What's News: May 9, 2016

The dive centres - Gill Divers, Deep Blue Scuba, Eko Divers, 7 Scuba and Amazing Dive - will be assessed this month for the UN certification.
The dive centres - Gill Divers, Deep Blue Scuba, Eko Divers, 7 Scuba and Amazing Dive - will be assessed this month for the UN certification. PHOTO: GILL DIVERS
High stakes in Philippine polls PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
British TV cook Rachel Khoo (above) is a big fan of hawker food in Singapore. PHOTO: FREEMANTLEMEDIA

TOP OF THE NEWS

Murali to be sworn in today

The new MP for Bukit Batok, PAP's Mr Murali Pillai, will take his oath of allegiance when Parliament sits this afternoon. He will also hold his first Meet-the-People session in the constituency in the evening. Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob said Mr Murali will be sworn in today, as an MP is deemed to be elected once the Returning Officer declares he has won the election.


TOP OF THE NEWS

'Tray return' still a problem

The Public Hygiene Council has given an informal assessment of how Singapore is keeping itself clean. Its finding: must tray harder. Getting diners to return trays in public eating areas remains the council's biggest bugbear.


WORLD

High stakes in Philippine polls

By mid-week, official results from the Philippines' elections will be out and will have serious consequences for much of South-east Asia. At stake are the huge gains from the successful reform agenda of outgoing President Benigno Aquino's administration that have turned the country into the region's strongest performing economy.


HOME

Dive centres' mission to protect coral reefs

Five Singapore-based dive centres have applied for United Nations Green Fins certification to show that they adopt environmentally friendly practices that protect coral reefs. These include promoting no-touch policies, and advocating against littering and dropping anchors on reefs.


WORLD

Countering ISIS online

Some 500 members of Indonesia's Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) are seeking to counter the extremist Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's sophisticated Internet operations. But the NU "cyber warriors" appear amateurish next to ISIS' well-funded set-up.


OPINION

Working with 'ungrateful' allies

The United States' impatience with allies who fail to hold up their part of the bargain is growing. But browbeating allies to do more is not the best approach, writes Jonathan Eyal, who argues that the US must do a better job of articulating its needs to each ally.


HOME

College adopts Latin system

Yale-NUS College is adopting the Latin honours system used by American universities. The idea, which drew mixed reactions, means graduate distinctions will be classified using terms such as magna cum laude and summa cum laude.


BUSINESS

Asian SMEs urged to go global

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Asia are being pushed by their respective governments to venture abroad and become more competitive. SMEs in the Asia-Pacific region account for more than 90 per cent of all enterprises, but contribute only a third of exports.


SPORT

Singapore's next swim coach

Sergio Lopez is stepping down as Singapore's national swimming coach after August's Olympics but he thinks his employer does not have to search far for his successor.

The 1988 Olympic bronze medallist believes his assistant - former national swimmer Gary Tan - has all the right qualities to take over the job.


LIFE

British cook loves hawker food

British TV cook Rachel Khoo is a big fan of hawker food in Singapore. Barbecue stingray, satay and rojak are among her favourites whenever she visits. Of Austrian and Malaysian-Chinese descent, she says she would love one day to host a cooking show in Asia as Asian cuisine is a big part of her culinary heritage.


LIFE

S'porean writer wins prize

Singaporean writer Sharlene Teo Wen-Ning, 29, has won a £10,000 (S$19,650) writing award for her unpublished novel Ponti, inspired by the haze which shrouded Singapore in 2003. The University of East Anglia PhD student says she is in talks with publishers about the novel, which she expects to complete in a few months.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 09, 2016, with the headline What's News: May 9, 2016. Subscribe