SINGAPORE, Jan 1: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has asked foreign workers to obey Singapore’s laws and social norms, as he described as “inexcusable” the recent outbreak of violence following the death of an Indian worker here.
“We will continue to treat foreign workers fairly, but we expect them to obey our laws and social norms,” Lee said in his New Year message.
“The riot in Little India was inexcusable. We have taken firm action against the culprits. Several have been charged, others warned and repatriated, and still others advised to abide strictly by our laws,” he said last night.
“The Committee of Inquiry (COI) will establish how the riot happened, and how we can prevent such incidents in future. The riot reminds us that we can never take good order, peace and stability for granted,” Lee said.
The committee was set up after the December 8 riots, the worst outbreak of violence in over 40 years in Singapore.
During his speech, Lee also underlined the importance of foreign workers to Singapore.
“We are taking a balanced approach, reducing but not cutting off the inflow of foreign workers. This is why (Singapore) companies are finding it harder to hire the workers they need, especially SMEs (the small and medium enterprises)”, Lee said.
“We are helping companies adapt by exploiting technology and becoming more productive. At the same time, we are encouraging firms to develop their Singaporean workforce and adopt fair employment practises. But we still need foreign workers to keep our economy running and to build critical infrastructure for Singaporeans,” Lee added.
Around 400 South Asian migrant workers were involved in the rampage after the death of an Indian worker in a road accident on December 8 in Little India, a precinct of Indian- origin businesses, eateries and pubs where most South Asian workers take their Sunday break.
25 Indians are facing court charges for rioting and 56 Indians and one Bangladeshi were deported. The Singapore Government has also issued police warning to 200 other South Asian workers.
Lee also said Singapore economy grew by 3.7 per cent last year and he expects an economic growth of between 2 per cent and 4 per cent this year. (AGENCIES)

BANGKOK, Jan 1: The New Year revelry turned sour for eight Indian tourists, including five women, when they fell down from an escalator and sustained minor injuries at a skytrain station here today.
The incident happened at about 10:15 am (local time) when the tourists – three men and five women – were going up on the escalator at Phaya Thai station.
According to the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS), they were planning to board a train to Bearing station.
They were busy chatting with each other before they all tumbled down, the Bangkok Post reported.
There were no children. BTS staff provided first aid to the wounded commuters, the report said. (AGENCIES)

NEW YORK, Jan 1: New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, an unabashed liberal who campaigned to keep down crime and continue the city’s prosperity while reducing the gap between rich and poor, was sworn in at a ceremony at his home just after midnight.
De Blasio’s formal inauguration ceremony will take place  at noon today at City Hall, where former US President Bill Clinton will administer the oath of office using a Bible once owned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who led the city through its response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the recession six years later, and whose policies have been credited with making the city safer, greener and more livable, is leaving City Hall after 12 years.
Bloomberg plans to take a two-week vacation in Hawaii and New Zealand with his longtime girlfriend, Diana Taylor. Then, the billionaire, who has homes in Bermuda and London, has said he will focus on his charitable foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and remain active in public health, gun control and Government innovation.
On the campaign trail, de Blasio presented himself as an anti-Bloomberg, decrying the ‘tale of two cities’ that emerged as New York shed its reputation, from the 1970s and 1980s, as a gritty and dangerous place.
After a resounding victory in November with more than 70 per cent of the vote, de Blasio has pledged to confront the affordability gap that has led to those in the middle and at the bottom of the economic ladder struggling to pay for basic services such as housing and mass transit.
Over the last decade, as the city prospered, apartment  rents in New York City rose about 44 per cent and the cost of a monthly Metro card jumped 60 per cent.
De Blasio has made some major promises, and his critics  are likely to quickly seize on his ability to deliver.
His signature proposal of creating universal access to pre-Kindergarten and middle school after-school programs depends on the approval – by state lawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo – of an income tax increase on the city’s highest earners. Cooperation from Albany is far from assured.
De Blasio has also pledged to improve police and community relations to continue New York’s historic drop in crime, as well as to fight the closure of community hospitals.
While Bloomberg has left the city with no budget deficit  for the current fiscal year, contracts for all of the public sector unions have expired. In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, de Blasio said he hoped to have the new contracts in place within a year.
De Blasio began his career in Government working under  David Dinkins, the city’s first black mayor who was elected in 1986 and was the last Democrat to hold the post. In 2000, when former US first lady Hillary Clinton ran for US senator in New York state, de Blasio was her campaign manager.
He went on to serve two terms on the New York City Council and four years ago was elected public advocate – a  citywide office with a budget of just 2 million dollars that is generally seen as a springboard for the job of mayor.
Today, the city’s new comptroller, Scott Stringer, and its new public advocate, Letitia James, will also be sworn in. Both are Democrats and close allies of de Blasio. (AGENCIES)

