Singapore - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Jul 08)

Re: Singapore - General News

Postby Musicwhiz » Thu Jul 24, 2008 4:27 pm

millionairemind wrote:Y stuff yourselves then go for lipo???? :? Just eat less to begin with lor...

Liposuction costs may rise when removing more than one litre of fat

By Valerie Tan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 23 July 2008 2046 hrs

SINGAPORE: Patients may have to pay more for liposuction if they plan to remove more than one litre of fat.

Geez, makes me wonder if I should have slimmed down more in recent years. Now it costs more just to remove the extra fats ! :lol:
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Re: Singapore - General News

Postby millionairemind » Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:13 pm

Singapore ranked fifth most expensive city in Asia

SINGAPORE: Singapore is now the fifth most expensive city in Asia, according to Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Survey.

Singapore’s rise in rankings is partly due to the appreciation of the Singapore dollar against the US dollar.

Other contributing factors include its high quality of living and continued strength as a regional hub.

Tokyo is the costliest Asian city, followed by Seoul, Hong Kong and Osaka.

In world standings, Singapore is in 13th position, one notch higher than in 2007.

Moscow was ranked the most expensive city both in Europe and globally for the third year running.

Mercer’s survey covered 143 countries across six continents. — CNA/de
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Re: Singapore - General News

Postby kennynah » Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:19 pm

hence, when my malaysian friend comes over...he says the eca here very expensive...2 times at least that of KL...so he doesn't want to waste money here...

and if many people behave like him, then good luck to stpb and foreign income...
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Re: Singapore - General News

Postby millionairemind » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:58 pm

When SPGs are fawning over you and your expenses are all paid by the company.. surely you will find it nice.. :D

Expats living in S'pore just loving it: poll
By ARTHUR SIM

SINGAPORE has been ranked the best place in the world to live in, based on a poll of expatriates.
The Expat Explorer survey for HSBC Bank International revealed that, as well as being top overall, expats rate Singapore best for quality of accommodation and second in terms of luxury living.

The survey was conducted between February and April, with data analysis conducted by Freshminds. It looked at a range of topics relevant to expats' lives, including living standards, an expat's ability to earn and save, a country's popularity and the level of luxury experienced.

On luxury, countries were rated on a number of categories, including access to private healthcare, access to more than one property, and ability to own a pool and to employ staff (such as cleaners).

Across the 11 categories of perceived luxuries, on average, expats reported an increase in eight of these factors, with employing staff ranked as the highest increase.

The United Arab Emirates was the most luxurious destination, with expats enjoying increases in 10 of the 11 categories, followed by Singapore and India.

The UK was ranked the least luxurious with decreases recorded in nine of the 11 luxuries.

The survey polled 2,155 expats in more than 49 countries. However, only countries with at least 30 respondents were analysed in the league tables.

Accommodation is a key concern of expats and almost three-quarters of expats living in Singapore said that the quality of their accommodation had improved since moving away from home, the highest amount recorded in the study.

This was followed by those living in the United States and Belgium.

The UK was identified as the most expensive expat location for accommodation, with over three-quarters of expats living there revealing that their living costs had increased.

In terms of remuneration, expats in Hong Kong (ranked fifth overall) have the world's highest salaries, with almost half earning more than £pounds;100,000 (S$271,000) per annum.

It was found that Europe is a popular destination overall in terms of the length of stay. More than three-quarters of expats now living in the Netherlands have been there for three or more years, followed by Germany and Spain. Hong Kong and Singapore were ranked fifth and sixth respectively.

HSBC head of consumer banking (Singapore) Wendy Lim estimates that there are over 300,000 expatriates residing in Singapore. She said: 'Singapore's safe, tax-efficient environment makes it an ideal location for expatriates to grow and protect their savings and investments.'

Singapore is home to one of HSBC's five offshore banking centres around the world, the others being Hong Kong, Dubai, New Jersey and Miami.
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Re: Singapore - General News

Postby Musicwhiz » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:50 pm

millionairemind wrote:When SPGs are fawning over you and your expenses are all paid by the company.. surely you will find it nice.. :D

My sentiments exactly. :lol:
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Re: Singapore - General News

Postby HengHeng » Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:31 pm

Go join a foriegn company become a v.p and get yourself employed in singapore as an expat.
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Re: Singapore - General News

Postby millionairemind » Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:08 pm

Singapore's June manufacturing output rises 2.5% on year
By Rachel Kelly, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 25 July 2008 1346 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore's manufacturing output rose 2.5 per cent in June, compared with the same period a year ago.

The headline figure was largely in line with market expectations.

Output was led by the transport engineering cluster, which grew eight per cent on year in June, with all segments in the cluster recording expansion.

The volatile biomedical manufacturing cluster grew four per cent compared with the year before, with output in the pharmaceuticals segment rebounding after a two-month slump.

Electronics saw an increase of 2.7 per cent on year, with semiconductor production staying flat.

Output of the chemicals cluster grew by 1.5 per cent in June, while that of the general manufacturing industries increased 0.6 per cent on year.

However, the precision engineering cluster shrank some 2.8 per cent in June, led lower by the machinery and systems as well as the precision modules and components segments.

Adjusted for seasonal variations, manufacturing output rose 4.5 per cent in June from a month earlier, reversing a decline of 6.2 per cent in May.

Manufacturing output numbers are closely-watched because the sector accounts for about a quarter of Singapore's economy.
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Re: Singapore - General News

Postby millionairemind » Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:31 pm

History keeps repeating itself in Singapore on HDB resale flats pricing.. just in different areas.

Not sure if you guys remember back in 96 when a high-floor executive maisonette in Bishan was sold for $840,000. Wonder if that family is crying now that the prices have not recovered since then...Wonder how they finance it if they are not flushed with cash??

Public housing hots up while private cools
SINGAPORE : Prices for public housing on the resale market have risen, while those for private property have moderated for the second quarter of 2008.

According to latest official figures, there has also been little upward movement in the private property rental market.

Data for the HDB resale and rental markets based on transactions in Q2 saw HDB’s Resale Price Index (RPI) up 4.5 per cent, compared to the 3.7 per cent increase for the previous quarter.

Reflective of the interest in public housing was the rise in resale transactions, from about 6,360 cases in the first quarter to about 7,760 cases in the second quarter, an increase by about 22 per cent.

Meanwhile, subletting transactions in HDB flats increased by about 15 per cent to about 4,120 cases in the second quarter from about 3,580 cases in the first quarter.

In contrast, the private property market was a little more subdued, with home prices increasing 0.2 per cent, the third straight quarter of slower growth, signalling a definite slowing of the four—year housing boom.

Prices for non—landed properties saw a modest 0.1 per cent rise compared with 3.7 per cent in the previous quarter as prices for condominium and apartments in districts 9, 10, 11, downtown district and Sentosa fell 0.1 per cent compared to similar properties in areas outside of the region which rose between 0.7 and 0.9 per cent.

As for landed property, prices rose 0.6 per cent compared with 3.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

Indicative of the cooling in the property market are the 43,473 new units still unsold from a total supply of 67,569 uncompleted units from private housing projects.

This number includes more than 12,000 which developers have held back from launch and another 28,282 which are pending approval.

— CNA/sf
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Re: Singapore - General News

Postby blid2def » Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:43 pm

millionairemind wrote:History keeps repeating itself in Singapore on HDB resale flats pricing.. just in different areas.

Not sure if you guys remember back in 96 when a high-floor executive maisonette in Bishan was sold for $840,000. Wonder if that family is crying now that the prices have not recovered since then...Wonder how they finance it if they are not flushed with cash??


Well, you assume they bought it to reinvest though. Maybe some old retiree flush with cash from his/her CPF withdrawal (yeah before all this Minimum Sum whatever thingie came in) just throw the money down, thick thick one wad of 840,000 $1 notes (back then still have $1 notes I think).

"So much money dunno where to spend, okay lah, buy a flat and live till die..."
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Re: Singapore - General News

Postby kennynah » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:34 pm

maybe long term investment....normal mkt price gyrations...dont matter....after all, it probably had at least some 85 years remaining...so, long term ...u know... fundamentally, bishan has Raffles Institution, circle line coming on, got Bishan shopping centre, next to toa payoh, next to ang mo kio, not too far away from orchard road and shenton way, not far from woodlands, heck, it's not far away from anywhere, and intrinsic value, some say was $900K, so this is such a value investment... as long as govt, doesnt decide to put up ERP gantries entering into bishan, dont raise taxes on the residents of bishan, RI dont move out, etc....all the fundamentals dont change.... then, dont worry...850K? what's 850K....?
every week, go bishan shoppign centre, see how the business is, study LTA plans for bishan, go to URA check their annual upgrading plans for bishan... make sure fundamentals dont change.... keep that investment and ....

wait a bit lah....revisit this again in 2030, then see the power of long term investing...sikarly, this bishan flat becomes 2.4million....multi-bagger woh....mai siao siao
Last edited by kennynah on Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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