Singapore Morning News For May 16

Act that expands police powers comes into force on May 16
The new law that gives the police more powers to deal with serious incidents, like terrorist threats, will come into force on Wednesday (May 16), two months after it was passed in Parliament.
— The Straits Times

Deterrent punishments, including detention, for officers who engage in ragging: SCDF
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it has meted out “deterrent” punishments like detention for ragging activities, as it acknowledged the existence of such activities in the force.
— Channel NewsAsia

Singapore’s Sea More Than Doubles Losses on E-Commerce Spending
Sea Ltd., operator of Southeast Asia’s biggest gaming platform, said losses more than doubled in the first quarter on rising costs at mobile-shopping unit Shopee as it strives to lure more users with shipping and other promotions.
— Bloomberg

NetLink NBN Trust beats IPO earnings forecast
Singapore’s NetLink NBN Trust, the network company for Singapore’s next-generation national broadband network (NG-NBN), has beat its post-tax profit targets for the financial period between June 19 and March 31 by 10.8%.
— Telecomasia.net

Google adds third cloud zone in Singapore
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) has added a third zone in Singapore and introduced new services to the region.
— ZDNet

Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry highlights the role of SME in innovation
In the next phase of its development, Singapore must position itself as a global Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise in order to maintain a vibrant and competitive economy.
— Open Gov Asia

Continued efforts needed to address inequality: Singaporean education minister
Singapore should come up with more efforts to tackle inequality by developing more pathways in the education and training systems, the city-state’s Education Minister Ong Ye Kung told the parliament here Tuesday.
— Xinhua Net

Morgan Stanley’s Gardiner Has New Asean Favorite: Singapore
As investors in Southeast Asian equities deal with an onslaught of news including monetary policy decisions, the outlook for the U.S. dollar and geopolitical tensions, Morgan Stanley strategist Sean Gardiner has picked his favorite — Singapore.
— Bloomberg

Smart access system using facial recognition, digital ID under trial at Changi Naval Base
Security screening at Changi Naval Base could be faster and require 80 per cent less manpower in future, thanks to the Smart Base Access system, which uses facial recognition and video analytics to allow access.
— Channel NewsAsia (video)

HSBC Singapore launches fast online-only life insurance platform
HSBC Insurance (Singapore) has announced the launch of HSBC Insurance Online – offering one of the fastest online insurance application processes in Singapore.
— International Investment

Social stratification is starting to become entrenched: Ye Kung
THOUGH Singapore’s progress has created new problems and inequalities, universal welfare is not the solution, said Education Minister Ong Ye Kung during the debate on the President’s Address on Tuesday.
— The Business Times

Be bold, be wise to advance education in Singapore, says Ong Ye Kung
Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung on Tuesday (May 15) outlined Singapore’s next phase of education policies while stressing the need to be wise about “bold changes” as alluded to by President Halimah Yacob at the opening of Parliament last week.
— Channel NewsAsia

SMEs seeing productivity gains after tech, innovation push
SMALL and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are stepping up their investments in innovation and technology as part of their business transformation efforts – and they are reaping the fruits of their labour.
— The Business Times

Smart defence ideas on show at Digital Innovation Day
A visitor may be able to gain access to a military camp in future by just having his face and mobile phone scanned.
— The Straits Times

Employees and employers must stay relevant in evolving business environment: Ng Chee Meng
The best way to improve the lives of Singapore’s workers is gainful employment, in good jobs with good wages, said NTUC deputy secretary-general Ng Chee Meng on Tuesday (May 15) in Parliament.
— Channel NewsAsia

MPs call for inclusive growth and help for more low-wage workers
The vulnerabilities of low-wage and elderly workers as well as freelancers and women featured strongly in Parliament on Tuesday (May 15), with several Members of Parliament, including heavyweights from the Labour Movement, speaking up on the second day of debate on the President’s Address.
— Today Online

SCDF ragging culture well-known
It appears that ragging culture in the Singapore Civil Defence Force has a long history and is something that takes place at all fire stations in Singapore.
— Mothership

Labour MPs outline steps to boost workers’ employability in face of digitisation
Several MPs from Singapore’s labour movement spoke on Tuesday (May 15) on the issue of jobs being potentially lost to digitisation, as they debated the President’s Address in Parliament.
— Channel NewsAsia (video)

Singapore reveals ‘digital sandbox’ for defence innovation
Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) is using the Republic of Singapore Navy’s eastern Changi Naval Base (CNB) as its first Live Digital Testbed (LDTB) to support the experimentation of new digital application or technologies that could eventually result in deployable solutions that improve the day-to-day operations of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) as well as the ministry.
— Janes

Three women arrested in anti-vice operation along Middle Road
Three women were arrested along Middle Road on Monday (May 14) for their suspected involvement in vice-related activities, said police.
— Channel NewsAsia

Feature photo Salmiac

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Singapore morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Singapore news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Singapore Morning News For May 16 added by Leakhena Khat on May 16, 2018
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Leakhena Khat

Leakhena is a junior journalist at AEC News Today who is also currently studying International Relations, which she finds adds perspective to her work reporting on the Asean Community.

“I love what I am doing so much as it gives me a lot of great experience and provides challenges to my mind.