For Rent South Zone Commercial Industrial market 08.09.2008

For Rent South Zone Commercial Industrial market 08.09.2008

Zone   —  South
Cluster   —  Tanglin Halt
Address   —  115A Commonwealth Drive
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  NA
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  South
Cluster   —  Tanglin Halt
Address   —  115B Commonwealth Drive
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  NA
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  South
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  Redhill

Zone   —  1001 & 1002 Jalan Bukit Merah
Cluster   —  Below: 1000
Address   —  $2.20
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  $1.80
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  South
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  Redhill

Zone   —  1001A Jalan Bukit Merah
Cluster   —  Below: 1000
Address   —  $2.20
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  $1.80
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  South
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  Redhill

Zone   —  1003 Bukit Merah Central (Factory)
Cluster   —  Below: 500
Address   —  $2.20
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  $1.80 (Factory) $2.40 (Techno)
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  South

Zone   —  Redhill
Cluster   —  1003 Bukit Merah Central
Address   —  Below: 500
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.80 (Factory) $2.40 (Techno)
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  

Zone   —  South
Cluster   —  Tiong Bahru
Address   —  1160 Depot Road
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  Below: 1000 From: 1000-2000 Above: 6000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  South
Cluster   —  Tiong Bahru
Address   —  1200 Depot Road
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  Below: 1000 From: 1000-2000 Above: 6000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  South
Cluster   —  Tiong Bahru
Address   —  1200A Depot Road
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  Below: 1000 From: 1000-2000 Above: 6000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  South
Cluster   —  Tiong Bahru
Address   —  1090 Lower Delta Road
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  NA
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  South
Cluster   —  Tiong Bahru
Address   —  1091/1092/1093 Lower Delta Road
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  Below: 1000 From: 1000-2000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  South
Cluster   —  Tiong Bahru
Address   —  1091A Lower Delta Road
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  Below: 1000 From: 1000-2000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  South
Cluster   —  Tiong Bahru
Address   —  1080 Lower Delta Road
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  Below: 1000 From: 1000-2000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

 
Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest, in Singapore

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

For Rent North Zone Commercial Industrial market 08.09.2008

For Rent North Zone Commercial Industrial market 08.09.2008

Zone   —  NORTH
Cluster   —  Woodlands Central
Address   —  33 Marsiling Ind Est Road 3
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 3000-6800
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.80
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.50

Zone   —  NORTH
Cluster   —  Woodlands Central
Address   —  35 Marsiling Ind Est Road 3
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 3000-6800
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.80
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.50

Zone   —  NORTH
Cluster   —  Woodlands
Address   —  2 Woodlands Sector 1
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 10000-50000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.10

Zone   —  NORTH
Cluster   —  Woodlands
Address   —  201 Woodlands Ave 9
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 10000-50000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.30
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.10

Zone   —  NORTH
Cluster   —  Woodlands
Address   —  203 Woodlands Ave 9
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 10000-50000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.40
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.20

Zone   —  NORTH
Cluster   —  Woodlands
Address   —  205 Woodlands Ave 9
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 10000-50000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.40
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.20

Zone   —  NORTH
Cluster   —  1 & 2 Spectrum
Address   —  207 Woodlands Ave 9
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 10000-50000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.40
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.20

Zone   —  NORTH
Cluster   —  1 & 2 Spectrum
Address   —  209 Woodlands Ave 9
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 10000-50000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.30
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.10

Zone   —  NORTH
Cluster   —  Woodlands
Address   —  211 Woodlands Ave 9
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  Below: 10000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $1.70
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.30

 
Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest, in Singapore

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

For Rent East Zone Commercial Industrial market 08.09.2008

For Rent East Zone Commercial Industrial market 08.09.2008

Zone   —  EAST
Cluster   —  Signature
Address   —  51 Changi Business Park Central 2
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 1500 -4600
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  -
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $4.95

