Is the Great Singapore Sale happening this year?
“SALE FATIGUE”
But these efforts have yielded little success, especially as online shopping grew in popularity.
The frequency of discounts and promotions on online platforms – as often as once a month – has also watered down the uniqueness of a sale event and may have even induced “sale fatigue” among customers, several retailers said.
“In the past when there were fewer sales, GSS can make an impact because it was something that people can look forward to,” said Ms Shareen Wong, founder of Embrace Jewellery.
“It was also a concerted effort with many retailers coming together to offer a discount, and that obviously drives more traffic to Orchard Road,” she added. “But it’s now less and less so.”
Embrace Jewellery and other retailers that CNA spoke to said they have not participated in the GSS in recent years. They have gone ahead with their own promotions, both online and offline, instead.
Footwear brand Melissa, for example, had its usual mid-year sale last month.
“Our mid-year sale typically coincides with the GSS period but with or without GSS, we went ahead with ours in June,” said Mr Terence Yow, the managing director of Enviably Me which is the official distributor of the Melissa brand in Singapore.
Adding that he has not heard anything about the GSS this year, Mr Yow told CNA: “We find it a bit odd because it is a long-established tradition, and we are wondering when it is. But are we losing sleep over it? Not really.”
Home-grown department store OG also had its own mid-year sale featuring storewide gift-with-purchase and other promotions last month, as well as a members-only private sale at its People’s Park store.
OG said it has been “aligning” its sale events, both online and offline, with some of the popular monthly online sales. Nonetheless, a nationwide event such as the GSS is “still impactful and brings awareness to tourists”, it told CNA.
“The SRA has yet to announce official plans for GSS for this year. We’re excited to see what SRA has in store for the official GSS event and look forward to joining,” said a spokesperson.
Mr Yow reckoned that the GSS still has a role to play in the local retail calendar but to revive Singapore’s status as a shopping paradise will require “something much bigger and not just about discounts”.
“It can be a big shopping and wine-and-dine festival with some experiential activities and concerts,” he said. “Don’t think of it as a shopping-only or retail-only event; you can bring in different types of F&B and services too.”
The initiative of Orchard Road’s pedestrian night, or closing part of the prime shopping belt to motorists once in a while, could also be revived, said Mr Yow, noting that retailers saw a “good bump up in sales and traffic” when that took place.
Describing Orchard Road as “a pale shadow of itself”, the business owner added: “I think what we need to think about is much more than GSS – how can we revive shopping in Singapore and starting from Orchard Road.
“The bigger question is whether we can reinvent and recreate Singapore’s shopping and dining environment – to make it a lot more experiential, a lot more attractive, not just to tourists but also to the locals,” he said.
“For that, maybe we need something way bigger and more relevant than GSS.”
Video backs claim of cop shakedown
Raid on motel room caught on camera
PUBLISHED : 19 Jul 2023 at 04:58
Kalasin: A police investigation has been launched into an allegation that five policemen in this northeastern province abducted a woman, falsely accused her of drug possession and extorted 50,000 baht from her in exchange for her release.
Pol Maj Gen Phuttiphong Musikul, deputy commander of Provincial Police Region 4, said on Tuesday the incident occurred in an area under the jurisdiction of Muang police station in Kalasin, and the station commander has reported it to the regional police office.
The allegation was backed up by a video taken surreptitiously with a mobile phone, confirmed Pol Maj Gen Phuttiphong. All five men in the video are officers attached to various units in Kalasin province. A fact-finding investigation has been launched to look into disciplinary and criminal action against the men.
“If the allegations are confirmed, they will be punished,” Pol Maj Gen Phuttiphong said.
The probe was launched after the woman posted on the Khaosan Palanchai Facebook page seeking help, and TV Channel 8 then sent a news team to interview her.
The woman, whose name was withheld, alleged that five men arrived at the resort in Muang district where she was staying alone around 6.20pm on July 4. The men claimed to be members of a police task force in Kalasin. They searched her room but found nothing illegal but did find 20,000 baht in cash. They then took her from the room and asked her to point at some white tissue paper left under a tree outside the room, but she refused, the woman said.
She was then forcibly taken to their vehicle, and they drove around Muang district. On the way, they tried to persuade her to confess that she owned the tissue paper containing illicit drugs. She said that she refused. The woman said the five men demanded 50,000 baht in exchange for her release.
She said she was afraid of being falsely charged with drug offences, so she contacted her younger brother and borrowed 30,000 baht from him, which she then gave to the men along with the 20,000 baht they had seized from her room.
She had managed to video what happened during the police raid on her room without them noticing.
Pol Lt Gen Yanyong Vejosot, chief of Provincial Police Region 4, ordered Kalasin police chief Pol Maj Gen Suwan Chiewnawinthawat to explain the incident after the video was aired on TV news.
Taliban: MP claims Afghanistan a ‘country transformed’
AFPA senior Conservative MP has been criticised for claiming there had been improvements in Afghanistan.
Tobias Ellwood, who is chair of the Commons Defence Committee, described it as a “country transformed” following a recent visit. He also called for the UK government to re-engage with the Taliban and for Kabul’s British embassy to reopen.
He put out a tweet with a video saying that security was vastly improved, corruption reduced and the opium trade “ended”.
Some social media users criticised the comments, pointing out the massive curtailment of rights for women and girls under Taliban rule.
Taliban chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, shared the video but erroneously described the Bournemouth East MP as “a British reporter”.
Has the opium trade ‘ended’?
In his tweet, Mr Elwood wrote that the “opium trade ended” (although in the accompanying video he qualified it by saying the trade had “all but disappeared”).
However, this claim is incorrect.
Opium cultivation in 2022 was up by 32% compared with 2021, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The Taliban took over in August 2021 and announced a ban on opium cultivation the following April. A BBC investigation this year found that this was beginning to have an effect with a huge fall in poppy production in major opium-growing provinces.
However, the ban on production doesn’t mean the end of the opium trade. Experts says that while production has significantly reduced in poppy-growing areas, the opium trade out of Afghanistan has not stopped.
“Given that prices have unsurprisingly increased and farmers or traders are stockpiling their inventories, it seems very unlikely that trading will or can be stopped,” says Prof Jonathan Goodhand, an Afghanistan expert at SOAS University of London.
Mr Ellwood told the BBC he was basing his claim on a visit to Helmand and Kandahar provinces, as well as his time in the capital, Kabul.
He said: “I’m sure it’s still grown, but as a ‘mass trade’ the locals reported it is no longer there.”
Has ‘corruption reduced’?
Mr Ellwood also claimed corruption is down.
He clarified to the BBC his observation was based on conversations with locals.
Corruption in Afghanistan has fallen slightly in 2022, according to Berlin-based Transparency International – an organisation that tracks corruption globally using World Bank and World Economic Forum data.
Afghanistan ranked 150 out of the 180 countries, improving slightly from its 2021 ranking of 174, but still very low.
Experts say this slight improvement might be because the massive inflows of military assistance and foreign aid spending have stopped, which some believe were fuelling local corruption.
Prof Goodhand says the Taliban does have a “commitment to tackle ‘immoral’ behaviour,” but also warns that it may not last as petty corruption continues in the country.
Jan Koehler, a researcher on Afghanistan at SOAS says there’s evidence of other forms of corruption.
He says this includes the “misuse of power to get people into jobs, and personal ties enabling access to the Taliban very much improving ones chances to get one’s way in land, water or other resource conflicts”.
Has ‘security vastly improved’?
Mr Ellwood also claimed Afghanistan’s security situation had “vastly improved”.
The number of casualties recorded after the Taliban takeover are well below figures from previous years, when foreign forces were still in the country fighting the Taliban.
Between August 2021 and May 2023, total civilian casualties stood at 3,774, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
In the years before the Taliban takeover, levels of violence were much higher, with civilian casualties peaking in 2016 at over 11,000.
But rebel groups like the local Islamic State group (which opposes the Taliban) continue to target both the Taliban themselves and civilians.
The UN says that there has been a “rise in attacks on places of worship and against minority groups” by such groups.
It also highlights violence directed by some Taliban members against civilian and military officials associated with the former Afghan government.
As for women’s safety, a survey conducted earlier this year by UN showed that 68% women believed their physical safety was “very bad” or “bad”.
The Taliban has also imposed increasing restrictions on women and girl’s ability to work, attend school and university or freely move in public spaces.
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Tobias Ellwood: Tory MP criticised over Taliban re-engagement call
Getty ImagesA senior Conservative MP has been criticised for saying Afghanistan has been “transformed” under the Taliban.
In a video posted from the country on Monday, former defence minister Tobias Ellwood said corruption was falling and security had “vastly improved”.
Fellow Tory Mark Francois called the video “bizarre”, whilst former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said it was not “welcome”.
Downing Street said it disagreed with Mr Ellwood’s assessment.
But Mr Ellwood defended his comments, saying stability in the country was on a “different level” than during times of conflict.
In a BBC News interview, he added that it was time for the UK to establish diplomatic ties with the Taliban rather than “shouting from afar”.
British diplomatic and embassy staff were withdrawn after the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover of the country after Western troops pulled out.
Mr Ellwood, who chairs the Commons defence select committee, tweeted his video during a trip to Helmand province with a landmine clearance charity.
The Bournemouth East MP said Afghanistan was “a country transformed,” with solar panels starting to appear “everywhere” whilst the country’s opium trade “all but disappeared”.
“This war-wary nation is for the moment accepting a more authoritarian leadership in exchange for stability,” he added, whilst calling for the West to “re-engage” diplomatically.
Reopening the British embassy, he added, would be a way to “incrementally” encourage “progressive changes” in areas like girls’ education and rights for female workers.
However, in the Commons on Tuesday, Sir Iain said the video was “not a very welcome statement to have made” given the “persecutions that have taken place in Afghanistan”.
‘Shone a light’
Mr Francois, who also sits on the defence committee, said the video “made no mention of the fact that the Taliban is still attempting to identify and kill Afghan citizens who helped our armed forces, or of the fact that young girls in Afghanistan do not even have the right to go to school”.
Mr Ellwood, whose brother was killed by Islamists in the 2002 Bali bombings, said he wanted to ensure terrorism does not “flourish” in Afghanistan.
Speaking to BBC News, he said he understood his comments would “cause waves”, but he was pleased he had “shone a light on a country that we ran away from”.
“The current strategy of us shouting from afar to try and effect the agenda in Afghanistan is not working,” he said, adding that he was speaking an “an individual MP”.
“We need to engage more directly, more robustly, and that can be done if we open up the [British] embassy”.
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Jury still out on Pita’s 2nd PM bid, speaker says
PUBLISHED : 19 Jul 2023 at 04:00
No conclusion has yet been reached as to whether Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat can be renominated as prime minister in the second round of voting today, House speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said yesterday.
He said the House and Senate whips are divided on the issue, which will be debated in parliament today before the prime ministerial vote is set to take place. The debate on the first issue is expected to take about two hours, after which Mr Wan said he will decide whether he can issue a ruling or another vote should settle the matter.
There are concerns that Mr Pita’s renomination would contravene Article 41 of the House’s regulations which prohibits resubmission in the same parliamentary session of a motion that has already been rejected unless the situation has changed.
However, some argue that selecting a prime minister is not governed by Article 41, which deals with general motions, adding that Section 272 of the charter does not prohibit such a renomination.
Mr Wan said the MFP’s proposal seeking to amend Section 272 to strip the senators of their power to co-select the prime minister was not on the agenda for the pending debate.
Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew said yesterday that its MPs met and assigned party-list MP Sutin Klungsang to nominate Mr Pita as prime minister in the second round of voting.
“If a parliamentarian proposes a motion suggesting Mr Pita’s renomination goes against Article 41 of the House’s regulations, then we are ready to oppose it,” he said.
Asked what Pheu Thai would do if Mr Pita failed to clear this hurdle, Dr Cholnan said the party would have to clarify the MFP’s position before deciding on its next step. And when asked how many votes Mr Pita would need to earn him a third shot at landing the role, Dr Cholnan said both Pheu Thai and the MFP had not reached a conclusion on this.
