For one, the Singapore Interbank Overnight Offered Rate (SIBOR) – the reference rate for many lending and savings products in Singapore – is highly correlated with the Fed funds rate.
The 3-month SIBOR hovered below 0.5 per cent for close to six years when the Fed kept interest rates at rock-bottom levels between 2009 and 2015, after the global financial crisis in 2008.
With the Fed expected to do the same for the next few years, SIBOR will likely stay lower for longer as well. As it stands, the 3-month SIBOR has declined to less than 0.5 per cent from 1.5 per cent just a year ago. This will doubtlessly impact most Singaporean households.
NOT MUCH TO GAIN FROM DEPOSITS
As many would have observed, a key consequence of the Fed’s move to zero earlier this year is the sharp decline in interest rates paid on yield-accretive deposit accounts and fixed deposits in Singapore. Indeed, it is getting harder to find deposit products that pay very attractive interest rates.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks in Washington
Even in good times, leaving too much cash idle in deposit accounts is unwise. Excess cash is best invested in the markets to earn better returns. With interest rates close to zero, this is even more pertinent today, especially given the fact that the return on cash is dismal.
Ideally, Singaporeans should hold around six to 12 months of their monthly expenditure as emergency cash. Beyond that, they should start investing their money to beat domestic inflation and preserve or increase the real value of their funds.
Recent market turbulence, however, may turn some people off from investing. Yet, waiting for blue skies might mean losing out on attractive investment opportunities that might emerge from such volatility.
A dollar-cost-averaging strategy might be a useful way to take advantage of market volatility while still managing risk. You are essentially investing gradually over time instead of trying to time the markets.
Monthly investment plans are one practical way to express this idea. Instead of investing a lump sum at a particular point in time, you invest fixed amounts each month over a fixed period of time.
It is a wallet friendly approach and allows you to engage opportunities in financial markets in a steady and gradual fashion.
BE CAREFUL IN THE HUNT FOR YIELD
Those with higher risk appetites, may wish to join the frenzied hunt for yield amid the low interest rate environment. Low interest rates may also prompt many to reach for riskier assets with higher returns.
File photo of Singapore dollars. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
Amid the potential flurry of risk-taking behaviour, Singaporeans should remain prudent and guard against investing in products with flashy returns without fully assessing the risks.
They should adopt a long-term view on their investments and focus on quality assets that can offer stable returns despite the difficult operating environment.
They should also stay diversified and not concentrate their bets on a single security or asset class. Diversification is important to ride out the volatile environment ahead.
Importantly, Singaporeans should be realistic about their expectations for investment returns.
In an environment where the risk-free 10-year US Treasury note yields a paltry 70 basis points, expecting financial assets to deliver more than 5 per cent yields at very low risk is clearly unreasonable and unrealistic.
PROPERTY BOOST
On the liabilities side of the balance sheet, with interest rates expected to stay depressed, it might be an opportune time for Singaporean households to review their debt obligations.
If they are still servicing a mortgage, they should check if they are eligible to reprice or refinance their loans at more attractive interest rates to reduce interest payments on debt.
File photo of private homes in Singapore. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
In addition, low interest rates typically support the property market as it becomes cheaper to access funding. In the US, home sales sharply rose above pre-COVID-19 levels largely due to more competitive mortgage rates.
Unsurprisingly, Singapore has exhibited the same trend, with home purchases rising sharply as the cost of borrowing declined. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, private home sales in Singapore hit an 11-month high in August.
Low interest rates might tempt Singaporeans to take on additional loans to purchase an investment property.
But just because they can does not mean they should, as there are many variables to consider. For one, it might not be advisable to pile on more debt while the economy is in a recession and the outlook for the labour market remains uncertain.
The prospect of future incomes may be less certain than usual in these circumstances.
Also, financing an investment property is a long-term commitment that could stretch decades. Lower interest rates for longer does not mean lower rates forever. There is always a risk that interest rates may edge higher should the global economy recover briskly.
Singaporeans should consider these factors seriously before taking on a new loan for a shiny new object.
Headline interest rates for car loans may come off as well, in line with market interest rates. While it might be tempting to take advantage of such attractive interest rates to finance the purchase of a car.