Zone   —  EAST
Cluster   —  Kampong Ampat
Address   —  171 Kampong Ampat
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  NA
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.80
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $2.60

Zone   —  EAST
Cluster   —  
Address   —  2 Kaki Bukit Ave 1
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 3200-5200 Above: 8000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  EAST
Cluster   —  
Address   —  8,12 Lorong Bakar Batu
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 2100-3600
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  EAST
Cluster   —  
Address   —  1 & 3 Kallang Sector
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 3000-7000 Above: 30000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.90

Zone   —  EAST
Cluster   —  
Address   —  19 & 21 Kallang Ave
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 2100-4100
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.90

Zone   —  EAST
Cluster   —  Toa Payoh 2
Address   —  1004 Toa Payoh North
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  From: 1000 From: 1900-5000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80

Zone   —  EAST
Cluster   —  
Address   —  1008 Toa Payoh North
Various Unit Sizes (sqf)   —  Below: 1000 From: 1900-5000
Rent (psf) Ground Floor   —  $2.20
Rent (psf) Upper Floor   —  $1.80
Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest, in Singapore

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

New fund to help low-income families pay for Singapore pre-school

New fund to help low-income families pay for Singapore pre-school

By Hoe Yeen Nie, 

SINGAPORE: A new fund has been set up to help low-income families pay for pre-school.

It is a collaboration between the self-help group the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) and Singapore’s largest childcare provider, NTUC Childcare. It is called the CDAC Workfare - Bright Horizons Fund scheme.

About S$200,000 has been set aside for the fund so far, and it is expected to help up to 100 children in its first year. The CDAC and NTUC Childcare each contributed half the amount.

Launching the fund, Lim Swee Say, chairman of CDAC’s Board of Directors, said: “In addition to all this financial support from the government, maybe as a self-help group, maybe NTUC as a social enterprise, maybe we can extend additional help, say, for the next two years.”

Thanks to the new fund, “life will become a little easier” for the parents of five-year-old Bong Tze An.

Tze An’s childcare fee costs her parents S$450 a month, after deducting the limited subsidies they receive as Singapore Permanent Residents. But it is still a hefty sum in a household where per capita income is just under S$500.

Thanks to the new fund, her parents will receive a further subsidy of S$200 each month.

Mrs Bong said: “With the subsidy, life will become a little easier, and I can use the spare cash to pay for my son’s tuition.”

The CDAC may also extend the scheme to other childcare providers.

Much has been said about the importance of early childhood development, and the fund should go some way into getting more kids into pre-school. Aside from this, it would also free up time for more stay-at-home mums to return to the workforce.

The CDAC also hopes that its partnership with NTUC Childcare will lead to more families being identified for other forms of assistance, such as help in finding jobs.

- CNA/ir

 
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 08 Sept 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Stop raising racial issues: Malaysia Abdullah

Stop raising racial issues: Malaysia Abdullah
 
BN chiefs try to cool tempers as Chinese parties hint at leaving 

By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief 
  
Faced with a barrage of anger from Umno’s Chinese partners, PM Abdullah urged Malaysians to stop raising sensitive issues that cause anxiety and unhappiness. — PHOTO: REUTERS

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s top leaders swiftly moved to cool the temperature after days of angry rhetoric over an Umno grassroots leader’s comment that the Chinese are ‘immigrants’ to Malaysia.

Faced with a barrage of anger from Umno’s Chinese partners, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi urged Malaysians to stop raising sensitive issues that cause anxiety and unhappiness.

‘This includes the Malays and non-Malays. Things that should not have been raised and sensitive things have surfaced.

‘This has caused anger among the various races who feel their rights and sensitivities have been overlooked or ignored,’ he said in Penang after attending an Umno state meeting on Saturday.

His deputy Najib Razak, who had apologised on behalf of Umno for the remark, on Saturday also assured non-Malays that their interests will be safeguarded.

He said Umno had never regarded the Chinese as pendatang (Malay for immigrant) and considered non-Malays as partners in nation-building.

