Business Times - 12 Jul 2008
S'pore 'very concerned' as visitor arrival growth slows: STB
SINGAPORE is 'very concerned' that the growth in visitor arrivals is slowing and is keeping a close watch on how it may affect the government's target for travellers to the island-state this year, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) deputy chairman and chief executive Lim Neo Chian said.
Growth in visitor arrivals eased to 0.8 per cent in April and May, the slowest expansion in a year, according to data from the STB. Visitors from Indonesia, Singapore's biggest visitor-generating nation, fell 12 per cent in May, the steepest decline among the city's largest markets.
'The growth rate has eased a little bit,' Mr Lim said in an interview in Singapore yesterday. 'The overall general environment is obviously very challenging in many of our key markets. We're very concerned and monitoring very carefully.'
Singapore may have fewer visitors than expected as inflation and a weaker global economic outlook curb travel plans. This may put at risk the city-state's target for tourist arrivals to increase 5 per cent to 10.8 million this year. The city also expects the number of visitors to rise to 17 million by 2015 with new attractions including two integrated resorts.
'It's a little bit too rushed and too quick to change our target,' Mr Lim said. 'It depends how big a drop' the Singapore tourism industry will face.
Asian policy-makers are predicting expansion this year will be at the lower end of their targets or are cutting growth forecasts as they increase estimates for inflation. Singapore's economy expanded at the slowest pace in five years in the second quarter as a 26-year-high inflation constrained spending.
Indonesia, South-east Asia's largest economy, may have expanded 6.1 per cent in the second quarter, the slowest pace in more than a year, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on July 9. -- Bloomberg
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Tampines Court collective sale in peril
July 12, 2008
Tampines Court collective sale in peril
STB rules not to bring forward Aug 7 hearing, which must take place before deal is signed by July 25 deadline
By Jessica Cheam
THE sales committee at Tampines Court looks to have shot itself in the foot after a ruling by the Strata Titles Board (STB) yesterday almost certainly killed off its estate's $405 million collective sale.
It delayed seeking mandatory STB approval for the deal and is now caught in a deadline trap of its own making.
The key date is July 25, that is when the estate's sales committee must complete the deal. However, that looks impossible now after yesterday's STB decision.
The board ruled that it would not bring forward an Aug 7 hearing set to allow testimony from witnesses that have yet to be called.
The STB had pencilled in the date after listening to sale objectors on June 16 to 18 and 'taking into account the availability of all parties and the board', it said.
Until that Aug 7 hearing is conducted, the sale cannot be signed and sealed.
The Straits Times understands that the sales committee wanted a date change as the buyers - Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization - will not extend the completion deadline.
With no extension, the sale agreement will likely lapse on July 25. This means the developers can walk away from a deal that looks far less compelling now than last July, given souring homebuyer sentiment and escalating construction costs.
However, this might be a blessing in disguise for some owners at the estate. The deal was inked just before the property boom at prices around $430 per sq ft (psf), but private homes in Tampines now go from $550 to $700 psf.
The deadline crunch seems to be of the sales committee's own making.
The conditions of the sales agreement were met on July 25 last year but the committee delayed applying for the standard STB approval until Jan 7.
The committee told the STB that it wanted to await the outcome of legal challenges over the contentious Gillman Heights sale.
The committee argued that if the Gillman Heights sale was halted over issues of majority consent, it would have made a Tampines Court application futile.
In the Gillman Heights case, minority owners appealed all the way to the High Court, claiming that collective sale rules did not apply to former Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) estates.
Tampines Court is also a former HUDC estate so any ruling could have killed its own collective sale.
But Justice Choo Han Teck ruled last month that a privatised HUDC estate can be sold collectively if the requisite conditions are met.
While that also cleared the way for the Tampines Court sale, it left the sales committee with little time to tie up loose ends, including objections by minority owners.
The STB registrar had some sympathy yesterday for the committee's argument about why it delayed applying for sale approval.
But he pointed out that a sale agreement has a deadline and, by waiting for the High Court ruling, the committtee took the risk that it would not have enough time to get a ruling from the board before the expiry date.
'This is a calculated risk, whose consequences they will have to bear,' he said.
'The board should not be pressured to accommodate a deadline set by the applicants and the buyer.'
A lawyer acting for the minority owners told The Straits Times that he did not want to comment on the outcome.
The one lifeline for the majority owners would be if the buyers extend the deadline but that also looks a lost cause.
Far East Organization and Frasers Centrepoint told The Straits Times last night that they are ready to complete the deal, but 'the onus was upon the vendors to secure the STB order within the agreed timeframe, which is about 16 months from the date of the agreement'.
Savills director of marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong said since the deal was inked last July, construction costs have escalated a lot faster than mass market property prices.
'The project, unsurprisingly, has become less attractive,' he said.
Tampines Court is a sizeable 702,162 sq ft site with 560 units. It could be redeveloped into a new condominium with around 1,580 units averaging 1,300 sq ft.
jcheam@sph.com.sg
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access
Tampines Court collective sale in peril
STB rules not to bring forward Aug 7 hearing, which must take place before deal is signed by July 25 deadline
By Jessica Cheam
THE sales committee at Tampines Court looks to have shot itself in the foot after a ruling by the Strata Titles Board (STB) yesterday almost certainly killed off its estate's $405 million collective sale.
It delayed seeking mandatory STB approval for the deal and is now caught in a deadline trap of its own making.
The key date is July 25, that is when the estate's sales committee must complete the deal. However, that looks impossible now after yesterday's STB decision.
The board ruled that it would not bring forward an Aug 7 hearing set to allow testimony from witnesses that have yet to be called.
The STB had pencilled in the date after listening to sale objectors on June 16 to 18 and 'taking into account the availability of all parties and the board', it said.
Until that Aug 7 hearing is conducted, the sale cannot be signed and sealed.
The Straits Times understands that the sales committee wanted a date change as the buyers - Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization - will not extend the completion deadline.
With no extension, the sale agreement will likely lapse on July 25. This means the developers can walk away from a deal that looks far less compelling now than last July, given souring homebuyer sentiment and escalating construction costs.
However, this might be a blessing in disguise for some owners at the estate. The deal was inked just before the property boom at prices around $430 per sq ft (psf), but private homes in Tampines now go from $550 to $700 psf.
The deadline crunch seems to be of the sales committee's own making.
The conditions of the sales agreement were met on July 25 last year but the committee delayed applying for the standard STB approval until Jan 7.
The committee told the STB that it wanted to await the outcome of legal challenges over the contentious Gillman Heights sale.
The committee argued that if the Gillman Heights sale was halted over issues of majority consent, it would have made a Tampines Court application futile.
In the Gillman Heights case, minority owners appealed all the way to the High Court, claiming that collective sale rules did not apply to former Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) estates.
Tampines Court is also a former HUDC estate so any ruling could have killed its own collective sale.
But Justice Choo Han Teck ruled last month that a privatised HUDC estate can be sold collectively if the requisite conditions are met.
While that also cleared the way for the Tampines Court sale, it left the sales committee with little time to tie up loose ends, including objections by minority owners.
The STB registrar had some sympathy yesterday for the committee's argument about why it delayed applying for sale approval.
But he pointed out that a sale agreement has a deadline and, by waiting for the High Court ruling, the committtee took the risk that it would not have enough time to get a ruling from the board before the expiry date.
'This is a calculated risk, whose consequences they will have to bear,' he said.
'The board should not be pressured to accommodate a deadline set by the applicants and the buyer.'
A lawyer acting for the minority owners told The Straits Times that he did not want to comment on the outcome.
The one lifeline for the majority owners would be if the buyers extend the deadline but that also looks a lost cause.
Far East Organization and Frasers Centrepoint told The Straits Times last night that they are ready to complete the deal, but 'the onus was upon the vendors to secure the STB order within the agreed timeframe, which is about 16 months from the date of the agreement'.
Savills director of marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong said since the deal was inked last July, construction costs have escalated a lot faster than mass market property prices.
'The project, unsurprisingly, has become less attractive,' he said.
