Singapore vs Hong Kong : Property market compare

How many houses are there in Singapore? Or in Hong Kong? A Straits Times article comparing Hong Kong's and Singapore's property markets are answering these questions as well as others. Here is the comparison:

Singapore

Singapore's population is 5.2 million and 82 percent of the people of the city state lives in public housing flats known as HDB (Housing Development Board in short). There are currently around 1.27 million houses in Singapore. Of these, 1.01 million, or 79.5%, are public housing units and 256,513, or 20.4 percent are private homes. In the current market, a five-room resale flat in Ang Mo Kio (average size of such flats is 1184 sq. feet), a heartland new town located in north central Singapore, is around 620,000 Singapore Dollars. With the median household income of $7,037, price-to-income ratio is around 7.3. 

A 6,755 square foot flat in The Opus in Hong Kong was sold for HK$ 430 million (S$69 M) making it Asia's most expensive flat in terms of square foot price. Photo - designboom

Hong Kong

52 percent of Hong Kong's 7.7 million population lives in private houses. There are currently around 2.16 million homes in Hong Kong. 51.3 per cent, or 1.11 million of these are private units, 33 per cent, or 728,000 are public rental flats and 14.8% are subsidized government units. Average price of a standard-sized 600 square ft flat is around 4.5 million Hong Kong Dollars ($725,000) and median household income is around 20,200 Hong Kong Dollars. This makes price to income ratio in Hong Kong around 18.6 per cent.

• Properties in both countries are severely unaffordable now with respect to internationally accepted standards (everything above 5% is severely unaffordable) but Singapore is still much better than Hong Kong in terms of affordability. I do not know why the writer gave 5 room flat as example since cheaper and smaller 4 room flats are more common in Singapore.
• Price to income ratio in both countries show that artificially low interest rate environment amid constant money printing in US, Europe and China is artificially creating artificial affordability in these levels for some (Variations in interest rates can mask or magnify structural affordability). When the interest rates goes up in the future, there may be a painful property bubble burst in both countries. 

Source : The Staits Times, Hong Kong Property Market : Hand-wringing over sky-high prices, September 6th 2012

Jim Rogers says 2013 slowdown will be worse than 2007 recession

You may hope for the best when it comes to global economic crisis, but if you listen to Jim Rogers you need to prepare for the worst. Jim Roger think that the latest European rescue plan will not work and will fall apart after the next German elections. "After the German elections we should be very worried" he says. European leaders are actually doing nothing to solve the problem but doing everything to push the problem to the future hoping that the problem will go away. Jim Rogers think Euro as we know it will not survive.

Jim Roger's say he is very worried about 2013. US had recessions every 4-6 years since the beginning of the  Republic. You can add, after the election 2013-2014 is 4-6 years and we will have a slowdown:

"In 2002 we had a slowdown. 2007, 2008 was worst because the debt was so much worst. Next time the debt is staggering, so the next time we have a slowdown, it will we worse because we have shot out all our bullets. I mean what we can do. Can I quadruple the debt again? Can I print even more money? " says Jim Rogers. So he thinks that slowdown is coming and 2013 slowdown will be worse than 2007 recession.

The only solution to the current economic problem is to cut the spending with a chainsaw. You should be cutting taxes not raising them.

Jim Rogers says 2013 slowdown will be worse than 2007 recession

Credit Suisse is not the only bank moving back office jobs outside Singapore

This week Singapore media reported that Credit Suisse is moving out "some" back office jobs out of Singapore. The news is based on a Financial Times article which reports that Credit Suisse is relocating dozens of back-office jobs from Singapore to India and Poland:

"Credit Suisse is relocating dozens of back-office jobs from Singapore to India and Poland as part of efforts to cut costs as some western banks find it more expensive to maintain staff to support the growth of higher-earning “front office” jobs in the Asian financial hub.

The development is a sign that Singapore is facing intense competition as a low-cost centre for banks’ back-office operations, even as its low tax environment and proximity to growth markets in Asia attracts top-earning investment banking and trading jobs from the west.

Source : Credit Suisse moving some Singapore jobs

Credit Suisse is neither the first or the only international banks to relocate back-office roles from Singapore to cheaper locations. As more international banks moved back office jobs from West to Singapore in the past decade, they also helped Singapore to become a very expensive location to make business. Although the taxes are low in Singapore, almost everything else is very expensive and the cost of both salaries and real estate has skyrocketed.

Cost cutting has fuelled the rise of Asian back-office centres in India and the Philippines, and to a lesser extent China and Malaysia. Banks – including ANZ, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, RBS, Standard Chartered and UBS – have relocated operations positions into emerging markets. RBS, for example, has shifted roles from Singapore and Hong Kong to India. Morgan Stanley last month moved about 80 back-office jobs from Singapore to India and Hungary. Non-client facing jobs at the junior or mid level are typically the most transferable. 

Source : An in-depth look at why Credit Suisse and its rivals are relocating back-office roles out of Singapore

Only Credit Suisse's move has been reported in the media in Singapore while I have not seen Morgan Stanley's recent 80 back-office job move anywhere.

According to Kyle Blockley, director, KS Consulting, offshoring out of Singapore started to gain momentum about two years ago:

 “Singapore has become a financial hub in one decade, which has been great for its growth, but detrimental for costs. Staffing is one of banks’ biggest expenses, so it’s to be expected that they search for cheaper locations.”
Source : An in-depth look at why Credit Suisse and its rivals are relocating back-office roles out of Singapore

Although there is still ongoing redundancies in Asia foreign finance professionals are still keen on Asia. But unfortunately, employers in the region are not as enthusiastic:

"Mark Enticott, managing director, ambition, Hong Kong, says: “There continues to be a high volume of expats wanting to move into Asia. The region is still perceived to be the growth engine of the world, but firms are mostly looking for candidates with local or Asian experience. Besides, employers aren’t willing to pay for expensive relocations.”"
Source : Four cold hard truths about Asia’s financial employment market

But there are also some positive news in this cost cutting spree. According to Bloomberg, Wall Street and European banks are transferring jobs from Japan to Hong Kong and Singapore to reduce expenses as the euro region’s debt woes dent global investor confidence. Tokyo is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates, according to ECA International’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey conducted in March. Singapore is 32nd and Hong Kong 36th. 

Hotels in Tioman Island: Berjaya Tioman Beach Golf & Spa Resort

Tioman Island is one of the best tropical holiday destination relatively near Singapore and it is very popular as a skuba diving, snorkeling or a simple weekend getaway from Singapore location. The island lacks roads on it which gives a real and relaxed isolation feeling. This makes Tioman Island a good place to relax after a busy work life in the city.

If you are thinking where to stay in Tioman Island, I will recommend Berjaya Tioman Resort on Tioman Island which in my opinion is one of the best resorts in Tioman. The resort is near Kampung Juara Beach and Asah Waterfall. The scenic location of this resort is great with miles of palm-fringed beaches, crystal clear waters and a rich fauna.

This tropical island resort has modern chalets spread over 200-acres of tropical rainforest and a private 18-hole golf course. Featuring one of the most beautiful beaches of Tioman Island, Berjaya Tioman Resort promises dive enthusiasts a magnificent experience.

This resort in Pulau Tioman has 268 air-conditioned guestrooms featuring minibars and coffee/tea makers. All accommodations have balconies. It also features 4 restaurants, a poolside bar and a bar/lounge are open for drinks.

Berjaya Tioman Island Resort on Tioman Island

Berjaya Tioman Resort features an 18-hole golf course with sweeping views of the South China Sea and rainforests. The resort's 2 outdoor pools have poolside bars and lounge areas. A tennis court (with night lighting), basketball court, and beach volleyball are located onsite. A fitness center has cardio and weight machines, as well as a sauna. Hotel staff can also arrange diving excursions or jungle treks nearby.

Tioman Island features a duty free store for shoppers. It is close by to the jetty (within walking distance) sells drinks for cheap.

Tips to stay in Berjaya Tioman Beach Golf & Spa Resort

• The resort is not cheap. Bring your own beach wear as it is a little expensive at the resort.
• Hotels restaurant is expensive but the food is much cheaper and nicer at the Thai restaurant/seafood bbq to the right of resort outside the gates.
• Definitely go for boat trip. For snorkeling bring a big pack of bread to hand feed the fish.

Brain haemorrhage (bleeding in the brain)

Brain haemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) is a type of stroke caused by an artery in the brain bursting and causing localised bleeding in the surrounding tissues. This bleeding kills brain cells. Although head trauma is the most common cause of the bleeding in the brain for those under 50, Untreated high blood pressure is a major preventable cause of brain haemorrhages. [1]

The only video I know which has recorded the time when a person had brain haemorrhage is the one below. Then 25 years old Turkish singer named Ebru Gundes was having a press meeting to introduce her new album in 1999 when she had brain haemorrhage. The event is recorded and at the time was widely circulated in Turkish press. The young woman cheerfully chats with press on her new album, career and personal life when suddenly (00:54 of video) she signals that she feels dizzy and in a few seconds looses her consciousness and falls on the floor.

Caution: Video below may be disturbing for you especially for the ones who lost health or loved ones to brain haemorrhage.


Ebru Gundes had two major operations after brain haemorrhage and has spent a lot of time away from the public eye, recuperating, and eventually she returned to full health and still active in music industry.

One of the most preventable cause of bleeding in the brain is untreated hypertension so make sure that you check your blood pressure regularly and if diagnosed with high blood pressure, do everything you can to control it like exercise, taking your medicines regularly, loosing weight and staying away from smoking.

[1] - Brain haemorrhage (bleeding): Causes, symptoms, treatments

Hamilton Scotts Sky-high parking in Singapore residence

Hamilton Scotts, a high end luxury development on Scotts Road, allows flat owners to keep their cars in their flats. The building has a special elevator which delivers your car right up to your apartment. And this comes with 7.5 million USD price tag (9.3 million Singapore Dollars).

Singapore's newly luxury development is not selling quite well as the other high end developments and only 40 per cent of these units are sold up to now. Since the apartment building, which is in a prime location 5 minutes walk away from Orchard Road, is completed now, developer is up for another marketing campaign.

If you are a foreigner and would like to own one of these flats for some reasons, you need to also pay 10%+ Additional Buyers Stamp Duty fee on the top of 3% stamp duty paid by buyers as a part of Singapore Governments property cooling measures.

Hamilton Scotts offers 54 private condominium units and 2 penthouses complete with en suite, elevated sky garages. It is developed by KOP Properties. Rents for the flats are starting from 20,000 Singapore Dollars per month.
  

Renting in Bedok Reservoir

Bedok Reservoir Road is a very good place to rent a condominium with new condominiums added to its portfolio and a large number of upcoming ones. The condominium units are right next to Bedok Reservoir which has a very nice park surrounding it and also is a very nice place to hang around. Since currently there is no MRT station, rentals are quite reasonable compared to ultra high rental prices of flats in Singapore. You can on the other hand take a bus to MRT with 10-15 minutes ride.

Aquarius By The Park, completed in 2002, has 720 units and according to URA data median rental prices in the condominium is S$3.27 per square foot per month as of Q2 2012. The condo offers resort like living with a very large swimming pool.

Right next to it is The Clearwater which is also completed in 2002 and has 420 units.Median rental prices in the condominium is S$2.73 per square foot per month as of Q2 2012. Although looks cheaper than its neighbour, the flats here are larger so the rental price range is almost same.

Baywater is a newer condominium next to The Clearwater and has 232 units. URA does not have any rental data for this condominium.

Waterfront waves is the newest kid on the block which is completed in 2011 and has 405 units. According to URA data, the median rental price for the flats in this condominium project is S$2.93 psf per month as of Q2 2012.

There are also projects under construction.  Waterfront Isle will be completed in 2015 with 561 flats, Waterfront Gold will be completed in 2016 with 362 flats and Archipelago will be completed in 2017 with 577 units.

There are also a large number of HDB blocks here which are cheaper to rent compared to near MRT HDBs in Bedok. One of my friends rented a 2 bedroom HDB flat on Bedok Reservoir Road for 1,700 SGD per month.

Ni hao, Kai Kai and Jia Jia

Kai Kai and Jia Jia, two giant pandas who will call Singapore home for the next 10 years, have arrived to Singapore. The pandas flew to Singapore on an overnight  Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 cargo freighter. The VIPs (Very Important Pandas) had arrived to Singapore at 8.20am this morning.[1]  A welcome ceremony was held at the JetQuay Terminal at Changi Airport, and Kai Kai and Jia Jia were brought to their new home at River Safari in a temperature-controlled vehicle. You can follow these pandas from their web site   pandas.riversafari.com.sg. Actually there is a live web cast stream showing their arrival to their new home in River Safari on pandas.riversafari.com.sg  now.

Kai Kai and Jia Jia will remain in quarantine until their public debut in December at the River Safari. This will make Singapore Zoo one of the 16 zoos outside China where people can see giant pandas.[2]

Kaikai (凯凯), the male giant panda, is a 3 years old while Jia Jia (嘉嘉) is 2 years old. Chinese usually give meaningful names to giant pandas on loan to reflect the relationship with the destination country. According to myfatpocket.com “Kai Kai”, means ‘victorious’ in Chinese and is a testament to the 20 triumphant years of Sino-Singapore relations:

"‘Jia’ (嘉) which means excellent, on the other hand, is a reflection of the excellent ties between Singapore and China. On another level, the Chinese character ‘Jia’ was used in the old Chinese reference for Singapore (星嘉坡) and the phonetic pronunciation of ‘Jia’ is equivalent to the Mandarin pronunciation of the Chinese character ‘加’ which is not only an integral part of Singapore’s current Chinese name (新加坡), but also means ‘to add’ – representing the wish to expand the giant panda family in Singapore through a successful breeding programme at WRS."
Source : Who’s Kaikai, and who’s Jiajia?

Kai Kai and Jia Jia were initially planned to arrive in Singapore in March 2012 but their arrival was delayed because their enclosure was not ready to house them until now and went through more changes. A team from China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) visited Singapore in February and requested for changes to be made to the $8.5 million panda enclosure. The changes included readjusting the position of light fixtures and adding grilles to air-conditioner ducts.[3] Singapore is the ninth country to receive the bears from China since the loan scheme began in 1994, and the fourth Asia-Pacific nation to be given the honour after Thailand, Japan and Australia.[4]

Pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia Arrive In Singapore, Sept 6, 2012

The River Safari is Wildlife Reserves Singapore’s latest addition featuring Asia’s first and only river-themed wildlife park.  It occupies 12 hectares and is being developed at a cost of S$160 million.  You can expect freshwater flora and fauna with over 150 plant species, 300 animal species and over 5,000 animal specimens.[5] Kai Kai and Jia Jia will be here on a 10-year loan from China and probably be the most popular attraction of upcoming River Safari. There are fewer than 1,600 giant pandas left in the wild and only about 300 giant pandas in zoos and breeding centres.[6] More than 99% of a giant panda's diet is made up of bamboo and they can eat over 20kg of bamboo every day. That's the equivalent of eating 100 bowls of rice a day!

According to The Straits Times, when Chinese giant pandas An An and Xin Xing were on display for 100 days in 1990 at the Singapore Zoo, they attracted more than 400,000 visitors.[4]

[1] - Pandas to receive five-star treatment in Singapore
[2] - Where to see a panda in real life
[3] - Giant pandas Kai Kai & Jia Jia arrive in Singapore
[4] - Singapore gives VIP welcome to Chinese pandas
[5] - PANDAMONIUM: Giant Pandas Kai Kai & Jia Jia Arrive 6 September
[6] - Pandapedia 

Calven Chik Foo Keong & Amanda Fong Kim Yen family tragedy went public on facebook

A family tragedy in Ipoh Malaysia went viral today on Facebook by a disturbing abuse family video put on Facebook by Amanda Fong Kim Yen allegedly showing her husband Calven Chik Foo Keong  hitting her in their co-owned shop. The video which can be watched here is a CCTV footage showing a man beating up a woman in a shop. According to the camera, the date of the event is 23 August 2012.

According to the uploader, Amanda Fong, the video shows the second session of abuse after she has came out from toilet vomiting. According to a note put by Calven Chik  Foo Keong his wife is pregnant now and their marriage is going through a very rock time due to her mother-in-laws interference.

Amanda Fong later wrote on her Facebook page:

"I AM AMANDA FONG KIM YEN, IM 19 YEARS OLD & IM 2MONTHS+ PREGNANT WITH CALVEN CHIK FOO KEONG'S BABY & I'M STANDING UP FOR MYSELF NOW. I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCE WITH ALL OF YOU OUT THERE HOW ABUSIVE MY HUSBAND IS BY BEATING ME UP TERRIBLY & HE HAD BEEN TORTURING ME. I'VE BEEN CRYING HYSTERICALLY, HAVING ABDOMINAL PAINS & TRAUMATIZED BY THIS EXPERIENCED. AS YOU CAN SEE IN THIS VIDEO HE WOULDN'T LET ME OUT FROM THE SHOP EVEN I WENT TO PRESS THE DOOR ACCESS. HE HAS PUT ME UNDER TREMENDOUS PRESSURE, HURT, PAIN & SUFFERING. I CANNOT ENDURE IT ANYMORE LONGER. I'M VERY TIRED OF LIVING THIS MISERABLE LIFE. I HAVE BEEN ACCUSED, SUFFERED FROM HUMILIATION, PHYSICALLY & MENTALLY ANGUISHED. HOW WILL YOU REACT IF YOU WERE IN MY POSITION & IT HAPPENED TO ONE OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBER?"

Singapore family violence video went viral in Facebook

According to http://joshuaongys.com which traced the timeline of the posts by both Amanda Fong and Calven Chik  Foo Keong on Facebook, the whole incident burst out on the 23rd of August when Amanda Fong uploaded a batch of pictures showing she was abused by her husband. On 30-31st August 2012, Amanda Fong uploaded 3 videos in total onto Facebook showing prove that Calven has mistreated/abused her.
Source : Abuse Case brought to Facebook – Calven Chik & Amanda Fong

You can also see this case in main stream media of Singapore today:

A 19-year-old girl has taken her marriage frustrations to Facebook after her husband allegedly beat her up ruthlessly. She also claims to be two months pregnant. The petite girl posted three videos showing CCTV footage which captured scenes of her husband bashing her and being aggressive toward her mother. 

It is unclear what the argument was triggered by. The woman said that she tried to escape by reaching for the door release button but was obstructed by her husband. In the videos, the young man can be seen pulling her hair, slamming her on the floor, sitting on her, choking her and dragging her across the room. 

Young pregnant girl bashed up by hubby

 Recently Malaysian Digest had an interview with Calven Chik in which he said "I know that there is no reason or justification for my actions and I cannot defend myself over this. It was something that I should not have done. I regret it". Here in Man in viral wife-beating video speaks up article, he tells his side of the story.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Tablet in Singapore

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is available in Singapore since August 25th 2012. The price is 798 Singapore Dollars for the WIFI-only version and 998 Singapore Dollars for the 3G and WIFI version. This fast tablet running on a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor is According to Vincent Chang, Samsung expects the Galaxy Note 10.1 to be available in the following Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines) by the end of September.[1]

Peter Yeo from Today tried and reviewed The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. The performance of The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Tablet is impressive and according to Peter Yeo it is faster than other tablets he has tried:

“Images and videos displayed on its 1280 x 800 screen are fast, crisp and vibrant. And audio - projected through its two front facing speakers - while not mind (or ear-drum) blowing do provide clearer sound over tablets with bottom-facing speakers. 

The quad-core processors also give the device the ability to multitask seamlessly. The tablet's 262mm x 180mm dimensions, which are slightly thinner but wider than Apple's new iPad (which measure 241.2mm x 185.7mm) allow for multiple screens to be opened on the Note 10.1 - well, two screens at least.  

A "third" screen can be added via its Pop Up Play feature (first seen in the Samsung Galaxy SIII smartphone), which lets users playback videos in a floating window that can be dragged around the screen and overlaid anywhere. Even with this feature turned on, and the screen split into two, I did not notice any lag in performance.”
Source : Galaxy Note 10.1: The writing's on the wall

Peter Yeo says he is sold to S Pen which provides greater control over picture manipulation in the pre-loaded PS Touch app by Adobe besides its basic drawing and sketching functions. S Pen stylus and the S Note application are the most the notable feature of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. S Note app is impressive in hand writing recognition. Besides converting handwriting into text, the S Note can also convert crude diagrams into shapes and search out complicated math formula through its Formula Match feature.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 can be switched on by pulling the S Pen out to start writing as well as by a switch on-off button.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Tablet is in Singapore

[1] - Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 now available in Singapore