SG Morning Call｜Israel-Hamas Conflict Has Limited Impact on Singapore; 2.5 Mil Transactions Failed in DBS, Citi Outage

Singapore Proposes Law to Govern Foreign Appointments for President, Ministers

Singapore is proposing a law to create a legal framework for how the president and ministers may accept appointments in foreign and international organisations in their private capacities, if required by the national interest.

The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment No 3) Bill was introduced in Parliament on Monday (Nov 6). It will be up for its second reading debate at the next sitting of Parliament.

In a media statement, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) noted that from time to time, the president or ministers may be invited to take up key positions in foreign and international organisations.

Israel-Hamas Conflict Has Limited Economic Impact on Singapore Unless It Turns Regional: DPM Wong

The Israel-Hamas conflict has a small direct impact on Singapore’s economy, because of the Republic’s limited trade and investment links with Israel and Palestine, said Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Monday (Nov 6), in response to questions by Members of Parliament.

But if the conflict broadens into a regional one in the Middle East, “there will certainly be wider implications, especially on oil and food prices”, he said during a debate on a motion on the conflict.

“We must be prepared for more uncertainties ahead, and we are updating our drawer plans, should the situation take a turn for the worse, and we are impacted,” said Wong, who is also finance minister.

Singapore Says 2.5 Mil Transactions Failed in DBS, Citi Outage

About 2.5 million Singapore payment and ATM transactions couldn’t be completed during DBS Group Holdings Ltd and Citigroup Inc.’s recent outage, causing widespread inconvenience to the city-state’s population of almost 6 million.

Up to 810,000 attempts to access both digital banking platforms were estimated to have failed during the Oct 14 disruption due to a data centre malfunction, Minister of State Alvin Tan said in response to parliamentary questions Monday. Services had only fully recovered in the early hours of Oct 15.

DBS and Citibank both faced technical issues in recovering their systems despite having activated their IT disaster recovery and business continuity plans, Tan said. Specific issues that led to the delays didn’t surface during their annual tests, the minister said.