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Minister assures contact-tracing device will not track location of Singapore citizens

8Jun

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Minister assures contact-tracing device will not track location of Singapore citizens

The wearable device for contact tracing in development by the Government to help curb the spread of Covid-19 will not track an individual's location, and those who prefer to use Singapore's contact-tracing app TraceTogether will still be able to do so, said Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation Initiative Vivian Balakrishnan.“The device, which may be issued to everyone here, will be a small device that people can slip into their bag or pocket,” he said in the comments thread of a post on his Facebook page on Sunday.The announcement of this device comes after news that TraceTogether, which identifies people in close contact with a coronavirus patient via wireless Bluetooth technology, does not work well with Apple devices.The app is useful when those infected cannot recall whom they had be

Racially insensitive acts not condoned, but Singapore and US situations are different: Singapore Education Minister

7Jun

By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Singapore

Racially insensitive acts not condoned, but Singapore and US situations are different: Singapore Education Minister

Young people in Singapore are doing the right thing by standing up against racial insensitivity, said Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung on Saturday.He was speaking about a photo of a birthday celebration taken in 2016 which depicted Raffles Institution students with their faces painted black.In a Facebook post, Ong stressed that such acts of “racial insensitivity or micro-aggression against a person” of another race are not condoned, but urged people to also be mindful of how the situation in Singapore differs from that in the United States, which erupted in nationwide protests after an unarmed black man was suffocated in police custody on May 25.The photo resurfaced on social media recently, depicted a group of Chinese students, some with their faces painted black and some wearing black

Virus Surge in Southeast Asia Migrant Workers Serves as Warning

20May

By Our NewsroomNo Comments

Politics, Singapore, World

Virus Surge in Southeast Asia Migrant Workers Serves as Warning

Virus flareups among migrant workers are fueling a second wave of infections in Southeast Asia, forcing governments to shift direction to contain resurgent outbreaks, and serving as a warning to other countries looking to ease restrictions as cases ease. Singapore and Thailand have been caught out by infections among foreign workers, who come from other parts of the region to work on building sites, in low-wage industries and as domestic labor. The countries are now scaling up testing of these communities, with the cramped dormitory-style or temporary accommodation they’re often housed in leaving them vulnerable to infection from the highly contagious coronavirus. An explosion in cases among Singapore’s 1-million strong migrant worker population has seen it become Asia’s most-infected nati

China bristles at Australia’s call for investigation into coronavirus origin

20May

By Our NewsroomNo Comments

Singapore, World

China bristles at Australia’s call for investigation into coronavirus origin

Beijing warns relationship could be damaged ‘beyond repair’ after Australian prime minister Scott Morrison cites ‘extraordinary’ impact of Covid-19 The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has defied China and defended the “entirely reasonable and sensible” call for an investigation into the origins of coronavirus, as the international political fallout over the pandemic deepened. China has been pushing back against criticism from other governments about how it handled the outbreak of Covid-19, which is believed to have started in Wuhan and which has now infected 3 million people worldwide and killed 200,000. Donald Trump’s accusation at the weekend that Beijing could have done more to prevent the deadly spread of the disease was met with fierce criticism from China’s state media. Wh

Singapore awards death sentence via Zoom video call

20May

By Our NewsroomNo Comments

Singapore

Singapore awards death sentence via Zoom video call

A man in Singapore was awarded death sentence via a Zoom video-call for the crime involving a drug deal, the city-state’s first case where capital punishment has been delivered remotely.The convict, Punithan Genasan, a 37-year-old Malaysian, got the death penalty for his role in a 2011 heroin transaction on Friday, court documents showed, with the country under lockdown to try and curb one of the highest coronavirus rates in Asia.“For the safety of all involved in the proceedings, the hearing for Public Prosecutor v Punithan A/L Genasan was conducted by video-conferencing,” a spokesperson for Singapore’s Supreme Court said in response to Reuters’ questions, citing restrictions imposed to minimize virus spread.It was the first criminal case where a death sentence was pronounced by remote h

Number of Coronavirus patients increases in Singapore

15May

By Our NewsroomNo Comments

Singapore

Number of Coronavirus patients increases in Singapore

Singapore has seen the number of cases of the novel coronavirus increasing substantially -- about in April to 26,098 now-- and the vast majority are migrant workers, many from South and Southeast Asian countries like Bangladesh and India, who were infected in crowded dormitories.Significant workforce of the Singapore-- 1.4 million migrant workers-- live in the city state, mostly employed in construction, manual labor and housekeeping. Of these, about 200,000 live in 43 dormitories, according to Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo.Every dorm room houses about 10 to 20 residents. They share toilet and shower facilities, eat in common areas, and sleep just feet away from each other. It's nearly impossible to conduct social distancing -- the consequences of which became clear in April when Sin

Cambodia: Covid-19 Spurs Bogus ‘Fake News’ Arrests

2May

By Our NewsroomNo Comments

Asia, Singapore

Cambodia: Covid-19 Spurs Bogus ‘Fake News’ Arrests

(Bangkok) – Cambodian authorities are using the Covid-19 pandemic to carry out arbitrary arrests of opposition supporters and government critics, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities have arrested at least 30 people, including 12 linked to the dissolved Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), on charges of spreading “fake news” and other offenses since the global outbreak of the pandemic.The Cambodian government should immediately and unconditionally drop the charges against all those accused of crimes in violation of their rights to freedom of expression and association. These arrests come in the context of a renewed government crackdown on civil and political rights. Under the pretext of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government is pushing through a state of emergenc

WHO convenes meeting of vaccine manufacturers

2May

By Our NewsroomNo Comments

Business, Opinion, Singapore, World

WHO convenes meeting of vaccine manufacturers

Gearing up for the much needed Covid-19 vaccines, the World Health Organization on Wednesday convened a meeting of vaccine manufacturers and national regulatory authorities from its South-East Asia Region. "The manufacturing capacity that exists in our Region is of the quality and scale required to produce and roll-out a Covid-19 vaccine globally. This Region is a vaccine manufacturing powerhouse, and it must now also play a lead role in overcoming the ongoing pandemic,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia. At the virtual meeting, leading manufacturers from India, Indonesia, and Thailand discussed timelines and production capacity, while regulatory bodies deliberated on adjustments that would be needed in processes to make Covid-19 vaccines availab

Southeast Asia’s Grab offers staff no-pay leave as coronavirus saps demand

2May

By Our NewsroomNo Comments

Asia, Business, Singapore

Southeast Asia’s Grab offers staff no-pay leave as coronavirus saps demand

Senior Grab leaders are reducing salaries by up to 20 percent this year Coronavirus pandemic the single biggest crisis to affect the eight-year-old company SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab said on Thursday it is offering some staff unpaid leave and senior executives are taking salary cuts as it moves to conserve cash amid falling demand because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. “Senior Grab leaders are reducing salaries by up to 20 percent this year and we have given employees across the region, in teams where there is excess capacity — the option to take flexible working arrangements,” Grab, the region’s most valuable start-up, said in a statement.It said such arrangements could include no-pay leave, reduced working hours and sabbaticals. Grab said the steps

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