The Straits Times : Weekly Overseas Edition, 7 March 1998

Total Pages: 23
1 24 The Straits Times : Weekly Overseas Edition
  • 20 1 The Straits Times WEEKLY EDITION SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 1998 Price: S$L2O (in Singapore) Elsewhere by subscription only MITA (P) 047/08/97
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  • 876 1  -  New structure reflects basic shift in traffic management By LeongChanTeik THE Government on Wednesday announced an overhaul of the decadesold road tax structure, reflecting a fundamental shift in the way traffic is managed in Singapore from charging fur car ownership to charging for road usage. The
    Countdown ERP sign along East Coast Parkway.  -  876 words
  • 358 1 TAXI companies will be free to set fares after Sept 1 but the authorities will ensure that the operators will not form a cartel to fix prices. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that fare deregulation would allow taxi companies to use
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  • NEWS FOCUS
    • 716 2  -  By Walter Fernandez MOTORISTS using the Second Link between Singapore and Malaysia will not just nave to pay a toll to use the new bridge, but will also have to fork out a “highway toll” at the Johor-end of the
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    • 346 2  -  By Leong Weng Kam CHINA Entertainment Television Broadcast Limited (CETV), the Hongkongbased satellite television channel created by Singaporean Robert Chua, will celebrate its third anniversary on March 11 after all. Mr Chua, the chairman of the “no sex,
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    • 344 2  -  S’pore couple to pay fees for 300 schoolchildren in Thailand By Sebastian Tong A FLIGHT attendant and his receptionist wife in Singapore are showing how a little can go a long way for some 300 schoolchildren in Thailand. Mr Goh Thim Hock, 52, and his wife,
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    • 518 3  -  Police warn of possible influx of foreign criminals By David Miller THE crime rate in Singapore dipped for the ninth consecutive year in 1997 and record lows were hit in some types of crime. But police on Thursday cautioned that the trend
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    • 516 3  -  March 23 launch for new-look newspaper By Dorothy Ho THE audience gasped. It was reacting to the page one of the newdook Straits Times which was unveiled in front of more than 1,000 guests at the Westin Stamford on Monday night. “The Straits Times, one
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    • 331 3  -  By Lim Seng Jin A 56-YEAR-OLD man tied three pigeons up with raffia, hung tnem upside down from the parapet outside his flat, and plucked out the feathers of two of the birds. Ong Seng Chiang, who is unemployed, did not get away with tnis
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  • HOME
    • 617 4  -  By Sandra Davie THE first batch of students to complete four years of schooling in autonomous schools did well in last year’s O-level examination. On Monday, students and staff at Anderson Secondary, Bukit Panjang Government High, Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (Toa Pavoh),
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    • 474 4  - Tat Lee Bank records 38.7m loss for 1997 Banking group still financially sound, says MAS By Chan Wee Chuan TAT LEE Bank on Wedneday surprised the market with a $38.7 million full-year loss its first since its 1980 listing as a huge provision for possible baa loans to the region
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    • 664 4  -  By Sharon Vasoo MOTORISTS who want to convert their foreign car and motorcycle driving licences to Sre licences must now s local Basic Theory Test first. This is to ensure that they are familiar with traffic rules here, said the Traffic Police.
      ADAM LEE T«xt by SHARON VASOO  -  664 words
    • 375 6 IN HER prime, Ms Heather Marican tore up the track regularly, turning neads with her looks as well as her speed. Though Singapore’s former hurdling queen is now 48, and a grandmother, she is still as glamorous as ever and still gives the hurdles a
      Picture by MUHAMMAD SHAH.  -  375 words
    • 225 6 WANT to book a tour or air ticket at night? Call Chan Brothers. The travel agency, one of Singapore’s biggest, started a 24-hour service from on Wednesday as part of its moves to stay competitive. For a start, the service, the first of its kind,
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  • PARLIAMENT
    • 602 5 Amended Rims Act TOUGHER penalties have been introduced for those who make and distribute obscene films and videos, under amendments to the Films Act passed in Parliament last Friday. The amended law also bans the distribution and exhibition of party political films,
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    • 498 5 4,278 workers laid off in 4th quarter THE number of retrenched workers has been rising since the start of the regional financial crisis, and more are expected to lose their jobs this year, Labour Minister Lee Boon Yang said last Friday. He cited
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    • 764 5 It all started with Chee Soon Juan... ALLOWING political parties to make films or videos would change the nature of politics here, degrade Singapore’s democracy and turn tne debate on policy issues into an advertising contest similar to the selling of soap.
