The NHS and housing crisis is largely due to huge and systematic defunding and privatisation and has very little to do with over population or immigration. Don't be so quick to retreat to the culture and language of mass media and have a little think about the real up and down sides of helping a large portion of people that have helped make this country very rich and are being brutalized by their own government. The majority of Hong Kong residents are richer and better educated than many of us the in UK and will only add to our collective intelligence and wealth, if you're in to that sort of thing.
>I voted Brexit and this is great news. Cool >Hopefully your strange mass generalisation can be course corrected abit. But that would be foolish considering the black or white stances people take on effectively, everything. A bad decision is still a bad decision. There's no getting around it by trying to shame people.
This is Karma. Bet you wish you didnt vote Brexit based only on halting immigration now, huh? Because nothing has changed in regards to immigration it seems and your broke counties now get no money from the EU. You now can't travel as easily either. What did you win from brexit? Nothing but a crap deal and more immigration. Doesnt seem to be working too well for you guys now, huh? I'm glad its not. You never deserved anything good if you voted based on bigoted ideals.
[NAFA][Poly] All about NAFA for prospective students! (mainly SOAD stuff)
Hi there! NAFA grad from COVID batch here! I previously wrote tips to not waste time at NAFA. Currently studying in NUS. If you're looking for post O levels/ITE options, look no further! 4 years ago, I attended NAFA's open house after receiving my O level results and back then I was as clueless as the many DMs I've received asking about NAFA ;) . So I'm making this post to clear those doubts! Edit: Added academic calendar to general curriculum and important degree update
Content
Things to note before entering NAFA
What is NAFA and who is it for
Available Courses
When and how to apply
Application Timeline
Financial Aid
During your study
Useful Acronyms
Life at NAFA
Understanding NAFA's SOAD Standard
General curriculum
Electives
Using workshops/Loaning of equipment
Internship
Overseas Immersion/School Exchange Programme
CCA
Post-Diploma
Furthering studies at NAFA
Furthering studies at a local university
Finding Work
Things to note before entering NAFA
[1] What is NAFA and who is it for? NAFA, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is Singapore's pioneering art school. It is a private arts institution. It provides diploma studies with a study duration of 3 years just like poly. The special thing about NAFA is that it provides 1-year degree programmes which any student (usually from relevant diploma courses) can pick up. Well, we always say 'art is subjective', it is a freedom of expression. The school is really open to anyone (and that is on the account that you have a portfolio or passed the test). Literally, you can have aunties and uncles as your classmates! You also have people doing art because it's fun but in all seriousness do not sign up if that's what you think. I'd like to think of NAFA as a school that guides you in the beginning and later on they just kind of let everyone be independent learners. Anybody can say that NAFA teaches you the foundation but they do not intend to fully teach you long term or up to a professional level. The school is excellent for people who have existing art skills (you've won SYF, art awards, distinction in art before you were even 17 years old) and wish to be a local artist. It is also great for people who are passionate and have some sort of basic skill or are/have developing skills already (that's me!) however this group should avoid Fine Arts. You can also be passionate and start on a blank slate but be prepared to work doubly hard for the grades. The school is not competitive, it depends on talent to stand out. Do not come if you are doing for the sake of the diploma because the difficulty of NAFA's diploma is no joking matter. Dropping out is common in every course and you do not wish to contribute to that. That is also the whole point of NAFA charging exorbitant school fees so that you don't run away. Many people actually bet their future on NAFA because they couldn't go to poly/uni course of their choice and it ends up being wasted because it's not what they wanted! You may have heard people of saying that the school's standard is trash but the truth is, it's not the school's problem 100% of the time. For students looking to enter NAFA Foundation Programme, it's still new and dodgy. I strongly advise you guys to take O levels and head to Poly instead if you still wish to pursue further education at local universities. I personally find no point in skipping a year and getting L1R4>25 with an O level cert where you might've passed math seems to be a more lucrative choice to use for entering NAFA. The only benefit you're getting from the programme is a debt $$$. Entry requirements: O Level: L1R4 equal or less than 25 points excluding English (can use CCA points) ITE: Full-time Higher Nitec or Nitec Other Local/International Admission Requirements Important note: NAFA diplomas do not equate with polytechnic diplomas. NAFA being the oldest art school does not mean that it is the best place to go instead of Laselle. [2] Available Courses One misconception is that NAFA has double diploma programmes for 3D Design. I'd like to announce that it is false. The school is not capable of teaching 2 types of diploma at a time but rather mash it up. So if you intend to take my course for example Diploma in Design (Landscape and Architecture), it is usually the 1st word that is mainly taught which is 'Landscape'. List of courses: School of Art and Design 3D Design
[3] When and how to apply? Once you received your results is usually the time applications are open. Local and international students have until March to apply. It varies annually. More here ->How to apply Method of Application: Online portfolio submission or physical admission test Neither is better than the other. You method depends on whether you can show what you have within a given deadline. Online Portfolio Submission Minimum 10 images, various mediums allowed and a short writeup of 100 words. 1.Make the portfolio for the course that you want To make them pick you directly for the course, make it look like you are built for the course. 2. Have a variety of work Fine Arts doesn't only consist of drawings, it can also include some sort of sculpture or performance work. Same goes for the other departments. Click here for what each course requires. If you wish to showcase a single type of work because you are unable to show more, it can make your portfolio look okay/bad compared to other people. 3. A passionate statement Only 100 words. Tbh I wrote what I wished to do after my diploma (plans have since changed and it was an odd statement lol). I don't suggest writing about your contribution to the sch because as long as you're a student you're contributing. Make it short and simple. In case anyone is wondering, my application portfolio was mediocre, showing 11 images consisting of sketches/paintings/photos. If you have a god-tier portfolio because you have that artistic talent, there's a good chance to achieve a 1st-year full-coverage scholarship once you step into NAFA. You can submit whenever you want but my estimated deadline was 2 weeks after applying at the open house which waived my application fees ($70 better treat yourself Haidilao). Admission Test (if someone has taken the test feel free to provide more info) The test dates are staggered once per month from January-March. Held in groups. Consists of a drawing test and write-up. I only know that the drawing test isn't difficult. People who took the test do not intend to submit a portfolio as it's quick and efficient. Nothing much to add on. Important note: If you are writing a 2nd choice as a safety net please be cautious. I do not recommend as you may get the 2nd choice instead if the slots for your 1st choice becomes full. They will just shift you to the 2nd choice and that's where the 'appeal' part comes. Choose to submit a portfolio if you can commit to the deadline, it usually gives you an upper hand over admission test applicants because you're showcasing more. [4] Application Timeline (I only know O levels if anyone can kindly tell me I'll update) O levels: January Receive results > submit JAE > apply for NAFA February Wait for JAE AND NAFA results > receive JAE results 1st > receive NAFA results 2nd You’ll receive NAFA results before poly starts unless you apply late. I applied during Jan on the day of the open house and got my results mid-end Feb. March is the last month to receive results. [5] Financial Aid NAFA Financial Aid Now, we all know private school isn't cheap and many passionate young souls I've met depend heavily on financial aid like I do. If you're a Singaporean with a tight family income, the bursary is attainable for you. It covers half of the annual school fee. Can only be taken once for each year of study. If you are able to claim the bursary for all your years, you’d pay a total of $7050. For those who are hoping to start at NAFA but is at a really tight end, you need perfect grades in art and portfolio to be considered a scholarship/merit in your first year. You'll need testimonials and pass the interview. If you ain’t good in art, pass this opportunity however you can work for scholarship/merit during your diploma years. I’d score close to the 4.0 (3.8X) in Year 1 in order to get a scholarship to cover my Year 2 fees. Other options are the 0% interest study loan by DBS. You can make use of your PSEA which you can also use your sibling account to cover your own sch fees. Last option but not really one is the student assistantship scheme should you already be a student of NAFA. The pay is peanuts, I would not recommend but it's nice to have a one-liner in your resume that you did some work for the school :). There are NAFA students with a possibly far worse situation than yours but they are extremely talented and hardworking to end up not paying a single cent. NAFA is really expensive so if you do intend to work to cover the fees, take care of your grades as well. It is not impossible to do so. I chose to not work as I was in a hectic design course and needed to maintain my grade for university. Next, you would need to understand how the system works.
During your study
[1] Useful Acronyms SOAD: School of Art and Design (Department) SOAMDT: School of Arts Management, Dance and Theatre SOM: School of Music D&M: Design and Media FA: Fine Arts 3DD: 3D Design FS: Fashion Studies FYP: Final Year Project (used in almost every SOAD course lol) OIP: Overseas Immersion Programme [2] Life at NAFA So you wish to know how life is like at NAFA? First thing, don't expect the same amount of glitz and glamour that exists in polys. It's much quieter where you won't even hear a mouse die. Because entry to the school is quite easy, the population regularly consists of graduated ITE students (can’t make it to poly/NAFA is the last golden ticket) alongside many international students. O level cert holders are like a small 10% or less. So if you’re young, prepare to take care of the older lot and expect to carry lazy people. You have to be very committed to the course and can’t skip class. More than 3 times and they start deducting marks. The workload is heavy and even if it comes in small numbers, it is intense. The number of student to lecturer ratio is not a big difference but later on, consultation times may not suffice. Facilities are sufficient unless you’re in a design course. There are CCAs in the sch but not all courses got time for it. Staying in school late is a common culture. Fine Arts students after class just camp in their respective studios and design students would camp till closing 11 pm at the computer lab waiting for renders to finish. Every student will experience staying late and you can say its #lifeatnafa. The culture here is not as toxic and dramatic as poly but more towards weird because we’re creative artsy-fartsy people. It’s easy to get along with course mates but there’s a chance for things to get somehow cranky along the way. Could be you or your classmate. Everyone is pretty open and wild. There’s a lack of competitiveness which is both good and bad. There won't be a course that goes without presentations. That's the point of producing works ain't it, to show it off to the audience. Group work to individual work ratio is about 3:6 so if you worry about bad groupmates, don't worry I've faced them too and it can't be helped ;). Carrying other people during group work is also common. NAFA does stand for lazy people what to do. Your complaints hold no power. (Arguably, many students want the school to make entry to the courses more difficult as there seem to be too many bums to handle) If you're mentally depressed or anything the school does try to help but no legit support system other than the ECG counsellor (which I find it practically useless). Now, the school deals with this quite often so they don't give a damn about your life. Ownself take care ownself is the usual term. School events anyone can participate: Open House (1-day Sentosa fun time with other Open House ambassador) Orientation (has a 1-night camp! Recommend) NAFA Fun Day Overseas Immersion Programme (1-3 weeks long, Asian countries. Recommend but need $) Student Assistantship Programme (1 year-long contract. Peanut pay) The list of programmes here may not seem much but you can add it in your portfolio (except Fun Day). There may be volunteer work available within some courses itself. Do try to be active And that's about it. Nothing special just expensive and less fun. [3] Understanding NAFA's SOAD Standard Take a look at what past graduates have produced within their 3 years as a student. Only you can judge whether the school is great or the right fit for your goals (in being able to attain this particular level of skill for XXX course once you graduate for example). The best standard can be found under the best graduate tab. 2020 The Grad Expectations Graduation Showcase [4] General Curriculum Academic Calendar The 1st semester of your study begins at the start of August and usually ends late November or early December depending on the type of assessment received. The 2nd semester begins in January till May. The span of 1 semester is always around 4 months with a 1-week break in between. We don't really have any sort of term 1/2 thing like poly and is much compressed, so breaks are less. However, you do get compensated with a 3-month vacation between years so that's fair. *Applicable to SOAD only Year 1 1st Semester: Foundation Study (not the same as NAFA Foundation programme for N level) + Basic art and design theory +General Education 2nd Semester: Course Foundation + General Education + Basic course theory (+ Electives) Year 2 1st Semester: 2nd Set of Course Foundation + Intermediate theory + 1st project + Basic report/essay writing (+ Electives) 2nd Semester: Last set of Course Foundation + Another set of projects (+ Electives) Year 3 1st Semester: Internship/School project (wouldn't want to get this) 2nd Semester: Final Year project (practically on your own) + Report/Essay writing + Research and development (+ Electives, not recommended to do during this semester) It’s clearly not much different from poly, slightly worse at certain points. Weeklyschool hours per week will increase each semester e.g year 1 sem 1 is 18hrs a week for classes, next semester you may get an additional 2-4 hrs increase of class time. The longest time I had for class each week was 24hrs, pretty sure the same goes for any SOAD course. Do expect late-night classes. It is inevitable because most lecturers are teaching part-time so do bear with them. Important note: For a lighter schedule, do electives early as that's one of the simplest things to do. The difference in timetable won't affect application to university. [5] Electives 1 common mistake students commit is not reading the student handbook (from studentnet)/contract on the number of credits required for graduation. They end up finishing their electives during Year 3 Semester 2 which is the time one should focus on their FYP. Start doing your electives once you’re in Year 1 Semester 2. Good planning consists of not stuffing your modules until it’s way past 24hrs/week (also known as overloading). You’re required to do cross-disciplinary modules 2-6 credits worth (meaning not related to your course, if you’re from D&M you have to do either FA/3DD/FS) and course-related electives worth 2-6 credits. Days before module registration, plan out the electives you want to do based on your given timetable and then rush to pick on the day of the module registration with no hesitation to secure your placement. You may have to do an elective that is unfamiliar to you. My sample plan: Year 1 sem 1: Can’t choose yet Year 1 sem 2: Photography (Highly recommend, popular as well but must have time and skill + a friend who's free who be your model). 2 credits Year 1 sem 2 special term (aka holiday): OIP to Hangzhou. China Academy of Arts for 3 weeks. Considered cross-disciplinary to FA. 3 weeks long. 4 credits Year 2 sem 1: Intro to Rapid prototyping from 3DD (laser cut/3D print) (didn’t really learn how to use the machine as there are technical officers and I messed up at the end but still passed, great elective for embarrassing yourself if you’re a 3DD student who frequents the workshop ;) ). 2 credits Year 2 sem 2 - onwards: No more electives can focus on FYP Important note: Plan well so you accumulate just nice 120 credits for graduation. No point in exceeding the total credits as you have to pay extra for it. If you miss a few credits for graduation, you will be retained for another semester to finish. Cheat tip: if you go on the OIP to China only, you instantly get cross-disciplinary credits. [6] Using Workshops/Loaning of equipment
The 3D workshop at wing B level 1 operates Mon-Fri 8 am to 6 pm but you need permission from the lecturer or Technical officer to use the machinery.
Laser cutting and 3D printing in the 3D workshop operates from Mon-Fri 10:30-4:30 pm and it is based on a first sign up first serve basis. Booking is always done a week prior to the day of actual usage and maximum of 4 people per day (unless you let others share your slot). Every Friday the slate inside the workshop outside the room is wiped clean for students to book for the week ahead. Even if your name is on the booking board and you don't end up cutting, you will get a temporal ban after multiple attempts. Do ask the Technical officer about the laser cutting template as well and follow accordingly when you create the template so as to not cause a problem of cleaning up your drawing which may overtake another timeslot.
Camera equipment for photography/filming can be loaned from a guy named 'Jack'. Priority goes to courses that require it, followed by the photography elective and so on. Loan lasts for a week and extension can be asked for after loan period.
Photography Studio/Darkroom use needs to have a form signed, given to 'Jack' and then approved. Literally, find this guy for all your photography needs.
Fine Art workshop time depends on the course instructor. People from other courses are free to walk in when its empty but usage not possible.
[7] Internships Usually done in Year 3 Semester 1, this is one of the key semesters every student should complete for it plays a very important role in your portfolio for finding a job post-graduation. The school has a reputable network, however for courses like Fine Art and illustration the intern positions may be limited because Singapore is not very welcoming for such talents. There are top companies who are willing to hire NAFA students on the basis that they have good grades and a juicy portfolio. So if you want the best, you got to be the best. [8] Overseas Immersion/School Exchange Programmes Slots for OIP is limited (especially the ones to China), requires an interview. I think the max for some trips were 35-40 people at most. There are subsidies available and coverage varies. Places NAFA has flown to: *Xiamen (3 weeks) *Hangzhou, China Academy of Arts (3 weeks) *Beijing, Beijing Technology University (3 weeks) Bangkok (1 week?) Korea (might've stopped) Japan (might've stopped) *Special programme during Year 1 Semester 2 vacation only I forgot the cost but I've personally have flown to Hangzhou. Best experience ever despite getting a C. Crazy stuff happened at one of the finest Arts school in China :) Important note: If you miss the chance to fly, fret not, NAFA's degree programme is a collaboration with a foreign university and they will open an exchange programme for 1 month (that is if COVID doesn't persist). Not sure about the cost though. [9] CCA (The price list is not updated as of 2020) List of currently available CCAs:
Short story: Long ago, I actually joined the photography club only to end up leaving before they even started anything because everybody was too busy to meet up and thus disbanded. During my time, Muay Thai is the most popular followed by Yoga. Do check out NAFA OSC account on IG to find out what they do. Looks like they added Korean language class too hmm
Post-Diploma
[1] Furthering Studies at NAFA NAFA Degree courses for Arts Management and Music Update (thanks to the comment below): NAFA is going to change its programmes and collaboration starting from AY2021/2022. The new degree courses are collaborating with UAL (University of Arts, London) and it’s changing from one year course to two-year course which includes 5-7 weeks of going to the colleges in London. All the courses are affected except for Arts Management and Music. Students with A Level certificates, as well as those without relevant diplomas will be allowed to enrol into NAFA’s degree programmes. The stuff I wrote may not apply anymore but I will still leave it here as a reference for NAFA's 1-year degree. The degree website is empty for now. How do you determine if taking NAFA degree is worth it and why should you take or not take the NAFA degree? There’s always a mixed bag of opinions over the degree. Personally, I’m not a fan of it but I won’t be biased and input the pros and cons that can better aid in one’s decision. PROS 1.Existing CGPA from diploma is Low Finding a job with the private diploma cert and low grades can affect your career progression. Make up for the mistakes that were done during the diploma study and try to do well for the degree. 2. High CGPA, expecting a scholarship (or free ride) for the degree course If you easily meet these 3 criteria (1) Singapore's local unis are too expensive for your taste, (2) you might be older than 21 years old and need to work ASAP, (3) "broke" but did quite well during your diploma and has an excellent portfolio to show, taking the degree might not be such a bad option. In some instances, the 1-year degree + years of work experience can allow one to take up a master degree at local uni if the pre-requisites are met. 3. Changing career path (still art-related) It's possible to change paths from design to fine arts. However, for a degree that lasts only for 1 year, it is impossible to acquire a decent knowledge at a degree level compared to the diploma stage in my opinion. Usually, the people who apply for the design degree e.g Spatial Design, have prior knowledge from the related course of study either from NAFA or other polys. 1 year is not enough but never said that it’s impossible and has been done over the years. 4. Increase in starting salary Nobody says this when asked why they want to take the degree but I'm sure they want an increase in starting salary. If you have a fear of starting out with low pay and want to bump it up by sacrificing a short amount of time and money, go for it. CONS 1.Not a legit degree This isn’t a biased answer but an honest one. NAFA's degree is not a professional degree. 1-year won't be enough to acquire a lot of knowledge. There are no internships and full training of Softwares/techniques whatsoever. It's basically aimed at NAFA/poly students who have an existing skillset and internship experience during their diploma studies or international students with similar qualifications. I'm not discouraging anyone who wishes to take the degree because some companies do take in students and if they're lucky, they can work for them after graduation. 2. Not 100% applicable for postgraduate studies in Singapore The local universities may not kindly cater to all NAFA degrees. A number of students after getting a NAFA degree would choose to study overseas to pursue a masters. If getting NAFA's degree is a mean of broadening your studying experience by going overseas, why not? One real-life example that I've heard of works is landscape and architecture diploma + Spatial Design degree + 3 years of work experience at a good company + an excellent portfolio which eventually led this person to enter NUS Masters in Landscape Architecture. Spatial Design has a chance for relevant postgraduate courses although this may not be the same for the other NAFA degrees. 3. Not worth if you are a Singaporean The cost of NAFA's degree is considered affordable for an international student and it was practically built for them. If a Singaporean were to study at local uni for 3/4 years including subsidies + tuition grant for a design degree, it'd still be cheaper than a NAFA degree. Plus an actual degree from the public unis is still considered much valuable. If you stand for better higher educational standards after staying there for 3 years, I say work hard and flee. [2] Furthering studies at a local university It’s not impossible. It was already allowed a million years ago. It just a matter of effort you put during your diploma years. The current standard at NAFA has dwindled where only less than 10 NAFA grads emerge victoriously so don't be surprised knowing that NAFA barely has high flyers, the school doesn't even push for it. Even my juniors don't know my degree existed 1 year ago... 2 things to note:
NAFA diploma is not allowed entry into many courses that are irrelevant from the diploma unless the GPA is high. The usual entry requirements are GPA 3.5-4.0 also dependent on the 10th percentile, juicy portfolio and testimonial (I didn't need it FYI)
Chances are higher for relevant degrees although any degree will definitely have entry requirements to meet. Some degrees require O level pass in elementary/additional math (they say they don't check anymore after 2019 but I don't want to play out my chances). I know of students who were optimistic about their GPA but they did not read the instructions beforehand.
You will be fighting with the best from poly, JC and beyond. Do your best to represent yourself as a student from NAFA and you'll find a way to stand out from the crowd. A warning note to future/existing international NAFA students: I know most of y’all only started living in Singapore just before the beginning of the diploma. I don’t know whether your international qualifications can equate with O levels so consider your future plans in Singapore carefully. My dear international classmates weren’t called up for uni interview (GPA already wasn’t helping, no offence) and the super stringent admission criteria crippled their hopes. Many have remained in NAFA to do the 1-year degree or have returned to their home country. I cannot answer for employment rates. If neither one is the option you want to end up with, do take note. [3] Finding Work COVID really struck a lot of people hard. I can count the number of my coursemate who is employed with my 10 fingers or less. The full-time employment rate is terrible, believe it or not. The school hides it like the fine print in the student contract. Here in the Graduate Employment Survey, you can see the ending choices of NAFA graduates. I really can't tell the success rate of one finding a job even based on IG stories itself. I see quite a number of freelancer or people doing other things. Who will remain in the same industry? The top 10% in the cohort but even the best have struggled or are still struggling to find a job. NAFA students are not only fighting among themselves, there are poly students with similarly named courses out there too with a proper educational lineup that a NAFA diploma can't compare with. A portfolio is usually the passport for finding work and the past 3 years of study is meant to fill it up. Don't waste time being a stubborn student especially when you will be spending a lot of money to study. The best way to make yourself look hire-able is to definitely have good grades and a portfolio. Can't emphasise anything else other than that to convince the company to hire you.
Wrapping it up
NAFA is one of the schools that provides a unique and alternative route away from the usual poly lifestyle. I had some crazy times in there be it social life or workload. It isn't a bad school (I quote 5/10) but if you can work for what you love, you'll do just fine. The Open House is open and I suggest for those interested to take a look. A whole bunch of admission guides are up for talks. NAFA Virtual Open House If you guys have any questions, comment down below so others can read or if you're shy, drop me a DM but I may be busy to reply. Thanks for dropping by!
Seeing as it's pretty much forbidden to question vaccines on reddit (quite a conspiracy in itself), I'll post this here. It's pretty much guaranteed that the Covid vaccine will have severe side effects (untested experimental technology with zero liability, what could go wrong), we'll need to figure out how to avoid the fallout. Some thoughts :
move to a Covid free country. Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore... Many of these allow you to enter now if you can get a visa.
get the longest visa you can and stay in country. A number of countries have already started to require foreign visitors to be vaccinated. They're pushing for a vaccine passport, at which point it'll be even easier to require this. If you already have a visa, they'll probably try to enforce this when you leave and reenter, or when you extend your visa. As such you'll want to get in somewhere safe and don't exit until this has blown over.
Note that Thailand has a requirement for foreigners to report every few months, they might use this as an excuse to require vaccination.
don't date vaccinated people if you want healthy kids. It's brutal to say, but those who have been vaccinated might pass on serious genetic damage to their children. Save yourself the drama and go for someone who doesn't want to get vaccinated. Which is also a sign of someone with a healthy skepticism of their government and big pharma, which is a good thing in my book (ironically the skeptics reddit seems to be all about ganging up on people who are actually skeptical of these actors).
On December 4th 1977, a Malaysia Airlines 737 was hijacked on approach to Kuala Lumpur. The crew told ATC that they were being ordered to fly to Singapore—but minutes later, the hijacker shot both pilots and the 737 crashed into a swamp, killing everyone on board. The mystery: who did it, and why?
Before MH370 disappeared in the Indian Ocean, before MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, Malaysia Airlines was known for a different, equally mysterious tragedy: the hijacking and crash of flight 653, a Boeing 737-200 on a short domestic flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur. Who exactly was behind the incident, and why they crashed the plane, remain unknown to this day. What follows is my best attempt to fit together all the known facts, weed out the misinformation, and clarify the debate about what might have happened. ••• For a long time, the discussion of the crash was muddied by the fact that the final report on the incident was never publicly released by the Malaysian government. That changed in 2019, when a Malaysian blogger found a copy of the report in a library in Singapore and republished verbatim its findings—including the cockpit voice recording, which was appended to the report. Last time this crash was mentioned on UnresolvedMysteries, this information was unavailable, and in light of the revelations of the CVR transcript, much of the content of that post appears to have been misleading or outright wrong. The following is the sequence of events as revealed by the cockpit voice recording and other reliable sources of information, followed by an analysis of the possible suspects. ••• Part 1: The Flight Malaysia Airline System (as Malaysia Airlines was then known) in 1977 operated most of its short domestic flights using the Boeing 737-200, a popular workhorse aircraft that could carry about 100 passengers. One such aircraft (photo) was used for flight 635, a short, popular route from the northwestern city of Penang to the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and then onward to Singapore. On the 4th of December 1977, there were 93 passengers and seven crew on board, led by Captain G. K. Ganjoor and First Officer Karamuzaman Jali. Among the passengers were citizens of 14 different countries, including the Malaysian Agriculture Minister, two world bank officials, and the Cuban ambassador to Japan. Several of these figures would find themselves (posthumously) caught up in the intrigue that followed the crash. Flight 653 departed Penang at 19:21 and climbed normally to its cruising altitude, which it held for a short time before beginning its descent into Kuala Lumpur. The descent was completely normal until around the time the plane passed through 4,000 feet, just minutes from landing. It was at that point that some sort of commotion in the passenger cabin or the galley attracted the attention of the pilots. Everything henceforth is quoted directly from the cockpit voice recording. The first sign of trouble is heard when Captain Ganjoor exclaims, “What the hell is that,” followed moments later by, “What is going on by there [sic]?” A knocking sound is heard on the cockpit door, and Ganjoor says, “Open, it’s open. Ask him to come in.” At that time, the protocol was to assume that any hijacker’s intention was to land the plane in another country in order to seek asylum or ransom the passengers, and pilots were expected to comply with hijackers’ demands. If the hijacker threatened to blow up the plane, the pilots were not only expected but were obligated to let the hijacker into the cockpit if he so desired. The hijacker now enters the cockpit and says one word: “Out.” Confused by this, Captain Ganjoor replies, “We are, er, you don’t want us to land?” “Yes. Out,” the hijacker replies. “Cut all radio contact.” “I beg your pardon?” “Cut all radio contact, now.” Before complying, First Officer Jali informs air traffic control that flight 653 is going around—leaving the traffic pattern and climbing away from the airport. It’s important for ATC to know what the plane is doing in order to prevent collisions. “Where are we now?” the hijacker asks. “We are over, er, over Kuala Lumpur,” both pilots answer, talking over one another. “Cut all radio contact,” the hijacker repeats. Captain Ganjoor assumes the hijacker wants to go to some third country, perhaps to seek asylum. Such hijackings were frequent in the 1970s. But this is a short domestic flight, and there isn’t much fuel on board. Ganjoor tries to explain this to the hijacker, stating, “Yes, but we don’t have much fuel sir to go anywhere. We—just enough up to Singapore, whatever you want.” But the hijacker doesn’t reply. The pilots run through several procedures before Ganjoor again asks, “Anything you want us to do, sir?” The hijacker replies with a chilling line: “Sorry, it’s time to put you two out. You are landing now.” Ganjoor once again sounds confused. “No sir—er, you want us to land?” “No, no,” the hijacker answers. Ganjoor launches into a lengthy but courteous explanation of why he has to keep talking to air traffic control. Although the hijacker is silent throughout the lecture, he seems to be convinced by the end, as he eventually says, “Contact them, say you are going to Singapore.” After Ganjoor finishes apprising ATC of his intentions, the hijacker chimes in again to ask (with a please, even) to lock the cockpit door. Several unintelligible conversations ensue, followed by more attempts by Captain Ganjoor to explain his options to the hijacker, all of which go unanswered. Eventually the hijacker agrees to let Ganjoor tell the passengers what’s going on, but he elects not to. A flight attendant enters the cockpit, and Ganjoor briefs him or her on his intentions. “Now, er, don’t say anything to the passengers, OK? And I don’t want any nonsense from the passengers, OK, and OK, merely tell them that we are diverting to Singapore due to weather or whatever, OK?” A few minutes later, Captain Ganjoor asks, “Do you want us to convey any message to Singapore?” “[Unintelligible] just land there,” the hijacker replies. Shortly after this, the hijacker says, “You are landing now.” “No sir, we are now—we have climbed to 21,000 feet, and then we are—” Ganjoor is here interrupted by the hijacker. “We are serious!” the man exclaims. “—about, er Malacca, we are still about Malacca,” Ganjoor concludes. As Ganjoor reports his position over Malacca to ATC, the hijacker issues another ominous warning: “I think the two of you are getting out of hand.” The ensuing conversation is difficult to follow due to the large number of unintelligible lines. But the situation seems to stabilize after a few minutes. “How many miles more?” the hijacker asks. “About 70 miles, that’s Singapore,” said Ganjoor, possibly pointing out the window. It is important to note that by this time it was dark outside the aircraft with only surface lights visible. “Are we traveling over land?” asks the hijacker. “Well, we’re almost near Batu Pahat—are you familiar with Batu Pahat?” Ganjoor says. “Now we are going in for Singapore landing.” At that moment, flight 653 begins to descend toward Singapore. Ganjoor again informs the hijacker that they will do whatever he wants, but they have to land in Singapore first. This is followed by a bizarre exchange as a flight attendant comes to the cockpit and apparently takes everyone’s drink orders. The hijacker then says something unintelligible, to which Ganjoor replies, “Whatever you say, sir. Everything is alright, sir, you don’t—er, we’re not going to do anything funny, no, never.” At that moment First Officer Jali announces that they are passing through 11,000 feet. “What is this?” the hijacker asks. “You bluff us!” About one minute later (the exact time is difficult to say as the transcript is not time-stamped) the sequence of events takes a dark turn. A bang suddenly erupts in the cockpit as the hijacker fires a gun, which is followed by a groan, probably from the first officer. “No, please don’t!” Captain Ganjoor exclaims. Another gunshot rings out, and Ganjoor screams, “No, please, no!” The hijacker then fires his gun a third time, and Ganjoor says, “Please, oh, oh…,” his words trailing off into a dying gasp. The transcript notes a loud thump, like that of something falling. Over the next approximately 40 seconds, no one speaks in the cockpit; the only sounds are an overspeed warning and a frantic flurry of knocking on the cockpit door. But within a relatively short time, the overspeed warning