TODAY’s brief, Wednesday, Aug 5

COE bidding exercise

The results of the latest Certificate of Entitlement (COE) bidding exercise — the first under the increased quota of COEs for the August to October period — will be out at 4pm today (Aug 5) when bidding closes. A total of 21,845 COEs, or a monthly quota of 7,281 COEs, will be available from August to October, up from 19,912 in the preceding three months. In the second exercise last month, premiums fell to their lowest in years, with big car COE premiums (Category B) falling 11.29 per cent to S$58,109. Small car premiums fell 4.79 per cent to S$55,889 while Open Category premiums fell 12.9 per cent S$60,101, a four-year low.

48th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting

Tensions are expected to rise further at the 48th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting after ASEAN member nations backed a United States’ call yesterday to halt China’s land reclamations in the South China Sea. Although China earlier this week had said that they were not willing to discuss the issue at the forum, it now appears that ASEAN states may be pushing China to reach a lasting resolution on the dispute.

1MDB audit report

Malaysians will be watching if Parliament would veto a move by the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to release a brief report on its audit of troubled state fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), over its RM42 billion (S$15 billion) debt pile. With scheduled hearings into 1MDB suspended until further notice, the release of such a report could further fuel criticisms of Prime Minister Najib Razak, and his handling of the 1MDB controversy.

Quah Zheng Wen, Quah Ting Wen to compete at worlds championships

Teenage swimmer Quah Zheng Wen and elder sister Ting Wen will compete in their respective men’s 100m freestyle and women’s 200m butterfly heats at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, today. The Quah siblings will join Joseph Schooling and Roanne Ho in the heats of the 4x100m mixed medley relay.

Singapore Sports Awards to be held

The Singapore Sports Awards will be held today at the Marina Mandarin Hotel, as we find out if Joseph Schooling will be crowned the Sportsman of the Year. In the Sportswoman category, bowler Jazreel Tan, shooter Jasmine Ser, paddler Feng Tianwei and swimmer Tao Li will compete for honours. 

Weather forecast

Thundery showers are expected mainly over northern and western part of Singapore in the late morning and early afternoon, with temperatures ranging between 25°C and 33°C.