ASEAN not tardy in MH370 crisis, says Shanmugam

There was no lack of cooperation in ASEAN's response to the MH370 crisis.

Singapore's Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam made this point in refuting criticisms of poor coordination among ASEAN members.

 

Speaking at a dialogue organised by the Foreign Correspondents Association, Mr Shanmugam said he does not believe that any of the ASEAN countries were tardy in their response and pointed to the sheer number of countries who came forward to help almost immediately.

 

Describing the tragedy as a "most unusual bizarre situation", Mr Shanmugam said the international community needs to recognise that it is not an easy situation for Malaysian authorities, who had very little to go on.

 

S'pore ranked 60th among major cities for average residents' cost of living

Singapore may be the world's most expensive city for expatriates.

But the cost of living for the average resident, which comprises Singaporeans and permanent residents, is much lower than many other global cities such as Hong Kong.

A study by the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) showed that Singapore is ranked 60th among 109 major cities for the average residents' cost of living.

And the institute said government subsidies played a big part in keeping costs down.

ACI found that the cost of living for the average resident in Singapore relative to other major cities around the world had changed little between 2005 and 2012.

Changi Airport voted World's Best Airport for 2nd consecutive year

Singapore's Changi Airport has been voted the World's Best Airport by air travellers for the second year in a row at this year's Skytrax World Airport Awards.

It is the first time that Changi Airport has won the top accolade twice in a row, and the fifth time that the airport has been named the world's favourite airport.

South Korea's Incheon International Airport took second spot, while Munich Airport was in third place.

The World Airport Awards are based on 12.85 million customer nominations across 110 nationalities of air travellers, and included 410 airports worldwide.

The online survey evaluates customer satisfaction across 39 key performance indicators for airport service and product -- from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration, to departure at the gate.

S'pore’s inflation at 4-year low in Feb as private transport costs drop

Singapore's consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.4 per cent in February from a year ago.

Economists said the deceleration is due to the high base for private road transport costs and food prices in 2013, and they expect inflation to pick up in the following months as rising wage pressures set in.

The 0.4 per cent rise in February's CPI was the slowest since January 2010 when price levels increased by 0.2 per cent year-on-year.

It rose by a slower-than-expected 0.4 per cent on-year, down from the 1.4 per cent year-on-year inflation seen in January.

Changi Airport’s security measures enhanced following MH370's disappearance

Robust security measures are already in place at Singapore's Changi Airport to manage threats against the aviation sector, but these have been reviewed and stepped up in light of the recent Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 incident.

Singapore's Changi Airport, which serves more than 100 airlines, is one of the busiest in the world.

Following the recent disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370, security has been further raised as a precautionary measure.

In 2013, some 53.7 million passengers passed through Changi Airport -- that is about 147,000 passengers each day. Not only that, more than 6,900 flights either landed at or departed from Changi Airport every week that year.

These are just some of the numbers authorities have to work around when formulating their security plans.

Singapore’s new Chief of Army takes over post

Singapore's new Chief of Army took over his post on Friday.

The Change of Command Parade was held at Pasir Laba Camp in Jurong on Friday afternoon.

Brigadier-General Perry Lim Cheng Yeow, 41, took over the Army's symbol of Command from the outgoing chief Major-General Ravinder Singh.

Brigadier-General Lim joined the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1990.

He was awarded the SAF (Overseas) and President's Scholarships in 1991.

The Ministry of Defence said the change of command is part of the Army's continuing process of leadership renewal.

Private landed property transactions fall to lowest since 1995

Transaction volume of private landed properties fell last year to its lowest since 1995.

A total of 867 landed properties changed hands in the first half of last year -- a reduction of about 40 per cent, compared to the same period the year before.

In the second half of 2013, the number of transactions was 492, which is a decrease of close to 70 per cent, compared to the same period in 2012.

And compared to the year before, the total number of transactions in 2013 has more than halved.

While the sector typically does not see high transaction volumes, some analysts say the decline could be driven by recent property cooling measures and limited supply in the market.

SEA Games: 2015 Games to feature 36 sports

Weightlifting and karate are out while petanque, boxing and equestrian are in, with floorball making its debut as a full medal sport for the 2015 Southeast Asian Games (June 5-16) in Singapore.

For now, there will be 381 gold medals up for grabs but the number could increase when the SEA Games Federation council meets in Singapore to make a final decision on the line-up of sports for the 28th edition of the biennial Games.
Speaking to TODAY, Singapore National Olympic Council Secretary-General Chris Chan said the local organising committee and SEA Games Federation council members have agreed to cap the number of sports at 36, after a series of meetings.

"In the original list, we have 30 sports but after appeals by the member countries at the SEA Games Federation council meeting here last month, we have decided to include six more to the original list to make it 36," said Chan.

COE prices end mostly higher

Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums went up across all categories of vehicles, except for commercial vehicles in the latest bidding exercise on Wednesday.

The commercial vehicles category bucked the trend, falling S$2,411 to end at S$53,891.

One dealer attributed this to the increased COE bonus under the Enhanced Early Turnover Scheme (ETS), announced during the recent Budget debate.

The scheme aims to reduce vehicle emissions, especially by old diesel vehicles.

Michael Wong, director of Triangle Auto, said: "We found that there has been quite a lot of interest generated with ETS. It's now quite attractive, and we have got quite a lot of people looking at using the scheme.

SAF offers more help in locating missing plane

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is offering further help to Malaysia in its efforts to locate the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

In a statement on Monday evening, SAF said it is offering the help of its Information Fusion Centre which has a network of 13 military navies and 51 civilian shipping companies worldwide.

The centre has activated this network of ships to report any unusual sightings in designated search areas.

SAF said more companies are expected to be contacted.

Ice Hockey in Singapore: a force to be reckoned with

The Singapore Ice Hockey Association (SIHA) has been driving local hockey from its humble beginnings in the old Jurong East rink to international rinks over the years. This year, it held its annual 9th Invitational Ice Hockey Championship over two weeks - the finals of the Asia, Recreational and Open categories on 8 March at JCube’s ice hockey rink.

 Organiser of the event and SIHA’s head of coaching, Mr Kevin Tan shared how the tournament first began in 2000 as a result of a group of good-willed Canadian expats.

“They came over to Singapore and thought it would be fun to introduce this sport to us. Ever since then, we have been organising this tournament every year. Over the last few years, it has also grown to be regional – we also invite neighbouring countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Hong Kong,” explained Kevin.

Budget debate: NS system to be further optimised

Even as the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) continues to hone its fighting edge by upgrading weapons systems and acquiring more sophisticated war fighting technologies, National Servicemen remain at the forefront of a credible defence force.

Said Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen: "Whether we can deter would-be aggressors for another 50 years and achieve peace depends not on advance systems or weaponry, no matter how sophisticated, but our people and their resolve to defend our island home."

At last year's budget debate, Dr Ng announced that he would chair the Committee to Strengthen National Service (CSNS) and that it would be supported by two working groups chaired by 2nd Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing and Minister of State for Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman.