e-Paper
Minister Vivian apologises to PSP's Leong for 'illiterate' comment
Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has apologised to Progress Singapore Party (PSP) Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai for remarks the minister made in Parliament.
During a marathon debate, involving Mr Leong, on two motions on jobs and livelihoods in the House on Tuesday, a voice could be heard saying "he's illiterate" and "Seriously, how did he get into RI?... Must have been a lousy school."
It is understood that these remarks were made by Dr Balakrishnan.
Job vacancies hit record high
Job vacancies rose to a seasonally adjusted all-time high of 92,100 in June, driven by demand for manpower in growth sectors and the difficulty of filling posts on account of border restrictions.
At the same time, tighter Covid-19 curbs in the second quarter of the year also saw retrenchments rise slightly, compared with the first quarter, while more people were placed on shorter work weeks or temporarily laid off.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said there were 163 openings for every 100 unemployed people in June. The ratio of vacancies to unemployed people increased to above one for the first time since March 2019.
Seniors urged to minimise social interactions and get vaccinated
All seniors aged 60 and above and those living with them have been urged to minimise social interactions in the next two weeks amid a spike in the number of daily Covid-19 cases to the highest in over a year.
The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) also urged seniors who have not been vaccinated to do so as soon as possible as the risk of an unvaccinated person getting severely ill is six times higher.
It also advised those who have been vaccinated to get their booster shots.
Chicken prices may rise
Chicken rice may become more expensive in the coming weeks on the back of chicken production costs hitting record highs in Malaysia.
Suppliers said that prices of fresh chicken are expected to increase by about 10 per cent, with the cost of a live chicken from Malaysia surging to between RM7 and RM8 a kilogram ($2.26 to S$2.58), about 30 per cent higher than what it was a few weeks ago.
This is being driven by the higher cost of raw materials, such as corn and soya bean, which are the main ingredients in poultry feed.
Apple fined $1,000 for hosting social gathering with more than 50 staff
Apple has been fined $1,000 for holding a social workplace event at its Orchard Road store on June 18. It is believed that more than 50 people were involved in the gathering.
Under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020, enterprises permitted to operate must not physically hold social events involving their employees.
The Online Citizen taken offline after failure to declare funding
Socio-political website The Online Citizen (TOC) and its various social media channels were taken offline on Thursday morning, ahead of a 3pm deadline set by the Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA).
This comes after IMDA on Monday suspended TOC's class licence to run its website and social media channels due to its repeated failure to comply with legal obligations to declare all sources of funding.
