Former Wirecard Asia employee jailed for helping superiors embezzle S,000

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SINGAPORE: A former Wirecard Asia employee was given a 10-week prison term on Tuesday, October 10, for aiding her superiors in robbing the German-registered international payment services company’s subsidiary of$ 47, 000 ( US$ 34, 400 ).

Singaporean See Lee Wee, 30, entered a guilty plea to one count of unlawful breach of trust after taking into account two counts of money laundering.

Her attorneys claimed that she was a young fund executive who carried out the directives of Wirecard Asia vice-president of controlling and foreign financing Edo Kurniawan, her immediate supervisor and the alleged mastermind.

Edo escaped Singapore before being apprehended and is currently on the run with a dark Interpol notice.

See, also known as Krystal, was in charge of financial planning and research for Wirecard companies in the Asia-Pacific area while working as a controlling director for the company.

Irene Chai Ai Lim, the fund head at Wirecard Asia at the time, was one of the co-accusations she made. Chai then informed Edo.

In October 2018, Edo asked Chai if the company had any funds available and informed her that he needed to transfer$ 100,000 for a person named” India.”

After Chai confirmed this, Edo went up to See and demanded money right away. He requested that she borrow money from Wirecard Asia, remove it, and then give it to him right away.

See would not have to worry about paying back the loan because Edo assured her that the” loan” would be transformed into a” bonus” for her.

See did not inquire of Edo about the transfer’s function because he was unaware of it. She agreed despite feeling uneasy.

Chai made arrangements for S$ 47, 000 to get transferred from See’s personal bank account to Wirecard Asia.

See withdrew the majority of the money and gave it to an unnamed person and to Edo in accordance with his directions. She kept on S$ 3,440 in her own profile and spent it however she saw fit.

The” loan” was never paid back and never turned into a bonus.

See afterwards gave Wirecard Asia about S$ 18,000, while Chai gave the business a distinct S$ 70,000 compensation.

In June, Chai admitted guilt to her involvement in the case and received a 10-month prison term.

Given that See was less guilty than Chai, assistant open counsel Vincent Koh asked for three to five months in jail.

JUNIOR LEARNING THE ROPES: DEFENSE

Instead, attorney Derek Kang requested a maximum sentence of two months in prison, claiming that Chai could have given the order to any other young staff.

In fact, Chai could have completed it on her own, but she” didn’t want to get her hands ugly ,” he claimed.

While See, a young finance employee, was conscious that what she was doing was bad, Mr. Kang said, it must be remembered that she had previously participated in similar transactions within the company.

He claimed that she carried out the unlawful deal at the direction of her bosses and supervisors, from whom she had picked up the necessary skills.

According to Mr. Kang, it was quite obvious that See and the other young staff members had been manipulated by the main people in relation to the criminal activity.

According to Mr. Kang,” They were forced to follow what their leaders told them to do because if they did no, their individual jobs would be at danger.”

Three years ago, the Wirecard incident broke out after its listener refused to sign off on 2019 records after being unable to confirm€ 1.9 billion($ US$ 2.07 billion) that was allegedly held worldwide in escrow by third-party lovers. & nbsp,

The prosecutor acknowledged that See was only the” arms and legs” of the program but also noted that the amount of cash taken was” not inconsequential.”

In what has been dubbed Germany’s biggest post-war fraud, leading professionals, including former chief executive Markus Braun, are accused of fraud and industry use.

In order to deceive lenders and investors, Braun’s defendants in the Munich trial against Braun were accused of fabricating ghost income through fictitious dealings with partner companies.

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GOP lawmakers crack the whip against Huawei, SMIC

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In order to stop the Chinese tech giant from gaining access to device production resources and chip design tools, US Republican lawmakers are urging the Biden administration to tighten its sanctions against Huawei and SMIC. & nbsp,

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and House Select Committee on China Chairman Mike Gallagher demanded” full limiting” restrictions against Huawei after US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on October 4 that reports of Huawei’s most recent 7-nanometer device find were” very troubling.” & nbsp,

The Bureau of Industry and Security ( BIS ) of the Commerce Department, according to a letter to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan,” does not understand China’s industrial policy, does not comprehend Chinese military goals, and has no understanding of technology at all— and has not the will to act.”

The BIS” has been enabling SMIC’s increase for more than ten years ,” they claimed,” from granting end-user status that was validated by SMI in 2007 to decontrolling device production equipment, including printing devices, in 2015 to a licensing scheme that is riddled with loopholes in 2020.”

Additionally, McCaul and Gallagher asserted that the BIS may prevent Chinese businesses from evading US export control regulations announced on October 7, 2022, as well as entity listings that make the delivery of cloud computing content to licensing requirements. & nbsp,

An updated law limiting the exports of US chip-making tools to China is in the final phases of review, according to Reuters, which reported on October 6. A restriction titled” Export controls to Semiconductor Manufacturing Items, Entity List Modifications” was posted on the Office of Management and Budget’s( OMB ) webpage on October 4 as a preview of the upcoming changes.

