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No retest despite complaints about N-level listening comprehension audio quality: SEAB

aseanpr 18 9 月

3 minutes

SINGAPORE - N-level students who took the English listening comprehension examination on Monday (Sept 13) will not get to re-sit the exam despite negative public feedback on the audio quality. In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) said on Saturday (Sept 18) it was aware of feedback relating to the audibility of the national examination and the accents of those reading the GCE Normal (Academic) Level English Language Listening Comprehension examination. More than 1,400 people have signed a petition on the Change.org petition website calling for the examination to be repeated for reasons including a muffled soundtrack and strong accents. N-level exam results determine a student's admissibility into polytechnic, the Institute of Technical Education and junior college. Among the students who sat the exam was Bryan, 16, from St Patrick's School, who declined to give his last name. The Secondary 4 student told ST that he had been sitting in front of the speaker but struggled to answer the questions because the recording was "glitchy", making the sentences sound incomplete. He said: "After the first audio (clip), the whole cl...

Pace of reopening amid Covid-19 depends on price Singapore is willing to pay, say experts

aseanpr 17 9 月

5 minutes

SINGAPORE - How Singapore moves forward in dealing and living with Covid-19 depends on the price the country is willing to pay to achieve this. There is no perfect option and it is a matter of choosing "the best set of trade-offs that we would wish to have", said Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases expert at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. He was one of three panellists at The Straits Times discussion, Living With Covid-19: When And How?, on Thursday (Sept 16). Prof Hsu said severe illness and deaths will rise as measures ease, but aiming for no deaths means the constraints on society will be extremely high: "We haven't talked about what we might want to accept in terms of the cost of living with Covid-19." Singapore has close to 75,000 Covid-19 cases, of whom 59 people have died. There are now 77 people seriously ill and 12 in critical condition. The nation can open up faster if it is willing to accept six or seven deaths a day. It may not be able to do that if it wants to keep the death toll closer to what one sees for influenza, which is two a day, he said. Professor Ooi Eng Eong of Duke-NUS Medical School said at the discussion that Singapore'...

Scientists keep getting Covid-19 predictions wrong: Here’s why

aseanpr 17 9 月

3 minutes

SINGAPORE - If scientists have learnt anything about Covid-19 over the past 20 months, it is that they don't know enough. The disease is so different to anything humanity has ever dealt with that it is important for people to adopt flexible mindsets, and be open to changing course once new data emerges, said National Centre for Infectious Diseases executive director Leo Yee Sin. "We thought we knew so much about coronaviruses and how they would behave," Professor Leo said, recalling predictions made last year when the virus was brand new. "And we were totally wrong." She added: "Along the way, things may change. Therefore, we cannot continue to hold on to the preset planning... The virus will evolve and will impact our lives." Prof Leo was speaking at a webinar on Covid-19, which was organised on Thursday (Sep 16) by The Straits Times. When the pandemic first hit, the Sars-CoV-2 virus was compared to the common cold. But it soon became clear that its impact was far worse - especially among seniors, who often required hospitalisation and even intensive care. And for months, scientists were unsure if asymptomatic infected individuals could spread the virus to others. This has now bee...

Getting a mild infection after Covid-19 vaccination gives best protection against future variants

aseanpr 17 9 月

3 minutes

Getting infected but not sick is the best thing that could happen to someone who has been vaccinated, as this could protect them against any emerging coronavirus variants that might emerge in the future, said Professor Ooi Eng Eong of the Duke-NUS Medical School. "We would be a lot more resilient if we have a vaccination and an asymptomatic infection," he said during The Straits Times panel discussion on Living with Covid-19: When and How? Current vaccines teach the body to recognise the spike proteins on the surface of the virus, but that could change as the virus mutates. Getting an infection, on the other hand, teaches the body to recognise all parts of the virus, including the core that cannot change, and is thus effective against any mutation, he explained. He agreed with Professor Leo Yee Sin, executive director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, that the higher the antibody level the better the protection. However, Prof Ooi pointed out that antibodies do not remain high permanently. These antibodies are generated following vaccination. "The immune system does not sustain antibodies at a high level when it doesn't need it," he said, but the memory of how to make ...