Tampines Court is a sizeable 702,162 sq ft site with 560 units. It could be redeveloped into a new condominium with around 1,580 units averaging 1,300 sq ft.
jcheam@sph.com.sg
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access
MM Lee: Next 5 to 10 years the most promising for S'pore
July 12, 2008
MM Lee: Next 5 to 10 years the most promising for S'pore
By Bryan Lee
THE Singapore economy may be facing both immediate and long-term challenges but Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew thinks the next five to 10 years will be the most promising in the country's history.
In fact, the economy could still grow by as much as 8 per cent a year - a rapid clip for a developed nation - as efforts to transform Singapore into an international and cosmopolitan city pay off.
'We are moving to a new plateau, a new platform. You can see it visibly before your eyes,' said Mr Lee last night at the annual dinner of the Economic Society of Singapore.
'If there are no big recessions worldwide, growth can easily be 4 to 6 per cent, maybe 7 to 8 per cent.'
Mr Lee's optimism for the local economy comes even as gross domestic product growth in the second quarter slumped to its worst in five years.
A slowing US economy and accelerating inflation are taking their toll, while structural issues such as an ageing population and a widening income divide loom in the horizon. 'The point is that we have got enormous options,' he said.
He described to a packed Ritz Carlton Hotel ballroom his recent drive around the Marina Bay area, which is being developed as a new business district as well as the site for one of Singapore's two integrated resorts. 'It will be a beautiful city... in 10 years, it will be wonderful.'
Still, there is no room for complacency, given Singapore's lack of natural resources, he warned.
In fact, he said that retaining human talent is a big challenge: 'The biggest problem Singapore faces is that we have educated the Singaporean in English to the best of world standards. We have made him viable, employable anywhere in the world.'
This outflow is more than offset by an influx of 'even larger numbers of bright people from the region'. But a majority of 'born and bred Singaporeans' is still needed to ensure the new immigrants are rooted here.
'You need 65 per cent of the population to be born and bred Singaporeans, steeped with the culture, steeped with instincts of what a Singaporean is. They will slowly influence the migrants who join us to become like us.'
After Mr Lee's comments, prizes for an annual essay writing competition organised by the society and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) were given out.
National University of Singapore undergraduate Ishita Dhamani won first prize in the university category while former Anglo-Chinese Junior College student John Ying, who is in national service, came up tops in the pre-university category.
bryanlee@sph.com.sg
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access
MM Lee: Next 5 to 10 years the most promising for S'pore
By Bryan Lee
THE Singapore economy may be facing both immediate and long-term challenges but Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew thinks the next five to 10 years will be the most promising in the country's history.
In fact, the economy could still grow by as much as 8 per cent a year - a rapid clip for a developed nation - as efforts to transform Singapore into an international and cosmopolitan city pay off.
'We are moving to a new plateau, a new platform. You can see it visibly before your eyes,' said Mr Lee last night at the annual dinner of the Economic Society of Singapore.
'If there are no big recessions worldwide, growth can easily be 4 to 6 per cent, maybe 7 to 8 per cent.'
Mr Lee's optimism for the local economy comes even as gross domestic product growth in the second quarter slumped to its worst in five years.
A slowing US economy and accelerating inflation are taking their toll, while structural issues such as an ageing population and a widening income divide loom in the horizon. 'The point is that we have got enormous options,' he said.
He described to a packed Ritz Carlton Hotel ballroom his recent drive around the Marina Bay area, which is being developed as a new business district as well as the site for one of Singapore's two integrated resorts. 'It will be a beautiful city... in 10 years, it will be wonderful.'
Still, there is no room for complacency, given Singapore's lack of natural resources, he warned.
In fact, he said that retaining human talent is a big challenge: 'The biggest problem Singapore faces is that we have educated the Singaporean in English to the best of world standards. We have made him viable, employable anywhere in the world.'
This outflow is more than offset by an influx of 'even larger numbers of bright people from the region'. But a majority of 'born and bred Singaporeans' is still needed to ensure the new immigrants are rooted here.
'You need 65 per cent of the population to be born and bred Singaporeans, steeped with the culture, steeped with instincts of what a Singaporean is. They will slowly influence the migrants who join us to become like us.'
After Mr Lee's comments, prizes for an annual essay writing competition organised by the society and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) were given out.
National University of Singapore undergraduate Ishita Dhamani won first prize in the university category while former Anglo-Chinese Junior College student John Ying, who is in national service, came up tops in the pre-university category.
bryanlee@sph.com.sg
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access
Traffic changes in Serangoon Road
July 12, 2008
Traffic changes in Serangoon Road
STARTING today, a stretch of Serangoon Road will be re-aligned to
accommodate the construction of the Woodsville Interchange, a massive
road project consisting of three tunnels and a flyover.
This is part of a series of road diversions and is expected to last
about three years, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
The stretch of Serangoon Road from its junction with Whampoa North
will be split into two sections under the road alignment.
Motorists travelling towards the PIE in the direction of Tuas should
keep to the left lanes of the road.
Those heading to Upper Serangoon Road and MacPherson Road should keep
to the right.
An existing U-turn from Serangoon Road to Bendemeer Road will also be
removed to facilitate construction of the interchange.
Traffic changes in Serangoon Road
STARTING today, a stretch of Serangoon Road will be re-aligned to
accommodate the construction of the Woodsville Interchange, a massive
road project consisting of three tunnels and a flyover.
This is part of a series of road diversions and is expected to last
about three years, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
The stretch of Serangoon Road from its junction with Whampoa North
will be split into two sections under the road alignment.
Motorists travelling towards the PIE in the direction of Tuas should
keep to the left lanes of the road.
Those heading to Upper Serangoon Road and MacPherson Road should keep
to the right.
An existing U-turn from Serangoon Road to Bendemeer Road will also be
removed to facilitate construction of the interchange.
Tampines Court collective sale in peril
July 12, 2008
Tampines Court collective sale in peril
STB rules not to bring forward Aug 7 hearing, which must take place
before deal is signed by July 25 deadline
By Jessica Cheam
THE sales committee at Tampines Court looks to have shot itself in
the foot after a ruling by the Strata Titles Board (STB) yesterday
almost certainly killed off its estate's $405 million collective
sale.
It delayed seeking mandatory STB approval for the deal and is now
caught in a deadline trap of its own making.
The key date is July 25, that is when the estate's sales committee
must complete the deal. However, that looks impossible now after
yesterday's STB decision.
The board ruled that it would not bring forward an Aug 7 hearing set
to allow testimony from witnesses that have yet to be called.
The STB had pencilled in the date after listening to sale objectors
on June 16 to 18 and 'taking into account the availability of all
parties and the board', it said.
Until that Aug 7 hearing is conducted, the sale cannot be signed and
sealed.
The Straits Times understands that the sales committee wanted a date
change as the buyers - Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization -
will not extend the completion deadline.
With no extension, the sale agreement will likely lapse on July 25.
This means the developers can walk away from a deal that looks far
less compelling now than last July, given souring homebuyer sentiment
and escalating construction costs.
However, this might be a blessing in disguise for some owners at the
estate. The deal was inked just before the property boom at prices
around $430 per sq ft (psf), but private homes in Tampines now go
from $550 to $700 psf.
The deadline crunch seems to be of the sales committee's own making.
The conditions of the sales agreement were met on July 25 last year
but the committee delayed applying for the standard STB approval
until Jan 7.
The committee told the STB that it wanted to await the outcome of
legal challenges over the contentious Gillman Heights sale.
The committee argued that if the Gillman Heights sale was halted over
issues of majority consent, it would have made a Tampines Court
application futile.
In the Gillman Heights case, minority owners appealed all the way to
the High Court, claiming that collective sale rules did not apply to
former Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) estates.
Tampines Court is also a former HUDC estate so any ruling could have
killed its own collective sale.
But Justice Choo Han Teck ruled last month that a privatised HUDC
estate can be sold collectively if the requisite conditions are met.
While that also cleared the way for the Tampines Court sale, it left
the sales committee with little time to tie up loose ends, including
objections by minority owners.
The STB registrar had some sympathy yesterday for the committee's
argument about why it delayed applying for sale approval.
But he pointed out that a sale agreement has a deadline and, by
waiting for the High Court ruling, the committtee took the risk that
it would not have enough time to get a ruling from the board before
the expiry date.
'This is a calculated risk, whose consequences they will have to
bear,' he said.
'The board should not be pressured to accommodate a deadline set by
the applicants and the buyer.'
