A commissioned effort by the Singapore government to lighten the mood during our bleak climate incited a lot more anger than laughs yesterday (April 20).
Following a whole lot of flak from the internet, the band of fictional coronavirus-themed cartoon Singaporean superheroes called Virus Vanguard has been taken down from both the Gov.sg website and the Facebook page.
In its place right now is a post that apologised for any offence caused and a message that called for ideas or suggestions on Virus Vanguard while it’s being reviewed.
Though the original post promoting the characters on Sunday (April 19) did not mention Virus Vanguard’s original creators, the subsequent Gov.sg post clarified that the denounced project had been a collaborative effort with local artist collective Band of Doodlers (BOD).
PUTRAJAYA: The operating hours for the Immigration Department and related agencies in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar at the Johor Causeway will be reduced to 12 hours a day starting this Friday (Apr 24), said Malaysian Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, he announced that the customs, immigration and quarantine complex will only operate from 7am to 7pm daily.
However, he said Malaysians and Singaporeans can continue to use the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex at the Second Link, which will operate round the clock as usual.
“If there is an emergency, Malaysians could still return using the Second Link when the Causeway is closed,” he said.
“Commercial vehicles can also move as usual at the Second Link,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Ismail Sabri said based on reports from the Immigration Department, there has been no massive influx of Malaysians from Singapore. He said that the average number of people using the causeway in the past four days was 400 a day.
“In fact, the Johor Bahru quarantine centre estimated only about 350 people are allowed to return and as such as we are able to cope,” he said, adding that the government is providing 6,000 rooms for compulsory quarantine at 22 quarantine centres in Johor Bahru and its surrounding areas.
He added that the National Disaster Management Agency has prepared another 4,000 rooms for quarantine. This means there is a total of 10,000 quarantine rooms in Johor Bahru and nearby towns, should more Malaysians decide to return.
Malaysia’s Senior Minister and Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob speaks at a press conference in Putrajaya on Mar 19, 2020. (Photo: Bernama)
As of Tuesday, Mr Ismail Sabri said there are 193 quarantine centres in operation in Malaysia, with 16,844 individuals undergoing mandatory quarantine.
He said 14,937 Malaysians who returned from abroad have been undergoing compulsory quarantine since Apr 3. He also said that 2,317 individuals had completed their isolation and were allowed to return home.
There are now more than 5,400 COVID-19 cases in Malaysia, with over 90 deaths.
Under Malaysia’s movement control order, which is set to last until Apr 28, schools and non-essential businesses are closed.
People are urged to stay at home to minimise contact as health authorities rush against the clock to contain the spread of the virus.
On Tuesday, the Singapore government announced that it will extend circuit breaker measures until Jun 1. There are now more than 9,000 COVID-19 cases in Singapore, with 11 deaths.
Since being stuck at home during the circuit breaker period, video calls aren’t the only way friends and loved ones have been connecting with each other.
I’ve had friends who have shared on their Instagram Stories about other friends surprising them with food deliveries and bubble tea (BBT) these past two weeks. Now that the circuit breaker is extending till June, these little gestures are definitely welcome to tide us through these difficult times.
To solidify your relationships and show your friends and family how much you love them, here are some things you can send via delivery that are not food and BBT, to surprise them as we enter into the extended CB period.
SINGAPORE: The Singapore police have begun investigating Hin Leong Trading after the home-grown oil trader filed for bankruptcy protection amid a startling revelation from its billionaire founder that the firm had failed to disclose hundreds of millions in losses over several years.
One of the country’s largest independent oil trader, Hin Leong, which means “prosperity” in Chinese, is now struggling to repay debts of US$3.85 billion (S$5.49 billion).
Hin Leong and its shipping arm Ocean Tankers are seeking a six-month moratorium, according to filings to the Singapore court, which also threw up the admission from founder Lim Oon Kuin that he had directed the firm to hide nearly US$800 million in losses from speculating oil futures over the years.
In the latest development on Tuesday (Apr 21), the police confirmed that “investigations are ongoing” into the debt-laden firm, although it did not elaborate on the nature or scope of its investigations.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Hin Leong was founded in 1963 by Mr Lim, who came to Singapore from the Chinese province of Fujian.
It started out as a one-man-one-truck supplier of diesel to small fishing vessels before growing into one of the region’s biggest names, with operations across oil trading, terminal and storage, bunker supply, lubricants manufacturing and inland transportation services.
Hin Leong started off as a one-man-one-truck oil dealer before becoming one of Singapore’s biggest independent oil trading companies. (Photo: Hin Leong’s website)
According to its website, Hin Leong’s Ocean Tankers owns and operates more than 130 vessels, while its bunkering arm, Ocean Bunkering Services, is one of Singapore’s largest marine fuel suppliers.
