For Rent - Casa Cairnhill - District 09 -Singapore Apartment Condo Listing- 22.04.2008

For Rent - Casa Cairnhill - District 09 -Singapore Apartment Condo Listing- 22.04.2008

TY : [C]ondo [D]uplex [H]iRise [L]oRise [T]ownHse [P]enthse [W]alkUp [M]asionette

TNR=Tenure, DT=District, BDRM=Bedroom, AREA=Built-In, STR=Storey, Price $K=In Thousand

Price are subject to changes , please call (+65) 91002985 for lastest update

Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CASA CAIRNHILL, #02-ABV
Area — 1572
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 4.58
Price$ — 7200
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CASA CAIRNHILL, #08-ABV
Area — 1560
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 3.85
Price$ — 6000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CASA CAIRNHILL, #08-ABV
Area — 1571
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 4.14
Price$ — 6500
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CASA CAIRNHILL, #09
Area — 1600
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 3.63
Price$ — 5800
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CASA CAIRNHILL, #12-ABV
Area — 1560
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 3.53
Price$ — 5500
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CASA CAIRNHILL, #16-ABV
Area — 3100
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 3.55
Price$ — 11000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CASA CAIRNHILL, #17-ABV
Area — 1600
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 4
Price$ — 6400
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CASA CAIRNHILL, #17-ABV
Area — 3035
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 4.28
Price$ — 13000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CASA CAIRNHILL, #18
Area — 1560
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 4.17
Price$ — 6500

Real estate in Singapore - property of Singapore, Buy, sales, rents, investment,

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com ( email me )

For Rent - Cairnhill Crest - District 09 -Singapore Apartment Condo Listing- 22.04.2008

For Rent - Cairnhill Crest - District 09 -Singapore Apartment Condo Listing- 22.04.2008

TY : [C]ondo [D]uplex [H]iRise [L]oRise [T]ownHse [P]enthse [W]alkUp [M]asionette

TNR=Tenure, DT=District, BDRM=Bedroom, AREA=Built-In, STR=Storey, Price $K=In Thousand

Price are subject to changes , please call (+65) 91002985 for lastest update

Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 2 #05-BELOW
Area — 1733
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 7.5
Price$ — 13000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 2 #16-ABV
Area — 1733
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 7.5
Price$ — 13000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 2 #17-ABV
Area — 2465
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 6.41
Price$ — 15800
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 6 #05-BELOW
Area — 1700
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 6.47
Price$ — 11000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 6 #06-ABV
Area — 1733
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 7.21
Price$ — 12500
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 6 #06-ABV
Area — 1733
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 6.92
Price$ — 12000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 6 #06-ABV
Area — 1733
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 6.98
Price$ — 12100
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 6 #14-ABV
Area — 1733
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 6.35
Price$ — 11000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 6 #15-ABV
Area — 3150
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 6.03
Price$ — 19000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 8 #04
Area — 818
Bedroom — 1
PSF — 5.99
Price$ — 4900
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 8 #05-ABV
Area — 1206
Bedroom — 2
PSF — 7.46
Price$ — 9000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 8 #06-ABV
Area — 818
Bedroom — 1
PSF — 6.11
Price$ — 5000
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 8 #10-ABV
Area — 1206
Bedroom — 2
PSF — 7.05
Price$ — 8500
Type — C
District — 9
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 8 #17-ABV
Area — 2465
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 6.09
Price$ — 15000
Type — C
District — 25
Estate — CAIRNHILL CREST, BLK 2 #02-ABV
Area — 1733
Bedroom — 3
PSF — 7.79
Price$ — 13500
Real estate in Singapore - property of Singapore, Buy, sales, rents, investment,

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com ( email me )

Nuts and bolts of green buildings-Singapore

Nuts and bolts of green buildings-Singapore

A perfect orientation is best but architects can also use other means to reduce energy consumption, reports MATTHEW PHAN
IT IS hard to pin down exactly what green architecture entails. Each building is a case study in itself, with specific surroundings, usage patterns, client requirements and weather conditions. One might use a north-south alignment to block off the sun’s heat. Another, forced by circumstance to face the rising or setting sun, might use glazing or shades to achieve the same. Light and temperature controls for a residential apartment block differ from those for retail malls or industrial facilities. Still, certain principles run throughout.
 
Going green: City Square Mall’s glass facade uses double-glazed low-emission glass to mitigate excessive heat and glare, plus an automatic sun-screen that will come down in the afternoon and rise back up in the evening 
Architects approach a design in two ways - passive and active. ‘If you have the passive side right, half the battle is won. Then you actively use technology to manage the things you couldn’t solve with the passive approach’, says Tang Kok Thye, senior principal architect at ADDP Architects.

Passive refers to elements like site layout, the facing of a building and how it is structured to allow for natural lighting and ventilation. Active refers to add-ons, like special glass to keep out heat and glare, solar panels or green roofing and the building’s mechanical and electrical (M&E) guts.

