Singapore morning news for October 17

SPH print media operating revenue drops for 6th year; falls by $69 million in FY2018
The Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) has released their annual report for the financial year (FY) ending August 31, 2018, which highlighted the group’s sliding revenue for their print media business.
— Mothership

Temasek said to have held talks on acquiring stake in China’s Anbang Insurance
Singapore’s state investment firm, Temasek Holdings, has held talks with Chinese authorities about acquiring a stake in Anbang Insurance Group Co. as well as some of its assets, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
— TodayOnline

Which University Program in Singapore Offers the Highest Return on Investment?
Attending university is a crucial step for advancing your career and salary potential. With that said, the cost of university education continues to soar and not all programs are created equal in terms of helping students find a job.
— Yahoo Singapore

$90k worth of Singapore currency seized in Indonesia’s latest corruption raid
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s anti-graft agency KPK has confiscated almost S$140,000 in cash – including Singapore currency – which it suspects that a property company was using to bribe local government officials in Bekasi, a satellite town of Jakarta.
— Straits Times

Private home sales up 51% last month compared to August
Buyers were back in force last month to send private home sales out of the doldrums they fell into after new cooling measures and the slowdown during the Hungry Ghost month.
— The New Paper

How fresh or flat is ITB Asia?
Now in its 11th edition, ITB Asia opens its doors this morning, spot-on at 0900, for three days of selling and buying in the region’s capital of commerce Singapore.
— TTR Weekly

Cashless supermarket to open in Pasir Panjang
A new supermarket in Pasir Panjang does not accept cash. And even if it did, there are no cashiers to accept it.
— Straits Times

Temasek launches first bond for retail investors – at 2.7% fixed rate
TEMASEK Holdings has launched its first public bond offer for retail investors, with a five-year maturity and a fixed interest rate of 2.7 per cent per annum payable every six months.
— Business Times

Honestbee unveils high-tech grocery and dining space
Online grocery and delivery service honestbee unveiled ‘habitat by honestbee’, a supermarket, restaurant and retail technology innovation lab all rolled into one 60,000 sq ft space located near Mapletree Business Center.
— Singapore Business Review

Singapore-based firm to tap on digital currency
Singapore-based LynPay Pte Ltd plans to tap into the apparently large Bitcoin and Ethereum community in Cambodia and offer its LynPay payment solutions.
— Khmer Times

Mandarin Orchard Singapore bags second win as Best Upscale Hotel-Asia Pacific at the Travel Weekly Asia 2018 Readers’ Choice Awards
Asian hospitality icon Mandarin Orchard Singapore was named Best Upscale Hotel – Asia Pacific at the Travel Weekly Asia 2018 Readers’ Choice Awards.
— AEC News Today/PR Newswire (media release)

Are buyers eyeing new homes over resale properties?
Individual resellers could be thinking twice before toning down prices due to a healthy economy and job market.
— Singapore Business Review

AHTC trial has a silver lining
Perhaps witness for Aljunied Hougang Town Council (AHTC), Mr Goh Thien Phong, a partner at accountancy firm PWC (Goh) is not the best choice for AHTC
— TOC

VinFast selects Siemens’ innovation platform to create a connected digital enterprise
Siemens announced today that VinFast, Vietnam’s first volume car manufacturer, has selected a suite of tools from Siemens PLM Software to help realize their plans for next-generation automotive and transportation design.
— AEC News Today/PR Newswire (media release)

NTUC Foodfare: Fish or chicken drumstick not for seniors or Comcare people at subsidized price
Last Thursday (11 OCT), a member of the public, Mr Lee Chee Meng, wrote to ST Forum complaining that NTUC Foodfare does not give patrons much choice for the subsidized meals.
— TOC

Man arrested after $520k of fake goods seized
The police and Singapore Customs said in a joint statement yesterday that more than 4,800 pieces of counterfeit goods were seized.
— The New Paper

Leading Architectural Design Firms B+H and SAA Join Surbana Jurong Group
Surbana Jurong, one of the largest Asia-based urban and infrastructure development consultancies, is set to form one of the largest architectural groupings in the world with the joining of two leading architectural firms, Canadian-headquartered B+H and Singapore-headquartered SAA, as member companies.
— AEC News Today/ PR Newswire (media release)

Employment law update: Hong Kong and Singapore
On 18 January 2018, the Ministry of Manpower announced that it was conducting a month-long public consultation exercise on the Employment Act, Singapore’s main labour legislation.
— Lexology

Leading trade event to discuss Industry 4.0 in Singapore
The Industrial Transformation ASIA-PACIFIC 2018, organized by SingEx Exhibitions with Deutsche Messe as international partner, kicked off in Singapore on Tuesday.
— Xinhuanet

