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https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/solidarity-budget-600-cash-support-all-adult-covid-19-coronaviru-12613836 Solidarity Budget: S$600 cash support for all adult Singaporeans, other cash payouts to be brought forward to June SINGAPORE: All adult Singaporeans aged 21 and above will receive a one-off Solidarity Payment of S$600 in cash, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced on Monday (Apr 6). For the majority of Singaporeans who have provided their bank account details to the Government, the Solidarity Payment will be credited directly into their bank accounts by Apr 14 this year, said Mr Heng, who is also Finance Minister. The rest will receive the payment by cheque, to be issued in stages later, starting Apr 30, he added. The S$600 is made up of S$300 that he announced in his earlier supplementary budget and an additional S$300, Mr Heng explained. The additional support is part of a Solidarity Budget to provide help to firms, workers and households in response to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic that has affected many sectors in Singapore. This is the third round of support measures from the Government. “I will bring forward S$300 from the Care and Support – Cash payout that I announced earlier,” he said. “I will provide timely support for households, to ensure that no household stands alone during this difficult period.” Other cash payouts under the Care and Support Package, which were earlier announced, will be brought forward to June this year, instead of August. These payouts include the remaining S$300 or S$600 from the higher tiers of the Care and Support – Cash payout, the additional S$300 payout for each parent with at least one child aged 20 and below, and the S$100 PAssion Card top-up, which will be given in cash, for Singaporeans aged 50 and above, Mr Heng said. “Not everyone will need these cash payouts. I am very encouraged that many have written to me, my ministerial colleagues and MPs, that they do not need the cash payouts, and suggest that we give these to those who need the cash more. I thank fellow Singaporeans for your thoughtfulness,” Mr Heng said. He urged those who can to donate to charities on the Giving.sg website or the Community Chest’s Courage Fund, or to directly share it with others. He encouraged those who need more support to approach Social Service Offices and Community Centres, to apply for new schemes such as the Temporary Relief Fund and the upcoming COVID-19 Support Grant, which will be available from May 2020, as well as existing ComCare schemes. “Some Singaporeans will also be emotionally affected or distressed in this period. So besides financial support, let us provide emotional and mental health support to our people,” he said. READ: Singapore sees record daily spike of 120 COVID-19 cases, 'significant number' linked to worker dormitories Community mental health support services will continue to provide care and support for clients through phone consultations, or home visits for those who may need more support, he said. He also commended a 24/7 National Care Hotline which the Ministry and Social Family Development announced over the weekend. “I am glad that mental health professionals and trained volunteers have stepped forward to offer their help in setting up the new hotline,” he said.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/27/social-distancing-new-study-suggests-two-metres-not-enough/ Social distancing: new study suggests two metres is not enough People may still be at risk even when they are more than two metres away from an infected person BySarah Knapton, SCIENCE EDITOR27 March 2020 • 7:00pm The two-metre social distancing rule being used to keep people apart may need to be four times bigger to prevent coronavirus from spreading, a new study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests.Currently, people are being asked to keep a distance of around 6ft 6in when out in the community, and many supermarkets have now stuck lines of tape to the floor to ensure adequate separation between shoppers when queuing.But the new analysis by MIT has found that viral droplets expelled in coughs and sneezes can travel in a moist, warm atmosphere at speeds of 33ft to 100ft per second (ten metres to 100 metres), creating a cloud that can span approximately 23ft to 27ft (seven metres to eight metres).The researchers also warned that droplets can stay suspended in the air for hours, moving along airflow patterns imposed by ventilation or climate-control systems.Virus particles have already been found in the ventilation systems of hospital rooms of patients with coronavirus, which the MIT team believe could have been carried on "turbulent clouds" of air.Scientists said the research had implications for both the public and healthcare workers, who may not realise they need to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) even when they are not in close proximity to an infected patient.Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama), the authors said that current distance guidelines may be too short. "These distances are based on estimates of range that have not considered the possible presence of a high-momentum cloud carrying the droplets long distances."Given the turbulent puff cloud dynamic model, recommendations for separations of three feet to six feet (one metre to two metres) may underestimate the distance, timescale, and persistence over which the cloud and its pathogenic payload travel, thus generating an underappreciated potential exposure range for a healthcare worker."For these and other reasons, wearing of appropriate personal protection equipment is vitally important for health care workers caring for patients who may be infected, even if they are farther than six feet away from a patient."A separate study in the same journal by Chinese researchers also showed that the virus can survive well in the warm, humid conditions of a swimming bathsIt was hoped that when the weather warms up , coronavirus might die away, which is usually what happens with seasonal flu. But the new study suggests that this might not happen.Nanjing Medical University in China found that after one infected man visited a bath house in the town of Huai’an, about 435 miles northeast of Wuhan, eight people using the pool contracted the coronavirus in the following days.The virus appeared to survive despite the temperature of the pool being between 25 degrees Celsius and 41 degrees Celsius and humidity of approximately 60 per cent, conditions that normally would have killed a virus like flu."Previous studies have demonstrated that the transmission rate of a virus is significantly weakened in an environment with high temperature and humidity," author Dr Qilong Wang wrote."However, judging from the results of this study, the transmissibility showed no signs of weakening in warm and humid conditions."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-singapore-sex/red-lights-out-singapores-sex-industry-shuts-due-to-coronavirus-idUSKBN21E0TI SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Shortly after midnight on Friday, a young Asian sex worker dressed in a baggy cotton dress and slippers stepped out of a brothel in Singapore’s deserted red light district and rolled a wheelie bin to the side of the street. A view of Orchard Towers after it shut down shortly before midnight, as part of measures to curb the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Singapore March 27, 2020. REUTERS/Edgar Su Two hours earlier, Singapore’s vibrant Geylang neighborhood was having a more typical night - clusters of men negotiating with chain-smoking pimps on the street as women in tight dresses tapped at phones inside neon-lit houses alongside. Singapore closed bars, nightclubs and cinemas from Friday until the end of April in an effort to contain a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. Although the announcement made no mention of the government-sanctioned brothels in Geylang, pimps and sex workers said they were passed the message that they too would need to close shop. “I got nice girls for you. Might be your last chance for a while,” a grizzled pimp mumbled in the hours before midnight outside one of the dozens of brothels dotted along Geylang’s streets, which are monitored by police security cameras. Singapore announced massive stimulus measures on Thursday to soften the economic shock from the coronavirus outbreak, including generous cash handouts for locals. But for the hundreds of low-income Asian migrant sex workers and nightclub entertainers in the wealthy city-state, there is huge uncertainty about their future. “I don’t know how we’ll survive,” said one freelance sex worker, sitting on a plastic chair across the street from a brothel decorated with Chinese red lanterns, a nod to customers about the nationality of the women working inside. “We don’t get looked after like people in other jobs.” Government departments and police did not respond to requests for comment on the closure of brothels. Singapore, known for its strict laws, does not explicitly criminalize prostitution although aspects of the industry are illegal, including soliciting, pimping and running a brothel. That has not stopped the sex trade operating in the Asian financial hub, from rendezvous in high-end hotel bars to the infamous Orchard Towers, a drab 1970s commercial building in Singapore’s prime shopping district. Orchard Towers is now closed with police tape around its entrances. “What am I gonna do now?” said one young woman in a sequined dress as men shuffled out of the tower’s drinking holes, including Naughty Girl Nightclub and the Downunder Bar, on Thursday night. “I guess we’ll work something out, honey. People still got to have fun.”

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-covid-19-vegetables-supply-movement-control-order-12579348?cid=FBcna KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's vegetable farmers have warned of a supply shortage in the coming months, as the current movement control order (MCO) has affected production processes. Among the challenges faced by farmers and sellers include difficulties in purchasing supplies, labour shortage as well as a prolonged pause in farming due to the extended MCO. Organic farmer John Liew told CNA that the vegetable farming industry is vulnerable, as it is made up of a chain of processes. “In order for us to successfully farm, we need our suppliers who provide us with things like feed and fertilisers. “But right now, with the movement restriction, all the agricultural shops are closed. Although I don’t need pesticides for organic farming, there are many other materials I source from them for my daily farming,” he said. He added: "Of course there will be a shortage (going forward)". Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had announced on Mar 16 that the nation would be under a MCO from Mar 18 until Mar 31 in order to contain the spread of COVID-19. As part of the control order, Mr Muhyiddin announced that only those providing essential services were allowed to stay open with minimal staff. Earlier this week, he announced an extension of the MCO until Apr 14, explaining that it was necessary as the number of new cases were still high daily. Vegetables at a Singapore supermarket (Photo: Chew Hui Min) Everfresh Agriculture managing director G Balamurugan said the shortage would affect at least 80 per cent of Malaysians. “There is going to be some serious shortage and this is going to happen in about two or three months,” he predicted. Mr Balamurugan, whose farm is located in Cameron Highlands, explained that most of the vegetables consumed domestically involved a three-month growing period before harvesting. “We can harvest them sooner, as some vegetables can be harvested in about two months. But that is the minimum period before they can be harvested,” he said. He added that besides the disruption to the production schedule, the closure of many morning markets during the MCO would also affect farmers financially, potentially putting some of them out of business. A morning market at SS2, Petaling Jaya, has been told to close during the Movement Control Order. (Photo: Tho Xin Yi) LOSSES RUN INTO MILLIONS Malaysian Vegetable Farmers Association's president Tan So Tiok told CNA that the 6,000 farmers in Malaysia face a cumulative loss of RM948,000 (US$221,000) daily. He said that the 6,000 farmers are working on around 30,000 ha of land and producing about 960,000 tonnes of vegetables per year. Of this, 23 per cent, or about 220,800 tonnes will be exported to Singapore, while the rest is distributed domestically. READ: Most imports of fresh food from Malaysia arrived as normal, other goods also allowed in, says Chan Chun Sing Mr Tan said that with the MCO, supply has been reduced by an estimated 30 per cent. “We are unable to distribute to various markets (due to the MCO restrictions) and this constitutes losses of about 790 metric tonnes a day. "The average price for one kilogram of vegetables is RM1.20. Therefore 790 metric tonnes would translate into RM948,000 in losses daily,” he said. Vegetable trucker Loo Chin Khong arriving at Ringlet, Cameron Highlands, after a 24-hour journey from Singapore, and the vegetables for his next trip are ready to be loaded. (Photo: Amir Yusof) LABOUR SHORTAGE In enforcing the MCO, the government had also limited the number of foreign workers who are allowed to work in the markets. Each vegetable seller is only allowed two foreign workers to assist them in the market. READ: How are Singaporeans in Malaysia affected by the restricted movement order? Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesalers Association chairman Chong Teck Keong said this has a huge impact on operations. He noted that work in the vegetable markets is labour intensive, with manpower needed to load and unload up to 300 boxes of vegetables a day per seller. “The City Hall has restricted our workers because they are mostly refugees and I can’t blame the government. They are doing what is best for the people. “We usually have two shifts. To manage the current situation, we have hired some locals to help us. However, with the shortage of workers, we are already reducing the intake from the farmers for the time being,” he said. (Photo: Mediacorp) With business doing poorly as restaurants are closed and people stay home, farmers and vegetable sellers are trying to minimise their losses and keep going. Mr Tan of the vegetable farmers association said the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority should help to absorb some of the excess supply right now, and coordinate with local governments to guarantee that supply is normalised. “Besides that, the Ministry of Agriculture should restart production grants to farmers in order to reduce the cost of production. “More agricultural land needs to be opened by the government for vegetable farmers to carry out sustainable cultivation,” he said. READ: COVID-19 -Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, ministers to take pay cut Similarly, Mr Balamurugan of Everfresh Agriculture has called for the government to provide tax exemptions and tax breaks for farmers. “This can be anything from land tax to income tax or even basic living expenses, just so that the economic burden could be reduced," he said. Mr Chong, the organic farmer, also said the government should consider keeping morning markets open during the MCO, as this would help vegetable farmers to cut their losses. “Each neighbourhood has its own morning market. This way, the government can avoid people gathering in the big markets," he said. “People can just get what they need from their neighbourhood morning markets and go back to their respective homes.”

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/countries-are-starting-to-hoard-food-amid-coronavirus-fears-threatening-global (BLOOMBERG) - It's not just grocery shoppers who are hoarding pantry staples. Some governments are moving to secure domestic food supplies during the coronavirus pandemic. Kazakhstan, one of the world's biggest shippers of wheat flour, banned exports of that product along with others, including carrots, sugar and potatoes. Serbia has stopped the flow of its sunflower oil and other goods. Russia is leaving the door open to shipment bans and said it's assessing the situation weekly. To be perfectly clear, there have been just a handful of moves and no sure signs that much more is on the horizon. Still, what's been happening has raised a question: Is this the start of a wave of food nationalism that will further disrupt supply chains and trade flows? "We're starting to see this happening already - and all we can see is that the lockdown is going to get worse," said Tim Benton, research director in emerging risks at think tank Chatham House in London. Though food supplies are ample, logistical hurdles are making it harder to get products where they need to be as the coronavirus unleashes unprecedented measures, panic buying and the threat of labour crunches. Consumers across the globe are still loading their pantries - and the economic fallout from the virus is just starting. The spectre of more trade restrictions is stirring memories of how protectionism can often end up causing more harm than good. That adage rings especially true now as the moves would be driven by anxiety and not made in response to crop failures or other supply problems. As it is, many governments have employed extreme measures, setting curfews and limits on crowds or even on people venturing out for anything but to acquire essentials. That could spill over to food policy, said Ann Berg, an independent consultant and veteran agricultural trader who started her career at Louis Dreyfus Co. in 1974. "You could see wartime rationing, price controls and domestic stockpiling," she said. Some nations are adding to their strategic reserves. China, the biggest rice grower and consumer, pledged to buy more than ever before from its domestic harvest, even though the government already holds massive stockpiles of rice and wheat, enough for one year of consumption. Key wheat importers including Algeria and Turkey have also issued new tenders, and Morocco said a suspension on wheat-import duties would last through mid-June. As governments take nationalistic approaches, they risk disrupting an international system that has become increasingly interconnected in recent decades. Kazakhstan had already stopped exports of other food staples, like buckwheat and onions, before the move this week to cut off wheat-flour shipments. That latest action was a much bigger step, with the potential to affect companies around the world that rely on the supplies to make bread. For some commodities, a handful of countries, or even fewer, make up the bulk of exportable supplies. Disruptions to those shipments would have major global ramifications. Take, for example, Russia, which has emerged as the world's top wheat exporter and a key supplier to North Africa. "If governments are not working collectively and cooperatively to ensure there is a global supply, if they're just putting their nations first, you can end up in a situation where things get worse," said Benton of Chatham House. He warned that frenzied shopping coupled with protectionist policies could eventually lead to higher food prices - a cycle that could end up perpetuating itself. "If you're panic buying on the market for next year's harvest, then prices will go up, and as prices go up, policy makers will panic more," he said. And higher grocery bills can have major ramifications. Bread costs have a long history of kick-starting unrest and political instability. During the food price spikes of 2011 and 2008, there were food riots in more than 30 nations across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. "Without the food supply, societies just totally break," Benton said. Unlike previous periods of rampant food inflation, global inventories of staple crops like corn, wheat, soybeans and rice are plentiful, said Dan Kowalski, vice president of research at CoBank, a US$145 billion lender to the agriculture industry, adding he doesn't expect "dramatic" gains for prices now. While the spikes of the last decade were initially caused by climate problems for crops, policies exacerbated the consequences. In 2010, Russia experienced a record heat wave that damaged the wheat crop. The government responded by banning exports to make sure domestic consumers had enough. The United Nations' measure of global food prices reached a record high by February 2011. "Given the problem that we are facing now, it's not the moment to put these types of policies into place," said Maximo Torero, chief economist at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. "On the contrary, it's the moment to cooperate and coordinate." Of course, the few bans in place may not last, and signs of a return to normal could prevent countries from taking drastic measures. Once consumers start to see more products on shelves, they may stop hoarding, in turn allowing governments to back off. X5 Retail, Russia's biggest grocer, said demand for staple foods is starting to stabilise. In the US, major stores like Walmart Inc. have cut store hours to allow workers to restock. In the meantime, some food prices have already started going up because of the spike in buying. Wheat futures in Chicago, the global benchmark, have climbed more than 6 per cent in March as consumers buy up flour. US wholesale beef has shot up to the highest since 2015, and egg prices are higher. At the same time, the US dollar is surging against a host of emerging-market currencies. That reduces purchasing power for countries that ship in commodities, which are usually priced in greenbacks. In the end, whenever there's a disruption for whatever reason, Berg said, "it's the least-developed countries with weak currencies that get hurt the most."

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/indonesia-covid-19-muslim-pilgrims-gathering-12552630 Thousands of Muslim pilgrims brave COVID-19 to gather in Indonesia JAKARTA: Thousands of Muslim pilgrims from across Asia gathered in Indonesia on Wednesday (Mar 18), despite fears that their meeting could fuel the spread of a coronavirus, just two weeks after a similar event in Malaysia caused more than 500 infections. Organisers and regional officials said the event in the world's fourth most populous nation had begun, although the regional police chief said he was making a last ditch-effort to persuade organisers to call it off. "We are more afraid of God," one of the organisers, Mustari Bahranuddin, told Reuters, when asked about the risk of participants spreading the virus at the event in Gowa in Indonesia's province of South Sulawesi. "Because everyone's human, we fear illnesses, death," he said. "But there's something more to the body, which is our soul." Organisers had rejected a formal request from authorities to postpone the gathering, said a regional official, Arifuddin Saeni. He estimated that 8,695 people had already assembled in Gowa, near the provincial city of Makassar, adding that the numbers would make it hard to put a halt to the proceedings. "They are still coming," he said. "There are people from Thailand, Arabia, India and the Philippines." The Malaysian event, held from Feb 27 to Mar 1, drew 16,000 followers. Both gatherings in Indonesia and Malaysia were organised by members of Tablighi Jama'at, a global movement of evangelical Muslims that promotes proselytising, known as dakwah. HUNDREDS INFECTED IN MALAYSIA About two-thirds of Malaysia’s 790 infections have been traced to the meeting at a mosque complex on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, the capital. Tiny neighbour Brunei has confirmed 50 infections linked to it, while Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have also said citizens were infected there. Organisers in Indonesia were checking pilgrims' temperatures as a precaution, Bahranuddin added. Saeni said health officials had visited the site and asked to monitor participants. By Wednesday, Indonesia's tally of infections stood at 227, with 19 deaths. The nation of 260 million had run just 1,255 tests by Tuesday. By contrast, South Korea, with a population of a fifth that size, is doing more than 15,000 tests a day. The Indonesian and Malaysian meetings had been organised by different groups, Bahranuddin said. Even so, he added, "Our purpose is one, even if the name changes, which is how we take religion to other people." The same social media accounts were used to promote both events. One Facebook account displayed a photograph of a prominent Indian Tablighi cleric, Sheikh Maulana Ibrahim Dewla, leaving Kuala Lumpur airport on Tuesday for the Indonesia event. Images on the account, Aalmi Tablighi Shura Elders, showed men setting up huge tents at the Indonesia site, and described them as having arrived early from Gulf nations to offer help. Promotional material for the Indonesian gathering reviewed by Reuters read, "The pleasure of living in this world is only a little, compared to the afterlife."

Coronavirus Australia: Queensland researchers find ‘cure’, want drug trial A team of Australian researchers say they’ve found a cure for the novel coronavirus and hope to have patients enrolled in a nationwide trial by the end of the month. University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research director Professor David Paterson told news.com.au today they have seen two drugs used to treat other conditions wipe out the virus in test tubes. He said one of the medications, given to some of the first people to test positive for COVID-19 in Australia, had already resulted in “disappearance of the virus” and complete recovery from the infection. Prof Paterson, who is also an infectious disease physician at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, said it wasn’t a stretch to label the drugs “a treatment or a cure”. “It’s a potentially effective treatment,” he said. “Patients would end up with no viable coronavirus in their system at all after the end of therapy.” The drugs are both already registered and available in Australia. “What we want to do at the moment is a large clinical trial across Australia, looking at 50 hospitals, and what we’re going to compare is one drug, versus another drug, versus the combination of the two drugs,” Prof Paterson said. Given their history, researchers have a “long experience of them being very well tolerated” and there are no unexpected side effects. “We’re not on a flat foot, we can sort of move ahead very rapidly with enrolling Australians in this trial,” Prof Paterson said. “It’s the question we all have – we know it’s coming now, what is the best way to treat it?” Prof Paterson said positive experiences in the fight against coronavirus have already been recorded overseas, citing China and Singapore. His research team are confident they can start getting the drugs to patients in a very safe way on home soil. “We want to give Australians the absolute best treatment rather than just someone’s guesses or someone’s anecdotal experiences from a few people,” Prof Paterson told news.com.au. He said they hope to be enrolling patients by the end of March. “And that way, if we can test it in this first wave of patients, we do fully expect that there are going to be ongoing infections for months and months ahead, and therefore we’ll have the best possible information to treat subsequent patients,” Prof Paterson said. “That’s really our aim, to get real world experience in Australia.” He said the trouble with the data coming from China was that it wasn’t really gathered “in a very controlled way”, given they were the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak at the time. “Things were just chaotic,” Prof Paterson said. “There were these emergency hospitals being built and the system really being very, very stretched.” One of the two medications is a HIV drug, which has been superseded by “newer generation” HIV drugs, and the other is an anti-malaria drug called chloroquine which is rarely used and “kept on the shelf now” due to resistance to malaria. He said the researchers want to study them in a “very meaningful way” against the coronavirus to “try and alleviate that anxiety of Australians”. “There have already been patients treated with these in Australia and there’s been successful outcomes but it hasn’t been done in a controlled or a comparative way,” Prof Paterson said. The drugs would be given orally, as tablets. Prof Paterson said patients would be asked to participate “as soon as they’re admitted” to hospital with the aim of beginning treatment “very early on in their illness”. He said the research was sparked by Chinese patients, who were first given the drug in Australia, showing their doctors information on the internet about the treatment used overseas. “Our doctors were very, very surprised that a HIV drug could actually work against the novel coronavirus and there was a bit of scepticism,” he said. “That first wave of Chinese patients we had (in Australia), they all did very, very well when they were treated with the HIV drug. “That’s reassuring … that we’re onto something really good here.” The RBWH Foundation has established a Coronavirus Action Fund. By Monday afternoon it had raised $30,000 of the desired $750,000 for the clinical drug trials and other related medical research. “The trials will start as soon as funding is secured,” the fund states. When asked why they had to put a call out money, Prof Paterson said they “want to give as many people in Australia access to this” and can’t take doctors away from their normal work. “The reality is that doctors are going to need to be concentrating on their patients and we need to get a very strong research team across Australia that can make sure that all the Is are dotted and the Ts are crossed and make sure that it is a really high-quality study so that we can be really confident in the results,” he said. “We did this with bushfires, this is an example where we’re reaching out to the public to put the financial support behind the study so it can get underway. “Fifty hospitals have expressed interest in participating and we expect there may even be more to come.” Source

