The Independent Singapore News
At last, a PAP leader expressed empathy for the lived experience of minorities: Cherian George
After weeks of drift and despair, this was a speech we needed to hear. There is still some way for the establishment to go but then it wouldn’t be called the establishment if it were capable of radical quantum leaps, he said.
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Singapore Professor of Media Studies, Associate Dean for Research at Hong Kong Baptist University, Cherian George shared his thoughts on Lawrence Wong’s speech on racism (Jun 25).
LAWRENCE WONG ON RACE
After weeks of drift and despair, this was a speech we needed to hear. There is still some way for the establishment to go but then it wouldn’t be called the establishment if it were capable of radical quantum leaps.
Singapore is drawing up a roadmap that will shift focus from daily infection counts to hospitalisations, and treat Covid-19 as endemic. - AFP
SINGAPORE (Bloomberg): Singapore, traditionally a global beacon of openness and connectedness, is grappling with how to chart a path through the lingering Covid-19 pandemic as officials worry that any significant relaxation will compromise their hard-won success against the virus.
The city-state has largely managed to stamp out infection and only 36 people have died in the entire pandemic, compared to thousands elsewhere.
With access to the highly effective messenger RNA vaccines and a largely compliant population, its immunisation rate leads the region. Singapore plans to give a first Covid-19 vaccine shot to most of its population by the end of July after securing more supplies.
June 28, 2021
Covid’s D-Day.
Huy Truong
From London to New York and Hong Kong, the Delta coronavirus variant has emerged as a potential wild card that threatens to upend plans for returning to pre-pandemic normality.
In Europe and North America, the rapid spread of the highly transmissible variant first identified in India has placed a question mark over hopes for a normal summer, even as climbing vaccination rates spur the rolling back of restrictions and resumption of tourism and travel.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the variant is fuelling outbreaks in countries that have struggled to manage the virus, while reinforcing the hyper-cautious stance of zero-Covid economies reliant on strict border controls, which have prevented countless deaths but have also come under mounting criticism as other parts of the world look towards post-pandemic life.
A smattering of places, mainly across the Asia-Pacific region, have seen breathtaking victories in the battle against COVID-19 by effectively wiping it out within their borders. Now they face a fresh test: rejoining the rest of the world, which is still awash in the pathogen.
In some ways, the success of “COVID zero” locations is becoming a straitjacket. As cities like New York and London return to in-person dealmaking and business as usual tolerating hundreds of daily cases as vaccination gathers pace financial hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong risk being left behind as they maintain stringent border
A smattering of places, mainly across the Asia Pacific region, have seen breathtaking victories in the battle against covid-19 by effectively wiping it out within their borders. Now they face a fresh test: rejoining the rest of the world, which is still awash in the pathogen.