FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2019
Life
DIY
fancy
nails
D2
Job vacancies shrink
as firms turn cautious
amid slowdown
More staff put on temporary arrangements
to reduce costs, but retrenchments fall
Joanna Seow
Manpower Correspondent
There was no spike in layoffs de-
spite the economic slowdown, but
job seekers faced a tougher slog in
the first half of this year.
The number of job openings de-
clined amid uncertainties, and the
citizen and resident unemploy-
ment rates inched up, according
to the latest labour market data re-
leased by the Ministry of Man-
power (MOM) yesterday.
“Final data confirmed that em-
ployers are retaining their existing
workers despite economic head-
winds... At the same time, hiring
sentiments have turned cautious,”
the ministry said in its report.
The number of job vacancies de-
clined for the second consecutive
quarter to 47,700 in June, down
from 57,100 in March, after ac-
counting for seasonal variations.
This meant that for the first time
in more than a year, there were
fewer job vacancies than unem-
ployed people. In June, there were
94 vacancies for every 100 people
who were unemployed.
The softer job market made it
harder for residents to find a job
within six months of being laid off.
This re-entry rate fell to 60 per
cent in the second quarter of this
year, the lowest rate in at least
four years.
The seasonally adjusted unem-
ployment rate for Singaporeans
climbed for the third consecutive
quarter to 3.3 per cent in June, up
from 3.2 per cent in March.
For residents – Singaporeans
and permanent residents com-
bined – the rate was 3.1 per cent in
June, up from 3 per cent in March,
Opinion
while the overall rate was stable at
2.2 per cent in June. The June unem-
ployment figures are preliminary.
Retrenchments fell to 2,320 in
the second quarter, down from
3,230 in the first quarter.
Professionals, managers, execu-
tives and technicians continued to
make up the lion’s share of locals
who were laid off, at 77 per cent.
Companies appear to have been
turning more to temporary ar-
rangements to manage labour
costs, instead of letting staff go.
In the past three quarters, more
employees were placed on short
work-week or temporary layoff ar-
rangements, though levels were
much lower than during recession-
ary periods, MOM said in a techni-
cal note in its report.
There were 970 workers on such
arrangements in the second quar-
ter. A shorter work week is where
employees work fewer hours per
day or fewer working days per
week, while a temporary layoff is
where an employee is asked to
stop going to work for a short pe-
riod due to lack of work.
47,700
Number of job vacancies in June,
seasonally adjusted.
57,100
Number of job vacancies in March,
seasonally adjusted.
Implications of
cancelling
Amaravati
project
A21
During downturn periods, the
majority of those on these arrange-
ments were from manufacturing,
and tended to be production and
related workers, noted MOM.
Recruitment firm Manpower-
Group Singapore country manager
Linda Teo said the arrangements
allow employers to retain their
experienced talent and avoid addi-
tional recruitment costs when busi-
ness recovers.
“Employers should allow employ-
ees who are temporarily laid off
or working shorter weeks the flexi-
bility to find other employment to
supplement their incomes. Em-
ployees can use the time freed up
to learn the in-demand skills re-
quired for their role,” she said.
Meanwhile, foreign employ-
ment growth, excluding maids,
overtook local employment
growth for the first time in three
years. It was 11,600 in the first half
of this year, compared with local
employment growth of 5,300.
Observers said they expect the
labour market to continue soften-
ing, but at a gradual pace.
“Employers are waiting to see
whether the external macro head-
winds are going to pass with time,
They may worry that if they fire
people now, they may have more
difficulty hiring people again,” said
OCBC Bank head of treasury re-
search and strategy Selena Ling.
National Trades Union Congress
assistant secretary-general Patrick
Tay said in a Facebook post: “As
the labour market weakens, it
will be crucial for companies and
employers to partner the labour
movement and our affiliated
unions to upskill, reskill and sec-
ond-skill workers so that they stay
engaged, empowered, employed
and employable.”
joseow@sph.com.sg
SEE TOP OF THE NEWS A5
SINCE 1845
Top of the News
Haze issue hots up A4
World
Life on
another
planet? A20
Retail sales
Yip Pin Xiu a world champion again
down
1.8% in July
Takings at the till dropped for the
sixth straight month in July as con-
sumers continued to spend cau-
tiously amid a slowing economy.
Overall retail takings fell 1.8 per
cent compared with the same pe-
riod last year, according to Depart-
ment of Statistics data yesterday.
Most of the retail segments are
underperforming, with steeper
declines in discretionary items
such as jewellery, recreational
goods and computer equipment,
analysts noted. An increase in mo-
tor vehicle sales cushioned the
blow, while takings from food and
beverage services rose 3.2 per
cent compared with July last year.
SEE BUSINESS C1
Johnson plays
down Brexit
chaos report
The British government yester-
day downplayed its own assess-
ment that a no-deal Brexit could
cause food and medicine short-
ages, gridlock at ports and riots,
asserting that the six-page docu-
ment on Operation Yellowham-
mer preparations for a split from
the European Union outlined a
worst-case scenario.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
said the bleak scenario was “not
where we intend to end up”.
Separately, he received a boost
after a Belfast court rejected
claims that the British govern-
ment’s Brexit strategy will harm
Northern Ireland’s peace process.
SEE TOP OF THE NEWS A6
Nine years after her first world title, Yip Pin Xiu is finally a world champion
again. The 27-year-old Singaporean, who has muscular dystrophy, which leads
to progressive weakening of the muscles, clinched gold in the women’s 100m
backstroke S2 event at the World Para Swimming Championships in London 70 PAGES IN SIX PARTS
on Wednesday night. She finished in 2min 18.61sec, more than 20 seconds $1.10
ahead of runner-up Aly van Wyck-Smart of Canada (2:39.27), and while it was To subscribe:
far off her world record of 2:07.09, Yip was still thrilled. She said: “I have been 6388-3838
sphsubscription.com.sg
swimming for 15 years now, but every victory is special to me and recognition
A Singapore
for all the hard training I do.” Her next event is the 50m backstroke S2 today. Press Holdings
PHOTO: MARC MORRIS/SPORTSNEWSAGENCY SEE SPORT C10 publication
MCI (P) 069/01/2019★★
A2 BRIEFING
10
must-reads
for today
1 More protests coming
Hong Kong activists plan to
combine pro-democracy
protests with Mid-Autumn
Festival celebrations this
weekend, targeting the airport
and Mass Transit Railway
shopping malls, among other
places. WORLD A10
2 Fewer job openings in S’pore
There were fewer job openings in
the first half of this year, according
to the latest labour market data
released by the Ministry of
Manpower yesterday. But there
was no spike in layoffs despite the
economic slowdown, confirming
that employers are retaining their
existing workers despite
headwinds. TOP OF THE NEWS A1
3 US delays China tariff hike
The trade war between the United
States and China is showing signs
of a slight detente ahead of next
month’s talks. US President Donald
Trump has announced that he is
delaying a tariff hike by two weeks
as a gesture of goodwill, while China
is also considering whether to allow
renewed imports of certain
American agricultural products.
TOP OF THE NEWS A8
Pro-China supporters holding flags and singing the Chinese national anthem at a shopping mall in Hong Kong yesterday. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
4 China imposes travel curbs
Beijing has imposed restrictions on
travel by retired senior officials
to “Five Eyes” countries for family
reunions or sightseeing,
ostensibly convinced that the
intelligence-sharing alliance
between the United States, Canada,
Britain, Australia and New Zealand
seeks to contain China. WORLD A14
5 Past stymies S. Korea future
South Korea’s attempts to create a
more competitive economy have
faltered due to its past. Seoul’s
brawl with arch-rival Japan is a
prime example of how old baggage
stymies progress, says journalist
William Pesek. OPINION A22
6 PMD rider fined $3,500
Compliance executive Yeo Eng
Koong, 53, fell backwards and
fractured her skull after a rider on
a personal mobility device almost
collided into her. Tham Chee Boon,
36, was fined $3,500 on
Wednesday for causing grievous
hurt to Madam Yeo by riding his
e-scooter in a negligent manner in
Woodlands last year. HOME B1
7 Key roles in urban planning
The Government will continue to
lead urban planning efforts here to
tackle issues such as climate
change. But to build Singapore into
a better, greener and more liveable
city, it will also need help from
urban planners and other
stakeholders in the private sector,
National Development Minister
Lawrence Wong said yesterday.
HOME B2
8 $45m investment in training
Singtel will invest $45 million over
the next three years in training
programmes to help its 12,600 local
employees stay ahead in the digital
economy. It also signed a
memorandum of understanding
with the Union of Telecoms
Employees of Singapore to form a
committee that will organise these
training programmes. BUSINESS C1
9 Not a shoo-in for All Blacks
Former England international
Brian Moore does not buy the
notion that two-time defending
champions New Zealand are
overwhelming favourites for the
Rugby World Cup starting in Japan
next week. Besides the All Blacks,
South Africa, England, Wales and
Australia are potential winners of
“the most open World Cup”, he told
The Straits Times. SPORT C9
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
10 Singer ‘sorry’ for pose
Sam Willows singer Benjamin
Kheng apologised on Wednesday
after drawing flak for posing in
a magazine photo shoot as if he
was aiming a gun at himself. In a
Facebook post, he said the photo
shoot had required him to portray
Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, and
added that suicide should not be
glamorised. LIFE D10
Brian Moore (in white) coaching
youth at the Singapore Cricket Club’s
Dempsey Field yesterday.
ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
Straits Times
Digital
REACH US AT
Newsroom:
6319-5397/5206/5210
Website:
www.straitstimes.com
Facebook:
www.fb.com/thestraitstimes
Twitter: @STcom
Instagram: @Straits_Times
Telegram: TheStraitsTimes
VIDEO
Hangout with ST
We talk to national athlete
Jonathan Chan, the first
Singaporean diver to qualify
for the Olympic Games. Other
topics include the viral
picture of a national service
recruit named Imran, and the
recent Women’s Boot Camp.
https://str.sg/hangout81
VIDEO
Hunt for Phuket fugitive
A major police manhunt in
Phuket is under way after
Norwegian Roger Bullman,
who had been charged with
manslaughter and trespass
over the death of British
national Amitpal Singh Bajaj,
skipped bail.
https://str.sg/bullman
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES | A3
A4 TOPOFTHENEWS
Air quality may worsen if winds turn unfavourable, says NEA
The air quality in Singapore is ex-
pected to be similar to that of the
past few days, but if the winds turn
unfavourable, it might get worse.
In an advisory issued early yester-
day evening, the National Environ-
ment Agency (NEA) said that the
Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) for
the next 24 hours is forecast to be in
the moderate range.
However, the PSI might enter the
unhealthy range – the first time this
year – if the winds become un-
favourable and the haze situation in
Sumatra persists.
The one-hour PM2.5 concentra-
tion readings over the next 24
hours are forecast to be between
the normal and elevated bands.
Based on this, NEA said that
healthy people should reduce pro-
longed or strenuous outdoor physi-
cal activities.
The elderly, pregnant women
and children should minimise pro-
longed or strenuous outdoor physi-
cal exertion, while those with
chronic lung or heart disease
should avoid these activities.
People who are not feeling well,
especially the elderly and children,
and those with chronic heart or
lung conditions, should seek medi-
cal attention, advised NEA.
Haze in Woodlands and Kranji at
4.15pm yesterday. The air quality is
forecast to be in the moderate range
today. ST PHOTO: KHALID BABA
Mahathir to contact Jokowi
over transboundary haze
Air quality worsens amid
diplomatic dispute between
countries over cause of hazy skies
Trinna Leong
Malaysia Correspondent
In Kuala Lumpur
and Nur Asyiqin
Mohamad Salleh
Indonesia Correspondent
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad will write a letter to In-
donesian President Joko Widodo
about the ongoing transboundary
haze, as air quality continues to
worsen in his country.
Malaysia’s Minister of Energy, Sci-
ence, Technology, Environment
and Climate Change Yeo Bee Yin
said: “I spoke to Prime Minister and
he agreed to write a letter to Presi-
dent Jokowi to draw his attention on
the issue of haze crossing borders.”
Mr Joko is popularly known as
Jokowi.
Speaking to reporters in Johor, Ms
Yeo defended her remarks on Face-
book citing data from the Asean
Specialised Meteorological Centre
(ASMC) which showed that the haze
impacting parts of Malaysia origi-
nated in Indonesia.
“As environment minister, I hope
the Indonesian government will
increase their machinery to battle
forest fires in Kalimantan and Suma-
tra,” she said. “We hope Indonesia
will be responsible for the fires in
their own country.”
The ongoing haze led to a diplo-
matic dispute after Indonesia’s Envi-
ronment and Forestry Minister Siti
Nurbaya Bakar told Indonesian local
media that Malaysia had sent a
protest letter accusing the country
of causing the haze.
Malaysia’s Ambassador to Indone-
sia Zainal Abidin Bakar clarified with
national newswire Bernama that it
was not a protest letter, but an offer
to assist with combating forest and
agricultural fires in Indonesia.
Ms Siti Nurbaya also denied Ms
Yeo’s statements that the haze had
come from Indonesia, eliciting a re-
sponse on Ms Yeo’s Facebook page
on Wednesday night.
“Let the data speak for itself,” Ms
Yeo wrote. “As for her claim that the
haze is from Sarawak, just look at the
wind direction. How is it logically
possible?” Her question was accom-
panied by a link to the ASMC web-
site showing its forecast for prevail-
ing winds from the south-east or
213
south-west.
Yesterday, the number of hot
spots in Kalimantan rose to 1,188
The highest Air from the 474 recorded the day be-
Pollution Index fore, according to ASMC, a collabora-
reading tion between member countries’ me-
recorded teorological services. Sumatra had
yesterday, in 431, up from 387.
Klang, Selangor. In Malaysia, five hot spots were de-
tected, down from seven.
The highest Air Pollution Index
(API) reading recorded yesterday
was in Klang, Selangor, in an area
called Johan Setia, where the API
reached 213, in a range classified as
very unhealthy. Five schools in the
area were ordered to close yester-
day, and 29 schools in Selangor have
been ordered to close today.
Nationwide, there were over a
dozen locations with API readings at
unhealthy levels of 101 to 200.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Clima-
tology and Geophysics Agency
(BMKG) maintained its claim that
forest fires in Indonesia were not
the main culprit of the haze blan-
keting parts of Malaysia.
Yesterday, its chief, Dr Dwikorita
Karnawati, said smoke from Suma-
tra had been detected entering
Malaysia at 8am on Wednesday, but
had stopped by 4pm. Since then,
satellite data showed no haze from
Sumatra crossing the Strait of
Malacca into Malaysia, she added.
She said fires have been detected
in Thailand, the Philippines, Papua
New Guinea, Vietnam and Timor-
Leste since the start of this month.
BMKG predicts that hot spots and
haze may persist until the middle of
next month due to the dry season in
Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Smoke continues to thicken and
visibility has plummeted in many
parts of Indonesia. Yesterday, some
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
Row between
ministers draws
mixed reactions
KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA • The diplomatic row be-
tween the environment ministers of Malaysia and
Indonesia has elicited mixed reactions from neti-
flights out of Banjarmasin, the zens of both countries as to who is at fault for the
capital of South Kalimantan, and hazy conditions.
Pangkalan Bun in Central Kaliman- As more Malaysians head to pharmacies to stock
tan were delayed for hours due to up on N95 face masks while the Air Pollution Index
smoke-clogged skies.
Mr Hendi, who works for low-cost
climbs, tensions between government officials
have also escalated with back-and-forth arguments.
airline Wings Air and goes by one Malaysia’s Energy, Science, Technology, Environ-
name, said: “This morning, haze was ment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin, cit-
so thick at the airport in Pangkalan ing data from the Asean Specialised Meteorological
Bun that visibility was just 200m.” Centre (ASMC), has said that the haze in the coun-
More than a thousand students try originated from Indonesia’s Kalimantan and
held an outdoor protest outside Sumatra, where more than 1,600 hot spots were de-
the office of the Riau governor yes- tected yesterday.
terday, with three having to be According to ASMC, most of the fires were lo-
rushed to the hospital because of cated in peatlands – indicating that such fires were
breathing problems. occurring on agricultural land.
However, Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry
ltrinna@sph.com.sg Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar denied that Malaysia’s
asyiqins@sph.com.sg haze came from Indonesia, asserting instead that
the haze came from Malaysia itself.
According to Kompas news, Ms Siti Nurbaya said:
“The smog that entered Malaysia, to Kuala Lumpur,
is from Sarawak that spread to Peninsular Malaysia
and perhaps some was from West Kalimantan.”
She added that Ms Yeo’s explanation should have
been more objective.
Angered by the annual haze, netizens in Malaysia
lauded Ms Yeo’s swift remarks on Facebook to de-
bunk Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Minis-
ter, posting that the data spoke for itself and “minis-
ter Siti Nurbaya should not be in denial”.
On Facebook, Ms Yeo’s account was filled with
mostly positive comments. One user, Eskay Tan,
wrote: “Our minister got all the facts. Not shooting
(from) the hip.”
But while many praised Ms Yeo for sticking to
data, others also called for immediate action to
tackle the root causes of the haze and to provide so-
lutions to ease air conditions.
“It is a no-brainer on the source ever since it (the
haze) became an annual occurrence a decade ago.
A more relevant question now is, what are we going
to do about it?” Facebook user Phui San posted in
the comments section.
Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of
palm oil, with plantations in Kalimantan and Suma-
tra accounting for 96 per cent of the country’s palm
oil production.
The persistent hot spots reported by ASMC corre-
late with regions known for oil palm plantations.
On social media, not everyone was angered over
the situation, with some netizens poking fun at min-
Above: Students ister Siti Nurbaya’s comments.
with masks “Kalimantan also belongs to Sarawak. Her claim is
at a school in correct,” Hastomo Tommy said on Facebook.
Puchong, Ms Siti Nurbaya also faced a mix of support and
Selangor, ridicule back home.
yesterday. Some, like Facebook user Dwi, backed the minis-
Nationwide, there ter’s claim that haze from Malaysia came from the
were over a country’s own forest fires.
dozen locations “They are turning a blind eye to what is happen-
with Air Pollution ing in their own forests. Indonesia is an easy target.
Index readings at Yes, we have hot spots, but that doesn’t mean we
unhealthy levels should be the only one blamed,” she wrote.
of 101 to 200. But the Indonesian minister’s comments did
PHOTO: REUTERS not go down well with others, who called her an
“embarrassment”.
“That is enough, Bu. Let’s just resolve our forest
fires. It is hard to dispute our neighbour’s accusa-
tions if our forests are still burning,” said Twitter
Left: Tugboats
and ships user akta_ID.
moored in hazy Perhaps the best solution to the ongoing debacle
conditions on was summed up by Facebook user Judy Lam.
the Musi River in “Perhaps the annual fires will stop when the In-
Palembang, donesian capital is moved to Kalimantan.”
South Sumatra,
yesterday. Trinna Leong and Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh
PHOTO: AGENCE
FRANCE-PRESSE SEE FORUM B10
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
Construction,
service sectors
behind rise in
foreign hires
Foreign workforce growth outpaces local employment
growth for first time in three years, MOM data shows
Joanna Seow
Manpower Correspondent
More locals had jobs in the first half
of this year, but the pace of employ-
ment growth slowed.
Meanwhile, the number of for-
eigners employed here, excluding
maids, grew at a faster pace and
overtook the growth in local em-
ployment for the first time in three
years, according to data released
by the Ministry of Manpower
(MOM) yesterday.
Local employment grew by 5,300
in the first half of the year, down
from 20,900 in the second half of
last year, and 6,500 a year ago.
The growth was in sectors such as
community, social and personal ser-
vices, professional services, finan-
cial and insurance services, and in-
formation and communications,
said the ministry.
Foreign employment, excluding
maids, grew by 11,600 in the first
half of this year, up from 10,500
in the second half of last year and
400 a year ago. MOM attributed this
mainly to growth in the service and
construction sectors.
More than half of the increase, or
6,400, was from work permit hold-
ers. There were also 3,200 more em-
ployment pass holders.
The total workforce growth, ex-
cluding maids, slowed in the first
half of the year to 16,900, down from
TOPOFTHENEWS A5
Companies could
be turning to
foreigners
because of a
skills shortage
among locals in
areas such as
nursing, and
information and
communications
technology, said
an economist.
ST FILE PHOTO
Labour market softens
31,400 in the second half of last year,
which MOM said had been boosted
by the festive season.
Economist Selena Ling, head of
treasury research and strategy at Fewer job openings than Lower rate of re-entry Slower growth in
OCBC Bank, said companies could unemployed people into employment local employment
be turning to foreigners because of a
skills shortage among locals in areas Ratio* Rate (%) Employment change ('000)
such as nursing, and information 1.40 100 60
and communications technology. Foreign*
0.94 59.9%
“It is probably a reflection of some 11,600
1.20 80 30
of the flexibility given for employing
specific type of niche talent in cer-
tain industries,” she said. 1.00 60 0
She added that a calibrated ap-
proach is needed. “If you restrict Local
labour too much in sectors that are 0.80 40 -30 5,300
still growing, there is a risk it might
backfire if some of those activities
0.60 20 -60
also close or shift offshore.”
DBS senior economist Irvin Seah June June June June June Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1 H1
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
said that another reason could be ris-
ing wages for locals, which could NOTE: *Seasonally adjusted ratio of job NOTE: Data refers to share of NOTE: *Excludes foreign domestic workers
lead companies to prefer foreigners vacancies to unemployed people. residents retrenched two quarters
earlier who found work within six
for lower-skilled jobs. months. For example, the re-entry
He said it is worrying that the rate for Q2 of 2019 refers to residents Source: MINISTRY OF MANPOWER
faster growth in foreign employ- retrenched in Q4 of 2018. STRAITS TIMES GRAPHICS
ment comes on the back of the slow-
ing employment growth in the ser-
vice sector, where many locals work. expected in both outward-oriented The hiring outlook in the manufac- other hand, added 2,800 workers in
The Government’s move to raise and domestic-oriented segments, turing sector, which employed the first half of the year.
the service sector Dependency Ra- supported by demand for enterprise 4,700 fewer workers in the first half The ministry said construction
tio Ceiling, which caps the propor- information technology solutions of the year, is likely to remain cau- output is likely to see a turnaround
tion of foreigners a company can em- and payment processing services, as tious due to weak global demand this year after three consecutive
ploy, over the next two years “is well well as the ramping up of operations for semiconductors. years of contraction, which should
justified in the light of what we are in healthcare facilities. However, the aerospace and food support employment growth in
seeing now”, he added. The sector added 19,000 work- and beverage manufacturing seg- the sector.
MOM said employment growth in ers in the first half of the year, ex- ments should continue to do well.
the service sector, going forward, is cluding maids. The construction sector, on the joseow@sph.com.sg
A6 TOPOFTHENEWS | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

British government Risks of a no-deal Brexit

What could occur in a reasonable worst-case scenario as assessed by

downplays report on the British government in Operation Yellowhammer.

MAJOR CONCERNS

‘worst-case’ Brexit MASS DELAYS AT PORTS

PM Johnson also denies misleading Queen
about his motives for suspending Parliament
LONDON • The British government
insisted yesterday that its forecast
of food and medicine shortages,
gridlock at ports and riots in the
streets after a no-deal Brexit is an
avoidable worst-case scenario.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
also denied misleading Queen Eliza-
beth II about his reasons for sus-
pending Parliament just weeks be-
fore the country is due to leave the
European Union.
In better news for the embattled
British leader, a Belfast court re-
jected claims that his Brexit strat-
egy should be ruled illegal because
it harmed Northern Ireland’s
peace process.
Mr Johnson took office in July
vowing to get Brexit done on the
scheduled Oct 31 date – “do or die”,
even if there is no divorce deal to
smooth the way.
But many lawmakers, campaign-
ers, economists and businesses fear
that a no-deal Brexit would be eco-
nomically devastating. Lawmakers
forced the government to publish
its official assessment of the impact
of leaving the EU on Oct 31 without
a divorce agreement.
The six-page classified docu-
ment, dated Aug 2, said Customs
checks meant the number of trucks
crossing the main freight route be-
tween Calais and Dover would drop
by between 40 per cent and 60 per
cent within a day of a no-deal
Brexit, with disruptions possibly
lasting up to three months. The sup-
ply of certain types of fresh foods
and essential medicines would de-
crease, prices would go up and poor
people would be hit hardest, it said.
The paper also described major
disruption for travellers between
Britain and the EU, uncertainty for
United Kingdom citizens living in
Europe, and said attempts to main-
tain an open border between Ire-
land and Northern Ireland would
probably fail.
It also said that a no-deal exit
could trigger major protests and
even riots. But Mr Johnson insisted
the bleak scenario was “not where
we intend to end up”.
“This is a worst-case scenario
which civil servants obviously have
to prepare for, but in the last few
months, and particularly in the 50
days since I have been Prime Minis-
ter, we have been massively acceler-
ating our preparations,” he said.
Opposition politicians said the
“Operation Yellowhammer” docu-
ment – the government’s code
name for its Brexit preparations –
proved that Mr Johnson is reck-
less to consider leaving the EU
without a deal.
The government refused to com-
ply with another part of Parlia-
ment’s demand – that it hand over e-
mails and texts among officials and
aides discussing the government’s
decision to suspend Parliament in
the run-up to the Brexit deadline.
The order to release the Yel-
lowhammer document was one of a
series of blows to the government
from opposition lawmakers and
rebel Conservatives.
They also passed a law that orders
the government to seek a three-
month delay to Brexit if no agree-
ment has been reached by late next
month, and rejected Mr Johnson’s
call for a snap general election.
Then on Tuesday, Mr Johnson
suspended Parliament for five
weeks until Oct 14, sparking out-
rage among legislators and several
legal challenges.
The UK Supreme Court is set to
consider next week whether the
shutdown should be reversed, after
conflicting rulings in lower courts.
Last week, the High Court in Lon-
don said the decision was inher-
ently political and “not a matter for
the courts”.
But Scotland’s highest civil court
ruled on Wednesday that the shut-
• Up to 85 per cent of British lorries
not ready for Customs checks.
• Flow rate reduced to
40 per cent to 60 per cent of
current levels.
• Possible two-day delays for lorries
at the border.
down was illegal “because it had the
purpose of stymieing Parliament”.
Mr Johnson insists he suspended
Parliament so that he can launch a
fresh domestic agenda at a new ses-
sion next month.
He said he had “absolutely not”
misled the Queen – whose formal
approval was needed to suspend
Parliament – about his motives.
In Northern Ireland, claimants
had argued that a no-deal Brexit
would undermine agreements be-
tween the British and Irish govern-
ments that were struck during the
peace process.
A no-deal Brexit could lead to the
return of a hard border between the
MEDICAL LOW-INCOME PUBLIC SOCIAL IMMIGRATION
UK’s Northern Ireland and EU mem- SHORTAGES GROUPS DISORDER CARE DELAYS
ber Ireland. An open border is cru-
cial to the regional economy and • It could • Low-income • Protests and • Impact on adult • Delays likely
underpins the peace process that impact groups will be counter-protests will social-care providers for UK arrivals
supply of disproportionately take place. due to increasing and departures
ended decades of sectarian vio- medicine affected by any staff and supply at EU airports
lence in Northern Ireland. • There may be more
and medical price rises in food public disorder and costs may lead to and ports.
Judge Bernard McCloskey ruled equipment. and fuel. community tension. provider failure.
that the “claim and counterclaim, as-
sertion and counter-assertion, alle-
gation and denial, blow and counter- ENERGY COSTS FOOD SUPPLY
blow” of the raging Brexit argu-
ments belonged in the world of poli- • Possible price • Decrease in
tics, not law. If the claimants appeal FISHING increases for consumers. fresh food
RIGHTS • Some energy providers supply, price
against the ruling, the case could join rises, reduced
the two other legal challenges to Mr • Disputes could exit the market,
could flare exacerbating the choice, risk of
Johnson’s Brexit plans before the economic and political panic buying.
up in fishing
Supreme Court next week. waters. impacts.
Mr Johnson said yesterday that
he was “working very hard” to
strike a new deal with the bloc after
the agreement made by his prede-
cessor Theresa May was rejected IRISH BORDER PETS AFFECTED
three times by Britain’s Parliament. • No-checks policy at Irish border would • Vet medicine supply
Mr Johnson’s envoy David Frost be unsustainable due to economic, legal could be affected.
has been holding talks in Brussels and biosecurity risks. • Potential
this week, but no breakthrough has • Could lead to a black market at border detrimental impacts
been made, and the EU said it is still communities, with dissident groups for animal health and
waiting for firm proposals from the expected to capitalise on the situation. welfare, and the
UK. “The UK has not proposed any environment.
alternatives and anything that has
been legally credible and work-
able,” European Parliament presi-
dent David Sassoli said yesterday.
The bloc’s chief Brexit negotia-
tor, Mr Michel Barnier, told re-
porters that “we are still ready to ex-
amine objectively any concrete and Source: AFP
legally operational proposals from PHOTOS: AFP
the UK”. ASSOCIATED PRESS STRAITS TIMES GRAPHICS

Dominic Cummings: Britain the Red Teaming approach

of the United States military, which
simulates crises in order to test the

Political master resilience of the system.

And he frequently complains
about the inability of the civil ser-

or evil genius? vice to grasp the importance of

Jonathan Eyal
Global Affairs Correspondent
In London
Britain seems to have not one, but
two prime ministers.
The first is Mr Boris Johnson, who
came to power only in July in a
blaze of publicity.
But if commentaries in the
British media are to be believed,
there is another leader lurking in
the background, a shadow prime
minister, a man who courts no pub-
licity but is supposedly just as pow-
erful – Mr Dominic Cummings, Mr
Johnson’s chief assistant.
Those who love Mr Johnson –
and particularly those who, like
him, believe that Britain should
cut all ties with the European
Union as quickly as possible – love
Mr Cummings as well. The two are
seen as indispensable partners, a
sort of “power bundle”.
But to many politicians and com-
mentators in London, Mr Cum-
mings is Britain’s current evil ge-
nius, a dark horse, a schemer with
tentacles everywhere. His face is
now even emblazoned on an anti-
Brexit Game Of Thrones-themed
poster. It comes complete with
the warning of “Winter is Cum-
mings”, of course.
Mr Cummings is certainly both in-
telligent and gifted; his is probably
one of the most original minds in
Britain at the moment. But, like a
lot of other clever people, his obses-
sions also contain the germs of his
own destruction.
At one level, he comes across as a
typical supporter of Britain’s ruling
Conservative Party, which is domi-
nated by people of money and privi-
lege. He was educated at Durham
School – one of Britain’s oldest and
grandest private boarding establish-
ments, where yearly tuition fees
start at £30,000 (S$51,000) – and
completed his education at the
equally elitist Oxford University,
where he received a degree in an-
cient and modern history.
He also married well. His wife is
Ms Mary Wakefield, a senior jour-
nalist at the Spectator, a Conserva-
tive venerable weekly news maga-
zine. She is also a descendant of
Earl Grey of the tea fame, and her
parents still live in a castle.
Yet, in every other respect, Mr
Cummings is out of the ordinary.
The son of an oil rig project man-
ager and a special needs teacher,
the 47-year-old never gave himself
superior airs and graces, and, unlike
his peers, initially showed little in-
terest in politics. While Mr John-
son, his current boss, joined every
debating society at Oxford and
missed no opportunity to dress up
in the finest of suits, Mr Cummings
had little interest in fripperies, but
earned a first-class honours degree.
His favourite attire is a grey T-
shirt and a pair of loose combat fa-
tigue-style trousers more appropri-
ate for a walking holiday.
When he first appeared dressed
like that at 10 Downing Street, the of-
ficial residence of the British prime
minister, on the afternoon of July
24, together with Mr Johnson, who
had just been to see Britain’s Queen
Elizabeth II to get his appointment,
civil servants thought Mr Cum-
mings must be a maintenance man
called in to fix the wiring.
And as the Prime Minister’s top
adviser with an office just next to
him in Downing Street, he contin-
ues to have the same dishevelled
appearance.
Behind it hides a man with a
fierce intellect and a burning ambi-
tion to complete what he sees as
Britain’s ultimate liberation – the
country’s separation from the Euro-
pean Union.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) with Mr Dominic Cummings, who was behind the government’s move to suspend
parliamentary debates and the one who came up with the idea of calling early elections. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Mr Cummings earned his fame
during the 2016 referendum on
Britain’s membership of the EU,
when he co-founded the Vote
Leave campaign. Initially, few gave
him any chance: Supporters of
Britain’s continued EU member-
ship were assumed to be in the lead,
and by a large margin.
But it was Mr Cummings who in-
vented the “Vote Leave, Take Back
Control” slogan of the Brexit cam-
paign. It was a simple, easily under-
stood message which destroyed the
“remain” camp.
How could Britain’s political class
argue against the idea that people
should resume control of their
own affairs?
It was also a slogan which in-
stantly transformed what should
have been a technical campaign
about the merits of economic
growth within the EU into an oppor-
tunity for the electorate to defy the
political establishment.
And it stunned the world with its
success. When the results of the ref-
erendum were announced, Mr Cum-
mings famously punched the air so
hard and high that he damaged the
ceiling of his office.
In not more than two
months from now, we will
know if Mr Cummings’
latest wheeze succeeds,
whether he is formally
crowned as Britain’s top
political spin-master or
whether he will join the
scrap-heap of many other
false prophets.
Yet, there was more to that vic-
tory than just a good slogan. For Mr
Cummings is a believer in data ana-
lytics, in the ability of clever soft-
ware and clever minds to mine
large quantities of seemingly dis-
parate data in order to map out
policies which work and political
messages which gain support.
Vote Leave, his umbrella orga-
nisation during the EU referen-
dum, spent no less than 40 per
cent of its campaign budget on just
data mining.
And, armed with data, the Vote
Leave campaign also spread some
big untruths, such as the claim
that, once out of the EU, Britain
would be able to spend “£350 mil-
lion a week” on other national prior-
ities such as healthcare.
That was a straightforward lie,
and one that was exposed as such
during the referendum campaign.
But as Mr Cummings understood
from his data spreadsheets, for vot-
ers ready to be persuaded, the mes-
sage was more important than facts.
Most political advisers who suc-
ceed in gaining power tend to sit
back and enjoy it. Not Mr Cum-
mings, however, who continues to
burn brightly with an ambition to re-
form Britain.
All his writings – many of which
are published in his blog – express
disdain for Britain’s civil servants
and for the entire class of rulers in
“SW1”, the postal code in central
London where all government de-
partments are based.
He castigates what he perceives
as the institutional inability of the
British state to deal with current
problems. He wants to introduce in
science and technology as keys to
Britain’s future.
For him, most of Britain’s civil
servants are simply useless, unfit
for purpose.
“Everyone thinks there is some
moment, like in a James Bond
movie, where you open the door
and that is where the really good
people are, but there is no door,” he
once remarked.
He praises China for its “massive
innovation ecosystem” and for “in-
tegrating principles into effective
action”. And he bemoans the “lack
of proper scientific thinking in pol-
icy analysis” which allegedly af-
flicts Western governments.
For the moment, however, his big-
gest task is to advise Prime Minister
Johnson on how to pull Britain out
of the EU as quickly as possible.
And, again, Mr Cummings is do-
ing so in unexpected ways. He was
behind the government’s unusual
move of suspending parliamentary
debates for five weeks, in the hope
of silencing its opponents.
And it is Mr Cummings, with the
aid of his data modelling and his
game theories of applying mathe-
matical models in order to map out
the responses of various sectors of
the British public, who has come up
with the idea that Mr Johnson
should call early elections in order
to consolidate his rule.
In not more than two months
from now, we will know if Mr Cum-
mings’ latest wheeze succeeds,
whether he is formally crowned as
Britain’s top political spin-master
or whether he will join the scrap-
heap of many other false prophets.
Characteristically, however, Mr
Cummings appears unperturbed by
his latest gamble.
He already knows what he will
do if he finds himself out of office –
undergo the surgery he had
planned for months, but which had
to be postponed in pursuit of his
mission to save Britain from those
nasty Europeans.
jonathan.eyal@gmail.com
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
TOPOFTHENEWS A7

Maid In your next Sunday Times

jailed for Michelle Ng

tries out
assaulting urban
abseiling from

employer’s an HDB block

Don’t try
Food&Drink
New entries in Bib
bedridden Gourmand list

mother Loo with

a view
this at
home
The 5 most
scenic
restrooms
here
She is caught on CCTV pinching
terminally ill woman while
caring for her in hospital ward

Cheryl Teh

A maid assaulted her employer’s

67-year-old mother repeatedly in
a ward at the National University
Hospital (NUH) as the woman lay
helpless with kidney disease, which
was in its terminal stages.
Myanmar national Lain Ngain,
28, was sentenced on Wednesday
to four months in jail for voluntar-
ily causing hurt to Madam Wee
Keu Hoi.
Lain Ngain started working in
Madam Wee’s home in September
2017 and was tasked to take care of
the older woman, who was bedrid-
den and in ill health from July 5 last
year until her death on Jan 23 this
year from a heart attack.
Lain Ngain had to look after
Madam Wee’s daily needs, includ-
ing feeding her, changing her
clothes and bathing her.
In December last year, Madam
Wee was hospitalised at NUH.
Madam Wee’s son – Mr Choo
Wee Seng, 41 – told Lain Ngain to at-
tend to his mother’s needs at the
hospital ward during visiting hours.
On the afternoon of Dec 31,
Madam Wee told her son that the
maid had hit her on several occa-
sions, including when Lain Ngain
visited her earlier at around 11am.
Mr Choo lodged a police report
two days later, stating: “My mum
is critically ill and unable to fight
back. The maid abused my mum
by pinching her left breast and caus-
ing bruises, and she also spat on
my mum’s face.”
Investigations by the authorities
confirmed that Lain Ngain was cap-
tured on closed-circuit television
pinching Madam Wee’s left breast,
left arm, left cheek and nose.
The maid claimed that Madam
Wee had thrown tantrums and in-
sulted her on several occasions
when she was taking care of her at
the ward.
This led her to pinch Madam Wee
in an attempt to stop the older
woman from throwing any further
tantrums.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Colin
Ng told the court that the case
involved an “utter betrayal of the
trust” placed in Lain Ngain to
care for the elderly and terminally
ill victim.
“The accused was callous and
cruel towards the victim, who had
to suffer at the hands of her abuser
even during the last few weeks
towards the end of her life,” said
DPP Ng.
“Instead of caring for the victim,
the accused took advantage of the
trust placed in her and hurt the very
person she was tasked to care for,
while the victim was helpless and
defenceless against her assaults,”
he added.
DPP Ng also urged the court to
send a strong signal to deter care-
givers from abusing the trust
placed in them to look after the vul-
nerable and elderly.
For voluntarily causing hurt, Lain
Ngain could have been jailed for up
to two years and fined up to $5,000.

tienli@sph.com.sg

Investigations by the
authorities confirmed that
Lain Ngain was captured on
closed-circuit television
pinching Madam Wee Keu
Hoi’s left breast, left arm,
left cheek and nose.
A8 TOPOFTHENEWS | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

Trump Chongqing party secretary meets DPM Heng

delays tariff
hike by two
weeks as
goodwill
Move gives negotiators breathing room
ahead of next month’s US-China trade talks
Charissa Yong
US Correspondent
In Washington

The trade war has shown signs of a detente as the

United States and China took steps to ease tensions
with goodwill gestures that also benefited businesses
and consumers battered by months of tariffs.
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednes-
day that he was delaying a tariff hike by two weeks “as
a gesture of goodwill to China”.
China is also considering whether to allow renewed Chongqing party secretary and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Chen Min’er (left) yesterday evening met Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat,
imports of soya beans, pork and other American agricul- who hosted him to dinner at the Peach Garden restaurant at OCBC Centre. Mr Chen, a rising political star and protege of President Xi Jinping, is in Singapore on a
tural products, reported Bloomberg. four-day visit that ends today, on the invitation of Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing. During his visit, he called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and
Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, and also visited Changi Airport, PSA International, the Singapore Exchange and the National University of Singapore. Mr Chen also
told a regular news briefing yesterday that China wel- witnessed the launch of the international data channel between Chongqing and Singapore, the first dedicated point-to-point data link between China and
comed the US postponement of the tariff increase as a another country. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
goodwill gesture.
Possible Chinese purchases of US farm goods in-
cluded pork and soya beans, he added.
Chinese imports of farm products stopped last
month after trade talks broke down, devastating
American farmers who count China as their biggest
export market.
Body found in Outram flat;
The Trump administration is bailing out farmers –
many of whom helped elect him in 2016 and whose sup-
port he needs next year – with two aid packages to the
police probing unnatural death
tune of US$28 billion (S$38.5 billion).
The US was to have raised tariffs on US$250 billion of
Chinese goods from the existing 25 per cent rate to 30 Vanessa Liu the unit yesterday, no one an- He was described as tall and of
per cent on Oct 1. It will now go ahead on Oct 15. swered the door. A chain with a large build by neighbours, with sev-
The delay was made at the request of Chinese padlock secured the gate. eral saying that loud sounds from
Vice-Premier Liu He because the 70th anniversary of Neighbours were aware of the A handful of residents living on the TV could often be heard coming
the founding of the People’s Republic of China is on strong smell wafting through their the same floor told ST that the from the unit, and the door was of-
Oct 1 – the original date of the tariff hike, Mr Trump corridor at least a week before a stench became very strong while ten left ajar.
said on Twitter. body was found in a Housing Board the police were questioning them. Several residents also said that
The postponement follows China’s announcement flat in Outram on Tuesday. Mr Ken Ong, 39, who lives on the they last saw the man a week or two
a day earlier that 16 American products will be ex- Police called to Block 52 Chin same floor, said the smell was of ago, although one resident, who did A handful of residents
empted from tariffs, including anti-cancer drugs and in- Swee Road that night were seen “something rotting” and it was so not want to be named, claimed she living on the same floor
gredients for animal feed. leaving the flat with a metal pot and “unbearable” that he closed his saw him sweeping outside his flat told ST that the stench
Analysts saw Beijing’s move as an attempt to ease the a bag, according to Chinese-lan- door immediately after the police on Monday morning.
BIG GESTURE burden of the trade war on Chinese businesses and con- guage newspaper Lianhe Wanbao. finished asking their questions. ST understands that a couple with became very strong while
sumers, as well as an olive branch to Washington. The police said on Wednesday ST understands that the occu- four children had lived in the flat be- the police were
It was a big Mr Trump took the former view, saying on Twitter that they were investigating the pant of the unit was a man in his 20s fore moving out earlier this year. questioning them.
move. on Wednesday morning that China was being hit case as one of unnatural death. who moved in about three or four
People were hard by the tariffs, adding: “Supply chains breaking up When The Straits Times visited months ago and lived alone. liuxyv@sph.com.sg
as many companies move, or look to move, to other
shocked.
countries. Much more expensive to China than origi-
I wasn’t nally thought.”
shocked.
But I deal
He later said in the Oval Office that the tariff exemp-
tions were a “gesture”. “It was a big move. People were Ex-Indonesia
shocked. I wasn’t shocked. But I deal with them, and I
with them,
and I know
know them and I like them. And I hope we can do some-
thing,” he said.
president
them and I
like them.
Mr Trump announced the tariff hike – from 25 per
cent to 30 per cent – on Aug 23 in response to China’s
Habibie laid
And I hope
we can do
counter-tariffs on US$75 billion of US imports.
He also said that a further US$300 billion of Chinese
imports would be subject to a new tariff of 15 per cent,
to rest in
something. up from the originally planned 10 per cent rate. state funeral

