WITH more than 10 years’ experi-ence in outsourcing and IT servicesunder his belt, it seemed like a natu-ral progression for Sachin Gok-laney to start a mobile applicationdeveloping company.

Launched in January last year,the start-up, Appio Labs, speciali-

ses in corporate mobile applications. These range fromsimple marketing applications to help increase the custo-mer base, to internally distributed ones such as contentmanagement and customer relationship management ap-plications.

Mr Goklaney said that Appio Labs might be the first lo-cal mobile application developer to outsource its work toVietnam.

No stranger to outsourcing, Mr Goklaney co-foundedSingapore Offshore Services (SOS), an outsourcing servicecompany, in 2005, before he set up Appio Labs.

However, sensing the growth potential of the corporatemobile application industry, Mr Goklaney decided to ven-ture into this field despite his lack of programming know-ledge and skills.

“Many of people in the world now travel a lot for busi-ness; we don’t always have access to computers, writtendocuments, printers and scanners,” says Mr Goklaney.

Anticipating increasing demand from small and me-dium enterprises to go mobile in the coming years, it wasclear that the company should focus on this segment fromthe start.

“We honestly didn’t think people were assisting SMEsto go mobile. Larger companies can always afford to hireinternal developers, but SMEs, while they could hire deve-lopers, don’t have the expertise to manage the project, thetesting and review of the application.”

To tackle the problem of the lack of expertise in the mo-bile application field, SOS collaborated with BrandHuband a few other angel investors to set up Appio Labs, as ajoint venture.

BrandHub lent its expertise in the design and brandingaspects of the mobile applications. Once the design frame-work is done, it is passed on to Appio Labs’s group of de-velopers in Vietnam, who take charge of the development

and testing process. The Singapore office is in charge ofproject management and the company’s global opera-tions.

The first product that Appio Labs created was a mobileapplication for Trufflenet, an online brand reputation com-pany based in London. An extension of its compu-ter-based application, the mobile version will enable Truf-flenet’s clients to keep track of what Internet users are say-ing about their brand online (on forums, blogs and socialmedia) from their smartphones. The mobile application isespecially convenient for many of Trufflenet’s globe-trot-ting clients, which include many high-profile public fi-gures and businesses.

Since then, it has also developed an application for aluxury high-end members club in Europe, a letter-writingapplication for an educator and one for a local food andbeverage company.

While Mr Goklaney admits that some of these applica-tions may not be entirely corporate-focused, he believesthat building a good track record is essential for a newstart-up like his. “Without these applications, we believed

we couldn’t have walked into a meeting room with muchto show.”

However, Mr Goklaney has not taken his eye off whathe had originally set out to do. In the pipeline are an opera-tional application for a leading classifieds company inAsia, and a marketing application for an Asian propertyfirm.

Mr Goklaney reveals that though clients may be ner-vous about entrusting their mobile applications to over-seas developers, there is much value in outsourcing.

“Vietnam has a great pool of resources, both youngand creative people, perhaps more creative than those inIndia. The infrastructure cost is on par (with other coun-tries) but the labour cost is lower. We are then able to passthose cost savings on to the clients,” he says.

He estimates that Appio Labs is able to achieve cost sa-vings of up to 50 per cent as compared to if he had basedthe developing process in Singapore.

Such shrewd collaboration has encouraged rapid acce-leration in the company’s growth.

“SOS’s expertise in knowing the region, in outsourcing,

IT projects and project management has helped us a lot infast-tracking Appio Labs,” says Mr Goklaney.

Furthermore, the year-old start-up has been able totap into SOS’s existing customers and the trained resour-ces and operations in Vietnam.

The company’s ability to attract European clients liesin the presence of a sales and marketing team in Europe,which is managed by his business partners who are basedthere.

Conceding that sales and marketing may not be his orSOS’s expertise, Mr Goklaney credits Kriti Kapoor,co-founder of Appio Labs, for being a valuable asset to thecompany.

“Kriti was previously the marketing director at DellAsia Pacific, so she brings that real marketing and salesinfluence to our company,” says Mr Goklaney. “Kriti hasalso helped start-ups previously in Europe and brought inher wide contact base.”

Mr Goklaney is aware that growing too quickly mayprove to be detrimental to the business. “If you can’t replyquickly to customers in terms of proposals, clients willthink that you are not interested,” he says.

Hence, Mr Goklaney is selective about who he workswith. “We don’t want to go ‘too crazy’ and at the sametime we want to make sure that whatever we do is of ahigh quality,” he says. “We would also advise clients toconsider using the money for better means if mobile appli-cations are not the best solution for them.”

As the corporate mobile industry is new, Mr Goklaneysays that a key challenge is the lack of suitable applicationdevelopers. “We could easily find an application develo-per but it’s tricky finding someone who understands thecorporate environment, especially the security and risk as-pects of it,” he says.

“But let’s not forget that mobile applications are stillquite new in the corporate industry so we have to take theplunge and train good people and take them through thecourse.”

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges that Appio Labsfaces is corporate entities’ fear of venturing into the mo-bile application industry.

“The biggest fear customers have is change. They areworried that they won’t know how to support the applica-tion and that they are developing it for the wrong rea-sons,” says Mr Goklaney.

Describing the transition for local SMEs from pa-per-based work to mobile applications as “very slow”,Mr Goklaney believes that “Appio Labs and its competi-tors will have to educate the market here” in order to seea higher take-up rate.

“It’s not that big a barrier to jump and there is a riskbut we will help you to manage the risk,” he adds.

Mr Goklaney expects to receive about 10-15 contractsthis year. In line with the growth in business, he plans totreble Appio Labs’s staff strength by the end of this year.

He also plans to incorporate new and upcoming tech-nologies such as mobile payment and cloud sharing intothe applications, while retaining its focus on producing op-erational efficiency applications for businesses.

Despite Appio Labs’s good start, Mr Goklaney remainslevel-headed. “For the first three years, we have to be rea-listic and conservative, but we also have to take riskswhen necessary,” he says.

IN THE MATTER OF THECOMPANIES ACT, CAP. 50

ANDIN THE MATTER OF

NOVAS SOLUTIONS (S) PTE. LTD.Incorporated in the Republic of SingaporeCompany Registration No. 200408275R(In Members! Voluntary Liquidation)

NOTICE OF FINAL MEETINGNOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuantto Section 308(1) of the CompaniesAct, Cap.50 that the !nal meetingof members of the company willbe held at 10 Anson Road #33-17International Plaza Singapore 079903on 10 February 2012 for the followingpurposes :-1. To receive the Liquidator!s Statement

of Account for the period from 1JANUARY 2011 to 10 FEBRUARY2012 showing the manner in whichthe winding up has been conductedand the assets of the Companydisposed of and to hear anyexplanation that may be given by theLiquidator.

2. To resolve that pursuant to Section320(3) of the Companies Act,Cap.50, the books and records ofthe Company and of the Liquidatorbe disposed of after the expirationof three months from the date ofthe Final Meeting of the members ofCompany.

ONG BOON CHYELiquidator

10 Anson Road #33-17International PlazaSingapore 079903

Dated this 10th day of January 2012

In the Matter ofthe Companies Act, Cap. 50

AndIn the Matter of

Fusion Garage Pte. Ltd.CO. REG. NO. 200801933E

NOTICE PURSUANT TO SECTION 291(1)STATUTORY DECLARATION BY

DIRECTORS OF COMPANY’S INABILITYTO CONTINUE BUSINESS BYREASON OF ITS LIABILITIES.

I, Chandrasekar s/o Rathakrishnan of 501 PasirPanjang Road, #05-04, The Spectrum, Singapore117506, NRIC No. S8016420C make oath andsay as follows:(1) I am the sole director of the abovenamed

company;(2) The abovenamed company cannot by reason

of its liabilities continue its business;(3) The meetings of the abovenamed company

and of its creditors have been summonedfor the 20th day of January 2012, beinga date within one month of the date of thisStatutory Declaration;

and I make this solemn declaration by virtue ofthe provisions of the Oaths and Declaration Act(Cap 211), and subject to the penalties providedby that Act for the making of false statements instatutory declarations, conscientiously believingthe statements contained in this declaration tobe true in every particular.

Declared at Singapore this5th day of January 2012.

By,Chandrasekar s/o Rathakrishnan

DirectorBefore me,

Pascal Baylon NettoCommissioner for Oaths/Notary Public Singapore

In the Matter ofthe Companies Act, Cap. 50

AndIn the Matter of

Fusion Garage Pte. Ltd.(PROVISIONAL LIQUIDATORS

APPOINTED)CO. REG. NO. 200801933E

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OFPROVISIONAL LIQUIDATORS

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to Section291(4) of the Companies Act, Cap. 50.Messrs Goh Thien Phong and Chan Kheng Tek allof PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 8 Cross Street#17-00 PWC Building Singapore 048424 havebeen appointed Provisional Liquidators of theCompany, jointly and severally, on 5 January2012.

Chandrasekar s/o RathakrishnanDirector

Dated this 10th day of January 2012.

In the Matter ofthe Companies Act, Cap. 50

AndIn the Matter of

FUSION GARAGE PTE. LTD.(PROVISIONAL LIQUIDATORS

APPOINTED)CO. REG. NO. 200801933E

NOTICE OF MEETING TO CREDITORSNOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant toSection 296 of the Companies Act, Cap. 50,a meeting of creditors of Fusion Garage Pte.Ltd. will be held at 5 Harper Road, #03-01,Singapore 369673 on 20 January 2012 at 1500hours for the following purposes:(1) To lay before the creditors a full statement

of the affairs of the Company, showing theassets and liabilities of the Company.

(2) To consider where appropriate thenomination of Liquidators in the winding up.

(3) To resolve that the Liquidators’ remunerationbe based on their normal scale rates and bepaid out of the Company’s assets.

(4) To consider where appropriateappointment(s) of and to a Committee ofInspection.

(5) To resolve under Section 320(3) of theCompanies Act, Cap. 50 that the books,accounts and documents of the Company andof the Liquidators be disposed of one dayafter the dissolution of the Company.

(6) Any other business.The above meeting is held in view of thefact that the following resolutions are to beproposed at an Extraordinary General Meetingof shareholders of the Company to be heldpreceding the above meeting: -(a) That the Company be wound-up voluntarily

as it cannot by reason of its liabilitiescontinue its business.

(b) That Messrs Goh Thien Phong and ChanKheng Tek all of PricewaterhouseCoopersLLP, 8 Cross Street #17-00 PWC BuildingSingapore 048424 be appointed Liquidatorsof the Company, jointly and severally, for thepurpose of the winding-up, and that theirremuneration be based on their normalscale rates and be paid out of the Company’sassets.

Dated this 5th day of January 2012.Chandrasekar s/o Rathakrishnan

DirectorNOTE: Proxies should be lodged with theCompany at 8 Cross Stress #17-00, PWCBuilding, Singapore 048424, not later than 12noon on 19th day of January 2012.

THE COMPANIES ACT, CAP. 50LEE HENG MOTORS PTE LTD

(In Vol. Liquidation)Co. Reg. No. 196300470E

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the creditors ofthe above-named Company which is being voluntarilywound up are required on or before the 13th day ofFebruary, 2012 to send in their names and addresseswith particulars of their debts and claims and the namesand addresses of their solicitors (if any) to the undersignedLiquidator c/o M/s Wee Hui Pheng & Co., 1 ColemanStreet #06-10, The Adelphi, Singapore 179803 and,if so required by notice in writing from the said Liquidator,are by their solicitors or personally to come in and provetheir debts and claims at such time and place as shallbe specified in such notice or in default thereof, they willbe excluded from the benefit of any distribution madebefore such debts and claims are proved.Quek Seow HengLiquidatorSingapore, 10/1/2012

THE COMPANIES ACT, CAP. 50LEE HENG MOTORS PTE LTD

(In Vol. Liquidation)Co. Reg. No. 196300470E

At a general meeting of LEE HENG MOTORS PTE LTDduly convened and held on 6/1/2012 the followingspecial resolution was passed:

SPECIAL RESOLUTIONThat the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuantto section 290(1)(b) of the Companies Act, Cap. 50and that Mr Quek Seow Heng be appointed theLiquidator of the Company to conduct the said windingup jointly and severally and that he be indemnified bythe Company against all costs, charges and expensesincurred or sustained by him in the execution anddischarge of his duties in connection with the windingup and that the books, accounts and documents of theCompany and the liquidator be destroyed one day afterthe date of dissolution of the Company pursuant toSection 320(3)(b) of the Companies Act, Cap. 50.Quek Seow HuatDirectorSingapore, 10/1/2012

The transition is slow, but start-up Appio Labs sees growth potential in the sector, report NG JIE HUI and SHERMAN TAN

A collection from the Business Times. Available at all leading stores

SHIRISH APTE“Consumer banking is a

service industry, but there isn’t necessarily always

that personal touch, so you’ve got to find ways to

create that service context all the time.”

SIR PHILIP GREEN“I think where I’ve been different is that I multi-task. I could do the finance. I could do the deal and I could run the business. That’s pretty unusual. Most people just light the deal and look for a team to run it.”

MAGNUS BOCKER“We are very good at maintenance.

We are very good at maintaining and developing a good and solid market.

But if you want to become one of the leading markets, we need to be a bit

more hunters than farmers.” SHIRO KONDO“It may be said that if IBM is a knowledge-strong company, Ricoh is a physically strong one. We will make the most of our physical strength.”

MARC BENIOFF“We have always believed that everything was going into the cloud, because it was a

model that allowed everyone to succeed.”

MICHAEL QUEEN“It’s never easy to make good investments. If it was, everybody would do it.”

The diverse experiences of some of the most influential thinkers, corporate chiefs and social activists of the age

RAFFLESCONVERSATIONS2 0 1 1 0 E D I T I O N

ARTHUR LEE

Mr Goklaney: A key challenge is the lack of suitable application developers as the corporate mobile industry isnew. ‘We could easily find an application developer but it’s tricky finding someone who understands the corporateenvironment, especially the security and risk aspects of it.’

Targeting SMEs’ mobile business

14 SME INC The Business Times, Tuesday, January 10, 2012

APPLICATIONS and socialmedia sites used to be plat-forms purely for entertain-ment and socialising butrecently, local companies– even SMEs – are increas-ingly incorporating thesetools into their marketing

strategy.In October, CYC The Custom Shop,

known for being shirt-maker to thewell-heeled, launched its own Facebook ap-plication, in addition to the Facebook andTwitter pages it already runs. The applica-tion allows users to customise their shirtdesigns online. Customers can then gettheir designs tailored in the shop, explainsJan Fong, business development directorof CYC The Custom Shop.

Smartphone application developersthat BT spoke to have also noted that morebrick-and-mortar stores are venturing intothe digital space.

Swagsoft, a Singapore-based mobile ap-plication and web developer, told BT thatSMEs with a physical presence make up 95per cent of its customer base.

Appio Labs, another corporate mobileapplication developer, said that 60-70 percent of the monthly enquiries it receivescome from SMEs and start-ups that arelooking for ways to develop mobile and dig-ital technology.

But what has driven such traditionalstores, even those with an establishedbrandname, into the digital sphere?

Kang Puay Seng, managing director ofSuper Bean International which managesthe Mr Bean chain in Singapore, feels thatsuch digital ventures allow them to reachout to a younger demographic.

“We need to find a way to connect withthe younger customers. We want moreand more of the younger generation tocome to know about the benefits of soyamilk and come to enjoy our soya milk,”says Mr Kang.

Early this year, Super Bean Internation-al released its own iPhone application“Talking Bean”, which allows users to in-teract with Mr Bean, the company’s mas-cot.

Miss Fong says: “Social media is onlyone of the ways we choose to brand our-selves but it is an important one as theyounger generation now heavily rely on so-cial media to make decisions on what theypurchase.”

Even companies which count the young-er generation as a significant part of theircustomer base are not resting on their lau-rels.

“We have a large group of students andyoung working adults (as customers), thusit is only advisable to communicate withthem via a channel of their choice or whatis ‘in’,” says Rashid Hassan, chief execu-tive officer of PastaMatrix International,which operates the PastaMania restau-rants in Singapore and overseas.

In the third quarter of 2010, PastaMa-nia launched its iPhone and Android appli-cations which allow customers to placetheir order through them.

Part of this shift towards digital market-ing can be attributed to pressure from rivalbusinesses.

“If their competitor is doing it, they willfeel that there is a need to keep themselvesabreast of technology,” says Karen New,CEO of Omnitoons, a Singapore-based mo-bile application developer.

It is also not just the well-establishednames which have chosen to branch out.Small enterprises such as Moly Café andScoop of Art, a gelato parlour, also feel thatsocial media is important.

“We think it’s beneficial for small busi-ness (to venture into social media) as it’snot an expensive marketing tool,” affirmsAnisa Tyebally, partner of Scoop of Art.

“Social media acts as another platformto communicate with my customers andupdate them on the latest news. We don’thave much budget for advertising and mar-keting so I rely heavily on social media,”says George Wong, owner of Moly Café.

However, Aldric Chang, managing di-rector of SwagSoft, cautions against jump-ing on the digital bandwagon too hastily.“For an app to help a business effectively,

it requires strategic planning from the verystart and a clear idea of how the app re-lates to the brand of the business, andwhether the app is designed to help thebusiness generate inquiries, sales or en-gage prospective customers,” he says.

But if done properly, such digital ven-tures can help reap significant rewards forfirms.

Mr Kang reveals that the company’siPhone app has helped the Mr Bean brandreach out to its overseas market. He citeshow “Talking Bean” has been downloadedby users from 55 countries in the ninemonths since it was launched.

“In fact, we also see a lot of Korean cus-tomers recognising Mr Bean through theapplication, even before our first store inHyundai (a shopping mall in South Korea)was set up,” adds Mr Kang.

Sachin Goklaney, co-founder of Appio-Labs, also thinks that social media andsmart phone applications are “morecost-effective” marketing techniqueswhich help target specific groups of cus-tomers.

