Sunday, July 30, 2017

Australia disrupts terror plot to bring down airplane after 4 arrested in Sydney: PM Malcolm Turnbull, Australia/NZ News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Australia disrupts terror plot to bring down airplane after 4 arrested in Sydney: PM Malcolm Turnbull, Australia/NZ News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Australia disrupts terror plot to bring down airplane after 4 arrested in Sydney: PM Malcolm Turnbull

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian authorities said Sunday they had stopped an allegedly Islamist-inspired "terrorist plot" to bring down an airplane with an improvised explosive, after four people were arrested in raids in Sydney.

"I can report last night that there has been a major joint counter-terrorism operation to disrupt a terrorist plot to bring down an airplane," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters.

Additional security has been put in place at all major domestic and international airports, with travellers told to arrive two hours early for screenings, he added.

Officials did not specify if the alleged plot targeted a domestic or international flight, but Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported that a local route had been the objective.

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The four men, arrested in a series of raids across Sydney on Saturday, were allegedly linked to an "Islamic-inspired" plot, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said.

"In recent days, law enforcement has been become aware of information that suggested some people in Sydney were planning to commit a terrorist attack using an IED (improvised explosive device)," he told reporters.

BREAKING: Australia disrupts terror plot to bring down airplane, according to Prime Minister; 4 arrested in #Sydney raids pic.twitter.com/HM3qDzSX53

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) July 29, 2017

Major CT op in the suburbs of Surry Hills, Lakemba and WIley Park #Sydney. Many arrests linked to a terror plot. pic.twitter.com/kvibZ30VQV

— Blazing Fury (@FuryBlazing) July 29, 2017

He added that several items "of great interest to police" had been seized in the raids but police did not yet have a great deal of information on the specific attack, the location, date or time. He said the investigation was expected to be "very long and protracted".  

"However, we're investigating information indicating the aviation industry was potentially a target of that attack."

Colvin would not provide further details, but the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said police found items that could be used to make a home-made bomb in one of the raided homes Saturday. Authorities believed they planned to smuggle the device onto a plane to blow it up, the ABC added.

Turnbull said the alleged plan appeared to be "more in that category of an elaborate plot" rather than designed by a lone wolf, but added that the national terror alert level would remain at probable.

Airport security boost

Four men were arrested Saturday after armed police stormed homes in at least four neighbourhoods, though their names and ages have not been released and they have not been charged by police.  

The Seven Network reported 40 riot squad officers moved on a terraced house in the inner city suburb of Surry Hills, as TV footage showed a man with a bandage on his head being led away by authorities, draped in a blanket. Sections of surrounding roads remained cordoned off on Sunday as forensic officers and investigators wrapped up and removed items from the house.

Airline passengers have meanwhile been asked to arrive at least two hours early for domestic flights and three hours for international routes, and to limit their baggage.  

"Australia has very strong safeguards in place at its airports; these changes are about making them even stronger," Australian carrier Qantas said.  Airline Virgin Australia stressed that the additional airport security measures were just "precautionary" and passengers "should not be concerned".  

Turnbull said the national terror alert level, which was raised on September 2014 amid rising concerns over attacks by individuals inspired by organisations such as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, would remain at probable.  

Canberra has introduced new national security laws since then, while counter-terrorism police have also made a string of arrests.  A total of 12 attacks, before the latest announcement, have been prevented in the past few years, while 70 people have been charged, Justice Minister Michael Keenan said.  

"The primary threat to Australia still remains lone actors, but there's still the ability for people to have sophisticated plots and sophisticated attacks still remain a real threat," he told reporters Sunday.  

The prime minister added that the alleged plan appeared to be "more in that category of an elaborate plot".  

Several terror attacks have taken place in Australia in recent years, including a Sydney cafe siege in 2014 that saw two hostages killed.



