Newly released images show entire neighbourhoods reduced to rubble after strikes from Israel in the war against Hamas Newly released satellite images reveal how cities and towns in Gaza have been destroyed by almost three weeks of Israeli bombardments on the besieged enclave. Apartment buildings are crumpled and entire neighbourhoods lie in ruins, in pictures taken before and after Israeli airstrikes and provided by Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs. Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules Gaza, in retaliation for the 7 October attacks in which they killed 1,400 people and took more than 200 people hostage. Since then, Israel has continuously struck Gaza from the air, imposed a siege and is preparing a ground invasion. The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 7,000 people – many of them civilians – have been killed in the Israeli bombardment. In the city of Beit Hanoun, which lies close to the northern border with Israel, four- and five-storey buildings are in various states of collapse. Huge chunks are missing from some, others are broken in half and two large complexes lie in piles of rubble. Beit Hanoun lies close to one of the main crossings through which Hamas militants launched their murderous rampage through southern Israel and has been a focus of much of the Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) firepower. Just days into the current conflict, the Israeli air force announced that Beit Hanoun had been struck “120 times”, saying that the area served as a hub for Hamas. The results of the heavy bombardment are clear in images that show entire neighbourhoods reduced to grey wastelands. With airstrikes continuing almost around the clock, the full extent of the damage remains unknown. Images of the Al Karameh neighbourhood north of Gaza City show the rubble of a number of residential buildings. The UN has said that 42% of all housing units have been rendered uninhabitable in the past three weeks, with thousands more subject to moderate damage. The destruction has increased the number of displaced people in Gaza, with the UN and Palestinian Red Crescent estimating that between 400,000 and a million Palestinians are now homeless. More at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/27/gaza-before-and-after-satellite-images-show-destruction-after-israeli-airstrikes

The number of folks who dropped dead without warning in recent months is rather alarming, might this portent a trend of no return? 20 Apr 2023 Man, 47, found dead at Pasir Ris Park, police do not suspect foul play https://mothership.sg/2023/04/man-dead-pasir-ris-park/ 18 Apr 2023 Decomposing body of man, 54, found in Serangoon HDB flat filled with hoarded items https://mothership.sg/2023/04/man-dead-serangoon-flat/ 15 Apr 2023 Stall assistant found dead at Bukit Merah market stall; no foul play suspected, says police https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/stall-assistant-pronounced-dead-at-bukit-merah-market-stall-no-foul-play-suspected-says-police 29 Mar 2023 33-year-old woman found dead on LRT track at Cove station in Punggol East https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/punggol-east-and-west-lrt-loops-down-due-to-incident-at-cove-station 27 Mar 2023 Elderly woman found dead in Holland Drive flat after neighbour notices foul smell https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/elderly-woman-found-dead-in-holland-drive-flat-after-neighbour-noticed-foul-smell 25 Mar 2023 Man spotted ‘sleeping’ at hawker centre declared dead over 12 hours later https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/56-year-old-pronounced-dead-more-than-12-hours-after-being-spotted-resting-at-hawker-centre-table 15 Mar 2023 Man found dead in waters off Pulau Ubin a day after he 'disappeared' https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/man-found-dead-waters-pulau-ubin-day-after-he-disappered 07 Mar 2023 Woman, 24, found dead at Sim Lim Tower https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/woman-24-found-dead-sim-lim-tower 28 Feb 2023 Decomposing body of woman, 83, found in Ghim Moh HDB flat, no foul play suspected https://mothership.sg/2023/02/woman-dead-ghim-moh-flat/ 25 Feb 2023 Man found dead in Golden Mile carpark, no foul play suspected https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/man-found-dead-in-golden-mile-carpark-no-foul-play-suspected 18 Jan 2023 Man found dead at void deck of Serangoon HDB block not a resident of area https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/community/man-found-dead-at-void-deck-of-serangoon-hdb-block-not-a-resident-of-area 13 Jan 2023 'Like a stranger to me': Elderly man dies alone in Hougang flat, son 'visits' him for first time in 4 years https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/stranger-me-elderly-man-dies-alone-hougang-flat-son-visits-him-first-time-4-years 11 Jan 2023 Woman, 69, found dead in Aljunied flat after neighbour complains of stench https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/elderly-woman-found-dead-in-flat-after-neighbour-complained-of-foul-smell 02 Jan 2023 Man, 28, found dead in Serangoon Avenue 4; no foul play suspected https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/man-28-found-dead-in-serangoon-avenue-4-no-foul-play-suspected

