Daily Briefing: SG tightens border measures for travellers from Finland, Turkey; Robinsons plans to pay creditors next year

And renovation noise complaints rise as more people work at home.

From HumanResourcesOnline:

Singapore's Multi-Ministry Taskforce has announced the tightening of border measures for travellers from Finland and Turkey, in line with the increase in cases in both countries.

At the same time, the taskforce has extended its community surveillance testing operations to more identified groups in the community.

According to a media release by the Ministry of Health, all travellers entering Singapore from 28 November, 11:59 PM, who have a travel history to Finland and Turkey in the past 14 days, will be required to serve a 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at dedicated facilities, even if they have obtained approval to opt-out earlier.

Travellers from Fiji, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand are still allowed to apply to opt-out of dedicated SHN facilities and serve their 14-day SHN at their place of residence, provided they travelled to no other country/region than above-mentioned countries/regions including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, Macao, Mainland China, New Zealand, Taiwan and Vietnam, as of 26 November, in the last consecutive 14 days prior to entry; and are occupying their place of residence alone, or only with household members who are also persons serving SHN with the same travel history and duration of SHN.

All travellers are reminded to check the SafeTravel website for the most updated border measures before entering Singapore.

Read more here.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Taking Zoom calls for work can be tricky for Theodore Tan, whose flat in Admiralty is surrounded by units undergoing renovation.

“I have to mute myself, I speak only when I really need to and I have to hope there’s no hammering, drilling, or hacking going on,” said the 26-year-old researcher who works from home.

The peace and quiet he appreciated during Singapore’s COVID-19 "circuit breaker" period have been chipped away since some contractors got the green light to restart renovation work in mid-June.

When he received three separate notices of renovation work in his block a few weeks ago, frustration and resignation set in.

“Usually, I’d be at my work place five out of seven days a week and I wouldn't experience the noise. But now that I work from home, I experience it all the time,” he told CNA.

Read more here.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Creditors of Robinsons will have to wait until next year, likely between April and June, to get back what they are owed by the department store operator, two sources told CNA after a creditors’ meeting on 26 November.

Those who attended the online meeting were also told by liquidators KordaMentha that the two remaining Robinsons stores at The Heeren and Raffles City Shopping Centre will keep operating for closing-down sales until the middle or end of next month, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Robinsons announced in a separate press release that it will hold its final Black Friday sale on 27 November with discounts of up to 70% storewide.

“They want to continue selling down the assets, which include inventories at the stores, until mid-December or end-December. [The liquidators] said they can’t give a fixed date for the store closures because this is still a work in progress,” said one of the sources who attended the meeting.

“Then they will do the reconciliation and decide how much each creditor will get. It will be April to June 2021 when they can start to distribute the assets,” he added.

Read more here.