Previous leaders were cited by Reuters as saying that trade control laws are typically not posted by OMB until there is agreement on their content between the Departments of State, Defense, Commerce, and Energy. According to a Reuters report, the revisions may tighten restrictions and address flaws in rules that were initially unveiled on October 7, 2022.

The US government has not yet published an anticipated friend concept updating restrictions on imports of high-end chips used for artificial intelligence.

Gina Raimondo, the US Commerce Secretary, has come under fire for failing to halt China’s technological advancements. Twitter and Screengrab picture

Separately, Gallagher stated in a speech to Reuters that the Commerce Department if” need any National person or company to obtain an export license prior to engaging with Chinese companies on RISC – V,” an open-source technology that can be used to design electronics.

Regarding the potential decision to impose additional restrictions on Huawei and SMIC, Foreign observers have differing opinions. In addition, & nbsp,

According to Lyu Dong, a journalist at Guancha.com,” some US lawmakers suggested that the US may restrict its companies from contributing to open-source technology, particularly in projects that involve Chinese firms.” Many people in the technology industry are silent as a result of this strategy.

The US does not have any benefits in developing RISC-V; it is not that China is using American firms to improve its technologies, Lyu continues.” This is a recommendation that will not help increase the attractiveness of the US firms, but lessen their international market shares.” In actuality, US businesses must expand in China’s areas.

McCaul and Gallagher are both Republicans, according to Zhang Tengjun, deputy director and equate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies’ Department for American Studies. They want to exert pressure on the Biden presidency and advance China and the US’s modern dispersion. & nbsp,

Zhang opined that in order to advance their political plan,” they also want to cater to the needs of native anti-China forces by exaggerating the” China danger.” ” The Biden administration will have its own judgment as it understands that if the US imposes more restrictions on China, it will be a lose-lose condition.”

On the other hand, on Monday, a journalist from Beijing published an article titled” Regulations on RISC – V will pose risks to China.”

” China may find it challenging to acquire and use this technology due to the US government’s stringent controls on RISC-V.” This will present challenges for China’s technological advancement and development in chip design and production, the journalist wrote in the post. & nbsp,

Additionally, he claims that restrictions on RISC-V could harm China’s investments in microprocessor technology because investors are typically drawn to industries with strict regulations.

Arm versus RISC-V

During Raimondo’s attend to Beijing on August 29, Huawei quietly introduced its new Mate60 Pro handset. The Kirin 9000s processor in the phone was created by SMIC using its N 2 technology, according to TechInsights, a Canadian research firm.

Analysis revealed that the Kirin 9000s device has two Arm Cortex A510 energy-efficient components and four high-performance Taishan V120 core. According to reports, Huawei has acquired a permanent permit to use the Arm V8 training collection created by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. and based in the United Kingdom.

In the device war fire is Huawei’s Mate60 Pro. Sohu.com image

The US prohibited Huawei from using the V9 layout because it had contributed important solutions to Arm’s structures. Huawei built the Taishan structures as a result, but the same research reveals that it still needs to rely on the Arm 1.

According to some IT columnists, Huawei’s HarmonyOS and the open-source RISC-V infrastructure may one day replace Chinese operating system-chipset ecosystems.

According to a Hunan-based author in an content,” The two primary operating system – chipset ecosystems are the” Wintel”( Windows OS and Intel’s x86 infrastructure ) and” An’ A’ ( Android O and the Arm structures).” Of course, there is also the” I-A” system( Apple’s iOS and the Arm architecture ), but it is a closed system.

He claims that if HarmonyOS and RISC-V may become China’s habitat, it will have a significant impact on the information technology industry. He does this by pointing to the TH1520 and Alibaba processors’ most recent collaboration.

Huawei, ZTE, Alibaba, Unisoc, and Tencent are among the RISC-V Foundation’s Taiwanese people, according to Chinese media, while Intel, Google, Qualcomm and SiFive are its National people. & nbsp,

The RISC – V Foundation, which was established in 2015, claimed that about 10 billion of these chips have been produced worldwide and that by 2025, the number may reach 80 billion models.

In addition to McCaul and Gallagher, Democrat Senator Marco Rubio and Democrat Senator Mark Warner have urged the Biden administration to address RISC-V, citing concerns for national protection.

According to Rubio, China is creating open-source chip infrastructure to get around US sanctions and expand its chip industry.

According to Warner, the current export-control regulations are unprepared to handle the difficulty of open-source technology in RISC-V or the field of artificial intelligence. He claimed that a significant paradigm change is required.

Raimondo wants more and better tools to stop Huawei, according to the article.

@ jeffpao3 Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at & nbsp.

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Commentary: What’s behind the housing crunch for foreign workers in Singapore?

