Readabee 2019-09-02

America – Economics | Wall Street Journal

They criticized mainstream economists and politicians for failing to address racial inequality, and touted more radical remedies of their own. Now, with the 2020 presidential campaign under way and liberal Democrats ascendant, the two economists are in the spotlight, thrust into the middle of an intraparty debate over how much to embrace big government and a race-oriented message. Their signature ideas—guaranteed jobs for all adult Americans seeking them, government-backed trust funds for American babies and reparations for slave descendants—are being talked about on the campaign trail and, in the case of reparations, during a raucous congressional hearing in June. (2500 words)

America – Politics | Wall Street Journal

It was 2006 and I was a young native of Somalia who’d been elected to the Dutch Parliament. The American Jewish Committee was giving me its Moral Courage Award. I felt honored and humbled, but a little dishonest if I didn’t own up to my anti-Semitic past. So I told them how I’d learned to blame the Jews for everything. Fast-forward to 2019. A freshman congresswoman from Minnesota has been infuriating the Jewish community and discomfiting the Democratic leadership with her expressions of anti-Semitism. (2000 words)

Business – Profit Maximization | New York Times | April 16th, 2015

But this belief is utterly false. To quote the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in the recent Hobby Lobby case: “Modern corporate law does not require for-profit corporations to pursue profit at the expense of everything else, and many do not.”The Hobby Lobby case dealt with a closely held company with controlling shareholders, but the Court’s statement on corporate purpose was not limited to such companies. State codes (including that of Delaware, the preeminent state for corporate law) similarly allow corporations to be formed for “any lawful business or purpose,” and the corporate charters of big public firms typically also define company purpose in these broad terms. (600 words)

Education – Meritocracy | The Straits Times | April 9th, 2019

They got out of school, began their career, started a family and identified the mountain they thought they were meant to climb – I’m going to be an entrepreneur, a doctor, a cop. They did the things society encourages us to do, like make a mark, become successful, buy a home, raise a family, pursue happiness. People on the first mountain spend a lot of time on reputation management. They ask: What do people think of me? Where do I rank? They’re trying to win the victories the ego enjoys. These hustling years are also powerfully shaped by our individualistic and meritocratic culture. (1600 words)

Environment – Activism | New York Times | August 2th, 2019

Caldwell is the author of “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West.”The 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, second from right, at a session of the French National Assembly in July.Climate activists in Western Europe had already been radicalizing for some time when record heat engulfed the Continent last month. The high reached 109 degrees in Paris two Thursdays ago. Yet many environmentalists have come to believe that extreme weather alone will never spur Europeans to give up fossil fuels. (1300 words)

Gender – Inequality | The Straits Times | April 26th, 2019

When she was still Melinda French and a young employee working at Microsoft in 1987, Bill Gates flirted with her in the carpark and asked if she would go out with him in two weeks. She turned him down. “That’s not spontaneous enough for me,” she told him. “Ask me out closer to the date.” An hour or two later, Bill Gates phoned her and invited her out for that evening. “Is this spontaneous enough for you?” he asked. And then they lived happily ever after. Actually, not exactly. Melinda Gates has written a smart new memoir, The Moment Of Lift, recounting how she ended up a feminist – and arguing that the American workplace needs a makeover. (800 words)

Geopolitics – Belt And Road | Wall Street Journal

Instead, Pakistan is now enmeshed in an economic crisis, putting the brakes on new building, with less than half of $62 billion of Chinese projects carried out. The Chinese infrastructure, all built by Chinese state-owned companies, required the Pakistani government to guarantee repayments to Beijing. Pakistan is now asking China to step up with a different kind of initiative: some $1 billion in development aid and the establishment of factories from the Chinese private sector in the country. Pakistan also recently needed a $2.1 billion emergency loan from China—along with even more from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—to stave off a balance-of-payments crisis long enough to negotiate a bailout, expected within weeks, from the International Monetary Fund. (1100 words)

Geopolitics – China | The Straits Times | April 11th, 2019

If China were to achieve this, it would transform a world in which all large, high-income countries are currently democratic. It would reshape the global balance of power, not just economically and militarily, but also politically and ideologically. This is what President Xi Jinping expects to happen. But how likely is it, in fact? Today, China is not quite exceptional. True, the number of countries ruled by a party that calls itself communist is far smaller than it was before 1991. Yet there remain a few others, notably Vietnam. (1000 words)