However, these forays into the digitalworld may also present certain disadvan-tages. For one, the accessibility and rela-tive anonymity of the Internet makes busi-nesses that choose to venture online highlysusceptible to criticism.

“Bad reputation or negative reportsspread faster online than offline andthere’s no way to remove it,” says Mr Has-san.

However, the silver lining is that socialmedia can also act as an effective feedbackplatform for businesses seeking to improvetheir services.

“There is a famous saying – today’snews is in tomorrow’s bin. It is all up to thecompany to turn negative news into tomor-row’s game plan,” remarks Mr Hassan.

“Consumers will always have gripes,and the Internet allows them to voice thesewith ease. So as long as we deal with everyissue in a timely and professional way, theoutcome will be a positive one,” adds MissFong.

Perhaps these online ventures by SMEsare simply a natural progression of thetechnological age.

Mr Kang aptly sums it up: “I think prob-ably we have entered into a new age of so-cial media and technology with customers.Let us be open about it and let us preparefor that.”

COMPANY MEETINGSCOMPANY MEETING PLACE DATE TIME

Healthway Med E The National University of SingaporeSociety, Kent Ridge Guild House, EvansRoom, 9 Kent Ridge Drive,Singapore 119241 28-Dec 10.00am

Yamada Green A 6 Battery Road, #10-01,Singapore 049909 28-Dec 9.30am

Eastgate Tech A RELC International Hotel, Room 507,Level 5, 30 Orange Grove Road,Singapore 258352 28-Dec 10.00am

Giken Sakata A No. 7 Second Chin Bee Road,Singapore 618774 28-Dec 10.00am

Asia Water E 7 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square,Pan Pacific Singapore, Ocean 5, Level 2,Singapore 039595 28-Dec 10.00am

Tianjin Zhong E Tianjin Zhong Xin MansionNo. 17 Baidi Road, Nankai District,Tianjin, PRC 28-Dec 9.30am

Chasen Hldgs E Raffles Lounge (level 2), Raffles CountryClub, 450 Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim,Singapore 639932 29-Dec 10.30am

Miyoshi Precision A No. 5 Second Chin Bee Road,Singapore 618772 29-Dec 3.00pm

Ezra Hldgs A Klapsons, The Boutique Hotel –eighteen.1 & 2 at Level 18, 15 HoeChiang Road, Tower Fifteen,Singapore 089316 31-Dec 10.00am

Adventus Hldgs E Kent Ridge Guild House9 Kent Ridge DriveSingapore 119241 03-Jan 9.30am

L-Jacoberg E 1 Raffles Boulevard, Suntec City,Meeting Room 320, Level 3, SuntecSingapore International Convention &Exhibition Centre,Singapore 039593 05-Jan 9.00am

Lafe Corp S Dunearn 3, Level 1, Raffles Town Club,1 Plymouth Avenue,Singapore 297753 05-Jan 3.00pm

Hisaka Hldgs A 63 Sungei Kadut Loop, HisakaIndustrial Building,Singapore 729484 06-Jan 3.00pm

MFS Tech A 801 Lorong 7 Toa Payoh, WeemesBuilding #02-01,Singapore 319319 09-Jan 11.30am

Jel Corp E 11 Changi North Way, JEL Centre,Singapore 498796 09-Jan 2.30pm

A: Annual , E: Extraordinary , G: General, S: Special, W: WarrantholdersA full list of company meetings is at http://www.businesstimes.com.sg

BANKS %Agricultural Bank Of China ............ 5.5ANZ Banking Group .......................... 6Arab Bank PLC ............................... 5.5Banco Bilbao Vizcaya

Argentaria, S.A. ............................ 6Bangkok Bank .................................... 6Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd(S) ............ 5Bank of America NA ........................ 5Bank of China Limited ................. 5.5Bank of Communications .............. 5.5Bank of East Asia ........................ 5.75Bank of India .................................... 6Bank of New Zealand ................ 6.25Bank of Nova Scotia .................... 5.5Bank of Singapore .......................... 5.5Bank of Taiwan ................................. 6Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi

UFJ, Ltd ......................................... 6Barclays Bank PLC .......................... 5.5BNP Paribas ...................................... 6Canadian Imperial Bank ............... 5.5CIMB Bank Berhad ........................ 5.5Citibank NA ................................... 5.5Commerzbank

Aktiengesellschaft ................... 5.25Credit Agricole Corporate and

Investment Bank ..................... 5.75Credit Industriel ET

Commercial ............................ 6.75Dexia Banque Intl A

Luxembourg .................................. 6Deutsche Bank AG ....................... 5.5DBS Bank .................................... 4.25DnB NOR Singapore .......................... 6Far Eastern Bank ............................. 5First Commercial Bank ................ 5.75Fortis Bank S.A./N.V. ........................ 6Habib Bank ...................................... 6HL Bank ..................................... 5.75HSBC ............................................ 5.5HSBC Private Bank

(Suisse) SA ................................. 5.5Hua Nan Comm Bank .................. 5.5Indian Bank .................................. 5.5Indian Overseas Bank .................. 5.5Industrial & Commercial

Bank of China ........................ 4.75ING Bank NV ................................... 6JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. .......... 6Korea Exchange .......................... 5.75KBC Bank N.V. .............................. 5.5Land Bank of Taiwan ....................... 6Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg .... 6Lloyds TSB Bank Plc ................... 6.25Maybank .................................... 5.25

Mega Inter'l Commercial BankCo Ltd .................................... 5.75

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & BankingCorp, ............................................ 6

Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd ............. 6National Aust Bank .................... 6.25National Bank of Kuwait ............. 5.75Natixis Singapore

Branch ........................................... 6Norinchukin Bank, The ..................... 6Norddeutsche Landesbank ................ 6Nordea bank Finland PLC .................. 6OCBC Bank ...................................... 5Philippine Nat Bank .................... 6.75PT Bank Negara Indonesia

(Persero) TBK ................................ 6PT Bank Mandiri

(Persero) Tbk ............................... 6Rabobank, S'pore Branch ............ 5.25Raiffeisen Bank International

AG ................................................. 6RHB Bank Berhad ......................... 5.7Royal Bank (Canada) .................. 4.75Royal Bank (Scotland) .................. 5.5ShinHan Bank .................................. 8Skandinaviska Enskilda .............. 5.75Societe Generale ............................... 6State Bank of India ........................... 6Standard Chartered .................... 5.75Sumitomo Mitsui Bk Corp ................. 6Sumitomo Trust

& Banking ..................................... 6Svenska Handelsbanken ................... 6The Royal Bank of

Scotland N.V ............................. 5.5The Siam Comm Bank

P Co Ltd ....................................... 6UBAF .................................................. 6UBS AG ........................................ 5.5UCO Bank ........................................ 6UniCredit Bank AG ...................... 5.38United Overseas Bank Ltd ................ 5VTB Capital PLC

S'pore Branch ........................... 6.75Westpac Banking .............................. 6WestLB AG ....................................... 6Woori Bank ................................. 8.25

Source: The Association of Banksin Singapore

FINANCE COMPANIESHong Leong Fin (PLR) ............... 6.875Hong Leong Fin (EBR) .................. 4.5S'pura Fin (BLR) ........................ 6.625Sing Inv & Fin (PLR) ..................... 5.38EBR: Enterprise Base RateBLR: Base Lending Rate

Asia Pac Brew ak 63.000 25-Jan 27-Jan 13-Feb 11-NovAsia Pac Brew bh 15.500 25-Jan 27-Jan 13-Feb 11-NovAusgroup ak 0.640 12-Dec 14-Dec 30-Dec 26-AugCapitaMall Trust cf 1.020 04-Nov 09-Nov 06-Jan 15-NovCFM Hldgs ak 0.700 19-Dec 21-Dec 03-Jan 07-DecEastgate Tech an 0.100 23-Feb 27-Feb 15-Mar 13-DecEtika Intl ak 0.700 27-Jan 31-Jan ai 12-DecF&N ak 12.000 31-Jan 02-Feb 17-Feb 16-NovFDS Networks Grp ae 2.000 19-Dec 21-Dec 04-Jan 15-DecGoodpack ak 2.000 19-Dec 21-Dec 06-Jan 18-NovGoodpack bh 1.000 19-Dec 21-Dec 06-Jan 18-NovHiap Seng Engg aw 1.000 30-Dec 04-Jan 18-Jan 09-NovHisaka Hldgs ak 0.500 11-Jan 13-Jan 27-Jan 21-DecMedi-Flex ak 0.100 13-Dec 15-Dec 27-Dec 24-NovMTQ Corp cc 2.000 16-Nov 18-Nov 06-Jan 31-OctPNE Ind Ltd an 0.300 01-Feb 03-Feb 28-Feb 29-NovPopular Hldgs aw 0.500 10-Jan 12-Jan 31-Jan 12-Dec

S Chance bt 3.200 08-Nov 10-Nov 28-Dec 07-OctSim Lian Grp bp 4.800 10-Nov 14-Nov 28-Dec 03-NovSingTel aw 6.800 20-Dec 22-Dec 12-Jan 23-NovTotal Access Comm ^^ bc 1646.000 30-Dec 04-Jan 12-Jan 16-DecTransit-Mixed aw 1.000 07-Dec 09-Dec 29-Dec 13-OctUtdOAus ^ ae 8.000 30-Dec 04-Jan 11-Jan 18-NovViz Branz aw 0.300 27-Dec 29-Dec 16-Jan 14-DecWBL Corp ak 5.000 17-Jan 19-Jan 13-Feb 14-NovXpress Hldgs an 0.030 04-Jan 06-Jan 18-Jan 22-Dec

Legends : (#) US$; (*) Rmb; (@) HK$; (^) A$; (&) Pound; (##) Rupiah;(**) Yen; (@@) Euro; (^^) Baht; (&&) RM; (@@@) Peso; (^^^) Rs;(&&&) NT$; (Ann) Announcement; (ae) Cash/Bonus; (ai) To be an-nounced; (ak) Final Tax Exempt (One Tier); (an) First and Final TaxExempt (One Tier); (aw) Interim Tax Exempt (One Tier); (bc) SpecialInterim; (bh) Special Tax Exempt (One Tier); (bp) Final Tax Exempt(One Tier), with a scrip alternative; (bt) First and Final Tax Exempt(One Tier) with scrip Div scheme; (cc) Interim Tax Exempt (OneTier) with a scrip Div; (cf) Advanced Distribution;

By SHERMAN TANDESPITE economic uncertainty worldwide, themajority of Singapore’s “rising rich” probably spentas much this year – if not more – than they did lastChristmas.

A Nielsen survey commissioned by UOB, showedthat 71 per cent of respondents were set to spendan average of more than $1,400 on Christmas gifts.Although almost half (48 per cent) of respondentsindicated a maximum budget of $1,000, asignificant portion of respondents (28 per cent)were willing to spend between $1,000 and $2,000.Only 2 per cent were prepared to spend more than$5,000.

The online survey interviewed 237 people fromSingapore aged 30-55, defining the “rising rich” asthose with assets under management (AUM) ofbetween $100,000 and $350,000. The survey wasconducted from Dec 8-15.

“Singapore’s rising rich make up about 25 percent of the working population in Singapore and ifthey are spending an average of more than $1,400each this Christmas, we can expect a few moresmiles not only on the faces of those who arereceiving gifts but also those who are selling them,”said James Phoen, managing director and head ofsales and distribution at UOB.

Not surprisingly, the survey found that almosttwo-thirds of respondents intended to giveChristmas gifts to their husbands and wives. Sons,daughters and mothers would have also gotChristmas gifts.

However, interestingly, only 37 per cent ofrespondents said they would be buying a gift fortheir fathers, while 42 per cent of respondents saidthey would give Christmas gifts to their friends. Onein three respondents also indicated they would bebuying a gift for themselves this Christmas.

According to another recent Nielsen-conductedglobal online survey on holiday shopping, the topthree items for holiday gifts in Singapore areapparel, holidays and something technology-related.

Smartphone applicationsand social media arebecoming a critical partof marketing strategy forSMEs, SHERMAN TANand NG JIEHUI say

Getting dressed for success:Shirt-maker CYC The Custom Shoprecently launched its own Facebookapplication, which allows users tocustomise their shirt designs online.Customers can then get their designstailored in the shop

Rising rich continue buying giftsliberally this holiday period: survey

SMEs take running leapinto the digital world

In the Matter ofThe Companies Act, Cap 50

AndIn the Matter of

(1) Creative Label Mfg Pte. Ltd.Company No. 199703272W

(2) Kaidi Co Investment Pte LtdCompany No. 199703101D

(In Members’ Voluntary Liquidation)NOTICE OF FINAL MEETING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Final Meeting of each of the above-named Companies will beheld at 190 Middle Road #16-01 Fortune Centre, Singapore 188979 on 27 January 2012 at(1) 10.30 am and (2) 11.00 am for the purposes set out in Section 308 and 320(3) of the CompaniesAct Cap 50.

Dated: 27 December 2011Robert Yam Mow Lam

Liquidator

PRIME LENDING RATES Dec 23

IN THE MATTER OF THECOMPANIES ACT CAP 50

ANDIN THE MATTER OF

1) WAVERTREE HOLDINGSPRIVATE LIMITED(Co. Reg. No. 198105140H)

2) STRAITS TRADING PRIVATELIMITED(Co. Reg. No. 200608823E)

NOTICE OF RESOLUTION FOR MEMBERS’VOLUNTARY WINDING-UP(Pursuant to Section 290)

At the Extraordinary General Meeting of themembers of the above-named companies, dulyconvened and held at 9 Battery Road #28-01Straits Trading Building, Singapore 049910 on20th December 2011, the following resolutionswere duly passed:-RESOLVED1. That Wavertree Holdings Private Limited and

Straits Trading Private Limited be wound upvoluntarily pursuant to Section 290 of theCompanies Act, Cap. 50.

2. That Mr Lai Seng Kwoon and Ms Lim Suat Pekof No. 8 Robinson Road #13-00 ASO Building,Singapore 048544 be and are herebyappointed Joint Liquidators for the purpose ofwinding up.

3. That pursuant to Sections 305(1)(a) and305(1)(b) of the Act, the Joint Liquidatorsbe and are hereby authorised to exercise anyor all of the powers given to Liquidators bySections 272(1)(b), 272(1)(c), 272(1)(d),272(1)(e), 272(2) of the Act.

4. That the appointed Joint Liquidators beauthorised to divide all or such part of thesurplus assets of the companies as theyshall think fit among the shareholdersof the companies in specie or otherwise,in accordance with their existing rights &interests.

5. That under Section 320(3)(b) of theCompanies Act, Cap. 50 the books andpapers of the companies be destroyed onthe expiration of 3 months after lodging thereturn with the Accounting and CorporateRegulatory Authority and Official Receiver bythe Joint Liquidators under Section 308(3) ofthe said Act.

Dated this 20th day of December 2011Aldric Tan Jee Wei

Corporate Representative

IN THE MATTER OF THECOMPANIES ACT CAP 50

ANDIN THE MATTER OF

1) WAVERTREE HOLDINGSPRIVATE LIMITED(Co. Reg. No. 198105140H)

2) STRAITS TRADING PRIVATELIMITED(Co. Reg. No. 200608823E)

(IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATION)NOTICE is hereby given that the creditors ofthe above-named companies which are beingwound up voluntarily, are required, on or before31st January, 2012 to send in their names andaddresses, with particulars of their debts orclaims, and the names and addresses of theirsolicitors (if any) to the undersigned, the JointLiquidators of the said companies; and, if sorequired in writing from the said Liquidators, areby their solicitors or personally, to come in andprove the said debts or claims at such time andplace as shall be specified in such notice, or indefault thereof they will be excluded from thebenefit of any distribution made before suchdebts are proved.Dated this 27th day of December 2011

Lai Seng KwoonLim Suat Pek

Joint Liquidators8 Robinson Road #13-00 ASO Building

Singapore 048544

’Tis (still) theseason to bespending . . .

DIVIDENDS ANNOUNCEDPayment Ex Books Pay Ann

(cts) date close date datePayment Ex Books Pay Ann(cts) date close date date

The Business Times, Tuesday, December 27, 2011 SINGAPORE NEWS 11

By Joyce Hooijoyceh@sph.com.sgSingaporeIN the CBD, one marine insur-ance professional now gets swag-gering rights in cubicle land, withthe distinction of havingsmashed an SMRT train’s glasswindow with a fire extinguisher.

The man who broke a windowto let air into one of the manytrain carriages stranded withoutventilation for almost an hourduring the train breakdown onthe North-South line on Thurs-day wishes to stay anonymous.“I’m still afraid that I might get in-to trouble with the authorities,even though I had no criminal in-tent,” he told BT.

The 31-year-old and his wifehad been travelling north afterwork when the lights began toflicker soon after their train leftDhoby Ghaut station. “This nev-er happens, so I knew something

was wrong,” he said. BetweenSomerset and Orchard, the traincame to a halt. The driver toldpassengers that the train was ex-periencing technical problems.“Unfortunately, several otherfunctions started to shut down.Eventually, it got to the pointwhere the ventilation fans werenot working,” he said.

People began calling the driv-er over the intercom. “Some peo-ple were hungry, some were faint-ing and some had fainted. Thecalls to the driver were made by... several different people. Theplea was to have the doorsopen,” he recounted. “The drivermaintained that he could notand that he was trying to resolvethe situation in a few minutes.But that did not materialise. Andwhen he was asked to open thedoors, he said that for the safetyof the passengers, he could not.”

Soon, the situation in his owncarriage became more dire. “Icould see even grown men dou-bling over and feeling uncomfort-able in my carriage.” Whenthings appeared as if they couldnot get any worse, they did. “Sud-denly, everything shut down –there were no lights, the inter-com went dead. We had nomeans to contact the driver. Thelast thing we heard the driver sayto (another passenger over the in-tercom) was: “Sir, please don’ttry to force the door open.”

In the darkness, the would-bewhite-collar hero noticed thatthere were children and elderlypeople in the carriage. He him-self was experiencing nausea. “Isaid to my wife: ‘Surely theremust be a hammer somewherearound for emergencies.’ Justthen, my hand passed over a fireextinguisher cover that I was co-incidentally standing next to. So Isquatted and another man squat-ted with me and he used hishandphone to help me unbucklethe fire extinguisher.”

It took him more than 10blows, but he did it. When hestepped into the next carriage onhis way to tell the driver what hehad done, he was driven back bythe lack of air. Some 20 minuteslater, the train was brought to Or-chard station, where it sat for an-other five minutes before thedoors were pulled back and man-ually held open to let the com-muters out. “The cost of a brokenwindow versus the cost of severalpeople suffering in front of you –the decision was easy to make,”he said. He is philosophicalabout the matter. “I’m pretty neu-tral towards how SMRT handledit. Stuff like this happens in life.”!" SMRT ‘very sorry’ for MRTbreakdown, Page 16

By Ng Jie Huiand Sherman Tanngjh@sph.com.sgtsherman@sph.com.sgSingaporeTHE economy may not be sobuoyant, but that hasn’t dam-pened consumer sentiment forthe festive season, going by thesale of Christmas trees at nurse-ries here.

Ji Mei Flower, a major whole-saler of fresh flowers and plantsin Singapore, reports brisk salesof live Christmas trees in recentweeks.

“We have seen a general in-crease of 15 per cent over thesame period last year. We arevery confident that we can do bet-ter than last year,” says Ji MeiFlower managing director ChuaBoon Kang.

“Judging from the orders ofChristmas trees from florists, I be-lieve they are having a busy timetoo.”

Over at home furnishing retai-ler Ikea, sales has been so over-whelming that assistant market-ing manager Sandra Keasberrypredicts that most of its trees“will be snapped up by the com-ing weekend”.

And Ikea has, since the end ofNovember, sold some 1,000 firs.

Peter Cheok, sales and marke-ting director of Far East Flora, is

looking at a 10 per cent jump insales at his nursery compared tolast year.

Indeed, nurseries and whole-salers told BT that they had im-ported more trees this year to ca-ter to the strong demand.

Far East Flora, for instance,brought in about 6,000 Christ-mas trees this year.

Sharon Goh, director of Can-dy Floriculture, says that her com-pany had increased its supply ofChristmas trees “by 5 per centthis year, from last year”.

The horticultural retailers at-tribute the rise in demand for liveChristmas trees to a few reasons.There’s the growing popularity ofcelebrating Christmas, especiallyamong the young and affluent,according to Mr Chua.

The preference for live trees

over plastic ones in recent yearshas also meant a need for annualreplacements. Apart from relie-ving home owners of storagespace, live trees also add a breathof fresh air to the rooms theystand in.

“There’s a nice fragrance to itthat ushers in the festive mood,”says Florence Leong, 54, a con-sumer who made the switch tolive firs a few years back.

Affordability is another reasonfor the strong demand of liveChristmas trees. “Live trees arenot as expensive as many havethought them to be. It is a reaso-nable price I’m willing to pay forthis special occasion,” says Wil-son Koh, 29, a first-time buyer ofsuch trees.

The Abies Nordmanniana spe-cies retails at Ikea at $45 to $119.

This season’s bestseller at manynurseries, the Noble Fir, retailsfrom $38 upwards, depending onsize.

Major wholesalers and retai-lers such as Far East Flora, Ji MeiFlowers and Ikea, as well as flo-rists such as Blooming Affairshave not raised the price ofChristmas trees this year.

And, to address concernsabout how buying live Christmastrees may take their toll on the en-vironment, at least one retailer isoffering consumers a way to helpreduce any negative impact.

During the first 15 days of Jan-uary next year, consumers maybring their trees back to Ikea out-lets at Tampines and Alexandrafor recycling. For every treebrought back, Ikea promises todonate $5 to the Garden CityFund’s Plant-A-Tree programme.

By Michelle Tanmichtyz@sph.com.sgSingaporeTHEY switched to trains after los-ing their season parking lots inthe Central Business District(CBD). But many are now seeth-ing after the MRT breakdown onthe North-South Line on Thurs-day left thousands stranded.

Said corporate lawyer, JulieTan: “After losing my (season)parking spot at Market Street car-park, I was left with little choicebut to take public transport toand from work due to the lack ofseason spots in the CBD. But ifSMRT is unable to provide thenecessary service and have astructured and efficient emergen-cy plan in the event of technicalglitches, then how else can com-muters get to places on time?”

Banking analyst Charmaine

Lin added: “Taking the MRT wasonce believed to be the fastestmode of transport to get out ofthe CBD during peak hour astrains do not get caught up oncongested roads. But with theback-to-back hold ups (includingthe Circle Line on Wednesday),my opinion has changed and SM-RT should stave off all future farehikes and settle its own internalissues first before trying to pad itsbottom line.”

Office-goers, who work in theheart of a world-class city thatboasts one of the best financialcentres in Asia, say that commut-ing is increasingly becoming aproblem.

Some professionals say thattransport woes do not pertain on-ly to trains, but also to buses andtaxis as well. Said insuranceagent Christian Chan: “During

peak hour traffic or rainy days,taxis are almost impossible tocall, let alone flag down. Busesare also not frequent during suchperiods due to the heavy conges-tion that surrounds the (CBD) ar-ea.”

Some are now pointing to theirony of SMRT’s slogan – “Mov-ing people, enhancing lives”.

Responding to SMRT’s moveto refund stranded passengerstheir fares, business owner LimTeck Whye said: “Time is some-thing money cannot buy. Afterthe first delay on Wednesday,they (SMRT) should have alreadyinspected all their rail lines to en-sure everything’s fine. The sec-ond mistake seems a sign of negli-gence.”

In SMRT’s defence, the recentsubway meltdown was probablythe most catastrophic event thatoccurred in its 24-year history.“After living in Singapore formany years, this has been thefirst major breakdown that I’veexperienced. Singaporeansshould just let go,” said house-wife Kylie Lee-Wearnes.

Some professionals say that transportwoes do not pertain only to trains, butalso to buses and taxis as well

Shenton Way crowd loses its coolA white-collar hero’sbreakthrough role

Not cuttingdown onXmas trees

HOT ITEMAt homefurnishing retailerIkea, sales hasbeen sooverwhelmingthat it predictsthat most of itstrees ‘will besnapped up bythe comingweekend’.PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN

8 top stories THE BUSINESS TIMES WEEKEND SATURDAY/SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17-18, 2011

By NG JIE HUITHERE’S a story behind every watch atthe Cartier Time Art exhibition, now onat the ArtScience Museum at MarinaBay Sands.

The venue is currently playing hostto 159 timepieces from the French luxu-ry house, and this is the first time thatsuch a large collection, including manyiconic pieces from the brand’s archives,has travelled outside Switzerland, thebirthplace of watchmaking.

It presents a unique opportunity forboth the public and watch aficionadosalike to discover the secrets and storiesbehind unique horological masterpiecescreated by the watchmaker-jeweller.

Among the artefacts on display arecreations such as the large Portique mys-tery clock with the mysterious Billikenfigure on it; a very rare jumping-hourpocket watch with a transparent case;and the exceptional Tortue watch withminute-repeater.

Tom Zaller, museum director of theArtScience Museum at Marina BaySands says, “Cartier, widely consideredthe ‘King of Jewellers, Jeweller toKings,’ enjoys a regal reputation for ex-quisite craftsmanship possessed by fewothers. (It) has always been regarded asone of the most revolutionary Maisonsin the field and has always been wayahead of its time (and) the mere men-tion of the name evokes elegance andrarefied flair, of princely collections andtimeless beauty.”

The story of Cartier watchmaking be-gins in 1853 when the Cartier Maisonbegins selling its first watches from itspremises in Paris.

“(But) this is beyond Cartier – the ex-hibition is not just about (the brand) but

the stories of craftsmanship, Frenchtechniques and the history of jewellery,”says Mr Zaller.

Indeed, with all that heritage on dis-play – ranging from chatelaines of the19th century to pocket watches belong-ing to 20th-century aristocrats – itis difficult not to be enthralled bythe anecdotes behind each ex-hibit.

Take for instance, the San-tos wristwatch which has sinceevolved into one of thebrand’s most recognisa-ble and popular time-pieces.

Mr Za l l e rnotes it may notbe the shiniestor flashiestpiece but it’sone of his fa-vourite watch-es at the exhibi-tion and has animportant pieceof history behindit.

The Santos was oneof the very first wristwatchesever created and was made at the re-quest of Brazilian aviator, Alberto San-tos Dumont, who wanted to tell the timewithout having to let go of the controls ofhis plane.

The Santos went on sale later in1911, seven years after the first modelwas made and the rest, as they say, ishistory.

Equally eye-catching is the CartierEgg. Rising above the other timepieces,it is a stunning beauty, no less in a beau-tiful turquoise shade and encapsulated

in the finest enamel.It is also no coincidence that the Carti-

er Egg brings to mind another iconicpiece of jewellery of that time, the Fab-erge Imperial eggs, though smaller insize.

“The Cartier egg is the result of com-petition between Faberge and

Louis Cartier, (who) wanted tocreate the same type of objectsbut with a slightly differentstyle,” reveals Pascale Lepeu,

curator of the Cartier Collec-tion.

While a Fabergeegg is known for itsheavy embellish-ments of pre-cious gems andintricate carv-ings, the Cartierversion is verymuch pared

down, but isnonetheless strik-

ing. Incidentally,the Cartier egg on

display is in the samepristine condition as it

was in 1909, when it wasfirst made and has not been restored atall.

Evidently, Louis Cartier also derivedmuch of his inspiration from the Eastand an entire section has been set asideto showcase the different timepieces in-spired by the East, specifically that ofChina, India, Persia and Egypt.

“Louis Cartier spent a lot of time atmuseums and antique dealers where hebought jade plaques and sculptures. Hethen asked his designers to include theclockwork into the antiques.” says Ms

Lepeu.Undoubtedly, the centrepiece of this

Asian-inspired collection is the TuttiFrutti series of timepieces.

Inspired by the colours of India, theTutti Frutti bracelet-watch is a breath-taking mix of emeralds, rubies, sap-phires and diamonds, served up on aplatinum strap and an emerald watchface.

Perhaps a reflection of its rarity, arecord price was set earlier this yearwhen a Tutti Frutti bracelet sold forUS$1.88 million (S$2.43 million) at aChristie’s auction in London.

Art is not just confined to the time-pieces alone. Cartier also collaboratedwith Tokujin Yoshioka to oversee the ex-hibition’s scenography and design. Therenowned Japanese designer was re-cently honoured with the 2011 Designof the Year prize by A&W Architektur &Wohnen Magazine. Visitors can also ex-perience first-hand one of Yoshioka’s fa-mous straw installations at the exhibi-tion.

Mr Zaller sums it up best by noting,“This exhibition is both an artful storyabout time, as well as a timeless storyabout art.”

Additional reporting by DYLAN TAN

Cartier Time Art runs till Feb 12 atthe ArtScience Museum at Marina

Bay Sands. It’s open daily from10am-10pm including weekends and

public holidays (last admission at9pm). Tickets can be purchased on

the ArtScience Museum websitewww.marinabaysands.com/ArtScienceMuseum and all Marina Bay Sandsbox offices. Audio guides in English

are available for rental

B28 Presents: Have Yourself AJazzy YuletideJazz fans and whisky connoisseurs shouldconsider spending Christmas Eve at B28, nes-tled in the basement of The Club Hotel, No 28Ann Siang Road. Wizardly Singaporean jazzpianist Wei Xiang will be playing with saxo-phonist Nicole Duffell, drummer Eddie Lay-man and bassist Hiro Maekawa, and you’llget a welcome glass of eggnog accompaniedby turkey sandwiches. Doors open at 5pmand reservations are recommended. Forbookings, call 9026-3466 or e-mailmikesoldner@BTwentyEight.com

Have a Wicked ChristmasA spot of musical theatre’s a great way to getinto the Yuletide mood, and there are 1.30pmmatinee and 7.30pm evening performancesof Wicked on both Christmas Eve and Christ-mas Day at the Grand Theater of Marina BaySands. Tickets $55-$1,000 (for 4-seat VIPbox) from Sistic

Christmas carol congregationIf you thought you had your fill of ChristmasCarolling, you haven’t seen the best yet. Comethis weekend, the Celebrate Christmas In Sin-gapore folks will be presenting a mass carol-ling event featuring up to 1,000 choir mem-bers. Bringing your favourite carols togetherin A Christmas Canticles, the massive choirwill be performing for an hour at the steps out-side Marina Square facing the Esplanade at9pm.

That will be preluded with a Voices of TheWorld segment with songs and dances pre-sented by various troupes from around theworld from 8pm to 9pm.

The celebration continues on Christmasday itself with The Annual Christmas Con-cert, where local and foreign talents come to-gether to perform, on top of a parade of over30 nations that will move along Orchard, be-tween Scotts Road and Brideford Road start-ing from 7.30pm onwards.

Festive art saleChristmas sales are extending to more thanjust retail stores this year, as contemporaryart gallery, Linda Gallery, is holding a Christ-mas Art Fair. The sale will be featuring worksby Asian artists, such as Yong Jong Seok,Chen Liu, Guo Jin, SP Hidayat and Jiang

Shuo. Making great presents for loved ones,if not for yourself, the paintings and sculp-tures will be sold at up to 20 per cent dis-counts until the end of December.

Linda Gallery is located at Blk 15 DempseyRoad #01-08. For more info, call 64767000

or log onto www.lindagallery.com

A Gold Christmas at Minkfeaturing Justin MichaelTo celebrate its first-ever Christmas party,new sexy club MINK (Pan Pacific Singapore1/L ) has invited Californian Justin Michaelto work the crowds over Christmas eve to-morrow. With over 15 years experience be-hind the decks, Billboard-charting DJ, pro-ducer and remixer Michael has worked withBruno Mars, Vanness Wu and Elva Hsiaoand has been known to have a gift for mak-ing bodies move.

$24 nett (includes one house pour drink),doors open at 10pm. For bookings and

inquiries, e-mail Mink@massive.sg

Heidi & MagdaGet ready for the epic Christmas weekend asearly as early as tonight by heading over toVelvet Underground – Dance (Zouk, 17 JiakKim Street) to catch some quality tech-housefrom BBC Radio 1’s Heidi and Detroit-raisedMagda. Two cool ladies on the decks – justthe thing to kick off the festive revelry.

Velvet Dance admission on Dec 23 fornon-members (inclusive of two drinks): $25

(for women)/$32 (for men)

Shimmy in gold shimmersThink gold this Christmas with Ku De Ta intheir Gold Dust Xmas Party. With the clubcovered with gold shimmers, the staffadorned in gold, and the stars shining downupon you, this lifestyle venue atop MarinaBay Sands promises a glamorous night out.Join in the countdown with DJ Titus, a HipHop and R&B pioneer in Singapore as hespins R&B, Hip Hop, Top 40s and commer-cial music. Limited Gold Party Packs will alsobe given to guests at the door.

Gold Dust Xmas Party is on from 9pmonwards on Dec 24 at the KU DE TA Club

Lounge. Cover charge costs $48nett(inclusive of a glass of champagne)

A jazzed-up ChristmasRing in the Christmas cheer with the jazzysounds of Rob Collins and Beverly Morata thisweekend, as they will be performing at the1-Altitude Gallery & Bar on Christmas Eveand Christmas Day.

To top it off, Epicurean Star 2011Award-winning Stellar of 1-Altitude is offer-ing two Festive Set Menus at $95++ and$130++ a person that fall in line with the res-taurant’s signature artisanal methods in foodpreparation. There is also a Christmas EveSet Dinner, priced at $140++, which includesa festive platter, a charcuterie taster, Oma-kase, and mains such as the Traditional RoastTurkey Breast and the Braised Alaskan SeaBass, followed by the Festive Assiette dessert.

Call 6438-0470 or e-mailreservations@1-altitude.com for more

information. 1-Altitude is at levels 61-63 ofOne Raffles Place. Their website is

www.1-altitude.com

Christmas ‘black-out’White might be the usual colour for Christ-mas, but nightclub Avalon is going againstthe rules with their Black Christmas theme.And that’s only the beginning of the night’ssurprises. This weekend, the club will be fea-turing Kid Fresh on Dec 23rd (with specialopening set by Ko Flow), multi-platinum ar-tiste Ian Carey on Dec 24 and Ben Klock &David James on Christmas night.

Avaland Presents X'mas is on from 10pm onDec 24 with a $40 cover charge, and $600

onwards for table bookings

ION OrchardWith only a few precious hours till Christmas,ION Orchard’s 39 Days of Christmas celebra-tion hasn’t quite ended yet. Look out for thereturn of its Boxing Day Sale where doors willopen at 9am, with deals of up to 20 percentdiscounts throughout the mall.

Festive shoppers also get the chance tocatch recent blockbuster movies at ION Or-chard’s giant LED screen. Come next Friday,Dec 30, Transformers: Dark of the Moon willscreen at 10pm at ION2, Level 1 of ION Or-chard. For inquiries, call 6238-8228

Compiled by CHRISTOPHER LIM, MELISSALWEE-RAMSAY and NATALIE KOH

Cartier’s timeless story about art

With just precious hours left before Santa gets airborne, Executive Lifestylesusses out the festive must-dos for a standout Christmas Weekend

Get the party started

Blowout reverie: The Christmas party startstonight at Zouk Velvet Underground – Dance (left)with tech-house music from BBC Radio 1’s Heidiand Detroit-raised Magda; DJ Titus (above) will beat a gold-bedecked Ku De Ta spinning hip-hop,R&B and Top 40s; and nightclub Avalon (right)goes with a Black Christmas this year

Raring to go:Jazz and whiskyconnoisseurs willrevel onChristmas Eve atB28, nestled inthe basement ofThe Club Hotel,No 28, AnnSiang Road.Singaporeanjazz pianist WeiXiang will beplaying withsaxophonistNicole Duffell(left), drummerEddie Laymanand bassist HiroMaekawa(above), whenthe doors openat 5pm

PHOTOS: NICK WELSH, LAZIZ HAMANI/CARTIER COLLECTION

Mystery: Cartier’s Large Portique Mystery Clock (above), Cartier Paris,1923 and the Pocket Watch with Minute Repeater, 1927 (right). Theinception of Cartier’s watchmaking began in 1853 when the Cartier Maisonstarted selling its first watches from its premises in Paris

The Business Times, Friday, December 23, 2011 ENTERTAINMENT/ARTS 27

By DYLAN TANIf you thought the music of LadyGaga was unbearable, you haven’theard anything.

