Japan PM's support rebounds after difficult debate over security laws  

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has rebounded from lows touched after the passage of controversial security laws that will allow the military to fight overseas for the first time since World War Two, media surveys showed. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 30, 201511:22 AM

[TOKYO] Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has rebounded from lows touched after the passage of controversial security laws that will allow the military to fight overseas for the first time since World War Two, media surveys showed.

Voters still see no need to rush to revise the pacifist constitution, admired by many as the source of Japan's post-war peace but seen by critics as a symbol of defeat that hampers the nation's ability to defend itself, another opinion poll showed.

Support for Abe's cabinet rose eight points to 49 per cent in a weekend survey by the Nikkei business daily, a level not seen since debate over the security laws intensified last summer.

A Kyodo news agency poll showed a rise of 3.5 points to 48.3 per cent. The rises appeared to reflect approval of Abe's pledge to refocus on Japan's flagging economy ahead of an upper house election next year.

Abe has said the security legislation, enacted in September, was vital to meet new challenges, which include a rising China. Critics said the changes violated the pacifist constitution and increased the risk of involvement in foreign conflicts.

Support for Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was at 36.7 per cent, more than three times that for the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in the Kyodo poll.

Almost as many - 35.9 per cent - said they supported no particular party, a sign many dissatisfied with Abe and the LDP felt that the opposition did not provide a viable alternative.

Despite the heated debate over the security bills, 58 per cent of those responding to an Asahi newspaper survey welcomed passage of the changes, against 27 per cent who did not.

The same survey, however, showed that 57 per cent felt there was no need to rush to revise the constitution - a long-held goal of Abe and the LDP - compared with 34 per cent who said changes should be made soon.

Revising the US-drafted charter requires support from two-thirds of the members of both houses of parliament and a majority of those voting in a public referendum - a hurdle never yet cleared.

REUTERS

      

Aung San Suu Kyi to meet president, military chief on Wednesday

NOV 30, 20152:39 PM

[YANGON] Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will meet President Thein Sein and military chief Min Aung Hlaing on Wednesday, their first meeting since she won an historic election earlier this month, a senior government official told Reuters.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won the vote with a landslide and needs to forge a working relationship with the powerful military for her government to run smoothly.

Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner who is barred from becoming president under the military-drafted constitution, invited the military chief and the president to meet just days after the Nov. 8 election to discuss national reconciliation.

The NLD will be the dominant party when Myanmar's new parliament sits in February, while the armed forces will be the largest opposition group. The constitution guarantees unelected members of the military a quarter of seats in both houses.

Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing also has three powerful ministries guaranteed under the charter. This gives him a strong hold on Myanmar's sprawling bureaucracy.

Suu Kyi will meet the president at his official residence on Wednesday morning and the military chief in his office in the afternoon, Zaw Htay, a senior official from the President's Office, said on Monday.

The meetings will be closed to the media, he said.

Win Htein, a senior member of the NLD, also confirmed the meetings but declined to give any details about what would be discussed.

REUTERS

    
 

Zurich Life to stop accepting new policy applications in Singapore from Dec 1

By

Claire Huanghuangjy@sph.com.sg@ClaireHuangBT

The logo of Zurich Insurance Group is seen on a building in Bern in this February 10, 2014 file photo. Zurich Insurance still expects to hit its financial targets after posting a steep drop in third-quarter profit, adding on Thursday that job cuts would be among the steps to boost its key general insurance business. The measures come after what was a difficult third quarter for the Swiss insurance giant. An aborted takeover of Britain's RSA and a profit warning stemming from $275 million in losses incurred by explosions at the Chinese port of Tianjin helped shares to their biggest quarterly fall since 2011. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 30, 20152:39 PM

SWISS-BASED insurer Zurich Insurance Group will no longer grow its life business in Singapore, as it moves to streamline its business.

This comes after the group on Monday said Zurich Life Insurance Singapore and Zurich International Life will no longer accept new policy applications here with effect from Dec 1.

The group said in a statement that the decision only affects the life business in Singapore, while it is business as usual for its general insurance division.

"Zurich has a strong local market position in the large General Insurance (Global Corporate) commercial space in Singapore and continues to invest in this business as evidenced by the establishment of regional corporate roles in Singapore to support the branch and strengthen Zurich's proposition to both Singapore domestic and international corporations in Asia Pacific," the group said.

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The insurer said the move to stop accepting new life policies "will not have any impact on Zurich's existing customer policies in Singapore".

"All the terms and conditions of existing life policies will be safeguarded and the service to these customers will remain unchanged. Zurich's commitment includes ensuring and guaranteeing the future servicing of all policies with a dedicated local customer management team, honouring all contractual obligations and ensuring sufficient capital to provide security for all existing policies," it said.

Colin Morgan, chief executive officer of Zurich's life business in Asia Pacific, said the decision "did not come lightly", but is a necessary action as part of prioritising investment where it can compete to win and establish a distinctive position.

"We spent a long time exploring the different options, but this unfortunately was the most feasible and practical under the current and foreseeable circumstances," he said.

The insurer said it will retain a core number of people to oversee the transition, as well as an ongoing dedicated support team to service all existing customers.

Wherever possible, it also "will do what it can to redeploy affected employees within the organisation".

    
 

China smog climbs to perilous levels on eve of climate talks 

Northern China choked under some of the worst smog this year on Monday, with levels in Beijing soaring to 22 times healthy limits, triggering the city's second-highest pollution alert on the eve of global climate change talks. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 30, 20151:52 PM

[BEIJING] Northern China choked under some of the worst smog this year on Monday, with levels in Beijing soaring to 22 times healthy limits, triggering the city's second-highest pollution alert on the eve of global climate change talks.