stops, and the sound of something brushing against the microphone is clearly heard on the tape. And then, someone says: “It won’t come up!” The transcript only notes that this is “not the voice of either pilot,” apparently suggesting that it is someone other than the original hijacker. Who is in the cockpit? “Still won’t come up!” someone says again. “It still won’t come up!” The overspeed warning comes back on, then turns back off. There are several unintelligible lines, for which the transcript provides the annotation, “Two persons, possibly involved in a struggle.” This is followed by a low altitude alert, the sound of someone moving around, and an unintelligible utterance in an unidentified foreign language. The overspeed warning activates again, and then the tape abruptly ends. ••• Part II: The Mystery Flight 653 plunged out of the sky in a steep dive near the village of Kampong Ladang in Johor state, near the border with Singapore. The 737 slammed into a swamp at high speed and disintegrated utterly, triggering a massive explosion which spewed mangled debris over a wide area. Search and rescue teams rushed to the site to look for survivors, but they only found small pieces of bodies; it was obvious that none of the 100 passengers and crew could have survived, making this (at the time) the deadliest plane crash in Malaysian history and the deadliest-ever aircraft hijacking. From that point, two parallel inquiries emerged: one to establish the facts of what happened, and another to determine who was responsible. The former inquiry produced the report which was republished online in 2019 and which contained the transcript paraphrased above. It also noted several other key facts. First of all, although some witnesses reported that the plane exploded in midair, the investigators found no evidence that the plane was anything other than intact when it hit the ground. And second, they noted that the departure from normal flight began with a large pitch up, followed by a large pitch down from which the recovery was unsuccessful. Notably, it did not conclude how many hijackers there were, who was controlling the plane at the end, or who was involved in the “struggle” after the hijacker shot the pilots. The report simply stated that the probable cause of the crash was the departure from controlled flight after the incapacitation of the crew, and left the rest to the criminal inquiry. ••• Although in the end no one was ever charged, there were some clues right off the bat in the hunt for the perpetrators. The air traffic controller provided the first hint, reportedly stating that the pilot told him the hijacker was with the Japanese Red Army. The Japanese Red Army, or JRA, was a communist organization which believed in bringing about worldwide revolution through terrorism. The group is perhaps best known for executing the 1972 Lod Airport attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, in which JRA terrorists with support from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacked travelers at Tel Aviv’s Lod Airport using guns and grenades, killing 26 and wounding 80. Prior to the crash of flight 653, the group had also hijacked three Japan Airlines flights (no one was harmed in any of these incidents), stormed a Shell oil facility in Singapore, stormed the French embassy in The Hague, stormed the American Insurance Associates building in Kuala Lumpur (hostages included the US consul), and carried out an attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport which killed four people. Malaysian authorities picked up this lead and ran with it publicly. Despite the government’s statements, the evidence that the JRA was responsible is rather scant. The CVR transcript does not contain any evidence of the exchange with ATC which reportedly contained the attribution to the JRA, nor is there anything in the transcript which would suggest a connection with the JRA or any other terrorist group. (However, there were several segments of the conversation which were marked as “unintelligible,” and the possibility that these contained some statement of allegiance cannot be ruled out.) Furthermore, I was unable to find any evidence that the JRA ever claimed responsibility for the hijacking, which is usually one of the first things a terrorist group does after it carries out an attack. If the JRA was responsible, it doesn’t make sense that they would keep it a secret. It’s also unclear who they intended to capture or kill, if anyone; the JRA was generally sympathetic to Fidel Castro’s regime, so the Cuban ambassador to Japan doesn’t seem like an obvious target. Although there was one Japanese citizen on the plane, probably “Tomio Goto” (based off the list of passengers attached to the official report), I couldn’t find any information about this passenger at all, let alone anything that would tie them to the JRA, which only had a few dozen members at the time. And finally, the Malaysian home minister denied that the JRA was responsible, and the Malaysian prime minister stated that only one hijacker was involved, a fact not consistent with an organized terrorist plot. One has to wonder, then, whether the Malaysian government simply blamed the JRA because it was an easy and uncontroversial culprit. This suspicion is reinforced by the identity of the most popular alternative suspect: the agriculture minister’s personal bodyguard. Because of the total destruction of the plane, the gun heard so clearly on the cockpit voice recording was never found, so its owner couldn’t be traced. But there was one gun which was already known to be on the plane, and it belonged to the bodyguard accompanying Malaysian Agriculture Minister Dato Ali Haji Ahmed. Furthermore, it was rumored that the pair flew this route frequently, and the bodyguard had previously gotten into a confrontation with Captain Ganjoor. On a previous flight, Ganjoor allegedly asked to take the guard’s gun to the cockpit with him, since no one was allowed to carry guns in the passenger cabin. This resulted in an argument of unclear length and intensity. Later, Malaysia Airlines allegedly issued a memo stating that the agriculture minister’s bodyguard was allowed to take his gun on board without handing it over to the pilot. A Malaysian MP asked whether these allegations were true during a parliamentary hearing on the crash in 1978, entering them into the public record, but he received no definitive answer. There exists no clear motive for the bodyguard to have perpetrated the hijacking, however. A grudge against Captain Ganjoor is somewhat believable, but then why play out a long, dramatic hijacking, only to kill Ganjoor and 99 others nearly an hour later? There is far too much missing information to say with any certainty that the guard was responsible. ••• Instead of working forward from a suspect to arrive at the crash, I decided to work backwards from the crash to profile a suspect. Based on the behavior of the hijacker, I think that the hijacking might not have been planned very long in advance, if it was planned at all. First of all, hijacking a plane while on final approach to the airport is quite unusual, and isn’t normally done by experienced hijackers because it provides little time to negotiate. Second, the hijacker did not seem to know where he wanted the pilots to take him, except that he really didn’t want to land in Kuala Lumpur. His desire to avoid landing in Malaysia bordered on desperation. This again points to a hijacking that was not meticulously planned. The hijacker didn’t seem too keen on going to Singapore either, however, and it was clear that he accepted this destination only with great reluctance. Furthermore, he seemed agitated and unsure of what was going on. Unable to see anything recognizable outside the plane due to the darkness, he repeatedly asked where they were, and towards the end of the flight he seemed to doubt that the pilots were telling the truth about their position. Based on the CVR transcript, I believe that in his intense state of paranoia, he thought the pilots were bluffing about going to Singapore. (“What is this? You bluff us!”) So what did he think they were doing instead of landing in Singapore that set him off so violently? The only definite demand he ever made was that they not fly to Kuala Lumpur, so I think the hijacker must have believed that the pilots were actually circling back to this airport, and that’s why he became agitated. His fear of landing in Kuala Lumpur—or of what awaited him there—was so intense that he opted to kill the pilots and himself rather than face that outcome. I also think he acted alone, because of the Prime Minister’s statement, his behavior during the flight, and his lack of a clear plan. Although he occasionally used the pronouns “us” and “we,” my opinion is that he was attempting to scare the pilots into believing there were more hijackers. It’s unclear what exactly happened in the final moments of the flight. It seems clear enough that the hijacker shot and killed (or mortally wounded) both pilots, but it’s not clear whether the third shot was intended to finish off Captain Ganjoor, or whether he turned the gun on himself. He might have remained alive given the “struggle” heard later on the CVR, but without hearing the actual tape, I can’t rule out the possibility that this is the sound of one or more people (such as flight attendants) attempting to move one of the dead pilots out of his seat in order to regain control of the plane. Also, if the hijacker did not kill himself, the utterances of “it won’t come up” are difficult to explain. If it was the hijacker who said these lines, that suggests that he didn’t intend to crash the plane, but had accidentally lost control while attempting to redirect it somewhere else. It’s possible he pulled up in an attempt to stop descending toward the airport, but did so far too steeply; then overcorrected in the opposite direction, putting the plane into a dive from which he could not recover. Alternatively, the transcript’s annotations suggest that this voice could belong to someone who is not the hijacker nor one of the pilots. One of the flight attendants could have heard the shots and then unlocked or beaten down the cockpit door. An article published four days ago suggests that security personnel on board the plane might also have done this. (The time between the last gunshot and the first sound of someone moving in the cockpit is about 40 seconds.) During that time, one of the pilots’ bodies could have bumped the yoke and put the plane into a dive. The flight attendant or security guard might then have attempted to reach over one of the pilots’ dead bodies to pull the plane out of the dive, but was unable to do so because the body was in the way, prompting him or her to say “it won’t come up.” The “struggle” involving multiple people could then have been multiple flight attendants or guards moving the pilot’s body out of the way. But by the time they succeeded in gaining access to the controls, if they did so at all, it was far too late, especially for someone who presumably had no knowledge of how to fly a Boeing 737. Ultimately, these clues do not point me to a particular person of interest. Most likely, the perpetrator was mentally ill, and either smuggled the gun on board or overpowered the bodyguard and stole it from him. It’s also possible that it was a scenario like the 1996 hijacking of Ethiopian Airlines flight 961. In that case, three men armed with broken bottles and an axe stormed the cockpit and ordered the captain to fly to Australia. They told the captain that there were 11 hijackers and that they would blow up the plane if he didn’t comply. (There were actually only 3 and they didn’t have a bomb.) They also said that they had escaped from prison and had been subjected to torture in Ethiopia and were seeking asylum abroad. The hijacker of flight 653 might well have been in a similar situation: suffering persecution in Malaysia and desperate to get anywhere else, only to become convinced by his own paranoia that they were landing in Kuala Lumpur, and that death would be preferable to going back. ••• Unfortunately, the case of flight 653 remains unsolved. But based on this analysis, here are some speculative questions to kick start the discussion: • What was the hijacker’s motive? • Did the bodyguard or the JRA have anything to do with it? • Did the hijacker kill himself before the crash? • Did the hijacker intend to crash the plane? I look forward to hearing your thoughts. EDIT: Since there's a lot of discussion of it, here are the three proposed scenarios for how the final minute went down, summarized as concisely as possible.
The hijacker shoots both pilots and attempts to take control of the plane, but inadvertently puts it into a dive. Passengers/crew break into the cockpit and subdue him but it's too late.
The hijacker shoots both pilots and deliberately puts the plane into a dive. Passengers/crew break into the cockpit and subdue him but it's too late.
The hijacker shoots both pilots and himself; the plane enters an uncontrolled climb followed by descent. Passengers/crew break into the cockpit and attempt to recover control but it's too late.
You may recognize me as the author of the series on solved plane crashes on CatastrophicFailure. This is my second post on UnresolvedMysteries regarding an unsolved plane crash; you can read the first post here.
[DIPLOMACY] Australia-Southeast Asia Commercial Protocols
August 1969:
It is safe to say that the Australian economy has undergone dramatic change in recent years. The rise of the East Asian “tiger” economies of Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Republic of China has seen the vast majority of Australian commerce shift towards Asia. Not two years ago, Japan replaced the United Kingdom (UK) as Australia’s biggest trading partner, with the gap between Tokyo and London likely to grow significantly following Britain’s ascension to the European Economic Community. Without privileged access to the British market, Australian exporters will now be forced to look east for new commercial opportunities, all but confirming that Australia’s economic future will lie in Asia and Asia alone. Just as Australian commerce has supported the rapid industrialisation of Japan and the UK, so too can it support the development of Southeast Asian markets. The Australian Government has therefore sought to initiate a commercial push into the burgeoning markets of non-communist Southeast Asia, both as a means of deepening Canberra’s ties with friendly regional partners and supporting Australia’s economic shift to Asia.
Singapore and Malaysia:
With the proclamation of Malaysia in 1963 and Singapore’s declaration of sovereignty in 1965, the two nations have now entered into a new era of commercial and political independence. Both nations are faced by significant structural challenges as they seek to develop advanced economies. Malaysia is wholly reliant on primary industries such as rubber and tin mining, while Singapore is confined to a small island almost entirely devoid of natural resources. Australia believes that it can play a crucial role in jointly developing the Malaysian and Singaporean economies, to the mutual benefit of all three nations. It therefore proposes the establishment of a Australia-Malaysia-Singapore Chamber of Commerce (AMSCC), to be headquartered in Singapore with additional chapters in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuching, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Australia offers to fully fund the creation of the AMSCC in the hopes that the organisation will meaningfully contribute to an increase in bilateral investment and trade between Australia and the two Southeast Asian nations. In addition to establishing the AMSCC, Australia hopes to support the industrialisation and development of the Malaysian and Singaporean economies through increased energy and raw material exports, as well as increased investment and financial cooperation. With respect to the former, Australia will issue separate requests to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for each government to drop import tariffs on Australian coal, iron ore, bauxite and nickel exports. Such a move would allow Australian exporters to fuel and equip Malaysian and Singaporean industrialisation, as they are doing in Japan via cheap coal and iron exports. The Australian Government is also willing to proactively direct machinery, chemical and precision instrument exports to Malaysia and Singapore should either national government be willing to decrease import tariffs on those goods as a means of supporting their respective industrialisation efforts. Beyond cheap basic metals, Malaysian and Singaporean industrialists will also require capital to fuel the development of their respective economies. This presents a significant opportunity, with Australian investors now looking to the Asian market following the increasing alignment of British financial regulations with those of mainland Europe. With Malaysia and Singapore in need of capital and Australian creditors in need of new investment markets, it is proposed that Malaysia and Singapore reduce credit restrictions on Australian capital by 75%. This will allow Australian private investors to bankroll Malaysian and Singaporean economic development, as would an additional Australian proposal for Malaysia and Singapore to treat Australian financial institutions as though they were domestic institutions. Otherwise, Australian mining firm Renison Goldfields Consolidated has requested permission to direct significant investment towards the Malaysian tin industry. Should restrictions on the movement of Australian capital into Malaysia be dropped, as suggested by Canberra, the firm will open two new mines in addition to purchasing an existing tin mine in Penang.
Thailand and the Philippines:
Although history does not bind Australia to Thailand and the Philippines in the same way that it binds Australia to Malaysia and Singapore, geographic proximity and shared values nonetheless tie Canberra to Bangkok and Manila in a deeply meaningful way. It is therefore in the interest of all three nations that Australian exports and capital are directed to support Thai and Filipino economic development. Seeking to promote commerce and investment between Australia, Thailand and the Philippines, Australia offers to fund the establishment of an Australia-Thailand Chamber of Commerce (ATCC) and an Australia-Philippines Chamber of Commerce (APCC). It is proposed that the ATCC is headquartered in Bangkok while the APCC is headquartered in Manila, with both chambers having additional chapters in Melbourne and Sydney. Australia strongly believes that with access to cheap energy and raw material imports, Thailand and the Philippines will be able to drastically increase the speed and scope of their industrialisation and economic development plans. Australia is a major producer of several key energy resources and raw materials upon which Japan has recently relied to support its rapid industrialisation and economic development. In order to replicate this experience in Thailand and the Philippines, Australia requests that both governments drop import tariffs on Australian coal, iron ore, bauxite and nickel exports. The Australian Government is also willing to proactively direct machinery, chemical and precision instrument exports to Thailand and the Philippines should either national government be willing to decrease import tariffs on those goods as a means of supporting their respective industrialisation efforts. Australian capital will also be of significant value to Thai and Filipino entrepreneurs eager to fund expansion in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. Australia therefore requests that Thailand and the Philippines reduce credit restrictions on Australian capital by 75%. This will allow Australian private investors to bankroll Thai and Filipino economic development in a manner mutually beneficial to all involved parties.
