FairPrice’s plastic bags are turning grey — here’s why   https://stmp.sg/uoT8     Full Details: FairPrice’s Grey Plastic Bag Initiative 🛍️   Published: July 8, 2026 | Source: Stomp / Lianhe Zaobao   📌 What’s Changing   FairPrice is rolling out a nationwide pilot to replace its usual white disposable bags with grey bags made with 30% recycled plastic.   - First spotted at outlets including Toa Payoh Bus Interchange, Serangoon North, Dawson, Chinatown Point and Jurong East - Will be gradually introduced across all stores, fully replacing the white version eventually - The grey colour comes from using recycled material, while keeping the same strength and utility as before   ⚖️ Regulatory Background   Under the Resource Sustainability Act, since July 3, 2023:   - Large retailers with turnover above $100 million must charge at least 5 cents per disposable bag - They must also publish annual reports stating: total bags supplied, total proceeds collected, and how the money is used   📊 2024 Plastic Bag Usage Figures   From reports released Dec 2025:   - FairPrice: 67,945,733 bags purchased - Sheng Siong: 31,202,996 bags - Cold Storage & Giant: 20,204,580 bags All three chains currently charge 5 cents per bag.   🌱 Purpose & Context   This move is part of FairPrice’s long-running sustainability efforts – it started charging for bags voluntarily in 2019, well before the national mandate took effect. Using recycled content reduces reliance on new plastic and supports Singapore’s zero-waste goals.        

Why are singles' application rates for BTO flats still so high?   https://sg.news.yahoo.com/more-two-room-flexi-bto-210000302.html?utm_source=Telegram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=YahooSingapore   The Yahoo News Singapore article (syndicated from *The Straits Times*, published in July 2026) highlights the trend surrounding 2-room Flexi Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in Singapore. Even though the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has dramatically increased the supply of these units, application rates among singles remain exceptionally high.   ### 1. Massive Boost in Supply To tackle high demand, HDB is aggressively ramping up construction for this flat type:    * **The 3-Year Plan:** HDB plans to launch **20,000 two-room flexi flats between 2026 and 2028**, a 50% increase compared to previous multi-year periods.    * **Record Highs in 2026:** HDB is rolling out approximately **6,433 two-room flexi units in 2026 alone** (a 13.8% increase from 2025's 5,655 units). This marks the highest annual supply since the scheme's inception in 2015 and is more than double the volume launched in 2023.   ### 2. High Application Rates for Singles Despite the influx of new flats, competition remains incredibly stiff:    * During the **June 2026 BTO launch**, the application rate for singles at the *Woodgrove Acres* project in Woodlands soared as high as **19.3 applicants per flat**.    * Even for a "Plus" project in Ang Mo Kio—where tighter resale restrictions usually deter some buyers—the single application rate was still **4.1**.    * While the median application rate for singles peaked heavily at 26.3 during a past launch, it has settled at a still-competitive average of **around 7** across the last three sales exercises (October 2025, February 2026, and June 2026).   ### 3. Why Demand Stays So High Property experts point to a few driving forces behind the numbers:    * **The Price Gap:** 2-room flexi BTOs are much more budget-friendly for a solo income. In the June 2026 launch, they were priced between **$139,000 and $247,000 (before grants)**. On the open market, comparable 2-room resale flats averaged roughly **$360,000** over the past year.    * **Low Upfront Costs:** Buyers get a brand-new 99-year lease and typically save heavily on the maintenance or extensive renovations often required for older resale flats.    * **Societal Shifts:** Demographic data shows a growing number of Singapore residents choosing to remain single, with a strong cultural preference for property ownership over renting.   ### 4. Primed for Popular Locations HDB is intentionally putting a large chunk of these small units into highly desirable developments:    * **Berlayar Rise (Telok Blangah):** In the June 2026 launch, **41% of the project** (816 out of 1,976 units) consisted of 2-room flexi flats located right by the Greater Southern Waterfront.    * **Bayshore (Bedok):** Looking ahead to the massive October 2026 launch, nearly half of the highly anticipated Bayshore flats—**1,240 out of 2,500 units**—will be dedicated 2-room flexis.   ### 5. Allocation & Policies  * **Quota Rules:** 2-room flexi flats are prioritised for seniors first. From the remaining non-senior supply, first-timer singles can book up to **65%** of the units across Standard, Plus, and Prime projects.    * **The Age Limit Debate:** While there are ongoing public calls to lower the buying age floor for singles below the current 35-year-old threshold, the government remains cautious. National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat noted that loosening eligibility conditions right now would spike demand, worsening application rates and potentially bottlenecking waiting times if supply can't keep pace.

