Wee Wai Lin, a veteran Mediacorp executive, has been appointed head and chief editor of the company’s Chinese news and current affairs division, according to a report released on Wednesday ( 12 February ) from 8World. Ms. Wee was formerly the Taiwanese current affairs unit’s deputy director for 35 times.Continue Reading
Thailand is looking for options for commerce and business based on big sporting events. The F1 bet would be a wheel in the government’s Burn Thailand battle, an effort to make the country a global hub for commerce, facilities, events and culture.
However, it wouldn’t be the first time the country has entered significant sports hospitality, which is emerging as a crucial component of its development strategy.
This year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand ( TAT ) is promoting its” Amazing Thailand Grand Tourism and Sports Year”, which includes hosting the Wai Kru Muay Thai Ceremony in March, the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championships, the Bangkok Marathon and SEA Games.
According to the tourism specialist, Buriram, in the south of the nation, hosts an annual MotoGP bike race, which generated US$ 140 million in economic activity in 2024 and created near to 7, 000 job positions there.
F1 carries fame that these other activities cannot fit, according to Matthew Marsh, a Singapore-based racing and marketing expert at EDJ Motorsport.
He said that holding a Grand Prix gives a city or country the opportunity to demonstrate itself on a global stage alongside others in a classy club.
It offers the same level of international coverage as the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics, but for less money and with the benefit of being held annually rather than just once.
TAT’s lieutenant governor for selling communications, Nithee Seeprae, told CNA that sports hospitality allows it to targeted visitors with “higher spending patterns” and make “multiplier effects” by attracting both tourists and foreign investment and spending from business partners.
” The F1 race corresponds with the government’s broader commerce activities, to increase year-round journey and highlight Thailand’s historical and geographical diversity”, he said.
” Such a high-profile event would amplify Thailand’s appeal to affluent global audiences, fostering economic benefits and international recognition”.
The timing seems favorable for attracting F1 to Thailand. Following the takeover by Liberty Media in 2017 and the exploding acclaim of the Netflix series” Drive to Survive,” which chronicles each racing season and its drivers, it has reached new heights in the sport.
” F1 has evolved from a domestic motorsports series to a global entertainment and lifestyle platform. This shift makes Southeast Asia a more viable market for F1 expansion”, Marsh said.
He noted that the sport has also grown in popularity among younger, more gender-balanced viewers.
One-third of today’s F1 fans started following the sport in the last four years. Women now make up approximately 41 per cent of the fanbase,  , according to a report released by Nielsen Sports in December. ” And 40 per cent of F1’s audience is now aged 16-34″, Marsh said.
In 2024, F1 reported a 27 per cent increase in social media following from Asia, contributing to a regional fan base of 386 million- just over half of the sport’s global total.  ,
A return to a traditional and previously used track like Sepang in Malaysia, for example, could prove exciting due to the combination of shifting demographics and the allure of a new circuit in a vibrant city like Bangkok, according to Marsh.
” A race in Thailand would be completely different from anything previously seen on the F1 calendar. He claimed that it would be a destination event for existing fans and that it would help draw in new ones from Southeast Asia.
In a post on his Instagram page on earlier Wednesday morning, Lee uploaded a picture of himself and Lim, creating:” My beloved Moses you are like the following father I’ve lost and the problems is indescribable.
” I will cherish the several times we shared during those times of extraordinary joy forever and forever. Incredible and irreplaceable. I was so happy to have one final image with you just last month. Sleep also Dad, love you constantly. “
Lee told CNA Lifestyle that he and Moses Lim first met before Under One Dome, and that they stayed in touch long after the sitcom’s arc ended in 2003.
As an event producer in the early 1990s, I would hire them for corporate events when [ Lim ] was doing a standup routine with Jack Neo. After our initial encounter in 1994 for the Under One Roof captain, we all became so fully immersed in our responsibilities as a family that we all felt like home. Even after the show ended, we were always in touch and, in recent years, [were ] on a group chat,” said Lee.
