CNA938 Rewind - Mind Your Money - Leveraging AI for a Fresh Grad's job search
CNA938 Rewind
As they step into one of the most competitive job markets in recent years, the job hunt has become tougher for fresh graduates. How can AI help them with their job search, and even unearth jobs that they would have not otherwise considered? Cheryl Goh speaks with Serla Rusli, a Career Expert at LinkedIn, about the new AI tools to help graduates navigate their first steps in the working world.
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CNA
41 minutes ago
- CNA
Commentary: US speech at Shangri-La Dialogue hit the right notes – but talk is cheap
SINGAPORE: Since the first Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) in 2002, every sitting United States Defense Secretary has delivered an address at the summit to explain their strategic vision for the region and reassure US allies and partners. Pete Hegseth continued this long tradition with his speech on Saturday (May 31) at this year's edition of the security forum. Taken at face value, his speech hit all the right notes. But talk is cheap. His domestic talking points, his insistence that Asia spend more on defence, and inconsistencies between his statements and US actions may raise more questions than answers. BRINGING MAGA TO ASIA 'America is proud to be back in the Indo-Pacific – and we're here to stay,' Mr Hegseth proclaimed. Yet many points hinted at him not just addressing audiences in Singapore, but back in Washington too. On one hand, talking about how the US defence establishment is improving its capabilities, from raising the defence budget to over US$1 trillion to investing in American shipbuilding, supports his assertion that America is 're-establishing deterrence around the world' by building 'credible deterrence' at home. His proclamation that Washington is shunning its past 'moralistic and preachy approach' was even likely welcomed by some Southeast Asian officials in the room, given past efforts to tout liberal values were met with a mixed response. However, not all these domestic references were welcomed by international audiences. References to an 'invasion of 21 million illegals' and US President Donald Trump's electoral victory, for example, are targeted at the MAGA (Make America Great Again) crowd. An allusion to 'taking back the Panama Canal' was likely met with concern by smaller countries. Dismissing climate change as something that was 'preached' by previous governments, while politically popular with the MAGA base, underplayed what many regional governments consider an existential security issue. Perhaps the clearest sign that Mr Hegseth had his mind on a domestic audience were the worrying statements made about China. In years past, Washington has claimed to engage the region on its own merits, refraining from calling out China directly. In the Biden era, China was generally framed as a 'serious competitor' with whom cooperation was necessary, with the term 'threat' reserved for North Korea and more recently, Russia. Even under Trump 1.0, officials tended to criticise 'threatening' policies and actions. Yet, Mr Hegseth seemingly discarded this facade, explicitly calling China a threat. Mr Hegseth also claimed that an invasion of Taiwan 'could be imminent,' even as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said – on the same day after his speech – China does not want a war. While not surprising, this stridently anti-China stance raises concerns about how the US might engage Southeast Asia. The apparent gulf between what Southeast Asian governments and Washington consider important, including a confrontational approach to China and dismissal of climate change, may hinder cooperation going forward. INSISTENCE THAT ALLIES AND PARTNERS DO MORE ON DEFENCE US officials have traditionally called on European counterparts to bear a greater portion of the financial burden for their security. This time, YetMr Hegseth called for US Asian allies and partners in Asia to follow suit with 5 per cent of their gross domestic product. No country in Asia currently spends that much on defence. According to the SIPRI military expenditure database, most ASEAN countries spent less than 1.5 per cent of their GDP on defence in 2024. Even Japan and South Korea which have been actively modernising their militaries spent 1.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively. Singapore is the outlier with roughly 3 per cent, still well below Mr Hegseth's expectations. This is not to say that Asian countries are neglecting their defence capabilities. SIPRI data show that ASEAN military expenditures rose from US$20.3 billion in 2000 to US$48.3 billion in 2024. But it is unlikely that Washington's demand for 5 per cent will ever be achieved. Doing so would require a dramatic reworking of government budgets and legislation, along with potential political unrest trouble asif guns are seen to be prioritised over butternecessities and infrastructure. The flipside is that Washington may pressure Asian allies that do not spend enough – including with the pledge of US protection itself. After all, as US President Donald Trump remarked on the election trail, he would encourage Moscow to do ' whatever the hell they want ' to NATO members who do not spend enough on defence. WHAT AMERICA SAYS AND WHAT IT DOES There are also inconsistencies between Mr Hegseth's words and the US' recent actions. Most leaders in the region would welcome his acknowledgment of the 'geographic necessity' of economic cooperation with China, for example. Or promising to work with regional governments as 'partners, not dependents.' Yet, Washington has levied tariffs universally on its 'partners', including countries with whom America has signed free trade agreements. Washington is also pressuring countries such as Malaysia to Vietnam to enforce rules of origin to cut down on transshipments of Chinese goods. The inconsistencies deepen the more you look. Mr Hegseth criticised China for a 'lack of respect for neighbours' but offered no explanation for how this is different from US ambitions in Greenland and Canada. He raised, as he did in Manila and Munich, that the Indo-Pacific is America's 'priority theatre,' but did not address concerns that munitions are being redirected to the Middle East to support US strikes on the Houthis. At the core of many of these concerns is the question: Is the US serious about its pivot to Asia? The idea of a pivot was first mooted in the Obama administration, but Washington has struggled to make this concrete amid crises in the Middle East and Europe. Just as Mr Hegseth invoked Singapore's founding prime minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, in his speech, it would be helpful for US officials to recall Mr Lee's thoughts on America's strengths and weaknesses from a decade ago. While America's 'creativity, resilience and innovative spirit' allow it to confront and overcome its core problems, the US cannot simply treat Asia like a movie that it can pause and resume at will. 'It does not work like that,' he said. 'If the United States wants to substantially affect the strategic evolution of Asia, it cannot come and go.' Yes, talk is cheap. It is now up to the US to practise what it preaches and convince the region of its credibility.
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Hewlett Packard Enterprise beats quarterly revenue estimates
Hewlett Packard Enterprise beat Wall Street revenue estimates for the second quarter on Tuesday and said it recorded an impairment charge of $1.36 billion in the quarter. Shares of the server-maker were up 4 per cent in extended trading. HPE has benefited from a surge in spending on advanced data center architecture, designed to support the complex processing needs of generative AI. The boom in GenAI has bumped up demand for HPE's AI-optimized servers, which are powered by Nvidia processors and can run complex applications. For the reported quarter, HPE posted revenue of $7.63 billion, ahead of analysts' average estimate of $7.45 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Katong Plaza and Novotel on Kitchener Rd to be redeveloped
Katong Plaza and Novotel Singapore on Kitchener hotel were in the past two years sold to new owners. ST PHOTOS: AZMI ATHNI, ARIFFIN JAMAR New hotels to replace Katong Plaza and Novotel hotel in Kitchener Road SINGAPORE – The Novotel Singapore on Kitchener hotel and Katong Plaza are set to be replaced by new hotels. Both properties date back to around 1981, with the Kitchener Road hotel branded with different names along the way. They were in the past two years sold, and the new owners have recently secured at least provisional planning approvals from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Worldwide Hotels subsidiary Midtown Development has permission to redevelop the Kitchener Road property into a hotel with 1,625 rooms and 1,214 sq m of retail space. The hotel opened in 1981 as President Merlin Hotel – a part of the President Hotel and Shopping Complex that also included the President Shopping Centre which opened in 1970. The hotel was later rebranded as New Park Hotel in 1990 after a $30 million facelift. In 2007, it became Parkroyal on Kitchener Road, while the shopping centre was demolished in 2017 to make way for Centrium Square. In 2023, UOL sold Parkroyal on Kitchener Road for $525 million to Worldwide Hotels, a Singapore-based firm that owns chains such as Hotel 81 and Hotel Mi. The hotel reopened in November that year as the 543-room Novotel Singapore on Kitchener , a brand under French multinational hospitality company Accor . The hotel is on a freehold 7,780.1 sq m site and has a gross floor area of 37,827.71 sq m. A spokesperson for Worldwide Hotels told The Straits Times on June 3 that it is unable to share further details about the new hotel. Katong Plaza in Brooke Road, which opened around the start of 1981 , is set to make way for a hotel with 374 rooms and 537 sq m of retail space. The strata-titled mixed-use development near Marine Parade MRT station with 132 retail units and 14 residential apartments was in 2024 sold to Fragrance Group for $180 million . At the time of the sale, the building's owners had outline permission from the URA to convert it for hotel use. The existing building is on a freehold 3,162 sq m site and has a gross floor area of 9,488 sq m. The Fragrance Group did not respond to requests for comment. When ST visited the building on May 30, most of the retail tenants had vacated their units. Some were packing up and said they had to leave by end-June. A notice dated April 16, put up alongside minutes of the building's collective sale committee's meetings, stated that owners choosing to stay in the building until July 2025 will be responsible for covering all expenses such as air-conditioner and lift maintenance fees. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner John Ng, 70, who has operated a clinic in the mall since April 2006, said he is disappointed to leave behind neighbours of almost two decades. 'We all knew each other and were very friendly. Everyone trusted each other and I could leave my clinic unattended, knowing others would help to keep watch,' said Mr Ng. He was in the process of relocating his clinic to Kreta Ayer in Chinatown . Items at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic being kept on May 31, ahead of the closure of Katong Plaza. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI Mr Alan Cheong, Savills Singapore's executive director of research and consultancy, expects that the Katong site will house a mid-tier hotel, given the planned number of rooms. He also pointed out that the Kitchener Road hotel is likely to be an economy-tier type geared towards mass market tourism. He added that Worldwide Hotels' plan to triple the number of rooms is 'logical', as the move will help to boost its earnings. Asked if there is sufficient demand for rooms in the Farrer Park and Marine Parade areas to justify the planned supply, analysts said Singapore's hotel market has performed strongly in the past 12 to 18 months. Mr Edwin Loo, an associate director at real estate consultancy Cistri, said: 'Much of this growth is in the mid-market and upscale segments, reflecting Singapore's success in attracting event-focused visitors as well as visitors from emerging Asia who are willing to spend but remain price-sensitive given Singapore's relatively higher room rates when compared with other regional destinations.' But he noted that the site of Katong Plaza, which is next to Roxy Square, is relatively long and narrow. Mr Edwin Loo, an associate director at real estate consultancy Cistri, felt that the planned redevelopment of Katong Plaza would be boosted if neighbour Roxy Square is also roped in. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI 'An integrated development incorporating both of these sites would have resulted in a better outcome in terms of land optimisation and urban design, especially considering the need to accommodate the extensive pickup, drop-off and coach parking requirements at the ground level and the potential for a larger site to provide greater amenity for the community,' he said. Ng Keng Gene is a correspondent at The Straits Times, reporting on issues relating to land use, urban planning and heritage. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
