‘Hiccup’ in political transition: ESM Goh commends DPM Heng’s ‘selflessness’ in stepping aside as 4G leader

By Chew Hui Min

07 May 2021


SINGAPORE: Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said on Friday (May 7) that he commends Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat for his “self-sacrifice” in stepping aside as leader of the 4G or fourth-generation leadership team.

At the launch of a second volume of his biography titled Standing Tall, Mr Goh said that there has been a “hiccup” in the political transition in Singapore but that it was “part of the process”.

“There were also hiccups before the Old Guard passed on the baton to the 2G. I recounted them in my first volume, Tall Order,” said the former Prime Minister.

“I commend DPM Heng Swee Keat for his self-sacrifice in stepping aside as leader of the 4G. It takes courage and selflessness to do this when one is only a step away from being prime minister.

“He has put the interests of Singapore first, like a good leader should.”

SPH to restructure media business into not-for-profit entity

By TESSA OH, JANICE LIM

MAY 06, 2021

• The Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) will set up a new subsidiary to house its media business, with injection of initial resources, funding
• The subsidiary will eventually be transferred to a company limited by guarantee to be funded by private and public sources
• The exercise will involve transferring the entire media-related business of the conglomerate, including employees and its news and print centres

SINGAPORE — The Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) will be restructuring its media business into a not-for-profit entity amid falling advertising revenue.

With this move — which is expected to be fully completed by October, subject to shareholders’ approval — SPH’s media business will eventually become a company limited by a guarantee, it announced on Thursday (May 6).

Commentary: Why the interest over TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi’s nationality and how Singaporean he is?

What does it take to be "one of us"? Singaporeans' obsessions in defining the "us" in this latest episode stems not only from a fixation on labels but insecurities amid seismic changes in society, says SUSS' Dr Leong Chan-Hoong.

By Leong Chan-Hoong

06 May 2021


SINGAPORE: Are you a Singaporean? Did you embrace our way of life?

It does not require a genius to see the subtext in discussions over our daily headline news whenever the term “foreign” is mentioned in the media. This happens both when someone has misbehaved or achieved an extraordinary feat in a profession.

We saw this most recently last week when TikTok, the social media giant named 39-year old Chew Shou Zhi its new CEO.

Indonesia - model for Myanmar

 [Two news articles on the Military in Politics, and how Myanmar might have used Indonesia as a model.]

‘We live in a different age now’: Why Indonesia’s military is unlikely to return to politics

February’s coup in Myanmar has turned the spotlight on other Southeast Asian countries whose militaries have played a significant political role. The programme Insight examines the situation in Indonesia and the prospects for its democracy.

JAKARTA: He was tortured, underwent forced labour and had to eat mice, snakes, lizards and snails to survive.

Arrested for being a suspected communist sympathiser, Bedjo Untung was never charged despite being detained from 1970 to 1979, under the authoritarian regime headed by Suharto, the former general.

It has been 23 years since Suharto’s fall, but Bedjo, now 73 and a human rights activist, worries that Indonesia’s military “will always try to play a role” in government.

That has been the case in Thailand, for example, and February’s military coup in Myanmar has cast the spotlight on other Southeast Asian countries whose militaries have played a significant political role over decades.

But is Indonesia’s military capable of making a political comeback following the country’s transition to the multi-party democracy it is today? The programme Insight examines the balance of probabilities.

Singapore tops ranking of world's best places to be amid Covid-19 pandemic

Singapore topped Bloomberg's Covid Resilience Ranking this month.PHOTO: ST FILE

APR 27, 2021


HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - A combination of nailing the virus and rolling out vaccines at one of the fastest rates in Asia saw Singapore top Bloomberg's Covid Resilience Ranking this month, dethroning New Zealand for the first time in the measure of the best and worst places to be in the pandemic era.

The tiny city state had got locally transmitted cases down to near zero thanks to border curbs and a strict quarantine programme, allowing citizens to largely go about their everyday lives, even attending concerts and going on cruises.

At the same time, Singapore had already administered vaccines that cover the equivalent of a fifth of its population, an aspect of pandemic control that other virus eliminators like New Zealand, Australia and Taiwan are lagging on.

But if there's one lesson from April, it's that vaccination alone isn't ending the pandemic.

IN FOCUS: What does the future hold for Singapore's taxi industry?

By Zhaki Abdullah

24 Apr 2021


SINGAPORE: There was a time, in the not too distant past, when trying to get a taxi in Singapore during rush hour was a stressful experience, beset with doubt and uncertainty.

And if it was raining, the situation was even worse. Demand would seemingly far outstrip supply, leaving some commuters stranded as they tried in vain to hail a cab or book one.

The situation became so frustrating that it was raised in Parliament numerous times.

In 2014, former Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah asked how the Ministry of Transport was addressing the problem of taxi shortages during certain times.

Mr Lui Tuck Yew, who was then the Transport Minister, replied that the taxi availability standards introduced a year earlier had resulted in an additional 1,300 cabs plying the roads during peak periods.

The percentage of taxis plying at least 250km a day had also increased, as had the daily utilisation of taxis, he said then.

"In short, more taxis are plying the roads, and more commuters are using them," said Mr Lui then.

Yet it would seem that demand continued to outstrip supply as complaints persisted, and several taxi firms were fined for not being able to meet the availability standards. 

Car ownership revisited

 Every now and then, someone will ask, "Is it better to own a car or take taxi everywhere in Singapore?"

And someone or some news organisation will try to answer that question.

So the latest attempt summarises it thus:

At a glance, here’s how the monthly bill of the various options looks like:

• Regular car ownership (Honda Civic): $1,589
• Cheaper car model: $1,200+
• Red plate: $1,278.78
• Cabbing: $822.40