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Kamis, 07 Maret 2024

Customer complains about $8.20 'cai fan', stall owner says prices clearly displayed - AsiaOne

A customer had a bone to pick with a 'cai fan' stall at Yew Tee MRT station after he was charged $8.20 for his meal.

The angry diner recently took to Facebook to ask if the price of his meal was reasonable, Shin Min Daily News reported on Wednesday (March 6).

A photo of his 'cai fan' shows that he had ordered pork rib, lady's finger and tau pok.

When a reporter from Shin Min Daily News visited the stall, the owner surnamed Zhou gave the price breakdown of each dish the customer had ordered.

He explained that the pork rib was $4, while the rice, lady's finger and the tau pork cost 70 cents, $2 and $1.50 respectively.

The 'cai fan' stall owner also acknowledged that his dishes are pricier due to the stall's high rental cost.

"The prices of our dishes are displayed clearly. If customers find them expensive, they can choose cheaper alternatives, such as the $1 potato or vegetables, or the $1.50 minced meat dishes," Zhou said.

[[nid:653630]]

When customers opt for takeaway, there is a surcharge of about $1.

This is because most customers who order takeaway often order more than one portion, he explained.

"If they want a single portion they can inform my staff, the price is the same as dine-in, but they'll have to pay 30 cents extra for takeaway packaging."

Shin Min also spoke with other customers to get their opinion on the price of the meal in question.

One diner surnamed Xie said that $8.20 for a plate of 'cai fan' was quite expensive.

However, the 25-year-old accountant from Malaysia also felt that the stall's high rental could have contributed to the price of the dish.

Another customer surnamed Cai said that although the 'cai fan' stall displayed its prices, some diners might feel embarrassed about calculating the price of their meal.

"If I were to stand in front of the stall while calculating [the price of my food], others might think that I can't afford it, or think that I'm calculative.

"It's also not very nice to the people queueing behind me, so I often pick the dishes that I like," said the 37-year-old executive.

claudiatan@asiaone.com

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2024-03-07 04:45:00Z
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Houthi missile attack: Two Filipino crew members among those dead - CNA

MANILA: Two Filipino crew members were among those killed in a missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on a ship in the Gulf of Aden, the Philippines government said on Thursday (Mar 7).

Those killed in the attack on Wednesday appear to be the first deaths resulting from Houthi attacks on merchant vessels transiting the key Red Sea trade route.

"With great sadness, the Department of Migrant Workers confirms the deaths of two Filipino seafarers in the most recent attack by Houthi rebels on ships plying the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden," the agency said in a statement.

"We are also informed that two other Filipino crewmen were severely injured in the attack on their ship," it added.

Manila is liaising with the ship owners and its crewing agency "to ascertain the conditions of the rest of the ship's crew", the department said.

An anti-ship ballistic missile struck the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned M/V True Confidence, after which its crew reported "three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship", the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on social media that the vessel was targeted with missiles "after the ship's crew rejected warning messages" from the rebels.

The Iran-backed group began attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea last November, a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Manila is still seeking the release of 17 Filipinos taken hostage by the Houthis in November after the rebels seized their ship in the Red Sea.

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2024-03-07 05:49:00Z
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China's ambassadors urge top advisory body to engage more with foreign media - The Straits Times

Delegates listening to the speech of the chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Wang Huning during the conference's opening ceremony on March 4. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

BEIJING – Officials, academics, business leaders, celebrities and other representatives of China’s top advisory body should step up international engagement to boost the nation’s efforts to “tell China’s story well”, said China’s ambassadors to major countries.

This can be done with more interviews with foreign media, suggested China’s ambassador to the US, while the ambassador to Japan called for members of the advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), to visit other countries more often.

They were among more than 30 delegates speaking at a small group discussion on March 5, which also involved academics and party and government officials. The session was chaired by veteran diplomat Liu Jieyi, vice-chairman of the CPPCC’s Foreign Affairs Committee and the advisory body’s spokesman.

The discussion was part of this week’s Two Sessions gathering, China’s annual meetings of the top legislative and government advisory bodies, where the CPPCC kicked off its annual session with a work report delivered by its chairman Wang Huning, the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) fourth-ranked official.

China has been on a campaign to counter dominant Western voices since President Xi Jinping in 2013 set out a mission to “tell the China story well”, and wrest control of the international narrative.

The CPPCC is regarded as a key platform for the CPC’s United Front work to spread the party’s political influence domestically and overseas. It comprises more than 2,000 Chinese citizens from various sectors of society, who are invited to participate in discussions on state affairs.

Mr Xie Feng, who was appointed ambassador to the US in May 2023, said international understanding of China’s political system and how the CPPCC functions could improve if the body’s members interacted more with other countries and accepted more foreign media interviews.

He suggested that the organisation provide professional training and other arrangements to increase members’ ability in foreign and media interactions.

“Today, the CPPCC has invited local and foreign media to listen in on its meetings, which I believe is a good move. We could consider whether more foreign envoys, journalists and students who are based in China can be invited to observe some of the CPPCC’s topical discussions,” he said.

China’s ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao called for CPPCC members to visit other countries more, and for them to leave a greater impression on others by introducing themselves in that capacity – and not just as a member of a think-tank, for instance.

“Sometimes, when interacting with Western-style societies, our publicity is more effective when it is done by non-party members,” he said, noting that sometimes, “people already put on tinted glasses to protect themselves against being brainwashed by the Communist Party” when party members speak.

Adding to this call, China’s ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang said: “As entrepreneurs, scholars, researchers, and other members of the CPPCC, we should continue to go out, and introduce China to others in a factual way.

“This will surely gain us more understanding and recognition.”

He also urged greater promotion of China’s Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative, which are broad frameworks on foreign policy introduced by Mr Xi in recent years.

In its effort to sway international opinion, Beijing has hired television anchors from overseas media for its official English-language channel CGTN. On social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), China-linked accounts have grown, carrying messages tied to official narratives.

Yet just this week, China scrapped a 30-year tradition for its premier to host a news conference at the close of the Two Sessions – a rare opportunity for Chinese and foreign journalists to engage directly with a top leader – in what was viewed as another inward turn.

Political scientist Yang Mingjie said that foreigners are interested in how China has remained stable despite conflicts elsewhere, and believes that China’s modernisation tale should be publicised more widely. He is director of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, a research institute under the Ministry of State Security.

“There is still a lot that people do not understand of the CPPCC’s role. For instance, some of them liken the CPPCC to the Upper House in other countries, which is incorrect,” he said, referring to the bicameral political system found in other legislatures, such as the House of Lords in the UK.

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2024-03-06 21:00:00Z
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Rabu, 06 Maret 2024

Indian farmers say detentions foil Delhi protest, police say no one held - CNA

NEW DELHI: Dozens of protesting Indian farmers were detained en route to New Delhi on Wednesday (Mar 6), forcing them to call off their plan to converge on the capital in their demand for higher crop prices, protest leaders said.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from the northern state of Punjab, launched a "Delhi Chalo" (Let's go to Delhi) march last month demanding higher guaranteed prices for their produce but were stopped by police about 200km north of the capital.

Protest leaders had planned to resume the protest on Wednesday, urging farmers across India to head for the capital by bus and train since their tractors had been blocked and tear gas and water cannon used to disperse them.

Farmers started moving towards Delhi but had been stopped by police in some states, said a statement from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), or United Farmers' Front, one of the two groups leading the protests.

Fifty farmers from one district in the northern state of Rajasthan were taken into custody on Tuesday night while others travelling to Delhi by train from the same state were detained at a police station on Wednesday, farmer leaders told reporters.

Rajasthan police denied detaining any farmers.

"We have not detained anybody in relation to the farmers' agitation. There has been no mass movement from here in relation to the protest," Utkal Ranjan Sahoo, Rajasthan's police chief, told Reuters.

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2024-03-06 14:10:10Z
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China's Bullish 5% Growth Goal Seen as 'Target Without a Plan' - Bloomberg

China set a bullish target of around 5% growth this year as top leaders try to boost confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. But for some analysts, Premier Li Qiang’s lack of details on how to get there was out of step with the nation’s deep challenges.

The country’s No. 2 official announced China would maintain last year’s growth goal as the annual parliamentary session opened on Tuesday. That was a clear signal Beijing wants to put a floor under the economy’s slowdown, marking only the second year in a decade that Beijing didn’t lower its main economic target. The last time was 2018, when dealing with the start of a US trade war.

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2024-03-06 02:47:00Z
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Australia and ASEAN call for restraint in South China Sea, ceasefire in Gaza - Reuters

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Australia and ASEAN call for restraint in South China Sea, ceasefire in Gaza ReutersView Full coverage on Google News
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2024-03-06 08:12:00Z
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Selasa, 05 Maret 2024

Australia to create $1.75b fund to invest in South-east Asian projects - The Straits Times

Australian PM Anthony Albanese (right) with Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong during the 2024 Asean-Australia Special Summit on March 5. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

MELBOURNE – Australia said on March 5 it would set up a A$2 billion (S$1.75 billion) finance facility to boost trade and investment in South-east Asia as it looks to deepen ties in a region where many are also searching for ways to live with a more assertive China.

The fund will focus on clean energy and infrastructure and provide loans, guarantees, equity and insurance.

Australia will also tip in an extra A$140 million to extend an existing programme which advises the region on infrastructure projects.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the fund, which was recommended in 2023 by Australia’s envoy to the region, in a speech on March 5 to business leaders at the Asean summit in Melbourne.

“Australia and South-east Asia must together face this moment with a sense of optimism and urgency,” he said. “Because while there is so much untapped potential, there is no unlimited time. We must act together, and we must act now.”

Two-way trade between Australia and Asean states passed US$178 billion (S$239.2 billion) in 2022, greater than Japan or the United States, Mr Albanese said.

Australia is hosting the Asean summit, which marks the 50th anniversary of its ties to the bloc, amid growing recognition in Canberra that the region needs to be cultivated at a time when China’s increasing assertiveness is reshaping the Indo-Pacific.

Stances on China across the 10-member bloc range from wary to warm.

Philippine Prime Minister Ferdinand Marco Jr told an audience in Melbourne on March 4 that his country would grow its security ties with the US and resist when China ignores its maritime rights in the South China Sea.

However, at a joint press conference with Mr Albanese hours earlier, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim criticised growing “China-phobia” in the West.

Asked by reporters about China’s push to join regional trade group the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Mr Albanese and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said any decision would be by consensus.

Beijing has long sought to join the 12-member CPTPP, which includes Singapore, Britain and Japan, but faces opposition from some members including Australia over its coercive trade policies. REUTERS

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2024-03-05 00:10:00Z
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