■ Airlines
Singapore warns pilots
Singapore Airlines pilots were told to "stop, think and be careful" about their confrontational approach that threatens the city-state's role as an aviation hub, it was reported yesterday. "If we lose our competitive advantage, thousands will be out of work and a lot of them will not have the ability to be as mobile as the pilots," The Straits Times quoted acting Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen as saying. Disgruntled members of the Air Line Pilots Association voted their leaders out last Nov. 17, accusing them of giving in too easily to management in accepting wage cuts and no-pay leave during the SARS outbreak earlier this year. The pilots disregarded the content in which the original deal was struck, Ng said on Sunday. In tackling SARS, management and unions made sacrifices, he added.
■ Fast food
McDonald's rings up a deal
McDonald's Corp, the world's biggest hamburger-restaurant chain, formed a promotional agreement with China Mobile Communications Corp, the world's largest mobile-phone company, as part of efforts to boost sales in China. McDonald's from yesterday will offer discounts of as much as 30 percent on meal combinations to subscribers of China Mobile's M-zone service, said Randy Lai, a Hong Kong-based marketing manager for the fast-food chain. M-zone, which provides downloadable ring tones and games popular with younger customers, has more than 8 million subscribers. "We want to tap into China Mobile's M-zone users, who are mostly 15-25 years old, because teenagers and young adults are our main group of customers," Lai said.
■ Civil service
Early retirement encouraged
Thailand's government will urge 47,000 civil servants it deems incompetent to accept early retirement packages next year in an effort to trim the country's bureaucracy, the prime minister said. The government has prepared a budget of 1.3 billion baht (US$32 million) to compensate the retiring civil servants, Prime Minster Thaksin Shinawatra said late Sunday. "I want to replace them with computers for more efficiency," he said. "The good and competent civil servants, I urge them to stay on. But the incompetent ones, I urge them to take the early retirement scheme," Thaksin said. The plan will be sent to the Cabinet next month for approval and is expected to be implemented by next April, Thaksin said. He did not say how the government will identify the incompetent officials.
■ Music
EMI pulls offer
Music company EMI Group PLC said yesterday it has withdrawn its offer for the purchase of Time Warner's recorded music business. "We have concluded that it is no longer possible to reach an agreement on terms which would be acceptable to both parties and in the interests of EMI's shareholders," Eric Nicoli, EMI chairman, said in a statement. EMI entered non-exclusive discussions with Time Warner on Sept. 22 about the possible purchase of Warner Music's recorded music division. While EMI did not say how much it was offering, published reports have said EMI has offered about US$1 billion in cash plus a stake of about 25 percent in a merged company.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique