Half of Scotts Sq units snapped up in a week

Half of Scotts Sq units snapped up in a week
169 units sold at average $3,983 psf; other half to go on sale at end of Sept
By UMA SHANKARI

LUXURY developer Wheelock Properties has sold half of the 338 units in its upmarket Scotts Square development over the past week to buyers of its previous projects, it said yesterday.
Super luxury: Scotts Square will have two residential towers of 35 and 43 storeys connected by a sky bridge 
The 169 units were sold at an average price of $3,983 per square foot. The highest price was $4,430 psf for a one-bedroom apartment on the 41st floor, Wheelock said.

About 63 per cent of the units were bought by Singaporeans or permanent residents. As for foreigners, the buyers were predominantly Indonesians, the developer said.

‘We have been receiving numerous enquiries from both locals and foreigners as early as 2005,’ said Tan Bee Kim, Wheelock’s executive director. ‘The private placement was offered to our established clientele who understand the outstanding value of the development since Scotts Square is one of the rare freehold luxury homes located in Orchard Road.’

Scotts Square consists of two super-luxury residential towers of 35 and 43 storeys connected by a sky bridge. An upmarket retail podium with lettable area of about 80,000 sq ft will occupy four floors in the development - from Basement 1 to Level 3.

Apartment sizes in the project range from 624 sq ft for one-bedroom units to 1,249 sq ft for 3-bedroom units. A ‘good mix’ of one, two and three-bedroom apartments were sold, a Wheelock spokesman said.

Ms Tan said: ‘We set out to sell 40 per cent of the development through private placement. However, the take-up rate and speed far exceeded our expectations and we consequently placed out an additional 10 per cent.’

The remaining apartments will be officially launched once the showflat is ready towards end-September, Wheelock said.

Wheelock’s shares closed 2 cents down at $3.04 yesterday. The stock has climbed 35.1 per cent since the start of the year.
Source : Business Times - 03 Aug 2007

No quick rebound for Asian markets

No quick rebound for Asian markets
It’ll take a while for US sub-prime mortgage market to untangle : Stiglitz
By NANDE KHIN
(SINGAPORE) Asian financial markets are unlikely to recover quickly from recent turbulence, as the mess in the US sub-prime mortgage market will take a while to untangle, Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz says. But another Asian financial crisis is not likely because Asian economies are now protected by huge reserves.
Prof Stiglitz: A global reserve currency will get rid of ‘deficits hot potato’
After a 115.95-point beating on Wednesday, the Straits Times Index showed little sign of recovering yesterday. It gained just 3.75 points to end at 3,435.46.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Singapore Economic Review Conference yesterday, Prof Stiglitz said market jitters in Asia are ‘indicative of a lot of fragility in global financial markets, a lot of queasiness and instability’.

‘And you never can tell which of those will be the critical one. That is to say, the market could recover and go another two or three months - and (then) another event happens.’

Of this week’s tumble, he said: ‘The problems that are being uncovered in the US sub-prime market are sufficiently deep that we won’t quickly recover from this one.’

He added that risk premiums have been unusually low for a long time, ‘particularly for a world in which there are a lot of risks’. Those premiums have now risen rapidly, triggered by the unravelling of the US sub-prime market. They are likely to rise further as investors take cover. ‘And that, of course, would mean significant asset price adjustments.’

Prof Stiglitz is one of the best-known economists of his generation. He was chief economist and senior vice-president of the World Bank from 1997-2000 and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration. He now teaches at Columbia University.

Anxiety over the US housing market has been at the core of recent volatility in global financial markets, he said. And the worst is not over.

‘I do think that weaknesses in the American economy are going to continue, (and) could get worse,’ he said. ‘The first quarter for the US was very weak, the second quarter was a little stronger, but I think we are going to go back into a weak US economy, and I think that that will inevitably have some effect on Asia.’

On the positive side, Prof Stiglitz does not see another financial crisis ripping through Asia - a point he made in his keynote address to the conference.

Despite unusually low risk premiums and there not having been any fundamental change in the global financial architecture since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, a repeat is unlikely because Asian countries in general are now protected by large reserves.

Fewer countries are also running large current account deficits and more are borrowing in their own currency instead of US dollars, he said. But risks to financial stability remain, such as global imbalances.

Prof Stiglitz said a global reserve currency, rather than a revaluation of the Chinese yuan, is the key to getting rid of the ‘hot potato of deficits’.

The US-dollar reserve system is at the root of the the US running a huge trade deficit of US$850 billion, according to him.

When countries buy US Treasury bills to keep as reserves, they are essentially lending money to the US at very low interest rates and financing US consumption, he said.

The UK had a similar trade deficit problem in the past when sterling was used as the reserve currency, he pointed out.

This ‘hot potato of deficits’ means that whichever country’s currency is used as the reserve currency, that country will run a trade deficit.

Such a system is unsustainable, Prof Stiglitz said. Already the US-dollar reserve system is ‘fraying’ as lack of confidence in the greenback grows.

He proposed that a global reserve currency be issued in an amount commensurate with reserves accumulation, which would ‘offset the negative effect on aggregate demand and money being buried in the ground, and would thus not be inflationary’.

This would also enhance global financial stability because it would do away with the risk of one country running a huge trade deficit, he said.

Source : Business Times - 03 Aug 2007

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Agent jailed for cashback scam

Agent jailed for cashback scam
By Chong Chee Kin

THE property agent who was in cahoots with fugitive lawyer David Rasif in a cashback scam was jailed five years and five months yesterday.
Goh Chong Liang, 37, had earlier pleaded guilty to cheating banks here to give out housing loans worth nearly $1 million in the scam.

A district court heard last week how Goh had conspired with Rasif to dupe the banks.

Goh’s role in the scam was to inflate the price of a seller’s flat. This secured a higher housing loan for the buyer.

The difference between the loan amount and the actual price of the resale flat would then be split among those involved in the scam.

The court heard that Goh had roped in Rasif, through Rasif’s law firm at the time, to act for flat sellers in the scam.

Renovation costs were added to inflate the price of a flat. Goh even helped set up a shell company which never carried out any such work.

Rasif’s law firm - since closed - deducted its fees from the sale of the flats. The remainder of the money Goh made was shared by those involved in the scam.

The firm was involved in 22 such transactions in 2004 valued at more than $4 million.

But in June 2005, the Commercial Affairs Department began an investigation. Goh turned to Rasif and another lawyer in the firm, and they allegedly told him to forge the documents used in the deals.

Goh is the first to be charged and convicted in the scam. No one else has yet been brought to court.

His lawyer, Mr Peter Fernando, said that should any others be brought before the court, Goh had promised that he would continue to cooperate by being a prosecution witness.

Goh could have been jailed for up to seven years.

Source : Straits Times - 03 Aug 2007

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Singapore to focus on ‘3 Cs’ as new Asean chair

Singapore to focus on ‘3 Cs’ as new Asean chair
Key thrusts are a Charter, Community building and dealing with transnational Challenges
By Alastair McIndoe, PHILIPPINES CORRESPONDENT

MANILA - SINGAPORE yesterday took over the chairmanship of Asean, vowing to focus on the ‘three Cs’ - a Charter for the grouping, Community building, and collectively dealing with transnational Challenges.
The environment, energy, climate change and sustainable development will also be key priorities during the 12 months of the Republic’s stewardship of the 10-member regional grouping.

The turnover of the Asean chairmanship from the Philippines to Singapore was sealed here with a handshake between Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo and Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, both in traditional Filipino ‘barong’ shirts.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 40th Asean Ministerial Meeting here, Mr Yeo said: ‘Singapore endeavours to build upon the good work of our Filipino colleagues. Forty years on, Asean is at a critical turning point.

‘We will focus on three key thrusts, which I will call the Three Cs…the Charter, whose drafting began under the Philippines’ chairmanship; Community building, both within Asean and the wider region; and the Challenges of regional and international nature that we must collectively address.’

Ministers have been optimistic this week that the charter - meant to transform the bloc into a more rules-based community - will be ready for signing at the leaders’ summit in Singapore, set for Nov 20.

That would be a ‘golden opportunity to make a bold and visionary political statement to the world’, said Mr Yeo.

A number of key charter provisions still need to be hammered out, including how to deal with non-compliance and a mechanism for majority voting on important issues.

Mr Yeo said the grouping’s ministers will meet in Singapore early next month to resolve the outstanding issues.

The ‘finishing touches’ will then be made at a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York a few weeks later.

