Singapore morning news for August 22

Singapore’s architectural history under threat from redevelopment frenzy
A rush to tear down and redevelop buildings in Singapore has prompted calls to conserve aging properties that symbolize the country’s recent history and economic rise.
— Reuters

SMEs to get more help in digital adoption with enhanced 99%SME website | Video
Started by DBS and Singtel in 2015, the campaign – named 99%SME as SMEs make up 99 per cent of businesses in Singapore – aims to help local SMEs to go digital. Michelle Teo reports.
— Channel NewsAsia

Why Malaysia is among Singaporean companies’ top choice for ASEAN expansion
Singaporean companies hoping to venture into ASEAN markets are looking favourably towards Malaysia and Indonesia as their top destinations, according to Singapore Business Federation’s (SBF) ASEAN Outlook Survey, in partnership with HSBC.
— Human Resources

Chart of the Day: Retail vacancy dipped 7.3% in Q2
The decrease in retail vacancy together with a sustained rental decline is a proof of the sector’s re-balancing act with retail landlords lowering their rents to stabilised occupancy amidst the challenging market conditions, Colliers International noted.
— Singapore Business Review

Singapore High Court judge to serve in Fiji’s Supreme Court
High Court judge Quentin Loh has been appointed a Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Fiji on the non-resident panel for three years.
— TodayOnline

Singapore bids for UNESCO culture listing
Not content with listing its Botanic Gardens as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 2015, the Singapore government is pushing for its ubiquitous hawker centres to be listed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity.
— The Asean Post

SIA holds emergency meeting with Johannesburg hotel after crew robbed at gunpoint; guards to carry guns
Security guards at the hotel in Johannesburg, where Singapore Airlines (SIA) crew regularly stay during their layovers, will now be armed with guns.
— Straits Times

Singapore recovered and returned over S$27m linked to Chinese Ponzi scheme
More than S$27 million of proceeds recovered in Singapore from one of the largest-ever Chinese Ponzi schemes was returned to China earlier this month, said the police on Tuesday (Aug 21).
— TodayOnline

Trade conflict could hit Singapore exports harder in H2: analysts
Despite the global trade conflict, Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in July 2018 grew by 11.8% as the growth in non-electronic exports (+18.8%) offset the decline in electronics (-3.8%), but analysts are worried that the effects of the conflict might be felt soon.
— Singapore Business Review

Poll shows 44% don’t resonate with any of PM Lee’s announcements at NDR
After Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made his speech at the National Day Rally on Sunday (19 Aug), Yahoo! News decided to put up a poll yesterday (20 Aug) to try find out from Singaporeans what was the best announcement coming from PM Lee’s rally speech.
— TOC

Daily Briefing: Redevelopment schemes could threaten Singapore’s architectural history; CBD conservation shophouse up for sale at $17m
The redevelopment programmes announced in the National Day Rally (NDR) urged calls to conserve heritage properties as the Singapore Heritage Society (SHS) said that more measures should be imposed to maintain brutalist blocks built just after the city-state achieved independence in 1965.
— Singapore Business Review

Singtel is said to tap Bank of America for pursuit of Australian wireless operator
Singapore Telecommunications, Southeast Asia’s largest telecom services provider, is moving ahead with examining a possible bid for wireless operator Amaysim Australia, people with knowledge of the matter said.
— TodayOnline

Retail vacancy could rise amidst supply influx
Singapore’s retail space vacancy could increase amidst the large supply influx in 2018, Colliers International said.
— Singapore Business Review

Weak Aussie dollar a boon for Singaporeans
Fears over China’s economic slowdown in the face of US trade tariffs and weak domestic data sent the Australian dollar slipping below S$1 last week to a four-month low.
— Straits Times

Retail property sales hit $695m in H1 2018
Retail investment sales ballooned 39.7% to $695m in H1 2018 from US$509m in H2 2017, Colliers International revealed.
— Singapore Business Review

Lease Buyback Scheme open to all HDB flats
Elderly owners in all Housing Board flats – even those in five-room flats or executive maisonettes – can soon sell a part of their lease to the Government and use that income to fund their retirement years.
— The New Paper

Improved government schemes could bolster competition in Singapore healthcare giants
On Sunday, 20 August 2018, Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong gave his National Day Rally speech at the Institute of Technical Education College Central campus in Ang Mo Kio. He touched on various topics, such as the cost of living, housing and healthcare in Singapore, among others.
— Singapore Business Review