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  • Page 6 Miscellaneous
    • 1114 6 RADIO SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL (ENGLISH) PROGRAMME SCHEDULES 1100 1400 Hours (GMT) 6015 KHz (49M BAND) 6055 KHz (49M BAND) MONDAY 1100 News 1109 Business Market Report 1115 Arts Arena 1130 News 1135 The Front Page 1138 E Z Beat 1145 Newsline 1200 News/Weather (Asia-Pacific) 1205 E Z Beat 1220 Business Market
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  • SPORTS
    • 676 7  -  Testimonial match of Fandi Ahmad, David Lee and Malek Awab By Santokh Singh SOCCER THEY deserved what they got. And what they had was more than 12,000 Singaporeans turning up to give them a resounding farewell, some of the best footballers in the region
      Picture by JERRY SEH.  -  676 words
    • 245 7  -  CYCLING By Thomas Koh HIS dreams of winning a Southeast Asia Games gold medal were shattered last year. But John Ong (right) realised another dream when he met up with top-notch Italian cyclists from the world’s No. 1 ranked team Mapei-Briscobi. The Italians were in
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  • Page 7 Advertisements
    • 175 7 Home Delivery weekly! A crisp summary of the week's major happenings in Singapore. Politics, business, the economy, investment opportunities, executives appointments.... and highlights on Malaysia and the Asean. A convenient tabloid airmailed to you wherever you may be. Yes! Every week. Subscribe now. And be at home with the ST
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  • MALAYSIA
    • 439 8 AFP, Reuters. KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian police will, with immediate effect, use the powerful Internal Security Act (ISA) against “middlemen” smuggling in illegal immigrants, and against Indonesian permanent residents in Malaysia who harbour foreigners. The New Straits Times yesterday cited Inspector-Gen-eral of Police
      AFP,; Reuters.; NST picture.  -  439 words
    • 196 8 Bemama. PE KAN (Pahang) A dummy missile fired from an FA-18 Hornet fighter jet during training strayed from target and landed in the compound of a house in Kampung Sawah, some 20 km from here, on Monday, police said. No injuries or
      Bemama.  -  196 words
    • 328 8 ALOR STAR In what is believed to be the first such case in the country, eight lorry drivers suspected of driving under the influence of drugs have been detained by the Kedah Narcotics Department. According a report in the Sun newspaper on Monday, the eight
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    • 520 8  - Malaysia’s Sime Bank reports loss of 700m By Brendan Pereira in Kuala Lumpur SIME Bank has become the first major casualty of Malay sia’s economic crisis with a six-month pre-tax loss of M 51.57 billion (Ss7oo million), forcing it into merger talks with RHB Bank. However, the country’s central bank
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  • SOUTH-EAST ASIA
    • 558 9  -  By Susan Sim Indonesia Correspondent JAKARTA US President Bill Clinton’s personal envoy on Tuesday delivered a blunt message to Indonesia: comply vigorously witn the International Monetary Fund reforms if you want to overcome the crisis because there are no quick fixes. Former US vicepresident
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    • 549 9  -  By Derwin Pereira, in Jakarta ASEAN finance ministers last Saturday backed a move to use regional currencies for trade witnin the grouping. The plan could start on a bilateral basis between Asean countries before it becomes a multilateral arrangement. “We need to
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    • 238 9 Singer seen as major influence in Thai society BANGKOK Music lovers, the young and the young-at-heart sing her songs, and trendy teenagers around town dress in her style. Fans and the media say that Amita Tata Young has her finger on the pulse of modem
      The Nation picture.  -  238 words
    • 439 9  -  By Surinder Singh in Sydney AUSTRALIA’S door is open to Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese wishing to seek refuge in the country under its humanitari-an-refugee programme, Prime Minister John Howard has said. But he said Canberra had no particular plans to bring them to Australia
