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Morning Briefing: Top stories from The Straits Times on Sept 10

aseanpr
2 minutes

Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Friday, Sept 10. 450 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases in S'pore; unvaccinated 62-year-old man dies of Covid-19 The number of new cases is more than double the figure one week ago, on Sept 2, when it stood at 191. READ MORE HERE Unlinked cases less relevant when S'pore treats Covid-19 as endemic: Experts Shifting the focus means resources can be better used elsewhere. READ MORE HERE Little India shops look forward to business boost from pilot scheme for migrant workers Up to 500 vaccinated migrant workers living in dorms will be allowed to visit Little India each week. READ MORE HERE More on this topic Related Story ST newsletters: Get alerts on the latest news New way to calculate school-home distance to help more P1 kids to qualify for nearby schools Changes will result in slightly over 10% more homes added to the list of those near primary schools. READ MORE HERE Will primary school registration changes lessen stress and competition for places? Senior education correspondent Sandra Davie looks at what the changes mean for parents and their children. READ MORE HERE Why are HDB resale prices rising and what does this m...

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Tencent leads $80.6 billion loss as China’s gaming crackdown expands

elean
4 minutes

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - Tencent Holdings and Netease shed more than US$60 billion (S$80.6 billion) of value as investor fears grow that Chinese regulators are preparing to tighten their grip dramatically on the world's largest gaming industry. Chinese regulators summoned industry executives to a meeting on Wednesday (Sept 8) to instruct them to break their "solitary focus" on profit and prevent minors from becoming addicted to games, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Regulators also said China will slow down approvals for all new online games, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday. The newspaper corrected an earlier report that said China had put a freeze on game approvals. Tencent's American depositary receipts (ADRs) then recovered some of their losses, closing 2.8 per cent down after falling as much as 5.2 per cent. Netease's ADRs finished 2 per cent lower after sliding as much as 6.9 per cent. Investors are already on edge because of a months-long government campaign to rein in industries from e-commerce and ride-hailing to social media. Xinhua made no mention of the approval suspension. Chinese President Xi Jinping's administration is waging a concurren...

SeaPRwire

What Xi means by ‘disorderly capital’ is $2 trillion question for investors

elean
5 minutes

SHANGHAI (BLOOMBERG) - If nothing else, Chinese President Xi Jinping is known for his pursuit of order. So how far the Chinese President's attack on the "disorderly expansion of capital" will go has emerged as a defining question for investors trying to navigate the country's wave of regulatory crackdowns. Since first appearing in a Politburo readout in December, the phrase has been employed by government agencies and researchers to explain actions against technology moguls, celebrities and private tutors that fueled a US$1.5 trillion (S$2 trillion) stock rout last month. The slogan, like "common prosperity", is among several Xi-isms feeding concerns that China is tilting away from free markets and back toward more ideologically driven centralised planning. Its meaning, however, is even more mysterious than its egalitarian-sounding cousin. The exact words "disorderly expansion of capital" have appeared only five times in documents directly connected with Mr Xi, according to a Bloomberg News review of nine years of the leader's speeches and meetings. All mentions came in the past 10 months. The phrase has appeared at least 38 times in the People's Daily newspaper, the Communist Part...

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Little India shops look forward to business boost from pilot scheme for migrant workers

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - For the past year and a half, shopkeepers in Little India have been hit hard by a drastic fall in income as migrant workers who would throng the area on weekends were confined to their dormitories as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Crowds of more than 200,000 workers on a typical pre-pandemic weekend dwindled to just a few thousand who live outside of the dorms, said Mr Ruthirapathy Parthasarathy, honorary secretary of the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association (Lisha). So the announcement of a long-awaited pilot scheme allowing up to 500 vaccinated migrant workers to visit Little India weekly is music to the ears of businesses. Mr Ruthirapathy, 52, told The Straits Times that Lisha has been working with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to turn the pilot programme into reality. Two weeks ago, it held an on-site meeting with MOM to discuss the possibility of having workers visit Little India. Last Saturday, it conducted a site visit with MOM officers, going to Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, Masjid Angullia and various shops in the area. Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple will extend its visiting hours to accommodate workers in the pilot scheme, said Mr Ruthirapathy. M...