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Australia disrupts terror plot to bring down airplane after 4 arrested in Sydney: PM Malcolm Turnbull, Australia/NZ News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Australia disrupts terror plot to bring down airplane after 4 arrested in Sydney: PM Malcolm Turnbull, Australia/NZ News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Australia disrupts terror plot to bring down airplane after 4 arrested in Sydney: PM Malcolm Turnbull

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian authorities said Sunday they had stopped an allegedly Islamist-inspired "terrorist plot" to bring down an airplane with an improvised explosive, after four people were arrested in raids in Sydney.

"I can report last night that there has been a major joint counter-terrorism operation to disrupt a terrorist plot to bring down an airplane," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters.

Additional security has been put in place at all major domestic and international airports, with travellers told to arrive two hours early for screenings, he added.

Officials did not specify if the alleged plot targeted a domestic or international flight, but Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported that a local route had been the objective.

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newsletters in your inbox

The four men, arrested in a series of raids across Sydney on Saturday, were allegedly linked to an "Islamic-inspired" plot, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said.

"In recent days, law enforcement has been become aware of information that suggested some people in Sydney were planning to commit a terrorist attack using an IED (improvised explosive device)," he told reporters.

BREAKING: Australia disrupts terror plot to bring down airplane, according to Prime Minister; 4 arrested in #Sydney raids pic.twitter.com/HM3qDzSX53

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) July 29, 2017

Major CT op in the suburbs of Surry Hills, Lakemba and WIley Park #Sydney. Many arrests linked to a terror plot. pic.twitter.com/kvibZ30VQV

— Blazing Fury (@FuryBlazing) July 29, 2017

He added that several items "of great interest to police" had been seized in the raids but police did not yet have a great deal of information on the specific attack, the location, date or time. He said the investigation was expected to be "very long and protracted".  

"However, we're investigating information indicating the aviation industry was potentially a target of that attack."

Colvin would not provide further details, but the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said police found items that could be used to make a home-made bomb in one of the raided homes Saturday. Authorities believed they planned to smuggle the device onto a plane to blow it up, the ABC added.

Turnbull said the alleged plan appeared to be "more in that category of an elaborate plot" rather than designed by a lone wolf, but added that the national terror alert level would remain at probable.

Airport security boost

Four men were arrested Saturday after armed police stormed homes in at least four neighbourhoods, though their names and ages have not been released and they have not been charged by police.  

The Seven Network reported 40 riot squad officers moved on a terraced house in the inner city suburb of Surry Hills, as TV footage showed a man with a bandage on his head being led away by authorities, draped in a blanket. Sections of surrounding roads remained cordoned off on Sunday as forensic officers and investigators wrapped up and removed items from the house.

Airline passengers have meanwhile been asked to arrive at least two hours early for domestic flights and three hours for international routes, and to limit their baggage.  

"Australia has very strong safeguards in place at its airports; these changes are about making them even stronger," Australian carrier Qantas said.  Airline Virgin Australia stressed that the additional airport security measures were just "precautionary" and passengers "should not be concerned".  

Turnbull said the national terror alert level, which was raised on September 2014 amid rising concerns over attacks by individuals inspired by organisations such as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, would remain at probable.  

Canberra has introduced new national security laws since then, while counter-terrorism police have also made a string of arrests.  A total of 12 attacks, before the latest announcement, have been prevented in the past few years, while 70 people have been charged, Justice Minister Michael Keenan said.  

"The primary threat to Australia still remains lone actors, but there's still the ability for people to have sophisticated plots and sophisticated attacks still remain a real threat," he told reporters Sunday.  

The prime minister added that the alleged plan appeared to be "more in that category of an elaborate plot".  

Several terror attacks have taken place in Australia in recent years, including a Sydney cafe siege in 2014 that saw two hostages killed.



