Batam News Asia

28/11/2025

Singapore Robotics Push: NTU Opens Advanced Lab for AI Humanoids.

A 900 square meter corporate laboratory dedicated to advancing humanoid robotics officially opened at NTU on November 27. The facility, named the Schaeffler NTU Corporate Lab: Intelligent Mechatronics Hub, marks the third phase of collaboration between NTU and Germany’s motion technology company Schaeffler since 2017. Supported by Singapore’s National Research Foundation under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 plan, the project is part of a joint funding pool totaling 70 million dollars allocated to the collaboration from 2017 to 2029.

28/11/2025

Bank Competition in Asia: Bank of Singapore Accelerates Hiring and Tech Investments.

Asia’s fast-growing population of high-net-worth individuals continues to reshape the regional financial landscape. Capgemini’s 2024 world wealth report showed global high-net-worth wealth rising 4.2%, while Asia Pacific recorded 4.8% growth. The region also saw a 2.7% increase in high-net-worth individuals, forming a wider client base for private banks.

Bank of Singapore, the private banking arm of OCBC, is positioning itself at the center of this momentum. Its assets under management climbed nearly 20% to exceed USD 145 billion in the third quarter of 2025, up from USD 120 billion when CEO Jason Moo took over in early 2023. Despite raising the minimum account size from USD 3 million to USD 5 million, the bank maintains strong inflows from wealthy clients.

28/11/2025

Global Health Watch: Experts Warn Bird Flu Could Spark Severe Pandemic.

Bird flu, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, has swept through wild birds, poultry, and even mammals in recent years, leading to the culling of hundreds of millions of animals. Dr Marie Anne Rameix Welti, medical director at France’s Institut Pasteur Respiratory Infections Center, cautioned that the greatest threat lies in the virus adapting to infect humans more effectively. If the H5 strain gains the ability to spread between people, she said, it could become a pandemic level virus.

28/11/2025

Global scientists warn that the H5 bird flu virus could become dangerous if it mutates for human transmission, but current pandemic risk remains low thanks to stronger preparedness, vaccines and antivirals. Read full details in the article.

Scientists say H5 avian influenza remains low-risk but demands stronger global readiness

28/11/2025

Singapore is accelerating its robotics edge with NTU’s new AI driven humanoid robotics lab developed with Schaeffler, focusing on advanced actuators, industrial applications and talent development for the future of automation. Read full details in the article.

New NTU–Schaeffler lab accelerates development of humanoid robots for industry transformation

27/11/2025

A deep investigation into the Hong Kong fire that exposed fatal gaps in safety, tradition, and accountability. How did a modern city let a preventable disaster unfold?

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The Hong Kong fire reveals fatal weaknesses in building safety, emergency response, and high-rise renovation standards.

27/11/2025

Apple is projected to surpass Samsung in 2025 and hold the top global smartphone position through 2029, fueled by strong iPhone 17 demand and a major worldwide upgrade cycle. Read full details in the article.

iPhone upgrade boom and new device lineup position Apple to surpass Samsung after 18 years

27/11/2025

KPDN Johor has issued over RM676,000 in fines to traders violating pricing and measurement laws, while also reinforcing food security ahead of the Northeast Monsoon. Transparency and consumer trust remain key priorities. Read full details in the article.

KPDN intensifies statewide checks as monsoon season approaches and food supply stability becomes priority

27/11/2025

Taiwan has announced a landmark 40 billion USD defense boost spanning 2026 to 2033, strengthening deterrence as tensions with China rise and signaling a major shift in regional security dynamics. Read full details in the article.

New multiyear spending plan strengthens deterrence as tensions with China intensify

27/11/2025

Mental Health Education Boost: New Scholarship to Train Future Therapists.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) announced a new scholarship funded by a 3 million SGD contribution from the Elaine and Eduardo Saverin Foundation. This marks the largest single scholarship gift ever received by the Master of Clinical Mental Health and Psychotherapy (MCMHP) program at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

27/11/2025

Johor Enforcement: Over RM600,000 Issued In Fines To Errant Traders.

Johor’s Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) has taken firm action against traders flouting market regulations, issuing more than RM676,000 in compound notices this year. The enforcement push comes as authorities work to safeguard consumer trust and ensure stable food supplies ahead of the Northeast Monsoon.

27/11/2025

Hong Kong Fire Disaster: 44 Dead, Nearly 300 Missing at Wang F*k Court.

The Hong Kong fire that consumed Wang F*k Court in Tai Po on 26 November 2025 was more than a local tragedy; it was a spectacular collapse of foresight, regulation, and urban design. What began as an ordinary blaze erupted into a rare Level 5 alarm—a severity unseen in Hong Kong for seventeen years. With forty-four confirmed deaths, including a firefighter, and nearly three hundred residents still missing, the inferno has ignited a fierce debate over the city’s dangerous compromises in the name of tradition.

The images of burned-out towers—once architectural promises of vertical progress—now stand as blackened monuments to a regulatory system that failed to prevent a well-known hazard from becoming a lethal accelerant. This Hong Kong fire marks a watershed moment, one forcing the city to confront the combustible artifacts of its past and the staggering human cost of policy inertia.