SINGAPORE: Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates will be cut at 96 per cent of gantries in Singapore, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Tuesday (Mar 31), citing “exceptional circumstances” due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Gantries along expressways and arterial roads will see reductions of up to S$2, with ERP charges removed completely at some gantries.
There will not be any ERP charges for vehicles entering the Orchard, Bugis-Marina Centre and Shenton Way-Chinatown cordons for all days of the week.
The changes will be implemented from next Monday.
LTA typically reviews ERP rates on a quarterly basis, with the next scheduled review in end-April. However, due to the outbreak, it has suspended its regular review process and timelines and has brought forward the next review.
The ERP rate reductions are “larger than usual” due to the “unique circumstances” of the COVID-19 outbreak, LTA said, adding that it will review rates more frequently as it expects traffic to reduce further.
“This review is not intended to encourage Singaporeans to drive and travel more, and we strongly urge all Singaporeans to continue to adhere to safe distancing measures and limit non-essential travel as much as possible,” it said.
“LTA will continue to monitor the situation closely and will consider further ERP adjustments if required. We will return to the usual ERP review process when appropriate.”
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) expects increasing job losses and fewer pay rises this year as the economy heads into its worst recession on record.
The central bank said the job market will worsen amid a sharp drop in both economic activity and demand for goods and services at home and abroad.
“The resident unemployment rate is expected to rise and wage growth ease,” MAS said in its monetary policy statement yesterday.
“A degree of labour market slack could emerge as firms pull back on their hiring plans, even as the scale of retrenchments is mitigated by the Jobs Support Scheme,” it said.
MAS noted the “economy will enter a recession”, and will shrink by 1 per cent to 4 per cent this year.
In the fourth quarter of last year, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate had risen to 2.3 per cent, up from 2.1 per cent in the last three months of 2018.
Unemployment among Singaporean citizens was even higher at 3.3 per cent, up from 3 per cent in the same quarter of 2018.
Retrenchments had also crept up in the fourth quarter of last year to 2,700 persons, compared with 2,470 in the third quarter of 2019.
SINGAPORE – Employers should support local staff who want to take on a second job to supplement their income if they have been affected by measures such as reduced working hours or temporary layoffs due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said a tripartite council.
Such workers could be looking for a part-time or temporary job with other companies, said the National Wages Council (NWC) in releasing its annual guidelines on Monday (March 30).
It also made recommendations on key considerations employers should make if they have to cut pay in order to save jobs.
But it stressed that employers affected by the coronavirus outbreak should first reduce non-wage costs and tap government support, while pressing on with business and workforce transformation.
Only those who need to should turn to trimming wage bills.
Retrenchment should be a last resort, and employers doing so should ensure they conduct the exercise responsibly and in accordance with the tripartite advisory which was updated earlier this month, said the council, which comprises representatives from employers, unions and the Government.
SINGAPORE – At 8pm on Monday night (March 30), applause rang out across the rooftops of Singapore.
The ovation was part of Clap For #SGUnited, a campaign to get the public to show their appreciation for those on the frontlines of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Whether from their windows, doors or balconies, people clapped, cheered, sang Ole and even banged saucepans.
The call was started over the weekend by British expatriate Martin Verga, who works in finance and has lived in Singapore for 10 years.
He was inspired by #ClapforNHS, which saw millions of Britons applauding National Health Service staff last Thursday, and wanted to do the same for workers here.
“For the doctors, nurses, carers, emergency services, delivery workers, warehouse workers, cleaners, supermarket staff and everyone else keeping Singapore safe and stocked at this time,” he wrote on Facebook. “We will be forever grateful.”
SINGAPORE: The Government is ready to deploy a third stimulus package if the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore deteriorates, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Monday (Mar 30).
“If the situation continues to worsen, we’ll be prepared to have a third package,” he said. “I would like to reassure Singaporeans that we have the resources to do that if we need to.”
This comes after Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister, unveiled a landmark S$48 billion Resilience Budget on Mar 26 to help workers and businesses as well as strengthen economic and social resilience.
The measures will be partly funded by a draw of up to S$17 billion on the reserves, and Mr Heng did not rule out further draws if there was a need to.
In his initial Budget announcement on Feb 18, the minister had already pledged S$4 billion to measures aimed at stabilising the economy amid near-term uncertainties caused by COVID-19.
“For now, let’s concentrate on making the best use of what we already have in the resilience package,” Mr Heng added on Monday, calling it a “very substantial” package. “In fact, one reason I am here today is to look at how the aviation industry is making use of this package.”
Mr Heng was speaking to reporters at Changi Airport after meeting with workers in the aviation industry, one of the hardest-hit sectors amid the pandemic.
As part of the Resilience Budget, more than S$750 million will go toward supporting Singapore’s aviation sector, which employs more than 190,000 people and contributes more than 5 per cent of Singapore’s gross domestic product.
More than S$400 million will go to a jobs scheme that will see see the Government pay up to 75 per cent of the first S$4,600 of a worker’s monthly wages.
The other S$350 million will be used to help businesses in the aviation sector, including giving rebates on landing and parking charges as well as rental relief for airlines, ground handlers and cargo agents.
Mr Heng said the sector has made good use of the resources, as companies are using the downtime to upgrade workers’ skills and rethink their processes and business models.
“The CEOs of the different parts of the aviation industry are coming together to develop plans, including plans in R&D (research and development), staff training and job redesign to emerge stronger,” he said.
DPM Heng Swee Keat meets employees at Changi Airport on Monday Mar 30, 2020. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
Affected staff are also being re-deployed to other departments or organisations that need more manpower during the outbreak. This includes roles like customer service, contact tracing and hygiene ambassadors at hawker centres.
When asked about potential retrenchments at Singapore Airlines (SIA), which has cut 96 per cent of its capacity, Mr Heng said “at the moment, the industries – and certainly the aviation industry – are seeking to retain their workers as much as possible”.
“That is why, as part of the Resilience Budget, I allocated a higher level of support for industries which are most badly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak,” he added. “I am confident that Singapore Airlines will continue to look into this carefully and take very careful decisions on this.”
SIA is one company in the aviation sector to have re-deployed staff across departments. Some cabin crew are volunteering with the social media team and at the ticketing office in ION Orchard, both of which have seen a spike in customer queries.
Beyond that, Mr Heng said aviation industry chiefs have given him “preliminary ideas” on further measures to boost the sector.
“They have indicated a number of areas which we could get into,” he said. “I would say that it is a bit too early for us to finalise these measures. But we certainly have to start work on this.”
Mr Heng said medical experts have warned him that the outbreak is “not likely to go away very quickly”.
“Given that, we have to be very focused on tackling this outbreak,” he said. “Beyond that, how the situation evolves would have become a little clearer. And that’s where we will know … what sort of plans we need to put in place.”
For now, Mr Heng said the Government is focused on containing the outbreak and limiting damage to the economy, as he elaborated on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) decision on Monday to ease monetary policy.
“The MAS operates on an exchange rate-centred policy. Our exchange rate must be centred at a level that supports economic activity and at the same time keeps our inflation low,” he said.
“At this point, MAS estimates our core inflation will be low, and that we can afford to keep the exchange rate at zero appreciation with no change to the width of the band.”
Mr Heng, who was MAS managing director from 2005 to 2011, called it “the right approach at this time”.
“At this stage, monetary policy by itself cannot reflate the economy,” he added.
“In fact, our aim is not to aim for growth at this point. Our aim at this point is very focused on limiting the damage to the economy. And in particular, not affecting our long-term capability.”
Mr Heng said this includes keeping workers in their jobs and retraining them to ensure they “emerge from this with a higher level of skills”.
Nevertheless, Mr Heng said morale in the aviation industry remains high, stating that long-time workers “feel very deeply” about their jobs.
“They have never seen such a situation,” he added. “They are looking forward to a recovery.”
SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced 35 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore on Monday (March 30), including three new clusters.
The three new clusters are the S11 Dormitory@Punggol on 2 Seletar North Link, the condominium Wilby Residences at 25 Wilby Road and the nightspot Hero’s on 69 Circular Road.
The dormitory is linked to four cases, the condominium seven cases and the nightspot five cases.
In total, 26 of the 35 cases on Monday were local cases with no recent travel history abroad. There were nine imported cases.
There are now 879 cases in Singapore.
A further 16 cases have now been discharged from hospitals and community isolation facilities. To date, 228 cases have fully recovered. Of the 420 still in hospital, 19 are in critical condition.
Currently, 228 cases who are well but still test positive are isolated at Concord International Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and the community isolation facility at D’Resort NTUC.
SINGAPORE: Singapore reported 35 new COVID-19 cases on Monday (Mar 30), including 26 with no recent travel history. Three new clusters were identified.
This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 879.
Of the new cases, nine are imported and had travel history to Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a press release.
Twelve of the new cases are linked to previous cases, while 14 currently have no links.
Contact tracing is under way for a total of 79 locally transmitted cases to establish any links to previous cases or travel history to affected countries or regions, MOH added.
Of the 420 cases who are still in hospitals, most are stable or improving, the health ministry said. Nineteen cases are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
A total of 228 cases who are clinically well but tested positive for COVID-19 have been isolated at Concord International Hospital, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and the community isolation facility at D’Resort NTUC.
Another 16 patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities. In total, 228 people in Singapore have now fully recovered from COVID-19.
THREE NEW CLUSTERS
The three new clusters reported on Monday are at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol at 2 Seletar North Link, Wilby Residences at 25 Wilby Road and Hero’s at 69 Circular Road.
One of the new cases reported, Case 853 is a 20-year-old Malaysian man who is a Singapore work pass holder, and had been in Malaysia from Mar 16 to Mar 17. He reported onset of symptoms on Mar 28, and subsequent test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on the afternoon of Mar 29.
He is currently warded in an insolation room at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
He is employed as a porter at NCID, and had not gone to work after onset of symptoms.
Singapore reported its third death from COVID-19 on Sunday. The patient was a 70-year-old Singaporean man with no recent travel history to affected countries and regions.
The patient’s profile matched that of case 109, who was previously identified by his family as Mr Chung Ah Lay.
Mr Chung was admitted to Singapore General Hospital on Feb 29 and tested positive for the infection on Mar 2. He developed serious complications and died after 27 days in the intensive care unit. The health ministry said he had a history of hypertension and hyperlipidaemia.
Mr Chung’s daughter, Ms Ashley Chung, thanked those who extended their condolences to her family.
Writing on Facebook on Sunday, Ms Chung said: “We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to those fellow Singaporeans, including PM Lee Hsien Loong who extended your condolences to the Chung family. We also wish to thank the medical team in SGH for tirelessly looking after my dad.”
SINGAPORE – The PAP Community Foundation (PCF), which operates 360 Sparkletots pre-schools here, has reopened all its schools except the Fengshan centre – it will remain closed till April 7.
The Fengshan centre, which was closed on March 24, has the second largest Covid-19 cluster, with at least 26 confirmed cases. Only Safra Jurong has more confirmed cases.
All Sparkletots pre-schools were shut for four days from March 26 to allow for a thorough cleaning of premises and frequently touched surfaces, including toys, sleeping cots and shared learning resources.
Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said that the country’s largest pre-school operator has reviewed its standard operating procedures and guidelines with its staff.
This included refresher training on health, hygiene, and safety practices for all staff.
In a March 29 letter to parents, PCF’s chief executive Victor Bay apologised for closing all the centres on short notice, explaining that it was necessary to safeguard the health and well-being of the children and staff.
We scour the island for the best deals in the time of Covid-19 to help you stretch your dollar and keep you in the loop on the hottest trends.
‘Cos good things must share.
$16.90 Xiaomi automatic soap dispenser
By now, washing your hands regularly should become a habit to keep the coronavirus at bay.
To make things more convenient, the Mijia Automatic Soap Dispenser by Xiaomi dispenses soap without needing to touch it, reducing the risk of being in contact with any germs.
The soap dispenser is now going for only $16.90 (U.P. $22.90) on Qoo10, plus it comes with one free mask per purchase.
It’ll also come with the original Xiaomi antibacterial liquid soap and batteries, and each bottle will dispense soap up to 400 times.
One Singaporean student’s thirst for adventure almost saw him left high and dry, with no way home when Slovenia closed its borders amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Nazrul Syahmi was stranded in Slovenia for 12 days following an air traffic ban and public transport shutdown. He finally made it back to Singapore with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and several foreign diplomats, Member of Parliament (MP) Amrin Amin said in a Facebook post today (March 30).
The rescue was “like a movie” and involved British diplomats sending a convoy to escort Nazrul, ex-Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng added in a separate Facebook post.
