Kuala Lampur, Dec. 6 — The invention of the automobile is creditedto Karl Benz. In 1886, his motor wagon featured gears,a carburettor, radiator and spark plugs. Over 130 years later, vehicles that are the direct descendants of Benz’s wagon still dominate roads and human transport. There are 1.5 billion cars on roadsworldwide and at least […]
Kit Siang: Is Bersatu following PAS in refusing recognition of secular principles in Malaysian Constitution?
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 6 — A veteran politician has questioned if Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) is now headed in the direction of Islamist party PAS, following Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s recent vow to fight ‘secularism and liberalism’ and uphold moderate Sunni Muslim teachings. DAP’s stalwart Lim Kit Siang, through a statement, highlighted the various […]
BLACKPINK’s Rosé once gave Lisa a rather risqué gift
South Korean girl group BLACKPINK members Lisa and Rosé are reportedly close to each other even before they debuted as a group.
How close, you ask?
Well, in a recent interview with Penshoppe, the Thai-born Lisa revealed that the greatest gift she has ever received was a pair of underwear given by Rosé for Christmas.
After she was asked about that, Lisa remarked, “Oh, that’s a really hard one!” before the MC assisted by asking her whether there’s anything that was rather memorable. After a brief pause, she responded, “There’s a gift from Rosie (Rosé). It was like (during) trainee days. She got me like an underwear!”
Lisa further recalled that she was utterly shocked upon receiving the gift, confirming that she got “some real underwear”. “I was like ‘Bro, what is this?’ And she was just like, ‘Oh you know, it looked cute and it looked sexy, and it’s fun to give as a gift’. So I think it was the best gift, because I felt like “This is cute…but it’s strange that you got me this.”
BLACKPINK is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment and consists of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album Square One, which featured “Whistle” and “Boombayah”, their first number-one entries on South Korea’s Gaon Digital Chart and the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, respectively.
BLACKPINK has broken numerous online records throughout their career. Their music videos for “Kill This Love” (2019) and “How You Like That” (2020) each set records for the most-viewed music video within the first 24 hours of release, with the latter breaking three and setting two Guinness World Records. They are also the first music group and Korean act to have three music videos with at least one billion views on YouTube.
The group’s other accolades include the New Artist of the Year Awards at the 31st Golden Disc Awards and the 26th Seoul Music Awards as well as recognition as the most powerful celebrities in South Korea in 2019 and the third most powerful celebrities in 2020 by Forbes Korea, and as the first female Korean group on Forbes‘ 30 Under 30 Asia. They were also the first K-pop girl group to win an MTV Music Video Award.
BLACKPINK is currently the most-followed girl group on Spotify and the most-subscribed music group, female act, and Asian act on YouTube. /TISG
Jamus Lim reiterates call to lower CPF payout eligibility age to 60
Workers’ Party (WP) MP reiterated his party’s proposal to lower the Central Provident Fund (CPF) payout eligibility age (PEA) from 65 to 60, in a social media post published on Friday (4 Dec).
Associate Professor Jamus Lim visited some of his constituents at the Anchorvale division of Sengkang GRC on Thursday night (3 Dec) and was particularly struck by his conversation with the Wong family, who discussed the hot button CPF savings topic with the first-term MP among other issues.
Calling the matter of CPF savings a “topic that appears to cut across generations,” Prof Lim said: “For the older generation, there are questions about whether existing limits for Medisave utilization are adequate, especially in light of rising medical costs.
“With CPF often tapped on to purchase flats, those still in the workforce increasingly worry about retirement adequacy, especially as rising house prices means that a larger share of incomes are now devoted just to securing a roof over their heads, rather than contributing toward retirement.”
He added: “And for the youngest generation, their parents’ CPF is sometimes tapped on to help with school fees, which even further chips away at their parents’ retirement pot.”
Prof Lim, an economist, went on to draw attention to the suggestions the WP has put forth with regards to CPF usage in its manifesto. He specifically mentioned the party’s proposals to lower the PEA to 60, enable easier withdrawal of excess balances during crisis times, allow easier extended-family transfer of CPF balances, and widen Medisave uses for the elderly.
The WP has been calling on the authorities to lower the PEA for several years now. Back in 2015, then-Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam called the opposition party’s proposal to lower the PEA from 65 to 60 “unwise”.
Mr Tharman, who now serves as Senior Minister, said then that it is human nature to focus on current needs rather than plan for the future but countries that have introduced earlier payouts for their retirement saving schemes have found them unsustainable:
“It has been tried in other countries and, everywhere it has been tried, the result has been that those who take up this option of early payouts end up less prepared for retirement.”
Citing Denmark as an example, Mr Tharman said the country implemented earlier payouts more than 30 years ago, but the pressures of an ageing population have led the Danish to phase out this option. He said:
“We will all place greater priority on…the benefits we can get today… than what we will get well into the future. We all underestimate how long we will live…that is the human predicament.”
Claiming that the outcome of earlier payouts to some is that the rest of society eventually has to support them, Mr Tharman suggested that the pension and retirement age is automatically linked with rising life expectancies in many countries. He added:
“We should recognise these challenges honestly and not take positions for their populist appeal, when we know fully that putting such proposals into practice will merely set us back in tackling the larger challenge of ensuring adequate income throughout the retirement years.”
Mr Tharman had also said that the government is compassionate towards those who need to withdraw CPF funds earlier and is looking to inject more flexibility into the scheme by allowing Singaporeans to make lump-sum withdrawals of up to 20 percent of retirement savings at the payout eligibility age.
He said: “(The CPF system) is not a perfect system…(but) it is fair, it is sustainable and it takes risk away from individuals who cannot bear that risk.”
Defending his party’s proposal, then-WP Non-Constituency MP Gerald Giam responded in Parliament that the suggestion to start payouts earlier is not the same as asking for a full lump-sum withdrawal at the age of 60. The idea is to extend the period in which CPF payouts are given to members, he said, adding that it is optional.
Mr Giam, who is now an elected MP, said: “Our main point is life is unpredictable and we cannot presume to know the financial situation of every person at age 60. There may be some members who really have a need and we should give them that flexibility.”
Responding, Mr Tharman reiterated that other countries’ experiences have shown that it is human nature to “take advantage of the option to get something early, even if it is at the expense of what we need later on.” He added: “When it comes to flexibility and choice, we should make haste slowly.”
Five years on, the WP has won more support among Singaporeans and clinched an unprecedented 10 seats in Parliament while the CPF PEA remains. /TISG
Govt says there’s no need to revise CPF payout mechanism as they send yearly reminder letters
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Ex-PAP MP Inderjit Singh joins chorus of voices against CPF payout mechanism
PM Lee: Please don’t get offended, Safe Distancing Ambassadors are just doing their job
Singapore — On Friday (Dec 4), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted a link to an article from the Los Angeles Times about the country’s Safe Distancing Ambassadors (SDAs).
Writing that chancing upon the article had been a pleasant surprise, he highlighted the important work being done by SDAs.
“Many SDAs have experienced unpleasant encounters with members of the public while doing their work,” he said. Mr Lee added, however, that he was grateful that most Singaporeans are cooperative and comply with anti-Covid-19 measures .
After all, the job of SDAs is to keep everyone safe by making sure safety measures are followed. But there have been times when people have not followed the rules.
Mr Lee then reminded everyone: “If an SDA reminds you to wear your mask or space apart in public, please don’t get offended! They are just doing their job.”
And while the Covid-19 situation is under control in Singapore, infections are still very much present around the globe. Singaporeans must keep vigilant as the country prepares “to reopen its borders to return as an international hub for finance, trade, and tourism”.
The article in the LA Times, said Mr Lee, “is an outsider’s perspective on what SDAs do”.
The author, David Pierson, wrote about Safe Distancing Ambassadors Rugayah Noordin and Fiona Tay going around a mall. They were “shooting out stern glances and inducing low-grade panic among shoppers, diners, and store employees”.
Sometimes, they did not have to say a word. All they had to do was approach people in their red shirts and they would comply with safety measures.
“Such is the intimidating power of those nicknamed Singapore’s Red Ants or Red Army — thousands of vermillion shirt-wearing public servants in sensible shoes tasked with roaming the city-state’s air-conditioned shopping centres, sweltering parks and crowded open-air food courts to remind people to cover up, space apart and limit groups to five people or fewer,” said Mr Pierson.
He noted that while the United States is battling ever-rising infections, life in Singapore is going back to normal. This, however, did not happen overnight.
“Singaporeans have had to accept wearing masks, forgoing large gatherings, including for religious worship, submitting to contract-tracer scanning at public buildings and businesses, and enduring a 2½-month lockdown in the spring that triggered the greatest quarterly job losses in the country’s recorded history,” he added.