Malaysia says auditor KPMG to pay $108 million in 1MDB settlement

elean 17 9 月

2 minutes

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) - Malaysia said audit firm KPMG has agreed to pay a US$80 million (S$108 million) settlement to resolve all claims related to their fiduciary duties on auditing of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) accounts from 2010 to 2012. The Finance Ministry said in a statement on Thursday (Sept 16) that the settlement will conclude a lawsuit filed against the auditor in July, and that KPMG will expedite the payment. KPMG confirmed to Reuters in an e-mail that a settlement has been reached in the claim filed against a number of current and former partners at the audit firm in Malaysia. "This settlement represents a collective agreement by all the parties, including the Malaysian government," it said. The outcome, it said, will enable all involved to "move forward", and for the firm to focus on building public trust. The Finance Ministry said the settlement was valued at more than 800 times the audit fees earned by KPMG, which "represents one of the largest 1MDB-related settlements by an audit firm in South-east Asia". The government, 1MDB and its subsidiaries filed a US$5.6 billion lawsuit against 44 current and former partners at the audit firm on July 6, allegations ...

UREEQA Announces New Qards Campaign, Staking Pools and Tier Structure

indie 16 9 月

3 minutes

ONTARIO CA, Sep 16, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - UREEQA (www.ureeqa.com), a blockchain platform for protecting, managing and monetizing creative work, today announced several exciting new programs that are designed to generate considerable returns and benefits for the budding platform's community members, as well as a substantial bump in the URQA token.UREEQA has launched a new Community Qards campaign that will lead this fall to tremendous new opportunities for those who are most loyal and active within the platform's orbit.Community Qardholders will gain access to a VIP Staking Pool with a 155% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) that will launch on September 30, 2021. Those who collect a full set of the seven first-generation Qards will gain full access to the top tier of the platform's new tier structure. That means direct access to senior members of the UREEQA team, discounts on NFTs, shares of community pot payouts, and access to the UREEQA Vault as well as exclusives in the UREEQA Marketplace.Critically, all the proceeds from Qard sales under this month's campaign will be used to market buy URQA. That will lower the supply of URQA on the market and further protect URE...

Inquiry committee to hold public hearing on fatal Tuas blast from Monday

aseanpr 16 9 月

2 minutes

SINGAPORE - The inquiry committee into the fatal Tuas explosion that killed three workers in February will hold public hearings from Monday (Sept 20). The first set of hearings until Oct 8 will focus on the "causes and circumstances" of the accident, the Manpower Ministry (MOM) said in a statement on Thursday. The ministry said that it has investigated the accident and a team of state counsels will present the findings at the hearing. The investigation included "visiting the site and gathering evidence, identifying and interviewing key witnesses, and commissioning forensic testing and expert simulations for machineries and materials involved in the accident", the MOM said. Witnesses and experts are expected to testify. Members of the public can attend the hearings that will be held from 10am to 5pm at Court 8A of the State Courts on these days: Sept 20 to 24, Sept 27 to Oct 1, and Oct 4 to Oct 8. However, capacity in the court will be limited due to safe management measures, and the dates and timings may change, added the ministry. Ten workers were injured in the accident on Feb 24. Three people later died from their injuries. The last injured worker was discharged from hospital in...

Many of South Korea’s small crypto exchanges set to disappear

elean 16 9 月

2 minutes

SEOUL (BLOOMBERG) - South Korean regulators are set to shut down dozens of cryptocurrency exchanges in coming days, though the impact is likely to be felt only on the margins of the industry given the low volumes involved. About 35 trading platforms - out of a total of 63 - have not received the certification required to register with the Financial Intelligence Unit, according to the government. Since the certification process takes three to six months and the deadline is Sept 24, it will be "virtually impossible" for exchanges that haven't already won approval to get it in time, the regulator said. However, the regulatory move is expected to affect only a small portion of the country's crypto activity. South Korea's four biggest exchanges, including Upbit and Bithumb, have all registered as legal trading platforms - and they account for about 97 per cent of trading volume in the country, according to ruling party lawmaker Noh Woong-rae last week. Investors who bought "Kimchi coins" - cryptos that primarily developed and traded by South Koreans that tend to be smaller and less liquid than many - are likely to be the most affected. Platforms that will fail to meet the regulatory req...

