China will strengthen communication and cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) with strategic and long-term benefits to all parties, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said yesterday.
China and Asean share common interests and have a responsibility to safeguard regional peace and stability, Yang told the China and Asean ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Yang proposed to promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, transportation, maritime issues and culture and said China will adjust the focus of its relationship with Asean based on the organisation's developing needs.
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South China Sea dispute could affect ASEAN's image: Shanmugam
Foreign Minister K Shanmugam said ASEAN's image will be affected if it is unable to deal with the issue of the South China Sea territorial dispute effectively.
However, Mr Shanmugam who is attending the ASEAN meetings in Phnom Penh, added that so far there is no reason to say that the regional grouping cannot handle it.
The spat over South China Sea dominated discussions during the ASEAN meetings. Intense discussions are still on-going before the grouping can release a joint communiqueon the issue.
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US, Japan ignore treaties
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the normalisation of China-Japan diplomatic ties. Common sense would suggest Japan should join China's efforts to nourish the tree of friendship and make it grow even healthier.
Instead, Japan has chosen to ratchet up the dispute with China over the Diaoyu Islands.
Moreover, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported that an official from the State Department of the United States said the Diaoyu Islands fall within the scope of Article 5 of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, as the island group has been under the administrative control of Japan since they were included as part of the reversion of Okinawa in 1972.
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Singapore Gets Blogger to Apologize for Court Criticism
Singapore made blogger Au Waipang apologize for posting allegations the city’s judicial system is biased and a plastic surgeon received special treatment from the courts, charges the government called “contemptuous.”
The city’s Attorney-General threatened to charge Au, also known as Alex Au, with contempt unless the blog post was taken down, and a letter from the Attorney-General and an apology were posted.
British author Alan Shadrake was convicted of contempt of court in November 2010 for his book, “Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore’s Justice in the Dock,” which accused the city’s judiciary of succumbing to political influence and favoring the rich over the poor. He was sentenced to six weeks in jail, fined S$20,000 ($16,000) and ordered to pay S$55,000 in costs to the prosecution.
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Resorts World Sentosa in levy probe?
TODAY has learnt that a Casino Regulatory Authority CRA probe against Resorts World Sentosa RWS is underway over alleged reimbursements of casino entry levies.
The investigation which started almost a year ago is understood to allegedly involve hundreds of incidences of these illegal reimbursements.
The probe is believed to have prompted the integrated resort to take the decision to suspend several senior executives including one Senior Vice-President.
When contacted the CRA and RWS were tight-lipped In response to TODAY s queries a CRA spokesperson said the authority is “unable to comment on current investigations if any”.
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Tough stance, but greater calibration Teo Chee Hean
To restrict supply Singapore has adopted a highly deterrent posture against drug trafficking.
In 1975 we introduced the death penalty as a punishment for drug trafficking Under our laws anyone who traffics drugs is liable for the death penalty from syndicate leaders to distributors to couriers who transport drugs and pushers who sell drugs as long as the quantity of drugs involved is above the stipulated thresholds.
The weight element is often misunderstood by the public and the media. For example the mandatory death penalty threshold for heroin is 15g of pure diamorphine which is often portrayed as the weight of a few 50-cent coins.
In fact in street form in Singapore at a typical purity level of 2 3 per cent 15g of pure diamorphine is equivalent to some 2 200 straws of heroin worth S$66 000 RM165 000 based on each straw having a gross weight of about 0 3g and street price of about S$30.
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Despite rising crime, S'poreans don't regret buying Johor properties
Despite news of Singaporeans being victims of crime in Johor, more are snapping up houses for less than half of what they would cost here.
Even a daily commute to work or faraway schools is not a deterrent - as long as they go home to a mansion.
The lure of living large for less has drawn more Singaporeans to Johor.
About 5,000 Singaporeans now call Johor home, estimates the Johor-Singapore Community Care Association, a newly formed group that aims to champion the interests of Singaporeans living across the Causeway.
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Singapore GDP Growth Probably Slowed on Europe Crisis
Singapore’s economic growth probably slowed last quarter as the European debt crisis constrained exports while elevated inflation prompted the central bank to tighten policy.
Gross domestic product rose an annualized 0.6 percent in the three months through June from the previous quarter, less than the 10 percent pace in the period through March, according to the median of 14 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.The report is due tomorrow.
Singapore may require a further moderation in its 5 percent inflation rate, the fastest in Southeast Asia after Vietnam, to give the island more scope to join a monetary stimulus drive stretching from Asia to Europe. The People’s Bank of China, theEuropean Central Bank and the Bank of England are among those that eased policy this month to support growth as the turmoil in the euro area threatens the global economy.
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Man who cheated bank has jail time reduced by half
Even a daily commute to work or faraway schools is not a deterrent - as long as they go home to a mansion.
The lure of living large for less has drawn more Singaporeans to Johor.
About 5,000 Singaporeans now call Johor home, estimates the Johor-Singapore Community Care Association, a newly formed group that aims to champion the interests of Singaporeans living across the Causeway.
read more
Singapore GDP Growth Probably Slowed on Europe Crisis
Singapore’s economic growth probably slowed last quarter as the European debt crisis constrained exports while elevated inflation prompted the central bank to tighten policy.
Gross domestic product rose an annualized 0.6 percent in the three months through June from the previous quarter, less than the 10 percent pace in the period through March, according to the median of 14 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.The report is due tomorrow.
Singapore may require a further moderation in its 5 percent inflation rate, the fastest in Southeast Asia after Vietnam, to give the island more scope to join a monetary stimulus drive stretching from Asia to Europe. The People’s Bank of China, theEuropean Central Bank and the Bank of England are among those that eased policy this month to support growth as the turmoil in the euro area threatens the global economy.
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Man who cheated bank has jail time reduced by half
Man who cheated bank has jail time...
A man who cheated OCBC bank by forging 176 invoices, which led to S$2.6 million being credited to his company's account, had his prison sentence halved after a High Court judge allowed his appeal on Wednesday.
Tan Thiam Wee was the director of software company Idealsoft, which had a factoring agreement with OCBC. This meant that, if it had given a customer an invoice that had not been paid, the company could ask OCBC to advance 85 per cent of the value.
As his company was facing cash-flow problems in late 2007, Tan created false invoices and submitted them to OCBC to maintain the company's working capital. He also created false invoices and purchase orders to support those documents.
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India, Singapore to set up defence cooperation
New Delhi, Jul 11 (UNI) India and Singapore today decided to step up bilateral cooperation and exchanges in the fields of defence and security.
After holding delegation level talks with visiting Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the two countries had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to renew the bilateral arrangement between their Air Forces on joint training and exercises.
The relations between the two countries were underpinned by a confluence of interests spanning political, economic, cultural, defence and security issues, Dr Singh said in a statement to the press after the talks
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Indonesian maid charged with theft, causing grievous hurt
An Indonesian maid was on Wednesday charged in court with theft and causing grievous hurt to her employer's 15-year-old son.
27-year-old Juwarni allegedly stole S$1,530 from her employer's apartment at Tampines Street 82 between April 2011 and July 2012.
She also allegedly carried and dropped her employer's son from a height of 0.8m sometime last week.
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Indonesian Maid in Singapore Spared Execution
A prosecutor at a court in Singapore has dropped a demand that the death sentence be imposed on an Indonesian maid accused of killing her employer’s 12-year-old daughter, and is instead demanding life imprisonment, the Indonesian embassy in the city-state said on Wednesday.
“The Indonesian embassy in Singapore, under Ambassador Andri Hadi and the defense team, has been able to get the prosecutor to drop the death sentence,” a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.
Prosecutors had originally sought the death sentence for Nurhayati, a maid from Indramayu, West Java, but are now asking for 20 years in jail or a life sentence.
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Teenage girl pleads guilty to multiple suicide attempts
A teenage girl on Wednesday pleaded guilty to three attempts of suicide.
Seven other similar charges were taken into consideration.
The court heard 18-year-old Kathleen Seah Pei Yi tried to kill herself on 10 occasions - from overdosing on Panadol tablets, to swallowing broken mirror pieces and even inhaling gas fumes.
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Woman on ledge saved from falling
(Photo / Google Maps)
Civil defence officers managed to grab hold of a woman who was sitting on a ledge outside her high-rise flat and bring her to safety before she came to any harm, reported Lianhe Wanbao.
The incident happened at around 5:50pm on 6 July at Block 264B in Compassvale Bow. A 37 year-old resident staying in the area known only as Mr Wan managed to record the incident on video.
