TR EMERITUS

In the accompanying clip, visiting Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi promptly removed his tie when he noticed his Singapore counterpart, Vivian Balakrishnan, didn't wear one. I ask if I am being overly sensitive or paranoid about minister Wang Yi' action? Surely minister Wang Yi didn't promptly remove his tie for fun. I imagine myself to be visiting Chinese minister Wang Yi. When I realised that my counterpart didn't at the minimum of diplomatic protocol and courtesy put on a tie to receive me, a foreign minister from a major and friendly country, it must signal to me that my visit is treated as informal by the host at best or being an eat free nothing to do foreign minister hello hello visit, a deliberate and indirect belittlement and insult at worst. I will not minced my words. To VB, I will say this to you. You are not a new foreign minister and your dressing when receiving minister Wang Yi was clearly inappropriate. It definitely reflected poorly on you as a host and by extension, Singapore. Congratulations, you have been a disappointment and failed as a million dollars earning Singapore minister once again. Think.   Simon Lim      Read More →

虽然全球已经摆脱新冠大流行恢复了正常生活，但这种病毒仍在持续进化中。 8月9日，世界卫生组织将新冠病毒变种EG.5升级为“需要留意”的毒株。此举表明这个权威卫生机构认为应该对EG.5进行进一步跟踪和研究。 EG.5来自奥密克戎家族，是XBB.1.9.2的亚变种。不过，EG.5也在不断进化，目前已经有了自己的分支EG.5.1。 美国媒体表示，新冠病毒变异株EG.5在美快速流行，新型冠状病毒感染病例激增。法国卫生部门也注意到，与新冠感染有关的住院人数最近有所增加，EG.5毒株的变种在法国新增病例中占多数。 EG.5引发美国住院数飙升 据美国疾病控制与预防中心最新估计，新冠病毒奥密克戎亚变体EG.5成为美国最主要的毒株。在全国范围内，EG.5约占该国新病例的17%，而另一个最常见的毒株XBB.1.16占病例的16% Click to enlarge 据纽约邮报报道，纽约州卫生部8月2日发布的最新数据显示，自前一周以来，新型冠状病毒感染病例激增了55%，全州平均每天报告病例为824例。与前一周相比，该疾病的住院人数增加了22%，这意味着每天住院人数超过100人。 新型冠状病毒感染病例的增加不仅限于纽约。据美国联邦卫生机构称，美国各地的新冠肺炎住院人数不断增加，最近一周住院人数增加了12.5%，达到9056人。 由于新冠病毒检测试剂盒短缺，当地医疗将面临不小的压力。6月，拜登政府停止邮寄免费测试试剂盒，过去一两年人们储存的试剂盒即将过期。纽约大学医学院人口健康系助理教授安娜·伯什泰恩告诉《邮报》，“如果不进行检测，人们很难知道他们是否患有新型冠状病毒感染，缺乏可用的检测试剂盒可能会增加新型冠状病毒感染住院人数和死亡人数。” 英国也正在迎接EG.5变体的增加。英国卫生机构在7月20日估计，英国近15%的新增病例是由新变种引起的，每星期以20%的速度递增。 当地时间8月9日，世界卫生组织（WHO）宣布，将新冠病毒变异株EG.5列为“需要留意的”变异株，但基于目前可用的证据，WHO仍认为EG.5在全球层面对公共卫生造成的风险为“低”级别。 世卫组织将新冠病毒变种分为3个等级，从低到高分别为“受监测”“需要留意”和“需要关注”。7月19日，世卫组织首次将EG.5列为“受监测”一级。 据世卫组织的数据，7月中旬，全球范围内，EG.5占每周病例的11.6%，高于四周前的6.2%。 世卫组织新冠疫情技术负责人玛利亚·范科霍夫也表示，虽然EG.5的传染性增加，但并不比其他奥密克戎变种更严重，与自2021年底以来流通的奥密克戎的其他亚系相比，并没有检测到EG.5的严重程度的变化。 流行病学家指出，创纪录的高温，促使更多人在室内使用空调，而这有助于病毒传播。专家表示，除非有证据表明EG.5或其亚系正在导致更严重的疾病，否则公共卫生官员的建议和指导仍然和之前相同，包括让人们评估风险承受能力、保持警惕并及时了解最新的疫苗接种情况。 新变种在法国占主导 据海外网消息，法国卫生部门注意到，与新冠感染有关的住院人数最近有所增加，一种名为Eris（EG.5毒株）的变种在法国新增病例中占多数。需要说明的是，虽然有一些网站和社交媒体网民，已经按照希腊字母表给这个变异株起名“Eris”，但这并没有得到WHO的官宣。 据法国电视一台7日报道，法国公共卫生局介绍，在法国所有年龄组尤其是成年人当中，新冠病毒感染人数都在增加。法国近日还出现新冠集群感染，特别是在“巴约纳节”期间，西南部地区药房的新冠检测试剂销量激增。 新冠病毒新变种Eris可能是造成这种现象的原因。根据法国巴斯德研究所的说法，Eris感染者目前占法国新增病例的大约35%，比例高于其它变种。 瑞士日内瓦全球卫生研究所所长安托万·弗拉欧在接受法国电视一台采访时解释说，Eris似乎比它迅速取代的XBB变种更容易传播，但没有证据表明它造成严重感染的风险更高，也没有证据表明它更能逃脱此前感染或接种新冠疫苗获得的免疫保护，目前面临新冠严重感染风险的主要人群仍是免疫功能低下人员和高龄老人。 安托万·弗拉欧警告说，2023年秋季可能迎来新一波疫情，但不一定会比过去一年的疫情更严重。      Read More →