Their remarks came as the rhetoric had heightened considerably in the last one week after Mr Ahmad Ismail, an Umno divisional leader in Penang, refused to apologise for his comment that the Chinese were immigrants ‘who do not deserve equal rights’.

He made these remarks during the Permatang Pauh by-election but has since insisted that his remarks were taken out of context.

The strong reaction to Mr Ahmad’s remarks is a first for the usually reticent Gerakan and Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), but it did not come as a surprise after the March 8 polls.

Both parties were severely punished by their voter base for being seen as subservient to Umno, and lost badly in Chinese-dominant seats. They have since been trying to take a more vocal stance on such issues.

Further, the remark comes smack in the midst of both parties’ election season.

Gerakan and MCA are holding their state-level elections this month, culminating in the national level polls next month.

The MCA is expected to see a tough fight for the top posts, while there is speculation that Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon may be challenged.

Both parties have also hinted that they might be forced to leave the BN if the situation remains unchanged. Several former Gerakan MPs have already left for the opposition.

Yesterday, Mr Koh reiterated that Gerakan will leave Barisan Nasional if it cannot play a ‘meaningful role’ within the coalition.

PM Abdullah, on Saturday, urged Malaysians to remember that they lived in a multiracial country, and that the media including blogs and newspapers did no good when they carried reports that cause racial anger.

‘No one will win, all will lose. It will cause the country to be in trouble,’ he warned.

The controversy, although unlikely to spill into tension outside the political realm, may, however, not die down that easily.

The Penang MCA has called for a meeting today to discuss Mr Ahmad’s remarks while the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s treasurer William Leong, who is also an MP from Kuala Lumpur, yesterday called for Mr Ahmad to be charged with sedition.

Mr Ahmad is currently being investigated by police.

Source : Straits Times - 08 Sept 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

All systems go for open Singapore gas market here from next Monday

All systems go for open Singapore gas market here from next Monday

Source says market players tested IT system thoroughly
By RONNIE LIM

(SINGAPORE) Sept 15 - this is when Singapore will liberalise or completely free up its gas market.
This means that all natural gas - whether piped from Malaysia and Indonesia or shipped via LNG tankers from elsewhere - will be intermingled and transported via a PowerGas-owned and managed inland gas pipeline network to all end-users such as power stations and petrochemical plants here.

‘Everything has been tested and it’s all systems go for a Sept 15 launch,’ a source told BT, adding that there may still be a bit more fine-tuning even then - after players’ feedback of the Gas Transportation System Solution (GTSS) or IT operating system developed by Singapore Power subsidiary PowerGas.

Market authorities such as regulator Energy Market Authority (EMA) want to ensure a ‘bug-free’ GTSS from Day 1 - which meant comprehensive and exhaustive testing of the IT system with all the market players involved - and that was a reason why the gas market opening was postponed from the earlier July 1 target to the mid-September date.

Liberalisation of the gas market - following that of the electricity market in January 2003 - is important as natural gas accounts for over 80 per cent of electricity-generating feedstock. Open competition in gas supplies is aimed at keeping prices down.

 
 
Under a liberalised gas market there will be licensed gas ’shippers’ including Gas Supply Pte Ltd and Sembcorp (both Indonesian gas buyers), Keppel Corp and Senoko Power (which buy Malaysian gas) and PowerSeraya, which wants to be a gas trader as part of its plans to be an integrated energy player.

But there will only be one ‘transporter’, PowerGas, which is in charge of the inland gas pipeline grid.

There will also be ‘importers’ - which includes some of the shippers - which deal directly with the gas producers to source for the gas. UK’s BG Group, appointed the aggregator or sole buyer of liquefied natural gas for Singapore earlier this year, will be one such importer.

Ahead of the Sept 15 market launch, SembCorp Gas is expected to have transferred its onshore gas pipeline assets to PowerGas and have been compensated for exiting the gas transportation business.