Prepare to give your eardrumsa beating as a bunch of sing-ing-and-dancing rodents tearthrough some of today’s biggesthits (Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance,Born This Way; LMFAO’s PartyRock Anthem; Rihanna’s SOS andmore) in Alvin and the Chipmunks3, the third film in the phenomenal-ly successful big-screen adapta-tion of a Saturday morning car-toon that’s now over half a centuryold.

The shenanigans this time takeplace first on board a cruise ship

which Dave (Jason Lee) spendswith The Chipmunks and The Chi-pettes just before their appearanceat a music awards show.

From the casino to the dance-floor, the pocket-sized ’munks getup to all sorts of tomfoolery whilefinding every opportunity to bust amove and bastardise a pop songwith their high-pitched falsettos.

But an incident with a runawaykite lands them on a desert islandwhere they get separated fromDave.

There’s slight reprieve here forthe adults in the audience as theplot spoofs TV’s Lost and TomHanks’ Cast Away with comedianJenny Slate playing a marooned

UPS employee with an assortmentof balls for friends.

That, unfortunately, doesn’tlast long. With a volcano threaten-ing to erupt, the helium-voiced ro-dents find themselves in a raceagainst time to reunite with Daveand get off the island before the la-va reaches all of them.

The plot of Alvin and The Chip-

munks 3 is so simple and straight-forward even children will have noproblem predicting what comesnext.

But that’s almost forgivablecompared to the blatant squander-ing of the talents of the big-namedcomedians in the cast.

The voices of Justin Long, AmyPoehler and Anna Farris have all

been sped up to sound the same sothere’s no way to tell them apart;Lee is so unfunny you almost failto recognise this is the same actorwho plays the titular redneck inthe hit TV sitcom My Name Is Earl.

Animation, as usual, istop-notch but it’s a pity three mov-ies in and none of the screenwrit-ers have yet to come up with some-thing credible for the series.

Sure, it’s aimed squarely atkids, but the same can be said forevery animated movie that Holly-wood churns out. Yet you can besure the likes of Pixar or Dream-works won’t be caught dead withsomething as sloppy as this. Andthe ultimate proof that Alvin andthe Chipmunks is just a lazy, mon-ey-grabbing franchise: the makerscouldn’t even be bothered to makethis in 3D.

Rating: C-

By CHRISTOPHER LIM

Tron Legacy(Blu-ray)OLD films lookgreat whenthey’ve beenremastered forBlu-ray, butthe medium istruly flatteredby new moviesshot with thelatest equip-ment, such asTron Legacy.

The film’sseamless mixof physical props and CGI are alreadyeye candy of the highest order, but thesoundtrack by Daft Punk is what givesthe sci-fi flick about physically enteringa computer-created world its epic feel.

An unprecedented amount of efforthas been put into the special features ofBlu-ray releases, with extensive footagefilmed especially for the documentariesincluded on the disc that extend the sto-ry delightfully. The only way to get thewhole story is to get the Blu-ray.

The Lion KingDiamondEdition(Blu-ray)There’s a reasonThe Lion Kingmusical is still go-ing strong 14years after its de-but. The storyabout a lion whofinds his place inthe wor ld isstrong, and thecharacters arecolourful.

That’s why the 1994 Disney animat-ed movie has also aged gracefully.

The “Special Edition” label is ban-died about too loosely these days, sowhen Disney wants to release some-thing truly special, it whips out a Dia-mond Edition.

The Lion King may be 17 years oldbut it’s never looked better than onBlu-ray. You also get never-released de-

leted scenes and bloopers, along withmusic videos and documentaries galore.

The Blu-ray special editions of The Li-on King 2: Simba’s Pride and The LionKing 3: Hakuna Matata are also worthbuying, but can’t match the first film.

The Lord of The Rings ExtendedEdition (Blu-ray)It isn’t often one can say that watching amovie at home is superior to viewing itin a cinema, but The Lordof the Rings Extended Edi-tion justifiably claims exact-ly that.

Each of the fantasy trilo-gy’s movies has been sub-stantially lengthened com-pared to the original theatri-cal versions, resulting in amore cohesive narrative.

That’s why the box setwas a hit when it was firstreleased on DVD years ago.

This year, the trilogy’sExtended Edition was final-ly released on Blu-ray.

Fans decried the priorrelease of the inferior theat-rical versions on Blu-ray asblatant double-dipping by studio NewLine Cinema, but marketing ploys aside,this 15-disc Blu-ray set is definitive and

visually quite stunning.

Summer Night ConcertSchonbrunn 2011: VirtuosoPictures (DVD)Not all concert DVDs are more enjoya-ble to watch than listening to an au-dio-only CD of the same performance,especially when it comes to classical mu-sic.

Ninety minutes of staring at an immo-bile performer on stage isnot everyone’s idea of excite-ment.

This year’s edition of theVienna Philharmonic’s annu-al Summer Night Concertshows how a classical con-cert DVD should be done.

The orchestra, withValery Gergiev at the batonand virtuoso violinist Ben-jamin Schmid as soloist, aregreat to watch, but the danc-ers performing to the musicaround the grounds of thegorgeous Schonbrunn Pal-ace steal the show.

The venue’s so big thatthis DVD actually gives you a

better view of the performance – cap-tured on 13 cameras – than if you wereactually there.

Old Places (DVD)Singapore’s changing so quickly that theonly way to preserve historical sites is tocapture them on video. FilmmakersRoyston Tan, Victric Thng and Eva Tanghave done a superb job of showing inOld Places just how much character Sin-gapore has if you know where to look.

Sometimes, these gems lie in plainsight, like playgrounds and bakeries,but others lie beneath the radar, such aspaths obscured by vegetation or Singa-pore’s last kampung.

Best of all, the filmmakers let the ven-ues speak for themselves without intru-sive narrative or sentimental music.

Centurion (DVD)Period movies about warring armiesand barbarians are a dime a dozen, butwhat sets them apart are the endingsand how well the plots build up to them.

Centurion is a cut above its fellowhack-and-slash fare because of thepoignant love story at its core, and thetragedies that give purpose to the vio-lent combat.

Michael Fassbender and DominicWest, who plays Fassbender’s boss, aRoman general, are both veterans of300, but this is an altogether deeper talethan that slugfest.

By NG JIE HUITHE inaugural Societe Generale Private Banking 1st Rendez-vous with French Cinema, which ended on Tuesday, was asuccess with encouraging attendance numbers.

The six-day event attracted a total of 5,528 – a 19 percent increase over last year’s French Film Festival, which ithas replaced.

Title sponsor, Societe Generale Private Banking, saysthat as interest in French cinema grows, the time is right forthem to turn it into a larger regional event with a market as-pect for wider distribution of French films in the Asian re-gion.

Hence it ran concurrently with the Asia Television Forum(ATF) and several filmmakers whose works were beingscreened at the festival took part in it.

“The festival was planned to coincide with the ATF as itwas meant to be both a film festival and a business platformfor French cinema in Asia,” says Olivier Gougeon, regionalCEO – Asia Pacific of Societe Generale Private Banking.

“Singapore has rapidly developed into an important re-gional media and cultural hub where there will be strongsupport for a confluence of the art and business of cinema,”he adds.

There were opportunities for French industry profession-als to meet and network with their peers from the region inthe hope of growing more East-West collaborations in the fu-ture like Shiiku, by renowned Cambodian director RithyPanh. The film, which screened as part of the festival, hadproducers from France, Cambodia and Singapore.

Local film buffs also displayed an enthusiam for Frenchcinema.

“Judging by the attendance at screenings, it is perceiva-ble that more than half of the audience for some films werelocal,” notes Mr Gougeon. “At some of the Q&A sessions, itwas interesting that many of the questions came from Singa-poreans.”

He adds, “This Festival has shown them that French cine-ma is very diverse as we showed everything from arthousefilms – which the French are known for – to action thrillersand comedies.”

To add some glitz to the event, French screen sirens likeCatherine Deneuve and Carole Bouquet were both in townto meet their fans.

Backing a high-profile film festival is nothing new for Soci-ete Generale Private Banking which also sponsors theCannes Film Festival.

Having experienced such enormous success at its debut,the organisers of the festival here have high hopes for the fu-ture.

“We would definitely like to have more French celebritiescoming next year,” says Mr Marc Piton, cultural counsellorat the French Embassy.

FROM start to end, Mission: Im-possible – Ghost Protocol looks,sounds and feels every bit likethe blockbuster it sets out to be.

It’s not afraid of seeing itsmulti-million-dollar budget goup in smoke as buildings ex-plode, sports cars get crashed

and the plot moves from one exotic locationto another where more stuff continues to getblown up.

It marks a return to form for the16-year-old franchise which was starting tolook a little uneven with a new director tak-ing charge of each film.

Brian DePalma’s 1996 original was styl-ish but had a confusing plot; John Woo’s se-quel in 2000 dumbed things down but theend result looked more like a Hong Kong ac-tion film; J.J. Abrams almost succeeded inkeeping the balance in 2006 with the thirdmovie but it’s Brad Bird who finally gets itright fourth time round.

Not bad for a filmmaker who’s workingon his first live-action film. Bird – who wasbehind the Pixar hits, Ratatouille and The In-credibles – brings his experience in anima-tion to the Ghost Protocol, adding a bit of car-toon-wonder into the real-world with somenifty camera work that’s not afraid to swoopand zip around when the action calls for it.

And with about 30 minutes of the filmshot in IMAX format, the big stunt scenesnot only appear larger-than-life, the audi-ence is also thrown into the thick of it.

Add Tom Cruise to the mix and you get asolid piece of pop cinema that’s hard to beat.At 49, one would think Mr Hollywood wouldbe settling into more dramatic roles and try-ing to chalk up some acting cred like GeorgeClooney.

Instead, Cruise reprises his role as Impos-sible Missions Force (IMF) agent Ethan Huntfor the fourth time and proceeds to do all thestunts here, including a vertigo-inducing one

where he scales the world’s tallest building –Dubai’s Burj Khalifa – all in the name of en-tertainment.

It’s the film’s centrepiece and one of themost ambitious stunt sequences to come outof Hollywood.

But it’s not the only breathtaking actionscene from Ghost Protocol. Before the open-ing credit even rolls, there’s a playful prisonbreakout (soundtracked by Dean Martin’sAin’t That A Kick In The Head as the in-mates set upon the guards) that takes placein Budapest where Hunt makes his escapeand joins the rest of his IMF colleagues.

From there, the team heads to Moscow

where a job at the Kremlin goes haywire andthe blame is pinned on the IMF.

Determined to clear themselves of anywrongdoing, the secret agents track the cul-prit of the Kremlin incident to Dubai wherethe plot continues to twist and turn untileveryone ends up in Mumbai and a finalshowdown takes place in an automated park-ing garage.

The save-the-world storyline is nothingnew to the franchise but it’s also cheekierand more light-hearted with British comedi-an Simon Pegg returning from the third filmwith a bigger role as the bumbling IMFtechie, Benji Dunn.

Elsewhere, the action seems to be writ-ten before the script so Hunt and company al-ways find a way to get out of the trickiest ofsituations.

Some of it might look improbable (its notcalled Mission: Impossible for nothing) buteverything is staged like a spectacle and thefilm is a roller-coaster ride all the waythrough with little slack in between.

With the right mix of action, humour andstar power, Ghost Protocol is the best film inthe series and should another sequel be inthe works, the next director – should he ac-cept the mission – may find the task nearlyimpossible.

Rating: B+

Cosy up to reel deal-clinchers

Director Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is the one to beat, reviews DYLAN TAN

FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL

French feast: The six-day festival, which saw a 19 percent increase over last year, showcased stellar faresuch as Ismael Ferroukhi’s Free Men (above)

Hard act to follow

Mayhem with ‘munks

PHOTOS: FILE, CATHAY-KERIS FILMS

Collectibles: For a couch travelogue ofSingapore’s quirkier but fading hot spots,Royston Tan’s Old Places (left) serves up aneclectic repast; Michael Fassbender (above)imbues Centurion with both heart and heft

DVD/BLU-RAY 2011 ROUND-UP

Standout French films

Bust a move:The Chipmunks(left) seize everyopportunity tomangle popditties such asGaga’s BadRomance andRihanna’s SOSwith theirhelium-spikedfalsettoes

Baggins bononza: Finallyavailable in Blu-ray, TheLord of The Rings Trilogy(right) promises that thistime it will be betterwatching the movie at homethan in the cinema with allthe stunning SFX in a15-disc extended edition

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Premier protocol: Michael Nyqvist plays Hendricks (top) and Tom Cruise, who is 49 and shows no signs of staying out of thestunt department, is Ethan Hunt, in director Brad Bird’s riveting re-visioning of the Mission: Impossible franchise

30 CINEMA The Business Times, Friday, December 16, 2011

By TAM YU LINGREGIONAL advertising ex-penditure exceeded US$5billion in Q3, reflectinghealthy growth acrossmainstream media, datafrom a Nielsen report re-leased yesterday showed.

Compared to the sameperiod last year, total adver-tisement spending acrossSouth-east Asia rose 16 percent. Indonesia led thepack by registering thehighest growth in advertis-ing dollars of 24 per centquarter-on-quarter. Thiswas followed by the Philip-pines, which registered15 per cent growth and Sin-gapore with 10 per centgrowth.

According to the NielsenIndex, growth in advertis-ing expenditure across themainstream media waslargely led by television andnewspaper advertising.Growth in television adver-tising expenditure rose 17per cent in Q3 2011 com-pared with the same perioda year earlier, while news-paper advertising saw

14 per cent growthyear-on-year in Q3 2011.

The top spenders inmainstream advertisementwere haircare, telecommu-nications and governmentministries.

Commenting on the re-port’s findings, DavidWebb, Nielsen’s managingdirector of advertising solu-tions for the APMEA re-gion, said: “Strong advertis-ing growth in South-eastAsia over the past year un-derlines the region’s resil-

ience amid global economicuncertainty, and increasingspend in markets such asIndonesia and the Philip-pines echoes sentimentwithin the region that localeconomies are still thrivingand capable of withstand-ing external shocks.”

He added that all media,traditional or otherwise,must search for ways tokeep their audiences andshow return on investmentto increase their share ofthe advertising pie.

By NG JIE HUITHE man who used to headPricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) in Singapore hasbeen tasked to lead the Ac-counting Standards Council(ASC), the group formed in2007 to develop and reviewaccounting standards forentities that are under itspurview.

Michael Lim Choo San,formerly executive chair-man of PwC in Singapore,has been appointed chair ofthe ASC, taking over fromEuleen Goh, who has head-ed the council since its for-mation.

The appointment wasmade by Tharman Shanmu-garatnam, Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister forFinance and Manpower. Ittook effect from Nov 1 andwill last until Oct 31, 2013.

Mr Lim brings morethan 30 years of experiencein the accounting industryto the ASC. He is currentlythe chairman of the LandTransport Authority, Nomu-ra Singapore Limited andPro-Tem Singapore Ac-countancy Council. In addi-tion, he is a member of thePublic Service Commissionand had previously servedas chairman of the NationalHealthcare Group Pte Ltd.

Mr Lim had been theexecutive chairman of PwCSingapore for 12 years be-fore retiring in 2003.

He was awarded theMeritorious Service Medal,the Public Service Star andthe Public Service Medal in2010, 2003 and 1998 re-spectively.

“I’m honoured to bechairing the ASC for thenext two years,” said MrLim. “The ASC will contin-ue to work closely with lo-cal stakeholders and inter-national counterparts touphold the quality of ourfinancial reporting stand-ards and to address emerg-ing financial reporting is-sues that are of interest toSingapore.”

Under the leadership ofhis predecessor Ms Goh,the ASC has established it-self as a credible voice ininternational accountingstandards-setting and hasachieved many key mile-stones, which include theissuance of the SingaporeFinancial Reporting Stand-ards for Small Entities andthe Charities AccountingStandards.

“It has been an honourto have served in the ASCsince its inception, during aperiod of extraordinary ac-tivity in changes to finan-cial reporting standardsand the rise of Asian capitalmarkets,” said Ms Goh.

“The progress we havegained and our standingwith the International Ac-counting Standards Boardand the Asian-OceanianStandard-Setters Group is areflection of an effectiveand efficient ASC secretari-at, active sub-committeesand working groups, an en-gaged council and the sup-port of the Ministry of Fi-nance.”

Other than the change atthe top, KPMG LLP manag-ing partner Tham Sai Choyhas also been re-appointedas deputy chairman for an-other year. As well, 13 oth-er members representingvarious stakeholders suchas the accounting profes-sion, users and preparersof financial information,academia and regulatorshave been appointed to theASC from Nov 1, 2011.

Wee Hur wins bid forPunggol land parcelTHE Housing &Development Board (HDB),as the Singaporegovernment’s land salesagent, yesterday awardeda 99-year leasehold privatecondo land parcel atPunggol Central/PunggolPlace to Wee HurDevelopment.

Wee Hur was thehighest bidder for the site,which drew 13 bids at astate tender that closedlast week. Its winning bidof $206.2 million worksout to $354.37 per squarefoot of potential gross floorarea.

Research hub focusingon public transportTHE Singapore LandTransport Authority (LTA)and the InternationalAssociation of PublicTransport (UITP) signed amemorandum ofunderstanding yesterdayto set up and develop theUITP Centre for TransportExcellence for theAsia-Pacific region.

Housed in the LTAAcademy at HampshireRoad, the centre aims tobe a one-stop knowledgeand research hub with afocus on public transportand sustainable mobility,and to provide trainingand support to landtransport administratorsand practitioners inthe region.

S’pore shows 10%growth: Nielsen

By TAM YU LINGLOCAL food maker JR Food-stuff has secured $15 mil-lion in investment from pri-vate equity firm F&H FundManagement, which it saysit will use to break into theChinese market.

“F&H focuses on invest-ing in growth-stage enter-prises with clear competi-tive advantages and theability to achieve scalabilitywithin a short period oftime. JR Foodstuff is onesuch company,” said JohnWu, F&H’s CEO and formerCTO of alibaba.com.

Mr Wu added that JRFoodstuff shows “immense

potential” and believes thatF&H can assist it to expandinto the China market.

With the investment,F&H will hold a minoritystake in JR Foodstuff.

JR Foodstuff, known lo-cally for its Jiayen brand ofready-to-serve gourmetfood products, hopes to le-verage on F&H’s extensiveindustry experience in Chi-na.

The $15 million is thefirst private equity invest-ment for the food supplier.

Said Jocelyn Chng, JRFoodstuff’s managing direc-tor: “With F&H, we feel thatwe have chosen the rightpartner as we share thesame chemistry and syner-gy. Some partners in F&Halso have networks in rela-ted industries such as ho-tels and retail. As such, we

are able to tap on their re-sources and grow our busi-ness there (in China).”

One problem that JRFoodstuff faces is rampantproduct imitation in China,which it hopes to counterwith its emphasis on pro-duct quality.

JR Foodstuff said that itexpects its expansion intoChina to increase revenueby five times over the nextthree years.

BRENT crude futures roseabove US$104 yesterday,buoyed by the risk of sup-ply being disrupted fromCentral Asian oil producerKazakhstan, even as sanc-tions-hit Iran struggles tomaintain its productionand Libyan output is de-layed.

Hundreds of oil workersheld a third day of protestsin the capital of Kaza-khstan’s western oil-pro-ducing region after at least15 people were killed in thestate’s deadliest riots in dec-ades. The country’s crudeproduction is estimated ataround 1.6 million barrelsper day.

Brent crude rose 46 UScents to US$104.10 a bar-rel by 0716 GMT, postingthe biggest gain in a week.US crude was up 52 UScents at US$94.40 a barrel,after rising as high asUS$94.58 earlier in theday.

“Geopolitical tensionsthat threaten oil supplyhave put a floor under pri-ces,” said Ben Le Brun, mar-ket analyst with OptionsX-press in Sydney. “With bet-ter economic data out of theUnited States, there areenough factors to push oilhigher, barring any surpri-ses out of the eurozone.”

Despite the rising ten-sions in Kazakhstan, Italianoil and gas group Eni saidthat its business in Kaza-

khstan had not been affec-ted so far by protests there.

There were renewedconcerns over suppliesfrom Iran, after the Opec(Organization of the Petrole-um Exporting Countries)member said that crudeproduction had droppeddue to lack of investment inoil fields as the country fac-es the West’s toughest eversanctions over its nuclearprogramme.

The Islamic Republic isalso struggling with crudesales with top buyer Chinaslashing volumes by abouthalf for January than whatit typically imports as thetwo haggle over terms.

“It appears increasinglylikely that Iran may need toturn to floating storage – ef-fectively reducing itsnear-term crude supply –as it has at times in the pastwhen it has had difficultyplacing crude,” JPMorgananalysts said in a report.

“Iran followed SaudiArabia’s lead in raisingOSPs (official selling prices)to record levels for Januaryloadings, and given poten-tial payment and politicaldifficulties associated withpurchasing Iranian crude,it is unsurprising that somebuyers are searching for al-ternatives.”

In Libya, the NationalOil Company (NOC) delayedplans to restart its largestrefinery at Ras Lanuf by atleast a month, as the plantremains cut off from asteady supply of crude forprocessing.

Market participantswere also watching develop-

ments in Opec producerIraq after the departure ofUS forces. Iraq issued an ar-rest warrant for SunniVice-President TareqAl-Hashemi, after the gov-ernment obtained confes-sions linking him to whatthe official called terroristactivities.

Fresh signs of US eco-nomic growth acceleratingfurther lifted sentiment,with data on Monday point-ing to a potential recoveryin the beleaguered US hous-ing market next year.

Yet, gains were cappedby ongoing concerns thatthe eurozone debt crisiscould tip the global econo-my into a recession.

Gold and base metalsinched higher, while the eu-ro slipped yesterday, withthe overall outlook weak af-ter European Central Bankpresident Mario Draghi’stestimony dampened thelatest wave of optimismabout the region’s ability totackle the crisis.

“The ECB president’s re-cent statements that thecentral bank does not haveauthority to increase itsbond purchases leave inves-tors feeling they have littlechoice other than to main-tain a defensive stance atpresent,” Ric Spooner,chief market analyst withCMC Markets in Sydney,said in a report.

Ahead of weekly invento-ry reports, US crude stockswere expected to have fal-len last week, with distillatestockpiles slightly lowerand petrol stockpiles up, aReuters survey of analystsshowed. – Reuters

By SHERMAN TANWITH Singapore commuters facing disrup-tions in recent days, the concept of flexiblework practices may now have added ap-peal. In fact, employees who spend a lot oftime travelling to and from their workplacereport “increased dissatisfaction, de-creased productivity, as well as a lowerquality of life”, said William Willems, re-gional vice-president for Australia, NewZealand and South-east Asia of RegusGroup, which provides flexible workspa-ces.

A solution to this dilemma would be fle-xible work practices, in particular flexibleoffices, added Mr Willems. Flexible workspaces will allow employees to either workfrom home or work at locations near theirhomes cutting down on commuting time,he said, a work practice which could alsoplay a part in attracting potential talent.

He also catalogued other potential pluspoints for companies, including: reductionof investment into fixed costs, easy andquick access into local markets and gene-ral flexibility for easy upsizing and down-sizing according to the economic or busi-ness cycles.That said, working far awayfrom a community of colleagues may comewith a price, he conceded.

“Work from home has limitations be-cause you are losing that creativity. They(staff) lose contact with their business life,their business team and corporate image.”

Still, Mr Willems said that there is poten-tial for growth in the flexible work solu-tions market in the Asia-Pacific, includingSingapore. Citing the findings from a sur-vey undertaken by Regus in September,

50 per cent of companies here had saidthat they plan to hire more freelance staff,and 32 per cent were intending to hiremore remote workers in 2011-2012.

While unable to give concrete figures,he is projecting Regus’ revenue contribu-tion from Asia to be “much bigger in thenext 2-3 years to come”.

This would be driven by the “huge po-tential” of markets in the region, in particu-lar in countries such as Indonesia and Viet-nam, where there are large populations,he notes. According to its latest annual re-port (2010), Asia-Pacific now accounts foraround 13.6 per cent of the group’s totalrevenue globally. Regus predicts thatAsia-Pacific markets will produce the “big-gest relative growth” (in revenue contribu-tion) by 2014.

“We have doubled our operations herein Singapore over the last 18 months. Webelieve that in Singapore here, in the next24 months, we will reach 500,000 squarefeet of flexible work spaces. We will tripleor quadruple our capacity here in the nextfour to five years.”

Regus operates six business centres inSingapore that employ about 30 staff. It islooking to double its presence in Singaporeto 12 business centres within 24 months.The group currently has over 150 locationsset up in Asia alone.

Worldwide, Regus serves over one mil-lion customers and runs 1,100 businesscentres in 500 cities across 87 countries. Itis the world’s largest provider of flexiblework spaces. It also provides businesslounges, meeting facilities and “virtual of-fices”.

S-E Asia ad spending up 16% in Q3

Supply risks push Brentfutures above US$104Concerns rise overoutput from Libya,Kazakhstan and Iran

SINGAPOREROUNDUP

Food supplier willuse funds, leverageon F&H to breakinto Chinese market

AccountingStandardsCouncilgetsnew head

Flexible work space providersees Asia-Pacific potential

YEN MENG JIIN

Ms Chng: ‘With F&H, we feel that we have chosen the right partner as we share the same chemistry and synergy. Some partners in F&H alsohave networks in related industries such as hotels and retail. As such, we are able to tap on their resources and grow our business there.’

Strong showingActual advertising spend (US$m) and quarter-on-quarter growth comparison

Source: Nielson

SEA total

4,3535,034

+16%Indonesia

1,707

+24%

2,113

Philippines

1,045

+15%

1,197

Thailand

685 726

+6%Malaysia

574 623

+9%Singapore

341 375

+10%

Q3 2010 Q3 2011

F&Hinjects$15m intoJRFoodstuff

10 SINGAPORE NEWS The Business Times, Wednesday, December 21, 2011

By FELDA CHAYSMALL and medium enter-prises (SMEs) will be get-ting special attention – thistime via a new industry“committee” that will workclosely with the govern-ment to come up withpro-SME policies.

The Singapore BusinessFederation (SBF) is partner-ing major trade associa-tions and business cham-bers here to form the SMECommittee (SMEC), whoseimmediate goal is to putforth policy recommenda-tions to the Ministry of Fi-nance and the Ministry ofTrade and Industry with aneye on Budget 2012.

The formation of theSMEC – which will getabout $500,000 in annualfunding over the next fewyears – reflects the govern-ment’s ongoing efforts toaddress the concerns ofSMEs, many of which aregrappling with issues suchas tighter restrictions onhiring foreign workers tothe general economic down-turn.

Said SBF chief executiveofficer Ho Meng Kit at apress briefing yesterday:“We are seeing a deteriora-tion in business sentiment,and we are already seeingthis in the surveys and feed-back that we have gotten,and we thought that it is

better for us to set this upearly, rather than later.

“And the sector needsgovernment support duringthe coming Budget, so it(setting up the SMEC)should be done in time forthe Budget process.”

The SMEC has the sup-port of Minister of State forTrade and Industry Teo SerLuck, who will act as itsadviser and help to gatherpublic sector support forthe group. It will be fundedover the next few years un-der the Local Enterpriseand Association Develop-ment (Lead) programmejointly managed by SpringSingapore and Internation-al Enterprise Singapore, hesaid.

“I would like to empha-sise that this is not anotherregular feedback forum, orjust another feedback com-mittee,” said Mr Teo.

“It will foster closerworking relations betweenthe government and theSME sector and we will getthe support from the differ-ent ministries, to come to-gether and work with theSME sector on this plat-form, to look into the differ-ent issues that the sector isfacing today.”

The SMEC will also havea research unit that willcollect data, analyse issuesand provide global compari-sons to add weight to itspolicy recommendations.

SBF said the committeeis still taking in members.

Trade associations thathave joined so far includethe Association of Smalland Medium Enterprises,Singapore Manufacturers’Association and SingaporeIndian Chamber of Com-merce and Industry.

The SMEC will hold itsfirst meeting in Januarynext year and will focus onputting up policy recom-mendations in time for the2012 Budget. Its aim overthe longer term is to be achannel for SMEs to “collec-tively raise vexing businessissues to the relevant au-thorities”. It also hopes tofacilitate dialogue among

SMEs and the governmentto formulate new business-related policies and refineexisting rules. The issues itwill look into include risingbusiness costs, foreignworker levies and access tothese workers, productivi-ty, and internationalisationand market access.

Said SBF chairmanTony Chew: “Singaporebusinesses, particularlySMEs, are facing challeng-

ing times. Rising businesscosts, the manpowercrunch, stiff overseas com-petition and the overhangof an anaemic global econo-my are hurting bottomlines and the progress ofour SME sector.

“The SMEC not onlyaims to tackle and bringclarity to the key issues andchallenges faced by SMEs,but in so doing, help themgrow their business.”

By RONNIE LIMSINGAPORE looks set tobuy a further 2.5 milliontonnes per annum (tpa) ofas-yet-uncontracted lique-fied natural gas (LNG) from2015, once a third tank atthe Singapore LNG (SLNG)terminal is ready, says aCredit Suisse report on theAsia-Pacific LNG sector.

The additional tank willboost the capacity of theSLNG terminal – startingup in mid-2013 with 3.5million tpa of storage intwo tanks – to six milliontpa, when completed inearly-2014. SLNG em-barked on the third tankproject following stronger-

than-expected demandfrom gencos and industrieshere, as well as internation-al LNG traders and produc-ers keen on trading LNGex-Singapore hub.

BT reported last monththe Energy Market Authori-ty has appointed McKinsey& Co to study the best waysfor Singapore to procure fu-ture LNG supplies, once ag-gregator BG Group’s fran-chise as the sole LNG buyerhere ends around 2012,once it hits its target vol-ume of three million tpa.

In a section titled “South-east Asia: Singapore looksreal – lots of other countriesare talking”, the Credit Su-

isse report said that while alot of other regional coun-tries such as Malaysia, Thai-land, Vietnam, Pakistan,Bangladesh, Indonesia andPhilippines all have ambi-tious plans to join the LNGbuyers’ club. “Can they af-ford the gas?” it asks.

“Thus far, only the firstphase of regasification ca-pacity in Thailand (Map TaPhut) has been constructed,and supply contracts haveonly been agreed for asmall portion of the regasifi-cation capacity at that faci-lity.”

Credit Suisse said thatoverall, Asian LNG priceswill continue to firm up as

on the demand side, a com-bination of the Fukushimanuclear incident plus un-der-contracting in South Ko-rea has lead to a materialfive-year supply gap. Sup-ply-wise, only gas-richQatar will be able to “meetthe majority of Asia’snear-term shortfall, givenits speculative ramp-up ofLNG supply in the last 24months”, it added.

In the wake of Fukushi-ma, “Japan is, and will con-tinue to be, the world’s larg-est LNG consumer”, saidCredit Suisse. Last year, Ja-pan accounted for 31 percent of global LNG con-sumption.

It assumes that Japanwill follow a middle pathregarding nuclear use by“restarting newer (nuclear)facilities (less than 30 yearsold – excluding Fukushi-ma), but not building newfacilities that have not al-ready broken ground”.

It also assumes that theremaining useable nuclearfleet operates at a 60 percent utilisation rate, andthat gas-fired power gener-ation rises to 67,000 MW in2015, and 75,000 MW by2020. “With these assump-tions, CS forecasts Japa-nese LNG demand to be 81million tpa by 2015 and 88million tpa by 2020.”

CS said that in Korea,“prolonged domestic fric-tion over who has the rightto contract for LNG importshas left South Korea in aposition where the rapiddemand recovery creates ashortfall versus contractedsupply”.

By MICHELLE TANPRICES of residential propertiesare expected to take a 20 per centhaircut, according to a report is-sued by Morgan Stanley Research.

Though new home sales havebeen holding up relatively wellwith 1,632 units being sold in themonth of October, it is key to notethat the bulk of transactions stemfrom the Outside Central Region(OCR), implying a more mass-mar-ket type driven demand.

Commenting on the issue, in-house analyst Sean Gardiner said:“This supports anecdotal evidencefrom the industry that demand forthe mid- to high-end of the marketis slow. In fact, sales in the CoreCentral Region (CCR) are down

some 77 per cent year-on-year.”But that does not mean that thepricing of mass market propertieswill hold up forever.

Highlighting that the challengeis in “gauging the magnitude of thecorrection”, Mr Gardiner notedthat the segment’s pricing is expect-ed to come under pressure over thenext few months and predicts pric-es to be down 20 per cent by theend of 2013.

Exacerbating the situation isgrowing inventory levels, whichhave since risen above 2008’speak, with 5,394 unsold units as atend-October. In fact, according to areal estate survey carried out bythe National University of Singa-pore (NUS), developers are starting

to show signs of cold feet as supplypiles up. Findings from the surveynoted that sentiment among devel-opers has declined from just over5.5 – whereby 10 is the most posi-tive and 0 the most negative – atthe start of 2011 to 3.4 as at end-September.

“We expect 12,000 units of newsupply (private residential) in 2012and 13,000 in 2013, includingplanned but not yet startedprojects. This compares to our in-cremental demand expectations of4,000 private units per year, al-though if prices fall enough, wecould see some higher-end Hous-ing and Development Board (HDB)demand trickle through into the pri-vate market,” pointed out Mr Gar-

diner, who expects vacancy ratesto escalate next year.

Together with other factorssuch as a lacklustre gross domesticproduct outlook and weaker popu-lation growth as expatriate num-bers dwindle, it seems the bearshave successfully taken over thereins of the domestic residentialmarket.

For now, though prices in thephysical market may appear seem-ingly resilient, one should bear inmind that values could be buoyedby a variety of factors, such as lowinterest rates, high liquidity in thebanking sector, and a spike in de-mand of properties from foreign-ers, especially the Chinese, as high-lighted in the report.

Home prices to fall 20%: Morgan Stanley

By LEE U-WENALMOST two months afterher original trip wasshelved due to the severeflooding in her country,Thai Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra will ar-rive in Singapore this after-noon for her first official vi-sit since taking office in Au-gust.

The 44-year-old, who ishere at the invitation ofPrime Minister Lee HsienLoong, is in the middle ofan introductory tour of the

nine other Asean memberstates.

In a statement, Singa-pore’s Foreign Affairs Min-istry said that her visit un-derscored the good bilate-ral relations between Singa-pore and Thailand, as wellas reaffirmed the friend-ship between the two coun-tries.

Following a welcomeceremony at the Istana,Ms Yingluck will call onPresident Tony Tan KengYam, followed by PM Lee.

According to a report onthe website of The Nation –an English daily publishedin Thailand – Ms Yingluckand Mr Lee will discuss thecurrent state of trade andinvestment ties betweentheir two countries. Theyare also expected to talkabout how to strengthen ex-isting partnerships such asthe Prime Ministerial Re-treat and the Singa-pore-Thailand EnhancedEconomic Relationship(Steer).

Mr Lee will then host ano f f i c i a l d i n n e r i nMs Yingluck’s honour atthe Istana. And as is thenorm for most dignitarieswhen they visit Singapore,Ms Yingluck’s short stayhere will include a stopoverat the Botanic Gardenswhere she will have an or-chid named after her.

Ms Yingluck – the youn-ger sister of former primeminister Thaksin Shinawa-tra – became Thailand’sfirst female leader after herPuea Thai Party won a gen-eral election in July by alandslide.

