Asia needs to rethink the ‘sharing economy’ – here’s why
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by East Asia Forum
4y ago
ONCE celebrated as exemplars of the ‘sharing economy’, China’s bike-sharing companies rapidly filled Chinese cities with bikes.But millions of abandoned bicycles now litter and clog public spaces. In the Philippines, enterprising Filipinos are buying new cars for ‘ride-sharing’. Car dealers even cite ride-sharing as the reason behind increasing car sales, which may conceivably worsen Manila’s traffic congestion. In Japan, international investors are buying properties to rent on Airbnb, even though many Japanese neighbourhoods have decried the intrusion of home-sharing guests into their residen ..read more
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Yale in academic censorship row in Singapore
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by Asian Correspondent Staff
4y ago
Yale’s Singapore college has become embroiled in a row about academic freedom after axing a course on dissent, with the controversy fuelling a wider debate on whether universities are compromising their values to expand abroad. The Yale-NUS College, a partnership with the National University of Singapore, opened in 2013, drawing criticism from activists and its own faculty over the decision to set up in the city-state, due to its restrictions on civil liberties. Such fears intensified last month when the liberal arts college axed a week-long course called “Dialogue and Dissent in Singapore” a ..read more
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Why are interest rates falling in Southeast Asia?
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by East Asia Forum
4y ago
IT WAS not long ago that economists were fretting about interest rate rises in Southeast Asia. But in 2019, the mood has distinctly shifted among central banks in the region. Malaysia’s Bank Negara cut its interest rate in May by 25 basis points, the first cut since July 2016. The Philippines reduced its interest rate in May and August, reversing the cumulative 175 basis points increase in 2018 as inflation spiked. There were three rate cuts from Bank Indonesia after aggressively raising interest rates in 2018 as the rupiah weakened. Thailand — in a surprise move — cut its benchmark interest r ..read more
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Can multinationals save Asean from the middle-income trap?
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by Satoru Kumagai
4y ago
THE middle-income trap has become a concept deployed frequently in conversations among policymakers and academics in East Asia. The term is used by those trying to understand failed industrial upgrading in the region, which has occurred against a backdrop of prolonged economic slowdown in ASEAN middle-income countries. These bleak economic developments can be traced to a trend in ASEAN middle-income countries: growing dependence on foreign multinational companies (MNCs).The middle-income trap is a prolonged slowdown of economic growth for a country at the middle-income stage and was first expl ..read more
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Five-year period ending 2019 set to be hottest on record
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by Asian Correspondent Staff
4y ago
A DAMNING new UN report published Sunday said the world is falling badly behind in the race to avert climate disaster because of runaway warming, with the five-year period ending 2019 set to be the hottest ever. It comes ahead of a major UN climate summit Monday that will be attended by more than 60 world leaders, as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pushes for countries to increase their greenhouse gas reduction targets. The report “highlights the urgent need for the development of concrete actions that halt global warming and the worst effects of climate change,” said its authors, the Scien ..read more
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Indonesia forest fires surge, stoking global warming fears
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by Asian Correspondent
4y ago
The number of blazes in Indonesia’s rainforests has jumped sharply, satellite data showed Thursday, spreading smog across Southeast Asia and adding to concerns about the impact of increasing wildfire outbreaks worldwide on global warming. Illegal blazes to clear land for agricultural plantations have been raging on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Indonesia deploying water-bombing helicopters and thousands of security forces to tackle them. It is just the latest such outbreak globally — huge blazes have torn through the Amazon in South America while bushfires are sweeping across eastern Austra ..read more
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‘Gay Boy OK’: Singapore rapper comes out in song
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by Asian Correspondent
5y ago
WHEN Singaporean musician Joshua Su came out to his parents, he decided to use an unconventional method — he released a new track where he raps: “G-A-Y-B-O-Y OK”. His song “I’m OK” recounts his struggles growing up in the conservative city-state, where depictions of homosexuality are censored and sex between men is technically illegal under a colonial-era law. Su descended into depression and attempted suicide, highlighting the challenges of coming out in a country where public acceptance of homosexuality is increasing but activists say official policies perpetuate discrimination. “At th ..read more
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ASEAN leaders told to get serious on Rohingya issue
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by Asian Correspondent
5y ago
Southeast Asian leaders must use an upcoming summit to hold unvarnished talks on Burma’s (Myanmar) treatment of the Rohingya, rights groups urged Wednesday, after a report by the bloc was pilloried for whitewashing the persecution of the Muslim minority. The report, commissioned by ASEAN and leaked to AFP earlier this month, gives a glowing assessment of Burma’s repatriation efforts so far for Rohingya driven into neighbouring Bangladesh. Burma’s military launched a brutal crackdown on the Rohingya in August 2017, causing some 740,000 to flood into Bangladesh with widespread accounts of rape ..read more
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The challenges of Singapore’s industrial water demand
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by Asit K Biswas
5y ago
WORLD Environment Day has been celebrated every year on 5 June since 1974. Its objectives are to encourage environmental awareness and promote action for environmental protection. This year in Singapore, 180 leading water professionals from all over the world have been invited by Singapore International Water Week to discuss how industrial demands for water can be reduced. Worldwide, industry accounts for about 20 percent of total water usage, of which agriculture and domestic sectors use the most – 70 and 10 percent respectively. However, in recent years, global water usage for agriculture ha ..read more
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Smokin’ hut: Singapore’s solution for cigarette puffers
Asian Correspondent » Singapore
by Asian Correspondent
5y ago
Smokers in Singapore will no longer have to sneak a drag on the street, with the launch of the city-state’s first air-conditioned “smoking cabin”, but the experience won few fans among cigarette puffers on Wednesday. The city-state has some of the world’s strictest anti-tobacco laws and smoking is banned in most public places, with a fine of up to Sg$1,000 ($725) if caught. E-cigarettes are also banned outright. The new cabins, which are fitted with a Danish filtration system that can purify cigarette smoke before it is released into the air, can reportedly fit up to 10 people at a time. But t ..read more
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