PM Lee urges citizens to do their best to get through downturn together

PM Lee urges citizens to do their best to get through downturn together

By S Ramesh

SINGAPORE : Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has called on Singaporeans to do their best to work through the economic downturn together, as a society and country.

He was speaking at a community event at Jalan Kayu on Sunday, where he launched a S$45,000 programme to help needy families.

Speaking at the annual family day celebrations at Jalan Kayu, Mr Lee said: “Bonuses are down, unemployment has gone up, not as much as we feared, but it is higher than it would be. And we can see the effects as MPs, because in our Meet-the-People sessions, the numbers have gone up.”

And Mr Lee said the government will help those looking for jobs and assistance.

He said: “The government has done what it needs to do through the GST offsets, the Resilience Package and the many schemes which Singapore has in the Budget and off the Budget, in order to help people in the ways which would help them to help themselves - keep their jobs, find new jobs and help their families.”

However, the Prime Minister stressed that help must be given at different levels.

Tackling the economic crisis in Singapore also involves the “many helping hands” approach. And one programme which the Jalan Kayu division has launched is called Heartstrings. It will benefit a hundred needy families in the division.

Wee Siew Kim, MP, Ang Mo Kio GRC, said: “By using the Heartstrings approach, the local grassroots organisations, which is the RC, can reach out to them directly with a package of household necessities. We intend to make it an on-going project, it is not meant to be mandate just for these trying economic times.

“And we intend to start it small with a package of S$40-50 a month on the basis that we can sustain it. We also (that) intend every two months, the RC works with the other entities in the constituency, whether it is the merchants association, mosque or temple, and together they can reach out to the needy households in our midst, and the households also see that these entities are working together as part of a community.”

The Heartstrings scheme is targeted at senior citizens and needy families earning less than S$450 per month. - CNA/ms

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 22 June 2009

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Twitter

Twitter

What it is: Twitter.com, which has been ranked as the third most popular social network in the world in terms of monthly visitors, is slightly different from the other networking sites. Instead of creating elaborate profiles about themselves, Twitter’s users ‘micro-blog’ by posting frequent one-line updates on their current thoughts and actions.

Who uses it: About six million people visit the site every month, but there are no numbers available on the total member pool. Research firm Nielsen Online has said 13.9 million people signed up in March, but its findings showed that 60per cent of Twitter users spend just a month on the site before quitting.

How to use it: You just need an e-mail address to create a Twitter account, after which you can start posting messages of up to 140 characters each. In order for Twitter to have any meaning, users need to subscribe to other members’ updates by choosing to ‘follow’ them, which means whenever they put up a message, you will be notified. In return, they can choose to be your ‘followers’.

Good for: Instant updates on the lives of your contacts, and to stay on top of news. Twitter is one of the best sources for quick news flashes.

Source : Straits Times - 21 June 2009

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LinkedIn

LinkedIn

What it is: Located at linkedin.com, the website touts itself as a ‘professional network’ that connects businessmen and helps people find jobs. Access to the site is free, but ‘premium’ paid versions with tools for reaching members beyond your own network will cost US$24.95 (S$36.40) a month onwards.

Who uses it: More than 41 million people are on LinkedIn, half of whom are from outside the United States, according to the website. The site also says its members include executives from all Fortune 500 companies.

How to use it: Once you’re in, you can create a profile and update your educational and work background so that interested recruiters can contact you. The site also has a jobs section where you can search for openings.

Good for: Finding a job, viewing the employment detaIls of your contacts, and keeping in touch with people you meet at work.

Source : Straits Times - 21 June 2009

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Facebook

Facebook

What it is: The online networking site that started it all, Facebook - at facebook.com - began as a network for students at Harvard. Opened up to the public in 2006, it ballooned into the world’s largest social networking site.

Who uses it: There are more than 200 million active users, half of whom log on at least once a day, site statistics show. Though it started life as a college network, those aged 35 or older form its fastest-growing group of new members.

How to use it: You need to provide a valid e-mail address, gender and birth date. Users can upload photos and videos, share Web links and play games, among other things.

Facebook allows members to decide how much information they want to make public, and to which groups of people.

Good for: Creating a comprehensive database of those you know, and keeping up to date with their professional and personal lives.

Source : Straits Times - 21 June 2009

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Online networking sites can be useful for work

Online networking sites can be useful for work

More people are using them to build contacts or even to look for jobs

By Fiona Chan

USING Facebook to keep in touch with work contacts may sound like a slacker’s excuse for spending time on the Internet.
But more and more people are finding online networks a useful way to expand their pool of friends and acquaintances, and even scope out job prospects.

A walking example is Mr Anthony Leong, 31, who has taken his job search online through electronic networks such as Facebook and Web messaging program MSN Messenger.

Although he initially used these networks to keep in touch with friends, he realised they were also handy tools for the corporate world. He has asked his ‘trusted network’ of friends to help him find a job by introducing him to their own friends and providing a reference.

‘Networking is important in every aspect of life,’ he said. ‘You never know when you might hit the jackpot with a huge pool of contacts at your fingertips.’

Human resource firms are seeing more people like Mr Leong, who use social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn in their professional lives.

Most of them are part of the Generation Y workforce, who view these sites as an essential part of their daily lives and think it natural to extend their use into the workplace, said Mr James Mendes, managing director for recruitment specialist Alexander Mann Solutions.

But even the older generation is jumping on the bandwagon, he added. The biggest perk of these sites: They are free.

The more people sign on to these networks, the more effective the websites become as a tool to manage a large base of contacts, said Mr Josh Goh, senior manager of corporate services at The GMP Group, a human resource consultancy.

This behaviour has not gone unnoticed by companies, which are getting in on the action by, for example, using social networking sites to host recruitment drives, he added.

But not all sites are equal. Facebook is more of a casual social network that helps people stay in touch with friends and family, while a site like LinkedIn is meant for professionals to mingle.

As with every corporate situation, there is proper etiquette to be observed on social networking sites, said Mr Goh.

Obvious no-nos include bad-mouthing your current or previous employers on your website profile, and openly searching for another job while you are still employed, he added.

Companies and individuals alike often make the mistake of providing too much information online, said Mr Mendes. ‘Keeping content brief, thoughtful and insightful ensures a captive audience.’

To maximise the value of online networks, serious job-seekers should update their profiles regularly and carefully, Mr Goh said. ‘Some companies are using networking sites to find candidates. Keeping your profile updated can increase your employment opportunities.’

Employers also look at the interests you list on your profile, as well as the personal information you disclose. Choosing what to make public can affect your chances of getting a job offer, he added.

The photos you post, the personal information you disclose, and even the other sites you are linked to can compromise your image and job opportunities, he said.

FACEBOOK
What it is: The online networking site that started it all, Facebook - at facebook.com - began as a network for students at Harvard. Opened up to the public in 2006, it ballooned into the world’s largest social networking site.

Who uses it: There are more than 200 million active users, half of whom log on at least once a day, site statistics show. Though it started life as a college network, those aged 35 or older form its fastest-growing group of new members.

How to use it: You need to provide a valid e-mail address, gender and birth date. Users can upload photos and videos, share Web links and play games, among other things.

Facebook allows members to decide how much information they want to make public, and to which groups of people.

Good for: Creating a comprehensive database of those you know, and keeping up to date with their professional and personal lives.

LinkedIn

What it is: Located at linkedin.com, the website touts itself as a ‘professional network’ that connects businessmen and helps people find jobs. Access to the site is free, but ‘premium’ paid versions with tools for reaching members beyond your own network will cost US$24.95 (S$36.40) a month onwards.

Who uses it: More than 41 million people are on LinkedIn, half of whom are from outside the United States, according to the website. The site also says its members include executives from all Fortune 500 companies.

How to use it: Once you’re in, you can create a profile and update your educational and work background so that interested recruiters can contact you. The site also has a jobs section where you can search for openings.

Good for: Finding a job, viewing the employment details of your contacts, and keeping in touch with people you meet at work.

Twitter

What it is: Twitter.com, which has been ranked as the third most popular social network in the world in terms of monthly visitors, is slightly different from the other networking sites. Instead of creating elaborate profiles about themselves, Twitter’s users ‘micro-blog’ by posting frequent one-line updates on their current thoughts and actions.

Who uses it: About six million people visit the site every month, but there are no numbers available on the total member pool. Research firm Nielsen Online has said 13.9 million people signed up in March, but its findings showed that 60per cent of Twitter users spend just a month on the site before quitting.