Field trials for the GTSS started in early June, which was also the time when PowerGas advertised for personnel to administer and manage the gas market operations, as well as technical officers and technicians to maintain the system.

To prepare for the market opening, the government also implemented an amended Gas Act in February which facilitates open, competitive access for gas importers and retailers to Singapore’s pipeline grid and the upcoming LNG terminal.

Despite the impending gas market opening this month, one player still left out in the cold is Island Power.

Island has had to suspend its $1 billion power station project on Jurong Island as it has been unable to bring in its own Indonesian gas supplies because of legal pipeline tangles involving incumbent Singapore players.

It had filed an application to the EMA last year to help it resolve this and gain access to the pipeline.

Last month, an EMA spokeswoman told BT that while ‘the Gas Network Code (or market opening here) will give Island Power access to the onshore pipelines, the work to open access to the offshore pipelines for Island Power is still in progress’.

 
Source : Business Times - 08 Sept 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

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Projected salary hikes surprisingly positive

Projected salary hikes surprisingly positive

Reality of rising inflation main reason why pay in Asia-Pacific tipped to rise faster in 2009
By CHUANG PECK MING

(SINGAPORE) The projected 2009 salary hikes for Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region look surprisingly high, especially against a background of slowing economic growth in the region.
 
 
But high expectations are quickly brought down to earth when the reality of rising inflation is shaking consumers’ confidence everywhere.

Indeed, inflation is already making a comeback as a key factor in pushing pay increases - and it is one main reason why salaries in the Asia-Pacific countries are tipped to rise faster in the coming year.

HR Business Solutions (HRBS), an Asian compensation firm, has projected that pay in the Asia-Pacific will jump by a median 8.0 per cent in 2009, against a median increase of 6.7 per cent in 2008.

Among the more developed countries in the region - Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan - the forecast is for salary hikes of 3.5-5.9 per cent next year, with Japan at the lower end and Singapore at the top end.

Developed South Korea is the odd man out. Pay there is expected to shoot up by 8.0 per cent in 2009, up from 6.7 per cent in 2008.

While Singapore is likely to see the biggest jump in salary next year among the region’s more developed countries, bar South Korea, the hike is only slightly higher than in 2008, when pay here rose by an average 5.6 per cent.

Salaries in Hong Kong, Singapore’s closest economic rival, are projected to climb 5.3 per cent next year, against a 4.9 per cent rise in 2008.

While inflation figures in the salary projections for Singapore and Hong Kong, talent also remains scarce - even as the job creation machinery is showing fatigue.

‘These two economies’ labour markets are small and tight, caused by robust economic growth and outflow of managerial and professional talents to emerging economies,’ HRBS says in a report.

‘In recent months, prices have climbed rapidly and inflation rate has reached new heights after a decade of stability. Hence despite a lower growth rate projected for 2008, employers in Hong Kong and Singapore are forecasted to grant more pay rises in 2009.’

Region-wide, inflation appears to be a key consideration for HRBS’ higher forecast for 2009.

‘While economic growth rates in Asia are mostly forecasted to be moderately lower in 2008 relative to 2007, inflation rate across the Asia-Pacific region has soared to an all-time high,’ it says in its report.

The labour market continues to be tight in countries such as China, India and Vietnam - especially for ‘qualified’ staff, according to the report.

Japan, where the threat of recession has again surfaced alongside the fear of inflation, is likely to see the smallest pay increase in the region next year - 3.5 per cent, up from 3.3 per cent in 2008.

The biggest salary hike? That’s projected for Sri Lanka, where pay is expected to jump 17 per cent.

‘Sri Lanka’s inflation rate of more than 16 per cent is the next highest in Asia after Vietnam,’ the report says. ‘Companies in Sri Lanka are hiring and as in other emerging countries, recruiting and retaining skilled human capital is challenging.’

In Vietnam, where the inflation rate has surged to 25 per cent, pay is tipped to rise 12.4 per cent in 2009.

 
Source : Business Times - 08 Sept 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com