TR EMERITUS

Recently, the Straits Times reported that the healthcare policy changes announced by PM Lee Hsien Loong are "significant”. The newspaper said: "The extension of MediShield into MediShield Life is tantamount to having a universal national health insurance...” (emphasis added) The position change is indeed significant but... 

Emergency workers in protective suits at the scene of an ammonia leak in Shanghai. Photograph: AFP/Getty (5 Sep) - Chinese officials say 15 people died and 26 others were left ill, some critically, in accident at cold storage facility. A liquid ammonia leak from a refrigeration unit at a cold storage facility in Shanghai on... 

Mandarin is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world. (8 Sep) - China's Education Ministry says that about 400 million people - or 30% of the population - cannot speak the country's national language. Of the 70% of the population who can speak Mandarin, many do not do it well enough, a ministry spokeswoman told Xinhua...