Singapore Morning News For March 27

Singapore morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Singapore news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities.

No bank account, no problem for remittances to Indonesia
Singtel and Indonesian carrier Telkomsel are making it more convenient for Indonesians to receive remittances from Singapore.
— The Straits Times

The Week In Numbers: Inflation Edges Up in Singapore
Singapore saw its third straight month of rising consumer prices in February. The consumer price index (CPI), which is used to identify periods of inflation or deflation, rose 0.7% year-on-year.
— The Motley Fool

Why Singapore’s education system needs an overhaul
Students from Singapore and East Asian countries have consistently come out tops in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) and Trends in International Math and Science Study (Timss) rankings for decades, and yet companies from these countries barely feature in Forbes’ annual ranking of, say, the Top 25 most innovative companies in the world.
— Today Online

Canada picks Singapore for Asia gateway as TPP flounders
Canada’s trade finance agency is launching its first global branch in Singapore as the country steps up efforts to boost business ties with Asia following the withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.
— The Daily Star

Singapore Dollar Bulls Are Gathering in the Swap Market
Singapore’s interest-rate markets are signaling gains for the local dollar as bets grow the nation’s central bank will avoid easing policy next month and some economists are starting to forecast tightening in October.
— Bloomberg

Chinese overtake Singapore as top Malaysia property investors
China has eclipsed Singapore as the biggest source of investment in Malaysian real estate, as soaring domestic property prices push mainland investors to hunt for bargains abroad.
— Financial Times

Singapore leads use of intelligent technologies to meet citizens’ demands
Public sector agencies in Singapore have a strong appetite for intelligent technologies, including biometrics and identity analytics, machine learning, and advanced analytics and predictive modeling, that are revolutionizing the way citizen demands are addressed.
— Enterprise Innovation

Singapore water price: 30 per cent hike was ‘absolutely necessary’, says PM Lee
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, while at the official opening of the revamped Pang Sua Pond in Bukit Panjang on Saturday, said that the 30 per cent increase in water price, was “absolutely necessary”, as water is a “scarce” resource and “not cheap to produce”. This speech came as a response to the strong reaction of people after Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the price hike.
— International Business Times

Transport costs up 4.2% in February
Singapore’s CPI grew 0.7% year-on-year in February, with the rise largely driven by higher transportation costs.
— Singapore Business Review

Singapore employees least engaged in Asia, study finds
Employees in Singapore are the least engaged among major Asian markets, according to a new study.
— The Straits Times

France’s Hollande looks to strengthen ties with Singapore
French President Francois Hollande, on an official visit to Singapore, expressed a desire Sunday to strengthen France’s partnership with the Southeast Asian city-state.
— The News Tribune

US’ prerogative to take in Amos Yee : Singapore
It is the prerogative of the United States to take in people who engage in hate speech, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), following news that the US has granted teenage blogger Amos Yee asylum.
— The Nation

Wee Tiong mulls fleet enlargement in Singapore bunker market
Singapore-based Wee Tiong Holdings, a relatively newcomer into the republic’s bunkering market, is mulling to further enlarge its bunker tanker fleet after securing charters for all of its recently acquired 11 bunker tankers.
— Seatrade Maritime News

Fortis Healthcare said to mull Singapore hospital trust buyout
Fortis Healthcare, India’s second-largest private hospital chain by market value, is weighing a buyout of the Singapore-listed business trust that owns some of its clinics, people with knowledge of the matter said.
— Gulf-Times

Competition launched in Singapore to find new solutions to metabolic diseases
Johnson & Johnson Innovation, in cooperation with A*STAR’s ETPL, through its Diagnostics Development Hub, and Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), recently launched a global competition that seeks to find solutions to metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
— Enterprise Innovation

Indonesia Explores Collaboration with Singapore on Vocational Education
Without proper skills and certification, Indonesian workers will fail to compete against those from other countries amidst the ASEAN Economic Community.
— Global Indonesian Voices

4 Singapore lifestyle brands debut new furniture and homeware collections
With Singapore Design Week in full swing last week, many designers and brands took the opportunity to launch furniture and homeware collections.
— The Peak Magazine

Researchers In Singapore Believe That Tea Can Stop Cognitive Decline In The Elderly
Last week, we told you all about how the caffeine in coffee can reduce the risk of dementia. Now, in supporting news a recent study published by researchers from the National University of Singapore has found that a cup of tea a day can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia developing in senior citizens.
— Hungry Forever

ITE students solve companies’ real world problems
After he saw two older workers lifting a tray filled with heavy springs, Mr Sumardi Salleh and his teammates Ms Siti Nurliyana Rohman and Mr Karamjit Lal Singh from ITE College Central were motivated to ease their workload.
— The New Paper

Feature photo Bernd Hildebrandt
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Singapore morning news is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Singapore Morning News For March 27 added by Leakhena Khat on March 27, 2017
View all posts by Leakhena Khat →

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Leakhena Khat

Leakhena is a junior journalist at AEC News Today who is also currently studying International Relations, which she finds adds perspective to her work reporting on the Asean Community.

“I love what I am doing so much as it gives me a lot of great experience and provides challenges to my mind.