My fellow Singaporeans, I am standing here at the Symphony Lake in the Botanic Gardens. This is a favourite spot for many of us. It is not quite as busy now because of the heightened alert, but it is still very popular. Covid-19 Our battle against Covid-19 has seen many ups and downs. Covid-19 is […]

SINGAPORE – Singaporeans can look forward to a careful reopening of the economy, having worked together, looked out for others and relied on one another throughout the crisis, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. But they cannot take the fact that their social cohesion has held for granted, he stressed in his National Day message […]

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia will give greater leeway for travel, dining out and engagement in outdoor sports to those who have completed Covid-19 vaccination in places that have moved out of the most serious phase of a nationwide lockdown. Malaysian residents returning to the country will also be allowed to undergo quarantine at home. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced […]

SINGAPORE – Transport group SMRT will roll out its first fleet of electric taxis in August, a move that spearheads its ambition to have a fully electric fleet by 2026. The Temasek-owned group, which operates the third largest cab fleet in Singapore with around 1,780 vehicles, after market leader ComfortDelGro and runner-up Trans-Cab, has placed […]

University student Grace Lim has been living in Canberra for the past five years, and still holds on tightly to her identity as a Singaporean. Due to restrictions on international travel, the 19-year-old international security undergraduate will celebrate National Day in the Australian capital with about 50 of her Singaporean and non-Singaporean friends on Aug […]

BANGKOK (REUTERS) – Police in Thailand said on Sunday (Aug 8) a 27-year-old Thai man had been charged with the murder a Swiss woman who was found dead earlier this week on the resort island of Phuket. “Police have charged the offender for murder and robbery causing death,” Krisana Pattanacharoen, a deputy police spokesman said […]

My eldest child, R, recently turned 21. There was no candle on the cake nor many guests. Like many other events affected by the Covid-19 situation, her birthday celebration was adapted to align with current safe management measures. R said she was happy that she could at least celebrate her birthday with both sets of […]

SINGAPORE – The possible exposure feature on the TraceTogether application has been removed, as the Ministry of Health (MOH) has created new categories of health alerts to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. With the evolving coronavirus situation, the ministry has designed these new categories that make more sophisticated use of TraceTogether, SafeEntry and other relevant data, said […]

MANILA (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – The recent increase in coronavirus infections in the Philippines is resulting in more children being admitted to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), which is treating six paediatric patients for Covid-19, three of them in critical condition, according to its spokesman Jonas del Rosario. Speaking at a briefing on […]

SINGAPORE – Local clinical trials will soon commence for two Covid-19 vaccines, developed by a United States-based company to target four variants of concern, including the Delta. The early-stage clinical trial, which has just received approval from the Health Sciences Authority, will evaluate the vaccines’ safety and immune response against the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta […]