By Mahamoud Islam, Senior Asia Economist, Euler Hermes What’s at stake? Yesterday President Trump made good on his campaign promise to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.  The 12-nation free trade agreement was an ambitious attempt to promote trade on a mega-scale.  Now US’ support is officially withdrawn, so gone is the aspiration of bringing together 800 million consumers, close to USD28tn of wealth …

US President Donald Trump has formally withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. He signed the executive order, following through on his promise in his presidential campaign. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” Trump said as he signed the executive order in the Oval Office on Monday (23 Jan). He called the move is a ‘great …

A former auxiliary police officer from Certis Cisco, who fired his revolver in a game akin to Russian roulette, was convicted of committing a rash act endangering human life on Tuesday (24 January). Lai was also convicted of intentionally obstructing the course of justice and lying to the police. He confessed five days after failing a lie detector test. On …

As known to those who have been following the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and Dr Ting Choon Meng/The Online Citizen saga since its beginning, it all started after TOC reported on Dr Ting’s recount of the sequence of events which transpired between his company, MobileStats Pte Ltd and MINDEF in 2015. Dr Ting alleged that MINDEF had infringed his patent for “Mobile …

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has announced that according to a circular to building owners and developers, public spaces on private property will soon have to meet new design guidelines with effect on 24 April 2017. Under the new rules, these spaces, include covered public spaces such as the area outside Asia Square, outdoor public spaces, and urban parks, should be barrier-free …

Bengkulu, South Sumatera – Two Rafflesia Arnoldii flowers blooms in Bukit Daun protected forest in Central Bengkulu. “We found two flowers bloom only on a distance of 1.5 meters,” said Tom, a resident of the village, Antara News reported on Tuesday (24 Jan). Residents already provided footpaths to facilitate visitors. “Visitors will not have difficulty because we have made paths …

Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) has announced that it  will be extending its train services (North-South, East-West, Circle Lines and Bukit Panjang LRT) and selected bus services for passengers travelling late on the eve of Chinese New Year on Friday (27 January). Selected SMRT bus services will also be extending their operational hours so that passengers on the last trains …

Traffic through the Tuas and Woodlands checkpoints is expected to build up in the week leading to the Lunar New Year and will be particularly heavy from Thursday, 26 January to Tuesday, 31 January 2017, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) informed on its press release on 24 January. As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, travelers should expect a …

By Raphael Wong “Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried from time to time” – Winston Churchill, 1930s When Sir Winston Churchill made this statement, he probably had no idea it would become one of the most quoted statements in the postwar period. Indeed, over my …

Singapore is a small country, so it has to stay agile, a one-party system may give Singapore its best shot at success, said Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung at the annual Institute of Policy Studies’ Singapore Perspectives conference on 23 January. Opinions were shared by a panel discussing whether rule by a single political party is …