Obama elected America’s president, networks projected - WASHINGTON

Obama elected America’s president, networks projected - WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON - Americans elected Democrat Barack Obama as their president Tuesday, in a transformational election which will reshape US politics and reposition the United States on the world stage.

Obama, 47, will be inaugurated the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, and inherit an economy mired in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a nuclear showdown with Iran.

Television networks projected his victory over Republican John McCain after Senator Obama solidified traditional Democratic states and cut deep into the Republican territory which his rival needed to control to win the White House.

Obama’s historic inauguration will complete a stunning ascent to the pinnacle of US and global politics from national obscurity just four years ago and close an eight year era of turbulence under President George W. Bush.

He will take office with Democrats holding a monopoly in power in Washington, after an epochal election which sparked a rare generational and political realignment and finally snuffed out an era of Republican control.

Obama is promising to renew bruised ties with US allies, and to engage some of the most fierce US foes like Iran and North Korea.

He has vowed to pass tackle climate change and provide health care to all Americans.

His presidency also marks a stunning cultural shift, with Obama, the son of Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, the first African American president of a nation still riven by racial divides.

When he launched his campaign on a chilly day in Illinois in February 2007, Obama forged a mantra of change which powered him throughout the longest, most costly US presidential campaign in history.

With a stunning grassroots political movement, powered by massive multi-million dollar fundraising, Obama first beat Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic Party’s then preeminent political machine.

Obama strode towards victory on Tuesday by capturing the states of Pennsylvania, the key battleground which McCain needed to win to keep his long-shot hopes of victory alive.

In a sweet moment for Democrats, he also seized the midwestern battleground of Ohio and captured New Mexico and Iowa, two states won by Bush in 2004 to close out McCain’s possible route towards the White House.

Obama had led national and battleground polls and had capitalized on the fear of Americans pitched into the deep financial crisis, especially as he appeared to be presidential in a string of debates.

McCain had argued that Obama was too inexperienced to be US commander in chief and would pursue “socialist” redistribution policies that would leave the economy mired in recession.

McCain, 72, an Arizona senator, would have been the oldest man ever inaugurated for a first term in the White House. - AFP/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 05 Nov 2008

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Parkway Life REIT to distribute 1.71 cents per unit for Q3

Parkway Life REIT to distribute 1.71 cents per unit for Q3

By Wong Siew Ying,

SINGAPORE : Parkway Life Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) said it will distribute 1.71 Singapore cents per unit for its third quarter.

The total distribution of about S$10.3 million is some 10 per cent higher than forecast.

The announcement came as the trust posted strong third quarter results for the year.

Its total net property income came to some S$12.5 million, more than 15 per cent higher than forecast.

PREIT said the better showing was due to improved performances from its current assets and acquisition activities, which have yielded positive returns.

In the third quarter, the trust acquired another seven nursing homes in various parts of Japan in the Hyogo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama and Tokyo prefectures for about S$106 million.

PREIT said despite challenging market conditions, it remains optimistic about its medium- and long-term prospects.

It is citing factors such as its rental lease structures which protect against downside risk, its low gearing, and full occupancy across its portfolio of properties for its optimism. - CNA /ls

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 05 Nov 2008

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Insurance bonuses may not plunge

Insurance bonuses may not plunge

LIA chief says sum is ’smoothed’ over plan’s life, so changes gradual

By Gabriel Chen

NEW Life Insurance Association (LIA) president Darren Thomson has said reversionary bonuses due early next year will not necessarily plunge despite the global financial bedlam.
The bonus, which stems from a portion of life insurance premiums that have been invested, is not just based on an insurer’s investment performance in a single year.

It is instead ’smoothed’ over the duration of the plan so that insurers can manage well in good and bad times, said Mr Thomson, who was speaking after the LIA’s results briefing yesterday.

This also means any bonus changes will be gradual.

Only traditional whole life and endowment policies have reversionary bonuses.

‘(There have been) two to three years of reasonable growth so I’m not sure that they’ll necessarily have to be downvalued,’ added Mr Thomson, who is also president and chief executive of Manulife Singapore.

There have been concerns that bonuses will fall next year as even relatively safe assets have not been spared the carnage from the financial crisis.

‘There might be the ability to maintain previous bonuses’ levels, though it’s still too early to tell, as it has a lot to do with how the markets perform between now and bonus declaration time,’ Mr Thomson said.

‘Most companies will try to maintain bonus levels if they can.’

Mr Thomson, who took over the LIA post from Mr Mark O’Dell last month, shared some thoughts on his strategy for the association going into the new year.

He is keen to increase ‘professionalism’ among members and for them to be in a career they can be proud of.

‘We want to take this industry to another level,’ he said, adding that he is keen to bring ‘fair dealing’ into the broader aspects of financial planning.

The focus, he said, should be shifted towards needs-based selling rather than product pushing.

Mr Thomson said the fundamentals of life insurance remain strong despite the global financial crisis.

‘The purpose of insurance is to make sure that you and your family are taken care of in adverse situations where protection is of the utmost importance.

‘The current economic climate should not be reason for deferring one’s protection needs. Of course it is prudent that people should stay within their means and invest in what they can afford.’

The life insurance industry recorded $1.42 billion of new premiums in the first nine months of this year, a 21 per cent increase over the same period a year ago.

Mr Thomson said the good showing was due to robust annual premium sales during the same period.

Source : Straits Times - 05 Nov 2008

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Fewer Singapore cluster homes may be built

Fewer Singapore cluster homes may be built

But congestion will be reduced and newer units can be bigger

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent

Developers are likely to build fewer cluster estates like this one in Whitley Road when the URA reinstates an old rule next year. Whitley Villas, which was launched in April, features two bungalows and six semi-detached homes sharing common facilities. — PHOTO: SAVILLS SINGAPORE

DEVELOPERS may soon build fewer strata-titled landed homes - also known as cluster homes - which in recent years have become increasingly popular.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is reinstating an old rule early next year which analysts expect to leave developers less inclined to build the homes.

The main reason for the move is that developers have tended to cram as many of these homes onto a plot as possible.

This has led to congestion, and a deterioration of the environment of these developments, which are landed homes with strata titles and common facilities, URA said.

Such homes have gained in popularity in recent years as they combine the appeal of conventional landed homes with condo-style facilities such as swimming pools, playgrounds and security.

Buyers also pay slightly less for a strata landed home than conventional landed homes - which come with land titles.

But from Feb 3 next year, developers will be permitted to build fewer strata landed units in a given development than under current laws although these units may be larger.

In a circular released on Monday, the URA said it will re-introduce a cap to limit the number of allowable units in strata landed housing developments as such estates have become dense and congested.

This will be based on a minimum plot size per unit similar to that imposed for conventional landed homes.

Property consultants said the likely impact of the new rule is that developers would switch to building landed homes, since they would now be able to build fewer strata landed homes on a given plot.

The URA change means that a developer can build 66 strata terrace homes on a 10,000 sq m site, instead of 80 such units under existing rules. However, each of the 66 homes can be 20 per cent bigger in size than those built under existing rules.

As for strata semi-detached homes on the same plot, a developer can build up to 72 units under existing rules and up to 50 units that are 45 per cent bigger in size under the new guidelines.

The change is more pronounced for strata-bungalows. A developer which is currently able to build 60 units on a given plot will be able to build just 25 units under the new rule, though these units can be a whopping 2.4 times bigger.

The new rule will encourage developers to build conventional landed housing rather than strata landed homes, said Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy, Mr Nicholas Mak.

If they choose to build strata homes, they are likely to consider only strata terrace homes as they can pack more onto the same piece of land, he said.

Indeed, Credo Real Estate’s managing director, Mr Karamjit Singh, said that strata-bungalows and strata semi-detached houses may eventually disappear.

As such houses are set to be bigger, their absolute value will go up, he said. ‘They will become less affordable.’

Currently, strata landed homes typically cost 10 to 20 per cent less than conventional landed homes, he said. But the gap will close under the new guidelines.

‘Mindsets need to be change as conventional landed homes typically command a higher price than strata landed homes. Whether a buyer is prepared to pay the same price for a strata landed home is a question mark,’ said Mr Singh.

Strata landed housing was introduced in 1993, with the same control that will be re-introduced early next year. This was lifted in 2001 - except for strata bungalows proposed within exclusive Good Class Bungalow areas - to allow the industry greater flexibility in design and to promote self-regulation, URA said.

It is reinstating the control as a focus group consultation last year found that the quality of the living environment in strata landed estates has deteriorated as houses within the strata landed development are packed very close together to maximise the number of units.

‘Landed housing residents living nearby now have to deal with heavier traffic into the estate and a more congested environment due to the large number of strata landed housing units being built,’ URA said in its circular.

Between 2003 and this year, about 100 strata landed housing projects were approved, according to its data.

URA also said it had received complaints from residents of landed housing estates of the increasingly dense environment caused by some new strata landed housing developments.

It said strata housing will still be an attractive option as there is enough flexibility for creative layouts and developers can save on land, which would be required for public parks and roads if the site was for conventional landed housing.

Source : Straits Times - 05 Nov 2008

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Bush stays out of McCain’s way

Bush stays out of McCain’s way

WASHINGTON: Where is President George W. Bush? The unpopular President has stayed off the campaign trail in the race to succeed him, which is just fine with Mr John McCain’s people.
With a mere 26 per cent approval rating, Mr Bush was expected to keep a low profile in Mr McCain’s campaign.

But as it turns out, the President has been a virtual no-show - except in just about every Barack Obama stump speech as the bogeyman and in Democratic television ads that regularly tie him to Republican candidates.

According to a Reuters tally, Mr Bush and Mr McCain have only appeared together in public three times for a grand total of 12 minutes since the President endorsed the Arizona senator on March 5.

‘You can be sure that if George W. Bush was more popular, he’d be out there,’ Mr Stephen Hess, a veteran of the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations, told CNN.

Celebrated among Republicans in the past for his success in motivating donors, Mr Bush was once sought after to headline fund-raising events, but has cut back on such activities this year and has not participated in one in almost two weeks.

Even Vice-President Dick Cheney, perhaps the most polarising figure of the administration, had a fund-raiser on his schedule on Saturday.

As Mr McCain and Mr Obama made their final pitches to voters this week, Mr Bush was spending time at the Camp David presidential retreat. He had no public events yesterday, not even an Election Day photo op - he cast an absentee ballot for Mr McCain last week, which the White House sent down to Texas to be counted.

On election night, he was expected to watch the returns on television at the White House with friends and celebrate First Lady Laura Bush’s 62nd birthday.

White House spokesman Dana Perino said on Monday that the incumbent’s invisibility was by design because ‘the Republican party wanted to make this election about John McCain’, which worked out well for Mr McCain who has tried hard to distance himself from the President.

Asked on Friday if Mr Bush feels unloved by his party, White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said: ‘I haven’t had this kind of conversation with him, but I don’t believe he takes it personally. He’s been in politics his entire life - he’s been around it his entire life - and he knows that it’s a rough-and-tumble business.’

It is a stark contrast to the farewell campaign tour of the last two-term GOP president, Mr Ronald Reagan, who left office with one of the highest approval ratings ever at the end of a presidency - 64 per cent.

Mr Reagan embarked on a marathon coast-to-coast campaign swing for Mr George H. W. Bush during the final weekend of the 1988 campaign.

‘It was a celebration,’ recalls Mr Ken Duberstein, who was Mr Reagan’s chief of staff. ‘It was almost a thank-you tour.’

