SINGAPORE – A former domestic worker has been cleared by the High Court of stealing more than $34,000 worth of items from Changi Airport Group (CAG) chairman Liew Mun Leong and his family.
Miss Parti Liyani, who worked for the family from 2007 to 2016, had appealed to the High Court against her conviction and sentence of two years and two months’ jail.
Her lawyer, Mr Anil Balchandani, who acted pro bono, had argued at her appeal that she was being framed to prevent her from lodging a complaint against the family for illegal deployment.
Mr Anil said that besides working at the family home, Miss Parti, who is Indonesian, was also told to clean the office and home of Mr Liew’s son Karl.
On Friday (Sept 4), Justice Chan Seng Onn allowed her appeal.
He found that the family had “improper motives” and wanted to stop her from going to the authorities.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has expressed hope that Singapore and Malaysia would soon finalise arrangements for daily commuting of workers between both countries, as border restrictions begin to ease amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a Facebook post on Thursday evening (Sep 3) after meeting Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia Vanu Gopala Menon, Mr Muhyiddin said they discussed the implementation of the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) and Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA) at the Singapore-Malaysia border, which commenced from Aug 17.
He said both of them agreed that the implementation of the two schemes has been done smoothly and effectively.
“I hope Malaysia and Singapore would quickly finalise the standard operating procedures regarding the proposal to allow for daily commuting of workers between both countries, to boost the national economy and help impacted workers,” the prime minister added.
The PCA allows Singapore and Malaysia citizens or permanent residents who hold long-term immigration passes for business and work purposes in the other country to enter that country for work.
Meanwhile the RGL is for Malaysia and Singapore residents keen to do shorter-term travel of up to 14 days, for essential business and official purposes.
“We also reaffirmed the commitment to ensure movement of many people across our borders will continue to be done smoothly without ignoring the safety of both countries,” wrote the Malaysian leader.
“We are determined this will help both Malaysia and Singapore recover our respective economies and … gradually help citizens impacted by the pandemic.”
Mr Muhyiddin also said that the discussion with Mr Menon touched on efforts by the two countries to strengthen and forge bilateral ties, by exploring new areas they can collaborate in, such as science, technology and innovation.
“We are aware that the bilateral ties for Malaysia-Singapore has to prosper although both countries are going through a challenging period, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mr Muhyiddin.
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met at the midway point of the Causeway on Jul 30, 2020 to witness the ceremony marking the official resumption of the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
“We believe that Malaysia and Singapore have the experience, ability and expertise to overcome the long term threat of the pandemic,” he added.
To this end, he stressed that both countries must step up their working ties and collaborate to “prevent, curb and control the spread of COVID-19”.
As member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he said both should work together in the research and development of a COVID-19 vaccine, in the field of epidemiology, antiviral medication and a public health system which would “finally benefit both countries”.
In his Facebook post, Mr Muhyiddin also touched on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.
“With regards to the HSR project, I hope that discussions at ministerial level involving both countries can be conducted in the near future to discuss the direction of the project,” he wrote .
In May, both countries said they have reached an agreement to defer the project until the end of the year.
On the Singapore-Malaysia leaders’ retreat to be held this year, Mr Muhyiddin noted that it was Singapore’s turn to host the event. He urged officials from both countries to discuss and suggest suitable arrangements on how to hold the retreat.
In July, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that both sides will “find some way” to hold the Singapore-Malaysia leaders’ retreat this year.
He was speaking after a ceremony at the Causeway to mark the official resumption of the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project.
Nightclubs might still be closed due to the ongoing pandemic, but that just means the party’s going online.
DBS Bank is teaming up with creative agency TSLA to recreate the legendary Jiak Kim Street club in Epic Games’ multiplayer battle royale game, Fortnite. Given the endless sea of dance emotes available in-game, you’ll be able to jump back onto the dance floor in no time.
Watch a cinematic trailer for the hottest new club in Fortnite:
Bee Bee Lim, head of customer marketing at DBS said:
We wanted to bring a differentiated experience to both clubbers and gamers, who are a core part of our DBS Live Fresh Card base.
They will no doubt enjoy exploring the recreation of a truly iconic Singapore space, still fondly remembered by us all.
We’re excited to be breaking ground in the gaming arena and look forward to introducing more compelling and innovative experiences.