🤖 'Give us some patience': Govt working hard to secure AI-driven jobs for Singaporeans, says Jasmin Lau   The Government is hard at work to secure jobs for local Singaporeans amid the progress and the growth of artificial intelligence (AI), Minister of State for the Ministry of Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau said on Wednesday (July 8).   READ: https://asia1.news/4f3lqaT   Follow @AsiaOnecom for all the latest updates.   During the opening ceremony of the **AI for Good Festival** at Republic Polytechnic on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, Jasmin Lau—Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, and Minister of State for Education—addressed public anxieties regarding artificial intelligence and job security for Singaporeans.   The full details of her speech, the government's upcoming macro-economic strategies, and the national framework to protect local workers include:   ### 1. Acknowledging Public Anxiety MOS Jasmin Lau directly validated the growing career unease surrounding automation and generative AI:    * **The "Grey Blur":** She stated, *"At this moment, I can understand a lot of people feel anxious because it's a grey blur and not everyone feels that the future is one of hope and possibility for them. But it will come. Give us some patience."*  * **Targeting the Disadvantaged:** Her primary concern lies in systemic equality—ensuring that lower-income or less-tech-literate workers progress at the same rate as the rest of the nation rather than getting left behind in an AI-driven economy.    * **The Festival's Mission:** The festival (collaborating with Amazon Web Services and Micron Technology) is designed to cultivate basic AI literacy across 5,000 students, who can subsequently act as tech touchpoints to reduce hesitancy or fear of technology for their parents and grandparents.   ### 2. Strict Accountability for Government AI Grants In tandem with her address, the government made it clear that public support is a two-way street. Under the framework developed by the Economic Strategy Review (ESR) committees:    * **Monitoring Patterns of Layouts:** The government will intervene against companies that repeatedly claim taxpayer-funded AI and digital transformation grants but consistently cut local headcount or treat redundant workers unfairly.    * **Responsible Innovation:** Leaders emphasized that while companies will always make short-term, commercial cost-cutting decisions, corporations must not use public funds to replace human intuition. Organizations that replace human context entirely with AI risk hollowing out their own long-term competitive edge.   ### 3. Structural Safeguards for the Local Workforce Singapore is rolling out structured safety nets and proactive guidelines via a recently convened Tripartite Council (comprising MOM, NTUC, and SNEF):    * **Mandatory AI Literacy (2027):** To prepare the talent pipeline, all students across Singapore Universities, Polytechnics, and ITE campuses will be formally taught baseline AI competency and implementation skills by 2027.    * **Incentivizing Job Redesign:** Instead of letting companies substitute staff with algorithms, the council is working to help firms redesign existing roles. The goal is to offload repetitive "grunt work" to technology so that junior staff can be elevated to make higher-value judgment and strategic calls earlier in their careers.    * **Irreplaceable Skill Focus:** Workforce agencies are urging local employees to focus heavily on relationship-driven, high-empathy, and trust-centered domains—such as social work, healthcare navigation, and unique community management—which cannot be replicated or replaced by machine intelligence.

⚖️ 4 suspects charged over 'elaborate' money laundering scheme involving gold hidden in signal converters   Three Singapore-registered corporate entities — Macropac Systems, Megaspeed Services, and Seg Metallic Electronics Trading — were found to have imported signal converters from two suppliers operated by a criminal syndicate in China.   READ: https://asia1.news/4waZTop   Follow @AsiaOnecom for all the latest updates.   On **Wednesday, July 8, 2026**, four individuals (three men and one woman, aged between 60 and 63) were hauled to court in Singapore for their alleged involvement in a highly sophisticated, multi-national trade-based money laundering and gold-smuggling operation. The network was dismantled through a long-term, joint investigation by Singapore's **Commercial Affairs Department (CAD)**, **Singapore Customs**, and their law enforcement counterparts in China.   ### How the "Gold in Signal Converter" Carousel Worked The operation was disguised as a high-tech international trade route, but functioned as a **Value-Added Tax (VAT) carousel fraud** designed to siphon millions out of Chinese tax authorities. The mechanics of the scheme worked sequentially:    1. **The Smuggling:** A criminal syndicate in China hid physical gold bullion *inside* electronic signal converters.    2. **Inflated Invoicing:** The syndicate declared these signal converters to China Customs as premium, high-tech components, exporting them at massively inflated prices to three specific Singapore-registered corporate entities:      * **Macropac Systems**    * **Megaspeed Services**    * **Seg Metallic Electronics Trading**    3. **The Extraction:** Once the cargo landed in Singapore, the syndicate's local operators dismantled the signal converters, extracted the hidden gold, and sold it off on the local market.    4. **Closing the Loop:** The stripped electronic mainboards were then exported back out of Singapore to China via shell companies in Hong Kong. The mainboards were reassembled into a fresh batch of converters, and the entire sham cycle repeated.   **The Financial Motive:** This complex paper trail allowed the syndicate to claim massive, fraudulent export VAT refunds from the Chinese government. The money was effectively laundered and moved into the hands of a Hong Kong-based mastermind under the guise of legitimate payments for electronic mainboards. ### The Suspects and Their Charges   | Name of Accused | Age / Gender | Alleged Offenses & Charges Filed | |---|---|---| | **Seow Choon Pheng** | 63, Male | • 2 counts of Money Laundering • 2 counts of Fraudulently carrying on a company's business | | **Seow Choon Lien** | 62, Male | • 2 counts of Money Laundering • 2 counts of Fraudulently carrying on a company's business | | **Chu Tung Wu** | 60, Male | • 1 count of Money Laundering • 1 count of Fraudulently carrying on a company's business • 1 count of Abetting a company director to fail in their duties | | **Tan Kui Moi** | 60, Female | • 1 count of Failing to exercise reasonable diligence as a company director |   > **Official Stance:** CAD Director Peggy Pao emphasized that as a major global trade and financial hub, Singapore law enforcement maintains a zero-tolerance policy for syndicates looking to abuse the city-state's infrastructure to move, disguise, or clear ill icitly obtained cross-border wealth. >   

GXGX we did it