Mr Duberstein, who is planning to vote for Mr Obama, said it must be difficult for the current President Bush to have seen that and know he will never get one of his own.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Source : Straits Times - 05 Nov 2008

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Americans out in force for historic vote

Americans out in force for historic vote

By Bhagyashree Garekar, US Correspondent

Mr Obama after casting his vote yesterday in Chicago, where he was greeted by dozens of reporters and photographers at a polling station in a school gym.

WASHINGTON: Tens of millions of Americans flocked to the polls yesterday, in some cases lining up before dawn to choose their next leader in the historic election.
Front-running Democrat Barack Obama was seeking to become the first black president of the United States, as his Republican rival John McCain pinned his hopes on an upset win.

Five national polls released yesterday all showed Mr Obama gaining 50 per cent or more of the popular vote - something not accomplished by a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Mr Obama’s margin over Mr McCain ranged from two points to nine points in the final polls.

Many analysts forecast the turnout to easily beat the high of 61 per cent in the 2004 presidential contest.

The results will start to emerge after 7am (Singapore time) today.

In Richmond, Virginia, the capital of a battleground state, voters stood in line through a steady drizzle, sipping coffee and reading newspapers, the New York Times reported.

Mr Obama carried the day in the two small villages in New Hampshire that traditionally open the voting.

In Dixville Notch, he won 15 votes to Mr McCain’s six, becoming the first Democrat to win there since 1968. In Hart’s Location, he won 17 votes to 10 for Mr McCain and two for Libertarian Party candidate Ron Paul.

Mr Obama, 47, led the nationwide popular vote in the final Gallup Daily tracking poll before election day with 53 per cent of the vote to 42 per cent for his Republican rival.

A CNN poll published just hours before voting started gave Mr Obama a narrower lead of 51 to 44 per cent.

But presidential elections are really 50 state-by-state elections, plus the District of Columbia here.

Thus the day was all about trying to win enough of those states to get the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency.

To that end, the candidates and their running mates spent the last days and hours of the campaign making their final pushes in closely contested states from Florida and Virginia to Ohio and Colorado.

Opinion polls showed Mr Obama ahead or even with Mr McCain in at least eight states won by Mr George W. Bush in 2004, including the big prizes of Ohio and Florida. Mr Obama also led in all of the states won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004.

Mr Obama cast his ballot with his daughters, who are too young to vote, by his side at an elementary school in Chicago. His running mate, Senator Joseph Biden, followed suit soon afterwards in Wilmington, Delaware.

Mr McCain later voted in Phoenix, in his home state of Arizona, with his wife Cindy. His running mate Sarah Palin, bidding to become the first woman vice-president, flew home to Wasilla in Alaska, where she is governor, to cast her vote

Meanwhile, US stocks surged, with gains of more than 250 points on the Dow Jones in early trading, after the presidential election polls opened.

The rally came despite reports of the worst contraction in manufacturing since 1982 and forecasts that the sagging economy will reduce profits.

Perceived as better able to handle the economy facing its worst crisis since the Great Depression, Mr Obama has offered the mantra of ‘change’ at a time when 90 per cent of Americans think their country is on the wrong track.

Mr McCain has struggled to separate himself from President Bush in a difficult political environment for the Republicans, who are trying to hold on to the presidency for a third consecutive term.

The 72-year-old Mr McCain has attacked what he has described as Mr Obama’s ’socialist’ economic policies and argues that his rival is a ‘risky choice’ in the face of daunting global challenges.

The early vote - an unprecedented one-third of the electorate voted ahead of Election Day this time - suggested an advantage for Mr Obama. Official figures showed that more Democrats turned up than Republicans.

Democrats are also expected to expand majorities in both chambers of Congress. They need to gain nine Senate seats to reach a 60-seat majority that would give them the muscle to defeat Republican procedural hurdles.

