https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/owner-loses-5-room-hdb-flat-after-renting-it-out-illegally(https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/owner-loses-5-room-hdb-flat-after-renting-it-out-illegally)

SINGAPORE – The police said on Saturday they arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly murdering his 32-year-old wife at a hotel. On Saturday at 5.05pm, the man went to Marine Parade Neighbourhood Police Centre to tell officers that he had killed his wife at a hotel in East Coast Road, said the police. The Straits Times understands the hotel is the Holiday Inn Express Singapore Katong, which is located in Katong Square. When officers arrived at the hotel room, they found the woman lying motionless with a slash wound. She was pronounced dead there by paramedics. The man was arrested at Marine Parade Neighbourhood Police Centre. The police said a knife, believed to be the murder weapon, was recovered in the hotel room. The man will be charged in court on Monday with murder. Offenders convicted of murder can either face the death penalty or be jailed for life and caned. When ST arrived at the scene at about 10pm, there were at least four police vehicles parked near Katong Square. Two hotel guests said they did not know anything about the murder, and had been wondering why there were so many police vehicles in the area. The police are investigating. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/man-30-arrested-for-allegedly-murdering-his-wife-at-holiday-inn-express-singapore-katong(https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/man-30-arrested-for-allegedly-murdering-his-wife-at-holiday-inn-express-singapore-katong)

I believe this Mr Brad Lee has crossed the line, and the authorities should investigate him accordingly.

Singapore has not traditionally had a renting culture. Until recently, it was a given that young people continued to live with their parents until marriage. But times are changing, and some young Singaporeans today have values that converge sharply with those of previous generations. Renting a home away from one’s parents, once seen as a departure from conservative family values, is now becoming more popular as more young people choose to fly the coop in a bid for more space and independence. What is more, renting is no longer a temporary band-aid while waiting for purchased accommodation to be ready. According to the PropertyGuru Singapore Consumer Sentiment Study H2 2022, 2 out of 5 renters intend to continue renting for up to two years before buying a home, while 21% do not have a clear plan on how long they intend to rent. For those accustomed to thinking of renting as an egregious waste of money, this may come as a surprise. Let’s examine the reasons why Singaporeans are turning to, and staying in, the red-hot rental market. Study: Not Enough Savings, No Cheaper Options, and More One of the top reasons young Singaporeans turn to the rental market is cost. For some, it is the only way they can afford to move out of the family home since a property purchase is out of their reach, especially for most singles just starting out in their careers. The PropertyGuru Singapore Consumer Sentiment Study H2 2022 found that insufficient savings to purchase property was the top reason younger Singaporeans turned to the rental market. The 22 to 29 age group displayed this sentiment most strongly. This is unsurprising as young, unmarried Singaporeans are essentially locked out of the HDB market, which requires them to apply as a couple or family unit, or wait until they turn 35. The only option for unmarried Singaporeans under 35 looking to buy property is to turn to the private property market. However, private property is prohibitively expensive for many. While renting can seem like the most economical choice in the short term, in the long run the money spent on rent adds up, and to make matters worse, rental prices have been on the rise. According to the PropertyGuru Singapore Consumer Sentiment Study H2 2022, 1 in 3 renters is feeling affected by rising rental prices, pushing many to search for cheaper rental accommodation. 