<![CDATA[Straits Times Interactive - SINGAPORE]]> en-us Copyright 2005 Straits Times Interactive. 7 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT 7 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT 60 <![CDATA[Straits Times Interactive]]> http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/others/rss/sti_rss_logo.gif 120 31 <![CDATA[Early start to Christmas]]> THE annual Orchard Road Christmas light-up kicked off on Saturday - a week earlier than usual, but no one was complaining.

p>President S R Nathan officially launched the 26th Annual Christmas Light-up outside the Ion Orchard shopping mall, together with other special guests, including Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Ms Jennie Chua, chairman of the Community Chest.

]]> 7 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT <![CDATA[The penthouse squeeze]]> MENTION penthouses and one immediately thinks of big, luxurious bungalows in the sky, with wraparound views and a multimillion- dollar price tag.

But these days they can be as small as 800 sq ft or less.

]]> 7 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT <![CDATA[Pregnant women sacked]]> THE tough economic times - and more generous maternity benefits - appear to be prompting increasing numbers of firms to fire pregnant women or deny them their full entitlements.

There were 119 'pregnancy- related' complaints lodged with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in the first nine months of the year - up from 72 for the whole of 2007, and 95 last year.

]]> 7 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT <![CDATA[Immigrants can be like us]]> WHEN he attended a Deepavali event recently, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was struck by how several young children of permanent residents (PRs) from India could easily pass as Singaporeans.

Two weeks ago, when he visited his ancestral village in Wuling in China's Fujian province, he realised that although he could trace his roots 17 generations back to the year 1403, there was no doubt that he himself was a Singaporean, and regarded by the Chinese villagers not as a returning Chinese national, but as a visiting Singaporean leader.

]]> 7 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT <![CDATA[CapitaLand restores wages]]> PROPERTY giant CapitaLand's decision to restore wage cuts for its executives and management staff has the thumbs up from Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong.

Yet given early signals of economic improvement here, he said it was up to companies to set the pace to restore pay cuts, adding that imposing a deadline would not be 'practical' at this stage.

]]> 7 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT <![CDATA[More land for homes soon]]> THERE is no need to rush to buy homes, now that a slew of land parcels will be released to private developers in the first half of next year.

That was the assurance given on Satrurday by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

]]> 7 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT