US golfer Tiger Woods guides a boy as he putts on a hole during an event to meet with young athletes in Singapore on Nov 1, 2013. Woods on Friday interacted with student athletes from the Singapore Sport School, Golf Academy and the Dyslexia Association of Singapore. — PHOTO: REUTERS
Singapore will be in trouble if it thinks it has arrived and can afford to relax, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong indicated on Wednesday.
The country is small, and while it is no longer as poor and defenceless as it used to be, it must continue to be on its toes and work hard to improve.
Speaking to the Singapore media at the end of his official visit to France, he said “my eyes popped out” when he read a commentary in The Straits Times likening Singapore today to a cruise ship.
Commentator Koh Buck Song had argued in Monday’s Opinion pages that Singapore politicians’ oft-used metaphor of the country as a sampan (small wooden boat), easily tossed about by the waves of global competition, was no longer valid.
He said it risked promoting small-mindedness and cramping national self-confidence and ambition.
Instead, Koh said, Singapore was more like a well-oiled cruise ship that caters to every need.
As it offers the smoothest of journeys, passengers can relax because they feel secure, he added.
Lee, however, warned: “Once you think you are in a cruise ship and you are on a holiday and everything must go swimmingly well and will be attended to for you, I think you are in trouble.
“We are small, we are not as poor as we used to be, we are not defenceless, we are able to fend for ourselves and to make a living for ourselves, and we are better off than before, and I think that we need to keep on working hard, to continue improving.”
As to what might be a more appropriate metaphor, he said with a laugh: “I think we have upgraded our sampan. It’s sampan 2.0.”
He made these remarks when asked about the meetings he had held with French business leaders since he arrived on Sunday.
Lee said the businessmen had a strong regard for the Republic and saw it as very useful because they could do business in the region from Singapore.
“So it’s not just Singapore, but Singapore in the context of the region,” he pointed out.
The businessmen were keen to find out more about Singapore’s long-term strategy for economic development, and asked about the tightening of foreign talent and workers in recent years as it might have an impact on their business plans.
Lee reiterated that Singapore had to find a balance when it comes to foreigners.
He said the number of foreign workers is “still a little higher than what we would like”, but that was dependent on the state of the economy. It is now strong, and hence, there is a need for construction.
He also reiterated the need for society to integrate such that foreigners adapt to Singapore norms, and Singaporeans are open to them “in order to help ourselves prosper”.
Integration has to happen in activities on the ground, as well as public messaging, he said, adding that intemperate language on the Internet that hits out at foreigners in a dismissive way does a lot of harm to Singapore.
“This is going to be work in progress for some time to come but we have to persevere.”
Lee left Paris for Warsaw, the capital of Poland, on Wednesday.
In the next two days, he will meet Polish leaders and also visit the port city of Gdansk.
SINGAPORE – When a Marina Bay Sands employee was arrested for alleged cheating offences, his friend, James Gunaseelan, told his wife he knew a retired police officer who could help dispose of evidence against him.
But when Ms Azlina Mohamed handed Gunaseelan $3,200 to bribe the ex-cop and a Criminal Investigation Department investigator, he spent the money himself. On Tuesday, the jobless 48-year-old was jailed for a month and given a $3,200 penalty.
Gunaseelan launched his scheme after Shaikh Salman Anwar Baladaram, 50, a guest service agent at the hotel, was arrested in July 2011.
Ms Azlina, an executive officer with the CPF Board, told the police what her husband did after he was charged. Investigations found no money was paid to any officer and Gunaseelan admitted corruptly soliciting a bribe. If unable to pay the penalty, he must serve three more weeks in jail. Shaikh Salman claimed trial to cheating charges and is awaiting a verdict. Action is yet to be taken against his wife.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
The opposition would also implement the good and services tax (GST) if it ruled the country, said coalition chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Permatang Pauh MP said objections against the GST did not mean rejecting the tax system, but instead, the country’s preparedness to implement it.
He said since he was told of the GST in 1993, he… …
SINGAPORE, Oct. 30 (UPI) — Singapore aims to increase liquefied natural gas imports as part of the expansion of its LNG terminal, said a government official.
British-based BG Group currently has the contract for supplying the initial 3 million tons of LNG at Singapore’s first LNG terminal, a $1.7 billion facility on Jurong Island, which started commercial operations in May.
Speaking Wednesday at the Gas Asia Summit in Singapore, S Iswaran, Second Minister for Trade and Industry, said Singapore’s energy regulator, the Energy Market Authority, plans to lift an existing moratorium on piped gas imports by 2018, or when BG Group reaches its contracted 3 million tons.
Iswaran noted that the aim of the moratorium was to ensure the LNG market “is able to develop and have a certain base-load position in Singapore.”
“As we go forward … we should really be able to open up the market to different sources of gas in order to ensure the most competitive sources are able to supply to Singapore, hence the desire to lift the moratorium.”
A third tank at the terminal is slated for completion by the end of this year, increasing the terminal’s capacity to 6 million tons a year. The government also plans for a fourth tank and associated regasification facilities by 2016, which will raise capacity to 9 million tons a year, Iswaran said.
Experts are expecting a good response from potential LNG players.
Stephanie Wilson, managing editor of Asia LNG at Platts news service said Singapore is a good market for suppliers, with demand that “is pretty constant” and likely to increase, Channel News Asia reports. “There’s not much risk as far as I can see,” Wilson said.
More than 90 percent of Singapore’s electricity is generated using natural gas.
The city state aims to become Asia’s liquefied natural gas trading hub. Asia is now the fastest-growing gas market worldwide and is expected to become the second largest by 2015, says the International Energy Agency.
In his opening speech Monday at Singapore International Energy Week, Iswaran cited the IEA’s estimate that renewable energy is currently the fastest growing sector of the global energy mix, accounting for around a fifth of all electricity produced worldwide. Consequently, governments and policymakers “must consider how these global developments can be harnessed to secure the energy future of their countries,” he said.
“We have some of the best strategies and initiatives in order to diversify Singapore’s energy mix, foster competition in our energy markets, and help consumers make more informed choices about their energy use and one key strategy is to diversify our energy sources,” Iswaran said.
BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Paul Gauguin Cruises (www.pgcruises.com), operator of the highest-rated and longest continually sailing luxury cruise ship in the South Pacific, the m/s Paul Gauguin, and the 90-guest m/v Tere Moana, offers a free hotel overnight at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore for guests who book one of The Gauguin’s 2014 14-night Australia Southeast Asia voyages by December 31, 2013.
Set amid lush tropical gardens, the Deluxe Shangri-La Hotel is located in the heart of Singapore offering luxurious amenities, as well as easy access to the city’s world-class shopping, restaurants, and attractions. Overnight accommodations in a Tower Room, breakfast, transfers, and a guided city tour highlighting the Raffles Hotel, Little India, Arab Street, Merlion Park and Marina Bay, and Chinatown, are included with the free hotel overnight offer.
On the Australia Southeast Asia voyages, The Gauguin sails between Cairns, Australia, and Singapore visiting less-traveled tropical ports of Australia such as Thursday Island, once a World War II military outpost, and Darwin, with its lively yet laidback ambiance. Indonesian ports include Komodo Island, home of the Komodo dragon; beautiful Bali, a coveted destination for generations; and Semarang, with its fascinating history and gateway to the temples of Borobudur. In addition to the free hotel overnight offer, guests save 50% off standard all-inclusive cruise fares and enjoy included airfare from Los Angeles. Cruise fares for the June 25, 2014, sailing start from $7,395 per person and cruise fares for the August 4, 2014, sailing start from $7,095 per person.
On both voyages, a variety of special guests will lecture, perform, or provide demonstrations. Parisian celebrity chef Jean-Pierre Vigato, champion freediver Herbert Nitsch, and extreme artist Jean Francois Detaille will be aboard the June 25, 2014, voyage. Joining the August 4, 2014, voyage are Nobel Peace Prize winner John E. Hay, islands expert Helen Henry, and Paul Gauguin Cruises chairman Richard Bailey. Art history professor and Paul Gauguin expert Caroline Boyle-Turner will lecture on both sailings.
For rates or more information on Paul Gauguin Cruises, please contact a Travel Professional, call 800-848-6172, or visit www.pgcruises.com.
About Paul Gauguin Cruises
Owned by Pacific Beachcomber S.C., French Polynesia’s leading luxury hotel and cruise operator, Paul Gauguin Cruises operates the 5+-star cruise ship, the 332-guest m/s Paul Gauguin, providing a deluxe cruise experience tailored to the unparalleled wonders of Tahiti, French Polynesia, the South Pacific, and Southeast Asia. It is one of the top exclusive charter and incentive group venues in the industry and has completed more than 570 South Pacific cruises, serving more than 176,250 guests, including more than 15,000 honeymooners, since its inaugural sail in 1998. The Gauguin’s accolades include recognition as “Top Small-Ship Cruise Line for Families” in Travel + Leisure’s 2013 “World’s Best Awards” and one of the “Top 20 Small Cruise Ships” in 2013 for the 15th year in a row by readers of Conde Nast Traveler.
In December 2012, the m/v Tere Moana began sailing under the Paul Gauguin Cruises banner after completing a multifaceted renovation and offers voyages in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe. At 330 feet long and 46 feet wide, The Moana has a draft of 11.5 feet, and accommodates 90 guests with a staff of 60.
Media Contact:
Vanessa Bloy
Paul Gauguin Cruises
Director of Public Relations
(425) 440-6255
vbloy@pgcruises.com
*Free hotel overnight offer available only while space lasts. New bookings only. Cruise prices shown do not include port, security, and handling fees of $225 per person. Economy class airfare from Los Angeles included in cruise fare. One-night pre- or post-cruise hotel offer applies to Air/Sea packages only, is capacity controlled, and can be withdrawn at any time. Hotel offer does not include meals other than those indicated, international, and domestic airfares, and items of a personal nature, such as alcoholic beverages, telephone calls, and laundry, etc. Hotel rating is based on www.hotelandtravelindex.com classifications. Offer expires December 31, 2013.
SOURCE Paul Gauguin Cruises
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Asian share markets took heart from record highs in U.S. stocks on Wednesday as investors wagered the Federal Reserve …
But collective bargaining and wage negotiations not covered by MOU
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After two years of talks, Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has agreed to open its doors for a union to offer membership to its workers.
The nod from the integrated resort was described as “a significant breakthrough” by the Attractions, Resorts and Entertainment Union (AREU), which had taken steps that could have forced the issue with the holding of a secret ballot among the workers.
But it did not come to that, said AREU and MBS yesterday at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The terms of the agreement, however, do not provide for collective bargaining and negotiations over salary.
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Unfaithful spouses in Singapore will have to get used to cheating the old fashioned way, as the world’s most popular infidelity website has been banned by officials.
Ashleymadison.com, a matchmaking site that facilitates extramarital affairs in nearly 30 countries, made a big push into Asia this year, beginning with Japan and Hong Kong. The website would have launched in Singapore next year, had the government not intervened. Singapore’s social affairs minister, Chan Chun Sing, argued that such a website would erode morality in the nation, which already outlaws online pornography and nudie magazines like Playboy. “Promoting infidelity undermines trust and commitment between a husband and wife, which are core to marriage,” he said.
Singaporeans seem to share the sentiment. A social media campaign aimed at banning Ashleymadison.com has already accrued 25,000 supporters. Officials have vowed to block the site, under the country’s Broadcasting Act.
It’s a much chillier reception than the matchmaking site has received elsewhere in Asia.
When Ashleymadison.com launched in Japan, it logged 230,000 visits and 70,000 members within the first four days. Noel Biderman, who started the website in 2001, told the Wall Street Journal that he viewed Japan as a promising market because of the breadth of sexual services already available in the country. And because those services overwhelmingly target men, he added, the Japanese iteration of the site, with its pink color scheme, would specifically cater to women. The demand, it turns out, was high: During the first few days, new members were “signing up faster than customer care could screen them.” Now, the site boasts 160,000 women members — 60 percent of whom are married.
Hong Kong had the most successful launch rate to date, closing out the first month with 80,000 new members. In this iteration of the site, women can join for free while men pay about $45 to get started. Perhaps as a result, the rate of single men who have signed up is considerably higher than the worldwide average. The site’s become so popular in Hong Kong that around 325,000 people in Mainland China have tried to log in, too.
CNN reports that the company plans to expand to 10 more Asian markets by June of next year, with Taiwan next on the list.
Biderman has often argued that the site isn’t a threat to marriage, as Singapore’s Chan Chun Sing argues, but is rather an outlet for the natural human impulse to cheat — and that goes for both sexes. Giving people the freedom to act on these impulses, he’s argued, could even help marriages. Indeed, the Japanese version of the website is marketed as a “marriage-saving site.” That approach is largely aimed at women users — though the suggestion that women are cheating in an effort to save their marriages, rather than cheating for the same reasons that men do, seems dubious, if not a bit sexist.
The company’s focus on women may prove prescient, however. Divorce in Asia has been rising steadily in recent years, largely tied to greater educational and economic opportunities for women. Asian women are marrying later, and divorcing more readily. The notion that women are choosing to cheat in greater numbers is certainly credible, though the reasons for it may be simpler than AshleyMadison.com is willing to admit.
HONG KONG: Food in Singapore is arguably one of the biggest draws of the island.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is hoping to use that to target the stomachs of more than 7 million Hongkongers, who are well known for their love of food, by launching its first ever Singapore Food Guide.
Edward Chew, regional director for Greater China at STB, said: “They know about Singapore food, they know bak kut teh, prawn noodles, laksa, but they don’t necessarily know where to find many of these expressions of these local food. So we decided to target them.
“Actually, the Hong Kong traveller spends about 17 per cent of their total budget on food compared to 10 to 12 per cent for normal travellers. (This amount is) significantly higher, and we’re excited about that.”
Famous Hong Kong food blogger KC Koo, whose blog has nearly 6 million page-views and counting, was roped in to write the guide for Hongkongers, with a local palate in mind.
He readily confirms it is true that Singaporeans do like their food spicy.
Mr Koo said: “This is true. Plainly speaking, Singaporeans can eat a lot (more) spicy (food) than us. The way you use chilli in your dishes is so varied, that’s certainly my observation.”
In putting together the guide, Mr Koo came up with 15 categories like fried kway teow or stir fried flat noodles, prawn noodle soup, and nasi lemak.
Coming up with the short-list was not easy.
Mr Koo said: “It is quite difficult; I can say that there are so many good choices in Singapore. So I need to go to them (the food outlets), one-by-one, in order to rank the first three, the first five. And sometimes, I can’t make a very accurate choice, maybe I think it should be more than three, so I make it five, and it’s never easy.”
The tourism board is also teaming up with online travel company Priceline to launch a culinary adventure package to Singapore.
A man believed to be in his 30s was found dead in front of the Swissotel The Stamford at Raffles City on Tuesday afternoon. — ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Taipei – Actress Charlie Young confirmed that she was getting married after a report said she will wed her Singapore boyfriend of 19 years in the republic this Saturday.
“I would like to share a piece of happy news – I’m marrying my other half,” she wrote on Weibo today.
Apple Daily Taiwan said the Hong Kong-based, Taiwanese star will have a simple wedding with Khoo Shao Tze, 43, at a five-star hotel.
Young, 39, has invited her Hong Kong friends and co-stars such as Gigi Leung, Aaron Kwok, and Julian Cheung and wife Anita Yuen, who will be flying into Singapore from Thursday, it added.
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A view of the presidential suite at St Regis Singapore. The luxurious living room is adorned with settees and a 42-inch television. On the walls are handpainted silk panels, and Czech crystal chandeliers are a common feature in the suite. Original million-dollar paintings from renowned French and American artists are also handpicked by the hotel owners for the suite (Photo: Lim Weixiang)
The presidential suite at St Regis Singapore is lavish, but that word doesn’t even begin to describe what you see.
It costs S$15,000 a night to stay here and the rate does not include taxes.
A spokesperson from St Regis Singapore took inSing around the hotel room, which has a floor space of 335 sqm, or the equivalent size of three five-room HDB flats.
She wouldn’t say who has stayed at the suite so far, except that there have been dignitaries and celebrities.
Located on the topmost level of the 20-storey high hotel, the suite boasts a magnificent view of a large part of the Singapore Botanic Gardens and the areas around Tanglin Road.
“We want to recreate an experience that our guests would enjoy in their own homes,” the spokesperson said.
PRIVATE GYM
Rooms in the suite are furnished in an art-nouveau style with slight oriental touches, and there are ornate gold, white and silver trimmings on everything.
You get your own living room, dining room, study, and terrace, which have crystal chandeliers and million-dollar artworks and paintings by renowned artists such as Marc Chagall, Mark Tobey, Le Pho and Sam Francis hanging on the walls.
On the risk of these paintings getting stolen or vandalised, the spokesperson said: “The guests we have are used to having access to art, luxury items and butler services, and so vandalism is not part of our worries. They are from a different stratum in society.”
She added that the hotel also has surveillance cameras in the corridors and other security measures as protection.
The master bedroom, housing a king-sized four-poster bed, is accessible by a massive gilded-edge door.
There is a separate dressing room, a private gym, and in the bathroom, a mesmerising view of the cityscape.
Next to the bathtub, guests may get free massage services on a divan or bed-like couch.
PERSONAL CHEF, BUTLER
As part of the premium service, there is a dedicated butler on-call 24 hours. He will run errands, tidy up the suite and serve during mealtimes. For the private dining experience, a personal chef will prepare a meal in the suite’s own private kitchen.
Herman Foo, the director of rooms at St Regis Singapore, said: “Luxury is an expectation at the St Regis, and we pride ourselves in going beyond that. For our guests, the price is not so much about the room but also the service, which is invaluable. What you get is a complete experience of refined living.”
Check out more pictures: Inside St Regis Singapore’s presidential suite
ESCAPE TO SENTOSA COVE
Hotel guests may come face-to-face with exclusivity and glamour at another venue, by booking the Extreme Wow suite at W Singapore – Sentosa Cove.
The name says it all. The seven-storey hotel located on Sentosa island in southern Singapore offers a room stay in the suite for S$13,670 a night.
Located on the top floor, the 195-sqm suite is almost antithetical to the regal-looking presidential suite at the St Regis Singapore.
The modern design has a funky cool edge, with technicolor finishes and highly reflective surfaces everywhere, on top of leather panels and stone floorings.
The showstopper is a marble-covered cocktail bar in the suite with integrated DJ booth, and the ceiling crystal “chandelier” above it bathes the bar in lights which can turn purple, amber or even white with just a click of the remote. There are vinyl albums behind the study desk.
The hotel has made the suite soundproof.
“We have guests holding wild parties in here,” Joshua Greedy, the associate director of marketing communications, said during a tour of the suite. “It’s normal. Our guests are celebrities, or people of a certain social circle who want to have fun.”
Other furnishings in the suite include designer smoke-burnt wooden chairs, a cool white marble dining table and original artworks.
The living room has a flip-down 55-inch high-definition flatscreen television set with a Bang Olufsen surround sound system.
VIEWS OF THE SEA
The balcony offers a magnificent view of the South China Sea, which can appreciated on the daybed or at the outdoor plunge pool.
A private chef is available to cook up a meal in the suite’s kitchen, but it is the master bedroom that is the highlight.
The bed supported by four ceiling posts looks like it floats above the ground and it is fitted with a “pillow-top mattress”, a mattress that features an extra layer atop it for plush comfort, as well as sheets with 350 threadcount.
The bathroom has a large jacuzzi bathtub, a rainforest shower and a state-of-the-art exercise bicycle.
Check out more pictures: Inside the Extreme Wow suite of W Singapore – Sentosa Cove
File photo of Marina Bay Sands. (Photo: Siti Nur Mas Lina, channelnewsasia.com)
SINGAPORE: The labour movement inked an agreement with Marina Bay Sands (MBS) on Tuesday that will see the integrated resort footing the bill for free membership to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) for some 7,500 of its staff.
This means MBS employees will have a platform for representation on labour issues should they take up membership.
About 83 per cent of MBS’ total workforce of over 9,000 is eligible.
Under the agreement, a committee will also be set up by employees to look into issues of skills training and upgrading to help boost productivity.
- CNA/nd
The bulk of employees at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) will now be offered union membership.
This came after the integrated resort signed a memorandum of understanding with the Attractions, Resorts and Entertainment Union (AREU) on Tuesday.
The agreement was reached after extensive discussions spanning two years, and was witnessed by NTUC secretary-general Lim Swee Say at Orchid Country Club.
Under the agreement, a committee will be set up by employees to discuss issues such as skill-upgrading.
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27 October 2013
Last updated at 20:41 ET
Eric Ding (C), a nightclub owner, is facing trial for match-fixing in Singapore
Singapore, South East Asia’s wealthy island city-state, has a reputation for being safe and stable. Its squeaky-clean image, however, only goes skin deep, argues British writer and journalist Neil Humphreys, who has tracked Singapore’s football match-fixing for many years.
Continue reading the main story
On Halloween, the spectre of match fixing returns to Singapore when a nightclub owner appears in court in a trial featuring sex, prostitutes, bribery, three football officials, and an alleged criminal betting syndicate.
Eric Ding is accused of providing prostitutes for a Lebanese referee and his two assistants in return for fixing an international match in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.
The Lebanese trio arrived in Singapore in April last year to officiate a match between Singapore’s Tampines Rovers and East Bengal of India.
However, they never made it to the pitch. Instead, they were picked up by Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and led away in handcuffs.
A year earlier, Ali Sabbagh, the referee, met 31-year-old Mr Ding in a Beirut cafe where he alleges he was told that match fixing would make him “more money in one year… than he would as an AFC referee in 10 years”.
Fixers can target officials, players, managers and even employees with a national football association to help arrange bogus friendlies but Mr Ding allegedly took a simpler route.
According to Ali Sabbagh’s court testimony, Mr Ding sent him “20 to 30″ YouTube videos to watch. Mr Ding also allegedly told him that the easiest way to rig a game’s outcome was to award some penalties.
Continue reading the main story
Disputed spot-kicks can be blamed on human error, rather than a corrupt official.
According to state prosecutors, at one of these meetings the Lebanese referee was offered a choice of Colombian or Asian girls. He asked for “tall Asian girls”.
Eventually all three pleaded guilty to accepting free sex to throw the game. Mr Sabbagh, who had been a full international Fifa referee since 2008, sobbed in court as he was handed a six-month jail sentence in June.
Prolific match fixers
Whatever the outcome of Mr Ding’s trial that resumes 31 October, his case is just the latest in Singapore’s ongoing struggle to disentangle itself from the unwanted reputation of being the engine that drives international football corruption.
In the last 40 years, there has been a succession of court cases involving Singapore-based match-fixing syndicates.
While the city-state remains better known as a magnet for multi-national corporations and enterprising expatriates, Singapore has also attracted some of the world’s most prolific match-fixers.
Taking advantage of the globalisation of football and the explosion of illegal betting markets in Asia, these men are capable of rigging games everywhere from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and from the Asian Champions League to the Uefa Champions League.
As Subhas Anandan, Singapore’s high prolife criminal lawyer who has defended several match-fixers over the years, once told me: “At any given time, there are always a couple of match-fixers in the air, flying somewhere to fix a game.”
Worldwide problem
Last month Singapore authorities arrested what the head of Interpol described as “the mastermind and leader of the world’s most notorious match-fixing syndicate”.
In all, 14 people were arrested, including the alleged mastermind, Dan Tan, who has been linked to match-fixing in Singapore since the 1990s.
Dan Tan has been the focus of global speculation since February 2013, when anti-crime agency Europol released details of its long-running match-fixing probe. It claimed to have uncovered 680 suspicious football matches across the world, including World Cup and European Championship qualifiers and two Champions League games.
Italian investigation papers, obtained by Singapore’s The New Paper, detail Dan Tan’s alleged involvement in the rigging of 33 matches in Italy’s top two leagues, Serie A and Serie B, over the last two years.
This included a game where an Italian goalkeeper with gambling debts drugged his entire team to lose the match.
According to Italian investigators, up to two million euros ($2.7 million) was bet on one of the rigged matches through the use of Asian betting websites.
Arrest warrants for Mr Tan are still active in Europe but his own country got to him first.
The September arrests by the Singaporean authorities are notable for their scale and decisiveness. Since the Europol allegations in February, the city state had been accused of ignoring the match-fixing gangs in its midst and perhaps glossing over its gambling problems.
Continue reading the main story
Professional footballers (have told) me they think they’ve played in fixed games”
End Quote
Paul Parker
Former England player
Trillion dollar business
Despite Singapore’s reputation as one of the world’s least corrupt nations, it also has a long-standing, deeply entrenched gambling culture.
As early as 1820, the first British Resident and Commandant of Singapore, William Farquhar, sold gambling licences to satisfy demand and raise revenue.
Little has changed. In 2006 Singapore granted gaming licences to two international casino operators.
This legal gambling is expected to contribute several billion dollars to Singapore’s economy by 2015.
However, the sums involved in illegal gambling could be huge. Conservative estimates suggest only 20-30% of all bets placed in Singapore are legal.
The rest goes to the illegal bookies and online sites established off-shore in territories such as China, Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam.
According to one estimate, betting outlay in South-East Asia is some 30-50 times greater than Europe where annual revenues were 85 billion euros in 2011.
Interpol has called match-fixing a trillion-dollar industry.
A row of gambling machines in Singapore’s first casino that opened in 2010
Having played for Manchester United and England, Paul Parker thought he had seen it all. Two Premier League titles and a World Cup semi-final, the retired English full-back never thought of himself as naive. But Singapore opened his eyes.
“In 17 years playing football in the UK, I never heard a single allegation about match-fixing. In three years in Singapore, those allegations have now reached double figures,” said Mr Parker, who runs a football academy in Singapore.
“I’ve had professional footballers tell me they think they’ve played in fixed games.”
Faking an entire football team
But last month’s arrests and Mr Ding’s trial indicate a decisive shift in both public perception among Singaporeans and the prioritising of match-fixing investigations. Singapore is growing weary of its unsavoury reputation. Authorities are promoting a zero-tolerance policy of the syndicates and jittery match-fixers are turning on each other.
Observers say Mr Tan’s name only emerged as the central focus of international investigations after Wilson Raj Perumal, one of Singapore’s more notorious match fixers, was arrested abroad.
Cutting his teeth as a match-fixer in the regional Malaysia Cup tournament in the 1990s, Perumal picked up a string of convictions for bribing football officials, as well as attacking two players with a baseball bat.
His activity was fuelled in part by the explosion of satellite television beaming matches into Asian living rooms. Singtel, the main Premier League pay TV platform, dedicates nine channels to its football content, showing all 380 matches live. TV audiences for top fixtures can be anything from 300,000 to 500,000.
The surge in international football’s popularity in the region left men like Perumal well-placed to profit.
In 2010, posing as a Fifa match agent, he organised an entire, fake Togolese national team to play in a rigged game against Bahrain. But in February 2011, he was arrested and convicted of trying to bribe players and officials in the Finnish league. He received a two-year sentence.
Convinced that the Finnish authorities had been tipped off by other match-fixing associates, he began to reveal details of his extraordinary exploits.
Police around the world have found evidence of match fixing in many countries
In February 2012, he was taken to Hungary where he was also wanted. He is currently under house arrest aiding their enquiries.
More work to do
In fairness to the Football Association of Singapore and the CPIB, Singapore was the first nation to convict a Fifa referee for match-fixing in 1994. The city-state was also the first to introduce random, but compulsory, lie detector tests for footballers in 2001.
