Public sector institutions

Dear Lloyd, I have this experience of reaching heights and becoming successful in what I do. Recently, it was a totally different story. When success is no longer there — and failure suddenly meets me face to face — what do I do? Mar Mar, A few years ago, I did a motivational talk before two real estate giants in Manila during their sales kickoff rally. Most companies do this every year. Back in the prepandemic days, there were face-to-face meetings. They gathered their sales people and hired a motivational speaker to speak and try to encourage their people to sell more this time as the speaker tried to equip them with knowled ge, wisdom and stories. Hopefully after the one-hour program or so, participants would leave the venue with inspiration and drive to face the new year and yes, painful or not as it was, make the best effort to hit their quota for that period. It’s amazing to see their mix of emotions — from being happy to being excited to being afraid to being ... » Learn More about Success causes us to fail

“Federalism should be able to maintain unity among all. But this does not mean that we should boycott regional voices and the voices of ethnic groups.” – Khil Raj Regmi PRESENTED during the Hanns Seidel Foundation-initiated Asia Federalism Dialogues was how functional a specific country’s devolution structure responds to a major crisis such as the coronavirus. Country-specific federal governance structures had two countries employing horizontal devolution: Myanmar governs through local to local governments, while Pakistan, provincial to provincial. Nepal’s structure is through collaboration among central, provincial and local governments while Sri Lanka is through collaboration of central, provincial and local with public and private organizations. A sixth structure — the Philippines — governs through its quasi-federal structure which rests on a powerful center. This country specific contexts enabled participants to appreciate the pros and cons of a country’s mode of devolved ... » Learn More about Federalism: Ethnic voices local to local, central to local

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and Mapua University revealed on Tuesday that they are starting to equip the country’s 45 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with data science and analytics skills for the post-Covid-19 pandemic world, following the launching of the Data Analytics and Digital Transformation Training for Higher Education, an executive program delivered by Carnegie Mellon University-Australia (CMUA), a global leader in data analytics. The program is a 10-day virtual training that combines a comprehensive business intelligence, data analytics and technology management curriculum with a hands-on focus. The 60 participants, who come from 45 HEIs all around the Philippines, are taught by CMUA’s expert pool of faculty who are also industry experts, with many active industry collaborations that put them at the forefront of data science developments. The participating HEIs are Agusan Del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology, Aklan State University, ... » Learn More about CHEd, Mapua equip HEIs with data science skills in post-pandemic scenario

SINGAPORE - Siblings Nathan and Phoebe Foong have been waking up for school, where they stand to attention for the National Anthem during assembly, before heading to the canteen. The catch? They are actually at home. Their parents, Elvin and Esther Foong, devised "Naph School", an amalgam of the first two letters of the children's names, after the family were asked to self-isolate under a leave of absence (LOA) request. The family's LOA was issued after their trip to visit Mrs Foong's father in Johor during the recent March school holidays. Nathan, nine, and Phoebe, seven, will return to school on April 2 . According to the Education Ministry, less than 10 per cent of students and staff across all schools are on LOA or stay-home notice (SHN), which aim to prevent the spread of Covid-19. They are both 14-day self-isolation measures, typically following overseas travel. Some families with young children are concerned about supporting their offspring's learning away from ... » Learn More about Staying at home during Covid-19 outbreak: How to plan activities with your kids, and take ‘sanity breaks’

MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte has urged Congress, especially the Senate, to fast-track three bills which will further open up the economy to more foreign investors and, according to his economic managers, help the economy recover from pandemic-induced recession. In an April 12 letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, the President said he certified the immediate passage of amendments to the Public Service Act, the Foreign Investments Act, as well as the Retail Trade Liberalization Act. Amendments to the antiquated public service and foreign investment laws would allow greater foreign participation in sectors that had been restricted only to Filipino investors. The proposed amendment to the Retail Trade law seeks to bring down the ceiling for capital required of foreign-led retailers for setting up shop in the Philippines. Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco was also furnished the letter, a printed copy of which was sent by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez to ... » Learn More about Duterte asks Congress to give priority to new laws removing barriers to foreign investments

SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, Caqueta, Colombia (Reuters) - The dirt tracks winding through southern Colombia's tangled jungle often mark the beginning of the end for besieged patches of rainforest in this part of the Amazon. Across San Vicente del Caguan, one of the country's most deforested regions, illegal and informal roads fan out in an ever-expanding network, bringing visitors, commercial interests and farmers and ranchers who clear and burn the land. The result is the steady decay of Colombia's Amazon. A Reuters map of the region shows a lattice of lines that crisscross one another and creep southward into the forest and fan out on all sides. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/329ehRE) The destruction, which is striking on the ground, is significant enough to be visible from the sky. Patches of deforestation appear at the furthest extent of the roads, according to the map, which underlines the impact of unplanned roadbuilding by combining satellite imagery and local ... » Learn More about Road to ruin: informal byways sow seeds of destruction in Colombia’s Amazon

The National University of Singapore (NUS) said yesterday it will convene a committee to review its disciplinary and support frameworks, after a female undergraduate accused it of not doing enough to punish a fellow student who had filmed her showering. Ms Monica Baey, 23 and a third-year NUS communications and new media undergraduate, said the Peeping Tom was made to write a letter of apology, undergo mandatory counselling, banned from entering Eusoff Hall and suspended from school for a semester. The chemical engineering student was not charged and was instead given a 12-month conditional warning by the police. "I want real consequences for perpetrators that commit such acts and I want to know that NUS will reprimand them seriously so other potential perpetrators know they will face punishment if they commit (such acts)," she wrote on her Instagram page. She also revealed the identity of the male student. When asked about the incident, NUS' dean of students, Associate ... » Learn More about NUS to relook disciplinary processes after student’s complaint