SINGAPORE – This year’s Comex technology show is being held in a fully virtual format for the first time, but will offer the same deep discounts as exhibitors take to Facebook Live to showcase their best deals for consumers.
Major electronics retailer Best Denki on Thursday (Sept 3) kicked off the first live show at 8pm, garnering around 7,000 views and 2,500 comments as of 9pm.
Limited-time deals for products such as laptops, smartphones and television sets were announced by emcee Victoria Cheng live on the show, and later put up on Best Denki’s website.
The retailer’s show occupies the first slot of two scheduled to be held daily on Comex’s Facebook page from Thursday till Sept 13 by various exhibitors. The other is at 9pm, and was helmed by iRobot on Thursday.
Orders are placed individually with each exhibitor, who will provide further instructions for consumers during the show.
Other exhibitors staging live shows include Samsung, Creative, Courts and Harvey Norman.
SINGAPORE – A girl who fell to her death in January at a multi-storey carpark was riding her friend’s fixed-gear bicycle down a slope in the building, police investigations revealed.
Such bicycles generally do not have handbrakes.
The 13-year-old had started to learn to ride a bicycle only when she was in Primary 6 and was still a novice at cycling, the state coroner was told on Thursday (Sept 3) during an inquiry into her death.
The girl was found motionless at the ground level of the multi-storey carpark at Blk 526A Pasir Ris Street 51 on the afternoon of Jan 8. She was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.
Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported that a domestic helper, who spotted the girl lying at the foot of the building after hearing a loud noise, called the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the police.
SINGAPORE: The aviation and maritime industries in Singapore are looking to develop their sea-air transshipment abilities, in order to capitalise on growth areas that have emerged from the global pandemic.
This method of shipping is a multimodal approach, where part of the journey is undertaken by sea, and the other by air.
Industry players say it may be an opportunity for Singapore to retain its hub status, which has taken a massive hit with the COVID-19 pandemic closing international borders.
Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung said in late July that the country cannot take “for granted” that Singapore will remain an aviation hub when COVID-19 is over.
In his ministry’s addendum to the President’s Address on Aug 27, Mr Ong said that while the maritime sector has stayed “relatively resilient” during the pandemic, air travel has been “decimated”.
With international borders closed, passenger movements at Changi Airport fell drastically. In February, passenger movements fell 32.8 per cent from a year earlier. By April, the drop had increased to 99.5 per cent and latest figures in July put it at 98.5 per cent lower than the same period last year.
Air freight movements have also taken a hit. Latest data for July by Changi Airport put it at 30.1 per cent lower than the same month last year.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, half the world’s air freight was carried in the bellies of passenger planes. With fewer passenger flights in the air, and only about 2,000 dedicated freighters in the world, less cargo can be moved around.
The air cargo capacity constraint means there has been a shift toward high-priority cargo, said airport ground handler SATS.
SATS president and CEO Alex Hungate said that delivery of perishable food items have remained resilient, but the two categories that have grown most are e-commerce and medical supplies.
“E-commerce has grown about 20 per cent since last year, as a category, and then medical supplies including pharmaceuticals has grown about 16 per cent,” said Mr Hungate.
“We’re all now wearing face masks and other protective equipment if we’re in the front line jobs.”
One medical supply Mr Hungate is looking forward to moving in future is a COVID-19 vaccine – when it is ready.
SATS has a temperature-controlled facility called Coolport, which allows for temperature-sensitive products – such as vaccines – to be moved by sea and air, making Singapore one of the few places in the world ready to handle the vaccine.
“Some vaccines are highly temperature sensitive, so they only live if they stay between about 8 degrees Celsius to 12 degrees Celsius. So that four degree range means that you’ve got to have the highest standards of handling,” said Mr Hungate.
Mr Hungate added that SATS Coolport was certified as the world’s first Centre of Excellence in Pharmaceutical Handling by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
“That means we’ve managed to attract a lot of those medical, temperature-sensitive cargo through into Singapore from other potential hubs that compete with Singapore,” he added.
In addition to medical cargo, SATS Coolport is also equipped to handle other temperature-sensitive products.
In 2017, it became the first in the world to receive approval from the European Union to break down and handle meat from New Zealand on its way to Europe.
“If you were shipping meat from New Zealand to Europe, you would either have to go entirely by air or entirely by sea, because the European Union would not allow the meat to be unpacked and repacked anywhere except in New Zealand itself and upon arrival in Europe,” said Mr Hungate.
