SINGAPORE — Sherman Kwek, group chief executive of City Developments Limited (CDL) and son of billionaire Kwek Leng Beng, said on Feb 27 that the underlying reason that led to the public fallout at the company was his father's adviser, Dr Catherine Wu. «There has been no attempt by us to oust the chairman,» he said in a statement, referring to his father, who is executive chairman of CDL. «The primary reason for the dispute relates to a very serious issue of corporate governance within the CDL group arising from the conduct of one Dr Catherine Wu.» He added: «The chairman's claim that there is an 'attempted coup' by the majority directors to consolidate control of CDL's board is not only incorrect, it distracts from the nub of the issue, therefore requiring us to respond to present the full picture.» Although Wu's official position is adviser to the board of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), a wholly owned and principal subsidiary of CDL Group, she has been interfering in matters going well beyond her scope, and she wields and exercises enormous influence, the younger Kwek claimed.

A multi-vehicle accident on the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) near Paya Lebar on Thursday (Feb 27) night left two cars in flames. A video shared on the SG Road Vigilante Facebook page showed that a taxi was one of the four vehicles involved in the collision. An Emas (Expressway Monitoring Advisory System) recovery truck can be seen in the footage, with the right-most lane of the road cordoned off.  There was still traffic passing through along the expressway. Responding to AsiaOne's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to a road traffic accident involving four cars along PIE towards Changi after the Paya Lebar Rd exit at about 10.15pm on Feb 27.

At least one crew member of a Singapore-registered chemical tanker, Basset, is reportedly injured after an unauthorised boarding in the Singapore Strait, outside Singapore's territorial waters.  According to the International Maritime Organisation, unauthorised boarding of a vessel can occur through piracy, robbery or stowaways.  In a media statement on Friday (Feb 28), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said that it was alerted to the incident onboard the merchant tanker at about 7am. It added that the Basset is currently anchored in Singapore waters and the Singapore Police Coast Guard and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) have been activated to render assistance. Medical evacuation of the injured crew is underway.  According to vessel tracking platform MarineTraffic, the tanker departed Tanjung Pelapas port in Johor at 3.42am on Friday and was headed for Pengerang port, also in Johor. 

Singapore has much to celebrate this year with SG60, but we must be aware of the rapidly changing global landscape and invest in creating our future, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Thursday (Feb 27). Speaking in support of Budget 2025 in Parliament, he emphasised the need to «double down on our investments in Research, Innovation, and Enterprise (RIE)», in order to improve lives and to keep Singapore competitive. According to Heng, science, technology and innovation are advancing at an accelerated pace, given the example of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it has disrupted the global tech landscape. Investing in RIE will not only benefit Singapore's economic development, but also benefit Singaporeans, directly and indirectly. Heng raised several examples of how AI can support Singapore's declining workforce, personalise students' learning and optimise medical treatments. Singapore invests around one per cent of its gross domestic product annually to support RIE activities, and has committed $28 billion to the current RIE 2025 plan.

The increase in Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices and Goods and Services Tax (GST) reflect the financial pressures faced by Singaporeans, said Workers' Party (WP) chair Sylvia Lim on Thursday (Feb 27). Speaking in Parliament on the second day of the Budget debate, Lim referred to the Ministry of Finance's budget forecasting for this year as «notably inaccurate». The Government had projected a surplus of $0.78 billion for the Financial Year (FY) 2024 during the 2024 Budget statement. However, revised figures revealed an $8 billion increase in total operating revenue, rising from the estimated $108.6 billion to $116.6 billion. «To put this into perspective: $8 billion equates to $8,000 million — a substantial underestimation,» said Lim. The WP chairwoman questioned why the projected surplus of $0.78 billion was reiterated by PM Wong while responding to a Parliamentary Question from WP MP Louis Chua in September last year.

