Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand share the honour of being the world's least corrupt countries, ahead of Singapore in fourth position and Finland and Switzerland in joint fifth, an international watchdog group said in its annual survey. Somalia is perceived as the world's most corrupt country followed closely by Myanmar, Iraq and Haiti, according to Transparency International's (TI) annual Corruption...
General
Only 3 out of 15 hotels report full occupancy during Grand Prix stretch AS SINGAPORE hoteliers gear up for the nation’s first ever Formula 1 night race later this week, the initial euphoria about a potentially huge tourist windfall has given way to more realistic expectations. Of the management teams at 15 hotels Today spoke to, only three — The Fullerton, Ritz Carlton and St Regis — report full...
The Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) land sales revenue doubled to S$12.4 billion for its financial year ended 31 March 2008. The property market boom and strong demand in state properties for office, education and commercial uses pushed sale revenue to just S$2 billion shy of the record S$14 billion netted in 1997. According to the SLA's latest annual report released Tuesday, it sold S$10.4 billion...
Singapore REITs have been massively sold off since the start of the year - down some 36 per cent on average to date. This is in line with property developers, whose stocks have fallen some 44 per cent since January. In comparison the STI is only down about 24 per cent. But analysts say REITs may be a good defensive play in the current turbulent climate. Property prices and rental costs have been on the...
DESPITE the current United States credit crunch, the third-largest Swiss private banking group EFG Bank, is expanding here and will be taking up seven floors out of the new nine-storey "boutique" office block opposite the Parliament House. EFG will be the first private bank to occupy the bulk of a building, and this gives it naming rights for the 78,000-square-foot freehold building. Said EFG Bank's...
A lush sanctuary without compare, Paradise Island features 29 stylish 2-storey villas, which is inspired by the romance of waterfront living and the green lushness of the tropical paradise. Its architecture is of modern tropical style and expressed in clean lines set in a naturalistic lushly landscaped enclave. Besides individual private berth for luxury boats, each villa design has a private driveway and...
374 households of the newly-completed Tivela precinct in Sengkang Central are among the first to benefit from a more extensive warranty scheme. The Housing and Development Board's (HDB) ASSURE 3 was introduced for new flats launched for sale from 2005. It covers selected defects in the units for between five and 10 years from the completion date of the flats. Fixing defects such as spalling concrete,...
There’s no place like home. Buying your first home is exciting and here we look at what you need to consider in making the right decision. Firstly, know why you are buying your first property. Perhaps it is because you want your own space away from parents, family or flat-mates – you want your independence. You may want to enjoy your own style, hobbies, your way of living and not be compromised into...
And how it can seize the opportunity and surge forward WE NOW have a perfect storm with the perfect ingredients — easy liquidity, poor alignment of incentives, inadequate assessment and management of risks, greed, and lack of due diligence. The surge of the energy price — a bubble of its own — was the catalyst. To fight inflation, the United States government hiked interest rates. The housing...
STB, URA and building owners making plans for special lighting WITH the world's first Formula 1 night race to be beamed to350 million fans globally, Singapore authorities are pulling out the stops to ensure the downtown skyline forms a blazing backdrop. The reason why that will be a challenge: The race circuit's 1,500 light projectors, which are four times brighter than average stadium floodlights, so...