A lawyer acting for the minority owners told The Straits Times that
he did not want to comment on the outcome.
The one lifeline for the majority owners would be if the buyers
extend the deadline but that also looks a lost cause.
Far East Organization and Frasers Centrepoint told The Straits Times
last night that they are ready to complete the deal, but 'the onus
was upon the vendors to secure the STB order within the agreed
timeframe, which is about 16 months from the date of the agreement'.
Savills director of marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong
said since the deal was inked last July, construction costs have
escalated a lot faster than mass market property prices.
'The project, unsurprisingly, has become less attractive,' he said.
Tampines Court is a sizeable 702,162 sq ft site with 560 units. It
could be redeveloped into a new condominium with around 1,580 units
averaging 1,300 sq ft.
Tampines Court collective sale in peril
STB rules not to bring forward Aug 7 hearing, which must take place
before deal is signed by July 25 deadline
By Jessica Cheam
THE sales committee at Tampines Court looks to have shot itself in
the foot after a ruling by the Strata Titles Board (STB) yesterday
almost certainly killed off its estate's $405 million collective
sale.
It delayed seeking mandatory STB approval for the deal and is now
caught in a deadline trap of its own making.
The key date is July 25, that is when the estate's sales committee
must complete the deal. However, that looks impossible now after
yesterday's STB decision.
The board ruled that it would not bring forward an Aug 7 hearing set
to allow testimony from witnesses that have yet to be called.
The STB had pencilled in the date after listening to sale objectors
on June 16 to 18 and 'taking into account the availability of all
parties and the board', it said.
Until that Aug 7 hearing is conducted, the sale cannot be signed and
sealed.
The Straits Times understands that the sales committee wanted a date
change as the buyers - Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization -
will not extend the completion deadline.
With no extension, the sale agreement will likely lapse on July 25.
This means the developers can walk away from a deal that looks far
less compelling now than last July, given souring homebuyer sentiment
and escalating construction costs.
However, this might be a blessing in disguise for some owners at the
estate. The deal was inked just before the property boom at prices
around $430 per sq ft (psf), but private homes in Tampines now go
from $550 to $700 psf.
The deadline crunch seems to be of the sales committee's own making.
The conditions of the sales agreement were met on July 25 last year
but the committee delayed applying for the standard STB approval
until Jan 7.
The committee told the STB that it wanted to await the outcome of
legal challenges over the contentious Gillman Heights sale.
The committee argued that if the Gillman Heights sale was halted over
issues of majority consent, it would have made a Tampines Court
application futile.
In the Gillman Heights case, minority owners appealed all the way to
the High Court, claiming that collective sale rules did not apply to
former Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) estates.
Tampines Court is also a former HUDC estate so any ruling could have
killed its own collective sale.
But Justice Choo Han Teck ruled last month that a privatised HUDC
estate can be sold collectively if the requisite conditions are met.
While that also cleared the way for the Tampines Court sale, it left
the sales committee with little time to tie up loose ends, including
objections by minority owners.
The STB registrar had some sympathy yesterday for the committee's
argument about why it delayed applying for sale approval.
But he pointed out that a sale agreement has a deadline and, by
waiting for the High Court ruling, the committtee took the risk that
it would not have enough time to get a ruling from the board before
the expiry date.
'This is a calculated risk, whose consequences they will have to
bear,' he said.
'The board should not be pressured to accommodate a deadline set by
the applicants and the buyer.'
A lawyer acting for the minority owners told The Straits Times that
he did not want to comment on the outcome.
The one lifeline for the majority owners would be if the buyers
extend the deadline but that also looks a lost cause.
Far East Organization and Frasers Centrepoint told The Straits Times
last night that they are ready to complete the deal, but 'the onus
was upon the vendors to secure the STB order within the agreed
timeframe, which is about 16 months from the date of the agreement'.
Savills director of marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong
said since the deal was inked last July, construction costs have
escalated a lot faster than mass market property prices.
'The project, unsurprisingly, has become less attractive,' he said.
Tampines Court is a sizeable 702,162 sq ft site with 560 units. It
could be redeveloped into a new condominium with around 1,580 units
averaging 1,300 sq ft.
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