Visitors to last year’s Singapore Motorshow 2019. (Photo: Instagram/sgmotorshow)
Singaporeans should carefully weigh the need of buying the new car versus the debt that they are taking on.
SYMPTOM OF THE TIMES
Ultimately, low interest rates are a symptom of the times. It is necessary because the economy is still working through a deep recession and economic conditions are still weak. Against this backdrop, good money and debt management is paramount to ride out this difficult period.
Low interest rates may inspire more risk-taking for investments or increase the allure of buying an investment property or a new car. In making these decisions, risk management must be foremost in one’s mind.
Can you afford to lose the money you put into an investment should something untoward happen? Can you afford to take on more liabilities given your current financial situation? Do you have enough cash buffer in the unfortunate case of an emergency?
These are important questions to ask as we navigate years of zero interest rates.
Tan Siew Lee is Head of Wealth Management Singapore at OCBC Bank.
SINGAPORE: 2020 will be remembered most of all for the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than a million people and infected countless more worldwide.
But lurking in the shadows of the pandemic is another pestilence, a longstanding public health threat in the tropical and subtropical regions of the globe.
We refer, of course, to dengue, which has infected over 30,000 people in Singapore this year, with more than 1000 cases per week for most of June to August.
At the beginning of this year, we saw signals of an imminent large dengue outbreak, both in the high number of dengue cases and in the rise in incidence of the uncommon DENV-3 serotype.
The National Dengue Prevention Campaign was, hence, launched in March by the National Environment Agency (NEA), ahead of the usual launch in May that coincides with the start of the “dengue season”, to mobilise the nation to be conscientious in its housekeeping, get rid of stagnant water, and deprive the Aedes mosquitoes of breeding habitats.
However, despite preventive measures and extensive public communications, weekly reported infection numbers soon exceeded past outbreak trends, suggesting that other factors may have exacerbated the rise.
Dengue prevention outreach at a town centre. (Photo: NEA)
Dengue transmission intensifies when there is more contact between Aedes mosquitoes and humans, either because of more exposure of people to the bites of Aedes mosquitoes, or an increase in the mosquito population. Could these have been a by-product of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
CIRCUIT BREAKER CONTRIBUTE TO THE DENGUE OUTBREAK AS MORE STAYED HOME
The answer is a yes. With more people spending more daytime in naturally ventilated homes, the chance of mosquitoes acquiring the infection from dengue-infected individuals, and then passing it on when they bite healthy individuals, had risen.
This is due to the biology of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the main vector of dengue. The mosquito is known to bite during the day, peaking at dawn and dusk, rather than at night, and dwell among human habitats.
In August, NEA and the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health carried out an epidemiological study to examine the independent effect of the circuit breaker period on the number of reported dengue infections.
We found almost 50 per cent more infections during the circuit breaker period than there should have been based on our modelling. This is even after accounting for the typical surge in dengue cases in the middle of the year and the high baseline level of infection in the first two months of the year.
Most of the excess infections were among adults of working age (20 to 64 years) – people who spent much more of their day at home who would normally have been in offices, factories and shops.
Dengue prevention outreach at a town centre. (Photo: NEA)
The younger population (5 to 19 years of age) only had 12 per cent more cases, possibly because schools were closed for a shorter period than the entire circuit breaker duration.
Moreover, unlike working adults, school-going children would have spent much of Aedes’ peak biting time of dusk at home even before the circuit breaker.
Exposure to mosquitoes is less likely to change for elders and pre-school children, as they would be spending more time at home even before the circuit breaker period, and therefore they represent a suitable reference population for the analysis.
It’s clear the increased proximity of humans and mosquitoes has fueled a rapid climb in the number of new dengue infections.
Despite repeated public communications about the dengue risk, Aedes aegypti mosquito breeding in Singapore increased unabated during the circuit breaker period.
The mean percentage of construction sites inspected found with mosquito breeding from January to March was six per cent. This figure rose three-fold to 18 per cent from April to June, though it has since dropped to about 10 per cent in August.
This is likely because the suspension of construction activities since the beginning of the circuit breaker period on 7 April 2020, had left construction sites largely unattended and exposed to the tropical weather with regular rainfall.
