UAE Central Bank adds raised marks on selected currency notes for sight-impaired

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has begun circulating AED1,000, AED20 and AED10 currency notes that have been printed with raised marks for the sight-impaired, reports WAM, the Emirates News Agency.

The new banknotes have new tactile features achieved through the intaglio printing process on the breadths. The AED1,000 note has a pair of four horizontal lines, separated by a fixed distance, on the right and left sides of the note.

The AED20 denomination has three separate horizontal lines in the same part of the note, while the AED10 denomination has two separate horizontal lines. The design and other specifications of the currency notes will remain the same as for currency notes currently in circulation.

Interested?

View the Central Bank's currency gallery

Add your smile to Smile Singapore at Clarke Quay Central

The Smile installation at Clarke Quay Central is in progress.

Clarke Quay Central mall has announced Smile Singapore, an advocacy campaign that aims to promote a happier nation. This initiative is held in conjunction with Singapore's Jubilee celebrations, and is an ideal opportunity for companies to share their moments of joyful living in the little red dot.

"Happiness is contagious and by displaying photos of beaming faces, we hope to remind our fellow Singaporeans that there are thousands of reasons to smile in Singapore," said Caine Teo, head of Ape Works, the Creative Partner of the Smile Singapore Campaign.

Volunteers display some popular
reasons to smile as polled by
Smile Ambassadors and other sources.

The campaign aims to break its own Largest Display of Photos record* by collecting 10,000 smiling faces this year, 5,000 of which will form a giant photo mural. 

From now till 3 May, Smile Ambassadors will be taking photos of smiling faces as well as collecting personal stories of what makes people happy to be in Singapore. Members of the public can pose for the camera at the live photo studio at Clarke Quay Central atrium and receive an instant 4R print keepsake. The photos will subsequently be showcased at the Clarke Quay Central atrium from 4 to 17 May.

A closer look at the work in progress for the photo mural.

Smile Singapore began the live installation of its urban photoscape of smiling portraits yesterday. The smiling portraits are printed by campaign event partner Fuji Xerox Singapore, laminated and pieced together with others to create a giant photoscape to be completed by 3 May 2015. The photoscape will line the first through third floors of Clarke Quay Central.

Upon completion, the photo mural is expected to break the national record of ‘Largest Display of Photos’ in the Singapore Book of Records. Smile Singapore is aiming to collect 10,000 smile portraits until the end of this year.

"This campaign is especially meaningful during Singapore's jubilee year as we, as an organisation and part of a young nation, count our blessings from living in Singapore," said Mavis Seow, Director and COO, Retail Business Group of Far East Organization, which owns Clarke Quay Central.

"We are delighted to be partnering with Clarke Quay Central in this Smile Campaign initiative. CSR is a big part of Fuji Xerox's core values and integrated at the core of everything we do. It is also a reflection of who we are and what we support as a company," said Bert Wong, Chief Executive Officer of Fuji Xerox Singapore, which is also celebrating its 50th year in Singapore in 2015. 

"For every photo submitted to Smile Campaign, we have pledged to donate five dollars to our main beneficiary – Beyond Social Services – to enable and empower children and youth from less privileged families to help them achieve better opportunities in their life."

People at the photo taking booth at Clarke Quay Central.

Interested?

Get down to Clarke Quay Central or upload your picture and stories at the Smile Singapore website.

*The Smile Singapore campaign, a project by Clarke Quay Central, was first conceptualised after a Gallup Poll in 2012 when Singapore was rated as the most emotionless and unhappy nation in the world. A total of 1,909 smiling portraits were collected and laid out in Clarke Quay Central in 2013, breaking the Singapore's Book of Records for the ‘largest display of photos'. The most recent World Happiness Report ranked Singapore 24^th , an improvement from the previous surveys done. 

posted from Bloggeroid

The Pottinger Hong Kong opens for business

The hospitality management arm of Sino Group and an affiliate of Sino Land Company, which operates and manages a growing portfolio of hotels, a yacht club, serviced apartments and residential food and beverage club houses, has launched The Pottinger Hong Kong, a 68-room luxury boutique hotel situated along Hong Kong's oldest stone slab street, rated a Grade I historic place by the Antiquities Advisory Board of Hong Kong. 

According to the Sino Group of Hotels, The Pottinger Hong Kong offers 68 luxury guestrooms and suites, ranging from 23 square metres to 68 square metres. The Pottinger Suite and six suites, named after the streets around the Central neighbourhood, feature decor with a touch of oriental flavour. Images from world-acclaimed photographer Fan Ho, a photographer and film director grace the rooms and passageway of The Pottinger Hong Kong. 

The Pottinger Hong Kong has its main entrance at 21 Stanley Street. Room rates start from HK$1,880, and the hotel is just five minutes' walk from Central MTR Station.
 
The Sino Group of Hotels oversees The Royal Pacific Hotel & Towers, City Garden Hotel, Hong Kong Gold Coast Hotel, Island Pacific Hotel, The Johnston Suites (serviced apartments) and Gold Coast Yacht & Country Club. 

*All images from Sino Group of Hotels.