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  • COMMENT / Pick of the week’s editorials
    • 660 10 MARCH 6. 1998 THE overhaul of the road tax structure announced on Wednesday is a welcome exercise in rationalisation. The existing structure not only deserves a better vehicle demand management policy but is also cumbersome. Clearing it of blockages and making it simRler, Communications
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    • 634 10 MARCH 4, 1998 HISTORIANS 50 years hence will undoubtedly view President Suharto’s ascension to power in 1965 as a turning point in the fortunes of South-east Asia. When he first took office, seven in 10 Indonesians lived in absolute poverty. Thirty-three years later, the country is “within striking
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    • 683 10 MARCH 3,1996 SOUTH Korean President Kim Dae Jung’s inauguration last week was a historical occasion, not only because it was the first time in the country’s modem period that power had passed from the ruling party to the opposition, but also Decause the incumbent leader
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    • 968 10  -  By Chua Lee Hoong THE move by the Economic Development Board and the National Computer Board to name scholarship bond-breakers publicly adds a twist to the shaming policy that started in Singapore against litterbugs several years ago. The breach that corrective work orders punish
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  • POSBulletin A NEWSLETTER TO KEEP YOU UPDATED ON THE LATEST IN POSBANK MAR 98
    • 180 12 / 13 Tomorrow's Banking Today POSBnet, POSBank's Internet Banking Service, is a milestone service that will revolutionise banking to meet the challenges of the next century With a click of the mouse, POSBank allows account holders to perform a slew of
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    • 132 12 / 13 POSBank Funds Transfers Whether you are transferring funds worldwide or giving your parents their monthly allowance just tell us. With the introduction of the Funds Transfer GIRO service, customers can instruct the Bank to automatically transfer funds from their account to another person's POSBank account on
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    • 220 12 / 13 POSBank GIRO Monitor, activate and terminate your GIRO transactions yourself POSBank introduced GIRO to Singapore as early as 1974. Since then, more and more people have discovered the ease and convenience of this electronic payment. r Depositors have control over their GIRO transactions through
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  • Page 12 / 13 Advertisements
    • 56 12 / 13 For your banking enquiries, please call the One-Stop Service Information (OSI) at 339 6666 between 8.30am OUR VISION. To be the Bank of first choice. OUR MISSION: To promote saving and meet th 7.00pm (Mon-Fri) and 8.30am-1.00pm (Sat) OR visit us at our website, http://www.posbank.com.sg banking needs of our customers
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  • INSIGHT
    • 1502 14 The economic slowdown has affected the work of charities and volunteer welfare organisations. How will they weather the hard times? Will the ‘many helping hands’ be in need of help themselves? Kao Chen reports. Impact of economic crunch on charities HE
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    • 387 14 WHEN charities fall on hard times, who will look after the less fortunate? To the Ministry of Community Development, the answer is clear: the buck stops with the Government. As Miss Lim Hsiu Mei, the ministry’s deputy secretary (services) tells Insight: "Anybody who genuinely
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    • 1030 15 Interview INSIGHT: Why set up the new ministiy? Dr Lee Boon Yang: Currently every ministry ana statutory board does its own manpower planning to anticipate demand. The approach had worked well for Singapore which enjoyed steady economic growth, but the world
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    • 1178 15  -  Thinking Aloud Asad Latif AS SINGAPORE budgets its way out of these ruinous regional times, some people are likely to be even less interested in politics than they usually are. Even in normal situations, they tend to see politics as others business.
