SingaporeSurf

Govt Points Out 12 'Grave Errors' In Amnesty Report
by M Nirmala, Straits Times
S'pore stands by its tough position on the death penalty, which is applied to only the most serious crimes, says statement.

Unionists Wary Of Tinkering With 13th Month Pay
by Eugene Low, Straits Times
Converting the annual wage supplement into a variable component should be done only as a last resort, they say.

Singapore Drenched By Heaviest January Rainfall In 30 Years
by Associated Press
This tropical city-state recorded its heaviest rainfall for the month of January in 30 years as monsoon rain poured down almost continuously in the past week, authorities said Friday.

Surprise Fall In Singapore's Jobless Rate
by Business Times
Singapore's unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.5 per cent at the end of December as the nation's rebounding economy created a surprisingly large number of jobs, the government said on Friday.

Isn't Legalising Only Heterosexual Oral Sex Ruling By Consensus?
by Clarence Singam, Straits Times
Members of Parliament should bear in mind that they do not serve just the majority but the entire nation. This includes significant numbers of gay Singaporeans.

Singapore To Enforce Malaysian Warrants
by Mazwin Nik Anis, The Star
Singapore police will enforce warrants of arrests issued by its Malaysian counterparts against its citizens who fail to turn up in court to stand trial for committing traffic offences here.

Fewer Singaporeans Took The Enterprise Route Last Year
by Chuang Peck Ming, Business Times
But Republic ranks much higher in 'entrepreneurial- like' activity in existing firms.

Gays' Latter On Oral Sex Fails To Convince MPs
by Soh Wen Lin and Sue-Ann Chia, Straits Times
Legislators advise: Drop emotional approach.

Singapore Unveils Bird Flu Battle Plan
by Sharmilpal Kaur, Straits Times
Measures include more checks on poultry farms and close monitoring of Malaysian imports; mass culling if cases found.

Singapore Dec Production Growth Slows Down
by Business Times
Analysts said that despite the slowdown in the headline figures, the underlying outlook remains positive.

Singapore Sidesteps WTO
by Linus Chua, Bloomberg
Singapore said it has been signing free-trade agreements with countries such as the United States, Japan and Australia because it does not expect a quick resolution to World Trade Organization talks on global tariff cuts.

Reviving A Winning Partnership With Singapore
by Wong Sulong, The Star
Abdullah and Goh have got off to a good start. Let's hope they can revive the traditional Malaysia-Singapore partnership and make it even stronger.

Weekend Visits Raise Comfort Levels
by M. Nirmala, Straits Times

Learn, Live And Play In Singapore
by Joanne Lim, The Star
It was indeed an eye-opening experience for a group of Malaysian teachers invited by the Singapore Tourism Board for a familiarisation tour of the island's top- notch educational services and facilities.

Singapore: Nation Of Happy Workers?
by Li Xueying, Straits Times
A Sunday Times survey carried out last month reveals most workers think their pay is OK. About 66 per cent consider their workload to be just right, and 75 per cent say they have no complaints about working hours.

Hamid Albar: "We Want To Avoid Controversies With Singapore"
by Azlan Abu Bakar, New Straits Times
Malaysia's new approach to handling bilateral relations with Singapore is to avoid stroking controversies, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said today.

MRT's New CCTV System Will Be Delayed
by Karamjit Kaur, Straits Times
Project re-tendered as cost would have exceeded budget; work will take 3 years after new tender is awarded next month.

New Chapter In Malaysia-Singapore Ties
by Zarinah Duad, Sylvia Looi and S. Arulldas, The Star

Singapore Air Hub Faces New Rivals
by Reuters
How can Changi compete? Serving budget airlines could be the answer.

No Talk On NEL Deal Yet, Says SMRT Chief
by Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times
Denying rumours that SBS Transit and SMRT met, Ms Saw says she doesn't even know if NEL is for sale.

'No Right Or Wrong Answers'
by Rebecca Lee, Straits Times

Singapore's Recovery Still Fragile: DPM Tan
by Laurel Teo, Straits Times
Singapore's economic recovery is still fragile and needs another two quarters showing growth of at least 3 per cent, or the rebound will lack momentum, said Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan on Sunday.

Singapore: Asia Utopia
by Benjamin Locsin Layug, ABS-CBNNEWS.com
How did this small, 646-square-kilometer island-state with almost no natural resources and culturally diverse races, languages and religions attain its astonishingly rapid growth and change?

Robinsons Won't Be Sold
by Azhar Khalid, Straits Times
Sale not in best interest of staff, shareholders, says chairman.

Limit On Food Being Taken Into Singapore
by The Star
Singapore has put a limit on the amount of fish, meat and eggs each person or vehicle is entitled to bring in.

Report: Singapore Port Wins Back Shipping Line From Malaysia
by Associated Press
Singapore's Ports and Services Authority has managed to win back Bengal Tiger Lines, a major shipping line that had shifted part of its business to a nearby rival Malaysian port, local media reported Friday.

Ex-Top Civil Servant Speaks Up On Policy 'Misses'
by Susan Long, Straits Times
Some of them: population, immigration, tax schemes.

Singapore Celebrates New Year With 'Lucky Undies'
by AFP

New Method To Learn Chinese To Be Tried Out
by Jason Leow, Straits Times
Used in China, the approach allows young pupils to focus on recognising characters first. Writing comes later.

SPH Raises Cover Price For ST And 8 Other Papers
by Straits Times
Explaining the rationale for the increase on Tuesday, SPH's Chief Executive Officer Alan Chan said that the company has kept a tight rein on costs for some time, adding that few firms have managed to keep prices unchanged for as long.

