Morning traffic rattles through the slum district of Payatas in Quezon City, just north of Metro Manila. It is 9am but over 30 degrees Celsius and climbing. A truck pulls over and workers unload the morning’s collection of rubbish, depositing it behind the corrugated iron gates of Joe’s Junk Shop.Payatas is a sprawling shanty town built on a landfill, and these junk shops are an integral part of the local economy. Inside, it is a hive of activity. The space is piled four metres high in parts…
How Singapore plans to create the city of the future and reinvigorate its economy
Singapore rose to be one of the world’s most advanced cities by using its position as a trading hub to attract technology and investment. Now, caught in the squalls of a shift in global trade and technological change, the nation is pouring money into ideas that could define the way cities are built and run in future, making it a test bed for urban innovation.The island has few natural resources, hardly any land and faces many of the challenges that beset bigger developed nations such as Germany…
Sri Lankan court grants bail for Muslim doctor accused of sterilising over 4,000 Buddhist women
A Sri Lankan court granted bail on Thursday to a Muslim doctor accused of having sterilised over 4,000 women from the Sinhalese Buddhist majority, his lawyer said, a deeply sensitive case in a country long dogged by communal bloodshed.Shegu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi, who has denied the allegations, was given bail of 2.75 million rupees (US$15,600), defence lawyer Faris Saly told Reuters after a five-hour hearing in Kurunagala magistrates court in northwestern Sri Lanka.“He was arrested [in May]…
Singapore chip makers become US-China trade war casualty as firms cut jobs
Caught in the middle a US-China trade war while trying to address political concerns over Chinese telecoms firm Huawei and slowing consumer demand, chip makers in Singapore have started slowing production and laying off hundreds of jobs.The slump in a sector that made up nearly a third of Singapore’s manufacturing output last year is reinforcing expectations that the export-driven economy could slide into recession in the coming months.Making microchips for everything from mobile phones to cars…
Singapore tycoon Oei Hong Leong says Canada property lawsuit had nothing to do with Li Ka-shing
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…