Joining the Singapore navy is ‘not crazy’: New RSN recruitment ad

aseanpr 11 1 月

4 minutes

SINGAPORE - "Join the navy? You must be crazy," a father tells his daughter and flings her duffel bag - presumably packed for her first day of enlistment - into a swimming pool. This is the opening scene of a video posted by the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) on Monday (Jan 11) and sets the theme for its latest recruitment campaign: The way friends and family often react to news of a loved one signing on with the maritime force. "We really wanted to tell people that it's not crazy to join the navy, if you understand our mission, our ideas and all the things that we do to ensure the safety, security and sovereignty of this country," said Colonel Ho Jee Kien, who heads the RSN's personnel department. The action-packed, cinematic advertisement can be viewed on the RSN's social media channels. It will be complemented by shorter clips on different navy vocations that will be progressively rolled out over the course of the year. They form part of a new recruitment campaign seeking to appeal to Generation Z, or those born from the mid-1990s. But the RSN also aims to attract applications across the board, from Singaporeans who are either students, pre-enlistees to national service, full-...

Paramedics among 80 Home Team officers to receive Covid-19 vaccination

aseanpr 11 1 月

4 minutes

SINGAPORE - The start of the vaccination exercise for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will see 80 Home Team officers involved in front-line healthcare operations receiving their Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 shot on Monday (Jan 11). A total of 1,050 officers will be progressively vaccinated in the coming weeks, the ministry said in a statement. The vaccination exercise, including the second dose, is expected to be completed in six weeks. The personnel involved include Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) officers, staff from the Home Team Medical Services Division, and front-line officers from the Home Team Science and Technology Agency and Singapore Prison Service. The exercise is in line with the Expert Committee's recommendation that those at risk of being infected with Covid-19, in particular healthcare and front-line workers, should be vaccinated first. A total of 1,123 Home Team officers were identified for the first phase of the vaccination operation, and 94 per cent of them agreed to receive the jab. Prior to vaccination, all officers were screened for their vaccine eligibility, based on their medical history and pre-existing medical conditi...

Dean of SMU law school among three new Senior Counsel appointed

aseanpr 11 1 月

2 minutes

SINGAPORE - Three individuals were appointed as Senior Counsel at the opening ceremony of the new legal year on Monday (Jan 11). They are: Professor Goh Yihan, dean of Singapore Management University's (SMU) School of Law; Ms Kristy Tan of the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC); and Mr Abraham Vergis, managing director of Providence Law Asia. Prof Goh joined the National University of Singapore as an assistant professor in 2011. He moved to SMU in 2014, and was appointed the dean of SMU's School of Law in 2017. Before academia, he was a justices' law clerk and later became the first-ever senior justices' law clerk at the Supreme Court of Singapore. In 2008, he was appointed an assistant registrar. Ms Tan was an equity partner in law firm Allen & Gledhill LLP before joining the AGC in 2018. She now serves as the head of the advocacy group in the organisation, dealing with litigation matters involving civil, commercial, criminal and public law. Mr Vergis, a lawyer with more than 21 years of legal experience, handles both local cases and international arbitration matters. He has also served as the chairman of the Law Society's Criminal Legal Aid Scheme Committee, defending criminal cas...

Singaporeans encouraged to give e-hongbao this Chinese New Year as safer, environmentally friendlier option

aseanpr 11 1 月

4 minutes

SINGAPORE - With Chinese New Year around the corner, the "hongbao" - or red packets - traditionally exchanged during this period are on the minds of many Singaporeans. While hongbao are usually given hand-to-hand, it has become common practice in China for relatives to send each other e-hongbao via messaging app WeChat. In a statement on Monday (Jan 11), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) encouraged Singaporeans to opt for e-hongbao this Chinese New Year. "They will help to reduce queues for physical notes and are more environmentally friendly," MAS said. One way to send e-hongbao is via PayNow. Those who bank with Citibank, DBS Bank , OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, UOB and Maybank will soon be able to add Chinese New Year greetings and graphics when they do so. The messages can be sent via WhatsApp or SMS. "PayNow enables the tradition of giving hongbao to continue, digitally and safely. Customers may contact their bank for more information on how to send hongbao digitally with PayNow," said the Association of Banks Singapore in a separate statement on Monday. Some Singaporeans prefer gifting new physical notes but these are often returned to the banks by the public af...

Japan Datacenters: Market Insights 2021

indie 11 1 月

2 minutes

Japan, Jan 11, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Want to learn how Japanese datacenters are reshaping the country's economy?W.Media is hosting a webinar on Wednesday, 20th January, 10:30-12PM (GMT+9) dedicated to this explosive industry, with top-level speakers including:- Tsutsomu Toneyama, PTS Consulting Japan - Rui Takei, BICSI- Dominik Steiner, 650; VPC Asia KK- Takuya Yusa, NTT Facilities- Paul Dwyer, EquinixRegistrations are now open! https://bit.ly/38unI1MJapan's Datacenter Market is making a huge impact on the national economic landscape. Increased speculation from foreign companies and accelerated adoption of digital technologies across public and private sectors are the underlying driving factors to this rapid evolution.A majority of development is in the Tokyo metropolitan area, with Osaka close behind.Furthermore, the Japanese government inked a deal to migrate all HR systems to the cloud by 2025, a sign of the cross-industry embrace of cloud technologies currently transforming the country.But while the data center market is experiencing this unprecedented investment, there is simultaneously a growing call for such investment to be sustainable. Japanese Data Centers are pioneerin...

Goldman, Morgan Stanley to delist some products in Hong Kong

elean 11 1 月

1 minute

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG)- Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co will delist some Hong Kong-listed structured products as a result of US sanctions, according to filings from the Hong Kong stock exchange. A total of 500 structured products will be affected. The planned delisting of these products won't hurt the market and there will be sufficient investment choices to meet demand, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing said in a statement Sunday (Jan 10). "HKEX is working closely with the relevant issuers to ensure orderly delisting, and facilitate buyback arrangements being arranged by the issuers," the exchange said, adding that it has the world's largest market with more than 12,000 listed products. "We do not believe this will have a material adverse impact on Hong Kong's structured products market." The exchange said it remains competitive, citing its pipeline for initial stock offerings, and that it will continue to monitor these developments.

He created the Web. Now he’s out to remake the digital world.

elean 11 1 月

7 minutes

(NYTIMES) Three decades ago, Tim Berners-Lee devised simple yet powerful standards for locating, linking and presenting multimedia documents online. He set them free into the world, unleashing the World Wide Web. Others became Internet billionaires, while Berners-Lee became the steward of the technical norms intended to help the web flourish as an egalitarian tool of connection and information sharing. But now, Berners-Lee, 65, believes the online world has gone astray. Too much power and too much personal data, he said, reside with tech giants like Google and Facebook - "silos" is the generic term he favours, instead of referring to the companies by name. Fuelled by vast troves of data, he said, they have become surveillance platforms and gatekeepers of innovation. Regulators have voiced similar complaints. The big tech companies are facing tougher privacy rules in Europe and some American states, led by California. Google and Facebook have been hit with antitrust suits. But Berners-Lee is taking a different approach: His answer to the problem is technology that gives individuals more power. The goal, he said, is to move toward "the web that I originally wanted." "Pods," personal ...

Elon Musk debates how to give away world’s biggest fortune

elean 11 1 月

4 minutes

(BLOOMBERG)- Elon Musk is not only the world's richest person, he lays claim to the biggest net worth ever recorded: US$209.3 billion (S$277.4 billion) as of Friday. What he does with it will be closely watched. Judging by Twitter, the Tesla co-founder's preferred medium of communication, philanthropy is on his mind. One of his first reactions on becoming the wealthiest human - after an initial shrug - was to solicit advice on how to give it away. Musk, 49, is a philanthropy neophyte compared with those he just leapfrogged on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the world's 500 wealthiest people. Longtime No. 1 Bill Gates and his friend Warren Buffett, co-founders of the Giving Pledge initiative that urges the ultra-wealthy to donate at least half their fortunes, have each given away tens of billions in cash and stock. Even Jeff Bezos, who has been criticised for being slow to establish himself as a philanthropist, has stepped up his game. He pledged to give US$10 billion to issues related to climate change last year and handed out US$791 million to 16 environmental groups in November. Despite signing the Giving Pledge, Musk has done relatively little publicly in the way of charity....