TAUS Annual Conference’s LIC Foundation speaker: “Blockchain is reshaping the language service industry”
Language Information Communication (LIC) Foundation set the prestigious annual Language Data Network (TAUS) conference abuzz when they declared that they are launching their own blockchain to solve the problems faced by the language service industry.
— AEC News Today/PR Newswire (media release)

Burger King to stop providing straws and plastic lids
Burger King Singapore general manager Goh Chin Hou told The New Paper yesterday: “The removal of straws and lids will help our guests rethink whether they really need them and get everyone to do their part in keeping the environment clean.
— The New Paper

Singapore eyes new talent, R&D strategy amid demographic changes in Asia
Singapore needs to groom talent, plan ahead, and invest in strategic technologies and services to quickly adjust to the demographic trends shaping economies in Asia, according to the city state’s finance minister.
— South China Morning Post

The dirty truth about clean electric cars
BENEATH the hoods of millions of the clean electric cars rolling onto the world’s roads in the next few years will be a dirty battery.
— Business Times

Now is the time for Asia-Pacific and Europe to cosy up
MORE than 50 heads of state and government, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and EU chiefs Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, are making final preparations for this week’s landmark Asia-Europe summit.
— Business Times

As cheap as ships?
RUNNING ships is getting cheaper. Costs are going down. Now, before shipowners start throwing bricks through my window and shippers accuse container lines of manufacturing bunker adjustment factor surcharges, it should be made clear that we are talking about costs other than fuel.
— Business Times

More productive and accessible healthcare
“WE can do and serve more with less manpower,” said Chua Chee Yong, director of Emerging Services and Capabilities Group at Integrated Health Information Service (IHIS), on how technology can be harnessed in a meaningful way to enhance accessibility and boost productivity in healthcare.
— Business Times

Uncertainty, lack of direction weigh on STI
Local shares struggled alongside their Asian counterparts to get any real traction yesterday amid uncertainty and a general lack of market direction.
— Straits Times

Hawkers and operator meet over controversial 20-cent tray-return system
Modifications to a tray-return system that has stirred unhappiness at Jurong West Hawker Centre were floated during a meeting yesterday between some hawkers and the centre’s operator.
— Straits Times

Grab launches measures to bolster safety standards
Ride-hailing firm Grab rolled out a number of initiatives yesterday designed to improve safety standards for both commuters and drivers, including enhancements to its app and training programmes for drivers and delivery partners.
— Straits Times

Deal inked to secure world’s rice crops
The grain that feeds half the world has been given a boost to ensure it never dies out. Almost $2 million each year will be pumped into a rice repository – a genetic treasure trove of 136,000 rice varieties – to conserve and distribute them to the countries that depend on rice.
— Straits Times

Experts warn of growing maritime cyber-security threats
The global maritime industry must do more to protect shipping firms against growing cyber-security threats, experts said yesterday at the opening of a maritime innovation centre.
– Straits Times

13 more colonial bungalows to convert to lifestyle, food and retail use at Seletar Aerospace Park
SINGAPORE – Thirteen more conserved colonial bungalows at Seletar Aerospace Park are being refurbished for retail, F&B and office use.
— Straits Times

Jurong Innovation District to house advanced manufacturing campus
AN advanced manufacturing campus where firms can embrace Industry 4.0 capabilities is being curated at Jurong Innovation District, with more such Factories of the Future (FOF) to be set up in the district over the next two years.
— Business Times

The technology effect
New technologies can both destroy and augment jobs. Workers on both ends of the skills spectrum are just as susceptible to being either displaced or fulfilled. How do you get on the right side of progress?
— The Edge

Singapore tops index measuring food security, but vulnerable to trade and climate-related risks
SINGAPORE — In a first for Singapore, the Republic has topped the Global Food Security Index, which measures the affordability, availability, quality and safety of food sources in 113 countries.
— Today Singapore

Performers, patrons feeling the blues as Blu Jaz Cafe set to lose licence to host live gigs
SINGAPORE — A “stalwart” that always thinks “out of the box”, and has built up a sense of “community spirit” that is unmatched at performance venues elsewhere.
That is the Blu Jaz Cafe that its regular patrons and performers know.
— Today Singapore

53 people arrested for gambling, immigration and vice-related activities
SINGAPORE: A total of 53 people were arrested for various offences during a three-day operation between Oct 12 and Oct 14, said the police in a news release on Tuesday (Oct 16).
— Channel News Asia

Maserati driver who drove against traffic along Lorong Chuan at high speed to be charged
SINGAPORE – A 49-year-old Maserati driver who drove against traffic is expected to be charged in court on Wednesday (Oct 17) for dangerous driving, police said on Tuesday.
— Straits Times

Feature photo Toluna/ quik_silvez

This week’s Singapore morning news feature photo acknowledges International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, October 17.

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 October 17 added by Maria Mirasol Rasonable on October 17, 2018
View all posts by Maria Mirasol Rasonable →

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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.