It also partly owns Universal Terminal, a commercial storage facility on Singapore’s Jurong Island.
As the company grew, so did the fortunes of Mr Lim or better known in the business world as “O K Lim”.
The 76-year-old was ranked 18th on Forbes’ list of Singapore’s richest people in 2019, with an estimated net worth of US$1.65 billion. A Forbes article on Apr 20 said it no longer considered Lim as a billionaire following the company’s bankruptcy filing and admission of sustained losses.
Hin Leong was founded in 1963 by Lim Oon Kuin. (Photo: Hin Leong’s website)
WHAT HAPPENED
Concerns about Hin Leong’s finances emerged early this month with a report that said some lenders had freeze credit lines to the firm.
At least two banks will not issue new letters of credit citing concerns about the firm’s ability to repay debt, said the report by Bloomberg on Apr 9. That week, the company appointed accounting firm PwC and law firm Rajah & Tann as its advisers to help negotiate with banks.
Letters of credit are used to guarantee payment to a supplier for the purchase of goods. These are issued by the banks on behalf of the buyer who repays the banks once the goods have exchanged hands.
Letters of credit are critical trade finance instruments for the likes of Hin Leong as a way of financing short-term trade.
The company held talks with its lenders on Apr 14 but was not able to reach an agreement, according to various media reports. Hin Leong filed for a debt moratorium, which would grant it protection from creditors, on Apr 17.
An affidavit signed by Mr Lim cited the dramatic collapse in global oil prices – brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak and a price war among the oil majors – and a lack of hedging policies among factors behind the company’s financial distress.
A tightening of credit lines and margin calls by banks also caused a “severe depletion” of the company’s cash reserves, Reuters cited Mr Lim as saying in the affidavit.
The affidavit also disclosed how the company “suffered about US$800 million in futures losses over the years but these were not reflected in the financial statements”.
“In this regard, I had given instructions to the finance department to prepare the accounts without showing the losses and told them that I would be responsible if anything went wrong,” Mr Lim had said, adding that the company “has not been making profits in the last few years” despite its financial statements for the 2019 fiscal year reporting a net profit of US$78 million.
The affidavit, which said Mr Lim was resigning immediately as director of the family-held company, did not specify over how many years the losses were incurred.
CIMB economist Song Seng Wun said: “This is a case about checks and balances within the company, as well as the collapse in the energy market brought about COVID-19.
“The very sharp fall in energy prices over a very short period of time compounded the losses and it basically forced the company’s hand.”
An analysis by S&P Global Platts said the woes of Hin Leong confirmed two key concerns – commodity financing curbs and wider industry losses on the back of plunging oil prices.
“Banks were already pulling back from financing oil and gas trades after the oil price crash, with credit shortages due to the coronavirus outbreak percolating into the commodity business more widely than expected,” it said.
“Undisclosed industry losses among commodity traders and oil companies already run into several billions of dollars that could still trigger more defaults and bankruptcies, especially among smaller traders with poor hedging and financing options.”
The analysis also described the drop in demand due to the COVID-19 outbreak as the “nail in the coffin”, which left Hin Leong “with unsaleable fuel worth half the original price”.
Mr Lim’s only son Evan Lim Chee Meng, a director at Hin Leong and Ocean Tankers, also submitted a signed affidavit to the courts alongside the moratorium application.
According to Bloomberg, the company had sold some of the million of barrels of refined products it had used as collateral to secure loans from its banks. As a result, the company now faces a “large shortfall of inventory”.
The younger Lim said he was not involved in this decision, which was made by his father. He also said he was unaware of the reason for losses suffered over the years and that it was his father who had instructed Hin Leong’s finance department to omit them from its financial statements.
The company does not have to file financial statements with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) due to it being “an exempt private company”. This is defined as having less than 20 members and not having any corporations holding beneficial interest in its shares.
In response to queries from CNA, ACRA said it is monitoring the case and “will assess if further action is warranted”.
WHO’S HIT?
The troubles at Hin Leong are said to affect 23 banks, with HSBC reportedly having the biggest exposure at about US$600 million and followed by ABN Amro at US$300 million.
Among the three local banks, DBS has the highest exposure at around US$290 million, the Business Times reported last week citing sources. OCBC Bank is owed about US$220 million while UOB had let Hin Leong draw down more than US$100 million as at early April, the report added.
When contacted, UOB said as part of the Banking Act, it cannot confirm or disclose any information on customer relationships that it may or may not have.
