tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85571928822051374652012-01-04T20:08:34.081+08:00Economics & Finance from a Singaporean PerspectiveInSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.comBlogger2141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-77245870616912708722011-09-04T22:37:00.004+08:002011-09-04T22:40:54.627+08:00

Something that particularly piqued my interest today was the profound Wikileaks revelations about the Island Power saga, and Singapore's corporate sector in general. Island Power is an 800MW independent power producer (IPP) gas-fired power plant in Singapore that recently (mid 2011) achieved financial close and commencement of construction. It competes with the three large Gencos, Senoko Power,

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-17455035484715445542011-09-04T18:40:00.003+08:002011-09-04T22:42:32.502+08:00

Following in the footsteps of the debt master Professor Steve Keen, I am starting an amateur analysis of Singapore's debt levels and debt trends. The first chart for analysis is a plot of Singapore's consumer housing debt - as extended by banks (data from MAS) vs Singapore's GDP (singstat). I am able to get only four data points from singstat for GDP (if anybody knows how i can get a more

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-9568959042882580082010-12-21T01:00:00.000+08:002010-12-21T01:00:33.820+08:00

Keppel Integrated Engineering Ltd (KIE), the wholly-owned environmental engineering arm of Keppel Corporation Limited, has appointed BG (NS) Tay Lim Heng (郑林兴) as its Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 January 2011. Prior to joining KIE in June this year (barely 6 months ago), Tay had absolutely zero experience in the field of environmental engineering, which includes Waste-to-Energy (

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-4152180198806603242010-10-19T22:21:00.003+08:002010-10-20T14:51:25.856+08:00

Singapore has been touted around the world as an economic miracle. Lee Kuan Yew, the CEO and Chief Marketing Officer of the country, has been held up high as a model statesman of the island state and Asian Economic Tiger. The PAP government likes to boast about how Chinese officials come to Singapore to learn from the ruling party about how to run a nation. Lee Kuan Yew was not afraid to boast

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-3478453820904532442010-09-07T14:24:00.001+08:002010-09-07T21:54:42.960+08:00

The following short video is an animation of Dan Pink's talk on motivation and what drives people. It is based on the discoveries of Behavioural Economists and is key to this post so please take a moment to watch it. It is fantastic to say the least. The key discovery by the Behavioural Economists is that: As long as a task involves only mechanical skill, monetary incentives correlate with

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-73714560509399703962010-08-31T13:17:00.005+08:002010-09-01T10:13:04.282+08:00

There's a huge hulabaloo on the internet about PM Lee's national day rally speech and the measures he has announced and why they are crappy and inadequate. I agree generally that it was quite a crappy speech and some of the measures announced were silly and reveal that even right now with all the clanging on the internet and the growing resentment on the ground, the PAP still has no clue. But

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-48690745302886982532010-08-13T15:43:00.008+08:002010-08-15T16:55:14.032+08:00

It has been widely reported that the original $104m budget for the YOG ballooned to a massive $387m. These are the direct financial costs of the YOG. However, the following are a few hidden costs of the YOG that, if we were to estimate and put a monetary value on them, could significantly blow up the total cost of the YOG to Singapore Society as a whole. Firstly, if we were to calculate and add

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-57866041663149003842010-08-12T16:42:00.004+08:002010-08-13T07:44:43.830+08:00

I could barely believe my eyes when I saw this news report on Channelnewsasia: SMRT to add over 300 more train trips for YOG opening, closing ceremonies Posted: 12 August 2010 1315 hrs SINGAPORE: SMRT says it will add over 300 more train trips on August 14 and 26 - the opening and closing ceremonies of the Youth Olympic Games - to bring spectators and participants home after the events. For

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-70045431838054834852010-08-12T14:40:00.007+08:002010-08-12T21:42:44.783+08:00

The following news story was in the Straits Times earlier this year: Jun 15, 2010 S'pore to ratify ILO Convention By Lee Jia Xin SINGAPORE will ratify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention on Tripartite Consultation. This announcement was made by Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong at the ILO in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday. Convention 144 aims to establish national

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-37427779000712280702010-08-11T13:04:00.004+08:002010-08-12T13:57:01.677+08:00

When the news first broke that a stripper from Sydney would be choreographing the opening pole dancing act of the Youth Olympic Games, there was a major uproar from the online community. Some slammed the inappropriateness of pole dancing for a global youth sporting event, because of its association with sleazy strip clubs. Meanwhile, more open-minded commentators noted that pole dancing was a

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-52299876877121483402010-08-10T18:28:00.004+08:002010-08-11T21:56:49.873+08:00

I decided to delve into an analysis of some of Singapore's Economic statistics today. I did a bit of sleuthing around and some analysis of our GDP data, and what follows below is the results of my analysis. All the data below is publicly available from Singstat. (all charts clickable for full version) The chart above shows the nominal GDP breakdown from 1999-2009. From the chart we can see that

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-50875190454040342642010-08-06T18:53:00.010+08:002010-08-15T09:42:02.729+08:00

TOC has recently run a piece on Aug 5 on Singapore's foreign worker policy "MOM policy change creating problems for employers". In the piece, TOC features an interview of a business owner, Mr Ng, who describes how he is facing problems renewing the work permits for 2 of his PRC workers. The MOM recently shifted its policy stance to tighten its foreign worker quota. “With the pick-up [in the

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-71071938102008746322010-08-06T16:44:00.003+08:002010-08-06T17:15:22.085+08:00

Yesterday, it was reported that the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) had slapped a $230m capital charge on DBS as a 'penalty' for the massive systems failure that occurred last month and that affected more than 1,000 DBS and POSB automated teller machines, Internet and mobile banking services, as well as Nets and credit card transactions. The MAS required DBS to set aside S$230 million

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-12105317102073830882010-08-05T16:34:00.002+08:002010-08-05T16:55:17.808+08:00

This was perhaps the best piece I found during my tenure at IS. Kitana was a prolific writer when she burst onto the blogging scene and wrote many fantastic pieces. Unfortunately, she has deleted her blog completely, and the following piece is pretty much all of her writing that is left. Kitana, despite the contents of this piece below, I hope you are still in Singapore and that you will start

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-90856523859767471312010-08-04T15:37:00.002+08:002010-08-04T15:41:08.945+08:00

This piece was written by Solitaire Joker back in 2006. He has since made his blog private and inaccessible to the public. But this is a piece I found really meaningful back then, and is still very meaningful today. ----------------- National Identity, by Solitaire Joker Today, the green and secure island of shining domes, skyscrapers, and machine-like efficiency that we call Singapore is the

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-62806298371735223492010-08-04T14:32:00.001+08:002010-08-04T14:38:48.545+08:00

In Economics, a Monopoly exists when a specific individual or an enterprise has sole control over the supply of a particular product or service, and hence is able to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it. The concept of Monopoly is typically applied to corporations and businesses, and one example of corporate monopoly in Singapore is SMRT, which

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-34987301627933101042010-08-04T00:14:00.001+08:002010-08-04T15:41:41.571+08:00

I used to run a blog several years back, called "The Intelligent Singaporean" Back then, the Singaporean political blogosphere (plogosphere) was small, young and fledgling, and there were only a few voices out in the internet who dared to write and criticise the government. Most were anonymous - including Mr Wang (who actually helped me kickstart IS). Only a couple used their real names to write,

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-73702156181922536802010-08-02T22:24:00.013+08:002010-08-03T13:27:37.344+08:00

'When times are good, we work hard together to build up ... social capital, by being one of the most pro-worker nations in the world' - Minister Lim Swee Say, National Day Message 2010 Not content with leading his storm troopers and clowning about in his Darth Zorro suit to the entertainment of Singapore's nurses and the ire of Singaporean netizens, the NTUC Secretary General has now set his

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-15979308768037094472010-07-30T04:26:00.020+08:002010-08-15T09:53:53.192+08:00

“We are going to have an intellectual class, about maybe three times as big as what you have now and that will give us the dynamism, the powerful engine to carry us forward faster.”  - Lee Kuan Yew, 28th July, 2010Just take a look at Singapore's recent history to see what Lee Kuan Yew's "Intellectual Class" has delivered. Led by none other than his own son, PM Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's "

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-25166651667923055672010-07-29T00:29:00.006+08:002010-07-29T05:02:35.788+08:00

One of the hot topics circling in the global financial news and blogosphere is the potential overheating of the Chinese economy and property market bubble. Home prices in Beijing, for example, have risen to 22 times income levels, a new high that exacerbates housing affordability problems and that raises serious questions about the sustainability of housing prices on the basis of fundamental

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-15593142111343090272010-07-28T17:47:00.012+08:002010-07-29T03:24:53.320+08:00

Former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has recently written a piece titled "The Great Decoupling of Corporate Profits from Jobs" - asserting that the US is entering into a jobless recovery which will see profits being created but not jobs. There are several problems with Reich's analysis. In his blog post, Reich is hypersensationalising America's structural weakness in manufacturing, and

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-65288942749587112792010-07-26T14:20:00.011+08:002010-07-27T11:36:47.020+08:00

I simply do not understand how Mr Mah can make some of the statements he made that have been reported in the press today. Dufus Statement No. 1: "If you're a first-time buyer, there's more than enough flats for you." Mr Mah claims that HDB is rolling out thousands of BTO flats this year. But how on earth can there be 'more than enough flats' when the flats are only going to be built in 3-4

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-61414499858505076292010-07-25T12:07:00.008+08:002010-07-26T22:00:40.747+08:00

HDB officially released its 2010 Q2 housing price statistics. Key highlights from the latest housing statistics are as follows: HDB’s Resale Price Index (RPI) rose by 4.1% in 2nd Quarter 2010 over the previous quarter, as compared to the increase of 2.8% in 1st Quarter 2010 and 3.9% in 4th Quarter 2009. The median Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) amount amongst all resale transactions increased to

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-63022451224250507432010-07-20T15:07:00.006+08:002010-07-26T22:02:54.244+08:00

When a major unexpected event with severe deleterious consequences occurs, those who were responsible for preventing it from happening, or were supposed to have seen it coming and have dome something about it, often give similar types of excuses for its occurrence. The typical excuse given is that the event that occurred was an event of such low probability or such low frequency that there was

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-55858877026722375062010-07-19T17:59:00.007+08:002010-07-26T22:03:15.728+08:00

When everything is going fine and there are no major cockups, it is easy to for a single-party state and all its institutions and appendages to give the appearance of unity and strength, and for the ruling party to cling onto totalitarian political power. However, when something major goes very wrong, such incidents tend to expose the cracks, flaws and fragilities in the system. What used to

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-14704743648620794962010-07-15T10:22:00.004+08:002010-07-26T22:04:26.602+08:00

In the news recently: MORE problem gamblers sought medical treatment and help last year compared to three years ago. Fresh figures from the National Addictions Management Service (Nams) showed that 17 per cent of patients seen in 2009 were gambling addicts, compared to 5 per cent in 2007. Nams treats about 2,000 patients a year. Gambling addiction cases are among the top three form of

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-24089418395740127332010-07-15T09:45:00.006+08:002010-07-26T22:04:44.147+08:00

The straits times story of the suicides of 2 JC girls from Pioneer JC is depressing to read and is sad indeed. TWO Pioneer Junior College classmates died within three weeks of one another by leaping from high-rise blocks of flats about a year ago, a coroner's court heard on Thursday. Ho Yi Xin, 17, was described as a hard-working student with high expectations of herself. Her ambition was to be

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-53055745679240763202010-07-15T09:06:00.005+08:002010-08-02T17:14:58.230+08:00

Associated Press reports that Singapore's economy expanded at a 18% annual rate in the first half of the year. Who, however, is the main beneficiary of all this economic growth? But of course! Foreigners!!! LOL, what is new? SINGAPORE can expect the number of foreign workers to increase by at least 100,000 this year in response to the demands of the booming economy, said Prime Minister Lee

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-92183991919521643272010-07-08T16:40:00.000+08:002010-07-08T16:40:26.450+08:00

I found this on the Straits Times website sports section today. Seriously, I think the editor had too many beers watching the match last night. LOL!!!

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-32915535721398340022010-07-06T06:27:00.004+08:002010-08-02T17:14:37.810+08:00

Just reported in the news today, "HSBC Clients With Singapore, India Accounts Said to Face U.S. Tax Probe". The IRS is investigating possible tax evasion by American citizens through bank accounts in Singapore. This follows a major crackdown on the Swiss private bank UBS for abetting tax evasion. Just over a year ago, yours truly pointed out the risks that Singapore faced by positioning itself

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-10824677896827608722010-07-06T03:27:00.004+08:002010-08-02T17:13:31.327+08:00

In his latest Op-Ed column in the New York Times, Paul Krugman makes the point that the US needs to continue transfer payments and extension of unemployment benefits to those who are suffering the worst of this economic recession (the poor AND jobless). Krugman is right that engaging in "austerity" by cutting these transfer payments is "penny-pinching in the midst of a severely depressed economy"

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-18566639584570408032010-06-30T05:02:00.004+08:002010-07-04T15:14:38.076+08:00

Nouriel Roubini has some of the wisest words I've heard on how to fix the banking system. Too bad congress is too dumb and too powerless to do what needs to be done. And, some journalists just don't get it. Watch the latest business video at <a href="http://video.foxbusiness.com/">video.foxbusiness.com</a&

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-74482745995145614932010-06-21T00:49:00.000+08:002010-06-21T00:49:52.266+08:00

In October 2008, Warren Buffett wrote an article in the New York Times making a big buy call on the equities market.  In the article, Buffett said that he was buying American stocks, and that "my money and my mouth both say equities." Fast forward one and a half years later. Singapore stocks have since gained > 50 % from the date of that article, and even more if you bought within the 6 months

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-70390517565321783442010-06-18T10:06:00.000+08:002010-06-18T10:06:18.697+08:00

In what must be a rather bizarre executive move, Keppel Corporation Limited claims that it is "beefing up its pool of senior management" by appointing BG (NS) Tay Lim Heng (郑林兴) as its Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director (Sustainable Development) of Keppel Integrated Enginering with effect from 15 June 2010. Tay has absolutely no experience in the field of environmental

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-59791937629223157042010-06-17T07:23:00.000+08:002010-06-17T07:23:44.256+08:00

GIC is one of BP's largest shareholders, holding more than a 1% stake in the company's shares. On Apr 20, when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sunk, GIC's stake was worth about US$1.9b. Since then, BP's share price has plummeted and GIC's stake is now worth about US$1b. This is a loss of about US$900b or S$1.3b of market value since the disaster began. The Disaster was an

