PM Lee caps off official visit to US with state dinner at the White House, United States News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/pm-lee-caps-off-official-visit-to-us-with-state-dinner-at-the-white-house?xtor=EREC-16-1[ST_Newsletter_AM]-20160803-[PM+Lee+caps+off+official+visit+to+US+with+State+Dinner+at+the+White+House]&xts=538291

PM Lee caps off official visit to US with state dinner at the White House

WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Mrs Lee have arrived for a state dinner at the White House, capping off an official visit that has featured some of the grandest official ceremonies the US has to offer.

They arrived at the White House at 7pm on Tuesday (7am Wednesday Singapore time) in a black limousine bearing flags of the US and Singapore. PM Lee and Mrs Lee were received by President Barack Obama and Mrs Obama.

PM Lee was dressed in a tuxedo while Mrs Lee was in a red and gold kebaya.

Some 200 guests are expected for the glitzy black-tie dinner which will feature entertainment from American singer-songwriter Chrisette Michele.

Among the guests from Singapore at the dinner are Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Industry Minister S. Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing, Acting Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, as well as MPs Christopher de Souza and Rahayu Mahzam.

And in a reflection of the broad relationship Singapore has with the US, the Singapore delegation includes leaders from the military and business like Singapore Airlines chairman Stephen Lee, Keppel Corp CEO Loh Chin Hua and Lieutenant-Colonel Wong Shi Ming, commanding officer, 3rd Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment.

The US delegation includes top Cabinet officials as well as actress Keri Russell, actor Matthew Rhys, author Amy Tan, AOL chief executive Timothy Armstrong and prominent former congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

This is the 12th state dinner President Obama has hosted and the first one for a leader from a South-east Asian country. State dinners are considered among the highest diplomatic honours the US government.

The menu includes a salad featuring heirloom tomatoes and lime basil from the White House Kitchen Garden; a Maryland blue crab salad; and an American way beef tenderloin drizzled with a lemongrass demi-glace.

The tables will be decorated with arrangements of yellow flowers including yellow orchids and roses. Yellow symbolises the friendship between the two countries, said chief florist Hedieh Ghaffarian.

Follow ST Now for updates as it happens: http://str.sg/4T4N

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CPF review: Members can opt for new annuity plan with monthly payouts that increase over time, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

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CPF review: Members can opt for new annuity plan with monthly payouts that increase over time

SINGAPORE - A new CPF retirement plan to help Singaporeans cater for the rising costs of living in their golden years is in the works.

The CPF Advisory Panel is proposing to introduce a new CPF Life Plan that will feature monthly payments that increase by 2 per cent every year.

But it will come with a cost: Those who opt for the CPF Life plan - the national annuity scheme - with "escalating payouts" will start with payments that are about 20 per cent lower compared to the current default plan.

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CPF Advisory Panel chairman Tan Chorh Chuan said on Wednesday (Aug 3) that the plan was configured this way to ensure that the system remains sustainable.

Panel member and actuarial consultant Colin Pakshong added that the panel is "constrained by simple mathematics".

"Anyone who chooses the escalating payouts plan will have to decide if the trade-off in lower payouts at the start is worth the escalating payouts in the future," he said.

Under the current CPF Standard Plan - the default option - a CPF member with about $80,500 on his accounts can expect to receive $720 a month for the rest of his life.

If the member chooses the new plan, he gets just $560 at the start. But this will increase every year.

By the time he is 75, his monthly payments will reach $680. And nine years after that, when he is 87, his monthly payments will grow to $860 a month.

The new option is aimed at people who are worried about the rising costs of living late into their lives, especially with inflation eating into their purchasing power, added Prof Tan.

For those who want higher initial payouts, they can top up their CPF Life premiums, or delay the starting age for payouts up to age 70.

This recommendation, along with others including a new, simplified retirement investment scheme, came up on Wednesday at a press conference.

The 13-member panel, appointed in September 2014 after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the CPF system review in his National Day Rally speech, first made suggestions to give members more say and greater retirement adequacy last February.

