Lianhe Zaobao English Selections (2009-11-21)

• Chongqing officials deny gas shortage is move by oil companies to press for tariff increases
  There have been rumours that the recent shortage of natural gas supply in Chongqing was a deliberate action by oil companies to press for higher tariffs. Chongqing officials have clarified that the shortage was caused by a rapid increase in demand and have begun levying an additional fee for CNG.

• Guangdong turns the corner as economic measures take effect
  As a major exporting province, Guangdong was impacted by the financial crisis but quickly introduced a series of measures to inject new dynamism into its economy. With such measures taking effect, it expects to hit or exceed its GDP growth target of 8.5% this year.

• SM Goh: Pragmatism as well as idealism needed when engaging in social service
  SM Goh spoke at the close of the Social Leadership Singapore Programme organised by the National Volunteer and Philantrophy Centre yesterday. He said he found in his interactions with the trainees that many are still overly idealistic and feels such idealism should be tempered with pragmatism.

• George Yeo calls on Chinese businesses to focus more on social issues
  Foreign Minister George Yeo spoke yesterday at the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention in Manila. He called on ethnic Chinese businesses around the world to focus more on social issues and said he hopes to see such issues on the agenda in subsequent meetings.

• PBOC governor Zhou Xiaochuan: Overly-low interest rates will not benefit economy
  China's commercial banks have seen high liquidity following the relaxation of the monetary policy in October last year, which saw a fall in interest rates. China's central bank chief Zhang Xiaochuan said yesterday that a low savings rate may be negative for the physical economy and that the bank is currently evaluating the pros and cons of further rate cuts. He also said China should look for new growth areas to invest in other than infrastructure.

• Wearing out one pair of shoes a week - Interview with VODone chairman Zhang Lijun
  Lianhe Zaobao talks to Zhang Lijun, CEO of VODone, who took his company from incorporation to listing in the Hong Kong main board within a year. His company is now the largest online video platform in China. He was in Singapore recently for the APEC Summit.

• Sino Grandness hopes to see 50% of earnings come from China and US in 3 years
  Canned fruits and vegetables exporters Sino Grandness was set up in 1997. It hopes to list in Singapore to raise its international profile, and plans to raise its revenue from the Chinese and American markets from the current 5% to 50% within the next three years.

• SFMA President: Local food manufacturers impacted by limits on foreign workers
  The Singapore Food Manufacturers Association says that the greatest challenge facing local manufacturers currently is the shortage of workers due to limits on the number of foreign employees they can hire.

• Let students learn Chinese according to their own abilities
  In this commentary by Li Yeming, he cautions that lowering standards may not necessarily help in the learning of Chinese. He agrees that it is indeed "madness" to expect children from non-Chinese speaking families to take spelling and dictation at an early stage but says these exercises are appropriate for those from Chinese-speaking backgrounds.

• Public bus transport need to be improved
  Lan Guowei writes to the Forum page to share his view that public bus transport needs to be urgently improved, especially in terms of the frequency of bus services (so as to avoid overcrowding) and the construction of bus stops (so as to prevent commuters from getting wet when it rains).

【7 days archive】