wanted a brand that could potentially go beyond just products. We could do services as well. One of the things we already knew when we named the brand ‘Books Beyond Borders,’ was that it would be difficult to sell because the word 'books' is not scalable. So, it's very difficult for us to venture into a different place.”
Thus, Randall and his team decided to expand their brand — creating a new company where they could explore and offer other things beyond pages and paperbacks. Two Storytellers Co. is a lifestyle brand that offers sustainable gifts and services including storytelling workshops
and decorating projects. The brand recently completed a project where they decorated a lobby for a boutique hotel with their original products, underscoring their brand’s desire to scale, and explore different services apart from just physical products.
With a sister company with an entirely different name, Randall finds it easier to maneuver as he gets a bit more space for change and new ideas.
Photo from Website/Books Beyond Borders
But what exactly is Two Storytellers’ selling point? And what makes it stand out from other lifestyle brands? The answer is in the name.
“One of the reasons why we decided to call it ‘Two Storytellers’ is because we started it in collaboration with a creative studio called, SainouSpace. So I know the founders of SainouSpace, they are a creative studio that focuses on art and wellness programs in Singapore, and we decided to start this brand together.”
Two Storytellers offers products that are more than just gifts but are giftsimbued with stories. Randall told us how the brand makes an effort to tell the stories of the crafters, the makers behind these handmade collections which are made in batches and sourced responsibly from the communities they support in Nepal.
“As we can see, a lot of — not just companies and brands — but also consumers are more conscious about what they buy. And that’s where the name comes from. In terms of the workshops, I personally know that where I want to take this brand goes beyond B2C. We want to do B2B, we want to be able to provide not just a product in our store, but also a service to businesses, whether it's helping them solve their corporate gifting problems every single year or hosting workshops and programs for schools where we get to teach about branding and storytelling, and also installations and decorations. I think that's something that we are very proud of and very passionate about.”
Two Storytellers has three categories of products that they currently feature. First are the felt products which are made by a community of felt artisans in Nepal. They are also known as the “wool makers” and produce hand-felted itemsfrom sheep wool. These products are their bestsellers, especially during the Christmas season where they are sold as plushies, coaster sets, and other decorative and home décor items.
Photo from Two Storytellers Co.Photo from Two Storytellers Co.
Next is their paper collection. The brand works with paper artisans who use a unique form of paper called “Lokta” that comes from a plant that doesn’t require any cutting of trees. Randall told us about how the women in Nepal will have to trek up in the mountains to harvest this plant and transform these lokta fibers into delicate sheets of paper using century-old techniques. These papers are traditionally used in ancient and religious texts, are insect repellent, and are quite durable. You can find lokta paper used in their stationery products like journals and bookmarks which are often adorned with beautiful prints.
Lastly, there are cotton products that are produced by cotton weavers — a group of women who use recycled cotton or Dhaka to weave beautiful items like pouches, tote bags, and pencil cases.
“My favorite are the felt ones, but they lean more towards the festive seasons. Like during Valentine’s Day, we get to make roses using felt material. It's beautiful and very unique.”
We believe this gives the business an edge over its competitors, giving consumers an option besides the usual fresh bouquet. A unique, sustainable, and long-lasting alternative, even. However, choosing to work with handmade products is both the company’s strength and weakness. Randall expressed the challenges he faced in running the business for over a year now.
“One of the biggest challenges is making sure that we can get the product in time, and also having the right products. The materials are made by hand so, you have a bit more defects as compared to things that are made in factories or with machines. Second is really the speed of getting the product that we want. We had to buy and order supplies six months beforehand just because it takes three months to make them and perform quality control. It's really difficult to plan ahead especially when you are a really small company or brand where cash flow is an issue. You always want to buy things quickly and sell them quickly.”
Randall also added that communication with their artists and partners is also a challenge considering language barriers and that the company is aiming to navigate better in terms of planning ahead in 2025.
Photo from Two Storytellers Co.