’’
That set of tariffs was eventually split into two
tranches, with the first going ahead on Sept 1. The sec-
ond tranche is planned for Dec 15.
Talks are due next month, so the two-week delay JAKARTA • Former Indonesian presi-
U.S. means that negotiations could take place ahead of the dent B.J. Habibie, who allowed demo-
PRESIDENT hike, and potentially forestall it. cratic reforms and an independence
DONALD
TRUMP, Mr Gao said yesterday that American and Chinese referendum for East Timor follow-
on the tariff working-level teams will meet soon to prepare for the ing the ouster of dictator Suharto,
exemptions by next round of talks, adding that both sides were commu- was buried yesterday in a state fu-
the Chinese. nicating, but he did not give a date for the meeting be- neral with full military honours.
tween the top negotiators. Thousands of mourners lined the
SEE streets of the capital Jakarta to
OPINION A22 charyong@sph.com.sg watch the motorcade carrying the
body of Indonesia’s third president
to the Kalibata heroes’ cemetery.
Many called out the name of the
man whose presidency was the
shortest in modern Indonesian his-
tory but was transformative.
Dr Habibie died on Wednesday
at a Jakarta army hospital, where
he had been undergoing treatment
for heart problems since Sept 1.
He was 83.
President Joko Widodo led yes-
terday’s ceremony, attended by Indonesian President Joko Widodo saluting at the grave of former president B.J. Habibie at the Kalibata heroes’ cemetery
more than 700 government offi- in Jakarta yesterday. Mr Joko called Dr Habibie “a role model for all of the nation’s children”. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
cials, foreign diplomats and politi-
cians, including former presidents
Megawati Sukarnoputri and Susilo their condolences to his son, Mr Il- Singapore Senior Minister Teo abuses, dismantled restrictions on
Bambang Yudhoyono. ham Akbar Habibie, and his family. Chee Hean paid his respects to Dr the media and reformed politics to
“He is a true statesman, an ins- Writing in a letter, President Hal- Habibie after arriving in Jakarta for allow for free elections.
pirator, a scientist who believes imah Yacob said Indonesia has lost a a working visit on Wednesday. He also surprised Indonesians by
that without love, intelligence is leader who steered the country Dr Habibie was vice-president announcing in January 1999 a plan
dangerous,” Mr Joko said in a “with purpose and direction” during when he was tapped to lead Indone- to hold a referendum under United
speech. “He is truly a role model for its transition to democracy and after sia by Suharto as the military dicta- Nations supervision on self-deter-
all of the nation’s children.” the 1997 Asian financial crisis. tor’s 32-year hold on power crum- mination for East Timor – now
Dr Habibie was laid to rest along- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, bled in May 1998 during a student known as Timor Leste. East Timo-
side his wife of 48 years, Madam in his letter, said Dr Habibie had uprising and a devastating eco- rese voted overwhelmingly to split
Hasri Ainun Habibie, a medical doc- worked hard to stabilise the coun- nomic crash. Despite his reforms, from Indonesia.
tor who died in 2010. try in the wake of the crisis. “He also his presidency ended after only 17 “He gave us two options and now
Foreign leaders and diplomats of- pushed for greater regional auton- months in October 1999, when he East Timor is a free and indepen-
fered their condolences, including omy and decentralisation in Indone- withdrew from contention in the dent nation. Farewell, Mr Habibie,”
Packets of American soya beans at a soya bean exhibition in Shanghai last the American and British ambas- sia, with a view to uniting and im- presidential election. East Timor Prime Minister Taur
year. China is considering whether to allow renewed imports of soya beans, sadors in Jakarta. proving the lives of all Indone- During his term, Dr Habibie apo- Matan Ruak wrote on Twitter.
pork and other American agricultural products. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS Singapore leaders yesterday sent sians,” PM Lee said. logised for past human rights ASSOCIATED PRESS
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES | A9
A10
Activists plan another airport ‘stress test’
Series of lantern-carrying human
chains, sit-ins at various sites
slated for Mid-Autumn Festival
HONG KONG • Activists in Hong
Kong plan to combine their pro-
democracy protests with the Mid-
Autumn Festival celebrations this
weekend, targeting various places,
including the airport and shopping
malls at train stations.
The protest schedule includes an-
other in a series of “stress tests” of
the airport, which in recent weeks
has seen the blocking of approach
roads, street fires and the trashing
of a nearby subway station.
Protesters also jammed the air-
port arrivals hall last month, lead-
ing to cancelled or delayed flights
and clashes with the police.
The Hong Kong Airport Author-
ity obtained an injunction last
month which gives it the right to
clear protesters, except for those in
designated areas.
Activists also plan to gather out-
side the British consulate on Sun-
day to demand that China honours
the Sino-British Joint Declaration
that was signed in 1984, laying out
the former British colony’s future af-
ter its handover to China in 1997.
China says Hong Kong is now its
internal affair, while Britain says it
has a legal responsibility to ensure
China abides by its obligations un-
der the Joint Declaration. Hong
Kong returned to China rule under
a “one country, two systems” for-
mula that guarantees freedoms not
enjoyed on the mainland, including
an independent legal system.
The unrest was triggered by
planned legislation to allow extradi-
tions to China, but has broadened
into calls for greater democracy.
For the Mid-Autumn Festival to-
day, protesters have planned a se-
ries of lantern-carrying human
chains and sit-ins at subway shop-
ping malls and on the scenic Victo-
ria Peak, popular with mainland
tour groups, as well as on Lion
Rock, separating the New Territo-
ries from the Kowloon peninsula.
The police have, meanwhile, de-
nied the Civil Human Rights Front
(CHRF), the organiser of the June
16 march with a turnout of two mil-
lion people, permission for a mass
downtown march on Sunday.
“In previous marches applied for
by CHRF, participants, reporters
and police suffered serious in-
juries,” the police said in their re-
fusal letter to the group.
The government is also inclined
to cancel a fireworks display, usu-
ally held over Victoria Harbour on
Oct 1 to celebrate the anniversary of
the founding of the People’s Repub-
lic of China.
After assessing the risks amid the
protests, the government is likely
to cancel the event, broadcaster
TVB reported yesterday.
About 100 people from the De-
fend Hong Kong Campaign held a
rally outside the Court of Final Ap-
peal in Central yesterday, waving
the Chinese flag and signs that
read: “Police arrest people, the
courts release people”.
These pro-government protest-
ers demanded the resignation of
Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma, saying
judges were too lenient in granting
bail to those charged over the anti-
government protests, the South
China Morning Post reported.
Of the more than 1,300 people ar-
rested since protests erupted in
June, at least 191 people have been
charged with offences ranging
from assaulting police officers to ri-
oting. Among those charged, 164
have been granted bail. REUTERS
The government is also
inclined to cancel
a fireworks display,
usually held over
Victoria Harbour on
Oct 1 to celebrate the
anniversary of the
founding of the People’s
Republic of China.
Protesters singing Glory To Hong Kong at a mall in the city on Wednesday. The anonymously penned tune, which first
appeared on YouTube on Aug 31, has won a huge following among protesters. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Online protest song becomes rallying cry
HONG KONG • A defiant protest an-
them by an anonymous composer
has become the unofficial new
soundtrack to Hong Kong’s pro-
democracy protests, belted out by
crowds at flash mobs in malls, on
the streets and in football stands.
Most businesses staying put for now, survey shows
Grace Leong
Business Correspondent
While it may have become the
norm for people in Hong Kong to
step over broken glass, latte in
hand, to get to work, businesses will
not relocate from the city on ac-
count of the protests alone.
For such a move to take place,
there must be other push factors,
say most of the 120 businesses
polled by the American Chamber of
Commerce in Singapore and mar-
ket research company Ipsos.
At the same time, the survey re-
vealed that the ongoing protests
have tarnished Hong Kong’s reputa-
tion and will likely influence deci-
sions on future investment there.
For now, businesses are watching
how the situation unfolds.
“If I were a CEO of a corporate, I
won’t say this is the time to move be-
cause of the protests. But if people,
the place, or equipment or infra-
Glory To Hong Kong first ap-
peared on YouTube on Aug 31 and
has quickly won a huge following
among those pushing for greater
democratic freedoms in the city.
In less than a fortnight, the origi-
nal version has racked up more
structure you need to run the busi-
ness... are significantly impacted
negatively, then that would be the
premise to relocate. But it will be
done gradually,” said Ms Allison
Cheung, partner of corporate tax ad-
visory services for PwC Singapore.
Ms Cheung and two other busi-
ness representatives were speaking
yesterday about the survey, carried
out last month, on how the protests
have affected business sentiments
of member companies and their
longer-term strategies.
The poll found that 22 per cent of
firms with operations in Hong
Kong were considering moving cap-
ital out and 5 per cent had plans to
do so. Only 1 per cent planned to
move business functions, but 23
per cent were considering that op-
tion. When asked where the pri-
mary destination would be, more
than 90 per cent picked Singapore.
But it is premature for such deci-
sions to be made, said Mr Damien
Ryan, Teneo’s CEO, Asia-Pacific.
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
TOP DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL
CONTENDER TO TAKE ON
ELIZABETH WARREN IN DEBATE A18
than 1.3 million views, while multi-
ple copycat videos have been made
– including one featuring an entire
orchestra decked out in the hel-
mets, goggles and gas masks worn
by protesters.
Each night this week, protesters
“The capital markets of Hong
Kong are among the largest in the
world and significantly deeper than
Singapore or other markets in the
region... Plus, there are profes-
sional services firms, 70 interna-
tional law firms based in Hong
Kong and geared to service Chinese
companies under common law.
That is hard to dislodge.
“Further, there is no issue on
safety at the moment. The hot spots
for protests are confined to the
weekends and selective suburbs in
Hong Kong,” he added.
But Mr Ryan warned of potential
flash points in the coming months,
including China’s national day on
Oct 1, a policy address to be given
by Hong Kong Chief Executive Car-
rie Lam in the second week of Octo-
ber, district council elections in No-
vember and the school holidays in
December.
While it has become harder for
businesses to plan long term, many
are already deploying technology
JOE BIDEN
Pro-China
supporters
holding
national flags
yesterday
responded to
an online call
to stage a
patriotic flash
mob at the
International
Finance
Centre mall
in Hong Kong.
PHOTO:
ASSOCIATED
PRESS
have gathered at different malls
across the city for impromptu flash
mob concerts.
Yesterday, at lunchtime, there
were some scuffles between pro-
Beijing and anti-Hong Kong govern-
ment supporters at IFC mall, a
prominent skyscraper on the newly
reclaimed Central waterfront.
Pro-Beijing supporters arrived
with national flags and started belt-
ing out China’s national anthem,
March Of The Volunteers, while
anti-government protesters sang
Glory To Hong Kong, some of them
reading from scraps of paper with
the lyrics on them.
“For all our tears on our land/Do
you feel the rage in our cries,” the
song begins. “Rise up and speak up,
our voice echoes/Freedom shall
shine upon us.”
Little is known about the com-
poser, who gave himself the online
pseudonym “Thomas dgx yhl”.
Last night, protesters also gath-
ered at IFC and various other malls
in areas such as Sham Shui Po,
Causeway Bay and Yuen Long to
sing the song, and to demand that
all five of their key demands, includ-
ing an independent inquiry into al- SCAN TO
leged police misconduct, be met. WATCH
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Glory To
Lam has already withdrawn the con-
troversial extradition Bill.
Mr Christopher Chung, 22, said
Hong Kong:
protesters’
unofficial
he planned to sing the new protest anthem
song instead of China’s national an- https://str.sg
them. “I think the respect people /J4V6
pay when singing a national an-
them should come from one’s
heart, instead of using law and rules
to force people to respect it,” he
added. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
to cope, Ms Cheung pointed out.
“If operations are being signifi-
cantly impacted, they have to find
out which critical operations are af-
fected, what are the vulnerabilities
and what are the decisions to miti-
gate and preserve a strong brand im-
age,” she said.
Safety is always the biggest issue,
Ms Anupama Puranik of executive
search firm Russell Reynolds Asso-
ciates said. “I don’t think the trigger
will be pulled in the next six
months. But if things worsen, they
may have to make a decision on
what to do.”
The biggest potential trigger is
the “erosion of confidence” over
the formula that guarantees free-
doms to Hong Kong not enjoyed in
China, Mr Ryan said.
“If there’s greater evidence that
this no longer exists, that would be
consideration for businesses on
whether to relocate.”
gleong@sph.com.sg
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
WORLD A11

Diversity of North Koreans stage Mass-ive show for their leader

Philippines,
S’pore source
of strength,
says Halimah
President adds that diversity teaches values
of tolerance, magnanimity, understanding
Sue-Ann Tan She said: “It is all about bringing
In Manila quality products and services and
supporting both countries. We are Performers holding up cards to form a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a Mass Games performance titled “The Land of the People” at the
Asean neighbours, so as both coun- May Day Stadium in Pyongyang on Wednesday. The Mass Games performances, which North Korea has staged on and off for years under different names,
Both Singapore and the Philippines tries progress, people also progress typically feature thousands of schoolchildren and other youthful performers making synchronised moves in what is widely regarded as the biggest and most
are diverse societies, and this diver- and the quality of life improves.” spectacular entertainment for North Korean elites. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
sity can be a source of strength, said
President Halimah Yacob yesterday. suetan@sph.com.sg
She was speaking at a media
wrap-up session to conclude her
first five-day state visit to the Philip-
pines. The visit also marks the 50th
anniversary of bilateral relations be-
tween the two countries.
Madam Halimah said: “I’m a big
champion of diversity. I cannot
imagine a Singapore that is not di-
verse. If we look at Singapore and
the Philippines, (both) are diverse.
“Even if you are a homogeneous so-
ciety, you need to deal with the out-
side world. Today, it is a globalised
world and dealing with the world
means dealing with diverse people.
Your own experience tells you how
you can manage this process.”
She added that diversity teaches
societies the values of tolerance,
magnanimity and understanding.
“When you have a neighbour of a
different race or religion, there is a
process of accommodation. It helps
you build understanding, makes
you a better human being and
makes the whole society better.”
She noted: “There is a strength in
diversity and I hope it is something
we see globally – that people see it
as a value that they appreciate and
they want to have. That will make a
difference in this world.”
On Wednesday, she had a dialogue
with about 50 young people at Ate-
neo de Davao University in Davao
City. The dialogue provided a bilat-
eral platform to discuss issues, she
said, adding that this format can be
replicated in other Asean countries.
“The Asean countries’ objectives
are very simple: to be a prosperous,
stable, secure Asean, and to also
have that in the individual coun-
tries. Dialogue contributes to this
objective... by helping to promote
understanding between the differ-
ent faiths, ethnicities and provide
opportunities for people to... put
themselves in each other’s shoes.”
She added that besides dialogue,
concrete action is also necessary to
build inter-religious cohesion.
She also met more than 20 young
participants from Faiths@Work, a
regional network of people of differ-
ent religions who do good work,
such as helping a village in Manila
get access to clean water.
The President said: “When we
talk about interfaith harmony and
understanding, it is not just a ques-
tion of talking to each other, but hav-
ing such tangible projects that cut
across all barriers.”
Besides working together on
such social issues, Singapore and
Philippine businesses can also col-
laborate in areas such as infrastruc-
ture, agriculture, retail and digitali-
sation, she said.
“The Philippines has a young pop-
ulation that is very savvy with (mo-
bile) apps and e-commerce. This is
where our small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) also have the op-
portunities to go into the market.”
Madam Halimah brought up
Adera, a Singapore fintech SME
partnering a Philippine company to
develop e-payment solutions for
jeepneys, a mode of public trans-
port in the Philippines.
Both countries can also look for
collaboration opportunities in agri-
culture. She said: “I visited Davao
City, known as the food basket of
the Philippines, with many natural
resources in terms of vegetables
and fruit... One of the memoran-
dums of understanding that was ex-
changed ... was between Enterprise
Singapore and the Philippines’ De-
partment of Agriculture to look at...
exploring ways of collaborating in
agri-technology, for example.”
On Monday, Madam Halimah and
Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte witnessed the exchange of
eight agreements between their
countries’ agencies.
A12 | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES | A13
A14 WORLD
China tightens travel curbs to
Five Eyes countries: Sources
They say Beijing seeks to prevent retired senior officials
from being targeted by spy agencies of alliance nations
Benjamin Kang Lim
Global Affairs Correspondent
In Beijing
China has tightened travel by its re-
tired senior officials to Five Eyes
countries for family reunions or
sightseeing, The Straits Times has
learnt, ostensibly convinced that
the intelligence-sharing alliance is
seeking to contain it.
The tighter scrutiny and issuance
of travel permits for retired senior
cadres of the Chinese Communist
Party and central and local govern-
ments comes amid China’s pro-
longed trade and tech war with the
United States.
The Five Eyes refers to an intelli-
gence alliance between the United
States, Canada, Britain, Australia
and New Zealand.
The tightening, which has not
been publicly disclosed, is meant to
prevent thousands of such retirees
from being targeted, approached
and recruited by the spy agencies of
Mr Terry Gou
has until next
Tuesday to
Beijing, KL set up South China Sea dialogue mechanism
apply to run
in Taiwan’s
2020 election.
Terry Guo
quits KMT in
election jolt
for Taiwan
opposition
TAIPEI • Mr Terry Gou, the billion-
aire founder of iPhone assembler
Foxconn Technology Group, yester-
day threatened to throw Taiwan’s
presidential race into turmoil as he
took a key step towards running as
an independent.
Mr Gou withdrew from the oppo-
sition Kuomintang (KMT), a neces-
sary precursor to mounting a third-
party challenge against Taiwanese
President Tsai Ing-wen.
The move came despite a last- Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah (left) and Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi at their press conference
minute plea from senior KMT lead- following a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing yesterday. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
ers, including Ms Tsai’s predeces-
sor Ma Ying-jeou, for Mr Gou to
back their nominee and help return
the China-friendly party to power.
Mr Gou has until next Tuesday to
apply to run in the Jan 11 election.
Malaysians urge
“I know I’m doing the right thing,
something major that will turn
around Taiwan’s destiny,” Mr Gou
Queen to
said in a statement.
Mr Gou’s candidacy would shake
up Taiwan’s political landscape, un-
reactivate her
Twitter account
dercut KMT challenger Han Kuo-
yu’s effort to unseat Ms Tsai and po-
tentially weaken both dominant
parties. A three-way race could be a
hard-fought affair, with Ms Tsai
leading with 33.7 per cent of sup-
port, compared with 28.9 per cent
for Mr Han and 25.6 per cent for Mr
Gou, according to a survey released
on Tuesday by the Apple Daily
newspaper.
Since both Mr Gou and Mr Han
support closer ties with China, the
Foxconn founder could complicate
KMT’s bid to oust Ms Tsai and her
pro-independence Democratic Pro-
gressive Party.
Mr Gou has continued to publicly
flirt with the idea of a presidential
bid despite losing the KMT primary
to Mr Han in July. Mr Han said he re-
gretted Mr Gou’s move to withdraw
from the KMT.
Mr Gou has been sending signals
that he might mount an indepen-
dent run for weeks, although he will
still need to collect around 280,000
signatures to get on the ballot.
After assembling a campaign
team, he confirmed last month that
he was considering breaking from
the KMT for a standalone bid.
“This conservative, hidebound
party leadership is putting their
own interests ahead of their
party’s, and the party’s interests
ahead of the nation’s,” Mr Gou’s
spokesman, Ms Evelyn Tsai, told re-
porters yesterday. “Mr Gou won’t
miss this party.” WASHINGTON POST
these countries, said three sources
with direct knowledge of the matter.
“Retired senior cadres are espe-
cially vulnerable if their children
are studying, working or doing busi-
ness in Five Eyes countries,” one
source said, requesting anonymity.
Many find it hard to understand
the world’s second-biggest econ-
omy. The Communist Party is still
one of the most opaque political par-
ties in the world.
The curbs apply to cadres who
once held a rank equivalent to or
above a deputy director-general of
a department under the party, a
Cabinet ministry or provincial gov-
ernments.
A Beijing-based diplomat from
one of the Five Eyes countries dis-
missed the Chinese suspicions as
groundless. “Our laws do not allow
us to do that,” he said.
A Sydney Morning Herald report
last December has fuelled Chinese
suspicions that the Five Eyes na-
tions are seeking to contain China.
Spy chiefs from the five countries
PETALING JAYA • Malaysians are
rallying behind a campaign on Twit-
ter to get their Queen, Tunku Az-
izah Aminah Maimunah Iskan-
dariah, to reactivate her social me-
dia account amid speculation that
critical remarks from some users
had led her to abandon the account.
The beloved and social media-
friendly wife of the King, Sultan Ab-
dullah Ri’ayatuddin, is believed to
have deactivated her official Twit-
ter account @cheminahsayang on
Wednesday night.
Tens of thousands of Twitter
users yesterday expressed their sad-
ness and pleaded with Tunku Az-
izah to change her mind.
#AmpunTuanku was Malaysia’s
top trending hashtag early yester-
day, before it was overtaken by
#PermaisuriAgong.
“At a time of increasing racial po-
larisation and negativity, Tunku Az-
izah and Al-Sultan Abdullah have
been the beacon of national hope
and unity,” said Twitter user
Mikhail Hafiz.
Another user, Clarky, said: “I’m
coming from a state where we don’t
have royals, but having them as our
King & Queen is a true blessing.
They represent the unity of this
country, a symbol to unite us.”
met at a secure resort in Nova Sco-
tia in Canada in July last year and de-
cided to block Chinese tech giant
Huawei from supplying equipment
for their next-generation wireless
networks, the Herald said.
Huawei’s chief financial officer
Meng Wanzhou was arrested in
Vancouver last December for al-
legedly breaching US sanctions on
Iran. The daughter of Huawei
founder Ren Zhengfei, Meng has
been granted bail but faces extradi-
tion to the US.
“The Five Eyes is not just an intel-
ligence-sharing partnership,” a sec-
ond source said. “It seeks to contain
China and make Huawei collapse.
We need to take precautions.”
The move is also designed to pre-
vent too many such retirees from
settling down in those countries af-
ter parking their assets abroad.
Since President Xi Jinping de-
clared war on corruption in late
2012, more than 1.3 million party,
government and military cadres
have been punished. The Commu-
nist Party boasts more than 100 mil-
lion members.
About 100 People’s Liberation
Army generals have been purged
for corruption. The curbs do not
And another user, Hazim Hu-
saini, expressed sadness at the deac-
tivation of her account, saying: “We
already miss your updates and your
beautiful face on Twitter.”
Although no official statement
was given as to why the account
was deactivated, some Twitter
users speculated that it was the re-
sult of cyber bullying.
Tunku Azizah has been criticised
on social media for apparently tak-
ing too many photos during the pa-
rade on Merdeka Day, or Malaysia’s
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
cover the military, which has even
tighter travel restrictions.
It is unclear when the tighter scru-
tiny kicked in, or how stringent it is.
Retired senior officials are required
to seek approval to visit relatives in
any country or for sightseeing. Af-
ter returning to China, they must
hand in their passports to the gov-
ernment.
The State Council Information Of-
fice, which doubles as the Cabinet
and party spokesman’s office, had
no immediate comment.
It is unclear when the “In the future, it will be harder for
tighter scrutiny kicked in, retired senior cadres to travel to
Five Eyes countries unless it is for
or how stringent it is. official business and essential
Retired senior officials are travel,” another source said.
required to seek approval The anglophone Five Eyes al-
liance has expanded to include allies
to visit relatives in any like Germany and Japan to counter
country or for sightseeing. China’s growing international influ-
After returning to China, ence, according to a Reuters report.
In July, Hong Kong’s Chinese-lan-
they must hand in their guage Ming Pao newspaper re-
passports to the ported that Mr Qian Weiping, the
government. No. 2 official of China’s space pro-
gramme, was under investigation
for espionage after Russia’s intelli-
gence agency tipped China off that
his son was working for the US Cen-
1.3m
tral Intelligence Agency.
But China’s Defence Ministry
spokesman denied the report and
said Mr Qian was under investiga-
tion for corruption.
In addition to the party, Cabinet
More than this number of party, ministries and provincial govern-
government and military cadres ments, there are thousands of re-
have been punished since tired senior officials who had previ-
President Xi Jinping declared war ously worked in Parliament, state
on corruption in late 2012. universities and hospitals who
could potentially be targeted by for-
The Communist Party boasts
eign networks.
more than 100 million members.
blim@sph.com.sg
BEIJING • China and Malaysia have sions in the South China Sea had
agreed to set up a joint dialogue dropped.
mechanism for the disputed South Littoral states and China were
China Sea, the Chinese govern-
ment’s top diplomat said yesterday
after meeting Malaysia’s Foreign
committed to continue appropri-
ately handling the South China Sea
issue and jointly safeguard peace
Minister.
Recent Chinese naval deploy-
and stability there, said Mr Wang,
who is the Chinese government’s
ments in the strategic waterway,
through which over US$3.4 trillion
(S$4.7 trillion) worth of goods are
top diplomat. “To this end, our two
sides have agreed to set up a bilat-
eral consultation mechanism for
transported annually, have
reignited tension with Vietnam and
maritime issues, a new platform for
dialogue and cooperation for both
the Philippines. Malaysia, Brunei
and Taiwan also have competing
claims in the South China Sea.
sides,” he added.
Datuk Saifuddin, who referred to
Mr Wang as “my brother”, said the
Malaysia had been critical of mechanism would be led by the
China’s South China Sea position, two countries’ foreign ministries.
but has not been excessively out- “Our officers will be discussing
spoken recently, especially after the details, but I think this is one im-
China pumped billions of dollars portant outcome of the meeting to-
into infrastructure projects under day and also the 45 years of our
its Belt and Road Initiative. diplomatic relations,” he said.
Malaysia regularly tracked Chi- China is debt-heavy Malaysia’s
nese naval and coast guard vessels biggest trade partner and the coun-
entering its territorial waters, but tries have close cultural ties too.
China respects Malaysia and had In July, China and Malaysia re-
“not done anything that caused us sumed construction on a train
trouble, so far”, Defence Minister project in northern Malaysia, which
Mohamad Sabu said last month. is part of China’s Belt and Road
Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi plan, after a year-long suspension
told a news conference with and following a rare agreement to
Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifud- cut its cost by nearly a third, to
din Abdullah that this year, ten- about US$11 billion. REUTERS
Malaysia’s King,
Sultan Abdullah
Ri’ayatuddin,
with his consort,
Tunku Azizah
Aminah
Maimunah
Iskandariah,
during his
coronation on
July 30.
PHOTO: AGENCE
FRANCE-PRESSE
independence day, on Aug 31, with were screenshot and circulated on
some going so far as to say that she the Internet, yesterday issued a pub-
was “behaving like a small child”. lic apology, seeking forgiveness
In response, the Raja Permaisuri from Tunku Azizah for prior re-
Agong tweeted that she took photo- marks made about her. User Fir-
graphs with her phone during the daus Asraf had commented on the
Merdeka Day parade because she Queen’s popularity and tweeted
had been instructed to do so by the that he had been put off by her
King. posts on social media.
Screenshots of remarks made In a formal apology on his Twitter
against Tunku Azizah have made account, he said he regretted his ac-
the rounds on Twitter as well as tions and hoped that Tunku Azizah
other social media platforms. would accept his apology.
A Twitter user, whose tweets THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
WORLD A15

India hikes
National Akali
Dal president
Paramjeet Singh
Pamma (centre)
with supporters

fines under
of his political
party rallying
against India’s
new Motor
Vehicle Act in

new motor
New Delhi on
Sunday.
PHOTO: AGENCE
FRANCE-PRESSE

vehicle laws
But some states defer implementation or cut
penalties in move seen as appeasing people
Nirmala Ganapathy Rupani as saying.
India Bureau Chief States such as Telangana, Ra-
In New Delhi jasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh
and West Bengal have deferred im-
plementation of the law.
A new Indian federal law that has in- Road safety experts have out a very wrong message,” said Dr safety. There is nothing called traf- Taxi driver S. Neelambar noted: no longer afford to pay for a new
creased traffic fines tenfold has di- slammed the action by these states S. P. Singh, a senior fellow at the In- fic management. We are in an anar- “Lots of people are scared now. iPhone. “Dear @Apple, we Indians
vided the country over whether it even as they noted that fines alone dian Federation of Transport Re- chistic situation.” Many people are taking taxis be- have already sold our kidney to pay
will help rein in unruly motorists, could not solve India’s poor traffic search and Training. Meanwhile, those who support cause they don’t want to get fined the (traffic) fines. This time, you
even as some states, including record. Dr Singh added: “This new law is the new fines also have complaints, by the police.” have to take some other organ as
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “States are opting out or dragging good and bad. Fines are not a noting the long queues at booths The high fines have also led to nu- payment,” the post reads.”
base of Gujarat, have cut penalties. their feet in implementation. By re- panacea for road safety. We have to where mandatory pollution certifi- merous jokes on social media, with
The Motor Vehicle Act, amended ducing penalties, they are sending also focus on safe driving and road cates are issued for vehicles. one post noting that Indians could gnirmala@sph.com.sg
on Sept 1, increased fines sharply
for many violations.
Drink driving penalties have
been raised from 2,000 rupees
(S$39) to 10,000 rupees, riding a
motorcycle without a helmet from
100 rupees to 1,000 rupees and
new categories of violation have
been introduced, such as a
10,000-rupee fine for not making
way for emergency vehicles.
Some errant motorists have since
been fined large sums.
Mr Dinesh Madan was fined
23,000 rupees – more than the cost
of his motorcycle – for violating var-
ious rules, including riding without
a licence, insurance, helmet and a
mandatory pollution certificate for
the bike.
“My scooter has been impounded
and I am facing so many problems.
If I had the documents with me and
not at home, I wouldn’t be facing
such a big problem,” said Mr
Madan, who works in publishing.
“My fine wouldn’t have gone vi-
ral. I regret it... It has affected my
work. But hopefully, the fine
amount will come down as I can
show all my documents in court,”
he said, adding that many people
do not have such papers.
The police in the eastern state of
Odisha fined truck driver Ashok Ja-
dav 86,500 rupees for a series of vio-
lations, including carrying machin-
ery that exceeded the weight limit
by 18 tonnes and driving without a
licence.
Traffic police in Delhi fined truck
owner Bhagwan Ram around
140,000 rupees for violations that
included overloading the vehicle
and a lack of relevant paperwork.
Indian roads are often dominated
by unruly drivers who break traffic
rules with impunity due to lax im-
plementation while some traffic po-
lice officers are often willing to take
bribes to make violations go away.
Roads are also overcrowded –
with cars, motorcycles, buses, bicy-
cles and three-wheeler auto rick-
shaws all jostling for space.
Lane driving is mostly absent,
given that road infrastructure is
poor in many areas, with potholes
and other obstructions.
There are 500,000 road acci-
dents a year, resulting in a 2 per
cent hit to gross domestic product
due to the loss of life, according to
the government.
Last year, almost 149,000 people
were killed in road accidents.
Yet the new rules have triggered
a major backlash among Indians,
with protests breaking out in some
parts of the country.
While the federal government
has said that higher fines will lead
to better road discipline and fewer
traffic violations, state govern-
ments, including those run by the
ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, have
deferred their implementation or
have reduced fines in a move seen
as politically motivated in order to
appease people.
“We have taken a compassionate
and humanitarian approach and re-
duced fines,” the Times of India
quoted Gujarat chief minister Vijay

There are 500,000 road

accidents a year, resulting
in a 2 per cent hit to gross
domestic product due to
the loss of life, according
to the government. Last
year, almost 149,000
people were killed in road
accidents.
A16 | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES | A17
A18 WORLD | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

separate surnames, which Mr Abe

disagrees with.
Mr Abe had stuck out as the lone
dissenter to the idea at a
pre-election debate among party
leaders before the Upper House
election in July.
Dr Uchiyama said: “Bringing
Mr Koizumi into the Cabinet
means effectively blocking off
any criticism.”
The same point was made by
Dr Tosh Minohara, who chairs the
Research Institute for Indo-Pacific
Affairs, a think-tank. He noted how
the new defence chief – and former
foreign minister – Mr Taro Kono,
56, had been a vocal opponent of
Mr Abe’s stance on nuclear power.
“But after he entered the Cabinet,
he stopped talking about the issue
and became part of the team,” said
Dr Minohara. “It is a great tool
to shut down those who may
become an obstacle.”
The Asahi Shimbun, in an
editorial yesterday headlined
“Loyalty trumps scandal in Abe’s
selections for new Cabinet”, said:
“Koizumi, as a member of the Abe
Cabinet, will be tested on whether
he can maintain his political
integrity by showing a willingness
to continue criticising Abe’s
policies and behaviour.”
That said, Mr Abe has not shied
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (front row, centre) with members of his new Cabinet in Tokyo on Wednesday. Experts see Mr Abe as attempting to revise, for the first time in history, away from roping in those mired in
Japan’s pacifist charter by surrounding himself with those who are ideologically similar and by curbing dissent. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG scandal and controversy, if they
further his right-leaning agenda.
Education Minister Koichi
News analysis coverage is the appointment of Hagiuda, 56, had been implicated in
young political princeling Shinjiro two school scandals that had, at one

Conservative colours in
Koizumi, 38, whose star power has
drawn large crowds on the
campaign trail.
In this regard, his appointment
has been seen as a tactical public
point, sunk Mr Abe’s approval
ratings because of allegations of
nepotism and cronyism.
Mr Seiichi Eto, 71, the minister in
charge of promoting dynamic

Abe govt turn more vivid

As Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Japan PM’s determination to Abe unveiled his new Cabinet on
Wednesday, he vowed that his
revise Constitution given a boost team would spare no effort to
revise, for the first time in history,
with new right-wing Cabinet Japan’s pacifist Constitution.
Experts see Mr Abe, 64, as trying
to do so by surrounding himself
with those who are ideologically
similar and by curbing dissent, with
the Premier due to step down by
September 2021, after the end of his
third consecutive three-year term
as chief of the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP).
Walter Sim University of Tokyo political
scientist Yu Uchiyama told The
Japan Correspondent Straits Times: “The Cabinet has
been fortified by Mr Abe’s aides
In Tokyo and others with close ideologies, in
an attempt to lay the foundation for
amending the Constitution.”
But others, like Sophia University
political scientist Koichi Nakano,
were not convinced about the
effectiveness of such a strategy,
noting that “constitutional
revision” and “social security” –
the other top priority – have been
buzzwords bandied about by
the Abe government for years,
to little effect.
“Mr Abe may really want to revise
the Constitution, but having these
people is precisely the wrong way
of trying to do it,” he said.
“When he tries to consolidate
power by putting his ‘yes men’ in
important positions, the opposition
and the public will not trust the
LDP as a whole.”
What has received outsize
relations ploy to sweeten the
ground and sway members of the
public who are on the fence about
constitutional revision.
“Mr Koizumi has gained high
popularity, but his ability in
policymaking is still not yet clear.
This will be a meaningful test,”
Dr Uchiyama said of the new
Environment Minister, who
regularly tops public surveys as
the preferred candidate to succeed
Mr Abe as prime minister.
Dr Uchiyama saw another likely
reason behind Mr Koizumi’s
appointment: an attempt to get the
popular politician to toe the party
line and to bridge his and Mr Abe’s
yawning political differences.
Mr Koizumi had not supported
Mr Abe’s re-election as LDP leader
last year, instead backing the
rival bid of former defence chief
Shigeru Ishiba, whose party faction
has been sidelined in the latest
Cabinet reshuffle.
Furthermore, Mr Koizumi has
been vocal about policy issues such
as allowing married couples to use
engagement of all citizens, was a
radical right-wing student
activist who became a leading
figure of the influential Nippon
Kaigi lobby group.
Mr Isshu Sugawara, 57, the
Economy Minister, was once
implicated in a salacious scandal, as
had been Olympics Minister Seiko
Hashimoto, 54, who was accused
in 2014 of sexually harassing
Japanese male figure skater
Daisuke Takahashi.
The returning Internal Affairs
and Communications Minister
Sanae Takaichi, 58, who first held
the position from 2014 to 2017, has
had a history of visiting the
controversial Yasukuni Shrine, and
is known for putting political
pressure on the media over
unfavourable reporting.
The Mainichi Shimbun said in
its editorial: “There are no doubts
that the conservative colours of the
administration have become even
more vivid.”
waltsim@sph.com.sg

Seoul, Beijing
differ in reactions
TOKYO • South Korean media is
alarmed by Japan’s new-look Cabi-
net, unveiled on Wednesday, while
China is hopeful that bilateral ties
will continue to improve.
The different reactions by the
two North-east Asian neighbours,
which have long assailed Japan for
its wartime activities, underscore
the extent to which Tokyo’s ties
with Seoul lie in permafrost even as
its relations with Beijing thaw.
South Korean media is wary of
the Japanese Cabinet’s shift to the
right, noting how Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe has handpicked hawk-
ish allies for his team.
The South Korean media is espe-
cially concerned over Mr Abe’s se-
lection of alleged historical revi-
sionists, like Education Minister
Koichi Hagiuda, who might have
no qualms about whitewashing
Japan’s inglorious history of ag-
gression towards victims such as
comfort women from the coun-
try’s textbooks.
South Korean news station YTN
also slammed the reassignment of
Mr Taro Kono from foreign minis-
ter to defence chief, saying he has
previously “only shown enthusi-
asm in criticising South Korea”.
However, Mr Kono has won
praise in China, with Foreign
Ministry spokesman Hua Chuny-
ing telling a daily news confer-
ence that Mr Kono has “made
great efforts to promote the im-
provement and development of
Sino-Japanese relations”.
She added that China looks for-
ward to working closely with his
successor, Mr Toshimitsu Motegi,
so as to “jointly promote the con-
struction of Sino-Japanese rela-
tions that meet the requirements
of a new age”.
Walter Sim

Poll favourite Biden KNOWN CONTENDER

You go with what you know.

to face Warren in A lot of black voters know

Joe Biden. There’s power
in that and there’s loyalty
3rd Democrat debate in that.

Nirmal Ghosh
US Bureau Chief
In Washington

Former US vice-president Joe

tor Kamala Harris.
While the debate is not a “sudden
death” – all will be back for a fourth
round in mid-October – this one
could be a bellwether.
Mr Biden’s popularity is resilient,
’’
MR MICHAEL NUTTER, a former
Philadelphia mayor and a current
Democratic National Committee member,
on one reason for Mr Biden’s popularity.

Biden will face Senator Elizabeth
Warren for the first time in today’s
Democratic Party candidate debate
in Houston, Texas, with polls show-
ing the progressive Massachusetts
Senator gaining on him.
While there are still 14 months
left till the elections, the Demo-
cratic field has shrunk, and candi-
dates are beginning to come into
sharper focus.
The three-hour debate, set to
start at 8am Singapore time, comes
as Democrats are emboldened by
President Donald Trump’s dwin-
dling appeal.
A Washington Post-ABC News
poll published on Tuesday showed
that his approval rating among vot-
ing-age Americans had fallen to 38
per cent from 44 per cent in early
July. The poll also found Mr Biden
leading Mr Trump by 55 per cent to
40 per cent.
There will be 10 candidates on-
stage at the debate, and of these,
three are now seen as the strongest
contenders for the party’s nomina-
tion – Mr Biden, Vermont Senator
Bernie Sanders and Mrs Warren. A
possible fourth is California Sena-
but he has been looking increas-
ingly fallible, with questions persist-
ing over his age – he is 76.
A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/
Marist poll released on Wednesday
found that 75 per cent of registered
Democrats and Democrat-leaning
independents – a group that will be
pivotal in deciding the 2020 race –
now say they have a favourable im-
pression of Mrs Warren, up from 53
per cent in January. The percentage
of those with a negative impression
of her has gone down from 17 to 11.
She leads Mr Biden, who polled 71
per cent. But among all registered
voters, Mr Biden had the highest
favourability of 45 per cent, fol-
lowed by Mrs Warren at 41 per cent.
Mr Biden, who benefits – or not,
from the Republican point of view –
from his association with former
president Barack Obama, is also
popular among black voters, a criti-
cal but complex constituency.
Many black Evangelicals support
Mr Trump. More broadly among
those who support the Democratic
Party, there is a generational split.
The former vice-president has
the support of almost two-thirds of
black voters aged 65 and older, ac-
cording to a recent Morning Con-
sult poll. And among all age groups,
Mr Biden leads Mr Sanders by 41
per cent to 20 per cent.
“You go with what you know. A
lot of black voters know Joe Biden,”
Mr Michael Nutter, a former Phila-
delphia mayor and a current Demo-
cratic National Committee mem-
ber, told the journal Politico.
“There’s power in that and there’s
loyalty in that.”
Unlike his closest rivals, Mr Biden
is a centrist in a party that has
swung left even as the Republican
Party has swung to the right.
Mr Biden relates to individuals
and audiences across a broad spec-
trum. He has suffered personal
tragedy: the loss of his first wife and
a daughter in a car accident, and a
son to cancer. Coming from Scran-
ton, Pennsylvania, he can empathise
with blue-collar workers, though he
left the state a long time ago.
The polls show he is not only the
strongest contender to Mr Trump,
but he may do better or as well with
non-Democrats as with Democrats.
In short, he has better crossover ap-
peal than his opponents.
But in recent weeks, he has been
mixing up facts, and making off-
colour remarks – speculating, for in-
stance, on what would have hap-
pened if Mr Obama had been assas-
sinated, and telling a New Hamp-
shire audience: “I want to be clear,
I’m not going nuts.”
He has drawn scorn from Mr
Trump and raised eyebrows of ana-
lysts for downplaying the strategic
threat from China that is the centre-
piece of Mr Trump’s foreign policy.
Mr Joe Biden with an attendee at a
Labour Day picnic in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, on Sept 2. Despite leading in
polls, he has been looking more
fallible lately. PHOTO: NYTIMES
Others on stage at the debate will
be South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete
Buttigieg; entrepreneur, lawyer,
philanthropist and son of Tai-
wanese immigrants Andrew Yang;
former Texas congressman Beto
O’Rourke; Minnesota Senator Amy
Klobuchar; and San Antonio, Texas,
politician Julian Castro.
But it is Mr Biden, together with
Mrs Warren and Mr Sanders, who
will offer the clearest vision of the
party’s divisions and sense of unity.
nirmal@sph.com.sg
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
WORLD A19

Europe’s new executive

has a distinct French hue
ment of a Hungarian as commis- dent gambit to reassure European
Officials will ensure bloc defends its interests, sioner for the future enlargement parties opposed to immigration is
of the EU to the countries of the also raising eyebrows.
especially in tech, a stance pushed by Macron Balkans is controversial, mostly be- Overall, however, this is a com-
cause Hungary itself has been criti- mission which will project a Europe
Jonathan Eyal balanced budgets so favoured by cised for allegedly failing to respect determined to stand on its own feet
Global Affairs Correspondent Germany and many of the northern EU membership obligations. while protecting its own technologi-
European member states. And Dr von der Leyen’s curious cal edge and defence interests.
The new commissioners will decision to rename the job of the In short, precisely what Mr
LONDON • France has emerged as have to undergo grilling before the commissioner in charge of immigra- Macron has advocated all along. Dr Ursula von der Leyen’s rise to one of the most influential EU posts is a classic
the main winner from the latest ap- European Parliament, and some of tion policies to that of “protecting example of the luck of a politician who happens to be in the right place, at the
pointments to the new European them may stumble. The appoint- our European way of life” in an evi- Jonathan.eyal@gmail.com right time, says the writer. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Commission, the EU’s executive
body, which is due to assume office
at the end of next month.
For although Dr Ursula von der
Leyen, the incoming commission
chief, has tried to keep a balance be-
tween Europe’s competing geo-
graphic centres and interests, it is
clear French President Emmanuel
Macron has succeeded in ensuring
some plum jobs went to his coun-
try, and also promoted others close
to the French political agenda.
As such, the new commission of-
fers a first concrete indication of
how Europe will shape up after
Britain has left the organisation.
Dr von der Leyen, 60, did not
have an easy time becoming com-
mission president. She was no one’s
first choice for the position, did not
run for the job during the European
election campaign in May, and even
in her native Germany, where she
was defence minister, her political
star was believed to be waning. She
was passed over in the race to suc-
ceed Chancellor Angela Merkel, de-
spite the fact that only a few years
ago she was considered as one of Dr
Merkel’s most reliable assistants.
Still, Dr von der Leyen’s sudden
rise to one of the most influential
positions in the European Union is
a classic example of the luck of a
politician who happens to be in the
right place, at the right time.
For she was promoted by Mr
Macron, who was eager to demon-
strate that Europe’s heads of states
and government – rather than the
EU Parliament – decide on who
runs the continent. She also bene-
fited from another French national
objective pursued by Mr Macron,
namely that of giving Germany the
top job in Europe, in order to secure
for France the position Paris really
craved: the leadership of the Euro-
pean Central Bank.
A centre-right Christian Demo-
crat, Dr von der Leyen had to fight
hard to get the endorsement of a
fragmented European Parliament
when all mainstream parties are in
decline. Her candidacy barely went
through with a majority of just nine
votes. And she succeeded only be-
cause she promised an ambitious re-
form agenda on the economy, envi-
ronment and social equality.
The composition of the new EU
executive unveiled this week,
which includes 26 commissioners –
one from each member state, mi-
nus Dr von der Leyen’s own Ger-
many and the soon-to-leave Britain
– indicates that she intends to de-
liver on her pledges.
No fewer than 13 of the posts are
to be held by women, fulfilling her
promise to promote gender equal-
ity. A fine balance is maintained be-
tween the richer north and poorer
south of the continent, as well as be-
tween the west and the former com-
munist east of Europe.
More significantly, Dr von der
Leyen has created three “executive
vice-presidents” whose jobs will be
to push Europe’s key priorities.
Mr Frans Timmermans, a Social-
ist from the Netherlands, has been
put in charge of Europe’s “green
new deal”, with a promise to make
the EU’s economies carbon-neutral
by the middle of this century.
Mr Valdis Dombrovskis, a centre-
right politician from Latvia, one of
the smallest former communist
states in the EU, will control eco-
nomic and financial affairs.
And Ms Margrethe Vestager, a
Danish politician, is in charge of
competition policies and making
Europe “fit for the digital age”,
something which is unlikely to
please US President Donald Trump,
for Ms Vestager has made a name
for herself levying huge fines on the
likes of Apple, Facebook and
Google for violating European an-
titrust legislation.
But encouragingly for Paris, Ms
Sylvie Goulard, a former French de-
fence minister and close ally of Mr
Macron, will take charge of Eu-
rope’s single market and defence,
two critical positions.
Better still from the French per-
spective, Mr Paolo Gentiloni, a cen-
tre-left former prime minister of
Italy, has become the bloc’s com-
missioner for economic affairs.
Like Mr Macron, Mr Gentiloni is
likely to advocate a move away
from the politics of austerity and
A20 WORLD | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

Scientists find
An artist’s
impression of
the planet
K2-18b, its host
star and an

water on
accompanying
planet in its
system.
Scientists have
found that

potentially
K2-18b is bathed
in the right
amount of
warmth to allow
for liquid water

habitable planet
on its surface.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE

But they say it is no ‘second Earth’, and it has such

powerful gravity that walking on it would be difficult

NEW YORK • In the dim, red light of
an alien sun, scientists have found
the first evidence of water in the at-
mosphere of a rocky planet – offer-
ing a tantalising new target in the
search for life in the universe.
The intriguing world, which goes
by the impersonal designation
K2-18b, lies 110 light-years away in
the constellation Leo.
More important: It sits in its star’s
“habitable zone”, where it is bathed
in the right amount of warmth to al-
low for liquid water on its surface.
Twice as large as Earth and with
eight times the mass, K2-18b pos-
sesses powerful gravity that would
make it difficult to walk upon. It or-
bits close to a red dwarf star, much
tronomer Angelos Tsiaras, the lead
author of a study on the planet pub-
lished on Wednesday in the journal
Nature Astronomy, but “this is the
best candidate for habitability that
we know right now”.
Scientists had previously de-
tected water only in the atmos-
pheres of “gas giants” – huge exo-
planets that lack solid surfaces,
much like Jupiter and Saturn in our
solar system.
Rocky exoplanets are smaller,
making them harder to find and
more difficult to study.
Even a planet like K2-18b can be
examined only with humanity’s
most sensitive space telescope –
the Hubble.
110
Number of light-years the planet
K2-18b is away from Earth (one light
year is about 9.46 trillion kilometres)
2
Number of times larger than Earth
passes in front of it.
The planet is so close to its cool
host star that it takes just 33 days to
orbit. So, month after month, the re-
searchers waited with Hubble to
capture the moment of transit.
As the starlight filtered through
the planet’s atmosphere, some of it
would be absorbed by the gases in
the planet’s air. By separating the
light into its component parts, the
scientists could look for signatures
of particular molecules.
What they found suggests that
the composition of K2-18b’s atmos-
phere could range from 0.1 per cent
water vapour (about the proportion
in Earth’s upper atmosphere) to a
whopping 50 per cent. Water
only speculate about the precise
composition of the atmosphere.
The planet could have thick
clouds, such as Venus, that would
heat its surface to an intolerable de-
gree. Or its atmosphere might be so
thin and insubstantial that it offers
no protection from the perils of
space, like the atmosphere of Mars.
Researchers must wait for more
sophisticated tools, such as the
long-delayed James Webb Space
Telescope, to reveal more details
about the distant world.
Yet the study’s co-author Gio-
vanna Tinetti, a colleague of Dr
Tsiaras’ at University College Lon-
don, said it is possible – even likely
– that there is liquid water some-

smaller and cooler than our sun.
Aside from water vapour, its at-
mosphere contains mostly hydro-
gen gas – a molecule that makes up
less than 1 part per million of our
own atmosphere.
It is no “second Earth”, said as-
When K2-18b was discovered in
2015, Dr Tsiaras and his colleagues
thought it would be a good candi-
date for a form of analysis called
transit spectroscopy, which in-
volves studying the changes in a
star’s light as a planet “transits” or
8
vapour concentration in Earth’s
lower atmosphere, at its highest, is
about 4 per cent.
The Hubble is not sensitive to the
right types of light to detect other
important molecules like nitrogen
Number of times the mass of Earth or methane, so the researchers can
where on its surface.
“Everything sort of suggests that
the ‘water world’ could be a very
good explanation of this planet,”
she said. “But we’re going to need
more observations.”
WASHINGTON POST

The trapped trio crafted an SOS sign
with rocks (left). Mr Whitson scratched
“HELP!” on his water bottle in the
hope that somebody would find it.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CURTIS WHITSON
whereabouts – then tucked it in-
side. He tossed the bottle over the
water chute and hoped somebody
downstream would find it.
“We have done all we can do,” Mr
Whitson, 44, recalled telling his girl-
friend Krystal Ramirez, 34, and son
Hunter Whitson after he dropped
the bottle over the roiling chute.
“The only thing left to do now is
wait.” The trio made their way a few
metres upstream to a strip of sand
and crafted an SOS sign with rocks.
Then they climbed into their sleep-
ing bags.
Remarkably, they did not have to
wait long. About midnight, they
were awakened by a voice from a
loudspeaker: “This is search and res-
US to take
action
amid rise
in vaping
by teens
WASHINGTON • Faced with a
worsening epidemic of teenage
vaping and a mysterious illness
stalking users of cigarette alter-
natives, the Trump administra-
tion has promised to ratchet up
its oversight of a burgeoning but
increasingly troubled industry.
US President Donald Trump
said on Wednesday that vaping
had become an urgent public
health concern, “specifically
with respect to children”.
Health and Human Services
Secretary Alex Azar told re-
porters that five million children
said they have vaped this year –
a steep jump from the 3.6 million
who said they had used e-ciga-
rettes last year.
“We may very well have to do

Message in a bottle saves trapped campers
Ms Krystal CALIFORNIA • Mr Curtis Whitson
Ramirez, Hunter felt sick to his stomach when he re-
Whitson and his alised that he, his girlfriend and his
father Curtis 13-year-old son were suddenly
Whitson flanked stranded on an isolated stretch of
by two of their California’s Arroyo Seco tributary.
rescuers. The They had reached the most diffi-
trio had been cult part of their four-day floating
stranded on an and camping trip in June, and they
isolated stretch were trapped atop a raging, 12m wa-
of California’s terfall. A rope that was supposed to
Arroyo Seco be secured at the top of the chute –
tributary, atop a the only safe way down – was miss-
12m waterfall. ing. There was no way to climb out
of the gorge.
A sturdy rope had been attached
to the slippery rock wall when Mr
Whitson made the same journey
seven years ago. At the time, he had
carefully rappelled down the side of
the waterfall in 15 minutes and con-
tinued his adventure.
Heavy spring rains had likely
washed the rope away.
Friends knew they were in Ar-
royo Seco, but it could be several
days before a search party was sent.
There was no mobile service.
Mr Whitson looked at his lime-
green Nalgene water bottle, and
had an idea: He scratched “HELP!”
on each side of the bottle and scrib-
bled an SOS note on a piece of paper
with the date, June 15, and their
cue – you have been found! Stay put
and we’ll be back to get you tomor-
row morning.”
The three of them later found out
that about 400m downstream, two
hikers had spotted the bright green
bottle right away, read the note and
hiked to the Arroyo Seco Camp-
ground to alert the manager, Ms
Cindi Barbour, to call a search and
rescue team.
“They told me they found the bot-
tle in the narrows of the river,” Ms
Barbour said.
Using night vision goggles and in-
frared technology to detect heat
from a campfire, the crew from a
California Highway Patrol heli-
copter were able to spot the
stranded trio. The next morning, a
second helicopter crew arrived to
lift each of them to safety.
WASHINGTON POST
something very, very strong
about it,” Mr Trump, flanked by
Mr Azar and Acting Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) com-
missioner Norman Sharpless,
told reporters in the White
House Oval Office.
Vaping has been touted as a
safe and effective way for adult
smokers to quit their cigarette
habits, and investors have
poured billions of dollars into
the business.
But a combination of candy-
like flavourings, sleek electronic
devices and social media market-
ing has also lured children. The
jarring rate at which teens have
adopted devices like the com-
pact, easy-to-hide one produced
by Juul Labs has made health offi-
cials around the United States
snap to attention.
Additionally, vaping appears
to be making more people sick. A
mysterious lung disease linked

Australia calls for humane treatment of 3 citizens held in Iran
SYDNEY • Australia yesterday
urged Teheran to treat “humanely”
three of its citizens detained in
Iran, as it emerged that two of those
arrested were a travel-blogging cou-
ple on an overland trip to Britain.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise
Payne said she had raised the cases
“many times” with her Iranian coun-
terpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, in-
cluding as recently as last week.
“The government has been mak-
ing efforts to ensure they are
treated fairly, humanely and in ac-
cordance with international
norms,” she said, adding that there
was “no reason” to believe the ar-
rests were politically motivated.
Perth-based Jolie King and Mark
Firkin had been documenting their
journey from home to Britain on so-
cial media for the past two years but
went silent after posting updates
from Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan
about 10 weeks ago. Before setting
off, they had written on their blog
that they “can’t wait to share all of
our experiences and the beauty of
all the different destinations and
countries we will be visiting”.
News of the arrests came after
Australia’s conservative govern-
ment said it would contribute a
frigate and surveillance aircraft to a
US-led mission to protect shipping
through the Strait of Hormuz, amid
high tensions in the Gulf region.
But Ms Payne said the detention
of the couple and an unnamed third
person – said to be a British-Aus-
tralian woman and academic – was
not related to broader global issues.
“We have no reason to think that
these arrests are connected to inter-
national concern over Iran’s nu-
clear programme, United Nations
sanction enforcement or maritime
security of the safety of civilian ship-
ping,” she said.
Already-difficult relations be-
tween Iran and US allies have threat-
Ms Jolie King and Mr Mark Firkin are
two of three Australians held in Iran.
PHOTO: JOLIE KING / INSTAGRAM
ened to boil over since President
Donald Trump in 2018 abandoned a
deal to curb Teheran’s nuclear pro-
gramme, and Iran resumed pro-
scribed nuclear activities.
The Times in London has re-
ported that Ms King, who is being
held in Teheran’s Evin prison with
the other arrested woman, had
been told her detention was part of
a plan to facilitate a prisoner swap.
Ms Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a
British-Iranian project manager at
Thomson Reuters Foundation, has
been held in Teheran since 2016 on
sedition charges, a case that has
caused major tensions with Britain.
The Australian government has
updated its travel advice for Iran to
“reconsider your need to travel”.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
to inhaling vapour has killed at
least six people and injured hun-
dreds more across the US this
summer. State and federal inves-
tigators are racing to identify the
precise cause of the ailment.
Mr Azar said the FDA would is-
sue guidance in the coming
weeks to clamp down on the sale
of flavoured vaping products.
BLOOMBERG
A combination of
candy-like flavourings,
sleek electronic devices
and social media
marketing has also lured
children.
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
A21
THE STRAITS TIMES

Ng Yat Chung Warren Fernandez Zakir Hussain News Editor

SPH Chief Executive Officer
Anthony Tan
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Ignatius Low Chief Marketing Officer
Glen Francis Chief Technology
Officer
Chua Wee Phong Executive
Vice-President (Circulation)
Editor-in-Chief
(English/Malay/Tamil Media Group)
and The Straits Times Editor
Sumiko Tan
The Straits Times Executive Editor
Dominic Nathan
Managing Editor
(English/Malay/Tamil Media Group)
Helen Chia, Paul Jacob, Rahul Pathak,
Lim Chuan Huat, Ravi Velloor,
Vikram Khanna Associate Editors
Paul Cheong, Abdul Hafiz
Print Editors
Ong Hwee Hwee Digital Editor
Kor Kian Beng
Associate News Editor
Karamjit Kaur
Transport and Housing Editor
Eugene Wee Sunday Editor
Li Xueying Enterprise Editor
Jeremy Au Yong Foreign Editor
Susan Long Lifestyle Editor
Lee Yulin Sports Editor
Chua Mui Hoong, Audrey Quek
Opinion Editors
Peter Williams Art Editor
Stephanie Yeow Photo Editor
Mathew Pereira Forum Editor

The Straits Times says

More cheer for first-time HDB buyers

N
ow, first-time buyers will receive higher grants
and enjoy more flexibility in choosing the size of
their flat and where it is located. The income ceil-
ing, too, for Housing Board flats has been raised
for the first time since 2015, thus widening the
pool of eligible buyers. Crucially, a new Enhanced
CPF Housing Grant (EHG), which streamlines
two older grants, gives couples more flexibility in
affording a flat that suits their needs. This policy
fine-tuning attests to the need to support couples
to have more children, because housing issues fea-
ture prominently on the personal agenda of
young Singaporeans who need to match their fa-
milial choices with their financial preparedness.
Whatever makes a home more affordable for
them provides a fillip to the pro-family policies
that an ageing Singapore needs to pursue to arrest
demographic decline.
The latest announcement seeks to achieve
these objectives while factoring in a primary na-
tional reality, the scarcity of land. It points out a
way for the authorities to meet the growing de-
mand for homes without building new flats,
which is limited by a lack of land, especially in ma-
ture estates. The solution lies in changing the in-
centive structure to make it attractive to buy re-
sale flats. Incentives in the past encouraged first-
timers to choose new flats, but now, there should
be a better balance between these and resale flats
so long as, under the EHG scheme, the flat’s lease
covers buyers until they are aged 95. This condi-
tion is consonant with the need for homes that
can last occupants for life. However, those who
do not meet this condition will get a pro-rated
grant amount depending on the lease.
The eye on the future that is manifest in this an-
nouncement underlines the long-term nature of
public housing policy. The resale market is ex-
pected to benefit from the changes. That is wel-
come given that it would reduce the pressure to
build new flats by providing an opportunity to
those looking to offload their flats on the resale
market. Yet, the principal intended beneficiaries
– first-time buyers – must view their flats as long-
term homes and not just as assets to be traded on
the market at the first available opportunity. Oth-
erwise, the public objectives of the change, one of
which is to help couples find housing in which to
start families, would be overshadowed by other
needs, including that of maximising pecuniary
gains in Singapore’s lucrative housing market.
There is no necessary contradiction between the
two goals, but families must continue to come
first.
That preference would reflect the purpose of
public housing in Singapore. It is to provide a con-
crete anchor for the citizens of an island city
state, most of them descendants of diasporic im-
migrants, to stake their future on tangible posses-
sions that they are prepared to defend.

SpeakingOfAsia stake; the YSR Congress founder

and his late father have their roots

Amaravati
in Kurnool, an area steeped in
Maoist thinking. Like his late
father, whose first big move as chief
minister was to order free power
for farmers, Mr Jagan Mohan is by
instinct a socialist.

plans still
“Jagan thinks Andhra needs a
new capital, not a ‘capital’ city,”
explains an Andhra personality
connected with the chief minister’s
circle. “His priority is the
agriculturists whose votes are

more dream
essential to keep him in office and
he doesn’t want to repeat Naidu’s
mistake of seeming to be
urban-centric.”
Regardless of all these factors, Mr
Jagan Mohan, an expert politician
but untested in office, has to think

than reality
Singapore can shrug off the consequences
of Amaravati, the proposed capital city,
not proceeding to plan but India, and
specifically Andhra, needs to ponder
the long-term consequences.
Telengana, I am not so sure.
The mess once again involves Mr
Naidu and his grand, or what critics
call grandiose, plans.
‘CYBERABAD’
Mr Naidu, during his 1995-2004
stint as chief minister, is credited
Ravi Velloor with placing Hyderabad as one of
the great software development
Associate Editor centres of the world, and for
cleaning up the city. The big
metropolis in the Deccan plains,
In the summer of 2008, the late known for its syncretic culture,
pharma tycoon Anji Reddy, an caught the imagination of the world
industry icon of the southern with office towers named after Bill
Indian state of Andhra Pradesh Gates and other tech icons.
who seeded the Hyderabad-based Dozens of Fortune 500
generics drugs sector, drove me to companies have development
the residence of Mr Chandrababu centres there today, occupying
Naidu, then as now forced to sit in offices, a good part of which was
opposition after losing his majority built by Ascendas of Singapore.
in the state assembly. Indeed, the key software
Spread on his office table were development district is even
detailed drawings of the modern named Cyberabad. The city’s
international airport that was being decade-old airport is among the
built in Shamsabad, on the outskirts busiest in the nation.
of state capital Hyderabad. The Still, that vision of a province
project had been conceived by plugged into the world ran directly
Mr Naidu, in his second term as into the ground reality that Andhra
chief minister of the province. Pradesh is predominantly an
However, most of its execution fell agrarian state, despite its coastline
to the Congress-led government of and strategic spot facing the Bay of
Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, a man of Bengal along whose rim is much of
hugely populist instincts known to prosperous South-east Asia.
all as “YSR”. Accused of an urban bias, Mr Naidu,
Though out of power, Mr Naidu despite his sturdy development
was nevertheless keeping a close record, was kicked out of power
eye on the airport’s development and spent several years in
and YSR did not seem to mind his opposition before he stormed back
rival’s abiding interest in the in 2014 as the first elected head of
project. truncated Andhra state.
I left Mr Naidu’s house remarking Those who have met Mr Naidu
to Dr Anji Reddy that unlike the will always remember that special
bitter, family-centred political glint in his eye. Top state officials
rivalries of other large say he badgers them night and day,
neighbouring states such as Tamil offering ideas, inquiring about
Nadu and Karnataka, Andhra programmes and following up on
politicians seldom seemed inclined action taken. Although Mr
to undo the good work of their Narendra Modi has grabbed the
predecessors. limelight since 2002 with his
Today, watching the unravelling single-minded focus on
of plans to build Amaravati as a modernising his home state Gujarat
modern capital of the now-divided into what came to be called the
Andhra Pradesh after it lost Guangdong of India, Mr Naidu was
traditional headquarters the original “development chief
Hyderabad to the rump state of minister”.
Now, returned to power in 2014
after the popular YSR died in a
helicopter crash, Mr Naidu was
once again out being himself, and
his first big idea was to build a
spectacular capital city along the
fertile plains of the Krishna River.
Situated between the existing
towns of Guntur and Vijayawada,
energy-efficient Amaravati was
conceived as a Smart City
development spanning some
200 sq km, half of which would be
green spaces.
SINGAPORE BENCHMARK
There was no question which city
Mr Naidu had in mind as a
benchmark – Singapore. And the
Lion City responded; Minister S.
Iswaran flew down for the October,
2015 ceremony marking the start of
Amaravati’s development, joining
Mr Naidu and India’s Prime
Minister Modi. Earlier, Singapore’s
most reputed urban planning and
development firms had joined
hands to contribute their expertise,
honed over decades, for Andhra
Pradesh. The seed development
masterplan covered a 16.9 sq km
area that would be the heart of
Amaravati. There was another one
for the broader city and a third for
the wider, state capital region.
From the start, there were doubts
whether Mr Naidu was biting off
more than he could chew. Despite
Mr Modi’s words of encouragement
at the inaugural of site work and his
vision that Amaravati would inspire
the vast Andhra diaspora to return
to lead a start-up movement in the
new state, the challenges were
several. This included a critical
dependence on the federal
government for funding at a time
when Mr Modi’s party was eyeing
prospects of extending its
influence into Mr Naidu’s home
turf.
Mr Naidu himself seemed to
acknowledge some of those
challenges when he mentioned in
his speech in Mr Modi’s hearing
that unlike the big southern metros
of Chennai, Bangalore and
Hyderabad, Andhra did not yet
have a revenue-generating capital
city. Even as he sought buy-in from
the farmers vacating the land by
offering various revenue sharing
“land pooling” schemes, dozens of
court cases were filed seeking to
stall his moves. The opposition,
now led by the late YSR’s son Jagan
Mohan Reddy, alleged severe
cronyism and the cornering of
prime lands by interests close to
Mr Naidu.
Nevertheless, work began.
Contract work to the value of 358
billion rupees (S$6.9 billion) was
awarded for a total of 68 projects,
according to the New Indian
Express. So far, the paper said,
Andhra state has spent 80 billion
rupees. Eight of the projects have
reportedly passed the 50 per cent
development mark and another 13
are between a quarter and half
done.
Now, a government change
mid-year has turned things upside
down in Andhra.
Mr Jagan Mohan is the new man
in charge after handing Mr Naidu a
trouncing in the polls at the head of
YSR Congress, a party named after
his father. The new government
says its priorities are primarily
agrarian and that Amaravati is both
unnecessary and overly expensive.
It has stopped work on the project
pending inquiries into alleged
“irregularities” in contracts
awarded by the Naidu government,
which had burdened the state with
massive debt.
For the past fortnight, hundreds
of long-axle trucks have been
making their way out of work sites,
with steel rods and other
construction equipment. The
six-lane highways already built are
largely empty of traffic and
workers’ colonies are emptying.
Some of this has to do with the
personality and politics of the YSR
Congress people. Mr Jagan Mohan
is seething at the 16 months of jail
time he spent in 2012-13 while
being investigated by federal
agencies for corruption during his
father’s time.
Although it was the government
of Sonia Gandhi-led Congress
Party, with which he fell out
spectacularly, that ordered the
arrest, he seems to believe some of
it was also because of Mr Naidu’s
ill-will.
There is an ideological issue at
carefully of the long-term
implications of cancelling
Amaravati before making his final
call on the project.
Beyond the masterplan it
prepared, Singapore itself has not
put any significant investment in
Amaravati. So, this is no Suzhou.
And there will be plenty of future
opportunities in ports, shipping
and technology parks that will
emerge as the new state progresses.
Yet, it is in Mr Jagan Mohan’s
interest to leverage the positive
momentum of ties that Andhra
Pradesh has built up over years
with Singapore and the global
goodwill the island state enjoys. His
finance minister, in Singapore this
week, spoke eloquently of
quadrupling the state’s economy by
2030. He should know that only
rapid urbanisation can provide the
engines for such growth. Surely,
too, Mr Jagan Mohan cannot ignore
the traditions set by previous chief
ministers of the state, just as his
father did with Shamsabad airport.
The Andhra diaspora is vast. Get
into a city bus in Seattle, or walk
around the airport in Houston or
visit our own Changi Business Park
at lunchtime, and you cannot miss
hearing the chatter in Telugu, the
state language. A modern state
capital for Andhra, modelled with
software help from Dassault
Systemes, the company that helped
design Boeing’s Dreamliner and
was enlisted by Mr Naidu for
Amaravati, would capture the
world’s imagination. As seen by the
Chinese development experience,
diaspora – and the pride overseas
Chinese feel for the mother country
– have a critical role in rapid
modernisation.
What of New Delhi? Frayed
political ties between the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and
Mr Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party
have queered interest in projects
linked to Mr Naidu. With its huge
majority in Parliament, neither
does BJP need the support of Mr
Jagan Mohan’s grouping, even if it is
the fourth-largest in Parliament.
That reduces his leverage with Mr
Modi.
Nevertheless, the Indian leader
took office vowing to be prime
minister to all Indians. It may not be
a bad idea for him to put an
avuncular arm around Mr Jagan
Mohan’s shoulders and offer him
reasonable funds to proceed with
building the Smart City, even if its
scale is moderated somewhat. If
nothing else, the rise of a new
metropolis would boost the growth
prospects of Asia’s third-largest
economy, now at risk of slipping
into the anaemic expansion rates
clocked in the 1960s and 1970s.
velloor@sph.com.sg
A22 OPINION | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

How victory in Trump’s trade war

could hurt wages but help MNCs’ profits
Jared Bernstein

While it’s often challenging to see

the clear impact of an economic
policy in the data, this is not the
case with US President Donald
Trump’s trade war. Virtually every
analysis of the slowdown in global
growth and the heightened
probability of recession cite the
negative impact of the tariffs the
Trump administration has levied
on trading partners, mostly China,
and their retaliatory tariffs on the
United States.
US manufacturing has been
contracting most of this year,
meaning that that sector is already
in recession. A recent analysis by
Federal Reserve economists
estimates that the impact of the
trade war could reduce US real
GDP growth by 1 per cent by early
next year.
Based on these and other related
facts – tariffs could end up costing
consumers US$1,000 (S$1,400) per
year – I’ve long argued that the
trade war is all pain, no gain.
But I’ve got pushback, mostly
from business leaders, and
especially from those who have
tried to do business in China.
Their argument is that
somebody needed to get tough on
China, and that Mr Trump is doing
the country a service that former
leaders failed to pursue. Moreover,
he’s doing so at his own political
expense. Sure, there’s short-term
pain, but in the long run, he’s going
to force China to play fair with US
multinationals that want to locate
there, but not under current terms
that include technology transfers,
investment restrictions and for consumers. As reported in news realistic, even in Trumpland. Our surely boost their bottom lines. It advantages to a trade war that, if it A US Embassy
endless non-tariff barriers like website The Hill, pollster Mark economy is simply too will lower the costs of doing succeeds, threatens to exacerbate car outside a
taking years to provide operating Penn said: “President Trump has interconnected to that of our business abroad. that damage. hotel in
licences to US businesses. the strong support of the American trading partners to realistically But none of that helps American Don’t get me wrong regarding Shanghai on
JPMorgan Chase chief executive public when it comes to standing achieve more than a tiny margin of workers in “tradable” sectors, that China: While I worry less than the July 30. Getting
Jamie Dimon, for example, argued up to China. They realise that the import substitution. Observe how is, those who face pressure from average economist about their China to be more
in April that Mr Trump was tariffs may have negative impacts US firms leaving China aren’t offshoring and import competition. trade practices, I would put much welcoming to US
“absolutely” right to face off against on jobs and prices, but they believe coming home; they’re looking for On the contrary, it hurts them. more energy into exposing and multinational
China, even if he wasn’t “in favour” the fight here is the right one.” new overseas platforms to relocate We should have long since condemning their human rights corporations
of the tariffs. “We’re better off This dynamic creates a real their supply chains, mostly other disabused ourselves of the abuses. would increase,
dealing with it now, whatever that challenge for Democratic places in South-east Asia. assumption that what’s good for I wouldn’t bother complaining not decrease,
means for the economy,” he said. candidates for president who want The other goal, the main one multinational offshorers is good for about legitimate aspects of their the incentives
Former Goldman Sachs chief to distance themselves from Mr sought by our trade negotiators, is domestic US workers. economic model to which we for US
executive Lloyd Blankfein tweeted Trump’s trade policy but not to get China to stop the practices Yet that sentiment is implicit in object, like state-owned firms. In companies to
that “tariffs might be an effective appear soft on China. that make life hard for US the view that the short-term pain fact, the best solution to the China offshore more
negotiating tool. Saying it hurts us That whole way of looking at the multinationals – the tech transfers, will deliver long-term gains. It problem is to beat them at their production and
misses the point”, that point being issue is misguided. cybertheft, investment and might do so, but for whom? From own game – to look around the next jobs, says the
that since China has more to lose What is the administration’s goal licensing restrictions. I’m sceptical, where I sit, it looks a lot friendlier to corner and try to capture global writer. PHOTO:
than we do in a trade war (we with the trade war? What would but they’ve got a better chance of profits than wages. market share in areas where ASSOCIATED
import far more from them than victory look like? In fact, there are meeting this goal than the import That’s not necessarily a terrible demand will be strong, such as PRESS
they do from us), the ultimate two goals: one maintained by Mr substitution one. outcome. Contrary to the tone of green technology, clean energy
benefits of forcing them to play Trump, and the other by his But suppose the negotiators some Democratic candidates, I don’t storage and battery technology.
more fairly with US companies will negotiators. succeed. Whom, precisely, does believe corporate profits are evil or But if you’re someone who
outweigh the near-term costs. Mr Trump’s goal is import this help? Getting China to be more definitionally problematic. And the depends on your pay cheque versus
As Amber Phillips reports in The substitution – making things here welcoming to US multinational more robust global supply chains your stock portfolio, be careful
Washington Post, Republicans that we currently make elsewhere – corporations would increase, not that exist out there, the better. what you wish for when it comes to
supporting the President’s trade with the goal of achieving balanced decrease, the incentives for US Corporate profits have long victory in the trade war. Just keep
war say it’s “ just the price to pay in trade. In July, he tweeted that tariffs companies to offshore more outpaced wages, though. And the asking yourself the key question:
this long game so that we can are “a powerful way to get production and jobs (note also how fact that we’ve run economically Whose victory are we talking
achieve a better trading companies to come to the USA and goal 2 contradicts goal 1). significant trade deficits in about? WASHINGTON POST
partnership with China”. to get companies that have left us for Protecting intellectual property, manufactured goods for over
“Standing up to” and “getting other lands to COME BACK HOME”. allowing more foreign investment 40 years has done lasting damage • Jared Bernstein, chief economist to
tough on” China also consistently I believe he’s wrong about this, at and breaking down restrictions to many people and places across former US vice-president Joe Biden, is
poll well, even among people who least not without far more drastic that hassle US companies that have the land. a senior fellow at the Centre on
agree that the trade war is a burden measures lasting far longer than is relocated or want to do so, will For working Americans, I see no Budget and Policy Priorities.

The past that keeps throttling South Korea’s future

William Pesek
For The Straits Times
Since May 2017, South Korean
President Moon Jae-in has tried to
create a more competitive model
for Asia’s No. 4 economy. At every
turn, though, the past keeps getting
in the way.
Seoul’s brawl with arch-rival
Japan is a prime example of how old
baggage stymies progress. North
Korea’s tired antics, meantime,
have taken Mr Moon’s eye off the
prize he promised voters: faster
growth and higher incomes. Yet,
nothing haunts South Korea’s
tomorrow more than a corporate
system stuck in yesteryear. Look no
further than the latest plot twist in
the Samsung drama.
Late last month, South Korea’s
top court ordered new trials for Mr
Moon’s predecessor Park Geun-hye
and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.
The legal fates of both are tied to
the nation’s trajectory in the
decade ahead.
Park’s ascension to the
presidency in 2013 was drenched in
nostalgia. Her father, strongman
Park Chung-hee, created the
system that positioned Samsung at
the very core of Korea Inc. He
deputised a handful of
family-owned conglomerates like
Samsung to lead the charge from
the ashes of war to the ranks of the
world’s leading economies.
In 2013, Park Geun-hye set out to
modernise the model her father
built. She pledged to wrest power
from monopolistic conglomerates,
or chaebol. Plans to “democratise”
the economy involved supporting
small- and mid-sized companies
and incentivising a start-up boom.
However, when she was
confronted with the magnitude of
the task, she went the other way.
Just like her two immediate
predecessors, she asked the
chaebol to help her hasten national
growth. The quid pro quo: You help
our country and we’ll leave you to
your own devices.
Yet Park went a step further. In
April last year, she was charged
with receiving or demanding over
US$20 million (S$27.5 million) from
the conglomerates. The bribery and
abuse of power controversy that led
to her impeachment and 25-year
prison sentence also felled
Samsung’s de facto chief executive
Lee. He spent a year in jail for
corruption before his sentence was
suspended earlier this year.
Now, both face new trials that
will highlight once more the tight
networks that bind big business
and politics in South Korea; these
links also stand in the way of Mr
Moon’s efforts to recalibrate
growth engines and raise South
Korea’s competitive game.
Granted, President Moon erred
by slow-walking structural reforms.
Early in his tenure, he put North
Korean detente ahead of economic
retooling. A laudable pivot,
perhaps, but one derailed by United
States President Donald Trump’s
“love” affair with Mr Kim Jong Un.
In the meantime, Mr Trump’s trade
war is slamming South Korea’s
export engine. Overseas shipments
fell a ninth consecutive month in
August – a fall of 13.6 per cent last
month alone.
That has the Bank of Korea
cutting interest rates and Mr
Moon’s team upping fiscal
spending. But nothing about these
moves makes the country more
creative or productive. Nothing
about them reduces a 10 per cent
youth unemployment rate or prods
executives to fatten pay cheques.
Looser policies do zero to make it
easier to start businesses or
empower the female workforce.
These upgrades and more are
needed to make South Korea more
competitive amid the rise of China,
India and an Indonesia producing
more tech “unicorns” than Japan.
Yet, the glacial pace of change
could leave South Korea mired in its
own Japan-like lost decade.
South Korea has become an
expensive property in a
comparatively low-wage
neighbourhood. The only real
option is to move upmarket into
higher-value industries.
Samsung is a microcosm of the
challenge. The behemoth is by far
Korea’s biggest and most globally
vital corporate name. They don’t
call it “Republic of Samsung” for
nothing. Yet, Samsung has yet to
invent its own game-changers,
despite its success in areas such as
smartphones and TV sets.
The impulse to enhance what
others have done, rather than set
the pace, had Samsung cutting
corners in recent years. The result
is exploding smartphones and
foldable screens unready for
prime time.
Samsung’s biggest problem,
however, is an insular governance
culture. The group’s chairman Lee
Kun-hee hasn’t been seen since a
2014 heart attack, an awkward
predicament for a publicly traded
company. That leaves Lee Jae-yong,
50, at the controls, not because he
is necessarily the best person for
the job, but he happens to be next in
line to run the family business.
As Park and Lee head back to
court, Samsung is confronted with
a fresh dose of uncertainty that it
hardly needs. Lee could land back
in jail. A 53 per cent drop in
second-quarter profits shows more
than a few headwinds are zooming
South Korea’s way.
To make matters worse, Seoul is
embroiled in a tit for tat with
Tokyo. As Japan restricts exports of
chemicals needed for
semiconductor production, the
South Korean economy, already
feeling the strain of a weakened
global chip market, will take a
further knock.
The chill in ties between the two
countries is decades in the making.
Long-running disputes over Japan’s
World War II era aggression have
long dogged bilateral relations.
Recently, these hard feelings
turned harder still, leading to
formal trade barriers.
In 2017, Mr Moon cast doubt on a
deal Park signed with Japan’s Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe putting to rest
the issue of Korean women forced
into sexual slavery by Japan’s
military. A 2018 ruling by South
Korea’s top court compelling
Japanese companies to pay
compensation to forced wartime
labour incensed Mr Abe’s fellow
right-wingers. Last month, Japan
dropped Korea from its “white list”
of favoured trade partners. Mr
Moon’s government did the same
with Tokyo, while also ending an
intelligence-sharing pact.
In many ways, Mr Moon’s actions
smack of a leader on the ropes. He
has clearly decided that lashing out
at Japan is the best way to rally
support at home.
Here again, he is putting
short-term considerations above
the decade ahead. South Korea has
long served as a role model for
developing nations trying to avoid
the “middle-income trap”, when
incomes stall near US$10,000.
Nowadays, Seoul is struggling
through an economic midlife crisis.
That’s why the reform vacuum
since 2013 is proving so
detrimental to South Korea’s
future. The last six years of drama
and drift is a period the country will
never get back. That goes for
Samsung, too, as the courts again
amplify South Korea’s troubles at
the worst moment.
stopinion@sph.com.sg
• William Pesek is a Tokyo-based
journalist who has written for Barron’s
and Bloomberg.
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
A Sept 11
commemoration
ceremony in
New York. The
writer, a Muslim
and an
11-year-old boy
living in New
York at the time
of the attacks,
reflects on how
his life was
changed
irrevocably from
that time on.
PHOTO: AGENCE
FRANCE-PRESSE
Mourning life before Sept 11
Omer Aziz
There is something almost magical
about New York as summer turns to
autumn. The changing of the
seasons brings a spirit of renewal.
People hurry to school and work,
propelled by dreams and
ambitions. The leaves shift from
green to orange. But this beauty is
transient. In the evening, when I go
on my walks, I look at the two blue
lights beaming into the heavens
from just south of the old World
Trade Center and I try to hold my
gaze there. I never last long.
When the Sept 11 attacks
happened, I was an 11-year-old
Muslim boy suddenly confused
about the world and unsure of
my place in it.
I heard the news while as I was on
the basketball court during recess
at school. A white classmate rushed
up to me. He said terrorists had
hijacked planes and used them to
bring down the twin towers. He
said America was under attack, that
the border was sealed. He said
there were more planes in the sky.
Despite my general ignorance – I
did not know what the words
“hijacking” and “terrorist” meant – I
still realised that this major attack
had something to do with my people.
When I got home from school, I
had questions for my parents: Why
had this happened? Why were
people looking at us differently?
And did this mean that we were
also bad people because we prayed
to the same God as the attackers?
Questions that no parent could
adequately answer.
Close to 3,000 people were killed
that day. For those who lived
through it as children, the carnage
was inexplicable. The images from
the attacks ran in a loop on our
In HK, a fury that
passes by the
symbols of wealth
Leo Lewis
Standing in central Hong Kong at
the nexus of Tiffany’s, Armani and
Louis Vuitton late on Sunday
afternoon, I heard a sound that has
stayed with me. It was a woman –
hard to tell her age behind the mask
– crouched by a safety railing,
roaring with anger and frustration.
Next came a furious series of
clangs as she battered the edge of a
spanner against a bolt that would
not budge. She called a friend over
to help. They agreed the problem
was rust. They redoubled their
efforts and, finally, the bolt gave
television screen, each new
repetition hitting harder than the
last. Language had always
separated me from my parents, but
in this horrific instance, their
wordless terror was enough to tell
me all I needed to know.
My life from that point on was
shaped by this great crime; I tried to
distance myself from people who
brought destruction to America’s
cities, and came up against the
twisted perceptions Americans had
of brown people. Sept 11 marked the
loss of innocence, the abrupt
recognition that I was different,
would always be viewed as
different, and that the stakes of this
difference could be life and death.
At school, we had to write
reflections on what we felt. What
could a sixth grader say about
Sept 11? I wrote that I was angry
that it happened – something
generic and bland. I was called into
the principal’s office to talk about
my reflection. I thought maybe
the teachers had discovered that
my brother and I went to the
mosque every day.
But apparently the emotions I’d
expressed in my essay made my
teachers concerned. This feeling of
standing naked before power – the
terror of being found out, even
though I’d done nothing wrong –
would stay with me.
In college, I quickly learnt that
this skin and Muslim name of mine
required me to tread carefully. Any
time the subjects of religion,
terrorism, the war in Afghanistan,
and yes, Israel, came up, my peers’
questions felt like private
interrogations.
I had to learn how to navigate
this, and how to survive a world
darkened by Sept 11. Every time I
am detained at an airport now – it
still happens – I silently curse the
way and a treasure was claimed
from the streets: a metre-long
metal pole and the twin of one I had
just seen being used to smash a
CCTV camera at an MTR subway
station.
The woman placed the pole on
the pavement just outside the
entrance to JPMorgan’s offices and
went to work on the next railing.
Few places, as protests in this
financial centre seethe into their
fourth month, highlight the
dissonance that has gripped the
city so acutely.
Nearby, other Hong Kong
residents were engaged in
complementary – or contrasting –
activities. Some were barricading
terrorists who brought down those
towers, for the lives they took and
for what they unleashed.
Any moment that shakes history
is experienced first by the living, in
deeply personal terms.
The phone calls to relatives and
breathless prayers; the panic, the
chaos, the desperate hope that the
worst is over. In the seconds and
hours after impact – themselves
entire lifetimes of anguish – there
is only uncertainty and horror,
in that order. Later, the pain will
give way to anger, and public
decisions will be made that will set
the course of history.
I am part of that final sliver of my
generation who will have any living
memory of Sept 11. The people who
experienced the attacks as children
are now in their mid-20s to
early-30s. For those younger than
that, what I am describing is an
abstract historical fact, like Pearl
Harbour or the Vietnam War.
Around my neighbourhood in
New York, there are many such
children who have started the new
school year. I see them in the
morning, walking to school,
hand-in-hand with their parents,
chattering happily.
They will not know what I know:
that the world in which they are
growing up is indelibly marked by
this singular tragedy.
I sometimes wonder: What would
I tell them if I could? They will only
ever know the paranoid and
terrorised world that the Sept 11
attacks gave us. Only know that
getting onto an airplane is a hellish
experience. The hyper-militarised
borders and selective detentions
and enhanced interrogations, all to
be taken as ordinary. The constant
surveillance of the national security
state. The endless secret wars,
waged in the cover of night, in
entrances to the subway with
dustbins, plant pots and
water-cooler flagons. Others
removed bricks from the pavement
to use as projectiles. Still more were
adjusting Bose headphones and
weaving through crowds on the
way home from the gym. Domestic
helpers played bingo on cardboard
mats. Shoppers sipped coffee and
watched the turmoil from the
windows above Saint Laurent.
This was the 14th straight
weekend of protests in Hong Kong.
A 15th is inevitable but a 50th
(given where Beijing’s lines are
likely to be drawn) implausible.
Earlier in the day, tens of thousands
– some old enough to need help
walking, others young enough to be
carried in baby slings – processed
past riot police and Government
House. Fury spewed in the coarsest
Cantonese to echo from some of
the most polished skyscrapers in
Asia. As evening fell, a few hundred
protesters took their rage from the
financial centre past the
still-functioning bars and clubs of
Wan Chai to Causeway Bay, where
the now-standard volleys of tear
gas would later waft over the
entrance mats of the Sogo
When I think of Islamists
monopolising and
weaponising a great
religion, I am filled with
rage – rage at the audacity
to shout Allah’s name while
sending innocent people to
their deaths; rage at the
perversion of so many
minds by their religious
leaders; rage at the reality
of living in a brown body
that is stereotyped,
misperceived and
disfigured beyond
my recognition – and
there is nothing I can do to
save it. This is the world
Sept 11 gave us.
distant places where the victims
are invisible.
Because these children will hold
blue passports, they may never
fully understand the extent to
which Sept 11 further shackled the
vast areas of the world not so lucky,
people born to the wrong countries,
who will be sent to the back of the
line for as long as they live.
I might tell them a few things my
parents were not able to tell me.
At first, there were unlawful
detentions and deportations of
undocumented people. Soon, a
Republican president was
deceiving the country and the
world into a war in Iraq that would
lead directly to the chaos and racial
hatreds we see today.
What make this all the more
wrenching, though, are the
unwritten rules of the
protests, which could be
seen prevailing on Sunday.
At one point, protesters
were using gaffer tape and
bolt cutters to
manufacture metal spears
(these were not, in the
event, used) from bits of
the central reservation.
They were doing so with a
venom that, by their own
testimony, may have
democracy and
“liberation” as a stated
goal but is fuelled in large
part by economic disparity
and the grinding-down of
aspiration.
OPINION
Grand proclamations about an
“axis of evil” prefaced wars that
killed hundreds of thousands of
Arabs and brown people, human
beings tabulated as mere casualties,
the sanctity of their lives
incinerated just like the twin
towers. The government tortured
people and held them in secret
prisons.
And then, the double tragedy:
young American soldiers – the
Sept 11 generation of heroes – were
sent to their early deaths because
the attacks on America were
hijacked for political ends by
people in Washington.
Violence was done not just to
bodies, but also to language as well,
and the word “terrorism” became a
catchall phrase used to indict
individuals on accusations alone.
You had to choose a side: Were you
with us, or with the terrorists? The
outright manipulation of the
people – assisted at times by a
credulous media – all coarsened the
country, turning a once proud and
optimistic nation into a cynical and
polarised place. A spiritual pallor
descended over America.
If the United States were to have
deliberately tried to make the worst
possible foreign policy choices in
the wake of Sept 11, the results
would have been only a little more
disastrous than what actually
happened. America invaded one
country that had nothing to do with
the attacks, and was drawn into a
conflict with a tribal-extremist
group of another country that could
go on in perpetuity.
We were told that America would
make no distinction between
terrorists and the nations that
harboured them. But 15 of the 19
hijackers were from Saudi Arabia,
and there is credible evidence that
at least parts of the Saudi
department store.
For three months, Hong Kongers
have told me, the city has been
aching from this whiplash. You try
to form a view on what is
happening and why, how it’s
morphing and where it may all end.
But that thought process is
besieged by discord as violence,
dissent and the root causes of both
are set against glamour, pop-up
bubble tea boutiques and Hong
Kong’s illusory show of business as
usual.
What make this all the more
wrenching, though, are the
unwritten rules of the protests,
which could be seen prevailing on
Sunday. At one point, protesters
were using gaffer tape and bolt
cutters to manufacture metal
spears (these were not, in the
event, used) from bits of the central
reservation. They were doing so
with a venom that, by their own
testimony, may have democracy
and “liberation” as a stated goal but
is fuelled in large part by economic
disparity and the grinding-down of
aspiration. The spear factory was
operating near a Blancpain watch
shop and under the glare of
advertisements for Swiss private
A23
government – business partners
of both the Bush and Trump
families – were aware of the
coming attacks. Nothing but more
business deals were done.
There was a hidden cost to all this
enormous energy expended on war
and bombings. Not just the
refugees or the cages or the
guarantee of tomorrow’s terrorists.
Not just the racism and xenophobia
internalised by brown-skinned
children who became adults in the
shadows of this mass tragedy. All
the policy focus on war meant there
was too little time spent on the
cataclysmic challenges of the 21st
century: climate change and wealth
inequality, both of which will
plague our generation long after
the warmongers have disappeared.
This is not to exculpate the
terrorists or their ideology.
For them, I reserve a special fury,
just as their actions induce in me a
special shame.
When I think of Islamists
monopolising and weaponising
a great religion, I am filled with rage
– rage at the audacity to shout
Allah’s name while sending
innocent people to their deaths;
rage at the perversion of so many
minds by their religious leaders;
rage at the reality of living in a
brown body that is stereotyped,
misperceived and disfigured
beyond my recognition – and there
is nothing I can do to save it. This is
the world Sept 11 gave us.
Anniversaries safeguard our
memories, forcing us to reckon
with a past quickly receding into
history. Anniversaries also require
us to tell stories – especially
uncomfortable stories – so that the
young ones know something of the
world that made them. Years will go
by. New memories will replace old
ones. The wounds may fade, but
their scars will deepen over time.
Those blue lights continue to
shimmer in the darkness. New York
shimmers. And 18 years later, I am
still in mourning, and perhaps
always will be, for the worlds that
went up in smoke on that
September day. NYTIMES
SEE HOME B6
banks. And yet none of these
symbols of wealth had been
touched. Berluti was unlooted;
Piaget unpillaged.
And that is the great puzzle of
these protests and why their
importance cannot be overstated.
The strength of the dissonance and
the mental gymnastics required to
parse it sends the observer in odd
directions. It provides excuses to
conclude that the movement is
irrelevant, false, misdirected or
doomed. On the other hand, it
provides a complacent, illusory,
sense that Hong Kong will,
eventually, just muddle along
because it is simply too “Hong
Kongy” to fail.
But you can’t avoid being left
with that woman’s visceral roar of
frustration as the rusty bolt refused
to yield and at once gave her the
weapon she felt she needed.
That sound and that sense of
urgency cannot be faked. And,
despite the temptation to assume
that Hong Kong’s formidable
powers of accommodation mean
new waffle-house openings can
coexist indefinitely with rubber
bullets, that sound cannot be
overlooked. FINANCIAL TIMES
A24 | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

BIG PICTURE WEATHER

Thundery showers mainly over northern and
eastern Singapore in the late afternoon.
High 34 deg C Low 26 deg C
24-hr PSI as of 5pm yesterday: 73 to 85 (Moderate)

PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Colourful festival As the Hindu festival of Ganesh

Chaturthi came to an end yesterday,
an idol of the Hindu deity Lord Gane-
sha was immersed into water in the
who is revered as the symbol of wis-
dom and prosperity.
In many parts of India, the festi-
val is celebrated over 11 days.
ornate clay idols.
On the 11th day, the idols were
taken on a grand procession along
city streets and immersed in a

ends with a splash Indian city of Ajmer, Rajasthan.

