opinion: No more for poorer?

A FRIEND of mine recently separated from his wife of five years. The worst part of the separation was when she walked out last year while he was jobless.

She was not open either to counselling or to seeking any assistance to resolve their marital issues. It was a deep stab wound in my friend's already fragile self esteem and confidence.

Although there were other issues that affected the marriage, it seemed that my friend's inability to contribute financially for the duration of the marriage prompted her to walk away from the relationship.

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opinion: Internet aggression, the good and the bad

THE ugly impulses Ms Rachel Chang mentions in her commentary last Thursday ('Power of the Net to polarise') may occur because the Web is one of the few

areas where people can express their views, although that should not justify an aggressive attitude.

I suspect the actual reason is a newfound freedom the Internet has bestowed on the young, especially if one belongs to a command culture like China or Japan.

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opinion: ...As long as PAP remains incorruptible

IN HIS letter last Saturday, 'Life after PAP', Mr Ng Kok Lim asserts that Singaporeans have the inherent and innate ability to prosper and flourish, no matter who leads the country. In support of his argument, he mentions how various changes of government in the region have not been detrimental to the countries involved.

Separately, in his letter also last Saturday, 'Politically vibrant Singapore', Mr Albert Tay advocates competition in the political arena, which he says can only facilitate advancement.

Ethnically, Singaporeans are no different from the countries they migrated from. If, indeed, all work ethic is equal, every country in the region would have scaled the same peaks as Singapore. That we have achieved a standing in the world beyond expectations says as much about our resourcefulness to overcome hardship as it does about the quality of our leadership in our country's formative years.

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news: More girls under 14 having sex

MORE girls under the age of 14 are having sex illegally and willingly, according to statistics released by police at the Annual Crime Brief yesterday.

There were 83 reported cases of statutory rape last year - a 36 per cent jump from 61 cases in 2008. The youngest victim was 12.

About 93 per cent of the victims were students; the rest were not schooling. Boyfriends, friends and acquaintances - in other words, people with whom the girls already had a relationship - continue to form the majority of culprits, said the police.

Under Singapore law, statutory rape is defined as sex with a girl between the ages of 12 and 14, whether or not she is a consenting party.

read more > Asiaone

news: More borrow from loan sharks

MORE people were caught for being involved in unlicensed moneylending activities last year, as more people turned to loan sharks to tide them over financial woes during the recession, the police said.

There were 18,600 such cases last year, a 58 per cent increase from 11,000 cases in 2008, said Senior Assistant Commissioner Ng Boon Gay, director of the Criminal Investigation Department.

The figure is expected to continue rising even with the upturn in the economy, because even the amount of bad debt in the legal moneylending industry is increasing, he said.

read more > Asiaone

news: Australia to focus immigration policy on skills

Australia's immigration minister, Chris Evans, has announced policy changes to attract more highly skilled workers.

He criticised the current trend for new arrivals to sign up for cookery or hairdressing courses to gain residency.

Mr Evans said Australia would abolish the current list of 106 skills in demand and review a points test used to assess migrants.

His comments were welcomed by the mining sector, which is struggling to meet China's demand for raw materials.

"We had tens of thousands of students studying cookery and accounting and hairdressing because that was on the list and that got them through to permanent residency," Mr Evans told Australian radio.



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news: Tonnes of tainted milk powder still on China market

BEIJING: Authorities in China are hunting for nearly 100 tonnes of melamine-laced milk powder left over from 2008, when six babies died from consuming the toxic substance, state media said Monday.

The discovery came as authorities pursue a crackdown on dairy products that should have been destroyed after the melamine scandal but have been illegally resold - reviving concerns about food safety and inspection standards.

Two dairy firms in the northern Ningxia region were closed down Saturday for selling tainted milk powder, and candies made with contaminated powder were found in the northeastern province of Jilin, the China Daily said.

Police in Ningxia found that a company outside the region gave one of the dairy firms around 170 tonnes of tainted milk powder left over from the 2008 scandal as debt payment in July last year, the report said.


read more > cna

news: Taiwan to build bridge off China

TAIPEI: Taiwan on Monday gave the green light for building a bridge between two small islands that it controls off China, in what officials called a first step towards connecting the islets with the mainland.

A bridge linking the Taiwan-held Kinmen group of islands with China would be a powerful symbol of improved ties between Taipei and Beijing, as the area is so far best known as the scene of their bloodiest battle in the past 60 years.

That prospect has now moved closer with the decision by Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development to approve the 5.3-kilometre bridge from Kinmen proper to neighbouring Little Kinmen.

"The bridge that has now been approved can be seen as a part of the project to connect with the mainland," Kinmen county magistrate Lee Wuo-tu told reporters.


read more > cna

news: A rough ride for electric scooters

SINGAPORE: So confident is it that there will soon be island-wide charging points, a homegrown electric vehicle (EV) company has powered onto the scene - even as one other before it has closed, and another has only managed sales of three electric scooters so far.