36% of the respondents who answered this question said they felt the pinch but could not find a cheaper home than their current rental accommodation, while 34% said they were looking for a cheaper place to rent. 38% of the married couples with kids who were renting accommodation said they were looking to purchase a property sooner due to the rise in rents. This group has relatively easy access to subsidised housing as they are eligible to buy BTO flats. Reasons on When Renting Makes Sense While there are many good arguments for homeownership, in some situations renting can be a smarter choice, especially for young Singaporeans who are eager to live independent lives. 1. Less of a Financial Commitment than Buying Although paying rent is a financial burden, renting a property is less of a financial commitment than buying one. Those who commit to buying property are usually signing up for years or even decades of debt. The upfront costs of buying a property are also extremely onerous and require the buyer to save up for a sizeable downpayment. By contrast, the upfront costs of renting, which may include a deposit and the first month’s rent, are much lower. In addition, renters do not have to worry about costs like property tax, home maintenance and Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) or be affected by restrictions like the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR). 2. Flexibility to Move and Upgrade Buying a home usually requires that you live in it on a long-term basis. For instance, HDB flat owners are required to live in their flats for a Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) of at least five years. This means that if the buyer gets a job that requires them to travel to the other side of Singapore, they will not be able to move to a more convenient location. Renters, on the other hand, are bound to their homes only for as long as their leases, and may also have the possibility in some situations of terminating the lease on short notice. This gives them the freedom to move house or even leave Singapore if they wish. This flexibility also allows growing households to upgrade their rental homes whenever their needs change. Those who buy property will have to go through the long process of selling their property and looking for a new one. If you need urgent accommodation, renting is a much faster process than buying. In most cases, the tenant can sign the rental tenancy agreement and move in almost immediately. Those who do not want to invest in furniture and appliances can even opt for the convenience of a fully-furnished rental home. Conversely, those looking to buy new HDB BTO flats now face a waiting time of three to five and a half years. Even uncompleted private condos can take more than two years to be completed. Those purchasing resale property, whether HDB or private, typically require at least three months for the transaction to be completed. This does not include time spent searching for a suitable property, attending viewings and waiting for market prices to be favourable. 4. Simpler in Terms of Paperwork For those looking to move into a new home fast, rental accommodation offers greater speed and flexibility. Finding rental accommodation in Singapore is not difficult, and mainly requires tenants to sign a rental agreement and pay a deposit. There is much more paperwork involved when it comes to purchasing a home, including making loan arrangements, which could require furnishing proof of income. In addition, those looking to buy an HDB flat will have to jump through additional hoops, including submitting an application to and attending appointments with the HDB. 5. No Need to Worry about Maintenance In many cases, the burden of maintaining rental property falls upon the landlord. Tenants thus do not need to worry about rectifying normal wear and tear. Issues such as leaks in the ceiling or ageing wall paint are usually the responsibility of the landlord, who agrees to bear the cost. It is, however, important to look at your rental contract so you know what exactly your landlord should be responsible for. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/5-reasons-young-singaporeans-prefer-000923435.html