According to him, he was returning home from work that day when he noticed a crowd gathered at the block. The people in the crowd were pointing to the window of a fourth floor flat, where a woman was squatting on the ledge outside an apartment. Civil defence officers were already there, stationed on the sixth floor and about to begin a rescue operation.
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Two men plead guilty to sex with underage girl
Two men pleaded guilty on Thursday to having paid sex with an underage girl.
The first accused, 33-year-old Louis Lee Lip Kian, pleaded guilty to one count of having paid sex with a girl who was below 18 years old
Emotionally hit by divorce, the former bank relationship manager sought the sexual services of a young prostitute.
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3 Chinese work permit holders jailed for helping to convey contraband cigarettes
Three male Chinese work permit holders were jailed seven to 17 months for their involvement in contraband cigarette activities.
A female Chinese national, Hong Shu Fang, 40, was also arrested in the Singapore Customs operation.
For her involvement in the same racket, she was fined S$67,000, or in default four months' jail.
She was also sentenced to one and a half months' jail and fined S$2,000, or in default a month's jail, for overstaying in Singapore after her social visit pass had expired.
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HDB pushes out new rules on PRs subletting
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has reduced the period by which Singapore permanent residents (PRs) can sublet their flats from the current three years to just one year. This is to deter flat owners from acquiring flats for investment or rent.
Previously, PRs followed an equal set of rules as Singapore citizens whereby they could request approval from the HDB to sublet their flats for as long as three years, subsequent to the completion of the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP).
However, the new revisions only allow PRs to sublet their flats for no more than a year, if they are subletting for the first time.
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Why the people of HK are angry
Over the past few weeks, Hong Kongers have been venting their frustrations.
The weekend of June 30 saw not just the pomp of new leader Leung Chun Ying's inauguration, but also a three-day marathon of loud and rowdy protests.
On June 30, a 1,000-strong march over Tiananmen Square activist Li Wangyang's suspicious death in Hunan saw scuffles between protesters and the police.
On July 1, tens of thousands demonstrated with posters showing Leung with a wooden nose a la Pinocchio, while some young people declared that they wanted Hong Kong to return to being a British colony.
The next day, more mobbed Leung at a community dialogue, forcing him to beat a hasty retreat.
A week later, shouting matches erupted at another dialogue. Young protesters held up a banner saying 'The Wolf Doesn't Represent Me', in an allusion to Leung's nickname, and chanted as the Chief Executive tried to speak. Outside the venue, yet more protesters clashed with police.
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Malaysia to replace Sedition Act, says Najib
Malaysia's Sedition Act will be repealed and replaced with another law to protect racial harmony, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced yesterday, as part of his continuing series of political reforms.
He said the government realised that the people perceived the Sedition Act to be a law to suppress dissenting views.
"Although this perception is baseless, we have to abolish this perception. Hence, the new provisions will not prevent the people from criticising the government or the administration of justice," he said at a dinner of the Attorney-General's Chambers.
The new law will be called the National Harmony Act.
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Two girls rescued from traffickers
Anti Human Trafficking Unit of Manipur (AHTUM) police have rescued two minor girls, aged around 16 years, from being trafficked to Singapore Monday from Imphal Airport.
Police also nabbed the accused identified as A. John Maheo (52) son of Ashuli of Kaibi village of Senapati district presently residing at Imphal’s Dewlahland area.
According to police sources, AHTUM led by sub-inspector Y Kheda detected and detained the two girls at Imphal Airport when they were about to board a flight.
During an enquiry, the team came to know that the two girls were taken to Dewlahand, before taking to Imphal Airport for onward transportation to Singapore.
Sources said Maheo through a Singapore based agency, Charisha Employment Agency, lured the girls on the pretext of providing jobs in Singapore. The girls would have been forced into immoral activities, the sources added.
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111 suspected drug offenders arrested in islandwide operation
Anti-narcotics officers arrested 15 suspected drug traffickers and 96 suspected drug abusers in a 48-hour islandwide operation.
Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers mounted the blitz between July 10 and 12.
Officers targeted areas from Ang Mo Kio to Bedok, Bendemeer, Boon Lay, Clementi, Bukit Batok, Delta, Dover, Eunos, Geylang, Ghim Moh, Hougang, Jurong, Lengkok Bahru, Marsiling, Pasir Ris, Rochor, Sembawang, Serangoon, Telok Blangah, Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Yishun.
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