Civil servants to get 1.05 months of year-end bonus; SM Lee warns against writing off China: Singapore live news (2024)

A Singapore businessman accused of running a billion-dollar nickel scam pleaded not guilty on Tuesday (26 November) to 42 charges including money laundering.

Ng Yu Zhi is alleged to have raised money for trades that did not exist.

According to reports, hundreds of clients put money into a US$1.1billion (S$1.5b) scheme linked to Ng’s Envy Group which offered investments in nickel trading in addition to impressive average quarterly gains of 15%.

Singapore authorities froze bank accounts linked to the alleged nickel fraud in early 2021 and Ng was charged shortly after in March that year.

A civil trial began on 30 July in Singapore’s High Court.

A 37-year-old Malaysian man was taken to hospital after a container fell on the forklift he was operating at Pasir Panjang Terminal 3 on Monday morning (25 November).

Port operator PSA Singapore has confirmed the man is in stable condition while the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) also revealed he sustained lacerations to his head and body.

Footage of the incident is circulating online and shows the moment the forklift began to move a container near the bottom which then sent a column of stacked containers toppling towards the machine.

A container can be seen striking the cabin of the forklift, sending a man onto the ground.

According to the PSA, the incident happened at about 6.40am on Monday.

The man was conveyed conscious to National University Hospital by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

The Public Service Division (PSD) announced on Monday (25 November) that civil servants will get 1.05 months of year-end bonus or Annual Variable Component (AVC).

Civil servants in grades equivalent to MX15 and MX16 – and those in the Operations Support Scheme (OSS) – will receive an additional one-time payment of $600.

The PSD said the year-end payment “takes into consideration that Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by around 3.5 per cent in 2024 as well as the National Wages Council (NWC) guidelines for 2024/2025.”

“The Government’s year-end AVC payout of 1.05 months for civil servants reflects Singapore’s strongest economic growth since 2021 and recognises their contributions this year,” said Cham Hui Fong, NTUC Deputy Secretary-General.

Together with the mid-year bonus, civil servants will receive a total of 1.5 months of bonus in 2024.

Jon M Chu has given an update on the sequel to ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ but it’s not good news for fans of the 2018 smash hit film.

The first ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ film was based on a Kevin Kwan novel of the same name. The book is actually part of a trilogy with its sequel called China Rich Girlfriend while the third book is named Rich People Problems.

Chu directed the film ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ but is not keen on doing a follow-up film unless he feels a script worthy of succeeding his movie is written.

“I want the best thing. I want it to be worthy of what Crazy Rich Asians 1 was,” Chu said on Deadline’s Crew Call.

Chu added: “We’ve tried all different versions. It’s hard because people think the first movie is like the book, but it actually is not. It’s the right spirit, but the plotting is very different. And so, you can’t just go and translate. And we’ve tried versions and the fact is, we just haven’t gotten there.”

“And there’s no way I’m dragging the audience back. There’s no way the bar is too high. So, in time when we get there, we will,” he said.

Singapore was the main location in the ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ film and it helped launch the Hollywood careers of local stars such as Henry Golding.

Six people were injured after a chain collision involving six vehicles occurred on the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) early on Tuesday (26 November) morning.

According to multiple reports, the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) were alerted at 7.15am about the accident which happened along the PIE towards Tuas, before the Jalan Bahar exit.

A video showing the aftermath of the accident was uploaded to Facebook and from the footage six vehicles – five cars and one van – can be seen on the left-side of the expressway while an SCDF ambulance is also at the scene attending to the injured.

Local media reported that a 53-year-old male car driver and five van passengers were conveyed conscious to the hospital.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Jake Paul has a message for those who believe his recent fight with Mike Tyson was rigged – and unsurprisingly it packs more punch than the action-shy main event delivered.

Paul’s company Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) promoted the event and they have slammed the claims as “incorrect and baseless” and painted them as attempts to ‘undermine the integrity’ of the Netflix-streamed event.

The 27-year-old Paul defeated the 58-year-old Tyson on points when they boxed in a sanctioned fight earlier this month.

“Rigging a professional boxing match is a federal crime in the United States of America. Paul vs Tyson was a professional match sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations [TDLR],” said MVP in a statement.

“Both fighters in good faith performed to the best of their abilities with the goal of winning the fight. There were absolutely no restrictions – contractual or otherwise – around either fighter. Each boxer was able to use his full arsenal to win the fight. Any agreement to the contrary would violate TDLR boxing rules.”

MVP added that it was “illogical and inane” that the company “would even so much as consider such a perverse violation of the rules of competition” when it was looking to build long-term partnership with Netflix.

Paul now has an 11-1 record as a pro boxer with his sole loss coming at the hands of Tommy Fury in early 2023.

Prominent Singapore property developer UOL Group issued an apology after it emerged a group of attendees at the company’s recent Dinner & Dance event came in blackface.

The annual D&D event was for UOL and Pan Pacific Hotels Group (a subsidiary of UOL) and was held at a ballroom in Marina Bay Sands on 14 November.

On 24 November, TikTok user @summer88959 posted a picture of a group of eight attendees from the event in blackface, wearing afro wigs, and sporting sunglasses while posing for a photo. A caption on the photo read: “Emmm … like that will kena or not?”

The revelation of the group in blackface drew criticism online as the practice is widely considered offensive and disrespectful.

In response to media queries, UOL said it was aware of the incident.

"We sincerely apologise for any offence caused," a spokesperson told CNA.

As of Tuesday lunchtime, the photo has over 62,000 views.

The titled theme of the D&D was ‘The Rhythm of the Night’ – a possible reference to a popular retro song of the same title.

In an unexpected result, China's Ding Liren beat Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju in the opening game of the Chess World Championship in Singapore.

The victory marked the first time in almost 15 years that the initial game of a world championship match ended with a decisive result as players tend to be more cautious, leading games to end up as draws.

"I had a lot of time to recover and to change and to prepare, to get to the tournament with a totally new appearance," said Ding, who is the defending champion

The players resume hostilities today for Game 2 the gruelling best-of-14-games final which has been described as ‘like climbing Mount Everest’.

“It’s our Mount Olympus,” Viswanathan Anand, a five-time world chess champion, told CNN.

“It’s the thing you spend a lot of time trying to achieve, aiming for, dreaming of, since you learned the game. It’s like climbing Mount Everest or crossing the Amazon," he said.

Google marked the start of the tournament on 25 November by setting its Google Doodle to feature chess pieces.

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong believes it would be “short-sighted and unwise to write off China” as the country comes to grips with domestic and international challenges.

SM Lee was speaking in Suzhou on Monday (25 November) at an event to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP).

In his speech, Lee pointed to several factors such as China’s perspective for long term strategy, untapped workforce potential, and its highly competitive tech industry as reasons why Beijing should not be dismissed.

“Finally, we must never underestimate the Chinese people’s determination for their nation to succeed and stand tall in the world. This is a driving ambition. Its impact cannot be captured in economic statistics, but it will make all the difference,” Lee said.

SM Lee also stated Singapore continues to have confidence in China’s future.

“We believe that a growing and prospering China can and should play a major constructive role internationally – contributing to the prosperity and well-being of other countries, and a stable international order where all countries big and small co-exist peacefully together,” he said.

You can read the full transcript of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s speech at the Suzhou Industrial Park 30th Anniversary Commemorative Event, here.