DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 8, 9 & 10 Feb (Sat, Sun & Mon)

Top Story

Build for the future

This week’s topic: What longer-term issues should Singapore’s 2020 Budget address?
Prioritising efforts to enable enterprises and workers build deep capabilities to enable the successful transformation of our economy remains crucial. So does preparing and grooming our children early in life through continuous learning to be leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs of the future. In view of prevailing growing anti-globalisation sentiments and our small domestic market, it is imperative that our government, institutions, enterprises and people double-up efforts to build strong partnerships, both within and outside Singapore, and making the region and the world our stage and our market. Climate change is another important longer term issue and this can take the form of enhancing infrastructure and other pre-emptive measures to combat rising sea levels, urban heat and carbon footprint to ensure a more liveable environment. Fostering a caring and inclusive society, strengthening our social fabric and mitigating growing unease over social inequality and divide is also important.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/views-from-the-top/singapore-budget-2020/build-for-the-future

Singapore Real Estate

Coronavirus may hit building projects using pre-fab work too
It’s not just about labour shortages anymore. Construction delays and higher costs of building are expected to be aggravated by disruptions to the construction supply chain as some Chinese factories remain shut until further notice due to the novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak. Some builders said that it will especially affect projects using the pre-fabricated pre-finished volumetric construction (PPVC) method, which involves building entire units in factory conditions, then assembling them on-site Lego-style.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/coronavirus-may-hit-building-projects-using-pre-fab-work-too

Coronavirus: Ripple effect felt by Singapore’s building sector
The coronavirus crisis has left Mr Andy Lim in limbo, wondering if he should go ahead to commit to several commercial projects that have been in discussions for the past few months. This is because Mr Lim, who owns GF+A Projects which supplies tiles to condominiums and hotels, has not been able to confirm the delivery of tiles from China. He said: “The current situation is also (making it) challenging for me to travel to China to inspect the tiles.”
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/ripple-effect-felt-by-spores-building-sector

Reits (February 8-9, 2020)
Highest-yielding real estate investment trusts
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/reits-february-8-9-2020

Singapore Economy

Budget 2020: A need to tackle long-term transformation, sustainability issues
Immediate support aside, the upcoming Budget 2020 should also address longer-term issues such as economic transformation, digitalisation, the environment, and the ageing population, said business leaders.
As previously announced, the Budget will include measures for sectors hit by the novel coronavirus; support for firms to adjust to re-employment and retirement changes; and details of a support package for the upcoming goods and services tax hike.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-budget-2020/budget-2020-a-need-to-tackle-long-term-transformation

Companies will be hit harder by supply chains disruption than during Sars outbreak
The impact of factory closures and cuts to transport links across China will have more far-reaching implications for businesses compared with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) epidemic of 2003, say market watchers, even as they stress that there are still too many questions surrounding the novel coronavirus outbreak.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/companies-will-be-hit-harder-by-supply-chains-disruption-than-during-sars

Factories feeling the strain from supply and labour shortages
Manufacturing companies in Singapore are beginning to feel the strain from supply chain disruptions and labour shortages, as China enters its third month of grappling with the fallout from the novel coronavirus outbreak.Hubei province, the centre of the outbreak, is one of China’s major manufacturing hubs in the steel, automobile and electronics sectors while the adjacent Henan province is a primary production base for the Taiwanese company Foxconn, Apple’s largest contract manufacturer and assembler of iPhones.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/factories-feeling-the-strain-from-supply-and-labour-shortages

DBS cuts Singapore’s 2020 growth forecast to 0.9%
DBS Group Research has downgraded its growth forecast for Singapore’s 2020 real gross domestic product (GDP) to 0.9 per cent, from 1.4 per cent previously. This takes into account the likely hits to consumer and business sentiment, tourism and the regional supply chain from the novel coronavirus outbreak, DBS senior economist Irvin Seah said in a research note on Friday. “The economic outlook is supposed to be……
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/dbs-cuts-singapores-2020-growth-forecast-to-09

Companies’ Brief

CRCT’s Q4 DPU slips 3.3% to 2.34 S cents on enlarged unit base
Capitaland Retail China Trust (CRCT) on Friday posted a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.34 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter, down 3.3 per cent from 2.42 cents a year earlier. This was partially due to an enlarged unit base in Q4 2019 following a private placement in August and preferential offering in September.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/crcts-q4-dpu-slips-33-to-234-s-cents-on-enlarged-unit-base

Frasers Property unit acquires manager of Singapore malls, office building
Frasers Property on Monday announced that Frasers Property Retail has entered into an agreement to acquire property manager AsiaMalls Management for an undisclosed sum. AsiaMalls Management manages a portfolio of five malls in Singapore: Century Square, Hougang Mall, Tampines 1, Tiong Bahru Plaza and White Sands. It also manages a 20-storey office tower, Central Plaza, along Tiong Bahru Road.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/frasers-property-unit-acquires-manager-of-singapore-malls-office-building

Frasers Prop unit sets up A$2b multicurrency debt issuance programme
A unit of Frasers Property has established a A$2 billion (S$1.87 billion) multicurrency debt issuance programme, the property developer said on Friday morning. Under the programme, the issuer – Frasers Property AHL – may offer notes and perpetual securities in Australian dollars or any other currency that is agreed on between dealers of the programme and the issuer.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/frasers-prop-unit-sets-up-a2b-multicurrency-debt-issuance-programme

Frasers Property first-quarter earnings up 9.5% to S$159m
Frasers Property on Friday saw first-quarter net profit rise 9.5 per cent to S$159.4 million, lifted by improved revenue. But looking ahead, the group also identified two key situations – the coronavirus outbreak and the bushfires in Australia – that may have some impact on parts of its operations.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/frasers-property-first-quarter-earnings-up-95-to-s159m

Property stalwart
In an age of job-hopping millennials, Alistair Elliott, senior partner and group chairman of Knight Frank, jokes that he must come across as really dull to some of his younger colleagues for sticking with the same company throughout his career. “I started straight after college. My dad was a farm manager. I think I probably wanted to go into farm management. Somebody, possibly wisely, said: ‘If you’re thinking about property, you can come back to farm management. Go and study commercial property, it’ll be more exciting’.”
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/the-raffles-conversation/property-stalwart

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Over half of new 2-room flats bought by seniors, says HDB
Slightly more than half of all new two-room flats have been bought by seniors aged 55 and above since the two-room Flexi Scheme was introduced in 2015. Of these senior buyers, about nine in 10 opted for short leases ranging from 15 to 45 years, in five-year increments, with the 40-year lease being the most popular, according to the Housing Board yesterday. HDB offered about 28,900 units of the two-room flexi flats between the first November 2015 sales exercise and Dec 31 last year.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/over-half-of-new-2-room-flats-bought-by-seniors-says-hdb

Forum: Build eco-link at old fire station site
It is heartening to learn that the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) requirements for developers of the 260 Upper Bukit Timah Road site include that it must serve as a base to explore surrounding attractions. Not only that, developers must also set aside 410 sq m within the site for a visitor centre run by the National Parks Board (Old fire station site ready for spruce-up, Jan 20).
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/build-eco-link-at-old-fire-station-site

Forum: Inspections stepped up to ensure public toilets are kept clean
We thank Mr Seah Jin Wah for his letter (Ensure adequate washing facilities in public toilets, Jan 30). Public toilet operators play a key role in facilitating good hand-washing habits. Operators are legally required to equip public toilets with basic amenities such as an adequate supply of liquid soap, toilet paper, hand dryers or paper towels, and litter bins, and maintain them in good working order.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/inspections-stepped-up-to-ensure-public-toilets-are-kept-clean

Forum: Airbnb stays may pose risk in fight against coronavirus
Tourists are booking accommodations in Singapore through Airbnb listings that I believe are primarily in private estates, although short-term stays of less than three consecutive months in private homes are illegal. Such tourists and the owners of these short-term-stay units are probably less stringent about recording details of whom they come into contact with, as well as with disinfecting the units.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/airbnb-stays-may-pose-risk-in-fight-against-coronavirus

‘Game On’ for Sentosa Golf Club to go green
Sentosa Golf Club (SGC) – voted the World’s Best Golf Club at last year’s World Golf Awards – is sparing no effort to adopt more sustainable practices for the long haul. The club wants to help the local golf community be more aware of the global threat of climate change. SGC is taking the lead in becoming one of the most recognised eco-friendly golf facilities, and soon it will produce a toolkit – named “Game On” – for other clubs to follow suit using best practices for environmental sustainability in golf club and golf course operations.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/life-culture/game-on-for-sentosa-golf-club-to-go-green

Update on 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Situation

MAS advises financial institutions on additional measures amid higher coronavirus outbreak alert level
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/mas-advises-financial-institutions-on-additional-measures-amid-higher-coronavirus

Fear and panic can do more harm than coronavirus: PM Lee
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/fear-and-panic-can-do-more-harm-than-coronavirus-pm-lee

Coronavirus: Adequate supplies of essentials, no need to hoard, says FairPrice CEO Seah Kian Peng
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/adequate-supplies-of-essentials-no-need-to-hoard-fairprice-ceo

Coronavirus: Singapore to review strategy if cases climb
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-to-review-strategy-if-cases-climb

Singapore raises risk alert for novel coronavirus to Orange
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-raises-risk-alert-for-novel-coronavirus-to-orange-0
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/move-to-orange-alert-reflects-heightened-virus-risk-moh
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/moh-steps-up-virus-response-after-3-new-cases-with-no-known-source

Avoid shaking hands to lower risk of getting infected: MOH
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/avoid-shaking-hands-to-lower-risk-of-getting-infected-moh

Foreign staff recently in China need MOM OK before returning
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/foreign-staff-recently-in-china-need-mom-ok-before-returning

From Disneyland to Christmas Island: Unlikely but possible quarantine sites
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/from-disneyland-to-christmas-island-unlikely-but-possible-quarantine-sites

*For more information, please visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) website at www.moh.gov.sg and refer to go.gov.sg/mohupdates for updates on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) situation