Geopolitics – Nuclear | The Economist | June 29th, 2019

Only the anti-aircraft guns hint at what goes on eight metres (26 feet) underground. For over a decade Iranian scientists there have fed uranium hexafluoride into centrifuges that spin at twice the speed of sound so as to sift out uranium-235, the isotope capable of sustaining a chain reaction in a nuclear power plant or bomb. The “raw” uranium that goes in is 0.7% 235U; the stuff that comes out is 4% 235U.In 2015, as part of the nuclear deal between Iran, the permanent-five nations on the UN Security Council and Germany, Iran promised that it would not enrich any uranium beyond this 4% level, nor hold stocks of more than 300kg of such low-enriched uranium (LEU). (2500 words)

Health – Sugar | The Straits Times | April 21th, 2019

“What is going on?” one of them posted on a dietitian Internet mailing list. What is going on is that the current crop of fad diets, such as paleo, keto, carnivore and pegan – have persuaded a lot of people that fruit is a dietary taboo. There was a time when we did not question if fruit was good for us, when we more or less took “eat your fruits and veggies” to heart. Today, many people are worried that fruit is too high in carbohydrates, sugar and calories. One of my patients would not eat any fruit other than blueberries because she had bought into the myth – again, promoted by fad diets – that blueberries are the only “safe” fruit to eat because they are “low glycaemic” (in other words, they do not cause your blood sugar to spike). (900 words)

Hong Kong – Protests | New York Times | July 2th, 2019

Ms. Lim, the author of “The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited,” is writing a book about Hong Kong.A protester in the Hong Kong legislative chamber on Monday.阅读简体中文版閱讀繁體中文版HONG KONG — After breaking into Hong Kong’s legislature, protesters left a message for Carrie Lam, the city’s top government official, spray-painted on a pillar: “It was you who taught me that peaceful protests are futile.”To the young activists, the storming of the Legislative Council was an act of desperation. (1100 words)

Hong Kong – Protests | New York Times | July 1th, 2019

This gives moral force to our way of life. It recognized them as the first salvo in a new cold war, one in which the otherwise unarmed Hong Kong people wield the most powerful weapon in the fight against the Chinese Communist Party: moral force.In much of the West, moral force is underestimated. Communists never make that mistake. There is a reason Beijing will never invite the pope or the Dalai Lama for a visit to China. The government knows that whenever its leaders must stand beside anyone with even the slightest moral legitimacy, they suffer by the comparison. (900 words)

Inequality – Pay Gap | The Straits Times | April 25th, 2019

The thread went viral, partly because of my name. But I suspect it would be far harder to get that reaction if my last name were Procter or Gamble. That’s because the Disney brand occupies a special place in America’s economic landscape. Its profits are powered by emotion and sentiment and, yes, something as fundamental as the difference between right and wrong. I believe that Disney could well lead the way, if its leaders so chose, to a more decent, humane way of doing business. I had to speak out about the naked indecency of chief executive Robert Iger’s pay. (800 words)

Internet – Regulation | The Straits Times | April 19th, 2019

They assumed back then that monitoring money was crucial for fostering peace and building growth. No surprise there, perhaps: After the war there was an urgent need to restart the global economy, via institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And, for all the bumps in subsequent decades, that is what happened. When the IMF and the World Bank held their spring meetings this month, downtown Washington was adorned with posters hailing “75 years of cooperation”. But amid the celebrations, it is worth asking: Is it time for the IMF to think beyond money? (1000 words)

Privacy – Work | Wall Street Journal

The tone of your voice in a meeting. How often you’re away from your desk. How quickly you respond to emails. Where you roam in the office. What’s on your computer screen. To be an employee of a large company in the U.S. now often means becoming a workforce data generator—from the first email sent from bed in the morning to the Wi-Fi hotspot used during lunch to the new business contact added before going home. Employers are parsing those interactions to learn who is influential, which teams are most productive and who is a flight risk. (2400 words)

Privacy – Work | Wall Street Journal

Brian Dauer kicks off his by checking which websites his colleagues have browsed. Mr. Dauer works at Ship Sticks, a West Palm Beach, Fla., company that ships sports gear and other luggage, which last year installed software to monitor its workers. It tracks the websites employees visit minute-by-minute, and has the ability to take remote screenshots of workers’ computers. “We’re not the Big Brother type,” says Mr. Dauer, the director of operations. But as Ship Sticks has expanded rapidly—growing to about 80 employees since 2011—the software, ActivTrak, has been invaluable in helping boost productivity, he says. (1300 words)

Psychology – Honesty | New York Times | June 20th, 2019

But according to a clever new study involving thousands of people in 40 countries, what most of us assume about human nature is wrong.The three-year study, possibly the largest real-world test of whether people behave honestly when given incentives not to, found they are actually more likely to return lost wallets containing money. And the more money, the better the chances people will return it.Experts say the study, published Thursday in the journal Science, suggests that policymakers and businesses might better prevent dishonest behaviors like lying on tax returns by using moral carrots instead of punitive sticks.“It shows that when we make a decision whether to be dishonest or not, it’s not only ‘What can I get out of it versus what’s the punishment, what’s the effort?’” said Nina Mazar, a behavioral scientist at Boston University who was not involved in the study. (1300 words)

Race – Politics | The Economist | June 29th, 2019

But when asked last week whether he thought African-Americans should receive restitution for slavery and the decades of lawful discrimination that followed it, the Republican Senate leader’s response was sound. He was against the idea, he said, in part for practical reasons—for how would the recipients of compensation be selected? He also objected in principle: if African-Americans received reparations, what about the other victims of discrimination, including America’s many “waves of immigrants”? (1000 words)

Singapore – AI | Channel News Asia | August 20th, 2019

The autonomous vehicles – comprising two minibuses and two smaller shuttles – will ply popular destinations along a 5.7km route, including Siloso Point, Beach Station, Palawan Beach, Tanjong Beach and Sentosa Golf Club. Passengers will be able to hail an autonomous shuttle via the “Ride Now Sentosa” mobile app or kiosks along the 5.7km route, said the Ministry of Transport (MOT), Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) and ST Engineering in a joint release on Tuesday. The service will operate for four hours on weekdays, from 10am to 12pm and from 2pm to 4pm. (400 words)

Singapore – Animal Rights | Channel News Asia | August 23th, 2019

During a vehicle check on Tuesday, ICA officers noticed that the vehicle’s passenger appeared “nervous and avoided eye contact”. The animals were observed to be have been sedated, ICA said. Two men – the 21-year-old Singaporean driver and his 20-year-old Singaporean passenger – were referred to the National Parks Board (NParks) for investigation. “The kittens are now under the care and quarantine of NParks, and will be rehomed,” ICA said in a Facebook post. “The poor conditions and manner under which animals are smuggled would cause them unnecessary suffering and even death,” ICA said. (200 words)

Singapore – Climate | Channel News Asia | August 31th, 2019

Many Singaporeans who have paid only cursory attention to environmental issues may be surprised by the gravity of this message. Sure, there are the occasional flash floods and yes, we do remember the days when the island was shrouded in haze. But have we come to the point where the climate has turned into such a monstrosity that our city-state has to “go to war” against this gargantuan enemy for generations ahead? First, the observation and scientific understanding of climate change, especially how headline global trends compare in relation to Singapore. (1100 words)

Singapore – Climate | Channel News Asia | August 25th, 2019

Several other coastal cities and small islands also face this hazard, and lessons can be drawn from how they plan for and adapt to it. Recent research shows three general approaches can be considered when dealing with the threat of sea level rise. First, accommodate the threat, which includes flood-proofing existing buildings and infrastructure, or designating areas that would be allowed to flood during high tide. Second, retreat from the threat, which includes the removal and reallocation of key infrastructure and assets to areas that the sea cannot inundate. (1300 words)

Singapore – Climate | Channel News Asia | August 19th, 2019

This follows Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech on Sunday (Aug 18), during which he highlighted that Singapore is susceptible to the effects of climate change and vulnerable to rising sea levels. As part of strengthening the Republic’s coastal defences, Mr Lee explained that one solution could be a reclamation method known as empoldering. Polders are created by first building a seawall in the water, before pumping out the water behind the seawall to create dry land. This land can be lower than the sea level, but water has to be continually pumped out. (900 words)

Singapore – Conservation | Channel News Asia | August 16th, 2019

Over the last six months, Singapore authorities seized an unprecedented amount of 38 tonnes of pangolin scales and almost 10 tonnes of elephant ivory worth more than S$170 million – with some close to the largest seizures the world has seen. Led by the National Parks Board (NParks), these acts of enforcement were a true testament of the country’s zero-tolerance to illegal wildlife trade. Just two days after the most recent seizure of 15 baskets containing 815 birds over the National Day weekend, Singapore announced the latest highlight of our fight against illegal wildlife trade: An ivory ban. (900 words)

Singapore – Cybercrime | Channel News Asia | August 29th, 2019

That’s the message the Singapore Police Force (SPF) wants to convey as it introduced new tools such as a new dedicated “nerve centre” for scam-related crimes, as well as partnering industry players to more effectively stop stolen money from falling into the perpetrators’ hands. On Friday (Aug 30), the police revealed that the new Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) was set up within the Commercial Affairs Department on Jun 18 this year and its focus is to disrupt scammers’ operations and help mitigate victims’ losses. (1600 words)

