Ever wondered what your salary and shopping habits are like in comparison to your peers? Money Talks is a new column by CLEO that takes an honest look at how young Millennial and Gen Z women spend their money.
In today’s column, we speak to a 28-year old corporate manager who shops whenever she gets stressed out at work.
Occupation: Manager Industry: Public Service Age: 28 Education level: Degree Salary: Around $4,500 per month, with an additional 13th-month bonus and annual performance bonus
How much she thinks she spends: About $100 – $200 How much she actually spent: $100
ON HOW SHE SHOPS:
“I usually shop online as I can’t stand crowds. The brands that I usually shop at are Fashmob, Uniqlo and Fayth for clothes. I tend to spend around $15 – $50 for clothes and $5 – $200 for bags.
Some couples may go to Jewel Changi Airport for a date. This couple took it further. Software programmer Huang Wen, 26, and engineer Laurie Huang, 27, got married there.
The couple, who are based in the US, have known each other for eight years.
They met while studying at the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and got engaged in March 2017.
Mr Huang was born in the US. Both his parents are of Peranakan descent, and the maternal side of his family are the founders of Asian Artistry Fine Jewellery at Jewel, one of the Peranakan jewellers in Singapore.
Mr Huang told The New Paper: “We had the wedding for my grandmother, who doesn’t travel anymore.
“So with my uncle’s Peranakan jewellery shop in Jewel, it seemed like a good opportunity to showcase the culture for those who weren’t sure what it looks like.”
The wedding, which took about a year to plan, occurred on Nov 9.
It took the couple almost a month to get Jewel to approve the procession.
The total cost of the wedding including travel expenses was about US$5,100 (S$7,000).
It’s never easy dealing with a pet’s death. But one dog owner in Singapore has been left “completely devastated” after discovering that their beloved pet’s urn could have been filled with fake remains.
The owner of Ranger, a two-year-old husky who had died after a fall on Nov 10, took to Facebook on Nov 30 to accuse Pets Cremation Center of giving them fake ashes, claiming that the urn that they had received was filled with a “white substance” that resembled flour.
They then reportedly called the company to enquire if the cremains were genuine but the staff had “immediately started yelling and screaming” and claimed that the remains had been “ground into powder”.
SINGAPORE: Using crime scene fingerprints to establish only the identity of a perpetrator might soon be a thing of the past.
The new Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) has come up with a new method to analyse and extract more investigative leads from fingerprints, including gender and ethnicity as well as whether the person had handled narcotics or explosives.
HTX said it worked with the Nanyang Technological University to develop the “innovative” technique, which can also work on smudged and low-quality, invisible fingerprints left on a surface.
“The new method uses a novel nanopowder formulation and a method of analysis via mass spectrometry,” the agency said in a media release on Monday (Dec 2). “After the print is dusted and lifted, it is fed into a mass spectrometer to detect the residues of interest.”
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Dec 2, 2019 watches a demonstration on an advanced fingerprint testing technique being developed by the new Home Team Science and Technology Agency. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
HTX said it will implement the technique in the next one to two years, adding that it plans to expand the technique so it can give more clues about someone’s lifestyle.
“When implemented, there will be automated protocols to process and analyse data obtained from the prints,” HTX said. “Home Team officers will be able to retrieve targeted information on their own without relying on forensics officers.”
HTX added that it is one of a few security agencies in the world pursuing this research.
Indeed, the 1,300-strong HTX – a statutory board under the Ministry of Home Affairs – aims to use science and technology to “exponentially” improve the Home Team’s operations and be its force multiplier to keep Singapore safe and secure.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who officially launched the agency on Monday, said it will help take the Home Team “to the next level”.
ROBOTIC DOG
HTX said it is exploring the use of two biologically-inspired robots as first responders to support disaster rescue efforts and save lives.
One is a four-legged robotic dog equipped with capabilities like thermal cameras and sensors to map its surroundings, reducing the time taken for effective life detection.
The Rover-X robotic dog can also navigate different terrains and climb stairs autonomously with minimal operator intervention, making it useful to deploy in unstructured and hazardous places deemed unsafe for humans.
