DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 19 Jun 2020 (Fri)

Singapore Real Estate

4 properties put up for collective sale amid soft market
Some building owners here are trying their luck for a collective sale despite the battering that the commercial property investment market has taken in recent months. At least four buildings that have garnered the requisite 80 per cent backing of owners for a sale en bloc have gone on the market since the circuit breaker was partially lifted on June 2.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/4-properties-put-up-for-collective-sale-amid-soft-market

New commercial project planned in Changi
After opening Jewel last year, Changi Airport Group (CAG) has begun planning for another commercial project, although it may be some time before plans come to fruition. CAG secured provisional permission from the Urban Redevelopment Authority late last year to develop a retail, office and hotel project along Tanah Merah Coast Road.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/new-commercial-project-planned-in-changi

Singapore Economy

New model of cooperation needed to find solutions: DPM Heng
Amid the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic, countries must work closely together to find global solutions to common challenges, work out a new model of constructive cooperation and strengthen the global governance system, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/new-model-of-cooperation-needed-to-find-solutions-dpm-heng

Companies’ Brief

IReit Global bags five-year lease for office space in Barcelona property
IReit Global has secured a “pivotal” five-year lease from a tenant for 3,450 square metres (sq m) of office space in its Il∙lumina office building in Barcelona despite the Covid-19 lockdown, the real estate investment trust’s (Reit) manager said in a bourse filing on Thursday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ireit-global-bags-five-year-lease-for-office-space-in-barcelona-property-0

Mapletree North Asia gets interim insurance payout for HK mall
Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust has received an interim payment from its insurers for the damage to its Festival Walk mall in Hong Kong during protests in the city late last year. A partial payment of HK$45 million (S$8.1 million) was lodged in relation to estimated claims, the trust’s manager said on Wednesday night.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/mapletree-north-asia-gets-interim-insurance-payout-for-hk-mall

Mitsubishi, Keppel to study use of hydrogen to power data centres
Keppel Data Centres Holding and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Asia Pacific will explore the viability of a hydrogen-powered, tri-generation plant concept for data centres here. They will study how data centres supported by such plants can “meet the expanding needs of the digital economy in a safe, reliable and environmentally friendly manner”, they said yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/mitsubishi-keppel-to-study-use-of-hydrogen-to-power-data-centres

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Reimagining the future of residential real estate
As corporates re-evaluate their real estate strategies post-Covid, much has been said about the impact of work-from-home practices on the office sub-sector, and e-commerce on the retail sector. However, residential real estate has often been viewed as structurally undisrupted, particularly in Asean countries, given attractive demographics and urbanisation trends. After all, how do you replace living space?
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/reimagining-the-future-of-residential-real-estate

Singapore can weather this crisis
Over the last two weeks, Singaporeans have tuned in to a series of broadcasts by Singapore’s political leaders on the multi-faceted challenges the country is likely to face during the Covid-19 pandemic and those yet to come in the post-Covid world.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/singapore-can-weather-this-crisis

The changing nature of relationships
COVID-19 has had a profound impact on our views of ourselves, let alone our views of other people. Discovering the whole range of internet communications, including our ability to WhatsApp anyone we felt like talking to, was exciting even in the midst of a deadly disease.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/leadership-management/the-changing-nature-of-relationships

Firms must reinvent themselves so they are fit for rebound
Like many, we spent most of this week talking at screens filled with tiny little faces. Our own faces spent a lot of time on screens around the world. Kids took virtual music lessons from teachers thousands of kilometres away.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/firms-must-reinvent-themselves-so-they-are-fit-for-rebound

How Covid-19 is changing consumer patterns in SE-Asia
While Covid-19 may be among the most devastating of all black swan events to hit South-east Asia, it is by no means the first – and like previous crises in the world, it is introducing long-lasting changes to consumer behaviour and digital adoption.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/how-covid-19-is-changing-consumer-patterns-in-se-asia

Firing someone – the hard task of leadership
Many years ago, as a young executive on my first overseas assignment, I had the good luck to observe Mohan Vaswani, chairman of the Singapore-based Tolaram group, fire a senior leader for lack of performance.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/leadership-management/firing-someone-the-hard-task-of-leadership

No physical rallies, more TV airtime if General Election is held in Phase Two
Physical rallies will not be allowed, but candidates from every constituency will get television airtime if the next general election is held during Phase Two of Singapore’s reopening amid the Covid-19 pandemic, under preliminary campaigning guidelines released by the Elections Department (ELD) on Thursday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/no-physical-rallies-more-tv-airtime-if-general-election-is-held-in-phase-two
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/new-rules-for-ge-campaign-will-move-contest-for-votes-online
https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/sober-campaign-with-no-crowds-to-avoid-virus-spread

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

Dining in at F&B outlets during Phase Two
Singapore begins Phase Two of its re-opening on Friday, with a greater easing of restrictions to allow more business and social activities to resume. Virtually the entire economy will be reopened, although there are still strict limits on the number of people who can get together. Safe distancing is also a must.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/top-stories/dining-in-at-fb-outlets-during-phase-two

Malls, shops gear up to ensure safety measures and crowd control
While many shoppers may be cautious about heading out today – the first day of phase two of the economy’s re-opening – shopping malls and their operators are going all out to ensure everything is safe and ready.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/malls-shops-gear-up-to-ensure-safety-measures-and-crowd-control

Workers must continue to remain in dorms on rest days for now
Migrant workers must continue to remain in their dormitories on their rest days as the second phase of Singapore’s reopening starts today. This is to minimise the risk of a new wave of infections, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/workers-must-continue-to-remain-in-dorms-on-rest-days-for-now
*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