That would increase pressure on Democrats to deliver on campaign promises to end the war in Iraq, eliminate Mr Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy and overhaul a health-care system that leaves 47 million Americans uninsured.

In a traditionally Republican bastion surrounding Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr Ian Edwards, 60, the chief executive of a small technology company, told Reuters why he voted for Mr Obama.

‘Very simple,’ he said. ‘Bad war. Bad economy. Bad reputation overseas.’

For his part, the Naked Cowboy - a fixture in New York’s Times Square who plays a guitar in his underwear - told CNN that he had voted for Mr McCain because said he favoured ‘entrepreneurs’ like himself.

Source : Straits Times - 05 Nov 2008

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Making the rich poorer won’t help Americans

Making the rich poorer won’t help Americans

By ROBERT SAMUELSON

FOR years, Americans have debated rising economic inequality. On one side, liberals denounce it as unjust. Redistribute wealth to the poor and middle class, they say. On the other, conservatives minimise its importance. What matters most is overall economic growth, they retort.

Well, the conjunction of the US presidential campaign and the financial crisis is giving the debate a curious twist. Liberals have triumphed politically; soaking the rich has become more acceptable. But conservatives may have won the intellectual argument; making the rich poorer doesn’t make everyone else richer.

If Barack Obama and John McCain agreed on anything, it was this: Greed is bad. They competed in denunciations of reckless investment bankers and avaricious CEOs. Mr Obama proposed raising taxes on higher incomes (couples above US$250,000); though Mr McCain didn’t, he suggested that much recent wealth accumulation was ill-gotten. Unintentionally, perhaps, he buttressed the moral case for more redistribution. Let’s tap the gold mine of the rich.

Unfortunately, the mine has less gold. All the financial turmoil has left the wealthy - however defined - much less wealthy. Stock ownership is highly concentrated. In 2001, the richest one per cent owned 34 per cent of stocks and mutual funds, estimates economist Edward N Wolff of New York University. Let’s see. Since the market’s high in October 2007, stocks are down (through Oct 31) 38 per cent, or US$7.5 trillion, reports Wilshire Associates. That will mean lower capital gains taxes, because capital gains - profits on the sale of stocks and other assets - will plunge. In recent years, capital gains taxes have been running at US$100 billion or more. That amount could drop sharply, even if the top rate on capital gains were raised from 15 per cent to its pre-2003 level of 20 per cent.

Thousands of well-paid investment bankers, traders, portfolio managers and securities analysts are losing their jobs. Though Wall Street bonuses will continue, their total is likely to decrease. Gains in executive compensation may be similarly squeezed. Profits are down; the political climate is hostile. In 2005, the richest one per cent of Americans had 18 per cent of total income and paid 28 per cent of all federal taxes, says the Congressional Budget Office. Their income won’t grow much. Even if higher tax rates increase government revenues, the effect will be less than before.

Judged only by economic inequality, the financial crisis is a godsend. It will probably narrow the gap - though still vast - between the rich and everybody else. But what good will that do? Economic inequality also declined in the Great Depression. The country wasn’t better off. By and large, the poor aren’t poor because the rich are rich. They’re usually poor for their own reasons: family breakdown, low skills, destructive personal habits and plain bad luck.

The presumption implicit in the criticism of growing economic inequality is that society’s income is a given and, if the rich have less, others will have more. Up to a point, that’s true. The government already redistributes much income, often for the good. During the boom years, companies might have been less lavish with top executives and slightly more generous to other workers or shareholders. Some new fortunes stem from self-dealing and financial razzle-dazzle, not the creation of real economic value. It’s just desserts that some of this wealth has evaporated.

But the redistributionist argument is at best a half-truth. The larger truth is that much of the income of the rich and well-to-do comes from what they do. If they stop doing it, then the income and wealth vanish. No one gets it. It can’t be redistributed because it doesn’t exist. Everyone’s poorer.

This isn’t just theory. Last week, Governor David Paterson of New York pleaded with Congress to provide emergency aid to states. Heavily dependent on Wall Street for taxes, he testified, New York faces a US$12.5 billion budget deficit next year and expects joblessness to rise by 160,000. Wall Street bonuses will drop by 43 per cent and capital gains income by 35 per cent, he estimated. People in New York would be better off if the securities industry were still booming, even if there were more economic inequality.

Americans legitimately resent Wall Street types who profited from dubious investment strategies that aggravated today’s crisis. And government properly redistributes income to reduce hardship and poverty. But that’s different from attempting to deduce and engineer some optimal distribution of income. Government can’t do that and shouldn’t try.

Scapegoating and punishing all of the rich won’t do Americans any good if the resulting taxes dull investment and risk-taking, discouraging economic growth that benefits everyone. — The Washington Post Writers Group

Source : Business Times - 05 Nov 2008

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Buffers to come in handy in rocky job market

Buffers to come in handy in rocky job market

Flexible wage system may soften blow; some sectors to stay buoyant

By LYNETTE KHOO

(SINGAPORE) As the financial crisis spills over into the real economy, it comes as no surprise that economists, as well as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), expect the jobless rate to rise steadily from the 2.2 per cent seen in the third quarter.

Looking good: Wage restructuring since 2003 will allow companies to make quicker adjustments to their wage costs in the event of sudden and severe business downturns rather than resort to firing, HR consultants say
The question is how high this could rise and how wages would be hit.

The highest jobless rate projection came from CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun, who believes that in a worst-case scenario, the unemployment rate could hit 5-6 per cent - in which case it would beat the 4 per cent annual jobless rate seen during the Sars crisis in 2003.

OCBC economist Selena Ling says she expects the jobless rate to cross 3 per cent next year as companies turn cautious on hiring and may even be forced to retrench more aggressively should the domestic technical recession become a prolonged downturn.

Also, another worry has descended on job creation, after employment grew by 57,800 in the third quarter, from a near record of 71,400 in the second quarter and 58,600 in Q3 2007.

This may mark an inflexion point from past record-breaking years, where job gains rose by a record 234,900 in 2007, far surpassing the gains of 176,000 in 2006.

Citi economist Kit Wei Zheng notes persistently declining labour productivity growth may place pressure on employers to shed jobs in the coming quarters. ‘The brunt of the job cuts will likely come from the manufacturing sector,’ he adds. ‘Electronics in particular could lose more jobs as the cyclical downturn accelerates the structural relocation of key manufacturing operations in 2009.’

The employment cycle typically lags the growth cycle by two quarters, according to DBS economist Irvin Seah. Any job losses would hence happen only in the first half of 2009.

Some 1,900 net job losses could occur in the manufacturing sector and a net loss of 500 jobs could take place in the financial services and business services sectors each next year, Mr Seah predicts.

While economists expect job creation to slow significantly, the labour market may be able to sidestep the massive net job losses seen in past recessions.

There was a net loss of 23,000 jobs during the dotcom bubble burst between 2001 and 2002, and another 12,900 jobs during the 2003 Sars period. Singapore’s first employment contraction during the Asian financial crisis saw some 23,400 jobs slashed, Ministry of Manpower (MOM) statistics show.

This time around, job losses in the manufacturing and financial sectors may be offset by gains in other sectors, such as the construction sector and vacancies to be filled at the two upcoming integrated resorts (IRs), economists say. The flexible wage system could also come in handy.

‘There could be some buffer because Singapore’s economy is slightly diversified from manufacturing and electronics per se, towards the services sectors,’ says OCBC’s Ms Ling. ‘Plus, we have the IRs coming up from the end of next year, which have indicated that they will hire tens of thousands of workers just to staff the IRs alone.’

Despite the lack of local talent acquainted with IR operations, HR consultants are confident there is unlikely to be significant skill mismatch among those looking to join the IR industry. ‘There are avenues available for prospective employees in the IR industries to gain training,’ says Annie Yap, chief executive of The GMP Group.

‘And with the substantially vast industry involving a broad range of required disciplines from service and securities to IT and marketing, people do not necessarily start from scratch, but rather align their skills to a job that is related to a certain degree.’

Wage restructuring since 2003 - with a shift towards a higher portion of employees’ salaries becoming variable and linked to performance - will allow companies to make quicker adjustments to their wage costs in the event of sudden and severe business downturns rather than resort to firing, HR consultants say.

As at December 2007, 84 per cent of the workforce in the private sector was under some form of flexible wage system, according to MOM data.

HR consultants are not expecting big cuts in basic wages, though pay increments and bonus payments may face some pressures.

‘Although companies are gearing up to fight back through various cost-cutting mechanisms, substantial or drastic measures like wage cut, bonus freeze, etc, are not on the cards,’ says Kulshaan Singh, client strategy and growth leader at Hewitt Southeast Asia. ‘This is the time most companies are in a ‘wait-and- watch’ mode.’

He adds that some of his clients are taking ‘austerity’ measures like deferring bonus payments and salary increases, and ‘promising to revisit the decision after more clarity emerges’.

Source : Business Times - 05 Nov 2008

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Singapore MM Lee ponders nuclear energy option

Singapore MM Lee ponders nuclear energy option

But Singapore’s small size stands in the way, he says

By LEE U-WEN

(SINGAPORE) Could nuclear energy be the solution to Singapore’s search for a viable source of alternative energy in the long term?

Mr Lee: ‘Singaporeans are cost-conscious. They don’t care where the energy comes from, they just want to know which is the cheaper option.’
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said as much yesterday when he described nuclear energy as a realistic, viable alternative to oil and gas for producing electricity.

The stumbling block, however, is that even if the decision was made eventually to build a nuclear power station, the densely populated and compact Republic lacks the minimum safety distance required for evacuation in case of a fallout.

‘The rule is that you must have the power station at least 30 km away . . . Where do we site this nuclear station?’ asked Mr Lee as he delivered the inaugural Singapore Energy Lecture as part of the ongoing International Energy Week being held here.

Separately, Mr Lee also said that Singapore would eventually be ‘forced to cooperate’ with its neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia, in this alternative energy effort. ‘If we all understand the complexity and the immensity of the problems the world faces, and what we will face in South-east Asia, then we should have a common pipeline and common grid so that (the energy) is transferrable.’

On Monday, members of the high-powered International Advisory Panel on Energy, which met for the first time, proposed that nuclear power could form part of Singapore’s evolving energy strategy. This suggestion, among others, is already being studied by the government.

The panel also said that nuclear research and even a nuclear power plant should not be left out of Singapore’s range of long-term solutions, even as the long-term costs and safety and waste management issues had yet to be carefully studied.

In his 75-minute dialogue with a 500-strong audience at the Raffles City Convention Centre, Mr Lee said that Singapore’s options for alternative energy were severely limited, with no wind power or strong tides that could generate power.

Singapore is already venturing into solar energy, with Norway’s Renewable Energy Corporation already starting construction on a $6.3 billion solar cell plant in Tuas View.

Even so, Mr Lee wondered about the plant’s ability to satisfy the country’s energy needs.

‘The Norwegians are seeking investments for the solar plant, to do research and development. But how much (energy) can it supply? Whatever it is, we have got to try every little way to minimise the use of carbon fuels.’

Last month, the Energy Market Authority said that while solar power has some potential, it realistically could not replace more than a small proportion of Singapore’s energy needs. Solar is also more expensive than electricity generated from natural gas, although the technology is still improving and costs are gradually coming down, said the statutory board.

During the question-and-answer portion of the dialogue, Mr Lee was asked whether he felt Singaporeans were ready to pay more for renewable energy - energy generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat - which are all naturally replenished.

