Photo: An announcement of a lack of stock of masks, Calvin Cheng (YouTube screengrab)
Singapore — Former NMP Calvin Cheng has taken to social media to weigh in on a memo released on Monday (Feb 10) by a group of four senior doctors.
In a Facebook post yesterday (Feb 12), the former Nominated Member of Parliament said that the doctors “advise the public to wear masks at all times as two barriers are better than one. (Sick person wears, well person also wears)”.
He wrote: “In Chinese, we call this 废话.”
According to Google Translate, Mr Cheng called the advice “nonsense”, or as he put, “making an obvious but meaningless statement”.
In balancing individual risks against societal costs, Mr Cheng said that, yes, it may be better for everyone to wear masks everyday, but, he asked: “What are the societal costs of everyone wearing masks at all times?”
Pointing a finger at China, he said: “That’s what they are doing, and healthcare professionals who really need masks are running out. And they have their own mask factories. We don’t.
“These doctors giving useless advice, and the people circulating them, are thus not helping.”
Citing examples of people wearing masks every day but not needing them, Mr Cheng said: “Saw drivers sitting in car by themselves wearing masks. Er … you realise you can only catch virus from someone else?”
He added that there were people walking outdoors wearing masks with nobody near them. The risk of these people contracting the virus would be very low, as the primary modes of transmission are droplets and contact. /TISG
Photo: FB screengrab and taken from a Straits Times paper
Singapore – It’s not every day that one would find a job post looking for someone to drive a fully armoured vehicle for an embassy.
On February 8, an unusual job advertisement was spotted in a Singapore paper. A quick search on Jobstreet showed the same post was announced online as well. The job description? A chauffeur to transport officials from the U.S. Embassy in Singapore using a fully armoured vehicle.
It will be the task of the chauffeur to operate the vehicle safely, keep it clean and in serviceable condition and perform minor preventive maintenance. The candidate must also be able to react defensively in response to potential security threat-related situations.
According to the U.S. Embassy Singapore website, the position is full time with a stated 40 hours per week schedule.
The job requirements:
1. Must have at least two years of professional driving experience
2. Must have completed secondary school or high school education
3. Must possess a valid Singapore-issued Class 3 license
4. Must successfully obtain Singapore-issued Class 4 license during the probationary period (length not stated) and maintain said license in good standing
A table on the different licence qualifications:
Photo: data.gov.sg screengrab
5. Must have good working knowledge of oral and written English language skills
6. Must possess basic computer skills to be used for reports and communication purposes
7. Must be able to safely lift and move up to 25 lbs, consistently, with or without a non-motorised device while using appropriate hand-cart and safety equipment.
There is no information listed on the compensation package.
Deadline for applications is on February 20, 2020. “Interested applicants should note that requirements stated above must be addressed in your resumé,” noted the post. Those applying are advised to send a letter of interest and resumé, which includes information on current residency status, education and work experience.
The post adds that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.
Singapore — The new Progress Singapore Party (PSP) announced its recommendations for Budget 2020 on Wednesday (Feb 12), marking the first time it has released policy recommendations.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat will deliver the Budget Statement in Parliament on Feb 18.
The PSP, which is led by Dr Tan Cheng Bock, was launched last year. Dr Tan served as Member of Parliament for the Ayer Rajah Single Member Constituency for 26 years, from 1980 to 2006.
The PSP recommendations are in the four official languages — English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil — and can be found on the party’s website.
These recommendations, it wrote, “can serve as a benefit to Singaporeans in the current challenging economic climate”.
The party’s Assistant Secretary-General, Mr Leong Mun Wai, said: “We are experiencing the strongest economic headwinds since the Global Financial Crisis and arguably a long-overdue economic transformation, which combined makes Budget 2020 a very important one.”
These are the PSP’s seven recommendations:
Broader relief package for businesses — PSP welcomes government’s immediate short-term relief to assist Singaporeans and local companies to tide over this current rough patch and with the difficulties brought on by the novel coronavirus epidemic. The current situation is hurting not only the tourism sector, but also transport, retail and F&B industries. Therefore, we propose that Budget 2020 be more broad-based in alleviating cost and maintaining employment to help local companies through this uncertain time.
Expansionary budget to tide through the current crises — In such an uncertain economic climate, an expansionary budget is advisable as it boosts spending by transferring income to the economic segments in need, which will in turn increase output and employment in the economy.
Fiscal budget is not a goodie-bag — Rather than short-term occasional handouts, we would prefer to see more permanent plans being put in place that allow Singaporeans to plan their lives and careers better and give local companies greater visibility of their future business prospects.
Building a sustainable economy — Singapore has had Budget surpluses from 1971 (including an accumulated surplus of about S$15.6bn [i] for this term of Government) and sizeable annual Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC) [ii] earned from our sovereign wealth. As such, we support a more effective use of the NIRC to transform our economy, to nurture our local businesses, to spur jobs and training opportunities, and to even conduct a fundamental review of the educational system to better nurture local talents to meet the needs of the future industries.
No to GST hike — Our strong financial standing should give us the courage to address with sustainable longer term policies the mounting concerns of Singaporeans on issues such as rising cost of living, housing and healthcare costs; competition for jobs from non-Singaporeans; retirement inadequacy; as well as rising social inequality. In the immediate future, we advise against a further rise in the Goods & Services Tax (GST) or any other fees, at least in the next five years.
Taxpayers should not be burdened for large infrastructure projects — Given that our economy is relatively mature, we are of the view that long-term infrastructure projects (for example, the Changi Airport Terminal 5) should be based on their own financial and commercial merit and should not require tax increases to fund them. Of course, those projects with a large social benefit component should be given different consideration.
A prudent approach to expenditures — From 2008 to 2018, total government expenditure grew by 107%, outpacing our GDP growth of 79% over the same period. PSP is of the view that we should be financially prudent and keep increases in government spending below GDP growth, like the private sector practice of keeping cost increase below revenue growth. /TISG
In anticipation of Budget 2020 Singapore on 18th February, here’s what Progress Singapore Party would envision it to…
Singapore — A clinic in Ubi Avenue 1 has been criticised for putting up notices outside its doors that turned away those with fever, flu-like symptoms or were novel coronavirus suspect cases.
The Ubi Family Clinic and Surgery, which is on the ground floor of Block 305, Ubi Avenue 1, has been criticised online for putting up a notice that read: “As advised by the Ministry of Health, for the safety of other patients, please do not enter the clinic if you have fever, flu-like symptoms (eg cough, runny nose, sore throat), travel to China in last 14 days or contact with suspected cases of coronavirus. Please go immediately to a government hospital emergency department.”
There was also another notice that said: “Workers staying at Leo Hostel, 25 Kaki Bukit, with flu symptoms , fever, cough or sore-throat. Pls go hospital directly. Do not come in.”
Photo: FB/ Cygig to COMPLAINT SINGAPOREPhoto: FB/ Cygig to COMPLAINT SINGAPORE
In response to media queries and to clarify the matter, a doctor said that it was not the clinic’s intention to turn away any possible suspect cases or those who have been in contact with confirmed cases. He added that what the clinic meant was for these patients to wait outside and not enter the clinic, so as to ensure they keep a distance from other patients, especially the elderly and young children.
Prior to the notices being put up, there were reports that a Bangladeshi national who stayed at The Leo dormitory along 25 Kaki Bukit Road had been confirmed to have been infected with the novel coronavirus.
Ubi Family Clinic is about a 20-minute walk from The Leo dormitory.
The doctor said the suspect case was asked to enter the clinic from the back door and that he was attended to in a different room. That patient had fever and was asked to go to the hospital for further checks.
The doctor added that the clinic will amend the notices for clarity. Netizens have, however, said that the wording of the notices was very clear and that they did not believe it was a misunderstanding on the part of the clinic.
Many criticised the doctor for turning away anyone at all during this period.
The World Health Organization has named the coronavirus that has infected people in China and other countries, COVID-19.
As of Wednesday (Feb 12), there are 47 confirmed cases in Singapore. Nine patients have been discharged from hospital. Seven of the 38 patients still in hospital remain in critical condition and in the intensive care unit. /TISG
Head of Pakistani militant organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Hafiz Saaed (2L) along with his newly formed political party Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek nominated candidate Chaudhry Saeed Ahmed (R), waves to supporters as he arrives for campaign meeting in Islamabad on July 21, 2018, ahead of the general election. - Pakistan will hold the general election on July 25, 2018. (Photo by AAMIR QURESHI / AFP)
by Kaneez Fatima
The alleged mastermind of a deadly attack on India’s financial capital over a decade ago has been jailed in Pakistan for nearly six years on separate terror charges, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Hafiz Saeed was found guilty of “being part of a banned terrorist outfit” and for “having illegal property”, his lawyer Imran Gill told AFP.
He is wanted in India for allegedly planning the shocking 2008 attack in Mumbai, when 10 Islamist militants armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and other weapons killed 166 people and injured hundreds more.
It took the authorities three days to regain full control of the city.
Lawyer Gill gave no details about Saeed’s conviction apart from saying he would be kept in prison in the eastern city of Lahore.
The firebrand cleric — declared a global terrorist by the United States and United Nations, and with a $10 million bounty on his head — is the leader of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa Islamist charity.
Its militant wing Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is believed by Washington and Delhi to be responsible for the Mumbai attacks.
India has long said there is evidence that “official agencies” in Pakistan were involved in plotting the attack — a charge Islamabad denies.
– Move at will –
Saeed has denied involvement, but has spent years in and out of varying forms of detention in Pakistan, sometimes under house arrest, on various charges.
For the most part he has been free to move at will around the country, enraging India which has repeatedly called for his prosecution.
His most recent arrest came in July last year. At the time, US President Donald Trump tweeted that he had been detained “after a ten-year search”, prompting derision from cynical Pakistanis.
The US Foreign Affairs Committee also noted then that Saeed had been arrested and released eight times since 2001.
Islamabad, which is widely believed to use jihadist groups such as LeT as proxies against India, has long been under international pressure to crack down on militancy.
Saeed’s jailing comes as Pakistan faces potential blacklisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) — an anti-money-laundering monitor based in Paris — for failing to combat terror financing.
“There was nothing to the case really, this was just due to pressure from the FATF,” his lawyer Gill told AFP.
The court’s judgement, seen by AFP, did not specify which banned terrorist group Saeed belonged to or clarify what it meant by “illegal property”, which can refer to money or other property.
There was also no immediate comment from the JuD group, and coverage of the sentence was muted on Pakistani news channels.
Saeed’s sentence came days after a leading member of the Pakistani Taliban, former spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, escaped custody more than two years after surrendering to authorities.
He has released an audio statement claiming to be in Turkey.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (Photo: Screengrab from YouTube)
Political ad spending is surging for the US election, with digital campaigns — led by Facebook — accounting for nearly one-fifth of the total, researchers said Wednesday.
A report by eMarketer predicted total campaign media spending jumping 63 percent from four years ago to $6.89 billion, attributing the rise to the “intensity” of the presidential race as well as many congressional contests.
The forecast for the 2019-2020 election cycle covers spending on federal, state and local ads, including political action committee ads for candidates and lobbying activities.
Political ad spending, which is generally highest during presidential campaigns, is likely to be a record, according to eMarketer.
“The highly partisan political environment is driving more Americans to donate money to their preferred candidates than in past election seasons, which in turn is funneling more money into advertising,” the eMarketer report said.
Television will account for the largest share of political advertising at $4.5 billion or 66 percent of the total, taking away some dollars from print and radio, the survey found.
“Despite cord-cutting and declining viewership, TV still offers strong reach, particularly among older Americans who are likely to vote,” said eMarketer analyst Eric Haggstrom.
Digital political ad spending meanwhile is expected to grow more than 200 percent from the past presidential election to $1.34 billion, and will account for 19.4 percent of the total.
“One of the key benefits of digital advertising over TV is its targeting capabilities,” Haggstrom said.
“Granular demographic, audience and list-based targeting allows political advertisers to efficiently reach the right people with the right message.”
Facebook is expected to take in nearly 60 percent of digital dollars, according to eMarketer, with 18 percent for Google and 22 percent for other online services.
“Facebook offers reach, targeting capabilities and ease of use that appeal to political advertisers,” Haggstrom said.
“Candidates can more quickly and easily send ads to potential supporters compared with TV or radio. In a competitive election, timeliness, efficiency and relevancy are incredibly important.”
Online platforms have faced pressure to curb political misinformation — including from candidate ads — but have taken different approaches.
Twitter has banned all political candidate ads and Google has placed limits on “microtargeting” of specific demographic groups, while Facebook has taken a mostly hands-off approach to political advertising.
Most of the money spent on Google is for YouTube video ads, according to eMarketer.
“YouTube is popular because campaigns can run the same or similar ads that they are running on TV, while reaching a different audience,” Haggstrom said.
Bernie Sanders won New Hampshire’s high-stakes Democratic primary on Tuesday, according to US network projections, leaving rivals including party stalwart Joe Biden in his wake as he staked his claim to challenge President Donald Trump in November.
Sanders, the flag-bearer for the party’s progressive wing, had 26 percent of votes with most of the count complete in the northeastern state, where he routed Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“Let me take this opportunity to thank the people of New Hampshire for a great victory tonight,” Sanders told cheering supporters after NBC and ABC called the result in his favor.
“This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump,” the senator from neighboring Vermont added as raised the roof with his rallying cry for fairer taxes and health care reform.
Indiana ex-mayor Pete Buttigieg finished in second place at 24 percent as he readied for the more difficult battlegrounds ahead.
“Now our campaign moves on to Nevada, to South Carolina, to communities across our country. And we will welcome new allies to our movement at every step,” he said.
Midwestern moderate Amy Klobuchar maintained a late surge to place third on about 20 percent, while liberal Elizabeth Warren finished in fourth at about nine percent.
Trump weighed in, tweeting: “Bootedgeedge (Buttigieg) is doing pretty well tonight. Giving Crazy Bernie a run for his money. Very interesting!” Trump tweeted.
After months atop the pack, Biden had already conceded he expected to do badly in New Hampshire, as he did a week earlier in Iowa — and the former vice president’s worst fears were beginning to materialize as he languished in fifth with just over eight percent.
The performance will be a body blow to the 77-year-old Biden, who has failed to generate the fundraising numbers or the enthusiasm levels of his rivals for the top spot on the Democratic ticket.
White House hopefuls had been seeking clarity in the Granite State after the first-in-the-nation Iowa count devolved into chaos, with Sanders and Buttigieg eventually emerging neck-and-neck.
For tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, that meant facing reality and bowing out after they failed to make an impact on Tuesday.
“You know I am the math guy, and it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race,” Yang said.
– ‘Not the closing bell’ –
The 78-year-old Sanders went into the race as the newly anointed national frontrunner and was expected to win New Hampshire.
Buttigieg’s camp will be happy with a solid result that could provide voters on the fence with much-needed reassurance after he won narrowly in Iowa.
The Afghanistan veteran is languishing at 10 percent in the latest national polls and has negligible support among African-Americans in upcoming states with more diverse populations.
Pundits believe this vital constituency will start to take a serious look at Buttigieg, a virtual unknown a year ago, after his impressive top-two finishes in the opening races.
Klobuchar’s popularity in New Hampshire surged after a strong debate on Friday, moving her ahead of Warren, whose performance will do nothing to revitalize a wounded campaign.
Warren admitted to MSNBC the result was a disappointment but insisted: “This is going to be a long primary process.”
“The question for us Democrats is whether it will be a long, bitter rehash of the same old divides in our party, or whether we can find another way,” she said later.
