TR EMERITUS

OPINION The prices of HDB flats have reached a record high in recent months. While an increasing number of Singaporeans are complaining that they are being priced out of reach of public housing, PAP leaders are adamant that they remain affordable. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan who has come under increasing fire lately for his failure to control flat prices went on a tirade against home buyers on the media castigating them for being "fussy" and having "unrealistic" expectations. Young couples who are married or planning to get married are the hardest hit by the sky-rocketing prices. They are unable to purchase a resale flat due to the high Cash-over-Valuation (COVs) demanded by sellers. The only choices left to them is to wait three to four years for a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat which are not cheap too or stay with their parents. As such, some Singaporeans are postponing their marriages and starting a family thereby contributing to Singapore's declining birth rates. Can young couples afford a HDB flat nowadays? Are Singaporeans postponing marriages because of the astronomical prices of HDB flats? Let us hear from some Singaporeans on what they have to say:   TR Policy Forum, 18 April 2010 If you are planning to get married soon and cannot afford a private or resale flat, will you wait a few years for a BTO flat, stay with your parents or rent a place to stay in the meantime?   Clarence: I won't get married   WecoupleOng: ya we also in the same situation.. still waiting 4 BTO 2 ready..   Muhammad Khairi: I am getting married soon and we have resigned to living apart for 4 yrs while the flat is being built.... we cant afford the resale flat nor can we afford the sky high rental now...so I guess starting a family will have to wait... This is when the gov calls for us so called "CITIZENS" to start a family soon.. what a JOKE.. u hear that PAP what a JOKE!!!!!   Temasek Review: Minister Mah puts the blame on Singaporeans for not planning ahead. If you have decided to get married, it's better to plan 2 - 3 years in advance not only for the flat, but for the wedding, honeymoon and other miscellaneous matters as well.   Sri Raam: By the time BTO is ready,how sure that 'one' will survive the marriage.   Lena Ong: Me & my hubby just got ROM last year end and we got our BTO... also have to wait for 4 years for the flats to be ready... meanwhile we stay apart... cant afford the expensive COV resale flats owners requested.... i guess thats life in SG... most of us are middle class income group, how do we save up 50k in our bank within 10 yrs to pay for our future home (deposit, furnitures, renovation, etc..)?   Kelvin Wong: The fact is inflation is always higher than our increment. Even if the increment hits the ceiling, the inflation still goes up. Those who start with $2k salary 10 years ago like me could plan for 5rm HDB but for those who start or still earning $2k now, you may be only able to afford a 4rm or less. From the beginning of our career, our salary are just enough to get a 4/5rm but unfortunately, situation just get worst and it just ended up the average earner nowadays are having weaker buying power as each day passes. This is a rat race that I knew I will never win in SG. Fortunately, I got my wife's blessing and am now working at overseas earning twice the salary. At least for now, I know I have a fair chance of winning the race both in SG and overseas.... See More Don't be discouraged. Always look out for opportunities and if there is any, be bold and go for it. Even if it doesn't work out well, at least you have tried. Coz if you ever let go an opportunity, likelihood it will never come back again.   Don Heng: Wait for BTO while also waiting for market to crash and fold like a deck of cards. Meanwhile, have to stay with my wife's family becos my mum's 3rm is too tiny. Was crazy and offered $40K COV sometime ago for a 3rd floor unit. I thought no one's crazier...turns out some PR offered $45K. Dunno to be happy that I saved the $, or sad that even $40K COV cannot get a 3rd floor unit   Shinigami: Stay with my parents. coz no way me and my fiance can afford a damn house. not even a 2 room flat becoz recently while looking at house price, a 2 room flat costs 245k. what a joke!  I'm fortunate that my fiance is living with his mum... He's the only child so he has a room to himself. Only prob is when my baby grow older she'll have to squeeze in the same room as us... And coz my mum is the babysitter I'll have to shuttle between homes... Nope I die also won't rent. Even more no privacy and that's an EXTRA COST! Right now I can't afford any other extra costs already. Renting also not a long term solution and definitely getting quite costly.   Temasek Review: It's amazing to hear so many young couples being priced out of the public housing market and are forced to stay with parents or postponing their marriages. How come these cases are not reported in the mainstream media? Any SPH journalists here care to explain why?   Read the entire discussion on our Facebook here.