And that appears to be the case with Dan Tan. His alleged syndicate was under surveillance for some time as Singapore’s law enforcement agencies gathered enough evidence before taking action in a bid to take down the entire match-fixing ring.
Following the arrests, the CPIB and the Singapore Police Force issued a joint statement: “Singapore is committed to eradicate match-fixing as a transnational crime … (and) will continue to work with (Interpol) … and the global community in our fight against global match-fixing.”
Much of their evidence is still likely to come from the men in the middle. The convicted Lebanese officials may assist Singaporean authorities in the case against Mr Ding. Perumal is still talking to Hungarian officials. When he’s done, the Italians would like a word.
But whatever happens to Perumal – and Mr Ding in the coming weeks – this isn’t the end of Singapore’s links to international football corruption. It’s barely the beginning.
The match-fixers are proving to be the most stubborn of stains on Singapore’s otherwise clean image. They cannot be entirely scrubbed away.
Neil Humphreys is a Singapore-based football writer and author of the best-selling novel Match Fixer.
Sights on the Walks of Our Lives tour included temples and religious monuments — and even the city’s red-light district. (JG Photo/Liz Sinclair)
Desmond was waiting for us at 9 a.m. in the lobby of the Little Red Dot Hostel in Singapore, which sponsors Walks of Our Lives. Four other hostel guests, all female had signed up for the Little India walking tour.
I blinked in amazement. The neat tourism college graduate in pants and shirt I met the night before behind the reception desk had disappeared, and instead we were greeted by a youngster in navy athletic shorts, a white tank top, wearing a big smile and a white dishcloth with red stitching slung over his right shoulder.
The change should not have surprised me: as I was to learn about Singapore, one thing interacts easily with another.
“Call me ‘ kopi boy,’ ” he said.
A “kopi boy,” he explained, is the youth in a coffee shop who takes the orders. All over Singapore, said Desmond, you see old men sitting in coffee shops, yelling for the kopi boy to bring them coffee or tea and breakfast. It’s almost a Singapore stereotype, Desmond said.
But it’s also a dying tradition. Modern Singaporeans don’t have time to sit in coffee shops; they are too busy working. Takeaway coffees are becoming popular, and the old men who haunt the coffee shops are slowly disappearing.
Our first stop was on Lavender Street, where the hostel was located. The road has a rather perverse history. Originally a dirt track on the outskirts of the rapidly growing city of Singapore, the surrounding fields were used as a dumping ground for “night soil,” or human waste.
The reek from the fields prompted one British colonial to name the nearby street after a fragrant flower.
Our next stop was a Tibetan temple near Lavender Street. In Singapore, people are free to worship as they choose, so Hindu and Buddhist temples stand near mosques and churches.
The temple, called Thekchen Choling, has an enormous golden prayer wheel outside, known as a Mani wheel, which Desmond advised us to spin three times to get rid of negative karma. Each time the wheel completes a cycle, a bell rings.
Shoes removed, we proceeded inside to look at the altars, one of which contains a life-size picture of the Dalai Lama. While Desmond was busy explaining to the group how they can obtain a Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy) fortune amulet, blessed by a priest, I slunk over to the Dalai Lama to take a photo with him.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur of yellow and a rather large monk appeared suddenly at my side. Considering how quickly he moved, I assumed that my attempt to take a photo with the Dalai Lama was common for tourists. But the monk frowned at me and shook his head.
“It’s not allowed to go up on the altar,” he told me sternly. So with that I quickly returned to the group, to collect my amulet, which was a long strip of paper gaily printed in red, yellow and gold.
(JG Photo/Liz Sinclair)
Our next stop, a few blocks away on Serangoon Road, was a traditional coffee shop. Desmond ordered samples of Singapore breakfast foods for us to try. We began with kopi peng , or iced coffee.
“Even in our food,” exlained Desmond, “you can see how the cultures live together. Kopi is Malay for coffee, while peng is Chinese for ice. Each time a Singaporean orders this drink, we are reminded that our heritage is a mix of Chinese and Malay.”
We tried Teh C, which is a hot, sweet, milky tea. I like plain tea, so Desmond ordered me a teh O kosong , or empty tea: no sugar, no milk, just black.
Desmond also ordered food to sample: roti prata (grilled bread with savory toppings), otak otak (ground fish with spices — and it is very spicy), and kaya toast.
The tour continued on to a Chinese Buddhist temple, Leong San See Temple. Brightly painted in yellow and red, with a large dragon incense bowl in the front yard, it is very hard to miss.
Chinese Buddhists come here, explained Desmond, to ask the deities for a fortune know as Qiu Qian, the ancient Chinese art of divination.
Desmond asked if any of us wanted to have our fortunes read.
One of the girls on the tour, who’d had a series of misfortunes lately, volunteered, to see if things may be turning around for her.
A temple guide gave the girl a pack of fortune sticks in a red tube and told her to shake a single one out. The guide then consulted a huge book with the chosen stick and advised the girl that her life would settle down soon.
As we walked on, Desmond stopped in front of a row of old shop houses, with iron grillwork doors on the front, black-and-white checkered stone floors, and colorful pastel tiles on the facade.
Desmond explained that once a merchant and his family would have lived here, above their street-level shop.
Today, the old shops have disappeared and have been renovated into stylish townhouses.
“This is about a million-dollar property now,” Desmond said.
Leaving the shop houses, we crossed a small park. Desmond stopped and gestured across the small street to an alleyway that ran perpendicular to us. Normally, he told us, his tour groups walked down the alley to get to our next destination, but today we would take a detour around the area.
(JG Photo/Liz Sinclair)
“Today, the group is all women,” said Desmond, “so I don’t want to offend anyone.”
We all looked over into the alley. Indian, Chinese and a few African men were standing, smoking and walking into, or out of, various doorways. I looked at one of the other women and she looked at me. We tried not to laugh. I looked around at the others. We’d all figured out what this place was.
Far from being offended, we were curious. We urged Desmond to cross the street, but he repeated that he didn’t wish to offend us.
“Why?” I asked. “Because you’re worried that seeing a red-light district will bother us?”
Desmond looked relieved. “Oh, so you figured out what this place is,” he said.
Brothels are legal in Singapore, although prostitutes are required to have regular health checks and HIV screening. Desmond reluctantly shepherded us across the road. The alley backed onto the rear of a row of bland-looking buildings, with no signs or business names. I peered inside as we went past the buildings.
Each consisted of a long hallway, with many doors, some open, some closed. The walls were covered with health posters. Some stated, “You wouldn’t go into a cave without proper equipment. Why have sex without a condom?” and others warned about HIV infection. Some of the men stared at us; some turned their heads away as we went past.
Our next stop was the Buddhist Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple, popularly known as “The Temple of 1,000 Lights.”
Inside is a huge statue of the seated Buddha, some 15 meters tall and weighing 300 tons.
This is no ordinary temple: during the Japanese Occupation in World War II, British prisoners of war were forced to perform manual labor nearby and would stop into the temple to give notes and letters to the monks, who then smuggled the missives out of Singapore to England.
This way, British prisoners were secretly able to pass and receive information from their own government, even at the height of the war.