I refer to The Independent Singapore News, “Ng Kok Song confident in mounting a good challenge againstTharman”. (Aug 2) Recently, many Singaporeans like you and me can see three presidential hopefuls work in full swing, walking through the streets, various foodcourt and wet markets to visit voters in order to get their popularity. A lot of people wonder why didn’t any one of them do it prior they throw their hats into the ring? Would the elected presidency do the same after being sworn into the prestigious office? Or, while they do their walkabouts during the presidential election period merely to secure the votes? Besides other specified duties, would the elected president only attend events upon invitations or by mandatory requirements such as attending the NDP, President's Charity Gala, attend meetings and banquets for foreign heads of state? All of them claim that if elected, they want to be the people’s president. This clearly means that the president would like to live in the hearts and always reflects in the minds of all the people. Supposedly the president only attends events upon official invitation, how would all the presidential hopefuls effectively walk their talks to be the people’s president? Firstly, pertaining to formerly the Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s walkabouts and visiting his constituents at the Jurong GRC while he was a MP surely have added advantage over his rivals at this presidential election campaign. But, don’t forget that it is part and parcel of the entrusted duties and responsibilities of a member of parliament (MP), and a MP is paid to carry out these activities for the purposes of knowing the grounds, life and the sentiments of his constituency as well as his constituents/voters. It is the undeniable fact that - Even Tharman has resigned from the People’s Action Party, he will still be remembered for his service as a Jurong GRC Member of Parliament and his various roles in the Cabinet. So, supposedly Mr Tharman is later being elected as the President, many people still wonder how independent would he be when interacting and dealing with his former PAP’s cabinet or colleagues? Therefore, it is quite true for Mr Ng Kok Song to say this, “Independence of mind, that’s a sophisticated point. I think we are who we are. Our present is related to our past. We cannot easily separate our present from our past”. In due course, many Singaporeans still worry about, how would Tharman go to get rid off his political baggage (being aligned with PAP for decades) and keep a distance away from all his political connections. Secondly, with regard to Ng Kok Song’s long-standing diverse background and his working experiences in the government establishments, such as Ministry of Finance, MAS and GIC have also raised doubts about his independence of mind, actions and decisions. In short, voters need to seriously assess whether he is really ‘above politics’. Anyway, NKS is generally being perceived by many netizens as an “establishment pawn” to split the votes between the establishment figure - Tharman Shanmugaratnam and non-establishment candidate - George Goh. Nonetheless, we have to wait till The Presidential Elections Committee assesses the eligibility of each candidate to stand for election prior to continuing observe and assessing their political views, visions and beliefs, as well as individual charm and behaviours. Despite all, due to Singapore’s unique political system and structure, our elected president still has limitations or constraints of power. For example, under the Constitution, the President is required to act on the Cabinet's advice in exercising his functions, except in specific areas where the Constitution empowers the President to act in his discretion. For example, the President is generally required to act on the Cabinet's advice in assenting to Bills passed by Parliament.   Teo Kueh Liang (Mr)      Read More →