Singapore Morning News For February 22

Digital transformation to contribute $10 billion to Singapore GDP by 2021: Microsoft
Digital transformation is expected to add $10 billion (S$13.2 billion) to Singapore’s GDP by the year 2021, Microsoft said on Wednesday (Feb 21).
— Business Insider

Singapore City Harvest megachurch leader Chew Eng Han ‘tries to flee by sea’
A Singaporean man convicted in a megachurch fraud case was caught trying to escape by sea before starting his prison sentence, police say.
— BBC

Singapore’s FY18 Budget aims to foster pervasive innovation throughout economy
An additional S$145 million is being set aside for Tech Skills Accelerator. The Government is also planning to pilot an Open Innovation Platform, a virtual crowd-sourcing platform where companies can list specific challenges that can be addressed by digital solutions.
— Open Gov Asia

University of Singapore: Nanoparticles used for pesticide screening
Previously undetectable traces of a common vegetable pesticide have been extracted by local researchers using a new screening technique. They are using a new method, making use of tiny nanoparticles to grab molecules of pyrethroids, a group of synthetic pesticides that are used to protect crops from insects.
— Fresh Plaza

Singapore budget: No sugar tax announced, but 2% GST hike planned
The Singapore government made no mention of a sugar tax in its 2018 budget, despite food and beverage industry concerns that it could have been set to follow several other nations in introducing the levy.
— FoodNavigator-Asia

Singapore tops 4G speeds worldwide, but falls short on network availability: Report
While the Republic has the fastest 4G mobile internet service speed in the world, it falls short on 4G availability, said a report by UK-based wireless technology company OpenSignal.
— Today Online

Singapore invites cyberattacks to strengthen defences
Hundreds of hackers have targeted Singapore’s defence ministry –- but the attacks were at the government’s invitation in an unusual attempt to strengthen cybersecurity.
— Phys

Singapore ‘unlikely’ to be affected by haze in next 2 weeks: NEA
Transboundary haze is “unlikely” to affect Singapore in the next two weeks, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Wednesday (Feb 21), after four Indonesian provinces declared disaster alerts for forest fires.
— Channel NewsAsia

Singaporean in church fraud case tries to flee on boat
A Singaporean man convicted over a high-profile fraud case at a megachurch was caught Wednesday trying to flee in a boat before he was due to start his sentence, police said.
— Bangkok Post

What’s Behind Singapore’s New Defense Budget Numbers?
A closer look at the city-state’s allocation for defense spending this year.
— The Diplomat (paywall)

Proposed e-services tax: How will it affect your wallet?
The Government will be imposing a Goods and Services Tax (GST) on certain businesses that provide digital services to Singapore consumers from Jan 1, 2020.
— Today Online

Google Pay to be rolled out in Singapore in ‘coming weeks’
Internet giant Google will bring its revamped electronic payments system, now called Google Pay, to Singapore in the “coming weeks”, as it looks to gain more traction in the e-payments space.
— Channel NewsAsia

Singapore will tax digital services from 2020
Businesses providing digital services, such as the streaming of entertainment content, will have to pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from Jan 1, 2020, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said.
— Bangkok Post

Cross-agency effort to deploy Singapore smart utilities solutions in Abu Dhabi
International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and PUB are working together to help Singapore companies deploy smart utilities solutions and build capabilities in Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates (UAE).
— Open Gov Asia

EXCLUSIVE – Conversation: Living in a digital world in 2040
While talking about disruption, Mr Poon emphasised that disruption does not hit us overnight and blindsight us. Many of today’s technologies that are deemed disruptive have been around for some time, at least a few years. For example, artificial intelligence (AI) is in its third or fourth wave. The building blocks that underpin big data have also been around for a few years.
— Open Gov Asia

Singapore’s Restaurants Take A Stand Against Shark Fin Consumption
Shark fin soup has been a tradition at Chinese festive celebrations and wedding banquets, but growing demand of shark fin soup is pushing sharks to extinction and disrupting the balance of our oceans. Without sharks, the entire ocean ecosystem could be altered, negatively impacting humans and ocean dwellers alike.
— Forbes

Singapore’s New Chewing Gum Is an iQoS
Back in 1992, Singapore feared that its gleaming new subway would be wrecked by people using something sticky to disable automatic train doors — so it banned chewing gum.
— Bloomberg

COE premiums fall across all categories in latest bidding exercise
Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums closed lower across all categories in the latest bidding exercise on Wednesday (Feb 21).
— Channel NewsAsia

NTU Singapore launches new learning hub with 56 smart classrooms
The ARC is equipped with the latest technologies to support the flipped classroom pedagogy, wherein students learn the course content online before class and the face time with professors and classmates is devoted to collaborative learning.
— Open Gov Asia

Feature photo Akuppa John Wigham

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 February 22 added by Leakhena Khat on February 22, 2018
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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.