World

SINGAPORE MUST “STAY OPEN” Nonetheless, Singapore’s strategy must be "to stay open, and make our economy stronger and more resilient”, said the prime minister. Singapore must “keep seizing opportunities for growth, developing new capabilities and becoming a more competitive economy”, he added. “Then despite the uncertain climate, despite the pressures against globalisation, investors will still find it worthwhile to put their projects in Singapore, our exports will still find foreign markets, and we can still earn a living for ourselves in the world.” Economic success alone is not enough, noted Mr Lee. He said: “Our growth must be matched by social and political cohesion. There is war in Europe, there are major troubles in the world, and great power rivalry in the region. Facing all t...

MANILA: Philippine motorcycle enthusiast John Aldwin Bagabagon rode easier than many other local motorcyclists and drivers this year as domestic fuel prices surged to record levels. Bagabagon, 35, and his family are among 200,000 consumers turning to a homegrown app to secure credits for bulk fuel supplies at low prices, saving about 50 per cent on their gasoline purchases over the past four months. "I save a lot especially now that gasoline prices are rising weekly," Bagabagon said. The app PriceLOCQ allows users to stock up on fuel at a set price by converting purchases to digital credits that are later redeemed at SEAOIL Philippines petrol stations. Mark Yu, who launched the PriceLOCQ app in 2020 and whose family owns independent fuel company SEAOIL, says the use of the app has "sky...

SINGAPORE: The Singapore men's football team fell to their first defeat at the SEA Games in Vietnam following a 5-0 loss to Thailand on Monday (May 9). Thailand dominated much of the possession in the first half as they made continuous forays into Singapore’s half, but the Lions kept a cool head in defence for the opening 20 minutes. The fancied Thais, who have won SEA Games gold on 16 occasions, were backed by a capacity crowd at the Thien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh as they looked to bounce back after their shock opening match defeat to Malaysia. Singapore’s first attack of note came in the 30th minute down the right flank and the resulting corner saw the Thai goalkeeper make a close-range save from Harhys Stewart. The first half was a cagey affair with few clear-cut chances until it ...

SINGAPORE: In the dark of the night, sleep comes easy for most. But when he tastes defeat at a major tournament, six-time English Billiards world champion Peter Gilchrist remains wide awake. He's seen it all, done it all, won it all. But losing still stings, even after decades of competing. So, while others dream, his mind wanders back to what happened, and what could have been. "You put on a brave face, you could say: 'It doesn't really matter, it was a small tournament', that sort of thing. You make excuses," Gilchrist told CNA. "But it's in the night time when you can't sleep ... It shouldn't happen, but it does. You go through everything you got right, what you got wrong." Although it is part and parcel of being an athlete, defeat always tastes bitter, said Gilchrist. "I just ha...

SINGAPORE: Employers facing labour shortage should look to hire workers who held short-term COVID-19 roles, said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng on Monday (May 9). This includes those who were employed as safe distancing ambassadors (SDAs) and vaccination centre workers. Speaking in Parliament about how companies can adapt to the manpower crunch amid the recovering economy, Dr Tan noted that resident employment grew by 71,300 in 2021. The resident unemployment rate has also recovered to pre-COVID levels. "I am encouraged to see that many businesses have been able to build up their local workforce to meet their manpower needs," he said, adding that there continues to be opportunities to hire more local workers. OPPORTUNITIES TO HIRE LOCAL WORKERS As of April this year, around 6,400 wor...

Rubble and ashes, overlooked by a single golden pagoda, are almost all that remain of the wood and brick houses most people had built for themselves in the quiet riverside village of Bin in the Buddhist heartland of central Myanmar. Bin is one of more than 100 villages partially or completely burned by Myanmar's military since the start of this year, its homes among more than 5,500 civilian buildings razed as troops try to suppress opposition to last year's coup, according to media reports collated by activist group Data For Myanmar. Dozens of satellite images reviewed by Reuters, supplied by US earth-imaging company Planet Labs and US space agency NASA, show widespread torching of villages in the central part of the country. The photos, largely confirming the local media reports, are am...

HONG KONG: To fight COVID-19, Hong Kong shut schools and businesses, nearly sealed its borders for two years, banned more than two people from gathering and quarantined whole buildings. Still, the draconian restrictions were unable to contain the coronavirus and with more than 8,600 deaths of mostly elderly, unvaccinated people, many just in the past two months, Hong Kong's citizens are reckoning with the costs of some of the world's most stringent social distancing rules on their mental health and livelihoods. Empty streets in the financial centre, shuttered restaurants and bars, and bare supermarket shelves are a testament to the disruptions Hong Kong's COVID-19 rules wrought on its people. Jacky Ip, 33, runs a Japanese sake bar in Kowloon across the harbour from the Central business ...

On Mar 4, the police warned against the re-emergence of the China official impersonation scam. In April, the police said there were at least 109 victims who lost a total of at least S$14.6 million since January to scammers impersonating Chinese officials. According to senior investigation officer Kor Ching Kiat with the Singapore Police Force’s (SPF) anti-scam command and commercial affairs department, the scammer first got in touch with Sam in late March, and made constant contact. “I think they swore him to secrecy and tried to isolate him from his family and friends," he said. "I think that will help to perpetuate the crime if they feel so helpless they have no other means but to really listen to these persons who are now impersonating government officials that they are the only per...

More than a year after Myanmar’s military took power in a coup, the civil conflict in the country shows no signs of easing. In fact, with opposition forces — ethnic armed militias with experience fighting the regime and more recently formed people’s militias composed of newly trained recruits — enjoying some success in encouraging military defections, targeting military units and utilizing urban guerilla tactics, the hostilities look likely to continue for a long time. The Myanmar junta has been accused of a wide range of atrocities since the coup, and the death toll and prison count since Feb. 1, 2021, is mounting. According to Reuters, “at least 1,500 people are known to have been killed in yearlong protests against the coup in Myanmar, with thousands more possibly killed in the armed ...

Millions of people took to the streets in the Philippines to force President Ferdinand Marcos from office in 1986 after a two decade reign in which thousands were killed under martial law, the economy contracted and government coffers were plundered - infamously symbolised by his wife Imelda’s extravagant shoe collection. Lately, however, the family has seen a resurgence in popularity, much of it driven by social media. Scion Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has been the front-runner to succeed another strongman, Rodrigo Duterte, as president in this year’s May 9 election. Yet the Marcos candidacy has also reopened some old wounds - and he could still be disqualified. WHO IS BONGBONG MARCOS? Bongbong, 64, is the only son of the former first couple. While in his 20s he was already governo...