60% of job discrimination complaints in S’pore each year are nationality-based

aseanpr 15 9 月

3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Out of an average of 379 workplace discrimination complaints received each year from 2014 to the first half of 2021 by Singapore's fair employment watchdog, 233 - or around 60 per cent - were nationality-based, said Manpower Minister Tan See Leng on Tuesday (Sept 14). There were also complaints about discrimination based on age (69), gender (49) and race and language (39). There were 13 complaints that had to do with marital status and family responsibilities, as well as seven for religion-based and two for disability-based discrimination. Dr Tan shared these figures in written responses to parliamentary questions filed by labour MP Patrick Tay (Pioneer). All workplace discrimination complaints were investigated by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep), Dr Tan added. He reiterated what Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon had told the House on Tuesday - that about two-thirds of reported cases are not substantiated, and the majority are misunderstandings that are subsequently clarified and not pursued further by either party. Out of 121 complaints referred to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for investigation, an averag...

No specific terrorist threat to Singapore despite Japanese advisory: ISD

aseanpr 15 9 月

3 minutes

SINGAPORE - The Internal Security Department (ISD) said on Tuesday (Sept 14) it has seen no specific nor credible intelligence of imminent terrorist threat to Singapore. This is despite an advisory recently issued by the Japanese Foreign Ministry to its citizens in South-east Asia, including Singapore, warning of a possible terror attack in crowded places. In response to media queries, the ISD said that it has reached out to its Japanese counterparts. "They also have no specific intelligence," it said. But the department urged members of the public to remain vigilant and promptly call the ISD counter-terrorism hotline on 1800-2626-473, or report via the SGSecure app, when they come across suspicious persons or activities. An advisory on the website of Japan's Foreign Ministry that was issued on Sunday said that there was "information of a growing possibility" that a suicide bomber may target places where many people gather, such as places of worship, including in Singapore. It said Japanese residents should continue to strengthen their vigilance against terrorism and take measures such as monitoring the latest information and following the instructions of the local authorities. Sho...

Struggles facing China’s Evergrande not panicking markets – yet

elean 15 9 月

4 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - Debt-crippled Chinese real estate giant Evergrande's troubles are being watched closely by foreign investors, but markets do not seem to fear a major contagion, at least so far. With a debt load of US$300 billion (S$403 billion), the threat of bankruptcy is real, especially as Evergrande hinted on Tuesday (Sept 14) that it may not be able to pay its creditors. However, IG France analyst Alexandre Baradez said "the market is not surprised as it may have been by Lehman Brothers", the American banking giant whose spectacular collapse in 2008 was the spark that ignited the global financial crisis. "Lehman was a shock: a well-rated bank that disappeared overnight," Mr Baradez told AFP. But with the Chinese firm "investors are preparing". A Mainly Domestic Problem With a presence in more than 280 cities, Evergrande is one of the largest private companies in China and one of its leading real estate developers. Crippled with debt, the firm saw its Hong Kong-listed shares collapse this year on mounting fears for its financial health. The Chinese government seems determined to get control of the Evergrande situation, even if it means forcing the company to go out of business...

Esports Publisher GGRecon & SCCG Management Announce Partnership

indie 14 9 月

4 minutes

LAS VEGAS, NV, Sep 14, 2021 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - GGRecon, an esports and gaming publisher, has announced that they are expanding partnerships into the US with help from SCCG Management. The media company is planning on focusing on US partnerships and commercial opportunities, which SCCG specialises in. SCCG management will be assisting by managing GGRecon's partnership operations, finding new and exciting clients, and assisting with commercial strategy.GGRecon was founded in December 2019, and since its inception has had a heavy focus on esports. They cover titles such as VALORANT, CS:GO, Call of Duty, Overwatch, and many others.As we continue to grow, serving our customers with the content that they clearly love, we felt now was a good time to expand more of our offering into the US," says Chris Young, Managing Director at GGRecon.As a result of ensuring they have high-quality content and a solid editorial strategy, GGRecon has seen their Page Views increase from 47k a month from when they started, to over 2.5 million a month in August 2021. In the last month alone, GGRecon's Facebook Page has achieved nearly 251,000 reactions on their content, which is more than e...