HTX is also testing out a Life Detection Robot which can crawl through tightly packed debris and rubble to search for and detect life in a disaster zone.
It comes with sensors, a thermal camera to detect heat signatures, as well as high-definition cameras and microphone. It also has an on-board laser range finder which can produce three-dimensional maps of explored environments to generate paths for rescuers.
Overall, HTX said its scientists and engineers will work hand-in-hand with Home Team forces on the ground to “intimately” understand their challenges and better anticipate the Home Team’s science and technology needs.
“It is thus well-positioned to develop customised solutions for use by the Home Team and grow new and deep organic capabilities in science and technology for homeland security,” the agency added.
MOBILE DRONE FIGHTER
For instance, it is helping officers counter drone threats by developing a XENTINEL mobile response vehicle which can detect drones up to 1km, requires only one officer to operate and can be deployed within minutes.
Traditionally, anti-drone operations require a team of officers equipped with drone jammer guns to be deployed in the vicinity of the incident location.
The XENTINEL vehicle has a retractable sensor dome. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
“This mode of operation is labour intensive, and requires significant resources for larger locations and events,” HTX said. “Reliance on human senses limits the detection of the drones at several hundreds of meters at best, with very short time windows for effective interdiction.”
HTX said the XENTINEL will be ready for operational trials with the police in the next few months, adding that it foresees completing development and trial evaluation within a year.
Another piece of technology designed to help officers is the Digital Forensic Kiosk, which enables frontline officers untrained in forensics to review electronic devices and media for evidence and generate leads faster.
The self-service kiosk, specifically developed for non-technical users, extracts content from devices like mobile phones and storage media and lets officers scan for possible evidence.
To complement this, a new digital evidence search tool called DIGEST will automate the forensic processing of a large amount of data. It ingests and processes data required for examination, allowing officers to review them using a user-friendly interface and also generate customised reports.
Other technology being developed by HTX include new means of analysing small amounts of DNA almost 90 per cent quicker than conventional methods, and a command and control centre that autonomously flies drones beyond line of sight for public safety as well as search and rescue operations.
The latter includes delivering supplies like automated external defibrillators to hazardous and remote sites.
Mr Lee watching a demonstration on the HTX’s automated border control system. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
HTX has 13 centres of expertise in different areas, ranging from robots, automation and unmanned systems to biometrics and profiling, and cybersecurity to data processing and artificial intelligence (AI).
The agency was first announced in Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat’s budget speech in February.
HTX said on Monday it will build new partnerships with industry, research institutions, academia and start-ups, manage the Home Team’s procurement functions and enable more cooperation across the entire homeland security ecosystem.
“HTX will integrate a full range of science and technology capabilities in homeland security to solve crimes, save lives, secure borders and safeguard our public spaces,” it stated.
SINGAPORE: The upcoming Budget will address Singapore’s “current needs, as well as position us for the future”, Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah said on Monday (Dec 2).
In an interview with CNA938’s morning show Asia First, she noted that the Budget would not be “business as usual, because what’s happening in the world is not business as usual”.
She was responding to host Arnold Gay, who had asked regarding the impact of ongoing issues such as Brexit and trade tensions between the United States and China.
“You’re correct in the sense that the global environment will require a response from us. But at the same time, we also have to look forward,” said Ms Indranee, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
“So this is going to be a Budget that will address our current needs but also position us for the future.”
In the face of expected economic slowdown, Singapore needs to build on its strong economic foundations, she said.
“Our institutions are strong, our businesses are steady. You may not be seeing the sort of really high yield growth that you’ve had before, but there are strong foundations on which we can work.”
She encouraged firms here to look at three areas – innovation, regional expansion and building capability.
Innovation will allow businesses to make the most of what they already have, while going regional will allow them to expand their markets.
In addition, both businesses and their workers must upgrade and build up their capabilities, she added.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah speaking on CNA938 on Dec 2, 2019. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
This is what Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong meant by his comments – given in Busan at the end of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit last week – that next year’s Budget is one which will be “strong, and suitable to the state of the world, and what the Singapore economy needs”, she said.
While previous Budgets have had provisions for helping workers upgrade themselves, there has been a shift in how the authorities approach the issue of education and training.
