In an article by theonlinecitizen, Leong Sze Hian writes about how earnings have dropped for the 2nd consecutive quarter based on the Ministry of Manpower’s latest Q3 2010 Labor Market report.

Average (Mean) Monthly Nominal Earnings Singapore $ Per Employee, has continued to fall from $4,310 to $3,819 and $3,754, for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Qtrs, respectively.
With the economy booming and expected to be the fastest growing in the world at 15 per cent GDP growth, and media reports reporting that the job market is bursting at the seams, why has earnings continued to fall for the second consecutive quarter?

Since Q1 2010, nominal wages have dropped by $556 or approximately 12.9%. With our previous story about how Singapore’s inflation for 2010 (till November) have increased by 3.8% year on year, will Singapore’s workers be able to afford to keep spending in the local economy? If our workers are being forced to scrimp and save for more rainy days ahead, will we end up seeing slower economic growth in the coming year?

Originally from Flickr. Creative Commons License.

Consumer Price Index for Singapore rose 3.8% year-on-year in November compared to 2009 according to a press release by the Singapore Department of Statistics. Higher cost in housing, recreation and transportation are cited as reasons for the jump.

Transport costs led the charge, showing a 9.4% increase compared to prices in 2009. Higher prices of cars and petrol were given as the reasons. Housing costs increased by 4% compared to the previous year due to higher electricity tariffs in 2010 and accommodation costs.

SingStats Press Release

Image originally from Flickr. Creative Commons License.

Originally from Flickr. Creative Commons License.

Singapore Tourism Receipts increased by 47% year-on-year so far from January to September, to S$13.7 billion.

According to the Factsheet provided by the Singapore Tourism Board, the increase in tourist receipts can be attributed to strong visitor spending as well as increased spending at the two Integrated Resorts on the island.

Indonesia generated the biggest change in tourism receipts from 2009, with a growth of 32%, followed by India‘s 30% and China‘s 28%.

STB forecasts the full-year tourism receipts for 2010 to be between S$17.5 to S$18.5 billion.

The increase in tourist spending could be good news for retail chains like FJ Benjamin, Wing Tai Holdings and other consumer goods retailers as they head into 2011 in the face of a sluggish economy.

STB Tourism Sector Performance Factsheet
Straits Times

Absolutely crazy news this afternoon.

Latest COE prices released after tender closed last Wednesday, creates a new record.

COE prices for 1,600cc cars and above is at $72,001 (15.2% increase from last round of $62,502).

Open category COE prices hit a high of $76,102 or (17.3% increase).

The only good news coming out from this COE round is that prices for cars below 1,600cc has dropped by 3.1%, from $47,604 to $46,129.

For those looking to purchase new cars soon, perhaps its better to wait it out.

Straits Times

Singapore-listed CapitalMalls Asia, a subsidary of property developer CapitaLand, has announced its will be acquiring Queensbay Mall in Penang for about S$275.6 million or RM651.8 million (approx. S$306 per sq. ft).

Mr Lim Beng Chee, CEO of CapitaMalls Asia, said “This acquisition signals our ongoing commitment to invest in Malaysia’s retail sector for the long-term, following our listing of CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust in July this year.”

On one of the reasons of the aquisition, he added, “Queensbay Mall will also form the seed asset for our planned RM1.0 billion Malaysia retail property fund, to potentially provide a pipeline of shopping malls for CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust to acquire”.

At time of writing, CapitalMalls Asia (SGX: JS8) is down one cent from its open of $1.87 to $1.86 per share. The company’s 52 week high is at $2.70 and 52 week low at $1.84 per share. Prices in SGD.

Official Press Release
Company Presentation on acquisition news

CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust
CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust (“CMMT”), listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on 16 July 2010, is the country’s largest “pure-play” shopping mall real estate investment trust (“REIT”) by market capitalisation and property value. CMMT’s market capitalisation is about RM1.4 billion, while its portfolio has been valued at RM2.13 billion in a valuation commissioned by its Trustee, AmTrustee Berhad.

Photo by linkway88 on Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Nc-Nd 2.0.

The Housing Development Board of Singapore, in a recent article to The Straits Times, clarifies that the recent changes to HDB rules that prevents public housing owners from holding on to private property simultaneously, considers landbanking investments as a form of private property.

This means that such investors will have to dispose either of their properties when they purchase a resale HDB flat.

Based on the article alone, it wouldn’t be unfair to question whether REITS (Real Estate Investment Trusts) also falls under that category. At this point of time, that is officially unknown if that is the case.

Read more about the clarification here.

Photo by Manu Manohar on Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0 Generic.

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura) issued a new fatwa on the 23rd of September, which recognizes CPF nominations by Muslims as a form of gift (hibah).

The fatwa updates an eariler fatwa made in 1971 which considers CPF nominees to be a trustee and thus require all CPF proceeds to be distributed according to the Islamic Law of Inheritance or faraidh.

This new ruling means Muslim CPF holders are now given more power to decide how and where their CPF monies will be distributed.

Read more about the change here.

Photo credited to Random123abc on Sgforums.
There’s a buzz recently on popular Singapore forums, Hardwarezone and SgForums on the sighting of a new bus by public transport operator SMRT.

More photos on the various links above.

In a separate but similar news, the same bus has also been spotted without the SMRT decal.

Netizens have identified the bus as a Zhongtong LCK6112G.

SMRT has yet to make a press announcement/release on its possible acquisition.

What do you think? Is it a Zhongtong bus like it is claimed to be?

Photo by Justin Zhuang on Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons Nc 2.0 Generic.

Bangladeshi workers have been the backbone of most of Singapore’s booming construction industry for at least 10 years now, but it looks like it may be changing.

Migrant workers from the landlocked nation, now typically have to pay 500,000 Bangladeshi Takas (~SGD $9,550) or more to agents to bring them into Singapore to work. The workers typically earn SGD $18-$20 a day, making it difficult or almost impossible to recoup the initial amount paid to the agents before their contract ends.

Read more about this story here.