SINGAPORE – The move to get people in Singapore vaccinated for Covid-19 has received reassurances from OCBC Bank and insurance company Great Eastern, which separately announced programmes to support those receiving the shots. Great Eastern announced a $1 million vaccine fund for its customers last Friday (Jan 15). Those who get the shots will receive […]
SINGAPORE – Construction contracts for the built environment sector are expected to grow to between $23 billion and $28 billion this year, as the sector recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on Monday (Jan 18). This is up from the $21.3 billion worth of projects estimated to […]
PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Malaysian parents and teachers have urged authorities to avoid flip-flopping on their decisions regarding the reopening of schools as the country enters the second week of a state of emergency declared by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to stop the spread of Covid-19. The Education Ministry had asked schools […]
One name stood out as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced a series of personnel changes in recent months in preparation for next year’s all-important party congress. Dr Li Shulei, 57, a member of President Xi Jinping’s inner circle, was last month appointed executive vice-president of the Central Party School, an indication that the CCP […]
SINGAPORE – Some residents are battling water seepage issues in their homes after heavy rain in recent weeks, with many turning to town councils and contractors for help. MP for Tampines GRC Baey Yam Keng told The Straits Times that, in the last two weeks, he has received 20 to 30 rain-related water seepage complaints […]
SINGAPORE – As the pandemic raged, Singapore’s six autonomous universities offered around 1,000 extra places last year, taking in 17,500 Singaporeans. This pulled up the cohort participation rate to 42 per cent – instead of the 40 per cent that had been planned. Some of the additional places were taken up by Singaporeans who had initially […]
SINGAPORE – When Aw Teck Boon, a 43-year-old living in a one-room Housing Board flat in the Jalan Besar area, died in 1999, some believed it would mark the decline of secret societies in Singapore. Aw, a fiery key leader of the Sio Kun Tong gang, was found stabbed to death in Geylang by rivals. Please […]
KABUL, Afghanistan — In Kabul’s uncertain present, fear and dread intertwine in a vise. Fear has become a way of life. “When you’re in the car you feel fear, when you are walking you feel fear, and when you are in the shop you feel fear,” said Shamsullah Amini, a 22-year-old shopkeeper, while watching over […]
One of the world’s largest vaccination campaigns was launched yesterday in India, with a sanitation worker, doctors and nurses receiving their shots in what the government declared as the beginning of the road to victory against Covid-19. In a procedure broadcast live throughout the nation, sanitation worker Manish Kumar, 34, took the honour of being […]
KABUL (AFP) – Gunmen shot dead two Afghan women judges working for the Supreme Court during an early morning ambush in the country’s capital on Sunday (Jan 17), officials said, as a wave of assassinations continues to rattle the nation. The attack on the judges happened as they were travelling to their office in a […]