Current Affairs

Speaking at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 90th anniversary gala dinner held at Carlton Hotel yesterday (15 Nov), Manpower Minister Josephine Teo hinted that CPF Minimum Sum may be raised again. It is important to help Singaporeans save more for retirement adequacy, she said. To meet their needs, especially as Singaporeans live longer, the CPF basic retirement sum should …

by Yan ZHAO / Catherine LAI Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters defied a warning by China’s President Xi Jinping and again took to the city’s streets on Friday, as the political turmoil seeped out to London where a minister from the Southern Chinese city was confronted by masked demonstrators. Hong Kong has seen relentless protests since June as many in the …

In the latest episode of late-night American talk show “Last Week Tonight” that aired on Sunday (10 November), its host John Oliver spoke about the controversial SLAPP laws and its chilling effect as it allows privileged individuals to bully others “into silence”. He started off the episode by talking about American coal tycoon Bob Murray who had recently dropped the …

“I didn’t ask for government welfare. I just want to take out my own money and save myself. I feel so helpless. What happened to the Singapore government?” Mr Sim Kay Chuan, a 56-year-old Singaporean who suffered from heart problems in 2015 had an operation two years ago, leaving his heart’s left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at 37% performance. The normal …

Following the ban – which came into commencement on 5 November – that prohibits the riding of e-scooters on all footpaths, the government introduced a nationwide S$7 million programme to help food delivery riders trade-in their personal mobility devices (PMDs) for alternative devices, offering a grant of up to S$1,000 per person depending on the alternative device of their choosing. …

It was reported by the media yesterday (14 Nov) that Singtel posted its first quarterly loss of S$668 million in its 2Q result ending 30 Sep (‘Singtel posts first quarterly loss of S$668m on Airtel provision‘). This was primarily due to provision made for huge losses incurred by Bharti Airtel, the Indian telco which Singtel invested in. Excluding Airtel, net …

A DBS Bank branch in Hong Kong was vandalised with vulgarities aimed at Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, his family and the People’s Action Party (PAP). The Straits Times reported on Fri (15 Nov) a spokesperson for the Singapore bank as saying that the graffiti was removed upon discovery yesterday. Photos of the graffiti had first surfaced in a Facebook group …

A total of S$211 million has been left unclaimed with the Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office (IPTO) over the last six years, largely made up of Central Provident Fund (CPF) money. The monies were left behind by people who died with no benefactor nominated. The IPTO received S$63.2 million of unnominated CPF money last year alone, belonging to 3,450 individuals. …

The 32-driver who recorded videos of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s son Li Yipeng back in March when he was giving him a ride in his rental car has been fined S$900 on 14 November (Thursday). The Singaporean, Andrew Sim Kay Yong, was also disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for eight months. Four videos, between 47 to 53 …

A new challenge of Section 377A of the Penal Code is being brought to Singapore’s High Court, this time by Mr Bryan Choong, former executive director of non-profit organisation Oogachaga, looking to repeal the law on several grounds. This is the first of three cases against Section 377A which will come before the High Court in November. The other is …