Dr Mahathir: Malaysia's growth slower, but more balanced than Singapore

The Malaysian Insider, 30 Jan 2011
Tun Dr Mahathir admitted today that Malaysia’s growth was slower compared with Singapore’s, but claimed it was because Putrajaya made sure people from all races had a slice of the country’s economic pie.
Dr Mahathir said that in contrast, the island state did not take any steps to ensure that there was a “balance of wealth” between people of all races, leaving minority races such as the Malays trailing behind the Chinese in terms of wealth. Full story

Related:
Dr M: Malaysia's growth slower, but more balanced than Singapore - Malaysia Sun

Filipino Student Trainees Sent to Singapore Complain of Abuse

Bulatlat, 30 Jan 2011
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — More student trainees earlier deployed by the Pangasinan State University to train in hotels and restaurants in Singapore went back here recently complaining of poor working conditions in their training.
In an earlier interview, a 24-year-old trainee and graduate of PSU HRM said some students were assigned to work as caddies in a golf and country club when they should have been working in a hotel or a restaurant. Full story

Future scramble for rice supply

Saudi Gazette
Fresh demand for rice in two big Asian countries is sending a worrying signal the region’s main staple may join a surge in prices for other grains, worsening Asia’s spiralling food inflation.Asian rice traders say aggressive buying in heavily populated Indonesia and Bangladesh could spread, pushing up world rice prices even though bumper crops in Thailand and Vietnam should mean ample supplies.
This is only the start of the panic buying,” said Ker Chung Yang, commodities analyst at Singapore-based Phillip Futures, referring to Bangladesh’s recent tripling of its rice import target and Indonesia’s purchase this week of 820,000 tons of Thai rice, nearly five times the volume initially sought. “I expect we’ll have more countries coming in and buying grain.” Full story

Singapore foreign ministry issues advisory on traveling to Egyp

People's Daily Online, 30 Jan 2011
Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry on Saturday advised all Singaporeans to postpone non- essential travel to Egypt.
The advisory followed large scale protests in various parts of the country Full story

Singapore reports first swine flu death of 2011

Monsters and Critics, 29 Jan 2011
Singapore - A 77-year-old Singapore man has died from a lung infection related to the H1N1 virus, the first such case in the city- state in 2011, a media report said Saturday. The man died at a Singapore hospital on Wednesday after he had been warded a week earlier for fever as well as breathing difficulties ..... Full story

OPINION: Singapore Targets UK Companies Over Tax - Mark Kleinman

Sky News Blog, 28 Jan 2011
The Singaporean authorities have begun a wide-ranging charm offensive to encourage major British companies to relocate their headquarters amid concerns about the UK corporate and personal tax environment.
I have learned that officials from the city-state's Economic Development Board have made overtures to some of the best-known multinationals in the UK in recent months. The proposals include tailored packages focused on the relocation of both regional and global headquarters.
Among those likely to have been targeted is Standard Chartered, the Asia- and Africa-oriented bank, whose largest shareholder is the Singaporean government investment agency, Temasek Holdings. Full story

OPINION: 3 Reasons to Invest in Singapore - Chris Hunter

NuWire Investor, 28 Jan 2011
Singapore is looking like a great place to invest with a strong emerging economy and a prime location for trade and business. Singapore has three primary strengths encouraging investors to start paying attention: proximity to China, a diversified economy and a free trade philosophy. See the following article from International Living for more on this. Full story

Singapore Outlines Positive Business Expectations For Manufacturing Sector

Gov Monitor, 28 Jan 2011
The latest Survey of Business Expectations of the Manufacturing Sector shows that the business climate is expected to remain positive in the next six months.
The positive business sentiment is broad-based with all clusters including the transport engineering cluster projecting improved business conditions.
Employment prospects for the first quarter of 2011 are also expected to remain positive. Full story