About 48% of Singaporeans have low confidence in retiring comfortably, a survey by Etiqa Insurance found. The low confidence stems from their worries about finances and health post-retirement, the study stated. Findings showed that 84% of Singaporeans want to be financially independent, whilst 73% want to be physically independent post-retirement. Singaporeans also feel that their retirement won’t be as comfortable as they expect it to be due to fears of failing health (42%) and running out of funds (23%). According to Etiqa Insurance, the findings only show the need for Singaporeans to prepare for retirement as early as possible. “Singaporeans need to prepare for about two decades of post-retirement living. As life expectancy lengthens, issues on ageing take on greater urgency such as failing health and loss of income due to retirement,” Etiqa Insurance said. As per the study, only one in five Singaporeans started retirement planning from the age of 24 or even younger. https://www.msn.com/en-sg/money/topstories/almost-half-of-singaporeans-believe-they-won-t-be-able-to-retire-comfortably/ar-AA11xQH8

The Government announced and state media reported that the economy had grown by 4.4% in the second quarter on a year-on-year basis. This was itself a slowdown from the advance estimate of 4.8% announced in July though of course the downward revision was not admitted in the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) press release. To paint a rosier picture, MTI said this was faster than the 3.8% growth recorded in the first quarter. However reading a little further I discovered that far from growth having accelerated in the second quarter, it was actually negative. On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted annualized basis the economy contracted by 0.2% . This should have been the significant news since it is a snapshot of how the economy is actually doing now rather than compared with the past. The figure of 4.4% is particularly misleading because there was a “circuit breaker” (the PAP’s euphemism for lockdown) during the second quarter of 2021. One of the benefits of having an independent media, whose duty is to hold the country’s leaders accountable rather than to ensure that they remain in office enriching themselves with millions of taxpayers’ funds and passing out plum jobs to their children, spouses and relatives, then the negative growth would have been highlighted as it has been in the UK (where the economy contracted by 0.1% in the same period, a better performance than Singapore). and in the US. Furthermore our Statistics Department is just part of MTI and not independent like in the UK, where by law the Office for National Statistics is separate from the Government. However the fake presentation to make growth look much better than it is appears to be only scratching the surface of the manipulation that is going on at MTI. Economic growth since 2019 has been largely driven by manufacturing, with increases in manufacturing output accounting for 132% of the growth in the economy. This of course means that if we exclude manufacturing the economy would be smaller today than it was in 2019. Never mind the fact that manufacturing employs relatively few Singaporeans, from executive to factory floor level, even though many of the foreign executives may subsequently be fast tracked to citizenship without the inconvenience of having to serve NS like ordinary Singaporeans. Never mind the fact that the sector is largely foreign owned and its huge growth is likely only the result of enormous subsidies and zero tax concessions given by the PAP. In fact some of its output may be illusory and a transfer pricing exercise by MNCs from (relatively) high tax jurisdictions to low tax ones. Ireland has enjoyed enormous growth as well as a result of these fake tax accounting shenanigans without much impact on the real economy and the living standards of the Irish people. Similarly Singaporeans do not see much benefit from this growth in manufacturing output in terms of jobs or income. The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted the growth of high tech manufacturing in Singapore while pointing out it employed relatively few people and omitting to mention the subsidies and tax benefits that must be necessary to induce MNCs to build their factories here rather than in the US or Europe. However that is not the end of the story. I dug a little deeper and found some puzzling anomalies. MTI uses 2015 prices to calculate real GDP. I looked at the figures for current GDP and GDP calculated using “chained” 2015 prices. For instance, comparing 2021 with 2019 (the last year before the pandemic) GDP at current market prices was 4% higher but when measured at 2015 prices was only 3% higher. However when I looked at manufacturing these figures were reversed. At current prices the manufacturing sector had grown by 12.9% whereas using 2015 prices manufacturing had grown by a whopping 21,7%, nearly 9% faster. Using MTI’s 2015 prices therefore may be making manufacturing’s growth appear much higher than it really is and masking negative growth in the rest of the economy. It is usual for prices of manufactured goods, where there are economies of scale, to fall relative to services, where the scope for productivity improvements has historically been much less. Economists also try to capture the hidden growth coming from the fact that manufactured goods today will likely be of higher quality or have extra features compared to those in the past through what are called ‘hedonic’ indices. But the scale of the difference in only seven years leads me to suspect that something fishy is going on and we should be wary of PAP claims of rapid economic growth and rising real wages when evidence to the contrary is all around us. In fact if we used 2022 prices which would give a lower weight to manufacturing then it is possible that real economic growth since 2019 has been negative and especially so if we look at the part of the economy excluding manufacturing. It appears that all economic growth is now coming from manufacturing and that this growth in fact is highly inflated. Using 2015 prices, manufacturing has expanded its share of the economy from 20% to 23% over the last two years but at current prices the share is nearly 2% lower. We would like an explanation and justification from MTI for what appear to be serious discrepancies that call into question the Government’s triumphalism. However, given Lawrence Wong’s failure to answer my questions about discrepancies in the Budget, I will be long dead and Singapore will have vanished below rising sea levels before I receive an answer.. The true figures for GDP growth, like the fake Budget expenditure figures, the Net Investment Returns Contributions that do not really exist, and the theoretically enormous reserves that strangely never benefit Singaporeans are just a few of the mysteries that we need answers to. My dear late father was fond of the quote from John 8:32 , “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”. Perhaps one day Singaporeans will elect MPs who will demand answers to these fundamental questions, rather than ones who tiptoe around Parliament fearful of offending LHL, and by so doing at last achieve their freedom. Kenneth Jeyaretnam https://kenjeyaretnam.com/2022/08/12/more-fake-news-from-lhls-re-election-team-at-his-personal-statistics-department-and-media-monopoly/

China fired its most direct warning shot yet amid reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may visit Taiwan on Friday, saying that if the speaker's plane is accompanied by U.S. fighter jets, they would not rule out shooting them down. 'If US fighter jets escort Pelosi's plane into Taiwan, it is invasion. The PLA has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosi's plane and the US fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down,' Hu Xijin, a commentator with the Chinese state-affiliated Global Times, wrote on Twitter. Earlier China warned the U.S. against crossing a 'red line' as it released not-so-subtle warnings against the speaker, which China has reasoned is number three in line in U.S. government, from visiting Taiwan. The U.S. must be prepared to 'bear all consequences' if Pelosi chooses to visit Taiwan, Chinese foreign minister Zhao Lijian said in a briefing Friday. National Security Spokesman John Kirby said Friday the Pentagon has seen no indication of a military threat. 'We just don't have any concrete indications of something happening from a military perspective on the Chinese part,' Kirby said. 'There's no reason for it to come to come to blows, to come to increased physical tension. There's no reason for that because there's been no change in American policy,' he added. The speaker has not confirmed whether she will visit the island democracy during an Asian tour that includes stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. In response to a question about the potential Taiwan trip on Friday, Pelosi only said:'I don't talk about my travel because it's a security issue. The speaker added: 'The President earlier this term talked about a strong emphasis on the Asia Pacific ... and the Congress of the United States will be part of that initiative.' Still, tensions have mounted over the possibility, with the Chinese navy monitoring the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier's activities in the South China Sea. The Reagan and its strike group left Singapore on Monday and headed to the South China Sea. The nuclear-powered warship was cruising about 185 km (115 miles) from the contested Fiery Cross Reef on Thursday, according to the South China Post. If the vessels continue in the direction they are headed, they will reach the Taiwan Strait. Two other vessels - identified by Vietnam-based maritime observer Duan Dang as a Chinese Type 052D destroyer and a Type 054A frigate - were seen 27km and 23km away. Meanwhile the Chinese navy is conducting military exercises off its southern coast near Guangdong, following exercises in nearby Hainan province. President Biden said last week the Pentagon thought a Taiwan trip was 'not a good idea.' 'Well, I think that the military thinks it's not a good idea right now,' Biden said in response to a question about Pelosi's reported trip. 'But I don't know what the status of it is.' Biden and President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone Thursday, where China claimed to have offered a stiff warning ahead of the unconfirmed trip. Chinese state media released some excerpts from the call, including Xi telling Biden: 'Those who play with fire will only get burnt. Hope the U.S. side can see this clearly.' More at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11062421/China-warns-fighter-jets-escorting-Pelosi-Taiwan-shot-down.html

SINGAPORE — Veteran editor PN Balji seems to be vexed by one pressing issue in Singapore more than any other: the fourth-generation (4G) leaders and the challenges they will continue to face amid the longstanding “groupthink” approach of the government. Known for his trenchant analysis of Singapore’s sociopolitical affairs, Balji addressed the 4G leadership issue extensively in a new book, “Transition: The Story of PN Balji”, which was released earlier this month. Written by former media veteran Woon Tai Ho, “Transition” arose from his regular casual coffee meetings with Balji. From these meetings, the CEO of media consultancy Rights Asia asked Balji for his views on the key long-term challenges facing Singapore, and about his family life and career. The ongoing pandemic has exposed the lack of decisive leaders in the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) government, as attested by the stop-start and inconsistent safe management measures to combat COVID-19, according to Balji, who was previously the top editor at TODAY and The New Paper. “In my book, today’s leaders must be bold enough to throw the old playbook away and start afresh with new ideas and thinking. They must have a rebellious streak in them, like Lee Kuan Yew and, to a smaller extent, Goh Chok Tong,” said the media consultant. He was unrelenting in his candid assessment of the 4G leaders, saying that they are “not up to the mark”. Unlike the previous generations of leaders, the current leaders dare not make difficult and hard decisions, according to Balji. While Balji still gave a passing mark to the 4G leaders, when measured against the gold standards of their predecessors, he gave them a score of 6.5 out of 10. They have performed poorly while at the forefront of tackling what Balji considered as possibly the crisis of the century. “The enemy is invisible, and it mutates. Leaders need to make hard decisions and have the ability to convince the public to follow. In the last two years, I have been very disappointed with these leaders.” Shortcomings of COVID-19 taskforce Balji also questioned the handing over of the portfolio of Health Minister from Gan Kim Yong to Ong Ye Kung last year while Singapore was still in the midst of the pandemic. He argued that even a capable politician needs time to be fully operational and called the move a “knee-jerk response”. Similarly, Balji said the pandemic decision-making process revolving around a triumvirate of Ong, Gan, who is now Trade and Industry Minister, and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong reflects a “distinct lack of self-confidence” among the leaders and has led to public confusion over their messaging. In a crisis, one person has to lead the charge to give clear directions, according to Balji. “When you don’t have that kind of leadership, and instead have three ministers fronting a crisis, and when tough questions are asked, they look at each other. It doesn’t give me confidence. In a crisis, responsibility cannot be shared.” PAP has also not managed its succession planning well, Balji said. The author of "Reluctant Editor" cited the example of how former Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, the original successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, fumbled on the political stage on two notable occasions. He referred to the motion proposed by Heng to ask the Workers’ Party MPs Low Thia Khiang and Sylvia Lim to recuse themselves from financial matters relating to the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, during which Heng stumbled badly and had to be assisted by Lee to argue his case. It was “painful” to watch Heng “so lost and unprepared”, he added. The other occasion was when Heng bungled while making a speech on Nomination Day during the 2020 General Election. Heng’s gaffes highlighted how Singapore’s “political succession is still stuck in the mud”, Balji argued. Groupthink is PAP's Achilles’ heel PAP's shortcomings are largely due to its groupthink approach of running the country, according to Balji. Despite the government’s arguments that it has drawn alternative ideas by recruiting former critics in the public service and that it pays highly competitive salaries, Balji is not convinced. “They rely on the same means of recruiting new members into their party, their groupthink is their Achilles’ heel.” Balji mentioned, for instance, the significant role that the military plays in Singapore politics – an issue that the book says “many know but few want to highlight” – in which top military personnel retire and later get senior political and administrative positions. Following the anointment of Wong as Singapore’s next PM, Balji was asked about his leadership potential. Balji was somewhat impressed by Wong, saying that the 49-year-old Marsiling-Yew Tee MP “exudes confidence and communicates clearly” and is prepared to move away from the establishment’s conventional ways of running the country. Nonetheless, he warned, “The 4G leadership knows that hardliners in Cabinet are waiting to pounce on them if they stray too far away from PAP’s ideology. It is this game they must win if Singapore is to enter a new era of governance and politics.” https://sg.news.yahoo.com/fourth-generation-leaders-pn-balji-new-book-085054006.html

A netizen shared a story about how she became a social escort to pay off her bank loan after dropping out of university, and she has remained doing so because the money is too good. Here is her story​ “I was introduced to the world of social escorting when I was still studying for my university degree, which my parents took a loan of about $30k to pay for. They tasked me with the responsibility of repaying the loan, and I was fine with it because I’m the one studying for the degree after all. However, I soon dropped out because I lost interest in what I was studying; in fact, I completely lost interest in studying. As expected, I had a huge fight with my family over this because they reckoned I was wasting money, to which I said don’t worry about it, I will still pay off the bank loan myself. Anyways, I started working part time at a pub as a waitress to service outstanding the bank loan and also to earn a little money to survive because my parents decided to stop giving an allowance altogether; during this while I got to meet a lot of interesting people and often drank with them. I subsequently encountered a rich man in his mid 50s, who offered me $500 to sleep with him. At that point in time that seemed like a lot of money, naturally I obliged. We hooked up a few more times and eventually, he offered to “bao” me and pay off my parent’s bank loan, even inviting me to travel abroad with him. I told him that he couldn't just pay off the loan at one go as it would arouse my parents' suspicion. Instead he gave me a monthly allowance of $3k, and we met every other day to hang out, drink, party and have sex, all expenses fully paid by him. Suffice to say this experience opened my eyes to a whole new world of opportunities; besides my new sugar daddy, I also started escorting on the side and sleeping with other men for additional income. I rake in about $10k per month from just letting the men do whatever they wanted with my body, which is way more than what my degree could possibly fetch insofar as a level entry position is concerned. My bank loan has since been fully paid, and I am still getting money from my sugar daddy as well as my other escorting work. I don’t think I’m gonna stop any time soon. In fact, I don't want to.”

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