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-9494375271256831052010-06-16T02:25:00.002+08:002010-06-16T02:43:51.633+08:00

Senator Edward Markey made the opening statement for the oil industry executives' testimony on Capitol Hill. As part of his opening statement, he made the following remarks: For years, the oil industry swore this could never happen. We were told that technology had advanced, that offshore drilling was safe. BP said they didn’t think the rig would sink. It did. They said they could handle an

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-34722953736728564922010-06-14T18:30:00.006+08:002010-08-05T16:25:12.467+08:00

I previously made a brief post on the K-Green Trust, and this post has received a lot of hits since its publication. In this post, I will elaborate on some pointers for Keppel Corp investors to consider when they are thinking about the Infrastructure division of Keppel Corp and the K-Green Trust. All the below analysis is based on Publicly available documents on the K-Green Trust. Why

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-69670025643575463932010-06-14T12:10:00.002+08:002010-06-18T11:09:12.470+08:00

The recent labour strikes in Honda factories by Chinese workers have been all over the global news. Chinese workers are demanding better work conditions and better wages, and they are willing to go on strike for their demands. The recent incidents have been reported by New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Economist, AFP and many others. In one of the NYT article, was the following comments:

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-55914484730492259052010-06-05T01:40:00.003+08:002010-06-16T17:49:23.688+08:00

A couple of research analysts have released their research notes on keppel corp's K-Green Trust. Keppel recently released the listing documents for the KGT, which you can find here. It is interesting to note that both the research reports I have found so far are bullish on the KGT, and both suggest significant upside to the listing valuation. My personal take on the KGT is that it is a

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-29308868683140252812010-03-23T10:41:00.002+08:002010-03-23T10:48:48.189+08:00

Following work done by Greenpeace to expose the illegal deforestation perpetrated by Indonesian palm oil giant Sinar Mas, Friends of the Earth has released a report on Malaysian palm oil giant IOI Group, accusing it of illegal deforestation and "intentional fraud." This report follows major press coverage of Nestle's decision to drop Sinar Mas from its supply chain because of mounting evidence

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-51582651615252880472010-03-22T19:12:00.002+08:002010-03-23T10:43:15.351+08:00

OCBC investment research's Carey Wong recently released a research note in response to the latest action by Nestle to terminate its direct palm oil purchases with Sinar Mas, which operates palm plantations through its Singapore listed subsidiary Golden Agri Resources. In her research note (signed off by head of research, Carmen Lee), Carey said: Financial impact likely limited. While SMART did

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-78616948289440604672010-03-22T15:37:00.001+08:002010-03-22T20:20:04.047+08:00

First Resources Limited is one of the leading oil palm plantation companies in Indonesia. It is an upstream operator with primary business activities in the cultivation and harvesting of oil palms, and the processing of fresh fruit bunches into crude palm oil for local and export sales. Established in 1992, FR is one of the fastest-growing plantation companies in the region. It manages more than

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-41187693468127152042010-03-22T12:30:00.002+08:002010-03-22T12:50:07.689+08:00

Based on the latest FY 2009 earnings and balance sheets statements, here are the relative valuation multiples for the 5 SGX listed palm oil stocks. The relative valuation is based on 2 key multiples: the price/earnings ratio and the price/book ratio table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px;

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-68976341935345768692010-03-19T13:11:00.003+08:002010-03-19T13:40:21.479+08:00

Unilever, Nestle, Kraft, Shell and Sainsbury have all cut notorious rainforest destroyer Sinar Mas from their list of palm oil suppliers. However, Cargill, the multinational commodities trading giant, is yet to follow the lead of its corporate peers in taking a firm stand on corporate social responsibility and environmental protection. Despite clear evidence that Sinar Mas, the largest palm oil

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-68469118746501513512010-03-18T20:41:00.001+08:002010-03-19T10:40:51.582+08:00

Singapore listed Golden Agri Resources' (GAR) Indonesian plantation subsidiary PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources & Technology Tbk continues to come under pressure from multinational consumer goods giants. Following the lead of consumer good giant Unilever who cease purchasing palm oil from the group late in 2009, food products giant Nestle today announced that it had terminated its palm oil purchases

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-35366757500288091312010-03-18T20:39:00.001+08:002010-03-18T20:40:46.542+08:00

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.Greenpeace is in the news yet again in its efforts to put pressure on companies which are seen to proliferate the deforestation and carbon emissions caused by palm oil plantation development in Indonesia.Greenpeace's report 'Caught Red handed', published on 17 March 2010, revealed that multinational food giant Nestle has been using palm oil from Indonesia

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-56580492191872468872010-03-16T20:35:00.000+08:002010-03-18T20:39:06.268+08:00

The following table lists the profitability ratios based on the FY2009 results of the 5 SGX-listed palm oil stocks.table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;}.tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}Wilmar IntGolden

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-88096933217842277562010-03-16T20:34:00.000+08:002010-03-18T20:34:49.509+08:00

Environmental SustainabilityThe Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has claimed that Palm oil output that does not cut down forests and harm wildlife may double to 3 million tonnes by the end of this year. The bulk of the output will come from Malaysian palm oil suppliers as they draw closer to ensuring their estates, mills and processors comply with commitments to ensure that the source of

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-53381878733579316832010-03-14T20:32:00.000+08:002010-03-18T20:33:15.769+08:00

The following table is an ratio analysis of balance sheet numbers of the SGX listed Palm Oil stocks. The raw numbers are available in this post. It should be noted that Wilmar has significant downstream businesses as compared with the other stocks which may be primarily upstream. This difference is business does indeed show up in the analysis below.Wilmar IntGolden AgriIndoFood AgriFirst

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-66935326826785886542010-03-14T20:30:00.000+08:002010-03-18T20:32:01.387+08:00

table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;}.tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}Wilmar IntGolden AgriIndoFood AgriFirst ResKencana Agri  US$'000US$'000US$'000US$'000US$'000        Current Assets12,870,634 1,105,699

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-3078772940197606542010-03-14T20:28:00.000+08:002010-03-18T20:29:36.908+08:00

Palm Oil Price NewsThe price of palm oil looks to continue rising as analysts and news outlets report catalysts that will have a downside impact on the supply of the commodity.The El Nino weather phenomenon may result in drier-than-usual weather which may in turn curb output in Malaysia and yields in Indonesia. The resulting supply crunch could drive prices to as much as 3,300 ringgit ($988) a

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-39185291297250891762009-12-09T17:49:00.002+08:002009-12-09T17:56:23.057+08:00

SMRT isn't running as many train services during off-peak hrs as it should. This was a picture I took of Jurong East MRT when I was on the way home on a friday evening at 7.24pm. The trains were not arriving fast enough to pick up the passengers arriving at the station and the crowd just kept building.This is what you get when the government pumps a ton of people into this little island, and the

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-76934026056020256462009-12-09T16:55:00.001+08:002009-12-09T17:02:12.821+08:00

Recently reported in the press is the news that SMEs in Singapore are complaining about the restrictions on foreign workers and want the government to loosen the restrictions that limit the hiring of foreign workers. A recent business survey indicates that these SMEs are quoting the same excuses that they have using all along - locals shun labour-intensive jobs, and the turnover rate for

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-30160990139904915842009-12-01T20:52:00.000+08:002009-12-01T20:53:57.988+08:00

Earlier this decade, PM Lee Hsien Loong & the PAP faced a problem with Singapore's population economics. With the country's fertility rate way below the replacement rate of 2.1, Singaporeans were not making enough babies to replace themselves. The potential burden of this phenomenon was obvious - amongst other issues, the cost of supporting an aging population would have to be borne by a smaller

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-84108388519991246962009-11-17T17:21:00.002+08:002009-11-17T17:28:22.006+08:00

Here is a collection of articles intelligently explaining why the market rally is ill-founded and why we are in for a bigger bust some time in the future. All that the Americans have done is put a giant humongous band-aid on their economic wounds without doing anything substantive to solve the underlying problems.Lessons of Financial Crisis Forgotten in Heady SpeculationIn order to rescue the

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-66120357848641572782009-11-17T16:33:00.004+08:002009-11-17T16:42:03.527+08:00

I hope you get it by now. I am not a market bull. And neither is Paul Farrell. Bernanke won't turn off the liquidity tap. Meanwhile Geithner, Paulson & friends continue to prop up the crap financial institutions like Citigroup, Bank of America, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie. America is super obese because of its addiction to leverage and debt, and speculators are punting up the stock market when

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-28185053457810525592009-11-17T09:52:00.002+08:002009-11-17T09:57:37.350+08:00

Nouriel Roubini and SocGen are bearish on the stock markets. Now, another top analyst, Meredith Whitney, famous for her right call on the collapse of Citigroup and other banks, now says that the market rally is not backed by fundamentals.Bank analyst Whitney bearish on U.S. marketMon Nov 16, 2009 3:47pm ESTNEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Bank analyst Meredith Whitney said on Monday she does not

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-50810915396634189322009-11-10T15:57:00.004+08:002009-11-10T17:18:01.327+08:00

SocGen's Albert Edwards and economist Nouriel Roubini are sounding a warning that the recent rallies in asset markets are being driven by a liquidity bubble that is going to burst spectacularly, perhaps as soon as next year.Reuters reports as follows:SocGen's top analyst sees market lows next yearMon Nov 9, 2009 11:54pm ESTHONG KONG (Reuters) - Albert Edwards, a top analyst with French bank

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-75105474929623216542009-11-08T00:18:00.002+08:002009-11-09T14:39:15.650+08:00