ITE College Central murder: Retiree admits stabbing ex-wife, prosecutors ‘not objecting’ to life term

aseanpr 14 9 月

4 minutes

SINGAPORE - A 69-year-old man who stabbed and slashed his former wife eight times at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College Central campus was convicted of a reduced murder charge on Tuesday (Sept 14). The High Court heard that Seet Cher Hng, a retiree, stabbed himself 13 times with the same knife after attacking Ms Low Hwee Geok, 56, at the carpark of the Ang Mo Kio campus on the evening of July 19, 2018. Seet was initially charged with murder under Section 300(a) of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty. Last month, the prosecution amended the charge to Section 300(c) for murder by intentionally causing fatal injuries to Ms Low. The charge carries the death penalty or life imprisonment. On Tuesday, prosecutors told the court that it will not be objecting to a life sentence for Seet. Seet did not contest the amended charge and calmly told the court: "I wish to plead guilty and don't wish to give evidence." At the time of the murder, Seet was retired from his job at the ITE Headquarters and relied on monthly Central Provident Fund payouts. Ms Low was a divisional director of the examinations division at ITE College Central. The couple married on Apri...

Mediation a ‘first, necessary’ step to tackle workplace discrimination, even with new laws on horizon: Koh Poh Koon

aseanpr 14 9 月

4 minutes

SINGAPORE - About two-thirds of reported cases of workplace discrimination are not substantiated, and the majority of these are misunderstandings that are subsequently clarified and not pursued further by either party. Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon revealed this in Parliament on Tuesday (Sept 14) as he noted that the Government would continue to emphasise mediation as a first and necessary step, even as it moves to enshrine fair employment guidelines in law. Dr Koh's reply to MPs came after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced at the National Day Rally that guidelines under the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep) would form the basis for anti-discrimination laws, with a tribunal set up to tackle workplace discrimination across gender, age, race, religion and disability. "If there is a complaint, Tafep uses these guidelines to evaluate and advise the parties," said Dr Koh. "Where Tafep finds gaps in the employer's HR (human resources) practices, Tafep would counsel the employer. Most employers accept and make amends." Very rarely does the employer dispute the assessment and refuse to correct its actions, he added. The me...

Four vaccination centres to close down in end-September, but more clinics to offer jabs

aseanpr 14 9 月

4 minutes

SINGAPORE - Four vaccination centres will be closing down at the end of this month (September) and more may follow as the vaccination rate here goes up, said Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary on Tuesday (Sept 14). But at the same time, the number of Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPCs) which offer vaccinations will be increased from the 79 now to around 100 by the end of October, he added as he stressed the importance of the jabs. There are currently 37 vaccination centres in operation. Those unable to go to vaccination centres or PHPCs to get inoculated will be visited by the Government's mobile and home vaccination teams, he said. Dr Janil was replying to 19 MPs who had asked for updates on the Covid-19 situation here and wanted to know more about Singapore's plans regarding vaccination and opening up. Currently, 81 per cent of Singapore's population are fully vaccinated. Noting that some MPs had asked about the criteria for moving from one stage of reopening to the next, Dr Janil said that what determines this is not just the vaccination rate. "I can understand the desire for transparent and pre-determined criteria, but other than vaccination rates, we ...

Revest Finance Announces the Financial NFT Smart Vault

pandora 14 9 月

4 minutes

Revest Finance is announcing the Financial NFT: a programmable Smart Vault for crypto assets. New York, NY / SEAPRWire / September 14, 2021 / – Revest Finance has announced the launch of the Financial NFT. The Revest Protocol uses a special form of the Non-Fungible Token to create a programmable vault capable of locking any ERC-20 token until a particular set of conditions are met. This seemingly simple utility is the basis for a large number of financial possibilities including time and incentive based vesting structures. In addition to locking tokens, the FNFT Smart Vault can be fractionalized, bought, and sold on NFT marketplaces, allowing for liquidity of locked assets. Launching September 24th, 2021, the FNFT is a new way of locking and releasing value that gives users complete control over their assets – no code required. Most have now heard of the NFT – the non-fungible token. NFTs shot to fame as the answer to digital scarcity, giving digital art and artists a means by which to attribute ownership. While many digital artists have received a huge boost, the jpeg market is merely one small use case of NFTs. FNFTs are where NFT technology meets the solid framework of the finan...