OPINION: The myth of authoritarian growth - Dani Rodrik

Nepali Times, 28 Jan 2011
Democracies not only out-perform dictatorships when it comes to long-term economic growth, but also outdo them in several other important respects. They provide much greater economic stability, measured by the ups and downs of the business cycle. They are better at adjusting to external economic shocks (such as terms-of-trade declines or sudden stops in capital inflows). They generate more investment in human capital, health and education. And they produce more equitable societies.
Authoritarian regimes, by contrast, ultimately produce economies that are as fragile as their political systems. Their economic potency, when it exists, rests on the strength of individual leaders, or on favorable but temporary circumstances. They cannot aspire to continued economic innovation or to global economic leadership. Full story

GIC Says U.S. to Remain Focus of Investments as Growth Slows

Bloomberg, 28 Jan 2011
The U.S. will remain the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.’s biggest area for investments for years, even as emerging markets grow faster, Deputy Chairman Tony Tan said.
“There is a major transfer of wealth from the developed countries to the developing countries in Asia,” Tan said today in an interview at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “But it does not mean that for us in GIC, as an international investor, that we do not see opportunities, certainly in the U.S. but even in Europe, because prices have gone so low.” Full story

Curbs lifted on Romania diplomat in Singapore death case

MSN Philippines News, 28 Jan 2011
A Romanian diplomat charged with manslaughter following a hit-and-run car accident in Singapore can travel outside Bucharest, after a court lifted the restriction, his lawyer said Friday.
"The Bucharest court has accepted our request to allow Silviu Ionescu to travel outside of Bucharest," Cristian Ene told AFP. Full story

Singapore job vacancies surge to record high on economic rebound

Xinhua, 28 Jan 2011
SINGAPORE, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The number of job vacancies rose 36 percent over the year to 50,200 in September 2010, the highest number of job vacancies since comparable records began in March 2006, statistics released Friday by the Ministry of Manpower showed. The ministry attributed the high number of vacancies to the rapid and robust economic recovery. Full story

Related:
Singapore employers added jobs at fastest pace in 3 quarters - Malaysia Sun

Las Vegas Sands' Singapore casino CEO resigns

Reuters, 28 Jan 2011
Jan 28 (Reuters) - Tom Arasi, chief executive of Marina Bay Sands, the Singapore casino of U.S. group Las Vegas Sands (LVS.N), has resigned and will leave on Feb. 18, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Friday. Full story

Hit by fines, Singapore Airlines posts drop in net profit

Monsters and Critics, 28 Jan 2011
Singapore - Singapore Airlines (SIA) on Friday posted a drop in its quarterly net profit as provisions for fines imposed by regulators in Europe and South Korea as well as a settlement with US authorities over cargo price-fixing charges spoiled its results.
Including provisions of 199 million Singapore dollars (155.5 million US dollars), net profit for the three months through December reached 288.3 million Singapore dollars, down from 403.7 million Singapore dollars a year ago, the airline said. Full story

Related:
Antitrust fines dent Singapore Airlines Q3 net profit - TradingMarkets.com

Budget carrier Tiger Airways posts jump in quarterly profit

Monsters and Critics, 28 Jan 2011
Singapore - Singapore budget carrier Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd on Friday posted a jump in quarterly profit on the back of rising passenger volumes as well as higher average fares. Full story

Related:
S'pore Tiger Airways Q3 net profit rises 60 percent - Reuters

Radio DJ becomes Changi airport millionaire

DFNIonline.com, 28 Jan 2011
Changi Airport Group (CAG) today awarded a $1m cash prize to a former disc jockey with Singapore radio station Perfect 10 in the airport’s "Be a Changi Millionaire" grand draw.
Mr Rantung was presented his cheque by draw sponsor Asia Pacific Visa head of cross border Ross Jackson and CAG CEO Lee Seow Hiang. Full story

GIC: Hot-Money Inflows May Cause Overheating, Asset Bubbles If Not Well-Managed

Nasdaq
SINGAPORE -(Dow Jones)- Government of Singapore Investment Corp. Deputy Chairman Tony Tan said so-called hot-money inflows may cause economies to overheat and create asset bubbles if they aren't well managed, but he added that countries shouldn't impose capital controls that would hurt long-term capital investments. Full story

