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The US embassy in Seoul said Monday that it did not participate in a one-minute blackout event during Saturday’s protest against President Park Geun-hye.
Live television broadcasts of the candlelight vigil — the largest-ever with an estimated 2.32 million participants nationwide — showed an office of the embassy seemingly turning off its lights in tandem with the protestors.
But the embassy denied the notion and said that the lights stayed on.
The incident had sparked speculation about the US government’s position on the embattled president facing impeachment over her involvement in a corruption scandal surrounding her confidante Choi Soon-sil.
The lights-out event was coordinated by rally organizers during anti-Park protests that have continued for over a month. Protestors were asked to blow out their candles at 7 p.m., and others at their homes or offices were also asked to observe the one minute of darkness by turning their lights off.
It was symbolic of the protesters’ message that darkness, or lies, cannot blanket light, or truth. The time refers to the suspicious seven hours on the day the Sewol ferry sank in 2014, during which President Park was unaccounted for in coordinating the country’s response to the disaster that killed nearly 300 people.
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Beijing: Chinese renminbi (RMB) is once more flowing out of China and this should continue well into next year, analysts said on the back of a stronger US dollar and a new US president who has threatened protectionist measures.
Official data shows that China’s once ballooning foreign exchange reserves last month fell to their lowest level in more than five years to reach US$3.121 trillion, with a monthly decline of US$45.7 billion (S$65 billion) in October, as the central bank intervened massively to support the currency.
RMB has been flowing out of China for over one year as companies deleverage their debts and diversify investments on the back of a weaker currency.
They are also buying overseas assets in the form of technology and foreign companies.
Over the past 18 months, the central bank has artificially been supporting the Chinese currency by selling forex reserves and limiting outflows with stricter oversight on outbound transactions.
“Regardless of the cause, it is clear that capital outflows have crept up recently. This is putting pressure on the People’s Bank (PBOC) which has had to step up intervention. The strength of the dollar since the US election will have added to this pressure,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard with Capital Economics.
The RMB has fallen nearly 5 per cent since mid-March and reached an eight-year low mid-November.
The drop has quickened since the end of the G-20 summit ahead of which the central bank propped up the RMB to avoid any instability.
In September this year, senior officials at China’s foreign-exchange regulatory agency said that they would enforce stricter regulations on companies trying to circumvent capital controls and take funds offshore.
Only late last week, the central bank issued new rules that will make it harder for companies to make yuan-dominated loans to overseas entities.
But intervention is limited by the need to have a weaker RMB to stimulate growth as well as the vow to reform financial markets, high on the government’s agenda.
The central bank has said it wants the RMB to respond more to market forces.
Furthermore, reserves though still substantial are not unlimited.
Looking forward, pressures on the currency will persist, analysts said. The US dollar is expected to continue to rise against the RMB as the Fed raises interest rates.
Furthermore the new Trump administration, due to step into office in January, could well implement protectionist polices and support national companies.
The US dollar has already strengthened since the US election last month.
“The PBOC’s foreign-exchange policy will face rising challenges if the strong USD appreciation trend continues. A rapid decline in forex reserves could at some point become counter-productive if it raises concern about reserve adequacy and intensifies RMB depreciation expectations and capital outflows – entrenching a negative feed-back loop,” said Joey Chew, Asian FX strategist with HSBC.
President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to officially name China as a currency manipulator and to impose punitive tariffs on imported goods.
“We expect China’s foreign reserves to decline further over the coming quarters. The PBOC will continue to run down its reserves as it attempts to prevent a sharp depreciation of the Chinese yuan. The risk of a narrower trade surplus amid the global economy’s tepid performance could also weigh on China’s foreign reserves,” said BMI Research in a note to clients.
Read also: China watchdog says outflows of capital ‘normal’
This article was first published on December 05, 2016.
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He had been cycling along East Coast Park on Saturday (Dec 3) when his bicycle chain suddenlysnapped, sending him flying over the handlebars and landing face first into the ground.
But fortunately for Mr Firdhaus Rasol,who was on his way to work, he had been wearing a helmet and only suffered abrasians on his elbow and knee.
But all this time, fellow cyclists and passers-by went by, and no one stopped to helped.
That’s where Good Samaritans, in the form of a group of migrant workers who were working nearby, swooped in to help.
Recounting the incident in a Facebook post, Mr Rasol said that the workers not only helped him to his feet, they offered him some murukku (Indian snack) and drinks. They even cleaned his wounds and tried to fix his bicycle so he could make his way back home to Pasir Ris.
The post has since been shared more than 550 times and amassed over 2,400 likes.
Despite his fall, Firdhaus managed a smile in a photo he took with the workers and posted it on Facebook to express gratitude to the men.
In a comment, Mr Firdhaus added that the men did not have the right tools to fix his bicycle but came up with a DIY idea on the spot to fix the problem.
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Singapore: The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is seeking views and suggestions from Singaporeans in preparation for Budget 2017, it said on Sunday.
“Individuals, households, and businesses are welcome to provide feedback on issues such as how we can best develop Singaporeans, support families, and help local companies grow through innovation and internationalisation,” it said.
From today, Singaporeans can visit the Reach Pre-Budget 2017 microsite to submit their views online.
The feedback exercise closes on Friday, Jan 13, 2017.
During this time, Reach will have Pre-Budget 2017 Listening Points across Singapore.
“These Listening Points are easily accessible, open booths for Singaporeans to give their views for Budget 2017 in person,” MOF said.
Reach will also be hosting a Pre-Budget 2017 Conversation on Wednesday evening, during which members of the public will discuss their ideas for the coming Budget.
This conversation will involve Senior Minister of State for Finance & Law Indranee Rajah, and Reach supervisory panel vice-chairman Vikram Nair.
In addition, a pre-Budget Facebook question-and-answer session has been planned for Wednesday, Jan 4, 2017 from 8.00pm to 9.30pm.
Members of the public can join the “live” session on Reach’s Facebook page
The session will be chaired by
Liang Eng Hwa, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Finance and Trade & Industry, as well as Reach Supervisory Panel member, and Foo Mee Har, a member of the GPC.
The public can also get the latest updates on next year’s Budget, as well as general information on Singapore’s national budget process, from the ministry’s Budget 2017 website.
This article was first published on December 05, 2016.
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ISLAMABAD – A fire at a luxury hotel in the Pakistani city of Karachi killed at least 11 people on Monday and injuring dozens, media reported.
The blaze broke out in a ground floor kitchen of the Regent Plaza hotel and trapped guests in upper floors, the English-language Dawn newspaper reported.
The hotel has more than 400 rooms.
Video footage showed some hotel guests using a chain of bed sheets to climb down from windows of top floors as smoke filled the hotel Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar told reporters the cause of the fire was not clear.
Many Pakistani buildings have lax health and safety standards, while the city’s firefighters are often equipped with poor and inadequate equipment.
A Reuters cameraman said the fire had been contained by 9:30 a.m. (0430 GMT).
Dawn reported at least 65 people were injured, citing a senior doctor at the city’s biggest hospital.
It is not clear if any of the victims were foreign tourists.
Mariah Carey wants you to know she is fabulous and she is not going to be subtle about it.
While other stars at a Los Angeles press day for television critics are content to do the usual staid question-and-answer sessions for their new shows, the 46-year-old elects to be carried into her promotional event on a human chair formed by six shirtless hunks with oiled torsos.
The surreal spectacle, which unfolds at a Beverly Hills hotel as she promotes her new reality series Mariah’s World, also sees her order dozens of bottles of chilled Veuve Clicquot champagne for The Straits Times and other members of the press, whom she proceeds to address as “darlings”.
“I want to share a splash with you guys. Can we do this? Cheers, darlings, cheers,” says the 46-year-old, raising a glass towards the journalists, the most jaded of whom cannot help but smile at her disruption of their otherwise mundane schedule of back-to-back press conferences.
Debuting in Singapore tomorrow on E! (Singtel TV Channel 328, StarHub TV Channel 441), Mariah’s World purports to offer a fly-on- the-wall peek at the personal and professional life of the pop diva as it follows her on her recently con- cluded Sweet Sweet Fantasy tour.
She is hoping it reveals a different side to her.
“I don’t know that anybody really knows the real me,” says Carey, who with 200 million in record sales, is one of the most successful musical performers of all time.
“Hopefully, they’ll see other sides of me that they find entertaining or does something good instead of something bad. I can be bossy, but I try to be a nice person.”