Btw that's her 93-year-old-mother with them in the photo as well

Singapore has asked the world’s biggest banks to avoid discussing the origins of the significant sums of money flowing into the city over the past year, as wealthy Chinese funnel billions into the Asian financial hub. The tacit directive from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (https://www.ft.com/stream/f4fb7b68-8f91-40e1-886c-617bcfb0b40a)was given during a February 20 meeting of an industry group made up of bankers and regulators, according to multiple people who attended. The flow of money from China into Singapore (https://www.ft.com/singapore)has become a politically sensitive issue domestically, and the MAS wants banks to keep public discussion of the phenomenon to a minimum, said three people with knowledge of the talks. China was not mentioned by name, but it was clear regulators were referring to the country, they added. The influx of mainland Chinese money and people into Singapore comes as China’s president Xi Jinping has launched a regulatory assault on business (https://www.ft.com/content/60a7c8ad-eba8-4030-899d-ffb760d005c4)and an anti-corruption crackdown. The city-state has plotted a careful path as a neutral financial center at a time of rising tensions between Beijing and Washington, becoming a destination for the assets of many of China’s wealthiest families. “It was obvious that they [the MAS] were referring to China with all the press about family offices setting up here and mainlanders moving over, though they didn’t single out a particular country,” said one banker from an international bank. Members of the Private Banking Industry Group include HSBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan and Citigroup, as well as local banks DBS and Bank of Singapore. It is jointly chaired by representatives of the MAS and UBS and meets three times a year. The MAS, Singapore’s central bank, said when banks reported the sources of their capital inflows, they should not single out any particular markets, according to another senior banker briefed on the discussion. This banker summarized the MAS’s message as being that private banks should “just quietly do your job” because “you don’t want to antagonize”. The MAS said the meeting in February noted that growth in fund flows into Singapore “has been driven by high net worth individuals from different regions”. One banker said it was not the first time the MAS has used the forum to address large capital inflows from a particular market. In the past, booming Indonesian wealth — and the local scrutiny it attracted — concerned regulators. “They desperately want to be the regional hub of private banking, and the situation has kind of granted them that wish,” said the banker. “[The Chinese flows] are probably overrunning their best expectations of what was going to happen.” Lawyers and industry groups estimate there were 1,500 family offices in Singapore by the end of last year, with a large chunk of them from China. The MAS said there were 700 family offices at the end of 2021, up from a handful in 2018. https://motivalena.com/singapore-asks-banks-to-keep-quiet-on-wealth-inflows-during-china-boom(https://motivalena.com/singapore-asks-banks-to-keep-quiet-on-wealth-inflows-during-china-boom)

Chew Gek Khim is executive chairman of the Straits Trading Company (STC), part of the Tecity Group founded by her grandfather and former OCBC bank chairman Tan Chin Tuan. Tecity Group also has an investment arm, The Tecity Group Family Office, as well as a philanthropic division, The Tan Chin Tuan Foundation, with a mandate to help the poor, the widowed and the orphaned. Businesswoman and investor Chew is credited with turning the 134-year-old STC, which has its roots in tin smelting, into a streamlined, modern entity focused on hospitality and property. Since Chew took on the chairmanship of STC, the firm has diversified into a modern company with interests in commodities, hospitality and real estate. STC has an 89.5 per cent stake in Straits Real Estate, an investment company with more than $1.7 billion in property assets in the Australian, Singaporean, Malaysian, Japanese, South Korean and Chinese markets. Chew is also chairman of the Malaysia Smelting Corporation and ARA Trust Management (Suntec), and sits on several boards. The Straits Trading Company posted a net profit of S$673 million for the first half of 2022, measuring up to 5.5 times the net profit posted a year ago. Propelled by strong contributions from the real estate segment, these positive results, alongside the divestment of ARA Asset Management to ESR Group, have led the company to declare a special dividend, distributing either ESR Shares or Straits Trading share to entitled shareholders. The divestment value of ARA Asset Management was recognised at S$1.1 billion, an internal rate of retun at 3.7 times equity of the original cost of investment. https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/chew-gek-khim

SINGAPORE — Yesterday (24 Nov 2022), the Malaysia King finally announced that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would become Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister. Mr Anwar was sworn in at 5 pm in the late afternoon yesterday. Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, Comptroller of the Royal Household of Istana Negara said the appointment of Mr Anwar, Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, was made in accordance with Article 40(2)(a) and Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution. The King urged all the Members of the Parliament of Malaysia to join hands for the country’s future. Anwar has reiterated that he would give up his entire prime minister's salary so as to show solidarity with the people during these tough economic times. At a rally, Anwar said he was taking the initiative because he felt ashamed to learn that the common folk were struggling with soaring prices while their salaries remained the same. “How could I in good conscience be paid RM80,000 (S$24,500) a month when the Orang Asli villagers I visited find it difficult to earn even RM400?” he remarked at Taman Orkid. Anwar added that in order to strengthen the faith of the people who assumed all politicians are the same and are only interested in enriching themselves, he is determined that he and his family members will therefore not be privy to government contracts. Anwar further expressed his intention to downsize his Cabinet and lower the salaries of ministers. Grace Fu: Lowering Pay Makes It Harder For Anyone Considering Political Office Meanwhile, in Singapore, People’s Action Party (PAP) politician Grace Fu told Singaporeans that lowering politicians’ pay would make it harder for anyone to consider political office. In 2012, when the government decided to cut the salaries of ministers and political appointment holders in response to the lowest percentage of votes the ruling PAP ever garnered at the 2011 GE, Ms Fu posted some rather unsettling comments on her Facebook page. She wrote, “When I made the decision to join politics in 2006, pay was not a key factor. Loss of privacy, public scrutiny on myself and my family and loss of personal time were.” “The disruption to my career was also an important consideration. I had some ground to believe that my family would not suffer a drastic change in the standard of living even though I experienced a drop in my income. So it is with this recent pay cut,” she added. “If the balance is tilted further in the future, it will make it harder for any one considering political office.” The issue of Ministerial wages was brought up again in 2018 when Emeritus Minister Goh Chok Tong told the residents that if these underwent significant cuts, Singapore will end up recruiting “very, very mediocre people” as officeholders. But certainly, in other first-world countries, their political leaders do not think that they should be entitled to be paid high salaries. For example, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is only paid an annual salary of US$281,047 or around S$386,521. Contrast this with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who enjoys a paycheck almost 6 times as much, at S$2,200,000 annually. https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2022/11/25/new-msian-pm-anwar-not-taking-salary-while-spore-pm-lee-takes-s2-2m-annually/