LAAPCI NEWSLETTER
1 March 2014
MARCH NEWSLETTER Volume 1 No. 1 | Edition: Andrea Rodriguez
Singapore most expensive city in the world
Samsug in talks with BMW and Volkswagen Samsung Electronics has been in low-key talks on providing its Drive Link in-car smartphone application to German automakers including BMW and Volkswagen, industry sources said Wednesday.
Ya s m i n e Ya h y a The Straits Times!
Singapore is now the most expensive city in the world, according to the latest study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. This is mainly due to the strong Singapore dollar and the high cost of cars, utilities and clothes, the research firm said.
'Taiwan hoping to explore economic cooperation pact with Australia' Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said that the administration would like to move toward an economic cooperation agreement (ECA) with Australia.The trade volume between them stands at A $11.4 billion.
Mount Everest Mount Everest climbers from all around the world will now be bound by a new law that shall mandate each climber to pick up trash weighing about 18 pounds or 8 kilograms when they return to the Everest base camp
MARCH
"Singapore's rising price prominence has been steady rather than spectacular. The city-state was 18th most expensive ten years ago and has actually seen the cost of living compared with New York City decline over the last 12 months," it said in its report on Tuesday. "However, over the last decade a 40 per cent currency appreciation, coupled with solid price inflation, has consistently pushed Singapore up the ranking." The EIU Worldwide Cost of Living survey compares the cost of living in various cities around the world against that of New York. Paris came in second place in the rankings, followed by Oslo, Zurich and Sydney. 1
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Osaka and Tokyo, which used to top the list, have become much cheaper as the yen has weakened drastically over the past year. Tokyo is now tied with Caracas, Geneva and Melbourne for sixth place while Osaka is out of the top 10.
No country for single women
Singapore has some "structurally expensive items" that skew the overall cost of living upwards, the EIU noted. For example, car costs have very high related certificate of entitlement fees attached to them, which makes Singapore significantly more expensive than any other location when it comes to running a car.
BBC News For many young people, India is a land of opportunity. Male or female, if you're well educated and resourceful there's the chance of a well-paid career. Just one problem, says Suruchi Sharma - if you're a woman, you must marry by your mid-20s. I live in Mumbai, the biggest metro city in India. I belong to a typical urban middle-class family. My life is same as that of many young women who move away from home and pursue their dream of an independent life. How does it feel to be living in the city on my own? It's awesome! I'm independent with a lifestyle I used to dream of. Indian women are getting the chance to grow, to prove their worth and shine. We struggle with gender bias at every step of the ladder, but we find a way out and advance. But there is one pressure that just refuses to leave us alone, a question that follows us everywhere: "What are your marriage plans?" In India, a girl's identity revolves around her marriage. MARCH
With very few natural resources to speak of, Singapore is reliant on other countries for energy and water supplies, making it the third most expensive destination for utility costs. The proliferation of luxury brands at Singapore's malls also make it the costliest place in the world to buy clothes. The survey gathers detailed information on the cost of more than 160 items, from food, toiletries and clothing to domestic help, transport and utility bills, in every city. A cost-of-living index is calculated from the price data to express the difference in the cost of living between any two cities.#
Drought-hit farmers get chance to show Tony Abbott parched communities first hand pain Anna He n d e rs o n , Pe te r L e w i s and staff ABC.net.au!
Mr Abbott and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce toured parts of New South Wales and Queensland on Sunday, giving farmers the chance to talk directly to them
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about the drought and how it is aecting rural communities.# But part of the tour was cancelled because of rain - with heavy falls in Bourke, and some rain and strong winds in Longreach.# Mr Abbott arrived in the northwest NSW town of Bourke to hear about the impacts of the drought, but almost immediately rain set in.# The Prime Minister then headed to Queensland, where the tour was expected to move to a farm near Longreach, but rain again interrupted the schedule and a farm tour was cancelled.# However, farmers have warned that isolated rains will not provide them with enough relief to renew their businesses.# Mr Abbott and Mr Joyce are meeting farmers, their industry representatives and local community leaders ahead of federal Cabinet considering a range of relief measures.# The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) believes there is a compelling argument for special consideration this time, but others question whether rescue packages only serve to carry struggling businesses from one drought to the next.# NFF president Brett Finlay is travelling with both Mr Abbott and Mr Joyce, and says government assistance is just part of the solution.# "It's assistance for communities to give them a hand up, it's not a handout, to show support," Mr Finlay told ABC News 24.# "Before this natural disaster, these were strong viable productivity communities.# "If they don't receive support these communities will take years to recover.# "When it rains they will bounce back.# "It's about profitability back inside the farm gate so that when it does rain, these businesses can be profitable again."# Mr Finlay says the visit will provide an opportunity for Mr Abbott to see for himself what communities are dealing with.  MARCH
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High-level meeting between China and Japan ‘unlikely' Wu J i a o a n d L i X i a o k u n China Daily!