Because air-conditioning is typically the largest user of energy in a building, the biggest energy savings come from temperature control. In a local context, this means figuring out how to stop a building from getting too hot. The right orientation is critical. ‘If a building is facing east-west, a lot of money is spent just to make it comfortable to live in’, says Mr Tang. Site layout and surroundings are also important. A building next to the sea or a park is cooler than one standing next to another building that might reflect heat and light.

In the early stages of design, architects often simulate how the sunlight and wind might flow into a structure, using techniques known as Computational Fluid Dynamics.

Sun-path and wind analysis are the most common analyses. A third kind, which examines the amount of energy a building uses under varying conditions and people movements, is far more expensive and rare in Singapore.

But even the more basic analyses, due to cost, are not always done, says Mr Tang. In contrast, architectural firms in the US, where the green building movement is more advanced, often conduct environmental analysis as part of the design process.

If a building cannot have a perfect north-south orientation, which is often the case due to site constraints, architects can use other means to protect the main activity areas.

For example, Xilinx’s Asia-Pacific Headquarters building - winner of the Building & Construction Authority’s Green Mark Platinum award in 2007 - is diagonally oriented.

But its designer, RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, cleverly placed the stairwells and M&E rooms at the corners of the building facing the east and west, protecting the offices and chip-testing facilities at the centre of the building from the direct sun.

Xilinx also invested in doubled-glazed, low-emissive glass that helped it achieve an envelope thermal transfer value (ETTV) - a calculation how much heat a building gains through walls and windows - of 38.53 W per square metre.

This is remarkably low, said Vivien Heng, a director at RSP. There is a mandatory standard of 50 W/sq m, but most buildings don’t achieve lower than 45 W/sq m, she said.

The wind flow simulation also showed up a ‘dead space’ with poor cross-ventilation at one portion of the building, said Ms Heng. The firm jigged the design by opening up external gaps in the facade, resulting in vastly improved wind movement through this part of the building and up and out through the central atrium. The building’s internal courtyards and ’shallow’ offices - no work space is more than 10 metres from the glass walls - allow wind and natural light to flow through the space, Ms Heng said.

Lend Lease Retail, the design consultant for City Square Mall, City Developments’ eco-mall at Serangoon, faced similar challenges on that project. Because of the site’s peculiar square shape and orientation, the mall has to contend with a main entrance facing the hot afternoon sun, though it is blocked from the rising sun by the adjacent City Square Residences, which were separately designed.

Malls are typically designed in a ‘dumb-bell’ layout, to maximise shop frontage, said Felix Lim, principal architect at Lend Lease Retail. This means that they are laid out in a linear strip, with speciality shops on both sides, and anchor tenants, like supermarkets or department stores, at the far ends.

The squarish site constrains an effective linear layout. So instead, Lend Lease Retail created an ‘L-shape’, with smaller speciality shops along the east and south sides of the square to achieve linearity, and large anchor tenants at the north-west corner.

Compared with speciality shops, anchor tenants need less ‘transparency’ or glass windows that allow passers-by to look in. Since the west side was largely occupied by anchor tenants, the layout meant that half or more of the mall’s western front could be solid, rather than glass. This shields the mall from the western sun, and allows for advertising space on the external facade, Mr Lim explained.

For the rest of the facade - part was glass to make for an attractive entrance and allow natural light to flood the mall’s large atrium - Lend Lease Retail used double-glazed low-emission glass to mitigate excessive heat and glare.

It also planned an automatic, timed sun-screen that will come down in the early afternoon and rise back up in the evening, to allow evening pedestrian traffic to look into the mall.

Both Xilinx’s building and City Square Mall feature Pre-cooled Air-Handling Units (AHUs) to contain energy bills.

Air-conditioning is energy consuming because the air here is warm and humid. A Pre-cooled AHU system first brings in outside air, cools it via cooling coils and mixes it with treated return air in a separate chamber. The pre-cooled air is then further cooled in the AHU system proper and piped into the building.

The process is capital intensive upfront but results in long-term savings. Thanks to such measures, as well as other green innovations, City Square Mall, which won the Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark Platinum award last year, saves the equivalent of 11.4 million kWH per year or equivalent to the total consumption of nearly 2,400 four-room HDB flats.

ADDP Architects incorporated light screens, solar panels and rainwater harvesting into its design for Cliveden, a CDL condominium project and another 2007 Green Mark Platinum award winner.

On Cliveden’s clubhouse, solar panels reduce energy dependence on the main grid, while a green roof not only helps to reduce heat inside the clubhouse but also the surrounding environment. The centre was planned as an educational centre for public awareness on using green power, said Mr Tang.

The condo collects rainwater from its roof and reuses it for landscaping, saving about 10 swimming pools of water a year. The total water and energy saved, about 30 per cent, is equivalent to saving 77,475 trees.

Another green building, from a water conservation point of view, is Temasek Polytechnic. The school installed a $1.6 million rainwater harvesting system when its 30 hectare campus was being built in the early 1990s, with the water used to for the school’s extensive gardens.

Ultimately, though, the greenest of green architecture is conservation and restoration, because a lot of energy is required to knock down a building and erect a new one, architects say.

‘Building is one of the most energy-intensive activities around’, says Ms Heng. And ADDP’s Mr Tang agrees. ‘As an architect. you would like to preserve nature but it depends on the developers’ needs,’ he said. ‘Buildings should be made to last more than 50 to 100 years.’
Source : Business Times  - 22 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Singapore Commercial unit, GCB for sale by tender

Singapore Commercial unit, GCB for sale by tender

By ARTHUR SIM

A LARGE commercial unit at The Riverwalk, Upper Circular Road, is up for sale at an indicative price of $23 million.
The unit, which has a strata area of 20,161 sq ft that represents a 12.11 per cent ownership stake, is owned by private investors. The indicative price works out to about $1,140 per square foot.

CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), which is marketing the 99-year leasehold property, says rent of $5 to $6 per sq ft is being asked for comparable office space in the area. Assuming rent of $5.50 psf, the $1,140 psf guide price reflects a net yield of about 5.5 per cent.

The current lease expires in mid-July this year.

In March, a unit at High Street Centre was sold for about $1,500 psf.

CBRE associate director of investment properties Liau Wee Boon said of the Riverwalk unit: ‘In addition, there is collective sale potential as the development is undergoing an en bloc exercise. The potential payout is more than 50 per cent above the guide price.’
 
The Riverwalk comprises 181 commercial units ranging from 54 sq ft to 20,161 sq ft, plus 118 apartments ranging from 818 sq ft to 3,821 sq ft, plus 290 parking lots. It was put up for collective sale late last year at an indicative price of about $700 million or $1,735 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr) and zoned for residential and commercial use.

Meanwhile, in the Victoria Park area off Holland Road, a good class bungalow (GCB) has been put up for sale by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung (DTZ).

The 999-year leasehold GCB sits on a site of 32,687 sq ft. DTZ said that a recent valuation put the value of the site at $26.5 million.

The land is now occupied by an old two-storey detached house with a garage and swimming pool.

DTZ said recent transactions of GCB land in the area include sites in Leedon Park for $914 psf and Victoria Park Road for $920 psf.

DTZ director (Investment Advisory Services) Quek Soh Hoon said: ‘Given the positive attributes and distinctive location, the subject property would be an attractive and choice acquisition for high-net-worth individuals looking for land to build their dream house or investment property.’
Source : Business Times  - 22 April 2008

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Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

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Residential sector seen taking hit - Singapore

Residential sector seen taking hit - Singapore

Prices expected to fall further, with the high-end most at risk due to a lack of foreigner interest, reports UMA SHANKARI

RESIDENTIAL markets across Asia are expected to take a hit in the wake of the credit crunch in the US. While the residential sectors in key Asian cities are forecast to continue to grow strongly, as they have since the start of 2007, equity bull markets were the main contributing factor to well-received launches last year, industry sources say. ‘Without the sentiment that has pushed up capital values and rents of residential property across the region, there will obviously be some slackening,’ a market player says.
 
Dimmed prospects: The residential collective sales market virtually ground to a halt in Q1, with just one deal - that of Ban Guan Park for $31.1 million 
However, the fundamentals of the region - including Singapore - are strong, which means residential markets should not take too hard a beating, analysts point out.

‘The story of real estate in Asia is one of continuing investment - particularly by foreigners. Occupier demand remains in place, and with limited supply in most developing cities, the future looks fine,’ property firm Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) says in a recent report.

The report notes, however, that Hong Kong and Singapore are the two cities expected to be most affected by the credit crunch and global economic slowdown

In Singapore, the impact on the residential market is already being felt, with slowing sales and price cuts.

The number of new homes sold in the first quarter of 2008 was 787, or about half the 1,449 sold in the previous quarter, official data shows.

DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, for one, points out that the numbers represent the second-lowest quarter of developer sales since Sars-hit Q1 2003.

The lacklustre performance is expected to continue, say property analysts.

‘The current market sentiment is likely to continue into the second quarter,’ says Li Hiaw Ho, executive director for research at CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).

Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, agrees. ‘Sales are expected to stay thin in the coming few months due to the continuing uncertainty about the US economic outlook and financial market problems. Home-buyers, especially in the mass-market segment, are expected to remain cautious until there is a sustained recovery in financial markets and economic conditions, which would spill over to the property market.’

Interestingly, news has emerged that some developers are starting to cut their prices - a sure sign of weakening market sentiment.

A recent media report says property heavyweight Far East Organization has achieved encouraging sales for three 99-year leasehold suburban projects - after it trimmed their prices 3-5 per cent after the Chinese New Year.

‘If the credit crisis or economic slowdown deepens, launches and take-up would remain subdued and prices are likely to ease,’ according to DTZ. ‘Some smaller developers have lowered prices to dispose of their units and this may spread as the residential property market is largely affected by sentiments.’

UBS Investment Research notes similarly that it expects mass-market projects to be launched at lower-than-expected prices. Sentosa Cove prices have also fallen - 13-20 per cent in Q1 2008, potentially wiping out the profit of Sentosa sites bought by SC Global and Ho Bee, UBS notes.

‘We expect the negative news to motivate sellers to close the wide bid-ask spreads and home prices to fall further, with high-end prices most at risk due to a lack of foreigner interest,’ UBS analyst Regina Lim says in a recent note.

Her research team has downgraded its residential price forecasts for 2008 and 2009 by as much as 20 per cent - expecting prices in prime and mid-range segments to fall 20 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. Mass-market prices are expected to hold steady.

Rent increases for private residential property are also likely to moderate due to budget constraints and the slower influx of expatriates, analysts say.

And residential investment sales also fell hard in Q1 2008, data from property firm Colliers International shows.

‘Investment sales value dipped some 35.7 per cent in Q1 2008 to $2.27 billion, from $3.54 billion in the preceding quarter,’ the firm says.

Colliers notes, in particular, that the residential collective sales market virtually ground to a halt in Q1, with just one deal - that of Ban Guan Park for $31.1 million or $871 per square foot per plot ratio. This was a big slide from $1.16 billion sealed in Q4 2007 from 10 collective sale sites, and a dramatic plunge from 41 collective sale transactions totalling some $6.53 billion sealed during the peak in Q2 2007.

Despite all the negative news, there seems to be some optimism. DBS Group Research, for example, recently upgraded its call on the Singapore property sector from ‘neutral’ to ‘overweight’.

But many are taking a wait-and-see approach to the market, including the residential segment.

‘We believe Singapore’s property secular uptrend is still intact, thanks to its ongoing efforts to transform itself into a globalised city-state,’ says DBS Vickers Securities analyst Lock Mun Yee. ‘However, in the near term, spillover uncertainties from the credit crunch and talks of a possible US recession have affected sentiment.’

According to Margaret Thean, DTZ’s executive director for residential: ‘It is still too early to gauge the residential sector performance as this is just the first quarter.’
Source : Business Times  - 22 April 2008

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Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Of tracker dogs and Singapore Mas Selamat’s pants - MPs raise questions

Of tracker dogs and Singapore Mas Selamat’s pants - MPs raise questions

By CHUANG PECK MING

(SINGAPORE) After a detailed report on the escape of Jemaah Islamiah leader Mas Selamat bin Kastari, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng still had plenty of work ahead of him as he responded to hours of questioning in Parliament yesterday.
Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, has many of the answers. After all, many of the questions raised by Members of Parliament were already dealt with in Mr Wong’s report.

Questions on regular audit of the security of the Whitley Road Detention Centre; independence of the Committee of Inquiry which put up the report and recommendations; the morale of the Internal Security Department; the thoroughness of the search for Mas Selamat; his whereabouts; a guarantee of no more such lapses; and the status of the search now.

These questions require only some more details - and repetitions of the report - from Mr Wong.

Yet, comprehensive as the DPM’s report was, the MPs were equally thorough as they shot some pointed questions and raised some minute issues that the Committee of Inquiry appeared to have missed.

Such as the one about Mas Selamat’s pants. ‘In the toilet, I think for a fellow male guard, he should know that a man does not need to take off his pants fully while doing business at (the) urinal,’ said Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar). ‘So when Mas Selamat flipped his pants on the ledge above the door, doesn’t that lead to some suspicion on the guard’s side?’
 
Or the tracker dogs. Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir) wanted to know if they were used to hunt Mas Selamat. Mr Wong’s answer?

‘I’m told that when there are such a movement and plenty of people in a search area, it will not be of value to deploy the tracker dogs,’ he said.

The opposition MP disagreed: ‘I thought that was most suitable. If we used tracker dogs, Mas Selamat would now be in custody.’

To which Mr Wong retorted: ‘May I ask Mr Chiam whether he’s an expert on tracker dogs?’

His rejoinder: ‘I know that dogs have got 20 times stronger sense of smell than a human being and once they get the scent … — have you watched the movie about early southern states where these slaves used to escape and these dogs go after them? They got no chance of running away.’

Mr Wong said he would ‘pass Mr Chiam’s views and knowledge about tracker dogs to the police department’ and let them assess.

‘There may be a lot of truths, a lot of insights in what Mr Chiam said and I’m no expert in this,’ he said. ‘I will convey this to the professionals for them to study and, hopefully, we’ll learn from this the next time too.’

The pointed questions did not necessarily come from the opposition. Sim Boon Ann (Tampines) asked if the ‘massive turnout’ of security forces was ‘a serious attempt’ to track down Mas Selamat, or ‘really a public assurance exercise’?

Mr Wong said the government ‘does not resort to such gimmicks to assure the public’; they were seriously deployed to search for Mas Selamat.

The opposition MP for Hougang, Low Thia Kiang, wondered if the escape was also ‘a result of the complacency’ of Mr Wong’s ministry ‘for failing to supervise the agencies under his charge’?

Mr Wong’s reply? ‘Every department has its leader,’ he said. ‘And what we do is to make sure that we find the right people to run the organisation. From time to time problems do take place - and this is one instance. Does it mean therefore that the whole ministry and all the Home Team departments are complacent? I think that would be stretching the argument too far.’

Mr Low also raised the rumour that Mas Selamat actually had died in the detention centre - and the massive hunt was a cover-up.

Mr Wong answered with a question directed at Mr Low: ‘May I know whether he believes that indeed Mas Selamat has died?’ The opposition MP said he did not.

‘(Then) I see no point in perpetuating a ground speculation in this House and giving credence to it,’ Mr Wong said.
Source : Business Times  - 22 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Singapore GIC sets up three panels to oversee operations, investments and risks

Singapore GIC sets up three panels to oversee operations, investments and risks

Lim Siong Guan to chair management committee
By MICHELLE QUAH

(SINGAPORE) The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has set up three new committees to help it better manage its business operations, investments and risks.
The group management committee, group investment committee and group risk committee will have oversight over their respective areas for the entire GIC group.

Related link:

 Click here for the full text of Dr Tan’s speech
 
GIC deputy chairman and executive director Tony Tan announced the move yesterday in his opening address at the inaugural GIC Staff Conference at Swissotel The Stamford.

‘GIC runs a tight ship, minimising risks where possible and taking advantage of our strengths as a long-term investor to manage one portfolio with good coordination among our various investment activities,’ he said.
 
The group management committee will be chaired by GIC’s group managing director Lim Siong Guan. It will tackle organisational, business and personnel issues.

The group investment committee will be chaired by GIC’s group chief investment officer Ng Kok Song. It will develop and implement asset allocation policies and investment strategies at group level. This committee will also review the risk and performance of the various asset classes on a regular basis.

The group risk committee will be chaired by GIC’s chief risk officer Sung Cheng Chih. It will provide oversight and guidance for the development and implementation of risk-management policies and practices for the entire group.

‘This management structure enables GIC to have the group-wide oversight on our business operations, investments and risks, while giving sufficient autonomy to our investment subsidiaries so they can respond in a timely fashion to changes in investment circumstances,’ Dr Tan said yesterday.

The new committees will be in addition to GIC’s three subsidiaries - GIC Asset Management, which looks after public market assets; GIC Special Investments, which looks after private equity and infrastructure investments; and GIC Real Estate, which is responsible for its real-estate investments.

Such a structure has provided GIC with the flexibility and responsiveness to make investment decisions when it needed to act quickly in the face of rapidly changing market circumstances, Dr Tan said.

The new group committees - with GIC’s three subsidiaries - will report to the group executive committee, chaired by Dr Tan.

The group executive committee will deliberate and decide on major investment and risk policy issues before submission to relevant board committees and the GIC board. It will also review and approve major personnel and business policies that apply to the entire group.

Dr Tan acknowledged that management structures by themselves will not ensure GIC succeeds in its mission to look after Singapore’s reserves.

‘The most important factor that will determine the success of GIC is our people,’ he said. ‘GIC’s creditable performance over the past 27 years, since our formation in 1981, would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work that you (the staff) have all put in.’
Source : Business Times  - 22 April 2008

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Mindy Yong

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Act fast or face deep recession: Singapore Tony Tan

Act fast or face deep recession: Singapore Tony Tan

World could see worst recession in 30 years unless policymakers intervene urgently
By MICHELLE QUAH

(SINGAPORE) The global economy will run into even more turbulence if policy makers don’t act quickly and decisively to ease the credit crunch spilling over from the United States, says the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC).
 
Dr Tan: ‘I am confident GIC will emerge stronger and more resilient, and take its place as one of the most competent and respected investment bodies in the world.’ 
But the sovereign wealth fund is standing by its substantial investments in UBS and Citigroup after the sub-prime crisis ravaged the two mega banks.

Speaking to some 1,000 employees at the inaugural GIC Staff Conference yesterday, GIC deputy chairman and executive director Tony Tan warned that the world may face a recession ‘longer, deeper and wider than any we have encountered in the past 30 years’.

‘We are entering a period of extreme uncertainty in the world economy and global financial markets. As banks continue to de-leverage, cutting their lending activities and causing a contraction in credit supply, the prospects for the US economy - and possibly the world economy - are fraught with downside risks.’

But Dr Tan believes the economic downturn can be mitigated if the authorities in the US and elsewhere take decisive and timely action. ‘If policymakers respond strongly and appropriately, investment markets and sentiments can turn around sharply.

‘However, if such actions by the authorities are not taken within the next 3-4 months, it will be left to the market forces of supply and demand to stabilise the US housing market before we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This will be a considerably more painful and long-drawn process.’

Despite the uncertainty, GIC is standing by its decision to invest billions of dollars in troubled banks UBS and Citigroup.

