Latest News in Singapore:-

* Decline in passengers in transit due to tourist developments:-

-- Efforts to sell Singapore as a tourism destination appear to have paid off. 5 years ago, travellers who used Changi Airport as a halfway point made up about a third of total traffic.

-- Today, they account for 24%, said Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister of State for Transport.

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* Pre-school education should be free in Singapore:

-- Mr Lee Poh Wah, chief executive of the Lien Foundation, which sought the experts' views on pre-school education. More than seven in 10 thought it should be made free.

-- They said the Government should recognise that this kind of schooling is critical to a child's development, and take charge of the sector.

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* Land for Changi Airport to double in size:

-- Singapore has earmarked 1,000ha of land for the expansion of Changi Airport - a move which will almost double the airport's size in the coming decades.

-- Changi now occupies 1,350ha of land. The extra space for the future, about the size of Toa Payoh, is located where the biennial Singapore Airshow is held.