It is hard to know what is real, though, when both she and the show clearly exaggerate that diva persona and milk it for all it is worth.
In person, the five-time Grammy winner, who has had 18 chart- topping singles in the United States since 1990’s Vision Of Love, displays more than a willingness to laugh at herself even as she hams it up, each outrageous statement punctuated with a knowing look as she sprawls on a gilded velvet chaise taking questions.
“So, this is perfectly normal,” she says with a sly grin after her flamboyant entrance.
Not too long afterwards, there is another theatrical flourish – she summons her hair and make-up crew on stage to give her a wholly unnecessary touch-up mid-press conference. “I hope you don’t mind – this is part of my world,” she purrs before playfully inquiring if any of the journalists wants a touch-up, too.
In her sparkly black leotard and fishnet stockings, she stays on brand when asked if there any other female artists she admires.
“There are a few”, and they are “lovely ladies”, she concedes, then declines to name them when pressed, saying “it’s not their day”.
One of those she does not name is pop star Nicki Minaj, with whom she famously clashed when they were judges on a season of American Idol.
Asked about her experiences on that show, she says: “Oh, it was the most abusive experience.”
She refuses to elaborate, but takes a dramatic swig from her champagne flute and mock-scolds the reporter who probed. “You’ve just driven me to drink,” she says.
Carey has had long-running social media feuds with fellow artists such as Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande.
While she denies she is someone who “throws shade” – slang for publicly criticising or disrespecting someone – it is unclear whether this, too, is tongue-in-cheek.
“I don’t throw shade,” she says. “I don’t know why people think this.”
The songbird is slightly more forthcoming on the subject of her ex-husband Nick Cannon, 36, and her fiance, Australian billionaire James Packer, 49, whom she says was “very cool in allowing some moments” with him to be shown on camera.
She and Packer have since called off their nuptials, the planning stages of which popped up in an early trailer for the show, although it is believed he will now be edited out of the series.
Carey is now dating her 33-year- old backup dancer Bryan Tanaka.
She says Cannon, who hosts America’s Got Talent and is the father of her five-year-old twin son and daughter Moroccan and Monroe, is supportive of Mariah’s World. “I can’t speak for him because he is his own guy and we are not together anymore. But he’s cool about being on the show – he comes around and he’s with the kids.”
When someone asks if he will actually appear on the show, she betrays a hint of irritation.
“I didn’t say that, darling – I said he came around,” she drawls. “I don’t know what makes the final cut.”
Batting her eyelids, she adds: “I’m sorry, was that rude? I am so not trying to slay anybody.”
She tones down the act when it comes to the question of her children and how much they will appear in the show.
“Here’s the thing – they could have their own show because that’s how funny they are,” she says.
The twins have inherited their parents’ flair for performing, it seems. “Miss Monroe has a really great ear for music and a really great tone”, while Moroccan is becoming a “great little deejay”.
Full exposure for them on TV is another thing, though.
“I just have to mutually figure out with Nick how much we want them on the show. They’re in my life. We’ll see. I think it should be sparing.
This article was first published on December 05, 2016.
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetization move has sparked headlines across the world, though not in the way he necessarily hoped.
Supporters had hailed the move, which was initially pegged as an important step in the fight against counterfeit notes as well as the so-called black money that has plagued the economy for years.
But recent days have seen a reassessment of the potential success of the drive. Tales of hardship and uncertainty have dominated headlines, in stark contrast to the optimism that initially accompanied India’s move to demonetize nearly 85 per cent of the currency in circulation.
While it’s still possible that the government succeeds in boosting tax receipts by bringing unaccounted cash under its scanner, news reports have lavished attention on the adverse impact on India’s middle-class and lower-income households, who have spent the last few days huddled in serpentine queues trying to get small amounts of cash. All this against a backdrop of rules that have been upended faster than some of Donald Trump’s policy stances.
I was recently in India and needed some local currency.
The first step was to find a working cash machine. Easier said than done. A couple of automated teller machines (ATMs) near my parents’ flat in East Delhi were shut all day on December 1, likely because the cash dispensing machines were drier than a North Indian summer.
There were slightly more hopeful scenes less than a mile away. Two of the five ATMs in a commercial area (one belonging to a foreign lender, the other belonging to a state-run bank) were still dispensing cash.
