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.