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Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Interview with Tan Chuan-Jin: Early action to break cycle of poverty in Singapore, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Interview with Tan Chuan-Jin: Early action to break cycle of poverty in Singapore, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Interview with Tan Chuan-Jin: Early action to break cycle of poverty in Singapore

A pilot scheme KidStart, which aims to level the playing field for disadvantaged children, will be made permanent in a bid by the Government to break the cycle of poverty in Singapore.

It is among a series of moves that the authorities want to make to intervene earlier to prevent social problems, such as inequality and family dysfunction, from becoming entrenched, said Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin in an interview with The Straits Times last week.

Another is to develop early intervention programmes for at-risk youth and adults.

The shift upstream to tackle social challenges comes as Mr Tan expressed concern about intergenerational poverty in Singapore.

While the Gini coefficient shrank slightly from 0.463 in 2015 to 0.458 last year - suggesting that the rich-poor gap is narrowing - it remains stubbornly among the highest in developed countries. Some children from poor families find it tough to move out of the poverty trap, said the minister.

"Certainly, anecdotally we see that (intergenerational poverty) happening," he said. "For certain family circumstances, we know it is challenging and the probability of perhaps poorer outcomes for the children as they grow up will be higher. So we want to make sure that we intervene."

Last year, his ministry piloted KidStart, a three-year scheme to help 1,000 disadvantaged children aged up to six. Mr Tan said he wants to expand it beyond the five locations where it is now in place even before the pilot ends, depending on resources available.

The Government is also stepping in earlier to help workers and families who are showing signs of financial struggle yet would not usually qualify for ComCare aid.

Last year, nearly half of approved applications for short- to medium-term aid were granted to such beneficiaries, said the Ministry of Social and Family Development. Some were offered a higher cash quantum or had their period of aid extended if they still could not find jobs.

Mr Tan said such flexibility is especially important today when many Singaporeans are finding their livelihoods affected by disruption due to technology. "I think we will continue to see this affecting us for years to come. Some jobs will disappear from the market."

Social service experts welcomed the move to go further upstream.

Singapore Children's Society lead social worker Gracia Goh said: "A good outcome of preventive work is that there is no problem, and that may make it harder to justify its importance. It requires moral courage to invest resources before a social problem gets worse, or even starts."



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Sunday, July 16, 2017

MOM stepped up enforcement at work sites in June, more than 400 safety violations found, Manpower News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

MOM stepped up enforcement at work sites in June, more than 400 safety violations found, Manpower News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

MOM stepped up enforcement at work sites in June, more than 400 safety violations found

SINGAPORE - Enforcement efforts at work sites had been stepped up by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in June, with more than 400 safety violations uncovered, said Minister of State for Manpower Sam Tan on Monday (July 17).

This update comes after a structure at a Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) work site collapsed last Friday and killed one worker.

Speaking at a Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) forum, Mr Tan said inspections were done at 400 sites targeting work-at-height activities and these netted more than 400 safety violations. Of these, the authorities meted out 322 notices of non-compliance, 70 composition fines and four stop-work orders.

Three of the four stop-work orders were given due to work-at-height safety infractions, said Mr Tan.

"We will take strict and serious action for each safety violation and impose severe penalties. These violations could have been injurious or harmful to the workers," he said in Mandarin.

Last Friday morning, a 40m segment of a viaduct at a PIE work site collapsed, killing one worker and injuring 10 others when the corbels holding up the horizontal beams that they were on gave way, according to preliminary findings.

Said Mr Tan on Monday: "The accident has shocked many and I am also deeply saddened by it. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and relevant authorities have commenced an investigation into the cause, and issued a stop-work order.

"The investigation is still ongoing, but the worker who was killed can't be brought back to life. We must make sure that safety comes first."

Mr Tan was speaking to about 90 participants - mainly bosses from construction firms - at the WSH forum, which was conducted in Mandarin at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability.

Organised by the WSH Council, the lunchtime forum is the first one to reach out to Mandarin-speaking senior management of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry to educate them on the importance of safety for work at heights.