TOKYO, Jan 1: A Japanese cabinet minister visited a controversial war shrine in Tokyo today, press reports said, six days after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit enraged Japan’s neighbours and prompted criticism from Washington.
Yoshitaka Shindo, the minister of internal affairs and communication, visited Yasukuni shrine on New Year’s Day as thousands of people attended Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples to pray for good fortune in 2014, Jiji and Kyodo news agencies said.
Last Thursday Abe made his first visit as premier to Yasukuni shrine, which honours Japan’s war dead including several high-level officials executed for war crimes after World War II.
China and South Korea see it as a brutal reminder of Tokyo’s imperialist past and wartime aggression.
Abe, known for his nationalist views, came to power in December 2012 in an election landslide.
He previously served as premier from 2006 to 2007 without visiting Yasukuni after his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi’s repeated pilgrimages there saw ties with Beijing and Seoul plunge to their worst in decades.
While prime ministers after Koizumi have refrained from going to the shrine, conservative lawmakers regularly offer prayers there for the war dead. (AGENCIES)

TOKYO, Jan 1: Japan’s nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the country’s pacifist post-World War II constitution which limits its military to self-defence could be amended by 2020.
In a New Year comment published in the conservative daily Sankei Shimbun today, Abe predicted the constitution “will have been revised” by 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Summer Olympics.
His comments come days after he enraged Asian neighbours and disappointed Washington by visiting a Tokyo shrine honouring the country’s war dead, including World War II leaders, and been seen abroad as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic past.
“(By 2020), I think Japan will have completely restored its status and been making great contributions to peace and stability in the region and the world,” he said.
He added that Japan’s elevated status could possibly help Asia become a “balanced and stable region”.
Abe took power a year ago in an election landslide as Japan faced China’s increasingly assertive military posture amid a fierce territorial dispute with Beijing over Tokyo-controlled islands.
He initially focused on improving the economy with stimulus packages, mixing big-spending and easy money policies.
In recent months, he has turned to his more conservative agenda, passing a state secrecy law which critics say is a threat to democracy in Japan.
In a New Year message, Abe reaffirmed his resolve to change the pacifist constitution imposed by the US after Japan’s defeat.
“As it has been 68 years since its enactment now, national debate should be further deepened toward a revision (of the constitution) to grasp the changing times,” he said.
“Now is the time for Japan to take a big step forward toward a new nation-building effort.”
On his security policy, Abe said, “We will resolutely protect to the end Japan’s territorial land, sea and air.”
The premier has long agitated for the amendment of a key article in the constitution that limits its military to self-defence and bans the use of force in settling international disputes.
The country’s well-funded and well-equipped military is referred to as the Self-Defence Forces (SDF).
Abe has said he would like to look into making the SDF a full-fledged military, a plan that sets alarm bells ringing in Asian countries subject to Japan’s occupation in the first half of the 20th century.
In his first policy as premier last year, Abe said he would look to change a provision which requires a two-thirds majority in parliament to amend the basic law.
In his New Year message, Abe said the launch of a US-style National Security Council in December would help promote his “proactive pacifism” as a “‘signboard of the 21st century’ which should be borne by our country.” (AGENCIES)

ISLAMABAD, Jan 1: Embattled former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf today failed to appear before a special court, with his legal team seeking that the hearing in the high treason case be adjourned for five weeks.
Musharraf was supposed to appear before the court to face treason charges for suspending, subverting and abrogating the Constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of the superior courts.
70-year-old Musharraf’s lawyers today submitted an application to exempt him from appearing before the court and to adjourn the case for a period of five weeks.
The application said that Musharraf had called for the November 3, 2007, emergency in his capacity as the country’s military chief and he could only be tried by a military court in that respect.
If convicted, the former president could face life imprisonment or the death penalty.
This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a former military ruler is facing trial for treason.
Meanwhile, reports said one kg of explosives was found from the Musharraf’s route this morning which was later defused by Bomb Disposal Squad.
Earlier, five packets of explosives were found near Musharraf’s Chak Shahzad farmhouse here on December 30.
On December 24, a five kg bomb was also recovered from Musharraf’s route to the special court after which the Court had postponed the hearing for today.
Musharraf’s lawyer had then said security threats had prevented Musharraf from appearing before the court.
His trial is taking place at the National Library here which is the heavily secured Red Zone here that houses all important institutions like the Prime Minister’s House, Supreme Court and the Diplomatic Enclave. (AGENCIES)