3 more seniors die from COVID-19 complications in Singapore; 120 new locally transmitted cases

27 Aug 2021 

SINGAPORE: Three more senior citizens have died of complications from COVID-19, bringing Singapore's death toll from the virus this month to 18.

All three cases were not vaccinated against COVID-19, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update on Friday (Aug 27).

Two of the cases died on Thursday.

Transition to cleaner energy will involve 'trade-offs', EMA to reduce cost impact where feasible: C

Matthew Mohan

16 Aug 2021

SINGAPORE: Trade-offs are inevitable as Singapore transitions to cleaner energy, but the Energy Market Authority (EMA) will seek to manage this and minimise the impact of costs where feasible, its CEO Ngiam Shih Chun told CNA.

[Translation: It's gonna get expensive.]

Mr Ngiam noted that the "four switches of supply" – natural gas, solar, regional power grids and emerging low-carbon alternatives – will aid Singapore with such a transition. However, he pointed out this could result in higher energy costs.

"While the four switches will help us transition to cleaner energy, this transition will inevitably involve trade-offs. For example, as we tap onto regional power grids and other low-carbon technologies, energy costs may increase," he said in an email interview.

Mr Ngiam noted that low electricity prices are not "commercially viable" for power generation companies in the long run.

[Translation: we have to increase prices to cover costs.]

69-year-old Singaporean man dies of Covid-19 complications; 6th such death in August as death toll hits 43

By ASYRAF KAMIL

AUGUST 11, 2021

SINGAPORE — A 69-year-old Singaporean man died on Wednesday (Aug 11) from complications due to Covid-19.

In a media statement, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that the man developed symptoms on July 28 and was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital the next day where he tested positive for Covid-19 infection.

“He had not been vaccinated against Covid-19, and had a history of stroke, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia,” MOH said.

Hyperlipidaemia, a blood condition, is one of the main risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke.

This is the sixth death from Covid-19 this month. The first was a 34-year-old Ukrainian man who died on Aug 1 while the fifth death this month was an 80-year-old Singaporean woman who died on Aug 7.

There are now 43 people here who have died in Singapore after contracting the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Singapore recorded 63 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total tally to 65,953 since the outbreak began.

Singapore studies latest UN’s climate change report as it continues to plan and implement adaptation measure

Vanessa Lim

09 Aug 2021 

SINGAPORE: The Centre for Climate Research Singapore is studying findings from the UN’s latest climate change report to see how they impact Singapore and to inform its policy recommendations.

On Monday (Aug 9), the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a major report detailing the latest scientific assessments of climate change. It is the first of three reports which will make up the panel’s Sixth Assessment Report.

The panel’s key findings include the clear influence of humans on climate change, resulting in the warming of the atmosphere, ocean and land.

It warned that unless deep – and quick – cuts in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions are made, global surface temperatures will cross the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement sometime in the early 2030s.

In the most aggressive emission scenario, the world could exceed that mark by the end of this decade.

American Prof: SGs should think again when they complain, given that SG a “pretty good place to live”

03/08/2021

In an opinion piece published by the Straits Times on Sat, American Prof Peter Coclanis wrote that Singaporeans should think again when they complain, given that Singapore is a “pretty good place to live”, all things considered (‘Singaporeans, you think you’ve got problems? Think again‘, 31 Jul).

Prof Coclanis is Albert R. Newsome Distinguished Professor of History and director of the Global Research Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He has lived and taught in Singapore, and often visits Singapore.

“It doesn’t take a visitor long to appreciate the fact that Singaporeans are perhaps most comfortable while complaining and, as a result, have developed the verbal remonstrance into something akin to an art form – or national sport,” Prof Coclanis pointed out.

‘This business trip could have been a Zoom call’: Companies rethink travel

AUGUST 08, 2021

NEW YORK — Boeing chief executive officer David Calhoun has access to company aircraft as part of his job. Even so, he told an interviewer that he didn’t expect to fly nearly as much for internal company meetings after the pandemic.

Mr Calhoun, like some of his peers, found that video calls were remarkably effective for checking in with colleagues, allowing him to pack in more meetings and schedule them with minimal advance notice, according to an account in “Leading at a Distance,” a recent book by authors James Citrin and Darleen DeRosa.

“I will do as much or more customer travel, because that’s still the most important way to build relationships,” Mr Calhoun told them. “But most travel when leading big companies is visiting your own teams. I won’t be doing that nearly as much.”

There’s broad consensus that how often we fly for work and what we travel for will shift significantly post-pandemic.

Not yet time to consider making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory: Ong Ye Kung

By NATASHA MEAH

JULY 26, 2021

• Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said it was not yet time for the Government to think about making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory
• The vaccines were being rolled out under a scheme for emergency authorisation in the pandemic, he said
• When Covid-19 becomes an endemic disease, governments around the world may consider making vaccination mandatory, he added

SINGAPORE — It is not yet time for the Government to think about making Covid-19 jabs mandatory as they are being rolled out under emergency authorisation, though perhaps it is a policy that “governments around the world will have to consider” when Covid-19 becomes endemic, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Monday (July 26).

Member of Parliament (MP) Alex Yam of Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency (GRC) asked in Parliament about making Covid-19 jabs mandatory, an issue he said he had raised at the beginning of the vaccination programme.

Mr Yam said it was “our civic duty to be vaccinated, if there are no medical grounds to refuse”.