Hot or not? The presidents race the economy everything

WEATHER forecast: still damn hot, like the Constitutional Commission on whether minorities need special concessions in the Elected Presidency. The first of three hearings saw six of the 19 speakers present their views. Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who chairs the commission, said that “the real question is whether there is a concern that a minority president may be unelectable because of our racial mix and whether this is an acceptable state of affairs.”

Read our in-depth reports on the intellectual back-and-forth that went on in the Supreme Court: Who’s got “it” to be president? (Part 1) and What’s race got to do with being president? (Part 2).

Not so hot: flash estimates for Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports in the first quarter, which fell by 15.6 per cent compared to the same period last year, but perhaps more importantly came in lower than economists’ expectations of a 12.3 per cent fall. The flash estimates may still be revised, but are unlikely to change much. The Ministry of Trade and Industry’s (MTI) flash figures for economic growth for the first quarter showed 1.8 per cent growth compared to the same period last year, and zero growth compared to the previous quarter. The main causes for all these: a shrunken shipping sector and the EU. Get this: ship and boat structure exports fell by 99.6 per cent. That means it dropped to nearly zero. Ze-ro.

That not-guilty court ruling for Zunika Ahmad? An appeal has been filed against the controversial acquittal, which was based on the judge’s interpretation that the law on sex crimes under Section 376 (A) (1) (b) only applies to persons with penises, and not to women. Looks like a higher court will have to decide. Read Bertha’s commentary on the matter here.

Blowing hot and cold over the taxi trade? SMRT Taxis, the island’s third-largest taxi operator, will launch its private car hire service next week in partnership with Grab. The one-year partnership will put more than 300 private cars on the road and follows on Prime Taxi and Trans Cab also launching private car hire services. SMRT Taxis, which has a fleet of more than 3,500 taxis, said that the number of taxi drivers switching to private car services has not been significant. But clearly it is shaking up the market, especially since Uber placed 800 COE bids for private cars two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, a price war hots up between Grab and Uber – Grab slashed its minimum fares from $8 to $4 and dropped its price per kilometre by 10 cents to 80 cents. Uber had slashed fares by 15 per cent last week.

Hot soup is what 1MDB is in, as its row with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) hots up. IPIC declared that 1MDB was in default of a multi-billion dollar financial assistance arrangement and has cancelled its bond-guarantee deal with the KL fund. This probably means that a huge legal battle will ensue and all the money involved will be tied up until it is resolved. Meanwhile, CIMB group chairman Nazir Razak, brother of Malaysian PM Najib Razak, has taken leave of absence while US$7 million of transfers is being investigated. The transfers were made to Umno politicians ahead of the 2013 elections at the PM’s request. Mr Nazir has often criticised the management of 1MDB.

 

Featured image from TMG file. 

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