China's ambassador to Japan has dismissed the possibility of a high-level meeting between the two neighbours due to the current state of bilateral ties.# Ambassador Cheng Yonghua said on Wednesday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent request for a dialogue with Chinese leaders was “hypocritical”.# "The problem is: What is your (Abe's) expression and what gestures are you making? You clench your hands in fists and at the same time ask for a dialogue!" the ambassador said.# Tensions between the two nations rose sharply in 2012 because of the territorial row over China's Diaoyu Islands. Beijing's relations with Tokyo further deteriorated when Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine on December 26, the first visit by a sitting Japanese prime minister since 2006.# The shrine honors Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals from World War II.# Cheng said Abe himself has closed the door on dialogue with China through his actions.# To break the impasse in relations between Asia's two biggest economies, "first Japan should realise and correct its mistakes," said Cheng.# The remarks came two days after a debate in MARCH
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Japan's upper house on Monday in which Abe said his administration would inherit the spirit of the world-recognised "Murayama Statement”.# During his time in office in 1995, then-Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama made an official apology that took responsibility for Japan's past atrocities and wartime aggression during its colonial rule.# However, when a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Party of Japan asked Abe to read word-byword some underlined parts of the statement on Monday, Abe deliberately left out words that alluded to the previous administration's confession of Japan's wartime crimes.# "I believe he is still sticking to his false view of history," Cheng said.# Abe asserted in April that the definition of aggression has yet to be established in academia or in the international community. He has also said that he cannot completely accept the Murayama Statement.# Cheng also said Japanese high-ranking officials are sending out different and confusing signals on bilateral ties, which makes it difficult for China to have confidence on Japan's call for dialogue.# According to Cheng, he is very concerned about Japan's right-wing elements in the next few years. Right-wing forces have been making headway in realising Abe's revisionist ideas, such as seeking to revise the Constitution so 4
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that Japan can regain the right of collective selfdefense.#
Yingluck should heed her own calls for fairness
As for the speculation that frequent frictions between China and Japan might evolve into a war some day, Cheng said China will not initiate trouble, but is also getting prepared for uncertainties.#
Editorial Desk The Nation!
"In case some forces in the world impose clashes on China in a non-peaceful way, we should be able to handle them," Cheng said.# Despite the shadow cast by the right-wing politicians in Tokyo, the ambassador said he heard "different voices" in other areas of Japan when talking with local authorities.# "And the voice I heard at the parliament is also different from voices I heard in other places of Tokyo. The Japanese should think over whether their parliament has reflected the general views of the Japanese public." #
Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has clearly stated that her government opposes any attempt to split the country in two and she would not allow it. This sentiment is commendable. # Yingluck said on Tuesday she had instructed the Army to prevent any move toward secession and monitor any unlawful activities in that direction.# Her remarks came after the military, acting on information from Third Army command, based in the North, filed a police complaint against red-shirt leaders in Chiang Mai and Phayao, accusing them of instigating secession. The charges came after the red shirts allegedly discussed a plan to set up a "Democratic Republic of Lanna". Red banners have appeared in public view at several locations in the North, apparently heralding the coming of a 21st-century Lanna state.# Yingluck defended her redshirt supporters, saying they might have raised the idea of a separate state out of resentment. She said she had warned the red shirts and Cabinet members who raised the idea of secession. #
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Yingluck has also asked the Army not to show bias in its treatment of people on either side of the political divide and to avoid double standards.Army deputy spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree was quick to dismiss allegations of bias against the red shirts. He said the Army was confident there is sufficient evidence to back charges against those accused of instigating separatism. The
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spokesman also explained that the Army had not take legal action against the antigovernment People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) because the police and the government's Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order had already brought more than 100 legal cases against PDRC representatives and supporters. PDRC spokesman Akanat Promphan criticised the prime minister for accusing the Army of practising double standards with its legal action against pro-secession groups. "It is the prime minister who is practising double standards. She failed to take any action against these people," countered Akanat. The prime minister has until recently been mainly silent over matters of bias among state authorities. Yet this is the second time in recent weeks that she has called for equal treatment and accused authorities of practising double standards. In both cases the call has come at a time when she and her government's supporters were facing legal trouble. Last month Yingluck implied that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) was treating her unfairly by charging her with dereliction of duty over the government's rice price-pledging scheme. In a Facebook post the premier complained that the commission needed just 21 days to review the evidence and brand her a criminal suspect. She said there was no precedent for such an action, and that it ran counter to a previous NAAC investigation into similar charges levelled against the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration. MARCH
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NACC commissioner Wicha Mahakhun dismissed Yingluck's allegations, saying that the investigation had in fact started in December 2012, and had not taken 21 days, as she claimed. It should be good news for the country when the head of government demands that the authorities be fair to all and condemns double standards. But Yingluck now needs to show she is serious about this principle of non-biased governance and that she will not tolerate favouritism toward certain groups. Rather than pointing the finger at others for showing favouritism, she needs to set an example with her own actions.
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