Indonesia:
Australia and Indonesia fought an informal war only three years ago. Policymakers in Canberra therefore do not feel particularly confident that Australian investments will be safe from Indonesian nationalisation when the next crisis inevitably arrives. That said, Australia is eager to test the waters of commercial collaboration, believing an increase in its economic ties with Indonesia to be a potential source of common ground going forward. Australia therefore offers to fund the establishment of an Australia-Indonesia Chamber of Commerce (AICC) with its headquarters in Darwin and additional chapters in Jakarta, Surabaya, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. Otherwise, Australia strongly believes that with access to cheap raw material imports, Indonesia will be able to drastically increase the speed and scope of its industrialisation and economic development plans. Australia is a major producer of several key raw materials upon which Japan has recently relied to support its rapid industrialisation and economic development. In order to replicate this experience in Indonesia, Australia requests that Jakarta drops import tariffs on Australian iron ore and bauxite exports. The Australian Government is also willing to proactively direct machinery, chemical and precision instrument exports to Indonesia should Jakarta be willing to decrease import tariffs on those goods as a means of supporting their respective industrialisation efforts.
Portuguese Timor:
Though a small territory, the non-self-governing Portuguese colony of Timor has nonetheless become an important part of Australia’s foreign policy agenda in Southeast Asia. Australia recently increased the size of its consulate in Dili in addition to establishing a university to train Timorese students in the arts, law and economics. Seeking to continue the expansion of Australia’s commercial footprint in Portuguese Timor, to the mutual benefit of Australia, the local Timorese and the Portuguese Government, Australia offers to fund the establishment of an Australia-Portugal Chamber of Commerce (APCC). It is proposed that the APCC’s headquarters are established in Dili, with additional chapters in Darwin, Sydney and Lisboa. Australian mining firm Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) has also expressed interest in constructing a large gold mine north of the village of Ossu, where a large gold-copper vein is believed to exist. The proposed mine will contribute significantly to the Portuguese-Timorese economy, especially with BHP’s promise of exclusively employing local Timorese to fill all positions at the mine below the level of management.
Cooperation in Education:
Australia currently provides educational assistance to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia through the Colombo Plan. However, this assistance is non-commercial in nature and is therefore ripe for expansion. To that end, Canberra will readily discuss welcoming university students to Australia en masse from the aforementioned countries if their respective governments demonstrate a spirit of cooperation on the above-stated points. The prospect of Australia receiving Southeast Asian university students offers to create long standing people-to-people ties between Australia and Southeast Asia and is therefore of immense benefit to any participating nations. Australia therefore encourages the nations of Southeast Asia to consider cooperation in the field of education.
Beyond Southeast Asia:
Though it does not have any specific proposals for the time being, the Australian Government has nonetheless expressed its interest in further expanding Australia’s commercial ties with Japan and the Republic of China. It is hoped that favourable developments at an international level will make such an expansion possible in the near future. EDIT: Formatting.
[EVENT] The Whitlam Agenda - Domestic Reforms in 1970
December 1970:
The Whitlamite Era:
Fresh on the back of his 1969 electoral victory, Prime Minister Whitlam has found himself in possession of immense political capital. Large swathes of the Australian population choose to back his socialist agenda after twenty years of conservative Liberal Party rule. His Labor Party government is therefore in a perfect position to enforce its will in Parliament, where it commands a strong majority.
Industrial and Workplace Reforms:
Freeing up the unions: Labor is, at its heart, a party for the trade union movement. The trade union movement is its prime donor, its prime recruitment ground and its prime backer in public debates. For years, successive Liberal-Country governments have used law enforcement agencies to limit the power of the trade unions, leaving industry in a favourable position when negotiating with labour. However, with the Labor Party now in power, the Whitlam Government has immediately brought an end to law enforcement’s anti-unionist activity. This has significantly strengthened the trade union movement, with unionist leaders growing bolder by the day in their demands to industry. Already, a number of highly-publicised strikes have crippled major firms, forcing industry into a series of humiliating deals with its unionist counterparts. It is expected that the trade union movement’s position will only grow more favourable the longer Whitlam remains in power. Increasing industrial subsidies: Australian industry took advantage of the 1940s splurge on public infrastructure and manufacturing capacities to support the war effort, coming to rival the primary sector in its economic significance by the end of the war. Since then, it has only become more important to the Australian economy, leading what many are calling Australia’s “miracle years” of growth. All good things must come to an end, however, and so it seems that as Middle Eastern conflicts shake global petroleum prices and the trade union movement shakes investor confidence, Australia’s industrial output is stagnating. Seeking to take advantage of this weakness, the Whitlam Government has begun rolling out generous industrial subsidies to firms that comply with the labour movement’s demands. In many cases, this support has even included the Federal Government buying equities in publicly-traded companies, putting the Government in a position where it is a minority stakeholder in a number of major Australian brands. Although Whitlam’s industrial subsidies have certainly boosted Australian industry in the short term, the Liberal-Country opposition has decried the policy as a surefire method of promoting structural inefficiencies in the industrial sector. Time will tell whether these suspicions will prove true...
Immigration and the Law:
Formally ending the White Australia Policy: Although the previous two Liberal-Country governments significantly weakened the infamous White Australia Policy, which long prevented non-Europeans from immigrating to Australia in order to preserve “Australia’s white identity”, the restrictive immigration system remains on the books as a formal law. This meant that recent acts such as former Prime Minister Gorton’s decision to accept more than 10,000 Laotian refugees were exceptions to the law, rather than standard government actions. The Whitlam Government has therefore seen fit to revoke the law entirely, allowing migrants of any nationality or background to immigrate to Australia (although an annual limit will apply to the national immigration intake and charactequalifications checks will remain in place for permanent residency visas). As it looks to a new era of multiracial immigration, Australia will seek to establish new immigration offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, South Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, Japan, South Korea, Madagascar, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Hong Kong. Establishing Legal Aid: It had been difficult for impoverished individuals facing court trials to afford the expenses of engaging with the legal system. This has always been a topic of particular concern to the Prime Minister, who takes issue with the idea that the most vulnerable should be fundamentally disadvantaged in their dealings with the law. As such, the Whitlam Government has introduced a sweeping legal aid system to provide financial and legal assistance to individuals swept up in the federal legal system (including the legal systems of all Australian territories barring Papua and New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands). Canberra has also encouraged the state governments to replicate this system in their own jurisdictions. Abolishing the death penalty: At present, the death penalty applies in every corner of Australia, bar the state of Queensland. Particularly leftist Labor leaders have long decried Australia’s near comprehensive capital punishment coverage, and thus, the Whitlam Government has abolished the death penalty for federal crimes committed across Australia, including crimes committed in all of Australia’s territories. According to a government spokesman, Australia will seek to take constitutional steps to ensure that the death penalty does not to return to any of its offshore territories once they achieve independence.
Federal Commissions:
The Bellear-Evatt Commission - ending workplace discrimination: Women and Indigenous Australians have recently become fresh additions to the mainstream workplace, having fought against over a century of oppression for the right to work. Although commendable, their efforts are as of yet incomplete, with any working woman or Indigenous Australian having a list of negative experiences tied to their career, whether that be from harassment or deliberate underpayment of salaries. Seeking to resolve this abominable situation, the Whitlam Government has commissioned Indigenous Australian activist Bob Bellear and noted lawyer Elizabeth Evatt to conduct an investigation into workplace discrimination against women and Indigenous Australians. The commission will investigate both workplace harassment and unequal pay and will present its recommendations by the end of 1971. Australian Schools Commission: While funding to Australian schools and universities did not markedly drop during the Liberal-Country era, few would argue that the current level of Federal Government support is satisfactory. It is increasingly believed that Australian school students are falling behind their international counterparts, even those of Asia, while the university sector is all but screaming out for support to close the gap with its esteemed colleagues in the United Kingdom and the United States east coast. Prime Minister Whitlam has therefore commissioned a number of education experts to determine the extent to which the Australian education sector requires additional support. Like the Bellear-Evatt Commission, the panel will report its findings at the end of 1971. Australian Resources Commission: Australia is a land of great mineral wealth, yet almost every mining company responsible for uncovering this wealth is foreign-owned. These predominantly American and British-owned firms pay very little in tax thanks to a longstanding colonial legacy of extractionary practices in the minerals sector (not to mention the immense political lobbying capacity of the mining firms). Naturally, this is a particularly distressing fact of life for Australia’s new socialistic (and somewhat America-phobic) Prime Minister. As such, Prime Minister Whitlam has commissioned a number of lawyers and economists to investigate the prospect of fully or partially nationalising the Australian mining sector. The panel will pass on its results at the end of 1971 and will enjoy protection from foreign espionage operations, to be provided by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Universal Healthcare Commission: One of the key policy areas which the two-decade-long Liberal-Country suite of governments was least interested in reforming was healthcare. Australia currently has a two-tiered healthcare system, in which the average citizen is not entitled to universal health care. Reforming that system was one of Gough Whitlam’s main election promises in 1969 and now, with the overwhelming support of the Australian public, he has commissioned a panel of accountants and medical professionals to devise a system of universal healthcare, to enter into force by 1972. Land Reform Council: While the Bellear-Evatt Commission will deal with discrimination against Indigenous Australians in the workplace, another key area of Indigenous empowerment that has been neglected by successive governments is that of land ownership. Large swathes of the Australian continent are still inhabited by the same Indigenous peoples that originally inhabited them before colonisation. The public’s growing awareness of this sustained habitation has generated a debate around the morality of continued occupation of such land as the tragic history of the theft of Indigenous lands increasingly comes to light. As such, Prime Minister Whitlam has commissioned a combination of esteemed lawyers, historians and Indigenous elders from mainland Australia (as well as the non-Papuan Torres Strait) to consider the prospects of Indigenous land reform. The ‘Land Reform Council’, as it is known, will present its findings by the end of 1971.
Local Development:
Urban planning grants to local governments: As is the case across much of the world, local governments are easily the sick men of Australian politics. They do not collect significant funds from rates and other duties, and they have relatively little authority in comparison to the state and territory governments. As such, they are small governments with little money and little ambition. However, they are perfectly placed to be part of the long-promised Whitlamite urban planning scheme, which the Prime Minister and his ministers have devised in an effort to address increasing urbanisation in Australia’s major cities. In return for significant federal control over the use of its funds, Canberra will begin providing general urban planning grants to local governments across mainland Australia and Tasmania in order to provide for new roads, waste/wastewater management services, parks and footpaths. This will ensure that the growing Australian suburban landscape is not only accessible but also presentable. The National Sewerage Program: Rather embarrassingly, there are still Australian households in 1970 that are unsewered. While this might have been understandable in 1870, the 1970s are not a decade for outhouses and chamber pots. As such, under its generous local government grant program (alongside a corollary program to be deployed at the state/territory level), the Whitlam Government has pledged to ensure that no Australian household will be unsewered by the next election in late 1972. While ambitious and expensive, the plan will no doubt prove popular with an increasingly dignified lower class.
Naked Pre-earnings Play: 10c exp. 02/12/21 Long Call Spread: BUY 7c, SELL 15p exp. 02/12/21 LEAP: 11c exp. 4/16/21 Thesis 1: Air and land travel will increase in 2021 as global economies recover from the pandemic. Goodyear will be a beneficiary of this recovery. Catalyst 1: According to CNN, US air travel hit its highest level since mid-March (2020) over the (thanksgiving) holiday and millions of Americans still traveled by car to join family and friends. TSA said it screened 1.17 million people on Sunday when many Americans were heading home from their Thanksgiving travels. That was 41% of the 2.9 million people screened by TSA on the same day in 2019. Thanksgiving 2019 set a TSA record. That means more than 9.4 million people have been screened in the Thanksgiving travel window, which began on the Friday before the holiday. According to NBC news, TSA data showed that 1,191,123 travelers passed through airport checkpoints nationwide Wednesday, the most since March 16. From Friday to Sunday, a combined 3.2 million people boarded planes, according to agency data — more than 1 million a day. Thesis 2: Goodyear will benefit in 2021 because of Biden’s energy initiative.. Catalyst 2: Biden has stated that he wants to position the U.S. Auto Industry to Win the 21st Century with technology invented in America. Biden will use all the levers of the federal government, from purchasing power, R&D, tax, trade, and investment policies to reverse this trend and position America to be the global leader in the manufacture of electric vehicles and their input materials and parts. Biden will spur an expansion of factory floors and a re-tool of existing manufacturing capacity, and create 1 million new jobs in auto manufacturing, auto supply chains, and auto infrastructure America must accelerate its own R&D with a focus on developing the domestic supply chain for electric vehicles. A specific focus of Biden’s historic R&D and procurement commitments will be on battery technology – for use in electric vehicles and on our grid, as a complement to technologies like solar and wind – increasing durability, reducing waste, and lowering costs, all while advancing new chemistries and approaches. And Biden will ensure that these batteries are built in the United States by American workers in good, union jobs.
About Goodyear
Goodyear is one of the world's leading tire companies with operations in most regions of the world and one of the most recognized brand names. Together with its U.S. and international subsidiaries, Goodyear develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes tires for most applications. Goodyear is one of the world's largest suppliers of aviation tires for commercial, military and general aviation aircraft. Operating a global business from its Akron, Ohio headquarters, Goodyear manufactures aviation tires and retreads in the United States, Thailand, Brazil, and The Netherlands. Goodyear Segmentation: Automobile industries Goodyear Target Market: Racing cars, heavy duty vehicles, passenger cars, bikes, industrial equipment-like forklifts, bulldozers, cranes, airplanes, etc. Goodyear Positioning: Excellent product quality maintained over decades with continual improvement. SWOT Analysis
With the turnover of over $22 billion they are one of the world’s leading tire makers with no.1 position in North America & Latin America and second position in Europe.
It has a Global Footprint with operations at 54 sites spread over 22 countries.
Innovation centers at Ohio and Luxembourg provide them with a competitive edge in technology.
Excellent management team with over 70,000 employees globally
Company has established a strong brand identity and customer loyalty.
Most successful tire supplier in Formula 1.
Potential Weaknesses
Penetration level in Asian emerging economies is less
Intense competition in the tire industry makes market share constant
Studies reveal it company produces high amount of air pollution
Potential Opportunities
Emerging markets need to be capitalized on (EV in particular)
Tie-ups with Automobile manufacturing giants may go a long way.
Innovative and catchy advertising campaigns
Potential Threats (not including the ongoing Covid pandemic)
Volatility in raw material prices.
Low priced substitutes
Stiff competition both from national and international companies.
Government Policies - export duties, import duties, tax levied on automobile industries and economic condition of the nations as it determines the sale of automobiles.
Introduction of other transport facilities like metro, monorails and local trains keeping pollution hazards caused by combustion of automobile fuels.
Smithers published the Future of Global Tires to 2024 report, which sized the tire market at over 2.36 billion units in 2019, with topline volume growth expected to continue at a 3.1% compound annual rate from 2019 through 2024. In 2024, total global industry tire volume was expected to reach 2.75 billion units. The 2019 market value of $239 billion was expected rise to $280 billion in 2024, for a 3.2% compound annual growth rate. Considering the impact of COVID-19 on the global tires market, Smithers sees little recovery in 2020-2021, with real recovery starting in 2022 and 2019 tire volume not being reached again until 2023. As part of its Global Tires report refresh that accounts for the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, Smithers estimates volume growth over the next couple of years will fall significantly with market conditions prolonging the status quo in technology. The market adjustment will slow the adoption of electric vehicles and delay ride sharing, as well as drive supply chain consolidation and other disruptions. Although COVID-19 will significantly impact 2020 tire sales, the tire market in Asia is forecast to pick up and grow on average by 3.6% until 2025. General tires will continue to make up the majority (84.2% share) of the total Asia tires market by 2025, but significant stronger growth is forecasted in aircraft, specialty and OTR tires. https://preview.redd.it/4ju8hmhbnt861.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=8450bd3dbc24f6d8fc029729263d29462f22b0a0 The high-performance passenger calight goods vehicle segment is the largest in volume and value for specialty tires and is growing rapidly, driven by the growth of CUV, SUV and pickup truck segments in Asia. Current tire technology in China is focused on low rolling resistance (LRR) tires, driven by pressure from the government to reduce CO2 emissions and the establishment of the China Rubber Industry Association (CRIA) tire labeling system. List of the Top Key Players of Low Rolling Resistance Tire Market:
Apollo Tyres Ltd
Bridgestone Corp
Continental AG
Cooper Tire and Rubber Co
Hankook Tire and Technology Co Ltd
Michelin Group
Pirelli and C Spa
The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co
The Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd
and ZHONGCE RUBBER GROUP Co Ltd
China is, and will continue to be, the biggest EV market, and its progress in the segment will influence the rest of the world. This is due to government policies designed to reduce pollution in cities and dependence on imported oil. The government also desires to dominate this growth industry. In Asia, the electric bus market is expected to be dominated by China and India in size and to be predominantly BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles). Japan and South Korea will also invest significantly in electric buses, as will the Southeast Asia region led by Singapore. List of major players operating in the South East Asian tire market include PT Gajah Tunggal TBK, PT Suryaraya Rubberindo Industries, Bridgestone Corporation, Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Continental AG, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Deestone Corporation Limited, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd, The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., etc. https://preview.redd.it/74mrc4jint861.png?width=1262&format=png&auto=webp&s=0523aad0d4ce01b1959802c901dd1d0a978ef086
Asia accounts for 93% of the world natural rubber production with Thailand being the largest producer followed by Indonesia and Vietnam. Other large rubber producers in the region include India, China and Malaysia. In 2019, the global natural rubber production stood at 13.804 million tonnes. It is expected that in 2020, the production will increase 2.7% to 14.177 million tonnes. The first two months of 2020 have recorded an annualized fall of 5.2% in global natural rubber production. The global synthetic rubber market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% in the period 2015-2023 and be worth USD 45,767.1 million. Economic downturn being experienced by China which is globally the largest importer of rubber is keeping rubber prices balanced in a scenario where supply outstrips demand. The oversupply situation persists even though the three largest producers of rubber, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand are reducing the output of the material used in manufacturing of a range of products from gloves to car tires. China is also the world's largest consumer of natural rubber followed by India and the United States. The slowdown in the Chinese economy remains a concern for the global rubber industry. The Coronavirus global outbreak is expected to have long-reaching hampering effects on the Chinese as well as the global economy. Goodyear does not own any rubber tree plantations, but they have taken actions as a purchaser of natural rubber with Goodyear Orient Company. Goodyear Orient Company (Private) Limited (GOCPL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (GTRC) and has been around since 1917.
Goodyear and Some EV News
Goodyear And TuSimple Collaborate On Autonomous Vehicle Freight Operations - prnewswire - 11/20/20 The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT) announced today a strategic relationship with TuSimple, a global autonomous trucking technology company, to provide tires and tire management solutions to TuSimple's Autonomous Freight Network (AFN). Goodyear will provide products and repair services to enhance the safety and operation of autonomous trucks. Additionally, Goodyear and TuSimple will conduct wear studies designed to understand how autonomous trucks and tires can help better predict maintenance, understand tire longevity and reduce the carbon impact of fleets. Collected data from the study will also deliver insights into the difference between an autonomous and human driver with respect to the tires. "With our leadership in products, fleet support and advanced innovations, Goodyear is applying knowledge to help deliver performance and safety with autonomous vehicles," according to Erin Spring, Goodyear's director, new ventures. GOODYEAR, ENVOY TECHNOLOGIES PILOT DIGITAL SERVICE SOLUTION FOR SHARED, ON-DEMAND EV FLEETS - news.goodyear.eu/ - 3/21/20 The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company today announced a new pilot program with Envoy Technologies, a provider of shared on-demand, community-based electric vehicles (EVs). The pilot, which launched early this year, is testing services aimed at minimizing operational downtime for vehicle fleets Goodyear’s unique predictive tire servicing solution for connected fleets is being used to forecast and automatically schedule needed tire maintenance and replacement. Envoy’s fleet managers can see its fleet’s status, schedule maintenance needs and update appointments with Goodyear’s on-demand scheduling program, helping to keep its vehicles operational and avoid the typically unforeseen issues that might suddenly force a shared vehicle to be pulled from service. To do this, Goodyear gathers secure, anonymized data from Envoy’s connected vehicles and uses it to predict and schedule service needs. Goodyear then utilizes its network of outlets and mobile vans to provide service to the vehicles. The mobile vans can install tires on-site at their charging stations, maintaining vehicle safety with minimal time required by Envoy staff. “With on-demand car sharing and ride hailing services on the rise, Goodyear is extending its fleet services business model to shared mobility providers to improve urban fleet operations,” said Chris Helsel, Goodyear’s chief technology officer. Envoy provides shared, community-based electric vehicles where people live, work and stay, with a significant percentage of its fleet dedicated to deployment in disadvantaged communities. The two-year-old company recently passed a milestone of more than 100 vehicles deployed at partner sites with a pipeline of 1,800 vehicles to be launched in major metropolitan areas across the nation, including Portland, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, New York, Boston, Miami and Washington, D.C. Goodyear’s effort with Envoy builds on a successful test program with Tesloop, a city-to-city mobility service that exclusively used Tesla electric vehicles, and the commercialization of Goodyear Proactive Solutions for truck fleets, using advanced telematics and predictive analytics technology to allow fleet operators to optimize fuel efficiency and precisely identify and resolve tire-related issues before they happen. Goodyear Partners with Lexus to Shape the Future of Electric Mobility - news.goodyear.eu/ - 3/5/20 Lexus LF-30 Electrified concept was originally presented sitting on four bespoke Goodyear concept tires at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show. It was presented again on Tuesday, March 3rd at Lexus’ live press conference during the Virtual Press Day of the 2020 Geneva International Motor Show. Goodyear’s concept tires are tailor-made to benefit the modern, sleek and sporty design of the Lexus. They support EV motors and are designed to improve the overall comfort and performance of the car. The LF-30 Electrified concept tire includes several innovative features: EV motor cooling: Drawing on Goodyear’s expertise in aerodynamics, the concept tires are designed to improve the cooling of the EV motors. Cool air enters through the front bumper intake and fins on the tires drive the flow towards the electric motor positioned behind each wheel. The hot air produced by the EV motor is then expelled towards the outer edge of the rim of the LF-30 Electrified. Reduced aerodynamic drag: The tire design along with the outer tire shape would improve the Lexus’ aerodynamics by reducing drag, resulting in higher efficiency and battery range. Noise reduction through biomimicry: Goodyear found inspiration in nature when designing the concept tires. The leading edges of the cooling fins are covered with fine velvet like on the wings of an owl, which enables the predator to silently catch their prey at night. Through this biomimetic solution, the rolling noise of the tire would be reduced to a minimum. Goodyear’s concept tire for the Lexus LF-30 Electrified concept comes in a 285/35R24 size. https://preview.redd.it/9w7u1uomnt861.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=fe7b3d3eb70859a0bf40b773113c46ce47246b9d Goodyear touts mileage gains in 2nd-gen EfficientGrip EV tires - tirebsiness.com - 3/3/20 Goodyear is preparing to launch later this year the second generation of its EfficientGrip Performance electric-vehicle tire line, promising the new version will deliver 50% longer life than the first generation, which launched in 2018. Goodyear held a video press conference from its European headquarters office in Brussels to launch the EfficientGrip Performance 2 and unveil its latest concept design, the Goodyear reCharge, which features a self-regenerating tread. Goodyer claims the EfficientGrip Performance 2 offers 20% more tread life than the "next best tested" competitor, while continuing to outperform the competition wet and dry braking, according to Mike Rytokoski, chief marketing officer, consumer Europe. Mr. Rytokoski said half of all the new tires Goodyear has designed now are for electric vehicles, which require bespoke EV tires because they are heavier, due to weight of the batteries, and deliver extra torque. As for future generations of EV tires, Goodyear said industry figures show 57% of all passenger vehicle sales, and over 30% of the global passenger vehicle fleet, will be electric by 2040. Goodyear's vision of a next-generation tire for EVs is the reCharge, a non-pneumatic design that features a self-regenerating tread based on the use of biodegradable liquid. To regenerate the tread, the vehicle owner inserts a capsule containing the liquid into the hub, where it mates up with the tubes. The centrifugal force of the rolling tire/wheel distributes the liquid up to the base of the tread elements, Goodyear showed in a video. https://preview.redd.it/ukr1e2cqnt861.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=0149eed0cebf4c5afdeee1e17113ec36a37b2d42 The tread compound also would be reinforced with fibers inspired by spider silk, Goodyear said. https://preview.redd.it/u693uebtnt861.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=8f630d2fef1801f2fd136d8250ed4b7136ee2bae The tire maker did not elaborate on what materials it envisions for the reCharge's wheel or how the tread elements would renew if supplied with a liquid from underneath but did say it envisions the liquid could be engineered to allow the vehicle owner to customize the tire tread to climatic or environmental changes.
Goodyear and Biden Connection - thehill.com - 08/19/20
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden defended Goodyear tires after President Trump urged Americans to boycott its products after he claimed the company announced a “ban” on his campaign’s “Make America Great Again” attire. “Goodyear employs thousands of American workers, including in Ohio where it is headquartered. To President Trump, those workers and their jobs aren't a source of pride, just collateral damage in yet another one of his political attacks,” Biden said in a statement. “President Trump doesn’t have a clue about the dignity and worth that comes with good-paying union jobs at places like Goodyear — jobs that can support a family and sustain a community.”
Electric Vehicle Outlook (bnef.com) (added 2/2/21)
Bullish Statements Net sales in the third quarter of 2020 were $3,465 million, compared to $3,802 million in the third quarter of 2019. Net sales decreased in the third quarter of 2020 primarily due to lower global tire volume, unfavorable foreign currency translation, primarily in Americas, and lower sales in other tire-related businesses, primarily due to lower aviation sales globally and a decrease in third-party sales of chemical products in Americas. These decreases were partially offset by improvements in price and product mix, primarily in EMEA and Americas. Europe, Middle East and Africa: In the third quarter of 2020, Goodyear net loss was $2 million, or $0.01 per share, compared to net income of $88 million, or $0.38 per share, in the third quarter of 2019. The change in Goodyear net income (loss) was driven by lower segment operating income, partially offset by lower income tax expense. Net sales in the third quarter of 2020 were $1,156 million, decreasing $49 million, or 4.1%, from $1,205 million in the third quarter of 2019. Net sales decreased primarily due to lower tire volume of $97 million. This decrease was partially offset by improvements in price and product mix of $40 million, driven by higher proportionate sales of commercial tires, and favorable foreign currency translation of $5 million, driven by the strengthening of the euro. Bearish Statements Worldwide tire unit sales in the third quarter of 2020 were 36.6 million units, decreasing 3.7 million units, or 9.1%, from 40.3 million units in the third quarter of 2019. Net sales decreased in the first nine months of 2020 primarily due to lower global tire volume, lower sales in other tire-related businesses, primarily due to a decrease in third-party sales of chemical products in Americas and lower aviation sales globally, and unfavorable foreign currency translation. Net sales decreased in the third quarter of 2020, primarily due to lower global tire volume of $295 million, unfavorable foreign currency translation of $56 million, primarily in Americas, and lower sales in other tire-related businesses of $48 million, primarily due to lower aviation sales globally and a decrease in third-party sales of chemical products in Americas. Europe, Middle East and Africa: Net sales in the third quarter of 2020 were $1,156 million, decreasing $49 million, or 4.1%, from $1,205 million in the third quarter of 2019. Net sales decreased primarily due to lower tire volume of $97 million. This decrease was partially offset by improvements in price and product mix of $40 million, driven by higher proportionate sales of commercial tires, and favorable foreign currency translation of $5 million, driven by the strengthening of the euro. Europe, Middle East and Africa unit sales in the third quarter of 2020 decreased 1.3 million units, or 8.9%, to 13.2 million units. Replacement tire volume decreased 1.0 million units, or 8.2%, primarily in our consumer business, reflecting decreased industry demand as a result of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and expected declines resulting from our initiative to align distribution in Europe. OE tire volume decreased 0.3 million units, or 11.3%, primarily in our consumer business, driven by lower vehicle production as a result of ongoing pandemic-related impacts at major OE manufacturers and our continued exit of declining, less profitable market segments. Europe, Middle East and Africa unit sales in the first nine months of 2020 decreased 10.0 million units, or 23.8%, to 32.1 million units. Replacement tire volume decreased 6.4 million units, or 20.5%, primarily in our consumer business, reflecting decreased industry demand as a result of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and expected declines resulting from our initiative to align distribution in Europe. America: Net sales in the third quarter of 2020 were $1,823 million, decreasing $226 million, or 11.0%, from $2,049 million in the third quarter of 2019. The decrease in net sales was driven by lower tire volume of $155 million, unfavorable foreign currency translation of $58 million, primarily related to the Brazilian real, and lower sales in other tire-related businesses of $42 million, primarily due to a decrease in third-party sales of chemical products and lower aviation sales. Asia Specific: Net sales in the first nine months of 2020 were $1,208 million, decreasing $361 million, or 23.0%, from $1,569 million in the first nine months of 2019. Net sales decreased due to lower tire volume of $320 million, unfavorable foreign currency translation of $27 million, primarily related to the weakening of the Indian rupee and Australian dollar, and lower sales in other tire-related businesses of $26 million, primarily due to lower aviation and retail sales. Asia Specific: Replacement tire volume decreased 2.1 million units, or 15.3%, primarily in our consumer business, reflecting decreased industry demand as a result of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Net sales in the third quarter of 2020 were $486 million, decreasing $62 million, or 11.3%, from $548 million in the third quarter of 2019. Net sales decreased due to lower tire volume of $43 million, unfavorable price and product mix of $9 million, and lower sales in other tire-related businesses of $8 million, primarily due to lower aviation sales. We expect our liquidity to remain strong through the remainder of the year. However, the borrowing base under our first lien revolving credit facility is dependent, in significant part, on our eligible accounts receivable and inventory, which have declined as a result of our lower sales and production levels due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earnings
Bullish Statements The change in Goodyear net income (loss) was driven by lower segment operating income, partially offset by lower income tax expense. Our earnings and forecasts of future profitability, taking into consideration recent trends, along with three significant sources of foreign income provide us sufficient positive evidence that we will be able to utilize our remaining foreign tax credits that expire between 2025 and 2030. Bearish Statements Earnings in other tire-related businesses decreased by $25 million, primarily due to lower aviation and motorcycle sales. Additionally, on April 17, 2020, we reached a tentative bargaining agreement, which was ratified on May 1, 2020, and subsequently permanently closed our Gadsden, Alabama manufacturing facility (“Gadsden”) as part of our continuing strategy to strengthen the competitiveness of our manufacturing footprint by curtailing production of tires for declining, less profitable segments of the tire market.