SeaPRwire

US stocks fall again in ‘exhausted’ market

elean
2 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street stocks ended lower again on Thursday (Sept 9) as markets weighed better employment data against uncertainty over United States monetary policy and US President Joe Biden's infrastructure package. US jobless claims dropped for a second straight week, hitting a new pandemic low and getting closer to their level before Covid-19 broke out. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank (ECB) said it would slow the pace of its massive monthly bond purchases and lifted its growth forecast for this year. Though not a taper, the move is "an indication that the European Central Bank is beginning the process of lowering the level of accommodation," said Mr Tom Cahill, portfolio strategist at Ventura Wealth Management. The ECB move underscores questions about the Federal Reserve's plans to scale back asset purchases at a time when there is already uncertainty about congressional action on Biden's infrastructure plan. "The market is really, really extended, and I think it's exhausted," Mr Cahill said. "It's looking for some kind of a catalyst right now." The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4 per cent to 34,879.38. The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.2 per cent to 4,493...

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This tenacious entrepreneur surges ahead with budding business offshoots – despite pandemic challenges

elean
5 minutes

After 25 years in the hospitality industry, Mr Julian Serna has done it all – clocking experience at five-star hotels, casinos, pubs, exclusive cocktail bars and fine-dining restaurants around the world. His career first brought him to Singapore in 2008 as a freelance operational consultant for the Conrad Hotel and restaurants Brewerkz, Bedrock and Oriole. He left a year later to open his own restaurant in Sydney. Missing the nation state’s rich diversity and vibrant food and beverage (F&B) scene, he returned in 2014 as a group bar mentor for hospitality conglomerate The Lo and Behold Group, which owns popular establishments Tanjong Beach Club, Loof and OverEasy. But Mr Serna wanted a bigger challenge: starting a successful restaurant from scratch. In 2018, he opened Panamericana. Named after a highway that stretches over 14 countries and 15,000km across North, Central and South America, the restaurant is inspired by Mr Serna’s Colombian heritage. At Panamericana, diners get to savour breathtaking views while enjoying a diverse feast of flavours and cuisines. PHOTO: JULIAN SERNA Sitting on the pristinely manicured lawns of the Sentosa Golf Club, against the boundless view of the So...

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Hitachi Elevator Philippines Receives 67 Elevators and Escalators Order for Its First Railway System Project

ruth
2 minutes

MANILA, Sep 9, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501 / "Hitachi") today announced that Hitachi Elevator Philippines Corporation (Hitachi Elevator Philippines), a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., operates in the installation, and maintenance of elevators and escalators in the Philippines has received an order for 67 units of elevators and escalators for the development of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Phase 1 project as its first railway system project. The 38 km long railway line that connects Malolos in the Province of Bulacan to Tutuban in Manila, serving 7 stations, to benefit more than 200,000 commuters daily. The NSCR is part of an overall initiative by the Philippine government to expand the existing mass transportation in metropolitan Manila and adjacent areas to lessen the traffic congestion in and around the capital city.External View of North-South Commuter RailwayThe project includes two contract packages by two different contractors. Contract Package 1 named CP01 will be constructed by Taisei-DMCI Joint Venture and awarded Hitachi Elevator Philippines, 13 elevators and 26 escalators for four stations of Valenzuela in Manila, Meycauayan...

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Why PR Agencies Choose NovationWire’s Distribution Platform

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3 minutes

Hong Kong – Many PR Agencies are switching to NovationWire’s news release platform to win the attention of their clients from a global audience. These PR/IR organizations believe that NovationWire has helped them save thousands of dollars compared with previous news release platforms. NovationWire’s high-quality distribution services help end customers’ press releases to be published to the world’s top news media, including: BLOOMBERG, NASDAQ, YAHOO FINANCE, APNEWS, BUSINESSINSIDER, ASAHI, CNET, ADVFN, as well as the United States, Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia and other regions. NovationWire’s special services also include global press release distribution supporting up to 20 languages, including: English, French, German, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Filipino, Japanese, Korean. By distributing press releases in local languages, customers’ brands can successfully reach the United States, Britain, Japan, Korea, China (Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong), and Southeast Asia. The traditional business of PR agencies is local promotion, but end customers are often not satisfied with this. PR agencies need to use the power of excellent wire r...

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Mitsubishi Corporation and Shell Sign MoU to Collaborate on Hydrogen Plans in Alberta

ruth
2 minutes

TOKYO, Sep 9, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Shell Canada Products, by its managing partner, Shell Canada Limited (Shell Canada) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding relating to the production of low-carbon hydrogen through the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) near Edmonton, Canada. MC aims to build and start-up the low-carbon hydrogen facility near the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Scotford towards the latter half of this decade, and Shell would provide CO2 storage via the proposed Polaris CCS project. The low-carbon hydrogen, commonly called blue hydrogen, would be produced via a natural gas feedstock and exported mainly to the Japanese market to produce clean energy. "MC is looking into such clean energy opportunities globally," said Hiroki Haba, Senior Vice President, Division COO, Next-Generation Fuels & Petroleum Business Div., MC. "This opportunity in Canada would support Japan's requirements for clean energy." "Shell is leveraging our global leadership in carbon capture and storage to help produce the low-carbon products our customers need to move through an accelerated energy transition," said Mark Pattenden, Sen...

SeaPRwire

Workplace discrimination and new racial harmony act among topics of interest for Malay community

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3 minutes

SINGAPORE - There is great interest in how fair workplace guidelines will soon become law, as announced in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally (NDR) speech on August 29. This is evident from the questions being asked about how seriously the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep) will take complaints on discrimination at the workplace. The concerns were raised, among other issues, during a post-NDR dialogue session with grassroots volunteers and Malay-Muslim community leaders on Wednesday (Sept 08) night. About 200 participants attended the event organised by The People's Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council. The panellists for the dialogue included Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Maliki Osman. Questions from the floor probed the panellists regarding discrimination in the workplace and how Tafep will address the issue. A participant who joined the dialogue through Zoom asked for clear guidelines to be put up regarding language requirements for job postings. Issues facing Singapore's ageing population were also brought up during the dialogue. Someone from the floor described his experience facing age-relate...

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Jail, caning for teacher who made former pupil his ‘godson’ and later molested him

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3 minutes

SINGAPORE - A male teacher who made a former pupil his "godson" and later molested the boy during a sleepover was jailed for 2½ years on Thursday (Sept 9). The man, 36, was also sentenced to three strokes of the cane. He was earlier found guilty of two counts of molestation and another charge of attempted molestation after a trial. Details about the man, the boy and the school cannot be revealed because of a gag order protecting the victim's identity. The man has been suspended from service since July 2017 and no longer teaches in any school. He used to be the victim's Primary 6 form teacher and taught English, mathematics and science in 2016. The court had earlier heard that he and his victim had a "normal teacher-student relationship" at the time. But they also met outside the school three times that year. They grew closer after the release of the boy's Primary School Leaving Examination results. He had gone to the victim's home to help the child with selecting a secondary school. The court also heard that the boy had been raised by a single mother and he never had a father figure before the teacher came into his life. The boy agreed to become the teacher's godson in early 2017 a...

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Man pleads guilty to throwing raw pork bone towards mosque balcony

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3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Despite being in full view of a mosque's members, a 57-year-old man threw a raw pork bone towards the building's balcony. Singaporean Lim Beng Wei pleaded guilty on Thursday (Sept 9) to a charge of public nuisance. Two other charges for public nuisance - one for throwing another bone and the other for throwing butter towards the roof of the Singapore Musical Box Museum at 168 Telok Ayer Street - will be taken into consideration during sentencing by the court at a later date. Court documents state that Lim bought two raw pork bones, among other things, from a supermarket in Tanjong Pagar on the morning of Jan 14. He headed towards Masjid Al-Abrar, which is located at 192 Telok Ayer Street, intending to throw a bone at the mosque. When he reached the building, he removed a bone from its packaging and flung it towards the second-level balcony of the mosque. The court heard that his actions were captured by the building's closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. The CCTV footage was later reviewed by police officers, who were investigating a call claiming that a person had vandalised the Singapore Musical Box Museum's premises. The museum is located near the mosque. Accord...