Phony Walmart news release on Litecoin tie-up likely crypto pump-and-dump scheme

elean 14 9 月

5 minutes

NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - The news release went out at 9.30am Eastern time on Monday (Sept 13), just as the US stock market opened. It claimed to be from Walmart and had some big news for the cryptocurrency industry: The nation's largest retailer would soon begin accepting payment in Litecoin, a digital currency. The announcement appeared real enough that several media outlets wrote it up. Even the Twitter account for the Litecoin Foundation, which promotes the use of the currency, touted the release in a post. The value of Litecoin jumped more than 30 per cent before Walmart put out a statement saying the news was false. The newest thing in finance had apparently fallen prey to one of the oldest investor hoaxes around - a classic pump-and-dump scheme. Someone issued a false news release, likely taking advantage of the general hoopla around cryptocurrency to stoke enthusiasm for Litecoin, which is far less popular than Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Litecoin's price jumped to about US$230 from around US$175 right after the news, then fell back and traded around US$180 after Walmart refuted the release. The perpetrators of the hoax most likely made money in that time. Securities l...

Wall Street bounces back as key data loom

elean 14 9 月

2 minutes

NEW YORK (AFP) - US shares rebounded after a negative week, closing Monday's (Sept 13) session higher as investors await key economic data and a Federal Reserve meeting in coming days. Markets have been shaky of late amid signs the recovery has slowed, challenged by surging Covid-19 infection rates and signs of rising inflation, which could prompt the Fed to tighten monetary policy sooner. Investors also are monitoring debates in Congress, including a Democratic proposal to raise the corporate tax rate slashed in 2017 under then-president Donald Trump. But even with those concerns lingering, the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a five-day losing streak, gaining 0.8 per cent to close at 34,869.63. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent to finish at 4,468.73, but the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 0.1 per cent to 15,105.58. JJ Kinahan of TD Ameritrade noted that since corporate earnings season is largely over, "Now we're going into this strange period, where you kind of have a lack of numbers." In that "no man's land," he said, "the market is looking for anything to trade off." But into the void comes the latest report on consumer prices for August on Tuesday, foll...

Concerns about academic freedom following Yale-NUS merger are unfounded: Chan Chun Sing

aseanpr 13 9 月

3 minutes

SINGAPORE - Concerns that the merger of Yale-NUS College with the University Scholars' Programme (USP) will have an impact on academic freedom in Singapore are unfounded, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing on Monday (Sept 13). He said there were similar concerns when Yale-NUS was established 10 years ago, which also proved to be baseless. Mr Chan said: "Few believed then that Yale-NUS would live up to its ambition... It is perhaps ironic and a testimony to National University of Singapore (NUS) and Yale-NUS' efforts all these years, that Yale-NUS is now seen as a paragon of academic freedom in Singapore." He was speaking in Parliament after MPs from both the People's Action Party and the Workers' Party asked questions on the merger announced on Aug 27. He also said that the faculties of arts and social sciences at NUS and other autonomous universities here have had a long history of teaching and research, sometimes on potentially sensitive and difficult topics, long before the establishment of Yale-NUS. He said: "It would be grossly unfair to faculty members in NUS and other autonomous universities to suggest that their teaching or research is in any way less rigorous, of lower...

MCCY officers issued warnings, PA staff suspended for document irregularities uncovered by AGO

aseanpr 13 9 月

5 minutes

SINGAPORE - Two Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) officers were issued official warnings and their performance assessments affected after they admitted to fabricating claims records. In separate cases, People's Association (PA) staff who may have falsified quotations and doctored documents were suspended from duties. Irregularities in contractors' records provided to the Ministry of Home Affairs led to one contractor being charged in court, and the other given a 12-month conditional warning. Two officers are also undergoing internal investigations for the lack of due diligence, said Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah on Monday (Sept 13). She added that investigations are ongoing at two other agencies - the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Housing Board (HDB). Ms Indranee was responding to questions by Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh and Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang) on recurring lapses uncovered by the Auditor-General's Office (AGO). The five agencies were flagged by AGO for irregularities and possible falsification of documents, in its July report on government accounts for the 2020/2021 financial year, The AGO had noted that some supporting documents for c...

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