The festival celebrates the birth-
day of the elephant-headed deity,
This year, it started on Sept 2,
when devotees welcomed the deity
to earth for his 10-day “visit” with
nearby body of water to signify
Lord Ganesha’s return to his home,
believed to be in Mount Kailash.

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| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
Encounter
with PMD
rider left
woman with
30 stitches
53-year-old suffered fractured skull
after falling backwards in near collision
Kristelynn Lim
A wound that needed 30 stitches to
close, and a dent in her head are the
permanent reminders of a painful
encounter Madam Yeo Eng Koong
had with an e-scooter last year.
The 53-year-old compliance exec-
utive suffered a fractured skull and
needed surgery after falling back-
wards when the e-scooter rider
came close to colliding with her.
“After opening my skull, the doc-
tor had to use the stapling method
to seal the wound. I had a total of 30
stitches on my head and it was all
the way down to my ears. I was
shocked when I saw it.”
B1
JUDITH
FRANCIS-WERTENBROCH
9/11 SURVIVOR USES TRAUMA
TO HELP OTHERS B6
Mid-Autumn Festival illuminates Chinatown
The e-scooter rider, Tham Chee
Boon, 36, pleaded guilty on Wednes-
day to causing grievous hurt to
Madam Yeo by riding an e-scooter
in a negligent manner.
He was fined $3,500.
Tham, a paramedic for a private
firm, was riding his e-scooter home
on March 29 last year at about
9.30pm.
He was approaching a traffic light
junction near Block 362 in Wood-
lands Avenue 5 when he almost ran
into Madam Yeo.
In an interview with Shin Min Giant lanterns depicting Chang’e, the goddess of the moon in Chinese mythology, and illuminated stamps light up a traffic junction in Chinatown. The lanterns,
Daily News, Madam Yeo said that which line New Bridge Road, Eu Tong Sen Street and South Bridge Road, are part of the street light-up to commemorate the Mid-Autumn Festival today and
after she had crossed the traffic Singapore’s bicentennial marking the 200th anniversary of Sir Stamford Raffles’ arrival to the island. They will be on display until Sept 28. PHOTO: REUTERS
HEFTY MEDICAL BILL continued on B2
B2 HOME | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

Private urban planners can help Driver on

build a better S’pore: Minister
City planning more
critical amid issues
like climate change,
says Lawrence Wong
Toh Ting Wei
The Government will continue to
lead urban planning efforts in Singa-
pore to tackle issues like climate
change, but it will need help from
urban planners and other stake-
holders in the private sector.
This is essential to build Singa-
pore into a better, greener and
more liveable city, Minister for Na-
tional Development Lawrence
Wong said yesterday.
He was speaking to urban plan-
ners and designers at the Singapore
Institute of Planners’ Planning
Awards Presentation Dinner at
Swissotel Merchant Court.
The awards recognise planners,
designers and related design consul-
tancy firms for their work in both lo-
cal and overseas projects.
Urban planners are people who
plan and design the use of space
within urban areas.
Mr Wong said that how cities are
planned and organised is becoming
more critical amid challenges such
as social inequality, environmental
issues and climate change.
He added that while the Govern-
ment takes charge of urban plan-
ning here, it would be able to de-
velop better plans working with
planners in the private sector.
He also noted that planners
would need to consider a wide
range of views to tackle challenges
such as climate change.
“When you think of an issue like
climate change, the solution has to
be from many different domains...
ranging from physical engineering,
design solutions to behavioural sci-
ence solutions to nudge people’s be-
haviours towards more sustainable
practices,” said Mr Wong.
“You also need, for example, mi-
cro-climate modelling skills to bet-
ter understand urban design and
how it interacts with outdoor ther-
mal comfort.”
He urged planners to start think-
ing about what they could do with
space that will be developed in Sin-
gapore as the country rejuvenates
and reinvents itself for the future.
An example of upcoming avail-
able space is the land on which
Paya Lebar Air Base is built.
The relocation of the air base
from 2030 to bases in Tengah and
Changi will free up 800ha of land –
bigger than Bishan or Ang Mo Kio.
Current height restrictions in the
eastern swathe of Singapore to en-
sure navigational safety for aircraft
will be relaxed, meaning that cur-
rent low-rise buildings may be rede-
veloped.
Another example of land that will
be redeveloped is in the Greater
Southern Waterfront area.
The waterfront area stretches
from Gardens by the Bay East to
Pasir Panjang, covering around
30km of the southern coastline
with about 2,000ha of land for po-
tential redevelopment – almost six
times the size of Marina Bay.
Development will take place in
phases, starting with the former
Pasir Panjang Power District, Kep-
pel Club and Mount Faber in the
next five to 10 years.
Mr Wong said planners can al-
ready start thinking about what can
be done with those sites.
He added: “We look forward to
working with all our planners to
shape this exciting new phase of
building our next Singapore.”
drugs when
he crashed
van, killing
two friends
Minister for
National Cheryl Teh
Development
Lawrence Wong
Traces of drugs, including ke-
speaking at the
Singapore tamine, were found in blood and
Institute of urine samples of a delivery
driver who crashed his van into
Planners’
Planning Awards a tree in Bukit Timah Road on
Presentation Oct 20 last year, killing his two
Dinner, where passengers.
planners, The two men – Mr Aaron Prem
designers and Michael, 25, and Mr Chioh Hong
related design Heng, 43 – were friends of the
consultancy driver, Joseph Low Moh Boon,
firms were 25. They were out earlier that
recognised for night celebrating Low’s birthday.
their work in Low pleaded guilty yesterday
both local and to causing the death of his friends
overseas by driving in a rash manner.
projects. The court heard that after
PHOTO: completing his last delivery on
SINGAPORE Oct 19 last year, Low headed
INSTITUTE OF back home in the direction of
PLANNERS Woodlands and picked Mr
Chioh up on the way at around
10.30pm.
While Low took a shower, Mr
Chioh went to meet Mr Michael,
who lived nearby.
The delivery driver initially
told Mr Chioh he did not wish to
go out as he was tired but the
older man insisted as it was
He also said it was important for Low’s birthday the next day.
the Government to see through the The trio then went to a pub in
plans designed by urban planners, Jalan Besar where they ordered
even if these last over several terms three jugs of beer.
of government. Low admitted to drinking the
At the awards ceremony yester- alcoholic beverage.
day, the Housing Board emerged as The three men left the pub to-
the big winner. gether early the next morning
It snagged gold awards in best and eyewitnesses later spotted
planning, for its work in the master Low’s van speeding along Bukit
planning of Punggol Town; best ur- Timah Road.
ban design, for its rejuvenation of At around 3am, it crashed into
Bedok Town Centre; and best infra- a tree, killing Mr Chioh and Mr
structure for its work on My Water- Michael.
way@Punggol. “At the time of the accident,
the weather was clear, the road
twtoh@sph.com.sg surface was dry, traffic flow was
light and visibility was clear,”
said Deputy Public Prosecutor
Foong Leong Parn, presenting

Bank executive fined from driving all classes of vehicles

$2,000 for drink driving
Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent
A global head at Standard Char-
tered Bank (StanChart) downed
about seven glasses of wine before
getting behind the wheel of his car.
Shortly after midnight on Sept 5,
Cristian Alexander Jonsson, 48,
was caught driving along Dempsey
Road with 54 micrograms of alco-
hol in 100ml of breath.
The prescribed limit is 35mcg of
alcohol in 100ml of breath.
The Swede, who is a Singapore
permanent resident, was fined
$2,000 yesterday after pleading
guilty to a drink-driving charge.
Jonsson was also disqualified
for 18 months.
His LinkedIn page states that he
heads the capital structuring distri-
bution group and loan syndica-
tions at the bank.
The court heard that Jonsson
went to Candlenut restaurant in
Dempsey Road at around 8.20pm
on Sept 4 and consumed the alco-
holic drinks.
He stopped drinking at around
midnight. He then drove his car to
go to another carpark when he was
stopped for checks.
Jonsson was later arrested after
failing a breathalyser test.
The Swede, who was unrepre-
sented in court yesterday, told Dis-
trict Judge Lorraine Ho that he
knew he had done “something
wrong” and apologised for his ac-
tions.
Responding to queries from The
Straits Times, StanChart said: “We
will review the matter in line with
our internal policies and proce-
dures. It is inappropriate for us to
comment further.”
First-time offenders convicted
of drink driving can be jailed for up
to six months or fined up to
$5,000.
Repeat offenders can be jailed
for up to a year and fined up to
$10,000.
ashaffiq@sph.com.sg
Cristian Alexander Jonsson has also
been disqualified from driving all
classes of vehicles for 18 months.
ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
video evidence of Low’s van
drifting at a high speed down
the road, and then crashing.
The Health Sciences Author-
ity estimated that before the ac-
cident, Low had been driving at
speeds of up to 122kmh – double
the speed limit on the road.
DPP Foong said that Low had
a history of speeding, with his
last violation in Jan 24 last year.
That was less than 10 months be-
fore the fatal crash.
Additionally, a toxicology re-
port found traces of alcohol and
various drugs in Low’s urine and
blood samples, including the ille-
gal narcotic ketamine.
The DPP said: “It is abun-
dantly clear that the accused’s
rash act in the present case was
not a momentary misjudgment.

Over a year later, and effects from accident still felt
FROM B1
junction, she heard loud music
approaching.
It is believed that Tham was listen-
ing to music as he was riding the e-
scooter. Tham, who was travelling
at about 10kmh, applied the brakes
on his e-scooter and avoided hit-
ting Madam Yeo.
But she was so startled that she
stumbled backwards and fell, hit-
ting her head on the ground.
She was unconscious for about
one minute.
Her fall left her with head in-
juries, bruises on her chin and neck,
as well as a cracked tooth.
She was later taken to Khoo Teck
Puat Hospital, where doctors said
she had a skull fracture and a blood
clot in her brain.
The operation left her with 30
stitches, which were removed after
about 11 days.
Madam Yeo said she was in inten-
sive care for two days, and was then
in and out of hospital for another 13
days.
She was given medical leave for
three months after she was dis-
charged.
Madam Yeo said her medical ex-
penses added up to about $18,000
and her dental surgery required an-
other $4,900.
She also said that Tham had sent a
text message to apologise to her,
but she was unable to reply immedi-
PAINFUL INJURIES
After opening my skull,
the doctor had to use the
stapling method to seal
the wound. I had a total of
30 stitches on my head and
it was all the way down to
my ears. I was shocked
when I saw it.
ately as she was still in hospital.
She responded later to his mes-
sage, hoping to be able to talk to
him privately.
She said: “I was hoping to solve
the matter privately as I heard that
he was young and I did not want
him to go to jail and have his future
ruined.”
Madam Yeo said even though the
accident was more than a year ago,
she still has frequent headaches
and tires easily.
Since then, she said, she has
started paying more attention to
her surroundings and is especially
careful when she sees an oncoming
scooter.
She said: “I will look left and right,
“In fact, the accused’s driving
was a prolonged and deliberate
course of reckless driving, start-
ing from the time when he was
already feeling tired even be-
fore meeting his friends and yet
choosing to drive, driving while
under the influence of alcohol
and drugs, and speeding right
up to the point of the collision.”
She urged the court to sen-
tence Low to two years’ jail and
disqualify him from driving all
classes of vehicles for 12 years.
The case has been adjourned
to Sept 30 for a hearing to deter-
mine if Low was under the influ-
ence of drugs before the crash.
For causing the men’s deaths

’’
and from time to time I will turn by rash driving, Low can be
around and see if there is a scooter jailed for up to five years and
behind me.” fined.
MADAM YEO ENG KOONG
lkris@sph.com.sg tienli@sph.com.sg
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES | B3
B4 HOME | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

Shopping and entertainment at Indian expo

Visitors to the Singapore International Indian Expo 2019, which opened

yesterday, got to check out a wide variety of wares such as textiles,
jewellery, handicrafts, food and traditional Indian apparel.
They were also treated to a performance by dancers from the Singapore
Malayalee Association yesterday.
Organised by Singapore Press Holdings newspapers tabla! and Tamil
Murasu, together with event management company De Ideaz, the expo
features over 120 exhibitors from India and South-east Asia. It is being held
at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre until Sunday.
ST PHOTOS: MARK CHEONG

Man who molested girl gets 4 years’ jail

The DPP argued that showing ob- content using her father’s laptop. cution that the acts were premedi- his workplace, Marina Bay Sands
47-year-old, who showed porn to 8-year-old scene images to the girl was an There was no evidence that his tated rather than opportunistic, as (MBS), with his wife on his motorcy-
“overt act of sexual grooming”. client had taught her how to down- argued by the defence. cle. The court heard that he had lied
neighbour, also gets nine strokes of the cane He sought five years’ jail and nine load sexual content, said the lawyer. The first incident took place on to his wife that he had some work to
strokes of the cane. He said there was no trauma to the Sept 4, 2017, after the man went over do, and at the same time, arranged
Selina Lum showing obscene objects to the vic- “His acts of lust would leave an in- victim arising from the offences. to the victim’s house to help her fa- with the girl to go to her house.
Law Correspondent tim taken into consideration. delible mark on the life of a young The lawyer added that his client ther fix the water heater. The man Leaving his wife to shop at MBS,
Yesterday, Deputy Public Prose- innocent child, and destroyed the has sought spiritual guidance and left the house but returned – after he went to the victim’s house and
cutor Marshall Lim described the close, almost three-decade friend- volunteers regularly in church with her father had left for work – and used a gate key entrusted to his in-
A 47-year-old man who showed man’s actions against the young vic- ship shared between two families.” his “extremely supportive” wife. went up to the second floor, where laws to enter the house.
pornographic videos to his eight- tim as wicked, premeditated and an Defence counsel Peter Fernando He sought a two-year jail term and the girl was in her parents’ bedroom. He touched her again.
year-old neighbour and molested abuse of trust. conceded that it was an aggravating added that his client and his wife are He showed her an obscene photo Over the next three days, the girl
her twice in three months was yes- There was great trust between factor to show obscene images to sorry for what he did to the victim. and video on his mobile phone, then told her mother to get the key back
terday sentenced to four years’ jail the family of the man’s wife and the the girl, but he argued that it was a In sentencing, Justice Pang touched her inappropriately. She from the neighbours and what the
and nine strokes of the cane. victim’s family, who have been gross exaggeration to say it was tan- Khang Chau noted the very young pushed him out the door and tried to man had done. Her mother eventu-
The man, who is married with no next-door neighbours since the tamount to sexual grooming. age of the victim and that there was shut it, but relented after he begged ally confronted the man on Dec 6
children, pleaded guilty to two 1980s, and this trust extended to Mr Fernando said the victim had, abuse of trust given the close rela- her. He entered the room again and and a police report was made.
charges of aggravated molestation the man when he moved in with his on multiple occasions, on her own tionship between the two families. pulled down her underwear.
on Tuesday, with two charges of wife’s family, said the DPP. accord and in privacy, viewed sexual The judge agreed with the prose- On Dec 1, 2017, the man left for selinal@sph.com.sg

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| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
Innocent sharing of info
or breach of Secrets Act?
Lawyers say there’s no clear-cut answer – it
depends on what was shared, who shared it
Cheryl Teh
Treading the ever finer line between
innocent sharing on social media
and contravening the Official Se-
crets Act (OSA) is becoming an in-
creasingly nerve-racking exercise.
Take these two examples. A man
drives past a fatal accident where
the victim’s body is still lying on the
road. He takes a photo and shares it
with friends on WhatsApp.
Or a woman receives from her
paramedic friend a photo of a fatal
accident victim and then shares the
Two women arrested
for unauthorised use
of man’s credit card
Prisca Ang
Two women were arrested yester-
day for allegedly using a man’s
credit card to make unauthorised
transactions at retail outlets.
The women, aged 26 and 60, are
believed to have used the card to
spend more than $1,500 on various
goods, such as clothes, toiletries,
handbags, healthcare products, a
pair of spectacles and two stored-
value cards.
Preliminary investigations
showed that the 26-year-old woman
is believed to have picked up the vic-
tim’s credit card and made the unau-
photo with others.
Have they committed a crime?
The answer is not so clear-cut,
say lawyers, because decisions
made on whether the OSA has been
breached hinge on two important
factors: what kind of information
was shared and who shared it.
“The law can be wide, and neces-
sarily so,” Mr Sunil Sudheesan, di-
rector at Quahe Woo and Palmer,
told The Straits Times. He noted
that a passer-by snapping a photo
of an accident would be handled
very differently from a licensed
paramedic who did it.
thorised transactions with the
60-year-old woman, the police said
in a statement yesterday.
The women are expected to be
charged in court today.
The man whose credit card was
used by the two women made a po-
lice report about his lost card and
how several unauthorised transac-
tions, amounting to more than
$1,500, were made on it.
Anyone found guilty of dishonest
misappropriation of property can
be fined, jailed for up to two years,
or both.
A person found guilty of cheating
can be jailed for up to 10 years and
fined.
However, this does not seem to
have contravened the OSA “unless
there is some knowledge that the in-
formation is protected”, he added.
Those convicted of an offence un-
der the OSA – which seeks to pre-
vent disclosure of official docu-
ments and information – can be
jailed for up to two years and fined
up to $2,000.
Invictus Law Corporation director
Darren Tan told ST that determin-
ing whether a person is in violation
of the OSA hinges on what kind of in-
formation was shared. “If you think
that the information you are sharing
may have been obtained by a person
by virtue of their position as some-
one who holds a government con-
tract, it is probably best to verify the
source before sharing it,” he added.
The women, aged 26 and 60, are believed to have used the victim’s credit card to spend more than $1,500 on various goods, such as clothes, toiletries, handbags,
healthcare products, a pair of spectacles and two stored-value cards. PHOTOS: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
The police advised members of
the public to be vigilant of their sur-
roundings and to keep their belong-
ings safe in public.
“Merchants and sales staff are ad-
vised to exercise vigilance and adopt
correct card-acceptance procedures
when processing credit or debit card
He cited the case of former Singa-
pore Airlines pilot Fazli Hisham
Mohd Fairuz Shah, who was fined
$3,000 under the OSA for sharing
pictures of a dead maid and a Singa-
pore Civil Defence Force (SCDF)
call sheet.
While Hisham, 29, did not hold a
contract with the Government, he
was found to have contravened the
OSA by disclosing information
from a source who was linked to the
authorities: his paramedic girl-
friend Nurizzah Afiqah Hussain.
Mr Tan gave the hypothetical ex-
ample of a man who comes across
an online forum post containing
leaks from government sources.
“Theoretically, if the man for-
warded the message to a WhatsApp
group knowing or having reason to
transactions,” they added.
Staff should look out for the name
and security features on the card
and immediately contact the rele-
vant banks for advice if they detect
anything suspicious.
The police also advised credit and
debit card holders to call their
believe that it’s a leak of information
from government sources, he could
be in contravention of the OSA, just
like the principal offender.”
And if the other members of the
WhatsApp group shared that mes-
sage, they could also be in contraven-
tion of the Act if they knew or had
reason to believe that the message
was official information. It would
also matter if the information ob-
tained was from official sources.
Mr Tan added: “For instance, if a
casual bystander takes a photo of a
dying person, that photo is likely
not information that is governed by
the OSA.
“However, if the same person
takes a photo of a dying person ow-
ing to their position as someone who
holds a contract made on behalf of
the Government, the information
would be governed by the OSA.”
Local agencies are working to en-
sure OSA violations rarely occur and
private information remains private.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman
said policies at Mindef and the Singa-
pore Armed Forces (SAF) “are regu-
larly updated to keep pace with the
evolving security threats, risks and
social trends”. “Mindef and the SAF
also conduct regular briefings and
education programmes to remind
banks immediately if their cards
are lost or stolen.
To prevent unauthorised use of
their cards, consumers can opt for
an SMS notification to be sent to
their mobile phones for any
charges incurred on their credit or
debit cards.
HOME B5
our servicemen to remain vigilant
against the unauthorised disclo-
sure of official information.”
The Singapore Police Force (SPF)
and the SCDF said they have strict
protocol to manage data.
“Officers of the SPF and SCDF are
required to safeguard confidential
and official information obtained
during the course of duty,” said a
spokesman for both agencies.
He added that regular briefings
are held to inform officers of these
security measures and warn them
against the unauthorised disclo-
sure of official information.
“Any officer found to have vio-
lated the OSA will be charged as
well as face internal disciplinary ac-
tion,” the spokesman said.
Members of the public should en-
sure they do not end up violating the
OSA, accidentally or otherwise.
Lawyers recommended exercising
judgment and common sense before
sharing any information.
“If you are in possession of a docu-
ment or information that possibly
could be governed by OSA, and if
the source is suspect, then you
should be more circumspect and do
your due diligence,” Mr Tan said.
tienli@sph.com.sg
They can also check bank state-
ments and alert the bank immedi-
ately if there are discrepancies or
fraudulent charges, as well as re-
frain from giving their card details
to strangers.
prisang@sph.com.sg
B6 HOME
She fled 102nd floor of
World Trade Center
Survivor of 9/11 attacks in New York recalls
her narrow escape and long healing process
Janice Tai
Social Affairs Correspondent
Mrs Judith Francis-Wertenbroch
stood on the balcony of her apart-
ment in Upper Bukit Timah on
Wednesday night, looking out at
the dark trees lining the street all
the way to Clementi. Looking into
the distance, she could make out
the tiny shimmering lights of Ma-
rina Bay Sands.
But her mind was not on the
peaceful scene before her. Instead,
the American was remembering
another time, 18 years ago, when
she escaped the single deadliest
terrorist attack in history.
As she scribbled her reflections
in her journal, her phone rang sev-
eral times, from family and friends
who call to check on her at this
time each year.
US diving boat fire:
Second S’porean’s
death confirmed
Vanessa Liu
A 46-year-old Singaporean re-
searcher has been confirmed to be
a victim of a fire on Sept 2 on board
a diving boat in California, his fam-
ily said yesterday.
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At 8.46am on Sept 11, 2001, a
hijacked plane crashed into the
North Tower of the World Trade
Center in New York City, and then at
9.03am, another plane flew into the
South Tower. Both towers later col-
lapsed. A third plane crashed into
the Pentagon in the US state of Vir-
ginia, while a fourth plane smashed
into a field in Pennsylvania. In all,
nearly 3,000 people died.
Mrs Francis-Wertenbroch, who
is in her 50s and does not want to
reveal her age, would usually have
been in the lift at about 9am, going
up to her office on the 102nd floor
of the South Tower. But that morn-
ing, she had promised to help a col-
league to prepare a presentation,
and so she arrived early, at about
8.40am.
“As I walked in, I saw something
headed towards my building out-
side, but I couldn’t see it properly. So
Dr Sunil Singh Sandhu was
among 34 people who died when a
fire broke out on the Conception, a
recreational scuba diving vessel an-
chored off Santa Cruz Island, near
the southern Californian coast, in
one of California’s worst maritime
disasters.
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CEA Reg No.: R017110J
I went to my boss’ office next door
to try to look out of his blinds. But
they were closed,” said Mrs Francis-
Wertenbroch, who was a consultant
in a risk management firm.
After speaking to him for a few
moments, she went back to her
own office. That was when she saw
the North Tower opposite explod-
ing before her eyes into a fireball.
The first hijacked plane had met its
target. She froze.
Realising the urgency of the mo-
ment, she snapped out of her trance
and ran to shake her shell-shocked
boss to get him to move. She then
grabbed a colleague by the hand
and they headed for the stairs.
The stairwell in the centre of the
building was packed with people
trying to get out. To calm her
nerves, she recited verses from the
Bible as she and her colleague hur-
ried down.
Just as they were reaching the
85th floor from the 86th, the sec-
ond hijacked plane hit the South
Tower and debris blasted into their
faces. Glass and other shards went
Dr Sunil’s brother-in-law, Mr
Ramesh Singh, said the family will
be flying to the United States tomor-
row to carry out the funeral rites
and Dr Sunil’s cremation in Santa
Barbara.
Dr Sunil, who had lived in the US
for 24 years, was a graduate of Chris-
tian Brothers University in Mem-
phis, Tennessee. He also had a mas-
ter’s degree and doctoral degree
from Stanford University.
The death of another Singa-
porean, Ms Tan Wei, a 26-year-old
postgraduate student, was earlier
confirmed by the US authorities.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA) issued a statement
yesterday, saying the US authori-
ties had confirmed that two Singa-
poreans were among the victims on
9108 3382
into her eyes.
They later learnt that the plane
had entered on the 77th floor and
sheared the building in an upward
trajectory towards the 86th floor.
She somehow escaped death
again, but fires were now burning
furiously, sending heat and smoke
into the stairwell.
“The sound emitted was so sharp,
of steel cutting steel. As the plane
entered and exited the building, it
felt like thousands of elephants
thundering through,” she said.
When she was finally outside, she
saw thousands of sheets of paper
fluttering down, furniture crashing
onto the ground, and the bodies of
workers who had jumped to their
deaths splattered on the walkway.
At about 10am, the South Tower,
having been burning for an hour,
crumbled, and by then she was run-
ning up Church and Dey streets.
The North Tower collapsed later, at
10.28am.
She hitched a ride on a school bus
to get out of the area and later
called her brother, who took her
board the boat.
MFA said: “The ministry would
like to express our deepest condo-
lences to the families who lost their
loved ones. Our thoughts and
prayers are with them during this
difficult time.
“We would also like to express
our appreciation to the US Embassy
in Singapore and relevant US agen-
cies for their assistance in the
search-and-recovery operations as
well as the victim identification
process.”
The ministry said it would work
closely with the US authorities to
continue rendering assistance and
support to the families of the two
Singaporeans.
liuxyv@sph.com.sg
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| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
back to his home in Brooklyn. She
was not married then.
“I couldn’t talk much. I was in a
place I had never knew emotion-
ally, mentally, physically,” she said.
There was to be a long journey of
healing from the trauma. Mrs Fran-
cis-Wertenbroch was diagnosed
with post-traumatic stress disor-
der and had panic and anxiety at-
tacks several times a day.
She would put her cellphone un-
der two pillows because it sounded
like a bomb to her when it rang.
She was hyper-vigilant and angry
all the time because she felt no one
understood what she was going
through. Two weeks later, she went
back to work, in another part of
Manhattan.
Two years ago, she moved to Sin-
gapore with her German husband
when she was offered a job by the
National University of Singapore.
She is now regional director of Rof-
fey Park Institute Asia-Pacific, spe-
cialising in executive education.
“We teach leaders and manage-
ment about the importance of
values like resilience, empathy, di-
versity and inclusion, and building
trusting relationships in the work-
place. These are close to my heart,
given my past experience with
9/11,” she said.
She is fine on most days now, and
has learnt how to release her anxi-
ety by working out in the gym every
day and avoiding certain triggers.
There is a lot of security in Singa-
pore, she said, but people seem to
think terror attacks cannot happen
here. “There needs to be an aware-
Dr Sunil Singh Sandhu was among 34 people who died when a fire broke out on
the diving boat on Sept 2. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SUNIL SINGH SANDHU’S FAMILY
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DEAFENING
The sound emitted was so
sharp, of steel cutting
steel. As the plane entered
and exited the building, it
felt like thousands of
elephants thundering
through.
’’
MRS JUDITH FRANCIS-WERTENBROCH,
on the second hijacked plane crashing into
the South Tower of New York’s World Trade
Center during the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.
NEED FOR VIGILANCE
There needs to be an
awareness and alertness as
to how to make critical
decisions or respond when
emergencies happen.
’’
MRS FRANCIS-WERTENBROCH, on
emergency preparedness in Singapore.
Mrs Judith Francis-Wertenbroch, an
American now based here, was a
consultant at a risk management
firm in New York’s World Trade
Center at the time of the attacks on
Sept 11, 2001. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
ness and alertness as to how to
make critical decisions or respond
when emergencies happen.”
The first time she felt ready to
publicly share her 9/11 experience
with a live audience was in Singa-
pore, when she attended a youth
forum and vigil for victims of the
attacks on two mosques in Christ-
church, New Zealand, in March. “I
went up to ask how people here are
being equipped for such attacks,
and shared my story.”
She said she has come to realise
that her experience does not have
to be a burden, but a way to con-
nect with others who are in pain.
“I want to walk with and listen to
people who are struggling. I used to
be angry that no one could under-
stand because they did not experi-
ence what I did, but I realised that
one does not need to experience
the exact thing to be present and
empathise with another being,”
said the psychologist by training.
Mrs Francis-Wertenbroch, who
was born in the Caribbean, hopes
to participate in more interfaith dia-
logues and to lend an ear to those
who need it.
At this time of the year, she still
feels anxiety building up inside her.
But as she took a few deep breaths
in the darkness of her balcony on
Wednesday, she thanked God and
talked with the friends who had
reached out to her on this side of
the world in Singapore.
jantai@sph.com.sg
SEE OPINION A23
What’s
LOOKING AT THE UPSIDE
Share the upside of life in ST’s
Facebook group str.sg/whatsgood
Read positive stories at our
microsite str.sg/stwhatsgood
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
HOME B7

Reformative training
for duo involved
in Boys’ Home riot
17-year-old boys the first two to be sentenced
over incident that left three adults injured
Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent
When they staged a riot in the Singa-
pore Boys’ Home last September,
the juvenile inmates acted tough
and even broke into song while
waiting for the police to apprehend
them. But all that bravado faded for
one of them in court yesterday.
As Deputy Public Prosecutor
Grace Chua was addressing the
court on sentencing matters follow-
ing the incident, which left a
44-year-old auxiliary police officer
with an eye injury that is most likely
permanent, one of two 17-year-old
boys standing before the judge sud-
denly fell back in his seat in the dock.
A woman, believed to be his
mother, went up to him and mas-
saged his head to give him some
comfort as the other boy looked on.
After five minutes, court proceed-
ings continued.
District Judge Eddy Tham then
sentenced each of them to a year’s
reformative training. This means
the teenagers will be detained in a
reformative training centre to fol-
low a strict regimen that includes
foot drills and counselling.
The judge said that they had
taken part in “causing havoc with-
out any care or regard to anyone
else” and stressed that those who
behaved in such a manner must be
“punished severely”.
The boys are the first two to be
sentenced over the incident. They
each pleaded guilty last month to a
rioting charge and two counts of
vandalism. The rioters cannot be
named owing to a gag order.
A third 17-year-old youth, who A police officer at the Singapore Boys’ Home on Sept 28 last year, when the riot took place. An auxiliary police officer
also pleaded guilty to similar suffered an eye injury, while a youth guidance officer and the home’s assistant manager had head injuries. ST FILE PHOTO
charges last month, was arrested
on Wednesday over alleged drug-
related offences. His case has been The riot happened at around the trio, joined in the attack. on Wednesday struck the auxiliary
adjourned to Oct 10. 5.50pm on Sept 28 last year after the The assistant manager and the police officer’s head with a similar
The court heard that the trio were youth guidance officer called for ev- auxiliary police officer, who tried to stick multiple times. The injured
sent to the home in Jurong West af- eryone to fall in at the home’s court- help the man, were also attacked by adults eventually fled the scene.
ter they committed offences, in- yard. One of the trio and a 15-year- the teens. The trio and the other rioters also
cluding theft. Besides the injured old boy started a fake argument One of them – the teenager who took turns to damage property at
auxiliary police officer, the riot also which led to a fight. When the offi- was comforted by his mother in the home. The cases involving the
left a 33-year-old youth guidance of- cer tried to separate them, the court – then used a floorball stick to other rioters are still pending.
ficer and the home’s 45-year-old as- 15-year-old punched the man’s hit the assistant manager in the
sistant manager with head injuries. face, and the other teens, including back of his head. The boy arrested ashaffiq@sph.com.sg

7 arrested
for unruly
behaviour
at Boys’
Home
Cara Wong

Seven residents of the Singapore

Boys’ Home were arrested on Tues-
day night by police for unruly be-
haviour and vandalism after they
damaged furniture, threw objects
out of their rooms and created a
ruckus at the home in Jurong West.
It took two hours for the situa-
tion to be stabilised, police said in
a statement yesterday.
The Ministry of Social and Fam-
ily Development, which runs the
home, said nobody was injured in
the incident.
The ages of the boys arrested at
the home, which houses at-risk
youth aged between 12 and 19,
were not revealed.
Residents living near the home,
which is in Jurong West Street 24,
said they became aware of a loud
commotion on Tuesday that
lasted more than an hour from
around 10pm.
Mr Hashim Abdul Rahman, 60,
said: “It was quite loud at night
and there was a lot of banging and
people shouting. We could see peo-
ple running in some of the rooms.”
His Housing Board flat is across
the road from the home.
Another resident, who wanted
to be known only as Ms Siti, 36,
said the place can sound a little
chaotic at times.
Just a few days before Tuesday’s
incident, the housewife saw some
boys gathered outside the home in
the evening, shouting to the resi-
dents inside. She could not make
out what they were saying.
The news of the arrests comes
on the same day as a court appear-
ance by two 17-year-olds who
were involved in a riot at the Singa-
pore Boys’ Home in September
last year.
The two were part of a group of
seven who attacked three adults
working at the home, and dam-
aged property as well. The brutal
assault left a 44-year-old auxiliary
police officer with an eye injury
that is most likely permanent.
Yesterday, the two teenagers
were each sentenced to a year’s re-
formative training, which means
they will be detained in a reforma-
tive training centre to follow a
strict regimen that includes foot
drills and counselling.
Tuesday’s incident is the third
in four years where residents
caused a commotion at the home.
All three incidents occurred in the
month of September.
In September 2016, 26 residents
were arrested by police for unlaw-
ful assembly. They had thrown fur-
niture out of the home’s windows
and smashed light tubes in an at-
tempt to stage an escape.
Apart from youth offenders, the
home also houses boys deemed be-
yond parental control, or who are
under a child protection order.

carawong@sph.com.sg
B8 | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

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brand from the pool of winners in the SPBA - Promising Brands, SPBA -
Established Brands and SPBA - Heritage Brands categories. You will stand to
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Visit spba.sphcontests.com.sg to vote by 23:59, 30 September 2019.

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For any enquiries, please email spba.secretariat@asme.org.sg. You may vote for multiple brands in the
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| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
HOME B9

Top court
that of Cherish Delights on
Wednesday. The licences are sus-
pended until further notice.
Food handlers working in the
caterers’ premises are required to

allows Aussie
re-attend and pass the Basic Food
Hygiene Course before they can re-
sume working.
The same applies to food hygiene
officers at the two premises – they

to testify
must re-attend and pass the Food
Hygiene Officers Course.
MOH and SFA said the two
premises, as well as the utensils
and equipment, need to be cleaned

from abroad
and sanitised.
“Food safety is a joint responsi-
bility. SFA would like to remind
food operators to observe good
food and personal hygiene prac-

via video link

tices at all times,” the statement
said.
A spokesman for Mum’s Kitchen
Catering said yesterday that the
caterer “deeply regrets the incon-
The Singapore Food Agency suspended the licence of Mum’s Kitchen Catering (left) on Tuesday, and that of Cherish venience caused to all its cus-
Delights on Wednesday. The two incidents are being investigated. PHOTOS: MUM’S KITCHEN, CHERISH DELIGHTS/FACEBOOK tomers”.
She said that the caterer is inves-
tigating the matter and has “taken
Witness in negligence suit feared he would be
prosecuted in S’pore over property purchase Licences of two caterers In a joint statement on Wednes-
day, the Ministry of Health (MOH)
and SFA said they were investigat-
immediate steps to review the
whole supply chain process and
practices”.

K.C. Vijayan
Senior Law Correspondent
costs be paid to Anil in relation to
the High Court hearing last year and
suspended after 39 fall ill ing the incidents.
Three people were hospitalised,
and while two of them have been
“We have also requested our ex-
ternal food consultants to audit
the entire supply chain and food
this Court of Appeal hearing. The discharged, one is still in hospital processes once again.
negligence suit by Anil is ongoing. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) Those affected in the cases on in a stable condition, SFA and “The SFA and MOH have also vis-
The top court has for the first time Mr Tejinder is now cleared to testify has suspended the licences of two Aug 31 and Sept 2 became ill after MOH said. ited our premises and we are coop-
allowed video testimony from a wit- by video link at a date to be fixed. caterers after 39 people in two sep- consuming food from Mum’s In the light of the incidents, SFA erating with them to investigate
ness abroad whose grounds for not arate cases suffered from gastroen- Kitchen Catering and Cherish De- suspended the licence of Mum’s the cause of the incident,” she
turning up in person was fear of vijayan@sph.com.sg teritis recently. lights. Kitchen Catering on Tuesday, and said.
prosecution.
The High Court last year had re-
fused to allow the witness, Mr Tejin-
der Singh Sekhon, to testify from
Australia via video link, but the
Court of Appeal overruled it after
hearing the case last month.
Australian national Tejinder was
prepared to testify as a witness for
Singaporean Anil Singh Gurm in a
lawsuit here over alleged negli-
gence in relation to the legality of
buying a semi-detached house in
Serangoon Gardens. But he feared
returning to Singapore might lead
to prosecution over the same prop-
erty purchase.
As a foreigner, Mr Tejinder could
not buy the house in his own name,
so he had Anil do it. But Mr Tejinder
paid all the outlays, and lived there
from 2007 to 2011 before selling the
house and returning to Australia. A
check showed the house is now
worth some $5 million.
In January 2015, Anil was charged
with buying a property as a nomi-
nee for a foreigner with the inten-
tion to hold it in trust for the for-
eigner. This is prohibited unless ap-
proval is obtained.
Anil then sued the law firm and a
lawyer in the firm, which had ad-
vised him on the property pur-
chase. He now wants Mr Tejinder
as his witness for the civil suit.
The High Court in its decision last
year recognised the novel question
of law posed by the video-link appli-
cation and had allowed leave to
Anil to appeal against the matter as
it would be to “public advantage”
for the top court to address the im-
portant issue raised.
At last month’s Court of Appeal
hearing, his lawyers Deborah
Barker and Ushan Premaratne
urged the court to focus on the prej-
udice suffered by the parties if the
video-link testimony were not al-
lowed, arguing the relevant section
of the Evidence Act should be inter-
preted widely to achieve the pur-
pose of the Act.
Lawyers Chandra Mohan and
Ang Tze Phern for the respondents
countered, among other things,
that the giving of evidence via video
link is the exception rather than the
rule and a witness who desires not
to return to Singapore solely to
avoid prosecution here is merely
“unwilling”, and not “unable”, to
give evidence in Singapore.
They added that the evidence Mr
Tejinder proposed to give via video
link would potentially serve to exon-
erate him from the offence he was
seeking to avoid being charged with.
The Court of Appeal, comprising
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and
Judges of Appeal Tay Yong Kwang
and Judith Prakash, in allowing the
appeal, accepted that a purposive
interpretation should be given to
the provisions under the Evidence
Act permitting video-link evidence.
The court will issue its full deci-
sion grounds in due course.
Senior Counsel Barker said when
contacted yesterday that the case is
ground-breaking as the appeal
court considered the principles to
be applied when deciding whether
to grant leave for a foreign witness
to give evidence by video link.
“The court found the fact that the
witness was unwilling to come to
Singapore due to a fear of prosecu-
tion was not a bar to allowing him
to give evidence by VL (video
link),” she said. “The Court of Ap-
peal concluded that concerns
whether such a move would bring
the administration of justice into
disrepute were outweighed by the
public interest in access to justice,
namely, that a litigant should be al-
lowed to bring before the court evi-
dence critical to his case.”
The court ordered $36,000 in
B10
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318994
Price Kaki: New app helps consumers compare prices
Ooo! There’s another carrot cake stall.
And it charges half the price for a plate.
More activities Concerted effort
with locals would needed to tackle
help integrate climate change
new citizens
As a born and bred Singaporean, I
welcome the 149 new citizens who
have committed themselves to
become a part of our Singapore
story (We, the new citizens of
Singapore, Sept 1).
Yet, there are sometimes
tensions between Singaporeans by
birth and new citizens.
At the 2013 National Citizenship
Ceremony, Emeritus Senior
Minister Goh Chok Tong said
integration between new citizens
and Singaporeans is important for
building the “best home for all of us
together”.
So how can we encourage better
integration of new citizens into
Singapore?
The Government has been
attempting to promote this.
In 2017, the Project Lapis Sagu
film-making contest organised by
the Ministry of Communications
and Information sourced for ideas
from the public on cultural
diversity and social integration in
Singapore.
A film anthology entitled
Together Apart was subsequently
produced and was screened at a
local cinema. It remains accessible
on YouTube today.
Nonetheless, more efforts are
required for integration to take
place in the long run.
First, new citizens have a duty to
try to integrate into Singapore:
two-thirds of Singaporeans and
permanent residents said in a
recent survey that immigrants are
not doing enough to integrate into
Singapore (Good to have different
nationals as neighbours, say
S’poreans, Aug 4). This is worrying.
All new citizens must undergo
the Singapore Citizenship Journey
programme, which consists of
online modules on Singapore,
including its history and culture;
visits to places such as the Newater
Visitor Centre; and
community-sharing sessions to
reflect on the journey towards
citizenship, meet other new
citizens, and learn to actively
participate in the community.
Where in this initiative are shared
common experiences with locals
emphasised?
New citizens should be given
activities to engage with locals in a
natural way, for example, planning
food tours with local Singaporeans
and joining local performing arts
groups.
Second, Singaporeans should
understand that new citizens will
add to the national identity, which
is constantly evolving.
Singaporeans should also be
made to understand that the
Singaporean identity is not static
but constantly evolving.
Too often, nation-building is often
seen as a segment of history which
occurred when our forefathers
arrived here. I urge all to make
efforts to keep Singapore a peaceful
and open society with acceptance
and appreciation of newcomers.
Alvona Loh Zi Hui
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stforum@sph.com.sg
Business: 6319-5397
stnewsdesk@sph.com.sg
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Half the amount
Climate change and environmental
woes now constitute a long-term
existential threat for many nations,
and eventually for the whole world.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
suggested we need to spend $100
billion over the next 100 years to
mitigate it. For Singapore, a threat
of this scale and nature requires
well-coordinated efforts involving
every one of us.
First, we need to identify all
man-made factors, such as policies,
mindsets, priorities and behaviours
that exacerbate the woes, and
conversely, those that could
reverse or improve the situation.
For example, what is the optimal
economic or population growth we
should achieve so as not to speed up
the deterioration of our
environment? Also, what are the
opportunity costs of
over-conservation?
We need to cultivate a culture of
sharing. What are the hindrances to
the development of such a culture?
Once our sharing culture is at a high
level, we could cut down on buying
many types of equipment and
services.
We must make the best use of
new technologies. We should set a
target on the percentage of electric
cars on the roads and number of
households using solar and other
non-fossil fuel energy. We should
examine why we use big buses
during off-peak hours. These buses
are almost empty for most of the
day. Are smaller electric buses a
better option?
Re-examine our urban planning
blueprint to see how we could cut
short the journey from home to
workplace. For example, how many
people staying in the east of the
island travel to the west to work,
and vice versa?
We could also speed up research
on developing underground
habitats and floating cities.
It requires a holistic,
whole-of-government effort to
study and implement ideas to make
the best use of our resources with
minimal adverse impact on the
environment in the long term. An
independent high-level
multi-ministry committee staffed
with full-time experts and
professionals may be needed to
undertake this huge task.
Albert Ng Ya Ken
WRITE IN: Letters should be meant for exclusive publication in The Straits Times. They should be no longer than 400 words and must include the writer’s full name,
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stforum@sph.com.sg. Readers can also respond to letters via Facebook and Twitter.
Haze didn’t cross from Sumatra to Peninsular Malaysia
We refer to the reports (KL to urge
Jakarta to take swift action on haze
amid spike in hot spots, Sept 7;
Haze in Malaysia likely to stay till
end of month, Sept 9) that could
lead to Indonesia being blamed for
transboundary haze.
Between Sept 4 and 7, the Agency
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stnewsdesk@sph.com.sg
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Excerpts from readers’ letters
GOVT PORTAL NEEDS UPDATING
The website Gov.sg provides
information on government and
statutory board services.
I was disappointed to see that an
officer who I knew was no longer in
an organisation was still listed on
the website.
As Gov.sg is put up by the
authorities to provide
information to the public, it must
be accurate and up-to-date at all
times.
David Kwok Ng Kan
ALL TEENS SHOULD LEARN CPR
Diniy Qurratuaini’s life-saving
action and quick thinking are
inspirational, considering she’s
just 15 years old (Teen’s CCA
training came in handy to save
accident victim, Sept 6).
In the light of this, I wonder if the
Education Ministry would
consider making it compulsory for
all secondary school students to
attend and master the basics of
cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
which would be a vital life-saving
skill.
What Diniy has done, which I
hope other students will emulate,
triumphs any gold medal. She is a
true hero.
Chan Whye Shiung
‘No plastic bag’ trial a study of consumer sentiment
We refer to the letters commenting
on FairPrice’s “No Plastic Bag” trial
initiative and thank readers for
their feedback and suggestions as
well as their encouragement on our
ongoing sustainability efforts.
We are heartened by the renewed
awareness and robust discussion
on addressing the perennial issue
of plastic bag usage and waste.
FairPrice has always adopted a
proactive approach towards
reducing our carbon footprint as
well as in developing initiatives to
ensure a sustainable future for our
planet.
for Meteorology and Geophysics
deputy head Mulyono R. Prabowo
said that satellite images from the
Citra Satellite Terra Aqua Modis,
SNPP, Noaa0 and the Himawari-8
clearly show there was no
transboundary haze pollution from
Sumatra to Peninsular Malaysia
Nurture a
new generation
of trilingual
Singaporeans
I am happy to note that some
schools are offering a third
language to students, though only
up to a conversational level.
Trilingualism is important.
Learning a third language up to a
conversational level is practical and
achievable.
Knowing a language will open
the door to knowing a culture and
race.
This is a perfect way to interracial
tolerance and understanding.
Think of the advantage to
Singaporeans who can relate to
people in neighbouring countries
in their own language in doing
business and other activities.
Think of the advantage to
WORRYING RELIANCE ON TUITION
That families spent $1.4 billion last
year on private tuition is a sign that
the Education Ministry needs to
revise its teaching methodology
(Families spent $1.4b on extra
tuition for children last year,
Sept 7).
What is most worrisome is that
there may be many students who
cannot cope without tutoring.
Private tuition centres seem to be
able to enlighten and teach
students that could not
understand the lessons taught in
school. Is there something wrong
with our schools’ teaching
methods?
Kang Choon Tian
GOOD GOVERNANCE AND DISSENT
I refer to the letter by Mrs
Constance Jacob (Govt has served
S’poreans well, Sept 5).
I would like to state that saying
no is also an act of love.
As a child, I was taught that my
parents cannot say yes to
everything I want. That is an act of
love that is far stronger than the
impulse to only indulge and keep
saying yes.
As an adult now, I find myself
well served by this teaching.
Saying no at the right time has
Our holistic plastic bag
management programme is a
four-pronged approach to reduce
plastic bag usage.
This includes:
• Reviewing internal processes to
trim plastic bag packaging
• Enhancing environmentally
friendly bagging practices
• Educating and engaging
shoppers to reduce use of plastic
bags
• Partnering with strategic
stakeholders to raise the
environmental consciousness of
consumers.
even though there was an increase
in the number of hot spots in
Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Based on satellite information
from the Himawari-8 satellite, the
distribution of smoke only occurred
in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra,
West, Central, and South Borneo.
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
non-Chinese language speaking
Singaporeans when they do
business in China.
It would be good if the Ministry of
Education will go one step further
and make the learning of a third
language available to all schools.
At the same time, gradually make
trilingualism the norm in all
pre-schools.
The next generation of
Singaporeans will feel at home in
many countries.
Singapore will not only be
multiracial, but will be
multilingual as well, with truly
deep racial understanding and
harmony.
George Wong Seow Choon (Dr)
helped me in my studies and
professional life.
I engage my friends in
well-reasoned civil debate with
friendships strengthened knowing
that even if we choose to disagree,
we are still friends.
The act of dissent, the act of
saying no, is just as much an act of
love to this nation as agreeing with
its current leaders. Sometimes,
only by the people saying no will
there be accountability of a
country’s leaders to its people.
Lim Shi Shun
QUALIFYING FOR NEW HDB GRANTS
I read with interest the report on
the changes for first-time flat
buyers (Higher grants, more choice
for first-time flat buyers, Sept 11).
For those who are selecting their
Build-To-Order flats later this
month, the question on our mind
will be if we qualify for the grant.
Will the grant apply to those who
finalise their purchase with the
Housing Board after Wednesday
or only for those who make initial
applications from Wednesday?
Yeo Shuan Chee
’’
For the upcoming “No Plastic Bag”
trial (Sept 16 to Oct 16) that will be
conducted at seven of our selected
stores, we aim to better
understand consumers’ behaviour
and gather public response
through a consumer sentiment
study that will be conducted
independently.
During this trial, plastic bags will
not be available freely at the stores
to encourage shoppers to
“Bring-Your-Own-Bag”.
Nonetheless, should customers
need plastic bags, they may
purchase them at 20 cents per
The Indonesian government,
nevertheless, continues to monitor
the situation while at the same time
tackling the forest fires.
Ratna Lestari Harjana
Counsellor for Information, Social and
Cultural Affairs
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
Learning
multiple
languages
does nothing
but good
The study by National University of
Singapore researchers, albeit
involving only a small study group,
is reassuring and encouraging to us
particularly when we live in a
multicultural society like Singapore
(Language, dialect heard in infancy
never really forgotten, study
shows, Sept 3).
The study reinforces much of
what is known about the robust and
extensive capabilities of the brains
of young children to learn and
retain multiple languages or
dialects even when exposed to
these simultaneously.
Science has proved what we
observe in our daily lives about the
unique capacities of our brains.
The fear that children are able to
only learn one or two languages at a
time and that they will be confused
by exposure to multiple languages
is unwarranted.
Importantly, the fear that
learning other languages or dialects
may reduce a child’s proficiency in
English is unfounded.
On the contrary, exposure to or
learning several languages when
young is beneficial for brain
development.
So let us relax. Let grandparents
and family members communicate
with children using dialect or
languages that are most
comfortable to them.
Let us expose our children to the
richness and beauty of other
cultures and ethnic groups through
exploration of their languages and
dialects.
Language is an important tool for
effective communication, which is
itself an essential element of
meaningful interpersonal
relationships.
Enrichment programmes in
schools may be more enriching if
schools can use the time to
creatively expose children to
languages in our multi-ethnic
community. In this context, I hope
that the learning of our national
language may be rekindled for all
school children. Even if it is only to
improve their skills in speaking the
national language, the effort is
worthwhile and meaningful.
Associate Professor Leher
Singh’s study has shown promising
results. It is worthwhile supporting
such studies as the results are
relevant to us living in a
multicultural and multi-ethnic
society. Language is certainly an
essential tool to explore the vast
and rich cultures in our society and
a means towards social
cohesiveness. We have a ready
multi-ethnic platform for exposure
to multiple languages which is good
for our brains and good for our
society. Why waste it?
Ho Ting Fei (Dr)
transaction at the selected
supermarkets and 10 cents per
transaction at the selected
convenience stores, where an
adequate number of bags will be
given to bag all their purchases. All
proceeds will be donated to the
Singapore Children’s Society and
The Straits Times School Pocket
Money Fund.
All of us have a part to play in
protecting the environment, and
we can start by cultivating the habit
to bring our own bag when we shop
and reduce the use of plastic bags
over time.
Jonas Kor
Director, Corporate Communications
and Brand
NTUC FairPrice
FORUM ONLINE
1. PAUL CHAN POH HOI: Chance
at waterfront living for all.
2. ANTHONY OEI: Pre-colonial
Singapore was thriving island.
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| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
C1

