DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 13, 14 & 15 November 2021 (Sat, Sun & Mon)

Singapore Real Estate

New projects on AXA Tower, PIL Building sites set to yield more office space
The redevelopment of ageing office properties in the central business district (CBD) may not necessarily lead to shrinkage of office space in the district in the mid to long-term, contrary to what some market observers expect.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/new-projects-on-axa-tower-pil-building-sites-set-to-yield-more-office-space

More HDB upgraders buying condos as resale flat prices rise
Singapore – More Housing Board upgraders are snapping up condominium units in a buoyant property market, spurred by resale flat prices climbing faster than those for private housing. The robust HDB resale market has enabled them to upgrade more easily to private homes.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/more-hdb-upgraders-buying-condos-as-resale-flat-prices-rise

Singapore Economy

PM Lee calls on Apec leaders to safeguard resilient, open supply chains
[Singapore] As countries work to strengthen their supply chains by moving production lines onshore, they should take care not to “swing to the extreme” and overlook the benefits of globalisation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday (Nov 12).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/pm-lee-calls-on-apec-leaders-to-safeguard-resilient-open-supply-chains
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/pm-lee-hsien-loong-calls-on-apec-leaders-to-safeguard-resilient-open-supply

Greater global leadership needed to rejuvenate globalisation and fight climate crisis: DPM Heng
A global leadership deficit led to a lack of international coordination in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, for instance in ensuring vaccine access for the least developed countries. And to navigate an uncertain and complex post-pandemic recovery amid stresses to the world order and rising geopolitical tensions…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/greater-global-leadership-needed-to-rejuvenate-globalisation-and-fight-climate
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/greater-global-leadership-needed-to-rejuvenate-globalisation-fight-climate-crisis

Companies’ Brief

Bukit Sembawang H1 net profit down 28% to S$53.4m
Bukit Sembawang Estates’s net profit for the first half ending Sep 30 fell 28 per cent to S$53.4 million, from S$73.7 million the year before. The group’s earnings per share dropped to 20.61 Singapore cents from 28.45 cents last year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/bukit-sembawang-h1-net-profit-down-28-to-s534m

Blackstone widens investor base with perpetual strategies
Blackstone is tapping into high net worth investors’ (HNWI) appetite for alternative investments, through the launch of open-ended strategies that offer a degree of liquidity. The strategies, under its perpetual segment of assets, are gaining traction.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/blackstone-widens-investor-base-with-perpetual-strategies

Singapore’s growing suite of Reit ETFs
Since the first listing by CapitaLand Mall Trust in 2002, the SGX-listed Reits and property trusts sector (S-Reits sector) has grown to become Asia ex-Japan’s largest Reits cluster with 42 trusts and a combined market capitalisation of over S$110 billion.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/singapores-growing-suite-of-reit-etfs

Corporate digest
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/corporate-digest-1501

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Road usage versus car ownership
Chia Ngiang Hong, President, Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS)
Although the quota system has been fine-tuned many times over the years to curb vehicle population growth in Singapore, the number of registered privately-owned cars continues to grow and COE prices remain volatile, pushing prices of cars upwards and inflating their actual value.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/views-from-the-top/road-usage-versus-car-ownership

Is a zero-Covid policy hurting China’s economic recovery?
While China’s exports are doing well, the government’s zero-tolerance policy on Covid-19 plus other factors are having an impact on aggregate demand and supply, posing challenges to its recovery. China’s slowing economic growth poses challenges for the world’s economic recovery.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/is-a-zero-covid-policy-hurting-chinas-economic-recovery

Living with Covid-19: Coming to grips with our anger and angst
They call it ennui. You know, that lingering mix of feelings of listlessness and tedium, of being adrift, bereft of neither a sense of anticipation, nor agency to shake the malaise off. In Singapore, we have a fine local equivalent for this French expression – xian – which just about sums up the sense of collective weariness over a pandemic that has loomed longer than most had imagined.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/living-with-covid-19-coming-to-grips-with-our-anger-and-angst

What will malls of the future look like?
Singapore – Jem was just one more big mall with the usual mix of shops and food outlets when it opened in 2013 but it has undergone a transformation over the past few years and now boasts a far quirkier retail line-up.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/what-will-malls-of-the-future-look-like

How not to fall into a bad investment
Singapore – Being misled into spending huge sums of money on financial products that result in big losses is a common predicament faced by elderly customers or less savvy investors. But you have legal options to take those responsible for your losses to task if you think they have the means to compensate you.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/how-not-to-fall-into-a-bad-investment

Tips to avoid online shopping scams
(Nytimes) – You are expected to do much of the holiday shopping online this year even as the pandemic recedes, and it is expected that criminals will be following along. So here are some tips for safe digital shopping.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/invest/tips-to-avoid-online-shopping-scams

Retail investors would benefit from more funds, perpetuals being classified as EIPs by MAS
Several years ago, I encountered a problem trying to invest in a small-cap equity fund through a bank. My relationship manager informed me that the fund did not match my stated risk profile – which was that of a conservative investor.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/retail-investors-would-benefit-from-more-funds-perpetuals-being-classified-as-eips

Hajjah Fatimah Mosque among 20 national monuments getting combined $2.24m for restoration, maintenance
Singapore – The Hajjah Fatimah Mosque stands tall in Kampong Glam, holding its own in an area known for iconic buildings such as the Sultan Mosque. It is one of the oldest mosques in Singapore and is affectionately nicknamed the Leaning Tower of Singapore due to a slight tilt to its minaret tower.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/hajjah-fatimah-mosque-among-20-national-monuments-getting-224m-in-total-over-past-two

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

Singapore reports 1,723 new Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths; weekly infection growth rate at 0.97
[Singapore] There were 1,723 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday (Nov 14), down from 2,304 a day earlier, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily report. The Covid-19 weekly infection growth rate dipped slightly to 0.97, from 0.98 on Saturday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-reports-1723-new-covid-19-cases-and-10-deaths-weekly-infection-growth
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/spore-reports-1723-new-covid-19-cases-and-10-deaths-weekly-infection-growth-rate-at

Preliminary data of Pfizer’s new Covid-19 pill ‘sounds promising’ but more data needed: NCID
Singapore – The preliminary data for Pfizer’s new antiviral pill “sounds promising”, said the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), adding that it is waiting for further data to be released before considering the drug for use in Covid-19 patients here.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/preliminary-data-of-pfizers-new-antiviral-pill-sounds-promising-but-more-data-needed-ncid

Growing focus on mental health at workplace as Covid-19 pandemic takes toll
Singapore – More employers in the public and private sectors are placing greater importance on protecting the mental health of workers under pressure in a pandemic that has lasted for nearly two years. While Covid-19 has made work more flexible for some, counselling services said the pandemic has taken a mental toll on many employees in Singapore as they grapple with longer working hours, social isolation and job insecurity.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/growing-focus-on-mental-health-at-workplace-as-covid-19-pandemic-takes-toll

Unvaccinated may face Covid medical bills of S$25,000
[Singapore] Singapore’s Covid patients who choose not to get vaccinated could face high medical bills. In general, Covid-19 patients who need both care in intensive care units and therapeutics in hospitals may have to pay about S$25,000 ($18,460), according to a median estimate released by the Health Ministry on Thursday, in response to Bloomberg News queries.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/unvaccinated-may-face-covid-medical-bills-of-s25000
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/covid-19-icu-patients-who-choose-to-be-unvaccinated-could-face-median-bill-of-25000

Why Covid-19 self-testing is not the norm for some S’poreans
Singapore – When chef Sameer Chablani, 37, goes to visit his parents – who are in their late 60s – he conducts an antigen rapid test (ART) on himself, waiting for a negative test result before he makes the weekly trip to their home.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/covid-19-self-testing-outside-of-work-medical-reasons-not-the-norm-say-singaporeans

askST: What is a valid pre-departure ART and how can I book one overseas?
Singapore – As of 11.59pm on Thursday (Nov 11), most travellers can take an antigen rapid test (ART) performed by a trained professional overseas before flying into Singapore. This applies to those returning via the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) and from countries in Categories II and III, which include Australia, Britain and the United States.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/askst-what-is-a-valid-pre-departure-art-and-how-can-i-book-one-overseas

Cheers and sighs of relief as Switzerland-Singapore VTL opens up
Zurich – Singaporean Evelyn Yeo was among the first travellers who made use of the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) between Switzerland and Singapore that started a week ago. “I spent four days visiting my family in Zurich,” the 42-year-old told The Straits Times while waiting for the inaugural VTL flight to Singapore on the morning of Monday (Nov 8).
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/cheers-and-sighs-of-relief-as-switzerland-singapore-vtl-opens-up

Singapore travellers can still enjoy quarantine-free travel to European VTL countries, minus Denmark
Singapore – Vaccinated Singapore residents will still be able to travel without quarantine to seven of the eight European countries that have vaccinated travel lanes (VTL) with the Republic. According to their border regulations, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain have yet to reimpose compulsory quarantine on travellers from Singapore despite the European Union (EU) raising its Covid-19 risk assessment of the Republic on Nov 9.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/spore-travellers-can-still-enjoy-quarantine-free-travel-to-european-vtl

Vaccinated travel lane to South Korea: 10 things you need to know
Masks? Checked. Hand sanitizer? Checked. Vaccination certificate? Checked. Singaporeans yearning to travel to South Korea on the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) can do so from Nov 15 when the bilateral agreement goes into effect.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/vaccinated-travel-lane-to-south-korea-10-things-you-need-to-know

*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 COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) situation