Singapore Airlines (SIA) said it would tap existing investors for up to S$15 billion (US$10.48 billion) through the sale of shares and convertible bonds to offset the shock to its business from the coronavirus outbreak, sending shares down as much as 10.5 per cent on Friday.The fundraising is being underwritten by the airline’s biggest investor, state-owned Temasek Holdings, which owns about 55 per cent of the group.“This is an exceptional time for the SIA Group,” SIA chairman Peter Seah said…
Coronavirus devastates travel industry, forcing Singapore’s airline crews to find other work
Airline workers such as cabin crew are anxious over their financial future as the aviation industry comes to a virtual standstill worldwide due to the Covid-19 outbreak, with many borders closed and nations in lockdown.Many of these workers in Singapore are scrambling to supplement their lost income, as they are stood down, or working very few shifts. Singapore Airlines (SIA), for example, grounded almost all its aircraft earlier this week.“How much I bring back a month solely depends on my…
Singapore braces for recession after economy shrinks more than expected in first quarter
Singapore’s economy shrank 2.2 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, preliminary data showed on Thursday, its biggest contraction in over a decade as the coronavirus outbreak prompted the city state to plan for a recession.The grim data is likely to add to fears that the global economy will contract in the first half of the year. Singapore is one of the world’s most open economies and one of the first to report quarterly growth data since the virus spread from China at the start of…
Gojek launches income support fund for partners affected by Covid-19 slowdown
Indonesia-based ride-hailing firm Gojek has announced the creation of the Gojek Partner Support Fund (GPSF), to support drivers, merchants, and other partners whose income has been adversely affected by the economic slowdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic.As citizens have been following the advice of health officials to work from home and limit their movements, hundreds of thousands of drivers and merchants are seeing a significant drop in their income.The support fund is being introduced to ensure…
Philippine Congress approves national emergency declaration
The Philippine Congress on Tuesday approved a bill declaring a national emergency and authorising the president to launch a massive aid programme for 18 million families and tap private hospitals and ships in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.President Rodrigo Duterte can reapportion the executive department’s budget under the legislation, which will also punish people disobeying quarantine orders and spreading “false information” about the outbreak, legislators said. The state of national…
Coronavirus: Myanmar confirms first two cases in men returning from abroad
Myanmar confirmed its first cases of the deadly novel coronavirus late on Monday after weeks of increasing scepticism over the underdeveloped southeast Asian nation’s claims to be free of the disease.The country of 54 million people had been the world’s largest country by population not to report a single case of the pandemic that has confined more than 1.7 billion to their homes.With only 214 people tested by late Monday, medical experts and rights groups have urged Myanmar to stand up and…
Coronavirus: Singapore must take aggressive action to support its economy – and its people
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced economies into a tailspin, kicking off a long-drawn and painful downturn. We will soon start to see real, massive corporate and banking failures as well as individual bankruptcies that could last for the next two to three years. Singapore is saddled with long-term structural issues and short-term issues caused by the Covid-19 issue and the related panic it has created. The long-term issues the country already had will now create much bigger problems for…
‘Death is everywhere’: in Malaysia, a toxic river haunts sick children
Just two years ago, Irfan Wafiy Idham Wazir was doing cartwheels, scaling rock-climbing walls and playing soccer around his neighbourhood in Johor, Malaysia. Today, the 13-year-old hobbles around with a stick, unable to walk or stand for long periods. His legs shake uncontrollably and he feels tiny shocks of pain in his feet, in a condition called myokymia. At Irfan’s boarding school, he does his daily prayers on a chair instead of a prayer mat, struggles up the stairs and spends most of his…
Coronavirus: Singapore’s tourist ban aims to curb imported infections, ease health care pressure
Singapore’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic has earned it plaudits from experts around the world, but a recent spike in imported cases has threatened that success and prompted fresh travel curbs on tourists.Effective Tuesday, all short-term visitors will be banned from entering or transiting the city state, the government announced on Sunday, with travel restrictions also tightened for work pass holders and their dependents, with only those providing essential services, such as in…
Aggressive tracing, lessons from Sars: how Singapore is flattening the coronavirus curve
Singaporean coronavirus patient Adam – not his real name – returned from an 11-day trip to France and Spain on March 7, but after he went back to work two days later, he started developing a sore throat.The 27-year-old decided it was best to see a doctor and work from home on March 10 – the same day France and Spain reported 286 and 435 coronavirus cases, respectively.“On Tuesday morning when I woke up, my temperature was still OK, but I had a hunch, so I went to the GP and emailed my…