TR EMERITUS

If politics is the centre in a society, what is the centre of this big centre? As they say, whoever breaks it owns it... A china vase broken cannot be glued back. Political change is a risky proposition... In a disparate society with many forces, held together by an overpowering common glue, the disappearance or dissolution of this gel could mean the opening up of a pandora's box. A vacuum likely would develop and like any vacuum, it cannot exist in isolation. Other forces would displace it as in natural sciences or phenomenon. But in what form...? The centre of politics is arguably economics. At the end of the day, since time immemorial, human civilisation revolves around survival and production activities to sustain life. In the modern context, it is about the economics of a society. How it is organised to determine what to produce, how much and for whom. Modern capitalism by far is the best option though not without its many limitations and failures. To manage a complex modern metropolitan, financial hub and economic centre plugged in the international economy, it is a gargantuan task. Without meticulous, careful planning, a sound blueprint, thorough analysis, future road map, it is almost an insurmountable task to succeed. It is not a game. A lot would be at stake. It is more than life and death. As a centre plugged into the international system, it has consequences far beyond its shores. Foremost, people's livelihood would be on the line. Years of training, experience, cohesive teamwork, sound and forward looking management, prudence, courage and much more... are needed to be at the top. It is not just assuming political control of a country. Any responsible person would know many lives are at stake. Futures are at stake. It is not a game. What then is the best viable scenario of the local scene or political development? Ideally it could be a system of check and balance. The incumbent with the experience and the necessary knowledge to run the show and alternative voices keeping it on its toes. Sounds easier than done, isn't it? Assuming somebody has three children. How to tell them such that two support the incumbent and one support the alternative voices. Actual dynamics would be far more complicated. This unenviable task of ensuring such a possible ideal scenario falls squarely on the shoulders of the swing voters who comprises about one-third of the electorate. How it can be achieved remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the dynamics is such that staying still has become an almost impossible scenario. How to change, how much to change, how long it takes would be crucial factors determining the outcome of our society in the next 10 to 15 years or even much longer... At the moment, despite many grievances, it is still expected that swing voters are a rational lot and the support for alternative voices is unlikely to exceed one-third of the seats in an electoral contest. Meanwhile, due to pent up factors, sentiments and past policies ill effects surfacing simultaneously to create some form of perfect storm, it is time for the highly touted talented elites to pull their weights and do some heavy lifting... P S S * The author blogs at pro-sustainable-sg.blogspot.  Read More →

Country Garden, Kayson Yuen China developer and KPRJ plan to reclaim 5,000 acres for a man-made island project off Johor. (June 16, 2014)      The property slowdown in China and Hong Kong is not a deterrent for China’s property developer Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd. The company, together with Johor’s economic development arm, Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ), have planned for a development over 5,000 acres (2,023.43ha) of reclaimed land in a project spanning more than 30 years. The project, which will include a man-made island, will be near the second link in Johor and a study on the matter was done more than a year ago. In an interview with StarBiz, Country Garden’s regional president for Malaysia project Kayson Yuen said the China-based company had studied the mega project, known as “Forest City”, for more than a year before it decided to invest in it. “We decided in the investment because the land cost was reasonable. I cannot remember the exact price but we have committed towards the project,” he said. Yuen also stressed that the slowdown in China did not have any impact on their overseas ventures. “This is because we are able to collect a bigger deposit for our projects in China and this helps with cash flow,” said Yuen. In March this year, StarBiz reported that the Hong-Kong listed company was joining hands with KPRJ to build a massive man-made island near Pendas, Johor, for luxury homes. “This will be a massive mixed development and the investment and commitment shows our confidence in the Malaysia market,” he said, adding that it had hired local contractors for the reclamation works and engaged an Australian consultant who had reclamation experience at Sentosa Island, Singapore. The man-made island that had started works, however, raised eyebrows due to environmental concerns, among others. Country Garden intended to announce the project in March but held it back due to the incident of the missing flight MH370. Yuen conceded that the aviation mishap, which involved many passengers from mainland China, had affected sentiments of home buyers from that country but he was quick to acknowledge that the political rapport between China and Malaysia was strong and would help bring back relations to normalcy in time. “It is only a matter of time before the confidence level of Chinese buyers recovers. We are still very confident with Malaysia’s fundamentals,” he said, adding that the company had studied this new market for a long time before penetrating into the country. Malaysia is Country Garden’s maiden overseas venture. But it is no stranger, having made headlines with its massive project in Danga Bay, Johor, which is estimated to have a gross development value of RM18bil. In August 2013, Country Garden attracted attention when it announced the sale of 6,000 out of its 9,000 units of condominiums on its development in Danga Bay. It attracted attention because a project of such a scale had not been seen in Malaysia. It prompted allegations that the high take-up rate was due to huge discounts offered by Country Garden. There were reports that it even offered “buy-one-free-one” for its buyers from China. Yuen rubbished speculation that the company employed a “buy-one-free-one” approach to lure buyers. “People who made those claims do not have knowledge of the property market. There is no logic in it,” he said. Apart from Johor, Country Garden also has projects in Selangor. In the Klang Valley, it plans to launch the project in Serendah with its 55:45 joint-venture partner Malaysia Land Properties Sdn Bhd (Mayland) this year. The 67.58ha project has a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.5bil. Its other project in Selangor is known as Diamond City in Semenyih. The RM2bil project, which was launched officially over the weekend, received overwhelming response with some 60% of the offered units sold. Country Garden Properties (M) Sdn Bhd managing director Chai Keng Wai, who also represents Mayland, said he was confident that the remaining units would be fully taken up in “a few weeks’ time.” He said people had booked most of the units since the soft launch of the project last year. Prices for its link houses, bungalows and mansions range from RM378 psf to RM430 psf while built-up sizes start from 2,300 sq ft to 8,600 sq ft. The first phase of Diamond City sits on a 40ha tract and counts a clubhouse, a Spanish-style commercial street and an infinity pool as some of its facilities. Its selling points include its Spanish-inspired design as well as ready-built show village and amenities. Country Garden is one of the top 10 developers in China and has more than 20 years of experience in township development.   Source:  http://www.starproperty.my/index.php/articles/foreign-property-news/no-stopping-country-garden/    Read More →