Coronavirus Italy: Man recovers from COVID-19 using drug designed for ebola There are hopes that an experimental drug initially designed to treat ebola could cure patients of coronavirus, after a 79-year-old Italian man who had tested positive to COVID-19 was given the all-clear following treatment. The man was cleared on Tuesday, the President of Italy’s Liguria region Giovanni Toti said, after taking the drug remdesivir. Mr Toti described it as the “first real case of coronavirus cured”, according to The Telegraph. Remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral developed by US drug firm Gilead was originally designed to treat ebola in a Scottish nurse when she suffered a relapse 18 months after being cleared of the disease, contracted while volunteering in Sierra Leone. A drug initially designed to treat ebola could be successful in curing the coronavirus. Picture: Jessica Hill/APSource:AP Now, the drug is being tested in five coronavirus clinical trials – including by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) on 13 patients who were hospitalised after contracting coronavirus on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. While it’s far from a confirmed cure, it raises hope that drugs can eventually be used to treat the coronavirus – which has now infected close to a quarter of a million people around the world. The virus outbreak in Italy has now become the world’s deadliest, killing more than 3400 people. Redemsivir also showed success in the treatment of monkeys infected with MERs, a different type of coronavirus. Around the globe, medical experts are racing to find a cure for COVID-19. In the US, clinical trials on a vaccine have begun, with President Donald Trump announcing on Friday that two drugs could be a “game changer” in treating coronavirus and will be made available “almost immediately” by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). During a briefing with the coronavirus taskforce at the White House, the US President said the antimalarial drugs – hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine – would soon be available for “prescribed use”. “It’s been around for a long time, so we know if things don’t go as planned, it’s not going to kill anybody,” he said, adding that the early results had been “encouraging”. “We have to remove every barrier or a lot of barriers that were unnecessary and they’ve done that to get the rapid deployment of safe, effective treatments and we think we have some good answers. “This could be a tremendous breakthrough.” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told reporters he had “great hope for how we are going to come out of this situation”. “What’s important is not to provide falsehood, but provide hope,” he said. Closer to home, in Queensland researchers believe they’re close – if not already there – to finding a cure, and are now chasing funding to begin clinical trials. University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research director Professor David Paterson told news.com.au they have seen two drugs used to treat other conditions wipe out the virus in test tubes. He said one of the medications, given to some of the first people to test positive for COVID-19 in Australia, had already resulted in “disappearance of the virus” and complete recovery from the infection. Prof Paterson, who is also an infectious disease physician at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, said it wasn’t a stretch to label the drugs “a treatment or a cure”. “It’s a potentially effective treatment,” he said. “Patients would end up with no viable coronavirus in their system at all after the end of therapy.” Source

https://mothership.sg/2020/03/creative-eateries-lockdown-fire-malaysia-staff/ S’pore restaurant group threatens to fire M’sia staff if they do not find accommodation by Apr. 2020 [Update on Mar. 20, 10:44am: In response to the incident, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has released a statement on the working arrangements of Malaysians in Singapore. Employers have several options to consider, including work-from-home, no-pay leave, and finding accommodations for their workers. You can read the statement here: On Mar. 16, Malaysia announced a lockdown on its borders that would take place two days later. The measure, meant to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, will last until Mar. 31, 2020. Malaysians are not allowed to leave the country during this period. This means that workers who cross borders on a daily basis might find themselves stranded in terms of accommodation. Ultimatum In a letter issued on Mar. 16, Creative Eateries gave its Malaysia-based employees an ultimatum: Either secure accommodation in Singapore by Mar. 31, 2020, or face the possibility of losing their jobs. Creative Eateries owns an extensive portfolio of restaurants in Singapore, including Bangkok Jam, Suki-Ya, and Hot Stones, as well as catering services. The company required its Malaysia-based employees to secure accommodation in Singapore “at least till the end of the year” and cease their daily commute across the border. These employees were also required to show proof of their newly-made living arrangements. Creative Eateries said that should employees be unable to report for work due to border control, the company has the right to cease their employment immediately and cancel their work permit. Any related absence at work will also be considered unpaid leave. Furthermore, the employees in question should inform the human resource department of their decision by Mar. 20, or the company will “find [their] replacement immediately”. Here is the letter, sent by a Mothership reader: Not a reaction to the Malaysia lockdown: Creative Eateries In response to queries from Mothership, Creative Eateries did not deny issuing the letter, but instead said that it was prepared before the announcement of the lockdown. The company emphasised that it was “by no means” sent as a reaction to the lockdown. Furthermore, the spokesperson added, the company has always “engaged and consulted” regularly with their employees prior to implementing any policies. In this instance, Malaysian staff have been consulted since early February. These staff have also “successfully transitioned” to Singapore and are unaffected by the sudden lockdown, the spokesperson revealed. She also said that although Creative Eateries has been impacted by Covid-19, the company has not made the decision to retrench any employee since the outbreak. You can read the full statement here:

World Feared China Over Coronavirus. Now the Tables Are Turned. Asian countries that suffered through the pandemic first are working to guard against a new wave of contagion from the West. The fear and suspicion directed at China in the devastating early days of the coronavirus outbreak have made a 180-degree turn: It is the West that now frightens Asia and the rest of the world. With Italy, Spain and the United States surging in contagion, many countries in Asia that suffered through the pandemic first seem to have wrestled it into submission, particularly China — and are now fighting to protect against a new wave of infection from outside. Across Asia, travelers from Europe and the United States are being barred or forced into quarantine. Gyms, private clinics and restaurants in Hong Kong warn them to stay away. Even Chinese parents who proudly sent their children to study in New York or London are now mailing them masks and sanitizer or rushing them home on flights that can cost $25,000. “We came back because we think going back to China is safer than staying in New York,” said Farrah Lyu, a 24-year-old recent college graduate who flew home to eastern China with her roommate this month. The reversal of fortune would have been unimaginable a week ago. At the time, China was the outbreak’s global epicenter, with people dying by the hundreds each day. But on Thursday, it reported no new local cases for the first time since the outbreak began. Its uncompromising response — locking down cities, shutting factories, testing thousands — seems to have brought China’s contagion under control. Now the pandemic that originated in China is migrating and starting to recirculate. Across Asia, where Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea successfully grappled with the virus early, alongside China, there is a growing sense of fear and dismay. Much of the region looks west and asks: We’re getting it right — why can’t you? For President Trump, the answer has been deflection. Facing a torrent of criticism for playing down the epidemic in its crucial early stages, he has been trying to push blame back to China, worsening existing tensions between the two superpowers. Despite warnings that he is encouraging xenophobia, Mr. Trump has repeatedly used the term “China virus” in what critics see as an effort to distance himself from the problem. Beijing has retaliated by falsely suggesting that the virus started with American troops, while portraying itself as a heroic warrior against the contagion and a model for the world. Especially in China and the Chinese diaspora, there is a growing demand for recognition of the hard work and sacrifices that tamed the outbreak, and a desire to tell the world what has gone right and wrong, and why. “People in Western countries said China’s response was too authoritarian, didn’t respect people’s democracy and freedom enough,” said Yin Choi Lam, a Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant owner in Melbourne, Australia. “Now compare it to places like Italy, where the death rate is so high, or America, where no one knows how many people are sick. Would you rather have freedom or keep your life?” Similar arguments are flooding Chinese social media. One popular comic shows China sick as the world watches behind a glass barrier, followed by a panel with an angry, healthy China behind the glass as other countries play and tussle without masks like unruly children. Some of the heaviest scorn, however, has been saved for those who return to China and question the country’s harsh approach. A video that went viral this week showed a Chinese-Australian woman being confronted by the police in Beijing after she evaded quarantine in order to exercise. Users of the microblogging platform Weibo called for her to be sent back to Australia. Critics both inside and outside China note that the country’s authoritarian response is not the only or the best way to fight an epidemic. Officials kept the virus secret for weeks, allowing it to spread uncontrolled in central China, then forced people to remain in overwhelmed cities. By contrast, South Korea, a vibrant capitalist democracy, along with Taiwan and Singapore, has managed the virus with transparency, efficiency and solidarity, while preserving freedom of movement. Part of what has set some Asian countries apart is experience, said Leighanne Yuh, a historian at Korea University. “From the outset of the epidemic, South Koreans took the situation very seriously, perhaps because of their previous experiences with SARS and MERS,” she said. “Wearing masks, washing our hands, social distancing — these were all familiar actions.” In the United States and Europe, there was more hesitation. And now they are hubs of infection sending disease across the globe. In Australia, the United States is now the leading source of coronavirus cases, followed by Italy, then China. Infections in China are also coming from outside. Officials said on Thursday that 34 new cases had been confirmed among people who had arrived from elsewhere. Many people in China now want their government to completely block access from the United States and other hot spots in the same way other countries suspended arrivals from China. “I hope China can tighten its national borders and significantly reduce the number of people entering the country,” said Tang Xiaozhao, a plastic surgery manager in Shanghai. “Governments and people of most countries disappoint me,” she added. Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory, has often acted as a bridge between China and the West, the shifting sense of angst can be seen in warnings from businesses where people gather. One online warning, posted by a pub called Hemingway’s DB, tells expats that they will be reported to the police if they violate a new official requirement for 14 days of self-isolation upon returning from overseas. And a large fitness chain emailed customers to tell anyone who has returned from abroad since March 10, or lives with someone who did: “Kindly do not visit.” For those with family members in the United States or Europe, there is also a frantic rush to help. On Wednesday at Hong Kong’s main post office, people lined up to send boxes of masks and alcohol wipes. “During SARS, my mother drove from Canada to the United States to buy masks, so I had to send some back to her,” said Eric Chan, 45, a financier. He was down to his last box in Hong Kong, but had gone from pharmacy to pharmacy until he snagged a few boxes for his mother and siblings at inflated prices. His own face was covered — most people in Hong Kong are still wearing masks. The city, with a population of seven million, has avoided total shutdowns, even as the virus peaked in mainland China. But this week Hong Kong moved to tighten its borders as it recorded a significant uptick in infections, most of them imported. The authorities are investigating five cases linked to Lan Kwai Fong, a nightlife area that is thronged with expatriates on weekends. Many of those who recently returned to China might have predicted just such a cluster. They see in the United States and Europe a greater urge to go it alone — and studies have found that Americans and Europeans tend to focus on the individual rather than what’s interconnected. Ms. Lyu, 24, and her roommate in New York, Tianran Qian, 23 — who flew back to their homes in Hangzhou, in eastern China — said they found the American response disorienting. They had both been reading about outbreak clusters around the world for weeks, and for a time they stayed inside and wore masks as they would have at home. But their American friends continued to socialize, describing the virus as little more than the flu. “On your phone, you see what’s happening around the world, in Japan and Korea, and when you go into real life, people act as if it’s a normal day,” Ms. Lyu said, describing what it was like in New York before she left. “They either don’t get it or they just ignore it,” Ms. Qian said. “People were so indifferent.” At home in China, they said, they felt safer. They self-quarantined in their rooms, with their parents leaving food and novels at their bedroom doors. Their groceries were delivered and even their trash was collected and treated by hospital employees in hazmat suits. “Everything was planned,” Ms. Lyu said. “We don’t have to worry about everything.” Source