Furthermore, the lockdown of many of our essential workers to contain COVID-19 transmission in the dormitories had the effect of reducing the frequency of cleaning of public spaces.
NEA officer checks for mosquito breeding in common areas. (Photo: NEA)
The amount of mosquito breeding in homes also continued to be high during the circuit breaker, defying some expectations that individuals spending more time at home would have the capacity to remove stagnant water.
NEA reported a five-fold increase in the incidence of Aedes mosquito larvae detected in homes and common corridors in residential areas during the two-month circuit breaker period compared to the two months prior.
Could the unanticipated increase of mosquito breeding in homes be due to the challenges faced by residents juggling working from home, the higher housekeeping load with more people home, or homemakers having to pay more attention to preparing home-cooked meals and watching over kids who would otherwise be in school?
In recent weeks, though dengue cases have declined for a successive seven-week period, it remains high at 595 last week. As a substantial proportion of our workforce continue to work from home and face a higher risk of acquiring dengue, the fall in dengue cases could thus be long and slow.
So far this year, over 20 lives have been lost to dengue, and there may be more unless we collectively take immediate and determined action.
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES NEEDED TO PROTECT FAMILIES
In the fight against dengue, everyone has a role, because each one of us can become a node for dengue transmission, and the Aedes aegypti mosquito breeds in our homes.
One way to fight dengue is to stop oneself from being bitten. This is especially important for individuals who have dengue, since they are a potential source of the infection for others.
If you live in a dengue high-risk area, you and your family should wear long pants and long-sleeve clothing, and use mosquito repellent to protect against mosquito bites, especially during the Aedes aegypti mosquito’s peak biting periods in the early morning and late afternoon.
A worker sprays insect repellent as a preventive measure against the spread of dengue fever in a neighbourhood garden in Singapore on Aug 25, 2020. (AFP/Roslan RAHMAN)
You can protect your home by spraying insecticide in the hiding places of the mosquito. These places could be under sofas, tables or shelves, behind curtains, or in dark parts of the kitchen.
A light targeted spray of insecticide in these places – not vaguely into the air – can help to kill mosquitoes in the home. NEA has a video showing how to do this.
Another longer term solution is to install mosquito screens on your windows.
To help remember to check for and remove stagnant water, consider putting a reminder on your phone at a convenient time (such as after dinner) with a two-day repeat.
SOCIETAL RESPONSES NEEDED: TO PROTECT COMMUNITIES
During a large outbreak like this, we must take a communal approach to preventing dengue in our neighbourhoods. Pro-social encouragement in the neighbourhood can help to overcome one of the main barriers to dengue prevention, namely the inertia that comes from a habit of not taking action.
There are inspiring initiatives in the community. For instance, worried by the surge in dengue cases that had infected many people in their neighbourhood, members of an East Coast residential council took proactive efforts to check on residents in their estate, and ensure that they knew how to protect themselves and their families from getting infected.
File photo of a fogging operation in Geylang. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
What makes the COVID-19 pandemic so different from pandemics past is that we have launched an unprecedented response to it—closure of schools, borders, mosques, churches and temples, shops, cinemas, work places, wearing of masks, social distancing, restriction on travel and contact tracing.
As a society, we have done more to stop COVID-19 spread than for any other disease in recent times.
The response, both how we have accepted these and how the pandemic has so far been kept in check, shows what can be achieved when we work together to contain a public health threat.
Associate Professor Alex Cook is the Vice Dean of Research at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore.
Associate Professor Ng Lee Ching is the Group Director of the Environmental Health Institute at the National Environment Agency. She has provided expert advice to the World Health Organization.
SINGAPORE: Since getting laid off from her job as a business development director at a travel technology firm eight months ago, Syazanah Haniff has applied for more than 120 positions, including roles outside her previous industry and occupation.
Right now, she is trying to get by on a temporary gig as a temperature screener at the airport. It pays 30 per cent of what she used to get.
It has been disheartening, the 35-year-old said. Even though she has been in marketing and business development for about 12 years, Ms Haniff gets told that she does not have the relevant industry experience when she applies for a similar role in other lines like healthcare, logistics and finance.
When she tries for positions that are a step or two backwards – as a sales manager, or an account executive – she is told she is “overqualified”.
After hitting such roadblocks, she followed the Government’s advice to be open-minded about changing direction to take on in-demand roles, particularly in technology. She has tried for opportunities in software development or cybersecurity, but got rejected for all but one – an SGUnited traineeship programme with a technology company that she is still waiting to hear back from.
An advanced diploma course in supply chain and logistics under the SGUnited scheme was due to start this month, but she said the training provider met with some issues and might not be able to commence on time.
“I have to say that the opportunities are there. But it’s a matter of whether some of the employers themselves are truly open-minded too,” Ms Haniff said. “It should be a two-way street, right?”
Farhan Juraimi lost his job in the education sector in June. Armed with a degree in applied physics, and given the current economic situation, he tried to be open and went for roles in electronics manufacturing and biomedical technology, as a lab technician, operations manager or quality engineer, but received no offers.
Sometimes, he got the “overqualified” response too, even though he was willing to take a pay cut.
In September, he finally landed a traineeship, but still in the education field, with a 40 per cent drop in salary. He is still looking for a full-time job – a situation the company understands as he has household expenses to pay for.
Hiring in Singapore has slowed as Singapore’s labour market conditions come under strain amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s jobless rate climbed to 3 per cent in July, and employment contracted by a record 129,100 in the first half of 2020. Some economic observers have warned that the worst is yet to come.
Meanwhile, the Government has been highlighting bright spots in the economy while also rolling out initiatives to develop opportunities for job seekers.
In May, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the S$2 billion SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, with the aim of helping 100,000 people by shoring up job attachments and training vacancies.
During September’s parliamentary sitting, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said more than 95,000 opportunities have been made available, and more than 25,000 of them have been taken up.
Sectors with the most placements so far are mostly those with growth prospects such as in media, information technology, financial services, professional services and healthcare, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in response to CNA’s queries. The ones with fewest placements are in sectors hardest hit by COVID-19: aerospace, marine and offshore, and sea transport.
A weekly ‘Jobs Situation Report’ issued by the authorities since August has been part of a strategy to spur job seekers to be receptive to whatever is available during this downturn. These surveys feature a different sector every week showcasing the opportunities available.
“I urge all job seekers to stay open-minded and to leverage such opportunities to move into growth sectors for better career progression,” Mrs Teo said during the release of one of these reports in August.
With such opportunities, what strategies can job seekers use to ensure they are successful in securing something in a completely new career?
Headhunters say there could be a gap because applicants are not doing enough homework, while companies say taking a chance on people without the right background is too risky.
Jaya Dass, the managing director of recruitment agency Randstad Singapore and Malaysia, said the Government’s message to make the best out of the current situation is “definitely” the correct one right now.
But even then, candidates have to show they genuinely want the job.
“I think what you see typically with job seekers – and as an agency, we see a fair bit of this, – people are trigger-happy to click on their mouse and hit apply,” she said.
Just addressing the job description – usually a summary of what the company wants – is not good enough, Ms Dass said. Nor is merely showing interest.
“I think this is how jobseekers go about it: They profess their desire, but the desire has no bearing on your ability to be successful.”
Applicants have to do proper research about the function of the job, the type of people in it, and how to convince the company their plans to address any skills and experience gaps they have.
“In a period like this, where budgets are streamlined, and companies only hire for extremely important or pivotal roles that make a difference to how they operate during this period, they are not about the take a risk and bring someone in because someone wants to try their hands at something,” she said.
“There has to be a commitment and there has to be an intelligent discussion … around why you want this role and how you intend to close that gap between your current skill sets and what’s required,” she added.
Joey Kang, a Workforce Singapore (WSG) career coach, said a successful career switch does not happen overnight and requires some legwork.
“Often, job seekers have expectations and dependency on employers to train them instead of being proactive in investing in themselves or doing volunteer (or) pro-bono service to familiarise themselves with the industry,” she said.
Instead, they should get insights from friends and contacts who have worked in these roles, which could help them to portray themselves as being proactive and adaptable during interviews – “allowing them to better negate the impression that they lack industry experience”.