Nio aims to overtake Tesla in China with its first electric sedan

elean 11 1 月

2 minutes

BEIJING • Chinese electric-car maker Nio is pitting itself further against market leader Tesla, unveiling its first sedan in direct competition with the United States company's most popular model and other international rivals. The all-electric sedan ET7, released by Nio founder and chief executive William Li at a company event in Chengdu on Saturday, will start at 448,000 yuan (S$91,700) before government subsidies. That compares with 265,740 yuan for an entry-level Tesla Model 3, built in China. Deliveries will start from the first quarter of next year. Nio also launched a bigger volume battery pack, an upgraded autopilot system and the second iteration of its battery-swop station, a concept whereby people can change the battery in their vehicle rather than recharge it. Nio targets reaching 500 power swop stations by the end of this year. In the early months of last year, the company looked to be running out of cash having spent heavily on marketing and splashy showrooms for its ES8 and ES6 electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs). But in April, it received a US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) investment from entities led by the municipal government of Hefei and, in July, a US$1.5 billio...

Singapore kept IPO flow steady last year despite pandemic-driven market volatility: PwC

elean 11 1 月

1 minute

SINGAPORE - In a year ravaged by a recession and wild swings in financial markets, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) managed to bring in as many new companies to list here as in 2019. The bourse attracted 11 initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2020 despite the coronavirus-induced uncertainty and market volatility, according to a report by PwC Singapore. 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.

Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) Raises Capital for Growth

ruth 10 1 月

2 minutes

OSLO, NORWAY, Jan 10, 2021 - (JCN Newswire) - Just before New Year, the Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) completed a NOK 60 million (EUR 5.84 million) private equity placement with Pareto Securities, a leading investment bank in the Nordics, acting as sole lead manager and guarantor of the deal. The funding ensures that NBX can further develop its cryptocurrency exchange, custodian and payment systems, as well as new products relating to digital assets and E-money banking.Since public launch in April 2020, NBX has been working towards becoming the preferred provider of digital asset services in the Nordic region. Thus far the platform has attracted more than 7,000 customers, including large institutional investors. In so doing, NBX was able to engage major Norwegian investors and successfully close their 60 million-krone equity offering, which will help them achieve the ultimate goal of becoming a digital asset bank. On the equity placement, NBX co-founder and CEO Stig Aleksander Kjos-Mathisen said, "I am elated that NBX has managed 60 million kroner in a private placement. This funding will provide NBX with the financial resilience needed to pursue a banking license, thus becoming o...

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

aseanpr 10 1 月

2 minutes

Good morning! Here are our top stories to kick-start your Sunday, Jan 10. Indonesian plane crashes into the sea with more than 60 on board The Boeing 737-500 jet was carrying 50 passengers, including seven children and three infants, and 12 crew members. READ MORE HERE 234 Crowne Plaza hotel staff test negative for Covid-19 MOH closed the hotel from Friday until Jan 21 as a precautionary measure. READ MORE HERE Why Singapore consistently excels in the IB exams Some of the schools which offer the programme take in better students to begin with, observers said. READ MORE HERE More on this topic Related Story ST newsletters: Get alerts on the latest news Muhyiddin's parliamentary majority in jeopardy as Umno MP withdraws backing Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional has only 110 lawmakers backing it in the 220-member Parliament. READ MORE HERE Post White House, Trump’s personal power base remains potent weapon Trump's power base is personal. And the more beleaguered he seems, the more his base rallies around him. READ MORE HERE US ends curbs on official American contacts with Taiwan: Pompeo The move is likely to anger China and increase US-Sino tensions in the waning days of Trump’s presiden...

IB diploma and A levels: How the two routes differ

aseanpr 10 1 月

3 minutes

SINGAPORE - The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) and the A levels are both two-year-long programmes that cater mainly to students between 16 and 18 years old. In Singapore, more students tend to opt for the A-level route. In 2019, 12,405 students sat the national exam. A-level students are graded almost entirely on their final exams, which tend to be content-heavy. The IBDP is considered a less frequently chosen option. Last year, 2,228 students from Singapore, including those from schools such as Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and St Joseph's Institution (SJI), sat the diploma exam in November. Each year, there is another sitting in May, taken mainly by international schools in Singapore. In the IBDP, the final IB exams account for about 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the total mark for each subject, while assignments assessed by teachers and checked by external examiners contribute the rest of the final grade, according to a note on SJI's website. The curriculum places emphasis on the research processes of the students, as well as on their inquiry and problem-solving skills. Other key external assessments are the theory of knowledge essay and the individual...

Madrasah student scores high in IB despite juggling it with Islamic studies

aseanpr 10 1 月

3 minutes

SINGAPORE - As a student at the Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah, Abdul Hakam Nor Razak had to take 10 subjects as part of the Islamic curriculum at the religious school. On top of that, he was enrolled in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Early last week, the 18-year-old was one of 25 students in the madrasah who received their IB results. They are the pioneer batch in this programme, which began in January 2019. Even while juggling it with his Islamic education, Hakam managed to score 42 points out of the maximum 45. He was the madrasah's top scorer. The IB curriculum consists of six subjects and three core components - namely theory of knowledge, an extended essay, and creativity, activity and service. In this last component, students have to complete a project related to those three concepts. Hakam's six chosen subjects were chemistry, mathematics, Arabic, English, Malay literature and politics. On how he did so well, he said: "I enjoy learning and studying isn't a chore for me. "During the holidays, I read up about science and maths, which supplemented my knowledge about the subjects." He also has a keen interest in politics and English. He frequently read...

Why do S’pore students ace IB exams all the time?

aseanpr 10 1 月

1 minute

SINGAPORE - Singapore students once again came out tops in the latest International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma results released last Monday, outshining their global peers. Of the 99 students worldwide who attained the perfect score of 45 points in the exam last November, more than half - 55 - were from schools in Singapore. 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.

Struck with rare disease at 27, he built the region’s leading e-sports platform

aseanpr 10 1 月

1 minute

SINGAPORE - It was news that would knock the wind out of anyone's sails but especially brutal for a go-getting 27-year-old. In August, 2017, Ivan Yeo was told he had Kennedy's disease, a rare muscular degeneration disorder that causes, among other things, progressive weakening and wasting of the limb and facial muscles. 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.

A way for designer to keep inspiring her team

elean 10 1 月

1 minute

Running a small design firm means Ms Kelley Cheng has to do everything from managing IT systems to planning social media marketing strategy, besides her own design work. But the founder and creative director of publishing and design consultancy The Press Room said she makes time to learn something new every day, whether it is picking up a new software or reading up on current affairs and pop culture. 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.

Starting a home business

elean 10 1 月

1 minute

Ask almost anyone and they probably know someone running a home-based business (HBB), whether as an alternative source of income after being retrenched or an entrepreneurial dream. Such enterprises are certainly more visible now due to the increasing use of social media, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. 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.

It always pays to take sabbaticals and vacations

elean 10 1 月

5 minutes

(BLOOMBERG) - No sooner had Citigroup announced its new sabbatical policy - 12 weeks at 25 per cent pay for employees who'd been at the bank at least five years - than the debate erupted: In the highly competitive world of finance, would it be a career killer to take advantage of that kind of deal? I'm not surprised some people asked. In 2018, the average American full-time employee earned 23 paid days off a year, but used only 17 of them, according to a study funded by the non-profit US Travel Association (USTA) using data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis. That's six days of paid time off (PTO) left on the table - the equivalent of handing a week's salary back to your employer. When you consider that the United States has the rich world's stingiest vacation policies, this becomes even more depressing. Other forms of paid leave - like family leave - also see a significant number of people leaving time on the table. Especially men. Clearly, Americans think they can't afford to take time off, even when their firms are paying them to take it. But in many years of looking, I've seen no data to suggest such fears are justified. Some research on Americ...

CFO not one to chicken out of skills upgrading

elean 10 1 月

1 minute

Chief financial officer (CFO) Koh Ing Chin may hold the same job title he had in his previous company, but his job scope is quite different. His role at poultry producer Kee Song Food Corporation now demands more management and leadership capabilities, beyond financial management knowledge. 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.

Copyright © 2020 ASEANPR.Com All rights reserved.