(see below for context)I refer to the letter, "Be prouder of this great little red dot (ST, Nov 7)" by Mr Sam Ahmed, and find it amusing that the author criticises Singaporeans for complaining about their own country or wanting to "save up and leave." Indeed, it is ironic for a person who has left his own country, lived his life in several cities around the world, and finally decided that a

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-70518207388667154612009-09-15T09:54:00.001+08:002009-09-15T09:54:35.603+08:00

Very interesting article in the Financial Times Today. I quote it here, editing it for my purposes. France to count happiness in GDPBy Ben Hall in ParisPublished: September 14 2009 15:48 Last updated: September 14 2009 19:35Happiness, long holidays and a sense of well-being may not be (Singapore’s) yardstick for economic performance, but Nicolas Sarkozy believes they should be embraced by (

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-42533485490036515142009-08-11T14:44:00.015+08:002009-08-20T13:02:46.902+08:00

The major news headline to hit the press in July was the failure of the announced leadership transition by Temasek Holdings to materialise. Back in February, Ho Ching announced her resignation and that she would hand over power of Singapore's Sovereign Wealth Fund to Charles Goodyear. At that time, the Merrill-BoA merger was being finalised and the BoA share price was hitting record lows. Here's

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-33986450311610167892009-05-29T14:32:00.001+08:002009-08-11T14:34:01.299+08:00

2 major alternative commentary websites in Singapore's blogosphere, TOC and Wayangparty.com, have come out with their guns blazing and heavily criticising the government's proposed changes to Parliament.Andrew Loh calls it a "A mockery of Parliament" because of the huge number of "loser MPs", "nominated MPs", and "walkover MPs." He says,"Parliament being filled with a majority of un-elected

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-36717168954544269592009-05-22T14:30:00.000+08:002009-08-11T14:31:31.332+08:00

Warning: This post contains several expletives. Readers who are offended by strong language are advised to proceed cautiously.Myrna Thomas of Temasek has written to the press to "explain" the BoA divestment. Her press statement not only does not clarify anything, it only insults the intelligence of Singaporeans by repeating the same truisms and smokescreens that Temasek has been saying time and

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-68485688983905793422009-05-20T14:22:00.003+08:002009-08-11T14:28:26.939+08:00

Forget about Investing for the "Long Term" - Temasek's new investment strategy has changed into "Buy High, Sell Low!!!"What else could you possibly deduce from the fact that Bank of America's shares have surged 74% since our dear Ho Ching & company decided to divest of their BoA shares? This fact has been graciously pointed out to us by the New York Times - article appended below.The world is

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-47433560699656012882009-05-18T14:21:00.000+08:002009-08-11T14:29:33.050+08:00

Rear Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew was the Minister of State for Education until March 2009, when he was promoted to Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts with effect from 1st April 2009. With his promotion, he displaced the incumbent Dr Lee Boon Yang, who now found himself without a job.Only 25 days after RAdm Lui's promotion, Dr Lee Boon Yang was the newly appointed

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-41239047759567093752009-05-18T14:19:00.000+08:002009-08-11T14:21:11.891+08:00

"Yes, they were good long term investments with risks thoroughly assessed"- Minister Tharman, Jan 2008 on Singapore investments in banks.These were the words of Singapore's Minister of Finance, slightly more than a year ago when Singapore's SWFs made major investments in a few global financial institutions. Take note, in particular, that Minister Tharman was defending the individual investments

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-81810322126574127062009-04-15T14:17:00.000+08:002009-08-11T14:18:24.540+08:00

As DBS staff bid their final farewell to chief executive Richard Stanley, who died of leukemia last Saturday, the shares of Singapore's biggest bank continued to rally. DBS stock price continued its rise, even as Mr. Stanley's cortege passed through Shenton Way this afternoon. This is despite the fact that in the last four months, it has been Mr. Koh Boon Hwee, Chairman of DBS and a non-banker,

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-40170221183592635792009-03-05T13:15:00.000+08:002009-08-11T14:17:31.115+08:00

Lee Kuan Yew is all over the news today, talking about GIC's 25% loss. In particular, he has been defending GIC's investments in the banks. I've written extensively about these investments, but MM Lee's latest attempts and defending GIC are some of the crappiest shit I've seen in a while.Damn it - I'm just absolutely fed up with Lee's crap. For goodness sake already, just own up and admit that

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-18517691955148384422009-03-01T13:12:00.001+08:002009-08-11T14:14:11.551+08:00

In news just out, GIC has agreed to convert its preferred stake in Citigroup to Common Equity, to go along with the US government's continued bailout plan for the company.GIC converts preferred notes in Citigroup to common sharesBy May Wong, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 27 February 2009 2026 hrsSINGAPORE: The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has said it will convert its convertible

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-84213238152829824602009-03-01T13:09:00.001+08:002009-08-11T14:11:50.573+08:00

Singapore's MTI recently released the country's Q4 2008 economic statistics. The numbers are, quite simply, absolutely dismal.Singapore's economy shrinks 16.4% annualized rate in Q4By Chris OliverLast update: 9:33 p.m. EST Feb. 25, 2009HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Singapore's economy contracted at an annualized 16.4% in the October-to-December quarter, its sharpest pace of contraction in 33 years,

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-9470259171707041202009-02-27T13:07:00.000+08:002009-08-11T14:09:08.314+08:00

Recent research as reported by the Financial Times reveals that half of CDOs (collateralised debt obligations) of ABS (asset backed securities) have failed. Guess which were the three banks which were the most involved in this business?Here's a clue: GIC and Temasek invested in all 3 of them =)Half of all CDOs of ABS failedBy Paul J DaviesPublished: February 10 2009 19:38 | Last updated: February

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-76724963244628794502009-02-21T13:05:00.000+08:002009-08-11T14:07:18.677+08:00

In April 2008, this blogger took note of Lee Kuan Yew's comments in an interview with Bloomberg. The octogenarian Minister Mentor was defending GIC, the Singaporean sovereign weath fund of which he is Chairman, which had made investments in UBS and Citigroup just months before. I have previously dealt with Citigroup and the prospect of its equity investors being wiped out due to nationalisation.

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-49381779785881514502009-02-19T13:03:00.000+08:002009-08-11T14:04:09.233+08:00

Well well, things are getting exciting. All of us know that GIC is reported to have incurred losses of US$33 Billion. All of us know that the government keeps on saying that GIC & Temasek are long term investors. And guess what, the press reported that GIC expects long-term returns from its bank investments (and I think, that's what Temasek expects as well)Singapore’s GIC Loses $33 Billion as

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-81987547628373412942009-02-19T12:58:00.001+08:002009-08-11T14:02:55.668+08:00

I think few people truly appreciate what is going on in the global economy today. Many people think that what we are going through is just a short-term recession, like those of the last decade. They think that after a short period of contraction, our economy will bounce back quickly. They think that the stock market will start rising soon and that the housing market will recover soon.But very few

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-37805310824669826252009-02-17T12:50:00.000+08:002009-08-11T13:56:14.409+08:00

Some time ago, Singapore's heavily export-oriented growth model came under fire. The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece, criticising the lop-sided dependence on exports and the crowding out of the private sector by the government:The export-led economy is falling on its face. Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam predicts the city-state is "likely to experience" the deepest recession in its

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-82510280737764244732009-02-12T12:48:00.000+08:002009-08-11T13:50:06.151+08:00

Government officials and Temasek executives have repeatedly held the line that Temasek's portfolio performance should be evaluated, not simply the performance of individual investments. It is thus no surprise that Temasek's latest unveiling of its recent portfolio performance has come under intense scrutiny, not just by Singaporeans, but by financial analysts all over the world.This morning, the

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-58462562093306903752009-02-09T12:45:00.000+08:002009-08-11T13:46:47.097+08:00

Ho Ching announced her retirement last weekend. This blog post tracks one of the disastrous investments that she will leave behind at Temasek. Good luck, Chip Goodyear. You're going to need it =)For Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, Love Was Blind (NYT) "But the merger, in which Bank of America agreed to pay about $50 billion in stock for Merrill, soured at light speed. Back then, the combined

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-67894287400141125592009-02-04T12:39:00.001+08:002009-08-11T13:41:50.671+08:00

In latest news, Deutsche Bank has hired 12 of Merrill Lynch's top bankers into its FIG (Financial Institutions Group). This news is the latest in a string of bad news to hit what must now be considered a disastrous acquisition for Bank of America, and a horrendous investment for Temasek Holdings:Deutsche Bank Significantly Expands Global Financial Institutions Coverage2009-02-04 01:06:01 -

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-33736068793647933492008-11-10T12:42:00.000+08:002009-08-11T13:45:02.790+08:00

As we all know, the subprime fiasco which originated in the United States has seen its hand of carnage stretch beyond the boundaries of physical geography and slap several hundred Singaporean "investors" in the face to the tune of millions of dollars in losses. And of course now that the financial weapons of mass destruction have detonated, the casualties of this “economic pearl harbour” are

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-92131674021835858002008-10-22T12:34:00.000+08:002009-08-11T13:35:47.762+08:00

In one of the latest developments in Singapore's Minibond saga, Tan Kin Lian, champion of the burnt minibonds investors, has released a request for proposals to lawyers for services for collective legal action by the minibonds investors against the bankers and brokers who sold them the minibonds products.Also, the 84-page minibonds prospectus is available on the TOC website, here. A brief browse

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-78032182515395522092008-10-06T12:36:00.000+08:002009-08-11T13:38:22.232+08:00

OpenNet recently won the NetCo segment of the NGNBN. The consortium comprised Canada's Axia NetMedia, and Singapore's SingTel, SPH and Singpower Group. Although it might have been painted as a close "two-horse" race, I doubt if there were ever any questions as to who was going to win the bid. With the government putting up $750m to fund the NGNBN NetCo passive network, it could not afford to

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-42696304715890209862008-10-06T12:31:00.000+08:002009-08-11T13:33:49.047+08:00

“Merrill was paying typical Wall Street pay... We intend to pay market instead.” - Ken LewisKen Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, has gone on the record making the statement above. And while this statement may seem to make sense to some, it really betrays Ken's confusion and fundamental lack of understanding about Wall Street and the investment banking business.Mr Lewis seems to imply that there is

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-89873892690099035862008-10-04T13:28:00.001+08:002009-08-11T13:31:02.752+08:00

In the latest development of what must be the most eventful year in the history of banking, Warren Buffett's Wells Fargo has snatched Wachovia bank from Vikram Pandit's Citigroup. In what must be the most humiliating and daring bank acquisition to date, Wells bid and closed a $16b deal for Wachovia, an offer that trumped Citi's pathetic $2.1b and that has Pandit and his minions crying foul, or

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-47601526204383364812008-09-24T13:23:00.000+08:002009-08-11T13:26:13.311+08:00

After the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and the unwinding of the credit markets over the past year or so, several Singaporean investors have found themselves burnt, having dumped significant portions of their retirement savings in credit derivatives and other similar financial instruments. One of these products in particular, Lehman's Minibonds, has been completely wiped out

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-25263510061452840012008-08-20T17:21:00.009+08:002008-08-20T17:53:30.371+08:00

In latest developments regarding Singapore's NGNBN, City Telecom, formerly the consortium lead of Infinity consortium, has pulled out of the race for NetCo, reports Reuters:StarHub leads group in S'pore broadband network bidWed Aug 20, 2008 1:13am EDTSINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) - StarHub Ltd, Singapore's No. 2 telecoms firm, will lead the consortium bidding to build the city-state's

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-69153791649718434712008-08-08T16:22:00.001+08:002008-08-08T16:30:01.266+08:00

This has got to be one of the best written letters in the ST Forum on Singapore's quality of life and how it's not really as good as the Singapore government makes it out to be. I append it here for my future reference. Emphasis added by me.For more information on this topic, see "Quality of Life is more than Material Wellbeing: GDP as an Incomplete Measure of Singapore's Development"

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-72202875095780362902008-07-04T14:34:00.009+08:002008-07-04T18:19:08.489+08:00

What do UBS AG, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup have in common?A. They're all banks which have received significant cash infusions from Singapore's Sovereign Wealth Funds, GIC and Temasek.B. They're the 3 largest casualties of the ongoing credit crisis.Behemoths of Mass ImplosionMeredith Whitney, one of the most prominent Wall Street bank stock analysts, recently put out research notes either

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-73178707089883387952008-06-26T22:48:00.004+08:002008-06-27T00:53:26.145+08:00

On Recent EventsI 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.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-81952449512880789822008-06-09T10:50:00.002+08:002008-06-09T13:03:12.693+08:00

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 2008STT 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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-10081582762288439202008-06-07T21:58:00.007+08:002008-06-07T22:27:46.510+08:00

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%7Dhttp://www.iht.com/

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-46615983747961839382008-05-13T18:53:00.008+08:002008-05-13T19:26:36.334+08:00

(Z74 = SingTel, CC3 = Starhub, B2F = M1) SingTelSingapore 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.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-15498918786278279002008-05-10T12:06:00.008+08:002008-05-10T17:43:30.138+08:00

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 likely to

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-7388545733069118032008-05-05T23:21:00.007+08:002008-05-06T18:15:41.618+08:00

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 SaysBy Haslinda Amin and Linus ChuaApril 30 (Bloomberg) -- Government of Singapore Investment Corp. may add more bank assets to its $18 billion of investments in UBS AG and Citigroup Inc. as

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-44857997309572488802008-05-03T13:27:00.008+08:002008-05-06T13:14:49.393+08:00

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 way

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-8213692304375957382008-04-30T13:36:00.017+08:002008-05-03T08:03:26.728+08:00

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.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-33116823168875523052008-04-28T23:12:00.008+08:002008-04-28T23:43:59.804+08:00

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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-76051864467704879302008-04-28T22:47:00.007+08:002008-04-28T23:48:59.871+08:00

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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-86847670377259605092008-04-23T09:13:00.008+08:002008-04-24T13:08:30.567+08:00

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 PressTuesday, April 22, 2008SINGAPORE: Singapore's prime minister Tuesday voiced

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-15944357548804253992008-04-14T01:26:00.010+08:002008-04-14T15:17:11.183+08:00

The following article appeared in the Straits Times 3 days ago:April 11, 2008S'pore drops to 5th place in tech-saviness rankingBy Alfred Siew , Tan WeizhenFROM 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 impact of

InSpir3dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077151002330545906noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8557192882205137465.post-67983733696910308062008-04-11T09:15:00.007+08:002008-04-11T11:03:44.810+08:00

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.PricingAs 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.com0