Despite these challenges, Two Storytellers has been able to provide joy to not only its consumers but also to the people who run it. Randall stated, “I really enjoy meeting the makers, so I personally travel to Nepal a lot. Not just to visit some of our scholars whose scholarships we’re currently funding but also to meet our makers, to work together with them and create new designs together.”
Two Storytellers highlights the true meaning of gift giving, which is all about thoughtfulness. What makes their offerings unique isn’t the product itself, but the stories behind them. When you acquire a piece of decorative item from their felt collection or write on their lokta journals, it’s plain to see that these items were made with care by artists who are passionate about their craft — or are working hard towards making a living for themselves and their families. Snippets of how these products were made, the histories of each material, and the backgrounds of the artists and collaborators are often shown on their social media pages, giving these items new life and meaning.
To quote the founder himself, “Right now, it's not just about the product. What really makes us different and unique is being able to show processes of how our products are being made by these women and be able to tell their stories. I think that's something I'm really passionate about.”
Photo from Two Storytellers Co.
This season of giving, invest in a handmade item that will surely put a smile on your loved ones' faces. You can view Two Storytellers’ full range of products in their bookstore located at 33 Erskine Rd, 01-08, Singapore, just opposite Maxwell Food Centre. You can also buy them online here.
Follow Two Storytellers Co. on Instagram to learn more about their lovely gifts and services.
Get the latest curated content with The Beat Asia's newsletters. Sign up now for a weekly dose of the best stories, events, and deals delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss out! Click here to subscribe.
Calling all adventurers and wildlife enthusiasts! Mandai Wildlife Reserve, Singapore’s premiere nature and wildlife destination consisting of several wildlife parks such as the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, is set to launch the first phase of its fifth zoological park in March 2025.
Accessible from Mandai Wildlife WEST, Rainforest Wild Asia offers a unique set of experiences for visitors looking to embark on exciting outdoor adventures. Inspired by treks through rainforests, the new park offers various paths to explore, allowing guests to experience a one-of-a-kind immersive rainforest setting filled with a variety of wildlife and forest wonders both below and above ground.
“Our newest park celebrates the rainforests of our region, which are home to a vast array of natural wonders,” said Mike Barclay, Group CEO of Mandai Wildlife Group. “Rainforest Wild Asia allows guests to choose their level of adventure as they explore an immersive rainforest setting, whether through sedate universally designed walkways or high adrenaline scrambling paths and guided climbing adventures.”
The 13-hectare Rainforest Wild Asia features diverse layers from the verdant tree canopies to an exciting subterranean labyrinth of walk-through cave chambers that are designed to allow iconic animal species from the region such as tigers, sun bears, tapirs, and gregarious langurs, to roam freely through extensive habitats.
While the new attraction targets adventurers, Rainforest Wild Asia welcomes everyone to embark on rainforest explorations. Guests can venture through rugged forest trails scattered with fallen logs, boulders, streams, and bridges. For the adrenaline-seekers, there are harnessed experiences and guided tours offering high-element traverses across rock faces, freefall jumps, and challenging caving adventures.
Photo from Mandai Wildlife Reserve
Visiting families can be assured that the park also offers amenities and facilities that can make your stay comfortable including wide elevated walkways with sheltered rest stops that also ensure accessibility to all including guests with strollers and wheelchair users, providing opportunities for easy strolls to view diverse rainforest landscapes and animals. To recreate a realistic rainforest setting, around 7,000 Southeast Asian trees and shrubs have been planted to add to the existing protected patches of rainforest.
“This immersive design gives our guests the chance to witness how different animals thrive in distinct rainforest settings. Most importantly, we hope to create strong feelings of connection to nature and a renewed determination to cherish and protect our planet,” Mike added.
Flexible habitats will also be introduced at the park for the first time. You can catch animals like the red dholes and babirusas, which will be featured at various times of the day. The habits are designed to be dynamic and stimulating for the animals to encourage their natural behaviors, allowing visitors to observe and learn more about these wonderful creatures.
