the business timeswww.businesstimes.com.sg | FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015 | S$1.00 | MCI (P) 051/08/2014 |

mas policyMore frequent statements seenTHE Monetary Authority of Singapore couldmove to have more frequent policystatements given the more uncertainmacroeconomic outlook, says a report. | 2

at your serviceCustomer satisfaction improvesSINGAPORE’S overall customer satisfactionlevels hit a new high in 2014, even as theprivate education, tourism and food andbeverage sectors recorded sharp falls. | 3

mandatory offerIPC surges to 3-year highTHE stock of IPC Corp shot up to its highestlevel of S$0.20 in three years on news of anoffer by Oei Hong Leong to buy theremaining shares in the developer. | 8

ura studyUneven price falls for condosAN islandwide study by the URA on privatenon-landed home prices showed that 10 outof 46 projects saw double-digit declines inmedian prices from their 2013 peak. | 20

By Teh Shi Ningtshining@sph.com.sg@TehShiNingBT

SINGAPORE’S manufacturing sector con-tracted further in March, going by the latestpurchasing managers’ index (PMI), buteconomists are expecting things to turnaround in the next two quarters.

Dipping further below the 50-point read-ing that demarcates growth from contrac-tion, the barometer of industrial perform-ance has now signalled four consecutivemonths of shrinking activity. This, after thesector’s output fell a larger than expected3.6 per cent in February.

But last month’s reading of 49.6, downfrom February’s 49.7, put Singapore in the

company of other Asian economies – manyof whom reported weaker PMIs on Wednes-day.

Mixed readings from China – the officialPMI indicated expansion while the HSBCPMI pointed to more contraction – leftHSBC economist Frederic Neumann con-cluding that China’s manufacturing has notseen its typical post–Chinese New Year liftthis year.

Manufacturing conditions also deteriorat-ed in Korea – with the PMI reading falling to49.2 from 51.1. Taiwan’s too fell to 51 pointsfrom 52.1 in February. These pullbacks sug-gest that “along with China, Asia’s manufac-turing centres are stalling”, Mr Neumannsaid.

Even though equivalent readings in theUS and Europe have been more positive,this has not led to stronger new export or-ders for Asia, he noted. This could be be-cause Europe’s economy is strengtheningfrom a very weak base, the euro remainsweak and the US economy is not benefitingas much from lower energy prices andstrong employment growth as expected, MrNeumann said.

For Singapore, it was indeed primarily afall in new orders – both locally and fromabroad – that led to the overall PMI’s de-cline, said the Singapore Institute of Pur-chasing & Materials Management, whichsurveys more than 150 purchasing manag-ers of industrial companies to compile the

monthly index.But Barclays economist Leong Wai Ho

thinks that it has less to do with a lack of ex-ternal demand. “It feels more like a mix oflabour constraints on one hand and excessinventories on the other,” he said.

“There were signs that manufacturers re-duced production, preferring instead to rundown excess inventory,” he said. The inven-tory and finished good stockholdings sub-in-dices slid into contraction territory inMarch, which could mean that manufactur-ers were clearing existing stockpiles after thefactory shutdowns over the Chinese NewYear holidays in February.

Continued on next page >>

By Teh Shi Ningtshining@sph.com.sg@TehShiNingBT

DESPITE high-profile instanc-es of graft in recent years, cor-ruption complaints and in-vestigations in Singapore fellto a 30-year low in 2014.

And though the headline-grabbing scan-dals involved public servants, individualsfrom the private sector made up the majori-ty of cases, the Corrupt Practices Investiga-tion Bureau (CPIB) said on Thursday in itsfirst detailed corruption statistics report.

This will be released annually from nowon as part of CPIB’s efforts to boost trans-parency and “promote a culture of zero tol-erance against corruption”, said the agency,which reports directly to the PrimeMinister’s Office. The latest figures showthat Singapore’s corruption situation is sta-ble and under control, CPIB said.

Last year, it received 736 complaints, in-cluding ones not strictly corruption-relatedsuch as cheating and misappropriation ofpublic or company funds, which it refers toother authorities. This was 7 per cent downfrom 792 in 2013 and the lowest it has beensince 1984.

All corruption complaints, anonymousor not, are evaluated by a CPIB committeeto determine whether there is sufficient in-

formation for investigation or other fol-low-up actions. The number of cases thatmade it past evaluation to investigation alsofell to its lowest in three decades last year –136 of the 736 complaints made in 2014were investigated, 11 per cent down from152 cases in 2013.

