TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan who has come under fire of late  for failing to control the sky-rocketing HDB flat prices, now made a most amazing faux pas when he admitted that the government has a "role" to play in the property market. He was responding to criticisms from Real Estate Development Association (REDAS) Chief Simon Cheong that the government has interfered too much in the property market. "We try not to intervene but when we do, we do it only because we want the market to work better.....The Government wants to see a stable, healthy market, where prices are generally moving in tandem with the fundamentals of the economy," he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. However, he continues to insist that he will not interfere in the HDB resale market to bring the prices down. There are an increasing number of complaints from disgruntled Singaporeans over sky-rocketing HDB flat prices and COVs with some calling on the government to intervene. "It's not the intention for us to replace the market... it's like the HDB (resale) market, we don't set prices. We let the market set the prices, but we intervene to make sure the price is in line with fundamentals and there is no excessive demand from excessive speculation," Mr Mah explained. Mr Mah's latest public statement seems to contradict that made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong earlier. During a speech made at a gala dinner to celebrate HDB’s 50th anniversary, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong admitted that his government “does not have control over the prices of resale flats.”: “These resale prices are set by individual households who transact flats on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, and are affected by movements and sentiments in the wider economy, including the private property market. Hence, resale prices of HDB flats will fluctuate from year to year,” he claimed. [Source: Straits Times, 27 January 2010] How can the government have a role in the property market when it has no control or influence over the prices? Or is Mr Mah implying that the government only has a role in the private housing market and not the resale HDB market? Mr Mah also took issue with what was said by Mr Justin Chiu, executive director of Hong Kong's Cheung Kong (Holdings) that property "bubbles can be good as they fuel sales volumes and price rises." "When developers start talking and say bubbles are good for the market, I just wonder, why are they saying that?" he said. Yet, a property bubble has been building up in the public housing market and Mr Mah appears to be "caught offguard" by it again. In the same speech in January, Prime Minister Lee expressed his optimism that the prices of HDB flats will continue to rise for the "foreseeable" future: “Over the long term, the value of HDB flats depends on the strength of the Singapore economy. Provided Singapore continues to do well, our flats will maintain their value, and Singaporeans can enjoy an appreciating asset,” he said. The prices of resale HDB flats grow by 8.2 percent last year when Singapore was in the midst of a recession as demand fast outstrips the limited supply of new flats. Despite evidence showing otherwise, the government is adamant that HDB flats remain "affordable" in Singapore.     EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join the discussion about this article on our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to help us raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans.   Related articles: >> Taiwanese PR paid record $ 650,000 for 4-room resale flat >> Grace Fu: PRs are helpful to HDB flat owners selling their flats >> HDB launches “traveling exhibition” to trumpet its achievements in the heartlands >> PAP to upgrade 12,000 HDB households ahead of next election >> Mah Bow Tan: We do not want flat prices to go down >> Prices of resale flats to rise further as PR quota reached >> Taiwanese PR offers $50k COV for resale flat >> Mah Bow Tan: PRs have minimal impact on resale flat prices >> No empirical evidence to suggest that public housing is affordable in Singapore >> When will Singapore’s property bubble burst? >> Why HDB is unable to reveal break down costs of new flats now >> HDB to consider introducing rules to curb property speculation >> HDB blames Singaporeans for not selecting flats when given the chance >> Singaporeans worried about retirement after depleting CPF to pay for over-priced HDB flats >> Mah Bow Tan acknowledged that rising HDB flat prices has sparked “fresh concerns” >> PM Lee: Govt does not have control over prices of resale flats” >> COVs of resale flats shooting through the roof >> HDB resale price index hit record high in 2009 >> Singaporean wants PRs to live in rented flats instead of buying resale flats >> Singaporeans wants PRs to be banned from selling HDB flats at a profit >> Shanmugam: Singaporeans likely culprits for driving up HDB flat prices >> Mah Bow Tan: HDB flats remain affordable >> Means testing for PRs to buy resale flats >> Immigration and public housing: should the govt or people plan ahead? >> Grace Fu: hard to predict demand for housing >> Indonesian PR bought 4-room flat at $653,000 >> Mah Bow Tan asks home buyers to be realistic >> PAP MP blames young couples who cannot get a flat for not planning ahead >> Home affordability: HDB versus the public >> Demand vs supply: so many applicants, so few flats >> Number of applicants exceed number of flats >> HDB to increase supply of flats >> Mah: don’t compare with prices in the past >> ERA: 40 per cent of HDB flat buyers are PRs  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent According to a Sichuan newspaper, an unknown "big" Singapore bus company is currently mass recruiting prospective bus drivers from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, China. (read article here) It has so far recruited about 80 people between the ages of 23 and 42. They are offered annual salaries ranging between RMB90,000 and RMB120,000 (approximately $1,562 - $2,082 monthly taking S$1 = RMB4.80) The applicants must have a Chinese class "A" driver and three years of driving experience of public transport in China. Our correspondent based in China told us that a PRC bus driver earns between RMB2,000 - RMB4,000 depending on the provinces and cities they work in. On top of the attractive wages, they are also given free lodging, transport allowances and medical insurance coverage. PAP leaders have always claimed that foreigners are needed to take up jobs shunned by Singaporeans. Singapore bus companies should have few problems attracting Singaporeans to join them as bus captains if they offer such attractive terms as the above to them. Why are they mass recruiting PRC bus drivers instead? Do they have any special skills which Singaporeans lack? The driving direction is different in China - the steering wheel is located on the left-hand side of vehicles instead of the right in Singapore which means the traffic flows in opposite directions. Furthermore, it is much easier to obtain a China driving licence than a Singapore one. Corruption is rampant in China and often a few hundred dollars of "tea money" or "茶水费" will sufficient to help struggling candidates pass their driving test. Due to Singapore's liberal immigration policies and lax labor laws, foreigners are allowed to work in Singapore in any sector without any proper screening or controls. Foreigners now make up more than one third of Singapore's total labor force or 44 percent if PRs are included. For some strange reasons, PRs are lumped together with citizens as "local" workforce in all the official statistics used by the Ministry of Manpower though they are non-Singaporeans and therefore technically speaking, foreigners. Though there is a dependency ratio for foreign workers to be fulfilled, it is easy circumvented by getting earlier arrivals to apply for PRs. Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng revealed lately that two out of every three PR applicants are successful in Singapore, an astonishing high success rate for a developed nation. The bus company will probably "fast-tracked" the 80 new PRC drivers to take up Singapore PRs to free up more empty slots for them to employ more PRC drivers. This will not only keep the profit margins high but help the desperate PAP increase Singapore's population via immigration as well. At the end of the day, it is native Singaporeans who are getting a poor deal from their "elected" government. Non-Chinese Singaporeans may soon have to learn basic "putonghua" or "普通话" to communicate with these PRC bus drivers whose numbers are increasing in Singapore no thanks to the PAP's pro-foreigner policy.      Read More →

Chosun Ilbo, 27 March 2010 South Korean officials are not ruling out the possibility of a North Korean attack in the sinking of one of the South's naval vessels. About half the more than 100 people on board the ship were rescued, and search efforts are still under way for the remaining crew. An explosion damaged the ship in a historically tense disputed border area. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ordered an emergency meeting of senior security officials Friday night, hours after an apparent explosion caused a South Korean patrol boat to sink. Lee Gi-sik, with South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the military's primary focus was on saving those aboard. He says the South's ship was passing southwest of South Korea's Baeknyeong island when it began sinking due to damage on its bottom side. He says other vessels were mobilized and dozens of people were rescued from the distressed ship. Baeknyeong island is located in waters west of the Korean peninsula, very close to what is called the Northern Limit Line. The maritime border was designated by the United Nations at the signing of a 1953 armistice to halt fighting in the Korean War. North Korea has never accepted the border as valid, and the North and South have fought at least three separate naval clashes in the area in the past 11 years. South Korean officials are not yet pointing any fingers but say they are not ruling out the possibility that the vessel was the target of a North Korean torpedo attack. Lee says a South Korean naval vessel detected an unidentified object on its radar and fired several warning shots. He says he cannot confirm what the object was. North Korea warned this month it was bolstering its defenses in response to routine annual military drills South Korea conducts with the United States. - Chosun Ilbo  Read More →