The driver of a Singapore-registered car left the scene after causing a collision that damaged four vehicles outside KSL City Mall in Johor Bahru. Photos of the accident, which happened on Tuesday (Feb 25) evening, showed the wrecked bonnet of a Audi sports car after it smashed into a Proton sedan. The impact left sedan's rear and bonnet badly damaged. Multiple videos on social media also showed the damage dealt to three other vehicles parked along the road shoulder. A large crowd gathered around the scene as passers-by stopped to see what had happened. In one video uploaded to Facebook group SG Road Vigilante, a man was seen helping the Audi driver get of her vehicle. Another video uploaded by Facebook user Ellen Teo showed the driver swiping at a man who had his phone camera pointed at her, before another man pulled her away. Speaking with Shin Min Daily News, a man surnamed Zhang said that he was having dinner in the area when he saw the crash happen. The Audi was travelling at a high speed before it collided with the stationary vehicles along the roadside, the 44-year-old recalled.

SINGAPORE — A tussle between father and son for control of City Developments Limited (CDL) came to light on Feb 26, with executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng publicly criticising his son Sherman, who is the property giant's group chief executive officer.  The older Kwek said he had filed court papers to address the «attempted coup» by Sherman Kwek, 49, board members Philip Lee Jee Cheng and Wong Ai Ai, as well as a group of directors acting with them to allegedly consolidate control of CDL's board. «This is necessary to deal with this attempted coup at the board level and restore corporate integrity,» said Kwek Leng Beng, who will be 84 in 2025. «We intend to change the chief executive officer at the appropriate time. We will continue to explore all legal options available to us to vigorously defend and protect the interests of CDL and its shareholders,» he said. Responding, Sherman Kwek expressed his disappointment over the «extreme actions» taken by his father over a disagreement around the size and make-up of the board of the property group.

Members of Parliament on Wednesday (Feb 26) extensively discussed the Government's plans to address the rising cost of living by disbursing more Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers among other schemes. They also voiced support for measures to help elderly Singaporeans and initiatives to encourage families to have more children, but called for the Government to provide more than just financial help. The Budget debate kicked off on Wednesday and will last until Friday. In all, 54 MPs are expected to speak before Prime Minister Lawrence Wong wraps up the debate. In his Budget speech on Feb 18, PM Wong, who is also the Finance Minister, said that the measures ensure that «no one will be left behind», and will tackle immediate challenges while laying the groundwork for the future. A total of 24 MPs and three Nominated MPs spoke on Wednesday in a debate that lasted around eight hours. Cost of living concerns Among the concerns raised by MPs about cost of living, several highlighted the $800 in CDC vouchers for Singaporean households.

SINGAPORE - Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng have filed defamation suits against Bloomberg and one of its journalists. The case against the media company and reporter Low De Wei will be heard in the Supreme Court on March 3. It comes two months after Tan and Shanmugam said they will act against Bloomberg and other media outlets for publishing statements which the ministers consider libellous concerning their property transactions. The statements were produced in a Dec 12 Bloomberg article on good class bungalow (GCB) transactions in Singapore with the headline, «Singapore mansion deals are increasingly shrouded in secrecy». The article was written by Low, who, according to his LinkedIn profile, has been a real estate reporter at Bloomberg since September 2021. The article focused on GCB deals inked from January to early December 2024, as measured by value, using findings derived from data compiled by Bloomberg News and List Sotheby's International Realty. It mentioned property transactions involving Tan and Shanmugam.

The various vouchers to be disbursed as part of Budget 2025 will help Singaporeans for a while, but not in the long term, said Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh on Wednesday (Feb 26). Kicking off the Budget debate in Parliament, the Workers' Party chief noted that the worth of Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers disbursed has increased from $100 in 2021 to $800 in 2025. «Cost increases have hurt people from across all segments of society,» he said. «Beyond the $800 CDC vouchers and $800 SG60 vouchers, more than a few political watchers noticed PAP MPs thumping their armrests in unison when the Finance Minister announced that climate vouchers worth $400 dollars were being extended to private household dwellers too — a relatively small and generally more well-off segment comprising about 15% of our population. »Reflecting on the cost-of-living crisis, this enthusiastic gesture was both ironic and telling."