TR EMERITUS

I'm writing about my displeasure with the YOG. All of NTU's sports teams have been inconvenienced by the YOG. We've been forced off campus facilities when we've paid school fees ($6000+++) for this. Not even restricted hours, just CLOSED 24/7. I mean, I'm fine with the YOG being in Singapore, but why have NTU's own students been demoted to a class lower than 14-18 year olds that Singaporeans don't really care about? I'm the captain of my University sports team and our preparations for an upcoming competition have been very much inconvenienced by the Games. Also, I have lessons in school almost daily. I used to have hostel accommodation, but was forced to move out to let the athletes take my room. As such, I have to travel a total of 2hours30min to and from home. This is not counting walking 10minutes from the bus-stop to the classroom because the bus has been re-routed. Previously, the bus-stop was in front of my school. Not fair AT ALL.   Darren  Read More →

With the elections around the corner, beleaguered PAP National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan quickly announced that HDB would be building some 16,000 BTO flats in 2011 to meet rising demand from home buyers which raise the question why he had not done so earlier. The prices of HDB flats have sky-rocketed in recent years due to a limited supply of flats in the face of growing demand caused partly by the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore. Though the PAP announced its ambitious plan to increase Singapore's population to 6.5 million people via immigration way back in 2005, the number of flats built between 2006 - 2008 is the lowest over the years. Only 3,183 flats were built in 2008 when Singapore accepted 20,000 new citizens and 90,000 PRs who were allowed to purchase resale flats in the open market by the PAP regime. [Source: HDB Financial Report 2008/2009] As there are insufficient new flats being built to meet the demands of both Singaporeans and the new citizens, many have to purchase flats in the resale market, thereby jacking up prices in the process. Below is a graph illustrating how the rise in the prices of resale flats coincides with the rise in the number of foreigners in Singapore between the years 2000 and 2008, courtesy of Kojakbt, the moderator of 3in1kopitiam: While Mr Mah has admitted he had been "caught off-guard" by the astronomical prices of HDB flats, he is adamant that they are affordable to Singaporeans and chided home-buyers for being "fussy" and having "unrealistic" expectations. With increased disgruntlement towards him from the citizenry, Mr Mah appeared to change his tact lately by saying there is an "imbalance" in the supply of new flats. "Going forward, I can safely say that we will continue to see this growth, and therefore we are preparing for continued supply. We are confident it will be taken up. It will be at least 16,000 new flats," he was quoted as saying in Channel News Asia. He also urged flat owners not to compete with first time home buyers in the resale market:  "If you're a second-timer, you already have a flat to stay in. And if it's not urgent, please consider holding back a while, until the resale market stabilises," he added. The increasingly unpopular Mah is likely to face the wrath of voters in the next general election. However PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew warned that Singaporeans will be DAFT if they cast a protest vote against Mah and flat prices will drop should he lose his seat in Parliament.   Debunking official myths of HDB flats series: 1 Myth 1: Singaporeans are “owners” of their HDB flats 2. Myth 2: HDB flats are “affordable” to most Singaporeans 3. Myth 3: Rising prices of HDB flats “generate” wealth for Singaporeans   Related articles: >> Median COVs hit a record high >> $300,000 for four-room BTO flats in Punggol >> Mah Bow Tan: HDB flats are still affordable to first time flat buyers >> Why Mah Bow Tan’s policy of high HDB flats is wrong >> Letter to Mah Bow Tan on HDB policies >> Singaporean want govt to allay anxiety over HDB leasehold >> Mah Bow Tan embarrassed by Reform Party’s Hazel Poa >> Mah Bow Tan: “Unrealistic” expectations to blame for unhappiness about flats >> Taiwanese PR paid record $ 650,000 for 4-room resale flat >> Grace Fu: PRs are helpful to HDB flat owners selling their flats >> HDB launches “traveling exhibition” to trumpet its achievements in the heartlands >> PAP to upgrade 12,000 HDB households ahead of next election >> Mah Bow Tan: We do not want flat prices to go down >> Prices of resale flats to rise further as PR quota reached >> Taiwanese PR offers $50k COV for resale flat >> Mah Bow Tan: PRs have minimal impact on resale flat prices >> No empirical evidence to suggest that public housing is affordable in Singapore >> When will Singapore’s property bubble burst? >> Why HDB is unable to reveal break down costs of new flats now >> HDB to consider introducing rules to curb property speculation >> HDB blames Singaporeans for not selecting flats when given the chance >> Singaporeans worried about retirement after depleting CPF to pay for over-priced HDB flats >> Mah Bow Tan acknowledged that rising HDB flat prices has sparked “fresh concerns” >> PM Lee: Govt does not have control over prices of resale flats” >> COVs of resale flats shooting through the roof >> HDB resale price index hit record high in 2009 >> Singaporean wants PRs to live in rented flats instead of buying resale flats >> Singaporeans wants PRs to be banned from selling HDB flats at a profit >> Shanmugam: Singaporeans likely culprits for driving up HDB flat prices >> Mah Bow Tan: HDB flats remain affordable >> Means testing for PRs to buy resale flats >> Immigration and public housing: should the govt or people plan ahead? >> Grace Fu: hard to predict demand for housing >> Indonesian PR bought 4-room flat at $653,000 >> Mah Bow Tan asks home buyers to be realistic >> PAP MP blames young couples who cannot get a flat for not planning ahead >> Home affordability: HDB versus the public >> Demand vs supply: so many applicants, so few flats >> Number of applicants exceed number of flats >> HDB to increase supply of flats >> Mah: don’t compare with prices in the past >> ERA: 40 per cent of HDB flat buyers are PRs     Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans. This page is maintained independently by a TR reader.   Copyright © 2009 – 2010 The Temasek Review  Read More →

SINGAPORE promotes itself as a model of financial integrity. But, officials in Jakarta say, the wealthy city-state is a haven for some of the most corrupt Indonesians and their ill-gotten gains. Singapore denies that it turns a blind eye to dirty money and says that if sufficient evidence is provided, it is ready to take “swift and necessary action” against corruption suspects. But Indonesia’s Deputy Attorney General Darmono said: “Singapore is the most strategic country for corruptors to run away to. “It’s geographically the closest to Indonesia and the policy of the Singaporean government enables corruptors to live there,” he told AFP. Precise information on the extent of the illegal wealth allegedly smuggled out of Indonesia to Singapore is hard to find due to the small republic’s strict bank secrecy laws and the sensitivity of the subject. But a report by Indonesia’s financial intelligence unit in late 2006 said around 200 fugitives from Indonesian state debt were residing there. Three years ago extradition requests were lodged with Singapore for 15 corruption suspects, but the process has stalled due to complications surrounding a 2007 extradition treaty, Indonesian officials said. In a recent update to lawmakers, Darmono said most of 18 suspects currently subject to extradition requests over corruption were hiding in the city-state. Another 10 had fled abroad, mostly to Singapore, but were not subject to extradition requests, he added. The suspects include bankers who siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars in state bailout funds during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, and tycoons of illegal logging, according to official and independent sources. “They are living the life there. Their lifestyle in Singapore is above the average,” Indonesia Corruption Watch activist Emerson Yuntho said. Arif Havas Oegroseno, director general for law and international treaties at the foreign ministry, said the proceeds from corruption were more than enough to fund lavish lifestyles in Singapore. “As they’ve invested huge sums of stolen money, which are increasing in value over time, they no longer need to work,” he said. The Indonesian Supreme Court convicted businessman Djoko Sugiarto Tjandra on June 11 last year for embezzling Rp546 billion (US$60 million) of state funds linked to bank bailouts in 1999. Like other suspects before him, he fled to Singapore on the eve of his conviction and is now the target of Indonesia’s latest request for extradition, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said. A spokeswoman for Singapore’s Attorney-General’s Chambers did not comment on Tjandra’s case. “Requests for mutual legal assistance are confidential,” she said. On March 25, Indonesian officials reported that Gayus Tambunan, a 30-year-old tax official wanted in connection with a suspicious Rp25 billion in his bank account, had fled the country for Singapore. He was apprehended there a few days later by Indonesian police, prompting questions from officials and journalists in Jakarta about why this suspect was so easy to repatriate when others continued to live freely in Singapore. “Businessmen have a wide reach to anywhere; they have no boundaries. Civil servants have limited reach,” explained Attorney General Supandji. Another fugitive is Anggoro Widjojo, a businessman who police allege bribed officials to win a forestry ministry contract. He initially fled to China but police and graft investigators said that when they wanted to talk to him last year, he was in Singapore. Indonesia’s anti-corruption watchdog – the Corruption Eradication Commission – accuses him of launching a long-distance campaign through his Jakarta-based brother, Anggodo, to frame investigators probing his case. “Our concern is that Indonesia often makes the list of countries with high corruption levels. But there are other countries with low corruption levels that become the places of residence for Indonesian corruptors,” Oegroseno said. Indonesian economist and politician Dradjad Wibowo estimated that up to $120 billion worth of “grey money” from Indonesia had flowed through Singapore, despite that state’s clear laws against money laundering. “More than half of that money is funds from corruption, finance-related crime or other crimes such as illegal logging,” he