In life, he was known as someone who was always helpful.

And so it was also in death.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) undergraduate Justin Tan Honng Tze, 23, died on Friday after a freak accident in Slovakia.

Now, his organs will be used to save lives in that country.

His younger brother told Chinese language daily Lianhe Zaobao: “My brother once told me that if he leaves the world, he will donate his organs unconditionally.”

His parents helped fulfil his wishes. Before his body was cremated in Slovakia, they agreed to donate his organs to benefit patients there.

RENTED CAR

Mr Tan, who was a third-year mechanical engineering student, was caught in a storm while he was driving alone in a rented car on Nov 19.

He had rented the vehicle in the neighbouring Czech Republic, where he was an exchange student at the VSB – Technical University Ostrava. It is not known when he started his stint and when he was supposed to come back.

The NTU School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering student was supposed to return to the Czech Republic the next day when tragedy struck.

Strong winds blew down a tree and it landed on his car.

In an e-mail to students, NTU president Bertil Andersson said the tree hit Mr Tan’s head. Rescue crew found him unconscious and he was rushed to a hospital.

In the e-mail, Professor Andersson said: “He did not regain consciousness in hospital. Accompanied by Professor Ooi Kim Tiow, the associate chair of the school, his parents and brother flew over to be by his side last Wednesday.”

Yesterday, NTU said in a media statement that doctors certified him brain dead before he died last Friday.

In the statement, Prof Andersson said: “Justin is lovingly remembered by all who knew him, not just for being a good student, but also as a fine sportsman.

“NTU is doing all we can to assist and support Justin’s family and his schoolmates to help them cope with the emotional impact of this tragedy.”

ATHLETE

Mr Tan was a national youth athlete who represented Singapore in youth sport climbing championships in 2011 and 2012, reported The Straits Times Online.

Lianhe Wanbao reported that Mr Tan’s mother had returned to Singapore with her other son on Monday because of the teenager’s national service commitment. Her husband is still in the Czech Republic.

She told Lianhe Wanbao: “I actually have two sons, but now, I am left with only one.”

One of Mr Tan’s friends told The New Paper that she was shocked by his death. The 23-year-old, who asked not to be named, said she had known him for six years.

They were supposed to meet in July for a meal but she could not make it at the last minute.

Regretting her decision, she said: “I have learnt to treasure those around me more. I will never ever back out at the last minute to meet someone again. I wish I had the chance to meet Justin for dinner.”

Read Also:
NTU student dies from freak accident in Slovakia; parents donate organs to patients there

This article was first published on November 30, 2016.
Get The New Paper for more stories.

Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, who is in Singapore for a four-day official visit, paid his respects to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew yesterday.

At Duxton Plain Park, Mr Tobgay laid a wreath at the foot of a tembusu tree, and bowed in respect.

The tree was planted in April last year, about a month after Mr Lee’s death, as a symbol of his legacy in transforming the country into a garden city.

Mr Tobgay, who in 2013 became Bhutan’s second prime minister, also gave an hour-long lecture on his country’s road to democracy.

Held at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, the lecture dwelt on how Bhutan’s fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, insistently pushed his people to accept democracy and had it written into the country’s Constitution.

The people did not ask for it, Mr Tobgay told the audience of 180 students, professors, staff, as well as members of the public.

Mr Tobgay quit his civil service job in 2007, entered politics and was elected to Parliament the next year as an opposition member.

He started a blog that commented on national issues and went on Facebook and Twitter to reach out to the people. The blog gave him significant traction, he added.

Mr Tobgay was later given a ceremonial welcome at the Istana.

He called on Acting President J Y Pillay and met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who hosted him to an official lunch at the Istana.

Mr Pillay and Mr Tobgay highlighted their countries’ excellent bilateral relationship underpinned by regular exchanges and growing people-to-people ties, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

It added that the two prime ministers discussed common challenges faced by small countries and exchanged views on potential areas of cooperation including tourism and capacity building.

During his trip, Mr Tobgay also visited the Singapore Tourism Board, Institute of Technical Education’s College West and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority’s Woodlands Checkpoint to learn about tourism promotion, vocational education, and immigration and border control.

He was also briefed on the city-state’s public housing policies.

Mr Tobgay leaves Singapore today.

This article was first published on Nov 30, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

The scores for other sub-sectors such as hotels (72.5 points) and travel & tour services (68.7) showed no significant change, while online travel agencies (67.7) was added as a sub-sector this year.

Top-ranking hotels include Marina Bay Sands (77.2) and Shangri-La (75.6).

Meanwhile, in the F&B sector, bars and pubs reported a score of 72.7, or 3.75 points higher, outperforming the overall F&B sector average.

The score for food courts edged up 2.74 points to 69.2, and the score for cafes and snack bars increased 2.64 points to 70.7.

Fast-food restaurants showed no significant change in score.

In the cafes and snack bars sub-sector, Starbucks (72.7 points) and Delifrance (72.2) were among the top contenders, with order-taking process, ability to accomodate special requests and staff attentiveness singled out as key attributes.

Ease of making reservations and waiting time to be seated were key differentiators that affected perceived quality and loyalty for the restaurants sub-sector, which scored 69.8.

The shortage of talent was one of the topics that came up in a panel discussion on Tuesday at the event to release the CSISG results.

The hotelier and restaurateur behind Unlisted Collection, Loh Lik Peng, highlighted the need to create an attractive work environment with career progression for staff, as well as the need to empower them by giving them the autonomy to make decisions.

The study was conducted between July and October, with over 8,560 surveys completed.

This article was first published on November 30, 2016.
Get The Business Times for more stories.

Taxes in Japan were much higher with the total tax burden equal to 32 per cent of GDP while income and profits taxes represented 10.2 per cent of GDP and goods and services taxes 6.3 per cent.

For South Korea, the respective burdens were 24.6 per cent, 7.2 per cent and 7.4 per cent.

“Apart from Singapore, the tax-to-GDP ratios for the remaining five Asian countries in 2014 were higher than in 2000 – in part due to tax reforms and the modernisation of tax systems and administrations,” the report noted.

“The share of corporate income taxes as a percentage of total tax revenues in all six countries was higher than the OECD average of 8.8 per cent.”

This share ranged from 12.8 per cent in South Korea to 52.6 per cent in Malaysia in 2014, although in each country the share was lower than in 2013.

“In contrast, the share of value added tax (VAT) to total tax revenues in 2014 remains lower than the OECD average of 20 per cent in all countries – due to generally lower VAT rates, except for Indonesia where the share was 32 per cent.”

Singapore experienced a decrease in its tax-to-GDP ratio by 1.6 percentage points over the period from 2000 to 2014, mainly due to several decreases in corporate income tax rates, the OECD said.

“The four South-east Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore) rely principally on taxes on goods and services and taxes on incomes and profits, which together make up more than 75 per cent of their total tax revenues.

“In contrast, the tax structures of Japan and South Korea are more evenly split between the main categories of tax revenues in 2014, similar to the OECD average.”

This article was first published on November 30, 2016.
Get The Business Times for more stories.

The MAS calculated that the monthly mortgage repayment for a S$380,000 housing unit – as represented by a Housing and Development Board (HDB) five-room, build-to-order flat – stands at about S$1,400.

By comparison, the mortgage repayment for a S$1 million housing unit is almost three times as much at S$4,000.

The choice of a home relates to the income replacement rate (IRR), which suggests that a net IRR of 53-78 per cent would generally be enough for individuals to maintain a comfortable living standard during retirement.

A study commissioned by the Ministry of Manpower in 2012 found that median-income couples who bought HDB four-room BTO flats would have IRRs of about 70 per cent.

However, if they purchased larger flats, such as an HDB five-room BTO flat, their IRRs would fall to about 60 per cent.

And that naturally falls even further for those living in private homes.

MAS was clear that circumstances may vary across individuals depending on factors such as income growth, savings rate and investment strategy.

Retirement costs are also a function of government policies, with the Department of Statistics Singapore separately saying that the consumer price index for retiree households fell by the most among all types of households in 2015 on lower accommodation and healthcare services costs.

But MAS underscored the trade-off between housing “consumption” and retirement savings, and noted that households tend to underestimate their retirement expenditure.

They would also need to plan for unforeseen life events such as illness.

“To retire comfortably, households must consider their housing choice as part of their retirement planning,” it said.

What compounds the issue is the seemingly daunting nature of retirement planning, which has led many people to put it off.

This article was first published on November 30, 2016.
Get The Business Times for more stories.