The stamp of approval is a recognition of high standards of handling. “They recognise that it’s done with the right quality standards (such) that they allow the breakdown of the cargo to occur outside of either New Zealand or Europe,” said Mr Hungate.
Sea-air transshipment is also particularly suited for micro-electronics and advanced manufacturing products, said SATS.
(Photo: Singapore Airlines Cargo)
BUILDING ON ADVANTAGES
Ms Ngai Simin of travel data and analytics firm Cirium Dashboard said that the aviation industry should look into ways to ride on Singapore’s maritime reputation.
“The reputation Singapore has when it comes to being a transshipment hub and having the world class kind of efficiency that always delivers … We have a very well-developed and large port in terms of handling capacity,” said Ms Ngai.
“What will really tie sea freight and air freight for Singapore is (that) we are a very developed nation with very good road networks,” she added.
With such advantages, government agencies are exploring how Singapore can be a hub for perishable items.
A hybrid freight model of air and sea allows for a quick transit time and for the cargo to reach customers in a timely manner, particularly for chilled products, said Ms Tan Beng Tee, assistant chief executive for development at the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
Ms Tan added that various government agencies are working closely together to develop sea-air transshipment.
Enterprise Singapore added that burgeoning business to consumer e-commerce growth has led to higher consumer demand and expectation for more timely, efficient and lower-cost delivery options.
There could be a trickle-down effect to the rest of the industry, as ESG said logistics companies that can provide end-to-end solutions will be better poised to capture such opportunities.
Companies such as ALEX Fulfilment hope to ride that wave.
The logistics and delivery company said demand for e-commerce warehousing and delivery services has increased by 60 per cent since the start of the pandemic.
“We had a lot of companies that traditionally did not focus a lot on selling their products online, suddenly put a lot of emphasis onto either upgrading their own website, their own marketplace, or getting onto the traditional marketplaces like Lazada, RedMart and all that,” said Mr Rodney Ee, managing director of ALEX Fulfilment.
“That basically required a lot more logistics services in terms of the deliveries, and also in terms of the warehousing.”
Sea-air transshipment has typically not been a common option as the two methods have their own distinct advantages.
Air freight is much faster and direct as planes travel point-to-point, so high-value goods tend to move by air.
Statistics published by the IATA before the pandemic showed that while air cargo accounted for only about 1 per cent of world trade shipments by volume, it represented 35 per cent of global trade in terms of value.
Conversely, sea freight carried 90 per cent of the world’s trade volume, according to the International Chamber of Shipping, with the last 9 per cent carried over land. However, it is a much slower option.
But as a result of global supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic, the demand for multimodal transshipment has increased.
Enterprise Singapore said it is seeing more logistics operators diversify their choice of transport.
“More industry players have started to leverage on multimodal transshipments (air-sea, sea-air), or alternative trade routes to ensure continued flow of goods,” said a spokesperson.
The gap between air and sea rates has also widened in recent months, providing an opportunity for sea-air shipments.
“In April and May, at the peak of the constraint of flights, the cost for air freight went up 10 times its normal rate,” said SATS’ Mr Hungate.
“The gap between the air freight cost and the maritime cost can be something like 20 to one, and therefore there’s an enormous opportunity in the middle of the 20-times price for shippers to look at, using a combination of air and sea,” he added.
Industry players and government agencies said more needs to be done for the aviation and maritime industries to be able to collaborate seamlessly.
“The transfer between sea and air is not efficient enough. Because they each speak their separate languages – there’s the maritime units, and then there’s the aviation units – and they each have different ways of pricing and charging the shipper,” said Mr Hungate.
He added that SATS is working on a digital solution with port operator PSA.
“We’re creating interfaces which will allow the shippers to track through the airport to the prime mover on the ground, who will have to truck the goods from Changi down to PSA and then onto the ships. And so, we believe that is an opportunity for Singapore in this disrupted world that we will need to accelerate together.”
Enterprise Singapore said technology has improved supply chain flows and efficiency by optimising the movement of cargo shipments.
But for Singapore to reach its full sea-air transshipment potential, Singapore’s air connectivity must return.
“In the case of sea, we’ve got 200 shipping lines that connects us to 600 ports, that’s a very vast network of connectivity … If we tie it with air connectivity, that will give us a very comprehensive network,” said MPA’s Ms Tan.
