Watch live: PM Lawrence Wong and French President Macron's joint press conference
SINGAPORE: French President Emmanuel Macron and Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong are holding a joint press conference at Parliament House on Friday (May 30).
Mr Macron and Mr Wong are due to witness the exchange of several memorandums of understanding between Singapore and France that include cooperation in areas such as defence and security, legal matters, artificial intelligence and transport, among others.
The French president is in Singapore for a two-day state visit. He received a ceremonial welcome at Parliament House on Friday and called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who will also host a state banquet for Mr Macron and his wife.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
26 minutes ago
- CNA
Salon chain HairFun admits to unfair practices targeting elderly customers
SINGAPORE: Hair salons operating under the HairFun brand have admitted to engaging in unfair trade practices targeting elderly consumers, and have agreed to refund affected customers and stop such conduct, Singapore's consumer watchdog said on Wednesday (Jun 4). The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) launched investigations after the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) received complaints about the sales tactics by HairFun employees. After conducting unannounced visits at three HairFun outlets in October 2024, CCCS said that it found that Hairfun Beauty Pte Ltd and Hairfun Pte Ltd, between May 2023 and July 2024, had targeted elderly consumers by offering free or low-cost haircuts ranging from S$4 (US$3) to S$10. CCCS also found through its investigations that the HairFun companies had misled elderly customers about the necessity of treatment packages and charged them expensive services and packages that they had not asked for. In one instance, an elderly customer visited a HairFun outlet in Ang Mo Kio for an S$8 haircut. A HairFun employee then showed the customer images on a monitor, claiming the images showed "haemorrhaging on the elderly consumer's scalp" despite no device having been used to scan the customer's head. Without the customer's consent, the employee proceeded to use a powder to wash the customer's hair. When the customer wanted to make the payment, the employee hid the payment amount and told the customer to enter their PIN into the payment device. The customer was charged nearly S$1,000 and told that he had a hair wash and a 10-session hair treatment package, both of which he had not consented to purchasing. CCCS said the customer only discovered he had been misled after consulting a doctor who confirmed that his head and scalp were normal and showed no signs of haemorrhaging. "As part of the undertaking given to CCCS, the HairFun companies and their directors, Mr Roland Teo Jian Hao and Mdm Chiong Hong Hioh, have admitted to engaging in unfair trade practices," said CCCS. They have promised to "stop all unfair trade practices, cooperate with CASE to resolve all complaints relating to unfair trade practices and provide a five-day cooling period for customs to cancel and get a refund for any prepaid packages", CCCS added. The hair salon chain has also agreed to refund all affected consumers and has, to date, completed almost all of the refunds. The refunded amount totalled approximately S$12,500. "CCCS is concerned about elderly consumers being targeted and misled by errant businesses to pay for services that they did not agree to purchase," said the Singapore consumer watchdog's CEO, Mr Alvin Koh. "In dealing with vulnerable consumers, which may include the elderly, businesses must exercise extra care and check that they fully understand and agree to what they are buying, including the price, before they complete the sale. "In view of Singapore's ageing population, CCCS will step up our community outreach to better educate and equip our seniors with knowledge so as to better protect them." CCCS advises businesses to recommend and provide goods and services that genuinely meet consumers' needs and should never resort to misleading consumers or using undue pressure sales tactics. Customers should also not feel obliged to pay for goods or services that they did not ask for, CCCS added.
CNA
33 minutes ago
- CNA
J-pop star Ayumi Hamasaki denies Elon Musk fathered her children, following rumours
J-pop star Ayumi Hamasaki has shut down rumours that she had a child with Elon Musk. The rumours started when, during an interview with American newspaper The New York Times in late May, author Ashley St Claire said that Musk was the father of the child of 'a Japanese pop star'. St Claire announced on X in February that she and the Tesla CEO share a son. Musk has 14 known children. Hamasaki, who has two young children, spoke up against the rumours on Monday (Jun 2) on Instagram, denying the viral speculations. The 46-year-old star said in Japanese: 'I've been keeping an eye on this, and I guess it's time for me to speak up. Elon Musk is not the father of [either of] my children.' She added: 'I mean, I can understand if someone were to think it seems like the sort of thing I'd do. Even my mum laughed when she heard the rumours, saying, 'This seems kind of Ayu-like,' and if I were someone else, I'd probably be saying 'Ayu is the pop star [St Claire] was talking about, right?'' However, she added, the rumours that Musk fathered one of her kids is "just not true'. Hamasaki was previously married to Austrian actor-model Manuel Schwarz from 2011 to 2012, and to American medical student Tyson Bodkin from 2014 to 2016. She also had a seven-year relationship with actor-singer Tomoya Nagase, which ended in 2007. 'Setting aside my personal image, when my kids are old enough to start googling things, I don't want them to run into the rumours and think they're true, so I'm firmly denying them," Hamasaki said. Hamasaki, best known for her songs Seasons (2000) and Blue Bird (2006), debuted in 1998 with her album A Song For XX and recently released her newest single Mimosa on Apr 8, commemorating her 27th anniversary. She is also the first female solo artiste in Japan to have 25 consecutive No 1 singles. In 2008, Hamasaki revealed that she had gone deaf in her left ear due to an ear infection she had caught in the middle of her tour in 2000. By 2017, she also began experiencing hearing loss in her right ear.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Snap Insight: South Korea's Lee Jae-myung has won the presidency. Now comes the hard part