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/03/18/johor-govt-hopes-to-reopen-border-with-s039pore Johor govt hopes to reopen border with S'pore KOTA ISKANDAR: The Johor state government says it hopes to reopen the border with Singapore within the next few days. Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad said this would be done with more stringent health checks on both sides of the border. “We are coming up with a mitigation plan during this Covid-19 outbreak. “Among the categories exempted are those with work passes by Malaysia or Singapore, students studying in Singapore, those with specialised skills, businessmen, those involved in logistics and others that would be announced soon, ” he added. Hasni said this during a press conference after the state executive councillors meeting held at Kota Iskandar here on Wednesday (March 18). He said a special committee headed by him, the state secretary and state security council would discuss the matter today, and that would have a discussion with their Singaporean counterparts the day after before they forwarded the matter to the Federal Government for announcement. Beginning Wednesday, the border between Malaysia and Singapore has been locked down, except for lorries and people with special permission.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-malaysia-accommodation-allowance-50-dollars-12548144 Companies affected by Malaysia travel restrictions to get financial support: Josephine Teo SINGAPORE: Companies affected by Malaysia's travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 outbreak will receive an allowance of S$50 per worker per night for 14 nights to cover the extra costs incurred, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo on Tuesday (Mar 17). This comes after Malaysia announced it would bar citizens from going overseas and foreigners from entering the country for about two weeks starting Wednesday. "MOM has been working with tripartite partners to support the affected companies. If they need their workers to stay in Singapore, the way to help them is to find suitable accommodation," said Mrs Teo at the press conference. Mrs Teo said that affected workers should first try to stay with friends, family and colleagues who can accommodate them, and if not - hotels or dormitories. "For every affected worker, we will provide the firms with the support of S$50 a night for 14 nights," she said, adding that more details on how to apply will be shared. "Whatever the arrangements, we appreciate that businesses had to respond very quickly and incurred some additional costs as a result," added Mrs Teo. "I’m confident that by the end of the day, any one of the affected workers that need to stay in Singapore will be able to find suitable accommodation." She added that the support put together for the companies was "a temporary relief measure". Companies will be given the time to assess what they want to do in terms of their manpower staffing and also to work out "sustainable arrangements", said Mrs Teo. SINGAPORE GIVEN HEADS UP BEFORE MALAYSIA'S ANNOUNCEMENT During the conference, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said that the Malaysian government had given Singapore "some heads up" before announcing the restrictions. "They probably realised given the severity, given the seriousness, this was something they had to do. And we understand why," said Mr Wong. "I think if we were facing a similar situation we would have to consider very stringent measures as well," he added. "They did what was necessary, and like I said, a measure like this will cause inconvenience, will cause disruptions, but in some ways if you look at it and what has been done it will help to control the transmission of the virus across the border," said Mr Wong. "So we now have to deal with the consequences and make adjustments." BEYOND TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS Mr Wong added that discussions among the officials have also touched on what Singapore would need to do beyond the period of Malaysia's travel restrictions. "At some point, if the measures were to be lifted at the Malaysian side, we certainly don’t think we can go to business as usual," said Mr Wong. "Extra precautions need to be taken at the border at the land checkpoints." Regarding an influx on Tuesday of those who travel between Malaysia and Singapore, Mr Wong said that there was no additional COVID-19 risk. "These are the same people who have been travelling day in day out for the last few days," he said. "They have been commuting between the two countries anyway. There is no additional risk in that sense, these are not new people coming. They are workers who have already been coming here." Mr Wong added that Singapore was working with Malaysian authorities to manage the flow of people over the next one or two days. He also urged Singaporeans to comply with the Ministry of Health's (MOH) advisory to defer non-essential travel, after the emergence of more imported COVID-19 cases involving Singapore residents who had returned from overseas. The majority of imported cases in recent days have not involved foreign visitors such as tourists, but Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term pass holders who had been travelling and were infected by the virus when they were overseas. MALAYSIA'S TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had said on Monday night that all Malaysians will be prohibited from leaving the country from Mar 18 to Mar 31. Visitors will also not be allowed to enter the country. Malaysia’s Immigration Department confirmed that Malaysians working in Singapore and Thailand will be affected by the travel restrictions. About 300,000 people commute between the two border crossings between Malaysia and Singapore every day. On Tuesday, Singapore said it will make available a range of short-term housing options for some workers who commute frequently between Singapore and Malaysia. Malaysia has assured Singapore that the flow of goods and cargo between the two countries will continue, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing also assured Singaporeans that Singapore has plans to manage a disruption of supplies from Malaysia through a combination of stockpiling, local production and diversification of overseas sources.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid19-companies-scramble-house-malaysians-travel-restrictions-12548642 Singapore firms rush to house Malaysian workers before COVID-19 travel restrictions kick in SINGAPORE: Companies are rushing to secure accommodation for Malaysian workers who commute daily to Singapore before Malaysia's two-week-long travel restrictions kick in on Wednesday (Mar 18). Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced on Monday that the government will implement a movement control order from Mar 18 to Mar 31 in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19. Under the order, all Malaysians are barred from travelling abroad, including around 300,000 Malaysians who travel across the Woodlands Causeway and Tuas Second Link every day for work. Malaysian returning from overseas will need to undergo a health inspection and be placed under a 14-day self-quarantine. Foreigners are also barred from entering Malaysia during this period. Singapore transport engineering firm Wong Fong Engineering said that 34 of its 290 employees who work at their Tuas and Joo Koon facilities will be affected by the restrictions, impacting several functions across finance, engineering and manufacturing. Supply chain disruptions and delayed deliveries that began when the coronavirus first emerged earlier this year will be further impacted, said the firm's chief financial officer Jack Wong. The company said 12 of its workers are staying with colleagues, while beds have been secured at Tuas View Dormitory for an additional 12. The rest said they would make their own lodging arrangements, the company told CNA. At TranZplus Engineering, chief executive Nelson Lim and his senior management team met three Malaysian employees to decide on the steps to be taken ahead of the midnight deadline. Due to family obligations, two of the employees - administrative staff in the sales department - will return to Johor and remain there. Their work will be taken on by their teammates in the human resource department. Mr Lim said he plans to pay them half of their salary during this time so that they will still have some cash flowing in. He called one dormitory to enquire about housing the third employee, a customer service officer. He decided to put her up in his home instead after the dormitory said it could only offer a room housing six workers for S$2,200 a month with a minimum lease of three months. National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) secretary-general Ng Chee Meng told reporters on Tuesday that about 1,300 affected Malaysian employees of supermarket chain NTUC Fairprice would be given free accommodation and some allowance to help with daily necessities. For Malaysian workers who are unable to stay in Singapore, Mr Ng called on their companies to be understanding of their circumstances, for example by allowing them to take their annual leave during this time. Dormitory operator Centurion Corporation said more than 700 Malaysian residents had made bookings to stay in its dormitories as of 3pm on Tuesday. More are expected, said chief executive Kong Chee Min. Centurion Corporation operates five dormitories with a total capacity of 28,000 beds. But Mr Kong said that there is little spare capacity as they are operating at close to full occupancy and have also had to set aside quarantine and Stay-Home Notice isolation facilities. The company is currently working with the authorities to temporarily re-purpose certain common spaces as living apartments to increase bed capacity during this period. This will give them more than 5,000 additional bed spaces, he said. About 300 will be set apart for female residents. As for cost, Mr Kong said that they will waive the usual long-term lease requirements and charge close to normal rates for short stays, “despite significant additional costs incurred in preparing, fitting out and managing these special bed provisions”. He declined to say how much they charge, but pointed out that the market rate for a two weeks' stay ranges from about S$210 to S$300, and S$400 to S$600 for a month. At the multi-ministerial task force press conference on Tuesday evening, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said the authorities have matched more than 10,000 workers to accommodation providers so far, adding that housing a worker at a dormitory should cost about S$35 a day. "For every affected worker, we will provide the firms with the support of S$50 a night for 14 nights," she said. The ministry has also released a list of hotels and dormitories companies can refer to for options. These include Fragrance Hotel Rose, the Ibis budget hotels and dormitories operated by Teambuild Engineering & Construction. A customer service officer from the Fragrance hotel chain told CNA that he had been “answering enquiries” throughout the day but declined to reveal more. Though not on the list, the Royal Plaza on Scotts hotel has received bookings for more than 80 rooms for the duration of two weeks, said general manager Patrick Fiat. Most of the companies are from the technology industry, he added. Two hundred rooms are still available and he expects more to be taken up before the end of the day. The hotel itself has 43 employees in departments such as housekeeping and the front office, who will be affected by the restrictions. Eighteen of the employees will be staying in Singapore during the lockdown and accommodation will be provided for them at the hotel, while the rest of the employees have chosen to stay with their families. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan wrote that there are ”a number" of Singapore's bus captains and technicians who are Malaysians and commute from Johor to work in Singapore. Public transport operators like SBS Transit and SMRT have secured sufficient hotel accommodation for those who are planning to continue working and staying in Singapore, he said. In a separate Facebook post, NTUC assistant secretary-general Melvin Yong said that more than 2,500 of these workers have found accommodation. They will also be given a daily allowance to defray some of the unexpected living expenses that they might incur, said Mr Yong, who is also the National Transport Workers' Union executive secretary. Fortunately, for water supplier Wanin Industries, none of its workers at their Singapore plant come in from Malaysia every day. But the company has other concerns right now. They are unsure if their seven Malaysian drivers who transport the cartons of water into Singapore from a factory in Johor will be able to come in, or whether as a food supplier, their operations in Malaysia will be allowed to continue given the lockdown, said its head of special projects, Eugene Tan. Wanin Industries, which supplies water products to supermarkets and airlines in Singapore, doubled its deliveries into Singapore today from 50,000 bottles to 100,000 bottles to ensure they have enough stock here, Mr Tan said. Singapore Manufacturing Federation’s (SMF) president Douglas Foo said that the group has been regularly sending updates to its members since the announcement of the lockdown, and contacting dormitories to help members find available accommodation. A SMF member is also consolidating a list based on inputs from other members of the critical raw materials needed for the next two weeks, he said. This list will be sent to officials from Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-restricted-movement-singapore-commute-covid-19-veggies-12546136 Amidst uncertainty over restricted movement order, Malaysians working in Singapore look to temporary housing SINGAPORE: Some Malaysians who make the daily commute to Singapore for work began making preparations on Tuesday (Mar 17) for temporary housing, following Putrajaya's announcement barring citizens from leaving the country as part of a restricted movement order to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. On Monday night, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that all Malaysians will be prohibited from leaving the country from Mar 18 to Mar 31. Those who return from overseas will also have to go through health checks and go on a 14-day self-quarantine. As of noon on Tuesday, it is unclear if the restriction would apply to some 300,000 Malaysians who travel across the Woodlands Causeway and Tuas Second Link every day for work. One of them, Mr Hakeym Osman, who rides his motorcycle between Johor Bahru and Singapore five days a week, told CNA that he brought over luggage filled with his personal effects to his office in Tuas on Tuesday morning. “I will go in and stay in Singapore for two weeks, and I’ve brought enough clothes to last me. I hope to stay with a friend, and if that fails, I will sleep in the office or find a backpacker's hostel. I cannot afford to not report for work for two weeks; I will lose my job,” said Mr Hakeym, who works in construction. “I’m new with the company. What if the lockdown is more than two weeks? I am not taking any chances so today I have brought with me a huge backpack with toiletries and clothes and some money,” he added. Another Johor resident who works in Singapore, Mr Razali Tompang, told CNA that the traffic congestion from Johor Bahru into Singapore via the Woodlands Causeway was “worse than usual” on Tuesday morning. “A lot of motorcycle riders were also bringing huge bags. I asked, some of them said they will be staying over in Singapore during the period Malaysia blocks entry and exit,” he added. Mr Razali said he would be meeting his team on Tuesday to discuss how he could work from home during the next fortnight. “For me, my company has a business continuity plan to work from home, but we have never activated it before. I will be the first to try it probably,” he added. Mr Razali also expressed concern on how Mr Muhyiddin’s speech did not address the concerns of many Malaysians who commute to Singapore for work. “I'm very shocked by the announcement, and I don't really know what will happen. From what I understand, it’s a blanket ban on all Malaysians from leaving the country. Around 300,000 Johoreans commute every day and some of us might lose our jobs because we will be missing in action for two weeks,” he added. Mr Jason Han, a Johor resident who works as an associate engineer at Creative Technology in Jurong, shared similar sentiments. He said he had heard rumours that work permit pass holders would be exempted from the movement restriction order. However as of Tuesday morning, there has been no confirmation by the Malaysia government that this was indeed the case. He is concerned and has made plans to travel back to Johor Bahru later on Tuesday to collect his clothes and important items and stay in Singapore until the movement restriction order is lifted. “I need to be in the office to function because I’m a hardware expert. So I will leave my mother and wife behind and stay in Singapore for as long as I need,” said Mr Han. “I’m not too worried about my family, I can talk to them on WhatsApp. This thing is worrying but I’ll take it day by day,” he added. POSSIBLE HALT OF VEGETABLES IMPORT Besides regular commuters, Malaysian truck drivers who deliver fruits and vegetables to Singapore are also concerned that the latest travel restrictions could impact their livelihood. Mr Loo Chin Khong, who delivers vegetables from Cameron Highlands to Singapore for a logistics company at least three times a week, told CNA he expects deliveries across the Causeway to stop when the restriction kicks in on Wednesday (Mar 18). “I will drop off vegetables in JB, and make a U-turn back to Pahang. I’m worried that if I get through the Causeway before midnight, I will not be allowed back into Malaysia,” he added. He added that he was prepared to continue delivering vegetables to Singapore, but could not risk being stuck. “We’ll see if the authorities will make exceptions. I’m prepared to work and continue my routine to deliver vegetables because Singaporeans need their vegetables,” said Mr Loo. According to statistics from the Singapore Food Agency, Malaysia is Singapore’s top source of vegetables, supplying 69 per cent of the imported leafy vegetables. Thygrace Marketing, a major vegetable importer in Singapore which brings in produce from across the Causeway, said there is still some doubt as to whether vegetables and fruits will be delivered across the Causeway. Thygrace delivers to major supermarkets in Singapore such as NTUC Fairprice, Giant and Cold Storage. Mr Kelvin Chye, managing director for Thygrace, said: “There will be a meeting later today between suppliers and importers to try and resolve this. But by right, the transport of vegetables and fruits across the Causeway should not be impacted.” He said he was making other arrangements to transport vegetables from other countries like Indonesia, but this will be more costly and will translate to higher vegetable prices for Singapore consumers. “The good thing about importing from Malaysia is that it is quick and cheap. The supermarkets order today, and they will be delivered the next day. For other countries, we need to pay air freight fees, and this will cause a big increase in prices,” he added.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-malaysia-cargo-goods-border-restrictions-12547142 Flow of goods, food supplies, cargo to continue between Singapore and Malaysia: PM Lee SINGAPORE: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has assured Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that the flow of goods and cargo between Singapore and Malaysia, including food supplies, would continue, Mr Lee said on Tuesday (Mar 17). Mr Lee said in a Facebook post he spoke to PM Muhyiddin on the phone on Tuesday. The full post is reproduced below: "Last night, Malaysia announced that it would impose a Movement Control Order to combat the spread of COVID-19. This was not surprising, as many other countries have already imposed similar lockdowns. Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and I discussed the situation on the phone today. I told him that I understood the reasons why he had made this move, and wished Malaysia success in containing the outbreak. I was happy to hear his reassurance that the flow of goods and cargo between Singapore and Malaysia, including food supplies, would continue. However, Malaysians living in Johor but working in Singapore will have to comply with the Malaysian lockdown. This will prevent them from commuting daily, at least for the time being. We are therefore working out arrangements with our companies to help these Malaysian workers stay in Singapore temporarily, if they would like to do so. We also agreed to appoint Senior Ministers on both sides – SM Teo Chee Hean and Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri – to coordinate our responses to the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly on measures where we can work together, or where the actions of one country will affect the other. They are already in touch, but it may take a couple of days for arrangements to be worked out and to settle down. Meanwhile, I am happy to see that in the supermarkets, while the queues are longer than usual, people are taking it in their stride and only buying what they need. We need not worry, as we have prepared for such an eventuality, and have plans in place to cope. Glad that Singaporeans are calm, united and resilient as we solve the problems at hand."