Malaysia Seeks To Mend Fences On Singapore Trip
by Associated Press
Malaysia's new prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, met Monday with Goh Chok Tong, his Singaporean counterpart, in an effort to ease strained relations between the Southeast Asian neighbors.

Air Asia Sets Sights On Flights To Singapore
by John Burton, Financial Times
Air Asia is expected to use the Thai subsidiary to gain access to other south-east Asian markets, including Singapore and Cambodia, since Thailand has more liberal bilateral aviation agreements with these countries than Malaysia.

Singapore-KL Issues 'Not INtractable'
by Brendan Pereira, Straits Times
Current state of relations far from satisfactory, new PM says ahead of visit to Singapore.

LTA's Cul-De-Sac On Travel Signboards
by David Boey, Straits Times
With millions of dollars in other projects in the pipeline, one hopes the LTA will show more accountability and openness in handling feedback from road users.

14 Indians Whipped In Singapore
by Hindustan Times
"Our only guilt was that we overstayed. For this we were treated worse than animals before being deported."

Singapore Named World's 2nd Freest Economy
by Straits Times
Singapore was named the world's second freest economy behind Hong Kong, in a survey released on Friday.

Buangkok's Blessing In Disguise
by Teo Hwee Nak, Today
Flap over MRT station having an unexpected fallout.

LTA 'No' To Direct Buses To Senai
by Karamjit Kaur, Straits Times
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) last month officially turned down applications from Comfort Bus — a subsidiary of transport giant ComfortDelgro, which operates buses and taxis — and a Malaysian bus operator to ferry people between the two places.

Protect Public Housing Concept
by Siew Kum Hong, Today
Stop banks from accessing credit histories of applicants.

All For 'Deeper, Stronger' Relations With Singapore
by Koh Lay Chin and Lee Pek Sien, New Straits Times
Malaysia and Singapore should form a "deeper and stronger" relationship based on more than just long-standing contentious issues, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said today.

KL Does Not Want Public Debate Over Causeway Plans
by Straits Times
"Malaysia only undertakes its development plans or activities within its territory without trying to impinge on the legal rights of others".

Singapore Reviews Oral Sex Law
by BBC News
Singapore is considering decriminalising oral sex between consenting men and women, after a case involving a policeman highlighted a law which many in the city-state consider antiquated.

No Plans To Scrap Guaranteed CPF Interest Despite Pension Fund Proposal
by Channel NewsAsia
The Central Provident Fund Board says it has no plans to scrap the guaranteed interest rates paid on its members' savings.

Opposition MP Steve Chia Cleared Of Molest Charges
by AFP
Non-constituency Member of Parliament Steve Chia has been cleared of allegations that he molested his Indonesian maid, police said on Tuesday following an investigation triggered by his own wife's complaint.

A Prize Too Far?
by Jose Raymond, Today
No CPF for Singapore's new gold-medallist citizens.

Singapore Min: Govt To Stay Out Of Rail Line Sales Talks
by Dow Jones
The Singapore government will stay out of any discussions over ComfortDelgro Corp.'s possible sale of its underground train service to SmRT Corp., Minister for Transport Yeow Cheow Tong said late Monday.

Slide In Fertility Rate Raises Alarm In Singapore
by Jason Szep, Reuters
Pro-fertility programmes to create more babies in Singapore through subsidies and even a state-run dating service have failed to stop a plunge in the nation's birth rate, a senior official said on Monday.

No Stares For Chia, Only Handshakes
by Straits Times

Not Consulted On New Bridge
by Straits Times
Singapore yesterday said it had not been consulted nor had its agreement been sought for a Malaysian plan to replace its half of the Causeway with a new bridge.

Singapore Office Workers Get Less Elbow Room Than Even HK's
by Andrea Tan, Business Times

Don't Repeat PTP Mistake, Says SM
by Today
Underestimating the PTP competition led to the Port of Singapore Authority having to cut wages and port charges and retrench workers. A similar fate must not be allowed to befall Singapore's air hub status and the Government wants to make sure that this doesn't happen, said Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

New Foreign Maids To Be Told Their Rights
by Tan Tarn How and Theresa Tan, Straits Times
New foreign maids will soon be required to attend a course informing them of their rights and what to do if their employers make demands that compromise their safety.

OK To Fly The Flag, Use Lion Head Symbol
by Straits Times
The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mita) wants more Singaporeans to use these symbols as they are the country's 'most visible symbols of sovereignty, pride and honour', it said in a media release yesterday.

Flying Apart — To Avoid Wipeout
by Tracy Quek, Straits Times
Family members split up when travelling to avoid losing all kin at one go.

Avid Readers Can Now Pick Up Books At Starbucks Cafe
by Channel NewsAsia
After reading one of these books, the reader can actually keep it, but if he want to spread the joys of reading, just go to a selected Starbucks cafe and drop it into one of the bins for the next person to pick it up.

Parliament To Discuss Singapore-Malaysia Ties, New Legislation On Organ Transplants
by S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia
Parliament will be discussing the state of Singapore-Malaysia relations and new legislation to expand organ transplant rules during its first session of the year.

Singapore's War On Piracy Long Overdue
by Bangkok Post
While many Asean governments do little to combat the growing menace, Singapore has gone on the offensive and declared that no distinction should be made between pirates operating for personal gain and terrorists, with the motives of anonymous attackers impossible to judge until they are caught.

Growth Of Singapore Economy Slowed In Q4
by Associated Press

Singapore Shoppers Generally Unfazed By GST Hike
by Channel NewsAsia
If it is for a good bargain, then the fact that many retailers are absorbing the GST increase for 2004 at least until after the next festive season of Chinese New Year should be good news for consumers.