Saturday, June 2, 2018

Singapore braces for Trump-Kim storm

Source Website: http://www.asiaone.com/singapore/singapore-braces-trump-kim-storm
By  AFP, Asiaone, 01 June 2018


TRUMP MEETS KIM
PHOTO: TRUMP MEETS KIM
Picture posted by Marian Kamensky@MarianKamensky1 on 20 April 2018 at 5:37 AM

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbOgkHwXUAAEci0.jpg
https://twitter.com/MarianKamensky1/status/987309335654141953



SINGAPORE - Singapore hotel rooms are being snapped up, police are preparing to lock down the city and thousands of journalists are set to jet in for the greatest media circus on Earth - the US-North Korea summit.

Top officials are scrambling to salvage the historic meeting between President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un planned for June 12 in the city-state.

If the summit - already cancelled once by Trump before plans got back on track - does go ahead, then tiny, placid Singapore will be the unlikely ground zero for one of the biggest geopolitical events of recent times.



The summit  - already cancelled once by Trump before plans got back on track - does go ahead, then tiny, placid Singapore will be the unlikely ground zero for one of the biggest geopolitical events of recent times.
PHOTO: The summit  - already cancelled once by Trump before plans got back on track - does go ahead, then tiny, placid Singapore will be the unlikely ground zero for one of the biggest geopolitical events of recent times.
Picture posted by AFP on 14 May 2018

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwX9CkkWtvCREETjGFo5tYJ6NejZJHGHDKSfHUiV97eHz5aTk-55oPaEnUhT6PcwIB6qJui4G3_4n_tpMrnoMrTiHmrqd6Oj0VvQLzuJ5-ganUgSKurqR9HUCKHueujiWXEekFRtI5bo/s1600/o-1-1.jpg
https://www.globalvillagespace.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/o-1.jpg
https://www.globalvillagespace.com/n-korea-will-never-fully-give-up-nuclear-weapons-top-defector/



The delegations of US and North Korean officials, along with their security details, are expected to be huge.

But they are likely to pale in comparison to the gigantic media pack set to swarm the tropical city-state.

Some 3,000 people are expected to apply for media accreditation, sources involved in planning the event who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP.

It should easily eclipse the contingent of journalists at the last comparable event in Singapore, the 2015 meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan's then-leader Ma Ying-jeou. Hundreds of journalists witnessed that meeting.

MEDIA INVASION
There was a foretaste of the coming invasion this week as reporters camped out at the upscale Fullerton hotel to get a glimpse of Kim Chang Son, Kim's de facto chief of staff, who is in Singapore to lay the ground for the meeting.

Meanwhile top hotels rumoured to be summit venues - the frontrunner is the five-star Shangri-La, where the Xi-Ma meeting took place - are almost fully booked.

But while world leaders hold their breath amid rising hopes a summit could lead to Pyongyang permanently abandoning its nuclear weapons programme, some Singaporeans were more concerned about the potential disruption to their peaceful lives.



Placid Singapore braces for Trump-Kim storm and world leaders hold their breath amid rising hopes a summit could lead to Pyongyang permanently abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.
PHOTO: Placid Singapore braces for Trump-Kim storm and world leaders hold their breath amid rising hopes a summit could lead to Pyongyang permanently abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.
Picture posted by AFP on 01 June 2018

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https://www.globalvillagespace.com/placid-singapore-braces-for-trump-kim-storm/



Chang Anthony posted on Facebook that the meeting in the squeaky-clean city-state - calm and stable to the point of sometimes being mocked as boring - was "going to cause us inconvenience".

"Can government declare a (public holiday) for this special day?" he asked.

"Oh crap, two most unpopular leaders in the world coming here for world peace," lamented Timothy Klein on the site.

Security will certainly be onerous, with large numbers of police set to be deployed and extensive road closures expected around the summit venue.

FREE DRINKS FOR DELEGATES
But Lim Tai Wei, a fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asia Institute, played down fears the event could cause widespread disruption.

"You have to bear in mind that the country has the experience of hosting the Xi-Ma meeting in 2015, and also previously having hosted past US presidents," he told AFP.

While some may lament the sudden influx of media and diplomats, businesses see it as an opportunity.

In a city famous for the "Singapore Sling" cocktail, watering hole Escobar is proving the country's bartenders can still rise to the occasion with two special summit drinks.

The "Trump" is a blue, bourbon-based cocktail while the "Kim" is a red-coloured cocktail with soju, a Korean liquor, as its base. Both cost $12.60, a reference to the summit's expected date.

The bar - named after drug kingpin Pablo Escobar - will also have a "US-North Korea showdown" where customers who order a tray of 20 shots get to compete in a game of "rock, paper, scissors" while wearing gloves emblazoned with the countries' flags.

And there is a special treat for weary summit participants.

"If you can show that you're a delegate attending the event, I'll buy you a round of drinks on the house," owner Stan Sri Ganesh told AFP.



 Allow us to be the small host offering our humble way to fly you around.
PHOTO: Allow us to be the small host offering our humble way to fly you around. We are very sorry, we would like to offer you SIA for your flying needs. Hope you will like it.
Reuters file photo
Singapore Airlines flight attendants pose for photos at a presentation of the airlines' newly launched cabin products in Singapore, Nov 2.
Picture posted by Today on 07 November 2017

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https://www.todayonline.com/business/impact/singapore-airlines-q2-net-profit-nearly-triples-s190-million

 

The Singapore Airlines sarong kebaya is special to Au, who was a Singapore Girl for 15 months before she was talent-spotted and quit flying for showbiz.
PHOTO: The Singapore Airlines sarong kebaya is special to Au, who was a Singapore Girl for 15 months before she was talent-spotted and quit flying for showbiz.
TNP PHOTOS: CHOO CHWEE HUA
Picture posted by Sharon Au, styleXstyle Team on 06 June2016 - former actress-host Sharon Au

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https://negi.wordpress.com/2016/06/06/star-style/


By  AFP, Asiaone, 01 June 2018



Reference
[1] AFP, Asiaone, Singapore braces for Trump-Kim storm, posted on 01 June 2018, http://www.asiaone.com/singapore/singapore-braces-trump-kim-storm