SINGAPORE: Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs K Shanmugam has said the Republic does not come out "to confirm or deny" any reports on intelligence matters.
He also said Indonesia and Malaysia know that Singapore would not do anything to harm their interests.
His comments are the first by a Singapore leader on allegations that the Republic was helping Western nations spy on its neighbours.
Mr Shanmugam was speaking on Friday at the Global Outlook Forum organised by the Straits Times.
SINGAPORE: Singapore's tight labour market has seen more Singapore residents aged between 25 and 64 being employed in 2013.
The Singapore Workforce Report said 79 per cent of Singapore residents in that age group are currently employed, slightly more than 78.8 per cent in 2012 and 71.8 per cent in 2003.
Lower income workers or those in the 20th percentile also saw improvements in their wages.
Two groups of workers contributed to an improved employment situation -- women and older residents joining the labour force.
Women in the workforce went up from 50.9 per cent in 2003 to 58.1 per cent in 2013.
SINGAPORE: Singapore authorities are moving to restrict remote gambling activities.
Remote gambling refers to gambling via the Internet or any communication device, such as a smart phone.
When in place, the proposed measures could be one of the most comprehensive undertaken by any jurisdiction.
Remote gambling sites are accessible anytime, anywhere, with some clearly targeting the Singapore market with proclamations of no levies. Singapore citizens have to pay a S$100 levy to enter the country's two casinos.
There are currently no specific laws to deal with remote gambling here, and there are concerns over its social impact.
Associate Professor Hannah Lim from Nanyang Business School’s Division of Business Law, said: "A lot of the Internet gambling websites that are unregulated, they have odds that are just practically fraudulent and we have to protect our own community."
SINGAPORE: 2014 will usher in lower property tax for 95 per cent of the 975,200 owner-occupied homes in Singapore.
Making the announcement on Tuesday afternoon, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) said the reduction is a result of the progressive property tax rates announced in Budget 2013.
Taking into account homes that are not occupied by their owners, that means lower taxes will be collected for 80 per cent of all residential properties in Singapore.
With the new property tax structure, the Annual Value (AV) exemption threshold for which no tax applies has been raised from S$6,000 to S$8,000.
This means that owners who live in their properties will not have to pay property tax on the first S$8,000 instead of the first S$6,000 of the AVs of their properties.
SINGAPORE: Singapore has been ranked second on INSEAD's Global Talent Competitiveness Index, which was launched on Tuesday.
It is the only Asian country to feature in the Top 20 of the index.
The index measures a nation's competitiveness based on the quality of talent it can produce, attract and retain.
INSEAD placed Switzerland at the top, followed by Singapore and Denmark in second and third.
European nations dominated the ranking.
Only two of the Top 10 spots were occupied by non-European countries, with Singapore in second place and the US in the ninth position.
SINGAPORE: Singapore's inflation edged higher in October, in line with market expectation.
The consumer price index went up 2 per cent on-year in October, compared to 1.6 per cent in September, largely driven by higher private road transport costs.
And looking ahead, economists expect inflation to continue rising due to rising labour costs.
A pick up in COE premiums pushed private road transport costs higher in October.
The latest data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) showed private road transport costs rising 2.7 per cent on-year, following the 2 per cent decline in COE premiums the previous month.
This has, in turn, caused overall consumer price index (CPI) for the month to end higher as well.
SINGAPORE: Renewable energy sources can generate up to 10 per cent of Singapore's power demand by 2020, compared to less than 1 per cent today.
According to a white paper released by the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS), this potential can be achieved without government subsidies but requires an estimated S$4 billion investment from the private sector over the next 12 years.
The association currently has more than 160 members and represents the interests of companies in the sustainable energy industry and other related stakeholders.
Solar energy, biomass and biogas are key renewable energy sources identified as sustainable alternatives to Singapore's growing energy needs.
SINGAPORE: Singapore has upgraded its economic growth forecast for the year, boosted by growth in the services and manufacturing sectors.
The economy is now expected to grow between 3.5 and 4 per cent, up from an earlier forecast of 2.5 to 3.5 per cent.
Singapore's economic growth picked up pace between July and September.
Third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 5.8 per cent on-year. This is compared to the 4.4 per cent growth in the previous quarter, and higher than advance estimates of a 5.1 per cent growth.
SINGAPORE: For the first time, a new bilateral component codenamed Exercise Trident has been introduced at Exercise Wallaby, currently ongoing at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) in Queensland, Australia.
Singapore's Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen and Australia's Assistant Minister for Defence Stuart Robert visited Singapore Armed Forces troops participating in the exercise on Tuesday.
The delegation included Member of Parliament and the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs Alex Yam.
This year's Exercise Wallaby is conducted from 3 Oct to 30 November 2013.
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Army is looking into expanding its pool of career soldiers by 15 per cent to allow such regular servicemen to play a bigger role in the training of conscript soldiers.
A high-level committee tasked to recommend measures to strengthen National Service has suggested this could enhance the effectiveness of such training, and allow more full-time National Servicemen to take on operational roles.
Members of the committee also suggested that tertiary institutes team up with the uniformed services to help students transition more smoothly into national service.
The Singapore Army currently employs both career and conscripted soldiers as instructors.
Singaporeans may be known to be all work and seriousness, but a shift in taste for sports seems to prove otherwise. Although normal marathons, triathlons, and even ultra-marathons have long been all the rage with the fitness-obsessed crowd here, a recent spate of unconventional ‘fun runs’ are becoming talk of the town.
One run that has made a comeback this year after a successful debut in 2012 is Brooks Run Happy. The night run saw thousands of participants don coloured lightsticks and pounding the pavement along Marina Bay Sands on 16 November. The run was to provide a welcoming environment for people of different ages and running abilities to interact - and of course, experience a happy run.
“The run was amazing… lots of people, good music,” said a giggly Katie Hasson who completed the run with her husband Mark Hasson.
With two new schemes launched on the 12 of November, Team Singapore athletes will have a comprehensive support system as they pursue excellence in their respective sporting fields.
The Sporting Excellence Education Scheme and Sporting Excellence Career Scheme, launched by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), is starting off with more than 1,000 athletes being involved.
Both schemes will help them handle both competitive sport and either their careers or studies.
Usually, when we think about tennis, the first players that run through our heads will be the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and the great Roger Federer. In the little island of Singapore however, a storm is rising as a new era of tennis players are beginning to emerge from the Republic.
Boosted by the emergence of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) bringing down one of their marquee events annually in Singapore starting from next year, Singapore has seen a new wave of youth players opting to spend more time playing tennis, training full time and taking up online schooling to further pursue their passion.
