Singapore Home Prices Slide for Second Straight Quarter

Singapore’s first-quarter home prices slid for a second consecutive quarter as tighter mortgages cooled demand in Asia’s second-most expensive housing market. An index tracking private residential prices fell 1.3 percent to 211.6 points in the three months ended March 31 following a 0.9 percent decline in the previous three-month period, according to preliminary data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority today. The latest drop is the largest since June 2009. The latest price drop “will set the tone for 2014,” said Donald Han, managing director of Chesterton Singapore Pte. “Prices in prime...

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How Singapore Got Hooked on the Internet of Public Shame

On the online portal STOMP, owned by Singapore’s top newspaper, The Straits Times, Singaporeans upload photos and videos of each other indulging in behaviors that, anywhere else in the world, might be considered mundane. Typical entries include images of people eating on the subway, or making out in a public park.  Of course, Singapore’s government has a well-earned reputation as a killjoy. This is a city-state, after all, perhaps best known for its attempts to control behavior by caning people...

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In Singapore"s Center, but a World Away

Log in to manage your products and services from The New York Times and the International New York Times. Don’t have an account yet?Create an account » Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?Learn more » In Singapore"s Center, but a World A...

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Hotel employee fined for molesting 25-year-old stepdaughter

A hotel supervisor was fined $6,000 on Wednesday for molesting his stepdaughter.The 58-year-old admitted to placing his hand on the 25-year-old woman’s shoulder and attempting to kiss her at his Sengkang flat on Jan 16 last year.None of the parties can be named to protect the identity of the victim.The court heard that shortly after the victim, her mother and stepfather had returned home from shopping, the mother and daughter searched the master bedroom for a bottle of perfume they had purchased....

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The world"s most expensive hotel breakfast? Try Singapore...

Whether with croissants, scrambled eggs or pancakes, thousands of business travellers worldwide begin their day at a hotel-owned breakfast buffet.Despite this trend, only one third of hotels include breakfast in their basic room rates, according to a recent study by HRS Group of more than 250,000 hotels worldwide.The remaining two thirds of hotels charge guests a premium for their morning meal, with the price reaching upwards of A$47 in Switzerland’s five star hotels.Of the surveyed cities, Singapore was the most expensive overall with an average hotel breakfast price of A$25.85, with Switzerland...

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Singapore students top PISA problem-solving test

SINGAPORE: Singapore students have topped an international assessment on problem solving.This is based on results for the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).85,000 students worldwide took part in a computer-based problem-solving test.And Singapore students beat other 15-year-olds from countries such as Japan, China and Finland.Using a fictitious subway map, how do you get from “Diamond” to “Einstein” in the quickest way possible?Or, plan how guests at a birthday party should be...

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Singapore"s OCBC offers $4.95 billion for Wing Hang Bank in bet on China growth

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC) (OCBC.SI) has offered to pay almost $5 billion for one of Hong Kong’s last remaining family-owned banks, in a deal that would give the Singapore lender a much sought-after gateway to the Greater China region. The deal to buy Wing Hang Bank Ltd (0302.HK) was preceded by months of negotiations, with the deadline for an agreement extended not once, but twice. OCBC formally made the offer to purchase the Hong Kong-based lender after reaching a deal with major shareholders including the bank’s founding family. OCBC, like other foreign lenders,...

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Fitch Rates Sands China's Amended $4.4B VML Credit Facility 'BBB-'

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Fitch Ratings has assigned a ‘BBB-’ rating to VML US Finance LLC’s (VUF) amended $4.4 billion senior secured credit facility, which includes a $2.4 billion term loan and a $2 billion revolver. Fitch’s existing Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) for VUF and its indirect parent companies, Sands China Ltd (Sands China), Las Vegas Sands LLC (LVS LLC) and Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVSC) are ‘BB+’. The Rating Outlook is Positive. The credit facility is guaranteed by VUF and Venetian Macau Limited (VML), Sands China’s main operating subsidiary and a gaming concession holder in Macau....

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Pan Pacific Hotels Group opens first international hotel in Myanmar"s capital ...

Strategically located close to the Myanmar International Convention Centre, PARKROYAL Nay Pyi Taw anticipates being the accommodation of choice for visiting dignitaries and high-profile guests Singapore — Pan Pacific Hotels Group has announced the opening of PARKROYAL Nay Pyi Taw today, the first international hotel in the capital of Myanmar, Nay Pyi Taw.The launch also makes PARKROYAL the first international hotel brand in Myanmar to enjoy a presence in two major cities – the commercial centre, Yangon and the administrative seat of the government, Nay Pyi Taw.Set within spacious beautifully...

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Andy Murray"s luxury hotel opens doors

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray’s luxury hotel near to his home town of Dunblane in Scotland opened its doors to guests on Tuesday.The Scottish tennis star bought Cromlix House, a Victorian mansion built in 1874, in February last year and has transformed it into a 15-bedroom five-star retreat.The Perthshire residence, set in 34 acres of woodlands three miles from Dunblane, has undergone extensive refurbishment and tourism officials believe it will prove to be a big draw for visitors to the area.The hotel boasts a Chez Roux restaurant, overseen by renowned French chef Albert Roux, and will be managed...

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