Recommendations then included letting members set aside three different sums at age 55 - a basic sum of $80,500, a higher sum of $161,000 or an enhanced sum of $241,500 - giving them monthly payouts of between $650 and $1,900 from age 65. It also recommended a lump-sum withdrawal at age 65 of up to 20 per cent of CPF savings.

The Government has implemented the changes and has accepted the latest suggestions.

In a letter to Prof Tan, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say accepted the recommendations on behalf of the Government and thanked the panel for its work.

Noting the panel had been given a complex task, he described its recommendations as "both elegant in their simplicity and far-sighted". 

He added: "The Government will work to implement the panel's recommendations and will proactively promote awareness and understanding of these new CPF options so that members can make informed decisions to better meet their retirement needs." 

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http://www.thebitbag.com/pokemon-go-singapore-launch-date-soon-southeast-asian-countries-follow/168042

Pokemon GO Singapore Launch Date Soon, Other Southeast Asian Countries To Follow?

"Pokemon GO" has taken over the lives of countless gamers all over the world. The game initially launched last July 6 in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Since then, it has gradually been released in several other countries with the total now coming up to 37 nations enjoying it. Sadly, countries in Southeast Asia have not been lucky enough to get the game yet but that may soon change as the "Pokemon GO" launch in Southeast Asia could be coming next.
"Pokemon GO" has become one of the most successful mobile games today and it has become a worldwide sensation. The Asian region though was a bit late to the party, with Japan and Hong Kong only getting the game just a couple of weeks ago. "Pokemon GO" launched in Japan, the birthplace of the Pokemon phenomenon, only last July 21. After Japan, the game was released in Hong Kong on July 24.
While the game was finally released in two Asian countries, the rest of the region is still waiting for the official launch of "Pokemon GO." According to The Verge, "Pokemon GO" was supposed to launch in Europe and Asia "within a few days" after the July 11 report was published. The Europe launch indeed happened but other than Hong Kong and Japan, the rest of Asia is still waiting for the augmented reality game to arrive.
While it may have taken a while, Pokemon fans in Southeast Asia may finally be getting the game in the near future. A report from CNN cites that Singapore may be the country where "Pokemon GO" is launching next. There have been no details yet as to when that would be, but based on the gap between the Japan and Hong Kong launch, it could suddenly launch in Singapore as early as a week or so.

If "Pokemon GO" does indeed launch in Singapore next, it could be a sign that the rest of the Southeast Asian countries will not be too far behind. It remains to be seen if the CNN report will turn out to be true but surely Pokemon fans in Southeast Asia will be keeping their fingers crossed until the game finally arrives in their shores.

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Telltale signs that Pokemon Go will debut in Malaysia soon: Report, Tech News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/tech/telltale-signs-that-pokemon-go-will-debut-in-malaysia-soon-report

Telltale signs that Pokemon Go will debut in Malaysia soon: Report

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - There are strong signs that Pokemon Go will debut in Malaysia very soon.

Internet users have unearthed a cached webpage from a prepaid mobile service provider website, which announced that a promotion is available to Pokemon trainers.

The leaked document, which stated that the provider is partnering with mobile ride-sharing app Grab, stated that the mobile prepaid brand will be offering free rides to the nearest PokeStop between 10am and 7pm on Tuesday (Aug 2) and Wednesday.

PokeStops are locations where Pokemon trainers can replenish Pokeballs devices used to capture Pokemon.

The first 20 trainers will also get US$100 (S$540) worth of PokeCoins, which is the in-game currency. Trainers are players who catch and train Pokemon for battles in the game.

A telco spokesman confirmed that the company will be partnering with Grab on a Pokemon Go promotion.

He said the promotion involved PokeCoins but declined to reveal more details. The promotion is expected to be launched on Monday at Tavern13, a restaurant in Petaling Jaya.

That is not all Pokemon fans are excited about.

Malaysia, which was initially left out in the Pokemon Go craze during the announcement of the creation of servers in eight countries in Asia, will finally get its own server soon.

It was revealed by a website keeping tabs on server statuses of massively multiplayer online games www.mmoserverstatus.com.