Biden, apparently seeing the writing on the wall, canceled a primary-night party and was in South Carolina as the results came in.
“We just heard from the first two of 50 states. Two of them. Not all the nation, not half the nation, not a quarter of the nation,” he told supporters.
“Now, where I come from, that’s the opening bell — not the closing bell.”
– ‘Dramatic shift’ –
The day had begun under a light snowfall. Voters at a Boys and Girls Club in the state capital Concord received paper ballots and used either voting booths curtained by red, white and blue plastic or tabletop voting spots to make their choice.
Mike Schowalter, a 39-year-old conservative, said he voted for Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist who critics complain is proposing a health care overhaul and other sweeping ideas that are too expensive.
“It does seem kind of strange, but I do think a lot of stuff going on in our country right now is a bit broken,” Schowalter told AFP. “I think he’ll get us talking.”
Buoyed by his strong start, Sanders has emerged as the national Democratic frontrunner with 25 percent support, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll that described his surge as a “dramatic shift.”
Biden has skidded from 26 to 17 percent support since the end of January.
Significantly, the survey also showed billionaire Michael Bloomberg vaulting into third place on 15 percent — suggesting a possible upset when New York’s former mayor, who is skipping the first four nominating contests, throws himself fully into the race.
Competing for the support defecting from Biden, Bloomberg is focusing on Super Tuesday on March 3, when 14 states vote — spending a record $260 million of his personal fortune on his campaign.
Japanese car giant Nissan on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit to reclaim some 10 billion yen ($90 million) from former chairman Carlos Ghosn for what it called “years of his misconduct and fraudulent activity”.
The 65-year-old faces multiple charges of financial misconduct in Japan but fled to Lebanon before he could face trial. He denies any wrongdoing.
Nissan said the damages had been calculated on the basis of the cost to the firm of Ghosn’s “corrupt practices”.
It accused Ghosn of “the use of overseas residential property without paying rent, private use of corporate jets, payments to his sister, payments to his personal lawyer in Lebanon”.
It said the amount was likely to rise and added that the company would also seek to sue Ghosn for “groundless and defamatory remarks” he made when he briefed the media in Lebanon.
Once hailed as a corporate saviour for rescuing Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy, Ghosn was facing a trial in Japan over a series of alleged crimes, including under-reporting his compensation to the tune of around $85 million.
Ghosn spent more than 100 days in detention in Japan after his sudden November 2018 arrest, but launched an audacious escape plan while out on bail in Tokyo and managed to travel to Lebanon apparently undetected.
He believes Nissan turned on him because executives there were concerned he was moving the firm closer to French partner Renault, part of a three-way alliance with Mitsubishi Motors.
Markets in Asia-Pacific rose on Wednesday following another positive lead from Wall Street with investor sentiment mixed about the immediate and long-term impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
The virus, officially named COVID-19 on Tuesday, has spooked markets around the world, having killed more than 1,100 people and infected tens of thousands since it emerged in central China at the end of last year.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 0.7 percent higher, while Shanghai ended the day up 0.9 percent.
In afternoon trade elsewhere, Hong Kong put on 1.0 percent, Sydney gained 0.5 percent and Singapore rose 1.2 percent.
Seoul, Taipei, and Wellington were also higher.
The positive morning following fresh record closes by the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq in New York on Tuesday.
“Despite the doom and gloom being shown in the real economy, Asian equity markets are a sea of green today. COVID-19 fears have been shrugged off, with regional markets preferring to follow Wall Street’s lead,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia-Pacific at OANDA.
“Unfortunately, seas of green are often associated with algal blooms, which tend to suffocate all life in the water within them. The rallies of the past two days should be approached with caution.”
– Crude recovery –
Traders reacted positively to cautious comments from the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the new coronavirus — which has spread to more than two dozen countries and has been declared a global health emergency.