JOHN RIADY
RIADY SCION STEPS IN
TO HELP PULL LIPPO
FROM THE BRINK C3

Singtel to invest $45m over

three years on staff training
Programmes will
help its 12,600 local
workers set their
own skill pathways
Hariz Baharudin

Telecommunications giant Singtel

will invest $45 million over the next
three years in organising training
programmes for its workers to
deepen their skills and knowledge
in order to fuel the digital economy,
the firm announced yesterday.
These programmes will include
workshops and courses that it will
hold at its new four-storey
Singtel@8George office in Picker-
ing Street in the central business
district, which it officially opened
yesterday.
In a statement, Singtel said the
programmes that will come from
this investment will also help its
12,600 local employees create their
own skill pathways and transform
their roles to suit the digital econ-
omy’s changing needs.
Singtel group chief human re-
sources officer Aileen Tan said the
programmes will include those that
encourage its employees to “em-
brace continuous learning and ac-
tively manage their professional de-
velopment in anticipation of longer
career spans”.
She added: “This will ensure we
have an agile, future-ready work-
force that can meet the demands of
the new economy.”
Singtel@8George – on the site of
the former City Exchange, one of A staff member demonstrating Curious, Singtel’s E-learning app for training and upskilling at the official opening of Singtel@8George yesterday. The four-storey office has classrooms, training facilities and
Singapore’s earliest telephone ex- interactive spaces for its staff to carry out activities such as training, team-building workshops, townhalls and hackathons. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
changes – has classrooms, training
facilities and interactive spaces for
its staff to carry out activities such which it has dubbed the Accelerate, labour movement to help its work- ways” course, to prepare them for will allow for greater automation of der Singh said: “Technology may
as training, team-building work- Co-create and Transform, or ACT, ers learn new and different skills. the imminent roll-out of 5G connec- tasks and digital connectivity, driv- advance at an unrelenting pace, but
shops, townhalls and hackathons. initiative. Singtel said that an example of tivity by equipping them with new ing a new wave of productivity as long as employees, the union and
Yesterday, Singtel signed a memo- Mr Ng Chee Meng, secretary-gen- how its workers will be using the skills. gains for some industries. management keep a positive mind-
randum of understanding with the eral of the National Trades Union ACT initiative would be in the case The connectivity, which will be For instance, analyst firm IHS set and embrace change, we can
Union of Telecoms Employees of Congress and Minister in the Prime of how it trains its network engi- rolled out in Singapore next year, Markit estimated that 5G will drive progress and thrive in this transfor-
Singapore (UTES) to form a commit- Minister’s Office, who witnessed neers. will result in faster mobile data an extra US$12 trillion (S$16.5 tril- mation journey.”
tee that will be in charge of organis- the signing, said he was encouraged It said some of these engineers speeds, eventually up to 100 times lion) of annual sales in 2035.
ing these training programmes, by Singtel’s efforts to partner the will go through a “4G to 5G Path- quicker than current speeds. This UTES general secretary Thuvin- harizbah@sph.com.sg

Retail sales fall for sixth Takings at the till

straight month in July
Choo Yun Ting
Retail sales declined for a sixth con-
secutive month in July amid weak
consumer sentiment in a slowing
economy.
Overall takings fell 1.8 per cent
compared with July last year, al-
though an increase in motor vehicle
sales took some of the sting out.
If these sales are excluded, tak-
ings would be down 2.4 per cent
year on year, according to data re-
leased by the Department of Statis-
tics yesterday. The figures were bet-
ter than the 2.9 per cent fall tipped
in a Bloomberg poll and far better
than the 8.9 per cent tumble in June.
Ms Selena Ling, head of treasury
research and strategy at OCBC
Bank, said that while the retail fig-
ures were better than expected, the
improvement was not broad-based.
“Most of the retail segments are
still under-performing, and the
overall picture compared to a year
ago is still softer,” she added.
The overall growth picture across
different sectors in the economy is
still lacklustre, Ms Ling said, noting
shrank 6.2 per cent over July last
year, while recreational goods sales
were down 4.9 per cent.
Maybank Kim Eng economist
Lee Ju Ye said: “Consumer senti-
ments still seem to be weighed
down by the slowing economy and
weakening labour market, as evi-
denced by the steeper decline in
discretionary items such as
watches and jewellery, recre-
ational goods and computer and
telecommunications equipment.”
Food retailers, which sell food
and drink generally not meant for
immediate consumption, posted a
1.1 per cent drop in turnover while
department store sales shrank 3.6
per cent.
On a more positive note, aside
from motor vehicle sales, the super-
market and hypermarket segment
posted a 0.9 per cent increase in tak-
ings, while medical goods and toi-
letries were up 1.9 per cent.
Food and beverage services tak-
ings rose 3.2 per cent compared
with July last year, with all seg-
ments posting an increase. Fast
food outlets recorded the largest
growth of 5.8 per cent, followed by
Retail sales
Furniture and household equipment
Computer and telecommunications equipment
Watches and jewellery
Medical goods and toiletries
Motor vehicles
Supermarkets and hypermarkets
Total (excluding motor vehicles)
Food and beverage services
Fast food outlets
Food caterers
Restaurants
Other eating places
NOTE: Figures are for July 2019
Source: SINGAPORE DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS STRAITS TIMES GRAPHICS
WEAK SENTIMENT
Consumer sentiments still seem to
be weighed down by the slowing
economy and weakening labour
market, as evidenced by the
steeper decline in discretionary
items such as watches and
jewellery, recreational goods
and computer and
telecommunications equipment.
SIA to take over
Year-on-year change (%) SilkAir’s Busan
8.3
7.7
services in Oct
6.2
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will
1.9
take over SilkAir’s services to the
1.5 South Korean port city of Busan
0.9 from Oct 28.
Total 1.8 SIA will use a bigger aircraft
2.4 than its regional unit to boost
seat capacity by 76 per cent so it
can meet growing demand, the
5.8 carriers said yesterday.
4.0 The aim is to fly to Busan four
3.9 times a week, maintaining
SilkAir’s frequency, using the
1.3
285-seat Airbus A330-300
Total 3.2 which has 30 business class and
255 economy class seats.
The A330s can accommodate
123 more passengers than
SilkAir’s 162-seat Boeing
mated 5.6 per cent of this. 737-800s, which now serve the
Ms Lee added that retail sales will route.
likely stay muted for the rest of the Demand has been “very en-
year, although there are some sup- couraging” since the flights
porting factors such as improving started on May 1, said Mr Tan Kai
visitor arrival numbers. Ping, SIA’s senior vice-president
“Singapore seems to be seeing of marketing planning.
some diversion of tourists from the “Busan has proven to be an-
Hong Kong crisis, which could lend other popular gateway into
some support to retail sales.” South Korea, complementing
Ms Ling noted that the combina- SIA’s services to Seoul.
tion of headwinds in the global “We look forward to helping
economy and a softening in the do- further grow travel... with the in-

that July’s retail figures were sup-
ported by the “volatile” motor vehi-
cle segment.
Furniture and household equip-
ment sales saw the sharpest decline
of 8.3 per cent while computer and
telecommunications equipment
takings fell 7.7 per cent.
The watches and jewellery sector
food caterers with 4 per cent.
The total sales value of food and
beverage services in July was esti-
mated at $877 million, compared
with $849 million for the same
month last year.
The estimated total retail sales
value in July was about $3.6 billion,
with online making up an esti-
’’
mestic labour market will keep the
retail outlook muted, despite the
traditional Christmas bump.
“Looking ahead, we continue to
MAYBANK KIM ENG ECONOMIST LEE JU YE anticipate a gradual erosion in con-
sumer confidence and tightening of
belts by households,” she said.
yuntingc@sph.com.sg
crease in capacity.”
SIA and its low-cost unit
Scoot also operate 31 weekly
flights to Seoul.
Sales for SIA’s new Busan
flights started yesterday. Cus-
tomers with existing bookings on
SilkAir on and after Oct 28 will be
re-accommodated on SIA.
C2 BUSINESS
Battle for IPOs heats up
among regional exchanges
Philippines, Indonesia aiming to cut tax rates
for firms; HK set for boost from beer maker
HONG KONG • The battle to attract
initial public offerings (IPOs) is
heating up among South-east Asian
exchanges.
The Philippines is trying to pass a
law that will cut taxes on stock
transactions, in a bid to encourage
more IPOs in the country, following
Indonesia’s proposal last week of a
similar tax cut.
Under the Philippine proposal,
passed by the House of Representa-
tives on Monday, the transaction tax
Thai fashion start-up Pomelo raises $72m to add stores in Asia
BANGKOK • Fashion e-commerce
start-up Pomelo has raised US$52
million (S$72 million) in fresh fund-
ing from a group of investors, in-
cluding top Thai retailer Central
Group and Skype co-founders, its
chief executive said yesterday.
The JD.com-backed company,
which competes with Inditex-
owned Zara and H&M, has now
raised a total of US$83 million with
the Series C funding.
Pomelo, which is present in nine
locations across Bangkok, Phuket
and Singapore, will open new
stores in Bangkok, Jakarta and Sin-
gapore, chief executive David Jou
said in an interview.
“We are also looking at Kuala
Lumpur, Hong Kong, Manila and
Ho Chi Minh City,” he said, adding
that new locations were based on
online customer data.
Although the company is expand-
ing its physical footprint in Asia, its
mobile app accounted for 85 per
cent of transactions, he added.
Pomelo, which started with
Belmont Rd bungalow
up for auction with
new $39m guide price
A good class bungalow (GCB) at 80
Belmont Road, owned by The Strat-
ech Group’s Chew family, will be
relaunched for auction next week
with a lower guide price of $39 mil-
lion, marketing agent Knight Frank
Singapore said yesterday.
The auction will be held next
Wednesday at the Amara Singapore
hotel.
The new guide price works out to
$1,444 per sq ft (psf), based on
27,000 sq ft in land area.
This will be the third attempt to
sell the freehold property. It failed
to sell at the first auction in July
with a $42 million guide price, or
$1,556 psf. It was relaunched via
private treaty last month at $40.8
million, or about $1,511 psf.
Ms Sharon Lee, director and head
of auction at Knight Frank Singa-
pore, said yesterday: “Potential buy-
rate on listed stocks will be gradually
reduced from 0.6 per cent to 0.1 per
cent in 2024, and the tax on interest
income will be cut from 20 per cent
to 15 per cent.
Philippine Stock Exchange presi-
dent Ramon Monzon said: “We can
look forward to the growth of our
capital markets as they become
competitive with regional peers in
terms of friction costs.”
The Bill still needs to be passed by
the Senate to become law.
women’s fashion online before open-
ing physical stores last year to give
shoppers the brand experience and
then draw them online, also plans to
expand its “fitting room network” of
partners, including cafes, gyms and
co-working spaces.
It plans to open touch points at
300 locations, compared with 50 at
present, Mr Jou said, adding that it
would also invest in machine learn-
ing and automation to bring down
costs and increase customisation
for customers.
“In the app, customers will be able
see styles that are aligned with their
personal style and budget,” he said.
Pomelo raised US$19 million in a
Series B round in November 2017,
and has since opened a flagship
store in the Orchard Road shopping
district.
The start-up has expanded its
product offerings to include Pur-
pose, an eco-friendly collection,
Beet cosmetics and Pomelo Man,
its menswear label.
REUTERS, THE BUSINESS TIMES
ers have indicated their interest as
it is a unique property with charac-
ter, so now it is a matter of pricing.”
The two-storey GCB has a gross
floor area of 15,714 sq ft and sits on a
two-tiered land. It comes with a lift,
playground, basketball court, swim-
ming pool and ample parking space
to fit up to 10 cars. It is also near the
Singapore Botanic Gardens and the
Holland Village enclave.
This is a mortgagee sale, in which
the bank forecloses on the property
after the owner defaults on the mort-
gage, and puts the property up for
sale to recover the outstanding debt.
The Business Times reported in
July that the husband-and-wife
team of David Chew and Leong Sook
Ching who used to control main-
board-listed Stratech, which is now
in liquidation, are the registered
owners of the bungalow, while
Indonesia proposed a similar tax
cut targeted at IPOs last week, in
which listed firms would enjoy a
lower-than-normal 17 per cent cor-
porate tax rate in the first five years
following their IPOs.
The Philippines has seen only
one IPO so far this year, although
home supplies retailer AllHome
Corp is currently meeting investors
over a US$344 million (S$473 mil-
lion) IPO and Metro Pacific Hospi-
tal is seeking approval for an IPO
that could raise as much as US$1.6
billion, which would be the coun-
try’s largest on record.
Still, the size of the Philippine and
Indonesian markets pales in com-
The two-storey good class bungalow at 80 Belmont Road comes with a
swimming pool, among other amenities. It is near the Singapore Botanic
Gardens and the Holland Village enclave. PHOTO: KNIGHT FRANK SINGAPORE
Deutsche Bank is the mortgagee.
Another GCB in the vicinity will
also be auctioned in a mortgagee
sale this month.
The bungalow at 5 Belmont Road
has a guide price of $20 million, or
around $1,225 psf, marketing agent
ERA Realty said on Wednesday.
The auction for the freehold, two-
storey property will be held on Sept
parison to that of larger stock ex-
changes such as in Hong Kong.
South-east Asian IPOs combined
have raised less than half of Hong
Kong’s US$10.8 billion this year,
data compiled by Bloomberg shows.
Singapore leads South-east Asian
countries with a deal value of
US$1.67 billion this year, followed
by Thailand’s US$720 million.
Singapore and Hong Kong both
changed their listing rules last year
to allow companies with dual-class
share structures to list on their ex-
changes as they vied to draw the
next big technology IPOs away
from New York.
While the political unrest in Hong
23 at Amara Singapore.
At least two GCBs in the same area
were sold over the past year. One was
a newly completed 15,004 sq ft GCB
at 63 Belmont Road which sold for
$39.8 million, or $2,654 psf, in June.
The other was a 15,069 sq ft GCB at
43 Belmont Road, also newly com-
pleted, which sold for $33.8 million,
or $2,243 psf, in August last year.
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
Kong has dampened enthusiasm,
things might be looking up for the
financial hub. Anheuser-Busch In-
Bev is understood to be planning to
raise about US$5 billion from a re-
vived float of its Asian operations,
Reuters reported yesterday.
This comes after the world’s
largest beer maker shelved a Hong
Kong IPO in July.
AB InBev, which had aimed to
raise as much as US$9.8 billion
through an IPO of Budweiser Brew-
ing Company APAC to help with its
heavy debt burden of over US$100
billion, aims to relaunch the float as
soon as next week, sources said.
The listing would be a boost for
the Hong Kong stock exchange
after Reuters reported last month
that China’s biggest e-commerce
company, Alibaba Group Holding,
had delayed a Hong Kong listing
worth up to US$15 billion amid
growing political unrest there.
“The market conditions in recent
days have improved and provided a
good window... we should seize the
opportunity to go ahead,” said one
of the sources.
BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
Sembcorp inks deal to
supply solar power to
UBS’ Singapore offices
Sembcorp Industries will supply
renewable power to Swiss bank
UBS’ Singapore operations over
the next 10 years.
It will be carried out by selling
off all surplus power generated by
around 15,000 offsite rooftop so-
lar panels totalling 6.3MW-peak
in capacity, which has been
bought by UBS.
These panels will be installed
on a 40,000 sq m exhibition hall
by December, Sembcorp said yes-
terday.
The partnership will begin by
running 25 per cent of UBS’ an-
nual consumption across all its Sin-
gapore offices, replacing around
20 million kg of carbon emissions
in 10 years.
By next year, the bank plans to
have its entire Singapore opera-
tions run fully on renewable en-
ergy.
Some upcoming
listings
• Shanghai Henlius Biotech
on the Hong Kong exchange,
with a size of up to US$477
million (S$656 million)
• Topsports International
Holdings on the Hong Kong
exchange, with a size of
about US$1 billion
• Lendlease Global
Commercial Reit on the
Singapore Exchange
• AllHome Corp on the
Philippine exchange, with a
size of up to US$344 million
• Asset World on the Thai
exchange, with a size of up
to US$1.6 billion; listing date
is Oct 10
• Bhakti Agung Propertindo
on the Indonesian bourse,
listing date is Sept 16
Shoppers within
1km radius of
the Pomelo
store at
313@Somerset
can book a
fitting room with
its mobile app,
so they can
continue
browsing while
waiting for their
turn. Pomelo
opened its first
branch in
Singapore on
June 12
this year.
ST FILE PHOTO
UBS Singapore country head
August Hatecke said: “As a global
firm, UBS strives to go beyond
our duty to protect the environ-
ment and continually improve
our systems to ensure responsi-
ble behaviour in all aspects of our
operations.”
UBS announced plans in April to
bring together its Singapore-
based businesses at a new campus
in Penang Road featuring cus-
tomised health and well-being fa-
cilities as well as innovative work-
place concepts.
This hub will be supported by
the bank’s tech and operations
hub in Changi, both of which will
be powered by renewable energy.
Sembcorp said the contract is
not expected to have a material im-
pact on its earnings per share and
net asset value for the financial
year ending Dec 31.
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
BUSINESS C3

Riady scion
steps in to
help pull
Lippo from
the brink
34-year-old CEO’s rescue plan puts troubled
flagship property unit back on recovery path
JAKARTA • Late last year, when In-
donesia’s biggest property devel-
oper was sinking under debt, it was
crunch time for the Lippo Group’s
Riady family.
At a meeting to discuss rescue op-
tions, tycoon Mochtar Riady, 90,
the founder of the group, turned to
his young grandson for help. Reluc-
tant at first, Mr John Riady – a Whar-
ton School graduate – said he even-
tually agreed to run the troubled
flagship Lippo Karawaci. His sal-
vage plan included a US$788 mil-
lion (S$1.1 billion) rights issue in
July, sale of assets and a debt recast.
The measures have helped ease a
cash squeeze and put the money-
losing, listed property unit on a
path to recovery. The revamp will
start returning positive cash flow
from next year, while the company
will continue to dispose of non-
core assets to pare debt, the junior
Mr Riady said in an interview.
In a show of confidence, shares of
the developer have surged 37 per
cent since he became the chief exec-
utive officer in March, while its dol-
lar bonds have also rallied.
A family member stepping in
“sends a message to the market that
we are serious about it and we are
committed to it”, Mr Riady, 34, said
in an interview on Monday at a golf
course developed by his company
on the outskirts of Jakarta. “That
you are not going to default, you are
going to fix things.”
Having tided over the crisis that
also threatened to drag down the
wider, 68-year-old banking-to-me-
dia-to-hospitals empire, the Riady
scion is already charting a new
course for growth. The focus would
be on property development and
healthcare – legacy businesses that
are “relatively protected from the
digital revolution”, Mr Riady said.
He wants Lippo to be among the
largest real estate companies in
South-east Asia within two
decades, rivalling regional giants
such as Philippines’ Ayala Land and
Singapore’s CapitaLand.
Aiding those ambitions would be
rising demand for homes in Indone-
sia, the world’s fourth-most popu-
lous nation. The country will need
12 million homes over the next
decade as more Indonesians seek
ownership, Mr Riady said, adding
that Lippo would be at the forefront
to tap that market.
“We are entering a 10- to 15-year
golden window of opportunity
where home ownership will rise.
You’re going to see this boom.”
Indonesian President Joko
Widodo’s recent efforts to make
home purchases easier may also fuel
demand. With growth in the US$1
trillion economy facing the risk of
slowing to a five-year low next year,
Measures put in place by Lippo Karawaci chief executive officer John Riady, 34, have helped ease the loss-making company’s cash squeeze. But Mr Riady, a Wharton
School graduate, was at first hesitant to take up the top job when his grandfather, uncle and father approached him. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
the government and the central
bank have been easing mortgage-
loan rules to help stimulate demand.
While the future offers opportuni-
ties for the group, Mr Riady will still
need to ensure a steady cash flow to
prevent a recurrence of the debt
woes that have plagued his firm.
Lippo Karawaci reported a loss of
1.46 trillion rupiah (S$143.1 million)
in the first half of this year after tak-
ing a one-time charge of 1.5 trillion
rupiah as the company switched to
a more conservative accounting
standard, Mr Riady said.
CURRENCY PRESSURE
Its largely US dollar-denominated
debt has put pressure on the firm’s
cash flow as the rupiah weakened
more than 6 per cent against the
greenback over the past two years.
The timing could not have been
worse because the firm was embark-
ing on a US$18 billion Meikarta town-
ship project – the group’s largest and
most ambitious undertaking.
The company’s finances are com-
fortable enough to repay about
US$484 million of dollar-denomi-
nated debt coming due in the next
three years, Mr Riady said, adding
that the recast has helped reduce
debt over equity to 29 per cent from
as much as 40 per cent at the end of
last year.
The action plan to revive Lippo
Karawaci has made the firm’s high-
yield dollar notes due in 2022 and
2026 among the best-performing
corporate dollar bonds in Asia this
year, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.
The young executive is also inherit-
ing some of the fallout from a
bribery probe related to approvals
for the Meikarta development. The
inquiry, which required group vice-
chairman James Riady – John’s fa-
ther – to answer investigators’
queries, almost derailed the project.
These challenges contributed to
the younger Mr Riady’s initial hesi-
tation to take up the top job when
his grandfather, uncle and father ap-
proached him. And, it is rare within
the group for a family member to be
named the chief executive officer
of a listed company.
The new CEO sees no “more hic-
cups” in the US$18 billion project.
“I thought about it for one, two
weeks,” he said. “But then took
about three, four months to put to-
gether a transformation plan to
make sure it was a plan that was
fully funded and can succeed.”
Mr Mochtar Riady started out at
the age of 22 as he worked in a bicy-
cle shop in East Java. He became a
career banker in the 1960s and had
helped build several Indonesian
lenders, including Bank Central
Asia, which is now South-east
Asia’s largest bank by market value.
The wealth of the senior Riady, who
has Chinese roots, was estimated at
US$2 billion last year by GlobeAsia,
a publication owned by Lippo.
The group, which has half of its as-
sets in Indonesia, is also open to
any investment opportunities in
China and other countries, accord-
ing to Mr John Riady.
Prior to his current job, CEO
Riady dedicated his time mostly to
being a managing partner at the
venture capital arm of Lippo Group
called Venturra Capital for technol-
ogy start-ups. He tasted success
there with the development of
OVO, a digital payment platform, in
which ride-hailing app Grab holds a
stake.
The group’s other lines such as
cinemas, malls and tech start-ups
are “just investments” that the com-
pany is open to cashing out for bet-
ter shareholder returns, he said.
“It’s a big role, so I don’t take it
lightly,” Mr Riady said. “You have a
responsibility not only to the family
but to the minority shareholders at
large. That’s real.” BLOOMBERG

Bank Negara maintained a growth forecast of between 4.3 per cent and 4.8 per cent for the year, but said this is subject
to downside risks from trade tensions and uncertainties in the global and domestic environment. PHOTO: REUTERS

Bank Negara sees least one cut after the Federal Re-
serve cuts US rates, as is expected at
its policy meeting next week.
Capital Economics, predicting a

growth holding up, Malaysia cut “soon”, said: “Al-

though growth has held up well re-
cently, we don’t think this re-

keeps rate steady silience will last. Consumer spend-

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia’s cen-
tral bank, counting on domestic de-
mand to keep supporting growth
while global expansion slows, held
its key interest rate at 3 per cent yes-
terday as expected.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)
said its overnight policy rate re-
mains “accommodative”. The cen-
tral bank noted that several major
economies have eased policy, “but
uncertainty from the prolonged
trade disputes and geopolitical de-
velopments could lead to excessive
financial market volatility”.
Nine out of 11 economists in a
Reuters poll had forecast no change
to BNM’S key rate. The other two
predicted a 25 basis point cut.
“They’ve kind of saved their bul-
lets for now,” Ms Charu Chanana,
analyst at Continuum Economics,
said of the rate hold.
Malaysia was the only country in
South-east Asia to report higher
growth in the second quarter than
the first, but the trade-dependent
nation is worried about global
growth and the US-China trade war.
BNM maintained a growth projec-
tion of 4.3 per cent to 4.8 per cent
for the year, but said the range is
“subject to further downside risks
from worsening trade tensions, un-
certainties in the global and domes-
tic environment, and extended
weakness in commodity-related
sectors”.
Maintaining the projection “pro-
vides reassurance as (BNM) ex-
pects growth to remain steady go-
ing into the second half”, said
United Overseas Bank economist Ju-
lia Goh. She predicted the key rate
will be held for the rest of the year.
Others disagree and expect at
ing growth is set to slow following
the recent jump in inflation.”
The annual inflation rate was 1.4
per cent in July, the fastest pace in
over a year as the effects of tax pol-
icy changes faded. BNM said infla-
tion will be higher for the rest of
this year and into next year.
BNM cut its policy rate in May by
25 basis points, the first trim since
2016.
The central bank said diversified
exports will partly mitigate the im-
pact of softening global demand.
While exports weakened slightly
in the first half, they unexpectedly
grew 1.7 per cent in July, on solid de-
mand for manufactured goods and
higher shipments to China.
However, July industrial produc-
tion grew at its slowest pace in five
years at 1.2 per cent annually, on a
sharp decline in mining output.
The ringgit, which did not move
after the central bank announce-
ment, has weakened about 0.9 per
cent against the US dollar this year.
REUTERS
 | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
C4 BUSINESS
BullsAndBears
Hang Seng Higher
29,500

28,000
27,087.63
Investors shrug off US proportion
of woman
26,500

25,000
(−71.43)
Sept 12
move to delay tariffs directors in
listed firms
June July Aug

DAILY
Shanghai Comp STI dips, other Asian
The level of female representa-
tion in boardrooms improved
3,150
Straits Times Index Indexed closing prices
FTSE ST Catalist Index slightly in the first half of the
markets end mixed Sept 12, 2019
120
Sept 12, 2019 year.
3,031.24
as traders go into 3,194.96 SEPT 12, 2018 = 100
Straits Times Index 258.12 The proportion of women on
(+22.42) -9.56 (-0.30%) -0.35 (-0.14%) corporate boards rose 0.5 per-
3,000 Sept 12 profit-taking mode Current streak Current streak centage point to 15.7 per cent
1 day 100 1 day among the top 100 primary-
Day high Day high
listed firms by market capitalisa-
2,850 Navin Sregantan tion on the Singapore Exchange.
3,216.87 259.64
Five of these firms – Comfort-
Day low Day low
80 DelGro, SBS Transit, Wing Tai
2,700 3,191.62 257.00
The move by the United States to de- Holdings, First Resources and
June July Aug 52-week high FTSE ST Catalist Index 52-week high
lay tariffs on Chinese imports until Sats – were already gender-
the middle of next month failed to 3,407.02 (April 29, 2019) 362.60 (Sept 14, 2018) diverse but they each added a fe-
galvanise markets across the region 52-week low J 52-week low male director.
S O N D J F M A M J A
Nikkei 225 yesterday. 2,966.45 (Oct 30, 2018) 2019 256.82 (Sept 10, 2019) All-male boards were reduced
Jaded investors were more inter- by four to 21 after Wilmar Inter-
22,100 ested in profit-taking before a deci- national, Hong Leong Finance,
21,759.61
(+161.85) sion came down on European inter- DAILY 4.7 per cent to $1.11. The stock con- CapitaLand Mall Trust, ESR-Reit
Sept 12 est rates. tinues to recover after diving 30 per and Singapore Airlines added a
21,400 The lukewarm sentiment sent the Indexed closing prices
FTSE ST cent over two sessions last month. woman director each, but there
Straits Times Index (STI) down 9.56 SEPT 12, 2018 = 100
All-Share Index The banks recorded gains. UOB was one additional all-male
points or 0.3 per cent to 3,194.96 Sept 12, 2019 added 0.2 per cent to $26.41, OCBC board in the period.
110
20,700 after initial gains yesterday. Straits Times Index 781.83 Bank edged up 0.1 per cent to $11.01, The target of having females
It was mixed elsewhere, with Aus- -1.93 (-0.25%) while DBS led the way, advancing comprise at least 20 per cent of a
tralia, China, Japan and South Ko- Current streak 0.5 per cent to $25.37. board was achieved by 36 of the
20,000 rea gaining, but Hong Kong and 1 day Thai Beverage saw heavier-than- 100 listed firms, said the Council
June July Aug Malaysia posted losses. Day high usual trading, adding 0.6 per cent for Board Diversity yesterday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225, added 0.75 100 to 90.5 cents, with 31.5 million The council, which was set up
FTSE ST All-Share Index 786.17
per cent, its eighth straight session Day low shares changing hands. in January, has a long-term tar-
of gains on the back of optimism sur- Tech plays generally outper- get for equal proportion of men
Dow Jones rounding the nation’s new Cabinet
781.50
52-week high formed the market. AEM Holdings and women directors.
28,000 and hopes that trade tensions 823.34 (April 29, 2019) added 0.9 per cent to $1.15, while Its near-term target is for the
27,137.04 might have turned a corner. S O N D J F M A M J J A 52-week low Venture Corporation climbed 0.5 top 100 companies to hit 20 per
(+227.61) In what can be considered a good- 2019 722.91 (Oct 30, 2018) per cent to $15.81. cent by the end of next year and
Sept 11 will gesture, China announced Among the penny stocks, TEE In- all listed firms at 25 per cent by
27,000 tariff exemptions on some US im- ternational was up 12.9 per cent to the end of 2025 and 30 per cent
ports on Wednesday ahead of next of optimism can unravel, dashed by Trading volume here clocked in 3.5 cents before it called for a trad- by the end of 2030.
month’s trade talks in Washington. the erratic and unpredictable na- at 985.7 million shares worth $1.01 ing halt in the morning amid a Companies planning to ap-
26,000 President Donald Trump re- ture of the US-China trade impasse. billion, with losers pipping gainers probe into unauthorised transac- point more women directors can
sponded in kind by delaying tariffs “This ensures a lingering air of 181 to 179. tions allegedly made under the in- look at a broader slate of quali-
from Oct 1 to Oct 15. caution over global markets, even With 75.9 million shares chang- struction of its group chief execu- fied candidates and search be-
25,000 FXTM market analyst Han Tan as risk assets are given another op- ing hands, Yangzijiang Shipbuild- tive and managing director. yond personal networks to en-
June July Aug noted: “Recent history has only portunity to make hay while the ing maintained its place as the STI’s large the talent pool, said the
shown how quickly previous bouts sun shines.” most active counter. It advanced navinsre@sph.com.sg council.

