SeaPRwire

Director of freight forwarding company fined $105,000 for evading GST

aseanpr
2 minutes

SINGAPORE - The director of a freight forwarding company in Singapore, who evaded more than $20,000 in goods and services tax (GST), has been fined $105,000. Tang Yong Hoe, 43, director of I-Do Logistics, pleaded guilty to one charge of abetting a consignee to furnish false information to a Customs officer, and one charge of evadingGST that involved 67 import permits and a total of $16,842 in tax evaded. Another two similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing on Sept 27. I-Do imports goodsfrom its business partner in China, before sorting and delivering them to consignees here. Tan, a Singaporean, was found to have under-declared the value of goods imported by I-Do Logistics and evaded $20,204 in GST between March 2017 and September 2018. He used the packing lists from his Chinese business partner to apply for permits, despite knowing that the lists did not give the actual worth of the goods. His offences came to light after an inspection by Customs officers on July 31, 2018. Two consignees provided packing lists which under-declared the value of the goods so that they could be exempted from GST. One of the consignees, who did so knowing that the information was...

SeaPRwire

China steps up efforts to ring-fence Evergrande, not to save it

elean
6 minutes

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - As China Evergrande Group edges closer to a massive restructuring, Beijing has stepped up efforts to limit the fallout, signaling it's willing to prop up healthy developers, homeowners and the real estate market at the expense of global bondholders. In the last week alone, Chinese authorities have dispatched top financial regulators to nudge the country's massive banks to ease credit for homebuyers and support the property sector. They also bought out part of Evergrande's stake in a struggling bank to limit contagion. The central bank meanwhile pumped 460 billion yuan (S$96.3billion) into the system over a five-day stretch to ease liquidity. The moves underscore that China will do everything it can to ring-fence Evergrande, while showing little interest in a direct bailout of the developer that has roiled global markets for weeks. That doesn't bode well for bondholders - both onshore and abroad - looking for some kind of rescue from the Chinese government. "The first obligation is going to make sure that homeowners who bought those homes take delivery and are made whole," said Marathon Asset Management chief executive Bruce Richards, who started buying Everg...

SeaPRwire
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Accessing Asia’s post-pandemic opportunities

elean
8 minutes

Transformational trends converging in Asia – some accelerated by the pandemic – could potentially unleash the region’s next wave of growth opportunities. “Opportunities are where people are. If we take a pair of compasses and draw a large circle on the map with Indonesia at the centre, and China and India also within it, we will find that there are more people living inside than outside the circle,” says Ms Caroline Loke, portfolio manager, Asia ex-Japan equity at PineBridge Investments. Drivers of post-Covid-19 growth in Asia With over more than half of the world’s population living in Asia-Pacific1, ample opportunities can be found in the region. Urbanisation is swelling the region’s cities. Asia is projected to have the largest urban population on the planet by 2050 – with implications on essential services, housing and sustainability, among others, for years to come.2 Not only that, the region’s demographics are primed for the next generation of technological innovations incubating in Asia – it has the world’s largest population of “digital natives”.3 This young and tech-savvy population is coming of age amid increasing wealth and consumption power. By 2027, 1.2 billion Chinese...

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Recovering at home from Covid-19 was a good thing in a bad situation for this Singapore family

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - My son, who will turn 12 in January, caught Covid-19 on Sept 22. It started with a cough, then a fever and concluded with a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. As the person closest to him, I was also diagnosed on the same day. After we tested positive, we quarantined ourselves in my room. But we were freed from the room shortly after, when, the next day, my husband also tested positive. The happy part of this story was that, on Sept 15, about a week before we caught Covid-19, the home recovery programme kicked in. When my son and I tested positive, we applied to stay home together. My husband did the same too when he got his results. Initially, there was a bit of confusion over what to do because we were given scanty instructions, but we sorted things out ourselves by reading the Ministry of Health (MOH) website. We then hunkered down for self-isolation at home. The home recovery scheme is to lighten the load of medical personnel and facilities, but I am sure being at home also played a very big part in our recuperation. For a few days after testing positive, we were knocked out by flu-like symptoms such as a fever, headache, runny nose and fatigue, and noth...

SeaPRwire

Academic activities not under threat from anti-foreign interference law: MHA

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - Academics presenting research overseas, writing for international journals and receiving international funding will not fall afoul of the proposed law to counter foreign interference, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a Facebook post on Sunday (Oct 3). The ministry was responding to academics Cherian George, Chong Ja Ian, Linda Lim and Teo You Yenn who expressed concerns, in an editorial published on Academia.sg on Friday, that the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Bill (Fica), in its current form, would "suddenly transform activities that are currently encouraged into a legal minefield". The editorial listed various activities that could potentially be threatened by the passage of Fica, including "presenting research at overseas conferences; writing for international journals and multi-author book projects; publishing in and reviewing for prestigious academic presses; participating in international collaborative research projects; partaking of fellowships, visiting appointments and training programmes; and participation in international funding opportunities". MHA said: "Please allow us to state without qualification: None of these activities will be affe...

SeaPRwire

Proposed law on foreign interference is aimed at hostile actors: Singapore envoy tells UN review

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - It is not the Government's intent to prevent all forms of foreign influence, only those which attempt at manipulation. Neither does Singapore intend to use the powers under a proposed law on foreign interference against those who engage in legitimate commentary, news reporting, civil activities or academic research, the Republic has told a United Nations meeting. These individuals and groups may do so even if their views are critical of Singapore or the Government, said the permanent representative of Singapore to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Ambassador Umej Bhatia, as he delivered Singapore's national statement at the adoption of its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) outcome on Friday (Oct 1). "Our concern lies with the use of coordinated, deceptive methods by hostile foreign actors to manipulate our political discourse and disrupt our society," Mr Bhatia added. The adoption of the report on Singapore's UPR took place at the 48th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council. The UPR looks at the human rights records of all 193 UN member states every five years. Singapore submitted its report to the UN in January and participated in its UPR on May...

SeaPRwire

Anti-foreign interference Bill already has proportionality requirement, similar to Pofma: MHA

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - The proposed law to counter foreign interference already contains a requirement for orders issued under it to be proportionate, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Sunday (Oct 3). The ministry was responding to Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh Nehal who said in a Facebook post on Saturday that the language of the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Bill (Fica) "sets an extremely low bar for the public interest requirement to be met". "The Bill simply requires that the minister form the opinion that it is in the public interest to exercise his powers. As drafted, the Bill does not require that the opinion be reasonably held, or that the specific Fica orders that are issued be proportionate," Mr Singh added. The ministry said this was untrue, adding that the Bill incorporates proportionality into its public interest requirement. "The statutory test of 'public interest' stipulates that it should be necessary or expedient in the public interest to use those powers," MHA said. The ministry also said the same issue arose two years ago in relation to the law on fake news - the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) - that imposes a similar requir...

SeaPRwire

Money tips for an equal marriage

elean
6 minutes

(NYTIMES) - A year and a half of pandemic living has revealed - or reminded us of - some persistent patterns around money, gender, marriage and families. And they aren't always pretty. There is data showing a link between financial stress and domestic violence. And millions of women felt they had no choice but to leave paid employment to provide care for children or other family members. Matrimony and parenting involve compromise, without question (and sometimes, seemingly, without end). But it need not be disproportionate. There are plenty of reasons to equalise the financial decision-making in your marriage - and this goes for every couple. If you're among the many getting married now as part of the great pandemic wedding boom, consider adding another promise: that yours will be a financially egalitarian marriage. Here is what that might mean. 1. First, understand where the power lies When a new household is setting a financial baseline, it is almost impossible to avoid talking about power. Sociology professor Rachel Sherman, of the New School for Social Research in New York, examined arrangements of authority in the marriages of the affluent in her book Uneasy Street. While gend...

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New book on S’pore’s oldest Teochew temple sheds light on its origin

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - Even after successfully leading a five-year-long, Unesco-award-winning restoration of Yueh Hai Ching Temple, conservator Yeo Kang Shua felt like that his work on the temple in Raffles Place was not done. After all, the 46-year-old wears many hats, and being a conservator is just one. Researching the temple's history for the restoration project, completed in 2014, left him with burning questions that stemmed from his other roles. "If I was just a conservator, I would have done enough research for the restoration and just stopped," said Dr Yeo, who added that conservators are primarily concerned with the preservation of cultural assets using authentic materials and techniques, with as little intervention as possible. "But I'm also an academic and an architectural historian - and these other questions I had, they just made me want to find out more." In a newly launched book, Divine Custody: A History Of Singapore's Oldest Teochew Temple, Dr Yeo tackles some of these questions, and also documents the restoration work that took place between 2010 and 2014, saving Wak Hai Cheng Bio - as it is known in Teochew - from termite damage and damp issues. His research began in 2007, ...

SeaPRwire

‘Tension’ between jobs, inflation the chief challenge facing US central bank: Fed chief

elean
4 minutes

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Resolving "tension" between high inflation and still-elevated unemployment is the most urgent issue facing the Federal Reserve right now, its chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday (Sept 29), acknowledging the US central bank's two goals are in potential conflict. "This is not the situation that we have faced for a very long time and it is one in which there is a tension between our two objectives...Inflation is high and well above target and yet there appears to be slack in the labour market," Mr Powell said at a European Central Bank forum, an apparent reference to the 1970s bout of US "stagflation" that combined high unemployment and fast-rising prices. The United States is more than 5 million jobs short of where it was before the pandemic. At the Fed's most recent meeting policymakers lifted their inflation forecasts for this year to 4.2 per cent - more than twice the targeted level of 2 per cent. They see that pace easing in 2022 to 2.2 per cent, modestly above where they had pegged it in their previous projections in June. Mr Powell said the Fed's working "hypothesis" is that inflation will largely ease on its own as the global economy returns to norm...

SeaPRwire

More than 2 years’ jail for man who abducted wife and threatened to kill her

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - A man who threatened to kill his estranged wife after abducting and dousing her with petrol was on Wednesday (Sept 29) sentenced to two years, two months and six weeks' jail. The offender, Murugan Nondoh, now 40, also threatened to kill himself. Police officers arrested him at the Tuas Checkpoint and rescued his wife, Krishnaveny Subramaniam, 40, at around 11pm on July 2, 2019. The Malaysian couple were on the way back to Johor Baru at the time. Murugan, who appeared in a Singapore district court via video-link on Wednesday, pleaded guilty last week to multiple charges over offences that included abduction, criminal intimidation and assault. In sentencing the offender, District Judge Kessler Soh noted that he had committed a "brazen act" by abducting his wife in public view. The court heard that the couple were married in 2007 and lived in Johor Baru. The marriage soured, and police learnt in their investigations that Murugan was physically abusive to his wife. In March 2019, Murugan accused his wife of having an affair, which she denied. Later that month, she moved into her mother's home in Johor Baru and filed for divorce. Murugan tried to reconcile with his wife but ...

SeaPRwire

3 years’ jail for mum who abused her 2 daughters

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - A housewife who abused her two daughters, aged six and 10, breaking the older child's front teeth, was on Wednesday (Sept 29) sentenced to three years' jail. The woman's offences came to light when her 37-year-old husband returned home and found his daughter's teeth broken. He took the child to KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) and the hospital later alerted the police. The abuse continued while the police were investigating her case and when she was out on bail. Before handing down the sentence on Wednesday, District Judge Kessler Soh addressed the woman, who appeared in court via video link, and told her: "Discipline (your children) if you must but do so appropriately." He also hopes that she will not "take it out" on her children again. On Sept 16, the mother, now 38, admitted to seven counts of abusing her daughters. Four other similar charges were considered during sentencing. The woman, who cannot be named to protect the victims' identities, also has a son whose age was not stated in court documents. A psychiatric report found that the woman was not suffering from any mental illness at the time of the offences. The court heard that in December 2018, her hus...

