The ‘Golden Girls’ trend could be a golden opportunity for retirees facing isolation

By Adina Solomon

January 24 2018, Washington Post

Jane Callahan-Moore was living with her daughter and granddaughter in a Chicago suburb, but she felt something missing.

“While I loved being with them and seeing them every day, I found myself getting increasingly depressed because I didn’t have any contact with people my own age,” Callahan-Moore, 69, said.

So, in late 2017, she made a change. Callahan-Moore became housemates with Stefanie Clark, 75, and moved into Clark’s high-rise condo in Edgewater, a lakefront neighborhood in Chicago. Now, the pair share both space and time. They cook each other meals, go out together and provide support.

And neither owns a car. Edgewater is a walkable neighborhood with rail and bus access nearby, plus restaurants and shopping.

What to make of Singapore’s move to buy F-35 fighter jets

TODAY

By DAVID BOEY

21 JANUARY, 2019


Singapore announced on Friday (Jan 18) that it would buy a "small number" of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for "a full evaluation of their capabilities and suitability before deciding on a full fleet".

If the sparse 127-word Ministry of Defence (Mindef) statement spread over two paragraphs left you with more questions than answers, you are in good company.

Two key questions remain.

First, is the Lockheed-Martin F-35 — the most advanced warplane that friends of the United States can buy — the chosen one that will replace Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) F-16s?

Can these 35-ton bricks solve renewable energy’s biggest problem?

Fast Company

7 Nov 2018

BY ADELE PETERS


It’s already cheaper to build a new solar or wind farm than a coal plant. But when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing, renewable electricity can still be fairly expensive to store–even though the cost of batteries is dropping. If the world shifted to 100% renewable electricity right now, we might pay more on electric bills.

A new solution that uses basic physics could cut the cost of storage in half, or by as much as 80% over the total life of the system. It makes it possible for renewable power to be cheaper than fossil fuels all day, every day of the year, everywhere. “Our solution, for the first time, will enable the world to achieve this,” says Robert Piconi, CEO and cofounder of Energy Vault, the startup that developed the new system. Tata Power, the giant Indian electric utility, will be the first customer.

[Image: courtesy Energy Vault]

Denmark's free education policy has created 'eternity students' who never graduate

From Business Insider

Chris Weller 

Nov. 12, 2017 << Note Date>> 

• Denmark has a term for people who don't graduate in the normal five-year track: eternity students.
• Because Danish students receive a monthly grant and pay no tuition, some feel compelled to move through their studies without thinking about the future.
• A 2015 amendment made it easier for universities to push students through, but the trend still exists.

​Focusing on how individuals can help combat climate change may not be the best approach

By Morten Fibieger Byskov

TODAY

18 January, 2019


What can be done to limit global warming to 1.5°C? A quick internet search offers a deluge of advice on how individuals can change their behaviour.

Take public transport instead of the car or, for longer journeys, the train rather than fly. Eat less meat and more vegetables, pulses and grains, and don’t forget to turn off the light when leaving a room or the water when shampooing.

[And the case for or against vegetarianism (as a solution for climate change? Link here.]
The implication here is that the impetus for addressing climate change is on individual consumers.

But can and should it really be the responsibility of individuals to limit global warming? On the face of it, we all contribute to global warming through the cumulative impact of our actions.

Why I’m (slightly) less pessimistic about global warming

Washington Post

Opinions

By Robert J. Samuelson

January 20, 2019


On global climate change, I’ve changed my mind — just slightly.

I’ve written about this issue for more than two decades, and my theme has been monotonously consistent. As a starting point, I’ve accepted the prevailing scientific view that man-made greenhouse gases contribute to global warming.

But I’ve been routinely pessimistic and skeptical that we can do much about it. That is, we can’t easily control the forces that worsen global warming.

We have yet to discover or create some low-cost fuel that would replace fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal), which provide roughly 80 percent of the world’s energy. Most nations aren’t willing to scrap the energy status quo — the very basis of modern civilization — before having a practical substitute.

Thus, despite the enthusiasm for non-fossil fuels (wind, solar, hydro, nuclear), global greenhouse-gas emissions are higher today than, say, in 1990.

This raises the atmospheric concentration levels of those gases, which in turn trap heat above the Earth’s surface. From 1990 to 2018, the concentration level of carbon dioxide rose from 354 parts per million to 409 parts per million.