Straits Times Index stocks FTSE ST Small-Cap Index stocks ETFs

52-WEEK CURRENCY LAST ’VOL GROSS 52-WEEK LAST ’VOL GROSS 52-Week Vol Last Quote
HIGH LOW COMPANY TRADED SALE +OR- ’000 YIELD % P/BV HIGH LOW COMPANY SALE +OR- ’000 YIELD % P/BV High Low Counter Last Sale +/- (’000) Buy Sell
323 245 Ascendas Reit .................................. 312 -3 6680 5.1 1.5 119.5 110 ABF SG Bond ETF ............................................... 118.5 - 76 118 118.6
231 165 CapitaCom Trust ........................... 211 unch 15131 4.1 1.1 150 129 AIMS APAC Reit ................................. 147 unch 717 7 1.1
375 302 CapitaLand .......................................... 360 unch 3820 3.3 0.8 15000 11180 GLD US$ ............................................................. US14192 +113 9 14188 14215
90 82.5 ARA HTrust............................................ 85.5 unch 180 - 0.7
275 207 CapitaMall Trust............................. 263 -1 10530 4.4 1.3 1514 1330 IS ASIA HYG S$D ................................................. 1427 -1 5 1424 1460
1009 780 CityDev .................................................... 980 -10 2423 2 0.9 63.5 48 Accordia Golf Tr ............................... 52.5 -1 666 7.2 0.7 1065 970 IS ASIA HYG US$ ........................................... US1038 +6 21 1031 1038
290 207 ComfortDelGro................................. 245 -3 5592 4.3 2.1 109 75 Ascendas-hTrust ........................... 108 -1 3760 - 1.1 1134 1002 IS Asia BND US ............................................... US1098 -1 1 1098 1124
2864 2265 DBS Grp ................................................... 2537 +12 3524 4.7 1.4 1016 720 IS MS INDIA US$ ........................................... US822 +4 7 818 822
994 670 DairyFarm USD ......................... US699 +4 540 3 - 149 100 Ascendas-iTrust ............................. 148 +1 847 4.1 1.5
118 94.4 Lion-Phillip S-REIT ........................................... 114 - 152 114 114.5
113 85.5 Genting Sing ...................................... 89.5 unch 11210 3.9 1.4 36.5 12.2 Asian Pay TV Tr .................................. 17.1 cd unch 1377 30.3 0.2
32 22.5 Golden Agri-Res.............................. 27.5 +0.5 6390 2.1 0.6 352 302 Nikko AM STI ETF ............................................... 332 - 111 331 332
28 14.9 HPH Trust USD ........................... US16 +0.4 7884 16.4 0.3 333 130 Best World.............................................. 136 susp - 4.6 3.7 104.6 98.8 NikkoAM SGD IGBond ETF........................... 103.8 - 239 103.7 104
753 516 HongkongLand USD ............ US572 -17 3360 3.8 0.3 97.5 76.3 NikkoAM-STC A_REIT US$.................... US93.2 - - 92.7 93.2
106 63 BreadTalk .............................................. 64 unch 544 2.3 2.5
7205 1099 JMH USD........................................... US5542 -228 203 3.1 0.5 132.7 104.7 NikkoAM-STC Asia REIT .............................. 127.9 -0.3 1015 127.8 128.1
4070 3020 JSH USD ........................................... US3222 +3 243 1.1 0.4 73.5 54 Bumitama Agri ................................. 58.5 -0.5 411 1.3 1.3 112.2 99 PHIL SING INC........................................................ 109.7 - - 107.8 109.5
3816 2766 Jardine C&C ....................................... 3210 +104 378 3.7 1.5
81 65.5 Cache Log Trust ............................... 72 -0.5 1413 8.2 1.1 130 93.2 Phll Ap Div Reit US$ ................................... US109.2 +0.8 2 108.8 109.1
730 567 Keppel Corp ........................................ 617 -4 2693 4.9 1
1219 1036 OCBC Bank ............................................ 1101 +1 8416 3.9 1.1 45 39.5 Centurion ............................................... 41 +0.5 234 4.9 0.7 1021 626 Principal ASEAN40 US$ ........................ US973 +19 0 967 974
545 455 SATS .......................................................... 487 -4 876 3.9 3.2 95.2 82.5 Principal S&P AP Div US$....................... US88.6 - - 90.8 91.6
861 672 SGX .............................................................. 847 cd -14 3741 3.5 8.3 158 104 China Aviation ................................... 120 unch 881 3.8 1 344.4 300 STI ETF ...................................................................... 323 -0.5 445 323 323.7
1023 865 SIA ................................................................ 920 +17 2567 3.3 0.9 144 90.5 China Sunsine .................................... 108 +1 228 5.1 1.1 4000 3373 XT ASX200 US$ ............................................ US3750 - - - -
289 191 SPH .............................................................. 208 -1 6819 6.3 1 573.5 385.7 XT MSBrazil US$ ........................................... US484.3 - - 507.5 -
435 327 ST Engineering ................................ 390 -3 3745 3.8 5.7 96.5 62 Chip Eng Seng .................................... 63 unch 205 6.3 0.5
311 201 Sembcorp Ind ................................... 219 -2 3259 1.8 0.6 1900 1470 XT MSCHINA US$ ........................................ US1689 - - - 1747
58.5 27.5 Citic Envirotech ............................... 32.5 +0.5 659 3.8 0.6 7446 5660 XT MSKorea US$........................................... US6312 +332 0 - -
356 283 Singtel ..................................................... 321 -1 12368 5.5 1.7
95.5 57.5 ThaiBev ................................................... 90.5 +0.5 31520 0.7 4.2 43.5 26.5 Cosco ......................................................... 29 -0.5 1230 - 1.2 206.6 154.9 XT MSPHILS US$ ........................................... US192.1 +2.1 29 184 -
2797 2339 UOB .............................................................. 2641 +4 1981 4.5 1.2 704 540 Delong ....................................................... 698 susp - - 0.6 656 530 XT MSPacXJp US$ ...................................... US622 - - 625 634
783 591 UOL .............................................................. 753 unch 842 2.3 0.6 2967 2532 XT MSTaiwan US$ ....................................... US2820 - - 2830 -
1956 1320 Venture Corp ..................................... 1581 +7 1037 4.4 1.9 21.5 14 Duty Free Intl....................................... 15.6 - - 11.5 1 5546 4210 XT S&P500 US$ ............................................ US5393 - - 5214 -
411 299 Wilmar Intl ............................................ 386 +1 2358 2.7 1.1
80.5 67.5 EC World Reit ...................................... 73 -0.5 1117 8.5 0.9 3450 2850 XT Vietnam US$ ........................................... US3165 +17 1 3050 3150
165 75.5 YZJ Shipbldg SGD .......................... 111 +5 75852 4.5 0.8
56.5 47 ESR-REIT ................................................. 52.5 +0.5 6196 7.4 1.1
127 92 First Reit .................................................. 107 unch 1555 8 1.1
FTSE ST Large & Mid-Cap Index stocks 171 135 Frasers Com Tr ................................... 164 +1 1811 5.9 1.1 Gainers Losers
77 67.5 Frasers HTrust ................................... 71.5 unch 746 - 1
52-WEEK CURRENCY LAST ’VOL GROSS
BY CENTS BY CENTS
24 13.7 Geo Energy Res ................................. 14.7 -0.2 780 9.5 0.9
HIGH LOW COMPANY TRADED SALE +OR- ’000 YIELD % P/BV
181 73 Hi-P Intl ................................................... 120 unch 3868 4.2 1.7 CLOSE UP % CLOSE DOWN %
323 245 Ascendas Reit .................................. 312 -3 6680 5.1 1.5
134 105 Ascott Reit .......................................... 130 unch 2859 5.5 1 66.5 46 Hong Leong Asia .............................. 58.5 -0.5 499 - 0.6 Jardine C&C ................. 3210 104.0 3.3 JMH USD ..................... 5542 -313.4 -4.0
168 143 CDL HTrust .......................................... 165 +1 1539 - 1.1 SIA ................................. 920 17.0 1.9 HongkongLand USD .. 572 -23.4 -2.9
302 252 Hong Leong Fin ................................ 260 unch 74 5.8 0.6 DBS Grp .......................... 2537 12.0 0.5 SGX ............................. 847 -14.0 -1.6
231 165 CapitaCom Trust ........................... 211 unch 15131 4.1 1.1
375 302 CapitaLand .......................................... 360 unch 3820 3.3 0.8 80 71 IREIT Global ......................................... 75 -0.5 218 7.5 1 Great Eastern ............... 2340 11.0 0.5 CityDev ...................... 980 -10.0 -1.0
275 207 CapitaMall Trust............................. 263 -1 10530 4.4 1.3 Shinvest ....................... 190 10.0 5.6 Delfi ............................ 120 -10.0 -7.7
33 18.3 Indofood Agri...................................... 32.5 unch 167 - 0.4 StarHub ........................ 135 7.0 5.5 Isetan ......................... 510 -10.0 -1.9
162.2 132.4 CapitaR China Tr............................. 154 -1 1266 6.6 0.9
84 44 Japfa........................................................... 48.5 +0.5 1927 5.2 0.9 UOI ................................. 703 7.0 1.0 IHH Healthcare ......... 180 -8.0 -4.3
1009 780 CityDev .................................................... 980 -10 2423 2 0.9
Venture Corp ................ 1581 7.0 0.4 SBS Transit ................ 415 -5.0 -1.2
290 207 ComfortDelGro................................. 245 -3 5592 4.3 2.1 82 53 KepPacOakReitUSD ..................... 75 +0.5 286 8.3 0.7 HPL................................. 350 6.0 1.7 Silkroad Nickel ........... 15.5 -4.5 -22.5
2864 2265 DBS Grp ................................................... 2537 +12 3524 4.7 1.4
11.9 2 KrisEnergy............................................. 3 susp - - - DairyFarm USD ............. 699 5.5 0.6 First Resources .......... 159 -4.0 -2.5
994 670 DairyFarm USD ......................... US699 +4 540 3 -
70.5 59 Far East HTrust ............................... 68.5 unch 1843 - 0.8 57.5 44 Lian Beng ............................................... 51 cd -0.5 157 4.4 0.4 BY PERCENTAGE BY PERCENTAGE
188 144 First Resources................................ 159 -4 629 2 1.9
287 212 Frasers Cpt Tr ................................... 270 -1 3838 4.5 1.3 27.5 18 Lippo Malls Tr...................................... 24 +0.5 5972 8.5 0.8 CLOSE % UP CLOSE % DOWN
130 101 Frasers L&I Tr .................................... 123 +1 3797 5.6 1.4 39.5 17.1 MM2 Asia ................................................. 18.4 +0.8 1509 - 1 Zhongxin Fruit ............. 2 400.0 1.6 IP Softcom ................. 0.4 -42.9 -0.3
113 85.5 Genting Sing ...................................... 89.5 unch 11210 3.9 1.4
92 69.5 ManulifeReit USD ........................... 90.5 +0.5 1229 6.2 0.8 KS Energy ...................... 1.3 44.4 0.4 MMP Resources .......... 0.2 -33.3 -0.1
32 22.5 Golden Agri-Res.............................. 27.5 +0.5 6390 2.1 0.6
Asia Vets ....................... 18 37.4 4.9 OEL ............................. 0.3 -25.0 -0.1
208 167 GuocoLand Ltd ................................ 200 cd -1 249 3.5 0.6 115 92 Metro ......................................................... 94 +0.5 3 4.8 0.5 Nam Cheong ................. 0.8 33.3 0.2 Silkroad Nickel ........... 15.5 -22.5 -4.5
28 14.9 HPH Trust USD ........................... US16 +0.4 7884 16.4 0.3
14.2 8 Noble ......................................................... 8.1 susp - - - CH Offshore .................. 7.7 26.2 1.6 CPH ............................. 0.4 -20.0 -0.1
753 516 HongkongLand USD ............ US572 -17 3360 3.8 0.3 OUE Lippo HC ................ 6 15.4 0.8
7205 1099 JMH USD........................................... US5542 -228 203 3.1 0.5 TSH ............................. 20.5 -14.6 -3.5
56 45 OUE Com Reit ....................................... 51.5 unch 4550 6.8 0.7 Shopper360 ................. 15 15.4 2.0 Ntegrator Intl ............. 0.6 -14.3 -0.1
4070 3020 JSH USD ........................................... US3222 +3 243 1.1 0.4 RH PetroGas .................. 2.4 14.3 0.3
64 54 PEC................................................................ 58.5 - - 3.4 0.7 NutryFarm .................. 10.4 -13.3 -1.6
3816 2766 Jardine C&C ....................................... 3210 +104 378 3.7 1.5 Intl Cement .................. 2.6 13.0 0.3 AsiaPhos..................... 0.7 -12.5 -0.1
53 44.5 Kep Infra Tr .......................................... 52 unch 1117 7.2 1.9 53 41 Q&M Dental .......................................... 49 unch 21 1.7 3.3 TEE Intl ......................... 3.5 12.9 0.4 Parkson Retail ............ 2.1 -12.5 -0.3
730 567 Keppel Corp ........................................ 617 -4 2693 4.9 1
188 128 Keppel DC Reit ................................. 176 -3 9396 4.2 1.7 89 55.5 QAF Ltd ..................................................... 74.5 unch 33 6.7 0.9
130 110 Keppel Reit ......................................... 125 -1 4194 4.4 0.9 39 20 SIIC Environment ............................ 25.5 +1 877 7.8 0.4
230 156 Mapletree Com Tr .......................... 216 -2 8300 4.2 1.4
239 184 Mapletree Ind Tr ............................ 230 +1 3914 5.3 1.5 47 38.5 Sabana Reit........................................... 45.5 unch 165 7 0.8
165
148
118
107
Mapletree Log Tr ........................... 158
Mapletree NAC Tr .......................... 133
unch
+2
8876
6102 5.8
5 1.4
0.9
122 101 Sheng Siong ........................................ 120 unch 1595 2.8 6 Most active
90.5 75.5 NetLink NBN Tr................................. 88 unch 3216 - 1.2 63.9 52 SoilbuildBizReit .............................. 53 -0.5 6531 10 0.9
1219 1036 OCBC Bank ............................................ 1101 +1 8416 3.9 1.1 VOLUME VALUE ($)
105 76 Tianjin ZX USD .................................... 82.5 +1.5 603 - 0.6
183 136 OUE ............................................................. 148 xd +1 120 8.8 33.7 MDR.................................................. 119,150,900 OCBC Bank ...................................... 92,704,738
210 157 Olam Intl ................................................ 183 -1 82 4.1 0.9 42.5 32.5 Tuan Sing ............................................... 34.5 unch 116 2.6 0.4 YZJ Shipbldg SGD ........................... 75,852,100 DBS Grp ............................................ 89,419,284
35 28 Oxley ......................................................... 31 -0.5 492 3.2 0.9 81.5 54 UMS ............................................................. 63 cd -0.5 1353 6.3 1.5 ThaiBev ........................................... 31,520,200 YZJ Shipbldg SGD .......................... 82,632,805
315 256 ParkwayLife Reit ............................ 306 unch 905 4.2 1.6 TEE Intl ........................................... 30,246,700 UOB ................................................... 52,336,148
120 95 Raffles Medical ................................ 95.5 -1 1035 2.6 2.1 76.5 58.5 Valuetronics ........................................ 63.5 unch 1202 6.8 1.4 CapitaCom Trust ............................... 15,131,400 Singtel ............................................. 39,875,224
545 455 SATS .......................................................... 487 -4 876 3.9 3.2 Rex Intl ............................................. 15,042,100 SGX ................................................... 31,841,996
14.2 8.3 Ying Li Intl .............................................. 11.6 halt - - 0.3 G Invacom ....................................... 14,349,700 CapitaCom Trust ............................. 31,584,862
861 672 SGX .............................................................. 847 cd -14 3741 3.5 8.3
1023 865 SIA ................................................................ 920 +17 2567 3.3 0.9 39.5 24 Yoma Strategic ................................ 33 -1 1068 - 0.8 Spackman ........................................ 14,336,700 ThaiBev ............................................ 28,863,108
299 220 SIA Engineering ............................. 255 -2 390 5.1 1.8 Singtel .............................................. 12,368,600 CapitaMall Trust .............................. 27,647,319
Genting Sing....................................... 11,210,100 HongkongLand USD ...................... 26,569,948
289 191 SPH .............................................................. 208 -1 6819 6.3 1
112 98.5 SPHREIT ................................................. 110 unch 679 5 1.2 Market volume .............. 982,383,000 Market value ..................... 978,532,000
435 327 ST Engineering ................................ 390 -3 3745 3.8 5.7
311 201 Sembcorp Ind ................................... 219 -2 3259 1.8 0.6
215
58
108
39
Sembcorp Marine ......................... 125
Silverlake Axis ................................. 46.5 cd
-1
+1
2397
1283 3.9
- 1.1
6.4
Price and volume movers
114 88.5 SingPost ................................................ 94 +0.5 2524 3.7 1.3
356 283 Singtel ..................................................... 321 -1 12368 5.5 1.7 VOL CLOSE($) CHANGE +/- Bonds
203 126 StarHub .................................................. 135 +7 9763 11.9 4.9
80 66 StarhillGbl Reit ................................ 75.5 unch 761 5.9 0.9 Asia Vets ............................................. 100.0 0.180 +0.049 +37.41 Vol
201 172 Suntec Reit ......................................... 191 unch 5067 5.2 0.9 KS Energy ........................................... 53.0 0.013 +0.004 +44.44 Company Last Sale +or- (‘000)
95.5 57.5 ThaiBev ................................................... 90.5 +0.5 31520 0.7 4.2 Silkroad Nickel .................................. 255.0 0.155 -0.045 -22.50
IP Softcom ........................................... 52.3 0.004 -0.003 -42.86
9.3 5.4 Thomson Medical .......................... 5.8 unch 2008 0.5 2.6 CapMallTrb3.08%21022 ....................................................... 100.8 - -
TSH Corp.............................................. 22.5 0.205 -0.035 -14.58
2797 2339 UOB .............................................................. 2641 +4 1981 4.5 1.2
XMH ..................................................... 143.8 0.144 +0.008 +5.88 CityDev NCCPS ................................................................................ 109.8 unch 13
783 591 UOL .............................................................. 753 unch 842 2.3 0.6
King Wan ............................................. 175.0 0.086 -0.012 -12.25 DBS Bk 4.7% NCPS ....................................................................... 10370 -30 0
1956 1320 Venture Corp ..................................... 1581 +7 1037 4.4 1.9
Zhongxin Fruit .................................... 0.1 0.020 +0.016 +400.00
411 299 Wilmar Intl ............................................ 386 +1 2358 2.7 1.1 FPTrea 3.65%n220522 ........................................................... 101.7 - -
Mirach Energy .................................... 1,335.2 0.200 -0.020 -9.09
215 184 Wing Tai .................................................. 204 -1 486 2.5 0.5 TEE Intl ................................................ 30,246.7 0.035 +0.004 +12.90
165 75.5 YZJ Shipbldg SGD .......................... 111 +5 75852 4.5 0.8 Hyflux 6% CPS ................................................................................. 6537 susp -
155 106 Yanlord Land ..................................... 121 -1 3043 5.6 0.5 Shows the stocks with the highest combination of price change and of daily activity relative to the three-month average volume UE Pref .................................................................................................... 190 - -
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
BUSINESS C5

ECB cuts key

buying stimulus programme, which
pumps newly created money into
the financial system to lower bor-
rowing costs and help the economy.
It will buy €20 billion (S$30 billion)
eight-year term ends on Oct 31. Ms
Christine Lagarde, the outgoing
head of the International Monetary
CompanyBriefs
Fund, is due to take his place and
has endorsed Mr Draghi’s measures. Blackstone Group

rate, to restart
a month in government and corpo-
rate bonds for as long as needed.
The ECB also extended its prom-
ise to keep rates at record lows until
inflation goes back up to its goal of
The euro fell on news of the stimu-
lus, to its lowest against the dollar
since May 2017, while stock markets
in Europe rose. The currency was
down 0.6 per cent at US$1.0940.
United States private equity firm Blackstone
Group said on Wednesday it has raised the
largest ever real estate fund, amassing US$20.5
billion (S$28.2 billion) to be invested in

bond buying
In a wide-ranging package of mea-
Fresh round of stimulus to help sures that will ensure outgoing Pres-
ident Mario Draghi leaves a mark
euro zone’s economy shaken by on the ECB’s policies long after he
leaves next month, the bank cut
US-China trade tensions, Brexit one key interest rate further below
zero. It trimmed the rate on de-
FRANKFURT • The European Cen- posits it takes from banks – from mi-
tral Bank (ECB) yesterday deliv- nus 0.4 per cent to minus 0.5 per
ered a new blast of monetary stimu- cent, a penalty that pushes banks to
lus to help the shaky economy in lend excess cash.
the face of uncertainties such as the The ECB, which sets policy for
United States-China trade conflict the 19 countries that use the euro,
and Brexit. also said it would restart its bond-
just under 2 per cent. At last count,
it was just 1 per cent.
The ECB has joined the US Fed-
eral Reserve and other central
banks in making credit cheaper to
help the economy. The Fed cut its
key policy rate in July for the first
time in a decade, to a range of 2 per
cent to 2.25 per cent. Markets be-
lieve there is a near certainty the
Fed will cut rates again at its next
meeting.
Mr Draghi was able to push the
stimulus package through the
ECB’s 25-member governing coun-
cil despite scepticism voiced by sev-
eral members.
The package ensures that the stim-
ulus policies will influence the
ECB’s stance for months after Mr
Draghi leaves office. Yesterday was
his next-to-last meeting before his
Mr Neil Wilson, chief market ana-
lyst at Markets.com, said: “This was
a kitchen sink job. Mario Draghi has
done pretty much everything he
could do with this one and is leav-
ing the door open for Christine La-
garde to cut further.”
In a nod to the fact that central
banks alone cannot save the econ-
omy, Mr Draghi said it was “high
time” for governments to get more
involved in supporting the economy
by spending on growth-friendly
projects, among other things.
Economic growth in the euro
zone has slowed to 0.2 per cent in
the second quarter from the quar-
ter before. Germany, the largest
member of the euro zone, shrank
by 0.1 per cent, putting it on the
verge of a technical recession.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
property assets around the world, reported
Reuters.
Large buyout firms such as Blackstone have
been attracting a lot of capital from investors
seeking higher returns not available in public
markets.
The capital ready to be deployed has swollen
to over US$2 trillion, according to data provider
Prequin, driving up asset prices and
deal-making activity.
Blackstone said in a statement that the fund,
named Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX
(BREP IX), has already made its first
investment: The purchase of US industrial
warehouse properties from Singapore-based
logistics provider GLP for US$18.7 billion.
The deal, in which BREP IX co-invested with
other Blackstone funds, was announced in June
and is expected to close in the coming weeks,
the company said.
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative
asset manager and one of the biggest property
investors, with US$154 billion in real estate
assets under management.

Cathay Pacific
said it will cut Hoe Leong
capacity for the
upcoming winter Hoe Leong Corporation was served on Monday
season as the with a writ and statement of claim taken out by
airline battles solicitors of Mr Halim Saad against the
a slump in company and five other defendants, the
demand from company said in a bourse filing yesterday.
travellers They were issued by the High Court of
avoiding Hong Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.
Kong amid Mr Halim’s claim in the civil suit is for alleged
massive deceit and/or fraudulent misrepresentation by
anti-government Hoe Leong, and an alleged conspiracy by the
protests in the defendants which caused him to suffer loss and
city. PHOTO: damage. He is seeking general damages against
BLOOMBERG the defendants.
Hoe Leong has engaged solicitors in Malaysia
to represent it in the suit, and has been advised
to file an application to strike out the civil suit
for, among other reasons, abuse of court
process.
This follows other legal trouble for the
machinery parts firm, which last week received
a statutory demand under the Companies Act
from a law firm acting on behalf of United
Overseas Bank.
It is seeking payment of about $5.7 million
from Hoe Leong within 21 days from Aug 29
this year, the date of receipt of the statutory
demand.

Cathay Pacific to freeze new

hires, focus on cutting costs
HONG KONG • Cathay Pacific Air- after reporting an 11.3 per cent fall biggest corporate casualty of the
ways has put a freeze on new hir- in passenger numbers last month. Hong Kong protests after China
ing, according to an internal memo The airline does not expect this demanded it suspend staff
seen by Reuters, as the airline bat- month to be any less difficult, while involved in, or supporting, the
tles a slump in demand from trav- analysts have projected it could demonstrations that have plunged
ellers avoiding Hong Kong amid swing to a loss in the second half. the former British colony into a po-
massive anti-government protests Cathay shares fell 2.4 per cent litical crisis.
in the city. early yesterday, lagging the bench- Jefferies analyst Andrew Lee told
In a memo to staff on Wednesday mark Hang Seng Index that was clients he expected the airline
evening, new chief executive Augus- down 0.4 per cent. could swing to a HK$973 million
tus Tang said he had asked execu- The weak demand and cuts to ca- (S$171 million) loss in the second
tives to examine spending and fo- pacity will heap more pressure on half of the year. Bocom Interna-
cus on cutting costs. Cathay and its new management, tional analyst Luya You said sec-
The airline will also not replace appointed after CEO Rupert Hogg ond-half earnings could be “no-
departing employees in non-flying quit last month in a shock move and tably dismal”.
positions unless approved by a chairman John Slosar resigned last Cathay last month swung to its
spending control committee, he week. first profit for the January-June pe-
said. Cathay, which is trying to riod since 2016, and said at the time
Cathay has said it will cut capac- complete a three-year financial that the second half was likely to be
ity for the upcoming winter season turnaround plan, has become the better due to seasonality. REUTERS

Interbank currency rates

Sep 12
MSCI INDICES
Against S$ Against US$ In local curr
Currencies Bid Offer Bid Offer % dy % yr
Sep 11 Index Change Change
S$/US$ to one unit of foreign currency:
Australian dollar ................................................................................................... 0.9461 0.9469 0.6883 0.6888 World Preliminary 1683.7 0.5 16.8
Canadiandollar .................................................................................................... 1.0426 1.0431 0.7588 0.7586 EAFE Preliminary 1132.7 0.9 12.4
Euro................................................................................................................................. 1.5143 1.5151 1.1017 1.1021
Europe Preliminary 1608.9 0.7 14.5
NZ dollar ...................................................................................................................... 0.8855 0.8863 0.6442 0.6447
Sterling pound........................................................................................................ 1.6945 1.6950 1.2328 1.2330 Australia 1334.4 0.4 16.9
US dollar ...................................................................................................................... 1.3745 1.3747 - - Austria Preliminary 537.3 0.3 7.9
S$/US$ to 100 units of foreign currency:
Belgium Preliminary 1126.7 0.4 23.2
Chinese renminbi ................................................................................................ 19.3974 19.4112 14.1123 14.1203
Danish kroner.......................................................................................................... 20.2950 20.3013 14.7654 14.7678 Canada Preliminary 2108.3 0.3 15.2
Hong Kong dollar ................................................................................................. 17.55 17.56 12.7717 12.7730 Denmark Preliminary 8685.0 2.2 17.3
Indian Rupee ........................................................................................................... 1.93 1.93 1.4032 1.4034
Indonesiarupiah ................................................................................................. 0.0098 0.0098 0.0071 0.0072 Finland Preliminary 703.0 -0.1 7.6
Japanese yen .......................................................................................................... 1.2733 1.2741 0.9264 0.9268 France Preliminary 2017.3 0.5 17.7
Korean won .............................................................................................................. 0.1163 0.1163 0.0846 0.0846
Malaysian ringgit ................................................................................................. 32.95 32.99 23.9751 23.9981 Germany Preliminary 949.4 0.6 12.5
New Taiwan dollar ............................................................................................... 4.4422 4.4471 3.2319 3.2350 Greece Preliminary 55.0 1.5 26.8
Norwegian krone ................................................................................................. 15.3526 15.3617 11.1696 11.1746
India 1263.2 0.3 0.0
Philippine peso ..................................................................................................... 2.6468 2.6477 1.9257 1.9260
Saudiriyal .................................................................................................................. 36.6436 36.6508 26.6596 26.6610 Indonesia 7212.5 0.9 1.9
Swedishkrona ....................................................................................................... 14.2300 14.2379 10.3528 10.3571 Ireland Preliminary 215.3 1.5 20.2
Swiss franc................................................................................................................. 138.6144 138.6905 100.8471 100.8878
ThaiBaht .................................................................................................................... 4.5154 4.5176 3.2852 3.2862 Israel Preliminary 230.1 0.5 -0.2
Source:OCBC Italy Preliminary 736.3 0.0 18.4
Japan 957.6 1.6 7.2
Korea 632.0 0.8 4.6
Government securities Malaysia 550.7 0.4 -5.3

GOVERNMENT BONDS Sep 12 Netherlands Preliminary 1820.7 0.9 24.9

Period Issue Coupon Maturity Close Day’s New Zealand 165.0 -2.4 24.4
code rate (%) Bid High Low Norway Preliminary 3001.0 1.6 7.8

2-Year N516100Z................... 1.250% 01-Oct-21 1.65 0.00 0.00 Pakistan 333.6 4.2 -6.5
5-Year NY09100H ................ 3.000% 01-Sep-24 99.20 106.50 106.50 Philippines 1349.7 0.6 6.9
10-Year NY14100E .................. 2.875% 01-Jul-29 106.44 110.15 110.15 Portugal Preliminary 90.1 -0.7 11.6
15-Year NZ13100V .................. 3.375% 01-Sep-33 110.24 118.45 118.00
Singapore 1703.8 1.2 6.9
20-Year NZ19100S .................. 2.375% 01-Jul-39 118.3 106.60 106.20
30-Year NA16100H ................. 2.750% 01-Mar-46 106.47 114.00 113.70 Singapore Free 366.3 1.2 6.9
Note: Based on latest issue Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore Source: MSCI
C6 | | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

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Dearly missed and fondly remembered by loved ones. Dr. Lorraine Lim Boon Fang
Wife: Tjoa Liang Neo (Deceased) 8th March 1980 - 13th September 2017
Son: Daughter-in-law: Close in our hearts you will always stay
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LEE BOON KIONG, KEITH Lin Minghe Eugene
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Church of the Holy Family on
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Quek Sern Siang Lim Jing Jing
Departed on 11 September 2019

Time 10:23:56 PM Date 12/09/2019

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Body is resting at Singapore Funeral Parlour, Level 3, Lock Hong Kuan Josef
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It’s been one year, memories
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| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
C7

KOEN KEEN TO MAKE SENIOR MARK

U-18 world No. 1 eyes
breakthroughs at
SEA Games and
major tournaments
Nicole Chia

Koen Pang, still perspiring and

short of breath 40 minutes after a
training session, would like you to
know that table tennis is more tax-
ing than you think.
To most questions, the 17-year-
old pauses before answering, but
his response when asked to name a
common misconception of his
sport, comes almost immediately:
“That table tennis is not tiring”.
He told The Straits Times after
the one-hour training session, his
second for the day: “The amount of
time you spend at the table, the
speed we’re (moving and hitting)
while training and the number of
repetitions we have to do... you get
breathless very easily.”
That is what Koen, who picked up
the sport when he was five, has
been putting himself through at
least six days a week, up to nine
hours each day, since the beginning
of the year.
His hard work paid off when he
became the first Singaporean to be
ranked No. 1 in last month’s Interna-
tional Table Tennis Federation
(ITTF) Under-18 world standings.
Compatriot Josh Chua, 18, is the
next highest at 26th.
The China players regularly domi-
nate the senior ranks but they do
not focus on the U-18 circuit – the
highest-ranked Chinese is Xiang
Peng (No. 6).
Koen said of his accomplishment:
“It was quite unexpected for me be-
cause this year I wanted to focus on Koen Pang, 17, has been training full-time after taking a year-long leave of absence from the Singapore Sports School since his promotion to the national senior team in January. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE KIAT
competing in the senior tourna-
ments.
“The transition from the junior to during games and keeping my cool senior-level events, compared to 15 TOUGHER THAN YOU THINK when the whole team were there, I Games after he and teammate
senior level is quite tough, so I can be improved,” he said. last year. wanted the trip to last longer,” he Ethan Poh, 20, surpassed expecta-
wanted to start early.” Gymnastics, which he took up at His titles this year include the The amount of time said. “(But) I do it to improve my- tions to finish fourth in the men’s
Another goal the southpaw has the same time he started playing ta- boys’ doubles crown at the ITTF Ju- self, and these experience help me doubles event at last year’s Gold
set for himself is a podium finish in ble tennis as his parents wanted nior Circuit Premium’s Czech Ju-
you spend at the table, grow. I enjoy the sport, and that’s Coast Commonwealth Games.
the singles event and to win the dou- him to be flexible, also played a part nior and Cadet Open (with Josh) in the speed we’re what drives me to become better.” Singapore men’s head coach Gao
bles title with partner Josh when he in his progress. February and three golds at the The gulf in standard and mental- Ning, 36, described Koen as a “prac-
makes his SEA Games debut in the Though he decided to focus solely South-east Asia Junior and Cadet Ta- (moving and hitting) ity between the junior and senior tical and hardworking” athlete who
Philippines at the end of the year . on table tennis when he was nine as ble Tennis Championships in June. while training and the level is significant. is diligent in executing instructions
Koen was promoted to the na- he felt the sport had a lower risk of However, the constant travelling “If junior players get a bit tense or and training plans.
tional senior team in January and injury, he said: “(My gymnastics – he is sometimes away for consecu- number of repetitions anxious, they’ll start to change Adding that competing in Europe
has since been training full-time af- background) definitely helped – tive months while the longest we have to do... you their game,” Koen said. in the future could help Koen’s ca-
ter taking a year-long leave of ab- my reach is longer because I’m stretch he has been home this year “But the senior players know ex- reer, Gao said: “He still needs to
sence from the Singapore Sports more flexible and I don’t get injured is about three weeks – does take a get breathless very actly what they want to do and, strengthen the basics, like foot-
School. so easily. toll. easily. even if they lose a few points in a work, when it comes to competi-
He attributed his progress to the “Gymnastics is a type of sport “Sometimes, when I’m alone at row, they’ll still stick to the game tions.

increase in training hours.
“I’m spending about two to three
hours more every day. My overall
game has improved (especially the
backhand), my mental strength has
been getting better but my focus
that requires coordination, which
has helped me in table tennis be-
cause there is a lot of hand-eye coor-
dination.”
He has competed in about 20 tour-
naments this year, half of which are
competitions, I feel very sian
(Hokkien for bored). When I was at
the Qatar Open in March, I just
wanted to go back to Singapore.
“But in Bangkok (for the Thailand
Junior and Cadet Open in May)
’’
KOEN PANG, Under-18 boys’ world No. 1, on
the misconception that table tennis is not
tiring.
plan.
“I’m still quite far from that level.”
Where he wants to get to is the
Olympics, with a target of qualify-
ing for the 2024 edition.
He also wants silverware at major
“When he has mastered these fun-
damentals, he can then adapt his
tactics to the different players at
the table.”
cnicole@sph.com.sg

Champion horse Justify fails drug test

LOS ANGELES • Champion race-
horse Justify failed a drug test
shortly before winning the Ameri-
can Triple Crown last year, the New
York Times reported on Wednes-
day night.
In an article posted on its web-
site, the newspaper said the steed,
which was under the stewardship
of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert,
tested positive for the banned sub-
stance scopolamine after winning
the Santa Anita Derby on April 7.
Also known as hyoscine, the drug
Triple Crown winner Justify reportedly tested positive for scopolamine, which is banned because it can improve a
can improve a horse’s breathing and heart rate. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS horse’s breathing and heart rate.
The report said the failed drug
test would normally have meant Jus-
tify’s disqualification and forfeiture
of entry into the Kentucky Derby,
with scopolamine cases resulting in
disqualifications, purse reimburse-
ments, fines and suspensions over
the decades.
Instead, the California Horse Rac-
ing Board took more than a month
to confirm the results and moved to
drop the case while lightening the
penalty for any horse that tested
positive for the same substance.
Justify won the Kentucky Derby,
the first leg of the Triple Crown on
May 5, before adding the Preakness
Stakes and Belmont Stakes to be-
come just the 13th horse to com-
plete the treble, one of the most sto-
ried achievements in horse racing.
The Times quoted California
Horse Racing Board executive Rick
Baedeker as saying that it would
have been “careless and reckless”
for regulators to have rushed to
complete an investigative report be-
fore the Kentucky Derby.
In an e-mail to Reuters late on
Wednesday, he said: “We take seri-
ously the integrity of horse racing
in California and are committed to
implementing the highest stan-
dards of safety and accountability
for all horses, jockeys and partici-
pants.”
He added that the board would
have a further response at a later
date, but efforts to contact Baffert
were unsuccessful.
Justify is currently in Australia, af-
ter its owners sold his breeding
rights for US$60 million (S$82.5 mil-
lion) and mares have been lined up
in the hope of getting what is sup-
posed to be the perfect seed from
the perfect racehorse.
NYTIMES, REUTERS

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C8 SPORT
AIMING TO
BRING THE
SOLHEIM
CUP HOME
Europe bank on home edge to break losing
streak, US counting on ‘experienced’ rookies
ON THE CONTRARY
I also think that when
we are playing away
from home, there can
be advantages. There
is not quite so much
expectation, so the
team can play a little
looser.
’’
JULI INKSTER, US captain, on how her team
will not be affected playing in Scotland.
Nicholas keeps
cool to soar high
Kimberly Kwek
He had a four-stroke lead heading
into yesterday’s fourth and final leg
of the Community Youth Golf
League but Nicholas Sea knew vic-
tory was never going to be a
straightforward affair.
The St Patrick’s School student’s
fears were confirmed when he dou-
ble-bogeyed the 398m, par-four
first hole at the Masters Course of
Laguna National Golf and Country
Club.
Rather than crumble under the
pressure, the 16-year-old re-
grouped in impressive fashion.
He went on to card a 10-over 82
for a winning total of 39-over 281 to
finish seven strokes ahead of
Phone Thant Ko Ko of St Gabriel’s
Secondary School and retain the
overall title besides claiming the
GLASGOW • The United States
have dominated the Solheim Cup
and will be aiming for a third suc-
cessive victory when the 16th meet-
ing with Europe starts today at the
PGA Centenary Course at Glenea-
gles in Scotland.
But a number of arrows point in
favour of the hosts, and Catriona
Matthew, the Europe team captain,
is hoping for a memorable third
win in a row in her homeland.
This is the third time the biennial
contest has been staged in Scot-
land, and Europe pulled off a mas-
sive shock at Dalmahoy in 1992 and
then won again at a very wet Loch
Lomond in 2000.
“Home advantage does play a big
part,” suggested Matthew, who has
played in nine Solheims.
“A victory for Europe this week
would go right to the top of my list
of achievements.
“It would even top my British
Open win (in 2009). I have always
loved the Solheim Cup.
“As captain, I have been busier
than I imagined – there is an awful
lot to do – but I have thoroughly en-
joyed the whole process.”
US skipper Juli Inkster steered
her side to victory in Germany in
2015 and again on home soil two
years ago.
But she has an inexperienced
line-up and suffered a blow earlier
this week when former world No. 1
Stacy Lewis – a two-time Major win-
ner – pulled out with a back injury.
Ally McDonald stepped in as re-
serve, but it means half of the visit-
ing side are Solheim rookies.
“Six rookies, but six great rook-
ies,” was how Inkster summed up
the situation. “They may be new to
Tay Cheng Khoon Eagle award.
The award, which recognises
young golfers for displaying good
attitude, progress and commit-
ment, takes its name from the late
former Straits Times sports editor
who founded the Youth Golf Pro-
gramme. It was started in 1997 to in-
troduce youth without the means
to own golf club memberships to
the sport and has since benefited
close to 5,000 students.
“I definitely felt stressed out
when I had bad holes, but I played
against myself and not against my
friends,” said Nicholas.
“I really tried to take my eyes off
other people’s performances and
just focus on my game.”
Concentrating only on his game
did not come naturally to Nicholas,
but a speech by a national golfer 1½
years ago was what sparked his
change in mentality.
American Jessica Korda lining up her drive on the 14th hole during a practice round for the Solheim Cup on Wednesday.
The US are hoping for a third successive victory in the biennial tournament. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
this event, but they are all experi-
enced players.
“I also think that when we are
playing away from home, there can
be advantages. There is not quite so
much expectation, so the team can
play a little looser. Ally has fitted in
very well and Stacy will be staying
around to help from the sidelines.”
Europe may have three rookies in
the side attempting to reduce the
overall deficit that currently stands
10-5 in favour of the US, but none
will be feistier than Bronte Law.
“Apparently, the US are
While he cannot remember who
gave the speech, the words have
stuck.
“Anybody else will say I’m going
to beat this guy... but he didn’t men-
tion anything about that,” recalled
Nicholas. “When I was younger, I
McIlroy tops Koepka for Player of the Year award
LOS ANGELES • Rory McIlroy is the
PGA Tour Player of the Year, and
even he was a little surprised.
In a vote of the players, who pre-
sumably gave as much weight to
the whole season as the four big-
gest weeks involving the Majors, he
won the Jack Nicklaus Award over
Brooks Koepka.
It was the third time McIlroy won
the award, and the first time with-
out having won a Major.
“I’m at a loss for words,” the Ul-
sterman said on Wednesday night.
Moments earlier, McIlroy was sit-
ting down with the American great
at The Bear’s Club in South Florida
to receive the Byron Nelson Tro-
phy for having the lowest adjusted
scoring average when a bronze of
favourites, but I don’t know where
that comes from,” said the English-
woman. “I love matchplay and was
in the winning Curtis Cup side at
Nairn so (I) have good memories of
playing in Scotland.”
The form of Europe’s Suzann Pet-
tersen – the most experienced
player on either side – will also be
firmly in focus.
The 38-year-old Norwegian has
had many moments of controversy
in her eight appearances.
She swore live on American TV
on her debut in 2002 and was em-
Nicholas Sea of
St Patrick’s
School with the
Tay Cheng
Khoon Eagle
award at the
Laguna
National Golf
and Country
Club yesterday.
ST PHOTO:
GAVIN FOO
had this mindset where I had to
beat this person, that person is chal-
lenging me. But after that (speech),
I realised it’s about ourselves, and it
hit me hard.”
Over the past year, the 4.0 handi-
capper’s approach to the game has
the Nicklaus Award was placed on
the table.
He looked at it and said: “I’ve al-
ready got two of those.”
“Well, you’ve got three now,”
Nicklaus told him.
McIlroy has won three times on
the PGA Tour this season, includ-
ing The Players Championship and
the Tour Championship to capture
the FedEx Cup and its US$15 mil-
lion (S$20.6 million) prize.
He also had a Tour-best 14 top-10
finishes and ended out of the top
20 only four times in 19 events.
“I couldn’t be more proud to win
this award for the third time,” McIl-
roy said. “Yeah, very... somewhat
surprised, but honoured my fellow
players thought enough of my year
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
broiled in a row over whether or
not a putt was conceded to Alison
Lee in 2015.
Two years ago, the world No. 665
had to pull out with a back injury,
and a year after giving birth to her
son and with only a couple of play-
ing appearances over the last 18
months, she was handed a shock
wild card by Matthew.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
SOLHEIM CUP
Day 1: Singtel TV Ch115 & StarHub
Ch209, 3pm
helped lift unnecessary pressure.
Nicholas also meditates to keep
his cool on the course and this has
been especially helpful in nerve-
racking situations.
He got into golf nine years ago
when, out of curiosity, he decided
to take it up as his co-curricular ac-
tivity in Nanhua Primary School.
He was a member of the national
youth development squad for six
months, but was cut last year.
Nicholas said the axe was a
timely reminder that he had some
way to go before he could be part of
the national set-up.
He said: “It definitely motivates
me and shows that I have a lot to im-
prove on before I can play for the
country.
“For now, I just want to play well
and play my best game.”
Janice Khoo, chairman of the
Youth Golf Network, Community
Youth Golf Programme, said: “The
objective of the four-leg league
spread throughout the year was to
aspire the youth to better new tar-
gets.
“I am happy this was achieved as
seen through the improved gross
scores in many today.”
kimkwek@sph.com.sg
Four-time Major
champion Rory
McIlroy has now
won the PGA
Tour Player of
the Year for the
third time.
to award me this honour again.”
Koepka, who won the PGA of
America’s Player of the Year based
on points, was seen as the favourite
for the Tour’s award. He won three
times, same as McIlroy, led the
FedEx Cup in the regular season
and won the money title by nearly
US$2 million over McIlroy.
What stood out the most in the
American’s season, however, were
SportsWorld
Quek shares top
spot in China event
HAIKOU • Singaporean
golfer Quincy Quek and
American Shotaro Ban are
top of the leaderboard at the
Haikou Classic after both
fired opening six-under 65s
before play was suspended
due to darkness with 12
players yet to complete the
round.
Quek, 32, teed off on the
10th and made only one-par
in his opening nine holes.
But the golfer recovered in
the back-nine to finish
six-under in the first round.
The event at Mission Hills
Haikou resort is the 11th of
the 14-tournament PGA
Tour Series-China season.
Anderlecht ex-GM
arrested after probe
BRUSSELS • Anderlecht’s
former general manager
Herman van Holsbeeck was
yesterday arrested in a
widening investigation into
fraud, corruption and money
laundering during player
transfers.
The arrest follows that of
football agent Christophe
Henrotay, whose clients
include Belgium goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois and
wingers Yannick Carrasco
and Kevin Mirallas.
Belgian federal
prosecutors have requested
Henrotay’s extradition after
raids in Monaco, London
and Liege earlier this week
saw the seizure of two
apartments, a boat, three
luxury cars and
€7 million (S$10.6 million).
REUTERS
Model testifies in rape
case against Neymar
RIO DE JANEIRO • Brazilian
police on Wednesday night
heard the testimony of
Brazilian model Najila
Trindade as part of an
investigation linked to her
rape allegations against
Brazil forward Neymar.
In May, Trindade accused
the Paris Saint-Germain star
of sexually assaulting her at a
Paris hotel, but prosecutors
have since closed the probe.
She was earlier this week
indicted for procedural
fraud, slanderous
denunciation and extortion,
but investigators are still
looking into Neymar’s social
media postings of their
sexual liaison.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Coleman demands
apology from Usada
NEW YORK • Christian
Coleman wants an apology
from the United States
Anti-Doping Agency
(Usada) now that the body
has dropped a whereabouts
charge against him, the
American sprinter said on
Wednesday night.
In a lengthy video posted
on YouTube ahead of the
Sept 27-Oct 6 world
championships in Doha,
Qatar, he claimed the charge
had damaged his reputation
as a clean athlete and he had
foregone over US$150,000
(S$206,300) in potential
earnings to fight it. REUTERS
the Majors. He won the PGA Cham-
pionship, joining Tiger Woods as
the only back-to-back winners
since the Tour switched to stroke
play in 1958.
He was runner-up at the Masters
and the US Open, and was joint-
fourth at the British Open – Nick-
laus (1973), Woods (2005) and Jor-
dan Spieth (2015) are the only
other players to have finished in
the top four of every Major in a cal-
endar year.
Separately, Im Sung-jae of South
Korea was voted the PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year. While he did
not have a Tour victory to his name,
he was the only first-year player to
reach the Tour Championship.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
SPORT C9

Former England
international
Brian Moore (in
white) giving
tips to youth at
Singapore
Cricket Club’s
Dempsey Field
yesterday.
He believes that
the margins
among the top
eight teams now
are very fine and
every team need
to be in peak
condition to win
the Rugby World
Cup, which starts
on Sept 20.
ST PHOTO:
DESMOND FOO

CUP IS UP FOR
“I wouldn’t put much money on
anyone, because anyone who says
they know who will definitely win
the World Cup is a fraud.”
Moore, who has 64 caps and
played in three World Cups includ-
Wales last month ended the All
Blacks’ reign at the top, which the
latter had held since November
2009.
New Zealand, who have lost to
the Springboks, the Irish and the
ous World Cups where if you
weren’t quite there, you were still
the best team or better than the
other teams. The margins among
the top eight teams now are very
fine.”