said. “We hope Singapore will show goodwill but it can’t claim to be one of the world’s cleanest and best governed countries while still existing as a bolthole for Indonesian corruptors.” The situation has stoked frustration among senior Indonesian officials for years, but they appear to be reluctant to speak out about it for fear of riling Singapore’s leadership. When the frustration does boil over, they accuse Singapore of undermining an Asian neighbour’s fight against corruption – deemed vital to Indonesia’s economic and democratic development – in order to enrich its banking sector. “The country’s income comes mainly from selling (financial) services, and with more money floating around it has the opportunity to strengthen its economy,” said Darmono, the deputy attorney general. “It tries to gather as much foreign capital as possible. Unfortunately, the incoming funds include ‘illegal funds.’” Then-vice-president Jusuf Kalla was blunt in a 2007 interview with the Financial Times. “They’re thinking on the business side… That’s all it is. It strengthens Singapore’s economy,” he said. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa avoids such stridency, but told AFP he planned to hold “informal talks” with Singaporean leaders about the issue later this year. “What we want to be focusing on is not necessarily the legal instrument but more the political commitment,” he said, referring to the long-delayed extradition treaty. He added that Indonesia believed Singapore recognised “the importance of dealing with these cases” and helping its neighbour to “enforce its core positions” against corruption. Singaporean officials bristle at the suggestion the regional financial hub’s integrity is being muddied by illegal loggers, dodgy tax officials and shady businessmen from across the Malacca Strait. “Singapore takes a serious view of crimes committed in Singapore and will not tolerate any criminal or illicit activities being conducted through Singapore,” the spokeswoman for the state’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said. “In regard to foreign corruption fugitives, as long as sufficient evidence is provided to show that money laundering or any other offence has been committed in Singapore, the law enforcement authorities will take swift and necessary action to investigate and/or seize assets.” Indeed, Transparency International ranks Singapore as one of the cleanest countries in the world – and Indonesia as one of the grubbiest. Singapore was the world’s third cleanest country on Transparency’s corruption perceptions index for 2009, the only Asian nation in the top 10. Indonesia was a lowly 111th. Under Singapore’s Corruption, Drug Trafficking and other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, any person who knows or suspects that property may have come from criminal conduct is obliged to report this information. But a 2008 report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body tasked with developing international policies to fight money laundering and terrorist financing, rated Singapore as only “partially compliant” with its recommendations. It said “no enforceable powers have been exercised to require financial institutions to apply stringent or additional … counter-measures” in relation to money from countries that do not abide by FATF standards. Singapore’s money-laundering laws were “not effectively implemented” and there was a focus on domestic cases, leaving foreigners largely unmolested, it said. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said the report “affirmed the high standards” of Singapore’s anti-money laundering regime and rated the state on a par with Britain and the United States. “In particular, the integrity of Singapore’s financial system is safeguarded by our rigorous customer due diligence measures as well as clear and efficient process for mutual legal assistance,” a spokeswoman said. “These procedures are applied to both local as well as foreign customers.” But in a study released in December on illegal logging in Indonesia, Human Rights Watch described Singapore as a “safe haven” for cashed-up Indonesian corruption fugitives. It said that while Jakarta bore the main responsibility for requesting assistance and pursuing cases, Singapore had to “ensure that its own banking and anti-money laundering regulations are rigorously enforced”. Human Rights Watch added that Singapore had an international duty to ensure it did not allow its banking system – the cornerstone of Southeast Asian finance – to be used to wash dirty money. “Although proud of its strong ratings on fighting corruption domestically, Singapore in particular is often used as a safe haven by business tycoons fleeing law enforcement in Indonesia,” said the report, entitled “Wild Money”. “Corrupt fugitives from justice continue to reside peacefully and house their assets unmolested in Singapore.” Indonesia’s parliament has not ratified the extradition treaty because of Singapore’s insistence on linking it to defence ties, officials in Jakarta said. Foreign Minister Natalegawa said the pact was in “abeyance” due to “complications in the way it was presented and the way the discussions developed”. “That notwithstanding, there is still room for cooperation between our two governments,” he added.   By Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo Agence France-Presse  Read More →