Singapore resets: How to build back better after Covid-19

aseanpr 16 1 月

2 minutes

SINGAPORE - The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc around the world over the past year, disrupting businesses and upending livelihoods, as well as bringing about considerable changes to the way we live, work and travel. At the same time, the outbreak has exposed systemic weaknesses and revealed opportunities to improve the way things were previously done. Insight speaks to experts in six sectors to learn how Singapore can build back better – whether it is by embracing the work-from-home revolution, adapting to blended learning, or changing the way food makes its way from the kitchen to our dinner plates. Back to the workplace of the future Hybrid, flexible model – incorporating office, home and satellite workspace options – seen as the new normal. READ MORE HERE Eateries expand revenue streams, online presence With restrictions still in place, F&B outlets looking to improve resilience to pandemics. READ MORE HERE Tapping changes in commuting patterns to rethink concepts When it comes to longer-term investments in transport infrastructure, changes in commuting patterns could throw a spanner in the works. READ MORE HERE Technology set to change face of medical care Radical changes b...

Mice sector restarts with hybrid events, exploring options to overcome safe distancing challenges

aseanpr 16 1 月

1 minute

SINGAPORE - When Singapore raised its alert level in response to the potential spread of Covid-19 on Feb 7 last year, event company Hydse started receiving cancellations or postponements of contracts. And while a few events went ahead before the circuit breaker was imposed last April, "June was bad", said project director Nazran Ahmad. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

Eateries expand revenue streams, online presence

aseanpr 16 1 月

1 minute

SINGAPORE - When the circuit breaker was imposed in April last year, banning dining-in at eateries, Co Chung Restaurant had been open for just two months. It could have been a very short-lived tenure. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

Fewer desks, more open spaces: How the pandemic is changing Singapore’s offices

aseanpr 16 1 月

1 minute

SINGAPORE - It is 8.30am on March 27, 2023. Mrs Aileen Tan takes a water bottle and cardigan from her office locker, picks her desk for the day, and settles down to work. Two hours in, she heads to a soundproof "phone booth" to take a call. Mrs Tan leaves early for a medical appointment, planning to work from home afterwards. If she needs anything in the office, she knows the onsite concierge is on standby to help. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month Latest headlines and exclusive stories In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months* Subscribe now *Terms and conditions apply.

Big Biden stimulus no balm for US stocks, Dow loses 0.6%

elean 16 1 月

3 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - President-elect Joe Biden's massive plan to help the US economy did not shake Wall Street's downbeat sentiment on Friday (Jan 15), with major indices losing ground in the last full trading week of Donald Trump's presidency. Markets opened to news that retail sales in December had slid farther than expected as consumers and businesses struggled under the weight of rising Covid-19 cases, while major banks unveiled mixed earnings reports while hoping Covid-19 vaccines will bring better days. The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial average closed down 0.6 per cent at 30,814.26, while the broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.7 per cent to finish at 3,768.25. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 12,998.50 after losing 0.9 per cent, underscoring Wall Street's retreat from records set last week. Overall, the Dow lost 0.9 per cent for the week, and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 lost 1.5 per cent. Trump will on Wednesday hand over power to Biden, who has proposed spending US$1.9 trillion (S$2.5 trillion) to help the US economy come back from the mass layoffs and sharp downturn in growth caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The package, unveiled after markets closed Thursday, includes everyt...

Singapore shares up for third straight session; STI gains 0.16%

elean 16 1 月

2 minutes

The huge US$1.9 trillion (S$2.52 trillion) Biden stimulus package spurred investors to push the local market higher for the third straight session yesterday. The optimism sent the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) up 0.16 per cent, or 4.87 points, to 3,004.87 with gainers trumping losers 289 to 202 on trade of 4.2 billion securities worth $1.54 billion. US President-elect Joe Biden's bumper economic rescue plan did little to lift sentiment elsewhere in Asia. With the exception of Hong Kong, benchmarks in Tokyo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta ended in negative territory. Wall Street also ended modestly lower on Thursday. IG senior market strategist Pan Jingyi said: "To some extent, most of this optimism had been priced in, but the huge figures had also invited some contemplation as to whether the necessary bipartisan support will materialise." Oanda senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said the excitement is being tempered by challenges of passing the package through Congress. The best performer on the STI was Jardine Strategic Holding, gaining 3 per cent to US$27.04. Transport-related Covid-19 recovery plays fared relatively well, emerging among the top 10 stocks on the blue-chi...

