Going on your first cruise? Here's what passengers should know to ensure smooth sailing

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2. BRING A CARRY-ON

After you check your bag at the terminal, it may take several hours before it’s delivered to your stateroom. “Be sure to pack a carry-on with all of the essentials you might need during that window of time,” said Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of cruise news site Cruise Critic, who suggested including “medication, sunscreen, a bathing suit, a phone charger and other essentials that you’ll need as soon as you board.”

3. SIGN UP FOR ACTIVITIES IN ADVANCE

Popular onboard restaurants, shore excursions and spa treatments can fill up quickly so book ahead. Many companies will let you book in advance through their website or app, but if not, head to excursion and activity desks soon after you’ve boarded.

“The theatre productions are incredible and produced at a very high quality,” said Chris Thompson, an avid cruiser of 35 years based in London. “You can usually reserve a seat in advance for free, but if it’s booked up, try showing up 15 minutes before the start of the show when seats often become available.”

Thompson also suggested going to a specialty restaurant on the first night when there is likely to be more availability. “Most people eat in the main dining room while they settle in, so chances are you’ll find a nice table at one of the special restaurants,” he said.

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CNA Explains: 2023 is the hottest year ever. How will tropical Singapore cope with record temperatures?

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What does the heat do to our minds and bodies?

Studies show a correlation between hot days and an increase in hospital visits for mood and anxiety disorders.

On a physical level, heat extremes have an impact on the human body, which has an average temperature of about 36.5 degrees Celsius. Anything beyond that, and we start sweating to help the body stay cool.

If that water loss is not replenished, we get dehydrated and our organs start to struggle with their essential tasks.

The heart is forced to pump harder as it tries to regulate the body’s temperature.

Blood vessels thin as more blood is brought to the skin to aid in the sweating process, but this lowers blood pressure, leading to the risk of a heart attack.

Dehydration also decreases oxygen supply to the kidney, responsible for removing extra waste and extra fluid from the body. This can lead to chronic kidney disease.

Prolonged exposure to intense heat can also escalate to heat stroke, which is marked by an elevated body temperature, a rapid strong pulse and the loss of consciousness.

This can be fatal if the victim is not taken to a medical facility quickly.

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Commentary: Amid ever-rising premiums, let’s make it easier for no-claim individuals to switch private health insurers

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PORTABILITY FOR NO-CLAIM INDIVIDUALS

What can be done?

Part of the answer, as always, is government supervision and action.

In fact, the insurance business is regulated and there are rules governing what they can do and to make sure they are financially sustainable.

Recently, the authorities named the four largest insurers here – AIA Singapore, Income Insurance, Prudential Assurance and Great Eastern Life – as companies that are too big to fail and would hence be subjected to more rigorous standards of supervision.

Like large banks, these insurers present a systemic risk to the economy if any of them were to collapse.

This is a good move that should help ensure these companies are sound and financially secure, now that big brother is watching them more closely.

The safeguards are mainly to protect the health of these companies, but who is there to look after the interests of customers?

Caveat emptor or let the buyer beware?

This cannot be applied to health insurance for one important reason: MediSave funds are allowed to be used to pay for premiums of MediShield Life and Integrated Shield Plans.  

As these are Government-mandated funds, the authorities have a responsibility to make sure they are used in a way that protects the public interest.

It means closer oversight of the premiums charged and what they cover.

The inability of customers to switch their plans to another company is a major issue. It penalises those stuck in companies that are not efficient or competitive leaving them with no recourse even if they are fit and healthy and have never made any claims.

What would happen if switching is allowed without losing coverage of pre-existing conditions?

This would be a godsend for customers but might be too much of a bitter pill for companies to swallow if they are suddenly deluged with high-risk cases.

It would be unfair to expect these companies to accept them without raising their premiums.

A better solution would be to allow portability for those who have not made any claims for a certain number of years.

This will lessen the risk for companies and encourage more people to stay healthy.

It is a more realistic and workable approach than the suggestion that has often been made to charge lower premiums for people who have not made any claims, as in the case of motor vehicle insurance.

The problem with this idea is that it will result in much higher premiums for those with medical problems.

Someone has to pay for the shortfall if premiums are lowered for the healthy and the burden will fall increasingly on the sick.

It is not right to inflict this penalty on people requiring medical treatment and those who suggest this should be careful what they wish for – you never know when you might require costly treatment.

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Are BPA-free plastic bottles really safe? Here’s what you need to know

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Tritan shares similar characteristics with polycarbonate, such as clarity, durability and resistance to impact, said Liew. But it is BPA-free; and it costs more.

While some Tritan bottles are labelled as such, Nalgene bottles carry only the “BPA-free” label, Liew added. “Consumers should be aware of what they’re buying and also do their own due diligence.”

In a consumer advisory shared with Talking Point, the SFA said consumers should use reusable bottles or food containers according to instructions. For example, only containers labelled microwave-safe should be used for reheating food in the microwave.

A product should be replaced when its integrity has been compromised, such as when it is cloudy, discoloured or cracked.

When choosing reusable products, consumers can also opt for other materials, such as glass, porcelain or stainless steel, especially for hot foods and liquids.

Watch this episode of Talking Point here. The programme airs on Channel 5 every Thursday at 9.30pm.

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BPA-free, food-grade or Tritan: How safe are your plastic bottles?

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Tritan shares similar characteristics with polycarbonate, such as clarity, durability and resistance to impact, said Liew. But it is BPA-free; and it costs more.

While some Tritan bottles are labelled as such, Nalgene bottles carry only the “BPA-free” label, Liew added. “Consumers should be aware of what they’re buying and also do their own due diligence.”

In a consumer advisory shared with Talking Point, the SFA said consumers should use reusable bottles or food containers according to instructions. For example, only containers labelled microwave-safe should be used for reheating food in the microwave.

A product should be replaced when its integrity has been compromised, such as when it is cloudy, discoloured or cracked.

When choosing reusable products, consumers can also opt for other materials, such as glass, porcelain or stainless steel, especially for hot foods and liquids.

Watch this episode of Talking Point here. The programme airs on Channel 5 every Thursday at 9.30pm.

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Elderly woman avoids losing S$260,000 to scammers after StanChart employee intervenes

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In November, following the instructions of the second scammer, the woman sold her unit trust investments that she held with Standard Chartered Bank, amounting to more than S$260,000.

The money was to be transferred to a third-party bank account provided by the scammer, purportedly to assist in investigations. 

“The transaction was detected by a Standard Chartered Bank relationship manager, who noticed the victim’s unusual banking behaviour and outgoing transfers to a suspected mule’s bank account,” said the police.

He promptly escalated the case to the Standard Chartered Bank anti-fraud team, who contacted the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) for intervention.

The authorities worked with the bank’s anti-fraud team to trace the flow of the funds, which led to them identifying and freezing all the scammer-controlled accounts. 

This prevented the loss of over S$260,000, said SPF.

The police added that ASC officers also promptly followed up with the victim to alert her of the scheme.

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Singapore to work with China on increasing direct flights, as mutual visa-free travel set to kick in

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PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGES

Mr Wong said such a visa-free arrangement “will facilitate people-to-people exchanges”, adding that flights between China and Singapore now are constantly full.

While this is the first visa exemption regime that Singapore is establishing with China, it is not the first time Singapore has had a mutual or visa-free exemption with another country, he noted.

“We have more than 70 countries where people can come to Singapore visa-free. We have experience with it. Visa-free does not mean zero immigration checks … there’s still a system at the backend and we do the necessary checks,” Mr Wong added.

“I think the visa-free arrangements will make it more convenient for people both ways to travel and the demands are there amongst our businesses, amongst our academics and students, amongst tourists, even amongst individuals with family connections, and tourists of course.

“We think this will be helpful and this will be a plus in terms of Singapore’s interest. And that’s why we have decided to proceed with it,” he said.

JCBC OUTCOMES

Mr Wong also spoke about the outcomes of the JCBC meeting, where 24 memoranda of understanding and agreements were announced between Singapore and China in areas like sustainability, food security and trade.

“We look forward to continuing to advance our cooperation across all these different areas in line with the broad principles that have been set out in our partnership, which is, we want it to be comprehensive, high quality as well as future-oriented,” Mr Wong said, referring to the name of the recently upgraded Singapore-China bilateral partnership.

This will apply to new areas of cooperation that both countries are in discussions over, such as low-carbon energy and the digital economy.

Such cooperation is also underpinned by close people-to-people ties, which will provide a “very strong foundation” for a bigger boost in China-Singapore cooperation in the years to come, Mr Wong added.

He then addressed a question on how the JCBC meeting has been held in a new era of cooperation, and what Singapore brings to the table.

He noted that Singapore is “always looking at ways” to add value to China and the world. Some of Singapore’s strengths are in its economic capabilities or technology-specific areas, and Singapore can also share its practices such as how it organises housing estates to take care of a rapidly ageing population, Mr Wong said.

“Another area in which we can add value is in our role as a reliable and trusted partner – not just linking up bilaterally, but also connecting China to the wider region,” he added.

“That’s something we do with China, but it’s something we do with many other countries we partner with as well.”

Mr Lee, the National Development Minister, said that Singapore added value to Tianjin when the Tianjin Eco-City was first launched in 2008. The Chinese have since “become really advanced” in many technologies.

“It’s not just for us to continue to collaborate with them but an opportunity also for us to learn about the way they do things. They still look at what we do,” Mr Lee added.

“Compare notes, work together, and some of these ideas may be helpful to us in Singapore.”

LEADERSHIP TRANSITION

Separately, in response to a reporter’s question, Mr Wong warned against speculation that this would be the last JCBC meeting he co-chairs.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said last month that he intends to hand over leadership to Mr Wong before the next General Election, which has to be called by November 2025, and by Nov 21 next year “if all goes well”.

“There are many other things on the agenda. First is to think about when the transition happens,” said Mr Wong.

“If all goes well, hopefully we’ll find the time before the (People’s Action Party) conference for transition, and … the rest of the consequences will follow after that.”

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Resorts World Sentosa fined S$2.25m for not performing checks when collecting cash of S$5,000 or more

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SINGAPORE: Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has been fined S$2.25 million (US$1.7 million) by the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) for failing to perform due diligence checks when receiving cash of S$5,000 or more from third parties to deposit into customers’ accounts.

Casino operators are required to conduct such checks when they receive a cash deposit of S$5,000 or more, GRA said in a press release on Friday (Dec 8).

In 2020, GRA had directed casino operators RWS and Marina Bay Sands to conduct a review of “certain patrons’ activities”. RWS then discovered non-compliance for some transactions and reported them to GRA.

Further investigations conducted by GRA revealed that between December 2016 and December 2019, RWS failed to perform customer due diligence checks for certain transactions where employees collected cash of S$5,000 or more from third parties to deposit into the accounts of RWS’ customers.

“When accepting these cash deposits, RWS had failed to establish the identity of the third-party depositors,” GRA said.

“RWS did not record the requisite identifying information, nor did it verify these identities using reliable and independent sources as required under the Casino Control (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Regulations,” it added.

There were systemic failures in “certain controls”, resulting in RWS’ failure to detect the breaches, the regulator said.

GRA has cancelled the special employee licence for one of the employees involved in the breaches. 

A casino special employee licence is issued by GRA to people who work in casino-related functions or make decisions on casino operations.

It is conducting further investigations to assess the culpability of the other employees involved.

When the breaches were detected, RWS “took prompt action to improve its processes and engaged an independent party to review their standard operating procedures”, GRA said.

It added that RWS has undertaken a review of its corporate culture, “with a view to strengthening its internal controls and corporate governance”.

“GRA takes a serious view of such lapses and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against errant casino operators. GRA will continue to exercise tight supervision over the operators’ compliance with our regulatory requirements.”

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Singapore signs agreement with Papua New Guinea to cooperate on carbon credits

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SINGAPORE: Singapore and Papua New Guinea on Friday (Dec 8) signed an implementation agreement on carbon credits cooperation, which will help both countries advance their climate goals. The agreement was signed by Singapore’s Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu and Papua New Guinea’s Minister of Environment, Conservation and Climate ChangeContinue Reading