Heavy haze blanketed the cities after President Xi Jinping arrived in Paris for the key discussions that will largely focus on China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Concentration of PM2.5, tiny airborne particles which embed deeply in the lungs, reached over 560 micrograms per cubic metre in the capital, according to the US embassy - well over the recommended maximum of 25 micrograms.

Levels in several cities in neighbouring Hebei province were also well above 500, official figures showed, more than twenty times the World Health Organization's advised limit.

Beijing issued an orange-level pollution alert over the weekend, the highest of the year, with residents advised to stay indoors and some industrial plants ordered shut.

"You can't even see people standing directly in front of you," wrote one disgruntled netizen on Chinese Twitter-equivalent Sina Weibo. "It feels like even the subway station is full of haze." Xi is in Paris for the first day of the UN Conference of Parties (COP21) summit, which aims to strike a global deal limiting dangerous climate change.

The Asian giant is estimated to have released between nine and 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2013, nearly twice as much as the United States and around two and a half times the European Union.

It pledged last year to peak carbon dioxide output by "around 2030" - suggesting at least another decade of growing emissions.

Most of the country's carbon emissions come from coal burning in power factories and homes - which spikes in winter along with demand for heating, which also causes smog.

The pollution has been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths, becoming a major source of popular discontent with the government.

Beijing's severe pollution is expected to last until a cold front arrives Tuesday, the city's environmental protection bureau said on its website.

"If the imperial capital is already polluted to such a level, shouldn't the environmental protection bureau leaders resign?" said one Weibo user.

AFP

      

Singapore labour force participation rate up, median income up 4.7% to S$3,949 a month

By

Cai Haoxianghaoxiang@sph.com.sg@HaoxiangCaiBT

The Singapore labour force posted broad-based gains in 2015, according to the newly released Singapore Workforce 2015 report from the Ministry of Manpower. 

ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

NOV 30, 201511:14 AM

THE Singapore labour force posted broad-based gains in 2015, according to the newly released Singapore Workforce 2015 report from the Ministry of Manpower. However, some older and less educated workers continued to face challenges.

The resident labour force participation rate was up to 68.3 per cent in June, a fourth consecutive year of increase, with more flexible work arrangements and efforts to improve the employability of older workers. Residents refer to Singapore citizens and permanent residents.

The participation rate for older workers aged 55 and up had grown at a more moderate pace since 2012, after strong gains in earlier years, the report noted.

Meanwhile, incomes grew strongly in 2015 amid a tight labour market, the report said.

Median monthly income from work for full-time employed residents, including employer Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions, was up 4.7 per cent to S$3,949 in June 2015, from S$3,770 in 2014.

Excluding employer CPF, median income in June 2015 was up 5.8 per cent to S$3,467 a month, from S$3,276 a year ago.

The seasonally adjusted resident unemployment rate was 2.8 per cent in June 2015, unchanged from a year ago.

While the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased for younger residents aged 25 to 49 and degree holders, it rose for older workers aged 50 and above (from 2.8 per cent to 3.3 per cent) and non-degree holders, excluding below-secondary educated workers whose unemployment rate was unchanged.

    
 

Ex-Malaysia envoy guilty of New Zealand indecent assault

      

A former Malaysian diplomat pleaded guilty on Monday to the indecent assault of a New Zealand woman, with a court hearing he burst into her bedroom naked from the waist down. 

PHOTO: AFP

NOV 30, 201511:08 AM

[WELLINGTON] A former Malaysian diplomat pleaded guilty on Monday to the indecent assault of a New Zealand woman, with a court hearing he burst into her bedroom naked from the waist down.

Mohammed Rizalman bin Ismail was a military attache at Malaysia's Wellington embassy when the incident happened last year, and the case caused outrage when he fled to his homeland citing diplomatic immunity.

Rizalman was eventually extradited to face the New Zealand courts and had pleaded not guilty to attempted rape and burglary.

But with his trial due to start on Monday, the original charges were dismissed when the 39-year-old admitted one count of indecent assault against Wellington woman Tania Billingsley.

Rizalman's lawyer Donald Stevens cited extenuating circumstances including mental illness, although prosecutors contest this.

The court heard that on May 9 last year Billingsley was at home in Brooklyn, the Wellington suburb where the Malaysian embassy is located, when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

Rizalman then entered wearing no trousers or underpants. She screamed and struggled with him, managing to push him out of the house before calling police.

"The victim was entitled to be very, very frightened at the situation confronting her," prosecutor Grant Burston said.

Mr Stevens said Rizalman told police the pair had been to the cinema together that day, but the court did not hear whether Billingsley confirmed this.

The defence lawyer also denied that Rizalman's offending was sexually motivated.

Mr Burston said experts would be called to dispute Rizalman's argument that he was mentally unwell, saying his behaviour was more consistent with "cannabis use and anxiety".

Indecent assault carries a maximum jail term of seven years in New Zealand.

Judge David Collins said a hearing into disputed aspects of the case would take place on Friday before sentencing.

Rizalman sat quietly in the dock as an interpreter explained proceedings to him. His bail was continued ahead of Friday's hearing.

Judge Collins said if a home detention sentence was imposed, and he stressed it was only a possibility, Rizalman may be allowed to serve it at the Malaysian embassy.

AFP