Of the cases investigated, a minority of15 per cent involved public sector officials,CPIB said. The rest were private sector indi-viduals giving, offering or receiving bribes.

In 13 per cent of thecases, bribes were of-fered to public offi-cers, who rejectedthem.

The number ofpeople prosecutedin court as a resultof CPIB investiga-tions stood at 168last year, comparedto 179 in 2013. Ofthese, 88 per centwere from the pri-vate sector. Publicsector employeesmade up the remain-ing 12 per cent,above the last threeyears’ average of 9per cent.

CPIB’s report flagged a few areas of con-cern from cases prosecuted for corruptionlast year. In the construction sector, bribeswere offered for more lenient work inspec-tions or awarding contracts. In departmentstores selling household goods, front-lineemployees were bribed to promote certainbrands above others. And in warehouse andlogistics services, bribes were given to ob-tain contracts.

Continued on Page 3 >>

Of the cases investigated last year, a minority involved public sector officials, while therest were private sector individuals, says CPIB in inaugural annual statistics report

Graft under controlbut vigilance continues

Singapore manufacturing gloom deepens

Fighting corruption

Source: Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau

876

757

906

792736

206138

179 152136

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Number of complaintsreceived by CPIB*

Total number of casesregistered for investigation**

* Includes complaintsunrelated to corruption, such as cheating or misappropriating of public or company funds

** New cases registered from pursuable complaints during the year

|| | OPINIONEnsuring blogosphere’spositive potential | 28-29

SALARY GUIDEWage rises for finance, tech professionals to slow | 6

IRAN TALKSOil prices fall more than 3% | 7

WINERecent vinous gems | 32

BT LIFESTYLEWooing Francevia the arts37-39

BT LIFESTYLE

By Claire Huanghuangjy@sph.com.sg@ClaireHuangBTSingapore

SINGAPORE’S overall customersatisfaction levels hit a new highin 2014, even as the private edu-cation, tourism and food and bev-erage sectors recorded sharpfalls.

The Institute of Service Excel-lence at the Singapore Manage-ment University (ISES) on Thurs-day said the overall satisfactionlevels rose 0.6 per cent to 71.1points in 2014, on the back ofstrong ratings from the financeand insurance sector.

It is the fourth consecutiveyear the Customer Satisfaction In-dex of Singapore (CSISG) hasshown an improvement, which

was mainly attributable to twomeasured sectors in the fourthquarter of 2014 – finance and in-surance and healthcare.

In the fourth quarter of 2014,the finance and insurance sectorrose 4.7 per cent to 72.4 points.

Within this sector, the life in-surance sub-sector led with thelargest year-on-year improve-ment, rising 11.4 per cent to 73.6points.

Jeremy Soo, head of consum-er banking group (Singapore) ofDBS Bank, said: “In 2014, wehave both expanded and furtherintegrated our physical and elec-tronic distribution channels toenable customers to transactseamlessly across multiple touch-points. We will continue to in-crease the number of access

points for our customers and im-prove the quality of their interac-tion with us.”

DBS was one of the lenders in-cluded in the CSISG. It recordeda 5.4 per cent increase in custom-er satisfaction levels to 75.8points last year.

The overall results were alsobuoyed by the healthcare sector.Its index climbed 1.6 per cent to71 points year-on-year in Q4, lift-ed by ratings in polyclinics andspecialised healthcare. The twosub-sectors scored 68.9 points(up 4.6 per cent) and 72.2 points(up 2.8 per cent), respectively.

ISES director Caroline Limsaid: “The continued improve-ment is a positive indicator forSingapore’s service competitive-ness on a world stage. Similar

studies of customer satisfactionin other countries show that weare not far behind economieswith traditionally strong servicecultures, such as the UnitedStates and South Korea.”

The CSISG, an annual bench-mark of customer satisfaction,covers nine key economic sec-tors in Singapore. The index hasa quarterly measure-and-releasecycle, covering up to three indus-try sectors each time.

Of the nine sectors, five regis-tered significantly loweryear-on-year scores.

Private education recordedthe sharpest decline with a scoreof 65.8 points in 2014, down 8.9per cent. This was followed bytourism, food and beverage, re-tail and transport and logistics.

Two others – the info-commu-nications and public educationsectors – registered similar per-formances in 2014 comparedwith the year-ago period.

On a national level, tourist sat-isfaction fell in all four quartersof 2014.

“In each sub-sector wheretourist responses were capturedin the CSISG study, tourist rat-ings were a contributor, if not theprimary driver, of poorer CSISGperformance. 2014 marked thelowest tourist score at the nation-al level since 2009,” said Ms Lim,who added that external environ-mental factors such as the in-creasing appeal of neighbouringdestinations and changing tour-ist profiles may have contributedto the fall.

<< Continued from Page 1

NUS Business School associate

professor Mak Yuen Teen, a cor-

porate governance advocate,

said these trends are not surpris-

ing given the government’s “very

strong and consistent signals” on

enforcement. But he noted that it

can be difficult to compare

trends over time, as numbers

may depend on whether the crite-

ria for opening investigations

have changed, willingness to re-

port has declined, or the resourc-

es available for investigation and

enforcement.

Also, the picture may be very

different when it comes to brib-

ery and corruption by Singapore-

ans and Singapore companies

overseas. “I suspect that has in-

creased over time and beyond

the investigatory resources of

CPIB, and through indirect meth-

ods like using agents and third

parties,” Prof Mak said.

“Companies doing business

in China, India, Africa and South

America are particularly vulnera-

ble. I think corporates and

boards need to pay more atten-

tion to how they do business

overseas,” he added.

Lawyer Wilson Ang, who

heads the Singapore regulatory

compliance and investigations

practice at Norton Rose Ful-

bright, agrees that the extra-terri-

torial scope of current laws are

narrowly focused on Singapore

citizens and can be broadened to

include all Singapore residents

and corporations. Singapore is

currently reviewing its

55-year-old Prevention of Corrup-

tion Act (PCA), enacted in 1960.

Currently, under the PCA, a

person convicted of corruption

can be fined up to S$100,000,

jailed up to five years or both. Of-

fences involving a government

contract or bribery of a member

of parliament could be punished

with a longer jail term of up to

seven years. Conviction rates for

cases charged by the CPIB for cor-

ruption and other related offenc-

es has remained above the 95 per

cent mark over the past three

years.

Prof Mak thinks that the PCA

may be strengthened to impose

stronger obligations on compa-

nies, management and boards to

prevent corruption – not just pun-

ishing the employees who may

feel pressured to pay bribes to

keep their jobs and bonuses. He

would also like to see legislation

protecting whistleblowers.

“CPIB could also look into

more private sector outreach ini-

tiatives. There are many multina-

tionals with compliance pro-

grammes but the challenge is

how to localise and implement

programmes in this part of the

world. For SMEs, the problem is

having a programme at all – they

would want to save costs,” Mr

Ang added.

CPIB’s first release of such a

report comes after Singapore

slipped two places to rank sev-

enth least corrupt on Transparen-

cy International’s 2014 Corrup-

tion Perception Index. In 2010,

Singapore tied for first place with

Denmark and New Zealand.

Acknowledging the shift in

perception, Prime Minister Lee

Hsien Loong said in January that

apart from the review of the PCA,

the government would set up a

new centre in the city for whistle-blowers to file reports easily anddiscreetly, and would also boostCPIB’s manpower by 20 per cent.

In 2014, the CPIB handled a to-tal of 541 cases: 136 new ones reg-

istered during the year, 217 add-ed in the course of investigationand 188 brought forward fromthe previous year. Of these, 77per cent of those investigationswere completed by year-end.

Strong ratings from the finance and insurance sector boosted CSISG to 71.1 points in 2014

Customer satisfaction levels hit new high

Graft under controlbut vigilance continues

Fighting corruptionPublic vs private

BT Graphics Source : Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau

01020304050607080

2012 2013 2014

Cases of private sector individuals giving, offering or receiving bribes

Cases of private sector individuals offering bribes to public officers, which were rejected

Cases of public officers soliciting or receiving bribes

*Classified based on pursuable complaints received during the year, before investigations are carried out

(NO. OF PROSECUTED PERSONS*)

*Based on AGC’s prosecutorial decisions made in each year

(% OF CASES*)

020406080

100120140160180

2012 2013 2014

Private sector employees

Public sector employees

64 66 72

18 16 1513 1323

163158 148

9 16 20

THE BUSINESS TIMES FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2015 top stories 3

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