Rainforest Wild Asia will be home to 29 animal species, including the threatened François' langur and the Philippine spotted deer, which are both new to Singapore.
Park Highlights: Journey Through Southeast Asia’s Rainforest
Guests can enjoy the park’s multi-layered adventures across ten different zones, each featuring delightful treks and animal encounters among the trees and foliage.
One highlight is TheKarsts, which is the park’s most scenic backdrop featuring jagged limestone formations peeking through the canopy. From here, guests can enjoy views of primates swinging, leaping, and traversing the environment. Become a certified explorer as you maneuver across sheer cliffs through a Via Ferrata path under a guided tour.
Photo from Mandai Wildlife Reserve
Weave your way through the Forest Floor, climbing large logs or ducking below fallen trees before making your way to the Rock Cascade, Rainforest Wild Asia’s largest habitat and home to the majestic Malayan tigers. Witness these creatures as they show off their impressive power and agility while navigating through waterfalls, streams, rocky outcrops, and clusters of trees.
Meanwhile, The Canopy will give visitors a glimpse into life at the treetops and chance encounters with species like the Javan langur and red-shanked douc langur.
You can also dare to leap from 20m – the highest point of Rainforest Wild Asia – at Canopy Jump and feel the adrenaline of a free fall while taking in the stunning rainforest vistas from above. It’s definitely one experience you shouldn’t miss!
Photo from Mandai Wildlife ReservePhoto from Mandai Wildlife Reserve
Want to go cave exploring? You can definitely do that here! The Cavern takes visitors on an awe-inspiring journey along subterranean walkways or if you’re looking for a more adventurous path, you can also seek out cave species such as racer snakes and giant black scorpions! The caves were inspired by the world-famous Mulu Caves in Sarawak, one of the largest and most intricate cave systems in Southeast Asia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To recreate this stunning zone, the design team scanned the rock features of Mulu Caves and faithfully mimicked the ancient rock formations through a collaboration with the Sarawak Forestry Department.
With this new wildlife park soon to open and another one underway — Rainforest Wild Africa, which is inspired by the diverse landscapes of the Afro-Tropical region and Madagascar, the Mandai Wildlife Reserve aims to become a world-leading wildlife and nature destination offering both recreational and educational opportunities that become irreplaceable memories and experiences for its visitors.
For more information, visit their website, or follow the Mandai Wildlife Reserve on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for updates.
Get the latest curated content with The Beat Asia's newsletters. Sign up now for a weekly dose of the best stories, events, and deals delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss out! Click here to subscribe.
As temperatures continue to rise and climate change becomes more apparent, many are inspired to make small yet impactful changes in their daily lives to help the planet. When it comes to shopping, consumers are drawn to sustainable and zero-waste stores where they can buy household essentials, personal care products, and food items. These shops prioritize eco-friendly practices, encourage conscious consumption, and advocate for sustainable living.
In Singapore, sustainable and zero-waste shops are gaining traction to help raise environmental awareness and support local businesses. Aside from empowering individuals to make environmentally conscious choices, these businesses also help build a more sustainable society.
Do you want to make a positive impact on the environment in your own little way? Find eco-friendly products and reduce your carbon footprint when you shop at the sustainable stores below:
Singapore’s first and biggest collective of sustainable brands, The Green Collective brings together sustainable brand owners, consumers, and businesses that collaborate with each other to make adopting a sustainable lifestyle easier. From cleaning supplies and home fragrances to snacks and personal care essentials, you’re sure to find an item or two that can help you take small steps toward an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Location: The Green Collective, 02-18, Funan Mall, 107 North Bridge Road, Singapore
A homegrown social enterprise offering package-free bulk food, products, and daily necessities, Unpackt has the essentials you need to live a zero-waste lifestyle. Committed to its mission of building a green and mindful Singapore, the zero-waste grocery and lifestyle store, Unpackt has a wide range of products including groceries like pantry essentials and cooking ingredients. Here, you can also shop for items like cutlery, toiletries, and other home must-haves.
Location: Unpackt, 20 Mandai Lake Road, #02-09, Bird Paradise, Singapore
By educating, inspiring action, and doing good, proudly woman-owned business The Sustainability Project (TSP) believes that we can all take small steps toward a better planet. Some of TSP’s best sellers include the collapsible cup, the shampoo bars, the natural deodorant, and the menstrual pads, among others. You can also find items for the kitchen and bathroom like the wood pulp sponge and bamboo toilet rolls.
Aside from the shop, TSP also holds talks on zero-waste lifestyle, recycling, and plastic pollution. They also teach sustainability skills with their range of workshops.
Constantly on the lookout for practical alternatives that can inspire others to lead an environmentally aware lifestyle, Your Sustainable Store is an e-commerce website that offers affordable sustainable products. Conveniently shop for homecare products online such as tea towels, dishcloths, cleaning tablets, and natural insect repellants. They also have a Beauty and Skincare category where you’ll find shampoo cubes, artisan soap bars, and organic cotton facial pads, among others.
A bath and body brand, Rough Beauty offers handcrafted soap and bath essentials made with botanicals sourced from around the world. To keep within their commitment to sustainability, the brand practices the 3Rs – reducing, reusing, and recycling. Items are produced in small batches to reduce wastage as well. Some of the best sellers you need to try include the Mari Bar, Mint Rose Soap, and the Saffy Fields Soap. They also sell Scruffy Cleansing Grains, Mint Rose Hand & Body Wash, and Laundry Bars.
With food waste as one of the biggest issues in Singapore, Uglyfood was founded with the goal of eliminating food waste by collecting blemished or excess food products and then selling them at a reduced price. Now back under new management, Uglyfood 2.0 has made changes and improvements. They now offer cold truck delivery, so you get your groceries in the same quality that they left the store. While they mainly offer fruits and vegetables, the grocery hopes to offer more products in the future for a smoother shopping experience.
Help bring change to the community and the planet at The Social Space, a special place that features a café, a fair-trade retail area, and a nail salon which all promote sustainability awareness and a more conscious living. Aside from the products you can buy here, The Social Space takes change to the next level by offering employment to differently-abled people. Visiting to shop? You can find home and décor items, a refillery for bath, home cleaning, pet care, and laundry essentials, and zero-waste must-haves, among others.
Location: The Social Space, 333 Kreta Ayer Road, #01-14, Singapore
As its name suggests, My Naked Bar offers soaps “naked” of synthetic ingredients and unnecessary packaging. The shop’s soaps are made using fresh ingredients. Rest easy knowing that ingredients like cucumber, aloe vera, rice, and oat milk are prepared by hand in advance before crafting each bar of soap.
Curious about the packaging? Each soap is packaged in clean milk cartons contributed by the community and upcycled by the brand. Some of the best sellers include Lavender Oatmeal (for soothing eczema skin), Turmeric Sunrise (anti-inflammatory soap for dry, itchy skin), and Cucumber Aloe (deep cleansing soap for acne and combination skin), among others.
Established in 2020, BYKURAHOME is another homegrown sustainable brand that aims to end disposable culture, one habit at a time. Understanding that achieving 100 percent zero-waste is a daunting task, they aim to encourage everyone to take small steps within their means by adopting one habit at a time.
BYKURAHOME’s must-buy products include the Lejos Silicone Collapsible Lunch Box (available in different colors) and the Mojo Silicone Bag, both of which are ideal for storing food. They also offer personal care essentials such as reusable cleansing facial rounds and reusable makeup remover rounds.
Get the latest curated content with The Beat Asia's newsletters. Sign up now for a weekly dose of the best stories, events, and deals delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss out! Click here to subscribe.
Planning to visit Mandai Wildlife Reserve parks soon? Great news, because Singapore’s nature destination has unveiled its plans for new attractions and more green areas, to be launched inside its space soon!
The wildlife reserve, operated by the Mandai Wildlife Group, is set to open a series of these new attractions for nature lovers and kids. This includes The Mandai Boardwalk, a freely accessible boardwalk that boasts a breathtaking view of the Upper Seletar Reservoir, to be launched later this year.