Apparently, some people even noticed the Malaysian server going online last Saturday morning for a short while before it went offline later. It was believed to be a test run.

Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm since its launch on July 6, with reports of servers struggling to meet the high volume of users.

The augmented-reality game requires players to go outdoors and "catch" Pokemon via the geo-location on their smartphones.

Pokemon Go was first released in United States, Australia, Germany and Britain.

But, Japan, the country of origin where game company Nintendo started the mythical creature franchise 20 years ago, had to wait 12 days after its launch to receive the game.

Game Freak, the primary developer of Pokemon and Niantic, its partner in developing the new mobile game, later issued an apology to the Japanese public for the delay.

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Singapore leaders visit S R Nathan in hospital, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-leaders-visit-nathan-in-hospital

Singapore leaders visit S R Nathan in hospital

At the Singapore General Hospital to visit Mr Nathan yesterday were President Tony Tan and Mrs Tan, and (above) Acting Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Mrs Teo. They were among the Singapore leaders who visited the former president after he suffered a stroke.ST PHOTOS: ONG WEE JIN, MARK CHEONG

President Tony Tan Keng Yam headed a line of Singapore leaders and retired office-holders in government who visited former president S R Nathan in hospital yesterday after he suffered a stroke.

The President and his wife Mary were among the first to visit Mr Nathan, 92, at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in the afternoon.

He said he and his wife were saddened by the news and "will keep Mr Nathan in our prayers".

Others who went to see him included Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Acting Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen. Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and former Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi were also among his visitors.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is on an official visit to the United States, said he was saddened to hear of Mr Nathan's "grave condition".

He also posted on his Facebook page a picture of a maple tree Mr Nathan had planted at the Singapore Embassy in Washington, DC where he was ambassador from 1990 to 1996. "He made many good friends for Singapore, and planted many seeds, including this beautiful antique Littleleaf Japanese Maple," Mr Lee wrote.

Mr Goh wrote on Facebook that the attending doctor told him

Mr Nathan's vital signs were stable, but that it was "too early to say how he would progress". Earlier, he told reporters at SGH: "He is a fighter. He has gone through this many times."

Mr Nathan had a stroke in April last year and was warded at SGH for nearly three weeks. He had been undergoing dialysis for kidney failure in recent months. Mr Goh said they last met three or four months ago in Mr Nathan's home in Joo Chiat.

One of Mr Nathan's latest public appearances was in end-May at the launch of the book Majulah! 50 Years Of Malay/Muslim Community In Singapore.

Former Senior Minister of State Zainul Abidin Rasheed, who was at the book event, told reporters he met Mr Nathan last week. "He was in top spirits and talking about the contributions of the Malay/Muslim community."

Mr Abdullah said that although people knew Mr Nathan had been ill for some time, the news that he had a stroke was still very shocking. "I think all Singaporeans are quite shocked and concerned."

Dr Ng disclosed on Facebook that Mr Nathan had written to him last week, saying he had a stroke a year ago and recovered. "He then added pensively that he had 'soldiered on and hoped to stay active for another year, before I call it a day'.

"What a remarkable man, I thought to myself. It could not be easy, but even at this age and with declining health, Mr Nathan still wanted to contribute and make a difference in the lives of others, at least for another year," he wrote.

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Graduation joy may turn to job hunt blues amid economic gloom, Manpower News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/graduation-joy-may-turn-to-job-hunt-blues-amid-economic-gloom

Graduation joy may turn to job hunt blues amid economic gloom

Amid the tossing of mortarboards and joyful jump shots that characterise university graduation season, the gloom of entering a sluggish economy looms on the horizon for young job seekers.

Recruitment experts believe that the class of 2016 will enter a slower job market than last year's.

Randstad Singapore country manager Jaya Dass said: "Fresh graduates are coming into a global economy that is... experiencing slow growth and where large multinational corporations aren't undergoing massive expansion."

Graduates hoping for entry-level jobs in these MNCs might find fewer opportunities, she warned.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University held their graduation ceremonies last month, while those at Nanyang Technological University are ongoing.