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Companies must, however, take some time to adjust to this model shift in repair and bedroom activities. Bedroom rental rates are already extremely high, and one company noted that they have increased by 40 % since the pandemic. Unsustainable rentals may force employers to make concessions in the future, even if they are able to provide proof of accommodation upon hiring a new employee.

What else can be done in the long run to enhance housing for foreign employees?

A POSITIVE PROCUREMENT SYSTEM

The latest business type of employee dorms is price-based and confined to long-term contracts. On the other hand, secret housing is profit-driven in order to be long-lasting.

In contrast to personal housing, for which the landlord may raise prices and end leases, dorms have clarity in costs and duration. As a result, there is an excessive desire for hostels, which leads to supply shortages.

Additionally, due to new FEDA demands, businesses that bid for new projects must raise their prices. Contractors may calculate higher prices to fulfill accommodation requirements with excessively brief tendering periods without knowing if they will be awarded the agreement.

This will increase costs, make it challenging to get project bids, and lower interest rates to ensure better housing for foreign workers. At worst, companies might overestimate the cost of lodging before taking severe cost-cutting steps to make up for it.

To solve this problem, a shift in perspective and purchasing procedures is required. A common sweet or quotation in the procurement stage necessitates the expense of preliminary steps. As a lump sum of the project cost, workers’ accommodations range from 5 % to 15 %.

It will be wise for volume surveyors, contract managers, and facility managers to separate the cost of employee housing from different factors when evaluating project bids.

The way that unusual workers’ accommodations are run and maintained may also change. For example, government agencies could include preliminary clauses in their design contracts that outline the layout of the accommodations, the minimal requirements for audits, and a suitable tendering period.

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Support for Ukraine preparing US for future wars

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Kevin McCarthy’s removal from office as Speaker of the US House of Representatives next year, along with 100 congressional Republicans’ vote to withdraw US$ 300 million in military aid to Ukraine, was self-destructive.

If not reversed, it may prevent the US from improving its capacity to produce more arms more quickly, which is desperately needed.

National leaders who hesitate to support Ukraine ignore how increased provide demands of a big war revitalize the US defense business base, ignoring the enormous global consequences of leaving Ukraine behind. & nbsp,

The US needs a strong defense industry and institutions that you choose innovations and maintain high-intensity warfare more and more as great-power competition intensifies. However, despite three decades of underdevelopment, the US defense base is unprepared to handle growing challenges, and the Pentagon’s governmental structures frequently lack the modernization needed to succeed on a modern battlefield. & nbsp,

The important shake-up of protection institutions is provided by continued US military aid for Ukraine. Continued US assistance for Ukraine offers a payout that positions the US for potential war by reviving America’s aging security center and forcing the Pentagon to reconsider its stifled methods of purchasing essential gear.

Deficit in artillery

The most widely used ability in the US ordnance arsenal, 155mm, was merely produced by the United States on a monthly basis prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian counteroffensive uses up to 6, 000 shells per day( roughly 183, 000 products per month) to place this number in perspective.

According to the Ukrainian army, the army must be defeated every day with 10,000 rounds. At the height of its bombardments in 2023, Russia fired its gun at an astounding level of 60 000 shells per day( 830 000 products per month ). & nbsp,

The US has doubled its production to 24, 000 155mm shells per quarter as of August to meet the larger-than-anticipated Russian demand for gun weapons. By the fall of 2025, the Pentagon hopes to achieve its goal of 1 million sessions per yr( roughly 83, 000 products per month ).

Even after the war in Ukraine is over, this increased power will remain. About$ 2 billion was spent by the US Army to increase the output of ordnance weapons in the country. The US will be able to produce sufficient weapons to withstand future protracted, high-intensity wars fought by itself or its partners thanks to the construction of new manufacturing lines and modernization of existing ones in facilities like Pennsylvania’s Scranton Army Munitions Plant.

Beyond the 155mm artillery, Lockheed Martin has invested in doubling the production of High Mobility Artillerry Rocket Systems( HIMARS ) in its factory in Camden, Arkansas, from 48 to 90 units annually as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. In order to increase the production of munitions for Ukraine, the flower plans to hire 20 % more workers over the next few years.

On April 12, 2021, US troops practiced live-fire battle at Camp Fuji, Japan, with a US Javelin anti-tank weapon. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Jonathan Willcox, WikiCommons

Javelin man-portable systems, another home of weapons essential for Ukraine’s defence, are also produced by the Camden factory. Javelin anti-tank missiles, developed in collaboration by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, have assisted Ukrainians in destroying Russian armoured columns, delaying Russia’s first attack on Kiev.

The two organizations intend to increase output of Javelin missiles from 2, 100 to 4, 000 products annually in response to numerous Pentagon-related orders from Ukraine. Raytheon restarted the production of Stingers, another man-portable method frequently used by the Ukrainian army to shoot down Russian aviation, in response to a further$ 340 million Pentagon order.

increasing hands sales

Some of these changes may get reversed or slowed down if the US stops providing military aid to Ukraine. Sales and production of US gun munitions, HIMARS, man-portable devices, and other weapons are still largely driven by the Russian military’s great demand.

This has traditionally been something that is supper or hunger, according to Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s learning captain, who was quoted in an article from last year in Inside Defense. When the crisis is over, we simply return to little generation after going into panic mode and increasing creation.

The conflict in Ukraine serves as a test case for new US weaponry, allowing the US government to see their first-ever functionality in an extensive, high-intensity conflict.

For the first time in Ukraine, US robots like the Altius 600M from Anduril Industries, the Switchblade from AeroVironment, and the Phoenix Ghost from Aevex Aerospace were used extensively. Palmer Luckey, the founder of Anduril, emphasized how quickly people pick up on lessons from the battle, saying,” As the Russians change their tactics and their techniques, we’re able to push program changes to our systems that change the features.”

Wahid Nawabi, the CEO of AeroVironment, also referred to the conflict in Ukraine as an” tone point.” The company has now developed an improved version of Switchblades using lessons learned from using its robots in Ukraine.

In addition, US businesses have been able to create completely new systems for the Ukrainian military, such as Boeing’s Ground-Lunched Small Diameter Bomb( GLSDB ), and use them immediately after production, hastening the process of military learning and adaptation.

Modernization

The war in Ukraine has been particularly quickly used by US defence companies to create and test new systems. The war in Ukraine has prompted significant advancements in defense space, including helicopter swarms and professional satellites as well as anti-drone jamming and real-time AI targeting.

The war in Ukraine allows US military managers to improve their understanding of how older devices, such as HIMARS and Bradleys, perform in a large-scale present battle against an attack of their own. This is in contrast to newer methods.

The next time a sizable regular force was fought with US weapons was during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Warfare has changed over the past 20 years with the advent of new technologies and beliefs. With the war in Ukraine, General Mark Milley, a previous chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that” we are witnessing the way wars may be fought, and won, for years to come.”

Previous Joint Chiefs of Staff president Mark Milley of the US Army. Asia Times Files, AFP, and Saul Loeb

Security institutions must keep up with the battlefield’s increasing mobility and complexity as a result of modern technologies. Since the Vietnam War, the US had not increased its military creation to such an extent prior to Russia’s full-scale war in 2022. Both public and private methods had become dirty. The US’s institutions desperately need an upgrade if it is to succeed in a significant warfare against an equal rival.

This chance is provided by ongoing support for Ukraine and the participation of the US defense force. The Pentagon has already figured out how to apply Covid-era mass production techniques to the military sector over the past year and a half of the conflict, expediting contracts to restock Stingers and Javelins and supply Ukraine with cutting-edge National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems ( NASAMS ).

The government is able to speed up the replenishment of its dwindling backlog of weapons for Patriot weather protection rockets, HIMARS, and other systems thanks to new procurement authorities, such as multi-year contracts. In order to grow, develop, and procure arms with the utmost intensity, the Pentagon is also learning how to form business partnerships with international countries.

By stress-testing the defense business base, US support for Ukraine reveals potential bottlenecks producers may encounter if the US were to provide a large-scale war, from challenges in luring high-skilled labor to the lack of middle inputs.

aid from both parties for preparing for war in the future

The war in Ukraine, according to legislative leaders on both sides of the hall, demonstrated that the US lacked sufficient surge capacity for a big war, prompting Congress to provide funding for the restoration of upscaling ability.

A stronger sense of urgency brought on by the need to help Ukraine likewise aids the Pentagon in removing obstacles from its business alliances. The US European Command, the command structure in charge of US military operations in Europe, has quickly increased its use of for-profit satellite pictures to supply intellect to Ukraine.

According to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, the Defense Department is currently thinking about how to better integrate industrial systems outside of Ukraine as a result of the conflict.

The convergence of US broader knowledge sharing with Ukrainians and the integration of commercial and military intellect is a demonstration of the skills necessary for aiding partner non-allied governments in future wars.

In the event of a Taiwanese emergency, lessons from the Russian experience, such as improved intelligence sharing regulations, will be crucial. Due to the fact that neither the Japanese nor the Ukrainians are recognized as US alliance nations, the US would encounter the same challenges when sharing intelligence with them. & nbsp,

Chinese symbol is flown in Taoyuan by a helicopter. Ceng Shou Yi, NurPhoto, and Getty Images

A sense of necessity and an incentive for reforms may wane if it weren’t for the US’s ongoing support for Ukraine. Authorities bureaucracies, which are designed to be weighty, typically resist significant changes unless they are absolutely necessary. Prior to the war in Ukraine, the Pentagon did not integrate with any personal dish intelligence companies, and it took longer to form business alliances with allies.