Expenses
Bullish Statements These negative impacts were partially offset by cost savings of approximately $76 million, including raw material cost saving measures of approximately $6 million. These decreases were partially offset by a $24 million increase in expense related to potentially uncollectible accounts receivable, primarily in EMEA and Americas. Interest expense in the first nine months of 2020 was $246 million, decreasing $15 million, or 5.7%, from $261 million in the first nine months of 2019. SAG decreased primarily due to lower global travel-related expenses of $8 million and lower product liability costs of $5 million in Americas. We have taken, and will continue to take, other actions to reduce costs and preserve cash in order to successfully navigate the current economic environment, including limiting capital expenditures to no more than $700 million for the full year and reducing discretionary spending, including other selling, administrative and general expenses (“SAG”), which, in total, decreased by $17 million and $118 million in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively. These decreases were partially offset by improvements in price and product mix, primarily in EMEA and Americas. In the third quarter of 2020, Goodyear net loss was $2 million, or $0.01 per share, compared to net income of $88 million, or $0.38 per share, in the third quarter of 2019. The change in Goodyear net income (loss) was driven by lower segment operating income, partially offset by lower income tax expense. Europe, Middle East and Africa: These decreases were partially offset by lower raw material costs of $11 million and improvements in price and product mix of $10 million.
Cashflow
Bearish Statements We are actively monitoring our liquidity and have taken a number of actions aimed at mitigating the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on our cash flows and liquidity, such as suspending production at most of our manufacturing facilities during parts of the first half of 2020, reducing our second quarter payroll costs through a combination of furloughs, temporary salary reductions and salary deferrals, refinancing our first lien revolving credit facility to extend its maturity and increase its borrowing base, issuing $800 million of 9.5% senior notes due 2025, temporarily suspending the quarterly dividend on our common stock, reducing capital expenditures and discretionary spending, and using governmental relief efforts to defer payroll and other tax payments globally.
Debt
Bearish Statements In addition to our previous financing activities, we may seek to undertake additional financing actions which could include restructuring bank debt or capital markets transactions, possibly including the issuance of additional debt or equity. Given the inherent uncertainty of market conditions, access to the capital markets cannot be assured.
The United Kingdom (UK) and Australia are seeking to establish a new trading relationship underpinned by a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA). The two sides have set out their respective negotiating objectives to gain an understanding of where there is alignment and where the tensions might lie. This briefing provides an analysis of the negotiating objectives and discusses how the negotiations might be impacted by various economic and political considerations.
Context
HM Government and the Australian Government formally commenced trade negotiations on 17 June, aiming to conclude a comprehensive and ambitious FTA covering goods, services and investment. Liz Truss, UK Secretary of State for International Trade, and Simon Birmingham, Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, kicked off the talks via videoconference. Birmingham has indicated that the parties are aiming to conclude an FTA by the end of 2020, which was a very ambitious timeframe and seems unlikely at this stage. The first and second rounds have so far been concluded, while the third round began on the week of 23 November. In preparation for the negotiations, the UK Department for International Trade had published a policy paper on UK-Australia free trade agreement: the UK's strategic approach, which sets out its negotiating objectives, response to the call for input from the industry, and results of the scoping assessment.1 The Australian Government has published a policy document on Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement: Summary of Negotiating Aims and Approach, which sets out its high-level objectives for the negotiations.2 There is a high degree of alignment between the UK and Australian positions, accompanied by strong political will to deepen collaboration between the two nations. Australian chocolate biscuit Tim Tam has become a symbol of how UK consumers could benefit from a UK-Australia FTA, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for reasonably priced Tim Tams in the UK (and a corresponding export of British Penguin biscuits). Despite the media banter, an FTA could bring serious economic benefits to both nations. The UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT) estimates that an FTA could increase exports to Australia by up to £900 million, and increase UK GDP by £500 million and UK workers’ wages by £400 million in the long run.3 It is considered that services businesses, and those providing digital services in particular, could benefit the most from a UK-Australia FTA, as well as suppliers of goods such as Australian wine and Scotch whisky. A UK-Australia FTA is seen by DIT as important in aiding the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, by keeping markets open and diversifying supply chains. HM Government describes Australia as a like-minded and key ally, highlighting that the UK and Australia share a head of state and a system of common law, have a proud shared history and common set of values, in particular a belief in the merits of trade openness, the rule of law, international co-operation and democratic government. However, despite these cultural ties, the economic relationship between the two countries has not kept apace. When the UK entered the European Economic Community in 1973, the UK went from being Australia’s third largest two-way goods trading partner to now its twelfth, as British companies shifted trade towards Europe and UK consumers turned away from Australian produce when high tariffs and low quotas were imposed.4 The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) is therefore considered an opportunity to rejuvenate and strengthen the economic ties between the two nations. The EU does not currently have in place an FTA with Australia, although negotiations between the two countries have been ongoing since June 2018. Trade is currently conducted under the 2008 EU-Australian Partnership Framework, which aims to reduce technical barriers and improve trade but is not a formal FTA. Thus, there is a clear opportunity for the UK to deepen its trading relationship with Australia far beyond the status quo under a UK-Australia FTA providing comprehensive coverage of goods, services and investment, with the wholescale removal of tariffs and quotas. It should be noted that Australia is currently in the midst of trade and diplomatic disputes with China, its largest trading partner, notably over exports of barley and beef. The Australian Government may therefore be keen to strengthen its trading relationship with the UK in order to diversify its export markets. HM Government also hopes that a UK-Australia FTA will help the UK to eventually join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which would improve access for UK businesses to markets in the Asia-Pacific region. There is no doubt the support of an influential signatory such as Australia would assist the UK’s bid to CPTPP accession.
Cross-sectoral measures – goods
HM Government’s position on goods is to secure broad liberalisation of tariffs on a balanced and mutually beneficial basis, taking into account UK product sensitivities, in particular for agriculture, and secure comprehensive access for UK industrial and agricultural goods into the Australian market through the reduction or elimination of tariffs. Similarly, the Australian Government is aiming to secure the elimination of tariffs for all goods, and establish mechanisms that address non-tariff barriers to trade between Australia and the UK. The liberalisation of tariffs should be a fairly straightforward exercise given that clear mutual interest is recognised on both sides. HM Government would develop simple and modern Rules of Origin (RoO) that reflect UK industry requirements and consider existing as well as future supply chains, supported by predictable and low-cost administrative arrangements. It will be particularly important to ensure that UK products that incorporate EU parts can be exported as originating from the UK under a UK-Australia FTA, which is a priority for HM Government. The Australian Government is aiming for liberal RoO that facilitate market access and reflect modern production processes, global value chains and commercial transportation arrangements. It is envisaged that there may be some friction in negotiating provisions on origin labelling of agricultural products, as the UK will likely seek to retain geographical indications (GIs) for British products that it currently has under EU trading arrangements (such as Scotch beef and West Country Farmhouse cheddar). This approach may face opposition from the Australian Government if it would have the effect limiting opportunities for Australian farmers. HM Government also intends to reduce technical barriers to trade by removing and preventing trade-restrictive measures in goods markets, while upholding the safety and quality of products on the UK market. In terms of sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), HM Government intends to uphold the UK’s high levels of public, animal, and plant health including food safety. The UK’s approach would secure access for UK agri-food goods to the Australian market through commitments to improve the timeliness and transparency of approval processes for UK goods. The Australian Government also aims to reduce technical barriers to trade with the UK by assessing and removing trade-restrictive measures, while also ensuring that robust health and safety standards continue to protect Australian consumers and industry, as well as Australia’s unique environment. There may some difficulty in reaching a consensus on the removal of barriers in terms of food standards as certain products which are currently banned in the UK – in particular hormone-treated meat – are widely available on the Australian market. It is unlikely that HM Government would compromise on food standards to secure an FTA with Australia, given the political controversy that would be caused in the UK by such a move.
Cross-sectoral measures – services
The services sector is of considerable importance to the UK economy, making up a staggering 81% of total UK economic output in 2018.5 The expansion of UK export of services is therefore an important objective of HM Government’s trade policy, which it aims to further under a UK-Australia FTA. HM Government intends to secure ambitious commitments on market access and national treatment to ensure certainty for UK services suppliers in their access to the Australian market. It is also seeking to secure best-in-class rules for all services sectors, as well as sector specific rules to ensure transparency and support the UK’s “world-leading” services industries, including key UK export sectors such as financial services, professional and business services, telecommunications and transports services. HM Government also sees it as important to ensure certainty for UK services exporters in their continuing access to the Australian market as well as transparency on Australian services regulation. The Australian Government’s aim is to secure ambitious commitments from the UK that strengthen the trading relationship across all services sectors, including in financial and professional services, highlighting the need for mutual recognition of professional qualifications. HM Government views mutual recognition of professional qualifications as an important mechanism to facilitate free movement of professional workers between the UK and Australia. Services is an area where both the UK and Australia recognise the opportunities to increase trade. Mr Birmingham sees there being “real upside” in terms of services liberalisation and investment flow because these are the areas where the UK-Australia relationship is already very strong and have the opportunity to get even stronger. Similarly, HM Government considers providing certainty and additional access to the Australian markets for UK services businesses as a key benefit of an FTA, noting that services accounted for 60% of total UK exports to Australia (worth £6.9 billion) in 2019.
Financial services
HM Government has set a priority of securing greater access for UK financial services firms to the Australian markets, reflecting the strategic importance of the financial sector to the UK economy. It intends to expand opportunities for UK financial services to ease frictions to cross-border trade and investment, complementing co-operation on financial regulatory issues. The Australian Government is aiming to secure provisions that strengthen existing two-way trade in financial services, and explore the cross-application of key digital trade rules such as data flows and the location of computing facilities, as well as address behind-the-border barriers to financial services trade, including exploring ways to increase regulatory coherence. It is understood that Fintech and green finance are key areas in which the UK and Australia will seek to deepen collaboration. Financial services has historically been a difficult area in which to facilitate trade liberalisation due to the complexity of regulatory frameworks, which can present significant obstacles to market access. Greater regulatory co-operation will be essential to enabling greater trade liberalisation between the UK and Australian financial markets, with sharing of regulatory expertise potentially leading to greater harmonisation and the reduction of trade barriers. HM Government envisages the reduction of regulatory obstacles to facilitate market access for UK businesses and investors, underpinned by regulatory cooperation as well as public consultation, use of regulatory impact assessments and retrospective review. HM Government has made it clear however that it is seeking mutual recognition and has no intention to move towards regulatory alignment with Australia or any other country. The Australian Government is seeking to establish a high standard, modern approach to regulatory coherence that promotes stability and certainty for Australian business, underpinned by regulatory cooperation.
Digital and e-commerce
The UK and Australia both envisage a high degree of trade liberalisation and collaboration in the area of digital trade and e-commerce, and consider it an important strategic priority. HM Government is aiming to secure “cutting-edge” provisions which maximise opportunities for digital trade across all sectors of the economy, while also promoting a world leading eco-system for digital trade that supports businesses of all sizes across the UK. The UK’s approach also includes provisions that facilitate the free flow of data, whilst ensuring that the UK’s high standards of personal data protection are maintained, and include provisions to prevent unjustified data localisation requirements. As part of its trade policy, HM Government is aiming to “future proof” all FTAs with digital provisions in order to take advantage of the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and increased digitalisation. The establishment of strong rules on data flows and localisation is also a priority for the Australian Government, aiming to create a more certain and secure online environment for Australian businesses and support increased growth of e-commerce. HM Government intends to promote appropriate protections for consumers online and ensure that it maintains its ability to protect users from emerging online harms. It should be noted that HM Government is contemplating the introduction of a new regulatory framework for online safety which envisages a new statutory duty of care with compliance enforced by a regulator through fines and even senior management liability.6 The Australian Government is also keen to ensure appropriate protections for consumers and for legitimate public policy concerns in the area of digital trade, so will likely find common ground with the UK concerning online harms. Australia has a strong track record of innovation on digital trade, having recently agreed the Australia-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (DEA). A UK-Australia FTA would provide an opportunity to build on the DEA and reduce barriers to e-commerce and stimulate investment in new technologies. Having recently agreed the UK-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, which includes a comprehensive digital chapter, it is understood that the UK is aiming to negotiate a similar arrangement under a prospective UK-Australia FTA. This might include provisions for prohibiting customs duties on electronic transmissions, protection of source code, legal validity of electronic signatures, facilitating electronic transfer of information, and prohibiting requirements for the location of computing facilities.
Investment
HM Government has set out its intention to agree rules that ensure fair and open competition, and address barriers to UK investment across the Australian economy, ensure UK investors in Australia continue to enjoy high standards of treatment, and maintain the UK’s right to regulate in the national interest. The Australian Government is seeking modern and comprehensive investment rules that further strengthen its investment partnership with the UK, noting that the UK is the second largest source of foreign investment in Australia (valued at AU$127 billion). It is unclear whether the two sides envisage provisions for an investment arbitration tribunal under a prospective FTA to uphold fair treatment of investors.
Sustainability
HM Government has made it a strategic objective of UK trade policy to promote its environmental objectives with trading partners, which is reflected in its approach to a UK-Australia FTA. It is aiming to ensure that the parties reaffirm their commitment to international environment and labour standards, ensure parties do not fail to enforce their domestic environmental or labour protections in ways that create an artificial competitive advantage, and include measures which allow the UK to maintain the integrity and provide meaningful protection of the UK’s environmental and labour standards. With regard to tackling climate change, HM Government is aiming to secure provisions that support and help further its commitments on climate change, and in particular achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.7 This would involve promoting trade in low carbon goods and services, supporting research and development collaboration and maintaining both parties’ right to regulate in pursuit of decarbonisation, as well as reaffirming their respective commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. The Australian Government’s approach aims to include FTA commitments that are consistent with internationally agreed principles, standards and rules that have a clear link to trade, noting that Australia and the UK share high standards on environmental protection. It is clear that both the UK and Australia have a common interest in utilising trade policy to help tackle climate change. From floods in the UK to bushfires in Australia, the effects of climate change on the environment have been felt in the two countries and combatting climate change is now an important policy objective for both HM Government and the Australian Government. A UK-Australia FTA would provide a significant opportunity for the two sides to establish leadership in this area through deeper collaboration.
Concluding remarks
A UK-Australia FTA will likely present significant opportunities for businesses on both sides to bolster their commercial activities in the UK and Australia, respectively. Market access arrangements for goods and services as well as investment may come with fewer costs and administrative hurdles, making it simpler and less costly to do business between the two countries. It is important that businesses understand the impact that the future trading relationship between the UK and Australia will have on their operations in order to capitalise on potential market opportunities.
