Blackout hits many areas after gas supply failure
The Straits Times Interactive, 30 June, 2004
By Woon Wui Tek
FROM about 10pm last night, a quickly spreading blackout plunged many parts of Singapore into darkness.
Not just home 11 lights, but street lamps and traffic signals winked out, causing traffic in Hougang and Sengkang to slow to a crawl as half-blinded motorists switched on their high beams.
Other anxious Singaporeans, thumbing their mobile phones as they wondered if there had been a terrorist-related disruption, only jammed the networks.
As it turned out, the blackout, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) said, was caused by a disruption of the supply of natural gas from neighboring Indonesia .
It did not elaborate.
Restoration of power got under way almost at once, with generators switcl unto diesel: By 10.30pm, the darkness was beginning to be pushed back in places like Bishan.
Clementi and Sengkang went bright again at about 10.45pm and Eunos at around 11 pm. By 12.15am, according to Singapore Power, power had been restored in all areas.
Though one taxi crashed in Queensway, police officers took to the streets to regulate traffic, while land lines in homes and train services were never affected.
Recalled Singapore MRT spokesman Chin Yen Yen: 'The first thing I did when my house in Bukit Batok had a blackout was look out to see if our trains were still running and they were! We have back-up power for our trains.
However, the Singapore Civil Defence Force responded to 20 calls of people trapped in lifts.
Some of those marooned in darkness at home, like Singapore Netball Association president Ivy Singh-Lim, 55, feared the worst.
She told The Straits Times for her Neo Tiew Road home: 'I tried calling the Neighbourhood Police Post on a 1800 number as well as 999, but all the lines were engaged.
'Actually, the police should have some kind of a backup to handle such emergencies.
'I can't believe this!'
So widespread was the blackout - it also hit Ang Mo Kio, Clementi, Woodlands, Toa Payoh, Serangoon and Ghim Moh, as well as the Holland Village and Mohamed Sultan Road leisure spots - that only a few areas, including Yishun and parts of the south, escaped.
Last night's was the third such significant incident this year, with the most recent one, lasting about 20 minutes, having been triggered on April 20, after the Nicoll Highway collapse. A week earlier, 80,000 households had to go without power for an hour.
In August 2002, a gas-supply disruption from Indonesia was also blamed for a 90-minue blackout after seven of Singapore 's nine gas-fired generating plants shut down.
The Energy Market Authority may fine a company up to $1 million, or 10 per cent of its revenue, for negligence.
Its license can even be revoked.
A cracking of the whip would suit the likes of an irate Madam Daisy Sum, who had to take a cold shower in candlelight in her Siglap home.
She said: ' Singapore is not a Third World country. We have every right to expect better.'
But others made the best of the blackout: Student Annabelle Danker, 22, and her friends at Holland Village lit up the night with speakers and glow sticks.
'We can go home anyway, so we might as well have some fun.' She said.
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