Prior to the war, Congress steadfastly refused to allow multi-year weapons procurement and reluctantly gave this power last December, but only for a small number of agreements. Even though administrative changes are now taking place, it is not guaranteed that they will continue in the absence of strong external stimuli.

Statistics however matter, as the conflict in Ukraine demonstrates. By halting Russia’s aggression and enhancing its capacity to produce weapons quickly and efficiently, the US strengthens its own protection. As a result, the US will have an advantage over its adversaries, many of whom have not participated in significant conflicts in years. Does Congress really want this, & nbsp?

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New momentum for Indonesia’s stalled Masela gas field

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Arifin Tasrif, the minister of energy and mineral resources for Indonesia, made reference to using hybrid offshore and onshore development systems in the Masela liquified natural gas ( LNG ) project, which has sparked rumors that plans to build a 170-kilometer pipeline across an undersea trench that is 3, 000 meters deep may be postponed or completely abandoned.

With a final purchase decision expected in the middle of 2026, at least seven years behind plan, majority Chinese client Inpex Corporation is speeding up construction on the 9.5 million kilogram per season Abadi LNG plant in rural Arafua Sea. & nbsp,

Since Indonesian and Malaysian state oil companies Pertamina and Petronas recently teamed up to purchase the 35 % stake in the project previously held by Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world’s pioneers of floating LNG technology ( FLNG ), the 13 trillion cubic feet ( TCF) project has gained some momentum.

Shell finally left Masela after the then-newly-installed government insisted in 2015 that it be converted from an offshore to an inland operation on the Tanimbar archipelago, which are located northwest of the Indonesia-Australian maritime border.

The Pertamina / Petronas consortium will pay an additional$ 375 million at the time of the final investment decision, and the US$ 650 million investment transaction will be settled in two payment tranches of$ 325 million in cash.

Then, based on the advantages he insisted it would bring to a small archipelago — andnbsp, now an occasional cruiser liner destination— as well as the rest of Maluku province to the north, chief maritime minister Rizal Ramli persuaded Widodok to switch to an onshore development.

In comparison to what the seaward solution might offer in terms of supplying gas directly from an FLNG to a string of power stations across uninhabited eastern Indonesia, some in-depth studies appear to have been conducted to reveal those benefits.

At this point, it is still unknown whether natural gas will be used to force the new LNG herb and how many of the 10, 000 Abadi workers may come from Maluku, an underdeveloped region of eastern Indonesia where copper has recently boosted economic growth. & nbsp,

According to experts, the Masela project’s now-planned use of a hybrid type of floating LNG concept that uses at least one 170, 000 cubic meter Floating Storage Regasification unit ( FSRU ) suggests that it may fill an anticipated supply gap before the pipeline is finished.

Given the challenges facing the tunnel, which runs along the western and southern coastlines of Sumatra and Java and is one of the busiest fault lines in the world, some analysts also wonder if the pipeline will even be built under the new government that will be installed in 2024.

Facebook’s image

A minimum of 80 % of an FSRU may be constructed at factories in China, South Korea, or Singapore, leaving small work for local businesses, including state-owned businesses that have benefited from numerous state construction deals over the past ten years. & nbsp,

The only two FSRUs already operating in Indonesia are used for upstream supply to LNG-run power plants, not for downstream projects, in Jakarta Bay and off the southern Indonesian province of Lampung.

An inland facility, according to critics, would benefit politically connected business interests in Jakarta who are either suspected of buying real estate on Yamdena’s primary Tanimbar island or who stand to win lucrative work contracts for the project. & nbsp,

The LNG service may be constructed on a 600-hectare site on Yamdena, which is 3, 000 square kilometers in size and home to 123, 000 mostly Christian residents who work as subsistence farmers or fishermen.

After the Ichthys LNG job on the Northwest Shelf of Western Australia, where the business is considering building a second generation educate at its 8.9 million tonnes per year LNG facility, Masela will overtake Inpex as its second-largest management asset.

Takayuki Ueda, the CEO of Inpex, stated last month that a revised Plan of Development ( POD) would be approved by Indonesian authorities thanks to letters of intent the company had with potential LNG customers.

Inpex and Shell originally intended to mark the POD at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, in 2019, but it was already obvious that the British foreign was leaving after the government changed its mind.

The Masela plant will also include carbon capture, utilization, and storage ( CCUS ) technology, which is anticipated to cost an additional$ 1.2 to$ 1.4 billion, in addition to & nbsp, The & NBSP, FSRU.

For the state power utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara’s( PLN) network of six sizable LNG-fired facilities, which contribute roughly 8, 000MW of the 53,000MW major Java-Bali network, the use of CCUS technology is in line with the government program for the transition to clean energy.