“However, Mr Pita said if he were to get an additional 10% of votes … he deserves another chance. But 10% of 324 is about 32, so he must get between 356-360 votes to meet this condition.”
He said Pheu Thai would not make a move in forming a coalition government and announce who it will nominate as prime minister unless the MFP makes a formal statement that it is stepping back.
Mr Pita said he believed the eight parties in the prospective MFP-led coalition would stick together even if he fails to win the required support and lets Pheu Thai take the lead in forming the government.
‘No politics’ in generals’ trip
PUBLISHED : 19 Jul 2023 at 04:00
A trip by former army chief Gen Apirat Kongsompong, and chief of the Thai defence forces, Gen Chalermpol Srisawat, to a Malaysian island on May 5-7 was about peace efforts in the deep South and had nothing to do with national politics, a source said yesterday.
The visit took place a week before the May 14 general election but did not have any political implications, and it had nothing to do with a so-called secret deal to form a coalition government, the source said. The source added the pair did not meet a former prime minister, believed to be Thaksin Shinawatra, as suggested by some reports circulating in social media.
“There’s an attempt to link the visit to politics. There are rumours about Gen Apirat, but he chooses to stay silent,” the source said. “That he keeps quiet doesn’t mean there are grounds to those rumours.”
Instead, the source said that Gen Apirat and Gen Chalermpol were part of a delegation to Langkawi island to meet key insurgent members to support peace initiatives in the southernmost provinces.
Korean TV hit makes fans of tourist chiefs
Govt promotes local ‘King the Land’ sets
PUBLISHED : 19 Jul 2023 at 06:39
The Culture Ministry aims to promote locations used in the shooting of King the Land, a new Korean television series, to attract Korean visitors and fans of the drama.
Culture Minister Itthiphol Kunplome said that the series had promoted the country’s beauty and helped to boost tourism.
“We wanted to praise King the Land as it helps represent and promote Thai cultures and our way of life to international audiences. We encourage those who are watching the series to visit Thailand and visit the locations where it was shot,” he said.
In addition to Seoul and many places in Bangkok, such as Wat Arun, the Loha Prasat or the Metal Castle located in Wat Ratchanadda, Wat Pak Nam Phasi Charoen, the Giang Swing, Ong Ang Canal, Khao San Road, Iconsiam, Siam Square, Asiatique the Riverfront, Siri Sala Private Thai Villa and Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Hotel, the series also featured various Thai restaurants, such as the Vertigo & Moon Bar at the Banyan Tree Hotel and the Ancient City in Samut Prakan.
King the Land, which debuted on Netflix in June, is directed by Im Hyun-wook and stars Im Yoon-ah, a former member of the girl group Girls’ Generation, and Lee Junho, a member of the South Korean boy band 2PM. The series ranked second on Netflix’s Global Top 10 list for non-English shows last month, with 17.5 million hours viewed or 4.7 million views, according to the streaming service.
Thapanee Kiatpaiboon, the Tourism Authority of Thailand deputy governor, said that the series has fans around the world who will want to see the shooting locations.
“We want to thank King the Land for filming in our country,” she said.
The TAT expects to welcome at least one million Korean tourists this year, she said, adding that so far, about 800,000 visitors from Korea have visited the country this year.
Court bars public for key case with police on standby
PUBLISHED : 19 Jul 2023 at 06:40
The Constitutional Court on Tuesday declared itself off-limits to the public until Thursday while it considers Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s iTV shareholding case.
On Tuesday, the Office of the Constitutional Court issued an announcement to restrict areas of the court to maintain safety and peace while it decides whether to proceed with the petition filed by the Election Commission (EC) under Section 82 of the constitution today from 9.30am.
The EC asked the court to review the MP status of Mr Pita to see whether he is eligible under Section 101 and Section 98.
The move to declare the court off-limits came after security-related agencies had warned the office to exercise caution to prevent any untoward incidents.
Under the announcement, the surrounding area of the Government Complex commemorating His Majesty the King’s 80th Birthday Anniversary is designated as an outer area for maintaining peace and safety.
Only individuals and vehicles permitted by officials tasked with maintaining peace and safety can enter those areas, the court said.