” His humour off-camera was cruel and humorous, a side of him the people never got to notice. It was a honor for us to laugh so hard. “
According to Lee, the next moment he saw Moses Lim was on Jan 5 when they shot an exam commemorating the 60th year of Singapore’s freedom.
I drove his family and him home. Taking care Jacob, that is what I said to him last. ‘”
With winter activities being a topic area in Singapore, educators have had to be found elsewhere.  ,
For example, Singapore’s short track manager, Zhao Yanzhi, who is from China, has been training the staff since 2019.
A short-track speed skating competition involves running around an oval-shaped ice record in spring.
” Singapore’s improvement in skating is very good. In Singapore, there will be a fresh ice arena in two years. I hope the leaders will help them and offer them more support”, she said.  ,
Feng Tianwei, a three-time Olympic medalist in table tennis, made it clear that a nation like Singapore must overcome obstacles in order to thrive in winter activities.
We have considered several options and made several efforts to send them abroad for education and contests so that they can spend more time on the ice and snow and have more possibilities to compete.
Since the only Olympic-sized ice arena in Singapore was shut down in 2023, according to the national ice hockey team’s captain, regular education must be conducted across the border.  ,
” It’s a commitment to travel to Malaysia every trip and to be in the traffic jam,” he told CNA.” The entire walk takes us six days only to go for the one-hour training.”
He added that the group often travels to Thailand to play in games and teaching tents.
When China’s Xi Jinping inaugurated the Harbin Games, he demanded that Asia work together to promote winter activities in the area. This is because the nation has been actively promoting the status of these sports, which have historically been dominated by American countries.  ,
SINGAPORE: The National Parks Board ( NPark ) on Tuesday ( Feb 11 ) said it is working towards “humanely” capturing a few stray dogs at Bidadari Park, following feedback that the animals have displayed “territorial behaviour” towards visitors in the area.  , In subsequent weeks, there has been moreContinue Reading
Independent observer Felix Tan, who has written about Singapore’s social environment, said that it even represents a transition in how the PAP fields its prospects.
They” seek out the floor” to see who are the ones who are really in touch with residents and who they believe can win, such as those with remarkable CVs and qualifications,” he said.
He continued, the PAP faces a brand-new problem in developing its strategy in opposition-held neighborhoods.
” After all, it is a relatively recent development, only three GEs ago that they lost the initial GRC”, he noted.
After gaining enough political experience, he claimed that PAP candidates in opposition-held wards were moved to run for another seats in upcoming elections.
Koh Poh Koon, the latest senior minister of state for labor and sustainability and the environment, lost the Punggol East by-election in 2013. Desmond Choo, a GRC MP from Tampa, even ran clumsily in Hougang for the 2011 General Election and the 2012 by-election.
” If they win, they become the MP. They may have gained tree management experience if they didn’t, argued Dr. Tan, and could have been pushed out of the district in a subsequent election.
Assoc Prof. Tan argued that the party’s personnel changes could also serve as a long-term plan to mobilize its activists there in the wake of upcoming democratic elections.
” It’s the same as what the WP does in the south. They even take long-term decisions. And for these groups, one day the problems may just be proper”, he said.
The WP defeated a PAP group that included former foreign affairs minister George Yeo and stranger Ong Ye Kung, who is already minister for health, in the first election held by Aljunied GRC.
It had won the second opposition party to win a GRC since the system’s introduction in 1988, winning 54.72 percent of the seats.
The team was led by then-WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang, who left his long-time enclave of Hougang to challenge the GRC. Pritam Singh, the existing leader of the opposition, Sylvia Lim, Mr. Faisal Abdul Manap, and Chen Show Mao, a stranger, made up the group.
The WP therefore retained Aljunied GRC in the 2015 political competition, with 50.95 per share of the vote. Given the close result, the PAP group applied for a recount, but was later still edged up.
Yeo Guat Kwang, a former four-term MP, and four newcomers, including Mr. Shamsul Kamar, the current president of the Kaki Bukit tree, made up the PAP group.
In his first political campaign since taking over the ropes from Mr. Low in 2018, Mr. Singh led his group to success in the district in the previous General Election in 2020.
Schooling , won Singapore’s first silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in the 100m moth type, beating his childhood idol Phelps. His 50.39-second snorkel even broke the 100m moth record held by Phelps and set a then-Olympic history. Phelps, Romanian swimmer Laszlo Cseh, and South Africa’s most decorated Gymnast,Continue Reading
JJ Lin’s management staff described the rumors surrounding his alleged love as “baseless” as” the latest rumors.” The 43-year-old just came under fire for rumor that claimed he is already dating a Chinese celebrity who is apparently 20 years his junior.
The celebrity reportedly spotted taking a vacation with Lin in New Zealand while attending Lin’s most recent music in Singapore.
Lin’s control team responded to questions from CNA Lifestyle in a speech. He is now recuperating from the virus.
” We will not listen to unfactual rumors that are spreading online. JJ’s concentrate is still on his song job, and best now, he’s prioritising his health and is aiming to recover from the virus as soon as possible”.
Abang Johari Openg, the top of Sarawak, stated that the position has the authority to decide how much oil and gas assets are distributed within its place.
About a year prior, the Indonesian government announced that Petronas would be the only entity keeping track of the nation’s oil and gas reserves, including those in the Malay state.  ,
Abang Johari stressed that the Borneo state “must have a say” in terms of Malaysia’s Petroleum Development Act ( PDA ) 1974, which states that Petronas has exclusive control over the exploration and distribution of the country’s oil and gas resources in Malaysia.  ,
Petros and Petronas will collaborate with Petros, and we have a say in the distribution of gas, he was quoted as saying by The Borneo Post in an interview on the sidelines of a lecture at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute on Monday ( Feb 10 ).
” Lately, Prime Minister of Malaysia ( Anwar Ibrahim ) has agreed that Petros is to be the aggregator of gas ( in Sarawak )” . ,
Anwar claimed at a meeting between the two on January 7 that Petros and the Sarawak state had come to an agreement that it would not interfere with Petronas ‘ function and operations under the PDA, according to state news agency Bernama.  ,
In a parliamentary response on February 4, Azalina Othman Said, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department ( Law and Institutional Reform ), stated that liquified natural gas ( LNG ) is not included in Petronas ‘ recognition of Sarawak government-owned Petros as the state’s gas aggregator.  ,
Sarawak’s quest for more power over its natural sources came to a severe defeat with this.  ,
CNA reported earlier that Azalina’s statement has caused unease with Abang Johari, who has in turn asked Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof to deal with the situation at the federal government level.Continue Reading
SINGAPORE: An Egyptian lady who was on a long-term visit go may be deported and barred from re-entering Singapore after she was found to be involved in operating a travel company that had sponsored , visa programs by terrorism-linked immigrants.  ,
Her father, a Malaysian who is a Singapore continuous citizen, will also be deported and barred from re-entering.  ,
Parvane Heidaridehkordi, 38, had her long-term visit pass cancelled after was deemed an undesirable immigrant for engaging in activities prejudicial to Singapore’s security,  , the Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA ) said on Monday ( Feb 10 ).  ,
Investigations revealed that the travel company served as a front for an operation run by a tourist based abroad. The journey company has since been deregistered. Her actions were prejudiced to our surveillance”, the department added.
Her father, 65-year-old Soo Thean Ling, was similarly declared a prohibited refugee on the premise that he is a family member of Parvane.
Soo attempted to file a corporation to conduct traveling company business in Singapore on two occasions after the authorities began their investigations into the travel company.
” Soo intended for Parvane to perform these firms, which would probably have facilitated Parvane’s extended involvement in supporting the passage of terrorism-linked people into our land. Both Soo business registration applications were turned down for safety reasons, according to MHA.  ,
According to the government, foreigners who engage in security-related activities face deportation and may lose their immigration status.
CNA has contacted MHA for more information regarding the allegations against Pravane and Soo, the travel company she ran, and its connections to terrorism-linked immigrants.