Natural gas, which is still a fossil fuel, will eventually replace coal with renewable energy sources like geothermal, renewable, and wind because they are still in the early stages of development and don’t easily lend themselves to trusted baseload power.

More than 70 % of the Java-Bali network is still dominated by coal and nbsp from Sumatra and Kalimantan. With installed solar capacity of only 300 MW, only 7.7 % of gridrelies are powered by renewable sources, primarily geothermal and water.

Experts claim that while regular inland LNG terminals, of which Indonesia now has three also operational, require extensive berthing, piping, storage tanks, and associated infrastructure, the FSRUs do not.

According to one Jakarta-based oil and gas expert with extensive expertise in Indonesia’s rich gas fields, the more recent integration of an FSRU into downstream gas projects may offer a number of benefits.

It’s crucial to remember that careful planning and taking technological, economic, and regulatory factors into account when using an FSRU upstream. To ensure effective and secure gas handling and storage,” their inclusion involves designing appropriate connections, safety measures, and procedures.”

An FSRU can be used among its inland applications to temporarily store extra gas produced during high generation times, preventing waste and enabling controlled distribution as production rates fall.

Additionally, the associated fuel can be collected and stored, therefore re-gasified and used for energy generation or other reasons, eliminating the need for gas flaring by connecting an FSRU to an inland LNG facility.

To overcome difficulties in constructing long-term inland system, inland fuel projects in isolated or commercially residual locations, such as Masela, could also use an FSRU. It may be a cost-effective method of storing the gas in these situations before it is delivered to consumers or larger pipes.

An FSRU may be quickly deployed to meet small project deadlines and take advantage of beneficial market conditions, experts point out, because standard inland gas processing facilities may take several years to plan, design, and construct.

An FSRU may act as a temporary LNG professional end if the inland project is close to the coast, allowing the gas to be liquefied and stored it before being sent to large LNG carriers for export.

Since its inauguration on July 26, the Masela project has made progress as BP’s long-delayed third Tangguh production train in West Papua ramps & nbsp, up production, and it is now the largest LNG processor in the nation, surpassing Kalimantan ‘ 45-year-old Bontang plant.

A BP spokeswoman predicts that the first LNG will be fully functional by the end of the year, essentially doubling Indonesia’s LNG manufacturing to 30.5 million tonnes by 2027 and giving the sector a new lease on life. It left the next teach on September 13.

PLN, which intends to change many of its outdated coal-fired power stations with oil and, to a lesser extent, renewable energy by 2040, will receive about 75 % of the creation. & nbsp,

The Geng prospect, which was first discovered by Indonesian junior Black Platinum in the North Ganal production sharing contract( PSC ) block 85 kilometers off East Kalimantan in 2011, revealed 500 billion cubic feet of gas and 400 million barrels( MMBLS ) of associated condensate, according to recent announcements from Italian major ENI.

In its quest to achieve net zero, Indonesia wants to use more natural oil in its energy mix. Image: Facebook

North Ganal, the third-largest discovery in the Kutai Basin, is to the south of the Indonesia Deepwater Development ( IDD ) project, which was recently purchased from Chevron — the most recent US oil major to leave Indonesia — and will now make IDD a much more alluring business proposition.

Through a mutual research with ENI, Black Platinum activated the North Ganal wall, and the Roman company joined forces with them in 2011. The Italians first had no interest in Geng and decided to practise what ultimately proved to be a remote possibility in 2012.

Eni suddenly acquired 62 % of the administration right to five oil fields in the Makassar Strait that were previously owned by Chevron. IDD working areas are currently being integrated into North Ganal, and future production is assisting in reducing the potential supply uncertainty of local Bontang.

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Singapore turns to robots to attract talent, help firms tide through manpower crunch

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According to Dr. Zhang Yanliang, key scholar and co-founder of Weston Robot,” This place is a labor-intensive area, and it is very hard to get Singaporeans, especially young people to provide this segment.” This is why we are providing more robots there. & nbsp,

According to him, the job scope will change as robots take over while fresh talent tries to control or serve them. & nbsp,

Machine Companies ‘ CHALLENGES

Robot producers have a number of issues despite the demand for smart technology.

Expertise learning, according to Dr. Zhang, is one of the difficulties his business faces. & nbsp,

” Many large corporations surround us, and they offer the new engineers very great packages.” Therefore, it is very challenging for a small business to draw skill, he continued. & nbsp,

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‘I feel hopeless’: Living in a country on the brink

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The Patuxai monument in VientianeAlastair McCready
Alastair McCready
Laos, in Vientiane

Jo holds a recently awarded degree in English writing from one of Laos’ major universities. However, the 22-year-old, who just recently graduated, claims that he already feels” hopeless.”

The Vientiane native, faced with a depressing job market, has no chance of finding employment at home and instead wants to work as an Australian fruit picker or cleaner. His goals are modest, but they reflect a quiet discontent among his peers that is the result of the significant and ongoing economic slump that has ravaged Laos for the past two decades.