How to use it: You just need an e-mail address to create a Twitter account, after which you can start posting messages of up to 140 characters each. In order for Twitter to have any meaning, users need to subscribe to other members’ updates by choosing to ‘follow’ them, which means whenever they put up a message, you will be notified. In return, they can choose to be your ‘followers’.

Good for: Instant updates on the lives of your contacts, and to stay on top of news. Twitter is one of the best sources for quick news flashes.

Source : Straits Times - 21 June 2009

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To get feedback, why not Twitter in the House?

To get feedback, why not Twitter in the House?

By Jeremy Au Yong

AS MPs already send text messages to one another in Parliament, it would not be too far a stretch for them to Twitter as well, suggested Senior Parliamentary Secretary Teo Ser Luck.
He floated the idea yesterday when he referred to the popular online platform that lets a person broadcast to others using SMS messages.

Speaking at a Young PAP forum on new media and politics, he said the use of Twitter might give MPs better feedback

Mr Teo, who is chairman of the People’s Action Party (PAP) youth wing, said: ‘In Parliament, when we make our speeches, among the members, we SMS a lot, share ideas, give each other encouragement.’

Maybe next time, he added, with live broadcast of the Parliament session, ‘we can have Twitter platforms where people can put their thoughts and (we) immediately know how people are feeling and what they are discussing as well’.

Instant feedback on parliamentary speeches could mean MPs getting a chance to quickly clarify a point they made, or it might even spur some to ask supplementary questions that, without Twitter feedback, might not have occurred to them.

Social media platforms such as Twitter, he said, could be applied as well to the National Day Rally, which is broadcast live.

However, the PAP is still finding its feet in the realm of new media, Mr Teo said.

‘I don’t think, in many ways, we have been using it effectively and we have not been tested. We have not gone through an election where we had to use the platform,’ he added.

Yesterday’s meeting, however, showed they were taking steps to improve.

The 60 or so people at the event were taken through the different aspects of social media. Two others followed the goings-on via a webcam; one was in the United States and the other, in China.

But the emphasis on new media does not mean it will replace the work they do in the real world, stressed Mr Teo and his two deputies, MPs Christopher de Souza and Zaqy Mohamad.

Mr de Souza, for instance, said the role of new media in the US presidential elections might not be possible to replicate in Singapore.

In the US, new media is often the only way the presidential hopefuls can reach out directly to voters spread across the country.

In Singapore, MPs have their own constituencies where they can build a strong trust-relationship with residents over the years, he said.

‘So it’s about whether we’ve gone to their home, whether we have helped their children, whether we have listened to them with sincerity at the Meet-the-People session,’ he added.

Source : Straits Times - 21 June 2009

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More cases of H1N1 being spread locally

More cases of H1N1 being spread locally

Seven of 16 new cases caught the flu here; third cluster identified

By April Chong

MORE evidence has emerged that the Influenza A (H1N1) flu virus is now being spread in the local community among Singaporeans who have not travelled overseas.
Seven of yesterday’s 16 new cases caught the virus here, some at a church in Loyang and one at a popular city night spot. The total number of people who apparently caught the virus in Singapore has hit 21 in just four days.

They now account for one in seven of the current total of 142 cases, according to figures released by the Health Ministry (MOH) yesterday.

The accelerating spread of the virus in the local community is something health officials here had warned would happen eventually. Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said two weeks ago that it was ‘only a matter of time’ before there was community spread of the virus here.

And when it does come to that, the country will switch to the ‘mitigation’ phase, where the focus will be on caring for the sick, he said.

Last Thursday marked the start of the rising number of local cases. A Malaysian PR fell ill even though he had not travelled overseas to an area with known community spread.

MOH said then that ‘if more such unlinked cases emerge over the next few days, this would signal the beginning of community spread in Singapore’.

There are now three clusters in Singapore where the H1N1 virus is known to have been transmitted locally. The first is the Riverlife Church in Loyang, where seven infections have been traced to. This includes two new cases reported yesterday - a 20-year-old female student and a 12-year-old boy who studies in Australia.

A second cluster is the National University of Singapore. Three people were previously reported to have caught the virus there and another one is now believed to be linked to them.

Yesterday, MOH highlighted a new third cluster - the newly-opened Butter Factory club in One Fullerton. It said another 19-year-old female student who was at the night spot last Wednesday has also fallen ill. She joins three others who had also been in the popular club that same night and caught the virus earlier.

MOH is now advising anyone who visited Butter Factory last Wednesday night to monitor their health closely and seek medical help if they are unwell.

The other four locally transmitted cases reported yesterday had no recent travel history and are not linked to any of the three clusters. One is a 21-year-old police national serviceman based at a police station in Clementi.

MOH also reported nine new imported cases yesterday who had travelled to Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Britain. Contact tracing is ongoing for these.

As of last night, 47 patients have been discharged with 95 still warded.

Infection numbers across the Asia Pacific continued to rise yesterday, with New Zealand officials warning that the country expects a big increase in H1N1 cases in the coming months.

Source : Straits Times - 22 June 2009

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Source : Straits Times - 21 June 2009

Buy Sell Rent invest In Singapore Property Real Estate

MINDY YONG

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mindy@mindyyong.com

Top-end bungalow prices rise as sales revive

Top-end bungalow prices rise as sales revive

By Huang Huifen

Ms Drahma (in purple) has no plans to sell her Leedon Park home, even though its price may have risen by 50 per cent. With her at the koi pond are her daughter Mariska Tanijaya, two, son Mario, three, and sister Winner, 18.

Action star Jet Li, who recently bought a good class bungalow (GCB) in Binjai Rise for $19.8 million, will have new neighbours as the market for GCBs continues to pick up over the next few months.

Property agents say they are expecting to close more deals.

‘I expect to sell six to eight out of the 15 good class bungalows on hand within six months,’ said Mr K.H.Tan, managing director of property firm Newsman Realty.

ERA property agent George Lee is singing the same tune. He expects to sell two GCBs in the next two months, while negotiations for a couple of deals are under way for Mr Steven Ming, Savills’ director for prestige homes.

It was, however, a different story at the start of the year, after the fall of Lehman Brothers which crippled the world economy late last year.

Total residential investment sales, including GCBs, plunged by 60.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year from the last quarter of last year.

Mr Lee had no GCB sales at the start of the year.

According to Savills Singapore’s analysis of caveats captured by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Realis system, there were only two transactions in the first quarter of this year, a figure which picked up to seven transactions in April and last month.

Home to high-profile businessmen and now, at least one international celebrity, GCBs are high-end bungalows worth at least $10 million that sit on a minimum plot size of 15,069 sq ft. There are about 2,400 GCBs in the 39 areas gazetted by the URA.

Popular GCB addresses include Nassim, Cluny, Bishopsgate and White House Park estates.

While the restrictions for Singaporeans to own GCBs are only the size of their pockets, applications by permanent residents (PRs) to buy these houses are assessed on a case-by-case basis, depending on their contribution to Singapore.

Owners are allowed to build only up to two storeys.

Foreigners are not allowed to own GCBs.

As a sign of recovery, the average price per sq ft (psf) for GCBs has increased by 10 per cent to 15 per cent in the last month, said Mr Tan of Newsman Realty.

In January, it cost $800 to $1,000 psf for a new house in District 10. Now, it has risen to between $1,000 and $1,200 psf, said the agent who is handling the sale of 2, Swettenham Road, which belongs to Mr George Quek, founder and chairman of bakery chain BreadTalk.

‘Buyers find GCBs a safer form of investment than putting money in a bank. The return of 2 per cent is higher than the bank’s 1 per cent,’ said Mr Tan.

An influx of rich foreigners who eventually settle down here will also drive up the demand for GCBs.

‘With more and more rich foreigners becoming citizens and PRs, the demand for GCBs is expected to drive prices up by 30 per cent in the next three years,’ Mr Tan added.

To yield a good investment, buyers tend to look out for GCBs that are situated in the prime districts of 9, 10, 11 and 21, on elevated land, have a wide frontage and a 360-degree unblocked view.

Despite the market recovery and assurance of high returns, one GCB resident will not be selling her house any time soon.

Ms Werny Drahma, 32, loves her 18,000 sq ft Leedon Park house which she shares with her parents, three siblings, her husband, their two children and four maids. Her father is the chairman of commodity trading firm Wilson Global Trade.

‘I love that I can have my personal space,’ said the Indonesian- born ethnic Chinese, who is now a Singapore citizen.

The house was registered under Ms Drahma’s name in 2002. Back then, it cost her parents less than $10 million, and she estimates that the value has appreciated by about 50 per cent.

The upkeep of the house - including electricity bill and maintenance for swimming pool, koi pond, aquarium and garden - comes to several thousand dollars a month.

The Drahmas’ sprawling home is the result of her father’s hard struggles, she said.

‘My father came from a small town in Indonesia and was very poor. He had only high school education. But by perseverance, he managed to make it big by his 30s,’ said Ms Drahma.

Source : Straits Times - 21 June 2009

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Source : Straits Times - 21 June 2009

Buy Sell Rent invest In Singapore Property Real Estate

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Mall tenants demand ‘non-competitive’ clause

Mall tenants demand ‘non-competitive’ clause 
By Irene Tham 

Storm in a coffee cup?
Not so, judging by the concern of at least four mall tenants who now want their landlords to stay out of their line of business.

They want this pledge in writing, under new proposed protection clauses in their tenancy agreements.

It was a ‘mini storm’ over the entrance of Far East Organisation into the same business as some of its tenants at its malls that led to this concern.

The four, all coffee joints and eateries, told The Sunday Times that the tenancy agreements should now have a ‘data confidentiality’ or ‘non-competitive’ clause.

They felt that landlords can gauge how lucrative their businesses are from the ’sensitive’ monthly or daily sales data submitted for the purpose of calculating rent.

Newer malls have even automated this process, with a central point-of-sale (POS) computerised system.

It all began when Far East’s subsidiary, Kitchen Language, opened sandwich shop Quiznos last December and coffee joint Tully’s in January - both at Far East Square.

Kitchen Language also opened a Tully’s outlet in another of its malls, West Coast Plaza, in November last year.

In a Sunday Times report on June 7, sandwich chain Subway, which has an outlet at Far East Square, claimed that it had suffered a monthly ‘double-digit’ dip in sales since Quiznos opened.

Subway also felt that there could be a conflict of interest, such as the landlord taking up prime space for its own businesses. It is currently in talks with Far East to include a data confidentiality clause in its tenancy agreement.

A typical clause will specify that any sales information submitted to the landlord be used purely for calculating rent and not shared with other tenants or the landlord’s subsidiaries.

Another concerned tenant is O’Briens Irish Sandwich Bars, which has an outlet at Central in Clarke Quay, a Far East mall. The lease is up for renewal next year.

O’Briens said it will want a clause in its new contract stating that the landlord cannot set up a similar business within the mall.

‘I would not have considered such a clause in the past but it is necessary now,’ said Mr Hugh Hoyes-Cock, CEO of O’Briens Asia. He said the contract may not be renewed otherwise.

Starbucks, the largest coffee chain in Singapore, said it too will insist on a data confidentiality clause in all tenancy agreements when the leases for some of its 64 outlets, most of which are not in Far East malls, expire next year.

The chain’s Far East mall Central@Clarke Quay and West Coast Plaza.

‘It is a fair request when sales data is required by the landlord,’ said Mr Jeff Miller, Starbucks Coffee Singapore managing director.

‘Refusal of such a basic inclusion would make one question if the data is being used for some other purpose and make me look twice at the fundamental integrity of the agreement,’ he added.

Mr Daniel Tay, CEO of Bakerzin, wants the same clause; the daily takings of most of its 11 outlets are linked to the landlord’s central cash register. The cafe chain does not have any outlet in Far East malls.

Most mall managers operate a central POS to calculate rent, although some malls get monthly takings from tenants in an e-mail attachment and a handful charge a flat rate regardless of their tenants’ turnover.

Unlike Far East, other mall operators like CapitaLand Retail, AsiaMalls, Lend Lease and Frasers Centrepoint have no links to retail business that competes with that of their tenants.

Far East said it had assured tenants that their sensitive sales information would not be shared with its subsidiaries. On what some tenants are now seeking, Far East said that a confidentiality clause ‘can be expressly provided for, if required, for commercial reasons’.

As for trade exclusivity, ‘we have had such requests and have considered them based on their merits in relation to the mall’, it told The Sunday Times last Friday.

Singapore Retailers Association executive director Lau Chuen Wei felt that it is only fair that a confidentiality clause be worked into lease agreements.

Source : Straits Times - 21 June 2009

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