Chinese economy slows to lowest growth rate in 28 years

By Anna Fifield

January 21 at 6:13 AM

BEIJING — The Chinese economy last year grew at its slowest rate since 1990, adding to the urgency for President Xi Jinping to reach a trade deal with the United States.

Although the trade war is not the main reason for last year’s slowdown, it is not helping.

“The economy is a much bigger problem for Xi Jinping than the trade war. The last thing he wants is a bunch of angry people protesting because they’ve lost their jobs,” said Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital Research, a Hong Kong-based consultancy.

“Slowing economic growth is putting pressure on him to solve as many problems as he can, and the trade war will be top of his list,” Collier said.

Growth in the world’s second largest economy decelerated from 6.8 percent in 2017 to 6.6 percent last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The slowdown is the result of cooling demand both at home and abroad.

Entombed! Thai Cave Rescue. Book by Liam Cochrane

ENTOMBED! Twelve schoolboys trapped deep inside a flooding cave in a drama that gripped the world - as relived in new book by reporter who witnessed every moment

• The Wild Boars football team and their coach were freed from a Thai cave 
• The Thai football club had been trapped underground for the past two weeks 
• They were all brought out in a daring rescue mission that ended on July 10, 2018 

By LIAM COCHRANE

11 January 2019

Australian journalist LIAM COCHRANE covered last year’s dramatic cave rescue of schoolboys in Thailand. Here, he reconstructs the gripping events that had the world on the edge of its seat, praying for a miracle to save a dozen soccer-mad boys and their coach from disaster.

Workers' Party to win one-third of seats?

[This is the same speech covered by two newspapers. ]

Workers' Party should aim to win one-third of seats in Parliament: Pritam Singh

14 Jan 2019 

By Aqil Haziq Mahmud

SINGAPORE: The Workers' Party (WP) should aim to contest and win one-third of the seats in Parliament as a "medium-term objective", its secretary-general Pritam Singh has said.

"I say one-third in the medium-term because of the past experience of the Workers’ Party in attracting suitable and qualified candidates who are willing to stand in general elections," Mr Singh said on Sunday (Jan 13), according to a copy of a speech he gave at the WP Members' Forum 2019.

"For a small party like ours, it is a high bar."

Dr Mahathir-Anwar succession plan not being handled well, forum told

15 JANUARY, 2019


KUALA LUMPUR — The leadership succession plan between Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim is not being handled well, despite repeated assurances from both leaders, said political scientist Dr Bridget Welsh.

Dr Welsh, a visiting senior fellow at the private university HELP, said it was clear there was a power struggle between supporters of both factions, as evidenced by the ongoing defections within parties of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Majority of applications for CPF funds on medical grounds successful: MOM

ByFann Sim@Fann

CNA

15 Jan 2019 

SINGAPORE: In the last three years, about 65 per cent of applications to withdraw money from the Central Provident Fund (CPF) earlier due to medical reasons have been successful said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo in Parliament on Tuesday (Jan 15).

Under the Medical Grounds Scheme, CPF members can withdraw or start their payouts before the stipulated payout age of 65.

Eligibility criteria they have to meet under the scheme include being permanently incapacitated, terminally ill, or having a severely impaired life expectancy due to illness. Such applications have to be accompanied by the relevant doctors’ certification, the minister said.

Mrs Teo was responding to Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC Lee Bee Wah on the percentage of successful appeals for an earlier withdrawal of CPF payouts.

The remaining 35 per cent were not successful because applicants did not meet the eligibility conditions and were referred to help avenues for help, such as Workforce Singapore and the Social Services Office, Mrs Teo said.

The case for Vegetarianism?

Commentary: Think twice when considering banning beef

Eating meat is fast becoming as repellent as smoking to many green campaigners but reducing meat won’t make the dent in climate change we need, says Bjorn Lomborg.

ByBjorn Lomborg


30 Nov 2018


COPENHAGEN: Christiana Figueres, the former United Nations official responsible for the 2015 Paris climate agreement, has a startling vision for restaurants of the future: Anyone who wants a steak should be banished.

“How about restaurants in 10 to 15 years start treating carnivores the same way that smokers are treated?” Figueres suggested during a recent conference. “If they want to eat meat, they can do it outside the restaurant.”