Covid-19 Live Updates: A Growing Number of Countries Find Cases of the New Virus Variant Japan, France, Spain, Sweden and Canada are the latest countries to discover infections with the potentially more transmissible variant first reported in Britain. Surveys show a clear majority of Americans now embrace coronavirus vaccines. Africa struggles with its second wave. Japan, Spain, France, Sweden and Canada find cases of the new coronavirus variant. The E.U.’s vaccinations are set to begin Sunday, but a few places have jumped the gun. Central and Southern California have 0 percent I.C.U. capacity, in a state already low on hospital beds. Thanksgiving travel swelled caseloads less than expected. Could a Christmas surge also be muted? In a shift, more Americans say they are eager to get vaccinated. Even as health workers receive the vaccine, their family members must wait. ‘The second wave is here,’ and African doctors fear it will hit the continent harder than the first. The pandemic’s blow to performing artists may create a ‘great cultural depression.’ Japan, Spain, France, Sweden and Canada find cases of the new coronavirus variant. JAPAN IS CLOSED The discovery of the virus variant in Japan prompted the country to close its borders to all new entry by nonresident foreigners. The discovery of the virus variant in Japan prompted the country to close its borders to all new entry by nonresident foreigners. Credit...Kyodo News via Getty Images Japan, Spain, France, Sweden and Canada have found small numbers of infections involving a new, potentially more transmissible variant of the coronavirus, most linked to travel from the U.K., where it was first detected. The rapid spread of the variant led to the lockdown of London and southern England this week, prompted a temporary French blockade of the English Channel and resulted in countries around the world barring travelers from the U.K. Because few countries have the level of genomic surveillance that Britain does, there is concern that the variant may have been traveling across the world undetected for weeks. A recent study by British scientists found no evidence that the variant is more deadly than others but estimated that it is 56 percent more contagious. So far, the British variant has been diagnosed in seven people in Japan, the country’s health ministry said. All had either recently traveled to the U.K. or been in contact with someone who had. The discovery in Japan prompted the country to close its borders to all new entry by nonresident foreigners. The ban will go into effect at midnight on Monday and last through the end of January, the public broadcaster NHK reported. In Spain, the variant was found in the capital region, local authorities said on Saturday. Antonio Zapatero, a regional health official, said that four cases had been confirmed in Madrid, while another three were being treated as suspicious. At least two of the cases involve people who had recently been to Britain and then tested positive in Madrid, as well as some of their relatives. The first case of the new fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus in France was identified on Friday, according to the French health ministry. Officials said that the patient was a French citizen living in Britain who had traveled from London to Tours, a city in central France, on Dec. 19, a day before the British government imposed a lockdown following the emergence of the variant. Officials in Sweden announced on Saturday that a case of the variant had been detected there after a traveler visited Sormland, near Stockholm, from the United Kingdom over Christmas, Reuters reported. No additional cases had been detected, the Public Health Agency of Sweden said. Health officials in Ontario, Canada, said on Saturday that they had confirmed two cases of the variant in the province. The two cases were a couple from Durham, about 90 miles northwest of Toronto. The couple had no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts, the province’s health ministry said. It is normal for viruses to mutate, and most of the mutations of the coronavirus have proved minor. The British variant has a constellation of 23 mutations, several of which might alter its transmissibility. Vaccine experts are confident that the available vaccines will be able to block the new variant, although that has to be confirmed by laboratory experiments that are now underway. The European Union’s member nations are scheduled to begin vaccinating against the virus on Sunday with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Hungary began administering the vaccine a day early, on Saturday. A few other concerning variants have also been identified, including one in South Africa and another in Nigeria. The U.K. said on Thursday that it would ban travel from South Africa after the British health secretary, Matt Hancock, said two people were confirmed to have been infected with the variant that emerged there. Germany and Singapore have identified infections with the new variant. And Denmark, which has wider genomic surveillance than many other countries, detected 33 cases of the variant from Nov. 14 to Dec. 14, according to the Danish health authorities. The U.S. has not yet reported any cases of the U.K. variant. But the country will require all airline passengers arriving from Britain to test negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of their departure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The rule will take effect on Monday. Hisako Ueno and Mike Ives contributed reporting. — Ben Dooley, Raphael Minder, Marc Santora, Isabella Kwai and Norimitsu Onishi Tracking the Coronavirus › United States On Dec. 25 14-day change New cases 91,922* –11% New deaths 1,129* –1% * World On Dec. 25 14-day change 467,358 –5% 8,084 –1% Where cases per capita are highest Calif. Tenn. Ariz. Ala. Okla. Ark. Ind. W.Va. Del. Miss. Nev. Pa. Ga. Utah https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/12/26/world/covid-updates-coronavirus 0:00/1:01 3 European Countries Begin Coronavirus Vaccinations Early Germany, Hungary and Slovakia began administering the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, one day ahead of the European Union’s official rollout. Credit...Zsolt Czegledi/EPA, via Shutterstock A 101-year-old woman in a nursing home in eastern Germany became the country’s first recipient of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine on Saturday, a day ahead of the European Union’s planned immunization campaign, an ambitious effort to eventually inoculate more than 450 million people across the 27 nations in the European Union against the coronavirus. Vaccinations also began in Hungary, where photographs showed health care workers getting the shot at the Southern Pest Central Hospital in Budapest. The authorities in Slovakia also began administering their first doses on Saturday, Reuters reported. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, released a video in advance of the official rollout on Sunday, calling the campaign “a touching moment of unity.” Roughly two-thirds of all Germans are willing to be vaccinated against coronavirus, according to a survey conducted by YouGov for the German news agency D.P.A., but more than half of respondents said they were concerned about possible side effects. The doses for Europe are being produced at BioNTech’s manufacturing sites in Germany, and Pfizer’s site in Puurs, Belgium, according to the two companies, and countries across the bloc have begun receiving their first deliveries. In Germany, all 16 states received 9,750 doses of the vaccine on Saturday. Each state is to send them to regional immunization centers, and then teams of drivers are to distribute them to nursing homes and care centers for the elderly across the country. Karsten Fischer, who is responsible for managing the response to the pandemic in the Harz district of Saxony-Anhalt, said the logistics in his region made it possible to begin vaccinations within hours of receiving the doses, and he saw no reason to wait. “We did not want to waste a day, as the stability of the vaccine decreases over time,” Mr. Fischer told the public broadcaster M.D.R. “We wanted to begin administering immediately.” The first inoculation was administered in the city of Halberstadt, to 101-year-old Edith Kwoizalla; 40 other residents and 11 members of the staff at the nursing home also received doses, M.D.R. reported. “Every day we wait is one day too many,” Tobias Krüger, the director of the home, told reporters. Germany’s eastern states have been hardest hit by the second wave of the virus. More than 1.6 million people have been infected in the country, and more than 29,400 have died, many of them older citizens, especially those living in nursing homes. Residents of nursing homes and their caregivers, as well as emergency medical staff and individuals 80 years and older, are set to be among the first vaccinated in Germany, based on a plan that was drawn up by leaders, medical advisers and members of the national Ethics Council. Members of the government do not plan to receive inoculations before their peers, Jens Spahn, the country’s health minister, said on Saturday. “We have deliberately said that we will begin offering the vaccine to the most fragile,” Mr. Spahn said. “If there comes a time when it makes sense, say to bolster confidence, each one of us is ready to be vaccinated.” — Melissa Eddy Central and Southern California have 0 percent I.C.U. capacity, in a state already low on hospital beds. Gabriella Ortega, a respiratory therapist, speaks to a health care worker who is helping to treat a Covid-19 patient at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., on Dec. 17. Gabriella Ortega, a respiratory therapist, speaks to a health care worker who is helping to treat a Covid-19 patient at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., on Dec. 17.Credit...Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times California, the wealthiest and most populous state of the world’s wealthiest country, has long had a dearth of hospital beds — just 1.8 beds per 1,000 people, according to 2018 data compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Now a record-shattering slew of coronavirus cases has wiped out intensive care unit capacity in a large swath of the state. Southern California, its most populous region, and San Joaquin Valley, a central region, have 0 percent I.C.U. capacity, keeping them under a stay-at-home order until at least Dec. 28, the California Department of Public Health said on Saturday. Intensive care units in the Bay Area region are at 11.3 percent capacity and the Greater Sacramento Region has 16.9 percent capacity. Both will likely remain under the order at least into the new year. Before the pandemic, California’s ratio of hospital beds per person was only slightly higher than Washington State and Oregon, both of which ranked last in the nation. Many of the state’s hospitals kept their number of beds low in part to limit costs. I.C.U. beds have been limited as well: California only had 2.1 beds per 10,000 people, more plentiful than just 10 other states, according to KFF’s 2018 data. California is the first U.S. state to report more than 2 million coronavirus cases so far. On Friday, the weekly average of new cases per day in the state was 36,418, according to a New York Times database. That is a 21 percent increase from two weeks prior. The situation is now out of control, officials and health care workers have warned. At Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles, resources are so stretched that gurneys have been placed in the gift shop and the lobby is being used to treat patients. And keeping health care facilities sufficiently staffed has been yet another hurdle. Many European countries are under restrictions, but Christmas is celebrated so broadly — and New Year’s festivities will follow shortly — that the concern of a post-holiday spike reaches far beyond a single country. Case numbers remain about as high as they have ever been, both in the U.S. and throughout the world. Total U.S. infections are about to reach 19 million, while the world total surpassed 80 million on Saturday afternoon, according to a New York Times database. For now, the U.S. is no longer seeing overall explosive growth, although California’s worsening outbreak has canceled out progress in other parts of the country. The state has added more than 300,000 cases in the seven-day period ending Dec. 22. And six Southern states have seen sustained case increases in the last week: Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and Texas. The country’s virus-related deaths in general have continued to climb. And hospitalizations are hovering at a pandemic height of about 120,000, according to the Covid Tracking Project. More than 330,000 people in the United States have died since the pandemic began, and two of the four worst days for deaths so far have been during the past week. A number of states set death records on Dec. 22 or Dec. 23, including Alabama, Wisconsin, Arizona and West Virginia, according to The Times’s data. Holiday reporting anomalies may obscure any post-Christmas spike until the second week of January. Testing was expected to decrease around Christmas, and many states have said they would not report data on certain days. For Dec. 25, numbers for both new infections, 91,922, and deaths, 1,129, were significantly lower than the seven-day averages. The lessons learned from Thanksgiving are mixed. Case numbers and deaths have continued to rise since, but the patterns look more like a plethora of microspreads than a mass superspreader event. Over all, experts have told The Times, areas of the U.S. that were improving pre-Thanksgiving — like the Midwest — continued to do well afterward, while regions that were seeing higher numbers before the holiday continued to worsen. Only time will tell whether new infections will result from increased exposure during the late-December holidays — from seeing family, passing through airports or buying food for celebrations. More than one million people passed through Transportation Safety Administration travel checkpoints on each of four recent days — Dec. 18, 19, 20 and 23 — but that was less than half the number for those days last year, according to the agency’s data. Only a quarter of the number who flew on the day after Christmas last year did so on Friday, and Christmas Eve travel was down by one-third from 2019. So, as with Thanksgiving, Christmas will produce “a continuing ramification” of whoever is infected over the winter holidays, said Catherine L. Troisi, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the University of Texas’ School of Public Health in Houston, so it is crucial to keep up protective measures. Ever since the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine began last spring, upbeat announcements were stalked by ominous polls: No matter how encouraging the news, growing numbers of people said they would refuse to get the shot. The time frame was dangerously accelerated, many people warned. The vaccine was a scam from Big Pharma, others said. A political ploy by the Trump administration, many Democrats charged. The internet pulsed with apocalyptic predictions from longtime vaccine opponents, who decried the new shot as the epitome of every concern they’d ever put forth. But over the past few weeks, as the vaccine went from a hypothetical to a reality, something happened. Fresh surveys show attitudes shifting and a clear majority of Americans now eager to get vaccinated. In polls by Gallup, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Research Center, the portion of people saying they are now likely or certain to take the vaccine has grown from about 50 percent this summer to more than 60 percent, and in one poll 73 percent — a figure that approaches what some public health experts say would be sufficient for herd immunity. Resistance to the vaccine is certainly not vanishing. Misinformation and dire warnings are gathering force across social media. At a meeting on December 20, members of an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited strong indications that vaccine denouncements as well as acceptance are growing, so they could not predict whether the public would gobble up limited supplies or take a pass. But the attitude improvement is striking. A similar shift on another heated pandemic issue was reflected in a different Kaiser poll this month. It found that nearly 75 percent of Americans are now wearing masks when they leave their homes. The change reflects a constellation of recent events: the uncoupling of the vaccine from Election Day; clinical trial results showing about 95 percent efficacy and relatively modest side effects for the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna; and the alarming surge in new coronavirus infections and deaths. — Jan Hoffman Even as health workers receive the vaccine, their family members must wait. Dr. Taison Bell and his wife Kristen with family at home in Charlottesville, Va. Unanswered questions about how well the vaccine prevents the spread of Covid-19 means that safety precautions must stay in place among the vaccinated. Dr. Taison Bell and his wife Kristen with family at home in Charlottesville, Va. Unanswered questions about how well the vaccine prevents the spread of Covid-19 means that safety precautions must stay in place among the vaccinated.Credit...Eze Amos for The New York Times Shortly after 2 p.m. on Dec. 15, Dr. Taison Bell became the second person in his hospital, UVA Health in Charlottesville, to receive a dose of Pfizer’s new coronavirus vaccine. “I feel fine,” he said. “But my right arm, if you were to interview it, is probably not excited about what’s happened to it.” 👉🏼His limb experienced a bit of swelling and soreness, nothing out of the ordinary for a vaccine. It was a sign that the injection was doing its job: instructing Dr. Bell’s cells to churn out a protein called spike, which will teach his immune system to recognize and thwart the new coronavirus, should he ever encounter it. His second dose, scheduled for early January, will clinch the process. The shot introduced a microscopic shift that will have an outsize impact on his risk of getting Covid-19. But, Dr. Bell said, little else in his life will change until more of his community joins the vaccinated pool. Dr. Bell, 37, remains a relative rarity among the people he sees both inside and outside of work. His wife, Kristen, and their children, Alain and Ruby, are unlikely to be vaccinated before the spring or summer. They, like many others, will soon live in a home divided by the splinter-thin prick of a needle — one person vaccinated, three not. They represent a liminal state that will persist for months nationwide, as the first people to be injected navigate a new coexistence with the vulnerable at home. Although the new vaccines have been shown to be highly effective at preventing people from developing symptomatic cases of Covid-19, little data exists on how well they can stop the spread of the virus, raising the possibility that vaccinated people, despite being much safer individually, could still pose a threat to those they love. For that reason, “we’re still going to be taking all the same precautions,” Ms. Bell said. “Our day-to-day isn’t going to change for months, as the vaccines continue to get rolled out. — Katherine J. Wu A citizen journalist who chronicled Wuhan’s epidemic is going on trial. Ms. Zhang in a video from her hotel room that she posted on YouTube. The unfiltered information she shared about the epidemic in her videos went against the government’s victorious narrative. Ms. Zhang in a video from her hotel room that she posted on YouTube. The unfiltered information she shared about the epidemic in her videos went against the government’s victorious narrative.Credit...via YouTube In one video, during the lockdown in Wuhan, she filmed a hospital hallway lined with rolling beds, the patients hooked up to blue oxygen tanks. In another, she panned over a community health center, noting that a man said he was charged for a coronavirus test, even though residents believed the tests would be free. At the time, Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old former lawyer turned citizen journalist, embodied the Chinese people’s hunger for unfiltered information about the epidemic. She was one of several journalists, professionals and amateurs, who had flocked to Wuhan after the lockdown was imposed in late January. The authorities were preoccupied with trying to manage the chaos of the outbreak, and for a brief period, China’s strict censorship regime loosened. Reporters seized that window to share residents’ raw accounts of terror and fury. Now, Ms. Zhang has become a symbol of the government’s efforts to deny its early failings in the crisis and promote a victorious narrative instead. Ms. Zhang abruptly stopped posting videos in May, after several months of dispatches. The police later revealed that she had been arrested, accused of spreading lies. On Monday, she will go to court, in the first known trial of a chronicler of China’s coronavirus crisis. The prosecution is part of the Chinese