A 42-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced on Friday (18 January) to a total of eighteen months’ imprisonment and a fine of S$13,000 in default three months’ imprisonment for offences under the Immigration Act. Tan Chuen Zin was arrested in March 2017. He was convicted for arranging two cases of marriage of convenience (MOC) between Singaporean men and Vietnamese women as well as …

Ho Ching, CEO of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, called for all businesses and organisations – be it for-profit, non-profit, societies, or governments agencies – to embrace Goal 13 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Goal 13 is about tackling climate change. Speaking at the St Gallen Symposium Singapore Forum 2019, Ho Ching – who is also …

In recent years, cases of abuse or ill-treatment towards domestic servant have been on a rapid rise. As such, a concerned citizen named Neo Poh Goon penned a letter to the Straits Times (ST) highlighting how kids are badly treating their maids because they observed and earned it from their parents. He started his letter by referring to a previous …

It was reported by the Australian Financial Review on Mon (21 Jan) that the CEO of German drug-maker Bayer, Werner Baumann, has been in Singapore and Australia over the past week to reassure “big investors” that his company would be able to meet its growth targets, despite facing multiple lawsuits by its subsidiary Monsanto. In Singapore, the biggest investor of …

Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave a speech at the Oxford Union recently and answered several questions ranging from Malaysia’s stance on Israel, their relationship with China, and their recent tensions with southern neighbours, Singapore. Dr Mahathir is currently leading the new Malaysian government, which came into power after a historical election that ousted the previous administration which had …

An additional $72 million will be set aside over the next two years to support manpower upskilling in the built environment (BE) sector, Minister of National Development Lawrence Wong said in a speech at the iBuildSG Scholarship and Sponsorship Ceremony on Tuesday (22 January). The minister said that existing scholarship programmes with training grants and retention incentives will be enhanced under …

Last Wed (16 Jan), a member of the public, Albert Tang, wrote to ST Forum asking why SP Group didn’t offer the heavily discounted electricity rates, which many of the electricity retailers are currently offering to the public, in the first place. “Given that electricity retailers are looking to make a profit, have spent a significant amount on marketing costs …

On 18 January, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was candidly questioned by a Singaporean student over the fractious diplomatic relations between the two countries. Darrion Mohan, a second-year history and politics undergraduate, uploaded a part of the debate with the elder statesman on his Facebook page.   He started by mentioning that Singapore and Malaysia were “again embroiled in …

Do not focus on profits, Temasek CEO Ho Ching told a forum last Friday. Urging businesses to look beyond profits and financial returns, and do more to make lives better, she said: “For businesses, profits are just a shorthand notation for financial strength and viability. Businesses can thrive only if they succeed in meeting the needs of their customers as …

It’s no surprise for Singaporeans to encounter tissue paper placed on tables at hawker centres as it indicates that the tables are “reserved”. However, this culture might not be acceptable for people from other parts of the world. In fact, an exchange student from Germany found it rather selfish, and even shared their experience to confessional Facebook page NUSWhispers. The …