Singapore morning news for May 22

Singapore, KL to suspend Rapid Transit System Link work until end-September
Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to defer construction of a cross-border MRT link until Sept 30.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Singapore downgrades growth forecast as economy slows
The economy recorded its slowest quarter of growth in nearly a decade on the back of an anaemic manufacturing sector beset by global trade tensions and an electronics slump.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Singapore commercial property investment jumps 72%
Singapore’s commercial property sector escaped the downturn that caught out every other major market in the region in the first quarter.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Singapore shows 47% trust in the news according to new report by Reuters International
Reuters International just released their Digital News Report 2018 which reveals insights about digital news consumption based on a survey of over 74,000 online news consumers in 27 countries including Singapore. The report focuses on issues of trust and misinformation, new online business models, …
— The Online Citizen

Singdollar to hit 1.40 to USD later this year as trade tensions worsen: analysts
THE Singapore dollar is poised to fall further to 1.40 per US dollar in the next few months as rising US-China tensions cloud growth prospects, analysts said.
— The Business Times

Law Minister criticises Straits Times article about his video with Michelle Chong
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has criticised a Straits Times (ST) article for making untrue assumptions about a recent video he did with local actress Michelle Chong, regarding the recently passed Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). In her famous “Ah …
— The Independent

Singapore growth downgraded as trade war threatens economy, business
BUSINESSES are in for stormy times this year as dark clouds loom over Singapore’s economic prospects, with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) downgrading its full-year growth forecast to 1.5 to 2.5 per cent after the results of just one quarter, from an earlier 1.5 to 3.5 per cent.
— The Business Times

Medical council seeks to quash conviction against psychiatrist
The Singapore Medical Council will apply to the Court of Three Judges to quash an earlier conviction and $50,000 fine against a psychiatrist for providing information on his patient to a man claiming to be her husband.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Real GDP now more reflective of prevailing conditions
Singapore’s real gross domestic product (GDP) is now reweighted annually instead of once every five years, in a move to make it more reflective of prevailing economic conditions, the Department of Statistics (DOS) said yesterday.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

S’pore’s inflation trends stable
Education and healthcare costs have been the key domestic inflation drivers in recent years, but overall prices here have remained relatively low, despite turbulence and uncertainty in the global economy, say analysts.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Pay package for mid-level expats in S’pore up 6%: Poll
The average annual pay package for expatriate middle managers in Singapore rose by US$13,163, or 5.9 per cent, in 2018 from a year earlier to US$236,258 (S$325,900), which included an average cash salary of US$90,170, according to an annual survey by ECA International.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

SMU, Citi Ventures in tie-up to offer fintech courses
Singapore Management University (SMU) is partnering the venture capital arm of Citi to offer courses in financial technology to undergraduates from January next year. The courses will be conducted through the Citi University Partnerships in Innovation & Discovery (Cupid) …
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Spirit of sharing at Ramadan
Members and leaders of the Muslim community with Minister in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli (in green shirt) having a meal of mandi rice after breaking fast yesterday at the Masjid Al-Istiqamah in Serangoon.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Westpac Singapore pulls rug from under 300 mortgage customers
WESTPAC Singapore is exiting the mortgage business, leaving 300 borrowers – both foreigners and Singaporeans – in the lurch.
— The Business Times

Panel eyes having sitting judge for medical watchdog’s cases
A workgroup tasked with improving the medical watchdog’s disciplinary process is looking at having a sitting judge and a permanent team of senior retired doctors to judge disciplinary cases, and a screener who will ensure that the system is not bogged down by frivolous …
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Tharman joins World Economic Forum board
Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has joined the board of trustees of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the organisation said yesterday.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Man molested daughter in bed they shared
After being molested by her father while in bed, a 14-year-old girl felt so disturbed and embarrassed that she dared not tell anyone about it.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Certis looks beyond S’pore to grow airport business
Certis, which provides security services at Changi and Seletar airports, as well as at Changi’s new Jewel complex, is looking to grow its overseas business.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

S’pore Red Cross seeks donors to replenish O+ blood stock
O+ blood stock is very low.
— Mothership

Healthtech startup Biofourmis secures US$35M Series B funding
The startup, previously based in Singaore, will move its headquarters to Boston Biofourmis, a digital therapeutics provider, announced that it has closed US$35 million in Series B financing. The company also said it plans to move its headquarters from Singapore to Boston but will continue to expand …
— e27

Getting serious about zero CO2 emissions
IT IS interesting to see how the same event can generate very different reactions. On Friday the most recent, the 74th, session of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 74) came to an end after a fortnight of deliberations at the UN agency’s …
— The Business Times

YC-backed dahmakan raises US$5M to roll out its chef-cooked food delivery in Thailand, Malaysia
By vertically integrating the entire value chain from food production to delivery, its mission is to make food delivery affordable for office workers dahmakan, a Y-Combinator-backed cloud kitchen startup in Malaysia, today announced the closing of over US$5 million in Series A round of funding with …
— e27

Boon for R&D as NEA lifts licence for special microscopes
Local universities and research centres will enjoy substantial savings as licences for certain microscopes will no longer be required a decade after the National University of Singapore (NUS) first asked for the rule to be reviewed.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Man jailed for harbouring two immigration offenders
A 40-year-old Bangladeshi man was jailed for eight months last Friday for harbouring two Sri Lankan immigration offenders.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Monkeypox quarantine ends for 18 people
The quarantine has ended for 18 people who came into close contact here with a Nigerian man infected with monkeypox.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Postman who tossed mail into bin issued advisory: IMDA
A postman who was arrested in January for tossing unopened letters and packages into a rubbish bin in Ang Mo Kio has been issued with an advisory following investigations, said the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Dismal year for Jardine as two firms in its stable fare poorly
Jardine Matheson Holdings, a 187-year-old conglomerate with more than US$42 billion (S$58 billion) in sales, has been among Singapore’s steadiest stocks for years. Not so this year.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Smoking cabin brings one-north a breath of fresh air
A cabin that converts cigarette smoke into clean air, the first in Singapore, has been installed outside Fusionopolis in one-north, in Buona Vista.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

New Funan mall lets cyclists ride through it
Visitors will not only be able to walk into the new Funan mall when it opens next month, but they will also be able to cycle in it.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Asia’s largest cruise ship begins S’pore leg
Asia’s largest cruise ship, Spectrum of the Seas, is on the Singapore leg of its maiden voyage.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Man found guilty of murdering waitress
A 28-year-old man yesterday gave up his fight against a murder charge, admitting that he had flung his friend down a multi-storey carpark after a dispute over a phone she had lent him.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Businessman gets 6 years’ jail over assault on love rival
Unhappy that his mistress of almost two years had taken another lover, a married businessman ordered his rival to be attacked, leaving the victim with a scar that is likely to be permanent.
— Straits Times (annoying popups)

Feature photo Nutrinest

This week’s Singapore morning news feature photo acknowledges World Bee Day, May 20.

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 May 22 added by John Le Fevre on May 22, 2019
View all posts by John Le Fevre →

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John Le Fevre

Thailand editor at AEC News Today

John is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer, and copy editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Prior to AEC News Today he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.