New flat prices: Getting it right

Oct 2, 2012

By Colin Tan

The fuss over public housing just cannot seem to go away.

For one, people have been alarmed at the dramatic rise in the cost of public housing in recent years. Since HDB resale prices hit the trough in 3Q 2005, the resale price index has risen by 95.5% over the past seven years.

While statistics are not available on new flat prices, it is safe to say new flat prices have also risen significantly - if not by the same quantum - as they were closely pegged to resale flat prices until about a year and a half ago.

Rapid and sharp increases in prices are not just obstacles to new households but to all potential upgraders and future households.

Hence, we can understand the deep concerns held by many over the high prices for public housing flats.

More recently, the sector has drawn a lot of publicity from the sale of the first public housing flat for a million dollars.

If you have been monitoring the HDB resale market, you will know that for several months now, the market has been continually testing this benchmark but has not been able to breach this one million dollar mark until recently.

As rightly pointed by some, these high prices are the exceptions for “special” flats rather than the norm.

Singapore: the hyphen connecting the world and Asia

Sep 29, 2012

Singapore must continue to be diplomatically neutral and economically opportunistic to thrive

By PARAG KHANNA For the straits times


WITH the convening of the recent Singapore Summit, the "Little Red Dot" has proven its outsized role and importance on the world stage.

As one participant remarked, never has such a large market capitalisation been assembled in one room. I participated in the full summit, and came away with the view that Singapore's unique position and potential contributions to the world in the decade ahead were capably demonstrated.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered the kind of confidently tech-savvy speech unimaginable from any other head of state, even the BlackBerry-wielding United States leader Barack Obama. He didn't just name drop robotics companies, the online learning portal Coursera and our increasingly social relationships with digital avatars, but used these to highlight the "ruthless competition" Singapore's workers will face as technologies accelerate, rise up the value chain and displace even white-collar labour.

A newsman's take on Singapore journalism and shifting OB markers

Sep 02, 2012

Cheong Yip Seng, former editor of The Straits Times and editor-in-chief of the English and Malay Newspaper Division of Singapore Press Holdings, has a book due out later this year called OB Markers: My Straits Times Story. In an interview with Stephanie Garcia of The New Asia Media, he tells how the space for doing journalism in Singapore has changed, keeping pace with the political environment.
 

Stephanie Garcia: What are "OB markers" and how did they affect your work during your 43 years at The Straits Times?

Cheong Yip Seng: OB markers, or out-of-bounds markers, is a term used in golf to indicate boundaries on the golf course your ball must not stray beyond without incurring a penalty. In Singapore, it is also commonly used to lay out the limits to the freedom of expression, some of them mandated by law. Singapore's political leaders are convinced that OB markers are necessary for effective governance. Hence, they have strong regulatory powers over the media. Newspapers, for instance, have to apply annually to renew their publishing licence, a law introduced during British colonial days.

A future of our own making

by Devadas Krishnadas

Todayonline  Aug 30, 2012

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech not only hit notes of humility and sincerity, its positive reception was reinforced by his indications that some long sought-after policy adjustments, such as paternity leave, would be finally forthcoming.

This willingness to shift was underscored by the announcement of a national conversation. This is intended to feed input to the general review of policies to be headed by Minister Heng Swee Kiat. Such a step signals a new "co-creative" model of policy making.

For such a model to work, Singaporeans must play their part. It begins with participation. As one cliche goes, "decisions are made by those who show up". Today, "showing up" can be done virtually as well as physically. However, participation alone is an insufficient threshold to ensure that this experiment succeeds.

Section 377A of the Penal Code

Aug 25, 2012

CHATROOM | ALVIN YEO

Constitutional cases 'rare'

A Court of Appeal decision this week to allow a claim challenging the constitutionality of the law criminalising sex between men to be heard in court has sparked much debate on the issue. Two legal experts give their views.

By goh chin lian


SENIOR Counsel Alvin Yeo is an MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC and a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law.

What do you think of the case being heard in court, and what are the key issues?

The key issue before the court was whether the plaintiff's contention - that Section 377A of the Penal Code is unconstitutional - is so unarguable that the case should be struck out even without a full hearing on the merits.

Within that key issue are a number of sub-issues, including whether the plaintiff had locus standi (or the legal standing) to bring this claim.

Singapore's changing political landscape

Aug 17, 2012

PRIMER

This primer is the final instalment of a 12-part series in the Opinion pages, in the lead-up to The Straits Times-Ministry of Education National Current Affairs Quiz.

By Lydia Lim Deputy Political Editor

• PEOPLE describe General Election 2011 as a watershed election. In what way did it mark a new phase in Singapore politics?

SINGAPORE will hold its next General Election in about four years' time.

By then, 2016, most of you who are taking part in this year's current affairs quiz will be of voting age, that is 21. More likely than not, you will have a chance to cast your vote, and elect your Member of Parliament. You could say voting in elections is a new norm in the so-called "new normal".

How so?

In the decade from 1991 to 2001, the number of seats contested by the opposition in each election fell, from 40 out of 81 in 1991, to 36 out of 83 in 1997 and finally to just 29 out of 84 in 2001.

Why Chinese Officials Are In Love With The Singapore Model

In this article, Kyle Spencer explains why China is enamored with SG's economic and political model, but how the Chinese underestimate the task ahead of them of emulating SG (in part if not in whole, and if this is indeed their intent).

However, the reasons for China's interest in the Singapore Model makes for a compelling argument for Singapore as an investment interest, and Spencer makes this argument well.

Inevitably, there will be conspiracy theorists and Singapore bashers who seem to crawl out of the woodwork and trot out their pet conspiracy theories as to how Singapore succeeded (they need to justify to themselves why their own country is in the shits pits, despite having more natural resources, despite having more people, despite having more land, despite having history on their side).