SeaPRwire

China and Evergrande ascended together – now one is about to fall

elean
8 minutes

HONG KONG - Xu Jiayin - or Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese - was China's richest man, a symbol of the country's economic rise who helped transform poverty-stricken villages into urbanised metropolises for the fledgling middle class. As his company, China Evergrande Group, became one of the country's largest property developers, he amassed the trappings of the elite, with trips to Paris to taste rare French wines, a million-dollar yacht, private jets and access to some of the most powerful people in Beijing. "All I have and all that Evergrande Group has achieved were endowed by the party, the state and the whole society," Mr Xu said in a 2018 speech thanking the Chinese Communist Party for his success. China is threatening to take it all away. The debt that powered the country's breakneck growth for decades is now jeopardising the economy - and the government is changing the rules. Beijing has signaled that it will no longer tolerate the strategy of borrowing to fuel business expansion that turned Mr Xu and his company into a real estate powerhouse, pushing Evergrande to the precipice. Last week, the company, which has unpaid bills totaling more than US$300 billion (S$407 billion), missed a...

JCN Newswire
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Fujitsu and KDDI Leverage 5G Technologies in Partnership to Solve Social Issues

ruth
7 minutes

TOKYO, Sep 28, 2021 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Fujitsu Limited and KDDI Corporation today announced an agreement to collaborate on creating new services that enrich the customer experience and contribute to the resolution of social issues by utilizing Fujitsu's private 5G and KDDI's au 5G technologies, with the ultimate aim of realizing a new digital society and co-creating businesses based on 5G.As the first major steps of this partnership, Fujitsu and KDDI will implement the following initiatives from September 28, 2021:1) Demonstration of technology toward the realization of a "5G Service Platform" that interconnects private 5G with au 5G 2) Co-creation of B to B to X(1) services that combine the real and the virtual worlds 3) Building an ecosystem with partners through mutual participation in the 5G Alliance operated by the two companiesPlatform Services Concept: 5G Service PlatformThe "5G Service Platform" is a platform service that links private 5G and au 5G services to provide a comprehensive range of B to B to X services. Through the "5G Service Platform," Fujitsu and KDDI aim to realize a world where the experience in real places such as shopping malls, gyms and ...

SeaPRwire

‘We were screaming in pain’: Worker recalls Tuas explosion at inquiry hearing

aseanpr
3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Moments after an explosion shook a Tuas building and blew out its window panels, the eight workers who were in the workshop at the time ran to a nearby open field screaming in agony. Workers from neighbouring units went to splash water and hose down the badly burnt workers. The brutal experience of the Feb 24 blast at 32E Tuas Avenue 11 was shared by one of the injured workers, Mr Hossain Jitu, 32, before an inquiry committee on Tuesday (Sept 28). "We were screaming in pain at the open field, and workers from neighbouring units came out and started throwing and spraying water on us using a water hose," the Bangladeshi national testified. "I realised my shirt was on fire and part of it had already burnt off. I removed what was left of my burning shirt using my left hand." Mr Jitu, whose scars were visible beneath his mask in court, suffered burns to 54 per cent of his body and had difficulty breathing and closing his eyes. "The skin beneath my eyes was burnt and I was unable to close my eyes and sleep after the accident," he said. Three workers, Mr Subbaiyan Marimuthu, 38, Mr Anisuzzaman Md, 29, and Mr Shohel Md, 23, died from severe burns that covered 90 per cent of the...