Guoco Group proposes share offer to take GL Limited private

elean 16 1 月

2 minutes

News of the proposed privatisation of British hotel operator GL Limited sent shares of the Guoco Group unit soaring to a 10-month high yesterday after it lifted its trading halt. GL shares hit an intraday high of 71 cents, up nearly 27 per cent or 15 cents on the local exchange, after the trading halt was lifted shortly after noon yesterday. The stock closed at 70 cents - its highest since around last March - on trade of 7.18 million. Guoco Group, which has a 70.84 per cent interest in GL, said yesterday that its wholly owned unit GuocoLeisure Holdings will make a voluntary conditional offer of 70 cents a share for all GL stock. It will then privatise and delist the firm from the Singapore Exchange. GL said the move will provide greater flexibility to help it navigate "a challenging and unprecedented operating environment" resulting from Covid-19, Brexit and low oil and gas prices. Guoco's proposed offer represents a 25 per cent premium over the last transacted price of 56 cents per share on Thursday. It also represents a premium of 28.2 per cent over the one-month, volume-weighted average price up to the last trading day and 33.3 per cent over the three-month average price. GL sai...

Jacobson Pharma’s Proposed Spin-off and Separate Listing of JBM (Healthcare) Limited on The Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited

indie 16 1 月

3 minutes

HONG KONG, Jan 15, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Jacobson Pharma Corporation Limited ("Jacobson Pharma" or the "Company"; Stock Code: 2633), a leading company engaged in the research, development, production, marketing and sale of generic drugs and proprietary medicines, today announced the declaration of a conditional special interim dividend by way of a distribution in specie of an aggregate of 241,777,625 JBM Shares, representing approximately 27.1% of the total number of JBM Shares in issue immediately upon completion of the proposed spin-off, to the qualifying shareholders.As of today, the total number of issued shares of the Company ("Shares") is 1,934,221,000. Assuming there is no change in the total number of shares from today up to 29 January 2021 (the "Record Date"), the qualifying shareholders will receive one JBM Share for every eight Shares held on the Record Date.The distribution is conditional on the public offer becoming unconditional in all respects. If such condition is not satisfied, the proposed spin-off will not take place and the distribution will not be made.For more details, please refer to the link of announcement: https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/seh...

TES Agrees Minority Equity Investment with Sojitz

indie 15 1 月

3 minutes

With recent concerns surrounding resource depletion and uneven commodity resource distribution, the resource recycling business is expected to become increasingly important. This investment means TES can combine its extensive capability base with Sojitz's deep experience in metals and comprehensive resource recycling businesses to develop and innovate outcomes for commodities that will become a significant source of raw materials in the coming decades. Sojitz will partner with TES to promote TES services in Japan, and Sojitz's extensive network will leverage TES's lithium-ion battery recycling and energy storage businesses."TES's mission is to make a decade of difference by securely, safely and sustainably transforming and re-purposing 1 billion kilograms of assets by 2030," said Gary Steele, TES' Chief Executive Officer. "Sojitz's experience and shared vision of a more sustainable world make them an ideal partner for TES. The Sojitz investment reaffirms that, and we couldn't be more excited about partnering with them to offer sustainable technology solutions that drive the circular economy in Japan."TES is backed by Navis Capital Partners, one of Southeast Asia's largest private e...

Moonstake Wallet Officially Commences Staking Support for QURAS

indie 15 1 月

3 minutes

SINGAPORE, Jan 15, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Today, Moonstake announced the support of staking Quras's cryptocurrency XQC in Moonstake's Web and Mobile Wallets. In April of last year, Moonstake announced a strategic partnership with QURAS, and two companies have been working together on the Moonstake's development of all necessary functions as a node.QURAS is a next generation blockchain that enables anonymous, privacy-protected transactions. After three years of conception and development, their mainnet was officially launched on 19th December 2020. It features the benefits of blockchain while ensuring a certain level of confidentiality by providing privacy technology.There are two coins in QURAS: XQC and XQG, a gas token. Users can earn XQG approximately every 18 seconds by holding XQC. XQG is designed to decrease for every 2 million QURAS blockchain blocks generated, and more XQG is allocated to holders who support QURAS through their holding XQC from early phases.So far, Moonstake has supported Cosmos, IRISnet, Ontology, Harmony, Tezos, Cardano, Qtum, and Polkadot for staking. All of these coins require staking steps in your wallet, but with XQC, you will be rewarded with XQG if ...

