Singapore

SINGAPORE: The Government will tighten coordination between its economic and social policies to ensure that Singaporeans can have access to jobs and opportunities in the post COVID-19 economy, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Friday (Aug 28). This is part of its efforts to more closely align different public policy areas to tackle the complex challenges and new opportunities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Vulnerable workers will receive additional support and social mobility will continue to be a feature of Singapore society, he said. To better understand the concerns of citizens and develop “more citizen-centric” policies, the Government is growing new capabilities in data analytics and citizen engagement, Mr Heng added in an addendum by the Prime Minister’s Of...

SINGAPORE: Eight men and two women have been arrested for dangerous riding, after a video online showed a group of riders on personal mobility devices (PMD) and power-assisted bicycles (PAB) travelling with a motorcyclist along Sheares Avenue. The suspects are aged between 16 and 25, said the police in a news release on Monday (Aug 3), adding that they were alerted to the video on Jul 13. The video, posted on Facebook page SG Road Vigilante, shows several riders on major roads at night, including Sungei Road and Ophir Road. They were also seen riding up Benjamin Sheares Bridge towards Sheares Avenue. The video ends with them gathering at an open space. The police said the suspects were arrested between Jul 17 and Jul 20. Two PMDs, device parts of a PAB and mobile phones were ...

SINGAPORE: The tender to design and manufacture subsequent batches of TraceTogether tokens has been awarded to two bidders, the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) said on Friday (Aug 21). The first bidder is a consortium comprising electronics distributor Siix Singapore and wireless connectivity solutions firm iWOW, and the second bidder is PCI, an electronics manufacturer which won the tender for the first batch of TraceTogether tokens. Each token is expected to cost about S$10, down from the S$20 in the first batch, with GovTech managing and pacing production of further batches based on demand. "Drawing from the experience gained in producing the initial batch, GovTech will work with both tenderers to review their designs to further reduce cost, while ensuring effectiveness of...

SINGAPORE: A series of unpopular changes to bus services in the Bukit Panjang area, which were to come into effect on Sunday (Aug 16), will now be delayed by two weeks while mitigation measures are being introduced. The changes will now be introduced on Aug 30 to allow bus operators more time to implement the new measures, which include the provision of a direct bus service to the city, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Chee Hong Tat on Thursday (Aug 13). This comes after it was announced earlier this month that services 700 and 700A would cease operations, while service 171 would loop at Bukit Panjang MRT station instead of travelling to the Marina Centre bus terminal. From Aug 30, bus service 171 will loop at Bukit Panjang MRT station instead of travelling to the Marina ...

SINGAPORE: Bukit Panjang Integrated Transport Hub and the Hillion Mall connected to it were among the new locations added on Thursday (Jul 30) to a list of places visited by COVID-19 cases during their infectious period. Four outlets within the shopping mall – My Briyani House, McDonald’s, Watsons and FairPrice – were added to the list, according to the Ministry of Health's daily update. Also on the list is the Mr Teh Tarik deli at Bukit Panjang Integrated Transport Hub, which is linked to Hillion Mall. The transport hub has been designated as a COVID-19 cluster, with eight cases linked to it so far. They include four new community cases reported on Thursday - a Singaporean and three work permit holders from Malaysia. The other locations added to the list include Causeway Poin...

The foreign ministers of Japan and Myanmar agreed Monday to reopen borders for expatriates and other long-term residents as soon as early September, relaxing travel restrictions that were imposed to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi also confirmed at their meeting in Naypyidaw that they would speed up talks to facilitate short-term business travel, while taking measures to combat the virus, according to the Foreign Ministry. Motegi, in his final stop on a four-nation tour since Thursday, told reporters online that his country's pledges of economic and medical support to leaders in the respective countries demonstrated that "Japan leads international cooperation efforts" in fighting the pandemic. The ...

Japan and Cambodia agreed Saturday to reopen borders to their expatriates as early as next month on condition they self-quarantine for 14 days and take other precautions against the novel coronavirus. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi agreed on the policy with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during a meeting in Phnom Penh, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. It is the third such agreement Japan has struck this month as Tokyo looks for ways to gradually relax immigration restrictions imposed on nearly 150 countries to slow the pandemic. The other two deals were reached with Singapore and Malaysia. Motegi aims to clinch similar travel resumption agreements with Laos and Myanmar, which he will visit on the final two stops of his four-nation tour through Tuesday. Before Cambodia, ...

SINGAPORE: Total merchandise trade in Singapore declined by 15.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, following a slight growth of 0.5 per cent in the previous quarter. Official data by Enterprise Singapore also showed on Tuesday (Aug 11) that non-oil trade declined by 3.3 per cent, after the previous quarter’s 4.4 per cent increase. Oil trade fell sharply in the second quarter, by 61.9 percent, compared to the 15.9% drop in the first quarter. (Graphic: Enterprise Singapore) On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, total merchandise trade decreased by 14.3 per cent in Q2 2020, after the previous quarter’s 0.1 per cent growth. Non-oil trade declined by 7.7 per cent, while oil trade contracted by 50.6 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, non-oil exports (NOX), which inc...