Singapore will also be drawing up a ‘detailed blueprint’ for an economic community by 2015, for Asean’s leaders to sign at the summit.

‘By integrating our economies closely, we better position ourselves against the rise of China and India,’ Mr Yeo said.

Elaborating on the scope of community building - the second ‘C’ - he said it entailed activities within the group, such as Singapore’s contribution to Asean youth projects as well as forging links at the regional level and reaching out to its dialogue partners like the United States, China and the European Union.

Mr Yeo made clear that Singapore’s vision for community building was the creation of a ‘people-centred organisation that has meaning for the man on the street’.

‘If you boil down all that we do, Asean is about regional security and economic development; meaning jobs and investment.’

The summit in November will also be used to push the agenda on tackling transnational threats such as terrorism and pandemics, which Asean countries cannot deal with alone.

‘We have to work together and enlist the help of our dialogue partners where appropriate,’ Mr Yeo said.

This year’s ministerial get-together will probably also be remembered for all 10 of the region’s politically diverse nations agreeing to create an intergovernmental human rights commission, despite the initial objection of Myanmar.

Asean also took one of its toughest stands on Myanmar, demanding to see results in its ‘road map to democracy’ and calling for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s release.

Also here yesterday, the 27-member Asean Regional Forum (ARF) - the region’s largest security gathering - announced it would be able to take a more active role in preventing conflicts, after members adopted rules for a quick reaction group.

‘ARF will not just be conference diplomacy,’ said forum official M.C. Abad. ‘It will have a mechanism to do things that cannot wait for the next meeting.’

Source : Straits Times - 03 Aug 2007

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Meetings are big business: Sector pulled in a record $4b last year

Meetings are big business: Sector pulled in a record $4b last year
By Wong Chun Han & Lin Xinyi

BUSINESS events and conventions reaped $4 billion for Singapore last year - a new high for the sector.
These record takings come on the heels of 2005 - already a ‘phenomenal’ year by the reckoning of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) - when the sector rang in receipts of $3 billion.

The latest figure paints a rosy future for the sector called Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions - known quaintly as Mice.

It also cements Singapore’s ranking by the International Congress and Convention Association as Asia’s top convention city for the eighth time.

Despite the acronym, the sector is anything but mousy. With business people coming here for meetings, conferences and exhibitions and the like - last year’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings were a case in point - the Mice sector plumped up tourist arrivals by nearly three million.

One in three visitors to Singapore was here for Mice; what they spent here made up 35 per cent of all tourism receipts.

These latest figures came last night from Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang, who was the guest of honour at the Singapore Business Events Awards at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia hotel.

The awards, given out by STB for the first time, saw 21 finalists nominated for seven awards across four categories, including event and supplier excellence, industry and individual achievements.

Suntec Singapore emerged triumphant with two wins, clinching accolades as the top business-event venue and for producing the most innovative marketing programme.

Suntec Singapore’s chief executive, Mr Warren Buckley, described the award as recognition by an international panel of judges, and one which went ‘a long way in enhancing our credibility’.

But STB wants the sector to aim higher: It wants Mice receipts to grow to at least $10.5billion in 2015, while continuing to make up 35 per cent of total tourism receipts.

Mr Buckley said the key to reaching the 2015 target lay in collaboration: ‘You can’t go out there and sing solo.

‘It’s important to work closely with the various stakeholders - like the STB.’

Mr Lim said that by recognising the best, the awards will spur growth and raise the bar for service excellence in the industry - which will put Singapore in good stead to clinch and stage more big events.

The industry’s major players said they are on track for another good year, helped by events like health supplement giant Herbalife’s meetings here last month.

The event at the Singapore Expo drew 16,000 delegates - one of the largest business meetings held here.

STB estimated that they spent over $15 million on items like hotels, dining, transport and retail in the four days they were here.

There is more good news just over the horizon - in October next year, 10,000 foreign delegates are expected here for travel trade show ITB Asia.

The year after, the FDI World Dental Federation, which represents over 900,000 dentists in 130 countries, will hold its annual congress here - and pull in over 13,000 participants.

Mr Lim said: ‘Collectively, these events will further elevate Singapore’s profile as a premium destination for hosting business events in Asia.’
Source : Straits Times - 03 Aug 2007

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Mindy Yong
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