The Fed boss told Congress members on Tuesday that the central bank was closely monitoring the virus and that its impact could spill over to the world economy, but the assessment was not as gloomy as many had expected.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, is looking to recover momentum after authorities extended the Lunar New Year break in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
But millions of people remain in lockdown in many cities, where transport has also been severely restricted — disrupting supply chains for key industries, including smartphones and cars.
There are expectations that Beijing will introduce major stimulus policies to offset the hit to the economy.
There are concerns about how that will impact not only China’s overall economic growth, but also the bottom lines of many multinational firms.
The production lines of major auto makers such as GM and Hyundai have already been disturbed, and there is fear that airlines and the hospitality and tourism sectors will also take a hit.
Many countries have imposed travel bans and quarantine requirements, and major carriers have suspended or dramatically cut back on flights to and from mainland China.
Aviation consultancy Ascend by Cirium said this week that the impact on the industry could be worse than during the 2002-03 SARS outbreak.
After tumbling on fears of decreased demand from China, the world’s largest importer and consumer of oil, crude prices continued their recovery.
Both main contracts were up on Tuesday, with Brent Crude rising 1.8 percent and West Texas Intermediate gaining 1.3 percent.
– Key figures at 0715 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 23,861.21 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 1.0 percent at 27,862.05
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 2,926.90 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at 1.0903 from $1.0918
Pound/dollar: DOWN at 1.2955 from $1.2968
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.16 pence from 84.19 pence
Dollar/yen: FLAT at 109.85
Brent Crude: UP 1.8 percent at $54.97 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.3 percent at $50.60 per barrel
New York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 3,357.75 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.1 percent at 9,638.94 (close)
New York – Dow: FLAT at 29,276.34 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 7,499.44 (close)
Four local doctors have released a memo advising Singaporeans to always wear a mask when leaving the house. Their letter is a direct contradiction to the Ministry of Health’s advisory.
With a letter that has been circulated on social media and Whatsapp since it was released on Monday (Feb 10), doctors Colleen Thomas, Tham Hoe Meng, Judy Chen and Lim Pin Pin have drawn mixed reactions from netizens.
Their memo, titled ‘Health advisory from senior medical practitioners to Singaporeans’, states that they advise “everyone to wear a mask always when leaving home”. This is because, they add, “If one faces a person and both parties are masked, it is considerably safer, constituting a 2 barrier protection”.
Masks have been out of stock in most pharmacies and shops, after Singapore went into Dorscon (Disease Outbreak Response System Condition) Orange mode.
To work around this, the four doctors urge people to find creative solutions. They wrote that some have purchased washable cloth masks, sewed masks, constructed them with suitable paper or even tied a scarf to their faces. “These measures are better than no mask at all”, they write in their memo.
Photo: Fb/ Derrick Sim -Concerned Citizens Band Together for a better Singapore
Memo directly contradicts authorities’ advise
The Ministry of Health and ministers have advised that it is not necessary to wear a mask unless one is ill. On Thursday (Jan 30), Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, who is co-chair of the multi-ministry task force for combating the Wuhan outbreak, said that “The current rate of consumption of masks in Singapore is not sustainable… especially with the global shortage and the likely export bans”.
Similarly, also on Jan 30, Dr Janil Puthucheary explained that the government initiative of distributing a pack containing four surgical face masks to every household is for emergency purposes only.
“What we’re going to do is we’re going to make sure that every home, every household in Singapore gets a pack with four surgical masks in it,” said the Minister. “We’re hoping that the residents won’t open it and use it right away.”
He then explained that the masks are to be used by those who feel unwell and need to visit a doctor. “When you go to see the doctor, the polyclinic, the hospital, you’ll be given another mask, as many masks as you need,” he added.
In their memo, the four doctors wrote, “We are not trying to disclaim the health authorities who have a very challenging task; but professionally we feel the need to disseminate this message”.
They also add that any unnecessary mingling should be avoided and that people should stay home and avoid air-conditioned places.
“If we all do this 2M rule (wear Mask, stop Mingling) in 2 weeks the worst could be over” they wrote.
TISG has reached out to the Ministry of Health. -/TISG