SeaPRwire

Companies need to set clear plans to achieve net-zero emissions target: Panellists

aseanpr
4 minutes

SINGAPORE - Many firms have set for themselves the target of bringing their emissions of planet-warming gases down to net-zero at a certain point in time, but few actually have concrete plans on how to get there, Mr Sunny Verghese, group chief executive of agroforestry company Olam International, said on Tuesday (Sept 28). Speaking during a panel discussion on carbon markets during the Ecosperity Week sustainability conference convened by state investor Temasek, Mr Verghese said the focus of discussions among the business community has always been on why change is needed, and what targets and objectives can be set. "Almost every other day, there is a conference of some kind related to climate and the environment. But in none of these meetings is there a sufficient focus on how and what chief executives and businesses are struggling with in terms of a climate action playbook," he said. Over the past two years, there has been a surge in the number of companies making net-zero declarations as nations pursue a "green recovery" from the Covid-19 pandemic in a way that also deals with the threats posed by climate change. But the road to achieving these targets is plagued with obstacles, ...

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China’s electricity shock is latest supply chain threat to world

elean
7 minutes

DONGGUAN (NYTIMES, BLOOMBERG) - China’s energy crisis is shaping up as the latest shock to global supply chains as factories in the world’s biggest exporter are forced to conserve energy by curbing production. The disruption comes as producers and shippers race to meet demand for everything from clothing to toys for the year-end holiday shopping season, grappling with supply lines that have already been upended by soaring raw material costs, long delays at ports and shortages of shipping containers. Chinese manufacturers warn that strict measures to cut electricity use will slash output in economic powerhouses like Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces - which together account for almost a third of the nation’s gross domestic product - and possibly drive up prices. Power Crunch There are several reasons electricity is suddenly in short supply in much of China. More regions of the world are reopening after pandemic-induced lockdowns, greatly increasing demand for China’s electricity-hungry export factories. As electricity demand has risen, it has pushed up the price of coal to generate that electricity. But Chinese regulators have not let utilities raise rates enough to cover th...

SeaPRwire

Tech pulls Nasdaq, S&P 500 down as Treasury yields rise

elean
3 minutes

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes ended lower on Monday (Sept 27) with investors pivoting to value as tech shares, hurt by rising Treasury yields, weighed on equities in the quarter's final week. Of the three major US stock indexes, only the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed in positive territory, buoyed by financials and industrials. Economically sensitive smallcaps and transports outperformed the broader market. "The economic reopening trade is alive and well," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive of Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. "Economically sensitive stocks are up, and tech's being worked over pretty good." Benchmark US Treasury yields rose, to the benefit of rate-sensitive financials . Rising crude prices pushed energy stocks to the biggest closing percentage gains. "Rising rates typically reflect investors having a little bit more confidence in the economy not being stalled out," Carlson added. "And the Fed is also indicating it's going to start tapering sooner rather later, and that's probably helping upward trajectory in rates." Those rising yields hurt some market leaders that had benefited from low rates. Microsoft Corp, Am...

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Office crowds thin out, businesses brace for tougher times as tightened Covid-19 curbs kick in

aseanpr
5 minutes

SINGAPORE - Closure is on the horizon for Good Old Taste, a cafe at The Arcade shopping mall in Raffles Place, as it copes with the latest round of Covid-19 curbs that kick in on Monday (Sept 27). A year-long "go-no-go" Covid-19 measures regarding working from home and dining in at food and beverage (F&B) establishments has crippled its business permanently. Its manager Ms Linda Koh, 50, said that the latest state of heightened alert - limiting diners to groups of two regardless of vaccination status, and requiring employees to work from home - could just seal its fate. "We're waiting to die and just leaving it up to fate," Ms Koh said. Since the lockdown, which took place from April 7 to June 1 last year (2020), its business has shrunk by 75 to 80 per cent. If the latest tightened Covid-19 measures keep up for another three months, Good Old Taste cafe, which has been operating at The Arcade over the past 23 years, will shut its doors for good. When The Straits Times visited the Central Business District on Monday, trains along the North-South and Downtown lines and office buildings were noticeably less crowded. Another wave of Covid-19 community infections has brought Singapore ba...