Letter exchange between PM Lee and DPM Heng who steps aside as 4G leader
DPM Heng Swee Keat announced that he is stepping aside as the 4G leader to make way for a younger leader with a longer runway to lead Singapore in a post-COVID world. Here’s the letter reproduced in full: Dear Prime Minister, More than 2 years ago, the fourth generation (4G) PAP leadership chose me to […]
Singapore in talks with pharmaceutical companies to manufacture vaccines and therapeutics out of Singapore: Chan Chun Sing
Singapore is in discussions with several pharmaceutical companies to manufacture vaccines and therapeutics (V&Ts) out of Singapore, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said. He was responding to a parliamentary question from Member of Parliament for Yio Chu Kang, Yip Hon Weng. Mr Yip asked how Singapore is facilitating the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines […]
We were prepared to initiate legal proceedings to protect our position: Edwin Tong
“Our national songs hold a special place in the hearts of Singaporeans. MCCY takes any challenge to our proprietary rights and interests in our national songs and symbols very seriously, and we will take the necessary steps to protect them,” Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong said in […]
98% of people who book appointments turn up for vaccination; no wastage of vaccine: Janil
Close to 98 per cent of people who booked appointments for vaccinations in the last 30 days showed up for vaccination, Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary revealed in Parliament today, 5 April. This means to say that about 2 per cent of them did not show up for their appointments. Of those […]
Mufti Nazirudin welcomes updates on tudung; exchanges letters with PM Lee
The Mufti of Singapore welcomes updates from the government on a likely shift in allowing Muslim nurses to wear the tudung at the workplace. In a letter to PM Lee that is dated 27 March, the Mufti Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir expressed Muis’ deep appreciation of the opportunity to ‘continuously provide feedback and inputs on many […]
Singapore is second most attractive city to build data centres: Arcadis
The Arcadis Data Centre Location Index 2021 ranked Singapore the second most attractive city to build data centres, out of a total of 50 cities. In first place is the US. Demand for data infrastructure was already sky-high before 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a massive surge in internet traffic. This is largely […]
Higher PWM basic wage for cleaners; 3% year-on-year increase till 2022
Cleaners used to be one of the lowest-paid jobs in Singapore with no prospects to earn more. All that changed with the Progressive Wage Model. Introduced in 2012, Singapore’s Progressive Wage Model is a skill and productivity-based approach to redesigning jobs and restructuring wages in a sustainable way. It is mandatory in the cleaning industry […]
Class size reduction: who wants to be a teacher?
Everyone loves a small class. In Australia, the student-teacher ratios fell from 25-to-1 in 1964 to 14-to-1 in 2015. Most of the fall occurred in the 1960s and 1970s as unions and school reformers pushed for smaller classes. Did the fall in the student-teacher ratios in Australia schools lead to the expected improvement in students’ […]
HSBC economist says Singapore is in an ‘enviable’ financial position
Following DPM Heng Swee Keat’s delivery of the Emerging Stronger Together Budget, HSBC economist Joseph Incalcaterra said on CNBC that Singapore tends not to disappoint when it comes to fiscal policies because Singapore is in an ‘enviable’ financial position. It is able to spend liberally to get itself out of the crisis thanks to fiscal […]
Emerging stronger together; making hard choices for the future generation
“To emerge stronger from this crisis, we must not only tackle current challenges but also have a strategic plan for our future. But this entails making hard choices,” DPM Heng Swee Keat said. Budget 2021 – Emerging Stronger Together – comes at a particularly critical juncture. The first hard choice The first hard choice involves […]