10,550 private homes, maybe
SINGAPORE - It has come a month earlier this year than usual, in what seems a clear move to tackle concerns about the property market's exuberance. On Friday, the Government released details of its Land Sales programme for the first half of next year, signalling a potential addition of 10,550 private homes - the most since the programme began in 2001. The much-anticipated reinstatement of the Confirmed List - a list suspended a year ago as the recession bit - saw eight residenti
Some cheer for sports fans
SINGAPORE - The battle to woo sports fans has escalated, with StarHub and SingTel firing one-two salvos within hours on Friday. Is it a sign that the competition in pay-TV is finally turning in viewers' favour, instead of hurting their pockets with ballooning fees? StarHub, for instance, promised not one but two free 24-hour sports channels, and pledged to...
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Rethinking the Singapore growth modelby Choy Keen Meng
AS SINGAPORE emerges from a global recession that turned out to be milder and shorter than earlier feared, there may be an impression that things are back to normal and it's business as usual. But it would be a great pity if we do not seize the golden...
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Let's forget the oil deal, says Thailand
BANGKOK - The diplomatic spat between two Asean neighbours deepened on Friday, with Thailand announcing that it would tear up an oil and gas exploration deal with Cambodia, in retaliation over Phnom Penh's appointment of former Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser. The Thai government also warned that it could seal the border between the...
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'The soldiers are devastated'
FORT HOOD (Texas) - An Army psychiatrist about to be deployed to combat zones overseas killed 11 soldiers and wounded 31 others yesterday at Fort Hood in Texas, the authorities said. The gunman, who was identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was then killed by...
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I won't stand for re-election: Abbas
RAMALLAH (West Bank) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned yesterday that he would not seek re-election in the January elections he called, the latest sign that the Obama administration's drive to broker Middle East peace talks has fallen into disarray. There is no immediate prospect of Mr Abbas' stepping aside, but his announcement, coming...
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A bonus to say 'thank you'
SINGAPORE - After a year when pay cuts and freezes were all the trend, some employees will be getting a nice surprise on top of their 13th-month bonus. Bread of Life, which saw business double in the past year, will also reward its 30-odd staff with good performance payouts of $100 each - about 5 per cent of a monthly paycheque. ''It is our way of saying...
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Thailand and Cambodia in diplomatic tit-for-tat
BANGKOK - Just days before their two Prime Ministers were due to rub shoulders at the Apec summit in Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia yesterday recalled their respective ambassadors amid an escalating row over Phnom Penh's appointment of former Thai leader...
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Wiretap scandal: Axe falls on two
JAKARTA - In a scandal that has appalled the nation, two of Indonesia's leading law enforcement officials stepped down suddenly yesterday after wiretap phone recordings implicated them in an alleged plot to falsely imprison anti-graft investigators. Deputy...
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Firms making it up to workers, across the region: Survey
Yet another survey has forecast that employees in Singapore can expect their base salary to rise by 3 per cent on average next year. For the region in general, which includes China and India, workers' pay is expected to go up by 5 per cent on average - nearly double the wage increase seen this year, according to outplacement firm ECA International. This is...
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Future contests about economics, says MM Lee
SINGAPORE - Unlike in the past, when countries waged political and territorial battles for dominance, future contests will be economic ones, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said. Countries with the best technology and which offer the best products with the largest market share will triumph, he said at the Visa Payments Forum attended by 325 bankers from...
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Replenish, redefine the oasis
by Asha Popatlal asha@mediacorp.com.sg
SINGAPORE - On any given day, some 100,000 tourists are in Singapore, while more than half a million foreigners live and work here. Everyone must go the extra mile if this is to be ''an oasis of harmony'', said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. ''But let me add a caveat here. Those who come to drink from the oasis must add to our ability to replenish the water,...
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Butlers, mocktails - hotels go all out
Singapore - Greetings such as ''Hola!'' or ''Bonjour!'' will ring in certain Singapore hotel lobbies from today through next week as leaders from around the world arrive for the Apec Summit meetings. For security reasons, the hotels are not disclosing which...
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Why ordinary folk should care
SINGAPORE - As organisers and thousands of workers toil behind the scenes to get ready for one of the biggest pow-wows of political leaders here, the bulk of residents will likely give an indifferent shrug. Should the man in the street care about the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings next week? Yes, according to Mr Ravi Menon, Permanent...
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Legal action against Mustafa
IN 2004, an attempt was made to convert the Mustafa Warehouse to a wholesale centre, but it failed. Five years on, what looks like a department store and supermarket on the first and second floors of the warehouse at Kallang Pudding Road has opened. Now, the...
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Garden variety
The word ''sunflowers'' usually conjures images of bright yellow blooms. However, there's a bunch of them that you will come across at the Singapore Botanic Gardens that are ashen and yet will never wilt. As deceptively real as they may appear, they are really an art installation by Vertical Submarine, a Singapore-based three-member collective. Titled...
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Today's PDF Print Edition
A young girl is pictured among a bed of grey sunflowers, part of an art installation entitled 'Planting Shadows' by Singaporean art collective Vertical Submarine at the Botanic Gardens. EPA Mr Mohd Anuar posing for photographs after winning the MediaCorp Subaru Impreza WRX Challenge 2009. Photo by ERNEST CHUA A medical personnel showing off the H1N1 vaccine, which arrived in Singapore. Photo by ERNEST CHUA
Sunset Submitted by kennygsl Meditating or Sleeping Submitted by felixlow1 Tree Submitted by kennygsl
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