To which the Minister Mentor replied: ‘Singaporeans are cost-conscious. They don’t care where the energy comes from, they just want to know which is the cheaper option.’

This quarter, electricity tariffs in Singapore went up by 21 per cent - the highest one-time increase in nearly seven years. Tariffs, which are reviewed every three months, have soared for five consecutive quarters since July 2007 due to rising oil prices.

Mr Lee went on to say how the government had tried its best to encourage more drivers here to switch to energy-efficient hybrid cars, a move that has been met with a lukewarm response so far because of the higher costs involved.

‘We have reduced the taxes, but Singaporeans have decided, ‘No, we’ll take the non-hybrids,’ said Mr Lee.

Source : Business Times - 05 Nov 2008

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Obama holds on to edge but McCain soldiers on - WASHINGTON

Obama holds on to edge but McCain soldiers on - WASHINGTON

In the earliest results, two small towns go for Obama

(WASHINGTON) Democrat Barack Obama appeared close to victory in his historic bid to become the first black US president yesterday, while an undaunted Republican John McCain battled to win an upset as voting began in the epic struggle for the White House.

Making history: In pre-election balloting, more Democrats than Republicans voted in North Carolina, Colorado, Florida and Iowa, all of which voted for Mr Bush in 2004
At the climax of the historic campaign, Mr Obama continued to lead in the polls and both campaigns launched get-out-the-vote efforts expected to result in a record turnout.

Mr Obama joined the nation’s earliest voters, casting his ballot at Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School in Chicago shortly after 7.30 am CST (13.30 GMT).

Other voters cheered when he held up a validation slip, smiled and said: ‘I voted.’

‘The journey ends, but voting with my daughters, that was a big deal,’ Mr Obama told reporters later.

Mr McCain, meanwhile, acknowledged that he is the underdog but said his longshot bid for the presidency was close to victory.

‘I think these battleground states have now closed up, almost all of them,’ Mr McCain told CBS’ television’s The Early Show. Look, I know I’m still the underdog, I understand that,’ Mr McCain said. ‘You can’t imagine, you can’t imagine the excitement of an individual to be this close to the most important position in the world, and I’ll enjoy it, enjoy it. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.’

Mr Obama won the first Election Day contest, in two small New Hampshire towns where voters traditionally cast ballots shortly after midnight.

The first term Illinois senator defeated Mr McCain by a 15-6 vote in Dixville Notch, while voters in the town of Hart’s Location cast 17 votes for Mr Obama, 10 for Mr McCain and two for write-in Ron Paul.

President George W Bush carried both towns in the last two elections.

Voters in Virginia, New York and other East Coast states lined up outside polling places hours before they opened at 6 am (1100 GMT). About 29 million people have already cast ballots over the past few weeks in 30 states that allow early voting.

Mr Obama seemed to hold the edge in pre-election balloting, as officials reported that more Democrats than Republicans had voted in North Carolina, Colorado, Florida and Iowa. All four states voted for Mr Bush in 2004.

But Mr Obama had warned his supporters on Monday to take nothing for granted, as the race depended on a relative handful of states that could go for either candidate.

‘Even if it rains tomorrow, you can’t let that stop you. You’ve got to wait in line. You’ve got to vote,’ he said.

Both the 47-year-old Mr Obama, and Mr McCain, a 72-year-old veteran senator from Arizona, pledged to bring sweeping change to Washington and close the door on the two-term presidency of Mr Bush - whose approval ratings are near historic lows.

But the two candidates were divided by age, race and core political convictions. They were deeply at odds over how to fix the US’s crumbling economy and end the 5 1/2-year war in Iraq. Mr Obama has argued that Mr McCain offers little more than an extension of Mr Bush’s policies while the Republican counters that Mr Obama is too inexperienced to lead.

Democrats also sought to gain seats in both chambers of Congress, while Republicans battled to limit their losses. Many races were rated as tossups in the campaign’s final hours. — AP

Source : Business Times - 05 Nov 2008

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