Shortly after she took of-fice, Thailand was ravagedby the worst floods in half acentury that have killedover 600 people so far anddisplaced millions morefrom their homes.

Ms Yingluck had to can-cel a number of plannedoverseas trips, including ahigh-profile visit to Honolu-lu in November where shewas scheduled to attend theannual Asia-Pacific Eco-nomic Cooperation sum-mit.

Earlier this week, she an-nounced that five out of sev-en flooded industrial es-tates were now dry, whileaffected areas in the capitalBangkok and nearby pro-vinces would also be dry byDec 31.

Goal is to makerecommendationsto the govt with aneye on Budget 2012

ONE of the UK’s best-known privateschools is setting up a campus in Singa-pore next year. Dulwich College Manage-ment International will offer an enhancedEnglish National Curriculum leading to theInternational Baccalaureate (“IB”) Diplo-ma.

“The opportunity to open a Dulwich Col-lege in Singapore is a huge milestone forboth Singapore and the Dulwich family ofschools,” said Christian Guertler, chief ex-ecutive officer of Dulwich College Manage-ment International. “Dulwich College willbe the first branded British school in Singa-pore and will bring almost 400 years of her-itage and tradition in education.”

The school has been awarded a green-field site at Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 bya government committee, chaired by the

Economic Development Board (EDB). Thepermanent campus at Bukit Batok is ex-pected to be ready in 2014, with a capacityof 2,500 students. Meanwhile, an interimcampus with an initial capacity of 550 stu-dents will be set up in August 2012.

“Dulwich’s international network ofhigh-quality schools is well regardedamongst executives in multi-national com-panies,” said Alvin Tan, EDB’s assistantmanaging director (corporate develop-ment & human capital). “Dulwich College(Singapore) will add to Singapore’s valueproposition as an attractive global city toinvestors.”

Apart from Singapore, Dulwich CollegeManagement International’s presence inAsia includes five colleges in China andone in South Korea.

By SAMUEL EECOE premiums fell yester-day on worries about theeconomy and after back or-ders were filled, accordingto some motor distributors.

A Category A certificateof entitlement, used for reg-istering cars 1,600cc andbelow, shed $2,495 to$52,392, while Cat B – forcars above 1,600cc –s lumped $4 ,990 to$72,350.

Cat E – the open catego-ry which currently tracksCat B – slipped $1,549 to$74,340. Cat C – for com-mercial vehicles – was$180 lower at $40,009. On-ly Cat D – for motorcycles –

rose, albeit marginally, by$13 to $1,902.

“The general economicclimate isn’t good,” said themanager of a mass marketbrand. “There has been alot of bad news lately andthe past two weeks havebeen quiet not just for usbut for the whole industry.”

He said potential buyersare taking a wait-and-seeattitude for now becausethey are not sure whetherthe economic uncertaintywill blow over or if it will de-velop into something moreserious.

He also cited the currentschool holidays for the qui-et market. “Many peopleare overseas,” he ex-plained.

But one senior executiveat a luxury make said COEpremiums sagged yester-day mainly because most

distributors have deliveredthe cars that were orderedduring the rush sparked bythe mid-October announce-ment of a cut in the vehiclegrowth rate.

Then, the Land Trans-port Authority had said theannual vehicle populationgrowth rate will be reducedfrom the current 1.5 percent to one per cent in2012, and then to 0.5 percent in 2013 and 2014.

“Now that the initialrush caused by the an-nouncement has subsided,it looks like premiums willsettle at this level,” said theexecutive.

But he added that theCat A premium would be atleast $5,000 lower than it isnow if not for the aggres-sive bidding by taxi compa-nies about five minutes be-fore the close of yesterday’stender.

By TEH SHI NINGRESTRUCTURING the econ-omy in a downturn willhurt more and test policy-makers’ resolve to stick toits “inclusive growth” strate-gy, says Citigroup econo-mist Kit Wei Zheng.

“Transition costs of astarker growth-inflationtrade-off and a possible in-crease in structural unem-ployment” will be more ap-parent in a cyclical down-turn, he says in a reportthis week.

As external demandweakens, staying on a pathof inclusive growth may callfor further expansion of Sin-gapore’s “economic space”in aggregate demand andsupply terms, as well as“larger outlays in socialsafety nets” to “build the po-litical consensus needed toconvince the populationthat the benefits of globali-sation far outweigh itscosts”.

Mr Kit points out thatthough Singapore has diver-sified its export markets inrecent years, compared toits Asian peers, its manufac-turing sector remains theleast plugged into China’sdomestic market.

Local manufacturersnow face rising costs, partic-ularly from the hike in for-eign worker levies. Hence,if Singapore is to grow in-digenous champions to tapChinese demand, “biggercarrots should be given tolocal SMEs for productivityenhancing investments”,with incentives linked tobuilding local brandnames, says Mr Kit. Where

Singapore has more of acompetitive advantage totap rising Chinese andAsian demand is in tradea-ble services – travel, fi-nance and transport.

On Singapore’s push togrow its external wing byurging local firms to ex-pand abroad, Mr Kit cau-tions that growth in grossnational product may nottranslate into employmentopportunities for the aver-age Singaporean house-hold. If relocation overseasresults in job losses athome, this may run contra-ry to “inclusive growth”goals.

With a couple of monthsto Budget 2012, Mr Kit saysthat the need to ease transi-tion pains of higher infla-tion and structural unem-ployment, alongside de-mand for infrastructureand healthcare invest-ments, “all point to a needfor a structural increase ingovernment expenditure inthe next few years”.

He expects enhance-ments to the Workfarescheme and changes tomake the tax and CPF sys-tems more progressive incoming years.

Meeting higher expendi-ture needs without runninga fiscal deficit will not be aproblem for Singapore’sgovernment. While the fis-cal surplus may shrink,Mr Kit estimates that thegovernment can draw onan additional $1-3 billion innet investment returns,without breaching the 50per cent cap on the amountof long-term expected realreturns on reserves.

FILE PHOTO

Mr Ho: The SME Committee will be funded overthe next few years under the Lead programme

UK private school to set up campus

SBF, trade bodiesform pro-SME panel

S’pore seen buying more LNG from 2015

Potential buyers aretaking a wait-and-see attitude

IN THE MATTER OF THECOMPANIES ACT, CAP. 50

ANDIN THE MATTER OF

MTARFA PTE. LIMITED(IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATION)

COMPANY REGISTRATION NO. 200517345WExtract of the Minutes of an ExtraordinaryGeneral Meeting of MTARFA PTE. LIMITEDsigned by the Representative of the HoldingCompany pursuant to Section 179(6) of theCompanies Act, Cap 50 on 29 November 2011,the Resolutions set out below were duly passed:SPECIAL RESOLUTIONThat the Company be wound up voluntarilypursuant to Section 290(1)(b) of the CompaniesAct, Cap. 50.ORDINARY RESOLUTIONThat Mr. George Tan Hian Yew of c/o 80Robinson Road #02-00 Singapore 068898 beand is hereby appointed liquidator to conductthe winding up and that his remuneration be inthe scale of his usual professional charges for thework involved.

Dated this 8th day of December 2011Hugh Nicholas Darwell

Corporate Representative ofING BANK N.V.

IN THE MATTER OF THECOMPANIES ACT, CAP. 50

ANDIN THE MATTER OF

MTARFA PTE. LIMITED(IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATION)

COMPANY REGISTRATION NO. 200517345WNOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the creditorsof the abovenamed Company, which is beingvoluntarily wound up are required on or before8 January 2012 to send their names andaddresses and full particulars of their debts orclaims and the names and addresses of theirsolicitors (if any) to the liquidator of the saidCompany and, if so required by notice in writingfrom the said liquidator, are, by their solicitorsor personally, to come in and prove their saiddebts or claims at such time and place as shallbe specified in such notice or in default thereof,they will be excluded from the benefit of anydistribution made before such debts are proved.

Dated this 8th day of December 2011Mr. George Tan Hian Yew

Liquidatorc/o 80 Robinson Road

#02-00 Singapore 068898

Thai PM arrives today for first official visit

Most COE premiums loweron concerns over economy

Govt resolve oninclusive growthto be tested: Citi

12 SINGAPORE NEWS The Business Times, Thursday, December 8, 2011

By RONNIE LIMAFTER a long four-year hia-tus, JTC Corporation is thisweek re-launching a tenderfor an operator to run theS$890 million first phase ofits mega, multibillion-dol-lar Jurong Rock Cavern(JRC).

It wants to get the opera-tor on board by mid-2012for the JRC, which when op-erational in the first half of2013 will store oil and pet-rochemicals undergroundfor customers such as Ju-rong Aromatics Corpora-tion.

JTC first called the JRCoperatorship tender inend-2007, hoping to awardit by March 2008. But theglobal financial crisis thencaused petrochemical inves-tors on Jurong Island to getcold feet, with this in turndelaying the JRC project.

Yesterday, JTC said thatit was kick-starting theprocess again, starting witha two-stage request for pro-posal (RFP) this Friday foran operator to manage andoperate phase 1 of JRC,which will be completed instages between 2013 and2014.

Earlier reports indicatedthat the first two cavernsproviding 480,000 cubicmetres of storage are ex-pected to be ready in thefirst half of 2013, with theentire phase 1, comprisingfive caverns with a total of1.47 million cubic metres,set to be completed in2014.

The operatorship con-tract is scheduled to com-mence in 2013 and will befor a period of 15 years,JTC indicated.

JTC’s CEO Manohar Khi-atani said: “Jurong Rock

Cavern is an example ofhow we create space toovercome our limited landresource and ensure thecompetitiveness and sus-tainability of Singapore’schemical industry in thelong run.”

“The two-stage RFP forthe JRC operator is to en-sure rigour in our selectionprocess so that a capableand qualified operator is en-gaged to operate and man-age the cavern. We targetto get an operator on boardby second half of 2012.”

Industry sources told BTyesterday that “JTC is prob-ably in a better position tocall the operatorship ten-der now, given improvedprospects, like more poten-tial customers, for theproject”.

Independent tankfarmoperators in Singaporesuch as Royal Vopak andEmirates National Oil Com-pany’s Horizon Terminals,which currently operateabove-ground terminalshere, were known to beserious contenders for JRCoperatorship back in 2007,and are likely to vie for itagain.

One industry sourcewhen contacted yesterdaysaid that there would cer-tainly be interest by thewould-be operators to dis-cuss with JTC issues suchas “having more upsidethan just operating fees,like for instance, the poten-tial for some profit-shar-ing”. This is important asthe business model for JRCis different from that ofabove-ground tankfarms,as building costs are proba-bly double, he added.

Jurong Aromatics Corpo-ration (JAC) – which justbroke ground earlier thisAugust on its US$2.4 billionaromatics complex on Ju-rong Island – is JRC’s firstcommitted customer. Butbecause the JAC projectwas delayed due to earlier

financing problems, it willnow come on-stream onlyin October 2014, or a yearlater than JRC’s phase 1start-up.

JAC, which has commit-ted to use of one of JRC’sfour large underground cav-erns, is understood to be innegotiations with JTC oversome compensation pay-ments for its later-than-scheduled use of the cavernspace.

JTC director Heah SoonPoh also told BT earlier inAugust that apart fromJAC, JTC has been talkingto other potential players,such as petrochemical com-panies, on Jurong Island totake up the remainingfour-fifths of the availablecapacity at the first-phaseJRC. The indication is thatthese parties are likely tocommit nearer the timewhen phase 1 is ready.

By TAM YU LINGSPREADING good cheer inthe festive season, staff ofaccounting giant Ernst &Young played Santa and de-livered gifts to more than480 needy folks on Mon-day.

This year, Ernst &Young donated $40,000 un-der the Boys’ Brigade Shari-ty Gift Box (BBSGB) pro-gramme for households un-der the Public Assistanceand ComCare Transitionsschemes. The families re-ceived food hampers orhome appliances.

Since taking part in theBBSGB programme in2005, Ernst & Young has

raised about $240,000 forsome 3,200 beneficiaries.This year, the BBSGB out-reach list includes Bethes-da Care & Counselling Serv-ices Centre, Care CornerFamily Service Centres andMINDS.

Ernst & Young’s countrymanaging partner Max Lohsaid: “This contribution is agood reminder to many ofus who are enjoying today’sconveniences to not takethings for granted andtreasure what we have.Staying close to what’s hap-pening in our wider commu-nities is critical so that wecan make an impactful con-tribution whenever possi-ble.”

By LYNN KAN

WITH the arrival of contai-ner ship MV APL Washing-ton at PSA’s Pasir PanjangTerminal yesterday, thePort of Singapore sailedpast the two billion grosston (GT) mark for the firsttime.

The doubling of vesselarrival tonnage – where GTis a measure of a ship’s in-ternal volume and size –comes seven years after Sin-

gapore crossed one billionGT with the arrival of MVCosco Shanghai.

For the first 11 months,arrival tonnage has jumped10.2 per cent from a yearago. In 2010, the Port of Sin-gapore notched up 1.91 bil-lion GT.

“The crossing of two bil-lion gross tons in annualvessel arrival tonnage re-flects the strong growthachieved by the Port of Sin-gapore, in spite of the cur-rent uncertainty in the glo-bal economy,” said Trans-port Minister Lui Tuck Yewat a commemoration eventyesterday.

Ng Yat Chung, grouppresident and CEO of Nep-tune Orient Lines (NOL),made his first public ap-pearance yesterday aftertaking over from Ron Wid-dows in October. He re-ceived a commemorativeplaque from Mr Lui on be-half of NOL, the owner ofthe APL Washington.

Singapore retains poleposition as the world’s busi-est port by vessel arrivalsto-date, but Shanghai haspipped it in terms of con-tainer throughput.

For the first 11 monthsof the year, 27.3 milliontwenty-foot equivalent

units (TEUs) passedthrough Singapore’s ports,a 4.8 per cent increase yearon year.

But in Shanghai, 29.1million TEUs were movedin the same period.

Despite signs that Singa-pore faces a slowdown intrade in the fourth quarter,analysts say that Singaporeis on track to beat lastyear’s throughput of 28.4million TEUs.

Drewry Maritime Servi-ces (Asia) forecasts that Sin-gapore’s throughput at29 million TEUs this year,just shy of 2008’s record29.9 million TEUs.

But Frost & Sullivan’sGopal R, vice-president ofAsia-Pacific transportationand logistics, thinks that itmay be on par with 2008levels.

It is unlikely to pipShanghai though, with fore-casts widely tippingthroughput to be over30 million TEUs this year.

“In 2011, although Sin-gapore port would growmarginally as compared to2010, Shanghai’s through-put will be greater to makeit hold on to the crown interms of lead in containerthroughput,” Mr Gopalsaid.

By TAM YU LINGTRAVEL agency CTCTravel is on a roll thesedays with its second M&Ain less than a month,weeks after inking a dealto buy Park RegisSingapore for $270million.

The companyannounced yesterday itsmerger with online travelagent MISA Travel.

When contacted by BT,a CTC spokesman declinedto comment on the size ofthe merger, stating onlythat CTC has managed toacquire a majority stake inMISA.

BT understands that themerger is so that it canincrease its market share.

“MISA Travel’s onlineportals stand to offerinstant access, affordableoptions for travel productswhich will provide anopportunity to managedistressed air tickets andhotel inventory for alltravellers,” said Wee HeeLing, CTC Travel’s CEO.

The merger marks thebeginning of CTC Travel’sthree-year plan, whichincludes fostering thetrend amongst travellers tobook all their itinerariesonline, and expanding theother corporate travelservices such as the MICE(meeting, incentives,conventions, andexhibitions) segment.

As a brick-and-mortaroperation, CTC’s mainstrength lies in creatingniche travel packages, saidAlicia Seah, CTC Travel’ssenior vice-president ofmarketing and publicrelations. As such, CTChopes that this merger willallow the company toleverage upon the onlineplatform from MISA so asto regain the market shareof Internet-savvycustomers, she added.

With the successfulmerger, the companyhopes to better competeand thrive against thecompetitive tourismlandscape in order togenerate greater potentialgrowth for the firm, saidCTC.

E&Y spreads festivecheer to the needy

By GRACE LEONGGAMING growth rates inthe Asia-Pacific are expect-ed to moderate next yearbut still move at a healthyclip, according to a Stand-ard & Poor’s report.

“We expect growth ratesin Macau and Singapore,the gaming hotspots in theregion, to moderate in thenext 12 months,” Joe Poon,Standard & Poor’s credit an-alyst, said in the report re-leased yesterday.

“Our base-case forecastfor the Macau gaming mar-ket is growth in gross gam-ing revenue of 10 per centto 15 per cent in 2012. Weexpect net gaming revenuein Singapore to grow by 5per cent to 10 per cent.”

The forecast follows thisyear’s blazing growth ratesin the two markets, whereMacau posted a 44 per centjump in gross gaming reve-nues in the first 11 months,while Singapore’s net gam-

ing revenues are seen soar-ing 42 per cent to US$5 bil-lion this year.

While Singapore’s twoIRs have exceeded perform-ance expectations sincetheir opening last year, sev-eral factors including regu-latory uncertainty and pro-jected slower growth in Sin-gapore’s economy couldput a damper on local gam-ing growth.

Singapore’s latest moveto tighten advertising regu-lations to ensure the two ca-sinos do not target locals,and expectations that thegovernment may introducemore of such measures totackle problem gambling,may crimp local gaming de-mand, the report said.

But the duopoly held bythe two IRs until 2017would also provide growthopportunities for them.And if the Casino Regulato-ry Authority were to ap-prove junket operating li-censes next year, Singa-pore’s gaming growth rateswould likely be higher thanthe current projected 5 percent to 10 per cent.

Amid credit tighteningmeasures in China, the

Macau market is expectedto post stronger gaming rev-enue growth than Singa-pore next year because theopening of Sands Cotai Cen-tral, a 5,800 room casinodevelopment project start-ing next first quarter, willlikely fuel demand andboost mass market growth.

Mr Poon said he believesbad debts aren’t likely tohave a significant impacton the credit profiles ofgaming operators inMacau, as they have limitedexposure to direct lendingto VIP players.

“We expec t moreprojects will start in thenext few years in Cotai, butthe city could face challeng-

es such as inadequate infra-structure, labour shortag-es, and a cap on thenumber of gaming tables,”he said.

Elsewhere in the region,countries including Japanare likely to accelerate theirplans to develop licensed in-tegrated casino resorts to

spur economic growth.“We expect operators in

the region, with their im-proving financial capacity,to aggressively bid for casi-no licenses and invest bil-lion of dollars into gamingprojects,” Mr Poon said.

“We consider gaming op-erators to be better posi-tioned now than they werein 2008 to accommodate

risks associated with invest-ments in new gaming devel-opments and any modera-tion in gaming demand,”he said.

He cited significantly im-proved cash flow from exist-ing properties, “resulting ina better balance betweencash generating assets and

assets under develop-ment”.

“As many of these assetsmove from the constructionphase to stabilised levels ofcash flow generation, theyshould provide operatorswith greater capacity to ac-commodate any unexpect-ed moderation in gamingrevenues or capital availa-bility,” he said.

By NG JIE HUIASIAN firms are lacking inDuty of Care practices, asurvey shows.

The survey, conductedby International SOS, a lead-ing global medical and secu-rity assistance company,shows that companiesbased in Asia scored lowerin their awareness of Dutyof Care and adoption of Du-ty of Care practices, com-pared to those in Australia,Europe and North America.

“Duty of Care” refers tothe employers’ obligationto protect employees over-seas from unfamiliar, yet of-ten foreseeable, risks andthreats.

The survey, conductedover the past year, targetedmore than 600 global com-panies, 17 per cent ofwhich are headquarteredin Asia.

Out of the companiessurveyed, 95 per cent hadsent employees on businesstrips to high risk locations.

When asked to rate theircompanies on the adoptionof specific Duty of Care prac-tices, respondents fromAsia also gave lower scoresas compared to their west-ern counterparts.

Such findings revealthat Duty of Care is a con-cept less common in Asia,as seen by the lack of Dutyof Care legislation in the re-gion. Countries such as theUnited Kingdom and Aus-tralia have mandated Dutyof Care in the workers’ com-pensation laws.

The findings are all themore surprising, especiallysince Duty of Care practicescan reap rewards for com-panies.

“Our study has foundthat such approaches are

clearly linked to commer-cial success, and yet thereare still varying levels ofawareness among seniormanagement and key stake-holders,” says Arnaud Vais-sié, co-founder, chairmanand chief executive of Inter-national SOS.

“Companies that em-brace it will find that itmakes good business sensein preventing costly inci-dents, recruiting and retain-ing staff, especially amidsta talent crunch.” Mr Vaissiéadds.

Another significant find-ing of the survey was thatlawlessness, terrorism, po-litical upheaval, civil unrestand pandemics wereranked among the top 20risks faced by employeesabroad.

However, not all re-spondents shared the sameview.

Asian respondents ratedthe threat from travel-relat-ed infections significantlyhigher than their westerncounterparts. Those arisingfrom political unrest, vio-lence and crime wereranked lower though.

It also seems that opin-ions are varied across dif-ferent industries. The ITsector for instance, hadranked opportunisticcrime, illness while on as-signment, road accidentsand travel delays as one ofits biggest threats.

On the contrary, the con-struction and real estatesector was mainly con-cerned with lawlessness, vi-olent and organised crime.

Among other findings,the survey also found outthat key high-growth andemerging markets cameout tops on the high-risk lo-cation list.

Singapore port hits 2b gross ton mark

All smiles: Staff of accounting giant Ernst & Young played Santa and delivered giftsto more than 480 needy folks

Singapore’s netgaming revenueexpected to grow by5-10%: analyst

Chugging along: APL Washington arriving at PSA’s Pasir Panjang Terminal yesterday. Despite signs of slowing trade in Q4, Singapore is ontrack to beat last year’s throughput of 28.4 million TEUs, analysts say

January-Novembertonnage up 10.2%year on year

It aims to get theoperator on boardby second half ofnext year

Gaming growth rates in Asia-Paclikely to moderate: S&P

CTC Travelmergeswithonlinetravelagent

‘We expect operators in the region, with theirimproving financial capacity, to aggressivelybid for casino licences and invest billions ofdollars into gaming projects.’

– Joe Poon, Standard & Poor’s

Asian firms lackingin Duty of Carepractices: survey

JTC re-launchingtender for JRC’sphase 1 operator

10 SINGAPORE NEWS The Business Times, Wednesday, December 14, 2011

By MINDY TANA FREEHOLD industrialsite at the junction ofMacPherson Road andHoward Road was put upfor sale by tender yester-day, with an indicative pric-ing of between $33 millionand $35 million, or $438 to$464 per square foot perplot ratio (psf ppr).

The 30,157 sq ft site has

a plot ratio of 2.5, whichtranslates into an allowablegross floor area of approxi-mately 75,393 sq ft.

Lim Kien Kim, KnightFrank senior director, in-dustrial space, said he ex-pects bids to come in be-tween $400 and $450 psfppr.

While the site’s freeholdstatus and proximity to TaiSeng MRT station on the

Circle Line will generatemuch interest, Mr Lim ex-pects it might eventuallydraw five tenders or fewer.This is in part due to thesite’s long and narrow con-figuration.

The existing five-storeydevelopment has a totalstrata floor area of 46,037sq ft. The site is zoned“Business 1”, which makesit suitable for various uses,

such as light industry,clean industry or telecom-munications.

Tan Boon Leong, Col-liers International director(industrial), said he expectsbids to come in the range of$350 to $450 psf ppr.

Lee Sze Teck, seniormanager of research andconsultancy at Dennis WeeGroup, added that interestwill largely depend on how

the manufacturing and in-dustrial sector performsnext year.

“If the rental price pointcan support a rental yield(of between 4 and 6 percent), it will be well re-ceived by the market,” hesaid.

Assuming an averagesize of 1,000 sq ft per unitand a building efficiency of88 per cent, the site can ac-commodate a new develop-ment with about 66 indus-trial strata units, said mar-keting agent DTZ. A devel-opment charge is not paya-ble to increase the grossfloor area to 75,393 sq ft asallowed in Master Plan2008.

Said Shaun Poh, DTZ’shead of investment adviso-ry services and auction:“With the latest coolingmeasures implemented bythe government on the resi-dential sector, industrialproperties have become analternative investment op-tion to many. Freehold in-dustrial land is especiallymore sought-after given itslimited supply.”

The tender for the sitewill close on Jan 12, at3pm.

MBS appointssenior VP in HRMARINA Bay Sands (MBS)has appointed Chan YitFoon as senior vicepresident, humanresources, with immediateeffect. A graduate fromNational University ofSingapore, Ms Chan joinsMBS after spending fiveyears at MediaCorp, whereshe was executive vicepresident of humanresources. In her new role,she will lead thedevelopment andimplementation ofstrategies for talentmanagement, rewards andbenefits, leadershiptraining and development,team engagement andwelfare initiatives.

NTU launches newexec programmeNANYANG TechnologicalUniversity (NTU) haslaunched a new executivetraining programme forVietnam’s seniorgovernment officials toprovide them with anunderstanding ofdevelopments inSingapore’s publicadministration over thepast four decades. As partof the programme, formerSingapore ministers, suchas Mah Bow Tan, YeoCheow Tong and Yeo NingHong, will share theirfirst-hand experiences andSingapore’s best practicesin public administrationand governance. The firstbatch of 20 officials willundergo a two-weekresidential trainingprogramme conducted byNTU’s Nanyang Centre forPublic Administration fromDec 18-31.

Lorry crane operatorsto be certifiedALL lorry crane operatorswill have to be certified bySeptember 2013, under anew training course aimedat enhancing the safeoperation of cranes. The 21/2 day course is a newrequirement under theWorkplace Safety andHealth (WSH) (Operation ofCranes) Regulations 2011.About 3,500 lorry cranesare being operatedisland-wide and they posepotential risks to workersand members of the publicas they operate on theroads even during peakperiods for landscapingand other activities. Thecourse is available forregistration with the BCAAcademy from January2012.

CENTRAL Provident Fund (CPF) mem-bers will continue to enjoy risk-freeinterest rate of 4 per cent on their Spe-cial and Medisave Accounts (SMA) forthe first three months of next year.

The 4 per cent interest rate is alsoextended to their Retirement Ac-counts (RA), which will enjoy the ratefor the whole of next year.

This is in line with the govern-ment’s announcement in Septemberthat it will maintain the 4 per cent perannum floor rate for interest earnedon all SMA monies and Retirement Ac-count (RA) monies until Dec 31 nextyear.

Savings in the SMA currently earneither 4 per cent or the 12-monthaverage yield of 10-year SingaporeGovernment Securities (10YSGS) plusone per cent, whichever is higher.The interest rate for SMA savings isadjusted quarterly, based on interestrates on 10YSGS over a preceding12-month period. Given that fromDec 1, 2010 to Nov 30, 2011 the aver-age yield of the 10YSGS plus one percent works out to 3.19 per cent, theSMA interest rate payable to CPFmembers for the first three months ofnext year will be maintained at thecurrent floor of 4 per cent.

As for the RA, new savings in thisaccount are invested in Special Singa-pore Government Securities (SSGS)which earn a fixed coupon equal to

either the 12-month average yield ofthe 10YSGS plus one per cent at thepoint of issuance, or 4 per cent, which-ever is higher, adjusted yearly. Giventhe low 10YSGS yield, new RA sav-ings will earn the floor rate.

An additional one per cent interestwill continue to be paid on the first$60,000 of a member’s combined bal-ances, with up to $20,000 from theOrdinary Account (OA). The addition-al interest received on the OA will gointo the member’s Special Account orRA to enhance his retirement savings.

Starting from next year, the Medis-ave Required Amount (MRA) will beincreased from the current $27,500to $32,000. This is to ensure thatmembers have sufficient funds forhealthcare needs in their old age, saidthe CPF Board.

By NG JIE HUITHE income disparity be-tween male and female fi-nance professionals ap-pears to be more prevalentin higher-powered posi-tions, even though genderdiscrimination does notseem to be commonplace inSingapore.

This is according to anew survey conducted byeFinancialCareers in part-nership with FinancialWomen’s Association Singa-pore (FWAS), a non-profitorganisation thatseeks to advance thestandard of profes-sionalism in the finan-cial industry, espe-cially the role and de-velopment of women.

The eFinancialCa-reers Gender Diversi-ty Survey 2011, con-ducted in Novemberthis year, targeted629 finance profes-sionals from Singa-pore.

It was also carriedout in Hong Kong,China (Greater Chi-na), and Australia.

Of the finance pro-fessionals surveyedin Singapore, 47 percent said that genderinfluences income lev-els in the financial servicessector.

When asked whether re-muneration was equal formen and women in topmanagerial positions, 45per cent of respondents didnot think so. However, thefigure drops to 30 per centwhen respondents wereasked the same questionabout entry-level positions.

Another significant find-ing was that 52 per cent ofSingaporeans surveyedsaid that they have neverapplied for a flexible workarrangement, despite theavailability of options, suchas maternity and paternityleave and unpaid personalleave.

Reasons cited for thislow take-up rate includethe fear that such actionswould make employeeslook bad and that compa-nies have not implementedthe correct policies.

Despite the findings,many, including FWA net-working chairperson andsurvey coordinator EmmaBoyd, are optimistic about

the future. “People don’t ex-pect to be successful with-out showcasing a certain de-gree of competency in theirprofession and what is real-ly interesting is that in thismixed-gender survey, wehad more male respond-ents than females, many ofwhom agreed that incomediscrimination exists andthat it is easier for men toget ahead,” said Ms Boyd.

Some 41 per cent of theSingapore-based respond-ents believe that the exist-ing income gap will nar-row. Furthermore, 62 percent expect more women tofill top positions over thenext five years.

Many do not feel thatgender discrimination isrife in the workplace, withsix in 10 respondents say-ing they have never experi-enced it. About 68 per centof those surveyed also saidthat they had not experi-enced gender bias in the re-cruitment process. In addi-tion, 58 per cent of respond-ents do not think gender isa barrier to success in the fi-nance services industry.

However, eFinancialCa-reers head of Asia, GeorgeMcFerran, said it would befoolhardy to assume thatdiscrimination does not ex-ist at all, just because it isnot apparent.

“Financial institutionsshould always promote gen-der diversity programmesto allow for greater integra-tion of the sexes,” said MrMcFerran. “At present, aquarter of our Singapore re-spondents are not evenaware if their companieshave an explicit gender di-versity programme or tar-gets, and over half say theirfirms don’t have such pro-grammes or targets at all.”

By MINDY TANTRADITIONAL travelagents that are unable toadapt are dying a slowdeath.

While it is inevitablethat a certain bias is fac-tored into this bold state-ment by Johan Svanstrom,managing director (Asia Pa-cific) for Hotels.com, hemakes a compelling argu-ment.

With the growing popu-larity of smartphones andtablets as well as the accom-panying applications thatoffer a customised experi-ence, traditional travelagents will need to evolve –and quickly – to survive.

“You have to be moreniche, be it in eco-adven-tures or (being) super goodat a particular destination,”says Mr Svanstrom. “Thewhole mass travel (pack-age) – fly from A-to-B andbook the typical range of ho-tels – there’s no point in do-ing that sitting in an officeand flipping through a bro-chure anymore.”

Beyond the conveniencethat websites and mobileapplications provide, thegrowth in low-cost carriersin the market has fuelledcomparison shopping, lead-ing consumers to prefer un-bundled travel compo-nents, notes Mr Svanstrom.

The proliferation ofsmartphones, tablets andglobal positioning sys-tem-enabled applicationshave resulted in a shift inbooking behaviour.

“Booking windows aregetting shorter. Peopleused to book (hotel rooms)much earlier when they

were sitting at their comput-ers, (now) they use their mo-biles when they land at adestination,” says Mr Svan-strom. “It’s not necessarilycreating new demand, it’sjust a shift in behaviour.”

To date, Hotels.com’smobile bookings make upjust under 10 per cent of itsentire bookings; it hasgrown “several hundredper cent year-on-year”,says Mr Svanstrom.

In established markets,such as Australia and theUS, about 80 per cent of mo-bile bookings happens onthe same day, or a day be-fore travellers check into ahotel. For bookings on thePC, the same 80 per centwould cover a longer book-

ing window range of sever-al weeks, he adds.

In Singapore, travel wasthe top category of retailpurchases in 2010, account-ing for $307 million, or 28per cent of Singapore’s on-line shopping market, ac-cording to research by pay-ment service provider PayP-al. Some 400 Singapore on-line shoppers were polledbetween January and Feb-ruary this year.

In fact, the Asia Pacifichas already overtaken theUS in terms of growth ratesin online travel, accordingto research by Pho-CusWright. In particular, In-dia and China are expectedto dominate growth in on-line travel over the next fewyears.

“I think we will continueto talk more and moreabout Chinese travellers,and to some extent, Indiantravellers (next year),” saysMr Svanstrom. “We’ll alsosee, over the next two orthree years, Indonesia crop-ping up as a name next toIndia and China.”

“Operating in Asia, theexcitement lies in that weknow that Asia, as a totaltravel market, is already onpar with the US, and veryclose to matching Europe.In just a few years - it couldbe three to five years - andit will be by far the largestregion,” he concluded. “On-line penetration is alsogrowing much quicker herethan elsewhere else. It is anexciting place to be.”

By MICHELLE TANJTC Corporation haslaunched a concept andprice tender (CPT) for thefifth phase of Fusionopolis.

“The FusionopolisPhase 5 tender is based ona two-envelope system,”JTC said yesterday. “Bothprice and non-price crite-ria, such as developmentconcept, design intentionand business proposal, willbe evaluated in two sepa-rate stages.”

The 207,560 square feet(sq ft) land parcel at Fusio-nopolis Way, located rightabove the one-north MRTstation, has a lease of 60

years and is to be a mul-ti-tenanted facility.

Space-wise, the site hasa plot ratio of 3.5, whichtranslates to a maximumgross floor area (GFA) of726,456 sq ft and is zoned“Business Park White - 15”,implying a maximum of 15per cent of GFA can be usedfor “white” or commercialtype activities.

As the tender for Fusio-nopolis Phase 5 is based ona “two-envelope system”,consultants have highlight-ed that the top bid may notnecessarily garner the site.

Director of industrial atColliers International, TanBoon Leong highlighted:“Under the two-envelopesystem, the owner (JTC)must agree on the pro-posed design first beforeopening the price envelope.As such, whoever gives the

highest price may not bethe winner.”

However, Mr Tan wasquick to point out that he ex-pects a good response forthe mixed-use site, notingthat the one-north region isan “up and coming area”,likening it to the “OrchardRoad of industrials”.

Analysts concur that theland parcel is likely to drawkeen interest due to itsgood location and easy ac-cessibility to major trans-port nodes such as the MRTand major expressways.Furthermore, being a crossbetween an industrial andcommercial space, the com-pleted property is expectedto draw a higher yield ascompared to pure-typespaces.

One name that was high-lighted by two consultantsas a potential bidder is As-

cendas, which already hasa stake in the earlier phas-es of Fusionopolis.

Mr Tan said: “Singa-pore-listed real estate in-vestment trusts of a certainsize that are able to go intogreenfield developmentsare also likely candidates tobid for the site.”

The tender for the par-cel will close on Mar 9.

Fusionopolis is JTC’sprime development withinthe one-north research clus-ter, which has been expand-ing since the completion ofthe first phase back in2008. The developmentcontinues to support re-search and development ac-tivities as well as infocommtechnology and media in-dustries.

4% interest on Special,Medisave and RetirementAccounts next year

But genderdiscrimination notcommonplace here

Finding a niche isthe way to go, saysMD of Hotels.com

207,560 sq ft parcelat Fusionopolis Waycomes with60-year lease

‘Financialinstitutionsshould alwayspromote genderdiversityprogrammes toallow for greaterintegrationof the sexes.’

