Fresh from winning a four-year legal wrangle with one of Canada’s largest property developers, Singapore tycoon Oei Hong Leong said he was glad justice had been served – but felt compelled to clarify that the case had nothing to do with Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.Oei, who at 71 is worth an estimated US$1.5 billion according to this year’s Forbes billionaires list, said he had fielded questions about the ownership of Concord Pacific Acquisitions, part of Concord Pacific Group, that sued…
Japan’s worst summer ever: how grey skies and economic concerns have rained on holidaymakers’ parade
Issei Izawa, a 20-year-old student from Yokohama, had his heart set on a summer full of trips to the beach with his friends. But Japan’s unseasonably dreary weather persuaded him to abandon those plans and spend the months trying to pay off student loans by taking more shifts at the restaurant where he works.“It’s not how I expected to be spending this summer but there are not too many other options and my friends are all doing the same,” he says. “Maybe if we’re lucky the weather might get…
Indonesia Independence Day bomb attack plot thwarted as suspected militant arrested
A suspected militant arrested in Indonesia last week was plotting Independence Day bomb attacks, police said, adding that he is also believed to be part of a Philippine network that has ties to Islamic State in Afghanistan.Officers from Densus 88, Indonesia’s anti-terrorism unit, arrested the suspect in West Sumatra last Thursday, said national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo at a news conference.The suspect, identified as Novendri, was a member of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an Isis-inspired…
Singaporean tycoon Oei Hong Leong wins long-running property case involving Vancouver’s Plaza of Nations
Singapore businessman Oei Hong Leong has won a long-running court battle involving one of Canada’s largest property developers and a commercial site in the heart of Vancouver.The case, which began in October 2015, pitted Oei against Concord Pacific Acquisitions, part of Concord Pacific Group. The firm, led by CEO and president Terry Hui, accused Oei and his associated company of breaching an agreement pertaining to the development of the site and acting in bad faith.But after years of legal…
Indonesia courts Hong Kong investors to build toll roads on Java as part of Widodo’s ambitious infrastructure plans
Indonesia’s state-owned construction firm is banking on two Hong Kong-based investors to help fund fee-charging motorways on the island on Java, amid a push by President Joko Widodo to woo foreign investment for his ambitious infrastructure plans.PT Waskita Toll Road, a unit of PT Waskita Karya that has been tasked with boosting connectivity across the archipelago, said the investors had expressed interest in buying its 40 per cent stake in two toll road segments in Java.Herwidiakto, chief…
Chinese forces could reportedly be stationed at Cambodian naval base under secret deal
China will be able to place armed forces at a Cambodian naval base under a secret agreement the two nations have reached, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.The agreement, reached this spring but not made public, gives China exclusive access to part of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, the Journal reported, citing US and allied officials familiar with the matter.Such an arrangement would give China an enhanced ability to assert contested territorial claims and economic…
Will Singapore warm up to nuclear energy to combat climate change?
Eight years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster triggered a global rethink on energy policy, signs have emerged that Singapore may be warming back up to the power source. Pro-nuclear chatter in the city state was spurred last month when Ho Ching – the chief executive of Singapore state investment fund Temasek Holdings, who is married to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – published a lengthy Facebook post expressing support for the power source. “Overall, for a greener earth and to reduce…
‘No compromise’: South Korea says drills with US still on, refuting North’s claim of Donald Trump ‘promise’ to Kim Jong-un
A top South Korean official on Saturday said a US-South Korean military exercise would go ahead as planned next month, denying Pyongyang’s charges that holding it would breach an agreement made between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.“The nature of the exercise is not offensive … and is for strengthening the alliance,” Choi Jong-kun, the secretary for peace planning to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told the Aspen Institute’s annual strategic forum.Later, Choi…
In Singapore, Temasek’s results spark discussion of Chinese investments and Ho Ching
When Temasek Holdings announced its results early last month, there was no hiding the stark fact that Singapore’s state investment firm was feeling the full effects of the ongoing US-China trade war.Shareholder returns plunged to 1.49 per cent, down from 12 per cent year on year, and its portfolio value in Singapore dollar terms rose to S$313 billion (US$230.1 billion) as it made divestments of S$28 billion, compared with new investments of S$24 billion.Beyond these top-line figures, however,…
Suspect behind arson attack on Japanese anime studio KyoAni had grudge, was a former convict: local media
Most of the victims of an arson attack on an animation studio in Kyoto, western Japan, were in their 20s and 30s, public broadcaster NHK said on Saturday, as the death toll climbed to 34.Thursday’s attack on Kyoto Animation, well known in Japan and overseas for its series and movies, was the worst mass killing in two decades in a country with some of the world’s lowest crime rates.The man suspected of setting ablaze the studio was raging about theft and witnesses, and local media reported he…