French bank Societe Generale confirmed that it is a lender to Hin Leong but said it had no further comment at this stage.
Other banks declined comment or did not respond to queries.
According to a source who spoke to CNA on condition of anonymity, the company’s lenders have appointed law firm Drew and Napier to represent them.
WHAT’S NEXT
The application for a moratorium automatically gives Hin Leong a 30-day reprieve from creditors.
The court will next decide whether to grant the six-month moratorium extension.
SINGAPORE: Access to four popular markets will soon be restricted based on the last digit of patrons’ identification card numbers, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Tuesday (Apr 21), as Singapore extended its COVID-19 “circuit breaker” period by four more weeks.
Starting Wednesday, patrons visiting Geylang Serai Market, Chong Pang Market (Block 104/105 Yishun Ring Road), Block 20/21 Marsiling Lane and Block 505 Jurong West Street 52 may only do so according the last digit of their National Registration Identification Card (NRIC) or Foreign Identification Number (FIN).
Those whose last digit on their ID card is an even number, such as 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8, may only visit these markets on the even dates of the month. Those whose last digit is an odd number, such as 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, may only visit these markets on the odd dates of the month.
Shoppers in face masks mingle in the Geylang Serai market in Singapore AFP/Roslan RAHMAN
NEA said that controlled entry and exit points to markets it manages has helped to maintain safe distancing at these venues. However, long queues were observed at certain popular markets, especially during weekends.
To address this, NEA urged patrons to make further adjustments to their marketing hours by patronising markets during weekdays or in the non-peak period on weekends such as after 10am. It also published peak hours and queue situation at 39 popular markets, and provided patrons with a list of alternative markets located nearby.
“These measures have helped to spread the crowd slightly and market patrons have started to make some adjustments,” said the agency, adding that from Apr 7 to Apr 19, more patrons were observed to have visited markets during less crowded hours.
However, long queues were still seen over the last weekend at the four popular markets named above, said NEA.
From Wednesday, patrons of these markets will have to produce appropriate forms of identification at the entry points for verification. Those who are unable to do so will be denied entry.
Patrons who require assistance with their marketing, such as the elderly and persons with disability, may have a member of the same household or foreign domestic worker accompanying them to the market. At least one person between them has to meet the odd or even date entry restriction.
“In general, we continue to encourage the elderly to avoid visiting markets, especially during peak hours, and to seek help for their marketing needs,” said NEA.
“Members of the public are urged to take safe distancing measures at markets and hawker centres seriously, and do our part to help make the current circuit breaker measures a success,” it added.
The initiative came shortly after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the extension of the circuit breaker by four weeks.
The circuit breaker, which was supposed to end on May 4, will now conclude on Jun 1, as Singapore attempts to “decisively” bring down the number of COVID-19 community cases.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said there were 1,111 new cases of the coronavirus in Singapore, bringing the national total to 9,125.
And we are able to do so thanks to delivery services that are still ongoing to bring us the food that we crave and the essentials (think toilet rolls) that we need.
To show appreciation for the delivery men and women who are venturing outdoors to ensure that our basic needs and creature comforts are met, local creative agency, Kinetic Singapore, has designed 24 #ThankYouDeliveryHeroes posters to help Singaporeans convey their gratitude.
The government has decided to extend the circuit breaker for four more weeks till June 1, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced today (April 21).
This is to keep everyone in Singapore safe, he said after consulting with the multi-ministry task force.
This is on top of further tightening of current breaker measures until May 4.
He asked Singaporeans to stay at home and only go out for essential needs such as buying food or necessities, and only one person from each household should be out at a time.
Access to hotspots such as wet markets will be tightened to ensure sufficient safe distancing.
The authorities will also close more workplace premises to minimise contact among the workers. Only shops, supermarkets, factories and others which are providing the most essential services will remain open.
“The government understands the impact of these decisions on businesses and workers. Thus, the support measures announced earlier will be extended.”
“However, if you are sick and pass the virus to others, it becomes everyone’s problem.”
SINGAPORE: Before testing positive for COVID-19, he was serving quarantine orders – but this Certis Cisco officer, also known as case 44, never expected to contract the novel coronavirus.
“We are very, very strict with the PPE (personal protective equipment) that we have to put on before we attend cases. So the chances are as good as – I can say – zero,” he told reporters on Tuesday (Apr 21).
The officer, who requested not to be named, reported the onset of symptoms on Jan 31. However, he brushed it off as a recurring case of tonsillitis, which affects him three to four times a year.
“I went to the GP because my tonsils were swollen. Normally, taking antibiotics would be okay, but after three or four days, the fever did not subside, I didn’t feel good, so I thought something could be wrong,” he said.