EATING MEAT IS REPELLENT

In case you have missed this development: Eating meat is fast becoming as repellent as smoking to many green campaigners. It is behaviour to be discouraged or even banned.

Politics Malaysia, Democracy Malaysia

[Two articles on Politics and Democracy in Malaysia.]

Five things to watch out for in 2019 on Malaysia’s political front

By Adrian Tan

09 January, 2019

2018 was a year of dramatic change for Malaysia. At the General Elections in May 2018 (GE14), Barisan Nasional (BN) was defeated by Pakatan Harapan (PH) after 61 years in power. Malaysia saw the return of Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister.

His one-time nemesis Anwar Ibrahim was released from prison, received a royal pardon and is now back in Parliament. Najib Razak was slapped with multiple charges linked to the 1MDB scandal while investigations into allegations against other United Malays National Organisation (Umno) leaders are ongoing.

However, as Malaysia begins 2019, it is increasingly clear that for PH, moving the country forward and keeping it together while carrying out promised reforms may be more challenging than removing BN from power. Here are five issues we should monitor in 2019.

Singapore supplies additional treated water to Malaysia at Johor's request

ChannelNewsAsia

6 Jan 2019


SINGAPORE: Singapore's water agency PUB said on Sunday (Jan 6) that it supplied additional treated water to Malaysia this week after pollution disrupted production at Johor's water plants.

"Production at Johor's water plants was disrupted recently by pollution to the river catchment. PUB's Johor River Waterworks was not affected by the incident," said PUB in a statement.

"At Johor’s request, PUB helped to tide Johor residents over the water supply disruption by turning on PUB’s Pasir Gudang offtake and supplying an additional 6 million of gallons per day (mgd) of treated water between 2 and 4 January 2019.

"This was on top of the 16 mgd that we usually supply Johor," it added.

Singapore is required to supply Johor with 5 mgd of treated water, said PUB, citing the 1962 Water Agreement.

"In practice, we have been supplying 16 mgd of treated water to Johor at their request. On top of this, between 2 and 4 January 2019, we have supplied a further 6 mgd of treated water (above the 16 mgd of treated water) to Johor when it needed more water because its water plants experienced pollution.

Over RM13b needed to reduce NRW — SPAN

[This is an old article (note the date) which I looked up for another story about Johor requesting water from SG. And how the water supply system in MY is so bad that the Non-Revenue Water (NRW) or water lost to leakage or theft, is more than 25%!]

Kamarul Anwar

The Edge Financial Daily

July 26, 2016


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily,on July 26, 2016.


CYBERJAYA: The regulator of Malaysia’s water industry estimates that more than RM13 billion worth of investment in water distribution systems is needed to achieve its non-revenue water (NRW) target of 25% by 2020.

It, however, remains to be seen when the investment can be put into place. More than 10 years after the federal government put into law that it will be the sole custodian of water assets in an effort to cool down the country’s escalating costs to supply treated water, only seven states have handed over their assets to Putrajaya.

Meth and Philosophy - A clash of values?

[So a Humanities Lecturer at Hwa Ching Institution became known as the "Meth Teacher". I don't blame him. He's 65. Still working as a lecturer. Teaching "humanities". To Hwa Chong students. In Singapore. And he's British!

It's enough to drive one to drugs. 

At 65, you would think he should be retired. 

But no. 

He has to come all this way to Singapore for his post-65 work. ]

Ten worst climate-linked disasters of 2018 caused S$117 billion in damage

30 December, 2018

LONDON — From floods to extreme heat, 10 of the worst climate-linked disasters in 2018 caused at least US$84.8 billion (S$117 billion) worth of damage, said a study released by the charity Christian Aid on Thursday (Dec 27).

Extreme weather driven by climate change hit every populated continent this year, the British relief organisation said, warning urgent action was needed to combat global warming.

"This report shows that for many people, climate change is having devastating impacts on their lives and livelihoods right now," said Dr Kat Kramer, who heads Christian Aid's work on climate issues, in a statement.

Experts say a warming world will lead to sweltering heatwaves, more extreme rainfall, shrinking harvests and worsening water shortages, causing both monetary losses and human misery.

Almost 200 nations are aiming to limit the rise in average world temperatures under the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, though some warn progress to meet targets has been slow.