– eFinancialCareers head ofAsia, George McFerran

Bigger genderincome disparityat top: survey

MacPherson industrial site up for sale

Changingtimeschangethe gamefor travelindustry

Johan Svanstrom: Booking behaviour is also changing due to smartphones, tabletsand apps, he notes. Mobile bookings now account for nearly 10% of its total bookings

SINGAPOREROUND-UPFusionopolis phase 5 project

Location Fusionopolis Way, one-northLand area 19,283 sqmProject tenure 60 yearsLand zoning/use Business park white ! 15Plot ratio 3.5Permissible gross floor area 67,490 sqmProject completion period 2 yrs (TOP by October 2014)

Source: JTC

AYER RAJAH AVE

FUSIO

NOPO

LIS W

AY

FUSIO

NOPOLIS

WALK

FUSIONOPOLIS VIEW

NORT

H BU

ONA

VISTA

RD PORTSDOWN RD

FUSIONOPOLIS LINK

CENTRAL EXCHANGE

Fusionopolis 1

Fusionopolis 2A

No change to some CPF interest rates

Looking for opportunities?

Available at Caltex, Esso, Shell and SPC petrol stations,

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please call 6388-3838

Fifth phase ofFusionopolisup for tender

The Business Times, Tuesday, December 20, 2011 SINGAPORE NEWS 9

By ARTHUR LEEA BIT like chili padi, the Fi-at 500 has had quite a fol-lowing since its rebirth in2007.

It was born over 50years ago sporting a two-cylinder, 480cc engine. Thenew versions range from a135hp Arbath specs to adiesel that can cover100km with just 4.2 litres.

The car’s latest stylishversion to hit the roadshere is the 500 by Gucci.The colourful moving fash-ion statement has won 12orders at $150,900 each.

It made its South-eastAsian debut yesterdayevening at the Paragon atri-um before a few hundredappreciative invited guests.

The vehicle is a Fiat-Guc-ci joint project. It marks the90th anniversary of the Guc-ci brand and 150 years ofItalian unification.

Finished in glossy blackor white pearl glass paint, itshines like a gem. There isalso a convertible versionwith a sliding electric top.

Sporting 195/45 tyreson 16-inch rims, Gucci’s sig-nature green-red-greenstripe runs completelyaround the perimeter.

The stripe also appearsinside on the seats, thekey-cover, the carpets andthe seat belts.

Gucci creative director

Frida Giannini said: “In the50s, the Fiat 500 created astyle revolution when itfirst hit the road. It quicklybecame the must-have carof its time. Travelling instyle has also been at theheart of Gucci ever sinceGuccio Gucci founded hiscompany as a producer ofleather trunks, suitcasesand handbags in 1921.”

Completing the customi-sation is an exclusive rangeof 500 pieces of fashionwear by Gucci. These in-clude travel accessories,small leather goods, driv-ers’ tracksuits, bombers,gloves, sunglasses and awatch.

By KALPANA RASHIWALAWHILE most residential develo-pers mull over whether or not to re-lease new projects following the in-troduction of the additional buyer’sstamp duty on Dec 8, the develo-pers of at least two new projects –The Hillier in the Hillview area andThe Nautical in Sembawang – havegone ahead with previews. Bothare 99-year leasehold projects.

Some 50-plus units have beensold at The Nautical at an averageprice of about $860 per square footsince its preview began last week-end.

Over at Hillview Avenue, FarEast Organization is said to havecollected more than 100 chequesfor Soho-style apartments at TheHillier since it began previewingthe project last Friday. The buyersare mostly Singaporeans.

The average price achieved is$1,150 psf, after absorption of thestandard 3 per cent buyer’s stampduty and provision of a furniturevoucher. The apartments, rangingfrom about 500 square feet to800-plus sq ft, come with a flexiblefloor plan and a 3.4-metre ceilingheight, in line with Far East’s re-cently launched Soho brand offer-ing “strategic locale, excellent con-nectivity and flexible space”. Thebrand is inspired by New YorkCity’s trendy Soho neighbourhood.

BT understands that Far Eastcollected cheques post-dated to

Jan 1 (which is when options willbe granted to buyers) – perhaps toring in a nice start for business inthe 2012 financial year.

The Hillier, near the upcomingHillview MRT Station on the Down-town Line, will be a mixed-use de-velopment with 528 Soho apart-ments sitting on a two-storey retailand lifestyle podium, hillV2. FarEast will retain the retail compo-nent, where well-known New Yorkgrocer Dean & DeLuca will have anoutlet.

Over at Jalan Sendudok in Sem-bawang, Hao Yuan Investment,controlled by mainland China par-ties, is said to have issued optionsfor about 50-plus units for The Nau-tical condo. The developer is under-stood to be deciding when to holdan official launch of the project,which will be accompanied by thestart of an advertising campaign.

The average price of about $860psf for the five-storey project,which will have 435 apartments, isafter a 5 per cent early-bird dis-count.

Prices of a typical unit withoutprivate enclosed space or roof ter-race will be in the $850-880 psfrange on average.

The Nautical comprises one,two, three and four-bedroom unitsand penthouses (including 32 dual-key units). Absolute prices startfrom about $409,000 for a 420 sqft one-bedder. The highest-pricedunit, at slightly over $1.5 million, isa 1,916 sq ft penthouse.

Buyers of the 50-plus units aremostly HDB upgraders, comprisingpredominantly Singaporeans.

CBRE, GPS and PropNex aremarketing agents for The Nautical.

The project’s development ismanaged by MCC Land, a unit ofChinese state-owned enterpriseMetallurgical Corporation of Chinaor MCC Group. MCC Land is alsothe developer of Canberra Resi-dences, which is next to The Nauti-cal. The 320-unit Canberra Resi-dences, which was released in Jan-uary at an average price of around$830 psf, is about 90 per cent sold.Both condo projects are on 99-yearsites and are five storeys high.

SLP International managing di-rector Peter Ow described The Hilli-er’s sales as “good” given the cur-rent subdued buying mood follow-ing the introduction of the addition-al buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD). “Theattractions are the project’s com-mercial component as well as the

proximity to Hillview MRT Sta-tion.”

The government rolled out theABSD to moderate investment de-mand for private residential pro-perty to reduce the risks associatedwith property market volatility. Ithas set the duty at a higher rate forforeign buyers to temper the hugepool of external liquidity that hadbeen making its way into the is-land’s property sector and pushingup prices.

Foreigners and companies buy-ing any private residential proper-ty now pay an ABSD of 10 per centof the purchase price or market val-ue, whichever is higher. A 3 percent ABSD will apply to permanentresidents buying their second andsubsequent homes here and Singa-poreans buying their third and sub-sequent residential property.

By LYNN KANSMRT has formed its owntask force – separate fromthe formal Committee ofInquiry called by PrimeMinister Lee Hsien Loong –to look into the spate oftrain disruptions last week.

The SMRT board said ina statement yesterday thatit has chosen its independ-ent director and deputysecretary-general of NTUC,Ong Ye Kung, to head aseven-person investigativeteam. Mr Ong will be joinedby two SMRT personneland five experts from out-side the organisation.

On top of getting to thebottom of the breakdowns,the team will also reviewSMRT’s emergency re-sponse preparedness and“required remedial ac-tions”.

The team will report tothe SMRT board, which willact where issues are identi-fied that require action.When the team wraps upits investigations in Febru-ary, it will share its findings

with the Committee of In-quiry.

“SMRT will assist theCOI in whatever ways wemay be called upon to do,”said the board. It addedthat it holds CEO Saw PhaikHwa “accountable for theproper management” ofSMRT and that she and herteam would have a key rolein cooperating with theCommittee.

SMRT’s board also apo-logised to commuters forthe many travelling disrup-tions. The board acknowl-edged that the incidentslast week showed “we needto improve on our emergen-cy response and manage-ment procedures, as well ashow we communicate withcommuters and the publicin an incident of this scale”.

It pledged to regain thepublic’s confidence withmore reliable and safer op-erations and clearer com-munications. Said SMRTchairman Koh Yong Guan:“The Board will spare no ef-fort and resources to en-sure that SMRT earns backthe confidence of the com-muters and public.”

SMRT shares ended yes-terday down 2.5 cents to$1.73.

By MINDY TANTHREE parcels of residen-tial land, the last of thebumper supply injected in-to the market this year,were released for sale yes-terday, potentially yieldingabout 1,325 units.

This is to provide devel-opers and home-buyersmore choices for privatehousing, said the Urban Re-development Authority(URA).

This will add to the21,560 units which havebeen launched for sale un-der the Government LandSales (GLS) programmethis year, bringing the totalnumber to some 22,900units.

URA yesterday launchedtwo 99-year leasehold plotsat Bedok South Avenue 3and Jervois Road; they areexpected to yield about 595and 140 units respectively.Both sites are under theconfirmed list of the govern-ment land sales pro-gramme for the second halfof 2011.

Png Poh Soon, head ofresearch at Knight FrankSingapore, said he expectsthe winning bid to bearound $470 to $500 psf;potential selling price of thecompleted developmentcan range between $1,000and $1,050.

“We expect this site togenerate a decent amountof interest, as the proximityto MRT will still be a gooddefensive factor for develop-ers to draw local genuinebuyers who are not affectedby the additional buyers’stamp duty (ABSD),” hesaid.

Chua Chor Hoon, headof DTZ Southeast Asia re-search, too expects stronginterest from developers,given previous successfulGLS projects, including Ca-sa Mera, Optima, andBedok Residences.

The site, which is locat-ed next to Bedok Court, hasa maximum gross floor ar-ea of about 647,491 sq ft,and is expected to yieldabout 595 units.

The plot at Jervois Road,the only prime site in the2011 GLS programme, hasa maximum gross floor ar-ea of about 135,000 sq ft,and is expected to yield 140units.

Alan Cheong, associatedirector of Savills researchand consultancy, expectsthis plot to be more popularwith developers, given thatits smaller size makes it ac-cessible. “If you go above$200 million for land cost,chances are you will attractonly the larger boys. The(Jervois site) is smaller, andmay draw in more bids,” hesaid.

Knight Frank’s Mr Pngnoted however, that whilemarket watchers had earli-er expected the site to gar-ner keen interest due to itsprime location, the imple-mentation of ABSD “maytemper with the interest forthis site as it is placed with-in the mid- to high-end resi-dential segment, whichnow faces greater uncer-tainty”.

He expects the winningbid for the site to come inaround $900 to $950 psf,with potential selling priceranging between $1,600and $1,650.

“The expected quantumof $125 million may attractmore boutique sized play-

ers to tender for the site asit is located near the Chats-worth Good Class Bunga-low area,” he added.

The final site, a 99-yearleasehold site at Boon LayWay, was offered under thereserve list. The site, whichhas a maximum gross floorarea of 523,879 sq ft, is ex-pected to yield around 590units.

Under the reserve listsystem, the government re-leases a site for sale only ifan interested party submitsan application with a mini-mum price that is deemedacceptable. By contrast,land parcels under the con-firmed list are sold accord-ing to scheduled dates.

“The plot seems quite at-tractive,” said Mr Cheong,citing its easy accessibilityto Jurong East MRT station,and Jurong Gateway beingprimed to be the largestcommercial hub outsidethe city centre.

DTZ’s Ms Chua agreed,but noted that despite thesite’s plus points, and inview of “the latest coolingmeasures and a more cau-tious economic outlook fornext year”, developers maynot trigger a bid for the re-serve site.

No tenders have beentriggered for the sites onthe H2 2011 reserve listto-date, she added.

Tender for the residen-tial sites at Jervois Roadand Bedok South Avenue 3will close at 12 noon on Feb2 and 9, respectively.

The launch of these sitesmarks the last of the manyresidential plots of land re-leased into the market thisyear, in the government’sattempt to arrest the per-ceived runaway propertymarket.

BLOGSHOPS in Singaporeare estimated to have ac-counted for $96 million, or6 per cent, of the $1.6 bil-lion local e-commerce salesthis year.

A survey conducted byLiveJournal, which manag-es 50,000 blogshops here,shows that its users get480,000 visitors everymonth – all of whom comewith an intention to shop.

As a result, althoughblogshopping accounts forless than 15 per cent of Live-Journal’s Web traffic, it isstill able to generate closeto $100 million in salestransactions, said TickledMedia, the publisher of Live-Journal in the South-EastAsian markets.

The survey of 800 out ofits 1.2 million local users al-so found that blogshoppingis a “Singaporean phenome-non”, as it is often seen as

“a preferred way for Singa-pore entrepreneurs to en-ter into business”.

But with only 10 percent of LiveJournalblogshops earning morethan $2,000 per month,one should not be too quickto quit one’s day job justyet. Eighty per cent of theblogshops surveyed makeless than $500 per month.Thus blogshops can be agood source of side income,but should not be seen as acareer switch option.

Commenting on theblogshopping trend for thefollowing year, Tickled Me-dia’s CEO Roshni Mahtanisaid: “The world is boundfor an economic slowdownin 2012, but we believeblogshopping will continueto grow here as e-com-merce truly represents themost cost-effective way todo business.”

AN OFFICER with the Min-istry of Home Affairs(MHA) was charged withcheating the government of$617,087 fol lowingstepped-up internal auditsin the wake of the massiveSingapore Land Authority(SLA) scam.

Liew Chee Meng, 35, aclerical officer with theMHA since July 2003, wascharged yesterday in theSubordinate Courts with455 counts of forgery,cheating, criminal breachof trust and conversion ofproceeds of crime.

Liew, who is out on bail,

is now suspended from hisemployment with the minis-try. If convicted, he will beterminated, according toan MHA spokesman.

Liew is accused of hav-ing forged approval docu-ments from 2007 till earli-er this year for purchasesof gift vouchers which hethen used for his personalpurchases. His alleged actswere uncovered by MHA inJanuary and reported tothe police and CommercialAffairs Department. Morethan $474,000 worth ofgoods have been recoveredfrom him.

Disciplinary action hasbeen also taken againstfive MHA officers for theiroversight, the governmentsaid.

In an effort to tightenprocurement processesand strengthen internalcontrols, an independentreview panel – comprisingsenior officials from otherministries and a statutoryboard – was convened toexamine the case and to re-view current systems.

MHA has accepted andimplemented the recom-mendations made by thepanel.

8-member team willshare findings withgovt’s inquiry panel

MOM appoints execdirector for instituteTHE Ministry ofManpower (MOM) hasappointed Dr Jukka Takalaas the first executivedirector (ED) of theWorkplace Safety andHealth (WSH) Institute asof Dec 28. With more than35 years of experience inthe international WSHarena, Dr Takala will setstrategic directions for theinstitute in raising WSHcapabilities in Singaporeand supporting MOM andthe WSH Council inmaking informed WSHpolicies and programmes.

Baker & McKenziewins awardsBAKER & McKenzie hasbeen named “Asia PacificM&A Legal Advisor of theYear” and “Southeast AsiaM&A Legal Advisor of theYear” at the annualFinancialTimes–mergermarket AsiaPacific M&A Awards. Theawards recognise thefirm’s strength in capitalmarkets and corporatetransactions. The firm wasalso awarded “BestSingapore Deal of theYear” for its dealings withCheung Kong Holding’ssenior perpetualsecurities issue.

THE Straits Times School Pocket MoneyFund (SPMF) will become a full-fledgedcharity with its own Institution of a PublicCharacter (IPC) status from Jan 1 nextyear. This means that the SPMF, which iscurrently administered by the NationalCouncil of Social Service (NCSS), will be-come an independent charity.

“After more than 10 years, we are fullycapable of standing on our two feet to be afull-fledged charity in our own right,” saidThe Straits Times editor Han FookKwang, who will chair the board of trus-tees. “NCSS will still be heavily involvedbut the buck will stop with the board (oftrustees).”

NCSS currently maintains and disburs-es the donated funds to its network ofvoluntary welfare organisations (VWOs)helping the beneficiaries. Tax-deductiblereceipts are issued in the name of NCSS.

The SPMF, which started as a commu-nity project of The Straits Times in 2000,will have a board of trustees consisting ofMr Han, Council for Third Age chairmanGerard Ee, ST associate editor BerthaHenson, media consultant Sia Cheong

Yew and Venture Corp chief informationofficer Han Jok Kwang (who is not relatedto ST editor Han Fook Kwang). FormerMerrill Lynch Singapore CEO MartinaWong is the general manager.

Other than collecting and disbursingpocket money to needy school-going chil-dren, the SPMF is also exploring the possi-bility of aiding their social and educationaldevelopment. Some ideas could be: help-ing with English lessons, and starting adatabase of volunteers who want to spendtime coaching or mentoring the students.

Since 2000, the SPMF has raisednearly $44 million and helped over 85,000needy children. The number of studentswho have received assistance from the SP-MF this year is more than 8,700. Total do-nations to the fund have hit $5.89 millionas at end-November. Next year, the pro-jected number of students the SPMF willsupport is estimated at more than 9,500.

The SPMF kitty now stands at $19 mil-lion. Trustees have decided the SPMF willmaintain at least two years’ worth of dis-bursements and running expenses to meetits obligations to beneficiaries.

SMRT forms ownteam to probetrain disruptions

Parcels located inBedok South, JervoisRd, Boon Lay Way

S’pore blogshops’ saleshit $96m this year

ARTHUR LEE

Ooh la la: The latest Fiat 500 by Gucci made its South-east Asian debut yesterday evening at the Paragon atriumbefore a few hundred appreciative invited guests

SINGAPOREROUNDUP

MHA officer charged with cheating

About 100 units at TheHillier and 50 units at TheNautical sold since theirpreviews late last week

URA releases 3 plots;can yield 1,325 units

A Gucciyou candrive – witha little helpfrom Fiat

IPC status for ST Pocket Money Fund

Coming up: The Nautical (left), a five-storey condo in Sembawang, will have 435 apartments while The Hillier, near the upcoming Hillview MRT Station onthe Downtown Line, will be a mixed-use development with 528 Soho apartments sitting on a two-storey retail and lifestyle podium, hillV2

Two new projects attracting S’pore buyers

The Business Times, Friday, December 23, 2011 SINGAPORE NEWS 9