‘We regard our investments in UBS and Citicorp as long-term investments that will give us good returns when markets stabilise and economic conditions return to more normal levels,’ Dr Tan said.

GIC pumped 11 billion Swiss francs (S$14.7 billion) into UBS last December via a convertible bond issue that would eventually give it a stake in the bank. It has also not ruled out injecting more cash into UBS, which is looking to raise 15 billion Swiss francs through a rights issue, after reporting a second straight quarterly loss this month. GIC has said that it would examine the terms of the rights issue before deciding.

GIC also invested US$6.88 billion in Citigroup in January this year through a private offering of convertible preferred securities.

Dr Tan yesterday reiterated that GIC was able to make such investments because it was well prepared for the current credit crisis.

‘We had moved to a more conservative posture in our portfolio by liquidating a portion of our equity holdings in the third quarter of 2007 and moving into cash - a measure we had not taken for quite some time. This provided us the liquidity to make substantial investments in UBS and Citicorp when these opportunities arose.’

He added, however, that financial and investment markets would be nervous and volatile over the next 1-2 years.

‘Instead of the rising tide that broadly benefited financial and investment markets for the past 10-20 years, we are now facing choppy seas that could engulf the broader economy globally. Policymakers, business managers and investors will require fortitude and nimbleness to navigate safely through the turbulence.’

Still, he expressed optimism for GIC’s future. ‘Working together as a team and with the right policies, we will successfully navigate the treacherous currents that lie ahead with sufficient ballast to be able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. When this turbulent period is over, I am confident that GIC will emerge stronger and more resilient and take its place as one of the most competent and respected investment organisations in the world.’

Dr Tan’s speech yesterday to staff and the media, at Swissotel The Stamford, is seen as part of GIC’s efforts to be more open about its investments. Set up in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves, the company is not required to give the same level of detail about its activities as a publicly listed company. But it has made overtures in recent months to be more transparent, without compromising its competitiveness.

GIC is the world’s third- largest sovereign wealth fund, with US$330 billion in assets under management, according to Morgan Stanley in February. It ranks behind the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority with US$875 billion and Norway’s Government Pension Fund with US$380 billion.
Source : Business Times  - 22 April 2008

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Lax guards and a window that opened for Singapore Mas Selamat

Lax guards and a window that opened for Singapore Mas Selamat

Blunt report nails lapses that led to escape; officers face disciplinary action
By RAHUL PATHAK

(SINGAPORE) One unsecured window, a couple of complacent guards and 11 critical minutes of privacy helped Mas Selamat Kastari pull off his audacious escape on Feb 27.
 
Not effective: Ventilation window with handle sawn off as a security measure to make the window secure 
Keeping his word, which he had given to Parliament the day after the incident, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng yesterday presented a full and vivid account of the escape. Painstakingly, he highlighted the lapses that had made it possible and sketched out the measures he intended to put in place.

The Committee of Inquiry (COI) that he had instituted on March 1 has found absolutely no evidence that anyone at the detention centre colluded with Mas Selamat or assisted in his escape - a crucial point, since an inside job would have meant that the system was still at risk. Nevertheless, as DPM Wong said, ‘the COI has been candid in its approach and has held nothing back in its conclusions and recommendations’.

At the heart of the issue is the ventilation window in the male toilet that was not properly secured - and through which Mas Selamat managed to slip out while his guards waited outside. The guards, on their part, were supposed to keep the detainee in their line of sight but had allowed him to shut the urinal door. Several minutes elapsed before they realised he was missing. Re-enactments later showed that it is possible to escape from the window and over the perimeter fences in less than a minute - after which it can take less than three minutes to reach the Pan Island Expressway (PIE).

Mas Selamat was to meet his family at 4pm that day and was escorted by two Gurkha Contingent guards and a female Special Duty Operative from his cell to the family visit room. He changed into civilian clothing and, at 3.54pm, used a toilet next to the room, to shave and comb. He then went to the urinal cubicle and shut the door, while a guard stood outside.

On previous family visits, too, Mas Selamat had partially closed the urinal door on some occasions and then completely closed it at other times. Some three weeks before his escape, on Feb 5, he had completely closed the door and turned on the water tap, the COI found.

‘The COI believes that these actions by Mas Selamat could have been done to test how the guards would react,’ said Mr Wong. ‘This could have also helped him prepare for his actual escape.’

Inside the cubicle, he turned on the tap. The ventilation window was not grilled up. This shortcoming had been noticed earlier and a staff member at the Whitley Road Detention Centre had actually pointed it out to the superintendent.

‘Instead of having it grilled, the superintendent instructed that the handle of the ventilation window be sawn off as a security measure to make the window secure,’ said Mr Wong. ‘He thought this would be adequate as he assumed that the guards would always have sight of the detainees. This was bad judgment on the superintendent’s part.’

