SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has reiterated its stance on not allowing events related to the Israel-Hamas war to be held, amid online calls for a weekend march at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. SPF said in response to media queries on Thursday (Feb 15) that they are aware of callsContinue Reading
Mr Leong had claimed that the woman’s Medisave savings were “substantially depleted” after a leg operation. He also claimed that she pays monthly installments for her walker and leg cast, and stopped attending physiotherapy sessions as they cost S$100 each.
The woman was admitted to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital for an operation on her fractured ankle from Jun 20 to Jun 23 in 2023, racking up a hospital bill of about S$8,580, said MSF.
After government subsidies, MediShield Life and MediSave, her remaining bill amount was about S$240, said MSF. She had more than S$60,000 left in her MediSave account after that withdrawal, and still has more than S60,000 in her MediSave account as of Feb 12.
Additionally, the outpatient physiotherapy sessions at the same hospital had cost S$25 per session after government subsidies and were fully covered by MediFund, said MSF.
The woman did not have to pay any cash out-of-pocket for the sessions, MSF added.
“She will continue to receive full MediFund assistance for her outpatient bills until June 2024, at which point her eligibility for MediFund will be re-assessed.”
Another false claim was that the couple had applied to a public sector agency for assistance with their transport costs, but their application was rejected.
In truth, the couple has received public transport vouchers in the current and past two Public Transport Voucher exercises.
“The man has been receiving subsidised medical escort and transport services from community care providers since 2021,” said MSF.
When the woman fractured her ankle, the Silver Generation Office offered to refer her to subsidised medical escort and transport services, but she had declined the offer.
An officer from the People’s Association also visits the couple regularly, and had ferried them for hospital visits, bought meals for them when they could not leave their house, and helped them run errands, MSF added.
“False statements, such as those made in Leong’s posts, erode public trust and mislead the public about the support that is available and provided to families who are in need,” said MSF.
Bangkok, Khon Kaen and Yala part of global network dedicated to lifelong learning
PUBLISHED : 15 Feb 2024 at 20:27
Bangkok, Khon Kaen and Yala have been included in Unesco’s 2024 Global Network for Learning Cities (GNLC) for promoting lifelong learning, according to Education Minister Permpoon Chidchob.
They join other cities previously listed, including Chiang Rai (2019), Chiang Mai, Phuket and Chachoengsao (2020), and Sukhothai, Phayao and Hat Yai (2022), said Pol Gen Permpoon, who also chairs the National Commission for Unesco.
The GNLC website describes Bangkok is a city that seeks to combine learning systems to ensure access to education, with becoming a sustainable learning environment as a long-term goal.
Khon Kaen is described as a city that specialises in combining cultural learning styles to help marginalised groups.
Yala, meanwhile, is described as a city that promises smart learning development as a long-term goal, with a focus on diverse learning strategies to suit community needs.
Pol Gen Permpoon said the country’s participation in the GNLC would give people more opportunities to participate in development plans and host international academic forums.
According to Unesco, the GNLC aims to encourage “lifelong learning” and push its mission to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Cities are promoted annually for their outstanding efforts to make lifelong learning a reality for local residents, it said.
The GNLC list consists of 64 cities from 35 countries, and its network includes 356 member cities from 79 countries.
Other cities in the Asia Pacific region joining the GNLC this year are Nanjing and Suzhou in China, Legazpi in the Philippines, Busan, Seo-gu and Hanam in South Korea, and Ho Chi Minh City and Son La in Vietnam.
SINGAPORE: Social spending, which has almost doubled over the last decade, is expected to go up in the upcoming Budget which will be delivered on Friday (Feb 16).
Overall social spending rose from S$27.6 billion (US$20.5 billion) in 2014, to an estimated S$52.8 billion last year, according to annual figures from the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
The sharpest increase was in 2020, when spending rose by nearly S$10 billion from the year before, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The healthcare sector accounted for the lion’s share of social spending over the last decade, ballooning from S$7 billion in 2014 to nearly S$17 billion last year. It replaced education as the largest component.
Most of this went into supporting a growing ageing population.
Higher spending on healthcare is expected as a society matures and develops, said Professor Paulin Straughan from the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University.
While Singaporeans are living longer, there is a big gap of about 10 years between life expectancy and health-adjusted life expectancy, said Prof Straughan, who is also director of the Centre for Research on Successful Ageing.
“We are not fully leveraging the potential of extended longevity. This explains the sharp increase in healthcare spending,” she told CNA’s Singapore Tonight on Wednesday.
“A lot of work ahead of us is on the preventive health front, where we try to level up and prepare ourselves for living longer and learn to take good care of our bodies and preserve our health so that we can close the gap between health-adjusted life expectancy and life expectancy.”
NEW DELHI: Thousands of Indian farmers on tractors are riding towards New Delhi in a revival of past protests that saw highways into the capital blockaded by agricultural machinery for more than a year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was pressed into a rare retreat in 2021 after a successful campaignContinue Reading
“EVERYONE’S FIGHT” The protesting farmers are in no hurry to head back home. Kamaljit Singh, 35, insisted everyone had a cup of the super-sweet milk tea he had on offer. “We have 100 litres of milk,” said Kamaljit, a farmer from Punjab’s Patiala district, saying his village had gifted theContinue Reading
In common areas, fitness and community amenities are also set to be installed so that residents can socialise and stay active.
“We are piloting a social and wellness hub, which houses an active ageing centre. And we are piloting the very first ActiveSG gym within housing development, in collaboration with SportSG,” said Dr Chong Fook Loong, HDB’s group director of research and planning.
“Along the way, we want to test every intervention – on what works, what doesn’t work, and what we need to improve further, as part and parcel of this journey to create a healthy town.”
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) source for, test, develop and evaluate such interventions for households in Queenstown.
Professor Dean Ho, head of the biomedical engineering department at the NUS College of Design and Engineering, said that over 200 technologies were rigorously tested and evaluated before being narrowed down to the essentials.
“We want to make sure we help understand what the residents are going through and deploy the best interventions that can help them,” he said.
“We have to ensure that it’s the right technology, it’s cutting edge, it’s accessible and it’s validated. And ultimately, it can be truly adopted at scale.”
One such tool, for example, helps a user to unscrew a bottle using one hand. It is designed to help those who have lost muscle strength, such as stroke survivors.
Physiotherapy through gaming is another ongoing project, including a button-pressing console that tests a user’s reaction. It aims to provide light exercise for those with stiff shoulders.
Professor Ang Peng Hwa, chairman of ASAS, said the organisation received “two pieces of feedback on the advertisement” since the start of last month.
ASAS is an industry self-regulatory organisation that ensures the content of advertisements comply with the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice (SCAP).
Prof Ang noted that the misleading advertisement has since been withdrawn, but urged consumers to be alert to such content.
“Should consumers come across any advertisement that contains misleading or unethical content, they may submit their feedback to ASAS and provide the relevant information for review,” he said.
Sterra told CNA that it takes the feedback from authorities “very seriously”, and is reviewing its marketing procedures.
When it comes to water safety, there is no such thing as water that is completely free of bacteria, and that is not necessarily a bad thing, said Professor Shane Snyder, executive director of the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute.
“All drinking water I can imagine, on the planet, will have some amount of bacteria,” he explained.
Ending VAT waiver seen as one possible way to lessen impact on local producers and sellers
PUBLISHED : 15 Feb 2024 at 18:58
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has urged the Revenue and Customs departments to speed up efforts to stop cheap products from China from flooding Thailand’s domestic market, including revoking the value-added tax waiver on Chinese products worth less than 1,500 baht.
The influx of cheap goods from China through e-commerce platforms is affecting the incomes of local producers of household goods, the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) said this week.
It said the country has recorded a trade deficit with China for three years, with the value of imports far exceeding the value of Thai goods exported to the world’s second largest economy.
China was Thailand’s largest trade partner in 2023, with total trade value of $105 billion and a $36.6-billion surplus in Beijing’s favour, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The import sector is so lucrative that SF Holding, China’s second-largest express logistics service provider, has acquired a majority stake in Kerry Express (Thailand). It now owns 73.2% of the shares in the SET-listed logistics provider, the committee noted.
Imported goods from China have dominated the domestic market so much that even most of the nation’s iconic elephant print trousers, popular with tourists, are mass-produced in China.
Mr Srettha urged all related agencies to keep an eye on customs declarations, as there have been several incidents in which importers would under-declare the value of the goods they were bringing in, so they could benefit from VAT and import tariff waivers.
Some merchants have taken a step further, by sending their goods to Thailand’s e-commerce free-trade zones, where they can be stored until they are ordered by online customers, a source said.
The influx of Chinese products is hurting local manufacturers who are unable to compete on price, Mr Srettha said in a statement on his X account. The products also lacked standard certifications from government agencies and often infringed intellectual property rights, according to the premier.
Lawaron Saengsanit, the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Finance, said earlier this week that the Customs and Revenue departments and other agencies would discuss possible measures to stem the tide of cheap Chinese products.
These could include terminating VAT and customs privileges for Chinese products valued at no more than 1,500 baht apiece, or amending the rules to more closely match current market conditions, said Mr Lawaron.
Under a framework agreed by members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum, Thailand raised the maximum price of products imported from China that are exempt from VAT and customs duties in 2018 — from 500 baht to 1,500 baht per item.
“Cross-border carbon capture and storage is an emerging solution in Asia, and supports Singapore’s transition towards a low-carbon future,” said Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) deputy secretary Keith Tan in the joint statement. “With this LOI, Singapore and Indonesia can become the pathfinders to catalyse deployment of cross-border CCSContinue Reading