I joined one of the lines at 6:10 p.m. local time. There were roughly 35 people in front of me (not including a cop who jumped the line to take out cash using multiple cards to side-step the daily limit for withdrawals from a cash machine: 2,500 rupees S$52.40 for Indian bank account holders) who stood on a paved road dotted with betel-leaf stains while a stray dog foraged for food from the street-side restaurants.
The people waiting in line were primarily from middle-class and lower-income households: executives from private sector companies, pensioners, handymen and housewives. The rich businessmen whose dubious financial engineering skills partly prompted the government to take this step were conspicuous by their absence.
One person I spoke to had spent the entire day trying to get cash to meet expenses. A labourer for a company setting up the trackworks for an extension of the Delhi Metro, he told me he first went to a bank branch to deposit cash but left in frustration after a couple of hours of fruitless waiting. He then went to an ATM, where he lined up for just over an hour, only to find that cash ran out when he was third in line to get 2,000 rupees. This was his third stop.
Another waited anxiously only to find out when he reached the ATM that his card had been locked.
Despite the adversity, the overall mood was still relatively calm. There were no skirmishes and most of the criticism of the policy was measured, aimed at the implementation rather than the intention of the move itself. The small sample size notwithstanding, people still seemed to be behind the prime minister.
The only time nerves were frayed was when people got skittish that the cash may run out. For all the government’s efforts to nudge people to use digital payments, physical notes have never been so coveted in recent years as they are right now, given their scarcity.
As for me, I managed to finally take some money out at 7.48 p.m. local time, just over an hour and a half after I first stood in line. Compared to the experiences of many, a veritable triumph.
Thousands of Thais gathered on a Bangkok bridge named after the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej on what would have been his birthday Monday, the latest organised mass display of grief in a divided nation adjusting to life without him.
For much of his remarkable seven decade reign, Bhumibol’s 5 December birthday was an auspicious moment for Thais with the monarch often delivering key speeches offering social – and sometimes distinctly political – guidance in a nation buffeted by years of coups and instability.
Stricken with ill health in the last decade of his life, he missed his last two birthday appearances before his death aged 88 on 13 October.
His passing has plunged Thailand into a year of mourning, heavily orchestrated by an arch-royalist junta who seized power two years ago, and has removed a key pillar of stability.
“I still feel lonely and empty as we don’t have him anymore,” a visibly moved Yaowana Kaewpud, one of the mourners on the bridge, told AFP.
The 47-year-old and her daughters had travelled from the outskirts of Bangkok to attend Monday’s dawn ceremony, which featured black-clad mourners giving alms to 999 monks.
Bhumibol was widely revered as a calming constant and afforded a near god-like status among many Thais through his many years criss-crossing the nation, a reputation further burnished via a slick palace propaganda machine.
He was also shielded from any criticism or scrutiny inside the kingdom by a strict lese majeste law forcing subjects and the media to heavily self-censor.
His passing is a delicate transition both for the monarchy and its backers in the military elite.
Bhumibol forged a strong alliance with Thailand’s coup-prone generals, who often used perceived threats against the monarchy to seize power in putsches that were almost always recognised by the king.
His reign saw breakneck development but also entrenched disparity between a Bangkok-centric elite and the rural poor.
In the last ten years Thailand has been torn apart by competing political factions representing those two sides.
While Bhumibol was widely revered, King Maha Vajiralongkorn has not yet achieved the same level of popularity.
The 64-year-old prince ascended the throne last Thursday after a seven week hiatus in which he asked to be allowed time to mourn his father.
He is comparatively unknown to ordinary Thais, choosing to spend much of his time outside the kingdom and has not given an interview for years.
While critical reporting on Vajiralongkorn is curbed, most Thais are aware of his colourful lifestyle, his three marriages and some of the uncensored overseas articles that have been published about him, largely thanks to social media.
But forwarding such articles can be perilous.
On Sunday, prominent dissident Jatupat Boonpattararaksa was arrested for lese majeste for posting a profile by the BBC’s Thai language service on the new monarch on Facebook.
He faces up to fifteen years in jail if convicted.
Read also: Thai activist ‘first to be arrested for royal insult’ under new king