“I would also encourage them to examine the hiring criteria and assess whether they have the transferrable skills, experiences and attributes demanded by employers. If there are significant gaps in these areas, they would want to examine how they should bridge the gaps,” she added.
She said she has seen more job seekers embrace the unfamiliar as the pandemic has dragged on.
“In the early days of COVID-19, no one had expected it to last this long. Many were insistent on a job and salary that are ideal to them,” Ms Kang said.
But now, six months down the road, “reality has set in” as savings and vacancies in their preferred fields dry up, while competition for jobs has heated up. Job seekers have turned to contract work or training programmes to pull through in the interim.
Additive manufacturing firm 3D Metalforge recently welcomed four graduates under the traineeship programmes – a designer, an engineer and a sales and administrative recruit. But it still has three engineering spots it has had trouble filling.
The company received applications from the likes of hospitality or supply chain graduates, but had to turn them down as did not have any technical background, said Lily Ho, the company’s programme manager.
“It’s very, very tough (to bring such people in),” Ms Ho said, likening the situation of asking someone in human resource to suddenly become a doctor.
“It’s too extreme. No matter how much training you provide, you can’t expect the person to ease into the position,” she said.
Standard Chartered’s head of human resource for Singapore, Australia, and ASA (ASEAN and South Asia) cluster markets Charlotte Thng said that while they are on the lookout for people “with a strong interest … who want to develop their career” in technology, “we do need some level of entry requirement”.
“A lot of these roles … need to (have) a degree of skill sets and competencies that need to happen before companies are able to onboard them,” said Tribe Accelerator’s managing partner Ng Yi Ming.
Going back to school is the way to go, he said. “When you go right into the job, sometimes things are moving too fast-paced, whereas training allows you to have the bandwidth to understand the fundamentals.”
But when it comes to non-specialised roles, Ms Ho said she would be open to career switchers, but based on past recruitment exercises, competition for such places tend to be high.
3D Metalforge, which currently has about 20 employees, plans to open up some full-time positions that includes one in marketing and another in human resource, as it looks to expand in Singapore and open up a manufacturing facility in Houston. The company does 3D printing for oil and gas players.
Wilson Neo, the founder of interior design firm WEDA StudioInc, is currently looking for a project coordinator and an app developer.
Career switchers are welcomed to apply for the project management role, he said, but the app developer would need a technical background because the position is new and there is no one who can provide the necessary training.
BEHIND THE PHRASE “OVERQUALIFIED”
As for the issue of overqualified applicants, Ms Dass said “unfortunately, there is a stereotyping that happens … around who will do the job really well”.
Apart from whether the applicant can do the task, there are other concerns hiring managers have to factor in – who the other team members are, the pay scale, and who the applicant will be reporting to.
Recruiters, she said, are worried that when the candidate might soon realise they are not comfortable in their new job and quit earlier than expected.
But she is optimistic that employers themselves will become more open as the economy recovers.
“A lot of employers are sticking to their guns about … what they need for the role (at the moment),” Ms Dass said.
“If the role remains on until for a much longer period, companies then start to re-address their talent strategy,” she added. “But there’s always a lag in that shift economically, (for) market conditions to push people to change their strategy.”
Ms Ho said that as a company, they are afraid that such individuals will jump ships once a better-paying opportunity comes.
“We spend so much time to train the person, even if it’s a general role,” she said. Already, someone who was supposed to come in as a trainee designer dropped out after finding a full-time position elsewhere. Ms Ho said they want people who are serious about the post.
“If he or she proves he can do the job, we might onboard him, and we’ll try to compensate him then,” she said.
WAITING FOR THE RIGHT ONE
On the flip side, some job seekers are waiting out for the right fit.
Lucy* (not her real name) was retrenched in April, although she had been looking out for alternatives since January, when her company was beginning its first round of cuts.
The former marketing and public relations executive, who is in her 30s and single, has applied for 11 jobs in the same field so far, and got interviews for four of them – all four rejected her.
Raymond Leong has been a full-time Grab driver since he got axed at the end of February.
The former senior sales manager for a cruise and events company finally got a verbal offer from another firm in September, but that was after sending out “dozens and dozens” of applications over six months.