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/coronavirus-brunei-bars-residents-from-leaving-covid-19-12540260 Brunei bars residents from leaving as COVID-19 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Brunei said on Sunday (Mar 15) that its citizens and foreign residents in the country are barred from leaving the Southeast Asian nation due to the coronavirus outbreak. The health ministry also said it had confirmed 10 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total tally to 50.

Now that not one but seven Chinese cities - including Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus epidemic - and collectively housing some 23 million people, are under quarantine... ... comparisons to the infamous Raccoon City from Resident Evil are coming in hot and heavy. And, since reality often tends to imitate if not art then certainly Hollywood, earlier today we jokingly asked if the Medical Research Institute at Wuhan University would end up being China's version of Umbrella Corp. As it turns out, it wasn't a joke, because moments ago it was brought to our attention that in February 2017, Nature penned an extensive profile of what it called the "Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens." The location of this BSL-4 rated lab? Why, Wuhan. A quick read of what this lab was meant to do, prompts the immediate question whether the coronavirus epidemic isn't a weaponized virus that just happened to escape the lab: The Wuhan lab cost 300 million yuan (US$44 million), and to allay safety concerns it was built far above the flood plain and with the capacity to withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake, although the area has no history of strong earthquakes. It will focus on the control of emerging diseases, store purified viruses and act as a World Health Organization ‘reference laboratory’ linked to similar labs around the world. “It will be a key node in the global biosafety-lab network,” says lab director Yuan Zhiming. The Chinese Academy of Sciences approved the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory in 2003, and the epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) around the same time lent the project momentum. The lab was designed and constructed with French assistance as part of a 2004 cooperative agreement on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. But the complexity of the project, China’s lack of experience, difficulty in maintaining funding and long government approval procedures meant that construction wasn’t finished until the end of 2014. The lab’s first project will be to study the BSL-3 pathogen that causes Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever: a deadly tick-borne virus that affects livestock across the world, including in northwest China, and that can jump to people. Future plans include studying the pathogen that causes SARS, which also doesn’t require a BSL-4 lab, before moving on to Ebola and the West African Lassa virus, What does BSL-4 mean? BSL-4 is the highest level of biocontainment: its criteria include filtering air and treating water and waste before they leave the laboratory, and stipulating that researchers change clothes and shower before and after using lab facilities. Such labs are often controversial. The first BSL-4 lab in Japan was built in 1981, but operated with lower-risk pathogens until 2015, when safety concerns were finally overcome. And here's why all this is an issue: Worries surround the Chinese lab. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Below we repost the full Nature article because it strongly hints, without evidence for now, that the coronavirus epidemic may well have been a weaponized virus which "accidentally" escaped the Wuhan biohazard facility. NEVER MISS THE NEWS THAT MATTERS MOST Inside the Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens A laboratory in Wuhan is on the cusp of being cleared to work with the world’s most dangerous pathogens. The move is part of a plan to build between five and seven biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) labs across the Chinese mainland by 2025, and has generated much excitement, as well as some concerns. Hazard suits hang at the National Bio-safety Laboratory, Wuhan, the first lab on the Chinese mainland equipped for the highest level of biocontainment. Some scientists outside China worry about pathogens escaping, and the addition of a biological dimension to geopolitical tensions between China and other nations. But Chinese microbiologists are celebrating their entrance to the elite cadre empowered to wrestle with the world’s greatest biological threats. “It will offer more opportunities for Chinese researchers, and our contribution on the BSL‑4-level pathogens will benefit the world,” says George Gao, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology in Beijing. There are already two BSL-4 labs in Taiwan, but the National Bio-safety Laboratory, Wuhan, would be the first on the Chinese mainland. The lab was certified as meeting the standards and criteria of BSL-4 by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) in January. The CNAS examined the lab’s infrastructure, equipment and management, says a CNAS representative, paving the way for the Ministry of Health to give its approval. A representative from the ministry says it will move slowly and cautiously; if the assessment goes smoothly, it could approve the laboratory by the end of June. BSL-4 is the highest level of biocontainment: its criteria include filtering air and treating water and waste before they leave the laboratory, and stipulating that researchers change clothes and shower before and after using lab facilities. Such labs are often controversial. The first BSL-4 lab in Japan was built in 1981, but operated with lower-risk pathogens until 2015, when safety concerns were finally overcome. The expansion of BSL-4-lab networks in the United States and Europe over the past 15 years — with more than a dozen now in operation or under construction in each region — also met with resistance, including questions about the need for so many facilities. The Wuhan lab cost 300 million yuan (US$44 million), and to allay safety concerns it was built far above the flood plain and with the capacity to withstand a magnitude-7 earthquake, although the area has no history of strong earthquakes. It will focus on the control of emerging diseases, store purified viruses and act as a World Health Organization ‘reference laboratory’ linked to similar labs around the world. “It will be a key node in the global biosafety-lab network,” says lab director Yuan Zhiming. The Chinese Academy of Sciences approved the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory in 2003, and the epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) around the same time lent the project momentum. The lab was designed and constructed with French assistance as part of a 2004 cooperative agreement on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. But the complexity of the project, China’s lack of experience, difficulty in maintaining funding and long government approval procedures meant that construction wasn’t finished until the end of 2014. The lab’s first project will be to study the BSL-3 pathogen that causes Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever: a deadly tick-borne virus that affects livestock across the world, including in northwest China, and that can jump to people. Future plans include studying the pathogen that causes SARS, which also doesn’t require a BSL-4 lab, before moving on to Ebola and the West African Lassa virus, which do. Some one million Chinese people work in Africa; the country needs to be ready for any eventuality, says Yuan. “Viruses don’t know borders.” Gao travelled to Sierra Leone during the recent Ebola outbreak, allowing his team to report the speed with which the virus mutated into new strains. The Wuhan lab will give his group a chance to study how such viruses cause disease, and to develop treatments based on antibodies and small molecules, he says. The opportunities for international collaboration, meanwhile, will aid the genetic analysis and epidemiology of emergent diseases. “The world is facing more new emerging viruses, and we need more contribution from China,” says Gao. In particular, the emergence of zoonotic viruses — those that jump to humans from animals, such as SARS or Ebola — is a concern, says Bruno Lina, director of the VirPath virology lab in Lyon, France. Many staff from the Wuhan lab have been training at a BSL-4 lab in Lyon, which some scientists find reassuring. And the facility has already carried out a test-run using a low-risk virus. But worries surround the Chinese lab, too. The SARS virus has escaped from high-level containment facilities in Beijing multiple times, notes Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Tim Trevan, founder of CHROME Biosafety and Biosecurity Consulting in Damascus, Maryland, says that an open culture is important to keeping BSL-4 labs safe, and he questions how easy this will be in China, where society emphasizes hierarchy. “Diversity of viewpoint, flat structures where everyone feels free to speak up and openness of information are important,” he says. Yuan says that he has worked to address this issue with staff. “We tell them the most important thing is that they report what they have or haven’t done,” he says. And the lab’s inter­national collaborations will increase openness. “Transparency is the basis of the lab,” he adds. The plan to expand into a network heightens such concerns. One BSL-4 lab in Harbin is already awaiting accreditation; the next two are expected to be in Beijing and Kunming, the latter focused on using monkey models to study disease. Lina says that China’s size justifies this scale, and that the opportunity to combine BSL-4 research with an abundance of research monkeys — Chinese researchers face less red tape than those in the West when it comes to research on primates — could be powerful. “If you want to test vaccines or antivirals, you need a non-human primate model,” says Lina. But Ebright is not convinced of the need for more than one BSL-4 lab in mainland China. He suspects that the expansion there is a reaction to the networks in the United States and Europe, which he says are also unwarranted. He adds that governments will assume that such excess capacity is for the potential development of bioweapons. “These facilities are inherently dual use,” he says. The prospect of ramping up opportunities to inject monkeys with pathogens also worries, rather than excites, him: “They can run, they can scratch, they can bite.” The central monitor room at China’s National Bio-safety Laboratory If that wasn't enough, here is January 2018 press release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, announcing the launch of the "top-level biosafety lab." China has put its first level-four biosafety laboratory into operation, capable of conducting experiments with highly pathogenic microorganisms that can cause fatal diseases, according to the national health authority. Level four is the highest biosafety level, used for diagnostic work and research on easily transmitted pathogens that can cause fatal diseases, including the Ebola virus. The Wuhan national level-four biosafety lab recently passed an assessment organized by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, according to a news release on Friday from the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Virologists read data on a container for viral samples at China's first level-four biosafety lab at the Institute of Virology in Wuhan After evaluating such things as the lab's management of personnel, facilities, animals, disposals and viruses, experts believed the lab is qualified to carry out experiments on highly pathogenic microorganisms that can cause fatal diseases, such as Marburg, Variola, Nipah and Ebola. "The lab provides a complete, world-leading biosafety system. This means Chinese scientists can study the most dangerous pathogenic microorganisms in their own lab," the Wuhan institute said. It will serve as the country's research and development center on prevention and control of infectious diseases, as a pathogen collection center and as the United Nations' reference laboratory for infectious diseases, the institute said. Previous media reports said the Wuhan P4 lab will be open to scientists from home and abroad. Scientists can conduct research on anti-virus drugs and vaccines in the lab. The lab is part of Sino-French cooperation in the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases, according to the news release. The central government approved the P4 laboratory in 2003 when the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome spread alarm across the country. In October 2004, China signed a cooperation agreement with France on the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. This was followed by a succession of supplementary agreements. With French assistance in laboratory design, biosafety standards establishment and personnel training, construction began in 2011 and lasted for three years. In 2015, the lab was put into trial operation. Source

Once hailed as a model of progress, poverty and nativist resentment are on the rise PETER GUEST, Nikkei staff writer JANUARY 22, 2020 15:10 JST SINGAPORE -- From around 10 p.m. until the early hours of the morning, Aziz drives a private hire car through the streetlit hinterlands of Singapore. On weekdays, he shuttles from the airport to downtown condos and back; on weekends he patrols around Tanjong Pagar where the upscale bars kick out late, picking up drinkers, bar staff and other nocturnal tradespeople. On an average night, he can book upward of 150 Singaporean dollars ($111). His situation, he said, is "jialat." Jialat, a Singlish word taken from Hokkien, literally means "drained." In his early 50s, Aziz -- not his real name -- was retrenched from his job in a professional services company two years ago, and turned to the gig economy to make ends meet, joining hundreds of other former white-collar workers in a nocturnal demimonde of midrange saloons and weary discontent. "Cannot retire. Cannot take my [pension]," Aziz said. "As soon as they let me take it, I'll buy a house in Indonesia and retire there. If I stay here, what am I going to do?" Midlevel jobs in manufacturing and multinational companies are disappearing, and being replaced by technology and financial services roles, which are easier to fill with younger, more affordable migrants. Singaporeans like Aziz struggle to get back into the workforce. Only half of retrenched over-50s are reemployed full time within six months. Nearly three-quarters of people laid off in Singapore last quarter were what the country classifies as professionals, managers, executives and technicians, or PMETs. A quarter of a million people are in functional poverty. The bottom 20% of Singaporean households have an average monthly shortfall of S$335 between their incomes and outgoings, according to the government's latest economic survey. Living costs have risen. Water bills are up 30% since 2017; medical costs have increased 10% in just over five years, an acute problem in a population that is aging rapidly. Technological disruption is breaking the link between economic growth and earnings. Growth has slowed to its lowest level since the 2009 financial crisis tipped the island into recession. Singapore has long relied on migrant labor to drive economic growth. (Photo by Peter Guest) Together, these have massed into an unprecedented challenge for the People's Action Party, which has held power in Singapore for more than half a century by delivering growth and prosperity. An election is looming, and there are no easy answers. "I think the social compact is fraying" Donald Low, associate partner at political consultancy Centennial Asia Advisors "The PAP's legitimacy has depended not primarily on electoral performance or democratic accountability. Its primary source of legitimacy has come from economic performance," says Donald Low, who spent 15 years in senior government roles and is now an associate partner at political consultancy Centennial Asia Advisors. "I think the social compact is fraying. The PAP's capability to ensure upward social mobility as long as you work hard and get an education, that ability has been seriously eroded." Glamour and grit For outsiders, Singapore's progress is often measured by the way that it accessorized its strides forward. Its infrastructure is near-seamless, its airport among the best in the world. Its network of subterranean malls is populated with high-end homogenized, globalized retail and leisure outlets -- designer clothing, luxury luggage, franchised restaurants from celebrity chefs -- of the kind found in wealthy emirates and airport departure lounges. After separating from Malaysia in 1965, the country opened its economy to international trade and capital, rising from a middling post-colonial port city -- albeit one at the nexus of global shipping -- to the ninth wealthiest nation in the world per capita. The PAP used that growth to dramatically raise the living standards of Singaporeans through education and a radical public housing policy. Starting in 1966, the Singapore government bought land from private owners -- who were legally obliged to sell -- to build massive public housing developments. Today, the state owns 90% of Singapore island, and 80% of Singaporeans live in "HDBs," Housing & Development Board apartments, which they own on long leases from the government. After separating from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore opened its economy to international trade and capital, achieving rapid growth. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) Free public education helped to encourage social mobility, supporting a doctrine of self-reliance and meritocracy that was the cornerstone philosophy of the PAP's founding father Lee Kuan Yew. "Because I hailed from a poor family, my school fees were waived, and I could apply to borrow free, but used, textbooks," says Tan Ern Ser, associate professor in sociology at the National University of Singapore. "[The government] believes in investing in people through education, housing and health care. It believes that people should be given the opportunity to be educated, to acquire skills and qualifications and be rewarded on the basis of merit, and in turn do well for themselves and be self-reliant." Through homeownership, education and almost full employment, Singapore leapt forward not just in absolute wealth, but in quality of life and aspirational potential. "Singapore has ... become a middle class society," Tan says. The depth and pace of economic progress established the political legitimacy of the PAP for generations. The party has never been out of power. Lee Kuan Yew's son, Lee Hsien Loong, is the current prime minister. The economic model, which began as a mixture of socialist nationalism and paternalistic authoritarianism, before veering toward Thatcherite shareholder capitalism in the 1990s, has been much mythologized by free marketeers and aspiring autocrats worldwide. Prosperous, crime-free, technologically advanced and just about free enough for comfort, the tiny city-state appeared to have found a formula to inoculate itself against the decline and division that seem to characterize other developed economies in the late stages of capitalism. "Everybody thinks it's a perfect economy," says Yeoh Lam Keong, the former chief economist of Singapore's state investment fund GIC. "On the surface, it looks as though people must be looked after." (Photo by Peter Guest) "On the surface of it, [the Singapore economy] looks astonishingly miraculous," says Yeoh Lam Keong, the former chief economist of Singapore's state fund GIC. "Everybody thinks it's a perfect economy. On the surface, it looks as though people must be looked after. But that's on the surface." Yeoh is perhaps an unlikely critic of Singapore's political elite, having spent the majority of his professional life close to the heart of the establishment, stepping down from the GIC in 2011. In an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, Yeoh, dressed on a Saturday afternoon in a polo shirt and shorts, a faded Make Poverty History wristband dangling on one arm, sought to portray Singapore's challenges -- in his words, "the bogeyman" -- as part of decadal struggles being fought across the globe. Economic malaise and social tensions are engulfing Western democracies, he warns. Democratic socialism is facing off against nationalism, winner-takes-all shareholder capitalism against a more progressive "stakeholder" capitalism, he says, and Singapore, he warns, is far from insulated. "If you stand back and study this, it's a global phenomenon," he says. The roots of Singapore's current problems, Yeoh believes, were planted in the 1990s, when its politics lurched rightward. In line with the prevailing neoliberal thinking, the government moved toward a more market-based approach to the pricing and ownership of HDB flats. Many citizens bought houses, taking advantage of a government scheme that allows citizens to use the savings in their Central Provident Fund -- a compulsory pension scheme -- to do so. Property prices were booming, so in theory this meant that they would have a valuable asset in retirement, which they could sell or borrow against. However, HDB houses are sold as leaseholds, and the leases are ticking down. The value of many older homes has peaked, and their owners face a retirement with a depreciating asset and a diminished pension pot. That means the signature social policy has gone from one of the most successful public housing initiatives of the 20th century, to a liability for some elderly citizens, Yeoh said. "It's a time bomb." Perhaps a more consequential policy decision was made in the belief -- and up to that point, the experience -- that growth would continue to drive social mobility and job creation. "They thought that they wanted to maximize welfare by maximizing growth. They had one huge policy lever, which was immigration," Yeoh says. A state scheme to set up Singaporeans with housing assets is backfiring; thanks to a stagnant market in HDB sales, many elderly homeowners are now, in fact, saddled with liabilities. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) Between 2000 and 2010, Singapore's immigrant population nearly doubled from 755,000 to 1.3 million, not counting foreign-born citizens given permanent residence status. As of June 2019, Singapore's population was composed of 3.5 million citizens, 530,000 permanent residents and 1.7 million foreign workers, students and dependents. "Relative to the base population, you haven't seen that anywhere else. It's unimaginable. It depressed permanently the wages of all those at the bottom," Yeoh says. Singapore has no statutory minimum wages, and labor unions have little power, so there was nothing to cushion the blow. A generation whose incomes had loosely tracked the country's growth suddenly found it accelerating away from them. "You're earning your adult life in a middle-income country, and you end up having to retire ... in one of the richest developed countries in the world," Yeoh says. "It's like working in the Philippines and retiring in London." Inevitably, this led to social tensions, which have simmered close to the surface for years. Late last year, they boiled over. Rising nativism In October, an Indian-born Singaporean citizen, Ramesh Erramalli, was videoed verbally abusing a security guard at his upscale condo block. Stories of foreigners behaving badly are red meat for Singapore's tabloids, but this clip, in which Erramalli is heard to shout: "I bought your f------ property for S$1.5 million, you know?" went viral. Erramalli's salary, address and phone number were circulated online. A petition was started urging his employer, the investment bank JPMorgan Chase, to fire him, as he became an avatar for Singaporeans' worst view of immigrants -- entitled, overpaid, unwilling to integrate. A few days later, several hundred people gathered in Hong Lim Park, the country's only designated protest spot, to demonstrate against the government's labor policy. It was hardly a mass protest, but in a country that tightly regulates public shows of dissent, it was significant. "People are struggling. They see the foreigners living in a posh condo, while I'm struggling in an HDB, driving Grab," says Gilbert Goh, the protest's organizer. Goh is a fringe political figure, but has built a following on social media, and through his blogs, where, like his analogues in other countries, he purports to speak for the squeezed middle-aged, middle-class and mostly male workers displaced by social change. On stage, he is not a firebrand orator; his delivery style is more reminiscent of a corporate presentation than a political rally. What he mostly talks about is immigration, which he insists is compounding the economic problems faced by average Singaporeans. "It was already tough for people in their 40s and 50s to find a job, but with the influx of foreigners it has made it harder," he says. In an interview with Nikkei he denied being "anti-foreigner" and sought to portray the debate as a purely economic one. However, he drifted unbidden into questions of identity, and raised the specter of unrest. "People like Ramesh [Erramalli] don't help. ... He has citizenship, but we don't view him as one of us," he said. "The sentiment will get worse, I can assure you. ... There's not much collaboration, there's not much integration. I think that will blow up one day. There will be fights." "Call me xenophobic if you like," he said in parting, his tone more melancholy than angry. "I'm used to it." Yeoh interprets this kind of nativism and nationalism, which is on the rise around the world, as a demand for social protection that is not being met within the current political system. "When people hurt ... they go back to their animal way of looking at things, which is totally irrational, primitive, which is what you have in the U.S. and U.K. right now," he says. Yeoh insists that the inevitable impacts of globalization and technological shifts on average people need to be mitigated by governments through social safety nets. Time is running out, and the threats are mounting. "These forces of the gig economy, [artificial intelligence,] technological unemployment, competition from China and India, the breakdown of the global trading system, the disintermediation of manufacturing chains around the world ... the aging of our population -- are going to gradually immiserate the average voter. It's a slow fuse time bomb," he says. "We've got to think: Social protection is the key." Self-reliance Welfare is a hard sell in Singapore, where meritocracy is still a mantra. The country has no unemployment insurance, very limited unemployment benefits or in-work benefits for low wage earners, little state support for pensions. This is partly a function of its early success. As it moved rapidly through the stages of development, people's livelihoods improved enough that welfare was not a consideration. "Singapore, for the first 40 years, never needed robust social safety nets," Donald Low says. "Now that society is a lot more mature, and all the low-hanging fruit in terms of progress up the socioeconomic ladder ... have been harvested. With or without growth, social mobility is going to slow." The government has made some concessions, with support packages for some elderly and poorer Singaporeans, and tighter migration controls. Critics like Low and Keong argue that these are still inadequate, and that the government could afford a lot more. Singapore runs a structural fiscal surplus -- S$2.1 billion in fiscal 2018. Almost uniquely among developed economies, Singapore has the financial firepower to tackle its problems. "We are so parsimonious. We save everything for a rainy day," Yeoh said. "But we need to use that surplus to stave off the bogeyman. ... It's raining like hell." In the coming election, the fragmented opposition has a new figure to rally around: Tan Cheng Bock, a former 26-year veteran of the ruling People's Action Party. (Photo by Peter Guest) Nikkei contacted several government departments seeking comment. None agreed to be interviewed. However, in his New Year's speech, Lee said that the government would look for "practical measures" to deal with households that are struggling. The resistance to deeper change, insiders say, is ideological. Speaking privately to Nikkei, current and former PAP members as well as government employees used the terms "ossified" and "calcified," as they lamented that a system once known for its flexibility and willingness to debate internally has hardened, and is no longer willing to challenge its core ideologies. Reformists have been sidelined, in favor of a more conservative, nostalgic core. "I do think you see signs of atrophy and decay in what has been a highly successful, highly competent, professional, technocratic regime," one said. Another argued that the combination of a state-controlled media and nervous academia, both prone to self-censorship, lead to an illusion of consensus that leaves policymakers "drinking their Kool-Aid" and blind to the concerns of people on the ground. Several pointed with varying degrees of exasperation to a sudden ban on the use of electric scooters on pavements -- commonly used by delivery riders -- in November, which led to protests and accusations that the government was out of touch with working class voters, and no longer listening to them. "To a large extent, Singapore's ability to continue succeeding will be determined by the party's ability to respond and adapt to these demands from dissenting and oppositional voices, which are growing," Low says. The ruling PAP has always made the case that Singapore's economic prosperity and stability are dependent on near-total political control. (Photo by Peter Guest) The PAP has always made the case that economic prosperity and stability are intertwined with the near-total control that it wields politically and socially. The economic model comes with an implicit contract -- that Singaporeans give up a substantial amount of personal liberty in exchange for prosperity and security. While elections are held, the PAP has always cannily used the levers of government to retain power, suppressing political opposition and civil society and using its financial resources to give itself an insurmountable advantage. An election is coming, although when is still not clear. In September 2019, the government formed its Electoral Boundaries Review Committee, which draws up the constituency lines on which the polls will be run. Historically, that has meant an election within six months. The poll has to be held by April 2021. Lee Hsien Loong has said that he will step down before he turns 70 in February 2022, and hand over power to a successor, likely to be Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat. This time, the fragmented opposition has a new figure to rally around. Tan Cheng Bock, a 26-year veteran of the PAP and former member of its executive committee, has formed a new party, the Progress Singapore Party, to contest the election. Having spent so long inside the system, he is realistic about his chances. The PAP will win the next election; the question is by how much. If the opposition can dent the ruling party's lead, it can force a change of course. "It is difficult for us to make really deep inroads into government. But we are content if we can get a sizable number [of votes]." Tan says. "Once we get a foothold, I hope ... we can point out where things can get better." Limited change at the ballot box has happened before. In 2011, in the aftermath of the 2009 recession and with mounting discontent over the PAP's population policy, there was an unprecedented swing away from the ruling party, which won 60% of the votes -- although that still translated to 93% of the available seats in parliament. The result led to a degree of introspection inside the government. Unpopular policies, including immigration policy, were revised. Activists said that civic space for public conversations opened slightly. "There was a kind of flourishing of dissenting views," says Jolovan Wham, a prominent social activist. "That was very short-lived." In recent months, independent news outlets, opposition politicians and activists, including Wham, have been hit with a variety of criminal and civil charges. In 2019, the government gave itself sweeping new powers to limit "fake news" with the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, which allows ministers to demand corrections or takedowns of stories that they deem to be "false or misleading." The act has now been used a handful of times, mainly against social media posts by opposition figures, and mainly on areas identified as vulnerabilities: migration, education, and the running of the state-owned funds. The prime minister's wife, Ho Ching, is the CEO and executive director of state investment fund Temasek Holdings. Her compensation is not disclosed. In one case, which is currently going through an appeal in the courts, the Singapore Democratic Party was accused of misrepresenting statistics on PMET unemployment. This closing of the political space is concerning for those advocating for a rethink of the government's role in the economy. "There's a lot of self-affirmation," Yeoh Lam Keong says. "And because [the government] mistake criticism for dissent, they muzzle it. That's why it took them 20 years to change their immigration policy. If you're improving at that rate, it's not fast enough for the bogeyman. The bogeyman is coming." Source

He calls the water arrangement between Hong Kong and Guangdong an "unequal" deal. Chapman To (Du Wen Ze, 杜汶澤) is a Hong Kong actor and comedian known for his roles in the Infernal Affairs trilogy and the Initial D movie. Known for anti-mainland China views He is also known for his anti-government views, and for supporting the pro-democracy movements in both Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as his anti-mainland China sentiments. As a result, he has been banned from the Chinese market, and has since ventured into the film markets in Malaysia and Singapore, setting up a movie production firm in Malaysia and collaborating with Singaporean comedian Mark Lee in the movie King of Mahjong. To called out unfair water contract between Hong Kong and Guangdong In an episode of his regular talk show Chapman To’s Late Show that aired on Jan. 15, To talked about that the water agreement signed between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government and the Guangdong local government in 2006. The episode was titled, “A big gift from the Chinese Communist Party”. In the show, To referred to the agreement as the “minimum price contract” and the “2006 Hong Kong inequality contract”. Guangdong province is situated at the southernmost tip of mainland China adjacent to Hong Kong. Here’s the segment from the episode: To explained that under the contract, Hong Kong had to buy 820 million cubic metres of water from mainland China. The volume was increased from 22.7 million cubic metres to 820 million cubic metres, he said. He further said the cost of importing water from Guangdong was HK$4.8 billion (S$832 million) in 2019 alone. However, even if Hong Kong does not use all the water they are entitled to under the contract, the SAR is still required to pay the price. “That was the contract, it’s minimum payment,” To said. He likened the contract to paying HK$8,000 (S$1,387) at a club for bottle service even if a customer just ordered a single glass of juice. To: Beijing should thank Hongkongers instead To added that Hong Kong residents could not use up all 820 million cubic metres of water they are entitled to annually, which meant that the city “overpaid” Guangdong by HK4.5 billion (S$781 million) in 10 years. Lastly, in response to the narrative among some mainland Chinese that Hongkongers should thank mainland China for providing them with water, To said it is the mainland Chinese who should thank Hongkongers instead for the huge amount of money the mainland Chinese got from the deal. The live audience in the studio then erupted in applause. Mainland China supplies 70 to 80 percent of Hong Kong’s water Hong Kong has been importing water from the Dong River, or Dongjiang, since 1965. According to the SAR government’s Water Supplies Department, the Dong River is Hong Kong’s main source of water. Water pipes from Dongjiang in Sheung Shui. (Image via Wikipedia Commons) About 70 to 80 percent of the city’s water supply comes from the river. The city gets its remaining 20 to 30 percent of water from the rainfall captured in natural catchments. Lump sum package deal criticised for inflexbility The details surrounding the water agreement that To criticised appear to be accurate. Hong Kong pays HK$4.22 billion (S$732 million) annually for water from the Dong River, regardless of how much it actually uses, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. And according to an article published by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), the agreement cost the SAR HK$4.5 billion (S$781 million) for “water it did not consume”. Hong Kong has been “getting the shorter end of the stick” under the lump sum package deal approach, it added. SCMP reported that while the annual supply ceiling is fixed at 820 million cubic metres, the import amount is adjusted monthly according to the needs of Hong Kong resident and rainfall in the city. Such a lump sum deal has been criticised for its inflexibility. Hong Kong consumes nearly a billion cubic metres of freshwater every year. Hong Kong and Guangdong have agreed to review the current price package this year. You can watch the entire episode here: Source