The article quotes PM Lee, however, as telling Bloomberg in November that the fight is far from over.
“What I think the Asian countries have succeeded in doing is to get their populations to comply with the measures.” This has been more successful than in Europe or America, where safety measures are at times resisted, he added.
Therefore, it is clear SDAs are more important than ever as they help remind people not to get complacent in the battle against Covid-19. /TISG
BTS’s Jin shares moving story of how V got Park Seo Joon and other friends to cheer him up on his birthday
Jin from BTS shared how band member V cheered him up on his birthday. Jin celebrated his 28th birthday on December 4 and he held a special Naver V Live broadcast to celebrate the occasion with fans. At the start of the broadcast, Jin said that he had received a text message from V just before going live so he called his band member for a short chat.
During their phone conversation, Jin mysteriously told V, “Wow, you’re really the best”. He then asked if he could tell the fans the “moving story” of what V had done for him. Although V protested, Jin declared, “No, but I need to tell this story. Thank you, thank you.”
After hanging up, Jin explained, “Our Taehyung [V’s given name] is so incredibly kind. Last night, work wrapped up late, so I was really tired and needed to sleep. But just in case, I stayed up until 1 in the morning, thinking that people might send me birthday wishes [at midnight]. So just in case, I stayed up until 1 a.m.”
“I saw my friends receiving tons of messages on their birthdays,” he continued, “so I was anticipating [receiving a lot] as well. But I got six messages. I got messages from my mom, my older brother, two BTS members including J-Hope, a childhood friend, and an employee from our company. That was it. I waited until 1 a.m., but I didn’t get many messages, which made me really sad. It made me think, ‘I must not have lived my life properly.’”
“But when I woke up this morning,” Jin went on, “I had received about 10 messages. So I [changed my mind] and thought, ‘I did live my life properly after all.’”
Jin then revealed, “Right before I went to sleep at 1 a.m., I told the other BTS members, ‘Wow, I waited until 1 in the morning, but no one sent me any messages.’ So Taehyung contacted his friends and told them, ‘It’s Seokjin [Jin]’s birthday today, so I’d appreciate it if you could film a short video message wishing him a happy birthday.’”
Jin shared that thanks to V’s efforts, he had received birthday wishes from his celebrity friends including actor Park Seo Joon.
“So some of the people Taehyung hangs out with, like [Park] Seo Joon, sent me video messages,” said Jin. “There were many of them, about seven or eight, and I wish I could name all of them now—but there were a couple of people I didn’t recognize, and I don’t want to be rude, so I can’t list them all.”
“At any rate, many of V’s friends including Park Seo Joon sent me video messages, so that I wouldn’t feel insecure—to show me how many people were thinking of me and celebrating my birthday,” he continued. “They all said, ‘Happy Birthday, Seokjin,’ and it was so touching. I was really moved by V, and I was so grateful to him for having organized it.”
“Even just now,” he added, “he told me over the phone that he had gathered more video messages for me and said, ‘See, hyung, you’re someone who is so loved by many.’”
Clasping his hands together in an adorable display of gratitude, Jin concluded his story by telling V, “Thank you!” /TISG
HDB: From the proven Cheong Koon Hean to yet another helicoptered SAF general, Tan Meng Dui
Whatever peeves some Singaporeans may have with the People’s Action Party, all should acknowledge unreservedly its achievement in one area – public housing. Specifically what the Housing and Development Board has done over the years in giving the vast majority of Singaporeans a decent roof over their heads, something that many other countries are unable to do for their citizens. Hence, an announcement that the HDB’s Chief Executive Officer Cheong Koon Hean has left marks a milestone worthy of some comment.
Monday’s (Nov 30) announcement said Cheong will be succeeded by the current National Environment Agency CEO Tan Meng Dui. I don’t know much about him. A quick check revealed that he was a Brigadier-General in the Singapore Armed Forces and a Deputy Secretary with MINDEF and the Ministry of National Development before going over to the NEA. He was also Returning Officer for GE2020.
But I do know a bit more about Cheong. She has been a long-time public face of what can best be described as Singaporeans’ super landlord. Your life literally revolves around the HDB. Most Singaporeans grow up in HDB flats. As they start their own families, they deal with the HDB themselves for their own flats. So who is running the agency is important. All these 60 years since the HDB was formed, strangely not that many personalities have been so closely identified with its success as Cheong – one of a rare quartet.