Orchard Towers murder: Man who threw away bloodstained shirt jailed for five months

aseanpr 15 1 月

4 minutes

SINGAPORE - A 27-year-old man linked to the 2019 Orchard Towers murder was sentenced to five months' jail on Friday (Jan 15) for disposing of a bloodstained T-shirt worn by the alleged killer. Loo Boon Chong was also fined $1,000 for a separate gambling-related offence. He was among a group of seven originally charged with the murder of Mr Satheesh Noel Gobidass, 31. Loo's murder charge was later reclassified to that of consorting with 29-year-old Tan Seng Yang, who was carrying a foldable karambit knife in the incident on July 2, 2019. The weapon is a curved blade resembling a claw. Loo had earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of obstructing justice by disposing of a bloodstained T-shirt worn by Tan, who is the only member of the group still facing a murder charge. He had also admitted to an offence related to a separate incident in February last year, where he gambled over a game of dice in a public place. Loo and his six friends had patronised Naughty Girl Club on the second floor of the shopping mall in the wee hours of July 2, 2019. While in the club, they got into a dispute with another group. The ensuing fight, which Loo tried to stop, saw Tan injure a security officer and a...

Redesigning education to empower next generation of Singaporeans for a post-pandemic world

aseanpr 15 1 月

10 minutes

When Ms Kim Saxe, director of Innovation Labs at The Nueva School in California, set up a pilot programme called Introduction to Enterpreneurship for her students, she was stunned at the response she received. “We actually had to turn away students,” she recalls. “Clearly, we had hit a chord with today's youth.” As part of the course, students have to identify needs, create solutions, collaborate, write a business plan, build a business model, create financials and pitch their venture. The results have included soccer shoes that simulate barefoot running and anti-procrastination homework solutions for students, just to name a few. “We thought we would prepare the students for their futures as knowledge workers,” says Ms Saxe, who is also a keynote speaker at this year’s summit. “Students are supported as they wade into the real world, but not given the answers. In the end, they learn that they have the tools to deal with uncertainty and to translate ideas into real outcomes.” Indeed, as we emerge from a year of unprecedented changes into an increasingly complex and uncertain world, it is becoming clear that this approach might just be the best way to equip our youth to deal with th...

Man arrested for possessing and importing 47 airsoft guns

aseanpr 15 1 月

1 minute

SINGAPORE - A 38-year old man was arrested on Wednesday (Jan 13) for the possession and importation of airsoft guns without a valid licence. The guns are replicas that shoot non-metallic projectiles. Any gun that shoots pellets using compressed gas - including airsoft guns - are considered arms under the Arms & Explosives Act. Police said they were alerted to toy weapons being imported into Singapore on Dec 30 last year and later established the man's identity after an investigation by officers from Clementi Police Division. In total, 47 airsoft guns and accessories were seized. Police said no one is allowed to possess or control any such arms without a licence. Those convicted of possessing or having under their control any gun without a licence face a fine of up to $5,000 per gun and up to three years in jail. It is also an offence for anyone to import or export any arms or explosives, or any parts of arms or explosives, without a licence. Offenders face a fine of up to $10,000 and jail of up to three years. More on this topic Related Story Some enthusiasts here fired up over illegal replica guns, despite the risks

British man under SHN who left hotel room without mask to meet fiancee among 3 people to be charged

aseanpr 15 1 月

3 minutes

SINGAPORE - One man chose to spend time with his fiancee, another wandered around Geylang and went to work. Both were supposed to be isolated and completing stay-home notices, and are set to charged on Friday (Jan 15) with allegedly breaching the requirements. In one case, a Singaporean man - Abdul Rahman Mohamed Hanafiah, 71 - returning from Batam took public transport, spent time at various public places and went back to work during his stay-home notice, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Friday. In another, a British man - Nigel Skea, 52 - serving his stay-home notice at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore in Marina Bay left his room on the 14th storey without wearing a mask on three occasions on Sept 21 last year. On the last occasion, his fiancee - Agatha Maghesh Eyamalai, 39 - was with him. To meet her, he left his room at about 2am and took the stairs to the 27th storey where her room was located. She was not subject to a stay-home notice and had booked a different room in the same hotel. Agatha will be charged with abetting Nigel's breach of his stay-home notice requirements. Meanwhile, Abdul Rahman, who returned to the Republic on March 17, did not go ...

Concord Adex Unveils Toronto’s Mystery Bridge Suite

indie 15 1 月

3 minutes

TORONTO, Jan 15, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - It's a lair fit for Mr. James Bond himself. The long-awaited Bridge Suites (https://concordbridgesuites.com/), Concord's iconic addition to the Toronto skyline, is finally unveiled. Globally recognized as an architectural feat, the Bridge Suites were built into Parade's SkyBridge at the foot Canoe Landing Park in Toronto, Ontario and have been a source of curiosity throughout the city - and the world - since inception.As the country's highest (and largest) suspended residence, the jaw-dropping Bridge Suites are an engineering and architectural marvel. The 450 tonne, 40 metre structure that took over 14 hours to lift into place is no longer a mystery. Its unique outlook suspended in the sky allows for unobstructed vistas to Lake Ontario in one direction and miles of city views to the other."Rarely in a city can you point in the sky and say definitively, 'I live there," however, the uniqueness of this residence makes it very hard to miss," said Isaac Chan, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Concord Adex. "The Bridge Suites have long sparked intrigue from Torontonians and we're excited to pull back the curtain and finally give everyone the ...

