These are the problems that the People’s Association (PA) hopes to resolve through its Seniors for Smart Nation programme which it launched on Wednesday at Kolam Ayer Community Centre (CC).

Seniors can look forward to attending 25 different Smart Nation classes, which will be available across 31 CCs islandwide, including those at Ang Mo Kio, Aljunied and Bedok.

More than 1,000 seniors attended the launch to get a taste of the lessons by going to different booths, trying on virtual reality (VR) goggles and playing with tablet applications.

“Everything is interesting,” said Madam Yeo Kim Bee, 68, in Mandarin. “The important thing is to be able to talk with my children and grandchildren.”

The 25 courses under the Seniors for Smart Nation programme will fall under four themes: I-Connect, I-Lifestyle, I-Inno and I-Office. These courses range from the basics, like learning to use Facebook and Skype, to teaching seniors how to set up their own web business. They are priced at $10 for seniors, and can be paid for using SkillsFuture credits.

“They must feel comfortable in the use of ICT devices to take advantage of the services, which is why this is a good start by PA, to get them acclimatised to the Smart Nation environment,” said Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim.

PA Chief Executive Director, BBM, Ang Hak Seng added: “As the country moves towards becoming a Smart Nation, we want to make sure we bring the senior citizens along with us.”

It’s the largest meeting of the Asian silk trade ever to be held in the central region with the participation of Vietnam and the world’s most famous silk centres.

“It’s a great opportunity for silk manufacturers, producers, exporters and importers, designers, intermediaries, and government agencies related to silk promotion to share experiences for the future development of the silk trade,” said Chairman of the Asia Silk Alliance, Dilip Barooah.

“The festival also opens up chances for silk centres in Asia and the world by building up connections in production and export,” he said.

He added that the Vietnam-Asia Silk Festival was held with an aim of promoting the silk trades of China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, Myanmar and Vietnam.

He said the festival was a great opportunity that had taken him to the peaceful and beautiful ancient city of Hoi An.

The Director of the Hangzhou Silk Culture and Brand Research Centre, Fei Jianming, expressed thanks to government authorities of Quang Nam Province and Hoi An City for their strong support in hosting the festival.

He said the event would help connect world silk centres and Hoi An, as well as boosting chances of co-operation among silk producers and exporters world-widetraders worldwide.

Chairman of Kyoto Silk Association, Takao Watanabe, said he hoped the silk trade would develop quickly in coming years to become the prosperous industry that was seen over 500 years ago.

The two-day festival will also see a fashion show, a seminar on silk history and development with presentations and discussions on improving silk productivityyield, silk branding and marketing, silk export development, and silk standards, certification and regulations.

The festival also includes displays from elegant French fashion designers, Myanmar silk with special patterns, Cashmere silk from India, Nanchong Yinhai silk and Hangzhou Jiahe silk textiles from China, and silks from Nishijin, Japan.

The famous silk villages of Van Phuc, Nha Xa, Phung Xa, Ma Chau, Tan Chau My Nghiep and Bao Loc of Vietnam will also be represented.

Last year, Hoi An Silk Village represented Vietnam and joined the Asia Silk Alliance as one of seven founding members with responsibility for linking Vietnamese silk enterprises with the wider Asian silk community.

The silk village, located at 28 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in Hoi An, is a silk-weaving centre and a living museum of the ancient trade in the central region.

It was voted the third best attraction in Hoi by travel website TripAdvisor in 2014.

The two-hectare area cultivates 40 strains of mulberry, whose leaves are feed for silk worms, including some that the former rulers of the area, the ChamChampa kingdom, used to produce their best quality silk.

SEC Chair Teresita Herbosa, also cochair of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), on Thursday agreed with the proposal of the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) that the implementation of a biometrics-based national ID system would prevent the easy creation of fictitious accounts as what had happened to the case of the recent $81-million money-laundering case via the Jupiter branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).

Together with sound bank practices, such as the know-your-client rule, a biometrics-based national ID system could be used as an additional safeguard to prevent money laundering in banks and other financial institutions, FEF said.

Herbosa said she was advocating the implementation of a national ID system, which however would need a separate legislation.

No national system

Although the Commission on Elections has adopted a biometrics-based ID system, the country has yet to institutionalize a national ID system. Human rights advocates and militant groups fear that the introduction of such an ID system would violate a citizen’s right to privacy and would be prone to abuse by the state.

Herbosa, who also chairs Credit Information Corp. that operates a national credit registry, said, “Theoretically, each Filipino should have an account there that would show credit history but the fact that we don’t have a national ID system compelled us four years ago to guarantee or at least to be sure to get a system that will merge data subjects.”

At present, she said it was difficult to merge data on people who may end up using different names when they borrow from different institutions.

“If you had a national ID system, all you have to do is put in your number and right there we know that all those loans belong to you. So it’s really much easier for tracking and all,” she said in interview at the Philippine Dealing System.

In the United States, Herbosa said there was no national ID system as well but its Social Security System assigned ID numbers to all, even to minors.

Many unbanked people

“For us, we really don’t have any and [there are] so many unbanked [people]—almost 80 percent. For me, it’s really a pressing need to be really able to identify each and every person—whether adult, minor or newly born baby—for availment of government services… It’s imperative,” she said.

FEF has also argued that a biometrics-based national ID system could help in the targeted delivery of public assistance and in the promotion of financial inclusion.

Herbosa earlier called for the easing of the bank secrecy law and the strengthening of AMLC’s mandate to combat money laundering. Apart from the inclusion of casinos, real estate and art dealers among the institutions covered by the antimoney laundering law, Herbosa said the body would need authority to look into and immediately freeze suspicious bank accounts.

At present, AMLC needs to ask for an order from the Court of Appeals to be able to freeze suspicious transactions. In the case of the $81-million stolen money from the central bank of Bangladesh that slipped into the country, bank accounts used for money laundering along with related accounts were frozen only by March 1 or almost a month after the dirty money had been wired to the bank accounts at RCBC.

The $81-million remittance from Bangladesh came in on Feb. 5 and was reported as “fraudulent” by Feb. 9.

Error in judgment

Herbosa said the money had shown how people on the ground should be more vigilant, citing some “error in judgment” in the RCBC case.

“So, it’s really your frontline people who should be able to discern whether an STR (suspicious transaction report) should be filed. Any covered person or institution should really try and strengthen the ones who deal with the potential offender or money launderer,” Herbosa said.

Even in international meetings, Herbosa said the best formula would really be the strict enforcement of the rules along with trying to change people’s attitude.

“I don’t want to say there must be distrust all the time. But if you’re there and you’re part of any institution that’s part of the Amla (Anti-Money Laundering Act), you should be mindful and try to look at all circumstances and make a decision on how you will act.

“If you’re not mindful, all these things will go past by you and when you look at it, realize how come your intuition failed and you didn’t realize where it’s going. If it’s just always hindsight (that you rely on), that’s bad,” the SEC chief said.

Reforms at RCBC

RCBC, the bank at the center of the $81-million money laundering controversy, has announced new measures to guard against money laundering.

“Down the road, RCBC intends to implement best practice policies and procedures gained from international institutions for rigorous strengthening of compliance with antimoney laundering measures. This is meant to comply with all regulations while continuing to protect the interest of customer accounts,” the bank said.

For instance, RCBC has reduced its straight-through processing threshold amount for both inward and outward remittances. Previously, only amounts in excess of P1 billion or its US dollar equivalent would be brought to the attention of senior management while people on the ground were given authority to decide on small amounts.

New threshold amounts have been established for corporate and individual accounts but these were not disclosed.

In addition, RCBC has also increased the frequency of after-posting reviews. “There will be greater focus on unusual transactions, which will be escalated to the group head via separate and frequent operations reports. Further, activities are also being programmed to ensure early and timely tracking and action on any suspicious transaction, with controls in place for higher level action,” the bank said.

RCBC said it had also taken action on strengthening the account opening process. All in-branch account opening will be signed by two officers, each reporting to different units of the bank.

Photos will be taken of walk-in clients, who are opening accounts. Unusual transactions will be escalated to the regional and/or national higher level officers for independent verification. All know-your-customer procedures are also being reviewed for strengthening.

“These are immediate steps that are being implemented with even more studies to be made and activated in the next months to ensure compliance and protect customer accounts,” RCBC said.

Singapore’s economic growth is predicted to grow by 1.9 per cent this year, lower than last year’s 2.2 per cent, according to the latest survey carried out by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in the first quarter of 2016.

As a result of the sluggish trend, players from the country’s manufacturing sector, one of the hardest-hit sectors, have intensified efforts to expand their business in the region, attempting to mull cooperation with manufacturers from Jakarta and Surabaya, respectively the first and second largest Indonesian cities.

“We chose Surabaya and Jakarta because their economic growth is always above the national average,” Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) president Douglas Foo said recently in Surabaya on the sidelines of the group’s meeting with the East Java provincial administration.

Representatives from dozens of Singaporean companies joined the delegation in a three-day visit to the two cities earlier this week.

“We [Singapore and Indonesia] can no longer rely on ourselves in the future,” Foo said.

“Indonesia has abundant resources exported in the form of raw materials, so a collaboration is a right business model to perform by the two countries to capture a potential market more competitively,” Foo elaborated.

During their meeting in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, the Singaporean businesspeople learned about the economic potential of East Java in a presentation by the provincial assistant secretary for economic affairs Hadi Prasetyo.

One delegation member, who represents an air-conditioner manufacturer, for example, expressed his company’s interest in working with a local partner to open up a new factory in East Java.

Singapore has become one of the main export destinations of East Java—after Japan, US, China, Taiwan and Malaysia—with gold, silver, metal, jewelry, cigarettes and palm oil as the main export commodities. Last year, the value of exports from East Java reached US$17.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, Ridwan Hassan, said that Singapore and Indonesia needed to complement each other.

“Indonesia needs foreign investment to drive its economic development, while Singapore needs Indonesia to develop its business,” he said.

Hassan said that this cooperation was also an opportunity for Indonesian business players to team up with their Singaporean counterparts as both countries were facing the economic slowdown.

Data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) shows that Singapore was the largest contributor of foreign investment in Indonesia in 2015 with $5.9 billion, a 20 per cent share of the total foreign investment coming in last year. In 2014, the country invested $5.8 billion in Indonesia.

Singapore’s manufacturing activity is at its lowest point since December 2012, as factory output, new orders and employment all fell last month, reported The Straits Times.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – an early indicator of manufacturing activity – contracted for the eighth straight month to post a reading of 48.5 in February, a level last seen in 2012.

A reading below 50 shows that more purchasing managers reported a deterioration in business than those noting an improvement.