tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85571928822051374652008-07-04T17:54:06.718+10:00InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-73178707089883387952008-06-27T00:48:00.004+10:002008-06-27T02:53:26.145+10:00

On Recent Events I have come to know, through very reliable sources, of an incident that has greatly enhanced my confidence in Temasek as being independent of government influence. This incident has greatly influenced my perceptions of Temasek and has deepened my understanding of the regulatory problems that Temasek is facing in Indonesia and Thailand. Not too long ago, the top officials of a

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-81952449512880789822008-06-09T12:50:00.002+10:002008-06-09T15:03:12.693+10:00

In the latest news surrounding Temasek – related investments in Telecom companies, ST Telemedia has divested its entire stake in PT Indosat to Qatar Telecom. Business Times - 09 Jun 2008 STT sells Indosat stake, giving Qatar firm a boost ST Telemedia divesting its entire stake in Indonesian mobile operator (DUBAI/SINGAPORE) Qatar Telecom (Qtel) is poised to be a major player in the Indonesian

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-10081582762288439202008-06-07T23:58:00.007+10:002008-06-08T00:27:46.510+10:00

As a follow up to a post I made some time back about Lee Kuan Yew's comments on oil, here are a few articles recording the historic highs in oil prices reached earlier this week: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9c732bb8-33c2-11dd-869b-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1 http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/oil-up-almost-11-mark/story.aspx?guid=%7BB3A39E99-D68C-4872-AD8F-752CF3735888%7D http://

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-46615983747961839382008-05-13T20:53:00.008+10:002008-05-13T21:26:36.334+10:00

(Z74 = SingTel, CC3 = Starhub, B2F = M1) SingTel Singapore Telecommunications Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in fixed, mobile and data communications, Internet, IT and consultancy, and satellite. Wireline services include cable-based and satellite-based fixed telecommunications network services, such as domestic and IDD services, leased lines, data

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-15498918786278279002008-05-10T14:06:00.008+10:002008-05-10T19:43:30.138+10:00

Two months ago, Lee Kuan Yew, Minister Mentor of Singapore and Chairman of GIC, made the following statements about oil prices, as reported by the Straits Times: Oil prices 'unlikely to rise further' March 8, 2008 (Straits Times) OIL prices are not likely to go higher, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday. As crude oil prices hit US$105 (S$145) per barrel, MM Lee believes it is not

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-7388545733069118032008-05-06T01:21:00.007+10:002008-05-06T20:15:41.618+10:00

Some time last week, Lee Kuan Yew made a few comments about GIC's investments in the big banks, and also about Warren Buffett. He said in a Bloomberg interview: Singapore's GIC May Seek More Bank Assets, Lee Says By Haslinda Amin and Linus Chua April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Government of Singapore Investment Corp. may add more bank assets to its $18 billion of investments in UBS AG and Citigroup Inc.

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-44857997309572488802008-05-03T15:27:00.008+10:002008-05-06T15:14:49.393+10:00

As of the writing of this post, it has been no less than 65 days since Mas Selamat made his escape from the Whitney road detention center (WRDC). Most of the attention and writings in the blogosphere and the press to date surround the question of whether DPM Wong Kan Seng should resign from his post. Especially taking center stage has been the manner of the government's accountability and the

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-8213692304375957382008-04-30T15:36:00.017+10:002008-05-03T10:03:26.728+10:00

GIC a few months ago took significant stakes in global banking giants UBS and Citigroup. The share prices of these companies have since taken a tumble due to the impact of the credit crisis, but according to GIC, that's no worry, since GIC has taken these investments with a 'long term view.' In addition to GIC's existing investments in those banks, Lee Kuan Yew, Chairman of GIC and Minister

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-33116823168875523052008-04-29T01:12:00.008+10:002008-04-29T01:43:59.804+10:00

Singapore's Next-Gen NBN OpCo RFP was released earlier this month. The race is much more open for the OpCo than the NetCo because of the lower barriers to entry and lower capital investments involved. However, despite this, I think that the only bid that truly makes sense for the NGNBN OpCo is the City Telecom - M1 consortium. 1. The operational separation is extremely onerous for the wireline

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-76051864467704879302008-04-29T00:47:00.007+10:002008-04-29T01:48:59.871+10:00

At last, someone with some knowledge about the Pay TV market says something wise about it in the Singapore newspapers. This time, TODAY carried an interview with M1 CEO Neil Montefiore (unlike My Paper which contained a trashy column by the bungling Lee Sze Yong): Neil makes the following astute observation: “I’m not in favour of bidding for content because in the end, it costs the consumer more

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-86847670377259605092008-04-23T11:13:00.008+10:002008-04-24T15:08:30.567+10:00

I’m sure we’ve all been reading about the report of the COI and the parliamentary session on the Mas Selamat issue. So far, the latest news is that PM Lee has declared that DPM Wong is “not to blame” for the incident. Singapore PM says top home ministry officials not responsible for terror escape The Associated Press Tuesday, April 22, 2008 SINGAPORE: Singapore's prime minister Tuesday voiced

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-15944357548804253992008-04-14T03:26:00.010+10:002008-04-14T17:17:11.183+10:00

The following article appeared in the Straits Times 3 days ago: April 11, 2008 S'pore drops to 5th place in tech-saviness ranking By Alfred Siew , Tan Weizhen FROM being the world's most tech-savvy nation, Singapore has dropped to 5th place. It fell two notches on the Networked Readiness index, an annual ranking released on Wednesday by the World Economic Forum. The index, which measures the

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-67983733696910308062008-04-11T11:15:00.007+10:002008-04-11T13:03:44.810+10:00

This post highlights some key statistics of Next-Gen Broadband availability around the world, and benchmarks the Singapore's broadband pricing (SingTel, StarHub) against comparables abroad. Pricing As the following chart shows (click for full images), the most affordable 100Mbps plans are available in Korea, Japan and Sweden. StarHub's MaxOnline 100Mbps plan is by far the most expensive 100Mbps

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-56602044187756460032008-04-10T15:50:00.004+10:002008-04-10T17:53:46.366+10:00

CIMB Operational Separation requirements could significantly dilute the attractiveness of the OpCo to the incumbents.Operational Separation significantly restricts their flexibility in the allocation of resources and human talent across the OpCo & RSPs There is “little incentive for bidders to offer sharply lower ICO prices to what incumbents are charging.” Greenfield entrant into the OpCo space

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-10997938787486686302008-04-08T11:41:00.010+10:002008-04-14T10:35:04.917+10:00

The IDA yesterday released the RFP for the NGNBN OpCo (see here for more info about the NGNBN). One of the key features of the RFP is that the NGNBN OpCo is to be "Operationally Separated" from other entities. In comparison, it was earlier announced that the NetCo was to be "structurally separated." The following compares the two types of separation (click for full images). The following are the

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-91708402732141842502008-04-04T19:01:00.010+11:002008-04-08T11:37:00.950+10:00

The purpose of this post is just to archive a few articles (click for full images) that have been in the press (specifically TODAY), regarding Temasek and the SWF issue. The first was an editorial (2 Apr 08) by Conrad Raj, Editor-at-large of Today, on the semantics of the SWF. I would like give Conrad a pat on the back for being one of the few journalists in Singapore to have the courage to

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-8344319834122680822008-04-02T04:17:00.005+11:002008-04-02T12:22:50.016+11:00

[I just sent this letter to ST Forum. It is about an issue I blogged about earlier, see for background information. If this letter doesn't get published, at least a few people who care to read my blog will get to see it]I am disturbed by recent events (“Disclosure Deal,” ST March 22 and “Guidelines for wealth funds apply to Temasek, says ministry,” ST April 01) that suggest a lack of coordination

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-38744003270282169642008-04-02T02:22:00.004+11:002008-04-02T15:00:25.243+11:00

Just one and a half weeks ago (March 22, 2008), it was reported in the news that Temasek Holdings was saying that it was not a sovereign wealth fund. TEMASEK Holdings said that it is not affected by an agreement by Singapore, Abu Dhabi and the United States on principles to increase the transparency of sovereign wealth funds. 'Temasek is not a sovereign wealth fund,' its spokesman Mark Lee said

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-49231681331741459982008-04-01T21:48:00.010+11:002008-04-02T04:35:14.835+11:00

Back on 10th December 2007, the following was reported on Channel News Asia regarding GIC's investment in UBS. The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) is injecting 11 million Swiss francs, or nearly US$10 billion, into the troubled Swiss banking giant UBS. This will give GIC an almost 9 percent stake in UBS. The deal comes as UBS announced that it was making further multi-billion

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-46347641551508279172008-03-26T11:55:00.016+11:002008-03-28T19:50:45.675+11:00

I made the decision a while ago not to read much of My Paper after I had discovered that it has generally trashy sensationalistic stuff in it - TODAY is better. However, unlike other days where I don't even think to read the paper, this morning I made the unfortunate decision to actually pick it up on my way to work. Lo and behold, I was confronted by some guy named Lee Sze Yong with the

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-41344536017131491272008-03-24T14:06:00.020+11:002008-04-09T20:47:31.137+10:00

A. Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure The Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (Next Gen NII) is Singapore’s new digital super-highway for super-connectivity. It will entrench Singapore’s Infocomm hub status and open the doors to new business and social growth for the country. Next Gen NII comprises complementary wired and wireless networks to ensure Singaporeans enjoy

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-10252385782501906772008-03-21T18:02:00.010+11:002008-03-25T01:56:44.021+11:00

It has recently been reported that SingTel has won the rights to broadcast the UEFA champions league ("SingTel's UEFA coup a boon for fans?") on its new payTV offering, Mio TV, competing the programming rights away from ESPN Star Sports which broadcasts on Starhub's Cable TV. This seems like good news to consumers - the prospect of increased competition might cause pay TV prices to drop. Indeed,

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-53962382915588412442008-01-22T21:20:00.000+11:002008-01-22T21:53:23.763+11:00

Swiber Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, offers integrated offshore engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commission (EPCIC) services to oil and gas companies. Its services include launching and/or installation of jackets in an offshore production platform at offshore production sites; engineering design and laying of offshore pipelines; Engineering design and

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-76347027399808955152007-12-21T13:18:00.000+11:002007-12-21T13:37:01.907+11:00

Singapore adopts an open immigration policy with a strong belief in attracting “foreign talent” to drive the country's economic growth. As shown below, this has contributed to a consistent growth in the number of non-residents in Singapore since 2003, rising from 748 million to about 1,005 million in 2007, for an annual growth rate of about 7.7%. The % of the Singapore Population who are

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-51159484225546884092007-10-26T07:09:00.000+10:002007-10-26T07:12:28.816+10:00

World Economic Forum Davos: The Globalization of Private Equity Berkeley China Initiative: Private Equity in China

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com