AVA recalls Dumex milk powder after detecting bacteria harmful to babies
A batch of milk powder by French company Danone’s Dumex has been recalled by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) after traces of bacteria harmful to infants were found in product samples.
— TodayOnline

SGX firms’ Aug buybacks exceed S$100m
COMPANIES listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) have continued their momentum in share buybacks this month, with 23 stocks reporting buybacks totalling more than S$100 million in the first 12 sessions of August, SGX market strategist Geoff Howie said in a Monday market update.
— Business Times

Cost of living issue resonated most with Singaporeans at this year’s NDR
Among the issues raised in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally (NDR) speech this year, the topic on cost of living mattered most to Singaporeans, according to findings by independent research consultancy Blackbox.
— TodayOnline

Money already budgeted for handouts; Singapore’s land is a renewable fiscal resource
Bertha Henson, a former journalist from Straits Times and consulting editor of the defunct social-political site, Middle Ground wrote an opinion piece, following Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s speech in the National Day Rally, asking whether the nation can afford to pay for the Merdeka package that was revealed by the PM.
— TOC

Contractor under probe by HDB for stuffing papers into walls of flat
In a Facebook post on Sunday, HDB said it was alerted to a video online showing old newspapers in the sidewalls of a balcony.
— The New Paper

Even hardcore PAP supporter Calvin Cheng disappointed with PM Lee’s NDR speech
In a surprising turnaround, ex-Nominated Member of Parliament as well as ex-Young PAP member Calvin Cheng posted a Facebook message yesterday (20 Aug) criticising PM Lee’s speech made at the National Day Rally on Sunday (19 Aug).
— TOC

Residents in ageing estate split over whether to vote yes to Vers
Madam Valentina Doss still remembers the smell of nearby pig farms at Block 1, Lorong 7 Toa Payoh five decades ago.
— The New Paper

Avoid speculating in hope of a ‘big payout’: Lawrence Wong
It would be “unproductive” to play up expectations of homeowners due to the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS), says the National Development Minister.
— Channel NewsAsia

‘To understand Singapore, head to a hawker centre’
It took over six months of public engagement and many focus group sessions involving more than 140 people before hawker culture was selected as part of Singapore’s intangible culture.
— The New Paper

Overworked and low-paid, heavy vehicle drivers an accident waiting to happen
One driver’s normal working hours are 8am to 5pm, but he works until 10pm or 11pm instead.
— Channel NewsAsia

Jail, caning for tutor who sexually abused 13-year-old boy
A private tutor, who had a previous conviction for molesting a minor, was hired to tutor a 13-year-old boy after he advertised his tuition services. Two months after he started giving lessons, Teo Boon Kang sexually assaulted his student.
— TodayOnline

Paris Jackson Apologizes for Magazine Cover in Singapore, Where Gay Rights Lag
Paris Jackson, the 20-year-old actress and model who recently told fans she is bisexual, apologized this week for appearing on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in Singapore, a country where sex between men is punishable by up to two years in prison.
— The New York Times

Crazy Rich Asians: A ‘made with Singapore’ blockbuster hit
Crazy Rich Asians may not be the first Hollywood movie to receive the backing of the authorities here, but it is the most successful “made-with-Singapore” movie to date.
— Straits Times

Inspired by Malaysia, Singapore’s political opposition parties look to work together
Singapore’s political opposition does not have a strong track record.
— CNBC

Jail for scam pair who tried to flee Singapore with $400k hidden in underpants
Two foreigners tried to leave Singapore with more than $400,000 hidden in their underpants after acting as agents in a scam business deal.
— AsiaOne

State Counsellor visits Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is in Singapore on a working goodwill visit at the invitation of Singaporean Prime Minister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, visited the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) yesterday evening.
— Eleven Myanmar

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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 August 22 added by Maria Mirasol Rasonable on August 22, 2018
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Maria Mirasol Rasonable

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Maria Mirasol Rasonable graduated with a Bachelors Degree in journalism from Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Santa Mesa, Manila, Philippines.

She previously covered police rounds for Philippine Daily Inquirer as a trainee before becoming editorial staff at Gospel Komiks under the Communication Foundation for Asia (CFA-MG), Santa Mesa, Manila where she wrote lifestyle and trending fashion and styles articles.