Singapore Tonight Singapore Tonight - Thu 19 Jun 2025 20 Jun 2025 12:00am
47:16 Min
From business to politics, health to technology, we bring you up-to-date with the latest news on Singapore and analyze how these events may affect you tomorrow.
Singapore Tonight
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From business to politics, health to technology, we bring you up-to-date with the latest news on Singapore and analyze how these events may affect you tomorrow.
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CNA
34 minutes ago
- CNA
Warplane maker HAL wins bid to privatise India's small satellite launch rockets
BENGALURU :Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has won the bid to privately make India's small satellite launch rockets, the country's space regulator said on Friday, the government's biggest step yet to open its fast-growing space industry to private players. Reuters reported in February that three consortiums - Alpha Design Technologies, a unit of Adani Defence Systems and Technologies, state-backed Bharat Dynamics and HAL - were the finalists to acquire India's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) technology. Fighter jet maker HAL had applied independently, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement on Friday. HAL's wining bid was 5.11 billion rupees ($59 million), Pawan Goenka, the head of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) told reporters, adding that the technology transfer phase will take two years. Shares of HAL rose as much as 1.6 per cent to hit session's high at 4,980 rupees after the announcement. The move to hand the SSLV's technology to HAL marks a significant shift for India's space industry, which has already granted satellite communication service licenses to global and domestic firms such as France's Eutelsat and Reliance Jio's satellite venture. By winning the bid to make the rocket, capable of carrying 500kg payloads to low-Earth orbit, HAL will have the capability to independently build, own, and commercialize SSLV launches, Goenka added. About 20 companies had initially expressed interest in bidding for the SSLV, the first privatisation of its kind under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policy drive to open up India's space industry. The global low Earth orbit launch vehicle market was valued at $13.9 billion in 2023 and is estimated to grow to about $44 billion by 2032, according to Global Market Insights. India, which accounts for only 2 per cent of the global space economy, is eyeing a fivefold expansion to $44 billion by the end of the decade.
Independent Singapore
2 hours ago
- Independent Singapore
Malaysia's PM Anwar vows to 'make necessary adjustments' from SEZ foreign investors' feedback 'if absolutely necessary'
ISKANDAR PUTERI, MALAYSIA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim vowed that Malaysia will make necessary adjustments, 'if absolutely necessary,' based on feedback from foreign investors on the development of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) to make Malaysia 'a very attractive destination for foreign investments.' Speaking at the two-day Nikkei Forum Medini, Johor 2025, PM Anwar pitched the JS-SEZ project, 'based on total trust' between Malaysia and Singapore, touting foreign investors to invest in the opportunity, as reported by Nikkei Asia. 'This is not an ordinary SEZ,' he said. 'Name me any other economic zone that involves two countries based on total trust and working together as a team.' The JS-SEZ deal, signed on Jan 6 during the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat in Putrajaya , spans 3,571 sq km, nearly five times the size of Singapore. Johor's Chief Minister, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who was also at the forum, shared that investment in his state has been 'surging.' He said Johor attracted RM30.1 billion (S$9.12 billion) in investment during the first three months of 2025, nearly seven times the RM4.1 billion recorded in the same period last year. 'This amount took nine months to achieve last year, and it has been achieved just in three months in 2025,' the chief minister said, adding that this reflects the trust of both local and foreign investors in Johor. He also mentioned that from January to May, Johor's Invest Malaysia Facilitation Centre had secured committed investments worth RM16.71 billion, with another RM26.18 billion in potential investments being considered by 47 foreign and 10 local investors. The centre is responsible for guiding businesses into the SEZ. In January, OCBC had already expected the JS-SEZ deal to attract increased interest from regional firms , given the interest they had observed even before the deal was finalised. Despite strong investor interest, infrastructure concerns already felt by Johoreans were raised during the forum. Japan's ambassador to Malaysia, Noriyuki Shikata, said it is 'essential' to address the pressing issue of traffic congestion in Johor, as it will not only hamper economic activity but will also waste energy, harm the environment, and increase accident risks. In response, PM Anwar said, 'We should be very dynamic and make adjustments wherever necessary.' /TISG Read also: Johor's April investment pipeline at RM23B as it targets high-tech and green investments to create better-paying job opportunities
Independent Singapore
2 hours ago
- Independent Singapore
After Standard Chartered offshores jobs to India, Reddit user asks what S'poreans are doing to protect themselves
SINGAPORE: Reports that Standard Chartered laid off 80 staff members in Singapore to offshore these roles to India appear to have sent a chill among some employees. One Reddit user immediately took to the platform to ask how others are protecting themselves. The company offshored roles in Singapore, mainly from its technology and operations teams, according to eFinancialCareers. However, this may just be the beginning of a broader restructuring, sources at the bank have said. In a post on r/askSingapore, u/piggyb0nk wrote, 'What are you doing to protect yourself from offshoring?' They explained that they work with several tech teams, and the majority of the roles are contracted out to companies based in India, Vietnam, and the Philippines. They described the workers they've met from these countries as 'REALLY GOOD' – experienced, able to speak 'decent' English, and known to perform well. The post author added that they've discovered that these workers are paid only 'a fraction' of what their Singapore counterparts make. 'The company actually has no logical business keeping me on – most of the local team here could be eliminated and contractors hired offshore,' the post author wrote, adding, 'I've found that upskilling isn't really helpful because there will be many people equally or better skilled who can demand less – so I have trying to work toward a career path that takes me up into management as quickly as possible to achieve some level of stability.' See also We look back to the 10 most-inspiring features from the ecosystem They also asked what others are doing to protect themselves from offshoring. 'I work in IT with physical sites, part of my hiring was to have an engineer near the sites in case something happens. This helps to justify my hiring,' wrote one, adding, 'I also volunteer to travel to any nearby countries if required. (My career has sent me to Japan, Indo, msia, India, etc). This offers our passport visa-free advantages to our employers. 'In my case, I try not to compete with 3rd world salaries but with 1st world salaries. We can earn the same or slightly less than Americans or Europeans and still have a higher purchasing power due to our lower taxes.' 'Be a revenue driver or a critical component of revenue-driving teams. Nobody's doing sales out of India. The corporate mindset now is front-end based in Singapore (for that income tax) and backend based in a satellite office. 'Find ways to value-add. If you're an expensive/senior role at a cost centre unit, sorry but your time is ticking. Be visible, find ways to value add. Your roles are the juiciest when a bunch of old white men sit in a boardroom and go through lists of who to retrench because soft benefits like efficiency don't show up in KPI data all the way up,' contributed another. See also Young Singaporeans snap expensive items before GST kicks in Some advised that taking jobs in healthcare, education, security, or the civil service are likely to be safer from offshoring, and others said that the post author could move to a country where the cost of living is cheaper. Another chimed in that they're accumulating assets in case they are let go. 'It's easier and much more productive to make ourselves less dependent on the job for a living. That way, if offshoring really happens to the job, it will suck but not matter as much. Also, at some point in time, like it or not, we have to retire.' Interestingly, one commenter did not answer the question but pointed to high rental rates and how these affect salaries as a key part of the problem. 'The issue is the sky-high rent and rent-seeking behavior. High wages in SG, but most of the wage goes towards landlords (whether directly in the form of mortgage or rental payments or indirectly in the form of higher prices, etc). This perpetuates a wage-price spiral (high prices so workers demand higher salaries, which then lead to high prices), which prices us out from competitors without any real benefit to Singaporeans who are spending locally. It's great for people working SGD and spending elsewhere, eg, Malaysians /foreigners who send money back home,' they wrote. /TISG See also Why brands fail on e-commerce and what they can do about it Read also: 80 job cuts at Standard Chartered Singapore 'likely just the start' amid push to return US$1.5B to shareholders