At its Kaki Bukit showroom on Sunday, homegrown company Ampere launched its range of electric scooters, claiming that these are the first in the region to hit 75 km/h.

Its chief executive, Ms Hemalatha Annamalai said that with government support, the infrastructure will take off "in the next couple of months".

However, some EV entrepreneurs noted that the current transport system is not EV-friendly enough. What is needed, they said, is some creative thinking and a change in attitude - rather than expensive infrastructure investment - to accelerate Singapore's EV transport system.


read more > cna

news: New national cancer centre to find ways to cut patients' bill

SINGAPORE: The new National University Cancer Institute, Singapore, is exploring ways to manage a cancer patient's bill size.

It is collecting data in the next few years to determine if its multi-disciplinary approach will cost less for patients.

In three years, cancer patients will find out if their bills will be smaller.

The National University Cancer Institute, Singapore, is hoping to reduce patients' treatment costs by adopting a team approach where various specialists come together and work on the patient.

This is expected to cost less than the traditional way of individual specialist treatment.

Professor John Wong, Director of National University Cancer Institute, Singapore, said: "What we want to do is to manage this cost and we want to take a look at this cost of care of a patient's condition through the whole journey...



read more > cna

news: Lower cost of living for Singapore households in 2009

Singapore: The cost of living was lower for Singapore households during the later part of 2009 compared to the earlier part of the year and the same period in 2008.

According to the Department of Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for households from July to December 2009 fell by 0.4 per cent over the same period in 2008.

It was also lower compared with the 0.8 per cent increase seen in the first half of 2009.

The trend was observed for all income groups, with the CPI for the lowest 20 per cent down by 0.8 per cent, and the middle 60 per cent income group experiencing a 0.5 per cent decrease. As for the highest 20 per cent income group, the CPI slipped by 0.1 per cent.

Based on an annual snapshot, the inflation rate for general households for the whole of 2009 was up 0.2 per cent, compared to the 6.5 per cent increase in CPI seen in 2008.



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news: New free trade zone to benefit China

Beijing, Feb. 8 -- China's top brands could be on the road to becoming global household names after the launch of the 4.5 trillion U.S. dollars China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) market, the world's largest free trade zone, according to trade experts.

Despite the country being an economic powerhouse, few of its big companies have ever made a major impact on the world stage.

But if they dominate the 1.9 billion-population CAFTA, Chinese companies could build a platform from which to attack European and North American markets.

China will have made the switch from being a developing country exporting cheap goods to finally making a success of globalization.


read more > xinhua

news: China seizes leading hacker training website

WUHAN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Police in central China's Hubei Province have seized the country's biggest hacker training website and arrested three suspects, the local public security department said.

The three, who ran the Black Hawk Safety Net, were suspected of offering online hacker tools, a crime that was newly listed in China's Criminal Law last year.

Police have also frozen more than 1.7 million yuan (250,000 U.S. dollars) in assets and confiscated nine web servers, five computers and a Honda Accord.

The Black Hawk Safety Net, established in 2005 and headquartered in Xuchang of the central Henan Province, had recruited more than 12,000 VIP members and collected 7 million yuan in membership fees.



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news: Berita Harian launches two weekly supplements for students

Berita Harian, the Malay daily published by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), today launched two weekly supplements for primary and secondary school students.

They are Gen G (short for Generasi Geligaor or Intelligent Generation) for primary school students and i3 (pronounced as i-Cube, an acronym for Inspirasi, Innovasi & Idea or Inspiration, Innovation & Idea) for secondary school students.

The launch was held at SPH News Centre in conjunction with Inspirasi Geliga, Berita Harian's annual sharing session on preparation for the PSLE and GCE 'O' level examinations. Established in 1957, the Malay daily covers a wide spectrum of topics from politics and sports to culture and religion.

read more > Asiaone

news: Let Sikh pupils wear ceremonial daggers, judge says

Britain's first Asian judge has called for Sikhs to be allowed to wear their ceremonial daggers to school.

The comments by Sir Mota Singh QC, come after a number of cases of Sikhs being banned from wearing the daggers – known as kirpans – and other religious artefacts in schools or workplaces.

"Not allowing someone who is baptised to wear a kirpan is not right," Singh told the BBC Asian Network.

"I see no objection to a young Sikh girl or boy, who's been baptised, being allowed to wear their kirpan if that's what they want to do."

read more > Guardian

news: Ethnic dominance in the Malaysian civil service — Lim Teck Ghee and Ramon Navaratnam

FEB 8 —The article “Emphasis on raising standards” by Shagul (The Star, Jan 30) seems to be aimed at ensuring that the situation of Malay dominance in the civil service should remain unchanged and unchallenged.

The director-general’s analysis fails to point out some very important reasons why a representative and multi-racial civil service should remain a key national priority, especially in the context of building 1 Malaysia.

read more > MI

news: New platform for women to network with senior peers

YOUNG women looking to network with their more seasoned counterparts in the business and political arenas now have a new platform from which they can do so.

