Kopi With YP: Your Minimalist Morning Briefing, 17 Feb

Get up to speed and stay smart with the latest business, tech, and local news in under 2 minutes

Business

The economy is not doing so bad after all.  Singapore’s economy expanded by 2% last year, surpassing expectation of the government’s estimate of 1-1.5%. It’s a slightly reassuring picture, given 2015’s 1.8% growth— which was an all-time low in 6 years.

Jan was a good month for Singapore’s exports. Exports are at highs with a 8.6% increase from last year sum in January. As a whole, however, net revenue of exports dropped drastically in 2016 with 2.8 %, compared to the 1.5% growth in 2015.

World

US support for NATO is going through “business negotiations”. It’s pay up time for NATO allies, according to US Defense secretary, Jim Mattis, who warned NATO allies to step up their funding “if they do not wish to see America moderate its commitment to this alliance”.

Even billionaires can’t get away with bribes. Samsung’s heir Lee Jae-yong has been put under arrest in South Korea for bribery “to win government support for smooth leadership transition within Samsung” and other charges which has close relevance to the impeachment of SK’s president Park Geung-hye. Mr Lee and Samsung denied the accusations.

Local

War on the Internet. Our very own patriots of the country will soon be getting cybersecurity course to deal with the increasingly precarious and volatile climate in cyberspace.

For those who can’t get enough of social studies. “Imagine the next 50 years” is the 12-week undergraduate course that is offered in all 6 universities in Singapore—-NUS, NTU,SMU, SIM, SUTD and SIT to better prepare the youths for the future by engaging them in national issues and topics. According to Channel Newsasia, the course is a hit with the students so far, with most of them fully-filled.

Notice more elderly managing crowds at your MRT station? North-east district Community Development centre is working even closely with SMRT to offer more job-seekers a place at MRT lines to manage the crowds in the morning. They are part of the Community Employment Programme to help low-income job-seekers.

People can be really messed up. Mei mei, the cat, was missing for about a week before it was found dead in the bushes with her eyes gouged out and the fur on the “lower half of her body…stripped off”. AVA is appealing to the public to report and contact the agency about any information on the case.

Tech

Oh Snap! Previously widely expected to be valued between $20-$25 billion, expectations for Snap Inc.’s IPO valuation has dropped to $19.5-$22.3 billion instead. This is to ensure that there is “sufficient demand for shares of the company that it trades up on its first day in public market”.

Facebook throws the first punch at Linkedin. Brands can now post job openings on their Facebook pages, which is probably starting to give Linkedin some anxiety. Facebook is really planning to dominate Internet field, making it your go-to-stop for all the information.