Communist Party’s continuing campaign to recast China’s handling of the outbreak as a succession of wise, triumphant moves by the government. Critics who have pointed to officials’ early missteps have been arrested, censored or threatened by police; three other citizen journalists disappeared from Wuhan before Ms. Zhang did, though none of the rest has been publicly charged. Prosecutors have accused Ms. Zhang of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” — a frequent charge for government critics in China — and recommended between four and five years in prison. Ms. Zhang appeared to know the risks of her actions. In one of her first videos, on Feb. 7, she mentioned that another citizen journalist, Chen Qiushi, had just disappeared, and another, Fang Bin, was under surveillance. Whistleblower doctors had been silenced, she added. “But as someone who cares about the truth in this country, we have to say that if we just wallow in our sadness and don’t do something to change this reality, then our emotions are cheap,” she said. Soon after her arrest, she began a hunger strike, according to her lawyers. She has become gaunt and drained but has refused to eat, the lawyers said, maintaining that her strike is her form of protest against her unjust detention. — Vivian Wang ‘The second wave is here,’ and African doctors fear it will hit the continent harder than the first. The Greenacres Hospital in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, has been overwhelmed by a crush of new virus cases. The Greenacres Hospital in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, has been overwhelmed by a crush of new virus cases. Credit...Samantha Reinders for The New York Times PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa — When the pandemic began, global public health officials raised grave concerns about the vulnerabilities of Africa. But its countries over all appeared to fare far better than those in Europe or the Americas, upending scientists’ expectations. Now, the coronavirus is on the rise again in swaths of the continent, posing a new, possibly deadlier threat. In South Africa, a crush of new cases that spread from Port Elizabeth is growing exponentially across the nation. Eight countries, including Nigeria, Uganda and Mali, recently recorded their highest daily case counts all year. “The second wave is here,” John N. Nkengasong, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has declared. When the virus was first detected, many African countries were considered particularly at risk because they had weak medical, laboratory and disease-surveillance systems and were already battling other contagions. Some were riven by armed conflict, limiting health workers’ access. In March, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the first African director-general of the World Health Organization, cautioned, “We have to prepare for the worst.” But many African governments pursued swift, severe lockdowns that — while financially ruinous, especially for their poorest citizens — slowed the rate of infection. Some deployed networks of community health workers. The Africa C.D.C., the W.H.O. and other agencies helped expand testing and moved in protective gear, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. The reported toll of the pandemic on the continent — 2.6 million cases and 61,000 deaths, according to the Africa C.D.C. — is lower than what the United States alone currently experiences in three weeks. But that accounting is almost certainly incomplete. Evidence is growing that many cases were missed, according to an analysis of new studies, visits to nearly a dozen medical institutions and interviews with more than 100 public health officials, scientists, government leaders and medical providers on the continent. “It is possible and very likely that the rate of exposure is much more than what has been reported,” Dr. Nkengasong said in an interview. Elsewhere, countries are bracing for their third lockdowns in the hopes of avoiding yet another wave of infections: Austria entered a third lockdown on Saturday, with all nonessential shops and schools to remain closed for three weeks and movement to be restricted, after the country eased restrictions in mid-December to allow for preparations ahead of the Christmas holiday. Until Jan. 24, people in Austria are only allowed to leave their homes for work, shopping or to exercise outdoors, and personal contacts are limited to no more than two households. Ice skating rinks and ski lifts in the alpine country will remain open despite the lockdown, but operating at half capacity and with distancing requirements. On Sunday, Israel is also set to enter its third weekslong lockdown following a sharp increase in positive coronavirus test results over the past week. Israelis will be barred from traveling more than 1,000 meters beyond their homes except those participating in protests, receiving a vaccination or fulfilling any other task on a list of exemptions, the government said in a statement on Friday. Museums, malls, national parks, zoos, salons and many other places will be shuttered, but some schools will remain open, the government said. The lockdown is slated to go into effect about a week after Israel started vaccinating people against Covid-19. As of Saturday, more than 200,000 had already received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. — Sheri Fink, Melissa Eddy and Adam Rasgon The pandemic’s blow to performing artists may create a ‘great cultural depression.’ Soon after the pandemic struck, a year’s worth of bookings vanished for Jennifer Koh, an acclaimed classical violinist. She is now receiving food stamps. Soon after the pandemic struck, a year’s worth of bookings vanished for Jennifer Koh, an acclaimed classical violinist. She is now receiving food stamps.Credit...Elias Williams for The New York Times Since the start of the pandemic, millions of Americans have lost their jobs and tens of thousands of businesses have closed. But the losses in the performing arts and related sectors have been staggering. During the quarter ending in September, when the overall unemployment rate averaged 8.5 percent, 52 percent of actors, 55 percent of dancers and 27 percent of musicians were out of work, according to the National Endowment for the Arts. By comparison, the jobless rate was 27 percent for waiters; 19 percent for cooks; and about 13 percent for retail salespeople over the same period. In many areas, arts venues — theaters, clubs, performance spaces, concert halls, festivals — were the first businesses to close, and they are likely to be among the last to reopen. The public may think of performers as A-list celebrities, but most never get near a red carpet or an awards show. The overwhelming majority, even in the best times, don’t benefit from Hollywood-size paychecks or institutional backing. They work season to season, weekend to weekend or day to day, moving from one gig to the next. Jennifer Koh, a classical violinist with a dazzling technique, has ridden a career that any aspiring Juilliard grad would dream about — appearing with leading orchestras, recording new works, and performing on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. Now, nine months into a contagion that has halted most public gatherings and decimated the performing arts, Ms. Koh, who watched a year’s worth of bookings evaporate, is playing music from her living room and receiving food stamps. “My fear is we’re not just losing jobs, we’re losing careers,” said Adam Krauthamer, president of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians in New York. He said 95 percent of the local’s 7,000 members were not working on a regular basis because of the mandated shutdown. “It will create a great cultural depression,” he added. — Patricia Cohen A nurse recalls 10 grueling months: ‘That’s how we took care of Louisiana.’ Yanti Turang, a nurse at University Medical Center in New Orleans, in March. Credit...William Widmer for The New York Times As 2020 comes to a close, we are revisiting subjects whose lives were affected by the pandemic. When Campbell Robertson first spoke with Yanti Turang in March, she was working in a makeshift Covid-19 tent and treating patients with a novel coronavirus. In the harrowing days of late March, Yanti Turang was a New Orleans emergency nurse with an ominously relevant résumé: Five years earlier, she had been working on the front lines of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. What had been a curious background just a few weeks earlier was now expertise in demand. A few days later, she was working in a Covid-19 tent when she got a call from a physician colleague. “She was like, ‘Can you help me build this hospital?” Ms. Turang recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t really know what you’re talking about.’” This is how Ms. Turang became the deputy medical operations manager for the enormous field hospital set up by the National Guard in the New Orleans convention center. She would work there for the next eight months. Though the census of patients at the convention center waxed and waned, it was a huge undertaking. Within her first week, Ms. Turang and her small team discovered that the field hospital was in many ways set up in preparation for a different kind of patient population than it would likely be getting. With the pandemic still new, she said, it was only just becoming clear how destructive it would be for people in nursing homes. The convention center was set up to take in a typical mix of patients in hospital intensive care units — people who could feed themselves, could walk when they felt better and could turn over in bed on their own — so Ms. Turang and her team began hurriedly transforming it into a hospital designed to care for patients who are elderly, with all the chronic complications that go along with that. “That’s the huge pivot that we made,” she said. “That’s how we took care of Louisiana.” All of this work (she also took on a job as a medical consultant to a group of schools in the city) devoured her year. But this month, Ms. Turang was vaccinated, the first concrete signal that an end to the pandemic could be coming. And after her shot, she did something that she had not allowed herself to do much over the last 10 exhausting, demanding, grief-filled months: She cried. — Campbell Robertson Pictures of unrefrigerated U-Haul trucks that stored bodies became one of the enduring images of the first wave of the pandemic in New York City. Credit...Jonah Markowitz for The New York Times At the marine terminal in South Brooklyn this month, a sign that said “funeral director” pointed to the left of a vast warehouse just past the guard gate. A row of 53-foot refrigerated trailers, about 20 in all, sat in the black-tarred parking lot. New York City officials believe this little-known site will help them avoid a repeat of one of the most shocking tragedies of Covid-19’s first wave: the crush of bodies that overwhelmed the city’s capacity for dealing with the dead. The city experienced a harrowing wave of fatalities as it became the global epicenter of the virus in the spring, with 17,507 confirmed virus deaths between March 14 and June 18. At the peak of the pandemic in early April, about 800 people died in a single day. More than 135 refrigerated trailers were deployed to the streets around hospitals, in what became one of the most enduring images of the city’s crisis. As of Dec. 4, the city’s facility at the marine terminal still held 529 bodies in long-term storage and 40 in refrigerated trailers — most of which had been there frozen for months. There is room for hundreds more. (The Wall Street Journal first reported that bodies were still being held at the facility.) The city has not set a time limit on how long a body can remain there, as long as there are discussions underway with the family for a final resting place. The service is free, said Dr. Barbara Sampson, the city’s chief medical examiner. How to find somewhere safe to store hundreds of bodies for long stretches was one of the hardest and most traumatic lessons in the first wave of the crisis, one that hospitals, funeral directors and the city medical examiner’s office are reviewing as the second wave of Covid-19 grows in New York. During the first wave, shelves were placed inside the trailers at hospitals to double their storage capacity. But they were unstable and some collapsed when the trailers were moved. So the city sent strike teams of National Guard and medical examiner staff to hospitals to collect more than 2,000 bodies and bring them to the pier. This time, the medical examiner has told hospitals not to install shelves, so trailers can be towed full to the pier. — Sharon Otterman RESILIENCE A teacher in Iran bought hundreds of tablets for schoolchildren who could not afford them. Hoseein Asadi has dedicated 28 years to educating elementary school children from villages and nomadic tribes in Iran.Credit...via Hoseein Asadi Much as the pandemic has been a story of devastation and loss, it has also been one of resilience — of individual people, families and entire communities not only surviving a deadly threat but seeing in the moment a chance to serve others. We asked our correspondents around the world to share stories from this year that speak to the strength of the human spirit, and to how disruption can bring out the best in us. The teacher had inherited $300,000 and was planning to buy a new car. But when the virus came, and with it remote learning, he made a U-turn, instead deciding to buy 343 tablets for elementary school students shut out of class because their families could not afford the equipment. For good measure, the teacher, Hoseein Asadi, also bought the children 30,000 masks to protect them from infection. Overnight, Mr. Asadi became a national hero, appearing on state television and written about in local media outlets. The minister of education telephoned him to personally express his gratitude. He has also inspired others to act. State-owned industries, the private sector and ordinary Iranians have mobilized to raise money for tablets. Iranians in the diaspora as far away as Australia have also offered to help. So far, Mr. Asadi said, the education department has received and distributed 12,000 tablets to low-income school districts in several provinces. “Creating happiness for kids who have nothing is the most rewarding feeling,” Mr. Asadi said. — Farnaz Fassihi Vaccines promise an end to the pandemic, but that future will not be evenly distributed. A health worker taking a swab in Mumbai, India. Credit...Divyakant Solanki/EPA, via Shutterstock The end of the pandemic is finally in view. So is rescue from the most traumatic global economic catastrophe since the Great Depression. As coronavirus vaccines enter the bloodstream, recovery has become reality. But the benefits will be far from equally apportioned. Wealthy nations in Europe and North America have secured the bulk of limited stocks of vaccines, positioning themselves for starkly improved economic fortunes. Developing countries — home to most of humanity — are left to secure their own doses. The lopsided distribution of vaccines appears certain to worsen a defining economic reality: The world that emerges from this terrifying chapter in history will be more unequal than ever. Poor countries will continue to be ravaged by the pandemic, forcing them to expend meager resources that are already stretched by growing debts to lenders in the United States, Europe and China. The global economy has long been cleaved by profound disparities in wealth, education and access to vital elements like clean water, electricity and the internet. The pandemic has trained its death and destruction of livelihood on ethnic minorities, women and lower-income households. The ending is likely to add another division that could shape economic life for years, separating countries with access to vaccines from those without. “It’s clear that developing countries, and especially poorer developing countries, are going to be excluded for some time,” said Richard Kozul-Wright, director of the division of globalization and development strategies at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva. “Despite the understanding that vaccines need to be seen as a global good, the provision remains largely under control of large pharmaceutical companies in the advanced economies.” International aid organizations, philanthropists and wealthy nations have coalesced around a promise to ensure that all countries gain the tools needed to fight the pandemic, like protective gear for medical teams as well as tests, therapeutics and vaccines. But they have failed to back their assurances with enough money. The leading initiative, the Act-Accelerator Partnership — an undertaking of the World Health Organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation among others — has secured less than $5 billion of a targeted $38 billion. The United States has secured claims on as many as 1.5 billion doses of vaccine, while the European Union has locked up nearly two billion doses — enough to vaccinate all of their citizens and then some. Many poor countries could be left waiting until 2024 to fully vaccinate their populations. India is home to pharmaceutical manufacturers that are producing vaccines for multinational companies including AstraZeneca, but its population is unlikely to be fully vaccinated before 2024, according to TS Lombard, an investment research firm in London. Its economy is likely to remain vulnerable. “You need to vaccinate health care workers globally so you can reopen global markets,” said Clare Wenham, a health policy expert at the London School of Economics. “If every country in the world can say, ‘We know all our vulnerable people are vaccinated,’ then we can return to the global capitalist trading system much quicker.” — Peter S. Goodman
are foreigners allowed to enter singapore now video
Australia: Singapore and Australia residents are allowed entry into both countries on both short and long-term visits. For short-term trips, Australia residents may apply for the ATP. Brunei Darussalam: Residents of Brunei Darussalam and Singapore may apply for travel permits on both essential and non-essential travels. KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today said the government will maintain its current policy of not allowing foreigners to enter the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While some foreigners were successfully able to enter China from 0 a.m., September 28, 2020, many others are still waiting to find their way back to China – complicated by several factors like limited international flight schedules, closed borders in various countries, family affairs, etc. Related services. Have a question? Contact our HR and Payroll Team; Now, just weeks after China relaxed ... Yes (subject to restrictions as noted below) U.S. citizens who are Singapore permanent residents will be permitted to enter Singapore and will be issued a Stay-Home Notice (SHN). U.S. citizens who are long-term pass holders must obtain permission for entry from the relevant Singapore government agency before they commence their journey. Share. Tweet. ADVERTISEMENT. Foreigners with work permits or permission from the Labour Ministry (and other some other government agencies) will be allowed to enter the country after registration, under phase 3 of the lockdown relaxation, which begins Monday. The Foreign Ministry made the announcement today. SINGAPORE - All short-term visitors will no longer be allowed to enter or transit through Singapore from 11.59pm on Monday (March 23) in view of the heightened risks of importing coronavirus cases... Find A Singapore Overseas Mission. There are over 50 Singapore overseas missions world-wide. Locate the nearest Embassy, High Commission, Permanent Mission, Consulate-General/Consulate and Trade Office now. Use the locator below to help you find your nearest overseas mission. Find out more While in Singapore, on a visit pass, you are not permitted to engage in any business, professional or paid employment activities. Overstaying is a punishable offence in Singapore. If you want to stay beyond the period of stay granted, you can apply for an extension online using the e-Service or go to the Visitor Services Centre on Level 4 of the ICA Building before your Visit Pass expires. From February 1, 2021, travelers applying to enter Singapore using the RGL must have proof of medical insurance valid for use in Singapore for the entire duration of their stay. The minimum coverage amount must be no less than S$30,000. Upon arrival, RGL travelers will undergo an additional PCR test at their own expense and will be transported by the host company or government agency to a non ... Visitors from Brunei Darussalam and New Zealand can apply for an Air Travel Pass (ATP) to enter Singapore. More information on the ATP can be found in the CAAS Press Release a nd on the ICA SafeTravel website. Health advisory for persons issued with Stay-Home Notice (SHN) in Singapore can be found on the MOH website.
BREAKING: FOREIGN NATIONS WON'T ALLOW YOU ENTER THEIR ...
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