Lee Kuan Yew can rest in peace knowing GE2015 results: PAP politicians

By

Lee Meixianleemx@sph.com.sg@LeeMeixianBT

People's Action Party (PAP) politicians paid tribute to Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew on his 92nd birthday on Wednesday, saying he can rest in peace knowing Singaporeans voted hugely in favour of the ruling party in the latest election. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

SEP 16, 201510:24 AM

PEOPLE'S Action Party (PAP) politicians paid tribute to Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew on his 92nd birthday on Wednesday, saying he can rest in peace knowing Singaporeans voted hugely in favour of the ruling party in the latest election.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen wrote on Facebook on Tuesday night: "Tomorrow is Mr Lee Kuan Yew's birthday, who once said that he would even 'get up' while lowered into his grave, if he felt something is going wrong for Singapore. I think Mr Lee will be in great peace about our future, knowing the results of GE2015, where Singaporeans voted in wisdom for continuity in stable politics and national progress."

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, in a Facebook post in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, recalled the day Mr Lee turned 90 and insisted on going to Parliament despite feeling unwell and being advised by doctors against going out.

In the chambers, he was presented with a birthday cake and given a 30-second standing ovation. When members of Parliament asked Mr Lee what his 90th birthday wish was, he said it was for the Singapore government to stay clean and honest, and for all in Parliament to uphold the highest moral standards, Mr Heng recalled.

"What he said touched me deeply," Mr Heng wrote. "No matter how old he was, no matter the occasion, Mr Lee never stopped thinking about Singapore. Even when he was asked to make an impromptu birthday speech, he had only one instinct, only one wish - that we keep politics clean. It is a wish that we keep Singapore an exceptional place where Singaporeans can thrive. I hope Mr Lee will rest in peace knowing that we will take good care of Singapore and fellow Singaporeans in his absence."

Mr Heng was also Mr Lee's Principal Private Secretary (PPS) from 1997 to 2000.

Another former PPS of Mr Lee, the newly elected MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Chee Hong Tat, also posted a photo he took with Mr Lee at the latter's 91st birthday. They had celebrated it in London while on an official trip at Compleat Angler next to the River Thames.

"He chose this place because he and his delegation had dined here more than 50 years ago when they were in London to fight for Singapore's independence," Mr Chee wrote.

"Without Mr Lee and our pioneer generation of leaders and Singaporeans, we will not have today's Singapore. Let's cherish what we have achieved, build on what our pioneers have done, and work together to make this country even better!"

    
 

BMW eyes new business opportunities with autonomous cars

German carmarker BMW is preparing to rethink its products, design and business models for the advent of driverless cars, a board member at the Bavarian company said on Tuesday. 

PHOTO: AFP

SEP 16, 20157:00 AM

[FRANKFURT] German carmarker BMW is preparing to rethink its products, design and business models for the advent of driverless cars, a board member at the Bavarian company said on Tuesday.

Peter Schwarzenbauer said the competitive advantage for premium carmakers will be rooted in their ability to offer a portfolio of transport options far beyond just selling a car.

The ability to hail an autonomous car instantaneously may lead to a convergence between business models being offered by taxi services, limousine rides and car sharing, Mr Schwarzenbauer, the BMW board member responsible for the Mini brand, told Reuters in an interview at the Frankfurt car show.

How well premium carmakers do will depend partially on how quickly a customer's desire for transportation can be met. "If it is going to be within three minutes, then I need a certain volume of cars to make that happen. Whether BMW owns these fleets our outsources the business is an open question," Mr Schwarzenbauer said. "New mobility concepts will emerge with autonomous vehicles, which are robot cars. Fleet management will become a much more significant business," he said.

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The onset of smartphones has fundamentally changed customer expectations. Rather than buying and owning a car, customers can use phones to hail a limousine or find a car-sharing vehicle, Ian Robertson, BMW's board member for marketing and sales said. "The ability to use a car, and then walk away is a serious business," Mr Robertson said, adding that it was still a long way to go in regulatory and legal terms to resolve liability questions before ride sharing models will use driverless cars.

Mercedes-Benz also sees business potential in offering on-demand limousine services using driverless cars, Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche has said, in what amounts to a direct challenge to Uber.

The market penetration of vehicles with autonomous features is expected to reach 13 per cent by 2025, representing a market of roughly US$42 billion, Boston Consulting Group has said.

With that in mind, BMW is also looking at how the inside of the new, driverless car will look. "At the moment, drivers spend most of their time looking outside a vehicle. With self-driving cars, interior design will play a very different role. The feelgood factor will be paramount," Mr Schwarzenbauer said.

How exactly interiors will look, and decisions about strategy have not been finalised at board level, but discussions centre around changing consumer habits, he said. "We are not talking about a completely new strategy, but we are putting greater emphasis on brand management and design," BMW's Chief Financial Officer Friedrich Eichiner said.

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Google does not intend to become a carmaker: executive

Google Inc does not intend to become a vehicle manufacturer, the company's managing director for Germany, Austria and Switzerland said on Tuesday at the Frankfurt auto show. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

SEP 16, 20157:09 AM

[FRANKFURT] Google Inc does not intend to become a vehicle manufacturer, the company's managing director for Germany, Austria and Switzerland said on Tuesday at the Frankfurt auto show.

Google has named auto industry veteran John Krafcik, a former CEO of Hyundai Motors America, as chief executive of its self-driving car project.

Google's pet project of driverless cars started in 2009 with an intention to revolutionise the car industry. The hiring of Krafcik is seen as a sign the tech giant is starting to look at the project as a potential and relevant business in the future.

Google's Philipp Justus, who is also the managing director for central and eastern Europe, said the company was working on cars in partnership with the auto industry, but was not planning to become a car manufacturer. "That is not something we could do alone," Mr Justus said, adding that Google's partners included automotive suppliers Bosch and zf friedrichshafen. "Google also does not intend to become a car manufacturer." German premium carmakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi meanwhile are snapping up software experts as tech firms such as Google threaten to outflank them in the race to develop a self-driving car.

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Software expertise has become a new battleground for automakers and tech firms as cars need lines of code to connect electric car motors to batteries, talk to smartphones or activate brakes when a radar system detects an obstacle ahead.

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