” The government is not something that anyone in this era believes in.” They don’t think something the government says, and they want to keep Laos, he tells the BBC. The majority of my buddies share my opinions, but we only discuss them in private. I don’t know what will happen if you say negative things about them in people.

A hasty government borrowing program used to fund Chinese-backed infrastructure projects, which has started to fall apart, is to blame for the financial crisis. Many people in one of South East Asia’s poorest nations are on the verge of extinction as a result of the issue, which has seen public debt spiral to unmanageable rates, state budget cuts, skyrocketing inflation, and record-breaking currency depreciation.

A generation of young Laotians is extremely seeing their future internationally as a result of the dire financial situation and the killing of advocate Anousa” Jack” Luangsuphom in April, which highlights the terrible lengths authorities in the one-party state will go to silence calls for reform.

According to Emilie Pradichit, a Lao-French international human rights attorney and the creator of the Human Rights organization Manushya Foundation,” Young people aren’t even thinking about change; they’re just feeling like I’m stuck around, there’s no coming for me.”

Would you want to be if you saw your nation turning into a settlement of China, you see an entirely crooked government, and you are unable to speak out because doing so could result in your death?

The” debt trap”

Laos is one of the least designed and sparsely populated nations in the region, with 7.5 million people living in a landlocked country. The government has invested in significant infrastructure projects over the past ten years in an effort to change the largely agrarian society. These projects have primarily been funded by historic ally and neighbor China, which has been lending heavily since 2013 as part of its Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI ) global infrastructure investment program.

In order to become the” power of South East Asia” as a significant supplier of energy to the area, Laos has constructed lots of foreign-financed rivers. However, due to oversupply, many dams are no longer productive, and the state electricity company owes$ 5 billion($ 4.1 billion ) in debt. Lacking resources, Laos granted a majority Chinese-owned company stipulation for 25 years to maintain significant portions of its power grid in 2021, including export control.

The Lao-China rail, which connects Vientiane to southeastern China, is another one of the debt-ridden megaprojects. It began operations in December 2021 for$ 5.9 billion($ 4.85 billion ), but it left the Lao government with$ 1.9 billion in debt. Beijing claims that the railway has established an” economic corridor ,” but some economists find the numbers to be insufficient, not the least of which is the fact that 70 % of Chinese state-owned companies are involved.

The Vientiane railway station

Alastair McCready

According to scholar Jayant Menon, a senior colleague at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore,” I’m confident people are happy to go really fast across Laos, but it’s not justified at the price that was agreed upon.”

According to the International Monetary Fund, all of this has increased Laos’ ballooning bill, which is currently eighth highest globally in terms of a share of its GDP. Laos then needs to borrow more money from local lenders just to keep afloat because about half of that is owed to China.

According to him,” Laos is so greatly indebted to China that their negotiating status is compromised.” It must lend money in order to pay off the debt. That is what a debt trap is defined as.

It was impossible to contact the Lao state for opinion. However, Mr. Menon emphasized that Laos has consistently turned down another foreign lenders in favor of Beijing, possibly as a result of the government’s conviction that China” will not let another communist country fail.” He continued by saying that Beijing was even wary of allowing another BRI nation to default on its debts following Sri Lanka.

Presentational grey line

Ten years after Xi Jinping unveiled the Belt and Road Initiative, this is the next in a series of articles looking at Chinese investment worldwide.

Read the second article to learn more about the shady Foreign businesses that control portions of Cambodia.

Presentational grey line

Repeated Chinese debts deferral agreements, the terms of which are still very unclear, are the only thing now preventing that outcome. This has caused worries about Beijing’s expanding influence over Laos. Mr. Menon responded,” That ship has sailed ,” when asked if Laos is at risk of becoming a servant position.

The decline of the Lao currency, the kip, which continues to depreciate to record lows against the US dollar, according to him, has also been attributed to the” macro – instability” brought on by” massive debt accumulation.” Nothing is this being felt more keenly than among regular Laotians, which has resulted in a decades-high increase in prices.

” If I don’t fight, I’ll perish.”

Phonxay, a frail-appearing 60-year-old woman selling home goods in Vientiane’s food industry, says,” I have not experienced anything like this time.” She added that August was the most costly month yet and that her clients are buying less because” costs go up day to day.” Her family’s survival has required adaptation.

” My family needs to eat more affordably than ever.” According to Phonxay, we only consume quarter of what we once did. But I’ll persevere until the bitter ending. If I don’t, I’ll pass away.

A food market in Vientiane

Alastair McCready

However, young Lao may bear the brunt of the financial crisis for years to come because their futures are mortgaged off for the advantage of infrastructure projects that offer them some real opportunities.

Sen, a 19-year-old waiter who works in the hotel in Luang Prabang in northeastern Laos, says,” Lao is very good to go, but not good for living in.”