HDB resale prices rose 14.1% in 2010 in Singapore

Gowealthy.com, 28 Jan 2011
Prices of HDB resale flats rose by 2.5 per cent in the last three months of 2010, the lowest quarterly growth for the year.
This brings the full year's price increase to 14.1 per cent.
According to the latest housing data released by HDB, the total number of resale transactions fell to about 32,260 last year, a 13 per cent drop from 2009. Full story

Related:
Singapore Releases 4Q 2010 Public Housing Data - Gov Monitor

Singapore Q4 Residential Property Price Inflation Slows

RTTNews, 28 Jan 2011
(RTTNews) - Singapore's private residential property price inflation slowed slightly in the fourth quarter of 2010, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said in a report on Friday.
Property prices increased 2.7% sequentially in the fourth quarter, down from the 2.9% growth in the third quarter. For the whole of 2010, residential property price inflation surged to 17.6% from 1.8% in 2009. Full story

Singapore Gives Out S$9.2 Billion Loans To Help Local Companies Face Economic Crisis

Bernama.com, 28 Jan 2011
SINGAPORE, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- The Singapore government has given out loans worth S$9.2 billion to 14,000 local companies to help them cushion the impact of the global economic crisis over the last two years.
However, the government has decided to terminate some of the loan facilities effective Feb 1, due to an improved global economy, the city-state's Trade and Industry, and Finance ministries said Friday. Full story

Luxury car sales in Singapore hit new highs last year

People's Daily Online, 28 Jan 2011
Luxury and sports cars sales in Singapore hit new highs last year as people felt flush on a strong economic rebound and new models were launched.
However, overall car sales plunged to about 42,000 last year, less than half the annual average of the previous five years,,,,,, Full story

Singapore Government To Withdraw, Adjust Some Financial Assistance Schemes For Companies

AutomatedTrader.net, 28 Jan 2011
SINGAPORE -(Dow Jones)- The Singapore government said Friday that it is withdrawing and adjusting some of the financial assistance schemes for companies announced during the height of the financial crisis.
"With the global economy on firmer footing and global financial markets more stable, the credit situation has eased," the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a joint statement. Full story

Singapore Dec. Producer Prices Increase

RTTNews, 28 Jan 2011
(RTTNews) - Singapore's producer prices increased in December, after recording an annual decline in the previous month, data released by the Department of Singapore showed Friday. Producer prices increased 0.7% annually in December, following a 2% drop in November. Oil prices advanced 13.2%, while the prices of non-oil products dropped 3.3% year-on-year. Full story

OPINION: Singapore's post offices have diversified ... into everything - mrbrown

CNNGo.com, 28 Jan 2011
I always thought a post office was for stamps and snail mail, and at most, paying some bills. But no, it seems Singapore Post is now more than that.
I spied a display case of Nokia phones, one of which was an entry-level model with both touchscreen and keypad. I was reflecting on the merits of this model when I shook myself out of the gadget zone-out I frequently go into.
This is a post office, dammit! Why are they selling mobile phones too? Full story

Karate-Singapore national body expels clubs to prevent power struggle

Yahoo! Eurosport UK, 28 Jan 2011
Singapore karate's national association has expelled seven of its affiliated clubs for belonging to an organisation they believed were challenging their authority, local media reported on Friday.
A disciplinary committee from the Singapore Karate-Do Federation (SKF) found the clubs belonged to a karate union it suspected had sought to "usurp the position of the SKF as the controlling body,.... Full story

Singapore Import Prices Rise In December

RTTNews, 28 Jan 2011
(RTTNews) - Singapore import prices moved up 0.8% annually in December, reversing a 1.4% fall seen in November, the Department of Statistics said Friday.
From November, import prices rose 1.6% in December. This follows a 0.7% rise in November. The oil index went up 6.3%, following the 3.7% gain in the previous month, due mainly to higher prices of crude petroleum and fuel oil. Full story

US Industries Eyes Singapore As Investment Site

Bernama.com, 28 Jan 2011
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- Singapore, whose impressive growth rates have caught the attention of the global industry, is vying with other Asean member countries to garner a larger slice of the global pie.
Singaporean officials and diplomats based in the United States are seeing a surge in the number of enquiries received from the US industry. Full story

Review: "Model Citizens"

Malay Mail Online, 27 Jan 2011
THE word that springs to mind after watching the play Model Citizens at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac) is 'realistic'.
The thought provoking production by The Necessary Stage from Singa­pore is realistic in many ways - in their narrative, props, emotions and expressions.
Model Citizens revolves around three women who are linked through an unexpected incident. A man stabs a Member of Parliament (MP) at a Meet-the-People session. Full story

Crime cases in Singapore lesser by 200 cases last year

Sin Chew Jit Poh, 27 Jan 2011
SINGAPORE, Thursday 27 January 2011 (Bernama) -– Crime cases in Singapore fell by 0.6% or lesser by 200 cases last year, from the 33,186 cases reported in 2009.
The crime cases that took significant dip were unlicensed money-lending and harassment, petty theft, crimes against elderly persons and statutory rape, the police said in their 2010 annual crime brief. Full story

Bank of Moscow places SGD bond

Reuters, 27 Jan 2011
Jan 27 (Reuters) - Russia's Bank of Moscow (MMBM.MM) placed a two-year bond denominated in Singapore dollars and worth 150 million ($117.4 million), IFR reported on Thursday.
The bank, which has mandated ING and UBS as joint bookrunners, set the yield at 4.25 percent, down from early expected yield of around 4.375 percent, it added. Full story

Singapore Asphalt Tanker Sinks Off Pulau Bintan

Bernama.com, 27 Jan 2011
SINGAPORE, Jan 27 (Bernama) -- A Singapore-registered asphalt tanker was reported to have sunk off the east coast of Pulau Bintan, Indonesia Thursday afternoon.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said Thursday it was informed that the ship "AB9" was listing about 3.10pm, and subsequently sank about 5pm. Full story

Related:
Singapore asphalt tanker sinks off Indonesian island, all crew rescued - Xinhua

Singapore Releases 2010 Annual Road Traffic Situation Report

Gov Monitor, 27 Jan 2011
2010 saw an improvement in the fatal and injury accident rate per 10,000 vehicle population compared to 2009.
The fatal accident rate is the second lowest in the past 5 years, just behind that of 2009.
In 2010, the fatal and injury accident rate per 10,000 vehicle population saw an improvement from 93.41 in 2009 to 91.93 in 2010. Full story

Tiger Airways set to pounce on rivals

AdNews, 28 Jan 2011
Budget airline Tiger Airways is hunting for a creative agency to up the ante in its tussle with Virgin Blue and Qantas-owned Jetstar.
The airline, which is partially owned by Singapore Airlines, is meeting agencies to appoint its first retained creative agency of record before the start of Tiger's financial year in April. Full story

Singapore Police Bust Syndicate Offering Sex Service Online

Bernama.com, 27 Jan 2011
SINGAPORE, Jan 27 (Bernama) -- Singapore police have busted a local syndicate offering sex services online, following the arrest of five people at a raid in a hotel in Lavender Street on Monday.
The suspects comprising two men and three women, and aged between 19 and 29, are believed to be members of the syndicate. Full story

Singapore's Young Lions get name change, S$1 million

Yahoo! Eurosport, 27 Jan 2011
Singapore's plan to inject both cash and professionalism into its domestic soccer league took a fresh twist on Thursday when the city-state sold the naming rights of its own U-23 national team.
In what was described as a major milestone for 'Project Tribe', officials announced the team would, with immediate effect, be known as the Courts Young Lions to reflect a sponsorship deal with electronics retailer Courts. Full story

Related:
Courts Young Lions ready to thrill - ESPNStar.com

Yale still waiting on NUS budget

Yale Daily News, 27 Jan 2011
Despite original projections that it would be released as early as Dec. 2010, Yale and the Singaporean government have yet to settle on a budget for the proposed Yale-National University of Singapore liberal arts college.
University President Richard Levin said in November that administrators at both Yale and NUS were nearing a consensus on the project budget, which was originally intended to come out in Dec. 2010 or Jan. 2011. But with only days left in January and many Yale administrators at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the announcement seems unlikely to come this month. Full story

No significant fall in residential prices in Singapore despite recent cooling measures

Property-report.com, 27 Jan 2011
The recent cooling measures announced by the Singapore government will bring down sales volume, but not to the extent of causing a significant fall in prices, according to a report by DTZ Research.
Margaret Thean, DTZ’s Executive Director (Residential), said: “Landed homes, small apartments and high-end apartments are envisaged to be less affected by the measures. Small units with their low price quantum will continue to attract investors with spare cash or singles wanting their own units. The four-year seller’s stamp duty will have little impact on landed homes as most purchase them for long-term owner-occupation. High-end apartments will continue to see foreign interest.” Full story

Related:
Singapore final Q4 private home prices +2.7 pct vs Q3 - Reuters
Property price increases slowing in Singapore - PropertyWire

OPINION: LKY’s concerns about Islam unjustified - Imran Price

Malaysia Star, 27 Jan 2011
LKY’s concerns about Islam are unjustified – there is nothing in Islamic theory or practice that would prevent the Muslims of Singapore from being integrated into the mainstream of society. It is a great shame that he is not championing the richness of Singapore’s racial and religious diversity.
His comments about Singapore’s neighbours being on “a drive to put us down because we are interlopers”, will do nothing to help improve relations and will do harm to Singapore’s much improved relationship with Malaysia. Full story

Singapore forces popular site to register as political group

CPJ.org, 26 Jan 2011
"Discussing politics does not make a publication a political organization," said Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia program coordinator. "Forcing The Online Citizen to register as a political association distorts its role and threatens its ability to cover politics. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is clearly trying to tighten control of media outlets before calling elections." Full story

Bali knocks Singapore off Asian travel top spot - Wotif.com

The Independent, 26 Jan 2011
Travel booking site Wotif.com has revealed that Bali was the most popular Asian destination for its customers last year.
The Indonesian island paradise saw more bookings than any other Asian destination, knocking Singapore off the top spot, which it has held for three years.
In fact, Singapore fell two places to become the third most-booked destination - Hong Kong was in second spot, while the Thai tourism hotspots of Bangkok and Phuket were in fourth and fifth place respectively. Full story

OPINION: Singapore – 'You drop it, you break it, its finished' - John Elkington

Guardian.co.uk, 26 Jan 2011
Dismissed as "Disneyland with the death penalty" and as "an antiseptic island peopled by a passive citizenry and governed by paranoia", Singapore demonstrates the power of triple bottom line strategy at the country level: economic competitiveness, social inclusion (up to a point) and a cleaner environment for all. It remains to be seen whether the People's Action party (PAP), that has held power for over 50 years, survives Lee's eventual death (he is still a cabinet member), but he aims to ensure his successors – perhaps seduced by consumerist lifestyles – do not forget how fragile the city-state's success is. Full story

OPINION: Singapore's growth not so rosy for common folk - Ayako Hirayama

Daily Yomiuri Online, 26 Jan 2011
"I would agree that Singapore is probably one of the best places in Asia to live, work and play, but that is only true for the rich and the financially sound," said Xu, who is also known by the name Kennard. "Ask the common folks who are trying to make ends meet, I wonder if they even think there is room in Singapore for 'play.'" Full story

OPINION: Remake S’pore into 1st-class rights defender - Think Centre

Aliran.com, 26 Jan 2011
Human rights and democracy are interlinked and interdependent features of any caring and sharing society. A human rights-based democratic culture and movement will cultivate and enable an environment for appreciation, promotion and protection of basic human rights prescribed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Such human development is critical to the fostering of a truly caring and sharing community in Singapore society, but also to the formation of a bedrock for a people-centred Asean. Full story

Singapore Inflation To Cool In Second Half: MAS

RTTNews, 26 Jan 2011
Inflation in Singapore may moderate significantly in the second half of this year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said Wednesday.
Responding to queries regarding elevated inflation levels, a MAS spokesperson said that the moderation will be preceded by a spike in inflation levels in the next few months. Full story

Related:
Singapore Predicts Inflation To Moderate In 2Q 2011 - Gov Monitor

Free man hours worth $700,000 put in by Red Cross

TopNews Arab Emirates, 26 Jan 2011
A study that was released stated that last year free man hours worth $700,000 were put in by Red Cross volunteers in Singapore. The study was released by the humanitarian organization.
There are about 7,000 volunteers that are working here and they all contributed about $100 and this would have been worth something if they got money for their work. Full story

Singapore Team from A*STAR Emerge Finalists in World Technology Summit and Awards 2010

PR.com, 26 Jan 2011
Singapore, Singapore, January 26, 2011 --(PR.com)-- A team of researchers from A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), creators of the highly successful Dance!3D system has received more accolades again. The team was awarded at the World Technology Summit and Awards 2010 in New York. As such, they were voted as one of six award finalists among the highly selected 23 nominees under the Entertainment category. Full story

Singapore, U.S., Switzerland to jointly develop 3D real-time teleconference system

TMCnet.com, 26 Jan 2011
SINGAPORE, Jan 26, 2011 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Three universities in Singapore, the United States and Switzerland announced a joint research center on Wednesday to develop an advanced teleconference system that brings together people from distant places through real-time three-dimension interaction.
The research center, known as BeingThere Center, will be an 18 million U.S. dollar investment by Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zuich and the United States' University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as the Media Development Authority of Singapore. Full story

India, Singapore eye China in iron ore futures race

Reuters India, 26 Jan 2011
In a tight race to launch the world's first iron ore futures contract, India and Singapore could struggle to lure top consumer China because of Beijing's rigid overseas investment rules and India's recent policy moves.
Exchanges in both Singapore and India want to cash in on the iron ore market, second in size only to crude oil, at a time when spot prices of the steelmaking ingredient are nearing record levels around $200 a tonne. Full story

Related:
India, Singapore eye China in iron ore futures race - IBN Live News
Singapore, India eye China in iron ore futures race - The Globe and Mail

Singapore loansharks hiring foreign thugs

AFP
SINGAPORE — Illegal money lending syndicates in Singapore are hiring more foreign thugs, most of them from Taiwan and Vietnam, to harass delinquent borrowers into paying up, police said Wednesday.
These loansharks have resorted to recruiting foreign "runners" in the hope that they can avoid detection and arrest by the authorities because they enter on short-term social visit passes and have no fixed addresses. Full story

Related:
Singapore loan sharks recruit foreign muscle - Monsters and Critics

Singapore December Industrial Output Growth Eases Sharply

RTTNews, 26 Jan 2011
(RTTNews) - Singapore industrial production grew only 9% on an annual comparison in December, the Economic Development Board said Wednesday. In November, production grew by a revised 40.5%. Economists were expecting the annual increase to ease to 16.8%. Full story

Related:
Singapore's manufacturing output rises 9 percent in December 2010 - The China Post
Singapore Manufacturing Output Up 9% For 2010 - Gov Monitor

Singapore MediaCorp rolling out interactive TV service

CNET Asia, 26 Jan 2011
Singapore national broadcaster MediaCorp will be rolling out its Web-based interactive TV in the second half of 2011. Also know as Over-The-Top (OTT) service in the media industry, it offers free news, radio and apps such as Facebook, as well as premium content for a fee. The latter includes live TV with behind-the-scene footage and synopses plus video-on-demand content. Full story