GRABS: MOORE
South Africa, NZ, England, Wales & Australia
all contenders for ‘most open’ tournament
Nicole Chia
New Zealand may be the two-time
defending champions of the Rugby
World Cup, but former England in-
ternational Brian Moore believes
the All Blacks are by no means over-
whelming favourites for this year’s
tournament.
In fact, Moore described the Sept
20-Nov 2 competition in Japan as
“the most open World Cup” and
told The Straits Times: “There are
potentially five teams I think could
win it – South Africa, New Zealand,
England, Wales and Australia.
“I don’t normally sit on the fence
but the margins are so small... there
will be a bit of luck involved, there
will be a bit of brilliance involved or
a disaster and that will turn the for-
tunes.
ing the 1991 final where England
lost to Australia at Twickenham,
was in Singapore alongside fellow
ex-internationals Eric Rush (New
Zealand) and Shane Byrne (Ire-
land) for last night’s World Cup
Rugby gala dinner organised by the
British Chamber of Commerce.
The trio also conducted a training
session for students of Dover Court
International School, Tanglin Trust
School, Dulwich College (Singa-
pore) and the SCC Rugby Academy
at Singapore Cricket Club’s
Dempsey Field yesterday.
Evidence of Moore’s perspective
can be found in the world No. 1 rank-
ing, which has changed hands
thrice over the past five weeks.
Wallabies in the past 12 months,
then reclaimed the top spot two
weeks later, only to be dethroned
by Ireland this week.
Moore, 57, also referred to results
like England’s 57-15 rout of Ireland
at last month’s World Cup warm-up
and the 16-16 draw between South
Africa and New Zealand – who face
each other in their opening Pool B
match on Sept 21 – at the July Rugby
Championship to further illustrate
his point.
He added: “It just shows if you’re
slightly under par by five per cent
and the other team is absolutely
bang on their game, that’s all you
need to be out.
“There used to be a time in previ-
One outsider he will keep an eye
on is Japan, who stunned two-time
world champions South Africa at
the 2015 edition and narrowly
missed out on reaching the quarter-
finals.
This time, Japan are in Pool A
with Ireland, Scotland, Russia and
Samoa.
Moore said: “You got to remem-
ber they won three games in 2015
but didn’t get out of the pools which
was terrible really.
“They’re not going to win the tour-
nament but if they can get out of
the pool, that would be a huge suc-
cess for Japanese rugby.”
cnicole@sph.com.sg

Andreescu aims for the Oct 27-Nov 3 season-ending

WTA Tour Finals in Shenzhen,
China, climbing further up the rank-
ings and representing her country
celebrate a little bit, but I’m fo-
cused on what’s to come,” she said.
Separately, former world No. 1
Kim Clijsters yesterday announced

for ‘bigger things’ at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

TORONTO • US Open champion
Bianca Andreescu returned to
Toronto a conquering hero on
Wednesday night with a little more
celebrating to do before getting
back to work and setting new goals,
such as staying injury-free.
Looking weary after a whirlwind
media tour of New York, the Cana-
dian, who was born in Mississauga,
a suburb of Toronto, said she was
running on adrenaline after her
shock 6-3, 7-5 victory over 23-time
Grand Slam champion Serena
Williams at Flushing Meadows last
Saturday.
Celebrations are, however, ex-
pected to become a regular thing
for Andreescu, who pundits predict
will soon climb to world No. 1 and
win many more Majors.
The future seems bright for the
19-year-old, but her meteoric rise
has not come without challenges
particularly with injuries, which at
one point threatened to derail her
breakthrough season.
“If I’m healthy, then I think I can
do even bigger things in this sport,”
the world No. 5, ranked 178th at the
end of last term, told reporters.
“One of an athlete’s biggest ene-
mies is being injured.”
Not yet out of her teens, An-
dreescu has already spent a good
chunk of her young career battling
back, leg and shoulder issues that
caused her to miss a big chunk of
the clay-court campaign and the en-
tire grass-court swing, including
US Open champion Bianca Andreescu wants to stay injury-free for a chance to
compete in the WTA Finals, Grand Slams and the Olympics. PHOTO: REUTERS
Wimbledon in July.
But on the North American hard-
courts, she looked invincible, build-
ing on her Rogers Cup win to be-
come Canada’s first Major winner.
Having won her first Major, two
of the WTA Tour’s elite events in
“I want to do well in my next cou-
ple of tournaments in Asia to qual-
ify for the WTA Finals and crack
on social media she would be com-
ing out of retirement after seven
years to re-join the Tour next Janu-
ary, revealing that “at 36, I feel like
the top three,” said Andreescu. “I I’m too young to be retired”.
have been thinking about playing Of the four-time Major champion
the Olympics for a couple of years, from Belgium, WTA chairman
it’s a very special event.” Steve Simon said her return was
Before all that, she will bask in “exciting news” and “only adds to
the glow of her US Open triumph the compelling wealth of talent in
just a little bit longer. “Today, I will women’s tennis”. REUTERS
Toronto and Indian Wells, and
breaking into the top 10 for the first
time in her career, Andreescu has
had to do a quick reset of her goals,
having already far exceeded her tar-
gets for the year.
Now, she is focused on qualifying

I would have loved it if The recent revelation that

Messi’s current deal includes a
clause allowing him to leave for

Neymar returned: Messi
BARCELONA • Lionel Messi has
taken umbrage at the Barcelona
board for “not doing everything
possible” to re-sign their former
star Neymar from Paris Saint-Ger-
main.
The wrangle was the biggest saga
of the recently concluded summer
transfer window, with the Brazil
forward’s desire to leave the Parc
des Princes and return to his for-
mer La Liga club an open secret.
However, an agreement could
not be reached, leaving Messi frus-
trated as he wanted to be reunited
think Barca did everything possi-
ble to sign him?
“I don’t know what happened
with the board. I know that I spoke
with Neymar and he told me how
things were going. He was desper-
ate to come back.
“It’s logical that there are a lot of
people who do not want him to
come back (after his acrimonious
exit in 2017). But thinking about
things on a sporting level, he is one
of the best in the world.
“Obviously, he would have in-
creased our possibilities of getting
free next June has shocked the Nou
Camp faithful, who are worried at
the prospect of their talisman walk-
ing away for nothing at the end of
the term.
But while he revealed that a confi-
dentiality clause meant he could AN ASSET
not discuss the exact details of his
contract, the Argentina skipper Thinking about things
said: “I can say that I want to be at
Barcelona for as long as I can and
on a sporting level, he
have all my career here, because is one of the best in
it’s my home.
“I didn’t want a long contract and the world... he would
to stay here just because I have a have increased our
contract. I want to be in good physi-
cal shape, play and be important, possibilities of
and also see that there is a success- getting the results
ful project.
“I want to keep on winning that we all want.

with his former teammate – they
spent four seasons together – and
admitted “he would love Neymar to
have signed”.
In an interview with Barcelona
daily Diario Sport, he said: “Do you
the results that we all want. I would
have loved it if he had come back.”
The Barcelona captain, however,
reassured fans he will not leave for
as long as he feels he can make a dif-
ference for the Spanish champions.
’’
things with this club and doing im-
portant things. The release clause
and the money don’t mean much to
me. I am motivated by other things,
and the most important is to have a LIONEL MESSI, on what former teammate
Neymar can bring to Barcelona.
winning project.” XINHUA
 | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
C10

KOEN PANG
TOP-RANKED U-18
PADDLER EYES SENIOR
BREAKTHROUGH C7

Left and below:

Yip Pin Xiu
finishing more
than 20 seconds
ahead of silver
medallist Aly van
Wyck-Smart of
Canada in the
women’s 100m
backstroke S2 at
the World Para
Swimming
Championships
in London on
Wednesday. It
was her second
world title after
her 50m
freestyle S3
triumph at the
2010 world meet
in Eindhoven.
PHOTOS: SPORTS
NEWS AGENCY

WORLD CHAMPION
YIP IN FINE FETTLE
Para-swimmer looks forward to second race
after winning second world title in nine years
Sazali Abdul Aziz
National para swimmer Yip Pin Xiu
claimed gold in the women’s 100m
backstroke S2 at the World Para
Swimming Championships in Lon-
Date : Sept 29, 2019 don on Wednesday – her first
Venue : Singapore Sports Hub world title since 2010.
And the 27-year-old, who has
Register at three Paralympic gold medals and
me, and recognition for all the hard
training I do.
“The journey is important to me
and I’m happy to be at this point
now.”
Yip’s gold was her first at the
world meet since her 50m freestyle
S3 triumph at the 2010 edition in
Eindhoven, where she also won a
silver in the 50m backstroke S3.
At the following edition in 2013,
“A gold would be nice, but the fo- times during a training camp in Mal-
cus is her approach and how she lorca before the championships.
swims the race. He also credited the biomechan-
“We will analyse and build on ics and strength and conditioning
that towards her Tokyo 2020 cam- teams at the Singapore Sports Insti-
paign.” tute for doing a “fantastic job” in
Yip, who holds the world record helping Yip get into peak condition.
in the 50m and 100m backstroke While she is looking forward to
S2, parted ways with her coach of the Tokyo Games, Yip’s focus is on
eight months, Han Jun, after decid- her second event at the London
ing that the Chinese national was Aquatics Centre today.
not the right fit as she aims to shine She said: “It’s really nice to be
at the Tokyo Paralympics next here, the people are really friendly
year.
She won three golds and a silver
and they’re also happy to be here.
“I’m looking forward to Friday,
at the Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016 though it will depend on what en-

www.straitstimesrun.com
owns two world records, will be in Montreal, she finished second in Games. ergy I have left.”
gunning to add more to her bur- the 50m backstroke S3. The switch to Chay appears to Due to her muscular dystrophy,
geoning collection when she races Mark Chay, who only started have worked a treat for Yip, who which leads to progressive weaken-
in the 50m backstroke S2 today. coaching her in late July, told The clocked 2min 18.61sec yesterday, ing of the muscles, Yip was re-clas-
Flag-off times “It feels really good to be a world Straits Times that Yip “definitely more than 20 seconds ahead of sil- sified from an S3 swimmer to S2 in
champion, and I’m really happy,” has another world-class swim” in ver medallist Aly van Wyck-Smart 2015.
18.45km (5.30am) • 10km (7am) • 3.5km (7.45am) said the jubilant swimmer, who is her for this meet. of Canada (2:39.27). Angela Procida The lower the number in the clas-
also a Nominated Member of Parlia- The former national swimmer of Italy (2:42.71) took the bronze. sification, the more severe the im-
PRIZES* FOR MEN’S 10KM RUN ment. and Olympian said yesterday: “Pin Chay said he had been hopeful of pairment.
“I’ve been swimming for 15 years Xiu is looking good, better than she a good performance from his
1st now but every victory is special to has been in months. charge as she had clocked good msazali@sph.com.sg
Prize 1st Prize
• Panasonic 55” Ultra HD
4K HDR TV worth $2,399
• New Balance vouchers
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United youngsters ‘not mature enough’
LONDON • Pundit Alan Hansen’s in- with young players like Scott Mc- appear less frequently on TV as a take up a senior management posi-
famous assertion that “you can’t Tominay, 22, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, pundit, with the New York Times tion at Serie A club AC Milan.
2nd Prize 3rd win anything with kids” came back and Daniel James, both 21, being reporting that he has agreed to be- In his new role, Wenger will re-
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• Panasonic to haunt him when Manchester given prominent roles this term, come Fifa’s technical head. portedly become the public face of
2nd Lumix Camera United won the Premier League ti- Wenger told beIN Sports: “When Since leaving the Gunners after Fifa when it comes to coaching edu-
Prize worth $1,099 tle in 1995, but Arsene Wenger you see United, they are one of the 22 seasons in May last year, he has cation. The 69-year-old will also
• New Balance does not believe their current examples where there’s a poten- been a regular analyst for various have a broad portfolio to suggest
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vouchers • Panasonic Bread Maker squad can pull off a similar feat. tial, but they have not found a col- TV broadcasters, despite his stated improvements to coaching stan-
worth $200 The Red Devils have not lifted lective way. willingness to coach again. dards across the world.
worth $529
• New Balance vouchers the trophy since the 2012-13 season “You feel there is something com- But football’s governing body has As recently as last week, Wenger
*For prize eligibility, – Alex Ferguson’s final year in ing, but it’s not ready. When you been looking to add a recognised told beIN Sports that he “still can-
visit www.straitstimesrun.com for more information worth $100
charge – and while the former Arse- watch them play, they are not a can- figure to its senior ranks since the not live today with the fact that I
Category (Men only) Loyal runners rate Normal rate nal manager says Ole Gunnar Solsk- didate to fight for the champi- departures of the two high-profile will never be on the bench again”.
(Per runner) (Per runner) jaer’s players are talented, he does onship. former players recruited by presi- While a spokesman for Fifa de-
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18.45KM Competitive Run sold out $58 $70 On the United first-team squad, The Frenchman, though, is set to deputy secretary-general in June to NYTIMES, REUTERS

Published and printed by Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Co. Regn. No. 198402868E. A member of Audit Bureau of Circulations Singapore. Customer Service (Circulation): 6388-3838, circs@sph.com.sg, Fax 6746-1925.
 | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019

D COMEBACK KIDD
Wykidd Song back
STREAMING WARS
Apple TV+ takes
with new fashion the battle to
label Netflix
D3 D10

It’s a
wrap
Offering quirky designs and convenience,
DIY nail wraps are becoming a popular
alternative to manicures, with at least
four brands popping up in the last two
years. Michelle Ng reports. D2

Audrey Tan started Freshly Wrapped in February.

DESIGN: SALLY LAM ST PHOTO: ONG WEE KIAT
D2 life style
Art you can nail in a jiffy
With stickers that come
in convenient packs and
intricate designs, you can
change up your nail art
at home in just 20 minutes
Michelle Ng
You can put on T-shirts bearing
Singlish terms like “Shiok” or
“Where Got?” or earrings shaped
like a packet of teh-c.
Increasingly, you can also wear
your love of quirky designs on your
nails in the form of nail stickers fea-
turing such art work.
Called nail wraps, these pre-cut
stickers can be applied at home in
under 20 minutes — simply pick a
suitable size, paste the wrap onto
the nail and file it into place. To
remove, soak your fingers in warm
water for a few minutes and peel
the stickers off.
These little stickers are becoming
more popular in Singapore, with at
least four local nail wrap brands
popping up in the last two years.
They are usually sold online or at
Leave a great impression
with these popular designs
Oh, Summer! ($12.90) from
Nailwrap.co
It is forever summer time with this
set featuring bold block colours and
subtle tropical prints.
Buy it from www.nailwrap.co
pop-up flea markets.
While a classic manicure at the
nail salon typically takes at least an
hour and costs around $40, nail
wraps can be done in a shorter time
and more cheaply – each set of 16
wraps of varying sizes costs $12.90
to $15.
Nail wraps can last up to 10 days,
similar to manicures. Some brands
recommend adding a clear top-coat
nail polish to make them last
longer.
Interior designer Audrey Tan, 34,
launched her Freshly Wrapped
brand in February this year, special-
ising in nail wraps with minimalist
abstract designs for everyday wear.
Ms Tan, 34, who runs interior
studio company Studio Abby, says:
“I had always wanted to run a nail
salon because I know how empow-
ering a set of gorgeous nails can
make someone feel, but realisti-
cally, it needed to be something I
could manage from a home office.
“Even though Freshly Wrapped is
not a physical nail salon, I’m still em-
powering women to look and feel
good, which is a dream come true.”
Ms Tan comes up with all the de-
signs – there are around 65 designs
on the Freshly Wrapped website
(freshlywrapped.co) currently – and
each set of 16 wraps retails at
$14.90. Selected designs are carried
at fashion boutique The WYLD
Shop at 412 Joo Chiat Road.
Her bestsellers include I Have
This Thing For Terrazzo, a
terrazzo-inspired design, and
Colour Me Fancy, a neutral design
with splashes of pastel and silver ac-
cents. She sells 30 to 40 sets of each
design every month.
Red Peranakan Tiles
($13.90) from
Em.mezing Nails
An architecturally-inspired set
featuring distinctive motifs of
Peranakan tiles in red. Buy it from
www.emmezingnails.com
For the coming year, she will be
collaborating with local illustrator
Yeni Lim-Borde, who goes by
@yenidraws on Instagram, and lo-
cal jewellery brands Super Attic
and Whimsical Co. to come up with
new designs.
While some older versions of nail
wraps have to be warmed up with a
hairdryer before being pasted onto
nails, this is not required for Ms
Tan’s nail wraps.
The main draw of nail wraps are
the designs, which are increasingly
more varied and intricate, compara-
ble to hand-painted nail art done in
salons.
Ms Janice Yong, 29, was tired of
spending up to three hours and $80
on her monthly gelish manicure at a
salon, so she started importing nail
wraps for herself as well as to sell
after realising that they were not
readily available in the Singapore
market.
Launched this June, Nailwrap.co
now stocks over 80 designs.
Ms Yong, who also works as a
property agent, designs 30 per cent
of the nail wraps sold on Nail-
wrap.co, but plans to have every-
thing designed in-house in the fu-
ture. Each set – categorised under
solid, glitter, nail art or overlay –
costs $12.90.
Her most popular design is Oh,
Summer!, which has a mix of bold
colourful blocks and tropical prints.
Nail wrap brands also put out lim-
ited editions tied to festivals or
seasons.
For example, for this year’s Mid-
Autumn Festival, which is cele-
brated today, Em.mezing Nails is of-
fering a set called Fly Me To The
Nude Marble ($15) from
Nodspark
An easy-to-match marble-
inspired set in a muted grey, beige
and white colour palette.
Buy it from www.nodspark.com
and various stockists.
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
Moon, featuring mooncakes and an
illustration of a little girl gazing at
the moon with her bunny.
Founder Wendy Heng, 30, who
launched the brand in April last
year, says the design was previously
well received so she brought it back
this year.
Ms Heng, who has a design back-
ground, also translates everyday
patterns such as Peranakan tiles
and batik into wearable nail art.
She says: “I used to do nail art on
my own, but I have problems draw-
ing straight lines with my left hand
and sometimes it leaves me dissatis-
fied. The convenience and low-
commitment nature of nail wraps
mean I can change my nail art fre-
quently without breaking the
bank.”
Em.mezing Nails currently car-
ries more than 20 designs. Each set,
priced at $12.90 or $13.90, comes
with 12 wraps of varying sizes.
It also offers autumn-inspired
designs done in collaboration with
local jewellery label Lovelystrokes,
which will be back in stock at the
end of the month.
On Oct 10, the brand will launch
six new abstract designs in collabo-
ration with local baker Wong Jie
Hui, who goes by @missgoob on
Instagram.
The little ones are not forgotten
too. Nail wrap brand Nodspark,
which started in 2017, has a kids’
range in the works.
A collaboration with kids’ interior
decor company Urban Li’l, this
range is meant for children aged
two to seven, depending on
whether the wraps fit the child’s
nails. Each set costs $15 and there is
Interior designer Audrey Tan (left) launched in February
Freshly Wrapped, which specialises in nail wraps with
minimalist abstract designs for everyday wear, while
Ms Janice Yong (above), a property agent, started
Nailwrap.co in June and now stocks over 80 designs.
PHOTOS: ONG WEE KIAT, NAILWRAP.CO, FRESHLY WRAPPED, NODSPARK,
EM.MEZING NAILS
a bundle price of $25 for a matching
adult-and-child set.
Founder Eugenia Ye, 33, a
mother of two, works with a small
in-house team to translate her de-
sign theme, concept and colours
into digital art works for the nail
wraps.
Other upcoming launches in-
clude Spring and Halloween collec-
tions, which will be launched later
this month and in the second week
of next month respectively.
The brand has a recycling initia-
tive where customers can return
eight sets of Nodspark’s packaging
that is in good condition for $4 in
online store credit. Nodspark
reuses the returned packaging as
long as it is in good-as-new condi-
tion.
Says Ms Ye: “Elaborate nail art
takes time, money and skill to get
done at a professional salon, but
working women don’t have that lux-
ury. Nail wraps are a great solution
to getting your nails done and to
add that little spark to your whole
get-up.”
For e-commerce executive
Tiffany Chow, 30, who buys at least
three sets of nail wraps every two to
three months, the detailed designs
and ease of removal are what draws
her.
She says: “I started using nail
wraps because I didn’t want the has-
sle of going to the salon to remove
my gel nail polish. With these
wraps, I can just soak and peel them
off at home. At the moment, I’m try-
ing all the brands to see which ones
I like.”
ngmich@sph.com.sg
I Have This Thing For Terrazzo
($14.90) from Freshly Wrapped
Stay on trend with this
terrazzo-inspired set, in a mostly
blue and white colour palette with
clear and abstract shapes.
Buy it from
www.freshlywrapped.co and
The WYLD Shop at 412 Joo Chiat
Road.
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
Fashion’s
comeback Kidd
Amanda Chai
At the height of his career in the late
1990s, his fashion label was stocked
in every department store here, as
well as big names overseas such as
London’s Selfridges and Harrods as
well as New York’s Barneys.
But Singaporean designer
Wykidd Song – one half of the duo
behind fashion label Song+Kelly –
has had a lower profile after the
business shut down in 2007.
After close to a decade of being
out of the spotlight, Song is back in
business. The 55-year-old bachelor
launches his all-new, online-only
womenswear label, Akinn, on Sun-
day. The name is a play on “a kin”, to
connote being close or relative to
his customers, he tells The Straits
Times in an interview.
Song+Kelly, which Song started
in 1994 with his then girlfriend,
British graphic artist Ann Kelly,
had been one of the first brands to
put Singapore on the map. It was
the first Singaporean label to
show at the likes of New York Fash-
ion Week and London Fashion
Week.
It was acquired by lifestyle com-
pany Club 21 in 2000, before clos-
ing seven years later.
Kelly had left the brand a few
years earlier to tend to her sick
mother in Britain – and “the dynam-
ics weren’t the same after that”,
says Song.
Since then, he has been involved
in various commissioned projects,
such as designing the outfits for the
2009 Asia-Pacific Economic Coop-
eration (Apec) summit held in Sin-
gapore. The Peranakan-inspired
outfits were donned by Apec lead-
ers, including former United States
president Barack Obama.
In 2014, Song left Singapore to
head the design for Anagram, a
clothing line under G2000 in
Hong Kong, where he spent two
years.
Those were big and exciting ven-
tures for him, but he is looking for-
ward to slowing down to “smell
the roses” with his new label, he
says.
He is candid and passionate when
speaking about his brand.
“The main thing (with Akinn) is
to give it time and go away from fast
fashion. We want to bring back the
focus onto the craft and the tradi-
tion of using hands.”
Priced from $249 to $329, the de-
but collection of pared-down
dresses launches online
(www.akinn.com) on Sunday.
From there, Akinn will release
monthly capsules of seven designs,
with limited pieces available for
each design.
The number of pieces is much
lower than the up to 300 pieces a de-
sign Song+Kelly had previously re-
tailed in department stores and
their own stores – let alone when
compared with the volume
required of fast fashion, which can
range anywhere from 5,000 to
50,000 pieces a design, says Song.
“We want to disrupt the whole tra-
ditional cycle of what people know
fashion as – coming up with a collec-
tion of anything from 30 to 80 de-
signs every quarter; which is what I
was used to for so many years.”
“When you’re in among the bales
and bales of fabric, you start think-
ing, ‘What am I doing? Am I just con-
tributing to the stuff?’ It makes a lot
of difference when you put out only
30 pieces and you know every
piece. You know where each piece
has gone to,” he adds.
Song has had his ups and downs
in the industry. He dabbled in
bridalwear and still occasionally
custom-makes wedding gowns. He
opened a private atelier in Mount
Sophia in 2007 but this closed in
2012.
In 2011, he launched his first
menswear collection under the
name Wykidd. He had taken it on as
an opportunity to work with a fac-
tory of traditional embroiderers in
Chaozhou, China, after getting ac-
quainted with them for the Apec
project.
The collection carried 20 sepa-
rates with hand-embroidered de-
tails done by elderly seamstresses,
and was retailed in Tangs and on-
line at wykidd.com. But it was dis-
solved in a year – a venture Song
The main thing (with
Akinn) is to give it time
and go away from fast
fashion. We want to
bring back the focus
onto the craft and the
tradition of using
hands.
’’
FASHION DESIGNER WYKIDD SONG
on the direction of his new label
style life D3
After close to a decade out of the
spotlight, designer Wykidd Song,
one half of the duo behind the
defunct fashion label Song+Kelly,
is back with a new label
Veteran fashion
designer Wykidd
Song with his
all-new,
online-only
womenswear
label Akinn.
ST PHOTO:
TIMOTHY DAVID
felt was ahead of its time.
“It was just too early; it didn’t
have that momentum. (Online fash-
ion retailer) Net-a-Porter had just
come into the market then – I
couldn’t sustain (my brand).”
At the interview, he is wearing
one of the shirts from the defunct
line. He may re-introduce
menswear as a future capsule, but
Akinn will be a return to his wom-
enswear roots. Comprising clean-
cut pieces, the label is tailored for
what he calls the “35 and above
boss lady” who can express herself
even in a boardroom of suits.
“It was always about dressing
strong, confident women who have
loads of responsibilities – ever
since Song+Kelly,” he says.
Fans of Song+Kelly can also look
forward to elements of the bygone
label in Akinn.
Song has brought back past de-
signs and cuts used in the 1990s in
modern fabrics, with fresh twists.
For example, a dress that was once
made in silk returns transformed in
polyester – a material he previously
shunned for looking “cheap”, but
favours now for being “very easy to
recycle”.
His touch returns also in stylistic
details like the flows of the fabric
and characteristic silhouettes like a
cocoon dress. These he has ele-
vated with work-appropriate fab-
rics and shapes.
“The first two capsules are about
making what happened then rele-
vant again in the present,” says the
designer, who is working with his
former producer from his
Song+Kelly days. Together, they
have been drawing from templates
in his old archives that she held
onto over the years.
He hopes to emulate this spirit of
collaboration in future capsules,
with plans to work with local per-
sonalities, architects and industry
leaders already in the works.
“It’s really about using the net-
work that I’ve got – people who are
interesting in their own right, and
making that connection through
fashion. Those are the stories we
want to tell,” says Song.
“That’s important to us so that it’s
not just trying to run the numbers.
We want every collection to mean
something.”
amandac@sph.com.sg
• Akinn launches on Sunday at
www.akinn.com and at a showroom at
03-09, 2 Leng Kee Road, Thye Hong
Centre (by appointment only at
hello@akinn.com).
D4 life style
Minutes&Seconds
Saving
your
timepiece
from time
Cleaning and maintenance may
not be the most glamorous part
of wearing a watch, but they do
keep timepieces looking their
best as well as running efficiently
Rachel Felder
For nearly 20 years, Mr Troy Sur-
ratt, a make-up artist and the
founder of cosmetics brand Surratt
Beauty, has worn a designer watch
virtually every day.
Every couple of weeks, he takes
off the one he has had on his wrist –
chosen from a rotation that in-
cludes 10 Hermes watches in styles
like the Harnais and Arceau – and
cleans it using a method he devel-
oped that was inspired, at least in
part, by the way he shines picture
frames in his home in Manhattan’s
Chelsea neighbourhood.
“I will use alcohol on either a Q-
tip or a piece of cotton,” he said.
“Sometimes, I’ll use a microfibre
cloth and a little bit of alcohol, care-
ful not to touch the strap because it
can take the gloss or finish off of the
strap. I really just sort of wipe down
the face or the crystal.”
“I don’t know what a watchmaker
would say about doing that,” he
added, “but it’s always worked for
me.”
The technique makes Mr Sur-
ratt’s watches sparkle – and has not
damaged them – but it does indeed
go against what watch care experts
suggest.
“Depending on what type of mate-
rial the watch is made of, the recom-
mendation is that you wouldn’t
clean any watches, bracelets or
cases with anything that has any
Murder-themed fashion spread sparks outrage
TBILISI • A Kazakh magazine has
come under fire over a fashion
spread that showed models posing
as murder victims, with critics say-
ing the images eroticised violence
against women.
The Buro 24/7 Kazakhstan maga-
zine has since apologised after the
spread showed a girl in a black dress
lying lifeless near a bloodied knife
and with her hand tied to a water
pipe.
Another photo featured a woman
sprawling motionless on a bed as
Weets Eats
From hipster to hawker,
the best places to eat out
The best ingredients
tnp.sg/lifestyle
chemical base in it at all,” said Mr
Ian Haycock, head of technical ser-
vices for the retailer Watches of
Switzerland.
Although cleaning and mainte-
nance are not the most glamorous
part of wearing a watch, they do
keep timepieces looking their best
as well as running efficiently. Mr
Haycock suggested cleaning
watches with a soft cloth once a
week.
On some parts, like metal
bracelets, a damp cloth may be
used. Care instructions for such
parts issued by several brands, in-
cluding Tag Heuer, suggest using a
bit of soapy water and a soft brush
periodically to take off grime.
Leather straps require a dry cloth,
Mr Haycock said.
It is wise, experts say, to be cau-
tious about cleaning watch cases. A
slightly damp cloth is fine to use on
many watches, particularly water-
proof ones with intact seals, but ex-
posure to excessive moisture can
cause damage. The steam from a
sauna, or even a home bathroom af-
ter a shower, can also be an issue.
Modern watches typically have a
degree of water resistance, but it is
frequently only about 30m. Taking
water pressure into account, that
rules out wearing most timepieces
in the bathtub or shower.
Mr Haycock suggested that, to
wear a timepiece in the shower, it
should have a minimum of 50m
water resistance and, to wear one
while swimming, 100m.
For watches that can go
underwater, salt water and chlorine
can be corrosive, so a rinse in clean
water after a swim is also advised
by many brands.
Other sports could also create
problems. Cartier’s watch care in-
structions advise against sports
such as golf or tennis – presumably
forensic scientists put her stiletto
shoes in a plastic bag.
The online-only magazine said
the fashion spread was inspired by
recent hit movies about infamous
American killers Charles Manson
and Ted Bundy.
But readers saw it differently in a
country where women’s rights
groups say gender-based violence
remains widespread.
“These photos only romanticise
violence against women, causing
disgust and fear,” wrote Instagram
in part because of sweating, al-
though it does not specify, as well as
exposure to extreme temperatures.
At-home ultrasonic cleaners –
the machines that clean dirt from
items such as jewellery with water
or a liquid solvent and ultrasonic
waves – typically are not suitable
for most timepieces, including
smart watches.
Specialists say that keeping a
watch away from anything that
could leech through its case is advis-
able as well, especially if it is vin-
tage.
“You don’t want to expose it to
perfumes or hand creams or any
greasy substance that may intrude
onto the dial and leave a stain,” said
Mr Edward Faber, co-founder and
chief executive of the Aaron Faber
Gallery, a boutique in midtown
Manhattan that cleans and repairs
watches, and sells mostly vintage
ones.
“Many of these watches, espe-
cially the earlier ones before 1980,
are not completely hermetic, so
that oil or cream could seep into it.”
STORAGE
When they are not being worn,
watches should be stored much like
fine jewellery: away from anything
that could scratch them and, ideally,
in a case with a soft interior surface.
Mr Surratt keeps his collection in
a Hermes woven-leather-covered
watch box, which has interior com-
partments lined in supple suede.
The small pouches that high-end
brands use to return watches after
they have been repaired – Patek
Philippe’s, for instance, are soft
brown leather with a suede interior
– are also an option, as are the
boxes that watches come in at pur-
chase.
Boxes with automatic winders
are also popular; their action is de-
user droyaronok.
On Tuesday, Buro 24/7’s publish-
ers took the pictures offline and is-
sued an apology, but it denied the
shoot glamorised violence.
“We understand that this photo
material is sensitive, and we apolo-
gise for the possible impression it
could have made,” the publishers
said in a statement on social me-
dia.
H&M, the fashion brand whose
clothes were used in the spread,
said it had no involvement in the ini-
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
A custom-made watch winder.
BT FILE PHOTO
signed to simulate wrist movement,
to keep self-winding watches run-
ning when they are not being worn.
However, the mechanisms inside
these boxes sometimes wind in just
one direction while most modern
watches require movement in both
directions, so it is important to
check before purchase.
While they might seem like a logi-
cal choice for storing valuables,
bank safe deposit boxes are not rec-
ommended for watches.
Mr Faber said: “It’s always cooler
and drier in vaults, so what we see
in a vault situation, 10 years, 20
years in, is, first of all, the gold starts
to develop a black patina. Also, it
dries out the mechanism, so it’s not
the best environment.”
SERVICING
Periodically, watches need care be-
yond what an owner can do at home.
Many Swiss brands suggest that
tiative, beyond lending the maga-
zine clothes.
The Swedish brand said it had not
known about the theme of the
shoot.
“It should be noted that H&M is
strongly opposed to the romantici-
sation of violence,” H&M Russia
spokesman Artur Kasimov said.
About one in five Kazakh women
has suffered violence at the hands
of a partner at least once in her life-
time, according to a 2018 United
Nations survey.
Although
servicing a
watch might
seem like a
nuisance, some
watch owners
seem to revel in
the experience.
PHOTO:
H. MOSER & CIE
watches – quartz or mechanical –
should be serviced at least every five
years, to check details such as the
tightness of the case seals or the lu-
brication of internal gears.
For quartz watches, batteries
need to be changed periodically
and many owners opt to have that
done professionally.
Selecting a watch repair business
can be difficult. Unless a business is
an authorised service dealer for a
particular brand, it is hard to assess
expertise or to ensure that the oper-
ation uses authentic replacement
parts. Many brands, such as Omega,
will cancel warranties if watches
have been serviced by unautho-
rised dealers.
Some luxury Swiss brands, such
as Audemars Piguet and Vacheron
Constantin, offer servicing in-
house. The procedure can be expen-
sive. At Patek Philippe, for example,
the price of a routine quartz watch
service cleaning starts at more than
US$600 (S$826). They often send
watches that need extensive work
to their European headquarters, so
the process can take several months
and be even more costly.
Some collectors of vintage
watches opt for independent servic-
ing because, when brands replace
something like the scratched crys-
tal on a decades-old model, the re-
sale value of such a collectible piece
can be affected.
Although servicing might seem
like a nuisance, some watch owners
seem to revel in the experience.
Mr Barry Beck, co-founder of
beauty retailer Bluemercury, owns
several Patek Philippe watches.
“Looking after them is part of the
whole hobby,” he said. “It’s like art:
half the fun is learning about it, look-
ing after it, learning how to look
after it better. It’s part of the whole
experience.” NYTIMES
Ms Jacqui Hunt, director of Equal-
ity Now’s Europe and Central Asia
office, said violence against women
and girls in Kazakhstan would con-
tinue unless attitudes that nor-
malise it change.
“The fashion industry should be
producing advertising that fosters
respect, safety and empowerment
of women and girls, not featuring
images and ideas that eroticise and
legitimise gender-based violence,”
she noted.
REUTERS
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
happenings life D5

GIGS
Anjali Raguraman recommends

GigPicks
Muse Tribute Night:
Celebrating 20 Years AL MCKAY’S EARTH, WIND
Muse Singapore pays tribute to & FIRE EXPERIENCE
English rock band Muse ’s 20-year Boogie Wonderland comes to
musical journey. The trio released Singapore by way of Al McKay All Stars
their first full-length album, Showbiz, (left), a 13-piece tribute band
in 1999. put together by McKay (back row,
WHERE: Sled Productions X Decline, third from far left), former guitarist of
37 Lorong 23 Geylang MRT: Aljunied legendary funk and soul band Earth,
WHEN: Tomorrow, 6 - 10.30pm Wind & Fire.
ADMISSION: $16 - $20 The concert may not be held on the
INFO: Tickets via 21st night of September, but expect
musetributesg.peatix.com to hear the classic Earth, Wind & Fire
hit, September, which Grammy winner
My Songs 7 McKay co-wrote.
The Erik Hargrove Band featuring
Taiwanese acts like Tseng Shu-chin –
singer Dasha Logan, as well as DJ Orio
known for tracks such as Ke Tu Qiu
are on support duty.
Hen (Song Of The Exile) – Yen
WHERE: Capitol Theatre, Capitol
Cheng-yang and Nan Fang Er Chong
Piazza, 11 Stamford Road
Chang (Southern Duo) will be turning MRT: City Hall WHEN: Wednesday,
back the clock with their Mandarin 7.30pm ADMISSION: From $98
hits of yesteryear. (upper-tier seats) to $148
WHERE: Esplanade Concert Hall, (VIP standing) via
1 Esplanade Drive MRT: Esplanade bitly.com/EWFSingapore
WHEN: Tomorrow, 7.30pm
ADMISSION: $48 - $148 from
www.esplanade.com or
Sistic (call 6348-5555 or
go to www.sistic.com.sg) PHOTOS: COLLECTIVE MINDS, ESCAPE 56, HUGO, ZOUK SINGAPORE

Record Store Selects – Seated, from far

Ruckus Live! left: Estelle Fly
The band that kicked off the and Aisyah Aziz.
inaugural session of Record Store Back row,
Selects are back to play old-school from far left:
soul classics by artists including TheLionCityBoy,
Maxwell, Prince, Stevie Wonder and DJ Myrne and
Terence Trent D’Arby. Shigga Shay.
WHERE: Choice Cuts Goods + Coffee,
01-07 Katong Point, 451 Joo Chiat
Road MRT: Dakota WHEN: Sun 7 - 11pm
ADMISSION: $20 INFO: Tickets via
igo.events

CHARITY
Sogetsu Ikebana
Charity Exhibition
The Singapore Sogetsu Association
presents its annual charity exhibition
on its 53rd anniversary in aid of the
Lions Home for the Elders.
On display are avant garde and
futuristic-themed fresh floral
arrangements created by the
association’s members and leading
local Sogetsu practitioners.
WHERE: Ngee Ann City, Level 1 Atrium
& Basement 1 Event Space,
391A Orchard Road MRT: Orchard
WHEN: Sept 20 - 30 ADMISSION: Free
INFO: E-mail sogetsusg@gmail.com
TALKS
ESCAPE 56 FEATURING
HENRIK SCHWARZ
The defunct Altimate club at 1-Altitude
will be revived for one night only via
a pop-up club by house and techno
party organisers Blackout Agency.
Veteran German deep house
producer, composer and DJ Henrik
Schwarz (above) will helm the decks,
with support from local DJs Joshua P
and Toppings.
WHERE: 61st floor, One Raffles Place
MRT: Raffles Place
WHEN: Today, 10pm to 3am
ADMISSION: $68.50 via
escape56-henrikschwarz.peatix.com
MADE IN SINGAPORE STAGE BY
HUGO (MUSIC MATTERS LIVE)
The concert will feature performers
from the Asia-Pacific region who are
part of the Music Matters Live festival,
as well as Singapore talents such as
rappers TheLionCityBoy and Shigga
Shay and pop acts Rriley, Aisyah Aziz
and Estelle Fly.
Home-grown DJ-producer Myrne
will helm the after party at Capital at
Zouk.
WHERE: Main Stage at Clarke Quay
Fountain Square, 3 River Valley Road
MRT: Clarke Quay WHEN: Tomorrow,
8pm to 11.30pm, after party from
11.30pm at Capital at Zouk
ADMISSION: Free for main event;
After party at Capital is $35 for
women, $40 for men, the first
30 people to show up dressed in
Hugo apparel will get free entry.
LIQUID NIGHTS SINGAPORE
PRESENTS ALAN WALKER
& R3HAB
Electronic dance music label Liquid
State returns for its second showcase
at Zouk’s main room, again with
headline act and global electronic
music superstar Alan Walker (above).
The Norwegian DJ, who is behind
mega hits such as Faded and
On My Way, will be joined by Dutch DJ
R3hab and supported by label mates
and fellow DJs and producers Corsak,
Wukong and Miso.
WHERE: Zouk, The Cannery, 3C River
Valley Road MRT: Clarke Quay
WHEN: Wednesday, 10pm to 3am
ADMISSION: $45 (pre-sale) or $60
(at the door). Entry (before midnight)
comes with one standard house-pour
drink.