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All-New Outlander Earns Highest Safety Rating from IIHS in the US

ruth
3 minutes

TOKYO, Sep 9, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) announced that the gasoline model of the all-new Outlander has earned the highest safety rating, TOP SAFETY PICK+ (TSP+)1, from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)2 in the United States.All-New OutlanderThe award applies to U.S. specification vehicles built after June 2021, after which the company made an adjustment to headlight aiming. The all-new Outlander was recognized for its high level of collision safety performance and preventive safety performance in the IIHS crash-worthiness evaluations, front crash prevention tests and headlight evaluation. Introduced in North America in April 2021, the all-new Outlander crossover SUV offers advanced driver assistance systems to increase driver convenience, confidence and safety. MI-PILOT Assist3, 4 integrates Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Keep Assist (LKA), and supports driving operation by maintaining following distance and keeping the vehicle near the center of the lane. Vehicles equipped with the navigation link system use the curve information on the map to automatically adjust the vehicle speed and reduce the burden on...

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Spritzer Malaysia Sends Mineral Water to Families Affected by Flood in Kedah and Perak

indie
2 minutes

KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 9, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Spritzer Malaysia ("Spritzer" or the "Company"), which produces Malaysia's best-selling natural mineral water, is again bringing aid by sending bottle water to victims of the flash floods in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia who are in need of safe and clean drinking water sources following the recent heavy downpour.The Company has sent more than 30,000 bottles of Spritzer Natural Mineral Water to flood victims in Gurun and Yan in Kedah and Alor Pongsu in Perak whose homes were affected by the floodwaters, with a number of residents in all these areas having been evacuated to relief centres.Spritzer has been donating aid to flood victims and rescue crews, especially those in flash floods affected areas, where victims may not have access to drinking water which is important for hydration and ensuring hygiene at all times.Spritzer draws its silicon-rich mineral water sources from an environmentally safe and substantiable facility in Taiping, Perak surrounded by a tropical rainforest that is more than 200-million-year-old. Silicon-rich mineral water has also been found to be beneficial to health, which helps reduc...

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HDB resale prices rise in August to just 0.1% below peak; record high of 26 million-dollar flats sold: SRX

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3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Housing Board resale prices rose for the 14th consecutive month, climbing at a faster pace of 1.1 per cent in August compared with July, according to flash data from real estate portal SRX on Thursday (Sept 9). Prices are just 0.1 per cent off the peak in April 2013 according to SRX data, which means September prices are likely to hit a record high as strong demand continues to outstrip flat supply. With more construction delays expected, resale flat demand strengthened despite August being the Hungry Ghost month, when sales typically slow down. Last month, The Straits Times reported that five Build-To-Order (BTO) projects are facing even longer delays as their main contractor Greatearth has gone bust due to financial difficulties. The completion dates for these BTO projects, and many other ongoing ones, had already been pushed back because of manpower and supply disruptions in the construction sector caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research and analytics at OrangeTee & Tie, said more home seekers could have turned to the resale market in the face of uncertainty in the BTO market. "Some of the affected buyers may have chosen t...

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S’porean businessman sentenced to 3 years and 10 months’ jail for funding terrorist acts in Syria

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5 minutes

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean businessman gave a Malaysian man cash totalling over $1,000 to facilitate the latter's journey to Syria to become a fighter for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Mohamed Kazali Salleh, now 51, who committed the offences in 2013 and 2014, was on Thursday (Sept 9) sentenced to three years and 10 months' jail. He admitted to two charges under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act involving RM1,000 (S$385) and US$351.75 (S$450). A third charge under the same Act linked to another RM500 was considered during sentencing. The Straits Times understands that this case marks the first time someone was prosecuted in Singapore for financing the travel of an individual to a foreign country to become or train to become a terrorist. Some time in 2009, Kazali went to Malaysia and befriended a Malaysian man identified as Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal Abidin, also known as Akel Zainal. Akel also used to be a member of 1990s Malaysian rock band Ukays. Deputy Public Prosecutors Edwin Soh and Andrew Chia stated in court documents: "During this trip, Akel told the accused about his religious views, as well as his Jewish conspiracy theory - that the Jews wanted to c...