“In the past, if you had a recession or a downturn, then the idea was, okay we will make use of this period, just to retrain now or to do some extra things,” said Ms Indranee.
She pointed to the financial crisis of 2008, noting that employers at the time were encouraged to send workers for training instead of laying them off, which would allow them to work in the same jobs once again when the economy picked up.
“What’s different is that now the jobs are evolving very quickly, and the way you do the same job could change,” she said.
“So the important thing is for workers and companies to see that this training is lifelong, it’s over a lifetime, and it’s going to have to happen constantly, even in good times.”
The Government is still working on how it will address this issue in the Budget, she said.
On whether there will be support for worker’s wages in the Budget, she said that how the authorities have done this is by supporting employers to help them employ and train workers.
While the Government wants to help businesses with the costs of such efforts, it does not want such support to be a “permanent subsidy of wages”, she said.
“What you really want to do is put the money and help them to grow, and then to be able to expand the employment, and train workers and build capability.”
The Government is also looking at how the Budget can best support the needs of older workers, as well as families with children at different levels, she noted.
And while the authorities want to protect the jobs of people here, this does not mean jobs will remain the same, said Ms Indranee.
“What we want to do is to grow the number of jobs, whether it’s the same type of work or new work, but make sure that you connect people with jobs so that you have as much employment as possible.”
Senior civil servants will get a S$400 one-off payment in place of the year-end bonus.
People walking along Singapore’s Central Business District area. (File photo: Ngau Kai Yan)
(Updated: )
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SINGAPORE: Most civil servants will get a year-end bonus of 0.1 month this year, with a one-off lump sum payment of S$250 to S$1,500, the Public Service Division (PSD) said on Monday (Dec 2).
Civil servants in the lower pay grades will receive a higher lump-sum bonus, with around 2,200 operations support officers receiving the highest amount of S$1,500, said PSD.
Senior civil servants in superscale grades will receive a one-off payment of S$400 in place of the year-end bonus or Annual Variable Component (AVC). This will affect about 1,700 officers in senior leadership positions.
All civil servants will also one month’s salary as their 13th month bonus. This will be paid in December along with the year-end AVC and lump-sum payments.
In July this year, civil servants received a mid-year AVC of 0.45 month and a one-off lump sum payment of S$200, with a higher lump sum of S$300 for those at lower pay grades.
The total 1.55-month bonus for 2019 is the lowest in a decade. In 2009, the total bonus was 1.25 months.
The PSD said it “will exercise restraint” for bonus payments this year due to “prevailing economic uncertainties”.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has forecast that the economy will grow by 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent in 2019, with the growth for the fourth quarter of 2019 expected to remain modest.
“This approach was agreed upon in close consultation with the public sector unions to give the strongest support to civil servants in the junior grades, in view of the uncertain economic climate,” said PSD.
SINGAPORE: A new Home Team agency that develops cutting-edge technology to keep Singapore safe was officially launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday (Dec 2).
Mr Lee said he looks forward to the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) becoming the leading science and technology agency for homeland security and a force multiplier for Singapore.
Some technologies it is developing include advanced fingerprint testing that determines more than identity, life-saving robotic dogs and a mobile counter-drone vehicle.
“HTX will help take the Home Team to the next level,” Mr Lee said at the launch event on Monday.
Mr Lee pointed out that HTX has an “ambitious mandate” to conduct research in areas like biometrics and robotics, bring together capabilities from different Home Team departments, and build partnerships with external players.
But to achieve this, Mr Lee said HTX has to overcome two challenges: Attract top engineering talent and produce solutions that serve real operational needs.
ATTRACTING TALENT
While Mr Lee said HTX as a statutory board will have more flexibility to hire, develop and reward staff, he cautioned that attracting top engineering talent is not easy.
He said HTX plans to expand to around 2,000 officers. It currently has 1,300 staff.
“To attract top tier talent, they must feel there is something worthwhile that they can achieve,” he said.
“So we are structuring engineering jobs and responsibilities to enable engineers to do valuable work and make an impact in the public service.”
Mr Lee said this is something HTX can offer, especially as it aims to protect lives and property, maintain law and order, and safeguard Singapore thriving the use of science and technology.
