NewsLite

SINGAPORE - Singapore sovereign wealth funds GIC and Temasek have rejected allegations that they or their staff pressured index provider MSCI to consider downgrading Indonesia's stock market classification.

The denials follow accusations on Oct 20 by former Indonesian trade minister Muhammad Lutfi that the two investors coerced MSCI to consider downgrading Indonesia.

The former minister claimed that a downgrade could trigger market panic and create opportunities to acquire Indonesian equities at lower prices.

A GIC spokesperson told The Straits Times: "Our investment decisions are not driven by index classifications or top-down views of a market and instead by company- and asset-level fundamentals.

Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday (Oct 21) signed three memorandums of understanding that will enhance cooperation in disease vector control, energy and water.

The signing of the agreements was witnessed by Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan during an ongoing three-day official visit by the city state's leader that began on Tuesday.

The two leaders also announced in a joint statement that their countries will begin negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

"The CEPA will deepen economic integration, facilitate trade and investment flows, and create opportunities for businesses in both countries," said Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in a statement on Wednesday.

A 68-year-old Chinese national who remained illegally in Singapore for more than 19 years after failing to report for repatriation was sentenced to six months' jail and fined $2,000 on Wednesday (Oct 21).

According to charge sheets seen by AsiaOne, Ding Hui Yun remained in Singapore illegally for 19 years, two months and 23 days after her special pass, issued on June 22, 2007, expired on July 13, 2007.

She was allowed to remain in Singapore temporarily in 2007 as a prosecution witness after being convicted of an immigration offence, according to CNA.

However, she failed to report to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's (ICA) repatriation branch when her special pass expired in July that year.

For the first time since Sept 14, when fuel rates in Singapore rose after two months of unchanged prices, motorists in Singapore are seeing a second consecutive week of price hikes.

AsiaOne has tracked every movement since and had previously reported that major fuel companies were observed to have raised prices every alternate week amid global oil supply volatility and rising crude oil prices.

But Caltex's move on Wednesday (Oct 21) is the first instance of fuel hikes in consecutive weeks since September, and its latest after its last round of price adjustments on Oct 12 .

In a price board update published at 2pm, Chevron-owned Caltex announced a 3-cent increase across its 92-, 95-octane and premium petrol offerings, while keeping its diesel price unchanged.

Singapore's second-largest bank OCBC on Wednesday (Oct 21) announced that it will add the Malaysian ringgit (MYR) to its multi-currency savings accounts, making it the first non-Malaysian bank here to hold the currency in a local personal savings account.

The ringgit is a non-internationalised currency, making opportunities for individuals to hold the currency in bank accounts outside of Malaysia limited, OCBC pointed out.

It added that with the ringgit's addition, its customers can convert currencies ahead of their travel or spending needs, and spend with a linked OCBC debit card without foreign currency transaction fees.

They can also withdraw ringgit from all OCBC ATMs in Malaysia without incurring foreign exchange (FX) conversion charges, administrative fees or third-party operator fees.

The Republic was spared the worst of smoke haze from Indonesia on Wednesday (Oct 21) as winds did not prevail from the east-southeast to southeast.

But the National Environment Agency (NEA) has cautioned that smoke haze may still be transported towards Singapore on Thursday and Friday.

In its daily haze situation update on Wednesday evening, the agency said that despite the forecast of showers over Singapore and the surrounding region, dry conditions are again expected over the southern parts of Kalimantan.

This, coupled with the prevailing east-southeasterly or south-easterly winds, means that smoke haze from fires in Kalimantan may be transported towards Singapore — with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) forecast to be between 101 and 160 — in the unhealthy range.

Singapore's national carrier has added another award to add to its long list of accolades — the Best Airline in the World.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) received the title at the 2026 Business Traveller Global Awards, held in Singapore for the first time on Wednesday (Oct 21).

In addition, it also received the Best Business Class in the World and Best Cabin Crew in the World accolades, and was named Best Asia-Pacific Airline for the 35th consecutive year.

The awards are voted for by Business Traveller's readership of frequent travellers and overseen by an international team of travel experts.

Using search engines such as Google to look up telecommunications provider Simba?

Check carefully and do not simply click on the top sponsored results, or you could be the next phishing victim.

In an advisory issued on Wednesday (Oct 21), the police said that they have received at least 62 reports on such cases since March this year, with losses amounting to at least $83,000.

Victims who used Google to search for Simba top-up services clicked on fake Simba websites.

A simple cheek swab done with his wife ended with Nick Teo helping to save someone's life.

In an Instagram post today (Oct 21), the 37-year-old local actor revealed he had recently donated his stem cells to "someone I've never met", an experience he described as "six hours well spent".

He shared that while the idea sounded daunting at first, he found the process was much simpler than he had thought.

He wrote: "The actual donation was a little like donating blood, taking about six hours of my life to give someone else a second chance at theirs."

Li Nanxing will rest easy on handling anything that comes his way in the upcoming year.

The local veteran actor, who turns 62 in November, told AsiaOne in an interview yesterday (Oct 20): "Time passes very fast and I treasure every day and every minute in the things I am doing and the people I meet.

"I learnt to enjoy the process of it... I cannot expect perfection in everything, but at least I completed it and tried it. I can't give myself full marks because I leave myself with space to learn and keep a young mindset."

Nanxing, who was at Australia-born celebrity hairstylist Kim Robinson's fashion show The Golden Age held at Ngee Ann City, also shared that he is working on a few more food and beverage collaborations.