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  • MONEY
    • 399 16 Weekly market review CORPORATE earnings at major listed companies determined the booms and busts in the stock market last week. Three of the Big Four banks DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and Overseas Union Bank announced disappointing earnings but this had mostly
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    • 79 16 ST Industrials Index The Straits Times Industrials Index dropped 44.23 points on the week to 1571.15. DAY CLOSE TURNOVER Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 1610.64 (-4.74) 1592.88 (-17.76) 1571.49 (-21.39) 1579.68 8.19) 1571.15 (-8.53) 286.513 ($489,921 m) 310.103 ($393.971m) 299.282 ($331.214m) 336.827 ($437.029m) 276.335 ($440.621m) BT— MGA
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    • 1658 16 Camptny ii Nat atm TV LV <$ml (Sml CPS TV LV feta) (eta) Aalamatru 50c Fro 24 2.I85L 3.233L 8.1L 13L SMT Jan 22 1 0.508 0.834 93.0 152 BAT Fab 2? P 29.090 ***** 32J 35.4 Bar.ty* Grp* Dae 19 1 41.001 ***** 4.7 2.7 Boutttad Sport
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    • 425 16 Paymant <H> S 9 Books closa Pay data Asia P«c Brow f 11N Fab 27 Mar 6 Mar 17 Avlmo 20C r 16.25N Marti Marts Apr 3 Australand SOc F 6.4N Mar 2 Mar 9 Mar 20 Barjaya Grp 2.0 Fab 11 Fab 18 Mar 17 Barjaya Land
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    • 171 16 RIGHTS ISSUE Cmt«mv Rati* Exdate If ACC t Paymt CesyKnit Three-f or-T woiPHKIOC Doc 31 Jan 7 Feb 4 BONUS ISSUE ExBooks Company Ratio date dose Hup Song Muat Ono-lor-flva Feb 2 Feb 9 Feb 19 Eng Won Ono-lor-two Feb 13 Feb 20 NA OTHERS ExBooks Acc Company
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    • 84 16 Company Rights latua AISB Inno-Pac Material H PMI Three-for-five MS5.50 One-for-one 9 $0.30 One-for-one iA$0.20 Three-for-two M$i.00 Company Bonua latua M Rpyei Two-lor-three H Seng Moat One-for-flve Kamayan Carp One-for-three turn Cheng Ona-for-flva NBT Ona-tor-tlva PMI Ona-tar-four Company Others Inno-Pac Proposed latua ot ona wrt lor avary low
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    • 97 16 OraOos Pacific A Hilton. S'poro Room 581 Orchard Rd 5th Lovol (*****3) Mar 16 12.00n WBL Corpn E 65 Chulia St «50-00 OCBC Contro (*****3) Mar 16 10.45am Bolton BN) E Board Room 6th Floor Campbell Complex 98 Jin Dang Wengi.KL Feb 26 10.00am tbn A Lovol 2.
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    • Corporate results
      • 731 17  -  One-for-five rights issue to raise slb; one-for-10 bonus issue to mark 30th year By Tan Li Eng DBS BANK on Wednesday reported a 34.8 per cent plunge in 1997 net group profit to $436.4 million and announced a one-for-five rights issue to raise about SI
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      • 452 17  -  By Chan Wee Chuan KEPPEL Bank turned in the least woeful performance of the three banks which reported full-year results on Wednesday, posting a 20.5 per cent drop in net earnings to $73.3 million. The decline was blamed on higher
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    • 176 17 COUNTER RATES Singapore dollar* to on* unit of foreign currency Buying 00 Selling US dollar 1 6326 1.6679 Sterling pound 2 6454 ***** Australian dollar 1 0731 1.1188 Canadian dollar 1.1416 1.1795 NZ dollar 0 9297 0 9717 EC unit 1.8090 Singapore dollar* to 100 units of foreign currency
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    • 112 17 Contract date: March 6 1998 UNIT ONE MTH 3 MTH 6 MTH 9 MTH 12 MTH CALL VALUE DATE us$ 5V„ 57„ 57„ 5’4 57, 47. *****8 AS 4', 4'4 47. 4’4 4 V, 3"4, 11/3798 NZS 87, 8 7% n 77. 77, *0/3/98 STG 6% 6’4
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    • 393 17 March 6,1998 HKS ASM Pacific 560 Allied Ind Inti 034 002 Allied Oversea 056 002 0 78 004 1530 ♦0 10 C p Pokphand 1.31 •0 04 CDL Hotel 283 -0 05 Ca*e Oe Coral 1 75 unch Cath Pic Air 6 50 -015 Century City 128 +003 50
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    • 115 17 Mgrs Prices. March SfflliPWffilffisS Siffl sir I S»“|? Q 3 3x2 3 5 i S 3 1 Mppmmnmi #W1’ if* r f<f©1i 1 2 s llSsllligMl fTt SS§3 i m n fls S3I gg*8 Sal 1 hS Wl iiii? J® ffi 3 1 3 lit 8 i 2
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    • 8670 18 L INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL Transaction Date: March 6.1998 I 1997 98 Curr Last vol Day Grs Net M Cap Wt Avg High Low Company Traded Sale +or- 000 High Low Dlv P/E Smil Price 157 18 5 ACE Dynamic s60c 36 ASE NT910 200 US •1 81