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent The Temasek Review will be setting up its own "Policy Forum" to provide an alternative feedback channel to the PAP's REACH forum and to serve as an incubator for fresh ideas to bring our nation forward. We will be conducting discussions on current affairs and national policies on our Facebook page here on a regular basis. Readers are encouraged to offer their frank views and feedback on issues concerning them pertaining to our nation's immigration, labor, housing, education, economic, social welfare and other policies as well as to propose changes to them. They will be housed under a subsection "Policy Forum" under our "Opinion" category and will be included in the Notes under our Facebook Page. These policy proposals will be refined along the way to reflect the genuine concerns and aspirations of all Singaporeans. We hope that these series of proposals will form the basis of a common alternative manifesto for Singaporeans by Singaporeans. The opposition is most welcomed to adopt any proposals we made in our policy forum. With public disgruntlement against the PAP at an all-time high now, the opposition is expected to make significant inroads in the next general election. The opposition should not be contented merely with providing opposition to the PAP in Parliament as some voters may not be swayed by this usual rhetoric to vote for them. It should aim higher - to form the next government of Singapore and in order to do so, it must provide a comprehensive manifesto to tell Singaporeans what they propose to change in the system and policies to make Singapore a better place for everybody. The nine day campaign period is far too short to get their message across. The campaigning starts right now in cyberspace where it can reach out to tens of thousands of young voters in the matter of weeks if not days. Please email us at [email protected] if you have any suggestions or ideas to contribute to our policy forum.  Read More →

[email protected] Following last week’s theme on the business of sports, TR tours the globe this week to find the top 8 most valuable sports team today. Some names on this list are more familiar than others, but to be honest there will be no surprises. ___________________________________________________________________________________ 100% Statistics – based on data compiled by Forbes and correct as of the summer of 2009 ___________________________________________________________________________________ NB – this ranking is a measure of gross value, thus level of debt is not included in the determination of value. 8 ) New York Giants, American Football, United States (US$1.18 billion) The 2008 Super Bowl Champions come onto this list as number eight. The Giants compete with the New York Jets for fans around the New York metropolitan area and are clearly the more popular of the two. This season, the Giants will also move into a state-of-the-art 82,500 stadium, boasting a 60% increase in attendance from their previous stadium. Also, the waiting list for a Giants’ season ticket is 25 years. 7) Arsenal, Football, England ($1.2bn) The Gunners may have been trophy-less since 2005, but thanks to their 60,000-capactity Emirates Stadium and sky-high ticket prices, they had been increasing in value as a sports team. Arsene Wenger’s tight budget policy had definitely contributed as well, as the Gunners make profit from player sales more often than not. Debt and ownership issues remain pertinent, though. 6) Real Madrid, Football, Spain ($1.29bn) Real Madrid is officially the most successful football club in the last century, though successes had been few and far between in the current one. However, on the back of their history, they had become one of the most valuable teams in the world. Their spending power in the transfer market is second to none, as proven this summer when they broke the transfer record twice in a month. The aim for the next few seasons will be on the pitch though, as they try to usurp the dominance of Barcelona. 5) New York Yankees, Baseball, United States ($1.3bn) By far the world’s best known baseball team, the Yankees rake in multi-million annual revenue from their own cable network, global merchandise sales and sell-out crowd at the new Yankee Stadium. They have a larger payroll than any other sports team in America as they seek to replicate the successes of their early days. For the record, the Yankees have won 27 World Series titles (also the defending champions), almost three times more than any other team. 4) New England Patriots, American Football, United States ($1.32bn) The franchise was founded back in 1959, but the past decade entirely changed the course of history for the team. Four visits to the Super Bowls (winning three of them) since 2001 had tripled the value of the team and made them one of the most supported in the sport. These days, the Patriots sell out every home game at the 69,000 Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. 3) Washington Redskins, American Football, United States ($1.5bn) The Redskins is one franchise which had managed to increase its value without showing equivalent success on the field over the years. They had not won the Super Bowl since 1991, but through heavy marketing and lucrative advertising deals, this franchise is the leading revenue generator in the American Football. 2) Dallas Cowboys, American Football, United States ($1.6bn) Just like the Redskins, the Cowboys have not been ultra-successful on the field. Their last Super Bowl was won back in 1995. The franchise’s high value is largely because it had broken away from a NFL merchandising collaboration scheme years ago and had started a one of their own. And a very successful one too. Last year, they moved into the 80,000 state-of-the-art Cowboys Stadium. The naming rights to this stadium has yet to be sold and that deal alone is expected to fetch hundreds of millions more for the franchise. 1) Manchester United, Football, England ($1.8bn) Surprise, surprise. According to Forbes, Manchester United is the most valuable club in the world as of the summer of 2009. Its global reach in terms of fans is second to none these days, with fan clubs set up literally all over the world. The difference in England is that the fans are not interested in this type of commercialisation – being owned by the Glazer family is largely seen as negative in the country. The debt situation is also worrying, with reports stating that the club is paying almost $50m a year to service its debts. Well, at least they are not short of suitors and fans.  Read More →