The Poet In The Public Square

Do poets have a role in Singapore’s
public sphere? Can, and should,
writers even try to shape public
discourse? Why should people care
about the health of the country’s
writing scene? Have a conversation
with four writers from The Birthday
Collective – Aaron Maniam, Amanda
Chong, Choo Ruizhi and Theophilus
Kwek. The talk is moderated by
policy researcher Vernie Oliveiro.
WHERE: Books Actually, 9 Yong Siak
Street MRT: Tiong Bahru
WHEN: Wed, 7.30 - 8.30pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.singlitstation.com
Afternoon With
Jade Tan
Jade Tan is a young Singaporean
mezzo-soprano who has already
started to make her mark in opera.
The Richard Wagner Association
(Singapore) nominated her for the
annual Stipendien programme at
Bayreuth, Germany. She will speak
about her experience there and
sing three Wagner pieces.
WHERE: The Arts House, 1 Old
Parliament Lane MRT: Clarke Quay
WHEN: Tomorrow, 3 - 5pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: theartshouse.sg
Actually Wright
How does a playwright negotiate
creative liberty with a director and
vice versa? This will be discussed by
the writers of Toy Factory’s The
Wright Stuff Festival and their
directors.
WHERE: Books Actually, 9 Yong Siak
Street MRT: Tiong Bahru
WHEN: Tue, 8 - 10pm
ADMISSION: Free, register at
www.eventbrite.sg
INFO: str.sg/J4jk
CLASSES
Writing The City – Myths
Re-narrated & Rejuvenated
With Ng Yi-Sheng
This workshop will cover the
derivative nature of fiction: how every
new story is influenced by countless
other stories told before. It will
specifically look at myths – traditional
tales of magic, creation, romance and
adventure – from Asia, Europe and
elsewhere.
WHERE: Toa Payoh Public Library,
6 Toa Payoh Central MRT: Toa Payoh
WHEN: Tomorrow, 2 - 4pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.singlitstation.com
Healthy Gut Healthy Me
Workshop
Discover the art and science of
yogurt-making as well as how to lose
weight, strengthen bones and boost
your gut through eating yogurt.
WHERE: 01-16/17 The Gut’s Feeling
Cafe, Galaxis Building, 1 Fusionopolis
Place MRT: One North
WHEN: Tomorrow, noon - 2.30pm
ADMISSION: $30 a person or $50
a pair TEL: 9859-1504
INFO: E-mail info.healingfood@
gmail.com
FESTIVALS
Mid-Autumn Festival
@ Robertson Quay
Activities include an old-school
lantern walkabout along the river,
a human claw machine and an LED
kite performance to end off the night.
Part of the Singapore River Festival.
WHERE: Robertson Walk, 11 Unity
Street MRT: Fort Canning
WHEN: Tomorrow, 3 - 10pm;
Sun, 2 - 6pm ADMISSION: $25 a
person; $40 for four, tickets via
srf2019maf. peatix.com
INFO: srf.sg/robertson-quay-maf
World Alzheimer’s
Month Carnival
The World Alzheimer’s Month Carnival
celebrates the abilities of people with
dementia and supports them and
their families. The family- and
elderly-friendly carnival will feature
classic fun-fair activities, snacks and
edu-tainment booths for the public
to learn more about dementia and
dementia-management
programmes.
WHERE: *Scape, 2 Orchard Link
MRT: Somerset WHEN: Sept 21,
11am - 4pm ADMISSION: Free
INFO: alz.org.sg/wam2019
RIF2019
Up-and-coming musicians from
Lasalle College of the Arts will take
the stage with industry professionals,
following a band competition that
saw numerous entries vying for the
coveted opportunity. Various music
genres such as rock, pop, blues and
electronic dance music will be
featured.
WHERE: Lasalle College of the Arts,
1 McNally Street MRT: Rochor
WHEN: Tomorrow, 4pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.facebook.com/
lasallerif
Ding Yi Chinese Chamber
Music Festival
The biennial music festival will
feature free talks and ticketed
concerts. Enjoy performances by
musicians from Ding Yi Music
Company as well as Sound of Dragon
Ensemble (Canada), Tang Family
Music Ensemble (China) and
3peoplemusic (Taiwan). Winners of
the Chinese chamber music
composition competition,
Composium, have also written pieces
for the concerts.
WHERE: Esplanade – Theatres
on the Bay, 1 Esplanade Drive
MRT: Esplanade WHEN: Today - Sun,
various times
ADMISSION: $28 (standard concert
ticket); Talks are free
INFO: bit.ly/2mefbdX
D6 life happenings
FOOD
PROMOTIONS
Eclectic Celebration Of Flavours
At Resorts World Sentosa
With Chef Richard Van
Oostenbrugge And Friends
Three critically acclaimed celebrity
chefs will showcase specially curated
menus inspired by their diverse
ethnic roots. The four-day event
will feature two six-course menus,
starting at table65, where
chef Richard van Oostenbrugge
will collaborate with countryman
Thomas van Santvoort on their
proudest Dutch signatures ($188++).
He will then collaborate with
chef Sam Leong at Forest for a menu
($138++) featuring both modern
Chinese and European dishes.
WHERE: table65, Level 1 Hotel
Michael, 8 Sentosa Gateway;
Forest, Level 1 Equarius Hotel,
16 Sentosa Gateway
MRT: HarbourFront
WHEN: Richard van Oostenbrugge x
Thomas van Santvoort: Wed - Sept 20,
6.30pm; Richard van Oostenbrugge x
Sam Leong: Sept 21, 6pm
PRICE: table65: $188++, Forest:
$138++; wine option available at
$168++ for six glasses (table65)
or $88++ for four glasses (Forest)
INFO: table65: 6577-7939,
e-mail table65@rwsentosa.com;
Forest: 6577-7788,
e-mail forest@rwsentosa.com
Ginger At Parkroyal On Beach
Road Presents Seafood In A Pan
Dishes at this buffet spread include
an Asian-flavoured seafood paella,
which features laksa, mee siam or
assam curry-flavoured paella base
on rotation. Other seafood
specialities include Claypot Crab
Kut Teh, grilled river prawns,
sugar prawns, Singapore chilli crab
and salted egg yolk crab.
WHERE: Level 1 Parkroyal on Beach
Road, 7500 Beach Road
MRT: Bugis WHEN: Till Sept 29, noon -
2.30pm (weekends), 6 - 10pm (Fri -
Sun) PRICE: Lunch: $58++ (adult),
$29++ (child); dinner: $68++ (adult),
$34++ (child) TEL: 6505-5710
INFO: E-mail dining.prsin@
parkroyalhotels.com
Flavours Of Thailand At
Ellenborough Market Cafe
Get a taste of Thai cuisine at
Ellenborough Market Cafe’s buffet,
with creations such as Tom Kah Gai
(coconut-based tom yum with
chicken), Yam Mamuang (Green
Mango Salad), Som Tum (Green
Papaya Salad) and Fried Thai Prawn
Cake. Other dishes include steamed
whole fish in Thai chilli sauce,
tamarind prawns, Thai red pork curry,
otak otak (grilled fish cake) and
kueh pie tee (crispy pastry shell filled
with cooked shredded turnip, prawn
and egg).
WHERE: Level 1 Swissotel Merchant
Court, 20 Merchant Road
MRT: Clarke Quay WHEN: Till Sept 29,
noon - 2.30pm (buffet lunch) &
6.30 - 10pm (buffet dinner)
PRICE: $52++ (lunch) & $68++
(dinner); half price for children
aged six to 12
TEL: 6239-1847/1848 INFO:E-mail
dining.merchantcourt@
swissotel.com
Kitchen Movements –
Green Is The New Meat
Kitchen Movements is a series of
events which aims to shine the
spotlight on home chefs by
bringing them together in friendly
competition. This third event in the
series is created for the public to
savour home-cooked food, bond as
a community and participate in giving
back to the local community via
a chosen charity. This year, the
charity is Daughters of Tomorrow,
which helps build livelihoods for
low-income women in Singapore.
WHERE: Cookyn Inc, 01-04 31 Ah Hood
Road MRT: Toa Payoh
WHEN: Oct 3, 7 - 10pm PRICE: $89
INFO: greenmeat.peatix.com
Lobby Lounge’s Classic
Afternoon Tea: Origins
Among the highlights of executive
pastry chef Ben Goh’s Classic
Afternoon Tea: Origins are Peach
Melba, cheesecake, chocolate
lemongrass pineapple cake and
buttercream cake. Other items
include Bacon Onion Quiche;
Wild Mushroom Cappuccino with
White Truffle Cream; and Smoked
Chicken, Chicken Floss and Coleslaw
on Charcoal Bun.
WHERE: Level 1 InterContinental
Singapore, 80 Middle Road
MRT: Bugis WHEN: Till Oct 31, 2 - 5pm
PRICE: $78++ for two ($108++
includes two flutes of Taittinger Brut
Champagne) TEL: 6825-1008
INFO: TheLobbyLounge.sg
Autumn In Hokkaido Afternoon
Tea At Crossroads Bar
The Hokkaido-themed Afternoon Tea
features item such as Somen Noodle
Salad with Hokkaido scallop and
ikura; Seared Wagyu Beef Sandwich;
Hokkaido Unagi Open Faced
Sandwich; Fried Shrimp Sandwich
with wasabi tartare; and Pulled
Salmon Teriyaki Sandwich with
avocado. There will also be pastries
such as Yuzu Citrus Scones paired
with clotted cream and preserves;
Hokkaido chiffon cupcakes;
Japanese-style Lavender Swiss Roll;
Hokkaido Strawberry Eclair; and
Green Tea Egg Tart consisting of the
traditional silky egg tart infused with
green tea.
WHERE: Level 1 Swissotel Merchant
Court, 20 Merchant Road
MRT: Clarke Quay WHEN: Till Nov 30,
3 - 5pm PRICE: $42++ a person
(minimum two people)
TEL: 6239-1847/1848 INFO: E-mail
dining.merchantcourt@
swissotel.com
Executive Five-Course
Set Lunch At Mitzo
This new executive set lunch is
curated by executive chef Nicky Ng,
starting with a choice of two steamed,
baked or fried dim sum. Pair the dim
sum with the second course – a
choice of Abalone Soup of the Day
or Fish Maw Soup of the Day. For the
third course, dig into a Cheese Baked
Seaweed Lobster or Steamed Black &
White Garlic Lobster. A non-seafood
choice of Truffle Beef with seasonal
greens is also available. Rounding off
the savoury dishes is a choice of
Seabass with Udon in Bonito Egg
Sauce or Seabass with poached rice
or steamed rice. End off with dessert
of the day, served with Petit Fours.
WHERE: Level 4 Grand Park Orchard,
270 Orchard Road MRT: Somerset
WHEN: Noon to 2.30pm, weekdays
except public holidays PRICE: $48++
a person (minimum of two to dine)
TEL: 6603-8855
INFO: E-mail rsvn@mitzo.sg
WINE/WHISKY EVENTS
A Rhone Valley Treasure:
Pierre Amadieu
Founded in 1929, Pierre Amadieu is
a winery in the village of Gigondas in
France’s southern Rhone wine region.
New Ubin presents two wine-pairing
sessions featuring the winery’s
fine wines and local dishes. Cotes
Du Rhone Roulepierre Blanc is paired
with Impossible Meat Fries and
washed down with Bak Kut Teh
Shooters, and Le Pas de l’Aigle will
go with Pork Knuckle done two ways –
braised and crispy German-style.
WHERE: New Ubin, 02-01B Chijmes,
30 Victoria Street MRT: Bras Basah/
City Hall WHEN: Sept 24, 7.30pm
WHERE: Ramada by Wyndham
Singapore at Zhongshan Park,
New Ubin Zhongshan Park,
16 Ah Hood Road MRT: Novena/
Toa Payoh WHEN: Sept 25, 7.30pm
PRICE: $98++ a person
TEL: 9740-6870 INFO: E-mail
makan@newubinseafood.com
Whisk(y) Away At Ginett
Restaurant & Wine Bar
Ginett’s new menu special is a
whisky-infused, 270-day aged
grain-fed Angus prime rib ($148++ for
a sharing plate) that comes with three
sauces and a choice of three sides.
Pair the dish with varied whisky
concoctions by Bacardi-Martini
brand ambassador Mike Cheong, who
puts a spin on the classic Matchstick
Sazerac and smooth Dewar’s Highball.
There will also be a one-night-only
four-course menu ($88++ a person)
designed around whiskies and
Cheong’s unique blends.
WHERE: Level 1, 200 Middle Road
MRT: Rochor/Bencoolen WHEN: Till
Sept 30, 6pm; four-course menu:
Sept 27, 7pm PRICE: $88++ - $148++
TEL: 6809-7989 INFO: www.
randblab.com/ginett-sg
OKTOBERFEST
Pan Pacific Singapore’s
Poolside Patio Says “Prost”
To Oktoberfest 2019
Celebrate with a barbecue offering
unlimited hot plate dishes such as
Schweinebraten (roast pork),
Schnitzel (crumbed chicken),
Assorted Wurstl with Sauerkraut (veal
bratwurst/nurnberger/bockwurst),
Raucherforelle (smoked trout with
almond butter) or classic barbecue
staples such as Char Grilled
Worcestershire and Mustard
Marinated Beef Flank Steak and
Tiger Prawns. There will also be
quintessential German beers
from Erdinger’s wide selection.
WHERE: Level 4 poolside patio,
Pan Pacific Singapore, Marina Square,
7 Raffles Boulevard WHEN: Sept 20 -
Oct 26 (Fri & Sat); beer selection
from Mon (daily)
PRICE: Food menu: $78 (adult),
$39 (child aged six to 12); Erdinger
beer selection: $12 a glass (Erdinger
Weissbier, Erdinger Dunkel),
$40 (combo package of up to four
glasses, 4 - 8pm), $80 (tower package
of up to eight glasses)
TEL: 6826-8240 INFO: E-mail
dining.ppsin@panpacific.com
SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
Ce La Vi Presents F1 Night Race
Week 2019
Nightlife destination Ce La Vi
presents a menu featuring redefined
contemporary Asian cuisine. The
specially curated lunch and dinner
set menu is by Ce La Vi’s chef de
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
FoodPicks
Wong Ah Yoke Senior Food Correspondent recommends
WAKE UP FOR WEEKEND BRUNCH
AT PS.CAFE ANN SIANG
The new brunch menu at PS.Cafe Ann Siang
Hill has some dishes worth getting out of
bed on weekends for. Available on Saturdays
and Sundays from 9.30am, the menu
features some Asian-influenced dishes
geared towards local palates.
A favourite is Wok Smoked Paella ($16,
left), which is like a cross between paella
and fried rice. It is delicious and comes with
prawns, calamari, clams and chorizo.
Fried Laksa Noodles ($14, above), with
prawns, quail egg and fish cake, are very
appealing too. I like that the noodles are
not too oily and are just spicy enough.
For Western fare, get Smoked Burrata
Cheese ($15), a wholesome dish that comes
with heirloom tomatoes, basil pesto,
rocket leaves and capers. And the Grilled
Cheese Toasties ($12) are pretty good too.
WHERE: PS.Cafe Ann Siang Hill, 45 Ann Siang
Road 02-02 MRT: Tanjong Pagar
WHEN: Weekends, 9.30am to 4pm
TEL: 9797-0648
DINING MAGIC OF LE PETIT CHEF PHOTOS: GRAND
With modern technology, an ordinary HYATT, PS.CAFE,
meal can be transformed into SINGAPORE
a magical experience. MARRIOTT TANG
That is how it feels with Le Petit PLAZA, KEISUKE X
Chef, which is experiential dining that KEMONO
combines food and theatre through
the use of digital projection.
In a darkened room called La Cave,
which is also the wine cellar for the
Grand Hyatt Singapore’s mezza9
restaurant, diners sit at a long table
with a leather-bound book in front
of them. They open the book and,
suddenly, a tiny figure pops up (right)
in it and a storybook comes to life
with realistic 3D projection mapping.
It is the story of Le Petit Chef, billed
as the world’s smallest chef as
the animated figure is only 58mm
tall.
He tells of how he travels round
the world – from his home in France same time. It is served during The children’s menu costs $88 and
to Arabia, India and China – and how the chef’s stop at the snow-capped there is also a vegan menu at $188.
his culinary adventures inspired him Himalayas. WHERE: La Cave, Grand Hyatt
to open a restaurant. The dessert, a caramelised saffron Singapore, 10 Scotts Road
At each stop, a course is served and cardamom rice pudding that is MRT: Orchard WHEN: Till Dec 30,
with dishes from that country like a creme brulee with rice, noon, 6 and 8pm (limited to 16 diners
prepared by the Grand Hyatt’s chefs. incorporates ingredients from the a session) PRICE: Marco Polo’s
There are six courses, which various countries. It is excellent. Journey ($188), Marco Polo’s
include dishes such as bouillabaisse A narrator helps to move the story Expedition ($288), Marco Polo’s
terrine, beetroot falafel, butter along and the hotel’s staff expertly Kid’s Adventure for children age four
chicken with naan and a steamed places the dishes in front of you to 12 ($88) and Marco Polo’s Vegan
lobster or barramundi. There is also at just the right moments. Voyage ($188) INFO: For reservations,
an interesting lemon ginger sorbet There are two menus available, go to lepetitchef.asia/grand-hyatt-
with chilli oil that is cold and hot at the priced at $188 and $288 a person. singapore
GOOD VALUE CELEBRATION Sha-Cha Sauce and Braised
MENU AT WAN HAO Premium Abalone With Kombu Sauce
Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant was (left); and Wok-Fried Rice With Crab
recently voted one of the top 52 Meat In Mini Pumpkin and Crab Claw
restaurants and bars under the With Pumpkin Sauce. Other dishes
Marriott International’s group of include Double-Boiled Fish Maw
hotels in the Asia-Pacific region. With Boletus Mushroom In Almond
To celebrate, it is featuring a Superior Soup and Assorted
special menu for just one week that Mushroom Dumpling.
offers very good value for money. Dessert is a refreshing Chilled
Priced at $108 a person, the Flower Tea Jelly With Rosella Sorbet
five-course menu features and Bird Nest Custard Puff.
ingredients such as fish maw WHERE: Wan Hao Chinese
and a whole dried abalone. Restaurant, Singapore Marriott
Many of the courses mash two Tang Plaza Hotel, 320 Orchard Road
items together, so it is almost like MRT: Orchard WHEN: Sept 30 to
having a 10-course meal. Examples Oct 6 PRICE: $108 a person
are Braised Beef Short Rib With TEL: 6831-4605
KEMONO OFFERS MORE wrapped around a piece of
WITH KEISUKE TIE-UP camembert cheese and grilled.
Kemono, an online delivery service The smoked ajitama egg ($2.90)
of Japanese-style roast chicken, is wonderful to eat on its own or with
is collaborating with the Keisuke noodles. It is smoked with cherry
group to expand its menu. Keisuke, blossom wood chips and the soft
which runs multiple ramen eateries orange yolk is heavenly.
as well as other Japanese food You can also get the spicy miso
concepts here, has come up with a saba pie ($9.90), which is a meal
selection of dishes that are available on its own. I find the idea of putting
exclusively through the Kemono miso in a pie a little odd though.
delivery service. WHERE: Order for delivery through
Items I like include a delicious www.kemono.com or call or
chicken teriyaki tsukune ($5.90), WhatsApp 8600-5997 (payment
which goes well with a salmon yaki through credit card)
onigiri ($4.90), where the rice is WHEN: 11am to midnight daily
cuisine Joeri Timmermans. For the Sands, 1 Bayfront Avenue TEL: 6508-2188 Singapore Grand Prix; and Mala Spicy
mains, diners can choose from dishes WHEN: Mon (Sept 16) - Sept 30; INFO: reservation-sg@celavi.com Chicken Wings ($18++), inspired by
such as Pan Seared Turbot dressed in noon - 3pm (lunch) & 6 - 11pm (dinner) the Chinese version. Sip on Casillero
kombu butter and served with green PRICE: Two-course lunch set: $78++ Sky Grande Prix 2019 del Diablo wines and watch the live
asparagus, and Black Market Rib Eye (additional $68++ for wine pairings); Mexican restaurant Chimi’s will be screening of the Singapore race final.
with a Shiso vinegar glaze and fresh three-course lunch set: $98++ hosting five nights of themed parties. WHERE: 01-01 Chimi’s, 1 Marina
green Kampot pepper. Or opt for a (additional $88 for wine pairings); The F1 themed menu on the fifth night Boulevard MRT: Raffles Place
vegetarian twist on the classic five-course dinner set: $198++ (Sept 22) will feature dishes inspired WHEN: Wed - Sept 22, 5 - 10.30pm
South-east Asian khao soi with (additional $128++ for wine pairings); by F1 races from around the world, ADMISSION: $51.19 – $787.64
broccoli and torched ginger flower. eight-course dinner set: $298++ such as Crispy Chilli Crab Baby Tel: 9187-3551 INFO: sgp2019.
WHERE: Level 57 Tower 3 Marina Bay (additional $168 for wine pairings) Chimichanga ($18++), inspired by the eventbrite.sg
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
happenings life D7
ArtsPicks
Melissa Sim Deputy Life Editor recommends
STEPHEN HOUGH – EGYPTIAN
PIANO CONCERTO
British pianist Stephen Hough
(left) recalls playing
Rachmaninov’s first piano
concerto to a “young and
enthusiastic” Singapore audience
when he was last here about two
years ago.
This time, he has chosen to
share Saint-Saens’ picturesque
Egyptian Piano Concerto with his
fans here.
“It is a piece I’ve played a lot and
I always enjoy it. It’s not as
well-known as many concertos,
but audiences and orchestras
always light up with pleasure as
they realise how attractive it is.”
In fact, this was the first piece he
played in Singapore, back in the
STREET OUT: EAST MEETS WEST late 1980s.
Street artists from South-east Asia and South America That was “before the Esplanade
add a splash of colour and grit to the otherwise pristine was built, of course – perhaps even
lobby of The Fullerton Hotel Singapore in this exhibition before the land it sits on was
by ARTitude Galeria. reclaimed from the sea”, he says in
Look out for Singapore artist Sufian Hamri’s cheeky an e-mail interview with The
piece titled World War M (above), which shows people Straits Times.
clambering to reach a helicopter that is already in He adds that the piece
mid-air. combines “great excitement with
Upon closer inspection, one can barely make out the charming French elegance”.
image of the cartoon character Hello Kitty in the “It’s got some of the most
helicopter, looking down at the heap of writhing bodies. intoxicating and unusual sounds
The 39-year-old artist, who goes by the moniker in the second movement, and in
TraseOne, says this piece provides social commentary the finale, the pianist’s hands fly all
on the mad rush for the limited-edition Hello Kitty toys over the keyboard. It’s really a riot.”
that were sold with McDonald’s Happy Meals in 2013. WHERE: Esplanade Concert Hall,
He adds: “When the stock ran out, the queues turned 1 Esplanade Drive
rowdy and multiple fights were allegedly reported, MRT: Esplanade
causing temporary chaos. That same year, the movie WHEN: Today, 7.30pm
World War Z was released and I adapted the movie ADMISSION: $15 to $88
poster for this commentary piece.” INFO: www.sso.org.sg
WHERE: The Fullerton Heritage Gallery, The Fullerton
Hotel Singapore, 1 Fullerton Square MRT: Raffles Place
WHEN: Till Sept 30 ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.artitudegaleria.com or e-mail
info@artitudegaleria.com

PROJECT TRANSIT: ECHOES OF WATERLOO PHOTOS: KELVIN

Soak in the sights and sounds of Waterloo Street in this CHNG, SIM
site-specific performance, where nine performers use text, CANETTY-
movement and multimedia to bring the precinct to life. CLARKE,
Dancer Veshnu Narayanasamy (left, in red), 49, who leads BEVERLY YUEN
this collaborative project, says the work acknowledges the
importance of the cultural heritage of Singapore, even as
the city embraces modernity.
“‘Who are we?’ and ‘Where are we heading to?’ are the two
fundamental questions that arise within me when I walk
through these picturesque neighbourhoods,” he adds.
WHERE: Stamford Arts Centre (site-specific), 155 Waterloo
Street, meet at Block C lift lobby
MRT: Bencoolen/Bras Basah
WHEN: Oct 24 and 25, 7.30pm
ADMISSION: Free (by invitation only) INFO: E-mail
projecttransit19@gmail.com to request an invitation

ARTS WHEN: Sept 22, 2 - 4pm

BOOKS
MiniCon @ Books Kinokuniya
By Mr Kiasu Creator
Johnny Lau & Team
Mr Kiasu creator Johnny Lau,
accompanied by his team of local
comic artists, will talk about his
publications including Mr Kiasu In
Singapore History and the Roti Kaya
and Guyu series. Lau will also present
AXP, a comics paper put together by
a group of budding student comic
artists from Club Comix AX
@ Singapore Polytechnic.
WHERE: Kinokuniya Singapore Main
Store, 04-20 Takashimaya Shopping
Centre, Ngee Ann City, 391 Orchard
Road MRT: Orchard WHEN: Sept 28,
3.30pm ADMISSION: Free
INFO: kinokuniya.com.sg
Book Launch: Awakening
By Natasha Oliver
Awakening is the first book in a young
adult fiction trilogy titled The Evolved
Ones. This urban fantasy series is set
in a world where human evolution has
resulted in some individuals
developing special abilities which
others would do anything to replicate.
The story follows a strong female
protagonist, Rox, who confronts
issues of identity and acceptance
and searches for belonging.
WHERE: Central Public Library
Programme Zone, National Library
Building, 100 Victoria Street
MRT: Bugis/City Hall/Bras Basah
ADMISSION: Free, pre-registration
required INFO: nlb.gov.sg
CONCERTS
Crosswinds
This is a collaborative concert
between SMU Symphonia and SMU
Chinese Orchestra. As a homage to
their musical roots, both clubs will
showcase their unique music as well
as explore commonalities by
performing pieces from each other’s
genres. They will also present tunes
that celebrate the harmony and
social integration among different
racial groups in Singapore. Part of the
SMU Arts Festival.
WHERE: SMU Hall@School Of Law,
55 Armenian Street MRT: Bras Basah/
City Hall WHEN: Sun, 7.30pm
ADMISSION: $15 (for OCBC Frank card
members), $20 (general admission)
INFO: artsfest.smu.edu.sg/
programmes/crosswinds
Those Were The Days
The inter-generational concert
features evergreen classics from the
1960s and 1970s, with live music
performed by The Philharmonic Youth
Winds Singapore. It will also feature
veteran local jazz vocalist Robert
Fernando and a pair of seniors who
are specially chosen from an audition.
Part of Silver Arts 2019.
WHERE: Concert Hall, School of the
Arts, 1 Zubir Said Drive MRT: Dhoby
Ghaut WHEN: Sept 28, 2.30 & 8pm
ADMISSION: $12 for standard
admission, $8 for senior citizens
(aged 60 & above)
INFO: www.sistic.com.sg
DANCE
Natya Darpana
(Mirror Of Gestures)
Stories come alive in this fun and
interactive dance performance by
Apsaras Arts, which was founded in
1977 by Mr S. Sathyalingam and
Mrs Neila Sathyalingam, alumni of
India’s Kalakshetra Foundation.
WHERE: National Library Building,
The Plaza, 100 Victoria Street
MRT: Bras Basah WHEN: Sun, 3 - 4pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: silverarts.nac.gov.sg
EXHIBITIONS (MUSEUM)
Wu Guanzhong: Expressions Of
Pen & Palette
Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010) is one of
the most significant artists of
20th-century China. His distinctive
style fuses Western and Chinese art
traditions and set a new direction for
modern Chinese art.
WHERE: Wu Guanzhong Gallery,
City Hall Wing, Level 4 National Gallery
Singapore, 1 St Andrew’s Road
MRT: City Hall WHEN: Till Sept 29,
10am - 7pm daily (till 9pm on Fridays)
ADMISSION: Free for Singapore
citizens & permanent residents;
$20 for others
INFO: www.nationalgallery.sg;
www.sistic.com.sg
EXHIBITIONS (GALLERIES)
Ayumi Endo Exhibition 2019:
We Have A Dream
Ayumi Endo, a painter and activist, will
hold her first solo exhibition in
Singapore at Guoco Tower. The show
will be held in three areas such as
L1 Urban Park and B2 Atrium.
WHERE: Guoco Tower, 1 Wallich Street
MRT: Tanjong Pagar
WHEN: Mon till Sept 22, 11am - 7pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.ayumiendo.com
Beauty & Youth (B-side)
This exhibition featuring works by
seven artists is part of the
13th Philippines Art Trek and
commemorates the 50th anniversary
of Filipino-Singapore diplomatic
relations. It is organised by
Momentous Arts and the
Embassy of The Philippines.
WHERE: 03-09 Tanglin Mall,
163 Tanglin Road MRT: Orchard
WHEN: Tue till Sept 30, 11am - 7.30pm
(weekdays), 11am - 6pm (weekends)
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.momentousarts.com
THEATRE
Hothat Ek Monche
(Suddenly On Stage)
Tagore Society presents a Bengali
play directed by Koushik Datta, which
tells the story of an anti-social gang.
They are not inborn criminals but are
artists who, due to family and
financial crisis, are forced to opt for a
darker world. One night, when taking
shelter in an empty theatre hall, they
find Tagore’s poem Debotar Grash
and enact it. They undergo a
transformation and decide to return
to their earlier, better life. Will it be too
late?
WHERE: Civil Service Club Auditorium,
60 Tessensohn Road
MRT: Farrer Park WHEN: Sun, 6pm
ADMISSION: $15
INFO: www.showtickets.asia
COMEDY
Melbourne International
Comedy Festival Roadshow
2019 (M18)
The event is back with a new crew of
comedians specially selected to bring
the fun of Australia’s largest comedy
festival to Singapore. This year’s
line-up includes Fakkah Fuzz,
a rising star of the Singapore scene;
Becky Lucas, one of the most exciting
voices in the Australian comedy
scene; the award-winning and
unpredictable Aaron Chen;
teacher-turned-comic, musician and
actor Ben Knight; and one of
Melbourne’s favourite British guests,
an English Comedian of the Year
winner Brennan Reece.
WHERE: KC Arts Centre – Home of
Singapore Repertory Theatre,
20 Merbau Road
MRT: Fort Canning/Clarke Quay
WHEN: Sept 25 - 28 (Wed - Fri: 8pm,
Sat: 6 & 9pm)
ADMISSION: $50 (Sept 25); $48, $58,
$68 (Sept 26 - 28)
TEL: 6348-5555
INFO: www.sistic.com.sg
D8 life happenings
| THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |

Boon Chan Assistant Life Editor and John Lui Film Correspondent recommend
Film&TVPicks

BY THE GRACE OF GOD (NC16)

137 minutes

This dramatisation of real events taking place in France

now began with director Francois Ozon’s desire to
make a film about men who have been damaged and
are not afraid to show it. The three men at the centre of
this story are damaged and the cause of it is that as
children, they were sexually assaulted by a priest.
This work is a departure for the respected French
film-maker, best known for work featuring strong
women characters (8 Women, 2002; In The House,
2012). The men in the story band together to bring the
priest to justice, but face a wall of personal and legal
obstacles.
WHERE: Alliance Francaise de Singapour, 1 Sarkies Road
MRT: Newton WHEN: Tuesday, 8pm (with
post-screening Skype talk with a member of the
organisation seeking justice for victims of paedophile
priests in France) ADMISSION: $11 (member price is $9)
INFO: afsingapour.extranet-aec.com/
events/detail/2303

John Lui

Melvil Poupaud
and Aurelia Petit
star in By The
Grace Of God.
PHOTOS: ENCORE
FILMS, FILMGARDE
CINEPLEXES,
NETFLIX, SINGAPORE
FILM SOCIETY

FAGARA (PG) in Taiwan.

118 minutes/
Travel agent Acacia (Sammi Cheng,
left) is soured on love as in her line of
work, she sees men heading to
foreign lands to cheat on their wives.
With the death of her estranged
father Ha Leung (Kenny Bee), she
inherits his hot pot restaurant.
She wants to shut it down for good,
partly to spite the man who
abandoned his family in Hong Kong to
seek his fortune – and a new family –
Then two strange women show up
at his funeral – Cherry (Li Xiaofeng)
from China and Branch (Megan Lai)
from Taiwan – both claiming to be her
half-sisters.
Heiward Mak, who co-wrote the
well-received romance Love In A Puff
(2010), lets the relationships among
the newly acquainted half-sisters
breathe and find their natural
rhythms.
John Lui

ROOKIE HISTORIAN GOO to life by an able cast. Shin Se-kyung

HAE-RYUNG
Netflix/
At a time when women are not
expected to do anything much, Goo
Hae-ryung and three other noble
ladies break the mould by becoming
female historians of the royal court.
Not only do they have to deal with
chauvinistic male colleagues and
superiors, they also have to endure
hazing by the other court ladies.
The engaging premise is brought
(right) imbues the role of the
titular historian with dignity, WEATHERING WITH YOU (PG) But there is a price to pay for
intelligence and a streak of 112 minutes/ wielding magic.
independent spirit. The animation is lovely, depicting
And Astro boy band member Cha Hodaka (voiced by Kotaro Daigo), 16, the familiar Japanese city as grey
Eun-woo – known for the runs away to Tokyo and ends up and wet or bathed in the glow of
contemporary talking-point series My working at a small-time publisher. longed-for sunshine and the film
ID Is Gangnam Beauty (2018) – proves Given the unending spate of rain, does not ignore the darker side of
he is equally suited for period shows he is tasked with finding a “sunshine life in a big city as Hina almost ends
as the sheltered but good-hearted girl”. He meets Hina (voiced by Nana up working as a hostess and Hodaka
Prince Yi Rim. Mori), a teenager who can control has to sleep in the streets at one
the weather, and they come up with point.
Boon Chan a money-making scheme by
offering sunny skies. Boon Chan

FILMS explores the ways in which Singapore

Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (M18)
Experience a never-before-seen and
newly restored cut of director Francis
Ford Coppola’s spectacular cinematic
masterpiece 40 years after its
original release. Coppola’s visually
dazzling work is a surreal,
hallucinatory, epic tragedy about the
horror of the Vietnam War.
WHERE: The Projector, Level 5 Golden
Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road
MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Wed,
Sept 21 & Oct 4, 7.30pm
ADMISSION: $13.50 (standard); $9.50
- $11.50 (concession)
INFO: theprojector.sg
The King And I (2018, PG)
The critically acclaimed Lincoln
Centre Theater’s production of
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King
And I comes to cinemas in this event
recorded live from London’s iconic
Palladium. Reprising her Tony
Award-winning role, Kelli O’Hara takes
to the stage as Anna alongside Tony
and Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe,
who plays the King.
WHERE: The Projector, Level 5 Golden
Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road
MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Sept 28,
6.30pm ADMISSION: $25 (standard),
$23 (concession)
INFO: theprojector.sg
Lulu The Movie (2016, PG)
Lulu The Movie is a comedy about a
Chinese woman named Lulu who
comes to Singapore to meet her lover,
but after being disappointed by what
he turns out to be, decides to make it
on her own and succeeds in becoming
an international fashion icon and
mogul.
WHERE: Fort Canning Green at Fort
Canning Park MRT: Fort Canning
WHEN: Sept 28, 7pm ADMISSION: Free,
with free-flow popcorn, candy floss &
churros; Thai fusion snacks at the
Sawadeecup Food Truck
INFO: str.sg/J4VV
Reframe: Singaporeana!
Taking its name from a colonial-era
1950s Straits Times column that
observed the unique quirks of the
Lion City, this film programme
has been represented and
fictionalised by international
film-makers. The programme line-up
includes a one-day symposium and
five films: Saint Jack (1979), The Virgin
Soldiers (1969), Wit’s End (1971), So
Darling, So Deadly (1966) and Passion
Flower (1986). There will also be a talk
and presentation (The Making Of
Saint Jack) to mark the 40th
anniversary of Saint Jack. Film
historian, lecturer and writer Ben
Slater guest curates.
WHERE: Oldham Theatre, 1 Canning
Rise MRT: City Hall/Bras Basah/Fort
Canning WHEN: Symposium: Sept 27,
9am - 5pm; Saint Jack: Sept 21 & 28,
8pm; The Virgin Soldiers: Sept 27,
8pm; Wit’s End: Sept 22, 2pm; So
Darling, So Deadly: Sept 22, 5pm;
Passion Flower: Sept 29, 5pm; The
Making Of Saint Jack: Sept 21, 1.30pm
ADMISSION: Symposium: $24
(standard), $16 (concession);
individual films from $10 (concessions
& bundle packages available); The
Making Of Saint Jack is free
INFO: www.asianfilmarchive.org/
events/reframe-singaporeana
Dream Team
This documentary charts how the
Dream Team was assembled to finally
win the Malaysia Cup in 1994 and
bring glory to Singapore football.
WHERE: The Showcase, Level 2
Tampines Regional Library, Our
Tampines Hub, 1 Tampines Walk
MRT: Tampines WHEN: Tomorrow,
noon, 1 & 2pm ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.nlb.gov.sg/golibrary
KIDS
Record-breaking Attempt By
Singapore Science Festival
Join in this record-breaking attempt
to create Singapore’s Largest Slime
Installation, a 3m-long structure that
spells out This Is Science. Along the
way, learn how slime can be used to
teach science principles like viscosity,
polymers and chemical reactions.
Part of Singapore Science Festival.
WHERE: Fusionopolis One,
1 Fusionopolis Place MRT: one-north
WHEN: Today, 11am - 4pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: bit.ly/ssf2019sg
ECDA Early Childhood
Conference Exhibition 2019
The theme of this exhibition is
Beyond The Classroom: Take
Learning Outdoors. Pick up tips to
stimulate and enrich your child’s
brain and holistic development. There
will also be a range of interactive
activities and performances.
WHERE: Halls 403 & 404, Level 4
Suntec Singapore Convention &
Exhibition Centre, 1 Raffles Boulevard
MRT: Esplande/Promenade
WHEN: Today & tomorrow, 9am -
5.30pm ADMISSION: Free;
registration required for some
performances
INFO: www.eccexhibition2019.sg
English Puppet Show Presented
By Children Puppet Castle
Enjoy a performance by Children
Puppet Castle, featuring veteran
puppeteer Christopher Chow Pak
Hong. This performance features two
stories: The Tiger And The Shepherd
and The Legend Of Bukit Merah (Red
Hill).
WHERE: Activity Zone, Stage Area
(Basement 1), Jurong Regional
Library, 21 Jurong East Central 1
MRT: Jurong East
WHEN: Sun, 2 - 3pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.nlb.gov.sg/golibrary
Where Is Peter Rabbit?
Immerse in the magical world of
Beatrix Potter as one’s favourite
stories and characters are brought to
life in this theatrical spectacle, with
handcrafted puppets, original songs
and a sprinkle of magic. A total of 14
songs will be performed live.
WHERE: Victoria Theatre, 9 Empress
Place MRT: City Hall/Raffles Place
WHEN: Oct 18, 5pm; Oct 19 & 20, 11am,
2 & 4.30pm ADMISSION: $42 - $62
TEL: 6348-5555
INFO: www.sistic.com.sg
NATURE
Jurong Bird Park Celebrates
10 Years Of Bird Conservation
Take a walk around Jurong Bird Park
and enjoy 14 areas for free. Learn
about Singapore’s own Great Hornbill
at Hornbills And Toucans or go over to
Birds Of Prey to spot one of the
world’s rarest raptors – the Philippine
Eagle.
WHERE: Jurong Bird Park, 2 Jurong
Hill MRT: Boon Lay WHEN: Till Sun,
8.30am - 6pm (last entry at 5.30pm)
ADMISSION: Free for Singaporeans,
permanent residents & FIN (foreign
identification number) holders;
separate charges apply for gated
aviaries & special activities
INFO: www.wrs.com.sg/en/
jurong-bird-park
Growing Root Vegetables In The
Tropics (A Gardening Workshop)
This workshop will focus on the major
reasons root vegetables fail in
people’s gardens, as well as steps one
can take for success.
WHERE: Centre for Education &
Outreach (House 1F), Singapore
Botanic Gardens, 1 Cluny Road
MRT: Botanic Gardens
WHEN: Oct 12, 10am - 1pm
ADMISSION: $50
INFO: To register, go to
www.nparks.gov.sg
TOURS
Rainforest Tour
Discover the enchantment of the
tropical rainforest with volunteer
guides on this tour.
WHERE: Visitor Services Desk at
Nassim Gate, Singapore Botanic
Gardens, 1 Cluny Road
MRT: Botanic Gardens
WHEN: Tomorrow, 9am - 4pm (tour is
conducted hourly; Mandarin tours are
available for the 10am & 4pm slots)
ADMISSION: Free, register 15 minutes
before the tour at the Visitor Centre
INFO: To register, go to
www.nparks.gov.sg
Kampung Tour
Experience Pulau Ubin’s natural and
cultural heritage. The tour will take
visitors to the spice trees around
Jelutong campsite, Butterfly Hill,
Pekan Quarry, Sensory Trail Ponds,
Kampong House, Old Bin Kiang School
site and Toa Pek Kong Temple. It will
end at the Wayang Stage. Hear about
the use of spices in cooking and the
history of the different sites.
WHERE: Assembly Area (Meeting
Point 1), Pulau Ubin MRT: Tanah Merah
WHEN: Oct 19, 9.30 - 11.30am
ADMISSION: $60 a group, maximum of
15 people INFO: To register, go to
www.nparks.gov.sg
OTHERS
Pay With Plastic
At Tiong Bahru Market
Enjoy hawker food at a discount. This
event by WWF-Singapore aims to
change how people use plastics.
Exchange used plastic bottles for
food vouchers worth 50 cents each.
Get an additional $1 food voucher if
you bring a reusable container.
WHERE: Tiong Bahru Market, 30 Seng
Poh Road MRT: Tiong Bahru
WHEN: Sun, 8am - 6pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: str.sg/J4Vy or
yourplasticdiet.org
LAST CALL
Silvery Moonlight,
Swaying Shadows
NUS Chinese Dance presents
classical Chinese and ethnic dance
performances.
WHERE: Esplanade Outdoor Theatre,
1 Esplanade Drive MRT: Esplanade/
City Hall WHEN: Today, 7, 8.15 &
9.30pm ADMISSION: Free
INFO: esplanade.com
Asian International Comedy
Festival: Nishant Tanwar &
Neville Shah Sorabh Pant
Kicking off this year’s festival are
India’s sharpest minds in comedy –
Nishant Tanwar and Neville Shah.
India’s zany comic Sorabh Pant will
also perform tomorrow.
WHERE: The Nexus Auditorium,
05-07 Cuppage Plaza, 5 Koek Road
MRT: Somerset WHEN: Today &
tomorrow, 8pm ADMISSION: $45 - $65
TEL: 6348-5555
INFO: www.sistic.com.sg
Dancing With The Universe
On its 18th anniversary, Attitude
Performing Arts Studio tells the
eternal cosmological story of rhythm
and motion.
WHERE: Drama Centre Theatre,
National Library, 100 Victoria Street
MRT: City Hall/Bugis
WHEN: Tomorrow, 2 & 7pm
ADMISSION: $42 - $56, tickets
from apactix.com
INFO: attitudearts.com
The Quartet Rocks The Moon
Singapore radio group Yu Jian Huang
Chong, consisting of Chen Biyu,
Marcus Chin, Mark Lee and Dennis
Chew, present a lesser-known story
about the moon. Join them for a
comical Mid-Autumn night featuring
folk, dialect and xinyao songs, and
Qiong Yao movie themes.
WHERE: Esplanade Outdoor Theatre,
1 Esplanade Drive MRT: Esplanade/
City Hall WHEN: Sun, 7 & 8.15pm
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.esplanade.com
The 1975 – Live In Singapore
The Manchester indie/alternative
outfit, made up of lead vocalist and
rhythm guitarist Matthew Matty
Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann,
bassist Ross MacDonald and
drummer George Daniel, have been
making huge waves since their
debut concert here in 2014.
Their most recent album, 2018’s
A Brief Inquiry Into Online
Relationships, landed them their third
British No. 1 album, which also
garnered massive critical acclaim.
WHERE: The Star Theatre, The Star
Performing Arts Centre, 04-01 Star
Vista, 1 Vista Exchange Green
MRT: Buona Vista WHEN: Mon,
8pm ADMISSION: $88 - $148,
tickets from apactix.com
INFO: facebook.com/nowliveasia
• The listings on these Happenings
pages are free. Write to Life
Happenings, Life, The Straits Times,
1000 Toa Payoh North, Singapore
318994 or e-mail
sthappen@sph.com.sg
at least two weeks ahead. Include the
name of the event, organiser, venue,
date and time, ticket prices and
nearest MRT station, as well as your
name, address and contact number.
We reserve the right to edit
or reject items. Go to
www.straitstimes.com (click on
Lifestyle) for more listings.
| FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES |
Comics
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10.50 Above Average Presents AM
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AM
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WARNER TV (HD) 1.00 Intern Doctor TIDES TODAY: Singapore: 5am (0.5m), 11.35am (2.6m),
(CHANNEL 306) 2.00 100% Wife 5.03pm (1.1m), 11.01pm (2.8m). Desaru: 4.13am (0.8m), 11.16am
4.10 Princess Silver (2.4m), 4.46pm (1.4m), 10.22pm (2.3m). Port Dickson: 12.55am
AM 5.00 All Is Well (0.9m), 6.33am (2.6m), 1.04pm (0.3m), 6.43pm (2.6m).
6.00 Arrow 6 6.00 Intern Doctor Mersing: 3.32am (0.8m), 10.28am (2.7m), 4.43pm (1.4m),
6.50 Supergirl 4 7.00 100% Wife 9.57pm (2.2m).
7.35 The Big Bang Theory 8 9.00 2019 Sing! China
8.25 DC‘s Legends Of Tomorrow 3 11.00 Blowing In The Wind TIDES TOMORROW: Singapore: 5.31am (0.5m), 11.52am
(2.7m), 5.31pm (1m), 11.31pm (2.9m). Desaru: 4.46am (0.8m),
11.35am (2.4m), 5.11pm (1.3m), 11pm (2.4m). Port Dickson:
1.17am (0.7m), 7am (2.8m), 1.36pm (0.3m), 7.08pm (2.6m).
Mersing: 4.14am (0.8m), 10.58am (2.7m), 5.06pm (1.3m),
10.40pm (2.4m).
For updates and more details, call Meteorological Service
Singapore, NEA, on 6542-7788 or go to www.nea.gov.sg
D10 life trending
Will Apple TV+ be
a threat to Netflix?
LOS ANGELES • Mr Tim Cook went
into full salesman mode at Apple’s
promotional event on Tuesday as
he revealed the price of a monthly
subscription for its streaming ser-
vice, Apple TV+.
“All these incredible shows for
the price of a movie rental,” Apple’s
chief executive said. “This is crazy.”
The cost is US$5 (S$6.90) a
month. Apple TV+ is scheduled to
debut as a competitor to Netflix and
Amazon on Nov 1.
Disney announced US$7 as the
monthly price for Disney+, which
has a Nov 12 start date.
An Amazon Prime subscription,
which includes streaming, is US$10
a month, while Hulu goes for US$6 a
month with advertisements and
US$12 without.
WarnerMedia’s streaming ser-
vice, HBO Max, is scheduled to go
live next year at no lower than
US$15 a month, and Netflix’s stan-
dard plan costs US$13 a month.
Why is Apple the cheapest of the
bunch? One reason is that it will
offer much less content than its ri-
vals.
While Netflix has a vast library of
material from other studios and
seems to unveil a new show every
other day, Apple TV+ will offer
roughly 12 shows in its first wave of
programming over the next year.
Disney+ will boast original movies,
Star Wars films, blockbusters from
Marvel Entertainment and Pixar, as
well as The Simpsons and other prop-
erties it picked up in its purchase of
much of the 21st Century Fox enter-
Jacqueline Wong’s
show to air after all
HONG KONG • Jacqueline Wong
(left) and Kenneth Ma have not rec-
onciled since she was caught kiss-
ing singer Andy Hui in a taxi in
April. But, on the career front, both
have reasons to be happy over how
they have inadvertently benefited
from the current tense situation in
Hong Kong.
Wong’s shows were put in cold
storage by her employer TVB after
her scandal broke.
But with Hong Kong now facing
demonstrations, the broadcaster
has been careful not to screen
shows that depict the police or the
triads which were linked to assaults
on pro-democracy supporters in
Yuen Long MTR station in July.
Still, the show must go on and
TVB reportedly has had to reshuffle
its programming, including tapping
shows that feature Wong.
Now comes news that her show
Finding Her Voice is slated for
prime-time airing from Oct 7.
Asked if the actress would return
from the United States – where she
fled to after the scandal – to pro-
Published and printed by Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Co. Regn. No. 198402868E.
On social media
tainment empire.
HBO Max will draw on its vast
Warner film archive, which in-
cludes Wonder Woman and the
Harry Potter series, not to mention
decades of HBO programming and
Friends.
Apple TV+ aims to lure sub-
scribers with a simple pitch: by
claiming that its shows will be of
higher quality than what they will
find elsewhere. But that pitch was
easier to make in the days before
streaming.
Now, there are more shows – and
a greater variety – than ever before.
Apple plans to roll out new shows
each month, including a thriller
from director M.Night Shyamalan
and a series starring Octavia
Spencer.
In the not too distant future, it
will have a slate big enough to rival
networks that have been in the busi-
ness for decades.
The first hurdle will be the reac-
tion of critics and social media
users. Then comes awards season.
Apple’s first shows will be eligible
for the 2020 Golden Globes; nomi-
nees will be announced on Dec 9.
If Apple is able to storm the stage
at the Beverly Hilton on Jan 5, any
remaining Hollywood sceptics will
have no choice but to consider the
tech upstart as a major player in en-
tertainment.
The Apple Arcade subscription
service will be launched on Sept 19
in more than 100 markets, includ-
ing Singapore, for $6.98 a month.
NYTIMES
mote the show, its producer told
Oriental Daily News that TVB did
not tell him that she could not do so.
But he could not contact her and
did not get a reply from Wong after
he sent her a text message to in-
form her that Finding Her Voice
had received a rollout clearance.
Ma, meanwhile, has been tapped
to star in a sequel to hit TVB drama
Who Wants A Baby?.
The original show featured Ali
Lee and Lai Lok Yi in the main roles.
But after Lee was dropped from
the sequel, supposedly over her
pro-democracy views, TVB appar-
ently decided that it did not make
sense for Lai to be paired up with
Eliza Sam, Lee’s replacement.
Hence, Lai was dropped too and
Ma was roped in.
Lai said he understood the new
casting decisions, saying: “If one of
us is missing in the sequel, then it
wouldn’t be the same. So using a
new cast is the right thing to do.”
Ma would only say diplomatically
that if his employer gives him new
work, it is his duty to do it.
Get inside Bill Gates’ head
NEW YORK • There are some things
about Mr Bill Gates that are unre-
markable. His favourite food: ham-
burgers. His favourite animal: dog.
But a few minutes into a new tele-
vision series on him reveals a fasci-
nating insight.
The Microsoft co-founder and phi-
lanthropist is asked what his worst
fear is. It is not family tragedy or per-
sonal pain.
“I don’t want my brain to stop
working,” he said.
That formidable grey matter is
the subject of Inside Bill’s Brain: De-
coding Bill Gates, a three-part docu-
mentary on Netflix from Academy
Award-winning director Davis
Guggenheim. It starts on Sept 20.
A portrait emerges of a visionary
who gnaws on his eyeglasses’ arms,
downs Cokes and is relentlessly op-
timistic that technology can solve
social ills.
Benjamin Kheng says sorry
for controversial photo
Sam Willows singer Benjamin
Kheng (right) had posed in a maga-
zine photo shoot like he was aiming
a gun at himself.
This got some irate netizens fir-
ing back at him over his perceived
indifference towards suicide.
On Wednesday, Kheng, 29, apolo-
gised on Facebook, revealing that a
rock star-themed photo shoot with
Men’s Folio magazine required him
to portray Nirvana singer Kurt
Cobain.
Kheng was given “a picture refer-
ence to follow – Kurt smoking a
cigarette in a gun posture”.
While he had some reservations,
he went ahead, adding “I wrongly
recalled that he died of natural
cause”.
But Kheng said that even if he
A member of Audit Bureau of Circulations Singapore. Customer Service (Circulation): 6388-3838, circs@sph.com.sg, Fax 6746-1925.
● | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 |
FOREST WEDDING CEREMONY:
Soul Mate director Derek Tsang,
39, is known to ask his team to
source for unique locations to
shoot his movies.
So it is no surprise then that
the son of Hong Kong actor Eric
Tsang did not opt for
tried-and-tested sites when it
came to his big day.
Earlier this month, he married
actress Venus Wong, 27, in Japan
and – true to his nature – he
picked a forest for the ceremony,
complete with entertainment
from a jazz band and a fireworks
display.
Derek Tsang has reportedly
long fended off any attempt to
find and marry a soul mate.
So when he had a change of
heart, he kept the wedding a
secret, with his actress-singer
sister, Bowie Tsang, telling
journalists that it was best that
they got him to address the
rumour himself.
When he finally posted about
his marriage early this week, the
fun he had at the ceremony
prompted him to write: “Just get
hitched.”
PHOTO: S.TUNGPHOTO/INSTAGRAM
Mr Bill Gates (far
left) with
film-maker Davis
Guggenheim
in a scene from
documentary
Inside Bill’s
Brain: Decoding
Bill Gates. PHOTO:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
He is also someone who reads to her husband.
manically – he will scrutinise the Their three children are shown
Minnesota state Budget for fun. but were not interviewed.
While the series is largely sym- Each episode in the series intro-
pathetic towards its subject, duces three huge global issues the
Guggenheim nevertheless presses Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Mr Gates on everything, from an has tackled recently – safe sanita-
anti-trust case against Microsoft in tion technology, polio eradication
the 1990s to his relationship with and nuclear power – and then
his mother. switches back in time to see how
The series gets a dash of action by Mr Gates solved other complex is-
having Guggenheim interview Mr sues in his life as a younger man.
Gates during hikes in rugged places. After spending so much time with
The two men are often filmed Mr Gates, Guggenheim said the pop-
from behind. ular perception of him as a cold, dis-
“I feel like people are more open passionate thinker is not true.
when there’s no camera in their “The truth is, he is very passion-
face. And I also feel like people lis- ate and emotional. But he puts
ten better,” said Guggenheim. those emotions to the side,” he
For greater insight, he inter- noted.
viewed Mr Gates’ sisters, tycoon “If you’re solely led by your heart,
Warren Buffett and Mr Gates’ wife, you may not see the great solution
Melinda, who comes across as standing in front of you and I think
smart, funny and an occasional foil that’s what Bill’s superpower is.” AP
was mistaken, blame is on me for this mistake, and
that was not an not on Men’s Folio, which at numer-
excuse since ous junctures allowed me the oppor-
“this pose tunity to review the issue.
would still be “Suicide is not a commodity to be
considered of- glamorised and should never be
fensive”. painted in a trivial and tokenistic
Cobain shot light. My apologies to Samaritans of
himself in 1994 Singapore, of which I’ve been a
at age 27. spokesman for (in the past), and
Kheng, who is anyone else going through depres-
also an actor, said he was totally sion of any degree.”
responsible for the lapse in judg- His apology has drawn praise
ment since he was guest editor of from netizens who applaud his
the magazine issue and had the stand to take responsibility for his
“authority and opportunity” before acts.
the publishing date to change Besides Cobain, Kheng, who was
course. one of the artists featured in this
“Some of you have rightfully year’s National Day Parade theme
pointed out the offensiveness of song Our Singapore, also posed as
this image. I’m deeply sorry. The Elvis Presley and David Bowie.