Singapore Morning News For April 9

Singapore, China ink MOU to bolster Belt and Road collaboration
Singapore and China inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Sunday (Apr 8) to promote greater collaboration between companies from both countries in third-party markets along the Belt and Road routes.
— Channel NewsAsia

Singapore engineers discover greener and cheaper technique for biofuel production
On April 6, National University of Singapore (NUS) announced that its team of engineers has recently discovered a greener and cheaper technique for biofuel production, using a natural bacterium isolated from mushroom crop residue.
— Open Gov Asia

The Greatest Threat to Lee Kuan Yew’s Legacy
It was meant to damn Thum Ping Tjin and exonerate Lee Kuan Yew. But it achieved neither – as far as the court of public opinion is concerned. Instead the now infamous six-hour grilling of Thum by Minister K Shanmugam has raised more questions than answers.
— The Independent Singapore

Singapore ranks high in report on medical inflation in Asia
Singapore’s medical costs are projected to rise at a faster pace than most of the region, going by a report released on Saturday (Apr 7) by consulting firm Aon.
— Channel NewsAsia

UN, Singapore concerned about rising trade tensions
The U.N. secretary-general and the Singaporean foreign minister voiced concerns about global trade tensions and rising protectionism during back-to-back meetings in Beijing on Sunday.
— Wtop

StarHub accelerates mobile speeds to 1Gbps
Singapore’s StarHub has launched the city’s first commercial 1Gbps mobile speeds as part of its ongoing network modernization program.
— telecomasia.net

Pavilion Energy Imports First LNG Cargo for Use in Singapore
Singapore’s state-owned natural gas importer brought in its first cargo of a super-chilled form of the fuel for domestic use.
— Bloomberg

AWS launches Aurora via Singapore cloud region
Amazon Web Services has announced the availability of Amazon Aurora in the AWS Asia Pacific (Singapore) region.
— telecomasia.net

Use augmented reality to explore history at Singapore bicentennial events in 2019
Technology will help bring 700 years of history to life when Singapore commemorates the 200th anniversary of Sir Stamford Raffles’ landing on the island.
— Channel NewsAsia

How a tiny city-state became a military powerhouse with the best air force and navy in Southeast Asia
When thinking of countries that have the strongest militaries in the world, giants like the US, Russia, China, and the UK come to mind. In Asia — and Southeast Asia in particular — China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand are usually mentioned.
— Business Insider

Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore launches three flagship R&D projects
The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) launched three flagship R&D projects to further expand and deepen its capabilities on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.
— Open Gov Asia

Singaporeans need to make sacrifices for migrant worker welfare: On the Record with Dr Goh Wei Leong, HealthServe
When he was a child, Dr Goh Wei Leong’s hero was, of all people, his general practitioner.
— Channel NewsAsia

Singapore Airlines, Emirates may be possible contenders for Air India stake
Low-cost airline IndiGo’s decision not to bid for Air India is not a surprise to many as the Gurgaon-based airline had made it clear in an “unsolicited” bid even before the divestment process started that it was only interested in the Maharaja’s international operations and its low-cost arm Air India Express.
— The Hindua BusinessLine

SoftBank Ventures invests $23.5m in Singapore’s IYUNO Media Group
SoftBank Ventures, the early stage venture capital arm of Japan’s SoftBank Group, has invested $23.5 million in Singapore-headquartered localization services provider IYUNO Media Group, according to a joint statement.
— DealStreetAsia

These banks in Singapore will hire you without an elite foreign degree
Couldn’t afford to study at an elite overseas university, but still want to work at a global investment bank in Singapore?
— efinancialcareers

Retaliatory trade measures can ‘severely undermine’ multilateral trading system, PM Lee warns
The multilateral trading system behind decades of global prosperity could be severely damaged if retaliatory measures between major economies escalate into trade wars, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has warned.
— Today Online

Johor-based drug syndicate busted by Singapore, Malaysian authorities; 14kg of heroin seized
A Johor-based drug syndicate was thwarted by Singapore and Malaysian authorities in a joint operation, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said on Sunday (Apr 8).
— Channel NewsAsia

Smart lamp posts that recognise faces, catch speeding PMD users to go on trial
Plans have kicked in to fit lamp posts with sensors and cameras that can collect a wide range of data, which can be used to direct driverless cars, catch speeding e-scooters and even analyse faces, down to race, gender and age.
— The Straits Times (paywall)

Cash incentive to encourage deregistration of older motorcycles
To cut air pollution and meet air quality targets for 2020, motorcyclists will be given a cash incentive of up to S$3,500 to deregister their older, more pollutive vehicles over the next five years, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Friday (April 6).
— Today Online

P J Thum and Ramakrishna: Dangers of a steamrolled narrative
We are at a point where a dominant political party is relentlessly pushing its narrative of the events that shaped the nation. With a formidable array of resources at its disposal – think tanks, research centres, universities, even libraries and state-of-the-art book publishing capability – the danger is that such a “dettolised” narrative will be accepted by non-sceptical future generations as the absolute truth.
— The Independent Singapore

How can Singapore preserve heritage buildings?
As Singapore’s infrastructural needs grow, more iconic buildings across the skyline may soon disappear.
— Channel NewsAsia (video)

400,000 more households to get Digital TV starter kits
An additional 400,000 households will receive Digital TV (DTV) Starter Kits that will allow them continued access to Mediacorp’s free-to-air TV programmes when analogue broadcasts cease on Dec 31.
— Today Online

Feature photo Jirka Matousek

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

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. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Singapore Morning News For April 9 added by Leakhena Khat on April 9, 2018
View all posts by Leakhena Khat →

Bio
Latest Posts

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.