Singapore

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...

Singapore on Friday said it would reopen its borders to visitors from New Zealand and Brunei from next month, in the city-state's first steps towards resuming leisure travel since it sealed its borders to control Covid-19 outbreaks. The city-state, which currently only allows official and business travel to selected countries, also said it would allow students to travel for study overseas if distance-learning was not available. The measures would take effect on Sept. 1, with various restrictions, the health ministry said. Singapore sealed its borders in March and subsequently went into a two-month lockdown as mass outbreaks in cramped migrant worker dormitories emerged. Those lockdown measures were lifted in June and the travel and tourism hub — facing its worst recession in history — ...

SINGAPORE: Fresh graduates will have more job and training opportunities with the introduction of four new SkillsFuture work-study programmes unveiled at the virtual SkillsFuture work-study fair on Wednesday (Aug 12). The programmes, introduced by the Institutes of Higher Learning, will offer Singaporeans more than 140 places over the next two years. Among these is the first SkillsFuture work-study degree programme by the National University of Singapore (NUS), in partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore and Sea Limited - a Singapore-based global consumer internet company. Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Siow Huang said on Wednesday the Government has set a target of making work-study opportunities available to 12 per cent of each cohort by 2025. Speaking at the vir...

SINGAPORE: A particular quote by painter Vincent Van Gogh resonated with cyclist Steve Tee during the uncertainty of what he calls the "COVID-19 period". "He said something like: 'For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.' And I realised that our (star) is the Paralympics, so I cannot lose sight of it," Tee told CNA. "We are still continuing to work on it and at the same time, we keep our fingers crossed, hope for the best and prepare for the worst." Tee, who will represent Singapore at next year's coronavirus-postponed Paralympics, was one of the athletes recognised for their achievements and contributions at the Singapore Disability Sports Awards on Friday (Aug 7). He was nominated for the Sportsman of the Year award, which was won ...

SINGAPORE: Transport giant ComfortDelGro posted a net loss of S$6 million in the first half of the year amid "massive" destruction brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak. With governments around the world imposing lockdowns and other restrictions to stem the spead of the outbreak, demand for taxi and public transport plunged, contributing to a 20.8 per cent fall in first-half revenue, said ComfortDelGro in a stock exchange filing. Group revenue came in at S$1.53 billion between January and June this year, compared with S$1.93 billion in the same period last year. "The first six months of 2020 have been nothing short of catastrophic," said ComfortDelGro chairman Lim Jit Poh. "If not for governmental reliefs, that loss would have been S$66.1 million," he said. In comparison, the group ...