Raymond Leong, 62, lost his job at the end of February and has been driving for Grab since. (Photo: Raymond Leong)
Apart from applying to temporary jobs, Mr Leong said he had mostly applied for roles in sales given his three decades of experience in this field. There is “no point in doing something you don’t enjoy”, he said.
His age would make it difficult to pick up anything technical as well. “I’m 62. Who would invest in me as an engineer?,” he said.
So is it fine to be picky right now during such economic doom and gloom? Ms Dass said there is no right or wrong – it depends on personal circumstances, and whether the job seeker knows where their strengths lie, and what their career goal is.
However, Foo See Yang, the managing director and country head of Kelly Services Singapore, said individuals who are jobless, especially those who are from niche industries like travel and tourism that have been directly impacted by the pandemic, might want to consider a switch, given the uncertainties surrounding how long this virus might last.
Those with fewer than three years of job experience could also consider it, he added, as they would still be considered fresh in their industries and moving will have less opportunity costs involved.
Ms Kang, the career coach from WSG, also thinks individuals seeking work should take up whatever is available and suitable under the SGUnited initiative first while continuing to apply and search for a longer-term position. At least this will provide some income to cover their living expenses, she said.
They could apply for the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways programme – an attachment programme for mid-career professionals – as well, as it gives them a chance to try out a new job or sector, gain some new skills and connections, while allowing the company to assess them.
The position may be short-term at the outset, but it could translate into a proper job offer later on, she said.
But Lucy said she is sticking with what she is used to.
“I really enjoyed my last job and what I do, so I was really sad to go.” she said. “I don’t want to be in a job that is just about chasing after the next paycheque.”
“A friend told me you don’t have to like your job, but I feel that is so meaningless,” she said. “Life is already so short and unpredictable. You don’t want to be stuck somewhere you don’t like for a long time.”
SINGAPORE – A man who received a WhatsApp message from a policewoman about his traffic offences replied by sending her two upskirt pictures of an unidentified woman.
In his message, Muhamad Idris Kairudin also said: “So what if you are traffic police.”
The 34-year-old Singaporean was sentenced on Wednesday (Sept 30) to a fine of $3,000 after pleading guilty to a harassment charge.
Police said in an earlier statement that the inspector had contacted Idris on May 29, asking him to “make timely payment” of outstanding fines for two traffic offences.
Court documents did not disclose the nature of his traffic offences.
After receiving the message, Idris replied with the lewd message shortly after midnight.
The officer lodged a report at Sengkang Neighbourhood Police Centre at around 4pm on June 3, stating that Idris had sent her insulting messages via WhatsApp.
He was arrested about 4½ hours later at Block 670A Jurong West Street 65.
Officers also seized his mobile phone, the court heard.
SINGAPORE: Several malls including AMK Hub, 313@somerset and Orchard Central have been added to the list of public places visited by COVID-19 community cases during their infectious period.
The Timezone and Prata Raya outlets at AMK Hub were listed on Sep 23, while two eateries – Tan Yu at 313@somerset and Grain Alley at Orchard Central – were listed on Sep 25 and Sep 26 respectively.
Other locations visited by the cases were Mr DIY at Westgate on Sep 24 and the Starbucks outlet at Sun Plaza in Sembawang on Sep 28 and Sep 29.
The new locations are as follows:
Those who have been identified as close contacts of confirmed cases would already have been notified by MOH.
As a precautionary measure, individuals who were at those locations during the specified timings should monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit, said MOH.
“They should see a doctor promptly if they develop symptoms of acute respiratory infection (such as cough, sore throat and runny nose), as well as fever and loss of taste or smell, and inform the doctor of their exposure history,” it added.
The health ministry said individuals may access the SafeEntry Location Matching Self-Check service via the TraceTogether App, SingPass Mobile or at the SafeEntry website to check whether they were at these locations during the specified timings, based on their own SafeEntry records.
“There is no need to avoid places where confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been. The National Environment Agency will engage the management of affected premises to provide guidance on cleaning and disinfection,” said MOH.
