DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 26, 27 & 28 June 2021 (Sat, Sun & Mon)

Singapore Real Estate

Tender opens for Marina View site triggered at S$1.508b, closes Sep 21
The white site at Marina View that was said to be triggered by IOI Properties – first identified by The Business Times – has been launched for sale by public tender. The tender for the land parcel will close at noon on Sep 21, 2021, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/tender-opens-for-marina-view-site-triggered-at-s1508b-closes-sep-21

HDB terraces: Sers not a high possibility, say analysts
Two-storey terraced houses with spacious living areas and mini front porches complete with gates – these sound like private landed properties, but the Housing Board block sign gives them away. HDB terraced houses – a rarity in Singapore’s public housing – have come under the spotlight after a record sale of a 210 sq m unit in Whampoa for $1.268 million this month…
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/hdb-terraces-sers-not-a-high-possibility-say-analysts

Singapore Economy

Singapore’s business landscape will depend on what ‘new normal’ looks like
Singapore’s business landscape could depend on what the “new normal” of endemic Covid-19 looks like, industry players told The Business Times. This came in the wake of more hints on the post-pandemic playbook, dropped by the national multi-ministry taskforce on Thursday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapores-business-landscape-will-depend-on-what-new-normal-looks-like

More new businesses set up in spite of pandemic
Companies were hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic last year but local entrepreneurs still managed to defy the downturn to open a striking number of new businesses. There were 63,480 new enterprises last year – a period that included Singapore’s worst recession since independence – up from 61,573 in 2019.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/more-new-businesses-set-up-in-spite-of-pandemic

Singapore, UK launch negotiations on digital economy agreement
Singapore and the UK have kickstarted negotiations on a bilateral digital economy agreement. The UKSDEA, as it is called, seeks to facilitate digital trade and open up new opportunities in the two countries and their respective regions by making it easier to do business digitally between the two countries.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-uk-launch-negotiations-on-digital-economy-agreement
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spore-uk-launch-talks-on-digital-economy-agreement

Huge jump in Singapore’s May factory output
Manufacturing output in Singapore saw a huge jump last month, helped by a low base a year ago amid Covid-19 circuit breaker measures. Factory production expanded 30 per cent year on year – a seventh straight month of growth, according to data released by the Economic Development Board yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/huge-jump-in-singapores-may-factory-output

Companies’ Brief

CapitaLand to divest partial stakes in six China projects to Ping An for 46.7b yuan; deal to yield net proceeds of over S$2 billion
CapitaLand has entered into conditional agreements with Ping An Life Insurance Company of China to divest partial stakes in a group of companies that own six of its Raffles City developments in China, the group said on Monday in a stock exchange filing.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capitaland-to-divest-partial-stakes-in-six-china-projects-to-ping-an-for-467b-yuan
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/capitaland-to-divest-partial-stakes-in-six-raffles-city-properties-in

Keppel unit divests stake in Thailand-listed ARIP for 60.7m baht
Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation (Keppel T&T), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Apsilon Ventures, has divested its 20.05 per cent equity interest in ARIP Public Company Limited to Min Intanate for 60.7 million baht (S$2.6 million).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-unit-divests-stake-in-thailand-listed-arip-for-607m-baht

Good occupancy for industrial, data centre S-Reits
With the support from rental reliefs and government incentives, the average occupancy rate of Singapore’s Reit sector (excluding hospitality Reits) dipped marginally from approximately 96 per cent as at March 31, 2020 to 95 per cent as at March 31, 2021.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/good-occupancy-for-industrial-data-centre-s-reits

Corporate digest
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/corporate-digest-1406

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Girding up for adaptive living
Chia Ngiang Hong, President, Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS)
An anticipatory and proactive plan to build resilience into cities’ urban systems and operations to mitigate and better prepare for potential crisis is crucial. It is most important to have an all-encompassing continuity and crisis management plan involving close private-public-people sector collaboration supported by a robust digital infrastructure and inter-operable platform.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/views-from-the-top/girding-up-for-adaptive-living

Learning to live with the coronavirus
Focus, stamina and leadership are required to transition out of the pandemic. Contrasting approaches seen across the world are instructive as Singapore prepares for the next big step in its public health strategy: accepting that the coronavirus will be here to stay and chalking out the best path to normalcy.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/learning-to-live-with-the-coronavirus-0?login=true

How to get out of a pandemic funk
“It will be great to welcome you back to New Zealand sometime soon.” This advertisement at the bus stop, while attempting to convey joy and hope, really grates when I see it. It harks back to what is normal. And only serves to reinforce a sense of the “new normal” that we are faced with.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/life-culture/how-to-get-out-of-a-pandemic-funk

Strategists flag near-term risks for Bitcoin price outlook
Strategists are struggling to see a turnaround ahead for Bitcoin, at least for now, as the digital coin looks to consolidate above the US$30,000 level. The near-term setup is “challenging”, a JPMorgan Chase team including Josh Younger and Veronica Mejia Bustamante wrote in a note on Friday, while Fundstrat Global Advisors’ David Grider recommended reducing risk…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/strategists-flag-near-term-risks-for-bitcoin-price-outlook

The Games must go on – at what cost?
October 1964, Tokyo Olympics: Singapore’s hockey wizard Douglas Nonis scores a crucial goal in Malaysia’s 3-1 defeat of Canada, and ecstatically raises his stick to the familiar faces on the crowded stands of the Kamazawa Hockey Field as his teammates rush to embrace him.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/brunch/the-games-must-go-on-at-what-cost

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

CGH cluster grows to 10 cases, including NUH porter
Five of the dozen Covid-19 community cases reported on Sunday have been linked to the cluster at Changi General Hospital (CGH). They include a 24-year-old woman who works as a porter at the National University Hospital, a 16-year-old Republic Polytechnic student and a 69-year-old woman who is a healthcare assistant at CGH.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/cgh-cluster-grows-to-10-cases-including-nuh-porter
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/12-new-community-cases-including-five-linked-to-cgh-cluster

Free self-test kits for Bukit Merah, Redhill residents
Residents collecting antigen rapid test kits at Block 119 Bukit Merah View yesterday. People living in certain parts of Bukit Merah and Redhill could get the free self-test kits from their nearest residents’ committee centres in a two-day distribution exercise that began on Saturday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/free-self-test-kits-for-bukit-merah-redhill-residents

A few stalls reopen at Bukit Merah View market
The 115 Bukit Merah View Market and Hawker Centre, which is at the centre of Singapore’s largest open Covid-19 cluster, reopened yesterday after a two-week closure. However, fewer than 10 out of the centre’s 182 stalls were open for business when The Straits Times visited at 8.30am.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/a-few-stalls-reopen-at-bukit-merah-view-market

Residents of 66 Eng Watt Street get tested
Residents from a block of flats in Tiong Bahru trickled slowly into a pavilion for mandatory Covid-19 swab tests yesterday morning. This comes after 13 residents from three households at Block 66 Eng Watt Street tested positive for the coronavirus, and the Health Ministry is hoping to disrupt any wider, undetected community transmission.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/residents-of-66-eng-watt-street-get-tested

Jump in vaccination bookings with more slots offered
When he heard that more vaccination slots would be made available, Mr Wren Chee, 21, immediately moved his vaccination appointment forward by about two weeks. Mr Chee, who is waiting to enrol in Nanyang Technological University, received his first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine yesterday. It was originally scheduled for July 12.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/jump-in-vaccination-bookings-with-more-slots-offered

Fully vaccinated people protected from Covid-19 but can pass disease to others
Singapore – People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 generally do not get seriously ill even if they get infected with the virus. However, they could still transmit it to others. Associate Professor Raymond Lin, director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) National Public Health Laboratory…
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/fully-vaccinated-people-protected-from-covid-19-but-can-pass-disease-to-others

Relief for retail, F&B outlets as diners return to malls
Retail outlets and food and beverage (F&B) outlets have benefited from the easing of dine-in rules. The Sunday Times visited Paragon, Ion Orchard, Jem and Westgate yesterday and dropped in on 11 F&B outlets and nine retail shops across the four malls.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/consumer/relief-for-retail-fb-outlets-as-diners-return-to-malls

Perks for those who get Covid-19 jabs may nudge the undecided
Singapore – As Singapore accelerates its vaccination drive, more perks are being dangled for people who get vaccinated, a move that could persuade the undecided to take the jab. The lure of easier travel, for instance, was a factor in spurring Ms Eliza Xue to change her mind about not getting shots for herself and her children, aged 17 and 19.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/perks-for-those-who-get-jabs-may-nudge-the-undecided

Vaccinations in overdrive
Singapore aims to vaccinate two-thirds of people here against Covid-19 by National Day, but not everyone wants the shots. Should the vaccination be made mandatory at some point? Insight examines this and other vaccine-related issues that have surfaced.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/vaccinations-in-overdrive

Fear of side effects a key reason why some seniors don’t get a jab
Retiree Tan Kian Boon, 69, is more afraid of dying from potential complications of the Covid-19 vaccine than of catching the coronavirus itself. He thinks it is unlikely he would get infected as he wears a mask when he goes out.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/fear-of-side-effects-a-key-reason-why-some-seniors-dont-get-a-jab

Politicians team up with celebs to persuade seniors to get jabs
An umbrella cannot totally prevent you from getting wet, but it is still better to have one when it rains as you will get drenched otherwise. In the same way, Covid-19 vaccines cannot completely prevent one from getting infected, but they can still lower the risk and ward off severe illness.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politicians-team-up-with-celebs-to-persuade-seniors-to-get-jabs

*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