Even though the guard realised that the detainee had taken too long inside the toilet, he first turned to his colleague, who then alerted the Special Duty Operative who, in turn, got a male colleague to kick the door open. By then it was 4.05pm and Mas Selamat had flipped open the window and was gone.

He could have used a water pipe outside to help his descent. A packet of seven rolls of toilet paper found on the ground could have broken his fall.

To cross the perimeter fence, Mas Selamat could have used a point where the fences converge with an enclosed staircase and jumped across, the COI felt. It got the scenario re-enacted by a guard who took only 49 seconds to climb out of the ventilation window, climb onto the roof of the enclosed staircase and jump across the converged perimeter fences.

And to reach the PIE by the most direct route from the fences, a young officer took just 2 minutes and 44 seconds in a re-enactment.

A key recommendation now to be put in place is to design and build a new detention centre at Changi Prison. This will ensure that the security and prison operating standards are always tied to best practices. The Director, Internal Security Department (ISD) and Director, Prisons will co- chair a project to study the details.

But while the systemic loopholes are being plugged, Mr Wong bluntly pointed out a deeper shortcoming. ‘There is no avoiding the fact that the escape would not have happened but for the security and operational lapses identified by the COI,’ he said. He added: ‘Complacency, for whatever reason . . . had crept into the operating culture at the Whitley Road Detention Centre.’

He said that the Director, ISD had apologised to him and accepted responsibility for what had happened. Mr Wong had told him to carry on, find Mas Selamat and prevent another escape.

Meanwhile, officers responsible for the escape will be disciplined and penalised. Apart from junior officers, the Director, ISD will examine the roles of those higher up the chain of command.

While accepting that ‘the mistakes have turned out to be so simple as to appear silly and incredible’, Mr Wong pointed out that it was the ISD that had uncovered the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network in the first place. He said its officers had resolved to find Mas Selamat again - just as they had the last time, when he thought he was safe, hiding with his JI friends outside Singapore.
Source : Business Times  - 22 April 2008

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Skype extends unlimited calls to more countries

Skype extends unlimited calls to more countries 
 
CALLERS from North America can now make unlimited calls to 34 countries overseas, including Singapore, for just US$9.95 (S$13.45) a month under a new plan from Skype, the Internet calling subsidiary of eBay.
The plan for calls to landline phones will also allow unlimited calls to cellphones in Singapore, Canada, China and Hong Kong, but not to those in other countries included in the plan. The 34 countries covered include most of Europe, plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Malaysia.

Skype has already been selling unlimited calls to the United States and Canada for US$3 a month.

For Singaporeans in the US, the flat-rate Skype service offers one more way to call home cheaply, though they have also found other means over the years.

Undergraduate Tham Ruoxi, who has lived for three years in New York, said she preferred another Internet call service called Jajah.

‘It gives you 130 free minutes a week to call Singapore, and you pay only if you exceed that,’ said the 22-year-old.

The service requires a user to go to a website to key in the number to call and then get the call connected to his phone.

Another Singaporean student living in New York, Mr Aaron Tan, 29, said a flat rate would be great for people who call often, especially those running small businesses, but not for light users like him who prefer the per-minute rate that Skype is offering as well.

Skype is generally used as a software application running on a computer. Subscribers also have the option to call a local number from their phones and be connected to international numbers that fall under their plan, paying only local access charges or using their cellphone airtime.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ALFRED SIEW
Source : Straits Times  - 22 April 2008

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Buyers, sellers call off Singapore collective sale of Finland Gardens

Buyers, sellers call off Singapore collective sale of Finland Gardens 

Both sides decide to let deal die; developer said to be bearing most of legal costs

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent 
THE DEAL’S OFF: The $49.5 million deal for Finland Gardens, a freehold estate with 48 units of walk-up flats is now off. The move comes amid a flat market for private homes, with buyers and sellers now cautious. — PHOTO: CREDO REAL ESTATE
 
ANOTHER collective sale has fallen through. This time, however, there were smiles all around - a reflection of how sharply sentiment has changed in the property market.
Both the majority sellers at Finland Gardens in Siglap and the intended buyer, Sing Holdings, agreed yesterday it would be best to just let the deal die. And the minority sellers, who were against it from Day One, were thrilled.

The sellers rung the death knell when they halted a High Court appeal yesterday.

They went to court last year to overturn a Strata Titles Board (STB) decision made in November last year.

The STB had thrown out the $49.5 million sale, ruling the deal lacked 80 per cent approval and that the price had not been obtained in good faith.

Sing Holdings initially backed the court appeal but withdrew yesterday its application to intervene in the appeal.

Managing director Lee Sze Hao said Sing Holdings told the sellers late last week that Sing Holdings no longer wanted them to continue with the appeal.

‘The key determining reason for us is the uncertainty of the timing of the sale and market conditions,’ said Mr Lee.

He added that the sale had dragged on for a long time and, considering market uncertainties ahead, it did not make sense to continue waiting.

The Sing Holdings statement said it considered uncertainties over the time needed to procure the order for the sale and market conditions, coupled with the rising costs of construction.