By the first half of 2025, the reserve is also expected to open the Mandai Rainforest Resort, a 338-room resort to be operated by Banyan Group. The luxurious hotel will encourage a “conscious stay” with its 24 elevated seed pod-shaped treehouses and a Super Low Energy (SLE) certification.
Other amenities include a gym room, a rooftop swimming pool, and a wellness centre, which will offer Banyan Tree’s renowned spa treatments.
To top it off, Mandai Wildlife also plans to build nature-based activities throughout the year, which include the 12.6-ha Rainforest Wild Asia, the continent’s first zoological park to integrate adventure elements. The multi-layered rainforest will have forest treks, a 220-metre cavern that houses various reptiles and invertebrates, and rock formations, among others.
There’s also the Rainforest Wild Africa, offering Madagascar and Afro-Tropical-themed landscapes, featuring animals like the Pygmy Hippo and Okapi.
For those seeking an edutainment experience, two buildings will also be built for immersive indoor spaces where kids and kids-at-heart can play while learning. These are Exploria, a virtual experience of the Earth’s most fascinating species; GreenCanvas, a green space for nature-themed events; Mandai Gallery, a free-access exhibition space; Curiosity Cove, an indoor setting that will showcase flora and fauna; and ZooSchool, which will feature nature-based outdoor adventure programmes.
The soon-to-open attractions are part of Mandai Wildlife’s goal of immersing locals and tourists in the destination’s nature and wildlife experiences while facilitating natural conservation.
Stay tuned for the opening of Mandai Wildlife Reserve’s new attractions by visiting their website or following their Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok pages.
Get the latest curated content with The Beat Asia's newsletters. Sign up now for a weekly dose of the best stories, events, and deals delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss out! Click here to subscribe.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has officially signed an agreement with Neste, an oil refining company, to supply 1,000 tonnes of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
In a press release, carriers SIA and Scoot, which are both part of the group, will be the first ones to receive SAF from Neste’s refinery produced at Singapore Changi Airport.
Marking Neste’s first direct supply to airlines at Changi Airport, the oil company will blend SAF with conventional jet fuel according to the following safety specifications, and the blended fuel will be delivered in two batches, in the second and fourth quarters of this year, to the airport’s fuel hydrant system.
Made from 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials, SAF reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle.
SIA and Neste highlight the importance of this partnership, as both companies aim to have a more sustainable aviation industry in the future.
Get the latest curated content with The Beat Asia's newsletters. Sign up now for a weekly dose of the best stories, events, and deals delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss out! Click here to subscribe.
The streets of Singapore are about to be filled with bright lights at the upcoming 10th edition of the annual “iLight Singapore,” happening from May 31 to June 23.
Organised by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), from Marina Bay Sands, the Festival of Lights is crawling to different satellite sites as well as into a new location in Tanjong Pagar.
This year’s sustainable light festival theme is all about “Cyclical Nature." It will light up at Marina Bay Sands, Millenia Walk, South Beach, and Tanjong Pagar, featuring 17 installments made by 25 artists coming from different parts of the world, with each artwork sending a message about re-designing, restoring, and repurposing objects we see in our everyday lives.
Aside from the light installations, the festival will also bring an immersive experience to everyone, with different events happening throughout the month. The event has also partnered up with The Conscious Festival to conduct workshops and talks in partnership, as well as bring music performances and a marketplace, as well as a culinary feast at "Gastrobeats,” offering sustainably produced food delights and good music beats at the Bayfront Event Space.
Admission to the event is free, but charges may apply to other programmes. Lighting up from 7:30 PM to 11:00 PM daily and 12:00 AM on Fridays and Saturdays, learn more about this green advocacy event by heading to their Facebook page and website.
Get the latest curated content with The Beat Asia's newsletters. Sign up now for a weekly dose of the best stories, events, and deals delivered straight to your inbox. Don't miss out! Click here to subscribe.