This prompted him to visit Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on Feb 6, four days after he went to the general practitioner. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb 10.
Before having symptoms, the officer served quarantine orders on two people from Wuhan who subsequently tested positive for the infection.
As part of his role as a Quarantine Order Agent, he and a nurse from the Health Promotion Board (HPB) would put on protective gear like face masks and gloves before approaching a person’s home.
If the person is a suspected case, they would put on the full PPE.
The nurse would first take the person’s temperature and check for symptoms of the virus.
If there are no symptoms, the officer would then go ahead to serve a quarantine order. If the person displays any symptoms, he would then notify the Health Ministry to have the person taken to hospital.
The officer would also have to assess if their places of residence are suitable for home quarantine. If not, he would contact his colleagues at Certis to clearance to send the person to a government quarantine facility.
“I was super excited to be given this opportunity as this role was really new to me and I felt that it was a very good learning experience,” he said.
While he understood the risks involved, he added that he was “very proud to do (his) part in support of a nationwide effort to fight COVID-19”.
“I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO REACT”
When he tested positive for COVID-19, the officer said he was in “disbelief”.
“I didn’t know how to react, and I was mostly worried about my family and thinking what if they had tested positive as well, because I got two younger kids,” he said, adding that he was worried about his children having to be in isolation.
His son is in Primary 1, while his daughter is in kindergarten.
When he found out, the first thing he did was to call his wife. But when she answered, she was already crying.
“She said: ‘I know already, the doctor called me first,” he recounted.
“I was trying to remain calm, but it’s very difficult. I’m trying to console my wife, while trying to put on a brave front, which was quite tough.”
His family was placed under quarantine, and his wife had to look after the family while he was in hospital. He and his wife chose not to tell their children that he had COVID-19, saying only that their father was unwell.
While it was hard on the family, their extended family and his colleagues at Certis proved to be strong pillars of support.
Case 44 recalled how his sister and brother-in-law would buy groceries for his wife and leave them outside the door.
His Commanding Officer would also check in on him daily, buy groceries for his family and arranged for his house to be disinfected. He even created a Tumblr page for other employees to write words of encouragement.
“I was very touched by their support and it really boosted my morale and helped me concentrate on my recovery,” he said.
Case 44 is also the first recipient of the Courage Fund, which collects donations to go towards providing relief to vulnerable individuals and families, including healthcare workers, frontline workers and volunteers affected by the COVID-19.
GOING THROUGH ISOLATION IN HOSPITAL
Being in the hospital was tough for him. Not only was he lethargic and weak, he also lost his appetite and suffered from a serious case of cabin fever.
“The first three or four days, when I was really sick, going through the treatment, I was just going through the motions. But the moment I started to get my energy back, I started getting very restless,” he said.
Without his regular running sessions and football games, he started to grow restless.
“I made trips to the toilet more often, because it’s in the same room. I walked around inside the small room. Just need to get out of the bed,” he said.
But the nurses and doctors at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital greatly eased his time at the hospital, he said. They also surprised him with a cake on his birthday.
The nurses surprised Case 44 with a cake while he spent his birthday in the hospital. (Photo: Case 44)
“It was a really nice gesture from them, since I couldn’t celebrate with my family, they did something really special for me,” he said.
“HAPPY TEARS” AT BEING HOME
After being discharged, the first thing the officer did was to hug his family when he got home. His children were “ecstatic” at his return, he said.
“They were screaming, daddy you’re back! I tried to be cool, but the happy tears just dropped,” he said.
He has since gone back to work, not as a quarantine officer, but in a role that looks after the deployment of Certis officers in government facilities.
Given the chance, however, he said he would be a quarantine officer again, adding that he was “heartened” to see Singaporeans rallying to help those in need.
“We can do more by showing more compassion and empathy for those infected by COVID-19,” he said.
“These are very difficult times. It is important to let them know that they are not alone and are supported by their fellow Singaporeans in their journey back to recovery … To those who are infected by COVID-19, believe that you are not alone and please remain strong in the fight against it.”
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be addressing the nation at 5pm today (April 21).
In a Facebook post, PM Lee said that he would give an update on Singapore’s Covid-19 situation and what would be done next after two weeks of the circuit breaker.
His speech will be available on TV, radio as well as his Facebook page.
“This is an uncertain and worrying time for many of us, especially with the large number of cases in the migrant worker dorms. Our teams have been working hard to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the dorms, and look after the well-being of our migrant workers,” he said.
He also urged everyone to persevere with the circuit breaker measures and continue to help one another through this outbreak.