Lim Kim San started it all. The late National Development Minister, considered a member of Lee Kuan Yew’s inner circle besides people such as Goh Keng Swee and S Rajaratnam, set up the HDB in February 1960 to move Singaporeans out of the many squatter villages which were part of the then landscape. He had Teh Cheong Wan as Chief Executive Officer of the HDB to help him (Teh later went on to become the National Development Minister himself). The next CEO from 1979 was Liu Thai Ker (yes, the falsely labelled 10-million-city man).
Liu left in 1989 to become CEO of the Urban Redevelopment Authority. In a reverse direction, Cheong left as CEO of the URA from 2004 to 2010 to take over as CEO HDB till the latest announcement. We are talking about someone deeply involved in Singapore’s city planning and housing programme.
She belonged to that very special group of pioneer specialists who had been so hands-on and so entrenched from the day they were given their task that they could anticipate every scenario along the way to fruition. These were probe solvers extraordinaire.
Few civil servants in Singapore have, I think, that kind of intimate knowledge and confidence.
The HDB and MND in a joint statement paid her this tribute: “Dr Cheong has been pivotal in the formulation and review of housing policies and building programmes, to meet the evolving housing needs and aspirations of Singaporeans, and promote community bonding across different demographics of society.”
The transformation of Singapore – though not without its critics who lament the loss of many heritage structures in the relentless modernisation – to its global city status owes much to people like Liu and Cheong. They were proven architects and planners.
The citation for an award Cheong was given said: “In 2016, she became the first person in the world to be conferred the Urban Land Institute’s JC Nichols Prize for Urban Visionaries; and the Lynn S Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award by the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in the same year.”
With Cheong’s departure, a key rich string which leads all the way to the genesis of the HDB has been snapped.
I am sceptical that her ex-military successor would have any experience, deep knowledge or vision to carry the HDB forward to anything nearly as substantial as she has achieved. Many Singaporeans may share my sentiment. The public record of helicoptered SAF generals into civilian public service is not particularly outstanding, to say the least.
Perhaps Tan Meng Dui, the new HDB CEO who has massive boots to fill, will surprise us, I hope. With the HDB’s 99-year leases running out, I wish him luck.
Han Fook Kwang is right: Don’t just blow your trumpet
Han Fook Kwang is right. Talking about failures is just as important as trumpeting one’s successes. The Straits Times Editor-at-Large says he finds the biennial Singapore Public Service Outcomes Review quite jarring to read, as it seems to be solely focused on presenting anodyne self-praise. He says: “I have a problem with the way it describes what it has achieved, making it sound as if it has all the answers and that life here is hunky dory for everyone.”
He would rather such reviews talk about our failures and perhaps learn and discuss the issues arising from these. Examples: low birth rates, weaning companies from cheap foreign labour, social inequality, the basic wage problem. Can’t agree more with him.
I would add these to the list of failures for fruitful serious discussion: What ever happened to the great plan to create a base of innovative, hands-on citizens who were supposed to have emerged from the polytechnics and ITEs? Should we be happy that there are so many young and able Singaporeans doing low-hanging fruit delivery work? And, of course, there is that foreign worker dormitories debacle.
Tan Bah Bah, consulting editor of TheIndependent.Sg, is a former senior leader writer with The Straits Times. He was also managing editor of a local magazine publishing company.
Pandemic sends hunger rising in America, and children bear the brunt
by Chris Stein Before the pandemic closed her middle school and US immigration agents deported her father to El Salvador, Kimberly Orellana did not fear going hungry. But with her mother now alone and cleaning houses for pay that isn’t enough to reliably feed Orellana and her two younger sisters, the 14-year-old is left to […]
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth to get Covid-19 vaccine ‘in weeks’: reports
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine within weeks after UK regulators granted emergency approval and the world’s first roll-out begins next week, reports late Saturday said. The monarch, 94, and her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip are in line to get the jab early due to their age and will not receive […]
Antibody clues in animal trials raise vaccine hopes
India, Dec. 6 — Sufficient quantities of antibodies and T cell response are able to stop macaques from being infected by the Sars-Cov-2, a comparative animal trial to study thresholds of immune response and its effects has found, offering clues that predict vaccines are likely to succeed but will need to trigger strong responses. These […]