Singapore – Cybersecurity | Channel News Asia | August 22th, 2019

The photo filtering app which has been around since 2017, had only recently become the latest social media craze as photos with its filter that transform one’s look younger or older had gone viral. It was all good fun until users and experts began to notice the red flags. IT’S NOT JUST FACEAPP THAT YOU SHOULD BE WARY OFLast month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong issued a note of caution urging Singaporeans to “be careful with what apps [they] download and use”. One point he alluded to is the potential criminal use of users’ personal data. (900 words)

Singapore – Drugs | Channel News Asia | August 2th, 2019

In the article published on Jul 17, Ms Gen Sander wrote that Mr Shanmugam “continues to make poorly informed and inflammatory claims on drug policy”, despite Malaysia announcing plans to decriminalise drug addiction and drug possession for personal use. She also wrote that Singapore has failed to provide transparent data on the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent. “Although officials have repeatedly affirmed that Singapore has one of the lowest rates of drug use in the world, the government has consistently failed to provide transparent data,” she said. (600 words)

Singapore – Elderly | The Straits Times | April 7th, 2019

Will the photographs survive the move to his new, but much smaller, residence? Once a bodyguard to Mr Lee Kuan Yew, 90-year-old Tong’s contributions to nation-building have not gone unnoticed. Together with more than 450,000 of his contemporaries born before 1950, he forms the Pioneer Generation currently entitled to additional healthcare subsidies. Tong, however, is struggling. His health is deteriorating, his mobility is limited. He has to borrow money just to buy food, which eats at his self-worth and dignity. (2400 words)

Singapore – Free Speech | Channel News Asia | August 22th, 2019

Speaking at the CNM Leaders Summit organised by the National University of Singapore on Thursday (Aug 22), Mr Shanmugam expanded on why the Government acted to remove the rap video by YouTuber Preetipls and her brother Subhas Nair, which came in response to a controversial “brownface” advertisement. In the advertisement, Chinese actor Dennis Chew appeared in “brownface” to portray an Indian man. He also cross-dressed as a Malay woman and a Chinese woman. The rap video by the Nair siblings was laced with vulgar language targeting the Chinese community. (600 words)

Singapore – Gender | Channel News Asia | August 28th, 2019

Tale number 1. About a week ago, a video of a group of students riotously chanting “kukubird” (a reference to the penis) while making thrusting hip gyrations was shared on Instagram. Believed to have been filmed during a freshman orientation camp at Nanyang Technological University, this sparked a significant amount of online censure, with blogger mrbrown aka Lee Kin Mun calling out this behaviour and netizens quickly joining in to express outrage. Ostensibly, such a crude cheer is offensive and unbecoming of university students. (1100 words)

Singapore – Hong Kong | Channel News Asia | August 11th, 2019

That is “wishful thinking replacing reality” by some protesters, said Singapore’s Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam. In an interview with South China Morning Post and Lianhe Zaobao – the transcript of which was released on the Ministry of Law’s website on Sunday (Aug 11) – Mr Shanmugam addressed questions about his views on the situation in Hong Kong. Solutions have to be found, both for the socio-economic and ideological issues that Hong Kong is facing, he said. To solve the problems, Hong Kong needs a supportive China, and the solutions need to work for both Hong Kong and China, he added. (700 words)

Singapore – Housing | The Straits Times | April 11th, 2019

This question of whether new public housing flats will be built in the Central Business District (CBD) has emerged after the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) launched its Draft Master Plan last month. A key part of the plan were incentive schemes to nudge developers to turn ageing offices into homes and hotels. The URA revealed plans to add 20,000 homes in the Central Area, which the CBD is a part of. This is almost 40 per cent more than the current 51,706 homes there, which also includes the Outram, River Valley and Orchard areas. (1500 words)

Singapore – Justice | Channel News Asia | September 1th, 2019

A firm response to their acts – and similar acts by others – is entirely warranted. But in determining what our response is, we must not forget that “the only justice that can be attained by mortals, who are fallible and are not omniscient, is justice according to law; the justice which flows from the application of sure and settled principles to proved or admitted facts”, as English judge William Bagnall put it. Paradoxically, even as criminal law embodies society’s revulsion at certain crimes, it must do so in a dispassionate, principled manner. (1200 words)