Called the Young Women's Leadership Connection (YWLC), it was officially launched last night by Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance and Transport.

The YWLC also aims to groom female leaders, get them engaged in community work and provide more opportunities for them to interact with their peers.

read more > Asiaone

opinion: We need to sell Malaysia

So how is Malaysia to compete in this new environment?

Firstly, by creating a new Malaysian story. Liberalisation for its own sake is no longer enough. Malaysia’s ability to attract new investment by opening up its economy is somewhat limited by its social priorities domestically. The new policy framework must focus on attracting quality investments by creating a set of new, attractive and sustainable economic fundamentals. A low-cost labour base is no longer relevant. Instead, the new Malaysian story must focus on its undersold and unique asset — a growing middle-class that is well educated, English speaking, and increasingly spendthrift.

read more > MI

news: Chinese firms use Malaysia to evade anti-dumping laws

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — Malaysian firms could be at risk of being penalised for a surge of China-made products that are being exported to the European Union (EU) as Malaysian goods to evade anti-dumping laws and duties.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) said millions of euros worth of China-made goods are being fraudulently passed off as Malaysian by using the Port Klang Free Zone trans-shipment hub, where imported Chinese goods are transferred to another container and re-exported using the invoice of a Malaysian company.

Some firms also use false documents to obtain what is known as a certificate of origin, which declares that the goods are of Malaysian origin.

read more > MI

news: Don't delay restoring wages

NOW that the economic recovery appears to be here, shouldn't companies that embarked on a wage restraint policy and implemented wages cuts and other forms of income reduction at the onset of the global financial crisis now start restoring them?

When the world appeared to be on the path to collapse, most workers here cooperated with employers by agreeing to not only having their monthly salaries reduced, but also to having their bonuses, annual wage supplements and their perks cut.

And these cuts were implemented not only by companies making losses but even by corporation making still-healthy profits.

read more > Today

news: Woman still see glass ceiling

Fewer than 1 in 3 believes there is equal chance for both sexes to land senior-level jobs

EFFORTS to close the income gap between men and women and make career progression more equitable are having only limited success, a new global survey showed.

While about 90 per cent of both men and women believe that qualified candidates of either gender have equal opportunity to land junior-level jobs at their firms, both sexes feel that parity wanes at senior levels. Only 66 per cent of men see equal opportunity for promotion into managerial positions, while less than a third of women feel the same.

read more > ST

opinion: Freedom should come with responsibility

I REFER to incoming United States envoy David Adelman's remarks that he will use public diplomacy to work towards greater freedom in Singapore to strengthen it as a multi-party democracy ('Envoy-designate to Singapore faces panel', last Thursday).

As citizens of Singapore, we know what is good for us. We do not need outsiders to tell us what we need. If we are unhappy, we will use our votes to change the system.

Let us look at US, the country Mr Adelman comes from. No doubt Americans have more freedom but is it better for its citizens? I have my reservations.

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news: Taiwan to seek more arms

TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S defence minister has vowed to seek more weaponry from the United States, which he said would give the island greater confidence in pushing for rapprochement talks with China.

The remarks come as Beijing and Washington are locked in an escalating row over a massive US arms sale to Taiwan, which Beijing insists is part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

China has responded furiously with a raft of reprisals, saying it would suspend military and security contacts with Washington and impose sanctions on US firms involved in the US$6.4 billion (S$9.10 billion) arms package.

But Taiwan's Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu defended the arms sale Saturday, saying the arms package would help stabilise the Taiwan Strait.


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news: RWS ready to roll by CNY

THE DOORS to Singapore's first casino and theme park, Universal Studios, will be flung open by the Chinese New Year, which is widely regarded as an auspicious time.

Tenants and staff at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) told The Straits Times that they have been gearing up for the big opening at the end of this week.

When asked to confirm the dates, RWS spokesman Robin Goh only said: 'We will announce when it's time. We are still on track for the soft opening in the first quarter of 2010.''

The biggest roadblock to the casino's opening was cleared on Saturday when the Casino Regulatory Authority granted RWS its casino license.

The approval means it has fulfilled several conditions: at least half of the resort's gross floor area has been completed, and at least half of the committed investment has been spent.

It also means they have passed the authority's probity investigations, and obtained the green light for their casino layout, gaming equipment, gaming surveillance and licences for casino employees.


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news: 8,000-year-old human remains found

KUALA BERANG: Skeletal remains believed to be those of a pre-historic human were found in the Gua Bewah Cave in the Kenyir Lake area here.

The remains were estimated to be between 8,000 and 11,000 years old, said deputy director of the Institute of the Malay World and Civilisation (ATMA) of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Prof Datuk Dr Nik Hasan Shuhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman.

The remains were uncovered by archaeologists from UKM, the Museums Department and the Terengganu Museum Board at a depth of 65 to 70cm, he told reporters after a visit by Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said.


read more > the star