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Honda to Start Testing Program in September Toward Launch of Autonomous Vehicle Mobility Service Business in Japan

ruth
2 minutes

TOKYO, Sep 9, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Honda today announced that it will start a testing program for autonomous vehicles in September 2021, taking a step toward an autonomous vehicle mobility service (MaaS) business in Japan, which Honda is planning to launch under collaboration with Cruise and General Motors.The testing program for autonomous vehicles mobility service technologies will be conducted in Utsunomiya City and Haga Town, Tochigi Prefecture. As the first step to prepare for thorough testing, a high-definition map of the area will be created using a specialized vehicle for mapping. Once the high-definition map is ready, the autonomous vehicle, Cruise AV, will be driven on public roads to develop and test autonomous vehicles adapted to the traffic environment and the relevant laws and regulations in Japan.Honda and Cruise will jointly work on the testing program, and also it will be pursued at a new operations test site to be established within a Honda facility in Tochigi Prefecture.Further ahead, Honda aims to launch its autonomous vehicle MaaS business in Japan using the Cruise Origin, a vehicle jointly developed by Honda, Cruise and General Motors, exc...

SeaPRwire

Sea shares fall after $8.46 billion offering, biggest of 2021

elean
1 minute

NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) - Singapore's Sea Ltd fell in postmarket trading on Wednesday (Sept 8) after launching the largest secondary offering of 2021 to date. The online gaming and e-commerce firm is offering 11 million shares, a stake worth about US$3.78 billion at Wednesday's close, plus US$2.5 billion of equity-linked debt. The US$6.28 billion (S$8.46 billion) offering follows a runup of more than 70 per cent in the stock this year. The 11 million shares alone make this offering the biggest since Pinduoduo raised US$4.1 billion on Nov 18, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Including the convertible bonds, this is the biggest equity raise since T-Mobile US in June 2020. The deal arrives at a time of resurgence in cross-border issuance from Asia. Nio on Tuesday announced plans to raise up to US$2 billion in what would be the biggest US offering by a company based in China since Didi Global.

SeaPRwire

Shell weighs Covid-19 vaccine mandate, firing staff who resist: FT

elean
1 minute

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Royal Dutch Shell is weighing whether to mandate Covid-19 vaccines for employees and firing those who refuse to comply, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday (Sept 8). The oil major outlined a case for "selective vaccine mandates" initially at offshore and other remote locations, where staff live and work, and where World Health Organization-approved vaccines were available, the Financial Times said, citing an internal memo sent to Shell's executive committee. The memo, dated Sept 1, also said employees in other parts of the business could be subjected to mandatory vaccination "over time", according to the newspaper. The document states that while "all reasonable efforts" would be made to avoid terminating employment of staff who refuse to comply with the vaccine mandate, the company "will be faced with no alternative but to do so", FT reported. Shell declined to comment on the report. Many companies have come out with mask mandates and changed their vaccination policies amid a resurgence in Covid-19 cases, spurred by the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant. More on this topic Related Story Amazon faced with Covid-19 dilemma to mandate vaccinations...

SeaPRwire

Chip supply faces new crunch as Malaysia plants shut for a week

elean
3 minutes

KUALA LUMPUR (BLOOMBERG) - The Malaysian semiconductor firm Unisem will shut some plants for seven days after three employees died recently from Covid-19, dealing a fresh blow to the chip supplies that carmakers and other companies rely on. The company said it will close Ipoh plants in the state of Perak until Sept 15 to curb the spread of the disease, which chairman John Chia said had infected several employees and caused three deaths. The company will then limit the number of staff allowed into the facilities when they reopen. Unisem, which provides packaging and testing services, gets about 12 per cent of its revenue from the auto sector, 28 per cent from communications and 30 per cent from consumer segments. Unisem is one of several large Malaysian-based chip assemblers and testers for the likes of Infineon Technologies and STMicroelectronics. The suspension of its plants underscores how Covid-19 is disrupting key portions of a global supply chain already struggling with inadequate capacity, particularly for a variety of low-end chips that automakers from Tesla to Toyota Motor require to make their cars. The Japanese giant said last month it would suspend production at 14 plant...