Singapore – Nationalism | Channel News Asia | August 8th, 2019

Elson Ong Yong Liang is accused of using a lighter to burn a Singapore flag along the common corridor on the 13th floor of Block 774 Woodlands Crescent. The incident happened on Sunday at around 6am to 6.15am, according to court documents. This also resulted in seven other flags, which were tied vertically across seven floors, to be damaged. Ong, who is Singaporean, appeared in court via video link. His case will be mentioned again next Thursday. In a statement on Wednesday, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said they were alerted to the incident at around 12.40pm on Sunday. (200 words)

Singapore – PMDs | The Straits Times | July 18th, 2019

“The childcare centre is five minutes’ walk from our flat. The PMD came from nowhere. I didn’t see it coming. The next thing I knew, there was a loud piak (snapping sound) from my left knee and I was on the ground,” she said. When I visited her at her home last week, she called out to me to wait as she hobbled slowly to the door. She recounted how her family took her to the emergency department at Changi General Hospital the morning after the accident on May 3, when the pain from her fall set in and she could not get out of bed. (2100 words)

Singapore – Social Media | Channel News Asia | September 10th, 2018

Shaik Haziq Fahmi Shaik Nasair Johar, 30, who has since lost his job, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Official Secrets Act. He was an emergency ambulance vehicle driver with Unistrong, a company contracted to respond to medical emergencies. On Feb 1 last year, Haziq was on duty at the Marine Parade Fire Post when he and his team were dispatched to a room where a maid was found hanging from a fan. His team members carried out the necessary procedures to search for signs of life. The co-accused, Nurizzah Afiqah Hussain, a 27-year-old Unistrong emergency ambulance paramedic, pronounced the woman dead. (500 words)

Singapore – Tech | Channel News Asia | August 27th, 2019

“The future of the legal profession, like that of our nation, hangs on the ability and willingness of its members to reskill and relearn,” he said. “Technology is already beginning to displace lawyers from areas of practice, especially those involving the more routine areas which are more susceptible to automation.” Speaking at the annual Mass Call at the Supreme Court auditorium, Chief Justice Menon gave the example of a free online service recently launched by OCBC that can generate a will in less than 10 minutes. (600 words)

Singapore – Terrorism | Channel News Asia | July 25th, 2019

The ministry’s full press release is reproduced below: In two separate cases, Singaporeans Kuthubdeen Haja Najumudeen (Haja) and Suderman bin Samikin (Suderman) were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in May and July 2019 respectively. Investigations established that they were radicalised and had harboured the intention to make their way to Syria to join the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Kuthubdeen Haja NajumudeenHaja, a 36-year-old licensed money-changer, was a follower of Sri Lankan radical preacher Zahran Hashim (Zahran). (600 words)

Singapore – Transport | Channel News Asia | August 23th, 2019

Gone are the days of waiting for a taxi to come by and hoping no one in front of you flags the cab down first. More private-hire cars have spilled onto the scene as apps like Grab, Go-Jek and at one point, Uber, ignited demand. Although their arrival has been welcomed by commuters and drivers, the future of ride-hailing has sparked fresh concerns about competition, fairness and the protection of the public interest. In this context, Parliament’s recent passing of the Point-to-Point Passenger Transport Industry Bill will change how taxis and ride-hailing services are regulated in Singapore to the benefit of commuters and drivers. (1300 words)

Singapore – Transport | Channel News Asia | August 13th, 2019

Consumers generally want some level of protection, but businesses are wary of too much regulation stifling innovation and growth. However, the recently passed Point-to-Point (P2P) Passenger Transport Industry Bill that will take affect from June 2020 is long overdue. What started out as just a ride-sharing app, private-hire car companies have pretty much taken up many aspects of our daily lives from commuting, eating, shopping, and even banking. Should you do it? A commentaryA MUCH NEEDED CORRECTION I do not own a car, so I use a lot of private hire cars and taxis to get me quickly to meetings. (1200 words)

Social Media – Fake News | Wall Street Journal

Now, the companies say they are taking steps to curb such accounts. Facebook last month changed its News Feed algorithms to reduce promotion of posts promising miracle cures or flogging health services, a move that will reduce the number of times they pop up in user feeds, the company says. Some of the affected posts involve a supplement salesman who promotes baking-soda injections as part of cancer treatment. “Misleading health content is particularly bad for our community,” Facebook said in a blog post announcing the moves. (1500 words)

Sports – Gender | The Economist | June 27th, 2019

This was no shock upset. The Stars and Stripes are the most successful side in the history of women’s football, having won the World Cup three times and Olympic gold four. This year they romped through the group stages with an aggregate score of 18-0, a total inflated by their record-breaking 13-0 drubbing of lowly Thailand.This on-pitch success, however, is marred by controversy in court. The members of the United States women’s team marked International Women’s Day on March 8th by filing a class-action suit against their employer, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). (600 words)