Singapore Morning News For March 2

Budget 2018 passed in Parliament, with 8 Workers’ Party MPs voting against it
Budget 2018 was passed in Parliament on Thursday (Mar 1), with 89 Members of Parliament (MPs) voting for it, and eight MPs from the Workers’ Party (WP) voting against it. WP chief Low Thia Khiang was not present for the vote.
— Channel NewsAsia

Microsoft is buying solar energy from Singapore rooftops
The US company on Thursday announced a deal with Singaporean solar firm Sunseap to purchase all the power generated by a planned rooftop solar project, which will be the largest of its kind in the city-state.
— CNN

With all eyes on China, Singapore makes its own Arctic moves
Asian states are becoming increasingly interested and involved in the Arctic region. This signal was sent in 2013 when four Asian countries were admitted into the Arctic Council as observers: China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
— Asia Times

Smart Nation drive on track with development of national digital identity, e-payment platforms
From next year, SingPass users will be able to access a wider variety of services online — including registration for the National Service Portal and the Do-Not-Call Registry — via the national personal data vault MyInfo.
— Today Online

Singapore to roll out pilot Moments of Life (Families) app in June 2018
In the pilot phase, the MOL (Families) app will feature the applicable services by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), and the Health Promotion Board (HPB).
— Open Gov Asia

MAS scraps $50k issue limit for Singapore Savings Bonds
The $50,000 limit on the maximum amount an individual can invest in a single issue of Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB) was removed yesterday.
— The Straits Times (paywall)

Singapore population likely to be significantly below 6.9m by 2030
Singapore’s population is likely to be “significantly below” 6.9 million by 2030, said Mrs Josephine Teo, who is in charge of population matters in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
— The New Paper

Singtel launches Singapore’s first NB-IoT network
Singtel has launched Singapore’s first commercial narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) network in conjunction with Ericsson.
— Telecom Asia

Singapore ministers’ pay to stay frozen as public chides politicians’ million-dollar salaries
Ministerial salaries in the financial hub are the highest on Earth, with an entry-level minister paid Sg$1.1 million (US$830,000) and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong earning an eye-watering Sg$2.2 million.
— South China Morning Post

Opposition and activists up in arms over Singapore’s plan to hike GST
Singapore’s Workers’ Party, the main opposition, said Thursday it would not support government plans to raise the goods and services tax as an activist plans a rare protest in one of the costliest cities in the world.
— Nikkei Asian Review (metered paywall)

Singapore’s foreign policy ‘must rest on domestic consensus on national interests’
Singapore’s foreign policy must be underpinned by a domestic consensus on what are the country’s national interests, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said on Thursday (March 1) as the Government urged Singaporeans to “stand firm” against external pressures that threaten the Republic’s national interests and values.
— Today Online

Centrally-managed platform being developed for Singapore government agencies to build digital applications
The SGTS is a platform comprising layers of software and infrastructure components. These common assets are scalable, reusable and interoperable, allowing agencies to quickly launch services and dynamically scale in accordance with citizen demand.
— Open Gov Asia

Budget approved by Parliament, GST increase defended
In the vote, 89 MPs voted “yes” on the Government’s spending plans outlined by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat on Feb 19, while eight MPs from the Workers Party (WP) voted “no”.
— The New Paper

Trump accepts invitation to visit Singapore later this year: Vivian
United States President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to visit Singapore later this year, said Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Thursday (March 1).”We look forward to receiving him,” Dr Balakrishnan told the House during the debate on his ministry’s budget.
— The Business Times

No changes to ministerial salary levels and structure: DPM Teo Chee Hean
Ministerial salaries and their guiding framework will remain unchanged, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean in Parliament during the Committee of Supply (COS) debates on Thursday (Mar 1).
— Channel NewsAsia

E-registration of voters at polling stations planned for next election
Voters registering at polling stations during the next election may no longer need to wait for an election official to manually search and strike off their names from the register. Instead, a scan of the voter’s identity card could suffice.
— Today Online

Prison officer fined S$4,000 for illegally accessing inmate’s data
He knew he was not authorised to access an inmate’s personal particulars on the prison’s database, but Firoz Khan Shaik Fazaluddin did it at the behest of his superior, who was suspended and wanted the information for his personal use.
— Today Online

Constitution protects land and proceeds from its sale as past reserves: Swee Keat
INCLUDE a portion of land sales proceeds in the Budget, or use more of the returns from the reserves – these are tempting suggestions to raise government revenue and easier to swallow than hiking taxes.
— The Business Times

Feature photo Jakub Michankow

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 March 2 added by Leakhena Khat on March 2, 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.