Falls from height were responsible for most deaths at workplaces last year. This was one of three priority areas under this year's Programme-based Engagement Plus programme, which aims to raise WSH competencies and awareness by engaging the industries involved.

There were 13 fall from height incidents last year, compared to 24 in 2009. Within the construction sector, six workers were killed last year after falling from heights.

The other two priority areas under the programme are accidents leading to amputations and traffic accidents.

Mr Tan on Monday also highlighted the importance of work at heights safety and how falls-related workplace incidents can be prevented.

He reiterated some of the initiatives rolled out to educate and guide companies in adopting safe work-at-heights practices, such as the expansion of the Mobile Work at Heights Programme in which MOM visits work sites to share tips on safe work practices.

There were 80 such visits when the programme launched last year. Mr Tan said the goal this year is to increase that to 300, in order to benefit more small- and medium-sized construction enterprises.



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Saturday, July 15, 2017

Singaporean man plunges to death near Sydney in skydiving lesson gone awry: Report, Australia/NZ News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Singaporean man plunges to death near Sydney in skydiving lesson gone awry: Report, Australia/NZ News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Singaporean man plunges to death near Sydney in skydiving lesson gone awry: Report

SYDNEY - A Singaporean man in his 20s has died in a skydiving accident near Sydney, Australian media reported on Saturday (July 15).

The man, who is said to be in his 20s, died on impact alongside an experienced skydiving instructor upon crashing to the ground at a property in Wilton, some 85km south-west of Sydney, the Daily Mail Australia said. The police were called to the scene and were investigating the incident.

The Singaporean, who was not identified, had travelled to the area with a group and had signed up for a tandem dive.

Colombian student Catalina Grandos, who had taken the bus from Sydney with the Singaporean, told the Daily Mail she was in shock to learnabout the tragedy.

'I was in shock, I couldn't believe it. The conditions on the flight were good and I never imagined this could happen,' she said.

She found out only afterwards why the man was not on the return journey.

'They didn't tell us what happened until we got back to Sydney. We were waiting so long without knowing what happened. It was terrible.'"

The company which organised the dive, Sydney Skydivers, confirmed that "there was a fatality involving an instructor and a student".

"The cause is not yet known. More information will become available when police and the Australian Parachute Federation complete their preliminary investigation," a company spokeswoman told the Daily Mail.

Sydney Skydivers owner Phil Onis said the skydiver had 20 years of experience.

"He was an experienced skydiver...This has never happened before."



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Friday, July 14, 2017

PIE work site collapse: Work resumes at other LTA sites after safety checks; one worker killed, 10 injured in incident, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

PIE work site collapse: Work resumes at other LTA sites after safety checks; one worker killed, 10 injured in incident, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

PIE work site collapse: Work resumes at other LTA sites after safety checks; one worker killed, 10 injured in incident

SINGAPORE - The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a statement that work at all its road and rail construction sites  resumed after safety checks. The checks came after a new viaduct that was being built collapsed on Friday (July 14) morning, killing one worker and injuring 10.

The structure near the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) exit to Tampines Expressway (TPE) gave way at around 3.30am, LTA said.

Preliminary investigations showed that corbels – which had been put up to support the weight of pre-cast beams between two piers – had collapsed.

This brought down the structure along with the 11 workers who had been working on it.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that one worker – a 31-year-old Chinese national – was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, while 10 others were taken to Changi General Hospital.

CGH said in a statement on Friday afternoon that seven workers were admitted, two of whom are in the ICU. Three workers were discharged after receiving treatment. 

In a media statement, LTA said Or Kim Peow (OKP) Contractors was carrying out works to cast decking for the new viaduct when a section of the structure between two piers collapsed.

OKP has been taken to task for safety lapses in the past. On Tuesday, it was penalised in connection with another incident in 2015 in which a worker had also died. Before that, it was blacklisted between January and April this year.

Among the injured workers in Friday's accident are six Bangladeshi, one Indian and three Chinese nationals, said the LTA. Eight were admitted to hospital and two were discharged. The Straits Times understands that five of the workers are in surgery at CGH.

SCDF officers helping people who were injured in the incident. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR 

Following the accident, LTA said it was checking all its other work sites and had stopped work on them to observe a "safety timeout".

Meanwhile, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said it has revoked the permit for the construction works at the PIE work site and will be investigating the cause of the incident. 

The SCDF was alerted to the incident at about 3.35am, according to a post on its Facebook page. At around 7am, it said all workers at the construction site were accounted for and that search and rescue operations had been completed. 

A worker, who declined to be identified, said they had been pouring concrete at the structure when it gave way. Among the injured was a man who broke his leg, and another whose torso was punctured, he added.

The collapsed structure looked to have been about 5m high, according to an ST photographer who arrived at the scene at 4.30am. 

He saw a group of paramedics and firefighters trying to revive a man, who was later taken away on a stretcher.

Several workers had rushed down to the scene from their dormitories after hearing of the accident.

The Board of Directors of OKP Holdings Limited issued a statement on Friday afternoon: "The Board is deeply saddened by this unfortunate incident and wishes to express the Company's heartfelt sympathies to the families of the deceased and others injured in the incident." 

SCDF officers conducting a search operation at the incident site. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR 

The collapsed structure is part of a highway that is under construction, said SCDF. 

About 60 SCDF officers, including those from the SCDF's Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team were involved in the search and rescue operation, assisted by K9 search dogs.

SCDF said the slip road from Upper Changi Road East into PIE was closed, and asked motorists to avoid the area.

Recovery works for the affected slip road from Upper Changi Road East to PIE (Changi) are estimated to take about two days, before it can be re-opened for traffic, said the LTA.

To minimise the impact on motorists and commuters, the LTA has begun constructing a temporary bypass road to facilitate access for motorists coming from the east along Upper Changi Road East and wanting to get onto PIE (Changi). 

LTA said in Facebook post on Friday evening that it will carry out a thorough safety and design review of the temporary road before opening it for public use by noon on Saturday (July 15). 

This bypass road will facilitate access from the east along Upper Changi Road East to get onto PIE (Changi).

— LTATrafficNews (@LTAtrafficnews)



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Fatal stabbing at Boon Tat Street shocks busy lunchtime crowd; Review 'no minimum age' rule for private-hire drivers



Fatal stabbing at Boon Tat Street shocks busy lunchtime crowd; Review 'no minimum age' rule for private-hire drivers
If this e-mail is not displayed properly, click here.
 
FRIDAY, JUL 14
 
 
 

Dear ST Reader

It's not something many of us would expect to happen in the city centre in the middle of the day - a man stabbed to death by his own father-in-law, who makes no attempt to get away.  Little wonder then that the Boon Tat Street murder has gripped Singapore this past week. There has been much speculation about the whys and wherefores, which our reporters have tried to pin down in several reports on this shocking story.

Meanwhile, on the foreign front, more revelations have emerged about alleged links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, while in Iraq, the retaking of Mosul after a long-drawn campaign signals the end of the so-called Islamic State, although its pernicious ideas will linger on.

Please come and join us this Sunday at our annual Straits Times Run, which begins and ends at the Padang; enjoy the city sights and the carnival that follows.  Hope to see you there.

Have a good weekend, and thanks for reading The Straits Times.

Warren Fernandez
Editor-in-Chief
The Straits Times
& SPH's English, Malay, Tamil Media Group

 
 
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Sunday, July 2, 2017

Singapore-China ties to deepen in 5 key areas of finance, East Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Singapore-China ties to deepen in 5 key areas of finance, East Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

Singapore-China ties to deepen in 5 key areas of finance

Singapore and China are working to step up collaboration in five key areas of the financial sector, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said yesterday.