Preliminary figures from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) released last Thursday painted a gloomy picture of the labour market.

The unemployment rate for Singaporeans and permanent residents was 3 per cent last month, the highest since end-2010. Layoffs also reached a seven-year high.

In a survey of 89 companies by Human Capital Singapore and Remuneration Data Services, 45 per cent had frozen or plan to freeze recruitment this year, compared with 27 per cent last year.

But there are still bright spots.

ManpowerGroup Singapore country manager Linda Teo named financial technology - or fintech - as one of the most promising industries.

"With the Government investing resources in developing fintech, there are plenty of opportunities for fresh graduates to consider."

She suggested they go into payment or personal finance start-ups, or even explore start-ups in blockchain technology, a new transaction technology.

Digital marketing and e-commerce are other areas of growth. Adecco Singapore country manager Femke Hellemons said: "Fresh graduates looking to enter the media, public relations and advertising industry can expect good prospects."

NUS Business School senior associate director of career services Sybi Fitzgerald suggested graduates contemplate roles in the growing healthcare sector.

Other sectors with a dearth of takers are engineering and sales. In a recent graduate placement by recruitment website Glints, only eight out of more than 500 applicants keen on people-centred roles wanted sales careers.

In contrast, finance remained oversubscribed, with more than 100 fresh graduates applying for an internship at a boutique investment firm. Glints co-founder Oswald Yeo said: "Job seekers should be open to alternatives or parallels to finance, including fintech start-ups."

Employers are also increasingly on the lookout for those with digital skills. Mr Sanjay Modi, Asia-Pacific and Middle East managing director of job site Monster.com, pinpoints social media management, search engine optimisation and analytics, and user-experience design as some of the most desirable skills.

Fresh graduates should not turn their noses up at contract roles, said Kelly Services vice-president and country general manager Foo See Yang. "Sometimes due to attrition or business expansion, companies may offer them permanent positions in the future."

NUS political science graduate Ernest Puey, 25, is looking for a media job but is expanding his search to corporate communications.

He said: "My key considerations are how far my first job sets me up for the rest of my career. But sometimes you have to take what you can get. I'm not at that stage yet, but if things get from bad to worse, being patient can take me only so far."

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Public Transport Council makes raft of recommendations to improve public transport, Transport News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/public-transport-council-makes-raft-of-recommendations-to-improve-public?xtor=EREC-16-2[ST_Newsletter_PM]-20160801-[Public+Transport+Council+makes+raft+of+recommendations+to+improve+public+transport]&xts=538291

Public Transport Council makes raft of recommendations to improve public transport

SINGAPORE - A raft of recommendations has been released by the Public Transport Council (PTC) on how buses and trains can be made friendlier for families, seniors and wheelchair users.

The recommendations which include designing buses to encourage commuters to move to the back and reducing escalator speeds at train stations to make it safer for seniors, were distilled after a six-month public consultation - which began earlier this year.

The views of over 2,600 commuters were sought via in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and face-to-face surveys.

Released on Monday (Aug 1), the results of the exercise were submitted last week to the Transport Minister.

Some of the biggest concerns from commuters included crowding on public transport and stations, issues of reliability and accessibility.

In response, the council has made several recommendations, such as allowing open strollers on buses which will make it easier for families with small children to travel.

At the moment, parents have to fold up strollers when they board buses.

Other ideas include designing bus stops with more comfortable seats and with more space so commuters find it easier to navigate during rush hour.

The full report is available online on the PTC website.

PTC chairman Richard Magnus said most of the concerns raised by commuters in the exercise might appear small but are significant if taken collectively and viewed in context of the 7.9 million daily passenger trips.

"The recommendations can truly make a difference to commuters' journeys if the relevant stakeholders consider them for implementation," he said.

Responding in a blog post on Monday, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said he fully supported the PTC's focus on commuters, adding that the transport system needed to be more "senior-friendly, child-friendly and more inclusive".

"LTA will study PTC's report and strive to put into practice the many useful recommendations contained in it," he said.

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