NTUC chief urges S'poreans to be prepared to live with higher fuel, food prices

Channel NewsAsia 1 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE : Coping with higher food prices is a global phenomenon, and NTUC Chief Lim Swee Say has called on Singaporeans to be prepared for this new reality.

The best way to meet this challenge is for Singapore to focus on economic development, and according to Mr Lim, this is the most sustainable strategy.

"Because the day we lose our economic competitiveness, then the problem is no longer about inflation. The problem is much worse than that because there will be no jobs. There will be a softening of the labour market and there will be lower pay," said the NTUC Secretary-General. He was speaking to reporters after opening the new office for the Union of Security Employees.

Mr Lim continued: "If you look at Asia today, for example, a few countries are going through elections. Some have just finished their elections. And what do they talk about? They are talking about refocusing on economic development.

"Korea has a new president. What is his economic agenda? In Taiwan, they are going through an election now. What is the agenda? It's economic agenda in relation to the political agenda. In Thailand, why are voters voting the way they did? Because after two years of (economic) softening, they are looking for economic growth again.

That is why Singapore's strategy is simple - job creation to ensure that the labour market remains tight. This will then ensure that workers can enjoy higher salaries and better bonuses.

At the same time, Mr Lim said the government recognises that the impact will be greater on lower wage workers.

That is why the Workface Income Supplement Scheme has been introduced to help those who are not working now to come back to work.

Said Mr Lim: "Workers who are not working today, who are not on the CPF scheme, the contract workers and blue-collar workers, we have to help them to get on the CPF scheme. If they are working but they are not on the CPF scheme, again they will not be able to benefit from this Workfare Income Supplement... We are going to step up our caring and sharing, through our cooperatives and through our various union activities, so that we can help them with this rising cost of living.

"There's no running away from higher energy costs, higher food prices because this is a global phenomenon. But what we can do in Singapore is to make sure our workers are able cope with this better that any other workers in any other countries.

"This means, give them good jobs, good skills, a good living environment and good working environment. At the same time, with policy innovation such as the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme through our social enterprises, we help them to stretch their dollar, so that hopefully everybody can cope with this situation much better than workers elsewhere.

And this will be one of the key focus of the labour movement in its 2008 workplan, with special attention on older workers and women.

"Our employment rate for women today is relatively low to many OECD countries; there is still a lot of scope for us to do a lot more. And we believe that more and more women will want to come back to work as we go through the whole process of longer life expectancy and so on," said the NTUC Secretary-General.

Mr Lim added that the NTUC will also help contract workers enhance their employment conditions, help low wage workers upgrade their skills, as well as professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) who are affected by the economic restructuring to go through professional conversion. - CNA /ls

Read more!

Shrinking tuna population drives Japan seafood producers to seek alternative supply

Channel NewsAsia 1 Jan 08

KAGOSHIMA, Japan : Over the new year holidays, quality raw fish like tuna is a much sought-after festive delicacy in Japan.

But a slash in the country's fishing quotas due to the shrinking tuna population is driving seafood producers to look at alternative ways to increase supply.

A slice of otoro - the fattiest part of the tuna belly - is prized by the Japanese. Fans rave about its melt-in-the-mouth texture. The most expensive tuna is the bluefin, known as the diamond of the sea.

Japan consumes some two-thirds of the world's catch.

But as bluefin tuna numbers are dwindling, the country's annual fishing quotas have been reduced.

Its quota for the southern bluefin tuna has been halved for five years.

A United Nations agency warns that if strict measures are not taken to prevent over-fishing, the industry could collapse by 2050.

To increase the supply of bluefin tuna, a team from fishing giant Maruha Corporate is seeking to breed the fish from eggs.

Its farm is located on the island of Amami Oshima in Kagoshima prefecture.

The area is regarded as ideal for bluefin tuna farming because the climate is mild. The lowest is 20 degrees Celsius, even during the winter time, and the highest at 30 degrees Celsius.

Breeding bluefin tuna successfully requires not just ideal conditions, but also the latest fish cultivation technology and techniques.

"The success rate of breeding blue-fin tuna from roe is between 5 and 10 percent. Raising bluefin tuna from fry yields a success rate of 30-40 percent," said Jun Onodera, manager of Amami Fish Farm.

"We're trying to increase our production. The Maruha Group commands a 30-percent share of the domestic market for bluefin tuna. Our volume will go up, but our competitors are expanding too," said Masahiro Yoshitake, Aquaculturing Operations Department, Maruha Corporation.

Maruho is Japan's top seafood producer. Three quarters of its sales come from its marine products division.

Most of the tuna raised here goes to the Osaka and the Tokyo area. But they have also started to sell to major Asian cities such as Shanghai, Bangkok and Singapore as sushi boom in the region increases in demand. - CNA /ls

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 1 Jan 08

Are there really continents of floating garbage?
Unfortunately, there are. "It was just filled with things like furniture, fridges, plastic containers, cigarette lighters, plastic bottles, light globes, televisions and fishing nets"; "Plastic accounts for the deaths of more than a million seabirds and more than 100,000 marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and seals every year" More on the daily galaxy blog

Singapore among the top countries viewing Story of Stuff
"The 99 countries with the highest viewership in order of number of viewers is: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Bulgaria, India, Netherlands, France, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Singapore" on the story of stuff blog

Toxic Tunes
dangerous iPods? on the story of stuff blog

Malayan Plum Judy
January butterfly of the month on the butterflies of singapore blog

Arrival of the Jambu Fruit Dove
a stunning visitor on the bird ecology blog

More coral ids from Semakau
on the tidechaser blog

Moments from Pasir Ris
more about this mangrovy park on the wonderful creations blog

Read more!

Coal-fired power plants not such a bad idea

Letter from Zulkhair Pasuni, Straits Times Forum 1 Jan 08

I REFER to the letter, 'Power generation - some posers for the National Environment Agency' (Online forum, Dec 25), by Mr Christopher James Thong Yew Kwong.

In the letter, the writer questioned the lack of coal-fired power plants in Singapore, and measures to ensure such highly pollutive plants are kept out of Singapore.

While I laud his environmental concerns, the fact remains that Singapore imports fuel for its power generation, and with ever rising fuel prices, Singaporeans will continue to bear the brunt of increasing power prices, as highlighted by Friday's new round of tariff increase.

Much as the Government does not believe in continuously handing out subsidies to the heartlanders affected by record inflation, it has a duty of looking at feasible alternatives to mitigate impending burdens on the citizens due to similar hikes.

In this aspect, let me highlight why I think the prospect of a coal-fired power plant does not seem to be such a bad idea.

From an economic standpoint, coal is cheaper than gas and fuel which currently power our generation plants. Cheaper fuel will eventually lower power tariffs to a more affordable level, easing the burden of many Singaporeans.

From a political standpoint, we are on good terms with neighbours who possess abundant coal reserves. This protects us from supply instability and price fluctuations.

More importantly, from an environmental and safety standpoint, coal plants are not as pollutive as they were even 10 years ago. For a start, it is definitely safer than nuclear power, an idea currently being considered by our neighbours. Furthermore, clean coal technology has its proven benefits, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions such that that it becomes comparable to that of conventional power plants.

So shouldn't we start looking at coal as an alternative?

Let the private power players evaluate the feasibility of coal-powered plants. The relevant authorities should render assistance by removing unnecessary barriers to the introduction of cheaper fuel source for power generation, as long as it meets accepted environmental standards. Maybe a clear response to Mr Thong's second question will help shed some light to the situation, which I reproduce below:

'Is there clear legislation on what emissions are allowed for power generation in Singapore, and where can these be found? Are these clear enough for companies to evaluate the shift to a cheaper fuel in their quest to produce cheaper electricity?'

There is a significant number of the less fortunate among us who could barely withstand round after round of price hikes.

Read more!

An eco-friendly ball of a time at Times Square

Business Times 1 Jan 08

(NEW YORK) The Times Square New Year's Eve ball is celebrating its centennial by going green.

The star of the world- famous holiday extravaganza was revamped this year with 9,576 energy-efficient bulbs that use about the same amount of electricity as 10 toasters.

Philips Lighting, which created the light-emitting diodes, or LED bulbs, specifically for the event, says they are smaller but more than twice as bright as last year's lights, which were a mix of more than 600 incandescent and halogen bulbs. And the new lights can create more than 16 million colours for a kaleidoscope of hues against the 672 Waterford Crystal triangles.

'The whole world looks up to New York's New Year's Eve. I'm proud to be able to save energy and show off this technology to the world with such a special event,' said Kaj den Daas, chairman of Philips Lighting North America.

The ball was first dropped for the New Year's Eve celebration in 1907. Made of iron and wood, it weighed 700 pounds (317.5 kilograms) and was lit with 100 25-watt incandescent bulbs.

Over the century, five other versions of the ball were designed to ring in the New Year. In 1999, the ball was made from crystal to welcome the new millennium.

This year, the motif is 'Let There Be Light' and features a stylised, radiating sunburst on each of the crystal triangles.

The new design and technology 'will make the ball glow like nothing else', said Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, a business group in charge of the event.

The ball was tested successfully on Sunday afternoon, making its way slowly up and down the 77-foot flagpole atop 1 Times Square with bursts of colour.

More than a million revellers were expected to crowd the streets for the annual New Year's Eve celebration.

Also this year, wishes from people around the world will be included among the confetti dropped when the clock strikes midnight. For the first time, people can write wishes for the New Year on the multicoloured confetti by visiting the Times Square Information Center or by typing a message on a 'virtual wishing wall' online.

Those message-carrying pieces will be mixed in with the rest of the more than one tonne of confetti, organisers said\. \-- AP

Read more!

California man keeps year's worth of trash

Straits Times 1 Jan 08

MR ARI Derfel leads a trashy life. He just wants to remind everyone else that they do, too.

The 35-year-old Berkeley, California, caterer said he has saved every piece of trash he has generated over the past year to see how much garbage one person creates, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Sunday.

In his case, it was about 2.7 cubic m.

The experiment began as a way to examine his own consumption habits, Mr Derfel said, but grew into a statement about consumerism and the environment.

'When we throw something away, what does 'away' mean?' Mr Derfel said.

'There's no such thing as 'away'.'

The refuse - including every tissue, receipt, food wrapper and plastic bottle - lies in bins in the kitchen and living room of Mr Derfel's apartment. He composts his food scraps.

The apartment does not smell like rotting food, and there are no bugs, other than the normal number roaming around any house, the newspaper reported.

Mr Derfel, who washes out bags and containers regularly to ward off odours and vermin, said he hopes to donate his accumulated waste to a sculptor.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Read more!