[Editor's note: Even SWFs in Communist China are transparent about their losses] (18 Jun 2014)   China Investment Corporation, the world’s fourth-largest sovereign wealth fund, has been accused by the country’s top auditor of mismanagement, dereliction of duty and poor due diligence just seven years after its inception. The National Audit Office said CIC – an investor in big US financial institutions such as Blackstone and Morgan Stanley – had incurred unquantified losses on overseas investments because of this mismanagement. CIC, which has $650bn in assets under management, has made some $200bn in investments around the world since it was set up in 2007 to earn higher returns on the country’s burgeoning foreign exchange reserves. In Britain it has taken stakes in high-profile assets such as London’s Canary Wharf and Heathrow airport. The auditor did not specify the size of CIC’s losses or which overseas investments had problems. It also refused to elaborate on the scope of its investigation when contacted by the Financial Times. However the report found that between 2008 and 2013, CIC made 12 overseas investments that faced losses or potential losses because of “dereliction of duty, inadequate due diligence, a lack of post-investment management and other problems”. Some other investments suffered from irregularities in the hiring of external managers, the auditor found. One senior financial official familiar with the matter said the fund’s internal management was in a mess and many of its investments were likely to run into difficulties because of mismanagement. Using phrases customary in such reports, the auditor said it had passed evidence of suspected crimes and violations of Communist Party discipline at CIC to “relevant departments” for further investigation and action. This will not necessarily lead to an official inquiry, however. The auditor conducts numerous investigations each year and often finds legal and regulatory violations that are never mentioned again. The auditor on Wednesday also found that Bank of China and Agricultural Development Bank, a state lender tasked with supporting Beijing’s rural development policies, had issued billions of renminbi worth of “irregular” loans in recent years. The report is only supposed to cover the year 2012 and will not be seen as an indictment of the CIC’s current chairman, Ding Xuedong, who took over a year ago. However, it could prove embarrassing to Lou Jiwei, China’s reformist Finance Minister, who was the fund’s chairman from its inception until last March. Internal problems at the fund were the main reason the Communist Party found it so hard to replace Mr Lou when he was promoted to Finance Minister because most eligible senior officials feared future losses would tarnish their own careers, a person familiar with CIC’s inner workings said. CIC did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. The report gave more detail on problems discovered in CIC’s domestic operations. It scolded several Chinese financial institutions owned by the fund for concentrating too much on real estate investments in violation of government directives. It also said CIC’s main domestic subsidiary lost Rmb1.26bn ($202m) in potential investment gains in 2011 by selling its holding in a Chinese securities company for its cost price without conducting an asset appraisal as required. As well as investing a portion of the country’s $4tn foreign exchange reserves in higher-yielding offshore assets, CIC also holds majority stakes in most of the country’s largest financial institutions on behalf of the state. The auditor found CIC’s management of its own internal finances was “relatively weak” and some of its bookkeeping and account management did not comply with regulations. CIC also spent 10s of millions of RMB buying commercial medical insurance and covering personal income tax for its own employees. CIC reported an annual return of 10.6 per cent in 2012, following a 4.3 per cent loss in 2011. The fund has said it earned returns of more than 8 per cent last year and its cumulative annualised return since it was set up in 2007 is 5 per cent. Source:   http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9f5b10d2-f6eb-11e3-8ed6-00144feabdc0.html#axzz34xTQo2dd  Read More →