The sellers from 40 units met on Saturday. ‘We agreed to the buyer’s request to call off the deal amicably,’ sales committee chairman Song Koon Poh told The Straits Times. ‘Current market prices for our estate are still favourable… and the long waiting time has worn everyone down.

‘We don’t know how long this will drag on. Assuming the appeal is successful, we will need three months for final completion and another six months to vacate.’

The developer is said to be bearing most of the legal costs.

The minority owners, who fought hard against the sale and won the STB decision last year, were happy that it was over.

The deal for the freehold estate, with 48 units of walk-up flats, is now off. The move comes amid a flat market for private homes, with both buyers and sellers now cautious.

Sing Holdings bought the 98,309 sq ft Finland Gardens for $504 per sq ft on the land area in November 2006, just before prices surged in the first half of last year.

When the estate was launched for sale in July 2006, the owners were hoping for between $50 million and $55 million.

Meanwhile, Sing Holdings has completed the purchase of two collective sale sites - Bellerive and Hillcourt Apartments. Both are at the demolition stage.

Source : Straits Times  - 22 April 2008

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Similar names, but different Singapore HDB projects

Similar names, but different Singapore HDB projects 
 
UNSUCCESSFUL applicants in the HDB’s build-to-order project, Jade Spring@Yishun, cannot be moved automatically to the queue for an adjacent similarly named development, MPs heard yesterday.
This is because the two projects are separate exercises, Senior Minister of State (National Development) Grace Fu explained.

Applicants who did not select a unit at Jade Spring@Yishun when given a chance must re-apply and ballot again for the other project, which is known as Jade Spring@Yishun Phase 2.

She said: ‘It would not have been fair to the applicants who booked a unit in the first project if applicants behind them in the queue were allowed to choose from not just the list of remnant flats, but also from a whole new batch of flats,’ she said.

Ms Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC) had asked why applicants who were unsuccessful in the first phase of a new HDB project were not automatically invited to the second phase of the project without having to submit a fresh application.

Ms Fu said the names of the two projects in Yishun may have inadvertently given the impression that they were under the same build-to-order exercise. But they were not. And it was made clear to applicants of the first project that their applications would be only for that particular development.

The reality, Ms Fu noted, was that many applicants did not select a flat when given the chance to do so. The 384-unit Jade Spring@Yishun received 1,900 applications. Yet not all units have been taken up. The HDB has been going down the list of applicants and has called the 1,700th applicant to get him to select a flat.

GOH CHIN LIAN
Source : Straits Times  - 22 April 2008

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Singapore GIC says world could be facing worst recession in 30 years

Singapore GIC says world could be facing worst recession in 30 years

By Ng Baoying

Government of Singapore Investment Corporation
   
  

SINGAPORE: The world could be facing its worst recession in 30 years, said Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) Dr Tony Tan.

He shared this view with over 500 GIC staff at a conference on Monday.

“The financial contagion has now spread beyond US shores, increasing the likelihood of a global financial crisis and recession. We could be facing a recession which is longer, deeper and wider than any recession that we have encountered in the last 30 years,” he said.

Dr Tan added that this could be mitigated if timely actions are taken by policymakers around the world, boosting both markets and investor sentiment.

If this does not happen within the next three to four months, it will be up to the markets to work out current problems, and this is expected to be a long, painful and drawn-out process.

He said: “What is clear is that the financial and investment markets will be extremely nervous and volatile over the next one or two years.”

While that means GIC’s multi-billion-dollar investments in UBS and Citigroup remain shaky in the short term, Dr Tan pointed out that these are long-term investments and they are expected to give good returns when markets stabilise and economic conditions return to normal levels.

GIC invested US$10.8 billion in UBS in December last year and US$6.88 billion in Citigroup this January.

At the staff conference, GIC also unveiled three new group committees – the Group Management Committee, the Group Investment Committee, and the Group Risk Committee.

The Group Management Committee, chaired by GIC’s Group Managing Director Lim Siong Guan, will address and discuss organisational issues of the group.

The Group Investment Committee will be chaired by Group Chief Investment Officer Ng Kok Song. It will develop and implement asset allocation policies and investment strategies at the group level. It will also review risk and performance of asset classes regularly.

Chief Risk Officer Sung Cheng Chih will chair the Group Risk Committee which will oversee and guide the development and implementation of risk management policies.

These committees will report to an executive committee chaired by Dr Tan.

“This management structure enables GIC to have the group-wide oversight on our business operations, investments and risks while giving sufficient autonomy to our investment subsidiaries so that they can respond in a timely fashion to changes in investment circumstances,” said Dr Tan.

Analysts said this is a natural move as companies around the world brace themselves for a rocky ride ahead.

GIC’s investments are closely watched as the fund is seen as one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world.

It is estimated to have some US$330 billion in assets under management, behind Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Norway’s Government Pension Fund.
- CNA/so

Source : Channel NewsAsia   - 22 April 2008

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