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    • 377 20  - District 11 house fetches bargain l.lm price By Kalpana Rashiwala A DISTRICT 11 house near Novena MRT Station has been auctioned off for a bargain-basement price of $l.l million about half the amount it could have fetched during the property boom two years ago. The five-year-old, three-storey freehold semi-detached home
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    • 541 20  -  Reaction to Budget ’9B By Colin Tan THE cut in the state land supply for new homes in 1998 will not reduce the existing oversupply immediately but it may give home buyers a psychological boost, property consultants said last Saturday. This year’s
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    • 548 20  -  By Jean Chia THREE former Amcol executives were in the dock on Monday at the start of Singapore’s first criminal trial in which company directors are accused of failing to act honestly in their corporate duties. The trio had departed from
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  • Page 21 Advertisements
    • 846 21 iiiiiiii m Nat Steel Nat Steel is one of Singapore's most dynamic industrial groups with diversified businesses in steel, industrial activities including construction products, chemicals and engineering, electronics as well as a properties and investment unit. We are now in an exciting phase ot regional expansion which offers excellent career
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  • Page 22 Advertisements
    • 920 22 NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY FACULTY APPOINTMENTS SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING Applications are invited from qualified persons who possess postgraduate specialisation in one or more of the following areas: Structural Engineering Coastal/Offshore Engineering Geotechnical Engineering GIS/GPS Applications Rock Mechanics and Underground Space Studies Qualifications Applicants should possess a good honours
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  • FORUM
    • 292 23 THE air disasters late last year and early this year have aroused enough attention to warrant another look at operational flight-safety regulations. In particular, the China Airline crash in Taipei, in which one of the alleged faults was the interference to the proper
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    • 435 23 Incometax DURING the televised discussion between Finance Minister Richard Hu and a panel following the Budget last Friday, a partner of an accounting firm raised the issue of individuals having to pay taxes based on the previous year’s
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    • 455 23 BREAKING SCHOLARSHIP BONDS I WISH to express my support for the action taken by the Economic Development Board and the National Computer Board in naming the three scholars who broke their bonds (ST Weekly, Feb 28). The issues at stake are personal responsibility and
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    • 178 23 WE REFER to the article “EDB and NCB name three scholars who broke bonds” (ST Weekly, Feb 28). We do not for a moment believe the position of the EDB and NCB that their intention was not to shame the bond-breakers. It
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  • Page 23 Advertisements
    • 128 23 Dear Readers, THE Straits Times welcomes letters from you. Your letters must include your signature, full name, address and home and office telephone numbers. We do not accept for publication letters from writers who decline to give their names. This rule will be waived only in very exceptional circumstances, such
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  • 796 24  -  Wage restraint will target variable payments instead By Ahmad Osman THE National Wages Council will call for wage restraint this year in the face of the current regional economic crisis, but it is unlikely to propose cuts to workers’ basic pay when
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  • 254 24 Europa makes $-for-$ match for pledges during show IT WAS a night when beehive hairdos and sideburns were in fashion again. It was also a night when television and theatre came together to Dring back the good old 1960 s by presenting Theatreworks’ hit English musical,
    Picture by DENISE TAN.  -  254 words