But until passenger flights take off again, said SATS’ Mr Hungate, Singapore’s maritime and aviation hub status may remain shaky.
“At these much lower volumes, the connectivity available in Changi is not sufficient to attract the flows. Just as a passenger, you don’t want to have a long layover in a transit point before you have to catch your connecting flight. It’s the same for shippers – they don’t want their cargo to have long layovers,” said Mr Hungate.
“So we need more flights, we need to get back up to the critical mass of connectivity through the airport that will make this a vibrant hub again,” he added.
An employer who has been facing backlash online over a controversial job listing has told AsiaOne why he’s offering what many deem an egregiously low compensation for the work needed.
Sky Hoon’s listing on job search sites that called out for content writers went viral on social media after he posted it earlier this week.
The founder of a startup blog called Vertical Template is currently looking for “passionate” Singaporeans who are willing to be paid $7.50 for each article they produce.
“For $7.50, you research and write about 1,000 words,” the employer wrote. PHOTO: Screengrab/GlintsThe job description is filled with other oddities, including how Hoon wants someone with neither writing experience nor qualifications because not having them “is an advantage in writing personal and great articles”.
He affirmed that applicants should not be expecting a full-time or part-time salary as Vertical Template is a “self hustle/project and not profitable yet”.
A police car crashed into the void deck of a Housing Board flat in Choa Chu Kang on Wednesday afternoon. (Sept 2).
A Stomp contributor alerted Stomp to A police car that crashed into a pillar at a HDB void deck at Blk237 Choa Chu Kang Central.Posted by Singapore roads accident.com新加坡公路意外网页 on Wednesday, September 2, 2020″ target=”true”>photos of the incident that were posted on Facebook.
In the photos, the police car appears to have crashed into one of the void deck’s pillars.
According to the post by Singapore roads accident.com, this happened at Block 237 Choa Chu Kang Central.
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Thursday (Sep 3) told his G20 counterparts that therapeutics and vaccines should be “a global good for all”, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in a media release.
Dr Balakrishnan was speaking at a virtual extraordinary G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, which he attended in Singapore’s capacity as convenor of the Global Governance Group (3G) and at the invitation of his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan attends a virtual extraordinary G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on Sep 3, 2020. (Photo: Facebook/Vivian Balakrishnan)
Dr Balakrishnan stressed the need to keep global supply chains open, especially for essential goods such as medical supplies, said MFA.
“He also emphasised the importance of accelerating the ongoing digital transformation of societies, as the past nine months have underlined how critical this is. He underlined that the digital gap needs to be bridged so that no one is left behind,” the ministry added.
The foreign ministers in attendance exchanged views on their countries’ experiences and lessons learned in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They emphasised the need to strengthen international cooperation across borders to mitigate the impact of the measures taken. The meeting also addressed the need to prepare for a gradual and safe reopening of borders and work towards a recovery which is more resilient to future shocks,” said MFA.
Dr Balakrishnan also said that Singapore will work with G20 and the relevant organisations to “explore the gradual resumption of safe cross-border travel through comprehensive testing and rigorous contract tracing”, added the ministry.
SINGAPORE: A restaurant in Suntec City and a beauty salon in NEX were added to the list of public places visited by COVID-19 community cases during their infectious period, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Sep 3) .
White Restaurant in Suntec City was visited on Aug 29 from 7pm to 8 pm and Perky Lash in NEX was visited on Aug 26 from 1.05pm to 2.30pm.
The Kopitiam food court at VivoCity was also added to the list, after other locations within the mall were included on Wednesday.
MOH said that people who were identified as close contacts of confirmed cases would have been notified by the ministry.
As a precautionary measure, people who were at those locations during the specified timings should monitor their health closely for 14 days from their date of visit, the ministry added.
“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.”
MOH said there is no need for people to avoid places where COVID-19 cases have been, and that the National Environment Agency will engage the management of the affected premises to provide guidance on cleaning and disinfection.
Singapore reported 48 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, including two in the community and five imported infections.
The two community cases are a 56-year-old permanent resident and a 45-year-old male work permit holder who is an Indian national.
Both cases, who were asymptomatic and unlinked to previous cases, were picked up as a result of rostered routine testing of workers in the construction, marine and process sectors who are living outside the dormitories.
The 56-year-old’s serology test result came back positive, indicating a “likely past infection”, said MOH.
The five imported cases had travelled from Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, India and the Philippines.
