The nation’s fourth generation (4G) leaders will embark on a new year-long public consultation exercise dubbed Forward Singapore as the country finds itself at a "crossroads" in its journey, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Tuesday (June 28).
Keeping the social compact relevant is important to ensure segments of the society do not feel estranged from each other, Mr Wong said.
The consultations will be led by the next-generation political leaders. It will cover issues related to the economy, social support, the Singapore Identity and others.
If Singapore strengthens its social compact, it can turn each set of challenges into opportunities, he said.
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Singapore consulting with tech companies on proposed codes of practice: Josephine Teo
Singapore's greatest concern in online safety is the threat to racial harmony and religious tolerance, which are what it wants to safeguard through codes of practice proposed by the Government, Communications and Information Minister Josephine Teo said on Wednesday (Jun 29).
The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) said earlier in June that the Government would consult on two proposed codes of practice to enhance online safety and combat harmful online content on services accessible to users in Singapore.
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Singapore to host international rainforest competition in 2023
While small and fragmented, Singapore’s forests could hold the key to unlocking new solutions to advance the protection and conservation of the world’s rainforests and biodiversity.
Singapore has been chosen to host the semi-finals of international competition XPRIZE Rainforest, which aims to identify technologies that can be used to monitor rainforests and their biodiversity in real time. The semi-finals testing will take place in 2023.
In a media release, the organiser said Singapore was chosen because of its conservation efforts and its efforts at harnessing science and technology to address biodiversity in an urban landscape.
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UN members 'need to urgently scale up actions' to protect the ocean: Vivian Balakrishnan
Members of the United Nations (UN) "need to urgently scale up actions" to protect the ocean and mitigate the impacts of climate change, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said at the Second United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon.
He said that Singapore would be renewing the 10 voluntary commitments previously submitted at the first UN Oceans Conference and undertaking nine new ones.
As part of this, Singapore will launch three environmental research projects to enhance its understanding of the ocean. One of them relates to the sustainable management of marine fish populations, another studies the use of solar energy to facilitate coral growth, and the third project is a marine climate change science programme.
The country is also spearheading a transition towards the supply of environmentally friendly ship fuel, said Dr Balakrishnan. Singapore is also actively involved in promoting green financing and building capacity in carbon accounting within the maritime industry, he added.
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Singapore Airlines capacity up 126 pc, IATA upgrades outlook: Is new dawn beckoning for the aviation industry?
Last week, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) upgraded its outlook for the airline industry's 2022 financial performance citing the increased pace of recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
The forecast which was released at IATA's Annual General Meeting in Doha on June 20 also predicted passenger numbers to reach 83 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in 2022 due to strong pent-up demand, the lifting of travel restrictions in most markets, low unemployment in most countries, and expanded personal savings.
However, the cargo load factor was 22.3 per cent lower year-on-year at 65.4 per cent as cargo capacity (capacity tonne-kilometre) increased 30.2 per cent on the back of the resumption of passenger flights resulting in an increase of belly-hold space.
"Airlines are resilient. People are flying in ever greater numbers. And cargo is performing well against a backdrop of growing economic uncertainty," said Willie Walsh, IATA's Director-General.
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