The specific areas, including the Rajaburi Direkriddhi and Ban Chao Praya Rattana Thibej buildings, have also been designated as controlled areas according to Constitutional Court regulations. The announcement took effect on Tuesday and will remain in force until Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Bureau is preparing to deploy high-pressure water cannons and water trucks to stand by at the court for crowd control.
Pol Maj Gen Atthapon Anusit, chief of the Metropolitan Police Division 2, said specific locations for public gatherings had been arranged in the courtyard in front of the flag pole at the nearby Department of Special Investigation (DSI), located 50 metres from the court.
In related news, the Campaign Committee for People’s Constitution (CCPC) called on the court to dismiss Mr Pita’s case filed by the EC.
CCPC representative Kritsapon Sirikittikul expressed concern about the court’s impartiality, saying many people know iTV has not operated as a media firm since March 7, 2007.
Roundup sees 1,000 held
PUBLISHED : 19 Jul 2023 at 04:00
PHUKET: More than 1,000 drugs suspects were arrested in seven southern provinces during the “Sayob Andaman (Defeating Andaman) 7/66” operation by Provincial Police Division 8.
Pol Gen Sompong Chingduang, special adviser to the Royal Thai Police, held a press conference in Phuket yesterday to summarise the success of the recent operation, the seventh led by Provincial Police Region 8 commissioner Pol Lt Gen Surapong Thanomchit to suppress crimes involving narcotics and to destroy drug networks in popular tourist areas.
Provincial Police Region 8 covers the provinces of Chumphon, Ranong, Phangnga, Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Pol Maj Gen Peerayut Karajedee, deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8, said officers raided 517 premises and arrested 1,040 suspects, 46 of whom had outstanding arrest warrants against them.
Police seized in total 99,985 ya ba or methamphetamine pills, 2.1 kilogrammes of crystal meth, 0.83 grammes of ketamine, and 8.32 grammes of heroin.
Police also seized assets, including nine cars, 16 motorcycles, 52 guns, and 359 other valuable items, worth 6,233,695 baht in total, he added.
Pol Gen Sompong said police will continue conducting drug raids regularly for the safety of people and tourists.
Court accepts suit against EC for impugning Pita
PUBLISHED : 19 Jul 2023 at 06:20
The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on Tuesday accepted for consideration a case lodged against the Election Commission (EC) for allegedly treating Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat unfairly and damaging his good reputation.
The court is to announce its decision on whether to hear the case at 9.30am on Aug 9.
Seven people named in the lawsuit are EC Chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong, all five election commissioners and EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee, said Yongyut Saokaewsatit, a lawyer representing Mr Pita.
They stand accused of committing dereliction of duty, misconduct stated in Section 157 of the Criminal Code, which may result in the impeachment of all seven EC officials if proven guilty, Mr Yongyut said.
The case was filed with the court following the EC’s decision to forward an ineligibility case, linked with Mr Pita’s previous holding of 42,000 shares in iTV Plc, to the Constitutional Court.
“It has been the responsibility of these seven EC officials to carefully examine Mr Pita’s eligibility since before the May 14 general election,” he said.
The seven parties, however, apparently failed to perform this duty until a petition was lodged by political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, who accused Mr Pita of being ineligible to contest the election because he held shares in a media company, said the lawyer.
Before contesting the election, Mr Pita had completed his full term after being elected as an MP in the 2019 election, and the EC had never questioned his eligibility before, said the lawyer.
However, shortly before last week’s parliamentary vote to select the country’s new prime minister, in which Mr Pita was the sole nominee, the EC rushed its investigation into his case and forwarded it to the court, the lawyer said.
“The move was apparently aimed at discrediting Mr Pita and damaging his good reputation,” he said.
These facts are part of the evidence to prove that the seven EC officials failed to perform their duty, he added.
In related news, Jakkrit Thongsri, a Bhumjaithai Party MP for Buri Ram, was found to have declared with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) his holding of 40,000 shares also in iTV.
The shares were declared at the end of his previous MP tenure, along with all other assets worth 84.42 million baht, according to information published by the NACC.