SBM Offshore riding the FPSO renaissance wave In surfing, reading the environment and anticipating a wave from a small lump on the horizon can be difficult, but rewarding. This is what SBM Offshore, a Dutch-based FPSO industry specialist which has been building floating production units for 60 years, had done when after a rather dry period for FPSO orders it ordered an FPSO hull from China’s SWS Shipyard in July 2017. FPSO suppliers usually order a hull when they have a contract for it secured, however, this FPSO hull, the first under SBM Offshore’s trademark Fast4Ward program was ordered on speculation, without a firm contract in hand. SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward program includes a generic hull based on Brazilian and West African environmental conditions, with the versatility to receive various large topsides with spread or turret mooring configurations. The FPSO developed this way, SBM has said, can speed up delivery of an FPSO by up to 12 months. For a typical project, this can boost value for a client by more than US$0.5 billion, materially lowering project break-even prices, SBM Offshore has said. This might be key to securing new contracts, as Rystad Energy recently said that while the future of the FPSO industry now looks bright after a few years of downturn, a key challenge going forward would be project execution and cost control. From one hull to five in 2 years Announcing its first Fast4Ward hull order on speculation in 2017, SBM Offshore said it was cautiously optimistic about the improvement in the FPSO market, and that it believed that Fast4Ward would give it a major competitive advantage once the FPSO market picks up, as it will fast-track projects compared with the industry average and can cut CAPEX and OPEX costs while providing clients earlier access to oil. Fast forward (PUN INTENDED) to the end of 2019, SBM Offshore’s optimism has firmed up, as the company recently ordered its fourth and fifth Fast4Ward hulls – also in China, and according to a recent report by Rystad Energy, there may be a need for many more FPSOs in the coming years. More here. The firm contract for the first Fast4Ward FPSO ordered in 2017, was secured in May 2019, and while the FPSO has been developed for Brazilian and West African environmental conditions, it won’t be deployed in either of the two regions. ExxonMobil will use it for its Liza 2 development in Guyana. Come June 2019, SBM Offshore signed an LoI with Petrobras for the supply of an FPSO for the Mero 2 development in Brazil. In August, construction began on the third Fast4Ward hull, and in December 2019, SBM Offshore ordered two more units in China, meaning SBM Offshore currently has five hulls on order,. “I’ve been doing a few of these over the years, and this is quite historic, to be doing five FPSO hulls simultaneously. This has never been done before, by far,” SBM Offshore’s Managing Director Strategic Growth, Bernard van Leggelo, has recently said. This is especially the case when one takes into consideration that the company has been ordering them without a firm contract in place. Worth noting, the firm contract for the Mero 2 FPSO was signed earlier in December 2019 following an LoI with Petrobras. The hull is being built by China Merchants Industry Holdings (CMIH) shipyard in China, as the FPSO is set to be delivered in 2022. First hull ready to sail away If you read Offshore Energy Today, you could’ve read about each of these five FPSO hull orders, and you could’ve noticed that we’ve probably overused the artist’s impression of the Fast4Ward FPSO hulls showing three orange-box type units with various mooring types. We did this simply because there were no photos to share as the first hull was still under construction. However, Offshore Energy Today was recently in China aboard the Liza Unity FPSO hull and now we have photos. The hull of the first MPF – the Liza Unity – is basically fully complete, as the SWS workers had been finishing up painting works on it during our December visit. The Liza Unity FPSO hull is scheduled to leave the SWS Shanghai shipyard in January 2020, on its way to Singapore where the topsides will be mounted aboard ahead of the final sail away to Guyana. This will be SBM Offshore’s largest FPSO so far. It is designed to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day, to have associated gas treatment capacity of 400 million cubic feet per day and water injection capacity of 250,000 barrels per day. The FPSO will be spread moored in a water depth of about 1,600 meters and will be able to store around 2 million barrels of crude oil. Not just an orange box While the first hull under the Fast4Ward concept was ordered in 2017, the thinking about the program began five years ago when the company started pondering how it could do better, bring ways of working to new levels, and to make the business less dependent on market cycles. During our visit to China, we spoke with Bernard van Leggelo, SBM Offshore’s Managing Director of Strategic Growth to learn more about Fast4Ward. “There is a lot of noise in the market that Fast4Ward is just an orange box, but the orange box is just one element of the philosophy and approach of delivery faster to the client.” It may not be “just an orange box” but it is worth stressing that Fast4Ward’s box shape has its benefits over the traditional VLCC shape FPSO with a bow. According to SBM Offshore, the current box-shaped hull of the Fast4Ward hulls, rather than a ship-shaped one, provides extra deck space for topside modules, allows for lower modules, less congestion, less piping, is safer to operate as you don’t have to climb six stairs up and six stairs down to the work, and is quicker to build. Bow shape means less deck space. Given the fact that FPSO doesn’t have to move fast as it will spend most of its life on one or two locations, there’s no need for a bow, and no bow shape on Fast4Ward means 13 percent extra deck space vs traditional FPSOs converted from VLCCs. This further allows for more space on hull facilitates lowering the modules for better access for maintenance, while improving safety. Standard FPSOs have been built in the past, but “every one of those companies went bankrupt,” Van Leggelo said. So, why is SBM Offshore different? “The key difference is looking at the standardization of the individual building blocks while maintaining flexibility as FPSO at the end is still quite a custom piece,” Van Leggelo said. So, with the MPF hull being one piece of the puzzle, the other piece SBM Offshore highlights as important is its catalog of the topsides and all the other pieces such as flare tower, helideck, cranes. It currently has about 70 entries for clients to choose from. Van Leggelo said: “The clients have seen the benefits of our standards and of our flexibility. We can move faster without the constraints of moving fast. Because if you make a standard FPSO, as people tried 15 years ago, allegedly it’s ready to go but it never fits what the client wants. Combined with all the experience we’ve had with the units, the clients really start to see a big value proposition of Fast4Ward.” What will prevent any other FPSO supplier from doing a similar thing? “Well, they’re four years behind us, Paula Farquharson-Blengino SBM Offshore’s Press Offices says, smiling, and according to a recent report by the FPSO Network, track record is one of the most important things when it comes to ordering an FPSO. Source

Rumor has it that AMD has another many-core processor ace up its sleeve (Image credit: Future) AMD is preparing a 48-core processor for its range of 3rd-gen Ryzen Threadripper CPUs, according to the latest chatter from the grapevine, which backs up some previous speculation. The 48-core (96-thread) offering was highlighted in a post on a Chinese tech site (as spotted by Tech Powerup), with the processor allegedly referenced in the code for CPU-Z version 1.91 (CPU-Z is a profiling and monitoring app which details what hardware your PC is running). Check out our full AMD Ryzen 9 3950X review Best AMD Ryzen laptops: top laptops with AMD CPUs inside These are the best AMD processors And assuming it does exist as per the rumor, the 48-core chip will sit between the previously confirmed 64-core Ryzen Threadripper 3990X, which is due to go on sale at some point this year (likely early on rather than later), and the already launched 3970X which has 32-cores. High-end options It would seem to make sense to give high-end buyers another option between these two processors, which would logically be the 3980X (although note that there never was a 2980X – so the gap in the model names of the range doesn’t necessarily mean anything). And while the cited source isn’t one we are particularly confident about (so treat this rumor with a bit of caution), a previously reputable source had indicated there will be a 48-core model. This other source correctly revealed the existence of the 3990X, and got the TDP right at 280W – one of the few spec details AMD has revealed about the new incoming flagship. Ultimately, then, we’re left making educated guesses about the possible existence of a 48-core option, and further in that vein, the 3990X is expected to be eye-wateringly pricey – possibly to the tune of four grand, we’ve previously theorized – so again it might make sense for AMD to slot something else in between this and the already available 32-core Threadripper 3970X. Remember that these top-end chips are being pitched at a target audience of ‘Hollywood creators’ by AMD, certainly in the case of the 64-core model. At any rate, it’s likely we’ll hear more about the incoming 3990X pretty soon – quite possibly at CES 2019 – and so who knows, there might be info in the pipeline about this potential 3980X to follow… Source

HONG KONG: An international panel of experts hired to advise Hong Kong's police watchdog over its handling of huge anti-government protests announced Wednesday (Dec 11) they were quitting, in a major setback for the government. The move came a month after a leaked statement from the group revealed they felt the city's police watchdog was not equipped to carry out a proper investigation. Instead they suggested a fully independent inquiry would be better suited for such a large task. One of the core demands of protesters - alongside fully free elections - is an inquiry into the police, who have been left to battle black-clad activists for six months and are now loathed by significant chunks of the deeply polarised population. READ: Hong Kong protests in pictures: 6 months of anger, tear gas and clashes But the city's pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam and the police have repeatedly rejected those calls. In a statement released on Wednesday, the panel said talks with the Independent Police Complaints Commission had made no headway in the last month. "As a result, the IEP (Independent Expert Panel) has taken the decision to formally stand aside from its role," the statement said. The experts also restated the criticisms it had of the police watchdog it was hired to assess. "We ultimately concluded that a crucial shortfall was evident in the powers, capacity and independent investigative capability of IPCC," the experts said. READ: Hong Kong leader rules out protest concessions ahead of Beijing visit The panel was announced back in September and was chaired by Sir Dennis O'Connor, who was tasked by the British government to write a report on the police after the 2011 London riots. It included current or former police watchdog chiefs from Canada, Australia and New Zealand and a British specialist on crowd behaviour. Earlier this month the chair of the IPCC gave an interview to a mainland Chinese media outlet rebuking the panel, saying they "do not understand Hong Kong's situation". Critics say the IPCC lacks adequate investigatory powers, is stacked with pro-establishment figures and has been toothless when it comes to holding the police to account. Monday marked the six month anniversary of the protests, which were initially sparked by a now-abandoned attempt to allow extraditions to mainland China but have since morphed into a popular revolt against Beijing's rule. EXPLORE: Voices of Hong Kong, an interactive special The last three weeks have seen a rare lull in the violence and vandalism after pro-democracy parties won a landslide in local council elections. On Sunday, an estimated 800,000 people marched peacefully through the city's streets Sunday. An end to violence is something Lam has insisted must be a precursor to meaningful dialogue. But Lam has shown no sign she is willing to budge, leading to fears clashes could resume. In her weekly press conference on Tuesday she dismissed protesters' demands once more as she announced plans to go to Beijing this weekend where she is expected to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/hong-kong-protests-international-experts-quit-police-probe-12174596

Taiwan says China fails to pay up on US$8.6 billion in aid pledges to former allies TAIPEI: Taiwan's foreign minister said on Friday (Nov 22) that China had failed to deliver aid promises worth US$8.6 billion and instead "exported corruption" to nations that had switched allegiance to Beijing from Taipei, amid a tug-of-war for diplomatic recognition. China has in recent months stepped up a campaign to peel away more allies from self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing considers its territory and so ineligible for state-to-state relations, ahead of a January presidential election in Taiwan. Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Beijing had made "false" aid promises totalling US$8.6 billion to several of Taiwan's former allies, for various projects from sea ports to highways. "To lure Taiwan's allies to build ties with them, China often makes promises with huge amounts of money. But we realise those promises were not fulfilled," Wu told reporters in Taipei. "We have been telling our allies that don't think you can hugely benefit from China just because of these false promises," he said, citing a long list of projects he said China had failed to deliver to Taiwan's former allies including the Dominican Republic, Sao Tome, Burkina Faso and El Salvador. In Beijing, China said this was a smear. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing started "cooperation with many countries on the basis of a win-win" and they were "not only in China's interest but are in the other country's interests". "These real benefits are something the citizens of these other countries can truly feel. These types of cooperation cannot be effaced by anyone's attacks or smear attempts." Beijing has redoubled it efforts to "reunify" Taiwan, flying regular bomber patrols around it and seeking to isolate it diplomatically. That has presented a challenge to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking re-election and has seen seven countries drop Taiwan as an ally since she took office in 2016. Wu said China was exporting "corruption and authoritarianism" to those countries and "putting money directly into the pockets of corrupt politicians". "Either China has limited capacity to deliver those promises, or they were just unwilling to deliver those promises," Wu said. "This could be a cautionary tale for our allies." Taiwan now has only 15 diplomatic allies, many of them smaller, less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific like Belize and Nauru. Tuvalu, one of Taiwan's remaining allies in the Pacific, told Reuters this week the nation had rejected offers from Chinese companies to build artificial islands to help it cope with rising sea levels, giving some relief for Tsai. China believes Tsai wishes to push for Taiwan's formal independence, a red line for Beijing which has threatened to attack if this happens. Tsai has repeatedly said she wishes to maintain the status with China, but will defend Taiwan's democracy and security. Source