“It’s a noble cause which I hope will inspire our STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) talent to join HTX,” he added.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the HTX’s official launch on Dec 2, 2019. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
BEING ON THE GROUND
Beyond that, Mr Lee said HTX must maintain “ops-tech interface” with ground operations, adding that its officers must walk the ground and talk with uniformed counterparts to understand their operating conditions and needs.
He said he is glad that HTX will deploy some of its officers in the Home Team departments alongside uniformed officers.
For instance, HTX forensic analysts will comb crime scenes to gather evidence, while its engineers will be stationed at major security deployments.
“This will provide you with the frontline experience and feedback, to help you stay attuned to the operational tempo of the Home Team, and equip you to build solutions to meet their needs,” Mr Lee said.
Likewise, Mr Lee said the entire Home Team must see technology as integral to operations – even if it disrupts existing routines – for HTX to succeed.
The use of tech must not be an “add-on, not as something exotic, not something to be left to HTX, or to the techies or boffins, to manage on their own”, he said.
Mr Lee said the Home Team has made progress in the last decade or so, by developing forensics capabilities, trialling unmanned surface vessels to patrol waters and automating immigration clearance at checkpoints.
“Beyond the Home Team, HTX can be a centre of excellence within Government, sharing your experiences and solutions with other agencies that have similar needs, for instance in enforcement or regulatory work,” he said.
WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT EFFORT
Mr Lee said the entire Government is making an effort to hold tech capabilities, use resources more efficiently and recruit high-calibre officers who can provide technical solutions for operational requirements.
“We must understand technology intimately, have a good feel of its possibilities and limitations, and be able to make judgments which take full account of engineering possibilities and also operational requirements,” he added.
“And for some of our most vital and sensitive projects like those in the Home Team, we must be able to build the tech solutions ourselves – solutions which are on par with, if not better than, what our partners and vendors can do.”
A mum’s outing with her child in Punggol’s Waterway Point was cut short after the steps of the escalator she was riding suddenly dislodged in front of her on Nov 29.
The woman named Priscilla immediately picked up her baby from the pram and turned around to climb back up the stairs. Though she managed to escape unscathed, the incident left her shivering in fear.
A shopkeeper who witnessed the incident shared how there had been a sudden loud noise. When she turned around, she spotted a mother cradling her child, frozen on the steps.
Fortunately, someone had already pressed the emergency stop button, the shopkeeper said.
LAGUNA, Philippines: There would be no fairy-tale ending for Singapore’s netballers at the 30th SEA Games after they lost to defending champions Malaysia 48-42 on Monday (Dec 2).
In a hard-fought game at the Santa Rosa multi-purpose sports complex in Laguna, it was the Singaporeans who started the game on top as they looked quickest and fastest to every loose ball. Despite being pegged back by a couple of individual errors, they finished the quarter ahead 13-12.
Singapore plays Malaysia at the SEA Games 2019 netball final. (Photo: Matthew Mohan)
But the Malaysians were far from done.
Buoyed by a series of missed shots from Singapore, they fought their way back into the game and the match went into the break dead-even at 21-21.
The Malaysians found an extra gear in the third period and opened up a whopping ten point lead over their rivals to make it 40-30 with 15 minutes left to play.
While a spirited comeback by the Singapore side saw them cut the lead by as little as five points, the Malaysians would hold out for a well-deserved victory.
Singapore plays Malaysia at the SEA Games 2019 netball final. (Photo: Matthew Mohan)
Malaysia had beaten Singapore 54-49 in the round-robin match last Friday.
At the last edition of the Games, Singapore missed out on gold after losing to Malaysia 65-41 in the finals.
Follow Mediacorp’s coverage of the 30th SEA Games and get the widest Team Singapore coverage with four LIVE channels on Toggle. Go to toggle.sg/seagames2019 for details.
The police told Stomp in response to queries that they were alerted to the accident, which occurred in the direction of the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE), at 10.31am.
The motorcyclist was conscious when taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
Photos posted on Facebook show her lying on the road with her motorcycle nearby.
A man appeared to be calling for help on his phone.