The last stop on the tour, in Little India, was at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, the creator and destroyer.
Desmond told us the history behind some of the Hindu deities, and we watched a daily ritual at noon, when the poor (and a few tourists) get a free Indian lunch from the temple kitchens.
Desmond said he drew inspiration from simple Singaporean experiences, such as the traditional breakfast, and he loved to introduce foreigners to Singapore, showing off a side of the city that they might miss if they weren’t shown around by a local.
As Desmond walked us back to Lavender Street, the city didn’t seem so strange; in fact, it almost seemed a bit familiar. Perhaps it was because I had walked Singapore’s streets by the side of a kopi boy.
Find Walks Of Our Life on Facebook or visit www.journeys.com/sg/singaporewalks.
SINGAPORE (NNS) — The U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) and its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, arrived to Singapore for the third port visit of their 2013 patrol, Oct. 26.
The crew of more than 5,000 Sailors will visit the island city-state, located in Southeast Asia, to build friendships and goodwill with the people of Singapore.
“Being in Singapore again is a real pleasure for our crew,” said Capt. Greg Fenton, George Washington’s commanding officer. “Our Sailors and crew look forward to the cultural exchange with the local people.”
In the days preceding the Singapore visit, George Washington hosted four distinguished visitor (DV) embarks for civic, government and military representatives from the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Malaysia to better understand the daily operations of an underway aircraft carrier.
“DV visits are extremely important to build and maintain the relationships we have with our allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region,” said Fenton. “This is one small thing we can do to show them what we do at-sea to maintain peace and stability.”
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier also had a busy flight schedule with 12 days of 1,800 aircraft launched and recovered.
“It’s important to fly often in order to maintain mission readiness and pilot proficiency, and to ensure we maintain our overall posture as a U.S. 7th Fleet asset; deployable, ready and committed to the vision of regional stability, cooperative security and expanded partnerships,” said Lt. Cmdr. Kaz Hashigami, George Washington’s assistant air operations officer.
The officers and crew of George Washington, and its embarked staffs, will also have the opportunity to experience the culture and hospitality Singapore.
“I am excited about Singapore since we had to leave Korea a day early due to weather,” said Damage Controlman 2nd Class Jamie Parker. “This is my first time in Singapore. I plan on going to Universal Studios and the underwater aquarium, and try some local cuisine, wine and bread as part of my standard port visit to-do list.”
The ship will also host more than 400 Singapore dignitaries for a welcome reception, as well as an expected 1,600 guests for tours.
“Engagements like this demonstrate a stable, reliable and continuous relationship between our two countries,” said Fenton. “The officers and crew of George Washington are honored to be the guests of Singapore and we look forward to our next visit.”
George Washington and CVW 5 provide a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interest of the U.S. and its allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
For more news from USS George Washington (CVN 73), visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn73/.
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has announced that there will be a review of the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint.
The aim is to update it with new initiatives which include building more environmentally-friendly hawker centres and reducing carbon emissions next year.
Launched in 2009, the blueprint outlines strategies to achieve twin objectives of economic growth and a good living environment.
Mr Lee said this at the launch of the year-long Clean and Green 2014 campaign on Saturday.
He said more Singaporeans have a greater consciousness of green issues.
For example, recycling rates have been increasing and more people are using energy-efficient appliances.
While the government will be reviewing penalties for litterbugs, Mr Lee said the best way is to put social pressure on them.
Mr Lee said: “We have to set the right example, if your see somebody who is littering, tell them to pick up after themselves. And make sure that we ourselves don’t do it. Keeping Singapore clean isn’t just about fines and regulations. We must also keep Singapore clean because it must reflect our values – to be house-proud, considerate, environmentally conscious.”
Mr Lee added that the environment also depends on Singapore’s neighbours and highlighted haze problems earlier this year.
But he said that should the haze return, the government will do what it can to minimise the impact such as improving its monitoring and surveillance capabilities as well as putting in place contingency plans to ensure that masks and essential supplies can be distributed to vulnerable groups.
Mr Lee also presented Community-In-Bloom ambassador awards at the event.
One recipient was 50-year-old Wendy Tan, who carries out a self-sustainable gardening method of producing fertilisers from kitchen waste.
The youngest Environment Champion was 22-year-old Daniel Tan, who used wall murals to spread the importance of reducing, recycling and reusing.
Mr Tan said: “I’ve all along been a fan of street art so I wanted to incorporate street art into my project. I hope that by starting young, I can set an example because I think recycling is a habit and it has to start young.”
Also displayed at the Clean and Green carnival were mobile applications that help to address environmental issues.
For instance, the Parent Pool app enables parents in the neighbourhood with children attending the same school to form a community so that they can make carpool arrangements. It also has useful information such as weather data.
Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX), Southeast
Asia’s biggest bourse operator, wants to lure more high-speed
traders onto its stock market as it grapples with lower volume.
Computerized trading firms, which execute transactions in
fractions of a second, account for a negligible share of volume
on Singapore Exchange’s cash equities market, according to
bourse spokeswoman Loh Wei Ling, while they contribute 30
percent of revenue from derivatives. Singapore Exchange will
seek to change that once it introduces safeguards, Chief
Executive Officer Magnus Bocker said at a briefing this month.
“We will pursue high-frequency trading once we have
circuit breakers and other policies in place,” he said. “That
will enhance the liquidity and quality of the Singapore
market.”
High-frequency traders facilitate the majority of U.S.
equity transactions, where computerized firms have ample
opportunity to profit from fleeting price discrepancies because
transactions take place on more than 50 venues. Singapore isn’t
as fragmented, which keeps computer traders away. Credit Suisse
Group AG and Tabb Group LLC said the city’s relatively high
trading and clearing fees also deter those firms.
Bocker is seeking more business with the daily average
value of equity trades down to about S$1.5 billion ($1.2
billion) this year, a 36 percent plunge from 2007, according to
data compiled by Bloomberg. Singapore Exchange’s net income was
S$336 million for the fiscal year that ended in June, 20 percent
lower than fiscal 2007.
He’s been building the infrastructure and regulatory
framework to attract high-speed traders. The bourse rolled out a
S$250 million trading platform in August 2011 that can execute
transactions in 90 microseconds.
The exchange hasn’t been successful in attracting orders
from the fastest traders because of the high cost of trading in
the city, according to Credit Suisse and Tabb Group.
“There is a pretty substantial clearing fee in Singapore
that will stop many of the largest high-frequency traders,”
said Larry Tabb, founder and CEO of New York-based market
research firm Tabb Group. “The exchange fabric isn’t
fragmented, so that there will never be the kind of high-frequency trading that we see in the U.S. and or Europe in
Singapore.”
Fees for trading on the Singapore bourse amount to about 20
basis points, or 0.2 percent of the value of shares traded,
according to data compiled by Credit Suisse. That compares with
Sydney-based ASX Ltd.’s 15 basis points, the data show.
“If SGX is serious about high-frequency trading, it could
change its fee structure to encourage more high-frequency
trading,” said Arjan Van Veen, a Hong Kong-based analyst at
Credit Suisse.
Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore have considered the
extent to which trading strategies that rely on speedy placement
of bids and offers should be regulated amid concern that they
can be used to manipulate prices. Germany was the first
developed market to legislate the practice, and the European
Parliament is pushing for tougher rules.
While circuit breakers provide the market a mechanism to
take a pause during times of extreme market volatility, allowing
high-frequency traders will introduce unfamiliar risks to
investors, according to Securities Investors Association of
Singapore, the largest investor lobbying group in Asia.
“A knife is good as well as dangerous,” said David Gerald, president of SIAS. “The exchange and manufacturers of
products will put out products to improve their bottom line.
Investors must know the risks and decide for themselves whether
they want to invest or not. There are many products out there
which are very risky and investors have to be educated on the
risks and they must make an informed decision.”
One of the hallmarks of high-speed trading has already
arrived in Singapore. The bourse has about 100 clients that
house their trading computers near the exchange’s servers, an
arrangement known as co-location, spokeswoman Loh said. That
lets them speed up trading by cutting reaction times.
“We have said in the past that high-frequency trading
accounts for roughly 30 percent of our derivatives market,” Loh
said. “SGX has announced previously that we will enhance market
safeguards before opening up the cash equities market for high-frequency trading. These include random opening and closing
routines, pre-trade risk controls and circuit breakers.”
Regulators worldwide have evaluated safeguards since the
May 2010 plunge known as the flash crash briefly erased about
$862 billion from the value of U.S. equities. Exchanges in that
country have since implemented a limit-up/limit-down initiative
that prevents market makers from quoting shares at prices deemed
too far above or below current levels.
SGX will introduce circuit breakers by early next year
after a plunge in shares of three commodity companies erased
$6.9 billion in market value over three days, the bourse
operator said on Oct. 10. Under the proposal, trading of a stock
will be halted for five minutes if it moves 10 percent in either
direction, the bourse said.
Since becoming CEO in December 2009, Bocker scrapped the
midday trading break and introduced dual listings of American
Depositary Receipts at SGX to boost profits. Brokerages are
turning less bearish on the company, with the number of sell
recommendations at the lowest since 2011, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg.
Getting high-speed traders to operate in Singapore will
improve liquidity and market efficiency, Tabb said.
“The more liquidity and the more trading generally makes
the market better, lowers trading cost and helps smaller
investors,” Tabb said. “Generally, it doesn’t make the market
more risky unless it becomes as complex and fragmented as the
U.S. market.”
To contact the reporter on this story:
Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at
jburgos4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sarah McDonald at
smcdonald23@bloomberg.net;
Nick Baker at
nbaker7@bloomberg.net
SINGAPORE |
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGXL.SI)’s role as the city-state’s equity market regulator is coming under increasing scrutiny in the fall-out from a penny stock crash earlier this month.
The sudden implosion of Blumont Group Ltd (BLUM.SI), LionGold Corp (LION.SI), and Asiasons Capital Ltd (ASNS.SI) – after huge run-ups in their share price earlier in the year had turned them briefly into billion dollar companies – left many in the market mystified and raised question marks over whether the exchange missed red flags and was too slow to act.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has now stepped into the fray and confirmed on Thursday that a review into what went on was taking place.
Experts say one thing it should look at is whether the bourse is able to manage conflicts of interest between its role as both market operator and watchdog.
“The exchange has to focus on profit for shareholders, meaning they have less time for regulation,” said Jimmy Ho, president of the Society of Remisiers who works for brokerage UOB Kay Hian.
Singapore is sensitive to anything that could tarnish its reputation for strong corporate governance, effective regulation and low levels of crime and corruption, which have helped it develop into one of Asia’s major financial centers.
The saga also poses a threat to the exchange’s long-running push to increase revenue by boosting its trading volumes among retail investors.
“It will basically deter people from investing in this asset class (the penny stocks) for now at least,” said Kevin Scully, executive chairman and founder of equity research firm NRA Capital.
“You can compare it to the S-chips where we had a spate of frauds,” said Scully referring to the string of blow-ups at locally-listed Chinese stocks in 2008 and 2011, that deterred many retail investors from the market.
Blumont, Asiasons and LionGold have all denied any wrongdoing and there are no allegations of fraud in their cases.
PENNY STOCKS
The most actively traded stocks are often the penny stocks which attract little institutional interest. At the same time, SGX has not seen many major big-ticket listings for a number of years and the growth of Singapore’s equity market has lagged the growth of the city-state as a major wealth management, foreign exchange and commodities trading hub.
That has led to concerns that the exchange could face pressure to lower standards in order to boost its bottom line.
MAS said last week that it and SGX would look into wider issues that have surfaced regarding “market structure and practices”. The central bank did not elaborate on what that would involve, but said it would issue a public consultation if it decided to make any changes.
Many countries including Hong Kong, Australia and the United States have an independent securities regulator overseeing the stock market, a separation aimed at ensuring potential lost revenue is not a consideration when enforcing rules.
In Singapore, SGX performs the front-line regulatory role and the bourse in turn is regulated by MAS. The exchange has a special committee to deal with conflicts of interest its dual role can pose.
SGX said earlier this year that it believed the current system was best for the local market and its proximity to the market helped it understand its users’ compliance issues.
It has responded to some of the criticism facing it, saying that it deployed a series of tools to restore stability to the market when the stocks began to fall and that it uses separate measures to investigate possible wrongdoing.
“SGX devotes significant resources into detecting and investigating market misconduct and works closely with statutory authorities against offenders of the law,” the exchange said in a statement.
RED FLAGS
Shares in natural resources investment company Blumont, alternative investment firm Asiasons and gold miner LionGold raced higher earlier this year, before crashing in a frenzied 40 minutes of trading on Friday October 4. The shares were suspended, but tumbled further when trade resumed the next Monday.
The three stocks lost more than S$8 billion ($6.47 billion)in combined market value in less than two days of trade. Before that, Blumont’s share price had risen more than 1,000 percent since the start of the year.
Some brokers in Singapore had put trading restrictions on the stocks during September due to concerns that their value was no longer matched by the fundamentals.
SGX did not put in place trading curbs until after the stocks started to fall, causing complaints that it acted too late.
The exchange was not oblivious to the companies’ price rises – it queried Asiasons and Blumont twice and LionGold once in the weeks leading up to the crash, moves that SGX says should act as red flags to investors.
Some corporate governance experts say they are concerned, though, that the need for such queries is on the rise, and there needs to be closer examination of what companies are doing.
“I have noticed that unexplained price run-ups seem to have become more common place, and queries sometimes result in a disclosure that a deal is being discussed but not certain,” said Mak Yuen Teen, associate professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School, without commenting on the stocks involved.
“This raises the issue of possible insider trading by someone with knowledge about the transaction – for example a banker or lawyers, and their tippees”.
Blumont and Asiasons both responded to at least one of the queries put to them that they were in discussions on potential deal opportunities, though nothing was confirmed. Both the companies have denied any wrong-doing.
LionGold said it trusted MAS and SGX to investigate the matter.
“As far as we understand from press articles on the matter, MAS is investigating the trading activities surrounding LionGold’s shares and not on the company’s operations,” it said in a statement on Friday.
The exchange and MAS said they were unable to publicly address whether market manipulation could have been behind the stocks’ wild price swings, as it could hinder any investigations.
That is not removing pressure for them to be more open about the way such cases are investigated in general.
“I personally would like to see more transparency in relation to enforcement, including capacity, resources, number of queries, number of cases investigated, number of cases dropped, number in progress and so on,” said Mak at NUS Business School. “At the moment, everything is too much of a black box.”
($1 = 1.2369 Singapore dollars)
(Additional reporting by Eveline Danubrata in Singapore and Clare Baldwin in Hong Kong; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Already a well-established journalist in the football world, Ash Hashim, better know as Futbolita is breaking new grounds in the cutthroat world of player transfers
Founded in 2008, Futbolita has become an established name in football, carefully branding itself as a portal that offers a female perspective of the world’s most popular sport.
The website is the brainchild of Singaporean, Ashikin Hashim who has interviewed some of the biggest names in football, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi and David de Gea.
Not contented with her journalistic career, Ash, as she is better known, has recently branched out to become a players’ agent after acing the Fifa exams. A few weeks shy of turning 25, the petite lady of Welsh, Pakistani and Arab descent, spoke to Goal Singapore about becoming Singapore, and possibly Asia’s first female players’ agent.
What made you decide to become a player’s agent?
I just felt that it was a natural progression to become a players’ agent because I had been in contact with many of them for a while now, and I want to be able to do more for football. Not just with projects involving players or clubs, but with the youths, women and men of the world who have a lot of talent and potential. Representing players is also an extension of Futbolita’s brand, where we’re fun football insiders coming from social, personal and cultural point of view.
Also, we want to change the way people look at Players Agents. Sure, many of them have a bad reputation, but most of them are just doing their job – and many of them have never even heard of Gareth Bale’s ridiculous transfer fee to Real Madrid!
What were the requirements you had to meet to be a player’s agent?
So how did you prepare for the exam?
Also, I had to read a lot of case studies and law books recommended by my friends. The rules and calculations can be extremely confusing, so I would freak out sometimes and forget bits and pieces but I think the conversations I had (and meditation!) really helped in the end.
And how did you find the exam?
How did you feel when you found out you passed the exams?
So what’s in store now? Where are you going to be active, and what kind of players are you going to deal with?
Also, I think it is important to treat players not just as business transactions, but as human beings with families to feed and an important destiny to fulfill. Not every one is meant to be a professional footballer, but they should be given an equal opportunity to develop and grow themselves. I am pretty sure that if you look at the Middle East, for example, they have an pool of amazingly talented players but because of their current domestic situation, it’s not easy for them to get out. As for the women who want to play, cultural and religious barriers have always been a challenge, and that’s where we come in!
How do you feel about being one of the few female agents active? What kind of challenges do you anticipate?
People would expect us to deal with female players, which is natural for us, of course, but we will also be representing male players. Women are naturally more nurturing and understanding, so I think that’s an advantage for us because we aren’t too straight-laced and don’t just look at things from a business point of view; we tend to be a lot more maternal when thinking of solutions to issues or problems. And in football, this aspect is often overlooked but extremely important as well. Unfortunately, money and greed has tarnished certain aspects of football.
As for challenges, the awesome schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai once said, “I’m not afraid of anyone” and that’s the kind of mentality we’ll be taking to face the many challenges to come. We’re ready!
You can follow Ash Hashim on futbolita.com
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Image from ‘Singaporeans Against Poverty’ Facebook page
Singapore may be the richest country in the world but the number of poor households living in the prosperous city-state has been rising in recent years. To highlight the extent of poverty in Singapore, the Catholic group Caritas has launched an initiative called ‘Singaporeans Against Poverty’:
‘Singaporeans Against Poverty’ is a campaign that aims to raise awareness about poverty in Singapore. It springs from our concern for those in Singapore caught in the cycle of poverty despite our economic success.
The group has uploaded several articles, photos, and videos which reveal the growing gap between the rich and poor in Singapore. Below are two YouTube videos which remind Singaporeans to be more aware and sensitive about the rising poverty in the community:
Bertha Henson summarized the message of the campaign:
Just what sort of message is it? It is to alert people here that there are poor in our midst, who do not complain about the price of cars and homes because they’re wondering about their next meal.
Curiously, a former diplomat has proudly declared in 2001 that poverty has already been eradicated in Singapore. Kishore Mahbubani wrote:
There are no homeless, destitute or starving people in Singapore. Poverty has been eradicated, not through an entitlements program (there are virtually none) but through a unique partnership between the government, corporate citizens, self-help groups and voluntary initiatives.
But an article by Roy P exposed that homelessness is still a problem in Singapore:
…it’s still hard to imagine how there are people who are homeless and sleeping on the streets even after we’ve attained first-world status, and for all the progress we’ve made over the years. As I mentioned, the irony of prosperity and economic success is that it only widens the divide between the rich and the poor, and the poor become poorer.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social and Family Development has rejected proposals to define poverty or set a poverty line:
A poverty line does not fully reflect the severity and complexity of the issues faced by poor families, which could include ill health, lack of housing or weak family relationships. If we use a single poverty line to assess the family, we also risk a ‘cliff effect’, where those below the poverty line receive all forms of assistance, while other genuinely needy citizens outside the poverty line are excluded.
But Kirsten Han argued why setting the poverty line is important:
The existence of a poverty line does not mean that all focus should be directed towards those who fall below it. An official poverty line shows that the poverty is an issue acknowledged by the government to exist as part of the structure of society. Once we see that poverty exists as a structural problem, more steps can be taken to address the distribution of resources and opportunities.
Refusing to define poverty doesn’t mean that no one is poor; it just means that we don’t get the full picture of what work needs to be done.
Blogging for Myself accused the government of advancing a wrong set of values and priorities:
It is not true helping the poor has no returns. It is about being and staying human and giving ourselves a future. Its value cannot be quantified…
This government has its values in the wrong place. They are all invested in economics and engineering but impoverished in anthropology and I haven’t even begin to talk about spirituality and investing in our souls.
Nomad insisted that measuring the GDP is incomplete without defining poverty in the country:
Poverty line is a hand in hand assessment along with GDP to gauge how well a govt is running the country, you shouldnt have one without the other.
How does establishing a poverty line statistics deprive other genuine citizens outside the line? Hello? Social services are run by man, not robots. Human can be flexible. You mean you cant help genuine cases because they are above a yardstick estimate and you need to stick to the line?
Belmont Lay bemoaned the ‘poverty of Singapore’s poverty data’:
It may come as a shock to some people when you tell them that there is poverty in Singapore. But you know, and I know, poverty is universal and Singapore is definitely not immune to this problem.
But what’s truly shocking is the poverty of Singapore’s poverty data.
Singapore is a country that is known for defining everything.
But when the time comes to draw the line at who is poor, or rather, poor enough, we falter.