With its Unesco World Heritage Old Quarter of immaculate European colonial-era houses teeming with tourists, the area is bustling after more. Sen, however, asserts that things continue to be difficult:” For regular folks like me, it’s pretty difficult.” It’s simply preferable to being a poor person in India, and possibly even superior to North Korea. We’re really trying to survive, I’m critical.

He only makes$ 125 a month working at his hotel, but he doesn’t think it’s worthwhile to attend college or apply for government jobs because, given his lack of family ties, doing so would require him to” pay lots of money” to corrupt officials.

Nearly all Lao students, including myself, don’t currently desire to attend college, he claims. They apply to work in companies or farms in those nations after studying Chinese or Korean.

According to Catherine Phuong, the lieutenant resident agent for the UN Development Programme in Laos, this” feeling of depression among young people … needs serious interest.” She cited the” staggering” NEET( not in education, employment, or training ) rate of 38.7 % among 18 to 24 year olds, which is by far the highest in South East Asia.

She told the BBC,” We’re particularly anxious in Laos that with the debt scenario we are seeing reduced expenditure in the social industry, including health and education.” ” I’m sure you can picture the effects that will have on this technology over the next ten to twenty years, not just in the years to come.”

However, younger people have had to switch to social media to voice their complaints because the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, which has ruled the nation since 1975, is intolerant of dissenting voices.

Anousa” Jack” Luangsuphom founded Kub Kluen Duay Keyboard, also known as” The Power of the Keystroke ,” in March 2022 as inflation and the cost of living started to rise. This was one of a growing number of social commentary Facebook pages critical of authorities.

Tens of thousands of people were following the 25-year-old when he was attacked at a shop in Vientiane on April 29. A masked person is seen in CCTV footage shooting a bullet into Jack’s experience and neck. Days later, a police statement attributed the alleged conflict to either the company or the lover’s words. Jack managed to escape the assault, but his supporters knew who was to blame.

Jo, a university student in Vientiane who likes Jack on Facebook, says,” I feel really bad that the government did take him and that they would try to control us like that.” ” Jack is the tone of the Lao persons; he said things that are reserved for ordinary people.”

Shui-Meng Ng wears a bracelet saying “Faith, Courage, Strength, Hope” in memory of her husband.

Alastair McCready

Some know this better than Shui – Meng Ng, the wife of the late Lao civil society argue Sombath Somphone, who is aware that these names for reform will only be disregarded or suppressed.

Since being detained by police in Vientiane in December 2012, when his effect was growing and transformation was possible, Sombath has not been seen.

Shui – Meng claimed that accents like Jack and Sombath’s are suppressed because they grow” too great a following” at times when the” Lao social elite are facing problems” while speaking to the BBC from her art shop in downtown Vientiane, the last position she saw her father on the day he was abducted.

She said, zipping her lips,” You see this every time something like[ Jack’s shooting ] happens. ” People become motionless.”

Further information provided by Lamxay Duangchan

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Join carbon emissions fight: ThaiBev CEO

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In: South-East Asia

8 October 2023 at 21: 20 PUBLISHED

Join carbon emissions fight: ThaiBev CEO
At the conclusion of the 10-day fair at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center on Sunday, Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, president and CEO of ThaiBev, the primary organizer of SX2023, makes a speech. Wichan Charoenkiatpakul( picture )

The primary organizer of the Sustainability Expo 2023, Thai Beverage Public Company Limited ( ThaiBev ), is urging people to take part in lowering carbon emissions and challenging the private sector to assist the nation in becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, president and CEO of ThaiBev, thanked people who made this event arise and expressed his wish that everyone can become one of the many smaller gears needed to propel the earth towards a better and more sustainable future during his final statement on the final moment of exhibition, which ended on Sunday.

He claimed that the occasion was not just his idea; instead, it was the result of discussions with others who shared his belief that sustainability is crucial.

I’ve had the opportunity to speak with senior executives from another private companies. They emphasized the importance of ecology and how it depends on us to achieve it, he said.

According to him, Thailand has reaffirmed its commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065 and carbon neutrality by the year 2050.

Additionally, people should make a contribution to conservation by advancing it, particularly by accounting for their annual carbon emissions, protecting the environment, or recycling and managing cheap spend, he said.

We must examine ourselves in order to recognize how much of a problem we have placed on community. We must begin planting plants to offset the effects if we are aware of how much carbon monoxide we emit. We may assess our daily activities because, according to him, if we lack self-awareness, we will never know which areas we need to focus on and improve in order to reach the carbon neutral purpose.

According to Mr. Thapana, SX2023 has demonstrated that every industry is working to help, and he had personally learned from his own efforts to promote sustainability.

” Our labor does not stop here, and additional partnerships with other industries and organizations will become formed.” According to him, the trip to a better and more responsible world is the goal of sustainability work rather than its conclusion.

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