Should I get the Covid-19 vaccine? What you need to know

aseanpr 15 1 月

0 min

Toyota to pay record $238m fine for decade of US emissions violations

elean 15 1 月

4 minutes

NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - Toyota Motor is set to pay a US$180 million (S$238 million) fine for long-standing violations of the Clean Air Act, the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan announced on Thursday (Jan 14), the largest civil penalty ever levied for a breach of federal emissions-reporting requirements. From about 2005 to 2015, the global automaker systematically failed to report defects that interfered with how its cars controlled tailpipe emissions, violating standards designed to protect public health and the environment from harmful air pollutants, according to a complaint filed in Manhattan. Toyota managers and staff in Japan knew about the practice but failed to stop it, and the automaker quite likely sold millions of vehicles with the defects, the attorney's office said. "Toyota shut its eyes to the noncompliance," Audrey Strauss, the acting US attorney, said in a statement. Toyota has agreed not to contest the fine. Eric Booth, a spokesman for the automaker, said that the company had alerted the authorities as soon as the lapses came to light, and that the delay in reporting "resulted in a negligible emissions impact, if any." "Nonetheless, we recognize that some of our repor...

When will US interest rates rise? Fed chief says ‘no time soon’

elean 15 1 月

3 minutes

WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - With the incoming administration of US President-Elect Joe Biden pushing for more economic stimulus and with multiple coronavirus vaccines already approved, some investors have been wondering whether the Federal Reserve might soon start to ease off its support for the economy. Jerome Powell, the central bank's chairman, made it clear on Thursday (Jan 14) that the US central bank would be cautious in doing so - and that action was anything but imminent. During a webcast question-and-answer session, Mr Powell said it would take time for the US economy to recover from the pain of the pandemic era. "When the time comes to raise interest rates, we will certainly do that," he said. "And that time, by the way, is no time soon." Currently, dire short-term conditions - surging virus deaths, high unemployment, and partial state and local economic lockdowns - contrast sharply with the longer-term outlook. Economists think that the economy might come roaring back later in 2021 as vaccines allow normal life to resume and consumers spend money they saved during the pandemic. That split has led some investors to worry that the Fed might speed up its plans to reduce the pace...

US stocks dip as market awaits Biden stimulus plan

elean 15 1 月

2 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street stocks finished a choppy session modestly lower on Thursday (Jan 14) as the market awaited details of President-elect Joe Biden's stimulus package after digesting disappointing labour data. Biden is set to unveil later on Thursday a proposal for a third major fiscal package in the wake of coronavirus restrictions imposed over the last 10 months. The announcement comes as data showed applications for unemployment benefits rose sharply in the first week of 2021, with a surge of 181,000 - the biggest increase since the coronavirus pandemic began in March - bringing the total close to the one million level not seen since August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 30,991.52, down 0.2 per cent. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4 per cent to 3,795.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slid 0.1 per cent to 13,112.64. Despite the employment data, the latest in a string of mixed or poor economic indicators, equity markets remain near all-time highs as investors look ahead to a better 2021 economy thanks to coronavirus vaccines. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell predicted the US could see a boost of "exuberant spending" after the pandemic, addin...

China exports beat forecasts with 18.1% growth in December

elean 15 1 月

3 minutes

BEIJING • Chinese exports grew by more than expected last month, Customs data showed yesterday, as coronavirus disruptions around the world fuelled demand for Chinese goods even as a stronger renminbi made exports more expensive for overseas buyers. A robust domestic recovery also spurred Chinese appetite for foreign products last month, with import growth quickening from the month prior and beating expectations in a Reuters poll. Exports rose 18.1 per cent last month from a year earlier, slowing from a 21.1 per cent jump in November but beating expectations for a 15 per cent rise. Imports increased 6.5 per cent year on year last month, topping a 5 per cent forecast and picking up pace from November's 4.5 per cent growth. Buoyant exports helped drive an impressive rebound in China's manufacturing sector last year, as the pandemic wreaked havoc abroad. China is expected to be the only major economy to have seen positive growth last year. Exports grew 3.6 per cent over the full year and imports fell 1.1 per cent. While the pandemic will bring challenges, a reviving global economy and a steady recovery in China's domestic economy provide a foundation for China to maintain trade growth...

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