TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Dr Tony Tan, the Deputy Chairman of Singapore's giant sovereign wealth fund Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has reassured Singaporeans that it is in "good shape" following some concerns and disquiet on the ground over the losses it incurred in its overseas investments lately. Speaking to the Straits Times at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Dr Tan said GIC's move to cut its equity holdings before the 2008 crash and being buying stocks early last year is "paying off". "We did an assessment in 2007 when markets were over-exuberant. We de-risked the portfolio, selling part of our equities. 'We held it in cash throughout 2008 and in the early part of 2009, restored our equity values. At the present time,'we are in good shape and we are fairly liquid," he said without elaborating more on it. A Wall Street Journal article published in September last year reported that GIC may have suffered a loss around 59 billion Singapore dollars (US$41.6 billion) in the fiscal year ended March. (read article here) A proportion of the losses come from its investments in UBS and Citigroup, made at the height of the crisis. Dr Tan said GIC had confidence in the long-term prospects of the two banks and would continue to hold them. "We monitor them," he said, when asked about the huge losses reported by Citigroup in its latest quarterly statement. UBS plunged into more trouble with the U.S. government when the Swiss government backed off an agreement with the United States that required it to hand over the names of wealthy American clients of the Swiss bank UBS who were suspected of tax evasion this Wedesday. There is a likelihood that UBS will be indicted again by the U.S. Justice Department if no new agreements are reached. GIC was also hit by potential losses of more than SGD$1 billion dollars in another failed overseas investment, this time in an upscale apartment complex in New York – Stuyvesant Town. (read article here) The loss was initially not reported in the mainstream media till the Temasek Review published an article on it. Founded in 1981 to manage Singapore's budget surpluses accumulated over the years, it has been headed ever since by Singapore's strongman Lee Kuan Yew, who is by a lawyer by training. His daughter-in-law Ho Ching heads Singapore's other sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings. Both funds have come under intense public scrutiny and criticism in the last two years over their investment losses which amount to billions of dollars. Though Singapore is the second richest nation in Asia after Japan and its sovereign wealth funds can afford to lose billions of dollars overseas, Singapore citizens enjoy few social welfare benefits from their government. There is no opposition in Parliament to check on the all-powerful ruling party which continues to dominate and control every aspect of life in Singapore. Respected international NGO Human Rights Watch described Singapore as a "textbook example of a politically repressive state" while U.S.-based Freedom House reported that "Singaporeans are unable to change their government" under the present electoral system.  Read More →

Sim Lian Group says wholly-owned subsidiary Sim Lian Construction Co. has been awarded a contract worth $99.8 million by the Housing & Development Board for the building works at Queenstown Redevelopment Contract 30 with a total of 774 dwelling units. The contract is scheduled to start in March 2010 and be completed by February 2013. The contract is not expected to have a material effect on the net tangible assets and earnings per share of the Company for the current financial year ending 30 June 2010. Source: The Edge  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent According to preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the unemployment rate among residents, who include citizens and permanent residents, fell from 5 per cent last September to 3 per cent in December. The new jobs created led to a net employment gain of 43,000 among locals for the whole of 2009. The Straits Times put up a misleading headlines on its frontpage - "big gains in jobs, mostly for locals." However, as MOM did not give a breakdown of how many new jobs went to Singaporeans and PRs, there is a likelihood that PRs are the ones who benefit most from the "soaring" job market. A differentiation must be made between Singapore citizens and PRs who are ultimately foreigners who may return to their native countries eventually. Citizens are the ones who voted for the elected government of the day to take care of their interests. Jobs must go to them first and not PRs. Furthermore, MOM said nothing about the underemployment rate which includes workers on contract jobs and those who have given up looking for a job. MOM's continued reluctance to publish the exact figures for the unemployment rates of citizens and PRs is baffling as lumping them together under the same category of "residents" or "locals" serve little purpose at all other perhaps than to mask the real extent of unemployment among citizens. In other countries like the United States, foreigners and PRs are the first to be laid off in a recession. In Singapore, it appears that PRs are still "contributing" to Singapore's "resident" workforce. Even as PAP leaders are reassuring Singaporeans that the inflow of foreigners will be moderated, the liberal immigration policies are still in effect. Foreigners are still permitted to apply for a one year visit pass to seek employment in Singapore never mind the fact whether they are skilled or not. (read here) There is also a Landed Permanent Residence scheme which gives a grant period of 2 years for applicants not yet working in Singapore to find employment in the country (read here) For Hong Kongers, there is a special "approved-in-principle (AIP)" for Singapore PR which enables them to obtain Singapore PR without even stepping foot on Singapore! The above examples illustrate that the fact that Singaporeans are still competing with foreigners directly for limited jobs available in the labor market. The easy availability of foreigners also help to depress the wages of ordinary Singaporeans who found themselves at the mercy of employers. Though the state media has been churning out daily propaganda to paint a rosy picture in the labor market, anecdoctal evidence suggests otherwise. Singaporeans have to vote in more opposition MPs in Parliament to hold the Manpower Minister accountable. Only then will we be able to know the truth - the exact unemployment rate for citizens which is probably higher than the figures quoted for "residents".  Read More →