SINGAPORE: Exactly six months ago, hundreds of ordinary citizens flocked to the National Assembly to prevent then president Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law order. On Wednesday (Jun 4), South Koreans woke up to a new president – Lee Jae-myung from the progressive Democratic Party. He won the country's highest-turnout election in nearly three decades in polls held on Tuesday. Mr Lee, a former child factory worker turned human rights lawyer turned politician, secured 49.4 per cent of the vote, defeating conservative candidate Kim Moon-soo by more than 8 percentage points. The voter turnout of 79.4 per cent was the highest since 1997. His victory, despite ongoing criminal trials for charges including bribery and corruption, reflects the strong public disapproval of the Yoon administration's martial law declaration and its handling of the aftermath. It also marks a tremendous comeback for Mr Lee, who lost the 2022 election to Yoon by a razor-thin 0.7 percentage point. In his victory speech on Wednesday morning, Mr Lee called for national unity and restoration of democracy, and vowed to become a leader for every Korean and to improve the lives of ordinary people. This is a welcome message, as intense political polarisation has divided the Korean society and stifled the functioning of government in recent years. Mr Lee faces a tough road ahead, however, as he inherits a set of internal and external challenges. ECONOMIC GROWTH AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES The most pressing task for Mr Lee is to boost the sluggish Korean economy. Just last week, the Bank of Korea slashed its 2025 economic growth forecast to a meagre 0.8 per cent, down from 1.5 per cent in February. At the same time, inflation remains above 2 per cent, which implies that real growth has been negative, while housing prices in Seoul have increased beyond what most people can afford. Mr Lee has already promised a major stimulus package of 35 trillion won (US$25 billion), but an expansive fiscal policy of this sort can only be a short-term measure. What is required is fundamental reform that tackles structural issues – declining productivity, ageing society and the world's lowest fertility rate, medical and pension reforms, controlling housing prices and upskilling the population for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. It calls for the re-writing of a social contract that deals with how to generate and distribute wealth in a productive, fair and equitable manner. Successive Korean administrations have largely avoided dealing with these issues in the past, as structural reforms would cause controversy and prove unpopular. Mr Lee must show political courage and lead on structural reforms, not only to rejuvenate the ailing Korean economy, but to prevent deeper social fracture in the years ahead. FOREIGN POLICY CHALLENGES Mr Lee's foreign policy will be tested early. On North Korea, he favours engagement and negotiation, while simultaneously recognising the importance and utility of military deterrence. With a progressive administration in South Korea once again in place, along with United States President Donald Trump and Pyongyang's Kim Jong Un – the configuration behind the Singapore and Hanoi summits in 2018 and 2019 – this raises the possibility of more diplomatic activities. While conditions have changed, especially with North Korea's recent military partnership with Russia, both Mr Trump and Mr Kim appear interested in giving negotiation another shot. The Lee administration will seek to play a more active and conducive role in making progress on the North Korea issue. On the US-China rivalry, the Lee administration will come under greater pressure to enhance its cooperation with Washington. Mr Lee has pledged to enhance the alliance with the US and further develop the US-Japan-South Korea trilateral. At the same time, he has repeatedly said that South Korea must not be drawn into any conflict between the US and China, including over Taiwan. He calls this 'pragmatic' diplomacy serving South Korea's national interests. This balancing act is tricky. Mr Lee must show deft diplomatic skills if he is to navigate turbulent external circumstances and make progress on the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula. Otherwise, his pragmatic diplomacy could end up weakening the alliance with the US or degenerating South Korea to become a pawn in the great power strategic game. REVIVAL OR DECLINE OF KOREAN DEMOCRACY? With Mr Lee's victory, the Democratic Party will control the legislature and the executive. As president, Mr Lee can appoint three judges on the Constitutional Court, meaning progressive-leaning judges will dominate that court. In addition, Mr Lee might also seek to expand the number of Supreme Court judges, as a way to appoint more progressive judges on the supreme court. This would consolidate his power and control of all branches of government. The conservatives are deeply concerned about this situation and believe that Mr Lee will use his power to avoid his criminal investigation and charges, thereby weakening Korean democracy. The progressives vehemently disagree and believe that the conservative People Power Party must be dissolved for its role in supporting or defending Yoon's martial law. If both sides maintain their views, Korean politics will continue to suffer from political polarisation and wrangling. Mr Lee's political skills and leadership will be tested and assessed on how Korean democracy consolidates during his presidency. One hopes that he will rise above his personal or narrow group interests and promote the fundamental democratic principle of checks and balances across different branches of government.