Singapore reported 23 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, including three in the community and four imported cases.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat is set to deliver a ministerial statement in Parliament on Monday (Oct 5) on Singapore’s response to the COVID-19 situation and the country’s fiscal position.
Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has responded after a man expressed concerns about the statues found in the lobby of Hotel Michael.
Stomp contributor Ramon said he was “shocked” to see the “naked statues” at the five-star hotel located in RWS on Friday evening (Sep 25).
“The statues are indecent and there are so many children around,” Ramon said.
“Their private parts are huge too. It should be small if it is art.”
According to the RWS blog , these statues are the works of Fernando Botero, one of the most famous Latin American artists.
His works can also be found all around the world, from Park Avenue in New York City to Champs-Élysées in Paris and even by the Singapore River at Raffles Place.
In response to a Stomp query, a spokesman for RWS explained that the artist behind the statues at Hotel Michael is known for his signature style of depicting objects in “oversized and exaggerated” dimensions.
The spokesman said: “The artwork – Adam and Eve – by renowned Colombian artist Fernando Botero is displayed near the entrance to Hotel Michael at RWS.
SINGAPORE: Dengue cases have fallen for the seventh consecutive week, with 593 cases reported last week compared to 78 the week before.
However, in the last three weeks, there has been a 12 per cent increase in the mosquito population, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Wednesday (Sep 30), based on its Gravitrap surveillance system.
“As the number of dengue cases is still high and the rate of decline in weekly cases has slowed down in recent weeks, the increasing Aedes aegypti mosquito population may lead to another surge in dengue cases,” the agency warned.
“It remains critical that stakeholders and the public work continue to work together with NEA to arrest the rise in the Aedes aegypti mosquito population in the community.”
Areas with higher Aedes aegypti mosquito population in August 2020, detected by Gravitraps deployed by NEA at public housing estates. (Map: National Environment Agency)
A total of 30,431 dengue cases have been confirmed as of Sep 29.
It was reported in July that dengue cases in the first seven months of the year had surpassed the number for the whole of 2019.
The traditional dengue peak season is expected to last until October.
NEA said there are 195 dengue clusters as of Sep 29, 11 fewer than the 206 reported the previous week.
“However, the total number of dengue clusters reported islandwide remains high,” said NEA, noting large clusters at Arnasalam Chetty Road/Kim Yam Road, Aljunied Road/Geylang Road/Guillemard Road, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 2, East Coast Road/Jalan Baiduri, as well as Bedok North Avenue 1.
Intensive vector control operations are ongoing in these areas, the agency said, urging all residents to do their part to prevent mosquito breeding.
Stomp contributor Anonymous and his wife were having their lunch at a coffee shop at Block 416 Bedok North Avenue 2 when all of a sudden, the tiles on the floor started popping up.
The Stomp contributor was shocked when he saw this happen on Sunday (Sep 27) at 1.30pm and told Stomp about this incident.
He also sent photos of the popped-up floor tiles. PHOTO: Stomp”My wife and I were having lunch at the coffee shop when suddenly, we heard a commotion near the stalls,” the Stomp contributor said.
“I soon realised it was because the floor tiles were starting to pop up.
“It was quite a scary sight.
“This area of Bedok is an older estate and there were tons of elderly there.
“An elderly man in a wheelchair actually got stuck as the tiles were popping up.
“A few patrons of the coffee shop and some stall holders immediately went to help him.
“Many others also helped each other get out of the coffee shop safely.
Relocating can be a stressful process. But one woman took it especially hard when her landlord asked her to move out, culminating in her arrest after a four-hour stand-off.
The 47-year-old woman was arrested under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act at Block 625 Yishun Street 61 on Sunday (Sept 27), police confirmed.
The landlord, a 78-year-old woman, had asked the woman, her tenant of one year, to move out that morning, she told Shin Min Daily News.
However, the tenant refused, locking herself in the flat for four hours.
According to a neighbour, who did not want to be identified, the pair had argued prior to the stand-off and the landlord had called the police that day as she was afraid the tenant would commit suicide.
A second neighbour, who also did not wish to be named, said that the landlord had two tenants.
A few days before the incident, she had heard the people in the unit having a row in the middle of the night and even saw several items being thrown out of the flat, she told the Chinese daily.