Signalling that cooperation between the two countries takes many forms, Mr Tharman said regulators and financial markets on both sides are looking to deepen links with the long-term objective of internationalising the yuan capital markets and providing sound financial underpinning to China's Belt and Road initiative (BRI) without causing short-term market instabilities.

The BRI is China's ambitious plan to build infrastructure such as railways and ports across a network of countries to recreate the Silk Road of yore.

The first area is in finding ways to expand project financing for BRI-related infrastructural projects through Singapore, Mr Tharman, who is also the chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), told reporters at the end of his five- day visit to China.

Singapore is already a major location for this, with about two-thirds of project financing in South-east Asia arranged out of Singapore.

Regulators are also looking at ways for banks from both countries to grow their presence in each other's markets, said Mr Tharman, who met chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) Guo Shuqing and governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) Zhou Xiaochuan yesterday. The PBOC is China's central bank.

  • High level of bilateral interaction

  • BEIJING • Thirteen visits: That is how many trips Singapore's political office holders, from ministers of state to full ministers, have made to China in the first six months of this year.

    Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam used this number yesterday to illustrate the high level of interaction at the senior official level between Singapore and China, and the strength of bilateral ties.

    "It is a level of interaction that is not incidental, because the constant communication really helps keep up the relationship, and to keep finding ways to evolve it," he told reporters at a media wrap-up of his five-day trip.

    Visits also go both ways, he added, noting, for instance, that the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo member Zhao Leji was in Singapore last month. He co-chaired the 6th Singapore-China Forum on Leadership and also met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

    Ties between Singapore and China are also wide-ranging, including at the provincial and city level, said Mr Tharman, whose trip saw him meet national and local leaders such as Premier Li Keqiang, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, Tianjin party secretary Li Hongzhong and Liaoning Governor Chen Qiufa.

    "Not everything in our bilateral cooperation is done through Beijing," said Mr Tharman, referring to the three provincial-level government- to-government projects the two countries have, including the Tianjin Eco-City, which he visited on this trip.

    What came through from his meetings was also the durability of bilateral ties that have been built over the years, said Mr Tharman.

    "The spirit of the meetings was that this relationship has been built up over many years, and both sides should cherish it and move ahead with full effort on our forward-looking agenda."

    Lim Yan Liang

"We are keen to see the Chinese banks grow their presence and activities in Singapore, for the region, as part of Belt-and-Road, and the CBRC too is keen to see the Singapore banks grow their operations in China. I got quite a forthright sense of that."

Both sides are also keen on strengthening capital market linkages between Singapore and China, as Chinese regulators recognise Singapore's distinct strengths here, such as in the bond markets, he added.

This is good news for Singapore, which has been in a neck-and-neck race with Britain in offshore yuan clearance. Singapore overtook Britain in February 2014 to become the second largest offshore yuan clearing centre after Hong Kong, but fell back to third place early last year. The latest data showed that in March, Singapore handled 4.19 per cent of the offshore yuan payments market compared with Britain's 5.66 per cent.

The fourth area is closer collaboration in the money markets, which will help investors to manage financial risks related to long-term investments that characterise many of the projects under the BRI.

"We would like to develop the long-term renminbi market instruments that can help investors manage the financial risks that are part and parcel of long-term borrowings and investments in infrastructure," Mr Tharman said, referring to the other name for the Chinese currency.

Finally, Singapore and China are looking at working together to train officials from BRI countries in the area of finance, such as in project preparation and project finance.

Mr Tharman said these initiatives did not come out of the blue, but are the result of an alignment in thinking between MAS and Chinese regulators, as well as trust and momentum built over time and successive visits from both sides.

Singapore and China are also working to conclude the upgrade to the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, with enhancements to areas such as investing, trade and market access. He expressed hope the new agreement will be signed by next year, the 10th anniversary of the signing of the original agreement.

"There was a good third round (of negotiations) two weeks ago, and both sides were willing to put some new things on the table (and) there was a willingness for this to be a substantive upgrade and not just a routine renewal," he said.



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